justtxyank Posted February 7, 2007 Share Posted February 7, 2007 [FONT="Book Antiqua"][CENTER]Man it’s been a long day. The 9 ½ hour meeting with the AOL-Time Warner suits to complete the sale wrapped up a little less than an hour ago. I of course wasn't invited. Instead, former WCW executive Eric Bischoff, Fusient Media chairman Brian Bedol, and a constituent of Fusient lawyers haggled things out. Me? Well for reasons that are becoming apparent, I was asked to wait here at the Fusient offices. Ugh. Right now I’d give anything to take my shoes off. Instead, I find myself sitting outside Brian’s office while he takes care of the “Eric situation.” It’s really comical actually. When this whole thing started, Eric was the one who was pushing it the hardest. Somewhere along the way though, he became merely a recognizable name that Brian was using to negotiate some sort of compromise on the television deal. And now he’s breaking the news to Eric. If the brunt of the news was simply that Eric would be leading an expansive creative team without total control, he might take it half-way decent considering the way WCW fell apart the last several years under his watch. But that isn’t the brunt of it at all. And by the sounds of things, he just found out. As the door to the office opens, I hop to my feet. Brian ushers me in. Eric elects not to get up from his chair, instead giving me a less than friendly nod of acknowledgment. [I]"So, it looks like we’ll be working together Eric. Here’s to a beautiful friendship."[/I] I say it half chiding, drawing a scowl from Brian. We won’t be working together and everyone in this room knows it. Eric will be working for me. He had his shot with this company and let it rot from the inside out. And after all these years of watching other people succeed with my ideas and hurling insults at me in the process, it feels damn good to be the man in charge. [B]My name is Paul Heyman damn it and today belongs to me.[/B][/CENTER][/FONT] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justtxyank Posted February 7, 2007 Author Share Posted February 7, 2007 [B][SIZE="3"][FONT="Book Antiqua"]Death of WCW[/FONT][/SIZE][/B][QUOTE] [FONT="Book Antiqua"]In late 1999, both Vince Russo and Ed Ferrera, then bookers for World Championship Wrestling, were suspended amid rumors that they wanted to make former UFC fighter Tank Abbott the WCW Champion (Abbott, despite his legitimate fighting background, had little wrestling experience and had failed to connect with WCW audiences). Kevin Sullivan, who had been an on/off booker over the course of several years, was placed in charge in the interim. The new writing team attempted to appease the demoralized wrestlers and fans by making Chris Benoit the WCW Champion at the Souled Out PPV in January 2000. However, because of the real-life personal issues between himself and Sullivan (Sullivan's wife left him for Benoit), let alone that prior to the PPV he and a few other wrestlers demanded their releases from the company (due to their lack of being pushed to stardom as well as their similar hatred for Sullivan), Benoit handed the belt back right after winning it and the next day left WCW. He signed with WWE along with his similarly frustrated friends Perry Saturn, Eddie Guerrero and Dean Malenko. The four quickly became popular in WWE as "The Radicalz". In April 2000, with ratings hitting new lows, both Russo and former executive Eric Bischoff were reinstated by WCW. They formed an on-screen union that stood up for the younger talent in the company (which they dubbed the New Blood) in their battle against the Millionaires Club, which consisted of the older, higher-paid, and more visible stars such as Hogan, Sting, and Diamond Dallas Page. Though initially well-received, the storyline quickly degenerated into yet another nWo rehash, with the heel nWo recast as the New Blood and the face WCW embodied in the Millionaire's Club. As well, the unorthodox and often controversial storylines continued. These included making actor David Arquette the WCW Champion in order to promote a WCW-themed movie, Ready to Rumble; Russo himself winning the WCW Championship in September 2000 (Russo, like Arquette, was not a trained wrestler); a botched June heel turn for Goldberg that greatly diminished his drawing power; and a shoot speech by Russo at Bash at the Beach 2000 aimed at Hulk Hogan which led to Hogan resigning and filing a defamation of character lawsuit against the company (which was eventually dismissed in 2002). Bischoff vanished once more in July 2000, and Russo was gone from WCW completely by late 2000, leaving Terry Taylor holding the reins. Meanwhile, when Time Warner bought out Turner's cable empire in 1996, it also purchased WCW. Even though Turner was a big fan and faithful to the professional wrestling shows on his stations (a professional wrestling program had helped get Turner's very first TV station, WTBS, off the ground, and WCW was, in fact, the modern incarnation of the promotion that Turner had run on WTBS back in those days) regardless of whether it was losing him money, Time Warner did not share his loyalty, especially when accounts showed that WCW was losing between $12-$17 million a year because of its decline. However, Turner was still the single largest Time Warner shareholder, and WCW was supported at his behest. When AOL merged with Time Warner in 2000, Turner was effectively forced out of his own empire. The new AOL Time Warner finally had the power to auction off WCW, which they saw as an unnecessary drain on resources. In late 2000, Bischoff and a group of private investors, calling themselves Fusient Media Ventures, inquired about buying WCW but nearly backed out when Turner networks head (and The WB founder) Jamie Kellner considered formally cancelling all WCW programming from its TV networks. With no network to air its programming, WCW would be of little value to Fusient, whose offer was dependent on the Turner networks continuing to air WCW programming. While negotiations stalled, an unfortunate event would occur that would provide an avenue to save WCW.[/FONT] [/QUOTE] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justtxyank Posted February 7, 2007 Author Share Posted February 7, 2007 [B][FONT="Book Antiqua"][SIZE="3"]Death of ECW[/SIZE][/FONT][/B] [QUOTE][FONT="Book Antiqua"]Like WCW, Extreme Championship Wrestling was nearing its final hour as the year 2000 came to a close. On December 30, 2000, ECW Hardcore TV aired for the last time and ECW Guilty As Charged was the last PPV aired on January 7, 2001. ECW Living Dangerously was going to air on March 11, 2001, but because of financial trouble it was cancelled before March 11. Heyman could not muster up the financial support to get out of financial trouble and thus filed for bankruptcy on April 4, 2001. The company was listed as having assets totaling $1,385,500. Included in that number was $860,000 in accounts receivable owed the company by ON DEMAND Network (PPV), Acclaim (video games), and Original San Francisco Toy Company (action figures). The balance of the assets were the video tape library ($500,000), a 1998 Ford Truck ($19,500) and the remaining inventory of merchandise ($4,000). The liabilities of the company totaled $8,881,435.17. The bankruptcy filing included hundreds of claims, including production companies, buildings ECW ran in, TV stations ECW was televised on, travel agencies, phone companies, attorney's fees, wrestlers, and other talent. Wrestlers and talent were listed, with amounts owed ranging from $0 for Sabu and Steve Corino to hundreds, and in some cases, thousands of dollars. The highest amounts owed to talents were Rob Van Dam ($150,000), Tommy Dreamer ($100,000), Joey Styles ($50,480), Shane Douglas ($48,000), and Francine ($47,275).[/FONT] [/QUOTE] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justtxyank Posted February 7, 2007 Author Share Posted February 7, 2007 [B][FONT="Book Antiqua"][SIZE="3"]From the ashes, Rebirth[/SIZE][/FONT][/B] [QUOTE][FONT="Book Antiqua"]On April 9th, 2001, just five days after declaring bankruptcy, Paul Heyman was contacted by Brian Bedol of Fusient Media Ventures with an intriguing idea. The idea was not to resurrect ECW itself as the bankruptcy filings would suck the profits dry. Instead, Bedol offered to purchase the logos, trademarks, and video tape library of Extreme Championship Wrestling from Heyman, and then offer Heyman a job as head booker for the relaunch of World Championship Wrestling. After weighing the option against an offer from WWF executive Vince McMahon, Heyman determined that his own personal future was brighter with complete creative control in WCW as opposed to being another fish in the pond of the World Wrestling Federation. On April 15th, 2001 Paul Heyman completed the sale of all logos, trademarks, and video tape records of Extreme Championship Wrestling. With the promotional opportunities of ECW in their pockets, Fusient Media Ventures re-entered negotiations with AOL-Time Warner, and on April 19th, 2001, after nearly 10 hours of meetings, the two sides reached an agreement. AOL-Time Warner agreed to allow WCW to produce a two hour wrestling broadcast on Monday nights, beginning at 9 pm (CST), on its TBS station, a slight downgrade from the more appealing TNT. The Thunder broadcast was officially cancelled despite the best negotiating efforts of the Fusient lawyers. With the sale complete, WCW prepared to re-launch on May 1st, 2001. [/FONT] [/QUOTE] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justtxyank Posted February 7, 2007 Author Share Posted February 7, 2007 [CENTER][IMG]http://img257.imageshack.us/img257/930/wcw2zz3.jpg[/IMG] [FONT="Book Antiqua"][B][SIZE="4"]WCW Press Release: Roster[/CENTER][/FONT][/SIZE][/B] [quote] [FONT="Book Antiqua"][CENTER][B][I][SIZE="3"]After extensive negotiations, the following workers have come to terms on agreements to transfer their contracts from AOL-Time Warner to World Championship Wrestling, a subsidiary of Fusient Media Ventures.[/SIZE][/I][/B] [B][SIZE="3"]Main Eventers[/SIZE][/B] [COLOR="Blue"]Diamond Dallas Page Bill Goldberg Sting Booker T[/COLOR] [COLOR="Red"]Shane Douglas Jeff Jarret Scott Steiner Buff Bagwell[/COLOR] [B][SIZE="3"]Upper-Mid Carders[/SIZE][/B] [COLOR="Blue"]Ric Flair Rey Mysterio, Jr. Dustin Rhodes Hugh Morrus Konnan Bam Bam Bigelow[/COLOR] [COLOR="Red"] Rick Steiner Disqo Mike Awesome Mike Sannders Chris Kanyon[/COLOR] [B][SIZE="3"]Mid-Carders[/SIZE][/B] [COLOR="Blue"]Big Vito Alex Wright Johnny the Bull Billy Kidman Lash Leroux Shane Helms Kaz Hayashi The Wall Jamie Knoble Jimmy Yang Jason Jett[/COLOR] [COLOR="Red"]Chuck Palumbo Mark Jindrak Shawk Stasiak Brian Adams Brian Clark Chavo Guerrero, Jr. Lance Storm Shannon Moore Evan Karagias[/COLOR] [B][SIZE="3"] Openers[/SIZE][/B] [COLOR="Blue"]Christopher Daniels Air Paris AJ Styles[/COLOR] [COLOR="Red"]Michael Modest Reno Kid Romeo Elix Skipper[/COLOR] Managers Paisley Jimmy Hart Midajah Stacy Keibler Tylene Buck (Major Gunns) Torrie Wilson Announcers Mikey Tenay: Announcer Scott Hudson: Announcer Ernest Miller: Color Commentary Gene Okerlund: Backstage Interviewer Pamela Paulshock: Backstage Interviewer Staff Paul Heyman: Head Booker, VP of Talent Eric Bischoff: Booker Dusty Rhodes: Booker, Road Agent Paul Orndorff: Road Agent Arn Anderson: Road Agent [/quote] [/FONT][/CENTER] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darthsiddus2 Posted February 7, 2007 Share Posted February 7, 2007 I like your back story man. I'm looking forward to reading this diary. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keefmoon Posted February 7, 2007 Share Posted February 7, 2007 Great backstory, I'll be reading. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justtxyank Posted February 7, 2007 Author Share Posted February 7, 2007 [IMG]http://img407.imageshack.us/img407/7249/internetsm3.jpg[/IMG] [QUOTE]News from WCW: The WCW product is preparing for it's upcoming relaunch on TBS. We've learned that the company has sent feelers out to several wrestling superstars both past and present, including the injured Bret Hart. Hart told the company that as of right now, he was retired and had no interest in taking a backstage role with the company. The company also sent feelers to Davey Boy Smith about a possible reunion but no progress has been made. WCW has reached an agreement with wrestling legend Ricky Steamboat to return to the company in a backstage role. Steamboat is expected to be the primary road agent for the company. It is not known at this time whether Steamboat will make any on camera appearances, but it is worth noting that in a recent interview, Steamboat claimed to be in wrestling shape and interested in wrestling Ric Flair. We've also learned that Paul Heyman has sought to bring some of his former ECW running mates to the new WCW with him, though he has not yet been successful. There was talk that former ECW broadcaster Joey Styles would be brought in to be the lead announcer on Monday Night Nitro.While that may still happen eventually, it doesn't look very likely at the moment as Styles' asking price was too high for the Fusient execs. No word yet on the contract situations of Hulk Hogan and Kevin Nash. The two men are in a dispute at the moment with AOL-Time Warner about the value of their contacts and are not currently interested in a buyout to join the new WCW.[/QUOTE] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justtxyank Posted February 8, 2007 Author Share Posted February 8, 2007 Bad news. Like an idiot I erased the data file for this so I have to redownload it. I'm debating whether I should re-create this data and continue with this diary or do a 97' diary with WCW. Any input would be appreciated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keefmoon Posted February 8, 2007 Share Posted February 8, 2007 It depends on your personality. If you like taking a great company to even greater hights then go with 97. If you have patience and like the chasing the top guy part of the game, then carry on with this one. Personally, I'm torn to what you should do. I feel like I should leave feedback as I know how much I appreaciate feedback of all sorts, but I can't really give my opinion. On one hand, WCW 2001 would be more interesting, as it is dragging a company up from the ashes it should never have been in, but 2001 has been used a lot. On the other hand, 1997 is less covered, but considerably easier as WCW in 1997 could seemingly do no wrong. At the time at least. And I'm doing a 1997/98 diary and would appreciate less competition! Honestly, whatever you choose should be done to your personality and how much patience you have. I'll give your diary a chance whichever you choose. :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justtxyank Posted February 8, 2007 Author Share Posted February 8, 2007 Well I've managed to get the files back in order so nevermind. The diary shall continue! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TsuMirren Posted February 8, 2007 Share Posted February 8, 2007 Just out of interest, which 07 data are you using? Playing an '01 data set could be quite interesting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justtxyank Posted February 11, 2007 Author Share Posted February 11, 2007 I'm using the War's End data set in 01 under the Rebirth version. Right now I'm just waiting for the update to come out before I run my diary. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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