IronWarrior22

December 12th, 2019: An Bit of QAW Flair He stood in the small arena and watched the ring crew do their work. Unlike the other event he’d been to or at least ones where they let him in early enough to watch the ring be put up, this was a professional crew in an actual arena. He had looked into how much it would cost to hire one of his own but realized it was insanely expensive it was going to be. Although, for a bigger company, it would be pocket change. It was an expense that he didn’t think he’d be able to afford very much. The thought irked him as it reminded him how far down the totem pole he was. “I figured I’d see you here.” he heard a woman say behind him. He turned and saw Farrah Hesketh, the owner of Queens of American Wrestling. “Farrah! It’s been a while.”. “That’s an understatement. When was it? 2007?”. “CGC’s one and only event in the Twin Cities.” Richter said with a smile. Then it left his face. “You were expecting me.”. “I was. I heard you were scouting in the region, and figured you’d want to come look at the talent we have here,” she said sourly. “You don’t sound happy about it.”. “Of course I’m not. This,” she said, gesturing to the arena around them, “is my baby. Everything I’ve worked for is right here. I did my scouting, and we’ve been successful for about decade. It feels cheap to have others scoop up the people you found and helped.”. “I imagine I’ll get acquainted with that feeling before too long.”. She laughed. “It comes with the territory of being a small fish in a very big pond.”, she said. She leaned on a guard rail and continued, “Congrats on the job, by the way.”. “Thanks.”, Richter said. “Neck still gives you problems?”. “Occasionally it’ll get pretty stiff, but that could also just be because I’m getting old. How about your knee?”. “Could be better. But with how everything turned out, I can’t really complain. Who knows? Maybe if you stuck around NOTBPW, you’d have done the same thing up north.”. “Maybe. But, there’s no pay in wondering on what could’ve happened.”. “Amen to that.”, she said. She pushed herself off the guard rail and continued, “I take it you want to watch the show first?”. Richter nodded, and Farrah stated, “Then I suppose I’ll see you after the show.”. “You’re fine with it?”. “Of course I am. Any company that’s looking to expand on women’s wrestling is a company I don’t mind helping. Besides, too much time in front of the same crowd can make anyone complacent. If they can show their talents to a new audience, then that’s good for them, and it’s good for QAW. Just make sure that none of them get hurt while they’re up there with you.”. “You have my word.” Richter said, and with that, Farrah left him be. Fans started to come in soon after, and he was surprised at how electric the small crowd was for the show. And the show itself was pretty good. He already had two talents in mind when the main event came around. The main event was Juana Hurrican and Honey Badger, who had a pretty good match, and he made a mental note of the two of them as well. When the show was over, and the fans were gone, he went to the back and found Farrah. He gave her the names of the talent he was interested in and pulled them away from the rest of the roster. Juana Hurricane, Honey Badger, Teresa Perez, and Modesty Pador were the wrestlers he was intrigued by. He made his pitch, and in a surprising twist, Farrah encouraged them to do it, stating it would give them more exposure and a new crowd to hone their craft. The topic of travel came up, and Richter explained that they had houses for the traveling talent to stay in while they were there, which would save them money on hotel costs. Negotiations lasted longer than he would’ve liked, but he couldn't be too surprised with two long-time vets leading the charge. Fortunately for him, they agreed with the pitch, and when he left the venue, he did so with their signatures. Farrah had also agreed to a friendly relationship between their two companies. It was a paper agreement, not doing anything, but it would increase the legitimacy of SPW. Whether it would matter in Minnesota, however, he did not know. The Wrestling Spectator December 13th Edition And The Hits Keep Coming! Another surprising development in our ongoing ‘SPW-watch’ comes from Houston, Texas. It was known that Jackson Richter was scouting talent in the Mid-South region, but the news that broke this morning surprises all of us here at the Spectator. Queens of American Wrestling owner Farrah Hesketh and Sidewinder Pro Wrestling Head Booker Jackson Richter have announced a ‘working relationship’ between the two companies, as well as a list of QAW wrestlers signing with SPW, which include 2-time QAW World Tag Team Champion Teresa Perez, young up-and-comer Modesty Pador, ½ of the current QAW World Tag Team Champion in Honey Badger and former QAW World Women’s Champion Juana Hurricane. It appears that SPW is fully embracing women’s wrestling while operating a smaller men’s division, a reversal of normal trends in American wrestling. And with these signings brings the known roster of workers up to twenty-eight. For a small company to have gotten such a slate of wrestlers and already have working agreements with other, more established companies, and in only one month of operation, is something to keep an eye on.

December 4th, 2019: Talent Scouting Pt.3 (Mid-South) St. Louis was a town he had only been to once in 1991, and swore he’d never work here again. He took a gig in the town for an indie show that promised to pay pretty well. He did the job he was brought in for but got stiffed on his pay, which did not endear him to the area. Today, however, he was there for a different purpose, but one he had been doing almost non-stop since he accepted the job: scouting talent. He had a couple of events planned out on this trip, ending with a Queens of American Wrestling show on the 12th. Then, it was off to Seattle. But he was getting ahead of himself. When he made it to the event, he was surprised to see that there was an announcer. He noted that throughout the event and, by its conclusion, he knew he was good. Along with the announcer, he noted one kid. As he had done thrice before, he went to the back and spoke to those he was interested in: Dane O’Hara and Jerry Pepper. Luckily for him, they didn’t ask too much when negotiating. They were thrilled about working for an actual company and not doing these one-off indie shows. That said, he was more careful about how he went about it, waiting for those he wasn’t interested in leaving. The next few days all followed the same trend. He went out to Oklahoma City, Little Rock, and New Orleans. Unlike his stop in St. Louis, he only had three workers across those three stops, but they were exciting prospects. DeAnna Desire was working as a valet in Oklahoma City, and she cut one hell of a promo, and he signed her because she had excellent promo skills and could be a good manager. He found Jason Petterson in Little Rock and came across as a throwback to the old-school tough guys that you would find in the area in the 70s and 80s. He was also a stiff brawler, and his stuff looked legit. New Orleans looked like it would be a bust-up until Richter saw Jay Silver. Here was a guy who exuded charisma and had a great look, but god was he green in the ring. He spoke to him after the show and was very surprised to hear that the kid was only nineteen and that he’d only been wrestling since April, which stunned Richter. He looked pretty good for being a rookie, and that enticed Richter enough that he offered a contract, which he agreed to. Now, he was on his way to Houston. The Wrestling Spectator December 6th Edition Jackson Richter At Multiple Independent Shows in the Mid-South It appears that Sidewinder Pro Wrestling is not yet done looking for talent, as he has been seen scouting talent at Independent events across the Mid-South Region, but specifically in St. Louis and Oklahoma City. We also have information that he was seen in Little Rock, where another independent event is scheduled for tonight. Based on what we know, SPW has signed Dane O’Hara, Jerry Pepper, and DeAnna Desire to their active roster. O’Hara’s role is presumed to be that of an announcer, and Jerry Pepper that of a wrestler, but it’s unclear what DeAnna’s role in the company will be since she is not an active wrestler. How much more talent SPW expects to bring in is unknown, but they already have a roster of 20 workers. How much more they can bring in when they haven’t run a show is unknown, as is the company's creative direction.

November 29th, 2019: A Bit of 5SSW Flair Jackson Richter shuffled through the crowd, listening to a cacophony of voices he could only partly understand. 5 Star Supreme Wrestling was running a show in Kansai, and Richter was dead tired. Flying out here was never an idea of his, but on the flight here, he realized how important this could be. Gaining a working relationship with an established, international company would be a boon to their status to television companies back home. Granger had a large input mainly because of what his goals were. While he had been against the idea of a women’s division, after some of the hiring and talks he and Richter had, he knew there was going to be a women’s division, he was interested in bringing in some diversity and knew just the performer. Kinuye Mushashibo had been brought to NOTBPW, and Granger had been one of the proponents of the move back in 2012. Along with that, it would, in spirit, rekindle the old NOTBPW-5*SW working relationship that he had worked on back in 2012. When word went around that he was heading out to Japan, Kate Lilly and Debbie Rose, moreso the former than the latter, pitched the idea of bringing in a couple of other wrestlers who were interested in coming back home to wrestle and gain more notoriety in America: Talia Quinzel and Selina Svelte. And that’s how he came to find himself in the crowded 5SSW arena. He half-expected to be turned away when he tried to speak with the workers he wanted to, but that was an issue for later. He decided to enjoy the show since this was the first 5SSW show he had ever seen. The show went on, and he saw all three women he had come to recruit, but they weren’t the only ones to catch his eye. Etsuko Arihyoshi and Fuyuko Higa had one of the best matches he had ever seen, which easily stole the show. Paige Croft, the third wrestler he was scouting, looked great in tag team action, as limited as it was. After it had concluded, he made his way to the back, and after some rather frustrating conversations, he texted Lilly that he needed some help to get to the two that wanted to return. Just as he was about to be shown the door, Talia came to his rescue. She explained that he was a guest and, begrudgingly, was let through. Talia brought him to where her and Selina’s locker room, and the three hammered out their deals there. Once that had been agreed on, he explained his other motive for being there, and the two helped him out by bringing the other four he was interested in into their locker room: Etsuko Arihyoshi, Fuyuko Higa, Paige Kroft and Kinuye Musashibo. Surprisingly, Kinuye actually remembered him from when NOTBPW ran house show circuits in the Twin Cities. The other two didn’t, but after some talking, the three also agreed to a new deal, although he had to acquiesce to their condition that their primary commitment would be 5SSW, which Richter was more than happy to give in return for a contract. He smiled as he walked out of the arena and back to the hotel. He had been sent here to get one wrestler and left with six, some of whom were phenomenal. He was over the moon. He thought back to what Evans had told him about making his roster too large. He was now sitting at 19 wrestlers, 11 women and 8 men. The Wrestling Spectator December 2nd 5SSW-SPW Working Relationship? In an honest surprise, word has reached the Spectator that Talia Quinzel and Seline Svelte, current 5SSW Tag Team Champions, have signed on with SPW in a surprise move. Four other wrestlers from 5SSW have also signed deals with SPW: Paige Croft, Kinuye Mushashibo, Etsuko Arihyoshi, and Fuyuko Higa. Seemingly doubling down, it seems that SPW’s future direction lies in the women’s division. What role the male wrestlers they’ve hired play is still unsure, but SPW is going in a direction that those of us here at the Spectator was not prepared for.

November 27th, 2019: Talent Scouting Pt.2 (Great Lakes) Jackson Richter waited outside the locker room. The show had ended not long before, and he had spied some talent he wanted to bring in. The show's headliners were Lilly & Rose, a women’s tag team he remembered watching when Angel Athletic Association was still in business. Along with them, he saw a couple of others he felt would work with his vision for SPW. He had told the guard who he was and waited outside. The door opened, and he turned to see one of the talents he was interested in. Pepper Pelton stood before him and got closer than he would’ve liked. “Who are you?” the kid asked, and Richter realized what was happening. He remembered when he and Evans had to chase off unwanted loiterers in 1999, and now he had an inkling about what that felt like. “I’m Jackson Richter, Head Booker of Sidewinder Pro Wrestling. I wanted to talk to some talents about coming to work for me.”. “Is that so? You got a business card?” the kid asked. Richter reached into his pocket and handed the kid a card. He took it and looked it over, standing there for an uncomfortably long time. Then he opened up the locker room door. “He looks legit.”, Pelton said into the room, and while he heard a cacophony of voices, eventually it died down, and Kate Lilly walked out. Pelton handed her his card, and she nodded. She looked at him and said, “Mr. Richter, is it? Who do you want to talk to?”. “Pelton, Malaise, Diamond, Threepwood, Kate & Lilly.”, he said, reading off his notes. She laughed. “Well, I thank you for the sentiment, but I don’t think peanuts are worth our time.”. “You don’t even know what I’m offering.”. “Alright,” she said. “What’re you offering?”. “Same as the promoter you just worked for.”. “Do you even know how much that is?”, Lilly asked. “I imagine I’ll find out shortly.” he said. “Could you tell them to stay behind, and I’ll talk to you all after eveyone else leaves?”. “I can do that,” she said. It took about an hour for the others in the locker room to file out and when the last one did, Lilly gestured for him to come into the room, where he negotiated each of their contracts. As he made his way back to the hotel, he got a call from Wilson Granger. Apparently, he had negotiated a deal with 5*SW to create a working relationship. That caught him off guard, as he didn’t think Granger would be interested in having an emphasis on women’s wrestling. To his pleasant surprise, that didn’t seem to be the case. And then the other shoe dropped and Granger told him that he was flying out to Kansai to meet with the executives of the company, and he wanted Richter to accompany him, both to meet the executives, but also scout the talent he wanted to bring over. That was going to take time, and he was on a tight schedule. He relayed that to Granger, and Granger asked him when the next show was. He told him that it was two days from now, and that worked for Granger. Not so much for Richter, as he was going to have to drive back up to Minneapolis and then fly out to Japan. But, that’s what the boss wanted, and he figured it was far too early in the partnership to be shirking the owner. The Wrestling Spectator November 29th Edition Women’s Wrestling Bigger Than Anticipated for SPW? Just yesterday, we got word that Jackson Richter was seen at a few independent events in Wisconsin and Michigan, and shortly after we received that information, we were told that Sidewinder Pro Wrestling had made another round of signings, this time headlined by former 3-Time AAA Tag Team Champions Kate Lilly and Debbie Rose. We at the Wrestling Spectator can confirm that the company has also signed February Malaise, Olivia Diamond, Connor Threepwood and Pepper Pelton. In stark contrast to last week’s round of signings, they have brought on a lot of women’s wrestlers, which sparks some intrigue into how large they expect their women’s division to be. Only time will tell, but already, SPW’s roster exceeds ten workers. How much more they plan to bring on is still unclear, but we will bring you the information when we receive it.

November 22nd, 2019: Talent Scouting Pt.1 Jackson Richter shifted uncomfortably in his seat. ‘Seat’ was probably generous, considering how old these high school bleachers must have been. He watched as the ring crew set up the ring, and he looked over as his wife, Alison, sat down next to him. “How many of these are you going to?” she asked. He had met Alison a few months after his retirement in 2000, so she never knew him from his wrestling days, although she had heard about them. This might’ve been his first outing to a wrestling show since NOTBPW merged with CGC. She went with him to each one, but he never knew whether it was out of courtesy or whether she actually enjoyed it. “I don’t know. I just have to find enough people to make a roster,” he said as he tried to get comfy on the wood slab. “You have a number in mind?” she asked. To be honest, he didn’t. After he and Wilson Granger talked it out, he had been thinking through different ideas. He wanted a tag division, something he had always loved doing. It was a stable of wrestling, but he wasn’t sure if he could pull it off with what he was going to be able to bring in. He also wanted a women’s division, but Granger didn’t like the idea. He believed there was no money to be made there or popularity to gain, but Richter felt otherwise. There were corporations all over the world that made it work, and he believed he could too. Along with that, he already had a few contacts in that realm of wrestling that he believed would help boost his popularity.. Granger, however, didn’t think so. Luckily for Richter, he had the creative direction for the company under lock and key. That wasn’t to say that Granger had no say. After all, he was the man fronting the whole operation. He also wanted good commentary for the events. He planned on having his first 4 shows be big productions and to film it. It would be a big expense, but it would be much easier to showcase the tapes to TV companies and try to get televised. At the same time, he could have about 2 months of shows taped and ready to go. Whether that would be the long-term idea of the company, he was unsure, but for now, trying to get TV was his paramount goal. After all, you aren’t going to be making money, if nobody can see you. And lastly, he had an idea of what he wanted his singles competition to look like. He didn’t want everybody to be 6’6 and up, but he didn’t want too short guys. Although, beggars can’t be choosers. “I’ve got ideas,” was all he said since anything else would’ve been a lie, and he wouldn’t lie to his wife. The ring crew finished their duty, and he watched as some of the talent gawked at the ring from where he assumed the locker rooms to be. He then saw a an old friend shepherding them back out of sight. He looked at his wife and said, “Let’s talk to the talent.”. “We can just do that?” she asked. “Normally, no. When you know the promoter, though…” he said as he stood up. He and his wife made their way backstage, and Richter was happy that he caught the booker just before he made his way to the back. “Hey, Jay!” he said as he walked down the hallway. The booker wheeled around at hearing his shoot name, and after a few seconds of awkwardly staring at him, he smiled. “Jack!” Jason Evans said as he walked over and shook Richter’s hand. Jason Evans, better known as ‘Too Hot’, had been a rookie when he and Richter were a tag team from September of 1998 to November 1999, when Richter broke his neck, eventually having to retire from wrestling a few months later. Even outside the business, he tracked how his friend was doing. He called and congratulated him when he became the head booker of 4C, and from that point on, the two kept in touch. When Granger came to Richter, Evans was one of the guys he called. “You know, it came as kind of a shock when I heard you took the job.”, Evans said. “Why’s that?” Richter said. “Well, you always seemed like you were just fine out of the business. Didn’t think you wanted to get back in.”, Evans said. “Had to. Didn’t have much of a choice in that regard.”, Richter said. Evans nodded, and looked to Alison. “And you must be Alison.”. “Pleasure to meet you, Mr. Jay.”. “Evans. Jason Evans.”, he said. “I used to wrestle with Jackie boy here.”. “Jackie boy?”, she said. “Yeah, yeah.”, Richter said. “Got any good talent back there?”. “Did you even look at the flier?”, Evans asked. “There was a flier?” Richter said with a laugh. “Of course, I saw the flier. I was more curious how many of them you’d have signed for 4C.”. “Poaching my talent already?”, Evans said. “Depends.”, Richter said. “On?”. “Whether you’d like to join the company as my Director of Talent Relations.”, Richter said. Evans put his hands on his hips, sucked on his teeth and finally laughed. “I didn’t want the book. Why would I want that?”. “Consider it a favor,” Richter said. When Evans started to shake his head, Richter said, “You know what it’s like to run a smaller company. You know what pitfalls not to fall into, and you know your stuff. Besides, you’re still running shows. You’re still going out and finding talent. Why not do it with me?”. Evans mulled over that for a few seconds. “What’s the salary?”. “Same as mine.”, Richter said. Evans paused as he looked at him. “In Minnesota? Where nobody else has made it work?”. “Hey, no competition. It’s an untapped market, and we’re going to tap it.”, Richter said. Evans laughed, before nodding. “Alright.”, he said, as he extended his hand. “You’ve got a Director of Talent Relations.”. “Good to hear. Now, about your talent…” Richter said. Evans smiled. “Tell you what. Watch the show, and come back to me with people you think will be a good fit, and I’ll do the same.”. “Couldn’t ya just tell me?”, Richter said. “I could. This way’s more fun,” he said with a smile as he walked into the locker room. He could hear him talking on the other side of the wall, but couldn’t discern what it was he said. “That seemed to go well,” Alison said. “Better than I thought it’d go, that’s for sure.”, Richter said. “Come on, let’s go back to our seats.”. The show began a good half an hour later, and the high school gymnasium had about 200 people in, which was respectable. The show started with two local talents who didn’t look all too impressive and their match itself wasn’t good either. The next match did better in getting the crowd into it. A wrestler named Jack Pryde took on the smaller Mercution Sleep, and where Pryde had the look of a big wrestler and a natural charisma, his counterpart looked meek in comparison. Sleep, however, was clearly carrying the match. For what it was, their match was decent, and he made a note on his phone. The next match had a kid named Wild Red Stallion take on Roger Monteiro, and those two were on the same level competitively. It was a fine match and he made a note of it. Turns out, that would the match of the night. The myriad of matches from then on where nothing to write home about. The main event was subpar, but the managerial work of one Kali Fornia caught his interest, while catching the eye of just about everyone else. He had previously met Kali on several occasions as she was a local talent who got work as a manager in several promotions around the country, but rarely stayed to long. The main reason for that was her gimmick. He remembered the first time he saw it, and the reaction of the crowd when she came out. She bore a mighty strong resemblance to a mainstream porn star and she used that as her gimmick, including the mannerisms at ringside. Fantastic for getting a strong reaction, but it was always very one note, and never lasted very long before it moved over into genuine anger and would start to hamper ticket sales. In the region, however, she was a legendary valet. To start a company in the region without her would be surprising to say the least. She was well known, good at her job and lived in Minneapolis. So, he made a note of her as well. The show finished and the crowd dispersed. Alison told him to go speak with Evans, and that she’d go make some phone calls in the car. Richter made his way to the locker room and found Evans standing there. “So, what did you think?”, he asked. “It was a fine show.”, Richter said. “I’ve got 5 people I’m interested in.”. “Oof. Just 5?” Evans said. “Which five?”. “Pryde, Sleep, Stallion, Fornia and Monteiro.”. “What about Smallbone and Longstaff? Nice high-flying tag team.”, Evans said. “That’s about all they can do.”, Richter said. “Then that’s all they’ll do.”, Evans said. “Not everyone needs to be a fantastic wrestler. Sometimes you need your stepping stones.”. Richter shrugged. He knew Evans had a point, but he wasn’t impressed with the two of them in their match. “Are you recommending them?”. “Yes. I am.”, Evans said. “Alright, I’ll add them. Anybody else?”. “How about the ref?”. “I can do that for nothing.”, Richter said. “I handle the in ring part, you’ll agent the matches. That’ll save us a little in the short term.”. “It will, but we’ll need more in the future.”, Evans said. “I know.” Richter said. “Can you recruit them?”. “Yeah, I’ve got it.”, Evans said. “What’re you going to do?”. “I’ve booked a little trip, going around and scouting the independent scene around the country. Gonna see how many young guys we can bring in.”. “I’d be careful. We don’t need 50 guys on the roster.”, Evans said. “Last thing we need is a bloated roster before we even start our first show.”. “I’ll keep that in mind.” , Richter said as he walked away. The Wrestling Spectator November 23rd An Unexpected Addition Less than 24 hours after we sent out our weekly newsletter, we got some news. Too Hot, former Head Booker of Canadian Charisma Championship Combat, otherwise known as 4C, has officially been named the new Director of Talent Relations, for the new Minnesota-based promotion, Sidewinder Pro Wrestling. It is assumed that he will take on a backstage role, helping out Jackson Richter, an unknown regarding booking prowess. With this signing, SPW could be trying to fill in the void left by the closure of 4C back in July. That wasn’t the only news out of SPW. Kali Fornia, long time veteran of the Midwestern Independent Scene, is rumored to have signed on with the company, along with a sixtet of wrestlers: Jack Pryde, Roger Monteiro, Mercutio Sleep, Wild Red Stallion, Clark Smallbone and Perry Longstaff. What exactly is up next remains to be seen, but just ten days after officially becoming a company, SPW now has a steady hand involved and is creating its roster. We’ll send out more information when we get it.

November 12th, 2019: At the Birth Jackson Richter walked around his kitchen table and sat at its head. His guest took the opposite end, and Richter was unsure how this meeting would go. Wilson Granger met him at a promotional event for his manufacturing company outside Waite Park in August and pitched him an idea: creating a wrestling promotion with Richter as the Head Booker. He remembered Granger even back when he was an active wrestler. He had helped promote North Of The Border Pro Wrestling events in Minnesota, specifically around the Twin Cities for over twenty years. He continued to do so until the end of 2017, when NOTBPW merged with the Canadian Golden Combat. While Granger had a good relationship with the Stone Family, the same couldn’t be said with the DeColts. In 1994, he had done some promoting for CGC, but an argument with George DeColt and stiffed them on their money. When the two companies merged, Granger thought that the DeColts would forget, considering it was George who he had disagreements with. He would find out that grudge in particular was shared amongst the children, and the only bridge he had left burned down. Granger, however, came to regret that decision as he lost his spot in a sport he loved. Richter was surprised by the proposal and, since then, had many conversations about the idea, mainly because Richter didn’t know a) why he of all people had been asked and b) how invested Wilson was in this project. Richter also made a few calls to others to see if they had been asked, and it became more and more apparent that the only reason Richter, a mid-carder at the height of his career, was being asked if he wanted the job was that everyone else had said ‘no.’ Those he called seemed just as surprised at hearing he had been offered the book as he had been. A few of the guys he called told him to watch out. Jason Evans, his tag team partner at the tail end of his career gave him the most information about the situation. Ricky and Sean gave him some as well, but it all looked poorly. Granger had an idea that was doomed to fail, and he had the money to see it through. He believed that he could make a prominent wrestling company out of the Twin Cities. Not to say that it was impossible, but history was not particularly kind to the idea. None of the big American companies had made headway here, and despite efforts by CGC and NOTBPW, they couldn’t either. The last company to have success here was SWF during the 1980’s, and they quickly learned that there simply wasn’t much money to be made. Not as much as the coasts or the south, anyways. The canadian companies figured that out much later, but would run a token house show once every quarter. SWF runs a PPV once every two years, and a televised show once a year. The other two of the big three hadn’t run a show here in atleast 2 years. The last time a PPV sold out was in 2003 when D.A.V.E. came to the Xcel Energy Center. But, here comes Wilson Granger. Could he do it? Maybe, but the consensus appeared to be a resounding ‘no’ based on everyone he asked. Hence why he was sitting in Richter’s dining room. Nobody else got to a 3rd talk, let alone seriously consider the offer. The information he had gathered from his phone calls had alerted him to the company's inevitable fate, at least in their eyes: failure. And even if you were somehow going to make it, Granger was well known for his ego. Any credit would go to him. So, when Granger came to him in mid-October to get his answer, Richter told him he would, on three conditions. First, he wanted the complete creative direction of the company. If he were given a ‘thankless’ job, he wanted to give it as good a shot as possible and possibly set up his return to the bigs in some capacity. Second, he wanted full disclosure and control of the company's finances. Not that he didn’t trust Granger, but he wanted to make sure that he knew how much leash he had financially, what deals Granger had made, and the ability to negotiate contracts on his own. And lastly, he wanted part ownership of the company. In a way, he felt terrible for Granger. The man was prideful, which cost him his standing in a profession he loved. He was desperate to get back what he had lost through that pride, and unlike when he was thirty-nine/forty. He didn’t like taking advantage of the man’s dream, but Richter had his dream. He had left it behind twenty-one years ago when he broke his neck at a house show in Duluth and retired shortly after. Now, with another chance, Richter wanted to try. He knew he had asked for too much, but if he was going to get that chance, he didn’t want to be screwed before he even put pen to paper. “So, have you come to a decision, Will?” Richter asked. Granger smiled, taking Richter aback. “I have,” he said. “I had to think on it for a while. Frankly, I’m getting hosed. Paying you a nice little salary and giving you part of the company wasn’t exactly something I liked the sound of. At the time anyway.”. Richter paused. “You accept?”. “I don’t have a choice,” Granger said, setting his briefcase on the table. He opened it up, sifted through the papers in there, and slid him one of them. Richter reached across the table since the paper only made it halfway there and brought it the rest of the way. He looked it over and was stunned. He agreed to the terms and even included them in the proposal. Richter grabbed his pen and signed the proposal before he slid it back to Granger. Wilson Granger stood up, grabbed the paper from the center of the table, and put it into his briefcase. “As of today,” he said, “we’re partners.”. He sat back down and took out his notepad. “So, do you have any ideas for a name?”. The Wrestling Spectator November 15th Edition A Momentary Occurrence In previous newsletters, we have touched on the rumor of a new wrestling promotion in the Land of 15,000 Lakes. Wilson Granger, longtime Minnesota-based promoter for the now-defunct NOTBPW, has been in discussions with several former promoters, bookers, and wrestlers from the area to come on as the Head Booker. These rumors started in February of this year when we first heard of the endeavor. Back in April, there was some steam about Ricky Dale Johnson coming on, but that was blown out of proportion by the IWC, along with a report from May that Skuill Debones would join, which was also proven false. Now they have reached a new height, as yesterday, Wilson Granger and Jackson Richter, a former wrestler for the Texas Wrestling League, North of the Border Pro Wrestling and Golden Canvas Grappling have created ‘Sidewinder Professional Wrestling’ trademarks. How things go for them is still unclear, as they are still in the early stages of building a wrestling company. Still, as of now, it appears Granger has his Head Booker. Jackson Richter’s ability in such a capacity remains to be seen. Richter entered the business as a referee in 1990, eventually joining NOTBPW in 1992 and eventually became a wrestler for the promotion. Our records state that he suffered a broken neck and retired in 2000. Coincidentally, he had been in a tag team with quite a few individuals who were connected to the reports regarding the new company. He tagged with Jason Evans, aka Too Hot, former head booker of 4C in NOTBPW. He also tagged with Ricky Dale Johnson and Skull DeBones back in TWL as a member of The Posse. Whether any of those individuals will be participating in the company remains to be seen, but for the first time in a long time, wrestling will be coming out of the North Star state.

The idea behind this diary is to showcase and see through an idea: If the opportunity to try something you thought you had lost came to you, would you take it? If you accepted, how far would you go, and would you be able to do it on your own terms? If you denied, would you come to regret it? The story focuses on Jackson Richter, a wrestler during the 90's, who in 1999 breaks his neck and is forced into retirement at the age of 28. Not much of a talker, and unable to take bumps on account of the neck, he effectively has to leave the wrestling business. He continues on with his life, gets married and has children, while never really letting go of the business he loved, although he has to do so as a spectator. Then, one day, an opportunity to get back into the business arrives. Sidewinder Professional Wrestling Roster and Champions: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1Riv7QTldztI5rpcmgD8tx7cjY2UYvtff6x_KoTqjJOo/edit?usp=sharing

Card for WCW Monday Nitro on FOX, 2nd Week of April, Monday, 2002 Mayhem Match Qualifier: Tommy Dreamer vs The Sandman Mayhem Match Qualifier: Sting vs Terry Funk Triple X vs The Hardy Boyz and Al Snow Hardcore Match: Jerry Lynn vs Sabu Hulk Hogan vs Kevin Nash Main Event, WCW World Television Championship Match: Samoa Joe (c) vs Shawn Michaels *If Samoa Joe wins, he becomes the #1 contender for the United States Championship at Mayhem.

1st Week of April, Sunday, 2002: Wrestlemania X8 Results An Event To Remember Wrestlemania X8 just ended, and it's pretty clear to all who watched that this has been the best wrestling PPV of the year so far, and barring another fantastic PPV from any other company, it's the show of the year. It's highlighted by 3 5* matches: Chris Benoit vs Big Show, Kurt Angle vs The Undertaker, and the main event, Stone Cold Steve Austin (c) vs The Rock III for the WWF World Heavyweight Championship. Significant matches included: Mr. Perfect continuing his career renaissance, by defeating Bubba Ray Dudley to win the WWF Intercontinental Championship. Edge & Christian defeated The Sultans of Slam (Disco Inferno & Mike Sanders) in a Steel Cage to retain the WWF World Tag Team Championships. Big Boss Man defeated Raven in a Steel Cage to retain the WWF European Championship. Chris Benoit defeated The Big Show The Undertaker's Streak came to an end when Kurt Angle made him tap out to the Ankle Lock. The Main Event ended with The Rock finally getting his victory over Austin at Wrestlemania, ending with a Stunner being reversed into a Rock Bottom. The Rock captured the '3' and ended Austin's 371 day reign as champion One thing to note was the absence of Bill Goldberg, who many thought would appear sometime during the show. This pretty much guarantees that he will make his debut tomorrow night during Monday Night Raw. However, there's also some concern regarding Austin. According to some sources, he has alerted WWF officials that he will be taking tomorrow night off. Our sources don't tell us how WWF officials responded, but it does seem unlikely that it'd be anything other than a tacit acceptance. Meanwhile, WCW looks to go into their own PPV next week with a strong show tomorrow night, but it'll be very hard to live up to what the WWF achieved tonight.

1st Week of April, Wednesday, 2002: Matters Of Intrigue Shane McMahon looked over the card for the next Nitro, when he heard the door to his office open. He looked up and saw Finlay walking towards his desk. "I looked more into what's going on with the Jarrett's," Finlay said. "They've been talking with a company up in Canada that's falling into hard times, and it sounds like they've got some financial backers in Nashville. If I had to guess, they're trying to get some talent for when they make their new company.". Shane nodded. "Which company is it?". "Extreme Canadian Championship Wrestling." Finlay stated. Shane nodded again. "Do you know who they're looking at?". "Talent-wise?". "Yeah.". "No, but I'm sure I can figure that out.", Finlay said. "Good.", Shane said. And it was at this point that the idea that he had come up with came back to the forefront of his mind. A chance to give the Jarrett's what they wanted, and for Shane to get something he felt he needed. "Try and see if you can find out who the backers are, and just how hard those times are for ECCW. And tell Jeff, that he's got a match at Mayhem". Finlay nodded and left without another word. Shane then looked back over the card for the upcoming Nitro and leaned back in his chair. He had a lot to compete with. Wrestlemania was this Sunday, and the Raw afterwards was no doubt going to be a very strong show, and was no doubt going to take away viewers for Nitro. He could've put on a more star studded main event to try and siphon off viewers in the 2nd hour, but eventually decided to stick with what he had planned. He needed the show to drum up interest for their own PPV, not to compete with Raw after theirs.

WCW Monday Nitro On FOX: 1st Week of April, Monday, 2002 We start off the show with a pyrotechnics display, and the announcers introduce themselves, before going over the card. Just as they are finished, Vampiro makes his entrance and the announcers make mention that this is his first match back in WCW since Halloween of 2000. Joey Styles questions the idea of him having a Championship match in his first match back, but Tony Schiavone states that Bischoff and Shane wanted to see how well his injury has healed. Bobby Heenan comes back wondering why they want to see a man coming back from injury, take on a guy who’s injured two people. WCW World Television Championship Match: Vampiro vs Samoa Joe © In a bout that had good wrestling and a decent reaction from the crowd, Samoa Joe defeated Vampiro in 11:31 by submission with a Dragon Sleeper. Samoa Joe makes defence number ten of the WCW World Television title. Rating: 71 Notes: Samoa Joe raises the championship in celebration of his 10th defense of the title. As he does this, Shawn Michaels comes out through the crowd, and is able to get past security at the guardrail. He grabs a microphone and once again tries to convince Samoa Joe that joining his side is what’s best for him. As he’s listing all the ways that it’s better for him, a theme song starts to play, and a few seconds later, Shane McMahon comes out onto the stage. Michaels immediately starts trying to antagonize Shane while the song is still playing, but Shane ignores him stating that instead of trying to recruit Samoa Joe, he should be getting ready for his match tonight. “And speaking of Samoa Joe, I must congratulate you on 10 successful defenses. As a reward for your success, I am willing to give you something that Shawn Michaels can’t. Next week, you will defend your World Television Championship, and if you beat your opponent, you will face Al Snow at Mayhem for the United States Championship. Next week, in the main event, it will be the WCW World Television Champion Samoa Joe defending his championship…. against the WCW World Heavyweight Champion Shawn Michaels.”. At the announcement, Samoa Joe vacates the ring, Shane then leaves the stage and goes to the back, leaving Shawn in the ring, alone and stunned. Rating: 87 --------------------- Mayhem Match Qualifier: Ron Killings vs Shane Douglas In a bout that had great heat and decent wrestling, Ron Killings defeated Shane Douglas in 18:59 by pinfall with a Truth Or Consequences. Rating: 64 ---------------------- The announcers put over the fact that we'll be seeing Samoa Joe take on Shawn Michaels for the WCW TV Championship next week. If Samoa Joe wins, he will face Al Snow for the WCW United States Championship at WCW Mayhem. ---------------------- The announcers put over the fact that we'll be seeing Jerry Lynn take on Sabu in a hardcore match next week. ---------------------- Mayhem Match Qualifier: Johnny Swinger vs Mark Jindrak In a bout that had a decent reaction from the crowd but sub-par wrestling, Mark Jindrak defeated Johnny Swinger in 9:37 by pinfall with a Mark of Perfection. Rating: 49 ---------------------- We cut to the back where we see Gene Okerlund and Hulk Hogan. Hogan starts talking about how he’s been getting ready to fight Shawn Michaels at Mayhem, but that he’s also looking to give Michael's his receipt from his attack last week. Rating: 84 ------------------- The Hardy Boyz vs The Unholy Alliance (Masato Tanaka and Taijiri) In a bout that had great wrestling and a decent reaction from the crowd, Hardy Boyz defeated Masato Tanaka and Yoshihiro Tajiri in 15:35 when Jeff Hardy submitted Masato Tanaka with a Texas Cloverleaf. Rating: 75 ------------------- We cut to the back where we see the Four Horsemen in their locker room. Ric Flair is getting ready for his match. We see Douglas and Jindrak still in their ring gear + shirts. Page is in his street clothes, and the room is pretty silent, except for Flair hyping himself up. “And the Nature Boy, wooo, is gonna style and profile and show the Heartbreak Kid what a real heart breaker looks like.”, as he walks out of the room. Page tells the other two members and Stacy to stay back in the locker room. Rating: 75 ------------------- Ric Flair vs Shawn Michaels During Flair’s entrance, DDP follows him down half-way, before Flair sends him back. Page is reluctant but does what Flair asks. Michaels comes out afterwards, and he comes out alone as well. In an exceptional match, Shawn Michaels defeated Ric Flair in 31:20 by via stealing Flair’s Figure-Four Leg-Lock. Rating: 84 ---------------------- Shawn Michaels releases Flair from the Leglock, and celebrates in the ring, as Flair sells his knee. After a short celebration, it looks like Michaels starts to get ideas about attacking, and that’s when Hogan makes his way to the ring through the crowd. Just as Michaels’ boot connects to Flair’s back, Hogan’s fist hits Michaels in the back of the head. Michaels staggers into the corner, and Hogan continues the offensive, as the New Faces of Fear come down to Michaels aid. Just as they jump the guardrail, DDP and the rest of the Horsemen runs to the ring, and assist Hogan. Jindrak and Douglas protect Flair and fight the New Faces of Fear, while Page and Hogan deal with Michaels. Michaels tries to Hogan with a Sweet Chin Music, but misses, and when he turns to face Hogan, gets pulled into a Diamond Cutter. Jindrak and Douglas, meanwhile, fight John Bradshaw and Ron Simmons out of the ring. Ron Simmons grabs Michaels, while Bradshaw grabs the WCW World Heavyweight Championship, and they leave through the crowd, and Nitro comes to an end with the Horsemen and Hogan playing to the crowd. Rating: 86 ---------------------- Overall Rating: 82 ---------------------- Card + Winners WCW World Television Championship Match: Vampiro vs Samoa Joe (c) Mayhem Match Qualifier: Ron Killings vs Shane Douglas Mayhem Match Qualifier: Johnny Swinger vs Mark Jindrak /w Stacy Kiebler The Hardy Boyz vs the Unholy Alliance Shawn Michaels vs Ric Flair Predictions: DHK1989: ⅘ (Douglas over Killings) OldSchoolFan: ⅘ (Flair over Michaels)

Card for WCW Monday Nitro on FOX, 1st Week of April, 2002 WCW World Television Championship Match: Vampiro vs Samoa Joe (c) Mayhem Match Qualifier: Ron Killings vs Shane Douglas Mayhem Match Qualifier: Johnny Swinger vs Mark Jindrak /w Stacy Kiebler The Hardy Boyz vs the Unholy Alliance Shawn Michaels vs Ric Flair *If Shawn Michaels wins, Michaels will have an additional man enter the Mayhem match, in one of the currently open slots *If Ric Flair wins, the World Heavyweight Championship match at Mayhem will be a Lumberjack Match.

Thursday, 4th Week of 2002: As Above "We got a problem.", Finlay said, standing in front of his desk. Shane looked up from his computer and saw the look on his face, and knew that it was an actual problem. "What's going on?", Shane said, leaning back in his chair. "The Jarrett's are trying to talk people into asking for their release.", Finlay said. Shane stared at Finlay. "What?". "Chris Mordetsky was in the Plant, when Jerry pulled him aside, and started talking to him about putting in his release. Tried telling him that if he did so, they would sign him to their company and push him big.", Finlay said. "And you checked if he was right?", Shane asked. "I checked if anyone else had been told. Chris told me that he'd also talked to Bam Bam, Wright, Stasiak, Storm and Swinger.", Finlay said. "Were they on board with it?", Shane asked, standing up. "Based on what I've heard, Wright and Stasiak were involved. Bam Bam thought about it, but wouldn't commit. James and Johnny said no.", Finlay stated, assuredly. Shane walked around his desk, and stood next to Finlay. "So, Jeff and Jerry started going around and tried to see who was interested in leaving for their new company. Is that right?". "Yes.", Finlay said. "How far along in that have they gotten on that front?". "Well, I don't know. I just found out this morning, and I did some questioning.", Finlay said. "I figured I'd come tell you before I did much else.". While he spoke, the phone on Shane's desk rang. Shane nodded at Finlay as he walked around his desk and picked up the phone, and his secretary told him that a Mr. Foley was on Line 2. Shane paused and looked at Finlay. "Take a seat. We'll talk more after this call.". "Foley?". Shane nodded. The call was patched through and Shane started to talk. "How are you doing today, Mick?". "Vince offered me 187k.", Mick said, plainly. Shane sat there stunned. "He did what?". "I told him you made me an offer, and he offered me 140k. I told him that I told you I'd call you back, and he upped it to 187k.", Mick said. "And you're calling me why?", Shane asked. "Well, I said I'd call you bac-". "Take the money, Mick.", Shane said. "Take the money and run.". "Ok.", Mick said. After a few seconds of silence, he sheepishly said, "Well, uh, thanks Shane.". "No problem, Mick. Enjoy it. You earned it.", Shane said, as he hung up the phone. "No go?", Finlay asked. "Vince gave him 187k/month.", Shane said. Finlay sat there slack jawed. "Good rib.", Finlay said. Shane looked at him and Finlay looked back, and they stared at each other until Finlay said, "You're serious?". To which Shane nodded his head. "Wow. You must have him spooked.". "About what though?", he asked to himself. "We're doing good, but to do that?". "Michaels.", Finlay said. "What?". "You spooked him with Michaels. Took a guy he thought couldn't wrestle anymore, or maybe didn't want to, and he's our top guy right now.", Finlay stated. "He let Michaels go, and he's paying for it. Frankly, I think it's a warning shot.". "How so?". "Well, how else can you take it? He's willing to outbid us by what I assume is a large margin. I think it's a way of telling us that if we want anybody, we are going to have to pay for it, and it tells the Federation guys that they can pay more than we can. They have deeper pockets than we do now.". "That they know of.", Shane said. "You and I both know that FOX isn't going to give us another dime.". "Right now, no. Mayhem works out, and we could have some breathing room.". "Fair Enough.", Finlay said. "So, about Jarrett.". Shane nodded. "Go keep a close eye on them. Ask around. Tell everyone except Wright and Stasiak not to speak to anybody. Those two are already going to do that. If we can, let's try and wait until after Mayhem.". "I'll see what I can come up with.", Finlay said and walked out of his office. Shane leaned back in his chair and sighed. He figured Jeff was getting tired of both not being on TV and also losing every time he got onto TV. As far as Shane was concerned, Jeff reminded people of 2000, and wanted that as far away from his show as he could, but he knew that he was never going to completely rid the stench of that year. At least not in the foreseeable future. As Shane sat at his desk, he thought about what to do. How far along were the Jarrett's in their scheme? They had to have a backer, but who could it be? Did Jerry talk to anybody else? Who knew and didn't say anything? As all those thoughts swirled around his head, he began to formulate an idea. ------------------------------------ WWF re-sign Mick Foley to a massive extension According to our sources, the WWF have resigned Mick Foley for an additional two years, and an estimated $4.5 Million over that stretch of time. Now, there was speculation that WCW might've been interested into acquiring Foley's services on Monday Nitro and have him join the ECW faction as the mouth piece of the ECW side of the Alliance, have him feud with Corino leading up to Starrcade, or perhaps having him join as a member of the WCW side of the Alliance as a General Manager figure, letting both Eric Bischoff and Shane McMahon tend to more off-screen roles, only showing up when the stakes are high enough. Our sources also tell us that on Tuesday this past week, WCW made Mick Foley an offer of an undisclosed amount, but judging by the response by the Federation, it had to have been a large deal. Given their success over the past year, and their rising TV ratings, and their new PPV deal with Adelphia, some are wondering if WCW are looking to truly get back into the war with the WWF. While it has been going on for the last year, both shows have been largely quiet about their main competitor. That was until Shawn Michaels arrives at Starrcade, three months ago. Now, the feeling that had been prevalent at the height of the war, back in '97-'99, are beginning to be felt once more. Shawn is back in his old form, looking like he hasn't lost a step in 4 years, and WCW's big name stars are now putting on quality matches, something that couldn't be said this time last year. Bill Goldberg set to Debut? Things are shaping up for a wild time this Sunday, as Wrestlemania XVIII approaches. Back in April of last year, when Shane McMahon and Eric Bischoff were buying out Time Warner contracts, the biggest home-grown star WCW has ever produced, slipped through their fingertips. Mainly due to his price, they did not acquire Bill Goldberg's $6 million deal. Sources at the time told us that Goldberg and WCW and reached a deal. They were going to wait until around this time, letting Goldberg heal some of his injuries, before buying out the remainder of his deal, which our sources told us would've been around $3 million. However, once news of the story broke out, Vince McMahon and the WWF bought the contract outright from Time Warner, meaning that Goldberg would be Federation property until the deal expires in 2003. The move was finalized last April, and Goldberg officially joined the WWF roster. This move may have backfired on Vince McMahon, as shortly after they bought out the contract, ECW declared bankruptcy, allowing Shane McMahon and Eric Bischoff to swoop in and claim some of ECW's top wrestlers, it's championships and film library. Although, there is some speculation that Vince McMahon had no interest in ECW's bankruptcy at all. While the contract was bought out last April, Goldberg has been on the mend this whole last year. That being said, we do have sources who told us that Goldberg debuting at Wrestlemania is highly likely. If not, he is expected to make his appearance on the Raw after Mania, although, it's not exactly sure what his role is going to be. It'd almost be criminal not to have Goldberg vying in the championship window, but it's a stacked field. Stone Cold Steve Austin has held the Championship since Wrestlemania X-7, and is set to face The Rock, who won the 2002 Royal Rumble. In addition to those two, Kurt Angle, Triple H, Kane, Taker, Chris Jericho, Big Show and Chris Benoit are also in the World Championship picture. Putting Goldberg into the mix certainly adds to the star power, but considering that only one of these wrestlers can be up at the top, it's becoming increasing clear that there will be an increase in 50/50 booking when it comes to these competitors, as devaluing any of them may make them seek greener pastures when their deals come close to expiring, if not before that point. Ironically, having an abundance of highly paid talent could be an issue for the Federation, which has had virtually the same group of stars vying for the title since 2000. Wrestlemania XVIII is shaping up to be quite an event, however. As already mentioned, Stone Cold vs The Rock III is the headliner, but there are two other main event caliber matches on the card. Kurt Angle looks to break the Undertaker's streak, and Chris Benoit takes on another WCW alum in the Big Show. Should Goldberg debut at the event, or the RAW afterwards, expect him to be right in the title picture.

Tuesday, Week 4 of March, 2002: Mrs. Foley's Baby Boy Shane leaned back in his chair as he heard the phone ring. He picked it up and his secretary told him that he had a Mr. Foley on line 3. He paused for a moment as he got his papers arranged on his desk, so he could easily look at them mid-conversation. He then told the secretary to patch him through. Last week, Terry Funk not-so-subtly told him that Mick Foley's deal with the Federation was coming to an end at the end of April, and Shane bluntly told him that he'd make a call to Mick and see what could be done. Shane had to be honest with himself, though. Mick Foley was a big name, could still cut promos, and could bring more people back to WCW. But he knew that there was a limit in what he could give before it was just simply not worth it. Mick Foley hadn't wrestled in 2 years, since Wrestlemania 2000. He wouldn't be able to wrestle in WCW, Shane knew that full well. While he could still cut promos, there was a limit on how much that was going to be financially beneficial. He had spent the morning coming up with ideas that would constitute him bringing in Foley, and it being worth that money. Money that he was hoping to have come the Tuesday after Mayhem. Money that he was not guaranteed. He had a limit. 120k/month. He expected that it would provide the ECW splinter storyline with a shot in the arm, and would really help Corino, specifically. On top of that, the merchandise sales were expected to be something around 30k, which would make his actual expenditure about 90k. At that amount, he felt that Foley could get more eyes on future PPVs, and boost Steve Corino. Even then, he didn't want to, but he desperately needed another great promo for ECW that had the name recognition, and there just weren't any that he wanted to sign. Long term, that is. Mick spoke first, and after stating the pleasantries, they started talking numbers. His father had offered Mick Foley 90k to re-sign for two more years. Shane wasn't surprised, but was happy. While he wanted his initial offer to be closer to 90k, not having to go to the 120k threshold he made for himself was nice. He offered Mick 110k. Mick sounded surprised, and Shane thought he might just accept the deal outright. But, Mick sheepishly explained how he told Vince that he'd tell him if he got another offer, and extended the same courtesy to Shane. Mick and Shane ended the conversation and Shane would have to wait for a response.

WCW Monday Nitro on FOX, 4th Week of March, 2002 The show starts with a pyrotechnics display, and Tony Schiavone welcomes the television audience to this week's Monday Nitro. After introductions, the announcers hype up the upcoming PPV, Mayhem, talking about the #1 contender's match for the World Heavyweight Championship between Hogan and Rhyno, the Mayhem match, and some speculation over the WCW World Tag Team Championship Match, as it's slated to be for the PPV. Before much else could be said, the team the Hardyz beat come out for their match. ---------------------------- The Extremists vs The Four Horsemen (Douglas and Jindrak) w/ Stacy Kiebler In a bout that had great heat and good wrestling, The Four Horsemen defeated the Extremists in 21:17 when Mark Jindrak pinned Lance Storm with a Mark of Perfection Rating: 72 Notes: Following the match, Douglas, Jindrak and Kiebler celebrate. ------------------------------ We cut to the dressing room where we see Dallas Page watching the match on the monitor, seemingly happy with the victory by his fellow stable mates. As he watches, Eric Bischoff enters the room and he and Page start to talk to one another. Bischoff tries to impart the importance of this fight, and that the last thing that WCW can allow is Shawn Michaels to have the leverage to take the championships up north. Page reassures Eric that the worst case won’t come to pass. While Page speaks, Eric’s phone goes off, and when Page is finished, Eric looks at the caller ID, and we see his posture stiffen. He tells Page he has to take this, and he leaves, leaving Page looking slightly confused. Rating: 75 ------------------------------- Tommy Dreamer vs Yohsihiro Taijiri In a bout that had decent wrestling but didn't have much heat, Tommy Dreamer defeated Yoshihiro Tajiri in 12:06 by pinfall with a Piledriver. Rating: 60 ---------------------------------- We cut to the back where Hulk Hogan is being interviewed by “Mean” Gene Okerlund. Hogan talks up himself and how he can beat Shawn Michaels. He doesn’t get much further beyond that point, before Rhyno interrupts him. Rhyno gets into Hogan’s face, and denigrates him, saying that he should go back to the retirement home or he’ll feel the Gore. Rating: 75 --------------------------------- The announcers put over the fact that we'll be seeing Ron Killings take on Shane Douglas for a position in the Mayhem Match. -------------------------------- Triple X vs The Hardy Boyz In a bout that had good wrestling and a decent reaction from the crowd, Christopher Daniels and Elix Skipper defeated Hardy Boyz in 15:58 when Elix Skipper pinned Jeff Hardy with The Sudden Death. Rating: 67 ------------------------------- The announcers put over the fact that we'll be seeing Johnny Swinger take on Mark Jindrak for a position in the Mayhem Match. ------------------------------- We cut to the back where Eric Bischoff is speaking with security. Scott Steiner has been spotted in the arena, and Eric is trying to coordinate the security in the back. ------------------------------- WCW World Television Championship Match: Diamond Dallas Page vs Samoa Joe © In a bout that had good heat and decent wrestling, Samoa Joe defeated Diamond Dallas Page in 27:43 by submission with a Dragon Sleeper. Samoa Joe makes defence number nine of the WCW World Television title. Rating: 65 Notes: Following the match, Shawn Michaels and Kevin Nash arrive through the crowd, and convince security to let them over the guardrails. Michaels goes over and grabs a microphone and begins courting Samoa Joe, in an attempt to get Joe to join him. The moment he starts talking, Page, exhausted from the long match and passing out in the Dragon Sleeper, sluggishly tries to work his way to him to fight him. However, he doesn’t get far before some of the security guards and the ringside trainer to intervene, preventing him from doing so. Nash taunts Page as he’s forced to go to the back. All the while, Michaels is speaking to Joe in the ring, promising him seemingly anything he can, but Joe remains stoic. Michaels comes into the ring and extends a hand to Joe, and Joe stares at the hand, before walking backwards and vacating the ring, leaving Michaels looking slightly miffed, but he appears to be in good spirits as he and Nash leave. Rating: 84 ---------------------------------- The announcers put over the fact that we'll be seeing Hardy Boyz vs the Unholy Alliance next week. --------------------------------- #1 Contender’s Match: Hulk Hogan vs Rhyno In a bout that had fantastic heat and great wrestling, Hulk Hogan defeated Rhyno in 15:17 by pinfall with an Axe Bomber. Rating: 81 Notes: Following the match, Hogan starts to celebrate as Nash and Michaels once again make their presence known, this time beating the guards who get in their way. Before any can really impede their progress. Nash starts to attack Rhyno (and the occasional Security Guard who tries to get in between) and Michaels slithers his way into the ring. Hogan, sensing something amiss, turns around and eats a Sweet Chin Music. Michaels stands over Hogan and taunts him, as security guards try to contain the situation. That becomes infinitely more difficult when Scott Steiner hops the guardrail, and joins the fray. He makes his way into the ring, and gets a hold of Michaels, hitting him with a belly-to-belly suplex. Nash, seeing the unhinged adversary, drags Michaels out before it gets too much worse, and the show ends with Steiner making the security staff rethink their occupational choices. Rating: 83 --------------------------------- Overall Rating: 78 -------------------------------- Card + Winners The Extremists vs The Four Horsemen (Douglas and Jindrak) Tommy Dreamer vs Yohsihiro Taijiri Triple X vs The Hardy Boyz WCW World Television Championship: Diamond Dallas Page vs Samoa Joe © #1 Contender’s Match: Hulk Hogan vs Rhyno ---------------------------------- Predictions: Bigelow Cartwheel: ⅘ (Hardyz over Triple X) OldSchoolFan: ⅘ (Hardyz over Triple X) DHK1989: 5/5

Card for WCW Monday Nitro on FOX, 4th Week of March, 2002 The Extremists vs The Four Horsemen (Douglas and Jindrak) Tommy Dreamer vs Yohsihiro Taijiri Triple X vs The Hardy Boyz Diamond Dallas Page vs Samoa Joe © #1 Contender’s Match: Hulk Hogan vs Rhyno

A Sigh of Relief: Friday, 3rd Week of March, 2002 Shane set the phone back on the receiver, leaned back in his office chair and sighed a sigh of relief. The Adelphia meeting had been rocky the day prior. They liked everything he showed them. The TV ratings were good, and they believed that the PPV rates were good, considering how 'small' Cablevision was. They estimated that, based on the numbers, if WCW were to be featured, they could figure the buy rates would double. They liked the star power, and the merchandise numbers were better than they expected. However, they also wanted to see the financial records for the past 6 months. Shane figured they'd want to, but a little part of him desparately wanted them to not do that. Because the moment they saw the decline in funds, ending in the last 2 months in the red, and with a 3rd projected to come, they had many questions over that, and that's where the meeting became a very rocky affair. He answered the best he could and they told him they'd call him back in the morning to give him their answer. He had spent the whole night, worried about what might come of the phone call. The financial team and he had gone over the numbers themselves before setting up the meeting, and figured that if Adelphia were to say 'yes' it would solve his financial troubles. Not only that, it would leave him comfortably in the black. That is, after he paid the severance fee with Cablevision. In order to get them on board, he had to agree to 24 PPV shows and exclusivity, and failure to meet that would incur a $1 million dollar fee, regardless of whether WCW moved on to someone else or, what was deemed the more likely option, going bankrupt. Luckily for Shane, that meant he could get out of the deal. Unluckily, he had to fork over money that he wasn't exactly swimming in, but if everything worked out, it would be a far more beneficial move in the long run. And not more than 30 minutes ago, a rep from Adelphia called and they agreed to the deal. Now, Shane had to end his agreement with Cablevision, pay the penalty, and hope his gamble pays off.

A Check-In and a Heads Up: Tuesday, 3rd Week of March, 2002 Shane got off the elevator and strolled over to Shawn's hotel room. This was the moment that he was the most worried about: telling Shawn that he's going to have to go to Japan for a match. He hoped that the payment that New Japan offered would be enough to subside any anger that Shawn would have, but he wasn't that optimistic. Of course, that wasn't the only thing that he was going to do. Shawn Michaels, Kevin Nash and Dallas Page were in charge of another job, one that was currently being dealt with much secrecy. Shane felt bad that he hadn't met with him before this point, but he wanted to start making that bridge now. He wondered if trying to do that at the same time as he broke the news to Shawn might not be the best moment to do so, but he was going to have to do it anyways, might as well put some effort into it. He knocked on the door, and after about half a minute, the door opened up, and standing on the other side was Page, who welcomed him into the room. It was then that he saw his most recent acquisition, sitting on the couch, playing cards with Nash and Page. Scott Hall rose from the couch, and it was the first time in a long time that he shook his hand. Page had pitched bringing in Scott, and Shane told him that he needed to make sure he was clean, and Page assured him that he could. That was almost a month ago, and based on what he'd heard, he'd been on the straight and narrow since being brought in. Page and Scott started talking about what they were doing, and Shane was surprised at how thorough Page was being in this endeavor. He had expected them to keep an eye on him and shy him away from vices, but was not prepared for the rigid diet and the yoga. And not only that. Michaels was also proving to be a pretty good influence. Speaking of Michaels, he walked out of the shower and from the other side of the door, Shane told him that he would have to wrestler a date in Japan. That caught everybody in the room off guard, and Shawn went silent on the otherside of the door. A few minutes went by, before he walked out. He sighed and asked if there was anything else he wanted to say. Shane told him that New Japan was going to pay him a third of his monthly salary for the match, and that brightened Shawn's mood considerably. The prospect of getting paid $50k for one match did enough that whatever anger Shawn might've had was gone, aside from a very curt statement where he pretty said to never drop something on him like that again, and that was that. Shane spent the next hour or so with the group of four before heading back to his own hotel room, and he turned his focus onto the coming days. He had gotten the buy rate for Uncensored, and to say that he was disappointed would've been an understatement. In the recent months, he had negotiated PPV deals with Cogeco and Main Event, and combined, they actually made up for the loss in buys from Cablevision and NTV. However, the deals he signed with them weren't as favorable as the Cablevision and NTV deals. He had actually gotten about 2k more buys, but because they shifted away from the favorable deals to the newer deals, it would cost him money, which was an issue, as money was a hot commodity. The deal with New Japan, however, offered a potential boon that he hadn't thought of at the time he pushed for it, but after looking over things early yesterday morning, he thought that he might have a chance upgrading his PPV provider. Cablevision saved WCW, as they were the biggest company that would take them, and the drop-off after them was considerable. Without them, the Invasion Arc never happens because they wouldn't have been able to rely on the PPV money. However, there was always going to be a limit on what Cablevision could provide. He just didn't think he'd get to that limit at this point. He had the TV and PPV ratings. He had significant star power, and based on what he could tell, a hot storyline, and a recently inked deal with a staple wrestling company in Japan, who not even a year ago wanted nothing to do with this deal. If there was a time to try and use this in negotiations, it was now. And he'd already set up the meeting with Adelphia. It all really came down to how the meeting went. He foot was in the door, all he had to do was walk through it. And if that wasn't enough on his plate, Terry Funk came to talk to him last night and casually dropped that Mick Foley's contract was coming up and he wanted WCW to bring him in. Whether it was because Mick asked him to or Funk heard him talk about it and decided to float it by him to see if he'd bite (of which, he was leaning to the latter), Shane wasn't entirely sure. But, he liked Mick, and Mick had a good relationship with just about everyone he ever interacted with. Shane didn't have to worry about how the WCW locker room or the ECW locker felt about Mick, but he was worried about what he would have Mick do. He'd been retired for the last year or two, and he knew his father wasn't going to let Mick go, especially since he was still a worthwhile commodity. But, he told Funk that he'd talk to Mick, and go from there. And that's what he planned on doing, after the Adelphia meeting.

WCW Monday Nitro on FOX, 3rd Week of March, 2002 The show starts off with a pyrotechnics display, and while Schiavone welcomes the audience to Monday Nitro, Shawn Michaels and his cohorts infiltrate the ringside area through the crowd. They enter the ring, and Shawn Michaels starts to talk about how great Uncensored was for him and his guys. Kevin Nash is absent from the group, but that doesn’t stop Michaels, the New Faces of Fear and Al Snow from posing with the WCW Championships. Michaels states that as of that moment, there’s only two championships that they don’t have, and that it’s only a matter of time before they get them, and when they do, they’ll bring the belts up north and do to them and Bischoff had Madusa do when she debuted on Nitro. After making this declaration of intent, he and the rest of his band, leave the ring. Rating: 73 ------------------------------ We cut to the back where we see Hulk Hogan watching the monitor. He starts talking with other wrestlers who were also watching the feed on the monitor, and before long, Bischoff appears, looking for him. The two get to talking, and Hogan states that “It’s time to put an end to this. I want him at Mayhem”. Rating: 79 ------------------------------ The Lunatic Fringes vs Triple X Christopher Daniels and Elix Skipper defeated The Lunatic Fringes in 7:01 when Christopher Daniels pinned James Storm with an Angel’s Wings. Rating: 53 ------------------------------- We cut to the back, where we see Eric Bischoff sitting behind his desk. It’s at this time that he announces that, after some talking with his counterparts from ECW, there will be a #1 contender’s match, next week on Monday Nitro, for the WCW World Heavyweight Championship. It will be Hulk Hogan vs Rhyno. Rating: 77 ------------------------------- Mayhem Match Qualifier: Jerry Lynn vs Chris Kanyon In a good match, Jerry Lynn defeated Kanyon in 14:25 by submission with a Cross Armbreaker Submission. Rating: 71 ------------------------------ We cut to the back, where the Four Horsemen stand, with Gene Okerlund. Flair starts off, stating that what Page did to Nash is the future for Shawn Michaels, and that it’s time to attack them with the same level of ruthless aggression that Page gave to Nash. Page takes control of the mic here and he speaks directly to Michaels. The beatdown on Nash was nothing but a prelude to what he is going to do to Michaels when he finally gets his hands on him again. “And let me say this: I hope you stay healthy, because I want to be the one to put you in the dirt. And Booker, I hope you’re ready for a fight, because I don’t care if it’s you that stands in my way, one of Michaels lackey’s, hell, even my fellow horsemen, anybody that gets between me and Michaels will feel the bang!”. Rating: 78 ------------------------------ WCW World Television Championship Match: Samoa Joe © vs The Sandman In a decent match, Samoa Joe defeated Sandman in 9:43 by submission with a Dragon Sleeper. Samoa Joe makes defense number eight of the WCW World Television title. Rating: 60 ----------------------------- After the match Samoa Joe goes to leave the ring, when Shawn Michales appears from the crowd, and he confronts Samoa Joe. Joe’s expression doesn’t change, but Michaels appears to try and get buddy-buddy with him. Joe says something to Michaels and his expression gets more serious. The two exchange words, with Joe staring down the camera man as he gets close, trying to pick up what’s being said. Michaels says something to Joe, and Joe seems to ponder it for a moment, before he says something back. The camera picks up his mouth movements, and Schiavone believes that Joe said, “I’ll think about”. Joe walks past Michaels and towards the entrance ramp, leaving Michaels, whose smile has returned. He hops back over the railing and disappears into the crowd. Rating: 80 ----------------------------- Mayhem Match Qualifier: D-Von Dudley vs Sabu In a bout that had good wrestling and a decent reaction from the crowd, D-Von Dudley defeated Sabu in 14:05 by pinfall. Rating: 66 -------------------------- After the match, Steve Corino appears in the crowd with a megaphone and he cuts a promo talking about how WCW management has shown there intentions. Instead of letting the former champion, Rhyno, get his due rematch at the championship, there forcing him to fight a guy who has only wrestled a handful of matches in the last two years. Before he can say much more, security swarms him, snatching the megaphone and attempted to apprehend him, but Corino fights them off and escapes. Rating: 77 -------------------------- The announcers talk about the main event, and in the middle of them talking about it, Schiavone pauses, and exclaims “What?”. After a moment or two, Schiavone looks at his broadcast partners and reveals the news: Next Monday Nitro, Samoa Joe will defend his WCW World Television Championship against Diamond Dallas Page. This catches the three of them off guard, and Schiavone speculates that it’s being down to try and take the Championship away from Joe, because “Bischoff is worried that Samoa Joe is going to join Shawn Michaels, and wants to take the belt away from him”. Rating: 60 ------------------------- Mayhem Match Qualifier: Diamond Dallas Page vs Booker T In a bout that had great heat and good wrestling, Diamond Dallas Page defeated Booker T in 22:48 by pinfall with a Diamond Cutter. Rating: 66 ------------------------ After the conclusion of his match with Booker T, Page and Booker shake hands and Booker heads back up the entrance ramp while Page grabs a microphone. Here, he talks to Samoa Joe, and tells him that right now, he’s a formidable competitor. But, if he were to join Michaels, he’d be nothing more than another body. He then tells Joe to expect a fight come next week, because if he is genuinely interested in joining Shawn Michales little cabal, then {age will have no regrets regarding beating Joe’s behind. Rating: 86 ----------------------- Overall Rating: 72 ----------------------- Card + Winners MMQ: DDP vs Booker T MMQ: Devon Dudley vs Sabu WCW World TV Championship Match: Samoa Joe © vs The Sandman MMQ: Jerry Lynn vs Chris Kanyon Triple X vs The Lunatic Fringes ------------------------------------- Predictions: DHK: 4/5 (Sabu over Devon Dudley) OldSchoolFan: 4/5 (Booker T over DDP)

Card for WCW Monday Nitro on FOX, 3rd Week of March, 2002 Mayhem Match Qualifier: Diamond Dallas Page vs Booker T Mayhem Match Qualifier: Devon Dudley vs Sabu WCW World TV Championship Match: Samoa Joe © vs The Sandman Mayehm Match Qualifier: Jerry Lynn vs Chris Kanyon Triple X vs The Lunatic Fringes

WCW Uncensored, Sunday, Week 2, March, 2002 #1 Contender’s Table Match for the WCW World Tag Team Championship: The Extremists vs The Hardy Boyz The match starts with the Hardy Boyz flying over and through the ropes at their opponents, and catches them off guard. Using the momentary advantage to grab weapons. Jeff grabs a chair and starts swinging it at Awesome, while Matt grabs a trash can, and does the same to Storm. This goes on for about a minute, until Awesome catches the chair, yanks it out of Jeff’s hands and absolutely wallops him, before walking around to the other side of the ring, and hits Matt Hardy in the back. Storm grabs the trash can, and puts it on Matt Hardy, before Awesome starts swinging for the fences. Matt eventually crumples to a heap, and the Extremists pose to the crowd. They turn around as Jeff hops over the top rope and hits them both with a dive. All four competitors are lying prone outside the ring, and the first to their feet are Jeff and Awesome. Jeff throws a couple wild punches, but that doesn’t prevent Awesome from getting a hand on Hardy and tossing him into the ring post. Awesome then grabs Hardy by his neck and trousers and tosses him into the ring. He slides in after, and the referee rings the bell to officially start the match. From that point on, we have two separate bouts going on: Awesome/Jeff in the ring, and Storm/Matt on the outside. Awesome goes after Jeff and spends quite a lot of time imposing his will on him, and this continues for a minute or two, until Jeff hits Awesome with an enziguri, which allows Jeff a chance to breathe and create an offensive of his own. He takes this time to try and hurt Awesome’s legs, which proves effective as when Awesome gets back to a vertical base, he does appear to be limping, albeit slightly. That doesn’t prevent him from doing much as he attempts to get back in control of the pace, but Jeff ducks a clothesline attempt and hits a basement dropkick to the affected knee. Awesome attempts to get back up, but Jeff hits him with a DDT, sending him back to the mat forcefully. On the outside, Matt and Storm exchange punches and reverse whips into the guardrail. Storm reverses the final time and brings Matt back, before grabbing him and sending him into the barricade. Matt sells his lower back while Storm goes and grabs a chair from underneath the ring. He starts walloping Matt with the chair across his back. Back in the ring, Jeff is fighting hard to keep Awesome from getting to his feet, but Awesome is able to get back to a vertical base, and hits a stiff clothesline onto Jeff. Awesome hits a couple knees, before dragging Jeff to his feet. He whips him into the ropes and goes for another clothesline, but Jeff ducks underneath, bounces off the opposite ropes and hits Awesome with a tilt-a-whirl headscissor, sending him to the outside, right next to where Lance Storm is hitting Matt Hardy with a chair. Storm sees Awesome roll out of the ring and turns to the ring and sees Jeff Hardy heading to the top rope. He waits for Jeff to get up there before rearing back the chair and he throws it at Jeff. It hits him, causes him to lose his balance, and he slips off the top rope and crashes to the mat. Storm slides into the ring, and waits for Jeff to drag himself to his feet using the ropes, and hits him with a superkick, knocking Jeff down and out of the ring. Storm leans on the top rope and calls out to Awesome, who’s on a knee, to slide in a table, which Awesome does, as well as setting one up on the outside, right next to the ring. Storm sets up the table in the ring, while Awesome goes to grab Matt. Matt fights back, but a quick knee to the gut staggers Matt, and Awesome grabs him and throws him into the steel steps. Matt crawls around the steps and when Awesome follows, the Hardyz hit him with a Poetry in Motion. The Hardyz start to beat down on Awesome, but Storm bails form the ring and pulls the two off, throwing punches at both. Awesome throws a haymaker at Jeff, and the two teams split once more. Storm and Matt fight again, except the tables have turned, with Matt getting the chair and swinging it wildly at Storm, who uses his arms to shield himself from the blows. Storm finally sees his chance and catches the chair, and both he and Matt go to and kick the other in the gut, and cause the both of them to go to the ground, with the chair landing in between. Mike Awesome follows Jeff Hardy to the otherside of the ring, where Jeff reaches under the ring and grabs a trash can lid and just starts swinging. The first swing connects, hitting Mike Awesome in the head, but each swing thereafter gets blocked by Awesome’s arms. Awesome throws a punch and gets Jeff to back off, and when Jeff goes to swing again, Awesome hits him with a big boot, which knocks Jeff down. Awesome uses the apron to alleviate the weight on his knee, and takes a couple moments to rest. He then grabs Jeff and rolls him into the ring. On the other side of the ring, Storm and Matt get to their feet at about the same time. Matt throws a chop, and Storm responds with a punch. This repeats thrice, before Storm kicks Matt in the gut and rolls him into the ring, before going in himself. For the first time in the match, all four competitors are in the ring. The Extremists are standing tall and after some discussion, Storm waits for Matt Hardy to get up, and he hits him with a Superkick, sending him back out of the ring, while Awesome drags Jeff to his feet. He lifts him up for the powerbomb, but Jeff reverses it by hitting Awesome with a hurricanrana, sending Awesome into the table. The table doesn’t break, and Storm heads over to attack Jeff, while Awesome sells. Storm stomps on Jeff, and goes to pick him up when Matt hops up on the apron and wallops Storm with the trash can lid, staggering him. Jeff kicks Storm in the gut and hits him with a Twist of Fate. Matt gets into the ring and rolls Storm out of the ring. Matt then gets up and waits for Awesome to get back to his feet, before swinging the trash can lid, which connects and staggers Awesome. Matt goes for another shot, and just like his brother earlier, Awesome hits Matt with a big boot. He then grabs Matt, picks him up and throws him over the top rope, before turning back to Jeff, who once more hits Awesome with a basement dropkick. He runs off the ropes for another dropkick, but Awesome moves out of the way, and when Jeff gets up, he charges for Awesome, but Awesome catches him, picks him up and throws him down. Awesome takes a couple moments to rest, and gets up to his feet. He limps over to Jeff, and picks him up. On the outside, we see Matt Hardy crawling around on the ground and he grabs the chair from his earlier altercation with Storm. Awesome angles himself to line up with the table set up in the ring, and lifts Jeff up for a powerbomb. Awesome slowly walks to the table, trying to keep his balance and keep his knee right, while Jeff punches him in the head, eventually pushing himself off of Awesome’s shoulders. Awesome goes to turn around, but Jeff, who’s standing back-to-back with Awesome, throws himself backwards, sending Awesome into the ropes. Matt takes this opportunity, and swings the chair with all of his strength, and it connects, hitting Awesome across the skull. Awesome slumps, and Jeff grabs him before he completely gets to the ground and drags him on to the table. Matt slides in while Jeff gets onto the apron. Storm slides into the ring and Matt tries to head him off, and the two fight on the ground. Storm wins and almost gets to his feet, but Matt grapevines his leg, and holds onto the rope as if his life depended on it. Jeff climbs up to the top rope and hits Awesome with a Swanton Bomb, going thorugh the table and winning the match. Time: 9:46 (16:56) Rating: 77 Notes: The moment the bell rings, Matt lets go, and rolls out of the ring. Storm goes and checks on Awesome, as Matt drags Jeff out of the ring. The announcers talk about the match and about how with this victory, the Hardy Boyz will compete for the WCW World Tag Team Championships at WCW Mayhem next month. Styles ponders what will happen if the New Faces of Fear win tonight. Will the Hardy Boyz actually fight them or will they lay down for them at Mayhem? --------------------------- 6-Man Match to determine the #20 entrant in the Mayhem Match The bell rings and the match begins with a long staredown, as everyone waits for the other to make a move. However, it doesn’t take much time for the five wrestlers of the Alliance to turn to the one wrestler who isn’t a part of it. Corino quickly realizes his predicament, and bails out of the ring. The Alliance wrestlers split up and go to pincer him, but Corino gets back into the ring. The Alliance members then go to each side of the ring, leaving Corino in the center with no avenue for escape. It takes a minute for the wrestlers on the outside to coordinate properly, and when they come into the ring at the same time, Corino focuses on RVD, and stomps on him until the other wrestlers attack him from behind. All five Alliance beat down on Corino, and eventually pick him up and throw him over the top rope. At this point the five alliance members start fighting each other, and Corino rejoins the fray after a few minutes selling the beat down. The match ends when Randy Savage hits Billy Kidman with a Flying Elbow. He goes for the cover but Ric Flair hits him from behind and tosses him out of the ring, before putting Billy Kidman into a Figure-Four LegLock. Kidman is in agony, but holds on just long enough for RVD to hit Flair with a 5* Frog Splash, breaking the submission attempt. However, before RVD can capitalize, Steve Corino comes up behind him and hits him with a belly-to-back suplex, sending RVD out of the ring. Rey Mysterio then hits Corino with a dropkick sending him out of the ring, and Rey hits a springboard splash onto Flair for the victory. Time: 21 Minutes and 11 Seconds Rating: 72 Notes: The announcers note after the match that Rey Mysterio Jr. will be the 20th entrant into the Mayhem Match. The other wrestlers' positions in the match will be determined via lottery draw the night of the event. ---------------------- Diamond Dallas Page vs Kevin Nash Kevin Nash comes out first, and he seems very confident, at least until Diamond Dallas Page comes out. Page heads straight to the ring, and hits him with a double leg takedown, and starts raining punches onto Nash as the bell rings. Reminiscent of the tag team match last Nitro, Page is throwing hard strikes, and the cool, calm confidence of Nash looks to be completely gone after a few good shots. Page can’t keep up the stiff offense, and Nash is able to hit him with a knee to the gut, and an elbow to the head rocks Page. Nash viciously stomps on Page. He then drags him to his feet, lifts him up and hits him with the snake-eyes, before running off the ropes and hitting Page with a stiff clothesline, knocking him down. While prone, Nash kicks Page in the head a few times, and goes to lift him back to his feet. Page takes the opportunity to kick Nash in the gut, and he hits him with a snap suplex powerslam. The match continues in a back-and-forth manner until it comes to an end when Nash goes for a Jackknife Powerbomb. DDP drops to a knee, preventing Nash from getting him up completely. When Page lands on his feet, he hits Nash with a backdrop. Page gets up to his feet, and gets into a ground and pound position on Nash. He starts throwing punches while Nash tries to block them, and after a few seconds, Page is throwing the punches with a revived fury. Nash, taking some hard hits, is able to worm out of the position, by grabbing the ropes, and forcing the referee to start counting. However, this leaves him wide open, and Page keeps throwing punches with nothing protecting Nash. The ref gets to ‘5’, and Page isn’t letting up. Billy Silverman tries to intervene, but Page pushes him off and keeps attacking Nash, forcing the Ref to call for the bell. Time: 15 Minutes and 36 Seconds Rating: 68 Notes: Despite the bell ringing and the match being called for Nash, Page does not let up, transitioning to kicking Nash in the head. Eventually, security has to come and intervene, but before they do Page kicks Nash hard one last time, leaving him out underneath the bottom rope. Page willingly leaves the ring and grabs a microphone, before hopping the guardrail. From the crowd, DDP speaks: “I told you, Kev. I didn’t care if you wanted the Street Fight or not. Do you think I care that it says you beat me tonight? All I care about is that you will remember that beating for the rest of your life. And Michaels! I hope you took good notes, because now… You’re Next!.”. The camera cuts to the announcers who seem to be satisfied with the beatdown on Nash. They talk about the remaining match-ups, all of which are Championship matches. They run through the matches in order, with the next one being the United States Championship. Schiavone continues from what he said on Monday Night about how he still finds the idea of having one of Michaels cronies fighting for a championship they don’t control. He states that he understands why Michaels invasion force first got their shots: Kevin Nash was an agent inside WCW, and convinced those in WCW to do so. “What we saw last week was nothing like that. We didn’t have someone waiting to stab us in the back. Eric Bischoff gave them this chance, and for what? Getting Michaels into a cage match? We gave them a shot at the US Championship for that? I don’t get it. I just don’t get it.”. - Schiavone “And not to mention, they got two spots in the Mayhem match next month. What’s the plan here?” - Heenan And before much else can be said, Al Snow’s music hits, and the next map begins. ----------------------- WCW United States Championship Match: Booker T © vs Al Snow As soon as Booker T slides into the ring, Al Snow puts the boots to him and the bell rings. Snow keeps Booker T down on the ground, until Booker is able to get on his hands and knees. He’s able to grab Snow’s foot, and when Snow starts to hop to keep his balance, Booker gets to his feet, and sweeps Snow’s legs. The match becomes a reverse of how it started: Booker keeping Snow down while he fights to get up. Snow rolls out of the ring, and Booker follows him out. The ref starts to count as Booker whips Snow into the guard rail. Snow crawls over to the steps and when Booker gets close, he hits him with a drop toe hold, sending Booker face first into the steps. The momentum in his corner, Snow proceeds to stomp on Booker. The ref counts to ‘9’, and Snow rolls into the ring, and rolls back out, resetting the count. Schiavone makes a comment about how Snow is being smart, knowing that if the match ends in a count-out, he might win and not get the championship. Heenan comes back saying, “That’s not a good thing Tony.”. Snow keeps up the offense, and slingshots Booker into the guardrail. Snow kicks Booker while he’s down, and he goes to break up the count once more. When he comes back out Booker punches Snow in the gut and the two fight each other while Booker gets back to his feet. Snow throws a punch, and Booker ducks it, hitting him with a belly-to-back suplex on the outside. Booker gets up, drags Snow to his feet and rolls him into the ring. Back in the ring, Booker brings Snow to his feet, and backs him into the nearest corner, before hitting him with chops and eventually going for a corner-10 punch. Booker gets to ‘8’, before Snow comes out of the corner and powerbombs Booker. He goes for the cover, and only gets a ‘2’. Snow gets to his feet first, while Booker gets to his knees. Snow starts punching Booker, sending Booker into the ropes. After a few more punches, Snow whips him off the ropes, and goes for a clothesline, which Booker ducks. Snow whips around and goes for it again, and Booker ducks that one as well. When Snow turns around, he gets hit with an ax kick by Booker. Snow tries to get back up to his feet, and gets hit with a scissor kick. Booker then does the spin-a-roonie, and gets set up to hit the Book End. Al Snow gets to his feet and Booker goes for his finisher, but Snow hits some stiff elbows, and hits Booker with the Snow Plow. 1,2,3! Al Snow wins the WCW United States Championship, Time: 15:49 Rating: 74 Notes: Following the match, Schiavone looks livid, but keeps a level head, as he and the rest of the announce team talk about the remaining matches. The next match is the WCW World Cruiserweight Championship Match, and Styles talks about TAKA, hyping him up as an accomplished champion in Japan and here in the states. Schiavone comes back and hypes up Chavo, saying that he’s a 3x Cruiserweight Champion and a former Tag Team Champion. ----------------------- WCW World Cruiserweight Championship Match: Chavo Guerrero Jr. © vs TAKA Michinoku In a bout that had great wrestling and a decent reaction from the crowd, Chavo Guerrero Jr. defeated TAKA Michinoku in 14:47 by making him submit with the Gory Special. Chavo Guerrero Jr. makes defense number three of the WCW Cruiserweight title. Rating: 71 ------------------------ WCW World Television Championship Match: Samoa Joe © vs Aj Styles As Styles comes out, the announce team spends more time talking about the Mayhem Qualifier Match between Hulk Hogan and Styles, and how Styles, despite how they might feel about him, should not be in that match. Hogan had the match won, and Michaels interfered and deliberately prevented Hogan from gaining entry in the match. “He’s a terrific athlete, and who knows? A year or two from now, he could be in a position where he could be in the running and fighting for a shot at the World Heavyweight Championship. Right now? He’s just not ready for that opportunity.” - Heenan Styles stands in the ring as Samoa Joe makes his entrance, and he looks at Styles like he’s easy prey. He gets into the ring and after the Ref displays the championship, he rings the bell. Styles moves quickly, trying to capitalize on an offensive flurry designed to attack the bigger man’s legs. This works for a time, but Styles goes for a tilt-a-whirl headscissors takedown, but Joe reverses it into a sidewalk slam. Joe then proceeds to dominate Styles, exerting his power over the smaller participant, hitting him with hard, stiff blows, eventually getting Styles into the corner. He does a combination of strikes to the face of Styles, which knocks him down to a seated position. Joe starts scraping his boot across Styles face, and it increases in intensity until Joe runs off the ropes and comes back with a vicious boot to the face. He then picks Styles up, and places him on the top rope. He tries to get him into position for the Muscle Buster, but Styles throws some punches at Joe, delaying it for a time, before Joe jumps up and kicks Styles in the head. This stuns Styles enough for Joe to get up. He tries to get Styles into the Muscle Buster, but Styles is able to push himself off the top rope, going over Joe. he grabs Joe at the waist as he does and rolls through, and hits Joe with the Styles Clash. He has some problems trying to roll Joe over with his legs, so he unhooks his legs, and rolls Joe over and goes for the pin but only gets a ‘2’ count. From this point on, the match becomes fairly equal. When Joe is able to get some stiff shots in, Styles stands tall and comes back with his own. At one point in the match, Styles dropkicks Joe, and Joe rolls out of the ring. Styles goes for an outside dive, and Joe walks out of the way causing Styles to land on the mat. Joe takes the opportunity to get a leg up on Styles in the momentum gain, but Styles comes back with a flying forearm, propelling himself off the steel steps. With Joe on the ground, Styles gets back into the ring and waits for Joe to get to his feet. Styles looks like he’s going for another outside dive, but when Joe walks away, he lands on the apron, and waits for Joe to turn around and hits him with a senton. Styles tries to and succeeds at rolling Joe into the ring. He goes to the top rope and goes for the Spiral Tap, but Joe gets his knees up. Styles crashes down into Joe’s knees, and Joe locks in the Coquina Clutch. Styles flails around and slowly fades until he passes out. The ref stops the match and Samoa Joe retains the WCW World Television Championship. Time: 10:38 Rating: 60 Notes: Joe gets his belt, celebrates for a minute before heading to the back. While that’s going on, Styles is resuscitated and helped to the back. “That kid has a lot of heart. Unfortunately, heart alone isn’t going to win you matches.”- Heenan ----------------------- WCW World Tag Team Championship Match: The New Faces of Fear © vs Shane Douglas and ??? In a change of pace, we have the champions come out first. Schiavone states that this is because Shane Douglas was given the extra time to find a partner to replace Mark Jindrak, who after the attack on Monday, did not pass his physical. The New Faces of Fear stand in the ring as Shane Douglas makes his entrance. He gets about a quarter of the way down the ramp before he stops. And then out comes his tag team partner. Sting makes his entrance and together, he and Douglas walk down to the ring, and Schiavone mentions that this is the first time since Fall Brawl 1996 that Sting has teamed with the Four Horsemen, and just as he finishes saying that, Douglas and Sting slide into the ring, and the Faces of Fear jump at the opportunity to get ahead early in the match. As the fists start flying, the ref calls for the match to begin, and the bell rings. John Bradshaw and Shane Douglas go at it, while Ron Simmons and Sting do the same. Simmons and Sting are locked in a stalemate, but Bradshaw is able to get the advantage on Douglas, clotheslining him out of the ring. He then goes to help Sting, and Sting alternates between the two with punches and backhands. However, the numbers game eventually gets to him and the two beat him down. The ref is able to get Simmons to go to his corner, leaving Bradshaw and Sting in the ring, with Bradshaw in the driver’s seat. Douglas groggily gets up to his corner and the match comes back into proper order. Bradshaw tries to outpower Sting, but that doesn’t work for long, as Sting is able to, in a moment of desperation, hits Bradshaw with a scoop slam. He tags in Douglas, and meets Bradshaw back in the center of the ring, where the two exchange punches, until Douglas hits Bradshaw with a chop block, sending the larger competitor to the mat. Sting vacates the ring, while Douglas stomps on Bradshaw’s leg, specifically targeting his knee. Douglas is able to keep up the momentum for a little while, but as Bradshaw gets up to a knee, Douglas hits the ropes and tries to knock Bradshaw back down. Bradshaw pops up as Douglas gets close and hits him with a Clothesline From Hell, knocking Douglas down to the ground. However, Bradshaw can’t capitalize on the opportunity and instead crawls over to Simmons, and Douglas does the same shortly after, leading to Sting and Simmons both tagging in and having a staredown in the ring. They walk towards each other, and the two men appear to exchange words, until Simmons punches Sting and the two men start trading blows. Simmons edges out Sting, and forces him back into the ropes. He whips Sting off the ropes and hits Sting with a powerslam. The ref makes it to ‘2’ before Douglas breaks up the pinfall. Simmons gets up and starts beating on Douglas, and Bradshaw joins in on it. Together, they knock Douglas out of the ring. Bradshaw turns around and sees Sting just about up to his feet. He goes for the Clothesline from Hell, but Sting seems unfazed, despite physically having to turn. Bradshaw stares at him as Simmons turns to see Sting flex and yell. Sting hits Bradshaw with a punch, and catches one from Simmons. He knocks Bradshaw into the corner, and then knocks Simmons into the same corner. He whips Simmons to the opposite side of the ring and hits him with a Stinger Splash. He then comes back and hits Bradshaw with one as well. He repeats this and after hitting Bradshaw the second time, Sting ‘woos’ and the crowd does it back. Bradshaw uses the ropes to get up to his feet, and Sting clotheslines him over the top. Bradshaw hangs on, and lands on the apron. Sting walks over to Simmons, lifts him to his feet and hits him with the Scorpion Death Drop. He goes for the cover and if not for Bradshaw breaking up the pin, he might’ve won. Sting gets to his feet and punches Bradshaw, knocking him out of the ring. Sting then goes over and tags in Douglas, who stomps Simmons’ chest. Douglas drags Simmons to his feet, and tries to hit him with a Pittsburgh Plunge, but Simmons fights out of it and hits Douglas with a powerslam. Simmons goes for the pin, and Sting comes in to break it up. Sting heads back to his corner, and Simmons takes the opportunity to tag out to Bradshaw, with Simmons rolling out to the floor. Bradshaw and Douglas exchange punches, and Douglas goes for the Pittsburgh Plunge once again, but Bradshaw reverses it, hitting Douglas with a reverse suplex slam, sending Douglas face first into the mat. Douglas pops back up, selling his chest and face, when Bradshaw hits him with a Clothesline from Hell. As this happened, Simmons runs over to the opposite side of the ring, and confronts Sting. As Bradshaw goes for the cover, Sting and Simmons get into a fight. Sting realizes that a pin is happening but it’s too late. The New Faces of Fear retain the WCW World Tag Team Championships. Time: 23:34 Rating: 75 Notes: Following the end of the match, John Bradshaw keeps beating down on Douglas. Simmons comes into the ring and tries to stop Bradshaw from continuing the hurt on Douglas. Sting comes in to try and help Douglas, but Bradshaw hits Sting with a Clothesline from Hell. Simmons is livid and he forcibly gets Bradshaw into a corner before the two start arguing. As this happens, DDP and Ric Flair rush down to the ring, and the New Faces of Fear bail out of the ring, and leave through the crowd. The announcers make note of the moment of tension between Simmons and Bradshaw, before moving on to the Main Event of the evening. The cage is lowered from the ceiling and as the announcers replay the events that led to this point, beginning back at Starrcade and going to now, the ring crew makes sure the cage is up to standards, and adds some finishing touches to at. Once the recap is over and the ring crew has completed their duties, Shawn Michaels makes his entrance. ---------------------- WCW World Heavyweight Championship Cage Match: Rhyno © vs Shawn Michaels Shawn Michaels enters the ring through the door and by the smug look on his face, seems pretty confident. That is until Rhyno’s theme hits and he sprints down to the ring and enters through the door. Immediately. Michaels smug demeanor fades away and he tries to climb up the cage. The bell rings as Rhyno follows him up. Michaels tries kicking Rhyno down, Rhyno catches Michaels foot and starts punching him in the gut. Rhyno takes this opportunity to grab Michaels firmly and throws him off the cage and onto the canvas, landing side first. Rhyno hops down off the cage, and just as Michaels gets up, he hits him with a Gore. He goes for the pin, but Michaels kicks out at ‘2.7’. Rhyno grabs Michaels up to his feet with his hair and drags him over to the corner. Michaels is holding his stomach as Rhyno ascends to the top rope. He drags Michaels up to the second, and puts him in position for a Rhyno Driver. Michaels is able to slither out of it after kicking Rhyno in the head a couple times, and hits a Superplex on Rhyno. Michaels tries to keep up the offensive, but the Gore from Rhyno makes it difficult for him to do much. He tries to his hit Rhyno with a suplex, but fails to do so because of the damage. Rhyno takes the opportunity and hits Michaels with a belly-to-belly. Rhyno readies himself for the Gore, as Michaels staggers to his feet. Michaels uses the ropes and turns around as Rhyno charges towards Michaels. In an athletic feat, Michaels jumps over Rhyno, who barrels into the turnbuckle. Michaels kips up as Rhyno turns around, clutching his shoulder and hits him with a Sweet Chin Music. He lays across Rhyno’s prone figure and gets a ‘3’. Shawn Michaels has defeated Rhyno and has captured the WCW World Heavyweight Championship. Time: 12:51 by pinfall Rating: 84 Notes: The announcers are in stunned disbelief, while Michaels laughs in the ring. The ref, Charles Robinson, reluctantly hands the championship to Michaels who snatches it out of his hand. He celebrates in the ring, as Charles Robinson vacates the ring through the door. It’s at this moment, that a figure barrels through the crowd, hops the guardrail, snatches the guy from the ring crew, and locks himself inside the cage while Michaels is completely unaware. At least until he turns around, and stares right into the eyes of Scott Steiner. Michaels immediately tries to escape the cage, but Steiner throws him down, and proceeds to beat him from pillar to post, throwing him around the ring, and into the cage repeatedly. As Steiner synchs the Steiner Recliner on Michaels, all of Michaels cronies come down to the ring, and either try to bust the chains locking the door, or tries climbing the cage. Shortly after they descend on the ring, the Horsemen and other members of the WCW locker room flood the ringside area, leading to a large brawl. As the copyright shows up on the screen, and the show fades to black, the last visage we see is that of Michaels being Reclined by Steiner. ---------------------- Overall Rating: 80 ---------------------- Card + Winners WCW World Heavyweight Championship Match Rhyno © vs Shawn Michaels WCW World Tag Team Championship Match The New Faces of Fear © vs Shane Douglas and Sting WCW World Television Championship Match Aj Styles vs Samoa Joe © WCWWorld Cruiserweight Championship Match Chavo Guerrero Jr. © vs TAKA Michinoku WCW United States Championship Match Booker T © vs Al Snow Diamond Dallas Page vs Kevin Nash 6-Man Match to Determine #20 in the Mayhem Match Randy Savage vs Ric Flair vs Rob Van Dam vs Steve Corino vs Rey Mysterio Jr. vs Billy Kidman The Extremists vs The Hardy Boyz ------------------------------------------ Predictions: DHK1989: 3/8 (Chavo, Michaels, Nash, Snow, Mysterio Jr) OldSchoolFan: 5/8 (Michaels, Snow, Mysterio Jr.)

WCW World Heavyweight Championship Steel Cage Match: Rhyno © vs Shawn Michaels WCW World Tag Team Championship Match The New Faces of Fear © vs Shane Douglas and ??? (Jindrak was not medically cleared for competition on Sunday, so Shane Douglas will need a new partner) WCW World Television Championship Match Aj Styles vs Samoa Joe © WCW World Cruiserweight Championship Match Chavo Guerrero Jr. © vs TAKA Michinoku WCW United States Championship Match Booker T © vs Al Snow Diamond Dallas Page vs Kevin Nash 6-Man Match to Determine #20 in the Mayhem Match: Randy Savage vs Ric Flair vs Rob Van Dam vs Steve Corino vs Rey Mysterio Jr. vs Billy Kidman #1 Contender's Match for WCW World Tag Team Championship Tables Match: The Extremists vs The Hardy Boyz Bonus Point: Who do you think will be Shane Douglas' partner?

Tuesday Shane leaned back in his airplane seat, stared through the window pane, and saw nothing but the Pacific Ocean underneath him. This was something that he had been working on for months, nay, since he bought the company. But, with the acquisition of Shawn Michaels and the rising ratings, talks started to get going back in mid-February. And now, he was flying across an Ocean to see if he could rekindle an old agreement. New Japan Pro Wrestling. The biggest wrestling company in Japan, and currently the 3rd largest company in the world. In the past, WCW and NJPW had a working agreement, but that had fallen by the wayside well before Shane McMahon had come around. But, Shane saw it as a chance to help prop up WCW. It would be a sign that WCW was back, at least enough so that NJPW was willing to re-enter the old agreement. But that wasn't the only reason Shane wanted the deal. He wanted representation in the Mayhem Match for next month, and he felt that having a NJPW star fighting for a chance at the WCW World Heavyweight Championship would be a great look for the company, and would increase the amount of people who would be interested in watching WCW, and that should mean an increase in ratings, and an increase in the thing that Shane McMahon worried about the most: money. But, to say that this was a done deal would be hopeful. Very hopeful. They were willing to talk, and talk in person no less, meaning that they was a feeling among those at NJPW that this could work out for them, but feelings don't make deals. Negotiations do. Speaking of that, he was reminded of how... annoyed Eric was with his presentation last night, especially with the announcers ragging on him, but Shane smoothed that over. Eric desperately wanted to add a 'secret' part of the deal, but when Shane asked him what that would be, what he was given for ideas weren't great. He did allow Joey Styles to say something like that to put that idea in, without necessarily committing to it, and gave Eric some more time to come up with something, which he knew he could do if given time. He closed the window and got ready to make the attempt to get some sleep while he still could. The next few days would be negotiations and and a red-eye flight right back to the States for the PPV on Sunday. --------------------- Wednesday Upon arriving in Tokyo, he was chauffeured straight to Korakuen Hall, which surprised him. He had thought he’d go straight to the hotel, where he’d promptly pass out in a nice bed, but that was not to be the case. The attache that had been given to him by NJPW filled him in: there was a NJPW event that night, followed by a few off days for the company and that was the time that they were going to negotiate terms of the deal, and those at NJPW thought it best that he meet them at the event so he could meet everyone ahead of negotiations. Shane understood it, but had very much so been looking forward to taking a well deserved nap. Still, he figured it best to keep his tiredness as quiet as he could, and when he arrived, he was escorted straight to where the NJPW officials were. After a period of hand shaking, and small talk, the event began. He wasn’t paying to much attention to what was going on, instead fighting a battle against sleep deprivation, which he wondered if his handler had noticed, since the two of them started to chat. On the card that night was Tenzan, Chono and Nagata in the main, and the current match had Scott Norton battling some young guy named Tanahashi, who the handler seemed to be a big fan of. The more they talked, the more Shane came to the startling realization that he didn’t really know much about all that was going on in the wrestling scene in Japan. He was halfway tempted to take out a notepad or some form of paper and start writing stuff down, that’s how much information he was learning. He’d have to settle for his memory. The match ended with Scott Norton beating the young competitor, and that made his handler somewhat annoyed, but it didn’t stop the two from talking throughout the duration of the event. Before the main event, however, there was a lull in the event, and the handler insisted that he follow him, and Shane soon found out why. Antonio Inoki, owner of NJPW, appeared, and after some fanfare, he and Shane McMahon shook hands while some pictures were taken. He voiced his concern about having the pictures publicized as he was currently ‘in recovery’ after a beatdown from Steiner a month prior. Whether or not it was heard or acknowledged, he didn’t know. Right after that, Inoki left the room. He found it hard to believe that Inoki came out just to shake his hand, and he guessed the handler picked up on that and told him that he was going to his own area to watch the main event, which was a hard hitting affair. After the match concluded, the handler escorted him out of the arena and over to the hotel, where Shane was brought up to his room and promptly passed out. -------------------------- Thursday The first day of negotiations went fairly smooth. They asked a lot of question about the financial situation, which even halfway across the world, was still something well known. They weren’t exactly enthused about the fact that they had been in the red the last two months and wanted to see how the financial’s looked for February. They were somewhat static, losing slightly more money, at about 62k in the red. However, he had prepared for such an occasion and when he showed them the projections from both January and February, which had him almost -500k, and that he explained the deal between WCW and FOX, which has directly led WCW into the spot that it’s in. The financial aspect of the talks lasted the whole day, and they were exact in their questioning, and Shane was exact in his responses, trying to play up the successes, and downplay the issues. And he had to give them credit: he couldn’t get a read on any of them. Whenever he’d say something, they’d take notes, and were completely stoic. And the end of the meeting came abruptly, as they thanked him for the time and left. Upon hearing it phrased like that, he assumed that was the end of negotiations, but the handler was reassuring, saying that they had allotted him time tomorrow already, but that they were probably going to go and discuss what to do, given WCW financials. Shane rubbed his eyes and went back to his hotel. As far as he was concerned, that was the easy part. He knew they were going to ask and they were going to talk about financials. If NJPW was going to agree to a deal, they were going to make sure that WCW could pay for their guys. That was to be expected. Now, he was in uncharted waters. ------------------------- Friday Today was a meeting talking about what the presentation of NJPW wrestlers and whether or not they were going to just be glorified job guys. Of course, it was worded more diplomatically than that, but Shane admitted that if it were just one off appearances, then it’d be somewhat difficult to have NJPW guys go over his guys and then leave, and then said that he wouldn’t expect his guys to go over in NJPW for that exact reason. That seemed to get their interest, but it was the only time throughout either meeting where he noticed some form of physical tell to what they were thinking. Other than that, it was the same reaction for everything. At the end of the meeting, he was left in the meeting room while his handler went to speak with the officials. In what felt like an hour, the handler eventually came back and told him that they’d see him tomorrow. He asked if that was a good sign, and the handler responded in the affirmative, and stated that tomorrow was going to be a chance to hammer out some important details. Shane smiled, but the handler said that it didn’t mean that it was a done deal. Those details were integral to the deal, and that it wasn’t over yet. -------------------- Saturday Turns out that the details were relatively simple. ‘Condition’ would have been a better word for what this was. NJPW was willing to do the deal, on this singular condition. They wanted to know that WCW was on board with the deal, and to prove it, they wanted Shawn Michaels for one night. They were even willing to pay Shawn Michaels significant money for it. Shane didn’t hesitate, and an hour later, it was official. The NJPW/WCW deal was set in stone, and the first act of the deal was Shawn Michaels going to NJPW for one match. The second act, was that WCW was going to reserve a spot in the Mayhem Match for a NJPW wrestler. The deal done, there was one last thing that Shane was going to have to deal with. Shawn might have had a change in personality, becoming a born-again christian, but nobody likes it when decisions are made for them, and he doubted Michaels was going to be an exception. He had told his handler that he’ll get Michaels in contact with them, and they seemed fine with that. And so, just like that Shane was back on the airplane, on his way to the show. ---------------------------------- WCW-NJPW Deal in the Future? Now, it’s been no secret that WCW has been trying to get back up on the world stage, whether it be their signing of Shawn Michaels or the invasion storyline in it’s entirety. Back in October, I reported that WCW was trying to rekindle their relationship with New Japan, and as of today, it seems that things have progressed in that regard. A source has told me that Shane McMahon, supposedly recovering from an attack by Scott Steiner, went to Japan himself to broker the deal. He was seen at one of the New Japan taped shows, and shook hands with New Japan owner Antonio Inoki. Now, it’s still unclear whether or not the deal is back on, but with Uncensored right around the corner, and Mayhem coming up in the next month, don’t be surprised if there’s an announcement either on one of the upcoming Nitro's or during the PPV about a deal. Of course, there is always the chance that it's just a one-off appearance by a New Japan star, and there's also a good chance that nothing came of the visit at all. I find that last option rather unlikely, given that both owners of the companies appeared to be involved in talks. Time will tell as to what exactly is going on.

WCW Monday Nitro on FOX, 2nd Week of March, 2002 The show begins with a pyrotechnics display and the announcers welcome the audience to another edition of WCW Monday Nitro. Then they run down the card for tonight’s show and they talk about how in 6 days, WCW will be live on PPV for Uncensored. They talk about the main event of Uncensored: Shawn Michaels vs Rhyno for the WCW World Heavyweight Championship, and how Eric Bischoff has been trying to get Michaels to agree to a stipulation for Sunday Night. Based on what Schiavone’s heard in recent days, it sounds like Bischoff wants the match to be held in a Steel Cage, and he is unsure of what Michaels wants or if he wants a stipulation at all, saying that he Heenan interjects and states that Michaels could try to leverage something else in exchange for allowing the stipulation. Schiavone, Heenan and Styles go back and forth on that train of thought, and only stop when the camera feed cuts to the back. In a hallway in the back, we see Kevin Nash, in gear, and Shawn Michaels, in a dapper suit, walking towards a room. They go back and forth and Shawn turns to Nash and says, “Kev, trust me. You worry about the lame horse, and I’ll deal with Easy E.”, before entering Bischoff’s office. Rating: 70 ------------------------- Mayhem Match Qualifier: Buff Bagwell vs Randy Savage In a bout that had fantastic heat and good wrestling, Randy Savage defeated Buff Bagwell in 9:31 by pinfall with a Flying Elbow Drop. Rating: 71 -------------------------- WCW World Television Championship Match: Samoa Joe © vs Chris Candido In a decent match, Samoa Joe defeated Chris Candido in 12:30 by submission with a Dragon Sleeper. Samoa Joe makes defence number six of the WCW World Television title. Rating: 66 ------------------------ The announcers put over the fact that we'll be seeing Diamond Dallas Page take on Kevin Nash this Sunday at Uncensored. Schiavone states that the planned match was to be a street fight match. Page requested that, and Nash declined. He explains how every contracted wrestler has to sign off on the stipulation, and they can’t be forced to partake in a match, designed to protect the wrestlers. “However, it also prevents management from exercising it’s authority, especially with how things have been here since July of last year.”, Schiavone states. “We’ve still heard nothing from Eric Bischoff about how negotiations are going, but we expect to have an answer some time tonight.”. ------------------------ Mayhem Match Qualifier: Ric Flair vs Masato Tanaka In a bout that had good wrestling and a decent reaction from the crowd, Ric Flair defeated Masato Tanaka in 12:06 by pinfall with an Inside Cradle. Rating: 73 ---------------------- Congratulating Flair on his victory, Heenan continues on, talking about who’s made it through to the Mayhem match, set to take place one month from now. He mentions how, as of now, half of those in the match aren’t apart of the Alliance: Kevin Nash, Steve Corino, and Aj Styles. At the mention of the last competitor, Heenan talks about how despite his personally dislike of Hogan, he should be in the Mayhem Match and that Styles should not be in it. “He’s too young, too inexperienced, and that’s precisely why Shawn Michaels interjected. He took Hogan out of the match by force, and put in Styles because he knows Styles will get eliminated quickly, where as Hogan could actually win it.”. Before anything else along that train of thought gets said, Schiavone states, “It has been confirmed to me just now while Heenan was speaking: This Sunday night, we will see the New Faces of Fear defend the World Championship Wrestling Tag Team titles against Shane Douglas and Mark Jindrak. The match that we were supposed to see at last month’s PPV but this time the champions and challengers have been reversed.”. “Are we sure we want Jindrak to be in that match?”, Styles asks. “Jindrak was beaten pretty badly at SuperBrawl, so much so that he’s been recuperating for the past few weeks. Maybe Ric Flair would have been a better choice for that match.”. “I’m sure we’ll know more of the situation as we get closer to Sunday night, but for now, that’s the match. And speaking of whether or not Jindrak is the right man for this match, let’s go back to the interview area, where Gene Okerlund is with the Four Horsemen.”, Schiavone says. Gene Okerlund thanks the announce team and the camera pans out to show the Horsemen, including Flair, who starts cutting a promo right after fighting in a match. He says that the time for the Horsemen to regain the honor of WCW has come about, and it starts tonight when Jindrak defeats Nash. Douglas pats Jindrak on the back, and Jindrak speaks for the first time in a while, saying that he has spent the last few weeks visualizing this moment, when he finally gets his hands on Kevin Nash. Stacy Kiebler chimes in and says that she’s helped Jindrak in his recovery and that she’ll not only accompany him tonight, but will again at the PPV. Gene Okerlund goes to send it back to the main stage, and Jindrak starts to leave, with Stacy in tow, when DDP grabs the mic. Page states, “Kev, I hope that you spend the rest of this week making peace with everything you’ve done. You think I care that you don’t want to fight in a Street Fight? As long as you show your face this Sunday, I’ll have gotten what I want.”. Rating: 72 --------------------------------- Mark Jindrak (w/ Stacy Kiebler) vs Kevin Nash In a bout that had great heat and good wrestling, Mark Jindrak defeated Kevin Nash in 13:33 by pinfall, after Stacy Kiebler distracted the ref, allowing Mark Jindrak to hit Nash with a low blow. That wasn't enough to fell the big man, and Stacy distracted Kevin Nash when he went for the Jacknife, allowing Jindrak to hit the Mark of Perfection and win the match. Rating: 69 Notes: Following the conclusion of the match, Jindrak takes some shots at Nash, who’s prone. This leads to Bradshaw and Simmons coming out through the crowd, and the two start attacking Jindrak. Security comes down, and surrounds the ring, but can’t get in, as Nash runs interference. Stacy gets into the ring and covers Jindrak, but that only temporarily stops the beatdown, as Bradshaw pulls her off of him. She stands up and and slaps Bradshaw as the Horsemen, Sting and few other wrestlers come down to the ring. Bradshaw retaliates with a clothesline from hell, which catches Simmons visibly off guard and shaken, but before anything can happen the calvary get into the ring. Simmons and Nash get out unscathed, but Bradshaw takes a couple good shots from a bat before he gets out. Sting gets up on the middle rope while Douglas starts shouting at them over the top rope. Page stands next to him and glares at the fleeing trio. The last shot we get of the New Faces of Fear and Nash, is Simmons chasting Bradshaw, before cutting back to the ring where EMT’s are attending to Stacy, and Jindrak, who’s appears to have a nasty cut on his brow. ------------------------------- While the scene unfolds behind them, Schiavone states that during the match, he was told that a deal had been reached, and that he’d wanted to wait until the end of the match to tell everyone what was decided, but “I don’t know if know is a good time. We’ll send you out to commercial, and we’ll tell you when we come back.”. When he states this, Heenan takes his headphones off and heads down to the ring as the camera fades to black. When we come back, Jindrak’s able to walk out on his own, and Stacy’s awake but is being removed on a stretched just in case. The camera goes back to Schiavone and the announce team, who wait until Stacy’s been taken to the back, and when she disappears behind the curtain, he speaks apprehensively. “Before we continue, I would like to say that Stacy Kiebler is alright. With that having been said, we need to get back to business, and as I said before the break, we have heard that a deal was made. Rhyno, the World Heavyweight Champion, will defend his title against Shawn Michaels within the confines of a Steel Cage. Along with that announcement, we were told that Booker T will defend his WCW United States Championship against Al Snow. And, there was another match that was decided in the office today. The Hardy Boyz, who have very recently joined with Shawn Michaels, will take on The Extremists in a Table Match. If the Extremists win, they will get a shot at the Tag Team Championships at Mayhem, and the same goes for the Hardyz. In addition to that, Shawn Michaels will be able to pick an additional individual to participate in the Mayhem match. Now, I don’t know about the audience at home, or my colleagues here at the table, but if this is what it took to make deal for the Cage match, I’d have rather done nothing and let what happened at the PPV, happen. Now, instead of losing one championship to the invasion, we put two at risk.”. Heenan comes in and says, “You don’t think that they’ll win them both?”. “No, but I wouldn’t have put that up to chance.”, Styles said for Schiavone. “There’s gotta be something else that we weren’t told.”. The announcers talk about it for a little longer before we head to the next match. --------------------------------- Mayhem Match Qualifier: Rob Van Dam vs Yoshihiro Taijiri In a bout that had great wrestling and a decent reaction from the crowd, Rob Van Dam defeated Yoshihiro Tajiri in 16:02 by pinfall with a Split-Legged Moonsault. Rating: 79 Notes: Following the match, RVD extends his hand to Taijiri, but Taijiri doesn’t accept it. -------------------------------- The announcers are flabbergasted by the fact that we'll be seeing Samoa Joe defend his WCW World Television Championship against Aj Styles at Uncensored. They talk about how Styles doesn’t deserve a title shot for being gifted a spot in the Mayhem match, and that if you look at his track record before that, it’s not stellar. His last match prior to fighting Hogan was against Terry Funk in a losing effort. “But it beats giving one of Michaels goons a shot at it. The announcers put over the fact that we'll be seeing Chavo Guerrero Jr. defend his WCW World Cruiserweight Championship against TAKA Michinoku this sunday night at Uncensored. --------------------------------- We cut to the back where we see DDP and Douglas ready for their match. Page looks like a man on a mission, while Douglas just looks pissed. Page is the only one who says anything and it’s kept relatively simple: “Let’s get these bastards.”. Rating: 70 --------------------------------- The Hardy Boyz vs The Four Horsemen (DDP and Douglas) The Hardy Boyz make their entrance first and they seem determined, but not as much as DDP and Douglas, who walk out and head straight to the ring. They slide in, and fists starts flying immediately. The bell rings, and it’s a couple minutes before order is restored, but the legal participants are eventually decided: Douglas and Matt Hardy. Douglas is all business tonight, as he punishes Matt with stiff, clubbing blows. He also uses a lot of power moves, venting a lot of the anger that he must be feeling over the events of not just today, but the past few months, if not the past year. It’s almost painful to watch, as Douglas is merciless in his offense. He tags out to Page who shows a more vicious side of himself, one that we haven’t seen in WCW for some time. No technique, and all power coming from the Horsemen tonight. At least that’s how it was for the beginning of the match, until Matt Hardy reversed a tilt-a-whirl body slam, rotating further than Page intended and hits him with a Twist of Fate. The Hardy Boyz first real bit of offense buys Matt just enough time to tag out to Jeff, and the match slows down immediately after, as Jeff forces the Horsemen to go back to a more methodical form of wrestling. Jeff hits a front dropkick that hits Page in the gut, knocking him to the ground. Jeff stomps on him, and drags Page over to the Hardyz’ corner and the team take turns wailing on Page, hitting a few tag team moves and keeping Page isolated. Page is able to fight out of the corner after a few minutes, and tags in Douglas who battles Matt once more, this time on a more technical ability instead of the raw aggression from before. This continues until Matt goes for the Twist of Fate, but Douglas pushes off. He tags in Page, and goes to clothesline Matt, who ducks and goes to run off the ropes. Page knees him in the back before getting into the ring, where he once again starts to exert his will, until Matt Hardy hits Page with an enziguri, and tags in Jeff. The ending of the match comes with Page and Jeff in the ring, exchanging punches. On the outside, Douglas walks around the ring and fights Matt on the outside. Jeff gets the upper hand after dropkicking Page’s knee, and goes for the Twist of Fate. Page stands up, and spins Jeff around as he goes for it, and hits him with the Diamond Cutter. The ref counts three as Douglas hits Matt with a suplex outside. Rating: 72 Notes: Following the match, Shawn Michaels runs in from the crowd and hits Page with a Sweet Chin Music. Seeing this from the floor, Douglas slides into the ring and starts throwing punches with Shawn. This time security doesn’t come to the ring, and the two fight it out. Michaels ducks a clothesline and hits Douglas with a SCM. As Michaels starts taunting Douglas, he fails to perceive the individual who slid in the ring behind him, but becomes acutely aware when he turns around and gets Gored. Rhyno starts stomping on Michaels, and as the New Faces of Fear come through the crowd to provide relief, Sting comes out from the back, armed with a baseball bat. Bradshaw sprints to the ring, and slides in, leaving Simmons a few rows back in the crowd still. Bradshaw goes for the Clothesline from Hell, but Rhyno ducks it, leading to a bullfight between the two men. Sting makes it to the ring before Simmons and gives Rhyno some assistance, hitting Bradshaw around with the bat, and when Simmons gets on the apron, Sting stares him down, and tosses the bat aside. Simmons and Sting stare each other down, and Simmons hops off the apron, and drags Bradshaw and Michaels out of the ring. As the battered men from Michaels’ invasion retreat, Schiavone states, “And for the second time tonight, Michaels’ band runs with their tails between their legs.”. And with that, the show goes off the air. Rating: 72 --------------------------------- Overall Rating: 73 --------------------------------- Card + Winners The Hardy Boyz vs The Four Horsemen Mayhem Qualifier: Rob Van Dam vs Yoshihiro Taijiri Mark Jindrak (w/ Stacy Kiebler) vs Kevin Nash Mayhem Qualifier: Ric Flair vs Masato Tanaka WCW World Television Championship Match: Samoa Joe vs Chris Candido Mayhem Qualifier: Randy Savage vs Buff Bagwell --------------------------------- Predictions: DHK1989: 4/6 Old School Fan: 5/6 Smasher: 4/6