Post by Dave on Mar 2, 2022 22:18:09 GMT -5
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.
The 2016 edition of Happenstance kicked off with the Quarterfinals for the tournament; Spyke Gein defeated Nessa Wall, Fenryr Wulfsson defeated Allen Chaney, Dagger bested Luke Mathews and Destiny Figgins beat Jay Blazenwing. The semifinals later in the evening saw Fenryr Wulfsson conquer Spyke Gein, while Dagger tapped out Destiny, setting up what was sure to be a memorable final match. In the night's main event, we saw the tournament finals, which ended with Fenryr hitting Dagger with The Oathbreaker after nearly 14 minutes to claim the 2016 Happenstance crown. One month later at Danger Zone, Fenryr faced BWF World Champion Sabrina Scott inside a Steel Cage, and dismantled the bubbly star en route to successfully capturing his first BWF World Title.
On April 30, 2021, for the first time in over five years, the Happenstance Tournament returned - with a twist. Going into the event, we saw the usual eight competitors ready to compete in Quarterfinal Matches. However, before the event began, it was announced that the Quarterfinals would be skipped entirely, and instead, we would have two Four Corners Elimination Semifinal Matches to determine who would move on to the Happenstance Finals. In the first of these, Gabe Shelley outlasted Talia Areano, Billie Sky and Akemi Hayashi to advance. In the second, Johnny Maverick defeated Vincent Thorn, Jaxon Taylor and Enforcer to punch his own ticket to the Finals. In the end, only one man could win the 2021 crown, and that man was Johnny, forcing Gabe to submit to the Perfect Armbar. After Johnny won, 2016 Happenstance King Fenryr Wulfsson made his surprise return, ruining Johnny's celebration. Johnny opted to wait until after Danger Zone to get his title shot, instead wanting to take down Fenryr first. Johnny was victorious, but after Danger Zone, BWF would end up going on a five month hiatus, finally returning on October 31 with the first-ever Ghouls, Ghosts & Gutbusters event. A one-night tournament was held to determine who would leave as the new BWF World Champion; as he never got his title opportunity for winning Happenstance, Johnny was given a pass to the night's finals and, for the second time in 2021, would end a BWF pay-per-view with a tournament victory, this time claiming the BWF World Championship that had eluded him for a decade.
Going in to the 2022 Happenstance Tournament, the field was wide open, with several talented competitors viewed as the potential favorite to take home the hallowed crown. Sixteen entered the tournament, but in the end, it was FM Young who emerged victorious, besting Kurt Hullum in the Qualifying Round, an undefeated TAURUS in the Quarterfinals, a determined Gabe Shelley in the Semifinals and, ultimately, Minka Carter in the Finals. Following the victory, FM would rechristen herself "King Effy" - the first BWF competitor to do so, and also the first female competitor in the tournament's history to request the title 'King' over 'Queen'.
