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TEW 2007: Universal Takeover! >The Slow Build (backstory)


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Still October 2006 [B][U][SIZE="4"]Still October 2006[/SIZE][/U][/B] As we left off earlier in the month the name James Dolan, was dropped by Jim Ross....His name was easily recognizable due to my years of work in Media sales...James Dolan was The Chairman of Madison Square Garden and President & Chief Executive Officer of Cablevision System Corp....His career has spanned 20 years in which he flourished in cable advertising sales, and developing of niche programming networks...In his spare time he also oversees the the sports teams owned by Cablevison/MSG "The New York Knicks and Rangers" [B]and apparently Vince Mcmahon has finally p!ssed him off![/B] As JR sat down in my office, he told me how WWE stopped running Madison Square Garden, basically because the rent was way too high...The WWE/WWF and MSG have had a relationship back to the days of Vince Sr. including many house shows, televised wrestling cards and of course Wrestlemania I, Wrestlemania X and Wrestlemania XX..But now, Vince has not only stopped running the Garden, but he also pulled WWE MSG Classics off of The MSG Network in part to use as a bargaining chip with the the new "Versus" network... Apparently Jim Ross was a liason between Dolan and McMahon when it came to dealing with the WWE at the Garden and Dolan was infuriated that McMahon pulled its program...Dolan has been looking to fill a void off programming on MSG and called Ross to express his concerns...Jim Ross, mentioned that he may be getting involved in an up-start abliet low budgeted wrestling organization, with a throwback style reminiscent of what we may have seen in the early 80's...Ross completely sold Dolan on the concept on how it would provide alternative options to the wrestling fan, with a completely different approach to what the WWE has been feeding us for 20 years... [IMG]http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d43/cpevans31/dolan.jpg[/IMG] Dolan, was a man to take chances, and has a reputation of sometimes not making the most sound business decisions as is obvious as to him retaining Isiah Thomas as the man in charge of the New York Knick. So, to Dolan it actually made a little sense to invest into an unknown commodity. However, this unknown commodity was more known , due to the fact he has dealt with Jim Ross... What Dolan was looking for was a weekly wrestling program for MSG...What he was willing to give for it, was an extremely reduced rent for a monthly card to be held at Madison Square Garden...This seemed like it was done more with the intent to "Stick IT" to Vince Mcmahon...Dolan figures he can make money off the advertising for the wrestling as UWF would allow MSG to keep all advertising fees...The weekly TV shows would draw the fans to the Garden, where it wouldn't recieve high rent fees usually charged, but instead would make money from concessions...It would be up to the UWF to produce the new stars, that will make the people come out...Dolan agreed to give the UWF one year to make it all happen. [IMG]http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d43/cpevans31/MSGlogo.gif[/IMG] The UWF has gone from a blurb on wrestling news sites to Madison Square Garden in just a few short days thanks in part to Vince's ego!
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OCtober 10th, 2006 [IMG]http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d43/cpevans31/reduwflogo.jpg[/IMG] [COLOR="Navy"][B]UWFwrestling.com [/B][/COLOR] has reported that the Universal Wrestling Federation has agreed to terms with independent wrestling sensation [IMG]http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d43/cpevans31/larrysweeney.jpg[/IMG] [B]Alex Whybrow[/B] [SIZE="1"][B]aka[/B][/SIZE] [SIZE="5"][B][U]Larry Sweeney[/U][/B][/SIZE] [B]5-9 193lbs Redondo Beach, California[/B] [B]Born: February 18th, 1981 Debuted: May 1, 2004[/B] Known as "Sweet and Sour" Larry Sweeney has made his name in various independent wrestling organizations throughout the United States.....He was originally trained by Mike Quackenbush at the Chikara Wrestling Factory and also spent time in Portland, Oregon learning his craft from "Playboy" Buddy Rose...In addition to Chikara, Sweeney has been a regular in IWA-Mid South, Pro Wrestling Guerilla, CZW and recently FIP..Currently he has been defending his ICW/ICWA TexArkana Television Championship across the country. Sweeney personifies the image of "old-school" heel using an array of fistdrops, elbows and piledrivers, as well as his gift of gab to draw a wide arrange emotion from all fans alike.. For sneek peek of what UWF fans can expect from (Alex Whybrow) aka Larry Sweeney take a look at this video
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JR's Blog [IMG]http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d43/cpevans31/jrsblog.jpg[/IMG] Well fans, I've got a big anouncement to make and that is that good ole JR is returning home and by home I mean back to the announce table of a pro wrestling organization that will be built with compelling characters, sensible storylines and athletic matchups... I've played the role of sports entertainer for over 15 years now, and as I approach the end of my career, I'd like to go out the way I came in...Back in the mid 80's when wrestling was still in the territorial system, I got my start in Mid-South Wrestling which later became known as The UWF....Well today I'd like to announce that the UWF is set to make it's comeback beginning in 2007 and were really excited about the direction the NEW UWF is starting to take... The old UWF run by Cowboy Bill Watts will always hold a place in my heart..They had such outstanding talent as "Dr. Death" Steve Williams, Ted Dibiase, The Fabulous Freebirds, Eddie Gilbert, Sting, Terry Taylor, The Fantastics the list goes on and it was really the hotbed of professional wrestling in the 80's check these clips, to see what I mean...As, Vince doesn't own every wrestling library yet
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October 21st, 2006 Vince McMahon has now become furious, that another organization has set foot on his home territory... McMahon has always considered the Garden his home office, his headquarters, per say. The new UWF has reached an agreement with cablevision/msg ceo James Dolan to produce a weekly wrestling program for The MSG network and MSG will supply a reduced rent Madison Square Garden venue for a monthly UWF wrestling event... McMahon has also become furious that his long time employee Jim Ross has been using his connections to secure these deals... Ross has been portrayed as the figurehead leader of this new UWF movement...Ross, who tried to convince McMahon in recent months to start up WCW as a 4th brand of "OldSchool" wrestling was consistantly shot down by Mr. McMahon, had support by fellow wrestlers that were interested in becoming part of that product...Now, Mr. McMahon has either gone out and fired anyone associated with Ross's dealings or just flat out released a few guys and today [B][COLOR="Navy"]UWFwrestling.com[/COLOR][/B] is reporting that the following former WWE superstars are set to join up with the UWF prior to the beginning of the new year.. [B][SIZE="5"]Charlie Haas[/SIZE][/B] [B][U]6-2 255lbs Edmund, Oklahoma[/U][/B] [IMG]http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d43/cpevans31/charliehaas2.jpg[/IMG] [B][SIZE="5"]Brent Albright[/SIZE][/B] [SIZE="2"][B](aka Gunner Scott)[/B][/SIZE] [B][U]6-0 240lbs Tulsa, Oklahoma[/U][/B] [IMG]http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d43/cpevans31/albrightpromopic.jpg[/IMG] [B][SIZE="5"]Trevor Murdoch[/SIZE][/B] [B][U]6-4 263lbs Waxahachie, Texas[/U][/B] [IMG]http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d43/cpevans31/murdoch1.jpg[/IMG] [B][SIZE="5"]Kasey James[/SIZE][/B] [B][U]6-1 235lbs Hendersonville, Tennessee[/U][/B] [IMG]http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d43/cpevans31/kaseyjames.jpg[/IMG] [B][SIZE="5"]Nick Dinsmore[/SIZE][/B] [SIZE="2"][B](aka Eugene)[/B][/SIZE] [B][U]6-0 231lbs Jeffersonville, Indiana[/U][/B] [IMG]http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d43/cpevans31/dinsmore2.jpg[/IMG] McMahon is now starting to look at the new UWF as a viable threat, TNA is starting to worry if their status as the clear #2 promotion is in jeopardy...ROH wonders if they'll be able to keep up with the UWF signings...The wrestling world is beginning to change...The UWF is coming January 2007!
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OCtober 31, 2006 [IMG]http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d43/cpevans31/reduwflogo.jpg[/IMG] [B][COLOR="Navy"]UWFwrestling.com[/COLOR][/B] is reporting The Universal Wrestling Federation has come to terms with one of the hardest hitting tag teams in existance [IMG]http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d43/cpevans31/briscoebrothers.jpg[/IMG] [B][SIZE="5"]Mark & Jay: The Briscoe Brothers[/SIZE][/B] [B]Both 6-1 and 220lbs each From Laurel, Delaware[/B] [B][U]Debuting in May of 2000[/U][/B] The Briscoe Brothers began their training at ECWA wrestletech, while still competing as standout High School football players..They have since made a name for themselves in various east coast independents, and have held many regional tag team titles including: ROH Tag Titles (Twice), FIP Tag Titles, CZW Tag Titles, Pro Wrestling Unplugged Tag Titles...Recently they have signed on for a tour of Pro Wrestling NOAH in Japan...The Briscoes will bring a fast paced, hard hitting, high impact style of wrestling to the Universal Wrestling Federation...Many would say they are the best tag team in the independents, while others might just say they are "The Best in the World"... For a peek of what UWF fans have to look forward to, here's a video of The Briscoe Brothers in action
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Quick update on the status of the new [B]Universal Wrestling Federation[/B] [B]Weekly television on MSG (Madison Square Garden Network) Monthly wrestling card at the Garden[/B] [I](this all came about as cablevision/msg ceo James Dolan had a falling out with Vince McMahon and a connection in Jim Ross, so he helped create new programming for his MSG network, by providing a venue and a network for UWF)[/I] [B][U]Owners of UWF[/U][/B] Jim Ross and a man simply known as Oldschool Bill Watts has a piece of the action due to him, trading his video library and rights to all title lineage, characters, and history of the original UWF [B]Under Contract[/B] [U]Road Agent/Announcer/Manager/Leader[/U] Ted Dibiase [U]Wrestlers[/U] Claudio Castagnoli Nigel Mcguinness Harry Smith TJ Wilson Larry Sweeney Charlie Haas Brent Albright Trevor Murdoch Kasey James Nick Dinsmore Jay Briscoe Mark Briscoe Still to Come: 1. Our business plan and company goals 2. More wrestlers signed to contracts 3. Titles 4. Decisions to give contracted wrestlers new identities or not 5. How UWF is being viewed by media and other promotions and finally The Debut of: [IMG]http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d43/cpevans31/reduwflogo.jpg[/IMG] [B]UNIVERSAL WRESTLING FEDERATION[/B]
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November 2006 [B][U]Where we left off[/U][/B] Well, essentially we just exploded on to the wrestling scene overnight...Over the course of one month, I went from trying to get this little independent off the ground and onto my former employer, "OLN or "Versus" as it now is called...To becoming the biggest thorn in the side of Vince McMahon in under 30 days...Jim Ross walked into my office after his contract wasn't renewed because he wanted to bring the same vision I have, to the WWE in a 4th brand extension...Bill Watts who I negotiated a deal with to use his history, characters, library and lineage sent Ross my way...McMahon tried to block us from getting onto Versus by pulling his MSG Classics off of MSG and use it as a bargaining chip to get Versus to stop negotiating with us...However, Jim Ross had been the contact man with MSG chairman James Dolan who now was p!ssed off at McMahon from pulling the program and not running the Garden. Dolan now wanted to help create his own programming by supplying air time and a reduced rent Madison Square Garden for our growing promotion... So, Like I said....From a nothing happening indy to Monthly shows at MADISON SQUARE GARDEN and weekly TV on MSG...We had been signing up some fine independent talent...Harry Smith, TJ Wilson, Claudio Castagnoli, Nigel McGuinness, Larry Sweeney, The Briscoe Brothers...Jim Ross helped bring over some WWE talent that was let go in Charlie Haas, Nick "Eugene" Dinsmore, KC James, Trevor Murdoch, Brent "Gunner Scott" Albright...The new UWF now had credible television, a venue, a history and a pretty decent roster....So Ross and I decided to set down and start mapping out our game plan.. We decided what was old, is now new...So our intention was to recreate some of the classic storylines and angles that oldschool fans clamour for and new fans haven't seen... We plan on bringing the sport back into wrestling, with the idea of won/loss records, rankings, not to mention exciting athletic action...We plan to reintroduce to the world the new era of KAYFABE, compelling storytelling matches, and the art of selling....And, most importantly help develope our roster into a new generation of wrestling superstars, through solid character developement, gimmicks and video production.. Some of our wrestlers will wrestle as they are, some will be repackaged into new gimmicks and characters...The idea of competition and titles will be their motivation...Bra and panty matches, 20 minute interviews, The Kiss my @ss club, promoting straight to dvd movies will NOT be what UWF is all about... Our idea is simple is better, tell a story, and have it make sense...We'll use our weekly TV program to try to draw fans to our monthly MSG show....We dont expect to sell it out, heck, were hoping for crowds around a 1,000 or so as we develope a fan base that craves an alternative to WWE and TNA...Eventually we'd like to run a special tv event or pay-per-view, but we know we have work to be done first...Eventually we'd like to expand,as our name holds some clout in the Mid-South and we'd like to venture north to New England and westward to the Midwest as well....But staying true to our area first and foremost is our main priority...It wont be easy as Vince McMahon will try to break us before we can really get started for setting up shop in his backyard, but we believe there is an audience for us and that we will develope a lockeroom of wrestlers supporting our passion to ultimately help us become the premier wrestling organization in the UNIVERSE!
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November 3, 2006 [IMG]http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d43/cpevans31/reduwflogo.jpg[/IMG] [B][COLOR="Navy"]UWFwrestling.com[/COLOR][/B] is reporting that the Universal Wrestling Federation has signed 2 more wrestlers to their roster...One of which is very familiar and the other is not quite as well known...Both wrestlers have made a name for themselves in recent months on the international scene [SIZE="5"][B]Matt Bloom[/B][/SIZE] [IMG]http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d43/cpevans31/bernard.jpg[/IMG] [B][U][SIZE="4"]6-6 353lbs from Arizona[/SIZE][/U][/B] Matt Bloom falls in line with the storied history of UWF big men such as:One Man Gang, Bubba Rodgers, Ernie Ladd, Terry Gordy and Dick Murdoch...He is mostly known for his time spent in the WWE first as Prince Albert, then as A-Train, where he was once a proud holder of the Intercontinental Championship...More recently Bloom has vastly improved his work while competing in New Japan Pro Wrestling under the name of Giant Bernard...It is not known yet, what name and character Bloom will work as in the new UWF, but the UWF is excited to have this talented big men who began his career under training from Killer Kowalski and Dory Funk Jr. [SIZE="5"][B]Fergal Devitt[/B][/SIZE] [IMG]http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d43/cpevans31/devitt.jpg[/IMG] [B][U]6-0 205lbs Dublin, Ireland[/U][/B] Fergal Devitt hasn't quite made a name for himself in the United States yet, but the young hard hitter from Dublin, Ireland is becoming very well recognized internationally as he recently has appeared in New Japan Pro Wrestling...With a style that has been compared to Chris Beniot, Devitt has even worked in New Japan in the character of Beniot's old gimmick "Wild Pegasus II". Devitt made his debut in November of 2005 and has spent sometime in the states at The Inoki Dojo and held the NWA British Commonwealth Championship...His upcoming run in the new UWF, will be his first major exposure to American audiences.
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November 2006 [B][SIZE="5"][U]Meeting of The Minds[/U][/SIZE][/B] [I][SIZE="2"][COLOR="Navy"]Driving to my office in Stamford, Connecticut and I still cant believe how far this project has come so quickly...The agenda for my day at work is a sitdown meeting with Jim Ross, Bill Watts, Ted Dibiase and myself to discuss the creative direction of the new UWF...For a brief moment before I walk into our board room, I have to collect myself and remember that I'm not just a fan, but the president of this company...I open the door.[/COLOR][/SIZE][/I] [B]ME:[/B] Good morning gentlemen, you guys are going to have to pinch me and wake me up, because I cant believe how well this project is coming along, and I truly want to show my gratitude to you guys for helping make this happen. [B]JR:[/B] Well kid, you better wake up quick, because we've p!ssed off the most influential man in this business, who will make it his personal vendetta to put us out of business as fast as he can. [B]Watts:[/B] You know Jim, he was the one who created this monster himself, if he wouldn't be so narrow minded, you'd probably be having this meeting in his offices across town. [B]JR:[/B] Yeah, well, you see where that went...And I'm a firm believer its for the better, because we all have a better vision of this concept we want to implement and you just know what direction he would've taken it in. [B]Dibiase:[/B] So, I understand the concept... Re-inventing the wheel, so to speak...The idea of whats old is whats new, thought is certainly intriguing...Where are we gonna go with it. [B]ME:[/B] Well, like I've said before, the art of selling, storytelling matches, tag team matches, compelling storylines, believable characters, kayfabe, athleticism are all what the UWF/Mid South Wrestling was about in the past and what it will be in the future... I'd really like to put a modern spin on some old classic angles like, you and Flair from mid-south days or Bill being buried by The Russian flag or The Freebirds blinding of JYD, the old Mr. Wrestling/Magnum TA protege angle...There's also many classic Eddie Gilbert stuff or since we're going to be running the Garden, we can recreate some classic old WWWF rivalries like Snuka/Muraco, Sammartino/Zbyszko, Dusty/Billy Graham...There is a new wrestling audience that hasn't lived this and there is an old wrestling audience that misses this. [B]Dibiase:[/B] Do we have the roster, to help make this work? I know we've got some fine talent, but will the fans buy into them? [B]Watts:[/B] I think thats going to be up to us writing it, Jim selling it and Mr. Oldschool promoting it...But there is certainly and "oldschool" feel to this roster. [B]JR:[/B] Charlie Haas is a big ole Oklahoma boy with a very credible wrestling background and solid workrate..I could see him being a bit like Dr. Death..Gunner Scott as we called him in the E, another Oklahoma boy with great wrestling credentials could certainly be much like how Ted was back in the day...We'll just have to work with these guys on their mic skills. [B]Dibiase:[/B] Well Trevor Murdoch just screams "oldschool" and from my understanding worked that name a few times in the indies prior, to joing the "E" so McMahon doesn't own the rights to it.. [B]ME:[/B] Thats correct, and I say we let him run with being Trevor Murdoch, a plain ole big boy in simple black wrestling trunks and boots, no frills kind of guy. [B]JR:[/B] How about some of these indy phenoms we got...Like Claudio and Nigel, Larry Sweeney... [B]Watts:[/B] Well, you know fans of the old WWF at the garden really got behind some ethnic wrestlers like POLISH Power Ivan Putski or Puerto Rican Pedro Morales, Bruno the Italian, Japanese guys like Fuji and Saito, maybe we can go that direction as we have a Brit, A Swiss and Irish kid all on board. [B]ME:[/B] Nigel and Claudio have made serious names for themselves on Indy circuit, I'm not sure if I'd repackage them, but Fergal Devitt could use a gimmick, or name change and he has alot of talent, that I think he can be made into a star...And does anyone else, besides me think Larry Sweeney can be a great mouthpiece/hides behind his proteges/partners kind of wrestler? Much like Eddie Gilbert did back in the old UWF.. [B]Dibiase:[/B] I could see it...The role of Managers is something that business has really gotten away from. [B]JR:[/B] You're so right and I think someone here in this room might make for a great manager, buying up and recruiting wrestling talent from around the world with his millions of dollars. [B]Dibiase:[/B] (In only the way that Dibiase can laugh) Hahahahahahahhahahaha..Whatever we need! [B]ME:[/B] What other guys do you think we should try to repackage? [B]Watts:[/B] Well, I'd say we certainly dont want Nick Dinsmore playing a mentally challenged wrestler, and I'd say A-Train Matt Bloom could use some direction...Are we going to be bringing in some more talent? We probably really could use a big name to be the face of the company like a Goldberg or a Lesnar or a... [B]JR:[/B] I have contacted my good pal Stone Cold Steve Austin, but I'm not sure if we can really afford any of them...I have made contact with a current WWE wrestler whose contract is expiring, but he's not of any great name value, but surely would be a nice addition with the athletic part of our product, but I'm sworn to secrecy right now.. [B]ME:[/B] How about any more of these indy guys, can we get aboard like a Bryan Danielson, now he's "oldschool/athletic" as they come or Roderick Strong, Austin Aries, Christopher Daniels [B]JR:[/B] I'd say we could use anyone of those guys, we'll have to gauge their interest... [B]Dibiase: [/B] I think we could use another tag team or two if we're going to try and put that back onto the map...However, I really like the start we have with Bulldog's kid and his partner and these Briscoe kids. [B]JR:[/B] Thats a Rock-N-Roll/Midnight Express kind of feud/rivalry we could have right from the get go... [B]ME:[/B] So we're leaving here today with the idea of grabbing or creating a couple of tag teams...Looking for another indy star or two, and if the price is right, that big name that could be the face of the company...Let's not also forget to get some enhancement talent, remember those days, that we can use to help make some of names look good on TV.. [B]JR:[/B] Alright, lets get it done as we're only a couple of months away from running Madison Square Garden Boys... [I][SIZE="2"][COLOR="navy"]and again, I just sit back in my chair and say to myself WOW! This really is happening.[/COLOR][/SIZE][/I]
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