WCW 1997: Enter the Dark

[TragicHeroParade]

[i]Disclaimer: Along with the wrestling in this story, we have an ongoing backstory that details the very real and troublesome lives of professional wrestlers backstage and outside of the ring. As a result, some of the themes carried within are very adult-oriented, and contain a lot of sex, cursing, edginess, and of course, violence. So please proceed with caution, and, if you're a youngster, I encourage you to check out tristam's "Death of WCW" instead, a well-written and easier-on-the-eyes WCW dynasty. Thanks all![/i] [CENTER][SIZE="5"][B]Chapter One[/B][/SIZE] [SIZE="4"]Part One[/SIZE][/CENTER] [B]December 28th, 1997 MCI Center, Washington, D.C. 10:57 PM[/B] A blue hue had blanketed [u]The MCI Center[/u] in our nation's capital for the better part of twenty-four hours, the trademark glow of Eric Bischoff's grand creation, World Championship Wrestling. A producer and writer from the Hollywood circuit, Bischoff came to WCW six years ago after being turned away by Vince McMahon's World Wrestling Federation up north. Starting small, an ambitious Eric Bischoff rose through the ranks of WCW and Turner's empire to executive producer of the company by 1995 – where the rest, they say, is history. In the matter of just three years, Bischoff had managed to do something that the entire rest of the wrestling community deemed absolutely impossible: He created a product that couldn't just compete with the WWF, but could, quite possibly, kill it. And there it was, the blue hue of the WCW production lights in the MCI Center; Bischoff standing just off stage, taking in an admiring view of his own magnum opus – the culmination. On this night, one and a half years of work in turning wrestling's Superman, Hulk Hogan, into a bad guy, and wrestling's Spiderman, Sting, into the premiere good guy were about to come to fruition. Tonight was the big payoff, tonight was the night that Bischoff had put off despite twelve months of struggles previously. Tonight – that night, December 28th, 1997, in Eric Bischoff's mind, was going to be the night that changed everything about wrestling. Then, it happened. David Penzer sat in the ready position next to Michael Buffer. Penzer, the companies normal ring announcer, didn't open the main event for this show, WCW Starrcade, their premiere PPV, because the organization had brought in the famous boxing announcer, Buffer, to give their main event matches a more authentic feel. It worked. Nevertheless Buffer was not knowledgeable about wrestling and clumsy with its names and operations and therefore Penzer was put in the ready position as he always was. The ready position was the spot the workers in the ring looked to when it was time to go to the finish. A signal came from the back, Penzer made his signal – had to do it again to make sure Hogan saw it, and suddenly, “Hollywood” Hulk Hogan was delivering his patented leg drop on a lifeless Sting. Nick Patrick, the assigned referee for the bout, slid to the count-position and quickly tapped the mat three times....1..2...3.... that's it. “Hollywood” Hogan, the mega-heel, retained the championship. The better part of the whole arena sat in amazement; a stunned silence. 1997 was not the peak of awareness that wrestling was fake, but it's popularity attracted droves of casual fans and common cynics – mostly adults, mostly those who knew that wrestling was pre-determined, and suddenly the entirety of the MCI Center felt like they were just screwed. The thing they intended to pay for – they did not get. This was Eric Bischoff's idea from the get-go. The big payoff was to give Sting the World title after a year of teasing it, but a last second decision to protect the viability of his own character left Hogan, with creative control over his character, refusing to go through with things as originally planned. Eventually a contingency was worked out that would utilize the addition of WCW's latest star attraction, WWF defect Bret Hart. As Bret Hart strolled down to Penzer's position near the ring, Bischoff's cell-phone rang, it was executives – his bosses, at Turner towers. [i] “Eric” [/i] the man on the other end broke in immediately. [i]“This is not going well.” “I know, I know...” “Eric,”[/i] he started again, trying to imply a ferocious seriousness.[i] “I don't want to hear about what the buy rate of this show is going to be – and I know you're going there. This is not going well. Look at these people. Imagine millions more like it at home. Imagine me, at my home, Eric, looking like these people. What in the [u]hell[/u] are you thinking?”[/i] As Bischoff received a lecture just off-stage, Bret Hart rolled Hogan back into the ring and climbed in himself. Sting spent the next few minutes fending off Hogan's gang of New World Order lackeys, and then landed a Stinger Splash on the champion. [i] “I know what you're thinking. But with Hogan's contract...” [/i] Bischoff was cut off. [i]“For God's sake Eric! What do you plan on doing after all of this? You don't think baiting and switching these fans is going to piss them off? Don't you understand why we brought you in here?”[/i] Bischoff boiled over with anger. It was a well known fact to him that while Turner fully supported his wrestling enterprise, the powers underneath him strongly were against it being on the networks, despite it's success. Bischoff knew the facts: He turned a company that was losing millions of dollars a year into a company that in four days time was going to announce a 1997 profit of 25 million. But none of that mattered to the men under Turner, all that mattered was the type of programming the Turner empire was making money off of. [i] “Look”[/i] Bischoff frankly began. [i] “I don't mind you calling and giving me this ****, because I know that's your job, but what I'm doing – what I UNDERSTAND, since that's what you asked me, is that I've turned a company that was DYING into the top company in this business. And that might not mean a lot to you......”[/i] Just then, Bischoff's attention was cut off by the frantic cheering in the arena. Sting had locked the Scorpion Deathlock onto Hulk Hogan, and Hogan had submitted. Hart had called for the bell. Sting was World Champion. The crowd reacted, but not nearly as well as it could have. Tony Schiavone and Bobby Heenan screeched over one another, trying to play it off on television. The WCW roster flew through the entrance way and down the ramp to congratulate their hero: all on cue. The man on the other end of the phone with Bischoff seemed to calm a little by the final result, but his questioning wasn't done. [i] “Eric, what are you going to do with this now?[/i] Eric paused for a moment. He knew he wasn't going to give the answer that the other man wanted to hear. But Hogan had him by the balls. It was the only way he'd agree to do the job at Starrcade. [i] “Tomorrow night,” [/i] Eric sighed [i]“Tomorrow night, on Nitro, we're stripping Sting of the title. We've giving it back to Hogan. We're going to do all of this again in a few months. Hogan – he wants to get his character over a little more before he drops the strap to the WCW boys. He thinks it's vital for the nWo storyline.[/i] The idea was absurd. Hogan not over? If Hogan was not over enough to job now, he would never be. The man on the other end of the phone officially lost his cool. [i] “Jesus Christ Eric! Again and again with this ****! I've sat here and watched you string these people along for a year, and they're paying right now, but how long do you think they'll be paying? Jesus Christ! Jesus Christ, Eric! You know, I think you know – nobody here wants this ****ing wrestling business on our stations, but our hands are tied, man, you've made money. But you know what? It isn't you, it isn't YOU who has to be the one turning the profit. Eric, by God, you're FIRED![/i] Bischoff stared into space for a moment. He knew that nobody below Turner liked him or his product. He knew he had to deal with them, but he never thought he'd hear those words because he knew he'd always had Turner under his wing. [i] “You can fire me then.” [/i] Bischoff mocked and screamed. [i] “Because the second I talk to Ted, I'll be reinstated, for a fifth damn time, and this time, I'm putting a guy out there in front of your station's biggest audience, in a g-string and cool whip with your name, jackass![/i] [i] “Ted is dead, Eric.”[/i] Eric Bischoff did a double take. Suddenly, his heart fell to the floor. He had been so busy for the last 48 hours planning the Pay Per View event that he didn't even have time to turn on a television. Not once. He was in virtual seclusion from the world until just hours ago. [i] “He fell off a horse at his ranch this afternoon and hit his head. He died a few hours later. He's dead, Eric. His children have taken control of the assets and we are in charge of the day-to-day operations now, and I've been asked to inform you that you're being terminated. We've got a new writing team coming in to take the reigns. WCW is going to remain on TNT, but you, Eric, are not.” “Oh my god.”[/i] It was all that Bischoff could muster to say. [i] “And for the record, I frankly don't give a damn what happened tonight. We were going to fire you anyway. I just thought you ought to know that the last show that you put on for this company was a bad one.[/i] And the man hung up the phone. ----------------- ----------------- The news of Turner's death shocked all sorts of worlds. Turner was a media mogul and individually such an international conglomerate that his sudden death played a role in millions of people's lives. He was a man who owned more land than Utah does. Never a man who has shied away from using tragedy to his own benefit, however, Vince McMahon saw this as a golden opportunity. McMahon was climbing out of bankruptcy, the wrestling empire he built on his shoulder, and the hole that he had dug and that WCW dug was certainly deep one. McMahon had buried the territories a decade earlier in a similar fashion and was now on the verge of suffering the same fate to an even bigger, even badder promoter: Ted Turner. But then he was dead. Then, the heart monitor blipped. Any reasonable person – employees of the WWF included, thought that the finale of the Survivor Series in Montreal, Canada was the final nail in the WWF coffin. McMahon had screwed Bret Hart out of the WWF title – a clear break of kayfabe in front of some of Hart's most loyal fans, Canadians. Backstage, many wrestlers, including Hart's brother and brother-in-law were flabbergasted. Many refused to show up for upcoming shows and some asked for their release. McMahon was banking on the next six months of his product either reviving his show or eventually killing it, Hart be damned. WCW could have him. Turner's death, it seemed, came only as an greater opening. As the calm of the Hart storm died down at WWF headquarters, and the wrestler's returned to work, McMahon sealed the deal with Mike Tyson to appear at WrestleMania 14 – and simultaneously decided that the company would be put on the shoulders of a veteran wrestler that WCW had abandoned under Bischoff's early reign: Steve Austin. With Bischoff out of office, with Turner Dead, with the Hart heat blown over, with Tyson signed, the WWF was primed to make it's last, glorious rush at becoming wrestling king. Their limited roster and questionable creative direction were major hinderances, but down South, it seemed as though things were falling apart under the weight of their own success. Could the new WCW writers quell the storm? Could the WWF rise to prominence once again? ----------------- ----------------- [FONT="Book Antiqua"][B]Hello. My name is Dark. This is not my real name. But for the purposes of this story, that is all you need to know. I am the new head writer for World Championship Wrestling. Many people think that I'm essentially an assassin: That I've been brought here to kill this empire that's been created. That I've been brought here to sabotage everything. I think you'll find, very soon, that the truth is quite the contrary. What we have here is amazing talent, and some amazing leads. What we have here, is a bunch of people at the Turner executive offices who have been inspired by my plight to tell a story. What we have here is the potential for the greatest story ever told – the greatest comic book, the greatest cartoon, the greatest action movie – what we have here, is the greatest story that's ever existed. In our hands. This business is about Super Heroes and Super Villains. This business is about things that the people at the Turner Executive Offices have all but laughed at. But I have made them believe, for now, that this is the modern mythology of men. A thousand years from now, as we tell the stories of Achilles, young men and woman will gather in circles and speak of the mighty Sting. We have, in our hands, the greatest story ever told. And now, ladies and gentlemen, it is time to tell it. [RIGHT] Xxxxxxxxx Dark[/B][/RIGHT][/FONT]

[Akki]

Very well written intro. I have my doubts about this, as the backstory hasn't exactly hooked me. But I'll be reading this, and hopefully the wrestling is what draws me in.

[Greg McNeish]

Awesome intro. It's clear that you have a talent for writing. I'll be reading.

[TragicHeroParade]

[QUOTE=Akki;380771]Very well written intro. I have my doubts about this, as the backstory hasn't exactly hooked me. But I'll be reading this, and hopefully the wrestling is what draws me in.[/QUOTE] Thanks! I hope the wrestling and the story eventually draw you in. [QUOTE=Greg McNeish;380793]Awesome intro. It's clear that you have a talent for writing. I'll be reading.[/QUOTE] Thanks man! I hope you like the first few shows! [CENTER][SIZE="5"][B]Chapter 1[/B][/SIZE] [SIZE="4"]Part 2[/SIZE][/CENTER] [b]Monday, Week 1, January 1998[/b] Jayson Gates lay in his bed, “All Apologies” by Nirvana faintly playing in the distance, staring off into space. 23-years-old, a life it seemed, spiraling toward a waste – all that Jayson Gates ever knew how to do was convey the art in his mind. A musician, a writer, an artist, a performer – he spent his childhood in theatrical plays and published in junior literature journals. College came crashing down on him, the expense and exaggerated expectation; the grind, it seemed, was too much for the free-spirited young man. And there he laid, in his bed, in a cheap, yet nice little apartment with two roommates. Two college friends, now working toward their graduate degrees – now making something of their lives. There Jayson Gates lay, in his bed, rejected screen plays he'd written at his side, tapes of his high school drama performances racked up with tapes of his backyard wrestling. There Jayson Gates was, laying in his bed, staring into the dim prospect of his own future. On the nightstand just off-center to his view were three tickets to Monday Nitro; coming to his home town this very week. It was the first week of the new year, 1998, a year that suddenly saw all sorts of changes in wrestling. No more Turner – no more Bischoff. Hart in a new place. Mike Tyson suddenly involved?? The whole scope of the wrestling business, in the matter of just a handful of days had changed, but unlike the majority of wrestling fans who saw Hogan's defeat at Starrcade as good sign of things to come, Jayson was a little depressed by it. Suddenly, there was one less thing to look forward to – suddenly, the good guys had won, for now, and yet he sat there, still miserable, still painfully alone. Suddenly, the stories that he poured his own heart into had gone the way he had hoped, but for him, nothing had changed. ------------------- ------------------- Hulk Hogan burst through the front office door at WCW's Atlanta Headquarters. It was a meeting he demanded. Hogan agreed to drop the title to Sting at Starrcade only if he got a clean pin first, and only if he got the title back the night following. Neither happened, and suddenly the new head's of WCW were being threatened with a breach of contract suit by their most marketable star. But Hogan's frustrations had been paid off – the consummate entertainer, the guy who had tried to abandon wrestling more than once, but had always seemingly remained, could be persuaded with only one thing: Money, and so an off-setting bonus was begrudgingly paid out by the Turner offices to Hogan to get him to stay with the program. It was a bonus that the Turner offices didn't want to pay; they didn't want wrestling to begin with, but Nitro was their highest rated show, and WCW was their highest grossing product. With Turner dead, the deal with AOL had begun to immediately collapse. Time Warner, it seemed, was going to be on its own for the forseeable future. The meeting between Hogan and the WCW team was to assure that such a thing never happened again. Hogan had a creative control clause in his contract – one granted by Bischoff before his departure, and he wanted to assure that he did, in fact, have creative control. [i] “What I want, brother,”[/i] Hogan said.[i] “Is to be assured that, that contract is good. That what I put my name on is still the agreement.”[/i] And truthfully, WCW's hand was forced. They were already in a corner, sacrificing their bargaining power with Hogan to screw him once out of the terms of his contract; whether or not he was right was no matter. A hand extended out toward Hogan's. [i] “Mr. Bollea,”[/i] the man spoke toward Hogan. [i] “I promise you. We have a deal.”[/i] Everyone in the room would see each other later in the day, to hitch a plane to the first Nitro of 1998. ------------------- ------------------- [b][u]WCW Title Picture[/u][/b] WCW HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPION: Sting WCW US CHAMPION: Diamond Dallas Page WCW TV CHAMPION: Booker T WCW TAG TEAM CHAMPIONS: The Outsiders [b][u]WWF Title Picture[/u][/b] WWF WORLD CHAMPION: Shawn Michaels WWF INTERCONTINENTAL CHAMPION: The Rock WWF EUROPEAN CHAMPION: Triple H WWF TAG TEAM CHAMPIONS: New Age Outlaws ------------------- ------------------- [CENTER][IMG]http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i312/reptilia1996/nitro.gif[/IMG][/CENTER] [b]WCW Presents Monday Nitro[/b] [i]Week 1, 1998[/i] Card: Bill Goldberg vs. Fit Finlay The Giant vs. Sick Boy Davey Boy Smith vs. Scott Norton Dean Malenko vs. Chris Jericho Lex Luger vs. Steve "Mongo" McMichael US TITLE MATCH: Diamond Dallas Page (c) vs. Scott Hall also featuring: Sting! and the nWo

[ADeezy62]

[B]Bill Goldberg [/B]vs. Fit Finlay [B]The Giant [/B]vs. Sick Boy Davey Boy Smith vs. [B]Scott Norton[/B] Dean Malenko vs. [B]Chris Jericho[/B] Lex Luger vs. Steve "Mongo" McMichael [B]Diamond Dallas Page[/B] vs. Scott Hall

[NoNeck]

Really well written. Keep it up.:)

[Jaded]

[B]Bill Goldberg [/B]vs. Fit Finlay [B]The Giant [/B]vs. Sick Boy [B]Davey Boy Smith[/B] vs. Scott Norton [B]Dean Malenko[/B] vs. Chris Jericho [B]Lex Luger[/B] vs. Steve "Mongo" McMichael Diamond Dallas Page vs. [B]Scott Hall[/B] This is really well-written, looking forward to seeing a lot more of it.

[BIGJOSH]

[B]Bill Goldberg [/B]vs. Fit Finlay [B]The Giant[/B] vs. Sick Boy [B]Davey Boy Smith[/B] vs. Scott Norton Dean Malenko vs. [B]Chris Jericho[/B] [B]Lex Luger[/B] vs. Steve "Mongo" McMichael US TITLE MATCH: [B]Diamond Dallas Page (c)[/B] vs. Scott Hall I love this era and WCW so I can't wait to see what you do with it.

[TragicHeroParade]

[CENTER][IMG]http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i312/reptilia1996/nitro.gif[/IMG] Palace at Auburn Hills Detroit, Michigan [b]Monday, Week 1, January, 1998[/b] Live![/CENTER] The crowd was ballistic as the lights at The Palace at Auburn Hills in Detroit, Michigan flickered on. David Penzer gave the fans their countdown... [i]“Get those signs ready! Show the whole country that you're the best Wrestling fans there are!”[/i] and as he concluded his countdown, “Voodoo Child”, by Jimi Hendrix blast across the arena. It was the theme music of Hollywood Hogan, and just as the show started, he tip toed out from the curtain, strutting in his black garb to the catchy rock-riff. Behind Hogan were three other familiar faces, those of the Outsiders, Scott Hall and Kevin Nash, and perhaps Hogans right-hand man, Randy Savage. They made their way to the ring. [b]Segment 1: The New Challenger[/b] (Hogan, Savage, Nash, Hall, JJ Dillon) The four men stood around in the ring, perhaps the four most prominent men in the New World Order. The crowd was evenly split; a mixture of cheers and boos. The faction had become somewhat of a cult good-guy group to a certain segment of fans, and vocal ones, at that. Hogan grabbed a microphone from a ringside attendant. [i] “Well, well, well. It looks like it's all come full circle.”[/i] Hogan paused as the mixture of cheers and boos gave way to dissent. Hogan's archaic promo style was bemoaned by even the most avid nWo supporters. [i] “It seems that Easy E's been given the boot. It seems that my re-match with Sting, the one I'm rightfully entitled to, has been put on the back burner, brother. The executives at Turner are telling me that I am not going to get my re-match, brother. But don't worry! The nWo always has a contingency plan.”[/i] Hogan paused for a moment to let the crowd take it all in. [i] “You see, brother, I might not be able to get my re-match, but the nWo isn't done with the Stinger, brother, because the man standing next to me right now, this man, Randy Savage, was the next in line, brother, for a World Title shot. And at Souled Out, I have every confidence that the belt is gonna be back with us, brother, and that those suits in Atlanta are going to have to swallow it whole.”[/i] Hogan handed the microphone to Savage. [i] “Ooooooh yeeaaaahh. STINGER!!!! I know you're up there in the rafters somewhere big man, yeah, and now it's time for you to come home Sting, yeah, I was a partner of yours for TWO YEARS!!! And now it's time to give me that shot Stinger, diggit!!!!”[/i] Just then, JJ Dillon, the acting WCW power strolled out from the back with a microphone in hand, interrupting the nWo's party. [i] “Now, now, now fellas.” [/i] Dillon began, [i] “I agree that Randy Savage is an excellent candidate for number one contender for Sting's title.”[/i] The New World Order members celebrated and high fived one another as the fans rained down with boos. [i] “But! But! You know, there are a lot of guys in this locker room worthy of the number one contendership, and maybe you ought to prove it to me one more time. Maybe at Souled Out, you ought to wrestle somebody back in that locker room in a number one contender's match. And in fact, fellas, I've got the perfect guy in mind.” “Who is it?!? Who is it?! Get him out here right now. I'll kill him! I'll rip his head off!” [/i] Savage maniacally barked back. Dillon laughed. [i] “No, no. You know, it seems to me that lately you boys have a habit of showing up to collect your paycheck and not staying around much. Now I know Nash will certainly be here to stick his nose in Hall's business tonight, but Hogan and Savage, you guys like to cut and run. So I tell you what. You stick around, and later tonight, at my leisure, not yours, I'll let you know who your opponent at Souled Out is.[/i] [b]Grade: B[/b] ---------- ---------- [COLOR="Blue"][SIZE="4"][B][b]Segment 2: Goldberg vs. Fit Finlay[/b][/B][/SIZE][/COLOR] (Bill Goldberg, Fit Finlay) Goldberg has continued to impress the fans with in the early going of his career with his power, but has lately also unleashed some outstanding counter maneuvers -- some that look sort of like MMA moves. Goldberg's undefeated streak had reached 46 victories as of tonight. Finlay controls the pace early, allowing Goldberg to get off a series of counter maneuvers that confuse and frustrate Finlay, before some heavy work by Goldberg in the counter slows his opponent down significantly. An irish whip later, and Finlay turns and walks off the turnbuckle straight into a Spear. Goldberg follows with his Jackhammer finisher, and gets the win, 1-2-3. He is no 47-0. [b]Winner:[/b] Goldberg [b]Grade: D[/b] --------- --------- [b]Segment 3: You think you're really something[/b] (Eddy Guerrero, Booker T.) Backstage, Booker T is sitting in the weight room, doing sitting curls. Eddy Guerrero walks by and sets his bag down by the WCW Television champion. [i] "Hey Booker. A couple of the boys and I are about to go out for some beers, you wanna come?" [/i] Booker looked up for a moment, thought about it, then shook his head no. [i] "Come onnnnn Booker, get a few Miller's in you. Maybe find some hunnies, you know...[/i] Guerrero teasingly nudged Booker. [i] "Nah man, I gotta work out, ya know?[/i] Eddy stared back at Booker for a moment, and the expression on his face completely changed. [i] "Yeah, man. I get it Booker. You know, ever since you won that title, you think you're really something. But you ain't nothing still Booker T. Yeah. I get it. Yeah, I know."[/i] Guerrero said, picked up his bags, and left. [b]Grade: C+[/b] --------- --------- [COLOR="Blue"][SIZE="4"][B][b]Segment 4: The Giant vs. Sick Boy[/b][/B][/SIZE][/COLOR] (The Giant, Sick Boy) A massive man, The Giant towered over Sick Boy. Once a member of the New World Order, the Giant now served as one of the brightest shining hopes of the WCW in the war. The Giant threw Sick Boy around the ring like a rag doll. Throwing Sick Boy off the ropes, The Giant landed a thunderous boot, and then picked him up and delivered the 7-foot-high choke slam. 1..2...3. [b]Winner: The Giant[/b] [b]Grade: D+[/b] --------- --------- [b]Segment 5: The Flock Arrives[/b] (Sick Boy, Lodi, Billy Kidman, Raven, The Giant) After the Bell, the flock converged on The Giant and the ring, Lodi hitting the apron first. As The Giant turned, Lodi ran at him with a spear type maneuver, but The Giant caught him in mid-stride. As he struggled to throw Lodi off of him, Kidman hit a flying drop-kick from an adjacent top rope. Raven appeared from the back carrying a chair, as his three flock members tried to assault The Giant. Suddenly, The Giant caught a running Kidman by the neck and landed a vicious choke slam, causing him to roll from the ring. Sick Boy and Lodi attempted a running double-clothesline, but the Giant countered with one of his own, but just then, Raven hit the ring and downed the big man with one thunderous, head-splitting chair shot. As a lifeless Giant lay on the mat, bleeding, Raven slumped into the corner. [b]Grade: D-[/b] --------- --------- [b]Segment 5: What About Raven?[/b] (Raven, The Giant) [i] "Everyone back there has been saying how you're the shining light, Giant. And I am so sick and tired of hearing about how you're going to take WCW on your shoulders. You abandoned us once already! Tell me Giant, what is it about you that people seem to love back there? What makes you everybody's personal favorite? Is it your size, Giant? Something you can't control? Something I can' control? What about me! What about Raven? From day one you've been coddled by everyone who's ever looked at you. And now it's time for somebody like me to cut you down to size. This is my time. This is my spotlight.[/i] [b]Grade: C-[/b] --------- --------- [SIZE="4"][B] [COLOR="Blue"][b]Segment 6: Davey Boy Smith vs. Scott Norton[/b][/B][/SIZE][/COLOR] (Davey Boy Smith, Scott Norton) A quick match of power moves, Davey Boy Smith has just recently come over from the WWF in coincidence with the Montreal Screw Job. He has been here once before -- in 1993, he parted ways with the WWF in an attempt to get a starring role in WCW that went virtually nowhere after a short time. But Hart's entrance into WCW gave Smith an opening back in WCW as a player. Norton started things early by exchanging victories in a test-of-strength and then clinching Smith in a bear hug. Getting the heat on him, Norton then began to try a series of offense of moves from Smith that eventually led to a running powerslam, and a 1...2...3. [b]Winner: Davey Boy Smith[/b] [b]Grade: C+[/b] --------- --------- [b]Segment 7: To the Rescue[/b] (Davey Boy Smith, Scott Norton, Curt Hennig, Buff Bagwell, Randy Savage, Bret Hart) As Smith celebrated in the ring, suddenly a band of the New World Order came charging down from the ramp and entered the ring. The group included Bagwell, Hennig and Savage -- and along with Scott Norton, began to savagely beat on Smith. But suddenly, out of seemingly no where, Bret Hart appeared with a hockey stick swinging wildly at the nWo members. The gang dispersed as Hart helped his fallen comrade off the mat. [b]Grade: B-[/b] --------- --------- [b]Segment 8: To the Rescue Part 2[/b] (JJ Dillon, Bret Hart, Randy Savage, Davey Boy Smith) As the New World Order backtracked up the ramp, with Hart and Smith left standing in the ring, JJ Dillon appeared at the top of the ramp, behind the nWo. [i] "So Randy, you want to know who you're opponent is for the number one contendership to the WCW World Heavyweight Title at Souled Out? Well you're looking at him in the ring, Bret Hart!"[/i] [b]Grade: B+[/b] --------- --------- [COLOR="Blue"][SIZE="4"][b]Segment 9: Chris Jericho vs. Dean Malenko[/b][/SIZE][/COLOR] (Chris Jericho, Dean Malenko) The two competitors lock up to start the match and Malenko gets things going immediately with two standing switches, the first resulting in a belly-to-back suplex, the second with a face-first Russian leg sweep. Malenko continues his offense with some irish-whips into the corner, and then whips Jericho off the ropes and goes for a back-body drop, but Jericho holds on and brings Malenko back over with him. Shortly thereafter, Jericho takes the offensive and works the crowd as he works over Malenko. Jericho then goes to dazzle the crowd with a top rope maneuver, but Malenko caught him in mid-air and countered it into a sitting Power Bomb. The two competitors had battered themselves nearly to exhaustion, and Malenko decided to go for broke with one high-risk, high-flying maneuver. Climbing to the top rope, Malenko sat down on the top turn buckle and prepared to go for the jump, when Jericho got to his feet and rushed the corner. Picking Malenko up on his shoulders, Jericho backed off the turnbuckle and Malenko flew over top of him, landing on his stomach behind Chris Jericho, but Jericho managed to buckle Malenko's feet between his elbows. Arching backward, Jericho held on to Malenko's legs, and turned the move into the Lion Tamer. Malenko tried to crawl back to the ropes to save the match, but the pain was too much before he could get there, and he eventually tapped out. [b]Winner: Chris Jericho[/b] [b]Grade: C+[/b] --------- --------- [b]Segment 10: Don't Steal My Time[/b] (Lex Luger, Curt Hennig, Gene Okerlund) On a stage just off the entrance ramp, Lex Luger stood in his ring gear with Gene Okerlund, holding a giant check in his hands. [i] "Alright ladies and gentlemen, now with me is former WCW Heavyweight Champion Lex Luger. Lex, you're holding a giant $50,000 dollar check here, tell us what it's for." [/i] Okerlund said. [i] "Well, Gene, you know, I've got a match coming up here in just a minute and that's why I'm in my gear. But I wanted to take a second to come out here and donate this money, out of my personal bank account to the American Red Cross. You know, there's a lot of times that we go along in this country and don't respect the people who spend all of their time helping others, but I think this is a great opportunity to do so for a great outfit." [/i] Just then, the nWo stock music played, and out to the makeshift stage that was set-up came Curt Hennig. Hennig walked over to the check ceremony, and standing in front of the camera, stared Luger down. Ripping the microphone from Okerlund's hand, he began to speak... [i] "You know, Lex, I don't have anything to say about whatever it is you're doing with your money. And I frankly don't care if you threw it all away on an old folks home. But this paper that I've got in my hands says that this little slot of time in tonight's show belongs to me. Not you. Me. And now you've got a match after this, so you've got all the time in the world tonight to pimp whatever stupid project you've got going on. So why don't you take your check, and get out of my time block so I can say what I want to say?"[/i] Okerlund ripped the microphone back out of Hennig's hands. [i] "Now you wait just a second here Curt Hennig. The New World Order gets ample time every week on WCW programming, and Luger is doing something that none of you guys would ever think of, so I think it's only appropriate that you let him finish what he wants to say about his donation."[/i] As Okerlund completed his sentence, Hennig grabbed him by the collar and reared by to throw a punch -- but Luger dropped the giant check to his waist side and stepped in between the two of them. A shoving match between Luger and Hennig ensued, and immediately, droves of WCW security piled out onto the scene, separating the two as the show went to break. --------- --------- [COLOR="Blue"][SIZE="4"][b]Segment 11: Lex Luger vs. Steve "Mongo" McMichael[/b][/SIZE][/COLOR] (Lex Luger, Steve McMichael) A livid Lex Luger circled the ring as Steve McMichael made his way down. The last remnants of the brigade that came out to separate Luger and Hennig still lurked near the top of the ramp. McMichael and Luger started their match, but the more experienced, dare we say better wrestler Luger took immediate advantage of the situation, fueled by his own frustrations also. Shortly into the match, Luger went for his famed Torture Rack, but McMichael squirmed out, and hanging on to Luger with one arm, whipped Luger out to the outside. Following Luger's exit to the outside of the ring, McMichael climbed outside as well and the two traded blows and whips into the outside ring post. Luger broke the count by rolling inside and the rolled back out and regained the upper hand, but a crawling McMichael grabbed a steel pipe from underneath the ring and took one of Luger's knees out with it. McMichael quickly disposed of the evidence as the referee jumped to the outside to regain order. As the two men crawled back into the ring, McMichael took control for the rest of the match with Luger's leg gone limp. Luger was able to counter some moves with only one leg however, and as the match drew to a conclusion it seemed as though the two men were equally worn out. McMichael got the upper hand once more, and lined Luger up for his finisher, the three-point-stance. But Luger, even slowed by the leg injury, was able to dart out of the way at the last second, and McMichael bounded head first into the turnbuckle. This opened things up for Luger to go for a last ditch exertion with another Torture Rack, and this time he's got in locked in good! But just as it looked like McMichael was about to submit, the timekeeper called for the bell, as it was a time limit draw. A shocked Luger let his opponent down as the dissatisfied crowd chanted for five more minutes. [b]Winner: Draw[/b] [b]Grade: C-[/b] --------- --------- [b]Segment 12: The Coming Darkness[/b] (Sting) The arena goes dark, as at the arch of the roof, where the rafters and light fixtures and production bridge meet in an awkward sort of funneling crest, bolts of lightning shoot outward and down toward the cheap seats. Makeshift clouds composed of smoke blow off on the ground and near the ring, as a rough circuit imagery jumps on the WCW Nitro screen. It is snowy, fuzzy and flickering -- the audio at first cuts in and out as a shadowy figure looms toward the camera. The shaky, stoic figure finally gets close enough to the camera to reveal the shimmering gold of the WCW World Heavyweight Title belt: It is Sting! [IMG]http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i312/reptilia1996/sting.jpg[/IMG] [i] "A decade ago, I came here to carry the torch of all that is right and good in our society. And along the way we've come across many bumps in the road. There was a time, just a years past now, that the blackness consumed everything about me -- about our business, about everything you and I had to believe in. There was a time not too long ago when the light of my eternal optimism was extinguished. And withdrawn and abandoned, I was left with two unkind options: Do I fight with the black or the evil? But we have risen above that. At Starrcade, I, Sting, reclaimed my rightful place in the seat of virtue. In the seat of honor. I reclaimed everything that was stripped and taken from myself, from you the fans, from the world. This isn't about wrestler's trying to make money, or hold a piece of gold, or capture the spotlight. This is about a bigger world agenda. About domination. About everything that you and I believe in disappearing. You see, the New World Order is a symbol. Look at the words that define their creed. The New World Order. These men are megalomaniacs. And so I've been forced to answer a tough question: Will I fight the evil or shrink from the task? As the numbers against me grow, will I fade into obscurity? But then I realized, that in my heart, the fuel of my motivation is each man and woman, each child that packs these arenas worldwide. You, the fans. You are my army. And I am your soldier. And I will march into the coming darkness, compelled, as your sword, to make right of wrong. To make dishonorable men humble. To make what we know as right, right again."[/i] [b]Grade: B+[/b] --------- --------- [COLOR="Blue"][SIZE="4"][b]Segment 13: US TITLE MATCH: Diamond Dallas Page (c) vs. Scott Hall [/b][/SIZE][/COLOR] (DDP, Scott Hall) The two teased the start of the match by slipping in and out of a few lock-ups before locking together in a collar-and-elbow tie-up. Hall took advantage of the match by pushing DDP into the corner in the lock-up, and landing some knife edged chops. Pulling DDP out of the corner, he whipped him into the center of the ring and pulled back in, landing a clothesline early. Hall continued his offensive with a series of moves, ending with an abdominal stretch turned into a pump handle slam. Hall went for the pin attempt, 1...2...DDP kicked out! As the two get back to their feet, Page seemed to have regained some momentum, firing some punches off and whipping Hall of the ropes, landing a perfect back body drop. Hall crawled back to his feet, but DDP delivered a few steady boots to the stomach, and then connected with a swinging neckbreaker. Page then applied a reverse wrist lock and put all of his weight into it, but Hall eventually powered out by flipping DDP over his shoulder. As the two again climbed to their feet, Hall reached for his tights and sneakily applied some brass knuckles. He took a wild swing at Page, but DDP caught his hand as he ducked underneath him, and ripped the knuckles off his hand. Showing them to Page, he flipped them into the stands as the crowd went bananas. DDP delivered another series of punches and kicks to Hall before throwing his head into a turnbuckle. Suddenly, Kevin Nash began to stroll down to the ring from the back with a baseball bat in his hand, attracting DDP's attention. As Nash made it halfway down to the ring, two men busted through security and climbed over the side barriers. At first, Nash reacted as though these two men were fans, but it turns out that it was actually the Steiner brothers, blocking Nash's path to the ring! A distracted DDP turned around straight into a boot by Hall, who lifted him up for the Outsider's Edge, and just as he was about to land it, DDP squirmed loose, landing on his feet. As Hall turned his entire body back toward Page, DDP regained his composure and grabbed Hall's head, landing a perfect Diamond Cutter! Nash struggled to get to the ring as the two Steiners held him back. Diamond Dallas goes for the pin...1...2..3! DDP retains! [b]Winner: and still WCW US Champion, Diamond Dallas Page![/b] [b]Grade: B[/b] --------- --------- [b]Segment 14: You don't know what I'm capble(?!) of![/b] (Scott Hall, Kevin Nash, Scott Steiner, Rick Steiner) As the crowd went ape-**** for DDP's win, he rolls out of the ring and celebrates through the crowd. An enraged Kevin Nash screams at the Steiner Brothers as Hall wearily rolls out of the ring. Hall walked over to the Steiners position, and whipped Rick around, arguing with him. Suddenly, the four had paired off and began staring each other down, as the crowd buzzed, and the show went off the air. [b]Grade: B+[/b] --------- --------- [b]Show Grade: B-[/b] ----------------------------------------------------- [u]WCW Nitro Rating:[/u] 68.95 (using real TV Ratings: 3.15) [u]WWF Raw Rating:[/u] 27.18 (using real TV Ratings: 1.24) [FONT="Fixedsys"]WWF Light Heavyweight Title Match: Taka Michinoku (c) defeats Brian Christopher (E) Disciples of the Apocalypse II defeats the New Blackjacks (E-) Marc Mero defeats Henry O. Godwinn (E) WWF European Title Match: Triple H (c) defeats Kama Mustafa (E+) The Undertaker defeats Vader (C+) Goldust and Thrasher defeat Los Bariquas (E+) [/FONT]

[TragicHeroParade]

[QUOTE=ADeezy62;380959][B]Bill Goldberg [/B]vs. Fit Finlay [B]The Giant [/B]vs. Sick Boy Davey Boy Smith vs. [B]Scott Norton[/B] Dean Malenko vs. [B]Chris Jericho[/B] Lex Luger vs. Steve "Mongo" McMichael [B]Diamond Dallas Page[/B] vs. Scott Hall[/QUOTE] Thanks for playing along in my little world here. I hope you find the story and the wrestling results good enough to continue reading. For your first line of predictions, you were 5 of 6, with only the Davey Boy Smith/Norton decision being incorrect. Great job! [QUOTE=NoNeck;380979]Really well written. Keep it up.:)[/QUOTE] Thanks man! I am really appreciative of all of the early support. Hopefully the story and the shows (there will be plenty of both!) keep everyone interested for the foreseeable future! [QUOTE=Jaded;380987][B]Bill Goldberg [/B]vs. Fit Finlay [B]The Giant [/B]vs. Sick Boy [B]Davey Boy Smith[/B] vs. Scott Norton [B]Dean Malenko[/B] vs. Chris Jericho [B]Lex Luger[/B] vs. Steve "Mongo" McMichael Diamond Dallas Page vs. [B]Scott Hall[/B] This is really well-written, looking forward to seeing a lot more of it.[/QUOTE] Thanks on the compliment on the writing. I hope my detailed write-ups and the story I'm interweaving into it keeps you coming back. Let's see how you did on your predictions.... 4 of 6! Not bad, missed the Luger match, though we threw a bit of a swerve at your there, and DDP retained! :) [QUOTE=BIGJOSH;380997][B]Bill Goldberg [/B]vs. Fit Finlay [B]The Giant[/B] vs. Sick Boy [B]Davey Boy Smith[/B] vs. Scott Norton Dean Malenko vs. [B]Chris Jericho[/B] [B]Lex Luger[/B] vs. Steve "Mongo" McMichael US TITLE MATCH: [B]Diamond Dallas Page (c)[/B] vs. Scott Hall I love this era and WCW so I can't wait to see what you do with it.[/QUOTE] I can't wait to see what I do with it either! Hopefully my version isn't as much of a train wreck as the real WCW eventually became! 5 of 6, only missing the swerve pick. Excellent!

[Greg McNeish]

Great write-up for the first show. The Raven and Sting promos were AWESOME. Only suggestion I'd make is to put the match times in. It always helps me get a feel for the flow of a show, to know how long two guys went at it. Cheers!

[Samoa Joe ROH]

Push Raven Keep Hogan away from the title Don't Make NWO Grow Do those 3 and i will be happy from your first show(great show)

[BIGJOSH]

Great show! I would also like to see the match times. How do you convert your ratings into "real" ratings?

[TragicHeroParade]

[QUOTE=BIGJOSH;381650]Great show! I would also like to see the match times. How do you convert your ratings into "real" ratings?[/QUOTE] Each ratings point on the game = 50,000 viewers. Each ratings point in real life is roughly = 1,096,000 viewers. So I take the rating and multiply it by 50,000, then divide it by 1,096,000 Thanks for the compliments, I'll throw the match times in next time!

[justtxyank]

Which are mod are you running?

[TragicHeroParade]

[QUOTE=Greg McNeish;381462]Great write-up for the first show. The Raven and Sting promos were AWESOME. Only suggestion I'd make is to put the match times in. It always helps me get a feel for the flow of a show, to know how long two guys went at it. Cheers![/QUOTE] Thanks, I'm glad you liked the promos. I want to make "viral campaigns" a bigger part of my show. I'll definitely add the match times for everybody in coming shows.

[TragicHeroParade]

[QUOTE=Samoa Joe ROH;381626]Push Raven Keep Hogan away from the title Don't Make NWO Grow Do those 3 and i will be happy from your first show(great show)[/QUOTE] Thanks for the advice! I guess we'll have to wait and see. :)

[TragicHeroParade]

[QUOTE=justtxyank;381736]Which are mod are you running?[/QUOTE] I'm using the Montreal Aftermath mod. I edited everything up to the 1st week of January, 1998. Hope this helps!

[justtxyank]

[QUOTE=TragicHeroParade;381739]I'm using the Montreal Aftermath mod. I edited everything up to the 1st week of January, 1998. Hope this helps![/QUOTE] Are you using the old version or the one I updated last month?

[TragicHeroParade]

[QUOTE=justtxyank;381740]Are you using the old version or the one I updated last month?[/QUOTE] I am using the one I downloaded and had saved on my computer. That was several months ago, so I'm assuming it's the older version.

[justtxyank]

Shucks! I was hoping someone was using my work for a dynasty! My update had improved stats and really made WCW and WWF run much smoother. Oh well. I'll still read your dynasty anyway! :D

[BIGJOSH]

Dude I'm ready for the next show!!!

[Lexa90]

[QUOTE=BIGJOSH;382438]Dude I'm ready for the next show!!![/QUOTE] So am I, I love diaries from this era, especially WCW ones, I only hope for one thing, please don't start burying Hogan, because he was really over at this time :o

[BIGJOSH]

[QUOTE=Lexa90;382455]So am I, I love diaries from this era, especially WCW ones, I only hope for one thing, please don't start burying Hogan, because he was really over at this time :o[/QUOTE]No Hogan shouldn't be buried, but he shouldn't be used how he was in real life either. Hogan made so many people look bad during this era. Hogan should be using his overness to help others get over.

[MVP]

You've got a reader out of me, I loved this era, and reading well written diaries about the mid-late 90s always grips my attention, keep it up!