The William Martinez Cup is a trophy regarded as LPW's most prestigious accomplishment. The cup is awarded at the conclusion of each season to the winning world champion of Lords of Pain Wrestling's biggest pay-per-view event of the year, Altered Reality. It is contested between the Insanity brand's (formerly Schizophrenia) LPW World Heavyweight Champion and the Inferno brand's (formerly Pyromania) LPW International Heavyweight Champion.
Since the Martinez Cup debuted in June 2005, three champions have won the trophy. Those three men are Drew Michaels, Pen, and SoL.
The trophy is named after the namesake of Marty, who was the promotion's first World Heavyweight Champion.
History[]
Altered Reality II[]
In 2004, the success and roster of the Psychotic Wrestling Alliance (PWA) had grown so large that a second brand was needed, forcing the decision to split the roster. Schizophrenia remained the promotion's headline show under it's own brand, while the newly-created second brand was named Pyromania.
During the second season, the PWA was dominated by former Westside Connection tag team partners, SoL and Stone. The two held the PWA World Tag Team Championship until a falling-out caused both partners to face the other at the Slammy Awards to decide who would keep the Tag Team Championship. Stone would go on to win to gain possession of the titles, then was drafted to Pyromania while SoL stayed on Schizophrenia.
SoL would go on to dominated Schizophrenia, defeating PWA owner Villiano 187 to win the PWA World Heavyweight Championship at Resolutions. SoL would go on to become the longest-reigning World Heavyweight Champion to date, successfully retaining his title over Snapple, Stanman, The D, and Valleyboy. SoL's dominance eventually engineered the creation of The Illuminati, where he aligned with Phantom Lord and D. Hammond Samuels.
Meanwhile, Stone had become Pyromania's first and only PWA International Heavyweight Champion after he defeated Son of Repoman and Sashaband in a Triple Threat Ladder match at the first Altered Reality. Over the course of Pyro's second season, Stone successfully retained his title over Son of Repoman in a draw, then defeated NPD, cYnical, and Rick Stallion.
After both brands had been firmly established, Villiano announced that each brand's world champion would face the other at Altered Reality II for the Martinez Cup, which would settle the argument as to who was PWA's best champion.
At Altered Reality II, after scintillating wrestling action, SoL elbowed out of a Stone Drop, then nailed a Jungle Kick to become the first man to win the Martinez Cup. Immediately after SoL's victory, both the Schizophrenia and Pyromania locker rooms emptied to toast their champions. After the ring cleared, PWA owner Villiano 187 presented SoL with the Martinez Cup. Shockingly, the Illuminati used this opportunity to blackmail Villiano. Phantom Lord gained control of the production truck and lowered a steel cage over the ring to halt interference from the other wrestlers, while the D. Hammond Samuels applied a torturing armbar to Villiano in the ring. Villiano submitted to the request and signed Schizophrenia to the Illuminati, only to have Samuels break his arm anyway.
Altered Reality III[]
The previous year at Altered Reality II, Schizophrenia was just one match shy of sweeping Pyromania in the cross-brand extravaganza. Afterwards, Stone left the PWA and vacated the PWA International Heavyweight Championship. Looking to resurrect the brand, Pyromania held an eight-man Rising Stars tournament to crown a new champion at Rumble in the Bronx, which was won by the fast-rising rookie and recent Owner's Cup winner, Jaro. Under Jaro's leadership, Pyromania's popularity reached new heights. Protected by the Paragon, Jaro dominated the brand with key title defenses over BC, Son of Repoman, cYnical, and Robb Larsen.
Meanwhile on Schizophrenia, SoL's vice-grip on the PWA World Heavyweight Championship came to an end when he dropped the title to 2TX at At All Costs, but regained the belt at Annihilation. Despite SoL winning the title again, the dominance of the Illuminati began to implode from within. Phantom Lord was fired, while SoL and Samuels feuded over the title, with Samuels defeating SoL for the championship at Revelations in a Tijuana Cage match. With the Illuminati's influence of PWA management eradicated but still in place, Pen decided that he had enough of the PWA's current state and rebelled against the system. Pen formed a movement he called The Revolution. Pen challenged Samuels for the title at Schizos Wild with the added twist that Jaro would be the guest referee. Pen pulled off the upset, earning the right to face Jaro for the Martinez Cup. However, Jaro announced he would cash in the Owner's Cup when he would face Pen for the Cup and for the PWA World Heavyweight Championship at Altered Reality III.
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 PWA International Heavyweight Champion. 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.
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 consecutive show, winning the Martinez Cup before heading into retirement.
Altered Reality IV[]
During the fourth season, a management change forced the PWA to rename itself Lords of Pain Wrestling (LPW) with both brands renamed as a result (Schizophrenia changed to Insanity, and Pyromania was renamed Inferno). Not one to follow brand designations, cYnical and the Uprising staged a war of attacks directed at Inferno's new general manager, 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 GM for his take-charge approach. Influenced by his popularity, Spectre 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, but the ceremony was crashed when 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.
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 cYnical against Inferno's Drew Michaels.
After a fast-paced opening to the match, things escalated when Michaels took advantage of the no-DQ stipulation, grabbing a steel cross and lodging 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 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. Guest referee Marty counted the three count, naming cYnical 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 took back momentum. 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.
Lineage[]
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