THOUGHTS FROM THE BUNKER …
From the Bunker – September 12, 2025
Every so often, the wrestling world shifts. Titles change, alliances crumble, legends return—but sometimes the biggest shakeups come from outside the ring. This Sunday on Chill Factor, there’s going to be a very special announcement concerning yours truly, Dave The Brute Kent. Now, I can’t spoil the surprise just yet (and believe me, I’d love to), but what I can tell you is this: it never would have happened without all of you—my loyal Brutalists—who’ve stuck by me since the day NPCW tried to silence me. You wanted honesty. You wanted no sugarcoating. You wanted the real story. And because of that, The Brutal Truth has become more than a newsletter—it’s become the last refuge of real wrestling journalism.
But here’s the kicker. This announcement means some changes are coming to The Brutal Truth starting next week. My old “No Words Barred” full NPCW house show recaps—the same columns fans have been begging to see return—are coming home. I’ve taken them back from another writer, and they’ll now live right here inside The Brutal Truth. That means sharper coverage, deeper breakdowns, and no place for NPCW or anyone else to hide from accountability. And before anyone asks—yes, I’ll still be showing up for HCW. Don’t worry, I’m not leaving them high and dry. The Brute has enough venom for both companies, and you’re going to get it all right here.
Mark it down: we are entering a new era for Dave The Brute Kent and The Brutal Truth. The bunker is expanding, the spotlight is growing brighter, and the honesty is only going to get more ruthless from here. If the promoters thought I was a thorn in their side before… oh, they haven’t seen anything yet.
— Dave “The Brute” Kent
From the Bunker — remember, the truth hurts, and business is about to get brutal.
NPCW HOUSE SHOW RESULTS - Ottawa, ON
Thanks to Brutalist Bart Heart for the results!
DAVE’S TAKES
Frosty vs. Hans Trapp (Main Event – NPCW House Show, Ottawa, ON)
★★★ out of 5
Let’s just get this out of the way: what on earth was NPCW thinking debuting Hans Trapp on a house show? You’ve got this monster of a figure – a folk-horror character come to life, a guy you should be protecting like nuclear launch codes – and you run his first match in front of a half-filled Ottawa crowd at a non-televised show. That’s booking malpractice. The match itself was a strange beast: Frosty carried more than expected, getting in long stretches of offense and even pin attempts that frankly did Trapp no favors. Trapp’s offense looked brutal when he got it – the Piledrivers and Back Breakers had that Brody-level menace – but the constant interference from Fenwick Grimbough killed the rhythm. Instead of making Trapp look like a world-eater, it made him look like a guy who needed help to beat Frosty, a comedy-leaning midcarder. The closing stretch was solid, but thirty-one minutes? For a debut? Overkill.
Now, to be fair, some of this might be on Trapp himself. The guy’s been out of wrestling for years, dragged back from folklore obscurity to lace up the boots again, and you could see some ring rust creeping in. His pacing was off at times, he seemed to lean on Frosty to steer the match, and when you’ve got that much time to fill, the cracks start to show. That doesn’t excuse the booking, but it explains why the monster didn’t look quite as unstoppable as he should have. NPCW should have protected him, not exposed him.
And here’s the thing: if you’ve got a guy who hasn’t wrestled in years, you don’t throw him out there for a half-hour Broadway. You mask the weaknesses, you highlight the strengths. Give him 8–10 minutes, have him tear through a guy, maybe let Frosty sneak in a little offense so it’s not a total squash, but keep Trapp looking like a juggernaut. That’s what made monsters like Brody, Vader, and Undertaker work in their primes – they didn’t show the cracks, because the booking was smart enough to cover them up. Instead, NPCW booked this like they were trying to prove Trapp could go a marathon, and the result was the opposite: they showed the audience every wobble, every hesitation, every hint of rust. They didn’t accentuate the positives and hide the negatives – they paraded the negatives in front of the live crowd. If this is how they plan to use Hans Trapp, he’ll be another cautionary tale of wasted potential.
Korbi Kong and Mina Harker VS Crimson Vane and Scarlett Howl (Match 4 – HCW Voltage 09/07 Episode)
Courtesy of Fantasy Wrestling Newsletter
This was a match that should have been a statement — four talented women in the ring, each with something to prove — but instead it turned into yet another chapter in the “Dominion Law” playbook. Let’s start with the positives: Korbi Kong looked like a monster, mowing down both Vane and Howl with ease early on, and Mina Harker continues to cement herself as one of the best characters in the company — the hurricanrana–backbreaker combo with Korbi was absolutely sick and got the right reaction. On the other side, Scarlett Howl was the spark plug of the match. She’s the one who brought the crowd to life with her suplexes and that crisp facebuster, and Crimson Vane — to her credit — absorbed a lot of punishment and kept fighting back. This was shaping up into something that could have been really good.
And then, predictably, Vlad sticks his nose in. Look, I get it — the Dominion are supposed to be omnipresent manipulators, always getting the last word, but when every single big match ends with Count Vlad interfering, it stops being heat and starts being lazy. The DQ finish here didn’t make Mina and Korbi look strong, it didn’t elevate Scarlett and Vane, and it didn’t add anything to the story other than “Dominion cheats again.” You can protect your heels without turning every finish into copy-paste interference. Imagine if Scarlett actually pinned Mina clean — the pop would’ve been massive and it would have meant something. Instead, we got a hollow “victory” and Vlad smirking like he’s cracking the Da Vinci Code when really he’s just hitting CTRL+C, CTRL+V on last week’s script.
That said, what came after the bell was the money. Selena Blackfang, Talia Nocturne, Mina, and Korbi beating the life out of Scarlett and Crimson — that was pure, vicious heat. Then Gretel storming down with the chains, followed by the debut of the feral punk-wolf woman? The place went nuclear. And that Van Helsing laser-marking Beastfang like he was prey in a horror movie? Chef’s kiss. That’s how you set a hook and make people come back next week. The match itself was decent, but the post-match angle stole the show. This wasn’t about who got their hand raised — it was about drawing battle lines between the Dominion and the Enclave, and on that front, HCW nailed it.
Rating: ★★★ out of 5 (match), ★★★★½ out of 5 (post-match angle).
THE FINAL WORD
By Dave “The Brute” Kent
If you’ve been paying attention since January, you’ve seen the lines between NPCW and HCW start to blur — and now they’re not just blurring, they’re practically dissolving. It all started quietly when Yeti wandered into HCW’s Dark Dominion camp, and I thought at the time it was just a one-off. But here we are, months later, and the list of names crossing back and forth looks like a roll call for a wrestling civil war. Negropolis slithered into NPCW, Madman Mason went on a tear, Snake Pit slunk his way into the mix — and that was just the opening salvo. Now we’re seeing the floodgates break: Scarlett Howl, Mina Harker, and Grizelda making their presence felt in HCW rings, and the Hunters Enclave standing toe-to-toe with Count Vlad’s Dominion like it’s a supernatural gang war.
This isn’t just “cross-promotion.” This feels like convergence — two worlds colliding under the same shadow. And make no mistake, that shadow has a name: Count Vlad. His fingerprints are all over this movement, whether it’s tightening his grip on HCW or letting his influence seep into NPCW. For years, fans have begged for wrestling to feel unpredictable again, to feel dangerous. Well, here it is. You can argue over whether NPCW’s heroes or HCW’s monsters will stand tall in the end, but I’ll tell you this: the ones cashing in are the fans. Rivalries are hotter, stakes are higher, and every show feels like it could explode into all-out war. So buckle in, because this isn’t just an angle — this is the storm front, and when it hits, it’s going to change the landscape of both promotions forever.
And that, folks, is the Brutal Truth.
– Dave "The Brute" Kent, The walls are collapsing, the shadows are growing, and the Brutal Truth doesn’t hide.
Excellent, Dave.
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