TCW: The Jet Jameson Era

[Sigilistic]

I am running TCW right now and am sufficiently far enough in that I feel comfortable posting a diary. First though, some exposition is necessary on my sweeping changes to the game world. * The big change: If you're not National or higher, you don't get to start with Written contracts. Them's the breaks, huh DAVE? * I've added several new promotions to the game. FRW: Fighting Respect Wrestling, a Puerto Rican fed run by *GASP* Puerto Rican Power and booked by Kashmir Singh. It's mostly a traditional fed. PAW: Parental Advisory Wrestling, a Detroit-based ultra-hardcore fed. Founded with the pooled income of hardcore icons Madman Boone, Genghis Rahn, Henry Lee, and Larry Wood. NCW: Northwest Championship Wrestling, a Seattle-based feeder league for TCW, founded in direct response to RIPW, owned by Crippler Ray Kingman and booked by his son Barry. * I've also deleted a promotion: SOTBPW. In response, I amped up MPWF and OLLIE to Cult level and added MHW, Mexican Hardcore Wrestling, a hardcore Lucha alternative owned by Louis Montero. * I've made a few tweaks to characters. American Elemental has been picked up by BHOTWG and signed to a developmental contract with Hinote Dojo. Peter Valentine and Sean McFly have both been switched to Lifetime contracts. Jerry Eisen is now the starting booker for SWF, not Sam Keith. Speaking of SWF, Richard Eisen has been switched from a road agent to a personality. That man has no business scripting matches. Both Jack Griffith and Jesse Christian are loyal to Shane Sneer. Hinote Dojo and Pro Wrestling SAISHO have both been changed to match their parent company's touring schedule, although both developmental feds run a blistering 5 shows a week instead of the traditional 2 or 3. Finally, TCW's starting product has been altered to Remianen's product. Because I like that one more. Ok, enough of the exposition, let the diary commence...

[Sigilistic]

My name is Jet Jameson and this my story. It isn't arrogance if one genuinely does have the skills to back one's talk up with actions. Tommy Cornell knows that and that's why I am where I am today. About me. As I said before, my name is Jet Jameson and I am the son of Jonas Jameson. No, not the comic book character. The other one. The billionaire. The one who probably laid off your dad last year. Yeah, dad's not a nice guy but there's something to be said for having the finest education money can buy growing up. That MBA from Harvard isn't there to hold up the wall, friend. I could've had any job I wanted. By now, I no doubt could've been junior partner at some firm with more initials than a cheesy spy organization. I could be sipping mai thais and debating over which driver to use on the 4th green. But that's not me. You see, I'm not really a jet-setting mover and shaker, I just play one on TV. Since my childhood I'd been a fan of this business, this crazy carnival attraction we call professional wrestling. Names like Rip Chord, Sam Strong, Dread, and Bruce the Giant were recited like mantras in my childhood. I had an almost encyclopedic knowledge of finishing moves and could spend hours describing the difference between an STO and an STF. Father passed it off as a childhood phase. Silly him. I still remember the conversation I had with my him about that. I had just graduated and naturally he expected me to join him in his quest to become the richest man in the universe. So at breakfast that fateful day when I broached the subject, he just put down his paper, took off his glasses, and looked at me as if I'd just suggested lighting his Rolls Royce on fire. "You remember that clown?! What's his name, Rawlings? You wanna be like him?!" That was all he said. I didn't expect him to understand really, but I felt as if it needed to be said anyway. That was the last time I've spoken to him. The benefit to being richer than Croesus is that you can afford the finest training money can buy. Sound familiar? It shouldn't surprise you. I was privileged to receive training from the Harvard of wrestling training, Christian Faith himself. He was more than a little surprised when I approached him about the subject of my training. I'm not what you'd call your typical wrestler, and I think I presented enough of a novelty to get him to agree to take me on as his apprentice. The year that followed was quite possibly the most grueling, the most arduous, the most painful I've ever endured. If Marine Corp boot camp last an entire year, it would approximate what I went through. Intense physical training was complimented with hours practicing technique and form and capped off with some heavy coaching in how to work a mic. That last bit was where Faith was his absolute task-master best. "Face it kid. This is a big man's business and you aren't exactly Sam Strong. If you want people to remember your name, you're going to need something other than piles of muscles or a ridiculous height. You're going to need style. You could be 2 feet tall, but if you learn to talk a crowd into an arena you will become a superstar." That was probably the most important thing Faith ever taught me. After a year of training, and working as a masked enhancement talent for SWF house shows, Faith proclaimed me ready to go forth, kick ass, and take names. Now I'll be the first to tell you that I'm a very good wrestler, but even in this day and age the market is flooded with simply very good wrestlers. If you want to get noticed you have to be spectacular in some way. It was then that I realized that I could put that prestigious degree of mine to use. I became the number one booker of independant shows in America. Training with Faith had the added benefit of giving me a slew of contacts in the industry, and I was able to use that to my advantage as a booker. From time to time, Faith would check up on me, offering pointers and whatnot. Even better, he informed me that he had begun lobbying backstage for me to receive a job on SWF's Creative Team. It's funny how life works out, because it was right about then that I first met Tommy Cornell...

[Sigilistic]

I was booking a show at the Simmons Center when word began to filter through the locker room that someone huge was going to make a special appearance. Immediately thoughts began racing through my mind; was my mentor Christian Faith showing up? Had he asked one of his colleagues to for a favor? My mind raced with the potential for a match with Remo, Jack Bruce, or the devastating Runaway Train. Then Cornell stepped into my office, and I spent the next 5 minutes picking up my jaw. Tommy Cornell. Tommy FREAKING Cornell. Tommy "Rough Justice" Cornell was standing in my office with one of those ****sure grins that he was famous for. He let me register the absolute magnitude of the occasion and then, just as I had begun to recover, he blew me off of my feet again. "So you're the genius that everyone's been talking about..." I'm not stupid but I do believe that was the first time anyone has ever called me a genius. "I've got a little proposal for you." It was New Year's Eve, and it seemed as if I was going to kick off the New Year in absolute grand style. The clock counted down as I looked into the mirror; as I looked at the face of the new Head Booker of TCW. I thought back to that auspicious night when Cornell offered me the big job. "You see, Jet, I'm at war. I'm at war with the biggest, baddest, meanest corporate engine of destruction in the business of wrestling. The 800 lbs gorilla. And I'm afraid to say, I'm losing that war." I started paying real close attention then. "Eisen and his sports entertainment juggernaut have been beating us in the Tuesday night ratings for going on a year now. That smug bastard sits in his New England office, counts his money, and laughs. I think it's time to knock that smirk right off of that piker's face." Cornell explained that TCW was in the middle of a difficult transition. Having risen like a phoenix from the ashes of the disastrous Hollyweird Grappling Company, TCW nonetheless bore a considerable amount of baggage from that bygone era. I politely chose not to say it, but I knew what he was talking about. Horrible lumps like Painful Procedure, Rocky Golden, and Liberty stunk up almost any match they were in. Sure, Cornell could carry them to a watchable match, but he's only one man. He, Tornado, and Hawkins simply couldn't be everywhere at once. That was where I came in. Sure, anyone could see that the fat had to be cut. What was needed was a man who knew who to replace it with. Someone like me. Cornell had asked longtime booker Joel Bryant to step down and had come to me to rescue his promotion from the fate it's predecessor suffered. Ahead of me I saw the powerful Supreme Wrestling Federation; beyond them the looming threat that was NOTBPW. I saw that I had no choice, this was what I had been born to do. So I agreed to take over, effective as of the New Year. Overcome with jubilation, I called my teacher Christian immediately. What a mistake that was. Faith wasn't thrilled to hear of my promotion, but sounded furious. Suddenly I flashed back to that conversation with father at breakfast. It was that all over again. Suffice to say, Faith was less than pleased to hear the news, and he and I have not spoken since. I just hope that one day I can prove to him I made the right choice, even if I have to destroy his precious SWF to do so. 5...4...3...2...1...HAPPY NEW YEARS!!! I sipped champagne and thought to myself, 'Happy New Year's indeed...Now to get to work...'

[Sigilistic]

The first day at the office, I called a meeting to speak with all the talent. It was time to level the boom. I looked over the assembled talent, set my jaw, and told them. "The fact is, some of you are not going to make it. The vision that Mr Cornell has laid out for me and that I have aligned myself to is one that many of you simply cannot exist in." I took a moment to let that sink in. Some looked more concern than others. Aaron Andrews looked like he was going to have a panic attack. BLZ Bubb looked as if he thought himself immune to any such cut. Liberty was nowhere to be seen. Oh yes. Time to level the boom. After the general meeting, it was time to go down the list and decide who should stay and who should go. One by one I sorted them out. Aaron Andrews...This kid had potential. He could talk and more importantly he could GO in the ring. No way was he getting away from me. American Buffalo...This pitbull of a hoss had a job here only because BLZ Bubb arranged for it. He could barely survive a low level match, never mind an upper midcard bout that he seemed to think he was entitled to. I had no use for him. Archie Judge...Hell of a road agent. His job was secure, though I made a mental note to find another. It never hurts to have some redundancy after all. Billy Jack Shearer...Ugh, what a waste of television time. I recalled the years of agony his presence in TCW subjected me to. Adios chump, go main event USPW or something. BLZ Bubb...This guy had way too much backstage cloud. I'm not saying he was Giant Redwood or anything, but he was pretty bad. Worse, he simply could not go at the main event level. Besides, I had a better monster in store for TCW programming so Bubb would be enjoying some well-deserved time off. Chance Fortune... The current All Action champ. Fortune had talent, looks, and moxy but wasn't really ready to hold the All Action title, a title which I intended to make the showcase of TCW. Still, if he were to work with some veterans he could become a heck of a talent. Charlie Thatcher...Did I just say talent? Not Thatcher. This pile of crap was getting a pink slip post haste. Eugene Williams...A solid ref and in no danger of losing his job. Floyd Goldworthy...A solid, if not exactly superior, manager. I'd seen his work with Painful Procedure and he was the only watchable one of the lot. Freddy Huggins...A mediocre cruiserweight with a horrible gimmick, wait I thought TCW already fired Donnie J and Jimmy P? All kidding aside, Huggins just wasn't going to cut it. Especially not with a finisher called "The Huggins Kiss." Yuck. Giant Tana...I'm a huge fan of his extended family, but he just didn't fit with the product. I was certain he'd be star somewhere else however and offered him a strong recommendation if he needed it. Grunt...These guys make Painful Procedure look like the Machines. I told Cornell under no circumstances would they be staying. He took it surprisingly well. Or perhaps not so surprisingly. Harry Allen...While he and his partner weren't nearly as bad as the Nation of Filth and Painful Procedure, they weren't up to my standards. Besides, they were a pair of goofing looking guys and I had plans to bring in another cowboy and didn't want these jokers leeching his heat. Ice Man C.A.... I thought long and hard about this one. In the end, I decided he was a valuable enhancement talent who could wrestle a match without embarrassing himself. He received a pass. For now... Jason Azaria...The voice of TCW. While I wasn't thrilled with him he was a valuable hand and the best announcer available so he got to stay. Jay Darkness...Jay and his partner Raul had a fantastic legacy, but their days in TC-Dub were pretty much over. Jay took the news pretty hard from what I hear, and I've been reading that he's been saying all manner of unflattering things about me in shoot interviews. I won't dignify such insults with a response. Joel Bryant...I felt for Joel. Here I was taking his job. I told him that there was absolutely no way he was going to be fired, and that I planned on retaining his services on the TCW creative team. I won't say we're best friends now, but I think he has a great deal more respect for me than he did. Kyle Rhodes...It was an open secret that I didn't care for Kyle's work as a colour man. I respected his respect for the sport aspect of wrestling, but he just couldn't call the big matches. It seemed that every time Cornell caught fire, Rhodes' weak commentary was like a wet blanket thrown on it. Liberty...This guy was dead meat. From his flagrantly disrespectful attitude to his sense of self-entitlement, he just reeked of trouble. Well he could go be trouble somewhere else, I hear Richard Eisen loves hiring reprobates. I canned his sorry blonde ass and didn't feel the least bit guilty about it. Randall Hopkirk...See BJ Shearer. Raul Darkness...See Jay Darkness. He took the news a great deal better though. Ray Johnson...A solid ref, but unfortunately he was surplus to my needs so with some regret I let him go. Rick Law...I'll be honest, Law isn't really all that terrible in the ring. So why'd I fire him? His look. When I look at a wrestler, I should be able to envision his future in my promotion. When I look at Law, I just see his stupid cop gimmick. He was really better suited to a sports entertainment fed. Ricky Dale Johnson...While RDJ was certainly no Sean McFly, and absolutely no Tommy Cornell, he was nonetheless an invaluable part of the main event roster, which was becoming all too depleted with my cuts. Still, his lack of stamina meant he wouldn't be seeing any world titles any time soon. Robert Oxford...Not only was Robert a valuable hand and part of a solid tag team with Joel Bryant, he was close enough to retirement that I was already making plans for him to take a place backstage as a road agent. He had absolute job security. Rocky Golden...For the life of me I don't know what Cornell and Bryant saw in this guy. I've watched some tapes of his CZCW days and was hardly impressed. He hasn't exactly gotten better, and yet here he was, International Champion. He was set to drop the title ASAP and would likewise be dropped from the final roster. Ronnie V Pain...See BJ Shearer. Sam Sparrow...TCW's top ref. No way I was messing with a good thing. Steve Gumble...See Harry Allen. Stink...See Grunt. Or better yet, don't. Texas Pete...This SWF reject was horrible in the ring and even worse on the mic. What was Bryant smoking when he hired this guy? Pete was a goner. I had a much better cowboy coming in to take his place. Tommy Cornell...Bwah ha ha ha ha ha! Next. Troy Tornado...Tornado and Hawkins were tied as the number 2 wrestler in TCW. With the coming lean times before I reinforced the roster, Tornado was going to be working very hard indeed to pull off a good show week in and week out. Wolf Hawkins...Tommy Cornell's only protege wasn't going anywhere, except to the main event where he was badly needed. It was time to see if he could go at the top level. Wrestling Machine #1 and #2...I've been watching these guys since their indy days and have been a fan for at least as long. Putting them together was a stroke of absolute brilliance and they would be the highlight of the tag team division for a long time to come. The decisions were made and the pink slips handed out. With my roster thinning faster than Sam Strong's hair, it was time to hit the indy scene and pick up some top talent.

[Rob4590]

Interesting start. Perhaps a mistake to fire any of the guys with C+ and above overness in the USA (eg Liberty, BLZ Bubb, Rick Law etc) since although you don't need overness to get good match results with the product you are running, you do still need overness to get good angle ratings, and you could have leeched their overness onto the indy stars (and people like Andrews, Chance etc) to allow them to quickly become stars. But we will see.... ;)

[Jungle Jack]

I think I agree with Rob as most of the top level guys have some use (then again I have more of a preference for letting contracts expire than firing so I had to do something with them). Also, it'll be interesting to see what your tag team division looks like considering its down to The Tag Team Specialists and The Machines.

[Omega Driver]

Whatever you choose to do is cool though man, just make TCW the ROH-type promotion it deserves to be. Otherwise... it's just Sports Entertainment, and [i]nobody[/i] likes Sports Entertainment.

[Tigerkinney]

It will be interesting to see where this goes, but I agree with Rob 4590 that perhaps you've been a bit too drastic in getting rid of all the wrestlers you 'dont like' just because they don't fit the product you have in mind. As Rob said you could have used the 'hosses' with good levels of popularity to put over some of the new talent before their contracts run out. Also I personally find that though their mediocre The Young Guns and Freddy Huggins are the type that are useful to keep around in the beginning as jobbers (because they're already low down the card and wont whine too much about looking up at the lights week in , week out) Also regarding Ricky Dale Johnson....you say that he is not good enough to main event, because his stamina levels are not good enough. Running Burning Hammer, one of my main eventers is Hiroaki Nakasawa who I think has similar skill-levels to RDJ and I've had no problem putting him in 20 -25 minute main events, and often get A* ratings from his matches. I think given the right opponent RDJ could produce the same sort of results for you.

[Sigilistic]

"What do you MEAN I can't hire Eric Tyler!?" I screamed at my boss as he flatly rejected my proposal to bring in the Traditionalist. "Do you want us to succeed or not?" Cornell just waited for me to finish venting my spleen and then calmly explained. "Kid, Tyler is one healthy sneeze away from retirement. I'm not going to pay over $16,000 a month for 2 years for a road agent. If he can't go lower, he can just stick with Vibert's promotion." I fumed long and hard about that. I had a list of names I wanted in and Tyler's was right at the top of it. But in the end, Tommy's the boss and so I respected his wishes and put an end to negotiations with Tyler. Tyler wasn't the only name from DAVE that I was after though, and I had considerably more luck elsewhere. In short order I was able to sign away Acid, Art Reed, Big Cat Brandon, Guide, Jack Giedroyc, Joey Minnesota, Sammy Bach, Scout, Teddy Powell, and perhaps the biggest signing of them all: Nemesis. Nemesis and Cornell had a history together and he was more than willing to sign on to a Pay Per Appearance deal. Acid was set to become the centerpiece of the All Action Division; Art Reed would be a solid midcarder; Brandon, Giedroyc, and Minnesota would fill out the upper midcard/main event scene; and the New Wave and Adrenalin Rush would replenish our badly depleted tag team ranks. Nemesis would improve the colour commentary by leaps and bounds. After I left the smoking ruin that was DAVE it was time to hit the indies. Black Eagle, Frankie Perez, Jack Griffith, Playboy Jake Sawyer, and Steve Flash all signed on. Eagle and Perez were going to make fantastic All Action workers. Jack Griffith had the makings of a superstar. Steve Flash was a solid hand and would be invaluable in training up the younger guys. As for Jake Sawyer, well I had big plans for him. I had one last stop in the states before I began plundering talent from abroad: USPW. Prime talent like Shane Sneer and Darryl Devine were languishing in the land of dinosaurs that was USPW. I offered them a ticket out and up. They gladly took it. Sneer would round out the commentary table and Devine would become the top face of the All Action Division. Satisfied that I had everyone stateside who could be had and was worth having, I packed up my bags and went global. My first stop was with our friendly cousins to the north. I swung by CGC and picked up Bobby Thomas, Eddie Chandler, and Nathan Johnson. Chandler would work as a midcard singles and of course Thomas and Johnson would be teaming. It occurred to me though that they were in need of a new team name. I already had one team of Specialists... As I pondered on what to call them, I flew on across the pond to the land of the rising sun. A lifelong fan of puro, I had my eyes on several talents who were unknowns stateside but national heroes in Japan. First there was Jungle Jack. While he's a relative unknown in the states, Jack was feared and revered in the Japan circuit. I would take that and use it to make him a star in America as well. Then it was time to get TCW's newest monster: Marat FREAKING Khoklov. I watched his debut match with Tadiyuki Kikkawa and was blown away by this beast. Not only did he have size, but he could actually work a match too! He wasn't exactly Yoshimi Mushashibo, but he made Bruce the Giant and certainly BLZ Bubb look like chumps. Better than that, he was SUPREMELY over in Japan and if I could make him half as popular in the states, he'd become a legend. With the language barrier between us, I also hired the talented Miss Vita to serve not only as his translator, but as his valet as well. Finally, the reason (well one of the reasons) why Texas Pete and the Young Guns were canned: Pistol Pete Hall. It was time to bring this respected vet home and give him the U.S. run he deserves. Even better, following his retirement he would move backstage and become a solid road agent. I looked over my roster and I smiled. Then the smile began to fade...Something was missing...The Women's Division!

[d_w_w]

Your roster changes have piqued my interest and I foresee some interesting match-ups in the future. And, talk of a women's divison... :) So yeah, I'll be reading.

[Jungle Jack]

It interesting, as someone who's been playing a TCW game since I bought the game a couple of months ago (I'm up to May 2009) to see that we made many of the same moves (except it A. took me longer and B. I wasn't able to get Pistol Pete Hall...though I would have liked to :) ), though I jobbed Liberty and BZB ragged (and Freddy Huggins saved his job by having freakish chemistry with a huge number of new comers). So I look forward to reading this. However, with your product settings, isn't the idea of a charimatic manager a bit...unnessary as the fans crap on cheap finishs and interview segments? So I'm curious to see what plans you have for Sawyer.

[Sigilistic]

When I told Tommy Cornell of my intentions to bring women's wrestling to TC-Dub he had this "You must be joking" look on his face. I wasn't, but I knew that if I didn't bring in the very best women wrestlers and have them put on their absolute best matches, this was destined to become a failed experiment. I sent out a lot of job offers. More than I intended on actually accepting actually, but I wanted to insure that I had a healthy women's roster. After a seemingly endless amount of interviews, I narrowed my selections down to the following: Catherine Quine: Ms Quine was one of the firs to receive an offer. She accepted but only as a Pay Per Appearance. She had a nice job as AAA's booker and I wasn't going to begrudge her that. She assured me that TCW bookings would take precedence over any AAA ones. Cherry Bomb: Cool name, even cooler gimmick, how could I say no? Simple, I couldn't. Joanne Rodriguez: Ms Rodriguez had been setting the indy scene on fire. I've accumulated a considerable library of her tapes, ranging from her CZCW days to her work in AAA and 5SSW. She was to become the number one face of the Women's Division. Kristabel Plum: When I was speaking with Catherine Quine she was quick to recommend Plum. Apparently Quine was very high on her and on the strength of her recommendation I offered Plum a *pardon the pun* "plum contract". Sara Marie York: While she wouldn't be that star of the division, she could nonetheless prove a valuable member of it. Suzanne Brazzle: Brazzle has an impressive skillset and she'll serve well as a gateway between the lower ranks and the stars of the Women's Division. Wanda Fish: Fish the Dish was going to be the centerpiece of the Women's Division, much as Acid was to be the anchor of the All Action Division. She was by far the single best acquisition of all the women wrestlers and she rivaled even many of the male wrestlers in importance. With a division like this, I had every confidence that they would satisfy Cornell's rigorous standards.

[Sigilistic]

I wasn't quite done with my head hunt, however. The war against SWF and the coming one with NOTBPW was going to be a long and brutal one, and I was going to need a steady flow of up-and-comers if I was to stand any kind of a chance. So it was that I started acquiring developmental talent for TCW's new feeder league NCW. Air Attack Weasel...Silly names aside, this guy had Steve Flash-level performance skills but was very nearly half his age. If he could up his all-around game, he could do what Flash never could, and that is win a major world title. Jacob Jett...This guy almost received a written deal but in the end I just didn't have room for him. He just had to cool his heels and wait for an opening. Jimmy Cox...The puro sites absolutely raved about this guy and it was easy to see why. When offered a chance to come back home, he accepted. The only thing working against him at this point is his age. But if he can earn a promotion to the main roster in a short period of time, he'll go far. John Maverick...This guy had a crisp, hard-hitting mat style and I saw great things in him, even if he did have the charisma of a can of paint. He was also gasping for air after his disastrous CGC title run and was extremely receptive to my offer to put him in development. Joss Thompson...This guy was the total package. All he needed was some ringtime in front of a live audience to polish off the rough edges and he was set for greatness. Lee Rivera/Shane Nelson...These guys were an impressive tag team and were guaranteed a spot on the main roster as soon as I felt there was an opening. Mainstream Hernandez...If he can get past his ego issues, he could very well become a world champion some days. If he turns into Liberty 2.0, his ass is gone. Remmy Skye...Yeah the guy has issues and is about as consistent as a snowstorm in July, but he's probably the flashiest high flyer in America. We'll see if he has what it takes to up his game though. That was it. At last I'd acquired all the talent I need, at least for now. I had the talent, now it was time to put them to use.

[Jungle Jack]

Would it be okay with you if I did a "Smartesq internet column" similar to what Payne did in the Mark Cuban DAVE diary (only not as critical, more like a normal smark writer)? If not that's fine, but as one of the relative few here that's a big TCW fan, I would sort of get a kick out of doing it.

[Sigilistic]

Absolutely! I'm glad so many people are interested in this diary!

[Jungle Jack]

[B][SIZE="4"]Old School Wrestling Talk[/SIZE][/B] Hello all it's the man who isn't the gaijin wrestler now formerly in GCG (they'll be out of business in 3 years, mark my words). And I think enough stuff has happened in TCW, which has recently switched over to a more old school product with the decisions to go to the REMI product (old school but allowing for cruiserweights and Lucha Libre) with a near complete turnover in terms of roster due to the recent hiring of new head booker Jet Jameson (yep, son of Jonas, the "turnaround" specialist and billionaire, I'll now pause to allow the readership to get the swearing out of their system in relation to Jonas...) replacing Joel Bryant. I think it's worthwhile to look at the roster changes that Jameson (a Harvard MBA) has made to TCW's roster, almost all of which were good overdue moves, surprising from someone without a heavy background in the industry: Fired: Liberty BL Z Bubb Texas Pete Rocky Golden Harry Allen Steven Grumble Charlie Thatcher The Nation of Filth (Stink & Grunt) Darkness Warriors (Jay & Raul) American Buffalo Giant Tana Rick Law Freddy Huggins Ronnie V. Pain Painful Procedure (BJ Shear/Randall Hopkirk) Old School's Take? The decision to let go of Thatcher, NoF, Darkness Warriors, and Pain/Painful Procedure has been long overdue. Thatcher, despite good effort on his part, just can't wrestle and the only thing shocking about the release of Nof and the Darknesses is that they held as many Tag titles in TCW as they did (seriously, who was NoF paying off to get those runs? They didn't get heel heat folks they got "No! Stay the F*** out of the ring!" level heat). Texas Pete, meanwhile, was only signed because he was viewed as an up and comer with SWF (which is why promotional wars are bad things, because they lead to wrestlers marked up way too high related to their value). Tana and Buffalo just don't have the stamina to run a wrestling-centric promotions matches (where 12 minutes is around the minimum). Out of the heavily pushed people Liberty got too high on himself and his image, while BL Z Bubb was a look with average brawling skills and nothing more. And I seriously question why Rocky Golden was given the International Title to begin with as his stamina is almost as bad as Giant Tana's (which is a bit sad when you consider that Tana is well over 400 lbs. and Golden isn't). I do have to question 4 of the firings, however, as Huggins, Law, and the Young Guns (Allen and Grumble) have worth to the new promotion style. Huggins is younger than Chance Fortune, who they are keeping, and is roughly on par in terms of skill which leads me to think that they're missing the boat because Huggins has a greater upside than Fortune. The Young Guns have the ability to be a solid "Face Jobber" tag team with adequate enough performance skills, good stamina, and solid enough flying skills. Law is charimatic and, besides, what could be more American wrestling than a big man with good brawling skills and a good upside. I'm told management didn't like Law's look, but a wrestling cop isn't all that cartoonish, and he could always be repackaged. Tomorrow's column will deal with the recent hirings from Jameson as their are a heck of a number of catches (albeit ones that'll have promoters in 3 countries out for his blood...).

[Sigilistic]

I looked at the TCW Calender Schedule and frowned. This just wasn't going to work. Malice In Wonderland? Just Another Day? No, no, no. It was clear that I was going to need to restructure our PPV schedule. My goal was to give each PPV a sense of unique importance. A reason why fans should watch it and not just skip it for the next PPV where the same people will be fighting each other in the same matches over and over. I'll let Eisen remain the undisputed master of that tactic. January needed to be big, there was no doubt about it. With our titanic roster shake-up, we needed to remind the fans that "Hey, we're still TCW and we're still the best wrestling promotion in the world!" Take that, PRIDE! Malice In Wonderland was rechristened WrestleFest 1. Note the numerics there. I fully intended WrestleFest to be the biggest PPV of the year. A huge show that would kick off the year with bang. I was going to need a huge main event for that show. Thankfully, I had no shortage of ideas. WrestleFest was to be one of the "Big 4" PPVs. February was an easy fix. The War To Settle The Score was an excellent name, and made for a nice addition. TWTSTS would be a WrestleFest rematch PPV, taking the best matches of WrestleFest and remixing them in interesting ways. But there was more to it then that! TWTSTS would have the unique gimmick of being a guaranteed feud-ending, blowoff PPV. A kayfabe executive ruling would order that all old grudges must be settled at that show, to make way for new and exciting storylines. That's what makes this special. Sure, it's a rematch PPV, but you are guaranteed to see the very last match of each and every feud in TCW. WrestleFest offers big matches and angles, TWTSTS offers finality. March's PPV was to be the inaugural Cornell Cup. Hey, if Rip Chord can do it so can Tommy. And like Rip's little tourney, this tournament PPV would serve to elevate a rising star into the main event. Total Mayhem would remain as is, but would serve now as the anniversery PPV. The anniversery being of the rebirth of TCW from the ashes of HGC. Total Mayhem was to be one of the "Big 4" PPVs. Blood Sport would be the PPV of May. It's claim to fame was that every one of it's matches was to be fought under hardcore rules. Now that I had (the better) half of DAVE's roster I felt that I could really make that PPV shine. Excessive Force would be essentially a filler PPV. I'm still wracking my brains trying to come up with something special for it. For now, it's a PPV that serves to further storylines and justify title matches. Summer Showdown was to be another of the "Big 4" PPVs and had the gimmick of being the biggest wrestling event of the summer. Plenty of big matches would make it a night to remember. Tag Team Turmoil was another tournament PPV, this one serving as a sort of "Best of Tag Teams" tourney. I was really inspired by the similar tag team tournaments held by NOTBPW and PGHW. The winner of the tournament would be a team that I intended to push to the tag team titles. War Games was to be a PPV that was main evented with a match of the same name. Total Armageddon was the last of the "Big 4" PPVs and would be highlighted by a 30/60 Man Armageddon match, with the winner being crowned "The Lord of Armageddon" and offered a guaranteed title shot. Total Nonstop Action would serve as yet another tournament PPV, this one dedicated to showing off TCW's talented highflyers, with a "Best of High Flyers" title. Finally, Rage In A Cage would end the year with a bang, with each and every match fought inside of a steel cage. I sat back and looked at the new schedule. I liked it alot more. Truly, the Jet Jameson Era had begun. Now to get busy on storylines...

[Sigilistic]

OOC: Whew...all the setup is done. I can finally start in on the show recaps. Unfortunately, I'm currently in March of 2007 and while I can give match recaps and stuff, I'll have to guess on the angles and stuff, since there's no way to go back and see the angles and what they rated. Once we reach March though the recaps will be all-encompassing. Til then, bare with me and I hope you're all enjoying this. This is the most fun I've ever had doing an actual play type diary.

[Sigilistic]

The first Tuesday of the year had come and it was time to put my (considerable amount of) money where my mouth was. While I knew alot of people disagreed strongly with my choice to can half the roster, I was confident that I could succeed. I was not so confident, however, that I fired everyone immediately. Instead, I would transition old talent out as the newcomers arrived, always making sure I had a large enough roster to not come off as bush league. "What in the hell do you think you're doing you little punk!?" I looked up. Liberty was staring daggers at me, his face alternating between various shades of purple, red, and blue. His knuckles were white though as they gripped my desk. "I'm the biggest star IN this damn show! You can't job me!" I smiled, having anticipated his rage. I suppose I'd be mad too if the new head booker set me up to take a huge loss to a newcomer: said new head booker. I consoled myself with the fact that Liberty sucked in the ring and I didn't though. Liberty ran through his tirade, making all sorts of vacant threats. When that didn't work he tried flattery. When cajoling proved ineffective he resorted to pleading. Finally, he vowed to go over my head and talk to Cornell himself. I smiled again. "Oh please do! He was telling me just this afternoon that he had all manner of things he'd like to say to you now that he doesn't have to kiss your ass." The look on Liberty's face was worth all the aggravation. Liberty wasn't the only one to complain. BLZ Bubb and Rick Law were likewise highly miffed over the fact that not only were they goners, but they'd be leaving on their backs. My heart wasn't in it though like it was with Liberty. My mind was on something other than their plaintive whining... I stood backstage literally shaking. I'm told that even vets like Rip Chord got the pre-match jitters. My own mentor, Christian Faith, confessed to me that he threw up before every match he's ever had. While gross, it was somewhat comforting that even the legendary Christian Faith had to hug the porcelain goddess before he entered into the squared circle. I wasn't nauseous but I was sure as hell nervous. The usual panicking questions ran threw my head. I don't know how long I stood there in that reverie. Then Archie came back and said my match was up and I knew...I was ready. [B]Jet Jameson defeated Liberty with a Million Dollar Superkick. C+[/B] The roar of the crowd was deafening. They hated me! They hated me and I loved every minute of it. I strutted, I crowed, and I taunted and the crowd just ate it up. They hated me and it was for the right reasons, not the wrong ones. I had what I felt was a very solid debut match, but I knew I could do better. The rest of the show proceeded in a fairly successful fashion. [B]The Machines defeated Painful Procedure to defend the TCW World Tag Team titles. C-[/B] That match was the reason why PP was going bye-bye. When even the Machines can only drag you to a C-, that's a sign that you suck. Bad. [B]Aaron Andrews defeated Rocky Golden for the TCW International title. C+[/B] I was awfully proud of Aaron. After considering all the options, I decided that Double A was the only man fit to hold that title right now. It would be a good test for him, to see if he had championship pedigree. [B]Ice Man C.A. defeated BLZ Bubb. C[/B] Ice Man was going to be doing a lot of jobbing in the near future. I thought the least I could do for the guy was to feed him BLZ by way of thanks. [B]Troy Tornado defeated Rick Law. B[/B] Again I'll say it. Law is a talented kid. Just not here in TCW. I wish him the best of luck elsewhere. Naturally, Tornado made this match a great one. [B]Chance Fortune defeated Texas Pete. C+[/B] To Pete's credit, he did the job with no fuss at all. My opinion of him elevated considerably after that. He still sucks though. Anyway, this match gave Chance Fortune some much-needed credibility. [B]Tommy Cornell and Wolf Hawkins defeated Rick Law and Liberty. B-[/B] The story behind this match was that both Law and Liberty were on their way out and Cornell and protege wanted to take them out personally. The match finish saw a twist though, as Tommy Cornell walked over post-match and shook Rick Law's hand, even as Liberty threw a tantrum and left the ring. Wolf Hawkins was not happy with Cornell's sudden face turn as the show went off the air. My overall impression was that of good riddance to bad rubbish and that my faith in those chosen to stay was well-placed. Still, as the old went out and the new came in, I knew that things were going to be touch and go for a while.

[Jungle Jack]

[B][SIZE="5"]Old School Wrestling Talk[/SIZE][/B] Hello again everyone, As promised I'm here to talk about the recent spat of hirings and developmental signings though I will also be addressing Jet Jameson's announced changes to TCW's PPV. Given the size of the hirings I'll be including the company the worker was hired from or the location and then a breakdown akin to the firings column: Hirings From DAVE Acid Art Reed Big Cat Brandon Guide Jack Giedroyc Joey Minnesota Sammy Bach Scout Teddy Powell Nemesis From CGC Bobby Thomas Eddie Chandler Nathan Johnson From the Indepedents Black Eagle Frankie Perez Jack Griffith Playboy Jake Sawyer Steve Flash From USPW Darryl Devine Shane Sneer From Japan Junle Jack (from GCG) Marat Khoklov (from Inspire) Pistol Pete Hall (I think from GCG) That there is quite a block of hirings. It should be noted that TCW now adds three ready made tag teams to their restructured tag team division with The New Wave (Scout/Guide), Adrenaline Rush (Bach/Powell), and The Specialists (Thomas&Johnson) though I hear The Specialists are going to be renamed due to the long standing TCW Tag Team of Robert Oxford and Joel Bryant (though that might make a ready-made feud, and given Oxford the chance to go out a babyface). Devine, Acid, Reed, and Brandon were all signings that were going to happen eventually with the men leaving their respective companies and going to either SWF or TCW (or if NOTBPW decided to pull the trigger on a U.S. push to them). With the recent changeover in their product style Steve Flash has the potential to do much more with TCW than even Jameson thinks (sources indicate that he's planning on using Flash as a midcarder and someone to train the roster) as the products increased importance on ringwork could give Flash the M.E. push that it would be nice to see. I've been saying for awhile now that Jungle Jack has the ability to be a star on either side of the Pacific and the decision to pick him up bodes well for the future. I do have issues with 2 of the signings, however, in the forms of Marat Khoklov and Jack Griffith. I'll star with Griffith, considering that his is slightly more obvious, as an SCCW fan I wanted to see the guy do well but his issues are well known. Between his steriod use and his drinking I'm afraid it'll only be a matter of time until Griffith becomes an out of the arena problem and ends up blowing an opportunity again. Perhaps the presence of mentor Shane Sneer in the promotion will help but plenty of people had plans on making Griffith a star only to be disappointed. As for Khoklov, yes he's a better worker than Bubb, but his stamina is as bad as American Buffalo, and he was tremendously well protected in terms of who he goes up against in Inspire. I'm not saying he's a mistake but there are serious questions about Khoklov that will need to be answered. Also, TCW is getting a women's division, which should be a good thing and will help them compete with NOTBPW when the Canadian company makes it's inevitable move to dominate in the U.S. The hirings for that division are as follows: HIrings: Cherry Bomb Catherine QUine (PPA only, still in AAA) Wanda Fish Suzanne Bazzle Sara Marie York Joanna Rodriquez Kristable Plum There aren't any real problems with that as Rodriquez vs. Fish is probably one of the best match-ups you'll see in N.A. in women's wrestling. Cherry Bomb is one of the most charmismatic grapplers male or female (it doesn't fit the wrestler but for some reason I'm reminded of the song whenever I see the name in print...). Developmental Signings (for the new Northwest Championship Wrestling territory run by the Kingmans) Air Attack WEasel Jacob Jett Jimmy Cox John Maverick Joss Thompson Lee Rivera/Shane Nelson Mainstream Hernandez Remmy Skye To begin with I don't think that Cox, Maverick or Jett really need a developmental run, particularly Cox who is skilled enough and at 35 doesn't really have the time to waste in a developmental territory. Skye's issues are well documented and, if you wanted a high flyer, why not sign Velocidad who is spectacular without the, *ahem*, issues? Maverick was sort of left to rot by CGC after his ill conceived title run, but he could be dusted off and given an "Enforcer Roberts" type of gimmick which wouldn't require him to talk. Hernandez will need to take care of his lateness issues or Jameson will be acting like his dad and firing him. THe other developmental signings were solid, though I'd check to see how Air Attack Weasel develops in terms of learning that a match isn't just a bunch of flashy moves off the top rope. Still, isolated moves aside, the fact that I'm agreeing with over 90% of his moves is unprecedented in terms of wrestling promotion talk moves.

[sheepy]

With all the changes you're making this will certainly have a unique feel to a TCW dynasty. Can't wait for you to get into the shows.

[Sigilistic]

"The ratings are in." That's how Tommy started the conversation, the morning following my first show. My heart was racing about a million miles per hour. I knew that this could be make or break for me. "13.08. The highest rating we've had in a year." Tommy was actually smiling. So was I, but deep inside I knew that 13.08 was not nearly going to cut it. SWF had killed us with a rating in the high 20's, and it was clear what the majority of American wrestling fans were watching Tuesday night. I grinned infectiously at Tommy but silently vowed to do better next week. I looked nervously out at the crowd. We were live from the Evanovich Riverside and there was an uncomfortable number of empty seats out there. The gate receipt showed that that only 8,780 fans had showed up, a far cry from the 10,000 that the Evanovich is capable of seating. This did not bode well for increased ratings. Nevertheless, I went out once again to open the show. Actually, the show was opened by the legendary Nemesis, who emerged from the back with a mic. "Hold it, hold it, hold it! Tommy Cornell, you owe me! You cost me my job at the greatest wrestling promotion on the planet *crowd boos*, and gave me no choice but to take a job in the most brutal wrestling promotion on the planet, which ultimately forced me into retirement! Meanwhile, you go on to become a 4-time World Heavyweight Champion here in TCW! You used me, Cornell! You used me and threw me away when you were done with me! Now I'm here to get some payback, and to see to it that you don't send young Wolf Hawkins down the same dark path you sent me!" With that, the hardcore legend had arrived. As he took over the colour commentary, he seemingly made it his mission to dissect Cornell and those he perceived to be aligned with him. Later on, Hawkins came out and called Cornell to the ring. He demanded that his mentor apologize for shaking Rick Law's hand last week. When Cornell refused he was Pearl Harbored by Troy Tornado and Nemesis! The rest of the show went like this... [B]Jet Jameson defeated Rick Law. C[/B] [B]Chance Fortune defeated Freddy Huggins. C[/B] [B]The Machines defeated the Tag Team Specialists to retain the World Tag Team Championship titles. B+[/B] [B]Jack Griffith defeated Liberty. C+[/B] [B]Darryl Devine defeated BLZ Bubb. C[/B] [B]Tommy Cornell defeated Troy Tornado to retain the World Heavyweight Championship title. A[/B] After the show a few things were becoming readily apparent to me. One was that the crowd was getting fairly tired of seeing nothing but old talent jobbing to new talent. They wanted something special. Tornado vs Cornell was something special, as was the Machine's second title defense in as many weeks. I wasn't surprised to see the "TCW Originals" having better segments, but I knew that the newcomers, including myself, would have to step up their game to pick up the slack. Finally, next week was a special PPV event and we needed it to be as big a success as possible!

[Sigilistic]

OOC: I again want to apologize for the brevity and the lack of detail in the show recaps. I'm trying to catch up as quick as possible so I can give you indepth reports with higher quality. My game is on hold until the diary can catch up with it, which makes it an added incentive to hurry. :D