Aftershock (2016)

Aftershock (2016) was a professional wrestling pay per view produced by Ultimate Showcase Wrestling that took place on December 25, 2016 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The event was the final Ultimate Showcase Wrestling pay per view event of 2016, and was the final USW pay per view event to be dual branded despite not being an "A level pay per view" as the following year would only see Insanity, Call To Greatness XII, War Zone Two, and Bullet Proof X hosted by both brands. 
The Severity brand main event would see Austin Atomic defend the World Heavyweight Championship against former champion Crimson Red in what would be Crimson Red's championship rematch. The Intensity brand main event would feature Indigo Child defending the USW Championship against Morbid and Cannon in a three way dance. The event received mostly positive reviews, earning an 8.6/10 star rating, which was up from the previous year's event.
== Background ==
After being interrupted by acting general manager Kyle Reece Jr during a promo, USW Extreme Champion Xavier King was informed that the championship was set to be retired, meaning that his next championship defense would be the final defense of the Extreme Championship. After being told that he would be allowed to determine the next challenger to the title himself, Xavier King went around looking for someone wishing to challenge him for the championship. Two weeks after the initial announcement, Xavier King announced that he had found a worthy final challenger to the championship, and announced that he would defend the championship at Aftershock against Wyler. Wyler would then proceed to walk down the ramp and to the ring and shook Xavier King's hand before Xavier King would hit the Crowned Jewel on Wyler, holding the Extreme Championship up above his head to push the message forward that he was looking to successfully defend the championship on the last chance that he would have to do so. The following week, Xavier King would walk out and cut a promo on the Extreme Championship meaning much to him, as it helped push him up the card, and he felt like he would have further established the championship if he had a little bit longer to do so, and that his final defense would be a bitter sweet moment for him. Directly after that promo, Wyler would run out of nowhere and hit the Wy? on King, before holding the Extreme Championship over his head, confirming that he was looking to detour King from his "storybook ending."
Following a loss to Zeus Fitzgerald the previous month at Bullet Proof 9, and a victory over him at the Retaliation event two months prior, Majagetta had his eyes set on defeating Zeus Fitzgerald one more time as the "score was currently even" and because Majagetta had his goal in mind to outscore Fitzgerald when the "points mattered most." Zeus Fitzgerald would accept the challenge later that night, which would confirm the match. On the following weeks, Majagetta would try to blindside Zeus Fitzgerald after his matches, but would come up unsuccessful on each attempt. Finally, on the last Intensity before the Aftershock event, Zeus Fitzgerald would welcome Majagetta to come out and attack him first, warning him that he would not throw the first punch, but would retaliate once the first punch was thrown. Majagetta would slowly walk down and into the ring, but would refuse to hit Fitzgerald, knowing that the odds were even. Majagetta would then leave the ring and walk back up the ramp, shouting to Fitzgerald that Sunday was going to be it for him.
After the Cruiserweight Championship saw very little success on the Severity brand, the decision was made to recreate and rechristen the championship as the new USW Global Championship. Seth, who was the reigning Cruiserweight Champion at the time, would be crowned the inaugural Global Champion, and would be set to make his first championship defense at the Aftershock pay per view against Hernastly, who came up short in defeating Seth the previous month at the Bullet Proof pay per view event. Over the following weeks, Hernastly and Seth would trade insults back and forth with each other, establishing a feud between the two. On the final Severity before the Aftershock event, Hernastly and Seth would team up with each other against then-World Tag Team Champions the Martin Brothers, which would see the two lose after Seth would hit the Charismatic Whisper on Hernastly, leaving him to be pinned by George Martin. This would just add fuel to the fire, and further establish this match as one of the more important matches to take place on the Aftershock card.
Following their feud for the USW Extreme Championship months prior, Samuel North and Derrick Carter would meet again at the Aftershock pay per view event for the Blue Belt Championship, with Derrick Carter continuing his regular antics against Samuel North, refusing to consider him any sort of competition. Going into the pay per view event, Derrick Carter would go another step further and just refuse to acknowledge Samuel North's presence, disrespecting him at any and every opportunity. Derrick Carter would cut a promo on Samuel North, admitting that North has given him competition before, but was never, and never will be any sort of legit threat to any reign that Carter himself will take part in. Samuel North would then run through the crowd and stand behind Derrick Carter, listening to his promo before attacking Carter once he turned around. North would then grab the microphone and ask Carter if that was enough to consider him a threat, telling Carter that he is capable of that and so much more in matches, and will rip out every page to use against Derrick Carter. This would confirm the status of the match for the Aftershock event.
Following his loss to Westernlight the previous month at Bullet Proof 9, Blaine North became obsessed with getting his win back from Westernlight, who would refuse to allow Blaine North another match against him. This would lead to Blaine North refusing to leave the ring on an episode of Severity until Westernlight accepted his challenge to another match, which would lead to YoYo Joe walking out and accepting North's challenge, leaving North to decide on whether or not to accept Joe's challenge. North would ultimately accept Joe's challenge, before attacking Joe dragging him around the ringside area. As he would go to powerbomb Joe through the commentators table, Joe would fight back and eventually hit Blaine North with the String Effect through the table, turning the tide in Joe's direction. Following Joe's win in his match the following week, Blaine North would run down and hit Joe in the face with the ringbell from the ringside area, bloodying him in the process. Blaine North would then proceed to finish what he started the week prior, and hit Joe with a powerbomb through the commentators table, turning the tide once again. On the following Severity, Blaine North would cut a promo on YoYo Joe's failures, and of him not deserving the "USW Legend" status that the audience gave him from his work in Whacked Out Wrestling years prior. This would anger Joe, who would run out and down the ramp to fight North, who would scurry away and back up the ramp and into the backstage area, leaving Joe in the ring alone.
After an impressive victory the month prior against the Resurrection to win the USW Tag Team Championships, Jack Ramsay and Austin Cole would successfully defend the titles against the former champions on an episode of Intensity, knocking the Resurrection out of championship contention for the time being. However; directly following the match, Ramsay and Cole would be attacked from behind by Hi-Risk, who would hit dual-spine busters on the tag team champions, skipping the line and placing themselves as the next challengers to the tag team titles. This would continue over the following weeks, as Hi-Risk would outsmart Ramsay and Cole, attacking them from behind and backstage when they would not be expecting it. On the final Intensity before the Aftershock event, Jack Ramsay and Austin Cole would outsmart Hi-Risk for once, hitting them in the head with the USW Tag Team Championship belts after their match once Hi-Risk went to attack them once again. Following this, Jack Ramsay and Austin Cole would isolate Carson Andrews, hitting a double brain buster on Andrews directly on top of the tag team championship belt, injuring Andrews in storyline.
Following a few impressive victories over previous weeks, Fernandez would walk out and request more competition, telling everyone that he believes a few more victories over main level talent will prove him to be a worthy challenger to the World Heavyweight Championship. Anarchy would proceed to walk out, and tell Fernandez that he would never be capable of being the world champion, and that he might as well just go after the International Championship. Fernandez would then refuse, and instead challenge Anarchy to a match later in the night, which he would accept. Later that night, Fernandez would defeat Anarchy in an impressive match, forcing Anarchy to retreat following the match. This would establish Fernandez even further, but anger Anarchy, who would hit the Insig on Fernandez the following week in retaliation. Over the next two weeks, Anarchy would challenge Fernandez to a rematch at the Aftershock event, which Fernandez would continue to refuse unless he would be made the next challenger to the World Heavyweight Championship. After continuous decline by Anarchy, Martin Reece would insert himself into the feud by granting Fernandez an opportunity at the World Heavyweight Championship if he were to defeat Anarchy at the Aftershock event, which lead to Fernandez accepting the challenge, making the match official.
Following a shocking victory the previous month, Lone Wolf would celebrate winning the International Championship on the following Severity. Wolf Granger and the rest of the Wolf Pack would interrupt the celebration and challenge Lone Wolf to a match for the title at the Aftershock event with his championship rematch. Lone Wolf would proceed to acknowledge the challenge, but add a stipulation to the match, that if the rest of the Wolf Pack were to get involved, Wolf Granger would never be allowed to challenge for the International Championship once again. This stipulation would be accepted by Wolf Granger, confirming the match for Aftershock.
After a surprising win over Crimson Red the previous month, Austin Atomic would be crowned as the new World Heavyweight Champion two weeks later on Severity. During a crowning ceremony, Crimson Red would blindside Atomic after being dressed as a cameraman in the back corner of the ring. Crimson Red would then hold the World Heavyweight Championship above his head, confirming his intentions to use his championship rematch to attempt to regain the World Heavyweight Championship. Over the following weeks, Crimson Red and Austin Atomic would trade victories against enhancement talent, coming to a stare down between the two on the final Severity before Aftershock, with Atomic smiling and holding the World Heavyweight Championship above his head to mock Crimson Red, who would hit him with a low blow, and mock Atomic by holding the World Heavyweight Championship above his head as Austin Atomic lay on the ring canvas to end the episode, confirming the shift of momentum going into the event.
After two shocking victories over Morbid with the USW Championship on the line, Cannon would once again insert himself into the main event picture, officially challenging Indigo Child to a match for the title at the Aftershock event, which Morbid was challenging Indigo Child to before hand. This would leave Indigo Child to choose his opponent for the event, which would also see both Cannon and Morbid fighting each other to prove who was the better challenger. The following week, Morbid and Cannon would compete in a match that would end in a no contest as both men would be counted out. Following the referee's decision, Indigo Child would come out of nowhere to hit both Cannon and Morbid in the head with the championship belt, before grabbing a microphone and telling both competitors that he was disappointed in their lack on professionalism, but would accept their challenge nonetheless, telling them that they would both challenge him for the title at Aftershock in a three way dance, making the match official.
== Results ==
Match No. 	Match Result 	Match Stipulation
Kickoff Match	Xavier King (c) def. Wyler 	Singles match for the USW Extreme Championship
Match No. 2 	Majagetta def. Zeus Fitzgerald 	Singles match
Match No. 3 	Seth (c) def. Hernastly 	Singles match for the Global Championship
Match No. 4 	Ezarank Hills and Benny Franklin def. The Resurrection 	Tag team match
Match No. 5 	The Martin Brothers (c) def. Chris Sanders and Drew Akron	Tag team match for the World Tag Team Championships
Match No. 6 	Samuel North def. Derrick Carter (c) 	Singles match for the Blue Belt Championship
Match No. 7 	YoYo Joe def. Blaine North 	Singles match
Match No. 8 	Jack Ramsay and Austin Cole (c) def. Hi-Risk 	Tag team match for the USW Tag Team Championships
Match No. 9 	Fernandez def. Anarchy 	Singles match; if Fernandez wins, he would be the next challenger for the World Heavyweight Championship
Match No. 10 	Lone Wolf (c) def. Wolf Granger 	Singles match for the International Championship; if the Wolf Pack got involved, Granger would not receive another International Championship rematch.
Match No. 11 	Austin Atomic (c) def. Crimson Red 	Singles match for the World Heavyweight Championship
Match No. 12 	Indigo Child (c) def. Morbid and Cannon 	Three-Way Dance for the USW Championship