Saviours of Wrestling

[TheArsenal]

This backstory is quite long, consisting of five chapters. Because of this, the backstory will be posted over two or three posts. I believe this will make it easier to read, rather than having to sit through a hell of a lot of text.

CHAPTER 1

The darkest of days were here…..

It had been a long time since the “glory years”. Looking back, that’s how everyone would describe that brief time in history, though as time continues to go by, there are less and less people that actually remember them. Some were not there, others choose to forget. Most fans will read about those times on the Internet, or in books, or try to re-live them with DVD’s that document those magical days. To re-live is one thing, but to be there…to watch, to attend, to live and breathe is it all something completely different.

The glory days existed in the mid to late 1990’s, when the infamous “Monday Night Wars” were ongoing between Ted Turner’s World Championship Wrestling and Vince McMahon’s World Wrestling Federation. This was a time when all fans were excited about professional wrestling. A time when the product was entertaining and it seemed as if writers cared about what they were putting on TV. The WWF was pushing its “Austin vs. McMahon” feud, a feud that would successful run for years without being seen as dragged out. D-Generation X were running free, doing as they pleased in the WWF, and even going as far as invading WCW in Atlanta (the irony is painful). Stars like The Rock, Mick Foley and Hunter Hearst Helmsley were starting a rise that would see them rise from a crowded midcard to smash through the glass ceiling and join the elite.

WCW were building their cards firmly around the nWo, starting with Kevin Nash, Scott Hall and “Hollywood” Hulk Hogan, but adding more and more wrestlers into the mix to capitalise on the success of the stable. Acquiring workers such as Bret Hart, Goldberg, Chris Jericho and Chris Benoit, to name but a few, gave WCW a real chance at winning the Wars. The problem for WCW arose when it came to wrestlers switching between the promotions. Workers that left WCW for the WWF were often upper-midcarders, including Jericho and Benoit – established wrestlers and stars in their own right. Workers going the other way were often on the way down, or stuck in a rut. The two promotions shared a lot of fans so a down-and-out worker from one promotion was a hard worker to get over in the other.

Sitting in the background was Extreme Championship Wrestling – the brain child of Paul Heyman. With its small cult following, ECW was never a challenger to the might of the WWF or WCW, but served more as a breeding ground where wrestlers could gain credibility and reputation before being picked up by “the big leagues.”

However, all that changed as the millennium drew to a close. “The Powers That Be” had taken over WCW and Vince Russo’s free reign over the Atlanta promotion was one of the biggest factors in helping World Championship Wrestling’s slow death. Another major factor was Vince McMahon’s desperate attempts at stealing his rival’s workers. Offering more money and guaranteed title reigns saw more and more wrestlers make the move from Atlanta to Connecticut. Many fans predicted the beginning of the end. If only they knew how right they were.

In early 2001, a night many fans will never forget, the Raw-Nitro simul-cast when Vince McMahon announced he had purchased the rights to World Championship Wrestling. A month or so later WWF showed just how dominant they had become when ECW was reformed on WWF television. Vince McMahon had purchased all of his competition. People who referred to the new WWF as “the most dominant force ever in wrestling” were right. But this was only the beginning…..

[TheArsenal]

CHAPTER 3

As time went on, the World Wrestling Federation grew bigger and bigger. Vince McMahon continued to sign more and more wrestlers, making more and more money from advertising and merchandising, and keeping all his competitors at bay. NWA:TNA got smaller in size, and was forced into releasing many of their workers. Other “NWA” companies that had been started in 2002 were either tiny in size, struggling to survive or already defunct. Other independent promotions were too suffering from the power-hungry conglomerate known as the WWF. Ring of Honor was still in existence, but just barely. Combat Zone Wrestling had not shared the same luck. Promotions were starting up all over the United States of America, only to find themselves blown out of the water by Vince McMahon. Soon, people stopped trying to compete with the WWF. It was as if there was no point in trying anymore. It was hard enough to survive, that no-one could come close to competing. There were some men who had tried over and over again to bring down the WWF by providing some kind of competition. Rob Black, Dusty Rhodes, Jake Roberts and Jimmy Snuka had all famously started up new promotions to try and compete, but each was forced to admit failure time and time again.

This is where I come into things. As I told you before I lived through the glory years and I am one of the few fans left that remember them. Now I’m forced to live through the “Dark Age of Wrestling” where not only is the World Wrestling Federation putting out piss poor quality shows on every opportunity they get, but they’re also killing off the competition and making sure there’s no opportunity for anyone else to get a television deal. Most of the Internets wrestling websites are now controlled by Vince McMahon, although he denies it. He overthrew many sites by employing people to set up sites for him, similar or identical to existing ones, and copyrighting anything and everything possible, before using the WWF’s extensive legal team to close down the original. These wrestling websites would then only report on the WWF, and on rare occasions when anything else is reported, it is slammed as inferior and below par. After ten to twelve months, there were only a handful of websites that had evaded the wrath of McMahon.

My name is Matt Landsman. Many of you will not have heard of me, but in these times when McMahon has total control over the wrestling world and its Internet based media, that isn’t a surprise. As a child I watched wrestling with nothing but awe for what I saw on the screen. Like every young child, I started as a mark, believing everything I saw and cheering on my heroes, while despising the villains who held them back from achieving their dreams. As I grew older I learnt about the true nature of the business, that it was all “a work” and that the wrestlers were more actors than sportsmen. Growing up in London, England, I had easy access to watching the WWF, WCW, and later, ECW and I fell in love with the business. I knew I wanted to be a part of the wrestling industry from a young age. My rich parents didn’t agree, but in the end knew that if I was to be happy, then they would support me, although it took some convincing. When I was old enough, I moved the short distance to Norwich, England where I joined the WWF’s premiere UK training camp. This was a time when the WWF still had integrity and hadn’t yet begun to take over the industry. I quickly learnt how to work a match, I was pretty good even if I do say so myself, and it was only a matter of time before I was signed to one of the biggest British promotions, FWA. My time there was successful, not only did I cement myself as a good worker, but I began to learn about the backroom work. As time went on I would sit in on booking meetings. I normally wouldn’t contribute much, but my ideas for my own character and insight into others had somehow earned me a spot at the booking table.

After a year or two, my move to the United States of America had been arranged. A wrestling scout had seen me and I suddenly received an offer from Jersey All Pro Wrestling to work for them. By this point, the “Dark Age of Wrestling” had well and truly began and JAPW knew about both my in-ring talents and my backroom experience and thought I could be crucial in helping them stay afloat now that Vince McMahon had began to strangle the life out of smaller promotions. Sadly, it was only a matter of time before JAPW died out. It wasn’t the only company to do so. I was lucky in the way that I seemed to drift from one company to another. When one company died, there always seemed to be another who would sign me, and I was learning more and more about the industry, while my hatred of Vince McMahon and the World Wrestling Federation was only growing.

[TheArsenal]

CHAPTER 5

This wasn’t going to be easy. Some would call me crazy to even think of what I wanted to do, but my mind was made up. I was going to open a wrestling promotion and try to climb the mountain. My years of working in the independent leagues meant I was a well known and respected figure, thanks in part to Vince McMahon. Had he not closed down so many of my employers by crowding out the market, I would not have been able to showcase my talents in front of so many people. My reputation also meant that the small list of recognisable names to come from Indy wrestling included my own, and this could be a factor in drawing in some fans, though it was not enough alone. 

Financial backing was the biggest obstacle. From my years of working, I had around $500,000 that I could use as capital for my new company, but I needed more. My rich but foolish parents told me they would match my investment into the new company. Luckily for me they knew little about the wrestling industry. If they had, I am sure they would not have chosen to give money to me, for it was a task that seemed nigh impossible. Until, out of the blue, what I can only describe as a miracle came my way.

You might remember I told you that six NWA:TNA workers jumped ship after the premiere TNA show, and that I said they received their guaranteed title shots they would probably be forced into sitting out their contracts. Well I guess I know McMahon better than I thought, because that’s just what happened to Jerry Lynn, Sandman, Sabu and Christopher Daniels. Just four more examples of Vince not knowing where his talent lies and having a booking team that have less talent than a bunch of retarded chimpanzees. One night I received a phone call from an old friend of mine. It was Rob Black, who had rung me to say he knew about my attempt to open a wrestling promotion. He not only wanted to wish me luck, but financial help. This was something I wanted to do alone, as I had seen promotions torn apart by fueding co-owners, but apparently I misunderstood. Black had approached Lynn, Sandman, Sabu and Daniels, all of whom he knew well, and told them of my plans and they seemed excited. They had heard of me, or so he said, but that was all they knew, until Black arranged his meeting with them. Black told me they all had agreed to invest $250,000 each, but their investment carried one clause. If there came a time when they should eventually get out of their WWF contracts and my company had risen to reasonable size, I was to give them jobs in my company. They were tired of sitting at home and never wrestling. They were eager to escape the clutches of Vince McMahon. They were so desperate to get away from the WWF that they would help set up a competitor. This was the world Vince McMahon had created. Men that were once treacherous in his favour would now do just about anything to get away from him. This deal would mean that in a few years time, when all my hard work had paid off, I would be able to sign four workers who wanted to work for the same goal as me. I couldn’t believe my luck.

My capital was now standing at $2 million. The dream was no longer a dream; I had the means to do everything I wanted to do. I could start a company that would grow and hurt McMahon and bring down his reign of evil that was killing wrestling. This was my calling and I wasn’t going to let the fans down any longer. It was time for me to lead a group of men forward into uncharted territory – we would truly be…..

THE SAVIOURS OF WRESTLING

[El Vampiro Canadiense]

Original backstory. I'll be here!

[KJE]

Very good and detailed backstory. This is going great, and I'm hoping the shows will be as well written as the backstory.

[TMM]

I remember when you first posted this. You got a little bit further than this, posting your first show I think it was. I thought it looked really good then, and I still do now.

The backstory was really good and well thought out. It's similar to a lot of backstorys, but at the same time it's very different if that makes any sense. But without a doubt you've got me as a reader. Looking forward to see who's on the roster.

[TheArsenal]

SAVIOURS OF WRESTLING

Starting Company Statistics (As at July 01, 2004)

UCW Owner: Matt Landsman

UCW Head Booker: Matt Landsman

Bank Balance: $2,000,000

Size: Small

Public Image: 50%

Risk Level: 50%

Production Values: 30%

Advertising: 15%

Merchandising: N/A

Training Camp: None

Head Trainer: N/A

Developmental Territory: None

Head Booker: N/A

North American Wrestling Promotions (As at July 01, 2004)

01. World Wrestling Federation (Global, 95%)

02. NWA: Total Nonstop Action (Regional, 25%)

03. Hart Championship Wrestling (Regional, 10%)

04. Ring of Honor (Small, 80%)

05. NWA:Wildside (Small, 65%)

06. Saviours of Wrestling (Small, 50%)

07. Pro Wrestling Iron (Small, 25%)

08. Federation De Lutte Internationale (Small, 20%)

Edited January 30, 2006 by TheArsenal

[TheArsenal]

***Post deleted at the request of the poster......me....*** Edited January 30, 2006 by TheArsenal

[TheArsenal]

So here I was. July the 1st and the first official day of me being the owner of a wrestling promotion. The idea was still surreal to me, but in this day and age in this industry, you'll be out of business before you hold a show if you live with your head in the clouds. So here I was, stting in

As I told you before, I have been involved with the booking and backstage work of wrestling since my move to the USA, but I never realised just how much work was involved. My first move as owner of SoW was to hire a PA. I knew the perfect girl for the job too. I had worked with her before, so she knew the business, and she was damn hot too. I had seen promotions suddenly have a few more months of life, all because this girl had been in the right place at the right time. She could control men like no-one you have ever seen - and she did it all for the business. I knew I had to ring her....

"Hello?"

"Hi, Sophie? It's Matt Landsman."

"Matt? Oh my God!? It's been so long! How are you Matt?"

"I'm doing good thanks. Listen Soph, I need to talk about business. The wrestling business...I need your help."

"So I guess the rumours are true! Matt, the internet is buzzing. Every site that isn't controlled by Vince McMahon is talking about you. No-one's seen a wrestling promotion start up and do well since Bret Hart started HCW. People think you can do it Matt!"

"Well it's good to know you still know what's going on! Yeah, I'm starting a wrestling promotion, well, I've started a wrestling promotion. I'm sick of McMahon and the WWF, just like you, and every other worker in the Indies."

"So what do you want from me? You said you needed my help?"

"Yeah, I do. You know the business Soph, you love the business. I need you on board with me. Take some time to think about it if you want and if you decide you want in, get yourself on a flight to Seattle Tacoma International Airport. I'll speak to you soon."

That was that, whether she would come or not, I don't know. I could only hope. Before we go any further, Let me explain Seattle. Although the WWF tours around the country, no other promotion is big enough to do so, so everyone is pretty much placed in one area. TNA is based in Nashville, Tennessee, Ring of Honor is based in Langhorne, Pennsylvania and NWA Wildside runs out of Cornelia, Georgia. All three promotions are cemented much nearer the east than the west, sitting in the WWF's ever-growing backyard, or the areas threatening to be consumed by it. IRON, running out of Hayward, California are based right on the west coast, and don't have to worry about local promotions taking their fan base. There are no promotions in the north west and there are no wrestling promotions between Tennessee and California, over the whole length of the country. I had a whole host of places to choose to base my promotion, but Seattle seemed to make sense. In the northwest, I wouldn't have to worry about other local promotions, and I was far enough from the WWF that they shouldn't be bothering me for a while yet, at least on a permanent basis. It gave Saviours of Wrestling an area to call its own and build a fan base from.

On the advice of my company accountant, I decided to organise some sponsorship for the company, and found four sponsors who were more than happy to affiliate themselves with us. Three of our sponsors are wrestling websites, but websites that report on the indies and are outside on the control of Vince. Slashwrestling.com and WrestlingFreedom.com are two American based sites that we have agreed terms with, and we are also pleased to have signed a deal with Wrestleserve.co.uk, one of the biggest Britain-based sites. Our fourth sponsor is Scotsman Beer, who have agreed to supply us with discounted lager and beer for our events as part of their deal. I am extremely pleased to have signed these deals, as it means advertising that will be crucial to us.

I have also started looking at workers that may be suitable to work for the company, both in the ring and out of it. While I am optimistic that I can get a good team together, we will all have to see how things turn out in the coming weeks.

[TheArsenal]

Sophie arrived in Seattle this morning, suitcase in hand.

I'm so thankful to have her on board, but still a little shocked she's decided to up and move across country and put her life in the proverbial hands of such a risky venture. When Sophie and I arrived at my house, I showed her to her room, and gave her a tour of the house, complete with an office in one of the downstairs rooms that was big enough for us both to use.

I gave Sophie some time to settle in to her new surroundings, but almost immediately I found her talking about work and such, so I was happy to oblige and start discussing workers. She showed me a list of wrestlers she had thought would be good signings that she had thought about while she was on her flight. There was a good list of names. When she asked for my list, I produced a White Ninja comic I had been drawing that morning. She laughed and told me we should get on with hiring some workers.

That day was spent doing nothing but making phone calls, but at least at the end we could say we had a roster. We signed 15 in-ring workers, all on open contracts. It was a risk for us to do so, but I found myself looking back at companies like NWA:TNA, who tried to secure written contracts too soon and it did them more harm than good. Of course, we were running the risk of our workers being stolen by other promotions, but this was something I couldn’t afford to worry about right now. The workers who agreed to work for us are:

Ace Steel - This 24 year old lightweight worker is technically one of the best wrestlers on the Indy scene, and the same goes for his aerial ability. He is fairly charismatic, and with the right attitude, could go really far. Steel will be working as an Old School Face for us, a gimmick he knows well from working for Pro Wrestling Iron.

Amy Hunter - Amy is one of two managers in SoW. At 22, this ultra-charismatic diva could be huge in time. Amy will be playing a heel to start with and will be used with one of our stars who isn't as talented on the microphone as some of our other workers. Amy will be using a Bitch gimmick, and playing up to all that it entails.

Ashley - Ashley our second manager, and maybe one of our most charismatic workers. At 21, she still has youth on her side and the looks to really get over in the business. From what I have seen in the past, she is one of the best managers around and I was shocked we managed to find her on the unemployment list. She'll be playing an innocent, Girl-Next-Door style gimmick to start with.

Austin Lee - Austin Lee, at 20, is probably our most talented worker. He is only working for us but I'm not sure how much longer that will last with his technical and charismatic talents. He's playing a cheating heel for us, which could instantly get him heat with the fans. Having worked with him before, I know what the fellow Englishman can do.

Chris Stylez - When we spoke to this 25 year old, we could tell he was passionate about his background. For us, this lead to a progression of thoughts that has ended up with him using the gimmick of an Angry Young Man, working as a heel. Chris is a good aerial worker, with some skills as a brawler and technical man.

Colt Cabana - Recently released by Ring of Honor, well their loss is our gain. Colt is 24 and is a fairly good all-rounder, which means he should be able to put on a good match with anyone on the rosta. He's well liked among the fans, who have already seen him, and so we're going to start him with as a face with a Cool gimmick, which really suits him well.

Daron Smythe - Daron Smythe is pretty good when it comes to both the technical and aerial styles of wrestling, and is someone I would happily throw a microphone to and let loose on our fans. Daron will be another of our heels, and to help build him up, we plan to use him as an Old School Heel.

Eric Justice - Just hearing his name got my creative juices flowing. Eric is a fairly good brawler and has some skill when it comes to technical bouts. We are keeping Eric as a face and lining him up with a Pro-USA gimmick which I think could really benefit him.

Jay Briscoe - One of the more recognisable names on our roster, 18 year old Jay is our youngest worker, but has already been part of the WWF roster in the past. What he lacks in age, he makes up for in talent and has the potential to be huge. Because of this, we're starting him with a Blue Chipper gimmick, and keeping him face.

Johnny Jett - Just meeting with 26 year old Johnny gave us enough that we knew what to do with him. Johnny is the least over of our workers, but we hope to change that by portraying him as a Dude and keeping him face. Johnny is fairly good when it comes to technical wrestling and brawling, but isn't our most charismatic star.

Johnny Kashmere - Johnny Kashmere, at 24, is one of our most over stars, and one of our most talented. His technical and aerial abilities are strong and he is also fairly charismatic. Sophie and I both agreed that Johnny would be better as a heel and plan to use him as a Cocky man in the ring.

Mark Briscoe - Another recognisable name, and another former WWF worker. Mark also works for Ring of Honor and Hart Championship Wrestling as a face, and that's how we plan to use him. Mark is as over as his brother, and slightly more talented. As far as he's concerned, there's No Gimmick Needed, and we're happy with that.

Matt Stryker - We didn't know a lot about Matt's personality before we spoke, and we still don't. He's quite the secretive person. Because of this we're going to portray him as a Loner, and as a heel. His true talents lie in his aerial ability, but his technical ability is also nothing to be taken lightly.

Teddy Hart - A member of the Calgary-based Hart family. Bret's Hart’s nephew. Also an instantly recognisable name, although not always for the right reasons. Technically gifted, like his family, but not confident on the microphone. Teddy will be playing a heel character, with an Arrogant gimmick. How did we come up with that?

Tony Jones - At 30 years of age, Tony is our oldest wrestler. He also works for Pro Wrestling Iron as a face, which is how he will work here. Tony isn't our most talented worker, but he has some good technical skills and is a charismatic bloke. We plan to give Tony a Grunge gimmick, having him play on the fact that Seattle was such an explosive place for that genre of music.

There you have it. Looking over our rosta, I see some real talent, but as Sophie reminded me, they're nothing without staff to make them look good. So Sophie and I set about hiring some staff.

Edited July 29, 2005 by TheArsenal

[TheArsenal]

Finding staff seemed to be a lot easier than I thought. Sophie seemed to know a good writer who was cheap to hire, and after some cheap advertising, by which I mean littering the city with posters and flyers advertising not only the company, but the need for staff, we had more than enough applications. Sophie and I decided to work through them together. It took the best part of a week, but we managed to put together a small team of backstage staff that we thought could take SoW forward. It wasn’t until after we hired them that we found out that they were really like….

Brent Blades - Brent is our referee, and I thought he had a cool name, until I realised its actually a nickname that he got because he suffers from manic depression and "blades" in his spare time. Here's hoping he doesn't give the wrestlers too much advice when they bump.

Chris Lenart - Chris is our Road Agent. He's been in and out of prison since he was a teenager for drug use and violent behaviour. I know what you're thinking, this is the guy who's meant to keep our wrestlers in line. I'm just hoping Teddy Hart doesn't lead him astray. Yes, I know what I said.

Jamie Scott - Jamie is our play-by-play commentator. He's not Jim Ross standard, but he's good enough that he can take a match and draw our fans into it from beginning to end. With some previous booking experience, he'll call the shots at ringside.

Julian Skinner - Julian is our production guy. Basicallyy he's in charge of building the ring, light effects and making sure the music plays on time. He suffers from a split personality problem and will either turn up at work as Julian.....or Julie. This guy doesn't look good in a dress, believe me.

Katy Hemmings - 25 year old Katy is our medical personnel. She's a self-confessed bisexual nymphomaniac. That means she's obsessed with having sex. Everytime one of our guys (or girls) does as much as stub a toe this girl's probably gonna be having her way with them! Is it too much to ask for a normal backstage worker?

Larry Rivera - Larry is our colour commentator. He's got a good amount of talent, but he's no Jerry Lawler. I'm still trying to work out if that's a good thing or a bad thing. I'm guessing only time will tell.

Peter Benson - Peter is a writer brought in at Sophie's request. What she failed to tell me is he's xenophobic. No, he's not scared of Xena, he's scared of foreigners. I wonder if Sophie told him I'm English? Anyway, I'm beginning to wonder if this guy will never let a non-American ethnic be shown on our shows.

There it is. Our wrestlers and our staff. I look over the list of wrestlers and I think that maybe, just maybe, the dream is possible and we can make a real go of things. I look at our list of staff and think I've probably made a huge mistake and should stop while I still have my integrity. Then again, I may be surrounded by nutters, but that only means I won't get bored.

[TheArsenal]

Saviours of Wrestling First Blood Pre Show...

Here we were. Interlake Senior High School, Bellevue, Seattle. Tonight was the night of our first show, appropriately named: First Blood. There was only thirty minutes left until we opened the doors of the high school gymnasium and let in the waiting fans, who seemed to be very few in number the last time I looked. That didn't disappoint me though, I knew this wasn't a one night deal where we grew to a multi-national company in mere days or weeks.

Things were looking pretty good. Julian had the ring set up, had already tested the lights machines and most importantly, wasn't wearing a dress. Katy had any medical supplies that we might need setup in a small room just off the gymnasium, so we could deal with any injuries quickly, but more importantly, she was wearing a dress. Damn it these staff are weird. I checked in with Jamie Scott and Larry Rivera, who both seemed confident ahead of the night's proceedings, something that really put my mind at ease. Before the show began, I made sure I sat everyone down and told them that this was just another night. No-one needed to cripple their performance by thinking that they had to put on five star matches to guarantee the fans would be back through the doors next month. We all just had to do our jobs and everything would be fine. Everyone knew their place for tonight and what was expected of them, and that's all I could ask for.

As everyone dispersed, I grabbed Tony Jones.

"Tony, I'm giving you some mic time tonight."

"Me? You sure boss?"

"Yeah. It'll be a piece of cake for you. All you have to do is go out there as a home-town hero and talk about Seattle being the greatest city in the world and how Seattle has the best people in the world."

"But I'm from Miami."

"Tony, let's stay in character here. Remember? The grunge scene? Nirvana? Kurt Cobain? SEATTLE!?"

"Oh, the wrestling thing?

"YES THE BLOODY WRESTLING THING!"

"Oh, I can do that boss, not a problem!"

Tony gave me a big smile before he walked down a corridor into the ladies toilets. A few seconds later he walked back out and looked up at the door, puzzled. He then walked down the hall until he found the mens toilets, and went in there instead. Words could not describe how fearful I had become of giving that man some time with a microphone. I swear I was ready to just cancel the show there and then, and just tell all the fans to go home. I would have done too, if it weren't for Sophie grabbing me by the arm and leading me to the drinks trolley to get a Scotsman Beer....mmm Scotsman Beer (shameless plug) and lead me out to the gym for the night's event.

Edited July 29, 2005 by TheArsenal

[TheArsenal]

Sophie rushed in this morning as I was eating my Coco Pops © with the biggest and prettiest smile I have ever seen on her face. She told me that after talking with the "box office" she knew that we had 161 people at First Blood last night! At this point Coco Pops went flying across the room, narrowly missing Sophie and hitting a picture of her mother that's mounted on our wall. One hundred and sixty one people was a fantastic number for our first show! That meant we made over three thousand dollars in ticket revenue alone!

After celebrating with Sophie for a while, and cleaning her mother, I started to find out the opinions and concerns of other staff members. I decided to ring Katy Hemmings, our medical personnel first.

"Hi Katy, it's Matt here."

"Hey Matt! How are ya this morning? How's it feel to be running a successful wrestling promotion? All that power you have....really makes a girl sit up and take notice."

"I'm great thanks Katy, and it feels great to have put on such a good show last night. That's why I'm ringing actually, I wanted to know if you had any problems last night?"

"No, no problems at all! Having such a nice boss makes up for any little troubles."

"Good. Did you check up on Colt Cabana? He was unconscious when he got backstage. How was he?"

"Unbelieveable....I mean...ermm...Yeah, he's fine now. He should probably rest for a week or so, but he'll be fine for the next show. If you want me can meet up and I'll show you how I made him all better."

"Errr....ok.....Listen, I'm gonna have to go now Katy, but I'll speak to you soon. Take care."

"Ok Matty. Don't you leave it too long, you wouldn't want me getting too lonely."

Is it just me or did she admit to sleeping with Colt Cabana? The scary thing is I don't know if she waited until he was conscious or not. Maybe there are just some things I don't want to know. And she seemed damn horny for someone who got laid last night. At least Cabana was ok after the chairshots he took last night, so that was one concern out of the way. As I sat thinking, my phone started vibrating on the table, as I looked at it, I could see it was Chris Lenart, our road agent. As I answered, I could hear Chris was in tears on the other end of the phone. This was a big guy, who like I said had been in and out of jail for all of his life, so to hear him crying was a little strange. He told me he was just so happy. He'd been sitting backstage watching the show last night, and when he saw Austin Lee vs Colt Cabana it just reminded him so much of this time when he was kicking somebody's ass. Then when he was watching Marc Briscoe vs Ace Steel, he got those same memories, only this time of a different person. He said we should try and get these guys in the ring together again, because it just made him so happy to relive his wild days. Then he hung up.

That was a little strange. But I wasn't about to spend my entire day thinking about a big crying man. Instead I was going to think of the show last night. To be honest, I was a little surprised at the quality of the matches we were putting out. Most of them were good enough to get onto WWF television, the only problem we were having was drawing the fans into the matches, but hopefully that will improve with time.

The only real bad thing to happen after last night is that some of the fans approached me after the show and were disappointed that the title match ended as a no contest. The last thing we need right now is for our title belt to be losing image with the fans. Hopefully we can solve all that by getting the belt on one of our better workers at the next show and start to build up it's credibility again.

The only other low point of the evening was Teddy Hart's promo at the end. He might be a talented guy, but he doesn't really pull the fans in with his mic work. I had been thinking about setting Teddy up with a manager before the show, but now I feel that it is really the only way forward for him. I am still unsure as to whether I will use one of the managers on our roster or bring in a new guy. That will just be something I have have to decide in the coming weeks.

[TheArsenal]

Sophie's End of Month Report - July 2004

Sophie approached me today with a report that she has put together outlining how our company is doing and what has happened in the past month, both here in SoW and in the wider wrestling community. Here is a brief summary of what Sophie gave me.

Birthdays: Mark Briscoe, Colt Cabana and Tony Jones all celebrated birthdays this month. they turned 21, 25, and 31 respectively. Of course we wish them many happy returns.

Wage Increases: Mark Briscoe, Austin Lee and Colt Cabana have all made demands that their wages be increased by 10%. After looking into the company finances, I feel that these allowances can be made and not affect us too much.

P.I. and Finances: The company's public image has risen over the course of the last month. The transformation from being a name and speculation, to a company with a roster and putting out a show has seen us not only have a better public image, but has seen us close the gap slightly in NWA:Wildside. I am putting this down to our Production Values, which are higher. In July, we managed to turn the corner and make money! This is fantastic news for us. We shouldn't fool ourselves though, our monthly profit stood at just over $185,000, but that would be a completely different story without our sponsors. It is important that we keep them happy.

Japanese News: BattlArts have announced their rosta for the next twelve months. Whilst none of SoW's current workers are on the rosta, one or two of the workers we are scouting have been named and this will affect their availabilty should we choose to follow up on our scouting.

Ownership Changes: During the last month, two promotions in North America have gone through changes in their ownership. Bill Watts has taken over at the helm of NWA:Wildside, the promotion who currently are the fifth biggest in North America, one ahead of us. Watts prefers Sports Entertainment rather than Pure Wrestling, so whether he is making a smart move by using McMahon's tactics, or drawing too much attention to himself, is a different matter. The other owner ship change happened in Canada, with Rick Martel taking over the ownership of Federation De Lutte Internationale. Martel prefers a high flying wrestling style, which means he'll need to make quite a few changes to his roster. Martel has brought much needed money into the company, who are currently the smallest promotion in North America.

Shows: All eight promotions in North America managed to put on a show this month. Below are the statistics for each of them.

WWF "Vengeance"

Buy Rate: 1.97

Attendance: 20,915

PPV Revenue: $4,925,000

Ticket Sales: $1,254,900

NWA:TNA "Blaze of Glory"

Attendance: 326

Ticket Sales: $6,520

HCW "Against All Odds"

Attendance: 286

Ticket Sales: $5,720

RoH "Crowning of a Champion"

Attendance: 176

Ticket Sales: $3,520

NWA:Wilside "Free Fall"

Attendance: 115

Ticket Sales: $2,300

SoW "First Blood"

Attendance: 161

Ticket Sales: $3220

IRON "One More With Feeling"

Attendance: 32

Ticket Sales: $640

FLI "Breakdown"

Attendance: 34

Ticket Sales: $680

WWF Layoffs: The WWF have done their reputation inside the wrestling community no favours. Already hated by nearly everyone outside the WWF and some people inside, Vince McMahon made the decision to fire sixty seven (67) wrestlers. Upset has been caused in the industry because McMahon knows many of these talents are not employable by the other, much smaller feds in North America. Right now there seems to be a race between a number of feds to see who can grow big enough to secue the services of these workers.

RoH Dudley Clear-Out: Damn those Dudleyz! This month Ring of Honor had a clear out of it's wrestlers and backstage staff. Of the backstage staff, fourteen (14) members were released, all with the surname Dudley. Just goes to show that Big Daddy Dudley really was a busy man.

[rocksta]

First class diary so far, really coming along well.

Hoping for briscoe dudley fued, or a teddy hart layoff damn him to hell.

Edited July 29, 2005 by rocksta

[The Heartbreak Kid]

I am enjoying this diary alot. I really liked your backstory and I enjoyed reading the show aswell. I hope you keep this going.

I hope Austin Lee becomes a big time player in your diary.

[TheArsenal]

First class diary so far, really coming along well.

Hoping for briscoe dudley fued, or a teddy hart layoff damn him to hell.

←

Edited July 30, 2005 by TheArsenal

[TheArsenal]

Saviours of Wrestling One Wild Night! Pre Show...

We were back at Interlake Senior High School, Bellevue, Seattle. We were one month on from “First Blood” but the big question was whether the fans would be back for what was only our second ever event.

Things were working out well, although seemed to be slightly stranger than last month. Julian had the ring set up, had already tested the lights machines. The only problem was it wasn’t Julian who had turned up, it was Julia, complete with female body suit and a dress that paid her…I mean him, not compliments whatsoever. Katy was all set up in a room just off the gymnasium so that any injuries could be dealt with quickly. I tried to find out just what happened with Colt Cabana last month, but decided against it, letting the past stay exactly where it was. This is what I get for hiring staff at short notice. I checked in with Jamie Scott and Larry Rivera, who both seemed confident ahead of the night's proceedings, something that really put my mind at ease. Peter Benson, our writer, was running around making sure to tell the wrestlers not to appear to be too un-American. I still wonder how he got on with the English and Canadian stars on the rosta. Luckily for me, I knew that everyone knew their place for tonight and what was expected of them, and that's all I could ask for.

Tonight was a big night for us, possibly bigger than last month. This was the show to prove that “First Blood” wasn’t just a one-off, that SoW wasn’t just a flash-in-the-pan company. If this show went well we’d really have something to build on, but if it went badly, we’d probably never see these fans again. As I sat contemplating all this, a soft feminine hand slid into mine. I looked up to see Sophie smiling at me.

”Come on Matt! Don’t just sit around here all night, the show’s gonna start any minute. Let’s get out there and see how it goes!”

I didn’t share her endless optimism…

Edited July 30, 2005 by TheArsenal

[rocksta]

Yes tedddy harttt didnt winnnnn! *Hopes he gets injured*

[TheArsenal]

Sophie rushed in this morning as I was eating my Corn Flakes, because someone had forgotten to buy my Coco Pops ©. What do I pay these people for!? Sophie sat down opposite me with the same big and pretty smile I saw her wearing a month ago. She told me that after talking with the "box office" she knew that we had 157 people at One Wild Night last night! I managed to keep my breakfast in my mouth this month, to the pleasure of Sophie and her mother. It was great news that we had attracted back so many fans, but to know we lost some was a little less encouraging. I decided next month’s event would be moved from the Interlake Senior High School, to a different school in the same area of the city. This was risky, because it meant any loyal fans would have to travel right across the district to watch us, but gave us a shot at exposing our product to some new people – all potential fans in the making.

After discussing suitable locations Sophie for a while, I started to work finding out the opinions and concerns of other staff members. I decided again to start with Katy Hemmings, our medical personnel.

"Hi Katy, it's Matt here."

"Hey Matt! Hope you’re ok this morning sweetie! I just want you to know that last night was fantastic. All these shows you book, all the power, it has such as effect on me."

"Errr….thanks. I’m just ringing to check up on how things went last night backstage. How did Johnny Jett and Colt Cabana cope with those chairshots?"

"Oh, Colt Cabana handled me amazingly. I mean, handled it amazingly, the chairshot. No problems there. As for Johnny Jett, he didn’t seem used to my methods, but I soon made him relax and made him feel so much better."

"And the guys from the main event?"

"I checked them over, and they are all really good, and I mean REALLY good! Ace Steel and Teddy Hart need to rest up for a week or so. But Matt, I’m concerned about the pressure you’re under….maybe you should drop by for a…physical?"

"Errr....ok.....Listen, I'm gonna have to go now Katy, but I'll speak to you soon. Take care."

"Oh Matty. Don't you leave it too long, you need to let off some steam!"

That girl is getting worse. That’s possibly up to five of our fifiteen wrestlers he had her way with last night alone! That’s a third of the rosta! I would go and have a word with her about it, but I’m not sure I’d make it back from a meeting with her without being pounced upon. Maybe I could send Sophie…

As I sat thinking about the prospect of Katy and Sophie, my phone started vibrating on the table, as I looked at it, I could see it was Tony Jones, our “hometown hero”. As I answered the phone, Tony was quick to speak, telling me he was really pleased with the way last night’s show went. I thought this was a pretty strange thing for him to say, considering he wasn’t on the card, but then I already knew this guy was more than a little weird. He told me he got really excited watching the match between Chris Stylez and Colt Cabana, and thought that if he and Stylez were in the ring together; they would put on some really good matches. I wasn’t sure I was ready to start having face vs face matches, but it’s always nice to get some character input from the guys. As soon as I put the phone down, it started to ring again. This time it was Johnny Kashmere wanting to have a match or two with Marc Briscoe. This was more like it, face vs heel, and it would see two of the better workers fighting each other. I could already smell the ratings. Maybe we’d even beat our attendance record of 161!

Some of the fans approached me again after the show last night, saying they really enjoyed the main event, and were glad we had a champion now. This was a relief for me, as I was a little worried that the match should have had a “no disqualification” stipulation, or something similar to allow the guys to draw the fans in more and allow them to work a little easier. On the other hand, I’m also very aware of small promotions using violence to get over with the fans, and I’m being very careful to protect our image right now.

As a part of the feedback I got from the fans, Teddy Hart got a fair amount of praise for his work. I’m still concerned that his work on the mic isn’t up to scratch, but I already have an idea of who to bring in as his manager. I made a few phone calls this morning, but it seems the worker we really want will be busy until after Payback, so it’s still 50:50 as to whether he will be available for our next show. I’m not letting that influence my decision yet though, he could be a great signing for us. I suppose only time will tell….