HGC (Cverse97): Hollyweird meets Hollywood!

[d_w_w]

[CENTER][U][B]Kelsey Campbell and Early Exposure to Sports[/B][/U][/CENTER] [INDENT] As a child, dad put me in every recreational sports club that he could find. First, it was T-ball, then soccer, and then basketball. Later, at age 12, dad experienced a fatherly crisis and realized that I'd soon be in high school. And that meant that I'd be around high school boys. And high school boys were young, dumb and full of... well, at least that's what dad said. And so, in the name of self defense, karate and judo classes were squeezed into my busy sports and recreational schedule. By the time I was 15 and in high school, I was fully and completely indoctrinated into the world of sports. I loved competition, but more importantly, I loved the attention that people gave me when I won. And I always won. For me then, high school was nothing more than another stage to display my athletic prowess. Unfortunately, the stage changed. Suddenly, baseball is off limits. They said, if you want to play, you have to play with other girls. And you have to play girl sports, like softball and volleyball. Soccer was the shining sport left for me, as it was played both boys and girls. But even here, boys played boys soccer, girls played girls soccer. At the time, the gender division bothered me at an exclusively unconscious level. That is, I had not reached a level of self-awareness to be bothered by the fact that I was better than 90% of the guy soccer players. Instead, I was bothered by the fact that male athletes received far more attention than female athletes. Of course, I was never bothered enough to protest. I was, after all, the star player on the softball, volleyball, and soccer team. I still received more than my share of attention, which, I later learned, is one of my more serious addictions. Boys became interested in me before I became interested in them. I was too wrapped up in my world of sports think about guys. In my junior year, this all changed and I found myself neck-deep in puppy love. Of course, the target of my affection was a fellow athlete. A wrestler. I made it a point to go wrestling practice whenever possible. I was, as with all things I do, a very vocal and visible observer at wrestling practice. Often, I took it upon myself to critique the wrestlers, telling them how good or bad they were. Most of the guys either ignored me or played along. Some, however, took it personal. Following one practice, after telling a 119 lb wrestler that he his level of suckiness was comparable to the Friday night's of some of the less reputable girls in school, I was told to shut up, that I couldn't do any better, and that I was "just a stupid bitch". This was, of course, the wrong thing to say to me. I ran down the bleachers and challenged the 16 year old boy to a wrestling contest. He tried to laugh it off and walk away, but I was persistent. The rest of the wrestlers, led by my boyfriend, began haggling the young wrestler, claiming that he was scared of a girl. He finally buckled and accepted my challenge. At the time, I knew nothing about freestyle wrestling. But I had a blue belt in judo and a ton of confidence in my athleticism. The young wrestler didn't take me seriously and stepped forward, pushing my forehead back with hand. This frustrated me. That arrogant jerk pushed my forehead! He stepped in to it again, obviously planning on showing me up. I hooked my left foot around his lead leg, grabbed his right shoulder and left arm, then twisted my body hard, slamming him to the ground with Ouchi Gaeshi. My opponent had obviously never been thrown before and was definitely not expecting it from me. He hit the mat hard and I'm pretty sure that I heard the air escape his lungs. I quickly wrapped my arms around his head and used my forearms to pin his shoulders down. One of the observing wrestlers dropped to the mat and slammed his hand, signifying that I had pinned my opponent. The wrestling team thought that this was the single greatest event that they had ever witnessed. I was quickly their favored fan and was always greeted with joy when I attended wrestling practice. Inevitably, someone would ask me to show them a "judo throw", and sure enough, I'd be on the mat with the wrestlers after practice. At first, my boyfriend was fine with this. Over time, he seemed more and more troubled by my after practice sessions, claiming that the guys were just trying to “cop feels”. The wrestling coach took notice of my presence and of the fact that I was consistently pinning his 103, 112, and 119 lb. starting varsity wrestlers. Coach was something of a progressive fellow and asked me if I wanted to try out of the team during my senior year. And of course, I did. It would have been against my very nature to not follow through with this opportunity, as I loved both the increases in attention and the rush that came along with beating boys at their own sport. Some of the male wrestlers resisted this idea, but most approved. They knew that I was good. During my senior year, I tried out for the wrestling team and made it. I wrestled at 112 lbs, which actually involved a good amount of weight cutting. Cutting weight meant extreme dieting and running around in a giant trash bag, which was, undoubtedly, the worst part about wrestling. Anyhow. That year, I won the state championship in wrestling in my weight class. This was something of a big deal, both locally and regionally. First, I was the first girl in the state to participate in high school wrestling. Second, I won the state championship. In other words, I was the best high school wrestler, in my weight class, in the state, for the year. I went on to do several interviews with local and regional media outlets, and was even featured on a small blurb on CNN. Not all was positive, however, as my boyfriend felt overshadowed by me and soon found himself a more docile, well-behaved female companion. Overall though, this was one of the best times of my life. I thrived on the public attention. I felt like a superstar. Sadly, the public interest in my feats was fleeting and I was soon off to college.[/INDENT]

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[SIZE="1"]OOC Notes: My back story is a bit long, overdeveloped and will take a few more posts. Writing the back story helps me to organize my thoughts and to develop personalities for various characters. The actual shows will be fairly short and in an overview format (a lesson I learned from my previous diary attempt in '07). I am using DerekB's recently released Cverse97 data for TEW2008.[/SIZE]

[1PWfan]

Cool start. I'm looking forward to seeing what you do with this, as I don't really know Cverse 97

[Liamo]

Don't worry about a long backstory - if the rest is anything like that first section, I'm looking forward to it. I've always thought that HGC '97 would be a fun diary/dynasty to try as it's a blank canvas - so to speak. Good luck with it.

[Marcel Fromage]

Great to see you back writing a diary, as I really enjoyed your 07 USPW one. Best of luck with this.

[praguepride]

[QUOTE=1PWfan;446057]Cool start. I'm looking forward to seeing what you do with this, as I don't really know Cverse 97[/QUOTE] You should check it out, especially if you've grown a little content with the stability of the '07/'08 world. '97 is very volatile with HGC just springing up to challenge SWF, the 4-way east coast wars, and CGC challenging NOTBPW before both had "set" rosters. It's a really neat mod now that it's been updated.

[d_w_w]

[QUOTE=1PWfan;446057]Cool start. I'm looking forward to seeing what you do with this, as I don't really know Cverse 97[/QUOTE] [QUOTE=Liamo;446139]Don't worry about a long backstory - if the rest is anything like that first section, I'm looking forward to it. I've always thought that HGC '97 would be a fun diary/dynasty to try as it's a blank canvas - so to speak. Good luck with it.[/QUOTE] Thanks! I don't really know the Cverse 97 either. I played two half-year test games, then decided to run with it. I'm working with a pretty open slate here (like Llamo said), although I am drawing from a number of sources. The only other HGC diary that I remember was from Sebsplex and it was absolutely fantastic. It was different though, as it was more of an HGC revival in 2007 diary, while mine is going to be situated in 1997. [QUOTE=Marcel Fromage;446185]Great to see you back writing a diary, as I really enjoyed your 07 USPW one. Best of luck with this.[/QUOTE] Thanks Marcel. Your diary, along with Dragonmack's NYCW diary, were really my inspirations for starting a diary in the first place. When I read your work, I thought to myself "wow, that diary must really help that guy enjoy playing the game." And I right... it's much easier to get immersed in the story and the characters when you spend time with them. Can't wait to see what you start up in 2008. [QUOTE=praguepride;446206]You should check it out, especially if you've grown a little content with the stability of the '07/'08 world. '97 is very volatile with HGC just springing up to challenge SWF, the 4-way east coast wars, and CGC challenging NOTBPW before both had "set" rosters. It's a really neat mod now that it's been updated.[/QUOTE] I agree and second this. It's a great mod. Everyone should check it out: [url]http://67.19.230.90/~arles/forum/showthread.php?t=32802[/url]

[d_w_w]

[CENTER][U][B]Kelsey Campbell and Life After Wrestling[/B][/U][/CENTER] [INDENT]I was awarded a scholarship to play soccer in college. Soccer was fun, but wrestling was invigorating. There was something about 1 on 1 competition that I really enjoyed, and beyond this, there was something that I absolutely loved about competing against (and beating) males. And so upon arriving at my school, I immediately scheduled a meeting with the wrestling coach, in hopes of trying out for the team. This meeting, however, did not pan out to be anything like I had envisioned. I was quickly told, in no uncertain terms, that my previous wrestling accomplishments meant nothing and that I was missing vital body parts that were apparently required to be a successful wrestler. This rejection crushed me. I had never felt like this before. So, I drove home that weekend in tears, seeking the comfort of my family. After a day of consoling from my mother, my father burst in and told me that I had to be realistic. Sports are great, but most people, he said, won't go on to making a living playing games. He said that I needed to use my soccer scholarship to obtain a good education, to come out of college in four years with a useful degree. This really didn't make a lot of sense to me, given that he was the person that pushed me into sports. Regardless, I went back to school and pushed the thought of wrestling out of my mind. I had learned enough about myself, however, to realize that I loved the spotlight. And so, I told my parents that I was going to major in theatre and dance. This didn't make my father overly happy, as he said that I was "moving from one dead end hobby to another." Eventually, to appease my parents, I decided to double major in business and theatre and dance. During this time, sports took a backseat to school. I was a good college soccer player, as I started every game from my sophomore year on, but I was never a great soccer player. I did, however, continued to participate in martial arts, and by the time I graduated, had received black belts in judo and Shotokan karate. I noticed the emergence of mixed martial arts and the widespread success of Brazilian Jui-Jitsu players, and soon added that to my list of extracurricular activities. It turns out, that in addition to being a natural athlete, I'm something of a natural actress. I obtained a prominent role in a large play produced by a local theatre group and found a great deal of success in critics circles during my last year of schooling. This was great, but I was after something bigger. And so, before graduating, I had signed on with an agent to try to find acting work in Hollywood. As an aside, the conversation with my parents where I told them that I was moving to Hollywood to pursue a career in acting, was absolutely and purely brutal. To this day, my father barely speaks to me. Nonetheless, I finished college and traveled to California. My agent was surprisingly good and helped me find several small roles in a variety of B-level movies and commercials. My athletic figure and background helped me receive several other roles, often as a body double in action movies for semi-to-widely famous actresses. Ultimately, however, my acting career, after two short years, hit a hard and solid ceiling. I couldn't land leading roles in B-movies, nor could I land talking roles in major movies. I was stuck in a rut of doing comercials, playing the body double, and being the one or two line extra in minor movies. And I was not happy about it. Patience is not one of my virtues. Movie critics thought I was mediocre at best, which I found completely baffling, given my previous success in a number of live productions. It was later that I discovered that my ability to act is significantly improved if I'm front of a live audience. Apparently, I'm pretty awful in studio environments. My agent sat down with me and explained that my struggles were due to sex appeal. He said, “you have a great face and a great body, but you need to make yourself standout or you can't compete with the 'it' girls for the big roles.” Of course, by "standout" he meant "take my clothes off". And so, in the name of my career, I agreed to do nude scenes. And suddenly, my father's name stopped appearing on my Christmas and birthday cards... It turns out that my agent was right, as I was soon cast as the leading female in two B-level action movies. In one movie, I played a secret agent with a penchant skin-tight clothing, in other, a tom-boyish police officer that falls in love with her partner. Admittedly, neither movie was very good, but they put food on the table and got my name out to the right people. After these films, I was offered and took the role of a major female villain in a Bruce Willis summer blockbuster. The critics, unsurprisingly, were not terribly impressed with my performance. The primary demographic target of my films, young males, however, loved me. And so all was well. My name recognition was at an all time high, movie offers were pouring in (well, maybe they were dripping in - regardless, it was progress), and I felt great. And then I met J.K. Stallings Jr. [/INDENT]

[Wallbanger]

Great, great stuff here. I have always believed that great writing can overcome poor booking, but great booking cannot overcome poor writing. You've created the foundation for a credible protagonist that readers can idenitfy with. Looking forward to the journey.

[d_w_w]

[QUOTE=Wallbanger;446334]Great, great stuff here. I have always believed that great writing can overcome poor booking, but great booking cannot overcome poor writing. You've created the foundation for a credible protagonist that readers can idenitfy with. Looking forward to the journey.[/QUOTE] Considering the superb quality of your Generations 07 and now 08 diaries and the fact that your writing inspired me to take another crack at a female lead (albeit, with a wildly different background than yours), I'm taking this as a compliment of the highest level. Thank you, sir.

[d_w_w]

[B][CENTER][U]Kelsey meets J.K. Stallings Jr.[/U] [/CENTER][/B] [INDENT] J.K. Stallings Jr. is a teenage software billionaire. Yes, billionaire: as in, 9 zeros. When I received the first call from his representative, I assumed that he had decided to fund some sort of film project and that he wanted me to be involved in it. He was a fan, after all. I loved, and still love, to keep informed on all the news and rumors surrounding my personal life and career. You'd think that I'd know everything about me, but you can learn some surprising things about yourself by reading the tabloids. Stallings, after publishing his automated email response program and making billions of dollars at the age of 15, became something of a pseudo celebrity. In 1996, a writer for an entertainment magazine asked Stallings which female celebrity he'd most like to take on a date. His response: me. The dirt sheet and entertainment writers had a field day with this, and much was made of the barely 16 year old Stallings wanting to date the 26 year old up-and-coming starlet, Kelsey Campbell. This was all over the entertainment news shows for a few days and so I, of course, noticed it. The publicity was good for me, as Stallings' innocent comment resulted in a rush of interview and photo requests, despite the fact that I was, at the time, out of work. There are only room for so many slutty zombie hunter flicks in a year, you know? Interest in this story re-expanded after an “inside source” spread the rumor, which I may or may not have had a hand in creating, that I had sent Stallings a note telling him to look me up after he turned 18. The insider explained: “Stallings has everything that Kelsey wants – money and, well, money. So of course she's interested.” This wasn't true, of course. However, publicity is good in my field, so I did nothing to confirm or deny the rumors. My plan was to come out a couple of months later and casually deny these rumors during the context of some other interview. But, before I could do so, I received the call from his business manager. The message, passed on me by my agent, was short and sweet: “J.K. Stallings Jr. would like to meet with you to discuss a lucrative business proposition.” I agreed to meet with Stallings and opted, for time being, to hold from off driving my high heel through his teenage heart. In retrospect, I probably should shot him down from the get-go. He probably wouldn't have called me then and I would probably have significantly fewer headaches than I do today. And let's face it, I have a lot of headaches these days. Because the business deal that I envisioned was not at all like the proposition that Stallings Jr. made to me. [/INDENT]

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[SIZE="1"] Had hoped to merge this with the actual meeting, but, well, the work day is over and it's time to go home. Cushy office job + being between projects = plenty of diary writing time.[/SIZE]

[grj1234]

Loving this so far.

[d_w_w]

[CENTER][U][B]Kelsey does Professional Wrestling?!?[/B][/U] [/CENTER] [INDENT]Professional wrestling? Yeah, I couldn't believe it either. J.K. Stallings Jr. had invited me to a meeting to ask me to sign a contract to be the "face" of his forthcoming professional wrestling company, the “Hollyweird Grappling Company”. I had briefly read some short news report that said that Stallings was a huge wrestling fan and that he had spent some $50 million to start up a large wrestling company. Furthermore, the article explained that he was prepared to spend another $50 million to get it going. At the time, I first thought to myself: “Where the Hell are this kid's parents and why are they letting him blow his money like this?” Then I remembered: He had billions of dollars. He could spend $100 million to start a wrestling company ten times and still have billions of dollars left. And so, my next, and far less innocent thought, was: “Wow, this kid is as dumb as a rock. Maybe I [I]should[/I] go after him when he turns 18. It could do wonders for my shoe collection.” Anyhow, Back to the story: Stallings wanted me to be the spokesperson for his new wrestling company. Dressed in an overly formal business suit, he explained to me over lunch that the [COLOR="Green"]“[B]SWF, the uh... uh... number one wrestling company in the world, has a stranglehold, like...a, well, a complete death grip on the American wrestling market.[/B]”[/COLOR] It was obvious that Stallings was extremely nervous about meeting with me. His voice cracked, he spoke too fast and too muddled, and, to top it off, completely forgot to eat his lunch. He continued on: [COLOR="Green"]“[B]Now, well, um... I've already...uh.. signed several big... yeah, big... um, big name wrestlers. Guys like the Vesseys, and uh... let's see... Rip Chord, and ... oh yeah, even Sam Strong.[/B]”[/COLOR] Even I had heard of Sam Strong. [COLOR="Green"]“[B]And... um... I got some great independent wrestlers lined up on your rack...er, I my rack! I mean, I've signed some good fresh talent, guys that are good in the... in the ring.. So yeah, the HGC is going to be great![/B]” [/COLOR] Stallings was obviously enthusiastic about his soon-to-be wrestling company. He went on to explain why he wanted me. [COLOR="Green"]“[B]But, well, a lot of my big names are ex-SWFers. A lot of the... of the... of the....the hardcore fans are saying that the HGC is just going to be... Um, well, it's just going to be SWF version 2.0. So, well, you see... and I was thinking, um, that we...[/B]” [/COLOR] I interrupted him. Amusing as it was, I just couldn't take any more of his verbal mumbling and stumbling about. [COLOR="Blue"]“[B]Sweetie, my face is up here.[/B]”[/COLOR] Embarrassed, Stallings corrected his gaze. Interestingly, this improved his ability to speak. It did not, however, improve his ability to think. [COLOR="Green"]“[B]So, yeah. You're hot. I mean, you're a big name right now. Not that you're not hot, because you are, but... but, uh, yeah. You know what I mean?[/B]” [/COLOR] I just smiled. [COLOR="Green"]“[B]So, I'm thinking that if I hire you and you're the spokesperson and face of the company, it'll really bring some fanfare to the HGC. Having a real Hollywood actress would be a step toward making professional wrestling mainstream. And your popularity could really help us out.[/B]” [/COLOR] I responded: [COLOR="Blue"]“[B]And what's in it for me?[/B]”[/COLOR] [COLOR="Green"]“[B]Money, the spotlight, a chance to do something different.[/B]” [/COLOR] Well... He tried. And failed, but hey, at least he tried. [COLOR="Blue"]“[B]J.K., sweetie, I appreciate the offer. But I'm an actress. I don't know the first thing about professional wrestling and frankly, I'm not sure that this is a good career move for me.[/B]”[/COLOR] Almost instantly, a pout began to develop over Stallings' face. He wanted to respond, but I continued: [COLOR="Blue"]“[B]Now, I appreciate lunch and it was fun to chat with you, but I have a few appointments on the other side of town. If you'll excuse me.[/B]” [/COLOR] He hadn't actually offered to pay for my lunch, but hey, he has a lot more money than me. And besides, professional wrestling? He owed me more than lunch for making me listen to that drivel. Or so I thought.[/INDENT]

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[SIZE="1"] Not sure that I like using colors. It makes it easier to read dialog, but it seems like spacing can do that as well. Anyhow, I'm almost done with my backstory and ready to incorporate wrestling into this here wrestling diary. [/SIZE]

[d_w_w]

[CENTER][B][U]Kelsey Learns the Meaning of the Word “Persistence”[/U][/B] [/CENTER][INDENT] At some point during that meeting, I must have given Stallings my phone number and told him to call me whenever he liked, because he and his business manager called me two or three times a day after that meeting. Of course, I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have said that nor would I have given him my number. Stalling is good with computers though, so he probably hacked some database and stole my number. That miscreant. Everyday it was more of the same: begging and pleading for me to sign on to his company. First it was: “The HGC will promote your next movie on the air.” Then it was: “Name your price, we've got plenty of money.” Next, it was “Please, just do one show. It'd mean a lot to Stallings.” And this continued, on and on and on and on... As you can see, J.K. Stallings Jr. is persistent. Extremely persistent. And merging extremely persistent with extremely rich can produce a very irritating combination. Eventually, I had to decide whether I should meet with him again or file an order of protection for harassment. I opted for the former, figuring that I could explain to him (more clearly than the first time) that I just wasn't interested in his offer. Besides, taking legal action might make things complicated if I decided to make him my junior sugar daddy later on. (Kidding!... Maybe). And so I met with J.K. Stallings Jr. again. This time, he wasn't pulling any punches and went straight to the pocketbook. He asked me: [COLOR="Green"]“[B]How much money have you made as an actress?[/B]”[/COLOR] I explained to him that this question really wasn't very polite. He responded that he needed to know in order to make me an appropriate offer. All told, I had cleared around $2 million from my films to-date. Most of that was gone, thanks to my generous nature and awful shopping habits, but that's neither here nor there. Naturally, I lied: “[B][COLOR="Blue"]I've made about $4 million so far.[/COLOR][/B]” He responded: [COLOR="Green"]“[B]Ok. I'll give you $4 million to sign a one year contract to be the spokesperson for the HGC.[/B]”[/COLOR] And for a brief second, I actually considered his offer. That was a lot of money. A [I]lot[/I] of money. Let's face it, given that one prominent critic has said that “Kelsey Campbell couldn't act her way out of a paper bag”, I'm not likely to be the next Julia Roberts. I don't think I'll ever be able to demand $10 million a movie. And as I get older, the offers will come in less and less and be smaller and smaller, and soon, I'll be completely out of the spotlight... Ah, yes, the spotlight. After my brief moment of weakness, I remembered why I had to turn down Stallings' offer. I explained: [COLOR="Blue"]“[B]You're a great kid and your offer... well, it's great. It flatters me. But I want the spotlight that acting can afford to me. I love being in the publics' eye and I love being the center of attention. Money is great and all, but that's secondary. I want to be a star, and I don't think that professional wrestling is the right decision for my career. Now sweetie, I hope you understand... but I consider this matter closed. Thanks for lunch though![/B]”[/COLOR] And so it ended. Or so I thought. Later that night, someone knocked on the door of my Laguna Beach condo. I answered the door and was given a package by a man that was supposed to be guarding the gated community that I lived in. He explained that someone had paid him (and paid him well) to deliver this package to me. I took the package inside and opened it. It contained a pile of VHS tapes and a note from J.K. Stallings Jr. It read: “Kelsey, thanks for meeting me earlier. Glad you liked lunch. I want you to do one last thing for me. Watch these videos. If, after watching them, you still aren't interested, then that's fine. I promise, I won't bother you anymore.” I was slightly worried that Stallings might have paid my community's security guard turned delivery boy to spy on me, so I slapped the first tape into my VCR. I'd give it thirty minutes, then write him a note, telling him it wasn't for me, and finally, be done with this. Twelve hours went by and I forgot to sleep. Amazing. Simply amazing. It turns out that I was wrong... professional wrestling was for me. It was physical and theatrical and at times, sexual. It was over the top and all about being in the spotlight. And, more importantly, it was in-front of live audiences. After watching Sam Strong speak to a wrestling crowd and having every single person hang on his every word... I knew exactly what I wanted to do. I picked up my phone and called J.K. Stallings. It was 10:00 AM. A sleepy voice responded: [COLOR="Green"]“[B]...Hello?[/B]”[/COLOR] Sleeping at 10:00 AM. Teenagers these days. [COLOR="Blue"]“[B]This is Kelsey.[/B]”[/COLOR] [COLOR="Green"]“[B]Uhmm. Hi Kelsey.[/B]”[/COLOR] [COLOR="Blue"]“[B]I've changed my mind. I'll take your offer.[/B]”[/COLOR] J.K. Stallings' voice was suddenly energized. [COLOR="Green"]“[B]Really?!?[/B]”[/COLOR] Then, I realized that I was making things far too easy on him. [COLOR="Blue"]“[B]On three conditions.[/B]”[/COLOR] [COLOR="Green"]“[B]Name them.[/B]”[/COLOR] [COLOR="Blue"]“[B]I want creative control over what I say and how I'm portrayed to the audience. And I want to be able to provide general input into the creative direction that the company takes.[/B]”[/COLOR] [COLOR="Green"]“[B]Done.[/B]”[/COLOR] [COLOR="Blue"]“[B]And I want you to double that salary. I want $8 million for the year.[/B]” [/COLOR] A slight pause. Then Stallings remembered that he was a billionaire. [COLOR="Green"]“[B]Done.[/B]”[/COLOR] And then I dropped a bombshell: [COLOR="Blue"]“[B]And I want to wrestle.[/B]”[/COLOR] [/INDENT]

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[SIZE="1"] OOC Note: I deducted $8 million from HGC's starting funds. It seemed appropriate to adjust for the fact that my user character has great popularity and entertainment skills. [/SIZE]

[d_w_w]

[CENTER][B][U]Kelsey wants to what?[/U][/B][/CENTER] [INDENT]After the paper work was signed, Stallings arranged for another meeting, this time with me and Sam Strong. I was familiar with Sam Strong, even before my wrestling video marathon. Strong was, after all, the face of professional wrestling. He was a larger than life figure. No, really, he must have been like 6'7” or 6'8”. I'm 5'10”and a I have a penchant for fairly high heels, but when I met Sam the top of my head was roughly on level with his shoulder. Beyond his size, Strong also had a strange amount of energy about him. He spoke fast and loud and made extensive use of both facial expressions and hand gestures. It was like someone had ripped a cartoon character off a television, injected it with steroids, and dumped it into the fountain of life. We exchanged pleasantries. Then, got down to business. Strong: [COLOR="Olive"]“[B]So, my little my man J.K. tells me that he got you to sign with the HGC! He's a little dude, but he's got the desire and the money to match! And the little brother gets what he wants. He wants Sam Strong? Well, here I am. He wants Kelsey Campbell, here you are![/B]”[/COLOR] I nodded. Stallings: [COLOR="Green"]“[B]Uh, Sam, there is something I should tell you about her contract.[/B]”[/COLOR] Strong: [COLOR="Olive"]“[B]What's that? You paying her more than you're paying me?[/B]”[/COLOR] Strong laughed, intending his comment as a joke. I looked at Stallings. He looked uneasy and completely out of his element (which, I believe, is eating Cheeto's while typing up lines of C++). He idolized Strong as much as he fantasized about me, which, when you think about it, makes this an awkward meeting. Stallings: [COLOR="Green"]“[B]Well, yes, actually. But that's not it.[/B]”[/COLOR] Strong did not seem bothered that Stallings was paying me more than him. He seemed to expect it, honestly. Despite the comical larger than life persona, there was something very shrewd and calculating about Sam Strong. He knew that Stallings would have to pay me a large amount of money to get involved in this project. However, I'm not so sure that he'd be as “okay” with his payment arrangements if he knew that Stallings was paying me 16 times more than him. Strong is rather big and has an ego to match his size, and so he could probably be quite intimidating. And since I didn't have any desire to see Stallings soil himself, I opted to not mention any details about my contract. Strong: [COLOR="Olive"]“[B]Alright brother, what is it?[/B]”[/COLOR] Stallings: [COLOR="Green"]“[B]Well, it's two things, actually. First, I've agreed to give Kelsey some control over the creative direction of the company. We're going from Hollyweird to Hollywood, baby![/B]”[/COLOR] Stallings looked at me when he said “baby”. Annoying teenage stalker or future supplier of alimony money? You decide. Strong: [COLOR="Olive"]“[B]What? But I'm the head booker, J.K. That was part of our deal, brother! You can't back out on it.[/B]”[/COLOR] Stallings: [COLOR="Green"]“[B]I know, I know. And you're still the head booker. She'll just have a large say in writing the major storylines, in character development, and in employee relations.[/B]”[/COLOR] I'm not sure that Strong understood the difference between the head booker and my new position. I'm not sure that I did either. Strong: [COLOR="Olive"]“[B]So, I'm still head booker?[/B]”[/COLOR] Apparently the title mattered more to Strong than the duties. Interesting. Stallings: [COLOR="Green"]“[B]Yes. There is something else, though.[/B]”[/COLOR] Strong: [COLOR="Olive"]“[B]Oh?[/B]”[/COLOR] Stallings: [COLOR="Green"]“[B]She wants to wrestle.[/B]”[/COLOR] Strong: [COLOR="Olive"]“[B]She wants to what?[/B]”[/COLOR] Stalling: [COLOR="Green"]“[B]Wrestle. As in the verb, to engage in wrestling...[/B]”[/COLOR] Strong: [COLOR="Olive"]“[B]I know what you said! Like a women's division, like the Stone's are starting up north?[/B]”[/COLOR] Stallings: [COLOR="Green"]“[B]Not exactly...[/B]”[/COLOR] And then I explained to Sam Strong that I wanted to wrestle men. Not that I had anything against wrestling women. If rolling around in my bra and panties with another woman would help ratings and sell merchandise, then I'd do it. But really, I wanted to show that female athletes (well, at least [I]this[/I] female athlete) could compete with male wrestlers. Of course, I understood that wrestling was staged... but the symbolism was still there. It was like being in high school, all over again... Strong laughed at me and said that the idea was crazy, borderline absurd. Then, he broke into a long-winded speech about breaking down borders and staying on the cutting edge of professional wrestling. Which, in other words, meant that he was willing to give it a try. But he didn't want me pinning any of the male uppercard members. Strictly low level feuds for now. This seemed fair to me. As he said, [COLOR="Olive"]“[B]An experiment is no reason to bury a wrestler that is a proven draw.[/B]”[/COLOR] After handling these issues, we laid out some basic guidelines for our upcoming stories and shows. We decided that I'd make my on screen debut on the first episode in 2008 of HGC Hollweird TV. We decided to shelf the discussion of my first opponent and storyline for the time being, as there other angles that we could get mileage out of first. We'd also use this show to move toward filling the various HGC titles that Stallings had ordered. Strong was fine with me looking over the talent list, but told me that we shouldn't hire anyone that couldn't work a good match and that we should also avoid wrestlers with bad reputations. Stallings seem to agree with us, and we established that it would be company policy to only hire workers with good reputations that had some minimal understanding of wrestling psychology. He also insisted that we hire only wrestlers that could put on semi-lengthy matches (a decision, which could produce interesting discussions later down the road). At some point, Stallings' business manager burst in with a note from his parents. Apparently, the boy billionaire is on a leash, it's just a very long leash. The note explained that Stallings had already spent over $50 million of his money to get the HGC formed and ready to go. They would let Stallings spend another $40 million of his money or so, but not much more. That's some leash. And a great allowance. [/INDENT]

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[SIZE="1"] Owner goals: 1.) Must not fall into debt. (Given that I deducted $8 million to put Kelsey on the roster, that left the HGC with $42 million in resources, which is where I got the $40 million or so mentioned above. 2.) Can't fall below cult. 3.) Can't hire people with less than a C- in industry reputation. 3.) Can't hire people with less than a C- in psychology. 4.) Can't hire people with less than a C- in stamina. And yay, my backstory is done. Roster overview coming up, then the first card sometime this weekend. [/SIZE]

[Dragonmack]

Entertaining and ambitious so far. I will be interested to see what you do with the wrestling portions of the diary.

[d_w_w]

For those that have not tried the Cverse97 mod and that may not be aware of HGC's product and/or starting roster: Product: Key Features: Traditional, Mainstream Heavy: None Medium: Comedy, Cult, Risque, Modern Low: Hardcore, Daredevil Very Low: Realism, Lucha Libre None: Hyper Realism, Pure Starting funds: $50,000,000 (edited to be $42,000,000). [B][U]Starting Roster[/U][/B] [B]Road Agents:[/B] Archie Judge, Pat Deacon [B]Authority Figure:[/B] J.K. Stallings Jr. [B]Referees:[/B] Eugene Williams, Sam Sparrow[B] Announcer:[/B] Jason Azaria [B]Colour Commentator:[/B] Kyle Rhodes [B]Managers:[/B] Coach Dick Pangrazzio (manages the Vesseys), Karen Killer (manages BLZ Bubb)[B] Enhancement Talent:[/B] Crash Lewis (H), Troy Tornado (H) [B]Openers:[/B] Charlie Thatcher (H), Eléctrico (F), Super Joshuya (H) [B]Lower Midcarders:[/B] Dark EAGLE (F), Fumihiro Ota (H), Java (H), Tribal Warrior (H) [B]Midcarders:[/B] Cowboy Rick Dale (F), Giant Redwood (H), Grunt (H), Joel Bryant (H), Monty Walker (F), Mr. Lucha (F), Paul Steadyfast (H), Robert Oxford (H), Stink (H) [B]Upper Midcarders:[/B] Bryan Vessey (F), Demon Anger (H), Demon Spite (H), Dusty Streets (F), Peter Valentine (H), Romeo Heartthrob (H) [B]Main Eventers:[/B] BLZ Bubb (H), Dread (H), Larry Vessey (F), Liberty (F), Rip Chord (H), Sam Strong (F)

[d_w_w]

[CENTER][IMG]http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x92/d_w_w/HGC.jpg[/IMG] HGC Hollyweird TV Tuesday, Week 1, January 1997 Held at the Southwest's Gorski Ballroom [/CENTER] Matches announced: [QUOTE] Eléctrico vs. Romeo Heartthrob Dark EAGLE vs. Troy Tornado Dusty Streets vs. Paul Steadyfast Cowboy Ricky Dale vs. Tribal Warrior Liberty vs. Dread Bryan Vessey vs. Rip Chord[/QUOTE]

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[SIZE="1"] Predictions and comments are always welcome. I saw that someone else decided to always do faces on the left, heels on the right in their diary. I'm stealing that idea and running with it. [/SIZE]

[TheJoshRollins]

Eléctrico vs. [B]Romeo Heartthrob[/B] [B]Dark EAGLE[/B] vs. Troy Tornado [B]Dusty Streets[/B] vs. Paul Steadyfast Cowboy Ricky Dale vs. [B]Tribal Warrior[/B] [B]Liberty[/B] vs. Dread Bryan Vessey vs. [B]Rip Chord[/B]

[Irish Wolf]

Eléctrico vs. [B]Romeo Heartthrob[/B] Dark EAGLE vs. [B]Troy Tornado[/B] [B]Dusty Streets[/B] vs. Paul Steadyfast [B]Cowboy Ricky Dale[/B] vs. Tribal Warrior Liberty vs. [B]Dread[/B] Bryan Vessey vs. [B]Rip Chord[/B]

[Dragonmack]

[B]Eléctrico[/B] vs. Romeo Heartthrob [B]Dark EAGLE[/B] vs. Troy Tornado Dusty Streets vs. [B]Paul Steadyfast[/B] [B]Cowboy Ricky Dale[/B] vs. Tribal Warrior Liberty vs. [B]Dread[/B] Bryan Vessey vs. [B]Rip Chord [/B]

[Actarus]

This is very well written. Onto predictions: [B]Eléctrico[/B] vs. Romeo Heartthrob [B]Dark EAGLE [/B]vs. Troy Tornado [B]Dusty Streets[/B] vs. Paul Steadyfast [B]Cowboy Ricky Dale[/B] vs. Tribal Warrior Liberty vs. [B]Dread[/B] Bryan Vessey vs. [B]Rip Chord[/B]

[ShadowedFlames]

[QUOTE]After handling these issues, we laid out some basic guidelines for our upcoming stories and shows. We decided that I'd make my on screen debut on the [B][I][U]first episode in 2008[/U][/I][/B] of HGC Hollweird TV. We decided to shelf the discussion of my first opponent and storyline for the time being, as there other angles that we could get mileage out of first. We'd also use this show to move toward filling the various HGC titles that Stallings had ordered.[/QUOTE] Damn, talk about planning ahead.... :cool: Anyways, onto predictions and what-not: [B]Eléctrico[/B] vs. Romeo Heartthrob Dark EAGLE vs. [B]Troy Tornado[/B] Dusty Streets vs. [B]Paul Steadyfast[/B] [B]Cowboy Ricky Dale[/B] vs. Tribal Warrior [B]Liberty[/B] vs. Dread Bryan Vessey vs. [B]Rip Chord[/B]

[Nightshadeex]

I really like your back story, I'll be reading this sucker. It's about time I'm branching out from infinitywpi, J Silver, and BriFidelity. Eléctrico vs. [b]Romeo Heartthrob[/b] Dark EAGLE vs. [b]Troy Tornado[/b] Dusty Streets vs. [b]Paul Steadyfast[/b] [b]Cowboy Ricky Dale[/b] vs. Tribal Warrior Liberty vs. [b]Dread[/b] [b]Bryan Vessey[/b] vs. Rip Chord For the record, I prefer the opposite way, with heels on the left and faces on the right. Mainly because heels are supposed to be introduced first and then the faces, so the heels can get some heat so the pop will be louder for the face. Oh, and where is Giant Redwood? He's the man!

[d_w_w]

[QUOTE=ShadowedFlames;447237]Damn, talk about planning ahead.... :cool: [/B][/QUOTE] lol. That is some close reading - nice job. I should work my error into the backstory. Sam Strong takes a chair shot, goes bonkers and starts planning out 2008, much to Stallings and Campbell's dismay. [QUOTE=Nightshadeex;447321] For the record, I prefer the opposite way, with heels on the left and faces on the right. Mainly because heels are supposed to be introduced first and then the faces, so the heels can get some heat so the pop will be louder for the face. Oh, and where is Giant Redwood? He's the man![/QUOTE] That's a good point. Heels should be introduced first. I might switch it around for the next show. I just have to be consistent and avoid my in-game method, which involves selecting the winner(s) first. Oh, there will be plenty of Redwood - I've used him in some angles the first two cards and received surprisingly decent ratings. Unfortunately, he now sounds like Cartman in my head. Anyhow - thanks all - for the predictions and comments. Will finish the card and post it tomorrow when I wake up. Time for sleep.

[Liamo]

Eléctrico vs. [b]Romeo Heartthrob[/b] Dark EAGLE vs. [b]Troy Tornado[/b] [b]Dusty Streets[/b] vs. Paul Steadyfast [b]Cowboy Ricky Dale[/b] vs. Tribal Warrior Liberty vs. [b]Dread[/b] Bryan Vessey vs. [b]Rip Chord[/b]