WCW 1998: A prequel to "Death of WCW"

[tristram]

Hi Guys Over the next few weeks, I will be doing a conclusion to PTDOWCW 1998. That doesn't necessarily mean that it's over, it is merely a reflection of some of the booking logics (or lack thereof) and the various hurdles TEW throws at us. I will look at -Who kept rising up in popularity super-quick (there were a couple that enforced booking changes) -Who seemed to have glass ceilings -Who in hindsight weren't book as well as could have been -Various alternative endings to feuds -The strategic vision and execution of the Championships -The strategic vision of World Championship Wrestling in this diary -"Twists" on what really happened to how I booked those "twists" I will more than likely throw up a few questions, mini-surveys as I have done on numerous occasions in my diaries, and I would be delighted to answer any questions that have nagging in respect to the booking of PTDOWCW etc. I will also be tidying up the contents post, which is post 1 or 2 of this diary and is intended to gain an ease of reference link to all shows, Pay-Per-Views, and Championship changes. In many ways, BigPapa42 has set the bar very high on many aspects of TEW booking and indeed provides a lot of the stimulus ideas in how I put together the finishing conclusions. [CENTER]======================================= [SIZE="5"][B]PWI Wrestler of the Year 1998[/B][/SIZE][/CENTER] This award commemorates the worker that displayed, irrespective of booking allowances or not, the best all around performances of 1998 both in ring, and in entertainment segments. And the nominees are: -The Rock - World Wrestling Federation -"The Whole F'N Show" Rob Van Dam - Extreme Championship Wrestling -"Latino Heat" Eddie Guerrero - World Championship Wrestling -"Lionheart" Chris Jericho - World Championship Wrestling -Masahiro Chono - World Championship Wrestling/New Japan Wrestling And the winner is.... ... [CENTER][SIZE="4"][IMG]http://i172.photobucket.com/albums/w17/tristramwcw/Eddie_Guerrero12.jpg[/IMG] "Latino Heat' Eddie Guerrero![/SIZE] [QUOTE][CENTER][IMG]http://i172.photobucket.com/albums/w17/tristramwcw/10101875AJack-Nicholson-The-Shining.jpg[/IMG][/CENTER] My reaction to this award is one of slight shock, and an endearing sense of pride. The great thing about Eddie Guerrero in this diary was his enduring ability to work with a variety of different wrestlers and make them look great. He was an outstanding man to have holding the Cruiserweight Championship, because essentially he acted as an in ring mentor and the amount of times I've have him in matches with some of the up and comers and get a note saying that Wrestler X has improved at Y was through the roof.[/QUOTE] [SIZE="5"][B]PWI Young Wrestler of the Year 1998[/B][/SIZE][/CENTER] This award is based on a panel's analysis of the most outstanding prospect of 1998. This performer does not have to have been booked heavily, and is based purely on the ability to perform the roles required to the best level possible. The nominees are: - The Fallen Angel - World Championship Wrestling - Magnum TOKYO - Dragon Gate - Lenny Lane - World Championship Wrestling And the winner is.... ... ... [CENTER][IMG]http://i172.photobucket.com/albums/w17/tristramwcw/LennyLane.jpg[/IMG] [SIZE="4"]Lenny Lane[/SIZE] [QUOTE][CENTER][IMG]http://i172.photobucket.com/albums/w17/tristramwcw/10101875AJack-Nicholson-The-Shining.jpg[/IMG][/CENTER] Knowing what I know from the stats, I'm not shocked at all. Lenny Lane was someone I jobbed fairly hard, but I noted anytime I put him in certain segments his popularity increased, and you basically always got a note that performance attribute X or Y had improved. At the start of the year his parameters are fairly poor and there's precious little you can do with ihm aside from job him, but he improved at a ferocious rate of knots. If I was to go into 1999, TEW would demand that I started to take his progress more seriously.[/QUOTE] [SIZE="5"][B]PWI Veteran Wrestler of the Year 1998[/B][/SIZE][/CENTER] This award goes to the most outstanding veteran performer in 1998. The performer does not have to have been booked to a high level, but must have maintained outstanding performances in the allowances provided by their creative team. And the nominees are -"Nature Boy" Ric Flair - World Championship Wrestling -"Chainsaw Charlie" Terry Funk - World Wrestling Federation - Vince McMahon - World Wrestling Federation And the winner is... ... ... [CENTER][SIZE="4"][IMG]http://i172.photobucket.com/albums/w17/tristramwcw/RicFlair9.jpg[/IMG] "Nature Boy" Ric Flair![/SIZE] [QUOTE][CENTER][IMG]http://i172.photobucket.com/albums/w17/tristramwcw/10101875AJack-Nicholson-The-Shining.jpg[/IMG][/CENTER] No surprise again, Ric always performed extremely well. Not too flashy, but his basics, selling, and in ring psychology attributes, along with his obvious entertainment skills, were set very high and this allowed him to carry off some great feuds. I was skeptical about putting him in with Eric Bischoff a couple of times, but the feuds natural momentum and Flair's class pulled the matches through well.[/QUOTE] [SIZE="5"][B]PWI Female Wrestler of the Year 1998[/B][/SIZE][/CENTER] This award goes to the outstanding female peformance of 1998. And the nominees are: -Chyna - World Wrestling Federation -Jacquelin - World Wrestling Federation And the winner is... ... [CENTER][SIZE="4"][IMG]http://i172.photobucket.com/albums/w17/tristramwcw/Chyna.jpg[/IMG] Chyna[/SIZE] [QUOTE][CENTER][IMG]http://i172.photobucket.com/albums/w17/tristramwcw/10101875AJack-Nicholson-The-Shining.jpg[/IMG][/CENTER] I debate this one, as I'm not sure that... well, ... you know... that there's not a... well... you know, down in the private cage between it's legs. [/QUOTE] [SIZE="5"][B]PWI Promotion of the Year 1998[/B][/SIZE][/CENTER] This award goes to the promotion who consistently displays the best strategic vision and execution in creating outstanding professional wrestling programming. The nominees are: -World Wrestling Federation -New Japan Pro Wrestling -Extreme Championship Wrestling -World Championship Wrestling And the winner is: .. ... ..... [CENTER][SIZE="4"][IMG]http://i172.photobucket.com/albums/w17/tristramwcw/wcw.jpg[/IMG] World Championship Wrestling[/SIZE] [QUOTE][CENTER][IMG]http://i172.photobucket.com/albums/w17/tristramwcw/10101875AJack-Nicholson-The-Shining.jpg[/IMG][/CENTER] Thank you, thank you, wow what a terrific audience. In truth, the others at times didn't help themselves, although I was pleasantly delighted to see ECW put on some great shows, and watch the WWF flounder with some pathetic booking. ECW's big problem was their level of popularity, and this meant that eventually booking ho's like me would rip one or two of their best away from them.. Mike Awesome, Jerry Lynn and Taz spring to mind. Just when they were on an epic run over there, they found their way to my stable.[/QUOTE] [SIZE="5"][B]PWI Most Improved Promotion of the Year 1998[/B][/SIZE][/CENTER] This award gives acclaim to the promotion who has risen the most in 1998 and continues to display the most improved programming. The nominees are: -Dragon Gate -National Wrestling Alliance -World Championship Wrestling -Extreme Championship Wrestling And the winner is: .. ... .... [CENTER][SIZE="4"][IMG]http://i172.photobucket.com/albums/w17/tristramwcw/NWA2.gif[/IMG] National Wrestling Alliance[/SIZE] [QUOTE][CENTER][IMG]http://i172.photobucket.com/albums/w17/tristramwcw/10101875AJack-Nicholson-The-Shining.jpg[/IMG][/CENTER] Surprised by this one, because essentially what they did in TEW was take any cast offs from WCW and WWF and put them into their upper midcard and main event positions. Kind of like TNA does now.[/QUOTE] [SIZE="5"][B]PWI Match of the Year 1998[/B][/SIZE][/CENTER] This award goes to the match that gained the most interest, whether it be mainstream interest, internet interest, tickets sold, buy rates interest. It is an award that attests itself to the outstanding ability of the workers on display to bring people to be captivated to discuss or watch. The nominees are:- - "The Human Suplex Machine" Taz v "The Whole F'N Show" Rob Van Dam - Extreme Championship Wrestling (PPV) - "Hollywood" Hulk Hogan v Sting - World Championship Wrestling (Cable broadcast) - The Rock v Mankind - World Wrestling Federation (PPV) - "The Human Suplex Machine" Taz v "The Beast from the East" Bam Bam Bigelow v "The Franchise" Shane Douglas - Extreme Championship Wrestling (PPV) - "The King of Harts" Owen Hart v "Heartbreak Kid" Shawn Michaels - World Wrestling Federation (PPV) And the winner is: .. ... ..... [CENTER][SIZE="4"][IMG]http://i172.photobucket.com/albums/w17/tristramwcw/HulkHogan3.jpg[/IMG][IMG]http://i172.photobucket.com/albums/w17/tristramwcw/vshf9.jpg[/IMG][IMG]http://i172.photobucket.com/albums/w17/tristramwcw/Sting52.jpg[/IMG] "Hollywood" Hulk Hogan v Sting - World Championship Wrestling[/SIZE] [QUOTE][CENTER][IMG]http://i172.photobucket.com/albums/w17/tristramwcw/10101875AJack-Nicholson-The-Shining.jpg[/IMG][/CENTER] In truth, I have little to no valid explanation for this one, though, they did have very strong momentum and obviously popularity going into it. I don't recall really booking it THAT well, I mean I have specific road agent notes that I transfer to different types of matches but... I'm a big Queen fan and I'd like to think that "It's a Kind of Magic" probably could give you more advice as to how that happened rather than me giving you a booking commentary. It's a fluke.[/QUOTE] [SIZE="5"][B]PWI Show of the Year 1998[/B][/SIZE][/CENTER] This award goes out to the single professional wrestling broadcast that performed outstandingly well in all criteria. The nominees are:- -Summerslam - World Wrestling Federation -King of the Ring - World Wrestling Federation -Starrcade - World Championship Wrestling -Hardcore Heaven - Extreme Championship Wrestling And the winner is: .. ... ..... [CENTER][SIZE="4"][IMG]http://i172.photobucket.com/albums/w17/tristramwcw/starrcade.jpg[/IMG] World Championship Wrestling's Starrcade[/SIZE] [QUOTE][CENTER][IMG]http://i172.photobucket.com/albums/w17/tristramwcw/10101875AJack-Nicholson-The-Shining.jpg[/IMG][/CENTER] Pretty chuffed about that one, though you kind of have to take this award with a grain of salt given how ordinary the WWF booked itself at various times. Although... realistically, I don't think they've done much good in the past 4-5 years anyway, so maybe TEW merely predicted it all?[/QUOTE] [CENTER][SIZE="5"][B]Top 20 Professional Wrestlers 1998 - As Voted by the Fans[/B][/SIZE][/CENTER][/CENTER] 1 'Rabid Wolverine' Chris Benoit - WCW 2 'Lionheart' Chris Jericho - WCW 3 'Stone Cold' Steve Austin - WWF 4 'The King of Harts' Owen Hart - WWF 5 'The Master of the Diamond Cutter' Diamond Dallas Page - WCW 6 'The Human Suplex Machine' Taz - ECW/WCW 7 Disco Inferno - WCW 8 Mankind - WWF 9 The Rock - WWF 10 'The Whole F'N Show' Rob Van Dam - ECW 11 'The Franchise' Shane Douglas - ECW 12 Raven - WCW 13 Bill Goldberg - WCW 14 Bret 'The Hitman' Hart - WCW 15 Scott Hall - WCW 16 The Undertaker - WWF 17 'Lord' Steven Regal - WCW 18 'Nature Boy' Ric Flair - WCW 19 Sting - WCW 20 Hulk Hogan - WCW

[tristram]

[CENTER][SIZE="5"][B][FONT="Arial Black"]'The Early Bird Catches the Worm' Effect[/FONT][/B][/SIZE][/CENTER] One of the great things about TEW is, the blinding inconsistency and contrast of performer development and the constant changes this puts on the expectation for said performer to develop. That hidden destiny attribute always plays havoc in my mind, but you have to be able to adapt and take advantage of those destiny drivers. The following is a list of performers who kept rising irrespective seemingly of what was going on and the changes in booking mentality; [CENTER][SIZE="4"][B][IMG]http://i172.photobucket.com/albums/w17/tristramwcw/DiscoInferno5.jpg[/IMG] 1. Disco Inferno. [/B][/SIZE][/CENTER] The most obvious one was Disco Inferno. I used to jive when Disco Fever hit on Monday Nitro, I was genuinely into Disco, but he was so poorly positioned that he became a comic jobber, not even really a jobber to the stars, just a jobber with the ever so occasional push. Perhaps in many ways Disco played the gimmick too well and it made it difficult for him to break the "Stephanie Tanner" effect - which is, the effect to be seen as anything different than your most famous role. But, despite him being jobbed a lot with 'Das Wunderkind' Alex Wright, Disco never seemed to be dropping any lower than lower midcarder. If I gave him a slight scrap like making the match an open match or a tainted win, and it was against a more popular wrestler, Disco's popularity stats rose sharply. Suddenly, about midway through 1998 my entire intentions with Disco began to change. I had to think quickly as to how I could take advantage of this, and for me, this meant piercing beneath the comic exterior and finding depth to his character. The initial way to do this involved using Alex Wright. The idea was to see Alex get frustrated by Disco's inability to control the boogie wiggle. What we would see would be a competitive tag team match inevitably ruined by a lack of concentration on Disco's part. This would result in a snap reaction by Alex Wright, causing Disco to be shocked and to go away and work on his 'in ring infedelities' as I called them. The result was once this happened, to have Disco use the boogie wiggle at more opportune times, and then, whilst he was seen as an underdog with a cult following in TEW, to begin to have him hold his own in difficult matches, and then, eventually, with the help of Kimberly Page overcome all odds and gain the WCW Television Championship. Through the use of Kimberly, I was able to test Disco against some more competitive workers such as Eddie Guerrero, Raven, and naturally through the feud, DDP. My hypothesis on Disco would be that he would struggle, but, every match it was the same. His popularity kept rising, and moreso, his skills were becoming more rounded. He already had good entertainment skills honed on his charismatic gimmick display, but now he was developing good performance skills to go with it. This gave me confidence to explore the Kimberly-Disco Inferno-DDP dynamics some more, and it resulted in I feel a good bell ringer for Starrcade. When I outlayed my plans initially in sketch format, the name Disco Inferno did not appear on the Starrcade tip sheet. But as time went on, the realities of TEW ensured he would be there. This held a slight chuckle for me, given the way I hoped in various CVerse diaries that Robbie Retro would get a big push, and yet... here in WCW, his real world alternative in my eyes at least, was going nowhere. That was, until TEW forced my hand. [CENTER][SIZE="4"][B][IMG]http://i172.photobucket.com/albums/w17/tristramwcw/LennyLane.jpg[/IMG] 2. Lenny Lane. [/B][/SIZE][/CENTER] The 'this worker is set to rise up the card soon' comment marauds around Lenny Lane of all performers. The great thing about Lenny is the constant improvement in performance stats. Mostly, Lenny was used in a jobbing team with Lodi, and while Lodi stayed stagnant, Lenny Lane kept developing. On a couple of dark matches I let Lenny go over performers slightly ahead of himself in popularity, and his popularity went through the roof. With such a stacked roster though his role didn't change a great deal. However, there was significant scope for that to change in 1999. [CENTER][SIZE="4"][B][IMG]http://i172.photobucket.com/albums/w17/tristramwcw/LexLuger3.jpg[/IMG] 3. Lex Luger. [/B][/SIZE][/CENTER] Believe it or not, as much as I did try, Lex couldn't be kept down. And as a result, it meant a return to main eventing for Luger. While his performance stats stayed largely plateaud, his popularity stats refused to take a big hit despite anything I threw at him, and anytime I threw him a slight bone he chomped on it like a wild wolverine. It got to the point that, despite all the proactive popularity boosting booking of Chris Jericho, if I was to go purely on popularity than Lex Luger would have gone over. I was spellbound, given realistically I did next to nothing with or for him. When I sketched out the map of 1998 there was no way known to man that Luger was getting a World Heavyweight Championship shot. But as was the case with Disco Inferno, TEW proved me wrong and make me alter my plans. Which didn't overly disappoint, as frankly, in 1997, Lex Luger was fricken awesome nearly owning the nWo at Uncensored and then of course ripping the belt off Hulk Hogan himself. Epic. ====== Other performers also had significant desire attribute laiden pushes, like Rey Mysterio Jr's tag team reign where he just kept exploding like no one's business, and Eddie Guerrero. But to an extent, the previous three were not expected to do anything of note in 1998. Lenny really didn't, but TEW made me change and alter big time on Lex Luger and Disco Inferno, and you know what, maybe TEW was right after all. Because at the end of 1998, I could see some promising times ahead for Disco in particular which at least put a smile on my face.

[keefmoon]

Dude, I don't know what to say about this. I'm sorry I wasn't around at the time you were posting Starrcade, but I've read it and I absolutely love it. Everything you worked towards has come together so well, amazing. I'm not really sure what else I can add to this might be the best show you've veer done, which says something when compared to your normal work. If you carry on with this or another diary then the boards are better off for it, but if not you've left two of the best diaries ever on here. Brilliant.

[tristram]

[QUOTE=keefmoon;882478]Dude, I don't know what to say about this. I'm sorry I wasn't around at the time you were posting Starrcade, but I've read it and I absolutely love it. Everything you worked towards has come together so well, amazing. I'm not really sure what else I can add to this might be the best show you've veer done, which says something when compared to your normal work. If you carry on with this or another diary then the boards are better off for it, but if not you've left two of the best diaries ever on here. Brilliant.[/QUOTE] Thanks, mate. Much appreciated coming from you. At the moment I'm toying around with an SWF diary, but... well... I kinda suck at booking Cornvellverse and really am getting fairly ordinary ratings. Just trying to refine it all before I commit to anything.

[Guest cmdrsam]

[QUOTE=tristram;883976]Thanks, mate. Much appreciated coming from you. At the moment I'm toying around with an SWF diary, but... well... I kinda suck at booking Cornvellverse and really am getting fairly ordinary ratings. Just trying to refine it all before I commit to anything.[/QUOTE] O I trimble at the thought. You doing SWF. One word. EPIC! Hey Brother hit me back with a pm. Let me know how you are doing. Also mught throw some ideas at ya. Muhahaha.

[SeanMcFly]

Excellent Starrcade Tristram, One of, if not the best show I've ever read on this forum. Just out of curiosity, would you mind posting the grades of the matches and/or the Show Rating ? Just to see what a Show like that got in TEW ?

[SimplyPerfect]

[QUOTE=tristram;883976]Thanks, mate. Much appreciated coming from you. At the moment I'm toying around with an SWF diary, but... well... I kinda suck at booking Cornvellverse and really am getting fairly ordinary ratings. Just trying to refine it all before I commit to anything.[/QUOTE] I totally know what you mean. I've never been able to get anywhere in the CornellVerse. I just can't make it work for me.

[tristram]

[QUOTE=SeanMcFly;891367]Excellent Starrcade Tristram, One of, if not the best show I've ever read on this forum. Just out of curiosity, would you mind posting the grades of the matches and/or the Show Rating ? Just to see what a Show like that got in TEW ?[/QUOTE] Thanks Sean. The grades would be extremely misleading. I forget the name of the mod I used, but an important caveat is necessary - firstly, it was TEW'05 for two reasons, firstly it had the roster the way I liked it and secondly I have been a complete and utter failure at booking with anything about TEW'05 (because that requires a lot more skill which I just don't have:D), so the grades, given the lack of 'perfect show theory' and the like were always extremely strong. Given the grades were always so strong, I kinda decided early in the piece that the diary would be more a story of progress, rather than from a grading perspective. Hopefully that makes sense? [QUOTE=SimplyPerfect;892973]I totally know what you mean. I've never been able to get anywhere in the CornellVerse. I just can't make it work for me.[/QUOTE] BigPapa's tip sheet on TEW '08 boards is legendary for assistance in that respect. It's totally more complicated, particularly with my personal move up from '05 to '10. Before the penalties seemed slight for things like inability to sell and even to a degree psychology, back then segments seemed so much rated on entertainment skills now it's menace and the like... it really does make you think a lot, and frankly, I'm just not that good a booker :eek:

[Guest cmdrsam]

[QUOTE=tristram;894786]Thanks Sean. The grades would be extremely misleading. I forget the name of the mod I used, but an important caveat is necessary - firstly, it was TEW'05 for two reasons, firstly it had the roster the way I liked it and secondly I have been a complete and utter failure at booking with anything about TEW'05 (because that requires a lot more skill which I just don't have:D), so the grades, given the lack of 'perfect show theory' and the like were always extremely strong. Given the grades were always so strong, I kinda decided early in the piece that the diary would be more a story of progress, rather than from a grading perspective. Hopefully that makes sense? BigPapa's tip sheet on TEW '08 boards is legendary for assistance in that respect. It's totally more complicated, particularly with my personal move up from '05 to '10. Before the penalties seemed slight for things like inability to sell and even to a degree psychology, back then segments seemed so much rated on entertainment skills now it's menace and the like... it really does make you think a lot, and frankly, I'm just not that good a booker :eek:[/QUOTE] I dont know about the booker thing, but as a writer you might be on to something. :p

[BoomKing]

[CENTER]Well, its been too long coming, but I've finally caught up to the end of this bad boy. Epic Genius Perfect[/CENTER] Three words bandied about far too often, but in this case, fitting. I urge anybody just starting out in the diary writing business to go all the way back to page number one and read your hearts out! Hell, I'm sure there's a few old pros could pick up a trick or two. [CENTER] Here's to you, Tristram, and the masterpiece you created.[/CENTER]

[tristram]

Wow, thanks man. I really appreciate it. I am glad it was enjoyed, as it was fun to put in such detailed planning to bring it together.