In May, pre-production on a documentary called The Rise & Fall of WMW began, and while it never ended up seeing the light of day, it put into affect the return of West Michigan Wrestling. At the first WMW Backyard Assault taping, the first WMW event in nearly three years, Jesse Swanson defeated Marcus Black to finally win the WMW World Championship, in a 2-Out-of-3-Falls match. The following week, he put the title on the line against Marcus, and defended it successfully.
The second episode of Backyard Assault also featured the in-ring returns of WMW Tag Team Champions, Jacob Munford & Davyd Cassidy, as opponents, instead of partners. Marcus Black also unleashed his "Insurance Policy" onto WMW, as he manhandled both Munford & Cassidy on his way to becoming # 1-Contender for the WMW World Championship.
Cassidy & Munford's war was far from over, as Cassidy did all he could to place a wedge between himself and his former partner. While Munford tried valiantly to rekindle what once was, Davyd's constant harrassment and attacks became too much even for "Mr. Sunshine", and it was determined the the two would meet in a title unification match at the first major WMW event since it's return, WMW Last Stand.
Munford would not have to feel alone in the "Former-Partners-Driving-Me-Crazy Club" for long, as Marcus Black was faced with the unexpected return of Jeremy (formerly known as Crusher). The WMW Hardcore Icon interrupted Marcus Black during a promo, and the following week, tied him to the ring and beat him with a singapore cane. It was later announced that the two would meet in a hardcore match at Last Stand.
Meanwhile, Jesse Swanson had his hands full with The Insurance Policy. The Insurance Policy beat the Champ in a non-title match in only his second match, but Jesse would rebound the following week, beating The Insurance Policy, due to botched interference from Marcus Black. As their match at Last Stand approached, it was obvious that The Insurance Policy and Marcus Black had quite a bit of tension between them.
WMW Last Stand kicked off with the hardcore match between Jeremy and Marcus Black. The match lived up to, and exceeded the two previous battles, and culminated when a bloody Jeremy lit Marcus Black on fire, en route to a flying legdrop for the win.
The second match of the night was the submission match to unify the WMW Tag Team Championships. Jacob Munford dominated Davyd Cassidy for the majority of the match, no longer showing the patience and restraint that he had been showing over the past few weeks. For every attempted strike by Cassidy, Munford had a reversal. After recieving quite a bit of punishment, Cassidy got Munford grounded, and began to dominate his former partner. Cassidy eventually hit his Figure-Four Sleeper Combo, and Munford passed out, though he appeared to have a hand on the ropes. But since the referee did not see it, Davyd Cassidy was named the WMW Secondary Champion.
Lastly, the main event of the evening was changed slightly, as Marcus Black found a way to weasle himself into the match, making it Jesse Swanson vs. The Insurance Policy vs. Marcus Black for the WMW World Championship. The Insurance Policy & Black double-teamed Swanson early on, as the two worked as a unit fairly well. All of that would change as Marcus Black made his first pinfall attempt, and The Insurance Policy broke it up. The match became every man for himself, and the three of them went all out. Jesse Swanson eventually got the upperhand, and hit The Insurance Policy with a Swandive, SwanSon Bomb & a Swanson Driver, but I.P. kicked out. With The Insurance Policy lying nearly unconscious, a battered and bruised Marcus Black hit Jesse Swanson with the 9/11... but when he did, Swanson landed directly onto The Insurance Policy. Before Marcus Black could realize what was happening, the referee made the three-count, and Jesse Swanson walked out of the main event, still the WMW World Champion.
The first Backyard Assault following Last Stand was dubbed a "Lethal Lottery" show by the WMW Commissioner, as a way of breaking up the monotany. Three WMW wrestlers were to draw random opponents, and the matches ended up being an omen of what was to come. Marcus Black was up first and had randomly drawn The Insurance Policy as his opponent. Marcus Black walked away from the match, resulting in an unsatisfying countout victory for The Insurance Policy. Jeremy had drawn Jacob Munford, and Munford got the surprise victory, and added that he wanted to be Jeremy's friend. In the last match of the night, WMW Secondary Champion Davyd Cassidy defeated WMW World Champion Jesse Swanson in a non-title match, after Marcus Black interfeared. The two of them beat down Swanson, and Davyd announced that his name was no longer Davyd Cassidy, but "Davyd Black".
Due to this match, the WMW Commisioner awarded Davyd Black the #1-Contendership, with a World Title match at the next big event WMW Blackout.
The following week would not be as successful for the newly-dubbed Black Panthers, as Davyd was forced to put up the Secondary Championship in a 4-Way elimination match. This match was also noteworthy, as it marked the WMW return of Patrick "Pat" Greeley. Davyd was second eliminated, after Patrick "Pat" Greeley rolled him up while he was arguing with the referee. After some interfearance from Jacob Munford, who had been eliminated earlier, Jeremy defeated Greeley to win the WMW Secondary title.
The main event of the card ended in a no-contest when The Black Panthers attacked The Insurance Policy & Jesse Swanson, who would end up getting the upper hand.
The following week, Swanson & The Insurance Policy challenged the Black Panthers to a tag team match. Davyd accepted the match, but Marcus seemed quite hesitant to get anywhere near The Insurance Policy.
The WMW Secondary Championship was defended, as Jeremy defeated Patrick "Pat" Greeley. The special guest referee was Jacob Munford, and he did everything he could to help out Jeremy, still trying to win his friendship. After the match, Jeremy attacked Munford, and challenged him to a match at Blackout.
The Black Panthers defeated Swanson & The Insurance Policy, when Marcus Black pinned The Insurance Policy, after refusing to get into the ring whenever The Insurance Policy was the legal man.
The following week, Jacob Munford tried once again to impress Jeremy, by competing against The Insurance Policy as "Just Jacob", dressing as Jeremy, and attempting to use the same repituor of moves that Jeremy uses. Jacob was not as successful as Jeremy tends to be, and quickly fell to the Insurance Policy.
Marcus Black then attempted to warm Jesse Swanson up for his match at Blackout, by challenging him to a hardcore match. Swanson defeated Marcus with a SwanSon Bomb off of a ladder, but as he made his way backstage, Davyd Black attacked him, and along with Marcus, pummeled the Champion in the ring. Marcus Black superbombed Swanson off of a ladder, and jumped off with an elbowdrop. As Swanson lay beaten in the ring, Davyd Black held the WMW World Title over his prone body.
WMW Blackout kicked off with Jeremy defending the WMW Secondary Championship against Jacob Munford, in a surprisingly weapon-free matchup. In the end Jeremy proved too much for the challenger, and he walked away still the WMW Secondary Champion.
Next up, Marcus Black took on The Insurance Policy, with Marcus getting the surprise victory.
Finally, in the main event, Jesse Swanson succesfully defended the WMW World Championship against Davyd Black. Though the two started out very evenly, the superior conditioning of Jesse Swanson proved to be too much for Davyd Black to handle alone.
The next week on WMW Backyard Assault, a six-man elimination gauntlet was held, with the rules being that whomever was last eliminated would be awarded the WMW Secondary Championship, while the winner would be awarded the WMW World Championship.
The last two left in the ring were Marcus Black and The Insurance Policy. The Insurance Policy dominated mostly, but Marcus caught him with the 9/11, getting the three count, and becoming the new WMW World Champion.
And so the summer ended just as it had began, with Marcus Black as WMW World Champion.
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WMW Summer Awards 2006:
Wrestler of The Summer
Jesse Swanson
Runner-Up: Marcus Black
Match of The Summer
WMW Last Stand - Jesse Swanson vs. Marcus Black vs. The Insurance Policy
Runner-Up: WMW Last Stand - Jeremy vs. Marcus Black
Most Popular Wrestler
Jesse Swanson
Runner-Up: Jeremy
Most Hated Wrestler
The Black Panthers
Runner-Up: The Insurance Policy
Fued of The Summer
Jesse Swanson vs. Marcus Black
Runner-Up: Jacob Munford vs. Davyd Cassidy
Most Improved Wrestler
Jeremy
Runner-Up: Jesse Swanson
