The GagneVerse (Official Thread) - Battle of The Big 3 [EWR]

[Superstar Slim]

Hey everybody I was working on a scenario I made a thread about like end of last year and I've finally finished just about all of it. Big shout out to @maurosdelca for all of the logos and graphics ! 
 

Without further ado...

 

THE GAGNEVERSE (APRIL, 1st 1997)

HANDBOOK:

Spoiler

Early 80s:

1983 to many is seen as the most important calender year in modern wrestling history. After the box office success of Rocky III, Hulk Hogan had turned himself into the biggest star in wrestling. The Bidding War of 82 would see the WWWF, now the WWF after Vince Jr.'s acquired the comapny from his father, JCP, and the AWA go to great lengths to sign Hogan to an exclusive contract. Despite a huge money offer from Vince, Hogan would end up inking a 5 year deal with the AWA in 1983, throwing McMahons plans in a funk. April, 24th 1983, Hulk Hogan would successfully defeat Nick Bockwinkel at AWA Super Sunday in one of the highest grossing wrestling card in modern history. The WWF and JCP were still aggressively pursuing national expansion as well signing up many popular terriorty stars. Guys like Roddy Piper, Jake Roberts, and Ted DiBiase would end up inking exclusive deals to the WWF while proven southern draws like Dusty Rhodes, Magnum T.A, & The Road Warriors would sign exclusive deals with JCP. 

 

Mid to Late 80s:

With the sucesss of Hulk Hogan as the figurehead of the AWA, The WWF and JCP felt pressure to find a top babyface for their respective promotions. JCP would settle with the rising Magnum T.A, along with developing other babyface prospects such as Sting, Lex Luger, & Ricky Steamboat menawhile the WWF would go with the colorful Randy Savage as the FOTC, with Roddy Piper, Jake Roberts, Andre the Giant, & Ted DiBiase as the other major players of what can be considered as the golden age for all 3 promotions. Depsite the big 3 promotions doing well, it was the smaller territories that suffered through the expansion. As a result of the bigger promotions expanding, some of the smaller terriories would end up closing or being bought out due to the draws signing with bigger promotions. The anagural WrestleMania was a success, but wasnt the take over moment that McMahon hd banked on. Still, with a main event of Andre The Giant and Mr. T defeating Roddy Piper and Paul Orndoff, the WWF would gain more steam, but were still seen as a distant 3rd between the powerhouse AWA and the ever growing JCP. 1987 and 1988 would be two major years in history for all 3 promotions. Ted Turner would acquire the rights to the NWA name, licensing, and 4 major territories JCP, UWF, GCW, & WCCW along with CWF (which would later be sold back in 1991) which would all be merged into the sole NWA umbrella. The WWF would put on arguably their greatest event in history, WrestleMania 3, with their new franchise star Randy Savage, dethorning former franchise star Roddy Piper for the WWF Championship in an absolute classic. The AWA would also have their highest attendance ever for SuperClash 87 wildely regarded as the SuperBowl of professional wrestling. The Main Event saw Hulk Hogan retain his AWA Championship against Antonio Inoki, billed as the "International Dream Match". 55,000 people were in attendance to witness the spectacle. Controversy would ensue in 1988, when Hulk Hogan and the AWA couldnt come to terms on a new contract and Hogan refused to drop the belt to up and coming heel Ravishing Rick Rude unless he was paid an undisclosed figure rumored to be $1 million dollars, as Hogan was preparing to shoot No Holds Barred 2 after the success of the original in 1986 and a loss would damage his  character's "image" and could ruin ticket sales. Not to say the least, Verne Gagne was absolutely furious and wrote Hogan off with a brutal attack by Rick Rude and hired goon Cowboy Bob Orton on a May 1988 episode of AWA Championship Wrestling. Hogan would be kayfabe "cripped to retirement" by the attck and the title would be vacated and later won by Rick Rude. Hogan's contract would run out that June and he would be off to Hollywood for the remainder of the 80s

 

Early 90s:

The deparure of Hulk Hogan allowed the WWF and NWA to gain more momentum and catch up to the then dominant AWA. The NWA in particular saw a surgence of new talent rising to the top such as Cactus Jack Foley, Ron Simmons, Mark Callous, and Big Van Vader. The WWF would also enjoy success as well as the "Macho Mania Era" from 87- 91 is considered their golden age in terms of business and creativity. Things would get stormy in the Summer of 1990 when it was leaked that the Macho Man was in talks with the NWA. Offended at the fact that McMahon found out from a second hand source than Macho himself, he would refuse to match the massive offer from the NWA and would allow Macho to leave when his contract came up in April of 91. Despite the tension between the two, Savage would still be professional and gave the company an absolute classic for his final WWF match, dropping the belt in a Retirement Match against new FOTC, The Ultimate Warrior at WrestleMania 7. Having to fill the void of Hulkamania, the AWA would end up pushing 4 young stars Curt Hennig, Scott Hall, Bret Hall, & Rick Rude as their new main players they would be dubbed "The Four Pillars". Out of the four, Bret Hart would emerge as the go to figurehead of the company while the rest would rotate the AWA Title if Hart didnt have it. Despite the NWA climbing to be top dog, a dispute between the NWA President Dusty Rhodes and ECW's (NWA's feed) and on air personnel Paul Heyman would see ECW secede from the NWA and become its own outlaw promotion, with the former Dean Douglas (now Shane Douglas) denounce the NWA Tri State Championship and declared himself the ECW Heavyweight Champion. The USWA is also formed out the ashes of WCCW, Mid South, & CWA and does good business but a life threatening car accident in January of 1992 would take away their top draw Kerry Von Erich for the next 3 years. 

 

Mid 90s to Current:

1993 would be another crucial year for the industry as a whole as the NWA would hire Eric Bischoff as the new Head Booker working side by side with NWA President Dusty Rhodes. Bischoff would immediately implement several changes to liven up the NWA such as production upgrades and endorsement deals such as Slim Jim and Snickers. The AWA woild also see a change in ownership as Verge Gagne would step down and give ownership to his son Greg. Greg would put longtime AWA announcer, Tony Schiavone as the head booker of the company. Hulk Hogan shocks the world by debuting in the 1993 Royal Rumble and last eliminating The Ultimate Warrior to face and beat Yokozuna for the WWF Title. Hogan's signing shocked everyone and Warrior would end up walking out of the company not to be seen for another two years. Rumor had it that Hogan signed the largest 1 year contract in wrestling history and included percentages from PPV, House Shows, and TV dates worked. However a big storm was coming down Titan Towers when in October of 1993 Vince McMahon was indicted and arrested on steriod distrubution charges. The negative press was felt throughout the entire industry and as a result saw Hogan leave the company 2 weeks before Survior Series 1993 vacanting the belt to try to maintain his hollywood career. Several other superstars would leave the company as well leaving the WWF with its weakest roster in its history. The NWA and AWA were also feeling the effects but not as much. The WWF would see Linda McMahon take over as Owner and Gorilla Monsoon as head booker. Monsoon was heavily criticized during his time as a booker, with more cartoonish and outdated safe gimmicks to try and fight the negative image the company had. Perhaps the only good thing to come out of this was the rise of Shawn Michaels, who quickly got over as a main card fixture. The national race would get a huge switch of gears when it was announced that the NWA would debut a new primtime two hour live show on Mondays called "NWA Monday Nitro" on New Years 1995. The episode would see the shock debut of Hulk Hogan coming to help Sting fight off the Horsemen Elite. Shortly after the AWA and WWF would have their own prime time shows (WWF Thursday Night Attitude and AWA Wednesday Night Rush) to answer back. However, Eric Bischoff had one more ace up his sleeve when at SuperBrawl 96, Hulk Hogan and Ric Flair did a doube turn. Hogan would have Flair in a figure four lock and Bischoff would ring the belt and award Hogan the belt despite the fact that Flair never tapped. The incident would be dubbed the SuperBrawl Screwjob and almost set off a whole riot in the Greensboro Collisuem.  The AWA and WWF tried to counter with the signing of Randy Savage (AWA) and the formation of the Kliq (WWF).  Today the war is as intense as ever, with the raunchy Jerry Springer influence WWF, the pureso wrestling product of the AWA, and the brawl heavy southern product of the NWA all gunning to be the top dog.

TOP 6 PROMOTIONS OVERVIEW:

WWF:

Spoiler

Name: World Wrestling Federation 

Size: National (22%)

HQ: Stamford, CT

Risk: 70% (Crash TV, Sports Entertainment)

Ads: 80%

Production: 85%

Merch: 84%

Owner: Linda McMahon and Titan Sports Inc.

Head Booker: Shane McMahon

Booking Team: Shane McMahon, Vic Venom, Gorilla Moonson, Vince McMahon, Pat Patterson

Development: Titan Pro Wrestling (Providence, RI)

Training Camp: Titan Wrestling Acadamy (Providence, RI)

Figurehead: Shawn Michaels 

Alliances: ECW (Working Agreement), USWA (Working Agreement), OMEGA (Working Agreement)

Enemies: NWA (War), AWA (War), CSP (Non Aggression Pact), CWF (Hostility)

TV Shows: 

1. Thursday Night Attitude on USA Network (9PM - 11PM) [Michael Cole & Shane McMahon]
2. Sunday Night War on USA Network (10:30pm - 11:30pm) [Todd Pettengill & Jerry Lawler]

Backstory:
Despite his attemps, Vincent Kennedy Mcmahon was unable to monopolize wrestling the way that he wanted to. After Hulk Hogan decided to stay with the AWA instead of signing with the federation, McMahon was hungry to find a flagship star to take his company to the next level. He would end up finding his star in none other than "Rowdy" Roddy Piper. After turning face and defeating The Iron Sheik at the inaugural WrestleMania I, Piper along with Andre The Giant and Ted DiBiase would go on to establish the WWF as a national promotion, striking a late night tv deal with MTV. The deal would come to an end in 1987 after Piper would leave the company due to nagging injuries, dropping the WWF Title to the Million Dollar Man at WrestleMania III. This would open up the door for a new babyface to emerge, "The Macho Man" Randy Savage. Savage would jump ship from Mid South to the WWF due to the Mid South/WCCW merger. Randy Savage would win the title at Summerslam 87 from Ted DiBiase and have 3 different title reigns with the belt from 1988 -1991 making him the only 3 time WWF Champion to date. In 1991 Randy Savage accepts a big money deal from the NWA and passes the torch to The Ultimate Warrior in a Retirement Match at WM7 for the WWF Championship. Business would be good with the Ultimate Warrior but a noticeable drop off from the golden years of Macho Mania. Desperate to win the national battle by any means, the WWF would sign Hulk Hogan to the biggest 1 year contract in pro wrestling history with a clause to add two more years and a 15% increase if Hogan wanted to stay and could terminate the contract at any given time. Hogan would debut and win the 1993 Royal Rumble and defeat WWF Champion Yokozuna at WM9. Despite this Hogan would be gome from the company by Survivior Series after McMahon was arrested and indicted for distributing steriods to wrestlers. Several wrestlers such as The Ultimate Warrior, Jake Roberts, and Davey Boy Smith would be released from their contracts and the WWF seeing a hard hit in popularity and star power.  

The company would then be transition to Linda McMahon who would run the business side and Gorilla Moonsion running the creative. McMahon would be released in November of 1995 and would resume duties as booker more in the shadow of things. The WWF at this point of time was at its worst point in popularity and prestige in its history. WWF Magazine writer Vic Venom approached McMahon with an idea to revive the product by making it more risque HBO/Jerry Springer like. Over the next year the WWF would go into more darker risque storylines instead of the dated cartoon product they've been putting on since the 80s. Perhaps the big storyline that really kicked off the Attitude era was Kevin Nash (former NWA World Champion) and Scott Hall (former AWA World Champion) jumping ship to the WWF and screwing Sycho Sid and helping HBK regain the WWF title at SS96, turning HBK heel in the process. Today the WWF is easily the most risque mainstream promotion out of the Big 3 with characters such as Raven (a jim jones like cult leader), Brian Pillman (a 4th wall breaking loose cannon constanty doing worked shoot promos), Chris Kanyon (A pornstar), & The Godfather (A Pimp). Despite all the outrageous storylines there are a few rising stars in the WWF that could potentially transcend the industry and take the WWF to the next level.

Top 5 Stars:

1. The Ultimate Warrior (92) [Face, Mysterious]
2. "Rowdy" Roddy Piper (91) [Face, Rebel]
3. "HBK" Shawn Michaels (90) [Heel, Degenerate]
4. "Big Diesel" Kevin Nash (87) [Heel, Degenerate]
5. The Giant (85) [Face, Monster]

(Other notable pushed acts: Scott Hall, Hunter Helmsley, Brian Pillman, Sycho Sid, Syxx, Jerry Lawler, Ahmed Johnson, Bill Goldberg, Ken Shamrock, The Pitbulls, The Ministry of Raven, Rocky Johnson Jr, The Smoking Gunns & The Nation)

Champions:

WWF World Championship (86%) Shawn Michaels (2) (defeated Sycho Sid at Survivor Series 1996)

WWF Intercontinental Championship(69%) "Cocky" Rocky Johnson Jr. (1) (defeated Hunter Hemsley at WrestleMania 13)

WWF Tag Team Championships (61%) The Pitbulls (1) (defeated King's Court at WrestleMania 13)

Last Card:

WrestleMania 13:(Boston Massachusetts, March 23rd, 1997)

WWF Championship   
Shawn Michaels (c) w/Chyna def. Roddy Piper (1997 Royal Runble Winner)

The Ultimate Warrior def. Raven w/ Pastor Percy and The Ministry of Raven

Tag Team Street Fight 
Sycho Sid and The Giant def. The Outsiders w/Chyna

WWF Intercontinental Championship 

Rocky Johnson Jr. def. Hunter Hemsley(c) w/Chyna

Ken Shamrock def. Brian Pillman

WWF Tag Team Championships     The Pitbulls w/Sunny def. The King's Court (c)(Sir William and Sir David) w/Jerry Lawler 

Kane w/Pastor Percy and The Ministry of Raven def. Marc Mero w/ Rena Mero

6 Man Tag Team Grudge Match Ahmed Johnson & The Smoking Gunns def. The Nation (D'Lo Brown, Mark Henry, & Big Nelson)

Bill Goldberg def. Prince Fatu Alofa w/ The House of Samoa and Brother Love

Major Feuds/Storylines: The Kliq vs The WWF, Warrior vs The Ministry, Rise of Kane, Bill Goldberg undefeated streak, & Rise of Cocky Rocky

NWA:

Spoiler

Name: National Wrestling Alliance

Size: National (31%)

HQ: Atlanta, GA

Risk: 66% (Southern Traditonal Mainstream, Brawl heavy)

Ads: 84%

Production: 87%

Merch: 80%

Owner: Ted Turner

Head Booker: Eric Bischoff

Booking Team: Eric Bischoff, Dusty Rhodes, Jim Ross, Michael Hayes

Development: Wildside Championship Wrestling (Tulsa, OK)

Training Camp: NWA Power Plant (Mobile, Al)

Figurehead: Hollywood Hogan

Alliances: CWF (Working Agreement), LPW(Working Agreement), OVW (Working Agreement), NJPW (Working Agreement)

Enemies: WWF (War), AWA (War), ECW(Hostility), USWA (Hostility), CSP (Non Agression Pact)

 

TV Shows:

1. NWA Monday Night Nitro on TNT (8:00pm-10:05pm) [Jim Ross and Bobby Heenan]
2. NWA Saturday Night on TBS (7pm-8pm) [Scott Hudson and Jimmy Hart]

 

 

Backstory: 

After existing mostly as a governing body over a bunch of regional territories, a meeting was held after the WWF's failed attempted at signing Hulk Hogan over the growing threats of the WWF and WCW. It would be decided that in 1987 the territories of the Universal Wrestling Federation, Jim Crockett Promotions, & Georgia Championship Wrestling would be merged into one promtion promotiong the NWA brand as a single entity backed by new owner Ted Turner and Turner Media. Starrcade 87 would be the crowning point of the new era as Magnum TA would defeat Ric Flair to win the NWA title and become the face of the new era. Stars such as Ricky Steamboat, Dusty Rhodes, Terry Funk, The Horsemen, & Magnum T.A would carry the NWA through the 80s competing for that top spot. The 90s would see the NWA evolve into securing the top spot with new stars such as Sting, Lex Luger, and Mark Callous rising to the top of the card. In 1991, the NWA would make their biggest signing at the time, luring "Macho Man" Randy Savage away from the WWF signing a big 4 year contract. Savage would have many classics with top stars such as Terry Funk, Ricky Steamboat, & Arn Anderson and have his greatest match in his NWA run at Starrcade 91 defeating Ric Flair for the NWA Title in a 5 star classic. Savage would also make history as the only wrestler to main event WrestleMania and Starcade in the same year. Eric Bischoff would join the NWA and it's creative team in 1994, after losing the head booker position to Tony Schiavone. Bischoff would implement the glitz and glamour production that the NWA were lacking at the time and convinced Ted Turner to launch a 2 hour live primetime show on Monday Nights. With that idea, NWA Monday Night Nitro was born and set to debut on New Years 1995. The episode would reveal the shock debut of Hulk Hogan who agreed to a 3 year multi million dollar deal with the company leaving the WWF. The signing would polarize some including Randy Savage who would sit out his contract and join the AWA when it was up. Hogan would embark on a hear long feud culminating with a match against Ric Flair at Starrcade 95 for the NWA title. The match would fail to live to the hype with the two workers just not meshing well in the ring. Despite being heavily pushed, Hogan would consistently get mixed reactions due to the NWA fanbase not totally accepting the cartoon like Hogan. This would all change after Bischoff convinces Hogan to turn heel at SuperBrawl 1996 in a rematch aginst Ric Flair with Eric Bischoff at ringside.Hogan would put Flair in a figure four leg lock and Bischoff would call for the bell awarding Hogan the match without Flair ever truly submitting. The crowd would near a riot at the worked shoot finish and Hogan would turn into the industry's hottest heel and star. Today the NWA is the top national promotion in the world with the biggest names of the 80s such as Ric Flair, Hollywood Hogan, & The Road Warriors and some of the biggest rising stars of today such as Sting, Steve Austin, & Cactus Jack. Critics of the NWA say that the promotion has gone too brawl heavy since its national expansion with a Cactus Jack and Mean Mark Callous main event at the the beginning of the year that was so violent people called in to Turner HQ compaining about the violence. Depsite the exessive brawling and sometimes violent matches, for the most part the NWA storylines are more old school and arent as risque or over the top like the WWF. Now the question is can the NWA manage to hold onto their #1 spot or will the crash-tv WWF or the pure wrestling AWA take over ?

 

Top 5 Stars:

1. "The God of Wrestling" Hollywood Hogan (97) [Heel, Movie Star]
2. "The Nature Boy" Ric Flair (96) [Face, Unique]
3. "The Man" Sting (92) [Face, Hero]
4. "Superstar" Steve Austin (89) [Face, Man on a Mission]
5. "Mean" Mark Callous (86) [Heel, Bully]

(Other notable pushed acts: The Road Warriors, Eric Bischoff, Big Van Vader, Camp Cornette, Harlem Heat, Terry Funk, Cactus Jack, Arn Anderson, Eddy Guerrero, Ron Simmons, Tully Blanchard, The Great Muta & Dustin Rhodes)

Champions:

NWA World Championship (90%)

Hollywood Hogan (1) (defeated Ric Flair at Starrcade 95)

 

NWA Mid Atlantic Championship (73%)

Ron Simmons (2) (defeated Lex Luger at NWA The Carolina Clash 1997)

 

NWA World Tag Team Championships (64%)

Camp Cornette (1) (Barry and Bradshaw Windham) (defeated The Miracle Violence Crew on a November 1996 edition of NWA Nitro)

 

NWA World Television Championship (57%)

Eddy Guerrero (1) (defeated Michael Wallstreet on a December 1996 episode of NWA Saturday Night)

 

NWA Carolina Clash 1997 (Charlotte, NC)

2 on 3 Handicap Match

Ric Flair and Arn Anderson def Hollywood Hogan Enterprises (Hollywood Hogan , Big Bubba Rogers, & Michael Wallstreet)

Steel Cage Match

Sting def. Mean Mark Callous

NWA Mid-Atlantic Championship

Ron Simmons def. Lex Luger(c) w/ Camp Cornette

Big Van Vader w/ Jimmy Hart def. Cactus Jack Foley

Tag Team Match

Steve Austin & Dean Malenko w/ The Horsemen def. Harlem Heat w/Teddy Long

NWA Tag Team Championships

Camp Cornette (c) w/ Jim Cornette def. American Males

NWA TV Championship

Eddy Guerrero (c) def. Dustin Rhodes w/ Terri Rhodes 

The Great Muta def. Jushin Liger

The Road Warriors w/ Paul Ellering def. The Funk Brothers

 

Major Feuds/Storylines: The Horsemen vs Hollywood Hogan Enterprises , Sting vs Mean Mark, Rise of Superstar Steve Austin, Big Van Vader vs Cactus Jack Foley, NJPW/NWA talent exchange, Camp Cornette wants all the gold

AWA:

Spoiler

Name: American Wrestling Association 

Size: National (23%)

HQ: Chicago, Il

Risk: 60% (Traditional, Pure Wrestling)

Ads: 77%

Production: 81%

Merch: 79%

Owner: Greg Gagne

Head Booker: Tony Schiavone

Booking Team: Greg Gagne, Tony Schiavone, Verne Gegne, Brian Gerwitz

Development: Great LakesWrestling  (Detroit, MI) 

Training Camp: American Wrestling Academy (Minneapolis, Minnesota)

Figurehead: Bret Hart

Alliances: CSP (Working Agreement), UDLL(Working Agreement), AJPW (Working Agreement), LPW (Working Agreement)

Enemies: WWF (War), NWA (War), ECW(Hostlity), USWA (Hostility)

Backstory:

April 1983 would dawn a pivotal moment in wrestling history as the day Hulkamania was born. Defeating then AWA Champion Nick Bockinwinkel at the Super Sunday card, Hulk Hogan became the face of the AWA and the face of the wrestling industry of its own. The AWA under Hogan would sore to new heights with a strong TV deal in place on ESPN and other stars such as Sgt. Slaughter, Stan Hansen, Brusier Brody, and Larry Zybszko featuring heavily in the product. However, controversy would ensue in 1988 when Hulk Hogan would leave the AWA after disputes with the Gagnes about royalities from Hogan's new movie No Holds Barred 2. Hogan would be written out by getting viciously assaulted by Rick Rude and his hired gun Cowboy Bob Orton. The AWA Title would be vacated and a Gold Rush Tournament would be held and won by Rick Rude at WrestleRock'88  to crown a new AWA Champion. The beginning of the decade saw change, with Verne giving comete control over the comapny to his son Greg, who had already been booking the promotion with his father since 84. Gagne would try to incomporate more of a youth movement in the AWA. Gagne would appoint recently released NWA commentator, Tony Schiavone as head booker instead of the rumored Eric Bischoff. Over the years stars such as Curt Hennig, Scott Hall, and Rick Rude would carry the company into the new decade along with partnerships/talent exchanges with CSP and AJPW. In 1991, Bret Hart would ascend to the top of the card and capture the AWA champion, defeating Curt Hennig in an epic 5 star bout, at SuperClash 1991. Bret would go on to become the face of the AWA holding the belt a record 4 times, including losing the title to brother in law British Bulldog in August 1993 at the Wembley Arena in another 5 star classic. The AWA perharps recieved their biggest signing in the summer of 1995 when the Macho Man Randy Savage made his return to the company embarking in a feud with Bret over the belt which saw him become only thr 2nd man in wrestling history to hold the NWA, AWA, & WWF World titles (the other being Hulk Hogan). Today the AWA is still alive and well, producing the best in ring action out of the big 3, and some of the best matches on North American soil. Critics of the AWA, however, say that the product isnt as well produced and feels too old school for the time. Despite this the AWA still have plenty of young and promising talent such as Kurt Angle and The Hart Foundation as well as the firist national promotion to have a Junior Heavyweight Division showcasing international talents never seen on american tv such as Ultimo Dragon and Hakushi

 

Top 5 Stars:

1. "Macho Man" Randy Savage (95) [Heel, Unique]
2. Bret "The Hitman" Hart (92) [Face, Hero]
3. "Mr Perfect" Curt Hennig (86) [Face, Cocky]
4. "King of Harts" Owen Hart (85) [Heel, Family Guy]
5. "Ravishing" Rick Rude (83) [Heel, Ravishing]

 

 

(Other notable names: Diamond Dallas Page, The British Bulldog, The Hart Foundation, The Eliminators, The Steiners, Stan Hansen, Sgt. Slaughter, The DiBiase Corporation, Ultimo Dragon, Robbie V, The Patriot, & Mr. Wrestling III)

 

TV Shows:

1. AWA Wednesday Nite Rush on ESPN (7PM-9PM) [Tony Schiavone and Jesse Ventura]

 

Champions:

AWA World Championship (87%)

Bret Hart (4) (defeated Stan Hansen at AWA Parade of Champions'96)

 

AWA United States Championship (68%)

Chris Benoit (2) (defeated The British Bulldog at WrestleRock 97)

 

AWA Tag Team Championships (60%)

The Hart Foundation (Chris Jericho and Lance Storm) (1) (defeated The Eliminators at AWA Slamboree 1997)

 

AWA Junior Heavyweight Championship (46%)

Mr. JL (2) (defeated TAKA Michinoku on a October 1996 edition of AWA Wednesday Night Rush)

 

 

AWA WrestleRock 97 (Chicago, Il)

AWA Championship 

Bret Hart (c) def. Owen Hart w/ The Hart Foundation

Randy Savage w/ Miss Elizabeth def. Curt Hennig

Tag Team Dream Match

The Steiners def. Demolition

Chicago Street Fight

Diamond Dallas Page w/ Kimberly Page def. Rick Rude

AWA Junior Heavyweight Championship

Triple Threat Match

Mr. JL (c) def. Robbie V & Ultimo Dragon

8 Man Tag Team Match

The DiBase Corporation def. Team Slaughter (Sgt Slaughter, The Patriot, & The Young Stallions)

AWA United States Championship

Chris Benoit w/ The Hart Foundation def. The British Bulldog (c)

AWA Tag Team Championships

The Hart Foundation (c) w/ Jim Neidhart  def. Rising Sun Wrecking Crew w/ Mr. Fuji

 

Major Feuds/Storylines: Bret Hart and The Bulldog vs The Hart Foundation, Rick Rude vs DDP, Randy Savage wants a rematch against Bret Hart, The DiBiase Corporation and it's crown jewel Dan Severn, "Mr. Wrestling III" Kurt Angle undefeated streak, The Steiners have the AJPW Tag belts, Junior Heavyweight mayhem.

USWA:

Spoiler

Name: United States Wrestling Association 

Size: Cult (40%)

HQ: Memphis, TN

Risk: 66% (Old school Memphis product)

Ads: 54%

Production: 59%

Merch: 30%

Owner: Jerry Jarrett

Head Booker: Jerry Lawler

Booking Team: Jerry Jarrett, Jerry Lawler, Bill Watts, Bob Armstrong

Development: Deep South Wrestling (Inactive)

Training Camp: The USWA Asylum 

Figurehead: Jeff Jarrett, Kerry  Von Erich

Alliances: WWF (Working Agreement), ECW(Working Agreement), LPW (Working Agreement), GSW (Working Agreement)

Enemies: NWA (Hostility), AWA (Hostility)

 

Backstory:

When the merger of 87 went down and the UWF, WCCW, GCW, and JCP merged under the sole NWA umbrella, Mid South Wrestling and Central Wrestling Association decided not to join in on the venue but rather merge between the two and form the USWA. Owned by Jerry Jarrett and Jerry Lawler, the USWA has managed to still keep their foot hold on the memphis/mid south reigon. The company would do good business for a few years, but business would stagnant in 1992, when top draw Kerry Von Erich suffered a near life ending motorcycle accident and would be out of action until 1995. Even today the company struggles for star power, relying on past their prime legends to help sell cards like Jake Roberts and Yokozuna. Despite the financial woes and waning popularity, the USWA have a few breakout talents such as Bam Bam Bigelow, Brian Christopher, & Brian Lee making waves in the upper card & also have been gaining interest with an interpromotion storyline war with ECW. Their two biggest young stars ,Jeff Jarrett and Jesse James Armstrong, are majority the reason the company is turning a real profit, along with the recent in ring return of Kerry Von Erich, but will they be able to lead USWA into the nation spotlight or will the big money deals from the AWA, NWA, & WWF be too much to turn down ?

 

Top 5 Stars:

1. "The Heart of Texas" Kerry Von Erich (84) [Face, Hero]
2. Jake "The Snake" Roberts (80) [Face, Inspirational Leader]
3. "The Japanese Mamomth" Yokozuna(77) [Heel, Monster]
4. Jerry "The King Lawler (76) [Face, Unique]
5. "The Chosen One" Jeff Jarrett (73) [Heel, Country Music Star]

 

(Other notable pushed acts: Bam Bam Bigelow, Brian Lawler, Jim Duggan, Jesse James Armstrong, Brian Lee, The Harris Brothers, 911, The Rock n' Roll Express, Chris Adams, The Honky Tonk Man, Tommy Rich, Scotty Taylor)

 

TV Shows:

1. USWA Friday Night Pro Wrestling on The TNN Network (10pm-11pm) [Lee Marshall and Harvey Wippleman]

 

Champions:

USWA World Championship (61%)

Jake "The Snake" Roberts (1) (defeated Jeff  Jarrett at USWA Turkey Bowl 96)

 

USWA Mid-South Championship (45%)

Brian Lawler (1) (defeated Jesse James Armstrong at USWA Scars and Stripes 96)

 

USWA World Tag Team Championship

PG-13 (2) (defeated The Headbangers on a September 1996 episode of WWF Sunday Night War)

Last Card:

USWA vs ECW: When World's Collide(Washington, D.C)

Clash of The Champions Tag Team Match

Jake Roberts and Taz defeated Jeff Jarrett and Sabu

Shane Douglas def Jerry Lawler

Bam Bam Bigelow defeated Tommy Dreamer

Tag Team Dream Match

The Dudley Boyz defeated The Rock n Roll Express

The Sandman def Brian Lawler

6 Man Tag Team Match

The Armstrongs def 2 Cold Scorpio and The Gangsta

Mexican Death Match 

Rey Misterio Jr def. Psychosis

The Rotten Bros def. The Headhunters

Yokozuna def the Blue Kliq

Major Feuds/Storylines: ECW vs USWA, rise of Jesse James Armstrong, The Heart of Texas vs Yokozuna, Lawler vs Lawler: Father vs Son, Jeff Jarrett vs Jake Roberts, Bam Bam Bigelow undefeated streak

ECW:

Spoiler

Name: Eastern Championship Wrestling 

Size: Cult (25%)

HQ: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 

Risk: 86% (Classic ECW, Hardcore heavy)

Ads: 35%

Production: 48%

Merch: 20%

Owner: Tod Gordon

Head Booker: Paul Heyman

Booking Team: Paul Heyman, Tod Gordon, Gabe Spalosky

Development: N/A

Training Camp: House of Hardcore (Poor)

Figurehead: Shane Douglas, Taz

Alliances: WWF (Working Agreement), USWA (Working Agreement), OMEGA(Working Agreement), UDLL (Working Agreement), ECWA (Working Agreement),

Enemies: NWA (Hostility), AWA (Hostility), XPW (War), CWF (Hostility) , WCW(Hostility)

 

Backstory:

From a developmental NWA territory to one of the most influential promotions in wrestling, Eastern Championship Wrestling is definitely the engima of the industry. Founded in November of 1991, ECW was born out of the ashes of Tri-State Wrestling, who were bought out by the NWA in the summer of 1991. Ran by Tod Gordan, the promotion was at first, an attempt to gain traction in the northeast, which was notoriously WWF territory. After the venture failed, ECW was turned into a soley developmental territory for wrestlers who were too green for tv or recovering from injury looking to shake off ring rust. In the Fall of 1992, Paul E. Dangerously was released from his contract after disputes with NWA management over creative differences. (Paul E. wanted to take over the book and JJ Dillion snubbed him.) He would then take up a booking job at ECW in January of 1993 and quickly began to change the promotion around. Convincing Gordan that they didn't need the NWA to be vital, the promotion would secede from the NWA in March of 1993, with then NWA Tri State Champion Shane Douglas (Dean Douglas in the NWA) would throw the belt down and recognize himself as the first ECW World Champion instead. The shoot promo would send shockwaves through the industry and the company would play on the outlaw image, instilling a NO DQ Anything Goes product and incorporating luchadors from mexico and junior heavyweights from Japan. Today, ECW is hotter than ever with stars such as Sabu, Shane Douglas, & Taz taking the popularity to new levels and acts you wouldnt be able to see anywhere in America like Rey Misterio Jr., The Sandman, & The Gangstas. Depsite the cult following and the popularity, many ECW critics believe the promotion is on borrowed time between the product being too extreme to be on mainstream television or the fact that ECW doesnt have the budget to retain their stars & compete with the big 3. Can the outlaw promotion prove the critics wrong or is ECW just another flash in the pan ?

 

Top 5 Stars:

1. "The Franchise Player" Shane Douglas(75) [Heel, Franchise Player]
2. "The Human Highlight Reel" Sabu (73) [Face, Crazy]
3. "The Human Suplex Machine" Taz (70) [Tweener, Machine]
4. "The Innovator of Violence" Tommy Dreamer (68) [Face, Extremist]
5. The Sandman (66) [Heel, Violent Drunk]

 

(Other notable pushed acts: The Dudley Boyz, Rey Misterio Jr, Psychosis, The Gangstas, The Great Sasuke, Stevie Richards, Abdullah the Butcher, Kensuke Sasaki, 2 Cold Scorpio, & No Respect)

 

TV Shows:

1. ECW Saturday Night House Party on America One (1:00AM - 2:00AM) [Joey Styles and Joel Gertner]

 

Champions:

ECW World Championship (60%)

"The Human Suplex Machine" Taz (2) (defeated Shane Douglas at ECW November 2 Remember 1996)

 

ECW East Coast Championship (53%)

Kensuke Sasaki (1) (defeated Stevie Richards at ECW Guilty as Charged 1996)

 

ECW World Tag Team Championships (40%)

The Dudley Boyz (3) (defeated The Rottens on a January 97 episode of ECW House Party)

 

ECW Barely Legal 1997

ECW World Championship  
3 Way Dance 
Taz (c) def. The Sandman and Tommy Dreamer

Barbed Wire Steel Cage Match 
Sabu def Shane Douglas

ECW World Tag Team Championships 
The Dudleys (c) def. Rey Misterio Jr. & Psychosis

Abdullah the Butcher def. Balls Mahoney

The Gangstas def The Rotten Bros

ECW East Coast Championship Kensuke Sasaki (c) def. 2 Cold Scorpio

FBI def The Hardy Boyz

Little Spike Dudley def. Big Dick Dudley

Yoshi Tajiri def. Mr. Agulia

Major Feuds/Storylines: ECW vs USWA, Taz vs Sabu, Shane Douglas teasing two new "friends" joininng him in ECW, Misterio/Psychosis love/hate relationship, Dreamer vs Sandman ECW/TPW talent exchange, 

THE REST OF THE INDIES (13):

Spoiler

1. Canadian Stampede Pro (Cult)(rebranded Stampede Wrestling, never bought out by the WWF, talent exchange relationship with AWA, the "sweden promotion" of the industry, technical driven product, biggest indy promotion)
2. Universal de Lucha Libre (Cult)(founded by Konnan out the ashes of CMLL and the collapse of the mexican wrestling market in the 80s, brought back a boom to mexico, negative relationship with the WWF, high flying driven product)
3. Championship Wrestling from Florida (Regional) (the biggest NWA affliated terriory, acts as faux developmentterritory for the NWA, ran by SteveKeirn and Kevin Sullivan, old school kayfabe heavy product)
4. Legends of Pro Wrestling(Regional) (founded by Australianconcert promoter and wrestling fanAndrew McMaums in January of 1997, uses past prime legends and lended talent from big 3 to sell tickets, does a touring schedule rather than week to week episodic booking, family friendly product)
5. Ohio Valley Wrestling (Regional) (2nd biggest NWA territory, acts in same vein as CWF, ran by Danny Davis, old school product)
6. Golden State Wrestling (Regional)(formed by Rick Bassman in November 1996, based in San Diego, youthful and cutting edge product)
7. Xtreme Pro Wrestling (Regional)(formed by Rob Black in August of 1996 in Los Angeles, extremely hostilerelationship with ECW, ultraviolent product)
8. East Coast Wrestling Association(Small) (formed by Jim Ketter, super indy product, prototype ROH)
9. Jersey All Pro Wrestling (Small) (sister promotion of ECW, hardcore/strongstyle hybrid)
10. OMEGA (Small) (formed by The Hardy Boyz, loose affliation with the WWF, USWA, and ECW, high flying/sick bump product)
11. Wildside Championship Wrestling(Small) (NWA's owned developmentterritory, booked by Jim Ross)
12. Titan Pro Wrestling (Small) (WWF's owned developmental, booked by Bruce Prichard)
13. Great Lakes Wrestling (Small)(AWA's owned developmental, booked by Tony Schiavone)

Spoiler

[9 to 5]

Best of luck with this.

[maurosdelca]

As someone who helped a bit here, I'm really looking forward to the final release. This has potential!

[Superstar Slim]

WHATS GOING ON IN THE INDUSTRY? (April 1997 Wrestling Observer:)

Spoiler

 

1. Hollywood Hogan is arguably the hottest heel in the business, with only the WWF's Shawn Michaels as a #2, despite this many people feel his time needs to come to an end and no one at this point in time is more worthy to do that than "Superstar" Steve Austin. The question is will Hogan ever do the right thing over try to use his political stroke to keep top position in the NWA. Some even feel that the NWA could really be alienating their audience for good if they dont capitalize while the iron is hot. Rumors of him refusing to work with locker room leader Mark Callous because he was "too stiff at a house show" over the sumner just adds fuel to the fire and more pressure on the NWA to do the right thing. Cactus Jack Foley continues to put his body on the line every night impressing certain higher ups with his effort but rumor has it that a few influential people in the back doesnt think he's "marketable for mainstream". Another person who is getting himself over is "The Paramount" Dustin Rhodes, with his unhinged psychotic failed star gimmick has really brought some of best character work in dustins career. The Miracle Violence Crew of Terry Gordy and Steve Williams are expected to head back to Japan after finishing up their NWA dates this past Nitro, in a losing effort to Camp Cornette. While the NWA were interested in keeping them long term the teo prefered to go back to Japan, but the door is open for an eventual return.
2. Speaking of Shawn Michaels, the Kliq storyline has singlehandly brought the WWF back from a really gloomy 18 months. However the same problems with Hogan exist with Michaels and the Kliq as a whole with stars such as Shane Douglas and Bam Bam Bigelow refusing to ever work in the same company as the Kliq. To say politics arent running rampant in the WWF is an understatement, with the Kliq refusing to work with top star The Ultimate Warrior. Warrior himself is no stranger to controversy, with his antics causing top stars not to want to work with him (Sid, The Kliq etc.) its hard to incorporate him in the title picture, instead being used as more of a special attraction. Between Warrior and The Kliq the political playing field has never been more intense in the company as it is now. Despite the politics and drama, many people feel that the young stars of Bill Goldberg, Rocky Johnson Jr, and Hunter Helmsley are the stars of the next century and want to be careful to ultilise them to their max potential.
3. Bret Hart's current run as AWA Champion is one for the ages, defending the belt in Mexico, Canada, and Japan, and the Hart Family Drama is one of the best storylines in AWA history. Despite this AWA is still trying to be hip with the times like the NWA and WWF have done without 100% comprimising the identity of the AWA. One person who is knocking on Bret Hart's door for the eventual rubber match is none other than the Macho Man Randy Savage, defeating Curt Hennig in a #1 contender's match at WrestleRock'97. Insiders say that the two are eager to up their classic fromSlamboree 96. Not everything is all positive in the AWA though as top stars Rick Rude and Curt Hennig are out for the time being, with Rude out with a back injury following his Street Fight with DDP and Hennig checking himself into rehab for pain killers. With the top of thr card thinning out due to injuries, expect stars like Chris Jericho, Chris Benoit, and DDP to star getting heavier pushes. Newcomer, Mr. Wrestling III, formerly known as olympic gold medalist Kurt Angle is expected to get a heavy push with top stars like Bret Hart and Owen Hart already requesting to work with him.
4. Despite being their world champion, Jake Roberts time in the USWA may be coming to an end after showing up visibly drunk at the USWA vs ECW Supershow last week. A few TNN executives were in attendance at the show and were appalled at the incident. Since then TNN has put the pressure on the USWA, either tighen up on find a new channel. Kerry Von Erich has been cleaned since his motorcycle incident in 1993 that almost ended his life, but people close to the "Heart of Texas" are weary that he might go back to abusing drugs. Working a light special attraction schedule, USWA wants to maximize the most out of Von Erich without putting too much pressure on him with dates. With his contract running up, many expect him to stay put in Memphis and stay around family while still wrestling on TV.
5. ECW continues to get the highest ratings on America One despite no particular promotion or advertising from the network or the company itself. Despite the high ratings and attendance, ECW still are having their financial struggles with the big 3 throwing big contracts to some of their top talent. There has been heavy interest in Sabu, Rey Misterio Jr. and The Dudleyz in particular from "just about every company you can think of", and heavy AWA interest in Shane Douglas.
6. Rey Misterio Jr. and Jushin Liger had a MOTY canadiate in February 1997 at the UDLL Supershow. Churning out quality match after quality match, UDLL is trying to expand its reach into other markets.
7. Chris Jericho and Lance Storm finished up the last of their Canadian Stampede dates, wrestling a 30 minute epic at a CSP house show. The two recieved a standing ovation after the match ending a 6 year on and off run with the promotion. "No Gimmicks Needed" Chris Candido has been the king of Canada holding the Canadian Heavyweight Championship for the past 7 months after his rather nasty exit from the WWF. With the majority of their former stars now in the AWA, CSP is also looking towards the future and see Andrew Martin, STEELE, and The Suicide Blondes as long term stars for the promotion.
8. XPW are making headlines for jusg the ultraviolent product they're putting out and promoting. From pornstars having mud fights to the grutesqe violence their first show "XPW First F*ckin Show 97" have been heavily negatively received by the industry. Perhaps the only shining moment of the show was the main event which saw Mike Awesome defeat Masota Tanaka to become the first ever XPW World Champion. Many feel as the promotion is on borrowed time overtly relying on shock value thats too risque for any real tv station.
9. Several wrestlers contracts are coming up within the next few months such as NWA's Ric Flair, La Parka, Bobby Eaton, and Booker T, WWF's Ahmed Johnson, & Tatanka, the AWA's Steiner Brothers & Mr. J.L & USWA's Kerry Von Erich and Butch Reed. Out of all of them its rumored that Flair and The Steiners are the most likely to leave their respective promotions which would be a huge blow to both the AWA and NWA respectively.
10. Rumors are circulating that well knowning business and mogul, Donald Trump is gearing up to launch his own promotion, as 3 new trademark files, "World Wrestling Network", "WWN", and "WWN Ready 2 Rumble" from Trump Sports LLC were discovered. Rumors also are circulating that handshake deal was in place with a Cable TV network and everything would be revealed at a surpise press conference. With several stars contracts coming up and a few free agents out there, along with Trump's resources and power could create another interesting layer in an already competitive market.

INDUSTRY RANKINGS:

Spoiler

TOP 10 DRAWS:

1. "The God Of Wrestling" Hollywood Hogan (97)
2. "Nature Boy" Ric Flair (96)
3. "The Macho Man" Randy Savage (95)
4. The Ultimate Warrior (93)
5. "The Man" Sting (93)
6. Bret "The Hitman" Hart (93)
7. "Rowdy" Roddy Piper (93)
8. "HBK" Shawn Michaels (92)
9. "Superstar" Steve Austin (89)
10. "K-Dawg" Konnan (88)

TOP 5 TAG TEAMS:

1. The Kliq (Kevin Nash & Scott Hall)
2. The Steiner Brothers (Scott & Rick Steiner)
3. Harlem Heat (Booker T & Stevie Ray)
4. The Eliminators (Perry Saturn & John Kronus)
5. The Dudley Boyz (Bubba Ray & Devon Dudley)

TOP 5 HOT PROSPECTS:

1. "Superstar" Steve Austin
2. "Da Beast" Bill Goldberg 
3. "Canada's Hero" Chris Jericho
4. "Cocky" Rocky Johnson Jr.
5. "Double J" Jeff Jarrett

TOP 5 POLITICIANS:

Spoiler

1. Hollywood Hogan
2. Shawn Michaels
3. The Ultimate Warrior
4. Randy Savage
5. Kevin Nash

 

For some reason it wont let me edit the post on my phone lol. But I'm going to release the prototype sometime in the next 48 hours and have an official version with picture packs/logo packs. There will be 2 versions one with the 18 promotions and another with a new cult sized promotion launched by Donald Trump with nobody signed to the roster if you want to lead your own promotion to the race for global wrestling dominance.

[faz44]

OK, I'm looking forward to this very much.

[Superstar Slim]

So without further ado I give you the GagneVerse Prototype ! This version is about 80% done just need to fix a few relationships and contracts and also putting the picture pack together for the workers... the official release will have 2 versions..one with the start up World Wrestling Network and one without it. the official version should be done in about a week or two thank you to everyone who's been following this since the hype thread... LMK any questions or errors that need to be fixed that you've noticed.

 

LINK: The GagneVerse Scenario Link 

[KingCrippler]

So is this a mod for EWR or TEW? Because the tag says EWR but you talk a lot about Figureheads and Alliances and stuff that only exists in TEW. 

[Superstar Slim]

1 hour ago, KingCrippler said:

So is this a mod for EWR or TEW? Because the tag says EWR but you talk a lot about Figureheads and Alliances and stuff that only exists in TEW. 

Its for EWR, just wanted to add an extra depth to the scenario and for if anybody wanted to covert it to TEW. I would do it myself but im super busy as is

[Superstar Slim]

Final Version should be done im a week or so fine thning all the errors and overness, if anyone is familiar with 90s mexican wrestling please pm me !

[Superstar Slim]

Link to Final Version is here: