The Final Countdown

So this work is continuing (I just posted Wrestlemarinepiad, in fact), but not here. I'm not going to go into a long thing about it, but basically I feel that this forum is no longer a good fit for me. My previous dynasties (aside from my original ROH one) have been deleted. I don't think it was malicious or anything; I'm assuming it was done to free up storage, and it's not like mine were the only ones removed. But if some dynasties from earlier games are being removed, it's probably time for me to bow out. For those of you who won't be reading any of my stuff when I move away from this forum, thanks for reading, commenting and supporting for the last 11 (!) years. If you want to continue following, you can do so at Be the Booker. Here's a direct link (I'm assuming that's okay; if it's not, a mod can feel free to remove it): https://bethebooker.net/thread/263/wcw-heart-soul

No. There will be future updates to this diary (though I'm undecided on whether or not I'll continue to post them to this particular forum.)

<blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="Oldschool" data-cite="Oldschool" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="43035" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>4 years running and 197 pages! I have some catching up to do <img alt=":)" data-src="//content.invisioncic.com/g322608/emoticons/smile.png.142cfa0a1cd2925c0463c1d00f499df2.png" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /></div></blockquote><p> You're probably better off using the index in the first post if you want to try that; it'll be a lot easier than trying to sift through all of the comments! <img alt=":cool:" data-src="//content.invisioncic.com/g322608/emoticons/cool.png.f00d2562b2c1d873a09323753efdb041.png" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /></p>

<p>Holy flashback! I didn't see this until now because I rarely look into the 2020 subforum, but I had to see what was going on when I saw your name. Welcome back!</p><p> </p><p> This is a really interesting twist. It really does feel like a completely old school product set in the modern day.</p>

July 2004, Week 1 July 5th, 2004 Worldwide taping: Prince Devitt over Rampage Brown, Konnan over Matt Winchester and Mortis over Jaison Moore. Attendance: 12,000 Show Notes: -Sting did more babyface work with Johnny Parisi, and he also gave Rellik some advice on telling better in-ring stories. -Kendrick and Aguila didn’t click at all as opponents. -Paul Heyman came up with a new catch phrase during his backstage segment in Dusty’s office, where he warned TAKA not to get in the way of Samoa Joe “or Joe is going to kill you.” This should help his promos out even more. -This was Nakamura’s tenth successful title defense, meaning he now has the option of vacating the TV title and challenging for the US title, or he can try to make it to fifteen and earn a World title match. -All four guys in the main event did an awesome job, but if I had to pick an MVP of the match it would be Yang. Really says a lot about how far the Dragons have come when they can stand out even when in the ring with Chris Jericho and Lance Storm. “I think you should get rid of Jackie and just focus on me and Trish.” –Amy Dumas “I like Aguila; he’s a solid wrestler.” –Yang “I can’t wait to hear Nakamura get on the mic and sell the beatdown he took tonight.” –CM Punk July 10th, 2004 Show Notes: -Trish Stratus pulled off an impression of former Renaissance road agent Dusty Rhodes that apparently transcended language barriers and entertained the locker room. -Nixxi Roxx and Tanny Mouse seemed to work pretty well as a team. Maybe we should bring in Tanny on a semi-regular basis and use them as an enhancement-level team? “Aja Kong either can’t or won’t sell for anybody anymore. I think her time is over.” –Meiko Satomura Upcoming WCW PPV Event(s): News Updates: Chigusa Nagayo isn’t the only one of our women WWE set their sights on. I was surprised when Kyoko Inoue called me to tell me she was going to take their offer and make the jump without even given me a chance to counter. It’s not a huge loss since she was pretty far down the totem pole, though I was considering turning her heel and reforming her old tag team with Takako Inoue for some depth in our tag division. I guess I should just be happy it wasn’t someone more critical to my plans who blindsided me like this. Unlike guys like Nakamura, Shibata and Wataru Inoue, who found work elsewhere after Antonio Inoki’s short-sighted round of layoffs last year, some of their young dojo graduates have struggled to get regular bookings. Simon Inoki has asked us to take a couple of them in, so we’re signing Hirooki Goto and Naofumi Yamamoto under a sort of makeshift learning excursion. They’ll start off in developmental and then have a stint on our main roster until New Japan decides it’s ready to bring them back and reintroduce them to their fanbase. Chris Jericho recently told me he saw something in fellow Canadian Kevin Steen, and he’s backed it up by taking on both Steen and his partner El Genericho as protégés. Mariko Yoshida signed a 1 year contract extension. Elsewhere in the wrestling world: I’m hearing that the Boy Toy has succeeded in turning a large chunk of the locker room against The Rock. Is Vince really going to sit back and allow HBK to drive off his biggest attraction? Chyna has now left WWE, thinning out their women’s division even more. It’s ironic that she stayed around for all those years after Hunter cheated on her with Stephanie only to leave after they split up. WWE continued to sign up some new (old) talent, bringing in Vader and Fit Finlay. NJPW’s PPVs air via PPV in Australia via the Main Event service, and now their weekly World Pro Wrestling show will be made available to Australians via the same service. I’m not sure how many buys they’re going to get for a weekly TV show in Australia, but it’s better than nothing. New Japan brought in recent dojo graduate Yujiro Takahashi as a young lion, and Masahiro Chono immediately took him on as a protégé. <hr noshade size=3> Hall of Champions: <hr noshade size=3> This is the beginning of what is normally the six month long prediction contest to decide the eight people who get to do the UFS draft. I'll need to figure out an alternative format to run the draft this year though, both because the Special Dynasty section is gone and because this thing is now being crossposted to BTB as well. Maybe Discord is the answer? Open to ideas on how to handle this. No; he's just in terminal decline so I want to keep him out of the ring as much as possible. He might have an occasional match when the story calls for it though. Welcome back! All about star quality. Mortis: 84 Dustin: 76 Eddie: 73 Mortis and Unnatural are at about the same level pop wise now; Dustin was ahead after beating Austin and Goldberg in back to back months but now he’s pretty much right at the same level as Mortis. Eddie is behind them both, but obviously the star quality of Eddie and Dustin will keep them from ever factoring into national battles.

Normally I'd say Hiromu would have no chance here, but I actually think he'll take this. My reasoning for that is: -I think Jay White was the original planned winner, and obviously he's unavailable. -I think they'll use this as a way to get back to the Naito/Hiromu match we were supposed to see at the Anniversary show.

<p><span style="font-size:18px;"><strong>June 2004, Week 4</strong></span></p><p> </p><p> </p><p> <img alt="5syC0e6.png" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/5syC0e6.png" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /></p><p> </p><p> <strong>June 21st, 2004</strong></p><p> <em>Worldwide taping: Three Wise Men over The Young Bucks, Volador Jr. over TJ Perkins in a Cruiserweight Shootout qualifying match and Shane Helms over Rampage Brown.</em></p><p><em> Attendance: 15,000</em></p><p> <img alt="Wjt6wqT.png" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/Wjt6wqT.png" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /></p><p> </p><p> <em>Show Notes:</em></p><p><em> -In his first night back from rehab and then a brief vacation, Sting worked on babyface fire with his protégé Johnny Parisi in case the latter ever turns, and also gave Rellik some promo tips (though the former Johnny the Bull will have Father Isaac doing his talking for him right now.) I also worked with TJ on promos alongside Regal doing the same with Rampage Brown, and then he and Danielson went over heel tactics.</em></p><p><em> </em></p><p><em> -Sting’s new gimmick of a wholesome, fan favorite authority figure got a great response.</em></p><p><em> </em></p><p><em> -El Generico broke a few ribs during his match with Eric Young. He should be good to go by Bash at the Beach but we’ll probably hold him out of action until then.</em></p><p><em> </em></p><p><em> -Johnny the Bull’s heel turn upon his reintroduction was a complete success, and his switch to the mysterious brute character of Rellik got an above average reaction from the fans.</em></p><p><em> </em></p><p><em> “I think Kevin Steen’s going to be a really great talker eventually.” –Chris Jericho</em></p><p><em> </em></p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> <img alt="JJBwRaP.png" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/JJBwRaP.png" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /></p><p> </p><p> <strong>June 26th, 2004</strong></p><p> <img alt="5s2iDUK.png" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/5s2iDUK.png" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /></p><p> </p><p> <em>Show Notes:</em></p><p><em> -Daffney brought in some cards for the girls to play before the show.</em></p><p><em> </em></p><p><em> -Aja Kong apparently didn’t clean up a mess she made backstage, and Charles Robinson took it upon himself to bring her before the court. He told her to clean up the mess and buy drinks for everyone after the show, which I hear Aja took gracefully.</em></p><p><em> </em></p><p><em> -Takako Inoue hurt her knee during the match. It doesn’t seem too serious but we might need to think about pulling her from her PPV match.</em></p><p><em> </em></p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> <strong>Upcoming WCW PPV Event(s):</strong></p><p> </p><p> </p><p> <img alt="KyOxMWn.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/KyOxMWn.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /></p><p> </p><blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="43035" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>July 11th, 2004<p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> <strong>Madison Eagles vs. Takako Inoue</strong></p><p> </p><p> <strong>Alexis Laree and Allison Corino vs. Wesna Busic and The Beautiful Nightmare</strong></p><p> </p><p> <strong>Chigusa Nagayo and Momoe Nakanishi vs. The Darkess (Daffney and LuFisto)</strong></p><p> </p><p> <strong>The Women’s Revolution (Amy and Jacqueline) vs. Our Generation (©) for the Women’s World Tag Team Championship</strong></p><p> </p><p> <strong>Manami Toyota vs. Trish Stratus</strong></p><p> </p><p> <strong>Meiko Satomura vs. Akira Hokuto (©) for the Women’s World Championship</strong></p><p> </p><p> Card subject to change. Please do not submit your predictions at this time.</p></div></blockquote><p> </p><p> <img alt="AX4zxHK.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/AX4zxHK.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /></p><p> </p><blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="43035" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>July 25th, 2004<p> </p><p> </p><p> <strong>Steven Regal vs. Bryan Danielson (©) in a No Time Limit match for the United States Championship</strong></p><p> </p><p> <strong>Goldberg vs. The Unnatural in a Steel Cage match</strong></p><p> </p><p> <strong>Eddie Guerrero vs. CM Punk (©) for the World Championship</strong></p><p> </p><p> </p><p> Card subject to change. Please do not submit your predictions at this time.</p></div></blockquote><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> <strong>News Updates:</strong></p><p> </p><p> </p><blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="43035" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>”Bret, I’ve been thinking about what we need to do about Jeff Hardy after he gets out of rehab.”<p> </p><p> “Oh?” The straight edge CM Punk had been thinking about ‘what to do’ when Jeff Hardy returned from his drug rehab? That didn’t sound good.</p><p> </p><p> “Yeah,” he went on, oblivious to my concern. “Now that I’ve re-signed and I’m here for the long haul, I’m thinking a lot about WCW’s future. Jeff should be a big part of that, but if he lets drugs get in the way it might hold him back from being what he should be, and what we need him to be.”</p><p> </p><p> “So what do you think we should do?” I asked. This conversation wasn’t going the way I feared it might, which was a relief.</p><p> </p><p> “I think you’ve done what you can for now,” Punk said. “Sending him to rehab was the right move, for him and for the company in the long run, even if it hurt us in the moment. Now I’m going to try and help too. I’d like to think that there’s already a mutual respect there from the great rivalry he and Matt had with me and Lance, but when he gets back I’m going to take it a step further. I’m going to be there as a friend, somebody to keep him on the straight and narrow, you know?”</p><p> </p><p> “Sounds good to me,” I said, shaking Punk’s hand. These two might be the two most important pieces of the puzzle for the next decade, so if Punk could help Jeff keep his head on straight that would be for everyone’s benefit. “Do your best.” </p><p> </p></div></blockquote><p> </p><p> Dusty Rhodes signed a 2 year extension with us. Whether as a road agent or now as an onscreen authority figure, The Dream still has a lot to give.</p><p> </p><p> Gail Kim seemed to think she’d learned as much as she was going to in developmental and requested a call-up.</p><p> </p><p> Dawn Marie announced her engagement to boyfriend Simon Diamond, a recent WWE developmental signing. For some reason I thought they got engaged a long time ago.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> <span style="text-decoration:underline;">Elsewhere in the wrestling world:</span></p><p> </p><p> WWE ran their inaugural Money in the Bank PPV in Milwaukee. RVD beat Shawn Michaels, Randy Orton, Edge, Christian and Chris Benoit in a ladder match to grab the briefcase and earn a shot at either the WWE or ECW world title whenever he wants it over the next year. That was an 86 rated main event, narrowly below the 87 rated semi main where Kane retained the ECW title over Kurt Angle. Triple H beat Hogan to retain the WWE title just before that in an 82 rated match, but the bigger story there was Rock beating Hunter down after the match, maybe to set up the title feud for Summerslam? Other notables from the show were WWE giving big wins to a couple of big muscular dudes. Leviathan beat Raven to win the ECW TV title, his first championship in the business. Brock Lesnar came up with an even bigger win, knocking off The Undertaker in a 92 rated match, the best of the night. That could signal the elevation of him into a legitimate main event guy. The show got an 88 score overall, an improvement on last month’s Hardcore Heaven.</p><p> </p><p> WWE has risen back up to International status according to the Observer, which I’m sure Vince is crowing about even if he pretends not to read it. This puts us both beyond a national level at the same time for the first time since I took over WCW.</p><p> </p><p> Maybe in response to their bump in size, WWE brought back Hardcore Holly.</p><p> </p><p> ECW Hardcore TV got bumped down to a later time slot on Nippon TV in Japan, I guess because they weren’t pleased with the ratings or the show quality. Ouch.</p><p> </p><p> All Japan ran their Super Power Series PPV. Toshiaki Kawada retained the Triple Crown over Keiji Mutoh in a great 95 rated main event, but that match was so far above anything else all night that the show overall only got an 82 score. Even so, this was still their best PPV of 2004 so far, and in fact their best since April of last year.</p><p> </p><p> Zero One had a PPV called Strength Fire 10 (huh?) Shinya Hashimoto and Otani wrestled to a time limit draw with Brian Adams and Funaki in an odd main event that pulled an 86 rating. That was definitely poor card management though because the semi main event and match of the night, Ken Shamrock’s submission victory over Katsuyori Shibata (94) blew it out of the water. The show overall pulled off an 84.</p><p> </p><p> Pro Wrestling Unplugged will no longer be running shows. They were a promotion who operated out of the Tri State and ran an indy high spot style. They never drew 300 fans to any show, so I guess they just weren’t selling enough tickets to offset operating costs.</p><p> </p><p> Rocco Rock officially retired. I had approached him with the idea of doing a little farewell run for Public Enemy but he flatly refused to work on any B-level TV shows, so I decided against it.</p><p> </p><p> Dustin’s ex wife Terri split up with the guy she’d been dating from outside the business.</p><p> </p><p> Randy Orton won a recent online poll as the best young prospect in wrestling. To WWE’s credit they’ve gotten behind him quite a bit faster than they did with Brock Lesnar upon call-up. He’s lost more than he’s won, but he’s been rubbing shoulders with some of the biggest stars they’ve got. He’s being presented as an upper midcarder with plenty of upside.</p><p> </p><p> The Observer put out their current front-runners for their year-end awards now that we’re at the halfway point, and if the list holds up we won’t be coming away with as many accolades as in 2003. They’ve got Rock as Wrestler of the Year, NOAH as best company, Mitsuharu Misawa and Yoshinari Ogawa as tag team, Ricky Marvin for young wrestler and Akira Taue for veteran. They do have us in the lead for best match (The Dangerous Alliance against Austin and Mysterio on Nitro), show (Great American Bash) and female wrestler (Meiko Satomura), so we wouldn’t be getting shut out completely if the awards were handed out now.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> <hr noshade size=3></p><p> </p><p> </p><p> <strong><span style="font-size:24px;"><span style="color:#0000FF;">National Battle Report: July 2004</span></span></strong></p><p> </p><p> </p><blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="43035" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div><img alt="ebDwXEW.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/ebDwXEW.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /><p> <span style="color:#FF0000;"><span style="font-size:18px;">USA</span></span></p><p> </p><p> </p><p> <span style="font-size:18px;"><strong>#1:</strong></span></p><p> </p><p> <img alt="7AiYO6E.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/7AiYO6E.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /></p><p> <strong>World Wrestling Entertainment</strong></p><p> </p><p> <em>Top 5 Stars:</em></p><p><em> </em></p><p><em> 1) The Rock (1000 points)</em></p><p><em> 2) Rob Van Dam (844)</em></p><p><em> 3) Triple H (818)</em></p><p><em> 4) Hollywood Hogan (806)</em></p><p><em> 5) The Undertaker (799) </em></p><p> </p><p> <strong>Total Points: 4,267</strong></p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> <span style="font-size:18px;"><strong>#2:</strong></span></p><p> </p><p> <img alt="FlfrjkH.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/FlfrjkH.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /></p><p> <strong>World Championship Wrestling</strong></p><p> </p><p> <em>Top 5 Stars:</em></p><p><em> </em></p><p><em> 1) Bill Goldberg (990)</em></p><p><em> 2) CM Punk (827)</em></p><p><em> 3) Mortis (756)</em></p><p><em> 4) Rey Mysterio Jr. (735)</em></p><p><em> 5) Trish Stratus (698)</em></p><p> </p><p> <strong>Total Points: 4,006</strong></p></div></blockquote><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="43035" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div><img alt="ieBLbQ1.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/ieBLbQ1.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /><p> <span style="color:#FF0000;"><span style="font-size:18px;">British Isles</span></span></p><p> </p><p> </p><p> <span style="font-size:18px;"><strong>#1:</strong></span></p><p> </p><p> <img alt="7AiYO6E.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/7AiYO6E.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /></p><p> <strong>World Wrestling Entertainment</strong></p><p> </p><p> <em>Top 5 Stars:</em></p><p><em> </em></p><p><em> 1) The Rock (1000 points)</em></p><p><em> 2) Rob Van Dam (842)</em></p><p><em> 3) Hollywood Hogan (833)</em></p><p><em> 4) Triple H (810)</em></p><p><em> 5) The Undertaker (801) </em></p><p> </p><p> <strong>Total Points: 4,286</strong></p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> <span style="font-size:18px;"><strong>#2:</strong></span></p><p> </p><p> <img alt="FlfrjkH.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/FlfrjkH.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /></p><p> <strong>World Championship Wrestling</strong></p><p> </p><p> <em>Top 5 Stars:</em></p><p><em> </em></p><p><em> 1) Bill Goldberg (990)</em></p><p><em> 2) CM Punk (824)</em></p><p><em> 3) Mortis (758)</em></p><p><em> 4) Rey Mysterio Jr. (734)</em></p><p><em> 5) Trish Stratus (698) </em></p><p> </p><p> <strong>Total Points: 4,004</strong></p><p> </p></div></blockquote><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="43035" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div><img alt="1eeVS9d.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/1eeVS9d.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /><p> <span style="color:#FF0000;"><span style="font-size:18px;">Japan</span></span></p><p> </p><p> <span style="font-size:18px;"><strong>#1:</strong></span></p><p> </p><p> <img alt="7AiYO6E.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/7AiYO6E.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /></p><p> <strong>World Wrestling Entertainment</strong></p><p> </p><p> <em>Top 5 Stars:</em></p><p><em> </em></p><p><em> 1) The Rock (1000 points)</em></p><p><em> 2) Rob Van Dam (844)</em></p><p><em> 3) Triple H (829)</em></p><p><em> 4) The Undertaker (790)</em></p><p><em> 5) Hollywood Hogan (785)</em></p><p> </p><p> <strong>Total Points: 4,248</strong></p><p> </p><p> </p><p> <span style="font-size:18px;"><strong>#2:</strong></span></p><p> </p><p> <img alt="FlfrjkH.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/FlfrjkH.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /></p><p> <strong>World Championship Wrestling</strong></p><p> </p><p> <em>Top 5 Stars:</em></p><p><em> </em></p><p><em> 1) Bill Goldberg (977)</em></p><p><em> 2) CM Punk (849)</em></p><p><em> 3) Mortis (754)</em></p><p><em> 4) Chigusa Nagayo (741)</em></p><p><em> 5) Rey Mysterio Jr. (737)</em></p><p> </p><p> <strong>Total Points: 4,058</strong></p></div></blockquote><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="43035" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div><img alt="mUExTtD.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/mUExTtD.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /><p> <span style="color:#FF0000;"><span style="font-size:18px;">Europe</span></span></p><p> </p><p> </p><p> <span style="font-size:18px;"><strong>#1:</strong></span></p><p> </p><p> <img alt="7AiYO6E.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/7AiYO6E.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /></p><p> <strong>World Wrestling Entertainment</strong></p><p> </p><p> <em>Top 5 Stars:</em></p><p><em> </em></p><p><em> 1) The Rock (1000 points)</em></p><p><em> 2) Rob Van Dam (842)</em></p><p><em> 3) Triple H (816)</em></p><p><em> 4) Hollywood Hogan (814)</em></p><p><em> 5) The Undertaker (801)</em></p><p> </p><p> <strong>Total Points: 4,273</strong></p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> <span style="font-size:18px;"><strong>#2:</strong></span></p><p> </p><p> <img alt="FlfrjkH.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/FlfrjkH.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /></p><p> <strong>World Championship Wrestling</strong></p><p> </p><p> <em>Top 5 Stars:</em></p><p><em> </em></p><p><em> 1) Bill Goldberg (952)</em></p><p><em> 2) CM Punk (826)</em></p><p><em> 3) Mortis (748)</em></p><p><em> 4) Rey Mysterio Jr. (735)</em></p><p><em> 5) Trish Stratus (697) </em></p><p> </p><p> <strong>Total Points: 3,958</strong></p><p> </p><p> </p></div></blockquote><p> </p><p> </p><p> <hr noshade size=3></p><p> </p><p> </p><p> Thanks to K-Nection for whipping up a brand new, far cleaner-looking logo for Wrestlemarinepiad to replace the one AJW used!</p><p> </p><p> The CM Punk-Jeff Hardy strong friendship, as well as the reasoning behind it, are courtesy of Ian Carlisle. Happy0wns booked MITB, and Brock Lesnar and Batista got nice little bumps in popularity out of it.</p><p> </p><p> </p><blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="DHK1989" data-cite="DHK1989" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="43035" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>Has anyone shown interest in Scott Steiner yet?</div></blockquote><p> Not yet, but he's still in rehab so I'm assuming no one would sign him until after that.</p><p> </p><p> </p><blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="smartman" data-cite="smartman" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="43035" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>I'd doubt it. This is 2016, and the AI ditched anyone that would be on the time decline list, which should be him.</div></blockquote><p> Flair was in horrible time decline and the WWE AI still scooped him up and is booking him like a main eventer, though maybe he's an exception? But I don't think Scott ever showed up on the time decline list anyway, at least not yet. Rick Steiner definitely did, but not Scott as far as I remember.</p>

<p><strong><span style="text-decoration:underline;"><span style="font-size:18px;">Hall of Champions:</span></span></strong></p><p> </p><p> </p><blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="43035" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div><img alt="5syC0e6.png" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/5syC0e6.png" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> <strong><span style="text-decoration:underline;">World Heavyweight Champion:</span></strong></p><p> <span>http://i.imgur.com/haJKoFv.jpg</span></p><p> <strong>CM Punk</strong></p><p> <img alt="IyPxuzp.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/IyPxuzp.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /></p><p> <strong>Won:</strong> April 11th, 2004 from The Unnatural at Clash of the Champions in Melbourne, Australia</p><p> </p><p> <em>Previous Champions (since March 2001):</em></p><p> The Unnatural: June 15th, 2003-April 11th, 2004 (301 days)</p><p> Rey Mysterio Jr.: December 29th, 2002-June 15th, 2003 (168 days)</p><p> Booker T (#5): May 19th, 2002-December 29th, 2002 (224 days)</p><p> Rob Van Dam: December 30th, 2001-May 19th, 2002 (140 days)</p><p> Scott Steiner (#2): July 15th, 2001-December 30th, 2001 (168 days)</p><p> Booker T (#4): March 26th, 2001-July 15th, 2001 (111 days)</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> <strong><span style="text-decoration:underline;">United States Heavyweight Champion:</span></strong></p><p> <span>http://i.imgur.com/mitTbCm.jpg</span></p><p> <strong>Bryan Danielson</strong></p><p> <img alt="lAlFtSW.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/lAlFtSW.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /></p><p> <strong>Won:</strong> April 11th, 2004 from Rob Van Dam at Clash of the Champions in Melbourne, Australia</p><p> </p><p> <em>Previous Champions (since March 2001):</em></p><p> Rob Van Dam: September 21st, 2003-April 11th, 2004 (203 days)</p><p> AJ Styles: December 29th, 2002-September 21st, 2003 (266 days)</p><p> Shane Douglas (#2): April 1st, 2002-December 29th, 2002 (272 days)</p><p> Rey Misterio Jr (#2): October 14th, 2001-April 1st, 2002 (169 days)</p><p> Kanyon: August 5th, 2001-October 14th, 2001 (70 days)</p><p> Rey Misterio Jr: May 13th, 2001-August 5th, 2001 (85 days)</p><p> Booker T: March 18th, 2001-April 30th, 2001 (44 days)</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> <strong><span style="text-decoration:underline;">World Television Champion:</span></strong></p><p> <img alt="rrRBDgP.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/rrRBDgP.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /></p><p> <strong>Shinsuke Nakamura</strong></p><p> <img alt="k8UIH2T.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/k8UIH2T.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /></p><p> <strong>Won:</strong> April 11th, 2004 from Hayabusa at Clash of the Champions in Melbourne, Australia</p><p> </p><p> <em>Previous Champions (since July 2002):</em></p><p> Hayabusa: April 5th, 2004-April 11th,2004 (6 days)</p><p> Brian Kendrick: January 19th, 2004-April 5th, 2004 (77 days)</p><p> ((Hardy reached the maximum fifteen title defenses, thus vacating the title on 1/19/04 and earning a World Heavyweight Championship match))</p><p> Matt Hardy: October 19th, 2003-January 19th, 2004 (92 days)</p><p> Bobby Roode: August 24th, 2003-October 19th, 2003 (56 days)</p><p> ((O'Haire reached the maximum fifteen title defenses, thus vacating the title on 7/21/03 and earning a World Heavyweight Championship match))</p><p> Sean O'Haire: January 26th, 2003-July 21st, 2003 (176 days)</p><p> Fit Finlay (#2): July 29th, 2002-January 26th, 2003 (181 days)</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> <strong><span style="text-decoration:underline;">World Tag Team Champions:</span></strong></p><p> <span>http://i.imgur.com/S0cu0uO.jpg</span></p><p> <strong>The Dangerous Alliance (Sean O’Haire and Shane Douglas, #4 for O’Haire, #3 for Douglas)</strong></p><p> <img alt="c5XJDHD.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/c5XJDHD.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /><img alt="eTShQmA.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/eTShQmA.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /></p><p> <strong>Won:</strong> June 14th, 2004 from Lance Storm in a handicap match on Monday Nitro in New York City, New York</p><p> </p><p> <em>Previous Champions (since March 2001):</em></p><p> True Heroes (Lance Storm and CM Punk) (#3): December 28th, 2003-June 14th, 2004 (169 days)</p><p> Salvation (Mortis, Alexander and The Destroyer): August 24th, 2003-December 28th, 2003 (126 days)</p><p> Christopher Daniels and Brian Adams (#3 for Adams): June 15th, 2003-August 24th, 2003 (70 days)</p><p> The Hardys (Matt Hardy and Jeff Hardy) (#2): December 29th, 2002-June 15th, 2003 (168 days)</p><p> True Heroes (Lance Storm and CM Punk) (#2): October 27th, 2002-December 29th, 2002 (63 days)</p><p> The Hardys (Matt Hardy and Jeff Hardy): July 14th, 2002-October 27th, 2002 (105 days)</p><p> True Heroes (Lance Storm and CM Punk): December 30th, 2001-July 14th, 2002 (196 days)</p><p> The Natural Born Thrillers (Chuck Palumbo and Sean O'Haire): January 14th, 2001-December 30th, 2001 (351 days)</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> <strong><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Unified Junior Heavyweight Champion:</span></strong></p><p> <img alt="bNOS1V5.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/bNOS1V5.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /><span>http://i.imgur.com/u0cJ04Z.jpg</span><img alt="g2XT5xO.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/g2XT5xO.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /></p><p> <em>((This is a championship jointly sanctioned by and defended in New Japan Pro Wrestling and WCW, comprised of the IWGP Junior Heavyweight, WCW Cruiserweight and UWA Welterweight titles.))</em></p><p> <strong>Koji Kanemoto</strong></p><p> <img alt="hRx2BNM.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/hRx2BNM.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /></p><p> <strong>Won:</strong> June 4th, 2004 in a title unification match against TAKA at NJPW Best of the Super Juniors in Toda,Japan</p><p> </p><p> <em>Previous Champions (since June 2004):</em></p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> <strong><span style="text-decoration:underline;"><span style="color:#FF0000;">ANNUAL CHAMPIONSHIPS:</span></span></strong></p><p> </p><p> <strong><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Mayhem Battle Royal (held every May):</span></strong></p><p> <img alt="i915ufn.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/i915ufn.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /></p><p> </p><p> <strong>2004:</strong> King Corino</p><p> <strong>2003:</strong> Eddie Guerrero</p><p> <strong>2002:</strong> Diamond Dallas Page</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> <strong><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Stu Hart Classic Tournament (held every November):</span></strong></p><p> <img alt="305ySKD.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/305ySKD.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /></p><p> </p><p> <strong>2003:</strong> Jeff Hardy</p><p> <strong>2002:</strong> Rey Mysterio Jr.</p><p> <strong>2001:</strong> Rob Van Dam</p><p> </p><p> </p></div></blockquote><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="43035" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div><strong><span style="font-size:14px;">The Ultimate Fan Series</span></strong><p> </p><p> <strong>2004:</strong> The Dead Jesters, managed by Marshal Van Black (The Enigma (replacing Steve Austin), Eddie Guerrero, Akira Hokuto, Shane Douglas and Christopher Daniels)</p><p> </p><p> <strong>2003:</strong> Satyr's Hopeful Few, managed by Satyr24 (Mortis, The Unnatural, Alexander, Christopher Daniels and Melissa Anderson)</p><p> </p><p> <strong>2002:</strong> The Agents of Chaos, managed by Beejus Pilgrim (Scott Steiner, Rick Steiner, Mark Jindrak and Dustin Rhodes)</p><p> </p><p> <strong>2001:</strong> The K-Nections, managed by Kevin Gaines (Booker T, Sting, AJ Styles and Alex Wright)</p><p> </p><p> <span style="color:#808080;"><strong><em>1989?</em></strong></span><span style="color:#808080;"><em> Championship Pedigree, managed by Bernie Klein (Hulk Hogan, Ted DiBiase, Tito Santana, Robert Gibson and The Rougeau Brothers)</em></span> </p><p> </p></div></blockquote><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> <hr noshade size=3></p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="joshspicer" data-cite="joshspicer" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="43035" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>With the way their conversations are going I could eventually see these "Vince Calls Bret" segments turning into two old men just doing it for the show but losing all sense of competition and just having conversations about business and maybe even more.<p> </p><p> If things with Stephanie end up working out, who knows?</p></div></blockquote><p> Bret marrying Stephanie and forming a true wrestling dynasty would be quite an interesting epilogue to this story! <img alt=":eek:" data-src="//content.invisioncic.com/g322608/emoticons/eek.png.0e09df00fa222c85760b9bc1700b5405.png" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /></p><p> </p><p> </p><blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="GingeyOne" data-cite="GingeyOne" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="43035" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>Eugh! I wrote down my predictions and must have timed out and not posted them!<p> </p><p> Really good show, would have absolutely watched that one start to finish!</p><p> </p><p> Love that Regal has shown up to work and help and be a positive force for your locker room.</p><p> </p><p> Great storytelling with Jericho trying to interject with the True Heroes story, could lead to many options!</p></div></blockquote><p> I love that Regal is giving Danielson little stat boots; as if he needs them! But by all means, turn this already awesome worker into an even better one! <img alt=":D" data-src="//content.invisioncic.com/g322608/emoticons/biggrin.png.929299b4c121f473b0026f3d6e74d189.png" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /></p><p> </p><p> </p><blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="olivertaylor276" data-cite="olivertaylor276" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="43035" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div><p> </p><p> I got a kick out of this lol</p></div></blockquote><p> Goldberg teaching anyone psychology is interesting.</p>

<p><span style="font-size:18px;"><strong>June 2004, Week 3</strong></span></p><p> </p><p> </p><p> <img alt="5syC0e6.png" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/5syC0e6.png" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /></p><p> </p><p> <strong>June 14th, 2004</strong></p><p> <em>Worldwide taping: Hayabusa over Mark Copani, Great Sasuke over Shad Gaspard and Three Wise Men over Johnny Kashmere and Eddie Kingston.</em></p><p><em> Attendance: 20,000</em></p><p> <img alt="fxR49Fx.png" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/fxR49Fx.png" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /></p><p> </p><p> <em>Show Notes:</em></p><p><em> -Johnny Parisi set up a poker tournament for the boys before the show.</em></p><p><em> </em></p><p><em> -Before the show, Goldberg worked on psychology with Dan Maff, while Regal had Danielson cut a practice promo before having Rampage Brown do some bumping drills.</em></p><p><em> </em></p><p><em> -Nakamura and Steve Blackman worked pretty well together as opponents.</em></p><p><em> </em></p><p><em> -Chavo’s heel turn was a complete success. He should slot in well with Uncle Eddie.</em></p><p><em> </em></p><p><em> -Petey Williams re-debuted as a heel with a prima donna gimmick, and I think it did okay with the fans.</em></p><p><em> </em></p><p><em> -The lack of selling and psychology really hurt the Goldberg/Mortis main event.</em></p><p><em> </em></p><p><em> -NBC and Televisa were once again unhappy with the fan response to this show, largely thanks to the main event. We’re going to have to put more thought into the caliber of talent we put in the main event spot, or more specifically their ability to tell in-ring stories.</em></p><p><em> </em></p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> <img alt="JJBwRaP.png" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/JJBwRaP.png" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /></p><p> </p><p> <strong>June 19th, 2004</strong></p><p> <img alt="3EIb3V1.png" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/3EIb3V1.png" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /></p><p> </p><p> <em>Show Notes:</em></p><p><em> -The wholesome underdog character of Nikki Roxx apparently got an average response from the fans during her dark match debut.</em></p><p><em> </em></p><p><em> “I just don’t see it with Madison Eagles.” –Amy Dumas</em></p><p><em> </em></p><p><em> “I know she just started with us, but I’m not sure that Nikki Roxx gets it.” –Nattie Neidhart</em></p><p><em> </em></p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> <strong>Upcoming WCW PPV Event(s):</strong></p><p> </p><p> </p><p> <img alt="klaxpOp.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/klaxpOp.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /></p><p> </p><blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="43035" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>July 11th, 2004<p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> <strong>Chigusa Nagayo and Momoe Nakanishi vs. The Darkess (Daffney and LuFisto)</strong></p><p> </p><p> <strong>The Women’s Revolution (Amy and Jacqueline) vs. Our Generation (©) for the Women’s World Tag Team Championship</strong></p><p> </p><p> <strong>Manami Toyota vs. Trish Stratus</strong></p><p> </p><p> <strong>Meiko Satomura vs. Akira Hokuto (©) for the Women’s World Championship</strong></p><p> </p><p> Card subject to change. Please do not submit your predictions at this time.</p></div></blockquote><p> </p><p> <img alt="AX4zxHK.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/AX4zxHK.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /></p><p> </p><blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="43035" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>July 25th, 2004<p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> <strong>Goldberg vs. The Unnatural in a Steel Cage match</strong></p><p> </p><p> </p><p> Card subject to change. Please do not submit your predictions at this time.</p></div></blockquote><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> <strong>News Updates:</strong></p><p> </p><p> </p><blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="43035" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>”You know Bret, I’m really thinking I could use someone new to bolster my Divas division.”<p> </p><p> “What, not even a hello, Vince?” I said into the phone. “And maybe you wouldn’t need to go hire anybody if you’d bothered to try and re-sign Trish, Lita or Jackie.”</p><p> </p><p> “Be that as it may, I think we’re in the market for a new Diva,” he said. “And since signing Rob Van Dam has worked out so well for us, I figure we might as well take the best that you can offer once again.”</p><p> </p><p> “What’re you getting at?” I asked. We’d only recently fended off an attempt to steal Manami Toyota, who is locked into WCW for the next three and a half years, Akira Hokuto still has almost two years left on her deal and Meiko Satomura isn’t due for a renegotiation just yet. That was our new big three as far as I was concerned.</p><p> </p><p> “I understand this Chig—Chis—“ he cleared his throat, and I could picture him looking down at the paper in front of him. “This Ms. Nagayo of yours has been a real household name in Japan for years. Real star. But I’m betting she could be an even bigger one if she came to work for me. Wouldn’t that be interesting, huh?”</p><p> </p></div></blockquote><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> <span style="text-decoration:underline;">Elsewhere in the wrestling world:</span></p><p> </p><p> NOAH held their next PPV, For the Warriors Fell, in front of over 30 thousand fans in the Seibu Dome. Jun Akiyama retained the GHC Heavyweight title over Gran Naniwa in a 93 rated semi main event which took MOTN honors. The main event slot went to Chris Candido and Akira Taue winning a tag bout against Mitsuharu Misawa and Yoshinari Ogawa, which got a 91 score. A good main event, but the peculiar match placement didn’t exactly work out. The show got an 89 grade overall, which ranks pretty much in the middle of their big shows so far this year. The show also featured a Junior Heavyweight tag title change, with the team of Dissident Movement winning the vacant belts against Yoshinobu Kanemaru and W*ING Kanemura.</p><p> </p><p> “Beautiful” Bobby Eaton announced his retirement from the ring.</p><p> </p><p> <hr noshade size=3></p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="43035" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div> Great American Bash 04 Tallies<p> </p><p> PhenomenalV1: 11</p><p> Ian carlisle: 11</p><p> </p><p> DGenerationMC: 10</p><p> Satyr24: 10</p><p> Asaemon: 10</p><p> Bockwinkel: 10</p><p> </p><p> Happy0wns: 9</p><p> rateddc: 9</p><p> SkipMartin: 9</p><p> crackerjack: 9</p><p> cmhunk: 9</p><p> </p><p> Dead_Jester: 8</p><p> JMike: 8</p><p> olivertaylor276: 8</p><p> Danny_H22: 8</p><p> Beejus: 8</p><p> </p><p> joshspicer: 7</p><p> Ry guy 64: 7</p><p> Kijar: 7</p><p> DHK1989: 7</p><p> franticloser: 7</p><p> odan: 7</p><p> SagaJoestar: 7</p><p> Nobby_McDonald: 7</p><p> K-Nection: 7</p><p> whodatnation12: 7</p><p> </p></div></blockquote><p> </p><p> </p><blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="43035" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>Final Standings in prediction contest after 4 shows:<p> </p><p> Happy0wns: 30</p><p> </p><p> Ian carlisle: 29</p><p> </p><p> Satyr24: 28 (26:00)</p><p> cmhunk: 28 (28:44)</p><p> </p><p> Dead_Jester: 27</p><p> </p><p> crackerjack: 26</p><p> </p><p> DGenerationMC: 25</p><p> JMike: 25</p><p> Danny H22: 25</p><p> </p><p> DHK1989: 24</p><p> franticloser: 24</p><p> Asaemon: 24</p><p> </p><p> rateddc: 23</p><p> odan: 23</p><p> </p><p> Kijar: 22</p><p> </p><p> Beejus: 21</p><p> </p><p> SagaJoestar: 20</p><p> </p><p> joshspicer: 19</p><p> </p><p> GingeyOne: 16</p><p> </p><p> olivertaylor276: 15</p><p> K-Nection: 15</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> The Lariat: 13</p><p> SkipMartin: 13</p><p> </p><p> Nobby_McDonald: 12</p><p> </p><p> PhenomenalV1: 11</p><p> </p><p> Bockwinkel: 10</p><p> </p><p> Ry guy 64: 7</p><p> whodatnation12: 7</p><p> </p><p> Bagins: 5</p><p> </p><p> smw88: 4</p><p> ComicFighter: 4</p><p> </p><p> cbacon87: 1</p><p> Chaossy: 1</p><p> Wolfman84: 1</p><p> deanohbk: 1</p><p> sportsfanmas: 1</p><p> BHK6: 1</p><p> ElectricX: 1</p><p> WilburTrey: 1</p><p> Forrest01: 1</p><p> </p><p> </p></div></blockquote><p> </p><p> </p><p> <hr noshade size=3></p><p> </p><p> Thanks once again to DHK1989 for tallying the GDS portion of these predictions, and also to K-Nection for the Great American Bash poster.</p>

June 13th, 2004 From Yankee Stadium in New York City Attendance: 50,665 Announce Team: "The Professor" Mike Tenay and Bret "The Hitman" Hart Joining Tony Schiavone, Don Callis and Maria Kanellis on tonight’s panel are special guests Matt Hardy and Tammy Sytch http://i.imgur.com/S0cu0uO.jpg Steenerico vs. True Heroes (©) for the World Tag Team Championship We started off with this match to give Punk as much of a rest as possible in between this and his main event (both in kayfabe and in reality.) The Heroes turned in another excellent outing here, but Steen and Generico aren’t really at that level yet and it showed. Steen in particular struggled to hold up his end of the performance. The match was a decent way to begin the show, but nowhere near the caliber of title match we’re used to seeing from the Heroes. The story that unfolded in this match was Punk coming up limping after a leap frog, which Steen and Generico exploited throughout the rest of the match. Lance took the bulk of the work from there and forced Generico to tap out to the Calgary Clutch, but the story after the match was Punk needing to be helped to the back. AJ Styles vs. Prince Devitt This was a big opportunity for Devitt, but results were mixed. The match was good enough to keep building the crowd up, but came in far below expectations. Part of the problem was that AJ and Fergal didn’t seem to work too well together, mistiming some things and not communicating very well. AJ won a so-so match after 9 and a half minutes with the Styles Clash. AJ kept beating on him after the match until Randy Savage came out, talked to him and led him to the back. The Shooting Stars vs. Jung Dragons vs. Made in Italy This was an exciting, fast-paced match, with all three teams shining and getting some great moments throughout. If there was a ‘weak link’ it was Teddy Hart, but he was fine honestly; it was just that everyone else did such a great job. While all three valets bickered at ringside, the Dragons picked up the win by double teaming Tony Mamaluke and hitting him with the Objection. But while the Dragons won, Dawn Marie got a bit of revenge on Stacy after the match by revealing that SHE was going to be on the poster for next month’s Bash at the Beach PPV, which Stacy did not react well to. Shane Helms vs. Shinsuke Nakamura (©) for the World Television Championship The attempt to build Nakamura into a sensation continues. This was a decent enough match that did what it was supposed to do, which was give Shinsuke another notable win when he forced Helms to tap out to the cross armbreaker. This was Nakamura’s 7th title defense, meaning he could potentially vacate the title and go for the US belt if he makes three more. We cut to Dusty Rhodes dropping by the trainer’s room to check on CM Punk. The trainer seemed concerned about his knee, but Punk insisted that he was going to defend his title tonight. Considering the alternative was forfeiting the match and vacating the title, Punk said he wasn’t going to walk away from this if he could help it. The trainer had his concerns but said he could compete if he was willing to risk it. Chavo Guerrero Jr. vs. Eddie Guerrero This was a match here largely to set things up for later, but the Guerreros produced a sneaky great match together. It was nearly fifteen minutes of great action that the crowd gave a decent reaction to, with Chavo trying to shake off his recent struggles and get a huge win over his uncle. Ultimately he came up short though, and took a clean loss after a frog splash. Afterwards Eddie helped his nephew up off of the mat and walked to the back with him, which had Mike and I speculating on commentary. We finally visited our panel, and after recapping the Unified Junior Heavyweight title that will be featured less often in WCW due to its demand all over the world, Tammy vowed that TAKA would take all three belts back, whether in the US, Japan or wherever he needed to go to get them. Rey Mysterio Jr. and Konnan vs. The Dangerous Alliance (O’Haire and Douglas) Continuing the trend that the last match started, this was far better than I expected it to be. Konnan wasn’t quite on the level of the other three, but Rey and the Dangerous Alliance did well enough to make this match a great one. The wrestling was good, and the fans were into it. The buildup to the match was all about whether Rey could trust Konnan, but ironically it was an errant springboard dropkick from Rey which accidentally hit Konnan and set him up for O’Haire’s Cyclone. Three Wise Men were guests on an unannounced Piper’s Pit. The new team talked about how their combined intelligence would allow them to outthink all the other teams and ascend to the top of the tag ranks. Roddy, who came across well here, seemed less than impressed, taking some playful jabs at their intelligence or lack thereof. Chris Jericho vs. Brian Kendrick Another very strong match here; this was shaping up to be quite the show by this point. Kendrick was really good and Jericho was great here. It was the world-class veteran against the cocky but talented youngster, with Mike and I commenting that Kendrick reminded us both of Jericho circa 1997 or 1998. Maybe he’ll follow Jericho’s trajectory and become a world champion himself some day, but tonight the veteran was too much for him. Jericho seized his moment and secured the tap out with the Liontamer. The panel debated the upcoming US title match. Matt Hardy thought youth would be served and Danielson would get revenge on his treacherous mentor, but Tammy Sytch said Regal’s skill, smarts and ruthlessness would lead to a new champion. http://i.imgur.com/mitTbCm.jpg Steven Regal vs. Bryan Danielson (©) for the United States Heavyweight Championship It had been a string of amazing matches up to this point, but Danielson and Regal topped them all. This was a technical wrestling fan’s dream; a slow-building, smart match that told an amazing story, with the student showing the mentor that his skills were very much on his level. In reality I thought Bryan looked like the superior performer of the two here, but in kayfabe the idea was that they were evenly matched. He even took Regal down to the mat and locked in the Cattle Mutilation right in the center of the ring. Regal was still trapped in the hold when the bell rang, but it wasn’t because he’d submitted. The 30 minute time limit had expired, and the match ended in a draw. Back with the panel, where Matt Hardy said he couldn’t wait for Goldberg to get his hands on The Unnatural, who he still blamed for everything that had happened with his brother Jeff. Tammy told him not to overlook The Unnatural, who had defied people’s expectations for almost a full year as champion. Goldberg vs. The Unnatural Was this as good as the classic right before it? No. But it was still great all on its own, even if it was hurt by a lack of convincing selling. The heat was off the charts here; I think the fans were more into this than anything so far. They ate it all up as Unnatural did his best to avoid the angry Goldberg. They didn’t get the conclusion they were hoping for though, because Mortis and The Destroyer hit the ring and attacked Goldberg for the DQ. The members of Salvation continued to beat on Goldberg after the match, only stopping when a host of security and officials, plus Hayabusa and Paul London, came out to break it up. On his way out Unnatural grabbed the microphone and told Goldberg he should have stayed away when he had the chance. “You could have gone to Japan and rebuilt your life, or you could have even taken the big money offer from Stamford. Instead you stayed, and now you must be destroyed for the good of everyone.” Before the main event, the panel argued over whether it was wise for CM Punk to risk major injury by defending the title. Sytch said he was going to lose to Corino anyway so he might as well save himself the pain, but Matt disagreed. He brought up the legendary battles between the Hardys and True Heroes, and said he’d learned firsthand what kind of fighter CM Punk was. http://i.imgur.com/haJKoFv.jpg King Corino vs. CM Punk (©) for the World Heavyweight Championship This was an excellent match, and if it weren’t for the performance Danielson and Regal put on it would’ve been the best of the night. The action was great and the crowd ate it up. The key difference between the two is that Danielson and Regal are both masters of telling a compelling story in the ring. Punk and Corino aren’t bad at it but they aren’t at that level of psychology either, and it showed. There were just a few moments here and there that took the match down a notch or two. Obviously the story was built around Corino aggressively targeting the injured knee, and he took enough of a beating that Mike and I began saying that he might have been better off forfeiting the match and not exposing himself to this. The champion persevered though, and after kicking away from an attempted figure four he rolled Corino up and caught him for a pinfall and a successful title defense at 24:19. Punk didn’t get much of a chance to bask in his victory, because the Dangerous Alliance stepped onto the ramp after the match. Paul Heyman told both he and Storm that Shane Douglas and Sean O’Haire would be using the tag team title match guaranteed to them by Douglas’ UFS win, and they’d be using it tomorrow night on Nitro. “So ice that knee up, kid, because in about 24 hours you’ve gotta do it all over again!” News Updates: <hr noshade size=3> It won't be, for two reasons. A) Austin just got driven from WCW in February. I think more time needs to pass before he potentially shows up again. B) A match of that magnitude needs more build-up than that. When that happens, it's going to be a big deal.

June 2004, Week 2 June 7th, 2004 Worldwide taping: Volador Jr. and Aguila over The Heartbreakers, Prince Devitt over Johnny Curtis and Paul London and Hayabusa over Eddie Edwards and Matt Morgan. Attendance: 11,770 Show Notes: -Dusty entertained everybody by drawing a cartoon version of Ric Flair before the show. The drawing itself was garbage but it was fun to watch him try. -Lots of instruction took place in the ring before the show. I worked on psychology with TJ, while Regal gave Bryan Danielson pointers on cutting a believable promo and also went over the finer points of selling with Rampage Brown. -Storm was kept strong in his loss to Kevin Steen with the Corino interference. Lance and Kevin seemed to work really well together, so that might be something to keep in mind for the future. -Bobby Roode switched to a cocky genius gimmick to go along with his new team with Cabana and Heenan, and it got a great response. -Shane Helms’ ladies this week were Talia Madison and Bobcat. -Punk and Corino both did a great job of improvising during their show-closing segment, really establishing the story of Punk trying to defend two titles in one night and how difficult it’ll be on him, something Corino hopes to capitalize on at the end of the night. “I think you should give Shane Helms more promo time.” –AJ Styles June 12th, 2004 Show Notes: -Kyoko Inoue brought in the latest Japanese video game for the girls to play. -Momoe’s gimmick is getting a little bit stale. Upcoming WCW PPV Event(s): News Updates: Daffney signed a 2 year contract extension. Mary Apache is moving on. We’ll be using Nikki Roxx as essentially her replacement; you don’t want to keep the same people around all the time as enhancement talent. Elsewhere in the wrestling world: Antonio Inoki officially retired from the business after staying around for a month or so to help make the transition easier for Simon. New Japan is truly in a new era without their founder and biggest star in history. <hr noshade size=3> Worldwide was taped at its usual time instead of right before the PPV as a pre-show because the network already had programming scheduled on Sunday this week. (It’s totally not because I forgot to change the taping date around before I ran Nitro, I swear!) I was considering bringing up someone else to be Regal's 'muscle'/lackey, but that could actually work... It's an alliance, yeah. At first it was just a standard working agreement but I changed it to an alliance when I had the idea to unify the junior and cruiserweight titles. Talent trading is the only box I ticked when I set up the alliance though, so they're still going to be operating as separate companies with separate finances, no restrictions on where they can run shows, etc. After looking up what that is: no. In a way I think this'll help the undercard feuds because I'll have more freedom to use guys and build stories without needing to shoehorn in a cruiserweight title match every month. Plus when there are junior heavyweight title matches in WCW (and there will be), they're going to be a bigger deal. You'll definitely be seeing the new unified junior heavyweight title pop up and defended in WCW on occasion. The IWGP Heavyweight title won't be; I would like to have that option, but it would need to be an alliance title in order for me to do that. That doesn't mean you couldn't see the IWGP Heavyweight champion himself pop up in WCW, though...

June 2004, Week 1 May 31st, 2004 Worldwide taping: Volador Jr. defeated C.W. Anderson, Shane Helms defeated Jack Evans and Steenerico defeated Shaun Ricker and Eric Young. Attendance: 15,000 Show Notes: -Steven Regal has taken on Rampage Brown as a protégé. I would have preferred he mentor someone who I actually have plans for, but it’s his choice I guess. -I helped TJ Wilson work on his promos before the show. “Nakamura’s doing really well on promos. I think they’re only going to help him get over quicker.” –CM Punk June 5th, 2004 Show Notes: “I don’t see much potential in Madison Eagles. Might want to push someone else.” –Amy Dumas Upcoming WCW PPV Event(s): News Updates: We signed Japanese female wrestler Kyoko Kimura to a developmental deal and sent her to 5SSW. She’s inexperienced but my scouts over there think she could develop into a decent worker with some ring time. Ayako Hamada is reporting to developmental as well. She’s young but already quite experienced, and we think she could be an asset on Renaissance eventually. Nixxi Roxx will be coming in and working on a per date deal as enhancement talent. Elsewhere in the wrestling world: TNA ran their Sacrifice show in Georgia. The easy match of the night went to the 65 rated main event world title match, where Marc Mero retained his belt against Minoru Tanaka, Nicho and Matt Cross in a four way. That was among their better matches of 2004 so far, and was the primary reason they got a 60 overall grade for the show, which is their second highest both this year and in their history behind February’s Against All Odds. Darkness Dragon suffered a severe neck injury wrestling Minoru Suzuki during Suzuki’s NJPW debut, and he’ll be out for about a year. It doesn’t sound like there’s any heat on Suzuki though, and no feeling that he did anything wrong; just a bad bump. <hr noshade size=3> I don't really want to split up the Calgary Bulldogs. Regal might be worth a try though.

She's not actually on the roster. Any time you see her it's as a one night only 'local talent.' I want to push Sekimoto---just trying to figure out a role for him. I've been trying different managers and partners out on house shows but haven't found any positive matches yet, and I haven't come up with a good creative idea for him. Goldberg is being booked as a loner so that doesn't really work.

Summer 2004 Roster Breakdown: (Faces in blue, heels in red) NITRO ROSTER RENAISSANCE

May 2004, Week 4 May 24th, 2004 Worldwide taping: Shantelle Taylor defeated Jennifer Blake, The American Outlaws defeated Shawn Spears and Mikey Whipwreck and Hayabusa defeated Adam Pearce. Attendance: 17,723 Show Notes: -I noticed Goldberg giving some pointers to Dan Maff backstage. Apparently he seems something in him and wants to mentor him. -Regal helped his own protégé Bryan Danielson work on his selling in the ring before the show. Bryan’s already a fantastic worker, but it’s cool that he’s still humble enough to listen to advice from those with more experience. -The newly-dubbed Women’s Revolution had plenty of ammo to complain about in their time in WWE, from WWE’s inferior women’s division to the fact that they made no attempt to re-sign them and keep the backbone of the division together. The gist is that they feel overlooked by WWE, and they’ve invaded Renaissance to show they’re just as good as the WCW women. -The ladies with Helms and Buff were local women Shantelle Taylor, Jade Chung and Jennifer Blake. -Samoa Joe and Funaki’s timing was all over the place. -Meng’s bad ass gimmick got a great response, because of course it did. -I decided to let Jericho and Kendrick do a completely improvised promo. Brian not only kept up with Chris, but was even quicker on his feet with the improv. Great work. -NBC and Televisa were not happy with some of the fan comments in response to this show. It wasn’t even a bad show, but they’re expecting positive fan buzz on a weekly basis. May 29th, 2004 Upcoming WCW PPV Event(s): News Updates: James Mitchell, aka Father Isaac, signed a 1 year extension. We signed Alex Shelley to a developmental deal. Elsewhere in the wrestling world: Thanks to coming off as a distant third to WWE and us in terms of starpower, even in their own country, NOAH has been knocked back down to cult status. All Japan held their Blue Army PPV from the sold out Budokan in Tokyo. Toshiaki Kawada won the Triple Crown for the fourth time, beating Hiroshi Hase in an 85 rated main event. That wasn’t good enough to top the match immediately before it though, where Keiji Mutoh stole the show in a 93 rated win over Shinya Hashimoto. Those two matches were both well above everything else though, which is why the show only rated a 78 overall. That’s still the best PPV they’ve run all year though, so I guess it’s a positive. NWA: TNA held Slammiversary in Maryland. Marc Mero retained the TNA World title against Matt Sydal in a 56 rated main event, while the Observer awarded MOTN honors to Minoru Tanaka’s debut as a regular, a no contest against GQ that got a 59. He could be a really good pickup for them. The show overall was a 56, which is pretty much right in their recent average. New Japan brought in Minoru Suzuki on a written deal and Ultimo Dragon on a PPA. In Dragon’s case he’s still booking down in the Mexican branch of Toryumon, so he understandably wouldn’t want to sign anything exclusive. I heard he was going to be teaming with his student Dragon Kid under the team name Double Dragon. Unfortunately he hurt his knee in Toryumon days before he would have re-debuted in New Japan and will be out for about a half a year, so I guess everything’s off now. Tajiri’s looking really ripped lately. Wonder if he’s hoping to get an offer from WWE when his current deal with NOAH runs out? Or maybe he’s trying to make himself a more attractive option for New Japan? Jimmy Snuka died. <hr noshade size=3> National Battle Report: June 2004 ((NOAH qualified for the national battle, finished in third and fell back down to cult before their rankings could be tallied.)) <hr noshade size=3> Yeah, New Japan, All Japan and NOAH all run the weekly TV and monthly PPV schedule. The purist in me doesn't like it, but I'm very glad to be running that less intensive schedule now that I've taken over the booking of New Japan! I'm going to try and balance it. I'll likely be using WCW guys in NJPW more often than the other way around, but I still don't want to overdo it. I want them to supplement the show and come in for the occasional big match or story, while the NJPW regulars are the usual focus. Yeah, that's one of the features of 2020 I'd like to have. I think I can do a reasonable job of simulating it with the partnership though. I'll just do some maneuvering where I sign the young lion to maybe a 6 month or 1 year contract to WCW to simulate their excursion.