KevinStorm

The Dirt Sheet - Tuesday Week 1 August, 2001 Though pay-per-view revenue has been declining due to a slight decrease in buys from show to show, increases in other revenue sources combined with the recent roster cuts have been steadily improving WCW's finances. Though I'm told the company is still not profitable, the trend is moving in the right direction and the company expects to be generating profits by the end of the summer. This is incredible news for a company that was in such a terrible position only a few months ago, and much of the roster as well as many employees in the company's new Las Vegas offices are feeling a new sense of cautious optimism as it appears the new WCW experiment may be working. In other WCW news, with the recent run of good fortune sources also tell me that WCW is exploring the possibility of expanding Nitro's time slot and running a limited house show schedule. As of now the house show model would more resemble a Las Vegas residency, with WCW running one or two non-televised shows in the Hard Rock Cafe Arena either the day before or the day after a Nitro taping, possibly both. The reasoning is that the talent is already there and the arena is already set up for Nitro, so the extra costs would be minimal, but the extra ticket revenue would be helpful in achieving the goal of profitability. Similarly, WCW is feeling the creative limitations of running a one-hour TV show. The top stars have to get their TV time to draw viewers, so building new stars becomes more difficult. We can see some of that happening with the recent pushes of Palumbo and O'Haire, Rob Van Dam, and Tommy Dreamer. But company leaders clearly understand that they need to bring on, and build, new talent to survive, and they feel expanding Nitro to a larger timeslot will help that. I am told negotiations are ongoing, but none of WCW's broadcast partners have signed off yet. WCW Nitro - Wednesday Week 1 August, 2001 (airs Friday Week 1 August, 2001) The first Nitro taping after the successful Bash at the Beach PPV kicked off with two pre-show matches: first, AJ Styles defeated Shannon More (37) and Bam Bam Bigelow defeated Fit Finlay (53). The show opens with the pyro display and a brief introduction from the announce team, who are quickly interrupted by the siren sound of Scott Steiner's theme music. Perfection come out to the ring, Steiner looking as arrogant as ever but Luger, Bagwell, and Flair being a little less confident. Steiner takes the mic first and says, "now I know everyone expects Big Poppa Pump to be angry. I have a right to be angry. You two"--he points to Luger and Bagwell--"lost the Tag Team titles. And you"--he points to Ric Flair--"lost to Booker T. I'm not angry, though. I'm still the WCW World champion and that's most important, but I am disappointed. None of you were there to back me up, but I still held on to my title." Luger, Bagwell, and Flair all take turns apologizing to Steiner and building up how great he is and promising to do better, while also taunting the audience who all boo and jeer loudly. Steiner says that one night of setbacks won't ruin their plans of taking over WCW and keeping the World title on him. 78. Our first match is next. Shawn Stasiak comes out with Stacy Keibler, who has dropped the more seductive and sultry look for a much more bubbly, girl-next-door type of appearance. She tries to interact with the fans as they come to the ring, but Stasiak yells at her and drags her away. Kaz Hayashi is out next. This is basically a squash, with Stasiak getting the pinfall victory at 7:40. 45. After the match Stasiak calls for a microphone. Keibler gets into the ring, again waving at the audience. Stasiak yells on the mic to bring her tail back over to him, and to stop paying attention to the flabby little boys in the crowd and stick close to a real man. Keibler looks down at the mat meekly and nods. Stasiak says, "Now, I'm here for one reason. WCW has ignored my obvious talent for too long. So I'm going to take what I want. And what I want is a shot at the WCW World Television title. Mysterio, you hear me you scrawny little punk? Come out here and face me." Mysterio's music plays to a cheer from the audience, and he comes out carrying the TV title belt. Grabbing his own microphone, he says, "you want a shot at this title? I'll take you on at Mayhem." Well, there's our first match scheduled for the next pay-per-view. 46. We cut backstage now to Sean O'Haire and Chuck Palumbo, the new WCW Tag Team Champions after their upset win over Lex Luger and Buff Bagwell at Bash at the Beach. The pair, and Torrie Wilson, are talking about that match and how psyched they are for whatever comes next. Right on cue, Mike Awesome and Lance Storm interrupt them. Lance Storm says, "excuse me, I believe you have something we want." O'Haire asks what that might be. Awesome says the Tag Team titles, and tells them that if they aren't scared to put them on the line against Team Canada at Mayhem. O'Haire gets in Awesome's face, and says not only will they put the titles on the line at Mayhem, but he'll take Mike Awesome on one-on-one on Nitro next week, if HE isn't scared. Awesome says it's a deal. 55. Chavo Guerrero Jr. comes to the ring next, with some new attire: he's wearing shiny white trunks and wearing a white vest and matching white sunglasses. Entering the ring with a microphone, he says, "ladies and gentlemen, I have been struggling these last few weeks. I haven't been my usual self, and I didn't know why. Now I know. I've seen the light, and I'm going to show you what the light can do for you too." Not sure yet where they're going with this, but I'm intrigued. 38. Billy Kidman is out next, and after a short but entertaining contest Chavo Guerrero Jr. gets the win via pinfall at 6:56. After the match, Chavo puts his hands together in sort of a circle shape and holds them above his head. 60. We cut back now to Eric Bischoff's office. Sting enters, to a huge pop, and cuts right to the chase. He tells Bischoff that Steiner still couldn't beat him fairly, and he's sick of it. He wants a rematch. Bischoff says he's feeling generous, so Sting can have a rematch for the World title on Nitro next week, but if he can't win that, he's out of luck. Sting says he won't need luck. 79. Now for our main event, which oddly was booked during Bash at the Beach. Dustin Rhodes and Konnan take on Jeff Jarrett and Kanyon in a decent tag team match. At the end the four of them are brawling outside the ring and in the crowd when the referee counts both teams out, giving us a draw via double count out at 12:55. 67. Overall show rating: 68.

<p>WCW Bash at the Beach - Sunday Week 4 July, 2001</p><p> </p><p> Around 13,300 people filed into the MGM Grand Garden Arena for the next WCW pay-per-view, Bash at the Beach, which was also seen by about 550,000 people on TV around the world, including 245,000 buys on pay-per-view. Before going to air, the action began with a 3-match pre-show. We see John Cena beat Johnny Swinger with a pinfall at 7:37 (<strong>28</strong>) first. I am told that WCW management are expecting to bring Cena up to the main roster relatively soon, though he's still getting mild at best reactions from live crowds who have no idea who he is. The second pre-show bout saw AJ Styles defeat Elix Skipper via pinfall at 9:26 (<strong>41</strong>), followed by Mike Awesome and Lance Storm beating Bam Bam Bigelow and Hugh Morrus when Awesome pinned Morrus at 10:54 (<strong>63</strong>).</p><p> </p><p> The pay-per-view broadcast begins with a hype video featuring several of the top WCW stars, followed by Tony Schiavone, Mike Tenay, and Bobby Heenan welcoming us to Bash at the Beach and giving a quick run-down of the card for tonight, including Sting vs. Scott Steiner for the WCW World title in the main event.</p><p> <strong>67.</strong></p><p> </p><p> We go to the ring for our opening bout for the WCW World Television title. Chavo Guerrero Jr, on a bit of a losing streak lately, comes out first, followed by the champion Rey Mysterio Jr. They put on the kind of contest that would've been right at home in a Cruiserweight title match if that title was still around, with Mysterio picking up the win via pinfall after a Springboard Hurricanrana at 12:34. After the match, Chavo has a bit of a temper tantrum in the ring. Good opener.</p><p> <strong>63.</strong></p><p> </p><p> Next we cut to a promo with Lex Luger, Buff Bagwell, and Ric Flair of Perfection. Flair takes the manager role here even though he has a match of his own tonight, hyping up Totally Buff as they take on the clear underdog team of Chuck Palumbo and Sean O'Haire. Flair says Palumbo and O'Haire show a lot of potential but they aren't ready to climb the mountain yet, and the tag titles will be going home with Perfection tonight, WOOOOOOO.</p><p> <strong>72.</strong></p><p> </p><p> The camera cuts backstage, where a dejected Chavo Guerrero Jr is walking down the hall with a suitcase behind him. He's talking to himself, calling himself a loser and complaining how he'll never live up to his family's legacy. From off camera, a voice calls out to him. Chavo turns around and asks who is talking to him. The voice says that will be revealed in time. He says, "Chavo, what if I offered you the chance of rebirth? What if I offered you the opportunity to save yourself, to have everything you desire?" Chavo says he's listening, though he still looks confused, and the camera cuts out.</p><p> <strong>48.</strong></p><p> </p><p> We go to the ring now for the WCW Tag Team title match, as the champions Lex Luger and Buff Bagwell defend against Chuck Palumbo and Sean O'Haire. Luger and Bagwell come out with Ric Flair, who makes his presence known frequently as he tries to help out his team. Palumbo and O'Haire hold their own well with the two bigger stars, which suggests that the new faith WCW has in them is well deserve. The finish saw Bagwell and O'Haire in the ring, when Diamond Dallas Page makes his return, climbing through the audience with a chair behind Luger and dragging the bigger man down to the floor. Luger's head bounces off the ring apron, and Page hits him in the stomach with the chair before dropping it and landing a Diamond Cutter on top of the chair. Inside the ring, O'Haire has gained an advantage so Bagwell turns to make a tag, only to see his partner isn't there. Buff turns around into a superkick from Sean O'Haire, who makes the pin for the win at 15:07. And your NEW WCW Tag Team champions are Chuck Palumbo and Sean O'Haire.</p><p> <strong>72.</strong></p><p> </p><p> After the match, Flair helps Bagwell roll out of the ring and the pair start to make a retreat. Page is having none of it, though, as he chases the two with a chair. Bagwell turns around to try to fight him off but takes a brutal chair shot to the head for his trouble. Flair keeps going up the entrance way, managing to get away, though Luger and Bagwell seem to have been taken out.</p><p> <strong>66.</strong></p><p> </p><p> We stay ringside for the next match, a triple threat between US Champion Shane Douglas, Tommy Dreamer, and Rob Van Dam for the US title. The ECW veterans put on a good contest, with Douglas playing the heel trying to sit back and let RVD and Dreamer beat each other up, only to jump in and get some shots in himself when he saw an advantage. At the end, Dreamer lays Douglas out with a DDT, but immediately catches a Frog Splash from RVD off the top rope and RVD gets the win at 17:39 and becomes the new WCW United States Champion.</p><p> <strong>63.</strong></p><p> </p><p> We cut backstage and see Dustin Rhodes and Konnan together. The two are talking strategy, and Konnan tells Rhodes he's going to be watching a monitor and will come out if Jarrett tries anything.</p><p> <strong>66.</strong></p><p> </p><p> Next we go to the ring for Jeff Jarrett vs. Dustin Rhodes, which was, unfortunately, rather disappointing. Not sure what happened, but these two just didn't seem to click. Jarrett manages to lay Rhodes out with a guitar shot to the head for the pinfall and the win at 16:39.</p><p> <strong>48.</strong></p><p> </p><p> After the bell Konnan comes out to the ring, getting in Jarrett's face with a microphone and berating Jarrett about always having to use a guitar to win matches. Jarrett says if Konnan and Dustin are so tough, why not take him and a partner on on Nitro. Rhodes is up now, and says it's a deal, but who is going to team with someone like Jeff Jarrett? Jarrett says, "I'm glad you asked," and KANYON runs out from the back. He slides into the ring as Jarrett starts slugging it out with Konnan. Rhodes turns and starts trading shots with Kanyon, and the four men brawl 2 on 2 to the back.</p><p> <strong>61.</strong></p><p> </p><p> We go backstage to Ric Flair, clearly still a little shaken up from Totally Buff's loss of the tag titles earlier, but putting on a brave front. He hypes his upcoming match against Booker T, his first singles match since WCW's re-start, and says that he may not have been in the ring on his own for a while but wrestling for him is just like riding a bike, WOOOOO.</p><p> <strong>84.</strong></p><p> </p><p> Next is straight into the match, with Flair coming out first, followed by Booker T who gets a monster reaction from the crowd. Flair might be a good 15 years past his prime at this point, but he still knows how to work and put on a show, especially with an opponent as capable as Booker. They get plenty of time, going almost 20 minutes, and even brawl around the outside of the ring for some fan interaction. Flair gets Booker T into a figure four in the middle of the ring, but Booker manages to flip it, forcing Flair to go to the ropes for the break. After both men stay on the mat for a few seconds, fans chanting Booker's name, he pops up with a spinarooni and catches a standing Flair with the Harlem Side-Kick. Flair hits the mat and pops up again, right into a Book End for the pin. Booker T gets the win at 19:27, surprisingly with no intereference from Perfection.</p><p> <strong>70.</strong></p><p> </p><p> Next we got backstage for a promo from Sting to hype the main event coming up. Sting says, "what you just saw is what happens when coward bullies get isolated: they only know how to fight with a numerical advantage, so when they're alone they lose. Ric Flair just lost. Scott Steiner is next."</p><p> <strong>83.</strong></p><p> </p><p> After the promo a hype video for Sting vs. Scott Steiner plays.</p><p> <strong>67.</strong></p><p> </p><p> Now it's time for our main event, Sting vs. WCW World Heavyweight Champion Scott Steiner. Both men came out alone and had a hell of a match, brawling all around the ring, into the crowd, and back to the ring. Steiner played the role of the cocky heel who isn't so cocky anymore without his buddies to back him up, and Sting methodically stalked his opponent through the whole match, constantly frustrating Steiner's offense. Steiner caught Sting with an eye gouge and started beating on the man, only for Sting to eventually reverse a whip into the corner, following up with a Stinger splash and a Scorpion death drop! The crowd goes insane as Sting slowly drags himself over for the cover, only for Steiner to get a shoulder up just before the three. Sting gets up, and grabs one of Steiner's legs to go for the Scorpion Deathlock, but Steiner uses his other leg to kick Sting directly in the ground. Sting doubles over, with Steiner grabbing him for a roll up and the three count. Scott Steiner retains via pinfall after a low blow, and quickly rolls out of the ring to grab his title and raise it in the air as he makes his way up the entrance way.</p><p> <strong>80.</strong></p><p> </p><p> <strong>Overall rating: 77.</strong></p>

Fire the announcer. Maybe fire the road agent if you have people on the roster that can double up. Or if your owner is retired use them as a road agent. Run 1-hour shows and keep the total number of workers per show to a minimum. 18 is way too much. Check worker contracts because the game defaults to offering to pay travel expenses in contracts, so if you didn't change it manually then it stayed. Not sure what else could be paying out bonuses like that though.

<p><strong><span style="text-decoration:underline;">The Dirt Sheet - Saturday Week 4 July, 2001</span></strong></p><p> </p><p> Ratings for WCW Nitro have seen some fluctuations over the last month, with the floor holding steady around 485,000 viewers but a couple episodes managing to pull above 500,000 globally. The go-home episode before Bash at the Beach attracted almost 540,000 viewers, which is a record for the new incarnation of Nitro. However, there is also some bad news to go with the good, as Ten Network Australia have canceled their contract to air WCW Nitro in Australia and New Zealand reportedly due to dissatisfaction with the quality and viewership of the show. WCW's draw on the network has only been good for about 30,000 viewers each week. While those numbers have been slowly increasing, it seems that the Ten Network simply didn't have the patience to continue the relationship. And, with WCW securing a pay-per-view deal in the region with Main Event in an on-going effort to bring in additional revenue, those major monthly shows would not have been airing on Ten Network anymore anyway, so it is possible the Ten Network decided to give up on the WCW experiment entirely.</p><p> </p><p> However, not all is lost for WCW, as the Ten Network deal accounted for a relatively low number of viewers and a low proportion of broadcast revenue. So while the cancellation may come as a shock, its long-term effects are likely minimal.</p><p> </p><p> In other news, WCW has also released announcer and interviewer Scott Hudson, who has spent several years with the company. I am told he was on a per-night deal and was unhappy because he wasn't being used regularly, so WCW and Hudson agreed to part ways.</p><p> </p><p> <strong>WCW Bash at the Beach Preview</strong></p><p> LIVE on pay-per-view!</p><p> Sunday Week 4 July, 2001</p><p> </p><p> WCW World title: Sting vs. Scott Steiner ©</p><p> Booker T vs. Ric Flair</p><p> Dustin Rhodes vs. Jeff Jarrett</p><p> WCW World Tag Team titles: Chuck Palumbo and Sean O'Haire vs. Totally Buffed (Lex Luger/Buff Bagwell) ©</p><p> WCW United States title: Rob Van Dam vs. Tommy Dreamer vs. Shane Douglas ©</p><p> WCW World Television title: Chavo Guerrero Jr vs. Rey Mysterio Jr ©</p>

WCW Nitro - Wednesday Week 3 July, 2001 (airs Friday Week 4 July, 2001) The next episode of Nitro taped at the Hard Rock Cafe Arena skipped the pre-show, instead going straight into the proper show after a brief intermission for the audience to buy some merch, use the restroom, or just get up and stretch. After the pyro and ballyhoo, the announcers tell us that after last week's confrontation backstage between Bam Bam Bigelow and Mike Awesome, those two will be facing off in the ring right now! 46. Bigelow comes out first, followed by Awesome. These two mammoths beat the hell out of each other for almost 10 minutes, with Mike Awesome picking up the win via pinfall after an Awesome Bomb at 9:53. 53. The cameras cut backstage where Perfection are standing together. While Luger and Bagwell flex in the background and Midajah stands there looking pretty, Steiner and Flair take turns running down their opponents, both for tonight and at Bash at the Beach. Flair says that he's no stranger to a four-vs-four fight so tonight will be an easy win for the most Perfect specimens in WCW, and at Bash at the Beach he gets to show the world that he's still got it by beating Booker T, then finding some lovely ladies and taking them on a trip to Space Mountain, WOOOOOOOO. Steiner says he's not even going to talk about the tag match tonight because he knows Perfection can't lose, but at Bash at the Beach he's going to step into the ring with the Icon Sting and show all of WCW that he's the mountain everyone on the roster has to climb to reach the top of this business, and climbing his peaks will be impossible. 77. We go back to the ring where Rob Van Dam and Tommy Dreamer make their entrance as an unlikely tag team considering their three-way at Bash at the Beach for the US title. Shane Douglas comes out by himself next, standing on the stage for a moment before his partner is revealed as--Rick Steiner! Steiner comes out barking as usual as he accompanies Douglas to the ring. The two teams have an entertaining back and forth that probably could have gone on longer if not for the limited time of the show. The finish saw Shane Douglas pull a pair of brass knuckles out of his tights and using them to lay Dreamer out for the pinfall win at 10:45 while Steiner had RVD occupied. 61. We have a brief break now as we see one last hype video package for Bash at the Beach, featuring Sting vs. Scott Steiner for the WCW World title, Booker T vs. Ric Flair, and Palumbo and O'Haire vs. Lex Luger and Buff Bagwell for the WCW Tag Team titles. 65. We go back to the backstage area now, just behind the entrance way, as Sting, Booker T, Chuck Palumbo, and Sean O'Haire are about to come out for the main event. Palumbo and O'Haire stay off them mic and look angry while Sting and Booker T handle the talking, which is probably a good idea. Booker T starts off saying that he has a lot of respect for Ric Flair and everything he's accomplished: founding the Four Horsemen, multi-time world champion, staying at the top of the business for 20+ years, but Flair's time is over. Booker says Flair shows just how nervous he is about his career by throwing in with a bunch of low-lifes like Scott Steiner, Luger, and Bagwell, and at Bash at the Beach he's going to prove it. Sting says that Scott Steiner really IS an impressive specimen. He's got the muscles, the look, and the charisma to be a huge star, so Sting doesn't understand why he's decided to be a bully instead. Sting says the only answer is that Steiner enjoys it. "Well," Sting says, "you might enjoy being a bully, but I enjoy breaking bullies down, and I'm really good at it." 70. The main event is up next, with all four members of Perfection taking on Sting, Booker T, and Palumbo and O'Haire. This is another match that should've been a lot longer considering the crowd heat and the talent in the ring, but it's a one hour show. The end threatened to degenerate into a total mess as all eight men started brawling, but while the others are busy, Sting managed to get Luger in the corner for a Stinger splash, which led to a Scorpion Death Drop and a pinfall win for Sting's team at 15:18. 76. After the match Perfection beat a hasty retreat to the back, talking trash to the audience the whole way, while Sting, Booker T, Chuck Palumbo, and Sean O'Haire celebrate their win in the ring. 68. Overall rating: 70.

WCW Nitro - Wednesday Week 3 July, 2001 (airs Friday Week 3 July, 2001) The next set of Nitro tapings started at the Hard Rock Cafe Arena in Las Vegas, NV, with a three-match pre-show. First, Reno got a win over development talent Ricky Banderas (28). Johnny the Bull defeated Elix Skipper (34). AJ Styles defeated Evan Karagias (39). After a brief break, we go to the opening music and pyro. Amid the pyro and ballyhoo the announcers tell us we'll see Dustin Rhodes take on Perfection's Lex Luger in the main event tonight. 62. The announcers are cut off by the sound of the siren that heralds Perfection's entrance. The four start out addressing Ric Flair's in-ring singles return to WCW at Bash at the Beach where he will take on Booker T, and say that the dirtiest player in the game is ready to play again. Flair says if Booker T thinks he can hang with the Nature Boy, WOOOOOOOO, he's got another thing coming. Steiner, Luger, and Bagwell take turns making fun of the interaction between Sting and Palumbo and O'Haire last week. They joke about how Palumbo and O'Haire aren't in their league. But Perfection get interrupted themselves, as Palumbo and O'Haire come out and get right in the faces of Luger and Bagwell. Perfection looks to be about to beat down Palumbo and O'Haire, but Sting and Booker T make their way out as well as a bunch of WCW security officials. Sting takes a microphone and says if Perfection wants a fight, why not fight all four of them next week on Nitro? The crowd pops big as Scott Steiner yells "YOU'RE ON" into his microphone. Good segment, and good to see talents like Chuck Palumbo and Sean O'Haire getting a good rub with the main event talent, though it's somewhat obvious that they definitely aren't at the same level yet. 73. We move to our first match of the show next, with Shawn Stasiak taking on Billy Kidman. Stacy Keibler accompanies Stasiak to the ring and cheers him on from ringside. Kidman gets a small amount of offense, but Stasiak ultimately gets a relatively easy win via submission at 7:33. 54. After Stasiak gets his hand raised, he walks to the ropes and starts yelling down at Stacy, who is still at ringside interacting with fans. Stasiak tells Keibler to get her tail into the ring and celebrate his victory, so she quickly obliges, climbing up the steps and into the ring to stand beside her man. Stasiak keeps an angry glare on her the entire time, forcing her to raise his arm again and angrily talking down to her. 50. Up next is another match featuring Rob Van Dam vs. Mike Sanders. As you might expect given current circumstances, RVD is here to build some momentum, and he picks up the win via pinfall at 8:43 after a frog splash. 58. After the match Shane Douglas walks out onto the stage, sarcastically clapping. He tells RVD, "congratulations, you beat a nobody. But you really think you can beat me? Why don't you take this opportunity to quit now." Tommy Dreamer comes out next and tells Douglas he has a big mouth for someone who hasn't defended the US title even once yet. As it looks like blows are about to be thrown, Eric Bischoff comes out and says if they want a warm up for Bash at the Beach, they'll get their wish: RVD and Tommy Dreamer vs. Shane Douglas and a partner of his choosing next week on Nitro. 62. Next we cut backstage, where Mike Awesome is walking down a hallway just as Bam Bam Bigelow opens a door and almost hits him in the face with it. Awesome says, "hey watch where you're going." Bigelow responds with some choice words of his own. Soon the two men are swinging at each other wildly as several officials have to pry them apart. 55. We've arrived now at our main event, with Dustin Rhodes taking on Lex Luger with Ric Flair at ringside. Even with Luger's limitations this is an entertaining contest as Rhodes is big enough to be credible but also able to bump and make Luger look powerful. At the end, Ric Flair climbs up onto the apron to distract the referee, but instead of whatever Luger had planned, Jeff Jarrett runs down to the opposite side of the ring and plasters Rhodes with a guitar shot. Rhodes stumbles around into a torture rack, and Luger gets the win via submission at 9:58. 66. Overall rating: 64.

WCW Nitro - Wednesday Week 1 July, 2001 (airs Friday Week 2 July, 2001) The second Nitro of July 2001 began after another dark match featuring Shawn Stasiak getting a submission win over John Cena (41). Seems like WCW management have some high hopes for the young Cena, who looks like a million bucks but is still a work in progress in the ring, much like many WCW talents. This double-booking may be a way to get him some extra ring time on a bigger stage than NWA Wildside, and to get plenty of use out of him while they have him temporarily called up. After the usual pyro and announcers welcoming us to Nitro we cut backstage to Chuck Palumbo and Sean O'Haire approaching Sting. They tell Sting they appreciate that he and Booker T had their backs when Perfection attacked them. Luger and Bagwell took their tag titles with help at The Big Bang and they know they can win them back if it's a fair fight. Sting says not to worry, because he and Booker T will have their backs again if they're needed. 63. We go back to the ring for our first match, as Tommy Dreamer takes on Fit Finlay. The two have a decent back and forth brawl before Dreamer gets the win via pinfall at 7:58 after a Piledriver. 53. After the match Dreamer calls for a microphone. He says that Shane Douglas showed what a coward he is at the Great American Bash by interfering in his match against RVD and attacking both of them. Dreamer says if Shane Douglas is a man, he'll agree to give Dreamer a shot at the US title at Bash at the Beach. RVD comes out to the ring next to interrupt. RVD says, "Hold on now dude. You didn't beat me, so why should you get the title shot? I want to be US champion too." They're both interrupted by Shane Douglas, who comes out with the US title belt around his waist. Douglas is laughing as he enters the ring and takes a microphone. Douglas says, "hang on now guys. If I remember correctly, the deal was that whichever one of you won at the Great American Bash would get a shot at the US title. No one won that match, so neither of you gets the shot." He's cut off by Eric Bischoff who walks out onto the stage. "Shane," Bischoff says, "generally I would agree with you. Unfortunately, the WCW Executive Committee has decided that, since you cost both RVD and Tommy Dreamer the match at the Great American Bash, you will face both of them in a three-way dance at Bash at the Beach for the US title." Douglas immediately starts throwing a fit as RVD and Dreamer high-five and leave the ring. 55. After the in-ring confrontation we go back to the backstage area, where Chavo Guerrero Jr and Rey Mysterio Jr happen to bump into each other in a hallway. Chavo tells Rey that the TV title rightfully belongs to him and demands a shot. Rey says he's a fighting champion, so if Chavo wants a shot, he's got one at Bash at the Beach. 47. We come back to ringside as Alex Wright, who we haven't seen thus far in the new WCW, is already in the ring. Jeff Jarrett comes out guitar in hand and the two put on a pretty entertaining match considering the outcome was never really in doubt. Jarrett wins via pinfall at 5:55 after a flying dropkick. Total get-over match, maybe to give Jarrett a little more momentum after losing the Konnan. 65. After the match Jarrett grabs a microphone because he's Jeff Jarrett and probably contractually obligated to cut a promo whenever he's in front of an audience. He says that he doesn't care if it's Dustin Rhodes, Konnan, or anyone else. He's the chosen one, the one with the stroke, the franchise of WCW, and at Bash at the Beach he's going to prove it. Quality job as usual from Double J. 59. Next we go to a pre-taped video that begins with footage of a line of people at a homeless shelter, and a voiceover says, "When all hope is lost." Then it cuts to video of a full hospital emergency room and says, "and life isn't what we want it to be." Next the video shows an audience in shock at some event we can't see, "people cry out for a savior." The screen goes dark, and shows text that reads "He's coming." Weird approach. I haven't been told of any new signings by the company as they are now very concerned about controlling expenses, so I expect this to be someone on the roster with a repackaged gimmick, but no idea who as of yet. 42. Now it's time for the main event. Booker T is out first, followed by Buff Bagwell accompanied by Ric Flair. The crowd was on fire for the entire match and these two put on a great show with Flair getting plenty of involvement trying to distract Booker T. The finish saw Flair climb up on the apron with Bagwell's tag title belt, ready to strike Booker T with the belt after Bagwell whips him across the ring. But Booker T reversed the whip, sending Bagwell crashing into Flair. Flair flew off the ring apron as Bagwell staggered back and turned right into a Book End, giving Booker T the pinfall win at 14:55. 77. After the match Flair gets to his feet and helps Bagwell out of the ring. Scott Steiner and Lex Luger come out onto the stage with their own title belts and meet Flair and Bagwell as they retreat. Booker T takes a microphone and tells Flair that it looks like his buddies all have matches at Bash at the Beach, so if Flair wants a piece of Booker T so much, why not step to him like a man in the ring? Flair, without a microphone, turns beet red and screams about how Booker T is on and he's going to regret it. Booker T ends the show with, "you and me Flair. Bash at the Beach. Now can you dig that, SUCKAAAAAA?" 73. Overall rating: 70.

WCW Nitro - Wednesday Week 1 July, 2001 (airs Friday Week 1 July, 2001) The first round of Nitro tapings after the Great American Bash pay-per-view kicked off again from the Hard Rock Cafe Arena in Las Vegas, NV. Pre-show matches before the taping of the first Nitro included development talent John Cena getting a win over other development talent BJ Whitmer (25), AJ Styles defeating Lash Leroux (32), Rick Steiner beating Air Paris (57), and Rob Van Dam picking up a victory over Shawn Stasiak (57). The main show began with Sting and Booker T walking into Eric Bischoff's office to a big pop from the live audience. The two demand a chance at avenging DDP, who they say is out of action due to the vicious attack by Perfection at the end of the Great American Bash. Bischoff says he completely understands, and informs Sting that he will challenge Scott Steiner for the World title at Bash at the Beach. Booker T, on the other hand, will have a chance at avenging his humiliating submission loss by taking on Buff Bagwell of Perfection next week on Nitro. 71. Up next the Mamalukes beat Skipper and Romeo by pinfall when Johnny the Bull pinned Elix Skipper at 6:59 and oh god did the audience not care at all. 25. After that disaster of a match, it's a welcome site to see Jeff Jarrett come out to the ring with a microphone. At least this might be entertaining. He starts to complain about how it wasn't fair that he lost at Great American Bash because Konnan got lucky. Jarrett says he hadn't stretched properly and was already at a disadvantage because he didn't know who his opponent was going to be. He demands that Konnan agree to give him a rematch at Bash at the Beach. Konnan comes out next and stands on the stage looking confused. After his usual "let me speak on this" routine that the audience still digs, he says he was sitting in the back and he heard Jeff Jarrett calling him out like they didn't just have a match. Konnan says, "Jeff, dog, what else I gotta do? I beat you fair and square when you couldn't get away with cheating." Jarrett starts to yell about how he wasn't really beaten because Konnan got lucky when Dustin Rhodes comes out and stands next to Konnan. Dustin has a mic of his own and says, "Jeff, Jeff, man...you talk too much." Jarrett starts to throw a fit and kick the ropes when Dustin tells him to calm down. "Look, man, if Konnan feels like you don't deserve a match with him, well, I'm not busy at Bash at the Beach, so how about we step in the ring and see what happens?" Jarrett agrees quickly. Good segment, good build up for the next PPV, probably going to be a good match. 63. We get another match next, as Mark Jindrak beats Norman Smiley by pinfall at about 7:16. These two had surprisingly good chemistry together. 49. Backstage again Lex Luger and Buff Bagwell approach Eric Bischoff and question his judgement with letting Sting challenge for the World title and making Buff take on Booker T next week. Bischoff says the decision was out of his hands because the WCW executive committee decided on both of those matches, plus one more: the winner of the match between Palumbo and O'Haire and Team Canada tonight will be the #1 contenders to the tag titles, and will challenge Luger and Bagwell at Bash at the Beach. 71. That takes us straight into the aforementioned tag match. Palumbo, O'Haire, Storm, and Awesome got plenty of time and put on a pretty good show considering how green two of the four are. Palumbo and O'Haire get the win when Palumbo dropped Storm with a running powerslam for the pinfall at 15:04. Not quite as strong as previous main events, but they can't all be. 63. After the match Perfection come down to the ring, with each man standing on one side of the ring while Palumbo and O'Haire square off back to back inside ready to defend themselves. All at once, Perfection run into the ring and despite a valiant effort, get the advantage over Palumbo and O'Haire due to numbers. Torrie Wilson managed to get back out of the ring screaming. From the back, Sting and Booker T come running, sliding into the ring and chasing Perfection off. They help Palumbo and O'Haire up and the four shake hands and play to the audience as the show ends. 69. Overall rating: 61. A weak main event earns a weak show rating, but this is likely a necessary growing pain that comes from rebuilding a company. Despite the lackluster showing, WCW seems to be laying some decent ground work going forward.

The Dirt Sheet - Monday Week 1 July, 2001 The talk around WCW is a mix of excitement and disappointment around the Great American Bash. Creatively, the show seems to have accomplished everything that WCW bookers hoped for: quality in-ring product, simple but compelling stories, and a finish that attracted monster heat from the live audience. Unfortunately, from a financial perspective the show was a bit of a disappointment, with the buy rate decreasing slightly from The Big Bang. Though the live attendance increased by roughly 50% over the previous month's show, and the total number of viewers also saw a considerable increase, I am told WCW's leadership have put a great deal of hope into pay-per-view revenue as the main method to start breaking even. Rumor has it that, in addition to pay-per-view deals in the US and Japan, WCW has also begun to pursue a deal with a pay-per-view provider in Australia to air events instead of airing them on Nitro broadcaster Ten Network Australia. The long-awaited talent purge has also started, with road agent Buddy Lee Parker and talents Cash, MI Smooth, Jeremy Borash, Jason Jett, Jim Duggan, and Jerry Tuite all receiving releases. Perhaps most surprisingly, WCW also released the injured Sid Vicious, who as we all remember broke his leg in half during a WCW event and has been on the shelf ever since. While WCW has paid for his medical care, I am told that the decision was made to end his contract as the company can't afford to pay such an expensive talent to sit at home. These releases have reduced WCW's per-month talent expenses by roughly $200,000. WCW also recently completed its HQ relocation to the Las Vegas area, hoping to save money on transportation by re-locating its offices to the same city where they hold TV tapings. In addition, I am told that the WCW Power Plant, the training academy that produced talents like Bill Goldberg, was also shut down and many of its assets sold off. And, as another cost-cutting measure, the company reduced its live event staffing to a small team of professional leaders and local volunteers who receive free WCW merch, meet-and-greets with talents before shows, and free admission in exchange for performing services like collecting tickets, ushering, etc.

<blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="sportsfanmas" data-cite="sportsfanmas" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="52492" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>haven't read all the way through yet, but WCW was my favorite wrestling company. I legit got depressed when they shut down, so this dynasty is definitely going to be in the mix that I read.<p> </p><p> It's nice to see someone else that doesn't necessarily do graphics in their dynasty. Most of mine have been very short lived with little or no graphics. Keep up the good work!</p></div></blockquote><p> </p><p> Just realized I forgot to respond to this. Much appreciated. My grandmother used to sit me on the couch next to her and watch WCW/JCP, back in probably 89/90? She died around 91 when I was four, but my life long love of wrestling came from her. WCW especially is a case of never-ending missed opportunities, and I'm always a sucker for alternate history and what ifs.</p>

WCW Great American Bash - Sunday Week 4 June, 2001 World Championship Wrestling held the second pay-per-view of its new era live on pay-per-view from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, NV, apparently wanting to save on the cost of moving its production equipment out of the area and probably also not completely trusting their drawing power yet. Still, the show drew a respectable 13,675 fans for a gate of around $218,000. The buy rate is coming in at around 0.61 (246,000 buys or so) overall with a total of about 580,000 viewers between all broadcasters. The pre-show began with a surprisingly decent match where AJ Styles d. Disco Inferno in 8:36 (44), followed by Mark Jindrak d. Jim Duggan, who I am told may not be on the roster much longer, in 9:10 (54). Lastly, Bam Bam Bigelow and Hugh Morrus d. Rick Steiner and Road Warrior Animal when Bigelow pinned Animal at 9:48 (60). The broadcast kicked off with a video hyping the upcoming matches of DDP vs. Scott Steiner for the World title, Booker T and Sting vs. Totally Buff for the Tag titles, and Dustin Rhodes vs. Kanyon, before going to the announce table where Tony Schiavone, Mike Tenay, and Bobby Heenan welcome us to the show and promise a night of excitement. 64. We go immediately into ring action as Shane Helms comes out first, followed by Chavo Guerrero Jr. The announcers remind us that these two cost each other a spot in the finals of the TV title tournament that concludes later on tonight. As would be expected these two put on a good show to get the crowd warmed up with some thrilling high spots, until Chavo catches Helms in a STF for the submission victory. 58. The view cuts backstage now, where we see Scott Steiner, Lex Luger, and Buff Bagwell with their respective title belts, along with Ric Flair and Midajah. Flair starts off, saying, "if the Nature Boy knows anything, he knows talent. He knows strength. He knows a good deal when he sees it, and that's why he wants Perfection." Flair hypes up each man briefly, talking about their muscles, accomplishments, etc. Then he passes over to Luger and Bagwell with a WOOOOO. Luger says he's known Sting for a long time. They used to be friends. They've driven thousands of miles together. And that means he knows how Sting thinks. Luger says Sting was always jealous of his physique, and how he so easily climbed to the top wherever he went in his career. He says he's better than Sting, he's always been better than Sting, and tonight when he and Bagwell put a beating on Sting and Booker T like they've never experienced before, they'll know it too. Bagwell chimes in briefly to say that the Total Package and The Stuff are going to walk out of the MGM Grand Garden Arena still the tag team champions, but Sting and Booker T might not be able to walk out at all. Lastly we come to Scott Steiner, with Midajah right behind him. Steiner flexes with the World title around his waist, and says for all the low-life, depressed, flabby, jealous idiots watching at home to enjoy this view of what a perfect specimen of a man looks like. "And especially you, Page. You think you got what it takes to go up against the largest arms in the world? You think you can take down Big Poppa Pump? You couldn't even keep your own wife happy. She left you, and when you lose this match tonight you'll have nothing left." Not sure if those personal shots were planned or not, but if they weren't, Page is probably upset. These two already have a history of not getting along. 73. Next we go back to the ring for Tommy Dreamer vs. Rob Van Dam. The crowd was decently into the match, but for some reason these two just didn't click and it made the whole thing awkward to watch. They did the best they could, though. The ending saw Shane Douglas run into the ring and lay both men out with a steel chair, and the referee throwing the match out at 10:50. After doing his damage, Douglas left the ring talking smack to the camera about how Dreamer and RVD are stupid to think they are US title material. 44. We cut back to the backstage area with DDP, Sting, and Booker T, looking amped up and ready for a fight. DDP starts off, looking angry as hell. He says, "Steiner, I was already looking forward to beating you all over the ring tonight just to teach you a lesson, but now you've gone and made it personal. You think you're getting into my head, but you're just proving that I've gotten into yours. You're scared of me. You know you can't beat me one on one in a cage without your boys to protect you. And tonight, you're going to feel the BANG." Sting says Lex Luger is right about one thing: they've been through a lot together. They know each other. He says that no matter how hard he's tried to keep Luger on the right path, his greed always drags him away. "Tonight, Luger, you're going to learn that you can't just flex and bully your way into getting anything you want." Booker T chimes in, saying he can't wait to show Lex Luger and Buff Bagwell what a real man can do when he and Sting step into the ring and become tag team champions. "Now can you dig that, SUCKAAAAAAA." 68. Back to the announce table, where Tony Schiavone tells us we're about to see the conclusion of the WCW World TV Title Tournament. Lance Storm comes out first with his massive partner Mike Awesome by his side. Next comes Rey Mysterio Jr by himself. These guys really show what kind of workers they are, putting on the best match of the night so far, with Rey playing David to the goliath of Storm and Awesome and selling his ass off. Towards the end, Mysterio has gained an advantage over Storm after Storm missed a clothesline and took a spinning heel kick for his troubles. Both men get to their feet at the same time. Storm calls out something to Awesome, but Mysterio dodges an attempted strike and Storm stumbles toward Awesome, who grabs his partner's foot while talking trash to the fans. Awesome doesn't notice he's preventing Storm from moving, and Mysterio runs up the ropes for a Springboard Hurricanrana and the pinfall win at 14:02. 61. After the match, Eric Bischoff comes out with the WCW World TV title belt. He gets in the ring, and gives a nice speech about the history of the belt, the people who have held it, and so on, before saying that now Rey Mysterio Jr will carry it forward. He hands the belt to Rey, but Chavo Guerrero Jr. runs out and hits the ring. He low blows Rey from behind and power bombs the smaller man to the mat. Just as suddenly, Shane Helms comes out and chases Chavo off. Chavo walks back up the entrance way, telling the camera how that should be his title. 63. We go to a shot of Mike Awesome and Lance Storm backstage. Storm is icing his neck as Awesome says how sorry he is for messing up his match. Sean O'Haire, Chuck Palumbo, and Torrie Wilson enter the view from off-camera, all three of them laughing. Torrie says she's sorry for Storm's loss, too, but she really appreciates the laugh. O'Haire says he almost feels sorry for them, but frankly this was only karma coming back at them. Storm and Awesome stand up and start trading blows with Palumbo and O'Haire as Torrie squeals and runs out of reach, until several WCW staff have to come in and separate the two teams. Remember, these teams are facing off on the next Nitro, and I'm told WCW management have high hopes for each one. 56. We go back to the ring now for one of the most highly anticipated matches of the night, Sting and Booker T vs. Lex Luger and Buff Bagwell. Sting and Booker come out first, entering the arena to Booker T's music together. Next come Luger and Bagwell along with Ric Flair. These two teams put on a fantastic show for the crowd and got the biggest reactions of the night up until this point. The action spilled outside at one point, with Luger and Booker T in the ring and Sting and Bagwell outside it. While those two are brawling with Flair watching close by, Luger rakes the eyes of Booker T to take advantag before lifting him up into the Torture Rack. Sting tries to get into the ring to help his partner but Bagwell and Flair hold on to him where the referee can't see until Booker T taps out at 14:59. Luger drops Booker to the ring as the Perfection members grab their belts and make for the entrance. 81. The commentary team take a minute to discuss the revolting tactics of Perfection as Sting and Booker leave the ring, but they're interrupted by Jeff Jarrett's voice on a microphone. Jarrett walks down the entrance way, mic in one hand and guitar in the other, griping as only he can about how he, the chosen one, was left off this show without a match. He hasn't been on Nitro since this WCW restart, either, and he's sick and tired of being ignored. He says he knows all these doofuses in the audience bought their ticket hoping to see old Double J himself, so he's offering a challenge: anyone in the back can come out and take him on. Out through the curtain comes Konnan, who we also haven't seen since The Big Bang. He's got a mic of his own, and he says "yo yo yo, let me speak on this" in his trademark cadence. Konnan asks Jarrett if he remembers their tournament match on The Big Bang, which Jarrett only won because he hit Konnan with a guitar. Konnan says he's really happy to hear Jarrett offer this open challenge, because he accepts. 72. It looks like we're getting an impromptu Jeff Jarrett vs. Konnan match here, with Konnan hitting the ring and the two men trading fists immediately. The crowd gets really into this match as they go back and forth for a while, until Jarrett reverses an Irish whip and sends Konnan into a corner. Jarrett, feeling like he's bitten off a little more than he can chew, goes back to the well and grabs his guitar while Konnan is stunned. Jarrett swings the guitar at Konnan's head but K-Dog jumps out of the way and Jarrett smashes his guitar over the ring post. Konnan swings around and hooks Jarrett's leg for a schoolboy roll up and the pinfall win at 6:43. 60. After the match Konnan heads to the back slapping hands with ringside fans, but Jarrett stays in the ring throwing a temper tantrum. The announcers tell us Jarrett probably isn't done with Konnan after this humiliation. 64. Up next is Dustin Rhodes vs. Kanyon, in a match that has been building for some time. This is another one the crowd eats up as these two guys go nuts and have a crazy brawl all over the ring and the ringside area, even brawling into the crowd for a little bit. Back in the ring, Kanyon whips Rhodes into the ropes but Rhodes ducks and clothesline, only to rebound with a Flying Lariat of his own. Rhodes makes the pin and scores the win at 13:19. 64. While the ring crew are setting up the steel cage for the main event, we get a video package hyping up the World title match between DDP and Scott Steiner. 74. It's time for the main event as the cage is assembled. Diamond Dallas Page comes out first, all alone, to a big pop from the crowd. Scott Steiner follows, with Midajah and Ric Flair alongside. These guys get plenty of time, going north of 20 minutes, and really beat the hell out of each other, making frequent use of the cage. Both men are bleeding by the end. At one point Steiner tries to whip Page into a corner, but Page reverses and sends Steiner into an opposite corner, where referee Charles Robinson happens to be standing. Robinson gets sandwiched between Scott Steiner and the turnbuckles and goes down. Steiner, staggered from the impact, turns around right into a Diamond Cutter and the crowd goes bananas. Page slowly drags himself over to make the cover, but the referee is still out. Just then, Ric Flair attacks the referee outside the cage that's holding the cage door key with a chair and opens it up to let himself in. Page is up trying to wake up Charles Robinson so he doesn't see Flair, who swings the chair at Page's back. Page goes down. Scott Steiner is getting back up at this point, and he locks in the Steiner Recliner on Page as Flair retreats. Page refuses to submit, but he's unable to escape the hold and eventually passes out from the pain. The referee calls for the bell and awards the match to Scott Steiner at 20:15. 79. By now Luger and Bagwell have both made it down to the ring. Flair lets them into the cage and locks the door just as Sting runs down to try to make the save. Sting tries in vain to pull on the cage door or find some way to get in, but Perfection have themselves locked inside with Page. As Sting tries to find a way to save Page, the announcers tell us Booker T was taken to a nearby hospital after suffering the Torture Rack from Luger to make sure he hasn't re-injured his shoulder. Inside the ring, Flair and Bagwell taunt Sting as Luger and Steiner put the boots to the unconscious man. Steiner calls Flair over and tells him to wrap Page's leg up in the chair. About a dozen WCW officials have now made their way to ringside, all of them--and Sting--trying to find a way to break up what Tony Schiavone refers to as a gangland assault. Steiner and Bagwell take turns getting on the second rope and jumping off, stomping on the chair. Page regains consciousness and screams with every landing while Luger holds him down. Finally, the steel cage starts to raise back up. Sting slides into the ring as Perfection slide out on the opposite side and make their way to the entrance, belts in hand. Sting kneels next to Page as paramedics also rush into the ring, and the commentary team are condemning this "heinous assault" as Tenay puts it. Schiavone says, "we can only hope that somehow Perfection pays for what they just did" as the broadcast ends. 73. WOW. The whole show was pretty good, but man, that ending. Clearly whoever is booking WCW was going for mega-heat with that close. One source has told me that the plan now is for DDP to have some time off to sell the attack. No news yet if Booker T will be out for any length of time. I can't wait to see what goes down on Nitro after this. Overall rating: 75.

The Dirt Sheet - Saturday Week 4 June, 2001 Ratings for WCW Nitro continue to hold steady around the half million mark, with the vast majority of those coming from F/X in the United States and 52MX in Mexico, though the go-home show before the Great American Bash saw a bit of a dip in total viewers to 477,000. Still, I am told WCW leadership are hopeful that the Bash will see an increase in buys over The Big Bang from a month earlier after these four weeks of build-up. Backstage morale seems to be less confident. Multiple sources tell me that overall morale is mostly positive, but there is plenty of room for improvement, and a successfull pay-per-view could help that. Creatively, the on-going program between DDP/Sting/Booker T and Perfection is the main story on Nitro as well as representing the two most anticipated matches for Great American Bash. Page and Steiner already had one match just a month ago, so going back to that well needs to really deliver to justify spending money on it again even if it is in a steel cage. The tag title match between Totally Buff and Sting/Booker T is also interesting. Clearly those running WCW creatively do not have a lot of confidence in the tag team division, with the tag title match taking place with two teams made up of, essentially, individual wrestlers who happen to be partnering right now. Lance Storm, one-half of one of the few established tag teams in the company, is involved in the final match of the TV title tournament--a singles title--while his partner, Mike Awesome, and their rivals, Chuck Palumbo and Sean O'Haire, have no matches at all. Other positives on the card are the feud between Kanyon and Dustin Rhodes, with Kanyon playing the jealous heel, and the newly-debuted RVD and Tommy Dreamer. All four of these guys have been approaching breakthroughs into the top of the business--RVD and Dreamer were already there, allbeit in a much smaller company--so it's good to see them all getting a chance to showcase what they can do. RVD and Dreamer is a particularly interesting choice, considering both are babyfaces. On a financial front, WCW are still struggling. Sponsorship income is helping to stop some of the bleeding, but the company is still lagging behind where it wants to be in broadcast and ticket revenues. I am told WCW leadership still do not have the confidence to start touring Nitro again, so the ticket revenue issue probably won't improve much in the near future. Recently WCW shut down the Power Plant, its long-time training school that produced a great deal of talent over the years, which provided a bit of a one-time boost in funding and a slight reduction in expenses. Lastly, I am told the recently-terminated Alan Funk has launched a wrongful termination lawsuit against WCW. No details other than that. Here's the preview card for WCW Great American Bash: WCW Great American Bash Sunday Week 4 June, 2001 LIVE on pay-per-view! Steel Cage match for the WCW World title: Scott Steiner © vs. Diamond Dallas Page World Tag Team title match: Totally Buff(Lex Luger/Buff Bagwell) © vs. Sting/Booker T Dustin Rhodes vs. Kanyon Tournament Final for the WCW World Television title: Rey Mysterio Jr vs. Lance Storm Rob Van Dam vs. Tommy Dreamer Chavo Guerrero Jr vs. Shane Helms

WCW Nitro - Wednesday Week 3 June, 2001 (airs Friday Week 4 June, 2001) After the pyro display we are welcomed to Nitro by the team of Tony Schiavone, Mike Tenay, and Bobby Heenan again, who tell us that tonight we will see the contract signing for both the tag title match and the world title match at Great American Bash, but first we go right into action as the first of two semi-final matches in the World TV title tournament sees Lance Storm taking on Shane Helms, who received a first-round bye as a result of his win at The Big Bang. There appeared to be some chemistry issues between the two causing some timing miscues, but otherwise an entertaining contest. Mike Awesome looked scary as ever standing at ringside. The finish saw Shane Helms hit a dropkick off the top rope, looking as if he was going to set up for the Vertebreaker. Mike Awesome looked ready to interfere on his partner's behalf, when Chavo Guerrero Jr ran down to the ring. He waves off Awesome, and slides what appears to be a wrench under the bottom rope towards Storm. Helms and the referee don't see it, so Storm pulls it under his body until Helms approaches, then he turns and cracks Helms in the head with it. Helms hits the mat and Storm locks in the Canadian Maple Leaf, getting the submission win at 6:47. 53. The show cuts now to a pre-taped promo with Kanyon alone sitting somewhere in a mostly dark, empty area, on the floor surrounded by nothing but concrete walls. He's staring out at nothing as he talks. He says that Dustin Rhodes might have had a fortunate birth, but his own origin is much more painful. He talks about having a traumatic childhood, and how he always hated the kids with the nice houses, the rich parents, and it isn't fair that those kids got everything they wanted. Kanyon says Dustin Rhodes has gotten everything he's ever wanted because of his last name, while he's had to fight, and claw, and struggle, and at the Great American Bash, daddy won't be there to save Dustin. 58. We go back into the arena for the last semi-final match in the World Television Title tournament. Chavo Guerrero Jr, who we've already seen once tonight, comes out first followed by Rey Mysterio Jr. These two put on a pretty incredible match, with several thrilling high spots that really kept the crowd's attention. During the match Shane Helms came out, with a bandage on his head from the wrench shot he took earlier. Chavo sees Helms and seems to forget about Mysterio, leaning over the top rope and talking trash to Helms. After a few seconds of trading insults, Helms tells Chavo to turn around. He does so, right into a Springboard Hurricanrana for the pinfall from Mysterio at 8:48. 63. After Mysterio has celebrated and left ringside, Helms is still standing on the stage laughing at his revenge on Chavo. An exasperated Chavo grabs a microphone, and says, "Hey Shane, ok, you got me. We got each other. So since we're out of the title tournament, let's you and me settle this in the ring at the Great American Bash." Helms nods his acceptance. 47. Next up is the match made on last week's episode between Mike Awesome and Sean O'Haire. Awesome is a monster of a worker and O'Haire is good for being so green, so the two of them put on a good, entertaining match. It was a battle of dueling power styles as they tried to out-strike and out-slam each other, until O'Haire set Awesome up for a piledriver that Awesome countered with a low blow at just under 11 minutes. Chuck Palumbo climbed the apron to protest, but Lance Storm climbed up beside him to stop Palumbo from getting in the way. Palumbo shoved the much smaller Storm off the apron, so Awesome grabbed Palumbo by the hair and dragged him into the ring. Awesome starts stomping on Palumbo, when O'Haire gets up and tries to help his partner. Lance Storm slides back into the ring, and now we have a 2 on 2 brawl between the two teams. The referee throws the match out as WCW officials hit the ring to separate the teams. 54. With the two teams still trying to have a go at each other, Torrie Wilson grabs a microphone outside the ring. She tells both teams to stop, then says that since Lance Storm is in the TV title final at The Great American Bash, then Team Canada should take on Palumbo and O'Haire on the following Nitro. Now somewhat calmed down, both teams voice their agreement from in the ring. 50. Looks like there's no main event match on this episode, as the WCW officials remain around the outside of the ring after Team Canada and Palumbo and O'Haire have both left while Eric Bischoff makes his entrance. As he walks to the ring some production hands hurriedly set up a table for the contract signing. I guess all the referees and backstage personnel are there as security? Bischoff gets into the ring, holding a stack of papers and a microphone. He says it's now time to sign the contracts for both the Tag Team title match and the World title match at Great American Bash, this Sunday live on pay-per-view. First, he introduces the challengers: Sting, Booker T, and Diamond Dallas Page. The three men make their way to the ring together, weaving through the makeshift security force at ringside to get in the ring. Next, Bischoff introduces the champions: Perfection, the WCW World Champion Scott Steiner, the WCW Tag Team Champions Lex Luger and Buff Bagwell, and Ric Flair. Perfection come to the ring with just as much arrogant swagger as always. They enter the ring and immediately go toe-to-toe with DDP, Sting, and Booker. Bischoff and a couple of referees who got back into the ring step in between to separate the two groups. As the challengers, Booker T and Sting are to sign first. Booker T takes a mic of his own and says it's been a long time since he was a tag team champion, and winning those titles back will be icing on the cake of beating two arrogant pricks like Luger and Bagwell. Booker signs. Next Sting takes the mic from Booker. He says for all of his career, the one thing he's hated more than anything else is a bully. The NWO were bullies, and he fought them for years. Now Perfection are bullies, so he's here to fight them too, and at the Great American Bash he's going to do what good people always do to bullies: stand up to them and take them down. Sting signs. Buff Bagwell takes a mic now. I guess this is what we're doing. Bagwell says Booker and Sting can talk all the trash they want, but when it's all over, the Stuff and the Total Package will still be the tag team champions. Bagwell signs. Luger takes the microphone from Bagwell. He says that he and Sting go back a long way, and one thing he knows that Sting has always known is that Luger is better than he could ever be. At Great American Bash, Sting is going to have to learn that lesson again. Luger signs. Bischoff gets back on his mic and says, "Ok, that is that for the tag team match. Now for the World title match." DDP takes Sting's microphone. He thinks for a second, then says, "Hold on, Bischoff. See, I might not be the smartest guy on the planet, but I'm not stupid, and one thing I've noticed is whenever one of these jokers gets in a match, the others come running to help as soon as he's in trouble. They screwed me out of the title at The Big Bang, but I won't let them screw me this time. Steiner, if you've got the backbone, let's make this a cage match." Crowd pops big for that line. Scott Steiner takes Luger's mic. He says, "Page, I could beat you in the ring, in the parking lot, on the roof, in the street, down the road at Denny's, or anywhere else in the universe. You want me to beat you in a cage? You got it, punk." Bischoff makes some edits to the contract, presumably changing it to a steel cage match. Bischoff says, "All right, cage match it is, pinfall or submission." DDP signs. Scott Steiner signs next, and gets right in Page's face. Nitro goes off the air with the World CHampion and the number one contender staring each other down as the announcers remind us that Great American Bash will be live on pay-per-view Sunday Week 4, June 2001. 81. A phenomenal ending is unfortunately brought down by what is a rather sub-par rest of the show. Overall rating: 63.

WCW Nitro - Wednesday Week 3 June, 2001 (airs Friday Week 3 June, 2001) Our second round of Nitro tapings kicked off again at the Hard Rock Cafe Arena in Las Vegas, NV, with a pre-show featuring AJ Styles defeating Cash via pinfall at 7:32 (34), Shawn Stasiak defeating Norman Smiley by pinfall at 8:28 (49), and Jeff Jarrett beating Ernest "The Cat" Miller via submission at 10:01 (61). Jarrett especially is someone I had expected to see more of in this rebooted WCW, but so far his role has been relatively minimal. Since he doesn't have a spot in the top storyline of DDP and Sting against Perfection, that likely means there's just no room for Jarrett right now in a one-hour TV show. Hopefully in the future he can get more screen time. I am also told that, before the tapings, Alan Funk was told that his services are no longer needed in WCW due to an apparent attitude problem backstage. The proper show kicks off with another video recap of last week's show focusing on Ric Flair joining Perfection and Luger getting DDP to tap out during the main event. Then we go inside the arena for the usual pyro show for the 2,000 fans in attendance. 69. We go immediately into action with the last quarter-final match of the World Television Title tournament, Lance Storm vs. Konnan, with Storm's Team Canada partner Mike Awesome at ringside. These two really show what kind of talents they are as they have an entertaining match that the crowd really gets into. The finish saw Konnan with an advantage until Mike Awesome slipped a foreign object to Storm and then climbed up on the apron to distract the ref, allowing Storm to nail Konnan with the object and slap on the Canadian Maple Leaf for the submission win at 9:12. 54. Storm and Awesome celebrate in the ring until Chuck Palumbo, Sean O'Haire, and Torrie Wilson come out onto the stage. Torrie says it was really cute how Team Canada tried to jump one of her guys last week, but she wonders if they're just as tough in a straight up match. She says that since Storm is going to be busy with the next tournament match next week, how about Mike Awesome step in the ring against Sean O'Haire? Palumbo smirks and nods to accept, and it looks like we'll get Mike Awesome vs. Sean O'Haire on the next episode. 49. We then cut to a backstage promo with Diamond Dallas Page and Sting. Sting says it was bad enough that Lex Luger, his old friend, fell in behind a psycho like Scott Steiner, but Ric Flair too? He says Flair could be the elder statesman of WCW, helping to lead it into the new millenium, but he chose to go back to his old ways and join up with egomaniacs who want to take over. And, of course, there are four of them. Sting says Perfection might have an advantage, but if they want a war, they're going to get it. Page takes over here, telling us he has a match tonight with Lex Luger to avenge his defeat last week. Kinda wish they had told us that's the main event earlier in the show, but oh well. Page says he's already beaten Bagwell, he had Steiner beat at The Big Bang, and now he's going to go three for four against the Total Package tonight. Page is really becoming the workhorse of the WCW main event scene, and I'm not mad at it. The fans don't seem to be either. 68. Next we have the hotly anticipated in-ring debut of Rob Van Dam as he takes on...Disco Inferno. It's, well, it's fine I guess. Nothing offensive but also nothing groundbreaking. RVD takes the win via pinfall after a Frog Splash at 6:35. Not quite a squash, but definitely designed to put RVD over for his match at Great American Bash against Tommy Dreamer. 47. We cut to a pre-taped promo showing Dustin Rhodes in a hospital bed hooked up to various monitors. He tells us, with a weak-sounding voice, that he suffered a serious concussion and a couple of bruised ribs from Kanyon's attacks. He says that he's going to be at the Great American Bash whether his doctors clear him or not, and he's going to show Kanyon just how well he can stand on his own. 54. Now it's time for the main event. Perfection come out first, the four of them talking smack to the crowd as they get to the ring. DDP comes out next alone, charging to the ring, sliding in, and immediately throwing bombs at Luger. The two put in a really good match, especially by Luger's standards although his selling left a lot to be desired, and the fans were really into it. DDP would get an advantage over Luger, but then someone from Perfection would distract him, or distract the referee while someone else helped Luger, or something else. Basically the story of this match is that DDP took on four guys by himself and held his own except when they ganged up on him. Page is coming out of this looking like a million bucks and Perfection look like an unstoppable group. Around the 9-minute mark, heel shenanigans cut Page off again and Luger lifted him up for the Torture Rack. DDP manages to roll around and land back on his feet, surprising Luger with a Diamond Cutter. Page makes the cover, but Bagwell drags the referee out of the ring. Steiner, Flair, and Bagwell all get in and start putting the boots to Page. Sting runs out from the back next, charging into the ring himself and taking on all four men. He gets some shots in but the numbers game turns against him and he starts taking a beating along with Page. All the while the referee is calling for the bell to throw the match out. 70. As it looks like Sting and DDP are in a hopeless situation, Booker T's music plays. Booker runs out from the back in street clothes with a steel chair, sliding into the ring. He lays Bagwell out with the chair as the other three jump out of the ring. Bagwell rolls to the apron and Luger and Flair help him down. The four make their way to the stage as Booker grabs a microphone. He says that while he's been injured, he's been watching Scott Steiner, Lex Luger, Buff Bagwell, and now Ric Flair try to throw their weight around and bully all of WCW, while DDP and Sting try to fight off the bullies. Booker says even when Perfection has the numbers, Page and Sting didn't back down or give up, and that's the kind of competitor, the kind of man, that Booker wants to be. He says he's there to announce that his shoulder is healed, his doctors have cleared him to get back in the ring, and he can't help but notice that Luger and Bagwell aren't scheduled to defend the tag titles at the Great American Bash yet. He says that since DDP has a match with Steiner, how about Sting team with him and the two of them become tag team champions? Sting, now back on his feet, shakes Booker's hand and the three pose for the crowd as the show ends. 73. Overall: 68

The Dirt Sheet - Saturday Week 2 June, 2001 TV ratings for the rebooted WCW Nitro, airing Friday nights on FX in the US along with several other countries, are holding at just under half a million per week. The large majority of these viewers are in the US and in Mexico, where Nitro airs on 52MX. According to reports, WCW leadership and the broadcasters are all satisfied with these numbers, though everyone expects (and hopes) they will increase over time. The new WCW is building steadily toward the Great American Bash pay-per-view at the end of June. The company is hoping to improve on its viewership figures over The Big Bang, with a lead storyline involving Perfection, the new faction of Scott Steiner, Lex Luger, Buff Bagwell, and now Ric Flair, in conflict with Diamond Dallas Page and Sting. Sources are being very tight-lipped about future plans, though, and as of press time we do not know if or when Page and Sting will gain some new allies to even the odds. Down the card we also have an interesting story brewing between Shane Douglas, Tommy Dreamer, and Rob Van Dam, that was only slightly changed after Shane Douglas suffered what I'm told was knee ligament damage at The Big Bang. RVD is especially under pressure to perform, as I'm told he came in on a fat contract due to a bidding war between WCW and the WWF for his services. WCW won, but may have spent way too much. I am told it isn't the proverbial "Sting money," but with various incentives for merchandise and bonuses, it should make the former ECW star one of the higher-paid talents on the roster. Despite WCW continuing to lose money, they've made a splash in the free agent market, signing almost a dozen new workers. All of them will start off in NWA Wildside, which WCW is using as a development territory. I've heard names such as Trent Acid, Johnny Kashmere, Christopher Daniels, Homicide, and Colt Cabana have all signed exclusive contracts and are expected to report to Georgia soon. Speaking of money, WCW's leadership is feeling the squeeze regarding its budget situation. The company is still financially comfortable right now, but there is a pressing need to break even and start generating profits as soon as possible to guarantee the company will have any kind of future. Several ideas are reportedly on the table to cut costs, including shutting down the Power Plant, a further reduction in production expenses, and cutting some talent that just aren't necessary now that the company has gone from having roughly six hours of TV per week plus house shows to only having to fill one hour per week. I expect we may start seeing some releases begin around early July.

WCW Nitro - Wednesday Week 2 June, 2001 (airs Friday Week 2) After a brief intermission following the conclusion of the debut episode of Nitro, WCW taped another one-hour episode to air Friday of Week 2. Presumably to give fans that decided to go to the bathroom or hit up the merch or concession stands time to get back to their seats before taping resumed, the second taping had a pre-show of two matches. First, Reno defeated developmental talent John Cena by pinfall at 7:15 in a pretty bad match, though John Cena may have actually out-worked Reno. I hear that Cena has the eye of the WCW bookers as a future star, so expect to see more of him over time. The next pre-show bout involved Elix Skipper and Kid Romeo beating America's Most Wanted in 8:42 when Skipper pinned Chris Harris. Skipper and Romeo's days as a tag team are probably close to ending, as they have very little chemistry working together and it totally killed this match. Now on to the proper show. We open again with the same decent but unspectacular pyro display as the announcers welcome us to the second episode of the new WCW Nitro as a video recapping the end of last week's Nitro, with Sting and DDP challenging Perfection to a tag match. 73. The video transitions back to the arena where Gene Okerlund is standing on the stage. Thank you wrestling gods, Mean Gene is back. Okerlund introduces Perfection, who come out to Steiner's siren theme, each man holding a title belt. Okerlund wastes no time getting to the point: DDP and Sting challenged Perfection to a tag match tonight. Do they accept, and if so, who will be the two in the match? Steiner says of course they accept because they ain't no punks. He says Lex Luger and Buff Bagwell will gladly step in the ring with DDP and Sting. Luger and Bagwell, who clearly didn't get the memo that they'd be volunteering for anything, give Steiner a pair of confused looks and start to interrupt. Steiner turns to both men and assures them that everything will be fine because he has a plan. Mean Gene asks what plan Steiner is talking about, but the three men walk away while high-fiving. 64. Next we see another match in the TV title tournament, this time between Rey Mysterio Jr and Johnny Swinger. Mysterio does his usually flippy stuff and comes away with the victory via pinfall at 7:41 after a Springbroad Hurricanrana. Crowd was into it just for Rey, but Swinger should probably go down to NWA Wildside to get some more practice. 52. After the match we go to the backstage area, where Jeremy Borash cautiously approaches Kanyon, who is hanging out sitting under a staircase laughing to himself. Borash asks Kanyon why he attacked Dustin Rhodes twice. Kanyon says daddy's boy had to learn the hard way that his name can't always save him. That's about all I could understand, as both men struggled to come up with coherent things to say. Awkward. 46. After that bizarre interview segment we go back to the ring where Fit Finlay has already come out, but he is quickly joined by Chuck Palumbo with Torrie Wilson at his side. The two put on a rather simple but entertaining contest, probably thanks to Finlay as Palumbo is still pretty green. Seems likely that the idea here is to hope some of Finlay's experience can rub off on Palumbo. Palumbo gets the win at 9:07 by a torture rack, and I'm kind of surprsied WCW is letting him use that finisher with Lex Luger having such a prominent storyline role so far. 57. After the match, Mike Awesome and Lance Storm hit the ring and attack Palumbo. I guess this is one storyline WCW decided to continue despite the company-wide reboot. Sean O'Haire runs out to save his partner. Cookie-cutter stuff, except O'Haire was so eager to get out there he almost ran poor Torrie over. 38. A video plays recapping the events involving Shane Douglas, RVD, Tommy Dreamer, and the US title so far. The announcers tell us that next week we will see RVD's in-ring debut. 38. And now we've arrived at our main event, Sting and Diamond Dallas Page vs. Lex Luger and Buff Bagwell of Perfection. For a one hour show they got plenty of time, with lots of back and forth. Scott Steiner was at ringside but didn't get actively involved except for taunting the babyfaces a few times. At the end of the match, Sting made a hot tag to DDP and Page started going to town on Lex Luger, who only slightly sold any of it, as Sting lay on the ring apron to recover. Suddenly RIC FLAIR comes down the entrance way and stands at ringside as Bagwell distracts the referee, and oh man he's got a chair! Luger reverses an irish whip and sends Page into the ropes where Flair cracks him in the back with the steel chair. Page stumbles forward, with Luger picking him up and laying on the torture rack. Sting tries to get up to make the save but Steiner holds his boot and Page taps out at 11:31. Perfection wins, and apparently gain a fourth member. 75. This show dragged in the middle but that ending made up for it by far. I had wondered if Flair was going to ever make an appearance--I knew he was still on the roster, but didn't know if he had a role on camera in the new WCW, so this show answered my question. My guess is they'll use him as more of a manager/mentor type of character for the other three, with the possibility of periodic in-ring work. Overall rating: 69

WCW Nitro - Wednesday Week 1 June, 2001 (airs Friday Week 1) WCW's relaunch of Nitro, now without the Monday in the name, aired from the Hard Rock Cafe Arena in Las Vegas, NV a venue that we hear is going to be the permanent home for Nitro tapings for the forseeable future. The show began with a highlight video recapping the events of The Big Bang before a modest pyro show with a wide-ish shot of the 2,000 fans--all paid, I'm told, though the tickets are going pretty cheap since WCW is expecting to rely almost entirely on TV and PPV revenue to stay afloat--packing the arena to capacity. We begin with Jeremy Borash standing on the stage and introducing the former WCW World Heavyweight Champion, Booker T, to a pretty impressive crowd reaction. Booker came out onto the stage still with his arm in a sling to sell his shoulder injury. Word is that Booker's shoulder is healed but WCW bookers want to stretch out his in-ring return to build anticipation. Borash says he can't imagine how disappointed Booker must be to have been unable to compete and defend the World title at WCW's return show. Booker agrees, saying he would've given anything to raise that belt in front of thousands of cheering fans and prove once again that he deserved to be called the champion of the world, but luck had other ideas. Booker says that even though Scott Steiner is the champion now--a title he needed help to win, by the way--Booker plans to challenge for it as soon as the doctors say he can get back in the ring. Suddenly the familiar siren of Scott Steiner's entrance plays, and out comes World Champion Scott Steiner along with Tag Team Champions Lex Luger and Buff Bagwell, a title belt over each man's shoulder, looking smug. Steiner interrupts the interview by grabbing Borash's hand and pull it to himself so he can speak into the microphone. He says that what Booker should plan to do is shut his whiny mouth, because Steiner, Luger, Bagwell, and all the fans know that Booker just wasn't man enough to keep his spot. Steiner adds that he doesn't understand why Borash is starting the return of Nitro by interviewing this broken down chump when he could be interviewing the World Champion with The Largest Arms In The World . Booker says yeah, I see you've got your backup with you, and you wouldn't have that belt if they hadn't saved you. Steiner cuts him off, telling him to shut up and realize that he's looking at perfection--and that's what everyone can call the three of them: Perfection. They've joined up to run all over WCW, to prove they're the strongest, the smartest, and the toughest, and it's time for weak little boys like Booker to make room. With that, Steiner takes the world title off his shoulder and lays Booker out with it. Booker hits the stage, and Luger and Bagwell pile on, the three of them stomping and pounding on Booker until a whole host of referees break them up. The crowd was eating up every bit of it. 62. Up next, for a change of pace so sudden I may have gotten whiplash, we get Chavo Guerrero Jr. beating Norman Smiley by pinfall at 6:06 in what the announcers told us is the first match of the tournament to crown a new TV champion. They remind us that Shane Helms, as the last Cruiserweight champion, earned a first-round bye. Perfectly acceptable match from these two. 54. After the match Chavo grabs a microphone, and with a crazy look on his face leans on the ropes staring into a camera. He says that Shane Helms never beat him, and Shane Helms can't beat him, because Chavo is no loser. 42. The cameras take us to the back, as Eric Bischoff is sitting at a desk pretending to look over paperwork. Diamond Dallas Page walks in, as the crowd cheers loudly in the background. He says Bischoff knows he'd be WCW Champion if he hadn't been blindsided at The Big Bang, and he wants a chance to prove it. Bischoff, heeling it up as only he can, tells Page that he got his shot in the tournament and came up short. "But," Bischoff says with his trademark shit-eating grin, "since I'm such a charitable person, I'll give you one more opportunity: take on Buff Bagwell tonight, and if you win, you get another shot at the World title." I guess we have our main event for tonight. 68. We go back to the ring where Rick Steiner is already out, followed by Sean O'Haire and Torrie Wilson, who apparently will now be managing O'Haire and Palumbo. Which is unfortunate, because they both look incredibly uncomfortable and awkward together. We see O'Hair defeat Rick Steiner via pinfall after a Widow Maker at 7:44. Match was fine, I guess, but it's very obvious which Steiner Brother has the faith of WCW management. 51. Backstage again we see Tommy Dreamer walking down a hall. Around a corner comes Rob Van Dam, and the two almost run into each other. Dreamer says that was a nice stunt RVD pulled at The Big Bang, coming out to take his thunder. RVD says Dreamer should chill out, man, because he didn't know Dreamer had planned to challenge Douglas anyway. Both of them argue about who should be #1 contender to the US title, until Shane Douglas comes into view with a heavy knee brace on. He says that, obviously, he can't compete any time soon, but he does have a solution: how about Dreamer and RVD face each other, and whoever wins gets the first crack at the US title once Douglas is healed up. RVD and Dreamer consider this idea and shake on it, agreeing to compete at the Great American Bash. Nice of WCW to give us a match to look forward to this early on. 47. Now it's time for the main event, which is odd since it feels like the show just started. In a time when two-hour TV shows are the norm, one hour just goes by so quickly. Anyway, DDP comes out first, followed by Buff Bagwell who comes out alone. The two have an entertaining brawl, with the crowd getting into it, though Bagwell was about a step or so behind through most of it. Towards the end of the match, Lex Luger came down the entrance way, shooing the timekeeper out of his chair. Luger picks up the chair and folds it, acting as if he's waiting for an opportunity to attack Page and cost him the shot at the World title he's fighting for. But suddenly, Sting runs down the aisle and delivers a stiff forearm shot to Luger. Luger drops the chair and the two men begin brawling. In the ring, DDP is down after a vertical suplex, but Bagwell fails to capitalize as he's drawn to Luger fighting Sting. Page takes advantage of the distraction, shoving Bagwell into the turnbuckles, only to turn around and eat a diamond cutter. Page makes the cover and picks up the win, as Scott Steiner runs out to help Luger fight Sting off. Luger, Bagwell, and Steiner backpeddle up the entrance way. 61. As Tony Schiavone calls Sting the "guardian angel of WCW," Stinger grabs a microphone. He says it's only been two shows and he's already sick of seeing the muscled morons acting like schoolyard bullies, trying to throw their weight around and cheat when they can't win fair and square. He says if "Perfection" really wants to see who the real men are, then he and DDP will take on any two of them next week on Nitro. The crowd is pretty much going nuts. 78. Overall a solid re-debut for Nitro. Overall rating: 69

The Dirt Sheet - Monday Week 1 June, 2001 World Championship Wrestling made a triumphant return to pay-per-view last night, headlined by a tournament for the newly-vacant WCW World Heavyweight title that culminated in Diamond Dallas Page losing to Scott Steiner after some shenanigans, and drawing around 8500 fans to the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas and reportedly more than half a million viewers combined in the US, the UK, Japan, Mexico, and Australia. Also during the broadcast, we saw Eric Bischoff, the face of the Fusient Media consortium that recently purchased WCW, announce the company's return to cable in the US on the F/X network. Its parent company, Fox, seems to be cautiously optimistic about bringing on a company that has certainly seen better days, giving them a time slot on Friday nights to prove themselves. The show is scheduled to air from 10-11 PM weekly, with two episodes taped every other Wednesday, likely also in Las Vegas until the company decides it has built up enough of a fan base to tour again. The show, again called WCW Nitro, will also air on 52MX in Mexico, Eurosport UK in the UK, the Ten Network in Australia, all of which are also the broadcast partners for large events, and cable network GAORA in Japan. Though the show was a success, there were some issues with segments running too long, such as the closing stand-off between Sting and the as-yet-unnamed faction of Scott Steiner, Lex Luger, and Buff Bagwell. Shane Douglas also suffered a knee injury during the US title four-way, and he is expected to miss about a month. Booker T's shoulder injury seems to be healed and he is cleared to compete, but WCW may decide to stretch his injury out longer as a storyline to build anticipation for his in-ring return. Rumor has it Lex Luger also failed a drug test at the event, testing positive for steroid use. An anonymous source told The Dirt Sheet that, "you don't need a drug test to know Luger is on the juice, no one in management really cares."

WCW The Big Bang - Sunday, Week 4, 2001 WCW presented its rebirth, titled The Big Bang, live on-pay-per-view from the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. A total of 8,564 fans were in attendance, less than the 10,000-person capacity but a respectable gate for a company that has been dormant for so long after experiencing such a rapid decline as WCW. Production values have obviously declined from the company's peak, as the loss of financial backing from a media powerhouse like Time Warner (and having essentially no income for a month) meant the company had to cut as many costs as possible. The venue has a decent set design, but nothing spectatular and certainly nothing comparable to the WWF or even to pre-Fusient WCW. It is important to remember, though, that this is essentially a brand new company trying to build itself. The pre-show opened with 3 Count, the team of Evan Karagias and Shannon Moore, coming to the ring complaining about not being on the main card and demanding a match. Chris Harris and James Storm come out dressed in dusters and cowboy hats calling themselves America's Most Wanted, trying their best to turn babyface with this badass cowboy gimmick change. Unfortunately the fans don't really care. 14. The confrontation leads to a match and, well, it was a match. America's Most Wanted get the win when Chris Harris scored a pin fall on Karagias. 29. WCW is clearly using it's pre-show to get some younger talent more experience in the ring, as next up we had AJ Styles going over Alan Funk. Terrible chemistry between the two hurt the match. 29. Now finally the main show opens with a video package highlighting the stars we would expect: Booker T, Sting, Scott Steiner, Diamond Dallas Page, Jeff Jarrett, Lex Luger, Ric Flair. After the video we get a wide shot of the arena and a decent if, shall we say, limited pyro display and the familiar voices of Tony Schiavone, Mike Tenay, and Bobby Heenan welcoming us to the rebirth of World Championship Wrestling. 59. The show kicks off with immediate action as we get a triple threat match between Cruiserweight Champion Shane Helms, Chavo Guerrero Jr., and Billy Kidman. The three were clearly trying to get the crowd excited--an odd decision since the crowd was already pretty hot--with a fast-paced and well-executed match. Shane Helms scores the win and the title defense when he pinned Billy Kidman after a Vertebreaker. 51. After the match, Chavo is clearly heated at losing the match without being pinned himself, but he makes his way to the back along with Kidman and the referee. Helms remains in the ring celebrating with his title, when suddenly some new music starts playing. Out through the curtain walks the new owner (sort of) of WCW, Eric Bischoff himself, his formerly dyed black hair now a gentlemanly gray. He soaks up the booing from the crowd as he walks down the aisle and gets in the ring to Helms' confusion. Bischoff asks the crowd if they enjoyed that first match of the new WCW, and gets some respectable applause. He says that's great, because it was the first, last, and only Cruiserweight title match they would see. Helms begins to protest but Bischoff holds up a hand. He goes on to say that's because the Cruiserweight title is being retired, and will be replaced by the returning WCW World Television title, with a new champion being crowned at the next WCW pay-per-view, the Great American Bash, next month. Shane Helms, as the last Cruiserweight champion, will not only enter the tournament, he will get a first round bye as a reward. Bischoff then tells the thankful Helms to get out of his ring. As Helms leaves, Bischoff also says that the reason he is bringing back the Television title is because WCW Nitro will return to cable television this coming Friday night at 10 PM on the F/X network! Again, respectable applause. Personally that timeslot sounds like death, but the good news is that F/X and its Fox parent company likely won't expect much in the way of ratings that late on a Friday night, so it may work out in WCW's favor if it doesn't cost too much. Overall, though, this is good news: it's a new revenue stream in addition to pay-per-view for a company that, since it reportedly won't be running house shows any time soon, is entirely TV-focused. After that announcement the familiar police siren plays and out comes Scott Steiner and Midajah. Steiner flexes for the audience before getting into the ring. Steiner confronts Bischoff and says he doesn't give a fat girl's fart about the television title; the World Title is vacant because Booker T is too hurt--or too scared--to compete, so Steiner believes he should have the title as the most recent champion. Bischoff says he understands Steiner's point, but it's already been decided that the World title will be decided in a one-night tournament, and Steiner's first-round match is starting....now. 76. In a decent but short match Scott Steiner beat Hugh Morrus with a Steiner Recliner at 8:05 and literally no one is surprised. Still, the action was good even though Steiner was about half a step off the whole time. Must be ring rust. 65. After the match the camera cuts to the back where Shane Helms is coming out of the locker room only to be blindsided by Chavo Guerrero, Jr., who yells about how it isn't fair that Helms gets a free pass for the TV title when Chavo didn't even get beaten. 44. The next match, also in the World title tournament as the announce team tells us, had Dustin Rhodes beating Kanyon by disqualification at 14:40 when Kanyon's crazy ass found a trash can lid under the ring and absolutely brained Rhodes with it. After the bell rang Kanyon lost his mind even more and started pummeling Rhodes with the lid until it was bent up like a pretzel. 56. Up next, Diamond Dallas Page cut a backstage promo hyping himself up for the World title tournament. He says WCW needs a champion that fans can be proud of, someone who paid his dues and clawed his way from nothing to the top, and that someone is none other than D-D-P. Put a mic in this man's hand and money comes out. He's still got it. 83. Right after the promo we get DDP again, defeating Rick Steiner via pinfall after a diamond cutter at 9:23. Diamond Cutter is still over as hell, even in 2001. 63. From there we go straight into another tournament match, this time we see Jeff Jarrett beat Konnan via pinfall at 10:17. During the match the ref went down, giving Jarrett an opening to grab his guitar and smash it over Konnan's head before waking the referee up and making the pin. 61. After the match Jarrett got on the mic and cut a promo in the ring about how great he is and how he's going to win the World title again tonight. 61. The next match is a break in the tournament, as we see Chuck Palumbo and Sean O'Haire defend the World Tag titles against Lex Luger and Buff Bagwell. Scott Steiner inexplicably comes to the ring and bashes O'Haire on the back with a steel chair as Bagwell was distracting the referee. O'Haire sold it and stumbled towards Luger, right into the Torture Rack. Totally Buff win the World Tag titles via submission at 12:05. Steiner just walks to the back as Luger and Bagwell celebrate in the ring. 60. Next we see Scott Steiner make his entrance to the ring again, acting like nothing happened, for the next tournament match against Dustin Rhodes. Rhodes' music plays for an uncomfortably long time before he emerges from the curtain, a bandage on his head and stumbling as if he's concussed or something. A couple of referees and an EMT walk with him trying to stop him from competing in the match, but Rhodes is having none of it as he makes his way down the aisle. Unfortunately for Rhodes, as Steiner is in the ring waiting, Kanyon comes out from the back and attacks Rhodes again. Kanyon beats Rhodes down, throwing him into the ringside barricade, and delivering a flatliner onto the entrance way. WCW staff finally come out to pull Kanyon off, but the damage is done, and the referee in the ring has no choice but to award the win to Scott Steiner, who advances to the finals. 70. We go next to our other semi-final match, seeing Diamond Dallas Page defeat Jeff Jarrett at 14:31 by pinfall with another diamond cutter. After an entertaining back and forth brawl, Jarrett again tried for a guitar shot but missed, hitting the ring post instead, and turned into the diamond cutter. 67. Backstage we see Booker T, the former (and unbeaten) WCW World Heavyweight Champion, with his arm in a sling to protect his injured shoulder. Despite the injury he's got all the energy in the world, and as he tells the audience that he's still the uncrowned World champion he makes you want to believe him. Booker says that whether it's Page or Steiner wearing the belt when the night is over, it belongs to him, and he's coming for it again. 86. We get another break in the tournament next, as we see a four way match for the also-vacant WCW US title, with Shane Douglas vs. Bam Bam Bigelow vs. Lance Storm vs. Rey Mysterio Jr. This match definitely brought the crowd down slightly from Booker T's promo, but it wasn't bad. Shane Douglas scored the pin on Mysterio after a belly to belly suplex to win the US title, but Douglas was visibly limping after the match and I am told by one backstage source that he suffered some sort of knee injury. 54. Despite the limp Douglas remained in the ring to celebrate his win to the jeers of the fans, but he's soon interrupted by some unfamiliar music. Through the crowd on one side of the ring comes TOMMY DREAMER! The announce team go insane as they recognize who has come to WCW. Dreamer, mic in his hand, stands with the crowd, giving Douglas a wry "remember me Shane?" Dreamer says that with ECW gone, he had to find a new company to call home, and what better way to make WCW his home than by beating a serial turncoat like Douglas, and taking the US title will be icing on the cake. But hold on. It seems we're not done, as some other new music plays. On the other side of the ring, also through the audience, is ROB VAN DAM! RVD IS IN WCW TOO! RVD has a mic of his own, and he says he also came to WCW to make a new name for himself and build on his success from ECW. And since Dreamer wanted to have a little reunion with Douglas, RVD figured he should come join the party. Douglas says they just saw him win the US title against three other men, so why would he be afraid to fight two? Especially two bingo hall has-beens. Douglas asks if Dreamer and RVD feel intimidated to be in a real arena with 12,000 fans instead of a shack with the same 200 people for every show. By now both Dreamer and RVD have made their way to the ring. The mics are dropped and the three of them go nose-to-nose-to-nose until WCW staff hit the ring to pull them apart. 53. After those two big surprises, up next is the main event to crown the new WCW World Heavyweight Champion. These two brawl all over the ring and outside it, until at the end Steiner is on the mat and Page decides to go to the middle rope. Just then, Lex Luger and Buff Bagwell come out from the back, Bagwell from the entrance way and Luger through the crowd behind Page. Page stands on the middle turnbuckle jawing at Bagwell, who also has the referee's attention, which gives Luger time to swing a steel chair at Page's back. Page falls back, sitting on the top turnbuckle and somehow not falling off, as Steiner stands up, climbs the ropes, and delivers a Frankensteiner that almost kills Page. Steiner scores the pin fall at 16:32 after the interference to become the NEW WCW World Heavyweight Champion. 76. Luger and Bagwell climb into the ring and embrace Steiner, raising his arms as the three of them make it clear they've been in cahoots the whole time. The audience starts to throw trash into the ring as the three men put the boots to Page, who is still down on the mat. But the audience starts to cheer for some reason we don't know until the camera finally moves to catch STING climbing over the ring barricade. He slides into the ring, baseball bat in hand, and swings wild at the three heels who immediately roll out of the ring and make a hasty retreat towards the back. Sting stands in the ring beside Page's prone body pointing the baseball bat at the three men as the broadcast goes off the air. Timing seemed to be a little off here, as there was an awkwardly long period of standing around before the show went off the air after Tony Schiavone reminds us to catch WCW on F/X this Friday at 10. 56. Overall not a bad return show at all. We got to see all the usual stars of WCW while also highlighting a (very) few new faces, but the stories that began seem coherent. Early reports are that the show got a buy rate of about 0.65, good for 261,193 buys, and in countries where it was not on pay-per-view got another 304,355 viewers, for a total of 556,548 viewers. Overall rating: 76

(A few months ago a friend and I created a private group on Facebook just for the two of us to post brief write-ups of our TEW shows. I found that it made the game more fun for me to play, since I had someone else reacting to the stories that I previously only had in my head. My friend deactivated his facebook for now, so I decided to put posts from this new save in here. I have three jobs and two kids, so updates may not be regular, and I don't know how to do all the fancy graphics and formatting that others like to put in their diaries. Mostly this is just here for me. But if you don't mind a fairly minimalist presentation, feel free to give it a read. I hope you enjoy it. This is in TEW 2020 with a modified version of Genadi's 2001 mod from TEW 2016. I've asked Genadi for permission to release it publicly and gotten no response, but if he ever decides to allow it I'd be happy to release it.) World Championship Wrestling 2001 - The Resurrection The Dirt Sheet - Monday Week 1, May, 2001 Eric Bischoff, along with his investor group Fusient Media Ventures, has successfully completed the purchase of World Championship Wrestling from Time Warner for an undisclosed sum. Reportedly, the deal includes all intellectual property and trademarks of the promotion, along with all currently contracted talent except for Bill Goldberg, who is choosing to sit out the remaining 15 months of his Time Warner contract, and Kevin Nash, who has 8 months left on his Time Warner deal. Many in the entertainment industry suspected the proposed sale of WCW would fall through after Time Warner, and it's Turner Broadcasting subsidiary, expressed no interest in continuing to air WCW programming on its networks or on pay-per-view, but Fusient Media appear to be confident that WCW can find new broadcasters and secure a new TV deal. The current plan is to take the next month to lay a foundation for the new company, with a re-launch live on pay-per-view at the end of May. During this lull, Fusient Media will be bleeding money as they continue to pay contracted talent and staff without any real source of income, but sources say the belief among executives, including Bischoff, is that the company needs to go dark so that it can make a stronger return. However, the lack of shows does not mean that the leadership of the new WCW won't be hard at work securing new distribution deals and new television partners (though the amount of interest is as yet unknown), securing venues for future events, planning storylines, and scouting independent talent to fill out a roster that has suffered over the last couple of years. Reportedly, this new WCW has already secured a new pay-per-view deal with CableVision in the United States that will provide WCW with 30% of revenues, with talks ongoing with other pay-per-view and commercial providers in Japan, Mexico, the UK, and Australia to air The Big Bang and future major events. There are, of course, no plans to directly compete with the WWF--any possibility of that disappeared several years ago. Sources say that the new WCW will be positioned as a less risque alternative, but the emphasis will be on rebuilding WCW's brand without focusing on direct competition like in the recent past. There is no information yet on discussions to return WCW to TV yet, though it's possible an announcement could be kept quiet until the re-launch pay-per-view on Sunday, Week 4, 2001. Any new deal will probably be on a smaller network with less reach than TNT or TBS, and with the loss of access to Time Warner's production equipment and staff it is likely that WCW's production values will also be reduced. One early wrench thrown into the gears of this rebuilding project is the rumored shoulder injury of Booker T, the current WCW World and United States champion. Both titles have been vacated because Booker is unable to defend them on the re-launch, and WCW's new management want every title to be defended on the show. He is currently expected to be in the building for the re-launch pay-per-view, but there is no information as to whether he will appear on-screen. WCW released the following preview of it's return show: WCW The Big Bang - Preview See the rebirth of World Championship Wrestling LIVE on pay-per-view Sunday Week 4, May, 2001. Eric Bischoff will be in the building to make some important announcements about the future of WCW, and all titles will be on the line including the WCW World Heavyweight and United States titles that are newly-vacant due to Booker T's injury. Matches scheduled so far: A tournament to crown a new WCW World Heavyweight Champion! Diamond Dallas Page vs. Rick Steiner Jeff Jarrett vs. Konnan Scott Steiner vs. Hugh Morrus Dustin Rhodes vs. Kanyon 4-Way for the vacant WCW United States Championship: Shane Douglas vs. Bam Bam Bigelow vs. Rey Mysterio Jr vs. Lance Storm WCW World Tag Team Champions Chuck Palumbo and Sean O'Haire vs. Buff Bagwell and Lex Luger for the Tag Team titles WCW Cruiserweight Champion Shane Helms vs. Chavo Guerrero Jr. vs. Billy Kidman Also in attendance: Sting, Booker T, Mike Awesome, and more! Card subject to change.

When I start a game, I get bombarded with what look like broadcaster warnings about requiring minimum popularity in more regions than they cover.

The title history for the Royal Rumble lists Shawn Michaels as winning the 1996 Rumble when the game starts, four months before it happened.

Is there a way to turn off the penalty for not building up a turn? I keep forgetting to set turns so they build up in segments before I do it, and now my turns are failing just because too many of them have been sudden.

<blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="The Nickman" data-cite="The Nickman" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="50201" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>In all seriousness, it’s probably quicker to go to preferences and change it so you add your segment at the end of the show just for that segment.<p> </p><p> Again, this is an annoying fix, but it works ok.</p></div></blockquote><p> </p><p> I did that. But I also tend to book the show opening and the show ending and then fill in the rest a lot of the time, so either way I'm clicking those annoying little arrows a lot.</p>

If you can't be bothered to give a basic explanation of the RAR file you want other people to download and use I can't be bothered to download it and figure out what it is.