A new tournament is coming to Max Wrestling in September this year. Replacing the Promo Climax this year is a new 12-person knockout battle to determine the challengers for the Promo Championship at Promo Series 5: Enemy Lines.
In past years, the Promo Climax was supposed to be the highlight of the year for Max Wrestling, bringing people together through the art of cutting promos and developing characters. For the most part, it did just that, but the league-style tournament came with its problems two years running. A solution was presented in the form of the revolutionary Promo League, which debuted in April earlier this year. For the first month or so, it went perfectly. But again, issues crept up - pushing "The Captain" Dazzy Dangerously to hang up the mic and close the door on Max Wrestling. If not for the outpouring of support from Mike Larkin, Travis Anderson, Moses Marquez and many others calling for him to reconsider, Max Wrestling would not still be living.
Following his decision to re-shape the brand and change direction, known as "The Shift", Dazzy proposed a new open format where promo bouts are all exhibitions and a number one contender would be chosen by a committee known as the Promo Order each month. Some still had a desire to compete though, and instead, the previously cancelled second King Of The Mic tournament was re-scheduled and the PromoBowl was created. The first has just begun, kicking off with Anderson bowing out to the up and coming Cypher, while two newcomers in Ronald Hill and Crooked Smile have yet to debut. The second, the PromoBowl, will have the same knockout format to begin with, before ending with three finalists set to challenge the Promo Champion. In addition, only 10 of the 12 spots will be filled, as the final two spots will go to two of previously eliminated participants in a second-chance public vote.
Currently, Mike Larkin has returned to the hiatus he was on before "The Shift", but is due to return full-time soon, re-joining the new trio. Larkin also made Max Wrestling: In The Hot Seat his own show earlier this year, which received its own makeover in line with "The Shift". Beginning with a double bill interviewing Cypher and Mike Jolly, the show became known as Beyond The Max - as it had become just as much about the people associated with Max Wrestling as it was about the famous names Mike had interviewed, from Karrion Kross to Alicia Atout. There is no official date yet for Larkin's return.
