“Where the snow is cold, the takes are colder, and the truth is downright glacial.”
THOUGHTS FROM THE BUNKER…
By Dave “The Brute” Kent
Well, Brutalists, pour yourself something stiff and strap in, because HCW is rolling into the weekend with Zero Hour — a two-night supercard that actually looks… brace yourselves… competently booked. Yeah, I said it. It’s December, miracles happen, even in wrestling.
HCW’s wrapping up 2025 with a top-to-bottom slate that isn’t just filler between turkey leftovers and holiday specials. No, this thing’s got teeth — and for once they’re not all growing out of that Dark Dominion freak show. We’ve got grudges, title fights, rematches with receipts, and a loser-leaves-town match that promises to end one of the most stubborn feuds in the business. That’s right — somebody’s packing their bags, and for once it won’t be because HCW forgot to renew a contract.
Let’s break down the highlights Night by Night.
NIGHT 1 — DECEMBER 13
HCW World Ladies Championship
Champion Selena Blackfang vs. Scarlett Howl
If you’re wondering what happens when a predator meets another predator, here you go. Selena’s been terrorizing HCW with the smug confidence of someone who thinks she invented villainy, and to be fair — she might have patented a few new kinds. But Scarlett Howl? That’s not just a challenger, that’s a huntress with a year of frustration and hunger stored up like a winter wolf.
This isn’t a match, it’s a collision of bloodlines — Dominion cruelty versus Enclave grit. And for the first time in months, Selena might actually have to work for her supper.
Ashley Summers vs. Maid Marion (Convergence Rematch)
The first match was heated, messy, and exactly the kind of cross-promotion powder keg that gives booking committees ulcers. Ashley’s still convinced she was robbed. Marion’s still convinced Ashley talks too much. And honestly? They’re both right. Expect Marion’s footwork to slice and Ashley’s temper to combust. A rare rematch that actually deserves to exist.
HCW United States Championship
Wilbur Townsend (c) vs. Owen Zestwell
A sadist versus a showman. Wilbur’s coming off a year where he’s either murdering people or being murdered by his own allies — there’s no middle ground with the guy. Zestwell, meanwhile, has swagger, skill, and one fatal flaw: he underestimates psychos.
If Zestwell tries to “style” on Townsend, they’ll be scraping him off the canvas with a putty knife.
NIGHT 2 — DECEMBER 14
HCW Television Championship
Van Helsing (c) vs. The Rich Athlete
Yes, you read that right — Van Helsing walks into Zero Hour as the reigning TV Champion, and he’s defending that belt against The Rich Athlete… the same man who will defend NPCW’s Northern Lights Championship against Helsing next weekend at Nightmare at the North Pole.
This isn’t just a title match — it’s a federation-spanning tug-of-war with two belts and two egos colliding in the span of eight days.
Van Helsing wants justice, vengeance, and a clean sweep — to walk into Nightmare wearing HCW’s TV Title and walk out wearing NPCW’s Northern Lights Title too. He wants to prove that hunters don’t chase trophies… they collect them.
Rich Athlete wants… well, to remind the world he’s rich, beautiful, better than you, and somehow the victim in all this. And if he can humiliate Helsing on HCW turf right before they meet again on NPCW turf? That’s the kind of cross-promotional bragging rights a narcissist like him dreams about.
These two are going to beat each other senseless twice in eight days, trade belts, bragging rights, and probably dental bills — and honestly?
I’m here for every second of it.
Loser Leaves Town
Yeti vs. Jax Brenner
A year-long feud finally gets the guillotine it deserves. Yeti — the frostbitten monster betrayed, rebuilt, and weaponized — faces Jax Brenner — the Alaskan Wildman with enough stored trauma, beef, and rage to power a substation.
Some feuds fade.
Some burn out.
This one?
It gets buried in a shallow grave somewhere in the Carolinas.
Perfect.
HCW World Championship
Jack Lumber (c) vs. Zack Brown
Two human walls colliding at full speed.
Lumber is HCW’s hardest-swinging champ in years — a powerhouse who doesn’t so much wrestle as eliminate people from his personal forest.
Zack Brown is the Commando, and if you’ve ever watched this guy grind through pain, opponents, or steel steps, you know he takes match preparation personally.
This is going to be a fistfight with a title belt hovering somewhere in the background pretending it matters more than the violence.
THE BRUTE’S OVERALL TAKE:
HCW delivered something rare this year — a December card that doesn’t feel like management rummaged through a bargain bin of half-finished feuds and leftover storylines. Zero Hour is tight, mean, and the kind of year-ender you build momentum on rather than apologize for.
If they stick the landing — and I can’t believe I’m saying this — HCW might walk into 2026 looking like the promotion with the clearest vision. And not just because Count Vlad keeps hypnotizing everyone into thinking his vision matters.
NPCW fires back next weekend with Nightmare at the North Pole, but right now?
Credit where it’s due:
HCW loaded the sleigh, lit the fuse, and pointed this whole thing downhill.
And that’s the Brutal Truth.
NO WORDS BARRED
Dave’s Takes on NPCW House Show 037 – Gander
By Dave “The Brute” Kent
Gander didn’t get a TV taping, a title match, or a surprise run-in from some Universal Champion who thinks the sun rises and sets on his entrance music. What it did get was a classic NPCW special: big men throwing bombs, Grimm Sisters tightening their chokehold on the division, Penny Coppersnap taking another noble beating, and King Arthur getting turned into medieval mulch by Frankenstein’s Monster in a main event that ended faster than most concession lines.
This felt like a “statement stop” on the loop — not a blowaway supercard, but one of those nights where you can see the chessboard shifting if you’re paying attention. The Polar Bears roared back into form, the Grimms walked out 2–0, and Camelot limped out of Newfoundland wondering if someone swapped Excalibur for a pool noodle.
Let’s break it down.
Match 1: Polar Bears vs. Merry Band (Friar Tuck & Little John)
The Hype
Tag wrestling, the way Gander likes it: four large men, one crooked ref, and more clubbing forearms than a 1987 NWA tape. The Polar Bears lumbered in needing to reassert themselves as NPCW’s resident mauling machines. Across the ring, Friar Tuck and Little John — the Merry Band’s heart and backbone — ready to prove they can hang with the true hosses of the division.
The Match
Early on it looked like Merry Band magic: Tuck out-wrestled two bears at once, chaining Rolling Scissors, chinlocks, and suplexes while the Bears tried to solve the problem the only way they know how — double-teaming everything that moves.
The middle stretch turned into a tug-of-war between domination and survival. Polar Bear 1 and 2 cycled in and out with backbreakers, swats, Arctic Avalanches and full nelsons, grinding Friar Tuck into the ice while Little John repeatedly stormed in like a one-man lumber camp, drilling axe handles, shoulder claws, and towering suplexes.
By the time John finally became legal for a long run, he nearly stole the match — shrugging off eye rakes, shrugging off bear hugs, pounding away in the corner and dragging the whole thing back to even. But the Bears did what they always do: outlast, out-maul, and wait for one mistake.
After a desperate save by Tuck broke up a Polar Clutch near-fall, things reset — and that’s when Polar Bear 2 caught Tuck cold with the Northern Lights Drop (atomic drop). One ragdoll bounce later and the three-count hit. Bears win after 25 minutes of frosty attrition.
Kent’s Take
This was a big-man marathon, maybe five minutes longer than it needed to be, but nobody in Gander seemed to mind. Tuck and John continue to overachieve as the plucky workhorses of the division, but the Bears reminded everyone why they’re gatekeepers: they don’t have to out-think you when they can just out-crush you.
If NPCW wants to rebuild the tag scene around brute force, this was a smart way to start — but the Merry Band earned another look.
Rating: ★★★½
“If you like subtle, technical wrestling… you bought the wrong ticket. This was all paws, prayers, and pain.”
Match 2: Shade Grimm vs. Sorina
The Hype
On paper, this looked like a measuring stick match: Shade Grimm — the sharper, meaner half of the Grimm Sisters — against Sorina, who’s been slowly earning respect by absorbing beatings and refusing to stay down. This wasn’t just about wins and losses. It was about whether Sorina belongs in the same ecosystem as NPCW’s rising dark royalty.
The Match
They started hot and never cooled off.
Right out of the gate, Sorina answered Shade’s Lifting Curb Stomp with a Float-Over DDT and a Tiger Bomb, planting Grimm like she was trying to bury the feud in one go. For the first few minutes, Sorina looked like the better wrestler — chaining powerbombs, arm drags, and camel clutches with confidence.
But Shade fights like a horror movie villain: she just keeps coming. Spears, pump kicks, step-up enzuigiris, release Germans — every time Sorina tried to string together another combination, Shade cut her off with something sharper and nastier.
The middle third turned into a sick kind of dance. Sorina kept returning to the Float-Over DDT and Camel Clutch, trying to drag Shade into deep water. Shade answered with repeated Spears that folded Sorina in half, and curb stomp variations that looked uglier each time.
By the 20-minute mark, the crowd was split — half screaming for Sorina’s resilience, half grudgingly respecting Shade’s refusal to die. The finishing stretch saw both trading bombs: Tiger Bombs vs Spears, knife-edge chops vs basement dropkicks, arm drags vs German suplexes.
Finally, in the 29th minute, Grimm drilled Sorina with a brutal Curb Stomp that bounced her off the mat and kept her there for the three.
Kent’s Take
Not just a good match — a career match for Sorina. She lost, yeah, but she didn’t just survive Shade Grimm, she pushed her to open up the whole playbook. Shade proved why the Grimm Sisters are a threat to every woman on the roster: she can take punishment all night and still have another stomp waiting.
This felt like a test, and whether management meant it or not, Sorina passed. She’s still in the “gets beaten up” phase of her career, but tonight she graduated from victim to credible underdog.
Rating: ★★★★
“If this is how Shade warms up on a house show, I don’t wanna see what she does when the cameras are rolling.”
Match 3: Glint Grimm vs. Penny Coppersnap
The Hype
Match two gave us Shade Grimm’s cruelty — match three gave us Glint’s. Penny Coppersnap, NPCW’s blue-collar brawler with a penchant for getting knocked down and swinging anyway, drew one half of the Grimm Sisters in a singles showcase. Translation: the lights were about to go out for somebody’s dental plan.
The Match
Penny actually struck first — a Glimmerbomb Toss suplex that popped the crowd and briefly had Glint on the back foot. From there, though, the momentum shifted hard. Glint settled in, chaining Phantom Falls, Veil Breakers, Specter Snaps and Mournful Elbows, turning the match into a slow dissection.
Coppersnap fired back when she could — Gobflip Gleam, Market Pounders, Head Hex Driver — enough to keep the fans believing she might steal one. But every time she geared up, Glint either absorbed it or shut it down, including neutralizing a Snapsnare Suplex that could’ve turned the tide.
By minute nine, Penny was still throwing shots, but Glint had the rhythm. One more Phantom Fall (swinging neckbreaker) and that was that — three seconds later, Grimm Sisters were 2–0 in Gander.
Kent’s Take
Short, sharp, and exactly what it needed to be. This was Glint Grimm sending a very clear message: her sister isn’t the only threat in that team. She looked smooth, crisp, and downright mean. Penny, as usual, gave the match grit and heart, but she’s living in that dangerous spot where the crowd loves her and the booking team loves her as a crash test dummy.
Done right, nights like this build sympathy for Coppersnap. Done wrong, they build a pattern nobody comes back from.
Rating: ★★★
“Glint didn’t just beat Penny — she tuned her up like a haunted metronome. Grimm Sisters leave Gander with more momentum than conscience.”
Match 4: The Enforcers (Kong & Ogre) vs. Virtuous Blades (Sir Galahad & Sir Gawain)
The Hype
If you ever wondered what happens when Camelot meets a meat grinder, this was the experiment. Virtuous Blades — NPCW’s knightly tag technicians — walked in with honor, footwork, and Pele Kicks. The Enforcers, Kong and Ogre, walked in with Dr. Frankenstein’s game plan and the collective subtlety of a brick through a stained-glass window.
The Match
Galahad opened up defiantly, cracking Kong with a Pele Kick while Dr. Frankenstein barked orders like a mad coach. But that was the last time this looked anything like even.
From the second minute on, it was Enforcer Country. Kong and Ogre turned the ring into a laboratory for blunt force trauma: Gorilla Press Drops, snap mares, punches to the face, diving headbutts, sledgehammer shots to the chest. Gawain kept firing back with Crucifix Powerbombs, fallaway slams, and backbreakers, but every exchange ended with the big men still standing.
Once Kong hit the Jungle Swing and tagged out, Ogre picked up the baton and never let go. Even when Gawain landed the Verdant Oath and tagged Galahad back in, Camelot could never quite build momentum.
Kong nearly ended it with a Sledge Hammer to the chest and a pin attempt, forcing Galahad to kick out on willpower alone — but the reprieve lasted about 60 seconds. Ogre tagged in, booted Galahad in the midsection like he was punting a drawbridge, and that one simple Boot to the Midsection was enough to close the books at nine minutes.
Kent’s Take
This wasn’t a match, it was a mugging. In booking terms, it did its job perfectly: Enforcers look like unstoppable monsters, Dr. Frankenstein looks smart for once, and the Virtuous Blades look noble in defeat rather than pathetic. But if you’re a Camelot fan? Rough night in Newfoundland.
I get the story — build the Enforcers as a real threat — but stacking this right before the main event (which we’ll get to) turned the whole night into “Let’s Watch Camelot Suffer.” That’s a choice.
Rating: ★★★¼
“Kong and Ogre didn’t just enforce anything — they filed a restraining order on Camelot’s momentum.”
MAIN EVENT: King Arthur vs. Frankenstein’s Monster
The Hype
King Arthur, crown jewel of Camelot and one of NPCW’s purest babyfaces, standing across from Frankenstein’s Monster — Dr. F’s stitched-together juggernaut and walking hate machine. Merlin at ringside. “Honest” Abe in charge. After watching the Enforcers steamroll the Blades, the Gander crowd needed Arthur to ride in and turn the tide.
What they got instead was a very loud, very short message.
The Match
From the opening bell, Merlin tried to stack the deck with a spell of rejuvenation, but the Monster didn’t care. He clamped Arthur in the Clamp (pendulum backbreaker) almost immediately, ragdolling the King and forcing him to survive rather than thrive.
Arthur fought back — atomic drops, a vicious Indian Deathlock, spinebuster attempts — showing flashes of the champion he’s supposed to be. For about two minutes, it looked like the King might turn the tide by chopping the Monster down at the legs.
Then the whole thing flipped.
Arthur went for a spinebuster, Monster reversed it, and drilled him with a Heavy Hand (back smash) that echoed through the building. One pin attempt later, three slaps of the mat, and it was over.
Four minutes.
Frankenstein’s Monster over King Arthur. No flukes, no interference, no controversy. Just brute force.
Kent’s Take
You don’t book a four-minute main event by accident. This was a statement squash, the kind that tells the locker room, “This guy is a problem now.” Frankenstein’s Monster looked like a killer, full stop. Arthur… looked like a man who just found out the sword in the stone was made of foam.
From a storytelling point of view, it’s effective: Enforcers win, Monster demolishes Camelot’s King, Dr. Frankenstein walks out of Gander with enough momentum to power a pay-per-view. But stacking both Camelot beatings on the same card — and ending the night that abruptly — is the kind of thing that can leave a house show crowd blinking instead of buzzing.
Rating: ★★¾ (as a match) / ★★★★ (as an angle)
“From a wrestling standpoint, this was a drive-by. From a booking standpoint, this was Frankenstein planting a giant flag in the middle of the roster.”
CONCLUSION: GANDER GETS GRIMMER
House Show 037 in Gander wasn’t about feel-good moments — it was about power structures shifting.
The Polar Bears reasserted themselves as top-tier maulers in the tag division.
The Grimm Sisters walked out with two big singles wins, sending a very clear message to the rest of the women’s locker room.
Penny Coppersnap continues to garner sympathy and respect, even as the losses pile up.
Dr. Frankenstein and his creations — Enforcers and Monster alike — walked out looking like the biggest threats in the territory.
And Camelot? They left Gander bruised, humbled, and one bad week away from a full-on crisis of confidence.
As a wrestling show, it was solid, occasionally very good, never boring. As a narrative show, it was loud and clear: winter belongs to monsters and Grimms, and if the heroes of NPCW want their storybook ending, they’re going to have to fight their way out of a horror novel first.
Overall Show Rating: ★★★½
“Gander didn’t get a classic — it got a warning. And if you’re on the side of angels or knights, you better start swinging harder, because the shadows are winning.”
THE FINAL WORD
By Dave “The Brute” Kent
Well, Brutalists… here we are.
End of the year, end of the loop, and — for now — end of The Brutal Truth for 2025. Don’t panic, I’m not getting hauled off by security or buried under a pile of cease-and-desists from Scrooge’s legal team. This is just the last issue of the calendar year, not my farewell tour. I’m like a bad finish: no matter how much you boo, I keep coming back.
We’ve got a wild couple of weeks left on the road to close out 2025. HCW’s Zero Hour is about to kick the door in with a two-night supercard, NPCW’s winding up for Nightmare at the North Pole, and then we slam everything into the boards with Wrestlefest Boxing Day on December 26 — NPCW’s last in-ring show of the year, where yours truly will be at the commentary desk, yelling myself hoarse while somebody tries to kill themselves off the top rope for holiday glory.
So no, I am not going quietly into the snowbank.
You’ll still see me this Sunday on Chill Factor in Thoughts from the Bunker — same bunker, same mask, same voice, slightly higher blood pressure. I’ll be the one reminding you that just because the lights are twinkly and the ring posts have wreaths on them doesn’t mean the booking suddenly makes sense. And at Nightmare at the North Pole, I’ll be on hand as a special guest interviewer — sticking microphones into the faces of exhausted, bleeding wrestlers and asking them why on earth they thought taking that bump was a good idea.
But the big news — the thing that’s going to close the book on 2025 and crack open 2026 — is this:
I’m hosting NPCW’s massive Year-End Review series.
From December 28th to January 3rd, every single day you’re getting a special. No fluff. No “everyone’s a winner” nonsense. Just seven straight days of score-settling, truth-telling, and handing out recognition… and receipts.
Here’s how it’s shaking out:
December 28 – Year in Review & EVENT OF THE YEAR
We kick things off with a full recap of the chaos: Convergence, fan passports, demons, dominions, reindeer revolutions, Krampus meltdowns, and every time someone thought it was a good idea to poke Mean Jack Mason with a stick. Then we plant the flag on Event of the Year — the show that actually delivered bell-to-bell, not just on poster art and corporate hashtags.December 29 – STORYLINE OF THE YEAR & FEUD OF THE YEAR
This is where feelings get hurt. We’re talking long-term booking, emotional investment, and who actually followed through instead of getting dropped like a bad B-plot.
Storyline of the Year goes to the angle that stuck the landing.
Feud of the Year? That’s about heat — the rivalry you couldn’t skip, the one that made you lean forward when the music hit. There’ll be blood here, metaphorically and probably literally.December 30 – FACTION OF THE YEAR
Dark Dominion, Demonic Legion, Primal Horde, Coven, Camelot, Enclave — 2025 was the year of the power bloc. On this show, we sort out who actually ran their lane and who just stood around looking spooky in group promos. Backstage politics, win-loss records, impact on NPCW — it all counts. No participation trophies. Somebody’s walking out with bragging rights. Somebody else is walking out exposed.December 31 – MALE TAG TEAM & FEMALE TAG TEAM OF THE YEAR
New Year’s Eve belongs to the duos.
We shine the light on the teams that actually held this place together: the workhorses, the specialists, the pairings that turned house shows into classics and main events into riots. Men’s tag, women’s tag — and no, your “on again off again” alliance that lasted three weeks doesn’t count. If you weren’t a team, you weren’t in the conversation.
If you’re a tag team who’s spent more time posing than tagging, I’d suggest maybe not tuning in for this one. I’m not gonna be gentle.January 1 – MOST POPULAR & MOST HATED (Male & Female)
Start the year with the two things wrestling still lives and dies on: who the fans love and who they absolutely cannot stand.
We’ll crown Most Popular Male and Most Popular Female — the people who move merch, move crowds, and move the needle. Then we flip the coin and name Most Hated Male and Most Hated Female — the heat magnets who could walk into a room full of puppies and get booed.
And no, “X/Twitter discourse” doesn’t decide this. Reactions in the building do.January 2 – TOP SINGLES MALE & TOP SINGLES FEMALE
This is pure in-ring and big-match performance. Workrate, big fight aura, consistency, clutch factor — who showed up every time the lights were brightest?
You don’t have to be a champion to be the top singles star. But if you are a champion and you’re not in the running, that tells its own story, doesn’t it?January 3 – OVERALL WRESTLER OF THE YEAR
The big one. One name. One.
Male or female, North Pole or elsewhere, monster, knight, witch, hunter — if you were the total package in 2025, this is where your number gets called.
In-ring, promos, presence, moments, impact… and yes, whether you helped put butts in seats and eyes on the product. You want to be the face of this whole messed-up snow globe? Then you better have earned it from January through December, not just had one hot weekend.
So yeah — The Brutal Truth is taking a short winter nap after this issue, but I’m not going anywhere. I’ll still be in the Bunker on Sundays, behind the desk at Wrestlefest, in the interview zone at Nightmare, and front and center as we sift through the wreckage of 2025 and decide who actually matters going into 2026.
A lot of people in this business like to pretend time is a circle and nothing sticks — that you can botch a year and just reboot in January with a new entrance theme and a slightly different haircut.
Not this time.
This year end, we’re writing it all down. Who rose. Who fell. Who carried companies, and who got carried by better workers and louder hype. If you had a great year, you’re gonna get spotlighted. If you coasted while everyone around you bled for this, I’m gonna say that out loud too.
Because that’s the gig. That’s the promise. That’s the Brutal Truth.
See you at Chill Factor. See you at Nightmare. See you at Wrestlefest.
And then, starting December 28th, see you every damn day until we’ve named every last winner… and every quiet loser.
– Dave “The Brute” Kent
“New year, new me? Forget that. New year, same me — just with more receipts and less patience.”
No comments:
Post a Comment