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Post by dhk1989 on Apr 25, 2021 2:27:39 GMT 1
Definitely time to bump Jericho up the card.
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Post by dxvsnwo1994 on Apr 26, 2021 21:34:04 GMT 1
Part VIII: WCW/nWo Road Wild 1998
It's the month of August, which means that it's time to head to the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally in Sturgis, South Dakota for WCW's annual outdoor extravaganza. The only super notable change compared to real life is that moved the PPV to be a Sunday, instead of a Saturday.....just so it wouldn't conflict with Saturday Night. The biggest story going into the PPV continues to be the war between nWo Wolfpac and nWo Hollywood. Of course, Scott Hall made his intentions clear in the main event of Bash Of The Beach that he is not siding with either faction, so for now, he's still on his own. For this PPV, Hall would join members of both nWo factions (including Hollywood Hogan and Kevin Nash), along with other members of the WCW roster (like Booker T, Bret Hart, Sting, Rowdy Roddy Piper, and others) in a Twenty Man Over-The-Top-Rope Battle Royal. That bout would take place as the official PPV opener (I decided to use my ninth match as a pre-show bout this time around), with the winner moving on to the main event to challenge Goldberg for the WCW World Heavyweight Title.
I honestly don't have much else to say in terms of storylines, as I was already thinking ahead to Fall Brawl, and what I had planned for that show. A lot of the matches on this show, outside of the Battle Royal, are just continuations of ongoing storylines. Eddie Guerrero is continuing his feud with The Four Horsemen, but this time he's defending his NWA World Heavyweight Title against Chris Benoit, who comes into this bout as the WCW World TV Champion (though that belt isn't on the line here, as the two had a match on television to determine which singles title would be on the line). Raven's rivalry with Saturn carries over to this PPV, as the two of them face off in a Sturgis Death Match (basically a Texas Death Match though just renamed to fit the theme of the show). Chris Jericho is still having issues with Rey Mysterio Jr., though this show is really the wrap up of that whole program before Jericho officially moves on to bigger things. Lex Luger and The Giant are continuing to have their problems, after neither of them emerged victorious in the three-way for the World Heavyweight Title at Bash At The Beach. Finally, we do have a big celebrity match on this show.....though instead of it being Jay Leno (obviously not a character in Extreme Warfare Revenge), it's Dennis Rodman, as he has his first singles match against Diamond Dallas Page.
In terms of the championships, we saw a couple of title changes between the PPVs. As I mentioned previously, Chris Benoit won the WCW World TV Title. This came in an Iron Man Match against The Great Muta on the July 16th edition of Thunder, which cut Muta's reign short at just four days. A few weeks later on the July 30th edition of Thunder, the nWo Hollywood team of Buff Bagwell and Scott Steiner won the NWA World Tag Team Titles, ending the several month reign of Rob Van Dam and Sabu (that set up a rematch for this PPV). The only other title that changed hands was the WCW World Tag Team Titles. On the August 3rd edition of Nitro (so the go-home show for Road Wild), The Giant and NWA World Heavyweight Champion Eddie Guerrero won the titles from Diamond Dallas Page and Sting in a Four-Way Elimination Match that also involved a nWo Wolfpac team (Lex Luger and Randy Savage) and a Four Horsemen Team (Chris Benoit & Steve "Mongo" McMichael). My vision of how this went down is that it came down to nWo Hollywood vs. Page and Sting, and the former wins with interference from Dennis Rodman (which, of course, furthers the feud with Page).
Without further ado, let's get into the PPV!
WCW/nWo Road Wild 1998
August 9th, 1998 - Sturgis Motorcycle Rally - Sturgis, South Dakota
Pre-Show
1.) Four-Way Elimination Tag Team Match - Fit Finlay & Steven Regal def. The FBI (Little Guido & Tracy Smothers), The Flock (Kidman & Scotty Riggs), & Public Enemy
PPV
1.) Randy Savage wins a #1 Contender's Battle Royal
- Other Participants include: Brian Adams, Booker T, Bret Hart, Curt Hennig, Davey Boy Smith, Hollywood Hogan, Jim Neidhart, Kevin Nash, Konnan, Meng, Ray Traylor, Rick Steiner, Rowdy Roddy Piper, Scott Hall, Scott Norton, Steve McMichael, Stevie Ray, Sting, & The Barbarian,
2.) NWA World Heavyweight Title - Eddie Guerrero (c) def. WCW World TV Champion Chris Benoit
3.) Sturgis Death Match - Perry Saturn def. Raven
4.) Ten-Man Tag - Chris Jericho, Psychosis, Rick Martel, Gedo, & Jado def. Rey Mysterio Jr., Jushin Thunder Liger, Juventud Guerrera, Jerry Lynn, & La Parka
5.) Diamond Dallas Page def. Dennis Rodman
6.) Lex Luger def. The Giant
7.) NWA World Tag Team Titles - nWo Hollywood (Buff Bagwell & Scott Steiner) (c) def. Rob Van Dam & Sabu
8.) WCW World Heavyweight Title - Goldberg (c) def. Randy Savage
For Road Wild 1998, I got an overall score of 76%, which is up 2% from Bash At The Beach. The highest rate match was (unsurprisingly) Eddie Guerrero vs. Chris Benoit, which got a score of 93%. The only other bout that even came close was Goldberg vs. Randy Savage, which got a score of 81%. That's Goldberg's highest rated PPV match thus far. While no other match scored above 80%, I think what put this card ahead of Bash At The Beach in terms of the overall score is the fact that the other bouts were consistently in the 60% and 70% range. Two matches (Perry Saturn vs. Raven and the Ten-Man Tag) ended up at 76%, while the semi-main event for the NWA World Tag Team Titles got a 71% score. Four other bouts bounced around in the 60% range, but none of those matches were bad enough to really tank the show.
In terms of notes and how things were booked, I don't have much to add. With regards to the Battle Royal, I'd envision Bret Hart and Sting eliminating each other as their feud continues. As for the finish, I would think that Scott Hall and Kevin Nash get distracted fighting each other, which allows Hollywood Hulk Hogan to eliminate them, and then Randy Savage eliminates Hogan to win the bout. Having Savage go over here was mainly done because he was a top level guy that Goldberg could beat. He can afford this loss, at this time. The other matches play out pretty much how you would expect them to play out. The ten man tag was just a cool match that I wanted to book (though I'll fully admit that seeing Rick Martel in that match makes me think of that "One Of These Things Is Not Like The Other" tune). With Martel, I really just need another heel for that side, and he's also Canadian (like Jericho), so that made sense. Again, my main focus really wasn't on this PPV 100%. This show was more just a stop on the way to Fall Brawl.
Well, that's it for this post! Tune in next time as I go over Fall Brawl 1998, which will feature the first WarGames Match in my Extreme Warfare Revenge scenario!
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Post by dxvsnwo1994 on May 1, 2021 3:27:54 GMT 1
Part IX: WCW/nWo Fall Brawl 1998
We're officially into the month of September, which means it's time for Fall Brawl!! As we all know, Fall Brawl is traditionally the PPV that hosts the WarGames match, and the first Fall Brawl in my Extreme Warfare Revenge scenario is no exception. The 1998 version of WarGames we saw in OTL was a convoluted three-way mess, but my version is pretty straight forward (as it should be). It's nWo Hollywood against nWo Wolfpac. Five-on-Five. Of course, Hollywood Hulk Hogan is serving as the captain for the nWo Hollywood team, and backing him up in this bout are fellow stablemates Eddie Guerrero, Scott Steiner, Buff Bagwell, and Scott Norton. On the nWo Wolfpac side, the captain (obviously) is Kevin Nash, and he's got some of the top names in the stable backing him, including Randy Savage, Lex Luger, and Konnan. However, the fifth and final member of the nWo Wolfpac team is a brand new addition to the stable. Who is it, you might ask?
Rey Mysterio Jr.
That's right. You read that correctly. Rey Mysterio Jr. is the newest member of the nWo Wolfpac, and he would go on to be a major focus of the WarGames match, along with his longtime rival, Eddie Guerrero. On the August 31st edition of Nitro, Eddie Guerrero captured the WCW Cruiserweight Title (via heel shenanigans) from Mysterio, which meant that he was holding three separate titles (NWA World Heavyweight, WCW World Tag Team, and the WCW Cruiserweight) simultaneously. It was around this time that I was doing a storyline where Konnan (who, as we all know, is very close with Mysterio) was trying to convince Kevin Nash to recruit Mysterio into the Wolfpac. It took A LOT of convincing, but Nash eventually agreed, and Mysterio was added to the WarGames team. The idea of adding Mysterio to the WarGames match is that he presents a whole different dynamic, since he can use the WarGames cage in ways that nobody else can (I'll just let your imagination run wild with that one). I'll get into the finish a little later, but this is meant to be a MAJOR elevation for Mysterio.
Elsewhere, the Bret Hart/Sting feud is continuing into this PPV. Bret Hart's reign as the WCW United States Champion came to an end on the September 3rd edition of Thunder, when Scott Hall captured the title after Sting got involved. This would lead to a pair of Pick Your Poison Challenge matches on Fall Brawl, where Hart and Sting would get to pick their opponents. Hart decided to force Sting to wrestle his occasional tag team partner Diamond Dallas Page, while Sting selected Dean Malenko to take on The Hitman.
As for Scott Hall, he had a quick turnout after his title win on Thunder, as he would defend his newly won WCW United States Title against The Giant at Fall Brawl. Now I had mentioned in previous posts that Hall had rebuffed efforts to get him to join either nWo Hollywood or nWo Wolfpac. He wanted to go out on his own, so that he could finally get out from under the shadows of Hollywood Hulk Hogan and Kevin Nash. Hall would go on to form his own stable, consisting of himself, Louie Spicolli (who joined Hall in leaving nWo Hollywood), Rowdy Roddy Piper, Rob Van Dam, and Sabu. Now in the moment, I really wasn't sure what to call this group. I originally went with nWo Outlaws, but it felt weird to associate guys like Piper, RVD, and Sabu with the nWo. So while some of my pics from EWR probably use the name nWo Outlaws, that's not the final name I later went with. I believe I decided to settle on The Outlaws Club. Just something different that differentiates the stable from the two nWo splinter factions. While Hall would wrestle The Giant on this PPV, the rest of the stable would be in a showcase match against the Full Blooded Italians.
Just a few more quick notes before going into the PPV. At this point, Chris Benoit's reign as the WCW World TV Champion is the longest reign of that title thus far in my EWR scenario (at a measly fifty-nine days). He would have his work cut out for him at Fall Brawl, however, as he would be defending the title in a three-way match against Booker T and Chris Jericho. Finally, the feud between Perry Saturn and The Flock expanded in the buildup to this PPV. Shortly after Road Wild, John Kronus made his debut in WCW to reform The Eliminators with Saturn, and to provide Saturn some backup as he continued the rivalry with The Flock. For Fall Brawl, The Eliminators challenged The Flock to a Six-Man Tag, promising a mystery partner for the PPV. That surprise ended up being Raven's longtime rival from ECW.....Tommy Dreamer!!
I should take this moment to mention that, in my Extreme Warfare Revenge scenario, ECW mysteriously closed down in the summer of 1998. I really don't know what the story was. I just looking around at the available wrestlers to sign one day, and noticed that the promotion was no longer listed. I decided to turn this negative into a positive by adding some lure to this unexpected event, but I won't be diving into that for awhile.
With all of that out of the way, let's take a look at this PPV!!
WCW/nWo Fall Brawl 1998
September 13th, 1998 - Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum - Winston-Salem, North Carolina
Pre-Show
1.) Mike Awesome def. Yuji Nagata
PPV
1.) Eight-Man Tag - The Outlaws Club (Rowdy Roddy Piper, Rob Van Dam, Sabu, & Louie Spicolli) def. The FBI (Little Guido, Tracy Smothers, Tommy Rich, & Tony Mamaluke)
2.) WCW United States Title - Scott Hall (c) def. The Giant
3.) Pick Your Poison Challenge Match #1 - Sting def. Diamond Dallas Page
4.) Six-Man Tag - Tommy Dreamer & The Eliminators (Perry Saturn & John Kronus) def. The Flock (Raven, Kidman, & Reese)
5.) Pick Your Poison Challenge Match #2 - Bret Hart def. Dean Malenko
6.) WCW World TV Title - Triple Threat Match - Chris Jericho def. Chris Benoit (c) & Booker T
7.) WCW World Heavyweight Title - Goldberg (c) def. The Great Muta
8.) WarGames - nWo Wolfpac (Kevin Nash, Randy Savage, Lex Luger, Konnan, & Rey Mysterio Jr.) def. nWo Hollywood (Hollywood Hulk Hogan, Eddie Guerrero, Scott Steiner, Buff Bagwell, & Scott Norton)
For Fall Brawl 1998, I got an overall score of 74%, which is down 2% from Road Wild 1998. Match Of The Night honors went to the three-way match for the WCW World TV Title between Chris Benoit, Booker T, and Chris Jericho, which got a score of 87%. In the nine PPVs I've done thus far, I believe this is the seventh time that Jericho has been involved in the MOTN, so he's clearly been the in-ring MVP of WCW in 1998. The second highest match was Diamond Dallas Page vs. Sting, which ended up at 84%. Two bouts landed in the 70% range, with Bret Hart vs. Dean Malenko getting 78%, while the WarGames match got a 73%. The remaining five matches all ended up in the 60% range, with the highest of those being Scott Hall vs. The Giant for the WCW United States Title at 67%.
In terms of the PPV itself, there were a couple of matches that I booked which came about because....well....I just though they looked neat on paper. When trying to pick a team to face The Outlaws Club in the PPV opener, The FBI seemed like a great fit (in my eyes, anyway). Elsewhere, Goldberg vs. The Great Muta sounded like a super cool match, and since the WCW World Heavyweight Title really wasn't the main focus for this PPV (WarGames was), it felt like the perfect time to do it.
The middle portion of the card either set up or continued ongoing stories. I already went over the Pick Your Poison Challenge matches, which just help to further the Bret Hart/Sting feud, albeit in a different way. Introducing Tommy Dreamer into the Raven/Saturn story makes sense in a number of different ways. Obviously there's the history between Dreamer and Raven (as I already mentioned), but I also have plans to reignite that famous rivalry once this feud between Raven and Saturn reaches it's conclusion. As for the three-way for the WCW World TV Title, this was finally the start of the elevation for Chris Jericho. He did all he could in the Cruiserweight Division. The next logical step for him is the World TV Title, and I can safely say that he'll get a lengthy run with this title.
I'll close out by quickly going over WarGames. For the order of entry, I would have Eddie Guerrero and Rey Mysterio Jr. start (which makes sense, given that they're in the best shape to go the distance). Of course, the heel team would win the coin toss, and after the initial period, the order of entry would most likely be Buff Bagwell, Konnan, Scott Norton, Randy Savage, Scott Steiner, Lex Luger, Hollywood Hulk Hogan, and Kevin Nash. Rey Mysterio Jr. would be the highlight of the match, pulling out some spectacular stuff using the cage, before forcing Eddie Guerrero to surrender. While this won't totally end the issues between nWo Hollywood and nWo Wolfpac, the main idea here was elevating Rey Mysterio Jr. to a higher level (not main event level, but higher up the card than he was). Mysterio getting the win for his team here serves as him proving his worth to the rest of the Wolfpac. Whereas people like Nash, Savage, and Luger weren't so sure beforehand, this outing from Mysterio would win them over fully.
That's it for Fall Brawl 1998!! Keep a lookout for my next post, which will be covering another famous WCW PPV.....Halloween Havoc!! |
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Post by dxvsnwo1994 on May 3, 2021 2:40:51 GMT 1
Part X: WCW/nWo Halloween Havoc 1998
Outside of events like Starrcade and The Great American Bash, one of the longest running WCW PPV events is Halloween Havoc. Through doing this Extreme Warfare Revenge scenario, I've come to the conclusion that WCW's PPV names were far superior to WWE's PPV names of the same era, in terms of their uniqueness. Anyway, the 1998 edition of WCW's is famous for the horrendous Hollywood Hulk Hogan/Ultimate Warrior match, as well as the Goldberg/Diamond Dallas Page WCW World Title bout that got cut off due to the show running long. Of course, we're ten months deep into my EWR scenario, and things are very much different.
In terms of the top tier programs, the Bret Hart/Sting feud was put on the back burner for this particular PPV. Sting defeated Bret Hart in the main event on the October 1st edition of Thunder to become the #1 Contender for the WCW World Heavyweight Title. That set up a huge babyface vs. babyface matchup with Goldberg vs. Sting as the main event for Halloween Havoc. With Sting preoccupied, Bret Hart turned his attention back to the WCW United States Title, which Randy Savage had won from Scott Hall on the September 19th edition of Saturday Night (in a Triple Threat Match that also involved The Giant).
Despite their victory in the WarGames Match at Fall Brawl 1998, the nWo Wolfpac's issues with nWo Hollywood were not over. In fact, things had expanded into sort of a three-way faction war, with Scott Hall's new group, The Outlaws Club, entering the fold. Kevin Nash had turned his attention to Scott Hall following WarGames, and the two former partners were on a collision course for a big times singles encounter at Halloween Havoc (their first singles match against each other in WCW). Meanwhile, the opener on this PPV would see nWo Wolfpac and nWo Hollywood face off in an Eight-Man Elimination Match.
What about Hollywood Hulk Hogan and Eddie Guerrero? Well, they were still involved in that aforementioned faction warfare, but their attention got diverted heading into Halloween Havoc (just like Bret Hart and Sting, like I mentioned earlier). In the case of Hogan, he got back together with his NBA buddy Dennis Rodman, who still had some unfinished business with Diamond Dallas Page. This would set up a Six-Man Tag with Hogan and Rodman teaming with Eric Bischoff against Diamond Dallas Page and Harlem Heat. As for Eddie Guerrero, he had to deal with the wrath of the returning Ric Flair, who hadn't been seen since late June/early July. Flair's return didn't work out well for Eddie, in terms of timing. Not only was nWo Hollywood on a bit of a downslide as a whole after their loss at WarGames, but Eddie was on a bit of downslide as well. He lost the WCW Cruiserweight Title back to Rey Mysterio Jr. (who was the newest member of nWo Wolfpac) in the main event of the September 17th edition of Thunder. Then, thanks to Ric Flair getting involved, Eddie and The Giant lost the WCW World Tag Team Titles to the Four Horsemen team of Chris Benoit and Dean Malenko in the main event of the October 5th Nitro. This, and other confrontations, led to a Six-Person Tag getting set up for Halloween Havoc. Eddie Guerrero would have Chavo Guerrero Jr. and Madusa (who was also a member of nWo Hollywood) on his side, while Ric Flair would have two members on his side who were coming up to the WCW main roster from OMEGA.....David Flair and Daffney. They weren't full-fledged members of the Four Horsemen. They were ancillary members.
In terms of other things that were set up for the PPV, Chris Jericho would defend his WCW World TV Title in a Fatal Four-Way Match against Raven, Perry Saturn, and Kidman. The various issues with The Flock got entangled with the World TV Title picture, which led to this match (I don't recall off the top of my head, but at this point, Kidman had either broken away officially from The Flock, or he was about to). The newly crowned WCW World Tag Team Champions Chris Benoit and Dean Malenko would be defending their titles against Rob Van Dam and Sabu in a battle between The Four Horsemen and The Outlaws Club. The only other note I need to make in terms of title changes is that the nWo Wolfpac team of Kevin Nash and Konnan won the NWA World Tag Team Titles on the September 19th edition of Saturday Night.
That's all in terms of pre-PPV notes on everything that was going on heading into the PPV. Now let's get into WCW annual Halloween spectacular!!
WCW/nWo Halloween Havoc 1998
October 25th, 1998 - MGM Grand Garden Arena - Las Vegas, Nevada
Pre-Show
1.) Six-Man Tag - Jushin Thunder Liger, Juventud Guerrera, & La Parka def. Dave Taylor, Fit Finlay, & Steven Regal
PPV
1.) Eight-Man Tag Team Elimination Match - nWo Hollywood (The Giant, Scott Steiner, Buff Bagwell, & Scott Norton) def. nWo Wolfpac (Lex Luger, NWA World Tag Team Champion Konnan, WCW Cruiserweight Champion Rey Mysterio Jr., & Curt Hennig)
2.) WCW World TV Title - Fatal Four-Way Match - Chris Jericho (c) def. Kidman, Perry Saturn, & Raven
3.) Six-Person Tag - Ric Flair, David Flair, & Daffney def. nWo Hollywood (NWA World Heavyweight Champion Eddie Guerrero, Chavo Guerrero Jr., & Madusa)
4.) WCW United States Title - Randy Savage (c) def. Bret Hart
5.) WCW World Tag Team Titles - Chris Benoit & Dean Malenko (c) def. Rob Van Dam & Sabu
6.) Scott Hall def. NWA World Tag Team Champion Kevin Nash
7.) Six-Man Tag - Diamond Dallas Page & Harlem Heat def. nWo Hollywood (Hollywood Hulk Hogan, Dennis Rodman, & Eric Bischoff)
8.) WCW World Heavyweight Title - Goldberg (c) def. Sting
For Halloween Havoc 1998, I got an overall score 80%, which was up 6% from Fall Brawl 1998 in September. This also tied The Great American Bash 1998 for the highest scoring PPV of my Extreme Warfare Revenge scenario thus far. In a bit of a rare occurrence, the veterans took MOTN honors, as Randy Savage vs. Bret Hart for the WCW United States Title scored at 89%. It was an interesting PPV in the sense that it tied for the highest score I've done for a PPV thus far, but there wasn't a single match that broke the 90% barrier. Three other bouts fell in the 80% range. The Four-Way for the WCW World TV Title ended up at 83%, Goldberg vs. Sting for the WCW World Heavyweight Title got 81%, and the WCW World Tag Team Title bout with Benoit and Malenko vs. Rob Van Dam and Sabu got an 80% flat. The rest of the card landed in the 70% range, with highest being the semi-main event at 77%. Three matches (the pre-show six-man tag, the eight-man elimination match that opened the PPV, and Hall vs. Nash) wound up at 76%, while the worst match of the night (the six-man tag with Ric Flair and Eddie Guerrero) was at 75%, which isn't that bad for a PPV, to be honest.
I don't have a ton of additional notes to add to the PPV, to be honest. Goldberg beating Sting was a big scalp for his title reign (and a passing of the torch moment of sorts), Scott Hall got a bit of an upset win over Kevin Nash (though Nash would get his win back later), and everything else was just continuing ongoing storylines. This PPV also served to narrow certain directions as I got closer and closer to Starrcade.
That's it for my post on Halloween Havoc 1998!! Tune in next time for my November PPV.....which is not World War 3. What's the name of that PPV? Keep an eye out for the next post to find out. |
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Post by dxvsnwo1994 on May 7, 2021 5:15:10 GMT 1
Part XI: WCW/nWo Blood, Sweat, & Tears
As I mentioned in my Halloween Havoc post, I decided to scrap the World War 3 PPV as a concept. Not only because you can’t really do the three-ring, sixty man battle royal in Extreme Warfare Revenge, but also because I’ve never liked the idea of the match in general. The whole concept of adding another ring for a particular match stipulation never made a ton of sense to me, though I understand that if you were a fan at a time, it might’ve made more sense (I didn’t start watching wrestling until 2004 when I was ten years old, so obviously I would’ve been too young to start watching during the Monday Night Wars). It sort of works for WarGames (though I feel there are other promotions who’ve done later versions of the match with one ring that managed to be improvements in some ways), but as far as World War 3 is concerned, I’ve always found the concept to be stupid. Maybe I’m an outlier with that take…..maybe I’m in the majority.
In any case, the decision to scrap it as a PPV concept was a pretty easy decision. Ultimately, I decided to rename WCW’s November PPV (at least for 1998) to Blood, Sweat, & Tears. No real gimmicks to it or anything…..just a regular PPV with a cool name. I’m going to end up renaming a few more PPVs as my scenario continues, but I’ll get to those when the time comes.
Blood, Sweat, & Tears served as the continuation of many storylines that were ongoing, as well as the final setup for some of the things that would take place at Starrcade. The Fatal Four-Way Match that was the main event of this PPV actually had major implications on Starrcade, as it was the conclusion of a #1 Contender's Tournament to determine who would challenge for the WCW World Heavyweight Title on the biggest card of the year. I put together a thirty-two person bracket, but instead of having of having a traditional one-on-one tournament final, I took the final four and put them in a Fatal Four-Way Match. I wanted to include Bret Hart and Sting, as their feud is still ongoing, even though neither of them were going to be the Starrcade challenger. Diamond Dallas Page was the person that I wanted to win, so obviously he had to be in there. As far as Booker T goes, I thought this was a good point to slowly start his elevation up the card. He was never going to win this match, (and he actually eats the fall here, as Hart and Sting end up costing each other the match....just like what happened at Spring Stampede 1998) but the idea of just putting him in there with the likes of Bret Hart, Diamond Dallas Page, and Sting would show that he's a guy to watch out for in the future.
Here's the breakdown of the tournament itself:
Bracket A
Bret Hart def. Rowdy Roddy Piper / Scott Hall def. La Park || Kevin Nash def. Ray Traylor / The Giant def. Lex Luger
Bret Hart def. Scott Hall || Kevin Nash def. The Giant
Bret Hart def. Kevin Nash
Bracket B Booker T def. Psychosis / Steven Regal def. Juventud Guerrera || Chris Benoit def. Dean Malenko / Scott Steiner def. Rick Steiner
Booker T def. Steven Regal || Chris Benoit def. Scott Steiner
Booker T def. Chris Benoit Bracket C Diamond Dallas Page def. Buff Bagwell / Perry Saturn def. Raven || Randy Savage def. Scott Norton / The Great Muta def. Konnan
Diamond Dallas Page def. Perry Saturn || Randy Savage def. The Great Muta
Diamond Dallas Page def. Randy Savage Bracket D Rob Van Dam def. Jushin Thunder Liger / Fit Finlay def. Curt Hennig || Sting def. Hollywood Hulk Hogan / Rey Mysterio Jr. def. Sabu
Rob Van Dam def. Fit Finlay || Sting def. Rey Mysterio Jr.
Sting def. Rob Van Dam
As I've already mentioned, the bulk of this PPV card either featured feuds that were ongoing, feuds that were starting up, or feuds that were serving as....stopgaps, I guess, for the month of November. In terms of feuds that were continuing, Scott Hall rode the momentum of his victory over Kevin Nash at Halloween Havoc into a singles match against Hollywood Hulk Hogan (and it's also part of the larger faction warfare between the three nWo splinter groups), Ric Flair had his first major chance for revenue in a singles environment against Eddie Guerrero in a Texas Death Match for the NWA World Heavyweight Title, and Kevin Nash had a brief detour in the form of The Giant (reigniting their feud from earlier in the year). While the Tag Team Tables Match is part of the aforementioned faction warfare, it served to keep Nash busy for the month of the November while I start to set things up for Starrcade, so you could consider it a stopgap. The other major stopgap match/feud was Goldberg vs. Chris Jericho. Obviously, this is a program that had a lot of controversy surrounding it in real life (mainly due to the fact that it didn't happen due to backstage politics), but in my scenario, the match does indeed happen. It served as a big spotlight for Jericho, but again, it was just meant to keep Goldberg busy for the month of November. While Jericho's time hadn't come just yet, it was another instance of putting him in a higher position in preparation for elevating him further up the card.
In terms of new programs, there are a few of them on this card. The main one involves the elevation of Mike Awesome. Now he's a guy that's been simmering underneath the surface ever since I brought him into WCW. Awesome mostly been wrestling on Thunder and Saturday Night, squashing guys and winning short feuds with lower card guys that put him over strong. His push was meant to mirror the push that Goldberg got, in the sense that he was pushed as this monster. After Halloween Havoc, I felt that it was finally time to push him up the card, and I decided to have go after one of the biggest names in WCW straight away. He went after Randy Savage and the WCW United States Title. This is meant to be Awesome's first big program, and since Savage (in real life), did such a good job with elevating Diamond Dallas Page to a higher level with their feud, I felt he was the perfect choice to do the same with Mike Awesome.
In terms of titles and title changes, I've got a couple of things to make note of. While the WCW World Tag Team Titles hadn't changed hands since before Halloween Havoc, a major title bout was set up for this PPV, as the Four Horsemen duo of Chris Benoit and Dean Malenko would defend the titles in a three-way against Rob Van Dam and Sabu as well as the nWo Wolfpac team of Rey Mysterio Jr. and Konnan. Speaking of Rey Mysterio Jr., he actually lost the WCW Cruiserweight Title to Kidman on the November 12th edition of Thunder. Kidman has officially broken away from The Flock at this point, and his title reign would get a hard test right out of the gate at Blood, Sweat, & Tears, as he would defend his newly won title against two former Cruiserweight champions. Additionally, the NWA World Tag Team Titles also changed hands, as Vicious & Delicious won the titles from the nWo Wolfpac team of Kevin Nash and Konnan on the November 19th edition of Thunder. Interference from The Giant led to the title change.
Finally, for the PPV itself, I decided to give the pre-show slot to an in-ring segment, as Dusty Rhodes (one of the authority figures in my scenario) would introduce the WCW Hardcore Title. Of course, WCW would have its own Hardcore Title in OTL, but my scenario, it's introduced a year earlier. Dusty would announce that there would be a Battle Royal on the following night's Nitro to determine the first champion.
With all of those notes out the way, let's dive into WCW's newest PPV!
WCW/nWo Blood, Sweat, & Tears November 22nd, 1998 - The Palace of Auburn Hills - Auburn Hills, Michigan
1.) WCW Cruiserweight Title - Triple Threat Match - Kidman (c) def. Juventud Guerrera, Psychosis 2.) Tables Match - nWo Wolfpac (Kevin Nash & Lex Luger) def. nWo Hollywood (Scott Steiner & The Giant) 3.) WCW United States Title - Randy Savage (c) vs. Mike Awesome - No Contest via Double Disqualification 4.) NWA World Heavyweight Title - Texas Death Match - Eddie Guerrero (c) def. Ric Flair 5.) Hollywood Hulk Hogan def. Scott Hall 6.) WCW World Tag Team Titles - Triple Threat Match - nWo Wolfpac (Konnan & Rey Mysterio Jr.) def. The Four Horsemen (Chris Benoit & Dean Malenko) (c) and Rob Van Dam & Sabu 7.) WCW World Heavyweight Title - Bill Goldberg (c) def. WCW World TV Champion Chris Jericho 8.) #1 Contender's Fatal Four-Way Match - Diamond Dallas Page def. Booker T, Bret Hart, & Sting
For Blood, Sweat, & Tears, I got an overall score of 84%, which is up 4% from Halloween Havoc 1998 in October. That means this was the highest scoring PPV that I've done so far in my EWR scenario. Three of the eight matches on the card got a score in the 90% range, with MOTN honors going to Eddie Guerrero vs. Ric Flair in a Texas Death Match for the NWA World Heavyweight Title, which got a 92%. Meanwhile, the Four-Way #1 Contender's Match and Randy Savage vs. Mike Awesome for the WCW United States Title both got 90%. There were three matches that finished in the 80% range, with the Triple Threat Match for the WCW Cruiserweight Title being the highest of those with a score of 85%. The three-way for the WCW World Tag Team Titles ended up at 82%, while Goldberg vs. Chris Jericho finished at 80%. Two matches were tied with the lowest score at 77% (Hollywood Hogan vs. Scott Hall and the Tag Team Tables Match), but all things considered, that's actually not too bad for the low end of a PPV. Dusty Rhodes announcing the creation of the WCW Hardcore Title got 86%.
In terms of the booking, I don't have a ton to add, as some of my thoughts were already discussed, particularly with regards to the main event. Doing a No Contest in this first Awesome vs. Savage bout was done mainly because I wasn't ready to have either guy lose quite yet. That might be seen as a copout of sorts (since that's a common complaint with WWE), but for this case, I think it works, since it's the first match of a larger program. Awesome is trying to make a name off of Savage, and it pissed Savage off. Thus, things got heated pretty quickly, and the non-finish here serves to build to bigger bouts in the future. Hollywood Hulk Hogan getting a win over Scott Hall is a result you probably saw coming. That result, along with the results in the WCW World Tag Team Title Match, set up a couple of things for Starrcade. As for Eddie Guerrero vs. Ric Flair, the former gets the win on this particular occasion. Flair came close, but wasn't able to get the job done against Guerrero in this brutal affair. He'll get one more shot at the title he carried so many times, and I'll get into that more in the next post (I feel bad for leaving so many teases in here).
That's all for Blood, Sweat, & Tears! The next post will be a HUGE one, as I go over WCW's biggest show of the year....Starrcade! |
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Post by anthonymm13 on May 7, 2021 15:42:49 GMT 1
Got some good stuff going. Like the new PPV name. I debated myself what to do with WW3 in my WCW once I get to it. At the time I know their thinking, it was WCW's answer to the Royal Rumble and of course it had to be bigger than what the WWF was doing.
Can't wait to see what Starrcade brings.
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Post by dhk1989 on May 8, 2021 4:44:03 GMT 1
Goldberg vs DDP at Starrcade? Consider me hyped!
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Post by dxvsnwo1994 on May 11, 2021 0:28:42 GMT 1
Part XII: WCW/nWo Starrcade 1998
Well, the time has finally arrived. After a year that's seen plenty of changes from our original timeline (with some similarities), and a lot of new faces making names for themselves, WCW has reached the pinnacle of their calendar year....Starrcade. Titles will be on the line, scores will be settled, some rivalries will get even more intense, and various wrestlers jockey for position as 1999 is approaching quickly on the horizon.
The brainchild of The American Dream himself, and an event that dates back all the way to 1983, Starrcade was the show that I had been looking forward to the most when I first started playing this Extreme Warfare Revenge scenario. When I started laying out my booking plans, in terms of the PPV events, my general rule was to plan Starrcade first. Since it's the biggest show of the year for WCW, I felt it was important to get that card sorted out, and kind of work backwards from there. Of course, the fact that Starrcade is in December (the last month of the year) certainly helps with the organizational side of things. In general, I'm someone who likes to book stuff well in advance. Just to go a little behind the curtain, when I came up to Starrcade 1998 in the actual scenario, I already had all of my 1999 PPVs planned out, and I even had Starrcade 2000 planned out! The bottom line is that Starrcade is always the first show I think about when I do any planning.
It goes without saying, but I feel very confident that my Starrcade 1998 card blows away the real life version. Of course, the main event of this show features Goldberg defending the WCW World Heavyweight Title against Diamond Dallas Page, in a babyface vs. babyface main event. As you all know, this match did take place in OTL's Halloween Havoc 1998, but I decided to move it to a more prominent spot. There wasn't a ton of stuff I did in the build, since I felt it was kinda of self explanatory.....plus there weren't any real issues between the two. One guy was the champion....the other guy wanted to be champion. I did give them a quick reign with the NWA World Tag Team Titles, which they won from Vicious & Delicious (Buff Bagwell and Scott Norton) on the December 7th edition of Nitro, but they lost them on the following week's Nitro to Harlem Heat in a three-way tag that also involved Bagwell and Norton (neither Goldberg or Page took the fall). It was honestly just something to keep them busy during that build to the PPV.
Now I know that I'm only able to book nine matches on any given PPV card on EWR, but in promoting Starrcade, I would've promoted it as having a QUADRUPLE main event. Yes....I know promoting four matches as main events sounds like overkill, but in this instance, the four matches I've giving the label to really are main event caliber. The bout that would go on second to last would be a massive Triple Threat Match between Hollywood Hulk Hogan, Kevin Nash, and Scott Hall. The nWo explodes! If this match had actually happened in real life, I'm sure it would've drawn huge business, even though the in-ring work would've certain been....subpar, to say the least. This particular match has some extra stakes attached to it, as the winner would receive a shot at the WCW World Heavyweight Title at Souled Out 1999.
The other two matches that make up the quadruple main event are Eddie Guerrero vs. Ric Flair for the NWA World Heavyweight Title in a Steel Cage, and Bret Hart vs. Sting in a Submission Match. Both of these bouts are big moments for their respective rivalries. The former, in addition to playing off the history of Starrcade with Ric Flair being in a Steel Cage Match for the NWA World Heavyweight Title, also features the stipulation that Flair (if he were to lose) would not be able to challenge for the title again as long as Eddie Guerrero was champion. As for the latter, it serves as the culmination of the rivalry between Bret Hart and Sting that (if you want to really go back this far) dates all the way back to Starrcade 1997, when Bret Hart appeared to help Sting overcome the cheating ways of Hollywood Hulk Hogan (even though we all know how that got screwed up). It's the Sharpshooter vs. the Scorpion Death Lock and, much like many of the bouts on this card, the result will help set the stage for what's to come in 1999.
Everything else on the card doesn't nearly have as much backstory, but there's still plenty of stuff to talk about. After their title bout at Blood, Sweat, & Tears saw a non-finish, Randy Savage and Mike Awesome would continue their feud over the WCW United States Title....though this time it would be in a Falls Count Anywhere Match. Another notable match on this PPV sees the WCW World Tag Team Titles both figuratively and literally up for grabs, as the nWo Wolfpac duo of Konnan & Rey Mysterio defending the titles in a Triangle Ladder Match against the Four Horsemen team of Chris Benoit and Dean Malenko as well as Rob Van Dam and Sabu. Chris Jericho defends the WCW World TV Title against a man he knows very well in Jushin Thunder Liger, while another New Japan star in the form of The Great Muta takes on WCW Cruiserweight Champion Kidman in a special challenge match. Finally, I decided to pull a page from the modern WWE playbook (which is a dangerous thing to do, I know, but stick with me here) and put together a battle royal for some of the bigger name wrestlers who don't already have matches on the card....the Starrcade Battle Royal. It's basically the WCW version of the Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal, so not much else to say there.
In terms of title changes, the only notes I have are for the newly created WCW Hardcore Title, as aside from the NWA World Tag Team Titles (which I already went over), no other titles changed hands since the last PPV. Fittingly, the inaugural WCW Hardcore Champion was Tommy Dreamer, who became the first champion after winning a Battle Royal on the November 23rd edition of Nitro. His title reign would be short-lived, however, as the dancing skeleton man himself....La Parka....would win the title on the December 3rd edition of Thunder. La Parka would also have a short run with the belt, as Perry Saturn would take the title from him on the following week's Thunder on December 10th.
With all of those notes finally out of the way, let's dive into the results from Starrcade!!
WCW/nWo Starrcade 1998
December 27th, 1998 - MCI Center - Washington, D.C.
1.) The Great Muta def. WCW Cruiserweight Champion Kidman
2.) WCW World Tag Team Titles - Triangle Ladder Match - Rob Van Dam & Sabu def. nWo Wolfpac (Konnan & Rey Mysterio Jr.) (c) and The Four Horsemen (Chris Benoit & Dean Malenko)
3.) Booker T wins the Starrcade Battle Royal
- Other participants include Buff Bagwell, Curt Hennig, Davey Boy Smith, Fit Finlay, Jerry Lynn, Juventud Guerrera, La Parka, Lex Luger, Perry Saturn, Psychosis, Rick Steiner, Rowdy Roddy Piper, Scott Norton, Scott Steiner, Steve Corino, Steven Regal, Stevie Ray, The Giant, & Tommy Dreamer
4.) WCW World TV Title - Chris Jericho (c) def. Jushin Thunder Liger
5.) WCW United States Title - Falls Count Anywhere Match - Mike Awesome def. Randy Savage (c)
6.) Submission Match - Sting def. Bret Hart
7.) NWA World Heavyweight Title - Steel Cage Match - Ric Flair def. Eddie Guerrero (c)
8.) #1 Contender's Triple Threat Match - Kevin Nash def. Hollywood Hulk Hogan & Scott Hall
9.) WCW World Heavyweight Title - Goldberg (c) def. Diamond Dallas Page
For Starrcade 1998, I got an overall score of 84%, which ties Blood, Sweat, & Tears for the highest PPV score I've gotten thus far. In deciding between the two shows, in terms of which show was better as well as which would get the nod for highest ranking PPV of the year if I put them in order from best to worst, I would go with Starrcade. Not only do I believe that it was the better card (not that Blood, Sweat, & Tears wasn't a bad card or a card I didn't like.....I liked the card I put together and it turned out well), but it had more matches that were rated highly. Both shows had three bouts in the 90% range, but while Blood, Sweat, & Tears had two matches at 90% and one match at 92%, Starrcade had two matches at 92%, and one match at 90%. The two matches at 92% were the Triangle Ladder Match and the Eddie Guerrero vs. Rick Flair Steel Cage Match for the NWA World Heavyweight Title (the latter got a rare 100% crowd reaction), while Chris Jericho vs. Jushin Thunder Liger for the WCW World TV Title got 90%. The rest of the card performed very well, as four bouts landed in the 80% range. Kidman vs. The Great Muta landed at 87%. Bret Hart vs. Sting in a Submission Match and Randy Savage vs. Mike Awesome in a Falls Count Anywhere Match for the WCW United States Title both received a score of 85%. To my surprise, the Triple Threat Match with founding nWo members did very well, as it got an 83% score, which was actually higher than the main event, which only got 77%. The Battle Royal got 72%, but the fact that it was the worst match on the show didn't surprise me all that much.
In terms of the booking, pretty much everything that happened was self explanatory. A bloodied Ric Flair secured victory against Eddie Guerrero in a triumphant moment, Sting scored a definitive win over Bret Hart, Kevin Nash earned himself a title shot, and the Goldberg/Diamond Dallas Page bout is essentially their Halloween Havoc match transplanted to Starrcade. Jericho vs. Liger and Muta vs. Kidman both delivered in the ring, and Booker T winning the Starrcade Battle Royal was a big moment for him as he gets ready for more opportunities in 1999. Lastly, Mike Awesome ends 1998 by securing his first championship in WCW (though it certainly won't be his last).
That's all I've got for Starrcade 1998, which concludes my set of PPV recaps for my first year! That won't be it for 1998 though, and I'm going to be posting some other stuff as well. Title histories for the year, ratings, and maybe some other stuff too.....I'll have to go through what I've got on file! Anyway, I hope you've enjoyed this journey through my alternate timeline of 1998 WCW via Extreme Warfare Revenge, and look out soon for 1999!! |
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Post by anthonymm13 on May 11, 2021 2:29:37 GMT 1
Nice show! Kinda surprised Flair goes over Eddie. Got some interesting things set up to start the new year.
Like your booking philosophy. Plan the big shows first then figure out how to get there. An effective strategy.
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Post by dxvsnwo1994 on May 11, 2021 13:14:00 GMT 1
Here are two different charts I made for the 1998 Monday Night War Ratings in my Extreme Warfare Revenge scenario. The highest number for Nitro was 6.88, while the highest number for Raw Is War was 6.89, which is pretty good for both shows. I guess the biggest different from OTL is that WWE doesn't break WCW's winning streak on Monday Nights until June 8th (so Eric Bischoff would be touting WCW beating WWE for, I guess, 92 Weeks, or something like that), and they didn't really start beating WCW consistently until early August or so. One thing I noticed through that first year was that the Raw Is War numbers were relatively steady as they went on their upward trend, whereas the numbers for Nitro fluctuated a lot (which makes sense since I'm the player).
Line Graph
Bar Graph
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