CZCW: To Infinity And Beyond

[Casper]

PROLOGUE

 

 

The Departure

 

 

“Eisen, you Son of a Bitch!”

 

He didn't even have the balls to tell me face to face. I was sat at my desk working out the travel plans for the next PPV when 2 security guards arrived and told me to pack my things as I was fired. To Jerry's credit he came running over as soon as he could. The decision had just been made to can me and he wanted to break the news to me gently, but his Father had just buzzed security and sent them in.

 

 

I had given SWF everything. I had managed Bowen and taken him to the top. People think it is easy being a manager; it isn't. To be honest, it was clear that my role had to change. Runaway Train no longer needed me and, at 45, his best years were long past. That and I'd taught him too well. Heck, he could almost string a sentence together by now. But, I had ideas. The SWF was crying out for a new heel stable. TCW had shown what they could with the Syndicate, but that sort of angle was tailor made for the SWF. With me at their head, it could have been ratings dynamite. I pitched the idea to Eisen and he told me he loved the idea. Looking back, that was probably what caused my demise.

 

 

Perhaps I should have realised what was coming. That fat hack Peter Michaels had brought in the likes of Hannah Potter to manager. All tits and ass and useless on the mic. Shortly after my meeting with Eisen, Michaels had sacked me from the booking team and left me managing travelling arrangements and hotels. I was a threat to him and he wanted me out.

 

 

When I was walking out with my boxes I could see Richard, Peter and Eric all sat around in their opulent boardroom laughing as I left. At least Jerry was one decent man amongst a pit of snakes. I shook Jerry by the hand, accepted his large pay off cheque and walked out.

 

 

The Offer

 

 

I didn't have to wait for long before Cornell contacted me. His agent contacted me the day I left SWF. Apparently Tommy wanted to speak to me himself, but he was busy negotiating a new PPV contract. They offered me the 3<SUP>rd</SUP> announce seat alongside Azaria and Rhodes. It would have been a great gig. Rhodes was solid, but dull and with me playing the colourful heal role, it would have taken off. In fact, Cornell had just emailed me the draft contract; a 3 year written deal. It was less money than I was on before, but still a good offer and great exposure for me. I went to the hotel bar to have a drink and give it one last look over before signing.

 

 

… Is this seat free?

 

Why is it that people in hotel bars feel the need to try and make conversation? Of course the seat was free, heck, I was just about the only person there, although the fact that I had sat at a booth at the far end of the bar would indicate to most people that I was not in the mood for the company of strangers.

 

 

… Looks as if you are considering an attractive offer there. You'd be silly not to sign it...

 

I was about to make a snappy response, when it dawned on me that the pestering voice was familiar. I tore myself away from the paperwork to look up and see that it was Cliff Anderson, owner, announcer and sometimes booker of Coastal Zone Championship Wrestling. I had met Cliff a couple of times on the road when the SWF was down in the South West. I didn't know him well, but he was a known as a good guy.

 

 

CZCW was a strange contradiction of a promotion. On the one hand they had a cutting edge modern product, with young and exciting workers. On the other hand, Cliff seemed like an owner from the Territorial Era. He had steadfastly stuck to his power base in the South West and, beyond a brief Mexican tour, which had died a death when Ultimate Phoenix jumped ship, he seemed content with this.

 

http://i138.photobucket.com/albums/q266/teakle/diary/CliffAnderson.jpg & http://i138.photobucket.com/albums/q266/teakle/diary/TheGuru2.jpg

 

Cliff, you should have said it was you. Sit down, please.

 

 

 

You're a long way from home, Cliff. Of all the gin-joints... well, you just happened to walk into mine?

 

 

 

Oh, I'm not going to pretend it is a coincidence, I heard about you being released and I was waiting for you to have your meeting with Tommy before I came over to speak to you myself. I guess that's the contract for you to sign right now.

 

 

 

Well, you're almost right. As you seem to already know the deal, this is Tommy's contract, although I've never actually met with him.

 

 

 

Well, running a fed. like TCW and Main Eventing, can't leave him much spare time. Personally, I've always run at a more relaxed pace. I can run CZCW and then go home at the end of the night to my family. You don't have a family do you?

 

 

 

No. I've never had time.

 

 

 

And apparently you've never had time to move out of this hotel. It must have been difficult travelling all over the country, week in and week out.

 

 

 

Indeed. Now did you have a reason for coming here other than to remind me what I've been missing out on?

 

 

 

Ok. To business then. What you no doubt have in front of you is a lucrative offer of work from one of the leading companies on the planet, worth a hundred grand or so. It is safe work, which will have you in the announce booth or managing a monster heel again. Work you know you can do. Work that will have you travelling the country until Tommy decides that you've become stale and you move on again. It is undoubtedly the safe and sensible option. You should sign it.

 

 

 

But, I sense you are going to offer me an alternative...

 

 

 

Ah yes, that was why I travelled all this way, wasn't it. Answer me this. Our matches are first rate, but the public don't come to watch us?

 

 

 

Because it's not about what goes on in the matches, well not all about that anyway. If it were, the fans would be watching college wrestling. To be successful you need to be able to tell stories. Your matches are great, but no-one cares about the wrestlers because you do not tell stories.

 

 

 

You're right. Of course you are. To cut to the chase, I want you to take the book at CZCW. No, that's not correct really. What I want you to do is take the book and control of the direction of the company entirely. I know what people say about me; I'm a dinosaur. I've been running a regional promotion over a decade after the death of the territorial system. I'm almost 50 and I want to see this promotion become a big deal whilst I am still able to enjoy it.

 

 

 

So why don't you do it yourself? You're a good booker and you know how to run a business.

 

 

 

Because we need to change. I know how to book good modern wrestling matches, which will remain the core of the promotion. You know how to talk the fans and make them care.

 

 

 

And why should I accept your offer when, as you say the offer from TCW is the sensible option?

 

 

 

Because you need a home...

 

That was the last I saw of the TCW contract and the beginning of the next chapter in my wrestling career.

[Casper]

Place holding post.

[Casper]

OOC

 

Ah yes, the initial week and yet another new diary. For however long this lasts, it is meant as a tribute to all the persistent diary writers out there, who add so much to the enjoyment of this game, in particular to Infinity and his unique take on CZCW, which he has truly made his own.

[Casper]

Chapter 1 – 1 : The Beginning

 

 

It took just a couple of weeks to get things together and make the move down to the South West. Cliff was good to his word and had rented me a house in a decent suburb. Now I had recharged my batteries it was time to start work. We'd never even talked about pay; this wasn't about the money.

 

 

Ok, so here's the position. We are based almost unheard of outside of the South West, where we can pull in about 1,000 fans for the level of shows we have been running, which are run once per month in the Grissom Auditorium. We have $100k in the bank and tend to tread water running as we are.

 

 

 

Are we known at all outside of here?

 

 

 

We could pull in a couple of hundred fans in nearby territories such as the Mid South or the North West, but not enough to make a profit. We had a couple of brief tours in Mexico, but we're no more popular there. We stopped that little experiment when both Ultimate Phoenix and Black Eagle both left us, but not before we'd lost a lot of money.

 

 

 

The economy is in the worst depression since the 1920's and it's getting worse. The wrestling industry is struggling a little, but picking up gradually.

 

 

 

Ok and you have the main belt on Fox Mask. The Xtreme Title on Masked Cougar. Oh yes, and the tag belts are with Al Coleman and Marc Speed.

 

 

 

So that's were we are. What are your plans?

 

 

 

Well, the problem is that you are too small. I admire your principles, but you need to spread out from the South West as you have stalled completely. You need big stars to improve in the South West, but the moment you get the stars, they will be poached by bigger feds.

 

 

 

The plan is to expand to Cult over the next 18 months. This should allow us to build popularity and, just as importantly, funds to prepare ourselves. We will move from running 1 show per month, to running 3 shows per month to begin with. Maybe more as we begin to grow. We will be running shows in the North West and the Mid South with the roster split between the 2 new areas to prevent them burning out.

 

 

 

How can we afford to do that?

 

 

 

First off, the monthly show in the South West will be marketed more to get more bums on seats. There will be a couple of roster amendments and we'll keep costs down to a minimum in the tour shows until they begin to become more popular.

 

 

 

Have you any plans for new signings?

 

 

 

Yes, but nothing too adventurous. The bulk of the roster will stay the same. I will cut some of the dead wood. I'll see what I can do about bringing in some new faces, but nothing much will change in that regard.

 

 

 

Good. Remember, a lot of roster have been with me for years. I will not allow them to be treated badly; I'm sure you can sympathise in that regard.

 

 

 

Ok Cliff, I'll play it nice. And what are you looking for from me.

 

 

 

Here is what I want from you. You were brought in to make us grow, so that is what I want from you. We are currently ranked 18<SUP>th</SUP> in the world and if we fall below this then you have failed entirely and that will be the end of it. Also, if you are growing the promotion, I want to make sure we are safe financially so I want to see us reach $200k in the black.

 

 

 

Moving on, this is a respectable promotion, so you'll have to move heaven and earth to try and get me to sign pay cheques for anyone who has had problems with the law. Finally, we are a young promotion who rely on good wrestlers; I don't want to see any wrestler without a good grasp of the basics or who are over 40.

 

Now, I can't really complain about anything Cliff has tasked me with. He's given me free reign to move the company on how I see fit. I understand that CZCW has a history, so I'll change things gradually for now. The main plan is to get the fans used to the workers talking and some storylines. I make it be known via the website that more of the show will now be taken up with mic. time, which is reasonably well received.

 

 

Also, the tour shows will be made available for free on the website so the fans can keep up-to-date with what happens and this will allow us to run some basic storylines.

 

 

SUMMARY – JANUARY 2010

 

 

Economy: F

 

 

Industry: D-

 

 

Cash: $100,000

 

 

Popularity

 

 

South West: D-

 

 

North West: F+

 

 

Mid South: F+

[QFresh]

I'm all about CZCW, so I'm already interested in your plans for it. Great backstory, that douche Rich Eisen, just firing Guru like that. You've got a reader.

[infinitywpi]

My name is Infinity, and I aprove this diary.

[Casper]

http://i138.photobucket.com/albums/q266/teakle/diary/CZCW-1.jpg

 

North West Tour – January 2010

@Club X

Attendance: 83

 

 

Hey Boss!

 

Hey yourself Remmy. How are things?

 

Not bad. I just wanted to say how interesting it'll be performing to a crowd that would struggle to fill a battle royale!

 

Cheeky *&%@*$@!

He had a point though. I just wish he'd not actually smoke a reefer in plain sight outside of the back of the venue. I grant that it was technically not in breach of the no-smoking backstage policy, but that's besides the point! To be honest, if I was the one who booked a show at Club X – what could I expect...

 

 

Jackpot Jordan v Remmy Skye

 

 

In a bout that had a good crowd and good action, Remmy Skye defeated Jackpot Jordan in 11:45 by pinfall with a Skye Diver.

 

 

Rating: D

 

 

After the match, Remmy Skye grabs a mic and begins to shoot.

 

 

It's good to be here in the North West with all you new faces. How you enjoying the show?

 

Now, as you will soon begin to find out I am the heart and soul of the CZCW. I am electrifying, thrill taking, sick bumping adventurer! Woooo! Now, there is 1 wrestler here tonight who really needs to stop taking himself so seriously. Insane Machine. Seriously, for someone who calls himself “insane” you have to learn how to party man.

 

Look, I'm nothing if not a generous man. Come out with me tonight after this show man. We'll have a drink, have a smoke and sample all the delights that Club X has to offer.

Rating: C-

 

 

Masked Cougar © v Jonnie Perez - Non-Title

 

 

In a bout that had a good crowd and some decent in-ring action, Masked Cougar defeated Jonnie Perez in 7:19 by pinfall with a Cougar Pounce.

 

 

Rating: D

 

 

Insane Machine vThe American Flash

 

 

In a bout that had a good crowd and some decent in-ring action, Insane Machine defeated The American Flash in 7:53 by pinfall with a Termination Kick.

 

 

Rating: D+

 

 

Insane Machine picks up a mic and responds to Remmy's previous comments.

 

 

Are you lecturing me, boy? Look at you, you are a joke. If you had any respect for yourself or this business you would make an effort. You do not train, you smoke and drink. You are a joke!

I am the epitome of what it takes to be successful wrestler and I will crush punks like you.

Rating: D

 

 

Donnie J v Jake Idol

 

 

Jake Idol walked out to the ring accompanied by Jackie where to take on the Main Eventer and previous champion Donnie J. The bout received a good crowd reaction. Donnie J was clearly the class act of the match, but Jake didn't disgrace himself. Jake held on for some time when he was defeated in 15:15 by pinfall with a Death On Miami Beach.

 

 

Rating: D

 

 

OVERALL RATING: D

[Casper]

OOC

 

The above brief outline will be how the tour shows are presented. The main end of month shows will have a more detailed write up. Please excuse the attempt at shoe-horning in the feuds, which is necessary to start the ball rolling.

[Casper]

JANUARY 2010

 

 

Comings and goings

 

 

Now I am in charge I can see the merits of not sacking someone face-to-face. It's a horrible thing to have to do. However, I don't think that is what held Eisen or Michaels back in my case.

 

 

I eventually man up and call Jakki and Little Miss Sunshine into my office and give them the bad news. How do you tell people that they are being sacked as they are neither talented or pretty enough? Well, certainly without mentioning anything near the truth. There was a lot of “it's not you, it's me” and “it's just not working out”. Pathetic, but at least I broke the news to them in person.

 

 

I also chose to let Dylan Sidle go. He's a decent guy and a solid Road Agent, but Cliff and I can cover his duties between us easily enough and he adds little to the show.

 

 

Let's hope bringing in my main, well only, new target helps pick up the mood.

 

 

http://i138.photobucket.com/albums/q266/teakle/diary/Acid2.jpg & http://i138.photobucket.com/albums/q266/teakle/diary/TheGuru2.jpg

 

 

Acid, it's a pleasure to see you.

 

 

As it should be. I'm in between tours in Japan, so I've got some free time, otherwise I wouldn't usually consider a promotion this small.

Must hold my tongue...

 

 

Well, we may be a small fed, but we have a solid base here and it would give you the chance to shine back in the States. I consider that with the new direction were are taking here, this could be a great opportunity for all of us.

 

Yes, yes, great opportunity. How much are you going to pay me.

 

Well, we pay our Main Eventers $1,000 a show.

 

That's nowhere near enough.

Must hold tongue. Must try...

 

 

Ok, you do come with a proven track record and I am confident you will be headlining our shows soon enough, so I could, at a push, go up to $1,500 per show, but that really is the top line. We just cannot afford more.

 

You must be joking? I'm worth much more than that. On top of that I want $1,500 as a downside, a Main Event title run, 15% of all merchandise sales and for you to pay my travel to and from Japan for every show.

 

Get out.

That could have gone better.

[BigDPW]

I am liking the format and backstory. I will be reading along.

[Jaded]

Really liking this... great title, apart from anything else!

 

And Remmy Skye vs Insane Machine should be awesome.

[Casper]

http://i138.photobucket.com/albums/q266/teakle/diary/CZCW-1.jpg

 

Mid South Tour – January 2010

@Colorado Springs Bar

Attendance: 100

 

 

Al Coleman v James Prudence

 

 

In a bout that had a good crowd and some decent in-ring action, James Prudence defeated Al Coleman in 12:51 by submission with a Prudential Pain Plan.

 

 

Rating: D-

 

 

James Prudence demands a mic and stays in the ring.

 

 

Fox Mask! What do you think you are doing with my belt? Even someone as stupid as you must know that you are the inferior human specimen. I mean look at me. I am gorgeous. I have the stunning Rita on my arm whereas you walk around here with a dead cat on your face. Fight me at Revolution and I will be the new champion.

 

Rating: D+

 

 

California Love Machine v Mikey James

 

 

In a bout that had a good crowd and some decent in-ring action, Mikey James defeated California Love Machine in 7:53 by pinfall with a Scything Side Kick.

 

 

Rating: D-

 

 

Air Attack Weasel v Frankie Perez

 

 

In a bout that had a good crowd and good action, Frankie Perez defeated Air Attack Weasel in 8:17 by submission with a P-Clutch.

 

 

Rating: D+

 

 

Fox Mask headed into the ring and grabbed a mic. before his match started:

 

 

You think insulting me will get you a title match? Have you no respect for the Zone?! I am the 6 time champion and you will show me the respect that I and the rest of the roster deserves. No James, I will not fight you.

 

Rating: C

 

 

Fox Mask © v Marc Speed

 

 

In a bout that had a good crowd and good action, Fox Mask defeated Marc Speed in 11:38 by pinfall with a Fox Hunter.

 

 

Rating: D

 

 

OVERALL RATING: D+

[Casper]

CZCW – REVOLUTION – 2010

 

 

Quick picks

 

1. Insane Machine v Remmy Skye
   
2. Air Attack Weasel v The American Flash
   
3. Masked Cougar © v Snap Dragon v Jake Idol – Coastal Zone Xtreme Title
   
4. Shoot Club © v Going Coastal – Coastal Zone Tag Team Titles
   
5. Frankie Perez v Jackpot Jordan
   
6. Donnie J v Mikey James
   
7. Fox Mask © v James Prudence – Coastal Zone Championship

The monthly show, which will be much more detailed, will be up in a day or 2.

 

I thank everyone for their kind comments so far.

[Jaded]

Quick picks

 

1. Insane Machine v Remmy Skye

2. Air Attack Weasel v The American Flash

3. Masked Cougar © v Snap Dragon v Jake Idol – Coastal Zone Xtreme Title

4. Shoot Club © v Going Coastal – Coastal Zone Tag Team Titles

5. Frankie Perez v Jackpot Jordan

6. Donnie J v Mikey James

7. Fox Mask © v James Prudence – Coastal Zone Championship

[QFresh]

1. Insane Machine v Remmy Skye

2. Air Attack Weasel v The American Flash

3. Masked Cougar © v Snap Dragon v Jake Idol – Coastal Zone Xtreme Title

4. Shoot Club © v Going Coastal – Coastal Zone Tag Team Titles

5. Frankie Perez v Jackpot Jordan

6. Donnie J v Mikey James

7. Fox Mask © v James Prudence – Coastal Zone Championship

[Timber]

Quick picks

 

1. Insane Machine v Remmy Skye

2. Air Attack Weasel v The American Flash

3. Masked Cougar © v Snap Dragon v Jake Idol – Coastal Zone Xtreme Title

4. Shoot Club © v Going Coastal – Coastal Zone Tag Team Titles

5. Frankie Perez v Jackpot Jordan

6. Donnie J v Mikey James

7. Fox Mask © v James Prudence – Coastal Zone Championship