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Post by dxvsnwo1994 on Jul 21, 2021 14:58:16 GMT 1
I really enjoy this and hope it continues. Oh it will, don't worry!! I've just been putting my free time in a lot of different stuff, and I guess it's been hard to balance. Hearts Of Iron IV, the new Formula 1 game, EWR stuff, and the lists goes on (currently in the process of trying to do a mass catchup of New Japan before the big Tokyo Dome show this weekend). I think part of it too is that I'm also in the process in trying to craft the cards/narrative of the final ECW shows in my other thread, and that's been a bit of a creative block. |
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Post by dxvsnwo1994 on Jul 28, 2021 2:39:44 GMT 1
Part XX: WCW WrestleWar 1999
Back In The Saddle Again. That phrase has multiple meanings, in this case. Of course, it's back in the saddle for me, as I continue this series here on the Be The Booker forums (as I said previously, I'm a guy who's into a lot of different things, and my interests were split various ways lately). Back In The Saddle is also a reference to the location of this PPV. Yes, it's the month of August....but WCW isn't airing a PPV from the Stugis Motorcyle Rally in South Dakota. I was never a huge fan of that event, so I felt it had run its course. Instead, we're going almost thirteen-and-a-half hours to the northwest....to the heart of, well, Hart Country....to the Canadian Airlines Saddledome in Calgary, Alberta, Canada!! Of course, this predates the first WCW PPV in Canada in OTL by a few months (that was Mayhem 1999), but this is a very special occasion, as the conquering hero returns home. Bret Hart and the rest of Team Canada hadn't seen the best results in terms of the PPV outings. However, they were looking to make their presence known on this card. In a main event that was very much meant to replicate what we saw from WWF In Your House: Canadian Stampede from 1997, Bret Hart leads Team Canada (in this case, it's Hart, Edge, Christian, Lance Storm, & Andrew Martin) in a five-on-five elimination match against Team WCW, which consists of Ric Flair, Booker T, The Hardy Boyz, and Jushin Thunder Liger. You can imagine that the fan reactions would be very similar to what we saw from that infamous WWF PPV in 1997, with the Canadian fanbase firmly behind Hart and his team.
Just underneath the main event were two major matchups with titles at stake. In the semi-main event spot, Goldberg would put up his WCW World Heavyweight Title against someone who hadn't appeared in WCW since 1992.....Dr. Death himself, Steve Williams. That's right. He's definitely on the downside of his career at this stage (I think we all know that), but nonetheless, the All Japan mainstay wasn't going to be a pushover by any means. Meanwhile, just beneath that, we have the conclusion of a feud that's been ongoing for a number of months. After capturing the WCW World Tag Team Titles at Bash At The Beach 1999, The Outsiders were looking to put an end to their feud with Hollywood Heat once and for all. Their final encounter would be on this WrestleWar 1999 card, but with a twist. While the WCW World Tag Team Titles are on the line, it's a Three-On-Two Handicap Match, with Kevin Nash and Scott Hall going up against Eddie Guerrero, Hollywood Hulk Hogan....and Eric Bischoff!! In addition, an added stipulation was that the losing team would be forced to permanently break up. So the stakes were definitely high in that matchup.
Elsewhere on this card, we've got a number of other big title bouts. Chris Benoit is another Canadian looking to make a statement in his old stomping grounds of Calgary, as he makes his first major defense of the NWA World Heavyweight Title against Ray Traylor....who I've renamed Boss Man Traylor (which I think is pretty cool, and I don't know why WCW didn't come up with that one, unless they just legally couldn't use "Boss Man" in any form). Traylor's been on the roster this whole time, but I mainly used him as a jobber to the stars essentially. A guy who I would have get wins over the absolute bottom of the barrel jobbers, but who would mostly just serve as someone for guys on the come up to beat. I decided to finally get behind him a little bit here, and he's essentially doing a mercenary/hired gun gimmick. I decided to put him with Benoit since (from what I recall) they were good friends in real life, so I put them together in a match.
Other title bouts include Steve Corino defending the WCW World TV Title against Sabu, Rob Van Dam defends the WCW Hardcore Title against Mike Awesome, and Diamond Dallas Page defends the WCW United States Title in a Triple Threat Match against Chris Jericho (another Team Canada representative) and Sting. The remainder of the card is filled out with a pair of Six-Man Tags. In the opener, the nWo Wolfpac duo of Konnan and Rey Mysterio Jr. team up with Kidman to take on the trio representing The Magnificent Seven....Scott Steiner, Lex Luger, and Buff Bagwell. Meanwhile, The Dudley Boyz were joined on the WCW main roster by another Dudley that I signed to OMEGA after ECW's closure.....Spike Dudley! They're in action on this PPV, as they've quickly gotten into a feud with 3 Count.
There were no other major title changes on this card, but I do want to make a quick note. In June of 1999, WWF released Sable. After mulling it over for a few weeks, I finally bit the bullet and decided to sign her for my women's division. Now I didn't bother changing her name, so in the game, she's still Sable. You can come up with....whatever legal explanation you'd like lol. Also, unlike real life, she's actually going to wrestle in WCW at some point!
Let's not waste any time, and dive into the results of this PPV!!
WCW WrestleWar 1999
August 15th, 1999 - Canadian Airlines Saddledome - Calgary, Alberta, Canada
1.) Six-Man Tag - The Magnificent Seven (Scott Steiner, Lex Luger, & Buff Bagwell) def. nWo Wolfpac (Konnan & Rey Mysterio Jr.) & Kidman
2.) WCW United States Title - Triple Threat Match - Diamond Dallas Page (c) def. Chris Jericho & Sting
3.) WCW Hardcore Title - Mike Awesome def. Rob Van Dam (c)
4.) Six-Man Tag - The Dudley Boyz (Bubba Ray Dudley, D-Von Dudley, & Spike Dudley) vs. NWA World Tag Team Champions 3 Count (Evan Karagias, Shane Helms, & Shannon Moore)
5.) WCW World TV Title - Steve Corino (c) def. Sabu
6.) NWA World Heavyweight Title - Chris Benoit (c) def. Boss Man Traylor
7.) WCW World Tag Team Titles - Three-On-Two Handicap Match - The Outsiders (Kevin Nash & Scott Hall) (c) def. Hollywood Heat (Hollywood Hulk Hogan & Eddie Guerrero) & Eric Bischoff
8.) WCW World Heavyweight Title - Goldberg def. "Dr. Death" Steve Williams
9.) Ten Man Tag Team Elimination Match - Team Canada (Bret Hart, Andrew Martin, Edge, Christian, & WCW Cruiserweight Champion Lance Storm) def. Team WCW (Ric Flair, Booker T, The Hardy Boyz, & Jushin Thunder Liger)
For WrestleWar 1999, I got an overall score of 84%, which is only down 1% from Bash At The Beach 1999. I'm happy to basically draw even with the previous PPV, especially when it's in the 80% range. A solid result in my book. While no match broke the 90% barrier, seven of the nine landed in the 80% range. Match Of The Night honors would actually go to the Triple Threat Match for the WCW United States Title at 89%. So another feather in the cap of the MVP of WCW, Chris Jericho. Rob Van Dam vs. Mike Awesome for the WCW Hardcore Title and the main event both ended up with an 88% score. A little further back were the opening Six-Man Tag and the Handicap Match, with both got 82%. Then, The Dudley Boyz vs. 3 Count and Chris Benoit vs. Ray Traylor for the NWA World Heavyweight Title earned an 80% score. The only two matches that fell below 80% were Steve Corino vs. Sabu for the WCW World TV Title (which got 77%), and Goldberg vs. Dr. Death for the WCW World Heavyweight Title, which only got a score of 69%. The latter didn't necessarily surprise me, since Dr. Death certainly wasn't in his prime at this point.
 In terms of the card, I thought everything came together pretty well. I wanted to put Team Canada over in a big main event, and I thought the crew I put them up against was a good one. As I said already, "Dr. Death" Steve Williams was far from the best challenger for Goldberg, but he was available, and I thought I'd mix things up a little bit. Hollywood Heat losing on this card finally puts to rest the Hollywood Hulk Hogan side of the nWo lineage, I guess you can say. Not only does Hogan have to split up from Eddie Guerrero, but he can no longer be associated with Eric Bischoff either. I don't have much else to add in terms of storyline implications. Of course, WarGames is coming up on the next PPV, and all I'll tease is that there's going to be a super interesting twist, with a major defection from WWF to WCW.
That's all I've got for WrestleWar!! Tune in next time, as it's time for Fall Brawl!! |
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Post by dhk1989 on Jul 28, 2021 12:48:51 GMT 1
Was The Dudleys vs 3-Count non-title?
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Post by dxvsnwo1994 on Jul 29, 2021 5:28:44 GMT 1
Was The Dudleys vs 3-Count non-title? |
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Post by Ryan Kelman on Jul 29, 2021 5:40:50 GMT 1
How about a mixed tag team title?
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Post by dxvsnwo1994 on Aug 1, 2021 22:08:15 GMT 1
Part XXI: WCW Fall Brawl 1999
Team Canada was riding a high after their victory in the main event of WrestleWar 1999, in front of an arena packed with their fellow countrymen in Calgary. However, the battles between Team Canada and the home army of WCW (Sting, The Four Horsemen, etc.) were far from over. With September on the horizon, that meant that WarGames was coming up at the annual Fall Brawl event, and a battle between Team Canada and a team of WCW stars led by Sting and Ric Flair inside the steel structure was a natural fit. Team Canada would consist of Bret Hart, Chris Jericho, Lance Storm, and the newly crowned WCW World Tag Team Champions Edge and Christian, who won the belts from The Outsiders on the September 6th edition of Nitro (though they were certainly helped out by members of The Magnificent Seven, who cost The Outsiders the titles). Team WCW was set to be comprised of Sting, Ric Flair, NWA World Heavyweight Champion Chris Benoit, and The Hardy Boyz. However, on the aforementioned September 6th Nitro, Matt Hardy was found laid out backstage, and because of the injuries he sustained in the attack (heavily implied to be done by Team Canada, though we never actually see who did it), that left a whole in Team WCW when he was ruled out for the PPV. That open spot wouldn't remain unfilled for very long, however. In the main event of that September 6th Nitro (the go-home for the PPV), Ric Flair and Sting won their match against Andrew Martin and Bret Hart by DQ when the rest of Team Canada ambushed them. Who should make the save for them, making his return to WCW after almost five years away?
Cactus Jack That's right. Mick Foley, after his move to the WWF led to him becoming one of the biggest names in the wrestling industry, left the WWF in the Summer of 1999, and WCW (being run by me, of course, instead of Eric Bischoff) was quick to sign him. Now, I'm going to be honest with you. The reality of this situation is that, in the actual EWR game, Mick Foley retired in July of 1999, but since he didn't actually retire that point, I was able to capture his stats, and recreate Cactus Jack from one of the many autogenerated rookie wrestlers that pop up every few months. While it wasn't a perfect solution, this makeshift solution worked well enough for me. In terms of the story of this world I'm crafting, everything that happened in the WWF during the lead up to the main event of SummerSlam 1999 still happens as it did in OTL, and Mick Foley still has a brief run with the WWF Title in August (only he holds title for three days instead of one, losing it to Triple H on Wednesday Night SmackDown). The only difference is that, for whatever reason (and you can use your imagination), Mick Foley and Vince McMahon are at odds somehow, and with Foley's contract expiring, he decides not to renew. So about two weeks after Mick Foley headlined SummerSlam as Mankind, and won the WWF Title in a three-way with Steve Austin and Triple H in the main event of one of WWF's biggest shows on the year, he jumps to WCW and was immediately slotted into WarGames at Fall Brawl. Before that, Cactus Jack would actually have his first match back in WCW on the September 9th Thunder in a No DQ against Team Canada's Andrew Martin, which Foley would win. Certainly a major jump from WWF to WCW, and huge moment in the ongoing Monday Night War.
I should also note that the 1999 edition of WarGames saw the debut of a new variation of the infamous structure. Essentially, the actual structure of the cage is made to be a bit more sturdy (both the roof as well as the walls of the cage) while the height of the ceiling is raised by about three feet. I decided to make this change basically to make it more accommodating for high-flyers like Jeff Hardy.
The rest of the card for the Fall Brawl 1999 PPV featured a plethora of title matches. WCW World Heavyweight Champion Goldberg was set to have another unique challenger for this event, in the form of Japanese wrestling legend Genichiro Tenryu who, at this point in WCW, had a loose affiliation with Team Canada, much like Gedo and Jado. Of course, this is mainly due to the connections those three men have with Chris Jericho and Lance Storm through their history in the WAR promotion in Japan. Diamond Dallas Page would reignite his rivalry with Randy Savage (though this time, in the context of The Jersey Triad vs. The Magnificent Seven), with Page putting his WCW United States Title on the line. Meanwhile, Four Horsemen member Steve Corino would be set to defend his WCW World TV Title in a Fatal Four-Way Match against Booker T, The Giant, and Rob Van Dam.
The bottom half of the Fall Brawl card featured even more interesting title bouts. After feuding back and forth for over a month, The Dudley Boyz managed to get a match with 3 Count for the NWA World Tag Team Titles, though it would be in The Dudley Boyz specialty....the Tables Match! Then, an old feud would be reignited, as Masato Tanaka would show up in WCW to go back to war with Mike Awesome, only this time, the WCW Hardcore Title would be at stake. Finally, after also making the jump to WCW (much like Mick Foley did), Sable make her intentions known quickly. She wanted the WCW Women's Title, and she would get her shot against Madusa on this PPV.
Lastly, the PPV lineup was capped off by a pair of grudge matches. One of these was in the form of an Eight-Man Tag, as Kevin Nash and Scott Hall would join nWo Wolfpac stablemates Konnan and Rey Mysterio Jr. to take on the Magnificent Seven. Konnan and Mysterio had already been feuding with the Magnificent Seven (they were involved in the match on WrestleWar 1999), but after putting Hollywood Hogan and Eddie Guerrero firmly behind them, Hall and Nash would back up their stablemates, though it would end up costing them the WCW World Tag Team Titles, as I mentioned earlier. Meanwhile, with the breakup of Hollywood Heat solidified, Hogan and Guerrero were on a collision course of their own, with Eric Bischoff as the Special Guest Referee. It wouldn't be confirmed until after the PPV, but this bout would be the first in a several month long Hollywood Hulk Hogan trial series. Essentially, the storyline is that Rowdy Roddy Piper (who stepped into an Authority Figure role since the last PPV, after "Dr. Death" Steve Williams took out Dusty Rhodes on the August 28th edition of Saturday Night, which led to Williams getting suspended) revealed that Hogan's WCW contract was up at the end of February, and if he wanted to secure his spot in WCW, he would have to win a Best-of-Seven Series, over the course of the next few months, against seven of WCW's biggest rising stars. Again, this match with Hogan and Guerrero on the PPV wasn't labeled as such in real time. Piper would reveal this fact after the PPV.
Elsewhere, I actually do have one title change to make note of (for once), aside from the WCW World Tag Team Title change I mentioned earlier. On the September 11th, 1999 edition of Saturday Night, Lance Storm lost the WCW Cruiserweight Title to Ultimo Dragon, after some interference from Jeff Hardy. This was Ultimo's third reign as WCW Cruiserweight Champion.
Without further ado, let's get into the PPV!!
WCW Fall Brawl 1999
September 12th, 1999 - Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum - Winston-Salem, North Carolina
1.) WCW Women's Title - Sable def. Madusa (c)
2.) Eight-Man Tag - The Magnificent Seven (The Steiner Brothers, Lex Luger, & Buff Bagwell) def. nWo Wolfpac (Kevin Nash, Scott Hall, Konnan, & Rey Mysterio Jr.)
3.) WCW Hardcore Title - Masato Tanaka def. Mike Awesome (c)
4.) NWA World Tag Team Titles - Tag Team Tables Match - The Dudley Boyz def. 3 Count (Shane Helms & Shannon Moore) (c)
5.) WCW World TV Title - Fatal Four-Way Match - Rob Van Dam def. Steve Corino (c), The Giant, & Booker T
6.) WCW United States Title - Diamond Dallas Page (c) def. Randy Savage
7.) WCW World Heavyweight Title - Goldberg (c) def. Genichiro Tenryu
8.) Special Guest Referee: Eric Bischoff - Hollywood Hulk Hogan def. Eddie Guerrero
9.) WarGames - Team WCW (Sting, Ric Flair, NWA World Heavyweight Champion Chris Benoit, Jeff Hardy, & Cactus Jack) def. Team Canada (Bret Hart, Chris Jericho, Lance Storm, and WCW World Tag Team Champions Edge & Christian)
For Fall Brawl 1999, I got an overall score of 83%, which is down only 1% from WrestleWar 1999 the prior month. This does mark the second month in a row where the overall PPV score only dropped by 1%. Match Of The Night honors ended up going to the WarGames Match in the main event, with a score of 91%. I'm sure that has to do with the fact that it was a bout filled with a very strong field of in-ring performers. Just behind that were a slew of matches in the 80% range. The Dudley Boyz winning the NWA World Tag Team Titles from 3 Count in a Tables Match got 89%, while Diamond Dallas Page beating Randy Savage to retain his WCW United States Title got 88%. A little bit further down from that, we had the Four-Way for the WCW World TV Title at 86%, Masato Tanaka beating Mike Awesome for the WCW Hardcore Title at 83%, and the Eight-Man Tag at 82%. Even though most of the card delivered, there were a few matches that didn't end up clicking nearly as well as the others. Goldberg defeating Tenryu to retain the WCW World Heavyweight Title only got 66%, with Hollywood Hulk Hogan vs. Eddie Guerrero got a pretty dismal 58%. Finally, Sable winning the WCW Women's Title from Madusa was the worst match of the night at 57%, though that doesn't necessary surprise me. I could imagine a match between those IRL, at that time, being very bad.
 In terms of the main event, Cactus Jack would win the match for his team, getting his latest WCW tenure off to a great start. This was a very diverse PPV card, in terms of what was on it, and for the most part, it delivered. Obviously some matches fell short, but fortunately, the bulk of the show pulled through. I still can't get over that wild set of WarGames teams, particularly Team WCW. The latter half of 1999 is certainly shaping up to be very interesting, as the march towards Starrcade has begun.
Before Starrcade, however, we've still got two more PPVs to go! Next up, WCW travels to the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas for their annual Halloween tradition....Halloween Havoc!! |
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Post by dxvsnwo1994 on Aug 11, 2021 5:02:41 GMT 1
Part XXII: WCW Halloween Havoc 1999
Well, it's the month of October, which means it's time for WCW's annual Halloween tradition. Outside of all the chaos we've seen in WCW since the Summer of 1998, with the nWo Civil War, the rise of new talents, the emergence of Team Canada, there's been one constant: Goldberg as the WCW World Heavyweight Champion. By the time October of 1999 rolled, Goldberg was closing in on sixteen months since he won the title from Hollywood Hulk Hogan at The Great American Bash 1998, and he hasn't shown any signs of slowing down. In fact, he started to pick up the pace a little bit following a less-than-stellar title defense (based on the ratings the match got, anyway) at Fall Brawl 1999 against Genichiro Tenryu. On the September 13th Nitro, he successfully defending his title in a Triple Threat Match against Kevin Nash and Scott Steiner. Then, a week later on the September 20th Nitro, he defended the title again in another Triple Threat Match, this time against Eddie Guerrero and Hollywood Hulk Hogan. That was followed up by a first-time ever singles bout on the October 4th Nitro, where he defeated the legendary Ric Flair. Meanwhile, a challenger for Halloween Havoc had to be determined. So, a tournament was held, that culminated in a Triple Threat Match on the October 11th Nitro that was won by Diamond Dallas Page. It was a great rebound for Page who, on the September 27th Nitro, lost his WCW United States Title to Eddie Guerrero in a Four-Way Match that also included Booker T and Dean Malenko (Page would beat Guerrero during the tournament to get that win back, though the United States title wasn't on the line). Of course, Diamond Dallas Page unsuccessfully challenged Goldberg for the WCW World Heavyweight Title in the main event of Starrcade 1998, but he was more than ready to get another shot at the undefeated monster. Below are the tournament brackets:
First Round
Diamond Dallas Page def. Boss Man Traylor || Eddie Guerrero def. Bam Bam Bigelow
Chris Jericho def. Booker T || Rob Van Dam def. Andrew Martin
Scott Steiner def. Kevin Nash || Sting def. Randy Savage
Semifinals
Diamond Dallas Page def. Eddie Guerrero || Rob Van Dam def. Chris Jericho || Scott Steiner def. Sting
FinalDiamond Dallas Page def. Rob Van Dam & Scott Steiner
Another big story going into this PPV was the dissension and turmoil within the nWo Wolfpac. Of course, the team of Kevin Nash, Scott Hall, Konnan, and Rey Mysterio Jr. lost to The Magnificent Seven on the Fall Brawl 1999 card, and that continued the losing skid that the group had been on as of late. Not only did Nash lose the aforementioned Triple Threat Match for the WCW World Heavyweight Title on Nitro, but he would then lose in the opening round of the #1 Contender's Tournament (which I just went over) to Scott Steiner. While nothing has really exploded as of yet, there's a clear divide between Kevin Nash/Scott Hall and Konnan/Rey Mysterio Jr. (which makes sense). They attempted to mix of the teams to see if that would change their fortunes, as Kevin Nash would team with Rey Mysterio Jr., while Scott Hall would team with Konnan. The duo of Mysterio and Nash didn't see success at first, but they struck gold (figuratively) on October 16th edition of Saturday Night, as they managed to defeat WCW World TV Champion Rob Van Dam and Sabu, where Sabu ate the fall. After they argued over who should get the title shot at Rob Van Dam, it was eventually agreed upon that they both would get a shot at Rob Van Dam in a Triple Threat Match at the PPV. Can the nWo Wolfpac manage to stay together, or will the continuing tensions further force them apart? This particular bout at the PPV will definitely be a crucial moment in that story.
As I mentioned in my previous post, it was announced that Hollywood Hulk Hogan was being forced to go through a Best-Of-Seven Trial Series with major stakes attached. If he was able to win at least four matches, then his WCW contract would be renewed. However, if he were to lose this Best-Of-Seven Trial Series, he would be forced to leave WCW at the end of his contract (which expires at the end of February). The first bout in that Trial Series was against Eddie Guerrero at Fall Brawl, which he won (though it wasn't revealed as the first bout until after the fact), so he started 1-0. His second match would be against NWA World Heavyweight Champion Chris Benoit in a first-time ever bout, though the NWA World Heavyweight Title wouldn't be on the line. That match ended in a No Contest when Bret Hart ran out and attacked both men. Being put in a bit of a pickle by his longtime friend, Rowdy Roddy Piper ruled that not only would the three men face off in a Triple Threat for the NWA World Heavyweight Title at Halloween Havoc, but now that match would count as Hogan's second Trial Series bout, meaning that he had to win the Ten Pounds Of Gold to go 2-0.
Elsewhere, the Halloween Havoc card was filled with an assortment of different bouts. One match in particular that was sure to be a highlight was Edge and Christian defending their WCW World Tag Team Titles against The Hardy Boyz in a Ladder Match. Of course, this is a play off their Ladder Match from OTL at WWF No Mercy 1999. It still happens in this timeline, at the same time of year, but it happens on a WCW PPV instead. Meanwhile, the Magnificent Seven added a new member to become the Magnificent Eight, as "Dr. Death" Steve Williams joined the fold. A few weeks after Fall Brawl, the group decided to set their sights on Ric Flair and Sting, as well as NWA World Tag Team Champions The Dudley Boyz. Cactus Jack, who was in the middle of having a fun run of first-time matches on television against the likes of LA Park and Little Guido (just weird bouts, but I found them to be fun pairings against Cactus Jack, and easy wins for him as well), would come back up his WarGames teammates in a Six-Man Tag against Dr. Death and The Steiner Brothers (in a match that feels like it's straight out of early 90's WCW), while Lex Luger and The Giant would challenge The Dudley Boyz.
Other title bouts that were set for this card included Mike Awesome getting his rematch against Masato Tanaka for the WCW Hardcore Title in a Falls Count Anywhere Match, and Eddie Guerrero defending the WCW United States Title against Booker T. In terms of title changes that have occurred since Fall Brawl, we actually had some! Aside from the WCW United States Title change that I mentioned earlier, the October 18th edition of Nitro saw the legendary Jushin Thunder Liger capture the WCW Cruiserweight Title from Ultimo Dragon.
Well, I think that covers everything. With all of that taken care of, let's get into the PPV!!
WCW Halloween Havoc 1999
October 24, 1999 - MGM Grand Garden Arena - Las Vegas, Nevada
1.) Four-Way Tag Team Elimination Match - The Thrillseekers (Chris Jericho & Lance Storm) def. Perry Saturn & Raven, nWo Wolfpac (Konnan & Scott Hall), & The Mamalukes (Big Vito & Johnny The Bull)
2.) WCW World TV Title - Triple Threat Match - Rob Van Dam (c) def. Kevin Nash & Rey Mysterio Jr.
3.) WCW Hardcore Title - Falls Count Anywhere Match - Mike Awesome def. Masato Tanaka (c)
4.) WCW World Tag Team Titles - Ladder Match - The Hardy Boyz def. Edge & Christian (c)
5.) WCW United States Title - Eddie Guerrero (c) def. Booker T
6.) NWA World Tag Team Titles - The Dudley Boyz (c) def. The Magnificent Eight (Lex Luger & The Giant)
7.) NWA World Heavyweight Title - Triple Threat Match - Chris Benoit (c) def. Bret Hart & Hollywood Hulk Hogan
8.) Six-Man Tag - Cactus Jack, Ric Flair, & Sting def. The Magnificent Eight (The Steiner Brothers & "Dr. Death" Steve Williams)
9.) WCW World Heavyweight Title - Goldberg (c) def. Diamond Dallas Page
For Halloween Havoc 1999, I got an overall score of 86%. That's up 3% from last month's Fall Brawl 1999 PPV. In a result that should come as a shock to absolutely nobody, Match Of The Night honors went to Edge and Christian vs. The Hardy Boyz in a Ladder Match for the WCW World Tag Team Titles. That bout got a score of 99%, with 98% Crowd Reaction and 100% Match Quality. The next closest match, which was Eddie Guerrero vs. Booker T for the WCW United States Title, got a score of 89%, just to give you an idea of how massive that Ladder Match was for this card. Right behind that bout was Four-Way Tag Team Elimination Match that opened the card, which got an 88% score. Then, two matches tied with a score of 87%, which were Masato Tanaka vs. Mike Awesome in a Falls Count Anywhere Match for the WCW Hardcore Title and the Triple Threat Match for the NWA World Heavyweight Title. So even outside of that incredible Ladder Match, a bunch of other matches also performed pretty well. Three more matches landed in the mid-to-low 80% range. Those were the Triple Threat for the WCW World TV Title at 85%, The Dudley Boyz vs. Lex Luger & The Giant for the NWA World Tag Team Titles at 84%, and the Six-Man Tag at 82%. Surprisingly, the lowest rated bout on the card was the main event, which only scored 79%. Still a very solid score, but just shy of cracking that 80% threshold.
 To recap things relatively quickly, I thought the PPV turned out pretty well. Again, as I said earlier, putting the Edge and Christian/Hardy Boyz Ladder Match on this PPV was totally intentional, as it's meant to parallel what happened in OTL (Alternate History has a funny way of working, sometimes). Meanwhile, that Six-Man Tag in the semi-main event spot really gives off early 90's WCW vibes, doesn't it? At least....I think it does (you tell me). I didn't get to talk about it, but the Four-Way Tag Team Elimination Match at the start of the show was just a match that I threw together between four teams. They were all fun pairings, so I thought it'd make for an interesting match (and when the dust settled, it obviously performed).  I'll close with two notes. Firstly, with Curt Hennig in the middle of a contract dispute with WCW (though he would eventually return) Rick Rude was left without a client to manage. Rude would reveal in October of 1999 that he would be introducing us to his brand new client.....who just so happens to be an Olympic Gold Medalist (hint hint). Secondly, with regards to the Goldberg vs. Diamond Dallas Page main event, I know it's the second time I put that match in the main event of the PPV, but trust me when I say.....it's part of a longer term story that I'm telling with Page. It won't pay off for awhile yet, but it will pay off. That's all for this post covering Halloween Havoc 1999!! Tune in next time, as I go over the card and the events leading up to Blood, Sweat, & Tears II!! |
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Post by dxvsnwo1994 on Aug 16, 2021 16:29:00 GMT 1
In some good news, I've FINALLY updated my Alternate History of WWF thread in the other section of the forums, where (for those who don't know) I essentially try to book WWF with their roster, plus whatever other talents were available, during my time playing as WCW in this particular Extreme Warfare Revenge mod. I just made two posts detailing the last month or so of ECW before the promotion closed its doors. The first post details Heat Wave 1998, while the second post looks at my.....poor attempt (at least in my view, but you guys can be the judge) of booking the final shows of ECW's existence.
bethebooker.net/thread/938/alternate-history-spinoff-wwf-1998
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Post by dxvsnwo1994 on Sept 2, 2021 5:03:36 GMT 1
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Post by dxvsnwo1994 on Sept 5, 2021 2:07:15 GMT 1
Part XXIII: WCW Blood, Sweat, & Tears II
First of all, I apologize for the delay in this latest post. I said I was going to have it up a few days ago, but in hindsight, that was a little too ambitious on my part. It's much easier to do these posts during the day when I'm fully awake, as opposed to closer to midnight, when I'm getting ready to pass out.
Anyway, the penultimate WCW PPV of 1999 sees the company make their second trip to Canada for a major event. This time, however, they're heading to the Eastern side of Canada, as the the second edition of Blood, Sweat, & Tears takes place in the Air Canada Centre in Toronto. Of course, with this PPV being in Canada, it would be foolish to not heavily feature Canadian wrestlers on this card. The main event sees Chris Benoit defending the NWA World Heavyweight Title in an Iron-Man Match against Bret Hart. Ironically, this exact match (minus the Iron-Man stipulation) was the main event of the WCW PPV on this same date from OTL.....Mayhem. Chris Benoit (and the rest of The Four Horsemen, really) have been feuding with Team Canada all year long, and (at least for Benoit) this match is really the culmination of that. Speaking of The Four Horsemen vs. Team Canada, we have another bout on this card that features that particular feud, as Chris Jericho and Lance Storm (with Don Callis in their corner) team up to take on Ric Flair and Steve Corino (with Arn Anderson in their corner). Corino came into The Four Horsemen earlier in the year, and although he had a run with the WCW World TV Title during the Summer, there's been some simmering tension with Corino and the rest of the group since then. Nothing major, but Corino is starting to get a little bit frustrated with his position at this point.
In a piece of significant news, we saw a major jump from WWF to WCW since the last PPV, as former ECW World Heavyweight Champion Taz. He had been picked up by the WWF following the closure of ECW at the end of August 1998, and was with the company for a little over a year. While there, Taz won the WWF Intercontinental Title, the WWF Hardcore Title and held the WWF World Tag Team Titles with The Sandman. It was simply an issue of Taz deciding not to re-sign with WWF (his booking didn't help WWF's attempt to keep him), and he decided to make the jump to WCW. Now I know he's in a promotion with a lot of bigger guys (at least towards the main event scene), so I thought the best move was to start him off in a feud with Eddie Guerrero over the WCW United States Title. Certainly a notable jump from WWF to WCW, and certainly not the last....*hint hint*
Outside of the main event, there are titles on the line all over this card. In the semi-main event spot, Goldberg is defending the WCW World Heavyweight Title in a Fatal Four-Way Match against Diamond Dallas Page, Scott Steiner, and Sting. Now the story here is that these failed in their efforts to win the title from Goldberg, and that actually plays into the stipulation. If Goldberg managed to retain his title, then whoever he pinned would no longer be able to challenge for the WCW World Heavyweight Title, as long as Goldberg is champion. I actually borrowed this from Ring Of Honor, who have used a similar stipulation as part of their Defy Or Deny Match. Another significant title bout sees The Hardy Boyz defend their WCW World Tag Team Titles in a Four-Way Tag Team Elimination Match. One of the teams involved is Edge and Christian, who have been feuding with The Hardy Boyz all year long. The other two teams are from the nWo Wolfpac, and at this point, we've finally got the full-on fighting between The Outsiders and the Konnan/Rey Mysterio Jr. duo. Nash and Hall fully turned heel on Konnan and Mysterio on the Nitro following Halloween Havoc. Since then, both teams had gotten themselves in contention in the tag team ranks, and thus, they're in the title bout on this PPV.
Meanwhile, Hollywood Hulk Hogan's Best-Of-Seven Trial Series continues forward, and with that, I actually to issue correction on my previous post. The Triple Threat Match for the NWA World Heavyweight Title at Halloween Havoc with Chris Benoit defending against Bret Hart and Hollywood Hulk Hogan actually didn't count towards Hogan's record in the Trial Series. The bout between Benoit and Hogan on TV, which ended in a No Contest after Hart attacked both men, didn't count since the match didn't have a winner. Since the Trial Series only constitutes of one-on-one matches, the aforementioned Triple Threat doesn't count towards that. So Hogan was still 1-0 coming out of Halloween Havoc. However, Hogan would suffer his first loss when he fell to Bret Hart in a #1 Contender's Match on the October 25th edition of Nitro. Hogan's next opponent on PPV would be none other than Rob Van Dam, and whether or not his WCW World TV Title would be on the line in that bout would depend on if Hogan could defeat his third opponent in the Trial Series....Sabu. Yes, that's right. Hogan and Sabu had a match on the November 18th Thunder, and Hogan emerged victorious, meaning his fourth Trial Series bout would be for the WCW World TV Title.
Elsewhere on the card, Mike Awesome and Masato Tanaka have their final encounter on the Blood, Sweat, & Tears PPV, as a Last Man Standing Match for the WCW Hardcore Title would finally settle the score between the two rivals. As for the WCW Cruiserweight Title, another new signee to WCW....Yoshihiro Tajiri....had been on a winning streak since his debut, and he would go on to win a Cruiserweight Battle Royal on the November 15th Nitro to secure a shot at Jushin Thunder Liger. Managed by the sinister James Vanderberg, Tajiri is certainly a threat to take the Cruiserweight Title from the Liger. Finally, The Dudley Boyz have been continuing to feud with The Magnificent Eight. They lost the NWA World Tag Team Titles to The Steiner Brothers on the November 1st Nitro in a Triple Threat Tag Team Match that also involved 3 Count. While Scott Steiner was preoccupied with the WCW World Heavyweight Title scene, The Dudley Boyz would get a Six-Man Tag against The Magnificent Eight on this PPV, as Bubba Ray, D-Von, and Spike would take on Buff Bagwell, Lex Luger, and Scott Norton.
With no other notes in terms of title bouts, let's dive straight into the PPV!!
WCW Blood, Sweat, & Tears II
November 21st, 1999 - Air Canada Centre - Toronto, Ontario, Canada
1.) Six-Man Tag - The Dudley Boyz def. The Magnificent Eight (Buff Bagwell, Lex Luger, & Scott Norton)
2.) WCW Cruiserweight Title - Yoshihiro Tajiri (with James Vanderberg) def. Jushin Thunder Liger (c)
3.) The Thrillseekers (Chris Jericho & Lance Storm with Don Callis) def. The Four Horsemen (Ric Flair & Steve Corino with Arn Anderson)
4.) WCW United States Title - Taz def. Eddie Guerrero (c)
5.) WCW Hardcore Title - Last Man Standing - Mike Awesome (c) def. Masato Tanaka
6.) WCW World Tag Team Title - Four-Way Tag Team Elimination Match - Edge & Christian def. The Hardy Boyz (c), The Outsiders (Kevin Nash & Scott Hall), and Konnan & Rey Mysterio Jr.
7.) WCW World TV Title - Rob Van Dam (c) def. Hollywood Hulk Hogan
8.) WCW World Heavyweight Title - Fatal Four-Way Match - Goldberg (c) def. Diamond Dallas Page, Scott Steiner, & Sting
9.) NWA World Heavyweight Title - Iron-Man Match - Bret Hart def. Chris Benoit (c)
For Blood, Sweat, & Tears II, I got an overall score of 87%, which is up a tick from Halloween Havoc 1999 in October at 86%. Once again, Chris Jericho earned yet another Match Of The Night honor, as his tag team match with Lance Storm against The Four Horsemen duo of Ric Flair and Steve Corino scored an incredible 95%. That bout was followed by four others that scored in the low 90% range. Taz beating Eddie Guerrero for the WCW United States title got 93%, Edge and Christian regaining the WCW World Tag Team Titles in a Four-Way Tag Team Elimination Match got 92%, and the main event Iron-Man Match for the NWA World Heavyweight Title between Bret Hart and Chris Benoit scored 91%. From there, we got a couple of matches that scored in the mid-to-high 80% range. The Fatal Four-Way for the WCW World Heavyweight Title got 87%, while both Jushin Thunder Liger vs. Yoshihiro Tajiri for the WCW Cruiserweight Title and Mike Awesome vs. Masato Tanaka in a Last Man Standing Match for the WCW Hardcore Title came in with an 85% score. The remaining two bouts did end up in the 70% range. The opening Six-Man Tag got a 77% score, while Rob Van Dam retaining the WCW World TV Title over Hollywood Hulk Hogan got a 71% score. So ultimately, the PPV was carried by some very high-end bouts (four in the 90% range), with seven of the nine matches scored above 85%.
 This was a very big night for Team Canada. Bret Hart regained the NWA World Heavyweight Title, Edge and Christian regained the WCW World Tag Team Titles, and The Thrillseekers picked up a big win over Ric Flair in a tag team bout. As for the rest of the card, we saw more new champions crowned in the form of Taz (winning the WCW United States Title) and Yoshihiro Tajiri (winning the WCW Cruiserweight Title). Meanwhile, Rob Van Dam retaining his title over Hollywood Hulk Hogan, which dropped Hogan to a 2-2 record in his Trial Series.
As for the WCW World Heavyweight Title bout, the loser of the fall would end up being.....Diamond Dallas Page. Yes, you read that right. Diamond Dallas Page can no longer challenge for the WCW World Heavyweight Title as long as Goldberg is champion. That would have bigger storyline ramifications down the road, so keep an eye out on that.
That's it for Blood, Sweat, & Tears II!! Up next is WCW's biggest show of the year.....Starrcade!! Keep an eye out for the next post, as WCW looks to close out 1999 with a bang. |
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