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THE STARS OF WORLD CLASS ON TOUR
Monday, Week 4, August 1984 Austin, TX (Small Venue) Expected Attendance: 2,504 Ticket prices: Default Actual Attendance: 2,000 (SOLD OUT) -Pre-Show Dark Segment Lance Russell conducts a lengthy interview with Fritz Von Erich, primarily focusing on the Cage Clash event this Saturday. Fritz is confident that the Von Erichs will score a victory, and he predicts a golden age for WCCW once this feud is finally in the past, and once the Freebirds are finally out of power. Fritz does not address the status of his son Kerry (C-) -Pre-Show Dark Segment Lance Russell then interviews Owen Hart, who hypes his upcoming match. (E) -Pre-Show Dark Match Owen Hart defeats Villano IV by pinfall in 49 seconds. (C-). The two showed poor chemistry. -As the show starts, Lance Russell comes to the ring and hypes the Cage Clash main event, as well as the 8-man #1 contender's tournament that will take place the same night. He says that the 8 participants will be chosen by the WCCW board of directors, and those names will be announced at the TV show this week. Russell then announces a twist to the tournament - the 1st round pairings will be randomly drawn, live on TV, by selected fans at the show. Those lucky fans will also win a WCCW prize pack of merchandise and event tickets. (D-) -Lance Russell than interviews a new wrestler making in WCCW debut tonight, Curt Hennig. Hennig cuts a babyface promo, says he's proud to have signed up with WCCW, and like everyone else in the company, he's looking to make an impact and challenging for the World Title. (C-) -Curt Hennig defeats Villano V in 6:37 by pinfall. (B-). The two showed good chemistry. -Gary Hart comes to the ring with his client, Frank Dusek, and cuts a promo hyping Dusek and the rest of his stable. (C). Hart demands that all three of his clients be entered into the #1 contender's tournament at Cage Clash. He says that King Kong Bundy is a monster that can't be stopped, Arturo Mendoza is the best technical wrestler in WCCW, and Frank Dusek is a wily veteran who advanced all the way to the semi-finals at the King of Texas Wrestling tournament in April. (C) -Frank Dusek (w/Gary Hart) defeats Al Perez in 6:42 by pinfall. (D). Perez was exhausted by the end of the match. -The Sheepherders (w/Skandor Akbar) defeat Bruno Samartino & Jose Lothario 12:30 when Miller pinned Sammartino. (D+). Miller seemed off his game. Lothario was tiring towards the end of the match. After the match, Akbar cut a promo hyping his team, and demanded that both Sheepherders be entered into the 8-man #1 contender's tournament. (C) -David Von Erich comes to the ring and cuts a lengthy promo hyping both the Cage Clash main event and his world title defense tonight against Terry Gordy. David says his family has come way too far to have things end for them in WCCW this Saturday. He doesn't want to wrestle for any other promotion in the world, in front of any other fans, and he's prepared to do ANYTHING it takes to make sure he stays right where he is. Tonight, he says he's going to take out his frustrations on Terry Gordy, who he guarantees won't be 100% for the Cage Clash main event. (B-) -WCCW World Heavyweight Championship Match David Von Erich and Terry Gordy wrestled to a double count-out in 36:06. (A+). David makes his 17th defense of the World Title. Overall Show Rating: B- THOUGHTS: -An amazing main event propels us to an excellent show after a very mediocre undercard. It's the second A+ match for Gordy in this dynasty, the first was when David defeated him in the finals of the King of Texas Wrestling tournament for the vacant World Title in April. This was David's 7th A+ match. -There wasn't much to write home about elsewhere on the show. Curt Hennig did have a very good debut, with a B- effort against Villano V. That's Villano V's best single's match EVER in the dynasty. Hennig will move up the card quickly. The question is how long to keep him as a face. -The Sheepherders v. The Miracle Geezer Connection was awful. Bruno will be retired soon, and Lothario will probably become a full-time jobber. -Lance Russell was hyping a "random" drawing for the #1 contender tournament's first round pairings, and he wasn't joking around. At the live TV show, I'll pick the 8 names, but then I will legitimately pick the pairings at random with a random number generator. I'm pretty sure there's never been a non-rigged "random" tournament drawing in the history of professional wrestling. |
NEWS
-I've decided to stick with TEW07 and this dynasty for now. It will probably be months before the there's a "smooth" DOTT or real-world mod for TEW 08, and at that point I'll probably pick up the game and start a new dynasty. I'd probably go with the AWA if there's a stable DOTT, or maybe TNA if a decent real world dynasty surfaces. -All of the international TV carriers I requested negotiations with have rejected me, not because already have 1 show, but because I'm not popular enough. So I'm guessing that will be an option for me when/if I reach "national" status. -Ronnie Garvin has won Georgia Championship Wrestling's National Television Championship, defeating The Spoiler. It's Garvin's first title since he was the Southeastern Heavyweight Champion in 1979. -GCW also held it's Cadillac Cup tournament, which was won by Manny Fernandez. He can put that trophy on his shelf next to the one he won at our Texas Rumble event last year. |
Woot, welcome back Molson!!
Once a stable DOTT comes out I am thinking about AWA as well. There are a couple of nice RL mods in the works, besides DOTT of course. |
Company/Booking Outlook
-Just a note on my general plans after Cage Clash as I'm killing time. -It's time for a big-time scaleback. I've increased popularity all over the country, but at a great expense. I still have a good amount of cash in the bank, but I'm burning through it at a pretty alarming rate. After Cage Clash, the #1 priority will be to get through a few months with a scaled down roster, and to turn a slight profit. That might involve running a lot of B- and C- level shows in the Southeast and whatever region I decide to try to break into next. Shows with little star power will still increase our popularity in those places, and I don't want to cut into popularity gains I've made in Texas and the midwest. So nobody's job is safe, and there will some cuts right after Saturday's show. -With the roster a lot smaller, the angles will also be a lot simpler and more drawn out. Hopefully that helps me increase the pace of updates, as it won't take as much time to get through stuff. -After a few months (at least) of building up the bank account, I'll go back into full-steam expansion mode, fattening up the roster again, and adding a third weekly show, perhaps as a seperate brand. At that point, the goal will be national status and passing the WWF as the world's most prestigious promotion. (Then hopefully a DOTT mod for TEW 08 is out). |
WORLD CLASS WRESTLING (LIVE TV SHOW)
Wednesday, Week 4, August 1984 Dallas, TX (Small Venue) Expected Attendance: 5,009; Ticket Prices: default Actual Attendance: 5,000 (SOLD OUT) -Pre-Show Dark Match Adrian Adonis defeated Owen Hart in 4:08 by pinfall. (C-) -Pre-Show Dark Segment Lance Russell conducts a brief interview of Kerry Von Erich, whose loyalties remain unknown on the eve of Cage Clash. Kerry again refuses to reveal whose side he'll be on, but says that he will take part in that night's main event, and he does know who he'll be wrestling with. Kerry than thanks the fans for their support of him and his brothers over the years. (C+) -Pre-Show Dark Segment -Curt Hennig drew with Doug Somers in 10:00 when the time limit expired. (B-). -The Road Warriors defeated Frank Dusek (w/Gary Hart) & Brian Adias in 6:57 when Animal pinned Adias. (C-). Animal looked off his game. After the match, Gary Hart grabbed a mic and started berating Brian Adias for his loss. Hart said that against his better judgment, he gave Adias yet another chance to impress him tonight, and yet another chance to possibly persuade him into letting him rejoin Hart Limited. Adias stares down Hart and says that he's tired being publicly berated. Adias points out that he ambushed Tiger Mask a few weeks ago, and that should alone have been enough for him to get back into Hart's stable. Adias says that Hart is on the verge of "blowing it" with a great talent like himself, and then gives Hart an ultimatum: let Adias back into Hart Limited right now, this second, or walk away forever. If Hart walks away again, Adias claims, he will never, ever consider wrestling for Hart again. After a moment or two of silence, Hart and Dusek burst out laughing, leaving Adias in the ring. (C) -The announcers introduce and than play a lengthy tribute video to the Freebirds, recapping their WCCW Careers. (B-). The announcers then hype that tonight, in what might be their final WCCW TV match, The Freebirds will defend their Six-Man Tag Team Championship against the Von Erichs. -Dick Murdoch defeats Al Perez in 4:51 by pinfal (B+). The two showed great chemistry. Murdoch looked good. -Lance Russell comes to the ring with representatives from the WCCW board of directors, 8 fans, and a hat. Russell hypes the 8-man tournament that will be held on the undercard of WCCW Cage Clash. The winner of the tournament will be deemed the #1 Contender to the WCCW World Heavyweight Championship, and will thus be guaranteed a title shot in the 30 following the Cage Clash event. Tonight, Russell says, the participants and pairings for the event will be announced, live on television. The participants have been chosen by the board of directors, and the pairings will be chosen randomly, out of a hat, by 8 lucky fans who have also won WCCW prize packs. The representative from the board of directors then takes the mic, and notes that while many have speculated that the board may be biased in making their selections, he feels that the identity of the participants will prove that they were "as objective as always". The 8 participants then come down to ringside, as they are announced: Butch Miller, Luke Williams, Frank Dusek, King Kong Bundy, Arturo Mendoza, Bob Backlund, Iceman Parsons, and Tiger Mask. At ringside, Marc Lawerence immediately mocks the selections, noting that Freebird allies Gary Hart and Skandor Akbar saw ALL of their clients enter the tournament. Lawerence says that the board has proven nothing except for their continuing bias in favor of the Freebirds. One by one, the fans in the ring draw names out of the hat, and the following first-round pairings are announced: Luke Williams v. Butch Miller (The Sheepherders react with surprise in the ring) King Kong Bundy v. Iceman Parsons Arturo Mendoza v. Tiger Mask (Big ovation from the fans for the renewal of this big rivalry) Bob Backlund v. Frank Dusek Entire Segment: C+ -Best 2 out of 3 Series: Match 2 Bob Backlund defeats Iceman Parsons in 8:57 by pinfall while grabbing the ropes for leverage (B). Backlund again has trouble with Parsons but managed to even the 2-out-of-3 challenge at one match a piece. The announcers wonder if Parsons has Backlund's number, and notes that these two could potentially meet in the finals of the tournament at Cage Clash. --The announcers introduce and than play a lengthy tribute video to the Von Erichs, recapping their WCCW Careers. (C). The announcers then again hype tonight's Six-Man Tag Team Championship match between the Von Erichs and the Freebirds, noting that it's the last time we'll see one of those teams on a WCCW TV show. -Piper's Pit. Roddy Piper is dressed all in black, as is his bodyguard Adrian Adonis, as is the set of Piper's Pit. The set is also decorated with flowers and a coffin, which is flanked by the masked Villanos, who are both also dressed in black. Roddy Piper announces that tonight, we are witnessing the funeral for the career of Bruno Sammartino. Piper says he spared no expense, with the exception of the Mexican pallbearers. Piper than says that he has prepared a video compiling the highlights of Sammartino's career. A video plays on the big screen on the set of the Pit, but it contains only highlights of Sammartino's recent losing streak. The video particularly highlights Bruno's recent decisive losses to Piper. Piper says that rather than giving a Eulogy, he will pay final tribute to Bruno's career with a funeral procession to ringside, where Piper will make quick work of his opponent. (B) -Roddy Piper (w/Adrian Adonis & The Villanos) defeated Jose Lothario in 7:39 by submission. (B-). Lothario had started the match red hot after observing the insults directed towards his friend Sammartino, but he was quickly overmatched by the younger Piper. Just as the match ends, Bruno Sammartino hit the scene, and attacked both Villanos, and then Adrian Adonis, before confronting Piper in the ring. A terrified Piper tried to escape the ring, but Bruno caught up with him, delivered a quick beating until Adonis and the Villanos were able to drag Piper to safety. (C+). As Piper retreated Bruno grabbed a mic and challenged Piper to a steel cage match at Cage Clash. Piper nodded his agreement to the challenge. -As ring attendants cleaned up after the "funeral", the Lance Russell announced that tonight's main event would have no DQ, and no Countouts. -WCCW Six Man Tag Team Championship Match -No DQ, No Countout David, Kevin, and Mike Von Erich defeated The Freebirds in 22:17 when David pinned Roberts. (B-) The Von Erichs win the WCCW Six Man Tag Team Championship. The performances of David and Michael Hayes stood out. The match was the typical Von Erich/Freebird brawl. None of the participants seemed to be injured in the melee, leaving everyone in the vicinity of 100% for the Cage Clash main event. Overall Show Rating: B- THOUGHTS: -There was a lot to fit in in the final TV show before Cage Clash, and usually when your hand is forced in that way, the overall rating suffers a little. I'm quite happy with the B-, though it was an expensive show, using pretty much everyone on the roster. -Hennig wasn't very happy about wrestling to a time limit draw with Doug Somers, but I wanted to mix things up a little, and give Hennig a chance to slowly move up the ladder - he'll surely get a rematch. Carrying Somers to a B- is an amazing performance, it's Somers' best match in 26 dynasty matches thus far. -The Adias thing has taken on a life of it's own - it's just kind of fun to write for such a pathetic character, so I'm rolling with it. This wasn't a face turn at all, he'll play a hapless, full-of-himself heel (WCCW's version of Shea Hillenbrand). -Dick Murdoch certainly opened my eyes with an amazing B+ performance with Al Perez of all people. That's a full grade higher than any Al Perez match ever, and he's been in the ring with some good talent. He previously wrestled to a C+ with Manny Fernandez and David Von Erich. I haven't done too much with Murdoch, but like a lot of guys on the roster, he has a chance for a new push once the Freebird/Von Erich stuff ends this weekend. -The tournament segment was just bizarre. As I said, it was a truly random draw - I picked the names for the tournament, but used a random number generator to set the pairings. And we got Sheepherder v. Sheepherder and Tiger Mask v. Arturo Mendoza. It's sort of a weird group of 8 guys for a #1 contender tournament, but I wanted all 5 Akbar/Hart clients to show the board of director's bias, Backlund as the clear biggest star who wasn't yet on the Cage Clash Card, and then Parsons and Tiger Mask as the two biggest non-Von Erich faces to round things out. (not including Eaton and Ware, who already have guaranteed World Title matches coming up, per their deal with David) -The Piper/Bruno stuff was very amusing in my mind - hopefully it translated well on paper. Bruno's been on a huge losing street, Piper has continuously mocked him for it, then defeated Bruno in the ring. Piper wouldn't let up the insults, and now Bruno wants him in a cage. I like the simplicity of the storyline. -The main event featured one more wild Von Erich/Freebird brawl before they settle things once and for all at Cage Clash. |
NEWS
-Adrian Adonis is exhausted after the last show, despite only wrestling a short squash with Owen Hart. He's working a heavy workload with New Japan and Maple Leaf wrestling, and has wrestled 11 matches so far in August, after wrestling 15 times in July. -The TV show gets a 2.11 rating...That's quite a dip from recent weeks, and is probably the result of me forgetting to advance book any matches. -Roddy Piper arrived late to the last show. That Piper is a trouble-maker. Which a big match coming up at Cage Clash, he only gets a fine. -Paul Orndorff won the Pacific Northwest Heavyweight Championship in Portland Wrestling, ending the 4-month reign of Dutch Savage (He's also a current co-holder of the WWF Tag Team Championship with Bob Backlund). On the same card, Dr. Tom Pritchard won the Pacific Northwest Television championship for a second time, defeating Steve Strong. WCCW Cage Clash breaks down like this: War Games Match - 4 v. 4, single elimination, participants enter one at a time. Losers Gone from WCCW, Winners Own all the Title Belts -David, Kevin, Mike and ? v. Terry Gordy, Buddy Roberts, Michael Hayes and ?. Steel Cage Match Classic Rules - Pinfall or Submission Only. -Bruno Sammartino v. Roddy Piper 8-Man Tournament Winner named #1 Contender to World Championship First Round Pairings: -Luke Williams v. Butch Miller -King Kong Bundy v. Iceman Parsons -Tiger Mask v. Arturo Mendoza -Bob Backlund v. Frank Dusek |
WORLD CLASS WRESTLING: CAGE CLASH
Friday, Week 4, August 1984 Dallas, TX (Small Venue) Expected Attendance: 5,009; Ticket Prices: default Actual Attendance: 3,867 -Pre-Show Dark Segment As the fans file into the arena, a lengthy video is played, highlighting the years of the Freebird v. Von Erich feud, and tonight's main event War Games match. (B-) -Pre-Show Dark Match Villano V defeats Al Perez 4:57 by pinfall. (C-) -Lord Alfred Hayes interviews Skandor Akbar about his quandary in tonight's opening bout - a 1st round match in the #1 Contender Tournament, where his clients, The Sheepherders, have randomly drawn to face off against each other. Akbar says he's talked about the situation with The Sheepherders, and everyone agrees that the better man will advance. (C) -WCCW #1 Contender Tournament - First Round Match Luke Williams drew with Butch Miller (w/Skandor Akbar in neutral corner) by Double Countout in 3:33. (C) Both men are eliminated from the tournament. After the match, the two Sheepherders continued to brawl with each other for several minutes around ringside, while Skandor Akbar desperately tried to break the fight up. (B-) -Gary Hart came to the interview area with his three clients, all of whom are involved in the #1 Contender tournament tonight - Frank Dusek, King Kong Bundy, and Arturo Mendoza. He hypes his stable, and claims that there's no doubt that at some point tonight, his clients will have to face off against each other - he says they will compete with more class and restraint than what we just saw from The Sheepherders. (C+) -Iceman Parsons comes to the ring and hypes his upcoming 1st-round match against King Kong Bundy, noting that with the Sheepherders wrestling to a draw, the winner of the next match goes straight to the finals. (B-) -WCCW #1 Contender Tournament - First Round Match Iceman Parsons defeats King Kong Bundy (w/Gary Hart) in 4:45 by DQ after Gary Hart was caught interfering (B). Parsons advances to the finals of the tournament. -Lance Russell interviews Kevin Von Erich, who is quickly joined by Kerry Von Erich. Kevin says that last night, his brother told him that he would be by his side, wrestling on his team tonight, and that's all he needed to hear - his brother has never lied to him before. Russell asks Kevin if he has any kind of backup plan in case Kerry is wrestling with the Freebirds - Kevin says no, not after his brother gave him his word. (C) -WCCW #1 Contender Tournament - First Round Match Tiger Mask defeated Arturo Mendoza (w/Gary Hart) in 8:33 by pinfall. (B). -Lance Russell interviews all 3 Freebirds, asking them to comment on Kevin's announcement that Kerry is wrestling with his brothers tonight. Michael Hayes says everything is going to plan - they promised all along that Kerry would be with the The Freebirds tonight, and Hayes says he still will be. Hayes says that The Von Erichs' stubbornness in in realizing that Kerry is lying to their face is what will cost them their WCCW careers tonight. All three Freebirds hype the main event and run down the Dallas crowd (C+) -WCCW #1 Contender Tournament - First Round Match Bob Backlund defeats Frank Dusek (w/Gary Hart) in 1:59 by pinfall. Backlund looked good. Gary Hart watched the 3rd of his clients fall in the first round. -Lord Alfred Hayes interviewed Roddy Piper, with his bodyguard Adrian Adonis, about his steel cage match with Bruno Sammartino later tonight. (B). Piper can't believe that he's being put in a position, once again, to beat up an "elderly" man, but if Bruno wants more, he'll give it to him. As Piper continues to run down Bruno, Sammartino suddenly appears and attacks Adonis and Piper from behind. Bruno pays special attention to Piper's arm, smashing it against a guard rail. (B-). As Piper and Adonis flee, Bruno grabs a mic and tells Piper that if he can't beat him in the cage tonight, he'll retire. (B-). Piper continues yelling at Sammartino, but Adonis "holds him back" from any further combat - Piper is grabbing the arm that Bruno had targeted. (B-). -15 Man Battle Royal Dick Murdoch won the Battle Royal which featured the following order of elimination: Adrian Adonis, Jose Lothario, Villano V, Brian Adias, Doug Somers, The Great Kabuki, Bobby Eaton, Owen Hart, Koko B. Ware, Curt Hennig, Nikita Koloff, Villano IV, Road Warrior Animal, Road Warrior Hawk. (B). After the match, Lance Russell interviewed Murdoch, who hyped his victory. (C+). --WCCW #1 Contender Tournament - Semi-Final Match Bob Backlund defeated Tiger Mask in 16:54 by pinfall. (A+). As the cage starts to be setup for the next match, Lance Russell hypes the final match of the tournament - Bob Backlund v. Iceman Parsons, which he notes will also be the 3rd match of the best of 3 series the two have been involved with, which is currently tied 1-1. (C). Bob Backlund then catches his breath, approaches Russell, and hypes the main event match, saying that he doesn't know why people are saying that Parsons "has his number" - Backlund says Parson's win over him a few weeks ago was a fluke, and he'll prove it tonight. (B). -As the cage continues to be setup, Lance Russell hypes the upcoming match between Roddy Piper and Bruno Sammartino, and noted the new stipulation - Bruno has promised to retire if he loses tonight. Russell also speculates about the condition of Piper's arm, which was apparently injured by Bruno in a match earlier tonight. (C-) -Steel Cage Match - Classic Rules: Pinfall or Submission Only Bruno Sammartino defeated Roddy Piper in 11:31 by pinfall. Piper was (kayfabe) limited by his arm injury, caused by Bruno earlier in the night. -WCCW #1 Contender Tournament - Final Match -Final Match of best-of-3 series (currently tied 1-1) Bob Backlund defeats Iceman Parsons in 8:51 by submission to win the tournament, become the #1 Contender to the World Title, and win the best-of-3 series with Parsons. Backlund got his fair share of cheers from the crowd. (B-). After the match, Bob Backlund approaches Parsons and shakes his hand, in a sign of respect. (B). -WCCW War Games Match. -4 X 4. One Man Enters the Match at a Time. Teams Take Turns Sending Men Into Match, Turns Determined by Random Draw. -Elimination Rules -Losers are Gone From WCCW -Winners Control All the Belts. 1. Kevin Von Erich enters the match 2. Buddy Jack Roberts enters the match -Kevin eliminates Roberts by pinfall (and also wins the TV Title). 4-3, advantage Von Erichs 3. Michael Hayes enters the match 4. Mike Von Erich enters the match -Hayes eliminates Mike by pinfall. Tied 3-3 5. Kerry Von Erich enters the match. Kerry enters the match as the crowd erupts. He stands between Hayes and Kevin, making eye contact with both. Finally, he decks Hayes with a discuss punch, and pins him quickly. -Kerry eliminates Hayes by pinfall. 3-2, advantage Von Erichs 6. Terry Gordy enters the match As Gordy approaches the cage, he crosses paths with Hayes, who has just been eliminated. Gordy can be seen yelling at a groggy Hayes to "find someone else", presumably, to find another team member that can "replace" Kerry. Gordy enters the ring, facing a 2-1 defect, but he holds his own. 7. King Kong Bundy enters the match (on the side of the Freebirds) Bundy is "pressured" to the ring by Buddy Roberts and Michael Hayes, and as the freshest man, quickly dominates. -King Kong Bundy eliminates Kerry Von Erich by Pinfall. tied 2-2. 8. David Von Erich enters the match. -David Von Erich eliminates Bundy by Pinfall. 2-1, advantage Von Erichs In a desperate move, Hayes and Roberts return to the ringside area with a member of the Freebird-friendly board of directors, who apparently has a key to the cage. The board member tries to open the door, and Hayes and Roberts stand by with weapons. However, the three are interrupted by Mike Von Erich, Iceman Parsons, and Bruno Sammartino who fight the eliminated Freebirds off, preserving the integrity of the match. -David Von Erich elminates Terry Gordy by pinfall, winning the match. David and Kevin are the survivors. (Match Segment Ratings: B-, B-, C-). -The Von Erichs celebrate in the ring, with their father Fritz, Iceman Parsons, and Bruno Sammartino. Bruno and Iceman help in retrieving all of the WCCW belts from ringside, handing them to the winners. (B-) Overall Show Rating: C+ THOUGHTS -I think part of the reason this dynasty has slowed down so much is I was putting off booking this event - I knew it would be a handful. I knew with the weird main event and lineup, I wouldn't have a huge rating, so I'll take the C+ -The Sheepherders double count-out and post-match fight wasn't any kind of split for them, I just needed to fit the show into 3 hours, and that saved me a semi-final match. -Good match for Bundy/Parsons. Both guys would be borderline main eventers if they had higher stamina. -The highlight of the tournament (and probably the night), was the Backlund/Tiger Mask A+ match. -Bruno played dirty to steal a win (and save his career) against Roddy Piper. This officially ends that feud, though I don't think Bruno will stay an active wrestler for long. -I knew the main event would be too disjointed to have a good rating, but I like how the whole thing went down. -Every single guy on the roster took part in this event, and it will be the last time they'll all be together as a group, as we'll make some cuts and enter a new era. Even though Bundy was a part of the "losing" team, we'll call it a loophole, and he doesn't have to "leave" WCCW like the Freebirds do. -I don't know how to explain the low attendance. Hopefully it's just a one-time thing. |
NEWS
-Curt Hennig and Bruno Sammartino are unhappy with their pushes. Both guys should be "taken care" of soon. -Kerry Von Erich, Buddy Roberts, Tiger Mask, and Bob Backlund are all understandably exhausted after the last show. -Atlantic Grand Prix Wrestling is apparently having some money troubles, as they dump Roddy Piper, Tiger Mask, and Dynamite Kid. That bodes well for me, reducing the workload of Piper and Tiger Mask. -Vancouver-based All-Star Wrestling has officially gone out of business. Their last Canadian Heavyweight Champion was Moose Morowski. In the company's final match, Morowski and Buzz Tyler retained the Tag Team Titles against Moondog Morreti and Bob Brown. -Stan "Uncle Elmer" Frasier retired. |
Quote:
Put him in a mask! No one will know. :D |
PUt 'em all in masks. Haha.
Tell |
Quote:
Not a bad idea at all - I would just need to come up with some obnoxiously-obvious ring names, in the 80s wrestling tradition. Or perhaps Gary Hart announces that he's found a mysterious new trio "in the Orient". Of course, they would retain all the popularity and overness of the real guys. It would a neat feature to be able to put a mask on somebody and retain his skills, but start fresh on his popularity. |
I just think it'd be awesome to make Hayes put those long blond locks in a mask so he can't show off his awesome hair. Hehe.
The other two wouldn't care all that much, hell, Buddy lost his hair completely once and was wearing a hair piece with a boxers head piece over it for a long time there. Tell |
Quote:
Kind of like seeing Andre the Giant in Dread Pirate Roberts' mask...he's still the brute squad.  |
Nice picture :). Did you meet him at a indy show or something?
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Quote:
He was at an annual Sci-Fi/Collectibles show in Orlando called FX Show. I was very surprised to see him there, usually they will have some celebs from movies and TV. When I saw him, I knew I had to get an autographed picture. I wanted one with him and Wahoo, but he didn't have any, so I got the second best: Bundy standing on top of Hulk Hogan :) |
NEWS
-Frank Dusek, Marc Lowerence, Brian Adias, and Boris Malenko will see their contracts expire in the next few days, and I will not renew them. This will be their last week with the company. -The contracts of Iceman Parsons and Gary Hart also end this week, and I will make an attempt to re-sign them. -I haven't decided what to do with the contracts of the Freebirds. Originally, I was going to have them lay low for a while before having them be the featured attractions in a new WCCW brand. They'd dominate the small "promotion", and hold titles such as a "Freebird World Championship", before eventually waging war on WCCW somehow. But with all the money we're burning through, the brand extension is going to have to wait a few months at least. I've considered just cutting the Freebirds loose and then resigning them in 6 months. I haven't had much trouble signing anyone I want at my current level of popularity, but there's always a risk that their workload will be to big to deal with me when I want them back. Keeping them on the shelf for too long will make them upset. I could bide my time with a significant "gimmick change", which requires a wrestler to stay off screen for some period of time, without the unhappiness penalty. Of course in that scenario, I'd still be on the hook for the monthly downside guarantee. So - I haven't made my mind up what to do, I'll keep them on the payroll for a few weeks and see if the situation gets any clearer. I'll also use them on house shows, with the old-fashion explanation that "they're fulfilling their contractual agreements". Buddy Jack Roberts' contract is up in 12 days, so I'll have to make a decision on him in a hurry. |
WCCW - END OF AUGUST, 1984 - MONTHLY REVIEW
POPULARITY -Texas/Midsouth: 65.8% (Down From 66.0% last month) -Midwest: 61.3% (Up from 60.6% last month) -Southeast: 48.6% (up from 47.0% last month) -Great Lakes: 43.6% (up from 42.0% last month) -Mid Atlantic: 43.6% (up from 42.0% last month) -New England: 43.6% (up from 42.0% last month) -North West: 43.6% (up from 42.0% last month) -Tri-State: 43.6% (up from 42.0% last month) -Southwest: 43.5% (up from 41.9% last month) -Puerto Rico: 37.6% (Same as last month) -Northern Mexico: 30.7% (same as last month) -Our popularity in the midwest continues to gain on Texas. I'll continue to target to the Southeast to make it a strong #3 region for us. Otherwise, no particular strategy here, we just need to stay on national TV so we can continue to slowly but consistently increase the national popularity to get to national popularity level. FINANCES Income (Last month in parenthesis): Ticket Sales: 503,340(551,128) Sponsors: 78,233 (76,588) Merchandise: 16,320 (16,400) Expenses: Worker Costs: 288,125 (325,650) Show Costs: 113,500 (120,500) Marketing: 25,000 (25,000) Merchandise: 25,226 (25,232) Production: 75,000 (75,000) Misc: 150,668 (160,226) Total Profit: $-79,626 ($-87,492) Cash in Bank: $411,810 (491,436) -That's the 4th straight month I've lost money, 7th of the last 8. The goal for September is to make a profit, which is going to mean a big reduction in star power for in the month's events. -Obviously, I need to figure out a way to have star-studded shows and still make money. The misc. expenses were the lowest they've been since the start of 1984, hopefully they'll continue to go down (I've read that the longer you stay at a specific popularity level, the more those expenses go down, but there seems to be some unpredictability as well). I don't know how much room I have to grow in Texas to increase popularity and revenue. -In a cost-cutting move, I've downgraded my event music from "minor licensed" to in-house. This will save me about $3k per house show, $5k per TV show. It will presumably have a negative impact on my show ratings, but I think I can coast by with what I have for a while. -I've also canceled our Event Video department - we'll no longer sell event videos to the public. This will cut production costs, but (in theory) costs us sales $ - though I don't see in the financial breakdown where I'm making any money in this department anyway. -I'm now at the "lowest" level of Video production, music licensing, and entertainment quality. I'm going to try to make money with a bare bones product and then slowly build up the quality. -Merchandise is still a mystery. Every single wrestler still shows "awful" sales under his custom merchandise level. Though, I'm still losing less money on merchandise than I used too. I wonder if the "merchandise" losses actually reflect a loss of money in the video department. I'm going to slash production levels here too for individual wrestlers, in an effort to make a profit in this area. Merchandise levels for all wrestlers is canceled, with the exception of main eventers and upper midcard faces, who well have a reduced production line, but who all all have every type of available merchandise checked off. Low Level: -David Von Erich -Kerry Von Erich -Kevin Von Erich -Fritz Von Erich Very Low Level -Buddy Jack Roberts -Michael Hayes -Terry Gordy -Iceman Parsons -Bob Backlund -Bobby Eaton -Koko B. Ware -Roddy Piper |
WCCW CHAMPIONS - End Of August, 1984
-World Heavyweight Champion - 93.1% Prestige (Up from 91.6% Last Month) Main Event Title David Von Erich - 17 Title Defenses, 4-month reign. -Television Champion - 69.6% Prestige (up from 67.8% last month) Midcard Title Kevin Von Erich - Newly Crowned -World Tag Team Champions - 68.8% Prestige (Same as last month) Midcard Title Kerry & Kevin Von Erich - Newly Crowned. -Six-Man Tag Team Champions - 70.0% Prestige (Same as last month) Midcard Title Kevin, Mike & David Von Erich - Newly Crowned -Cruiserweight Championship - 32.4% Prestige (Same as last month) Low Level Title Mike Von Erich - 0 title defenses, 1 month reign. -Kevin is the TV champion because he pinned Roberts in the War Games match. Kerry and Kevin are the Tag Team champions because Kerry and Kevin pinned Roberts and Hayes in the War Games match. -Mike isn't don't much as the Cruiserweight Champion, and he doesn't have many guys to defend the belt against (the only challengers on the roster with the departure of Brian Adias are the Villanos and Owen Hart. It wouldn't take much cash to bring new low-level challengers in though. I'll let him hold onto the belt for now. -I thought about making the Six-Man Tag Titles inactive now that the Freebirds are gone, but I'll keep it around in a limited role, though I don't expect that anyone will be able to defeat the Von Erichs in a 3-3 match for a long time. This is the 3rd time the Von Erichs have held the titles, though it's never been this particular combination of brothers. |
WCCW STORYLINES - END OF AUGUST, 1984
Storylines with participants and date of origin, in order of current heat: 1. Arturo Mendoza v. Tiger Mask (Mendoza, King Kong Bundy, Tiger Mask, Great Kabuki; April) -A lot of storylines ended at Cage Clash: Von Erichs/Freebirds (this latest incarnation of the feud lasted exactly 1 year), Bruno/Piper (this mini-feud lasted 1 month), and Parsons/Backlund (their mini-feud also lasted 1 month). -Lower midcarders and higher without a current storyline. -All of those ending feuds had pretty good heat, which I can transfer to a new storyline that retains at least two of the participants of the old storylines. I'll look to do that before the next show. Bruno/Piper will probably continue feuding in some capacity so Piper can get his heat back, and The Von Erichs will move into separate storylines where they'll defend their titles. Parsons and Backlund will move on from each other and move into other storylines. -Sheepherders v. Road Warriors has been setup, but they haven't officially completed step one of their storyline (though they've mouthed off to each other a little bit in August). WRESTLER CONFLICTS -The following wrestlers are unavailable on these days in September, as they consider these companies priorities over WCCW: -Bob Backlund (4th Saturday) -Michael Hayes (4th Saturday) -Same two conflicts as last month, as WWF remains the only promotion in the world more prestigious than us. Neither guy will be available for our Fall Day Star Wars show (Formally "Labor Day Star Wars") the last Saturday of September. EXCLUSIVE WORKERS -These are the on-screen workers who happen to work for no one else but me. I'll try to give them a heavier workload, as they're the least likely to have fatigue issues. These guys are also relatively safer when it comes to talent cuts: -Al Perez -Arturo Mendoza -Bronco Lubich -Curt Hennig -David Manning -The Sheepherders -David Von Erich -Doug Somers -Fritz Von Erich -Iceman Parsons -Jose Lothario -Kerry Von Erich -Kevin Von Erich -Lance Russell -Mike Von Erich -Owen Hart -Terry Gordy -The Great Kabuki -Villano IV -Villano V WRESTLER COMPLAINTS -Boris Malenko is extremely unhappy about how often he hasn't been used on shows. -Bruno Sammartino is furious about how he has been pushed. -Curt Hennig is very unhappy about how he has been pushed -Dick Murdoch is unhappy about how often he has not been used on shows. -Koko B. Ware is unhappy about how often he has not been used on shows. -Nikita Koloff is unhappy about how often he has not been used on shows The number of complaining workers is cut almost in half this month. And Boris Malenko will be gone soon. I'm sure Koloff, Ware, and Murdoch will be happy with their bookings this month. WRESTLER DISAGREEMENTS ABOUT PUSHES -These are guys who aren't necessarily at the level of complaining, but they have let me know they think they should be pushed better. (This list doesn't include Samartino and Hennig, who's issues with their pushes has risen to the level of complaints, and are listed above) -Bobby Eaton thinks he should be a main eventer -Buddy Roberts thinks he should be a main eventer -Owen Hart thinks he should be an opener -Road Warrior Animal thinks he should be a main eventer -Tiger Mask thinks he should be an upper midcarder -Villano V thinks he should be a lower midcarder |
THE GAME WORLD - END OF AUGUST 1984
US Economy: C (And Falling) US Wrestling Industry: D (And Falling) Canada Economy: D+ (And Rising) Canada Wrestling Industry: E (And Rising) Mexico Economy: F (And Falling) Mexico Wrestling Industry: C+ (And Falling) Europe Economy C+ (And Rising) Europe Wrestling Industry C- (And Rising) UK Economy D (And Falling) UK Wrestling Industry E (And Falling) Japan Economy D+ (And Falling) Japan Wrestling Industry D+ (And Falling) -First time I've tracked these numbers I think. The North American economy is in the crapper, though Canada is showing signs of recovery. This explains why so many promotions are having financial issues, and why there's so many good free agents out there. MOST PRESTIGIOUS PROMOTIONS United States: WWF: 80.0% WCCW: 72.1% Mid-Atlantic: 71.0% Canada: International Wrestling 38.5% Maple Leaf Wrestling: 37.6% Atlantic Grand Prix Wrestling: 30.5% Mexico: Consejo Munidal de Lucha Libra: 62.9% Universal Wrestling Association: 53.6% (only 2 promotions) Japan: All Japan: 68.3% New Japan: 65.1% All Japan Women: 35.4% UK: All Star Wrestling: 39.5% (only promotion) Europe: Catch Wrestling Association: 45.5% (only promotion) TOP FREE AGENTS (Based on US Popularity) 1. Ric Flair 2. Billy Graham 3. Ken Patera 4. Jimmy Valiant 5. Ted Oates 6. Mark Lewin 7. Gino Hernandez 8. Tony Garea 9. Baron Von Raschke 10. Kamala |
NEWS
-I decide to cut loose the Freebirds. I have a certain arrogance being the #2 promotion in the world that I'll be able to bring them back in 6-12 months if I decide to do some kind of return angle. I don't have enough cash at the moment to pull off a separate, regional brand for them to dominate, and they'll get pissed at me if I just leave them on the shelf. I'll let the contracts of Roberts (12 more days), and Hayes (28 days) expire, and job them out on house shows as they fulfill "contractual obligations". Gordy's still under contract for 58 days - I haven't decided whether to keep him around for that long. I think I read that it's beneficial for morale and future signings to just let contracts expire rather than outright fire guys. In any event, I'll keep all three off TV. -I also decide to request negotiations with a handful of cheap lower-level guys that will allow the jobbers who have been with us for a while to move up a notch or two. I'm going to try to have more jobber squash matches to keep costs down. What I'm looking for here is "some" overness in Texas, possibly some lightweights that Mike can defend his Cruiserweight title against, and most importantly, guys who will work for cheap. So I request negotiations with: Perry Jackson, Steve O, Tommy Rodgers (who was with us just 2 months ago - I don't remember if there's a difference between firing/letting contracts expire for the purpose of the 6 month "limit", Skip Young (who wrestled for us last year as "Sweet Brown Sugar"), David Sammartino, Pez Whatley, Mark Youngblood, Joe Lightfoot, Jose Luis Rivera, Former WCCW TV Champion Scott Casey, and old friend Barry Orton. |
I'm holding off on the end-of-month roster/momentum recap until all of the recent roster changes take effect of the next few days.
THE STARS OF WORLD CLASS ON TOUR Monday, Week 1, September 1984 Fort Worth, TX (Very Small Venue) Expected Attendance: 2,504 Ticket prices: +$1 Over Default Actual Attendance: 2,000 (SOLD OUT) -Pre-Show Dark Match Owen Hart defeats Frank Dusek (w/Gary Hart) in 8:47 by pinfall after botched interference from Gary Hart. (C) -Pre-Show Dark Match Curt Hennig defeats Doug Somers in 6:58 by pinfall. (C) -As the show starts, WCCW World Champion David Von Erich comes to the ring with a huge ovation from the crowd. He briefly recaps the events of Cage Clash, telling the fans that Kerry is back with the family, and The Freebirds are gone from WCCW. David says it's a new era in WCCW. He says people are scrambling behind the scenes to put together some organization for this "new" structure, and those efforts will be made clear in the weeks and months to come. In the meantime, David thanks the fans for their support, and promises to continue to be a fighting World Champion. He notes that he has a title defense against Bob Backlund in the next few weeks after Backlund won the #1 Contender's tournament at Cage Clash. He also says that by previous agreement with David and the old WCCW board of directors, Bobby Eaton will challenge for the championship in the main event of Labor Day Star Wars at the end of the month. David finally states that if there's any Freebirds fans left, tonight might be their last chance to see them, as all 3 Freebirds are in 1-on-1 action, to fulfill prior contractual obligations. (B) -WCCW Cruiserweight Championship Match Mike Von Erich defeats Brian Adias (w/Gary Hart) in 6:49 by submission to make his 1st defense of the title. (D). Hart was in Adias' corner despite their recent fallouts, but Hart looked disgusted with Adias' performance throughout the match. Before the match, Hart actually requests that the ring announcer make special note of the fact that Adias is NOT Hart's client. Mike was visibly tiring towards the end of the match. After the match, Lance Russell interviews Mike, who says he's excited about the "new era" in WCCW, and that he's looking forward to facing new competition for his title. (D+) -Dick Murdoch defeats Jose Lothario in 9:27 by pinfall. (B-). After the match, Lance Russell grabs a mic and comes to the ring, noting that Murdoch is scheduled to face Curt Hennig at the TV show this week. (C-). Dick Murdoch is very dismissive of Hennig's chances, stating that he's looking forward to "teaching the young punk a lesson". Murdoch also hypes his victory in the Battle Royal at Cage Clash, and claims that it puts him in line for a World Title shot. (B-) -Al Perez defeats Terry Gordy in 7:54 by DQ after a very moody Gordy lost his temper and got himself DQ'd for ignoring the referee's instructions. Gordy had dominated the match up to that point. (C-). Perez was exhausted by the end of the match. Gordy looked good. -Michael Hayes comes to the ring for his match. He grabs a mic and states that what happened at Cage Clash was the "most impossible and terrible tragedy in the history of human civilization". He says that somewhere, someday, the Freebirds will be back. (C+) -Bobby Eaton defeated Michael Hayes in 11:55 by pinfall. (B-). -Piper's Pit w/Lance Russell. Roddy Piper says the only reason he's invited Lance Russell as a guest is because he wanted to talk to somebody with some kind of authority. With the WCCW management situation in chaos, Piper says he invited the nerdiest-looking guy on the payroll to the Pit, in the hopes that he can make something happen for him, namely, getting another match with Bruno Sammartino, who Piper says cheated to beat him at Cage Clash. (D+) Lance Russell says he knows absolutely nothing about the current management situation of WCCW in light of the recent dissolution of the Freebird-friendly board of directors, but he expects we'll have more answers soon. Unsatisfied with this, Piper simply insults Russell for a few more minutes. (C-) -Koko B. Ware defeated Buddy Roberts in 19:09 by pinfall in a wild brawl. (B-). The other Freebirds, Hayes and Gordy, viewed this match as something of a "last stand", and they constantly interfered throughout. Bobby Eaton came down to ringside to try to even the odds, and negate the interference. Overall Show Rating: C+ THOUGHTS: -C+ hurts our rating in Texas - we may continue to lose a little popularity at home as I rebuild back into profitability. -This was probably the final WCCW show (at least for a while), for Frank Dusek, Brian Adias, and The Freebirds. I hate to see so many old-school WCCW guys go at once. All do the job, and only Gordy saves face by losing via DQ. -Two new storylines kicked off tonight: Part 2 of Piper/Sammartino, and Murdoch v. Hennig. Both young v. old kind of deals. Murdoch has been terrific for me so far in a limited roll, I can't wait to see what he can do with Hennig. -Eaton and Ware both get big wins as they kick off their WCCW singles careers, though they'll remain allies and occasional tag-team partners. |
Will be interesting to watch what you do with this transformation. The Freebirds were such a huge part of what WCCW was that it'll be hard to really envision one without them. Still, lots of talent on the roster still, some young, some old, and best yet the Von Erichs are all alive and kicking still.
Tell |
NEWS
-Buddy Roberts, Adrian Adonis, Koko B. Ware, and Roddy Piper are exhausted after the last show. Most of that exhaustion is due to their other commitments. -Kerry Von Erich and Terry Gordy were late to the last show. I fine both guys. It's tempting to just fire Gordy for this, but I don't want to start a "dislike" relationship between us that might impact future attempts to sign him. -Magnum TA signs with the AWA, where he'll wrestle in addition to Mid-South. |
WORLD CLASS WRESTLING (LIVE TV SHOW)
Wednesday, Week 1, September 1984 Corpus Christi, TX (Small Venue) Expected Attendance: 5,009; Ticket Prices: default Actual Attendance: 5,000 (SOLD OUT) -Pre-Show Dark Match Owen Hart defeats Brian Adias (w/Gary Hart) in 6:42 by pinfall. (D+) Gary Hart was ringside dispite his differences with Adias over the last few weeks, though he immediately feels to the back without Adias when the match is over. After the match, Lance Russel interviews Owen Hart at ringside, and points out that Owen Hart has has scored a couple of victories in the ring as of late (D). Brian Adias interrupts the interview and begins arguing with Owen Hart. Hart loses his patient, strikes Adias, throws him into the ring, and then hits him with a missle dropkick from the top rope. (D). -Pre-Show Dark Match Doug Somers defeats Al Perez in 5:55 by pinfall. (C). -As the show starts, a lengthy highlight video recaps the Cage Clash event, especially The Von Erichs' victory over the Freebirds, which caused the banishment of the Freebirds from WCCW. (B-) -The Von Erichs come to the ring and cut a lengthy promo. They carry with them all the WCCW Championship belts (and the Six-Man-Tag Team Championship Trophy) They thank the fans for all their support through the bad times. The also cover the following topics: 1. Fritz has decided not to renew his old role as WCCW commissioner. He says that that now that he looks back, he understands that he made questionable decisions because of his own love and loyalty to his sons. So, WCCW is currently searching for new administrative leadership. In the meantime, things will be somewhat chaotic in WCCW, as all wrestlers (including the champions), are free to negotiate with each other and make their own matches. Fritz states that he will still remain in WCCW in some capacity. 2. David notes that all of the World Title defense contracts he had in place prior to Cage Clash are still in place. Next week, he will defend the World Title against Bob Backlund, who won the #1 Contender's tournament. The winner of that match will defend the World Title against Bobby Eaton at September Star Wars at the end of the month. And whoever is champion at the time of the Texas Rumble in October will defend the World Title against Koko B. Ware at that time. Those contracts are all still set in stone. 3. Fritz also does a "role call" of champions to clear up any confusion. David is still the World Champion, Mike is still the Cruiserweight Champion. Kevin is the new TV champion, since he pinned Buddy Roberts at Cage Clash. Kevin and Kerry are the new World Tag Team Champions, because Kevin pinned Buddy and Kerry pinned Hayes. And David, Kevin, and Mike are still the Six-Man Tag Team champions, after winning that title on last week's TV show. 4. Despite the lack of current requirements for Title Defenses with no WCCW leadership, all Von Erichs vow to be fighting champions As the Von Erichs are wrapping up, Bruno Sammartino comes to the ring and congratulates the Von Erichs. Sammartino says he's thrilled that the Freebird scum are gone, and that every current WCCW champion is a class act. Bruno says he's been thinking a lot about retirement after his struggles in recent months, but one thing has stopped him - he wants to wear championship gold one more time. And while Bruno concedes he hasn't done enough to deserve a World Title Shot, he feels that his win at Cage Clash over Roddy Piper qualifies him for a TV Title Shot against Kevin. Kevin accepts the challenge, and the match is on for tonight. (B-). -Bob Backlund defeats Mike Von Erich in 7:55 by submission (C+). Mike was visibly tiring towards the end of the match. -Kerry Von Erich defeats Frank Dusek (w/Gary Hart) in 7:46 by pinfall. (C-) -A highlight video recaps the lengthy feud between Gary Hart, King Kong Bundy, Arturo Mendoza, and the Great Kabuki and Tiger Mask. (B-) -Arturo Mendoza & King Kong Bundy (w/Gary Hart) defeat Tiger Mask & The Great Kabuki after interference from Hart. (B). The announcers note that even though King Kong Bundy took part in the Cage Clash main event on the side of the Freebirds, he is not banned from WCCW because his name wasn't on the original contract. -WCCW Television Championship Match Kevin Von Erich defeats Bruno Sammartino in 8:14 by submission to make his 1st Title Defense. The two showed poor chemistry. -Curt Hennig defeats Dick Murdoch in 21:11 by pinfall. (B). Murdoch was obviously looking past the younger Hennig and was not taking the match seriously. After the match, and as the show closes, and angry Muroch attacks Hennig outside the ring, bodyslamming him onto the floor and throwing him over the ringside barricade. (C+) Overall Show Rating: C+ -Not a great start to the "new era" of WCCW -There was a lot of chatting in the beginning of the show (almost 25 minutes before the first match), but i thought that was necessary from a storyline perspective. The Von Erichs promo was LONG and delivered only a C rating, that's what did us in here. -Disappointed that Backlund couldn't carry Mike past a C+. This was their first one-on-one match, in fact, it's the first time they've been in the ring together in any capacity. -The Bundy/Mendoza v. Tiger Mask/Kabuki thing keeps rolling on, though they haven't had an actually story going for a while (except for a strong general dislike of each other). Tonight actually kicked off a new storyline for them though, evolved from the old one - it will eventually involve Kevin/Kerry and the tag team championship. -Murdoch/Hennig also kicked off a feud tonight, and had a solid match. Hennig absolutely has main event talent right now, and he's hugely popular in the midwest - If I run a show up there he's definitely a guy that could deliver an A+ match with the right opponent. -The plan for the new "WCCW administration" is to have a respected ex-wrestler as a commissioner, and then an off-screen "championship committee" that releases rankings and determines mandatory title defenses. |
NEWS
-The last show is the final WCCW show (for now), for Marc Lowerence, Brian Adias, and Frank Dusek. Boris Malenko, who along with Nikita Koloff, hasn't been seen in a while, will also be let go this week after his contract is expired. Koloff (who will return at the next show), will either be on his own, or will allign with Hart or Akbar. Malenko was just too pricey. -Bob Backlund is exhausted after the last show. -The TV show delivered a 2.28 rating. That's up from 2.11 last week, but still lower than the 7 shows before that. -I've resigned Gary Hart for 9 more months at $1,000/show with a $500/month downside guarantee, a very modest raise from his old $925/show deal. Hart's importance as a heel manager will be enhanced post-Freebirds. -Iceman Parsons does a lot better - a new 9 month deal at $1,500/show, a big raise from his old $875/show deal. I'm a little reluctant to sign that, but I didn't want to lose another old-school WCCW guy. -Terry Gordy won't be unemployed when his contract ends with us, and he's signed with Atlantic Grand Prix Wrestling. That top talents in that company are currently Roddy Piper, The Spoiler, Bob Orton, Gama Singh, and a bunch of Canadians. -Tommy Rodgers rejected my negotiation requests with us because he "just recently left" (I think 6 months is the magic number there). -I do sign a bunch of new guys however, as I look to fill out the bottom of the roster with cheap guys who can do jobs. 1. Barry Orton. $325/show for 9 months. No real potential, but he's cheap. He had a stint with WCCW last year, and he hasn't wrestled anywhere since we cut him lose back in January. 2. David Sammartino. $925/show for 9 months. Not awful for a jobber, though that's a lot of money for him. I just can't resist using him in some kind of angle with his father though. He's currently working through a neck injury. 3. Perry Jackson. $475/show for 9 months. Pretty good athlete, but not much else. 4. Steve Olsonoski. $775/show for 9 months. Decent wrestler, and he is somewhat known in the midwest and Texas from his AWA days. 5. Mark Youngblood. $550/show for 9 months. Don't see much in him, but low price for a jobber type. -I am unable to come to an agreement with these guys: 1. Jose Luis Rivera. Decent worker, but a little pricey at $825/show, when he's completely unknown in Texas and the midwest. 2. Skip Young (aka Sweet Brown Sugar). He really didn't do too well for us last year, so though I think he might be OK in a tag team, his asking price of $950/show is too high. 3. Scott Casey. The former WCCW TV Champion (who had only 1 successful title defense), though completely unemployed, wants $925/month. I hope you're enjoying your free time Scott. 4. Joe Lightfoot. Just nothing in the stats that justify even $750/month. 5. Pez Whatley. He's a good athlete, decent charisma and mic skills, but not near enough to justify his asking price of $1,750/show -I also resign some guys whose contracts are up in the next month or so. 1. Mike Von Erich. I just couldn't possibly let Mike go, despite his limitations. Fortunately, he's cheap - $850/show for 9 months, a raise from $600/month. 2. Kerry Von Erich. I wonder if his "creative-based sabbatical" impacted his asking price any. In any event, I'm happy to resign him for $1,900/show, a small raise from his old deal of $1,800/show. He insists on a big downside though - $1,900/month. 3. King Kong Bundy. I had forgot he was wrestling me for so cheap - $500/show. That's all over now though, as he gets a big raise to $1,375/show and a $750/month downside. |
THE STARS OF WORLD CLASS ON TOUR
Monday, Week 2, September 1984 Rochester, MN (Midwest - Very Small Venue) Expected Attendance: 1,985 Ticket prices: Default Actual Attendance: 2,000 (SOLD OUT) -Pre-Show Dark Match Owen Hart defeats Barry Orton in 7:24 by pinfall. (D). After the match Lance Russell interviews Owen Hart, again noting his recent winning streak. (E+). -Pre-Show Dark Match Steven Olsonoski defeats Perry Jackson in 6:45 by pinfall. (D) -David Von Erich cuts a lengthy promo to start the show, thanking the midwest fans, and promising great things ahead for WCCW. (B) -Non-Title Match David Von Erich defeats Doug Somers in 7:45 by submission (C+). David looked good. -Nikita Koloff comes to the ring - this is his first appearance is some time. He says he has been away training in the Soviet Union, and is now better than ever. He rants for several minutes about the superiority of the Soviets, and then he claims he can beat any American wrestler in less than 3 minutes - approximately the same amount of time that it would take the Soviet Union to defeat the United States in a war. He then introduces his opponent tonight, the debuting Native American wrestler Mark Youngblood. (D+) -Nikita Koloff's 3 minute challenge. Nikita Koloff defeats Mark Youngblood in 1:45 by pinfall. (C). After the match, Koloff continues the attack, and then he covers Youngblood with the Soviet flag. Koloff leaves to grab his Russian chain outside of the ring, but before he can do anything with it, David Von Erich returns to the ring to make the save - Koloff quickly retreats. (C) -Piper's Pit: With Special Guests - The Freebirds. Piper first hypes his rematch tonight with Bruno Sammartino, Piper promises revenge after what happened at Cage Clash, Then, a lengthy segment where the Freebirds blow off some steam to a sympathetic Roddy Piper. Michael Hayes says that tonight's main event between Terry Gordy and Bobby Eaton is the last contractual obligation the Freebirds must fulfill before leaving WCCW. Hayes rants against the Freebirds, and says that World Class is doomed. He calls Kerry a lying "steroid freak", who betrayed the Freebirds after making a deal with them. Hayes swears revenge - Kerry better watch his back because the Freebirds aren't done with him. (C) -Roddy Piper (w/Adrian Adonis) defeats Bruno Samartino in 18:46 by submission, after interference from Adonis after the referee had become briefly incapacitated. (B-) -Bobby Eaton defeats Terry Gordy in 27:07 by pinfall. (C+). The match featured interference from the other 2 Freebirds, and Koko B. Ware, who interfered on behalf of Eaton. After the match, Eaton cut a promo, stating that he's ready for his big shot at the World Title at the end of the month, no matter who his opponent is. Overall Show Rating: C+ -Not a great show, but slightly lower expectations since we were in the midwest. -Several WCCW debuts: Barry Orton (old school heel) and Perry Jackson (70's gimmick) are heels, Mark Youngblood (Native American) and Steve Olsonowski (blue collar) are faces. All of them will start out as "enhancement talent" except for Olsonowski, who starts one stage higher as a opener. -I noticed that David technically has greater popularity in the Midwest (A), than in the Mid-South (B+). Not sure how I pulled that off. I'm pretty surprised that he only delivered a C+ with Somers. C+ is pretty much as bad as David gets - he has a handful of those over the dynasty, the last time he was lower was about a year ago when he defeated Waldo Von Erich. Somers had a much better match with Curt Hennig (rated B), just a few weeks ago. -Koloff kicks off his 3-minute challenge - I wish I had a catchier name for it. Steel Curtain Challenge? -I decide to terminate the contracts of all 3 Freebirds after this show rather than let them run out - terminating them now just means I can bring them back sooner, should I chose to do that. -I was pretty disappointing in the main event - I certainly expected more from that pairing. Both have had much better matches with lesser opponents. Eaton isn't ready for the main event just yet. |
NEWS
-Adrian Adonis, Koko B. Ware, and Bobby Eaton are exhausted after the last show (even though Adonis and Ware didn't wrestler). All have heavy schedules outside of WCCW. Ware and Eaton will definitely be hampered by those schedules in their current pseudo-main event push with us. -Kerry and Gordy are late for the last show. I fine both (even though Gordy's about to be fired) |
Will firing them make it harder to bring them back later?
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Not 100% sure on that - I've been able to bring guys back that I've fired before, after 6 months. I checked my own user character's "worker relationships" immediately after I cut them loose - and none of them showed up as disliking me (as a handful of other guys have after I fired them), so I don't think it's going to be a problem. |
Current Momentum Ratings:
B Dick Murdoch B- Kerry Von Erich Kevin Von Erich Curt Hennig Koko B. Ware David Von Erich Roddy Piper Bob Backlund C+ Iceman Parsons Nikita Koloff Tiger Mask Adrian Adonis Bobby Eaton C Road Warrior Hawk Road Warrior Animal Mark Youngblood Bruno Sammartino Butch Miller Luke Williams Doug Somers King Kong Bundy C- The Great Kabuki Villano V D+ Jose Lothario D Mike Von Erich E+ Perry Jackson Steve Olsonoski Owen Hart Al Perez Barry Orton E- Villano IV F- David Sammartino (not yet debuted) -Murdoch still on top of this list, even with his recent loss to Hennig (which must have helped Hennig propel all the way up to a B-) -Eaton's been getting some big 1-on-1 wins lately, and my Booking Team thinks he should be a main eventer - so it's surprising to see him this low. |
Now that the dust has settled on all the roster changes. My new roster philosophy is to be as thin as possible at the top, with some guys above the recommended minimum down at the bottom (where the wrestlers are far cheaper)
ROSTER, EARLY SEPTEMBER, 1984 MAIN EVENTERS Bob Backlund David Von Erich Roddy Piper Dick Murdoch Bobby Eaton -Murdoch and Eaton replace Hayes and Gordy in this group. Murdoch is certainly ready for the push, where I have mixed feelings on Eaton. He hasn't lit the world on fire since his singles run started, but the booking team is very high on him. And of course, he's the main event of the September Star Wars show, so maybe this improves that match. UPPER MIDCARDERS Koko B. Ware Adrian Adonis Kerry Von Erich Iceman Parsons Road Warriors -The Road Warriors move up to the Upper Midcard. I haven't quite figured out how to make tag team wrestling work in TEW, but I'll give it a shot with the Road Warriors. MIDCARDERS Arturo Mendoza Tiger Mask Nikita Koloff The Sheepherders King Kong Bundy The Great Kabuki Kevin Von Erich Curt Hennig -Curt Hennig moves up to the Midcard - he probably won't be here long before he moves up further. -I considered swapping Tiger Mask up in the Upper Midcard in place of Iceman Parsons, but I'll keep both where they are until at least the end of September -Kevin may also be a little low here, he'll be given every chance to bump back up the roster. LOWER MIDCARDERS Mike Von Erich Doug Somers David Sammartino Villano V -With the departure of Dusek and Adias, I needed to move some guys into the Lower Midcard, so I settle on the yet-to-debut David Sammartino, and Villano V. I pretty much left that decision up to my booking team, they liked those two guys the best of the candidates. OPENERS Al Perez Villano V Steve Olsonoski -Olsonoski debuts into this group as a face. Villano definitely seems to have the most potential of the 3. ENHANCEMENT TALENT Owen Hart Barry Orton Perry Jackson Mark Youngblood -3 new wrestlers join Owen Hart here. The 19-year old Hart has been jobbing for us for almost 9 months now. He's shown some modest improvement and has been rewarded with a few in-ring victories. OCCASIONAL WRESTLERS Jose Lothario Bruno Sammartino OTHERS Skandor Akbar Gary Hart Lance Russell Lord Alfred Hayes David Manning Bronco Lubich Fritz Von Erich JR Foley CONTRACTS UP IN NEXT 60 DAYS -Lance Russell (23 days) -Owen Hart (24 days) -Nikita Koloff (24 days) -Lord Alfred Hayes (31 days) -Doug Somers (33 days) -Villano IV (50 days) -Villano V (51 days) |
molson, still reading regularly, and still impressed with your dedication to it. Great stuff, keep it up. Especially now that you have evolved WCCW into what it is.
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I appreciate it - my goal is at least 1,000 posts on this thing (or maybe 1,383 to be the longest FOFC dynasty ever), and I hope to pick up the pace a little bit over the next few weeks and months. And there seems to be some issues over at GDS - the DOTT modmakers might be on the verge of shelving DOTT for TEW 08 - in which case I'd just stick with this dynasty forever. |
Feel free to stick to this dynasty as I enjoy the reading.
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Still reading as well. Keep up the great work!
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:eek: I gotta remember to check that deal out I guess. |
Someone PM'd me on my DOTT '08 comment, here was my response. I didn't mean to overstate it, but I just had a bad feeling about it last week:
"I'm hoping my fear is unjustified The DOTT group announced two projects: DOTT, and a current-day mod. They've already released a beta for the real-life mod. I never tried it, but by all accounts at the Grey Dog Board, the mod was off to a great start and everyone was looking forward to the finished version. Then it seems like mod-makers got a little sensitive - there were a few too many people criticizing certain aspects of the mod-in-progress, and all of the sudden, the project was completely shelved (and the assumption is that the criticism was responsible, though that was never stated). I posted there, asked whether we can still expect DOTT, and nobody answered. And there's been no official word on the status of DOTT. So maybe it's nothing, but I'm not expecting DOTT any time soon. DOTT Group's Real-Life Mod Thread: http://67.19.230.90/~arles/forum/sho...=33981&page=12 DOTT Mod Thread: http://67.19.230.90/~arles/forum/sho...t=33424&page=5" |
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They come in another form? ;) Thanks for the linkage, I read several pages of the thread, saw the modder's hissy fit. I know it lands me in the minority but after reading through that I have a tough time believing that the comment that came right before the blow up is what led to the stoppage on the current day version. I used to crank out quite a few obscure guys back in the TNM days & have carded workers for my son for two tabletop wrestling games so I have at least the faintest notion of how hard it can be to grind through something of the sort of depth that a DOTT modern would be. My money would have to be on the grind playing a big role, not some comment as mild as the one that appeared to be the culprit. Whatever the reason though, it's definitely a big loss to the game. |
WORLD CLASS WRESTLING (LIVE TV SHOW)
Wednesday, Week 2, September 1984 Dallas, TX (Small Venue) Expected Attendance: 5,009; Ticket Prices: default Actual Attendance: 5,000 (SOLD OUT) -Pre-Show Dark Match Doug Somers defeats Steve Olsonoski in 6:09 by countout after Somers hit Olsonoski with a the ringbell bell outside the ring when the referee wasn't looking. The two showed poor chemistry (D). -Pre-Show Dark Match Curt Hennig defeats Perry Jackson in 7:51 by pinfall. (C+). After the match, Hennig cut a promo, hyping his win in the main event last week against Dick Murdock. -As the show starts, Lance Russell interviews Jose Lothario about his upcoming match with Dick Murdoch. Lothario puts over Murdoch as a very tough guy who's going to be tough to beat. (C-) -Dick Murdoch defeats Jose Lothario in 7:43 by pinfall. (C+). Murdoch is obviously in a sour mood after his upset loss last week. After the match, Murdoch grabs a mic and angrily calls out Curt Hennig to ringside. After Hennig doesn't immediately appear, Murdoch claims that it's obvious that Hennig wrestled on the pre-show so he could get out of the building early and avoid Murdoch. Just then, Hennig comes to the ring. Murdoch yells at Hennig, saying he cheated to win their match last week, citing numerous hair pulls during the match. Murdoch notes that without anyone in power at the moment in WCCW, he has nobody to ask for a rematch except for Hennig himself - so Murdoch makes the challenge. (C+). Hennig refuses the challenge, saying he's already gotten through Murdoch, and now he's looking ahead to "better competition". (C+). With that, Murdoch viciously attacks Hennig for the 2nd week in a row. (C+). Before long however, David Von Erich runs out to make the save for Hennig. David and Dick Murdoch state each other down as the later leaves the ringside area. (C+) -Lord Alfred Hayes comes to the ring and interviews David Von Erich, noting that is was extremely risky for David to come out here the night of his World Title Defense against Bob Backlund. Russell than asks David if there's any possibility that David will suffer a letdown tonight, just a few weeks after the dramatic end of his family's long feud with the Freebirds. David promises the fans that he's 100% focused on Backlund, a man who has given David more trouble than anyone on the WCCW roster. (B) -Kevin Von Erich than joins David in the ring, as the former prepares for his upcoming TV Title defense. Lance Russell interviews him about that match. Kevin notes that this is the second straight TV show he's defended the title, and he says that the fans can expect to see a TV Title defense almost every single week, as long as he's champion. (C) -WCCW Television Championship Match Kevin Von Erich drew with Adrian Adonis (w/Roddy Piper) in 10:00 when the time limit expired. Kevin makes his 2nd defense of the TV Title. (B). The two showed poor chemistry. -Nikita Koloff comes to the ring, and gives a similar promo to the one he gave earlier in the week in Rochester, MN. He's spent the last month training in the USSR, and now he's back to prove Soviet superiority over the US. He aims to prove that he can defeat any American wrestler in less than 3 minutes (again noting that that's less time than it would take the Soviets to defeat the US in a war). He introduces his opponent for the challenge - Mark Youngblood, a Native American wrestler making his WCCW TV debut. (C-) -Nikita Koloff's 3-minute Challenge Nikita Koloff defeats Mark Youngblood in 1:54 by pinfall. (C) -Piper's Pit w/ guests Gary Hart & Skandor Akbar Piper first notes that earlier in the week, in Rochester, MN, he defeated Bruno Samartino. Piper does his standard "old man" taunt of Samartino, claiming he's sent Bruno back to the nursing home for good. (A). Piper then announces his guests - the two men he claim are the "greatest managers in professional wrestling" - Gary Hart and Skandor Akbar. Piper compliments both, but tries to stir up trouble noting that Hart and Akbar haven't always seen eye to eye. The two managers both claim that they are looking to expand on their stables over the next weeks and months with major client signings. Both claim that they will be able to recruit a better stable than the other, but they end the interview in good terms, with a handshake. (B-). -A lengthy video plays hyping the long history of the Backlund/David Von Erich rivalry. (B+) -Bob Backlund cuts a promo hyping the upcoming main event match. Backlund says he's been sitting in the shadows, waiting for this opportunity while the Von Erichs were occupied with the Freebirds. He claims that while David has been obsessed with his Freebird feud, Backlund has been studying David and training for this very moment. (B) -WCCW World Heavyweight Championship Match David Von Erich defeated Bob Backlund in 35:09 by pinfall to make his 18th defense of the World Title. (B+). Overall Show Rating: B- -Solid show, a B- is always good at our popularity level, especially on the TV show where we're broadcast nationally, across several regions where our popular will grow quickly with shows like this. -The Hennig/Murdoch storyline got off to a solid in-ring start last week, but the angle segments this week didn't do quite as well. Murdoch has more momentum than anyone on the roster currently, so hopefully Hennig is up for this feud enough so that Murdoch's high momentum is at least maintained. Murdoch teased a possible future feud with David Von Erich, just as Nikita Koloff did earlier this week. Everyone's gunning for David's title. -It's pretty amazing that Kevin and Adonis, even with bad chemistry, delivered a solid B rated match. There's going to be a lot of time limit draws over the TV title, to emphasize the belt as a very difficult one to win - you have to defeat the champion pretty quickly. This is Kevin's 2nd run with the TV Title this year, after a 2 1/2 month reign near the beginning of the year. -I don't know if this Koloff storyline will help him out at all, but Nikita's got some serious skills in Charisma, Toughness, Power, Looks, and Star Quality. He's also a decent brawler, but not very sound as a wrestler. I will pair him up with a new manager soon and hope I find some good chemistry. -A-rated angles are more rare than A-rated matches, and Piper pulled off an A promo when he taunted Bruno Sammartino again. That's one of the hottest storylines in the company right now, and it will continue for a while. -The Hart/Akbar double interview was kind of random, just a chance to use Piper when I already needed him for this show to advance the Sammartino storyline. Hart and Akbar will indeed increase their stables in the upcoming weeks, and will compete over key free agents. -I was really tempted to give the title to Backlund here on the whole "David is going to have a letdown post-Freebirds" premise. Instead, Backlund's loss will soon start a storyline for him. I was hoping the match would break an A rating, but it was still solid. Backlund and David have wrestled 1-on-1 14 times - David has won 7 times, Backlund has won 4 times, and there were 3 draws. Their best rated match was an A+, accomplished twice, from the main event of Parade of Champions this May, and from a TV show main event last December. |
NEWS
-Carlos Colon ended David Schultz' 9-month reign with the WWC Universal Championship, that promotion's top title. -Road Warrior Hawk arrives late for the last show. I give him a warning, since he wasn't booked, and I don't recall previous issues with him. -The TV show gets a 2.39 rating. That's a jump from the last few weeks and just .01 from our highest rated show. Our TV contract ends in December, and negotiations open up next week - hopefully our solid ratings will lead to a better timeslot. -By the way, in this mod, PPV becomes available at the start of 1985, and as a cult promotion, I have access to them. Hopefully that will be a big revenue stream. -Road Warrior Hawk is being hyped in the dirt sheets as a future star. -Buddy Roberts will be busy without WCCW - he's signed with WWC in Puerto Rico, where he will work in addition to the AWA and Portland. He's the current co-holder of the Pacific Northwest Tag Team Championship with Dutch Mantell. -Ron Garvin defeated Rip Rodgers for the vacant ICW Heavyweight Championship (ICW was formerly owned by Angelo Poffo, who has since passed ownership on to his son, Randy Savage). ICW was on the brink of death a few months ago, but it appears for now that they will survive. Savage still wrestles from the company, and also just signed a deal to work for WWC. -A few wrestlers have made complaints: Curt Hennig, Mark Youngblood, and Bruno Sammartino think their push should be better. |
THE STARS OF WORLD CLASS ON TOUR
Monday, Week 3, September 1984 Warwick, RI (New England - Tiny Venue) Expected Attendance: 950 Ticket prices: Default Actual Attendance: 948 -This is our New England debut, as I try to take small steps to grow our popularity across the country. The show will feature the guys on our roster who have the most popularity in New England (especially in the main event). I have very low expectations for ratings, as we're not well known here. -Pre-Show Dark Segment Lance Russell interviews Perry Jackson (F+), and then Al Perez (F), about their match tonight. -Pre-Show Dark Match Al Perez defeated Perry Jackson in 7:33 by pinfal (D-). Perez was exhausted by the end of the match. -Lance Russell interviews Mike Von Erich about his upcoming Cruiserweight Title defense against Villano IV. (E-) -WCCW Cruiserweight Championship Match. Mike Von Erich defeats Villano IV in 6:53 by submission to make his 2nd title defense. (C-). Mike was visibly tiring towards the end of the match. The two showed great chemistry. -Nikita Koloff came to the ring and hyped his "3 minute challenge", throwing in the standard rhetoric about Soviet superiority over the US. (D+) -Nikita Koloff's 3-minute Challenge Nikita Koloff defeats Owen Hart in 1:34 by pinfall. (C-) -Kerry and Kevin Von Erich, the World Tag Team Champions, came to the ring and cut a promo hyping their title defense tonight against Adrian Adonis and Roddy Piper. (C) -WCCW World Tag Team Championship Match Kevin and Kerry Von Erich defeat Adrian Adonis & Roddy Piper in 24:42 when Kerry pinned Adonis. The winners make their first title defense (C+). Adonis and Piper looked good. -Bruno Sammartino came to the ring and cut a lengthy promo, hyping his main event match tonight with Bob Backlund, and telling the fans how great it is to be back in the northeast. He says he respects Bob Backlund as a former WWF World Champion, but says he's been going "a little wild" in WCCW. Sammartino repeats his goal to wear championship gold one more time before he retires, and he hopes a win over Backlund tonight will get him closer to that goal. (B). -Bob Backlund defeats Bruno Sammartino in 24:11 by pinfall. (B+). The match suffered from a lack of selling. As Backlund was leaving the ring after the match, Adrian Adonis and Roddy Piper ran past him, and attacked Sammartino in the ring. Bruno was able to hold off his attackers briefly, but they soon took control. (C+). Before long, Bruno's son David, watching at ringside, jumped over the ringside barrier and came to his father's aid. (C). David and Bruno are able to fight Adonis and Piper off for a while, but again the heels gain an advantage and continue to the assault. Bob Backlund, who was watching all this from the entrance-way, than charged to the ring and fought off Adonis and Piper himself, saving the Sammartinos. (C+). Backlund then approached a weary Sammartino and offered him a handshake, which the latter accepted. (B-) Overall Show Rating: B THOUGHTS: -Hugely successful show in New England, built around former WWF Champions. Backlund's actually a current WWF Tag Team Champion, as a babyface, with Paul Orndorff. -This was not an official "face turn" for Backlund, just a positive conclusion to a non-televised regional show. Backlund has shown slight hints of a face turn for a while, and he'll eventually make a full turn in WCCW. As good as he's been for us, he works far better as a babyface. -This was the WCCW of David Sammartino coming to the ring to aid his father (which didn't work out to well for him). David is currently working through a neck injury, with no timetable on when he'll be back to 100%. |
NEWS
-Adrian Adonis is exhausted after the last show. -The dirt sheets are hyping former WCCW Cruiserweight Champion Buddy Landell as a future star. He currently works for Portland Wrestling. |
WORLD CLASS WRESTLING (LIVE TV SHOW)
Wednesday, Week 3, September 1984 Dallas, TX (Small Venue) Expected Attendance: 5,009; Ticket Prices: default Actual Attendance: 5,000 (SOLD OUT) -Pre-Show Dark Match Luke Williams (w/Skandor Akbar) defeats Owen Hart in 8:08 by pinfall. (C+) -Pre-Show Dark Match Butch Miller (w/Skandor Akbar) defeats Steve Olsonoski in 7:56 by pinfall. (C-) The two showed poor chemistry. Iceman Parsons defeats Villano IV in 10:21 by pinfall. (B-). After his victory, Bruno Sammartino came to the ring to shake hands with Parsons. Bruno grabs a mic and says he just wanted to fill the fans in on what he and Parsons just agreed to in the back. Sammartino says that Roddy Piper and Adrian Adonis challenged him to a tag team match at Fall Star Wars next week. Bruno said that he was hoping that his son David could team with him, but that David's still working through an injury, and his WCCW debut has been held off. So Bruno said that he looked around the locker room for a guy that reminded him of his son, a guy that has courage and loyalty. Bruno says that while the Freebirds were in control of WCCW, only a couple of guys had the courage to stand up against them, and with the Von Erichs. Bruno points out that it was he and Parsons that got involved in the Cage Clash main event when the Freebirds tried to cheat. That's why, Bruno explains, that he's asked Parsons to be his tag team partner at Fall Star Wars, and he's thrilled that Parsons has accepted. Parsons says that it will be an honor to team with Sammartino, though he may have to teach him some style, as his wardrobe is right out of the 60s. (C+) -Lance Russell announces that in addition to David Von Erich v. Bobby Eaton for the World Title, and Sammartino/Parsons v. Piper/Adonis, two other matches have been signed over the week for next week's Fall Star Wars Event. He reminds the fans that with no official commissioner or board of directors, these matches were agreed to be the participants themselves. First, Kevin and Kerry Von Erich will defend the World Tag Team Championship against King Kong Bundy & Arturo Mendoza. Also, Mike Von Erich will defend his Cruiserweight Championship against Villano V. -The Road Warriors defeat Barry Orton & Perry Jackson in 4:14 in a dominating victory. (C-). Road Warrior Animal looked good. -Curt Hennig defeats Villano V in 7:45 by pinfall. (B). Villano V seemed off his game, but the two showed very good chemistry. Immediately after the match, Dick Murdoch attacked Hennig for a third time. (C+). After a piledriver, Murdoch left Hennig lying in the ring, and grabbed a mic. Murdoch states that until Hennig gives him a rematch, he'll follow him around the country, and deliver a beating in every city. (C+). -Lord Alfred Hayes interviews Doug Somers about his upcoming TV Title shot against Kevin Von Erich. Somers says he's had a very successful few weeks in the ring, and he deserves this shot. He claims that he came close to defeating David Von Erich in Rochester last week. (C). Kevin Von Erich comes to the ring and cuts a promo hyping the match as well. Kevin agrees that Somers has had a good month or so, and he says that's the reason he's giving him a title shot tonight. (B-) -WCCW Television Championship Match Kevin Von Erich defeats Doug Somers in 7:37 by submission to make his 3rd title defense. (C+). -Piper's Pit w/Guests Skandor Akbar and The Sheepherders. Piper says that it's an honor to have Akbar on his show for the 2nd straight week. Akbar says that The Sheepherders are the most dangerous team in the world, and they're coming after the World Tag Team Titles. Piper brushes talk of the Tag Titles aside, and instead asks the question "everybody wants to know" - why haven't The Sheepherders faced off with The Road Warriors yet? Akbar claims that he's tried to set that match up for months, but the Road Warriors have been hiding. (C-). Soon later, The Road Warriors appear on the set of the Pit. They respond angrily to Akbar's claims, and challenge The Sheepherders to a match at Fall Star Wars. As the Road Warriors get angrier and angrier, WCCW road agents and staff start to fill up the set of the Piper's Pit, seemingly in respect (or fear), of what a brawl between these four men might entail. Akbar clumsily claims that his proposed contracts must have gotten lost in the mail, and then offers a counter-challenge: two 1-on-1 matches at Fall Star Wars, the teams would pair off into singles matches. The Road Warriors reluctantly accept, then begin destroying the set of Piper's Pit as Piper, Akbar, and The Sheepherders scurry away. The WCCW road agents put up little resistance as The Road Warriors bring the set to the ground. (C) -Lord Alfred Hayes interviews Bobby Eaton about his main event match tonight with Kerry Von Erich, the brother of the man he'll face for the World Title next week. Eaton says that he's getting irritated that nobody's giving him any chance at all to win the belt, and that all the fans seem to be siding with David. Eaton says he wants to remind the fans why this match was signed in the first place - David cost Eaton & Koko B. Ware the Tag Team Titles. Eaton says he knows that David had a "greater purpose" in mind, doing what he thought he needed to do to setup the Cage Clash main event and drive the Freebirds out of WCCW. Eaton says he appreciates the fact that the Freebirds are gone, but the bottom line is, David still screwed him over. And further, David only offered this title match out of guilt, and that he obviously doesn't perceive Eaton as a real threat. Eaton says he loves the WCCW fans, and they're just going to have to get used to him as their World Champion. (C+). -Bobby Eaton defeated Kerry Von Erich in in 25:30 by pinfall. (D+). The match dragged in the middle and suffered from a lack of flow. After the match, Lance Russell interviewed Kerry in the ring, and asked him if he thinks Eaton has a chance against David. Kerry said that he thought David might be in some trouble next week. (B-). Overall Show Rating: C- THOUGHTS: -The awful main event brought the show rating down, but I liked the show, it advanced some storylines, and the show was still good enough to bring up our popularity everywhere except Texas and the midwest. -That main event was really awful. I'm not sure I've ever seen that particular road agent note about the match having a bad flow. I guess it was just too long. The face v. face dynamic certainly didn't help. -Eaton's promo wasn't quite a heel promo, but he clearly hasn't gotten over David's decision to help the Freebirds win the titles, as part of the "negotiated deal" that included the Cage Clash main event. Koko B. Ware's been quiet on the subject......I've been trying to build up Eaton's momentum, he's defeated Kerry, Michael Hayes, and Terry Gordy this month. After this main event match, he swapped momentum ratings with Kerry: Eaton moves up to B-, Kerry moved down to C+. -Somehow I managed to keep The Sheepherders and Road Warriors apart for so long, but their storyline has now heated up. Akbar's strategy to ask for 1-on-1 matches makes sense to me, he feels that the Road Warriors are invincible together. I'm surprised the Piper's Pit segment was rated so low. -Kevin had a nice match with Doug Somers, who's in the middle of a VERY mild push, he also cut a very strong promo before the match. He's the perfect TV title guy. -Curt Hennig and Villano V had the match of the night. Hennig's been terrific. His stats are probably a little high for what he was in 1984, but maybe he just did a lot in-game with AWA before I signed him. |
NEWS
-With all the announcements and angles from last week's show (plus Hennig's off-air acceptance of Murdoch's challenge), this is the lineup for Fall Star Wars: WCCW World Heavyweight Championship Match David Von Erich v. Bobby Eaton WCCW World Tag Team Championship Match Kerry & Kevin Von Erich v. King Kong Bundy & Arturo Mendoza WCCW Cruiserweight Championship Match Mike Von Erich v. Villano V Bruno Sammartino & Iceman Parsons v. Roddy Piper & Adrian Adonis Curt Hennig v. Dick Murdoch Road Warrior Hawk v. Luke Williams Road Warrior Animal v. Butch Miller -Not surprisingly, the TV rating was down - 2.24 - still higher than what it was 3 out of the last 4 weeks. -Kerry was late for the last show. He's a repeat offender, so I suspend him one week. He'll be on the shelf until next Saturday's Fall Star Wars. -Portland Wrestling signed Greg Valentine - they have a pretty strong roster at this point: Valentine, Jerry Lawler, Ted Dibiase, Paul Orndorff, Road Warrior Hawk, Buddy Roberts, even a young Dean Malenko. -Chris Adams, a guy who I definitely want to bring back to WCCW someday, has suffered a shattered knee that will keep him out more than year. The injury happened in a New Japan tag team match where he was partnered with Davey Boy Smith. -Curt Hennig, Mark Youngblood, and Bruno Sammartino renew their complaints. I'll address them at the end of the month. |
I'm considering going into the editor and throwing a wacky spin or two into this game. Not right away, but definitely before I ever decide to shelf it for good.
Something like: -The entire WWF roster is killed in a plane crash. How does the AI handle that? -The entire WCCW roster is killed in a plane crash. How do I handle that? -Planes carrying the WWF and WCCW rosters crash into each other, killing both rosters. -The WWF is sued and has to pay a $10 million settlement -Ted Turner buys WCCW and invests millions of dollars. Ect.... |
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it appears that the DOTT Mod is back on again according to the greydog forums. |
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Great news - it would have been awesome if they went with the rumored 1970s time frame, but still great. Looking forward to trying it with the AWA. |
THE STARS OF WORLD CLASS ON TOUR
Monday, Week 4, September 1984 Jacksonville, FL (Southeast - Tiny Venue) Expected Attendance: 1,195 Ticket prices: $1 over Default Actual Attendance: 1,000 (SOLD OUT) -Pre Show Dark Segment Lance Russell conducted interviews with the 3 participants of the pre-show's triple threat match, Perry Jackson (E), Owen Hart (E), and Al Perez (E+) -Pre-Show Dark Match -Triple Threat Match - One Fall to a Finish Owen Hart defeated Al Perez and Perry Jackson when Hart pinned Jackson. (D). Perez was exhausted by the end of the match. -Lance Russell interviewed Barry Orton about his upcoming match with Curt Hennig. (D) -Curt Hennig defeated Barry Orton in 8:29 by pinfall. (C). After the match, Hennig announced that he has accepted Dick Murdock's challenge for a rematch at Fall Star Wars later this week. Hennig says that he does this with some reluctance, as he feels that he's giving in to Murdoch's demands after the beatings he's received over the last few weeks. But Hennig ultimately decided that the best way to shut Murdoch up was to pin him again. (C+) -Bobby Eaton came out to the ring and hyped his match tonight with Kevin Von Erich, and also his shot at the World Title against David at Fall Star Wars. He also puts over his win against Kerry at the TV show last week. Eaton continues to portray himself as the underdog David better not look past. (B-). -Non-Title Match Bobby Eaton defeated Kevin Von Erich in 24:42 by pinfall (C-) -Nikita Koloff comes to the ring with his new manager, Skandor Akbar. Akbar puts over the Russian as a future world champion, and hypes tonight's installment of Koloff's 3-minute challenge. (C) -3-Minute Challenge Nikita Koloff (w/Skandor Akbar) defeats Steve Olsonoski in 2:50 by pinfall. (C+). After the match, Akbar orders his client to attack Olsonoski for another minute or so, before calling Akbar off (before anyone could make a save for Olsonoski and "show up" Koloff, like David and others have done in recent weeks) (D+) -Koko B. Ware comes to the ring and hypes his upcoming main event match with David Von Erich. Ware says that he's surprised how well fans all over the country have treated David after he helped the Freebirds defeat Eaton & Ware for the tag team championship several months ago. Ware says that while David claims he did it for the good of WCCW, and to setup the final battle with the Freebirds, Ware believes that David's motivations were more selfish - he just wanted the Von Erichs to be the only thing that mattered in WCCW. As a result of David's actions, Ware reminds the fans, he's locked into a World Championship Match at next month's Texas Rumble show, against whoever the champion is at the time. Ware claims that both he and Eaton are faster, quicker, and more explosive than any of the Freebirds, and that David won't be able to handle them 1-on-1. (B+). -Non-Title Match David Von Erich drew with Koko B. Ware in 19:31 after a double-countout - David and Koko were brawling around ringside at the end of a surprisingly brutal match. (B-). After the bell rang, the brawl continued until Bobby Eaton and Kevin Von Erich came down to ringside to break it up. In the melee, Ware appeared to take a cheap shot at Kevin, who retaliated against Ware with punches and kicks, before all parties were separated. (B+) Overall Show Rating: B- THOUGHTS -That's a great rating for the Southeast, and a pretty surprising one. The solid main event and the closing angle got us there. -This show was all about Eaton/Ware and the Von Erichs. Eaton/Ware haven't turned heel, but they're clearly still pissed off about David's actions a few months ago (especially Ware). Ware v. David was a potential preview of the Texas Rumble main event, so it was good to see that they can put together a good match, even when both are faces. Kevin/Eaton on the other hand, didn't work out quite as well. |
NEWS
-One of the dirt sheets ran a reader survey to determine "who's the best high flier in wrestling today" - and the winner was Bobby Eaton. He's going into the Fall Star Wars main event with a lot of momentum. |
WORLD CLASS WRESTLING (LIVE TV SHOW)
Wednesday, Week 4, September 1984 Dallas, TX (Small Venue) Expected Attendance: 5,009; Ticket Prices: default Actual Attendance: 5,000 (SOLD OUT) -Pre-Show Dark Match Dick Murdoch defeats Al Perez in 4:58 by pinfall. (B+). The two showed great chemistry. Murdoch looked good. -Pre-Show Dark Match The Road Warriors defeat Perry Jackson & Barry Orton in 5:27 when Hawk pinned Orton. (C). Animal looked good. -Curt Hennig defeats Arturo Mendoza (w/Gary Hart) in 11:54 by pinfall. (B+). As Hennig catches his breath after the match, a brief video plays hyping the Hennig/Murdoch angle - highlighting Hennig's upset win over Murdoch, and Murdoch's subsequent sneak attacks of Hennig in his quest for a rematch. (C+). After the video, Hennig cut a promo confirming the rumors that he's finally accepted the rematch, which will take place this Saturday night at Fall Star Wars. (C+) -Piper's Pit w/guests: The Road Warriors & The Sheepherders (w/Skandor Akbar). Roddy Piper says that after the events of last week's Piper's Pit, he's been trying all week to arrange an organized and civil discourse between The Road Warriors and Sheepherders on his show. However, he claims that WCCW's insurance company wouldn't let that happen unless both teams were securely separated. So Piper has set up two small cages on his set, that both teams will enter, at which time he'll get to the bottom of this issue. The Road Warriors come out first, and enter one of the cages, followed by the Sheepherders and Skandor Akbar. The Road Warriors demand to know why The Sheepherders have dodged them for months, and why they've only agreed to singles matches at Fall Star Wars. Akbar responds in a rambling, insulting, tirade, never really answering the questions. Eventually, the Road Warriors break loose from their cage, and approach the Sheepherders (and a terrified Akbar). The Road Warriors tip the Sheepherders cage over the set, causing all three men to fall into a heap onto each other. The Road Warriors triumphantly leave the set, as Piper tries to free The Sheepherders and Akbar. (C+) -Non-Title Match Mike Von Erich defeats Villano IV in 5:51 by DQ after interference from Villano V (Mike's challenger for the Cruiserweight Title at Fall Star Wars). (B-). The two showed great chemistry. After the match, Lance Russel interviewed Mike about his title defense this Saturday. (D+). -Iceman Parsons (w/Bruno Sammartino) drew with Adrian Adonis (w/Roddy Piper) by Double DQ after Bruno and Piper both got involved. (B-). After the match, Sammartino and Parsons hyped their tag team match with Adonis and Piper at Fall Star Wars. (B-) -David & Kevin Von Erich drew with Koko B. Ware & Bobby Eaton in 30:00 after the time limit expired. (B+). The performance of Koko B. Ware stood out. During the match, the announcers filled the audience in about the events of the Monday night show in Jacksonville, when Eaton defeated Kevin 1-on-1, and David drew with Koko after a wild brawl. During this match, Koko constantly attempted to cheat behind the back of both the referee, and his partner Eaton. After the match, David cut a promo hyping his World Title defense against Bobby Eaton, saying he knew it was going to be a great match, but he warned Koko B. Ware not get involved. (B) Overall Show Rating: B- THOUGHTS -That show pretty much rocked - I'm disappointing with the overall rating though, don't know why I couldn't pull out a B or B+. (There might be some issue where there's a penalty if the main event isn't the highest rated match on the card). -That's the second time Murdoch has carried Al Perez to a B+ match. Amazing. -I knew Hennig and Mendoza would have a great match, but maybe it was a mistake to run it here as the opener, overshadowing the rest of the card. I wanted to get Mendoza back in the ring, as he, Bundy, Tiger Mask, and Kabuki have been out of the spotlight for a few weeks. -I think Mike's improving - there's a number of opponents he can deliver B- matches with now. He just can't wrestle for all that long. -Eaton and Ware are both still faces, but Ware is acting very heelish. |
NEWS
-The TV Show delivered a 2.59 rating. That's an all-time high for WCCW. -Mid-South Wrestling did some serious roster cleaning - they cut loose The Road Warriors, Jim Neidhart, Tim Horner, Perry Jackson, Mike Bond, and Art Crews. -After not appearing in a match for anyone over the course of this dynasty, Dusty Wolfe is apparently very desperate to work, and I sign him for 9 months at $75/show. He'll get a LOT of work as a punching bag for that rate. He's 20 years old, and despite having zero popularity anywhere, he's not awful. C+ Athleticism and Toughness, D+ in the Basics, Charisma, Acting, Stamina, Power, and Consistency. I assign him as a Enhancement Talent Heel with an old-school heel gimmick. -There's a new NWA World Heavyweight Champion in Mid-Atlantic Wrestling - Dusty Rhodes regained the title from Ivan Koloff, who had defeated Rhodes for the belt about 7 months earlier. This is Rhodes' 4th reign with the title. He's also still a co-holder of the NWA World Tag Team Championship, with Ricky Steamboat. -Next up is Fall Star Wars, a 2 1/2 hour show with an importance of "highly regarded". Last year's event (then known as "Labor Day Star Wars") featured David Von Erich retaining the WCCW American Heavyweight Championship against Bob Backlund, Michael Hayes & Buddy Roberts defeating Kevin & Kerry Von Erich for the WCCW American Tag Team Titles, and The Great Kabuki defeating Manny Fernandez in a Texas Death Match. |
WORLD CLASS WRESTLING: FALL STAR WARS
Saturday, Week 4, September 1984 El Paso, TX (Small Venue) Expected Attendance: 5,309; Ticket Prices: +$2 over default Actual Attendance: 4,270 -Pre-Show Dark Match Jose Lothario defeats Dusty Wolfe in 6:33 by pinfall (C-). Lothario looked good. After the match, Lance Russell interviewed Lothario about his win. Lothario said he's winding down his in-ring career, but he still looks forward to each time he gets to wrestle in front of the WCCW fans. (C-) -Pre-Show Dark Match Steve Olsonoski defeats Barry Orton in 4:31 by pinfall. (D). Olsonoski seemed off his game. After the match, Lance Russell interviewed Olsonoski about his win. (D-) -As the show starts, Mike Von Erich comes to the ringside area for his Cruiserweight Title defense. Lance Russell interviews him about the upcoming match against Villano V. Mike says he has no idea if Villano IV is in the building or not, but he'll have to keep an eye out for him. (D+). -WCCW Cruiserweight Championship Match Mike Von Erich defeats Villano V in 6:54 by submission to make his 3rd defense of the Cruiserweight Title. (D). The two showed poor chemistry. Mike was visibly tiring towards the end of the match. Villano IV never made an appearance. -Lance Russell interviewed the Road Warriors about their two singles matches tonight against The Sheepherders. The Road Warriors say that they expect nothing less than total domination. (C-) -Road Warrior Hawk defeats Luke Williams (w/Skandor Akbar) in 7:27 by pinfall. (C). The match suffered from a lack of selling. -Gary Hart comes to the ring with his team of King Kong Bundy and Arturo Mendoza, and hypes their upcoming tag team title shot against the Von Erichs. (C+). -WCCW World Tag Team Championship Match Kevin & Kerry Von Erich defeated King Kong Bundy and Arturo Mendoza (w/Gary Hart) by DQ in 12:51 after Gary Hart interfered and the heels persisted in breaking the rules. (B-). The Von Erichs make their 2nd defense of the tag team titles. Arturo Mendoza looked good. After the match, the Von Erichs celebrated with the fans at ringside. (C+) -Dick Murdoch cut a promo hyping his upcoming rematch with Curt Hennig. Murdoch promised to "make things right" and avenge his upset loss to Hennig. (B). Hennig cut a promo of his own, telling Murdoch that "lighting can strike twice", and this time, his win won't be an upset, because he's proven that he's in Murdoch's league (C+). -Dick Murdoch defeated Curt Hennig in 22:07 by pinfall in a competitive match. (B). After the match, Murdoch went out to ringside and grabbed the ring bell. He went back into the ring, obviously intending to inflict harm on Hennig. Before he could, however, Hennig was able to take the offensive, end up with the ring bell, and send Murdoch running to the back. (C+) -Road Warrior Animal defeats Butch Miller (w/Skandor Akbar) in 8:09 by pinfall. (B-). The two showed poor chemistry. After the match, Road Warrior Hawk came to the ring to celebrate with Animal. Suddenly, Luke Williams, Skandor Akbar, and Akbar's newest client, Nikita Koloff, stormed the ring and attacked The Road Warriors. Miller, though weakened from his match, also joined the assault. The Road Warriors, however, after a few minutes, were able to turn the tables and drive the heels from the ring, overcoming the 4-2 odds. (C-) -Roddy Piper and Adrian Adonis came to the ring. Adonis was pushing a shopping cart filled with various weapons. Piper announced that Sammartino and Parsons had foolishly agreed to a last-minute stipulation - their tag team match would be no-DQ. Piper says he and Adonis have come prepared - he cuts a wild, rambling promo where he shows off many of the items in the shopping cart, which includes the traditional (steel chairs, baseball bats, lead pipes), and the non-traditional (fire-extinguisher, framed picture of Sammartino winning the WWWF Heavyweight Championship, several framed gold records from the 50's and other "artifacts" with the purpose of mocking Bruno's age) (B-) -No DQ Match Roddy Piper & Adrian Adonis wrestled to a no-contest with Bruno Sammartino and Iceman Parsons after 10:06 of sometimes humorous mayhem after all the action had spilled out of the ring, and the referee decided to call the match. (C-) Bruno's son David got involved at several points. Parsons sprayed Piper with a fire extinguisher. -With Bobby Eaton already in the ring, David Von Erich began to come down the entrance-way for his World Heavyweight Championship defense, when he was attacked from behind by Koko B. Ware. Ware quickly rammed David into a steel barricade, and them body slammed him onto the concrete. About 10 minutes of chaos ensued - Kevin, Kerry, Mike, and Fritz Von Erich quickly came to David's aid, forcing Koko back to the locker room area. Eaton left the ring and approached the scene as well, visibly yelling at Ware, and also checking to see if David was OK. Before Eaton could get too close to David however, Kevin lost his temper and attacked Eaton. Bruno Sammartino and several others separated the them. Eaton returned to the ring, where he was talking to Sammartino and Kerry. Eaton seemed to deny any knowledge of Koko's plans. David, suffering apparent rib and back injuries, was being tended to by Fritz and Mike in the entrance-way. (C+) -Lance Russell approached Fritz with a mic for an update. Fritz told Russell that he didn't think there was any way David could compete, and they didn't know the extent of his injuries. David however, interrupted the interview, saying the fans came for a main event match and he was going to deliver it to them. (C+) David pushed his way past Fritz and Mike and entered the ring, where he angrily stared down Bobby Eaton, and demanded that Kerry and Sammartino leave the ring and let the match start. (B-) -WCCW World Heavyweight Championship Match Bobby Eaton defeated David Von Erich in 23:33 by pinfall to win the World Heavyweight Championship. During the match, a masked man ran in from the crowd, and attacked David outside the ring with a chair, while the referee was checking on Eaton inside the ring. The man unmasked to reveal himself - it was Koko B. Ware again, who quickly fled the ringside area after his attack. Eaton was able to finish off an injured David with a top rope leg drop. (B) After the match, Eaton, apparently still unaware with what Ware had done, jubilantly celebrates in the ring with the belt. (B+) Overall Show Rating: C+ THOUGHTS: -Again, a disappointing show rating that doesn't seem to reflect the card. I did get a note that Fritz and Lance Russell were used to much - I should have worked Lord Alfred Hayes into some of those interviews. Otherwise, my match ratings, in order, were D, C, B-, B, B-, C-, B. I think I need to read up a little bit on card order. I knew that the Murdoch/Hennig match could potentially steal some thunder away for the main event, which is why I stashed it 4th on the card. Maybe I would have pushed up to B- if the Bruno/Parsons v. Adonis/Piper match reached even a C or C+. -The Eaton title win surely shocked the fans - my booking team has been advocating an Eaton main event run for months, and I decided to pull the trigger here. David had been champion for 5 months. Koko is now clearly a heel, but Eaton is still somewhat ambiguous - he'll certainly have to explain himself, and fans probably won't be happy with him. -WCCW fans (via the WCCW in-game product type) aren't really into hardcore/no-DQ stuff. Still disappointing with that tag match rating though. -The Road Warriors have destroyed everyone in their path, but their interview still wasn't very good, and only one of their 2 singles matches was any good. They also haven't really faced much competition. It will be interesting to see if they can develop. I keep getting road agent notes that Akbar and The Sheepherders are getting stale - I'll have to do something to tweak the gimmicks. -I sidetracked Hennig's elevation to the main event and let Murdoch win the feud, which ended with this match. Murdoch delivers killer interviews and great matches with everyone, and is now a bona fide main eventer, following this match and his Battle Royal win at Cage Clash. -The Tag Team Title match didn't get a lot of hype, wasn't part of a storyline, but it delivered. This was really just a chance for both teams to gain a little team experience and give Von Erichs a title defense. -Mike and Villano V may have also cost us a chance at a B- show by wrestling that dud in the opener. Mike has wrestled a B- match with Villano IV at the last TV show, so a D here with Villano V was disappointing. I think it was just an issue of bad chemistry, both Villanos show an average 1984 match rating of "C". -Bob Backlund, by the way, wasn't used for this card (or on shows the last couple of weeks), because he was committed the WWF tonight. |
NEWS
-Curt Hennig, Steve Olsonoski, Mark Youngblood, Perry Jackson, and Bruno Sammartino all complain about their pushes. In the case of Olsonoski, Youngblood, and Jackson, maybe my strategy of making my roster bottom-heavy with cheap talent isn't working. On the other hand, who really cares that they're upset. -Adrian Adonis is exhausted after the last show, again, this is the result of his other commitments. I definitely won't give him any kind of major push until he leaves one of his other promotions - New Japan or Maple Leaf Wrestling. -Road Warrior Hawk was late for the last show. I fine him. -All-Japan wrestling made a number of cuts: The Cobra, Sgt. Slaughter, Rick Martel, Hiromichi Fuyuki, Shiro Koshinaka, and Apollo Suguhara. I'm not in a hiring period so I don't request any negotiations, but I would like to bring some Japanese guys in eventually. -The contracts of both of my announcers - Lance Russell and Lord Alfred Hayes - are up in a few days and I enter into negotiations. Russell resigns for 9 more months at $2,450/show, a modest raise from his old $2,250/show deal. He's still the second most expensive worker on the show, after Roddy Piper. He has A+ announcing and general mic skills, one of only 4 Americans rated that highly in both categories (joining Gordon Solie, Jim Ross, Bob Caudle). He's also a locker room leader. I also resign Hayes, for 18 months, at $1,925/show up from his old deal of $1,825/show. I probably could have saved a little money on a new color commentator, but Hayes is solid, and I eventually want him to manage a stable of British heel wrestlers. -Other contract negotiations: I take a long look at Owen Hart, who demanded a big raise, from $125/show up top $500/show. After reviewing his skills and match rating increases over the last 9 months, I decide to give him another 9 months at his demanded rate. If Hart is worth $500/show, Doug Somers is surely worth $575/show, so I resign him too, for another 9 months, a raise from his old $325/show deal. -The news reports that New Japan is on the brink of bankruptcy. Them going under would mean a lot of unemployed Japanese wrestlers, and perhaps an opportunity for the smaller UWF "shoot-style" promotion, which opened since this dynasty started. Their champion is Riki Choshu. -Some interesting stuff went down in SWCW. The Southwest Championship Wrestling Heavyweight Championship had went vacant for the second time in about 15 months when Ricky Steamboat left the promotion. In the chaos, promoter Joe Blanchard fired head booker Jonathan Boyd. The same day, "Bullet" Bob Armstrong won the vacant title in a match with Chavo Guerrero. (The last time the belt went vacant, promotion owner Joe Blanchard booked his son Tully to win the title). The SWCW head booker position is currently vacant (but I'm not interested). -As October 1984 begins, Tom Zenk, Scott Hall, Masahiro Chono, Shawn Michaels and others enter the database. None of the male wrestlers who've debuted into the database in this manner have ever been signed by anyone except me (I picked up Owen Hart and Nikita Koloff). Some of them have OK skills, but all of them have F- popularity in all regions, so I don't know if they can possibly be picked up, or what the mod maker intended. Guys like Yokozuna, The Undertaker, Hillbilly Jim, Marty Jannetty, Barry Darsow, DJ Peterson, Jushin Liger, and Kendall Windham have all showed up but haven't been used by anyone. Anybody reading this thing have any insight on that? -Larry Hennig, who retired in January of this year, has officially left the AWA as his contract has expired. I request negotiations - I won't pay a ton, but I'll consider bringing him in as Curt's manager. |
WCCW - END OF SEPTEMBER 1984 - MONTHLY REVIEW
POPULARITY -Texas/Midsouth: 65.6% (Down From 65.8% last month) -Midwest: 61.6% (Up from 61.3% last month) -Southeast: 50.2% (up from 48.6% last month) -New England: 45.7% (up from 43.6% last month) -Great Lakes: 45.0% (up from 43.6% last month) -Mid Atlantic: 45.0% (up from 43.6% last month) -North West: 45.0% (up from 43.6% last month) -Tri-State: 45.0% (up from 43.6% last month) -Southwest: 44.9% (up from 43.5% last month) -Puerto Rico: 37.6% (Same as last month) -New England emerges as our #4 region after the show there last month -National Status is still the goal but it's still a long, long way away. I need to reach 71.1% in 8 of these regions, with at least 30% in all of them. That would take around 18 months at our current pace, though I think I can do it quicker with a better TV deal, PPV revenue starting in '85, and if my recent merchandise breakthrough continues to see results (see below) -Obviously at some point down the road I'm going to have to figure out how run A and A- rated shows to actually get up to 71.1%. In the meantime, pretty much any show will increase our popularity everywhere outside of Texas. Once I'm in the 60s everywhere, I'll look towards making that last jump with pricer talent. FINANCES Income (Last month in parenthesis): Ticket Sales: 492,514 (503,340) Sponsors: 77,970 (78,223) Merchandise: 217,600 (16,320) Expenses: Worker Costs: 272,525 (288,125) Show Costs: 106,500 (113,500) Marketing: 25,000 (25,000) Merchandise: 27,152 (25,226) Production: 40,000 (75,000) Misc: 148,503 (150,668) Total Profit: $168,404 ($-79,626) Cash in Bank: $580,214 (411,810) -WOW - I had some kind of breakthrough in merchandising, turning a enormous profit out of nowhere. I have no idea what caused it - no info over at the GDS forum. I first started setting custom controls on merchandise a month or two ago, and I really didn't make any huge changes this month. I did scale everything down, less wrestler merchandise, less quantity, less quality, but none of that explains the huge increase. Perhaps the DOTT mod is coded so that merchandise suddenly becomes popular around this time. I have no idea. Whatever happened, I'm going to resist the urge to ramp up spending on production/video, etc, and leave everything relatively untouched this month, to see if the profits continue. -If I can continue to expect that kind of money going forward, WCCW will be in for some big changes. Bigger talent, more stars used per show, more shows outside of Texas to spread our popularity faster, maybe even a brand split. Custom Merchandise Settings: Low Level: -David Von Erich -Kerry Von Erich -Kevin Von Erich -Fritz Von Erich Very Low Level -Iceman Parsons -Bob Backlund -Bobby Eaton -Koko B. Ware -Roddy Piper -Tiger Mask -The Great Kabuki -Very similar to the settings last month, except: All 3 Freebirds are gone, as is Koko B. Ware (who turned heel). I added Tiger Mask and the Great Kabuki to "Very Low". -Everybody shows as selling "awful" last month, but I'm clearly doing something right here. |
WCCW CHAMPIONS - End Of September 1984
-World Heavyweight Champion - 94.7% Prestige (Up from 93.1% Last Month) Main Event Title Bobby Eaton (newly crowned). -Television Champion - 70.0% Prestige (up from 69.6% last month) Midcard Title Kevin Von Erich - 3 title defenses, 1 month reign -World Tag Team Champions - 70.0% Prestige (Up from 68.8% last month) Midcard Title Kerry & Kevin Von Erich - 2 title defenses, 1 month reign -Six-Man Tag Team Champions - 70.0% Prestige (Same as last month) Midcard Title Kevin, Mike & David Von Erich - 0 title defenses, 1 month reign -Cruiserweight Championship - 33.3% Prestige (up from 32.4% last month) Low Level Title Mike Von Erich - 3 title defenses, 2 month reign. -I always try to have some stability in the title scene, but if you're going to have title defenses, it's tough not to have them lose every once in a while. I'm not 100% sure what direction I'm going with Eaton yet. -Mike is now the longest-reigning champion in WCCW. If my surprising merchandising revenue influx continues, I'll likely upgrade the Cruiserweight Championship to a midcard title, contended over by the likes of Tiger Mask, and whoever I can bring in from Japan and Mexico. I like the idea of a LOW level title though, so I'll probably always have something for guys like Mike and Villanos to fight over. |
WCCW STORYLINES - END OF SEPTEMBER, 1984
Storylines with participants and date of origin, in order of current heat: 1. Tag Team Title Storyline: Mendoza/Bundy v. Kerry/Kevin v. Kabuki/Tiger Mask (April, recently evolved to include Kerry/Kevin) 2. Nikita Koloff's 3-minute challenge: Koloff/Parsons (September) 3. Piper v. Bruno (Piper/Bruno/David Sammartino/Adonis) (July) 4. Road Warriors v. Sheepherders (January) Wrestlers with pending storylines, yet to officially Begin: -David Von Erich -Bobby Eaton -Bob Backlund -Lord Alfred Hayes -Gary Hart -Skandor Akbar Lower midcarders and higher without a current or pending storyline: -Dick Murdoch -Curt Hennig -Mike Von Erich -Villano V -Doug Somers -Murdoch/Hennig had a short, hot feud that ended with Murdoch's victory at Fall Star Wars. There's nobody available right now for either of them to feud with, so they'll just rack up wins for a while. -Road Warriors/Sheepherders is off to a very slow start. I think this storyline's overness has been negatively impacted by how long the feud has been teased but not really progressed. -Mendoza/Bundy v. Kabuki/Tiger Mask has been very successful, but it's also ran its course from a storyline perspective. So I've evolved the storyline to include the tag team champions, to make it a 3-way feud over the titles. Whoever emerges will probably have to deal with whoever wins the Road Warriors/Sheepherders feud. -Bob Backlund has been on the shelf for the last few weeks, but he's about to kick off a storyline where he looks for a manager. WRESTLER CONFLICTS -The following wrestlers are unavailable on these days in October, as they consider these companies priorities over WCCW: NONE -I think this is the first time I haven't had to deal with any conflicts. Bob Backlund still considers the WWF his priority, but they run there big monthly show on the last Friday in October, so it won't be an issue. EXCLUSIVE WORKERS -These are the on-screen workers who happen to work for no one else but me. I'll try to give them a heavier workload, as they're the least likely to have fatigue issues. These guys are also relatively safer when it comes to talent cuts: -Al Perez -Arturo Mendoza -Barry Orton -Bronco Lubich -Curt Hennig -David Manning -The Sheepherders -David Sammartino -David Von Erich -Doug Somers -Dusty Wolfe -Fritz Von Erich -Iceman Parsons -Jose Lothario -Kerry Von Erich -Kevin Von Erich -Lance Russell -Mark Youngblood -Mike Von Erich -Owen Hart -Perry Jackson -Road Warrior Animal -Steve Olsonoski -The Great Kabuki -Villano IV -Villano V WRESTLER COMPLAINTS -Bob Backlund is unhappy about how many shows he's went unused -Bruno Samartino is furious about how he's being pushed -Curt Hennig is extremely annoyed about how he's been pushed -Kerry Von Erich is not enjoying the backstage atmosphere -Mark Youngblood is unhappy about how many shows he's went unused -The Great Kabuki is very unhappy about how many shows he's went unused -Tiger Mask is very unhappy about how many shows he's went unused It's a very unhappy locker room at the moment. Most of these issues will clear up this month. Kerry doesn't like the backstage atmosphere - I guess that's a product of how many people are unhappy right now. It also might have to do with the fact that 3 workers that he has a "strong friendship" with have been let go in recent months: Brian Adias, Michael Hayes, and Buddy Landell. He still, of course, has 4 blood relatives on the roster. WRESTLER DISAGREEMENTS ABOUT PUSHES -These are guys that have let me know they think they should be pushed better (including those listed above, whose complaints have risen to the level of affecting morale) -Bruno Sammartino doesn't want to be wrestling anymore -Curt Hennig thinks he should be pushed as a main eventer -David Sammartino thinks he should be a midcarder -Koko B. Ware thinks he should be a main eventer -Luke Williams thinks he should be an upper midcarder -Mark Youngblood thinks he should be a lower midcarder -Mike Von Erich thinks he should be a midcarder -Owen Hart thinks he should be an opener -Perry Jackson thinks he should be a lower midcarder -Road Warrior Animal thinks he should be a main eventer -Steve Olsonoski thinks he should be a midcarder -Tiger Mask thinks he should be an upper midcarder Geez, a lot of guys have an inflated view of themselves this month....I do bump Hennig up to the Upper Midcard ranks this month, hopefully that will calm him down a little |
Current Momentum Ratings (End of September, 1984), with last month is parenthesis.
B Dick Murdoch (B) Bobby Eaton (B-) Koko B. Ware (B-) B- David Von Erich (B-) Kevin Von Erich (B-) Curt Hennig (B-) Bob Backlund (B-) C+ Iceman Parsons (C+) Nikita Koloff (C+) Roddy Piper (B-) Road Warrior Hawk (C) Tiger Mask (C+) Adrian Adonis (C+) Bruno Sammartino (C) Arturo Mendoza (C+) Kerry Von Erich (B-) C Road Warrior Animal (C) Mark Youngblood (C) Butch Miller (C) Luke Williams (C) Doug Somers (C) King Kong Bundy (C) C- The Great Kabuki (C-) Jose Lothario (D+) D+ Mike Von Erich (D) Villano V (C-) Dusty Wolfe (New) D None D- Steve Olsonoski (E+) Al Perez (E+) E+ Perry Jackson (E+) Barry Orton (New) E Owen Hart (E+) E- Villano IV (E-) F- David Sammartino (not yet debuted) Rising in September: Eaton, Koko B. Ware, Road Warrior Hawk, Sammartino, Lothario, Mike Von Erich, Perez, Olosonoski, Falling in September: Piper, Kerry, Villano V, Owen Hart |
This is one of the few threads I have subscribed to, as this is a great favorite of mine. I thank you for the interesting world you allow us to enjoy with you!
Keep it up for as long as you can. :) |
ROSTER, END OF SEPTEMBER, 1984
MAIN EVENTERS Bob Backlund David Von Erich Roddy Piper Dick Murdoch Bobby Eaton -Same group as last month. UPPER MIDCARDERS Koko B. Ware Adrian Adonis Kerry Von Erich Curt Hennig Kevin Von Erich Road Warriors -Hennig and Kevin move up to this group, and Iceman Parsons moves back down to the midcard. Hennig has been terrific, I just want to keep the rise up to the main event gradual. MIDCARDERS Arturo Mendoza Iceman Parsons Tiger Mask Nikita Koloff The Sheepherders King Kong Bundy The Great Kabuki -Just the changes noted above involving Parsons/Kevin/Hennig. Tiger Mask is probably the breakout guy here, most likely to move up to Upper Midcard and beyond. LOWER MIDCARDERS Mike Von Erich Doug Somers David Sammartino Villano V -Still waiting for David to heel from injury so he can debut. Bruno will retire soon, but I'd like to team them together for a while first. OPENERS Al Perez Villano V Steve Olsonoski -Same group as last month ENHANCEMENT TALENT Owen Hart Barry Orton Perry Jackson Mark Youngblood Dusty Wolfe -Same group as last month with the addition of Wolfe. OCCASIONAL WRESTLERS Jose Lothario Bruno Sammartino OTHERS Skandor Akbar Gary Hart Lance Russell Lord Alfred Hayes David Manning Bronco Lubich Fritz Von Erich JR Foley CONTRACTS UP IN NEXT 60 DAYS -Villano IV (31 Days) -Villano V (32 Days) -Adrian Adonis (46 Days) -Butch Miller (47 Days) -Luke Williams (47 Days) -Jose Lothario (60 Days) -JR Foley (60 Days) |
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Thanks for reading! I don't have as much time to work on this as I did when the dynasty started (more than 16 months ago now), but I still think about booking plans when I'm stuck in traffic, etc. So there's definitely no end in sight yet. |
THE STARS OF WORLD CLASS ON TOUR
Monday, Week 1, October 1984 Dallas, TX (Very Small Venue) Expected Attendance: 2,504 Ticket prices: $1 over Default Actual Attendance: 2,000 (SOLD OUT) -Pre-Show Dark Match Mike Von Erich & Jose Lothario defeated Barry Orton & Perry Jackson in 8:37 when Mike made Orton submit (D+). Lothario stood out as looking good. After the match, Lance Russell interviewed Mike & Lothario about their win. (C-) -Pre-Show Dark Match Al Perez defeated Mark Youngblood in 4:46 by pinfall. (D) -Lance Russell comes to the ring to start the show. He recaps the events of Cage Clash (noting that most in attendance were also at that show). He specifically talks about Bobby Eaton's win over David Von Erich, and highlights Koko B. Ware's involvement. Lance Russell says he has a lot of questions for Eaton, and asks him to come out to the ring. Instead, Koko B. Ware comes out. Russell says he wants to talk to the World Champion, not Koko. Koko looks offended, and says that Eaton is now far too important to talk to Russell. Russell asks if tonight's main event match between Eaton and Roddy Piper will be a title match. Koko claims that Eaton will not put the title on the line tonight, throwing out a couple of excuses. Russell asks him if Eaton knows about Koko's actions on Saturday night that cost David the World Title. Koko gets angrier, and grabs Russell by the suit. Russell yells at Koko to get his hands off him. Koko briefly complies, but then grabbed Russell again, and shoved him into a corner. (C) Koko approached Russell in the corner, but Kevin Von Erich quickly made the save from the back. Koko quickly fled the area, as Kevin checked to see if Russell was OK. (C-) As Russell regroups and retakes his position at the announce table, Kevin cuts a long, angry promo directed at Koko and Bobby Eaton. He also hypes his match tonight with Koko, and promises to "bash Koko's brains in". Kevin also says that the extent of David's injuries is not yet known, but he's going to be out of action for some time. (C+) -Curt Hennig defeated Dusty Wolfe in 4:55 by pinfall. (D+). Hennig was really off his game. After the match, Hennig cut a promo, acknowledging his loss to Murdoch at Cage Clash. Hennig says he's going to learn from his mistakes and keep getting better. (C) -Bruno Sammartino comes to the ring with his son David, and cuts a promo hyping his son's WCCW upcoming debut match against Adrian Adonis. (C) -Adrian Adonis defeated David Sammartino (w/Bruno Sammartino) in 4:25 by submission in a dominating victory. (C-). Sammartino was limited by injury. The performance of Adonis stood out. After the match, as Bruno was checking on his son, Adonis grabbed a mic and cut a promo. Adonis yelled at Bruno, boasting that he "beat the snot out of your bratty kid". (B-) -Koko B. Ware defeated Kevin Von Erich in 17:04 by DQ after Kevin threw Koko onto the announce table outside the ring and then bodyslammed him on the concrete. After the referee called for the bell, Kevin applied an Iron Claw to Ware's bloody head outside the ring on the floor. (B-) Finally, Kevin released the hold, and held his open hand (which was covered with Koko's blood), over his head. Kevin held his bloody hand in the claw grip over his head all the way back to the locker room. (C+). -Tiger Mask & The Great Kabuki defeated The Villanos in 7:21 when Kabuki pinned Villano IV. (C+). Kabuki looked good. -Before the main event, with Piper and Eaton already in the ring, there appeared to be some confusion between the ring announcer, referee, and Lance Russell regarding whether this was a title match or not. Eaton appeared to insist that the title was not on the line, and the ring announcer eventually announced such. -Non Title Match Bobby Eaton defeated Roddy Piper (w/Adrian Adonis) in 21:37 by pinfall. (B-). Eaton played a face to the crowed, to a mixed reaction. Overall Show Rating: C+ THOUGHTS: -Kind of weird show. Koko B. Ware is a full-fledged heel, but Eaton is still technically a face (but he foreshadowed a characteristic that might become a part of his character and future heel turn - his unwillingness to defend the World Title). The main event must not have been very satisfying to the fans, but it was rated well enough to give us an OK show rating. -I've portrayed Kevin as having a violent temper - he was suspended earlier this year for brutalizing Terry Gordy in a steel cage, and here he shows that temper again, beating the crap out of Koko B. Ware. I've decided where to go with this Koko/Eaton/David/Kevin stuff, and it will be made clear on the TV show this week. -With my financial situation improving, I want to develop more tag teams (which generally double the cost of a worker costs of a match). Kabuki & Tiger Mask haven't been used very much lately, but they wrestle a pretty solid match tonight against the Villanos, who have come a long way since they first came to WCCW (but still don't win much) -Not a very good debut for Dusty Wolf, who has an awful match with Curt Hennig. Though apparently, Hennig was "off his game". -David Sammartino's match with Adonis was better than I thought it would be, in light of David's injury. I have no idea when Sammartino will be healthy, but I wanted to get him into the ring to see how limited he was. We all know that David didn't have close to the talent of his father, I think it would be interesting to actually make that part of a storyline - not sure if I go that way or not. -I brought back the Mike Von Erich/Jose Lothario team for the pre-show - veteran wrestlers can help younger wrestlers in tag teams, so I'm going to try to utilize that dynamic more. |
NEWS
-I think I get this note after every show - but Adrian Adonis is again exhausted. -With my new income from merchandise sales, I decided to reach out to New Japan wrestling, who is struggling financially. I offer to buy out their company, or in alternative, set them us a developmental promotion for me. They reject both offers. -King Kong Bundy signs with WWC in Puerto Rico, where he'll work in addition to us, and Mid-South. He'll have lots of opportunity to improve - he's only 26 years old at this point. -I re-sign Nikita Koloff for 9 months at $1,325/show. That's a big raise from his old $725/show with us. -The Catch Wrestling Association, which is the only active promotion in Europe outside the UK, has a new World Champion, as Otto Wanz won the belt for a third time, defeating Axel Dieter. |
WORLD CLASS WRESTLING (LIVE TV SHOW)
Wednesday, Week 1, October 1984 Dallas, TX (Small Venue) Expected Attendance: 5,009; Ticket Prices: default Actual Attendance: 5,000 (SOLD OUT) -Pre-Show Dark Match David Sammartino (w/Bruno Sammartino) defeats Dusty Wolfe in 7:54 by pinfall (D-). David seemed off his game, and was limited by injury. The two showed good chemistry. -Pre-Show Dark Match Villanos IV & V defeated Jose Lothario & Steve Olsonoski in 7:47 when Villano IV pinned Olsonoski. (C-). Lothario looked very good. -The Road Warriors defeat Perry Jackson & Barry Orton in 7:31 when Hawk pinned Jackson. (D+). Animal seemed off his game. After the match, The Road Warriors cut a promo, targeting The Sheepherders. (C). The Road Warriors put over their two 1-on-1 victories at Fall Star Wars, but demanded that Skandor Akbar put up his team against them in a tag team match. -A lengthy video shows highlights of the David Von Erich/Bobby Eaton match from Fall Star Wars, including all of the controversy before and during the match involving Koko B. Ware's attacks on David. The video also shows highlights of Koko's promo on Monday night in Dallas, his match with Kevin, and subsequent beatdown. (B-) -Lance Russell interviews Bobby Eaton in the ring. Eaton claims that he had no idea that Koko B. Ware was planning on getting involved in his World Title match, but that he still pinned David in the middle of the ring, and deserves to be champion. Still, Eaton claims, if David Von Erich were healthy tonight, he'd give him a rematch for the World Title. Unfortunately, said Eaton, both David Von Erich and Koko B. Ware are out of action, leaving him without any credible challengers for the World Title. Eaton says that while Ware possessed a "guaranteed contract" for a World Title Match in the main event of the Texas Rumble event later this month, there's no way Koko will be healthy enough to compete, after the brutal attack by Kevin this Monday night. Therefore, says Eaton, he's entering the 30-man Texas Rumble match itself, rather than defending his belt that night. (B). Suddenly Kerry Von Erich comes to the ring, to a huge ovation. Kerry says he's not sure whether to believe that Eaton had nothing to do with Koko's involvement in the Fall Star Wars Main Event. Kerry said he listened with interest though, to what Eaton just said - that he'd give David a title match tonight if he was healthy. Kerry then says, with the blessing of his brothers, he's challenging Eaton to legitimize his title reign, and defend the belt against him tonight. Eaton says that he wasn't prepared to wrestle tonight, and didn't have his ring gear. Kerry countered - how about next week? Eaton still says no, claiming that he doesn't consider Kerry a "top contender".. Kerry then asks him if he plans on just sitting on the belt. After a few more insults, Eaton slaps Kerry in the face. Before Kerry can respond, Eaton bails out of the ring and runs back towards the locker room. (B-). -Lord Alfred Hayes interviews Mike Von Erich about what he just saw, but Mike says he's more focused on on the task at hand - his upcoming match with King Kong Bundy. (C). -King Kong Bundy (w/Gary Hart) defeats Mike Von Erich in 6:50 by pinfall. (B-). Mike was tiring towards the end of the match. -Skandor Akbar comes to the ring and says that he has a major announcement. He said that a few weeks ago, on Piper's Pit, he told the wrestling world (and especially Gary Hart), that he was planning on expanding his Destruction Inc. stable with the aim of creating the most powerful force in pro wrestling, and also establishing himself as wrestling's premiere manager. And while Gary Hart has been standing by, watching his tag team of Bundy & Mendoza blow a title opportunity at Fall Star Wars, Akbar has been busy making the biggest deal in professional wrestling history. Akbar then announces his new client - Bob Backlund, who comes to the ring. Akbar claims that Backlund needs only the proper career guidance to become the biggest wrestling superstar in the world. (C) -Curt Hennig defeats Bob Backlund (w/Skandor Akbar) in 20:24 by pinfall after botched interference from Abkar. (B). After the match, Akbar comes into the ring, and Backlund begins to argue with him. Backlund then grabs a mic, and tells Akbar that he's fired, before storming back to the locker room area (B-) -Lance Russell interviewed Fritz Von Erich, asking him if there's any progress in putting together a new leadership structure for WCCW. Fritz says that things are going great, that negotiations are taking place, and that very soon, there were be a new WCCW Commissioner, and the first ever WCCW Championship Committee, a group that will have authority over all WCCW Championships (D-) -Kerry Von Erich defeated Doug Somers in 8:03 by pinfall (C+). Kerry cut a promo after the match, repeating his challenge to Bobby Eaton for a World Title Match. (C+) -Backstage, Gary Hart cut a promo, mocking Skandor Akbar for getting fired by Backlund, and then hyping his client, Arturo Mendoza, who challenges for the TV Title in tonight's main event. (B-) -WCCW Television Championship Match Kevin Von Erich drew with Arturo Mendoza in 10:00 when the time limit expired. (B+). Kevin makes his 4th defense of the TV Title. Show Rating: B- THOUGHTS: -Excellent show. I didn't think there was any way that our Kevin/Mendoza main event wouldn't be overshadowed by Hennig/Backlund, but they actually pulled out the match of the night. Mendoza could probably be a main eventer right now, if we weren't so lucky as to have so much talent. -Once I get around to installing a "WCCW Commissioner" and "Championship Committee", I'll do something I always wanted to do in this dynasty - give the whole world a little more structure, with rankings, rules, and tangible reasons why certain guys get title shots. For now of course, I'm holding off on that because there's a heel World Champion who is going to take full advantage of the fact that nobody's ordering him to defend his title against anyone. -Eaton officially turned heel tonight by ducking Kerry and slapping him in the face. I had originally planned on keeping Eaton face, having him giving David a rematch, losing the belt, and then feud with a heel Koko. But instead, I've turned both guys heel, and will put David on the shelf with his "injury" for a while. The heel turns were a big boost to both guys - Eaton and Koko now top my momentum rankings - they both have "A" momentum. I've never seen anyone that high. Koko has an equal ability to play a heel or a face, and Eaton's actually much better as a heel. -Hennig/Backlund was of course, very solid, and the Backlund/Akbar partnership lasted exactly one match. This starts a storyline for Backlund, who has been having something of an identify crisis for a while now. He's hinted at a face turn but is still a heel, and he's lost some matches lately where he would have been considered the favorite. For Hennig, another huge "upset" win. -Terrific little match between Mike & Bundy. They hadn't wrestled 1-on-1 in over a year, and this was the highest rated of their 3 matches together since the dynasty started. -Jose Lothario has a little angle going on the pre-show where he teams up with different younger workers. Hopefully that helps them improve. |
NEWS
-The TV show delivers a 3.16 rating. That's by far our highest rating, blowing away last week's then-high of 2.59. We're in great position for a better time slot when the networks begin negotiations in December. -Jim Duggan won the Mid-South promotion's North American Heavyweight Championship (the top belt in that promotion), defeating the Junkyard Dog. It was the end of JYD's 4th reign with that title. -There was also a title change in the AWA, where Manny Fernandez & Wahoo McDaniel defeated Rick Martel & Bill Dundee for the Tag Team Championship. -In Portland Wrestling, Ted Dibiase & Jerry Stubbs defeated Buddy Roberts & Dutch Mantell for that promotion's Tag Team Championship. -Lance Russell has signed on to do some commentary for IWA out of Montreal. (He'll still work for us as well). Hopefully he knows French. -The vacant SWCW booker position has been filled - by Kevin Sullivan. Sullivan had been unemployed since he left Angelo Poffo's ICW (leaving the Heavyweight Title vacant in the process). -I decide to pass on Larry Hennig, who wanted around $1,400/show. I think retired wrestlers overvalue themselves a little bit in TEW. I still would have considered him as a manger, but his mic skills and charisma aren't that great. -I request negotiations with Brusier Brody, hoping to bring him in for another 6-month run. Unfortunately, Fritz caps out my offer at just short of what Brody is willing to sign for. I wish in situations like these, Brody would be receptive to a lower offer in exchange for creative control, merchandise sales, etc, but if the money's too low, the money's too low. Stupid Fritz - he robbed the world of Bruiser Brody v. Bob Backlund. -Fritz pulls the same crap with Playboy Buddy Rose, capping my offer just short of what it would take to bring him in. Rose was amazing for WCCW during the short 3-match run he had with us early this year. He wrestled an A+ match with Bob Backlund, and then "A" matches with Nikita Koloff and Buddy Roberts. Ridiculous. I'll have to at least bring him in via talent trade for another 3-match run. -"Superstar" Billy Graham, who is currently unemployed, has gone off to hollywood to film a movie. That's the first time I've seen that particular news item. And it isn't much of a stretch. Graham has n'twrestled since the WWF's Wrestlemania show in Match (when he lost to S.D. Jones - ouch). -Steve Olsonoski, Mark Youngblood, Perry Jackson, and Bruno Sammartino all come to complain to me about their pushes. I ignore them all. I should really put Sammartino out to pasture soon though. |
Ahem. UPDATE? :D
|
Crap, I didn't realize 9/2 was the last update. I go back and forth between this and CIV IV, and CIV IV (and unfortunately, work) has had my time the last few weeks.
But there will be a flurry of updates tonight. Next house show will be back in the northeast, which I'm building up as my #4 region on the back of my most over guy there, Bruno Sammartino, who will main event either against Piper in a steel cage, or maybe even against Bobby Eaton in a non-title match. I also have to remind myself to look at some talent trades before then, and take a look at which surviving promotions I still have working agreements with. |
THE STARS OF WORLD CLASS ON TOUR
Monday, Week 2, October 1984 Canton, MA (Tiny Venue) Expected Attendance: 1,075 Ticket prices: Default Actual Attendance: 1,000 (SOLD OUT) -Pre-Show Dark Match Villano V defeats Jose Lothario in 6:45 by pinfall. (C-). -Pre-Show Dark Match Dark Somers defeats Mark Youngblood in 6:52 by pinfall. (D-). After the match, Lord Alfred Hayes interviewed Somers about his victory. -As the show starts, Adrian Adonis comes to the ring and cuts a promo about his upcoming match with David Sammartino. Adonis says he can't believe David wants more of him after he dominated him in a match last week in Dallas. He also hypes Roddy Piper's main event steel cage match tonight with Bruno Sammartino. (C+) -Adrian Adonis defeats David Sammartino (w/Bruno Sammartino) in 3:56 by pinfall. (C-). David was limited by injury. Adonis looked good. -Bob Backlund came to the ring before his scheduled match and cut a lengthy promo. He first stated that he's a "free agent", no longer represented by Skandor Akbar or anyone else. He then turned his attention to the New England fans. He tells them that they never appreciated him during his years-long reign as WWF champion. They never embraced him like they did Bruno Sammartino. He said many New England fans actually cheered for his opponents during the end of his title reign, which was a disgrace to his greatness. He says that he left the WWF because the WWF fans didn't deserve him. He then turned his attention to his opponent tonight, Curt Hennig. He blames his loss to Hennig on TV last night on Akbar, and promises revenge tonight (B-) -Curt Hennig drew with Bob Backlund in 30:00 when the time limit expired. (A+). Backlund was extremely frustrated after the match. Also after the match, Lord Alfred Hayes interviewed Hennig, who points out that he's wrestled Backlund twice in the last 5 days, and Backlund hasn't been able to beat him. Hennig says he's as good as anybody in WCCW, and he considers himself a challenger to Eaton's world title (if Eaton ever puts the belt on the line). (C-) -Piper's Pit: w/guest Bobby Eaton Roddy Piper, with bodyguard Adrian Adonis by his side, brings out his guest, the WCCW World Champion, Bobby Eaton. Piper praises Eaton for defeating David Von Erich, and points out that the Pit is filled with winners this week: Adonis defeated David Sammartino earlier tonight, and Eaton and Piper are moments away from victories of their own. All three viciously insult the New England fans, Bruno Sammartino, and David Von Erich. (B-) -Non-Title Match Bobby Eaton defeats Al Perez in 5:48 by pinfall. (C+) Eaton looked good. -As the steel cage is being set up for the main event, Lance Russell interviews Fritz Von Erich, who puts over the New England fans. Fritz says that a new leadership structure will be in place in WCCW soon, but he does have a couple of announcements in the meantime. First, he says that his sons David, Mike, and Kevin are vacating the WCCW Six-Man-Tag Team Championship due to David's injury, effective tonight. In his interim authority role, Fritz is putting together a tournament to determine new champions. He's also ordered new six-man-tag team championship belts, to replace the trophy that is currently in use. He says that effective immediately, he's accepting applications from teams who are interested in taking part in the tournament. He says that anyone who's under WCCW contract who can put together a team may enter. The tournament, Fritz says, will not be single elimination, but a grueling round-robin format, that will leave no doubt who the best team is. Also, says Fritz, since Mike, Kevin, and Kerry already hold titles, none of them will participate in the tournament. Finally, says Fritz, WCCW is working on a deal to televise WCCW's big monthly events all over the country starting sometime next year - he encourages the New England fans to stay tuned and pay attention to updates on that. (D+) -Steel Cage Match -Classic Rules - Pinfall or Submission Only Bruno Sammartino defeats Roddy Piper (w/Adrian Adonis) in 14:43 by pinfall. (B). After the match, Bruno briefly leaves the ring, but then attacks Adrian Adonis, re-enters the cage, locks the door, and batters Piper for several more minutes to the delight of the crowd. (C+) Overall Show Rating: B- -Obviously, that's a huge rating for us in the New England region. Popularity will gain for us faster in New England and the Southeast, because so many wrestlers on my roster have overness in those two regions (from their prior work for the WWF, Georgia, Mid-South, etc.) -Piper and Sammartino have now wrestled 4 times - Bruno has won the 2 cage matches, and Piper has won the 2 regular matches. This match wasn't as good as their Cage Clash match, but still a strong main event. -Fritz blabbed a while about the 6-man-tag title tournament - it will take some time over the next few weeks to setup and complete. There will be some drama in terms of how the teams are formed backstage, and well as how everyone gets along in the ring. The format will be a little different - 2 pools, round robin format, winners of each "pool" competing in the championship match. Really just a chance to get everyone in the ring, trying out different combinations of teams, see what meshes, what doesn't. -Fritz also hinted about the debut of PPV next year - as that feature is unlocked in the DOTT mod starting in 1985 (hopefully I can find a carrier) -Hennig and Backlund blow away their TV match from last week with an A+ classic here. Backlund, along with Bruno, are obviously the two guys I will build these New England house shows around. |
NEWS
-As always, Adrian Adonis is exhausted after the last show. He's be stuck down the card and in full-time bodyguard role until he stops working for one of these other companies. -Roddy Piper, who had been the Atlantic Grand-Prix International Heavyweight Champion, left that title vacant when he left that promotion last week (he now works only for us and Maple Leaf Wrestling). The Spoiler won that vacant title from Bob Orton Jr. That's his 31st wresting championship (many of those came with WCCW). -Stampede Wrestling in Calgary has signed the Dynamite Kid, who had left them last December. Always pretty cool to see the game engine make moves like that. Stampede has a solid roster - their main eventers are Leo Burke, The Spoiler, and the Rougeau Brothers. They also have Tiger Mask, Bad News Allen, and the Harts (except Owen). Bret is the 5 time and current Stampede North American Heavyweight Champion (his current reign has lasted 2 years). -I checked in on my promotion pacts for the first in a while: -Working Agreement (can use talent trades): All Japan, Pacific Northwest, WWC, Mid-South, Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre -War (if one a promotion's worker signs with a warring promotion, he has to leave the old promotion): Southwest Championship Wrestling, Southeastern Championship Wrestling, UWA. -I'm not sure what I did to enter war with the UWA, and I don't think I'm screwing with SWCW enough. -There's 34 wrestlers on the roster. Only 9 were with WCCW when I took over 18 months ago (The Von Erich Brothers, King Kong Bundy, Iceman Parsons, The Great Kabuki, Jose Lothario). A lot of other guys though, were added shortly after the dynasty started and have been here ever since. Sadly, this dynasty has been going on for 18 months in real time as well, so I've almost exactly kept pace. |
TALENT TRADES
-I make two talent trades, trading guys who are out with storyline injuries to foreign promotions for 3-match runs, in exchange for two former WCCW guys. -David Von Erich to All Japan for 3 Appearances, Ted Dibiase to WCCW. -Koko B. Ware to Consejo in Mexico for Randy Savage. -Both guys will probably have singles matches at the Texas Rumble at the end of the month (perhaps against each other). |
It's a dangerous precedent to set, responding to calls for an update like that... ;)
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Quote:
Definitely - but I appreciate the motivation. |
WORLD CLASS WRESTLING (LIVE TV SHOW)
Wednesday, Week 2, October 1984 Dallas, TX (Small Venue) Expected Attendance: 4,770; Ticket Prices: -$2 under default Actual Attendance: 5,000 (SOLD OUT) -Pre Show Dark Segment Lord Alfred Hayes interviewed Dusty Wolfe about his upcoming match with Mark Youngblood. (E+). Then, Hayes interviews Youngblood about the match. Youngblood also discusses his Native American heritage, and the proud history of Native Americans in professional wrestling. (E+). -Pre-Show Dark Match Mark Youngblood drew with Dusty Wolfe in 10:00 when the time limit expired. (E+). The match dragged in the middle -Fritz Von Erich comes to the ring to start the show. He hypes the Texas Rumble event at the end of the month - 30 wrestlers, a new wrestler enters the match every two minutes. Brief highlights are shown of last year's event, won by Manny Fernandez. Fritz says that he expects a new WCCW leadership structure to be in place by next month, and that he's assuming an interim authority role in the meantime. Fritz also repeats his announcement from the Canton, MA show earlier in the week - that David, Mike, and Kevin have vacated the Six-Man Tag Team Championship due to David's injury, and for the last 48 hours, Fritz has been putting together a tournament for the vacant titles. He says that if any other wrestlers are interested in putting a team together and keeping, the deadline for applications is 2 weeks from tonight. Fritz says that 2 teams have already entered: Skandor Akbar's stable of The Sheepherders & Nikita Koloff, and the team of The Great Kabuki, Tiger Mask, and Curt Hennig. Those two teams, said Fritz, will face off tonight in a preview of the tournament. (D+) -Lance Russell interviews Mike Von Erich, who joins Russell and Hayes at the announce table. Mike says he's defending his Cruiserweight Championship at the Texas Rumble, against the winner of a 4-way, one-fall-to-a-finish match to take place right now. All four men will be in the ring at the same time. (D+) -4-Corners match, One-Fall-To-A-Finish, All 4-Men in the Ring at the Same Time -#1 Contender's Match for Cruiserweight Championship Villano IV defeats Villano V, Owen Hart, and Steve Olsonoski in 6:34 when Villano IV pinned Olsonoski. The Villanos worked together throughout the match, and Villano V seemed happy about Villano IV's victory. (C). After the match, both Villanos confronted Mike at ringside, yelling at him in Spanish. (D). -A lengthy video recaps the storyline involving David Von Erich, Bobby Eaton, and Koko B. Ware (including Eaton's tainted title win, and his confrontation with Kerry Von Erich last week). (B-) -WCCW World Champion Bobby Eaton cuts a promo backstage, claiming that he'll put the title on the line when he's good and ready, and once a worthy challenger emerges. (B) -Non-Title Match Bobby Eaton defeats Jose Lothario in 8:50 by pinfall. (C). -Backstage, from a confrontation recorded earlier tonight, Skandor Akbar, Gary Hart, and Lord Alfred Hayes are seen arguing. Bob Backlund's name is mentioned, but the context isn't clear. (C). Back at the announce table, Lance Russell grills Lord Alfred Hayes on what he has to do with anything between Akbar, Hart, and Bob Backlund. Hayes seemed annoyed about the "roving camera" backstage, but then admits that he's been in "high level discussions" to manage Bob Backlund himself. Lance Russell is shocked. (C-). -Curt Hennig, The Great Kabuki, and Tiger Mask are in the ring for their match, and Hennig cuts a promo. He says that he approached the tag team of Kabuki and Tiger Mask about entering the six-man tag team title tournament, and he feels that they are the team to beat. Kabuki's brawling, Tiger Mask's aerial offense, and Hennig's scientific wrestling make them the perfect combination. (C+) -The Great Kabuki, Tiger Mask & Curt Hennig wrestled to a draw with The Sheepherders & Nikita Koloff (w/Skandor Akbar) by double DQ after the referee lost control of the match, all six men were in the ring, and Akbar interfered. (B-). During the match, Russell hyped the six-man tag team tournament, noting that this is just the kind of craziness we're bound to see. -Bruno Sammartino cuts a backstage promo with his son David by his side, hyping his upcoming match with Adrian Adonis. Sammartino notes that he beat up Roddy Piper in a steel cage a few days ago in Massachusetts, and he's anxious to do the same to Piper's redneck bodyguard tonight. Bruno repeated his desire for one more championship before he retired, and hinted that he might just get that opportunity in the 6-man tag team title tournament. (B-) -Adrian Adonis defeated Bruno Sammartino (w/David Sammartino) in 11:31 by pinfall in a tainted victory, after botched interference from David (who got involved after Adonis tried to introduce a foreign object into the match). (B+) -Non-Title Match Kevin Von Erich defeated King Kong Bundy (w/Gary Hart) in 7:33 by DQ, after Hart and Arturo Mendoza (Kevin's challenger for the title last week) interfered when Kevin had the iron claw on Bundy. (B-). A brief 3-1 attack ensued, before Mike and Kerry made the save for Kevin. The Von Erichs drove off Bundy and Mendoza, and briefly had Gary Hart cornered in the ring, before the heels pulled him to safety. (C+) Overall Show Rating: B- -This was kind of an uneventful, filler show, so I'm thrilled to get a B- rating here. -The road agents think I "overused" Dusty Wolfe and Mark Youngblood. I feel bad for the fans that had to sit through a 10 minute draw between those two, even if it was the pre-show. -Villano IV wins the title shot against Mike at the Texas Rumble - Villano V is higher up on the roster, but the younger Villano IV has better chemistry with Mike, so he gets the match. The four cruiserweights wrestled a decent match. -I've decided on the format and participants of the six-man-tag team championship tournament. It will be pretty involved, and an opportunity to get a lot of guys ringtime (and payoffs), which should alleviate the backstage atmosphere, which has been an issue recently. It was good to see the random 6-man tag team match do so well here. -So Eaton's shtick now is that he exclusively wrestles guys lower on the roster, in stark contrast to David's "fighting champion" reign. Meanwhile, Kevin is defending his TV title against all-comers (tonight's main even was non-title by error - we'll say that Bundy had to win tonight to get the title shot). Kevin will be soon be able to make the argument that his title is more prestigious than Eaton's World Title. -Adonis gets a big win tonight against Bruno, albeit by tainted means. -Lord Alfred Hayes put his name into the running of the Bob Backlund managerial sweepstakes. If my merchandise keeps making a lot of money, I'll be utilizing managers more. I always liked the Hayes character in the WWF, and thought he would have been a good manager there in the early-mid 80s. -The Von Erich are working into the middle of the long-time feud between Kabuki/Tiger Mask and Mendoza/Bundy/Gary Hart. Kevin has faced Bundy and Mendoza the last two weeks, and Kerry/Kevin defended their tag titles against the two at Fall Star Wars. |
Ticket prices under default price - that is unusual for WCCW. Is this indicative of a tougher economy at this stage in the game? Sagging approval rankings at home?
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NEWS
-For their talent trade runs, I've assigned Ted Dibiase as an upper midcard heel (reprising his "high society" gimmick), and Randy Savage as a midcard heel (with his "macho madness" gimmick). No idea what I'm going to do with either guy yet. I also just noticed that I actually only contracted both guys for one appearance each. -Adrian Adonis is notably NOT exhausted after the last show. That's a nice change. -Dick Murdoch signed with Mid-South. After being on the shelf unemployed for almost a year, he's signed with us, Mid-South, and Georgia over the last few months. He's on his way to being one of the biggest stars in this universe. -The TV show gets a 3.23 rating - once again, that's a new record, shattering last week's all time high of 3.16. The TV shows of the AWA, Georgia, and the WWF are still higher than ours, but hopefully our success will lead to a better time slot when negotiations start for the new TV season next month. -Curt Hennig was late for the show. I believe this is a first offense for him, so I give him a warning. -I made a flurry of negotiation requests for guys who might be suitable as commissioners/road agents. I filtered my search for guys who have at least B+ ratings in both Psychology and Respect (the two important stats for a road agent). Some of the guys who fit that criteria were: Ray Stevens, Pat Patterson, Mr. Wrestling II, Dutch Mantell, Ole Anderson, The Missouri Mauler, Tom Renesto, and Ricky Romero. -Before those negotiations kick off, I try to talk to Stan Hansen, who's always been too expensive for me. He still is, as Fritz caps my offer at $2,992/show, and Hansen wants $3,768/show. So I'm not close. I would love to have Hansen in as a long-term monster heel world champion, but it's not going to happen anytime soon. My only hope is that he gets too expensive for everyone and spends sometime unemployed to bring down his asking price, but currently, he's still wrestling for Georgia (where he's a co-holder of the National Tag Team Champions with Buzz Sawyer). -Curt Hennig, Steve Olsonoski, Mark Youngblood, Perry Jackson, and Bruno Sammartino all complain about their push. I'll deal with them all at the end of the month. It's going to be hard to keep Hennig out of the main event seen much longer though, he's already wrestling A+ matches. -Pat Patterson refuses my request for negotiations, citing his loyalty to the WWF, where he's still listed as a "semi-active" wrestler, though he's only wrestled twice so far in 1984. Dutch Mantell also turns me down, since he already works for three companies (AWA, Georgia, and Pacific Northwest). -I do however, have negotiations with Mr. Wrestling II. He wants $2,125/show, for 18 months, and a 10% share of his merchandise revenue. He has "A" psychology, and "A" Respect, and would thus make pretty much the perfect road agent. He also has B- Charisma and mic skills, and is a southern wrestling legend ("A" popularity in Texas), so he'd be a good on-air commissioner as well. At 47-years old, he also still considers himself an active wrestler - he's a main event face for Mid-South (where he's a current co-holder of the tag team championship), and an Upper Midcard face for Georgia (where he's a 10-time former Georgia Heavyweight Champion). He certainly brings a lot to table, so I bring him in. |
Quote:
-I was going to mention that in my show notes - yes, this was the lowest projected attendance I've seen for a Texas show (4,770). Therefore, I dropped the default ticket price a shade to sell out the 5,000 seat venue. -My popularity in Texas has slowly declined throughout the dynasty, I think just because it's nearly impossible to maintain high popularity over time. (and the current bad economy doesn't help things). I'm "C+" now in Texas, which means that I need a B- show to maintain my popularity, and B rated shows to actually improve it. Of course, my average is around a B-, so I think this is where my popularity in Texas stabilizes. I don't worry about it too much, because my popularity is shooting up everywhere else in the country thanks to my national TV, and regional house shows. Once I get around C+ everywhere, then I really have to figure out how to pull off B and B+ rated shows, to get to "national" status level. -I figure that once I get C+ national popularity, I can bring in the guys like Bruiser Brody and Stan Hansen to make that last push. |
NEWS
-News of Progress on the DOTT mod for TEW08 has been slow, and today I saw this posted over there: "The simple fact is that D Boon indeed is way too busy with real life circumstances to work on DOTT, so the project is currently in my hands. Unfortunately, D Boon lost most of the work he had did due to his virtual Windows dying... and thus we're left with the converted data I have with some other work done. What I'm looking to do is to post the data that I have so far, as a "beta" of sorts, to allow those that are interested to test and help get the work done on a promotion-by-promotion basis. I'm not going to hand it out to just any Tom, Dick or Harry though, so only reply if you're serious." -So whatever is eventually released is bound to be pretty sloppy, at least at first. So I'm not stopping this dynasty anytime soon. -I've tweaked some gimmicks after getting road agent notes that some guys were getting stale: -The Sheepherders have switched from "maniac" gimmicks to "wild men". Not much of a change, both gimmicks are under the "brute" subset that both Sheepherders are highly rated in. "Wild man" is considered slightly "riskier" than "maniac" in terms of edgy content. -Kerry had been going with a cowboy gimmick since his return from hiatus, but that's already stale. The best gimmick fits with him all require more time off screen, so I compromise a little and set him as a less-exciting "man on a mission". No, that's not Mo & Mable, that's quite literally a man with one intense goal, which makes some sense now based on his challenge to Bobby Eaton. -I change Fritz from a "Personality" to an "Authority Figure", and his gimmick from "Da Bruiser" to "Grizzled Veteran". -Mike Von Erich moves from "sidekick" (which was very highly rated from him), to "underdog" -Iceman Parsons is tweaked from "Blue Chipper" to "People's Champion". (Again, since I'm not willing to take Parsons off-screen right now, I don't use other gimmicks that might have made a better fit) -Also, I've switched Randy Savage to a face for his one-shot loan contract match with us - he'll face Ted Dibaise at the Texas Rumble, to ensure I have maximum star power in the Rumble itself. (I'd love to put guys on loan contract in the Rumble match itself, but a TEW bug prevents that - they refuse to take part in an hour-long match for a borrowing company, even though they obviously wouldn't actually have to be in the ring that long in this type of match). |
THE STARS OF WORLD CLASS ON TOUR
Monday, Week 3, October 1984 Rochester, MN (Midwest - Very Small Venue) Expected Attendance: 1,890 Ticket prices: $1 under Default Actual Attendance: 1,931 -Pre-Show Dark Match Perry Jackson & Barry Orton defeat Jose Lothario & Mark Youngblood in 7:41 when Jackson pinned Youngblood. (D-). Lothario looked good. -Pre-Show Dark Match Bruno Sammartino (w/David Sammartino) defeats Dusty Wolfe in 5:24 by submission (C-). Sammartino looked good. After the match, Bruno cut a promo, hyping his son's match tonight with Roddy Piper, and warning Adrian Adonis not to get involved (C+) -Roddy Piper & Adrian Adonis came to the ring for the match, with Piper cutting a promo, mocking David for his lack of success thus far in WCCW. (C). -Roddy Piper (w/Adrian Adonis) defeats David Sammartino (w/Bruno Sammartino) in 4:47 by DQ after Bruno lost his temper and attacked Adonis, then Piper. Piper appeared to have the match in control, and was dominating at the time of Bruno's interference. (D). David was limited by injury. The two showed poor chemistry. After the match, the 4 men brawled in and around the ring for several minutes, until separated by security. (C-). As Piper and Adonis made their way back to the dressing room, both cut additional promos, yelling at the Sammartinos, with Piper vowing to "finish off" Bruno for good. (C). David Sammartino was "very underwhelming" in this segment. -WCCW World Champion Bobby Eaton came to the ring and cut a promo hyping himself and his title reign. Eaton wasn't in full heel mode here, since he's a main event babyface for the Minnesota-based AWA. (B) -Non-Title Match Bobby Eaton defeated Tiger Mask in 13:49 by pinfall. (C+) -Kevin & Kerry Von Erich came to the ring and hyped their upcoming WCCW World Tag Team Title defense. Kerry's gimmick change didn't go over very well. (C-). Skandor Akbar came out to ringside with the challengers, The Sheepherders, and hyped the match as well. (C-) -WCCW World Tag Team Championship Match Kevin & Kerry Von Erich defeated The Sheepherders (w/Skandor Akbar) in 10:09 when Kerry pinned Miller (despite interference from Skandor Akbar). (C-). The Von Erichs make their 3rd defense of the tag team titles. -Fritz Von Erich came to the ring to cut a general hype promo for WCCW, thanking the Minnesota fans for coming out. (D). -Curt Hennig came to the ring to hype his upcoming main event match with Bob Backlund - the match will be a 30-minute Iron Man match, where the man who wins the most falls in the 30 minutes wins the match. Hennig notes that he has wrestled Backlund twice, and Backlund hasn't defeated him yet. Hennig also puts over his home-state fans as the best in wrestling - he says he's not going to say anything bad about his former Minnesota-based employer, but that he moved on to WCCW only because he felt he could face better competition there, with tonight being a prime example. (B+) -Bob Backlund came to the ringside area to cut a promo as well, claiming that he's the greatest wrestler ever to come out of Minnesota, and that by leaving the state about a decade earlier than Hennig, he proved that he was also the smartest wrestler ever from Minnesota. (C+) -30-minute Iron Man Match Bob Backlund drew with Curt Hennig in 30:00 after neither man was able to make a pinfall or submission. (A+). Lord Alfred Hayes, Gary Hart, and Skandor Akbar all interfered at various points during the match on behalf of Backlund, all seemingly trying to win his favor. Overall Show Rating: B THOUGHTS -Huge show rating, obviously carried by the main event. I hadn't been to the midwest for a while, it was a no-brainer to continue the Hennig/Backlund mini-feud there with another time limit draw. Hennig is the most over wrestler in the midwest on the entire roster. Since the dynasty started, he won the AWA TV Title twice, and the AWA Tag Team Championship (w/Paul Orndorff), before leaving the AWA in August. The result of all of that is a 26-year old Hennig who is much further along in this universe than he was in real life at the same time. -The main event was so good, it overshadowed the rest of the card that left a lot to be desired. I definitely expected more out of Bobby Eaton/Tiger Mask, especially considering that Eaton is an AWA mainstay (and in fact, is the current AWA TV Champion - he had defeated Rick Martel, who in turn defeated Hennig for the title). Tiger Mask, on the other hand, isn't very well known in the midwest, so perhaps that kept the match rating down. -The tag team title match wasn't that great either. Hopefully I didn't do too much damage to Kerry with that subtle gimmick change. -The Sammartinos v. Adonis/Piper feud flared up again on the undercard - I don't think David Sammartino is salvageable, but I won't know for sure until after his injury heals. -I'm going to keep Perry Jackson/Barry Orton together as a regular tag team. They'll job to everyone as singles guys, but have more success against makeshift lower-card face teams. |
NEWS
-Adrian Adonis, Bob Backlund, and Roddy Piper are exhausted after the last show. -Ole Anderson has rejected my negotiation request - he's focusing on Georgia. -Four other guys do accept my negotiation requests for a road agent/authority figure/manager role. With Mr. Wrestling II now in the fold, I can be a little picky here. -Ricky Romero is the father of the Youngblood brothers, and was a big star in Texas and California in the 70s. He wants $1,025/show. That's pretty reasonable considering some of his skill ratings - A+ the wrestling basics, B+ in Psychology, A in respect. He has average "entertainment" skills, so he appears to be more of a backstage guy. I sign him. -Larry Hamilton, aka "The Missouri Mauler" has similarly excellent road agent attributes. He's also a locker room leader, "very nice", and has a professional attitude. He only wants $775/show, so I bring him in for some kind of trial run. Not sure what he'll do. -Tom Renesto was a big star in the 60s, and is now 56 years old. He has somewhat better charisma/mic skills than the other guys, but he wants to be paid for them - $1,450/show. I take a pass on him at that price. -Finally, Ray Stevens appears to the be the best bargain of the bunch. A+ in the Basics, A+ Psychology, B Respect, A Charisma, B Mic Skills, B Star Quality. The only downside is that he retired from wrestling late last year after losing the WWF Heavyweight Championship. (He actually ended Bob Backlund's reign in this universe). Way too much good stuff there to pass up considering his reasonable asking price of $1,675/show, and a 10% share of his merchandise revenue, so I bring him in. -So that's 4 old guys I brought in over the last week or two: Mr. Wrestling II, Ray Stevens, Ricky Romero, and The Mississippi Mauler. I'm leaning towards using Romero as a road agent (and possibly firing one of my current agents, JR Foley or Bronco Lubich). I see the Mauler as maybe a manager for lower-card heels, leaving the elite level guys to Akbar and Hart. Stevens and Mr. Wrestling II would both make great on-air commissioners, but since Mr. Wrestling II can still wrestle, I'm leaning towards letting him wrestle for a while, and using Stevens as commissioner. OR, maybe Backlund spurns all the WCCW managers and brings in the man who defeated him for the WWF title to lead his career instead. Lots of possibilities. |
WORLD CLASS WRESTLING (LIVE TV SHOW)
Wednesday, Week 3, October 1984 Dallas, TX (Small Venue) Expected Attendance: 4,770; Ticket Prices: -$1 under default Actual Attendance: 5,000 (SOLD OUT) -Pre-Show Dark Match Perry Jackson defeated Dusty Wolfe in 5:53 by pinfall (D+). After the match, Lord Alfred Hayes interviewed Jackson about his victory. Jackson was playing up his 70s gimmick. (D-) -Pre-Show Dark Match Butch Miller (w/Skandor Akbar) defeats Mark Youngblood in 4:51 by pinfall (B-). The two showed great chemistry. Miller looked good. After the match, Miller left for the dressing room, as Lord Alfred Hayes interviewed Akbar about his client. (C+). Akbar says that the Sheepherders are stronger than ever, as proven here by Miller, and as will be proven later tonight, when Luke Williams challenges Kevin Von Erich for the TV Title. (C+) -As the show starts, Gary Hart interrupts the opening comments by Lance Russell. (B-). Hart says that he has been informed by "interim authority" Fritz Von Erich that the main event tonight will be Tiger Mask & The Great Kabuki vs. his team of King Kong Bundy & Arturo Mendoza. Hart says that Fritz is overstepping his bounds, accuses him of delaying any transfer of power in WCCW, and finally, says that Bundy & Mendoza have dealt with Kabuki & Tiger Mask for months now, and he's sick of them, and ready to move on to better things. He also hypes his team as the next World Tag Team Champions (B-). -In the ring, Skandor Akbar stands with his client, Nikita Koloff. Akbar yells to Hart to shut up so the show can start. Hart's mic is cut off as he yells at Akbar. Akbar moves on, and hypes Koloff's 3-minute challenge, a challenge that no American has been able to successfully accomplish. (B-). Suddenly, Akbar is interrupted by the Road Warriors, who approach the ring. As is the case whenever The Road Warriors approach Akbar or the The Sheepherders, they are surrounded by nervous-looking WCCW security. Akbar yells that these aren't the contracted challengers for Koloff. The Road Warriors say that they have no issue with Koloff. They're there to confront Akbar. The Road Warriors say Akbar and The Sheepherders have ducked them all year, and they're again demanding a match. The Road Warriors then enter the ring, where they're separated from Akbar by security, and Koloff who is wielding his Russian Chain. Akbar stares down the Road Warriors, and very condescendingly, explains to the Road Warriors that "this is a business". Akbar claims that if The Road Warriors can make it worth it to Akbar financially, they'll get their match with The Sheepherders. The Road Warriors seem somewhat pleased by this answer (as this is the first offer Akbar has ever made regarding a potential match with The Sheepherders), and slowly leave the ringside area. (C+) -Once order is restored, Skandor Akbar introduces Nikita Koloff's opponent tonight in his 3-minute challenge - Al Perez -3-Minute Challenge Nikita Koloff (w/Skandor Akbar) defeats Al Perez in 2:46 by pinfall. (C). -The Road Warriors defeat Doug Somers & The Missouri Mauler in 5:03 when Animal pinned Somers. (C+). The announcers were very surprised by the appearance of the Mauler here - they recite some of his past credentials, and note that he's been out of wrestling for several years. While in the ring with the Road Warriors, he holds his own. Animal looked good. -Villanos IV & V defeat Jose Lothario & Owen Hart in 6:25 when Villano IV pinned Hart. (D+) During the match, Gary Hart wandered down to ringside to watch the action. After the match, Gary Hart enters the ring and addresses the Villanos. He tells them that, as they know, he's scouted them in the past. He says he still doesn't think they're ready to bring on as full time clients, though they're clearly making progress. However, Hart says, he comes today with an opportunity. He proposes a team for the upcoming six-man-tag-team championship tournament - the Villanos, and their brother, the former Villano III and Gary Hart's current client, Arturo Mendoza. Hart says he'd manage the team, and that if the Villanos can win the tournament, he'll take them on as full time clients. The Villanos readily agree, and shake hands with Hart. (C-) -Bob Backlund defeats David Sammartino (w/Bruno Sammartino) in 4:59 by pinfall. (B-). Once again, prospective managers Gary Hart, Lord Alfred Hayes, and Skandor Akbar all hung around ringside giving Backlund support. Here, however, they were more reluctant to interfere, with Bruno Sammartino at ringside. David was limited by injury. David and Backlund showed great chemistry. Backlund looked good. After the win, Backlund celebrated, as he was congratulated by all three potential managers, who egged him on, while arguing with each other. (B+) -Backstage, Kevin Von Erich cut a promo hyping his upcoming TV title defense against Luke Williams. Kevin notes that unlike World Champion Bobby Eaton, he's a fighting champion. (B-) -WCCW Television Championship Match Kevin Von Erich defeats Luke Williams (w/Skandor Akbar) in 8:31 by submission to make his 5th defense of the title. (C-). The two showed poor chemistry. After the match, Gary Hart entered the ring again, to address Kevin. He congratulates Kevin on his win, and says that he had no doubt that Kevin would retain against such a poorly managed brute like Williams. Hart further buttered Kevin up - saying that he agreed with Kevin about being a fighting champion. In fact, Gary Hart says, he considers Kevin's TV title most prestigious championship in WCCW. And since World Champion Bobby Eaton is not defending his title at the Texas Rumble next Saturday night, Gary Hart suggests that Kevin put his title on the line in the main event. Kevin responds, asking Hart if he's challenging him on behalf of King Kong Bundy or Arturo Mendoza, pointing out that he's already defeated both of them the last two weeks. Hart says no - he's put together this contract offer on behalf of a potential client. A man who he doesn't manage YET, but would be in the corner of for this particular match - Bob Backlund. Further, Hart says, this match wouldn't be limited to the standard 10 minute TV Title Time limit. In fact, it would be quite the opposite - a one hour Iron Man Match for the WCCW TV Title. Hart says that if Kevin merely SURVIVED a match like that for the title, he would clearly establish himself as the top champion in WCCW. Kevin says that Hart's a good salesman, and he accepts the challenge. Hart gives Kevin the contract to sign, which he does. (B-) Moments after signing it, Bob Backlund hits the ring in a clear attempt to sneak attack Kevin. Kevin however, sees Backlund coming out of the corner of his eye, and repels the attack, sending Backlund to the floor. Hart, wary of Kevin's temper, motions quickly for Backlund to return to the back, which he does. (B). -Dick Murdoch defeats Steve Olsonoski in 8:54 by pinfall. (C+) Murdoch looked good. After the match, Murdoch cut a quick promo, hyping his chances in next Saturday night's Texas Rumble. He points out his victory in the Battle Royal at Cage Clash. (C+) -Lance Russell interviews Fritz Von Erich, who has a couple of announcements. First, he says 3 additional teams have signed up for the Six-Man Tag Team Championship Tournament, joining Tiger Mask, The Great Kabuki & Curt Hennig, and The Sheepherders & Nikita Koloff. As we heard tonight, Gary Hart has entered The Villanos & Arturo Mendoza. Also signing up - Jose Lothario, Steve Olsonoski, & Al Perez, and Iceman Parsons & The Sammartinos. Next week is the deadline for any additional teams that want to enter. Also, Fritz says that he'll make a major announcement about the future of WCCW in two weeks. (C-) -Arturo Mendoza & King Kong Bundy (w/Gary Hart) defeated The Great Kabuki & Tiger Mask in 9:46 by DQ. Hart had interfered in the match, and The Great Kabuki responded by spraying the green mist at Bundy. The referee only saw the latter, and DQ'd Kabuki. (B). Also during the wild match, Villanos IV and V, in attempt to impress Hart, interfered on behalf of Hart's team. Overall Show Rating: C+ THOUGHTS -This was kind of a strange show - no real "main event" matches or angles, but it had quantity. This was probably also the most involved Gary Hart has been in any show I've booked, and he delivered. -The main event probably saved the show, I probably should have left a little more time for it. This feud is really making all four-guys, even though there haven't been any actual storylines in it for a while (since Kabuki left Hart, and Tiger Mask took off Mendoza's mask). -So it will be Kevin v. Backlund w/Gary Hart for the TV Title in the main event of Texas Rumble in an 60-minute Iron Man Match. I have no idea if Kevin can go 60-minutes, but I liked the idea of everyone being on the same page about Bobby Eaton's title reign and trying to elevate the TV Title. Eaton wasn't around tonight to weigh in on this but I suppose he's pissed. -I was pretty shocked that Backlund was able to drag David Sammartino to a B-. That was easily David's best match ever. I was even more shocked to see Butch Miller drag Mark Youngblood to a B- match on the pre-show. -I used the 53-year old Missouri Mauler in the ring tonight only because I ran out of lower heels to team with Somers. He'll take on Somers as a client, but won't be back in the ring very often, if at all. -The Road Warriors/Sheepherders storyline has really fizzled in the ratings department because I haven't advanced it quickly enough. The Sheepherders have been hiding from the Road Warriors since March. But now, they finally seem to have an opening - they just need to come up with enough cash and Akbar will "sacrifice" his team to them. |
NEWS
-I've assigned Ricky Romero as a road agent, which gives me 3 total with Bronco Lubich and JR Foley. The Missouri Mauler is assigned as a manager, and I keep my options open on Mr. Wresting II and Ray Stevens, assigning both as "personalities". I do know what I'm going to do with them, and they'll debut after The Texas Rumble. -Steve Olsonoski was late for the last show. Who in the hell does he think he is. I fine him. -Bob Backlund is exhausted after the last show. I'll have to give him a break before next Saturday night's Iron Man Match. I've already advertised him for a match at the Monday house show, but I'll give him the Wednesday TV show off. -The TV show gets a 3.15 rating. That ends our streak of all-time highs, but it's still very high (I broke 3.0 each of the last few weeks, it's the first time I've been that high). I'm looking forward to the upcoming TV negotiations. -Ted, the wrestling bear, has returned from his hiatus. I'm so confused. But I do request negotiations with the bear. While he doesn't have very good mic skills, he does shine in other areas: A Looks, A Intensity, A+ Menace, A+ Toughness, A Power. -Bad News Allen and The Dynamite Kid won the vacant Stampede Wrestling International Tag Team Championship, defeating Bret & Bruce Hart. The championships had been declared vacant after Ray Rougeau of the Rougeau Brothers left the company. -Jerry Stubs won the top title in Georgia Championship Wrestling, the National Heavyweight Championship, defeating Buzz Sawyer. Sawyer has had a hell of a year - he's still the AWA World Champion. -In other big news, Sgt. Slaughter (as a heel) won the WWF Championship from Larry Zbyszko. -Curt Hennig, Bruno Sammartino, Steve Olsonoski, and Mark Youngblood renew their complaints. Olsonoski might complain his way right out of WCCW. Mr. Wrestling II is also unhappy with his "personality" role - he thinks he should be a main event wrestler. |
THE STARS OF WORLD CLASS ON TOUR
Monday, Week 4, October 1984 Kansas City, MO (Midwest - Very Small Venue ??) Expected Attendance: 1,890 Ticket prices: $1 under Default Actual Attendance: 1,000 -Pre-Show Dark Segment Bruno and David Sammartino cut a promo hyping their individual matches on the pre-show: David faces Adrian Adonis and Bruno faces Villano V. They also hyped the upcoming six-man tag team championship tournament, where they will team with Iceman Parsons. (C-) -Pre-Show Dark Match Adrian Adonis defeated David Sammartino (w/Bruno Sammartino) in 5:44 by pinfall. (C) David was limited by injury. Adonis looked good. -Pre-Show Dark Match Bruno Sammartino defeated Villano V in 7:46 by submission (C+) -The Missouri Mauler comes to the ring with Doug Somers, Barry Orton, and Perry Jackson. The Mauler puts over the trio as "hungry" young wrestlers looking for a break, and says that he will help them meet their potential. He also announced that he has entered the trio in the six-man-tag team championship tournament. (D+). -3 v. 2 Handicap Match The Road Warriors drew with Barry Orton, Perry Jackson, & Doug Somers (w/The Missouri Mauler) in 10:00 when the time limit expired. (C-). The heels celebrated after the match as if they won - their strategy was clearly to survive the 10:00 to get the draw. The Road Warriors looked good. After the match, The Road Warriors, frustrated by the celebration of the heels, attacked all 4 men. (D). Afterwards, the Road Warriors cut a promo, hyping themselves and referencing their on-going desire to get a tag-team match with The Sheepherders. They note that Skandor Akbar has promised them a match if they could come up with enough money, and they claim they're on track to do just that, thanks to a "business deal". (C+) -Gary Hart came out with his team of King Kong Bundy and Arturo Mendoza. He hyped their match tonight for the World Tag Team Championship with the Von Erichs. (C-). The Von Erichs came out and also cut a promo, hyping the match. Kevin also hyped his TV title defense in the main event of this Saturday's Texas Rumble event against Hart's temporary and prospective client, Bob Backlund. (C-). -WCCW World Tag Team Championship Match Kerry & Kevin Von Erich defeat King Kong Bundy & Arturo Mendoza (w/Gary Hart) in 9:58 by DQ after Gary Hart was caught passing Mendoza a steel chair. (C+). The Von Erichs make their 4th defense of the tag team titles. Kerry seemed off his game, Mendoza looked good. -Lane Russell hypes the main event to the fans - a triple threat match: Curt Hennig v. Bob Backlund v. Dick Murdoch. He notes Backlund's "free agent" status, and says that Gary Hart, Skandor Abkar, and Lord Alfred Hayes are all present tonight and all vying for Backlund as a full-time client. (D+) -Curt Hennig came out to cut a promo hyping tonight's main event. He notes that he's defeated both of his opponents tonight before, and that a win tonight, against both of them, would be the biggest of his career. (B). Gary Hart came out with Bob Backlund, and cut a promo hyping Backlund's chances tonight, and at the main event of the Texas Rumble. He also stated that while he already has one team entered into the six-man-tag team championship tournament (Arturo Mendoza & The Villanos), he's working on putting together a second, "dream team" of wrestlers. (D+). -Triple Threat Match -One Fall to a Finish Bob Backlund (w/Gary Hart) defeats Curt Hennig and Dick Murdoch in 35:13 when Backlund made Murdoch submit. (A+) Hart had managed to get Backlund & Murdoch to work together, double teaming Hennig for most of the match. Once Hennig was eliminated as a real threat, Backlund and Murdoch spent the rest of the match facing off against each other. After the match, Hart encouraged Backlund to shake hands with Murdoch, which he did. (B-). He then ordered Backlund & Murdoch to attack the fallen Hennig, which they did for several minutes. (B-). The three heels walked out together. Overall Show Rating: B+ THOUGHTS: -Wow, a spectacular rating carried by an A+ main event. -Gary Hart hyped a "dream team" of wrestlers he's trying to put together to enter the six-man-tag team championship match. His efforts on this show to make sure Backlund & Murdoch worked together makes the identity of 2/3 of that team clear. Six teams have been announced as of tonight for the tournament, and Hart's dream team will make seven. -Hennig is ridiculous. A big issue for WCCW is main event-caliber faces - how does one find enough time for them with the Von Erichs in town? He'll definitely have to turn heel eventually. -The Missouri Mauler debuted (in Missouri) as the manger of Perry Jackson, Barry Orton, and Doug Somers. That will give all 3 guys a slight boost (as evidenced by their draw against the Road Warriors tonight), but they'll still be low on the card. -Not sure why I only had 1,000 show up tonight - I'm assuming I just accidentally chose the wrong-sized venue. |
NEWS
-Adrian Adonis & Bob Backlund are exhausted after the last show. I'll give Backlund the TV show off this week to prepare for his Iron Man Match with Kevin at the Texas Rumble -Ted, the wrestling bear, wants $100/show. So I bring him in. He has F- popularity everywhere, so he's not going to make any kind of real impact on anything....but ya, now I have a wrestling bear on my roster. |
WORLD CLASS WRESTLING (LIVE TV SHOW)
Wednesday, Week 4, October 1984 Dallas, TX (Small Venue) Expected Attendance: 4,770; Ticket Prices: -$1 under default Actual Attendance: 5,000 (SOLD OUT) -Pre-Show Dark Match Doug Somers (w/The Missouri Mauler) defeats Al Perez in 3:37 by pinfall. (C). Somers has good chemistry with the Mauler. After the match, Lord Alfred Hayes interviews the Mauler about his client. (C-) -Pre-Show Dark Match Mike Von Erich defeats Dusty Wolfe in 6:38 by submission. (C-). Mike was visibly tiring towards the end of the match. After the match, Lord Alfred Hayes interviewed Mike, (and he noted that Mike seemed to struggle during the match). Mike also hyped his Cruiserweight Title Defense at the Texas Rumble Saturday night against Villano IV. (C-) -The Sheepherders & Nikita Koloff (w/Skandor Akbar) defeat The Sammartinos & Iceman Parsons in 8:50 when Koloff pinned David Sammartino. (C+). The announcers hype the match as another preview of the six-man tag team championship tournament, which starts next week. David was limited by injury. After the match, Akbar hypes his clients, and notes that The Sheepherders have been a part of a six-man championship tag team in the past, so they should be considered the favorites in this tournament. Lance Russell also asked Akbar a question - did he really say last week that The Road Warriors could potentially pay their way into a match with The Sheepherders? Akbar says it's all about making money. (C+). The Sheepherders appear slightly annoyed by Akbar's comments. Finally, Akbar addresses Bob Backlund. Akbar predicts that Backlund will lose his TV Championship match against Kevin this Saturday night, because Gary Hart can't help him discover his "killer instinct" like Akbar could. Akbar then says he's put an offer on the table for Backlund's services as a full-time client, and predicts that the offer will look very attractive to Backlund after Saturday night (B+) Tiger Mask & The Great Kabuki defeat Barry Orton & Perry Jackson (w/The Missouri Mauler) in 5:54 when Tiger Mask pinned Jackson. (C+). Tiger Mask & Kabuki looked good. Immediately after the match, Gary Hart's team of King Kong Bundy & Arturo Mendoza hit the ring and attacked the winners, leaving them laying after a couple of King Kong Bundy splashes (C+) -After a commercial break, Gary Hart cut a promo backstage. Lance Russell reminds Hart that last week, he told everyone that Bundy and Mendoza were "done" with Tiger Mask & The Great Kabuki. Hart says that's still true, this was just a friendly reminder of Bundy & Mendoza's dominance. He also says that his team will be looking for Tiger Mask & Kabuki in the Texas Rumble match, and will again make them pay for all the trouble they've caused him. (B-) -Lance Russell then introduces the unique concept of the next match. It will be a 4-corners elimination match - the first wrestler eliminated will be given the #1 position at Saturday's Texas Rumble, and the winner of the match will earn the #30 spot. -4-Corners Elimination Match. Dick Murdoch defeats Adrian Adonis, Kerry Von Erich, and Jose Lothario in 11:47. (B) Lothario was pinned by Murdoch, Adonis was pinned by Kerry, and then Murdoch pinned Kerry. Lothario was tiring towards the end of the match. Lothario will be #1 at the Texas Rumble, Murdoch (whom the announcers hyped was already the favorite before this match), will be #30. -Lance Russel introduces and then shows a short hype video showing a training session of "Ted", the wrestling bear (C). -Non-Title Match Bobby Eaton defeats Mark Youngblood in 5:50 by pinfall. (C-). Eaton looked good. -Gary Hart comes to the ring. He says that if any in attendance tonight were in Kansas City earlier in the week, they would have heard that he's been putting together a "dream team" of wrestlers to compete in the upcoming Six-Man Tag Team Championship Tournament. He says that the deal is done, he'll be managing this team for the duration of the tournament, and that after that, he intends to bring all members into his stable as champions. As he introduces the team members one at a time, they come to the ring. First, Hart introduces the man that he'll manage in the main event of the Texas Rumble, Bob Backlund. Then, Hart introduces the favorite to win win the Texas Rumble, Dick Murdoch. Finally, Hart introduces his current client, and largest man in WCCW, King Kong Bundy. Hart hypes this "dream team", and his superiority as the greatest manager in WCCW. (C+) -After a commercial break, Fritz notes the entry of Hart's 2nd team in the tournament, and he also hypes the addition of a 7th and final team - The Mississippi Mauler's entry of Doug Somers, Perry Jackson, & Barry Orton. Fritz also hypes next week's "major announcement" regarding the future of WCCW. (C-). -Lance Russell notes that with the tournament field complete, the format has been set. The tournament will be a grueling test of survival, starting next week with a sudden death "play-in match". Then the remaining 6-teams will be divided into two groups, where each team will wrestle the other two teams twice. The ultimate "winners" of each group will face off for the championship. A series of graphics lay out the format: WCCW Six-Man Tag Team Championship Tournament: Jose Lothario, Al Perez & Steve Olsonoski v. Doug Somers, Barry Orton & Perry Jackson. -Main Tournament GROUP A: -The Sammartinos & Iceman Parsons -The Sheepherders & Nikita Koloff -The Villanos & Arturo Mendoza GROUP B: -Opening Match "Sudden Death Winner" -Dick Murdoch, Bob Backlund, & King Kong Bundy -Tiger Mask, The Great Kabuki, & Curt Hennig (Each team to face the others in it's group twice. 3 points for a pinfall/submission victory, 2 points for a DQ/Countout victory, 1 point for a draw. Winner of each group to face off for the championship). -Curt Hennig cuts a backstage promo hyping his upcoming main event match with Roddy Piper. Hennig says that's aiming to go through everyone on the roster until Eaton HAS to give him a title shot. (B-) -Curt Hennig defeats Roddy Piper (w/Adrian Adonis) by DQ in 16:34. Adonis interfered throughout the match. (B-). Overall Show Rating: C THOUGHTS -Ouch, I don't get that show rating at all. I thought maybe that I forgot to book an advertised match, but I'm not getting that error match. What the hell? -Hennig has now defeated Murdoch, Backlund, and Piper. That's every main event heel except for Eaton. B- is almost a disappointment for Hennig/Piper. -The Six-Man Tag Team Tournament is slightly convoluted, but I wanted to do something a little different. The idea is that none of these teams have been together very often, so they'll have to wrestle a total of 5 matches in this format to prove how good they are. Each of the teams has something of a storyline behind it, I'll get into that stuff as the tournament progresses. -It's good to see that Doug Somers is a good fit with the Missouri Mauler - I haven't seen that road agent note very often. He'll be a solid lower midcard guy for now. -The match of the night was the 4-corners match. -Akbar appears ready and willing to sacrifice The Sheepherders to the Road Warriors for a few bucks. If only The Road Warriors can somehow come up with the cash. -Eaton's match with Mark Youngblood was pretty bad. While that's mostly Youngblood's fault, Eaton's definitely not the most qualified guy to hold the title. That's part of the storyline though - he lucked into the belt, and now he's desperate to hang out to it for as long as possible. He's never wrestled higher than a "B" rated 1-on-1 match (and he's only gotten even that high a couple of times) |
NEWS
-Jerry Stubbs defeated Buzz Sawyer to win the AWA World Title. Stubbs is also the current National Heavyweight Champion in Georgia, and a co-holder of the tag team championship in Portland Championship Wrestling. Stubbs is a guy who isn't on my radar in terms of real-life knowledge, but he's done really well in this universe. -Also, The Spoiler defeated Bret Hart to win the top title in Calgary Stampede Wrestling, the North American Championship. Hart had held the title for almost exactly 2 years. -Finally, Iron Mike Sharp defeated Bill Irwin for his 2nd Mid-South TV Title. -The news wasn't as good for a bunch of Mid-South wrestlers that were let go in a cost-cutting move: Matt Borne, Terry Taylor, Billy Jack Haynes, and Tiger Conway Jr. The first 3 are all very good talents, but I'm not hiring at the moment. -The contracts of Villanos IV and V are up in a few days, so I enter into negotiations. I've already planned to use them in the six-man tag team tournament, but I'll replace them if their demands are too crazy. But 19-year old Villano IV signs for $750/show, a slight raise from his current $650/show deal. Villano V wants a little more, but I sign for $950/show, up form his current $625/show deal. -The TV show delivered a 3.17 rating. Same as last week. -Ted The Wrestling Bear "was noticeably isolated backstage at the last show, as nobody speaks his language. This could cause some problems is left unchecked." Personally, I think the bear should be isolated. |
re: Jerry Stubbs
Jerry Stubbs - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Although I remember him mostly from his mid/late 70's midcard days in Georgia Championship, he's actually more notable as the original "Mr Perfect", as well as his masked run as Mr. Olympia. He then went on to tag with a variety of other names from the era, including Arn Anderson, Tony Anthony, and Ted DiBiase. Overall a pretty solid guy, albeit one who I appreciate more now than I did then. |
I'm disappointed for all of the wrestlers who had matches that lagged behind the "wrestling bear". Anyone who has that happen on a semi-consistent basis should probably start looking into alternative career choices.
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This thread deserves to be made into a readable .pdf for all to download.
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I'm really hoping some random in-game relationships involving the bear pop up. I'd be interested to see who befriends him, or god forbid, starts a relationship with him (not sure if Missy Hyatt is in this universe yet) |
Some historical info on Ted the Wrestling Bear, if you're interested (there's also some youtube videos out there).
Terrible Ted I'll probably just do a few months of video clips to build up his popularity, and then maybe put him in the ring with Gary Hart or Skandor Akbar. |
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Agreed. I'm not even much of a wrestling fan and I love this dynasty. |
WCCW: Texas Rumble
Saturday, Week 4, October 1984 Dallas, TX (Small Venue) Expected Attendance: 4,770; Ticket Prices: -$1 under default Actual Attendance: 3,958 (SOLD OUT) -Pre-Show Dark Segment Mike Von Erich cuts a promo hyping his upcoming title defense against Villano IV. He notes that it was Villano IV he defeated to start his first Cruiserweight Title reign, in the finals of the tournament to crown the first champion earlier this year. (C-) -Pre-Show Dark Match -WCCW Cruiserweight Championship Match Mike Von Erich defeated Villano IV by submission in 7:06 despite the interference from Villano V. (C+) Mike, who was tiring towards the end of the match. makes his 4th defense of the title. The two showed great chemistry. -Pre-Show Dark Segment. Ted, the Wrestling Bear, came out with his trainer to perform a series of feats of strength and skill. (F-) -As the show starts, Lance Russell interviews Ted Dibiase about his upcoming match with Randy Savage. After bragging about his great wealth, Dibiase says he's back in WCCW for one night only, and says that while he was around, he was fortunate enough to make what will be a very lucrative business deal. He holds a briefcase by his side. Russell presses for more info, but Dibiase won't elaborate. (C+) Russell then interviews Randy Savage about the match - Savage plays a face to the fans. (C+) -Ted Dibiase defeats Randy Savage in 4:35 by countout after the Road Warriors came to ringside and attacked Savage outside the ring while the referee wasn't looking. (B+). The Road Warriors enter the ring and surround Dibiase. Lord Alfred Hayes rushes with a mic to pickup what he can. Dibiase appears to remind the Road Warriors that "this is a loan", before handing them the briefcase. Road Warrior Hawk opens the briefcase, which is filled with cash, before quickly closing it. Dibiase warns the Road Warriors - if they don't pay the loan back, with interest, he'll come looking for them. (C+). With that, The Road Warriors attack Dibiase, apply their Doomsday Device finishing maneuver, and then leave the ringside area with the briefcase. (B-) -Lord Alfred Hayes interviews several wrestlers who will be taking part in the Texas Rumble tonight: Jose Lothario (who will be #1 based due to his loss in the 4-corners match at the last TV show) (C-), Dick Murdoch (who will be #30 based on his win in that match) - Murdoch puts over all of his battle royal wins this year, and says that this one will be his easiest yet) (C+), Curt Hennig, who says he doesn't care what number he draws, and that he has the conditioning to go wire-to-wire if necessary (C+). Then on the other side of the interview stage, Lord Alfred Hayes interviews Gary Hart, who hypes King Kong Bundy and Arturo Mendoza's chances (C), Roddy Piper & Adrian Adonis (Piper claims that Adonis will look out for him until there's only 2, and then gracefully exit the match. Adonis looks skeptical of that idea) (B-), and then Tiger Mask & The Great Kabuki (Tiger Mask puts over Kabuki's dominant performance in last year's Texas Rumble, when he eliminated 7 men). (C+). This final interview is interrupted by another attack by King Kong Bundy and Arturo Mendoza on Tiger Mask & The Great Kabuki. (C+). The 4 brawl around the interview stage for a while, before Bundy/Mendoza/Hart grab the upper hand and leave the faces lying. Both Tiger Mask & Kabuki, probably still weakened from the previous attacks by Mendoza and Bundy, limp weakly away, back to the dressing room. (C+). -Kerry Von Erich wins the 30-man Texas Rumble. The final four were Kerry, Bobby Eaton, Dick Murdoch, and Iceman Parsons. (C+) -The game doesn't allow this much detail, but for my own dynasty purposes, here's the order of entry and elimination: 1. Jose Lothario (eliminated #3, by King Kong Bundy) 2. Steve Olsonoski (eliminated #2, by King Kong Bundy) 3. Owen Hart (eliminated #1, by King Kong Bundy) 4. King Kong Bundy (eliminated #8, by The Great Kabuki) 5. Tiger Mask (eliminated #5, by King Kong Bundy) 6. Mike Von Erich (eliminated #6, by King Kong Bundy) 7. Butch Miller (eliminated #7, by King Kong Bundy) 8. The Great Kabuki (eliminated #24, by Arturo Mendoza) 9. Luke Williams (eliminated #8, by Road Warrior Animal) 10. Roddy Piper (eliminated #12, by The Road Warriors) 11. Curt Hennig (eliminated #13, by The Road Warriors) 12. Road Warrior Animal (eliminated #15, by Kerry Von Erich & Bruno Sammartino) 13. Doug Somers (eliminated #10, by Road Warrior Animal) 14. Bruno Sammartino (eliminated #17, by Nikita Koloff) 15. Dusty Wolfe (eliminated #9, by Bruno Sammartino) 16. David Sammartino (eliminated #11, by the Road Warrior Hawk) 17. Road Warrior Hawk (eliminated #16, by Kerry Von Erich, Bruno Sammartino, and The Great Kabuki) 18. Mark Youngblood (eliminated #14, by the Road Warriors) 19. Villano V (eliminated #21 by Iceman Parsons) 20. Perry Jackson (eliminated #20, by the Villanos) 21. Barry Orton (eliminated #19, by Kerry Von Erich) 22. Kerry Von Erich (WINNER) 23. Nikita Koloff (eliminated #23, by Kerry Von Erich) 24. Adrian Adonis (eliminated #26, by Iceman Parsons) 25. Al Perez (eliminated #18, by Adrian Adonis) 26. Arturo Mendoza (eliminated #25, by Iceman Parsons) 27. Villano IV (eliminated #22, by Kerry Von Erich) 28. Iceman Parsons (eliminated #27, by Kerry Von Erich) 29. Bobby Eaton (eliminated #28, by Kerry Von Erich) 30. Dick Murdoch (eliminated #29, by Kerry Von Erich) Some Rumble Highlights: -King Kong Bundy made the first 6 eliminations, eliminating the 3 that were already there when he entered the ring, and then the next 3 that came in after that (including Tiger Mask, who was weakened by Bundy's earlier attack). Bundy wasn't slowed down until The Great Kabuki entered the match. -The Road Warriors had a similar run of dominance, eliminating everyone they came across (except Kabuki), until Bruno Samartino came to the ring to slow them down some. -By the time the match reached #29, Kerry had eliminated everyone who came before (including friend Iceman Parsons, who Kerry pushed over the top rope immediately after Parsons dispatched Adrian Adonis. Parsons smiled, and didn't appear to take it personally.) -Bobby Eaton entered (reluctantly) at #29, facing only Kerry in the ring. An angry Kerry eliminated the World Champion quickly, before #30 even came out. At #30, Dick Murdoch proved to be a tougher challenge, but Kerry eliminated him after several minutes to win the match. ----- -Gary Hart hyped Bob Backlund's TV Title challenge tonight against Kevin Von Erich. He says this match, a 60-minute Iron Man Match, is Backlund's specialty, and Kevin was a fool for accepting the challenge. Tonight, says Hart, Backlund will emerge as WCCW's top champion. (B). Kevin also cut a promo hyping the match, saying he's never wrestled a 60-minute match in his entire career, and tonight will be his biggest challenge. Kevin says that whoever walks out with the belt should be considered WCCW's top champion, since Bobby Eaton has disgraced the world title by failing to defend it. (B) -60-Minute Iron Man Match -WCCW Television Championship Match Kevin Von Erich defeats Bob Backlund, 3-2, to make his 6th defense of the TV Title (C). Kevin scored 2 relatively quick early falls, which Backlund answered with 2 of his own. For the last 30 minutes of the match, with the score tied, Bob Backlund, seemingly getting fresher as the match went on, dominated the exhausted Kevin, but couldn't put him away with a deciding fall. Finally, in the last minute, out of frustration, Backlund introduced a chair into the match. Referee David Manning took the chair away, and DQ'd Backlund, giving Kevin his 3rd fall, enough to win the match. During the match, Bobby Eaton, seemingly upset about his World Title being overshadowed, came to the ring and interfered with both men. Before long, however, David Von Erich, making his first appearance since losing the title to Eaton last month at Cage Clash, came to the ringside area and attacked Eaton before being pulled away by security. After the match, Lord Alfred Hayes left the announce table, and approached a distraught Bob Backlund with an envelope - apparently a written offer of managerial services. (B-). Gary Hart argued with Hayes, and tried to keep him away from Backlund. (C-) Backlund however, upset with Hart over the loss, shoved him aside and took the envelope, telling Hayes that he'd consider his offer. Meanwhile, in the ring, Kevin was celebrating his dramatic victory. He was soon joined by David, Mike, Kerry, and Iceman Parsons & Bruno Sammartino. The six celebrated in the ring for several minutes (B-) Overall Show Rating: C THOUGHTS: -These kinds of those are always tricky ratings-wise. Here, my road agent says I overused Mike Von Erich, Lord Alfred Hayes, and Kevin Von Erich. Obviously, Kevin can't go 60-minutes, as reflected by the main event's rating. So much for that experiment. -It was a big night for the Von Erichs. Mike has defeated every low-level Cruiserweight. He's about to take on a little more than he can handle however. -The Road Warriors didn't officially turn heel. They're "tweeners", I guess. I really don't know how fans would respond to what they did - they've been trying all year to get a match with the hated Sheepherders. The Sheepherders manager, Skandor Akbar says that they can have a match if they put up enough money. The Road Warriors get the money via loan from Ted Dibiase, by helping him defeat a face in a match. Shades of grey. Savage has never been a face in WCCW, so I imagine the fans wouldn't be too pissed off about The Road Warriors attacking him here. -The Texas Rumble was rated slightly higher than last year, which I guess reflects the gradual improvement of my roster. -Another surprisingly low attendance number - hopefully I get that figured out. |
NEWS
-In big promotion news, the WWF appears to be on the verge of financial collapse - that would certainly shake things up. UWA in Mexico also appears to be having problems. I request buy-out negotiations with both, though I imagine the WWF is cost-prohibitive. If they go under at the end of the month, the big prize is obviously Hulk Hogan. Hogan is maybe at the point where he's too popular to sign with any existing promotion - he might sit on the sidelines until his popularity goes down a little to where he'd talk to us, or Georgia, or Mid-Atlantic. He's also of course, huge in Japan, but both New Japan and All Japan are in the red. The economy has been pretty bad everywhere in this dynasty, if I stick to it long enough, I might be the only game left in town. -Mark Youngblood arrived late for the last show. He's fined. -Adrian Adonis, Bob Backlund, Dick Murdoch, and Ted Dibiase are exhausted after the last show (surprisingly, Kevin Von Erich is not). -A lot of guys are upset about their pushes - I'll cover that at the end-of-month recap. -Greg Valentine won this 2nd National TV Championship from Ron Garvin in Georgia Championship Wrestling -Ted Dibiase and Randy Savage are both gone (for now) after their loan contracts expire. -I just noticed that Portland Wrestling is really a great source for talent trades. I have one long-standing talent trade house rule - anybody I bring in must not have a losing record during his loan contract (I can't just bring people to job, which I think is probably a realistic condition of these kinds of trades). So if I bring someone in for one show, he has to win or draw (with Randy Savage at the last show, I had no choice but to let him lose, because Ted Dibiase's contract had creative control, which carried over to his deal with us). Portland Wrestling is loaded at the moment. Some of the guys I have interest in include: Adrian Street, Billy Jack, Buddy Landell, Chris Adams (currently injured), Greg Valentine, Jerry Lawler, Jerry Stubbs, Paul Orndorff, Rick Martel, Ted Dibiase. Since I'm not ready to bring back either David Von Erich or Koko B. Ware from their kayfabe injuries, I consider trading them, but that feels like a "cheat", to allow them to wrestle in Portland when my TV show reaches there. So that's going to be another house rule - if I have a storyline reason someone can't wrestle, I can't keep them happy by letting them wrestle within my TV reach. I do however, agree to the following talent trades: Curt Hennig to Pacific Northwest Wrestling for Greg Valentine (3 appearances). Roddy Piper to Pacific Northwest Wrestling for Adrian Street (3 appearances) David Von Erich to All Japan for Magic Dragon (3 appearances) Koko B. Ware to WWC for King Tonga (Haku) (3 appearances) (I actually noticed that all 4 guys I brought in have creative control in their contracts - I guess that's just part of the talent trade feature - they'll refuse to lose to anyone too weak). |
WCCW - END OF OCTOBER 1984 - MONTHLY REVIEW
POPULARITY -Texas/Midsouth: 65.4% (Down From 65.6% last month) -Midwest: 62.5% (Up from 61.6% last month) -Southeast: 51.4% (up from 50.2% last month) -New England: 47.5% (up from 45.7% last month) -Great Lakes: 46.4% (up from 45.0% last month) -Mid Atlantic: 46.4% (up from 45.0% last month) -North West: 46.4% (up from 45.0% last month) -Tri-State: 46.4% (up from 45.0% last month) -Southwest: 46.3% (up from 44.9% last month) -Puerto Rico: 37.6% (Same as last month) -The gap between Texas and the midsouth continues to shrink. 65.0% appears to be our "magnet" point that all regions are gravitating to. I think I can get that higher though, with the increased revenue and possibly, the opportunities that will come from the fall of the WWF. -We've dipped low enough in Texas to where I've seen a slight impact on attendance, and had to adjust the ticket prices accordingly. That's not really a big deal as we're now turning a monthly profit, and increases in the other regions will make up for it (since we'll continue to run most of our house shows in regions outside Texas, to build up broad popularity) FINANCES Income (Last month in parenthesis): Ticket Sales: 443,386 (492,514) Sponsors: 76,364 (77,970) Merchandise: 212,000 (217,600) Expenses: Worker Costs: 323,135 (272,525) Show Costs: 106,500 (106,500) Marketing: 25,000 (25,000) Merchandise: 27,096 (27,152) Production: 40,000 (40,000) Misc: 138,679 (148,503) Total Profit: $71,350 ($168,404) Cash in Bank: $651,564 (580,214) -I was much more aggressive spending money and traveling around this month, but most importantly, the HUGE merchandise revenue continued. I posted over at the TEW boards about why this happened, and nobody replied - I guess it's either just something coded into the DOTT mod (this is about when merchandise became more important in wrestling), or maybe your merchandise increases a certain amount of time after you've risen to Cult status. -Whatever it is, I need to spend more money to take advantage of it. I'm taking the following steps in name of expansion: 1. I restart our Home Video business, and will utilize "above average" quality production values. 2. I get rid of our in-house music department and will utilize "minor licensed" outside music. This will be really expensive - about $35k/month. Hopefully this leads to an elevation in show ratings. 3. I've increased our merchandise quality from "standard" to "above average" 4. I will continue to run all 4 monthly tv tapings and end-of-month events in Texas. Otherwise, the first 3 weekly house shows will all be somewhere else. Those shows aren't as profitable, but they'll help us grow faster. The 4th weekly house show will return to Texas, for one last revenue boost before the end of the month. 4. In terms of talent, I'm not going to go on a spending spree just yet - I'll hold off until I can see if I still make a profit with these enhanced settings. However, I'll be more aggressive in using guys I already have ever show I want to use them. Custom Merchandise Settings: Low Level: -David Von Erich -Kerry Von Erich -Kevin Von Erich Very Low Level -Fritz Von Erich -Iceman Parsons -Bob Backlund -Bobby Eaton -Koko B. Ware -Roddy Piper -Tiger Mask -The Great Kabuki -Curt Hennig -Bruno Sammartino -I move Fritz down from Low to Very Low volume level. I debut merchandise for Curt Hennig and Bruno Sammartino, setting them at Very Low. |
WCCW CHAMPIONS - End Of October 1984
-World Heavyweight Champion - 94.7% Prestige (Same as last month) Main Event Title Bobby Eaton (0 title defenses, 1 month reign). -Television Champion - 70.0% Prestige (same as last month) Midcard Title Kevin Von Erich - 6 title defenses, 2 month reign -World Tag Team Champions - 70.0% Prestige (Same as last month) Midcard Title Kerry & Kevin Von Erich - 3 title defenses, 2 month reign -Six-Man Tag Team Champions - 68.5% Prestige (Down from 70.0 last month) Midcard Title Vacant -Cruiserweight Championship - 33.9% Prestige (up from 33.6% last month) Low Level Title Mike Von Erich - 4 title defenses, 3 month reign. |
WCCW STORYLINES - END OF OCTOBER, 1984
Storylines with participants and date of origin, in order of current heat: T1. Tag Team Title Storyline: Mendoza/Bundy v. Kerry/Kevin v. Kabuki/Tiger Mask (April, recently evolved to include Kerry/Kevin) T1. Piper v. Bruno: Piper/Bruno/David Sammartino/Adonis) (July) T1. Eaton/Koko hides the belt from David (Eaton/Koko/David Von Erich) (October) 2. Nikita Koloff's 3-minute challenge: Koloff/Parsons (September) 3. Bob Backlund's manager: Backlund/Akbar/Hayes/Hart (September) 4. Road Warriors v. Sheepherders (January) Lower midcarders and higher without a current or pending storyline: -Dick Murdoch -Curt Hennig -Mike Von Erich -Villano V -Doug Somers -The Road Warriors/Sheepherders storyline is stale from hanging around for so long, but it's about to be renewed in a big way. WRESTLER CONFLICTS -The following wrestlers are unavailable on these days in October, as they consider these companies priorities over WCCW: Bob Backlund (4th Thursday) -IF the WWF is still in business by then, Bob Backlund is potentially unavailable for our Thanksgiving Day Star Wars show, because of a conflict with his priority promotion, the WWF. EXCLUSIVE WORKERS -These are the on-screen workers who happen to work for no one else but me. I'll try to give them a heavier workload, as they're the least likely to have fatigue issues. These guys are also relatively safer when it comes to talent cuts (this list includes does not include wrestlers who who are exclusively contracted to us, but as of the beginning of the month, have outstanding loan commitments with other promotions - like David Von Erich). -Al Perez -Arturo Mendoza -Barry Orton -Bronco Lubich -David Manning -The Sheepherders -David Sammartino -Doug Somers -Dusty Wolfe -Fritz Von Erich -Iceman Parsons -Jose Lothario -Kerry Von Erich -Kevin Von Erich -Mark Youngblood -Mike Von Erich -Owen Hart -Perry Jackson -Ricky Romero -Road Warrior Animal -Steve Olsonoski -Ted -The Great Kabuki -The Missouri Mauler -Villano IV -Villano V WRESTLER COMPLAINTS -Bruno Samartino is furious about how he's being pushed -Curt Hennig is furious about about how he's been pushed -David Von Erich is very unhappy about how often he's been unused -Mark Youngblood is extremely annoyed about how he's being pushed -Mr. Wrestling II is unhappy about how he's being pushed -Perry Jackson in unhappy about how he's being pushed -Roddy Piper is unhappy about how many losses he's taken -Steve Olsonoski is very unhappy about how he's being pushed -Still a very unhappy locker room. Though a few who were upset last month no longer show up on this list - Bob Backlund, The Great Kabuki, Tiger Mask, and Kerry Von Erich. -I've pushed Hennig up to main event status, which he deserves. So that should make him happy. -Of the two "enhancement talent" that are unhappy - Perry Jackson and Mark Youngblood, I decide to bump up Jackson to "Opener" status. He has the Missouri Mauler in as a manager, so it makes sense to give him a slight boost. He's also been better all around than Youngblood (though Youngblood did have the best individual match of the 2 - that B- pre-show match with one of the Sheepherders). -There might be a problem with Mr. Wrestling II. He wants to be an active wrestler. I had planned to use him in an authority/personality role. There might need to be a change of plans here. -I'm getting tired of Olsonoski's complaints. I don't think he's shown anything that deserves a promotion. I'll give him a chance this month against top talent, if he doesn't show something, he's gone. WRESTLER DISAGREEMENTS ABOUT PUSHES -These are guys that have let me know they think they should be pushed better (including those listed above, whose complaints have risen to the level of affecting morale). This also include guys who are in on loan agreement (designated by *) -Adrian Street* thinks he should be an Upper Midcarder -Barry Orton thinks he should be an Opener -Bruno Sammartino doesn't want to be wrestling anymore -David Sammartino thinks he should be a midcarder -Greg Valentine* thinks he should be a main eventer -King Tonga* thinks he should be a midcarder -Magic Dragon* thinks he should be a midcarder -Mark Youngblood thinks he should be a lower midcarder -Mr. Wrestling II thinks he should be a main eventer -Road Warrior Animal thinks he should be a main eventer -Steve Olsonoski thinks he should be a midcarder -Tiger Mask thinks he should be an upper midcarder -The Missouri Mauler wants to be an occasional wrestler -Hennig and Perry Jackson disappear from this list after I've just promoted them. A few others stop their complaining as well - this list is a little lighter than last month |
Current Momentum Ratings (End of October, 1984), with last month is parenthesis.
A Koko B. Ware (B) A- None B+ Bobby Eaton (B) B David Von Erich (B-) Curt Hennig (B-) B- Dick Murdoch (B) Kevin Von Erich (B-) Kerry Von Erich (C+) Adrian Adonis (C+) C+ Iceman Parsons (C+) Roddy Piper (C+) Road Warrior Hawk (C+) Tiger Mask (C+) Arturo Mendoza (C+) Bob Backlund (B-) C Road Warrior Animal (C) Nikita Koloff (C+) The Great Kabuki (C) Butch Miller (C) King Kong Bundy (C) Bruno Sammartino (C+) C- Doug Somers (C) Luke Williams (C) David Sammartino (n/a) D+ Villano V (D+) D Mike Von Erich (D+) Al Perez (D-) Jose Lothario (C-) Dusty Wolfe (D+) D- Steve Olsonoski (D-) Mark Youngblood (C) E+ Villano IV (E-) E Perry Jackson (E+) Barry Orton (n/a) E- Owen Hart (E) F- Ted (n/a) Adrian Street (not yet debuted) Greg Valentine (not yet debuted) Magic Dragon (not yet debuted) King Tonga (not yet debuted) Rising in October: Eaton, Ware, David Von Erich, Hennig, Kerry Von Erich, Adrian Adonis, Villano IV Falling in September: Dick Murdoch, Bob Backlund, Nikita Koloff, Bruno Sammartino, Doug Somers, Luke Williams, Mike Von Erich, Jose Lothario, Dusty Wolfe, Mark Youngblood, Owen Hart, Perry Jackson |
ROSTER, END OF OCTOBER, 1984
MAIN EVENTERS Bob Backlund David Von Erich Curt Hennig Dick Murdoch Bobby Eaton -Hennig moves into the main event, displacing Roddy Piper. Hennig completes his huge rise up the card from lower midcarder to main eventer in just 3 months. UPPER MIDCARDERS Koko B. Ware Adrian Adonis Kerry Von Erich Roddy Piper Kevin Von Erich Road Warriors -The only move is Hennig out and Piper in. MIDCARDERS Arturo Mendoza Iceman Parsons Tiger Mask Nikita Koloff The Sheepherders King Kong Bundy The Great Kabuki -Same group as last month LOWER MIDCARDERS Mike Von Erich Doug Somers David Sammartino Villano V -Same group as last month OPENERS Al Perez Steve Olsonoski Villano IV Perry Jackson -Perry Jackson gets a promotion into this group. ENHANCEMENT TALENT Owen Hart Barry Orton Mark Youngblood Dusty Wolfe -Same group as last month, less Perry Jackson. Mark Youngblood's getting anxious down here, but he'll pay his dues for at least another month. OCCASIONAL WRESTLERS Jose Lothario Bruno Sammartino Ted, the Wrestling Bear WRESTLERS IN ON LOAN CONTRACTS Greg Valentine (3 more appearances) Magic Dragon (3 more appearances) Adrian Street (3 more appearances) King Tonga (3 more appearances) OTHERS Skandor Akbar Gary Hart Lance Russell Lord Alfred Hayes David Manning Bronco Lubich Fritz Von Erich JR Foley The Missouri Mauler Mr. Wrestling II Ray Stevens Ricky Romero CONTRACTS UP IN NEXT 60 DAYS -Adrian Adonis (18 Days) -The Sheepherders (19 Days) -JR Foley (32 Days) -Jose Lothario (33 Days) -The Road Warriors (39 Days) -Kevin Von Erich (55 Days) |
THE STARS OF WORLD CLASS ON TOUR
Monday, Week 1, November 1984 Atlanta, GA (Southeast - Tiny Venue) Expected Attendance: 1,323 Ticket prices: $2 over Default Actual Attendance: 1,000 (SOLD OUT) -Pre-Show Dark Match Owen Hart defeats Dusty Wolfe in 4:54 by pinfall. (D) -Pre-Show Dark Segment Skandor Akbar hyped Butch Miller's upcoming match with Steve Olsonoski. (C-). Lord Alfred Hayes interviewed Olsonoski, who also cut a promo hyping the match. (C+) -Pre-Show Dark Match Butch Miller (w/Skandor Akbar) defeats Steve Olsonoski in 7:53 by pinfall. (C). The two showed poor chemistry. -Tiger Mask & The Great Kabuki defeat Perry Jackson & Barry Orton (w/The Missouri Mauler) in 7:37 when Tiger Mask pinned Jackson. (D+). Tiger Mask & Kabuki looked good. After the match, Tiger Mask grabbed a mic, and in a rare English comment, expressed his growing frustration over the constant attacks from King Kong Bundy, Arturo Mendoza, and Gary Hart. Tiger Mask says he's been dealing with Mendoza for more than 6 months now, and that he and Kabuki are challenging Bundy and Mendoza to end this feud once and for all - whatever that entails. (C-) -Piper's Pit w/guest "Exotic" Adrian Street. Roddy Piper, with "Redneck" Adrian Adonis by his side, tell the Atlanta fans that they're in for a treat tonight - a special double-feature edition of Piper's pit with two major guests. Then tonight, Piper says, he faces Curt Hennig in the main event, in a rematch of the main event of last week's TV show. Piper claims that in that last match, the referee was too loose with the whistle in DQ'ing him, but he won't leave any margin for referee error tonight. Then Piper introduces his first guest \ - making a special appearance in WCCW to challenge for the Cruiserweight Championship, "Exotic" Adrian Street. Street comes to the set of the Pit, in full-fledged heel "extreme gender bender" gimmick mode (make-up, blond pigtails). Piper seems very disturbed by Street's over-the-top antics and sexual innuendos. Adonis, on the other hand, seems oddly fascinated by Street. Street briefly hypes his challenge for the Cruiserweight Championship tonight, but spends much of the segment trying to get under the skin of Piper. (B-) -Piper's Pit, w/Kevin Von Erich Piper eventually manages to get Street to leave, much to disappointment of Adonis, who was oddly charmed and fascinated by the spectacle. Piper shot Adonis a disapproving glance, and then introduced his next guest - the man who defeated Bob Backlund in the main event of the Texas Rumble to retain his TV title, Kevin Von Erich. Piper says that Kevin must be some kind of moron to show up here tonight, 48 hours after his grueling iron-man match with Backlund, and actually wrestle a match with a man that knows how to hurt people - Greg Valentine. Before Kevin could response, Greg Valentine interrupted the interview. Valentine had with him his National Television Championship belt (from Georgia Championship Wrestling). He said he's been hearing a lot of nonsense about Kevin's TV title, and is here to prove that his TV Title is the only one that matters in professional wrestling. Valentine says that unfortunately, the respective promoters couldn't come up with a deal to put the belts on the line, so Valentine will just have to settle for breaking Kevin's leg. (C). -Adrian Street comes to the ring for his match against Mike Von Erich. Adrian Adonis wanders towards ringside, apparently still fascinated by Street. Adonis scouts the match from ringside. (B-). -WCCW Cruiserweight Championship Match Adrian Street defeats Mike Von Erich in 6:52 by countout to win the WCCW Cruiserweight Championship (It is unclear why this belt can change hands on a countout). Adonis interfered on Street's behalf, causing the countout. Street seemed appreciative, and the two left together. (B). Mike was tiring towards the end of the match, Street looked good. -Non-Title Match Kevin Von Erich drew with Greg Valentine in 10:00 when the time limit expired. (B). Kevin was really off his game. The two showed poor chemistry. -WCCW World Champion Bobby Eaton cut a promo bad-mouthing David Von Erich, who he claims may never wrestle again. (B+). Eaton also hypes his match tonight against Bruno Sammartino (B) -Non-Title Match Bobby Eaton defeats Bruno Sammartino in 8:21 by pinfall. (C+). -Curt Hennig cut a promo hyping his main event match with Roddy Piper, saying that what happened on TV last week wasn't a fluke, and he'll prove it tonight. (B-) -Curt Hennig defeats Roddy Piper (w/Adrian Adonis) in 23:51 by pinfall. (A+). Adonis wasn't at ringside in the beginning of the match, but he later sauntered to ringside in drag, apparently under the influence of Adrian Street. Adonis seemed delirious and distracted, and his botched attempts at interference helped lead to Piper's defeat. Overall Show Rating: B THOUGHTS: -A home-run show - I thought I had a chance at my first ever B+ or A- rating, but I came up short. -Spectacular main event between Piper and Hennig, as they blew away their match from TV last week. Not sure what the difference is - I wonder if the road agent can make that much a difference. I have 3 road agents with similar status, and I leave the default road agent on for every match (which tends to cycle between the agents) -Kevin and Greg Valentine had all kinds of things going against it (bad chemistry, Kevin was having an off night), and they still had a great match. I think Valentine would be great in WCCW, I'll give him a look the next time we're hiring again. -"Exotic" Adrian Street is a guy I had heard of growing up, but I've never actually seen him before until I looked up a couple of youtube videos today. Wow. I can't believe this guy never got killed in the kayfabe territory days. I definitely didn't intend for him to win the Cruiserweight Title here - Mike won by countout. I have no idea why the belt changed hands, the only explanations are either that I accidentally set the "overwrite title rules" road agent notes, or that titles just change on countouts in TEW07, or in my promotion. I don't mind it so much here, because it's kind of a cool surprise, but I hope I can get a handle on why/when that happens. As for the match - it was terrific. As was Street's performance on Piper's Pit. Adrian Adonis was infatuated by Street, and decided to give dressing in drag a try during the main event (basically becoming 1987 "Adorable" Adrian Adonis). (Adonis had been using a redneck gimmick here since returning to WCCW). I didn't formally change his gimmick, so we'll see where it goes. This all might be a little much for Texas in 1984. -The tag team match at the start of the show pretty much bombed (I don't think the Japanese guys are very well known in Georgia), and that might have kept us from a B- rating. |
NEWS
-Greg Valentine is exhausted after the last show -The UWA has rejected by requests for buy-out negotiations. -The WWF however, is willing to talk but-out (an indication that they are truly doomed). As I expected however, they want way too much money - I go as high all my cash-on-hand ($625k), but it's not enough. -Stan Hansen & Buzz Sawyer won the annual Georgia Championship Wrestling Omni Tag Team Tournament. Here's the winners from past years: 1983: Jake Roberts & Tommy Rich 1982: Moondogs Rex and Spot 1981: Bob & Brad Armstrong 1980: Terry Gordy & Buddy Roberts 1979: Austin Idol & The Masked Superstar 1978: Terry & Dory Funk Jr. -Stan Hansen also won a wrestling magazine contest for "Best Brawler in Wrestling Today". Nikita Koloff won an award for "Best Young Prospect in Wrestling Today" -Koko B. Ware has been off screen long enough for his gimmick change to take effect. I'll probably hold off for a few more weeks at least. -I request negotiations with some of the big American promotions I'm currently "hostile" with in an attempt to work out some type of relationship, and I'm rejected by most of them - WWF, AWA, Mid-Atlantic, and Georgia. -On the other hand I've established a working agreement (allowing loan trades) with New Japan, and Calgary Stampede. So I now I have a working agreement with both major promotions in Japan. |
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