Rapid Fire Festival 2024 Week 3 Results

Date: 07/20/2024

Location: Wildwood, NJ

We have reached the halfway point of the Rapid Fire Festival and just like the heat from the beach the action was heating up. We had a title match involving a surprise guest, a concert, and some big matches. I am RFW Ringside Correspondent Kimberly Kennedy and here is everything you need to know about this week in RFW. 

Kassidy Fortune vs. Kami King

Kami King has been working hard in RFW since 2016 but is still looking for her big break. Kassidy Fortune arrived on the scene just two years ago and has been quickly rising through the ranks. These two determined women found their paths intersecting during the first week of the Festival with King securing a victory. The two met in a competitive match that tested them both. 

Fortune had the initial advantage in the match thanks to a neckbreaker that slowed down King. King found an opportunity to reverse the momentum midway through the match and came close to victory with several near falls. Fortune came back strong near the end of the match. Both women hit each other with everything they had but Fortune locked in victory by pinfall after ducking a superkick and pulling King down with a cutter.

A Gift for the Commissioner

RFW Commissioner Tiger Johnson was going over some business with his assistant Delilah when Lost Cause approached him with a gift of a bottle of wine and a charcuterie board. Johnson had agreed to rehire the group last week if they did something to really impress him. They… could have done better. Don’t get me wrong. I would love sipping some wine while dining on meat and cheese but Lost Cause had eaten a noticeable amount of the charcuterie board and the bottle of wine was half empty. Johnson asked what happened and Lost Cause admitted they were hungry and thirsty on their way to meet with him. Our fearless leader dismissed Lost Cause from his sight. 

Shannon Worth’s Issues with The Diamond Peak Escalate

RFW Wildheart Champion Shannon Worth met with me in the ring for an interview but we got a whole lot more than we expected. I asked Worth about The Diamond Peak interfering in her title defense against Mia Mercury last week.

“I think Claudia is bitter that she backed the wrong woman and she can’t accept that I don’t need her. Now she’s running a Diamond Peak that is without its crown jewel and won’t let it go. I’m not an idiot and neither are the people in this crowd. We all know how this goes. The Diamond Peak won’t leave me alone until they take my championship and prove to themselves that they can thrive without me. We also know that won’t happen.” -Shannon Worth

Worth’s confident speech brought out, who else, but Claudia Winter, Meghan DeWitt, and Preston Montgomery, The Diamond Peak. Winter admitted that she and The Diamond Peak had Worth in their sights, DeWitt was coming for the RFW Wildheart Championship, but said The Diamond Peak was better off without Worth.

Worth and Winter argued with each other until it became clear that Worth was outnumbered and surrounded by DeWitt and Montgomery. To everyone’s surprise, Worth got some backup. Mia Mercury came down to the ring with some tough words for her old friend, Meghan DeWitt. 

“I always believed in you, Megs. We were tag team champions together when we started in this business. I believe you can be a champion on your own and you don’t need Claudia Winter. I can’t stand behind the scenes and watch you go down this road.” -Mia Mercury

DeWitt defended her alliance with Winter and after some arguing with Mercury DeWitt struck her old friend. Worth belted DeWitt with a punch, Winter grabbed Worth from behind, Mercury tackled Winter, and Preston Montgomery tried to break up the fight. 

I spoke with Delilah later in the evening and she announced that Shannon Worth and Mia Mercury will team up to face Claudia Winter and Meghan DeWitt in a tag team match next week. 

Killer Malone vs. Ruslan Panov

Ruslan Panov shocked all of us when he attacked Killer Malone after losing in their previous encounter at Mayday in Memphis. The fans were ready for this highly anticipated rematch that was brutal action from bell-to-bell. 

Malone won in a slugfest against Panov early on but Panov showed his grit by withstanding Malone’s offense and firing back. Malone missed a knockout punch giving Panov an opening for a back suplex. Panov was ready to hit Malone with a curb stomp but Malone dodged and the fight continued. 

This was one of the more evenly contested matches I have seen in a while but Ruslan Panov prevailed by pinfall following a successful curb stomp. 

A Gift for the Commissioner, Take Two

Lost Cause was unable to impress Commissioner Johnson earlier in the show but Paisley Alden returned to the boss with a giant stuffed bear that she won for him by “beating fierce competition” at a boardwalk game. Johnson thanked Alden for her gift but clarified he was looking for Lost Cause to prove they can be a productive part of the roster. Alden walked off disappointed while Johnson and Delilah looked perplexed by the giant stuffed bear she left behind.

The Door vs. The Chartbreakers

The Door ended their championship run in 2023 on a down note but returned to action in a match against free agent tag team The Chartbreakers. Mika Kempi and Ronaldo Gomez got the fans attention with a fun, interactive rave entrance. The Door came down to the ring and showed a lighthearted side themselves by asking the production crew to start The Chartbreakers’ music again and dancing with them. 

It was unusual to see Malcom and Richter having fun and if I hadn’t seen it myself I wouldn’t have believed it. The Door is still The Door, though, and clotheslined both Kempi and Gomez, killing the rave and signaling they were ready to fight. The Chartbreakers managed to show the audience they could wrestle as well as party but The Door defeated them in a short match. 

Malcolm took a microphone and declared their intention to win back the RFW Tag Team Championship. They were, of course, interrupted by the current champs, The Navigators, who shared their thoughts on The Door. 

“Ah, no. This is cute and all with the new fun-loving spirit you have but Pete and I are putting a lot of work into turning this division around. The tag team division that, under your reign, was so bad that RFW begged us to come back. Keep coming to the ring to dance, or spike volleyballs at people, or whatever it is you are into this week, but the titles stay where they are. You need not apply.” -Aidan North

The Door considered North’s warning but shrugged and began slugging it out with the champions who retreated from the ring. 

Rapid Fire Festival Summer Concert

While we were all enjoying the show, Jessie Vega was having a stressful day because her band had their flight canceled. Vega was distraught as she was scheduled to perform a concert for our audience. Vega demanded answers from Delilah who was unsure of the travel mixup. Alexandra Morgan overheard the discussion and blamed Delilah, calling her incompetent because she made a mistake with Morgan’s flight a few weeks ago. Delilah defended herself and assured Vega she was not to blame. 

Mary Jane Elder walked up to the group and offered a solution. 

“It’s a real shame that you can’t put on your concert… But, you know, Travis Samuels’ band joined him here this week and they happened to bring their instruments. He’d love to perform in front of our fans. I think he might be able to save this concert!” -Mary Jane Elder

Travis Samuels did indeed save the day and performed a great country music rock show for the fans. Jessie Vega was not pleased and something tells me Mary Jane Elder may know more about this situation than she may have let on. There’s a lot going on here and I intend to find out more next week. 

Feats of Strength, or, Impressing the Commissioner

You thought Lost Cause was done trying to impression Commissioner Johnson? No, of course you didn’t. Cool Spencer approached Johnson and Delilah as they stood offstage at the end of Travis Samuels’ concert. Spencer proclaimed that Rus Samson will really impress Johnson. Samson happily power lifted some heavy equipment which I thought was really impressive. Unfortunately, the equipment tipped and broke some expensive lighting rigs. 

Needless to say, Lost Cause did not earn their jobs back. At this point, I’m not sure they ever will.

Respected, Not Liked

Tracy Blood got a measure of revenge last week when she defeated Yurei in a high stakes match that earned her a title match against RFW World Champion Cate Stiles at the Rapid Fire Festival finale in two weeks. I invited Stiles to the ring to address her new challenger who is someone Stiles knows very well.

I asked Stiles about her feelings on her old rival and Stiles was very clear that she sees this match as a must-see fight and warned she wouldn’t hold back against Blood because she doesn’t like her. 

Tracy Blood came out to respond to Stiles admitting she didn’t like Stiles either but respected her and was certain they would steal the show at the Festival finale. Stiles had different feelings. 

“We are on the same page, then. We both want this match and we both want it to be what everyone talks about the next day. We don’t like each other. But you respect me? I can’t say I feel the same way about you.” -Cate Stiles

Stiles held up her championship for Blood to see and walked past her as she left. Blood took the insult from Stiles in stride but I could tell that it bothered her. This one is heating up fast. 

RFW Grand Championship Open Challenge

Tracy Blood was walking toward the backstage area when her brother, RFW Grand Champion Mark Blood, made his way to the ring for his latest title defense. The siblings shared a hug and Mark received some words of encouragement from Tracy.

Blood recapped his mission to defend the Grand Championship each week and welcomed his next challenger. The fans were shocked when HAW’s Fun Fight Machine came to the ring to challenge Blood. 

“You and I were both in Honor Pro Wrestling last year but we never had a chance to meet in the ring. I am here to challenge you to a match and win that championship you hold.” -Fun Fight Machine

Blood extended a hand, both men shook hands, and we had ourselves a main event match.

RFW Grand Championship Match

Fun Fight Machine vs. Mark Blood (c)

The match began with takedown and throws before evolving into a Japanese strong style match with challenger and champion withstanding everything they threw at each other. Fun Fight Machine nearly picked up a pinfall win on the champion that had Blood looking stunned. 

Blood began a strong chain of offense with several near falls but Fun Fight Machine refused to be defeated. Both men came to blows with Fun Fight Machine overtaking the champion and starting a strong push to weaken Blood. Blood was noticeably favoring his shoulder but managed a late match comeback. Fun Fight Machine avoided a tombstone piledriver due to the weakness in Blood’s shoulder but the champion was able to power through and attempt a second tombstone piledriver minutes later, successfully defending the title by pinfall. 

Mark Blood was declared the winner and held the RFW Grand Championship title high. Fun Fight Machine recovered and stood in the ring to offer a respectful handshake. Blood shook Fun’s hand and raised it, acknowledging him as a great opponent.