Super Showdown (2023)

The 2023 **Super Showdown**, was the fourth annual Super Showdown professional wrestling pay-per-view produced by World Class Championship Wrestling (WCCW). It was held for wrestlers from the promotion's Battle Zone, Intensity and NexGen brand divisions and took place from September 23—24, 2023, at Soldier Field in Chicago, Illinois.

Super Showdown saw a two-day gate total of 108,007 fans, shattering the record for highest attended WCCW event set by RumbleMania XXVI earlier in the year.

The card comprised a total of eighteen matches, with nine matches airing each day. Of those nine matches, seven air on pay-per-view and two matches air on *Sunday Night Heat* (renamed *Saturday Night Heat* for night one). The main event of night one saw Drew McIntyre attempt to defend his World Heavyweight Championship against Sheamus in a steel cage match. The main event of night two saw Brandon War attempt to defend his WCCW World Championship against AJ Styles in a Last Man Standing match.

## Production

### Background

Super Showdown was first established by Denver Professional Wrestling Association (later, the WCCW) in 1965 as a house show supercard called Summer SuperShowdown. The event was an annual tradition until 1977 when it was discontinued. A spiritual successor known as Summer SuperSlam ran from 2006 until 2017. The current iteration known as Super Showdown debuted in 2020 and has been held every year since. Along with King and Queen of the Ring, Clash of Champions and RumbleMania, it is one of the company's four biggest events of the year, referred to as the "Big Four."

### Storylines

The event included matches that result from scripted storylines, where wrestlers portray heroes, villains, or less distinguishable characters in scripted events that build tension and culminate in a wrestling match or series of matches. Results are predetermined by WCCW's writers on the Battle Zone and Intensity brands, while storylines are produced on WCCW's weekly television shows, *Tuesday Night Battle Zone* and *Friday Night Intensity.*

## Event

###  Night One

#### Pre-Show

Night one kicked off with the preshow airing on ESPN on ABC and the ESPN+ streaming service as a special Saturday edition of *Sunday Night Heat*. The featured bout on the preshow was a 30-man Cinnamon Toast Crunch Super Showdown Battle Royal which would see Shelton Benjamin emerge victorious after he eliminated Kevin Owens who dominated the majority of the match.

The second and final match to air on *Saturday Night Heat* was a singles match between Wes Lee and Tyler Bate. The short match lasted a mere two minutes as Bate was able to incapacitate Lee at ringside, rendering him unable to answer the referee's count ending the contest early in a countout. The fans in attendance were extremely vocal in their displeasure to the finish of the match, booing for nearly five minutes straight.

#### Preliminary matches

The opening match to air on pay-per-view was the long awaited Battle of the YouTubers between MrBeast and Logan Paul. The contest was a Lion's Den match with a 15-minute time limit with the winner earning the inaugural YouTube World Championship. The match started off even with MrBeast and Paul trading blows back and forth and MrBeast even managed to gain the upper hand at one point. Despite his best attempts, Logan Paul would dominate the next few minutes of the match and earned the knockout victory with a Superman punch to the jaw of MrBeast. With the victory, Logan Paul will go on to face WCCW Internet Champion Braun Strowman in a title unification match at Night III.

The second match saw rivals Drew Gulak and Shinsuke Nakamura face off in a singles match. The two competitors were evenly matched, exchanging blows throughout the match with neither man able to truly gain an advantage. Shinsuke would strike first, pinning Gulak for a one-count before Gulak hit Nakamura with a devastating neck-breaker for a two-count. Following a brief scuffle at ringside, Nakamura would threw Gulak back into the ring and hit him with the Kinshasa for the pinfall victory,

Up next was the NexGen Tag Team Championship match between challengers The Creed Brothers (Julius Creed and Brutus Creed) and defending champions The Family (Tony D'Angelo and Channing Lorenzo). While both teams came out strong, The Family would quickly gain control of the match when D'Angelo and Lorenzo hit Julius Creed with a double suplex. Lorenzo would continue the assault on Julius while D'Angelo drug Brutus off the ring apron and sent him flying into the barricade. D'Angelo then quickly entered the ring to break up a two-count. After securing the tag, D'Angelo immediately went after Julius but inadvertently hit the referee in the process. Despite this, he managed to cover Julius and Lorenzo took out Brutus during the ref's slow count. The champions were then presented with the brand new NexGen Tag Team Championships with their old ones being officially retired.

The fourth match of the pay-per-view was the long awaited dream match between John Cena and Goldberg. Cena managed to strike first but was quickly thrown to ringside by Goldberg who then took control of the match. A low blow from Cena provided an opening but Goldberg countered and threw Cena once again to ringside where the two proceeded to battle. Cena knocked Goldberg down with a shoulder bump for a one-count then continued his assault. A counter and power slam from Goldberg led to a one-count. When Cena went for the FU, Goldberg countered with a jackhammer for a two-count then followed it with a spear for another two-count. Goldberg then hit Cena with a diving knee drop followed by a second jackhammer to secure the pinfall victory. After the match, Goldberg got onto the mic to call out current World Heavyweight Champion Drew McIntyre, declaring that he's "next."

Up next, Sami Zayn took on Santos Escobar for his WCCW Mex-American Championship after winning a number one contender's match at FX Fight Night II. Escobar wasted no time trying to make an example out of Zayn, hitting him with a flying crossbody onto ringside. Escobar attempted to suplex Zayn through the announce table but Sami was able to counter and send Escobar into the steel steps. Back in the ring, Zayn continued his assault, sending Escobar first into the turnbuckle then back to ringside. Escobar was busted open when Zayn hit him with a Helluva kick for a two-count. After a counter, Santos locked in the Boston crab before going for the pinfall but Sami countered for a one-count. A second Helluva kick earned Sami Zayn the pinfall victory and the WCCW Mex-American Championship.

In the co-main event, the Hardy Boyz (Matt Hardy and Jeff Hardy) took on the New Age Outlaws ("Road Dogg" Jesse James and "Bad Ass" Billy Gunn) and defending champions The Acclaimed (Anthony Bowens and Max Caster) in an elimination tag team match for the WCCW World Tag Team Championships. In a hotly contested war for the tag belts, it would eventually be The Acclaimed coming out on top after Anthony Bowens earned the final elimination over "Bad Ass" Billy Gunn. The New Age Outlaws would strike first when Road Dogg pinned Max Caster for the first elimination. After this, the Hardy Boyz would seize control with Matt Hardy pinning Road Dogg for the second elimination but Matt was quickly pinned by "Bad Ass" Billy Gunn in retaliation. The lights suddenly cut out and confusion spread until the lights came back and Sting was standing in the middle of the ring and proceeded to attack Jeff Hardy with a baseball bat. Capitalizing, Anthony Bowens of The Acclaimed managed to roll up Hardy for the elimination. Sting exited the stadium as Bowens had an emotional confrontation with Billy Gunn before pinning him for the victory.

#### Main event

In the main event for night one, Sheamus challenged Drew McIntyre to a steel cage match for the World Heavyweight Championship. Sheamus attempted to goat McIntyre into hitting him first but when Drew turned around Sheamus attacked the back of the knees and quickly covered McIntyre for a one-count. The two exchanged chops as the crowd counted each slap until both men collapsed to their knees. McIntyre would capitalize, sucker punching Sheamus and covering him for the two-count. Frustrated, McIntyre unloaded a series of stomps to Sheamus before calling for the cage door. Before the referee could unlock the door though, Sheamus attack McIntyre from behind with a hammer fist. The following stages of the match were back and forth with neither man able to truly gain an upper hand. McIntyre covered Sheamus for a two-count followed by a two-count of Sheamus' own. With McIntyre out on the mat, Sheamus began to climb the cage wall but hesitated at the top, deciding to elbow dive onto McIntyre below but he managed to move out of the way at the last second. Capitalizing on a dazed Sheamus, McIntyre was able to climb up and out of the cage to retain his World Heavyweight Championship. Following the match, he answered Goldberg's challenge and told him he'd see him at Halloween Havoc.

###  Night Two

#### Pre-Show

Night two kicked off with the preshow airing on ESPN on ABC and the ESPN+ streaming service as an episode of *Sunday Night Heat*. The first match saw rivals Karrion Kross and LA Knight face off in a singles match. Kross attempted to strike first but was quickly countered by LA Knight who rolled him up for a two-count. Knight would continue to dominate the match, hitting Blunt Force Trauma twice in a row for the pinfall victory.

The featured bout on *Sunday Night Heat* was a five-woman Championship Scramble between Nikki Cross, Bianca Belair, Tiffany Stratton, Liv Morgan and Becky Lynch for the WCCW Television Championship. Despite the thirty-minute time limit, all five women came out of the gate swinging; Bianca Belair managing a two-count on Nikki Cross less than two minutes into the match. As the action spilled out into ringside, Tiffany Stratton attempted to hit Liv Morgan with a steel chair but was attacked from behind by Belair. Back in the ring, Becky Lynch scored the first pinfall on Nikki Cross. Not wasting any time, Belair attempted to cover Lynch only to be broken up by Liv Morgan. The next pinfall would not occur for almost six minutes when Becky Lynch pinned Tiffany Stratton in the middle of the ring. With the other women occupied at ringside, Belair managed to score her first pinfall against Nikki Cross, officially putting her on the scoreboard. She quickly followed this up with pinfalls against Tiffany Stratton and Liv Morgan to take the lead and become the unofficial interim champion. The final score would be 6-3-2-1-1 in favor of challenger Bianca Belair, beginning her second reign as Television Champion.

#### Preliminary matches

The opening match to air on pay-per-view was the long awaited rematch between Mustafa Ali and Paco Escalera for the WCCW North American Championship. The two bitter rivals were evenly matched throughout the contest, trading momentum and blows. The champion dominated the early stages of the match, covering Ali for a two-count early in the match before a kickout and counter sent the match to ringside where Mustafa Ali would seize control. Being sent into the steel ring post busted open Escalera while a powerbomb through the announce table almost ended the match early. When Ali got Paco back in the ring he managed to submit him but the referee's back was turned, replacing the turnbuckle cover Escalera had removed earlier. After a frenzy of strikes, Ali once again went for the submission move, getting Paco to tap and earning himself the North American Championship.

The second match was the Women's World Tag Team Championship match between number one contenders The Unholy Union (Alba Fyre and Isla Dawn) and defending champions Storm & Nox (Toni Storm and Tegan Nox). The champions would utilize a series of quick tags in order to remain fresh and put pressure on Alba Fyre, leaving Isla Dawn out of the equation. Fyre managed to fight back for a two-count on Tegan Nox before Storm broke up the count. a superkick to Nox would've been followed up with a move from the top rope until Storm distracted Fyre allowing Nox to recover. Despite the distraction, Fyre would remain in control and hit a splash from the top rope and cover Nox for the pinfall victory and to begin the Union's first ever reign as Women's World Tag Team Champions.

Up next was the Trios Invitational Tournament Finals between Hurt Business 2.0 (Bobby Lashley, Angelo Dawkins and Montez Ford) and The Brotherhood (Jey Uso, Jimmy Uso and Solo Sikoa) for the inaugural WCCW World Trios Championship. Jey Uso and Bobby Lashley began the match in the ring but a power slam from Lashley would establish dominance in favor of the Hurt Business 2.0. Lashley would then tag Montez Ford into the match who took the fight to ringside, punishing Jey Uso before attacking Jimmy Uso and Solo Sikoa as well. The tides would soon turn though with Jey Uso getting his revenge by superkicking Ford and returning the action to the ring. With The Brotherhood now in control, they continue their onslaught of attacks, utilizing quick tags to ensure Angelo Dawkins cannot tag his partners in.

The fourth match to air on pay-per-view was the Stadium Stampede match between Pretty "Freakin" Deadly (Seth "Freakin" Rollins, Elton Prince, Kit Wilson and Tyler Breeze) and the Latino World Order (Rey Mysterio, Santos Escobar, Joaquin Wilde and Cruz del Toro). Both teams spent the first fifteen minutes inflicting as much pain as possible with very few pin attempts. It was evident from the start that both teams were more interested in punishing their opponents rather than eliminating them. Santos Escobar would score the first two eliminations in quick succession after sixteen minutes, taking down Seth 'Freakin' Rollins and Tyler Breeze by pinfalls. The Latino World Order, now with a four-on-two advantage, focused on keeping Elton Prince and Kit Wilson separate, which allowed Escobar to eliminate Prince with relative ease. Despite standing alone, Kit Wilson continued to hold his ground, attacking Escobar first with a stop sign and then a steel chair. Escobar would rally back though and, with help from Rey Mysterio, the two hit a double suplex on Wilson, allowing Joaquin Wilde to get the pinfall victory for the LWO.

Next was the long awaited Battle of the Billionaires Lion's Den match with a 15-minute time limit between celebrity guests Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk. From the opening bell Elon Musk used his weight advantage to manhandle and punish Zuckerberg, talking smack the entire time. The short match was over in three minutes when a power bomb from Musk knocked Zuckerberg unconscious forcing the referee to end the contest.

In the co-main event, Asuka and Shotzi braved the horrific Raven's Nest to challenge "Sun Goddess" Raven Ray for her WCCW International Championship. The 25-minute war saw the Sun Goddess invoke her darker side, completely dismantling her opponents over the course of the match. Asuka managed to score a late submission and pinfall on the Sun Goddess while Shotzi managed two pinfalls en route to losing to Raven Ray.

#### Main event

In the main event for night two, AJ Styles challenged Brandon War to a Last Man Standing match for his WCCW World Championship.