WCW: Heart and Soul

GingeyOne · April 19, 2017

Fan Scorecard:

World Heavyweight Championship: Booker T vs. Rob Van Dam {©}

I think we get a new champion, Booker has been on fire

United States Heavyweight Championship: Chuck Palumbo vs. Shane Douglas {©}

World Women's Championship: Toshiyo Yamada vs. Etsuko Mita {©}

American Dragon vs. Vampiro

Not sure about this one, Chavo could very much cost Dragon this match

Manami Toyota, Alexis Laree and Melissa Anderson vs. Takako Inoue, Shinobu Kandori and Daffney

Hayabusa vs. Evan Karagis vs. Shannon Moore

What will be match of the night? World Heavyweight Championship: Booker T vs. Rob Van Dam {©}

How many championships will change hands? 1

THE MAYHEM MATCH

Name the two mystery entrants (one point each): Steve Austin. Jerry Lawler.

Multiple announced entrants will not actually compete in the match. Name one: Lex Luger

Most eliminations: The Destroyer

Longest time in match: Rey Mysterio

The Final Four: Sting. Steve Austin. Destroyer. Scott Steiner

Runner up: Scott Steiner

Winner (worth 3 points): Steve Austin

Purotastic · April 19, 2017

Fan Scorecard:

World Heavyweight Championship: Booker T vs. Rob Van Dam {©}

I think it's time for Booker to take the title back to reign as a heel.

United States Heavyweight Championship: Chuck Palumbo vs. Shane Douglas {©}

I can't see Palumbo being pushed with a singles title right now.

World Women's Championship: Toshiyo Yamada vs. Etsuko Mita {©}

I doubt the champ is losing her title so soon.

American Dragon vs. Vampiro

I predict Chavo's involvement having something to do with his "protege" losing.

Manami Toyota, Alexis Laree and Melissa Anderson vs. Takako Inoue, Shinobu Kandori and Daffney

A bit of a toss up here, but can definitely see Toyota winning it for her team and being the next challenger.

Hayabusa vs. Evan Karagis vs. Shannon Moore

Possibly some 3 Count miscommunication leads to Hayabusa winning.

What will be match of the night? Booker T vs. RVD

How many championships will change hands? 1

THE MAYHEM MATCH

Name the two mystery entrants (one point each): Steve Austin, Ric Flair

Multiple announced entrants will not actually compete in the match. Name one: Lex Luger

Most eliminations: Scott Steiner

Longest time in match: Rey Misterio Jr.

The Final Four: Austin, Misterio, Steiner, Corino

Runner up: Steiner

Winner (worth 3 points): Steve Austin

General diary comments/questions/critiques: Spent my day reading through this awesome journal. Keep up the good work!

The Final Countdown · April 22, 2017

May 19th, 2002: Mayhem <div style="text-align:center;">http://i.imgur.com/ScqNpNP.png May 19th, 2002 From the Worcester Centrum in Worcester, Massachusetts Attendance: 10,000 (sell-out!) Announce Team: "The Professor" Mike Tenay and Bret "The Hitman" Hart http://i.imgur.com/y93UBAQ.jpghttp://i.imgur.com/4Xw5lCb.jpg </div> <blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="43035" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div><div style="text-align:center;">http://i.imgur.com/14vz2sE.jpghttp://i.imgur.com/9jPbDOB.jpg</div> We opened with a graphic in remembrance of the late Lou Thesz, and then Dusty said a few words about the man. I thought Dusty was tremendous during this brief segment as he talked about Thesz being one of the all-time great world champions whose legacy he tried to live up to during his own world title battles. <div style="text-align:center;">Grade: B</div></div></blockquote> <blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="43035" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div><div style="text-align:center;">Vampiro vs. American Dragon (w/Chavo Guerrero Jr.) http://i.imgur.com/kccSmqv.jpghttp://i.imgur.com/EiVoLiY.jpghttp://i.imgur.com/xJ35HqH.jpghttp://i.imgur.com/yAr8loh.jpg</div> It's the facepainted malcontent/locker room pariah against the 20 year old masked kid I have very high hopes for. I think you can see where this was going. Dragon controlled the match with some mat wrestling early, but Vampiro started mounting a comeback after hitting a spin kick. It all led up to Chavo getting in a cheap shot, ramming Vampiro's head into the ring post behind the back of both Dragon and the referee. Dragon, none the wiser, used a dragon suplex to pin Vampiro. This match wasn't as effective at getting the crowd going as our PPV openers usually are, but I'm placing most of the blame on Vampiro. Dragon was a much better performer and should only get better and more over, while it's almost a guarantee that Vampiro will be gone before the end of the year. These two guys are going in completely different directions. <div style="text-align:center;">Grade: C+</div></div></blockquote> <blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="43035" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div><div style="text-align:center;">http://i.imgur.com/GoltiY2.jpghttp://i.imgur.com/FIVYBul.jpg</div> Christopher Daniels was a guest on Piper's Pit, where he explained to Roddy that he could've joined the Mayhem match but elected not to, because his immediate destiny is to be the greatest cruiserweight WCW has ever seen. I have to say that Chris looked highly uncomfortable. Perhaps he was intimidated by being on a PPV segment with a legend like Piper, because his promo was poor and he looked lost in general. Thankfully Roddy did a good job covering for him and preventing the segment from bombing. His delivery was solid and his performance was fantastic as he took issue with what Daniels said. "''I'm Christopher Daniels, and I'm God's gift to the cruiserweight division!' I swear we've been hearin' that for months now. Now I always talked a good game. but when it was time to fight, everybody knew Hot Rod would come out there with his fists clenched ready to fight! But you? You keep talking and talking and talking about how you're the greatest dang cruiserweight ever, but it's way past time you step into this ring and prove it! Don't just talk about it, and don't wrestle older and slower heavyweights who are past their prime--take on the best cruiserweights WCW has to offer! Get in here and beat a Billy Kidman or a Shane Helms or a TAKA, and then maybe people will actually start listening to the words you speak instead of tuning you out!" <div style="text-align:center;">Grade: C+</div></div></blockquote> <blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="43035" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div><div style="text-align:center;">Manami Toyota, Alexis Laree and Melissa Anderson vs. Takako Inoue, Shinobu Kandori and Daffney http://i.imgur.com/LyKOnBY.jpghttp://i.imgur.com/VwQDgVe.jpghttp://i.imgur.com/OophliK.jpghttp://i.imgur.com/EiVoLiY.jpghttp://i.imgur.com/SKNBQrE.jpghttp://i.imgur.com/gfF32sn.jpghttp://i.imgur.com/ZHerQIf.jpg </div> With thirty guys being in the Mayhem match, this was a great opportunity for me to work in a second women's match and feature more of our female wrestlers. The storyline for this match began with Toyota and Inoue butting heads and those two women took center stage for a good portion of the match. They also were the clear standouts in the match, which wasn't really a surprise to me given their skill. Simply being in the ring with women these talented could only be a positive experience for youngsters like Alexis, Melissa and Daffney, and indeed I noticed Alexis showing off an improved technical wrestling skillset. We did our best to give all six women a chance to be featured a bit and get over their individuality, from the bubbly enthusiasm of Laree to the no-nonsense, Enforcer-esque attack of Arn Anderson's kayfabe niece Melissa to the judo skills of Kandori and the screaming ferociousness of Daffney. In the end Inoue refused to tag in and fight Toyota head on, so Manami took out Kandori with her finisher that we've shortened to the Ocean Cyclone. She celebrated with her young teammates, and Mike and I again sold her as one of the greatest pound for pound wrestlers in the world, male or female. <div style="text-align:center;">Grade: C+</div></div></blockquote> <blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="43035" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div><div style="text-align:center;">http://i.imgur.com/LOwVNKx.jpg</div> The fruits of Lex Luger's labor were revealed at last: he'd arrived at his destination, and he and his camera man (who intentionally shot the scene in an amateurish way to give the impression that it was being done by a shoddy unpaid intern) stepped out of the bus, with Lex excitedly exclaiming that it was now time for the Call to Action Campaign 2002 to take off in earnest. "Now's the time the whole world has been waiting for! No more Totally Buffed, no more Total Packaged--I'm made in the USA, YEAH! I couldn't get a helicopter to fly me in this time, but the Express will do just fine. Now let's go see all the members of my legion...no, wait, my LEXGION!" Lex stepped off of the bus and the camera man followed, giving us a glimpse of the old school bus Lex had crudely painted red white and blue. Plastered on the side in big block letters was 'THE FLEX EXPRESS.' Lex was all smiles as he began waving to his adoring fans... ...Who weren't there. The camera panned back to reveal that the Flex Express had pulled up to the Ariake Coliseum in Tokyo, the site of last month's Slamboree. Oops! He walked back onto the bus with his head down and his shoulders slumped, and told the bus driver to start driving back to the US. Lex told the camera man he wanted to be alone with his thoughts, so the camera man left him to slump in a seat at the back of the bus and walked to visit with the driver. <div style="text-align:center;">http://i.imgur.com/02dlDXV.jpg</div> Yep, Lex hired Mean Gene to drive the bus. Truthfully Gene's contract was ending and he was all but gone, but I decided at the last minute that it would be funny to use him in this role. I think Gene's just happy to still have the paycheck. He shook his head and muttered that he was too old for this as he started the crappy old school bus back up. <div style="text-align:center;">Grade: C-</div></div></blockquote> <blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="43035" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div><div style="text-align:center;">Hayabusa vs. Evan Karagis vs. Shannon Moore http://i.imgur.com/p13CqOT.jpghttp://i.imgur.com/EiVoLiY.jpghttp://i.imgur.com/SSavu06.jpghttp://i.imgur.com/EiVoLiY.jpghttp://i.imgur.com/q9yvg1C.jpg </div> I instructed these guys to pack as many high spots as they could into this match. Karagis and Moore did fine, but Hayabusa excelled. He was obviously in his element as he was able to fly all around the ring and use his exciting offense on both members of 3 Count. The story of the match was 3 Count working together and making it a glorified handicap match, only for Hayabusa to overcome both of them and pin Evan with the Falcon Arrow. <div style="text-align:center;">Grade: B-</div></div></blockquote> <blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="43035" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div><div style="text-align:center;">http://i.imgur.com/Wi1oegS.jpghttp://i.imgur.com/QEoXr2L.jpghttp://i.imgur.com/JJpe0Lr.jpghttp://i.imgur.com/J3M8Nhg.jpghttp://i.imgur.com/fn8zdsQ.jpghttp://i.imgur.com/hSGqVHg.jpghttp://i.imgur.com/Ni4TEgo.jpghttp://i.imgur.com/l0qRIIJ.jpg </div> Bobby Heenan introduced all the members of the Agents of Chaos, as well as team manager Beejus Pilgrim. He did some comedy with Beejus, but Bobby's jokes fell pretty flat this time. Pilgrim shook Heenan's hand (which led to Bobby discretely swiping Beejus' watch right off his wrist and slipping it into his own pocket) and accepted the UFS trophy on behalf of his team. He thanked all the members for their performances in helping the Agents of Chaos win the 2002 UFS, and got into the title shot distribution. He went pretty much as I expected him to with this, with Scott Steiner getting the world title shot, Rick's opportunity being a tag title match for the Steiners, and both Dustin and Jindrak going for the US belt. Scott took the mic, and was pretty entertaining as he said he and Rick were the only reason the team had won and really should've gotten a shot at every title in the company, but at least "Beetlejuice Pilgrim" had been smart enough to pick he and Rick and recognize they carried the team, so he wasn't a total idiot. The Unnatural snatched the microphone out of Scott's hand, drawing an angry look and some verbal threats from Scott. "Congratulations are in order, but you fail to comprehend reality, Mr. Steiner. You and your brother think yourselves above the rest of us, but if there's one thing I have learned, it is that there is no 'I' in 'team.' If there is one other thing I have learned during the peaks and valleys of my life, it is that pride goeth before a fall." <div style="text-align:center;">http://i.imgur.com/4CP35O5.jpghttp://i.imgur.com/ptxupoY.jpg</div> The other two members of Salvation struck, attacking Jindrak and the Steiners from behind as Heenan and Beejus ran for the hills. Jindrak was quickly overwhelmed and tossed over the top rope, leaving the Steiners to fend for themselves. They did a fair job of it, but all three members of Salvation working together were able to claim the upper hand. They wore out Rick and Scott with a series of chair shots, and Rick was pitched out onto the entrance ramp by The Destroyer. The Unnatural delivered the exclamation point with the Unnatural Selection on Scott, driving his head and neck into one of the chairs. <div style="text-align:center;">Grade: B+</div></div></blockquote> <blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="43035" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div><div style="text-align:center;">http://i.imgur.com/mitTbCm.jpg Chuck Palumbo vs. Shane Douglas {©} http://i.imgur.com/9QpxTLI.jpghttp://i.imgur.com/EiVoLiY.jpghttp://i.imgur.com/mS6Goca.jpg</div> Mike and I again stressed the point that Douglas turned down a spot in the Mayhem match because as far as he was concerned, the United States title was the most important championship in wrestling now that it belonged to him. Palumbo isn't awful, but he's not the greatest worker in the world either, so I told them to focus on telling a story and trusted that Shane would deliver the goods. He did precisely that. Palumbo didn't stink the joint up or anything, but there was no doubt who was responsible for this match being as good as it was. After a simple match centered around Douglas targeting Palumbo's knee to keep him on the mat and negate his size and strength, Chuck used a discus elbow to seize control. He went to the top rope for the same diving shoulder block he used to earn this title shot, but the damage done to his knee meant he was moving slower than usual, and Douglas had enough time to cut him off. He shook the ropes to crotch Palumbo on the buckles, then hit a superplex to retain the title. <div style="text-align:center;">Grade: B</div></div></blockquote> <blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="43035" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div><div style="text-align:center;">http://i.imgur.com/zAUQMDu.jpghttp://i.imgur.com/dk7thOQ.jpghttp://i.imgur.com/nfnKuFX.jpghttp://i.imgur.com/a0mKYEd.jpghttp://i.imgur.com/1KISfdT.jpg </div> Arn had been told by the doctors that the Steiners and Mark Jindrak could not be cleared to compete in the Mayhem match after the assault by Salvation earlier. To compound the problem, Lex Luger was off in Japan for God knows what reason. Arn had to scramble to find replacements for all four of them, and he found said replacements in Cash, Hugh Morrus, Konnan and Norman Smiley. He showed all four men the numbers they'd drawn and wished them luck. <div style="text-align:center;">Grade: C-</div></div></blockquote> <blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="43035" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div><div style="text-align:center;">http://i.imgur.com/OZDc3yZ.jpghttp://i.imgur.com/I7app7W.jpghttp://i.imgur.com/LuHGjH3.jpghttp://i.imgur.com/ncMyE2p.jpghttp://i.imgur.com/cAw5Dl8.jpghttp://i.imgur.com/cCdOWIq.jpg </div> The Empire cut a promo about tonight's events. Bischoff was good as he hyped up Etsuko Mita, saying that up next she was going to send Toshiyo Yamada to the back of the line and retain that World Women's Championship, ensuring that The Empire would still have gold in its war chest. Corino said that it didn't matter if it was a young upstart like AJ Styles or a legend like Sting hanging on for one last moment in the sun, because no one was gong to hold The Empire back tonight. Tammy's job was to transition to Candido, but she did a very poor job of it. Candido succeeded where his fiancée failed, doing a good job at saying that whether it was himself, The King or TAKA, The Empire would prevail tonight and claim the world title at the Great American Bash. <div style="text-align:center;">Grade: B</div></div></blockquote> <blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="43035" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div><div style="text-align:center;">http://i.imgur.com/741TrEA.jpg Toshiyo Yamada vs. Etsuko Mita {©} (w/Eric Bischoff) http://i.imgur.com/zVT0XcD.jpghttp://i.imgur.com/EiVoLiY.jpghttp://i.imgur.com/cAw5Dl8.jpghttp://i.imgur.com/eX0IXCy.jpg </div> I'm sure this match would've gotten a much bigger reaction in Japan where both women are more established, but the action itself was pretty solid here. The match was built around Yamada throwing lots of kicks, and Mita spending all her time softening up the challenger's neck in preparation for her lethal Death Valley Driver. She went for the move a few times, but Yamada was able to slip out and keep the match going. Yamada escaped yet another DVD attempt and connected with a roundhouse kick to the head, which brought her about a half a second from winning the championship before Mita got a shoulder off of the mat. Bischoff pounded the mat and shouted encouragement to Mita, who did her best to shake off the cobwebs before Yamada could press her advantage. Toshiyo aimed another kick at the side of Mita's head, but she showed her champion's instincts by blocking the blow and catching Yamada's foot. She held on and used the counter as an opening to hoist Yamada onto her shoulders for another go at the Death Valley Driver. There was no escape this time, and Mita had finished another successful title defense. <div style="text-align:center;">Grade: C+</div></div></blockquote> <blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="43035" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div><div style="text-align:center;">http://i.imgur.com/Ni4TEgo.jpghttp://i.imgur.com/mS6Goca.jpg</div> Beejus Pilgrim approached Shane Douglas as Shane was being interviewed for WCW.com and congratulated him on retaining the United States title tonight. He said he was a big fan of Douglas and would've liked to have him on his team, to which Shane scoffed. Douglas was really good here in this short segment, especially when he correctly pointed out he had won his match in all three rounds of the UFS. "If you really believed in me, you would've picked me in the first round instead of that muscle-brained idiot Scott Steiner! You doubted me just like everyone else has, and I'm proving you wrong! Maybe next year, if you make it into the UFS again, you'll be smart enough to draft me so you can be guaranteed to repeat as the winning manager!" <div style="text-align:center;">Grade: B</div></div></blockquote> <blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="43035" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div><div style="text-align:center;">http://i.imgur.com/DZfKm2b.jpg THE MAYHEM MATCH #1: http://i.imgur.com/Ht8KF88.jpg AJ Styles #2: http://i.imgur.com/sOdsktm.jpg Lance Storm </div> The match began with a pair of reigning champions. I thought these two would deliver an exciting two minutes to open the match, and they did just that. They did some crisp technical wrestling, with a couple of aerial spots from AJ sprinkled in. <div style="text-align:center;">#3: http://i.imgur.com/DhzkzHt.jpg Chavo Guerrero Jr. Still Alive: AJ Styles, 02:00 Lance Storm, 02:00</div> Chavo entered the ring and quickly formed an alliance with Storm (kind of continuing off of the cowardly traits he's shown as American Dragon's 'mentor'.) The two men worked together to put a beating on Styles, who fought as best he could but spent most of the two minute period on the receiving end of a double team. Still, he was able to hold on until the two minutes passed and the fourth entrant walked down the ramp. <div style="text-align:center;">#4: http://i.imgur.com/eLttffP.jpg Alex Wright Still Alive: AJ Styles, 04:00 Lance Storm, 04:00 Chavo Guerrero Jr, 02:00</div> The odds evened when Alex Wright entered. He went after Storm, leaving Chavo and AJ to fight one on one. This two minute period saw a near elimination when Wright connected with a back elbow smash to the jaw off of the top rope, but Storm got a shoulder up. <div style="text-align:center;">#5: http://i.imgur.com/a0mKYEd.jpg Konnan Still Alive: AJ Styles, 06:00 Lance Storm, 06:00 Chavo Guerrero Jr, 04:00 Alex Wright, 02:00</div> Konnan attacked Styles upon entering the ring, while Alex and Lance continued their struggle. This left Chavo all alone, and he rolled out to the floor to catch a breather. He pulled up a chair and theatrically lounged back as he watched the action, with Mike and I both criticizing him and calling him a coward. <div style="text-align:center;">#6: http://i.imgur.com/e6Tpw6t.jpg Davey Boy Smith Still Alive: AJ Styles, 08:00 Lance Storm, 08:00 Chavo Guerrero Jr, 06:00 Alex Wright, 04:00 Konnan, 02:00</div> Our first surprise entrant ran down the ramp and went straight for Chavo. Guerrero pleaded for mercy, but Davey pulled him out of the chair and threw him back into the ring. He was greeted by a rolling clothesline from Konnan, and then AJ used the Spiral Tap to pin him for the match's first elimination. Bulldog entered the ring and began battling Lance Storm. Davey got a respectable ovation for his surprise appearance and return to wrestling after finishing his drug rehab. <div style="text-align:center;">#7: http://i.imgur.com/VMwitRH.jpg Billy Kidman Still Alive: AJ Styles, 10:00 Lance Storm, 10:00 Alex Wright, 06:00 Konnan, 04:00 Davey Boy Smith, 02:00</div> Once Kidman entered the ring, he and AJ hooked up and started trying to outdo each other, popping the fans with some high flying. Konnan and Storm battled out onto the floor to give them some room to fly, but were so occupied fighting each other that Styles was able to knock both of them down with a flip dive over the top rope. <div style="text-align:center;">#8: http://i.imgur.com/YIpiDFE.jpg Matt Hardy Still Alive: AJ Styles, 12:00 Lance Storm, 12:00 Alex Wright, 08:00 Konnan, 06:00 Davey Boy Smith, 04:00 Billy Kidman, 02:00</div> Matt Hardy unsurprisingly went straight after Storm, attacking him and peppering him with punches as Lance was just starting to come back around following AJ's dive. They spent the entire two minute period brawling around ringside and eventually into the ring, with the fresh Hardy controlling the majority of it. The other highlight of this period was Davey hitting Konnan with the running powerslam for the second elimination of the match. <div style="text-align:center;">#9: http://i.imgur.com/4CP35O5.jpg The Destroyer Still Alive: AJ Styles, 14:00 Lance Storm, 14:00 Alex Wright, 10:00 Davey Boy Smith, 06:00 Billy Kidman, 04:00 Matt Hardy, 02:00</div> The Destroyer made his presence felt immediately, grabbing Alex Wright and eliminating him with the Destruction Bomb. AJ Styles flew at him with a springboard attack, but the former Mike Awesome caught him and effortlessly launched him over the top rope and onto the entrance ramp hard. In addition to the standard pinfall and submissions, we included a TKO as a third way to be eliminated from the match if a wrestler was down and unresponsive for more than thirty seconds. Such was the case with AJ after that crash landing, and he became Destroyer's second elimination. This was an eventful two minutes, because after blocking a Lance Storm superkick, Matt Hardy hit him with the Twist of Fate and sent 1/2 of the tag team champions out of the match. <div style="text-align:center;">#10: http://i.imgur.com/1KISfdT.jpg Norman Smiley Still Alive: Davey Boy Smith, 08:00 Billy Kidman, 06:00 Matt Hardy, 04:00 The Destroyer, 02:00</div> Norman was saved from having to deal with The Destroyer thanks to Davey, who went after the big man head-on. Kidman, Hardy and Smiley gave the two a wide berth and battled amongst themselves. Kidman and Hardy did some cool stuff, but the focus was very much on Bulldog vs. Destroyer. Davey had him rocking and wobbling after several hard right hands, but a running clothesline attempt was thwarted by a spinebuster from The Destroyer. From there he went to the top rope and hit a diving splash to eliminate Davey. <div style="text-align:center;">#11: http://i.imgur.com/3b4L6vE.jpg Buff Bagwell Still Alive: Billy Kidman, 08:00 Matt Hardy, 06:00 The Destroyer, 04:00 Norman Smiley, 02:00</div> "The Stuff" wisely bypassed The Destroyer and attacked Matt Hardy instead, dragging him to the floor by his hair so they could brawl well away from the monster. Smiley and Kidman decided to work together to try and take the big man out. It didn't work too well though; after knocking both men down with a double clothesline, he scooped Kidman up and finished him with the Destruction Bomb. <div style="text-align:center;">#12: http://i.imgur.com/35Od9kC.jpg Disco Inferno Still Alive: Matt Hardy, 08:00 The Destroyer, 06:00 Norman Smiley, 04:00 Buff Bagwell, 02:00</div> Smiley was finished off seconds after the buzzer rang for #12. Disco had a very different approach: he entered the ring and busted out his dance moves. The Destroyer stared at him, and Disco smiled and encouraged him to join in. I think you can see where this is going. He picked Disco up and gave him a Destruction Bomb over the top rope and onto the ramp for his second TKO of the night. Hardy and Bagwell stopped their outside brawl to watch in awe as Inferno was decimated. The two men conversed and agreed to head back into the ring and work together. It was a swerve from Buff though; he faked going in but stayed on the floor, so Matt slid into the ring and was left to fend for himself against The Destroyer. Matt did his best, but The Destroyer was an imposing physical presence. He ragdolled Hardy with some power moves, but to his credit Matt hung on until the buzzer. <div style="text-align:center;">#13: http://i.imgur.com/9v49DN6.jpg Rey Misterio Jr. Still Alive: Matt Hardy, 10:00 The Destroyer, 08:00 Buff Bagwell, 04:00</div> Rey ran down the ramp and entered the ring in spectacular fashion: he flew at Destroyer with a springboard sunset flip and pinned him! That got the biggest pop of the match so far, both because the fans like Rey and because Destroyer had been looking so dominant. Buff tried to be a party pooper by attacking Rey from behind. He knocked him down and started working him over, but Matt Hardy repaid him for his earlier backstabbing by spinning him around and delivering the Twist of Fate for the elimination. <div style="text-align:center;">#14: http://i.imgur.com/fn8zdsQ.jpg The Unnatural Still Alive: Matt Hardy, 12:00 Rey Misterio Jr, 02:00 </div> The Unnatural entered the ring and quickly sought vengeance on the man who had eliminated his brother in Salvation, but he also had Matt Hardy to deal with. All three men fought hard for the next two minutes, with Unnatural very nearly finishing Hardy with a running bulldog and Rey in turn getting a close call on Unnatural with a flying crossbody, but no one could record an elimination. <div style="text-align:center;">#15: http://i.imgur.com/ptxupoY.jpg Mortis Still Alive: Matt Hardy, 14:00 Rey Misterio Jr, 04:00 The Unnatural, 02:00 </div> The entrance of Mortis marked the halfway point of the match, and it also marked trouble for Hardy and Misterio as they now had two members of Salvation to deal with. Mortis and Unnatural turned this into a makeshift tag match of sorts, and given their freshness in comparison to Hardy, the Salvation duo claimed the upper hand and battered their opponents throughout the period. <div style="text-align:center;">#16: http://i.imgur.com/zbQxlTu.jpg Sean O'Haire Still Alive: Matt Hardy, 16:00 Rey Misterio Jr, 06:00 The Unnatural, 04:00 Mortis, 02:00 </div> O'Haire hit the ring and demonstrated the every man for himself nature of the match by attacking anyone he could get his hands on. As the Thriller took shots at both Rey and The Unnatural, Mortis was able to hit the Flatliner and finally eliminate Matt Hardy. <div style="text-align:center;">#17: http://i.imgur.com/uY8UroB.jpg Brian Adams Still Alive: Rey Misterio Jr, 08:00 The Unnatural, 06:00 Mortis, 04:00 Sean O'Haire, 02:00 </div> Brian Adams showed his toughness by going right after the members of Salvation, and he and O'Haire were able to put Salvation on the back foot for really the first time since Mortis had entered the match. That alliance ended as quickly as it began, with Adams and O'Haire trading punches before the two minutes were up. That allowed Salvation to devote their attention to Misterio, planting him on his face with a dual flapjack. <div style="text-align:center;">#18: http://i.imgur.com/ncMyE2p.jpg TAKA Still Alive: Rey Misterio Jr, 10:00 The Unnatural, 08:00 Mortis, 06:00 Sean O'Haire, 04:00 Brian Adams, 02:00 </div> TAKA leapt right over the brawlers and entered the match with a springboard moonsault on Misterio, who kicked out just in time. Salvation stood back and allowed TAKA to keep up the attack by throwing Rey to the floor and diving out onto him with a spaceman plancha. Inside the ring, the lack of unity between O'Haire and Adams meant that Salvation was able to control the action once again. <div style="text-align:center;">#19: http://i.imgur.com/OZDc3yZ.jpg Chris Candido Still Alive: Rey Misterio Jr, 12:00 The Unnatural, 10:00 Mortis, 08:00 Sean O'Haire, 06:00 Brian Adams, 04:00 TAKA, 02:00 </div> Candido promptly partnered up with TAKA, and the two Empire members worked Misterio over on the floor, picking him up and dropping him throat-first on the guard rail. The Salvation duo focused on trying to finish O'Haire off, but we got over Sean's toughness by having him survive and continue to kick out despite everything they were throwing at him. <div style="text-align:center;">#20: http://i.imgur.com/hjNw7kz.jpg Bryan Clark Still Alive: Rey Misterio Jr, 14:00 The Unnatural, 12:00 Mortis, 10:00 Sean O'Haire, 08:00 Brian Adams, 06:00 TAKA, 04:00 Chris Candido, 02:00 </div> The arrival of Bryan Clark meant that there was now a regular unit in the match to combat Salvation. Clark and Adams worked together to turn the tide against Mortis and Unnatural, but it came to an abrupt halt when Unnatural got out of the way and Clark accidentally hit Adams with a big boot to the face. Clark's surprise left him wide open for a Flatliner and an elimination from Mortis, and Adams was also pinned moments later after Unnatural Selection. <div style="text-align:center;">#21: http://i.imgur.com/cxjgZpP.jpg Sting Still Alive: Rey Misterio Jr, 16:00 The Unnatural, 14:00 Mortis, 12:00 Sean O'Haire, 10:00 TAKA, 06:00 Chris Candido, 04:00 </div> Sting made a beeline for Candido, who slid into the ring and crawled through the traffic of bodies inside of it to create obstacles between himself and Sting. TAKA attacked Sting from behind to kept him from following Candido into the ring, but Sting walloped him with a punch and gave him the Scorpion Deathdrop on the floor! That led to another TKO finish as the referee on the floor made the count. He then went into the ring to chase after Candido, but found his path blocked by Salvation. <div style="text-align:center;">#22: http://i.imgur.com/hlbUlLo.jpg "Sugar" Shane Helms Still Alive: Rey Misterio Jr, 18:00 The Unnatural, 16:00 Mortis, 14:00 Sean O'Haire, 12:00 Chris Candido, 06:00 Sting, 02:00 </div> Just when Rey finally got back to his feet on the floor, he was blasted with a running clothesline to the back of the neck from Helms. Shane put the boots to him on the floor, while in the ring Sting tried to get through Salvation so he could get to Candido. Mortis tried to give him the Flatliner, but Sting broke free and shoved him forward, right into Unnatural. The members of Salvation cracked heads, and it allowed Sting to hit the Scorpion Deathdrop on Mortis to finish him off. He went straight for Unnatural, taking him to the mat with a double leg and turning him over into the Scorpion Deathlock. Unnatural tapped, and it left just Sting and Candido inside the ring. Candido stood back in the corner as Sting stared him down and did his caveman chest pounding thing to a great reaction from the crowd. <div style="text-align:center;">#23: http://i.imgur.com/5Xhxf90.jpg Fit Finlay Still Alive: Rey Misterio Jr, 20:00 Sean O'Haire, 14:00 Chris Candido, 08:00 Sting, 04:00 Shane Helms, 02:00 </div> Finlay, always ready for a fight, went straight for the biggest name in the ring. He and Sting battled, which left Candido free to go after Sean O'Haire. Shane Helms set up for a Vertebreaker on the floor, which I think it goes without saying did not happen. Rey slipped out of it and hit a headscissors that sent Shane into the railing. <div style="text-align:center;">#24: http://i.imgur.com/1tytiqE.jpg Jeff Hardy Still Alive: Rey Misterio Jr, 22:00 Sean O'Haire, 16:00 Chris Candido, 10:00 Sting, 06:00 Shane Helms, 04:00 Fit Finlay, 02:00 </div> Jeff made a quick splash, hitting both Candido and O'Haire with a flying single leg dropkick. Candido rolled out to the floor upon impact, but O'Haire was stuck in the ring and finished off with the Swanton Bomb. Misterio and Helms returned to the ring, and it became a bit of a free-for-all amongst all six active participants. <div style="text-align:center;">#25: http://i.imgur.com/nfnKuFX.jpg Hugh Morrus Still Alive: Rey Misterio Jr, 24:00 Chris Candido, 12:00 Sting, 08:00 Shane Helms, 06:00 Fit Finlay, 04:00 Jeff Hardy, 02:00 </div> Hugh Morrus came in and started brawling with anyone he came across, but there were bigger stories developing. One was the elimination of Shane Helms courtesy of a Misterio springboard hurricanrana, and the other was Sting cornering Candido and unloading with a flurry of punches and backhand strikes. He gorilla pressed him to the mat and then called for the Scorpion Deathlock, but Finlay hit Sting with a forearm to the back and then used his rolling fireman's carry for a near-fall. <div style="text-align:center;">#26: http://i.imgur.com/SAWQKXw.jpg CM Punk Still Alive: Rey Misterio Jr, 26:00 Chris Candido, 14:00 Sting, 10:00 Fit Finlay, 06:00 Jeff Hardy, 04:00 Hugh Morrus, 02:00 </div> The Hardys/True Heroes rivalry was renewed before CM Punk could even get into the ring. Jeff Hardy had been perched on the top rope for a potential Swanton on Candido, but saw Punk coming and dove onto him with a crossbody on the ramp instead. That fight continued on the floor for the entire two minutes, while inside the ring Candido and Finlay double teamed Sting until Morrus evened the odds. <div style="text-align:center;">#27: http://i.imgur.com/s9FsjTY.jpg Kaz Hayashi Still Alive: Rey Misterio Jr, 28:00 Chris Candido, 16:00 Sting, 12:00 Fit Finlay, 08:00 Jeff Hardy, 06:00 Hugh Morrus, 04:00 CM Punk, 02:00 </div> Hayashi targeted Rey Misterio with a high flying attack, and given Rey's fatigue as he neared the half hour mark, Kaz was able to claim the upper hand. The Hardy/Punk battle continued on the floor, with Punk blocking a suplex and hitting a suplex of his own on the floor. The field was thinned out a bit when Candido dropped Morrus with a fisherman buster and pinned him, while Sting used a top rope clothesline to finish Finlay. This allowed Sting to go right back after Candido, hitting him with a Stinger Splash in the corner. <div style="text-align:center;">#28: http://i.imgur.com/dk7thOQ.jpg Cash Still Alive: Rey Misterio Jr, 30:00 Chris Candido, 18:00 Sting, 14:00 Jeff Hardy, 08:00 CM Punk, 04:00 Kaz Hayashi, 02:00 </div> Cash decided to run in and ambush Sting, but it was an ill-conceived strategy. Sting saw him coming and sent him tumbling over the top rope with a back body drop, then returned his attention to battering Candido in the corner. The blindside attack of CM Punk was more effective though, and he and Candido worked Sting over until Jeff Hardy knocked them both down with a springboard crossbody. Kaz Hayashi tried to finally eliminate Misterio with a diving senton, but Rey still had enough left in the tank to roll out of the way. <div style="text-align:center;">#29: http://i.imgur.com/WWA8fPj.jpg Diamond Dallas Page Still Alive: Rey Misterio Jr, 32:00 Chris Candido, 20:00 Sting, 16:00 Jeff Hardy, 10:00 CM Punk, 06:00 Kaz Hayashi, 04:00 Cash, 02:00 </div> The second mystery entrant walked down the ramp. Cash, still recovering from his tumble over the top rope, tried to attack him halfway up the ramp. DDP blocked it, hit the Diamond Cutter on the ramp and got a TKO. Dallas entered the ring and went for Candido, giving him a punch combo and then dropping him with a discus clothesline. Meanwhile, Jeff Hardy pinned Hayashi with a rolling prawn hold. He didn't have long to celebrate that elimination though, because Punk rolled him up from behind for a sudden 3-count. As the two minute period came to its end, Sting turned Candido over and sat back into the Scorpion Deathlock. <div style="text-align:center;">#30: http://i.imgur.com/I7app7W.jpg King Corino Still Alive: Rey Misterio Jr, 34:00 Chris Candido, 22:00 Sting, 18:00 CM Punk, 08:00 Diamond Dallas Page, 02:00 </div> Candido finally tapped out to Sting, but the hold hadn't even been released before Corino nailed Sting with a lariat to the back of the head. He hit the piledriver to eliminate Sting, and we were down to our final four. They split into pairs, with DDP battling Punk while Misterio and Corino fought. This struggle lasted for awhile, but Rey was just a half a step slow on a springboard hurricanrana attempt due to his fatigue. It was all the opening Corino needed to yank his leg mid-springboard and send him crashing to the mat awkwardly. A sliding lariat ended the night for marathon man Rey Misterio Jr at well over thirty minutes. Corino and Punk attacked DDP 2-on-1, getting some heat on the "People's Champion" as they battered him. Punk went for the double-cross as he took Corino to the mat and attempted to lock in the Second City Stretch, but Corino was still too fresh. He escaped the hold and rolled out to the floor to regroup. Punk stared down at Corino, but was suddenly spun around and hit with the Diamond Cutter! Punk was pinned, and we were down to two. The story here was that Corino was wary of the Diamond Cutter and tried to get Page off of his feet so he could do some mat wrestling and not have to worry about DDP's devastating finisher. He also focused on the neck, hoping to soften him up for the piledriver. Eventually he saw an opportunity and went for his piledriver, but DDP blocked it and countered with a back body drop. Corino used the ropes to pull himself to his feet--but turned right into the Diamond Cutter! DDP covered, Charles Robinson counted three, and we had our winner. I think this match type took a little getting used to, for the fans, the wrestlers and even myself, but it wound up being a very good match as a whole. The fans enjoyed it even if they were disappointed once they realized it was going to be rattlesnake-free (but that's a story for another time.) <div style="text-align:center;">Grade: B+</div></div></blockquote> <blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="43035" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div><div style="text-align:center;">http://i.imgur.com/iWrsHvp.jpghttp://i.imgur.com/jAnziwr.jpghttp://i.imgur.com/DC095b3.jpghttp://i.imgur.com/haXKe6m.jpg </div> We aired a brief vignette hyping the Great American Bash, with a Tony Schiavone voiceover revealing it would be held this year on June 16th. <div style="text-align:center;">Grade: C+</div></div></blockquote> <blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="43035" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div><div style="text-align:center;">http://i.imgur.com/haJKoFv.jpg Booker T vs. Rob Van Dam {©} http://i.imgur.com/sJZr1Hv.jpghttp://i.imgur.com/EiVoLiY.jpghttp://i.imgur.com/uj4FkBt.jpg </div> A pre-match video gave a detailed recap of this feud and these characters. Great stuff. <div style="text-align:center;">Grade: A*</div> Was it a mistake to have this match main event? Battle royals are somewhat unpredictable, but this Mayhem match went about as well as I could've hoped. RVD and Booker would need to deliver the goods if they were going to top it. Did they? Holy crap, did they ever! It became obvious very early on that we were witnessing something special here. The crowd was white hot for it, and the action was great. There was the occasional moment where in watching it, I put my own ring psychology to work in identifying some minor alterations they could've made to the story they were telling that I thought would have really taken it over the top. That's honestly just nitpicking though, because this match was fantastic. Booker must have been highly motivated to prove he belongs in this spot, because I saw noticeable improvement both in his mat wrestling and in the execution of the few flying moves he did. He was good, but RVD was definitely a cut above. Van Dam was the star of the show, wowing the crowd with his unique athletic spots and throwing some kicks that looked great. They called him the "Whole F'n Show" in ECW, and he lived up to that moniker tonight. With him leading the way, this was the best match WCW has ever put on under my ownership. The key element to the story told in this match was Booker's increasing desperation. Every time RVD kicked out of a big move, Booker's insecurity was written all over his face and he raised his aggression. Finally he used the chaos of a near-collision between RVD and referee Nick Patrick to catch Van Dam with the Harlem Sidekick, and then hit his signature Book End. He hooked the leg and Patrick counted once... twice.. ...but RVD again got a shoulder up! Booker started pulling at his hair in fury, then pummeled Van Dam with closed fists. It eventually led to RVD getting back to his feet and engaging in a unique standoff, with Booker throwing punches while Rob used kicks. Booker was staggering, and RVD jumped onto the second rope for a flying side kick. Booker got out of the way, forcing Van Dam to adjust and land on his feet. The challenger took him to the mat with a double leg and folded RVD in half for a pin attempt. One... two.... Booker's feet were on the second rope, but Patrick didn't see it and counted the three! <div style="text-align:center;">Grade: A</div> </div></blockquote> <div style="text-align:center;">Show Overall Grade: A</div> Credit to the wonderful K-Nection for the poster.

Beejus · April 22, 2017

I'm going to give you some blow-by-blow analysis on this one. Here we go!

Okay, so why is Rey wearing a jock strap on his face in the poster picture? Is his new gimmick <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hentai_Kamen_(film)" rel="external nofollow">Hentai Kamen</a>?

I don't know if I've ever heard of Dusty and Lou Thesz being close, but I'd be up for listening to Dusty read the phone book, so him giving a few words about the late Thesz would be a solid start.

Vampiro is definitely on his way out of WCW, and him losing here will begin putting the icing on the cake, so to speak. I don't expect to see him much on Nitro in the future anymore either, likely he will be found jobbing on Worldwide I would imagine. The Chavo/Bryan feud continues to simmer nicely.

Good, a solid "on" night for Roddy, even if he was berating one of your potential future generation of stars. However, I could see this as a great motivation for Daniels to finally step into the ring - and I look to see him grab the Cruiser belt sooner rather than later once he does, given the promotion you've put into him.

I kinda dig you using Melissa as Arn's niece. It makes sense, given the name. Makes me wonder if perhaps she won't have another Cousin Wrestling Anderson show up in the future...

It's too bad you can't mark an angle as a comedy segment in TEW, because that would have been hilarious to see. Especially with Gene at the end of it, too. It's kinda too bad you're writing him out, but in 2002, he doesn't have a whole lot to give to WCW. And with TEW the way it is, you can't really put him on any sort of media show (like the WWE did with Confidential) so he is a victim of circumstances in this situation. But.... how are they going to drive to the US?! <img alt="" data-src="//content.invisioncic.com/g322608/emoticons/biggrin.png.929299b4c121f473b0026f3d6e74d189.png" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" />:D

Hayabusa wins, nothing to really say here.

Honestly, Bobby stealing my watch would be a huge compliment, much like how Japanese fans were said to thank Terry Funk for punching them. Just too bad you didn't leave in when I asked you if I could send Unnatural after the Women's title <img alt="" data-src="//content.invisioncic.com/g322608/emoticons/tongue.png.ceb643b2956793497cef30b0e944be28.png" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /> I could actually see you using my team more in the future, as hanging around the Steiners could probably do wonders for Jindrak. They could even - gasp - be turned into faces to go against Salvation given the way this segment ended! Imagine that, "Big Poppa Pump" as a face!

Douglas retaining I saw coming a mile away. It made a nice test for the Thrillers in back-to-back PPVs to go against a great hand like Shane though, so now you could potentially give them a good singles evaluation and see how ready you may feel to split them up.

Good thing Arn had those other guys just sitting around backstage in their wrestling gear!

The Empire are really shining as a solid stable, I wouldn't call them huge yet (despite the big gains they've likely made) but given enough time they could definitely be a huge threat to WCW's stars.

Again, not shocked seeing another champion retain. Your WCW is in a very good place champion-wise, where maintaining the status quo isn't a bad thing.

I got yelled at by "The Franchise"! *squeee* <img alt="" data-src="//content.invisioncic.com/g322608/emoticons/biggrin.png.929299b4c121f473b0026f3d6e74d189.png" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" />

Time for Mayhem. Davey made for a good surprise entrant. I like this TKO rule, which almost seems designed for someone like Awesome to just look like a beast. Hmmm, given the miscommunication I wonder if we may not be seeing the end of Doomsday very shortly. I could definitely go for seeing more action between Sting and Salvation because that seems like a ready-made feud given the "dark" nature of all involved characters. Seeing Page pick up the win was pretty cool, he can start a nice little "redemption" type run now as he tries to pick his career back up.

Awesome main event! The ending was one I am not surprised by, as the desperation factor was strong here. It would have been a great story to see play out, and I now not only wonder what is next for both champion and challenger, but also Dallas. And that's what a strong PPV is supposed to do; make sure we, the viewer, have to tune in to see where we go next!

Great job, man!

K-Nection · April 22, 2017

<blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="43035" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>Okay, so why is Rey wearing a jock strap on his face in the poster picture? Is his new gimmick Hentai Kamen?</div></blockquote> Since I'm the one that made the poster I will answer this question. I found this in the dark recesses of Google but it is getting challenging finding unique non masked pictures of rey. I no longer have the bigger version but it appears to be a mankind mask and I thought it gave Rey a unique look. I guess it didn't translate well on the poster because now that you mention it.....yeah it looks like a thong lol. It was either that pic or him wearing the stupid devil horns and I hate those <img alt=":p" data-src="//content.invisioncic.com/g322608/emoticons/tongue.png.ceb643b2956793497cef30b0e944be28.png" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /> As far as how Mayhem went I loved reading that! I knew you would excel at writing that because I knew you would enjoy writing about the diverse eliminations other then just top rope eliminations. DDP came back huge in that one and I kinda marked out for it! I'm glad RVD could deliver as his last night as champ though! I'm curious if you were testing the psychology limits after the update that Adam did and that is the grade you received.

michgcs · April 23, 2017

Was certainly rooting for Punk or Corino when things went down to our final four. Sucks that DDP went over but I guess it's good to have a big name to add some prestige to the match. Sucks that there's no Austin considering (I think?) he's a three-time Royal Rumble winner by this point. I'm sure all will be explained in your round-up post <img alt="

" data-src="//content.invisioncic.com/g322608/emoticons/tongue.png.ceb643b2956793497cef30b0e944be28.png" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" />

Armando Payne · April 23, 2017

I think I only got like 3 predictions right, surprised Steve Austin never showed up, surprised Davey Boy Smith showed up considering he's dead an' all. (He died the day before Mayhem so yeah let's have a Zombie be part of the roster, good.) Surprised DDP Won. A whole bunch of surprises, eh?

The Final Countdown · April 23, 2017

May 2002: Mayhem Wrap-up, Hall of Champions

Mayhem would go down in the books as a fantastic show. It was one of the best we'd put on, capped off with an instant classic main event. The fans, whether in the arena or on the message boards, were very positive on the show. Yet there was one topic of conversation that came up repeatedly: where was Steve Austin?

Austin had been the major story throughout the wrestling community for weeks, and the moment his WWF departure became official, everyone jumped to the conclusion that he'd join us. I'd seen all the anticipation about him debuting as one of the mystery entrants in the Mayhem match, which was why I changed my original plan and had DDP enter at #29 instead of 30. The disappointment of #30 being someone other than Austin put the heat on Corino, which was the desired reaction. But after the show, the speculation continued. Was Austin not coming in, or were we just delaying his debut?

Naturally I contacted Steve at the earliest available opportunity. He met with me and we had a nice conversation, but he indicated he wasn't ready to sign a deal. Right now he's just going to do his tour with the EWP and then reevaluate his options after that. He didn't come right out and say it, but my thinking is that he wants to keep a possible return to WWF on the table. Either that, or maybe he's gun-shy about returning to WCW after the way his career went the first time. We do have a good friendship though, and he told me that he would never forget what I did for him in 1996 and 97 in our feud that made him a star. We didn't shut the door completely on the possibility of him coming to WCW eventually. We'll wait and see the lay of the land later in the year, and if he's still available I'll give him a call and see how he's feeling.

http://i588.photobucket.com/albums/ss322/FCDiary/WCW/WCW.jpg

American Dragon would've been one of the last people I ever expected to be brought before the wrestler's court, but that's exactly what happened before Mayhem. I think Dusty knows he's a good kid though, and he took it pretty easy on him.

After the show I praised RVD for the performance of the night and not complaining about dropping the title. I also gave Booker a hug and told DDP how much I admired him for having such a positive attitude and doing whatever was asked of him despite any personal issues.

Jeff Hardy gave Bryan Danielson a pat on the back and told him he was going to be a big star down the line. I agree completely.

Hall of Champions:

World Heavyweight Champion:

http://i588.photobucket.com/albums/ss322/FCDiary/WCW/World.jpg

Booker T (5th reign)

http://i588.photobucket.com/albums/ss322/FCDiary/WCW/Booker2.jpg

Won: May 19th, 2002 from Rob Van Dam at Mayhem in Worcester, Massachusetts

Previous Champions (since March 2001):

Rob Van Dam: December 30th, 2001-May 19th, 2002 (140 days)

Scott Steiner: July 15th, 2001-December 30th, 3001 (168 days)

Booker T: March 26th, 2001-July 15th, 2001 (111 days)

World Women's Champion:

http://i588.photobucket.com/albums/ss322/FCDiary/WCW/Womens.jpg

Etsuko Mita

http://i588.photobucket.com/albums/ss322/FCDiary/WCW/Mita.jpg

Won: January 9th, 2002 against Zap I during the AJW Glass Grave Yard tour in Annaka, Japan after Aja Kong vacated the title when she left AJW

((Mita was the reigning WWWA World champion when AJW was bought out by WCW. The title was adopted into WCW with its lineage intact, and Mita was recognized as WCW's Women's World Champion.))

Previous Champions (since January 2002):

None

United States Heavyweight Champion:

http://i588.photobucket.com/albums/ss322/FCDiary/WCW/US.jpg

Shane Douglas (2nd reign)

http://i588.photobucket.com/albums/ss322/FCDiary/WCW/Douglas2.jpg

Won: April 1st, 2002 from Rey Misterio Jr. at Monday Nitro in Pikeville, Kentucky

Previous Champions (since March 2001):

Rey Misterio Jr (#2): October 14th, 2001-April 1st, 2002 (169 days)

Kanyon: August 5th, 2001-October 14th, 2001 (70 days)

Rey Misterio Jr: May 13th, 2001-August 5th, 2001 (85 days)

Booker T: March 18th, 2001-April 30th, 2001 (44 days)

Cruiserweight Champion:

http://i588.photobucket.com/albums/ss322/FCDiary/WCW/Cruiser.jpg

AJ Styles

http://i588.photobucket.com/albums/ss322/FCDiary/WCW/Styles.jpg

Won: April 21st, 2002 from TAKA at Slamboree in Tokyo, Japan

Previous Champions (since March 2001):

TAKA: December 30th, 2001-April 21st, 2002 (112 days)

Jushin Liger: August 5th, 2001-December 30th, 2001 (147 days)

Shane Helms: March 18th, 2001-August 5th, 2001 (140 days)

World Tag Team Champions:

http://i588.photobucket.com/albums/ss322/FCDiary/WCW/Tag.jpg

True Heroes (Lance Storm and CM Punk)

http://i588.photobucket.com/albums/ss322/FCDiary/WCW/Storm.jpghttp://i588.photobucket.com/albums/ss322/FCDiary/WCW/Punk.jpg

Won: December 30th, 2001 from The Natural Born Thrillers at Starrcade in Tokyo, Japan

Previous Champions (since March 2001):

The Natural Born Thrillers (Chuck Palumbo and Sean O'Haire): January 14th, 2001-December 30th, 2001 (351 days)

Prediction scores (maximum possible points: 21)

((+3 = correctly predicted Booker as next world champion))

K-Nection: 13 (+3)

Uncrewed: 12 (+3)
franticloser: 12
Larrikn: 12
The Lariat: 12

jscotty: 11 (+3)
crackerjack: 11 (+3)
evileddie10: 11 (+3)
Satyr24: 11
Warkhawk8492: 11
Purotastic: 11

Cro Cop Rules: 10 (+3)
Rateddc: 10 (+3)
Beejus: 10 (+3)
GingeyOne: 10 (+3)
michgcs: 10

smw88: 9 (+3)
Dead_Jester: 9 (+3)
chrismday: 9 (+3)
deanohbk: 9 (+3)
KnowYourEnemy: 9 (+3)
Nobby_McDonald: 9 (+3)
BHK6: 9 (+3)
cbacon87: 9
SIser187: 9

DGenerationMC: 8 (+3)
Briskout: 8
sportsfanmas: 8

Armando Payne: 7
Happy0wns: 7
Wolfman84: 7

The Lloyd: 6
Ian carlisle: 6

Kijar: 5 (+3)
LordofGustav: 5 (+3)

Standings in prediction contest after 2 shows (1 show remaining):

K-Nection: 24

Rateddc: 23
evileddie10: 23

Dead_Jester: 22
Beejus: 22
jscotty: 22

Uncrewed: 21

Satyr24: 20
KnowYourEnemy: 20
franticloser: 20
deanohbk: 20
crackerjack: 20

Happy0wns: 19
The Lariat: 19
smw88: 19
BHK6: 19

michgcs: 18
chrismday: 18

Armando Payne: 17
cbacon87: 17
Nobby_McDonald: 17

Briskout: 16
DGenerationMC: 16

Kijar: 15
sportsfanmas: 15

Wolfman84: 14
LordofGustav: 14
Warhawk8492: 14

Ian carlisle: 13
Cro Cop Rules: 13
GingeyOne: 13

Larrikn: 12

Purotastic: 11

SIser187: 9

The Lloyd: 6

There's probably more chance than usual for an error in the prediction scores, so feel free to doublecheck your totals and alert me if you think there's a mistake.

So the gameplay reason for no Austin is that he thinks WCW is too small for him. Fair enough, as he's a global icon in this mod and I'm only at Cult. Yet EWP is in the single digits in all of Europe except for Central Europe, where they're at 37 popularity. My lowest popularity anywhere in the game world is a 40 in a few regions of Europe. I'm guessing the game is set up for a worker to ignore the size requirements for touring companies? Or maybe it's because they aren't based in his home area?

World Heavyweight Championship: Booker T vs. Rob Van Dam {©}

Booker T wins by crotching RVD on the top rope as RVD goes for his Five Star Frog Splash. Then he delivers a superplex before rolling him up and putting his feet on the rope for the 3 count.

This is pretty much a spot-on combination of the world and US title match finishes.

General diary comments/questions/critiques:
Digging this. Wondering when Lex Luger will face Madusa in a Lex Express vs Monster Truck match to decide which is more powerful? (I'm only a Lex Mark thanks to OSW, I don't even dig the dude.)

Ironically, I've been going through the OSW playlist for the first time recently, generally while I'm working on this. I have a feeling my writing of Tito Santana would've been very different if I'd been watching OSW during TGAAB.

Is Steve Austin in decline or heat with Vince McMahon?

No heat with Vince, and I don't think he's in decline either.

Well it still goes a quick rate for foreign workers in your home country. It is just now it is harder for your roster to learn other languages outside of your home country. With as many shows as you have been running in Japan you might start to see some language barriers being broke there. I would check some of your guys you have had since the beginning.

Nope, nothing yet. I think I've run a half dozen shows at the most in Japan so far though.

General diary comments/questions/critiques:
I guess I'm in the other camp here -- I really hope you don't sign Stone Cold. I always thought that part of "the fun" of playing WCW is you don't need Austin to beat Vince, and instead, you can take him on with your own stars. Once you get Austin, WCW will crush Vince in a few months -- personally, I always find it difficult to keep writing without solid competition.

Even if I had gotten Austin right now, I'm not sure it would've turned the tide as completely as you're suggesting. The WWF is still putting on really good shows without him, and they'd still be beating me in any National Battles if we were currently in them. I'm also not sure how well he'd do in my product with its focus on performance rather than popularity, as well as its increased match danger and intensity. He'd be a massive addition for sure, but I think it'd be quite some time before I could surpass WWE even if I had him.

What I'd Do: You can edit "available areas" in-game, and much like Hogan in Japan and "The Snake" Jake Roberts in AAA during the mid-nineties [among others] have Stone Cold work abroad for one year, waiting out the time for that "big offer" in the states. You'd have to user-control a company for "one-night only" [or maybe a bit longer] to complete the signing. Then, an "even" WWF and WCW plus another company will duke it out for "Stone Cold" -- making him easily the highest paid free agent out there.

So obviously I'm not going to have the option of signing him until I hit National. I've only just upgraded my TV and PPV coverage in the USA so I'm not sure how dramatically that will increase my rate of growth, but however long it takes, we'll see what happens with him in the meantime.

Manami Toyota, Alexis Laree and Melissa Anderson vs. Takako Inoue, Shinobu Kandori and Daffney
MELISSA!

I'm sure you aren't surprised to see her here. She may be a Cheerleader, but in your diary it's me who is leading the cheers for her.

Any chance of bringing ex-ECW guys? I could see them primarily in the tag division, with Doring & Roadkill and Nova & Chetti able to do good work. Heck, York and Matthews could challenge 3 Count! Cyrus vs. Tenay!

I'm trying to refrain as much as I can from making any new signings right now, as my roster is pretty big for my size and TV time.

General diary comments/questions/critiques: Spent my day reading through this awesome journal. Keep up the good work!

Nice! Welcome!

I don't know if I've ever heard of Dusty and Lou Thesz being close, but I'd be up for listening to Dusty read the phone book, so him giving a few words about the late Thesz would be a solid start.

Yeah, I have no idea if they were or not. He just seemed like the most qualified guy on my roster to talk about him, and the lineage of the NWA title seemed like the best way to draw the connection.

I realized while writing that segment that there was an angle I was meaning to do with Dusty, and I really should've done it already. Maybe I can find a way to squeeze it in soon and still make sense.

Vampiro is definitely on his way out of WCW, and him losing here will begin putting the icing on the cake, so to speak. I don't expect to see him much on Nitro in the future anymore either, likely he will be found jobbing on Worldwide I would imagine. The Chavo/Bryan feud continues to simmer nicely.

Eh, whoever's beating him will probably gain more out of it on Nitro than Saturday Night.

Good, a solid "on" night for Roddy, even if he was berating one of your potential future generation of stars. However, I could see this as a great motivation for Daniels to finally step into the ring - and I look to see him grab the Cruiser belt sooner rather than later once he does, given the promotion you've put into him.

I've been holding Daniels out largely to try and build his popularity up a bit first through angles, but it's not really working like I wanted. I think I need to throw him into the deep end pretty soon, and this angle was pretty much the beginning of that.

I kinda dig you using Melissa as Arn's niece. It makes sense, given the name. Makes me wonder if perhaps she won't have another Cousin Wrestling Anderson show up in the future...

Yeah, it just kind of popped into my head as I was trying to think up a new name for her, because as much as I like her as a performer I've always disliked the name Cheerleader Melissa. It seemed like an interesting way to do.

I thought you were talking about the Machine Gun at first, but now it occurs to me you're probably referring to KENNEDDY........KENNEDDY! (I wouldn't expect to see him show up here, to be honest. He's more sports entertainer than wrestler.)

It's too bad you can't mark an angle as a comedy segment in TEW, because that would have been hilarious to see. Especially with Gene at the end of it, too. It's kinda too bad you're writing him out, but in 2002, he doesn't have a whole lot to give to WCW. And with TEW the way it is, you can't really put him on any sort of media show (like the WWE did with Confidential) so he is a victim of circumstances in this situation. But.... how are they going to drive to the US?! :D:D

I probably wasn't clear enough on this. I was GOING to let Gene's contract expire; it literally got all the way down to the final day to begin negotiations. Then I decided on a whim that I should make the driver of the bus an actual character Lex can interact with, and the idea of using Gene in the role seemed good. Hiring an old man to drive him around the country (the world?!) on a crappy old school bus with a crummy DIY stars & stripes paint job is what the Flex Express is all about, baby! So yeah, the role will be a regular one, so Gene is signed to an extension and will be sticking around for awhile.

I'm kind of debating whether I'm going to address the logistics of driving a school bus across an ocean. I think it would be funny to have Heenan or somebody ask him about it, and just have Lex totally no sell it. "What do you mean? We made great time! I have 4% body fat, YEAH!"

Good thing Arn had those other guys just sitting around backstage in their wrestling gear!

Every wrestler worth his salt knows you always bring your gear with you!

I got yelled at by "The Franchise"! *squeee*

Badge of honor.

Time for Mayhem. Davey made for a good surprise entrant. I like this TKO rule, which almost seems designed for someone like Awesome to just look like a beast.

Yep, that was part of it. The other part was just me wanting to have another option for some variety instead of writing up 29 pins/submissions in one match. It allows me to get a bit more creative in spots, like when Cash tried to attack DDP on the ramp and got KTFO'D with a Diamond Cutter.

It was either that pic or him wearing the stupid devil horns and I hate those

NEVER use a picture of him with the devil horns. I hated those things with a fiery passion.

As far as how Mayhem went I loved reading that! I knew you would excel at writing that because I knew you would enjoy writing about the diverse eliminations other then just top rope eliminations.

It took me a bit to get used to it, but it definitely gave me more room to work with. The biggest drawback was probably my feeling that I needed to be more protective of eliminating people too quickly, since they were getting pinned/submitted/TKOed rather than simply being thrown over the top rope. The active field subsequently got a bit more bloated than I'd prefer at times.

I'm glad RVD could deliver as his last night as champ though! I'm curious if you were testing the psychology limits after the update that Adam did and that is the grade you received.

Not really. The difference is pretty obvious though. I would bet that the RVD/Steiner match from Starrcade would've been better than this if the psych penalty worked the same way back then.

Was certainly rooting for Punk or Corino when things went down to our final four. Sucks that DDP went over but I guess it's good to have a big name to add some prestige to the match. Sucks that there's no Austin considering (I think?) he's a three-time Royal Rumble winner by this point. I'm sure all will be explained in your round-up post

Punk's obviously got a full plate at the moment. Corino could've been a legit option, but I wouldn't have wanted to put him against heel Booker at the moment. Initially my plan for the first Mayhem match was for Booker to win it and then win the title next month at GAB, but I decided to move things up. I'm not really sure if Austin would've won it even if I'd signed him. I never put much thought into it because I already knew he wasn't coming in.

I think I only got like 3 predictions right, surprised Steve Austin never showed up, surprised Davey Boy Smith showed up considering he's dead an' all. (He died the day before Mayhem so yeah let's have a Zombie be part of the roster, good.) Surprised DDP Won. A whole bunch of surprises, eh?

In reality maybe, but he's alive and well in Heart and Soul, brother! (As is WCW itself.)

K-Nection · April 23, 2017

One thing that would be really cool is you could bring in Davey Jr. and have him tag with his father. That is a tragic thing the world never got to see in RL that would be cool to pull off.

Armando Payne · April 23, 2017

I think you pumped me up pal, I got 5 instead of 7, right? (I predicted Booker T to win, Etsuko Mita to win, Lex Luger to no-show, King Corino to be runner-up and King Corino to be in the final 4.) Where's the other 2 I got right? Hopefully now I can predict them all correctly and enter the Championship Challenge Series.

The Final Countdown · April 23, 2017

Mayhem Match Stats: Order of Entry: 1. AJ Styles 2. Lance Storm 3. Chavo Guerrero Jr. 4. Alex Wright 5. Konnan 6. Davey Boy Smith 7. Billy Kidman 8. Matt Hardy 9. The Destroyer 10. Norman Smiley 11. Buff Bagwell 12. Disco Inferno 13. Rey Misterio Jr. 14. The Unnatural 15. Mortis 16. Sean O'Haire 17. Brian Adams 18. TAKA 19. Chris Candido 20. Bryan Clark 21. Sting 22. Shane Helms 23. Fit Finlay 24. Jeff Hardy 25. Hugh Morrus 26. CM Punk 27. Kaz Hayashi 28. Cash 29. Diamond Dallas Page 30. King Corino Order of Elimination: 1. Chavo Guerrero Jr, by AJ Styles 2. Konnan, by Davey Boy Smith 3. Alex Wright, by The Destroyer 4. AJ Styles, by The Destroyer 5. Lance Storm, by Matt Hardy 6. Davey Boy Smith, by The Destroyer 7. Billy Kidman, by The Destroyer 8. Norman Smiley, by The Destroyer 9. Disco Inferno, by The Destroyer 10. The Destroyer, by Rey Misterio Jr. 11. Buff Bagwell, by Matt Hardy 12. Matt Hardy, by Mortis 13. Bryan Clark, by Mortis 14. Brian Adams, by The Unnatural 15. TAKA, by Sting 16. Mortis, by Sting 17. The Unnatural, by Sting 18. Sean O'Haire, by Jeff Hardy 19. Shane Helms, by Rey Misterio Jr. 20. Hugh Morrus, by Chris Candido 21. Fit Finlay, by Sting 22. Cash, by Diamond Dallas Page 23. Kaz Hayashi, by Jeff Hardy 24. Jeff Hardy, by CM Punk 25. Chris Candido, by Sting 26. Sting, by King Corino 27. Rey Misterio Jr, by King Corino 28. CM Punk, by Diamond Dallas Page 29. King Corino, by Diamond Dallas Page Eliminations: The Destroyer, 6 Sting, 5 Diamond Dallas Page, 3 Matt Hardy, 2 Rey Misterio Jr, 2 Jeff Hardy, 2 Mortis, 2 King Corino, 2 CM Punk, 1 The Unnatural, 1 AJ Styles, 1 Davey Boy Smith, 1 Chris Candido, 1 Total Time: Rey Misterio Jr, 38:46 Chris Candido, 22:33 Sting, 18:56 The Unnatural, 17:27 Matt Hardy, 17:20 Sean O'Haire, 16:40 CM Punk, 16:32 Lance Storm, 15:47 AJ Styles, 15:20 Mortis, 14:49 Diamond Dallas Page, 13:23 Jeff Hardy, 11:41 King Corino, 11:23 Alex Wright, 10:33 Davey Boy Smith, 09:44 Fit Finlay, 09:39 Billy Kidman, 09:11 The Destroyer, 08:15 Brian Adams, 07:46 TAKA, 07:32 Shane Helms, 07:27 Chavo Guerrero Jr, 07:06 Konnan, 06:55 Kaz Hayashi, 05:20 Hugh Morrus, 05:14 Buff Bagwell, 05:09 Norman Smiley, 04:05 Cash, 02:39 Bryan Clark, 01:27 Disco Inferno, 01:11 <hr noshade size=3> <blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="K-Nection" data-cite="K-Nection" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="43035" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>One thing that would be really cool is you could bring in Davey Jr. and have him tag with his father. That is a tragic thing the world never got to see in RL that would be cool to pull off.</div></blockquote> Harry's in developmental, so if Davey's still around by the time he gets called up I think it's a safe bet they'll work together in some form. <blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="Armando Payne" data-cite="Armando Payne" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="43035" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>I think you pumped me up pal, I got 5 instead of 7, right? (I predicted Booker T to win, Etsuko Mita to win, Lex Luger to no-show, King Corino to be runner-up and King Corino to be in the final 4.) Where's the other 2 I got right? Hopefully now I can predict them all correctly and enter the Championship Challenge Series.</div></blockquote> Nope, it's 7. You got a point each for getting the MOTN and title change questions right.

Armando Payne · April 23, 2017

Oh OK, thanks for clarifying. I was kinda confused for a second.

smartman · April 23, 2017

Actually, he's referencing CW Anderson who was mainly noted for being in MLW as a member of Corino's Extreme Horsemen. I actually liked the guy from the few matches I saw, but he never did anything after that that I saw. Ken Anderson would be a hoot depending on what his personality is. Most have him at Bagwell-level douchebaggery so I wouldn't recommend that.

Purotastic · April 23, 2017

<blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="smartman" data-cite="smartman" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="43035" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>Actually, he's referencing CW Anderson who was mainly noted for being in MLW as a member of Corino's Extreme Horsemen. I actually liked the guy from the few matches I saw, but he never did anything after that that I saw. Ken Anderson would be a hoot depending on what his personality is. Most have him at Bagwell-level douchebaggery so I wouldn't recommend that.</div></blockquote> After MLW he was overseas quite a bit for Zero-1 and working US indies. WWE hired him briefly for their ECW brand. After that it was back to the indies with an appearance in TNA for their ECW reunion show. We actually know him and he lives just down the road from us.

michgcs · April 24, 2017

Yeah, TFC-- Cousin Wrestling Anderson seemed like a pretty big clue LOL <img alt="

" data-src="//content.invisioncic.com/g322608/emoticons/tongue.png.ceb643b2956793497cef30b0e944be28.png" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" />

Wolfman84 · April 25, 2017

So Booker T is officially a five time WCW champion? Great Mayhem show TFC and must say I did not expect DDP to return so fast. My bold predictions is Steve Austin doesn't debut/return to WCW into Starcade.

GnarlsFunk · April 25, 2017

I originally started reading this just to make sure my basic idea for my own WCW lives dynasty wasn't a rip on one that was so popular. 3 or 4 days later I've read the whole damn thing. Great work, I've enjoyed it throughly. And will continue to follow. Whether I ever actually post my game on the board or not is up in the air. But I'm super excited to start playing again as I had taken a break from the game and the board for a while.

Question for you. How far out did you actually plan when you started and how far out do you plan now?

shawn michaels · April 27, 2017

I finally managed to read the whole deal. It is a great diary as the parts I had read before indicated. But iirc, (and I might be wrong, since it might have been mentioned way in the back pages) you are still not national, right? So I assume that's why Austin didn't sign and you did a good job of explaining why in character? Now that I finally finished reading everything, I might try my luck at getting a shot at the next UFS. Keep up the great work.

The Final Countdown · April 27, 2017

May 2002: Road to Great American Bash, Part I <blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="43035" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div><div style="text-align:center;">http://i588.photobucket.com/albums/ss322/FCDiary/WCW/Nitro2.jpg May 20th, 2002 From the Springfield Civic Center in Springfield, Massachusetts Attendance: 5,000 (sell-out!) Announce Team: "The Professor" Mike Tenay and Bret "The Hitman" Hart </div> AJ Styles beat Elix Skipper in non-title action to start the show. During the match, guest color commentator Chavo Guerrero Jr. complained about AJ 'unfairly' eliminating him from last night's Mayhem match after what Chavo described as a heinous group attack. (B-) <div style="text-align:center;">Spotlight Segment: http://i588.photobucket.com/albums/ss322/FCDiary/WCW/DDP.jpg DDP got a nice reaction from most of the fans as he made his entrance, and you could tell that he enjoyed it. He thanked the fans for greeting him warmly last night, and even thanked the few who booed him as well because nothing motivated him more than proving his doubters wrong. He talked about how it had been a rough few months for him, both professionally and personally. He referenced his breakup with Kimberly without really going into details, and some of the smarkier fans started a "CM Punk" chant. That threw Dallas off, and he stumbled quite a bit for the rest of the promo until he finally moved on to discussing what came next. "Personal problems aside, nothing can match the rush I get every time I walk through that curtain and step into this ring! Last night, from the moment I walked out until the moment I pinned Corino to win the Mayhem match, it was like everything wrong in my life went away. That rush, man--nothing beats it! And now I've got a shot at the heavyweight champion of the world. Booker, I know you're riding high after finally getting that belt back last night, but you've been here four times before, so you know the drill. You and I both know that winning the belt, that's the easy part. Now comes the hard part, because now every single guy in that locker room has their sights set right on you! But they'll all have to wait their turn, because I'm first in line. And all it'll take is one Diamond Cutter for me to win that championship for the fourth time!" http://i588.photobucket.com/albums/ss322/FCDiary/WCW/Booker2.jpg Booker stepped out into the aisle with the world title over his shoulder. He got the belt back, but he wasn't very happy. He explained that after almost a year of being screwed out of what was rightfully his, finally he'd taken it back last night! By all rights he should've received a red carpet parade tonight, but instead WCW didn't give him a dang thing. Instead they chose to give DDP the time that should've been his, and it made him sick. "Ain't nothin' changed around here! I got my belt back, but those suits still wanna give my time to somebody else! But you ain't the story, Page. This ain't about you. It ain't about your personal life falling apart, because nobody cares about that. It ain't about you winning the Mayhem match last night, because the only thing that mattered last night was Booker T getting the belt back! Now I'm a five-time, five-time, five-time, five-time, five-time WCW champion! And you think you're gonna take it away from me at the Great American Bash, after all the crap I had to go through to get it? Ain't no way, sucka!" Dallas invited Booker to come to the ring and "don't sing it, bring it", but the champ said he didn't have time for this and walked to the back. Booker did really well here and more than did his part in putting this angle over the top. Grade: A*</div> Christopher Daniels competed in the ring tonight, albeit not against a fellow cruiserweight. He still showed he wasn't all talk, because he used Angel's Descent to defeat Vampiro. (B-) Arn Anderson announces that due to their performances in the Mayhem match, Rey Misterio Jr. (the iron man of the match) and The Destroyer (most eliminations) will meet in a match at the Great American Bash to decide the next challenger for the World Heavyweight Championship. (B) Post-Mayhem footage: a furious Scott Steiner shoves the on-site doctor away and screams to the WCW.com camera crew that "Dustin's a dead man!" (B-) Daffney and Takako Inoue defeated local talent Lizzy Valentine and Japanese freelancer (on excursion in the US) Kaori Yoneyama in a tag match when Daffney hit Valentine with a move we're calling the Banshee Knee (a top rope knee drop preceded by her signature scream.) (C-) Unnatural responds to Scott Steiner's anger: "Feel free to rage and make threats, but it is yourself who you should be angry with. You brought this upon yourself with your selfish behavior, and there's no changing this river's flow now." (B) More WCW.com behind the scenes footage from Mayhem: Rob Van Dam unlaces his boots in his locker room after his defeat to Booker T, looking dazed and confused. Bobby Heenan tries to get some post-match comments, but RVD doesn't respond. (B+) Davey Boy Smith took down 'Above Average' Mike Sanders with the running powerslam. (C-) Onboard the Flex Express: Lex and Gene are still pressing on with the Call to Action Campaign 2002, but for some reason the Japanese populous hasn't taken to it. Gene suggests some eye candy to draw people's attention, and when Lex says that's a great idea and starts making plans for a public flexing display, Gene specifies that he means adding a female to the campaign. (D+) The Empire cut a promo on tonight's #1 contender's match against The Hardys, with Candido and Corino saying they should've just been given the title shot after last night's performance (over twenty minutes in the match for Candido and runner-up honors for Corino), but if Arn Anderson's going to make them jump through hoops they'll just have to make an example out of Matt and Jeff. (B) Mark Jindrak approaches Shane Douglas in his locker room and tells him he'll be using his UFS title shot at the Great American Bash. Douglas laughs and mocks Jindrak for even thinking he has a prayer against him. (C+) Billy Kidman defeated Kaz Hayashi in a high-flying cruiserweight bout, which earned a smile from Torrie Wilson and a shake of the head from Stacy Keibler. (B) Arn Anderson calls both Etsuko Mita and Manami Toyota to his office to inform them they'll be wrestling for the World Women's Championship at Great American Bash. Toyota is obviously pleased, but Mita and manager Eric Bischoff aren't happy. Eric says that Toyota is undeserving and this is just another example of Anderson punishing The Empire for "ridding WCW of that cancer you call a best friend, Ric Flair!" (B-) Natural Born Thrillers promo; they've been wrestling as individuals a bit more recently as they chased Shane Douglas' US title, but they're still a dominant tag team and welcome the challenge of anyone who doubts it. (B-) Mortis confronts Rey Misterio Jr. and challenges him to a match next week as a preview for what awaits him against The Destroyer at Great American Bash, Rey accepts. (A) The Hardys met Corino and Candido of The Empire to decide who will challenge True Heroes at Great American Bash, and CM Punk sat in on color commentary to observe. There was some great action here, but The Empire came to realize that the Hardys' team experience would be tough to overcome and began resorting to shortcuts. Bischoff tried to slip Candido the baseball bat, but Sting came running out from the back! Bischoff fled, and Candido fell victim to a Twist of Fate/Swanton Bomb combo. (A) <div style="text-align:center;">Show Grade: A http://i588.photobucket.com/albums/ss322/FCDiary/WCW/Saturday.jpg Taped immediately after Nitro Announce Team: Tony Schiavone and Tracy Brooks </div> Melissa Anderson pinned Kaori Yoneyama after a spinebuster. (D-) Mortis cuts a promo promising pain and anguish for Rey Misterio Jr. during their match on Nitro. (B-) Alex Wright went down and grabbed his leg while attempting a leap frog, and was pinned by Shawn Stasiak immediately thereafter. (More on this later.) © Manami Toyota and Etsuko Mita comment on their title match upcoming at the Great American Bash. (C-) Johnny the Bull gave a great effort, but in the end was outwrestled and forced to submit by American Dragon as Chavo Guerrero Jr. watched on at ringside. © <div style="text-align:center;">Show Grade: C </div> </div></blockquote> <blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="43035" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div><div style="text-align:center;">http://i588.photobucket.com/albums/ss322/FCDiary/WCW/Nitro2.jpg May 27th, 2002 From the Kaiser Convention Center in Oakland, California Attendance: 5,443 Announce Team: "The Professor" Mike Tenay and Bret "The Hitman" Hart </div> In the opener, #1 contender DDP kept his momentum rolling after hitting the Diamond Cutter on Shawn Stasiak. (B-) Booker T attacks DDP after the match, laying him out with a belt shot and continuing to beat on him until Arn Anderson leads a force out to break it up. (A*) <div style="text-align:center;">Spotlight Segment: http://i588.photobucket.com/albums/ss322/FCDiary/WCW/Luger2.jpghttp://i588.photobucket.com/albums/ss322/FCDiary/WCW/Okerlund.jpghttp://i588.photobucket.com/albums/ss322/FCDiary/WCW/Myst.jpghttp://i588.photobucket.com/albums/ss322/FCDiary/WCW/Katarina.jpg Luger and Gene held "open auditions" for the female addition to the campaign that Gene suggested last week, and it brought us to two finalists: Kristi Myst, who used to be with XPW but is probably more known for her career in the porn industy, and Katarina Waters from the British indy scene. Lex went through some shtick as he told both women what a life-changing opportunity this would be for the lucky winner. He was pretty bad tonight, but Gene was much worse. He was playing sort of a lecherous old man (without being too trashy about it), but he was just awful in everything from his facial expressions to his delivery as he awkwardly tried to talk Lex into letting both women join the campaign. Lex asked both women to introduce themselves and give their background. He was appalled when Katarina told him she was born in Germany and raised in England. "Didn't you see the colors on the bus, ma'am? This is the Flex Express, and we represent the red, white and blue, YEAH! When I rode that helicopter down onto the USS Intrepid and bodyslammed that no-good sumo wrestler on our nation's birthday, do you think the pilot was Gerbritish? NO! I don't know why you thought you were fit to join our Call to Action Campaign 2002, but as long as Miss Myst here was born in the land of the free and the home of the brave, the position is hers!" Kristi confirmed that she's an American, which made Lex smile. He complimented Gene on a great job of scouting, and Gene remarked that he was a big fan of Kristi's work in the film industry. Lex was further impressed and asked if she'd been in any movies he might've seen. Gene suddenly got embarrassed and mindful of the camera. He leaned in and whispered in Lex's ear, and Lex was suddenly horrified. He looked back and forth between both women and slowly shook his head. "Welcome aboard," he said to Katarina, as the German-born Englishwoman was still a better choice than the former porn star. This kind of skirted the line of the sleazy TV I'm not a fan of, but we were careful to keep this silly rather than scandalous. This was a one-off appearance for Myst anyway, so it won't be an issue going forward. Katarina is sticking around as part of the Luger entourage though. Grade: C</div> Christopher Daniels took on a cruiserweight this week, albeit one rather low on the totem pole, as he defeated Air Paris. (B) Daniels boats about his greatness during an interview with Bobby Heenan until Yang interrupts and challenges him to a match at the Great American Bash so we can find out how great he actually is. Daniels accepts. © Chavo Guerrero Jr. interrupts American Dragon's locker room warm-ups to tell him he's very disappointed that he accepted a spot in a #1 contender's match for the cruiserweight title tonight instead of recommending it go to Chavo instead. Dragon shrugs it off. (C-) #1 contender Manami Toyota joined with regular partner Toshiyo Yamada to take on World Women's Champion Etsuko Mita and Shinobu Kandori. Toyota pinned Kandori with the Ocean Cyclone as Mita scowled on the apron. (B-) Doomsday approach the Natural Born Thrillers backstage and tell them that if it's a fight they want, Doomsday will give it to them. (C+) True Heroes had no problem running through The Mamalukes in non-title action. (B-) Punk and Storm cut a promo on the Hardys after the match, calling them one trick ponies and sideshow freaks who will be embarrassed at the Great American Bash. Afterwards there's a shot of Matt and Jeff watching on a backstage monitor, looking amused and unimpressed. (B) Konnan versus The Unnatural ended in a disqualification when Scott Steiner attacked Unnatural, battering him until Dustin caught him with a low blow and ran off. (B) The Empire cut a pre-taped promo in which they promise retribution against Sting for ruining their chance to earn a tag title shot last week. (B+) American Dragon and Jamie Knoble did lots of ground wrestling, exchanging holds and counter holds in this cruiserweight #1 contender's match. The masked man won the match with a dragon suplex, earning a shot at AJ Styles whether his mentor Chavo liked it or not. (B) Shane Douglas relentlessly mocks Mark Jindrak in a live show chat on WCW.com, saying that he's just a muscle freak with no talent and he's got no chance at the Great American Bash. Jindrak barges in and glares at him, daring him to fight then and there. Shane vacates the premises with a smirk. (B-) Arn Anderson is checking on an angry DDP in the trainer's room when Sting comes in. Sting suggests a blockbuster tag team main event next week, with he and DDP teaming up against Booker and any member of The Empire. Arn and DDP both like the idea, and the match is made. (A) Rey Misterio Jr. and Mortis was tonight's main event. They rekindled their old chemistry in a back-and-forth athletic contest, but the match was marred when The Destroyer came down and launched Rey head-first into the ring post while Father Isaac distracted the ref. It was easy after that for Mortis to hit the Flatliner and pin Rey. (B+) <div style="text-align:center;">Show Grade: B+ http://i588.photobucket.com/albums/ss322/FCDiary/WCW/Saturday.jpg Taped immediately after Nitro Announce Team: Tony Schiavone and Tracy Brooks </div> A Vertebreaker gave Shane Helms the win over Jason Jett. (B-) Yang and Christopher Daniels are interviewed about their match signed for Great American Bash. © Hayabusa's daredevil high flying was way too much for Alan Funk to handle. © Chris Candido used the fisherman buster to defeat Norman Smiley. (B-) American Dragon and AJ Styles profess their respect for each other during an interview, but both men agree that they'll give it their all at Great American Bash with the cruiserweight title on the line. (C+) <div style="text-align:center;">Show Grade: C+ </div> </div></blockquote> <hr noshade size=3> <blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="smartman" data-cite="smartman" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="43035" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>Actually, he's referencing CW Anderson who was mainly noted for being in MLW as a member of Corino's Extreme Horsemen. I actually liked the guy from the few matches I saw, but he never did anything after that that I saw. Ken Anderson would be a hoot depending on what his personality is. Most have him at Bagwell-level douchebaggery so I wouldn't recommend that.</div></blockquote> Yeah, I picked up on that later. Obviously I read through too fast and missed the Obvious Capitalization Beejus used to Show Who He Was Talking About, but I'm surprised I didn't think of CW on my own. I watched MLW every week and so saw that whole Extreme Horsemen run. I was even thinking of MLW earlier that same day, for reasons I won't go into for fear of an accidental spoiler. I wouldn't expect CW to show up here either though. <blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="michgcs" data-cite="michgcs" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="43035" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>Yeah, TFC-- Cousin Wrestling Anderson seemed like a pretty big clue LOL <img alt=":p" data-src="//content.invisioncic.com/g322608/emoticons/tongue.png.ceb643b2956793497cef30b0e944be28.png" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /></div></blockquote> ...Shut up you. <img alt=":cool:" data-src="//content.invisioncic.com/g322608/emoticons/cool.png.f00d2562b2c1d873a09323753efdb041.png" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /> <blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="Wolfman84" data-cite="Wolfman84" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="43035" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>So Booker T is officially a five time WCW champion? Great Mayhem show TFC and must say I did not expect DDP to return so fast. My bold predictions is Steve Austin doesn't debut/return to WCW into Starcade.</div></blockquote> That's 5-time, 5-time, 5-time, 5-time, 5-time, actually. <img alt=";)" data-src="//content.invisioncic.com/g322608/emoticons/wink.png.686f06e511ee1fbf6bdc7d82f6831e53.png" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /> <blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="GnarlsFunk" data-cite="GnarlsFunk" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="43035" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>I originally started reading this just to make sure my basic idea for my own WCW lives dynasty wasn't a rip on one that was so popular. 3 or 4 days later I've read the whole damn thing. Great work, I've enjoyed it throughly. And will continue to follow. Whether I ever actually post my game on the board or not is up in the air. But I'm super excited to start playing again as I had taken a break from the game and the board for a while. Question for you. How far out did you actually plan when you started and how far out do you plan now?</div></blockquote> I didn't have nearly as much planned out when I started as I usually do. Even now, while I have a couple of matches penciled in for Starrcade and have the potential main event narrowed down to just a handful of options, I don't have as clear a long-term picture as I usually do. My rule of thumb in this and every other dynasty I've run is that I essentially book month to month. After I finish a PPV, I jot down a match lineup for the following month's PPV and start piecing together the TV shows from there. I do have plans and ideas that stretch well beyond that, but I don't really write anything down further than a month at a time. <blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="shawn michaels 82" data-cite="shawn michaels 82" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="43035" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>I finally managed to read the whole deal. It is a great diary as the parts I had read before indicated. But iirc, (and I might be wrong, since it might have been mentioned way in the back pages) you are still not national, right? So I assume that's why Austin didn't sign and you did a good job of explaining why in character? Now that I finally finished reading everything, I might try my luck at getting a shot at the next UFS. Keep up the great work.</div></blockquote> Yep, still at Cult. You came in at a good time if you want to try to qualify for the next UFS. The Great American Bash ends the current prediction contest, and then the contest for the UFS starts the next month.

michgcs · April 27, 2017

LOL at Vampiro being everyone's punching bag.

Great job at the Lex-Katarina segment. I like how you're subtly shoring up the women's roster with ladies who can go in the ring (Kat, Melissa, Mickie).

I like Double A's decisiveness in giving Misterio and Destroyer a #1 contender's match, too. Nice touch.

DGenerationMC · April 27, 2017

Danielson-Styles is making my reader's mouth water a bit.

K-Nection · April 27, 2017

Love that Lex segment! I'm pretty sure some Kristi Myst fans were let down but they still rather be seeing her in her bread and butter anyway.

AJ vs. Dragon should be amazing....I would love to see in a high production value......closest we ever got was this <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D02lTFtR0Ck" rel="external nofollow">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D02lTFtR0Ck</a>

DDP vs. Book should be a good one! I'm guessing this is a giant thank you to DDP for not strangling Punk for obvious reasons lol.

Rey vs. The Destroyer should be good too! I like how your rumble bookings always mean something (the way they should). WWE always squanders most of their storytelling opportunities when they do them.

Hardys vs. True Heroes should be awesome! Also for some reason I don't remember AJ and Sting getting their Tag Team shot?....Did I miss it somewhere?

shawn michaels · April 27, 2017

This could definitely be DDP's chance at a final moment at the top, especially after winning Mayhem, but sadly he will be handed to Booker T for his first defense. But I would like to see a DDP title reign. The Lex segment was great, I laughed the whole time. Seems like the women's roster is slowly beginning to take shape. Interested to see what comes out of the Scott vs Unnatural feud.

The Final Countdown · April 27, 2017

May 2002: News and Notes <div style="text-align:center;">http://i588.photobucket.com/albums/ss322/FCDiary/WCW/WCW.jpg</div> Bad news for Alex Wright: he tore his quad during his Saturday Night match with Shawn Stasiak on May 20th and will be out of action for around six months. This really couldn't have come at a worse time for Alex, because he was set to be a major part of a new storyline that would begin the very next week at Nitro. This storyline would've included a match at the Great American Bash, so I've had to shuffle some things around and set up a replacement match. Locker room pariah Vampiro requested his release, agreeing to forfeit all of the money he was still owed over the year-plus still remaining on his contract. That suited me just fine, so we're both free: he's free to seek employment elsewhere, and we're free of the money we owed him. He has a unique look and isn't a bad performer, which was why I intended to feature him a fair bit as the leading member of Salvation. His attitude is just garbage though, and the fact that not a soul in the locker room liked him only made things worse. Rey Misterio Jr. must be highly motivated to stick around in the main event scene. He's been looking really ripped recently, and I'd say it's boosted his star quality even further, to the point that he has more of a superstar look than all but a select few guys in the company. In an out of character interview, RVD said he likes working with bigger opponents because it makes it easier for him to do his high flying with the confidence that his opponent will protect him. CM Punk is encouraging me to give Matt Hardy some more promo time to hopefully enhance the Hardys/True Heroes program. Hugh Morrus likes TAKA's work and thinks I should make sure he doesn't get lost in the shuffle after dropping the cruiserweight belt. Big Vito told me I need to book him more strongly so he can start to build some momentum. Has he not figured out that I have no plans to do anything with him? Scott Steiner thinks Jamie Knoble isn't connecting with the fans and I should write him off. Sorry Scott; not going to happen. Booker T has been impressed with American Dragon's performances in his recent promos and is encouraging me to give the kid more time on the microphone. A recent web article published after Katarina made her TV debut touted her as a future breakout star. Hopefully they're right, but she probably won't be wrestling for us right away (at least on TV.) <div style="text-align:center;">http://i588.photobucket.com/albums/ss322/FCDiary/WCW/WWE.jpg</div> The WWE signed a bunch of new TV and PPV deals recently, greatly expanding their coverage in many areas. The one that caught my eye the most was Smackdown moving to ABC in the company's return to network TV for the first time since Saturday Night's Main Event was cancelled. That one could be really bad for us, but nobody said this fight was going to be easy. The first PPV of the WWE era, Judgment Day, was held on May 27th in Memphis (no Jerry Lawler though.) There were no title changes on the show, and there weren't any matches featuring the likes of Angle, Rock, Undertaker or The Boy Toy either. It was very much a one-match show, with Hunter giving the rub to that young up and comer Hollywood Hogan in the main event. Hogan's title retention was a very good main event, but our own RVD/Booker main event was better. Our Mayhem show as a whole was better as well, so hopefully the fans are paying attention. Lita suffered a minor staph infection in her match on the May 20th Raw, which should keep her out about a month. Dean Malenko suffered some kind of internal injury working with Saturn in a tag against the APA on the Judgment Day pre-show, and is expected to miss a month as well. In a radio interview, Eddie Guerrero said he doesn't enjoy wrestling against guys smaller than himself. You wouldn't have known it watching his matches against Misterio. <div style="text-align:center;">http://i588.photobucket.com/albums/ss322/FCDiary/WCW/NOAH.jpg</div> The episode of NOAH's weekly TV taped on June 1st featured an instant classic five star main event in which Akira Taue defeated Mitsuharu Misawa (Taue's GHC Heavyweight title was not on the line.) <div style="text-align:center;">http://i588.photobucket.com/albums/ss322/FCDiary/WCW/TNA.jpg</div> The group ran their first show, 'Retaliation' (great name for a first show, Russo!) on May 27th. The main event featured a match between BG James and BJ Whitmer to decide the first TNA World champion. BG is the bigger name so you'd have expected him to win, but he was only there on a one night loan from NWA New Jersey, so Whitmer won the title in the match of the night. They also crowned tag team champions (Ace Steel and Kent Kohl, going under the team name The Globetrotters), who beat Jay Bradley and Matt Cross. Frankie Kazarian beat Sean Royal (NOT the guy from the time-traveling New Breed tag team, although it would be funny if someone did an angle with that team since 2002 was the year they supposedly traveled back from) to win the X Division title, which I guess is going to be their midcard title. They have a women's division but no belt, though they do have NWA Women's champion Selina Majors, and they had her retain that title against Sara Del Rey. The show would've been considered a massive flop for a group of our size, but it was fine for the level TNA is at. Jeff Jarrett did not appear on the show in any way, which is odd since he's easily their biggest star. Here's a look at their initial roster list: In-Ring: Ace Steel Amber O'Neal Austin Aries Barrabas Jr. BJ Whitmer Bonnie Maxon Bruiser Mastino Chase Stevens Chris Parks The Demon Eddie Colon Egotistico Fantastico Frankie Kazarian GQ Ice Train Jay Bradley Jeff Jarrett Jimmy Rave Kent Kohl Kory Chavis Marc Mero Matt Cross Matt Sydal Mike Bennett Nicole Bass ODB Ray Gordy Rick Michaels Ruckus Sara Del Rey Sean Royal Selina Majors Shawn Daivari Sonjay Dutt Travis Tomko Non-wrestlers: Alicia Webb Chastity Jeremy Medeiros Jim Fannin Joel Gertner Julius Smokes Paul Turner Ted DiBiase Todd Keneley Tommy Rich Vince Russo (ugh) <div style="text-align:center;">http://i588.photobucket.com/albums/ss322/FCDiary/WCW/AJPW.jpg</div> AJPW ran their 'Blue Army' PPV on May 27th. Genichiro Tenryu retained the Triple Crown over Dr. Death Steve Williams in the main event, but they were completely outshined by the semi main event where Hiroshi Hase and Jushin Liger beat Masanobu Fuchi and Mike Barton. That match was far better than anything else on the show. It wasn't as good as a lot of their recent shows have been, but was still a good showing for them. Some of the sheets are saying that retired AJPW legend/authority figure Stan Hansen and main event star Tosahiaki Kawada are no longer on speaking terms. I wonder what happened there? <div style="text-align:center;">http://i588.photobucket.com/albums/ss322/FCDiary/WCW/USA.jpg</div> Killer Kowalski has officially left the business after over fifty years. Rumor has it that Rob Black's XPW may be going under soon. I don't think that would be much of a loss for the business. I'll put Rob Black's wrestling acumen this way: Juventud Guerrera is a regular there, but their heavyweight champion is Shaggy 2 Dope of the Insane Clown Posse. That stupid clown even beat Juvi to retain the title last month. Circle of life: one company is in trouble, two more open up. Rob Feinstein of RF Video has started up Ring of Honor, which will be based out of the Tri State region and is going to be heavily centered around exciting modern-style matches. They immediately announced a partnership with Gabe Sapolsky's Pro Wrestling IRON, which makes sense considering their similar focus. A guy named Court Bauer also announced a new group in the South East called Major League Wrestling, and based on the web article it sounds like they're going for a sort of mix of the ECW and Japanese styles. <hr noshade size=3> <blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="michgcs" data-cite="michgcs" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="43035" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>LOL at Vampiro being everyone's punching bag. Great job at the Lex-Katarina segment. I like how you're subtly shoring up the women's roster with ladies who can go in the ring (Kat, Melissa, Mickie). I like Double A's decisiveness in giving Misterio and Destroyer a #1 contender's match, too. Nice touch.</div></blockquote> He's no one's punching bag now. <img alt=":cool:" data-src="//content.invisioncic.com/g322608/emoticons/cool.png.f00d2562b2c1d873a09323753efdb041.png" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /> If you count Katarina, there are currently nine women in the division. There's still one out injured and another seven down in developmental. I don't have the TV time to manage all of that, so what I'm trying to do is gradually call women up and begin sprinkling them in so most of them should hopefully have somewhat established characters by the time I can get the women their own show. <blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="DGenerationMC" data-cite="DGenerationMC" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="43035" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>Danielson-Styles is making my reader's mouth water a bit.</div></blockquote> Should be pretty good, but I have a feeling it's going to be a lot better in a couple of years when they're both hopefully main event level. <img alt=":D" data-src="//content.invisioncic.com/g322608/emoticons/biggrin.png.929299b4c121f473b0026f3d6e74d189.png" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /> <blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="K-Nection" data-cite="K-Nection" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="43035" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>Love that Lex segment! I'm pretty sure some Kristi Myst fans were let down but they still rather be seeing her in her bread and butter anyway.</div></blockquote> We know what Gene prefers. <img alt=":eek:" data-src="//content.invisioncic.com/g322608/emoticons/eek.png.0e09df00fa222c85760b9bc1700b5405.png" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /> <blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="43035" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>AJ vs. Dragon should be amazing....I would love to see in a high production value......closest we ever got was this <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D02lTFtR0Ck" rel="external nofollow">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D02lTFtR0Ck</a></div></blockquote> They had a couple of matches in ROH that I'd say had (marginally) better production values, but I get your point. I remember seeing AJ standing on the stage during the post-show of Bryan's "retirement" and just shaking my head at the thought that Bryan was done right as AJ finally made it there. Oh, what might have been. <blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="43035" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>DDP vs. Book should be a good one! I'm guessing this is a giant thank you to DDP for not strangling Punk for obvious reasons lol.</div></blockquote> That's part of it, yeah. He actually has great morale in-game since that entire incident was created by me and thus didn't upset him, but it felt like something that made sense for the story. I also think he's capable of delivering a solid main event match with Booker. <blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="43035" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>Rey vs. The Destroyer should be good too! I like how your rumble bookings always mean something (the way they should). WWE always squanders most of their storytelling opportunities when they do them.</div></blockquote> I didn't have that match planned out before Mayhem, but it felt like a logical progression. Same thing with AJ vs. Danielson as an extension of Chavo being upset with how AJ eliminated him. Even when I wrote that elimination, I didn't have anything planned beyond it. <blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="43035" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>Hardys vs. True Heroes should be awesome! Also for some reason I don't remember AJ and Sting getting their Tag Team shot?....Did I miss it somewhere?</div></blockquote> No, they haven't gotten it yet. I didn't forget it either. I just haven't felt there was a suitable time to do it yet, but it'll happen eventually. <blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="shawn michaels 82" data-cite="shawn michaels 82" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="43035" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>This could definitely be DDP's chance at a final moment at the top, especially after winning Mayhem, but sadly he will be handed to Booker T for his first defense. But I would like to see a DDP title reign. The Lex segment was great, I laughed the whole time. Seems like the women's roster is slowly beginning to take shape. Interested to see what comes out of the Scott vs Unnatural feud.</div></blockquote> Lex may not be able to give me good matches or promos, but I'm having fun writing him! It's always interesting to see the ways each UFS affects things going forward. Last time we got the True Heroes team, the elevation of AJ Styles and a big part of Booker's logic for his heel turn, now we've got the Steiner/Unnatural fallout.

K-Nection · April 27, 2017

They had a couple of matches in ROH that I'd say had (marginally) better production values, but I get your point. I remember seeing AJ standing on the stage during the post-show of Bryan's "retirement" and just shaking my head at the thought that Bryan was done right as AJ finally made it there. Oh, what might have been.

ROH was something that I rarely got to see. I wasn't old enough to tape trade and when I became of age I didn't have the money to afford rent, food and internet. When I was able to afford those things they had this fat guy I couldn't stand always on there.....I think his name was Kevin Steel or was it Steam? It doesn't matter he was a nobody....That guy would never make it on a big stage though

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