Who could Brianne Chandler’s mystery partner be? (Patreon)

By Tom Maston (@SchmoedownBlog) 

The Schmoedown certainly loves a good mystery. Fan theories are as rife within the world of movie triva as they are the films themselves, and while the Innergeekdom tournament has dominated over recent weeks, the team division has thrown up a doozy of an unanswered question. 

Brianne Chandler’s decision to use the title shot she won at this year’s Free 4 All to make a play for the team belts is a big one, particularly when “Miss Movies” has been without a partner since the end of the 2017 season. Factor in her opting out of the MissFits and instead becoming one of the few factionless lone wolves within the Schmoedown, and there are more questions than answers arising when it comes to weighing up potential allies. 

As such, this writer is certain that the Shirewolves have been scratching their heads as much as the viewers at home when it comes to working out just who Chandler will be accompanied by when walking through that famous red curtain in a few day’s time. 

Fortunately for them – and you – the Schmoedown Blog is here to run down those in the running...

MIKE KALINOWSKI 

A lot has happened within the Schmoedown since Chandler was seen being driven away from Spectacular II by her one-time adversary Mike Kalinowski. Seemingly now having joined forces, the pair threatened to become movie trivia’s newest and most formidable power couple. 

Since then we saw the duo come together to form one Season Five’s most memorable entrances in the premiere episode before Kalinowski opted to leave The League behind and wreak havoc on the whole organisation, rejecting the advice of “Miss Movies” along the way. 

It would, then, seem unlikely that from nowhere the pair would be back fighting side by side, but let me remind you of a pertinent line from Chandler as she stood in for “The Killer” in his post-match interview following a crushing defeat to Rachel Cushing (see what I did there!) in his maiden No.1 Contender bout. 

“We have a team match coming up.” 

Chandler promised that there would be a team match that would somehow involve her and Kalinowski coming up at some stage. Since she was not present for the fall of DC Movie News we can presume she did not mean that match, and though at the time she would not have known that she would end up winning the Free 4 All, perhaps her and the man formerly known as “K.O.” have been planning to join forces all along and have been using Kalinowski’s recent actions as a smokescreen. 

Given “The Killer” has his fingers in almost every pie within the Schmoedown it would be safe to presume he has plenty to do with what is about to take place within the team division, and thus it would not be a huge shock to see him - front and centre – when the belts are on the line.

STACY HOWARD 

Now I know what you are saying: “But Six Degrees split up when Brianne left Stacy behind!”. And you would be correct – Six Degrees did split. 

But with the Schmoedown in total meltdown following Kalinowski’s meddling and with Chandler seemingly having no bad blood with her former partner, why not get the old band back together for a shot at the belts that never came their way during their original iteration as a team? 

Lose and no harm done. The pair would be free to go their separate ways once more. 

Win and the original queens of Schmoedown entrances would get their hands on belts that they believed they deserved when they were first making their way within the league. 

Further factor in what this match is set to represent and the potential for “Sassy Stacy” to reappear alongside Chandler only increases. “Miss Movies” has stated that her reasoning for challenging the Shirewolves in particular is to ensure that the Schmoedown’s first female champion or champions are crowned no matter the result. 

It would be fitting, then, for the original all-female superstar team of the league to face off two women who helped to shape the Schmoedown with their singles showings before joining forces for the greater good of the movie trivia world. Either way two women get belts and viewers likely get two of the finest entrances we are ever likely to see. Makes sense now you think about it, doesn’t it?!

KEN NAPZOK 

Now I do not want to beat a man while he is down, but if Chandler really wants to win those belts, then picking Napzok as her partner might not be the best idea. No competitor comes close to equalling the seven-match losing run that “The Pitboss” is currently enduring across all divisions, with his last win coming over a year ago when part of the Nerd’s Watch. 

And it is that partnership with Cushing that leads us to the theory that Napzok might just turn up in a bid to add further salt to the wound that was the winding up of the Nerd’s Watch. 

Though it is as yet unclear quite where on the spectrum of heroism and villainy the newly-formed Knights of Ken lie, with Napzok and Mark Donica the founding members it is safe to say they are unlikely to be acting on the side of good, at least to begin with. 

And though they are unlikely to be able to follow in the footsteps of the Lion’s Den when it comes to downright despicable acts, it would be symbolic if “The Crusher” were to have to beat the man who accompanied her into the world of Schmoedown to finally get her hands on the belt she so deserves. 

Of course she has already disposed of Napzok once on this road to glory as her and Wolfe saw off “The Pitboss” and makeshift partner Tom Dagnino, but how would she cope with the psychological barrier of having to do it all over again – this time with the belt on the line and with a recent history of coming up agonisingly short when the title seems within her grasp? 

Napzok might just want to find out, and having twice pleaded with Chandler to use her title shot elsewhere, perhaps she might just relent and offer him this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

FINSTOCK 

The man is an enigma. He arrives when you least expect him. Finstock is everywhere. Perhaps even at a title match next week?!?! 

(I know it won’t be Finstock, but that Free 4 All appearance came and went too quickly, didn’t it? He’s gotta show up soon given all the recent mayhem, doesn’t he?!)

JTE 

A wildcard pick maybe, but all long-time Schmoedown fans know that JTE has a history of reaching out to competitors with whom he feels he has a realistic shot at the title. 

Back in 2016, Clarke Wolfe was faced with a decision after it came to light that JTE had gone behind Finstock’s back and attempted to team up with a competitor who was well on their way to being named the inaugural ‘Rookie of the Year’. 

In the end “The Classy One” opted to reject the advances of “Little Evil”, instead revealing that she would be joining then-champion Mark Reilly to form the Wolves of Steel – a team that looked set to dominate for years to come. 

Of course, it was another team formed on fateful day – the Patriots – that would go onto to create the Schmoedown’s first great dynasty, but with JTE and Jeff Sneider now no more following back-to-back defeats to Above the Line, Ecuador’s most infamous film critic is now free to find a new partner. 

But why Chandler? Well, it is not so much about teaming up with “Miss Movies” but more about what she offers in terms of a clear path back to the belt that he so adored when in his possession for almost 18 months as well as the chance to enact some form of revenge for Wolfe’s rejection all that time ago. 

Chandler, meanwhile, would be getting a partner who has proven themselves capable time and again of producing title-winning performances, and as such would give her a fighting chance of earning the belt herself. 

Quite how it would work going forward is anyone’s guess, but with silverware within touching distance would either really care? It’s feasible that they would not.