Post by David Slayton on Mar 19, 2013 4:02:29 GMT -6
SOLE SURVIVORS
In 2003, X became the victor of the first ever Gauntlet Run Match, which
consisted of a mere 14 competitors - the smallest group to ever compete in
the contest. With his landmark victory, X would go on to the very first WrestleFest
event one month later and win his first BWF World Championship, defeating
Champion Brian Fenris and former Champion Ghost inside a Hell in a Cell Match.
The second edition of the Gauntlet Run featured the contest's first appearance
in it's now traditional 30 man setting. Former BWF World Champion The Big O
returned to action in the Gauntlet Run, after being injured earlier in the year, to
win the whole thing and secure a Championship match at WrestleFest II. He
opened the show against Toco for the World Heavyweight Championship, where
he was unsuccessful in winning the title.
In 2005, X became the first person in BWF history to win two Gauntlet Run Matches,
this time achieving victory at the 30 man scale. Unfortunately, this time, X was unable
to use the momentum from his historic win to secure victory at the biggest event of
the year, and his former X-ecutioners tag partner The Executioner defeated him to
successfully retain the BWF World Championship at WrestleFest III.
When November of 2006 came around, the BWF was on hiatus. Not one to miss
an opportunity to make money, David Blazenwing booked the first ever "International
Gauntlet Run" in Sydney, Australia, featuring a team format for the first time in the
event's history. The match ultimately came down to Team USA's "Stutterfly" Starla
Gardevoir and Team Japan's Stryker Cloud, but Stutterfly emerged the victor. She
did not recieve a title shot for her victory, as the BWF was not active at the time; this
was rectified almost five years later, when she was granted a BWF World Title match
at WrestleFest VI in 2011 against her future husband, Gabe Shelley. Injured, Katie
granted her shot to good friend Emily Corlen (following a precedent that was set four
years prior with Raizzor and Chamelion), who (at least momentarily) defeated Shelley
at the event to win her first World Title.
In 2007, the Gauntlet Run returned in it's original 30 man rumble format. Many competed
for the chance to fight for the title at WrestleFest V, but at the end of the night, it was Raizzor
who was standing tall. When he signed his contract to face BWF World Champion Mark
McNasty at WrestleFest, he revealed after the fact that he merely signed it "Sommers", before
announcing that he was awarding his Championship shot to his younger brother, Mark Sommers,
better known as Chamelion. After McNasty fought the decision, management ultimately decided
that the shot was Raizzor's, and if he wished to give it to someone else, that was his right. At
WrestleFest V, Chamelion defeated McNasty to become the BWF World Champion.
In 2013, Elena Simonova dominated the BWF, winning three World Championships, main eventing
WrestleFest VII and becoming the 2013 Female Superstar of the Year. She seemed poised to
dominate 2014 in the same fashion, but at Survival of the Sickest in January 2014, everything
changed for Simonova. She was brutally attacked backstage, removed from the arena by doctors
and stripped of the World Championship she coveted so much. For months, it seemed as though
Simonova's domination of BWF was now a bygone era. That all changed at the 2014 Gauntlet Run.
The hype around the event was huge, as the match hadn't been seen in BWF since 2007. Many
entrants claimed that they would be "the one" to go on and main event WrestleFest VIII, but none
of them expected Simonova to make her unannounced return to the ring during the 30-superstar
spectacular. The finale of the contest came down to Simonova and Casey Campbell, who had
entered the match at #1. Campbell nearly won it all, but Elena proved too capable and capped
off her return by winning the first Gauntlet Run Match in seven years. One month later at
WrestleFest VIII, Simonova completed her journey by dethroning Emily Corlen in the main
event to become the new BWF World Champion.
Going into the 2015 Gauntlet Run Match, the field was wide open for several competitors to
potentially win the big match and go on to main event WrestleFest IX. After BWF World
Champion AJ Adams successfully defended his title prior to the big 30-man spectacular, the
stage was set to determine who would face him at the blockbuster event. As the Gauntlet Run
wound down, the final two competitors could not have been more different. On one side,
Fenryr Wulfsson, a powerful, hulking, intimidating figure. On the other, the peppy, diminutive
(and wildly popular) Sabrina Scott. After a show of power from the much larger Wulfsson,
Scott was, figuratively and literally, on the ropes. However, an unlikely source interjected
himself into the contest - Adams, who was not only the World Champion, but Sabrina Scott's
boyfriend. With Scott watching on in confusion, the crowd excitedly watched Adams eliminate
Fenryr himself, leaving Sabrina as the vaunted Sole Survivor. Following the events of Gauntlet
Run, Sabrina broke up with AJ, believing that his actions showed a lack of faith in her own ability
to defeat Wulfsson. Fenryr, too, was granted another opportunity to gain entry into the WrestleFest
IX main event after Adams involved himself, leading to an eventual Triple Threat Match for the
BWF World Title at WrestleFest IX that saw AJ Adams successfully retain his title, albeit in villainous
fashion. This personality shift was cemented moments after his victory as he viciously attacked
Sabrina, turning the crowd against him, but allowing him to leave WrestleFest as, quite literally,
the last person standing.