WCW '94: War of the Thrones

[Beejus]

<p>War of the Thrones: Epilogue</p><p> </p><p>

</p><div style="text-align:center;"><p>The year is 2016. Twenty years have passed.</p><p> </p><p>

Harley Race watches as the WWF Network airs the final pay-per-view he had ever helped book for World Championship Wrestling. It all feels like such a distant memory, even though at the same time it's like it was only yesterday. Race even remembers the rousing speech that he gave, praising Sting, Vader, and Hulk Hogan for their roles in the show, as he walked out of that door for the final time.</p><p> </p><p>

Harley had left WCW, having put over Devon, someone who many had hot tipped to eventually spearhead his own promotion. He left because the constant running was getting too much for his 53 year old body. His time had come, and he was bowing out of the wrestling business.</p><p> </p><p>

And what a mess Eric let things become.</p><p> </p><p>

At least when Harley was helping, he never let WCW look <em>too</em> bad against the Kings of Wrestling. It made things more believable that way. Dustin Rhodes getting the World title was that icing on the cake, because it showed that WCW could have won the battle, which they eventually did.</p><p> </p><p>

But with the New Blood, Eric put those guys at the very top of the card and never let them take even a beatdown. They were the most protected wrestlers this side of Hogan – who left to go film a movie not long after the Bash, which opened up Bret being pushed to the top. The two year long buildup of Sting ended up as a footnote to the “war” that followed, and sure enough, it was only a short few months until Bret Hart was carrying the World championship. </p><p> </p><p>

The biggest thing, though, was that fans saw right through it.</p><p> </p><p>

All the actions that the New Blood employed – baseball bat beatdowns, spraypaint, being arrogant jerks – was all the things that had already been done by the KoW. Sure, these guys were younger and cooler doing it, and they certainly made WCW some big money in the short term. But long term, the fans realized that they had already seen this all before. And it got stale in a hurry.</p><p> </p><p>

The New Blood eventually just fizzled out, and by 1998, all the young talent that Harley had done his best to push who would have put WCW on the map far into the millennium? They were all under WWF contract. Men like Austin, Foley, Pillman, Vader, Dustin, Owen, and Flair all jumped ship once they figured out that they weren't ever going to be the stars of the show, and without the weight of older guys bringing cards down, they all flourished. </p><p> </p><p>

By the end of 2000, it was all a faded memory of the company that <em>could</em> have finally put Vince McMahon out of business.</p><p> </p><p>

Now, it's just an icon on their worldwide broadcasted network, where old timers and young kids can watch it as a historical factoid. “Hey, look at the time Hulk Hogan was a bad guy,” they say. “Hey, this is when Sting started dressing like The Crow,” they say.</p><p> </p><p>

But for Harley Race, it wasn't just a memory. It was his life. For those two years from 1994 until 1996, he could say that it was probably the greatest wrestling angle that he had ever experienced. And when he watched back on those old shows with his grandchildren, he could look at them with pride: because they were his ideas and ideals, with a lot of help from Eric, which had put World Championship Wrestling on the map some time ago.</p><p> </p><p>

The War of the Thrones has ended.</p><p> </p><p>

<iframe width="300" height="225" src="<a href="https://www.youtube.com/embed/TPkZ7bg5wsg?rel=0&controls=0" rel="external nofollow">https://www.youtube.com/embed/TPkZ7bg5wsg?rel=0&controls=0"</a> frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></p></div><p></p><p></p>

[Beejus]

<p>As this draws to a close, I want to thank you all for following me in this diary for as long as it ran. Over two years! That is so awesome to me that I've had people reading my story for that long! Hell, in that amount of time I went from having a few months long relationship to having a fiance!</p><p> </p><p>

I couldn't have done it without such a dedicated readership, I know I certainly bothered my woman about it every time I had a new idea or was having motivation issues. But it makes me proud all of the people who said that I inspired them in any way, shape, or form.</p><p> </p><p>

I hope to see you all in my next project, which will be a few weeks from now. That should let everyone read Bash at the Beach in full, and also give me a little break from writing <img alt="" data-src="//content.invisioncic.com/g322608/emoticons/cool.png.f00d2562b2c1d873a09323753efdb041.png" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /></p><p> </p><p>

Also, damn you/thank you to cps_1900 - no one EVER even thought of Rude until you figured it out! <img alt="" data-src="//content.invisioncic.com/g322608/emoticons/wink.png.686f06e511ee1fbf6bdc7d82f6831e53.png" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /></p><p> </p><p>

So in short, I just made this post to thank you all. Here's to more great dynasty ideas in the future!</p>

[packerman120]

Bra-f***ing-vo, my friend. Not many writers have a chance to go out the way they want, and even if WCW didn't have the greatest end, you still sent it off on a high note. Well done, Beej.

[The Final Countdown]

Don't have time to leave detailed feedback right now, but I WILL do it later. Right now, all I can say is bravo. Looking at the way everything came full circle here in what was really a two year long storyline, I have no problem saying this is my all-time favorite dynasty.

[smartman]

This was such an amazing diary with a great, amazing finish. Fitting that it came out the same day as the newest version of the mod came out for 16. Thanks for the wonderful, long, enjoyable diary, Beejus.

[SkipMartin]

Great show. Legendary dynasty.

[Uncrewed]

Holy S***! A great final PPV that really brought the whole story together. That epilogue gave me chills, I actually just got done reading The Death Of WCW a couple of days ago & it's the old saying: Life imitates art. Bravo Beejus! I can't wait until your next dynasty, whatever company that'll be.

[Satyr24]

Great way to end the series cant wait to see your next project

[Warhawk8492]

Thanks for the good memories following this great dynasty.

[Mootinie]

<p>That was a fantastic final show. I'm super happy it lived up to the hype and expectation that I had for it going in and thankfully it was much shorter than usual. <img alt="" data-src="//content.invisioncic.com/g322608/emoticons/smile.png.142cfa0a1cd2925c0463c1d00f499df2.png" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /></p><p> </p><p>

I called Bret Hart! Not as Sting, but I still called it! <img alt="" data-src="//content.invisioncic.com/g322608/emoticons/tongue.png.ceb643b2956793497cef30b0e944be28.png" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /></p><p> </p><p>

I'm delighted that you've put a lid on the two year story Beej and given it the send off that it needed. I know how difficult it's been for you at times but as others have said, the diary will live on as one of the greatest the board has ever seen and I just wanted to say thank you for sharing it with us.</p>

[The_CoC]

God tell me its not true.... the NEW BLOOOD???? Sting get your bat ready we need you once more.

 

I loved it Beejus, it was simply amazing. I can say this now that in a few weeks that I'll probably go back and read this entire thing all over again. The amount of memorable characters you created here Beej are awesome, no-one wrote Pillman like you.

 

Eric you messed it up didn't you.... I would love to see one day you or someone else pick this up again..... but with that said I honestly can't wait to see what you do next.

[TheBigBad1013]

If I had a hat I would be tipping it to you, Beejus. Such an amazing last show and a great ending to what has been my favorite dynasty to follow on here so far. I'm looking forward to your next project which I will, of course, be following.

[The Lariat]

<p>This was the first diary I read on this board, since someone on EWB linked to it. I've loved it ever since, and would continuously check back every once in a while to see what I had missed. And to see that show, the culmination of everything, it was simply beautiful.</p><p> </p><p>

My sincerest congratulations Beej. I'm eagerly looking forward to your next dynasty.</p>

[Dawn]

I have given you my opinion personally on Skype, but oh well. This is just too damn beautiful for me to not share my feelings in here. This was my favorite diary as well, with some of the best characters and the very best story I have ever read in the boards, and one of the very best I have read anywhere. The Kings, Pillman, Austin, The Horsemen, Jericho, Badd, Sting, Vader, pretty much everybody shone to a tee in this. I'm excited to see what the future holds for us, Beejus diary-wise. Congratulations and thanks for such amazing memories, my friend.

[crackerjack]

This was very, very great stuff, Beej. Glad to see it all wrapped up and to see WCW on top(even if they had a new challenge immediately). Can't wait for the next project!

[Hive]

It sure brings joy to my heart to see my mod being brought to life in such an imaginative, dedicated and well-crafted fashion. Well done! <img alt="" data-src="//content.invisioncic.com/g322608/emoticons/smile.png.142cfa0a1cd2925c0463c1d00f499df2.png" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" />

[pakonruff]

WOW!!!!!! What a great way to put an exclamation point at the end of a great story. I loved the cliffhanger with the "New Blood." Still sad to see WCW couldn't keep up the momentum that Harley Race started though. I guess you cant change fate. Excellent job Beejus!!!!!

[The Final Countdown]

-OK, right off the bat: I was super bummed to see that stupid runt Syxx win the US title. His Lordship was doing such a great job, and I couldn't understand why you'd put the belt on Waltman at the very end. Looking back now it was clever foreshadowing, not just for the end of the show but also the epilogue. Who cares if Regal's a great heel champ, because Waltman's from the New Generation, dangit!

 

-Poor Owen still couldn't get his big win here. One thing that I'm curious about here is how both of these guys slotted in with the New Blood era. The timing of Bulldog's arrival makes me think that he'd join up with Bret's group pretty quickly, and the epilogue made it clear that Owen wasn't getting anywhere and jumped back to the WWF. You'd think he would've been well taken care of with Bret having such obvious stoke though.

 

-Justice prevails! I still wish King Puma would've been joined by his trusty sidekick Prince Mo though.

 

-Naitch is taken out. I'd said that Flair winning the title would bring things full circle, but in a way this does the same thing. The Kings started by screwing Flair over, and on their final night as a group they did the same thing. I also feel rather stupid for not at least figuring out that it would a member of Team WCW that wouldn't be in the match, because OF COURSE Sting was going to be in it. I knew he'd get involved in the match in some fashion, because how could he not, so there's really no excuse as to why I didn't see this part coming.

 

-Stupid, gullible Kings. Makes sense that Randy would be the only one of the three to show any signs of second guessing. Roddy's used to being the one doing the plotting, but Macho knows all about Hulk's games. (Hulk was totally the heel at WMV, no matter how they tried to present it.)

 

-LOD > Demolition. That's really all that needs to be said here, even if a certain delusional member of the board can't see it.

 

-Harley puts over D-Von on his way out the door. Handsome Harley wouldn't have it any other way. Too bad Eric let everything go to hell once he left.

 

-Lex went out in style; with another poor promo. Never change, Package. Good thing Rhodes & Son were there to pick up the slack. Dusty is Dusty, and Dustin became a worthy successor to his dad's legacy in this game in a way that he never quite managed in real life. He might go down as my favorite character from this dynasty. Probably either him or Pillman, but I feel like Dustin's character arc was better down the stretch.

 

-Poor Vader. Not surprised by this, mind you. It was honestly the right call, and cements Giant as the new...well, giant of the promotion. He's another one where I'm really curious how he would fare in the New Blood era. You don't specifically mention whether or not he jumped ship before the end, and I could see him being one of the few younger guys who might still be used semi-decently during the ill-fated era.

 

-How sad is it that even with Hall and Nash, joined by a valet who just happened to be the most recognizable female in the WWF during this time, at the very PPV where the NWO formed in real life, I still didn't see the invasion coming? Poor Heat getting taken out in 8 minutes too and looking like chumps in the process. Hey--just like the real Outsiders!

 

-Ok, with War Games, skipping ahead to Hogan. Even though I saw his swerve coming before the show, you did a really good job making me doubt it at first with the way it was written. Kind of funny that Hulkamania returned on the same night it went away in real life. (But of course he left to film a movie not long after his "triumphant" return to the red and yellow. I'm going to assume it was Thunder in Paradise II: Electric Boogaloo, and the main villain was Ed Leslie.)

 

-Sting's eventual arrival into the match was fairly obvious after Flair went down, but it was still a great moment. It sort of reminded me of when he rappelled down at Uncensored '97 and beat the hell out of the nWo, which was so amazing.

 

-That Rude reveal would've been jaw-dropping for me were it not for cps figuring it out beforehand. It's great on so many levels too, with it being Sting who injured Rude's back beforehand. It makes all the sense in the world that Rude would go to such lengths to destroy him, and puts even more weight behind Sting holding the Scorpion on him for so long. I guess that's what you get for sprinkling one too many breadcrumbs along the way. Seriously, credit to cps for figuring it out though. You weren't obvious about it at all.

 

-Stupid Hogan trying to steal Sting's spotlight. Go away, you egomaniac. Wish Sting would've hit him right between the eyes with his bat.

 

-Flair and Double A showing up at the end was a nice shout to the past and all their history with Sting.

 

-Maybe it's just because he's such a scheming scumbag in my diary, but I've always felt like there was more going on with DiBiase here than it seemed.

 

-Bret turning up was a legit "OMG!" moment. Seemed like the setup for such an amazing story, but it was subsequently legendarily botched in true WCW fashion.

 

-That epilogue. When I first saw "WWF Network", I was like, NO! You were killing WWF in the ratings every week, you'd just come off a red hot storyline and you'd stolen most of their top guys and laid the foundation for what would've been another amazing story, so how can you expect me to believe that it all fell apart? But the more I thought about it, the more I came to see that that's exactly what WCW would have done in those circumstances, especially with Harley gone and Bischoff running the show. They had the exact same advantages in reality after BATB '96, and they did the exact same thing.

 

Such a great end to cap this masterpiece off. Thanks for such an entertaining read, Beejus! Enjoy your mini-break; I'll eagerly await your next project, whatever it may be!

[RKOwnage]

Dude, I fell out of reading diaries in general but I just read your final few shows and this was amazing. In the purest sense of the word. A bittersweet epilogue, but I love the touch of Bret coming in with the IC belt. And the Blind Guardian song obviously caps it off as only Hansi can. Phenomenal diary and I can't wait to see what you're up to next.

[Beejus]

Epilogue - Part Deux

 

God, the response to this diary has been great! Thank you all for the kind words, and especially for everyone being so on board for my next project. Hopefully you stay that way once you see what it will be

 

I was going to go through and highlight some responses, but to do so just feels like it'd be pretty cheap. Instead, here's a look into my booking mind for you all.

 

Originally, I had some plans that could have run this game until Starrcade 96. General apathy plus TEW16 being released put the kibosh on that, but the two things I had in my mind were as follows.

1. The big storyline finale War Games would not have been at Bash at the Beach but instead at the Great American Bash. WCW would have still won to force the KoW to separate (obviously) but their remnants would remain. Bash at the Beach would have seen Hollywood Hogan return to the yellow and red, but he would have done it by coming in as Brian Pillman's tag partner to vanquish Piper and Savage once and for all. Those two would have spiraled into a feud over clashing egos, which I feel is something that was always going to be bound to happen with the KoW. Hulkamania and Pillmania could possibly even have had a brief Tag title run, much like Hogan and Edge did in 2002.

2. Starrcade 96 or 97's main event would have seen Austin vs. Pillman for the World title, likely held by Austin to start. Not sure which one would have turned heel, but it probably would have been Brian again. So yes – it definitely was in my books to give Brian the title; but the way the game played out, Sting ending his two year chase by winning the belt was really the right ending.

 

Of course, both of those plans did not factor in the New Blood, because I didn't really have that in mind until about two weeks before the Bash when Bret Hart and Alundra Blayze both signed contracts with WCW. So, just like in my epilogue, the “WCW faithfuls” really were just pushed down the pecking order with the influx of more WWF guys. TFC mentioned that he always felt something was off about DiBiase, and I did too; what was off is that I never gave him the usage that I should have. But given I've been watching the WWE Network and seeing all the nWo stuff, I decided this was the moment that I could give to Ted. After all this time of being stuck with the comedy team, now he can become what he should have been all along.

 

I have many booking regrets, but I'm glad nobody seems to be holding those against me. I guess it really is the main event that truly matters I brought in so many guys that I wound up having nowhere for anyone to go. Their momentum reflects this, as only a bare few people have momentum that is worth anything. Even guys who I was pushing fairly strongly are decimated in that regard.

 

As for Bret Hart and the Intercontinental title… chalk that up to the inept AI of the game. Bret had agreed to leave in June – and they never had him drop the belt. And even better, even after he left, they still hadn't made a new champion. Love those floating titles, right? So with all that going on, I just had to write that in.

 

Oh, and since Smasher asked me specifically, I realized that I had forgotten to write this in. The other two members of the Sting Army, who won the US Tag belts? That is Sexton and Steele, of course. The LadyKillers would obviously have followed their mentor into the KoW. I did like that little bit of storytelling, actually. When Rick Rude showed up, he said how he hated Hogan, and that's why he didn't join the Kings. He also said that he was going to “toughen Sting up” but did so by pushing him further to insanity. Once Hollywood was gone, only then did Rude join the KoW, doing so by making a mockery of Sting, the man who had forced him out of the spotlight. It looks like he toughened Sting up just a little too much though. I was honestly shocked that it took so long for people to think of Rude as the fake Sting. So I was floating around the youtubes one day, when I stumbled upon

video. I just happened to be right around when Rude's injury period was over and his contract was coming up – the one where I had saved a few dollars by signing him to a no wrestling contract. I had signed him back to be able to wrestle again. Make sure you read into the description of that video for some really cool information about Rick's plans to come back, had he not died. Really makes me wish that life could have found it's way for him, because that would have been some awesome television if things had worked out.

 

Hey, TFC. Now it's your turn to end with a bang. Can't wait to see what you can bring to the table for your series finale!

 

Okay, so before I ramble on and on and on about this, I'm going to give you all a present. For sticking by me for the duration of the game. For anyone who so dares to look into the eyes of the beholder… here is the final save file from War of the Thrones.

> Click Here for Awesome <

 

You can all feel free to fire up a game, or use it to mold a mod for 16 if you wish. Have fun!

 

Now, if you look, you'll see that most of the guys I listed who left the company during the next few years? They all had years-long contracts with WCW. So how did they leave? Well, that's a little writer's trick, I guess you can call it. My head canon is that eventually they just went to management and were complaining, so they were given releases of their contracts ala The Radicalz.

 

So here we are, the end of the diary. It's been fun, everybody. Whoever leaves the thread last, make sure you turn out the light. I'm ready for my next endeavor – a new quest, if you will.

 

I'll be seeing you all again, real soon.

[Dawn]

May we never lose this diary again.