The Times They are A-Changing - a NYCW Story

[Sagitta]

[B]Early January, 2008 [/B]The wind was howling across the Verazzano Narrows as an old Ford pickup made its way across from Staten Island. Traffic was light – the weather was bad enough to even keep the New York City natives huddled inside against the driving weather. Eventually the car made its way down towards Brighton Beach, and swung in to the parking lot of a small office building, and a brawny figure climbed out, tugging the collar of his old jacket up to protect him from the cold before he slipped inside the building through the unlocked front door. He hung his coat from a rack by the door – a rack that was already spilling over – and walked down to a door at the end of the hall. When he opened it, a wrestling ring could be seen in what was obviously a small gymnasium. The low set of bleachers along one wall were crowded with some two dozen people. The man was born Derek Bradford, but in this building everyone just called him the Stomper. He was the owner of New York City Wrestling, and the men on the bleachers were his employees. When he spoke, his voice was even, almost quiet. “I'm glad most of you have made it despite the weather. I wanted to just fill you all in on whats been going on.” He didn't look very happy as he continued. “As you know, we've been in a bit of a rough boat financially these past few years. As such, I've been trying to find a solution that would help us stay afloat, and perhaps even start turning a bit of a profit. How many of you remember The Avatar?” The younger faces in the crowd looked clueless, but the man known as the Whistler perked at the name. “I remember him. Wore a mask, didn't say much. Worked hard, but just couldn't get anywhere. Didn't he get into computers or something after he left the business?” “He did. He invented software that allowed people to have little pictures of themselves in various programs. Icons or something they call them. Made a killing.” “What about him?” “Well, he didn't forget us. He cut us a check for $200,000.” A murmur arose among the crowd at that. Two hundred grand almost doubled the bankroll for the small promotion. “Further, he's paying for an advertising blitz with the goal for us to hopefully snare a TV contract sometime this year.” The murmur rose to a small roar. When it died down, someone asked the inevitable question. “What's the catch?” "Black Hat is stepping down from the book and Avatar's kid will be stepping up in his place. Avatar's been living out west, he sent me a couple tapes of some of his kid's matches. I was impressed. That said, a new book and the hope for a TV contract means I had to make some tough choices myself." One of the younger guys piped in now. "No insult boss, but we ain't exactly got what you'd call a TV friendly product." Stomper grimaced at that, and nodded. "As I said, tough choices. Hopefully in a month, we will. Now if you don't mind waiting, Avatar's kid should be here..." He was cut off mid sentence as the door opened, and a figure poked its head in the door and glanced around. A decidedly feminine voice echoed off the walls of the small gym as the roster of NYCW fell silent, staring. "Well. It looks like I found the right place. My name's Kate."

[ReapeR]

That was very interesting in it's simplistic approach. Thought the Avatar tie in was cool. I'll be reading.

[Sagitta]

Introductions were made, and Kate Avatar finally settled down to outline her plans. “We need to adapt ourselves to the goal of eventually hitting television. That means something to draw the viewers in, which means angles and a bit more flair. I'm not saying we need to turn into SWF lite, heaven forbid, but we need to steal at least a little of what they've been doing and apply it. We'll lose some of the more die hard fans, but hopefully between the image makeover and the advertising blitz we hope to saturate the city with over the next month, we'll gain that number and more in new viewers.” The group on the bleachers exchanged glances, and everyone kept sliding looks towards the Stomper (who was keeping his face expressionless). “Now, everything has to be approved with Mr. Bradford...” (a low murmur from the group at the use of Stompers proper name) Kate paused, wondering what she did wrong, before regaining her composure and continuing, “Everything has to be approved with Mr. Bradford, but what I'm hoping we can do is add a little bit more flair to the product. We won't abandon he core values – Mr. Bradford was adamant about that, and I agree, but we can certainly build on to that base. Those with any acting talent or experience using the mic, let me know as I'll need you for some ideas Mr. Bradford and I have been kicking around.” “I... I think thats about it. If anyone has any ques...” Stomper stood up, and made a gesture for everyone to quiet down. “Ms. Avatar. There is one more thing. Your father had an idea and I thought it was a good one. Its actually one of the reasons I agreed to this, besides trying to avoid unemployment.” Kate arched a brow at that, before the Stomper continued. “I saw your work with AAA and some of the other groups out there. It made me realize that theres a possible untapped market here in the East. I want to eventually add a woman's traditional title to the organization.” Black Hat Bailey blinked at that, “Dear lord... I think someone's stolen the Boss!” Laughter erupted at that before a glare from Stomper cut it short. The rest of the meeting went well enough – Kate was introduced to everyone present and they got to know her a bit more. While it was obvious that they were still being very cautious with her, by the time things wrapped up for the day they were at least comfortable with her presence.

[Sagitta]

[I]OOC: I've made a few minor edits to the NYCW data for this diary. I upped NYCW's popularity to the minimal level for a TV contract. This is to simulate the effects of the advertising campaign. I added $200,000 to the funds to hopefully offset the blood loss that I know is going to occur from having to scramble to not let the above mentioned popularity increase go to waste. I changed the product to allow a women's division. In game, I played with the product settings as best I could within the Stomper's limits before he nixed things for altering the product to much. The 'new' settings are: Traditional: Key Mainstream, Modern: Medium Realism, Hardcore, Pure: Low Comedy: Very Low Rest: None Match Intensity: 40% Match Danger: 30% This combination should hopefully allow for some sponsorships to roll in as well as the fed is now rated as 'quite favorable' to get them. One final 'edit' of sorts was my adding local UHF/VHF stations for Canada and the US, which is who I'm going to aim for contracting with if possible.[/i]

[Sagitta]

[QUOTE=ReapeR;479979]That was very interesting in it's simplistic approach. Thought the Avatar tie in was cool. I'll be reading.[/QUOTE] Thanks. I'm going to try to stick with a narrative rather than a 1st person style as I'm a bit more comfortable that way. I have a number of ideas that should either equal success or an opportunity to watch me narrate as NYCW goes down in flames. Either way, it should be interesting.

[Sagitta]

[quote]Interoffice Memo: From the Desk of the Stomper Kate, I figured I'd throw some small restrictions on you before you went out and started hiring for us. I know its becoming a rage these days, but I don't want you to hire any spot monkeys or cruiserweights. Its not our product, and I'd like to think people would still appreciate what we've always offered. Also, I don't want you to hire anyone who can't at least protect himself and those he works with. They should know the basics about safety before you hire them on, please! Don't extend anyone you deem unsafe either. We need to stay healthy if we want to get a TV deal at some point. Finally, don't let anyone overtake us in the national rankings. We want to be headed upwards, not down. - S[/quote] [I]OOC: Apparently the Stomper likes to play things safe, as he effectively eliminated most of the high risk movers with his restrictions. Luckily the only real tricky one will be keeping the rankings up, as that means not only not dropping myself, but making sure 4C, APW, PSW, MoSC, etc don't *climb*. This could prove ugly, since that means I'll have to try to resort to trying to out-schedule them without getting out-scheduled myself. The three higher ranked promotions are AAA, UEW and CZCW, so I'll just have to hope I overtake them to give myself some buffer room.[/I]

[Sons of Kohral]

booooo modern I'm always interested to see someone elses take on my favorite promotion, although, Kate's from Staten Island? Booo again. Respect for putting NYCW's office in my hometown, in fact, about 15 minutes from where I live. Brighton Beach is a pretty interesting place for having the roster meet up. They must've made deals with Russians to get that gym...

[Sagitta]

[QUOTE=Sons of Kohral;480014]booooo modern I'm always interested to see someone elses take on my favorite promotion, although, Kate's from Staten Island? Booo again. Respect for putting NYCW's office in my hometown, in fact, about 15 minutes from where I live. Brighton Beach is a pretty interesting place for having the roster meet up. They must've made deals with Russians to get that gym...[/QUOTE] Actually, she's an import from, "Out West" :D I put Stomper on SI because that just seems like the kind of place he'd be from.

[Sagitta]

Despite the somewhat smooth initial meeting, anyone hanging out at the NYCW offices the next day would have heard anything but a smooth conversation. Kate's voice, loud, but contained, and Stomper's loud and explosive both broke past the thin door separating the Boss's office from the rest. The following is a breakdown of what could be heard by anyone standing outside in the hall. “Are you crazy, we can't afford to hire that many people!” “Able to or not, we have to, have to. If you want your precious company to survive, you better take a look at these numbers.” “What about them? We got Spike, we got Sammy. Hell, Dave and the machine are still young!” “Yes, and thats it. Everyone else is 35 or more. Having veterans is great if you want to train up the young guys, but you need young guys in the first place!” “Ugh. FINE. Hire anyone you want to, just make sure you use your daddy's money when you do. If we drop under Two hundred grand, I'll just consider this whole damned experiment a flop. Fair?” “Fair. Trust me, Mr. Bradford, you won't regret...” “Stomper. Just call me Stomper, OK, everyone else does. Using my name just makes me feel...” He trailed off at that, the conversation dropping to normal levels that couldn't be heard past the door.

[Regis]

Got another reader - hope it goes well!

[Sagitta]

[QUOTE=Regis;480695]Got another reader - hope it goes well![/QUOTE] Thanks. I should [I]hopefully [/I]have the first card up at some point today.

[Sagitta]

The flier as it appeared before the big show. As can be seen, the somewhat radical (for NYCW) changes are not even mentioned, with no mention either about any new stars. It looks like it will be business as usual for the company. For anyone wanting to make predictions. Heels to the left, faces to the right... Land Mass vs Whistler (#1 Contender Match) Wiley Coyote (c) (Wiley Steinway and Coyote Dynamite) vs ?? Lee Wright (c) vs American Machine for the Tri-State Title "Black Hat" Bailey vs Steve Flash (c) for the NYCW Empire Title [IMG]http://calendrae.com/TEW/2008RushHour.jpg[/IMG]

[Regis]

[B]Land Mass[/B] vs Whistler (#1 Contender Match) [I]This is mostly wishing - I want to see someone do something with Land Mass other than job him out constantly.[/I] [B]Wiley Coyote[/B] (c) (Wiley Steinway and Coyote Dynamite) vs ?? [I]Taking the title off the champs on the first show is probably a bad idea.[/I] [B]Lee Wright[/B] (c) vs American Machine for the Tri-State Title [I]Whoever Lee loses to, AM doesn't have the skills necessary to carry the belt.[/I] "Black Hat" Bailey vs [B]Steve Flash[/B] (c) for the NYCW Empire Title [I]Because he's Steve Flash, that's why![/I]

[Sagitta]

[CENTER][B]McGaw Arena[/B] Saturday, Week 4, 2008 Attendance: 2,297[/CENTER] The first of three dark matches kicked off with Rock Downpour and Marv Earnest calling the action. [B]Bradford Peverell [/B]vs [B]Grandmaster Phunk[/B] The first saw new signee Peverell come out and lock up with Grandmaster Phunk. Thankfully it was a dark match, as the two workers looked completely out of sync and put on a dreadful match due to an absolute lack of chemistry. Its a sign of how good both men are that even with the bad chemistry they pulled off a D match. Phunk wins with a Phunkensteiner at 6:12. (D) [B]Honest Frank [/B]vs [B]Sgt Bubba Lee West[/B] Unlike the prior match, this one was just bad but thankfully dark-match short. Frank drops West at 3:14. (E+) The third dark match showcased two tag teams, the [B]Highwaymen [/B](Grease Hogg and Lead Belly) vs the thrown together pair of [B]Elijah Harris [/B]and [B]Madman Boone[/B]. The match was short but decent (considering) and ended when Harris pinned Grease Hogg at 3:45. (D) This is when the show proper began, and it did so with the [B]Stomper [/B]coming down to the ring and grabbing a microphone. [COLOR="Red"]“As some of you may have noticed, we have some new members in our locker room.” He didn't sound very happy about the fact. “Point is, since you numbnuts out there all decided that you wouldn't come out to our shows, we ran out of money and had to get outside help. Thanks to you, I only control 50% of my own damned company. The rest now belongs to some b....”[/COLOR] He's cut off as his mic goes dead, and Kate Avatar appears at one of the entries, dressed in a sharp (but low cut) business suit. The crowd is silent as they have utterly no idea who she is at first. [COLOR="Red"]“How charming. The rest belongs to me and my business interests out west in California.”[/COLOR] This brought a smattering of boos from the more die hard fans as she sauntered catlike down towards the ring (again, to the confusion of most of the die hards as the sexiest item they'd seen to this point in a NYCW ring was Steve Flash). After she gets in and circles the Stomper a few times, looking him over, she just smirks. [COLOR="Red"]“Go get yourself a seat, Stomper. You'll just be watching this one tonight.”[/COLOR] Stomper looks unsure of himself, as this sort of disrespect normally would have warranted an ass kicking, except the one doing the insults is female – and she obviously is using that protection. He backs down before Kate turns with a smirk and joins the announcing team. While the crowd still isn't sure of her, they did enjoy the interaction and the fact that Kate can wield a mic. That, or maybe they just prefer looking at her over the Stomper. Either way... (C+) The next segment is a brief video stating that due to injuries sustained out of the ring, [B]Sammy the Shark [/B]and his partner [B]Rodger Dodger [/B]had to vacate the tag titles, and for everyone to wish Sammy a seedy recovery. (E-) [I](OOC: I screwed up and thought Wiley Coyote were tag champs and didn't catch my blunder until after I'd started the show, hence the vacated titles. Oops!)[/I] [B]Playboy Jake Sawyer [/B]and [B]Land Mass [/B]make their way to the ring next, and cut a quick promo against the Whistler stating how they were going to destroy him in the upcoming match. In truth, it was PJS talking, and Land Mass just looking threatening behind him, but it worked. (D-) [B]Land Mass [/B]with [B]Playboy Jake Sawyer [/B]vs [B]Whistler[/B] After the brief promo, Whistler's music hit (again to the crowd's surprise, as worker music was another new addition to the show) and he came running down to the ring and the match got under way. Surprisingly, Land Mass took the upper hand almost right away and battered Whistler about the ring before dropping him with a Ten Ton Avalanche at 6:14. It was obvious throughout the match that Sawyer and Land Mass were made for each other, as his antics heightened the match tremendously and made up for Land Mass's utter lack of skill. (E+) [I](OOC: Great chemistry for the big guy and his manager! Woo hoo!)[/I] Land Mass is celebrating, and preparing to do the customary 'beat the crap out of his fallen opponent' schtick when the lights in the arena flickered and went out. The sound of a clock ticking could be heard for about 30 seconds over the confused banter of the commentators before the lights came back on, with Whistler still down from his prior beating and Land Mass face first in the ring, a distraught Playboy Jake screaming for someone to get down to the ring and help his client. (D-) Once Land Mass and Whistler came to and were helped out of the ring, [B]Wiley Coyote [/B]came down (again, to music much to the pleasant surprise of the crowd) and cut a promo challenging anyone in the back to come out and face them. Kate reminded everyone that this was a title match for the vacated tag titles, so whoever wanted a shot had best get out quickly. (E) Two plaid-clad men came running from the back, followed again by [B]Playboy Jake[/B], and lit into Steinway and Dynamite, kicking off the match. [B]The McWade's[/B] vs [B]Wiley Coyote [/B]for the NYCW Tag Team titles. This match could have been much, much better, except Dallas McWade had no chemistry with PJS, and both men seemed to not put much effort in. Coyote Dynamite takes the titles in 9:01 when Wiley hit Dean with a Steinway Highway to end things. (D-) [I](OOC: This match was like the opposite of the Land Mass match. Go figure that Lummox vs Whistler was better than two established tag teams...)[/I] The cameras cut to the Stomper, who's entering his office backstage only to find a note pinned to his door. He scans it, and frowns, before stepping inside but not before casting a furtive look behind him. (E+) The next match was for the Tri-State Regional title, and again the 'poor chemistry' curse kicked in. [B]American Machine [/B]vs [B]Lee Wright [/B]© for the NYCW Tri-State title. Lee and Machine went back and forth for 13 minutes before Lee thankfully ended things with a Wright Stuff to retain. (D-) [B]Black Hat Bailey [/B]vs [B]Steve Flash [/B]© for the NYCW Empire title. A quick segue into the next match featured the always dependable Flash taking on the veteran Black Hat in the best match of the night, despite Black Hat seemingly being off a bit. Flash hits a Flash Bang at 12:41 to end the match. ( C ) Flash is celebrating his victory, playing up to the crowds when... ( C ) ...the lights go out again, and again the sound of a clock ticking can be heard before the sound of a struggle can be heard in the ring. When the lights come back, Black Hat is looking scared, and backing from the ring as Flash is laid out cold as the show ends. (C-) Final Rating: D [I]Booker's Notes: Not half bad considering I tried focusing on the existing roster as much as possible for this show. Land Mass and Playboy Jakes chemistry is likely to be a godsend as it opens the big goof up for far more possibilities than I had before. I had issues with a number of the newer members not wanting to job against the established roster, which no doubt hurt the show a good deal. I'm probably going to switch up how I report each show as well, until I find a style I'm comfortable with. I doubt they'll stay this detailed, but I wanted the first show to be a bit more descriptive. Oh yea, I have to add more storylines, as the ones I used apparently weren't enough. In hindsight, I didn't use the 'mystery attacker' story as the antagonist never revealed himself. I'll have to clarify that a bit with the next show. Hopefully I can snag a TV contract come February to speed things up a bit.[/I]

[Sagitta]

The day after Rush Hour saw a flurry of activity in the NYCW offices, as word started trickling in from the various wrestling sites about the show. Stomper was in an unusually chpper mood as he caught Kate in the hall. “We got good reviews! I'd forgotten what that felt like! This could work out after all!” He paused at seeing Kate's frown. “What is it?” “Coyote Dynamite.” “Aw, hell, what did he do this time?” “He started gossiping about Bubba Lee this morning, and they probably would have started swinging if they hadn't been pulled apart.” “Yea. He can be a bit of a dink at times. Did you talk to him yet?” “No, I figured it would be better if you did.” “Probably a good idea. I'll go have a chat with him and try to get him to behave.” Stomper shook his head and walked away before Kate called back. “Oh... and congratulations on the reviews.” Stomper shot her a thumbs up over his shoulder before vanishing into the locker room to read Dynamite the riot act.

[Sagitta]

For general release: Monday, Week 1 February, 2008 In an effort to project an image more in line with the restructuring of the company, NYCW has released a new logo. [IMG]http://calendrae.com/TEW/NYCW.jpg[/IMG]

[ReapeR]

I'm liking this. Also, nice logo. Keep it up. I'll be reading.

[Sagitta]

February started slowly, but was hit with an infusion of drama at the end of the first week when Whistler knocked on Kate's office door. “Come in... Whistler. Always nice, what can I do you for?” Kate flashed him her charming smile, and Whistler glanced away. “I... um. I'm retiring Kate.” “What? When?” “Now, if possible. Look, I'm old. The ring... this modern twist to things, I just can't keep up! I've been meaning to hang up my boots for a while now, and this just kind of spurred me to action. I'm healthy, thats something most guys my age in this business can't say.” “I see. I guess I can't blame you. Any ideas what you want to do?” “I'd like to stick on, maybe help out backstage. If you're adding more stories in, I guess you could always use someone for the role of 'old guy'.” He flashed her a grin at that. “I suppose we could. OK, I'll let Stomper know, if you haven't told him already. If you change your mind, we can always use you in the ring, to...” Whistler just nodded, and looked thoughtful. “Thanks. Keep me posted if you get any ideas for me. If you need me, I'll be at home with my grandkids.” Kate watched as the big guy turned and walked out, and her smile turned to a slight frown. She hadn't factored in retirements in her plans, but with this roster, she supposed she should come to expect them.

[Sagitta]

With less than 3 weeks to go until the first show in March, the roster scrambled to prepare. Fliers were printed, a handful of new contracts signed – after all, a steady flow of talent would be needed to use against the main roster of grizzled veterans – and seemingly a thousand other things dealt with. Finally, March came, and the card was released a week prior to the show. [quote][B]Thursday LIVE at 11:35 PM on WVHF, New York[/B]! A 15 Woman Battle Royal for the debuting Ladies Traditional Title Lee Wright © vs Bradford Peverell for the Tri State Regional Title The Return of The Sting (Roger Dodger and Sammy the Shark) vs Wiley Coyote © (Wiley Steinway and Coyote Dynamite) for the Tag Team Titles. Black Hat Bailey vs Steve Flash © in a rematch for the Empire Title And More! Stay Tuned after the 11:00 news to see us make news of our own![/quote]