Shawn Michaels - Road To Glory?

[cambo]

I’m starting this, my first ever (proper) game on my newly purchased copy of WreSpi & I’m using the DOTT database. Kudos to the guys for putting it together, it looks good. I’ll be playing through as Shawn Michaels, starting in August 1983 with the man who would become to be known as “The Showstopper” a raw 18-year-old wrestling in Southwest Championship Wrestling. Owned by Joe Blanchard & booked by Jonathan Boyd, the SWCW has 3 championship belts currently, the currently vacant lower mid-card Southwest Television, the main event Southwest Tag Team (held by Eric Embry & Ken Timbs) & the main event Southwest Heavyweight (held by Scott Casey), which has a minimum weight of middleweight, currently not a possibly for Shawn as he is down as a lightweight. They are small federation which runs with a hardcore style of product even before hardcore became the in the thing in the mid/late 90s. They currently have 3 weekly events, SWCW on Tour!, SWCW Takes Texas! & the taped for TV show Southwest Championship On to some personal info on the future Heartbreak Kid, this native of San Antonio, Texas has just celebrated his 18th birthday. He is currently working a verbal contract in SWCW, earning $25 per appearance as a show opening babyface. His deal has 145 days left on it. With only $2,000 in the bank, even working all 3 shows a week he’d only amass $300 a month, which will mean that Shawn Michaels would be losing $200 a month which means having to get his agent to look at other places for him to work as one of the top priorities. Another slight problem Michaels has is that looking at his moveset, he can’t perform many of the moves in it, such as Rocker Elbow Drop, Sweet Chin Music & Tear Drop Suplex. So it’ll be a greatly reduced arsenal until the technical skill in particular gets raised. Finally, before I get started, here’s a quick run down of his stats [u]Overness[/u] USA: 4, Canada 0, Mexico 0, Japan 0, UK 0, Europe 0, Australia 0 [u]Skills and Abilities[/u] Spirit 12, Power 28, Technique 34, Speed 56, Psychology 55, Stamina 47, Toughness 47, Charisma 78, Microphone 55, Safety 55, Looks 83, Respect 7

[cambo]

Week 1, August 1983 The name is Shawn Michaels & this is going to be my diary to follow my potential wrestling career. Hopefully I’m going to get enough breaks to show I should be main eventing for the big guys in a few years down the line, the AWA, MACW & WWF. But we all have to start somewhere & for me “somewhere” is my home state of Texas with Southwest Championship Wrestling, the SWCW. For those who aren’t familiar with me, I like to utilise a series of quick moves, sometimes slightly high risk/high reward moves from the top rope & the like. Currently I’ve got no real friends in the business, but I’m sure I’ll manage to change that. Well, after sorting out my training regime I got in touch with Jerry Wiseman, my agent, & we got looking at potential federations where I could earn a few extra bucks. After looking around, meetings were arranged with the UK based All Star Wrestling, Calgary Stampede Wrestling, Pacific Northwest, Southeastern Championship Wrestling, Universal-Pro Wrestling in Japan & Universal Wrestling Association south of the border in Mexico. Since SWCW were good enough to give me my first opportunity, for now I shall try to work any alternative federations around the weekly schedule they are running, so Thursdays, Fridays & Saturdays are going to try to be avoided. That ruled out ASW & UPW & they were quickly notified. Because of the way scheduling worked out I was set on Pacific Northwest, who have a TV show on Wednesday as well as a regular show each Tuesday which would of worked well. However Southeastern Championship Wrestling, who have 3 weekly shows on Tuesday, Thursday & Saturday were offering $64 per show as an Upper mid-card babyface which is just too good to turn down so the deal was sealed. For now 2 jobs seems plenty. So my first card with SECW would be on the Tuesday for SECW on Tour!! where I will be opening the show up against Ken Wayne who seems to be a fairly balanced middleweight, skills wise. Before I go out I have a brief word with Jacques Rougeau who welcomes me to the locker room & lets me know what is what. Seemed like a nice guy, but maybe he is just bored as he doesn’t have a match. The match started pretty slowly with both of us wriggling out of moves & blocking punches, but when it looked after 3 minutes that I was starting to take hold, Wayne attacked me while I was playing to the crowd. How unfair! Wayne looked to be in control again on 6 minutes after more toing & froing with nobody getting the advantage, trying & succeeding in pinning me to the mat with a succession of holds trying to damage my legs a bit. However Ken was beginning to look a lot worse for wear & slowly it looked like I was coming out on top, hitting a 2nd rope dropkick which really stunned my opponent. And with 9 minutes gone already, Wayne was bust wide open from a DDT which was a bit of a surprise. Looking to capitalise I went for the pin but he still managed to kick out, albeit only just. Ken Wayne then came close to robbing a win with a school boy, but didn’t do enough, & then soon after tried a small package that also didn’t work. I got an excellent chance to move in when Ken missed a fist drop from the top rope, quickly missing a knee drop myself. After Ken seemed to lose his balance, probably thanks to blood lose, he stumbled about a little, allowing me to lock on a facelock & drill him into the mat for another DDT, 1, 2, 3. My debut in SECW leads to a win & is rated as a B- later on by some independent fanzine. Have to be happy with that. Next piece of action is not until Thursday, which will involve having to choose between SECW & SWCW for the first time. This time the SWCW won out, & so I’d be performing at SWCW On Tour! 4th on the bill facing up against Kelly Kiniski a middleweight who looks to be pretty good technically & more powerful than myself too. It’ll be a fight against the odds for sure. Before the match I share some general chit-chat with the SWCW booker Jonathan Boyd, doesn’t hurt to get in with the guys who can give you a push. I start our match off slowly, trying to surprise Kelly with some punches, an arm wringer & hammerlock & it seems to work, until I go for the dropkick, he sidesteps it & takes over, showing me how to really do the slow approach. Things then seem to go back & forth with no one man getting any form of advantage. Eventually the match tilts in my favour with a failed schoolboy on 14 minutes being a great chance to grab a win. After a piledriver I felt a bit ****y so went to the top for a half senton bomb, only to blow the move & give Kiniski another chance. On 17 minutes I get another guy bleeding from another DDT. Woah, powerful move. Quickly hooking the leg for the win, the match is another B- & this was a pretty big victory for me. No title belts changed hands in either SECW or SWCW.

[cambo]

News came through from both territories on Friday morning, with Tiger Conway Jr. released by SWCW, supposedly to cut costs, only for them to hire both Skull Murphy & Dave ‘Fit’ Finlay. Meanwhile SECW were doing hiring & firing of their own, with Humongous let go, replaced by the huge 20 year old John Tenta. I hope I don’t get thrown against him because I’ll have about 2 moves that I can use against someone that big. Anyway, staying in Texas tonight, I’d be opening the TV taping Southwest Championship in a tag team bout with Chick Donovan (a heel!) against Eric Embry & Jos Leduc (both heels, with Leduc a main eventer!). Well before that match I managed to bump into the owner, Joe Blanchard, for a brief conversation. And just as I was getting ready to come out I managed to share words with Embry who said he was looking forward to the match & gave me some advice on wrestling psychology. This coming from the current co-tag champion (along with partner Ken Timbs) was praise indeed, so I was hyped up for our match. I started against Leduc, muffing missing a dropkick, slipping out of a hammerlock before managing to connect with an arm wringer & then a quick punch. That was followed with my first venture to the top, with a 2nd rope dropkick levelling Leduc. To get anything against this team would require practically a miracle so I just decided to throw caution to the wind & go all out. I made the first tag at 3 minutes, letting Chick in. Embry was soon tagged in by Jos & tried to go to work, but a finger to the eye sorted him out. The ref managed to get knocked out after just 6 minutes, getting in the way as Donovan is thrown into the corner. Donovan tries to take advantage by getting a chair, however Eric Embry is quick enough to stop that. After 3 minutes of what looked to me of nothing but bungling about with a chair, the ref gets back up & I get tagged in, promptly missing a 2nd rope dropkick. Ouch. Trying to put a bodyslam through the table Chick put in the ring, I get nailed with a forearm. Eric then really gets set in to wearing me down, with arm wringers, punches & front facelocks slowing me right down. Still, I manage another 2nd rope dropkick which turns the tide a little. Going for the cover, I only manage a 1 count. Embry comes back, preventing me from reaching the tag, only to then tag Jos in himself. This man is a powerhouse. After managing a couple of comeback attacks I make the tag, only for the dazed ref to say he didn’t see it. Great! After Jos missed a 2nd rope kneedrop it was my chance however & this time the tag counted. Donavan then sets to work, getting the crowd shouting along to his 10 punches in the corner, before sitting him on the top turnbuckle & throwing him down. Leduc gets angry slams his shoulder repeatedly into Chicks gut & it doesn’t look pretty, but the crowd are eating it up. After taking a fair beating from Jos, Chick tags me back in & I set to work on his arms which arm looking slightly weakened. When it looks like he might be hurting, he wisely tags Embry back in. So it goes on. Chick trys a pinfall after a lowblow but only manages a 2 count on 28 minutes. On the 30 minute mark Chick tried to finish it with a punch with his brass knuckles, but Embry blocked it. Donavan did however nail a running powerslam which managed to grab us the win after 31 minutes. Match was another B-. Thanks to the tips from Eric before our match, I managed to learn abit in the psychology stakes from him. For Saturday I had to choose again between higher pay or the bigger fed, & as etiquette goes I chose SWCW. I’m rewarded with a singles match against Chick Donavan. OK, that’s odd booking. Regardless, can’t be fussy. Before the match I managed to get a moment with the legendary Lou Thesz who is currently here working as the Commissioner. He gave me some advice on the microphone & wished me luck, seemed like a nice guy. The match with Chick started stupidly. He tried to Irish Whip me, I reversed it & the ref got knocked out. Are these guys idiots or something? Same happened on 4 minutes. Wonderful. Well the match went back & forth again, but at the 10 minute mark the experience difference was showing as I was struggling to handle Chick & was dangerously close to losing. Missing dropkicks certainly wasn’t helping my cause. Still, I managed an impressive gutwrench backbreaker followed by a slingshot senton & hit the DDT which wasn’t enough to get the win. So after yanking Donavan back to his feet I set him up for a superkick, covered him, one, two, thre…NO! He still managed to kick out. Dammit! An attempt to head up to the top turnbuckle failed & momentum shifted. I managed to block 2 brass knuckles punches because they’d have made a big mark on my face, & countered with a Samoan drop. Picking Chick back up I threw him over the top rope & then started a run up for a running plancha dive, but Chick managed to roll out of the way. After another failed brass knucks punch I dropped another DDT, this time on a steel chair outside before rolling Donavan back in. After a successful 2nd rope knee drop & a quick headbutt, Chick still kicked out of the pin attempt. So I delievered a half-senton from the top in frustration. But after missing a bulldog, Chick whipped me into the ropes & hit me with a roll of quarters punch which got him the victory. Damn cheat. Even though we only fought for 18 minutes, I was exhausted but hungry for revenge. Match was rated B-. And so that was week 1. I managed to make $139 this week. It wasn’t easy. At least now I get Sunday & Monday off before it’s back to SECW.

[XellenceOfXecution]

Very nice writing! B-'s all the way is pretty damn good and I look forward to seeing how far you can take The Heartbreak Kid! :D

[D. Boons Ghost]

Fantastic diary, cambo! I'll echo XoX's sentiments, here: great writing style and I, too, will be looking forward to following young master Michaels' career. I am currently into '84 in my own Michaels career, so it will be really neat to see which direction you take him. One thing does mirror, though - Chick Donovon will be a constant thorn until you blow past him. :) Southwest is certainly a strange starting point for the young HBK (one of the lone 'pretty boys' on a roster of butt-ugly brawlers - heh), but there are some very skilled wrestlers on that roster. A guy like Embry could prove to be very influential on Shawn, considering Embry's PSY and Mic skills. Good luck!

[cambo]

Thanks for the comments guys, I was almost worried if I'd been a little too long winded in my write ups, you start to think that when the message board its self tells you to cut down your post size! Anyway, I'm a bit tired after work tonight to play anymore, but hopefully I'll get to bet reasonably early tonight & not be shattered when I get back from work tomorrow. It's been good fun so far anyway, & again I'd like to say thanks to the guys who worked on all the data because it's been fantastic so far & the chance to take a guy who is an internationally renowned guy now to the the top was something too good to resist. Although I did look at running with Owen Hart or Bam Bam Bigelow for a while, ultimately Michaels just has that 'thing' that makes him more interesting to write as.

[That Crazy Guy]

Wow, Very nice. So nice that you had D. Boon AND XoX to reply, :). But.. Now it's my turn to give you my two cents. You have great grammar, and your writing is excellent. Shawn Michaels is A great choice.. and you're doing it with excellence! Kelly Kiniski... The Kelly Kiniski match was well-written out, and as Xellence said, B-'s are very, very good. *Thumbs up*. Keep doing this, Because you're doing A great job [b]at[/b] doing it.

[cambo]

With time off spent basically in the gym & in the ring desperately trying to get better, around came Tuesday, where it was back to Tennessee for SECW On Tour! where they had moved me up to Main Event status, obviously impressed with the way I beat Ken Wayne last week. This week Robert Fuller booked me against Jacques Rougeau, who will be looking for a win after losing last week. Before the match, 2nd top on the bill behind only Mr Olympia against Rick McGraw, I managed to sit down & talk to Bob Armstrong, the current Southeastern Heavyweight Champion, who gave me some tips on interview technique. After that it was out into the ring to take on the Canadian. Jacques managed to gain the upper hand in the first couple of minutes, with head scissors, facelocks & other moves to try & slow me down. After slipping out of a rear chin headlock, I knocked in a couple of punches & was about to go for a dropkick when Jacques caught a leg & threw me to the ground. The control of the match ebbed & flowed both ways with us each managing to regularly reverse the opponents offence against him, only to quickly drop the ball & be quickly on the receiving end of a beat down. But by 7 minutes, despite the fact I seemed to have the upper hand, it was my Canadian opponent who managed to get the first pinfall attempt, getting a 2 count after I failed a body slam that saw him landing on top of me, & again after a failed back suplex. Neither of us seemed able to gain the advantage, even with us both tiring, but after a Samoan Drop, it was time to pick Jacques up, punch him but he blocked the DDT, & I then slipped out of his side suplex attempt. Jacques then came close with a double underhooked Cradle, but I managed to [i]just[/i] get my shoulder up in time to avoid the 3 count. However after slipping out of a side suplex, we briefly went back to avoiding each others offensive moves, before on 13 minutes I successfully hit a DDT which Jacques still manages to kick out of! Rougeau manages to knock out the referee before I down him with a clothesline. After going up to the top to nail him with a dropkick, I nail him with an arm wringer triple kick & try another DDT, only for Jacques to break it & come along with a running clothesline to knock me off my feet. After slipping out of a backbreaker I go back up to the top where I connect with a super arm drag to take down Jacques Rougeau again. As the referee finally gets up on the 20 minute mark, Rougeau is back in control, although his abdominal stretch did not succeed in making me tap out fortunately. After breaking his small package attempt, I throw him out over the top rope, which incurred the refs wrath as he gave me a ticking off, or at least tried to as I was running for the plancha dive. Unfortunately the ref obviously succeeding in distracting me a little as it was enough for Jacques to roll out of the way meaning I hit the concrete. After Jacques rolls back into the ring, I get a steel chair & follow him. He failed to execute a gutwrench backbreaker, & seeing the opportunity, I hit him with a Russian leg sweep directly onto the steel chair which splits his forehead wide open! The referee is not amused & rings the bell, DQing me for cheating on the 25th minute. None the less, it was a good hard match & we got a B+ rating. Couldn’t be too upset. After another day off I had to decide between SECW & SWCW on Wednesday, with the Texans getting me in the end. I was rewarded with the last but one match against Al Madril in a hardcore match, but before the match booker Jonathan Boyd gives me some tips on wrestling psychology. The match begins with me blocking a punch & preventing Al from going to the top rope, before hitting him with an arm drag & missing an elbow drop. However in the early stages the momentum was definitely in my favour & with 2 minutes gone I tried a ****y cover, which was broken up on the 1 count. However after that Madril really took over & I just could not get going. And with 9 minutes gone Al smacks me with some brass knuckles, which gets him the 3 count & the match a C rating. A very disappointing contest, I didn’t really have a look in for the last 6 minutes. The next day & it was time for the weekly TV taping where I was due to face up against Ken Mantell. Before this match Chavo Guerrero Sr. gives me some advice on in-ring psychology which is appreciated. The match with Ken is a no DQ match up & it starts with Mantell blocking my arm drag attempt, him putting in a couple of punches before I slipped out of his headlock & put him in one of my own. After following up a series of punches by bodyslamming Ken Mantell into the mat I go up to the top, Mantell stands up & he get greeted with a dropkick from the 2nd turnbuckle! 4 minutes gone & both of us tiring, Ken stops a charging forearm by punching me in the forehead, only to lose grasp of me when trying to suplex me, thus gifting me a perfect opportunity to get back on top before the momentum even has a chance to change. Mantell was looking like he was nearly out of it after just 6 minutes, & after I whipped him into the corner I followed it up by a series of knife edge chops, placed him on the top turnbuckle & then threw him straight back down again. As Ken staggered dazed back up to his feet, I climbed the turnbuckles for another 2nd rope dropkick. Mantell briefly countered with a kick to the gut, but before long I’d broken out of it & nailed him with a headbutt which took him by surprise & left him dazed. Sadly not confused though as my attempts to nail the DDT failed, so I threw Ken out over the top rope & jumped out afterwards with a forearm smash suicida that looked lethal. After getting back into the ring with a steel chair I got fed up waiting for Ken to get back inside so I flew back out with a Plancha dive & tried to get him in, only he came to life & countered with a punch & then a drop top hold. Everytime I got back on top I tried to put him inside the ring & each time he would suddenly come to life to stop me. Finally after an arm wringer I successfully rolled him under the bottom rope & followed in. However my attempt to drop Mantells head onto the steel chair failed & he seemed to come back to life, trying to get the submission with via a painful Boston Crab. After he attempted a Mafia Kick, I ducked under it & countered with a kick to his face which managed to make him bleed! This was followed with a bodyslam onto the chair & a pin attempt that he just managed to kick out of & no more. However after trying another Leaping Piledriver Mantells went got the win, rather undeservedly in my opinion, after I missed an arm wringer triple kick he ducked under. The match was a B- & ended on 18 minutes. A large problem I faced was just being unable to capitalise on the opportunity, with Ken Mantells managing to block 3 different DDT attempts. A very disappointing result that leaves me with 4 defeats in a row after winning my first 3. After speaking to both my personal trainer & my fitness trainer it was decided to try & work a lot on my stamina, because that is causing problems in not being able to finish matches. Earlier on Friday SWCW made a number of new signings, firing Eddie Mansfield but bringing in Mando Guerrero, Duke Myers & Dan Severn. Meanwhile SECW released Scott Armstrong & brought in both Ken Farber & Juan Rodriguez. On Saturday night I had a tough decision to make, whether to compete for Southeast or Southwestern, but the extra $40 I get paid for competing in SECW led me to heading back to Tennessee for the TV taping, & screw wrestling etiquette. After deciding to go to SECW they tell me I’m not on the card tonight. Fantastic. After wasting my time & the chance of pissing off SWCW management, that’s all I get. Great way to end my week.

[D. Boons Ghost]

Wow! That Rougeau match was splendid. Despite the loss, that was a hell of a match. As soon as Michaels threw Jacques over the top rope, I began screaming at the television, "Rookie Mistake!!" Then, of course, the ref has to step into the middle of it and ruin that plancha attempt. I tell ya, these refs are starting to enjoy their limelight a tad too much. Just let the guys wrestle, zebras! I have to admit, this Michaels kid really is starting to impress me. He's not your typical jobber-of-the-week, that's for sure. And did you hear all the chicks screeching like wounded owls? Holy cow... :) Great diary.

[cambo]

Thanks for the feedback there. In the Rougeau match, I kind of forgot where I was, I mean I forgot that SECW generally had rules! It's been really good fun rolling had Michaels so far, although I still don't really know what happened with the Al Madril match, I just got absolutely dominated, couldn't break any of his moves, didn't get a chance to counter, for 6 minutes I was just a spectator as he crushed Michaels. It was kind of funny really.