Altered Reality III

Altered Reality III was the biggest e-wrestling pay-per-view of 2006 for Lords of Pain Wrestling (then known as the Psychotic Wrestling Alliance). The annual event took place at the Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana on November 1, 2006.

The pay-per-view showcased the federation's two brands, Schizophrenia and Pyromania, battling against each other in a series of matches to determine who was the superior brand. The main event was headlined by each brand's World champion fighting the other for the Martinez Cup, the highest accomplishment to achieve in the promotion.

Background
The previous year at Altered Reality II, Schizophrenia was just one match short of sweeping Pyromania in the cross-brand extravaganza. Since that time, Pyromania had grown by leaps and bounds. Under the leadership of the mega-popular Jaro, who reigned as the brand's International Heavyweight Champion, Pyromania pledged to unite and defeat its Schizophrenia counter-part for ultimate bragging rights at the cross-brand pay-per-view. Jaro was set to face Pen, Schizo's newly crowned World Heavyweight Champion, for the second-ever Martinez Cup and for Pen's World title as Jaro's reward for winning the 2005 Owner's Cup.

Days before the pay-per-view however, PWA owner Villiano 187 fired Jaro, Robb Larsen, and Showstoppa due to their solicitation of PWA talent for the upstart Full Metal Wrestling promotion. As a result, Jaro was immediately stripped of his title, thus leaving the Martinez Cup in jeopardy. The decision was made by PWA management to appoint D. Hammond Samuels as the new International Heavyweight Champion (who had recently lost Schizo’s World Heavyweight Championship to Pen at Schizos Wild). To further add to the pre-match drama, Pen later announced that he would be retiring after the PPV and would vacate the World title.

Event
After all the hoopla surrounding the event had ended, Pen and D. Hammond Samuels finally squared off in the Altered Reality III main event with the Martinez Cup hanging in the balance. After a back-and-forth match, Pen was able to hit the Point Blank Drop and pinned Ham for a second straight time to win the Martinez Cup. In a scenario that could only be dreamed of, Pen would go into retirement holding the World Championship and Martinez Cup, the two richest prizes in PWA history.

In other noteworthy matches, cYnical (Pyromania’s Western States Heritage Champion) defeated The Rabbi (Schizo’s United States Champion) in a Passover Match to determine who was the better mid-card champion. With blood pouring out of both competitors, cYnical won the match after swiping all four turnbuckles with Rabbi’s blood.

Also in action, Wevv Mang defeated Sheepster in the finals of the 2006 Owner's Cup tournament. For winning, Mang was awarded a future World title shot at a time of his choosing.

In the Schizo versus Pyro tag-team elimination matches, Schizo was victorious in two of the three matches. In the night's opening contest, Pyro’s Team N’itomniskittel defeated The Misfits with Krimson Mask as the sole survivor. Schizo’s Team SoL defeated Team Morpheus with Sick Fixx remaining as the last man standing. In the most controversial ending of the night, Schizo’s Team Al defeated Team Zuma after Al pinned Zuma. But Al didn’t look like the sole survivor after Zuma stabbed his own brother during the post-match celebration.

After all the dust had cleared, Schizophrenia and Pyromania ended in cross-brand tie, winning four matches apiece. But brand pride wouldn't mean much for long. In an announcement that would alter everyone's reality, management announced that the entire roster would be re-drafted at the next PWA event, Homecoming.