The Final Countdown

October 2003: Road to Halloween Havoc The Backstories: Eddie took on The Destroyer in a Stu Hart Classic bout the following week, and Rey promised he'd have his back. He was good on his word, coming out to prevent Unnatural from interfering. Eddie went on to win the match, and afterwards Unnatural applauded them both for working together. But he immediately went on to stir the pot by saying that if Rey had been such a stalwart and loyal friend all along, he wouldn't have stolen the glory away from Eddie at War Games and Guerrero would be challenging for the title at Halloween Havoc instead of having to try and fight his way through 31 other men to win the tournament. Sean O'Haire confronted both Guerrero and Mysterio on the 6th to say that he didn't care at all about their little drama, and if Eddie didn't want to wind up spending the rest of 2003 in a hospital bed, he better stop worrying about the soap opera and start worrying about their Stu Hart Classic match. Rey had to hold his friend back to prevent a brawl in the locker room, and all of this did not escape The Unnatural's notice. He approached O'Haire later that night and suggested they join forces against Eddie and Rey in a tag match the next week. O'Haire accepted, though we made it clear he still didn't like or trust Unnatural after their previous world title battle. The big tag match was more than worthy of main eventing the go home Nitro. After exciting action in which all four guys got their turn to shine, Rey took O'Haire out of the match with a spectacular dive on the floor. But while all eyes were on that, Unnatural slipped in an undetected low blow on Eddie to steal the pin in the final action before Halloween Havoc. <hr noshade size=3> Thanks for all the welcome backs, guys! Nice to know I wasn't forgotten while I was gone! Fingers crossed that I'll be able to run Havoc fairly soon and get some momentum going again, because I'm excited to get to Starrcade. I can't make any promises though, especially with the G1 starting in less than 12 hours from the time I'm writing this. It's my absolute favorite time of year to be a wrestling fan these days, but it sure eats up a lot of my free time! There's nothing really to report on Joe, but there is a pretty significant piece of news about Michinoku Pro in the next news update. It's not GDS or wrestling related at all. Nope, not really. I liked having him around, but he was not essential at all. It was for the best that he left. Yeah, it definitely helps to take a step back every now and again. That was a much longer pause than I'd intended though! Yep, anyone is welcome to take a stab at it in your absence if they want to. If not, I guess we'll just temporarily return to the dark ages before you started gracing us with your awesome event posters! And hey, sorry I never got around to responding to your last PM a few weeks ago. I tried to, several times actually, but I was still on vacation and the web browser on my crappy phone kept crashing.

<p>October 2003: Grand Prix Wrap-up</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><div style="text-align:center;"><p><strong>September 29th, 2003</strong></p></div><p></p><p></p><p> </p><p> "Thanks for everything you've done for WCW," I said, holding out my hand. The man smiled and shook it.</p><p> </p><p> "I appreciate it," he said. "Never thought I'd be leavin' this place, but when Vince called, I figured I gotta take the shot, you know? Especially since, let's face it, I wasn't exactly a big part of your future plans."</p><p> </p><p> I couldn't deny that. He was never a ring general in the first place, but these days he was struggling to keep up with the new WCW and our higher workrate. He was still a good guy to have on the roster, a familiar face and someone who had been willing to work with the younger guys on improving their games. I did try to keep him around, but the moment I heard Vince made him an offer I knew he'd be leaving. It's probably best for everybody. He might get a decent position in WWE since being a workhorse isn't as important there and you can skate by on notoriety and charisma, and for us it frees up another spot and television time, which is at a premium with our talent-rich roster.</p><p> </p><p> "Good luck up there," I told him, meaning it.</p><p> </p><p> "Thanks, Hitman," he said. "It'll be interesting to walk in there for the first time. Well, I guess it's not actually the first time, but this time the focus'll actually be on me and not my pink Cadillac."</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><div style="text-align:center;"><img alt="Pi7V8Vw.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/Pi7V8Vw.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /><p> <em>WWE will feel the 'bang'...but how much of a difference can DDP make at 47 years old?</em></p></div><p></p><p></p></div></blockquote> <p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><div style="text-align:center;"><p> </p><span>http://i.imgur.com/nUYCk9q.jpg</span> </div><p></p><p></p><p> <em>Shinobu Kandori brightened the mood before the Grand Prix event by bringing in some drinks. After the show, I pulled Toyota aside and told her how great she is and how important she is to what we're building in Renaissance. I also gave Toshiyo Yamada a hug and congratulated her on delivering in the biggest match of her career, and I held up Etsuko Mita as a positive example for the younger girls to follow, as she had no problem putting Akira Hokuto over even though she's the one that's been a featured player since our women's division started.</em></p><p><em> </em></p><p><em> I allowed David Flair's contract to expire. I'm sure it would've made Ric happy if I kept the kid around, but he just never figured out how to work. He is a bit more competent now after all that time in Wildside, but still not worth keeping around on this roster.</em></p><p><em> </em></p><p><em> Evan Karagis' deal also expired. I'll admit it: I didn't even know he was running low. Whoops. It's too bad, because I actually had an idea I was considering for 3 Count in the future. Maybe I'll bring him back in a few months if I feel like running it. </em></p><p><em> </em></p><p><em> Nitro is joining Renaissance on Seven Network Australia, an increase in visibility from our previous home, Ten Network. </em></p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><div style="text-align:center;"><p> </p><span>http://i.imgur.com/sDkxtEI.jpg</span> </div><p></p><p></p><p> <em>NJPW remains in acquisition mode. They've added HARASHIMA, Jun Kasai and Seiji Yamakawa to their roster. Hopefully they don't suffer a setback and abruptly cut a bunch of guys again.</em></p><p><em> </em></p><p><em> Naoya Ogawa, a part-timer, recently did an out of character interview where he not only took several shots at the company's top starts, but claimed the ownership owed him money. That can't make Inoki happy. </em></p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><div style="text-align:center;"><span>http://i.imgur.com/syuSRKH.jpg</span> </div><p></p><p></p><p> <em>Our Spirits Will Rise Up was held on September 29th. The main event was Hiroshi Hase retaining the Triple Crown against Takao Omori. That match was far better than anything else on the show, and even that was only okay. The show as a whole was given a </em><em><strong>73</strong></em><em>, which makes it their second worst PPV of the year.</em></p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><div style="text-align:center;"><img alt="fOS5DO2.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/fOS5DO2.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /></div><p></p><p></p><p> <em>Kensuke Sasaki did not sign a new deal with Zero One, so he's a free agent once again. </em></p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><div style="text-align:center;"><p> </p><span>http://i.imgur.com/ebDwXEW.jpg</span> </div><p></p><p></p><p> <em>I've heard through the grapevine that Bryan Clark's going to retire in a few months. He hasn't done anything but the occasional small independent show since we got rid of him in July 2002, so I guess he's decided it isn't worth the time if he isn't going to be signed by anyone.</em></p><p><em> </em></p><p><em> It sounds like TNA and Ring of Honor have been trading some barbs online, so I guess the ownership of those two companies don't like each other much.</em></p><p><em> </em></p><p><em> Macho just put out a hardcore rap CD. That's...hell, I don't know what to say about that. It's a thing that happened.</em></p><p><em> </em></p><p><em> Some guy named Johnny Fairplay apparently pulled a big heel move on the reality show Survivor that has everybody talking. I guess he dabbles in managing and commentating on the indies, so maybe TNA or somebody will bring him in to take advantage of his TV notoriety. </em></p><p> </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>Grand Prix tournament bracket predictions (out of a possible 7 points):<p> </p><p> JMike: 7</p><p> Texasrangers13: 7</p><p> evileddie10: 7</p><p> </p><p> James The Animator: 5</p><p> Dead_Jester: 5</p><p> Cro Cop Rules: 5</p><p> Smasher1311: 5</p><p> Rateddc: 5</p><p> GingeyOne: 5</p><p> </p><p> deanohbk: 4</p><p> jscotty: 4</p><p> Uncrewed: 4</p><p> Happy0wns: 4</p><p> Warhawk8492: 4</p><p> </p><p> DGenerationMC: 2</p><p> cbacon87: 2</p><p> DHK1989: 2</p><p> K-Nection: 2</p><p> DavidCorperial: 2</p><p> bonnie: 2</p><p> kinnikuniverse: 2</p><p> 123Kidd: 2</p><p> Dany_H22: 2</p><p> Beejus: 2</p><p> Kijar: 2</p><p> Theheel: 2</p><p> chrismday: 2</p><p> 2Sweet: 2</p><p> crackerjack: 2</p><p> Ian carlisle: 2</p><p> The Lariat: 2</p><p> </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>PPV Predictions (out of a possible 8 points):<p> </p><p> Happy0wns: 8</p><p> Dead_Jester: 8</p><p> jscotty: 8</p><p> </p><p> JMike: 7</p><p> cbacon87: 7</p><p> DavidCorperial: 7</p><p> evileddie10: 7</p><p> K-Nection: 7</p><p> Warhawk8492: 7</p><p> Cro Cop Rules: 7</p><p> crackerjack: 7</p><p> Wolfman84: 7</p><p> chrismday: 7</p><p> GingeyOne: 7</p><p> </p><p> CobheadJake: 6</p><p> James The Animator: 6</p><p> deanohbk: 6</p><p> DGenerationMC: 6</p><p> Uncrewed: 6</p><p> ThorJ: 6</p><p> Theheel: 6</p><p> Satyr24: 6</p><p> The Lariat: 6</p><p> </p><p> bonnie: 5</p><p> Rateddc: 5</p><p> michgcs: 5</p><p> Kijar: 5</p><p> Danny_H22: 5</p><p> </p><p> franticloser: 4</p><p> Beejus: 4</p><p> </p><p> Chaos Zarak: 3</p><p> DHK1989: 3</p><p> KnowYourEnemy: 3</p><p> </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>Standings in UFS prediction contest after 5 shows:<p> </p><p> Dead_Jester: 49</p><p> </p><p> evileddie10: 45</p><p> </p><p> cbacon87: 44</p><p> Rateddc: 44</p><p> </p><p> Happy0wns: 43</p><p> </p><p> deanohbk: 42</p><p> JMike: 42</p><p> </p><p> DavidCorperial: 41</p><p> Uncrewed: 41</p><p> jscotty: 41</p><p> Cro Cop Rules: 41</p><p> </p><p> K-Nection: 40</p><p> GingeyOne: 40</p><p> </p><p> DHK1989: 39</p><p> crackerjack: 39</p><p> James The Animator: 39</p><p> </p><p> Satyr24: 38</p><p> Theheel: 38</p><p> chrismday: 38</p><p> </p><p> Wolfman84: 37</p><p> Kijar: 37</p><p> Warhawk8492: 37</p><p> </p><p> bonnie: 36</p><p> The Lariat: 36</p><p> DGenerationMC: 36</p><p> </p><p> Danny_H22: 33</p><p> </p><p> Beejus: 31</p><p> kinnikuniverse: 31</p><p> </p><p> Smasher1311: 30</p><p> </p><p> michgcs: 28</p><p> Texasrangers13: 28</p><p> </p><p> 123Kidd: 26</p><p> </p><p> Nobby_McDonald: 25</p><p> </p><p> CobheadJake: 20</p><p> </p><p> KnowYourEnemy: 19</p><p> ThorJ: 19</p><p> </p><p> Ian carlisle: 18</p><p> </p><p> smw88: 17</p><p> </p><p> ElectricX: 16</p><p> </p><p> Chaos Zarak: 15</p><p> </p><p> Chaossy: 10</p><p> franticloser: 10</p><p> </p><p> 2Sweet: 9</p><p> </p><p> Destiny: 8</p><p> </p><p> The Lloyd: 7</p><p> RKOwnage: 7</p><p> </p><p> Mr. Jones: 6</p><p> Bluestillidie00: 6</p><p> </p></div></blockquote><p> </p><p> </p><p> <hr noshade size=3></p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><div style="text-align:center;"><p>Are we back?</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> <img alt="9eOBurw.gif" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/9eOBurw.gif" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /></p></div><p></p><p></p><p> </p><p> </p><p> So I've been MIA from GDS for about two months now. And not just with this diary; I've fallen way behind on all the ones I've been following as a reader too. Long story short, I focused on another writing project of mine for all of May. Then I just kind of took it easy/got ready for my vacation in mid-late June. I got home from that a little under two weeks ago, and only now am I ready to dip my toe back into the water here. I'm going to skim over my last few posts to refresh my memory on where everything left off and where I intended to go next, and hopefully I'll run my first show in far too long either today or tomorrow. There's two weeks of TV to go before Halloween Havoc, so hopefully it won't be too far into the future before I get that preview up. </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="K-Nection" data-cite="K-Nection" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="43035" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>I did this just for fun!<p> </p><p> <img alt="u21SpHE.png" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/u21SpHE.png" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /></p><p> </p><p> </p><p> <img alt="w2IHRob.png" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/w2IHRob.png" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /></p></div></blockquote><p> Nice work...but you left out Stacy Keibler! <img alt=":p" data-src="//content.invisioncic.com/g322608/emoticons/tongue.png.ceb643b2956793497cef30b0e944be28.png" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /></p><p> </p><p> </p><blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="K-Nection" data-cite="K-Nection" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="43035" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>Ok you got me by giving the nod to Hokuto....I think I have a Mita bias or I would have picked Hokuto logically. Really like how your women's division is shaping up. I'm curious if you are considering touring them outside of Japan anytime soon?</div></blockquote><p> Not really. A good chunk of the Renaissance roster has quite a bit more popularity in Japan than anywhere else, so there's plenty of incentive to keep the brand based there. Plus it simplifies the planning of what regions my shows will be held in, which is something I put more time and thought into than you might expect.</p><p> </p><p> </p><blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="kinnikuniverse" data-cite="kinnikuniverse" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="43035" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>Man, when I try to book women's matches in my OLLIE save( which I rediscovered recently and im having tons of fun with it!) They never go higher than C+. I guess I should switch to integrated for better match ratings.<p> </p><p> Anyway, great show, as always! The toyota-yamada match was awesome! AND I completely forgot kaoru existed! She and megumi kudo were more hardcore than half the ECW roster at the time!</p><p> </p><p> Can't wait for the Stu Hart Classic! LET'S GO EDDIE! (ACTUALLY I dont remember my predictions!)</p></div></blockquote><p> Integrated seems to be the way to go, yeah.</p><p> </p><p> I kind of forget Kaoru's around sometimes too.</p>

<p>Yeah, their current crop of young lions is really deep. It's a big difference from when I first started actively following NJPW, where it was just YOH and SHO. If even half of those guys measure up (and the NJPW dojo seems to have a great track record), the company shouldn't be lacking for talent any time soon.</p><p> </p><p> I don't have much to say about Dominion. Well, I do, but I don't really have the time to say it right now. All I'll say is that my immediate reaction after Omega vs. Okada was that it was the best match I've ever seen.</p><p> </p><p> </p><blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="40971" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>And do you think we're heading towards a new Tiger Mask being created one day soon? </div></blockquote><p> I was really hoping they would do that when that new Tiger Mask anime was airing awhile back. That seemed like the perfect time to introduce a 5th generation, but instead IV stuck around and we got Ibushi making a handful of appearances as a part-time, special attraction Tiger Mask W.</p><p> </p><p> The anime was about to start up when it was getting close to time for Hiromu to return from his excursion, and I remember some people saying they wanted him in that role. In retrospect I'm glad they didn't do that, because the mask and the TM character would've restricted him from being his wonderful crazy self.</p>

<blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="milamber" data-cite="milamber" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="25169" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>Apparently a 2nd Stardom wrestler has signed. I'm guessing Konami even though she just signed a full-time contract (possibly so they could make some money selling her contract to WWE).</div></blockquote><p> If she counts, Toni Storm would be the likeliest candidate. Pretty sure they've wanted her for awhile, and it was her own choice not to go there right away.</p>

<blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="Jaysin" data-cite="Jaysin" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="25169" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>Apparently Io Shirai is finally coming to WWE! </div></blockquote><p> Boo.</p><p> </p><p> Happy for her since it's something she's been aiming for, but I'll miss watching her.</p>

<blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="BHK1978" data-cite="BHK1978" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="25169" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>Strange that they would move it back to Fridays. Mainly because Fridays and Saturdays are viewed as the weaker days when it comes to television.</div></blockquote><p> Maybe they have other prime time shows on Tuesday that they place a higher priority on.</p><p> </p><p> That actually makes a lot of sense now that I think about it. Friday is seen as a bad day for TV, like you said, so most shows that networks care about are put on earlier in the week. So I guess Fox figures they can throw a proven commodity like WWE into that spot and get better ratings than they'd usually get on Friday night.</p><p> </p><p> Still, I'm not sure how this'll work. Moving from cable to broadcast brings higher viewership expectations, and I don't know how many more fans WWE really has left that aren't already faithfully watching every week. They've driven most of the rest off (myself included.) I seem to remember Saturday Night's Main Event was considered a pretty big flop when NBC brought it back in the mid 2000's, and WWE was getting higher ratings then than it does now.</p>

<blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="K-Nection" data-cite="K-Nection" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="40971" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div> <div class="ipsEmbeddedVideo"><div><iframe width="200" height="113" src="https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/BQCPj-bGYro?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="" title="Professional Wrestling is Stupid and Beautiful and I Love it"></iframe></div></div><p> </p><p> If you have plenty of time on your hands I suggest you give this video a watch. Honestly this video has convinced me I need to give New Japan a serious look. I never knew the storytelling was this in depth.</p></div></blockquote><p> Yeah, I didn't really either. It's hard to appreciate the depth of their storytelling if you only watch a show here or a match there, but it's tremendous once you get into it.</p><p> </p><p> They've also seriously increased their English language output over the last year and a half or so. NJPW World started with no English commentary, then they started doing it for the biggest events a handful of times a year. Right around the time Don Callis replaced Steve Corino last February they've started having English commentary for basically every major event, which usually means at least 2-3 shows a month if not more.</p>

<blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="Bigpapa42" data-cite="Bigpapa42" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="26106" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>Said this on another site, but I'm really curious where this goes. Very possible its a one-time deal, or maybe a couple of events they run every so often. But would love if this somehow led Cody down the path of being a promoter and looking to start a new promotion.</div></blockquote><p> Cody seemed to rule out the idea of becoming a full-fledged promoter a few weeks back on Twitter. I forget exactly what he said, but it was something along the lines of "I watched my dad waste millions trying to make that work."</p><p> </p><p> I think it's for the best too. They were able to pull this off because they've been building up to it for many months, if not a full year, using their social media presence (and seriously, the Bucks have figured out how to self-promote and use those platforms to make money better than anyone else in wrestling) to set this up as a can't-miss event that people feel like they have to be a part of. But running a full-time promotion is an entirely different animal. Even periodically coming in for a few shows a year can be tough, as New Japan are currently learning with their Cow Palace show.</p><p> </p><p> MAYBE this could become an annual show, but anything more than that would probably not be a good idea. Unless the buzz of this show catches the attention of a TV network willing to throw some serious cash their way, in which case all bets are off.</p>

<blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="K-Nection" data-cite="K-Nection" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="26106" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>So All In just sold out in an hour that is pretty impressive!</div></blockquote><p> It is indeed impressive. Huge accomplishment by those guys, especially Cody and the Bucks since they were really at the forefront of it all.</p>

WCW World Heavyweight Championship Match “The Nature Boy” Ric Flair vs. “Big Poppa Pump” Scott Steiner © -I just don't see it happening for Naitch at this point. War Games – The Losing Team Must Disband! Booker T, Sid Vicious, and The Natural Born Thrillers vs. The World -The Thrillers have probably run their course. Fatal Four Way – Number One Contendership for the World’s Heavyweight Title “The Prodigal Son” Dustin Rhodes vs. Sting vs. “The DFG” Rick Steiner vs. Animal -I'm pretty sure Sting isn't done with Animal just yet, so I figure Dustin is a likely challenger for Freakzilla. Mystery Partner Tag Team Match “Big Sexy” Kevin Nash and ??? vs. Totally Buff Bonus Question: Who will be Nash’s partner? Hall. I kind of feel like this is a red herring, but I can't think of anyone else, so... WCW United States Heavyweight Championship Match “The Cat” Ernest Miller vs. “The Chosen One” Jeff Jarrett © Triple Threat Match – WCW X-Division Championship Match Rey Mysterio Jr. © vs. Konnan vs. Billy Kidman -Unsure. Gluttony Match The Winner will be given six month’s worth of luxuries along with a check for $500,000! Jimmy Snuka Jr. vs. Kanyon -It feels like there's more possibilities to this with Kanyon, plus it might be a case of too much, too soon for Snuka. Then again, it could be a great way to get him over quick... Six Man Tag Team Match Hugh Morrus and KroniK vs. The Problem Solvers Norman Smiley vs. Leia Meow’s Champion Tiebreaker Question: How long will the World championship match run? Price is Right rules apply, closest to the right answer without going over! I feel like it's going to be kept relatively short with Flair's limitations, so I'll say 12:05

I thought the first Dontaku show was somewhere between okay and pretty good. There was some good stuff in there, but nothing great, at least IMO. The second show was fantastic though. Okada-Tanahashi is not only what truly got me hooked on NJPW, it's also my favorite wrestling rivalry of all time. I was off my couch and on my feet by the end of that one. That was emotional storytelling at its finest. Probably not the "best" match of the year as far as moves or whatever, but it might be my favorite of 2018 so far. I loved Ospreay vs. KUSHIDA too. I know Meltzer and other people raved about Will's match against Scurll at Sakura Genesis, but Will narrowly avoiding a broken neck on that Spanish Fly on the apron took me completely out of that match. I was able to watch the KUSHIDA match without legitimately worrying for Will Ospreay's health (or not TOO much at least), which puts it above the crazy matches he had with Marty and Hiromu. Personally, I think KUSHIDA is his best opponent. The guest appearance was great, as was the reveal of the new Bone Soldier. This show had both great wrestling and newsworthy angles, which made it maybe the most complete show NJPW has put on so far this year. Sakura Genesis was the show on April 1st. BOSJ is next; I think that starts in less than two weeks. Then after that ends we've got June's big show, Dominion, which is usually their second biggest show of the year behind WK. They usually go all out to stack that show instead of splitting the big matches across multiple different events, so you can probably expect every title to be defended there.

<p>October 5th, 2003: Grand Prix</p><p> </p><p> </p><div style="text-align:center;"><img alt="Viw5sNG.png" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/Viw5sNG.png" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /><p> </p><p> <strong>October 5th, 2003</strong></p><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong> From Jingu Stadium in Tokyo, Japan</strong></p><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong> Attendance: 48,000</strong></p><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong> Announce Team: Joey Styles, Tracy Brooks and Bret "The Hitman" Hart</strong></p><p> </p><p> </p><p> <img alt="jUhTewM.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/jUhTewM.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /><img alt="cyeakzQ.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/cyeakzQ.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /><img alt="nG8aWZm.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/nG8aWZm.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /></p></div><p></p><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><div style="text-align:center;"><p><strong>Momoe Nakanishi vs. Takako Inoue</strong></p><p> <img alt="5P9dIaj.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/5P9dIaj.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /><span>http://i.imgur.com/EiVoLiY.jpg</span><span>http://i.imgur.com/SKNBQrE.jpg</span> </p></div><p></p><p></p><p> </p><p> <em>One of the matches with virtually no build opened the show. We couldn't even bring them face to face on the go home show since Momoe was still recovering from the stinger she suffered in her last Grand Prix tournament match, but I was confident that the skill of both women would allow this to be a quality show opener. It was that, and then some. Takako was good, and Momoe was a bit better. Together, they produced a very entertaining match that got the fans involved right away.</em></p><p><em> </em></p><p><em> Takako didn't work over the neck much, as we thought it'd be better to leave that alone just as a precaution. Instead she tried to keep her down and wear her out with mat wrestling, but Momoe eventually fought back to her feet and got the pin with her </em><a href="https://i.imgur.com/JDEIFjp.gif" rel="external nofollow"><em>Momo*Latch.</em></a><em> </em></p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><div style="text-align:center;"><p><strong>Grade: 83</strong></p></div><p></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><div style="text-align:center;"><p><strong>Our Generation vs. Lisa Moretti and Shinobu Kandori</strong></p><p> <span>http://i.imgur.com/OophliK.jpg</span><span>http://i.imgur.com/MAaFqtV.jpg</span><span>http://i.imgur.com/EiVoLiY.jpg</span><img alt="44ZTWuP.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/44ZTWuP.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /><span>http://i.imgur.com/gfF32sn.jpg</span> </p></div><p></p><p></p><p> </p><p> <em>We just had the women focus on telling a basic story in this match, mainly because the quality of the work was inevitably going to get dragged down by Lisa Moretti. The former Ivory, or Tina Ferrari if you prefer, just isn't good enough to perform up to the standards that the rest of the Renaissance women can, and that was evident again tonight. Melissa was pretty good, Nattie was okay, and 38-year old Shinobu kept up admirably and was at least near their level, but Lisa just looked out of place. </em></p><p><em> </em></p><p><em> The heels did some basic work, but the idea we were stressing here is that Our Generation have great natural chemistry as a team, and they will become even more formidable as they continue to work together and build experience. They got the advantage with some solid double team work, and Melissa got the pin on Moretti with a bridging German suplex.</em></p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><div style="text-align:center;"><p><strong>Grade: 71</strong></p></div><p></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><div style="text-align:center;"><span>http://i.imgur.com/LyKOnBY.jpg</span></div><p></p><p> </p><p> </p><p> <em>For a little break in between matches, we cut to a backstage promo from Manami Toyota. She talked about her long history with Toshiyo Yamada, as partners, friends and even opponents. She referenced a classic hair vs. hair match they had in August 1992 (a match Dave Meltzer has called the best match he's ever seen live. Say what you want about Dave, but that does cover a lot of ground.) She'd won that match, but out of sympathy for her partner and friend, she did not want to see Toshiyo get her head shaved and had to be held back by several other wrestlers. Even though she'd taken Yamada's hair that night, she'd felt bad about it. Tonight she was going to take whatever was left of Toshiyo's pride, and she wouldn't feel bad about it at all.</em></p><p><em> </em></p><p><em> I thought the content was strong. Manami looked good here, those who understand Japanese assured me there was nothing wrong with her delivery, and the angle undeniably got the crowd hotter. All that's great, but the problem is that the angle was nowhere near the high standards this storyline has been reaching, so I was worried the feud might not be quite as hot by the time the bell rang.</em></p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><div style="text-align:center;"><p><strong>Grade: 82</strong></p></div><p></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><div style="text-align:center;"><p><strong>Meiko Satomura and Chigusa Nagayo vs. Daffney and LuFisto</strong></p><p> <img alt="OCuJKqq.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/OCuJKqq.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /><span>http://i.imgur.com/XvzeNmR.jpg</span><span>http://i.imgur.com/EiVoLiY.jpg</span><img alt="Fr5nOJR.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/Fr5nOJR.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /><img alt="HxQ0KSv.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/HxQ0KSv.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /></p></div><p></p><p></p><p> </p><p> <em>This was a natural match to make, building off of Daffney and her poison mist stopping Meiko from making it to the Grand Prix finals. It was also an easy way to work Chigusa, one of our best, into the show after I made the decision to have Etsuko Mita win the B Block (which really could have gone either way.) The easy story to tell was Satomura trying to get her revenge on Daffney, but being frustrated in her efforts. Every time it looked like she was really going to make Daffney pay, LuFisto would be there with a tag or simply an illegal attack to bail her partner out. Old-school tag team wrestling, but effective. </em></p><p><em> </em></p><p><em> Chigusa was awesome here, once again reminding us all that while she might be one of the oldest members of Renaissance, she was also still one of the very best in the world. Meiko was very good too, showing good babyface fire in her attempts to get at Daffney. As for the heels? They aren't at the level of their babyface opponents in the ring, at least not yet, but I thought they played their parts and held up their end of the match okay. This was only the third match on the show, and already the second one that exceeded my expectations. In the end, Daffney got her comeuppance thanks to Meiko's </em><a href="https://imgur.com/feozUwd" rel="external nofollow"><em>Scorpio Rising kick.</em></a></p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><div style="text-align:center;"><p><strong>Grade: 84</strong></p></div><p></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><div style="text-align:center;"><img alt="ZkoqX4B.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/ZkoqX4B.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /><p> <strong>Alexis Laree and Allison Corino vs. Aja Kong and Devil Masami {©} </strong></p><p> <span>http://i.imgur.com/VwQDgVe.jpg</span><img alt="Z9fdnin.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/Z9fdnin.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /><span>http://i.imgur.com/EiVoLiY.jpg</span><span>http://i.imgur.com/iVkKXFP.jpg</span><span>http://i.imgur.com/gOVE3CN.jpg</span></p></div><p></p><p></p><p> </p><p> <em>This was a huge match for Alexis and Allison. Both had been in PPV matches before, but this was definitely a higher profile, being in there with the champions. Fortunately they were wrestling Kong and Masami, two of the top heels in the company who also happen to work great together as a team. Their styles mesh really well together and bring out the best in each other as a pair of badass heels out to destroy all opposition. They were both awesome tonight, turning in fantastic performances and generating all kinds of sympathy for the North American faces. Alexis did a good job at playing the face in peril, but the hot tag to Allison didn't have quite as much heat as you'd like. Allison was the weakest performer in the match by a good amount, but it's not like she was terrible. It's more just that she was merely decent while her partner was really good, and the heels were fantastic.</em></p><p><em> </em></p><p><em> And boy, were the heels fantastic! This match was better than their tournament final against Chigusa and Meiko (which was MOTN of the last Renaissance PPV), and even better than Devil's main event title match with Manami Toyota on the first Renaissance PPV in January. The crowd was hot, cheering the faces on and hoping the smaller underdogs could pull off the upset against their fearsome veteran opponents. The crowd counted along when Alexis pulled off the same flying sunset flip she'd used to pin Kong on Renaissance, but this time Kong kicked out. Their was a big roar when Alexis connected with a tornado DDT, and the fans watched intently as the referee counted once...</em></p><p><em> </em></p><p><em> </em></p><p><em> </em></p><p><em> </em></p><p><em> twice...</em></p><p><em> </em></p><p><em> </em></p><p><em> </em></p><p><em> </em></p><p><em> </em></p><p><em> </em></p><p><em> </em></p><p><em> </em></p><p><em> </em></p><p><em> ...but Devil made the save!</em></p><p><em> </em></p><p><em> That wound up being as close as the challengers would come. The heels soon regained control, and ultimately Masami put Corino to sleep.</em></p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><div style="text-align:center;"><p><strong>Grade: 90</strong></p></div><p></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><div style="text-align:center;"><p><strong><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Grand Prix Finals:</span></strong></p><p><strong> Akira Hokuto vs. Etsuko Mita</strong></p><p> <img alt="Hz5OM83.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/Hz5OM83.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /><span>http://i.imgur.com/EiVoLiY.jpg</span><span>http://i.imgur.com/cAw5Dl8.jpg</span> </p></div><p></p><p></p><p> </p><p> <em>Before the match, we aired a video recapping the progression of the Grand Prix tournament, with special attention paid to the roads Hokuto and Mita took to win their respective blocks. I thought the package was edited well and hopefully helped the match come across as a big deal.</em></p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><div style="text-align:center;"><p><strong>Grade: 87</strong></p></div><p></p><p></p><p> </p><p> </p><p> <em>This was a rare heel-heel matchup. I decided to break from tradition for several reasons. For one, they're two of our top women, and neither one will be turning anytime soon, so it was a unique match and doing it in the tournament was a natural way to do it. It was also a chance to subvert fan expectations for a face/heel final match, which is doubly useful since we've got the Stu Hart Classic going on at the same time. And since this wasn't the main event, we could afford to take the hit for not having a traditional babyface vs. heel match.</em></p><p><em> </em></p><p><em> Even though I knew the all-heel setup would hurt it somewhat, I still thought this could be a really strong match just based on how good both women are. I let them call it in the ring and read the crowd to decide who should get the heat and how the match should proceed, and both women handled it well. The crowd seemed to be behind Hokuto moreso than Mita, so they adjusted accordingly and Mita slid into the role of villain on the fly. Maybe it's because she was in her comfort zone as a heel while Hokuto was adapting into a more sympathetic role, but Mita was ever so slightly the better performer here. It was only a narrow difference though, because both were great. This was an excellent match, and it left me wondering just what these two might have been able to pull off if one was an established babyface.</em></p><p><em> </em></p><p><em> Both women had come to the ring alone, but as Hokuto began making her comeback... </em></p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><div style="text-align:center;"><img alt="CwgRMYN.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/CwgRMYN.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /></div><p></p><p></p><p> </p><p> </p><p> <em>Kaoru Ito came down the ramp to try and fulfill her role as Etsuko Mita's "muscle." She didn't interfere right away, because referee Charles Robinson was alert and she didn't want to risk a disqualification, but it was clear that she was biding her time and waiting for an opening. Mita created that opening by getting into an argument with Robinson, positioning them so his back was to Ito and Hokuto... </em></p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><div style="text-align:center;"><img alt="Fr5nOJR.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/Fr5nOJR.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /></div><p></p><p></p><p> </p><p> </p><p> <em>But Daffney came running down the ramp, and she hit Ito with the poison mist before she could interfere! That made it all about Hokuto vs. Mita to decide who would win the Grand Prix, and the two world-class competitors entered the home stretch, pulling off big moves and false finishes, at the end of which Hokuto slipped out of a Death Valley Driver and hit the Northern Lights Bomb to come out the victor.</em></p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><div style="text-align:center;"><p><strong>Grade: 88</strong></p></div><p></p><p></p><p> </p><p> </p><p> <em>I came into the ring after the match and presented the trophy to Hokuto. The color commentary suffered without me there to limit Tracy's involvement, but that didn't hold Akira back. I didn't need to understand what she was saying to know it was working; the huge crowd reaction spoke volumes in any language. She spoke about darkness reigning in the Grand Prix, and said that very soon, that same darkness would spread to whomever was the world champion after tonight.</em></p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><div style="text-align:center;"><p><strong>Grade: 98</strong></p></div><p></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><div style="text-align:center;"><span>http://i.imgur.com/741TrEA.jpg</span><p> <strong>Toshiyo Yamada vs. Manami Toyota {©} </strong></p><p> <span>http://i.imgur.com/zVT0XcD.jpg</span><span>http://i.imgur.com/EiVoLiY.jpg</span><span>http://i.imgur.com/LyKOnBY.jpg</span></p></div><p></p><p></p><p> </p><p> <em>Just like the previous match, we let these women call the shots in their own match. Manami normally has that freedom in her major matches anyway, and there was even less concern here with how often these two have worked together as both partners and opponents over the years. This was undoubtedly the biggest match Yamada has had in WCW, and she knew it. I thought she responded to the pressure of the moment well, because she did a good job here as a vicious heel, throwing kicks and beating on Manami with a much nastier edge than she'd ever shown as a face. The kicks and blows to the face really got the fans into the match, cheering for Manami to recover and fight back against her former friend. As for Toyota, she was her usual great self. She sold the beating well, fought back with fire and entertained the fans with her great, smooth athletic offense. </em></p><p><em> </em></p><p><em> These two went out there and delivered an absolutely fantastic match; the best in Renaissance history, and likely the best women's match anywhere in the world since the glory days of All Japan Women's sometime in the 1990s. This could have main evented one of our men's PPV's without any issues. After a night filled with several matches that overachieved based on my expectations, this was the strongest yet, capping off an excellent night for the women. When I started the Renaissance brand last year, my hope was to one day be able to put on women's shows as good as this one. I feel like this was a real landmark moment in time for women's wrestling, and this match put the exclamation point on it all.</em></p><p><em> </em></p><p><em> Yamada came across as a really vicious heel here, who was out to not only beat her former friend and take her title, but physically destroy her and leave her on the mat in a broken heap. We pushed her jealousy on commentary, but Tracy's attempt at adding in fell flat when she said these two had never been opponents until recently (untrue, and contradicted by Manami's promo earlier in the night.) The fans clapped along and roared every time Toyota kicked out of a pin attempt or escaped a submission, and you could hear the women and young girls in the crowd screaming when she started making a big comeback. She hit some arm drags and dropkicks, and then a bridging butterfly suplex for a near-fall, but when she went for a missile dropkick, Yamada met her with a hard kick to the ribs on her way down! A huge roundhouse to the side of the head followed, and Yamada made the cover, hooked the leg, and we got a one...</em></p><p><em> </em></p><p><em> </em></p><p><em> </em></p><p><em> </em></p><p><em> two...</em></p><p><em> </em></p><p><em> </em></p><p><em> </em></p><p><em> </em></p><p><em> </em></p><p><em> </em></p><p><em> </em></p><p><em> ...but Toyota got a shoulder up!</em></p><p><em> </em></p><p><em> Yamada grunted in frustration and aimed another kick at Toyota's face as she got to her knees, but Manami caught the kick and snapped off a dragon screw legwhip. From there she gracefully went to the top rope and executed a moonsault for a near-fall. Not allowing herself to be frustrated, she pressed her advantage by scooping Yamada off the mat, lifting her onto her shoulders and delivering the Ocean Cyclone Suplex! Charles Robinson slid into position and counted once...</em></p><p><em> </em></p><p><em> </em></p><p><em> </em></p><p><em> </em></p><p><em> twice...</em></p><p><em> </em></p><p><em> </em></p><p><em> </em></p><p><em> </em></p><p><em> </em></p><p><em> </em></p><p><em> </em></p><p><em> </em></p><p><em> ...and a third time! Manami Toyota retained the world title over her former friend in a classic!</em></p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><div style="text-align:center;"><p><strong>Grade: 97</strong></p></div><p></p><p></p></div></blockquote><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><div style="text-align:center;"><p><strong><span style="font-size:18px;">Show Overall Grade: 94</span></strong></p></div><p></p><p></p>

That War Games match was fantastic. Beautiful finishing stretch.

<blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="Kitarzu" data-cite="Kitarzu" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="25169" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div><p> I could be annoyed about Lesnar but WWE wants The Beats to beat CM Punk's title reign length so they need to wait until Money In The Bank.</p></div></blockquote><p> Why does beating Punk's reign matter? Is his reign even in the top 5 for the WWE title? Plus Brock also holds a different championship entirely.</p>

<p>October 2003: Road to Grand Prix</p><p> </p><p> </p><div style="text-align:center;"><img alt="VAz6R76.png" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/VAz6R76.png" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /><p> </p><p> </p><p> <strong><span style="font-size:18px;">The Backstories:</span></strong></p></div><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><div style="text-align:center;"><p><strong><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Grand (Prix) Finale</span></strong></p></div><p></p><p></p><p> </p><p> <em><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Grand Prix Tournament, A Block:</span></em></p><p> </p><p> <strong>9/6:</strong></p><p> -In the first of two huge matches between the women tied at 4 points, Meiko Satomura outlasted Takako Inoue with the Scorpio Rising kick. </p><p> </p><p> -Alexis Laree was going to have to win her last two matches and get some help if she wanted to win the block, but her hopes were still alive here and she kept them alive by pinning the winless Daffney.</p><p> </p><p> -In a match that sadly fell short of my expectations (as well as their great performance at Wrestlemarinepiad), Akira Hokuto got the better of Kyoko Inoue and joined Meiko Satomura atop the leader board with 6 points.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> <strong>9/20:</strong></p><p> -Alexis Laree got a hard-earned win over Kyoko Inoue. She'd need the last two matches to break out just right to force a crazy four way tie atop the block, but she could return to the locker room knowing she'd done her part.</p><p> </p><p> -Meiko Satomura could clinch the block in her final match, and all she needed to do was beat the winless Daffney. Unfortunately for her, she fell prey to the poison mist out of the referee's line of sight and suffered an upset loss.</p><p> </p><p> -One of two things was going to happen in the final match in the A Block: either Akira Hokuto would win the block outright, or Takako Inoue would throw everything into chaos by forcing a four way tie. As it turned out, we got the simpler scenario when Hokuto nailed her Northern Lights Bomb to win the match and punch her ticket to the Grand Prix finals.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> <strong>Final A Block Standings:</strong></p><p> <em><strong>Akira Hokuto: 8 points (4-1)</strong></em></p><p><em> Alexis Laree: 6 points (3-2)</em></p><p><em> Meiko Satomura: 6 points (3-2)</em></p><p><em> Kyoko Inoue: 4 points (2-3)</em></p><p><em> Takako Inoue: 4 points (2-3)</em></p><p><em> Daffney: 2 points (1-4)</em></p><p> </p><p> </p><p> <em><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Grand Prix Tournament, B Block:</span></em></p><p><em> </em></p><p><em> </em><em><strong>9/13:</strong></em></p><p><em> -Melissa Anderson beat Sonoko Kato in a battle of previously winless participants.</em></p><p><em> </em></p><p><em> -Etsuko Mita inched closer to winning the block by pinning Momoe Nakanishi.</em></p><p><em> </em></p><p><em> -Nattie Neidhart stepped up with an excellent performance, but Chigusa Nagayo was too much for her to handle. Chigusa improved to 4-0, setting up a winner take all match against Etsuko Mita in the final week of B Block action.</em></p><p><em> </em></p><p><em> </em></p><p><em> </em><em><strong>9/27:</strong></em></p><p><em> -Nattie Neidhart beat Sonoko Kato for her second win, while Kato finished a disappointing 0-5.</em></p><p><em> </em></p><p><em> -Melissa Anderson staved off Momoe Nakanishi's pin attempts and got the win.</em></p><p><em> </em></p><p><em> -Perfect records collided to find out who would win the block. Chigusa threw everything she had at Mita, but the Death Valley Driver spelled her defeat.</em></p><p><em> </em></p><p><em> </em><em><strong>Final B Block Standings:</strong></em></p><p><em> </em><em><em><strong>Etsuko Mita: 10 points (5-0)</strong></em></em></p><p><em> Chigusa Nagayo: 8 points (4-1)</em></p><p><em> Momoe Nakanishi: 4 points (2-3)</em></p><p><em> Nattie Neidhart: 4 points (2-3)</em></p><p><em> Melissa Anderson: 4 points (2-3)</em></p><p><em> Sonoko Kato: 0 points (0-5)</em></p><p><em> </em></p><p> </p><p> With that, the finals were set: it'd be Akira Hokuto vs. Etsuko Mita in a heel-heel match in the Grand Prix Finals. Hokuto and The Darkness surrounded the ring after the match as Hokuto cut a promo on Mita, who had her protector Kaoru Ito by her side. Hokuto congratulated her on emerging from the B Block, but said her moment of triumph would be short-lived and she would be cast back down into the darkness (get it?) in the finals.</p><p> </p><p> Hokuto was victorious in a warm-up match against freelancer Tanny Mouse on the go-home show, after which she cut another promo about the Grand Prix finals. She was talking about the road she'd walked and her own personal darkness she had to overcome to get back to this point (a reference to her time in rehab) when Mita and Ito attacked her! With Daffney and LuFisto nowhere to be seen (more on that later), Hokuto was overwhelmed. Ito softened her up, then passed her off to Mita, who drew proverbial first blood with a Death Valley Driver. </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><div style="text-align:center;"><p><strong><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Yamada's Done Playing Second Fiddle</span></strong></p></div><p></p><p></p><p> </p><p> <em>The seeds of insecurity were slowly sown over several months, with opponents disrespecting Toshiyo Yamada and treating her as nothing other than Manami Toyota's backup. Yamada tried to step out of her longtime partner's shadow by winning the World Championship on the August 16th Renaissance, but Toyota came away the victor. Yamada refused a postmatch handshake and walked to the back alone. After a couple of weeks of uncertainty, Toshiyo invited Manami to the ring on September 6th to clear the air. What started as a heartfelt apology turned on a dime when Yamada shocked Toyota with a roundhouse kick to the head! She brutalized her now-former friend with a bevy of kicks, then glared down at her prone form.</em></p><p><em> </em></p><p><em> On the 13th, both women had sit-down style promos. Yamada said she was tired of living Toyota' shadow all these years, doing all the work and being overlooked while Manami got all the credit. If Manami had the guts to give her one more shot, she'd step out of her shadow once and for all and prove she'd been the superior wrestler all along by beating her and taking her title. In Manami's rebuttal, she said she'd never considered Toshiyo below her. They'd been partners and friends for years, and they'd even had some great matches as opponents, but the friendship never suffered. But now Toshiyo had let her jealousy destroy their friendship. She accepted the challenge, saying she would beat Toshiyo again at the PPV.</em></p><p><em> </em></p><p><em> I was there the next week to oversee the official contract signing. You know how wrestling contract signings normally go, and this one was not an exception. As Manami was looking down at the contract, Toshiyo attacked her once again. She bounced Toyota's head off the table, then knocked her out with another roundhouse kick. After signing her own name on the contract, Yamada picked up the title belt, stared at it for several moments, then dropped it across Manami's chest.</em></p><p><em> </em></p><p><em> There wasn't a ton of advancement on the 20th; just a clip of the signing, and then a pre-tape from Toyota where she said now she knew beyond all doubt that Yamada had cast their friendship aside forever, and she would be able to fight freely, without indecision or regret. Yamada beat Kyoko Inoue in the main event of the go home show, after which Toyota came to the ring and called her insecure. She said Toshiyo had always had a place to throw all of her insecurity and unhappiness with her own career: she just threw it all on Manami. But after she challenged her, again, and failed, again, she'd have no scapegoat to blame for her failure; she'd have to look in the mirror and admit her own shortcomings. That finally set Yamada off. She again attacked, but Manami wasn't caught off-guard this time. The two women brawled in the ring until several of their fellow wrestlers came out from the back to pull them apart, lest one of them get injured right before their title match. </em></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><div style="text-align:center;"><p><strong><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Unafraid of Monsters</span></strong></p></div><p></p><p></p><p> </p><p> <em>Aja Kong and Devil Masami had complained of lack of competition throughout the Grand Prix, and on 9/6 they were interrupted by Allison Corino. Allison said she would've given anything to make it into the Grand Prix tournament, and Aja and Devil should respect what they have instead of disrespecting the rest of the roster. She wrestled Aja 1 on 1 on the 13th, but despite given her best effort, she could not survive the Uraken backfist. The champions mocked her the following week for losing despite her bold words. Allison didn't back down. She acknowledged that she'd been beaten, but said she was far from finished, and she'd prove it to them both.</em></p><p><em> </em></p><p><em> Corino recruited a partner to help her battle the fearsome champions, and she introduced her on the 27th: it was Alexis Laree, fresh off partaking in the Grand Prix tournament. The twosome defeated Wesna Busic and Katarina Waters in a tag match, but that was a far step away from Kong and Masami. It was Alexis' turn to go solo against Kong on the go home show, and despite absorbing lots of punishment, she shocked Aja with a flying sunset flip for the pin! Alexis and Allison celebrated in the ring after the match, while Masami joined her partner in disbelief. The champions, who had thought of Allison and then Alexis as unworthy foes, now acknowledged that they were at least worth their momentary attention. They were going to give them what they wanted: a shot at the titles. But when the dust cleared, they'd realize they were never true competition to begin with. </em></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><div style="text-align:center;"><p><strong><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Meiko Strikes Back</span></strong></p></div><p></p><p></p><p> </p><p> <em>As already detailed, Meiko Satomura came one victory away from winning the A Block and advancing to the finals of the Grand Prix, only for the previously winless Daffney to defeat her with the poison mist. Meiko was of course furious, and she was itching for a fight the next week. She thought better of it, though, when she saw that Daffney had her partner LuFisto by her side. But by the go home show, with the block stages of the Grand Prix finished, she had some backup in the form of Chigusa Nagayo. The two of them cornered Daffney and LuFisto near the curtain (preventing them from saving Akira Hokuto from the beatdown mentioned earlier, though that wasn't a premeditated thing from the faces), and said they'd see them in tag action on the PPV. </em></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><div style="text-align:center;"><p><strong><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Other action</span></strong></p></div><p></p><p></p><p> </p><p> <em>With the Grand Prix tournament taking up so much focus until a week before the PPV, we didn't have time to build much else. There are two matches we announced on the go home show with no prior build: Momoe Nakanishi vs. Takako Inoue, and Our Generation teaming against Lisa Moretti and Shinobu Kandori. Takako cut a promo on the show, taunting Momoe about the stinger she'd suffered the previous week and saying she'd be even worse off after the PPV, and we just aired a simple announcement graphic for the tag bout.</em></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><div style="text-align:center;"><p><strong><span style="color:#FF0000;"><span style="font-size:18px;">Show Summaries:</span></span></strong></p><p> </p><p> <strong>9/6:</strong></p><p> <img alt="LuMpmXe.png" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/LuMpmXe.png" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /></p><p> <em>Notes from this show:</em></p><p><em> -Toshiyo Yamada's heel turn was officially cemented in the show-closing attack, and it was an absolute success.</em></p><p><em> </em></p><p><em> -"I was impressed watching Alexis Laree's match. She's coming along well." -Etsuko Mita</em></p><p> </p><p> </p><p> <strong>9/13:</strong></p><p> <img alt="bYaM1Hv.png" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/bYaM1Hv.png" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /></p><p> <em>Notes from this show:</em></p><p><em> -The night got off to a bad start when Toshie Uematsu showed up to the building messed up on pain killers. This was her third incident (second for pain killers.) I fined her the first time and sent her to rehab the second time. Three strikes and you're out; I fired her on the spot when Dusty called from Japan to let me know. She seemed to recognize that she'd screwed up, so hopefully she'll clean up her act now. She did hang up pretty abruptly while I was in mid-sentence though, so I guess she's not too happy with me personally.</em></p><p><em> </em></p><p><em> -Mary Apache fractured her cheek bone in her dark match with Wesna Busic.</em></p><p> </p><p> </p><p> <strong>9/20:</strong></p><p> <img alt="K9HDdqL.png" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/K9HDdqL.png" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /></p><p> </p><p> </p><p> <strong>9/27:</strong></p><p> <img alt="7veGLif.png" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/7veGLif.png" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /></p><p> <em>Notes from this show:</em></p><p><em> -Manami Toyota had a cartoonist (I guess it's called 'manga' in Japan) draw a picture of Aja Kong and presented it to her before the show, which the locker room seemed to enjoy.</em></p><p><em> </em></p><p><em> -Momoe Nakanishi suffered a stinger during her match against Melissa, but will be good to go by the PPV.</em></p><p> </p><p> </p><p> <strong>10/4 (taped 09/30):</strong></p><p> <img alt="rPPMQRK.png" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/rPPMQRK.png" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /></p><p> <em>Notes from this show:</em></p><p><em> -Aja Kong told Renaissance road agent Dusty Rhodes that she thinks LuFisto is a weak link in The Darkness faction and the fans don't care about her.</em></p><p> </p><p> </p></div><p></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><p> </p><p> Fan Scorecard:</p><p> </p><p> Women's World Championship: Toshiyo Yamada vs. Manami Toyota {©}</p><p> </p><p> Grand Prix Finals: Akira Hokuto vs. Etsuko Mita</p><p> </p><p> Women's World Tag Team Championship: Allison Corino and Alexis Laree vs. Aja Kong and Devil Masami {©}</p><p> </p><p> Meiko Satomura and Chigusa Nagayo vs. Daffney and LuFisto</p><p> </p><p> Momoe Nakanishi vs. Takako Inoue</p><p> </p><p> Our Generation vs. Lisa Moretti and Shinobu Kandori</p><p> </p><p> What will be match of the night?</p><p> </p><p> How many championships will change hands? (the tournament doesn't count)</p><p> </p><p> General diary comments/questions/critiques:</p><p> </p><p> </p></div></blockquote><p> </p><p> </p><p> <hr noshade size=3></p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="Rateddc" data-cite="Rateddc" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="43035" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>I've always assumed "OBJECTION!" was inspired by the Ace Attorney games, at least that's where my mind immediately goes to whenever I see the word in this diary.</div></blockquote><p> </p><p> </p><blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="Beejus" data-cite="Beejus" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="43035" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>Yeah, anytime I ever see "OBJECTION!" I think of Phoenix Wright.<p> </p><p> Judging by the state of your roster, it appears Austin's elbow injury wasn't nearly as bad as everyone assumed. That's great news! That should put us right back on track for his feud with Goldberg.</p></div></blockquote><p> Good, so it wasn't lost on everybody then! Yeah, I was playing through a Phoenix Wright game on the 3DS as the Dragons were going through that gimmick change, and it seemed to fit.</p><p> </p><p> I probably should've kayfabed that roster update, huh? Oh well, it's not like you guys couldn't already see he was back to at least do angles by War Games.</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>I think the "OBJECTION!" IS referencing Phoenix Wright since the first game was released for the GBA in Japan back on October 12th, 2001.</div></blockquote><p> True, although the reference is more an out of universe nod. We're pretending Bret has no idea what Phoenix Wright is and came up with it on his own. Or I guess it could be that one of the Dragons played the game and suggested the idea to him.</p><p> </p><p> </p><blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="kinnikuniverse" data-cite="kinnikuniverse" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="43035" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>I would be VERY surprised that Bret even knows video games, TBH.</div></blockquote><p> Yeah, I'm approaching it that way too. I've recently started including some pop culture references from the time, mainly when I get something like these video game pre-show notes, but the idea is that Bret himself doesn't really know what a lot of this stuff is.</p>

<p>News, October National Battle Report and Fall Roster Update</p><p> </p><p> </p><div style="text-align:center;"><p> </p><span>http://i.imgur.com/HLY8nvy.jpg</span> </div><p></p><p></p><p> <em>I was right to be worried about NOAH's chances to compete in a national battle. Almost immediately, they've been knocked back down to Cult status. That's a setback, but they're still doing well financially. If they can continue to put on PPVs at or near the quality of their most recent one, rather than what they'd been putting out in the months prior, I think they can bounce back from this fine.</em></p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><div style="text-align:center;"><p> </p><span>http://i.imgur.com/nUYCk9q.jpg</span> </div><p></p><p></p><p> <em>Tony Mamaluke's contract came up. It was a bit of a sticky situation because his nagging neck injury shows no signs of going away any time soon, and I'm trying to minimize his ring time until he's all healed up. With that in mind, he's being put on a per appearance deal for now, and then I'll negotiate a new full time contract once he's healthy. </em></p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><div style="text-align:center;"><p> </p><span>http://i.imgur.com/sDkxtEI.jpg</span> </div><p></p><p></p><p> <em>New Japan's in hiring mode again. They've signed Darkness Dragon, Billy Ken Kid, Takashi Sasaki, Ryuji Ito, Tatsuhito Takaiwa, Don Fuji, Kenshin and Heavy Metal. Takaiwa's just a per date deal, but everyone else is under written contract.</em></p><p> </p><p> </p><p> <hr noshade size=3></p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><div style="text-align:center;"><p><strong><span style="font-size:24px;"><span style="color:#0000FF;">National Battle Report: October 2003</span></span></strong></p></div><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><div style="text-align:center;"><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></div><p></p><p></p><p> </p><p> </p><p> <span style="font-size:18px;"><strong>#1:</strong></span></p><p> </p><p> <img alt="nUYCk9q.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/nUYCk9q.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) Steve Austin (1000 points)</em></p><p><em> 2) Bill Goldberg (990)</em></p><p><em> 3) Rey Mysterio Jr. (794)</em></p><p><em> 4) CM Punk (792)</em></p><p><em> 5) Rob Van Dam (766)</em></p><p> </p><p> <strong>Total Points: 4,342</strong></p><p> </p><p> </p><p> <span style="font-size:18px;"><strong>#2:</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) Hollywood Hogan (829)</em></p><p><em> 3) The Undertaker (810)</em></p><p><em> 4) Triple H (791)</em></p><p><em> 5) Big Show (741)</em></p><p> </p><p> <strong>Total Points: 4,171</strong></p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </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><div style="text-align:center;"><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></div><p></p><p></p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> <span style="font-size:18px;"><strong>#1:</strong></span></p><p> </p><p> <img alt="nUYCk9q.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/nUYCk9q.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) Steve Austin (1000 points)</em></p><p><em> 2) Bill Goldberg (990)</em></p><p><em> 3) Rey Mysterio Jr. (785)</em></p><p><em> 4) Rob Van Dam (757)</em></p><p><em> 5) CM Punk (737) </em></p><p> </p><p> <strong>Total Points: 4,269</strong></p><p> </p><p> </p><p> <span style="font-size:18px;"><strong>#2:</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) Hollywood Hogan (861)</em></p><p><em> 3) The Undertaker (809)</em></p><p><em> 4) Triple H (794)</em></p><p><em> 5) Big Show (741)</em></p><p> </p><p> <strong>Total Points: 4,205</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><div style="text-align:center;"><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></div><p></p><p></p><p> </p><p> </p><p> <span style="font-size:18px;"><strong>#1:</strong></span></p><p> </p><p> <img alt="nUYCk9q.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/nUYCk9q.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) Steve Austin (1000 points)</em></p><p><em> 2) Bill Goldberg (990)</em></p><p><em> 3) CM Punk (803)</em></p><p><em> 4) Rey Mysterio Jr. (795)</em></p><p><em> 5) Rob Van Dam (768)</em></p><p> </p><p> <strong>Total Points: 4,356</strong></p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> <span style="font-size:18px;"><strong>#2:</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) Hollywood Hogan (819)</em></p><p><em> 3) The Undertaker (810)</em></p><p><em> 4) Triple H (795)</em></p><p><em> 5) Big Show (745)</em></p><p> </p><p> <strong>Total Points: 4,169</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><div style="text-align:center;"><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></div><p></p><p></p><p> </p><p> </p><p> <span style="font-size:18px;"><strong>#1:</strong></span></p><p> </p><p> <img alt="nUYCk9q.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/nUYCk9q.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) Steve Austin (1000 points)</em></p><p><em> 2) Bill Goldberg (934)</em></p><p><em> 3) Rey Mysterio Jr. (760)</em></p><p><em> 4) CM Punk (757)</em></p><p><em> 5) Rob Van Dam (742) </em></p><p> </p><p> <strong>Total Points: 4,193</strong></p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> <span style="font-size:18px;"><strong>#2:</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) Hollywood Hogan (830)</em></p><p><em> 3) The Undertaker (809)</em></p><p><em> 4) Triple H (792)</em></p><p><em> 5) Big Show (741)</em></p><p> </p><p> <strong>Total Points: 4,172</strong></p></div></blockquote><p> </p><p> </p><p> <hr noshade size=3></p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><div style="text-align:center;"><p><strong>Fall 2003 Roster Breakdown: (Faces in </strong><strong><span style="color:#0000FF;">blue</span></strong><strong>, heels in </strong><strong><span style="color:#FF0000;">red)</span></strong><strong> </strong></p></div><p></p><p></p><p> </p><p> <strong><span style="text-decoration:underline;">MAIN ROSTER</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><div style="text-align:center;"><p><strong><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Main Event:</span></strong></p></div><p></p><p></p><p> <span style="color:#0000FF;"><strong>CM Punk</strong></span></p><p><span style="color:#0000FF;"><strong> Diamond Dallas Page</strong></span></p><p><span style="color:#0000FF;"><strong> Eddie Guerrero</strong></span></p><p><span style="color:#0000FF;"><strong> Lance Storm</strong></span></p><p><span style="color:#0000FF;"><strong> Rey Mysterio Jr.</strong></span></p><p><span style="color:#0000FF;"><strong> Scott Steiner</strong></span></p><p><span style="color:#0000FF;"><strong> Sean O'Haire</strong></span></p><p><span style="color:#0000FF;"><strong> Steve Austin</strong></span></p><p><span style="color:#0000FF;"><strong> Sting</strong></span></p><p> </p><p> <span style="color:#FF0000;"><strong>Bill Goldberg</strong></span></p><p><span style="color:#FF0000;"><strong> King Corino</strong></span></p><p><span style="color:#FF0000;"><strong> Mortis (World Tag Team Champion)</strong></span></p><p><span style="color:#FF0000;"><strong> Rob Van Dam (United States Heavyweight Champion)</strong></span></p><p><span style="color:#FF0000;"><strong> Shane Douglas</strong></span></p><p><span style="color:#FF0000;"><strong> TAKA</strong></span></p><p><span style="color:#FF0000;"><strong> The Unnatural (World Heavyweight Champion)</strong></span></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><div style="text-align:center;"><p><strong><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Upper Midcard:</span></strong></p></div><p></p><p></p><p> <span style="color:#0000FF;"><strong>AJ Styles</strong></span></p><p><span style="color:#0000FF;"><strong> Bryan Danielson</strong></span></p><p><span style="color:#0000FF;"><strong> Chavo Guerrero Jr.</strong></span></p><p><span style="color:#0000FF;"><strong> Jeff Hardy</strong></span></p><p><span style="color:#0000FF;"><strong> Matt Hardy</strong></span></p><p><span style="color:#0000FF;"><strong> Rick Steiner </strong></span></p><p> </p><p> <span style="color:#FF0000;"><strong>Alexander (World Tag Team Champion)</strong></span></p><p><span style="color:#FF0000;"><strong> Bobby Roode (World Television Champion)</strong></span></p><p><span style="color:#FF0000;"><strong> Christopher Daniels</strong></span></p><p><span style="color:#FF0000;"><strong> Fit Finlay</strong></span></p><p><span style="color:#FF0000;"><strong> Jamie Knoble (Cruiserweight Champion)</strong></span></p><p><span style="color:#FF0000;"><strong> Kaz Hayashi</strong></span></p><p><span style="color:#FF0000;"><strong> The Destroyer</strong></span></p><p><span style="color:#FF0000;"><strong> Yang</strong></span></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><div style="text-align:center;"><p><strong><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Midcard:</span></strong></p></div><p></p><p></p><p> <span style="color:#0000FF;"><strong>Aguila</strong></span></p><p><span style="color:#0000FF;"><strong> Billy Kidman</strong></span></p><p><span style="color:#0000FF;"><strong> Harry Smith</strong></span></p><p><span style="color:#0000FF;"><strong> Konnan</strong></span></p><p><span style="color:#0000FF;"><strong> Mark Jindrak</strong></span></p><p><span style="color:#0000FF;"><strong> Volador Jr.</strong></span></p><p> </p><p> <span style="color:#FF0000;"><strong>Brian Kendrick</strong></span></p><p><span style="color:#FF0000;"><strong> Johnny Parisi</strong></span></p><p><span style="color:#FF0000;"><strong> Shane Helms</strong></span></p><p><span style="color:#FF0000;"><strong> Tony Mamaluke</strong></span></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><div style="text-align:center;"><p><strong><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Lower Midcard:</span></strong></p></div><p></p><p></p><p> <span style="color:#0000FF;"><strong>Ernest Miller</strong></span></p><p><span style="color:#0000FF;"><strong> Minoru Tanaka</strong></span></p><p><span style="color:#0000FF;"><strong> Paul London</strong></span></p><p><span style="color:#0000FF;"><strong> Teddy Hart</strong></span></p><p> </p><p> <span style="color:#FF0000;"><strong>Cash</strong></span></p><p><span style="color:#FF0000;"><strong> Chris Harris</strong></span></p><p><span style="color:#FF0000;"><strong> James Storm</strong></span></p><p><span style="color:#FF0000;"><strong> Shannon Moore</strong></span></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><div style="text-align:center;"><p><strong><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Opener:</span></strong></p></div><p></p><p></p><p> <span style="color:#0000FF;"><strong>Lash Leroux</strong></span></p><p> </p><p> <span style="color:#FF0000;"><strong>David Flair</strong></span></p><p><span style="color:#FF0000;"><strong> Elix Skipper</strong></span></p><p><span style="color:#FF0000;"><strong> Evan Karagis</strong></span></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><div style="text-align:center;"><p><strong><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Enhancement Talent:</span></strong></p></div><p></p><p></p><p> </p><p> </p><p> <span style="color:#FF0000;"><strong>Colt Cabana</strong></span></p><p><span style="color:#FF0000;"><strong> Eric Young</strong></span> </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><div style="text-align:center;"><p><strong><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Announcer:</span></strong></p></div><p></p><p></p><p> <span style="color:#0000FF;"><strong>Mike Tenay</strong></span></p><p><span style="color:#0000FF;"><strong> </strong></span></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><div style="text-align:center;"><p><strong><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Color Commentator:</span></strong></p></div><p></p><p></p><p> <span style="color:#0000FF;"><strong>Bret Hart</strong></span></p><p><span style="color:#0000FF;"><strong> </strong></span></p><p> </p><p> <span style="color:#FF0000;"><strong>Bobby Heenan</strong></span></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><div style="text-align:center;"><p><strong><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Road Agent:</span></strong></p></div><p></p><p></p><p> <span style="color:#0000FF;"><strong>Ricky Steamboat</strong></span></p><p> </p><p> <span style="color:#FF0000;"><strong>Bob Orton Jr.</strong></span></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><div style="text-align:center;"><p><strong><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Personality:</span></strong></p></div><p></p><p></p><p> <span style="color:#0000FF;"><strong>Arn Anderson</strong></span></p><p><span style="color:#0000FF;"><strong> Roddy Piper</strong></span></p></div></blockquote><p> </p><p> </p><p> <strong><span style="text-decoration:underline;">RENAISSANCE</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><div style="text-align:center;"><p><strong><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Main Event:</span></strong></p></div><p></p><p></p><p> <span style="color:#0000FF;"><strong>Chigusa Nagayo</strong></span></p><p><span style="color:#0000FF;"><strong> Manami Toyota (World Women's Champion)</strong></span></p><p> </p><p> <span style="color:#FF0000;"><strong>Aja Kong (World Tag Team Champion)</strong></span></p><p><span style="color:#FF0000;"><strong> Akira Hokuto</strong></span></p><p><span style="color:#FF0000;"><strong> Devil Masami (World Tag Team Champion)</strong></span></p><p><span style="color:#FF0000;"><strong> Etsuko Mita</strong></span></p><p><span style="color:#FF0000;"><strong> Toshiyo Yamada</strong></span></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><div style="text-align:center;"><p><strong><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Upper Midcard:</span></strong></p></div><p></p><p></p><p> <span style="color:#0000FF;"><strong>Kyoko Inoue</strong></span></p><p><span style="color:#0000FF;"><strong> Meiko Satomura</strong></span></p><p><span style="color:#0000FF;"><strong> Melissa Anderson</strong></span></p><p><span style="color:#0000FF;"><strong> Nattie Neidhart</strong></span></p><p> </p><p> <span style="color:#FF0000;"><strong>Lisa Moretti</strong></span></p><p><span style="color:#FF0000;"><strong> Takako Inoue</strong></span></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><div style="text-align:center;"><p><strong><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Midcard:</span></strong></p></div><p></p><p></p><p> <span style="color:#0000FF;"><strong>Alexis Laree</strong></span></p><p><span style="color:#0000FF;"><strong> Allison Corino</strong></span></p><p><span style="color:#0000FF;"><strong> Momoe Nakanishi</strong></span></p><p> </p><p> <span style="color:#FF0000;"><strong>Daffney</strong></span></p><p><span style="color:#FF0000;"><strong> LuFisto</strong></span></p><p><span style="color:#FF0000;"><strong> Sonoko Kato</strong></span></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><div style="text-align:center;"><p><strong><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Lower Midcard:</span></strong></p></div><p></p><p></p><p> </p><p> </p><p> <span style="color:#FF0000;"><strong>Kaoru Ito</strong></span></p><p><span style="color:#FF0000;"><strong> Katarina Waters</strong></span></p><p><span style="color:#FF0000;"><strong> Shinobu Kandori</strong></span></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><div style="text-align:center;"><p><strong><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Opener:</span></strong></p></div><p></p><p></p><p> <span style="color:#0000FF;"><strong>Mary Apache</strong></span></p><p> </p><p> </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><div style="text-align:center;"><p><strong><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Enhancement Talent:</span></strong></p></div><p></p><p></p><p> </p><p> </p><p> <span style="color:#FF0000;"><strong>Wesna Busic</strong></span></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><div style="text-align:center;"><p><strong><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Announcer:</span></strong></p></div><p></p><p></p><p> <span style="color:#0000FF;"><strong>Joey Styles</strong></span></p><p><span style="color:#0000FF;"><strong> </strong></span></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><div style="text-align:center;"><p><strong><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Color Commentator:</span></strong></p></div><p></p><p></p><p> <span style="color:#0000FF;"><strong>Tracy Brooks</strong></span></p><p><span style="color:#0000FF;"><strong> </strong></span></p><p> </p><p> </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><div style="text-align:center;"><p><strong><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Road Agent:</span></strong></p></div><p></p><p></p><p> <span style="color:#0000FF;"><strong>Dusty Rhodes</strong></span></p><p><span style="color:#0000FF;"><strong> </strong></span></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><div style="text-align:center;"><p><strong><span style="text-decoration:underline;">On Vacation:</span></strong></p></div><p></p><p></p><p> <strong>None</strong></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><div style="text-align:center;"><p><strong><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Out Of Action:</span></strong></p></div><p></p><p></p><p> <strong>No one is currently out of action for longer than one week.</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><div style="text-align:center;"><p><strong><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Active Tag Teams:</span></strong></p></div><p></p><p></p><p> <strong>3 Count</strong> <em>(Evan Karagis and Shannon Moore)</em></p><p> <em>Aja Kong and Devil Masami</em></p><p> <em>Chigusa Nagayo and Meiko Satomura</em></p><p> <em>Daffney and LuFisto</em></p><p> <strong>Jung Dragons</strong> <em>(Kaz Hayashi and Yang)</em></p><p> <strong>Made in Italy</strong> <em>(Johnny Parisi and Tony Mamaluke)</em></p><p> <strong>Our Generation</strong> <em>(Melissa Anderson and Nattie Neidhart)</em></p><p> <strong>The American Outlaws</strong> <em>(Chris Harris and James Storm)</em></p><p> <strong>The Shooting Stars</strong> <em>(Billy Kidman and Teddy Hart)</em></p><p> <strong>The Unbound</strong> <em>(Mortis and Alexander)</em></p><p> <strong>True Heroes </strong><em>(CM Punk and Lance Storm)</em></p><p> <em>Volador Jr. and Aguila</em></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><div style="text-align:center;"><p><strong><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Factions:</span></strong></p></div><p></p><p></p><p> <strong>Salvation </strong><em>(Father Isaac, Alexander, Mortis, The Destroyer and The Unnatural)</em></p><p> <strong>The Empire </strong><em>(Bill Goldberg, Etsuko Mita, Jamie Knoble, King Corino, TAKA and Tammy Sytch)</em> </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><div style="text-align:center;"><p><strong><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Managerial Assignments:</span></strong></p></div><p></p><p></p><p> <strong>Buff Bagwell </strong><em>(None)</em></p><p> <strong>Dawn Marie </strong><em>(Johnny Parisi and Tony Mamaluke)</em></p><p> <strong>Father Isaac </strong><em>(Alexander, Mortis, The Destroyer and The Unnatural)</em></p><p> <strong>Paul Heyman </strong><em>(Rob Van Dam and Shane Douglas)</em></p><p> <strong>Ric Flair </strong><em>(Bobby Roode)</em></p><p> <strong>Stacy Keibler </strong><em>(Kaz Hayashi and Yang)</em></p><p> <strong>Tammy Sytch </strong><em>(King Corino, TAKA and Jamie Knoble)</em></p><p> <strong>Torrie Wilson </strong><em>(Billy Kidman and Teddy Hart)</em> </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><div style="text-align:center;"><p><strong><span style="text-decoration:underline;">In Developmental:</span></strong></p></div><p></p><p></p><p> <strong>Austin Aries</strong></p><p><strong> El Generico</strong></p><p><strong> Johnny the Bull</strong></p><p><strong> Kevin Steen</strong></p><p><strong> Kid Romeo</strong></p><p><strong> Lacey</strong></p><p><strong> Lisa Marie Varon</strong></p><p><strong> Lizzy Valentine</strong></p><p><strong> Madison Eagles</strong></p><p><strong> Mariko Yoshida</strong></p><p><strong> Mercedes Martinez</strong></p><p><strong> Nigel McGuinness</strong></p><p><strong> Reno</strong></p><p><strong> Shelton Benjamin</strong></p><p><strong> Shinsuke Nakamura</strong></p><p><strong> TJ Wilson</strong></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><div style="text-align:center;"><p><strong><span style="text-decoration:underline;"><span style="font-size:18px;">Creative Meeting:</span></span></strong></p></div><p></p><p></p><p> </p><p> <span style="text-decoration:underline;">Franchise Players:</span></p><p> 1. Steve Austin</p><p> 2. Bill Goldberg</p><p> 3. Rey Mysterio Jr.</p><p> 4. Rob Van Dam</p><p> 5. CM Punk</p><p> </p><p> <span style="text-decoration:underline;">Next Big Things:</span></p><p> 1. Jeff Hardy</p><p> 2. Meiko Satomura</p><p> 3. AJ Styles</p><p> 4. Volador Jr.</p><p> 5. Alexis Laree</p><p> </p><p> <span style="text-decoration:underline;">Hot Prospects:</span></p><p> 1. Allison Corino</p><p> 2. Alexis Laree</p><p> 3. Volador Jr.</p><p> 4. Mark Jindrak</p><p> 5. Paul London</p><p> </p><p> <span style="text-decoration:underline;">Talk the Talk:</span></p><p> 1. Steve Austin </p><p> 2. Ric Flair</p><p> 3. CM Punk</p><p> 4. Dusty Rhodes</p><p> 5. Roddy Piper</p><p> </p><p> <span style="text-decoration:underline;">Show Stoppers:</span></p><p> 1. Rey Mysterio Jr.</p><p> 2. Jeff Hardy</p><p> 3. Rob Van Dam</p><p> 4. Eddie Guerrero</p><p> 5. AJ Styles</p><p> </p><p> <span style="text-decoration:underline;">Ring Generals:</span></p><p> 1. Bryan Danielson </p><p> 2. Eddie Guerrero</p><p> 3. Rey Misterio Jr.</p><p> 4. Lance Storm</p><p> 5. AJ Styles</p><p> </p><p> <span style="text-decoration:underline;">Who's Hot:</span></p><p> 1. Bobby Roode</p><p> 2. Christopher Daniels</p><p> 3. Alexis Laree</p><p> 4. Bryan Danielson</p><p> 5. Melissa Anderson</p><p> </p><p> <span style="text-decoration:underline;">Who's Not:</span></p><p> 1. Ernest Miller</p><p> 2. Chris Harris</p><p> 3. Cash</p><p> 4. James Storm</p><p> 5. Katarina Waters</p><p> </p><p> <span style="text-decoration:underline;">Time Decline:</span></p><p> 1. Sting</p><p> 4. Diamond Dallas Page</p><p> 3. Fit Finlay</p><p> 4. Aja Kong</p><p> 5. Rick Steiner</p><p> </p><p> <span style="text-decoration:underline;">Hidden Gems:</span></p><p> 1. Jay Briscoe</p><p> 2. Kenny Omega</p><p> 3. Simon Diamond</p><p> 4. Scoot Andrews</p><p> 5. Dan Maff</p></div></blockquote><p> </p><p> </p><p> <hr noshade size=3></p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="James The Animator" data-cite="James The Animator" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="43035" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>GROUP A:<p> Opening Round:</p><p> AJ Styles vs. <strong>King Corino</strong> <em>(I don't see RVD in these brackets...)</em></p></div></blockquote><p> All champions were excluded (as was Rey, since he's set to challenge at Halloween Havoc.)</p><p> </p><p> </p><blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="Beejus" data-cite="Beejus" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="43035" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div><p> <em>Sting</em> vs. Harry Smith - <em>I forgot to mention it earlier, but man does Sting on only a PPA contract feel weird</em> <img alt=":eek:" data-src="//content.invisioncic.com/g322608/emoticons/eek.png.0e09df00fa222c85760b9bc1700b5405.png" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /><em>Like Vince could just swoop in on him anytime!</em></p><p> </p></div></blockquote><p> He <em>could</em>, but I doubt he will. They're in acquisition mode right now and made no attempt to negotiate with him, and he's only getting older and further past his prime. Plus he's loyal to WCW, so I'm assuming he'd be easier than most to hold onto if I made a real effort.</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><em>Both Jung Dragons in the same block so they would potentially have to face one another? Conspiracy! Objection!</em></div></blockquote><p> This reminds me: has anyone picked up on where I got the "OBJECTION!" thing from? Not that I've really hinted at it in-game I don't think, but using that specific phrase was inspired by something.</p><p> </p><p> </p><blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="The Pitbull" data-cite="The Pitbull" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="43035" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div><p> Rick Steiner vs. Brian Kendrick - Kendrick (come on, Rick lost to Kaz Hayashi who was never Kendrick)</p></div></blockquote><p> Maybe not, but the Dragons have gotten pretty over in this universe (as demonstrated by them autopushing as upper midcarders.)</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>Just a suggestion, why don't you run Sting's salvation? Him committing the sin of considering the savior when in his twisted mind the Unnatural is one? Maybe as a last hot feud for the Stinger before retiring? Just an idea.</div></blockquote><p> I was actually planning that as a match for Starrcade last year, but it wound up becoming a 4-way match to set up Dustin's title challenge the next month (the first one, where he failed and was supposed to be a one time only main eventer on a "B" PPV, but the match was great and I had so much fun writing him that plans changed.) At the time I decided to hold off on Unnatural/Sting one on one because I didn't want to rush it and wanted to have several months to build it up, but Sting's decline has gotten bad and Dustin's stock has obviously skyrocketed, so it's off the table right now. If I do revisit that idea, I have a feeling it won't be until after Dustin has lost the title so the blowoff match wouldn't have to be relied on to headline a PPV.</p><p> </p><p> </p><blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="crackerjack" data-cite="crackerjack" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="43035" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>GROUP A:<p> Opening Round:</p><p> <strong>AJ Styles</strong> vs. King Corino <em>If he goes, it'll suck to see Corino leave so soon. With the Unnatural getting the belt, it seems Steve's time to shine may be past him</em></p></div></blockquote><p> He's four years younger than Dustin, so he has a longer window of opportunity I think (assuming he's not about to be snatched by Vince, which I think is what you're alluding to.) Dustin's rise did hurt him though, because before that my plan was for Corino to be the one to win the title from Rey.</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><p> <strong>Scott Steiner</strong> vs. Shane Helms <em>If he can still go in 2018...</em></p></div></blockquote><p> His individual performance rating in that tag match at War Games was either a 99 or 100, so it seems he can still go just fine in the right circumstances.</p><p> </p><p> </p><blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="Theheel" data-cite="Theheel" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="43035" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div><p> Group Winner: <strong>Styles</strong></p><p> <strong>Man who did AJ piss off to get such a tough opening round match? I do agree that Austin sticks his nose in the Kings business</strong></p></div></blockquote><p> You could ask the same question for Corino!</p><p> </p><p> </p><blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="Chaos Zarak" data-cite="Chaos Zarak" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="43035" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>I absolutely loved the ppv, was a great show and war games was epic. The finish was brilliant building that tension leading to Rey vs Eddie...</div></blockquote><p> Thanks! Writing up War Games matches is a lot of fun. While the finish worked for setting up that tension, I worried it might come off as a little tame for a War Games match to end with a flying legdrop. But hopefully the three Frog Splashes beforehand helped with that.</p>

Stu Hart Classic Preview http://i.imgur.com/1qogKhQ.jpg <hr noshade size=3> That's...actually a really interesting idea. Not something I ever would've thought of, but it might be worth looking into... I think his ceiling was pretty low in my WCW. He has the potential to be a lot more valuable in your WCW I'd say, but in my product he just wasn't good enough in the ring to ever be more than midcard job fodder. Understandable; I sometimes forget things that happened too, and I'm the one who booked and wrote them!

<p>War Games Wrap-up and Hall of Champions</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><div style="text-align:center;"><p><strong>September 21st, 2003</strong></p></div><p></p><p> </p><p> Chuck Palumbo glared at me as he walked past. Let him glare. I know he's furious about being completely buried in his match with O'Haire, but he's already got his money from Vince, so I don't think he has any reason to be hot. He's still under contract for a bit, but we'll probably write a final angle to get rid of him and then just let him sit at home until it's time for him to go be a sports entertainer. I honestly didn't put up that much of a fight to try and keep him when he let me know Vince was interested in him. He's got size and a good look, but he hasn't progressed all that much in-ring. He'll probably be better off in WWE.</p><p> </p><p> Rick Steiner was pretty unhappy about taking the loss to the Jung Dragons too, but I certainly wasn't going to ask Scott to put them over!</p><p> </p><p> DDP has always been a team player, but he threw a major fit when I told him he'd be putting over Kendrick. I don't really even blame him, because Kendrick wasn't anywhere near his level of popularity before the match. But that's exactly why I made the match. A win like that will be big in helping Kendrick get over, and he's got a much brighter future than DDP.</p><p> </p><p> There was some bad news on the pre-show, where Hayabusa came up grabbing his shoulder after being thrown over the top rope in the battle royal. It luckily isn't a serious injury, but he'll still be out of action for a month or so. I was considering him for a spot in the Stu Hart Classic and possibly as a challenger to Jamie Knoble, but obviously both of those are out. </p><p> </p><p> Goldberg caught some heat from some of the boys. I guess he was bragging to some of the lower card guys about how much money he was making, and they felt like he was rubbing it in their faces. I'll keep an eye out for further problems from Bill, but I didn't think this needed any response from me.</p><p> </p><p> After the show went off the air, Eddie Guerrero, Rey Mysterio Jr and Alexander all let me know that they think the brawling-heavy setup of the War Games match restricted what they could do, not that that was a surprise to me. Situations like that won't happen often anyway.</p><p> </p><p> I thanked RVD and AJ for their show-stealing performance, and also shared a laugh with Scott Steiner about how over he was with the fans.</p><p> </p><p> Chris Harris and Cash complained to me about their booking and asked for more TV time. I get it, but there's only so much time to go around.</p><p> </p><p> Jeff Hardy approached me to say that he knows his brother Matt is good friends with Shane Helms, but personally he doesn't think Helms has the ability to connect with the fans and I shouldn't look to try and feature him in any storylines.</p><p> </p><p> CM Punk suggested I give Johnny Parisi some promo time so he doesn't become too much of an afterthought while Tony Mamaluke continues to deal with his nagging neck injury.</p><p> </p><p> Another PPV, another excellent show from us. Now it's time to shift gears to the Stu Hart Classic, which I consider as sort of the unofficial start to Starrcade season.</p></div></blockquote><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><div style="text-align:center;"><span>http://i.imgur.com/7AiYO6E.jpg</span> </div><p></p><p></p><p> <em>WWE ran their Unforgiven show head to head against War Games. The show included ECW's Kurt Angle retaining the ECW title against Scott Hall of WWE, so it didn't take long for them to make this brand split thing look silly. The main event was Rock and Jericho in a Summerslam rematch, and Rock retained in one of the best matches this year. This show also saw X-Pac win the Intercontinental title from Brock Lesnar, so I guess the push Brock's been getting has been cooled off a bit. It was a great show from them, but War Games was better.</em></p><p> </p><p> </p><p> <hr noshade size=3></p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><div style="text-align:center;"><p><strong><span style="text-decoration:underline;"><span style="font-size:18px;">Hall of Champions:</span></span></strong></p></div><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><div style="text-align:center;"><img alt="u9bsFuK.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/u9bsFuK.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /><p> </p><p> <span style="color:#FF0000;"><em><span style="font-size:14px;">NITRO BRAND</span></em></span></p><p> </p><p> </p><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>The Unnatural</strong></p><p> <span>http://i.imgur.com/fn8zdsQ.jpg</span></p><p> <strong>Won:</strong> June 15th, 2003 in a triple threat match against Rey Mysterio Jr. and Eddie Guerrero at Great American Bash in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania</p><p> </p><p> <em>Previous Champions (since March 2001):</em></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>Rob Van Dam</strong></p><p> <img alt="P2oAF93.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/P2oAF93.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /></p><p> <strong>Won:</strong> September 21st, 2003 from AJ Styles at War Games in Houston, Texas</p><p> </p><p> <em>Previous Champions (since March 2001):</em></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;">Cruiserweight Champion:</span></strong></p><p> <span>http://i.imgur.com/u0cJ04Z.jpg</span></p><p> <strong>Jamie Knoble</strong></p><p> <span>http://i.imgur.com/CCq92jB.jpg</span></p><p> <strong>Won:</strong> September 21st, 2003 from Bryan Danielson at War Games in Houston, Texas</p><p> </p><p> <em>Previous Champions (since March 2001):</em></p><p> Bryan Danielson (#2): April 20th, 2003-September 21st, 2003 (154 days)</p><p> Christopher Daniels: September 22nd, 2002-April 20th, 2003 (210 days)</p><p> American Dragon: August 11th, 2002-September 22nd, 2002 (42 days)</p><p> AJ Styles: April 21st, 2002-August 11th, 2002 (112 days)</p><p> TAKA: December 30th, 2001-April 21st, 2002 (112 days)</p><p> Jushin Liger: August 5th, 2001-December 30th, 2001 (147 days)</p><p> Shane Helms: March 18th, 2001-August 5th, 2001 (140 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>Bobby Roode</strong></p><p> <span>http://i.imgur.com/BSCxEF8.jpg</span></p><p> <strong>Won:</strong> August 24th, 2003 in a four way against Chavo Guerrero Jr, Matt Hardy and Shane Helms for the vacant title at the Japan Supershow in Tokyo, Japan</p><p> </p><p> <em>Previous Champions (since July 2002):</em></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 Unbound (Mortis and Alexander) (#1 as a team, #3 for Mortis, #2 for Alexander)</strong></p><p> <img alt="CsQnr5C.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/CsQnr5C.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /><span>http://i.imgur.com/ptxupoY.jpg</span></p><p> <strong>Won:</strong> August 24th, 2003 from Christopher Daniels and Brian Adams and True Heroes in a three way at the Japan Supershow in Tokyo, Japan</p><p> </p><p> <em>Previous Champions (since March 2001):</em></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;"><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="DZfKm2b.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/DZfKm2b.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /></p><p> </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="1qogKhQ.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/1qogKhQ.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /></p><p> </p><p> <strong>2002:</strong> Rey Mysterio Jr.</p><p> <strong>2001:</strong> Rob Van Dam</p><p> </p><p> </p></div><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><div style="text-align:center;"><p><strong><span style="font-size:14px;">The Ultimate Fan Series</span></strong></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><p></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-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="43035" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>Prediction scores (out of a possible 14 points):<p> </p><p> Dead_Jester: 11</p><p> </p><p> DavidCorperial: 10</p><p> DHK1989: 10</p><p> </p><p> cbacon87: 9</p><p> Rateddc: 9</p><p> </p><p> crackerjack: 8</p><p> K-Nection: 8</p><p> </p><p> bonnie: 7</p><p> RKOwnage: 7</p><p> 2Sweet: 7</p><p> Kijar: 7</p><p> Satyr24: 7</p><p> jscotty: 7</p><p> </p><p> JMike: 6</p><p> Hapy0wns: 6</p><p> deanohbk: 6</p><p> evileddie10: 6</p><p> Bluestillidie00: 6</p><p> Theheel: 6</p><p> Cro Cop Rules: 6</p><p> chrismday: 6</p><p> franticloser: 6</p><p> </p><p> kinnikuniverse: 5</p><p> DGenerationMC: 5</p><p> Uncrewed: 5</p><p> ThorJ: 5</p><p> The Lariat: 5</p><p> Wolfman84: 5</p><p> </p><p> KnowYourEnemy: 4</p><p> James The Animator: 4</p><p> Warhawk8492: 4</p><p> michgcs: 4</p><p> CobheadJake: 4</p><p> Chaos Zarak: 4</p><p> Danny H22: 4</p><p> Beejus: 4</p><p> GingeyOne: 4</p><p> </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>Standings in UFS prediction contest after 4 shows:<p> </p><p> Dead_Jester: 36</p><p> </p><p> cbacon87: 35</p><p> </p><p> Rateddc: 34</p><p> DHK1989: 34</p><p> </p><p> deanohbk: 32</p><p> Satyr24: 32</p><p> DavidCorperial: 32</p><p> </p><p> Uncrewed: 31</p><p> evileddie10: 31</p><p> Happy0wns: 31</p><p> K-Nection: 31</p><p> </p><p> Theheel: 30</p><p> Wolfman84: 30</p><p> jscotty: 30</p><p> Kijar: 30</p><p> crackerjack: 30</p><p> </p><p> kinnikuniverse: 29</p><p> Cro Cop Rules: 29</p><p> chrismday: 29</p><p> bonnie: 29</p><p> </p><p> GingeyOne: 28</p><p> James The Animator: 28</p><p> The Lariat: 28</p><p> DGenerationMC: 28</p><p> JMike: 28</p><p> </p><p> Warhawk8492: 26</p><p> Danny_H22: 26</p><p> </p><p> Beejus: 25</p><p> Smasher1311: 25</p><p> Nobby_McDonald: 25</p><p> </p><p> 123Kidd: 24</p><p> </p><p> michgcs: 23</p><p> </p><p> Texasrangers13: 21</p><p> </p><p> smw88: 17</p><p> </p><p> ElectricX: 16</p><p> Ian carlisle: 16</p><p> KnowYourEnemy: 16</p><p> </p><p> CobheadJake: 14</p><p> </p><p> ThorJ: 13</p><p> </p><p> Chaos Zarak: 12</p><p> </p><p> Chaossy: 10</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> Destiny: 8</p><p> </p><p> The Lloyd: 7</p><p> RKOwnage: 7</p><p> 2Sweet: 7</p><p> </p><p> Mr. Jones: 6</p><p> Bluestillidie00: 6</p><p> franticloser: 6</p><p> </p></div></blockquote><p> </p><p> </p><blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="The Lariat" data-cite="The Lariat" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="43035" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div><p> Who was responsible for the attack on Jeff Hardy?: <strong>Salvation maybe? Matt seems too obvious, and it probably is him, but I could see Salvation trying to welcome him into the fold.</strong></p><p> </p></div></blockquote><p> Good call! I didn't think anybody would get that, but you had to go and ruin it. <img alt=":p" data-src="//content.invisioncic.com/g322608/emoticons/tongue.png.ceb643b2956793497cef30b0e944be28.png" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /></p><p> </p><p> </p><blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="Beejus" data-cite="Beejus" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="43035" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>War Games winner: CM Punk - <em>He hasn't gotten a title shot yet, and the feud between he and Salvation could be pretty fun.</em></div></blockquote><p> He got one during Rey's title reign--off the top of my head, I want to say it was at Superbrawl.</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>Robby Boode - <em>Matt is denied his revenge. Just don't break him or wake him, no matter how close we are to September ending.</em></div></blockquote><p> Whatever you say, Billie Joe. <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> </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>Steiner Brothers - <em>You're putting me in a box here TFC, it's both of my favorite parts of your diary in one match!</em><p> </p></div></blockquote><p> Your fault for not giving the Dragons a chance here. <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-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="43035" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>DDP - <em>Is the feud with London low-key still going on? That didn't really feel like it had a blowoff, so I guess Paul gets involved here?</em></div></blockquote><p> It was <em>supposed</em> to end on this PPV, but instead I wrapped it up in that singles match on Nitro so I could quickly set up this match with DDP. Maybe I'll pick it back up later, but for now I think the two should go their own ways.</p><p> </p><p> </p><blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="Hashasheen" data-cite="Hashasheen" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="43035" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>Did you do that or is this a new event that happens in 2016?</div></blockquote><p> I did it. I used the editor to give them some money so they aren't at risk of going out of business right now, and I thought I'd make some other changes while I was at it to give the story a bit of flavor.</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>Not a prediction entry<p> </p><p> I just can't see the faces losing the match unless you're doing the CM Punk heel turn. I've never liked the "face is forced to be a heel" storyline as no one in real life has pulled it off that well [insert 3 people listing one(s) I've forgotten]. I would have suggested Lance until Easy E got himself fired because he needs a mouthpiece, and as big of a fan of Corino as I was at this time irl (sigh, MLW was really fun), he's not it. Basically, I'm pretty convinced that Storm is going to flounder as a single. Plus, I don't think you could do a turn on either of them since they turned face recently. Same with Eddie, and Rey as a heel makes zero sense.</p><p> </p><p> So, it really comes down to which face gets the pin and win. I'd say Eddie for the same reason as above. I'd love a Punk push, but that would gut the tag division and Storm. The only reason it isn't Eddie is if he's "not the image WCW and Bret want to project". Well, and that whole pre-set time decline/retirement annoyance that Mod Squad put in on a ton of people.</p></div></blockquote><p> I'm not necessarily a fan of that angle either (but that didn't stop me from doing it with Knoble not that long ago. <img alt=":o" data-src="//content.invisioncic.com/g322608/emoticons/redface.png.900245280682ef18c5d82399a93c5827.png" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" />)</p><p> </p><p> I loved old school MLW! I got to watch it because the Sunshine Network was included in the sports package on my satellite dish, and that was my first introduction to a lot of the top ROH guys from this era, like Punk, Joe and Homicide.</p><p> </p><p> </p><blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="franticloser" data-cite="franticloser" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="43035" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div><p> General diary comments/questions/critiques: <strong>Great to be back, spent the last few days at work catching up with this, and I am so glad I did. You are master of booking TFC and it's always a pleasure</strong></p></div></blockquote><p> Welcome back! Feels like you're one of only a handful from TGAAB still around in this thread, and it's always cool to see those familiar names again!</p><p> </p><p> </p><blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="kinnikuniverse" data-cite="kinnikuniverse" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="43035" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div><p> are you sure that the dragons has enough strength to pull off that move against Rick?</p></div></blockquote><p> ...Probably not. Let's just imagine that they worked together to get him up on this version. <img alt=":o" data-src="//content.invisioncic.com/g322608/emoticons/redface.png.900245280682ef18c5d82399a93c5827.png" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /></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>Dammit, you made me cry for freaking bagwell!!</div></blockquote><p> He's still the Stuff, daddy, and he ain't goin' anywhere!</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>Goddamn, what the hell went wrong with o'haire-palumbo?<p> </p></div></blockquote><p> It was a squash match, so it wasn't really supposed to be good.</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>Since Roode technically retained, do people who picked him to win get a point for that despite the time limit draw?</div></blockquote><p> Nope.</p><p> </p><p> </p><blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="K-Nection" data-cite="K-Nection" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="43035" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div><p> The only thing left for Eddie and Rey to do is fight over Dominic in a ladder match <img alt=":p" data-src="//content.invisioncic.com/g322608/emoticons/tongue.png.ceb643b2956793497cef30b0e944be28.png" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /></p></div></blockquote><p> ...Let's not do that.</p>

<p>September 21st, 2003: War Games</p><p> </p><p> </p><div style="text-align:center;"><img alt="FAAGdAB.png" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/FAAGdAB.png" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /><p> </p><p> <strong>September 21st, 2003</strong></p><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong> From Minute Maid Park in Houston, Texas</strong></p><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong> Attendance: 41,553</strong></p><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong> Announce Team: "The Professor" Mike Tenay and Bret "The Hitman" Hart </strong></p><p> </p><p> </p><p> <img alt="2nqjRO5.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/2nqjRO5.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /><img alt="nG8aWZm.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/nG8aWZm.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /></p><p> </p><p> </p><p> <strong>Official Theme Song: "War Games" </strong></p><p> </p><p> <iframe width="560" height="315" src="<a href="https://www.youtube.com/embed/acorVVSBar8" rel="external nofollow">https://www.youtube.com/embed/acorVVSBar8"</a> frameborder="0" allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen></iframe> </p></div><p></p><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><div style="text-align:center;"><p><strong>The Steiner Brothers vs. The Jung Dragons (w/Stacy Keibler)</strong></p><p> <span>http://i.imgur.com/k45HPCq.jpg</span><span>http://i.imgur.com/JJpe0Lr.jpg</span><span>http://i.imgur.com/EiVoLiY.jpg</span><img alt="frhLUo7.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/frhLUo7.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /><img alt="CtEcIzq.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/CtEcIzq.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /><img alt="paNPh85.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/paNPh85.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /></p></div><p></p><p></p><p> </p><p> <em>Despite Rick Steiner's physical decline, I figured this would be a good way to open the show. The other three guys are all talented, plus both teams have lots of experience together, so I hoped that would be enough to cover for Rick's deficiencies. It was, even though the Steiners didn't sell well enough when the Dragons were on offense (intentionally?), and they didn't do a good enough job building the drama of the match. The action was still pretty good though, with Hayashi and Yang doing some strong aerial stuff. As for Scott, the Houston fans ate up everything he did, popping huge for all his suplexes and laughing every time he flexed or did push ups to try and impress Stacy Keibler. They reacted to him like a huge star, and he played it up to the max.</em></p><p><em> </em></p><p><em> Had all the flexes finally won Stacy over? She smiled and crooked her finger at Scott, who jumped off the apron and showed her his bicep. As she squeezed his bicep and pretended to be impressed, the Dragons unleashed a double team flurry on Rick inside the ring, ending with </em></p><div class="ipsEmbeddedVideo"><div><iframe width="200" height="113" src="https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/H2iVtskSkjE?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="" title="Jung Dragons - Iconoclasm / Release Powerbomb"></iframe></div></div><em> Scott was so caught up in flirting with Keibler that he didn't even look back to the ring until the bell rang, and by then it was far too late for him to do anything. Keibler laughed at him, then climbed into the ring to celebrate with the Dragons. </em><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><div style="text-align:center;"><p><strong>Grade: 83</strong></p></div><p></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><div style="text-align:center;"><span>http://i.imgur.com/FIVYBul.jpg</span><img alt="yaQ7UIE.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/yaQ7UIE.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /></div><p></p><p></p><p> </p><p> <em>It was time for Buff Bagwell's return to TV on Piper's Pit, his first appearance since his horrible spinal injury he suffered taking a bump to the floor on a Nitro battle royal last September. He started by thanking all the fans for the cards, letters and e-mails of support they'd sent, and said he'd spent the last year hoping he'd one day be able to return to the ring. But it wasn't meant to be, and he was never going to be able to lace up the boots again.</em></p><p><em> </em></p><p><em> I'm sure lots of people were expecting a swerve at that point, reminiscent of the phony emotional segment the old regime booked after his scary neck injury on a Rick Steiner top rope bulldog in 1998. Unfortunately, that wasn't going to happen. Buff was not cleared to return, and this retirement is legitimate. </em></p><p><em> </em></p><p><em> "But you guys haven't seen the last of me!" he promised, getting choked up. "Maybe you've seen the last Buff Blockbuster, but Buff will ALWAYS be the Stuff!"</em></p><p><em> </em></p><p><em> Buff performed poorly here, but that's understandable given how emotional this announcement had to be for him. Roddy did a good job covering for him, toning down his usual banter and delivering a more subdued performance that fit the tone of the segment and came across well. The crowd reacted nicely to the segment and I think in a weird way it got them more excited for the show, but if the fans at home heard the same thing I did, Mike Tenay's delivery was all off here. As for Buff, he's still got more than a half a year left on his guaranteed contract, and I'll probably look to re-sign him after that if he's interested. Not sure what role he'll be given in the company yet, but I'm sure we can find something for him to do. Maybe he could be a manager?</em></p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><div style="text-align:center;"><p><strong>Grade: 87</strong></p></div><p></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><div style="text-align:center;"><p><strong>Sean O'Haire vs. Chuck Palumbo (w/Tammy Sytch)</strong></p><p> <span>http://i.imgur.com/zbQxlTu.jpg</span><span>http://i.imgur.com/EiVoLiY.jpg</span><span>http://i.imgur.com/3ZTpoTU.jpg</span><img alt="wZR2OGz.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/wZR2OGz.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /></p></div><p></p><p></p><p> </p><p> <em>It's no secret who the star of the Thrillers was. It wasn't back then, and it's even more clear now. We went out of our way to prove it in this match, because O'Haire absolutely annihilated his former partner. All his aggression and anger stemming from his failed world title shot were taken out on Palumbo, who could do nothing but stand there and take it. Make no mistake, this was a full-on squash, to the point that it pretty much buried Palumbo and made it crystal clear he's not in O'Haire's league. Sean ended the slaughter with the Widow Maker in under five minutes.</em></p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><div style="text-align:center;"><p><strong>Grade: 59</strong></p></div><p></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><div style="text-align:center;"><span>http://i.imgur.com/u0cJ04Z.jpg</span><p> <strong>Jamie Knoble (w/Tammy Sytch) vs. "American Dragon" Bryan Danielson {©} </strong></p><p> <img alt="wZR2OGz.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/wZR2OGz.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /><span>http://i.imgur.com/CCq92jB.jpg</span><span>http://i.imgur.com/EiVoLiY.jpg</span><img alt="lAlFtSW.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/lAlFtSW.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /></p></div><p></p><p></p><p> </p><p> <em>Unlike the previous match, these two were very evenly matched. I told these two guys they had about fifteen minutes, gave them a finish and told them to go all out to have a great match. That might have put too much pressure on Knoble, who looked a little nervous at points. That's really just a minor footnote though, because the match was awesome. It was the best in Danielson's career to date, and for Knoble it was second only to his match of the year contender with Austin. Who says technical wrestling can't entertain modern fans?</em></p><p><em> </em></p><p><em> Knoble probably shone more to the fans, but Danielson's role in this match can't be overlooked. As talented as Jamie is, he hasn't really picked up the art of storytelling. That's something Bryan has basically mastered, and with him steering the ship and calling the shots, he was able to bring out the best in Jamie. Despite going all-out and doing more bumping and high spots than usual, they still told a really solid story out there. Danielson was better technically, but Knoble worked with more of a nasty, gritty edge to him, and it worked in his favor.</em></p><p><em> </em></p><p><em> Even though Tammy was there at ringside and The Empire was well-known to take any shortcut they could find, Knoble wrestled this match straight-up. Tammy was concerned when Bryan took him to the mat and grabbed his arms for Cattle Mutilation. It looked like she was considering climbing onto the apron and trying to create some sort of distraction, but she needn't have bothered. Jamie brilliantly countered the hold, rolling onto his back and suddenly pulling Bryan into a guillotine choke! Danielson fought wildly to try and free his head, but Knoble's grip was too tight. With that option cut off, Bryan focused on moving his lower body so he could get his foot onto the ropes and force a break.</em></p><p><em> </em></p><p><em> Just before he could get his foot on the ropes, Knoble rolled him back out towards the center and hooked the hold back in! Bryan continued to fight for a few moments, but then accepted that the situation was hopeless and tapped out! </em></p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><div style="text-align:center;"><p><strong>Grade: 94</strong></p><p> </p><p> </p><p> <img alt="ZZPLj6h.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/ZZPLj6h.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /><span>http://i.imgur.com/ncMyE2p.jpg</span></p></div><p></p><p></p><p> </p><p> <em>King Corino and TAKA joined Knoble and Sytch in the ring after the match to celebrate. Corino congratulated Knoble on bringing gold back into The Empire, and said that the entire group was proud of him, including Goldberg, who was too busy getting ready for his demolition of Minoru Tanaka to come out and join in the fun. (No mention was made of Chuck Palumbo, something Mike and I failed to draw attention to on commentary. Whoops!) </em></p><p><em> </em></p><p><em> "Less than a week under my leadership, and already we've got some gold in our hands again!" he crowed. "But I didn't come out here JUST to congratulate my favorite redneck. There's also a bit of business to handle. Austin, I extended the olive branch to you on Nitro, and I know you're here, so I'm asking you to please join us in this ring for a friendly conversation."</em></p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><div style="text-align:center;"><img alt="dIHv4ym.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/dIHv4ym.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /></div><p></p><p></p><p> </p><p> </p><p> <em>Out came Austin in street clothes, wearing a cast on his arm. Despite walking into a ring with three enemies while injured, he showed no fear or hesitance. He got right in Corino's face, causing the new Empire boss to shake his head and take several steps back. </em></p><p><em> </em></p><p><em> "We're not here for that, Steve. We're not here to fight you tonight. Where has that gotten us? Where has it gotten you? This whole thing has dragged The Empire down. It's distracted us from our original purpose, which was winning titles, gaining power and making money. Instead our former boss got us caught up in his personal vendetta against you, and it wasn't until I threw him out that we finally got back to business and regained a title tonight! And, no disrespect, but this war has been even worse for you. Look at what our own resident redneck did to you last month. He put you on the shelf! He hurt the Hellraiser! That's why instead of coming out here and raising hell in the ring like you always do, you have to wear that cast! If this keeps up, it'll be an unnecessary distraction for us, and it could very well end your career! So since your problem was with our incompetent former leader, and it's doing none of us any good, how about you shake my hand, we call it a truce, and we all go on with our careers before this goes any further?"</em></p><p><em> </em></p><p><em> Austin made a show of asking the fans whether he should shake Corino's hand and accept this truce, doing a fantastic job of getting the fans into this segment. They of course said no, but Austin slowly made to accept the handshake with his uninjured hand--but then clocked Corino in the side of the head with the cast, which the fans popped huge for! He rolled out of the ring before Knoble or TAKA could react, wagging his head and talking trash the whole way back up the ramp. </em></p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><div style="text-align:center;"><p><strong>Grade: 100</strong></p></div><p></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><div style="text-align:center;"><p><strong>Diamond Dallas Page vs. Brian Kendrick</strong></p><p> <img alt="Pi7V8Vw.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/Pi7V8Vw.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /><span>http://i.imgur.com/EiVoLiY.jpg</span><img alt="waBVEEI.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/waBVEEI.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /></p></div><p></p><p></p><p> </p><p> <em>As the fans settled back into their seats following that hot angle, it was time for a match only set up over the past couple of weeks. This was the classic tale of the older veteran trying to beat some respect into the cocky youngster who thinks he's the greatest thing since sliced bread (a literal quote in this case.) Unfortunately the story of Dallas being on the downside of his career is more than just a story. He did okay here and the fans still enjoy him, but his physical decline was pretty noticeable as he tried to keep up with the much younger Kendrick. Brian did a good job though. I thought this match went pretty well overall, and I really look forward to seeing what Kendrick can do as he gets more exposure and becomes a bigger star.</em></p><p><em> </em></p><p><em> The obvious story here was that even though Brian was the better athlete at this point, DDP has the experience to help negate those disadvantages and capitalize on any mental mistakes his opponent makes. It all led up to Brian thinking he had an opening to hit his Sliced Bread finisher, only for DDP to counter it with a back suplex. He flashed the Diamond Cutter sign for an easy crowd pop, and struck as soon as Brian got back to his feet--but Kendrick sidestepped and DDP came up empty, falling back-first onto the mat. He got up quickly, but Brian caught him immediately with a leg lariat. The Sliced Bread followed, and many of the fans gasped or otherwise looked surprised as Kendrick got the clean pinfall on the 3-time World Champion. </em></p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><div style="text-align:center;"><p><strong>Grade: 80</strong></p></div><p></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><div style="text-align:center;"><img alt="ZZPLj6h.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/ZZPLj6h.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /><img alt="oWRzmsy.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/oWRzmsy.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /></div><p></p><p></p><p> </p><p> <em>King Corino was scheduled for a recorded interview for WCW.com, but he blew right past the web crew and stormed off. The camera man hurried after him, hoping to record something newsworthy. Corino marched through the hallways until arriving back at the Empire's private dressing room. He yanked the door open, walked into the room, picked up a glass of champagne from the table and smashed it on the floor. A flower vase followed, and a box of chocolates was hurled against the wall. Goldberg, who had remained in the room as he prepared for his match, stopped his warm-ups to watch the temper tantrum. Finally he nodded his head at the TV monitor in the room, saying he'd seen what happened out there and it was time for Corino to do what "the other guy" didn't have the guts to: let him (Goldberg) break Austin in half like he should've done his first night back in WCW five months ago!</em></p><p><em> </em></p><p><em> Corino was silent for a moment, considering the idea, and from my spot at the announce desk I could hear the roar of the fans watching on the large video screen. Then they booed as Corino shook his head. He said that would only give Austin what he wanted. Everyone knew Goldberg could wreck Austin, but they all seemed to forget that he, King Corino, had already pinned Austin's shoulders to the mat in a major PPV singles match! He was more than equipped to solve this problem, and he was going to handle it himself. </em></p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><div style="text-align:center;"><p><strong>Grade: 100</strong></p></div><p></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><div style="text-align:center;"><img alt="rrRBDgP.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/rrRBDgP.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /><p> <strong>Matt Hardy vs. Bobby Roode (w/Ric Flair) {©} </strong></p><p> <img alt="bH5oivJ.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/bH5oivJ.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /><span>http://i.imgur.com/EiVoLiY.jpg</span><span>http://i.imgur.com/BSCxEF8.jpg</span><img alt="Zbmlytw.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/Zbmlytw.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /></p></div><p></p><p></p><p> </p><p> <em>Matt Hardy attacked Bobby Roode as soon as he stepped into the ring, peppering him with punches before Bobby could even take his ring robe or championship belt off. That set the tone for this match, which saw Matt wrestling aggressively and trying to beat Bobby up, and Roode basically doing whatever he could to avoid a beating, whether that meant covering up, grabbing the ropes and relying on the referee to enforce the rules, or simply going to the floor. That's not to say he was dominated, because Bobby did get in some offense, mainly when he was able to use Matt's aggression against him by catching him with a shot or taking him down when he overextended himself or walked into a trap. Both guys played their roles well, and while this wasn't a contender for match of the night or anything, it was a very good match that went better than I thought. It was Roode's best match to date, and one of the best singles matches in Matt's career as well.</em></p><p><em> </em></p><p><em> When the timekeeper declared there was only one minute remaining in the fifteen minute time limit for all TV title matches, Hardy realized he'd been spending too much time trying to inflict pain and needed to try and wrap this match up. He went for a quick rollup, but Roode got a shoulder up before three. A hasty Twist of Fate attempt was slipped out of, and Roode grabbed onto the ropes and hung on, preventing Matt from pulling him back for another move before the bell rang. </em></p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><div style="text-align:center;"><p><strong>Grade: 87</strong></p></div><p></p><p></p><p> </p><p> </p><p> <em>Roode had held on long enough to make his third successful title defense, but that didn't stop Matt from grabbing him by the hair, pulling him away from the ropes and snapping off a Twist of Fate. Flair rolled into the ring to try and protect his charge, but Matt dropped him with a punch to the face. That didn't get as big a reaction as I figured it would; maybe we need to emphasize other facets of Flair's character now that he's a manager, instead of letting him continue on as the same old Nature Boy? Hardy got into the mount and began raining down fists on Roode's face, as Bobby just tried to cover up and protect his face.</em></p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><div style="text-align:center;"><img alt="g1BYlVy.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/g1BYlVy.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /></div><p></p><p></p><p> </p><p> </p><p> <em>Jeff Hardy came down the ramp to a pop from the crowd, appearing for the first time since being attacked in the back last month at the Supershow. He pulled Matt off of Roode, and Matt seemed surprised to see his younger brother back. He pointed at Bobby and made to attack him again, but Jeff shook his head. Matt looked at him as if asking why he was doing this, and Jeff asked for the microphone so he could explain.</em></p><p><em> </em></p><p><em> He said that at first, he couldn't remember anything about the attack or anything that happened just before it. But recently his memory started returning to him. He still can't remember the actual moment of the attack, but he does remember someone luring him into a hallway just before it happened, and it WASN'T Bobby Roode or Ric Flair. </em></p><p><em> </em></p><p><em> It was Father Isaac.</em></p><p><em> </em></p><p><em> Matt Hardy was shocked, and the fans didn't seem to know what to make of it either. I think most figured this was setting up a Matt heel turn, but obviously we had another direction in mind. Personally I like where all of this is headed, so hopefully the fans will too.</em></p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><div style="text-align:center;"><p><strong>Grade: 90</strong></p></div><p></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><div style="text-align:center;"><p><strong>Minoru Tanaka vs. Goldberg (w/Tammy Sytch)</strong></p><p> <img alt="MLumza7.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/MLumza7.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /><span>http://i.imgur.com/EiVoLiY.jpg</span><img alt="oWRzmsy.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/oWRzmsy.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /><img alt="wZR2OGz.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/wZR2OGz.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /></p></div><p></p><p></p><p> </p><p> <em>Minoru is a tremendously skilled wrestler. In terms of pure technical ability, he's probably the best guy in the entire company. Unfortunately he's just nowhere near the level of Goldberg from a popularity standpoint, and the fans never reacted to him like they thought he had a legitimate chance to win. That obviously hurt the crowd heat for the match, holding it back from what it could have been. It was fine though. Minoru worked hard and performed pretty well even if the crowd didn't react to him at anything approaching a main event level, and Goldberg got huge reactions and was treated like the massive star he is. There wasn't enough selling though, as I guess Goldberg doesn't know how to convincingly sell submission holds like he's in pain.</em></p><p><em> </em></p><p><em> Tanaka gave it his all and showed his mettle, but the fans were right to think he didn't have a chance at actually winning. Goldberg caught him coming off the ropes with a Spear, then nailed the Jackhammer to get the pin after about ten minutes of action. </em></p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><div style="text-align:center;"><p><strong>Grade: 76</strong></p></div><p></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><div style="text-align:center;"><img alt="tUGU31v.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/tUGU31v.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /><span>http://i.imgur.com/l0qRIIJ.jpg</span></div><p></p><p></p><p> </p><p> <em>We cut to the back for an interview segment with Arn Anderson and Bobby Heenan. Arn talked about how he knew full well how violent, how intense and how dangerous War Games is. He's been in that match more than almost any man alive and lived to tell the tale, and he would not have signed that match for tonight if he didn't think it was necessary.</em></p><p><em> </em></p><p><em> Then they transitioned to discussion of the third annual Stu Hart Classic. Starting tomorrow night on Nitro, 32 top contenders will compete in a single elimination tournament, and the winner will go on to challenge for the World Heavyweight Championship at Starrcade. </em></p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><div style="text-align:center;"><p><strong>Grade: 73</strong></p></div><p></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><div style="text-align:center;"><span>http://i.imgur.com/mitTbCm.jpg</span><p> <strong>Rob Van Dam (w/Paul Heyman) vs. "The Phenomenal" AJ Styles {©} </strong></p><p> <img alt="dcrMvyP.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/dcrMvyP.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /><img alt="P2oAF93.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/P2oAF93.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /><span>http://i.imgur.com/EiVoLiY.jpg</span><img alt="ICMDAHo.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/ICMDAHo.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /></p></div><p></p><p></p><p> </p><p> <em>With my uncertainty about the War Games match, I had high hopes for this match to be a high point for the show from an in-ring perspective. I gave them plenty of time, and basically just let them do what they wanted. Even though RVD's the veteran, it was AJ who would be relied on to piece this match together, as he's really come on in the past several months and proven himself as a budding ring general. I thought he called a brilliant match that perfectly showcased the unique athletic styles of both wrestlers. Whether it was RVD's kicks and signature spots or AJ's sensational high flying, both guys got plenty of chances to put their best foot forward. And it wasn't a simple spotfest either, because there was an underlying theme to the action: RVD was discovering that AJ was more prepared to deal with his unique style than possibly any opponent in his career. He was so used to always being the superior wrestler from a purely athletic standpoint, but here stood a man who could match him step for step and jump for jump, and he grew progressively more frustrated as the match continued. It was a cool bit of storytelling, and elevated this match even further. This was an excellent match, and as great as Danielson vs. Knoble had been, this ever so slightly topped it.</em></p><p><em> </em></p><p><em> Both guys paced themselves well, gradually building up into a heated home stretch where they both dug deep to try and deliver that final move that would hopefully put the other guy away. When Styles kicked out of a Rolling Thunder Van Dam went for the split-legged moonsault, but AJ got the knees up. AJ hit a springboard forearm and then a torture rack into a power bomb, but RVD kicked out. AJ jumped onto the second rope for his asai DDT spot, but RVD saw it coming and dropped flat onto his stomach to avoid it. AJ hadn't expected that, and neither had referee Nick Patrick, who got kicked in the face by AJ accidentally.</em></p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><div style="text-align:center;"><img alt="eTShQmA.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/eTShQmA.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /></div><p></p><p></p><p> </p><p> </p><p> <em>Shane Douglas came running down the ramp and into the ring. He'd had a rivalry with Styles in the past, but it was no secret he'd never gotten along with RVD and had some bitter feelings with Heyman as well, so Mike and I wondered whose side he was on. That question was answered when he walked right past Van Dam, booted Styles in the gut and drove his head into the canvas with a DDT! He rolled out of the ring and stood beside Heyman with a smirk as Van Dam hopped onto the top rope and delivered the Five Star Frog Splash. As this was going on, Heyman slapped Nick Patrick across the face until he woke up, then shouted for him to make the count. Patrick got into position and counted the one...</em></p><p><em> </em></p><p><em> </em></p><p><em> </em></p><p><em> </em></p><p><em> two...</em></p><p><em> </em></p><p><em> </em></p><p><em> </em></p><p><em> </em></p><p><em> </em></p><p><em> three! </em></p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><div style="text-align:center;"><p><strong>Grade: 96</strong></p></div><p></p><p></p><p> </p><p> </p><p> <em>While Heyman picked up the US title from the timekeeper's table to present it to Van Dam, Douglas yanked the microphone away from the ring announcer.</em></p><p><em> </em></p><p><em> "A lot of people are probably shocked right now," he said. "Rob Van Dam and I have never exactly been friends, and it's no secret that Heyman and I have butted heads in the past. So why did I come in here and do what I just did? Why did I align myself with these two men? The answer is that I'm sick and tired of beating my head against the wall. All this time in WCW I've been trying to make it to the top on my own, but I'd forgotten an important lesson I learned in Philadelphia many years ago: you don't make it to the top in this business without allies." He held up three fingers as a nod to the ECW fans who remembered his time in the Triple Threat, then continued. "Just look at the lay of the land right now. When Dustin Rhodes was all on his own, he never won a damn thing. But now that he's got his little group of freaks in his corner, he's the champion of the world! But only for now! I am THE FRANCHISE, and now nothing is going to stop me from taking that belt!"</em></p><p><em> </em></p><p><em> Heyman shook hands with Douglas, then took the microphone from him. "Ladies and gentlemen, did I tell you so or did I tell you so? AJ Styles, you are phenomenal and you proved it in this very ring tonight. But Rob-Van-Dam is just that much better, and now he is the champion of these United States of America! And we aren't stopping there! Now that R-V-D and THE FRANCHISE are on the same side, all of WCW is in for an EXTREME day of reckoning!"</em></p><p><em> </em></p><p><em> This was a great segment. Even though Douglas and Heyman did all the talking, nobody came across better than Van Dam. He stood in the background with the US title over his shoulder, smirking and posing, and it worked so well. He seems so rejuvenated since turning heel and being paired with Heyman.</em></p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><div style="text-align:center;"><p><strong>Grade: 100</strong></p></div><p></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><div style="text-align:center;"><span>http://i.imgur.com/f9QKn3b.jpg</span><p> <strong><span style="text-decoration:underline;">War Games!</span></strong></p><p><strong> Eddie Guerrero, Rey Mysterio Jr. and True Heroes vs. Salvation (The Unnatural, Mortis, Alexander and The Destroyer, w/Father Isaac)</strong></p><p> <em>If Eddie & co. win: the winner challenges for the World Heavyweight Championship at Halloween Havoc!</em></p><p><em> If Salvation wins: the loser must join Salvation!</em></p><p> </p><p> <span style="text-decoration:underline;">Beginning the match...</span></p><p> <img alt="heiyf1p.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/heiyf1p.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /><span>http://i.imgur.com/ptxupoY.jpg</span></p><p> <strong>Lance Storm and Mortis</strong></p></div><p></p><p></p><p> </p><p> <em>I thought it'd be a good idea to send two of the better workers in to start, so Lance and Mortis got the call. (Truthfully though, anyone on the face team could have fit the bill.) In contrast to the brutal nature of War Games, this opening five minute period was filled with some pretty straightforward wrestling. Storm tried to use mat wrestling and submission holds to wear Mortis down, or better yet, hurt him so he couldn't take part in what would be a 2 on 1 advantage for Salvation once the 5 minutes were up. Mortis pulled off some of his unique, innovative offensive moves, and this opening period was a pretty fun back and forth. Storm looked great here, and Mortis was even better. </em></p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><div style="text-align:center;"><p><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Second in for Salvation...</span></p><p> <img alt="CsQnr5C.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/CsQnr5C.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /></p><p> <strong>Alexander</strong></p></div><p></p><p></p><p> </p><p> <em>Storm wisely dropped Mortis with a superkick as the time was almost up, so the masked man was no help when his partner entered the cage. Lance was there to rudely greet Alexander the moment he walked through the cage door, and for a brief moment it looked like Salvation's man advantage wasn't going to be a problem for Storm. But then Mortis got back to his feet, and the two members of The Unbound were able to get the advantage with some double teaming. They hit a double vertical suplex on Lance, then grabbed him by the back of the head and rammed him into the cage, which marked the first time in the match that someone tasted the steel. This period didn't generate as much heat as I'd hoped, and I think that's due to Alexander. He was one of the guys I was most concerned about here, and my concerns were valid. He's not as talented as the others to begin with, and he didn't seem to adjust well to the War Games environment. His performance lagged far behind the others, and he just didn't look like he belonged in a big PPV main event like this. </em></p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><div style="text-align:center;"><p><span style="text-decoration:underline;">In to help Storm...</span></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>CM Punk</strong></p></div><p></p><p></p><p> </p><p> <em>It was only logical that Punk would be next in to help his partner. He entered the cage and went straight after his foes, connecting with an early flurry of strikes on both Mortis and Alexander. The numbers game was starting to catch up with him once The Unbound caught their footing, but by then Storm was back on his feet and ready to rejoin the fray. We settled into a showdown between True Heroes and The Unbound, picking up where we left off with that tag team feud. The action really picked back up here, and that's because of Punk. He added a real spark, and despite being the youngest man in the entire match, I'd say he shone brighter than anyone. The fans were behind the Heroes, who were getting the better of the exchange when this two minute period ended.</em></p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><div style="text-align:center;"><p><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Swinging the scales into Salvation's favor...</span></p><p> <span>http://i.imgur.com/fn8zdsQ.jpg</span></p><p> <strong>The Unnatural</strong></p></div><p></p><p></p><p> </p><p> <em>On commentary, we played it up as a bit of a surprise that Salvation sent in their World Champion now instead of saving him for last. Whatever the reasons, The Unnatural swiftly regained control on behalf of Salvation. Storm tried to welcome him to the match with a superkick, but the champion blocked it, spun him around and hit a swinging neckbreaker. He and Punk then went at it, and the fans ate up that battle. These two were honestly the stars of the match, which I sort of expected out of Unnatural but was pleasantly surprised by from Punk. </em></p><p><em> </em></p><p><em> This hot battle was cut short when Alexander and Mortis joined in, and the three members of Salvation quickly beat Punk down to the mat and put the boots to him. Storm got back to his feet and was hurled back-first into the cage, after which Unnatural threw him over the top rope and into the other ring so all of Salvation could focus on Punk. He tried to fire up and take on all three opponents, but it didn't end well. After they worked him over with punches, they rammed his face into the cage and then raked it back and forth across the mesh, which split him open and drew color for the first time in the match. </em></p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><div style="text-align:center;"><p><span style="text-decoration:underline;">The equalizer...</span></p><p> <span>http://i.imgur.com/ffZqipS.jpg</span></p><p> <strong>Rey Mysterio Jr.</strong></p></div><p></p><p></p><p> </p><p> <em>All three members of Salvation turned towards the door on the opposing side of the cage, waiting for Rey to enter. Lance Storm eased the pressure a bit by coming up from behind and hitting Mortis with a belly to back suplex, and as Unnatural and Alexander tried to figure out where they should direct their attention, Rey entered the match by hopping onto the top turnbuckle and knocking them both down with a flying cross body (we raised the roof of the cage a bit to allow some more room, but he still had to be careful and not get quite his normal height off the top.) Everybody settled into three pairs after that, with Rey focusing on the man who took his title away from him while the Heroes/Unbound feud resumed with Punk attacking Mortis and Storm wrestling Alexander to the mat with a submission.</em></p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><div style="text-align:center;"><p><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Salvation's closer...</span></p><p> <span>http://i.imgur.com/4CP35O5.jpg</span></p><p> <strong>The Destroyer</strong></p></div><p></p><p></p><p> </p><p> <em>It was time for Salvation's final entrant, and now Unnatural entering third started making sense, because why not send your heaviest hitter in last for mop up duty? The Destroyer made a quick impact, bypassing the action in the nearer ring to go protect the World Champion. He peeled Rey off of Unnatural, picked him up in gorilla press position and basically lawn-darted him into the side of the cage. That settled, he returned to the other ring and aided The Unbound in their battle with the Heroes. The three of them battered Punk and Storm, while in the other ring The Unnatural sat in the corner and took a breather. As we got later in this period, he locked eyes with Eddie Guerrero, who was standing in front of the door and chomping at the bit to get in. Seeing his frustration, Unnatural rubbed it in by picking Rey up by the head, grabbing the back of his mask and ramming his head into the cage. Eddie shook on the door of the cage, wanting to get in, but able to do nothing. Unnatural stared straight at him as he hooked Rey and planted him with Unnatural Selection.</em></p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><div style="text-align:center;"><p><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Last into the cage...</span></p><p> <img alt="JJHE89M.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/JJHE89M.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /></p><p> <strong>Eddie Guerrero</strong></p><p> </p><p> </p><p> <strong><span style="font-size:18px;"><span style="color:#FF0000;">THE MATCH BEYOND BEGINS!</span></span></strong></p></div><p></p><p></p><p> </p><p> </p><p> <em>The moment the officials unlocked his cage door, Eddie charged into the ring and went straight after The Unnatural, backing him into the corner and unloading with punches as the fans popped. With every participant having entered, the match could now end by submission, knockout or stoppage, and referee Nick Patrick was right there to check on Rey Mysterio. Rey was down, but he did communicate with Patrick enough that the ref allowed the match to continue. (Imagine if we'd really ended the match twenty seconds after "The Match Beyond" started!)</em></p><p><em> </em></p><p><em> Rey was being given time to recover, and Eddie's fire and energy was enough to hold the line. Destroyer again broke off from the fight in the other ring to try and help the champion, but Eddie ducked a big lariat and staggered him with a dropkick, then hooked him in a waistlock and drove him forward into the cage. Then he returned his attention to Unnatural, who went to his knees and pleaded for mercy. He of course got none. Eddie kicked him in the gut, threw more punches and hurled him into the cage. It didn't get any better for Unnatural when Rey got back to his feet, and he and Eddie showed just how united they were by taking turns pummeling the champion and bouncing him off all three sides of the cage in their ring. Eventually he bladed and slumped against one side of the cage, but was granted a reprieve when Destroyer got back up and dropped both Eddie and Rey with a double clothesline.</em></p><p><em> </em></p><p><em> Other in the other ring, the Heroes were clearly getting the upper hand on the Unbound. Of special note was their submission skills, as both Punk and Storm were getting their opponents in submission holds that might well have ended the match if the other Unbound member hadn't been able to make the save. Unless something changed, it seemed to be only a matter of time before a submission happened in that ring. Father Isaac realized it on the floor as well, and he alerted the other two Salvation members of the danger. Unnatural told Destroyer to stay in their ring and deal with Eddie and Rey while he entered the other ring to provide backup. While Destroyer picked Rey up and tried to make him quit with a Canadian backbreaker, Unnatural came up behind and dug his fingers into Storm's eyes, pulling him off of Alexander and tossing him into the cage. Punk stopped trying to hook in his Second City Stretch on Mortis and went after Unnatural, and the two got into a fistfight.</em></p><p><em> </em></p><p><em> Elsewhere, Destroyer gave up on the submission attempt and shifted his grip on Rey so he could drop him with the Destruction Bomb. Mysterio was saved by Eddie, who caught the big man with a dropkick to the knee. That freed Rey from his clutches and staggered him, and Eddie put him flat on his back with a trio of vertical suplexes. After a little shoulder shimmy, Eddie went to the top rope and landed a big frog splash across the chest. Not stopping there, he went back up top and delivered a second frog splash. That would've been an easy pin in an ordinary match, but since that wasn't an option in War Games, he climbed the ropes yet again and dropped down with a third frog splash!</em></p><p><em> </em></p><p><em> Isaac was screaming that Destroyer needed help, but who could answer the call? With Mortis exhausted and slumped in one corner and Alexander barely holding his own against Storm, it was up to Unnatural. Punk wasn't just going to let him go freely though. When Unnatural tried to break away, Punk spun him back around by the arm for more. Unnatural swung a desperation kick to the groin that dropped Punk, then hurried over into the other ring. Eddie saw him coming and was there to meet him when he tried to step through the ropes, punching him as he was in between rings. During that fracas, Mysterio recovered and picked up where Eddie left off against the downed Destroyer, climbing to the top rope and hitting a flying legdrop.</em></p><p><em> </em></p><p><em> After three frog splashes and that guillotine legdrop, Nick Patrick checked on Destroyer. When he got no response to repeated attempts, he ruled Destroyer was incapacitated, ending this War Games!</em></p><p><em> </em></p><p><em> All in all, this match exceeded my expectations. It was narrowly beaten out by RVD vs. Styles for match of the night, but it was still a great showing for these guys (well, except for Alexander) in a match type that doesn't play to the strengths of most of the wrestlers involved. </em></p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><div style="text-align:center;"><p><strong>Grade: 95</strong></p></div><p></p><p></p><p> </p><p> </p><p> <em>As the bell rang and the faces realized they'd won, the Heroes joined Rey and Eddie in one ring and they began celebrating. It was all smiles from the four as the cage began to rise, but as the ring announcer explained the finish, that changed. Eddie Guerrero looked confused at the announcement that The Destroyer had been incapacitated by Rey Mysterio Jr (and thus Rey would get the title shot next month.) He questioned Nick Patrick about it, pointing out that he was the one who put Destroyer down and hit the three frog splashes, but then Patrick explained about Rey landing the final blow, which Eddie hadn't seen since his back was turned as he fought with Unnatural. As reality set in, Eddie turned around, got in Rey's face and started yelling at him about stealing the win from him. Rey tried to defend himself and explain he'd just seen a downed opponent and went on the attack, but Eddie didn't want to hear it. He wagged his finger in Mysterio's face, then shoved him in the chest!</em></p><p><em> </em></p><p><em> Punk and Storm got involved then, stepping between the two men and holding them apart. Rey just looked confused, while Eddie was downright furious about what he perceived as a betrayal. The Heroes succeeded in keeping them apart until Eddie finally left the ring and walked to the back with his hands on his hips, but what had started as a triumphant moment for the good guys fell by the wayside. This was a very effective angle to close the show, and I thought everyone played their parts well.</em></p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><div style="text-align:center;"><p><strong>Grade: 100</strong></p></div><p></p><p></p></div></blockquote><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><div style="text-align:center;"><p><strong><span style="font-size:18px;">Show Overall Grade: 95</span></strong></p></div><p></p><p></p>

Pre-War Games News and Notes http://i.imgur.com/nUYCk9q.jpg DDP and Ernest Miller weren't happy with the firing of Bischoff, but Austin smirked when he heard about it. Eric was tight with Dallas and The Cat, so it's no surprise they'd stick up for him. I think most people know the story about DDP and Eric being neighbors, and it was Eric who recruited Ernest into wrestling back when Miller was a karate instructor teaching his son, Garett. As for Austin, the story of the firing via Fed Ex is legendary by now, and there's been bad blood ever since. The two men were professional enough to put their differences aside and work together for their storyline, but I'm sure this entire situation amused Steve to no end. Literally one day after the Bischoff scandal, I got word that Brian Adams failed a test for hard drugs. Feeling like I couldn't afford to be lenient at the moment and I needed to make a statement, I fired him despite this being his first offense. Brian wasn't angry with me at all; he actually shook my hand and thanked me for it, saying it was the wake-up call he needed. I guess we could bring him back down the road, but he doesn't really fit the mold for modern day WCW and our exciting in-ring product, so maybe this is for the best. Sting will be sticking around, but I've only put him on a pay per appearance agreement for now. He honestly can't keep up with our current in-ring style anymore, but I feel like we need to keep him around in WCW at least in some capacity. I think he and Flair symbolize WCW to most people, so I'd like them to still be involved with the company even if they can no longer go in the ring like they used to. Bobby Roode put pen to paper on a three year contract extension. Sorry, Sasuke, but you won't be seeing him in Michinoku Pro any time soon. Mark Jindrak sent me an e-mail saying he felt like he'd learned as much as he could in Wildside and it was time for him to come back to the main roster. His trainer Terry Taylor disagreed when I asked him about it, telling me he thought Mark could still use some more seasoning down there before we brought him back. I took the Red Rooster's opinion into consideration, but in the end I decided to give Mark what he wanted and bring him back to Nitro. I'm disappointed that he was so eager to come back after only two months of trying to improve his skills down there, and I don't think he's done much to raise his ceiling. King Corino and Kaoru Ito are dating. I guess Steve's sister Allison played matchmaker and introduced them when the guys were over in Japan for the Supershow? Bob Orton signed an extension to remain a road agent with us for another year. http://i.imgur.com/sDkxtEI.jpg The Observer has reported that Japanese investors have purchased a stake in the company, wiping out their debt and pumping some cash into the coffers. That has to be a relief to Antonio Inoki, though I've heard rumors that the new investors are already pushing for the company to only hire younger, athletic wrestlers in the future, which I guess is them making a statement against the recent emphasis on older established stars like 49 year old Tatsumi Fujinami and 51 year old Riki Choshu, the current IWGP Heavyweight Champion (and also the head booker, which sounds like a conflict of interest if I've ever heard one.) Being told what to do can't be a good feeling for Inoki, but I don't see that he had much choice if he wanted to get out from underneath his debt, which was apparently in the millions. Reigning IWGP Heavyweight Champion Riki Choshu has been putting on some serious weight recently, and it's not muscle mass. That's perfectly understandable for a 51 year old, but that's not exactly the kind of observation you want floating around about the guy who holds your top belt. All the more reason for Inoki to have him drop it if you ask me. NJPW held their Temples of Fight PPV on September 13th. No Heavyweight title match this time; Choshu beat Yuki Ishikawa in a non-title singles match early on the show. The main event was Manabu Nakanishi and Masahiro Chono retaining the IWGP Tag titles against Yuji Nagata and Tatsumi Fujinami. That was a very good match, but it was slightly outperformed by the semi main of Koji Kanemoto retaining the Junior Heavyweight title over Osamu Nishimura. This was a very good show, though they've had some stronger ones recently. http://i.imgur.com/HLY8nvy.jpg NOAH's been signing up new talent to written deals in response to their recent growth. Aside from Candido, they've also brought in Tajiri, Dr. Wagner Jr, Pentagon, Gran Naniwa, Ricky Marvin, Shin'ya Kojika, Ryo Saito, Tetsuhiro Kuroda, Ricky Fuji, Yoshiaki Yatsu, Jeff Farmer, W*ING Kanemura, Wally Yamaguchi and referee Tiger Hattori. Their next big PPV, Departure, took place on September 6th. This was going to be an eventful night, both because of their rise and the injury to Kobashi. They didn't bother with a tournament for Kobashi's vacant GHC Heavyweight title, instead just naming the two top contenders and putting them in a singles main event to crown a new champion. Jun Akiyama beat Mitsuharu Misawa in a match of the year candidate to win the title for the first time. As great as Misawa is, Akiyama's excellent himself and about eight years younger, so I like the move. On the strength of that main event, this was far ahead of any of their recent PPVs, and their best since January. http://i.imgur.com/7AiYO6E.jpg WWE has signed former Tough Enough winners Jackie Gayda and Linda Miles to extensions. K-Kwik's got a new deal too. Trish Stratus has started to focus more on being a pure entertainer during her matches recently. Little tidbit from the September 8th Raw: they booked Rock to go to a TIME LIMIT DRAW. With BRIAN CHRISTOPHER. It was a match of the year contender too. That guy can do no wrong. http://i.imgur.com/syuSRKH.jpg All Japan's Front of War Lines III PPV happened on September 16th. They had a pretty good main event of Hiroshi Hase retaining the Triple Crown against Shigeo Okumura, but nothing else on the show was all that good. This show was okay, but nowhere close to the recent efforts from NJPW and NOAH. After putting on some great events earlier in the year, All Japan has fallen back to Earth recently. http://i.imgur.com/1eeVS9d.jpg Japanese indie group DDT closed recently. The glorious era of Kid Romeo as NWA World Heavyweight Champion has come to an end. He made on successful title defense in the UK, then dropped the belt to 54-year old Yoshiaki Fujiwara during Zero-One's current tour. Fujiwara was a pioneer of incorporating what we now know as the MMA style into his pro wrestling matches, but he's way past his prime in 2003. Maybe putting the belt on him was Zero-One's revenge for Wildside having Romeo win it from Kazushi Sakuraba? http://i.imgur.com/ebDwXEW.jpg The Observer has bumped PWG up to Small status. All credit to them; they've been putting on shows better than most of the other small independents, and they're being rewarded for it. I heard that Joel Gertner and Excalibur got into a shouting match backstage during a show for PWU, I guess about money. I'm just imagining Gertner cutting one of his innuendo-laden ECW promos. <hr noshade size=3> Looks like I may need to just pull the plug on the entire WWE brand split. They just ran their first AI-controlled PPV, and completely ignored the split. I'd set it to be the WWE (Raw brand) only, and not only were ECW guys all over the show, but they booked at least one (title) match that had WWE vs. ECW. I could deal with them always running both brands on each PPV, but if they're going to completely ignore the split and book WWE vs. ECW at will, I don't see much point in continuing with it. I guess I'll give it another month and see what they do with the next PPV, but I'm not optimistic. It seems like the only way I could guarantee the split would be enforced on PPVs would be to have guest bookers for every single one, and I'm not fond of that idea. He's definitely been underutilized! Seems like any idea I come up with for him falls through (like the manager pairing with Kimberly and feud with DDP.) Yep. Welcome to 2003! Yeah, spoiler alert. Kind of like when you're playing an RPG and they tease that the story is about to end, but there's stuff from the in-game interface that's only half completed. Awesome is lucky he got put in Salvation, otherwise his antics would've been big trouble for him.

<p>September 2003: Road to...</p><p> </p><p> </p><div style="text-align:center;"><p> </p><p> <strong><span style="font-size:18px;">The Backstories:</span></strong></p></div><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><div style="text-align:center;"><p><strong><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Going to War</span></strong></p></div><p></p><p></p><p> </p><p> <em>Building off of The Destroyer interfering in the tag title match at the Supershow, he and Punk went one on one to open Nitro the next night. Punk got the big man in his Second City Stretch, but Mortis interfered for a DQ before he could get the satisfaction of a submission. Mortis returned for the main event against Eddie Guerrero, and that match also ended in a DQ when Unnatural interfered. That brought out the rest of Salvation and Rey Mysterio Jr, plus True Heroes came out for a bit of revenge against Salvation. A wild brawl between all eight men closed the show.</em></p><p><em> </em></p><p><em> The main event the next week was Lance Storm against Unnatural (non-title), and we saw more chaos outside the ring between Salvation, Rey and the Heroes, during which Destroyer attacked Storm to help Unnatural get the win. The fighting continued after the match, showing no signs of stalling, until Arn Anderson dispatched an army of security to restore order. Arn angrily said he was fed up with this nonsense ruining these main event matches, and clearly Salvation's wars with Guerrero and Mysterio and now True Heroes had gotten out of hand. He'd been in situations like this during his own career, and he was going to use the same solution that had been used back then: he was going to take all eight guys, lock them in a cage and let them beat the holy you know what out of each other until one of them couldn't take any more. On September 21st, it's the return of...</em></p><p><em> </em></p><p><em> </em></p><p><em> </em></p><p><em> </em></p><p><em> </em></p><p><em> </em></p><p><em> </em></p><p><em> </em></p><p><em> </em></p><p><em> </em></p><p><em> </em></p><div style="text-align:center;"><img alt="7X0nRpw.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/7X0nRpw.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /><p><em> War Games!</em></p></div><p></p><p></p><p><em> </em></p><p><em> </em></p><p><em> The next week, Arn raised the stakes of the match by adding major incentives for both teams to give it their all. If the faces win, whoever records the victory for the team will earn a shot at Unnatural and the World Heavyweight Championship at Halloween Havoc. If Salvation wins, whichever face is defeated will have their contract transferred over to Father Isaac, making them the newest member of Salvation. Both teams were shown reacting immediately afterwards, with Salvation saying they would welcome the chance to save one of those poor lost souls on the other side. The faces were in agreement that not only were they going to exact their revenge on Salvation, but one of them was primed to be the next world champion.</em></p><p><em> </em></p><p><em> The go home show was built around a singles match between Lance Storm and Mortis, with the winner earning the first entry advantage for their team at War Games. Before that, Salvation assembled in the ring after a Destroyer squash, and Unnatural led a promo for the group.</em></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>The Unnatural, 9/15</strong><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong> "War is a horrible, tragic thing. But sometimes, when all other avenues are exhausted, war is necessary in order to achieve peace. My selfless actions to try and preserve the friendship between Rey Mysterio Jr. and Eddie Guerrero led to them resenting me, which is a consequence I accept. As for True Heroes, they've shown their avarice for all the world to see. Already they have held the tag team championship twice, and now they want them for a third time? Such greed can not be rewarded, and fortunately The Unbound prevented them from realizing their selfish goals. </strong></p><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong> Now all four men carry a grudge against our family as a result of us carrying out our obligations, and it has been deemed that War Games is the only way it can be settled. All four of us are ready and willing to pay the heavy physical toll required of us inside that structure, especially since after it's all over, we'll be able to offer the welcoming embrace of Salvation to one of those lost souls."</strong></p></div></blockquote><p> </p><p> <em>Predictably, the main event saw heavy involvement from the warring teams. As battle raged on the floor, Eddie Guerrero snuck into the ring and swung a chair at Mortis, but he ducked and Storm got blasted instead. After that botched interference, Mortis hit the Flatliner to win the match and give Salvation the advantage in War Games.</em></p><p><em> </em></p><p><em> I'm not sure exactly what to expect from this one. There's a lot of moving parts with eight guys in there, and the nature of the match will take away a lot of what makes a guy like Rey a special athlete. But War Games does carry a lot of weight behind it, and I think it made sense to weave these two feuds together into this special showcase. I was worried we'd have to switch up our plans when Mortis cracked his sternum during his match with Eddie, but fortunately he was able to return to action after a couple of weeks of just doing non-physical stuff in angles. </em></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><div style="text-align:center;"><p><strong><span style="text-decoration:underline;">None More Phenomenal</span></strong></p></div><p></p><p></p><p> </p><p> <em>After Rob Van Dam beat Paul London on 8/25, AJ Styles returned the favor from the night before by interrupting Van Dam's celebration and posing for the fans, displaying the US title for a photo op. Paul Heyman referenced that moment the next week, daring Styles to put that very belt on the line against "the premiere athlete in all of professional wrestling, ROB-VAN-DAM", at the then-unnamed PPV. AJ accepted the challenge, and it was approved later in the week by the championship committee.</em></p><p><em> </em></p><p><em> Styles won a tremendous main event against Christopher Daniels on 9/8, but that wasn't how that show ended. Instead, Heyman and RVD came to the ring and Van Dam stood in the background posing while Paul cut a classic promo.</em></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>Paul Heyman, 9/8</strong><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong> "Ever since Rob-Van-Dam first appropriated AJ Styles' spotlight at the Japan Supershow, I've been getting hounded by people asking me...why? Why would Rob-Van-Dam target AJ Styles? Why would RVD, a former World Heavyweight Champion still in the prime of his career, chase the United States title? First of all, let it be known that the United States Championship is by no means a secondary title, and after War Games it will become the most coveted and prestigious championship in all of professional wrestling simply because Rob-Van-Dam will be the man wearing it. If you don't believe me, you need only look into RVD's career accomplishments. In the days of ECW--the REAL ECW, not the sterilized corporate garbage currently being peddled under that name--the Television Championship became even more coveted than the World title itself, and that was all down to one man: ROB-VAN-DAM!</strong></p><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong> As to why RVD has chosen to go after Styles, instead of setting his sights on wining the WCW World Heavyweight Championship for a second time? The answer is simple: legacy. Innovation. Trend-setting. With all due respect to Dustin Rhodes, who is a great wrestler despite clearly being out of his mind, he's not the man who is redefining professional wrestling. He's not the one wrestling a style that young rookie wrestlers will be ripping off fifteen years from now. No, the only champion doing that in the year 2003 is AJ Styles. AJ, you truly are Phenomenal, and your Phenomenal athleticism has caught the attention of Rob- Van-Dam. And that's why this match is happening. AJ, as great as you are, Rob-Van-Dam is that much greater. You're going to have countless imitators over the years to come, but there is no imitating or duplicating Rob-Van-Dam, because RVD is one of a kind! AJ, at War Games you and the entire world will learn that there is no one in this entire industry more "phenomenal" than ROB-VAN-DAM, your NEXT United States Heavyweight Champion!"</strong></p></div></blockquote><p> </p><p> <em>Heyman and RVD summoned AJ to the ring again on 9/15, with Paul taunting him that only six days remained before RVD took his US title and redefined it. It was all a diversion so RVD could grab a chair and launch his Van Daminator, but after AJ caught the chair, he ducked Van Dam's kick. He swung the chair at Rob's head, but he and Heyman escaped and scurried back up the ramp as AJ stood tall, the chair in his hands and the belt around his waist.</em></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><div style="text-align:center;"><p><strong><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Roode: Guilty or Innocent?</span></strong></p></div><p></p><p></p><p> </p><p> <em>24 hours after returning, replacing an injured Jeff Hardy and winning the vacant TV title, Bobby Roode made his first successful title defense against "Dr. Death" Steve Williams. After the match, Matt Hardy ran down the ramp and chased Roode and Ric Flair out of the ring. On 9/1, Matt said that Jeff was being kept home under doctor's orders until he was cleared to return, but Matt was going to get revenge on his behalf. He pinned the blame on Roode, saying that it was way too convenient that Roode just happened to make his return, unannounced, on the same night Jeff got jumped, and was there waiting in the wings when Arn Anderson had to find a last-second replacement. Roode and Flair denied it, with Flair saying he proudly owned his reputation as the Dirtiest Player in the Game and would have no problem taking credit for such a scheme, but this time their hands truly were clean. </em></p><p><em> </em></p><p><em> When there was another confrontation on the 8th, Roode asked Matt if he'd seen them do it or had any actual proof. Matt admitted he didn't, but it didn't sway his behalf that Roode was the man behind the attack. He said Roode and Flair could keep denying it all they wanted, but he was going to beat a confession out of them before Jeff was cleared to come back.</em></p><p><em> </em></p><p><em> Matt was a guest on commentary during Roode's title defense against DDP on the 15th. He admitted he hoped that Roode came away with the win, because his revenge for Jeff would be even better if he took the TV title away from Roode at the same time. Bobby did indeed get his hand raised, so Hardy will have his chance at War Games.</em></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><div style="text-align:center;"><p><strong><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Dragon vs. Redneck</span></strong></p></div><p></p><p></p><p> </p><p> <em>Eric Bischoff (remember him?) gathered The Empire in the ring the night after the Supershow, and he heaped praise on Jamie Knoble, crediting him with shattering the arm of The Hellraiser and removing him from their business. As a reward, he'd negotiated a Cruiserweight title shot for Knoble against Bryan Danielson at the PPV. That match was previewed on September 1st when Knoble teamed with Brian Kendrick to defeat Danielson and Paul London, Knoble tapping London out with a guillotine choke while Danielson could do nothing but watch from the apron since his team had already used their one allotted save.</em></p><p><em> </em></p><p><em> Knoble's fellow Empire member Chuck Palumbo was put into a match with Danielson on the 8th to soften him up before the title match, but Danielson tapped out his larger opponent with Cattle Mutilation. Eric Bischoff shook his head in disgust and got up onto the apron to argue with Danielson after the match, and that was the opening Knoble needed to come out from the back, blindside the champion and lock in the guillotine choke until Bryan passed out. Bryan was right back in the ring on the 15th, where he tapped out Johnny Parisi. Afterwards, as Knoble watched on a monitor backstage with a scowl, Bryan got on the mic and yelled that Knoble tried to take him out last week, but he was still standing and he was going to be ready for anything he threw at him on Sunday.</em></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><div style="text-align:center;"><p><strong><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Fallout of Failure</span></strong></p></div><p></p><p></p><p> </p><p> <em>After running through 15 TV title defenses to earn a world title match, then coming up just short against The Unnatural, there was curiosity to see what Sean O'Haire did next. Arn Anderson tried to talk to him the next night, but O'Haire brushed him off and walked out without acknowledgment. The next week O'Haire interrupted a tag match between Ernest Miller, Konnan and 3 Count, decimating all four men. Arn came to the ring and got into a shouting match with O'Haire, ordering him to go the back.</em></p><p><em> </em></p><p><em> O'Haire's former partner Chuck Palumbo showed some dubious intelligence on 9/8, paying a visit to Sean's locker room and taunting him about his failure to win the belt. He said maybe he should just stick to beating up lower card guys like he did last week, because that's all he's been good for since Chuck dumped him and ended their team. Despite his words, Chuck was quick to leave when O'Haire got up and started walking towards him. </em></p><p><em> </em></p><p><em> Palumbo looked less than happy on the 15th when the new Empire boss told him he was going to wrestle O'Haire at War Games and prove he wasn't all talk. In an interview later in the night, O'Haire said he'd spent every night since the Supershow angry at everyone and everything, and Palumbo was going to bear the brunt of all that anger at War Games. Former partner and friend or not, he was going to destroy Chuck. </em></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><div style="text-align:center;"><p><strong><span style="text-decoration:underline;">"Object to these peaks!"</span></strong></p></div><p></p><p></p><p> </p><p> <em>After being relegated to a dark match the night after the Supershow, the Jung Dragons barged into the ring on 9/1 to claim there was a conspiracy to ignore their incredible performance against Eddie Guerrero and Rey Mysterio Jr. While those two men were still being featured heavily and Eddie was in the main event the previous week, they were nowhere to be seen. They objected to it all, and they weren't going to let WCW downplay their greatness!</em></p><p><em> </em></p><p><em> They were doing more of the same the next week until the Steiner Brothers cut them off. Scott told them to shut up and "object to these peaks!", obviously while flexing. He said that if Stacy Keibler was tired of hanging around with little boys who "don't do nothin' but whine and can't get the job done", she was welcome to join their team and become Head Freak for Big Poppa Pump.</em></p><p><em> </em></p><p><em> The 15th saw Rick and Yang go one on one, and it was a surprise to most when Yang got the pin (though only after Kaz interfered.) Scott shoved the ring announcer down, grabbed the mic and demanded the Dragons fight them two on two, right then and there. The Dragons accepted the challenge...but only on War Games, so the "suits in the front office" couldn't continue the conspiracy and hold them off of the PPV.</em></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><div style="text-align:center;"><p><strong><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Teaching the Kid a Lesson</span></strong></p></div><p></p><p></p><p> </p><p> <em>After interfering and costing him his match against RVD on 8/25, being on the winning side of a tag match against him on 9/1, and then finally beating him one on one on 9/8, Brian Kendrick had clearly gotten the better of Paul London. He wasn't content to leave it there though, because he grabbed a chair after the match to deliver a beating. Luckily, Diamond Dallas Page ran in and chased him off before he could follow through.</em></p><p><em> </em></p><p><em> When DDP challenged Bobby Roode for the TV title on the 15th, Kendrick interfered to help Roode retain the belt. Afterwards, DDP grabbed the mic and called Kendrick a "snot-nosed punk" who walked around like he owned the place, which was why he'd made the save in the first place for London, a kid who actually showed respect. It was past time someone taught Brian a lesson, and he was going to be taught one with a BANG at War Games. Brian laughed and accepted the challenge, throwing in a dig about DDP's age as he did so. </em></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><div style="text-align:center;"><p><strong><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Tanaka backs down from no one</span></strong></p></div><p></p><p></p><p> </p><p> <em>Goldberg's Spear handed TAKA a win over Minoru Tanaka on 9/1. Goldberg squashed local talent Truth Martini on the 8th, after which Minoru came out and (in English) challenged Goldberg to a match. Goldberg laughed and Eric Bischoff agreed to the match, saying that if Minoru wanted it, it was his funeral. Tanaka got some momentum rolling on the go home show by submitting Goldberg's Empire ally Chuck Palumbo, and even held his own in a post-match brawl with the man himself. </em></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><div style="text-align:center;"><p><strong><span style="text-decoration:underline;">The non-wrestling bits</span></strong></p></div><p></p><p></p><p> </p><p> <em>Our solution to Bischoff's sudden termination was to have the entire group in the ring on the 15th, where King Corino announced to the world that their former boss (never mentioned by name) had been relieved of his command due to "incompetence and mismanagement", and he was now not only the most valuable asset of the group in the ring, but also the CEO. Along with hyping up Knoble's title match and telling Palumbo about his match against O'Haire, he extended an offer to Steve Austin. He said he knew Austin was still feeling the pain and was in no condition to be fighting anyone, but he was extending an olive branch in asking Austin to meet him in the ring for a chat on Sunday.</em></p><p><em> </em></p><p><em> Over a year after his horrific spinal injury, Buff Bagwell will be back on WCW programming for the first time, where he's promised a special announcement to all the fans during his Piper's Pit appearance.</em></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><div style="text-align:center;"><p><strong><span style="color:#FF0000;"><span style="font-size:18px;">Show Summaries:</span></span></strong></p><p> </p><p> <strong>8/25:</strong></p><p> <img alt="Y7HO9KJ.jpg" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/Y7HO9KJ.jpg" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /></p><p> <em>Notes from this show:</em></p><p><em> -CM Punk beat The Destroyer via DQ when Mortis interfered as Punk was applying the Second City Stretch.</em></p><p><em> </em></p><p><em> -I thought RVD and London's styles would complement each other well, but their timing was off from the beginning. That match saw Kendrick run in and attack London behind the ref's back, making RVD's road to victory easier.</em></p><p><em> </em></p><p><em> -Eddie beat Mortis via DQ when Unnatural interfered. Mortis cracked his sternum after taking a hard bump into the guard rail. Luckily all he needed was a couple of weeks without taking any bumps.</em></p><p><em> </em></p><p><em> -"I think we already knew Hayashi was really good, but Yang impressed the hell out of me at the PPV, and he looked good in the pre-show tonight too. He's going to be really good as he gets more experience." -CM Punk</em></p><p> </p><p> </p><p> <strong>9/1:</strong></p><p> <img alt="BbpuY75.png" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/BbpuY75.png" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /></p><p> <em>Notes from this show:</em></p><p><em> -Knoble and Kendrick didn't work well as a team.</em></p><p><em> </em></p><p><em> -The Miller and Konnan vs. 3 Count match ended in a no contest when Sean O'Haire laid all four out.</em></p><p><em> </em></p><p><em> -Kidman came up with a new catchphrase in his interview about the Shooting Stars soaring to new heights now that Teddy's back in action.</em></p><p><em> </em></p><p><em> -Johnny Parisi beat Harry Smith with interference from Mamaluke as Dawn Marie distracted the ref.</em></p><p><em> </em></p><p><em> -TAKA beat Minoru Tanaka after interference from Goldberg. TAKA and Minoru's timing together wasn't what I'd hoped.</em></p><p><em> </em></p><p><em> -Chaos between both groups erupted during Storm vs. Unnatural, and in the confusion Destroyer interfered on Unnatural's behalf.</em></p><p><em> </em></p><p><em> -"I'm afraid Harry Smith isn't ever going to be able to connect with the fans like his dad did." -The Unnatural</em></p><p> </p><p> </p><p> <strong>9/8:</strong></p><p> <img alt="URkeRu9.png" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/URkeRu9.png" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /></p><p> <em>Notes from this show:</em></p><p><em> -Bobby Heenan set up a waffle bar for the boys before the show. A great time was had by all, with The Brain serving up both waffles and one-liners.</em></p><p><em> </em></p><p><em> -"Good to see Jindrak back. I think he could be pretty good." -Rob Van Dam</em></p><p> </p><p> </p><p> <strong>9/15:</strong></p><p> <img alt="cpwMKjE.png" data-src="https://i.imgur.com/cpwMKjE.png" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /></p><p> <em>Notes from this show:</em></p><p><em> -Yang got help from Kaz Hayashi during his win over Rick Steiner.</em></p><p><em> </em></p><p><em> -Predictably, there was plenty of outside presence during the main event. Eddie Guerrero's attempted interference backfired and cost Lance Storm the match.</em></p><p><em> </em></p><p><em> -Matt Hardy was at commentary during the Roode/DDP match, which saw Kendrick interfere and attack DDP to set up the finish.</em></p><p><em> </em></p><p><em> -"Kendrick handled himself well on the mic with DDP. He should keep getting better if you give him more promo time." -CM Punk</em></p><p> </p></div><p></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><p> </p><p> Fan Scorecard:</p><p> </p><p> War Games: Eddie Guerrero, Rey Mysterio Jr. and True Heroes vs. Salvation (The Unnatural, The Destroyer, Mortis and Alexander)</p><p> Who scores the win for their team?</p><p> Which wrestler is beaten?</p><p> <em>*If the faces win, whoever records the victory will challenge The Unnatural for the World Heavyweight Championship at Halloween Havoc</em></p><p><em> *If Salvation wins, the loser of the fall must join the group</em></p><p> </p><p> United States Heavyweight Championship: Rob Van Dam vs. "The Phenomenal" AJ Styles {©}</p><p> </p><p> World Television Championship: Matt Hardy vs. Bobby Roode {©}</p><p> </p><p> Cruiserweight Championship: Jamie Knoble vs. "American Dragon" Bryan Danielson {©}</p><p> </p><p> Sean O'Haire vs. Chuck Palumbo</p><p> </p><p> The Steiner Brothers vs. The Jung Dragons</p><p> </p><p> Diamond Dallas Page vs. Brian Kendrick</p><p> </p><p> Minoru Tanaka vs. Goldberg</p><p> </p><p> What will be match of the night?</p><p> </p><p> How many championships will change hands?</p><p> </p><p> Who was responsible for the attack on Jeff Hardy?</p><p> </p><p> What is Buff Bagwell's announcement?</p><p> </p><p> General diary comments/questions/critiques:</p><p> </p><p> </p></div></blockquote><p> </p><p> </p><p> <hr noshade size=3></p><p> </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>Hahahahaha...Easy E getting busted with prostitutes is hilarious. I'd like to imagine it was when he was over in Japan too just because it would be funnier. Yeah, he's clearly not worth keeping around with the big penalty it would be. I'm guessing you're withholding the length of Austin's injury until the show recaps. Nice to know this wasn't going to be all smooth sailing to the top.</div></blockquote><p> Yeah, it'd be pretty boring if it was all smooth sailing to the top. I actually plan to do something in 2004 that could help WWE tremendously.</p><p> </p><p> </p><blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="Wolfman84" data-cite="Wolfman84" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="43035" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>Depends on the scandal. In my game AJ Styles got caught in a scandal and it took 2 years and a couple of months for the toxic mark to go away. If it's a sex scandal like AJ Styles had in my game it might be best to drop him and wait into the toxic goes away. However, if the person is big part of the future plans K-Nection statement about would weather the storm could work.</div></blockquote><p> Thank God it wasn't AJ. That would've sucked.</p><p> </p><p> </p><blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="Hashasheen" data-cite="Hashasheen" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="43035" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>I mean, the Empire has Stacy Kiebler, don't they? Maybe it's about time Ms. Hancock stepped up to the plate...</div></blockquote><p> She's with the Jung Dragons, and they object to your conspiracy of overlooking them just like WCW management! <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> (You're probably thinking of Tammy Sytch, who is the only non-wrestler The Empire has left.)</p>

<p>September 8th, 2003: Breaking News</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><div style="text-align:center;"><p><strong>September 8th, 2003</strong></p><p><strong> Aboard the company jet in Denver, Colorado hours after Nitro</strong></p></div><p></p><p></p><p> </p><p> I'd heard enough talk about these Lord of the Rings movies that I'd recently decided to catch up before the third one hit theatres at the end of the year. I was halfway through The Two Towers when my cell phone went off. I paused the movie on my laptop, looked at the number and frowned. Why would Dustin be calling me from the hotel in the middle of the night?</p><p> </p><p> "Hello?" He started talking rapidly, and I could tell something was very wrong. "Slow down," I said. "I can't understand a word you're saying."</p><p> </p><p> He took a deep breath on the other end, then started over. My eyes widened when he said a word that spelled all kinds of trouble.</p><p> </p><p> "Prostitution?" I repeated, hoping against hope that I'd misheard him. I hadn't, of course. There goes the family-friendly image we've been trying to establish as a company.</p><p> </p><p> "Thanks for letting me know," I said. "Tell the rest of the boys we'll be having an emergency meeting as soon as your plane lands in Oklahoma City tomorrow."</p><p> </p><p> We disconnected after that, and I set the phone down. I closed the laptop, the movie forgotten. I had much bigger problems than watching hobbits try to smuggle a magical ring. There was only one way I could reasonably respond to this: he had to be fired immediately. It would wreak havoc on so many storylines, but the media would absolutely slaughter us if we kept him around after this.</p><p> </p><p> No question about it: Eric Bischoff was gone.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> I was already thinking furiously, trying to work out how to fill the giant void this would create in so many important stories, when the phone buzzed again. What now?</p><p> </p><p> I groaned when I saw who it was. Surely the news couldn't have broken already?</p><p> </p><p> "Hi pal," came the voice on the other end.</p><p> </p><p> "What do you want, Vince?"</p><p> </p><p> "Oh, I was just calling to congratulate you on your recent success," he said, sounding as insincere as I'd ever heard him. "I have to admit that you've done much better than I thought you would when you first bought WCW. Quite frankly, I'm proud of you, Bret."</p><p> </p><p> "I'm sure you are," I said. "You might not be quite as proud when we knock you down to #2."</p><p> </p><p> "Ha ha ha!" he guffawed. "Let's not get ahead of ourselves, pal. You have a long way to go before you make that happen. And it'd be a lot harder were your roster to suddenly get thinner on top."</p><p> </p><p> "What's that supposed to mean?" I asked. I had a feeling he hadn't heard about Bischoff yet, otherwise he would've segued into it here, but I still didn't like the sound of his.</p><p> </p><p> "Just a bit of a friendly warning, gentleman to gentleman," he said. "Competition brings out the best in all of us, and it's great for the boys too. When two companies are fighting for supremacy, performers can leverage their stardom into big contract offers to jump ship to the competition. Speaking of which, I understand that you have several top tier talent whose contracts expire soon?"</p><p> </p><p> "Maybe," I said. Truthfully there were several contracts about to run out, with multiple main eventers among them. </p><p> </p><p> "Well, as I said, you've been doing a great job down there in Dubbya See Dubbya. With how well you've been doing, your talent are of course getting seen by more viewers than ever before. And that increased visibility makes them even more appealing to all sports entertainment brands all around the world."</p><p> </p><p> "Like the big one down in Stamford that just split its roster in half?" I said, drawing another guffaw from Vince.</p><p> </p><p> "Possibly," he teased. "I guess we'll have to wait and see."</p><p> </p><p> He hung up with that, and I put the phone down in disgust. We'd been putting on great shows lately, and tonight's Nitro was no exception, but I couldn't enjoy any of it thanks to two unwanted phone calls in the middle of the night.</p></div></blockquote><p> </p><p> </p><p> <hr noshade size=3></p><p> </p><p> </p><p> Well that was interesting. At least it was Easy E instead of somebody like Austin or Punk or something.</p><p> </p><p> </p><blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="demondragonking" data-cite="demondragonking" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="43035" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>My guess? All of them. All of the tables are now flipped and some part time minimum wage staff member was blamed for it all and fired, but only after ALL the tables have been flipped. :-p</div></blockquote><p> Looks like he's going to try and fire back with another attempted talent raid! <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="GnarlsFunk" data-cite="GnarlsFunk" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="43035" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>Any reason why you don't have the network? I find it strange that anyone who is a fan of wrestling wouldn't have the network. The NXT weekly show & Takeovers are alone is worth every penny to me. 205 Live is quickly becoming must watch TV for me as well since the change, although i'm interested what happens now that the tournament is over.<p> </p><p> On a side note this past Takeover is easily the best top to bottom wrestling show I've seen in as long as I can remember, you should really check it out.</p></div></blockquote><p> Basically it's because I just don't care about WWE's product, and I get enough content from NJPW World that I don't feel the need to keep up with much else. I did try and follow the weekly NXT show a couple of years ago, but it just didn't hold my interest. (In fairness, I don't follow ANY weekly wrestling show right now.) Every Takeover I've seen has been good, but I don't feel compelled to subscribe just for that.</p><p> </p><p> I DID actually reactivate my subscription the day of Mania because I felt like watching it, but I'll almost certainly be cancelling again before I get another charge. I've watched about half of the Takeover from the night before, and will finish up when I get a chance.</p>

<p>So...uh...guys? A little help here?</p><p> </p><p> How much will a worker getting caught in a scandal hurt me if I keep him around? Is it going to seriously harm me as a company?</p>

Watching it live, I got the feeling that Kelly was legit knocked out by that DDT and was supposed to kick out and presumably go on to win. Everything from the announcing, the abrupt finish out of nowhere, Sumie's subdued celebration, all made me think it wasn't supposed to go down like that. I rewatched the ending the next day, and it looked to me like Sumie was moving off of her just before the three, like she was anticipating a kick out. I could see Kelly's eyes pop open a few seconds after the bell too.

Oh, for sure. I'm not suggesting she should squash the division; the actual full-time women's wrestlers should be able to compete with her, and the likes of Asuka, Charlotte, Becky, etc. could do the same armbar defense stuff Stephanie did without taking me out of the match at all. Even though they wouldn't be able to stop her from getting those armbars on in a legit fight, in pro wrestling kayfabe they're world-class and technically skilled. In kayfabe and in reality, Stephanie is an executive who almost never wrestles. I'm not even saying she should've tapped Stephanie out the minute they were both in the ring. They just should've used shenanigans to avoid Ronda having her in that position until the match was going to end. It would've been easy enough, with HHH and Angle both in the match. They even could've used that "authority threatening the ref" story they teased to have a moment or two where the ref dubiously prevents Ronda from getting her hands on Stephanie. My all-time favorite example of this is in the early years of ROH. Samoa Joe went on a nearly two year run as this unstoppable ROH champion who legitimized the title and made it feel important. After two one hour draws between them, many expected CM Punk to finally be the one who beat him in the third match of their trilogy. But Punk didn't need the win, because he was already a made man and arguably the most over guy in the company. Joe beat him in that third match, and very soon after dropped the belt in a shock to a newer, rising talent named Austin Aries. That match skyrocketed Aries into a top spot in the company overnight, and beating the dominant Joe did far more for him than it possibly could have done for Punk.