WCW Lives 2001. Shane McMahon's WCW

Next Week

Shane: I've got good news and bad news.

Arn: Well I've only got good news

Finlay: Compliment sandwich. Shane strat with good news, then bad and we'll finish on Arn's good news 

Shane: Ok… good news is we've got ECW talent. Rob Van Dam, Tommy Dreamer, Sabu and Nova are negotiating their contacts as we speak.

Johnny: Nova? When did we talk about Nova? 

Shane: He's full of talent and he'll be a good investment for the cruiserweight division.

Finlay: But we have Van Dam?

Shane: We'll know for sure next week but it's looking good.

Arn: Alright Shane, what's the bad news?

Shane: I don't know what our main event for the Big Bang will be because my dad signed Scott Hall.

Arn: …and that's bad news?

Shane: Well what else are we going to do? Our next biggest heel is Buff Bagwell and no offense to the man but he's not main event caliber.

Finlay: We still have Lance Storm. Booker T vs Lance Storm could be the main event.

Johnny: It'd be a good match but it wouldn't draw a crowd.

Arn: If you boys would shut it, I have good news that will solve our main event problem.

Shane: You think your Japanese star can main event in America? Historically speaking that doesn't end well.

Arn: My guy is a star in Japan, but he's not Japanese.

Johnny: Hang on a minute… you don't mean…

Arn: That's right boys. The main event of Big Bang should be Booker T defending against Big Van Vader

Shane: *raises from his seat with a slow clap*

Arn you are a genius

Finlay: It's a different direction compared to what we've been doing for the last 5 years. 

Arn: But that direction was killing us. Vader is a big name from when the focus of this company was wrestling. It sets a good precedent for what the new WCW is all about. 

Johnny: That's gonna lose us a lot of our audience.

Shane: That audience has already left us for the WWF. If we want to survive we need to be different. 

Arn: … so I'll confirm the match?

Shane: I'll make a press conference to announce it. Before that I'll use it as proof of viability for a TV deal

Johnny: I was hoping we'd talk about that now actually. What are we going to do about TV?

Shane: Well we can't run Nitro on Mondays anymore. That was the deal I made with my dad. Even if we went back on that deal, it'd be company suicide.

Finlay: I assume Tuesdays and Thursdays will be off the table too because of Smackdown?

Shane: That wasn't the deal with dad but we still wouldn't win the audience.

Arn: So we run a show on Wednesdays then?

Shane: If I can get a deal for Wednesdays then yes. 

Johnny: Well Turner Broadcasting won't take us, so where are we pitching to?

Shane: I've been talking to my guy at the USA Network. I'll try and get a pitch meeting for Nitro on USA this week.

Finlay: Well they're a big enough network. We'd make a pretty penny with them.

Arn: We will. I like this plan.

Shane: Well that settles it. Same time next week?

Arn: One second Shane. I've got one more piece of news.

Finlay: You goddamn over achiever

Arn: He reached out to me actually. It's about Dusty Rhodes.

Shane: Dusty wants in on this? I'd love to have Dusty on the team

Arn: Not quite. He's happy with his little promotion Turnbuckle Championship Wrestling. But he has offered to take development talent and train some guys for us.

Johnny: Well that's a little underwhelming…

Shane: But useful. This is a long term venture, investing in the future is always a good call. If we find any promising rookies we sign them up and send them to Dusty.

Finlay: Can we sponsor Green Cards?

Shane: You have someone from Ireland in mind?

Finlay: Hey! I travel plenty, there's some youngsters in Mexico & Canada that come to mind

Shane: Sure, we'll sponsor them but I want all of that run past me directly first.

Finlay: Of course.

Shane: If that's everything guys then I think this week has been productive.

Before The Show

Shane: The Big Bang is this Sunday people, after that we are all hands on deck.

Arn: The big show is all set up. The main thing we’re missing is a plan for TV

Shane: Which brings us to our first talking point today. I want a face on screen authority figure to play against my heel authority character.

Johnny: Well if you want someone with credibility…

Shane: Not you Johnny. I want to bring in Roddy Piper

Robert: Piper is going to be the authority figure?

Finlay: Why not? He’s a damn good talker and he brings some star power to the show

Shane: Star power we can use to bring people up without hurting Piper

Arn: It sounds like a good idea. But I’ve got another concern. We don’t have an announce team.

Shane: Well we still have Scott Hudson on board and as a part of my influx of ECW talent I’ve also signed up Joey Styles as a commentator.

Finlay: If we have Joey Styles then we don’t need Scott Hudson. Neither of them are color commentators, they’re both play by play.

Robert: I was hoping to bring Tony Schivone back into the company. I’d consider him the voice of WCW

Arn: If he could do good color commentary I’d agree

Shane: Why not have Cyrus on color commentary?

Finlay: Absolutely not. I won’t have that chewed popsicle stick screaming over the entire show

Johnny: I know a good color commentator who’s in need of work

Robert: If he’s less annoying than Cyrus I think it’s a winner

Johnny: Oh, he’s much more annoying than Cyrus. But the man is gold. Jerry Lawler.

Shane: That’s right… he walked out of the WWF because of his wife. I almost forgot.

Arn: So we try to bring in Lawler so it’s him and Styles on commentary?

Robert: Here’s a radical idea. Why don’t we bring in Schivone as well and make it a three man booth?

Shane: You really want Shivone on board, don’t you?

Robert: … look, I may have jumped the gun and already reached out to him

Johnny: Damn it Gibson!

Robert: Tony is interested and he’s willing to take a pay cut compared to what he was making before.

Shane: Alright I guess we’ll try all three with Scott Hudson in reserve in case someone doesn’t sign up.

Arn: Alright, what about TV moving forward? 

Shane: Right, I still want us to have meetings like this, but I hope we can scale it back to once a month, just to plan out broad strokes, make sure we aren’t clashing creatively, then you can each micromanage your own division.

Finlay: So, you pick an overall destination, but we get to decide how we get there?

Shane: Exactly, like how I told you I want the Cruiserweight title on Juventud but I’m letting you tell the story that gets us there

Arn: Aside from that, is there anything we need to keep in mind?

Shane: Yes, I want to build up two guys so they can be credible challengers to Booker T in a matter of months. Getting there is going to be up to Johnny & Robert

Johnny: Who do you have in mind?

Shane: Lance Storm & Kanyon

Robert: What’s our time frame on this?

Shane: I want one of them available to feud with Booker T in July. I don’t care which one, the other one will be getting their shot at Booker the month after.

Finlay: Before we break, I have some people I want us to keep an eye on

Shane: Why didn’t you bring this up earlier?

Finlay: Because there’s no way in hell, we’d be able to sign these people just yet. They’re people who are under contract, but the contracts are expiring soon.

Johnny: I’ve got someone in mind to if we’re talking about some more hires.

Shane: Sure, who do you have in mind, Finlay?

Finlay: Firstly, Ken Shamrock. The man’s preparing for a professional fight at the moment, but we could snatch him up after the fight’s finished.

Shane: A legitimate fighter. I like it. Who else?

Finlay: Two guys who were let go by WWF because of their drug issues. Eddie Guerrero & Jesse James.

Arn: Isn’t Eddie in rehab?

Finlay: He is but we can ask Chavo to keep tabs on his progress for us so we can sign him up once he’s clean

Shane: Jesse James isn’t in rehab though. I’m not saying we can’t hire him, I’m just questioning if we should.

Arn: What if we put a clause for that in his contract? Show up to a show high and he’s fired?

Shane: That does address my concern of him showing up high

Johnny: Shane you asked to hire Juventud Guerrera & the Road Warriors. Are you seriously concerned about drug abuse now?

Shane: You’re right, how about this? Just a blanket rule for all talent. No Drinking or Drugs backstage or you’ll be sent home without pay?

Arn: It’s tough but fair. As long as the rule isn’t following them out the building.

Shane: They can do whatever they want after the show. I just don’t want the show to suffer because someone needed a fix.

Finlay: I’ll print it out and post the rules on wall if that makes you feel better Shane

Shane: It would make me feel better, Finlay, so please do that.

Finlay: ... I was being sarcastic...

Robert: Good job Finlay. You’re a real go-getter.

Shane: Ok Johnny, you had someone in mind too?