Post by David Slayton on Mar 19, 2013 4:34:33 GMT -6
MONARCHS
The inaugural Happenstance Tournament in March of 2004 was contested under
Roulette rules, which meant that David Blazenwing spun a wheel backstage
before each match at the show, deciding on the gimmick for the match right
then and there. Tag team partners Carnage and Chaos, the Demon Knights, were
successful in making it to the finals together, and the match they drew ended
up being a Steel Cage Match. As the contest drew to a close, the two men fought
one another on the top of the cage, and an errant shot by Chaos knocked both men
off the top of the cage. Officials at ringside ruled that they landed at the
same time, and so, for the only time in history, both men were simultaneously
crowned King of Happenstance. One month later at Danger Zone, after besting
Chaos on an episode of Havok, Carnage faced BWF World Champion Violent Flyer
and former Champion The Big O (who Flyer had upset for the belt six days prior)
in a Triple Threat Match for the BWF World Championship, but Big O was able
to best both Carnage and Flyer and regain the Championship he had just lost.
In 2005, a hot new team debuted early in the year - the New School Marvels,
consisting of Cody Clark and Chris McKnight. While McKnight's career never
took off in BWF, Clark's did - and it all began at the 2005 Happenstance
Tournament, where he outlasted a field of other competitors to become the King.
The following month, Clark cashed in on his King's Championship shot at Danger
Zone against The Executioner. Clark ultimately failed in his bid, though he
would ultimately defeat Kirlia Gardevoir for his only BWF World Title just
under a year later - a reign that would last a mere six days.
As the 2006 edition of Happenstance came around, several young stars appeared
poised to launch themselves into the main event scene, and Happenstance, as
it always had, would provide them the stage they needed. Although several
big names came close to victory, the ultimate victor was the first woman in
history to win the crown - Eden Turner. A former BWF X-Division and Cruiserweight
Champion, Turner hoped to shatter the proverbial glass ceiling with her win, but
like all else before her, when her time came to challenge for the Championship
one month later at Danger Zone, she failed; due to the mess of people in the BWF
Title scene, management made the title match a Hellbound Match with four other
individuals; a match that was won by Eliminator.
The 2007 Happenstance Tournament is perhaps one that is destined to be mired in
controversy. In early 2007, the Blazenwings, David and Jen, took a leave from
running the BWF and left it in the hands of Cody Clark. Clark did a phenomenal
job running the company, but the Blazenwings began to feel slighted when Clark
began changing several long-running things in the BWF without their permission
or notification. During this time, several "Clark-era wrestlers" joined the ranks
of the BWF, one of the most notable being AJ Donavon, who won the 2007 Happenstance
Tournament over the heavily favored Gabe Shelley. The following month at Danger Zone,
Donavon faced The Legend for the BWF World Championship, but the match ended in a no
contest when Donavon and Legend threw the match. Cody Clark appeared with several
of the wrestlers he himself had contracted and announced to the pay-per-view
audience that they were tired of being "held back" by the Blazenwings and that
they would be exiting BWF and reforming Clark's eWo elsewhere. Despite the controversy,
AJ Donavon's Happenstance victory remains his, a lasting reminder of the events that
wounded and ultimately ended the BWF's second run in 2007.
When the BWF returned in 2011 as a part of the AoWF, David Blazenwing wanted to
make sure as many of the company's original standbys returned as possible. One of
the most notable of these was the Happenstance Tournament, something that the new
BWF Owner, Gabe Shelley, sought to continue. When the BWF was changed over to
True Glory Wrestling in September, the plan remained unchanged, and for the first
and only time, Happenstance was contested as a TGW event in December of 2011. Ironic,
then, that the event was ultimately won by a BWF Hall of Famer, the former Starla
Gardevoir, Katie James, who last defeated Lucious Starr in the main event of the show
to claim the first Happenstance crown in over four years. Until 2014, Katie James was the
only competitor in history to hold both a Gauntlet Run victory and a Happenstance crown.
In 2012, as TGW slowly faded away, Emily Corlen, the former Champion, took the
reins of the company and reshaped it under the old Revolution X Wrestling banner.
Matt Stone became the first RXW World Champion of the modern era, but this wasn't
enough for him. When he learned of the newly scheduled Happenstance Tournament,
Stone demanded the chance to compete, and he was granted that, with a caveat; since
the winner of the tournament always left with a Championship match, the tournament
ITSELF would instead be contested for the RXW World Championship, with Stone
defending the title in each of his matches and the winner ultimately leaving with
both the Happenstance crown and the belt. The finals came down to Stone and Outlaw,
and while Outlaw nearly won the match at several points, ultimately, Matt Stone was
able to overcome the insurmountable odds against him and achieve victory in the
tournament, becoming the 2012 Happenstance King and retaining his RXW World Title.
In early 2013, an unforeseeable event occurred - the Blazenwing Wrestling Federation returned
to the airwaves after a two-year hiatus. Under the new Ownership of Blazenwing protégé Emily
Corlen, a number of BWF staples returned to the forefront, chief among these the Happenstance
Tournament of Kings. The seventh such tournament of its kind since the event's initial
appearance in 2004, the 2013 edition brought eight of the BWF's elite together for a singular goal
- crown a new Happenstance Monarch. In the first round, Godless bested Derrick Daze, Nessa
Wall defeated Edwin Kerrigan, Elena Simonova beat Toco and Isaiah Mercier pinned Andrew
Titus Murphy. At the Happenstance pay-per-view, Elena Simonova and Nessa Wall came out on
top against their respective opponents, setting the stage for an epic clash between the two strong-
willed women. In the end, Elena Simonova would best Nessa Wall and bring home the
Happenstance crown, though it took an impressive three finishers in a row to finally put the
determined Nessa Wall to rest once and for all. A year later in 2014, Simonova won the Gauntlet
Run as well, putting her in elite company with Katie James as the only two individuals in history to
win both BWF's prestigious tournament and the 30-superstar rumble match.
In August of 2013, an unknown rookie by the name of Zoe Cooper made her first BWF
appearance, defeating The Savior in a singles match. Emily Corlen was so impressed that she
offered Zoe a rare opportunity; a chance to compete later that night in the main event for the
Sovereign Championship. The newcomer accepted and, in shocking fashion, defeated both
Champion Johnny Maverick and challenger The Minstrel to become the new Sovereign Champion.
As the 2014 Happenstance Tournament loomed, not only was Cooper still the Sovereign
Champion, but she had never suffered a single loss to her record. She would have been the clear-
cut favorite going into the yearly event, but a returning Alli Taylor assaulted Cooper's knee,
greatly diminishing her chances of obtaining the hallowed crown. Still, Cooper persevered
through the injury, defeating Mick Horrorflick, Casey Campbell and, finally, AJ Adams to make
it to the finals of the tourney, only to face the woman who tried to end her career, Alli Taylor.
The two put on a wrestling clinic, each eager to stamp their name in the history books, but when
Taylor tried to cheat (she had won several tournament matches in dubious fashion), Emily
Corlen had seen enough. She prevented Taylor from cheating to win the final match, and the
(inadvertent) distraction she caused was just enough for Cooper to take advantage, leveling Taylor
with her Face Replacer flying knee to score the three and become the 2014 Happenstance Queen.
As the 2015 Happenstance Tournament kicked off, several names quickly emerged as potential favorites
to win the entire thing. Many people suggested that competitors like Van Biafra, Martin Karloff or Casey
Campbell would see their day on pay-per-view, hoisting the crown high and claiming their BWF World Title
shot. No one likely put money on former EWS star Brianna Park winning the tournament, though; which
made her eventual victory all that much sweeter. In fact, prior to her entry in the Happenstance
Tournament, Park had yet to even make a debut on BWF Havok! In the qualifying round on March 6's
Breakthrough, Park defeated AJ Steel to move forward into the Elite Eight. From there, on March 20,
Park made her Havok debut as she faced Hall of Famer Casey Campbell in what many assumed was a shoo-in
win for the former World Champion. When Park scored the victory over Casey, she moved ahead to the Final
Four. In her first of two matches on March 27, first on Breakthrough, Park defeated another favorite, industry
legend Sebastian Tailor, to make it to the Happenstance Finals on the pay-per-view proper against the favorite,
the impressive Van Biafra. Nobody saw the end of that match coming, except perhaps Brianna herself, who
claimed ultimate victory in the 2015 Happenstance Tournament when she caught Biafra with a modified
Seoul Food (Eat Defeat) and surprised everyone as she covered for the win.