Global Wrestling Entertainment: Conquering the World

[St. Templar]

I'm going to actually start this diary in media res, so to speak. I started at the beginning of May 2001, and it's June of 2002. My company was World Championship Wrestling (using the Good Night and Goodbye???? mod). I've done some of my own tweaks to histories and added a couple of characters. Currently (in game terms), I'm on Tuesday, June Week 2 of 2002, and I've changed the name of the company to Global Wrestling Entertainment (GWE). I'm operating two brands: WCW and ECW/WSW.

 

My diary entries will start with the weekend. On Saturday, I'll have Heat Wave 2002 for my ECW/WSW brand, and on Sunday, I'll have The Great American Bash 2002 for my WCW brand.

 

Before I get to them, however, I'll post a "scene setting" bit up next to let you in on some of the changes that have happened since Wrestlemania X-Seven.

 

St.T

[St. Templar]

<p>How the Game Changed</p><p>

Late 2000</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>

The dark times were upon the face of World Championship Wrestling in late 2000, and everybody knew it. Ted Turner was getting shut out of discussions of the future as Time Warner marched toward a merger with AOL, and it quickly became clear to Jerry Jarrett that WCW was on its way to extinction. The only problems he saw with that were that his son Jeff (a multiple-time WCW World Heavyweight Champion who he had a tense relationship) might not be welcomed with open arms into the remaining big national promotion, having “held up” the WWF’s promoter Vince McMahon at his last appearance for the WWF, and there were rumors that tension existed between the two. He understood tension with Jeff. Still…that was his son.</p><p> </p><p>

Jerry caught up with Jeff, and the two talked. Jeff put on a brave face (eternal optimist that he was), but Jerry heard the drums, and so it seemed did the former Executive Vice President of WCW Eric Bischoff. Jerry didn’t have much of a relationship with Bischoff, but he knew they were both businessmen with money connections. Jerry got with Jeff, and they got with Eric.</p><p> </p><p>

The three of them met with Ted Turner in November of 2000, and the sale was finalized January 1, 2001. The TV package was in place before the AOL/Time Warner merger went through, before Turner lost his power in the company. Bischoff knew, however, they would soon find an out to get Nitro (the only show they could guarantee) off the air. Within months, he’d made a deal with USA Network, who were still smarting from losing the WWF to TNN.</p><p> </p><p>

The WWF, meanwhile, felt like something, some opportunity, some chance, had been missed, and it took their company into a tailspin. Vince McMahon brought in Vince Russo to oversee creative, and it damaged their product. Talent fled the promotion. Benoit, Malenko, Saturn, and Guerrero, the Radicalz that had tipped off what wags had started calling “The Final Days of WCW” left without contract offers that matched what JBJ Sports & Entertainment, Inc., were offering. Next, a backstage issue developed between William Regal and Russo, which soured Russo’s relationship with the WWF Champion “Stone Cold” Steve Austin. Regal was released, and Austin walked out. Within days, both had shiny new contracts from WCW.</p><p> </p><p>

As this happened, WCW’s developmental promotion (later developmental brand) Wild Side Wrestling (changed from NWA: Wildside), or WSW, had gained the services of the big Texan, the “Modern Day Warrior” with the history in Mexico and southwestern promotions, Tony Davidson. Davidson would dominate WSW and make regular appearances on the WCW main roster, as well, rising quickly in popularity. A powerful promo after the 9/11 attacks and a commitment to leave the business for the United States Marines would take him (temporarily, at least) out of play, but it would skyrocket his popularity, so much so that the main event of Starrcade 2001 had seen Davidson team with Austin and Goldberg in a trios match against the World Elite stable’s Eddie Guerrero, Kevin Nash, and Scott Hall.</p><p> </p><p>

By SuperBrawl XII in March of 2002, Davidson’s final show with the promotion, Austin would defeat Ric Flair to become the WCW World Heavyweight Champion while Davidson would walk away for Marine training before moving to the Marine Corps Reserves.</p><p> </p><p>

In June of 2002, on the eve of the 2002 versions of Heat Wave and The Great American Bash, Austin remains the WCW World Heavyweight Champion while Perry Saturn, now in a team with Kurt Angle, holds the WCW United States Heavyweight Championship. The Outsiders hold the World Tag Team gold, and a tournament is close to concluding for the vacant WCW Television Championship. An “NWA” stable of new NWA North American Heavyweight Champion Dan Severn, WCW Hardcore Champion Ken Shamrock, Chris Candido, Big Bubba Rogers, and Steve Corino faces an “ECW” stable led by the NWA World Heavyweight Champion Raven, Rhino, Taz, Sabu, The Sandman, and Shane Douglas. Those damn Dudleys are in WCW as well, and Christian Cage, fired after an injury that led to him losing the WWF Intercontinental Championship, will appear as soon as his injury is healed. And the legendary Joanie Wonder is the proud holder of the WCW World Women’s Champion, leading a growing women’s division that already includes Jackie Moore, Amy Dumas, Tina Ferrari, Mickie James, Rena Mero, and Torrie Wilson.</p><p> </p><p>

In the developmental world of WSW, Black Reign, a dark violent version of Dustin Rhodes, holds the WSW Heavyweight Championship, while Shane Helms and Rhino stand forth to face off for the ECW World Heavyweight Championship that new brand commissioner Paul Heyman has activated. “Redd Dogg” Rodney Mack holds the WSW Television title, and his wife Jazz holds the Women’s title. The tag team titles are held by the combination of “Cowboy” James Storm and “Wildcat” Chris Harris who, with their manager Gail Kim, has taken the moniker of America’s Most Wanted.</p><p> </p><p>

I’ll be back to update further once I have Heat Wave 2002 (live from Moline, Illinois) done and another update after The Great American Bash (emanating from the Allstate Arena in Rosemont).</p><p> </p><p>

St.T</p>

[St. Templar]

<p>I hadn't really planned on doing this, but I had my last episode of my dev brand (a B show) prior to the weekend festivities. So, this should show you what you can expect as far as updates go.</p><p> </p><p>

Shockwave Episode 308 (Code 0308) Show Report</p><p>

Live from Global Wrestling Arena, Orlando, Florida, on Wednesday, June 5, 2002</p><p>

Commentators: Joey Styles and The Honky Tonk Man</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>

We’re coming to you live tonight on Sci-Fi from GWE’s own Global Wrestling Arena in Orlando, Florida, inside Universal Studios Orlando. Joey Styles will be doing the play-by-play while The Honky Tonk Man will provide color commentary.</p><p> </p><p>

There are three pre-show matches and four televised matches on tonight’s show, along with the normal accompaniments. So, here we go.</p><p> </p><p>

The opening pre-show match was a trios affair with NWA Intercontinental Heavyweight Champion Lance Storm teaming with The Kings of Jersey (NWA Heritage Champion Chris Kanyon and Diamond Dallas Page) against the heel team of Curt Hennig and X-Factor’s Justin Credible and Syxx. Kevin Nash prowled ringside with X-Factor. The match was decent and went 14:39, ending when Storm submitted Syxx with a Straightshooter. Some solid wrestling here, but it was the performance of DDP that really shone. (Match rating: 67)</p><p> </p><p>

Our second match was much more chaotic: a tag team bout between Los Fantasmas (El Hijo del Fantasma and Fantasma, Jr.) who were accompanied by Lady Alondra Starr and the Lords of the Ring (Nick Dinsmore and Rob Conway). The two teams were pretty evenly-matched with Dinsmore just a smidge better than the others, and the match ended at 11:34 when Dinsmore pinned El Hijo del Fantasma with a German Suplex. (Match rating: 41)</p><p> </p><p>

Our final pre-show match was a tag team bout pitting four “locals” against each other. Kasey James teamed with the veteran Moondog Rex took on and defeated the team of Steve Armstrong and Trailer Park Trash, who really was the weakest guy in the match. Moondog Rex got the duke, submitting Trailer Park Trash with an armbar in 10:29. (Match rating: 33)</p><p> </p><p>

That brings us to the main show, where Joey Styles and The Honky Tonk Man, usually a tight team, welcomed our fans to the show. Honky seemed off his game, though, which was a real shame on this go-home show to Heat Wave 2002. (Segment rating: 56)</p><p> </p><p>

Styles and Honky discuss a match graphic hyping tonight’s main event between Lord William Regal and Shane Helms, where the winner will go on to face Rhino for the reactivated ECW World Heavyweight Championship this Saturday at Heat Wave. (Segment rating: 49)</p><p> </p><p>

WSW Women’s Champion Jazz was out next with WSW Television Champion “Redd Dogg” Rodney Mack (who also happens to be her husband). Jazz struggled a bit with the unscripted nature of the promo, especially in comparison with “Shockwave Commissioner” Paul Heyman. The company’s doing a fair job with straddling the line between dealing with the advancing turn from WSW to ECW, and Heyman takes it one step further tonight when he says that Mack’s match, which is up next, will not only be for his WSW Television Championship, but it will also be for the reactivated ECW Television Championship (interesting that they’ve dropped the “World” designation from the TV title, much as they have with the WCW Television Championship). Still, Heyman, as always, is masterful on the mic and plays to the crowd very well. He closes it by pointing out that the match will be against Ray Gordy (making his first appearance since the tragic death of his father Terry) and five-time former ECW World Heavyweight Champion (an 0-time former ECW World Television Champion) The Sandman. And we should probably remark that the big, bad Rodney Mack looks amazing out there. It’ll be a huge shock if he doesn’t do some big things in this business. (Segment rating: 42)</p><p> </p><p>

The opening television match of the night is the aforementioned triple-threat match with “Redd Dogg” Rodney Mack defending his WSW Television Championship against Ray Gordy and The Sandman, with the added caveat that this will be the last night for the WSW Television title as it’s being replaced by the ECW version (as clarified by Joey Styles on commentary). Mack dominated the match in terms of both story and skill, carrying the match on those broad shoulders of his even as Jazz prowled in his corner and Sabu, Shane Douglas, and Rhino hung out in Sandman’s. Heyman stayed at ringside, too, and had to be tempted once or twice to hop on commentary. Gordy didn’t look great, and one has to wonder if he can recover after Bam Bam’s death, which necessitated the WSW Tag Team Championship they held to be vacated. Hopefully, he’ll get back in the groove sooner rather than later. Mack ended up pinning Gordy with a Tiger Bomb to gain victory, retain the WSW Television Championship, and win the ECW Television Championship. (Match rating: 48)</p><p> </p><p>

Mack looks amazing as he poses with Jazz and both title belts. (Segment rating: 58)</p><p> </p><p>

We go backstage, where Kathy Dingman interviews Shane Helms about his match tonight. Dingman looked good, and Helms is a master at working the crowd. (Segment rating: 57)</p><p> </p><p>

In an atomicos match that should improve as the crowd gets more used to the new arrivals from Toryumon, Ultimo Dragon, CIMA, Ryo Saito, and Dragon Kid represented their Order of the Last Dragon against the established Pitbull Syndicate, here represented by Savio, Hernandez, Reyes, and Romero. The match wasn’t very good from a crowd-involvement standpoint, but the in-ring action was decent. Ultimo Dragon and Hernandez were the class of their teams, but I can’t help but thinking this would have been better with Homicide, who’s out for the next couple of weeks with a bum knee but who was obviously being built to challenge Ultimo for the WSW Junior Heavyweight Championship. Ultimo pinned Savio to get the victory, and the Puerto Rican veteran looked strong in defeat. (Match rating: 52)</p><p> </p><p>

Another backstage interview segment as Scott Hudson interviewed Lord William Regal. Regal is an amazing snob and came away looking great, but Hudson really needs to show some improvement soon. He began as the class of the company’s interviewers (outside of “Mean Gene”, of course), but he’s really getting passed up lately by Kathy Dingman and Alicia Webb. (Segment rating: 49)</p><p> </p><p>

The next match says that the future can’t get here fast enough for the WSW/ECW women’s division, because these ladies are just not getting there very fast, and it doesn’t hurt that former WSW Women’s Champion Mickie James (or Alexis Laree as she was known then) has moved on to the WCW brand (where she’ll be part of that fatal 4-way to challenge Joanie Wonder for the WCW World Women’s Champion at The Great American Bash). This was a decent trios match for all of that, though, where the team of Allison Danger, Luscious Carejo, and Mercedes Martinez defeated the team of Angel Williams, Gail Kim, and Hellena Heavenly. And it was Danger, who will challenge Jazz on Saturday for the WSW Women’s Championship, who pinned Williams with an Oklahoma Roll in 9:51. (Match rating: 38)</p><p> </p><p>

Speaking of Jazz, she was out to confront Danger next, while the commentators pretended that the audience was really into the title match this Saturday. (Segment rating: 34)</p><p> </p><p>

We move into the main event as Joel Gertner is out to introduce our competitors: Lord William Regal and Shane Helms. (Segment rating: 42)</p><p> </p><p>

In a solid television main event, Shane Helms and Lord William Regal brawled over the ring for the opportunity to face the Man-Beast Rhino on Saturday for ECW gold. And it was a solid effort here tonight that ended in 14:13 when Helms hit the Vertebreaker on Regal to get the victory and secure his opportunity to become the ECW World Heavyweight Champion. (Match rating: 64)</p><p> </p><p>

And, to close out the show, Rhino comes out and attacks Helms, but Helms backs him down. The two are toe-to-toe, standing tall to a much better reaction than earlier between Jazz and Allison Danger. There seems to be a bit of heat here between these two, and for this title match. (Segment rating: 55)</p><p> </p><p>

And that was the go-home Shockwave leading into Heat Wave 2002. We’ll be back with our review of the show and live chat during it right here on the site! Remember, 8:00E/7:00 Central from The MARK of the Quad Cities in Moline, Illinois, on Saturday night. And be sure to check in Sunday night for The Great American Bash 2002! It’ll be a great weekend of wrestling!</p><p> </p><p>

(Show rating: 60)</p><p> </p><p>

St.T</p>

[St. Templar]

Heat Wave 2002 Show Report

Live from The MARK of the Quad Cities, Moline, Illinois, on Saturday, June 8, 2002

Commentators: Joey Styles and The Honky Tonk Man

 

 

Ticket Revenue: $230,000

Broadcast/PPV Revenue: $7,142/$9,202, 695

Merchandise Revenue: $350,410

Attendance: 9,200 (sell out)

 

 

This is your boy Timmy Poison here at totalextremewrestling.com with our live feed about tonight’s Heat Wave 2002! The show is live from the MARK of Quad Cities in Moline, Illinois, and we’ll be seeing all the talent from Global Wrestling Entertainment’s (I swear I typed World Championship Wrestling first) WSW or ECW brand, whatever they’re doing with it these days. Early reports are that this thing sold out all 9,600 seats available early, so it’ll be a packed house! And with Rhino going against the former “Sugar” Shane Helms for the revived ECW World Heavyweight title and Black Reign defending the WSW Heavyweight title against Diamond Dallas Page (Jersey represent!) tonight, it should be a fun show!

 

In total, there have been seven main card matches and three pre-show matches rumored for the night, but as usual the Jarretts and Bischoff (and, if rumors are right, Heyman) have played their cards close to their vests. So, we know if this show has any overall theme, it’s “expect the unexpected”.

 

We open the pre-show (for free on all your cable channels and other pay-per-view providers) with a graphic advertising a special appearance by IWA World Heavyweight Champion Randy Savage, who will defend the title tonight against Hernandez. For those out of the loop, GWE bought out all of the International Wrestling Alliance companies, and that included their titles, which gave GWE an in with Savage and his CWF promotion up there in Alberta or Manitoba or wherever it is. It’s cool to see that tonight he’ll be putting on a match for us here in Moline for that IWA World title. Typically for the WSW/ECW “Shockwave” brand, it’s Scott Hudson and Stevie Ray on these pre-show matches, so I’m guessing we’ll see them tonight as well. (Segment rating: 46)

 

Not a long title match, but it was good to get the crowd warmed up. If only Scott Hudson could get it together at the announce desk, this could have used some far better announcing. The match itself was solid. Hernandez is big as hell, and looks super-tough, and Savage is a sure-fire future Hall of Famer. He got the pin in 10:19 after a Flying Elbow Drop. So, that means he’s still the IWA World Heavyweight Champion, and that makes 13 title defenses by our numbers. (Match rating: 65)

 

We clear the ring to get hype for another pre-show title defense. Yoshihiro Tajiri will be up next defending the NWA World Junior Heavyweight Championship against the young Minoru Fujita. There’s lots to like in Fujita, and Tajiri is one of the most underrated workers anywhere. Bringing him in to work in the junior heavyweight division was a great decision by GWE. (Segment rating: 20)

 

Fujita is still so green, though. The match was serviceable, and Tajiri was good about getting the crowd involved. He probably made the rookie (young lion, anyone?) look better than he really is. A Buzzsaw Kick got Tajiri the pin at 11:37 for his sixth title defense. (Match rating: 52)

 

Next up, we get a 20-man battle royal for the vacant WSW United States Heavyweight Championship. Still not sure if I buy that Del Wilkes just got hurt somewhere, since our sources say he’s in rehab for a bit. Either way, another ho-hum battl-…holy…a battle royal with Kensuke Sasaki, KENTA, and Daisuke Sekimoto! The three Japanese stars came out with Sonny Onoo, and the Great Kabuki is with them, along with his “protégé” Son of Kabuki (the young Taiji Ishimori in the Kabuki makeup). Sadly, much of the crowd doesn’t recognize anybody but Sasaki and a few Kabuki fans out there. Jeff Jarrett, Lord William Regal, and Johnny “The Bull” Stamboli are out there, too. I’ll bet Jarrett’s decided to put the title on himself tonight. It gets down to Jarrett, Regal, Sasaki, and Ron Killings while Killings shows some subtle heel stuff going on. Sasaki throws out Regal, then Killings, and then Jarrett(?!?). It looks like the rumors that GWE had signed an exclusive deal with Sasaki might actually be true, since Kensuke Sasaki is your new WSW United States Heavyweight Champion! (Match rating: 58)

 

And that takes us into the main show of Heat Wave 2002. Joey Styles and The Honky Tonk Man are on commentary and set up what’ll happen tonight while reviewing the pre-show for those who didn’t watch it. Styles struggled a bit tonight, which is pretty unusual for him, but Honky covered well for him. (Segment rating: 59)

 

Shawn Stasiak is out with Stacy Keibler to open the show, and he cuts an actually pretty decent promo. He puts his tag partner Mark Jindrak down (for being in rehab, I guess?), and ends it by saying that he’s secured a title shot tonight against Dan “The Beast” Severn for the NWA North American Heavyweight Championship. Stacy just stands there looking pretty. (Segment rating: 53)

 

Joel Gertner will be doing the ring announcing duties, as usual. He introduces Severn, who’s got some friends with him but won’t need them, who looks tough as nails, and Stasiak, who’s really coming into his own as a heel. (Segment rating: 39)

 

I will never know how WWF couldn’t make Dan Severn look like a badass, because every appearance he has in either GWE brand makes him look like a world beater. And this match is no different. Stasiak stood up to it well, though, and gave him back some offense. Still, it wasn’t enough to beat Severn, who locked in the Beast Choker to make Stasiak tap out at 11:14. That’s Severn’s first title defense since winning the NWA North American Heavyweight title last Monday on Nitro. (Match rating: 68)

 

Now, this is interesting. Stasiak gets on Keibler for his loss. And she sells it like a battered spouse. Severn takes exception and comes over to her defense…but she stops him and tells him that it’s fine and she’s okay? There will be some ticked-off people on the internet over this one, I’ll bet. Severn and his buddies look disgusted and leave. Stasiak follows, and Keibler follows him out. (Segment rating: 53)

 

Savio Vega (just Savio, if you please) comes out with two f his young charges: Reyes and Romero. He says that the Havana Pitbulls are ready to face Ultimo Dragon and anybody he’s got with him. Akio Sato comes out to respond…and he’s just dreadful. But, he does get out that Señor Aguila (Essa Rios if all you know is the WWF, but he’s under a mask) will join up with Ultimo Dragon (and apparently the rest of Order of the Last Dragon will be around ringside) to take on the Havana Pitbulls. (Segment rating: 38)

 

Gertner’s up to make the introductions. (Segment rating: 32)

 

All four of these guys (and this isn’t a shock) can work. Ultimo and Aguila teamed well, but Reyes and Romero have some really solid chemistry with each other and with Savio as their manager. The match was solid if unspectacular, and ended when Ultimo Dragon pinned Reyes at 12:40. (Match segment: 67)

 

Never turn your back on the Pitbull Syndicate. It looked like Hernandez and Homicide came from the crowd, but they levelled Ultimo and Aguila, and Homicide, who can talk even if he can’t fight, laid down a challenge for Ultimo for the WSW Junior Heavyweight Championship once he gets healed up. (Segment rating: 42)

 

The ring clears out as Styles and Honky talk about the next match: a triangle tag team affair between the Altar Boys, the Calgary Bulldogs, and X-Factor, and the winners of the match get a future shot at the WSW Tag Team Championship. (Segment rating: 27)

 

Gertner introduces the competitors. Man, Davey Boy Smith looks good carrying that WWC Universal Heavyweight title belt! (Segment rating: 28)

 

Three teams with good to great chemistry, four really solid workers, but this was not a great match. I may sound like a sexist here, but I do like looking at Nattie Neidhart at ringside, though, even if my heart will be dashed if she and TJ Wilson keep carrying on. Syxx gets the pinfall over Altar Boy Luke at 11:20 with an X Marks the Spot. So, X-Factor is guaranteed a shot at America’s Most Wanted and the WSW Tag Team Championship. (Match rating: 57)

 

They’ve gotten away from this for the last few weeks, but James Mitchell and Altar Boy Matthew are upset and blaming the loss on Altar Boy Luke, so Matthew kicks the crap out of Luke. Not sure where they’re going with it, since neither of these guys are over enough to make a huge difference, but here it is. (Segment rating: 25)

 

So, we go backstage where Severn, Big Bubba (I keep starting to type Boss Man), and Steve Corino are hanging out with WCW Hardcore Champion Ken Shamrock. I think this is some basic oreshadowing. And, yep, here come Rhino, Taz, Shane Douglas, and Sabu. They’re brawling. I get the feeling that in the real thing Severn and Shamrock could just clean up everybody and then destroy each other like King Kong and Godzilla. But, right in the middle of everything, there’s a ref and Sabu covers Shamrock. And Sabu is again the WCW Hardcore Champion. (Segment rating: 56)

 

The commentators are hyping a mixed trios match that’s coming up next. Luscious Carejo will team up with the guys from Southern Excellence to take on America’s Most Wanted, which now seems to just be “AMW”. Interesting. (Segment rating: 31)

 

Joel Gertner’s out to make the ring introductions. Man, if WSW/ECW/WCW/GWE ever goes the pure sex appeal route that WWF uses so often, Carejo and Kim will still have a place. (Segment rating: 29)

 

And they…well, Gail Kim…can wrestle, too! AMW looks great in the ring, and so do “Dashing Dennis” and “Magnificent Mark” (and “Rich Ron” Bass is just a barrel of fun at ringside), but, unfortunately, Carejo is more looks than ability. Still, she is the one who gets the pinfall over Gail Kim. Wonder where they’ll go with this. (Match rating: 53)

 

They throw to a video package reviewing the history of the ECW World Heavyweight Championship, and the tournament to set up the match between Rhino (the last champion) and Shane Helms. Segment rating: 48)

 

They’ll get crap for this (since rumor has it that Michael Buffer’s in the house), but Joel Gertner is just the right voice to set up these ring introductions. (Segment rating: 39)

 

Shane Helms and Rhino look great against each other as they fight over the newly-activated title. And Rhino’s attendants (and Taz getting attacked by Dan Severn) cost him the match, as Shane Douglas went to hit Helms, only for Helms to sling Rhino at him. Helms rolls him up for a pinfall at 15:01, and Shane Helms wins the reactivated ECW World Heavyweight Championship. (Match rating: 61)

 

That isn’t the end of the chaos, as Severn is accompanied by Shamrock and Big Bubba. So, Shamrock gets his cover on Sabu for a three-count. And Ken Shamrock is again the WCW Hardcore Champion. (Segment rating: 61)

 

The match between Jazz and Allison Danger gets the video treatment prior to their match for the WSW Women’s Championship. (Segment rating: 23)

 

Sadly, folks are already heading for the bathrooms as Gertner comes out to introduce Jazz and Danger. (Segment rating: 17)

 

Jazz is the class of this division, and she did a great job of making Allison Danger look good, but they’re not taking that title off of Jazz anytime soon, and she got the pinfall in 9:48 after a DDT. And that makes seven title defenses by Jazz. (Match rating: 42)

 

Folks are getting settled back in just as the video hyping Black Reign vs. Diamond Dallas Page starts. (Segment rating: 64)

 

Sure enough, here comes Michael Buffer. His ring intros always make a match feel bigger. (Segment rating: 66)

 

There is no doubt that this was the match of the night. Page is still one of the best in the business, and Dustin Rhodes under paint acting “goth-ish” is just as amazing as ever. The match was good enough, and the crowd was so into it, that it didn’t matter that Black Reign had his feet on the ropes when he pinned Page at 14:57 to make his first official title defense as WSW Heavyweight Champion. (Match rating: 71)

 

And, here it came: new ECW World Heavyweight Champion Shane Helms (who got a great reaction from the crowd) came out to confront Black Reign. The two had their face-off, so it would seem that this is setting up a Wrestlepalooza match in four weeks. (Segment rating: 56)

 

Overall, a terrific show that will no doubt boost the brand’s popularity (and help fill the coffers of GWE). Don’t forget that we’ll be back tomorrow night when The Great American Bash 2002 gets the live feed treatment!

 

(Overall show rating: 67)

 

St.T

[St. Templar]

The Great American Bash 2002 Show Report

Live from Allstate Arena, Rosemont, Illinois, on Sunday, June 9, 2002

Commentators: Jim Ross and Jerry “The King” Lawler

 

 

Ticket Revenue: $364,220

Broadcast/PPV Revenue: $16,689/$9,100,500

Merchandise Revenue: $579,605

Attendance: 18,211 (sell out)

 

 

Timmy Poison back here for totalextremewrestling.com! And welcome to our live feed of The Great American Bash 2002! We’re live tonight from the historic Allstate Arena in Rosemont, Illinois, outside the Windy City of Chicago, and it promises to be an historic night for World Championship Wrestling, the National Wrestling Alliance, and Global Wrestling Entertainment! And, yeah, I know: they’re all the same thing, but I digress, as Taz (or Tazz?) says. This will be the sixteenth iteration of the Great American Bash, and the first time it’s come from the Chicago area. We expect a sellout crowd here tonight, so I hope your cable company or satellite provider is offering to carry it via pay-per-view. The good news, though, is that the pre-show matches are available free of charge on those providers. We’ve got three matches announced for the pre-show, including Davey Boy Smith defending the WWC Universal Heavyweight Championship in a battle royal and the finals of the WCW Television Championship Tournament, along with another eight announced matches on the main card. There, we’ll see a huge interpromotional bout between Booker T and Triple H, a World Tag Team titles match with greater stakes for the futures of the four competitors, a unification match between Randy Savage with the IWA World Heavyweight title and Raven with the NWA World Heavyweight title that will be contested under “Raven’s Rules”, and the main event: a Memphis Steel Cell rematch between the WCW World Heavyweight Champion “Stone Cold” Steve Austin and the “Heartbreak Kid” Shawn Michaels!

 

It's an interesting difference as the company’s WCW brand, as it’s often referred to, and the ECW/WSW brand have very different levels of publicity. But, we’ll see how that pans out when the no-doubt capacity crowd gets in the arena tonight and the show begins!

 

We know that the opening pre-show match will be the final of the WCW Television Championship Tournament, and we’ll be seeing Shane Douglas take on Vampiro for the WCW Television Championship. Vampiro’s a two-time former champion, but Douglas has never held the WCW Television title. And that’s what the commentators talk about as the show opens. (Segment rating: 38)

 

These two guys are hella-good workers, and their supporters are back-and-forth at ringside. You had to know somebody from outside was going to get involved, and it was Rhino who nailed Vampiro so that Douglas could hit the Franchiser and get the pinfall at 10:56 to win the match and the WCW Television Championship. (Match rating: 56)

 

And, next, we get to see Vampiro looking great as his Dark Carnival stable implodes as Chono and Muta go to pick Vampiro up, and he nails both of them and beats them down. He audibly shouts, “We’re done!” before he heads out. (Segment rating: 33)

 

Next up we’re going to be getting The Trailblazers defend the NWA Intercontinental Tag Team Championship against the Windhams and…Too Cool…I mean, Cooler Than You. The words on the screen say “Brian Christopher” and “Scotty Tayles”. Well, that’s definitely interesting, as the crowd picks up on another defection from New York to Atlanta…er, Orlando? (Segment rating: 43)

 

I think Cooler Than You are heels. They went right after Palumbo and O’Haire before fighting the Windhams. And, of course, they do some great character work as they showed some serious arrogance, especially over the babyfaces. But, it was Barry Windham that got pinned by Brian Christopher after a Top Rope Legdrop at 12:25 to give Cooler Than You the NWA Intercontinental Tag Team titles. (Match rating: 68)

 

Davey Boy Smith carried the WWC Universal Heavyweight Championship into a pre-show battle royal. That doesn’t strike me as the best of ideas, but what do I know? He did make it for a while, though, but he gets knocked out as part of the final five. After that, all that was left was Ric Flair, Rob Van Dam, Cactus Jack, and Jeff Hardy. Hardy and Jack went out, thanks to RVD, who had the most eliminations in the match. But…it was Ric Flair who eliminated RVD, and Ric Flair is the new WWC Universal Heavyweight Champion. (Match rating: 73)

 

I do feel like I’m leaving out the fact that Mike Tenay and Greg Valentine make a great team on commentary. They’re great at the storytelling stuff, and their interactions are solid. I could see GWE putting them together on a big TV show or events at some point.

 

And I say all of that just as Good Ol’ J.R. and The King are out to open the show. These guys are the class of the industry, and grabbing them up as Schiavone and Heenan were ready to step aside was a masterstroke by Jerry or Jeff or Eric or whoever was responsible for it. (Segment rating: 74)

 

And they immediately take the time to hype up tonight’s main event with “Stone Cold” Steve Austin defending the WCW World Heavyweight Championship against Shawn Michaels in a Memphis Steel Cage. (Segment rating: 68)

 

“Mean Gene” stumbled around a bit, but Michaels, Nash, Hall, and HHH were great at getting their points across in this interview segment. Solid hype from the Kliq. (Segment rating: 79)

 

And that gets us a video hyping Booker T vs. Triple H. GWE and WWF must have an even better working relationship than rumored, because they got a ton of footage from the Fed. And of course their own stuff with Booker all the way back to the starting days with Stevie Ray really get to you for getting up for this match. (Segment rating: 74)

 

And Sharmell (I usually almost type Paisley when I do this) is out to introduce Booker (who’s got Stevie Ray) and Triple H (who’s got HBK, Hall, Nash, Syxx, and Justin Credible with him). (Segment rating: 61)

 

Now, this is how you start a PPV! Booker T and Triple H are two of the best in the world today, and they really show it off, even though Hunter seemed a bit off tonight. Stevie Ray had his hands full keeping the rest of the Kliq out of the way, but it let Booker hit a Scissors Kick to get the pinfall at 14:36. (Match rating: 83)

 

And Kliq has to get its heat back by beating down Booker and Stevie afterward. (Segment rating: 71)

 

WCW lets the crowd come down just a bit with their hype for their next match: a tag team match pitting Kidman and Konnan against the Steiner Brothers. Not a lot of story to this one, but we’ll see how it goes. (Segment rating: 47)

 

Sharmell is up to introduce the competitors again. No valets for the Steiners (I guess the “Big Papa Pump”/”Where’s my freaks at?” days are over?), but Tygess is with Konnan and Torrie Wilson (who will be in the women’s title match later) is with Kidman. (Segment rating: 41)

 

Not a lot of story to the match, but give me four quality guys any day and let them go. Great back-and-forth, Konnan and the Steiners looked great, but Kidman seemed off his game. Scotty made Konnan tap with a Steiner Recliner at 12:36. (Match rating: 68)

 

Kurt Angle and Perry Saturn are there to get interviewed by Scott Hudson, who did a better job than he usually does. Angle was excellent even though he stumbled a bit, and Saturn looks like he could kill anything he wants with just a look or two. (Segment rating: 63)

 

Another late addition is up next as the commentators talk about AJ Styles defending the WCW World Junior Heavyweight title against Jushin Thunder Liger. (Segment rating: 38)

 

Sharmell is out to introduce Styles and Liger, and Jeff Jarrett is out with Styles. (Segment rating: 34)

 

Jushin Liger is one of the best cruiserweights out there, and his and Styles’ talents were on full display in this one. But, it was Rey Mysterio coming out to attack Jeff Jarrett that distracted Styles and let Liger hit the Brainbuster and gain the pinfall at 11:21 to become the new WCW World Junior Heavyweight Champion. (Match rating: 62)

 

We go backstage, where the NWA guys (along with WCW Hardcore Champion Ken Shamrock) are hanging out in a locker room…cue the inevitable attack. Junior Fatu, Meng, and Rosie are on the case, attacking the NWA guys so that one of them can become… This is the same segment as last nigh-…there’s a back door to the locker room. Give Dan Severn credit for planning ahead, since he’s the one that shoved Shamrock out that door and kept fighting off the Pride of Samoa. That’s…that’s Steve Blackman. Blackman looks great as he beats down Shamrock and covers him. Steve Blackman with a hot debut and he’s the new WCW Hardcore Champion. (Segment rating: 51)

 

A great video segment as we hype the “Raven’s Rules” title unification match between NWA World Heavyweight Champion Raven and IWA World Heavyweight Champion Randy Savage. (Segment rating: 57)

 

Sharmell is out to introduce Raven (who’s got the usual ECW suspects with him) and Randy (who is all by himself). (Segment rating: 49)

 

Great heat for this match as both Raven and Savage put it all out there. Still, the numbers game got to Randy as he got beaten down by Taz before Raven hit him with the Evenflow DDT to get the pinfall at 9:32. I know these matches often go a bit longer, but I’m guessing that keeping Savage looking strong made them make sure to keep it short. Still, Raven is still the NWA World Heavyweight Champion, and the IWA World Heavyweight Championship becomes part of it. (Match rating: 69)

 

I think anybody watching this has to question what Savage’s role might be going forward, but he gets the full-on beatdown treatment by the ECW crew, so I’m guessing he’ll be back sooner rather than later. (Segment rating: 60)

 

“Stone Cold” Steve Austin is in the back, toting the Big Gold Belt as he’s interviewed by “Mean Gene”. He’s magic, and the people know it. (Segment rating: 72)

 

A video hypes the careers of Kevin Nash, Scott Hall, Chris Benoit, and Dean Malenko, one of whom will be retiring tomorrow night. (Segment rating: 68)

 

The Michael Buffer treatment is in effect as he describes the next match and introduces the Outsiders and Defiance. Whichever team wins is the WCW World Tag Team Champions while whichever team loses has a match tomorrow night on Nitro to decide which one retires. (Segment rating: 70)

 

These guys are great together. The Outsiders are unquestionable heels (and Michaels, HHH, Credible, and Syxx at ringside help), and the crowd is so behind Benoit and Malenko. Still, it’s Hall delivering an Outsider’s Edge on Malenko that gives them the victory at 16:29 and means that Benoit and Malenko will wrestle each other tomorrow night on Nitro to determine which will retire. (Match rating: 79)

 

A late announcement said that we’ll see NWA Texas Heavyweight Champion Eddie Guerrero team with Sting and Rey Mysterio to take on Jeff Jarrett and Team USA/Angle in a trios match. (Segment rating: 66)

 

Sharmell is back to introduce the competitors. Chavo comes out with Eddie, and AJ Styles comes out with Jarrett. (Segment rating: 62)

 

This match was a good brawl. Eddie and Rey got in their flying, Angle got to do some technical stuff, Saturn got to show how strong he was, Jarrett got to do some amazing heel work, and Sting got to…well…be Sting. It was clear that the setup here was to further Jarrett vs. Mysterio and Eddie vs. Angle. And this was a fun way to push things forward. And Eddie got a Frog Splash to pin Angle. (Match rating: 80)

 

And that match wasn’t enough, as the group continued to brawl until they were pulled apart. (Segment rating: 63)

 

Here’s one of the almost night/day differences between the ECW/WSW brand and the WCW brand. There were still a few folks that got up to head for concessions or the bathroom as the video started up, but a lot of fans stayed right there, ready for the world women’s title match between Joanie “Chyna” Wonder, Amy “Lita” Dumas, Mickie “Alexis Laree” James, and Torrie “She’s Super Hot” Wilson. Wonder and Dumas got the bulk of the pops, but there were a good number of fans for both Mickie and Torrie, too. (Segment rating: 53)

 

Sharmell introduces the competitors. (Segment rating: 48)

 

I don’t know if people expected this match to be this good, but these four can go. If you never paid attention to Mickie James in her days as Alexis Laree in WSW (as the first WSW Women’s Champion, no less), you might be surprised to find out how good she is in the ring. She also does some wonderful character work, straddling the line here between the over-the-top babyfaces that are Dumas and Wilson and the bad-ass bitch heel that is Joanie Wonder. And she featured in most of the spots, so it ended up being not a huge surprise when she hit a Mickie-DT on Torrie Wilson to get the pinfall at 12:22 while Wonder and Dumas brawled outside the ring. And that’s how Mickie James became the WCW World Women’s Champion. Raven (who looked awesome with both the NWA and IWA World title belts), Kidman, and Matt Hardy teased a big brawl during the match, which made it just a little more fun. (Match rating: 65)

 

Now, we’re on to the biggest part of the show. A masterful video about Austin and Michaels and their feud, highlighting their match last month at Slamboree, where Austin won by DQ after he was attacked by the Outsiders. (Segment rating: 83)

 

Michael Buffer sent chills down everyone’s spines as he came out to make the introductions. Just listening to him will get you shivering with antici………..pation. (Segment rating: 72)

 

Oh…my…sweet and gentle…Jesus! Brutality, action, technical stuff, this match had it all, including two guys getting busted open. They used every ounce of that cell to their advantage. Michaels kicked out of the first Stunner, Austin kicked out of a Sweet Chin Music, Michaels worked his way out of a Million Dollar Dream, Austin fought out of a Sharpshooter. Nash, Hall, HHH, Syxx, and Credible worked their asses off trying to get into the cage without success, thanks to the arrival of Arn Anderson, Dusty Rhodes, and a raft of security guards. At 26:09, Austin got the pinfall after another Stone Cold Stunner to retain the WCW World Heavyweight Championship. (Match rating: 93)

 

I don’t know how you follow that, but Austin follows it with beers and celebration. (Segment rating: 81)

 

I think that show will go down as a complete success. And we’ve still got Nitro tomorrow night, which will give us two reports since they’re taking ECW/WSW on the road, too. After the live broadcast of Nitro tomorrow night, they’ll record Shockwave, but it will still be shown on Wednesday night on Sci-Fi and elsewhere.

 

(Show rating: 86)

 

St.T