wrestlingsuicide

Goldust is still there. But Vince and company are repackaging him.

Royal Rumble '98

Show Rating:73

PPV Buyrate: 0.86

• Lightheavyweight Title: Brian Christopher def. Taka Michinoku, Mr. Aguila (M:79 C:48 O:63)
  • The PPV opens with a Light-heavyweight Title match. It's a triangle match, first person to get a pinfall/submission wins.
  • JR notes that Christopher looks solid tonight, and that he bears a striking resemblance to King. Lawler rebuffs the statement and just stays that Brian is one heck of a wrestler.
  • Good high-flying match, but several botched spots simply didn't click with the crowd.
  • Christopher won the title by hitting a legdrop on Taka as he was covering Aguila, after taka hit Aguila with the Michinoku driver. Brian Christopher covers Aguila for the three-count and the title win.
  • Jerry Lawler is ecstatic, calling BC as the next big WWF Superstar.
• Jeff Jarrett arrives (Rating:79)
  • The feed cuts backstage, and Jeff Jarrett is seen arriving. He's got a bandage wrapped around his head, but other than that it seems like he's ready for tonight.
• Legion of Doom Interview (Rating:66)
  • Hawk and Animal are backstage. Hawk looks like he could use a shot of perk-it.
  • They go through the motions of running down the New Age Outlaws, ending with Hawk's trademark "Whaaaaaat a ruuuuush". Bleh. Crowd wasn't too into it.
• WWF Tag Team Titles: New Age Outlaws def. Legion of Doom (M:52 C:75 O:68)
  • Jesse Jammes does his announcing bit. Yay. It went nicely with the crowd.
  • Hawk and Animal practically no-selled every move the Outlaws made.
  • Road Dogg hits Hawk with a steel chair while the ref wasn't looking. Gunn hits a Fameasser and pins Hawk for the win.
  • LOD then fights back and scares off the Outlaws, who run backstage with the titles.
• DX Interview (Rating:93)
  • Shawn Michaels and Hunter are backstage, Michaels reminds everyone of what happened at RAW.
  • The demeanor of both men has changed, more serious... more menacing.
  • Hunter says that tonight, Jarrett won't know what hit him.
  • Michaels goes on to say that things change, and DX was the catalyst of change in the WWF, Jarrett was nothing more but a man who's stuck with the old times.
  • HBK then says that tonight, the only tradition that Jarrett will be feeling, is his superkick... one foot down his throat.
• Intercontinental Title: Ken Shamrock def. Rocky Maivia (M:90 C:81 O:85)
  • Shamrock and Rocky get nice fan reaction. Rocky is getting over as a heel, which is good. Shamrock might finally have found his calling.
  • Rocky is accompanied by Farooq himself
  • Great match, Rocky was selling Shamrocks moves like crazy, making Shamrock look solid.
  • Shamrock hit an amazing overhead belly-to-belly suplex, that got the crowd roaring.
  • Rocky mounted a comeback, and even hit his patented Maivia Elbow, with the crowd reacting nicely.
  • Rocky goes for a modified Uranage, which Jim Ross calls the "Rock Bottom". Shamrock counters and rolls into the ankle lock.
  • The referee starts asking Rocky if he quits, Farooq promptly jumps in and attacks Shamrock. This gives him the DQ win, but Rocky retains the title.
  • Shamrock snaps and goes into TERMINATOR mode and slaughters Farooq. Rocky rolls out of the ring, sees the leader of NOD trapped in the ankle lock and decides he wants none of it.
  • Shamrock finishes off Farooq and throws him outside, he then poses for the crowd with that crazed look on his face.
• WWF Title: Shawn Michaels def. Jeff Jarrett (M:87 C:86 O:86)
  • Michaels is out with HHH and Chyna. The crowd gives them an earful, booing and jeering.
  • Jarrett is out, the fans give a half-hearted cheer for JJ.
  • Match starts with good solid wrestling holds, lock-ups and armbars.
  • It spills outside and HHH and Chyna get involved. Michaels distracts the referee as HHH beats up on Jarrett.
  • Back in the ring, and Michaels asserts his dominance.
  • Jarrett mounts a comeback. The fans get behind him.
  • A lot of tease-pinfalls and two-counts from Jarrett.
  • Jarrett goes for the Figure-Four... but HHH gets on the apron. The ref admonishes HHH. Chyna sneaks in from behind with a chair, but before she swings, Jarrett manages to stop her, and take the chair away. JJ turns around, WHAM. Superkick from Michaels drops him.
  • Michaels covers for the three-count and retains the title.
• Kane wins the Royal Rumble (M:69 C:48 O:58)
  • The Fink informs everyone of how the rumble is going to go down. 2 Superstars start, 1 Superstar every 2:00, Elimination if both feet touch the floor.
  • #1 is D'lo Brown. #2 is Marc Mero.
  • We go through the motions, wrestlers getting tossed in, and tossed out.
  • Both LOD members are in, Road Dogg and Billy Gunn gets eliminated. LOD get eliminated by Kurrgan.
  • It takes seven men to eliminate Kurrgan.
  • NOD have not been elminated yet, They've still got D'Lo, Kama, and Farooq.
  • Entries #15-#21 are all members of Los Boricuas and DOA. Great.
  • Mero and D'Lo are still in the match 2/3 through.
  • The 22nd entrant comes up. The lights suddenly go dark. The crowd starts cheering, maybe it's the Undertaker?
  • Bright red fireworks explode from the ringposts and the ramp. The piano music starts playing, and out walks Paul Bearer with Kane.
  • Jim Ross sells this as one of the biggest things in the WWF since Hogan. Kane has not been seen since his "brother" disappeared from the WWF a couple of months ago.
  • Kane jumps in and immediately clears the ring of all the fodder, DOA and Boricuas are gone.
  • People start ganging up on Kane, specifically the NOD.
  • #29 is Ken Shamrock. Booyah. He's still ON and begins to help Kane against the NOD.
  • Mero and D'Lo Brown eliminate each other, at about 59 minutes.
  • Rocky finally arrives and takes his pretty little time before making it to the ring.
  • Final Four: Ken Shamrock / Kane / Farooq / Rocky
  • Farooq goes toe-to-toe with Kane, exchanging punches.
  • Shamrock goes BERZERK on Rocky.
  • Shamrock gets eliminated by Rocky, who wisely pulls down on the ropes as Shamrock attempted a running clothesline.
  • Farooq and Rocky start double-teaming Kane, which works.
  • Rocky then tries to double-cross Farooq and eliminate him, but fails. Farooq and Rocky then start arguing. Shoves are exchanged.
  • Kane comes from out of nowhere and hits a double-clothesline that sends both NOD members outside.
  • JR is having a seizure... KANE WINS! KANE WINS! KANE WINS!
  • Crowd was put to sleep by the early part of the Rumble, finish wasn't good enough to stage a solid comeback with the crowd, however.
  • We get a final shot of Kane in the ring as JR and Lawler sign off.

Deleted Grisham, put in Michael Cole and Kevin Kelly as announcers, I might adjust their stats a bit. Cole is in the low 40's and Kelly in the low 50's. Might bump them up to 80 a piece.

WWF Shotgun Saturday Night

Show Rating: 57

TV Rating: 0.05

• Brian Christopher interview (Rating:61)
  • Cole opens the show with Brian Christopher in the studio. Christopher acts like a total jerk, talking about how he's the next big thing in the WWF.
  • Brian says that tommorow night at the Rumble, not only is he walking out at the Lightheavyweight Champ, but as the Royal Rumble winner.
  • Cole wishes Brian luck and segues into the match
• The Godwinns def. 8-Ball & Skull (M:58 C:51 O:54)
  • Basic tag-team brawl. Pretty slow however. Crowd really didn't get into it that much, but the Goddwinns manage to win via a Slop Drop from Henry.
• Nation Interview (Rating:85)
  • Cole introduces a taped interview from the Nation of Domination
  • Farooq is with Rock, D'Lo Brown, Mark Henry and Kama Mustafa. He starts talking about the Royal Rumble and how the Nation is going to DOMINATE the event.
  • He fires off names, D'Lo, Mark Henry, Kama and himself. Then, Rocky takes the microphone away.
  • Rock goes on and starts talking about how it didn't matter that his Nation members weren't able to stop Shamrock, that he would still beat him down at the Rumble. This of course, irks D'Lo, Henry and Kama, who stare at Rocky from behind.
  • Rocky then says that at the Rumble, only one man will survive and that man, is #30 himself, Rocky Maivia.
  • Farooq then takes the mic from Rocky and stares him down. Rocky backs off, with a cocky smile.
  • Farooq says that it doesn't matter who survives, as long as it's one of the Nation members. With that, the interview ends.
• Marc Mero def. Savio Vega (M:73 C:68 O:70)
  • Mero gets off to a hot start, and takes over the match.
  • Savio is able to keep up with Mero and even teases a comeback finish, but Mero manages to hit the Mero-sault and pin him for the three-count.
• Recap of DX beating down JJ (Rating:83)
  • We get a recap of the beating that Jeff Jarrett took at the hands of DX last Monday night.
  • Cole says that Jarrett WILL be at the Rumble, despite the concussion he suffered from being beaten down by DX.
  • Cole runs through the card for the Rumble, and plugs it before signing off.

Royal Rumble '98 Card

January 11, 1998

• Lightheavyweight Title: Taka Michinoku © vs. Brian Christopher vs. Mr. Aguila
• WWF Tag Team Titles: New Age Outlaws © vs. Legion of Doom
• Intercontinental Title: Rocky Maivia © vs. Ken Shamrock
• WWF Title: Shawn Michaels © vs. Jeff Jarrett
• Royal Rumble: 30 Superstars, the winner getting a title shot at WrestleMania XIV

Okay show but felt more built up to the Rumble was needed. I'd say the main even is in a decent place but we only have 4 announced matches. The Rumble doesn't even have any clear participants and deifnitely no favourites to get pumped about. Maybe some more should have been mentioned in your backstory during the month of December? Anyway, I'm very curious to what will happen at the Rumble. Hopefully, some build up happens at Shotgun.

I used Grisham cause he's here on the roster. As for the small details, I'm using a modified 1998 scenario, so I'd assumed most of it was correct. Mark Henry was already part of the Nation in late 1997, I believe. It was during that time that the Austin-Rocky feud happened wherein Austin threw Rocky's IC belt over the bridge. Farooq is still around, but Rocky was walking like he owned the NOD since he was IC.

WWF Monday Night RAW - Jan. 5, 1998

Show Rating: 75

RAW TV Rating: 5.08

Nitro TV Rating: 6.07

• Vince McMahon w/ Rocky Maivia (Rating:95)
  • Vince McMahon walks out at the top of the show, amid boos from the crowd, and says that he has an announcement for tonight regarding the Royal Rumble.
  • The Nation's music hits, and out walks Rocky Maivia, complete with eyebrow and the IC Title. He tells Vince that he knows he's out here to announce who the 30th entrant in the Rumble is, and that it is going to be Rocky.
  • Vince commends the Rock for having the initiative, but says that if he wants to be #30, he'll have to fight for it, in a 10-man Battle Royale Tonight.
  • Rocky says no problem, raises the eyebrow and says that he's going to start whooping ass tonight. Crowd boos.
• WWF Light-heavyweight Title: Taka Michinoku def. Mr. Aguila (M:69 C:43 O:56)
  • Taka wins the lack-luster match, not the best of both men.
• DX spoofs Double J (Rating:89)
  • Shawn Michaels, HHH and Chyna walk out. Michaels and HHH are wearing cowboy hats and suits similar to the former Double J gimmick.
  • Michaels starts talking about not being able to sing, that why they hired Chyna to sing for them. Chyna sings horribly. HORRIBLY.
  • HHH says that he is the J-E-DOUBLE F J-A-DOUBLE R-E-DOUBLE T whose A-DOUBLE S is about to get K-I-C-K-E-D.
  • Michaels says that Jarret will not win at the Rumble, HHH says that he's going to cripple Jarrett tonight. They want Jarrett to, two words... "SUCK IT!"
• Marc Mero def. Barry Windham (M:64 C:66 O:65)
  • A face Mero wins against a heel Windham in a simple match. Mero got the crowd's attention, if only we can channel that into the storylines.
• New Age Outlaws Interview (Rating:69)
  • Jesse Jammes and Billy Gunn talk about the Legion of Doom and how they defeated them at In Your House. They say that at the Royal Rumble, the results will be the same.
  • Road Dogg does his first Michael Buffer impression as he calls themselves as the "TAG TEAM CHAMPIONS OF THE WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOORLD!"
• Legion of Doom def. Quebecers (M:73 C:73 O:72)
  • LOD squashes the Quebecers in a quick match. The crowd got pumped for this one.
• 10-Man Battle Royal (M:65 C:67 O:61)
  • 10-man battle royal, The Rock is probably the only guy of note to join the Battle Royale.
  • Rocky starts throwing people left and right. It finally comes down to him and Marc Mero.
  • Rocky hits the Rock Bottom, and the People's Elbow... that gets nothing from the crowd. He grabs Mero and throws him over the top rope to win #30 at the Rumble.
• Rock Maivia interview (Rating:85)
  • Backstage, Maivia is being interviewed. He is asked about Ken Shamrock's match tonight.
  • Farooq shows up and tells Maivia to watch out because Shamrock is going to do his best to win tonight.
  • Rocky says that Shamrock isn't going to win, and that he has complete trust in D'Lo and Mark Henry. He says that he's out for the night, he's going to celebrate #30.
  • Farooq says that Rocky might be the IC Champ, but he's still the leader of the NOD. Tonight, Shamrock gets his.
• Ken Shamrock def. Mark Henry & D'Lo Brown (M:70 C:67 O:68)
  • Shamrock gets good crowd reaction. Henry and D'Lo don't.
  • Henry and D'Lo control the match for the better part, until Shamrock goes into TERMINATOR mode and lays waste to both men.
  • Shamrock wins via an ankle lock on Mark Henry. Kama Mustafa runs in, but Shamrock manages to clear the ring of everybody.
  • Farooq appears on the ramp, looking like he's going to run in... but he changes his mind and smiles.
• Jeff Jarrett interview (Rating:74)
  • A taped interview of Jarrett is played
  • JJ talks about his previous character, breaking kayfabe a bit, and starts talking about being a part of the wrestling business.
  • He says that his father was one of the hardest working men he knew.
  • JJ says that when he came back to the WWF he wanted to bring back whatever good was left in the indusrty.
  • Jarrett talks about being ready for Helmsley tonight, and being ready for Michaels this Sunday at the Royal Rumble.
  • He says that Michaels is a punk and that punks get what's coming to them.
  • Jarrett talks about his father, and how much the business means to him and his family, and to see DX spit on everything... it insults him.
  • Jarrett promises to bring tradition back to the WWF.
• Jeff Jarrett def. Hunter Hearst Helmsley (M:89 C:78 O:83)
  • Good overall match between JJ and HHH. Letter everywhere.
  • Chyna gets sent to the back after trying to interfere.
  • Jarrett goes on a roll and manages to take over the match. He goes for the front side-russian legsweep and connects.
  • JJ doesn't see Michaels sneaking up from behind him. JJ turns around, and WHAM. Superkick right on the kisser. Jarrett drops like a rock. DQ win for JJ.
  • Michaels starts unloading fists on JJ's forehead while HHH holds him up. JJ is practically unconscious right now. JJ's bleeding.
  • HHH holds Jarrett up again, WHAM. Superkick #2.
  • HHH props JJ on the turnbuckle... WHAM. Superkick #3. Jarrett is obviously out and might require medical attention. Paramedics start running to the ring, but HHH starts throwing fists and they aren't able to get in.
  • Michaels and HHH start doing crotch chops at the fallen JJ. The assault began with the fans cheering Michaels for silencing the do-gooding JJ, but now the fans are shocked at Michael's viciousness. Jim Ross calls Michaels a no good bastard, says that JJ might be in no condition to fight this Sunday and the show goes off the air.

Whoops. Accidentally used my dummy profile (created a couple of days ago), I found out that my old one still works. Must have not logged out.

WWF Sunday Night Heat - Jan. 4, 1998

Show Rating: 72

TV Rating: 5.41

• Brian Cristopher def. Mr. Aguila (M:70 C:46 O:58)
  • Cole and Shane welcome us to Heat, and quickly open the show with a Lightweight match.
  • Christopher got nice heel heat, but Aguila was basically a non-factor to the crowd. Nice match, could have been better. Christopher used a low blow to grab the win against Aguila.
• Stone Cold Interview (Rating:90)
  • We get a recap of Stone Cold's interview from Shotgun
• The New Age Outlaws def. The Can-Am Express (M:83 C:57 O:70)
  • The announcer calls Road Dogg and Badd Ass as the New Age Outlaws, hoping that it would stick with the fans. Good overall match, as both teams seemed to work well off of each other. The Outlaws win after Billy Gunn hit a Rocker Dropper off the top rope, with Michael Cole calling it as a "Fame-asser"
• Jeff Jarrett Interview (Rating:80)
  • Same interview from Shotgun
• Jeff Jarrett def. Bart Gunn (M:75 C:64 O:69)
  • Jarrett goes up against a heel Bart Gunn. Jarrett is looking well in the ring, although the crowd is still on the fence wether they'll buy his character or not.
  • Jarret nails Gunn with a front side-russian legsweep and then cinches in the Figure Four leg-lock to grab the win.
• DX Interview (Rating:95)
  • Same interview from Shotgun
• Ken Shamrock def. Kama Mustafa (M:69 C:69 O:68 )
  • Kama is with D'Lo Brown in this match. The Nation loves sending in their boys during their matches. Shamrock is cautious.
  • Shamrock and Kama go through the motions of a nice match, but nothing jumps out to spruce up the crowd. Shamrock manages to lock in the ankle-lock to win the match.
  • After the match, D'Lo jumps in, but Shamrock promptly fights him. It's 2-on-1 right now, and Shamrock clears the ring of everyone. Bravo.
• Rocky Maivia interview (Rating:90)
  • Rocky shows up on the ramp and starts talking about hearing rumors in the back that Shamrock wants a title shot. Shamrock nods and starts pointing at Rocky. Rock smiles, does an eyebrow and says that he's going to give Shamrock that chance... IF he beats two Nation members tommorow night on RAW.
  • Michael Cole hypes up the handicap match tommorow night involving Shamrock and the Nation, and the show ends.

WWF Shotgun Saturday Night - Jan. 3, 1998

Show Rating: 66

TV Rating: 0.04

• Jeff Jarrett Interview (Rating:79)
  • Todd Grisham opens the show with big news and says that the WWF board has just granted Jeff Jarrett a title shot against Shawn Michaels at the Royal Rumble. Grisham plugs the Rumble, set on Jan. 11, 1998. Grisham then plays an interview of Jarrett taped during the week.
  • Jarrett says that Michaels may have driven Hart out of the WWF, but he has not driven tradition out. He says that he's here to bring tradition back to the WWF and that Michaels and DX will learn first-hand what tradition is all about.
• The Legion of Doom def. Recon & Sniper (M:63 C:63 O:62)
  • Animal and Hawk defeat the Truth Commission, and even thwart an attempted interference by the big giant Kurrgan. Good old fun, fun, fun for the family.
• Stone Cold Interview (Rating:84)
  • Todd Grisham then says that Steve Austin is on the line, live from Texas where he is recuperating after suffering a big injury during In Your House.
  • Austin says that he's feeling better, and hopefully will be back in the ring soon. he says that he's looking forward to raising some hell back in the WWF, and when he gets back the first person on his list would be Rocky Maivia.
• Rocky Maivia def. Flash Funk (M:78 C:70 O:74)
  • Rocky gets lukewarm reaction from the crowd. But he makes short work of Flash Funk. D-Lo Brown and Mark Henry are at ringside, and they help Rocky beat Funk up after the match. Maivia holds the IC Title up high as the match ends.
• DX Interview (Rating:95)
  • Grisham then says that DX is none too pleased with the title shot that Jarrett's getting. He then says that DX has the following to say, and goes into a taped segment.
  • Shawn Michaels and Hunter are with Chyna and they start talking about how they ran Bret Hart out of the WWF, and how they're going to run Jarrett out of the WWF. Michaels makes some ridiculous comments about Jarrett and his inability to "play with the big boys", breaking kayfabe a bit, making referrence to Jarrett's leaving WCW. Hunter then says that Jarrett won't last a minute in the ring with him, let alone Shawn. DX has two words for Jarrett... "SUCK IT!!!"

My previous laptop crashed. So, no more NWA. this has been an idea I've been tinkerin with for a long time. So bear with me as I take my time in writing this diary. Don't expect daily updates. I don't want to disappoint people anymore.

THE MONTREAL SCREWJOB

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montreal_Screwjob

History

In October 1996, Bret Hart signed an unprecedented 20-year contract with the WWF after considering, then rejecting, a very lucrative offer from the WWF's main rival, World Championship Wrestling. Hart had been with and had remained loyal to the WWF since 1984, and had emerged from wrestling mainly in tag teams to become a popular and respected singles star. Between 1991 and 1996, Hart won the WWF Championship three times and the Intercontinental Title twice. He also won the 1993 King of the Ring tournament, was named WWF Superstar of the Year in 1993 and was joint winner of the 1994 Royal Rumble alongside Lex Luger. The contract he signed in 1996 called for him to wrestle three more years with the WWF and then complete his career in a behind-the-scenes writing and booking position. Both sides felt that it was a suitable and appropriate expression of Hart's loyalty to the WWF and its loyalty to him.

However, by the middle of 1997, the WWF was in serious financial straits, due mainly to WCW taking over as North America's #1 pro wrestling promotion. WWF owner and chairman Vince McMahon informed Hart that he wished to withdraw from the contract and he encouraged him to again seek employment with WCW. However, as soon as the deal was in place, and at the last minute, suddenly McMahon claimed that he could pay out the whole contract as signed, and wanted Hart to stay. However, when asked about his plans for Hart's "Hitman" character, giving McMahon an option to entice Hart with interesting story ideas, the ideas put out by Vince made it clear to Hart that he was not part of McMahon's longterm plans, and he elected to sign with WCW. At this time, Bret was still the WWF Champion, having won the belt for a fifth time that August from The Undertaker.

On November 1, 1997, Hart verbally agreed to a $3m a year contract with WCW. As part of his WWF contract, Hart had complete creative control over his character in the last days of his WWF tenure. Therefore, he had the final say over what he would and would not do and say.

He also had two major caveats: He would not lose his WWF Title to Shawn Michaels, and he certainly would not lose it in his home country of Canada. The legitimate backstage ill-feeling between Hart and Michaels, which had been bubbling for years, meant that neither man was willing to lose face in or out of the ring to the other, but they agreed to work together for the sake of the business. Hart and Michaels, back then, had radically different lifestyles and attitudes out of the ring and had clashed previously. One such incident was provoked when Michaels claimed that Hart was sleeping with WWF valet Sunny, which lead to a physical confrontation between the two. The relationship between both men was very rocky at best, Hart having been angered about how much booking power The Clique (Kliq) had gained during the mid 1990s. At WrestleMania XII Michaels beat Hart for the WWF Championship. Michaels was supposed to return the favor in WrestleMania 13, he however refused to lose to Hart which saw Michaels get written out of the storylines although he did appear at WrestleMania 13. Michaels simply wouldn't lose to Hart and as a result, Hart wouldn't lose to Michaels.

McMahon began seeking a way to transition the title off of Hart. Michaels was booked as the #1 contender to Hart's title in the fall of 1997 however. Of course, Hart took immediate issue with the idea that he would lose the title to Michaels, in Montreal, at the Survivor Series PPV event on November 9, 1997. He did not believe that Michaels would have offered a loss in return had he stayed in the WWF, and moreover he did not want to lose to Michaels in Canada. Hart had offered to forfeit the belt, but McMahon was insistent that the belt would go to Michaels at the PPV in Montreal.

McMahon tentatively agreed to end the match in Montreal with a planned disqualification finish, which would involve various cohorts of both Hart and Michaels running in and disrupting the match. McMahon then told Hart he could either make a live speech on the November 10, 1997 edition of Raw and then hand the belt back, or he could lose the title in a match on December 7, 1997 at the PPV scheduled for Springfield, Massachusetts. After much negotiation, Hart agreed to hand the belt back on Raw.

The Setup

The Wednesday before Survivor Series, Vince McMahon devised what would become the Montreal Screwjob. As Gerald Brisco sat in a hotel room showing Michaels how to defend himself against Bret attempting to shoot on him (hit him for real), Vince decided that he had no alternative other than to make sure that he left the Survivor Series with Shawn as champion.

On the day of Survivor Series, Bret and Vince sat in a room and discussed the different possibilities. Vince seemed to agree to everything that Bret wanted to do, knowing full well that he was never going to fulfill it anyway. Bret left feeling a little more relaxed, despite being warned by several wrestlers (including Vader, who was a veteran of the Japanese scene and knew the prospect of a screwjob could be looming) never to let himself be pinned for more than a count of 1 or be on his back for too long.

However, Hart was deeply aware of the possibility of a last-minute change of plan behind his back and, fearing a double-cross, went as far as asking the match's referee Earl Hebner to swear an oath on his children's lives that he would not participate in such an incident. Hebner shook on this. The match script given to Hart on the day detailed the planned disqualification finish. Shawn would put Bret in the Sharpshooter, and Bret would reverse, only for D-Generation X and The Hart Foundation to run down for a big brawl to end the match. This would then lead into the title being dropped and Bret being free to leave for WCW.

During the match, after an arena-wide brawl before the match had even officially started, Hart allowed Michaels to place him in the Sharpshooter, his famous finishing leglock hold. Michaels then gave Hart his foot to reverse the hold, but clamped down the pressure at the same time. McMahon, positioned at ringside, elbowed the timekeeper and screamed at him to "Ring the fucking bell!" Hebner then signalled to the timekeeper as if Hart had submitted to the hold and Michaels was quickly awarded the match and the title as his theme music began to play. Hebner rapidly ran backstage from the ring, allegedly to a waiting car. This is a very extreme example of a screwjob (hence the term Montreal Screwjob) as well as a shoot event.

Astounded by the unexpected turn of events, Hart was immediately outraged. He stood dazed in the ring as Michaels walked backstage to a cascade of garbage from fans. Michaels himself was told to act even more outraged than Hart, because if he didn't, they feared that Hart may have attacked him and pummelled him for real again (he had done so earlier in the year backstage at a Raw taping), which would have been bad for business if their new champion had been beaten to a pulp on live PPV by the leaving participant. Bret spat at McMahon, hitting him in the eye, and shortly after also destroyed several TV monitors at ringside before climbing the turnbuckles and signing the letters "WCW" to the rabid crowd. Backstage, after cooling off, he learned that many of the other wrestlers were outraged and were forcefully pressuring the now-in-hiding McMahon to face up to Hart (Hart even proclaimed to his wife, "The piece of shit's locked himself up in his office"). Hart's son was physically upset at what had happened and his wife laid a verbal onslaught onto Triple H (whom she rightfully believed knew about the whole thing), while The Undertaker confronted McMahon and demanded that he meet with Hart face-to-face. McMahon went to see Hart, and the incident ended up as a physical confrontation in the Montreal locker rooms. After McMahon tried to apologize to Hart, he was told to get out or get punched in the face. McMahon refused to leave, and got punched in the face. With Shane and Brisco also there, one of them trampled onto Vince's ankle by accident and broke it. He was carried out, somewhat dazed and unaware of his surroundings, in a scene captured on the Wrestling with Shadows documentary.

The Aftermath (This is where history diverges)

After the event itself, several wrestlers threatened to walk out of the WWF, and Vince McMahon held an impromptu backstage meeting with everyone on hand. McMahon lied his way through the meeting, saying that Bret had agreed to give the title up last night in a closed door confrontation with Vince. He then explained that Bret Hart reneged on the agreement made the previous night and threatened to take the WWF Title to WCW.

This appeared to calm down most of the wrestlers, but Mick Foley called Vince's bluff, saying in no simple terms that Vince was "full of shit" and promptly quit on the spot. That one incident, combined with the fact that Vince was most willing to backstab one of the longest employed workers in the company was the straw that broke the camel's back. There was a massive talk of a mass-boycott during the next night on RAW, following the defection of most of the veterans, but as the day wore on many people came to their senses. Hart was reportedly talking to a lot of the guys and told them not to risk their careers for his sake. The veterans were unmoved, but many young wrestlers finally opted to stay. By the start of RAW, most of the young guys were placated. Of course, Smith, Neidhart and Owen did not attend RAW.

RAW was an event full of mid-card filler matches, everyone wanted to know what the hell was going on. Shawn Michaels came out with 30 minutes left on the program, and started talking about last night. Backstage, Michaels was vehement about having nothing to do with what happened at Montreal, but the writing team decided to have Michaels spin the story. Shawn gladly took the microphone and blasted Bret Hart, calling him a coward and that he had run down south to get away from DX. This was despite Michaels telling Hart that he would not do any such thing. Michaels went on and most probably got carried away as he broke kayfabe a couple of times referring to Bret as a self-serving egomaniac who though he was bigger than the business. This did not sit well with most of the wrestlers backstage who felt that Shawn took it too far.

Davey Boy Smith and Jim Neidhart promptly left the company and followed Bret to the WCW. Owen Hart, tied down by a big contract, was forced to stay with the WWF or else face legal issues. In the coming days, Leon White (Vader) and Mark Calloway (The Undertaker) asked for releases. Owen told Vince that he would sit out the remainder of his contract if he had to, and would never return to perform for the WWF. This was a much bigger blow to McMahon than Hart leaving, since this left the WWF dry with no talent in the Upper-Midcard and Main Event spots. Because of his actions on RAW, half the locker room did not trust Michaels, who couldn't have given a shit. WCW was on a roll, picking up Vader and most of the Hart Foundation was a coup. Mick Foley went to the ECW and regained cult status as Cactus Jack. Mark Calloway decided to hang up the wrestling boots as he re-assesed his entire situation with the Montreal Incident and the WWF.

Novemeber - December 1997

Vince and his braintrust (namely Vince Russo) scrambled to attempt to catapult their midcarders into the upper levels. They practically designed the next Pay Per View as a launching pad for the guys they wanted to elevate. The fact of the matter is, Vince already knew that they were going to build up a couple of names on their rosters... a heel Rocky Maivia, now part of the Nation of Domination and a face Stone Cold Steve Austin, who was on the verge of breaking out straight into the Main Event. Vince also had big plans for former UFC star Ken Shamrock, and felt that he had a big future in the WWF.

In the following weeks, Austin and Rocky were thrust into the limelight, with Rocky stealing the IC Title from Austin and putting them into a feud for the better part of December. Jeff Jarrett had jumped ship to the WWF a couple of weeks after Montreal, although there had been no hype about his arrival since he left. Ken Shamrock was being pushed as a legitimate title contender against Michaels, but was not winning over the fans.

"In Your House: D-Generation X" featured the following card:

• WWF Lightweight Championship: Taka Michinoku© def. Brian Cristopher
• Los Boricuas def. DOA
• Marc Mero def. Bob Holly
• WWF Tag Team Championship: "Road Dog" Jesse Jammes & "Bad Ass" Billy Gunn def. Legion of Doom
• Boot Camp Match: Triple H def. Sgt. Slaughter
• Intercontinental Championship: "The Rock" Rocky Maivia def. "Stone Cold" Steve Austin
• WWF Championship: Ken Shamrock vs. Shawn Michaels via DQ

The PPV itself wasn't spectacular, with a tag title match featuring a newly concoted tag-team by Vince Russo, putting in two midcarders and trying to turn them into the team of the 90's. The WWF tried to capitalize on DX's brash attitude and basically helped sell the PPV. What was of note, however, was the IC Title match between Austin and Maivia. The WWF were heavy on these two wrestlers and when it came time for the big payoff match, tragedy struck. Austin, whose neck has been legitimately injured a couple of times, was considerably hurt when Rocky botched a DDT attempt. The match finish had to be scrapped and instead of Austin retaining the title, Rocky defeated Austin via pinfall in a hastily concluded match. In the Main Event, Shawn Michaels lost to Shamrock via DQ after HHH came into the ring and planted a steel chair on Shamrock's back. The WWF then teased the audience and smarts and marks alike when they suddenly played Owen Hart's music. Of course, noone came out, Hart was adamant about sitting out his contract. The show ended with DX unveiling a Hart Foundation banner and spray-painting the words "SUCK IT" all over it.

Shamrock would continue to feud with DX in December, but it was clear that fans weren't buying into his clean-cut mat-based wrestler gimmick. Jeff Jarrett would debut the next night on RAW, saving Shamrock from a beat-down by Shawn Michaels and HHH. Jim Ross would start calling Jeff Jarrett as a "2nd generation wrestling superstar who has had enough of DX destroying the tradition of the business". Jarrett received lukewarm response from the crowd, seeing as they last saw him in the WWF as a full-fledged cocky heel.

Austin's injury would seriously jeopardze McMahon's future plans for the company. Further evaluation on Austin's injury determined that Steve would still be able to lace up his boots in the ring, but not at the capacity that Vince McMahon expected him to. At the most, Austin would be able to perform at 1/3 of his previous skill and risk further injuring his neck... which meant that Austin was a no-go as a legitimate in-ring competitor, let alone a Main Event wrestler. Ken Shamrock's lukewarm fan reaction would also be a hindrance, as Vince expected Shamrock to be more over with the general public. Jeff Jarrett was a long way from being able to convice the crowd that he was a face and not a heel-turn-in-waiting. Vince was at a loss right now... here he had one of the biggest heels in the wrestling industry, in a post-Montreal Shawn Michaels... and not a single legitimate babyface to go up against him.

1998 was rolling in, Wrestlemania XIV was just around the corner, Vince McMahon and the WWF were feeling the effects of the Montreal Aftermath.

I'm going to get back on this. Yes, I do have a tendency to disapper for a month, or two... or three. Work is a bitch.

NWA: SOUTHEAST, THE BEGINNING

AUGUST 28, 2005

Watch the beginning of a NEW era in WRESTLING! Live from the Riverview Hall in Atlanta, Georgia!

Featuring, for the first time in two years, "THE MESSIAH" SHANE DOUGLAS, back inside a wrestling ring!

ELIX SKIPPER and EZ MONEY vs. JOHNNY KASHMER and MICHAEL VERDE

Featuring the unbelievable, undeniable, indescribable force known as "THE BEAST" BOB SAPP!!!

ALSO FEATURING:

STEVIE RICHARDS

KENZO SUZUKI

ROB CONWAY

DOUG BASHAM

And, with the additional appearance of:

FROM NWA:DETROIT MICHIGAN - MONTY BROWN!!!

FROM NWA:STRONG STYLE - SAMOA JOE!!!

FROM NWA:ATHLETIC ARTS - THE AMAZING RED!!!

Don't miss this opportunity to be part of the dawning of a new era!

$20 Entrance Fee. Liquor will be served.

(OOC: Thanks for leaving your comments guys, as usual, it is much appreciated.)

I've talked about the big three... the National-rated promotions.

See, the NWA uses a system to rate its member promotions. Backyard, Small, Regional, Cult, National, and the one rating that's yet to be achieved... Global. So far, only the NWA: EC, NWA: CS and NWA: TX have been able to reach National. East Coast has the fucking biggest chances to make it to Global, though. Vince McMahon was a fucking bastard, but he was an intelligent bastard.

A promotion's rating will determine how much help that promotion will get from the NWA itself. So, you see, there's still a fucking pecking order when it comes to the damn feds.

Underneath the popularity of the three National promotions are the three "Cult" promotions. Somehow or the other, these promotions haven't been able to find the "oomph" to push them into National status, but they have enough underground support to actually survive outside the regionals.

NWA: MEXICO CITY

Established: 1994

Size: Cult

NWA: MC was established during one of the worst periods in wrestling, the mid-90's depression. But they survived through it because they provided a product that was in high demand from a limited, but loyal market. The lucha-libre promotion survived and Konnan practically made himself into one of the most popular men south of the border. He's run NWA:MC for the past three years, and has slowly integrated more "Caucasian" wrestlers to be able to infiltrate the American wrestling market. The MC's biggest stars are Rey Mysterio and Eddie Guerrero. Both of them fucking machines inside the ring. I'd never be caught dead working for a promotion in Mexico... fucking spics.

NWA: LOS ANGELES

Established: 1998

Size: Cult

After a contract dispute with Vince McMahon, Roddy Piper promptly quit the NWA: EC. He was the first fucking guy who really stood up to the Vinnie-Mac. Piper managed to convince several big-money inverstors to put their money into a promotion based in the West Coast... where wrestling was practically non-existent. Piper did a good job of selling, and was able to establish the NWA: LA. At first, it started as a promotion that took potshots at the NWA: EC, but then it developed an identity of its own. In 2001, Piper then sold the federation to current owner Rob Black, who changed the fucking format of the entire promotion. It soon echoed the "gangster" and gritty feel of urban Los Angeles. NWA: LA's most popular star is Jeff Hardy, who's developed a large underground following the past couple of years. Other stars include Booker T and Stevie Ray, the Harlem Heat.

NWA: STRONG STYLE

Established: 2001

Size: Cult

After being booted out of NWA: EC and NWA: HC, Al Snow used his japanese connections to help from a brand new promotion. I revolved around using the Japanese style, and MMA stars. Big names soon signed up, Ken Shamrock and AJ Styles went on a 13 month feud that took SS to the brink of making it to fucking National. On the abck of that huge feud alone, Strong Style managed to ink a television deal with a local TV Company. Snow still runs SS, but with less of a grip, as most of the booking is handled by his hired staff. Snow concentrates on training the young guys... he's a fucking nice guy, what can I say. I like Al Snow, he's probably one of the only good guys left in this fucking business.

So there. Fucking A. A history lesson, by Rick Thomas. Fan-fucking-tastic. Now, let me go back to sleep.

Between me and Shane Douglas, we didn't have that many friends in this business.

But the guy who hired us did. Bill Watts had some fucking clout in the NWA. Watts established NWA: Detroit Michigan, and was considered as one of the best fucking businessmen in the industry. Then, in an unexpected turn of events, the management staff who worked under him at NWA:DM turned on him. They staged a fucking coup and took Watts out of power. The NWA then decided in favor of Watts' former staff, and the rest was history. Despite the wrestlers at NWA: DM still willing to work for Watts, he left NWA:DM. Bill Watts remained in the business, working with NWA: Hardcore, NWA: Athletic Arts and NWA: Strong Style, but eventually, I guess he fucking wanted to run a company once again. Hence, the NWA: Southeast being opened.

Watts had a lot of contacts, and we were practically assured that we could share talent with NWA: Detroit Michigan, NWA: Hardcore, NWA: Athletic Arts and NWA: Strong Style. This was a very big plus for us, since we could then have inter-promotional matches in Southeast. Fucking good news.

Watts also brought in three more wrestlers for NWA: SE. Doug Basham and Robert Conway, former NWA: EC developmental talents. And Kenzo Suzuki, a fucking Jap who was looking to hit it big in the US after several unsuccessful runs with NWA: DM and NWA: EC.

Robert Conway, Doug Basham and Kenzo Suzuki

As I walk into the old gym, I thought to myself. 'Now this is a fucking crappy gym.' Seriously. I mean, come on, even I'd cringe if I ever tried to take a piss in the joint. It's like you could catch all sorts of diseases in the place.

Terry Taylor is there to greet me. He's got several guys in the old ring in the middle of the gym. A couple of them are wrestling, while several other guys are outside, heckling and trying to provoke the guys in the ring to take the shit seriously. Whoa. Was that a standing senton? What the fuck? I immediately ask Taylor who the hell that kid was.

Derek Wylde, says Taylor. Some 20-year old Canadian kid who had some mad mat skills. The guy in the ring with him was his friend, Eric Young. I nudge Taylor, and nod towards a hot blonde at ringside. Terry smiles, apparently the piece of ass was Wylde's girlfriend. Angel Williams. I let out a long whistle. Terry walks towards the ring, I follow right behind him.

"Derek, Eric, Angel, I want you to meet Rick Thomas. He's the head booker for our promotion. You need anything, or want anything done concerning the event, you go to him."

Derek and Eric wave at me. Angel walks up and says hi. I take a good look at her. She was lean... buff to a point... but she was fucking smoking in the damn exercise get-up she was wearing. Nothing fancy... just a plain white shirt and track pants. She was sexy, in a non-girlish type of way. And nice eyes too. I extend my hand, and tell her that it was nice to meet her. I add a little wink, which I don't think she appreciated much. Figures. They were all fucking cockteases anyway.

Derek Wylde, Eric Young and Angel Williams

The current roster:

Shane Douglas, Elix Skipper, Jason Broyles, Michael Verde and Johnny Kashmer

I understand that I've been talking about the NWA... but I don't think you know what the NWA is... shit.

The National Wrestling Alliance. A fucking group of territorial wrestling promotions formed under on umbrella... the NWA. It's really simple. the entire fucking wrestling world is covered by the NWA. If you're not a part of the NWA, then you're either from Japan, or you're not even big enough to consider.

The NWA is dominated by the big three.

THE BIG FUCKING THREE.

The three largest NWA promotions in the American continent.

They all survived the fucking wrestling depression in the mid-90's. They grew big in the wrestling boom of the late 90's. They are the top organizations in the NWA.

NWA: EAST COAST

Established: 1992

Size: National

Run by the legendary McMahon family. The man who fathered WrestleMania. Vincent Kennedy McMahon Jr. The man-genius. The bastard who risked it all and lost it all in one fell swoop. After the initial success of the WrestleMania, Vince McMahon went for WrestleMania 2, THREE months after the first. And then, a consecutive four other WrestleManias with three months in between. Needless to say, the fucking idea flopped. Each show cost a fortune to run, and the returns were not favorable. Had McMahon listened to the poeple around him, he would've probably run the NWA out of business... but McMahon was, and always has been a greedy bastard. Wrestlemania 6 ran him to the ground, the WWF was in debt, and eventually he was forced to close the damn company.

But Vince was a crafty businessman. Knowing that he'd lost to the regional promotions, he went out and established a regional promotion of his own, under the NWA banner. Working out of New York City, NWA: East Coast embraced the style that McMahon used to present... cartoonish and over-the-top characters, glitz and glamour and all the like.

The stars? Until recently, it was Hulk Hogan. Mr. Everything. Mr. Me, Me, Me. But after Black Monday... Shawn fucking Michaels and Triple H. The clique. Nash, Hall... and all the other McMahon suck-ups.

I began my career by writing for them. I was there when thy hit their stride in the late 90's with the introduction of SHOCK-booking. Then I rose to the top after several fucking brilliant moves. I fucking gave up a ton of shit just to reach the top at East Coast. See where it got me. Motherfuckers.

NWA: CALGARY STAMPEDE

Established: 1995

Size: National

If there was one fucking company I wouldn't work for... it would be the Calgary fucking Stampede. Stu Hart's brainchild. The fucker's like 190 years old and still kicking.

The one rule in NWA:CS? Wrestling first, gimmicks second.

Stu Hart was a slave-driver. His grip on Canada was strong. his Canadian Stampede organization quickly ate up three different territorial companies, and then they entered the NWA umbrella just to make sure that nobody would want to move in on them. Stu was lucky. The wrestling depression had just hit its lowest ebb... and when NWA:CS was established, most of the wrestling fans in Canada didn't even care what gimmicks their wrestlers used... as long as they fucking ruled in the ring.

They have what we call the "Holy Trinity". The heir to the kingdom, Bret Hart... the one-man-wrestling-machine Chris Benoit... and the most charismatic man in Canada, Chris Jericho. They spent the entire year of 1998 revolving a big-ass feud around these three men, and NWA:CS rose in popularity.

NWA:CS was a closely knit family of wrestlers, and anyone... ANYONE who even dared to leave that family, was practically black-listed for life.

NWA: TEXAS

Established: 1990

Size: National

When the AWA was on its death throes, Dusty Rhodes and Jerry Jarret managed to save the entire thing by declaring the company bankrupt, and falling back on their NWA ties. NWA: Texas was born.

In the early to mid-90's, Texas was THE promotion to beat. It was a throwback to the 1980's. Fucking rednecks and mullets... old school feuds... and old school matches. Guys like Ric Flair, Randy Savage and Mark Callaway thrived in the atmosphere and quickly rose to the top. Towards the late 90's, two men emerged as the men who would usher NWA:TX into the new millenium. Jeff Jarrett and "Stunning" Steve Austin. They used to be tag-team champions, until they were put in a major feud with each other. It ripped through the entire southern United States in 1998, and it rivaled the triple-threat feud of the holy Trinity by NWA:CS. Austin and Jarrett were catapulted into superstar status, and the rest was fucking history.

Jeff Jarrett, Judas Iscariot. Trading his legacy in TX for the big green dollar bills in East Coast. Vince fucking McMahon had his ways, and they worked. Motherfucker.

So there. The BIG FUCKING THREE.

I was in for a shitload of trouble in the next few months... and I knew that I would hear from these three soon... they don't appreciate competition... even from a low-ranking rookie promotion like South East. Fuck.

I was ready for anything. ANY-FUCKING-THING. I knew that they'd soon be knocking on our doors, and I was fucking ready. Goddamn it.

August 1, 2005

Black Monday.

The day that the entire wrestling world shifted.

The National Wrestling Alliance just passed a resolution, for the individual companies to be able to sign any performer to a written contract, without consultation from the other organizations.

Fan-FUCKING-tastic. The shockwaves could be felt all throughout the god-damn wrestling world.

The first to act was NWA: East Coast. The clique, Shawn Michaels, Kevin Nash, Scott Hall, Jean Paul Levesque and Sean Waltman managed to accomplish the unthinkable, they convinced the braintrust at Stamford to let go of Hollywood Hulk Hogan. Everybody knew that Hogan's grip on East Coast had loosened, once he let Michaels and his troops take over. And then, the spending spree. McMahon spared no federation as he scooped up stars. Raven, Aj Styles, Lita, Jerry Lynn, Kid Kash, Chavo Guerrero, Christopher Daniels. And the coup de gras... Jeff Fucking Jarrett inking a maximum deal with East Coast. The fucking judas left NWA: Texas for McMahon's East Coast. It sent a clear message... that East Coast was THE place to be.

Fuck them.

Calgary Stampede went on a more conservative route. Knowing that their main stars were already under written contracts, they went out and got three guys. Sabu, Chris Harris and Ron Killings.

NWA: Athletic Arts, NWA: Los Angeles, NWA: Detroit Michigan and NWA: Strong Style all started sending open-contract offers to young guys... young guys with enough talent to put on a good show, but not over enough to be snatched by the big three.

Speaking of the big three... the last of them, NWA: Texas, was left with a huge void to fill, specially after Jeff Jarrett high-tailed it out of there. Texas signed Glenn Gilberti, Carlito Colon, CM Punk, Hoyler Gracie, LA Par-K, Athletic Arts' Shane Helms and as a coup de etat of their own, East Coast's Mick Foley. But still... all that talent signed... did NOT, and I fucking mean did NOT have the weight of fucking Jeff Jarrett signing with fucking East Coast.

Mick Foley. The human pincushion. The guy invented HARDCORE. He fucking lived and breathed it. After having his right hand amputated after a horrible accident involving barbed wire and a flaming branding iron while wrestling for the defunct NWA: Eastern Championship Wrestling... well... Foley became a fucking urban legend. He WAS THE God of hardcore wrestling. I hate the prick. He's a self-absorbed egomaniac that just so happens to have the public's fucking good side. They don't know the real Mick Foley. They don't know him at all.

As for NWA: ECW? They bottomed out before their first televised PPV. What was born after, was NWA: Hard Core. And after Black Monday, Heyman showed a sign of weakness. He didn't have enough cash reserves to pay his guys. Soon, we hear that most of his wrestlers... wrestlers who have nowhere else to go, wrestlers who aren't going to be recognized by any of the big three... have been released. Rob Van Dam. Stevie Richards. D-Von Dudley. Bubba Ray Dudley. Spike Dudley. Rhyno. Tajiri. Mike Awesome. Most of the guys were replaced by lower-salary hardcore bastards who knew how to wield a chair. But the biggest blow... was Raven being stolen by East Coast. Snatched up with the lure of big bucks. Vince Fucking Dollar Bills McMahon.

Where was I during Black Monday? I was at home. SLEEPING. Because my fucking head hurt. And now, I'm going back to FUCKING sleep. Shit.

Do you have any idea how many people are willing to work with Shane Douglas? Hell, with me? Not a fucking lot. We had to look long and hard in the state of Georgia, and even then we were only going to find a handful of promising talent. This was going to be fucking hard.

So, Douglas and I spent the night in the restaurant... apparently we decided to bury the hatchet, and we shook on it. Fat fucking chance. The motherfucker would stab me in the back no sooner than I would him. It was going to be tough to fucking track down and hire people. Goddamn it.

The very next day, I wake up with a horrible headached. I need a fucking aspirin. Make that twenty. Goddamn. I manage to find the strength to get out of bed and take a long cold shower. I call Terry Taylor up. We had to have a meet. I wasn't going to contact talent all by myself. And besides, Taylor was a much more sociable person. Everyone knew me as the 'stupid motherfucker who fucked Vince's daughter'. That label alone should prevent anyone from actually even recognizing my presence.

Terry shows up at the designated meeting place. A run down coffee shop in downtown Atlanta. Fuck. Why did we have to choose the seediest places in the fucking city. Come on. We were running a fucking wrestling company. I'm going to make sure to pick a classier spot next time around.

Taylor gives me a rundown of who we was on his list. Michael Verde, Johnny Kashmer, Jason Broyles and Elix Skipper. I know these names. I know these people. They were talented, yes, but will they appreciate working with Troy Martin? I certainly thought they would... after-all, we're giving them a chance when the rest of the fucking NWA world wouldn't.

Verde and Kashmer were two young up-and-coming stars in NWA: Texas. They had the personas of Trent Acid and Johnny Kashmere... the Backseat Boyz. Somehow or the other, they were constantly overlooked. They were eventually buried down the card, and soon were completely off the regular events. I ask Taylor if these two guys were still in NWA: Texas. He says no. Apparently Kashmer botched a move that broke some new guy's neck. The new guy turned out to be the son of one of the financial backers of NWA: Texas. The Backseat Boyz's bright future suddenly went down the drain.

Jason Broyles... I only saw this guy wrestle once. At an NWA:Hardcore City show. He was known as Jason Jett back then... and he rocked the fucking house. Terry then tells me that Broyles was never given a fair shake in HC, that Heyman stiffed him some paychecks and that he had fired Broyles without paying him a single dime. Good. That's one fucking guy who'll gladly ride the Shane Fucking Douglas bandwagon. They're going to have a lot to talk about in the next couple of weeks.

As for Elix Skipper. Mr. Black Magic himself. He was signed to a developmental contract with East Coast. But we never called him up. As talented as he was, there were only limited spots for ethnic minorities in Vince McMahon's fucking circus.

What? You thought that racial prejudice ended in the sixties? Hell fucking no.

Vince would rather have a million heart attacks than have some racial minority win the top title in East Coast. That's why he drove Dwayne Johnson out of the company back in 2000. The goddamn racist pig didn't want to elevate "The Rock" to the highest position in the card... world champ... because he was a fucking neo-nazi racist pig. He had to screw Johnson out of a title match, and all that brouhaha... the "New York Screwjob" as most in the industry remember. Fucking Earl Hebner calling for the tap out. Shawn fucking Michaels retaining the fucking title. Everyone knew that the plan was for Johnson to fucking win. Even I didn't know what the fuck was going on. One day later, Johnson was off to NWA: Hawaii, and McMahon had one large-ass black eye to boot. McMahon capitalized on it... fucking capitalist mother fucker. Like what he did to Douglas' angle, not only do shoot interviews fucking dominate the East Coast, but shoot fights as well. He'll bait and switch like a motherfucker just to get the fans drooling.

Back to Skipper. We let him go back in East Coast. He told us to kiss his black ass, and went over to NWA: Arial Arts. There, he found a niche. He was good, he was damn good. When his contract was up, however, AA just let him go. For no fucking apparent reason. Life was a fucking bitch. The wierd thing was... nobody even cared signing him up. I wonder why. Jesus. He must have horrible BO or something. Taylor tells me that he was thinking of putting Skipper into the Main Event with Douglas. I look at him with complete surprise.

Is he FUCKING serious? Douglas and Skipper in the Main Event? Douglas would have a fucking HEART ATTACK. HE'D SHIT BRICKS. Skipper was twenty times the wrestler that Douglas was, and it was going to be fun to watch Douglas being run around in circles by Skipper. That brought a smile to my fucking face. IT WAS TOO FUCKING GREAT TO PASS UP. I give Taylor a nod and a grin.

"Yeah. That's a FAN-FUCKING-TASTIC idea, Terry. FAN-FUCKING-TASTIC!"

Shane Douglas.

Troy Martin.

The Dean.

The Messiah.

The Franchise.

The one man who's character revived wrestling in the late 90's.

The man that I systematically screwed out of the NWA: East Coast.

See, back in the mid-to-late 90's, wrestling was in a completely low ebb. Ratings were down. Attendance barely made the shows profitable. Many NWA affiliates closed down. Only three NWA federations were left standing, the NWA: East Coast, NWA: Texas and the NWA: Calgary Stampede. I was just part of the booking team for East Coast, I was a young guy out to make an impact in the business. So was this guy... some guy by the name of Troy Martin.

Believe me when I tell you that Troy Martin was the WHOLE fucking package. He had the looks, the microphone skills, and the ringwork. He was being groomed as the NEXT BIG THING in East Coast. Heck, the people at Texas and Calgary Stampede were already drooling at being able to sign Martin's talent to open contracts with them.

In 1997, Troy Martin made his debut. As "The Dean" Douglas. Lame gimmick? I know. I gave it to him. This smug kid was too cocky for his own good. And I wanted to sabotage his fucking career. Yeah, I'm a heartless bastard. Sue me.

He gets stuck in several, and I mean SEVERAL horrible angles. I give him ridiculous outfits, bland scripts and completely asinine plots. And somehow, Troy Martin still rose above the rest of the muck in East Coast. The fans knew that he was IT. He had IT. He was destined for greater things.

That's when Vince stepped in. He gave Martin a chance to prove himself, to MAKE himself. So, in a half-shoot interview, "The Dean" ripped at the backstage politicians, the wrestlers who weren't hauling ass, and the writers who wrote his scripts. I knew he was talking about me. I could see the fucking scorn in his eyes, I could hear it in his voice. "The Messiah" Shane Douglas was born. He was immediately put into a feud with "Hollywood" Hulk Hogan. As "The Messiah", Troy Martin took the wrestling world by the balls, and squeezed. He squeezed hard. EVERYONE ate it up.

For the first time in a long time, the TV Ratings for East Coast were up. For the first time in a long time, people were actually watching. McMahon saw this as an opporunity to make tons of cash. Apparently the half-shoot, half-shock strategy worked really well, and he told us to apply this to EVERY storyline he had.

After a 6-month long TV Feud with Hogan, Douglas was moved into the Main Event against Shawn Michaels. And THAT was basically the beginning of the end for "The Messiah". Shawn Michaels and his friends, the backstage "clique", simply refused to be outdone by Troy Martin. And I was in on their fun. We started by taking out his fanbase. We quickly tuned his edgy character into a baby-face pop-hungry freak. At first the fans ate it up... the anti-hero was now the hero... but then it grew stale. The 'clique'... Michaels, Nash, HHH... they became the East Coast's definition of 'cool'. And when his fanbase died down, we just took Douglas out peg by peg. The motherfucker didn't stand a chance. We set him up with feuds against the clique members, and had him LOSE, and lose BADLY.

When it was apparent that he had no future in East Coast, Douglas tried jumping to Stampede and Texas. Well, thanks to a couple of phone calls about his "alcohol and drug problems" and his "unmanageability as an employee", he didn't get squat. The enthusiasm for "The Messiah" dried up.

But, as all winners are, Troy Martin was a survivor. He promptly quit the East Coast and burnt a LOT of bridges. In 2000, Shane Douglas made an appearance on the newly formed NWA: Hardcore City, run by Paul Heyman. There, he went out on a shoot tirade against the East Coast, Calgary Stampede and Texas. If you think he burned his bridges back then... FUCK, he completely TORCHED anything left when he came out on HC with that interview. "The Franchise" was born. He took that company, and put it on his fucking back for two years. Until his ego got the best of him. Asking for an unreasonable amount of money to resign, Douglas had worn out his welcome in Hardcore City. After exchanging harsh words, and engaging in a small scuffle, he and Heyman parted with a mutual hatred for each other. Hardcore City had established itself as a fucking good product, and "The Franchise" was no longer needed... not for the salary he was asking. And now, NOT EVER.

Since then, I heard little from Troy Martin. Shane Douglas. THE MESSIAH. THE FRANCHISE. Yeah, I screwed him out of East Coast. BIG FUCKING DEAL. GET OVER IT. Cry me a fucking river, why don't you. He knew his time was up.

The only problem now... is that I never expected it to haunt me. DAMN IT. Karma sure was a BITCH.

"Well, asshole. Seems like you and me, we're going to be working together again."

Douglas' eyes bore down on me as he chugged his beer. I smiled, as an insult, before I spoke.

"Well, whoop-de-fucking-doo, Troy. I didn't know you were still alive. What've you been doing the past two years? Flipping burgers?"

Douglas had the perfect retort. GODDAMN IT. I shouldn't have set that up.

"Nah. I see you haven't been doing well yourself. How was dear old Stephanie? Was she really that good in the sack? First you help them screw me. Then you screw her. And then they screw you. Fucking pathetic isn't it?"

Douglas grins as he says this. He's fucking enjoying this. I snap back.

"Fuck you. That bitch was all over me like white on rice."

"No, Rick. FUCK YOU. Fuck YOU and your arrogant bitch-ass self, you fucking prick. I ain't enjoying this either, but since we're here, we might as well fucking make it work."

I shut the hell up. He was right. THE MOTHERFUCKER WAS RIGHT. We were now on the same boat. And if SouthEast didn't float, we were going down with it. Fuck.

We spent the next thirty minutes talking about who we thought we could approach to join South East. The two men who BURNED their bridges in the wrestling world, looking for men who'd follow them to hell and back. NOW THAT WAS FUCKING FUNNY. FUCKING HILARIOUS.

We we're ROYALLY FUCKED, and we FUCKING TOTALLY KNEW it.

The waitress winks at me, the fucking whore. She looked like a crossbreed between a horse and a cow. What the fuck was I doing here. the place was a shithole dump, and I was sitting down waiting for someone.

The names Rick, Rick Thomas. I'm thirty years old, six feet, two inches, average build, brown hair, green eyes. And I'm a FUCKING booker.

It's been a couple of years since I last associated myself with the business. I haven't stepped into a ring since 2003, since the incident. I used to be one of the big shots backstage up in NWA: East Coast. I was head booker, and was second in command to Vince McMahon. That was until I fucked it up. Correction, until my dick fucked it up.

She was some hot piece of ass. The bitch came on to me every single day. It didn't matter that her husband was only a few dressing rooms away. I tried to tell her that what she wanted was completely insane. I wasn't going to risk my job over some piece of tail. But in the end, she got her way. And I got fired. Fuck Stephanie McMahon. The irony was that I did. That kniving bitch. I bet she and Paul Levesque planned it from day one. In the end, I got beat up by Levesque and his goons, got slapped with a sexual harrasment suit, got my ass chewed off by Vince, and was promptly fired from the company.

Rule #1: Never fuck the boss's daughter.

So, I got myself different gigs during the past two years. Found myself small-time jobs with seedy movie-makers. Wrote a couple of scripts for some B-flicks that you wouldn't even know about.

Then, three weeks ago, I got a call. It was Bill fucking Watts. He was talking about opening up a brand new organization under the NWA umbrella. 'Aren't there enough, already?' I thought to myself. Ninety percent of all wrestling in the continental united states was under the NWA. Watts goes ahead with his pitch, he was opening a new wrestling federation based in the Georgia area. Told me that he was going to call it NWA: South East. Wow, so much for creativity. Watts gives me an offer, an offer to go back to the business that I grew up in. And I flat out turn him down. No way, I told him. He'd better go out and fucking look for another monkey to play to his tune. I cut him off mid-sentence and hang up. I needed sleep, and talking about wrestling certainly didn't help.

The next day, I got up from bed... and whaddya know... Bill Watts was there. The motherfucker was standing right at the door to my bedroom, and he had a couple of goons with him. Big motherfuckers. Big motherfuckers with baseball bats. Watts calmly offers me the head-booking job, again... and adds an incentive: If I help him get NWA:SE to where he wants it to be, he won't break my kneecaps. not only that... but I had to put up some money for the company. Not much of a choice I had, now did I? I ask him what the fuck he wanted me to do. He simply tells me this: To help run the McMahon's out of business. Was I in? Oh yeah. FUCK yes. I wasn't a dumb schmuck. I wanted to WALK out of my bed. I was in.

Rule #2: Never say no to big motherfuckers with baseball bats who threaten to break your fucking kneecaps.

The past three weeks have gone by like a blur. We have NO wrestlers signed. And we're basically running on a skeleton staff. Thank God that our first event's still four weeks away. I've been talking to the other guy with me in the booking team, another guy that NWA: EC fired... Terry Taylor. I would suppose it had somethig to do with him screwing Stephanie as well, but I'm not going to assume anything. He tells me that he's in talks with most of the guys he worked with back in East Coast, and tells me that I should start talking to my contacts as well.

Contacts? What contacts? Everyone fucking deserted me when I got fired. Fucking Stephanie McMahon cried her eyes out as she went through every sordid detail. How I fucking touched her, and harrassed her. She gladly left out the fact that she was the bitch who locked the door, and that we did the dirty deed at MY house afterwards. Everyone rode the bandwagon... "FUCK THOMAS!" they said. "FUCK THAT FUCKING PRICK!" No good suck-ups. Leeches, that's what they all were. Everyone was looking to get ahead... and if it meant having to bury me, it wasn't a problem.

And so... it all boils down to today. Bill Watts tells me that we DO have one wrestler on the books. One of the guys who's put money up front to help the NWA:SE get rolling. So far, the only people I know who've shelled out a considerable amount of dough are Watts, Taylor and me. I'm sitting at a table in a local restaurant in Atlanta. The place was a complete shithole. It was a dump, and it was pretty obvious that Watts had wanted me to wait my ass off inside that smelly dump. Watts thought it might be funny to actually make me WAIT. Brilliant.

Rule #3: Never EVER agree to meet with someone in a smelly piece of shit restaurant.

I wait for twenty minutes, before I decide to get up and leave. As I was standing up, I hear a familiar voice from behind me.

"Well, well, well. It's been a long time, asshole. Too damn long. Sorry I'm late."

I turn around, hoping... no PRAYING for it to be someone else. FUCK. GODDAMN SHIT. It was Shane FUCKING Douglas.

Hey. I just wanted to say I  have just sat here and in mere hours read all of your work.

I loved your angles for Goldberg, Savage, and Hogan...now if you could just do the same for Nash LoL

I have a question for you, maybe you have forgotten, but you said there were like 3 or 5 people coming in from WWF..."big signings"

this was at the begining of this diary....just wondered if you forgot or scrapped it..or if EWR didnt let you get the 3 big names......

INfo would be nice..

Looking forward to Slamboree...

GO RAVEN! LoL

yes, I am a raven mark!

←

3 for 3 so far..Come on baby, roll some sevens

*ahem*

Good show so far. No surprise appearances yet but I got my fingers crossed...and they're kinda cramped...ouch...[/lame]

←

PART ONE!!! PART TWO WILL BE UP NEXT WEEK!!!

WCW SLAMBOREE

April 30, 1999

St. Louis, Missouri

~

Kamikaze vs. Rey Mysterio & Billy Kidman

Before the PPV even goes on the air, Kidman, Mysterio and Kamikaze entertain the crowd with a very fired up high-flying match. Akiyama and Shinzaki were at home with the styles of their opponents and almost brought the house down before the entire event even started on PPV. Kidman hit a shooting-star press against Akiyama, but Shinzaki was able to tear him off his partner just in time to avoid the 3-count. Later, Mysterio went for a hurricanrana against Shinzaki, who counters it into three consecutive Shinzaki-bombs and the bridged pinfall victory.

Winner: Kamikaze via Pinfall

Match Rating: ****1/2

Overall: 84

Crowd: 69

Workrate: 100

~

The camera pans around the arena as Slamboree goes on the air. The crowd is going wild, people are holding up signs everywhere from "THE ALLIANCE WILL RULE YOU" to "BENOIT IS KING!". Tony Schiavone and Mike Tenay are at ringside, ready to broadcast the action LIVE from St. Louis, Missouri!

Tony Schiavone's voice booms as he is nearly drowned by the cheers from the crowd. "Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to St. Louis, Missouri... as World Championship Wrestling proudly brings to you, SLAMBOREE '99! I am Tony Schiavone, and with me tonight is my broadcasting partner, Mike Tenay."

"Thanks Tony," says Tenay. "Tonight's going to be a night to remember as The Alliance takes on the nWo Wolfpack in a huge six-man tag-team match. Lex Luger and the tag champions, The Giant and Bam Bam Bigelow will have their hands full as they take on Sting, Kevin Nash and Konnan!"

Schiavone replies. "And what about the huge Three-way match we have for the WCW World Heavyweight Championship!? Bret Hart will be defending his title against not one, but two opponents: Kanyon and Raven, two rising superstars in WCW today! The Hitman has the deck stacked against him, because he does NOT have to be pinned or submit to LOSE the Championship! Kanyon and Raven are both hungry for the title, and they will stop at nothing to take it away from the Hitman!"

"Of course, our main event..." says Tenay "...a match that is nearly half-a-year in the making. Tonight, we are going to see the in-ring return of the Rabid Wolverine, The Crippler, Chris Benoit! It was about five months ago that Ric Flair viciously attacked Chris Benoit and had the Alliance hospitalize him! Benoit has not been seen on WCW TV for the past five months. A couple of weeks ago on Nitro, Commissioner Mike Sanders put Ric Flair in a match against a mystery opponent tonight, and last Monday at Nitro, Chris Benoit revealed himself to be that opponent! Tonight, Chris Benoit is seeking revenge against his former mentor, his former stablemate... The Nature Boy, Ric Flair!"

~

:Cruiserweight Championship Match:

:Best 2 of 3 Falls:

Eddie Guerrero© vs. Chavo Guerrero Jr.

Chavo Guerrero is introduced first, and he gets a sizeable face pop from the crowd, who were apparently revved up by the great match before the start of the show. Chavo's got his game-face on, he's looking to win the title from Eddie and put an end to this rivalry once and for all.

Eddie Guerrero's entrance nets him massive heel heat. Eddie taunts the crowd, and steps into the ring. He points a finger at Chavo, who's on the other side of the ring. Eddie hands the title to the referee, and this match goes underway.

Chavo Guerrero riles up the crowd, and a "Chavo" chant starts. Eddie wants the crowd to shut up, and rushes at Chavo in frustration. Eddie hits Chavo with numerous closed fists and drives his nephew back towards a corner. Eddie delivers punches to Chavo's head, then to his gut. Chavo collapses, and Eddie starts reigning in hard stomps into Chavo's chest.

Eddie smiles and taunts the crowd with a sarcastic "Chavo, Chavo, Chavo" chant. The crowd boos him, and Eddie lets out a small grin.

He picks up Chavo, wraps his arms around his nephew's body and hits a deftly executed belly-to-belly slam. Eddie covers, Chavo kicks out at two. Eddie pulls his nephew up, and hits a snap suplex. Eddie covers again, and Chavo kicks out again. Eddie goes back on offense, and pulls Chavo up. He grabs Chavo's arm, and puts it into an armlock... Eddie twists Chavo's arm a bit more, and then lowers huge forearm shots towards Chavo's shoulder. Eddie doesn't let go of the hold, he pulls Chavo towards him, and hits three consecutive shoulder-tackles! Chavo is down the mat... but Eddie's still holding onto Chavo's arm! Eddie hits a legdrop on the exposed arm! Chavo winces in pain!

Eddie taunts the crowd again with another sarcastic "Chavo, Chavo, Chavo" chant. This riles the crowd up even more.

Eddie quickly covers Chavo, who kicks out. Eddie pulls Chavo back up. He pushes him towards the ropes and throws him across. Chavo bounces off the ropes and ducks a clothesline from Eddie! Chavo bounces off the ropes again, and ducks another clothesline! Chavo bounces a third time, and now hits Eddie with a flying forearm to the face! The crowd cheers the change of momentum!

Chavo is quick to take advantage of the situation, putting Eddie into a side-headlock. Chavo winds the headlock tighter. Eddie tries to use the ropes to throw off Chavo, but Chavo counters with a big bulldog on Eddie! Chavo pulls his uncle up, and hits a backbreaker! Chavo covers, and Eddie kicks out! Chavo pulls Eddie back up, inverted atomic drop! Chavo clotheslines Eddie! Chavo covers. Two count again! Chavo stands up, and calls for the crowd!

The crowd goes nuts "Chavo! Chavo! Chavo!". Chavo climbs up the top rope... and waits for Eddie to get up. Missile dropkick connects! Chavo covers, one...two...thre-NO! Eddie Guerrero kicks out! Chavo grabs Eddie, and throws him across the ropes... Eddie reverses, throwing Chavo instead... and Eddie follows it up with a vicious clothesline that sends both men out of the ring!

The ref starts counting... ONE... TWO... THREE....

Eddie throws Chavo into the barrier! Chavo hits it with a sickening crash!

...FOUR...FIVE...

Eddie then goes around the ring, towards the timekeeper's table, and grabs the Cruiserweight Title! Eddie SMASHES the title into Chavo's skull! The referee is calling for the bell! Eddie Guerrero has been Disqualified! Chavo Guerrero goes up 1-0!

Eddie drags Chavo up and rolls him back into the ring. Eddie crawls over Chavo and covers... one...two...three! Eddie Guerrero has pinned Chavo. Eddie ties the match 1-1!

Eddie stands up, and says that "It's Over!" He starts climbing the top rope. He points at the unconscious Chavo... and launches in the air for the Frog-Splash... BUT CHAVO RAISES HIS KNEES! Eddie hits Chavo's knees with full IMPACT! Eddie doubles over in pain and rolls off of Chavo! Chavo slowly crawls towards Eddie... one...two...THRE-NO! Eddie kicks out!

Chavo gets to his feet, he measures Eddie up, running dropkick on a prone Eddie Guerrero! Chavo mounts the assault, pulling Eddie up, DDT! Chavo covers. One...two...thre-SHOULDER UP! Eddie kicks out again! Chavo gets up, he pulls Eddie to a standing position... Chavo goes for a hurricanrana... REVERSED INTO A POWERBOMB BY EDDIE! Eddie bridges for the cover... one...two...thre-CHAVO KICKS OUT! Eddie slowly gets to his feet... Chavo as well... Eddie swings a punch at Chavo, who ducks, and hits a back-suplex on Eddie! Chavo pulls himself up on the ropes... he calls for the frog splash! Chavo goes up slowly as Eddie remains unconscious on the mat. Chavo launches himself from the top rope, but Eddie rolls away, Chavo hits nothing but the mat!!! Eddie covers, it's over... one...two.. thre-CHAVO KICKS OUT!!!

Eddie gets up... slowly... so does Chavo... both men are on their feet! Chavo throws a right! Eddie throws a right! Another right from Chavo! And another from Eddie! Chavo's next right is blocked! Eddie throws a right that Chavo ducks! Chavo spins Eddie around and grabs him from behind. Chavo has his arms wrapped around Eddie's waist... but before he manages to hit a move, Eddie swings his leg back and lowblows Chavo!!! The ref didn't catch that!!! Chavo lets go of Eddie and doubles over in pain! Eddie grabs Chavo, DDT! Eddie covers... ONE...TWO...THREE!!!

Eddie Guerrero successfully defends the Cruiserweight Title!!! The crowd is booing, as Eddie just lies on the mat, limp, while the referee hands him the Cruiserweight belt. Eddie lies down on the mat with the title, while Chavo slowly gets up. Eddie rolls out of the ring with the title, as Chavo grimaces in pain and disappointment.

Winner: Eddie Guerrero via Pinfall

Rating: ****3/4

Overall: 92

Crowd: 84

Workrate: 100

~

:Television Title Match:

Curt Hennig vs. Chris Jericho

Jericho is out first, and receives huge boos from the crowd. He enters the ring and quickly snatches the microphone from the announcer.

"Listen up you lowlife pieces of southern trailer park trash! Chris Jericho is here, and he's ready to become your NEEEEWWWW WCW Television Champion! Watch me beat the living bejeeeeeeesus out of Curt Hennig tonight, and realize that I, Chris Jericho, am the future of WCW! The FUTURE begins TODAY, and it begins with ME, Chris Jericho! I drove Booker T out of WCW, and I'm going to drive Curt Hennig out of WCW! After I beat the snot out of you tonight, Curt, you're going to regret ever facing THE LIONHEART, THE FUTURE, CHRIS JERICHOOOOO! Bring on the competition, because Chris Jericho is allll readdy to take him downtown to chinatown!"

Curt Hennig's music starts playing and the crowd cheers. Hennig walks out with the TV Title wrapped around his waist. He's got a pretty determined look on his face. Jericho just smiles at Hennig with that cocky face of his. As Hennig goes through the ropes, he asks for the microphone from the announcer.

"Jericho, you've got a lot of marbles talking to me the way that you do. Tell you what, tonight, I'm going to show everyone in St. Louis what a little snot-nosed weasel like you gets when he starts running his mouth."

Jericho takes offense to Hennig's words, and immediately walks up to Hennig. Hennig drops the mic, and goes nose-to-nose with Jericho. They exchange some words before the referee steps in between and tells both men to head to their own corners. The referee asks for the belt from Hennig, and while he's removing it from his waist, Jericho runs at him and starts hammering Hennig with fists!

A stunned Hennig is unable to retaliate as Jericho throws him towards one of the turnbuckles. Hennig collides with force and is knocked back and down to the mat. Jericho spits at Hennig before stomping him on the head. Jerich pulls Hennig up, and hits a massive chop that sends Hennig down! Chris then goes for a side-headlock while Hennig lies down on the mat. Jericho winds on the headlock, and is all-smiles as he starts taunting Hennig, bad-mouthing him.

Hennig slowly gets to his feet, and finally throws off Jericho, bouncing him off the ropes. Jericho goes for a shoulder-tackle, but Hennig doesn't budge. Instead, Jericho is sent crashing to the mat. Hennig runs across the ropes, over Jericho, who stands up and leapfrogs Hennig and then lowers his head for a back-body drop, but Hennig reverses and hits a DDT on the mat! Hennig covers, but Jericho kicks out at two.

Hennig pulls Jericho up, but is driven towards the ropes by Chris. Jericho throws Hennig to the other side of the ring, and Henngi is able to catch on to the ropes. Jericho makes a mad dash at Hennig, and throws a clothesline, but Hennig ducks and pulls the ropes down. Jericho goes flying out of the ring and into the lightly covered floor.

Hennig rolls out, and goes after Jericho. He grabs Jericho and bashes his head onto the ring apron. Jericho's head bounces hard. Hennig then grabs Jericho and hits a bodyslam on the floor. The crowd roars its approval. Hennig grabs Jericho and throws him towards the railing, but Jericho reverses, and Hennig hits it instead! Jericho continues the assault, putting the boots on Hennig.

The ref reaches eight, when Jericho rolls Hennig into the ring before climbing back in himself. Jericho hits a couple of elbowdrops, and then covers. That only gets a two, as Hennig kicks out. Jericho covers again, Hennig kicks out again. Jericho, frustrated, pulls Hennig up, and throws him into a turnbuckle, Hennig reverses the move, but Jericho reverses again... sending Hennig into the referee! Hennig goes down, and the ref is unconscious!

Jericho looks at the situation, and he sees something to his advantage! He goes out of the ring, and grabs the TV Title! Jericho goes back into the ring with the belt and waits in a corner... Hennig is slowly getting up. The ref is still knocked out. The fans start booing, but their dismay turns into elation as someone jumps the railing! It's Booker T on street clothes! Booker T jumps into the ring, just in time to stop Jericho from charging into Hennig!

Booker T grabs Jericho's arm from behind, turns him around, and kicks him in the gut! The TV Title comes flying, Booker T grabs it and smashes it into Jericho's skull! Jericho is down! Booker T jumps out of the ring with the TV Title. Hennig crawls over Jericho, the ref comes to... one...two...THREE! Curt Hennig retains the TV Title! Booker T has cost Jericho the match! Booker T tosses the TV Title inside the ring and walks away, content at getting even with Jericho!

Winner: Curt Hennig via Pinfall

Match Rating: ***

Overall: 82

Crowd: 84

Workrate: 80

~

:United States Title Match:

Diamond Dallas Page© vs. Disco Inferno

Disco Inferno is first in, to medium crowd reaction. He paces in his corner, psyching himself up as he prepares to go head-to-head with DDP for the US Title.

Page's music starts playing and he walks out with an unconcerned look on his face. He has the US Title on his shoulder. Page steps into the ring and basically ignores Disco... he isn't worried at all, and it shows with the way he's acting.

Both men go face-to-face, as the ref asks for the bell to be run. Disco stands his ground as DDP measures him from head to toe. The staredown is broken after a vicious slap by DDP smacks Disco in the cheek. DDP then follows up with a running clothesline that sends Disco down to the mat.

Page covers, and it gets the two count. Page picks Disco up, and throws him across the ropes. clothesline again! Page pulls Disco to his feet, bodyslam! Followed up by an elbow drop. And another! Cover gets the two count.

Page drags Disco over to the corner and starts laying down heavy boot stomps on Disco's chest! Disco hasn't even been able to put in a single ounce of offense in this match! Page is pleased with himself and taunts the crowd a bit. DDP pulls Disco up, and is surprised by a kick to the gut! Disco rallies with several punches and kicks before clotheslining Page over the top rope! The fans cheer as Disco asks for their support!

Page recollects himself outside, and then rolls back into the ring. He's pretty pissed that Disco was able to catch him off-guard. Collar and elbow tie up, and DDP overpowers Disco, then shoves him into a corner. ANOTHER VICIOUS SLAP by DDP to Disco's face! This time, Disco charges DDP and takes him down! Mounted punches from Disco! Disco stands up and hits an elbow drop! Cover, and it only gets a two. Disco cinches in a side-headlock. After a few moments of struggling with DDP, he floats over to a hammerlock, and then shoves DDP into a corner, chest-first. Disco then turns around and hits a standing neck-breaker! Disco covers again and that gets him a two. Disco stands up, and starts to play the crowd... he's signalling for the Last Dance!

Disco waits for DDP to get up... he goes in for the kill, but DDP, from out of nowhere hits the Diamond Cutter!!! Disco is out! DDP covers... one, two, thre- NO! Disco kicks out! DDP can't believe it! He starts complaining to the ref!!! DDP looks at Disco, who slowly tries to get up. And Page hits ANOTHER Diamond Cutter! Disco Inferno is definitely out! But DDP isn't over... he pulls the limp Disco Inferno back up, and hits with ONE MORE DIAMOND CUTTER! DDP covers Disco's immobile body, and gets the three... retaining his US Title. Page stands and spits at the unconscious body of Inferno.

EMTs start rushing into the ring as Page walks out, content with the damage he's done tonight. The crowd goes from heel heat to hushed silence as Disco is being attended to by the EMTs.

Winner: Diamond Dallas Page via Pinfall

Match Rating: **1/2

Overall: 76

Crowd: 74

Workrate: 78

PART 2 NEXT WEEK!!!!

:WCW Cruiserweight Championship:

-2 OUT OF 3 FALLS-

Eddie Guerrero © vs. Chavo Guerrero Jr.

:WCW Television Championship:

Curt Hennig © vs. Chris Jericho

:WCW United States Championship:

Diamond Dallas Page © vs. Disco Inferno

Sting, Kevin Nash & Konnan vs. Lex Luger, The Giant & Bam Bam Bigelow

:WCW World Heavyweight Championship:

Bret Hart © vs. Raven vs. Kanyon

Ric Flair vs. Chris Benoit

Damn, it's harsh that the diary is going on a hiatus, I look forward to reading it again, first diary I've read in like a year. Odd about Raw, did you make that a storyline or was it actually dropped? Also, it's a shame that you hiatusing (Even a word?) the diary when Benoit's back and Owen Hart's about to join. Anyway, I look forward to carry on reading this when it's back