Altered Reality IV

Altered Reality IV (also known as Altered Reality 4: Champion vs. Champion or abbreviated as AR4) was the fourth annual Altered Reality e-wrestling pay-per-view event produced by Lords of Pain Wrestling (LPW). It took place on September 6, 2008 at the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio.

The pay-per-view showcased the federation's two brands, Insanity and Inferno, battling against each other in a series of matches to determine who was the superior brand of the season. The event centered on "Champion vs. Champion" matches where champions from opposing brands faced off against each other. The most notable of these matches was the main event, which was headlined by Drew Michaels (Inferno's LPW International Heavyweight Champion) squaring off against cYnical (Insanity's LPW World Heavyweight Champion) for the prestigous Martinez Cup, which Michaels won after reversing a Negative Outlook into a Wicked DDT on littered broken glass.

Featured undercard "Champion vs. Champion" matches featured a tag team title unification ladder match between the MWA (LPW World Tag Team Champions) and the Dark Brotherhood (LPW U.S. Tag Team Champions), which the MWA won to become the first-ever LPW Unified Tag Team Champions. The other matches saw White Falcon (LPW Cleansed Champion) defeat The Rik (LPW Transatlantic Champion), and Mass Chaos (LPW Television Champion) defeat Hatchet Ryda (LPW Hardcore Champion) in a hardcore match. In addition, LPW legends SoL and Son of Repoman faced each other in their farewell match, where SoL emerged victorious.

As with past Altered Reality pay-per-views, three tag team elimination matches were also featured. Team Spectre swept Team N'itomniskittel in the main event elimination match, Team X|X swept Team Al, and Eddie B. led Team Heroic Future over Team Savana in a rookies elimination bout.

In the end, Inferno claimed brand supremacy after defeating Insanity in six of seven crossover matches.

Background
At Altered Reality II, Schizophrenia (now known as Insanity) was one match away from sweeping Pyromania (now known as Inferno), led by Schizo's PWA World Heavyweight Champion, SoL, winning the inaugural Martinez Cup over Pyromania's PWA International Heavyweight Champion, Stone. At Altered Reality III, Pyromania was the favorite to take the event, with its champion Jaro the odds-on favorite to defeat Pen for the second Martinez Cup. Days before the event however, Jaro was fired by PWA management due to the solicition of PWA talent for the upstart Full Metal Wrestling (FMW) promotion, disrupting the momentum that Pyromania had built. The two brands wrestled to a tie, with Schizo once again claiming the Martinez Cup when Pen defeated D. Hammond Samuels, who had been appointed as the new International Heavyweight Champion.

After the Pyrogate scandal, the entire PWA roster was re-drafted at the 2006 Homecoming Draft. During the show, Spectre was announced as the new General Manager of Pyromania. With the second overall pick, Spectre was thought to have selected cYnical, who represented Pyromania as its most recognized superstar. But in the night's most shocking moment, Spectre traded cYnical to Schizophrenia for additional draft picks, which coincidently turned out to be a four-pick bulk selection of Drew "Headbanger" Michaels and his Misfits stablemates. Already upset over Jaro's firing, this newest move by management infuriated cYnical to no end, forcing him to boil over and create The Uprising, a faction bent on overthrowing management.

During the season, the PWA renamed itself Lords of Pain Wrestling (LPW) with both brands renamed as a result. Not one to follow brand designations, cYnical and the Uprising staged a war of attacks on Inferno directed at Spectre. Meanwhile on Insanity, cYnical was also involved in a love-hate relationship with Krimson Mask's fairytale valet, Little Red Riding Hood, resulting in a long-standing feud for Krimson Mask's LPW World Heavyweight Championship. Krimson Mask's grip on the title was strong however, as cYnical was defeated by the monstrous champion in a Gauntlet match at Annihilation and the first-ever DeathCube match at EndGame.

Despite cYnical's propaganda directed at Spectre's management style, the fans cheered the Inferno General Manager for his take-charge approach. Spectre eventually named fan favorite Drew Michaels as the number one contender to the LPW International Heavyweight Championship, held by the corrupt D. Hammond Samuels. Drew wed his pregnant fiance, Juliet, much to the delight of LPW fans from across the globe. But the ceremony was crashed, forcing the newlyweds to escape through the arena. Samuels stepped in their way and inadvertently laid a blow to the stomach of Juliet that was supposed to be directed at Drew, killing the unborn Michaels baby. With his personal life shattered, Samuels also killed Michaels' dreams of winning the title, defeating him 3-2 in a 60-minute Iron Man match at Sacrament. Being Spectre's hand-picked successor to the title however, Michaels was granted a rematch. Fueled by hatred but controlled by faith, Michaels defeated Samuels in a Tijuana Cage match at Dead Reckoning.

In a conference with a number of LPW wrestlers, Spectre announced that the fourth annual Altered Reality would be called Altered Reality 4: Champion vs. Champion. Spectre hinted that the tagline would be the basis of the event. As with the past two Altered Reality pay-per-views, AR4 would continue the tradition of matching teams of Insanity superstars against teams of Inferno superstars in four-on-four tag team elimination matches to determine the superior brand. At EndGame, it was further revealed that each brand's champions of equal ranking would face each other. In addition, the main event would be the "Champion versus Champion" Martinez Cup match. The brand wars started at EndGame when Inferno's Innilock competed in a Hardcore scramble match against other Insanity superstars. During the match, Ken Ryans invaded and assisted Innilock to earning a shot at the LPW Hardcore Championship, which he would win a month later. The following shows saw Insanity and Inferno superstars crossing brands to face the other, with Inferno gaining the majority of the victories, including Tromboner Man defeating Insanity's LPW World Heavyweight Champion, Krimson Mask.

Meanwhile, cYnical had badly burned Spectre's personal assistant, Satisfaction, fueling their feud beyond repair. At Dead Man's Hand, cYnical realized his dream of becoming LPW World Heavyweight Champion when he defeated Krimson Mask in a Japanese Death match. With both brand's World Champions in place, Altered Reality IV's main event would feature Insanity's new LPW World Heavyweight Champion, cYnical, against Inferno's LPW International Heavyweight Champion, Drew Michaels.

Inferno Gauntlet Challenge
Before the pay-per-view aired, the retiring Insanity legend SoL challenged any comers from the Inferno locker-room, resulting in an Inferno Gauntlet Challenge. In the first match, SoL defeated Wevv Mang's personal bodyguard, Kenzo Mang, after a Jungle Kick. But after that, it was all down hill. Rookie standout Son of Shockey made his Altered Reality debut by scoring a major upset over the former Martinez Cup winner, pinning SoL after the Category Five. In round three, SoL was challenged by the up-and-coming Eddie B., who managed to out-condition SoL and hit a powerbomb to claim his first singles victory.

In the final round, Pen returned to an LPW ring so he could face SoL in the first-ever match between former Martinez Cup winners. But SoL refused to participate, and walked to the back to prepare for his final match against S.O.R. for later in the evening.

Preliminary matches
The pay-per-view began in the Inferno locker-room, where General Manager Spectre tried to motivate his Inferno superstars by offering bonuses for defeating rival Insanity superstars.

The first match of the evening was a four-on-four tag team elimination match featuring Insanity rookies Team Savana (Andy Savana, Big B. Brown, Jeff Watson, and Savage) against Inferno newcomers Team Heroic Future (Heroic Future's Jaetyn Knightwash and Ultramarcus, Eddie B., and Sean Jensen). Ultramarcus gained the first elimination when he pinned Savage after a Canadian Destroyer. Jensen looked to take out Savana with a top rope move, but instead fell to the canvas when Brown shaked him off the rope, leading to his elimination. Heroic Future co-captain Knightwash regained the advantage when he pinned Brown after a Sparrow's Flight. Watson forced Ultramarcus to tap with Unbearable Pain for Team Heroic Future's second elimination. Down to 2-on-2, Eddie eliminated team captain Savana after Lowered Expectations, but Watson pinned opposing co-captain Knightwash with a Cyclone Drop. Watson looked to have the win when he locked Eddie in Unbearable Pain, but Eddie was able to counter, hitting Code EB4 to gain the final pinfall for an Inferno victory.

In the first of four "Champion versus Champion" matches, Inferno's longest-reigning LPW Television Champion Mass Chaos took on Insanity's new LPW Hardcore Champion Hatchet Ryda in a non-title hardcore match. Hatchet entered the arena in a tricked out "Hatchet Mobile", which he used to retrieve his hardcore weapons. But Chaos' veteran instincts proved resourceful, using weapons to accomodate his technical wrestling, such as applying the camel clutch with a pipe and using a chair to stab Hatchet with the Final Stand. Hatchet's environment proved valuable when he scored a Swinging DDT on a stop sign. Setting Chaos on a table, Hatchet jumped off a ladder for Diamond Rain. But Chaos was playing possum, letting Hatchet fall through the table to crash and burn. Chaos picked up Hatchet and hit the Ode to the Black Sun on the ladder to gain Inferno's second brand victory of the night.

The third match was a "Champion versus Champion" match, pitting Insanity's 14-month reigning LPW Cleansed Champion White Falcon against Inferno's cocky LPW Transatlantic Champion The Rik in a non-title Last Man Standing match. The Rik scored early, hitting a top rope elbow drop. Feeling confident, Rik would go to the top again, only to get a superkick to the face from Falcon. After The Rik turned the momentum with a low blow, a fan jumped into the ring to club The Rik with a scepter. The fan turned out to be the former King now schizophrenic NPD, who also clubbed Falcon when he got up. As the referee counted to ten, only Falcon was able to answer it for Insanity's first victory of the night.

The next match was the highly anticipated tag team ladder match to unify Inferno's LPW World Tag Team Championship (held by the MWA's Tromboner Man and RaTo) with Insanity's LPW United States Tag Team Championship (recently won by the Dark Brotherhood's Eric Scorpio and Crazy Ash Killa). The Dark Brotherhood entered the arena first, wheeled out to ringside in coffins with their blacked-out title belts. The fun-loving MWA entered to cheerleaders having a giant birthday cake-fight. With obvious differences between the personalities of both teams, the match started with the MWA gaining the quick advantage. But the MWA mistakenly believed they had to build their own ladder, which gave Scorpio and CAK a chance to regain control. The 360-pound CAK picked RaTo up for Scorpio, who leaped from a ladder to hit the Insano-Effect on the Portuguese Sensation through the Inferno announce table. CAK climbed the ladder to retrieve the belts, but the ladder gave way. With CAK hurting, RaTo came in to connect with the Black Plague, then the MWA followed with That's Madcore onto Scorpio. The MWA climbed a ladder to reach for the belts, but the Brotherhood had enough time to retaliate. CAK grabbed Tromboner Man off the ladder, while Scorpio ascended to the top to duke it out with RaTo. Tromboner Man hit the Intonation Buster on CAK, which forced CAK to knock Scorpio off his ladder. With the Brotherhood eliminated, RaTo unfastened the belts as the MWA became the first-ever LPW Unified Tag Team Champions. After the match, Fun Police stablemate Daniel Oakley joined Tromboner Man and RaTo in a celebration of balloons falling from the rafters and more cake.

Inferno General Manager Spectre came out next to announce at LPW's next show, Homecoming, he would face arch-rival cYnical for the LPW World Heavyweight Championship, Drew Michaels would defend the LPW International Heavyweight Championship in a one-on-one match against Sheepster, and the MWA would defend the LPW Unified Tag Team Championship against the Dark Brotherhood in a rematch. In addition, the third LPW Draft was announced. Unlike previous drafts where the General Managers were able to select their draftees, matches would take place between representatives of each brand and the winner would receive a draft pick.

In the fifth match of the night, the second multi-brand 4-on-4 tag team elimination match took place, as Insanity's Team Al (Al, T.J. Rage, The Rabbi, and Blackwell) competed against Inferno's Team X (X|X, Sheepster, Styxx, and NPD). Team X started strong, as former Bad Mamma Jammas partners Sheepster and Styxx hit the Sacrifical Lamb on Blackwell for the first elimination. Styxx pinned Rage for the second elimination after a Terror Cutter off the top rope. Down to 4-on-2, Al took on his former mentor X in an exchange between team captains. Rabbi got the tag, but X pinned Rabbi after an X-Bomb. Faced with a 4-on-1 disadvantage, Al fought Team X against all odds. After missing the Al-chemy, X drilled Al with the X-ecution, only to be tagged out by Sheepster, who hit Spare Ribs to put Al down for good. With the win, X became the first man to go 4-0 at Altered Reality.

In a tag team battle royal, seven makeshift teams competed in hopes of winning a title shot at the LPW Unified Tag Team Championship. Black Ada and Super Stallion gained two quick eliminations when they simultaneously eliminated the team of Daniel Hutchinson and Cash Flo, then Stallion tossed out Bobino, meaning his Uprising tag team partner, Kieran Halycon, had to leave too. Trey Spruance, who was teaming with the debuting Kafudamaha, tossed Glenn Masters to eliminate him and Bryan Risk. Else where, Killswitch "skinned the cat" to force Samuel Morgan out, thus eliminating him and Chris K. Down to three teams, Spruance and Kafudamaha tossed out Super Stallion. As the two celebrated, Daniel Oakley and Killswitch managed to dump Kafudamaha over the top rope to win the match.

Main event matches
In a grudge match between two retiring LPW legends, "The New Breed" SoL took on the crowbar-wielding S.O.R. After a solid exchange of technical wrestling, S.O.R. slapped SoL to usher in a brutal pace to the match. Firmly in control, S.O.R. tied-up SoL in the ropes and went to grab his trademark crowbar, but SoL's bodyguard Snookie halted him, giving SoL the opening to hit the Final SoL-ution. S.O.R. managed to kick-out, and withstood SoL's offense until hitting SoL with the Payment Due, but this time the New Breed kicked out. Frustrated by the near-fall, S.O.R. grabbed a chair from ringside, only to get caught off-guard by a Jungle Kick. SoL made the cover for his final victory.

Backstage while preparing for his Martinez Cup main event match, cYnical was interrupted by a delivery man. With a memo from Spectre, a large flat-screen television was set-up for cYnical to witness what he would face at Homecoming.

In the main event four-on-four tag team elimination match, Insanity's Team N'itomniskittel (Citizen Caim's N'itomniskittel and Krimson Mask teaming with S.O.R. and Magic) took on Inferno's Team Spectre (Spectre, Wevv Mang, Villiano 187, and Ken Ryans), with cYnical watching from backstage. Team Spectre scored the first elimination when Villiano 187 caught Magic with a Super Huevos Rancheros off the top rope. After the pinfall, N'itomniskittel instructed his Citizen Caim monster Krimson Mask to decimate Magic on the outside, nearly killing him with a Bloodrush DDT on the concrete floor. Team Spectre managed to score the second elimination when Ryans locked S.O.R. in Tribute to the Troops, finishing him off with a Deathrow DDT. Again, N'itomniskittel commanded Krimson Mask to punish S.O.R., powerbombing him with The End onto an announce table. As N'itomniskittel mocked S.O.R., Mang snuck in to hit Shakespeare on Ice to eliminate Insanity's captain. Down to 4-on-1, Krimson Mask battled Spectre while valets Little Red Riding Hood and Satisfaction started fighting on the outside. In the ring, Krimson Mask was ambushed by all four members of Team Spectre. Villiano hit the Flying Burrito, Mang with Shakespeare on Ice, Ryans with a Deathrow DDT, until ultimately being choked out by Spectre with a Peruvian Neck Tie to finish the sweep.

The main event was the Martinez Cup "Champion vs. Champion" match, headlined by Drew Michaels (Inferno's LPW International Heavyweight Champion) squaring off against cYnical (Insanity's newly crowned LPW World Heavyweight Champion). Before the match, Spectre announced that Marty, LPW's first World Heavyweight Champion and soon-to-be inducted Hall of Famer, would be the guest referee. Trying to pull a fast one on Insanity, Spectre told Stanman that he gave the announcers the rest of the night off, while he along with last year's Martinez Cup winner, Pen, would call the action from the pro-Inferno commentary table. But Stanman countered by bringing out SoL, the first-ever Martinez Cup winner, to represent Insanity at the announce table.

After the formal introductions, Michaels and cYnical met in an intense staredown, followed by a flurry of offensive moves and counters which resulted in a stalemate. While SoL and Spectre argued at the announce table, Spectre mentioned he made the match no disqualification. cYnical wrapped Michaels in the Manic Depression, but Inferno's Christian champion hit an out-of-character low blow to get out. Michaels forced cYnical into the turnbuckle, hitting a top rope Killswitch suplex, followed by a shooting star press using a steel chair. Despite the move, cYnical managed to kick-out. Grabbing a page from his ultraviolent days, Michaels grabbed a steel cross and lodged the jagged edges into cYn's blood-gushing arm. Michaels locked on a Texas Cloverleaf, forcing cYn to scream in pain. As cYn was moments away from tapping, conflicted love interest Little Red Riding Hood ran down to ringside with two wicket baskets. As Little Red willed cYn on, the World Heavyweight Champion got to the ropes and grabbed a broken glass shard from Little Red before Michaels dragged him into the center of the ring. cYn stabbed the glass into Michaels' foot, then went to the two baskets to find one filled with broken glass shards and the other with super glue. Reminscent to the Taipei Death match that made cYnical famous, cYn glued the glass onto his taped fists and beat down Michaels. In firm control, cYn hit the cYnaburst on Michaels into the glue and pinned him. Marty counted the three count as cYnical had won the Martinez Cup.

However, the biased Spectre bolted from the announce table and cited the instant replay that showed Michaels having his foot on the bottom rope before the three count. Spectre overturned the decision and restarted the match, much to cYnical's disapproval. Blinded by pure rage, cYnical attacked Spectre at ringside with his sharded fists. As cYn tried to cYnaplex Spectre onto the announce table, Michaels suicide dived into cYnical and drove his ribs into the table. After Michaels nailed the Wicked DDT, cYnical managed to kick-out. Standing by littered glass, Michaels missed a right hand allowing cYnical to position him with a Negative Outlook. As cYnical tried to dump him into the glass, Michaels countered with a Wicked DDT, planting cYn's head into the broken glass. Michaels made the cover to gain the victory and become the first Inferno superstar to win the Martinez Cup.

After the match, Michaels celebrated with The Misfits and other members of the Inferno locker room. Realizing his dream having been realized then shattered, cYnical got up and in a show of respect, shook hands with Michaels and raised their arms together to end the show.

Aftermath
Because of the controversial decisions administered during the Martinez Cup match and behind-the-scenes booking of his Team Spectre's squash over Team N'itomniskittel, Spectre stepped down as LPW President and Inferno General Manager. As a result, his LPW World Heavyweight Championship "I Quit" match against cYnical was called off indefinitely.

Soon afterwards, LPW began to bleed money due to the global economic crisis of 2008. Forced to take immediate action to find a suitable replacement, the Board of Directors hired a shadowed and mysterious businessman as its Chief Executive Officer to shore up company profits. Wishing to remain anonymous, The Boss as he called himself, assumed the responsibilities of General Manager of the Inferno brand, while controversially appointing the inexperienced Little Red Riding Hood to be Insanity's new General Manager. With a new regime in place, LPW altered its Draft plans to instead re-draft its entire roster between the promotion's two brands at Homecoming.