by Ryan "Camel" Cuddihy

Hey folks, and welcome to the first EVER Backstage Pass. I am Ryan "Camel" Cuddihy, and consider me your tour guide backstage for the most prestigious wrestling promotions this side of Japan. I'm a wrestler, a manager, a reporter, yes folks, I can do it all, and we'll find out just how successfully in the coming weeks.

Lemme do a little shpiel on how the layout of this article should run. Obviously, there are the big three feds to report on (the EWA, the NPWA, and yes, the NYSWF counts), and each one is going to have its own column every week. That's right, three articles a week, barring any special occasions or something. God help me if I have to go to another funeral in Harlem Bays.

It's gonna go down like this: Mondays belong to the NYSWF. They were the first ones here, and they get the first article of the week. Don't come bitching, cuz I'm not gonna listen, until it shuts down, it's staying on Mondays. It might even stay there AFTER it shuts down. Wednesdays go to the NPWA, and obviously, the EWA gets theirs at the end of the week, on Fridays. The reasoning for this layout is simple: I can cover each event pretty close to the airdate. It should also give me enough time to collect all the backstage dirt you people pretend to hate.

Starting next Monday, the NYSWF gets its first Backstage Pass, coming right off of their PPVs, the Academy's Caged Fury, and the fed's Big Japan Classic '01. Wednesday starts the coverage of the NPWA's first official weekend, and Friday, the EWA's reopening gets the Camel treatment.

Of course, I'm not gonna just say that for this whole time, I'll give you some dirt right this instant, because I'm that damn good. First, the NYSWF.

I won't be covering the Academy today, because, well, I don't feel like it. The World Title Tournament finishes this weekend, oddsmakers are putting Loco Martinez as the next champeen. What an odd tourney, though, huh? Granted, Collins did want his champion to be loyal to the company, and who better than a rookie, but still: aren't there much more deserving workers out there? Like Spiral, Sean Boden, Rune Robertson, Jon Storm, or dare I say it, even his brother NOTHING? Speaking of Spiral and Sean Boden, Spiral seems to be genuinely distraught over his role in Boden's injuries. Of course, if I know Boden, and I'm pretty sure I do, don't expect remorse to get Spiral out of a good thrashing. As for the Collins brothers, Jon Storm and NOTHING get set to absolutely kill each other this weekend, and their respective spouses don't seem to keen on their ideas of "family togetherness." The OCW Death Match, which I STILL don't know the specs to, for all intents and purposes, is just that: a death match. One of these men just may not make it out alive. That's it for now, more on Monday with that. On to the NPWA.

There is no better ending to Chris Best's reign as President of the NEWF than Final Countdown was. It exceeded everyone's expectations, and had more than it's share of surprises. I'm not gonna give everybody a run-down, cuz that would take up WAAAY too much space, but I'll say it was a show to be seen. If you can catch an encore performance of it, it's well worth the forty bucks.

Now, the NPWA has got quite a weekend planned for us this week, with Sabotage marking the NPWA debut of former NYSWF World Champion Matt Hoffman, as well as some STELLAR matches.

~ Kanyon makes his first actual wrestling appearance since becoming NEWF Commish, taking on Marcus Hailey. Now, I don't know about anyone else, but taking on Hailey after a period of time away from the ring is a scary thought, but in a street fight? Even worse.

~ Latino Powers take on BioHazard Area for the tag titles in what should be a pretty one-sided match-up, if you ask me. Speaking of Latino Powers, is there really anyone who can't see through those disguises? And no, 12-year-old marks don't count, especially since most of them can, too.

~ Ray Willmott takes on Lord Christopher Yorke for the #1 contender spot for the TV title... is anyone else pretty unimpressed with Yorke's performance recently? He's really gone downhill.

~ Finally, the main event: M. Draven v. Venom for the TV Title. Michael's still nursing his wounds from his match with Erik at Final Countdown, but word is that the match served to make some headway in patching up the brothers' relationship. Although, with that much scarring, it may never quite be the way it was... er, the way it could've been.

On Malice, we get yet another line-up of good wrestling in store for you crazy marks, you.

~ Craven Blood and Lunatikk Crippler reprise their Final Countdown match in a hardcore rules bout, but with Rhino thrown into the mix. Now, I was personally on hand when Crip beat Blood for the first time in his career, and to be perfectly honest, nobody saw it coming, especially not Crip. They say the hardest thing is getting out of a slump, but once you're out, you're out... let's see if that holds true.

~ My boys, LIHC, take on Extreme Danger once again... now seriously, I know I'm getting tired of seeing LIHC facing up against guys like Extreme Danger. I know the tag team division isn't too strong in the NPWA, but really... after their loss to BioHazard Area three weeks ago, they've been dragged through the proverbial mud. These guys have more talent than that, I know, I've worked with them. It's a disgrace to see this kind of thing happen. [/rant]

~ The US Title is up for grabs, and the Only Champion is looking to wrest it from Bazooka Joe. I must say, Bazooka Joe has not only proven his worth in the NPWA with a number of title reigns, but he's proven himself a worthy competitor. His friendship with Best may have overshadowed his career at first, but it soon became apparent that he wasn't winning on associations... he was seriously getting over. My congratulations to him for stepping out of a potential scandal unharmed, and for making his way to the top on his talent alone.

~ Heywood and Erik Draven go at it on Monday, and it shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone that this match is going to rock the house. Erik's still got quite a bit of fight left in him, and let's see if he can pull one off against one of DFR's stronger members.

~ Finally, the Malice Main Event pits former champ Jack Daniels, against new champ Grady Smith for the World Title. For those of you who saw the World Title match at Final Countdown (and if you ordered this PPV and didn't, please, go hang yourself with barbed wire), this match should prove just as amazing. And that's saying something, believe you me.

And believe it or not, the EWA really has reopened. It's true, it's true. And they have a mean card lined up there as well, playing off of the returns of their old stars, and the guys just hopping on board. Gates truly knows what he's doing here.

~ To start the night off, Gates will announce the IC Tourney brackets. Should be an interesting tourney, considering the amount of talent they have in there. Which is a lot, just so you know.

~ Starting off, Sigel Phoenix takes on former AWF TV Champ, Johnny Blaze. As far as I can tell, Blaze really hasn't done much since the AWF collapsed, besides a very brief stint in the very brief NEXW. Sigel, on the other hand, has really shown me something in the NYSWF, defeating none other than Spiral. And we all know how near undefeatable Spiral is. Throw into that the fact that Sigel's greener than a brussel sprout, and you can see why I'm impressed.

~ KG goes up against newcomer Phoenix Dark in a normal match. I haven't heard anything about Dark, but we'll see how this goes.

~ In one of two of my most anticipated matches of the night (they're both title matches, no less) the EWA Hardcore Title is on the line as Nukeman "defends" his title against Lunatikk Crippler and Sean Boden. Crip's on a roll, and Boden's just coming off of a knee injury, but even still, with the talent level of these three performers, this match could go in ANY direction, and I'd be happy.

~ Haywood Jublome (NO!) takes on newcomer to the circuit Rob Harris. Harris has a couple of titles on the independent scene, and my sources say he's got more than enough talent. But is it enough to beat Haywood? I'm afraid I can't answer that question.

~ This one should be interesting... Raven and Triple H are slated to fight. There's no denying either man's talent, and there's no denying either's drive... but one will end up denied the win. I'm curious to find out who.

~ The Only Champion takes on The Golden Champion, in a falls count anywhere battle. That's right, the Golden One is back, and he's taking on Evan Douglas this week. Now, I don't know much of my history, but I know the Golden One. If there's someone to beat in the new EWA, it's him. A win over him would absolutely propel Evan Douglas to the sky, and in my opinion, that's exactly where he belongs.

~ And the main event, Erik Draven, Jack Daniels, and "Cold" Harding Cash mix it up for the EWA Heavyweight Title, in a match called "The Match That Never Was." No kidding, it never was, and it pissed off a lot of EWA fans. Gates better make this one a good one if he wants to get any kind of a ratings draw here. Granted, any one of them would make an excellent champion, it's the match that counts, hombre.

Well, that's that, my grateful marks. I'll be able to make this a little shorter next time, since I'll only be talking about one federation at a time. Anyway, see you Monday with a full report on the NYSWF's two PPV's, Caged Fury and BJC '01, and a look at next week's cards.

Camel out, yo.