Time Travel - Rebook a Card

[Manurewa_Marlins]

Title says it all, rebook a shitty card of yesteryear...explain the booking if you want to

 

[Big Pete]

WCW Starrcade 1995

WCW World Championship Match
Lex Luger vs 'The Immortal' Hulk Hogan (c)

Tornado Tag Team Match
Sting & Macho Man Randy Savage vs Ric Flair & Arn Anderson

WCW World Tag Team Championship Match
Brian Pillman & Chris Benoit vs Harlem Heat (c)

WCW US Championship Match
Hacksaw Jim Duggan vs The Giant (c)

NJPW Feature Presentation
Jushin Thunder Liger vs Shinjiro Otani

Madusa vs Sister Sherri

WCW Television Championship Match
Scott Norton vs Johnny B Badd (c)

Eddie Guerrero vs Dean Malenko
------------------------------------------------------------------

WCW was in total disarray in 1995 and was desperate for direction around this time. They'd eventually find it when Bischoff brought in the Outsiders, but that doesn't make up for the initial few months where everything revolved around Monday Nitro and drawing ratings. They really needed an end goal and I believe this card provides them with that.

Guerrero/Malenko as the opener is a no-brainer. Those two tore the house down in ECW and now they've got the grand stage to ply their trade. Eddie is the babyface, Malenko is the heel and it's two top prospects making a name for themselves in the prelims.

Norton/Badd would be apart of the DDP/Badd story with Page bringing Norton into do his dirty work. Norton actually goes over, but lays Page out because DDP can never have the last laugh around this time.

To mix things up, I've got Madusa taking on Sherri in a match designed to keep her in the limelight after the championship in the trash bit. Essentially, it'd just be an excuse to talk about that ad nauseum.

One of the best things WCW had going was it's relationship with NJPW. I didn't think WCW truly capitilised on the partnership, so by pitting two of their best workers against one another I'm hoping that they can steal the show and get over without there being some crappy Sonny Onoo angle attached. It's also important because I want the show to feature actual wrestling and there's a few instances where I'm going more sports entertainment.

The Giant may have had the World Championship stripped from him, but that didn't stop him from beating Sting for the US Championship (thanks to an assist from the Horsemen). The Stinger has his hands full, so Hacksaw Duggan has to step up to the plate. I'm not going to lie, this isn't going to be a good match. In fact, I'm hoping to keep this match inside 6 minutes. My main aim here is to have The Giant go over and beat somebody the fans can get behind. In an era where fans weren't concerned about star ratings, Duggan fits the bill.

Horsemen/Heat for the tag belts seems like a no-brainer to me. Both Pillman & Benoit can go, Harlem Heat had star presence about them and either way both teams come out of this looking good. Benoit and Pillman go over, setting up an eventual Benoit & Pillman v Sting & Luger match for the first clash.

Onto the prelim main event and we've got the dream team of Sting and Savage taking on the Horsemen. After being knocked back by first choice Luger who had bigger fish to fry, Sting convinces Savage to be his tag team partner and to embarrass the Horsemen on the biggest stage of them all. The Horsemen have been really ruthless of late, doing their best to drive the competition out of WCW forcing Sting & Savage to put their egos aside and team together. The babyfaces dominate for the bulk of the match but Flair is able to pull another fast one, allowing the Horsemen to escape with the victory.

Then in the main event, we have the biggest match imaginable between Hogan & Luger. The two never got a chance to settle their differences and with the belt on the line all bets are off. On top of that, the Dungeon of Doom have really hitched their ride on Luger and while Lex has yet to officially become a member, he hasn't turned down any of the perks as they helped him earn a championship opportunity in a Fatal Four-way on Nitro. Hogan wins because it's Starrcade and reaffirms himself as the Icon in WCW. Sullivan berates Luger for coming up short, Lex puts him on his arse, causing the entire Dungeon to go after him until the babyfaces clean house, stand tall and Hogan shakes Luger's hand after the match.

 

[Big Pete]

WCW Clash of Champions XXXII

The MegaPowers vs Ric Flair & The Giant

WCW Tag Team Championship Match
Sting and Lex Luger vs The IV Horsemen (Pillman & Benoit) (c)

Konnan vs Diamond Dallas Page

Lord Steven Regal vs Eddie Guerrero

Dean Malenko vs Psichosis

WCW Television Championship Match
Marcus Bagwell vs Scott Norton (c)
-----------------------------------------------------
For the most part, I thought WCW did a good job with this card. Since the purpose of the show was to build to Superbrawl 1996 you don't really need that many championship matches on the show, just all the big names.

I wouldn't change anything about the headline match. It was effective for what it was, except here it would be Hogan with one championship and the Giant with another so you've got that visual. The heels go over in fairly convincing fashion with The Giant chokeslamming Hogan and Flair being on the spot to pin the Hulkster and gain bragging rights. He can holds those bragging rights over Hogan through out the build to Superbrawl and that's where the heat comes from.

Sting & Luger win the tag belts in a similar fashion to how they won them in real life. Jimmy Hart assists Luger by distracting Pillman, allowing Sting to slap on the Scorpion Deathlock on Benoit. I think it's important on a special like this to crown new champions and it also has multiple dividends. You've got the story between the Horsemen and the Dungeon, you've got Jimmy & Lex and how that will conflict with Sting's view of wrestling.

Konnan was a big acquisition for WCW, the only problem was that he was booked like a Worldwide guy. I'd want to solve that right away by putting him against somebody who has some name value and is clearly motivated enough to get his angle over. There's only one man fit for that role and DDP. The story here is that Page is a crafty business man and he sees this hot Mexican talent who has headlined these big gates in Mexico and he wants a piece of the action. So they have their match and it's as hokey and choreographed as you'd expect and while it's framed in a way to make Konnan look impressive, it appears Page may steal the win with some questionable tactics. Unfortunately for Page, Badd is there on the scene, he prevents Page from using a foreign weapon and Konnan is able to make DDP tap to the Tequila Sunrise. I think this would be a better way of introducing Konnan than having him wrestle a guy like Psichosis who the fans weren't familiar with.

Then we've got the preliminary matches.

One of the biggest issues with Eddie's initial run in WCW is that he didn't have any direction. He was usually having the best match on any given Saturday Night around that time, but with nobody to feud with he was just pissing into the wind. Enter Steven Regal, another guy who was being underutilised. By this point Regal had been with the company for 3 years and had established himself as one of the best workers on the roster. This would be a reputation he holds near and dear but in recent times, it seems like Eddie is receiving a ton of attention. The commentators constantly pump him up, guys like Savage & Flair put him over as somebody they want to face and he's starting to get highlights packages. This doesn't sit well with Regal who has been busting his arse and introducing fans to what real wrestling is. He starts sitting in on Eddie's matches, joins the commentary booth of Shiavone and Dusty. The first time it happens, Eddie doesn't pay any mind to it, but after awhile he address' it in one of the interviews and challenges Regal to a match which is signed for Clash of the Champions. Regal wins the first bout through nefarious means and then refuses to give Eddie a rematch...until Eddie wins the TV Championship.

Malenko & Psichosis is just an excuse to keep Psichosis on the show. While I didn't like the pairing of him and Konnan, I always liked Psichosis as a talent and I believe there's more mileage in a Malenko match. There wouldn't be much fanfare, just an announcement that one of the most exciting talents in the world of wrestling will be taking on the Man of a Thousand holds and it promises to be a quality bout. With a bit of luck it will be with Malenko going over.

Then we've got Norton vs Bagwell for the TV Championship. You can't have a show like Clash of the Champions and only have one championship match. I know the World and US Champions are going at it in the main event, but you've got to pad the show out with matches of consequence. So the equation here is pretty simple. As one half of the American Males, Buff hasn't had a lot of success in the tag scene of late but he's beginning to make some headway as a singles wrestler. He's racking up some impressive wins on Saturday Night, Pro and Worldwide putting him in the TV Championship equation. Meanwhile Norton continues to be a bully, destroying enhancement talent left and right usually forcing security to run off Norton. After the third occassion, some of the boys, including the Males intervene and Norton takes exception to it. Norton clocks Riggs with a cheap shot, causing Bagwell to retaliate and you get this heated brawl on Pro (of all shows!) and this leads to the war of the words on Saturday Night giving us this match. Norton wins, but Bagwell gives an impressive showing as a singles.

 

[Manurewa_Marlins]

Awesome stuff, I have a few in mind I'll post up during my downtime today.

 

[Manurewa_Marlins]

ECW December To Dismember 2006

ECW World Title
Bobby Lashley (c) v Rob Van Dam

Dog Collar Match
CM Punk v Sabu

MNM Open Challenge to anyone on the ECW Roster
MNM (Joey Mercury and Johnny Nitro) v The Hardy Boyz

Daivari (w/Khali) v Tommy Dreamer

Striker's Rules Segment
Matt Striker w/Test & The Sandman

Debut of the Alpha Male
Monty Brown v Little Guido

ECW World Tag Team Titles Tournament Final - Ladder Match
Knock Out Tap Out (Elijah Burke and Sylvester Turkay) v The Bashams

_________________________________

So in real life the Big Show took the strap and RVD was screwed out of any real shot, including after he beat Show fair and square for a number one contendership shot. In real life, Heyman added RVD to the Elimination Chamber match. Now, if we re going to do a Heyman heel character, it has to not be anti-ECW so much as it has to be anti-established ECW, i.e. going in a new direction. Heyman hand picks Lashley as his protege, screws Van Dam outta the belt and refuses to give him a rematch (maybe hes injured or suspended or some shit). Lashley in the meantime runs through the ECW originals, Van Dam finally returns and beats The Bashams and the Big Show to earn a shot at the belt. Van Dam to go over here ahead of the new year to give fans a fuzzy feeling.

CM Punk debuted to surprising (to some heh) fanfare and reaction in real life, but was stuck in the silly new breed originals feud. In this universe, Punk debuts a straight edge preacher, ragging on everything extreme. Sandman's drinking, Dreamer's lack of wrestling skills etc. He barely wrestles, opting instead to cut long promos (backstage and in the ring), which draws the irk of Sabu. A nice little throwback to Punk's fued with Raven in ROH here, with Punk going over. the aftermath would see Punk amping up the straight edge schtick, much like he did a few years later, forming his own faction and fueding with the 420-friendly RVD.

Now, in real life this did happen, however it wasnt announced until the press conference of the event. I'd have it switch, with MNM issuing an open challenge to anyone on the ECW roster. Have them show up DX-1997 style and do commentary on matches shitting on the product, maybe have them "buy" tickets etc, til eventually Balls Mahoney and whoever get pissed off and brawl with them leading to a match on Sci-Fi. After MNM go over, probably with a table spot, they declare themselves extreme and issue an open challenge to anyone on the ECW roster. At the event, the Hardy Boyz would come down the ramp, sign ECW contracts before beginning the brawl. This would definitely be extreme rules with the Hardys going over announcing their arrival in ECW.

Standard filler match here, with Daivari going over thanks to help from Khali. This happened in real life too, however, after the beatdown which followed, I'd have an ECW veteran make the save...and it'd be a one off appearance from New Jack (kinda cheating I know). That would set the crowd into a frenzy, weapons galore before a few beers get drank and we head into the second half of the card.

Now there was a Striker's Rules match on the original card, however he lost to Balls Mahoney. In my universe, Matt Striker would use an enforcer in the form of Test, where although he preaches against the extreme, he ends up cheating and using illegal tactics and cheating to win. Enter the Sandman. Striker orders Sandman to put down the cane and fight fair, to which he respons "screw that, I'm extreme" and cans the living daylights out of Striker and Test. Again, not really a match, but enough to pop the crowd...the original ECW did this all the time.

Monty Brown debuts here in a ten minute squash. And I mean super one sided squash. Like pounce after pounce after pounce after pounce. He goes over and is an instant mega star.

The opening bout would be the finals to the tournament to decide the new ECW World Tag Team Champions. Featuring KOTO and The Bashams in a ladder match. Give the match plenty of time, and after the Big Show gets involved chokeslamming both KOTO members to the outside through a ladder (a sick spot that would please the crowd), have the Bashams go over. Fun, brutal opener here.

 

[Manurewa_Marlins]

tried not to cheat like we would in EWR hahaha, so rehiring Angle, no moving Benoit over early, no rehirign the Mexicools or bringing in AJ, Joe, Danielson etc.

 

[Big Pete]

That's what I liked most about your card, Marlins.

It'd be easy to hire the hottest talent on the independents, it's another to make the most of the situation.

Still, booking a quality 'December to Dismember' card is like putting lipstick on a pig. It doesn't address the central issue and that's ECW's revival which felt more like a Disney sequel than a Disney reboot. From the WWE involvement, the Sci-Fi elements to the lackluster roster the show just had too many issues that could be fixed in a single show.

Running through the card...

Knock Out Tap Out versus The Bashams
Remember what I said about putting lipstick on a pig? Putting a gimmick on this match isn't going to make it any more enticing. I'd scrap it.

Monty Brown versus Little Guido
I like this idea, although having him hit pounce after pounce after pounce is a pretty high bar to set on his debut.

Matt Striker/Sandman Segment
The Test/Striker pairing was an excellent creative move that should have happened. With the right salt and pepper in the build-up this could really work.

Tommy Dreamer versus Daivari
I cracked up when I saw New Jack. That would have ruled and was the type of 'one night only' appearance that ECW needed more of.

MNM versus The Hardy Boyz
This works, the only problem is that getting Jeff off of Raw would be difficult around this time. Otherwise, this was the highlight of the original show and I'm sure it'd be really good here.

CM Punk versus Sabu
Well booked, no complaints here. I like that you're focusing more on Punk's ability to cut heel promos than his wrestling ability. That was a mistake from the original run that needed to be rectified. I could see Punk selling this match and while the match plays against Sabu's strengths, I back the passion of both guys to work a gritty violent spectacle.

Rob Van Dam versus Lashley
I was just thinking about Lashley's run in TNA and how he's a better version of Brock these days. I like the build up and with the right lay out it'd work as a main event.

I like the bulk of the show, if you could book one more marquee match (ECW typically had 'three marquee bouts') I think the show would be about as good as it could be.

 

[Manurewa_Marlins]

It was f**king tough. If I had been playing EWR, I would have brought in Tanaka to fight Mike Knox or Hardcore Holly, who would have been playing a tough-man type gimmick - as my third top bout.

As for the tag match - again, KOTO were a dope little team initially. Turkay was a beast and we all now how Pope...err...Elijah could go. I think building them with a cool manager, and putting The Big Show in the Bashams corner it would have made for a fun match...maybe. Certainly better than the actual match that took place back in 2006 which was 100% filler.

As for Monty Brown, he could have fought Guido, but it would have actually been Mamaluke and Vito as well, just think of the innovative stuff he could have done with the Pounce and Alpha Bomb and stuff. He would have been super over too as the crowd were very indy/TNA conscious.

Cheers for the read through, I'll come up with the sequel later on...

 

[Big Pete]

Terkay and Burke had potential as singles wrestlers but together they had no chemistry. The Knock Out and Tap Out connection didn't even do a good job of bringing their shoot elements to the table, so the writing was on the wall for them.

If it was up to me and I had Terkay on my roster, I would have kept it as simple as possible. Terkay comes out week after week and makes short work of the roster by executing all these crazy MMA spots that would be foreign to the audience. After he's built up a head of steam, he goes after Hardcore Holly who'd be taking liberties with all the young up and comers and Terkay would put him in his place. Have him rub shoulders with a couple of the top guys, before he eventually puts them over and moves on.

Burke would be a longer term investment, coming up with another OVW talent by the name of Seth Skyfire in a plucky babyface tag team role. That way you've potentially got two birds with one stone, added depth to the roster and given the new ECW fresh talent they need to stand out.

 

[Manurewa_Marlins]

TNA Bound For Glory
2010

TNA World Heavyweight Championship - Ladder Match
AJ Styles (c) v Jeff Hardy

Career v Title
Kurt Angle v TNA World X Division Champion Jay Lethal(w/Ric Flair)

Rob Van Dam and Sabu v Frankie Kazarian and Christopher Daniels

Texas Death Match
Robert Roode v James Storm

TNA Knockouts Championship
Angelina Love (c) v Tara

Samoa Joe v Jeff Jarrett

Monsters Ball
Homicide v Sting (w/Hulk Hogan)

TNA World Tag Team Championships - Tournament Final
The Motor City Machine Guns v The Young Bucks

——————————————————————————————————

So AJ beat Kurt Angle for the strap on the January 4th Live! edition of Impact in real life and I'd keep this as such. Going forward, Styles runs through the roster until we get to Slammiversary, where he narrowly wins the King of the Mountain match to retain the title, escaping the penalty box and pipping Hardy who was about the hand the belt on the hook. The next edition of Impact, Hardy asks for a title shot, but AJ declines him, leading to the thought that Styles is ducking Hardy. Hardy has to leap through hoops to get the AJ, with Styles consistantly denying him of his shot, leading the the Bound For Glory series, where Hardy faces Matt Morgan in the finals. AJ attempts to screw Hardy, swinging a chair, only for Jeff to duck and AJ to hit the Blueprint, costing him the match and leading to the big showdown at Bound For Glory. Hardy to go over here, with AJ to move into a fued with Matt Morgan, playing a bitter heel character.

After dropping the belt to Styles on the January 4th Live! edition of Impact, and losing the subsequent rematch at Genesis, Kurt Angle went on a hiatus which was explained as much needed time off due to a lingering knee injury. He went on to return in July, announcing his retirement from the ring. In subsequent weeks, trailers began airing hyping the announcement of a new initiative to grow the X Division. Angle was revealed as the mastermind, saying there would be a worldwide 64-man tournament to crown the Super X Cup championship. This drew the ire of X Division champion Jay Lethal, who after recently aligning himself with the Nature Boy Ric Flair, claimed the tournament was a waste of time as he was already champion. Lethal, over the coming months would wage war on the SuperX Cup competitors, taking out participants backstage, in the ring, beating participants who had advance in the earlier stages and then claiming they werent worthy of the X Division roster etc. It all came to ahead at No Surrender, where after winning the Super X Cup, Doug Williams challenged X Division champion Jay Lethal to an impromptu match for the belt. Lethal initially refused, but a heated exchange with Angle questioning his manhood led him to accept much to the disgust of Flair. Williams would force Lethal to submit and Angle performed a belly-to-belly suplex on Ric Flair who was attempting to get involved. The following Impact saw Lethal regain the belt due to interference from Flair, leading to a challenge from Kurt Angle, out of retirement. Lethal only agreed to put his belt up if Angle agreed to put his career up, for good. In the match, Lethal defeats Angle and begins working a Legend Killer gimmick. Angle is out indefinitely.

Kazarian and Daniels have been doing the bitter TNA veteran schtick, complaining about the influx of talent and the amount of opportunities they get. They cost Sabu and RVD a title shot by interfering in their tournament match, and then begin ducking their challenge. Eventually they are forced to accept, after Sabu and RVD get ahold of Kaz, threatening to hit a Van Terminator unless Daniels accepts the challenge for Bound For Glory. Daniel begrudingly accepts only for RVD to scale the turnbuckle anyway. Kaz narrowly escapes, but the match still stands. At Bound For Glory, the match has an impromptu beginning during the Texas Death Match between Roode and Storm as the two teams begin brawling backstage. Split-screen occurs as the two seperate brawls intertwine backstage, including moments where Van Dam and Roode actually brawl, and where Kaz and Daniels hit double superkicks on James Storm sending him through a vending machine. Security eventually break it up to allow the TDM to occur. the actual tag match begins normally, ends up on the floor, cheap tactics from the heels, hot comeback from the faces, a ref bump, a Van Terminator and a win for the faces to send the crowd home happy.

Simple format for the Texas Death Match. The champs decide to "go out on top" and retire Beer Money, opting to go their seperate ways. During a retirement ceremony, some light hearted banter descends into questions of who is the better member of the team. Think partners ---> friends ---> friendly rivalry --->rivalry ---> blood fued. The match itself goes all over the arena, even crossing over with a brawl between RVD/Sabu/Kazarian/Daniels. Bobby Roode goes over here and moves into title contention, with Storm not too far behind him.

Your typical knockouts title match with champ Angelina Love, along with the Beautiful People, on a mission to cleanse TNA of ugliness. They run through Roxie Levoux, Awesome Kong, ODB amongst other talent, before eventually Tara dares defy the BP and stand up for the roster. Tara to go over here in a good match and feel good ending to the story.

Samoa Joe and Jeff Jarrett have been going at it ever since Hulk Hogan and Eric Bischoff joined TNA management and sent Jarrett to the back of the queue. Both he and Joe found themselves on the outer and initially had some success working as a team (similar to real life). However, after losing a tag team tournament qualifier, Joe subsequently turned on Jarrett, choking him out and blaming him for his whole career (or lack there of) in TNA, be it losing here, getting lost in the shuffle due to Hogan's despising Double J, or the holding down of younger talent during his reign as boss some years ago. Jarrett accused Joe of being bitter, and suggested that he may have been given opportunities if he was so focussed on maximising his opportunities elsewhere and was dedicated to the TNA cause. At the match at BFG, Samoa Joe goes over in a match given 25minutes. After the match the two slowly rise to their feet and after a brief staredown shake hands, showing mutual respect.

Homicide was fired in the Feast or Fired match on the January 4th live edition of Impact, despite winning a shot at the world title as Hulk Hogan believed he wasnt up to World Title standards. This led to calls for Homicde to be reinstated by fans, online and also by fans at live events, TV and pay per view matches. Hogan at first ignored chants and cries from fans before publicly addressing the matter calling Homicide a B-minus player and the reason for TNA not growing like it should be. Eventually, during a world title match where Hogan's "Bandmate" Kevin Nash was about to win the World Title against AJ Styles, a hooded individual lept the barricade and struck himwith a chair, costing him the match. He quickly removed his hood revealing himself to be Homicide. A fuming Hogan banned Homicide from all TNA events, and despite added security and a tresspass order, Homicide would continue to find his way into buildings all over the country, even ruining Hogan's daughter's "wedding" on a later live episode of Impact. Hogan eventually challenged Homicide to show up at the Hardcore justice pay per view, where Homicide was jumped and thrown in the garbage by the Band. Later, Eric Bischoff scolded Hogan saying thats not the way business was done these days and said that as executive producer, he had given Homicide one more opportunity in TNA, at Bound For Glory against an opponent of Hogan's choosing. Hogan brings in his arch nemesis Sting. The match itself is a quick but brutal affair, where Homicde goes over despite Hogan's involvement. After the match, Sting hits Hogan with the baseball bat. homicide is officially reinstated into TNA and builds toward a main event spot. Hogan eventually is ousted from his storyline position in TNA.

The opening match is a 20 minute X Division style epic between two red hot teams. The Young Bucks go over the Guns, which leads to a rivalry for the ages. Both teams are faces, but the Bucks eventually become the heels we know them to be now.

 

[Big Pete]

Solid show, mate.

What I like about your approach is that you don't try and change the world. I've read other Guest Bookers where they try and change the company fundamentally and while it can be a better show, it's difficult to envision because it requires so many moving parts going right. Here you took ideas that existed and tinkered with them to make a better card.

Reading through the old card, it was such a mess.

MCMG vs Generation Me
Tara vs Angelina Love vs Velvet Skye vs Madison Rayne
Ink Inc. vs Orlando Jordan & Eric Young
Jay Lethal vs Doug Williams
Rob Van Dam vs Abyss
The Band (Sting, Nash & Dinero) vs Samoa Joe & Jarrett
EV 2.0 vs Fortune
Jeff Hardy vs Mr Anderson vs Kurt Angle

Compare that to say the Attitude Era or ECW, and you've got a company that lacks focus. It's been said time and time again, but the company should have been booked like 90s AJPW where you have four top guys and the company is built around them.

AJ Styles
Samoa Joe
Kurt Angle
Desmond Wolfe

Sting as Baba, Hardy, RVD, Anderson as 'outsiders' and the rest of the roster filling in the gaps and doing their part to make the show as entertaining as possible.

 

[Big Pete]

I couldn't help myself and had to delve deeper into that show.

The best booked match on the entire show was the opening tag bout between MCMG vs Generation Me. It was a match fans wanted to see, they didn't over-book it and as a result the show had a quality opener.

From there, it was one train wreck after another...

You had the Beautiful People match, which was less concerned about the Knockout's Championship and more about the hackneyed storyline. The Beautiful People had just split up, and naturally there was a fight over who had the rights to the group. It was the type of story-telling you'd expect from the WWE, not from the Knockout's Division which at one point had been one of the highlights in US wrestling. Unfortunately this was the beginning of the end and where the division shifted from exciting up and coming talents to WWE rejects and has-beens.

I don't know who he pissed off, but Eric Young was dealt such a shitty hand. Instead of being apart of Nash's group, they pair him up with Orlando Jordan and have him perform another comedy character. Except this time, they had to be controversial and have him perform this brain damaged character who just took one too many head-knocks. Considering all the press surrounding concussions around that time, it wasn't cool and sadly despite his best efforts, Eric was always fighting a losing battle. This was like the Adams/Norton v Finlay/Flynn match from Starrcade, except worse.

Our only reprieve on the card is a match between Lethal/Williams. A simple rematch where Williams who was trying to impress Flair and the rest of Fortune was looking to regain his belt. Simple, effective stuff and the only reason you'd be critical is that the X-Division deserved better than being an after-thought.

Then we get four awful segments in a row.

After having to vacate the TNA World Championship after being brutally attacked by Abyss, RVD proceeds to teach the Monster a lesson by working a half-arsed RVD match. You'd imagine a guy in that situation would be looking to employ more strikes and exact a measure of revenge, but not RVD. No sir, we just get all the posturing, all the overly choreographed spots in a complete half-arse of a match. I think this was the point where the fans really began turning on Van Dam and he had this reputation for being overrated.

The Band was a group of anti-Hogan heels who saw what the Hulkster got up to in WCW and weren't going to sit and watch him let it do again in TNA. Joe and Jarrett were among their victims, so naturally they had to pair up. Anyways, this was more of a segment than an actual match as Jarrett left Joe out to dry and the sinister band got one over on Joe once again.

EV 2.0 vs Fortune was just awful. After having EV 2.0 put over Fortune at every turn and expose how much father time had kicked their ass, they proceed to go over Fortune on the biggest show of the year in the feud ender. The match maybe one of the worst Lethal Lockdowns in history and just another instance of poor booking.

Then the main event was the Immortal clustermuck which made absolutely no sense and just destroyed any logic the company had. On top of that, it completely over-shadowed the Kurt Angle retirement stipulation which was the biggest selling point of the entire show.

I didn't think of it, but that's an awesome shout for this thread. It's every bit as bad as December to Dismember and that remains the worst PPV I ever ordered.

 

[Marshall_magic]

Wrestlemania X8

Undercard
IC Title: RVD vs Booker T (Booker T wins the title here, his first WWE singles gold and goes on to feud with solid faces like Kane)

Hall & Nash vs Hardy Boys (NWO go over here, easily. They were supposed to be a big deal, they need to go over guys who are actually over)

Edge vs Christian (Christian is jealous of Edge, classic Rockers storyline, Christian pinpoints Edge spearing Hardy off the ladder a year prior as the reason Edge is the bigger star. Edge goes over and continues his ascent up the card. This match will keep the crowd hot as the event was in their home town)

Victoria vs Trish vs Jazz vs Lita (Women's title, 4 ladies who are all good in the ring, should hold it's own on this card. Your pick of who goes over)

Uppercard
The Rock vs The Undertaker (Rock costs Taker the Hardcore title, Taker flips out. This was the height of Biker Taker's run so give him a big name opponent. Taker goes over here for obvious reasons, although it's not the last we see of the Rock tonight)

Kurt Angle vs Ric Flair (Kurt is appointed by Vince to take out Flair, your standard opposites face off match, Intensity Integrity Intelligence vs The dirtiest player in the game. Flair tries to cheat to win but Kurt out wrestles him)

Undisputed Championship: Jericho vs HHH guest referee: Stephanie McMahon (Triple H & Steph have their "marital issues" leading into the match, however Jericho still has his beef with Steph so she hates both guys. Ultimately Jericho goes over when Steph sides with him, seemingly out of no where)

Stone Cold vs Hulk Hogan (the match that should have happened. Hogan goes over in the end, NWO run in when HHH & The Rock come to even the odds, then out of no where The Rock lays out Austin with a Rock Bottom and reveals he has joined the NWO as a 4th member (which gets teased in the lead up), in the aftermath Rock comes out with the NWO and cuts savage heel promos on the city he is in)

 

[Big Pete]

Interesting card Marshall.

I'm not sure if The Rock joining the nWo would work. The nWo at it's core was the Kliq, with Hogan brought in as a figurehead to give guys like Nash & Hall more power. The Rock was the antithesis of that and would completely over-shadow the rest of the group. On top of that, The Rock was just beginning to break into Hollywood and was off to film a new movie, so logistically it wouldn't have been a great choice.

Then again, I wouldn't have booked the nWo for that show. I would have held off on playing that card until after the show, to give the fans a hook to follow the storylines leading up to SummerSlam.

So much was happening around that time, that I think the WWF could have got away with having guys like Austin, Rock, Angle, HHH, Jericho, Rob Van Dam, Taker, Flair, Edge, Trish etc. work the show and then bringing in fresh elements afterwards. It's just a question of, how does the company recover after the disastrous Invasion angle?

 

[Valheru]

I actually watched this show recently and i wouldn't change a thing about rock/hogan, it really is a quintessential mania moment and worked brilliantly.

I also wouldn't reverse the Jericho/HHH result. At the time it absolutely made sense for HHH to go over given his face momentum and the road to redemption storyline with his quad injury.

I do like what you have done with the under card, especially edge/christian.

That leaves the rest of the upper card and i can't really think of a good excuse not to have taker/flair, the storyline of the time was quite good leading to the original brand split and the match was ok as well.

That leaves Austin and Angle without matches with Austin's original opponent (hall) in another match. Possibly they could have had a gimmick match with each other to finish off their late 2001 feud with the catalyst being angle interfering at No Way Out in lieu of the NWO.

 

[Marshall_magic]

The Rock/Hogan match was a classic, no doubt, but the biggest criticism of the match now is that it wasn't Austin. I think the quality of the match may suffer with Austin in there, but it would still be an epic moment. A big reason the NWO got over in WCW was because they turned a legendary babyface heel, doing the same with the Rock would instantly make them a big deal in the WWE. Rock would hang around till Summerslam and put over Lesnar, but adding him to the NWO would add some proper cred to the faction and give it a different feel to what it was in WCW. Ultimately they were booked horribly like all WCW talent that stayed until the take over.

HHH/Jericho, the result can go either way, the thing that ruined the match for me was over the back half of 2001 the Jericho/Steph banter was a big thing, then they just toss it all away and have Jericho give a whiny apology and become an after thought in the story. I'm fine with either man going over, and given how poorly they booked Jericho as undisputed champion, I have no problem with him dropping the strap here.

Taker/Flair was fine I guess, but I think Angle/Flair would have been amazing. Angle was Vince's number 1 guy since Survivor Series, and I enjoyed his ego trip after double crossing the Alliance. Since Vince was annoyed Flair had a 50/50 share in the company why not send Kurt after him? Angle is the kind of guy who can get a 4 star match out of anyone.

 

[Big Pete]

WCW Superbrawl 1996

WCW Television Championship Match
Eddie Guerrero vs Scott Norton (c)

Hugh Morrus vs Scotty Riggs

Lord Steven Regal vs Johnny B Badd

Jim Duggan vs Diamond Dallas Page

WCW Women's Championship Match
Devil Masami vs Madusa

Strap Match
Brian Pillman vs Kevin Sullivan

WCW Tag Team Championship Match
Harlem Heat vs Sting & Lex Luger (c)

WCW US Championship Cage Match
Macho Man Randy Savage vs The Giant (c)

WCW World Championship Cage Match
The Nature Boy Ric Flair vs The Immortal Hulk Hogan (c)

It just occurred to me that outside of Starrcade 95, these early 96 shows weren't that awful. In fact the only reason I'm covering these shows is to build up to shows like Uncensored and Slamboree which weren't that great.

Superbrawl '96 was largely a solid show, but there were certain segments that could have been better. As you can see, I thought they had the main event matches around the wrong way and believe they would have been better off with Savage/Giant & Flair/Hogan. Since Flair/Savage was set to headline the house show circuit, it only makes sense to put both guys over huge.

I'd wrap the Heat/Luger & Sting feud up in a nice bow with Sting & Luger retaining in a solid brawl. During Mean Gene's post-match interview, the Road Warriors appear and challenge Sting & Lex to a championship match which Sting accepts while Lex looks ticked off they're stealing his lime light.

Pillman v Sullivan was the most memorable segment of the show and I'd keep it. Except in this instance I wouldn't bother working the boys and would use the angle to create tension in the Horsemen/Dungeon alliance.

WCW did an awful job of capitilising on Madusa, so I'm going all out here and bringing in some of the best talent from GAEA. Masami was a legend and while she'd seen better days, with the right manager (not Onoo) you could build something.

Duggan/Dallas is just that typical WCW mid-card match that's designed purely to put smiles on faces. It's not going to win any MotY nominees, but it protects Duggan as my Tito Santana of WCW 96 while giving the Page character some continuity.

Badd was on his way to New York, so instead of having him leave quietly, I'd spin his departure into a positive by giving Regal a well deserved rub.

With Riggs/Morrus, I want to get over the idea of preliminary matches and how they can be a showcase for up and coming talent. Both guys had decent upside and while I wouldn't expect it to be a classic, I don't think it would suck either and as long as I gave them a decent angle to work off of I'm sure I could get the people to care.

Finally, Eddie v Scotty Norton would be your typical David v Goliath match, with Eddie going over. I think it's important to recognise Eddie as one of the best in-ring competitors and would make a point early on to talk him up like he's Ricky Steamboat 2.0 and build that mid-card around him.

 

[Valheru]

Good stuff Pete

I have to admit, I have seen very little of the 1991-mid 1996 WCW period and it remains one of the blinding omissions of my wrestling viewing. Do you recommend it as a period worth watching? I have heard good things about 1993 in particular.

 

[Big Pete]

Absolutely, from Halloween Havoc 91 to 94 the promotion was doing a great job of building new talent and the calibre of Pro Wrestling was underrated. You could put together an awesome compilation based purely on Worldwide matches from that period.

The period I'm covering is right at the end of the Dungeon of Doom period. It was the shits and the only saving grace is that they stumbled upon Paul White who ended up becoming one of the best big men of all time. Considering they recruited him from a celebrity basketball game, it's crazy how lucky WCW was.

 

[Big Pete]

Uncensored 1996

Admittedly, I was never a fan of this PPV. It just seemed like Bischoff's attempt to capitilise on ECW, except it didn't fit the promotion at all. However, I am booking WCW '96 and if Bischoff and Turner Broadcasting have to have this show, I'm going to give it to them...

WCW World Championship Match
Macho Man Randy Savage vs The Giant vs The Immortal Hulk Hogan vs The Nature Boy Ric Flair (c)

I believe this was the first fatal fourway championship match in WCW history and it makes sense to have it on a show like this. I'd play up the 'anything can happen' tease all sorts of turns (Hogan & Savage turning on each other? The Giant turning on Flair) and we're off to the races. Creatively speaking, I would have wanted Hulkster to ride off into the sunset after Superbrawl, but if he's sticking around, you've got to make hay while the sun's shining. So I'd make this Hogan's final hurrah before he goes off to film three ninjas and have Flair & the Dungeon lay the Hulkster out so I can write him off and press forward from there.

WCW Tag Team Championship Match
The Road Warriors vs Sting & Lex Luger (c)

So at Superbrawl, the Road Warriors work the post-match angle where they make the surprise return and lay down a challenge to the tag team champions. Sting is all for it, Lex isn't thrilled and so the Warriors have to earn their way on Nitro. They do so and prove a real handful for the champions, until Lex uses a short-cut from Jimmy Hart to get the win. Sting catches wind of it, seems really embarrassed and almost speechless setting forward in motion a Sting v Luger match.

Last Man Standing Match
Brian Pillman vs The Taskmaster Kevin Sullivan

After the fiasco that occurred at Superbrawl with the 'I Respect You...Bookerman' line and the interference in the US Championship match, Sullivan/Pillman meet again, except this time there's got to be a definitive winner. At first it's a competitive match, but after awhile it becomes clear that this is an ambush and since the Horsemen have a truce, Double A holds Benoit back from protecting his former pal from Stampede. Sullivan destroys Pillman and sends the message that he isn't somebody to mess with.

The Steiner Brothers vs Harlem Heat

With the Warriors and the Steiners entering the fray, I'd make a point of ramping up the tag division by presenting more marquee tag matches outside of championship matches. This was the Steiners first PPV back, so in their big return, I'd like to give them a good win over Harlem Heat who have been on something of a losing streak despite being competitive in all their matches. This isn't for nought as I've got big plans for the Steiners, but for the time being, I'd put Harlem on the backburner as a team and focus more on them as individuals for a couple of months before having them team up and be more successful.

WCW Television Championship
The Belfast Bruiser versus Eddie Guerrero (c)

One of the most memorable matches on the card was between Bruiser/Regal. The two really went at each other and apparently really stiffed one another in one of the more violent matches of the year. There was a lot to like about the match, but ultimately it didn't have a purpose and more or less was an exhibition. So I want to fix that by building the Bruiser up and having him go up against Eddie, have him really work over Eddie, only for Eddie to fire up and go over. The idea here is that it would get Eddie over as a fired-up babyface ala Tommy Rich and you get more out of the investment.

Dean Malenko versus Konnan

So by this point, Konnan has been in the company for a couple of months and has had a steady stream of matches where he's proven himself as an exciting prospect. He comes up against Malenko who is the ring general and based on the way the product was going, I'd use this match to legitimize Dean and have him go over in something of a shock result. I thought Konnan was sort of wasted as a white meat babyface and would try to transition him into a Mexican Gangster ASAP. It would start with this loss, while Dean is being prepared for his Cruiserweight Championship run.

WCW Women's No-DQ Match
Dynamite Kasai vs Madusa (c)

Again, I'm just tossing a name out there, but this is the type of match WCW had no problem putting on, so I'm going to go along with it. This would be the most violent match on the card, with some stiff chair shots, weapons, tables etc. and after Madusa survives Kasai's onslaught she goes over to continue her impressive run on top.

Sgt Craig Pittman vs Disco Inferno

My 'feature' match intended to mix up the mid-card scene and get some new faces over. I thought Pittman was an underrated talent who WCW weren't quite sure how to use. I'd feature his mat-work a lot more here and have him submit Disco in really convincing fashion. It wouldn't be a total squash, Disco would be given a few shining moments to prove he can actually wrestle, but all it takes is one arm-bar in the middle of the ring for Pittman to get the win.

No DQ
The Public Enemy vs The Renegade & Joe Gomez

Public Enemy's long-awaited WCW debut and they just maul through the two rookies, beating them with trash cans before finishing them off with a table inside the ring. This would be a total squash to try and set the tone of the show. Again, the idea here is to feature more tag teams and Public Enemy would be slowly built up as a heel tag team for the Steiner Bros to face off against.