The GagneVerse 2.0 - Battle of the Big 3 (FULL VERSION WITH PICS AND LOGOS) [EWR April 1997 Mod]

[Superstar Slim]

I know i started a tpoc on this back in the spring so if its spamming could a mod merge the old topic with this one... was dealing with a lot of personal issues in my life but I have finally finished the anticipated GagneVerse scenario... big shouts to @maurosdelca for the work on the logos... edited a lot of bugs such as salary and staffing issues.. also renamed a lot of the "TV Director #1" staff memebers into real people... also put a generic pack to fill in for the staff members pictures and stuff.. but without further ado......

 

LINK: THE GAGNEVERSE COMPLETED SCENARIO LINK !

 

THE GAGNEVERSE (APRIL, 1st 1997)

HANDBOOK:

Spoiler

Early 80s:

1983 to many is seen as the most important calendar 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 company 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 territory 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 success 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 meanwhile 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. Despite 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 territories would end up closing or being bought out due to the draws signing with bigger promotions. The inaugural WrestleMania was a success, but wasn't the take over moment that McMahon had banked on. Still, with a main event of Roddy Piper defeating The Iron Sheik for the WWF Championship, 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 one of their greatest event in history, SummerSlam 87, with their new franchise star Randy Savage, dethroning top heel Ted DiBiase for the WWF Championship in an absolute classic (Piper would drop the belt to DiBiase earlier in the year after dealing with lingering injuries). 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 couldn't 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 "crippled to retirement" by the attack 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 departure 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 surge 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 didn't 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 would 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 steroid distribution charges. The negative press was felt throughout the entire industry and as a result saw Hogan leave the company 2 weeks before Survivor Series 1993 vacating 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 primetime 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 double 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 Coliseum.  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 5 PROMOTIONAL OVERVIEW:

WWF:

Spoiler

Despite his attempts, 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 gone from the company by Survivor Series after McMahon was arrested and indicted for distributing steroids 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 Monsoon 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 constantly 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.
 

NWA:

Spoiler

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 promotion promoting 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 Starrcade 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 against 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 complaining about the violence. Despite the excessive brawling and sometimes violent matches, for the most part the NWA storylines are more old school and aren't 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 ?

AWA:

Spoiler

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 royalties 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 complete control over the company to his son Greg, who had already been booking the promotion with his father since 84. Gagne would try to incorporate 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 perhaps received 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 the 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 first national promotion to have a Junior Heavyweight Division showcasing international talents never seen on American TV such as Ultimo Dragon and Hakushi

USWA:

Spoiler

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 region. 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 inter-promotional 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 ?
 

ECW:

Spoiler

From a developmental NWA territory to one of the most influential promotions in wrestling, Eastern Championship Wrestling is definitely the enigma 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 solely 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 luchadores 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 wouldn't be able to see anywhere in America like Rey Misterio Jr., The Sandman, & The Gangstas. Despite 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 doesn't 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 ?
 

WHATS GOING ON IN THE INDUSTRY?:

Spoiler

Wrestling Observer Newsletter (April 1997):

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 don't 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 summer 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 doesn't 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 Dustin's 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 te]wo preferred to go back to Japan, but the door is open for an eventual return.

2. Speaking of Shawn Michaels, the Kliq storyline has single handily 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 aren't 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 utilize 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% compromising 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 from Slamboree 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 the 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 tighten 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 candidate 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 received 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 just the ultraviolent product they're putting out and promoting. From pornstars having mud fights to the grotesque 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 that's 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 known business and mogul, Donald Trump is gearing up to launch his own promotion, as 3 new trademark files, "Universal Wrestling Network", "UWN", and "UWN 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 surprise 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.

Special credits to MASTER'S April 1997 mode which was the base for this scenario, the Wrestling at War and iDomination scenarios for influencing this as well, hope you guys enjoy, will also release a version without the start up "UWN" promotion in it. Cheers and thanks for the patience !