jokerdesilva Posted November 11, 2020 Share Posted November 11, 2020 September 28th, 1985 I arrived at my office, also known as the $6 motel room I had on the outskirts of Kennewick, and let my bag drop on the ground without a care. There was nothing to do but sit on the bed, shake an unfiltered cigarette out of the package, and just stare at the ugly painting hanging on the opposite wall. It was a deer standing in a glade, and it looked like it had been painted by a twelve year old with a head injury. The cigarette spun between my fingers. After five years of hard work, Pacific Coast Championship Wrestling had gone out of business. To be blunt, my boss had been an idiot, a money mark who just hired any big name who drifted into town, plying them with booze and pills and call girls until they rumbled out for the next payday in the next show. He spent $300 a week to get us on TV, just to get crowds of 50 people in to the arena shows to collect $50 in tickets and maybe another $20 in concessions if we were lucky. I did my best to book the shows, not to mention play manager to whatever shaved bear with name value he wanted to play the part of “monster of the week,” and I’d been hit with five beer bottles, two batteries, and a condom filled with urine, so I seemed to be doing my job pretty well, all things considered. But it wasn’t enough. Our money mark’s funds had run dry, or at least dry enough that he couldn’t justify keeping the doors open, and PCCW was dead. The legacy of Alexander Allred had seemingly died along with it. The wrestling business wasn’t exactly booming in the Pacific Northwest, and it was the only trade I knew, ever since joining a ring crew and taking photos at 15. Where else was I going to go? Picking apples in an orchard in Walla Walla? The cigarette spun. The ugly deer stared back, lifeless and flat. It just made a man wonder if there was any fairness in the world. And then the phone rang. I stared at it for a moment. Was it my ex-boss, putting together one more desperate plan to save the day? One of the boys wanting to take his skimped paycheck out of my hide, since I was the one always tasked with handing out the paydays? A debt collector? Motel management calling to tell me to quiet down the self-pity, because I was keeping the rest of the guests up? Hell with it. I picked up the receiver. “Hello?” “Is this Alexander Allred?” the voice on the other end asked. I didn’t recognize it, and I didn’t know if that was good or not. “This is he.” “Good, I’m glad Louis steered me the right way.” Louis, as in my previous employer Louis? Who had he given my number to? But that question was answered before I could voice it. “My name is Dean Dishman.” And that name was actually familiar. Dean Dishman was the owner and operator of Global Championship Wrestling, the third-biggest promotion in the US and a roaring upstart. Dean Dishman was one of the wealthiest men in wrestling, with a company valued somewhere north of $20 million. Dean Dishman was a man I had never once expected in my life to speak to. I was struck dumb. A decade in the business, maybe, but I’d never once entered the same circle as a man like this. “How can I help you, Mr. Dishman?” “I take you know who I am, Alex?” “That’s right, sir.” “Good, that’ll make things faster,” he said, with a dragging warmth in his heavy Boston accent. “See, I seen some of you work, got some tapes of those PCCW shows. Louis told me you were the one running them behind the scenes, handling the book, that so?” My mouth felt paper dry and the world was spinning under my feet, and I hadn’t even had a drink in 72 hours. “That’s right, sir.” “Well, you see, my understanding is that you are in need of work,” he said, rightly. “And that is convenient, on account of me being in need of a booker.” ‘Bookah,’ he said, and I had to swallow a hysterical giggle. I couldn’t risk offending the man who seemed to not only be offering me a life-line, but the job of my dreams. “See, my very good friend, you might know him as Jerome Buck?” Jerome Buck, yes, a man who had won Heavyweight titles in two dozen territories and drawn some of the biggest houses all across the Eastern Seaboard. I was quite familiar. Especially because, most importantly, he was a four-time GCW Heavyweight Champion and had been the face of the company for most of their existence. “He just retired, can’t stay on the road no more. He’s got three kids and a bad back, now, time for him to hang up the boots, see? And he was handling my book. I knew I needed someone fresh, anyway, we been working together for twenty years, now. I need someone to give me a fresh perspective. And I seen your tapes. You got a good mind for the business, your company just didn’t have no talent, and no leadership. I can offer you talent. And I will give you leadership. I just need you to make my show the best.” His voice hardened there. “I’m tired of being low on the totem pole. I want you to understand, Alex, you take this job, I’ve got high hopes and high aspirations, and I expect you to keep to them. I’ve been living in two long shadows for quite some time, and I am tired of it.” Oh yes, two very long shadows indeed. ASW and WWB, the kings of wrestling in the North and South. Up in New York, we had American Style Wrestling, a $100 million juggernaut that showed off what they called ‘the best of all-American wrestling.’ Big men, bright colors, loud voices, and they were selling out places like Madison Square Garden, so who was I to argue? And in the southern end of the country, we had Wrestling Without Borders. An unexpected titan in the industry, but they had taken a blend of American wrestling and luchador pageantry and made a Tex-Mex blend that ran all across the south of the United States. They dominated everywhere from California to Florida and into Mexico, and they had taken turns controlling the industry with ASW, back and forth, both of them always standing right above Global’s head. “So if you take this job, I have an ask of you,” he said, and I could all but imagine this big burly Boston tough, with his square jaw and five o’clock stubble, jabbing a thick finger at me with a cigar burning. “I’ll give you three years. Three years to take the fight to ASW and WWB. Three years to make this company the hottest thing. I want to know that you can take me to the next level. I will give you the money, the talent, everything you could need. But you will make us the company in this great goddamn country of America. Does that sound amenable to you, my boy?” And how could it not? It was a big goal, a big dream, but what young man didn’t get into wrestling without big dreams? And I hadn’t seen the big 3-0 yet. I was still a young man, still brash and bold and perhaps stupid enough to believe that I could be a world beater. “Mr. Dishman, I do believe you have yourself a deal.” “Good. I knew I would,” he said. “Get to SEA-TAC tomorrow by 8am, tell the concierge you’re here to pick up a ticket for Alexander Allred, and we will sign the paperwork by lunch time.” He let out a sharp chuckle. “You ever had Maine lobster, boy?” ***** September 30th, 1985 Call me a hometown boy, but Maine lobster wasn’t quite as nice as Dungeness crab, but it still made a perfectly fine meal to celebrate a new job. The celebrating was over, though, and it was time to get to work. Jerome Buck had left us two more shows for the GCW Combat Television that they had showing in a handful of public access networks. That made my job just a little bit easier. I had to get caught up on the storylines and the players, and decide where I wanted to go from here. I couldn’t just upset the applecart completely, of course, but Mr. Dishman had left me with the expectation to change things, to bring a new energy. ASW, after all, was the old guard, the classic ideal of wrestling, brash and simple. Part of what made WWB what it was today, something that could challenge ASW, was that they had blended lucha into American wrestling and made something new, different, and dynamic. It was an opinion that Mr. Dishman and I shared. The problem was, though, we couldn’t just copy what they’d done – that would just make us look even more second-rate, not to mention alienate our existing audience. They liked the hard hitting, raw and real wrestling style, not too violent or dramatic, but they wanted in-ring storytellers and icons. We just needed to find what was going to work best, what angle to steer into, and how to get the people energized. Which meant I had to find our stars. The biggest problem, admittedly, was that our roster was, well. Old. Jerome Buck had been the star for decades, and most of the top acts left were guys that had worked with him and against him. Because that was the problem with being the number three company, wasn’t it? WWB and ASW tended to poach anyone who looked promising, such as recent Heavyweight champion Hector Bliss, a former college football standout who GCW had built into a major name in programs against and alongside Buck at only 33 – before ASW came calling and snapped him up. Everyone left was either old enough not to be worth it, too loyal to Buck and GCW to leave, or too anonymous to be on anyone’s radar. For the long-term health of the company, I needed to find the young guys in our undercard worth building up, and that was going to take some time to scout out properly. But, I supposed, the first place to start was with our current main eventers. Our current number one act and Heavyweight Champion was Dustin Robinson. At 44 years old, he was getting pretty creaky, but he was an all-American type that stood for patriotism and apple pie and all that good stuff. He’d always been a guy near the top of the roster, he just hadn’t been able to crack the top of the top because, well, Mr. Dishman had had Jerome Buck, and you didn’t need a top babyface other than him, did you? Heck, even when they did, they had Joel Koster, until his career-ending knee injury that had seen him turn into a reliable road agent and member of my creative team. Now they were both gone, and Dustin Robinson was the man at the top of the mountain. A seasoned veteran, well-known to the fans, totally reliable, and yet somewhat unremarkable. He had the belt, but I couldn’t imagine it would be for terribly long. Sitting right near the top of the depth chart for heels was Poseidon. He was absolutely one of the biggest names that ASW had, not to mention one of our best talkers, and a dramatic character besides thanks to his face paint and visible scars. The problem, though, was that even though he wasn’t too terribly old at 39, his body was already on a steep decline, thanks in large part to his early career as a crab fisherman beating him to bits. He’d been world champion before and might be again yet, and if nothing else he seemed like he’d be a great manager once he decided to hang up his boots, as our menacing “King of the Seas”. Even older at 47, we had Marcus Kramer, who was holding up incredibly well for a heavyweight powerhouse at 47. He’d been a constantly reliable presence, a territory monster who could go toe-to-toe with any babyface you wanted, and wasn’t going to complain about doing the job at the end of it all. He was still a menacing, powerful figure, so even though he probably didn’t have a ton of time left on him, I was sure we could get a few more programs out of him to get some faces over. Similarly, there was Cowboy Dale Whitlock. A hard-nosed bruiser from Texas, he was one of our younger top acts at 40, and well-respected by the audience. Even better, he had established a nice little stable of similar roughnecks around him known as the Black Hat Rodeo. It wasn’t Whitlock himself I was necessarily interested in, it was his underlings. “Sidewinder” Billy Ray Bragg, at 27, was a midcard stalwart that had more name value than a lot of our younger wrestlers, and could battle with the best of them. He hadn’t gotten pushed into the spotlight yet, but it wouldn’t be long, I was sure, before he took over Whitlock’s place. Rounding out the group, we had the current GCW Tag Team Champions, Dwayne Olivares and Jase Marshall. They were both big, tough bruisers, still young and on the come-up, at 26 and 24, and though they hadn’t established themselves too much just yet, they were rising and a decent anchor for what I quickly realized was a pretty dire tag team division. Back on the babyface side, we had Wolf Koziol, 36, a loud-mouthed bruiser with a “rebel without a cause” biker style that seemed to appeal to a lot of the young men in the crowd. Coming out to the ring in a leather jacket and letting out a wolf howl always seemed to get him good reactions, but he had largely up to this point been a lot of sizzle with limited steak. I was hoping I could bring the best out of him, but if nothing else, using him to get over guys like Poseidon and Billy Ray Bragg wouldn’t be the worst thing long term. One of my favorite prospects was “Kodiak” Jack Raiden. At still only 31, he was one of our younger big names on the roster, especially in world title contention, and at 6’4” and 235, he was a big beast of a man that had earned his nickname by rolling over people like a grizzly bear might. He had a natural charm that people were drawn to, and an intensity, and I’d worked with him one or two times in PCCW, not much or a surprise since he came down from Vancouver, BC, to wrestle more often than not. He didn’t especially seem to remember me, but I didn’t take it personally. He’d run through a lot of territories, and had done a cup of coffee at best for us, but now with the financial backing of a real company, we could actually afford him – and, I hoped, build around him. Rounding out our main event scene, such as it was, we had Reijiro Kandori. Fighting out of Japan, the 48 year old was as veteran as they came and I had to imagine I’d only have another year or two left of him full time before he hung up his boots, but the man could still perform. He’d established himself as a star in promotions like UPJ, Pro Wrestling OMEGA, and Hyperion across the Pacific, and he’d established himself well. That kind of name brand was worth something, and I definitely wanted to make sure I could take advantage. Maybe Whitlock wasn’t the only one who needed a stable around him. I’d have to talk to Mr. Dishman about that. From there, we had our midcard, such as it was. There was a pretty solid drop-off from our main event to the rest. As far as name value, we had Adonis Lash, a seasoned vet at 42 who promoted himself as a dashing lothario type and a charismatic heel, and he wasn’t bad at it at all. Our current North American champion was Carver Wells, a good prospect at only 30 years old, who stood out due to his smaller size and technical savvy in the ring, and had so far been positioned as a solid white-meat babyface with a loose alliance with Dustin Robinson. Kurt Grey was a 46 year old with name value but slowly failing physical skills, and was definitely close to the end of his rope, so hopefully I could make something of him before then, but he had power and explosiveness so far. Ryan Osburn, at 37, was on the younger end of the name value wrestlers, and a solid technician besides. He wasn't going to blow anyone away on the microphone, but he was a good mechanic all the same, and sometimes that was all you needed. Antone Benner was a recent North American champion and fairly young, with charisma and a decent look, but his garish black and white face paint and wild black hair didn’t quite seem to suit a babyface persona, so that might be changing up soon one way or another. Rounding out our name value and recent champions was Sal Nations, a 23-year old with a bright future who had been Tag Team champion recently – until WWB had poached his partner, Rick Crowell, and forced a sudden title change. Beyond that, the rest of our card was largely anonymous and that was worrying indeed. Still, my creative team – Jerome Buck, Joel Koster, and Izaiah McKee, all former champions who had hung up their boots – had picked out a couple no names that had a bright future. Top of the list was Sebastien Durant, a 21-year old from Haiti who was almost a total unknown this far north, but had made his way up the easter seaboard with nothing but a dream and a pair of wrestling boots, and he seemed to have a lot of upside. Next was Aaron Redcloud, a 25-year-old kid out of Nebraska with a natural charm and good looking besides, who I could probably push as a solid babyface to get young women in the door. Always helped to have at least one, right? Grady Holston was very different than the other two – a big, burly giant at 6’7” and 384 lbs, he didn’t have much of a name yet but he got attention, and since Buck had paired him up with another near-giant in Garry Beltran, they seemed like the future of my tag division, if I could get them clicking nicely. Similarly, there was Gabe Pilcher, a 26-year old with a naturally sleazy charisma who had teamed up with another dirtbag character named Alonzo O’Toole. Buck had told me they had excellent charisma as partners, so I had no reason not to keep them together, and see if we could develop Pilcher in the doing. And that was it. My roster. Some diamonds in the rough, some seasoned veterans, and maybe one star so far that I could actually anchor around. It wasn’t much, all things considered, after ASW and WWB had done a decent job attempting to pillage the roster when they could, but it would have to be enough. I just had to hope I could bet on the right horses and put them in position to succeed, and that those veterans up at the top would make them look good in the doing. After all, a program like Robinson vs Kramer couldn’t stay at the top for long when both men looked ready to pack it in any year now, and yet that was what Buck had left me to wrap up. Well. That was alright. It was the job. And it meant I had a nicely blank canvas to work with. Time to see how good a painter I could really be. It was only the weight of an entire company and career on my shoulders, right? ***** Alright, and with that said, hello to you, GDS faithful. The name's Joker, and I'm here to hopefully get my first Dynasty started. I realize that I'm putting myself in a bit of a bind going with an Effganic, but frankly, there have been so many fantastic Cornellverse diaries I've read recently that inspired me to do this, that I'm not sure I could dive in without retreading on superior ground. So. Effganic, my favorite mod just because it's such a sometimes unnecessary challenge. I'm hoping that with decent writing chops I can build some compelling characters out of the raw clay that's been delivered in my lap. Anyway, I look forward to hearing any feedback you might have, and I'll bring in the first shows here shortly! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DinoKea Posted November 11, 2020 Share Posted November 11, 2020 Well looks like I've found another diary to follow. Personally love effganics diaries and I wish you the best of luck in your mission. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adi95 Posted November 11, 2020 Share Posted November 11, 2020 Can you tell more about a wrestling scene in your game? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jokerdesilva Posted November 11, 2020 Author Share Posted November 11, 2020 Well looks like I've found another diary to follow. Personally love effganics diaries and I wish you the best of luck in your mission. Thank you kindly! I happen to think they're super cool just because of the incredible variety and total "ground up" nature, so I'm glad I'm not alone. I'll do my best to live up to your expectations! Can you tell more about a wrestling scene in your game? I'd be more than happy to! Anything specific you were interested in hearing about, just so I know where to begin? Also the next in-Diary post will probably go up tomorrow afternoon, I've just been setting up a backlog of three months or so written out so I have a decent buffer. The first one will be a shorter parsing through of the first two weeks, with more detailed show recaps to follow, but I'm open to suggestions on the formatting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XMultiGames Posted November 11, 2020 Share Posted November 11, 2020 Which Mod is this? The only effganics I found in the MOD section was a mod set in the 1920 and one in the 1980s Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jokerdesilva Posted November 12, 2020 Author Share Posted November 12, 2020 Which Mod is this? The only effganics I found in the MOD section was a mod set in the 1920 and one in the 1980s This is using the Effganic Plus mod. I just let it auto-advance until 1985 to give it a thriving "world state" and dove in. I also dumped in some original company names for flavor and a larger picture pack, borrowing the Thunderverse images, just for a bit of diversity. ***** October 2nd, 1985 The Milford Ice Palace, Connecticut, crowd of 885 "Alexander, you got a minute?" I didn't, not really. It was time to run my first ever show and I was trying to make sure that everyone got their appropriate assignments. Then again, it was week one, and Jerome Buck had technically laid out all the shows already for the transition period, so it wasn't as bad as it might normally be. And, of course, Mr. Dishman was the boss. Of course I had time for him. I didn't have much of a choice, did I? "Of course, sir," I said, settling back in my chair. He loomed over, cigar in hand as normal. The man had to be charcoal on the inside. "Good, good. Listen, I've been thinking and I'm putting a lot of faith in your hands, so I just want to lay out a couple important ground rules." Inside, I groaned, not knowing how strict this was going to be, but I didn't let it show on my face. Again, he was the boss. I had to play nice. "See, it seems to me I'm not setting you up to be a very effective cook if I don't let you handle the groceries," he said, tipping some ash into the ashtray on my desk. I didn't smoke, but I expected frequent visits from Dean, from Joel, Izaiah, and anyone else who was interested, so it paid to be prepared. "Meaning, if you want to have some say in talent, that's fine with me. You're the booker, and you need boys who are going to be able to play to your script, and if you don't have use for someone, well, we can certainly discuss letting them go." That was, frankly, a lot more generous than I had been expecting, but I just nodded passively, like it made all the sense in the world. My mind was already ticking over, trying to decide what gaps to fill. "But I have some expectations, and three big rules for you in the next year or two, alright? Number one: don't put my company into debt. I don't expect that to happen, but if I see red on the ledger, you're out the door. Got it?" "I wouldn't dream of it, sir," I said. And I couldn't. GCW was worth something in the millions. How could I possibly burn through that in a matter of three years? I wasn't that bad a booker, was I? "Good," he said, satisfied. "The other two are just talent limits. See, I'm not blind. I know that GCW has a lot of gray in its beard across the board, and we can't be turning this into an old folks' home just because they have name value. So no one north of, oh, let's say 38, shall we?" Which, again, suited me just fine. I wanted a youth movement for GCW. Robinson, Kramer, Grey, Kandori, they were going to get slowly phased out if I could pull it off, with new talent to move up in their place. "And while I love me a good punch in the mouth from time to time, it's getting a little heavy on the hamhocks around here. No more big brawlers. I want to see a bit more... " He twirled his hands around as he searched for the word, the tip of his cigar painting an orange circle. "Style. Flash. Pizzazz. We're not gonna be WWB, but a little more flying and little more technique wouldn't go awry. Something for everyone, right?" "Variety is the spice of life," I said, figuring he'd appreciate the culinary metaphor. He snapped his fingers. "Spice of life. Yes. That. And I want this place hot enough to burn the tongue. Dump some tabasco on there, alright?" He looked around at the milling wrestlers getting ready for the show and stepped in, clapping me on the back. "Alright, well, I'll leave you to it. You have enough on your plate already. Do me proud, Alex!" "I'll do everything I can, sir," I said, turning back to the booking sheet. Not that I was doing much tonight, not yet. This was Buck's show, really, and I was still getting my feet under me and seeing what the roster could do. I'd paid attention to GCW in passing, previously, but to be honest I'd been more busy running PCCW and trying to keep a company together, so I wasn't as educated as I might of liked. These first two weeks were a trial run, and I could go from there. vs vs vs In the Pre-Show, Reijiro Kandori beat Jacoby Disney in 6:07 with a leglock (41) for a decent little match. Both men were on the wrong side of 40, Reijiro after all nearly 50, but he put on a good showing and why he was still on the upper end of the card. Jack Raiden beat Tommy Carleton in 13:09 (39), and the two showed some great chemistry with each other, but there was a lack of psychology and it dragged in the middle, so those two would definitely need different opponents or help if I was going to set them up again any time soon. Finally, the Black Hat Rodeo of Dwayne Olivares and Jase Marshall beat Kurt Grey and Ryan Osburn (38). This was one of the few I actually stepped in an put my name on: I made it clear that the Black Hat Rodeo were to go over, since they were a couple young guys in their 20s on the rise, and while Grey and Osburn were much more well known, Osburn was the younger at 37. I was glad I did, because Grey and Osburn had zero tag team chemistry, and with Kury Grey working hurt – he had a strained shoulder – the match wasn’t as good as I might have hoped. vs In the main show, we opened with a bout between Poseidon, the King of the Seas, and Richard Auston, who up until this point had been little more than a job guy in GCW. Poseidon beat him in 7:45 and they put on a good showing (45), but it was all Poseidon’s doing. He looked like a star, even though Auston didn’t seem to know how to work well with him. After that, Poseidon stood over Richard Auston’s beaten body, grabbed a microphone, and cut a quick promo on Wolf Koziol, promising to show him just what drowning felt like when he put him in the Sleeper hold. (54) We went to Wolf backstage, where he responded to Poseidon, making it clear that he wasn’t intimidated in the slightest and was looking forward to meeting Poseidon in the ring, but he was interrupted by Billy Ray Bragg. He told Wolf that before he went anywhere, he needed to worry about one of the roughest, toughest men in GCW, because they had a match coming up first. Wolf looked a whole lot better than Bragg, to be honest, but it was a good segment all the same. (61) Their match was similarly pretty good. Oh yes, Billy Ray Bragg is definitely a guy I could see myself building up if he could keep putting on matches like that, because despite being a lot lower on the totem pole than Wolf, he hung in there and looked almost as good. He still lost, of course, to a big lariat in 10:47. (53) Adonis Lash and Marcus Kramer came out next for an interview. They ranted about going up against Dustin Robinson and Carver Wells, stating that while the two men might be champions at the moment, they were going to find out who the real powers were in GCW here shortly – and that they were coming for some belts. Robinson and Wells came out to meet them, the Heavyweight and North American champions, and vowed to show why they were, in fact, the top dogs around here. A sold showing from some of my top guys. (55) vs The four had a tag match to close the show, which Dustin Robinson won by pinning Marcus Kramer in 12:18. It felt like a slightly odd decision to have the babyfaces go over clean when the idea was to build to a title match between the two, but the crowd certainly loved their heroes so I couldn’t complain too much, especially when Kramer and Lash weren’t remotely long-term top candidates, seeing as both are in their late 40s. Then again, so is Robinson. Yuck. At least Wells is 30 and seems to have some upside. Regardless of their ages, all four looked really good, so I can hopefully rely on some safe main events while I build the undercard. (52) At least, that was how I felt until the match was over and Marcus Kramer came back from the ring seething. He thought that Wells had nearly hurt him with a botched move, and frankly, there had been a suplex spot where Wells hadn’t quite muscled up the big guy clean enough, and it looked like Kramer could have gone right down on his head. I told him that I’d speak to the kid and make sure he knew to tighten up in there, and hopefully that would soothe him. All in all, though, not a bad show for my first one in charge – even if I hadn’t really done anything yet. (54) The next morning, we got the first numbers. GCW Combat Television got a .37 rating, with 279k viewers. Not too bad, though pretty consistent with what they’ve been doing. Hopefully I could start making that tic up sooner than later. Especially since the numbers came in for ASW – Watch This Space and WWB Turbo in the early week. ASW got .59 and just shy of 450k, and WWB got a 1.84 with 1.38 million viewers. We definitely had some room to make up. Hopefully, Week 2 would show some growth. We were back at the Milford Ice Palace for another night, October 9th, in front of a crowd of 864, a slight downturn and still far from a 1000 seat sellout. Not the best. vs vs The preshow saw Reijiro Kandori submit Layton White (43), and Jack Raiden once again beat Tommy Carleton in another match that saw a lack of flow but slightly better psychology, (40). It was nice to see one of my closely watched talents get a win, even on the preshow, but I don’t know why I let this same match go two weeks in a row. That wouldn’t happen when I was actually putting the booking sheets together. vs As the televised show began, the masked Mean Machine – in another one of my first fingerprints I’d decided to rename him from “Violet Rooster,” which really made no sense for his look – came out to show off some of his new attitude. Fired up and surly, he demanded attention from anyone in the back who wanted to see what a mean streak he had, which brought out Ryan Osburn to accept the challenge. (43). They actually put on a decent match together, with Mean Machine visibly improving at his new surly jerk gimmick, but Osburn tapped him out with a spinning toe hold in 9:31 (48) leading to a little tantrum after the match. vs After that, Adonis Lash similarly cut an interview to state his excitement to wrestle Carver Wells for the North American championship at the next big event. He wanted a tune-up match, which brought out Antone Benner. I’d told him to start acting a little more heely, since it seemed to fit his look and style better than his current face position, but even if he was veering towards vicious, he still accepted the challenge in somewhat noble fashion. (54) They followed up with a nice little match that showed off Lash’s skills well, and he won with a Boston Crab in 9:47 (49). Wolf Koziol was next on interviews, giving a general challenge to Poseidon and that he wasn’t afraid of the King of the Seas. His whole rebellious bad boy demeanor is working nicely, and that was good, since at 36 he was one of our youngest borderline main eventers, so I could probably run with that hot streak soon. (57) Carver Wells, meanwhile, answered Adonis Lash’s challenge in his own interview and simply stated that he was going to be the best North American champion that he could be, and would accept all comers. He still feels a little bland in my books, and while he’s talented, and only 30, I’d need to figure out a good angle for him if he was going to stay champion for long. (48) vs In a tag team match, Poseidon and Sal Nations, a 23-year old former Tag Team champion with seemingly a lot of upside, took on Wells and Kurt Grey. Adonis Lash did a little interfering on Wells’s part, and Poseidon got the pin off a Face Crusher on Grey in 6:14. Nations still looked a little green but he’s blossoming, and Poseidon was of course the star of the match, with Wells hanging in there nicely. (53) After the match, Poseidon once again promised to help Wolf know just what drowning felt like, the slow oppressive weight of his Sleeper hold putting him deep, deep under the water until all there was left was darkness. (58) Honestly, not our best show. (54) The fact that Dustin Robinson, our world champion, and neither of his potential challengers in Marcus Kramer or Dale Whitlock showed up was questionable. I get not wanting to overexpose them but if we had a big arena show coming up, it only made sense to have them on the go-home, right? Commentary had put them over a little, but jeez. And the next morning, the ratings came in – 0.35, 263k. The wrong direction. All told, there was definite room for improvement, and now Jerome’s shows were off the books, and I’d have free range. Sink or swim. Here’s hoping Poseidon wouldn’t see any more drowning. Next Time: GCW New Dawn 10/13/1985, Joseph J. Morrone Stadium: Scorpio Nations vs Ryan Osburn Black Hat Rodeo (Olivares and Marshall) vs The Hillbillies - GCW Tag Team Championship Reijiro Kandori vs Jack Raiden Black Hat Rodeo (Whitlock and Bragg) vs Kurt Grey and Antone Benner Adonis Lash vs Carver Wells - GCW North American Championship Poseidon vs Wolf Koziol Marcus Kramer vs Dustin Robinson - GCW Heavyweight Championship Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DinoKea Posted November 12, 2020 Share Posted November 12, 2020 Alright predictions time: Scorpio Nations def. Ryan Osburn Black Hat Rodeo (Olivares and Marshall) def The Hillbillies to win the GCW Tag Team Championships Jack Raiden def. Reijiro Kandori Black Hat Rodeo (Whitlock and Bragg) def. Kurt Grey and Antone Benner Carver Wells def. Adonis Lash to retain the GCW North American Championship Poseidon def. Wolf Koziol Dustin Robinson def. Marcus Kramer to retain the GCW Heavyweight Championship Very tough to predict early one since I'm not exactly sure where your storylines are going yet but using your comments and the fact I have no idea who the Hillbillies are (maybe I missed it). Good start, excited to see where we go from hear as well as how you build up some of those younger guys. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adi95 Posted November 12, 2020 Share Posted November 12, 2020 You not have a women's division in that promotion? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
i effin rule Posted November 12, 2020 Share Posted November 12, 2020 I think I'll keep an eye on this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smw88 Posted November 12, 2020 Share Posted November 12, 2020 <p><strong>Scorpio Nations</strong> vs Ryan Osburn</p><p> Black Hat Rodeo (Olivares and Marshall) vs The <strong>Hillbillies</strong> - GCW Tag Team Championship</p><p> Reijiro Kandori vs <strong>Jack Raiden</strong></p><p> <strong>Black Hat Rodeo</strong> (Whitlock and Bragg) vs Kurt Grey and Antone Benner</p><p> <strong>Adonis Lash</strong> vs Carver Wells - GCW North American Championship</p><p> Poseidon vs <strong>Wolf Koziol</strong></p><p> Marcus Kramer vs <em><strong>Dustin Robinson -</strong></em> GCW Heavyweight Championship</p> Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jokerdesilva Posted November 13, 2020 Author Share Posted November 13, 2020 You not have a women's division in that promotion? There wasn't a women's division in the company when I dropped in, no, which does feel realistic for the 80s, but I plan to change that before too long. And thanks for the predictions! I may be a hair predictable this early into things... ***** October 13th, 1985 I can't lie, my palms were sweating. It had been tempting from the moment I'd woken up that Sunday morning to throw back a slug of whiskey and calm my nerves, but I'd stayed steady. Somehow. It was my career on the line, after all. Buck had written the last two shows, let me dovetail into full booking duties, and while he'd set up a framework for where they were going on this, our big monthly event, it was up to me to put the pieces together and decide the direction. Who would rise, who would fall, the stories that would end and just be started. I felt like a man running blindfolded in a marathon, and expected not to trip over my feet. But as terrifying as it was, it was exciting, too. And this was what I wanted to do. I wanted to run a company. I wanted to make it glorious. I wanted to see stars rise to new heights. I just had to hope we had some on the roster, or that I could find some if we didn't. And while we hadn't put out a press release, or frankly needed to for the name value associated, I'd already scooped up some of my first new talent to add to the roster and had a debut in mind. It had left me jittery all day, wound tighter than a watchspring when I made my way into the arena, and I just about jumped out of my shoes when Joel Koster came up to me in the back. I'd called him and Izaiah Friday night to them know the booking assignments and what to pass along to the boys for their matches, and it wasn't too exciting to know that he was already coming back. Maybe it was just to confirm that things were as scheduled? "We got a couple problems," he rumbled, wide jaw set. Great. I set my briefcase down on my folding card table desk and sighed. "What's going on?" "The big tag match, first of all," he said. I was expecting to be about who was going over, but instead: "I'm afraid of putting Kurt in a match that long. He gets gassed easily these days, y'know." "That long?" I asked, genuinely perplexed. "It's a tag match and I only wanted him to do nine minutes." Joel just shrugged. Even in his fifties, the man was as wide as a Cadillac. "Like I said, he gets gassed easily. Too much smoking, I expect. You're probably going to want to cut down the match length, or we'll have to carry him out." I groaned, opening my briefcase so I could check the booking sheet. "Alright, we'll carve a couple minutes off of it, bump it down to five and a half, and stretch out the post-match a bit. Maybe add a couple minutes onto the tag title match." It was between our younger guys, but they'd at least have the energy, right? "I'll let 'em know," he said. "And it's Ryan." Okay, now that was just ridiculous. I looked at him flatly. Bland technician Ryan Osburn was really going to throw a fit at me? "That so?" --- We were in the Joseph J. Morrone Stadium in Storrs, Connecticut, a nice 5000 seat arena, and we brought home 4639 as our actual audience, which was nice, if again not quite a sell out. vs For the pre-show, we first had a show down that I should have thought out a little better. A tag team match between four of our barely seen lower card kids. Garry Beltran and Grady Holston had been working as a team before I arrived, and two big, burly toughs in a hard hitting babyface tag team seemed like a fine place to start building a threadbare division. But I really should have put them together with more seasoned opponents, instead of equally wet-behind-the-ears Keaton Whisenant, a name that would have to be changed before he saw TV time, and Sawyer Rodriguez. The two had absolutely zero tag team chemistry on their end, and looked pretty dismal, but Holston and Beltran weren’t too much better. Beltran face-planted Rodriguez to get the pin, and my tag team dreams might have been dying before they started. (17) vs The next match went a little better for the early arrivers. One of my diamonds in the rough, Sebastien Durant, went up against “Ice Cold” Jimmy G, a young guy from Illinois with a decent amount of swagger. Though they weren’t going to put on any barn burners, they looked good compared to the last match, and Durant picked up a pin with a fallaway slam in 5:54. (31) From there, the real show began. We opened GCW New Dawn, a hopefully prescient name for the show, with Dustin Robinson taking a microphone. This was my world champion, at least for the time being, and hopefully he’d show me something good. “Tonight, I’m supposed to step into the ring with Marcus Kramer, that big ol’ brute. I’ve faced him before, of course, and I’m sure I’ll face him again before we hang our boots up, but if you all have learned anything from ol’ Dustin these long years, you know I’m not gonna give up without a fight. It was an honor,” he said, holding his belt up off his shoulder, “To win this, and to be the 8th man to wear it. It was an honor to stand in the shoes that great men did before me. I’m gonna fight Kramer with everything I have, and show him why this is finally mine. And he’s gonna have to kill me before he takes it. That, I promise you.” It was an appropriate showing for the hardened old veteran, and the fans seemed to appreciate it as a start to the show. Dustin was 44, though, and there wasn’t much point in changing him now. What we saw was what we got. (47) vs Scorpio Nations vs. Ryan Osburn The first official match of the night was also my first difficulty. Trying to get the youth movement going in GCW that was sorely needed, I’d put Ryan Osburn against the newly christened Scorpio Nations, as he sauntered out with a slightly slicker new demeanor. He’d won the tag titles for a hot minute, before WWB had signed his tag team partner out from under us and forced Jerome to move the titles fast, and it meant he hadn’t grown too much in popularity yet, but he was another one I saw something in, and he proved it with Osburn, bouncing around the ring and looking sharp for his young age. But, as Joel had helpfully let me know earlier, Osburn hadn’t wanted to put him over. Perfect. I'd had to sit down with him and told him we’d keep him looking strong, and we did, letting him clobber Nations for most of the match before Nations caught him with an eyepoke and snatched on a Cobra Clutch. Osburn tapped at 7:46. (42) vs Black Hat Rodeo (Olivares and Marshall) vs The Hillbillies - GCW Tag Team Championship Next was round two for my tag team division and it only went slightly better than the first. The Black Hat Rodeo, Olivares and Marshall, took on the Hillbillies, John Boy and Jim Bob Tiller, a couple of Alabama hicks. Jim Bob had potential but he was a total nobody to the fans who didn’t give a care when he was in the ring, and it dragged everything down, even if everyone worked together pretty well. He didn’t make much of a Hillbilly, either. Probably best not to cast a guy who was actually from New Jersey that way, huh? Well, not my fault his name was actually Jim Bob. Anyway, Olivares pinned John Boy with a back suplex to retain the Tag Titles and put an end to it. (33) vs Reijiro Kandori vs Jack Raiden But then things started cooking. Kodiak Jack had already been Heavyweight Champion once and I wanted to see him up there again, so he defeated Kandori in a damn fine little match with his Powerbomb finisher, brutalizing the wily vet. (52) After the match, though, I played one of my first real cards. Kandori still had a lot of name, even if he was 48, and I thought I could do something with that. Out of the crowd came three hooded figures who jumped into the ring and started pummeling Raiden, including a 6’9 monster that even made Raiden look small. The three picked Kandori up and dusted him off, standing as an army for him. Okay, so they looked a little green out there and the fans had no idea who they were, but hopefully it would get off to a good start. (28) Poseidon was next for an interview, sitting in a back room with a mooring line draped around his shoulders. “Wolf, Wolf, Wolf. Some people look at you and they see a predator, they see a hero. You’ve acquitted yourself well in this company, the lone wolf strutting around and making a player of himself. But what you need to understand, what I’ve been trying to tell you all this time, is that you’re mistaken if you think this is where you belong. You’re not in the woods. You’re not on dry land. GCW is my playground, and I’m the King of the Seas, boy. Do you know what happens to a wolf that goes out into the deep water? It drowns. And you’re gonna drown, boy. You’re gonna learn what drowning feels like when I take your strength, bit by bit. When I take your fire. When I smother it. My arm under your chin, your life in my hands. You’re gonna drown, boy. Count on it.” Hot damn, but the man can talk. (75) vs Black Hat Rodeo (Whitlock and Bragg) vs Antone Benner and Kurt Grey You know, sometimes you just gotta kick yourself. So, this was a match with only two real intentions: one, to put over the singles portion of the Black Hat Rodeo over as killers with a nice win on our big show. And two, to give Antone Benner a reason to turn heel like he looked like he should be by having him duck out on Kurt Grey and leave him to the sharks. Now, his heel turn went off fine, as he ditched Kurt Grey to eat a big tackle from Dale Whitlock. But then he and Kurt just had to have wonderful chemistry teaming together. Ugh. Oh, well, too late now. Hopefully we can translate that chemistry into a singles feud. (53) vs Adonis Lash vs Carver Wells - GCW North American Championship I’m still not entirely sure what to do with Wells, character wise. He’s pretty much just a standard hard fighting babyface right now, and when Dustin is doing the same thing up top, well, it’s not much to go on. But he and Lash had a heck of a match, and he showed me why he’s one of my rising talents, putting Lash away with a Neckbreaker. The problem? Lash strained his bicep. One near miss with Marcus Kramer was one thing. Now Lash has an actual lingering injury. I might have to watch out for Wells in the future. (48) vs Poseidon vs Wolf Koziol Now this was one of the matches I was most excited for even as the booker. Poseidon came out dragging his long mooring rope behind him, looking like he’d just crawled out of the Atlantic, while Wolf raced out to the ring in his studded leather jacket, hooting and hollering for the crowd, who seemed to love every second of it. The two men worked together well, but I noticed that Wolf… wasn’t quite selling so much for Poseidon’s offense. That was concerning. Not too terribly, though, because besides that, the two were fantastic together, showing off a great rapport as they brawled around the ring. Wolf managed to tangle up his feet in the rope as they were at ring side, and Poseidon used the excuse to smash his head into the ring post a few times before throwing him back in and clamping on a Sleeper, forcing Wolf to pass out at 14:01. (59) vs Marcus Kramer vs Dustin Robinson - GCW Heavyweight Championship Lastly, our Heavyweight Championship match. And boy, for all that Dustin Robinson has gray in his beard, and as much as Kramer creaks when he walks backstage, these two can fight. They didn’t have the stamina to go too long, but they put on a barn burner all the same, battering one another in the main event. Kramer showed off his monstrous strength, tossing Robinson around from pillar to post, but Robinson never gave in. In the end he fired up, blasting Kramer with right hands and finally taking him down with a bridged german suplex that they managed to make look quite nice as tired as they were, at 9:47. It wasn’t time to take the belt off Dustin yet, and certainly not for 47-year-old Kramer. (57) ***** The show had wrapped, the crowd had given us plenty of applause, and I was smiling myself as I welcomed all the boys backstage. “Well, guys, I think that went about as well as could be expected,” I said, looking to Mr. Dishman for his agreement. He nodded, puffing on a cigar, and I breathed a sigh of relief on the inside. “I just want to thank you all for going out there and fighting so hard. I know I’m new here, and I intend to make sure we make GCW the best company we can. And I couldn’t have done it without all of you. Poseidon, damn, you can talk ‘em into the building and fight with the best. I think everybody needs to pay close attention to what he’s doing, you get me?” Poseidon, rubbing an ice pack on a shiner he’d gotten from an errant left, just nodded. “And Marcus, you’re still one of the greats, don’t let anyone tell you different. I knew you were the right man for Dustin’s first challenge when I got here, and you didn’t let me down one iota.” Finally, I turned to Ryan Osburn, who had made something of a stink earlier about putting over Scorpio. It would help to give him a little bit of a bump in front of the boys, wouldn’t it? Even if I kind of wanted to chew him out for being selfish instead. “Ryan, I just want to thank you, too. This business is built on helping each other, and doing the right thing for the company. The better we all look, the more money we all make, right? And you did what I needed you to do. I won’t forget that.” And I wouldn’t. Maybe it wouldn’t lead to much, but he was a good guy, even if he’d grumbled and tried to weasel out of it. That was something. “Now, let’s get the hell outta here and have some drinks! On Dean!” “Hey, now!” ***** For real though, man, DinoKea, you got 7/7. I gotta up my game a little bit I guess on the swerves. Is Russo busy? 4/7 ain't bad, either. Then again, I've always been a fan of logical booking, so maybe that's not the worst thing? Time will tell. Next Week, on Combat TV: (P) Karasuma and Sanzo vs Disney and White (P) Sawyer Rodriguez vs Aaron Redcloud Kandori in a tag team open challenge Antone Benner vs Auston Sandy The Dregs vs Sebastien Durant and Ryan Osburn Billy Ray Bragg vs Dustin Robinson in a non-title match Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adi95 Posted November 13, 2020 Share Posted November 13, 2020 Can you tell more about other promotions in your game, mainly WWB and ASW? BTW WWF had women's division in the 80's, but if you want add it later it's also ok. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DinoKea Posted November 13, 2020 Share Posted November 13, 2020 Quite happy with 7/7, although admittedly I got the tag team champions wrong (why did I ever think it was the Hillbillies lol). It's not too bad if I get them right at the start, it means you've introduced me to the world well and got me set up. Once your talents are built up better, that's when you start catching me off guard. Onto predictions (I'm going to try and give reasoning for these, but I'm not sure whether of not I want to keep this up) Preshow: Karasuma & Sanzo def. Disney & White Honestly, I think you might be trying to build Karasuma and Sanzo up a bit here, while I also checked your comments on Disney, who by the sounds of things is likely to be a jobber Preshow: Aaron Redcloud def. Sawyer Rodrigues Aaron Redcloud is one of those guys you want to build up, while Rodrigues so far has only been jobbed out. Unfortunately for someone to become a star, someone needs to eat the pin Kandori & ??? def. ??? & ??? So many unknowns in this match, but with Kandori bringing in his new faction, seems like a good chance to build one of the members up. My guess is two jobbers answer the challenge Antone Benner def. Auston Sandy Auston who? Plus Antone needs to be built up in his new heel persona Durant & Osburn def. The Dregs I could be totally wrong. After all I have no clue who The Dreggs are. Durant is being built up a bit though, so guess he gets the win. Plus give some momentum back to Osburn after his loss Dustin Robinson def. Billy Ray Bragg Once again, could easily be wrong, but I think keep the champ strong with heel shenanigans with the Black Hat Rodeo. DQ finish maybe? Enjoyed that first show, I know not many of your roster have had a chance to speak yet, but man. Poseidon might already be on his way to becoming one of my favourites, from the looks, to the gimmick, to the way you right him. No wonder he's earned you the best rating of the night. Carver Wells though already looking to be a danger in the ring is unfortunate. Excited to see what you bring out next. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smw88 Posted November 13, 2020 Share Posted November 13, 2020 (P) Karasuma and Sanzo vs Disney and White (P) Sawyer Rodriguez vs Aaron Redcloud Kandori in a tag team open challenge Antone Benner vs Auston Sandy The Dregs vs Sebastien Durant and Ryan Osburn Billy Ray Bragg vs Dustin Robinson in a non-title match Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jokerdesilva Posted November 13, 2020 Author Share Posted November 13, 2020 A brief rundown on some of the other major companies in the world state: ASW - All Star Wrestling: The number one company in America and, in fact, the world. Run by 57-year old Shaun Loggins and booked by Derek Pepper, they run a product based in Classic Sports Entertainment and with a Silver Aged Wrestling focus, leading to big characters and pure wrestling. They have a 59/60 popularity across the US and national TV exposure with ASW - Watch This Space! and are situated in the Tri-State Area. Prominent wrestlers include Bruce Villalba, one of the most popular men in wrestling; Brent Treat, a hard-hitting babyface; current ASW World Champion Alvin Gilliam, only 33 and a vicious psychopath heel; our own Adonish Lash, tag team champion; Johnny Naylor, a 36-year old midcarder who has consistently been the standout wrestler on the show; Hector Bliss, a former GCW Heavyweight Champion they poached from us; 32-year old Intercontinental champion Darrell Gwinn. WWB - Wrestling Without Borders: The Number 2 promotion, both in the US and the world. They use a Lucha Libre Entertainment/Comic Book Lucha Libre blend, making them starkly different from ASW in tone, and are situated in the South West. Despite being rated as number 2, they actually have 65 popularity across the board compared to ASW, and WWB Turbo is usually the weekly show to beat. Their roster is also a fair bit younger. Sawyer Washburne, their current Universal champion is 43, but other top stars include 38-year old Colt Council and the 28-year old standout Dominick Schaub, the supremely charismatic 31-year old MJ Abruzzi, one of their stand out in-ring performers in 30-year-old Frank Jaworski, WWB Top Contender Ray Hudgins, 33-year old mechanic Harry Hartweck, 26-year-old Olympic caliber wrestler Lester Brendon, and our own Rick Crowell who was sitting squatly in the undercard. Building up the independent scene, we also had a fair few promotions like the women's only United Women's Wrestling out of California, Kansas' Team Wrestling Alliance, Ohio's Piledriver Wrestling Federation, Pittsburgh's New Steel Wrestling, and, of course, the oldest wrestling company in the world, Mississippi's Southern Pro Wrestling, Other notable promotions include Canada's Black Maple Championship Wrestling, a respectful and legitimate promotion that had built itself into a true wrestling powerhouse up north with average 68 popularity, though only just beginning to splash into the US; Great North Pro Wrestling, another Canadian powerhouse that had recently poached one of our own in Karson Lepe, a big and menacing Canadian brute; the warring Unlimited Puro Japan and Pro Wrestling Hyperion, the dominant forces in Japanese wrestling, and the upstart Pro Wrestling OMEGA; Mexico's Royal Crown Lucha Council, the greatest opposition to WWB, and the Telenovela styled hybrid Sueno; England's Great Britain Wrestling Federation, Europe's New Greco-Roman Wrestling and the immortal Pride of Germany; and Australia's Down Under Wrestling and World's Greatest Wrestling. I'll also break down the end of the year awards a bit once we get there, which will be fun, since I doubt GCW is going to show up anywhere on that list........ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adi95 Posted November 13, 2020 Share Posted November 13, 2020 I can see the game has generated some nice names for the promotions. You started in 1920 and you skipped to 1985, 65 years in the game. You probably also have many retired legends and inactive companies. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jokerdesilva Posted November 14, 2020 Author Share Posted November 14, 2020 October 16th, 1985 It was a quiet and unremarkable few days since New Dawn, which suited me just fine. Our shows were more infrequent in PCCW, but I always had to balance a couple balls in the air because Louis, bless him, wanted to pay as few people in the office as possible so he could spend more on talent. More than he had, or could, in fact, but that had never fully been my place to say. Here at GCW, with Dean Dishman, things were different. Better. I could get used to this. Picking my own groceries. Ha. I hoped he was fine with that when I started getting the opportunity for more than $50 a show pay-per-appearance jobs with no names. We were back in the Milford Ice Palace, our unofficial home as of late, for another episode of Combat Television, and it was time to start really making my mark on the company. vs In the pre-show to warm up the crowd, the team of Karasuma and Sanzo defeated Jacoby Disney and Layton White in 5:32 – about as long as Jacoby could actually wrestle. He was 41 and had the stamina to go along with it, and I was pretty sure we’d be cutting him loose, soon. Karasuma and Sanzo didn’t astonish, but they didn’t lack chemistry, at least, and it would take some time before the audience started to appreciate the no-name Japanese imports. I hoped. (21) vs Following that, another quick match between our undercard guys. Aaron Redcloud beat Sawyer Rodriguez in 7:50 with an overhead slam. Sawyer is, well, a job guy who hasn’t won a match in GCW this year. Aaron is still a no-name, but there’s something about him I really like, and I’m just waiting for the right opponent to put him in a program against soon. This will at least build him some momentum with our local crowd. (21) The show opened with Reijiro Kandori making his way to the ring, fresh off his narrow defeat at the hands of Jack Raiden, and the arrival of his masked goons. The three followed him out, each unmasking to reveal my first three signings as booker: Karasuma, Sanzo, and Giant Kajitani, a 6’9 monster. Reijiro had the microphone. “For too long I’ve been overlooked in this company, and in this country. I am a wrestling legend, a master, a warrior, and I will not go into the night easily. If it takes brute force to get some attention and to show what I deserve, then I have assembled an army to provide it. This is my Sunset Army: Sanzo, Karasuma, and Giant Kajitani. We are going to prove who the real power is in wrestling, and why Reijiro Kandori is a name to fear. Now, bring me some fresh meat to chew up!” Unfortunately, the other three tried to introduce themselves as well, which was… not the intention, since none of them really speak English well at all, unlike the fluent Reijiro. That took some of the wind out of the sails. AKA, I'm dumb and put them in the default "Formation of an Alliance" angle forgetting that none of them speak English. Woops. Here's where I confess out of character that I'm not, perhaps, the best at TEW, and in-character that Alexander is only in his 20s and still getting his sea legs on a National stage. (29) vs Sunset Army vs The Hillbillies John Boy and Jim Bob came out to answer the challenge, slapping hands on their way down to the ring. Now, the Hillbillies had disappointed me in their title match on Sunday, true, but I thought that some veteran leadership would steer them in the right direction, and Reijiro was about as veteran as it got. And he certainly did his best. Giant Kajitani struggled a little bit more with the Hillbillies, but we told him to go out there and be a monster, and that was exactly what he did. Reijiro shouted instructions in Japanese - at least I figured it was instructions, I only knew a handful of words myself and I didn't think he was ordering eel a la carte - and pointed around, while Kajitani mauled the hillbillies. It seemed like John Boy might tag in Jim Bob in the end, but Reijiro cut them off, and Kajitani he got the pin all the same in a decisive win for the newly crowned Sunset Army. (37) vs Antone Benner vs Auston Sandy The newly villainous Antone Benner came out, slithering into the ring and really putting his garish face paint to good use. Auston Sandy, a fresh-faced 23 year old, came out to meet him, and it went about as well as you might expect. Benner had savvy and polish, and a mean streak that he showed very nicely in this new character, slithering around and raking at the eyes, pulling the air until he was told off. He didn't need to, of course, just did it for the sick, sadistic pleasure of it, our play-by-play man Preston McKean made sure to tell the audience. Auston had fire, but Antone pinned him with a martial arts kick to the head in 7:56. (39) After the match, Kurt Grey ran down to the ring and blasted Antone Benner from behind, furious after being abandoned in their tag match on Sunday. He clobbered him and threw him into the ropes, rebounding with a brutal tackle to the mid section that left him laying. Grey showed some good fire, but even that short display left him looking a little winded, which is… concerning. (39) Dustin Robinson was backstage next. "Once again, I stand before you the proud and defending GCW Heavyweight Champion, and I plan to end the night the same way. I'm set to face against a young man with a lot of talent and a lot of toughness, that Sidewinder by the name of Billy Ray Bragg, and I know him and his Black Hat Rodeo friends very well. Well, let me tell you all one thing. I don't care if it's Bragg, Olivares, Marshall, or Whitlock, not a one of you is going to take this title from me, but you're all more than welcome to come try. I'll take you all and remain, always and forever, proud to be Champion of this great company." (43) vs The Dregs vs Sebastien Durant and Ryan Osburn The Dregs were Gabe Pilcher, one of the kids earmarked as a future star, and Alonzo O'Toole, playing a couple of sleazy street punks. Their chemistry was phenomenal, which it was nice to see, and keeping them in a tag team together for the foreseeable future seemed like a great play, especially if Gabe was going to develop into something impressive. Ryan and Sebastien worked together fine as well, with Osburn using his veteran savvy to neutralize the treacherous tactics of the Dregs, before finally hot-tagging in the bigger and younger Durant to bowl them over. Not a phenomenal duo, despite getting the win, but I needed a tag team with some star power to go against the Black Hat Rodeo so I was trying out options. Sebastien won by Fallaway Slam in 10:23. (39) vs Billy Ray Bragg vs Dustin Robinson The main event saw our Champion face down the heir apparent of the Black Hat Rodeo. Billy Ray looked fantastic, if I'm honest, and maybe a step better than Dustin did at this point in their careers, but the crowd certainly loved their hero. He worked Bragg over from post to post in the end, showing his in-ring savvy and toughness, fighting out of all of the arm-holds and neck-holds that Bragg tried to put him in to cut off his fire. It didn't do enough, and Robinson put him away with a slingshot suplex in 11:52. After the match, Dale Whitlock ambushed him mid-celebraton to drop him with a lariat to the back of the head, and he and Bragg laid in the boots as the show went off the air. (54) Well, there was good stuff on there but my card layout could certainly use some work. The tag team "semi-main" was nowhere near as good as I was hoping it'd be, but when three out of the four men were green as grass, that was to be expected. Then again, the main event was the only truly good segment on the show. I was trying to get my young guys over fast, but maybe I was rushing it, and needed to make sure the likes of Poseidon, Wolf Koziol, Marcus Kramer, and the rest of our established stars were in a position to show off. If nothing else, it showed by Dustin was a reliable main eventer - but with a middling promo, he was never going to be more than a temporary fix this late in the game. (46). Next Week: (P) Jimmy G. vs Aaron Redcloud (P) Heavenly Bodies vs Nehemiah and Ponder 10-Man Battle Royale featuring Alonzo O’Toole and Gabe Pilcher, Antone Benner, Auston Sandy, Kurt Grey, Layton White, Marcus Kramer, Sebastien Durant, Tarzan Brownfield, and Tommy Carleton, for the North American Championship Number One Contendership - bonus points for the final four or runner up! Scorpio Nations vs Wolf Koziol Black Hat Rodeo vs Dustin Robinson and ??? for the GCW Tag Team Championship And congrats, smw88 and DinoKea for a perfect 7/7 on that one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DinoKea Posted November 14, 2020 Share Posted November 14, 2020 Another perfect 7, can't be mad even if I might have doubted myself if I knew who The Dregs were. Like the debut of the Sunset Army and find it hilarious imagining Kandori delivering a solid promo before handing off the mic to the other 3 to choke their way through. Anyway, prediction time: Preshow: Aaron Redcloud def. Jimmy G Redcloud is slowly working his way through a set of jobbers on the preshow and Jimmy G is just the next in line Preshow: Heavenly Bodies def. Nehemiah & Ponder This is tough, as I don't think I know anyone here, but the established and named tag team is likely to be the ones on their way to winning 10 Man Battle Royale for North American Championship No. 1 Contender: Winner: Marcus Kramer Runner-Up: Sebastien Durant Final 4: Antone Benner & Kurt Grey Featuring: Auston Sandy, Layton White, Tarzan Brownfield, Tommy Carleton, Alonzo O'Toole & Gabe Pilcher Battle Royales are bound to be unpredictable, particularly this early. Step 1 for me was eliminating the randoms. Wrestlers like Layton White, Tommy Carleton and Auston Sandy are just there to help others get over right now. Dunno who Tarzan Brownfield is and The Dregs were never going to win. I'm predicting Benner and Grey to eliminate each other with Kramer going from one title feud to the next. Obviously Benner could win it, but with his current feud, I feel like he's not getting a shot yet. Wolf Koziol def. Scorpio Nations Tough one, but Wolf is a bit higher up the pecking order and being one of the younger guys up there. Scorpio has time to work his way up the card after all. Black Hat Rodeo def. Dustin Robinson & ??? to retain the GCW Tag Team Championships I'm not sure how I feel about giving the champ a loss, but I don't see why you would give Dustin the tag titles here as well. Could be a DQ finish but I think whoever ??? is, they're there to eat the pin. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smw88 Posted November 14, 2020 Share Posted November 14, 2020 Jimmy G. vs Aaron Redcloud (P) Heavenly Bodies vs Nehemiah and Ponder 10-Man Battle Royale featuring Alonzo O’Toole and Gabe Pilcher, Antone Benner, Auston Sandy, Kurt Grey, Layton White, Marcus Kramer, Sebastien Durant, Tarzan Brownfield, and Tommy Carleton, for the North American Championship Number One Contendership - bonus points for the final four or runner up! Scorpio Nations vs Wolf Koziol Black Hat Rodeo vs Dustin Robinson and ??? for the GCW Tag Team Championship Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zergon Posted November 14, 2020 Share Posted November 14, 2020 Always fan on Effganic diaries so will follow along. (P) Jimmy G. vs Aaron Redcloud 'Redcloud was in your roster review and did get a win in last show so I´m going to assume he´s higher on pecking order. since only thing I found on Jimmy G was a loss in pre-show (P) Heavenly Bodies vs Nehemiah and Ponder Still trying to get used to all these guys and none of these names ring a bell but I go with named team over what might be random pairing. 10-Man Battle Royale featuring Alonzo O’Toole and Gabe Pilcher, Antone Benner, Auston Sandy, Kurt Grey, Layton White, Marcus Kramer, Sebastien Durant, Tarzan Brownfield, and Tommy Carleton, for the North American Championship Number One Contendership - bonus points for the final four or runner up! final four: Antone Benner, Kurt Grey, Marcus Kramer, Sebastien Durant Runner up: Sebastien Durant Right, this will probably be longer answer than it should but lets start this by taking Sandy, White, Brownfield and Carleton off the potential winners list as they haven´t done anything so far that makes me think they would be something else than filler here. The other six I could all see to at least be in the final four. With face champ that at least put Grey and Durant off as potential winners. Kramer looks like the top guy here and logical winner our from the the rest of the four, espesially with Benner being tied to feud with Grey. So thinking Kramer will win and Durent being the runner up with Grey and Benner eliminating each other´s (or one eliminating the other and getting eliminated straight afterwards). However, I do think they should be in last four since their feud is likely one of the main stories on this match so I have be the last four over O´Toole and Pilcher as while I could see them getting into last four thanks to teamwork (over Benner and Gray who ccould eliminate each other´s earlier), there would then need to be a face to take them out (as they aren´t going to win this) and while Durant could potentially be that guy, I think having Gray and Benner at the last four is more logical option considering their feud and the fact I had Kramer win this one instead of Durant. Scorpio Nations vs Wolf Koziol Wolf looks to be bigger name at this point. Black Hat Rodeo vs Dustin Robinson and ??? for the GCW Tag Team Championship I don´t see you moving tag belts to your main champ so thinking this will either be a DQ win for Robinson or he´s partner is actually heel (or face who´s turning heel) who betrays him and gives heels three on one advantage. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jokerdesilva Posted November 15, 2020 Author Share Posted November 15, 2020 October 23rd, 1985 Milford Ice Palace in front of 816 people. vs Pre-Show, Jimmy G vs Aaron Redcloud Just a nice showcase for Aaron Redcloud, who is another one I really want to build up in the not too distant future. He's still green, but Jimmy G is a reliable if not amazing opponent in the undercard, so they worked nicely. Redcloud wins in 7:31. (29) vs Pre-Show, The Heavenly Bodies vs Nehemiah and Mo Ponder. A match between four job guys and nobodies to try and bolster the tag team division. Nehemiah is a big brute of a babyface, which seems to be popular on our roster the more I look at it, but he's already 34 and a nobody so I'm not sure he'll go much higher; and Mo Ponder is, well, a guy with 1 win in the calendar year for GCW based on the match history I've looked at. The Heavenly Bodies are the ones I had my eye on - both young at 28 and 24, and very good looking body guys. Hence the name. I redubbed them Jupiter and Saturn to start getting over the new gimmick, and they performed adequately, so we'll see if they can build up some rapport in the dark matches. Jupiter pins Mo Ponder in 6:29. (30) The show opened with the Black Hat Rodeo in the back all together. Cowboy Dale Whitlock had the microphone. "Now listen here, Robinson, and you listen good. I heard you talking down to me and my boys, and lemme tell you something, we didn't much appreciate it. No, we didn't appreciate it at all. That's why I cleaned your damn clock and made you humble last week, and we aim to do it again. Y'see, I've decided that you've held that belt a little too long for my tastes, and I mean to take it off of you. I've been champion before, and I'll be champion again, and if I gotta rip you in two to do it, well, brother, that's just what I'm gonna do. And tonight, you're going to get yourself a taste of Black Hat medicine. Tell 'em, boys." He handed the mic off to Dwayne Olivares. "See, we done got ourselves a little tag team match against you tonight. Bring yourself a partner, and we're gonna put our belts on the line. But I hope that Championship title of yours doesn't go to your head. You best take things seriously." "Real seriously," Jase said. "You're entering our world, now. You ain't just one man who's gotta worry about one man. You're in a tag team. You're ours." "So find yourself a partner, boy," Billy Ray added. "Whoever you like. These two are gonna take you to pieces, and Dale, he's gonna pick the scraps at Running Wild." (41) 10-Man Battle Royale featuring Alonzo O’Toole and Gabe Pilcher, Antone Benner, Auston Sandy, Kurt Grey, Layton White, Marcus Kramer, Sebastien Durant, Tarzan Brownfield, and Tommy Carleton, for the North American Championship Number One Contendership The ten men came out to the ring together and climbed in, ready to fight for a shot at the gold. Kurt Grey took off at Antone Benner right away, firing away with right hands on the traitor while the rest started pairing off. Before he could get too busy, though, the Dregs jumped him and helped Benner put the boots. Auston Sandy tried to stand up to Marcus Kramer, but got hurled over the top rope for his efforts. Sebastien Durant made the save for Kurt Gray, throwing Alonzo O'Toole off of him and laying into Pilcher with rights and lefts. They all kept brawling, Alonzo O'Toole getting clotheslined over the top rope by Durant and Layton White also eating a suplex over the top from Kramer. Tarzan Brownfield sent Tommy Carlton flying with a beautiful dropkick, but Pilcher snuck up from behind and dumped him while his back was turned. That let Kurt Grey get some revenge and tackle him over. The final four were Kramer, Durant, Grey, and Benner. Benner and Grey fought over the top, eliminating one another in a tangle of bodies, which left Kramer and Durant to settle things between the two of them. The young Haitian Hammer held his own for a bit, but Kramer was too smart and too tough and bulldozed him out of the ring to win the shot at the North American championship. (44) We went to Dustin Robinson next backstage. "I've never been one to turn down a fight in my life, so if you Black Hat boys think you're going to scare me off, I'm afraid you're going to be disappointed. I'll accept your challenges - all of them. Dale, I hope you're man enough to face me fairly at Running Wild so we can see who the better man is. As for your boys and the tag team titles, I'd be honored to carry those belts into battle as well, and I know just the man to fight by my side. He's been something of a protege to me, and I'm happy to help him on the next step in his career. That is our GCW North American Champion, Carver Wells." Carver came out next to shake hands with him, and the two shouldered their belts, side by side. "This is not an opportunity either of us take lightly. Bring your best, Black Hat Rodeo, because that's the only thing we have to bring." (50) vs Scorpio Nations vs Wolf Koziol After Wolf's flagging psychology in his match with Poseidon, which had dragged it down just a little, I had them script this match before hand just to make sure it went off without a hitch, and it seemed to pay off. He gave Scorpio a little bit, not a ton, but enough to make the kid look promising. Still, Scorpio couldn't get the Scorpion Clutch, his name for a Cobra Clutch, locked in on Wolf, who threw him off and just about took him out of his boots with a big lariat in 7:51. (52) After the match, Wolf's celebration was interrupted by Poseidon coming out with a microphone. "I don't know what you're so happy about, Wolf. I seem to recall putting you to sleep and ending your little roam over GCW. Didn't you learn that there's a superior predator in this company? That you're no longer the Alpha Male around here? If I have to remind you how this works, I'm happy to do it again. Any time you might like. There is nothing that brings me greater pleasure than seeing an arrogant warrior like you drown in my grip." (72) vs Black Hat Rodeo vs Robinson and Wells - GCW Tag Team Championship Robinson and Wells's relationship as a mentor and mentee might have been a little exaggerated for the sake of storytelling, but the two worked together nicely enough, I had to give them that. Still, the story of the match was that Olivares and Marshall were a well oiled tag team machine, cutting off Wells and working him over in the corner, and they did their job with aplomb. And credit to the kid, he sold excellently under the assault while Dustin pounded on the corner looking for a hot tag in. Finally Wells managed to trip Olivares with a sort of rolling leg lock deal, drop-kicked Marshall off the ring apron, and lunged over to tag the Heavyweight champ. Dustin roared in, tossing the cowboys around and looking like a world-beater, but that was when the other two members of the Rodeo came out. Billy Ray distracted the ref on one corner while Dale Whitlock came in and hit a Hangman's neckbreaker on Dustin, leaving him laid out. When the ref looked back in, Olivares got the pin, one-two-three at 13:26. (48) All in all, it was a bit of a better show than last week. I was probably still leaning a little too heavily on my young guys, as Olivares and Marshall probably weren't ready to main event a card just yet, but I wanted to give them the rub and they didn't drop the ball, at least, they just didn't rise to the occasion like Wolf or Poseidon had. Still, some good promos and a surprisingly good match between Wolf and Scorpio made it a better show than last week. We just needed to keep the momentum rolling. (54) Led to a .35 rating and 262k viewers. Another week, and another pretty much perfect prediction across the board, down to the last eliminations! Benner and Grey co-eliminating one another felt like the perfect play mid-feud, especially when in the 80s triple threats and such still weren't a thing, so I'm trying to keep away from them so far. Hopefully this does, in fact, have an 80s vibe because that's what I'm going for. Also I do completely understand not wanting the champion to lose, I'm usually not a fan of having my champions lose non-title matches as a rule, but I'm also very pro-tag team champions besting singles guys hastily paired up, and I'm desperately trying to get my tag division over any way I can, so. A bit of a reckless move, perhaps. Also three months later the tag division is still gonna suck, but we're trying. Next Week: (P) The Dregs vs The Danger Brothers (P) Keaton Whisenant vs Tarzan Brownfield Lash and Carleton vs Beltran and Holston Blly Ray Bragg vs Jacoby Disney Karasuma vs Jack Raiden Poseidon and Kramer vs Koziol and Wells Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Theheel Posted November 15, 2020 Share Posted November 15, 2020 Very interesting start and nice to see a new spin (as far as the game world). Just got into it and am through the first big show. I look through the next couple of posts likely tomorrow. Just wanted to say it looks good but had a question about where things are besides the US big 3. Curious how many companies you have in the universe specially in North America (but you can go more in depth if you want), and how many workers are currently active? Are there any promotions that have a women’s division or even an all -women’s company? Just trying to get an idea of the game world that has been created. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DinoKea Posted November 15, 2020 Share Posted November 15, 2020 Man, 3/3 in terms of perfect shows. I'm not getting confident, you easily could've done something in that final match to throw me off, but nope, we're all good. Really enjoying the show today. I'm a bit worried about tomorrow honestly as I could easily go wrong. Preshow: The Dregs def. The Danger Brothers While they have so far just been use to job, I know the Dregs and particularly Pilcher are guys you want to push, while I don't even know who the Danger brothers are. Preshow: Tarzan Brownfield def. Keaton Whisenant Two guys who have so far been pretty unimpressive, however Tarzan did get an elimination in the Battle Royale, making me think he'll take the win here Beltram & Houlston def. Lash & Carleton Lash is getting old and inured, Carleton is a jobber and Beltram & Houlston are a tag team you want to push. Looks like another bit of tag division building Billy Ray Bragg def. Jacoby Disney I mean, is there any doubt Jack Raiden def. Karasuma An early loss for the Sunset Army, but I'd say this is setting up a feud for Kodiak Jack to face them and he's too high on the pecking order to lose this Wells & Koizol def. Poseidon & Kramer Tough one to pick here, but I think Kramer's got to be the one to eat the pin. Wells is the champion and Koizol needs to look like he might beat Poseidon. I'd like Poseidon to win, but I think Kramer looks set to be the one to take the loss. Edit: Wanted to mention, really appreciate the work and effort to get these out so consistently. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zergon Posted November 15, 2020 Share Posted November 15, 2020 (P) The Dregs vs The Danger Brothers No idea who Danger Brothers are so going with the team I know plus Dregs seem to be getting decent TV time so far so I´d assume there´s some plans for them (P) Keaton Whisenant vs Tarzan Brownfield Not much to go here yet but Tarzan did get elimination in that battle royal while Keaton´s only appearance is tag loss in pre-show so I go with Tarzan here. Lash and Carleton vs Beltran and Holston So this is a tough one. Lash looks like the top guy here from what I have seen so far but Carleton looks like the lowest on the ladders with him jobbing in pre-shows. Beltran and Holston had one win in pre-show tag action and you said you preferred to put teams over singles guys so I´m picking them to win here but I could easily see this one going the other way as well. Blly Ray Bragg vs Jacoby Disney First one here were I´m pretty confident on my pick. Karasuma vs Jack Raiden So, actually had to double check who both of these guys are which shows how much I remember from previous shows . Raiden is easily the favorite here with Karasuma likely having no popularity and being a tag guy against singles guy who´s already decently big name and young enough to stay on top even after most of the other current main eventers have retired. Poseidon and Kramer vs Koziol and Wells OK, so back to hard ones after two easier picks. I see Poseidon as more likely to win his singles match against Koziol (although he did already win the last match so maybe Koziol will take the next one to tie the score before third and final match?) so first though was to give Koziol a win here. That said, I think Wells is more likely to keep his belt against Kramer than Kramer winning it, not because Wells is higher on the ladders but because their age and you wanting youth movement, and keeping the belt on Wells sound like more likely outcome on the title match based on you wanting to push younger guys. Unless you think he´s ready to move to chase main event belt in which case I could see Kramer getting one last run with the midcard belt.... I could see this one going either way depending on your plans but I give it to the heels with the idea that Koziol is going to beat Poseidon in their next singles encounter to set a third match and that you plan to keep the midcard belt on Wells. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smw88 Posted November 15, 2020 Share Posted November 15, 2020 (P) The Dregs vs The Danger Brothers (P) Keaton Whisenant vs Tarzan Brownfield Lash and Carleton vs Beltran and Holston Blly Ray Bragg vs Jacoby Disney Karasuma vs Jack Raiden Poseidon and Kramer vs Koziol and Wells Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.