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Post by marc91 on Nov 10, 2023 18:08:08 GMT 1
Rick Rude gets injured and so he has to vacate the US Title. He leaves the Alliance too, as Rude claims that his manager didn’t do anything to stop Dusty Rhodes from taking the belt away from him. With Rude injured, Steve Austin forming the Blondes and Larry Zbyszko retiring from in ring competition, Paul E. only has Arn Anderson and Bobby Eaton left. However, Double A announces that he is taking a break (he’s actually injured) and will return only when time is right
WCW Starrcade 28.12.1992 Atlanta, GA
1. WCW United States Title: Dustin Rhodes def. Barry Windham (decision match) (14 mins)
So, Rude vacated the title and a 8 men tournament started to crown the next US champion. Windham was one of the favourites all along, while Dustin reached the final as a underdog. The two have been friends and tag partners for the whole year, but there is a bit of tension between them, as during the last PPV, Windham chose to win the match instead of mentoring Dustin towards a win. It’s a babyface match, Windham plays the part of the heel here as he dominates. Dustin wins with a small package and shocks everyone winning the US Title
2. Johnny B. Badd def. Bobby Eaton (w/ Paul E. Dangerously) (8 mins) After Double A left him as well, Eaton is literally the only wrestler of the Alliance that is still active. Paul E. wants to recruit new blood, but he’s leaving soon and so I can’t rebuild his group. Badd refuses to join Paul E., like he did with Alexandra York too, so Paul E. takes is personally and wants Eaton to teach Badd a lesson. Paul E. also insists that he will leave WCW if Eaton loses to Badd and so, after Badd pins Eaton with the wild thing, a screaming and desperate Paul E. is elbowed by matchmaker Dusty Rhodes and thrown out of the arena
3. WCW Cruiserweight Title: Jushin Liger (c) def. 2 Cold Scorpio (12 mins) Liger returns to WCW and here he wrestles the newcomer Scorpio, who debuts as a arrogant heel and goes on an undefeated streak in the cruiserweight division. Scorpio keeps insulting Liger while he’s in Japan, but Liger is now finally here to get the match in the ring. Correct me if I’m wrong, but I don’t remember these two ever facing off and I think it would be a nice match, so why not give them the chance to shine. Scorpio shows that he can hang with the champion and takes him to the limit, but Liger comes back with the liger bomb to retain
4. WCW World Tag Team Titles: The Hollywood Blondes (c) def. Ricky Steamboat & Shane Douglas (15 mins) After their match at the last PPV, Steamboat decides to take Douglas under his wing and so they start fighting as a tag team, as Steamboat sees a lot in Douglas and wants to help the next generation of wrestlers. On the other side, Austin and Pillman represent the same generation in a different way, as they are arrogant, loud and show no respect to the legendary Steamboat or a young prospect like Douglas. They had good matches, so let’s have one here and make the crowd happy. Steamboat clears the ring from Pillman, but Austin hits Douglas with the stungun and the Blondes retain
5. Cactus Jack def. Steve Williams (11 mins) Cactus and Doc were kind of forced to coexist at Havoc and it didn’t go well, as they started fighting during their match, so this leads us to them fighting each other now. Cactus is progressively turning heel after failing to capture gold earlier this year, while Williams wants to show that he can make a difference in America as well. They brawl all over the place and Doc wants to show that he’s not worried about Cactus’ craziness, as vows to hit him harder every time. Cactus gets the win as Doc is on his way out, hitting an impressive piledriver from the top rope, with no consideration over his and his opponent’s wellbeing
6. IWGP Heavyweight Title: The Great Muta (c) def. Masahiro Chono (15 mins) They wrestled for the worthless NWA World Title on this show and Chono went over, but I am choosing to make them fight for the IWGP belt as it’s definitely a more prestigious championships. Both have appeared in the States before, especially Muta, and so the crowd should care enough about this. Granted, their match was nothing special and I can’t really change that, but this is a case of choosing prestige over quality. Also, who else can I book against Muta or Chono without rewriting the whole card? Hopefully, the rest of the show will deliver enough to compensate an average match as a semi main event. I get no saying in the finish, Muta retains the title with the shining wizard
7. WCW World Heavyweight Title: Vader (c) (w/ Harley Race) def. Sting (17 mins) Sting is 100% determined to get his title back and he can also claim that Vader never defeated him 1v1, as Shinya Hashimoto was a big factor in the title change at GAB. Of course, Vader is not afraid of Sting and dares him to step in the ring with him for the fight, so we finally have the two of them one against another without anyone else in the middle. They had a great match at the actual show, so that is a perfect main event in my book, plus the prestige of this match would be bigger here as it’s a World Title match and not a King of cable bout or whatever that was. Sting almost pulls the upset and pushes Vader more than anyone else did before, but Vader hits his vader bomb and Race holds Sting’s ankle down for the pinfall
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Post by Moore on Nov 10, 2023 19:00:32 GMT 1
Very different from the Lethal Lottery-themed PPV we saw IRL. Started out with a bang and with Dustin winning the US title, which is fairly fitting of a marquee event.
So... you should start to book ECW now. There's no point in booking a federation that's just lost Paul E. Dangerously...
Liger vs. Scorpio is huge for Cruiserweight-standard bouts at the time, glad you put it on Starrcade, of all places.
There's not probably much to be said about the Tag Team Title clash. But oh my, the finish to the next one: Cactus killed 'Dr. Death', who's now 'Dr. Dead' (omg sorry, terrible)
Pretty good pre-main event. Jesus, you reminded me of King of Cable, that's right. KoC, Kuwait Cup... the 90s tournaments were odd sometimes (belts too... UWF Israeli Title says hi). The main event was as expected and Vader wins yet again against Sting. Wow... Sting will be booked as an absolute overdog against anyone but Vader, and I'm liking it.
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Post by marc91 on Nov 12, 2023 11:43:26 GMT 1
So... you should start to book ECW now. There's no point in booking a federation that's just lost Paul E. Dangerously... I will, once I am done with WCW!
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Post by marc91 on Nov 13, 2023 0:18:10 GMT 1
NJPW 05.02.1993 WCW Cruiserweight Title: Pegasus Kid def. Jushin Liger (c) Liger doesn't visit WCW at all 1993 and so I need to take the belt off him. It would have been handy to put Scorpio over at the last PPV, but he just made his debut and I am not putting him over the best junior ever just yet. But Benoit had a nice little stint in WCW this year, so he's a good choice. Him and Liger had great matches, they can have one more here in Sapporo. Benoit is still known as Pegasus Kid in New Japan, but we address him with his real name in WCW and he brings the title back to the States with a dragon suplex
WCW SuperBrawl 21.02.1993 Asheville, NC
1. WCW World Tag Team Titles: The Hollywood Blondes (c) def. The Rock & Roll Express (16 mins) Pillmn and Austin are on top of the world and call themselves the best tag team ever, but Rock & Roll take exception to that and they return, saying that they have put their differences aside to show the Blondes who the best duo really is. R&R also accuse the Blondes of copying Morton's signature hair, which infuriates the champions. This can be a last hurrah for the R&R and a good opener for a PPV that needs lots of quality. R&R are close to victory, but Austin pushes Morton off the top rope and Pillman wins with a brainbuster
2. Johnny B. Badd def. Bill Irwin (6 mins) Badd's push is probably one of the least favourite things of mine that I need to keep going with, due to lack of alternatives and the fact he will be with WCW for another couple of years. I always thought Irwin wasn't as bad as some people said, he can be entertaining and bump around for Badd in this squash match, that is set once Irwin mocks Badd for being a ballless pretty boy. It's a quick one and Badd proved Irwing wrong, he goes over with the wild thing
3. WCW Cruiserweight Title: Chris Benoit (c) draws 2 Cold Scorpio by double pinfall (18 mins) Benoit was in WCW for a good part of 1993 and, as mentioned above, I want to use him to improve the Cruiserweight division as Liger is gone and Pillman is doing something else. Scorpio quickly warns Benoit that he's holding the title that he wants, so the two start a natural rivalry and Scorpio's arrogance helps Benoit establishing his babyface status right from the start. They had a great match on the actual show and I am happy to keep it. Benoit hits a dragon suplex, but the referee counts all 4 shoulders on the match for a draw
4. Ricky Steamboat & Shane Douglas def. The Heavenly Bodies (w/ Jim Cornette and Bobby Eaton) (12 mins) Apart from R&R, we also have the Bodies here thanks to SMW. The deal ended prematurely, so I won't be able to use them after this, but it's a bit of fresh air in the division to be honest. The story is that Cornette wants his boys to get some gold from WCW and uses his old client Eaton as a mole. At the PPV, Eaton refuses to help Cornette and punches his old MNX partner Lane, so Steamboat wins with a crossbody. Yeah, I jobbed out both Cornette's teams but both were protected and he's getting a decent check in the process
5. WCW United States Title Street Fight Match: Dustin Rhodes (c) def. Barry Windham (15 mins) During Dustin's US Title celebration, he thanks Windham for the way he mentored him over the course of the last year. Windham seems happy for his friend, but matchmaker Dusty Rhodes says that Windham won't get the next title shot, so Barry turns on Dustin and beats him up until Dusty sanctions the match. Windham is now a full-blown heel cowboy and messes with Dustin, who begs Dusty not to the be in his corner and let him handle this by himself. They have a violent match and Dustin retains with a DDT on a garbage can
6. Paul Orndorff def. Cactus Jack (8 mins) I was a fan of Orndorff's run in the 90s, for a couple of years he was solid and quite reliable, so he will find a spot in this thin roster. Orndorff comes back as a babyface and warns Cactus to take it easy with the violence and crazy bumps to preserve a long career for him and his peers (Steve Williams' bump from Starrcade would be a famous highlight of WCW), but of course Cactus refuses the advice and messes with Orndorff teasing crazy spots. This was a decent match and Cactus is taking time off, so Orndorff is the one to hit the piledriver and win
7. Double Strap Match: Sting & Davey Boy Smith def. Vader & The Great Muta (w/ Harley Race) (15 mins) So, Sting took Vader to the limit at Starrcade and continues crashing every segment with a strap, saying he was robbed and wants Vader for a real one on one match. Race asks Muta for help, as he's a historic enemy of Sting, so the WCW and IWGP champions are allied against Sting. Sting can choose a partner of his choice and the crowd would surely chant for Ric Flair (remember, Sting retired him and is the only one that can bring him back to WCW competition). Sting finally addresses the rumours, says he called Flair but got no answer and he's too proud to call him back, because he won't beg for help. Smith just debuted and Sting chooses him as a partner. We get to the PPV and this can hopefully deliver like the real main event did... the heels have the upper hand, but Ric Flair comes out and the North Carolina crowd erupts. In the confusion, Muta mists Vader by mistake, Vader falls over and Sting jumps to touch the fourth corner and win the match
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Post by Moore on Nov 13, 2023 15:32:59 GMT 1
Makes perfect sense for Benoit to become the Cruiserweight Champion. I also liked the explanation for Windham's turn and hope to see him get his comeuppance soon.
Cactus jobbing sadly, but I'm also a fan of Orndorff, tbh.
Flair returning is the moment of the night, even though I'm not fully convinced that he's a babyface. Is he? Not sure.
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Post by marc91 on Nov 14, 2023 13:01:58 GMT 1
WCW Slamboree 23.05.1993 Atlanta, GA
1. WCW Cruiserweight Title 2/3 Falls Match: 2 Cold Scorpio def. Chris Benoit (c) (17 mins) At SuperBrawl, Benoit and Scorpio drew after double pinfall and, in the following weeks, the referee confirms his decision. Dusty Rhodes keeps the title on Benoit, but orders a rematch for a Saturday Night show, that ends by double countout after Benoit hits a dive to the outside. So, this is now booked as a blowoff and in this 2/3 falls match there must be a winner. Of course, they are 1-1 and Scorpio this time stops the dragon suplex with a low blow, before hitting the 450 splash to finally win the title
2. Barry Windham def. Kensuke Sasaki (11 mins) Windham turned heel and lost a few matches here and there, as he's leaving soon. He's facing Sasaki, who will also not be in WCW much more for the rest of the year, so I rather get some heat on Windham because he will fight at GAB and I can build some interest around his last PPV match. Sasaki still gets to look good, but Windham is quite aggressive in his attacks and wins with the belly-to-belly suplex, removing Sasaki's foot from the bottom rope
3. WCW United States Title: Dustin Rhodes (c) def. Ron Simmons (8 mins) Dustin keeps getting the respect of his peers thanks to his reign, but Simmons surely won't be so kind and turns heel. Simmons is quite frustrated with his direction in WCW, saying that he's been busting his butt for years without getting the chances that Dustin has, just because of who his daddy is. I'd keep this short, Simmons wasn't that much motivated in 1993 but Dustin can bump around for him, finally getting a lucky small package to retain the belt
4. Lumberkjack Match: Dory Funk Jr. (w/ Gene Kiniski) draws Nick Bockwinkel (w/ Verne Gagne) by time limit (15 mins) This ruled! It was a nice touch to have a lot of legends here, but to be honest I would involve everyone in one segment only, without signing matches for the sake of it and messing the whole flow of the card. Funk and Bock had a great exhibition, which also holds up today, and I am happy to have all the legends at ringside as lumberjacks. They are basically there to do nothing though, there's no shenanigans until the time limit draw
5. Rick Rude def. Paul Orndorff (10 mins) Rude is back in WCW and he's bitter for not being looked after while injured, so he's back with a vengeance and he wants to finally win the World Title, to prove that he's the best. He also has a basic and meaner look, without long hair, moustache or colourful costumes. Orndorff is having kind of a miracle run and wants to face Rude, using their 1987/88 WWF feud, as Rude basically ran Orndorff out of the territory over there. Rude wins with the rude awakening
6. WCW World Tag Team Title Steel Cage Match: The Hollywood Blondes (c) def. Ricky Steamboat & Tom Zenk (sub. for Shane Douglas) (15 mins) So, it's not ideal but the division is bad and so I would do almost exactly what WCW did: keep building Blondes vs. Steamboat & Douglas, then replace Douglas with Zenk when Shane quits. I just won't insult the fans' intelligence with Dos Hombres though. This feud was quite cool and it deserves a proper finish, so Steamboat (a la Samoa Joe in 2007 TNA) says he scouted the locker room and wants Zenk on his side, as his credo was giving people a chance. I mean, the match was good anyway, so why not. Austin retains with a stungun on Zenk
7. Sting def. Arn Anderson (13 mins) At SuperBrawl, Flair returned to WCW, but he can't wrestle unless Sting agrees (he has a no compete clause in real life). Arn Anderson, who took time off when the Alliance was crumbling, instantly comes back and says 1993 is the year him and Naitch are bringing the Horsemen back. However, this can only happen if Sting agrees and so Double A starts pressuring Sting, who in the meantime wants a last chance against Vader. Sting is not sure, but he is tired of being asked about Flair in each interview he does and, when Anderson crashes another of his segments, challenges him to a match. Flair is on commentary here and sees Sting winning with the deathdrop
8. WCW World Heavyweight Title: Vader (c) (w/ Harley Race) def. Davey Boy Smith (15 mins) Smith sided with Sting at SuperBrawl, so this quickly sets him as a major babyface in the company. While Sting is waiting for his rematch, Smith gets a title shot of his own and he assures that he can slam Vader, something that no one has done in WCW so far. Vader is a bit intimidated, as Smith wins a few squash matches against giants and claims that he's strong enough to beat the champion. This was a nice main event, the finish was a bit anticlimactic, but I don't really need to protect Smith so much because he will leave in 6 months anyway. He tries to powerslam Vader, but he collapses under his weight and Vader retains with the vader bomb
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Post by Moore on Nov 14, 2023 22:04:07 GMT 1
Scorpio stole it! He absolute stole it! I'm not against that, because Benoit will be headed to bigger things, but probably not now and he'll regain the title. Btw, you now have far better Cruiserweights and are being able to make the title interesting.
Dustin beating Simmons makes it three fluke wins in a row, but this one was fair, at least. Is Simmons turning soon?
The rest of the undercard is ok, but it's still that. So, The Horsemen can only return if Sting says yes? Is there a previous match with that stipulation that I missed?
The main event is what it is, tbh. Vader would retain anyway and I'm sad DBS is only staying for six months, because he could definitely be a valuable player, but real life is mirrored to an extent, so...
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Post by marc91 on Nov 15, 2023 11:12:37 GMT 1
The rest of the undercard is ok, but it's still that. So, The Horsemen can only return if Sting says yes? Is there a previous match with that stipulation that I missed? Before Flair went to the WWF, he lost a title vs. career match against Sting at a COTC. It was made known that he could only return to WCW if Sting allowed it
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Post by marc91 on Nov 16, 2023 12:41:15 GMT 1
WCW Great American Bash 18.07.1993 Biloxi, MS 1. Steven Regal def. Barry Windham (12 mins)
Regal is here! We can hype his arrival with a series of vignettes that talk about how he's a classy British man, but when the bell rings he's way more aggressive than all these American. Windham is on his way out and, although he's a heel, he's not happy about Regal offending his country (he used to be in the US Express too). They can have a snug opener to quickly establish Regal as a threat, he sends Windham against an exposed turnbuckle and wins with a tiger suplex
2. Ron Simmons def. Johnny B. Badd (7 mins) I don't know if anyone noticed, but I am only using Badd when I literally have no choice and he's still undefeated at this point, despite only having low/midcard matches. To break the silly contradiction of an undefeated midcard star, he can lose a match here and give some heat to Simmons, who just turned heel and wants to keep a prominent spot in the company. Badd is owerpowered and Simmons wins after hitting him with a powerslam
3. 2 Cold Scorpio & Bobby Eaton def. Chris Benoit & Marcus Bagwell (8 mins) A little skirmish to keep the Cruiserweight division going. Scorpio is the arrogant champion and he tags with the veteran Eaton, who's not fond of the champion's behaviour. They face former champion Benoit, who's about to go away for 2 years, and newcomer Bagwell (not a fan, you'll find out in the long run). They can have a little tag match here, it should be a solid one. Eaton DDTs Bagwell, but Scorpio gets the tag and hits the shooting star for the pin, which doesn't sit well with Eaton
4. WCW United States Title: Ricky Steamboat def. Dustin Rhodes (c) (13 mins) While Steamboat goes back to singles competition and keeps praising the new generation, we start seeing a different and more arrogant version of Dustin. While before he was a proud, courageous and independent champion, he now starts talking like he can beat anyone (even though most of his wins have been somewhat lucky) and like he owns the place, as his father is the matchmaker. Dusty disapproves his behaviour, but Dustin doesn't really care. Steamboat gets in the middle when he wins a shot. Dustin shines and manages to dominate Steamboat, but he's too arrogant and now he's the one to lose to a small package. Steamboat is the new champion
5. Davey Boy Smith def. Sid Vicious by DQ (5 mins) Yeah, this is my crap match of the night and I am aware of it. Davey can't lose again and Sid just came back so he needs some heat before I take it off him. Plus, I have War Games around the corner and (little spoiler) they will be a part of it, because Davey is Sting's friend and Sid sides with Vader in this battle. This is a skirmish and it's more of an angle advancement to be fair, I know it can't be a good match regardless, so let's just give them 5 minutes before the non-finish
6 . Rick Rude def. Ric Flair (16 mins) So. Rude just returned and wants to get to the top, while Flair is still stopped from performing and his dreams of reforming the Horsemen are stopped by Sting, who doesn't really want all of that to happen again. Rude attacks Flair and takes advantage of this, he wants to make a name at Flair's expenses and dares Naitch to fight him and to stop being a coward. He knows, of course, that Flair can't accept his challenge. Flair has one of his breakdowns and says he'll fight Rude anywhere, in any promotion, he's not asking Sting to reinstate him, but he's telling WCW that he will go away if he doesn't get a match with Rude. Sting finally saves Flair from an ambush by Rude in a North Carloina show and, yes, accepts to reinstate Flair! On one condition: if one of them wins the World Title, the other gets a title shot. Flair finally returns to the ring, hopefully the hype is massive. It's his first match back though, so he will take one for the team: Rude holds the thighs and wins with a dirty roll up
7. WCW World Tag Team Titles: The Hollywood Blondes (c) def. Arn Anderson & Paul Roma (14 mins) I know what you're thinking, but just wait. While Flair is trying to get back to the ring in the first place, Double A is the one in charge of creating the new Four Horsemen, so he needs 2 members (him and Flair being the first 2, of course). Anderson approached the Blondes, who pretend accepting before laughing it off, which infuriates Anderson. This is enough to create a feud and Double A hires Roma on a one-night basis, he will be a Horsemen if they win the titles. So, it's just a one off and the match was good, it will be even better here because it's the Blondes getting heat on Double A for 15 minutes and not much else. Roma gets the hot tag, but Austin beats him with the stungun
8. WCW World Heavyweight Title Strap Match: Vader (c) def. Sting (15 mins) Sting finally gets his rematch and Race won't be at ringside, after being a huge factor in their Starrcade match. Dusty makes it a strap match, as Vader seemed to be weak when whipped by Sting, but Race makes sure that the match can only finish by normal decisions (pinfalls, etc.) and it's not one of those deals of touching a corner first and be lucky like at Superbrawl (which is also a huge offense to matchmaker Dusty). The match is now official and it's do or die for Sting, we also have Flair rooting for him after their title shot deal is sealed. Again, the strap seems to be an Achille's heel for Vader and Sting gains a lot of momentum during the match. Sting manages to lock the scorpion deathlock on Vader, who seems about to tap out, but he pulls the strap around Sting's neck choking him and Sting gives up the hold. Sting lost all momentum and Vader keeps choking him with the strap until Sting passes out and the match is stopped
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Post by Moore on Nov 17, 2023 12:47:48 GMT 1
It's pleasing to see the evolution of this from the beginning, where we'd only see small changes from the real-life PPVs until the latest updates, where the cards are way different.
Not really agreeing on a heel vs. heel match for Regal's debut, as it's hard to see a heel defending America against a foreign threat in 1993. But I did love the story told in Steamboat vs. Dustin, as it's the perfect one for a clash of opposites. Dustin will probably turn heel fully soon.
How can't Sid vs. Davey Boy be awesome? Judge me all you can, I'm a fan of both and think Sid is ridiculously underrated, even though he was inconsistent (at best).
I don't think the Flair seemingly-face run will last for long. Or maybe it will, until he wins the title and turns on Sting in the build-up to their match. Anyway, the story told there is pretty good and shows you're a fantastic storyteller, even doing so in a way smaller format (comparing to a show-by-show diary).
Paul Roma gets heat for being the worst Horseman not named Steve McMichael, which isn't alright, because he was useful in his own right. But I'm glad you're not making him a Horseman here.
The main event was solid with a great use of the Strap gimmick. Credit to Vader, who obviously keeps beating Sting clean and is in the middle of a great championship run.
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