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Post by dxvsnwo1994 on Apr 14, 2021 18:59:56 GMT 1
Before I start this off, I just want to make a note that for the first year of this Extreme Warfare Revenge scenario (starting in 1998 as WCW), I actually made these posts in a thread on the old Voices Of Wrestling forum. Since that forum went away, I've been looking for a new place to post about my scenario and well....this site is as good as any!!
I should also note that this thread will be primarily going over the PPVs, with explanations of what happened on the various WCW TV shows between the PPVs, and my general philosophies for setting up the matches for the PPVs. This scenario was my first time playing EWR, so apologies if you notice any....I guess....amateurish mistakes.
In this introductory post, I'll just go over some news, notes, and general information.
We're starting off with the first week of 1998. WCW is coming off their Starrcade 1997 PPV, which saw Sting win the WCW World Heavyweight Title from Hollywood Hulk Hogan. Despite that loss, the nWo is still very much a force, while WCW is on the verge of launching its newest TV show....Thunder. First, I'll list off the title holders going into 1998, along with who currently holds them (which pretty much match up with real life). I borrowed this format of listing them from RKOwnage, so all credit to him.
WCW World Heavyweight Championship
Current Champion: Sting (3)
Held Since: WCW Starrcade 1997; December 28th, 1997
Previous Champion: Hollywood Hulk Hogan (3)
WCW United States Championship
Current Champion: Diamond Dallas Page
Held Since: WCW Starrcade 1997; December 28th, 1997
Previous Champion: Curt Hennig
WCW World Tag Team Championships
Current Champion: The Steiner Brothers (6)
Held Since: WCW Monday Nitro; October 13th, 1997
Previous Champion: The Outsiders (3)
WCW World Television Championship
Current Champion: Booker T
Held Since: WCW Monday Nitro; December 29th, 1997
Previous Champion: Disco Inferno (2)
WCW Cruiserweight Championship
Current Champion: Ultimo Dragon (2)
Held Since: WCW Monday Nitro; December 29th, 1997
Previous Champion: Eddie Guerrero (2)
In addition to the traditional championships that existed in WCW on January 1st, 1998, I decided that I wanted a few more titles for some storylines that I had already formulated in my head for 1998, so via the file editor before I started this particular game, I gave WCW both the NWA World Heavyweight Championship as well as the NWA World Tag Team Championships (while leaving the NWA North American Title with the WWF). When I discussed Souled Out 1998, I will go over how I decided to handle those titles at the initial start of the game.
Elsewhere, I made a bunch of signings before I did my first show (which, if I recall correctly, was the debut of Thunder on January 1st):
- I signed three Japanese talents to full time contracts. Those talents were Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Jushin Thunder Liger, and The Great Muta. Grabbing Muta and Tenzan made sense to fill out nWo Japan as a stable. As for Liger....I mean....why wouldn't you have a guy like him on your roster?
- I also made the decision to sign a bunch of talents from ECW. The biggest one I wanted to get was Rob Van Dam, and I was able to sign him, along with Sabu, Jerry Lynn, and most of the Full Blooded Italians stable (Tracy Smothers, Little Guido, & Tommy Rich). I also signed Tony Mamaluke, and while I didn't recall at the time whether he was in the F.B.I. yet at the point, I decided to get him anyway to add to the group.
- I guess this is something that's common at the start of EWR games, but right away, WWF announced A TON of firings/releases. This is where the saying "One man's trash is another man's treasure" comes into play, as among the releases talents from WWF were The Hardy Boyz, Edge (listed as Adam Copeland), Christian, and Test (listed as Andrew Martin). I couldn't believe my luck when those five became available in the first week, and I immediately scooped them up. All five spent all of 1998 in my developmental territory (which I'll touch on in a second).
- I should add as well that I did release a number of people at the start of the game as well, though most of them were lower card guys. In some other cases, I decided to just let some guys ride out their contracts if they only had a few months left (like Jim Duggan)
I'll close out this initial post by talking about my developmental territory, which I decided to make......OMEGA!! Yes, in this alternate timeline, I've decided that OMEGA would become the official developmental territory for WCW. Since I was totally new to EWR at this point, I picked Tony Schiavone to be the booker on a whim. The list of talents that made up the OMEGA roster once I really got into 1998 was a who's who of future stars of the industry. In addition to the five talents signed from WWF that I mentioned earlier, also on the OMEGA roster at this point are Amy Dumas, Daffney, David Flair, Evan Karagias, Joey Matthews, Kristian York (decided to change the letter of his first name from a "C" to a "K" just to differentiate him from Christian), Shane Helms, Shannon Moore, Steve Corino, and Trish Stratus.
That's it for my very first post!! My next one will be going over the first PPV of 1998....Souled Out.
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Post by dhk1989 on Apr 15, 2021 1:47:23 GMT 1
I love seeing a bunch of alternate realities to help keep WCW a success. Can't wait to see more.  |
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Post by dxvsnwo1994 on Apr 15, 2021 2:50:10 GMT 1
Part I: WCW/nWo Souled Out 1998
So my first ever PPV on Extreme Warfare Revenge was Souled Out, and it came up pretty quickly, taking place on January 18th (I think the actual Souled Out PPV from 1998 took place on January 24th, but I forgot to change it). Right from the get go, I should mention that my philosophy for at least the first few months of my scenario was to mirror (not totally mirror, but closely mirror) what happened in real life. As someone who's a BIG fan of the Alternate History genre, I like to view different timelines from a singular point of divergence. In the case of this scenario, the point of divergence is January 1st, and through the first few months, the two difference timelines will be relatively close, or have similar beats. As time goes on, however, and as I start to do more of the stuff that I want to do, those lines will start to grow further and further apart. Apologies if that explanation was a little unnecessary, but as I said....I'm an Alternate History nerd, and I find stuff like that super cool.
Anyway, I'll start off with making some news and notes regarding the various championships. Usually, before every PPV, I'll mention any title changes that've occurred between the PPVs. The biggest note has to do with the WCW World Heavyweight Title. In my scenario, the title is never vacated following the events of Starrcade 1997, so Sting is still the WCW World Heavyweight Champion going into the Souled Out PPV. While most of the WCW championships saw no change since the start of the year, the WCW Cruiserweight Title has already changed hands on a few occasions. I mirrored a series of quick title changes that took place around that time in real life, with the only reach change being that Psychosis wins the title from Ultimo Dragon on the January 8th edition of Thunder instead of Juventud Guerrera. Rey Mysterio Jr. wins the title from Psychosis on the January 12th edition of Nitro, which leads to a title defense against Chris Jericho on Souled Out.
Of course, I want to explain how I handed the situation regarding the NWA World Heavyweight Title and the NWA World Tag Team Titles, which I moved over to WCW for this game. I guess the explanation in this universe could be that the NWA decided cut deals with both the WWF and WCW, with the former getting the NWA North American Title (which makes sense given that Jim Cornette used that title as part of his storyline at the time), while the latter got the two main NWA championships. With the NWA World Heavyweight Title, I decided to just award the title to Ric Flair, which actually worked out PERFECTLY with what happened in real life, as Flair was the champion when the title was vacated after the NWA and WCW cut ties in 1993 (which led to the infamous tournament in ECW the following year that saw Shane Douglas throw down the belt). As for the NWA World Tag Team Titles, the titles were vacated going into 1998 in real life due to the working relationship with the WWF, so it also works perfectly in my EWR scenario, as the titles were already vacated. So, on the debut edition of Thunder on January 1st, the debuting Rob Van Dam & Sabu won the titles in a bout against Mortis and Wrath.
With those notes out of the way, let's get into the PPV!
WCW/nWo Souled Out 1998
Hara Arena - Dayton, Ohio - January 18th, 1998
Pre-Show
1.) Mike Awesome def. Disco Inferno
PPV
1.) Ten Man Tag - Team Hot Rod (Rowdy Roddy Piper, WCW United States Champion DDP, Davey Boy Smith, Jim Neidhart, & Eddie Guerrero) def. nWo (Randy Savage, Konnan, Curt Hennig, Brian Adams, & Vincent)
2.) WCW World TV Title - Rick Martel def. Booker T (c)
3.) NWA World Tag Team Titles - Rob Van Dam & Sabu (c) def. nWo Japan (Masahiro Chono & Hiroyoshi Tenzan)
4.) WCW Cruiserweight Title - Chris Jericho def. Rey Mysterio Jr. (c)
5.) Raven's Rules Match - Chris Benoit def. Raven
6.) WCW World Tag Team Titles - The Steiner Brothers (c) def. Vicious & Delicious (Buff Bagwell & Scott Norton)
7.) Six-Man Tag - WCW World Heavyweight Champion Sting, Lex Luger, & The Giant def. nWo (Hollywood Hulk Hogan, Kevin Nash, & Scott Hall)
8.) Non-Title - Bret Hart def. NWA World Heavyweight Champion Ric Flair
With this being my first PPV, I wasn't totally sure (at the time) what other EWR players would typically get for their PPV rating percentages. For Souled Out 1998, I got an overall score of 77% which I felt was pretty solid for a first outing. The highest rated matches were Jericho/Mysterio at 87% (clearly the Match Of The Night), and Benoit/Raven at 85%. The top two matches on this PPV card just barely broke into the 80% range (the semi-main event at 80% and the main event at 81%). The lowest rated match was Booker T/Martel at 68%.
As I said earlier, the idea I'm going with in these first few months is that I'm (in a general sense) mirroring what happened in the first few months of 1998 as my EWR timeline slowly starts to diverge from the regular timeline. Thus, you'll notice that most of my Souled Out card mirrors the actual Souled Out card. You still get Bret Hart vs. Ric Flair in Hart's WCW debut, along with The Steiner Brothers vs. Vicious & Delicious (albeit in a title match rather than a Six-Man Tag), Booker T vs. Rick Martel, Chris Jericho vs. Rey Mysterio Jr., and Chris Benoit vs. Raven. The only one of those with a different result was Booker T vs. Martel, as I had Martel win the WCW World TV Title here instead of in February like in our timeline.
The differences from the real life card included the addition of a number of tag team matches featuring nWo members. Rob Van Dam and Sabu retained their titles against nWo Japan members Chono & Tenzan, a babyface team led by Rowdy Roddy Piper defeating a nWo team led by Randy Savage (the inclusion of Eddie Guerrero on the babyface side was done for a reason, and I'll get to that in a future post). Meanwhile, the rematch between Sting and Hollywood Hulk Hogan for the WCW World Heavyweight Title was already confirmed for SuperBrawl VIII, so the Six-Man Tag on this show is meant to serve as a prelude to that big main event. Didn't realize this until after the fact, but every bout that featured the nWo saw the nWo lose (wasn't planning it out that way, but that's how it turned out).
Also forgot to mention this in my first post, but I signed Mike Awesome as well, and I gave him a showcase match on the pre-show against Disco Inferno.
That's it for this post! Stay tuned for Part II, where I dive into SuperBrawl VIII!!
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Post by dxvsnwo1994 on Apr 15, 2021 17:21:00 GMT 1
Part II: WCW/nWo SuperBrawl VIII
The second PPV in my Extreme Warfare Revenge scenario was (of course) SuperBrawl VIII, taking place on February 22nd, 1998 from the Cow Palace in San Francisco, California. As I've mentioned in the past, most of my early PPV cards (and booking in general) mirror what actually happened in our timeline, though of course, things will slowly but surely look more and more different as I get further into 1998.
The main event for this PPV, as I already mentioned in my previous post, was Sting vs. Hollywood Hulk Hogan for the WCW World Title, in a rematch from Starrcade 1997. The only real difference here was that the title was never vacated, so this has been one continuous title reign for Sting since he won the belt in late December. The WCW United States Title and the WCW World Tag Team Titles saw no changes since Souled Out, so DDP and The Steiner Brothers still held their respective titles coming into this PPV. The same could be said for both the NWA World Heavyweight Title and the NWA World Tag Team Titles, and Ric Flair and the team of Rob Van Dam and Sabu have held those title since the debut episode of Thunder on January 1st.
There were a couple of title changes involving the WCW World TV Title and the WCW Cruiserweight Title, however. You'll see this more as I go deeper into 1998, but I treated these two titles (particularly World TV Title) like hot potatoes for most of this first year. After winning the WCW World TV Title at Souled Out, Rick Martel lost it right back to Booker T in a rematch on the January 22nd edition of Thunder. I had actually planned on keeping the title on Martel for a few weeks longer, but the prestige of the title dropped almost instantly, so (as a new player at the time), I felt it was best to go back to Booker T. His second reign didn't last very long either, as Perry Saturn won the title two weeks later on the February 5th edition of Thunder. This set up a Triple Threat Match for the title at SuperBrawl, with Saturn defending against both Booker and Martel (instead of doing two separate singles matches like in real life). As for the WCW Cruiserweight Title, Jericho held the belt for almost a month before dropping it to Juventud Guerrera on the go-home edition of Nitro on February 16th, and the immediate rematch was set for SuperBrawl (this was a match that happened at this show in OTL, with the only differences here being that Juventud went into the PPV as champion, while his mask wasn't on the line).
With the championship updates out of the way, let's dive into the PPV!
WCW/nWo SuperBrawl VIII
February 22nd, 1998 - Cow Palace - San Francisco, California
1.) Six-Man Tag - Jerry Lynn, Jushin Thunder Liger, & Rey Mysterio Jr. def. The FBI (Little Guido, Tracy Smothers, & Tommy Rich)
2.) WCW World TV Title - Triple Threat Match - Booker T def. Perry Saturn (c) & Rick Martel
3.) WCW Cruiserweight Title - Chris Jericho def. Juventud Guerrera (c)
4.) NWA World Tag Team Titles - Rob Van Dam & Sabu (c) def. Vicious & Delicious (Buff Bagwell & Scott Norton)
5.) NWA World Heavyweight Title - Ric Flair (c) def. The Great Muta
6.) Six-Man Tag - Bret Hart, British Bulldog, & Rowdy Roddy Piper def. nWo (Randy Savage, Konnan, & Brian Adams)
7.) WCW United States Title - Diamond Dallas Page (c) def. Chris Benoit
8.) WCW World Tag Team Titles - Three-Way Tag Team Match - The Outsiders (Kevin Nash & Scott Hall) def. The Steiner Brothers (c), and Lex Luger & The Giant
9.) WCW World Heavyweight Title - Sting (c) def. Hollywood Hulk Hogan
I know that PPV cards on Extreme Warfare Revenge are typically eight matches and one pre-show match, but in some cases through this first year (and pretty all cases going forward after 1998), I just consider that pre-show match to be part of the show, bringing the total up to nine PPV bouts. Anyway, my overall score for SuperBrawl VIII was 79%, which was a two percent improvement over Souled Out. The highest rated bouts all occurred on the first half of the show, with Match Of The Night honors going to Chris Jericho vs. Juventud Guerrera for the WCW Cruiserweight Title, which scored an impressive 87%. That means Jericho has had the MOTN on my first two PPVs. The two NWA title bouts weren't that far behind, with Rob Van Dam & Sabu vs. Vicious & Delicious getting 83% (a higher rating than I was expecting for that particular match) and Flair vs. Muta getting 82%. The top three matches all got 78%, so it was good to see that percentages for that portion of the card were both solid and consistent. I'm sure the in-ring carried the rating for DDP vs. Benoit, while the top two matches were carried by the star power involved. The opening six-man tag was the only match that fell below 70%, as it came in at 67%. As a whole, the ratings turned out pretty well for this show.
In terms of the card, the results, and the booking.....it essentially follows the same formula I mentioned earlier. Mirroring OTL, with a few changes here and there. Sting vs. Hogan, DDP vs. Benoit, and Jericho vs. Juventud were all matches that occurred on the real life PPV, while two other matches were changed to three-ways to add an additional person or team (though the results in all cases were exactly the same as real life). The WCW vs. nWo Six-Man Tag was just a match that I had in there to put some key guys on the card in something meaningful, and the NWA title bouts were just a way to showcase those titles in bouts against nWo Japan. Also worth noting is that this PPV continued the streak of the nWo being on the losing side of things (aside from Hall and Nash winning back the WCW World Tag Team Titles, the nWo lost the rest of their matches on this PPV). The idea is that all of these losses are fueling dissension within the nWo which would, as we all know, lead to a split a few months down the line.
Aside from that, I really don't have much else to mention! I'll probably have more to talk about once my own personal booking decisions and storyline start to come more into play. Thanks for reading, and be on the lookout for Part III, as I go over Uncensored 1998!
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Post by dxvsnwo1994 on Apr 16, 2021 5:05:07 GMT 1
Part III: WCW/nWo Uncensored 1998
The third PPV in my Extreme Warfare Revenge scenario sees WCW travel to Sweet Home Alabama (where the skies are so blue) for their annual Uncensored PPV. As I've gone over in previous posts, I'm continuing to mirror some the elements from the events that actually occurred in WCW in our timeline's 1998, while sprinkling in my own booking decisions as I slowly start to get further and further away from what really happened.
By far the biggest storyline I've got going on right now (though you can't actually list a stable breakup as a feud in the game) is the dissension within the New World Title. Since Starrcade 1997, cracks have begun to form in the group, and the first two PPVs of 1998 have seen the nWo take a plethora of losses (this included the nWo going winless at Souled Out, which is technically their showcase PPV). The group did see some renewed success in the month of February, as Kevin Nash & Scott Hall regained the WCW World Tag Team Titles at SuperBrawl VIII in a three-way tag team match that featured The Steiner Brothers (the defending champions) as well as Lex Luger & The Giant. On the following night's edition of Nitro, The Outsiders retained in a two-on-two rematch against The Steiner Brothers when Scott Steiner turned on his brother Rick Steiner and joined the nWo (this is a slight divergence, as Scott turned on Rick at SuperBrawl in OTL, helping The Outsiders win the titles in the process).
It was during the month of February that I also started the dissension between (specifically) Hollywood Hulk Hogan and Randy Savage. The main difference between OTL and my EWR scenario is that the former saw the Hogan/Savage split kick off at SuperBrawl, which led to a Steel Cage Match between the two at Uncensored, while in the case of the latter, the split is more drawn out. Despite their ongoing issues, Hogan and Savage were set to team together in the main event in Uncensored, as I booked the two of them to face Bret Hart and Rowdy Roddy Piper in a Steel Cage Match. As for the other primary nWo members, Kevin Nash & Scott Hall, I booked the two of them in separate singles matches for the PPV. Just like in real life, Scott Hall got his World Title shot here against Sting, which he earned by winning the 1997 World War 3 Sixty-Man Battle Royal. Meanwhile, Kevin Nash took on The Giant in a Falls Count Anywhere Match. The feud between those two had been lingering since the start of the year, though this was the first time the two of them were facing each other one-on-one at a PPV (and it memory serves me correctly, this was the blowoff to the feud).
The road to Uncensored saw no major changes involving any of the major WCW championships, The WCW Cruiserweight Title remained steady for the period between PPVs as well, as Chris Jericho has held the title without any hiccups since SuperBrawl VIII. As for the WCW World TV Title, a title change did occur on the go-home edition of Nitro on March 9th, as Konnan managed to bring more gold to the nWo after defeating Booker T.
Without further ado, let's take a look at the results from the PPV!
WCW/nWo Uncensored 1998
March 15th, 1998 - Mobile Civic Center - Mobile, Alabama
1.) Four-Way Elimination Tag Team Match - Rey Mysterio Jr. & Juventud Guerrera def. Vicious & Delicious (Buff Bagwell & Scott Norton, The FBI (Little Guido & Tracy Smothers), & Public Enemy
2.) WCW Cruiserweight Title - Dean Malenko def. Chris Jericho (c)
3.) NWA World Tag Team Titles - Street Fight - Rob Van Dam & Sabu (c) def. The Faces Of Fear (Meng & The Barbarian)
4.) WCW World TV Title - Fatal Four-Way Match - Eddie Guerrero def. Konnan (c), Booker T, & Jushin Thunder Liger
5.) Goldberg def. Steve "Mongo" McMichael
6.) WCW United States Title - Triple Threat Match - Diamond Dallas Page (c) def. Chris Benoit & Raven
7.) Falls Count Anywhere Match - Kevin Nash def. The Giant
8.) WCW World Heavyweight Title - Sting (c) def. Scott Hall
9.) Tag Team Steel Cage Match - Bret Hart & Rowdy Roddy Piper def. nWo (Hollywood Hulk Hogan & Randy Savage)
For Uncensored 1998, my overall PPV score was 75%, which was actually a four percent drop from SuperBrawl 1998. The highest rated bouts were scattered throughout the card. For the third straight PPV, Chris Jericho scored MOTN honors, as his match against Dean Malenko for the WCW Cruiserweight Title garnered a rating of 85%. Just behind that match (which might come as a surprise to some) was actually Sting vs. Scott Hall for the WCW World Heavyweight Title, which came in at 84%. Other matches that came in above the 80% mark were the Tripe Threat Match for the WCW United States Title at 82%, along with the Fatal Four-Way for the WCW World TV Title and Kevin Nash vs. The Giant in a Falls Count Anywhere Match, which both ended up at 80%. The bout that seemed to be the biggest anchor on the show's overall number was the Street Fight with Rob Van Dam & Sabu against The Faces Of Fear, which only came in at 57%.
I already went over the storyline stuff with the nWo in the first part of this post. I guess the only thing that's really worth noting (when it comes to this show) is that, in the Steel Cage Match, Eric Bischoff tried to interfere at the behest of Hogan, but it backfired, and the nWo side lost to Bret Hart and Rowdy Roddy Piper. This is where the Hogan and Savage blowup really kicks off, and yes, in case you're wondering, the nWo Wolfpac is coming.
While the main event was different from the main event in OTL, this card did featured some similarities to the real life Uncensored 1998 PPV, including Sting vs. Scott Hall, Kevin Nash vs. The Giant (albeit with a different stipulation), the three-way for the WCW United States Title and the WCW Cruiserweight Title bout. Diamond Dallas Page managed to retain his title (just like in OTL), but in a switch, Dean Malenko actually won the Cruiserweight Title here from Chris Jericho (he lost to Jericho in OTL). Of course, this sort of kicks off the feud between Jericho and Malenko that will ultimately be the main feud in the Cruiserweight division for 1998. In terms of the other matches, I was just looking to fill out the card, in most cases. Rob Van Dam & Sabu vs. The Faces Of Fear was just a filler title defense for the NWA World Tag Team Champions. The Four-Way Tag just felt like a fun match to throw on the card, and I also added a Goldberg showcase (a Starrcade 1997 rematch against Steve McMichael) to make up for the fact that he wasn't on the SuperBrawl PPV (he was in OTL).
The Fatal Four-Way for the WCW World TV Title was something that I thought would just be a really good match to book. I mean.....we're talking about Eddie Guerrero, Konnan, Booker T, and Jushin Thunder Liger. Just look at those names. How could a bout with those four not be good? Anyway, Eddie Guerrero wins the WCW World TV Title here, and I have this at the end because it's the first part of a major storyline for 1998 that I have set up for Eddie Guerrero. Remember that ten-man tag from Souled Out that he was involved in? Well, I had him getting the winning fall for his team in that match (over Vincent, who is a guy that can easily be beaten), and that set off a story where his performances against the nWo caught the attention of The Four Horsemen. After Chris Benoit and Dean Malenko vouched for Guerrero, Ric Flair finally made the decision to allow Guerrero into The Four Horsemen. That occurred before this PPV, so Eddie came into this show as the newest member of The Four Horsemen (which I guess could be considered just The Horsemen at this rate, since it has five active members), and him winning the WCW World TV Title represents early success for him since joining the group. Not to give too much away here, but it sadly doesn't get much better than this for Eddie. I'll save those developments for future posts.
That's it for this entry! Tune in next time when we look at the 1998 edition of Spring Stampede!! |
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Post by dxvsnwo1994 on Apr 17, 2021 6:29:38 GMT 1
Part IV: WCW/nWo Spring Stampede 1998
We're into the month of April, which means it's time for Spring Stampede! It's the fourth PPV of 1998, but it's really the first PPV where my booking decisions and ideas for WCW start to take hold, as the gap between what happened in real life and what I'm doing in my Extreme Warfare Revenge scenario continues to grow slowly but surely. There are still some general similarities in terms of certain bouts and storylines. However, the differences are starting to shine through. For example, while my version of Spring Stampede does feature two matches that were on the real life version of the PPV, the rest of my card looks totally different.
Following their loss in the main event of Uncensored to Bret Hart and Rowdy Roddy Piper, the issues between Hollywood Hulk Hogan and Randy Savage continued to escalate. What didn't help matters was the fact that Randy Savage managed to score an opportunity at the WCW World Heavyweight Title. On the March 23rd edition of Nitro, I booked two big title eliminator matches as a double main event, with Bret Hart vs. Hulk Hogan and Lex Lugar vs. Randy Savage (two huge matches for free television, I know). While Savage managed to emerge victorious in his bout, Hogan didn't (I believe I had Hogan lose via interference, but I don't recall off the top of my head). This set up a match on the March 30th Nitro between Hart and Savage, which ended in a draw (and thus, didn't set up a clear contender for the World Title). Meanwhile, on that same episode, Chris Benoit won a Twenty Man Battle Royal, and used that to insert himself into the title picture. This all served as a catalyst for a Fatal Four-Way Match as the main event of Spring Stampede, which would see Sting defend his World Title against Bret Hart, Chris Benoit, and Randy Savage.
The bickering within the New World Order extended beyond the issues between Hulk Hogan and Randy Savage, as Hogan has started to have issues with Kevin Nash as well. Even though that aspect of the nWo split is boiling up to the surface in the build up to this PPV (just like in OTL), Hogan and Nash themselves were involved in their own separate stories going into Spring Stampede. Nash is getting set to defend the WCW World Tag Team Titles alongside partner Scott Hall against the NWA World Tag Team Champions Rob Van Dam and Sabu. While EWR doesn't really give you the option to do this, I was booking it as a double title match, with the winners walking away with both tag team titles. As for Hulk Hogan, he's back to hanging out with Dennis Rodman again, as the two of them are set to team with fellow nWo member Curt Hennig in a special six-man tag on the PPV, against Rowdy Roddy Piper, The Giant, and Lex Luger.
There were a number of title changes that occurred in the month between Uncensored and Spring Stampede. The most significant championship switch saw Raven capture the WCW United States Title from Diamond Dallas Page in a Raven's Rules Match in the main event of the March 19th edition of Thunder. Of course, Raven did end this DDP title reign in OTL as well, but the difference in my scenario on EWR is that the title switch took place on an episode of Thunder in March, instead of the Spring Stampede PPV in April. Meanwhile, Eddie Guerrero's triumph at Uncensored, which saw him win a Fatal Four-Way to capture the WCW World TV Title, was short lived. On the March 23rd edition of Nitro, Eddie lost the title to Booker T after only an eight day reign. Unfortunately for Booker T, his latest run with the WCW World TV Title didn't last that long either, as he dropped the belt two weeks late to Fit Finlay on the April 6th edition of Nitro. That title change would set up a rematch between Booker and Finlay for Spring Stampede, while Eddie (who went on a bit of a losing streak after dropping the World TV Title) would go on to team with his Horsemen stablemates in an eight-man tag against nWo Japan. In terms of the WCW Cruiserweight Title, Dean Malenko's championship win at Uncensored was another one that ended up being short-lived, as Chris Jericho won the title back from Malenko the very next night on Nitro on March 16th. Even though the feud with Jericho and Malenko will continue to rage on for a little longer (as it was a lengthy feud in real life, iirc), they would also go on separate paths for this PPV before coming back to continue the feud. I booked Jericho to defend the Cruiserweight Title against Ultimo Dragon, while I put Malenko in the aforementioned eight-man tag with the Horsemen.
With all of that information out of the way, let's go through the PPV card!
WCW/nWo Spring Stampede 1998
April 19th, 1998 - Denver Coliseum - Denver, Colorado
1.) WCW Cruiserweight Title - Chris Jericho (c) def. Ultimo Dragon
2.) Eight-Man Tag - The Four Horsemen (NWA World Heavyweight Champion Ric Flair, Dean Malenko, Eddie Guerrero, & Steve "Mongo" McMichael) def. nWo Japan (Masahiro Chono, Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Buff Bagwell, & Scott Norton)
3.) WCW World TV Title - Booker T def. Fit Finlay (c)
4.) Goldberg def. Perry Saturn
5.) Six-Man Tag - Rowdy Roddy Piper, Lex Luger, & The Giant def. nWo (Hollywood Hulk Hogan, Dennis Rodman, & Curt Hennig)
6.) Scott Steiner def. Rick Steiner
7.) WCW World Tag Team Titles & NWA World Tag Team Titles - Rob Van Dam & Sabu [NWA] def. The Outsiders (Kevin Nash & Scott Hall) [WCW]
8.) WCW United States Title - Last Man Standing Match - Raven (c) def. Diamond Dallas Page
9.) WCW World Heavyweight Title - Fatal Four-Way Match - Randy Savage def. Sting (c), Bret Hart, & Chris Benoit
For Spring Stampede 1998, I got an overall score of 77%, which is up 2% from last month's Uncensored PPV, while also equaling the score I got for the Souled Out PPV. One match on this card stood far and above the rest of the pack. That bout was the opener between Chris Jericho and Ultimo Dragon for the WCW Cruiserweight Title, which obtained a score of 91%, which I believe (unless I'm forgetting something from my first three posts) is the best PPV match I've put on to date. It also extends Jericho's MOTN streak on PPVs to four in a row. The next closest match was DDP vs. Raven in a Last Man Standing Match for the WCW United States Title, which got 85%. The only other match to score in the 80% range was the main event, which came in at 83%. Outside of the six-man tag (which was easily the worst bout of the night at 64%), the remaining five matches all scored in the 70% range.
In terms of the undercard, I really don't have a ton to say when it comes to the result. Most of them were.....pretty self explanatory, I suppose. Jericho retained his title, The Horsemen continue to have the upper hand over nWo Japan, and Booker T regained the WCW World TV Title from Fit Finlay. Meanwhile, the two matches on this show that most closely lined up with the real life Spring Stampede PPV (Goldberg vs. Perry Saturn and Raven vs. DDP) went exactly the way they did in OTL (the stipulation in the latter was different, but the result didn't change). I forgot to mention this as well, but I also booked a grudge match between The Steiner Brothers on this PPV, with Scott (a new nWo member) getting the upper hand on Rick on this particular night.
The rest of the card is the real meat and potatoes on this PPV card, in terms of storyline significance. Curt Hennig takes the fall in the six-man tag, and Hogan blames him for the loss (which will play into where Hennig goes down the line). Kevin Nash and Scott Hall ultimately lose to Rob Van Dam and Sabu (who become double champions as a result of their victory) after some miscommunication, which further shows the dissent within the nWo. Finally, the Fatal Four-Way Match actually sees the exact same outcome as the Sting/Randy Savage match from OTL's Spring Stampede 1998, but I just took a different (and more interesting, IMO) route to get there. The big difference here is that there's no convoluted overbooking crap in the match itself (not like you could do that with a Four-Way on EWR anyway). It's just a straight Four-Way, which ends with Randy Savage pinning Chris Benoit (not Sting) to win the WCW World Heavyweight Title. My vision of how the match turned out is that Bret Hart would be on the verge of winning, but then Sting breaks it up, and the two spill to the outside, leading to the finish with Savage and Benoit (that moment between Hart and Sting sets up a major feud that will develop further in future months). I believe I did some angles on Nitro and Thunder to solidify the split within the nWo, but I suppose I could just say that my version of this PPV ends similarly to how the real life version of the PPV ended, with Hogan and some of his cohorts (I guess we'll say....Vicious and Delicious in this case) turning on Randy Savage, while Kevin Nash also eats a beatdown while trying to break things up and make the save for Savage. To be clear....I didn't actually do that in the game (it was impossible to do any sort of angle with all the matches taking up the slots). I just decided while writing this post to do that little custom aside, just to provide further context/explanation.
Well, that's it for this PPV recap! Tune in next time as I take a look at the card for Slamboree 1998, which takes place following the formation of the Hogan and Nash nWo spinoff groups. |
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Post by dxvsnwo1994 on Apr 19, 2021 3:43:43 GMT 1
Part V: WCW/nWo Slamboree 1998
We've officially moved into the month of May, which means that Slamboree is the next PPV on WCW's schedule. Of course, this PPV takes place from the The Centrum in Worcester, Massachusetts (just like in real life), and at this point in my Extreme Warfare Revenge game, the nWo split is now in full swing. The events at Spring Stampede and the ensuing week of television solidified the exact same split that occurred in our timeline. Eric Bischoff was able put Hollywood Hulk Hogan in a match with Randy Savage for the WCW World Heavyweight Title on the April 23rd edition of Thunder, and through some heel chicanery, Hogan managed to win the title. This was vaguely similar to what happened in OTL, with the only difference being that the title change occurred on Thunder four days after the PPV instead of the night after the PPV on Nitro. My idea behind doing this was just to give a boost of sorts to Thunder. It's WCW's secondary show, but doing such a huge match on there helps to elevate it a little bit. Shortly after being robbed of the WCW World Heavyweight Title, Randy Savage joined Kevin Nash in breaking away from the nWo, and forming the nWo Wolfpac. Shortly thereafter, everyone started to take their sides. Konnan, Curt Hennig (who in my EWR game, never jumps back to Hogan's side like he did in OTL), Lex Luger, Elizabeth, Rick Rude, and Disco Inferno joined Nash and Savage in the nWo Wolfpac. Meanwhile, Hollywood Hulk Hogan's side of the nWo transformed into nWo Hollywood, which consisted of basically everyone who didn't jump to Nash and Savage's side. nWo Japan remained loyal to Hogan, as did guys like Eric Bischoff (of course) Scott Steiner, Buff Bagwell, Scott Norton, Brian Adams, and Vincent. Scott Hall and Louis Spicolli (who is still alive in my scenario, as people can't actually die in EWR like they can in TEW) were on the fence briefly, but ultimately sided with Hogan.
In addition to those guys, nWo Hollywood also gained two new members. Just like in OTL, The Giant turned heel and joined nWo Hollywood. The most significant addition to nWo Hollywood, however, was Eddie Guerrero. After going on a losing streak following is WCW World TV Title reign, issues started to form between Eddie and the rest of The Four Horsemen. This eventually led to Eddie turning on Ric Flair on the May 7th edition of Thunder in the closing angle of the show. Now I want to stress that Eddie wasn't meant to be "just another guy" in the group. Obviously Hogan was the top guy in the group, unquestionably, but Eddie was meant to be on the level right underneath. Behind Hogan and Bischoff, I would say that The Giant, Scott Steiner, and Eddie Guerrero were the three guys right below him. Putting Eddie in nWo Hollywood was done to elevate him, and you'll see what I do with him as 1998 continues.
Outside of the previously mentioned WCW World Heavyweight Title change, there were a number of other title changes that occurred between Spring Stampede and Slamboree. Goldberg won the WCW United States Title from Raven on the May 11th edition Nitro, a few weeks after he actually won the belt in OTL. Of course, that set up a rematch for the PPV six days later. That was pretty much it, in terms of title changes. It was a pretty quiet month for both the WCW World TV Title and the WCW Cruiserweight Title. With the former, Booker T's reign going into Slamboree was the longest World TV Title reign of the year, up to that point, and it was only twenty-eight days long.
With all of those things out of the way, let's get into the PPV.
WCW/nWo Slamboree 1998
May 17th, 1998 - The Centrum - Worcester, Massachusetts
1.) Cruiserweight Battle Royal - Rey Mysterio Jr. def. Chavo Guerrero Jr., Hector Garza, Jerry Lynn, Jushin Thunder Liger, Juventud Guerrera, Kidman, Little Guido, Psychosis, & Ultimo Dragon
2.) Lex Luger def. Brian Adams
3.) WCW World Tag Team Titles - Rob Van Dam & Sabu (c) def. Scott Hall & Louie Spicolli
4.) WCW United States Title - Goldberg (c) def. Raven
5.) Bret Hart, Davey Boy Smith, & Jim Neidhart def. nWo Japan (The Great Muta, Masahiro Chono, & Hiroyoshi Tenzan)
6.) WCW Cruiserweight Title - I Quit Match - Dean Malenko def. Chris Jericho (c)
7.) WCW World TV Title - Triple Threat Match - Scott Steiner def. Booker T (c) & Rick Steiner
8.) #1 Contender's Four-Way Tag Team Elimination Match - Diamond Dallas Page & Sting def. nWo Hollywood (Eddie Guerrero & The Giant), nWo Wolfpac (Kevin Nash & Konnan), & The Four Horsemen (Ric Flair & Chris Benoit)
9.) WCW World Title - No DQ Match - Hollywood Hulk Hogan (c) def. Randy Savage
For Slamboree 1998, I got an overall score of 74%, which was the lowest scoring PPV that I had put on, up to this point. I was actually pretty disappointed when I saw the final score, because this was a card that I thought would do relatively well. Now we're only talking changes of a few percent here and there (in terms of my PPV scores so far), but still. For the fifth consecutive PPV in a row, Chris Jericho won the MOTN honors, as his I Quit Match against Dean Malenko for the WCW Cruiserweight Title got a score of 86%. Outside of that, the only other bout on the card that landed above 80% was the Triple Threat Match for the WCW World TV Title, which got 81%. The Cruiserweight Battle Royal, Lex Luger vs. Brian Adams, and The Hart Family vs. nWo Japan all scored in the high 60% range, which didn't totally surprise me. They were the three weakest matches on this show on paper (most battle royals tend to score lower on EWR from what I've seen, though I suppose they could do a little better if they're filled with bigger stars). Three bouts (RVD & Sabu vs. Hall & Spicolli, Goldberg vs. Raven, and Hogan vs. Savage) all scored 72%, while the four-way tag scored 77%.
Starting from the bottom, the Cruiserweight Battle Royal was just something I threw together as a contenders match of sorts. Rey Mysterio Jr. going over sets him for a future title shot down the line. Luger vs. Adams was just something I booked as a nWo Wolfpac vs. nWo Hollywood match, and nothing more. Scott Hall and Louie Spicolli made a run at the WCW World Tag Team Titles after they pledged their allegiance to nWo Hollywood, and while they weren't successful on this night, I'll have more to say about them in my next post. The six-man tag was just something thrown together on the show, so not much else to really say there on that one.
The I Quit Match between Malenko and Jericho was just done to take their feud to the next level. It had gone from just a rivalry over the WCW Cruiserweight Title into a grudge feud (sort of like how it did in OTL). Of course, in real life, this is the PPV where Malenko famously disguised himself as Ciclope to win a battle royal, before going on to defeat Jericho for the title. My version is just (I guess) a more serious version of the feud (and it wouldn't be over just yet after this). The Triple Threat for the WCW World TV Title was just putting an existing feud between the Steiner Brothers into a title match with Booker T, and Scott Steiner coming out of it as the champion. As far as the main event goes, it was just me following up from the title change following Spring Stampede. Hogan won the title, Savage got his rematch, and through more heel chicanery, Hogan escaped Worcester, Massachusetts with the WCW World Heavyweight Title.
Finally, I'll just touch on the semi-main event on its own. I booked that match main because I thought it would be a cool match to book. You got four teams in there that are largely made up of singles wrestlers who (aside from DDP and Sting) are representing their factions. I thought there were enough good wrestlers in there to make it a really strong match, and while it was technically the third best match on the show, it didn't perform quite as well as I was hoping it would.
That's all for my Slamboree post. Coming up next....is a big one. It's The Great American Bash....one of biggest shows on the WCW calendar. |
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Post by dxvsnwo1994 on Apr 20, 2021 21:00:50 GMT 1
Part VI: WCW/nWo The Great American Bash 1998
Everyone knows that The Great American Bash is one of the longest running shows on the WCW calendar, dating all the way back to the heyday of Jim Crockett Promotions. It's a pretty big show for WCW, without question, and I intended to carry on that tradition with my rendition of the 1998 edition of this historic PPV. The match I booked to headline this event rectifies a mistake that's been noted over and over again since the collapse of WCW. Hollywood Hulk Hogan vs. Goldberg. The match that was rushed onto Nitro on short notice....the same match where Goldberg famously captured the WCW World Heavyweight Title in front of a crowd of over 40,000 in the Georgia Dome. Well, in my Extreme Warfare Revenge scenario, I did what WCW should've done in 1998....I put this monumental match on PPV. It didn't have a super lengthy build (I've been building it since Slamboree), but it's certainly better than the rush job to free TV in OTL. To keep the energy that we saw in real life intact, this PPV will take place in the Georgia Dome instead of Baltimore, Maryland....the traditional home of The Great American Bash. I also added an extra wrinkle to this bout by doing it as a double title match, with Goldberg's WCW United States Title also on the line. Of course (as I believe I mentioned in an earlier post), you can't really do that in EWR, but for context, that's what I'm going with in this scenario.
Just underneath the main event are two other huge singles matches. The semi-main event sees the NWA World Heavyweight Title on the line, as Ric Flair defends against Eddie Guerrero. In my previous posts, I broke down the entire Eddie Guerrero story, from joining the Four Horsemen, to winning the WCW World Title, to going on a losing streak, to eventually turning on Flair and The Horsemen before joining nWo Hollywood. The natural next step in this program is a singles match between the two with Flair's NWA World Heavyweight Title on the line. Just below that bout is a special challenge match between Bret Hart and Sting. The Sharpshooter vs. The Scorpion Deathlock. While both men are still right at the top of the babyface side of the roster, Hart has become increasingly frustrated that he hasn't found greater success in WCW sooner. He issued a challenge to Sting for this show, and the match was set.
Nothing else on the card really has any super significant stories going into them. The feud between the nWo Wolfpac and nWo Hollywood is continuing, while Chris Jericho has gone from feuding with Dean Malenko to feuding with both Malenko and Rey Mysterio Jr. as well. In terms of the championships, there's actually a lot to talk about with regards to the WCW World Tag Team Titles and the WCW World TV Title. With the former, we've had two title changes since Slamboree. Even though Diamond Dallas Page and Sting were the rightful #1 Contenders, Eric Bischoff was able to use his power to get Scott Hall and Louie Spicolli another title shot. They went on to unseat Rob Van Dam and Sabu for the WCW World Tag Team Titles in a Tables Match on the May 21st episode of Thunder, so only a few days after the PPV. That title reign would be short-lived, however, as Diamond Dallas Page and Sting captured the titles on the following episode of Nitro on May 25th (Memorial Day). So they are the title holders coming into this PPV, even though the titles aren't being defended.
As for the WCW World TV Title....the trio of Booker T, Rick Steiner, and Scott Steiner played hot potato with the title in the weeks following Slamboree. In a Triple Threat Rematch on the May 23rd edition of Saturday Night, Rick Steiner won the title. His reign only lasted five days, as Scott Steiner won the title back in a Falls Count Anywhere Match on the May 28th Thunder. Finally, Booker T managed to win the title back in a Triple Threat Steel Cage Match on the June 1st edition of Nitro. For those of you keeping track, this was Booker T's SIXTH run with the WCW World TV Title since winning it for the first time at the very end of 1997 (a very hard title to keep, evidently). Much like the World Tag Team Titles, the World TV Title would take a break for this PPV, as Booker T would reunite with his brother Stevie Ray to challenge Rob Van Dam and Sabu for the NWA World Tag Team Titles.
Without further ado, let's get into this historic PPV!
WCW/nWo The Great American Bash 1998
June 14th, 1998 - Georgia Dome - Atlanta, Georgia
1.) The Great Muta def. Chris Benoit
2.) Eight-Man Tag - nWo Wolfpac (Kevin Nash, Konnan, Lex Luger, & Curt Hennig) def. nWo Hollywood (The Giant, Scott Steiner, Buff Bagwell, & Scott Norton)
3.) Randy Savage vs. Rowdy Roddy Piper ends in a No Contest via Double Disqualification
4.) WCW Cruiserweight Title - Fatal Four-Way Match - Chris Jericho def. Dean Malenko (c), Rey Mysterio Jr., & Psychosis
5.) WCW World Tag Team Champion Diamond Dallas Page def. Scott Hall
6.) NWA World Tag Team Titles - Rob Van Dam & Sabu (c) def. Harlem Heat
7.) WCW World Tag Team Champion Sting def. Bret Hart
8.) NWA World Heavyweight Title - Eddie Guerrero def. Ric Flair (c)
9.) WCW World Heavyweight Title & WCW United States Title - Goldberg [United States] def. Hollywood Hulk Hogan [Heavyweight]
My intention was to make this PPV the biggest one yet in this EWR scenario, and when the dust settled, I was rewarded with a score of 80%, which beats the score of 79% set by SuperBrawl VIII for the highest PPV score I've gotten thus far. I had two matches score in the 90%, but neither of them involved Chris Jericho, which unfortunately means that his streak of having the Match Of The Night on these PPVs was broken (I'm sure being in a four-way played a role in that). On this night, MOTN honors went to Ric Flair vs. Eddie Guerrero for the NWA World Heavyweight Title, which got 94%. The second match to break into that high tier was Chris Benoit vs. The Great Muta, which got a score of 90%. The rest of the card really varied in terms of what percentage they landed at. Two matches (the Fatal Four-Way for the Cruiserweight Title and Bret Hart vs. Sting) got 86%. Four matches landed in the 70% range, with the main event getting 79%, DDP vs. Scott Hall getting 78%, RVD & Sabu vs. Harlem Heat getting a 75%, and Piper vs. Savage getting a 73%. The eight-man tag did got 64%, though I sort of expected that to be the worst match on the card.
Since the main event goes pretty much exactly how it goes in OTL, aside from a few minor things (Curt Hennig is in nWo Wolfpac at this point, so put another person from nWo Hollywood in this role), I'll go over what happens with the rest of the card and the booking behind it. Eddie Guerrero won the NWA World Heavyweight Title from Ric Flair with assistance from Chavo Guerrero Jr., who (I forgot to mention this) joined nWo Hollywood along with his uncle (though Chavo Jr. is clearly near the bottom of the stable). I'll have more of what happens with Eddie Guerrero and Ric Flair in the next post.
As for Bret Hart vs. Sting, the bout ultimately saw Sting emerge victorious, but the big story was the post-match. Sting went for a handshake, and Bret Hart responded by attacking Sting, clearly frustrated with this latest loss. This is a big moment in my 1998. Bret Hart turning heel is a major point, and the Bret Hart/Sting feud that carries throughout the rest of 1998 will play a significant role in setting up whats to come in 1999.
I don't have any other major specifics to add about the other matches, so I'll just go over them quickly here. Rob Van Dam & Sabu vs. Harlem Heat for the NWA World Tag Team Titles was done just as a cool match to book. A famous team from ECW vs. a famous team from WCW. Diamond Dallas Page vs. Scott Hall was sort of a spinoff of the stuff involving the WCW World Tag Team Titles that I talked about earlier. While Dean Malenko won the big I Quit Match at Slamboree, but Jericho was able to regain the title here (and I'll talk about what happens next with Jericho in my next post). Randy Savage and Rowdy Roddy Piper got into some issues following Slamboree, and the No Contest via Double DQ was just....I guess because I didn't want either guy to lose (you will rarely hear that for me). Part of it was maybe that I was just curious what a No Contest via Double DQ would look like on EWR? I don't know. The fact that I put so far down the card shows that I didn't view it as important. The Eight-Man Tag just extends the nWo Hollywood vs. nWo Wolfpac feud, and the opener was just a kickass match that I wanted to book, and it clearly delivered.
That's it for my post on The Great American Bash 1998! Stay tuned for my next post, which will cover another major event on the WCW calendar.....Bash At The Beach! |
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Post by dhk1989 on Apr 21, 2021 1:05:34 GMT 1
Quite the Great American Bash there. Can't wait to see what Bash at the Beach brings us.
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Post by dxvsnwo1994 on Apr 24, 2021 21:34:27 GMT 1
Part VII: WCW/nWo Bash At The Beach 1998
Bash At The Beach was certainly one of the most famous PPV events on the WCW calendar. Of course, one of the biggest moments in wrestling history occurred at the 1996 edition of Bash At The Beach, as Hulk Hogan turned on WCW and joined up with Kevin Nash and Scott Hall to form the New World Order. This group not only dominated WCW for over a eighteen months, but they helped catapult WCW into a comfortable lead in the Monday Night Wars, and played a big role in WCW becoming the #1 wrestling company in the world for a brief period. In my alternate history of WCW (as told through Extreme Warfare Revenge), the 1998 edition of Bash At The Beach would be the host of another infamous chapter in the history of the nWo. The two different sides that formed following the split within the infamous group (nWo Hollywood and nWo Wolfpac) have been going at it since late April/early May, but the biggest battle yet between the battling factions would take place in the main event of this PPV. Hollywood Hulk Hogan and Kevin Nash, the leaders of their respective armies, would face off in a clash that was two years in the making. Not only that, but the bout would also have an extra wrinkle with Scott Hall serving as the guest referee. Hall had sided with nWo Hollywood, but repeated failures by Hall over the last month or so had put hit (and Louie Spicolli) on the outs. Nash tried to recruit Hall to his side, but Hall was very much undecided. So the story here was not only who would come out on top between Hogan and Nash, but who would Scott Hall side with.
Another major headline coming into this show involved the WCW United States Championship. Just like in OTL, Goldberg vacated the United States Title after capturing the WCW World Heavyweight Title from Hollywood Hulk Hogan. In order to decide a new champion, I decided to put together a thirty-two man tournament that would take place across all three of my TV programs (Nitro, Thunder, and Saturday Night). This would built to a tournament final at Bash At The Beach. Now this tournament was a combination of rematches (Savage vs. Piper, DDP vs. Hall, Benoit vs. Muta), ongoing feuds (I guess the main one would be nWo Hollywood vs. nWo Wolfpac), and matches I decided to do because they looked cool on paper (Bret Hart vs. Liger, Bret Hart vs. RVD, Raven vs. Sting, etc.). I did also include a big star like Kevin Nash, but he lost to The Giant in the first round after interference from Hollywood Hogan (again to continue that feud). By the time the field had whittled down to the final two, it came down to Bret Hart and Sting. So after Sting's win and Hart's immediate heel turn at The Great American Bash, fate brought them back together once again for a rematch, but this time with the WCW United States Title on the line. As you'll see by the tournament graphic I've posted below (which is getting ahead of myself a little bit in terms of the PPV results, but this was the best place to put it, really), Bret Hart would capture the title, while also evening up his series with Sting. I would envision that Hart possibly uses some underhanded tactics here, since he's now a heel. However, I don't recall offhand if that's the finish I selected when I actually did it in EWR.
Up next, I'm going to talk about the WCW Cruiserweight Title and the NWA World Heavyweight Title, since their stories do start to intertwine a little bit. So after reclaiming the WCW Cruiserweight Title at The Great American Bash, Chris Jericho would go on to have one more match against Dean Malenko. This time, they met inside of a Steel Cage in the main event of the June 22nd edition of Nitro. In that Steel Cage Match, Jericho would emerge victorious to end the feud (and he would go on to get into a feud with Rey Mysterio Jr.), but afterwards, Eddie Guerrero ran out an attacked Malenko to close the show. Of course, Eddie still had issues with the Horsemen, and this would set up Malenko as Eddie's first challenger for the NWA World Heavyweight Title. What about Ric Flair? Well, I did have him wrestle for a little bit after The Great American Bash (including a rematch against Eddie on the June 25th Thunder, while I believe I had Eddie win via DQ when Flair just went nuts on him with a chair), but then I did an attack angle shortly before Bash At The Beach. I did this mainly to write him off for a bit. Not for a super long period, but for what I have planned in the immediate future, it required Flair to be out of commission for a few months.
The only other things I need to mention from a storyline standpoint is the ongoing feud with nWo Hollywood and nWo Wolfpac, as well as the beginnings of the Raven/Saturn feud. With the former, they have a couple of title bouts against each other on this show, though they're multi-person matches (the three-way for the WCW World Heavyweight Title and the four-way for the World TV Title). That being said, the bulk of nWo Hollywood is actually backing up Dennis Rodman on this PPV, as they're facing off against Diamond Dallas Page and some other babyfaces. As for Raven vs. Saturn, the same feud they had in OTL is happening in my scenario.
With all of that out of the way, let's get into the PPV!
WCW/nWo Bash At The Beach 1998
July 12th, 1998 - Cox Arena - San Diego, California
1.) Randy Savage def. Brian Adams
2.) Raven's Rules Match - Raven def. Saturn
3.) WCW World TV Title - Fatal Four-Way Match - The Great Muta def. Booker T (c), Chris Benoit, & Konnan
4.) WCW Cruiserweight Title - Ladder Match - Rey Mysterio Jr. def. Chris Jericho (c)
5.) Ten-Man Tag - Diamond Dallas Page, Rick Steiner, Rowdy Roddy Piper, Rob Van Dam, & Sabu def. nWo Hollywood (Dennis Rodman, Scott Steiner, Buff Bagwell, Scott Norton, & Vincent)
6.) NWA World Heavyweight Title - Eddie Guerrero (c) def. Dean Malenko
7.) WCW United States Title - Tournament Final - Bret Hart def. Sting
8.) WCW World Heavyweight Title - Triple Threat Match - Goldberg (c) def. Lex Luger & The Giant
9.) Special Guest Referee: Scott Hall - Hollywood Hulk Hogan def. Kevin Nash
For Bash At The Beach 1998, I got an overall score of 74%, which was down 6% from The Great American Bash, and tied with Slamboree for the lowest score I've gotten so far. Despite the lower score for the show as a whole, two matches did end up over 90%. For the sixth time in seven PPVs, Chris Jericho claimed MOTN honors, this time in his Ladder Match for the WCW Cruiserweight Title against Rey Mysterio Jr., which got 92%. The other bout to score over 90% was Bret Hart vs. Sting, which got a 91% score. That actually beat out the score from their bout at The Great American Bash by 5%. From there, it's a pretty big drop off when you look at the rest of the card. Eddie Guerrero vs. Dean Malenko for the NWA World Heavyweight Title was the only match to score in the 80% range with 84%, while the Fatal Four-Way for the WCW World TV Title and Raven vs. Saturn ended up at 78% and 76% respectively. What really dragged down this card was the fact that three of the nine matches scored in the high 50% range. While one of those three matches scoring that low wasn't much of a shock (the Ten-Man Tag), the WCW World Heavyweight Title three-way and the main event scoring 57% and 59% respectively was definitely a disappointment. It's not like I was counting on those to be super in-ring matches or anything (I mean, just look at who's involved), but I figured the star power would be enough to carry those bouts.....but I guess not.
That's it for the 1998 edition of Bash At The Beach! Tune in next time as WCW travels to the infamous Sturgis Motorcycle Rally for Road Wild 1998! |
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