As you can see by the byline, I'm Royce Garland, veteran professional wrestling reporter, and this is the first edition of Mindwipe. What this column is basically going to be is bits and pieces from the world of professional wrestling - namely, the EWA and the NPWA. I'll be here each week with the inside scoop on what's going on behind-the-scenes in wrestling, in addition to exclusive live reports of the television broadcasts from my sources attending the events. And without any further ado, that leads us into the NPWA, and Sabotage, which took place last night from Deep Ellum, Texas.

The big news that wasn't televised coming out of the National Pro Wrestling Alliance's Sabotage show last night was a dark match that took place shortly before the program went on the air. According to my sources, Sean Boden, Mr. Four Part Disharmony himself, wrestled a dark match (a tryout of sorts, perhaps?) against a man who was just beginning to make a name for himself in the NEWF before injury struck, 'The Impact' Jonathan Storm. The contest ended with Storm reversing a small package and getting the win, and my sources tell me it was quite the match to watch, with both men appearing on the top of the game and giving the jacked crowd an exciting technical wrestling encounter. This leaves the matter of whether or not we'll be seeing these two men compete in the NPWA shortly open to much speculation. I, for one, think obtaining either of these men would be beneficial for the Changurda regime, as both men have proven they can get the job done inside the squared circle.

Another interesting note was the dark match immediately before the Storm/Boden encounter, as a familiar face wrestled to open the event. Dredd, the 7' plus monster, took on Paladin in a match that ended in a double countout. It's a known fact that Dredd has many friends in Deep Ellum, and visits there often. The true question is, was this just one of those visits, and a match as a favor to Chang...or is there something more to the association between Dredd and the National Pro Wrestling Alliance? That's another question that should have people talking at the office for weeks to come, as Dredd, when at the peak of his game, is undoubtedly a force to be reckoned with.

My sources also tell me that there was quite the interesting development after the cameras went off the air. After Michael Draven's shocking submission match victory over Venom for the Television Title, in which Venom passed out from the pain of the Crippler Crossface rather than submit, Draven, who has had just about nothing go his way this week, was esctatic. He struggled to his feet, grimacing in pain, and strapped the belt around his waist. It was about this time that Venom regained consciousness, and laid Draven out from behind. Venom began laying a vicious beating into Draven, and was soonafter joined by Marcus Hailey. The two attacked Draven, and prepared to set him up for a spike piledriver, when out of nowhere, Erik Draven raced to the ring. My sources tell me the crowd was jacked at seeing the man formerly known as 'The ICON', as he and brother Michael cleared the ring to a resounding pop from the crowd. The two brothers then had a short staredown in the ring, before leaving separately. With Haywood Jublome's destruction of Michael Draven's personal life as of late, combined with the (senseless?) attack by Erik Draven onto Hailey, it is this writer's personal opinion that these two should finally drop their beef and do the smart thing - align themselves. Even if this didn't lead to Erik Draven joining Armageddon, it would be a help in the battle against Dark Force Rising for Armageddon to have someone else they could count on.

Let's switch gears for a moment now, and focus on the return of the EWA. The first edition of Wednesday Night War in nearly 18 months goes down live this Wednesday night, from the Hartford Civic Center in Hartford, Connecticut, and it's shaping up to be an extremely impressive card. With the returns of KG and The Golden One, and the World Title 'Main Event That Never Happened' Triple Threat match, people everywhere are talking about the EWA's return. However, I'm going to switch the point of view, and look at the one match that everyone's forgetting about - the match that could, in my opinion, steal the show. And that match is the Three Way Dance for the EWA Hardcore Title, with Nukeman, Sean Boden, and Lunatikk Crippler. None of these three men are strangers to hardcore wrestling. Lunatikk Crippler was one of the wrestlers to redefine hardcore in the late 90's, Sean Boden is a former AWF Hardcore Champion (and RAGE, his alter-ego, knows ALL about hardcore), and Nukeman was the EWA Hardcore Champion when the federation closed, not to mention the master/creator of the Nuclear Hell match. These three men have made a name for themselves off of the simple fact that they will do anything - put their bodies on the line in any manner - in order to get the job done, and that's why these are three of my favorite wrestlers to watch compete today. We could be looking at two ***** matches on the EWA's first card, and how many federations can boast that success rate on the first event?

With KG and The Golden one returning, the internet community is buzzing about who could be next to return from the EWA's glorified past. Could Prodigy step out of hiding and return to the EWA? Could Jeff Bunda, the Franchise himself, make a triumphant return to the federation he made his name in? Could The Wyldsyde, Crazy Canuck, Makaveli, or Justin Hicks make comebacks? This reporter's keeping his lips sealed, but word has it on 'the streetz' that Duane Gates has been in contact with many of the former EWA superstars, and has a verbal committment with at least one former EWA Heavyweight Champion. Now run along and speculate on who it could be - because rumor has it that another is negotiating a possible appearance in Hartford this Wednesday. And don't email me asking for the answer - you'll have to figure this one out yourselves.

That wraps it up for this week's edition of Mindwipe. I'm Royce Garland, and I'll see you here next week with more inside wrestling news. Be well.