Ufnal

This sounds awesome, can't wait to try it!

[The Low Regional companies I’ve been generating to simulate a “semi-pro” circuit and to generate random fighters have almost completely gone out, with only the ones in Japan and USA still alive. I decided to generate 1 more Unknown company in Russia, Mexico, South America and Europe, so that a few more characters get generated and both Mexico and Russia start developing.] [Ayan Shipman was to fight Ilyas Pell, but once again he got injured during training.] WFL 3: Welterweight Championship Tournament California, 31st May 1991 With the two WFL tournaments generating much money and momentum, a third tournament for the Welterweight division was planned. Despite some setbacks (a planned showcase bout between Ayan Shipman and Ilyas Pell got cancelled because the former got injured during training yet again), the card seemed promising and a similar attendance level was predicted. Welterweight Championship Tournament Quarterfinal matchups: Bronson ‘Screwball’ Sapp (White Texan Aikidoka, 23yo, 5’9”, 6-0, -230) vs Zach ‘The Warhammer’ Huck (Black Texan Kung Fu student, 24yo, 5’10”, 6-0, +180) The first fight of the night promises to be an interesting one, despite both fighters only having experience in local bouts against amateurs. Aptly nicknamed Screwball is an Aikidoka with a lot of confidence and energy and a respectable ground game, yet five out of six of his wins to date were knock outs in the first two minutes of the fight (the sixth was a quick takedown followed by killer ground pounding leading to TKO). It is hard to prepare against an opponent who can destroy you both standing and on the ground, and it’s no wonder that the bookies have judged him to be the favourite. However, Huck can be the perfect foil for him. With both decision and striking TKO wins under his belt, ‘The Warhammer’ has shown some great striking skills (including good kicking, as expected of an accomplished student of Kung Fu with some recognition in the sport). However, he’s also adept in the grappling game, especially in sprawling and takedown defence, and he seems to combine great heart and energy with a good head for strategy. A dashing and highly marketable character, always cracking jokes in his few media appearances, many think the WFL would actually prefer him to be the inaugural champion. ’Amazing’ Marvin Peel (Black Virginian Kickboxer, 24yo, 5’10”, 6-0, +100) vs ’Stylin’’Haydn Pack (Latin Oklahoman Wrestler, 20yo, 5’10”, 6-0, -110) The second bout of the tournament promises to be a very all-or-nothing kind of match. Marvin Peel is a locally accomplished kickboxer and his striking poses a real threat, as his six local level competitors will attest (four of them lost by TKO, two by an outright KO). However, he has next to no ground game as far as we can tell. His opponent, Haydn Pack, a state-level collegiate wrestler, despite having won his local fights by KO as well as submission and points, seems to be a threat mostly on the ground, with nothing he could really do to Peel in the striking department. So this match will probably boil down to weather the ‘Amazing’ can hit a good strike before he gets taken down and Style’d upon. Willie ‘Jackhammer’ Jarrett (White New Yorker Jiujitsuka, 20yo, 5’8”, 6-0, -700) vs Dominic ‘The Punishment Machine’ Batch (White Kentuckian Boxer, 24yo, 5’9”, 6-0, +550) Don’t let the odds fool you, this match is much closer than it might appear. Yes, ‘Jackhammer’ is a good student of Jiu Jitsu with placements in regional tournaments, and he’s shown off both good submission skills and knockout power in his local fights. Yes, his clinch & ground control and wrestling abilities are top-notch, and he’s known to study his opponents carefully and come with a plan. Yes, his opponent, ‘The Punishment Machine’, doesn’t have any notable achievements in his chosen sport of boxing. However, as his local bouts have shown, the man has a monstrous punch, with no semi-amateur local able to withstand even one round of his relentless pounding. His second ‘pro’ match was finished in 22 seconds with only one punch! What’s more, Batch is actually a proponent of the ‘sweet science’ school of boxing, and prepares for his opponents just as well as Jarrett does. So, while nobody has a shade of a doubt as to what happens if Jackhammer gets his hands on his prey, we’re not so sure he will actually be able to do it. ‘The Gladiator’ Callen Quarry (Black Missourian Kick Boxer, 4-0 (1-0 WFL), 24yo, 5’10”, -110) vs Javon Baggett (White Texan Wrestler, 3-0, 24yo, 5’7”, -110) The first man ever to fight his second bout in WFL, Quarry won a showcase match against Tomos ‘Topper’ Hooper on WFL 1. Back then, he’s threatened to “embarrass” Bronson Sapp, who sits at the other end of the quarterfinals, so this is a rivalry to watch. However, even with his three wins in semi-pro circle and a great 25 seconds TKO in his WFL debut, The Gladiator shouldn’t be too self-assured. Yes, he’s obviously a very dangerous striker capable of confusing his opponents by stance switching, but he will be facing an accomplished wrestler and a veteran of semi-pro circuit, perfectly capable of pinning him to the ground or to the cage and grinding out a win. Will Baggett go down the same way Hooper did? Middleweight Wrestling Showmatch: ’The Dragon’ Luis Peay (White Texan Wrestler, 25yo, 5’9”, 6-1, +340) vs Ilyas ‘The Menace’ Pell (White Floridian Shoot Wrestler, 25yo, 5’8”, 2-1, -430) Some say this showmatch is tainted by both the opponents already scoring a loss on the semi-pro circle. However, it is still an interesting clash of styles. Peay seems to belong to a type common among the wrestlers entering mixed martial arts – a decent grappler without the skill to reach the highest echelons of the sport, but with enough power in his hands to add a KO punch and dangerous ground striking to his wrestling arsenal. Peay showed off his punching in the local shows, and has exhibited an amount of heart and fire rare among pro MMA competitors, but a one-off semi-pro appearance saw him outwrestled and submitted by a semi-pro regular, Chad Wick. On the other hand, Ilyas Pell, while also quite strong and adept at punching, has quite a different background, having been trained in Japanese shoot wrestling and having some accomplishments in Floridian submission wrestling competitions. He went straight into the semi-pro circle from there, defeating Chad Wick in his first fight, but losing in his last outing to Crosby Oldham, Thai boxer who reached the semifinals of the WFL Middleweight Championship Tournament. Pell is known to come with a plan, execute it energetically from the get-go and perhaps choke a bit if things don’t go along with it. Overall, the match may be closer than the odds would have us believe. Semi-Main Event Light Heavyweight Showmatch Ray ‘Unshakeable’ Ewald (White Virginian Kick Boxer, 24yo, 6’1”, 8-0, +110) vs Keegan ‘Diesel’ Corbett (White Texan Kick Boxer, 21yo, 6’2”, 4-0, -150) The narrative here is not the usual “clash of styles”, but “greatest streak in LHW versus greatest semi-pro veteran in LHW”. Ray Ewald, not really well known in the kickboxing circles, has six wins in local events against local talent and two wins in semi-pro events, making him indeed have the best record among the US Light Heavyweights. He’s known to pack a good punch, but he also holds a submission win in a semi-pro match, and he’s shown he can go for the full length of a match without slowing down. Despite this considerable pedigree it’s Keegan, who had some degree of success in Texan kickboxing, who’s believed to be a slight favourite, and for a good reason. All four of Corbett’s semi-pro matches were finished in less than 22 seconds, with his first or second hit in the match scoring a KO! With two of those four knockouts being kicks, Corbett seems to be one of the relatively few mixed fighters to really utilize all of their limbs in a truly deadly manner. Combined with a fast-paced, ultra-intense attitude and an incredibly fast mouth that already spawned some heated rivalries in the semi-pro circles, Corbett may be the first breakout superstar in this new sport – if he can keep up his winning ways here. Prediction Card: Bronson Sapp vs Zach Huck (WW Tournament QF) Marvin Peel vs Haydn Pack (WW Tournament QF) Willie Jarrett vs Dominic Batch (WW Tournament QF) Callen Quarry vs Javon Baggett (WW Tournament QF) Luis Peay vs Ilyas Pell (MW) Sapp/Huck vs Peel/Pack (WW Tournament SF) Jarrett/Batch/Quarry/Baggett (WW Tournament SF) Ray Ewald vs Keegan Corbett (LHW) WW Tournament Final

<p>I tried asking that in another thread a while back, with no answer. Maybe I'll try here.</p><p> </p><p> AFAIK, TEW 2016 didn't generate new wrestlers that were blood related to existing wrestlers. Does 2020 do that? For organic/generated worlds, it's a huge deal.</p>

<p><em>//So yeah, after half a year of silence, with two updates in one month I guess I am sort of back? I had a break from TEW, but now I am getting the itch again, so I hope I will be posting a bit more. But, you know how those things go.</em></p><p><em> </em></p><p><em> I have almost 0 idea about Mexican wrestling, I'd really appreciate any input on how different/bizzare/predictable is the curent state of lucha in this save.</em></p>

<div style="text-align:center;"><p><span style="font-size:14px;">Mexico – A Kingdom Unchanged?</span></p><p><span style="font-size:14px;"> </span></p></div><p></p><p> </p><p> At first glance, Mexican lucha scene hasn’t changed much in the last ten years. Same three companies, same pecking order, same situation where no single promotion can truly be called a national phenomenon. Yet under this surface, some things have changed.</p><p> </p><p> <strong><span style="text-decoration:underline;">CMLL – The Wounded King</span></strong></p><p> </p><p> Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre is still the biggest promotion in Mexico and one of the most important NWA affiliates. However, 10 years ago their TV tapings could get up to 10,000 people in attendance and ratings over 8.00 (after getting moved to a prime spot at Televisa, earlier that year they were getting 3.50), and their PPVs had 20,000 people live and 0.50 buyrates. Nowadays, Superstellas ratings don’t even reach 2.50 with ~5000 people in the audience, and the audiences for the monthly events have similarly halved. Part of the problem is the generally poor state of the wrestling business, another part is the fact that CMLL programming simply doesn’t reach the heights it used to do. While 1997 saw CMLL lift the previous rule of not hiring new talents [which was due to a database bug I only noticed after simming for 10 years], El Dandy and Rayo de Jalisco Jr. remained the foundation on which the company was built, both through their legendary feud and working with newer luchadores. However, both of them are now way into their 40s and they both haven’t been ageing well. Fuerza Guerrera, another crucial worker who came into CMLL in 1998 after years of solid work in Japan, is 53 now and showing it. Rey Misterio, one of the most popular Mexican workers snatched from the competition in 1998, was amazing until he was 44-45, but he’s now 48 and in decline. Atlantis, a man who after leaving EMLL in 1989 won 9 titles in the other Mexican companies as well as working overseas before coming back to a great CMLL career (including an almost 3 year reign as the Mexican National Light Heavyweight Champion), is only just now starting to slow down at 44, but the signs are not looking good. Blue Demon Jr. at only 40 is looking much worse and quietly slipping down the ladder. Among the top echelons of CMLL, only Silver King (who has risen to the top 25 of world’s wrestlers in recent years with some legendary tag reigns) and Heavy Metal stand tall against the ravages of age. While there are some promising luchadores in the upper midcard of the promotion, from amazingly flashy Black Warrior to amazing-looking Rey Bucanero and the young sensation Perro Aguayo Jr, they’d need much more build to replace the ageing legends, and seeing how many 50-year-olds can be found in the midcard of CMLL, it seems that Paco Alonso isn’t too keen on drastic changes like that. That’s a particular shame for the women’s division, as Lola Gonzalez (31 years in the business and still as jaw-droppingly amazing as ever), Lioness Asuka (still one of the best female wrestlers in history) and Manami Toyota (who came to CMLL in 2004 after earning three title reigns and two Female Wrestler of the Year titles in the UK) could easily become an equally important part of the product as the male stars, if only they were given the chance.</p><p> </p><p> Those things are clearly contributing to CMLL’s problems. But perhaps the most important factor is that in February 2006, some of the company’s main financial backers were linked to organized crime. Millions of dollars were confiscated, all the broadcasting deals were cancelled by the companies trying to avoid blame by association, and CMLL’s prestige took a huge blow. As a result, the company had to take painful cost-cutting measures, letting go a large number of people, mostly long-adored veterans, including such crucial names as Jerry Estrada (once numbered among Four Corners of CMLL and still in top 10 most popular workers in Mexico) or Mil Mascaras. This shocking turn of events left a wound that the Kings (Emperors?) of Mexico are bearing to this day.</p><p> </p><p> <strong><span style="text-decoration:underline;">The Would-be Kings</span></strong></p><p> </p><p> The policy change that CMLL enacted in 1997 meant that UWA and WWA were no longer safe, and that their brightest stars started to get snatched from their skies by the number one promotion. WWA was especially hurt, as their late 90’s peak was built in huge part by Silver King, Heavy Metal, Perro Aguayo Jr and Atlantis. However, WWA still manage to provide a very good wrestling product with Dr. Wagner Jr., the best non-CMLL luchador on the planet, as well as a roster of up-and-comers from great wrestling families such as Ray Misterio Jr., Juventud Guerrera, Dos Caras Jr., Hijo Del Fantasma or Lizmark Jr., and future greats like Aguila and Tarzan Boy. UWA, making use of a very similar talent pool, has stayed ahead of them, by updating their product to a much more modern, daredevil style, employing some exclusive stars in Universo 2000 , Mascara Ano 2000 and especially Octagon (pulling triple duty as the AJPW Junior Heavyweight Champion, UWA World Trios Champion and UWA World Light Heavyweight Champion, all of this at 45 and not slowing down), as well as providing some diversity with a women’s division (not on CMLL’s level, but still respectable). UWA’s managed to become more popular in West and Central Mexico than CMLL themselves, but they still haven’t managed to expand to the rest of the country. Will their mix of youngsters, veterans and super-fast action finally manage to secure a good broadcasting deal, or are they destined to forever be the runner-ups? Time will tell.</p>

Does the current random character generation sometimes generate new workers who are children (or generally family) of existing workers?

Canada – The Land of Three Kings (Or Is It Two?) Compared to the cutthroat, high-stakes rivalries between the Big Three in the States, and to the dominating rule of AJPW in Japan, Canada seems to be a relatively unremarkable market, with three regional promotions, none of which seems to be able (or willing) to expand too much. This is a deceiving image, however – with two of the companies located in British Columbia and the third just around the corner in Alberta, all three are locked in an intense struggle, as they constantly compete for the fans’ money and attention. As a result, the local companies do everything in their power to put on a good show, and even with wrestling decidedly unpopular among the masses, they each manage to gather around 2000 people monthly. All Star Wrestling: The Other ASW The sole established wrestling promotion in Alberta, ASW functions in the Internet Wrestling Community primarily as “that other ASW”, one you find by accident while googling for the British ASW. In its home area, however, ASW maintains a solid position and is the biggest of the three Canadian promotions, even if in the last year or two it has been losing some ground to the competition. For the last few years, the booker and owner of the company has been the retired WCW and WWF midcarder ‘Dangerous’ Danny Davis, continuing late Al Tomko’s combination of traditional Canadian style with a hefty dose of comedy, and incorporating some ideas from the company’s colour commentator, the Eric Bischoff himself (co-casting with none other than Mauro Ranallo). The company’s main stars (some of them shared with the competition in what seems to be a Canadian tradition) include the wonderful young Bobby Roode, the safest semi-hardcore worker on Earth Moondog Manson, dashing Steve Corino as Mr. Wrestling 3, Al Tomko’s aging son Rick Davis, Dory Funk’s trainee Andrew Test Martin, and one of the brightest prospects in wrestling today Harry Smith, British Bulldog’s son. They also have a criminally women’s division, including such prospects as Gali Kim, LuFisto and Vanessa Kraven. The Curious Tale of Two Stampedes Stampede Wrestling Calgary has a long history, spanning almost 60 years and three generations of the Hart family. Its most convoluted chapter, however, begun in 1998 with Bruce Hart’s unfortunate passing. As a result of a behind-the-scenes intrigue that we still have no idea about, the ownership of the company did not pass to other members of the Hart family (with Ross being the most probable choice), but to another local promoter, Chuck Fender, who appointed industry veteran Dutch Savage as the booker, with both men earning Ross Hart’s ire. Savage’s controversial booking and Fender’s rumoured problems with the law hurt SWC so much, that in 2000 Ross quit the company in anger and started a new promotion, “Stampede Wrestling” without the Calgary part, aiming to prove once and for all that only a Hart can book good wrestling in British Columbia. However, just a year later Fender’s reign ended when his co-owners, creditors and the Hart family coordinated to oust him. With Ross not wanting to give up his own thing, young insider Gabe Sapolsky was shipped in to run and book Stampede Wrestling Calgary. Meanwhile, incensed Fender tried to get his revenge by starting Border City Wrestling in Ontario, but despite featuring some hot young talent the company folded after just a year. SWC and SW are now in fierce competition, although they are not officially at war and actually share some talent. They are also slightly different, with Ross aiming at retaining the classic Calgary style and Gabe incorporating some MMA-style hyperrealistic elements. SWC has also maintained its position as a NWA affiliate, while SW has formed a relationship with ECW under the umbrella of “North American Wrestling League”. As of the last few years, Gabe’s Stampede is doing much better, despite Ross hiring the legendary Kevin Sullivan as a (great) personality and (not so great) booker. Both companies share one of their main stars, a solid and flashy New Zealander Adam Firestorm, as well as the controversial brawler Michelle Starr the promising youngsters Eric Young (also touring with AJPW), Rene Dupree and Kevin Steen, and some lower card workers. SW also shares ASW’s Bobby Roode, Moondog Manson and Harry Smith. Ross’s ace in the hole is his nephew, Teddy Hart, an absolute superstar in the making, but also a royal pain in the ass if you believe the rumours. SCW also seems to share most of its main roster with the competition, but what sets them apart, aside from the more MMA-ish style, is the presence of some unique young talent – El Generico (current holder of their mid-tier belt), TJ Wilson, Scotty Mac, Petey Williams, Kyle O’Reilly, Ice… It’s clear that Sapolsky is set on developing a new batch of Canadian superstars, and he even recently reached out via NWA to loan Mike Von Erich himself, one of the best specialists on wrestling psychology in the sport, so that his boys get to learn from him.

<p>Prediction results:</p><p> </p><p> CageRage: 2/9 (5/18)</p><p> </p><p> I see now that I undersold (perhaps due to not enough scouting?) how good Fortner's ground game is in my preview. Sorry for that!</p>

WFL 2: Heavyweight Championship Tournament – results Show held in California on 26th of April 1991, to an audience of 687, broadcast by National Pride TV Heavyweight Championship Tournament Quarterfinal: ‘The Beast’ Kolby Dambrosio (25yo, 6’7”, 6-0, -110) vs Scott ‘Overdrive’ Fortner (24yo, 6’0”, 3-1 -140) The first match of the night opened up with intense clinch fighting, as Fortner was looking for a trip or throw and Dambrosio focused on trapping his opponent against the cage and hitting some nasty short strikes. After a referee break, Fortner decided that standing grappling wasn’t to his advantage and tried for some nice strikes instead, but Dambrosio was able to initiate a clinch and the match ended with the two fighters trying to outwrestle one another to no avail. The second round was pretty much the same – Dambrosio controlling most of the clinch fighting and doing some cage-pinning and dirty boxing, while Fortner tried for trips and hit some punches when the referee forced a separation. In the third round, Overdrive decided he had enough of being outwrestled and, in a somewhat surprising turn of events, landed some powerful strikes at Dambrosio, including a beautiful straight right that sent The Beast wobbling against the cage. Another powerful punch above the shattered guard was enough for the ref, who jumped in to save Dambrosio, who was clearly unable to defend himself. While everybody theorized about Fortner’s ground game being the game changer, it was actually his striking that won him the semifinal. Scott ‘Overdrive’ Fortner defeated ‘The Beast’ Kolby Dambrosio by TKO in 1:03 of Round 3 and advanced to the Heavyweight Championship Tournament Semifinal! The match was rated as being good Heavyweight Championship Tournament Quarterfinal: ‘The Spectre’ Malakai Goodlooks (23yo, 5’11”, 6-0, -350) vs ‘The Bullfrog’ Kameron Gates (23yo, 6’5”, 3-1, +270) Since before the match began, it was obvious that “The Bullfrog” vs “The Spectre” is a good description, with Gates towering over his opponent and looking something close to 45lbs heavier. This did nothing to deter Goodlooks, however, as the match started with both fighters bravely trading powerful shots. Gates came out on top in those exchanges, sneaking in a powerful uppercut that knocked The Spectre down. The Bullfrog started pounding his opponent with powerful shots, but then, perhaps to try and make a point, he tried for a Kimura submission instead of finishing Malakai off with punches. As a Jiu Jitsu competitor, Goodlooks was able to defend the attempt, as well as three further submissions of various kinds that Gates tried, but he was unable to sweep the huge competitor or gain any advantage. After a referee stand-up, Gates immediately went for another clinch and added insult to injury by taking his opponent down with an Eastern-style outside leg trip and taking his back. This masterful display was too late in the round, however, and nothing meaningful came of that. The second round, much like the first, started off with striking. Goodlooks was able to duck some punches and land some, but he was looking worse for wear – until Gates overextended himself landing a hook, which allowed Goodlooks to unleash a devastating left straight to his opponent’s jaw, knocking The Bullfrog out before he hit the ground! This time, the bookies are proven to be correct despite the deceiving looks – and the crowd certainly woke up after a KO out of nowhere like that! ‘The Spectre’ Malakai Goodlooks defeated ‘The Bullfrog’ Kameron Gates by Knock Out (punch) in 1:42 of Round 2 and advanced to the Heavyweight Championship Tournament Semifinal! The match was rated as being great Heavyweight Championship Tournament Quarterfinal: ‘Mac Daddy’ Nathaniel Chiles (25yo, 6’5”, 6-0, -110) vs Matthias ‘Anger Management’ Berik (26yo, 5’11”, 6-0, -140) Very much aware of the ~55lbs weight difference and the power of Mac Daddy’s punches, Berik went for a takedown first thing into the first round. Chiles’s sprawl proved too good, however, and the Chicagoan was able to answer with some good punching. However, it quickly became clear that Chiles came into the fight with some serious stamina problems, perhaps due to an illness, weight cutting or some mistakes in preparation, as he was already looking winded a minute in. Perhaps this was one of the factors which allowed the much smaller Berik to clinch with Chiles, force his back into the cage and control him for the second half of the round. The second round saw more punch exchanges, which Mac Daddy was clearly winning, judging by Anger Management’s glares and scowls after a solid right hand landed. Berik’s takedown attempt was again unsuccessful, but he succeeded in trapping Chiles against the cage, where he let loose with some ugly knee strikes to the torso and thighs. Mac Daddy managed to escape, but with his tank clearly empty and with the damage he suffered, he wasn’t as dominating in the following exchanges, taking as many one-twos as he delivered. Third round again saw Berik trapping Chiles against the cage and employing a wide range of stomps, elbows and knees which left some nasty red marks on Mac Daddy, until the referee decided that half the round in cage-control situation without any decisive blows is enough. With Chiles showing some signs of life in the punching exchange, hitting some crosses, Berik immediately went for another cage push and spent the last two minutes of the round trying to force Chiles to the ground, succeeding only mere seconds before the bell. The amount of strength Berik has to control an opponent so much heavier than him is remarkable. Fourth round followed the same pattern, with Chiles offering resistance when trading blows, but Berik repeatedly forcing him into the cage and pounding him with elbows, stomps and knees. Blood started flowing freely after Anger Management’s elbow opened up a cut on his opponent’s face, but none of the vicious clinch strikes managed to put Mac Daddy down, although they succeeded in turning his ribs into one huge bruise. Fifth round went basically the same, although Chiles tried for a desperation spinning kick and a clinch trip. With the amount of damage Berik had done and control he’d exerted, nobody was surprised when he was declared the winner after the time limit expired, and the crowd seemed to love an unstoppable force destroying an unmovable object’s torso, but after such an intense fight Berik’s chances in the further rounds looked grim. Matthias ‘Anger Management’ Berik defeated ‘Mac Daddy’ Nathaniel Chiles by Unanimous decision and advanced to the Heavyweight Championship Tournament Semifinal! The match was rated as being good Heavyweight Championship Tournament Quarterfinal: Shane Criswell (24yo, 6’1”, 4-0, -1200) vs Terrance ‘The Messiah’ Quackenbush (22yo, 6’4”, 2-0, +900) As a hometown fighter with a tremendous odds advantage, Criswell had a happy roar of the crowd behind him as he entered the cage. He responded by starting out fast, grabbing Terrance’s leg and pushing him against the wall after a failed takedown attempt, where in one smooth progression of motions he tripped him, got side control over the falling foe, grabbed an arm and applied an armbar for the win. A quick and clean victory for the favourite, who knew Quackenbush’s punches could spoil his day and made sure none were even thrown in his direction. Shane Criswell defeated Terrance ‘The Messiah’ Quackenbush by Submission (armbar) in 1:15 of Round 1 and advanced to the Heavyweight Championship Tournament Semifinal! The match was rated as being good Light Heavyweight Wrestling Styles Showmatch: ‘Pretty Boy’ Kareem Kowalski (21yo, 6’0”, 6-0, -730) vs Dan ‘Earthquake’ Jeffries (25yo, 6’2”, 6-0, +580) In this Submission Wrestling vs Greco-Roman Wrestling showmatch, the first round belonged to the G-R, as Jeffries immediately went for a clinch and trip that he translated into side control and armbar attempt. Kowalski managed to defend himself, but for the rest of the round he was unable to even pull guard, while Jeffries was trying various angles of attack with punches and elbows. The ground pounding was inefficient, however, as Jeffries seemed to wind himself as much as his opponent, and it wasn’t too exciting for the crowd to watch. Earthquake tried for a repeat in the second round, but Kowalski was ready this time, outwrestled him utilizing his famous strength, pinned him to the cage and treated to a steady diet of powerful knees and elbows, bloodying Jeffires’s brow in the process. After a referee separation, Kowalski again shot in and pinned Jeffries to the cage, but this time he went low, grabbed his legs and took him down, ending in half guard. His ground striking, however, proved no more match-deciding than Dan’s and the second round ended soon after. The third round was a replay of the second (including reopening the earlier cut with an elbow), up until the referee restarted the fight in the centre, when Kowalski went in swinging and caught Jeffires with a crunching right hook, sending Earthquake back against the cage, wobbling and desperately trying to cover up. Pretty Boy sneaked an uppercut under the unsteady guard, which was enough for Jeffries to lose any semblance of intelligent defence and for the ref to jump in, declaring a TKO. A dynamic finish to an overall entertaining match. ‘Pretty Boy’ Kareem Kowalski defeated Dan ‘Earthquake’ Jeffries by TKO in 3:15 of Round 3. The match was rated as being great Heavyweight Championship Tournament Semifinals: Scott ‘Overdrive’ Fortner (24yo, 6’0”, 4-1 -630) vs ‘The Spectre’ Malakai Goodlooks (23yo, 5’11”, 7-0, +500) With Fortner having withstood two rounds of dirty boxing punishment, he was clearly even more spent than Goodlooks, who took the opportunity and delivered some heavy punches, out-striking Overdrive for a good few minutes before they both fell into a messy clinch. Fortner took the opportunity to push Goodlooks against the cage and let him taste the medicine he received from Kameron Gates earlier. Both fighters ended the first round looking ragged, with Fortner bleeding and Goodlooks what looked very much like a cracked rib. In the second round, Fortner took some powerful lefts from The Spectre (which, as we already know, is always a dangerous proposition) but managed to get a clinch. However, the struggle that resulted in Goodlooks getting pinned to the wall looked like it took everything both fighters had left, as they spent the rest of the round mostly trying to stay upright in the clinch. The rest between rounds seemed to have helped Overdrive, however, as he managed a great trip from an over-under clinch. After some striking Fortner went for side control, but his opponent was wary and a scramble ensued, which left Goodlooks standing, but again thrown and pinned against the cage. However, it seemed that Fortner got some instructions from his corner to finally unleash his trump card, as he went for another takedown, this time a Judo inside leg trip. Goodlooks managed to push him out of the guard, but the Judoka responded by coming right back and securing side control, which after a good sweep attempt from The Spectre, was translated into a north-south. Here Fortner’s ground game finally kicked in, as he managed to spin faster than Goodlooks anticipated and secure his arm for a match-winning armbar! Scott ‘Overdrive’ Fortner defeated ‘The Spectre’ Malakai Goodlooks by Submission (armbar) in 3:33 of Round 3 and advanced to the Heavyweight Championship Tournament Final! The match was rated as being great Heavyweight Championship Tournament Semifinals: Matthias ‘Anger Management’ Berik (26yo, 5’11”, 7-0, +520) vs Shane Criswell (24yo, 6’1”, 5-0, -660) A decent but unremarkable Karateka who’s just been through hell versus a #1 seed fan favourite who won his match in just over a minute – this seemed like a foregone conclusion from the get go. Criswell, not wanting to risk a lucky strike, immediately went for the clinch – but Berik once again showed that despite his small stature he’s very strong and great at outwrestling his opponents and pinning them to the cage. The resulting clinch fight was quite even, due to Berik’s exhaustion clear in all his movements, but he managed to keep Shane controlled until the last minute of the fight when the referee sent them back to the centre. Having learned from that experience, Criswell immediately went for a single leg takedown, which resulted in Berik, hopping on one leg, getting shoved into the cage and then taken down with a beauty of a sweep. This left Anger Management in an extremely uncomfortable position in the corner of the cage, but the bell prevented Criswell from capitalizing. The first minutes of round 2 resembled a dance of sorts, with Criswell circulating his opponent and going in and out, trying to goad Berik into a mistake and eating some punches for his effort. Two minutes in, the plan has paid off, as the Jiujitsuka again managed to grab a single leg, force his opponent against the cage and used an inside leg trip to gain the upper hand. Showing great ground skill, Criswell went over the guard into side control and then quickly got a mount. Then he started pounding Berik hard enough that the Karateka turned and gave up his back in an attempt to escape the beating. This was a mistake however, as Criswell was in a great position to apply a rear naked choke, which he promptly did, forcing his opponent to tap out. Shane Criswell defeated Matthias ‘Anger Management’ Berik by Submission (rear naked choke) in 4:06 of Round 2 and advanced to the Heavyweight Championship Tournament Final! The match was rated as being good SEMI-MAIN EVENT – Light Heavyweight Eastern vs Western Grappling Showmatch Arthur ‘Macabre’ Bradburn (23yo, 6’1”, 6-0, -780) vs ‘The Southpaw’ Curtis Behnke (21yo, 5’11”, 6-0, +620) For a match marketed as a clash of grappling styles, it was surprisingly punchy, with both fighters trading shot after shot. The deciding moment turned out to be when Behnke overextended himself to land a great one-two and got caught with Bradburn’s devastating right cross, causing him to backpedal against the cage, hurt. Two more right hands snapped his head around like a ragdoll and referee Melvin Lippincott finally decided that the match was over and threw himself between the fighters. Macabre truly put out a macabre display here, Behnke could’ve gotten hurt real bad here. The fans, despite getting something quite different from what they were told to expect, seemed to love these two minutes of hard-hitting violence Arthur ‘Macabre’ Bradburn defeated ‘The Southpaw’ Curtis Behnke by TKO in 2:07 of Round 1. The match was rated as being great MAIN EVENT – Heavyweight Championship Tournament Finals: Scott ‘Overdrive’ Fortner (24yo, 6’0”, 5-1 +160) vs Shane Criswell (24yo, 6’1”, 6-0, -210) The fans and the bookies were behind Criswell in this one, and with the local man having a 1-0 semi-pro record against Fortner, he had to be considered a favourite, but both men proved they shouldn’t be underestimated and that they can dig out seemingly impossible reserves of stamina and passion. Keeping with his antagonistic and brash persona, Fortner declined touching the gloves at the beginning, which only served to excite the crowd against him even more. This didn’t prevent him from winning control in an early clinch and tripping his opponent to the mat. An attempted scramble by Criswell proved too slow and Overdrive secured side control. Clearly very tired, Criswell only managed to twist his opponent into north-south position, where he struggled for the rest of the round, getting some knees to the head and torso for his trouble. In the second round, the roles got initially reversed, as it was Criswell who got the critical trip out of a clinch. However, in a brilliant show of ground game, Fortner managed to sweep his opponent and secure mount! Fortner proved to be a hard customer, dealing with the ground strikes that followed for the rest of the round without taking too much damage. Nevertheless, he clearly didn’t want a repeat of that situation, as he spent much the third round forcing a stand-up fight (quite inconclusive) and brilliantly sprawling out of Criswell’s takedown attempts. Finally, around 2:30 Criswell managed to force a clinch and trip Scott. He forced his way into side control, but an arm triangle attempt didn’t get him anything. Round four again showed us a reversal, as this time it was Criswell who brilliantly sprawled out of a dangerous takedown attempt. His brilliance unfortunately wasn’t enough to prevent Fortner from trapping him against the cage for good three minutes, showing off the cage pounding in which he seems to be quickly becoming an expert. After that, the referee restarted the fight in the centre, hoping for some more action, but after a few strikes the exhausted fighters collapsed into another clinch, with Fortner again taking control and pounding Criswell’s torso with tired but brutal knees against the cage, turning his torso into a nightmarish sight. Understandably, when Criswell was put in a similar position in round 5, instead of catching a breath he put all of his energy into smothering the blows and preventing Fortner from adding to the damage. Separated again, the fighters started trading dangerous straights, clearly too tired to keep a proper guard up and instead trying to hit a big strike before the opponent does. Feeling a bit outclassed in those exchanges, Fortner yet again went for a clinch, eating some hits in the process, and scored yet another trip takedown just seconds before the end of the round. Round six was pretty much all Fortner, as he took over clinches two times and tripped Criswell both times, scoring two dozens ground strikes, albeit none of them really threatening. Still, the Judoka seemed to be firmly in control. In the seventh round, perhaps to show the judges he controls all the aspects of the match, he dominated Criswell with strikes, and when Overdrive finally found an opening for a clinch and takedown attempt, Fortner simply outwrestled him, pushed him against the cage and bloodied his face with powerful elbow strikes. With the judge once again forcing the fighters back to the middle, Fortner adapted to the change faster and managed to finally hit a big right hand, enough to rock Criswell – but failed to capitalize with a missed follow-up. As a cherry on top, Fortner shot in on Criswell, put him to the ground, and when the Jiujitsuka managed to scramble, managed to get behind his back and grab him. On this high note, the match finally ended and the judges unanimously granted the victory to Fortner. An extremely hard-fought match, revenge for the only loss in Fortner’s career, and a championship well deserved! Scott ‘Overdrive’ Fortner defeated Shane Criswell by Unanimous decision and WON THE WFL HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP! The match was rated as being good While it drew a smaller crowd, WFL 2 still made money and waves, and provided the fans with a string of exciting matches. Malakai Goodlooks scored KO of the Night, and his dramatic defeat against Fortner in the semifinals earned Fight of the Night. Submission of the night, which many felt should have belonged to Fortner, too, went to Shane Criswell for his dominant rear naked choke.

In the months between WFL 1 and WFL 2 the semi-pro MMA scene was getting in more and more trouble, with the European and South American bush leagues hit especially hard. The question whether MMA was going to emerge as an established sport still seemed to be in the air. On the other hand, with MMA gaining traction in Brazil, the two most famous Brazilian martial arts academies, Escola Da Luta and Brazilian Estrela Academy, opened their doors for MMA trainees. WFL 2: Heavyweight Championship Tournament California, 26th April 1991 With the success of WFL 1, it was decided that at least Heavyweight and Welterweight championships were to be decided in a similar manner, with other weight classes still pending a decision. WFL 2 was to take place in the same venue, two months after the inaugural event. It was expected that the great press that WFL gained would make up for the lesser-known names taking part in the tournament compared to the Middleweight championship. Heavyweight Chapionship Tournament Quarterfinal matchups: ‘The Beast’ Kolby Dambrosio (Black Arizonian Wrestler, 25yo, 6’7”, 6-0, -110) vs Scott ‘Overdrive’ Fortner (Black Texan Judoka, 24yo, 6’0”, 3-1 -140) The opening bout between the #4 and #5 seeded fighters can prove to be extremely interesting in terms of mixed martial arts strategy. Dambrosio is a wrestler with some accomplishments to his name, and while his clinch game isn’t that great for someone who competed in grappling tournaments, he is a master at grabbing his opponents and taking them down. Fortner however, a man with some Judo credentials to his name and an impressive North-South choke win in the semi-pro circuit (where he spent his whole career), will most probably have an advantage in the horizontal position. Therefore The Beast, who won his last fight by pinning his opponent to the ropes and punching him into next week, may want to focus on the stand-up instead. Judging by the betting lines, nobody really knows how this one will pan out. ‘The Spectre’ Malakai Goodlooks (Black Oklahoman BJJ student, 23yo, 5’11”, 6-0, -350) vs ‘The Bullfrog’ Kameron Gates (White Louisianan Wrestler, 23yo, 6’5”, 3-1, +270) The second bout of the tournament makes us question what the bookies know that we do not. Goodlooks is a Brasilian Jiu Jitsu student with a powerful punch and great charisma, but so far he’s only been tested by local opposition and he doesn’t have any accomplishments in his chosen field. He’s also half a foot smaller and weighted in 30 pounds lighter than Gates. ‘The Bullfrog’ is also an accomplished wrestler with two knockouts under his belt and experience in semi-pro competition. His only downside seems to be his worse cardio, but it remains to be seen whether this will prove to be a deciding factor. ‘Mac Daddy’ Nathaniel Chiles (Black Illinoian Boxer, 25yo, 6’5”, 6-0, -110) vs Matthias ‘Anger Management’ Berik (Latin Pennsylvanian Karateka, 26yo, 5’11”, 6-0, -140) The third quarterfinal promises to be a fun clash of styles. Chiles is a much larger (6 inches and almost 50 pounds at weigh-in) fighter, an accomplished boxer with very powerful and quite skilled punches, and 3 KOs on the local circuit, so his strategy is quite predictable. Berik on the other hand is small for a Heavyweight and quite hard to figure out. He’s trained karate and is one of the few mixed martial artists in American pro circuit to include kicks in his arsenal. From what we’ve seen on the local circuit, he’s deceptively strong, not bothered by most punches, meticulous in his approach to a fight and content to win on points, but he’s been even able to win by takedown & ground striking or by submission, albeit against vastly inferior opponents. We’re not quite sure what the fight will be like and who is the favourite here, but this uncertainty is what makes us look forward to it! Shane Criswell (White Califorian Jiujitsuka, 24yo, 6’1”, 4-0, -1200) vs Terrance ‘The Messiah’ Quackenbush (Black Arizonan Boxer, 22yo, 6’4”, 2-0, +900) It is to be expected that #1 seed vs #8 seed is the matchup with the most skewed odds, but even so the betting lines seem to predict a very predictable fourth quarterfinal. And with a good reason – Criswell is an accomplished student of Jiu Jitsu, has a great record in semi-pro MMA with three arm triangle submissions and a mastery of the art of taking an opponent to the ground. Despite that Quackenbush, a relative newcomer to the sport and not a household name by any means, should not be underestimated. He has competed in collegiate boxing, can throw a mean punch, and has shown some skill in grounding his opponents and pounding them hard. It probably won’t be enough against Criswell, but it is the kind of matchup where a single lucky punch can possibly score a huge upset. Light Heavyweight Showmatches: ‘Pretty Boy’ Kareem Kowalski (White Pennsylvanian Submission Wrestler, 21yo, 6’0”, 6-0, -730) vs Dan ‘Earthquake’ Jeffries (Black New Yorker Greco-Roman Wrestler, 25yo, 6’2”, 6-0, +580) The first showmatch of the night is marketed as a bout between different wrestling styles. Kowalski, despite his young age, has placed highly in Pennsylvanian submission wrestling tournaments and is actually a great prospect in MMA, with enormous strength, powerful punches, constant aggressive takedown seeking and excellent ground game which suggests he could’ve achieved much more if he stuck to his first sport. Out of six local circuit bouts, he scored four submissions (three different kinds!) and a KO. Jeffires however seems to be a fine opponent for him. While not as adept at submissions nor as freakishly strong, his Greco-Roman college career has shown him to be a great pressure grappler with impressive consistency, wonderful throws and takedowns and masterful ground control. Most of his local circuit wins come from decisions, but he’s shown off his match-finishing ground striking on at least one occasion. Arthur ‘Macabre’ Bradburn (Black Viginian Judoka, 23yo, 6’1”, 6-0, -780) vs ‘The Southpaw’ Curtis Behnke (Asian Texan Wrestler, 21yo, 5’11”, 6-0, +620) The second showmatch is hailed as “Eastern Grappling vs Western Grappling”, but it’s interesting even without this fancy marketing stuff. Bradburn has some respect in local Judo circles and has proven (albeit on the local circle) to be a very versatile fighter, capable both of thundering knockouts, powerful ground striking TKOs and submissions (although for a Judoka he doesn’t seem that good with them), and his ability to thrown opponents has to be taken into account. He’s also known for providing some very entertaining first round finishes, which is probably why he’s in a semi-main showmatch. Behnke, however, is not at such a disadvantage as the bookies would have you believe. He’s a collegiate wrestler known for his earth-shaking slamming and great physical skills, and his local opponents have been falling to his punches and powerful ground pounding. Prediction Card: Kolby Dambrosio vs Scott Fortner [Tournament QF] Malakai Goodlooks vs Kameron Gates [Tournament QF] Nathaniel Chiles vs Matthias Berik [Tournament QF] Shane Criswell vs Terrance Quackenbush [Tournament QF] Kareem Kowalski vs Dan Jeffries Criswell/Quackenbush vs Chiles/Berik [Tournament SF] Goodlooks/Gates vs Dambrosio/Fortner [Tournament SF] Arthur Bradburn vs Curtis Behnke WFL Heavyweight Championship Tournament Finals

In game terms Jablonski has no fighting stats above 70% while Raygoza has some in the 80-95 area, so I am guessing one of them has a better career ahead of himself than the other. xD

Prediction results: CageRage: 3/9 Bookers around the world: quite devastated due to the quarterfinals Hope you guys enjoyed it! All comments are welcome, especially about the format and the fight descriptions. I wonder if I should make the fight "titles" larger, or are they visible enough?

WFL 1: Middleweight Championship Tournament – results Show held in California, on 22nd of February 1991, to an audience of 733, broadcast by National Pride TV Middleweight Championship Tournament Quarterfinals: ‘Bulldozer’ Ryker Raygoza (6-0, 25yo, 6’0”, +110) vs ‘Typhoon’ Josue Behr (3-0, 23yo, 5’10”, -150) Raygoza, as a Californian, got a lot of cheers from the crowd, despite not really playing to them. Despite not having any reputation at all in the striking department, Behr took the reins of the fight from the bell, hitting Raygoza with some good straights and opening up a cut under his eye in the first 30 seconds. However, Raygoza was able to clinch up and push his opponent against the cage, where they spent the rest of the round, with Behr controlled and subjected to relatively non-threatening dirty boxing. The second round looked quite similar, with Behr re-opening the cut under the hometown boy’s eye and Raygoza controlling the Jiujitsuka against the cage for most of the match. This time, however, Bulldozer was more effective in his dirty boxing, scoring some vicious stomps too. Perhaps seeing that this approach wasn’t working, Behr switched tactics in the third round, using some punches as a cover to grab a hold of Raygoza and try to trip him. This proved to be a mistake, as the Californian managed to wrestle himself out of that conundrum and into yet again trapping his opponent against the cage wall. This time, Raygoza tried throwing some powerful knees, too, but it helped Behr find a right moment to escape and try for a takedown. However, Bulldozer once again proved to be the better wrestler by stopping Typhoon in a clinch. They continued to grapple and try to control or trip one another for the rest of the round. Rounds 4 and 5 were uneventful, too, with Raygoza apparently so exhausted that he was only able to control Behr, but not land many, if any, meaningful shots. With him being in control of almost all of the match, the judges announced him as the winner in the first professional MMA match in history! ‘Bulldozer’ Ryker Raygoza defeated ‘Typhoon’ Josue Behr by Unanimous Decision and advanced to the Middleweight Championship Tournament Semifinal! The match was rated as being decent Middleweight Championship Tournament Quarterfinals: Jude Wiuff (6-0, 21yo, 6’0”, -350) vs ‘Boomer’ Gilbert Mohr (6-0, 23yo, 5’7”, +270) Since the moment both fighters stepped into the cage, it became obvious that Wiuff had to somehow cut some of his body weight for the weight-ins, because nearly half a foot taller and more heavily built, he dwarfed Boomer. The match started out hard and fast, with both men trading solid punches, Mohr more on the offensive and with more powerful shots, and Wiuff focusing on counters. The fast tempo seemed to take its toll on Mohr since the first minutes of the match, and with him slowing down Wiuff was able to utilize his huge reach advantage, clearly hurting the Thai boxer. With that, the tables have turned and it was Wiuff who went on the offense, pressuring his opponent into making a mistake. Just as the fourth minute started, Mohr left himself open for a great single leg takedown and the rest of the round was spent on the ground, with the collegiate wrestler showing off his ability to control the opponent. The second round started out same as the first, but while he was able to land some good shots, Mohr got caught by a beauty of a straight left that sent him to the ground, with Wiuff going after him and laying some nasty shots, forcing the referee Melvin Lippincott to jump in and call the match. While seeing a wrestler outpunch a Muay Thai student may be a bit unexpected, I think after the first few minutes and Mohr revealing his atrocious cardio nobody expected this match to go any other way. Still, a good show that got the fans going. Jude Wiuff defeated ‘Boomer’ Gilbert Mohr by TKO in 1:04 of Round 2 and advanced to the Middleweight Championship Tournament Semifinal! The match was rated as being good Middleweight Championship Tournament Quarterfinals: Crosby ‘Super Endurance’ Oldham (4-1, 23yo, 5’7”, +630) vs Crew ‘The Power’ Busch (6-0, 23yo, 5’11”, -800) Crosby Oldham, as a definite underdog according to the bookies and a Stockton, California native, was showered with crowd’s enthusiasm coming in. He didn’t let that get into his head, though, and the fighters started the match off with a respectful touch of the gloves. Busch, as a student of the Eastern grappling arts, tried to take the match to the mat from the get go, but Oldham showed off a previously unseen sprawl, preventing the takedown. Super Endurance decided not to risk such a situation the second time, utilizing some great punching to try and keep Busch at a distance. This paid off just after the first two mintues of the round, when The Power was caught shooting in with two right jabs and then a crunching left hook that left him punch-drunk and reeling. Only his instincts allowed him to slip past another left torpedo aimed at finishing the fight. With a few seconds to clear his head, Busch immediately went for another takedown, managing to grab Oldham’s leg and leaving him hopping on the other. This let the favourite push the local against the cage and, after some dirty boxing and stomping, utilize a wonderful outside leg trip. Showing superb skill, Busch used the trip to slip behind Oldham and into a perfect position to unload some powerful shots, but with only 40 seconds to go and with Crosby mostly unhurt and able to defend himself it wasn’t enough to end the match. Learning his lesson, Oldham opened up the second round with relentless striking, forcing Busch into unfavourable exchanges. The Power tried for a takedown regardless, and was dearly punished for it, as Oldham’s sprawl set his opponent up for a perfect knee strike that slammed him into the mat. With Super Endurance pounding away on a dazed Busch, the referee had no other option but to pull Oldham away, calling a TKO. Now finally letting the emotions run free after a huge upset (at least according to bookies – our readers will remember that we at this newsletter did call their odds odd), Oldham went to celebrate into the ecstatic crowd before going back backstage to prepare for the semis. Crosby ‘Super Endurance’ Oldham defeated Crew ‘The Power’ Busch by TKO in 1:45 of Round 2 and advanced to the Middleweight Championship Tournament Semifinal! The match was rated as being great Middleweight Championship Tournament Quarterfinals: ‘Destruction Machine’ Cai Gruber (5-0, 21yo, 5’9”, -500) vs 'The Seeker' Byron Jablonski (6-0, 21yo, 5'11", +390) With Jablonski being the less decorated wrestler, having experience on the local and not semi-pro circuit and being a last minute addition, not many people seemed to believe in him going in. In the opening exchanges he seemed to take a little worse than he gave, although there was quite a lot of wary circling and all the strikes on both sides were measured and thought-through. Both fighters seemed to gravitate between throwing shots and looking for takedown opportunities which got countered by enemy punches – and it was the Seeker who got a decisive hit in those exchanges, landing a vicious right cross while Gruber was jumping in, knocking his opponent down. Yet again we saw a plucky underdog put down a favourite and then smash him with powerful ground strikes until a TKO was declared! Truly, a night of upsets, and the fans were loving it! 'The Seeker' Byron Jablonski defeated ‘Destruction Machine’ Cai Gruber by TKO in 2:46 of Round 1 and advanced to the Middleweight Championship Tournament Semifinal! The match was rated as being great Welterweight Division Clash of Styles Showcase: Tomos ‘Topper’ Hooper (3-0, 23yo, 5’10”, -330) vs ‘The Gladiator’ Callen Quarry (3-0, 24yo, 5’10”, +260) Hooper, the wrestler in this Clash of Styles Showcase, showed off some shadow boxing during the introduction, perhaps trying to impress on his kickboxer opponent that he won’t go down easily. It probably wasn’t simple arrogant boasting, as both fighters respectfully touched gloves at the start. The match itself didn’t last long, however, as the Gladiator found an opening in Topper’s guard when he was angling for a clinch and with a clean uppercut sent him to the floor, and then proceeded to rain down punches until yet another TKO was declared just 25 seconds into the match! In a short post-fight interview, Quarry brought up Bronson Sapp, an Aikidoka rated as one of the better Welterweights in the company, saying that if he got to fight him, he’d “embarrass him”. ‘The Gladiator’ Callen Quarry defeated Tomos ‘Topper’ Hooper by TKO in 0:25 of Round 1! The match was rated as being good Middleweight Championship Tournament Semifinals: ‘Bulldozer’ Ryker Raygoza (7-0 (1-0), 25yo, 6’0”, -850) vs Jude Wiuff (7-0 (1-0), 21yo, 6’0”, +670) The bookies seemed to have already decided the match back when it was only a theoretical possibility; however, not much people still believed them after all the upsets, especially seeing as Raygoza emptied all of his gas tank in his first match – although the adulation of the crowd seemed to grant him a second wind… which lasted for about a minute. Clearly losing the stand-up battle, Raygoza went for a great takedown, and then spent the last three minutes of the match skillfully controlling Wiuff’s sweep attempts and landing multiple stinging shots. The second round looked much the same, with Raygoza managing not one but two takedowns (after the referee forced a reset due to inactivity) and controlling his opponent against the ground. His supposedly powerful ground striking didn’t seem to work too well, though, perhaps due to the exhaustion. In the third, Raygoza went for controlling his opponent against the cage wall, taking only a few shots in the process. After the referee separated them and Raygoza immediately got a takedown in which nothing much happened, even in the pro-Bulldozer crowd some boos started to be heard. The fourth round threatened to be more of exhausted Raygoza controlling Wiuff by pinning him to a wall, but after yet another referee separation the Texan managed to force his opponent into a striking exchange and bloodied his brow with a nice one-two. With his opponent clearly too exhausted for yet another takedown, Wiuff finally had a field day with his punches, although Raygoza sent a good straight or two in return. The fifth round saw yet another Bulldozer takedown, but this time followed by a scramble by Wiuff… and yet another trapped-against-the-cage situation. After a minute four separation Wiuff tried desperately to score a match-winning punch, but Raygoza grabbed him and finished the match in control. A second decision victory to Raygoza, but one had to wonder whether he’d be able to survive a third match at all! ‘Bulldozer’ Ryker Raygoza defeated Jude Wiuff by Unanimous Decision and advanced to the Middleweight Championship Tournament Final! The match was rated as being average Middleweight Championship Tournament Semifinals: Crosby ‘Super Endurance’ Oldham (5-1 (1-0), 23yo, 5’7”, +290) vs 'The Seeker' Byron Jablonski (7-0 (1-0), 21yo, 5'11", -370) A battle of the underdogs that nobody expected, it was greeted with great enthusiasm by the crowd, whether because of how they loved Oldham or because this promised to be more exciting than the last bout. Oldham started out with some good striking, but Jablonski showed off some decent evasion and got past his opponent’s sprawl to score a takedown nearly two minutes into the first round. With Jablonski utilizing short strikes and controlling him well, Oldham tried for a scramble but ended up smothered under side control. A mount attempt resulted in yet another scramble and Oldham ended up under the Seeker in a North-South position. One knee to the head later Oldham knew he wasn’t having any of this and went for another burst of effort, but the Seeker was on point yet again, leaving Oldham in a turtle position, at which point the bell signaled the end of the round. After watching some of the most active and exciting ground game ever seen in MMA up to this point, the crowd was positively buzzing. The second round didn’t disappoint them, as less than ten seconds in Oldham’s straight left found its way to Jablonski’s jaw, sending him momentarily to the ground. However, the Seeker managed to backpedal up quickly before suffering too much damage from Oldham’s legs. Jablonski proceeded more carefully, evading some big shots and angling for another takedown, which he got two minutes in. This time he was more aggressive in his ground game, passing from a guard to side control and going unsuccessfully for an armbar, and then, after some shots to keep Super Endurance guessing, finally using a Kimura lock for the win, with just 11 seconds left on the clock! 'The Seeker' Byron Jablonski defeated Crosby ‘Super Endurance’ Oldham by Submission (Kimura lock) in 4:49 of Round 2 and advanced to the Middleweight Championship Tournament Final! The match was rated as being great SEMI-MAIN EVENT – Lightweight Division Kickboxing Showmatch: ‘Twinkle Toes’ Neymar Shafer (5-0, 22yo, 5’7”, +100) versus ‘The Demented’ Bryant Ewell (6-0, 22yo, 5'8", -130) For many commentators before the event, this match was nothing more than a way to give the finalists some time to recuperate. However, the crowd seemed to enjoy the ability to cheer for yet another local (Ewell being from Irvine) and the whole thing promised to be energetic – and in good sportsmanship spirit, as they started with a touch of the gloves. This was a beginning of a series of a lot less friendly touches, as the fighters traded some hard punches. The high tempo of the exchange soon started to get both competitors winded, but it didn’t slow them down, with especially Ewell putting the pressure on and landing more clean shots. It was clear that Shafer favoured his right cross, while Ewell put his faith with the enormous crosses and hooks from his left. His faith was well-placed, as an enormous left hook from The Demented caught Shafer’s jaw, knocking him out cold in an instant! It was Ewell’s sixth KO, fourth scored with a punch, and the first KO in the history of fully professional MMA. ‘The Demented’ Bryant Ewell defeated ‘Twinkle Toes’ Neymar Shafer by Knock Out (Punch) in 3:21 of Round 1! The match was rated as being great. MAIN EVENT and the Middleweight Championship Tournament Finals: ‘Bulldozer’ Ryker Raygoza (8-0 (2-0), 25yo, 6’0”, -450) vs 'The Seeker' Byron Jablonski (8-0 (2-0), 21yo, 5'11", +350) It was finally time for the grande finale. From what both fighter showed up until the finals, Raygoza’s main weapon was clearly going to be his elite wrestling – and I am not using the term “elite” lightly, being able to completely shut down other wrestlers while barely able to stand from exhaustion is no small feat. His famously deadly right hand hadn’t really shone up until that point. On the other hand, Jablonski hadn’t really shown any elite skills, and he seemed to be destined to lose this one. Only the length of Raygoza’s fights seemed to be a factor against him, but it was widely agreed that he could probably control Jablonski the way he controlled other competitors for another competent, relatively uneventful decision win. Instead, just after the gloves touch Raygoza caught The Seeker, who was getting ready for the inevitable grapple, with a left jab, and then followed through with a textbook right uppercut that sent Jablonski to the mat less than ten seconds into the match! Raygoza fell onto his opponent in a flurry of powerful strikes and then went for an arm triangle, but unsuccessfully. Jablonski’s sweep attempt only worsened his position as a Bulldozer parked on his back, unleashing a few powerful shots before going for a rear naked choke that was narrowly defended. After some more intense struggle, Raygoza managed to get both hooks in and this time locked the choke for a submission win and the Middleweight Championship belt! The crowd, before clearly torn between supporting its favourite and dreading another 25 minute wrestlefest, now chanted Raygoza’s name as he lifted the belt, proud and with tears in his eyes. A great finish to a historic show, and hopefully a great start of an even better championship run! ‘Bulldozer’ Ryker Raygoza defeated 'The Seeker' Byron Jablonski by Submission (Rear Naked Choke) in 2:57 of Round 1 and WON THE WFL MIDDLEWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP! *** The show was universally praised by the critics for “showcasing all the possible permutations and flavours of the emerging new sport” and generated some buzz on a national level. The Main Event took both Fight of the Night and Submission of the Night (plus performance awards for both fighters), while the semi-main event won KO of the Night. It also made over 40.000$, showing that MMA can be profitable.

First two years The first two years of MMA saw little of real importance. Some semi-professional, extremely low-budget promotions emerged in some parts of the world, and in the USA it is estimated that up to a dozen “official” events were held, not counting numerous local events where the fighters were facing debutantes and local tough guys who went “professional” for a month or two to prove themselves to their buddies. No big names from other sports made the jump, but quite a lot of locally accomplished martial artists decided to cross over – especially wrestlers (in the US mainly collegiate), kickboxers and Asian martial arts practitioners. No nationally known stars emerged, but some fighters have managed to cement their position in the local scenes. The first martial arts camp also became open for MMA fighters – in Japan, the small dojo whose name translates as Way Of The Crane’s Beak has taken in locally successful Jiu Jitsu students, helping them prepare for their further fights. However, there didn’t seem to be much money nor fame in the business. That is, until WFL came. With the money and contacts of promoter Mark Wallace, the company was able to get a TV deal with a tiny station called National Pride TV and got the ball rolling on what was to become known as the starting point of modern MMA. WFL 1: Middleweight Championship Tournament WFL made an impression starting up, as the first MMA promotion with a substantial financial backing (250.000$ that its founder gathered by charming investors and investing his personal savings). Therefore, it was able to get non-exclusive contracts with most of the upper echelon of American MMA. In order to promote the idea that WFL was “the Big Leagues”, their initial champions were to be decided in one-night, eight-men tournaments pitching the best fighters America had to offer against each other. As the recruitment for the Middleweight division went smoothly, it was decided that the Middleweight Championship would be up for grabs first, on the last Friday of February 1991. WFL 1: Middleweight Championship Tournament California, 22.02.1991 The first match of the night will see ‘Bulldozer’ Ryker Raygoza face ‘Typhoon’ Josue Behr (betting lines: +110 to -150) Raygoza (6-0, 25yo, 6’0”) is a Latino amateur wrestler from Santa Ana, California, with some regional tournaments under his belt before he switched to MMA. His six wins were all against local part-timers, but that does not mean he is not dangerous. He finished all his fights, five of them in the first round, with 4 KOs (including one in the first ten seconds of the fight!), 1 TKO and 1 RNC submission. His wrestling skill seems to be on point, but against weaker opponents he mainly utilized his devastating right hand. Behr (3-0, 23yo, 5’10”) is a BJJ student of half-Asian descent from New Jersey, who had some small-level success in the sport before switching over, having been renowned for his rubber guard. He’s been competing in a semi-professional company, scoring three submission wins and even capturing some local championship title, which got him the recognition needed for a WFL contract. On his feet, he doesn’t look anything like threatening, but he can roll and submit people just fine. The second match of the tournament will be Jude Wiuff versus ‘Boomer’ Gilbert Mohr (betting lines: -350 to +270) Wiuff (6-0, 21yo, 6’0”) is a Black Texan who competed in collegiate wrestling without achieving much. However, he’s quite fit and he’s got good a good punch, which combined with his great ability to stay on his feet led him to 5 punching TKOs and one outright KO against local opposition, all in the first round. He’s noted for starting out slow and firing himself up to a point of blazing. His impressive wins have made him one of the more respected Middleweight fighters in the US. Mohr (6-0, 23yo, 5’7”) is a White Muay Thai student from DC. His decent striking has decimated local debutants sent against him (although he even scored one ugly, ugly submission), and he’s a curious person, charismatic and loving to call people out, yet otherwise quite quiet while in the ring. All of this combined has made him known enough for WFL to recruit. The third match of the night will see Crosby ‘Super Endurance’ Oldham face Crew ‘The Power’ Busch (betting lines: +630 to -800) Oldham (4-1, 23yo, 5’7”), a White California native, despite a loss on his record is considered one of the best Middleweights in the US. One reason for that is that he’s spent his career so far in semi-pro companies, fighting other committed athletes, even main eventing some shows, and his only loss is to Josue Behr. The other is that he’s a well-trained Thai boxer with some accomplishments in the very young Californian circles of the sport, and both his physical skills and his striking reflect that background. Him being at the forefront of the professionalizing and regulating side of the business has made him a relatively well-known figure in American MMA (not a national star by any stretch of imagination, but known among the few affectionados of the sport), and his name had brought some more credibility and attention to WFL. Busch (6-0, 23yo, 5’11”) is a Black jujitsuka from Chicago. A veteran of local-level MMA with some accomplishments in small submission wrestling tournaments, Busch is a renowned choke escape artist and a man as able to punch an opponent into submission as to submit him with a hold. Well-rounded and quite resistant, he’s one of the more promising characters in these early days of the sport. However, it is unclear why the betting odds are favouring him so much, especially as his camp will be a bit too short for his tastes, as he prefers them to last 2+ months. The last match of the tournament quarterfinals was supposed be ‘Destruction Machine’ Cai Gruber versus ‘Indian Summer’ Ayan Shipman (betting lines: -920 to +730) Gruber’s (5-0, 21yo, 5’9”) nickname might sound like boasting, but this Black collegiate wrestler from Madison, Wisconsin is currently considered by many to be the best Middleweight, and possibly the best MMA fighter, in the US if not in the world. After a respectable college athletic career, where he was renowned for his great slams, Gruber went into the semi-pro circles and proved himself to be a versatile and deadly opponent, extremely skilled at wrestling, clinching and dirty boxing, but also fully capable of a knock-out or submission win. He’s also a huge heel and he already has an enormous axe to grind with both Oldham and Behr, which is why many will be rooting for him to go further in the tournament and face them. Shipman (6-0, 22yo, 5’7”), a Greco-Roman Wrestler from Colorado of mixed Asian descent, seems to have been chosen to allow Gruber to do just that. While he’s a versatile fighter with TKOs and submissions scored against local opposition, his college record is nothing to write home about and he’s the least impressive of the four, with the only standouts being his takedown skills and his constant bragging. Unfortunately, Shipman suffered injury in training and was replaced by 'The Seeker' Byron Jablonski (6-0, 21yo, 5'11"), a Black freestyle wrestler from Anchorage who competed on the state level, known for his level-headedness and very decent skills for one so young. The betting odds for this new matchup are -500 for Gruber to +390 for Jablonski. Two additional matches were put on the card to provide breaks between the tournament fights. In Welterweight Division, Tomos ‘Topper’ Hooper (3-0, 23yo, 5’10”, -330), accomplished wrestler from Boston with a solid punch and some degree of success on the semi-pro circle (including a local belt), will be facing ‘The Gladiator’ Callen Quarry (3-0, 24yo, 5’10”, +260), an unorthodox stance-switching kickboxer from Kansas City, who also has a respectable record in the semi-pros. The match is being promoted as a “clash of styles”. As the semi-main event, the Lightweight Division provides two kickboxers with great local circle records for what promises to be an exciting fight. ‘Twinkle Toes’ Neymar Shafer (5-0, 22yo, 5’7”, +100), a Floridian known for his powerful strikes and great heel persona, will square off against ‘The Demented’ Bryant Ewell (6-0, 22yo, 5'8", -130) , a California local with equally impressive striking, especially kicking which scored him 2 KOs. Prediction card: Ryker Raygoza vs Josue Behr [Tournament QF] Jude Wiuff vs Gilbert Mohr [Tournament QF] Crosby Oldham vs Crew Busch [Tournament QF] Cai Gruber vs Byron Jablonski [Tournament QF] Tomos Hooper vs Callen Quarry Raygoza/Behr vs Wiuff/Mohr [Tournament SF] Oldham/Busch vs Gruber/Jablonski[Tournament SF] Neymar Shafer vs Bryant Ewell WFL Middleweight Championship Tournament Final

A Blank Slate I’m the kind of player who loves world generation and emergent stories. I did a thread about alternate history of wrestling in TEW 2016 and I played around with the various mods that set up an empty world and let the game's generator populate it. So, it was only a matter of time before I decided to test how world generation works in WMMA5. I took the Default database, imported a LOT of character names from the Alpha & Omega + Mod and some companies from the Global-Verse mod, changed the date to 1.01.1989 and deleted all the characters save a few non-fighters. I changed all the companies to start randomly (in 3 batches, starting in 1992, 1995 and 1998), each with low-medium regional popularity and up to 1.000.000 dollars – which company gets what exactly depended on my gut. I also made SportsTube start in 2005, because Internet-based streaming shouldn’t work too early left the default Eras in, to see what kind of MMA world emerges. I also lowered the recuperation time, to ensure there’s always fighters ready for a fight. One mistake I made is not changing the regulation status, so MMA will be regulated around the world from the beginning. At first I planned a hands-off generated world – I even have one, with the standard Company settings and a 1991 start, which has run for 25 years and I can show it off in a different thread. But then I decided it would be much more fun to play as the history’s first MMA company and give you reports on how the sport develops, event after event. I wanted the world to run its course for 2 years hands-off and only have local events, but it turns out the game doesn’t generate fighters if there are no companies in an area. So I decided to generate one low level regional company for America, British Isles, South America, Europe and Japan each, so that some people get generated – but I cut their funds to 5000 dollars. I let the world run like that for 2 years, to simulate an underground emerging scene (which seems to be how MMA comes to be in Defaultverse seeing how the Eras are set up – according to my limited understanding, in the real world the beginning of MMA was more about crossover stars drawing the public’s attention, but that doesn’t really happen when the Eras link up the rank of crossover stars with overall development of the sport). All of them accrued a six figure debt and still refused to close, so I decided to just treat them as local semi-professional companies, a bit above the local shows due to a lack of “local” competitors, but not treated as historic professional companies, just as an abstract representation of the semi-pro level. I will be playing as Mark Wallace, a promoter in many martial sports with a great eye for talent, who in 1991, after eyeing the “mixed fighting” events with some interest for the last two years, decides to start a new sports company, World Fighting League. It will be using standard weight classes, entire contest judge decisions, extremely liberal rules with inactivity separation, 5 rounds of 5 minutes (except for title fights with 7 rounds) and the cage. It starts at mid level regional, but with more money than in a Hard start (250.000, to be precise). We’ll see how it goes! Table of Contents WFL 1: Middleweight Championship Tournament - Preview, Results WFL 2: Heavyweight Championship Tournament - Preview, Results WFL 3: Welterweight Championship Tournament - Preview

That didn't work, and I thought with all the language packs installed I shouldn't be having this problem. Turns out you need to change the language for non-unicode programs to English. Now I can play around with this beauty! I love "start-of-MMA" mods, and while I was gettting a kick out of Global-verse, I dislike how almost all the characters there debut in their teens. Here, it seems more balanced.

I love the idea, but I keep having problems with one of the characters - Joaao Belo. He keeps crashing my game with error 3021 despite me having all the necessary language packs, and I can't even delete him via editor due to this error. It sucks, as it really makes it hard to play this otherwise interesting-looking database.

Japan – An Empire in Turmoil Compared to ten years ago, Japanese wrestling has changed drastically. Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling is no more – the impossible combination of hardcore, daredevil stunts, comedy and best Japanese, Western and Mexican wrestlers finally ran its course in 2003. With it, the last “name” company in Japan promoting women’s matches is gone, and the awesome intermingling of world’s best talents is no more. All Japan Pro-Wrestling is still the emperor of Japanese puroresu and the company has stabilized in recent years in terms of popularity and money, but their booking decisions mean that their shows don’t reach their old highs. And a new alliance has emerged, aiming to bring a real alternative into Japanese wrestling AJPW – The Ageing Emperor After a financially rocky period in 1999, Shinya Koshika was removed as a CEO of AJPW. Some behind-the-scenes manoeuvres led to a takeover by a group of external investors, headed by a video game creative genius, millionaire and wrestling fan Shigeru Miyamoto, who entrusted the role of head booker to the legendary Antonio Inoki. He led AJPW into an era of relative stability, relying on the tried realistic, very intense matches styled as a genuine sport contest, but a decrease of match quality and attendances in the last few years has become noticeable and it is still an open question whether Miyamoto and his group will decide to relieve Inoki of his duty. It isn’t that AJPW wrestlers don’t can’t still wrestle great matches [although still after all those years and with WWF/E churning them out left and right, AJPW never ever had a 100 rated match…]. It’s that AJPW’s top wrestlers are starting to age, and Inoki’s conservative attitude means that he doesn’t really take that into account as much as he perhaps should. Perhaps the reason for that oversight is Tatsumi Fujinami – the man won TEW Wrestler of the Year at 49, and now at 53 his body is battered and hurts, but he is somehow still the best technical wrestler alive, he’s the most reliable and precise man competing in a ring today, and still can pull off feats of athleticism that put most men half his age to shame. [seriously. Mat wrestling 100, Submissions 96, Athleticism 89, Stamina 94. Basics, Safet & Consistency 100. Aged 53.] However, other AJPW veterans haven’t fared so well. Genichiro Tenryu – currently holding two tag titles (PWF World Tag Team title with Masahiro Chono and NWA International Tag Team title with Satoshi Kojima) – is the prime example: 56 years old, battered and barely mobile at his worse days, Tenryu still has enough of an aura and psychology to be carried to a decent match by young opponents in prime condition, but is in an extremely bad condition and honestly should have stopped wrestling a few years ago, no matter how popular he is and how much the fans lose their minds at the sight of him. Toshiaki Kawada is in a similar position despite only being 43 – with three concussions in his career and two ankle injuries in the last three years, he’s been deteriorating fast, perhaps not retiring only because he still feels he needs to prove himself as singles wrestler after his tag partner Hiromichi Fuyuki retired. Giving him an NWA International Heavyweight reign right now is Inoki’s most baffling decision as of late. Hiroshi Hase, the great star that never managed to truly shine, is also quite clearly losing his fight against time, as is Kazuo Yamazaki, who was bafflingly a Junior Heavyweight champion for much of 2006, Kensuke Sasaki who holds the All-Asia Tag Team championship with Kenzo Suzuki, and other upper-midcarders still pushed as dangerous, such as Akira Taue and Takashi Iizuka. Even Nobuhiko Takada, Akira Maeda’s partner in the best tag team of the turn of the century and one of the greatest stars in Japan, is clearly not in his prime anymore, although in his case it is less noticeable for now; and although Keiji Mutoh aka The Great Muta is still unaffected by age, his body has suffered enough to affect the quality of his matches. Not all is lost, however. Quite a few of AJPW top veterans are still in good shape. Masahiro Chono has somehow managed to keep himself in a workable condition, and while his performance basics were never as great as his peers, at 43 he’s still a great hitter, one of the best mat wrestlers in the business, a volcano of charisma and an athletic specimen, although his wear-and-tear does make his athletics a little less reliable. His series of matches against Kenta Kobashi on TV and tour shows was one of the highlights of 2006. Kenta himself, despite slowing down a bit, is still the closest AJPW has seen to a full package, the most popular wrestler in Japan after Tenryu and an absolute beast if he gets a chance to shine. Yuji Nagata, the wrestler against which AJPW’s best can truly shine, has had a bit of a slower year but is still as reliable as ever. Dr. Wagner Jr. and Octagon, two Mexican stars of the Juniors division (a testament both to FMW-derived connections between Japan and Mexico and to AJPW’s contacts via NWA), while not as spry as in their youth are still carrying the division quite well, with the help of Jushin Thunder Liger, the masked persona of legendary Keiichi Yamada, one of the best wrestlers in the history of Great Britain, and Masakatsu Funaki, a long-time European and FMW star known to be a master at telling a story via locks and submissions. And of course there’s the next generation, spearheaded by the PWF World Heavyweight Champion Osamu Nishimura (who graduated from a gruelling and health-destroying decade in FMW, UWFi and IWA:J to being one of the top technical grapplers of the promotion), Satishi Kojima (the energetic master of hard hitting and one of the current NWA International Tag champs) and Jun Akiyama (Haru Sonoda’s old tag partner and now one of the most magnetic acts in the upper midcard of AJPW). And then there’s the youngsters that will be the backbone of the promotion in the next decade or two, such as Shuji Kondo (another FMW alumnus, a great wrestler in all styles that can talk the talk, walk the walk and ooze starpower from every orfice), Suwama (a late adopter to wrestling, already very tough, great hitter and a charismatic bastard), Homicide (a regular touring member of the roster, who makes up for his average technical skills [for Japanese standards] with a great grasp of psychology and tons of starpower), or Kenta Kobayashi (an extremely promising young graduate of the AJPW dojo). Even the opener roster is full of bright youngsters ready to prove their worth. Only time will tell if they will get the chance. Japanese Wrestling Federation: A Kingslaying Alliance Japanese Wrestling Federation is a two-year-old alliance between some of the best independent feds in Japan, aiming to provide an alternative to the AJPW behemoth – both in terms of a variety of styles, as well as different business models and providing an alternate set of superstars. They even promote their federational title belts. The JWF Championship was first held by a decorated indie veteran Rikishi Fatu, and now is in the hands of the solid, great-looking Shinjiro Otani (incidentally, the booker of Zero-One and the person who first imagined JWF), while the Tag Team championship, after a short stint with Gran Naniwa and Koji Nakagawa, is now defended by the extremely talented Minoru Tanaka and his great partner, Ikuto Hidaka. However, while these titles are getting some recognition, they are not yet as important as what happens on the home turf of each of those promotions. Based off Chugoku and open since 2004, Dragon Gate is probably the biggest of the three Federation members, although they are virtually unknown in the crucial Kanto region. They utilize an interesting style that combines the realistic trappings and a lot of traditional storytelling that AJPW has deemphasised with a huge dose of fast, flying and pure hard-hitting action and with elements of MMA style. This exhausting product combined with a touring schedule may exhaust their workers, and as a result even their big events can be quite hit-and-miss [from D to C/C+], with the misses about as good as you’d expect from a small indie and the hits surprisingly good. With a touring schedule, many of their workers only come and go for a short amount of time, which has allowed them to feature many great mercenaries from across the world, including such names as Aguila, Air Paris, AJ Styles, Alex Shelley, Averno, Curry Man (aka Christopher Daniels), Dos Caras Jr., El Generico, Excalibur, Jay & Mark Briscoe, Jeremy Lopez, Juventud Guerrera, Mikey Henderson, Minoru Tanaka, TJ Perkins, Trent Acid, Yaichiro Odaka, Ultimo Guerrero and Ultimo Dragon. If this list means nothing to you, you haven’t been following independent wrestling (or mainstream Mexican wrestling). But their main roster is also nothing to sneeze at [and full of generated workers], including Shuji Nosaka, perhaps the strongest wrestler in the world, capable of impossible feats of athleticism and at the same time one of the best sellers in the business; BxB Hulk, a youngster with some great press around him; Kaz Hayashi, a wonderful flier; Masato Tanaka, a FMW veteran and a great brawler; Shingo Takagi, who after only two years already shows great promise as a puro wrestler and master grappler; TAKA Michinoku, one of the best middle-aged fliers on the indie scene, or another great-looking young aerial ace, Taiji Ishimori. International Wrestling Association: Japan is quite a strange organisation. Mixing the traditional wrestling storytelling of old with the garbage hardcore they and FMW pioneered in the 90s, they have been on the rise in the last few years, providing a perfect location in the prestigious Kanto region for promising wrestlers to destroy their bodies for the enjoyment of the crowd. Some of the mainstays of Dragon Gate and Japanese indie scene in general can be found here – the superstar tough bastard Hiroyoshi Tenzan, the gigantic Shoji Sekigawa, very promising young upstart Yoshito Sasaki, extremely legit shoot fighter Kazuyuki Fujita and the best Japanese prospect today Hiroshi Tanahashi, as well as already described indie stars such as Fatu, Takagi, Otani Hayashi, Nosaka or Tanaka. Pro Wrestling Zero-One is without doubt the biggest company of the JWF (managing to get crowds of 4-5 thousand people in their Kanto base, compared to 3 thousand for DG and 2.5 thousand for IWA:J). It is a brainchild of Shinjiro Otani, a posthumous child of NJPW (having graduated their still-active school a year after the promotional part of the company folded), a veteran of IWA:J since its inception, a solid Junior worker with a lot of upside and the man who imagined a revolution in Japanese indie wrestling in the form of the Japanese Wrestling Federation. Before JWF, in 2001 he started Zero-One, making Shoji Sekigawa, the Super Heavyweight, his booker, and hiring Giant Baba himself and joshi legend Jackie Sato as road agents. Together they forged a product similar to the old NJPW style, with (perhaps surprisingly) less modern Junior flying evolutions but with the same mix of high realism, a pure wrestling focus and elements of traditional face/heel dynamics. They are notorious for being the previous employers of many AJPW stars (Shuji Kondo, Milano Collection AT, Masakatsu Funaki, Koji Kanemoto, Kenzo Suzuki, Kazuo Yamazaki…), for hiring the glorious Bull Nakano to be their main personality and interviewer (with terrifying and hilarious results) and for delivering some of the better wrestling in Japan today. With a hard-hitting and joint-bending main event consisting of the MMA star Don Frye, tough badass Hiroyoshi Tenzan, ring general veteran Rikishi Fatu and AJPW veteran and puro specialist Yaichiro Odaka, they can satisfy the need for a product even more hard-hitting and uncompromising than AJPW. Their midcard adds a lot of variety, as besides the gigantic booker and the talented star owner they have one of the better young lions in the business Yoshito Sasaki, brilliant Junior veteran and one of the few brilliant fliers in the company Great Sasuke, hyperconsistent all-rounder Kamikaze, talented bloody brawler Masashi Honda, in-ring master Minoru Tanaka, ultra-tough bastard and MMA veteran Yoshihiro Takayama, and many other talents. With such a talented roster and a different take on Japan’s favourite wrestling type, they can deliver matches that would not feel out of place at AJPW PPVs [reaching B-/B quite consistently despite having workers without that much overness] and they are a growing presence on Kanto’s scene. Kaientai Dojo: The Odd One Out Kaientai Dojo is something of an oddity. Opened in 2002, during the world’s great indies boom, with the underappreciated legend Great Sasuke at the helm and Duke Sado behind the book, they are in some ways a “training” promotion (hence the “Dojo” name), and in some ways a throwback to old times, to a American-influenced traditional style with elements of current WWE mainstream storytelling and more realistic trappings. Most of their best wrestlers, from the extremely talented youngsters roster of Shinsuke Nakamura, Daisuke Sekimoto, Shingo Takagi and Hiroshi Tanahashi to veterans Tiger Mask IV, Yoshihiro Takayama, Don Frye and Rikishi Fatu are also contracted by the Federation companies – or, as in the case of the best high flier in Japan Dragon Kid, switch between those companies based on a whim. However, a different environment focused less on intense physical battles and more on storytelling and character work lets them show off a different side. What is more, K-Dojo is highly regarded by some Japanese smarks, because – perhaps due to the influence of their road agent Kunimatsu Matsunaga, once a joshi mogul – it employs some veteran joshi personalities: Akira Hokuto, a legend in Great Britain and ASW Hall of Famer; Hikari Fukuoka, a charismatic figure who never got a chance after a two year career in LLPW; and the AJW icon Mimi Hagiwara. All of these retired wrestlers are still doing great business as managers and personalities, bringing variety to the shows and at the same time having an opportunity to make ends meet despite the fall of joshi industry.

1987 => 1997 => 2007: THE DISPUTED KINGS? Hello everybody! After a very long break I've decided to once more try and do some simming and historiography, and see if anyone is interested. This time, we'll be looking at The Disputed Kings save simmed another 10 years forward, to arrive in January 2007. I guess Genadi didn't really make his mod with such a scenario in mind, but the game world is still interesting and worth describing. And where better to begin the describing than with the USA? Overview - part 1: United States - The Wind of Change? WWE – The Disputed King? Calling WWE “disputed” might be seen as a bit of a stretch. While they have been unable to find any purchase in Mexico and Japan, they have cemented their position in Europe both continental and British (where they are even more popular than the locals) and in Australia. However, compared to even ten years ago, WWE’s position in USA has declined, with the company no longer being such a mainstream hit [from 96 pop in Great Lakes and 87 in most of the US to 86 and 83 respectively, and this is an improvement from last year when they were around 81]. For example, the last three Wrestlemanias gathered less than 50.000 people each (compared, say, to the Wrestlemanias at the Pontiac Silverdome that took place in late 90s, with over 90.000 people in attendance, and even the 80.000 one in 2003). The numbers WWE gets are still unreachable for any other company in the world, but the decline is clearly noticeable. Vince McMahon has acknowledged this trend, and he’s answered by spending the 2000s poaching the best and most successful talent from other big American companies and from the British ASW, trying to promote new mainstream superstars in the wake of Ric Flair’s downfall, Roddy Piper’s retirement and Hulk Hogan’s continued superstardom and dickery at 53. As a result, not counting the powerhouse that is Steve Austin and the very recent sensation Christy Hemme (who really, really can't wrestle at all, but that's not always the important part), the top of WWE’s roster is populated by either ageing but still popular old-timers – Hogan, Bam Bam Bigelow, British Bulldog, Von Erich brothers, Rick Rude – or people WWE only acquired in the last few years – Art Barr, Adam Copeland/Edge, Goldust, Mayumi Ozaki and Dwayne Johnson. Especially Johnson, who came over from Europe mere three years ago, has been on an incredible roll, with a brush with mainstream superstardom of Hogan/Piper calibre and a coveted TEW Wrestler of the Year award this year. And even more new talent are already waiting for their chance. Just in 2006, WWE got WCW’s extremely reliable Scott Levy and hugely underused prospect Nelson Knight, ASW’s superstar Scot Hall (whom they already burdened with a midcard “Razor Ramone” gimmick) as well as WCWA’s eleven-time champion Yokuzuna, entertaining rapper-jobber Violent J, extremely promising Chris Jericho and the current WCWA Texas Heavyweight champion Bryan Danielson. With WWE’s soft, workrate-light, story-focused style sprinkled with family-friendly comedy, it may be seen as almost a relaxing reward for the wrestlers grinding down their bodies in much more physically demanding companies. On the other hand, WWE is infamous for fumbling the careers of many of its talent, which means that people transferring there either are confident that they’ve been noticed and will be utilized, want to wind down their careers in a less threatening environment, or are desperate for a big break on the grandest stage of all. However, all this bashing on WWE may distort the real image. We are talking about a company that’s recently won TEW Company of the Year and has promoted some of the greatest stars in wrestling; a company that puts out a Card of the Year more often than not and that has monopolized all Match of the Year votes since the late 80s (even if this has become more of a popularity contest than a measure of artistic performance); and a company that is co-responsible for the Women’s Revolution that has seen female wrestlers finally become stars on par with their male counterparts (even though the current female roster is mostly pretty and green as grass girls that Mayumi Ozaki has to pretend to lose to sometimes). You can be pissed off that they have wasted at least a dozen great careers (we may have a special issue about that down the line) or that they re-signed Hogan after a 2002-2005 break and are having him wrestle all the time despite him barely being able to move nowadays. But they also gave us stuff like Mayumi Ozaki as world’s sixth most popular wrestling star of any gender, Art Barr as a title contender churning out wonderful matches against the champs, Davey Boy Smith’s year-and-a-half-long Heavyweight reign, Kerry Von Erich versus Dwayne Johnson in the 2006 King of the Ring final, Roddy Piper as the most entertaining manager in the continental States, and the period of 1998-2000 when Steve Austin was probably the hottest thing in wrestling. So while WWE seems to be a lot less certain of its first spot in the wrestling world, the crown still WCW – The Prince Hath Risen WCW has just finished its best year in a decade, that much is certain. Much of it is due to the strong main title picture – while the aging Rick Steiner should probably be taken down a notch, Dude Love proved to be a very good champion, and with Ray González, Vampiro, CM Punk, Chris Benoit and Shinobi all in the mix, the WCW main event may be the most exciting place in the USA for fans of quality wrestling. WCW’s style combining in-ring realism with a lot of space for character work is also proving to be great for the younger generation of wrestling stars – not only CM Punk, but also Christian Cage, Colt Cabana, Jeff Hardy and Victor Frye [generated worker, protégé of Boris Malenko, an unspectacular technician but among the best performance skills on the planet] all have found at least a decent amount of spotlight here, with some other promising people waiting for their turn in the lower card [including some generated workers]. The great in-ring work is supplemented by stellar mic work by the colour commentator Larry Zbyszko and the famous managers Paul Heyman and Johnny Valiant, while Gary Hart watches over everything as one of the better road agents in the business. While WCW’s attendances (about 10.00 people on PPVs), TV broadcast numbers (around 3.2-3.4) and PPV buyrates (around 0.2) are still not comparable to WWE numbers, they’re a huge improvement over just a few years ago, and with all the young talent available WCW may be able to challenge WWE in about a decade. WCWA – The Extravagant Prince WCWA is probably the strangest among the Top Three of US wrestling. A company focused on intense, realistic, pure traditional wrestling, yet the only one in the big leagues that uses T&A on air. A company famous for hosting some of the best wrestling in the US that let an aged Ricky Morton hold its main belt since 2003 (with a short break due to Chris Jericho winning the title and losing it back to Ricky on the next PPV). A company that gives space and opportunity to some exceptional talent – we’ve mentioned Chris Jericho, Yokuzuna and Bryan Danielson, but there’s also Paul Wight, Samoa Joe, Matt Hardy, Chris Kanyon, Terra Ryzing [aka Jean-Paul Levesque], young MMA star Brock Lesnar and of course Steve Huey [generated worker, a Killer Kowalski school alumnus with 100 Star Quality and 94 Athleticism despite being a Light Heavyweight]; yet the head booker Jim Cornette promotes 51-year-old Terry Taylor, 47-year-old Tommy Rogers and 50-years-old Ricky Morton as a huge part of the main event scene (thankfully Jim Neidhart isn’t physically able to get into the ring and he gets to be a great manager instead, even though he has to compete with magnificent Percy Pringle). They could have had America’s best commentary with Jim Ross and Jim Cornette, but for a reason nobody can understand they put Blake Norton in the third chair and ruined everything. One month their PPV may follow up a wonderful Team Thunder [Chris Jericho & Mark Canterbury] victory over Janetty & Vincent and an awesome Danielson vs Yokuzuna title match with a stinking turd of Terry Taylor versus Tommy Rogers. A month later the last three matches will be a stunning Samoa Joe versus Paul Wright slugfest, Chris Jericho lifting Terry Taylor to a good match and in the main event Danielson defending his title against Steve Huey in a MOTY contender [96]. Of course now, without Danielson, Yokuzuna or Jericho, they are bound to suffer a dive in quality… Or maybe the lower midcard of Brian Christopher, Terra Ryzing, Shane Ballard, Matt Hardy and others will actually step up and fill their shoes? Time will tell. The Counts and the Barons The 2000s were a hard time for the smaller promotions. We saw Chikara, CZW, Full Impact Pro, JAPW, Power Pro, PWG, Pro Wrestling IRON, SHIMMER, Ultimate Pro Wrestling, Women of Wrestling and Xtreme Pro Wrestling all wither and die. Most of those, however, were small and young projects that died after a few years of glory. Meanwhile, some of the old territories are still alive and well. Continental Wrestling Association (American), owned by Jerry Jarret and booked by Jerry Lawler, is still standing tall as a NWA cornerstone and an important South Eastern territory. While far from their early 90s glory days, they now have a roster of extremely promising rookies including Carly Colon, Chase Stevens, Claudio Castagnoli, Matt Sydal, Mike Mizanin, Alex Shelley, Andy Douglas, John Moxley, Randy Orton, Ray Gordy and Tyler Black. In a few years’ time they will either be a renewed force or the source of next decade’s superstars. They also have America’s best announcing team in Jerry Lawler and Joey Styles. California’s Universal Wrestling Federation, owned by Herb Adams and booked by Dusty Rhodes himself, is also a shade of its early 90s self, but is also seeing a slow stabilization as one of the top lower-tier promotions, with Kurt Angle, John Cena and Adam Pearce doing most of the hard lifting while Mike Von Erich (one of the best storytellers in the history of wrestling, fresh off his WWE contract) and Tank Abbott provide what counts as star power in the indies. They also have some promising rookies, such as Alex Koslov, Billy Kim, B-Boy, Ryan Drago and Joey Ryan, who are keen to learn the very traditional style under the watchful eye of Dusty, Mike and some other respected veterans, including Robert Thompson, Leo Burke and Bobby Duncum Jr. Todd Gordon’s Eastern Championship Wrestling, one half of the North American Wrestling League, is in a bit of trouble. Until recently, its mainstay, best worker and champion was Cody Funk [generated character], one of the best young brawlers in America. Now he’s gone to WCWA and the company is left without a leader. But between Homicide, Ian Rotten, Shane Douglas, Stevie Richards and Tommy Dreamer, the main event scene of the brutal East Coasters seems to be strong enough to survive that loss, and with a midcard containing Trent Acid, Rhino, Reckless Youth and The Briscoes, your future is relatively safe. Especially when you have Paul Ellering, Leo Burke and Stan Lane to manage them, and Jose Estrada Sr. to teach them. IWA Puerto Rico is probably the smallest NWA affiliate (virtually unknown outside their home island) and also the most brutal. Yet they remain an interesting place for anybody brave enough to visit, with 10 time manager of the year Victor Quinones, Kevin Nash as booker and Hardcore Champ and a roster containing both Puerto Rican vets (most notably the Headhunters) and some promising youngsters such as AJ Styles, Low Ki, Shelton Benjamin, Carlito Cool and the Colon brothers. Major League Wrestling, an ironic name for a tiny promotion, have opened in mid-2002 and stayed afloat for more than four years due to a daring combination of all styles, with a focus on high-flying, risky stuff and risqué, edgy and somewhat T&A-filled angles (which are not too surprising with ex-porn director Rob Black as the booker). Their varied roster includes a phenomenal high-flier Air Paris, a man of great look and constant losses Dave Batista, super ripped and entertaining brawler Frederick Lebowski [generated character, School of Hard Knocks alumnus], well-travelled Jeremy Lopez, indie veteran Jerry Lynn, Olympian turned indie wrestler Kurt Angle and the supersportsman Shelton Benjamin. An important part of their show is also the pair of veteran manager, Jimmy Garvin and Tommy Lane. Ring of Honor was a part of the same indie boom as MLW, but went in a slightly different direction, with a style less hybrid, more focused on ultra-fast, ultra-risky action, and with a separate Women’s Division. With the popular badass brawler Amy Lee, extremely promising young monster Amazing Kong and the greatest forgotten diamond in the history of women’s wrestling Debbie Malenko. Their male roster is also interesting, with some great fliers including Chris Hero, Archadia, Aden Chambers, Billy Kim, Jack Evans, PUMA, Trent Acid and Jay Briscoe, with some non-fliers such as Homicide filling in the ranks. The third of the surviving mid-2002 indies and the final American NWA affiliate, Dixie Carter’s Total Nonstop Action, is even more flying- and danger-focused and with a dose of T&A in their Women’s Division, as the name would suggest. Their roster includes a whole lot of promising talent, such as Shark Boy, Adam Jacobs, Matt Sydal, Claudio Castagnoli, Billy Kidman, Billy Reil, Jeremy Lopez, Shannon Moore and Sonjay Dutt, and a dose of veterans in Glen Jacobs, Mike Von Erich and Curry Man. The result of this dynamic roster is some of the most exciting independent wrestling in the USA, especially when the X-Division champion Matt Sydal is in the ring – perhaps trying to compensate for his much more grounded CWA style, he really flies off the handle in TNA, showing some of the best modern-style wrestling in the world. The Women’s Division is unfortunately in a way worse shape with many of its main workers – MsChief, Jacqueline, Cheerleader Melissa and Ariel – recently leaving the company. This means that Amy Dumas and Malia Hosaka are now left to work with a roster of attractive and promising rookies that can’t quite produce matches on the level that TNA audiences got accustomed to. The last indie promotion left to be described, X Wrestling Federation, is perhaps the biggest oddball. A very mainstream, workrate-light comedic style with a huge T&A factor provided by no-name scantily clad hostesses, done in Texas, home of hard hitting rasslin, somehow works, due to the booking of Eric Bishoff and the great match psychology shown by a indie-star-studded roster including Adam Jacobs, Air Paris, Billy Kidman, Frederick Lebowski, Mikey Whipwreck, D’lo Brown, Ice Train, Mike Mizanin, Shark Boy, Raul Badell, Randy Orton, Jamie Noble, Jon Moxley and Tyler Black. Great managers Tommy Lane and Bruno Lauer, and Bill Behrens’ mind for the business, also help.

<p>I am not sure whether I will write more about this particular save. There are some ideas I could try, but I feel moving on to something else (and perhaps coming back later?) would be a good idea.</p><p> </p><p> There are four options for me right now:</p><p> </p><p> 1) Going forward another ten years with the same save. Going 1987-2007 can really show you things about the mod and the game, as well as showing whole careers that spanned two decades (going to 2017 would be best for that, but that's for the future). I've already simulated that and let's just say that some things are quite predictable (WWF snatching everyone while wasting half their roster), but some not so much (Kerry von Erich is still going and is awesome, Cornette books WCWA again, and there are two Stampede Wrestlings now and the story behind it is awesome).</p><p> </p><p> 2) Doing another mod in the same vein. I already have a 1991=>2001 save, which even after only some browsing already seems to have some interesting anomalies (Ric Flair is still one of the main guys in WWF? JOSHUA BEN-GURION HAS BEEN IN THE MAIN EVENT SCENE FOR MOST OF A DECADE?!? Jeep Swenson is more popular than the Undertaker or Brian Pillman? NOAH has Akira Maeda, Ken Shamrock, Negro Casas, Owen Hart, Rob Van Dam and 2 Cold Scorpio? What happened to Austin, Rocky, Kane, Angle, HHH, Edge and Christian?) and could be fun to write about.</p><p> </p><p> 3) Doing another (or even the same) mod in a slightly different way, with yearly (monthly? Quarterly?) updates on the progress of the world. It's more time-consuming and the narratives are less apparent, but this way I won't miss important stuff in the past.</p><p> </p><p> 4) A slightly crazy idea - using the 1995 mod and becoming either a historian or a journalist that comments on the events of Monday Night War as they unfold, with weekly updates "reviewing" the Monday matches [more commenting on the quality than trying to write up the actual matches] and reporting what's happening in the wrestling world. It'd take a shitton of time, could burn me out and might not be as good with not-so-regular updates, but I like the idea very much.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> If any of you have thoughts on that, please chime in!</p>

<p></p><div style="text-align:center;"><p><span style="font-size:18px;">The Icons of Wrestling: Hulk Hogan</span></p></div><p></p><p></p><p> </p><p> </p><p> There are many stars in the history of wrestling, but none shines as bright as Hulk Hogan’s. The greatest mainstream breakout star in memory, the hottest heel that ever was, a legitimate contender for the title of most entertaining wrestler of the decade, a storyteller like no other and a man who, despite problems with his body and his personality, managed to overcome everything thrown his way and is still the hottest thing in the industry.</p><p> </p><p> One of the big things that influenced Hogan’s career (sometimes in unexpected ways) was undoubtedly his ego and bad personality. 1987, the year he kept defending the World Heavyweight Title and won King of the Ring, was undoubtedly his time, and the few experiments with putting an Intercontinental Title match after Hogan (during KotR and the October Supercard) ended up more or less a failure – even October’s Randy Savage vs Ricky Steamboat, a terrific match from the technical standpoint that deserved to main event a WWF supercard, turned out to be not as captivating for the fans as Hulk Hogan versus Hercules that preceded it. The champ didn’t even bother to show in person on TV at all, preferring to just make one short promo video a month in anticipation of the upcoming main event on the next PPV. Hogan was simply a license to print money, and he knew it. The fact that he knew it so well and didn’t hesitate to show it made Vince McMahon nervous, however, and he kept trying to push other people and titles as Hogan’s equals. The first cracks began to show on the December Supercard, when a star-studded grudge match main event of Macho Man and Bruiser Brody versus Ricky Steamboat and Roddy Piper managed to outshine Hogan’s rematch with Andre the Giant, but in April another attempt at making the Intercontinental Title equal to the World Heavyweight one backfired as Piper and Savage couldn’t follow a glorious title match between Hogan and Honky Tonk Man, of all people. However, when Hogan’s June Supercard match with Brody did not deliver and when a King of the Ring without Hogan (who only had a huge brawl with Andre) brought some great matches (especially a terrific bout between Ricky Steamboat and Bob Orton Jr.), the WWF management decided the time was ripe to cut Hogan down a notch. And so SummerSlam 1988 finished with one of the best matches and biggest surprises of the year, as Bob Orton dethroned Hogan. While Hulk did a good job on the match (albeit pushing to make himself look strong), he was quite angry with his situation – which, combined with the management’s desire to push other people, led to Hogan skipping two PPVs, only doing some talk segments with Ricky Steamboat that were met with a mixed fan reaction. When the PPV buyrates did not noticeably diminish, Hogan knew he had to do something to prevent his status of the WWF figurehead from slipping away. So he put in a lot of work, both training and lobbying the booking team and using his still considerable influence, to make his return to WWF programming an unforgettable one. </p><p> </p><p> And he succeeded, returning on Survivor Series as a fourth mystery member of the heel team of World Heavyweight Champ Harley Race, Andre the Giant and Paul Orndorff that destroyed Jake the Snake, Roddy Piper, Ricky Steamboat and JYD in a match that is still considered one of the best WWE ever promoted and one of the crowning achievements of 1980s wrestling. Hogan’s new heel persona was an arrogant bastard who turned on the fans because they apparently “forgot about him the moment he wasn’t the hottest thing in the brightest spotlight” and sided with the bad guys just to spite everyone who didn’t show him the attention he “deserved”. It instantly resonated with the fans, but it came to be perfected only due to WWE’s innovation of 1989 – a live TV show called RAW, where the company’s biggest stars appeared live outside PPV. It was designed to help raise interest in pay-per-view storylines, but it also gave the main eventers a chance to practice their character work in front of a smaller audience that was easier to interact with than a huge stadium crowd. Hogan took to this environment like fish to water, from his show-stealing match with Rick Martel on the first RAW ever on February 20th, 1989. While the arrival of Ric Flair and Dusty Rhodes later that year stole the headlights and spotlights from Hogan a bit – and deservedly, as both men proved to be everything that could be hoped for – the Hollywood Hulk Hogan (as he called himself, claiming that the movie audiences were more respectful so he needed to honour them in a way the wrestling fans didn’t deserve to be honoured) kept improving his game, both turning his babyface arrogant antics into outright heelery and inventing some new moves and tricks to keep up with Flair, Savage, Race and other heeldom masters around. He also provided some of the best non-title matches of the year on PPVs, such as his revenge on Bob Orton that stole the show on April Supercard. His efforts paid off in June and July 1989, when first he won the Intercontitnental title from Junkyard Dog on June Supercard, and then he and Flair defeated JYD and Roberts in a RAW main event of spite and revenge which featured both heels fighting to outdo each other’s dickishness and which was later voted Match of the Year. </p><p> </p><p> With Andre the Giant’s World Heavyweight Title run proving disappointing, Hulk’s place as one of the top heels of the company and still the main moneymaker was acknowledged. However, not wanting a heel-heel title change nor a reignition of Hogan’s prima donna tendencies, the WWF management decided to give him an Intercontinental Title run instead, especially as Junkyard Dog’s time with the belt diminished it a bit (in no small part due to the opponents he was often paired up with). Vince McMahon had been nursing the idea of having two main titles in the company, so that the World Heavyweight champion wouldn’t be such a dominating and crucial presence, but his efforts to promote the Intercontinental belt had fell flat, in no small part thanks to Hogan. Giving the title to him was a win-win decision – either he could make it a bit more prestigious, or he would be punished for his arrogance and pride. It is quite probable, however, that Vince McMahon had no idea how far a determined Hogan could run with an opportunity such as this one. From his title winning match outshining a historic Andre the Giant vs Dusty Rhodes, to a barnstormer MOTY candidate with Dusty on 1989 SummerSlam with an almost equal rematch in October, to Hogan’s reign easily overtaking Andre’s World title reign and taking Supercard main events in September, October and December, to a WrestleMania VI main event defeating Dusty for the third time, Hogan’s sensational King of the Ring victory where he dragged Nikolai Volkoff to a match of his life, and finally a SummerSlam 1990 defeat to a face-turned Randy Savage (starting another in a series of unbelievably good Intercontinental reigns). Hogan’s year culminated in another Survivor Series classic often lauded as the best match in Hogan’s career and WWF’s history, a battle which saw the four best faces in the company – Dusty, Junkyard Dog, Ricky Steamboat and Randy Savage – emerge victorious over four top heels of the time in Andre, Roddy Piper, Ric Flair and Hollywood Hogan. After this, nobody was surprised Hulk walked away with the Wrestler of the Year accolades.</p><p> </p><p> 1991 was also Hogan’s year, as he cemented the idea that RAW is the House of Hogan by delivering seven (!) RAW main events that appeared in popular MOTY votes (including a perfect pair of matches with Dusty Rhodes in June, where first “Hollywood” Hogan tricked Dusty into a DQ loss and then next week got whooped up so bad he went for a DQ loss to escape the enraged veteran). He also took part in perhaps the best King of the Ring tournament in history, where he and Ric Flair both delivered unbelievable storytelling in first two of their matches before clashing in a historic finale [game note: all 5 matches were 96+ rated O.o]. However, this was also the year where his body started giving up, with a broken leg in October putting him on the shelf for half a year. He came back with a bang, returning on 1992 April Supercard to, as he put it, “rescue the Heavyweight title from Andre’s sweaty clutched, brother!”. Hogan held onto the title for more than a year, flirting with face and heel turns, feuding with Ric Flair, Junkyard Dog and Kerry Von Erich, co-main eventing December Supercard that became Show of the Year (his title defence against Erich was co-billed with Dusty’s defence of the Intercontinental belt against Savage, and both delivered), opening a short-lived “RAW School for Chumps” where he demolished mid- and lowcarders such as Robert Gibson and Rick Martel in extremely well received matches, and finally losing the title on September Supercard in 1993. The loss was not exactly planned – a desperate final high rope spot during his confrontation with Ric Flair resulted in a broken neck and an audible (which somehow managed to only strengthen the match’s emotional impact). Still, even this tragic end to the reign didn’t prevent Hogan from getting a second Wrestler of the Year title.</p><p> </p><p> Surgery and rehab allowed Hogan to come back in late 1994. Since then, he hasn’t managed to capture any more title belts – but, frankly, he doesn’t need them to contribute to a Show of the Year (December Supercard 1995, where his loss to Savage stole the show as a semi-main event), participate in a Match of the Year (September Supercard 1995 where he and Kerry Von Erich teamed up against Flair and Anderson), make people eat out of his hand both as a face and as a heel, and – despite not starring in any major movie roles – maintain a mainstream superstardom with which only Roddy Piper and Ric Flair can try to compare. 43 years old and with a battered body, Hogan can no longer go as he used to, but he’s still the most over person in wrestling history and a WWE moneymaker like no other.</p>

I think I'd put my Divergent Timelines under "World" not "USA", as I cover stories from all the regions, but thanks for including it anyway!

<div style="text-align:center;"><p><span style="font-size:18px;">Great Moments in Wrestling History: AJPW World’s Strongest Tag Team League 1988</span></p></div><p></p><p> </p><p> All Japan Pro Wrestling has always had a strong tradition of tag wrestling. The historic NWA International Tag Team title and the PWF World Tag Team title introduced in 1984 are often treated as no less important than the Triple Crown titles, with AJPW All-Asia Tag Team serving as a secondary championship, and the AJPW World’s Strongest Tag Team League is a prestigious yearly celebration of tag wrestling. Some of the greatest and most celebrated AJPW wrestlers were also tag wrestlers, as much if not more than singles competitors. One famous example of that is Jumbo Tsuruta, a 1992 TEW Hall of Immortals inductee, who in his career won five iterations of World’s Strongest Tag Team and held the tag gold eleven times (compared to nine singles reigns), forming legendary tag teams both with Giant Baba and with Genichiro Tenryu (under the name Kakuryu, 1988 TEW Team of the Year). Giant Baba himself, one of the all-time legends of the industry, has held tag gold with five different partners (most famously Antonio Inoki), and his last title reign was him and Tsuruta holding the PWF tag belt from December 1987 to March 1991. This legendary run helped establish the “younger” belt as an important and coveted trophy, as well as capping of the legend of Tsuruta who for most of 1988 held both the main tag titles (each with one of his legendary partners), as well as being the NWA International Heavyweight Champion.</p><p> </p><p> Late 80s were the time when many modern stars of AJPW tag team scene first began to shine. One of the milestones in the emergence of this new generation was World’ Strongest Tag Team League of 1987, which saw the meteoric rise to the finals of The Road Warriors and The Great Team. The Road Warriors, after their short yet sensational career in the States in mid 80s, became permanent members of AJPW roster. Their 1987 League win was just a start of their storied career, which to this day has yielded 5 World’s Strongest Tag Team tournament wins (even though in the later years their size and lack of stamina made them less than ideal for the event, which unfortunately showed), 7 tag reigns (1 All Asia, 3 NWA International, 3 PWF World) and a cult following. While in 1987-1988 they were not yet the dominant force in Japan that they became later, they already had shown their power, by defeating The Great Team. While this team, comprised of an ex-Junior champ Kuniaki Kobayashi and a rookie Kensuke Sasaki, wasn’t exactly a big deal before the League, they stunned the world by conquering no less than four legends. First they dismantled a team of the fabled veteran Great Kabuki and Wrestler of the Year 1987 Riki Choshu (who has a strong claim to be the best wrestler of the late 80s), and then, even more shockingly, eked out a victory against Baba and Tsuruta. The fact that this team of upstarts unseated such titans gave additional weight to seeing the Road Warriors destroy them as mercilessly (albeit with much greater difficulty) as they did two relatively lower-tier teams they encountered in the previous rounds.</p><p> </p><p> 1988 League was heralded as having a potential of a finals rematch between those two new, powerful teams. But there were also other powerful contenders in the competition. Most importantly, after his humiliation in team effort with Baba, Jumbo Tsuruta joined up with his co-champion Genichiro Tenryu as team Kakuryu, hoping to repeat their tournament victories of 1984 and 1986. With Tsuruta in the middle of his three-championship run and Tenryu holding the NWA United National title (and on his way to becoming Wrestler of the Year), they were seen as a sure bet to capture the tournament title. Other than that, the bracket was filled out with teams of promising rookies and mid-tier workhorses. Of particular note was Footloose, composed of Hiromichi „Samson” Fuyuki and Toshiaki Kawada. Both those men were in their first decade in the business, but already were seen as among top 50 wrestlers in the world. In the future, they were to become two time Tag Team of the Year, and Kawada was to become one of the brightest young stars of AJPW. While in 1988 they were still young and without gold, they already held wins over Kakuryu (with whom they produced one of the best unseen tour matches of 1987), Road Warriors and The Great Team. </p><p> </p><p> There was, however, one team that nobody knew what to expect from. An unexpected pairing of two invaders, one already on the verge of greatness and one a foreign dark horse. A team forged from warrior spirit, vengeance and spite, not from any kind of loyalty. A team the fans loved to hate, while at the same time had grudging respect for.</p><p> </p><p> The first member was Riki Choshu. An NJPW trainee, veteran of American and Mexican scene, and an Olympic wrestler, Choshu has been one of the best Japanese wrestlers of the 80s. After leaving New Japan, he and his Ishingun stable formed a renegade promotion Japan Pro-Wrestling that invaded All Japan Pro Wrestling. This storyline proved extremely popular, and Choshu’s sensational TV Match of the Year against Toshiaki Kawada cemented his place as one of the key members of AJPW roster. With Yoshiaki Yatsu, one of Japan’s greatest amateur wrestlers and a journeyman who worked both for NJWP and AJPW, they held both main tag titles in 1987. However, in 1987 Yatsu didn’t enter the World’s Strongest Tag Team league. Some say AJPW’s management, irritated at the controversy surrounding Yatsu being banned from international amateur championships (including the Olympic Games) due to being a pro, wanted to test out a new partner for their hottest property Choshu and paired him up with Great Kabuki; others point to Yatsu’s freelance status as a reason. Nevertheless, in December 1988 Yatsu was working for NJPW, and Choshu was left without a partner to seek revenge for his last year’s humiliation.</p><p> </p><p> He found a partner in Terry Gordy. Famous for work with the Fabulous Freebirds, Gordy started freelancing in the Big Two in Japan. He arrived in AJPW in September 1988, declaring that he came to return All Japan’s NWA belts to the United States, where they belonged. In a shocking turn of events, Gordy not only was granted a match against the NWA International Heavyweight champion Jumbo Tsuruta, but managed to end his nearly two-year reign, taking one of the three top AJPW titles on his first night with the company. Unsurprisingly, Gordy was kept strong through 1988, winning a vast majority of his matches. Only three people managed to defeat him – Ted DiBiase (who was later crushed in a rematch), Toshiaki Kawada (who spoiled Gordy’s second match in AJPW) and Genichiro Tenryu (who defended the NWA United National Title from the American invader). Unsurprisingly, those two last defeats were sore spots for Gordy, who wanted revenge. With both Tenryu and Kawada entering the World’s Strongest Tag Team League, Gordy decided beating them at their own game (as well as further humiliating Tsuruta and facing his old American enemies Road Warriors) would be the most satisfying course of action. But, being a newcomer and an invader, he had no tag partner in AJPW. Which is why when Choshu started looking for a new partner, Gordy was a perfect candidate. It was clear neither man liked the other, neither really trusted the other, neither was fully satisfied with the deal. It was a one-time thing. It was a pragmatic decision, a partnership born of opportunity.</p><p> </p><p> In the team of Choshu and Gordy, all the elements of greatness came together. The brightest star of Japanese wrestling got paired with the hottest new challenger of the year. One of the best tag wrestlers of the early 80s (Gordy and Michael Hayes were the Tag Team of the Year in 1980 and 1981 and held, together and with Buddy Roberts as a trio, 10 title reigns) formed a partnership with a man who held tag gold in Japan and Mexico. One of the best brawlers and toughest fighters in the history of the business teamed up with a master of the mat and a volcano of charisma. It made perfect sense in-character, was connected with older feuds and conflicts, reinforced both men’s status as heels, invaders and outsiders, and had the aura of a historic event. However, some fans did not believe a makeshift team could have a legitimate chance in the tournament, at most serving as a challenge to be overcome by the heroic victors.</p><p> </p><p> What followed was one of the greatest cards of the last decade and one of the best single-event storylines in the history of wrestling. One side of the bracket went moderately predictably, with Kakuryu crushing the second-tier team Collateral Damage before eliminating The Great Team in the best AJPW tag match of the year. The other side, however, was nothing short of sensational. First they dispatched Footloose in a spectacular match that electrified the audience. Then they defeated the Road Warriors in a dominant fashion. And finally, in a match fitting the awesome action that preceded it, weaving a story of two titanic individuals finding a way to mesh their styles and overcome the teamwork of their opponents, they wrestled victory from the jaws of defeat and toppled two time League winners Kakuryu. Then they stood in the faces of a crowd split between booing and applauding them, two statues of pure defiance. Gordy has defeated both of his vanquishers and humiliated his old American nemeses. Choshu proved that even without Yatsu he is a world class tag wrestler. Both did so while spitting AJPW’s established fan favourites, rising stars and old monsters in the faces. </p><p> </p><p> A crucial part of the weight and legacy of this storyline is how it was treated in later years. For more than a year, Choshu and Gordy never entered a ring at the same time. Later, they had occasional matches and even match series, with a lot of grudging respect and one-upmanship, which (until Choshu’s body started to decline in the last few years) was always a huge deal. But for the last eight years they have never, ever fought as a tag team. It was a one-time deal. One night only. One of the greatest tag teams in the history of wrestling. One of the greatest storylines that were never tarnished and diminished. A true shining moment of wrestling glory.</p>

<blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="CobheadJake" data-cite="CobheadJake" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="44524" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>Happy to see a new update to this. Piper's story is an interesting one here. Will we see similar things for the other mightily popular stars?</div></blockquote><p> </p><p> Probably. I wanted to do Hogan, but I literally can't make head nor tail of his face/heel turns. The lack of information about that anywhere is one of my main problems with TEW 2016 from an observer game perspective.</p>

The Icons of Wrestling: Roddy Piper There are currently three active wrestlers that can count themselves as living icons – people, who enjoy mainstream fame and are able to light any wrestling crowd on fire just with a mention of their name [overness A*]. One of them is Roddy Piper – although just a few years ago nobody would’ve guessed it would end up this way. From 1987 to 1989 Piper was treated by the WWF as a kind of a “special attraction”, used in matches only sparingly – perhaps due to a bloated roster, perhaps due to some drinking problems. Instead, he was often used as a loose cannon that could barge into any interview, attack an enemy backstage to cause a brawl and a “last-minute” change in schedule, and generally provide some non-match entertainment, both as a heel and later as a face. Some highlights of that era include a slow-burn feud with heel-turned Macho Man Randy Savage; the sensational run in the King of the Ring 1989 (where Piper destroyed Greg Valentine and Dick Murdoch in a dominant fashion before losing the final match to JYD after one of the most electric brawls ever seen in WWF); and finally the Match of the Year of 1988, Survivor Series battle in which Piper teamed up with Jake “The Snake” Roberts, Ricky Steamboat and JYD against Andre the Giant, heel-turned Hulk Hogan, Harley Race and Mr. Wonderful. Even today, it is considered the second best Survivor Series match of all time and one of the best 80s WWF matches. 1990 was a breakout year for Piper – he defeated then-world champ Andre the Giant and his nemesis Randy Savage, then turned heel and acquired the WWF World Heavyweight title that Andre vacated due to injury by defeating Ricky Steamboat, and proceeded to defend it from Ricky, Brutus Beefcake, Dusty Rhodes and JYD. Then he went on to take part in what many consider the best WWF match of all time – 1991 Survivor Series main event, with Piper teaming up with Hulk Hogan, Ric Flair and Andre (which might be the most impressive heel line-up in the history of wrestling) against an equally star-studded team of Ricky Steamboat, Junkyard Dog, Dusty Rhodes and Randy Savage. While the faces won the day, Piper was still one of the hottest commodities in the company and his title reign was really lifting the championship after a slightly disappointing run by Andre. Everything changed just after Christmas, 1990, when one of the big newspapers published an article which detailed Piper’s frequent use of prostitutes on tour. WWF, cutting their losses, got rid of him immediately, stripping him of his title (which was immediately won by Andre), and Piper spent the next two and a half years dealing with the fallout to his marriage and career. However, he’s emerged from this mess with his marriage surviving, his drinking in control and his heart determined to come back to the business. His return to WWF in March 1993 after the scandal had died down was far from triumphant, as the fans still had mixed reactions to him and a short, one-sided feud with Big John Studd wasn’t a great entrance Piper needed. It was only after Piper got a big role in a Hollywood action blockbuster that Vince McMahon decided to give him some more screentime. Since the movie’s release, Roddy has been on a strange kind of run in WWF. On the one hand, he’s been going over (with a record of 22-2-3 in 1996), and frequently main eventing RAW. He’s also had some good rivalries, especially the great TV feud with Jake Roberts, including a classic match between a team of Piper & Rick Rude and a team of Roberts and the Macho Man. On the other hand, his only 1996 wrestling appearances on PPVs were the Royal Rumble and the September Supercard blowoff to the Roberts feud, which, while still entertaining, gained a smaller reaction than most of their TV matches. This seems to be due to Rude’s age and physical weariness – he’s kept himself quite fit up until a few years ago, but his time in the ring is running out, with his physique and his skills rapidly deteriorating. He’s still a master of psychology and mostly dependable in the ring, and he can still brawl like there’s no tomorrow – when you can have a fistfight with a sober Kerry Von Erich and not look bad in comparison, you know you’ve still got it, even with age and fatigue clearly starting to show. However, what is most important is that Piper also remains one of the best talkers and character workers in the business, able to keep up with Hogan, Flair or Savage with no problem whatsoever. His recent enormous popularity is, of course, a mix of movie stardom, in-ring fire and a hot winning streak, but he’s rebuild his recognition among the fans mostly on top of his awesome promos. Therefore Piper, just like in the late 80s, often becomes a special attraction on WWF PPVs, with numerous backstage segments and brawls or storyline events, such as the unexpected crowd fight with Curt Hennig on the December Supercard or his skit series with Billy Graham. It might be surprising that this kind of stuff is enough to become one of the biggest mainstream stars in wrestling, but you just need to hear Piper talk to understand that this kind of raw charisma is more than enough to get millions of people to go mad about you – especially in a world where the heels seem to get all the attention from the crowds.