Derek B Posted September 16, 2006 Share Posted September 16, 2006 [size=7][b][u][center]In the Beginning.....[/u][/b][/center][/size] Ten years ago, in 1996, I was a 14 year old computer nerd with an e-wrestling addiction and more spots than your typical indy wrestling match. Like most wrestling fans at the time, I regularly tuned into SWF programming to see what my heroes were doing. Men like [b]Bruce the Giant[/b], [b]Christian Faith[/b] and [b]Sean McFly[/b] now ruled the summit of American wrestling and the legends of [b]Rip Chord[/b] and [b]Sam Strong[/b] were slowly fading as the two men took some time out from wrestling for their own personal reasons. A throwaway conversation with my best friend of the time led to us talking about what SWF could do better, who they should be pushing and what guys from the indy wrestling scene could one day become big stars. Names were thrown out by both of us as the likes of SWF's [b]Tommy Cornell[/b] was pitted in indy dream matches against indy talents like [b]Vengeance[/b], [b]Ricky Dale[/b] and veterans like [b]Sam Keith[/b], [b]Sam Strong[/b] and [b]Rip Chord[/b]. You know how it is, the kind of fantasy talk that is fun to have between bouts of talking about the girls in class and the local school gossip. Only.... The school gossip at the moment concerned my friend, almost exclusively. Sure, the conversations about who Fiona had started dating and the fight that happened outside the school grounds between a couple of seniors were still circulating but popular rumour was going around that my friend, the computer whizzkid, had made millions writing a piece of software to reply to emails. They were wrong. [center][b].... it was [i]BILLIONS[/i].... [/b][/center] Billions of dollars and he could spend it on whatever he wanted. Suddenly we were the most popular guys in school and the rumours of some of the things JK was spending the money on were spiralling out of control in no time. I heard he'd bought everything from a leer jet and a mansion all the way up to a space station and a small country. And while the first two turned out to be completely true (and awesomely fun too) the last two were sadly false, unless of course he simply never told me. All I know is that I've not had my passport stamped to get in and out of Stallings Land yet. But most importantly, it wasn't what he bought that made this important. It was what he invested in. I'm not talking about stocks, shares and investment bonds although I don't doubt that millions of dollars have been diverted into those too. I'm talking about the topic of many of our conversations sat in front of the TV on a Tuesday night. I'm talking about all the times we watched the SWF and said we could do better ourselves. In case you haven't worked it out yet, my friend is [b]JK Stallings[/b], the founder of the legendary [b]Hollyweird Grappling Company[/b]. [center][IMG]http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c33/DerekB83/WDW%20Diary/JKStalkingsJr.jpg[/IMG][/center] [size=7][b][u][center]10 years later...[/b][/u][/center][/size] Its 2006, I'm a 24 year old wrestling addict with a wrestling website hosted on one of the fastest servers JK Stallings owns. The spots have cleared up, except on the indy scene where the new generation of wrestlers are learning what wrestling is really about. The HGC is dead, at least the name anyways, having passed on when JK sold the company on to [b]Tommy cornell[/b] who wasted no time at all in renaming it, something he'd been pushing for years. Sitting in a seat designed to shape itself ridiculously comfortably around me, tapping the keys of my ridiculously expensive computer in my ridiculously large house in New England, I can only begin to wonder what my fellow internet columnists must feel like. I know I've been spoiled for a long time now, living the high life I never earned thanks to my friendship with JK. I've never had a real job, something I would define as being something I didn't really want to do for some kind of wage. I coasted through university in style, graduating with honours from a degree course of little real value. But I certainly had a lot of spare time to travel around and follow one of my lifelong interests. Professional wrestling. Years ago now, when I was still a youngster, JK and myself talked regularly about the HGC. In fact, it was me who came up with the idea for [b]Painful Procedure[/b] as I was a big fan of rock music and thought it would be an awesome idea. Jack Bruce, you owe me big time. Hell, there were lots of ideas of mine that JK passed on to Sam Strong and Rip Chord, the men who were officially given the book for most of the last ten years. The vision that JK and myself had for HGC, a place where the legends of today and the stars of tomorrow could battle to be the best never seemed to be fulfilled. There were problems..... lots of problems. First of all, there were the obvious ones. Who the hell is gonna listen to two pimply teenagers in a booking meeting, least of all the legends and veterans of the sport who all know what they're talking about and are more than capable of putting their viewpoints across? Having travelled around a lot and seen a lot of the future stars of wrestling, JK and myself knew that many smaller wrestlers were seen as the most exciting potential stars around. Some people agreed with us.... when we were still in control of HGC, we set up the Cruiserweight division, a place for smaller stars to showcase themselves before (hopefully) moving up into the big time. Chord and Strong had other ideas and they weren't afraid to put them forward. Our original vision of having a star studded cruiserweight division floundered, largely thanks to creative differences. JK and myself believed the division needed more time to flourish with a couple of matches on the show every week. Chord and Strong said that we needed to concentrate on luring in the fans with big names and regular matches featuring heavyweight stars (usually themselves). And since they were highly successful, ensuring that HGC quickly secured themselves as the second biggest promotion in North America, perhaps even the world. You can't argue with success, even if it isn't exactly what you thought it would be. Obviously, we weren't prepared for the backstage politics of wrestling. Having picked up an old wrestling sim (I think it was called EWD) we thought it was going to be easy. Sign the best talents, put on the biggest matches, become the best. Turns out that the biggest talents tend to have the biggest ego's and that the bigger they are physically, the more the casual fans tend to cheer for them.... for the first time ever, I suspected that Richard Eisen may not be as bad a booker as I had always made him out to be whenever JK and myself talked. Sometimes, size really does matter and its not always what you do with it that counts. [i]*sigh*[/i] With Chord and Strong sitting atop the HGC for years, they put over the men they wanted to put over while constantly making excuses for passing over the top stars in our Cruiserweight division. The number of times I heard "He's not ready for a big push" or "the fans just aren't buying into him" almost drove me nuts by time 2001 rolled on. I told JK that we were being ignored and that he needed to do something about the Strong/Chord situations if we wanted to get any sort of creative control back... but JK didn't listen to me. In fact, he did the exact opposite of what I would've done and he listened to Sam Strong who used his silver tongue to once again get what he wanted. When [b]Peter Valentine[/b] made his debut, I told JK that I was finished with HGC forever and gave up on the company. Sure, men like Tommy Cornell, Liberty and Ricky Dale had been able to break through to the main event, but guys like Jack Bruce and the entire Cruiserweight division were left to flounder at times.... Peter Valentine was the final straw. He [b]STILL[/b] sucks after years of working with great wrestlers. He [b]NEVER[/b] learns! Anyways, enough of this rant now. I didn't leave the wrestling industry, as you've already read. I became a writer and regular columnist, attending shows across the world and occassionally unearthing a new star for HGC as I went around. Sadly, none of these men ever got a push, perhaps because the booking team heard that it was me who had found them or perhaps because the genuinely weren't that good. I remained good friends with JK, but he became distant from the promotion, merely signing paychecks and perhaps not even watching HGC itself. Tommy Cornell must have been working his microphone magic on JK by now, although whether he was working with Strong to try and take over the promotion, I will never know. All I know is that early in 2005, I got a call from JK Stallings who told me that he had sold HGC to Tommy Cornell (for a reasonable price) and that he was coming to see me next week and if I was free, we could catch an indy show together. While sitting in some cheap seats, just for old times sake of course, the HGC that I had known died forever as it was rebranded as [b]Total Championship Wrestling[/b]. It made me sad to know that, but at least the name sounds better. Hollyweird Grappling Company? What had we been thinking? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sebsplex Posted September 16, 2006 Share Posted September 16, 2006 Ah, a man after my very own heart in showing appreciation for the character known as JK Stallings Jr. I liked how you worked in the floundering cruiserweight division and gave some reasoning for it, since there are a few characters in the C-Verse who were originally dropped by TCW that were central to said division and it just ties in well. Nice strong backstory for a first post. I'll be keeping an eye on this one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sebsplex Posted September 16, 2006 Share Posted September 16, 2006 Ah, a man after my very own heart in showing appreciation for the character known as JK Stallings Jr. I liked how you worked in the floundering cruiserweight division and gave some reasoning for it, since there are a few characters in the C-Verse who were originally dropped by TCW that were central to said division and it just ties in well. Nice strong backstory for a first post. I'll be keeping an eye on this one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek B Posted September 16, 2006 Author Share Posted September 16, 2006 [size=6][b][u][center]2005 - Year of the Global Dragon[/center][/b][/u][/size] The rest of 2005 was a lot of fun, it has to be said. With neither JK or myself tied down to a real job we spent most of it having a lot of fun. Even with the HGC experience still fresh in JK's mind he was as passionate about wrestling as ever which was brilliant because I was determined to maintain my wrestling website as the #1 source for wrestling news. As JK and myself travelled around the world in the style he'd become accustomed to, we attended wrestling shows on all the major continents and for every major promotion on the planet, watching tapes on the plane as we went. I still remember when the pilot, a bald black man with an awesome voice and killer sense of humour yelling something along the lines of "I've had it up to here with these tapes on this plane!" when one of them was left on his pilot's seat. Of course, thats not exactly what he said, but you get the idea. During these nine months, JK and myself must have attended almost one hundred shows and about four times as many bars too. I have to admit, I didn't drink nearly as much as JK did and instead used the time we had with some of the guys in the locker-rooms to talk to them and learn as much as possible about the wrestling industry. I have to admit, now that my plan has come to fruition, that it was in July that I realised what I could do with some careful planning, some useful words in the right places and the right contacts. While I was mostly just enjoying myself following the sport I loved, I was also networking myself for my new dream. Afterall, I'm not 14 any more, I'm more than capable of looking after myself. During my travels JK and myself talked about how I'd started delegating more work to some other members of my staff, allowing them to report on various things that I would usually deal with. Unknown to him, I wasn't really delegating much work at all, in fact I'd probably taken on more but was now doing it late at night when JK was asleep and still drunk. I started writing under a new name for some events but I also used my own cash reserves to buy out a rival internet wrestling site, using it to spread the rumours I didn't want to be spreading on my own. Basically it was the same news, but not kept on any Stallings servers, largely spreading rumours that JK Stallings was attending a lot of wrestling shows as a precursor to him setting up his own new promotion, a rival to the SWF and to TCW. Obviously these "rumours" got back to me and I reported what I'd read to JK who seemed to laugh it off, especially every time he was linked with a new random talent at an event we'd just been at. It didn't take long for other news-sites to catch up with the gossip and soon enough JK was being talked about every day about an idea that was seemingly growing on him all the time. And of course, the more people heard about this billionaire possibly investing more money back into wrestling, the more guys were willing to talk to me about a possible job at the company that JK was supposedly setting up. It was a lot of fun wielding that kind of power, but I knew what I was doing. Reading Richard Eisen's autobiography "How to Lose Friends and Influence People" had provided me with several very useful tricks and merely observing the ongoing war between SWF and TCW supplied me even more ammunition for my mental arsenal. Of course, we couldn't go everywhere we wanted. The backstage areas in the major global promotions are heavily protected, none moreso than in the SWF, TCW, BHOTWG and PGHW. My first major breakthrough came with [b]Lee Wright[/b] in PGHW. We were talking in a bar late one night when he said he was looking to leave Japan and move back home to the stats to see more of his family. It would be a while before his contract with PGHW would expire but he said he'd help me do what I couldn't do now. He'd scout the Japanese dojos for talent in return for a job with JK Stallings new promotion when it opened. Feeling somewhat too confident in my own talent for rumour-mongering and manipulation, I promised Lee a job if he could unearth some talent for me and get them to sign. We shook hands and went our seperate ways, both wearing big smiles. A couple of weeks later at a small indy show I spied a youngster making his debut. I don't even remember the name of the kid but it was definitely in a US promotionm, that much I do know. After an impressive debut that managed to get the crowd chanting his name early on, I approached the kid backstage. He was younger than myself by about 6 years and it turned out that this was indeed his first real match, not that you could tell. He had the look, he had a character that the crowd seemed to get into and he was solid in the ring. With a bit of polish, he could be a star. Perhaps it was the megalomania talking again, but I promised this rookie a contract the moment JK opened the new promotion. [b]Justin Sensitive[/b], lets hope you are a star. December rolled on and I have to admit, I was starting to wonder whether the rumours had been making JK think. Something about the way he looked at the shows we watched had changed, it was more than just enjoyment now, he seemed to be really watching them, almost taking mental notes and comparing them to something. November had been a difficult month for me as both TCW and SWF renewed a lot of contracts, locking up a lot of people I had been trying to get in contact with. However, they hadn't re-signed everyone as I discovered while in attendance at SWF Christmas Clash. Having just done the job to Steve Frehley, I was approached after the show by [b]Black Hat Bailey[/b] in the VIP area and he said that his contract was running out soon. Bailey said that [b]Freddie Datsun[/b] (who had lost to Remo that night) was in a similar situation too, with Richard Eisen seemingly losing even more interest in the technical wrestling provided by these two men. Without actually committing himself to anything Bailey left with my number and hopefully gave it to Freddie Datsun. I wonder how Richard Eisen would feel if he knew I was trying to sign some workers out from under his nose? Maybe he'd be proud that I'm using his own tactics against him..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek B Posted September 16, 2006 Author Share Posted September 16, 2006 [size=6][b][u][center]2005 - Year of the Global Dragon[/center][/b][/u][/size] The rest of 2005 was a lot of fun, it has to be said. With neither JK or myself tied down to a real job we spent most of it having a lot of fun. Even with the HGC experience still fresh in JK's mind he was as passionate about wrestling as ever which was brilliant because I was determined to maintain my wrestling website as the #1 source for wrestling news. As JK and myself travelled around the world in the style he'd become accustomed to, we attended wrestling shows on all the major continents and for every major promotion on the planet, watching tapes on the plane as we went. I still remember when the pilot, a bald black man with an awesome voice and killer sense of humour yelling something along the lines of "I've had it up to here with these tapes on this plane!" when one of them was left on his pilot's seat. Of course, thats not exactly what he said, but you get the idea. During these nine months, JK and myself must have attended almost one hundred shows and about four times as many bars too. I have to admit, I didn't drink nearly as much as JK did and instead used the time we had with some of the guys in the locker-rooms to talk to them and learn as much as possible about the wrestling industry. I have to admit, now that my plan has come to fruition, that it was in July that I realised what I could do with some careful planning, some useful words in the right places and the right contacts. While I was mostly just enjoying myself following the sport I loved, I was also networking myself for my new dream. Afterall, I'm not 14 any more, I'm more than capable of looking after myself. During my travels JK and myself talked about how I'd started delegating more work to some other members of my staff, allowing them to report on various things that I would usually deal with. Unknown to him, I wasn't really delegating much work at all, in fact I'd probably taken on more but was now doing it late at night when JK was asleep and still drunk. I started writing under a new name for some events but I also used my own cash reserves to buy out a rival internet wrestling site, using it to spread the rumours I didn't want to be spreading on my own. Basically it was the same news, but not kept on any Stallings servers, largely spreading rumours that JK Stallings was attending a lot of wrestling shows as a precursor to him setting up his own new promotion, a rival to the SWF and to TCW. Obviously these "rumours" got back to me and I reported what I'd read to JK who seemed to laugh it off, especially every time he was linked with a new random talent at an event we'd just been at. It didn't take long for other news-sites to catch up with the gossip and soon enough JK was being talked about every day about an idea that was seemingly growing on him all the time. And of course, the more people heard about this billionaire possibly investing more money back into wrestling, the more guys were willing to talk to me about a possible job at the company that JK was supposedly setting up. It was a lot of fun wielding that kind of power, but I knew what I was doing. Reading Richard Eisen's autobiography "How to Lose Friends and Influence People" had provided me with several very useful tricks and merely observing the ongoing war between SWF and TCW supplied me even more ammunition for my mental arsenal. Of course, we couldn't go everywhere we wanted. The backstage areas in the major global promotions are heavily protected, none moreso than in the SWF, TCW, BHOTWG and PGHW. My first major breakthrough came with [b]Lee Wright[/b] in PGHW. We were talking in a bar late one night when he said he was looking to leave Japan and move back home to the stats to see more of his family. It would be a while before his contract with PGHW would expire but he said he'd help me do what I couldn't do now. He'd scout the Japanese dojos for talent in return for a job with JK Stallings new promotion when it opened. Feeling somewhat too confident in my own talent for rumour-mongering and manipulation, I promised Lee a job if he could unearth some talent for me and get them to sign. We shook hands and went our seperate ways, both wearing big smiles. A couple of weeks later at a small indy show I spied a youngster making his debut. I don't even remember the name of the kid but it was definitely in a US promotionm, that much I do know. After an impressive debut that managed to get the crowd chanting his name early on, I approached the kid backstage. He was younger than myself by about 6 years and it turned out that this was indeed his first real match, not that you could tell. He had the look, he had a character that the crowd seemed to get into and he was solid in the ring. With a bit of polish, he could be a star. Perhaps it was the megalomania talking again, but I promised this rookie a contract the moment JK opened the new promotion. [b]Justin Sensitive[/b], lets hope you are a star. December rolled on and I have to admit, I was starting to wonder whether the rumours had been making JK think. Something about the way he looked at the shows we watched had changed, it was more than just enjoyment now, he seemed to be really watching them, almost taking mental notes and comparing them to something. November had been a difficult month for me as both TCW and SWF renewed a lot of contracts, locking up a lot of people I had been trying to get in contact with. However, they hadn't re-signed everyone as I discovered while in attendance at SWF Christmas Clash. Having just done the job to Steve Frehley, I was approached after the show by [b]Black Hat Bailey[/b] in the VIP area and he said that his contract was running out soon. Bailey said that [b]Freddie Datsun[/b] (who had lost to Remo that night) was in a similar situation too, with Richard Eisen seemingly losing even more interest in the technical wrestling provided by these two men. Without actually committing himself to anything Bailey left with my number and hopefully gave it to Freddie Datsun. I wonder how Richard Eisen would feel if he knew I was trying to sign some workers out from under his nose? Maybe he'd be proud that I'm using his own tactics against him..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek B Posted September 16, 2006 Author Share Posted September 16, 2006 [b][u][center][size=6] A Year Ends, An Era Begins [/b][/u][/center][/size] The silence that had come from my phone had filled my head with more thoughts than any phone call possibly could. The last event before JK and myself decided to stay in the US had been the PGHW branch of the Japanese Wrestle Peace Festival, the event that celebrates the career of the legendary [b]Master Kitozon[/b] and the one show where every promotion in Japan pulls out all the stops. Regardless of style, regardless of rivalry, this event brings out the best in everyone. But sadly, I couldn't enjoy it. I kept wanting to speak to Lee Wright but the opportunity never presented itself. Knowing full well that his contract with PGHW ran out immediately after this event, I'd hoped to see if he had found any promising talents or even convinced a star to jump ship. Hell, at that point I would just have been glad to hear that he would still be on board as our previous conversation had taken place months earlier. To make things worse, JK had been avoiding the bars after nights and had been disappearing off on his own at some of the shows too. I was starting to wonder whether he was up to something himself. The rumour mill on the internet was now fuelling itself without any help from me, although I was still writing some columns. I kept JK up to date on some of the info he may not have heard, including a few surprisingly accurate stories about myself that I had honestly never expected to see. It seems that someone out there is smarter than I gave them credit for. The last Tuesday of December marked an important day for the SWF as TCW were leading into their own big PPV. Whether it was just a ploy to try and distract attention from their rivals or as a major way of bringing in some new blood, the SWF debuted 9 workers in one night, all from their personal training camp and almost all with the kind of potential that would make most promoters go weak at the knees. It was 4 days later on the Saturday that I received a phonecall from [b]Freddie Datsun[/b] and [b]Black hat Bailey[/b]. They each said that they would happily sign with any promotion backed by JK Stallings but that their contracts expire shortly and they would not be happy if they were unemployed. Whether I liked it or not, whether they meant to or not, my hand was being forced. I told them that I'd speak with JK tomorrow night and that I'd call them back after the meeting. It seems that the time had come at last.... [b][u][center][size=5] TCW Psycho Circus 2005 [/b][/u][/center][/size] In our own private box, JK and myself watched another show dominated by TCW's heavyweight roster. Of course, I do like some of them, thats not a problem but [b]Tommy Cornell[/b] seems to be taking TCW in a more old school direction, eschewing the modern workers who can excite a crowd with one move in favour of the big men who can't excite the crowd with any moves. Of course, cornell himself is still a wrestling god and there are a few top class workers on there too. I found myself wishing I could try and steal Troy Tornado and Wolf Hawkins but I know that would probably never happen. Besides, its not like I've got a promotion to steal them to yet. Its the main event and Cornell is brawling through the crowd with [b]Genghis Rahn[/b] but my mind is elsewhere. JK hasn't said much but is marking out big time for the match. Slowly plucking up the courage, without even the aid of a few drinks, I try to bring JK towards the subject as Cornell gets his hand raised in victory following a Guilt Trip. [COLOR="Red"]"Hey, JK. Do you ever miss the HGC. You know, being in charge and all that?"[/COLOR] [COLOR="SeaGreen"]"Sometimes, but its probably better as it is now. I can enjoy the shows without worrying about who's backstabbing who."[/COLOR] There was something in the way he said it that made my stomach churn. For the first time in ages I wondered if he knew what I had been planning, what I'd been trying to subtly manipulate him into doing for the last six months. Sudden thoughts of failure burned blazing trails across my mind and I suddenly found myself thinking about trying to get a job with a small company somewhere, if they'd take me. Afterall, I'd been networking a lot of people, I must have at least a little influence by now. [COLOR="SeaGreen"]"I know what you've been doing. I know what you've been planning, I know you've been trying to make me do for the last few months."[/COLOR] [COLOR="Red"]"JK, buddy. What are you...?[/COLOR] [COLOR="SeaGreen"]"All the rumours you've been writing, making everyone think that I'm going to back another promotion, trying to put the idea in my head without putting it there yourself.[/COLOR] I hadn't been expecting this..... [COLOR="SeaGreen"]I know you've been behind it, even going far enough to buy your own competition to spread the rumours. Attending events with me to give the illusion that I'm seriously thinking about it too, talking to people about signing them up when [i]I've[/i] finally made my decision. I don't like what you've been doing."[/COLOR] I saw him press a button, he looked oddly serene, happier than I would've expected him to be considering he was telling me all about my own betrayal of him. The door opened behind me, presumably security were going to escort me quietly out of his private box. [COLOR="SeaGreen"]"I [b]love[/b] it!"[/COLOR] [COLOR="Red"]"What?!"[/COLOR] [COLOR="SeaGreen"]Here are the first members of your roster, I'm sure you'll recognise them. [b]Brent Hill[/b], [b]Human Arsenal[/b], [b]Rick Sanders[/b] and [b]Professor Nero[/b]. [/COLOR] The men who had walked into the room behind me were among some of JK's favourite ever wrestlers at some point. I may not have been a huge fan of Sanders but we they were undoubtedly a tremendous group of wrestlers to start with. JK smiled at me while the assorted stars smiled or, in Nero's case, scowled at me. I was almost numb with disbelief. [COLOR="Red"]What? How did you know? [/COLOR] [COLOR="SeaGreen"]I've known for a while, I'm a computer whizzkid with billions of dollars at my disposal remember. Not that I needed them, I just saw your computer when you were in the shower one day. I thought it'd be a fun game to play with you. Anyways, who else have you got signed up? I assume you've been trying to get some big more big names for the promotion.[/COLOR] [COLOR="Red"]"Um..... yeah, actually. I've got Black Hat Bailey and Freddie Datsun. [COLOR="SeaGreen"]You've stolen guys from Eisen?[/COLOR] [COLOR="Red"][/COLOR]Well, their contracts were expiring anyways, but you could say I've stolen them. Oh, and Lee Wright is coming home from Japan and might be bringing some talents with him. Oh... and Justin Sensitive."[/COLOR] [COLOR="SeaGreen"]"The kid we saw at one of the indy shows?"[/COLOR] [COLOR="Red"]"Yeah. I'm sure there will be lots more who want to join too."[/COLOR] [COLOR="SeaGreen"]"Thats true, seems everyone wants to join me. I think they're probably just after me for my money."[/COLOR] [COLOR="Red"]"Wait, so you're [i]actually[/i] going to start up a new promotion? And you really have been thinking about it for a while?[/COLOR] [COLOR="SeaGreen"]"Yup. And I want you to be the booker too.[/COLOR] [COLOR="Red"]"What? But I lied to you, manipulated you, tried to influence you and.... "[/COLOR] [COLOR="SeaGreen"]"Sounds like you'd be a great booker to me. You've already proved to me that you're more than good enough to book a promotion, our millions of discussions about it prove that. And you've managed to sign up some big names, stealing them right from under Eisen's nose. And you've got as mych knowledge of wrestling as anyone I know. Plus, you've proved you can be as cunning and devious as anyone needs to be. Can't imagine having anyone better as my head booker.[/COLOR] I don't know how long I sat there without saying anything but it felt like a lifetime. Everything he'd just said was like some kind of delicious dream and now I was being given the chance to do what I had always wanted to do, even since before I knew what it was. I didn't want to question it in case he changed his mind, I didn't want to pinch myself in case it really was just a dream, I didn't even want to blink in case it all went away. Hesitantly, I asked a question I had often asked, expecting the answer I always heard. [COLOR="Red"]"So... what are we going to do tonight, Brain?[/COLOR] [COLOR="SeaGreen"]"The same thing we do every night, Pinky. Try to take over the world.... [b]OF WRESTLING![/b][/COLOR] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek B Posted September 16, 2006 Author Share Posted September 16, 2006 [b][u][center][size=6] A Year Ends, An Era Begins [/b][/u][/center][/size] The silence that had come from my phone had filled my head with more thoughts than any phone call possibly could. The last event before JK and myself decided to stay in the US had been the PGHW branch of the Japanese Wrestle Peace Festival, the event that celebrates the career of the legendary [b]Master Kitozon[/b] and the one show where every promotion in Japan pulls out all the stops. Regardless of style, regardless of rivalry, this event brings out the best in everyone. But sadly, I couldn't enjoy it. I kept wanting to speak to Lee Wright but the opportunity never presented itself. Knowing full well that his contract with PGHW ran out immediately after this event, I'd hoped to see if he had found any promising talents or even convinced a star to jump ship. Hell, at that point I would just have been glad to hear that he would still be on board as our previous conversation had taken place months earlier. To make things worse, JK had been avoiding the bars after nights and had been disappearing off on his own at some of the shows too. I was starting to wonder whether he was up to something himself. The rumour mill on the internet was now fuelling itself without any help from me, although I was still writing some columns. I kept JK up to date on some of the info he may not have heard, including a few surprisingly accurate stories about myself that I had honestly never expected to see. It seems that someone out there is smarter than I gave them credit for. The last Tuesday of December marked an important day for the SWF as TCW were leading into their own big PPV. Whether it was just a ploy to try and distract attention from their rivals or as a major way of bringing in some new blood, the SWF debuted 9 workers in one night, all from their personal training camp and almost all with the kind of potential that would make most promoters go weak at the knees. It was 4 days later on the Saturday that I received a phonecall from [b]Freddie Datsun[/b] and [b]Black hat Bailey[/b]. They each said that they would happily sign with any promotion backed by JK Stallings but that their contracts expire shortly and they would not be happy if they were unemployed. Whether I liked it or not, whether they meant to or not, my hand was being forced. I told them that I'd speak with JK tomorrow night and that I'd call them back after the meeting. It seems that the time had come at last.... [b][u][center][size=5] TCW Psycho Circus 2005 [/b][/u][/center][/size] In our own private box, JK and myself watched another show dominated by TCW's heavyweight roster. Of course, I do like some of them, thats not a problem but [b]Tommy Cornell[/b] seems to be taking TCW in a more old school direction, eschewing the modern workers who can excite a crowd with one move in favour of the big men who can't excite the crowd with any moves. Of course, cornell himself is still a wrestling god and there are a few top class workers on there too. I found myself wishing I could try and steal Troy Tornado and Wolf Hawkins but I know that would probably never happen. Besides, its not like I've got a promotion to steal them to yet. Its the main event and Cornell is brawling through the crowd with [b]Genghis Rahn[/b] but my mind is elsewhere. JK hasn't said much but is marking out big time for the match. Slowly plucking up the courage, without even the aid of a few drinks, I try to bring JK towards the subject as Cornell gets his hand raised in victory following a Guilt Trip. [COLOR="Red"]"Hey, JK. Do you ever miss the HGC. You know, being in charge and all that?"[/COLOR] [COLOR="SeaGreen"]"Sometimes, but its probably better as it is now. I can enjoy the shows without worrying about who's backstabbing who."[/COLOR] There was something in the way he said it that made my stomach churn. For the first time in ages I wondered if he knew what I had been planning, what I'd been trying to subtly manipulate him into doing for the last six months. Sudden thoughts of failure burned blazing trails across my mind and I suddenly found myself thinking about trying to get a job with a small company somewhere, if they'd take me. Afterall, I'd been networking a lot of people, I must have at least a little influence by now. [COLOR="SeaGreen"]"I know what you've been doing. I know what you've been planning, I know you've been trying to make me do for the last few months."[/COLOR] [COLOR="Red"]"JK, buddy. What are you...?[/COLOR] [COLOR="SeaGreen"]"All the rumours you've been writing, making everyone think that I'm going to back another promotion, trying to put the idea in my head without putting it there yourself.[/COLOR] I hadn't been expecting this..... [COLOR="SeaGreen"]I know you've been behind it, even going far enough to buy your own competition to spread the rumours. Attending events with me to give the illusion that I'm seriously thinking about it too, talking to people about signing them up when [i]I've[/i] finally made my decision. I don't like what you've been doing."[/COLOR] I saw him press a button, he looked oddly serene, happier than I would've expected him to be considering he was telling me all about my own betrayal of him. The door opened behind me, presumably security were going to escort me quietly out of his private box. [COLOR="SeaGreen"]"I [b]love[/b] it!"[/COLOR] [COLOR="Red"]"What?!"[/COLOR] [COLOR="SeaGreen"]Here are the first members of your roster, I'm sure you'll recognise them. [b]Brent Hill[/b], [b]Human Arsenal[/b], [b]Rick Sanders[/b] and [b]Professor Nero[/b]. [/COLOR] The men who had walked into the room behind me were among some of JK's favourite ever wrestlers at some point. I may not have been a huge fan of Sanders but we they were undoubtedly a tremendous group of wrestlers to start with. JK smiled at me while the assorted stars smiled or, in Nero's case, scowled at me. I was almost numb with disbelief. [COLOR="Red"]What? How did you know? [/COLOR] [COLOR="SeaGreen"]I've known for a while, I'm a computer whizzkid with billions of dollars at my disposal remember. Not that I needed them, I just saw your computer when you were in the shower one day. I thought it'd be a fun game to play with you. Anyways, who else have you got signed up? I assume you've been trying to get some big more big names for the promotion.[/COLOR] [COLOR="Red"]"Um..... yeah, actually. I've got Black Hat Bailey and Freddie Datsun. [COLOR="SeaGreen"]You've stolen guys from Eisen?[/COLOR] [COLOR="Red"][/COLOR]Well, their contracts were expiring anyways, but you could say I've stolen them. Oh, and Lee Wright is coming home from Japan and might be bringing some talents with him. Oh... and Justin Sensitive."[/COLOR] [COLOR="SeaGreen"]"The kid we saw at one of the indy shows?"[/COLOR] [COLOR="Red"]"Yeah. I'm sure there will be lots more who want to join too."[/COLOR] [COLOR="SeaGreen"]"Thats true, seems everyone wants to join me. I think they're probably just after me for my money."[/COLOR] [COLOR="Red"]"Wait, so you're [i]actually[/i] going to start up a new promotion? And you really have been thinking about it for a while?[/COLOR] [COLOR="SeaGreen"]"Yup. And I want you to be the booker too.[/COLOR] [COLOR="Red"]"What? But I lied to you, manipulated you, tried to influence you and.... "[/COLOR] [COLOR="SeaGreen"]"Sounds like you'd be a great booker to me. You've already proved to me that you're more than good enough to book a promotion, our millions of discussions about it prove that. And you've managed to sign up some big names, stealing them right from under Eisen's nose. And you've got as mych knowledge of wrestling as anyone I know. Plus, you've proved you can be as cunning and devious as anyone needs to be. Can't imagine having anyone better as my head booker.[/COLOR] I don't know how long I sat there without saying anything but it felt like a lifetime. Everything he'd just said was like some kind of delicious dream and now I was being given the chance to do what I had always wanted to do, even since before I knew what it was. I didn't want to question it in case he changed his mind, I didn't want to pinch myself in case it really was just a dream, I didn't even want to blink in case it all went away. Hesitantly, I asked a question I had often asked, expecting the answer I always heard. [COLOR="Red"]"So... what are we going to do tonight, Brain?[/COLOR] [COLOR="SeaGreen"]"The same thing we do every night, Pinky. Try to take over the world.... [b]OF WRESTLING![/b][/COLOR] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek B Posted September 16, 2006 Author Share Posted September 16, 2006 [b][u][center][size=5] World Domination Wrestling [/b][/u][/size][/center] The next few days were perhaps the busiest of my life. The first thing I done was to make sure my website was being dealt with. No point in letting the most read wrestling website in the world disappear just because I had a new job. Having handed over the reigns to Dave, a hard working guy who probably should've been getting paid more many years ago, I resolved to take up the full straing of the job I'd worked my way into. I called [b]Black Hat Bailey[/b] and [b]Freddie Datsun[/b], confirming that we wanted them and then sorting out the terms of their contracts a few days later when they came to our hastily furnished office building in the Great Lakes, a building that JK had picked up a month ago "just in case" something like this came up. I'm starting to wonder how many steps ahead of me he really is. [b]Lee Wright[/b] pulled through amazingly for us, not only signing his own contract but persuading [b]William Hayes[/b] to sign a verbal deal and then managing to lock a man I'd vaguely heard of into a long term deal, stealing him from right under BHOTWG's noses. Combine his year of training alongside BHOWTG's best with his silver medal from the 2004 Olympics, [b]Li Bingci[/b] is simply sensational in the ring. He's not quite made the switch from amateur wrestling to pro yet, but as he gets more pro experience under his belt and improves his English, I can't see anything that could stop him from becoming a star. With a large pool of resources at my fingertips, I drew up a shortlist of who I wanted to sign to my roster. Knowing full well that it would be March before we got a TV deal and that it was January now, I had to get us on TV somehow too. I contacted some of my favourite talents and realised almost immediately that the men I considered to be the best probably weren't all that well known. It wasn't going to stop me signing who I wanted to sign though. As a few more days rolled by, marketing were coming up with all kinds of logos for the promotion that JK and myself had dubbed [b]World Domination Wrestling[/b]. To say that we ahted most of them would be an understatement. Too complex, too simple, too abstract, too dull. As the ink dried on over two dozen contracts, I came up with the idea that would fill most of the first two months of WDW history and indeed, create most of WDW's history in the first place. The crowning of our first champion wasn't going to come from a skill-less battle royale, it wouldn't be handed over to someone to get some cheap heel heat on them, it would be decided by a tournament, much like the soccer World Cup would be decided later this year. As an added bonus, this would also give the guys who didn't normally ply their trade in the US to be elevated up the card quickly as regional qualifiers. Sleep seemed to be rare through the week but coffee and good news seemed to come hand in hand. With all the contracts being signed, it was simply a case of setting everyone up with their gimmicks. With several regular teams already set up, I set up a few new ones who would one day potentially be the cornerstones of the tag division. The day the title belts arrived was one of the best, as things finally seemed real to me. The WDW World Dominator, our main belt, was immaculately made with the arms of the champion wrapped around the world on the center plate and different flags on each of the smaller ones. The tag belts were similar in desigb but the centerplate was a more simple globe on gold. The final belt that arrived was the one that represented perhaps one fo the most important aspects of WDW, the Adrenaline division. JK and myself have always been a fan of people who can do it all, who can offer something that no-one else can. The HGC Cruiserweight division was supposed to be a focal point of that but had been buried by Chord and Strong a long time ago. The SWF had a tribute to it without putting anything really into it and since the two biggest companies in North America were ignoring so much talent, we had a vast talent pool to choose from for the division. Dubbed as being "No Limits, Not Weight Limits" the division will be a major focal point of the promotion, capitalising on everything the big two miss out on. The other good news that day was an unexpected piece of information from JK himself. He came laughing into the office saying that he'd set up MAW as a development territory for us. When I asked him how he'd got Rip Chord to agree to that (considering I [i]know[/i] he doesn't like us) JK just said that he'd let slip some info to Chord that he had found out a while back. Chord wasn't pleased but agreed to let MAW be a subdivision of WDW. JK said he couldn't tell me what it was that he had said, that it was better that only a few people knew. I really wish I knew.... Anyways, thats more stuff to work on. Our publicity machine was set to overdrive by the end of January with adverts on every media across the country, most noticably taking up the commercial breaks on TCW and SWF programming. Videos of qualifying tournaments to get into WDW (mocked up of course) taking place all over the world have been running and a man known as [b]Bali So'oialo[/b] was shown beating another islands native via submission. This segued into a graphic showing the qualifiers for the tournament so far, which included Brent Hill, Black Hat Bailey and Freddie Datsun. So far, so good. All I have to worry about now is that my new rock band gel together well and can perform the theme songs for our shows. Two of them have been working together in MAW for a while so I'm not worrying much about them, but the other two are new. Painful Procedure were good, but [b]Pain 'n' Pleasure[/b] will be better. [center][IMG]http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c33/DerekB83/WDW%20Diary/WDW2.jpg[/IMG][/center] [b][i][center]... coming soon...[/i][/b][/center] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek B Posted September 16, 2006 Author Share Posted September 16, 2006 [b][u][center][size=5] World Domination Wrestling [/b][/u][/size][/center] The next few days were perhaps the busiest of my life. The first thing I done was to make sure my website was being dealt with. No point in letting the most read wrestling website in the world disappear just because I had a new job. Having handed over the reigns to Dave, a hard working guy who probably should've been getting paid more many years ago, I resolved to take up the full straing of the job I'd worked my way into. I called [b]Black Hat Bailey[/b] and [b]Freddie Datsun[/b], confirming that we wanted them and then sorting out the terms of their contracts a few days later when they came to our hastily furnished office building in the Great Lakes, a building that JK had picked up a month ago "just in case" something like this came up. I'm starting to wonder how many steps ahead of me he really is. [b]Lee Wright[/b] pulled through amazingly for us, not only signing his own contract but persuading [b]William Hayes[/b] to sign a verbal deal and then managing to lock a man I'd vaguely heard of into a long term deal, stealing him from right under BHOTWG's noses. Combine his year of training alongside BHOWTG's best with his silver medal from the 2004 Olympics, [b]Li Bingci[/b] is simply sensational in the ring. He's not quite made the switch from amateur wrestling to pro yet, but as he gets more pro experience under his belt and improves his English, I can't see anything that could stop him from becoming a star. With a large pool of resources at my fingertips, I drew up a shortlist of who I wanted to sign to my roster. Knowing full well that it would be March before we got a TV deal and that it was January now, I had to get us on TV somehow too. I contacted some of my favourite talents and realised almost immediately that the men I considered to be the best probably weren't all that well known. It wasn't going to stop me signing who I wanted to sign though. As a few more days rolled by, marketing were coming up with all kinds of logos for the promotion that JK and myself had dubbed [b]World Domination Wrestling[/b]. To say that we ahted most of them would be an understatement. Too complex, too simple, too abstract, too dull. As the ink dried on over two dozen contracts, I came up with the idea that would fill most of the first two months of WDW history and indeed, create most of WDW's history in the first place. The crowning of our first champion wasn't going to come from a skill-less battle royale, it wouldn't be handed over to someone to get some cheap heel heat on them, it would be decided by a tournament, much like the soccer World Cup would be decided later this year. As an added bonus, this would also give the guys who didn't normally ply their trade in the US to be elevated up the card quickly as regional qualifiers. Sleep seemed to be rare through the week but coffee and good news seemed to come hand in hand. With all the contracts being signed, it was simply a case of setting everyone up with their gimmicks. With several regular teams already set up, I set up a few new ones who would one day potentially be the cornerstones of the tag division. The day the title belts arrived was one of the best, as things finally seemed real to me. The WDW World Dominator, our main belt, was immaculately made with the arms of the champion wrapped around the world on the center plate and different flags on each of the smaller ones. The tag belts were similar in desigb but the centerplate was a more simple globe on gold. The final belt that arrived was the one that represented perhaps one fo the most important aspects of WDW, the Adrenaline division. JK and myself have always been a fan of people who can do it all, who can offer something that no-one else can. The HGC Cruiserweight division was supposed to be a focal point of that but had been buried by Chord and Strong a long time ago. The SWF had a tribute to it without putting anything really into it and since the two biggest companies in North America were ignoring so much talent, we had a vast talent pool to choose from for the division. Dubbed as being "No Limits, Not Weight Limits" the division will be a major focal point of the promotion, capitalising on everything the big two miss out on. The other good news that day was an unexpected piece of information from JK himself. He came laughing into the office saying that he'd set up MAW as a development territory for us. When I asked him how he'd got Rip Chord to agree to that (considering I [i]know[/i] he doesn't like us) JK just said that he'd let slip some info to Chord that he had found out a while back. Chord wasn't pleased but agreed to let MAW be a subdivision of WDW. JK said he couldn't tell me what it was that he had said, that it was better that only a few people knew. I really wish I knew.... Anyways, thats more stuff to work on. Our publicity machine was set to overdrive by the end of January with adverts on every media across the country, most noticably taking up the commercial breaks on TCW and SWF programming. Videos of qualifying tournaments to get into WDW (mocked up of course) taking place all over the world have been running and a man known as [b]Bali So'oialo[/b] was shown beating another islands native via submission. This segued into a graphic showing the qualifiers for the tournament so far, which included Brent Hill, Black Hat Bailey and Freddie Datsun. So far, so good. All I have to worry about now is that my new rock band gel together well and can perform the theme songs for our shows. Two of them have been working together in MAW for a while so I'm not worrying much about them, but the other two are new. Painful Procedure were good, but [b]Pain 'n' Pleasure[/b] will be better. [center][IMG]http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c33/DerekB83/WDW%20Diary/WDW2.jpg[/IMG][/center] [b][i][center]... coming soon...[/i][/b][/center] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thriller Posted September 16, 2006 Share Posted September 16, 2006 Yes. YES. YES! Another awesome CornellVerse diary. You have a loyal reader already. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thriller Posted September 16, 2006 Share Posted September 16, 2006 Yes. YES. YES! Another awesome CornellVerse diary. You have a loyal reader already. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek B Posted September 19, 2006 Author Share Posted September 19, 2006 [QUOTE] [center][IMG]http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c33/DerekB83/WDW%20Diary/WDW2.jpg[/IMG][/center] [size=5][u][b][center]The Crowning Glory Tournament: Group 1[/u][/size][/b] [IMG]http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c33/DerekB83/WDW%20Diary/SamoanMachine.jpg[/IMG][IMG]http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c33/DerekB83/WDW%20Diary/SteveFlash.jpg[/IMG][IMG]http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c33/DerekB83/WDW%20Diary/HumanArsenal.jpg[/IMG][IMG]http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c33/DerekB83/WDW%20Diary/TomAngelus.jpg[/IMG][/center] [COLOR="Sienna"][size=4][center]Four competitors enter the group, only two will make it to the knock out tournament....[/size][/COLOR][/center] [COLOR="RoyalBlue"][b]Bali So'oialo[/b], an islander from Samoa. He qualified from the Australasian tournaments where he proved himself to be a fearsome competitor. With the heart of a lion, he devastated opponents with his Samoan Driver and the Unbreakable Sleeper, forcing his opposition tap out or pass out. [/COLOR] [COLOR="YellowGreen"][b]Steve Flash[/b], star of the North American independent scene for many years, he has long since earned his place amongst the elite of pro wrestling. His Flash Bang finisher has been the end of many show stealing performances and matches.[/COLOR] [COLOR="DarkOrange"][b]Human Arsenal[/b], a man who's explosive array of suplexes earned him his moniker. Another indy legend who is finally displaying his skills on a grand stage, his Ammo Dump facebuster earned him the reputation for being one of the biggest bad asses in pro-wrestling.[/COLOR] [COLOR="DarkOrchid"][b]Tom Angelus[/b], former holder of "The World Strongest Man" title is a giant of a man who's main asset is his brute power. A friendly giant at heart, he has recently befriended the Psycho Circus and is often seen showing off his strength by pressing his friends above his head.[/COLOR] [COLOR="Sienna"]Each competitor will face each of the others over the next three weeks on WDW's [b]Road To Glory[/b] PPV events this month! Who will advance? Who will be left behind? Will any of these competitors triumph through March on [b]WDW World Domination TV[/b] and reach the tournament final at the [u][b]WDW Crowning Glory PPV[/b][/u]? Tune in to find out!![/COLOR] [/QUOTE] [QUOTE] [center][IMG]http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c33/DerekB83/WDW%20Diary/WDW2.jpg[/IMG][/center] [size=5][u][b][center]The Crowning Glory Tournament: Group 2[/u][/size][/b] [IMG]http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c33/DerekB83/WDW%20Diary/WilliamHayes.jpg[/IMG][IMG]http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c33/DerekB83/WDW%20Diary/ChampagneLover.jpg[/IMG][IMG]http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c33/DerekB83/WDW%20Diary/FreddieDatsun.jpg[/IMG][IMG]http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c33/DerekB83/WDW%20Diary/CorporalDoom.jpg[/IMG][/center] [COLOR="Sienna"][size=4][center]Four competitors enter the group, only two will make it to the knock out tournament....[/size][/COLOR][/center] [COLOR="RoyalBlue"][b]William Hayes[/b], a youngster who has made tsunami-esque waves in his Japanese career so far, makes his North American debut with WDW. A champion at a young age, Hayes has honed his craft and was a stand out in the Japanese qualifiers despite being from the US by birth. With an array of finishers at his disposal, Hayes is a dangerous and exceptionally confident athlete with a proven track record.[/COLOR] [COLOR="YellowGreen"][b]Champagne Lover[/b], the man who dominated the Mexican qualifiers more than anyone else in any region. From a country steeped in wrestling tradition, Champagne Lover has already proven why he's been touted as a future legend at a young age. Able to turn into kind of match in his favour, Lover's Champagne Breakfast submission finisher is one of the most feared moves in all of Mexico.[/COLOR] [COLOR="DarkOrange"][b]Freddie Datsun[/b], the former DAVE Unified Champion and one of the SWF's top performers for years was one of the first men to sign with WDW upon its inception. Commonly acknowledged by his fans and his peers as never getting the break he deserved, Datsun is out to stick one more middle finger in Richard Eisen's direction and prove that he's a true champion no matter what Eisen says.[/COLOR] [COLOR="DarkOrchid"][b]Corporal Doom[/b], a living legend and former SWF World Champion, he may be past his prime but he's still a competitor to be feared. With ruthless aggression and vicious cunning, Corporal Doom can put anyone away with his Corporal Punishmen if given a chance.[/COLOR] [COLOR="Sienna"]Each competitor will face each of the others over the next three weeks on WDW's [b]Road To Glory[/b] PPV events this month! Who will advance? Who will be left behind? Will any of these competitors triumph through March on WDW World Domination TV and reach the tournament final at WDW Crowning Glory? Tune in to find out!![/COLOR] [/QUOTE] [QUOTE] [center][IMG]http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c33/DerekB83/WDW%20Diary/WDW2.jpg[/IMG][/center] [size=5][u][b][center]The Crowning Glory Tournament: Group 3[/u][/size][/b] [IMG]http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c33/DerekB83/WDW%20Diary/LiBingci.jpg[/IMG][IMG]http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c33/DerekB83/WDW%20Diary/DarkAngel.jpg[/IMG][IMG]http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c33/DerekB83/WDW%20Diary/BarryKingman.jpg[/IMG][IMG]http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c33/DerekB83/WDW%20Diary/BrentHill.jpg[/IMG][/center] [COLOR="Sienna"][size=4][center]Four competitors enter the group, only two will make it to the knock out tournament....[/size][/COLOR][/center] [COLOR="RoyalBlue"][b]Li Bingci[/b], the 2004 Olympic silver medalist in freestyle wrestling. He trained with BHOTWG throughout 2005 but chose to sign with WDW after competing in a Japanese qualifying tournament. He may be a rookie in the world of professional wrestling, but he's untouchable in the mat wrestling game and he brings with him the same intensity and fire he took with him the Olympics.[/COLOR] [COLOR="YellowGreen"][b]Dark Angel[/b], mysterious even to those that know him, Angel is a globally known star who has faced and beaten the very best the world has to offer. Now associating with Travis Century, Dark Angel's prowess in the ring has been added to by a presence outside it.[/COLOR] [COLOR="DarkOrange"][b]Barry Kingman[/b], son of the legendary "Crippler" Ray Kingman, is a second generation athlete. With a pedigree in wrestling unmatched by almost anyone, Barry Kingman has struggled to gain acceptance as a true star, forever being compared unfavourably to his father. The King Crippler is still as deadly for Barry's as it was for his father decades ago.[/COLOR] [COLOR="DarkOrchid"][b]Brent Hill[/b], "The Complete Package" had been considered for decades to be too small to achieve success in the big leagues. While his stature may at times be questioned, his talents can not be doubted. Having toured almost every country in the world that knows of pro wrestling, Hill can tailor his style to match up and defeat any opponent. He will seek to eliminate the competition with his King of the Hill top rope leg drop or by the Complete Package dragon sleeper.[/COLOR] [COLOR="Sienna"]Each competitor will face each of the others over the next three weeks on WDW's [b]Road To Glory[/b] PPV events this month! Who will advance? Who will be left behind? Will any of these competitors triumph through March on WDW World Domination TV and reach the tournament final at WDW Crowning Glory? Tune in to find out!![/COLOR] [/QUOTE] [QUOTE] [center][IMG]http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c33/DerekB83/WDW%20Diary/WDW2.jpg[/IMG][/center] [size=5][u][b][center]The Crowning Glory Tournament: Group 4[/u][/size][/b] [IMG]http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c33/DerekB83/WDW%20Diary/BaireiYasujiro.jpg[/IMG][IMG]http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c33/DerekB83/WDW%20Diary/SuzanneBrazzle.jpg[/IMG][IMG]http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c33/DerekB83/WDW%20Diary/BlackHatBailey.jpg[/IMG][IMG]http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c33/DerekB83/WDW%20Diary/JimmyP.jpg[/IMG][/center] [COLOR="Sienna"][size=4][center]Four competitors enter the group, only two will make it to the knock out tournament....[/size][/COLOR][/center] [COLOR="RoyalBlue"][b]Bairei Yasujiro[/b], a sensational high flyer and cult hero of the Japanese Super Junior scene. Refusing to be tied down to one promotion, Bairei has plied his trade throughout Japan picking up victories over many of the best with his high risk style. A founding father of the Adrenaline division style, Bairei will be looking to employ his patented sit-out piledriver on anyone who steps into the ring with him.[/COLOR] [COLOR="YellowGreen"][b]Suzanne Brazzle[/b], the woman who exploded onto the Women's wrestling scene and has been making waves ever since. She was taken lightly by the men when she showed up at the qualifiers but she proved to be more thana match for them, earning her place in the tournament the hard way. Her technique is almost flawless and her fishermen's suplex has put away many men AND women in the past.[/COLOR] [COLOR="DarkOrange"][b]Black Hat Bailey[/b], so good he sold his services to those willing to pay the price. Bailey is a former NOTBPW Canadian champion and has been terrorising anyone who crosses his path with his Bailey Breaker submission finisher. A consumate professional in and out of the ring, Bailey is to be respected wherever he goes.[/COLOR] [COLOR="DarkOrchid"][b]Jimmy P[/b], a former star of the TCW Cruiserweight division, Jimmy has been tearing up the indy scene since being released years ago. Still teaming with his long time friend Donnie J, Jimmy qualified for the Crowning Glory tournament by defeating his partner in a qualifying match in California. Confident to the point of arrogance, Jimmy has set his sights eye and has shown he'll do whatever he needs to in order to achieve his goals.[/COLOR] [COLOR="Sienna"]Each competitor will face each of the others over the next three weeks on WDW's [b]Road To Glory[/b] PPV events this month! Who will advance? Who will be left behind? Will any of these competitors triumph through March on WDW World Domination TV and reach the tournament final at WDW Crowning Glory? Tune in to find out!![/COLOR] [/QUOTE] [i][center][b]Road to Glory[/b] PPVs to take place on the 6th, 20th and 27th of February and will be shown on USA Free Choice. [b]WDW World Domination TV[/b] to debut on the 1st of March at 11pm on National Pride TV. [b]Crowning Glory PPV[/b] will be held on the 27th of March and will be shown on USA Free Choice. Customers outside the US, please check your local providers for details on how to receive WDW programming![/i][/center] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek B Posted September 19, 2006 Author Share Posted September 19, 2006 [QUOTE] [center][IMG]http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c33/DerekB83/WDW%20Diary/WDW2.jpg[/IMG][/center] [size=5][u][b][center]The Crowning Glory Tournament: Group 1[/u][/size][/b] [IMG]http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c33/DerekB83/WDW%20Diary/SamoanMachine.jpg[/IMG][IMG]http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c33/DerekB83/WDW%20Diary/SteveFlash.jpg[/IMG][IMG]http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c33/DerekB83/WDW%20Diary/HumanArsenal.jpg[/IMG][IMG]http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c33/DerekB83/WDW%20Diary/TomAngelus.jpg[/IMG][/center] [COLOR="Sienna"][size=4][center]Four competitors enter the group, only two will make it to the knock out tournament....[/size][/COLOR][/center] [COLOR="RoyalBlue"][b]Bali So'oialo[/b], an islander from Samoa. He qualified from the Australasian tournaments where he proved himself to be a fearsome competitor. With the heart of a lion, he devastated opponents with his Samoan Driver and the Unbreakable Sleeper, forcing his opposition tap out or pass out. [/COLOR] [COLOR="YellowGreen"][b]Steve Flash[/b], star of the North American independent scene for many years, he has long since earned his place amongst the elite of pro wrestling. His Flash Bang finisher has been the end of many show stealing performances and matches.[/COLOR] [COLOR="DarkOrange"][b]Human Arsenal[/b], a man who's explosive array of suplexes earned him his moniker. Another indy legend who is finally displaying his skills on a grand stage, his Ammo Dump facebuster earned him the reputation for being one of the biggest bad asses in pro-wrestling.[/COLOR] [COLOR="DarkOrchid"][b]Tom Angelus[/b], former holder of "The World Strongest Man" title is a giant of a man who's main asset is his brute power. A friendly giant at heart, he has recently befriended the Psycho Circus and is often seen showing off his strength by pressing his friends above his head.[/COLOR] [COLOR="Sienna"]Each competitor will face each of the others over the next three weeks on WDW's [b]Road To Glory[/b] PPV events this month! Who will advance? Who will be left behind? Will any of these competitors triumph through March on [b]WDW World Domination TV[/b] and reach the tournament final at the [u][b]WDW Crowning Glory PPV[/b][/u]? Tune in to find out!![/COLOR] [/QUOTE] [QUOTE] [center][IMG]http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c33/DerekB83/WDW%20Diary/WDW2.jpg[/IMG][/center] [size=5][u][b][center]The Crowning Glory Tournament: Group 2[/u][/size][/b] [IMG]http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c33/DerekB83/WDW%20Diary/WilliamHayes.jpg[/IMG][IMG]http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c33/DerekB83/WDW%20Diary/ChampagneLover.jpg[/IMG][IMG]http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c33/DerekB83/WDW%20Diary/FreddieDatsun.jpg[/IMG][IMG]http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c33/DerekB83/WDW%20Diary/CorporalDoom.jpg[/IMG][/center] [COLOR="Sienna"][size=4][center]Four competitors enter the group, only two will make it to the knock out tournament....[/size][/COLOR][/center] [COLOR="RoyalBlue"][b]William Hayes[/b], a youngster who has made tsunami-esque waves in his Japanese career so far, makes his North American debut with WDW. A champion at a young age, Hayes has honed his craft and was a stand out in the Japanese qualifiers despite being from the US by birth. With an array of finishers at his disposal, Hayes is a dangerous and exceptionally confident athlete with a proven track record.[/COLOR] [COLOR="YellowGreen"][b]Champagne Lover[/b], the man who dominated the Mexican qualifiers more than anyone else in any region. From a country steeped in wrestling tradition, Champagne Lover has already proven why he's been touted as a future legend at a young age. Able to turn into kind of match in his favour, Lover's Champagne Breakfast submission finisher is one of the most feared moves in all of Mexico.[/COLOR] [COLOR="DarkOrange"][b]Freddie Datsun[/b], the former DAVE Unified Champion and one of the SWF's top performers for years was one of the first men to sign with WDW upon its inception. Commonly acknowledged by his fans and his peers as never getting the break he deserved, Datsun is out to stick one more middle finger in Richard Eisen's direction and prove that he's a true champion no matter what Eisen says.[/COLOR] [COLOR="DarkOrchid"][b]Corporal Doom[/b], a living legend and former SWF World Champion, he may be past his prime but he's still a competitor to be feared. With ruthless aggression and vicious cunning, Corporal Doom can put anyone away with his Corporal Punishmen if given a chance.[/COLOR] [COLOR="Sienna"]Each competitor will face each of the others over the next three weeks on WDW's [b]Road To Glory[/b] PPV events this month! Who will advance? Who will be left behind? Will any of these competitors triumph through March on WDW World Domination TV and reach the tournament final at WDW Crowning Glory? Tune in to find out!![/COLOR] [/QUOTE] [QUOTE] [center][IMG]http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c33/DerekB83/WDW%20Diary/WDW2.jpg[/IMG][/center] [size=5][u][b][center]The Crowning Glory Tournament: Group 3[/u][/size][/b] [IMG]http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c33/DerekB83/WDW%20Diary/LiBingci.jpg[/IMG][IMG]http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c33/DerekB83/WDW%20Diary/DarkAngel.jpg[/IMG][IMG]http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c33/DerekB83/WDW%20Diary/BarryKingman.jpg[/IMG][IMG]http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c33/DerekB83/WDW%20Diary/BrentHill.jpg[/IMG][/center] [COLOR="Sienna"][size=4][center]Four competitors enter the group, only two will make it to the knock out tournament....[/size][/COLOR][/center] [COLOR="RoyalBlue"][b]Li Bingci[/b], the 2004 Olympic silver medalist in freestyle wrestling. He trained with BHOTWG throughout 2005 but chose to sign with WDW after competing in a Japanese qualifying tournament. He may be a rookie in the world of professional wrestling, but he's untouchable in the mat wrestling game and he brings with him the same intensity and fire he took with him the Olympics.[/COLOR] [COLOR="YellowGreen"][b]Dark Angel[/b], mysterious even to those that know him, Angel is a globally known star who has faced and beaten the very best the world has to offer. Now associating with Travis Century, Dark Angel's prowess in the ring has been added to by a presence outside it.[/COLOR] [COLOR="DarkOrange"][b]Barry Kingman[/b], son of the legendary "Crippler" Ray Kingman, is a second generation athlete. With a pedigree in wrestling unmatched by almost anyone, Barry Kingman has struggled to gain acceptance as a true star, forever being compared unfavourably to his father. The King Crippler is still as deadly for Barry's as it was for his father decades ago.[/COLOR] [COLOR="DarkOrchid"][b]Brent Hill[/b], "The Complete Package" had been considered for decades to be too small to achieve success in the big leagues. While his stature may at times be questioned, his talents can not be doubted. Having toured almost every country in the world that knows of pro wrestling, Hill can tailor his style to match up and defeat any opponent. He will seek to eliminate the competition with his King of the Hill top rope leg drop or by the Complete Package dragon sleeper.[/COLOR] [COLOR="Sienna"]Each competitor will face each of the others over the next three weeks on WDW's [b]Road To Glory[/b] PPV events this month! Who will advance? Who will be left behind? Will any of these competitors triumph through March on WDW World Domination TV and reach the tournament final at WDW Crowning Glory? Tune in to find out!![/COLOR] [/QUOTE] [QUOTE] [center][IMG]http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c33/DerekB83/WDW%20Diary/WDW2.jpg[/IMG][/center] [size=5][u][b][center]The Crowning Glory Tournament: Group 4[/u][/size][/b] [IMG]http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c33/DerekB83/WDW%20Diary/BaireiYasujiro.jpg[/IMG][IMG]http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c33/DerekB83/WDW%20Diary/SuzanneBrazzle.jpg[/IMG][IMG]http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c33/DerekB83/WDW%20Diary/BlackHatBailey.jpg[/IMG][IMG]http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c33/DerekB83/WDW%20Diary/JimmyP.jpg[/IMG][/center] [COLOR="Sienna"][size=4][center]Four competitors enter the group, only two will make it to the knock out tournament....[/size][/COLOR][/center] [COLOR="RoyalBlue"][b]Bairei Yasujiro[/b], a sensational high flyer and cult hero of the Japanese Super Junior scene. Refusing to be tied down to one promotion, Bairei has plied his trade throughout Japan picking up victories over many of the best with his high risk style. A founding father of the Adrenaline division style, Bairei will be looking to employ his patented sit-out piledriver on anyone who steps into the ring with him.[/COLOR] [COLOR="YellowGreen"][b]Suzanne Brazzle[/b], the woman who exploded onto the Women's wrestling scene and has been making waves ever since. She was taken lightly by the men when she showed up at the qualifiers but she proved to be more thana match for them, earning her place in the tournament the hard way. Her technique is almost flawless and her fishermen's suplex has put away many men AND women in the past.[/COLOR] [COLOR="DarkOrange"][b]Black Hat Bailey[/b], so good he sold his services to those willing to pay the price. Bailey is a former NOTBPW Canadian champion and has been terrorising anyone who crosses his path with his Bailey Breaker submission finisher. A consumate professional in and out of the ring, Bailey is to be respected wherever he goes.[/COLOR] [COLOR="DarkOrchid"][b]Jimmy P[/b], a former star of the TCW Cruiserweight division, Jimmy has been tearing up the indy scene since being released years ago. Still teaming with his long time friend Donnie J, Jimmy qualified for the Crowning Glory tournament by defeating his partner in a qualifying match in California. Confident to the point of arrogance, Jimmy has set his sights eye and has shown he'll do whatever he needs to in order to achieve his goals.[/COLOR] [COLOR="Sienna"]Each competitor will face each of the others over the next three weeks on WDW's [b]Road To Glory[/b] PPV events this month! Who will advance? Who will be left behind? Will any of these competitors triumph through March on WDW World Domination TV and reach the tournament final at WDW Crowning Glory? Tune in to find out!![/COLOR] [/QUOTE] [i][center][b]Road to Glory[/b] PPVs to take place on the 6th, 20th and 27th of February and will be shown on USA Free Choice. [b]WDW World Domination TV[/b] to debut on the 1st of March at 11pm on National Pride TV. [b]Crowning Glory PPV[/b] will be held on the 27th of March and will be shown on USA Free Choice. Customers outside the US, please check your local providers for details on how to receive WDW programming![/i][/center] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thriller Posted September 19, 2006 Share Posted September 19, 2006 Unless the pairs of pictures are the matches in the groups, I predict that Samoan Machine, Steve Flash, William Hayes, Champagne Lover, Dark Angel, Brent Hill, Bairei Yasujiro and Black Hat Bailey will go through. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thriller Posted September 19, 2006 Share Posted September 19, 2006 Unless the pairs of pictures are the matches in the groups, I predict that Samoan Machine, Steve Flash, William Hayes, Champagne Lover, Dark Angel, Brent Hill, Bairei Yasujiro and Black Hat Bailey will go through. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eayragt Posted September 19, 2006 Share Posted September 19, 2006 Samoan Machine, definately, from the first group, and maybe Human Arsenal. Willie Hayes and Freddie Datsun. Dark Angel and Brent Hill And group 4 looks a toughie. Brazzle and Bailey are my picks. Really like all the preludes so far! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eayragt Posted September 19, 2006 Share Posted September 19, 2006 Samoan Machine, definately, from the first group, and maybe Human Arsenal. Willie Hayes and Freddie Datsun. Dark Angel and Brent Hill And group 4 looks a toughie. Brazzle and Bailey are my picks. Really like all the preludes so far! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Remianen Posted September 19, 2006 Share Posted September 19, 2006 My predictions for the knock out tournament: Group 1: Samoan Machine & Steve Flash Group 2: Champagne Lover & Freddie Datsun Group 3: Dark Angel & Brent Hill (only because Barry Kingman has Lance Storm-itis, i.e. lack of entertainment skill) Group 4: Suzanne Brazzle & Black Hat Bailey (because the other two are Adrenaline division foundations) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Remianen Posted September 19, 2006 Share Posted September 19, 2006 My predictions for the knock out tournament: Group 1: Samoan Machine & Steve Flash Group 2: Champagne Lover & Freddie Datsun Group 3: Dark Angel & Brent Hill (only because Barry Kingman has Lance Storm-itis, i.e. lack of entertainment skill) Group 4: Suzanne Brazzle & Black Hat Bailey (because the other two are Adrenaline division foundations) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trypio Posted September 19, 2006 Share Posted September 19, 2006 Group 1: Samoan Machine and Human Arsenal (man those guys rule, this is the strongest group in my opinion) Group 2: William Hayes and Freddie Datsun Group 3: Cliff 'Dark Angel' Wilson and Brent Hill Group 4: Black Hat Bailey and Bairei Yasujiro (Damn I hate to type Japanese names :p) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trypio Posted September 19, 2006 Share Posted September 19, 2006 Group 1: Samoan Machine and Human Arsenal (man those guys rule, this is the strongest group in my opinion) Group 2: William Hayes and Freddie Datsun Group 3: Cliff 'Dark Angel' Wilson and Brent Hill Group 4: Black Hat Bailey and Bairei Yasujiro (Damn I hate to type Japanese names :p) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Imarevenant Posted September 19, 2006 Share Posted September 19, 2006 Group 1: Bali So'oialo & Human Arsenal (Love the Human Arsenal, he deserves a push) Group 2: Champagne Lover & Freddie Datsun Group 3: Dark Angel & Brent Hill Group 4: Bairei Yasujiro & Jimmy P I really see this as an opportunity to push some of the more unknown workers a lot more quickly than usual. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Imarevenant Posted September 19, 2006 Share Posted September 19, 2006 Group 1: Bali So'oialo & Human Arsenal (Love the Human Arsenal, he deserves a push) Group 2: Champagne Lover & Freddie Datsun Group 3: Dark Angel & Brent Hill Group 4: Bairei Yasujiro & Jimmy P I really see this as an opportunity to push some of the more unknown workers a lot more quickly than usual. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek B Posted September 19, 2006 Author Share Posted September 19, 2006 [QUOTE][center][IMG]http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c33/DerekB83/WDW%20Diary/WDW2.jpg[/IMG] [IMG]http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c33/DerekB83/WDW%20Diary/Event%20Logos/RoadToglory.jpg[/IMG] [b][u]The Path Of The Champion Begins[/u][/b][/center] [i]Held at the Friedman Building in the Mid South in front of 8,019 in attendance, with 5,925 buying from home[/i] A spectacular pyro opening greeted the thousand of fans in attendance tonight, many of whom had been given free entry to mark the debut of WDW to a national audience. If they weren't hot to start with, a rock band going by the name of [b]Pain 'n' Pleasure[/b] played the theme song for the PPV, rocking the vocal crowd prior to everyone being officially welcomed by WDW announcers [b]Marv Earnest[/b] and the legendary [b]Professor Mycroft Nero[/b]. 1) Backstage, we join former TCW superstars [b]Jimmy P[/b] and [b]Donnie J[/b] as they talk about the first match up of the show. Jimmy looks smug and consoles his tag partner, the very man he beat to get into the tournament tonight but doesn't seem to genuine about it. He then said that once he'd got past the two nobodies who were about to wrestle and beaten the "old timer" (Black Hat Bailey) later tonight, that he'd be in a prime spot to become the WDW World Dominator and that he'd give Donnie the first crack at the belt. Donnie smiles but doesn't seem particularly happy. 2) [b]BAIREI YASUJIRO vs SUZANNE BRAZZLE [COLOR="Blue"]in a Group 4 match[/COLOR][/b] While most of the crowd may not know Bairei, they left knowing what he was capable of in, out and above the ring after this match. Brazzle tried to keep Bairei grounded but the experienced Japanese star refused to be taken out of his high risk gameplan and it paid off for him after 10 minutes when he stunned the wonder woman (of wrestling at least) with a sit out piledriver and a pinfall victory. An impressive win for the international superstar, he really showcased the Adrenaline style and left the crowd demanding more. WINNER: [b]Bairei Yasujiro[/b] in 10:36 3) [b]William Hayes[/b] made his official WDW debut by cutting a promo on the local crowd, saying they don't appreciate true talent as much as the Japanese crowds of PGHW do. He was interupted by [b]Jennifer Heat[/b] who agreed that the crowds here sucked too (cheap heat) before putting over her client [b]Champagne Lover[/b] as a real man who would show everyone here where the future of wrestling was at. She then spelled it out for those of who didn't understand, saying that it was Mexico. [b]WILLIAM HAYES vs CHAMPAGNE LOVER w/ Jennifer Heat [COLOR="Green"]in a Group 2 match[/COLOR][/b] The crowd were torn for who to boo the most, but they seemed to decide that cheering Jennifer Heat was a good plan, leaving the men in the ring to have a one upsmanship contest in technical skills and cheap shots. They were given 13 minutes to showcase their all round skills before both men had enough of the other cheating and went outside to gather weapons. Both had similar ideas and went for chairs, duelling briefly o nthe outside before being counted out together. The fans... well, they didn't like the finish much. WINNER: Double Count-Out in 12:59 4) [b]BALI SO'OIALO vs STEVE FLASH [COLOR="Red"]in a Group 1 match[/COLOR][/b] Prior to the match the announcers hyped up the proud heritage of the Samoan family, who's extended collective skills have graced and succeeded in almost every wrestling country across the world. Despite arguably being from an area of the world with less competition, Bali proved to be more than a competent match for the veteran Flash, who himself has never broken free of the "indy star" label. The match ended after 15 minutes when Bali hit the Samoan Driver and followed up with a cover, much to the surprise of many in attendance who boo'ed his direct, aggressive and mildly illegal style of attack. WINNER: [b]Bali So'oialo[/b] in 15:55 5) Backstage we join [b]Dharma Gregg[/b] as she tries to get an interview with the 2004 Olympic silver medallist in Freestyle wrestling, [b]Li Bingci[/b]. After failing to get anything coherent from him [b]Vita[/b] appears and speaks to Li. Dharma asks what Vita said and she replied [color="red"]"I'm making sure he never comes second again!"[/color]. [b]LI BINGCI vs BARRY KINGMAN [COLOR="Orange"]in a Group 3 match[/COLOR][/b] Nero on commentary started the match by greatly hyping Barry Kingman's father, Ray Kingman, reminiscing about facing him in the ring decades ago, then saying Barry was nothing in comparison to his father. The match itself showed a similar story as the Olympic medallist grounded Kingman and never allowed him to get off the mat and use his aerial skills. The finish came when Kingman had eventually gotten to his feet, only to miss with a wild right hand and get caught with a beautiful German suplex which earned Bingci the pinfall victory. At ringside, Vita seemed to distract a few fans from the match but she helped celebrate the victory afterwards. Seems like a decent way to get some bonus heat for our new Olympic hero. Kingman simply looked frustrated, not at all pleased at losing to someone in their first match. WINNER: [b]Li Bingci[/b] in 13:32 6) Backstage, a very short skit is shown of [b]Corporal Doom[/b] barking out orders to "[color="DarkGreen"]beat those young punks within an inch of their lives[/COLOR]" to his privates Chance and Fate AKA [b]The Soldiers of Fortune[/b]. In the background, we see a shady figure slowly marching back and forth. [b]SOLDIERS OF FORTUNE vs MIGHTY FINE w/ Seduction[/b] Mighty Fine were introduced as one of the finest young tandems in pro wrestling, with Darryl Devine (and girlfriend Alanis "Seduction" Springsteen) and Jacob Jett stealing the show wherever they go. The veteran soldiers, complete with their regular facepaint and new army costume (looking a little bit like the New Wave in DaVE) were dominant in this match, letting their tag experience shine through. The finish came as Chance suckered Jett when he wasn't looking, deliberately sending him crashing on top of Seduction at ringside. Devine immediately tried to help her out but was caught in the ring by both Chance and Fate who hit a Spike Piledriver to get the three count on Devine. WINNERS: [b]Soldiers of Fortune[/b] in 11:40 After the match, Jett tried to help Seduction but Devine shoved him away and helped her to the back himself while Jett apologised for what had happened. The Soldiers laughed cruelly from the entrance way as they watched. 7) As a brief intermission was announced, [b]Pain 'n' Pleasure[/b] once again played the PPV theme song and rocked out. [b]Roxy Kitten[/b], a little known piece of eye candy from little known T&A promotion BSC, danced and moshed with the band. 8) [b]CORPORAL DOOM vs FREDDIE DATSUN [COLOR="Green"]in a Group 2 match[/COLOR][/b] Perhaps the biggest pop of the night went to Datsun's entrance, proving that he is still as popular as he was back when he reigned supreme in DaVE years ago. If only he'd reigned supreme in the SWF instead of Doom, he might still have been there today. The match itself was a far more grounded and old school affair than most of tonight's matches but if didn't suffer from that in the slightest. In fact, the crowd really got into it and popped big time when Datsun scored with the Patriot Press and picked up the victory. WINNER: [b]Freddie Datsun[/b] in 8:48 9) The gorgeous [b]BJ O'Neill[/b] catches up with [b]Jimmy P[/b] backstage before his match and he hypes WDW as being the place where the new generation get their chance to shine. He says the men we saw before are relics of the past (jeers for insulting Datsun) and that men like Black Hat Bailey are too old to have much a future, let alone to be the future. [b]JIMMY P vs BLACK HAT BAILEY [COLOR="Blue"]in a Group 4 match[/COLOR][/b] It appears that Bailey hasn't changed his attire or gimmick for the best part of 300 years but he showed in this match that he's as capable of being a top tier star as anyone else. Jimmy P was extremely confident as he used his youth and speed to try and tire out his veteran opponent, but this proved to be his downfall in the end too. Bailey countered a missile dropkick and locked in the Bailey Breaker (Texas Cloverleaf) and forced Jimmy to tap out. The crowd were respectful to Bailey, who icily ignored Jimmy after the match and simply returned to the back. Jimmy... well, he was a bit more emotional and didn't look at all happy. WINNER: [b]Black Hat Bailey[/b] in 12:58 10) [b]DARK ANGEL w/ Travis Century vs BRENT HILL [COLOR="Orange"]in a Group 3 match[/COLOR][/b] The mysterious Dark Angel was led to the ring by "The Preacher" Travis Century who put him over as being the closest thing to a God in wrestling. Lots of heat there for both men. Hill didn't seem at all phased by the eerie entrance of Angel of the words of Century who sat silently at ringside, observing a vaguely churchlike silence, as if listening to a sermon. The match itself was a great high flying/technical hybrid with both men really working hard. It looked like it could've went either way, but [b]Barry Kingman[/b] came from the crowd and tripped Hill at an important moment. Angel hit an STO to take Hill down and then climbed to the top to hit a Fallen Angel Moonsault, possibly the most visually impressive move I've seen in a long time. WINNER: [b]Dark Angel[/b] in 17:46 After the match, [b]Steve Flash[/b] and [b]Rick Sanders[/b] caught up with Brent Hill. Rather than try to interview them, BJ O'Neill told the cameraman with her to lurk around the corner and eavesdrop, allowing us to hear the group known as [b]Old School[/b] talking about Barry Kingman and how he's just frustrated he'll never be as good as his father and that he was too much of a whiner to hang around with them. O'Neill smiled as she heard this, knowing that her journalistic skills were paying off, even if Dharma was getting the better interviews. [center][size=6][b][u][COLOR="Purple"] **TONIGHT'S MAIN EVENT**[/size][/b][/u][/COLOR] [IMG]http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c33/DerekB83/WDW%20Diary/TomAngelus.jpg[/IMG][IMG]http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c33/DerekB83/WDW%20Diary/VS.jpg[/IMG][IMG]http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c33/DerekB83/WDW%20Diary/HumanArsenal.jpg[/IMG] [b]TOM ANGELUS vs HUMAN ARSENAL [COLOR="Red"]in a Group 1 match[/COLOR][/center][/b] A lot of people expected a lot from this match, marking one of the first times [b]Tom Angelus[/b] had been on TV as a wrestler instead of a power lifter. Despite being 12 inches shorter and giving up almost 100 pounds, Human Arsenal dominated the match, unleashing a barrage of suplexes and powerful strikes that simply overwhelmed the massive Angelus. Lasting less than 10 minutes, Arsenal dropped an exhausted looking Angelus to the mat with his Ammo Dump. WINNER: [b]Human Arsenal[/b] in 9:49 [b][u]SHOW NOTES[/u][/b] The first WDW event seemed to go down well with the fans, with the Bailey/Jimmy match somewhat suprisingly being praised as the best of the night during a quick informal poll of fans leaving the arena. Obviously we're debuting a lot of people at once, many of whom the fans know nothing about so we don't expect too much. The early PPV buyrate has been put in the region of 6,000, which isn't as well as we may have hoped to do. But then, its for a kinda weekly show instead of the giant monthly events that the SWF and TCW run so, we know we can't expect buyrates like that yet. Lots of storylines have been kicked off, lots of future stars have been debuted and next week will see more of the same. I realise that we promised WDW to have lots of high flying style action but with the focus being on the build up to Crowning Glory at the end of March, we simply don't have time for that until we get on to TV. And then.... oh yes, it'll be time for the other big guns. Oh yes. [b]FINAL SHOW RATING: C+[/b] [QUOTE] [u]Quick Results From [b]Road To Glory I[/b][/u] [i]Bairei Yasujiro defeated Suzanne Brazzle [10:36] (C-) William Hayes and Champagne Lover wrestled to a double count out [12:59] (C) Bali So'oialo and Steve Flash [15:55] (C) Li Bingci defeated Barry Kingman [13:32] (C) Soldiers of Fortune defeated Mighty Fine [11:40] (C) Freddie Datsun defeated Corporal Doom [8:48] (B-) Black Hat Bailey defeated Jimmy P [12:58] (B) Dark Angel defeated Brent Hill [17:46] (C+) Human Arsenal defeated Tom Angelus [9:49] (B-)[/i] [/QUOTE] [QUOTE] [center][u][size=4]Quick Card for [b]Road To Glory II[/b][/u][/size] [b][u]Group 1[/b][/u] [i]Bali So'oialo vs Human Arsenal Steve Flash vs Tom Angelus[/i] [b][u]Group 2[/b][/u] [i]William Hayes vs Freddie Datsun Corporal Doom vs Champagne Lover[/i] [b][u]Group 3[/u][/b] [i]Li Bingci vs Brent Hill Barry Kingman vs Dark Angel[/i] [u][b]Group 4[/b][/u] [i]Bairei Yasujiro vs Jimmy P Black Hat Bailey vs Suzanne Brazzle[/i] [/QUOTE] [IMG]http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c33/DerekB83/WDW%20Diary/WDW2.jpg[/IMG][/center] [/QUOTE] [b][u]OOC:[/b][/u][i] For everyone's info, I've pretty much ripped off Scapino's "SWF - This Means War" lay out for my shows here because I like it so much. Nice and clear and hopefully it'll stop me from rambling too much at times like I know I often do. :) Thanks for the feedback so far, I really didn't expect so many people to make predictions even though I had kinda hoped someone would. Interesting to see who you guys think will be going through too. I actually ran all the Road To Glory shows before I seen any predictions (I needed to advance a bit for certain reasons) and I'm happy to see no-one has got them all right yet. I guess that means I'm not being too obvious for once. Oh, and I did deliberately set the tournament up so that I could push some unknowns. Took a bit of thought to work out how to do it too, but I think I got there in the end. Even if I do end up pushing the same people as everyone else, I'm gonna try and do it slightly differently. Lastly, Bali is getting annoyed at you calling him Samoan Machine. Its Bali So'oialo damnit!![/i] Derek B Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek B Posted September 19, 2006 Author Share Posted September 19, 2006 [QUOTE][center][IMG]http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c33/DerekB83/WDW%20Diary/WDW2.jpg[/IMG] [IMG]http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c33/DerekB83/WDW%20Diary/Event%20Logos/RoadToglory.jpg[/IMG] [b][u]The Path Of The Champion Begins[/u][/b][/center] [i]Held at the Friedman Building in the Mid South in front of 8,019 in attendance, with 5,925 buying from home[/i] A spectacular pyro opening greeted the thousand of fans in attendance tonight, many of whom had been given free entry to mark the debut of WDW to a national audience. If they weren't hot to start with, a rock band going by the name of [b]Pain 'n' Pleasure[/b] played the theme song for the PPV, rocking the vocal crowd prior to everyone being officially welcomed by WDW announcers [b]Marv Earnest[/b] and the legendary [b]Professor Mycroft Nero[/b]. 1) Backstage, we join former TCW superstars [b]Jimmy P[/b] and [b]Donnie J[/b] as they talk about the first match up of the show. Jimmy looks smug and consoles his tag partner, the very man he beat to get into the tournament tonight but doesn't seem to genuine about it. He then said that once he'd got past the two nobodies who were about to wrestle and beaten the "old timer" (Black Hat Bailey) later tonight, that he'd be in a prime spot to become the WDW World Dominator and that he'd give Donnie the first crack at the belt. Donnie smiles but doesn't seem particularly happy. 2) [b]BAIREI YASUJIRO vs SUZANNE BRAZZLE [COLOR="Blue"]in a Group 4 match[/COLOR][/b] While most of the crowd may not know Bairei, they left knowing what he was capable of in, out and above the ring after this match. Brazzle tried to keep Bairei grounded but the experienced Japanese star refused to be taken out of his high risk gameplan and it paid off for him after 10 minutes when he stunned the wonder woman (of wrestling at least) with a sit out piledriver and a pinfall victory. An impressive win for the international superstar, he really showcased the Adrenaline style and left the crowd demanding more. WINNER: [b]Bairei Yasujiro[/b] in 10:36 3) [b]William Hayes[/b] made his official WDW debut by cutting a promo on the local crowd, saying they don't appreciate true talent as much as the Japanese crowds of PGHW do. He was interupted by [b]Jennifer Heat[/b] who agreed that the crowds here sucked too (cheap heat) before putting over her client [b]Champagne Lover[/b] as a real man who would show everyone here where the future of wrestling was at. She then spelled it out for those of who didn't understand, saying that it was Mexico. [b]WILLIAM HAYES vs CHAMPAGNE LOVER w/ Jennifer Heat [COLOR="Green"]in a Group 2 match[/COLOR][/b] The crowd were torn for who to boo the most, but they seemed to decide that cheering Jennifer Heat was a good plan, leaving the men in the ring to have a one upsmanship contest in technical skills and cheap shots. They were given 13 minutes to showcase their all round skills before both men had enough of the other cheating and went outside to gather weapons. Both had similar ideas and went for chairs, duelling briefly o nthe outside before being counted out together. The fans... well, they didn't like the finish much. WINNER: Double Count-Out in 12:59 4) [b]BALI SO'OIALO vs STEVE FLASH [COLOR="Red"]in a Group 1 match[/COLOR][/b] Prior to the match the announcers hyped up the proud heritage of the Samoan family, who's extended collective skills have graced and succeeded in almost every wrestling country across the world. Despite arguably being from an area of the world with less competition, Bali proved to be more than a competent match for the veteran Flash, who himself has never broken free of the "indy star" label. The match ended after 15 minutes when Bali hit the Samoan Driver and followed up with a cover, much to the surprise of many in attendance who boo'ed his direct, aggressive and mildly illegal style of attack. WINNER: [b]Bali So'oialo[/b] in 15:55 5) Backstage we join [b]Dharma Gregg[/b] as she tries to get an interview with the 2004 Olympic silver medallist in Freestyle wrestling, [b]Li Bingci[/b]. After failing to get anything coherent from him [b]Vita[/b] appears and speaks to Li. Dharma asks what Vita said and she replied [color="red"]"I'm making sure he never comes second again!"[/color]. [b]LI BINGCI vs BARRY KINGMAN [COLOR="Orange"]in a Group 3 match[/COLOR][/b] Nero on commentary started the match by greatly hyping Barry Kingman's father, Ray Kingman, reminiscing about facing him in the ring decades ago, then saying Barry was nothing in comparison to his father. The match itself showed a similar story as the Olympic medallist grounded Kingman and never allowed him to get off the mat and use his aerial skills. The finish came when Kingman had eventually gotten to his feet, only to miss with a wild right hand and get caught with a beautiful German suplex which earned Bingci the pinfall victory. At ringside, Vita seemed to distract a few fans from the match but she helped celebrate the victory afterwards. Seems like a decent way to get some bonus heat for our new Olympic hero. Kingman simply looked frustrated, not at all pleased at losing to someone in their first match. WINNER: [b]Li Bingci[/b] in 13:32 6) Backstage, a very short skit is shown of [b]Corporal Doom[/b] barking out orders to "[color="DarkGreen"]beat those young punks within an inch of their lives[/COLOR]" to his privates Chance and Fate AKA [b]The Soldiers of Fortune[/b]. In the background, we see a shady figure slowly marching back and forth. [b]SOLDIERS OF FORTUNE vs MIGHTY FINE w/ Seduction[/b] Mighty Fine were introduced as one of the finest young tandems in pro wrestling, with Darryl Devine (and girlfriend Alanis "Seduction" Springsteen) and Jacob Jett stealing the show wherever they go. The veteran soldiers, complete with their regular facepaint and new army costume (looking a little bit like the New Wave in DaVE) were dominant in this match, letting their tag experience shine through. The finish came as Chance suckered Jett when he wasn't looking, deliberately sending him crashing on top of Seduction at ringside. Devine immediately tried to help her out but was caught in the ring by both Chance and Fate who hit a Spike Piledriver to get the three count on Devine. WINNERS: [b]Soldiers of Fortune[/b] in 11:40 After the match, Jett tried to help Seduction but Devine shoved him away and helped her to the back himself while Jett apologised for what had happened. The Soldiers laughed cruelly from the entrance way as they watched. 7) As a brief intermission was announced, [b]Pain 'n' Pleasure[/b] once again played the PPV theme song and rocked out. [b]Roxy Kitten[/b], a little known piece of eye candy from little known T&A promotion BSC, danced and moshed with the band. 8) [b]CORPORAL DOOM vs FREDDIE DATSUN [COLOR="Green"]in a Group 2 match[/COLOR][/b] Perhaps the biggest pop of the night went to Datsun's entrance, proving that he is still as popular as he was back when he reigned supreme in DaVE years ago. If only he'd reigned supreme in the SWF instead of Doom, he might still have been there today. The match itself was a far more grounded and old school affair than most of tonight's matches but if didn't suffer from that in the slightest. In fact, the crowd really got into it and popped big time when Datsun scored with the Patriot Press and picked up the victory. WINNER: [b]Freddie Datsun[/b] in 8:48 9) The gorgeous [b]BJ O'Neill[/b] catches up with [b]Jimmy P[/b] backstage before his match and he hypes WDW as being the place where the new generation get their chance to shine. He says the men we saw before are relics of the past (jeers for insulting Datsun) and that men like Black Hat Bailey are too old to have much a future, let alone to be the future. [b]JIMMY P vs BLACK HAT BAILEY [COLOR="Blue"]in a Group 4 match[/COLOR][/b] It appears that Bailey hasn't changed his attire or gimmick for the best part of 300 years but he showed in this match that he's as capable of being a top tier star as anyone else. Jimmy P was extremely confident as he used his youth and speed to try and tire out his veteran opponent, but this proved to be his downfall in the end too. Bailey countered a missile dropkick and locked in the Bailey Breaker (Texas Cloverleaf) and forced Jimmy to tap out. The crowd were respectful to Bailey, who icily ignored Jimmy after the match and simply returned to the back. Jimmy... well, he was a bit more emotional and didn't look at all happy. WINNER: [b]Black Hat Bailey[/b] in 12:58 10) [b]DARK ANGEL w/ Travis Century vs BRENT HILL [COLOR="Orange"]in a Group 3 match[/COLOR][/b] The mysterious Dark Angel was led to the ring by "The Preacher" Travis Century who put him over as being the closest thing to a God in wrestling. Lots of heat there for both men. Hill didn't seem at all phased by the eerie entrance of Angel of the words of Century who sat silently at ringside, observing a vaguely churchlike silence, as if listening to a sermon. The match itself was a great high flying/technical hybrid with both men really working hard. It looked like it could've went either way, but [b]Barry Kingman[/b] came from the crowd and tripped Hill at an important moment. Angel hit an STO to take Hill down and then climbed to the top to hit a Fallen Angel Moonsault, possibly the most visually impressive move I've seen in a long time. WINNER: [b]Dark Angel[/b] in 17:46 After the match, [b]Steve Flash[/b] and [b]Rick Sanders[/b] caught up with Brent Hill. Rather than try to interview them, BJ O'Neill told the cameraman with her to lurk around the corner and eavesdrop, allowing us to hear the group known as [b]Old School[/b] talking about Barry Kingman and how he's just frustrated he'll never be as good as his father and that he was too much of a whiner to hang around with them. O'Neill smiled as she heard this, knowing that her journalistic skills were paying off, even if Dharma was getting the better interviews. [center][size=6][b][u][COLOR="Purple"] **TONIGHT'S MAIN EVENT**[/size][/b][/u][/COLOR] [IMG]http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c33/DerekB83/WDW%20Diary/TomAngelus.jpg[/IMG][IMG]http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c33/DerekB83/WDW%20Diary/VS.jpg[/IMG][IMG]http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c33/DerekB83/WDW%20Diary/HumanArsenal.jpg[/IMG] [b]TOM ANGELUS vs HUMAN ARSENAL [COLOR="Red"]in a Group 1 match[/COLOR][/center][/b] A lot of people expected a lot from this match, marking one of the first times [b]Tom Angelus[/b] had been on TV as a wrestler instead of a power lifter. Despite being 12 inches shorter and giving up almost 100 pounds, Human Arsenal dominated the match, unleashing a barrage of suplexes and powerful strikes that simply overwhelmed the massive Angelus. Lasting less than 10 minutes, Arsenal dropped an exhausted looking Angelus to the mat with his Ammo Dump. WINNER: [b]Human Arsenal[/b] in 9:49 [b][u]SHOW NOTES[/u][/b] The first WDW event seemed to go down well with the fans, with the Bailey/Jimmy match somewhat suprisingly being praised as the best of the night during a quick informal poll of fans leaving the arena. Obviously we're debuting a lot of people at once, many of whom the fans know nothing about so we don't expect too much. The early PPV buyrate has been put in the region of 6,000, which isn't as well as we may have hoped to do. But then, its for a kinda weekly show instead of the giant monthly events that the SWF and TCW run so, we know we can't expect buyrates like that yet. Lots of storylines have been kicked off, lots of future stars have been debuted and next week will see more of the same. I realise that we promised WDW to have lots of high flying style action but with the focus being on the build up to Crowning Glory at the end of March, we simply don't have time for that until we get on to TV. And then.... oh yes, it'll be time for the other big guns. Oh yes. [b]FINAL SHOW RATING: C+[/b] [QUOTE] [u]Quick Results From [b]Road To Glory I[/b][/u] [i]Bairei Yasujiro defeated Suzanne Brazzle [10:36] (C-) William Hayes and Champagne Lover wrestled to a double count out [12:59] (C) Bali So'oialo and Steve Flash [15:55] (C) Li Bingci defeated Barry Kingman [13:32] (C) Soldiers of Fortune defeated Mighty Fine [11:40] (C) Freddie Datsun defeated Corporal Doom [8:48] (B-) Black Hat Bailey defeated Jimmy P [12:58] (B) Dark Angel defeated Brent Hill [17:46] (C+) Human Arsenal defeated Tom Angelus [9:49] (B-)[/i] [/QUOTE] [QUOTE] [center][u][size=4]Quick Card for [b]Road To Glory II[/b][/u][/size] [b][u]Group 1[/b][/u] [i]Bali So'oialo vs Human Arsenal Steve Flash vs Tom Angelus[/i] [b][u]Group 2[/b][/u] [i]William Hayes vs Freddie Datsun Corporal Doom vs Champagne Lover[/i] [b][u]Group 3[/u][/b] [i]Li Bingci vs Brent Hill Barry Kingman vs Dark Angel[/i] [u][b]Group 4[/b][/u] [i]Bairei Yasujiro vs Jimmy P Black Hat Bailey vs Suzanne Brazzle[/i] [/QUOTE] [IMG]http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c33/DerekB83/WDW%20Diary/WDW2.jpg[/IMG][/center] [/QUOTE] [b][u]OOC:[/b][/u][i] For everyone's info, I've pretty much ripped off Scapino's "SWF - This Means War" lay out for my shows here because I like it so much. Nice and clear and hopefully it'll stop me from rambling too much at times like I know I often do. :) Thanks for the feedback so far, I really didn't expect so many people to make predictions even though I had kinda hoped someone would. Interesting to see who you guys think will be going through too. I actually ran all the Road To Glory shows before I seen any predictions (I needed to advance a bit for certain reasons) and I'm happy to see no-one has got them all right yet. I guess that means I'm not being too obvious for once. Oh, and I did deliberately set the tournament up so that I could push some unknowns. Took a bit of thought to work out how to do it too, but I think I got there in the end. Even if I do end up pushing the same people as everyone else, I'm gonna try and do it slightly differently. Lastly, Bali is getting annoyed at you calling him Samoan Machine. Its Bali So'oialo damnit!![/i] Derek B Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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