Rags to Riches... with a little help!

[juggaloninjalee]

[CENTER][B][COLOR="DarkGreen"][SIZE="5"]Indy Fed Great Lakes Pro Wrestling[/SIZE][/COLOR][/B] [IMG]http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d76/JuggaloNinjaLee/TEW%20Game/GLPW/GLPW.jpg[/IMG][/CENTER] The Friday Night Wrestling Wars made wrestling great for me. I remember HGC was coming to town and sold out in a half hour. I had been fortunate enough to get tickets to the event and pretty close at that. Then the SWF decided to show them up and run a show in Detroit the previous week with tickets going on sale a week after the HGC ones did. I got tickets to that show as well. Being young at the time I thought it was great but many in the business felt that SWF was trying to steal the thunder from HGC before they had their show. HGC decided to run a lot of promotional events leading up to the regularly televised show. The SWF ran their show like usual with no real surprises. Then when HGC went to run their show many fans in the crowd held SWF signs and even a few SWF wrestlers were in attendance. SWF fans protested outside of the arena saying HGC was copying them by running a show there, and it was an amazing experience. I knew that day I wanted to get into wrestling. I trained under a guy called "The Dirty Detroit Derailer." His school cost me $1,250 for 12 weeks which wasn't bad I thought. He recommended coming back free of charge to polish up my skills but I was ready to jump right in. I then took it upon myself to organize some independent shows. My favorite one had Jacob Jett taking on Steve Flash in the main event with me vs. the Masked Mauler in the co headline spot for the Great Lakes Championship. Phil Vibert attended that indy show I booked and told me if I kept putting on decent shows with that level of talent then I would surely amount to something great someday. He then told me my in ring work left a lot to be desired. He wasn't the only person who thought I wasn't very good though. Many workers I went up against felt the same way. I worked a SWF dark match with Larry Wood as my tag team partner against Randy and Zimmy Bumfhole and almost hurt Zimmy. Larry Wood after the match pulled me aside and taught me some things and then told me he would never work a match with me again because of how raw I was in the ring. It was at the 2006 Indy Wars show that I got a big break. I had the match of my life... granted I went up against Mean Jean Cattley, Darryl Devine, Fox Mask, and Insane Machine for the Indy Wars Title. I didn't win but I got some recognition that night. It helped that I was one of the bookers of the show too. It was tough trying to work with the promoters of CZCW, USPW, MAW, NYCW, 21CW, and others to make such a big event. Every promotion wanted to come out looking strong. I was the man who kept all the bookers happy emphasizing the business as a whole and why each match would benefit everyone. It was noticed as a few internet columnists, and magazines gave me major props for dealing with the egos and booking a good show. I was even given a years worth of free advertising inside of the back cover... one whole page. Obviously I had to plug the magazine every show for the next year but that only runs through June 2007. Recently I was blogging on my webpage and got a phone call from J.K. Stallings Jr. I was very surprised by this call. He and I spoke for awhile and he told me that he wanted to help me with my indy fed. I told him that would be great and asked some questions… here is sorta how it went. JK: “Obviously I have had an urge to get back into the business as a part owner. I know you like the booking aspects and also love to wrestle as well. I am not very familiar with your work but some of my advisors informed me that you were quickly making a name for yourself in the business by forming alliances and networking with critics, and bookers alike. Is this true?” KF: “Of course I love this business and have gotten a lot of chances to meet my heros. I am trying to network to get my name out there. I currently have an advertising agreement with Power Pro Wrestling Magazine. I have been in contact with Phil Vibert, the Stomper, and Troy Winner even.” JK: “Wait hold on a second… I know Phil Vibert but who are those other clowns? Eh, it doesn’t matter. Point is I want to financially back you but I want 55% ownership of the company with all rights exclusive to me” KF: “That is crazy! I am not giving up my baby just for a couple bucks.” JK: “Do you know who you are talking to? What I want I get. Hear me out… I am gonna pump $50,000,000.00 into that indy fed and see what you can do with it!” I froze on the other side of the phone. I had never imagined that much money being given to me. I mean seriously all that money just for a little creative control. I would be giving up everything I had worked for, but I would still be part owner. KF: “DEAL! You have a deal so how are we going to do this?” JK: “I knew you would see things my way. I already have my lawyers on their way out there. The contract has been written up for you and some other paperwork is on the way. I have sent a list of some guys who will be in the promotion and you can have some of your choosing too. I will talk to you in a couple days about some goals, and standards of mine. Until then don’t worry about any business deals. It is going to be a few days.”

[sebsplex]

Well this has J.K. Stallings Jr in, so you've got a reader in me. I don't know how much nerd-boy thinks Indy feds cost to run though. $50 million? I'd buy a new house, car... heck take him to the cleaners if he's splashing that sort of dosh around. ;) Interesting start all the same.

[juggaloninjalee]

[CENTER][B][SIZE="6"][COLOR="DarkGreen"]Stallings Touch[/COLOR][/SIZE][/B][/CENTER] I had shown up at the next venue for our show and was greeted with cameras. Video cameras were everywhere. There was a production truck and everything. This venue was a small 1,000 person venue and was being treated like it was a huge movie set in L.A. or something. I made my way in the building knowing that Stallings was the one who did this. New staff was backstage and I even noticed a couple superstars from wrestling just hanging out. When I walked into my office there he was. JK: “I am assuming you want to know some things I have done. USPW, TCW, SWF, NOTBPW, MAW, CZCW, CGC have all reported to be allies with us in some way or another… now it is my plan to slowly work our way up and ruin each one of them. Espescially the SWF. NYCW, DaVE, and BHOTWG all rejected alliances so we are going target NYCW, and DaVE first. I’m not worried about BHOTWG at all. I only called them cuz my advisors recommended them for some reason.” KF: “Wait I had no say in any of this! This is still my company and I still have some creative control.” JK: “I see my lawyers did a good job by taking you out to the bar. They said it was tough to keep your glass full because you drank them down so quick. You basically gave me all the power in this promotion. I am your boss. However you will split all of the profits. Remember my lawyers saying that if we acquire a debt you wouldn’t be responsible? That was your main selling point you said. So remember if we lose any money it doesn’t come out of your pocket… however you won’t get paid. You only make money based on our profits… Which brings me to my first goal for you! Ensure we don’t drop under 12 million dollars this year. You have 50 million which was more than enough for HGC to get going in the beginning. I hope you can get this company running without too much of a financial loss. You have a year to stay above that goal.” KF: “You will fire me if I don’t reach this goals? That is ridiculous. How can you do that?” JK: “It’s in your contract. So want to find out what else is in it?” KF: “Of course!” JK: “Well if this company falls any lower than what it is now then you will be fired. This promotion needs to grow and I will not tolerate this company turning into a failure with my name on it. Also I believe in the line ‘any publicity is good publicity’ but I have some standards. So you will not be hiring or rehiring anyone who has a criminal record. Now I understand you already have the Dirty Detroit Derailer on the roster and you can keep him for now… just remember he is gone though when his contract expires. That stipulation will stay in effect for two years. Then the final thing I want to abide by is that we will not hire anyone over 42. We want to keep a young fresh image for this upstart promotion. That stipulation is also for two years. I have other business to attend to now so kick back and take it easy. The show tonight is all under control. I will book it for you. Oh one last thing before I leave… [slight pause]All championships have been vacated and the history has been wiped. I have new titles with the old names engraved on them. I will make an announcement regarding this tonight. Don’t worry I will give you a match tonight against Darkhorse(created guy) since I saw some footage of you two against each other and liked what I saw. Enjoy yourself tonight.” Before he left he gave me a portfolio which apparently had our roster inside it with their bios and stats. [B][I]OOC:[/I][/B][I] The "portfolio" will be up today. I will get the titles, roster, and other information up today and possibly the first show. Hopefully the Pistons beat the Bulls tonight pretty bad so I can get to typing the show.[/I]

[juggaloninjalee]

[B]Current Home Arena:[/B] The Asylum [SIZE="4"][B]Roster:[/B][/SIZE] [B]Main Eventers:[/B] Calamari Kid (F) Enygma (F) Jack Bruce (H) Jack Griffith (F) Jumbo Shrimp (F) Liberty (F) Lobster Warrior (F) [B]Upper Midcarders:[/B] Blackjack Robbins (H) Corporal Doom (H) Jacob Jett (F) Larry Wood (H) Puerto Rican Power (H) Roderick Remus (H) Stevie Grayson (F) Tom Angelus (F) Whiskey Jack (H) [B]Midcarders:[/B] Agent 69 (H) Dazzling Dave Diamond (H) Ernie Turner (H) Eve Grunge (F) Frankie Dee (H) Kate Lilly (F) Nene Ebina (H) Stephanie Wade (F) Titan (H) Whippy the Clown (F) [B]Lower Midcarders:[/B] Dragon Assassin (H) Dragon Power (H) Kashmir Singh (F) Nadia Snow (H) Steven Darkhorse Knight (F) The Dirty Detroit Derailer (H) Zeus Maxmillion (H) [B]Openers:[/B] Kid Fire (H) Roz Larren (F) Thomas Morgan (H) [B]Managers:[/B] Jakki White Trash (H) [B]Announcers:[/B] Remmington Remus (H) [B]Colour Commentators:[/B] Hustler D (H) Joker the Pimp (H) [B]Referees:[/B] Bret Graveson (F) [B]Authority Figures:[/B] Queen Emily (H) [B]Road Agents:[/B] Crippler Ray Kingman (F) Marcus McKing (F) [B]Personalities:[/B] J.K. Stallings Jr. (F) Ted Ross (F) [B]Tag Teams/Stables:[/B] Tennessee Outlaws – Blackjack Robbins and Whiskey Jack The Serpents – Dragon Assassin and Dragon Power Underwater Union – Lobster Warrior, Jumbo Shrimp, and Calamari Kid The Dragon Clan – Dragon Assassin, Dragon Power, and Frankie Dee [B][SIZE="4"]Champions:[/SIZE][/B] [B]GLPW Great Lakes Championship[/B] – VACANT [B]GLPW Tag Team Championship[/B] – VACANT [B]GLPW World Championship[/B] – VACANT

[Chriswok]

OOh I made a Great Lakes Wrestling promotion diary too, its just too big of an area to not have any promotions in it. :)

[juggaloninjalee]

[B][SIZE="5"][COLOR="Purple"]Software Guru Power Trip[/COLOR][/SIZE][/B] So I showed up to my office every day for the last couple weeks and Stallings kept telling me not to worry about the shows. After this continued one day I snapped and went home. I typed up my vision for the promotion and made sure to get it to Stallings. With JK doing the booking he got the tag team straps on Lobster Warrior, and Calamari Kid. It gave the titles some prestige that is for sure. Espescially since the audience knew who they were. Some storylines he got going were decent. I guess a big undercard feud was going with Darkhorse vs Kid Fire pretty much. He turned Jack Griffith on Liberty sparking a feud, and he had Jack Bruce and Enygma in a feud as well. With all the personal grudges going on I had to come up with ways to carry them over and advance them. So I made sure to go into detail about what I thought about all that. Stallings called me in the following day and had sent me a memo about the card coming up. [LIST] [*]Kid Fire vs Lobster Warrior [*]Tennessee Outlaws vs Tom Angelus and Whippy the Clown [*]Jacob Jett vs Liberty [*]Enygma vs Puerto Rican Power [/LIST] I did not like the card but I knew I could fill it with some fluff to steer it in a positive direction. This promotion has been growing over the last few weeks and my goal was to compete with TCW, and SWF someday. Some things need to come together for that to happen.

[juggaloninjalee]

[B][CENTER][SIZE="5"][COLOR="Blue"]Great Lakes Wrestling Live from the Asylum in Detroit, Michigan[/COLOR][/SIZE][/CENTER][/B] The show began with a dark match. A man was in the ring going by the name Trademark Thomas Morgan. He didn't have entrance music or anything though. Then a familiar face stepped out of the curtains with an upbeat rock song playing. He was announced as Stevie Grayson. [B]Stevie Grayson vs "Trademark" Thomas Morgan[/B] This match began with both men looking for an early advantage. Morgan used some underhanded tactics to gain the upper hand. Morgan got ****y after a little bit of time of being on the offensive and got caught with a flying elbow off the ropes. After that Grayson controlled and eventually won with a moonsault off the top rope for the 3 count. [I]Winner: Stevie Grayson by pinfall at 11:41[/I] [B]====================================================[/B] The lights went out and a video showed on the screen. It appeared to be the opening credits. Everything was blurry and none of the wrestlers could be made out. "What I've Done" by Linkin Park played as the crowd was going crazy. [B]Backstage Presence[/B] On the screen a set of black high heels were walking on the cement floor. The camera scrolled up revealing a woman walking. She had a smug look on her face. She passed by a door with a name on it and stopped. She had an assistant open it and walked in. Sitting there reading a wrestling magazine in street clothes is a guy. He has medium length hair and looks up from his magazine obviously flustered. "Queen Emily?! What in the hell are you doin here?" says the man. "Don't you dare use that tone with me. I am the Queen of Wrestling. I am in charge around here. I was walking by your door and figured I could use your services. I can promise you gold around your waist if you join me in my conquest of this company. Nobody will cross me with your help. What do you say?" He looks unsure and closes his magazine staring away obviously thinking about what to do. Back in the arena Lobster Warrior and Kid Fire have already made there way to the ring. [B]Kid Fire vs Lobster Warrior[/B] Kid Fire shows a lot of upside in this match. He comes at Lobster fast and hard but Lobster Warriors experience shows too much. He reverses a wristlock and hits a drop toe hold before slapping on a crossface. Kid Fire manages to get to the ropes breaking the hold. The crowd boos Kid Fire. They even throw drinks and such at him showing an obvious disliking to him. He begins to rally when out from the back comes Steven Dark Horse Knight. He stands on the apron and elbows Kid Fire in the back of the head allowing Lobster Warrior to hit a Lobster Trap for a pinfall and the three. [I]Wnner: Lobster Warrior by pinfall in 6:56[/I] [B]Assault![/B] Enygma is in the hallway taping his fists and walking somewhere when from around the corner comes Jack Bruce hitting Enygma with a chair. He hits Enygma a few more times before leaving him down and hurt swearing to get revenge. After a slight pause in the arena the Tennessee Outlaws music played and out came the veteran team. Blackjack Robbins was carrying a steal rod. They got in the ring with hard looks on their faces. Then out from the back came the odd pairing of Tom Angelus, and Whippy the Clown. Whippy was jumping up and down giving the fans in the crowd high fives. He ran around the ring making sure to get everyone in the front rows. [B]Tom Angelus & Whippy the Clown vs The Tennessee Outlaws for the #1 Tag Team Contendership[/B] Whippy started the match off getting completely dominated for 3 minutes. Tom Angelus finally got a lucky tag and came in clearing the ring. He flexed getting a small reaction from the crowd and then began to go off on Whiskey Jack. He hit a diving clothesline and then tagged in Whippy the Clown to finish him off. Tom flexed on the apron for the crowd and Whippy missed a high risk move. The Outlaws then hit the Whiskey Stem and picked up the 3 count! Tom Angelus turned around and the smile quickly dropped off his face. [I]Winners: The Tennessee Outlaws by pinfall in 6:56[/I] [B]Chilled Out[/B] Backstage somewhere Liberty is sitting on a couch just chilling. He then nods off and falls asleep with his head up. Then out of nowhere he begins to get the living tar beat out of him. Liberty gets picked up above the guys head and slammed through the drywall. The man turns around and it is Jack Griffith... "sorry Liberty I had to do it." Back in the arena Jacob Jett makes his way to the ring with a grin on his face as the crowd watches him still surprised by what just happened. Then Liberties music hits and after a long wait he finally comes out holding his head. [B]Jacob Jett vs Liberty[/B] Jett starts the match working on Liberties back. The whole fight is dominated by Jett who never once tries to make a pinfall. After awhile Jett slides out of the ring and grabs a chair. When he gets back in the ring the ref tries to get in the way but Jett throws him out of the ring. He waits for Liberty to get up and hits him over the head getting himself DQed. He continues the assault focusing on Liberties lower back. [I]Winner: Liberty by DQ[/I] Jett leaves the ring without anymore problems. Medical staff assist Liberty out when Enygmas music plays. Out comes Enygma to a huge pop. He gets in the ring apprently ready for his match and not showing signs of his attack earlier. Then the thunderous music of Puerto Rican Power plays. Then it goes into a song that sounds typical of Puerto Rico. He makes his way to the ring ready to fight. [B]Enygma vs Puerto Rican Power for the GLPW World Title[/B] PRP owns Enygma most of this match just manhandling him. The match goes on for awhile with Enygma never giving up. Eventually Jack Bruce and Jack Griffith come down to the ring. Jack Griffith distracts the ref and Jack Bruce grabs the belt. PRP holds Enygma and Jack Bruce charges... Enygma ducks and JB lays out PRP. Enygma tosses Jack Bruce out of the ring and makes the pin on Puerto Rican Power... the ref doesn't notice right away but eventually makes the count 1.... 2.... 3! [I]Winner: Enygma by pinfall in 18:33[/I] Jack Bruce and Jack Griffith watch from the isle obviously pissed off. They both just stare down Enygma who celebrates for a minute in the ring as the show goes off.