RELEASE: Cornellverse 1997 v2.0 / CV97

[Derek B]

DOWNLOAD LINK version 2.1 - https://www.sendspace.com/file/ai0y5n

DOWNLOAD LINK 2.0 multisave sim to January 2015 (90Mb) - https://www.sendspace.com/file/24q450

DOWNLOAD LINK version 2.0 - https://www.sendspace.com/file/zj86my

 

Version 2.1 contains a few small tweaks but nothing too significant. The most noteworthy are a few tweaks to some workers to improve their gimmick skills and some changes to TV Networks to improve their range/size.

 

The save game is an 18 year sim from January 1997 to January 2015, just in time for 2015 to roll around in real life. The world is very different from the default Cornellverse and has been simmed with Worker Generation set to Low (except in 1997, where it was set to max). The file has saves from January of 2000, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2013 and 2015... so you can take a look at any point along the timeline to see how good someone was at almost any point and change anything you might want to see happen differently. I generally recommend players to play this mod with New Worker Generation set to the lower end of the scale and I think this sim shows why that is a good idea. With so many workers becoming active even without new workers generating, the world fills up with quite a lot of people. This in turn leads to a lot of companies opening, particularly in the USA and Canada since they are where companies open first. This has led to something of a bias for good workers to be in those areas and has kinda hurt Australia and Europe in particular. But the world is an interesting place... Wolf Hawkins is once again a hugely talented performer, among the elite in the world by 2015 alongside Jacob Jett and Fox Mask. For a long time Liberty was one of the finest high flyers in the world before he hit Time Decline, while the world in general has seen some interesting developments, most notably RPW being basically the #1 company in the world these days, though SWF are still up there. BHOTWG dominated much of the early going in the sim, winning a lot of awards before NOTBPW took over, with the class of 2001 being particularly key to their rise to the top. OLLIE have also been incredible in their rise to fame in Mexico, being a major player in world wrestling now too. It's good fun, be sure to take a look at a couple of different save points. The Generated Workers and Regenerated ones boosted the overall quality of the talent pool in the world and it's awesome to see them competing with default Cornellversians too. Check out the Power 500 for more info there.

 

As always though, if you see anything that doesn't look right, let me know so that I can fix it. I'm happy with the mod overall but there are always things that can be improved upon.

 

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0. CONTENTS

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0. Contents

1. Scenario and Overview

2. Installation Instructions

3. Recommendations

4. Permission to Other Modders

5. Future Plans

6. With Thanks

 

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1. SCENARIO

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http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c33/DerekB83/overview_zpsda5a9d3c.png

 

This is the CV97 V2.0 release for TEW2013.

 

The scenario is set in January 1997, shortly after the debut of HGC in North America to be the first major competition to the SWF. Also in America is the East Coast Wars, with 4 different styles of promotion fighting it out for supremacy on the East Coast in a battle that DAVE historically won thanks, in part, to the debut of Nemesis. One of the changes to this version is that Nemesis actually starts on the DAVE roster (though isn't supposed to have debuted) and so he will have a huge effect in the war with PPPW, RPW and XFW.

 

In Japan PGHW have been taking the country by storm over the last 6 months, bringing new stars to the forefront and mounting the first serious challenge to BHOTWG in a long time. GCG is once again in a rebuilding phase as the debut of both PGHW and HGC has seen them raided for talent while BHOTWG themselves are riding the momentum given to them by their young figurehead Tadiyuki Kikkawa and a ridiculously talented Junior division featuring legends like Elemental, Elemental II and Optimus.

 

Around the world there are small promotions, each with their own unique challenges and styles. The only area without it's own promotion is Australia, but the available workers in the region has increased and all game areas have enough workers to create a new promotion in them, with some regions being capable of holding companies as large as cult sized, though most with only the star power to realistically create a good regional company. There have been a lot of veteran talent imported from That 70s Mod and stats have been scaled to be more in line with the default Cornellverse standards, meaning a lot of stats have been scaled back and youngsters will now debut with 0 popularity unless they have a good reason to have more.

 

All in all, I'm hoping it's going to be a lot of fun to play as everyone has to be built from the ground up it you want to make them a star. In sims I've run both HGC and SWF have managed to maintain National level size after a few years, which bodes well for the long term stability of the mod. BHOTWG and PGHW have done the same in Japan too, which is cool. So have fun with this, I hope it works out well for you and I've not just lucked out with my tests so far.

 

 

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2. INSTALLATION INSTRUCTIONS

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Step 1: Before you do anything, go to the main game editor -> Create Database. Call it whatever you want but I'd call it "CV97" for ease of use.

 

Step 2: Take the files you have downloaded and use winzip or winRAR to extract them. You should then a folder containing the following ;

 

+ CV97 (folder): This is the data, paste this into the location you created CV97 before and it should be ready to play.

+ Banners 1997 (folder): Add the contents of this folder to your Pictures -> Default -> Banners folder.

+ Logos 1997 (folder): Add the contents of this folder to your Pictures -> Default -> Logos folder.

+ People 1997 (folder): Add the contents of this folder to your Pictures -> Default -> People folder.

+ Helpful Documents (folder): You can ignore this for now.

 

With all of these images added you should have pictures for every worker and company in the game that doesn't come with the default Cornellverse. If you have followed these instructions and the pictures don't show for any reason, use the editor to go to Edit Database -> Database Info -> Picture Folder... you should just need to change this to "Default" as the game may have set it to "CV97", which can happen when you create a database in Step 1.

 

With all of this done, you should be able to fire up the game and get playing. Huzzah!

 

 

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3. RECOMMENDATIONS

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I don't think anyone ever reads this bit since it's all going to be personal preference anyways, but if you want to play this as a historical mod I'd suggest the following settings

 

+ New Worker Generation (OFF until about 2017)

+ Worker Regeneration (OFF until about 2013)

 

The Helpful Documents folder has details of all the workers set to debut in the future, with at least two workers debuting every month for more than 20 years. However, since this would take away the fun of workers coming through your dojos and would miss out on the massively improved new worker generation features, turning on regens might not be a bad idea right from the off. In particular this could be fun to watch Mexico unfold, as a lot of veteran talents were added there specifically to encourage some second and third generation lucha talent and it's cool to see them spawn and go on to success.

 

In general I also suggest playing with Deaths and Injuries set to high (wrestling is a tough business) and new relationship generation on a low or medium setting as it's always good to encourage some fun things to happen, but setting it too high can end up making for a slightly strange gameworld.

 

 

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4. PERMISSION TO OTHER MODDERS

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Since I'm always getting asked about using this as a base for other mods and stuff, I'm going to say this here.

 

"This mod and everything within it is free for all modders to use as they wish. My only limitation is that you do the same with your own mod too."

 

Feel free to give me credit if you want, I don't care. As long as you enjoy this, any use of it in other mods is a credit to what I've done and is enough for me.

 

 

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5. Future Plans

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There are always little things that can be improved upon and added all the time, and with Cornellverse updates in the future I'm sure there will be little things that can be added. But as of now, I'm happy with the way the universe plays out and I'm not planning any major changes for the future.

 

That said, you never do know what the future holds and I'm excited to see what people do with this mod. I hope you all enjoy playing it as much as I do, it's definitely a favourite of mine now too after many years of working on it and making the Cornellverse a richer, deeper place.

 

 

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6. With Thanks

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I always lose track of everyone I mean to thank because I'm so terrible at noting things down. Adam Ryland always gets the most credit for creating the Cornellverse and TEW in the first place, a universe I find so compelling that I not only make a historical version of it for each TEW but that also stops me from playing real world mods. He also puts up with all my modding questions and lets me help make TEW too, so thanks to him for all his patience in listening to me and my strange ideas.

 

Thanks to all the players of the mod too. Without you guys I'd no doubt have stopped making this ages ago, as the sheer amount of work that goes into this would be more than I'd ever do for just myself. Thanks to your input, your feedback and enthusiasm over the years, you've pushed me to keep making this better and better, which has helped me to enjoy TEW even more over the years than I otherwise would have. Guys like praguepride, foolinc, Kamchatka, PFElton, Unregistered and so many others have helped in so many ways, both big or small.

 

Thanks especially to the entire team of That 70s Mod. You guys have put together an incredible TEW mod and I've stolen so much of your fantastic work for this mod here, more than ever before. I just hope you guys don't mind what I've done with some of the creations you put together, I know that some of them were probably destined to become stars and I've broken them... similarly, some of them were probably meant to be jobbers and have become something more, so hopefully I've done them justice for you.

 

Thanks to Kamchatka for allowing me to make such liberal use of his fantastic art work, the dude is awesome. Thanks to Sockpuppet for the freedom to use his injury mod, which is so good that I've intergrated into the mod over the default Cornellverse injury mod. Thanks to Mammoth for creating the original version of the gimmick file, which I have also evolved into my own file too, integrating the original Cornellverse file with the updated one. Thanks also to Boltinho for use of the Cverse XL, which is an excellent mod in it's own right and has been integrated into this as a lot of Future Companies.

 

Thanks also to the fans and superfans who have actually offered me gifts for all the work I've put into this. I just do this for fun, so to be offered any kind of reward is extremely flattering!

 

And once again... there are so many people I want to thank and I'm so bad with names. You all know who you are even if I don't, so I hope you all have great fun with this mod and all the possibilities that exist within it. Thank you.

 

- Derek B

[Derek B]

70s and 80’s Wrestling

With the Streets Family

 

Recorded October 26th 1996

 

Interviewer: “Welcome to Wrestling Special Videos and the latest in our series of interviews with the stars of professional wrestling. You join me, Robert Greene, with three very special guests who need no introduction if you happen to be a wrestling fan. But just in case, I’ll let each of these guys introduce themselves as only they know how.”

 

Sid: “They call me Sid the Kid, I may be the youngest son of this son of a gun over here, but when it comes to wrestling, I’m the best the Streets family ever produced. I’ve got dad’s charisma, my older brothers grappling skills and a whole lot of daredevil spirit of my very own. That SWF World Heavyweight title will be mine!”

 

Dusty: “I’m a four time SWF World Tag Team champion, son of a legend, brother of a future champion and one of the finest wrestlers to ever come out of the great state of Texas. And no matter what you hear from these two, never forget that I’m the smart one. These guys may have a big mouth, but fights are won as much with what’s between your ears as it is with your muscles.”

 

Rocky: “People call me The Living Legend. I’m a long time wrestler, former owner, former booker and former tag team champion. I’ve worked my way from the bottom to the top the hard way, fought for everyone in every arena I’ve ever been in to get past those bad guys. Hell, if you don’t know me by now you probably never will. I’m Rocky Streets and if you cross me then you’re walking a real rocky road towards trouble… been a while since I’ve said that…”

 

Interviewer: “It’s always good to hear you say it, gives me chills every time I hear it. But to get down to business today, I’m here to ask you a few questions about your favourite sport and mine, the wonderful world of professional wrestling. And as with all good stories, I got to start with the start. Rocky… what got you into wrestling?”

 

Rocky: “You know, I’ve been asked this loads of times over the years and I never do quite know how to answer. Back when I broke into the business, it was a different world. Wrestling was real back then, at least as real as a pre-determined fight could ever be. Texas is tough country to grow up in and the wrestling industry is even tougher. It just so happened that I had a bad habit of getting myself into fights that I shouldn’t oughta be able to win, but I kept on winning them. I had a little amateur training in school, though I was never much of a scholar myself, and my high school coach put me in touch with a pro wrestler that most people have never even heard of, a guy by the name of “Dangerous” Dan McGruder. My good old dad, may he rest in peace, didn’t like it but I had to do something after I dropped outta school and being tough was all I was good at. And I’ll tell you this for free, son… Dan trained me and trained me hard. These days I’ve got arthirtis in almost every joint you could name, I got some cracked ribs that never did heal proper, my nose whistles if I breathe through it too hard cos of how many times it’s been broken, I’ve got aches in places I never used to know I even had places and doctors say that my knees are so wrecked that it’s a medical marvel that I’m even able to walk and STILL I don’t hurt as much now as I did while Dan was training me. That guy beat the tar out of me for months on end, stretched out every single one of these arthritic joints on an hourly basis and did his damnedest to make me quit before I was even allowed to get into a wrestling ring. Some of the kids these days step into a ring these days and think they’re a wrestler cos they can do a backflip onto someone.. they wouldn’t have lasted a day back then. Dan taught me how to be tougher than I’d ever been up to that point, mentally and physically, and most folk I’d fought would admit was pretty damn tough already. After one hunrded and seventy four days of this, he done realised I wasn’t gonna quit on him and started teaching me how to work too. So I guess you can say I just kinda fell into it, being tough and getting myself into trouble was all I was good at and pro wrestling turned out to be the perfect home for a guy like me.”

 

Interviewer: “Dusty.. Sid… same question to you guys.”

 

Dusty: “It’s never been much of a secret that I always wanted to follow in my dad’s footsteps. The first thing I remember in my life is watching my dad on TV, beating down some villain at the Ranch [of San Antonio] with ten thousand fans hanging off his every word afterwards, cheering his every movement willing him to beat the other guy down. And while dad and I may have our differences, I don’t think he’d disagree with me when I say that getting into trouble was something I was always good at too. Being the son of a famous pro wrestler, especially in Texas where everyone has to be tough, comes with it’s own challenges. But yeah, I got into the business because of dad and I’ve never regretted it. He blazed a path for me and I hope I blazed it that little bit further myself thanks to the training I got from dad and some of the more patient guys on the Texas roster at the time.”

 

Sid: “It might come as a bit of a surprise but I never wanted to be a pro wrestler when I was a kid. I’d see my dad getting busted open on TV regularly, getting attacked by these huge, tough, scary guys and I was just like WOAH! I don’t want that to happen to me. And as I grew up I saw Dusty getting into all these fights too and getting hurt by these kids who were twice as big as me and I was like WOAH! I’m just not into this whole thing. But whether I wanted it or not, I ended up getting attention for who I was. I wanted to be a pro athlete of some kind… I wanted to play football but I never was much of a team player and just seemed to get in the way more than help. So I went through the list… baseball, basketball, lacrosse, everything… too much teamwork for my liking. For a while in my early teens I got really into swimming but I was too big to be able to go far with that. By time I was fourteen these two were both wrestling in the Texas Wrestling League, all over the TV every week and I found myself wanting to do something to impress the girls. Something to get noticed better than wearing a speedo and finishing third in high school swim meets. And the very day that I heard that dad had taken over the Texas Wrestling League from Clint Wayne, that was the day that I knew I had to become a wrestler. I asked dad what I had to do and he agreed to help train me, if I was serious.”

 

Rocky: “It was a strange day that one. Never did think you’d have caught the bug, but you stuck at the training. I know I wasn’t as tough on either of you guys as Dan was on me, but the rest of the boys sure made sure you were serious about becoming a wrestler. Your mom wasn’t pleased either, thought you were going to head to college and get yourself a good career. Stupid kid followed his old dad instead.”

 

*Rocky slaps Sid around the head*

 

Sid: “Dad, watch the concussion. I’m still not medically cleared from it.”

 

Rocky: “Sorry kiddo, keep forgetting about that.”

 

Sid: “Not long to go though, just don’t go making it any worse if you can help it. Boss man [Richard Eisen] won’t be pleased it you reinjure his next top star!”

 

Interviewer: “Can we go back to the Texas Wrestling League for a minute. How exactly did you come to be running that place? There have been a lot of rumours over the years from a lot of different people and some of the boys have their own favourite among those, but I’m sure all the fans would love to hear it from you.”

 

Rocky: “Hmmn… let’s just say that things were different back then. Being in charge really meant something, there was a level of responsibility that a promoter had to his roster just as the roster had to their promoter. Clint was always an odd guy, he turned a bunch of small time promotions in the Texas and Oklahoma area into the TWL with some smart business… but he got himself into a lot of trouble too. Some people didn’t take kindly to the way he did business and when some things caught up to him, I had to step in and take care of things without him.”

 

Interviewer: “That’s very cryptic of you.”

 

Rocky: “That’s more detail’n most have ever gotten over the years, you should be happy about that.”

 

*sensing a shift in tone that’s going in a very negative direction as Rocky’s voice drops closer to a growl than the good natured banter of previously, Robert Greene changes things up a little*

 

Interviewer: “Speaking of the TWL, you were in charge of the company for a couple of years between 1970 and 1972. What was it like to run a company like that back in those days and just how much did that affect the career’s of each of you?”

 

Dusty: “When dad took over the company I had just completed my rookie year in the industry and hadn’t even won a match yet. Hell, I’d barely been on TV at that point because showing the son of one of the top babyface draws in the region getting beaten down would’ve been a booking nightmare. Once dad took over, things changed for me. I was in his corner for matches more often and soon after I started tagging with him and picking up wins over the next few years. I was never a top draw there, nor could I be given that I’d barely had any time to pay my dues yet, but I was getting noticed and I was learning from the very best. So all in all, it really helped my career.”

 

Sid: “As for me, it wasn’t so much of a good thing. I never had the time to wrestle in the TWL but I was being trained and I’m sure some of the guys enjoyed torturing me a little bit as a way to get revenge for my brother being used more prominently on shows. Nothing serious ever happened, but given that I hadn’t even debuted yet and I was already looking like I might have a bright future ahead of me, I think some of the boys were a bit jealous. And rightly so, I would’ve hated to have lost my spot to some teenage kid who barely knew the difference between a wrist lock and a wrist watch and probably couldn’t put either one on correctly.”

 

Rocky: “I don’t remember you ever being that bad, kiddo.”

 

Sid: “I meant Dusty over there. Given that he’d trained as an amateur he sure sucked at the actual wrestling back then.”

 

Dusty: “I got better.”

 

Rocky: “You sure did. Taking over the TWL was a strange experience for me in more ways than one. It was the first time I’d ever been on the business side of wrestling. Before then, I was a performer, one with a few good ideas on how to get things done and with a bunch of things I’d wanted to try, but no influence on anything but my own rivalries. And then suddenly, I was in charge of everything. Booking venues for shows, making matches, contacting talents, dealing with TV guys, getting in touch with other promotions about talent, dealing with every complaint that a wrestler would have, listening to their ideas for how to make anything better… at first it was overwhelming. Luckily for me, Momma Streets had a brain for that kind of thing. And luckily for Dusty here, she passed it on to him too. And lucky for all of us, Clint kept a good big book on everything that needed to be done for Texas to be run right. Took a while to get the company going good again, though we were far from perfect at it, but for a couple of years we did good.”

 

Sid: “Before selling up, of course. Cos when Richard Eisen makes you an offer you can’t refuse, you take it.”

 

Rocky: “I’m telling you this now before I explain why. Richard Eisen is the greatest wrestling promoter there has ever been, no doubt about it. No word of a lie. And I don’t think you’ll hear any word of disagreement from either of my boys on this either.”

 

Sid: “Not from me.”

 

Dusty: “Definitely not from me.”

 

Rocky: “So listen real good to this story. Because I’m about to tell you why Richard Eisen has the biggest balls of anyone I ever did meet. And if you know my career, I’ve crossed paths with some crazy son of a guns over my time, so I’m not just talking him up to make him sound good. If anything, I’ll be selling him short. It all begins on December 27th, 1971. Down in Texas we had a tradition with the boys that we all got the week off between December 23rd and December 30th, some time to spend with the family or the girlfriend or the mistress or all of the above if that’s what floated your boat. Christmas with the Streets is a pretty rowdy show in it’s own right and we’d spent some time having fun and recovering before meeting in Texas with a young, aspiring wrestling promoter by the name of Richard Eisen. We didn’t know much about him, just that he was setting up a territory in New York and had managed to bend someone’s ear into putting him in touch with us about organising some talent for his roster. We had a few boys on the roster who were looking to move on, opening act kinda guys who we had no real plans for and who might catch the break they wanted up in New York in front of some new eyes. So we hear a knock on the door and junior over there answers it to a boy smaller’n him and fresher faced.”

 

Sid: “Looking back now, telling him to scram was probably not a great idea given that he’d be signing my paycheques just months later.”

 

Rocky: “Hah, yeah. Sid gets in his face and tries to send him off but Eisen just walks right past him and right up to me. Says, I’m Richard Eisen and I’m here to offer you all a job working for me in New York. Just like that, he walks into the family home of three guys, all bigger than him by at least 50 pounds if not 150, all with a reputation for being tough and that he already knows are running a wrestling territory that would be in competition with him. And I’m sure he had heard some of the rumours about Clint Wayne too, so it’s not like our reputation as babyfaces would throw him off. Goes without saying that we laughed in his face but he was determined as all hell. Momma Streets, smartest woman I’ve ever known, got us all sat down around the dinner table and less than an hour later Eisen had told us his plans for New York, what he was aiming to do and had told us why Texas was going to fail. This 18 year old kid who had never wrestled a match, never even been in the area before now, maybe hadn’t even had a proper shave yet… he already had a TV deal in place, he already had some talent signed to actual contracts, pen to goddamn paper in an industry that ran on handshakes, promises and respect… the guy knew he had us before he’d even met us, the way he swaggered into our own home and made it his… even knowing his plan, we would’ve had no way to stop him doing what he wanted, he was already twenty moves ahead of us. So it was that night we agreed to join him. And then he asked us if there was anyone we wanted to bring with us!”

 

Interviewer: “Which explains why so much of the TWL roster left with you to join the SWF when it was founded.”

 

Rocky: “I called a few of the boys as soon as Eisen had left for home, cocky SOB probably already knew who I was likely to ask and what their responses would be even before I had asked them. We had some good kids on the roster, guys who could become stars with a few years of working on their act. But he wanted the stars, he wanted guys he could put out there right away, an all star line up of the very best pro wrestling had to offer, all in one place. It took him years to do, but he managed it. And once he did he even rubbed it in the faces of every promoter who had tried to stop him when he signed Dick Pangrazzio and formed The All-Star Team. The guy always did like to make money and rub people’s face in it at the same time with jabs like that. But when you’re the very best at what you do, you can get away with it.”

 

Interviewer: “So, it was this kind of forward thinking, ruthleas business sense that helped Richard Eisen to dominate all of the territories and take the SWF from upstart, New York based wrestling operation in 1972 to a massive national powerhouse putting on the biggest and most glamourous wrestling show ever seen by July 1981… the first Supreme Challenge.”

 

Rocky: “Exactly. The decade in between saw Richard Eisen systematically take apart the old territorial system. His star studded line up of incredible workers drew huge crowds wherever it went and was a huge success on TV to boot. TV networks that saw the show could see the superior production all over it, which I like to think we all partly had a hand in, and Eisen targetted the networks that were already carrying wrestling. If a show was struggling, he’d promise better ratings if they aired his show instead. If they were successful, he’d promise better ratings just because they were a better show. And when put side by side with any company, he definitely had the better show. First he closed the companies nearest to him geographically. The APWF was based in New York too and he took that down first. Gene Plumelli’s Boston territory fell next despite being the oldest and once the greatest show in North America. Florida fell after that and he eventually got California, Texas and the rest of the US. No-one could stop him, and every territory that fell saw their stars move to the SWF to make them even better. By time The Supreme Challenge rolled around, it really was the greatest wrestling showcase there had ever been. I think I speak for all of us when I say it was an honour for us all to be on that card that night.”

 

Dusty: “By then I was a three time tag champion, twice with dad here before he retired from the ring and once with my brother here who was still only in his early twenties by that show.”

 

Sid: “I was 25 by then. Though we did win the tag gold together for the first time when I was 21. Not bad for Sid the Kid.”

 

Rocky: “I can’t believe you can still get away with that name now. You’re 40 years old now!”

 

Sid: “It’s over.”

 

Rocky: “They’ve been calling you it for 20 years!”

 

Sid: “Hey, if it’s over, it’s over.”

 

Rocky: “Your hair is grey!”

 

Interviewer: “Are we allowed to talk about that? Cos I heard a rumour that Richard Eisen expressly forbade anyone from talking about it on screen…”

 

Dusty: “Come to think of it, why has no-one mentioned that before?”

 

Sid: “C’mon guys, no-one wants to talk about my hair when there are so many better things to talk about. Like us beating The Black Serpent Cult [Cobra and Viper] on the greatest pay per view of all time.”

 

Interviewer: “Speaking for myself, seeing Rocky save you guys from the post match beatdown and all of you in the ring together with your hands raised in victory… it was one of many awesome highlights from that night, perhaps only second to Sam Strong getting his revenge on Rip Chord in the main event.”

 

Rocky: “Rip was so great in that rivalry, another Texas boy done good. But it took a guy like Strong to bring out the best in him, those two have always been so amazing together since then too. Some people are critical of big Sam for not being able to do all the fancy high flying or tie people up in knots, but he gets the crowd on their feet, hootin’ and hollerin’ more for one standing elbow to the face than any backflip or leglock thing from anyone else ever has. And if you can get a crowd to cheer for that as loud as he does, then he’s the best in my eyes. Made SWF millions of dollars too… tens of millions… maybe even hundreds of millions, and I bet he’s gotten himself a fair old slice of that for himself too. Smart guy is am Strong, he could probably bankroll his own company with how much he’s made by now.”

 

Interviewer: “Something else I wanted to ask you Rocky, and I guess you as well Dusty… what was it like booking for the SWF? Especially compared to back in Texas.”

 

Rocky: “I’ll take that first. The SWF booking job was one of the easiest jobs I’ve ever had. After I retired from the ring I took over the match making for a couple of years, Woulda been about May 77 to early 1979 I think. And by then there was so much talent on the SWF roster that I didn’t even have to do much. So many guys had perfected their act through the territories and I just put some of them together again so that some places could see it for the first time and others could live it again… or I made some new ones between guys who were so good that they could put the stories together themselves. Compared to Texas when I was in charge of everything, this was the easiest thing I’d ever done. I daresay anyone with a decent knowledge of wrestling could have done it, as long as they didn’t let the TV show run too long.”

 

Dusty: “That only happened a few times… and it wasn’t entirely my fault. Like you said, you had all of the best talent in the world at your disposal but when I was running the book at the end of the eighties, the roster had changed. A lot of the old territorial guys were winding down their careers, looking for other roles or simply going home to live off the paycheques they’d managed to save. When I was booking there was a lot of changes, many of which brought on by Sam Strong and Rip Chord’s successes. Body builders were in fashion so a lot of guys were coming along who had all these mucles and not much else to their act. They’d pose to a crowd because Sam did it or they’d taunt a crowd because Rip did it. Everyone was either an obvious good guy or an obvious bad guy and no-one had the knowledge or experience on how to develop their own stuff. And the monster heels…”

 

Sid: “Oh god! Land Mass ahoy!!”

 

Dusty: “Yeah… I don’t like to badmouth people, but Land Mass was with the company for 4 years because Richard Eisen was determined to make something of him. The guy was one of the worst workers, at least at the time. He just didn’t know how to do anything and evern worse, he was getting a reputation for hurting guys. There were so many enhancement guys who were legitimately scared of facing him because his big splash. Some nights you just didn’t know if the enhancement guys were going to be able to work the next set of tapings, which was just one of many headaches with him. But he wasn’t the only one. Richard had a virtual procession of them coming through at the time, guys who could be built up to face Sam Strong and ultimately lose, before Sam could feud with Rip again. I didn’t get to make many decisions during my reign as booker, at least not near the top, but I did enjoy working with the tag team division. There was always so much talent in there and so much experience. Just so much fun to work with those guys.”

 

Sid: “Except Rocco the Plumber… I swear he never cleans that damn plunger!”

 

Dusty: “Uh… yeah. I never had much of a problem with that.”

 

Sid: “You never booked yourself to have a problem with it, it was always me!”

 

Rocky: “HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!”

 

Dusty: “But yeah… I booked for that stretch and then I left the company as I kinda needed a career change. I’d been with the SWF for almost twenty years at that point and my contract was coming up. I let Richard know that I was leaving and for the first time I managed to say no to one of his offers. I don’t think he was happy about it, but at least I went over to Japan and had some fun with Burning Hammer [major Japanese company, BHOTWG].”

 

Sid: “You never did learn the language though…”

 

Dusty: “Yeah, it was kinda tough… other than a couple of words I never did get the hang of it. Luckily some of the other wrestlers could speak English. Dread was such a big help when I first got out there. We obviously knew each other from our time in the SWF together and he looked out for me at first in Japan, but he wasn’t with BHOTWG long. Luckily for me, Sam Keith was around to help out too. Man, that guy is awesome.”

 

Interviewer: “He’s the reigning SWF World champion and head booker of the company now too.”

 

Dusty: “It’s no wonder the SWF has been getting better and better lately, I’ll tell you that. Anyone that knows wrestling knows that Sam Keith is an amazing in ring performer, always has been. But that guy just has this other level he can go to in the ring, he’s a master at his craft. With Richard Eisen running the business end of things and Sam Keith booking, you’ve pretty much got a license to print money right there.”

 

Rocky: “You know, I’ve been watching the SWF for a long time and it’s gone through a lot of phases. The SWF lost guys like Micky Starr, Sam Strong, Dread, Corporal Doom and Rip Chord… all guys who had done huge business for them and been champion. Losing each of them was hurting the company and the next generation of top guys that Eisen was wanting to push just weren’t ready yet. You had a great looking kid like Christian Faith but as great as he is working the stick, he just couldn’t work a great match. Bruce the Giant came in and was an obvious star in the making, but while his size sold tickets, he wasn’t great at anything else except dominating guys. There just weren’t any guys truly ready to be champion. There were some great talkers like Dennis Butler [Mr Supreme], Nemesis, Big Easy and Rory McCallum, but they couldn’t work a good match. And you had some good workers like the Kid here and Mike Barstow but they just couldn’t do it on the stick like Eisen wanted.”

 

Sid: “It isn’t easy being compared to Sam Strong and Rip Chord all the time.”

 

Rocky: “Yeah, and that was always going to happen after they had spent most of the last decade between them as champion. Even Eisen himself was having trouble trying to build new stars, but Bruce the Giant helped there. Ain’t no-one compares to that guy, he’s in a league of his own with that huge frame of his and being from the other side of the world didn’t hurt neither. The guy looks unstoppable so when Christian Faith finally ended his unbeaten streak and won the SWF title, he was their top babyface. And then in walks Sam Keith as the next major villain too… it didn’t even take him long to start teaching guys like Bruce and Faith some new tricks and he helped to extend that rivalry for ages, made a lot of money for Eisen no doubt. And in the meantime Sam’s having matches that fans are hailing as match of the year classics with a new rising star, the McFly kid.”

 

Interviewer: “Sean McFly, himself a former SWF champion now.”

 

Rocky: “Yeah. Sam Keith managed to take a good looking, athletic youngster with some flashy offense and convinced the world that he was one of the best fighters in the world. Guy smaller than Sid here taking down Bruce the Giant, a 7 foot plus, 600 pound giant of a man. If you’d told me that it woulda worked I never woulda believed it, but here we are and McFly is one of the most popular guys around now.”

 

Sid: “The funny thing is, the SWF had a few guys training together in a gym down in New York. Eisen was determined to try and find himself a few guys who might be stars and had Sam Keith and I down there with him, putting them through their paces. Believe it or not, but McFly wasn’t even the best kid there. Kid by the name of Todd Cusson, perhaps one of the most naturally gifted wrestlers and athletes I’ve ever seen. Guy could cut a great promo, could do everything McFly could do, kept himself to himself... we all thought he was going to be the future of the SWF, we all knew we had something special in him but…”

 

Dusty: “Sid, I think that’s enough of that story.”

 

*The Streets family exchange some tell tale looks as Rocky shakes his head at his younger brother*

 

Sid: “Yeah, you’re probably right. But since I know you’ll want to ask me about him… let’s just say, I’ve not had the chance to speak to him for a while but I hope things work out well for him.”

 

Dusty: “Yeah, my heart goes out to the kid. Wherever you are Todd, and if you ever see this, don’t be a stranger. You know where we are.”

 

Rocky: “The same from me, kid. Don’t ever let it be said that the Streets family turned their back on anyone. Though there’s nothing we can do to help if you don’t want it.”

 

Interviewer: “So is it true?”

 

Dusty: “That’s all we’re going to say about that.”

 

*Robert Greene looks around at each of the family members and quickly realises he’s not going to get anything else about the incident that may or may not have happened, though the implications are clear*

 

Interviewer: “So, can I circle back to you guys and ask each of you for some quick thoughts on some particular people? Starting with an easy one… Richard Eisen.”

 

Rocky: “Visionary.”

Dusty: “Best in the world at what he does.”

Sid: “The boss.”

 

Interviewer: “Sam Strong”

 

Rocky: “The American Icon.”

Dusty: “Unrivalled charisma.”

Sid: “The biggest star of his generation, without a doubt”

 

Interviewer: “Rip Chord.”

 

Rocky: “Greatest wrestler to step out of Texas”

Dusty: “The best opponent I ever had.”

Sid: “Knows how to party.”

 

Interviewer: “Nemesis”

 

Rocky: “Troublemaker, but he knows how to work.”

Dusty: “Glad I never had to work with him.”

Sid: “……….”

 

Interviewer: “Sean McFly”

 

Rocky: “Luckiest kid in the world”

Dusty: “A whole lot of excitement.”

Sid: “Needs to be taken down a peg or two.”

 

Interviewer: “Sam Keith”

 

Rocky: “Future Hall of Famer”

Dusty: “Master of his craft”

Sid: “I’m gonna pin him someday soon”

 

Interviewer: “Dread”

 

Rocky: “I wish I’d had the chance to work him.”

Dusty: “The best big man that ever lived.”

Sid: “Dude is lucky we never crossed paths.”

 

Interviewer: “Rocky Streets”

 

Rocky: “Hah! An over-rated has been!”

Dusty: “The greatest dad in the world.”

Sid: “A deserved hall of famer.”

 

Interviewer: “Dusty Streets”

 

Rocky: “I still don’t know if he’s a genius or an idiot for following me into wrestling. But he’s damn sure tough”

Dusty: “An idiot.”

Sid: “Definitely an idiot.”

 

Interviewer: “Sid Streets.”

 

Rocky: “The oldest, greyest damn kid on the planet”

Dusty: “Also an idiot”

Sid: “Almost healed up from this concussion and ready to go for the gold!”

 

Interviewer: “Well, guys. Our time here is coming to a close. Are there any last thoughts you want to leave our viewers with before we go?”

 

Sid: “As you all know, I’m almost healed up from my concussion and ready to go. As long as dad here doesn’t keep smacking me up around my head then I’ll be back in time for the new year, ready to kick ass all through 1997 and into the new millenium, soon to be your SWF World Heavyweight champion.”

 

Rocky: “Always good to see you aiming high, kid. Just make sure that when you’re flying high you don’t get yourself hurt. If Big Sam can electrify a crowd with an elbow, no reason you can’t do it too.”

 

Sid: “I’ve already got my top rope elbow….”

 

Rocky: “You know what I mean!”

 

Dusty: “As for me, I hope all your fans keep up to date with the latest news on the internet or on your radio broadcasts. I’m home from a tour of Burning Hammer just now and you never know what the future holds for a man of my talents. So keep an eye and a ear out for me on future, you never know where I’m going to show up next.”

 

Interviewer: “Well gentlemen, it’s been a pleasure spending time with you and finding out a bit more about each of you. For all of us here at Wrestling Special Videos and for all the fans at home, thank you very much and we hope to see you all again sometime soon.”

 

====================================================

 

The Twisting Tale Of Canadian Wrestling

By Christian Black

From ProWrestlingHits.com - Published November 19th 1996

 

There is a saying used to talk about pro wrestling. In Canada it’s a tradition. In Japan, it’s a sport. In Mexico it’s a religion. And in America… well, it’s a joke. And when you look at the state of wrestling in each country, you can see exactly that. But why is it that Canada and the USA (or the USA or Mexico for that matter) have such different attitudes to pro wrestling despite being so geographically close? In this article I’m going to look at the history of professional wrestling in Canada, then compare and contrast it with that of it’s nearest neighbour.

 

In Canada, as was so common back in the 60s and 70s, the country was broken down into a number of small territories, each with their own stars who could face off against the many travelling stars who would move around. A top star in his home turf, usually the most popular babyface would face off against the villain of the week (or month or three months, however long it took to build them) over a championship. Each territory would grow, drawing big crowds based on how exciting their champion was and how many tickets they could sell. Champions were something of exceptional value, making lots of money for visionary promoters who could eat up the territory of other promoters who were less successful or who couldn’t find a champion who was as successful. Every major city had at least one promotion based in the region… in Canada, the major territories used to be based around Vanouver, Edmonton, Calgary, Winnepeg, Ottawa, Montreal, Halifax, Toronto… over the course of the 70s all of these cities were brought together under one banner, with the likes of Jean Pierre-Baptiste, The Canadian Superstar, Dan Stone, George DeColt, Whipper Spencer Marks and many others putting together a group of super-talented stars who could regularly draw huge crowds in every province they would go to.

 

This generation of talents was headed by the legendary Ed “The Strangler” Henson, promoter extraordinaire, who ran the company for more than 15 years after his own in-ring retirement, following the familiar path of many great wrestlers who went on to become great promoters too. During his time in charge, the Canadian Wrestling Federation (commonly refered to as CWF) seemed to be the only company immune to the warpath the Supreme Wrestling Federation was carving through the American wrestling scene. Since the SWF’s founding in 1971, Richard Eisen’s ruthless dismantling of the old territory system seemed destined to put him at odds with the CWF, with the two largest companies in North America seeming destined to clash… and yet, they never did. Right up to Ed Henson’s death on January 19th 1989, the SWF never once made a move into Canada and the CWF never once made a move into the USA.

 

Many felt that this would change, however, as along with the death of Ed Henson a generation of top stars retired in tribute. Almost every CWF champion retired in order to show their respects to the man who brought Canadian wrestling to the forefront, with names likes Billy Sanderson, Jean Pierre-Baptiste, Whipper Spencer Marks, Jackson Andrews (The Canadian Superstar) and Frenchie Marcel all joining the likes of the already retired Pat Deacon, Dan Stone and George DeColt.. Other men like Rip Chord, Crippler Ray Kingman, Saionji Omura and Dick the Devastator all seem unlikely to ever compete in Canada ever again, already beginning to wind down their careers while wrestling in Japan or the USA. The void left behind by all of this in-ring talent moving on seemed likely to be filled by the talented roster of the SWF, who would snap up a few of the CWF’s popular undercarders but somehow, for reasons only known to Richard Eisen and those close to him, the SWF didn’t swoop in.

 

At this point, the story gets a little cloudy, as there seemed to be no real compeition for the SWF and the Canadian market was learly ready for a new company to fill the void left by the CWF, itself closing down as a mark of respect to Ed Henson, a necessity given that almost all of it’s main event talent also retired. The only company of any note left in Canada was North of the Border Pro Wrestling (NOTBPW) run by Dan Stone, and already making something of a name for themselves in the eastern provinces. While there has never been any official word of any meetings or interactions between Richard Eisen or Dan Stone, there has been speculation that they have met in private, with the SWF using NOTBPW (and by extension, Canada) as something of an unofficial training ground. This theory has been further pushed to prominence when the SWF hired George DeColt three months after the CWF’s closure, giving the ageing veteran a grounding in how to run a company and soon thereafter George DeColt opened his own company in the western provinces, Canadian Golden Combat, borrowing a number of talents from the SWF to help get the company off the ground.

 

It seems to me, that at the very least, the SWF are using Canada as a way to develop talent for the future, helping to rebuild the old territory system in order to supply themselves with versatile talent in future. The SWF has already picked up a handful of talents to have been prominent in Canadian companies, the likes of Sam Keith, Rory McCallum, the Perfect Storm tag team, Phillip Roberts and the Wrestlebot 9000. But there remains a new generation of exciting Canadian talents who have yet to venture anywhere near the SWF, a wealth of resources untapped by the SWF who could surely be huge successes if the SWF wished to hire them. And yet, they haven’t. In fact, the SWF seem to perfectly enjoy having two potential rivals to the north while they continue to expand their business into the UK (another home of much untapped talent) instead of Canada. Meanwhile, CGC and NOTBPW balance each other out with two very different styles, each a different aspect of the old CWF in their own right. NOTBPW embrace in-ring prowess, putting on excellent matches, with the technically proficient Stone family at the helm facing rivals of many styles and even creating a women’s division to allow Victoria Stone a chance to shine. CGC embrace big characters and entertaining performances out of the ring, with the charismatic and athletic DeColt boys leading the charge against a variety of rivals who are all determined to prove that the western provinces are not, in fact, DeColt country. The fine balance between CGC and NOTBPW is another peaceful one, with both companies regularly running shows in the Ontario province (particularly Toronto), and helping to put together an Ed Henson Appreciation Night in March every year, with NOTBPW also looking to add their first ever Ed Henson Memorial Tag Team Cup in the same month.

 

But what does the future hold for Canadian wrestling? For the first time in history an American wrestling company is looking to make a move into Canada, with the newly debuted Hollyweird Grappling Company securing television deals across the USA and Canada, challenging all three of the major promotions at once, attempting to bridge the various styles and cultures. The fine balance between the SWF, CGC and NOTBPW may be about to be thrown completely off. A sixteen year old computer whizzkid has potentially changed the landscape forever, forcing the hand of a ruthless promoter who was content with things the way they were and the two most powerful wrestling families in the world. Faced with this new challenger, complete with a lot of former SWF stars and a lot of money, can Richard Eisen continue to hold off on bringing the SWF to Canada? He already knows that an SWF style product can succeed and that his stars can succeed thanks to his loan to CGC. He knows from experience that the SWF’s slick production values and existing star power are the best in the wrestling world, better even than that of NOBTPW and CGC. But with NOTBPW and CGC already established in Canada, can they overcome the challenge of HGC? Or will the combination of proven veterans Sam Strong and Rip Chord once again prove to be the ratings juggernaut that took the SWF to their most critically acclaimed and profitable period in history to date?

 

The more I think about it, the more excited I am to see how things play out in future. Will the SWF expand or stay put? Will the borders drawn up between CGC and NOTBPW hold or be broken? Will Strong and Chord be as successful in Canada as they have been in America, despite their advancing years? There are so many unanswerable questions right now that can only be proven over time. And for me, that makes this perhaps the most exciting time period in pro wrestling history, because it’s going to force everyone to raise their game and it’s going to create an entire generation of new stars, some of which may be obvious and some of which may yet be completely unheard of. So don’t miss out on the debut of HGC in just two short weeks, and be sure to catch as much SWF, CGC and NOTBPW programming as you can because it’s never going to be this good again wrestling fans.

 

– Christian Black

[Derek B]

Also reserved

[Derek B]

Reserved again

[Derek B]

One last reservation

[Nachtfalter]

http://www.quickmeme.com/img/27/273fe8631cf4f18e104ba9d066caa11bac641cedbd5656d5f14a51796c3e352e.jpg

[Jaysin]

I don't have time to play until Wednesday. I hate being a responsible adult with responsibilities and all that garbage.

[djlightning]

Awesome a new version of the 97 mod. One thing I never really understood though why do Cornell and Eisen have Simmering Tensions? It can't be because of the Nemesis match that hasn't happened yet.

[Jaysin]

Awesome a new version of the 97 mod. One thing I never really understood though why do Cornell and Eisen have Simmering Tensions? It can't be because of the Nemesis match that hasn't happened yet.

 

I believe it's to help Tommy leave the promotion if the AI is booking SWF. He's less likely to resign this way.

[Derek B]

Awesome a new version of the 97 mod. One thing I never really understood though why do Cornell and Eisen have Simmering Tensions? It can't be because of the Nemesis match that hasn't happened yet.

 

I believe it's to help Tommy leave the promotion if the AI is booking SWF. He's less likely to resign this way.

 

Roughly speaking, yeah. There are a few things in the short term future of the Cornellverse that I wanted to play out roughly as they happened... making Cornell and Nemesis have issues enough that they do something helps them both I think, giving Nemesis his departure to DAVE to help revolutionise that area and Cornell a varying chance to perhaps leave the SWF. It generally works out well.

[Blackman]

Great, but the changes were only cosmetic/flavor, right? I've already did 10 shows so would rather continue playing the 'beta' you send us.

[Teh_Showtime]

Am I the only one always surprised at how long CZCW has been around? Maybe it has to due with the rise of the small east coast companies, but CZCW has essentially beaten them all by at least 3-4 years.

 

Also should Wolf Hawkins be set to debut in 2004 since he was already wrestling by the time Cornell found him, and in 05 he ended up on the TCW roster

[Derek B]

Great, but the changes were only cosmetic/flavor, right? I've already did 10 shows so would rather continue playing the 'beta' you send us.

 

Well, the nature of betas is that they aren't the finished product yet. Since the beta I've added about 50 new companies, tweaked a bunch of gimmick skills, added a bunch of moves sets and added quite a few title lineages too. There were no more active workers or companies added, but the other stuff is all things that you'd probably want. Though the companies are easily imported.

[scorpion]

Thanks again for all your work on this. Haven;t had a chance to load it up yet but will be starting a game tonight

[James Casey]

Fantastic to see a new release. I'm tempted to dive into HGC... maybe even play as Chord or Strong!

[Jaded]

OHHHHH YEAHHHHHHHHHHHHH! Can't wait to get a game started with this.

[Pastafarian]

Thank you for this! Can't wait to start a game.

[mrwhippy]

Derek needs all the props in the world for this. He's the one to finally get me involved in a fictional universe. Unbelievable mod, the attention to detail is fantastic.

[Blackman]

I put Reese Paige on commentary and got a surprise chemistry note with both Tommy London and Dan Stone. Jackpot. If Reese goes on to actually break her ankle, this one knows what to do.

[FlameSnoopy]

Cool that you made an update. Not so cool I have a CZCW save in 2006 still going that I don't want to sacrifice just yet. One of the best mods (if not the best) Thanks for the hard work again Derek!

[Teh_Showtime]

Man starting as PPPW is rough. Medium pure when 2/3s of your top heels are from Painful Procedure with a selfish owner.

 

Whistler is awesome though. Never thought he'd be such a fun character

[Pteroid]

For the purposes of a silly little project idea, I'm multi advancing to 2000 but I thought I'd share a funny thing I noticed.

 

Psycho Circus 97 was main evented with a face Robert Oxford retaining the World title over Dusty Streets.

[Boltinho]

Excellent news that this is ready sir. The old mod was the gold standard and I imagine this is even better especially with the regional pop you've built in.

 

On the one hand Ive just started playing an SWF game - on the other hand Im about to go away for work for 4 weeks away from my family. Guess what I'll be doing to while away the time?

 

Thanks for all the work

[Waghlon]

Damn, Nemesis can carry an entire company on his back:

 

His debut match in DAVE saw him pull a 72 when taking the belt of Johnny Martin. Then at the weekly show afterwards, he did a 93-rated taunting of Martin.

[YoungNoble]

Thanks for all the work on this. I will be starting a RTG game tonight.