VWA- The Swiss Army Knife of Pro Wrestling

[thehellion87]

(Note: I couldn't find my previous diary, so here's a new one! Sorry, I just figured it'd be easier to start a new one rather than try to find a thread with just one post, since I'm new and it was in the abyss of waiting for approval anyway!)

 

ring, ring! ring, ring!

 

"Yeah?" I always hated my phone ringing at three in the morning, and this was no different. "Better have a fantastically good reason for calling me this late, AND DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW MUCH INTERNATIONAL RATES ARE!?"

 

"Nice to talk to you too, kid."

 

"Damn it, Randy, you of all people should know better." Randy Haute, my trainer and current head booker of VWA, was on the other line. I hadn't seen or heard from him in nearly three years since he'd departed for Switzerland, the land of neutrality and that really cool knife that turns into a can opener.

 

"Sorry, Joe. But hey, if you'd rather sleep and not hear the fantastic, amazing news I have for you..."

 

"Okay, okay. I'm listening."

 

"Good. Being a main event star and head booker at the same time is wearing me out. So I was wondering if you, my favorite student, wanted to take the booking job."

 

Now, I'd heard rumors that Al Thorp was hard to work with, so I really couldn't make fun of Randy for stepping down. "Sure. I mean, we need money, and Switzerland seems to be a decent place to live."

 

Without realizing, I'd put Randy on speakerphone, and woke up my girlfriend Kim, who was nodding her head emphatically and mouthing the words, "Take the job, seriously, because I have modelling contracts in Europe and it'd make things easier on us both." Which is quite a bit to mouth, and I sincerely applaud my lip-reading skills.

 

We hit the next flight out of the country, Kim catching up on her sleep since she'd been too busy listening to me and Randy going over the contract. I, on the other hand, was too jittery to sleep, both from nerves and the four cups of coffee I'd had that morning.

 

Upon landing, we were greeted by Albert Thorp himself, who certainly did look like a man with a bunch of cash to burn. While he looked my girl up and down a few times, Randy Haute rolled his eyes. "Mr. Thorp, she's taken. By your new head booker."

 

Thorp grinned, handing me an envelope. "Consider it an advance paycheck, it's enough to get you two a nice flat, plus...there's enough money in there to hold you out while you get on your feet and adjusted here. By the way, Randy highly recommends you, both as a booker, and a performer." He walked off, and I glared at my trainer.

 

"You told him I was an experienced booker?"

 

Randy laughed nervously. "I might have embellished a bit. But you're damn good in the ring, which will help since our other ring general is starting to show his age. I mean, Griffin can still go, but he's about five years past his prime. Think he'll be a road agent for us sooner or later."

 

I could only stare open mouthed at the limo that pulled up. Randy and Thorp put our trunks in the back, and Kim literally had to pull me into the limo before I snapped out of it. I can't believe it, I'm in Switzerland, home of that awesome knife, neutrality, and the Pope's guards...the ones with the funny pajama-looking uniforms. And Thorp gave me full control over his company, from the hiring to the firing and everything in between.

 

Oh God, I hope I'm ready for this.

[thehellion87]

(One week later.)

 

I stared at the office as Al showed me around a few days ago.. Kim had already appointed herself as my secretary, which was nice, because I don't have to pay her. At least, I hope I don't.

 

Randy was sprawled out on my sofa, as usual, and he was tapping a notebook on his leg in rhythm to the Emperor that was playing on my stereo. "Never took you for a black metal guy, kid."

 

"I'm a metal fan, you know that. And quit calling me kid, I'm 23 now." I took the notepad from him and read over it. He had everything pretty much ordered out, from prospects to people to consider hiring in the future.

 

"Okay, so you, Sebastian, and Walker van Cleer are my main event." Easy enough. "What can you tell me about my upper midcard guys?"

 

Randy nodded. "Cub Balowicz is a legit boxer from Poland. Killer left hook. He's showing signs of being a great wrestler in his future. As is most of the roster really. Sebastian and Walker obviously, too. Griffin's getting up there in age, and it's starting to show, but he can still wrestle with the best of us. Great technical guy, you'd really like working with him. As for the Modern Day Warlord, well, he's a big dude. That's about all I can say for him."

 

"You said the midcard had a lot of prospects?"

 

"Oh yeah. Everyone except the Wild Child looks like they'll go far. I don't know yet if the Child will end up as one of our prospects, though, but you never know. He's nuts though. Acheron's about a foot bigger than you, and probably won't realize his potential until he learns that dropping people on their heads is bad. Landon Mallory, well, he's a phenomenal athlete. Matthew Macks is another one to watch out for, along with Jasper January. The lower midcard has a couple too, Gunther Kinski and the Night Spyder. Kinski's a tenacious dude, good brawler. Night Spyder...well, he's a prick. Plain and simple. I wouldn't push him till he figures his crap out. Even one of our openers, the Moonsault Master, is a prospect. Got a really good moonsault for someone that big. Oh yeah, Xavi's a good prospect too. Crowd absolutely tears into him though."

 

Okay, so the thought of having that many prospects on my roster was good. I liked having prospects because it made my job easier figuring out who actually had talent and who was expendable. I figured the first thing I'd do was call Xavi in and give him a gimmick change to see if the crowd responded better to him.

 

"Hey, Randy, call Xavi and tell him to be here as quick as he can. I'm going to try a gimmick change and see if it turns the crowd around."

 

A few minutes later, and the small Spaniard poked his head into my door. "You rang?"

 

"Yeah, take a seat. I'm just working out the first card right now."

 

Xavi nodded, sitting where Randy had sat a few minutes before. "So you're the new guy in charge?"

 

"Yup." I set my notes down. "So, Xavi. What's your gimmick?"

 

Xavi grinned. "I call it the cheeky monkey. I come out in a monkey outfit."

 

Gotta hand it to him, he looks proud of it. But no wonder the crowd hates him. The gimmick sucks! "Ah. I...I see. Xavi, have you ever wondered why the crowd hates you so much?"

 

He sat there for a moment before it hit him. "You don't think it's my gimmick? I worked hard on it!"

 

"I think it is. That's why we're going to give you a bit of a makeover. How well can you dance?"

 

"I'm Spanish."

 

"Good answer. You're now a flamenco dancer, who really enjoys practicing his moves at the most inopportune time."

 

He laughed. "I like that. We'll see if the crowd does too."

 

He left, and I finished the card up for The Revolution Begins, set for the third Saturday in January. I had the main event and secondary main event planned out, already.

 

Randy would face van Cleer to decide the number one contender at the next show, while Sebastian would face off in a non-title bout against the mighty Pole, Cub Balowicz.

 

All that remained was to plan out the midcard, but I could hear Kim knocking on the door, holding a bottle of good wine. I waved her in, and we began to celebrate the fact that we were no longer broke as sin, and that everyone seemed to really like us so far.

 

"Whatcha got so far, Joey?"

 

"Cub and Sebastian in a non-title bout and Randy taking on the Dutchman in a number one contender's match. The midcard and stuff I'll work out in a bit. Goddamn this is good wine."

 

"Xavi was trying to dance with me in the hall. Did you have anything to do with that?" She narrowed her dark brown eyes, her long black hair framing her slender body.

 

"His new gimmick. Guess he wanted to try it out."

 

"A flamenco dancer? Okay, but I'm not going out there. I'm too busy being your secretary and being hit on by Albert!" She giggled and set aside her wine. "I know you're busy...I just wanted to celebrate with you. Dinner tonight?"

 

"Definitely."

 

A kiss and a few minutes later, she left me to go back to work, and I hashed out the midcard. I wasn't sure who needed the push to take over for Griffin when the time came, but I was sure Griff could last a few months longer. Acheron was shaping up to be my number two prospect, but he still wasn't safe enough in the ring to warrant the push. Plus, he would have had to fight for a spot with the Warlord and the angry Polish kickboxer of doom up there. And I didn't want to risk him hurting anyone.

 

Drumming my pen on the table, I scribbled a couple ideas. One had Griffin battling the Warlord, while the other had Landon and Griffin taking on Acheron and the Warlord. That was scrapped when I realized that Al hated tag matches. Randy had said that a lot of the roster was kind of low on momentum, which wasn't unusual for a company this small, but it didn't make my job easier.

 

Damn. Okay, looks like one match is set. Three way between Griffin, Landon, and the Warlord. No. Don't think Al would like that much either. Okay. Landon and the Warlord, then me and Griffin. If Landon looks good in that match, I should be able to figure out what to do next. I could always figure out a midcard belt though...give those guys a reason not to lose all hope. Plus, Griffin and I should be able to put on a good technical match.

 

That was four matches down, and half my roster unbooked. A few minutes later and I'd decided to put Wild Child in a match with Macks, and Kinski in a match with Night Spyder. I didn't know how well Gunther would work with the cruiserweight, but that was what the first card was for: Figuring this kind of thing out.

[thehellion87]

Matches so far:

 

Matches so far for The Revolution Begins, to be held the third Saturday in January.

 

Gunther Kinski vs. The Night Spyder.

Wild Child vs. Matthew Macks.

Griffin vs. Joey "The Italian Hellion" Consigliere

The Modern Day Warlord vs. Landon Mallory

Randy Haute vs. Walker van Cleer (Number One Contendership)

Sebastian Koller vs. Cub Balowicz (Non-title match.)

[QFresh]

Wicked start, shall be reading.

 

Gunther Kinski vs. The Night Spyder.

Wild Child vs. Matthew Macks.

Griffin vs. Joey "The Italian Hellion" Consigliere

The Modern Day Warlord vs. Landon Mallory

Randy Haute vs. Walker van Cleer (Number One Contendership)

Sebastian Koller vs. Cub Balowicz (Non-title match.)

[rdarnz]

Another VWA diary... Cool!

 

Gunther Kinski vs. The Night Spyder.

Wild Child vs. Matthew Macks.

Griffin vs. Joey "The Italian Hellion" Consigliere

The Modern Day Warlord vs. Landon Mallory

Randy Haute vs. Walker van Cleer (Number One Contendership)

Sebastian Koller vs. Cub Balowicz (Non-title match.)

[thehellion87]

The night of the show came, and beforehand I'd called everyone in for a quick meeting slash peptalk extravaganza. Okay, maybe extravaganza was pushing it too far, but it was still a meeting slash peptalk.

 

"Alright, guys. We're going to show Europe that the VWA BELONGS HERE. We may be small, but we WILL grow and we WILL show EWA and UEW that we're not to be underestimated. You guys are a good bunch of wrestlers, now go out there and prove it to them. Make a splash. Let the revolution begin!"

 

I pulled back the curtain. "It's showtime, guys. Don't let me down. Go out there and have fun. And just remember that the crowd is going to be extremely vocal tonight, so work with it as best you can."

 

A few minutes later and we could hear Dick and Charlie welcoming the crowd to Bremen Hall, explaining that there were going to be lots of changes, and that their patience over the next couple months would be much appreciated. The crowd cheered, and the show started, Dick and Charlie wondering if this meant an appearance by Albert Thorp.

 

Almost on cue, Al walked out to cheers. He took the mic, then made his announcement. "As of tonight, I am placing myself as commissioner of VWA. You'll be seeing a lot more of me!" Short, but to the point. He schmoozed with the crowd a bit more to fill a couple more minutes before Gunther and Spyder went out there. (Rating: E)

 

Oddly enough, Spyder didn't cause any trouble. Well, yet, anyway. Maybe he was trying to make my first night with the company easier.

 

The first match of the night was Gunther and Night Spyder. It was a terrible match, made even more so by Fitz not performing well as ref. And Night Spyder looked rather pissed off by the reception he got from the fans. Gunther went over in about eight minutes. Damn. Not a good start. (Rating: F+)

 

Up next, we'd had a planned interview with Jasper, but before it could properly get underway, Acheron beat him down. Wow, Acheron is one scary individual. Better make sure Jasper's alright after the show, he took a few good shots there. The crowd seemed to prefer watching Acheron beating people up backstage rather than being in the ring. (Rating: F+)

 

Our second match was a ladder match between the Child and Macks, beginning with Wild Child playing up his maniac gimmick by imagining hearing voices and having a nice conversation with himself. Or maybe he really is an unmedicated schizophrenic. (Rating: E)

 

Unfortunately, the crowd didn't take well to our resident insane maniac, and brutally jeered him. And as only he can, Wild Child didn't take any notice. The match ended in just over six minutes, with Matthew retrieving the item after the Child missed a suicide dive from the top of the ladder. That was definitely a holy crap moment for the fans. Both guys were off their game, though and didn't seem to click very well. (Rating: F+)

 

Next up was myself and Griffin. It was a pretty good match, we had the fans dialed in. It ended in just under ten minutes when Griff got me into a figure four. Not a bad debut on my part, and we got a decent reception from the other guys when we made it to the back. (Rating: E+)

 

Landon and the Warlord were next. In exactly eight minutes, the big guy took down Landon with a big boot to the face. Landon did his best, but it was still a fairly bad match. Lived up to expectations though. Landon came backstage, frustrated and complaining that he'd been off his game. The Warlord didn't seem to care that the crowd hated him, though. (Rating: E-)

 

The semi-main was on the same level as my match with Griffin was. The crowd was solidly behind them, and it ended in twelve minutes when Randy pinned Walker with his feet on the ropes. Our new number one contender would be Randy Haute, and both guys got a decent reception in the back before the main event. (Rating: E+)

 

Finally, Randy popped out to scout Sebastian for his match with Cub Balowicz. It seemed to distract Sebastian, but he ended up winning anyway in just over twelve minutes, with Randy standing on the ramp and staring him down to end the show. (Rating: E+)

 

Gunther Kinski vs. The Night Spyder.

Wild Child vs. Matthew Macks.

Griffin vs. Joey "The Italian Hellion" Consigliere

The Modern Day Warlord vs. Landon Mallory

Randy Haute vs. Walker van Cleer (Number One Contendership)

Sebastian Koller vs. Cub Balowicz (Non-title match.)

 

The show itself was successful, and we celebrated by spending the rest of the night having a post-show party.

 

Overall Rating: E.

 

(Thanks to you guys that're reading!)