naiwf Domination '09 (for TEW 08)

[naiwf]

http://rapidshare.com/files/250082134/NAIW...ion_09.rar.html

The link to the scenario is above

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http://www.ewbattleground.com/forum/index....showtopic=54998

That link contains the info for the universe I created which was set to begin on Jan. 1, 2006 and is playable for TEW 05. I've received a few requests to update over the years and decided that I wanted to have a more up to date take on the idea so I decided to work on it for TEW 08. In this thread I will post any changes that have taken place in the years since the last "update". I'll just say in advance that NWA Americas has folded, a few once large promotions have hit hard times, others have seen large growth, a former mainstay has returned and whatever I put in here will be non-canonical to my NWA: Mexico City diary that is based off of the original mod. In essence, I don't want to spoil my own diary so whatever happens here is just for the sake of moving the database into a January 2009 starting point. Some if will overlap, but for the most part I'm just trying to make this a balanced world whereas in my diary I'm trying to crush the competition.

PROMOTIONS

* = a major promotion which will have its own history detailed for you to work with, although some are only 2-3 years long (Detroit, Florida, LA, SHIMMER & SS)

Deep South Wrestling - WCCW Development Territory

NWA: Calgary/Canadian Stampede*

NWA: Detroit*

NWA: Florida*

NWA: Hardcore City*

NWA: LA (Los Angeles)*

NWA: LLPW (Lovely Ladies Pro Wrestling)*

NWA: Memphis*

NWA: Mexico City*

NWA: New York (Version 2)*

NWA: Quebec

NWA: SHIMMER*

NWA: Tokyo*

NWA: UK

WCCW*

MAJOR CHAMPIONSHIPS

Every NWA Worldwide branch with the exceptions of DSW (feeder fed), and the two women's promotions (LLPW & SHIMMER) have their own version of a heavyweight title. Some branches also have Tag Team titles and other secondary belts as well. However, the only way for wrestlers to end up being in contention for shots at either the NWA World Heavyweight, NWA World Cruiserweight or NWA World Tag Team titles is to be voted on by the NWA Executive Committee. Every year, the Committee analyzes which promotions should serve as the "homebase" of the three World titles although the champions are free to travel to any branch (except for DSW, LLPW & SHIMMER) to make defenses of their titles as long as that branch has a televised event. In other words, the champions do not compete on house shows.

NWA WORLDWIDE AWARD WINNERS

NWA International Wrestler of the Year

1985 - Bret 'The Hitman' Hart

1986 - Theodore Maximillion DiBiase III

1987 - 'Superstar' Billy Graham

1988 - 'The Nature Boy' Steve Borden

1989 - Arn Anderson

1990 - 'Super Fine' Scotty Stein

1991 - 'The Nature Boy' Steve Borden [2]

1992 - Randy 'The Macho Man' Savage

1993 - 'The Nature Boy' Steve Borden [3]

1994 - 'The Nature Boy' Steve Borden [4]

1995 - Bret 'The Hitman' Hart [2]

1996 - The Great Muta

1997 - 'Superstar' Steve Austin

1998 - 'Superstar' Steve Austin [2]

1999 - The Rock

2000 - The Giant

2001 - Kurt Angle

2002 - Chris Jericho

2003 - Kurt Angle [2]

2004 - Eddie Guerrero

2005 - 'The Canadian Crippler' Chris Benoit

2006 - 'The Canadian Crippler' Chris Benoit [2]

2007 - Christian Daniels

2008 - Mr. Benjamin

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NWA International Tag Team of the Year

1985 - The Titans of Terror (Bam Bam Bigelow & Super Vader)

1986 - The Titans of Terror [2]

1987 - The Original Midnight Express ('Loverboy' Dennis Condrey & 'Ravishing' Randy Rose)

1988 - The Titans of Terror [3]

1989 - The Titans of Terror [4]

1990 - Doom (Ron Simmons & 'Playboy' Butch Reed)

1991 - The Hart Foundation (Bret Hart & Chris "Hart" (Benoit)

1992 - The Road Warriors (Animal & Hawk)

1993 - The Thrillseekers (Lance Storm & Chris Jericho)

1994 - Harlem Heatwave (Booker & Stevie Ray Jenkins)

1995 - Demolition (Ax & Smash)

1996 - Harlem Heatwave [2]

1997 - The Dudley Boys (Devon & Bubba Ray Dudley)

1998 - The Hardy Boys (Matt & Jeff)

1999 - Kevin Nash (the former Undertaker) & The Pallbearer (Glen Jacobs)

2000 - The Dudley Boys [2]

2001 - The Giant & Prince Anoa'i

2002 - The Dudley Boys [3]

2003 - The Dudley Boys [4]

2004 - Evolution (Dave Batista & Brock Lesnar)

2005 - The World's Greatest Tag Team (Kurt Angle & Shelton Benjamin)

2006 - The Last Dragons (American & Ultimate Dragon)

2007 - The Latin American Xchange (Hernandez & Homicide)

2008 - Degeneration X (Alex Shelley & CM Punk)

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Next up: Canadian based NWA: LLPW does so well that it inspires the Executive Board to create an American based "rival".

Edited June 29, 2009 by naiwf

[naiwf]

LLPW

The world of women's wrestling was nearly brought to its knees on the night of March 15th, 2003 when Nora Greenwald died after sustaining a fatal head injury during a match against Amy Dumas at the 2003 Living Dangerously Pay Per View presented by NWA: Hardcore City. Some women ended up leaving the business behind when they realized the inherent danger in their chosen profession, while others were phased out of their prominent roles on TV once the NWA Women's World Title was retired shortly thereafter. At StarrCade of that year, Greenwald was named the immortal champion and things got even worse for most of the female wrestlers employed throughout NWA Worldwide. It took about a year and a half before the growing number of complaints was finally acted upon when the NWA Executive Board created NWA: Lovely Ladies Pro Wrestling and set them up in Vancouver, BC, Canada. Although it was created as an NWA branch, it functioned as its own private entity because the board really didn't care how successful it would be. Their main concern was not losing the handful of women who had major roles as valets and managers in the larger promotions.

The original group of workers came from all around the world and were generally women who had potential to be used as wrestlers or in other capacities on TV. The ironic thing is that the American born workers (the ones who complained the loudest) were the ones who were given the strongest pushes in the beginning, although they ended up being less talented than some of their Japanese or Canadian counterparts. Since LLPW was marketed as legitimate wrestling competition, this ended up turning most of the Americans heel, and provided some interesting matches as the fans usually supported the Japanese workers even though they never cut promos. The breakout stars of the promotion were the ones who were already working elsewhere such as Angel Williams (DSW/WCCW), Daizee Haze (NWA: Memphis), Melissa Anderson (NWA: MC) & Sarah Stock (NWA: MC). Those four ladies were all eventually pulled from competing in LLPW and signed to written contracts by their respective home promotions and that's when the tide started to swing even further in favor of Japanese women who could excite the crowd. While this strategy worked in regards to putting forth compelling matches, very few women were becoming more marketable to the major promotions (Hardcore City, Memphis, Mexico City, Tokyo & WCCW) and it was quite surprising when the board decided to build an alternative in Chicago about a year and a half later.

NWA: SHIMMER was designed to focus more on the "diva" aspect of wrestling's female divide and managed to lure in women who spoke English, had "better" looks and any actual wrestling skill was just a bonus. Rumor has it that this was Eric Bischoff's brainchild as he was quite upset about losing two of his four WCCW Diva Search winners to NWA: MC as Melina Perez & 'Rockstar' Roni Jonah left after contract disputes. While the Diva Search was still going strong, this would give Bischoff yearround access to the type of women he wanted on his roster and provided protection in case any of them spurned their second year deals thanks to the guaranteed pay decrease from $250,000 to whatever they would agree to. In any case, LLPW is still going strong, though the majority of the women who work there realize they will never make it to the "big time" because sex sells.

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The history of NWA: LLPW's Championships and major feuds

2006

The early days of LLPW were pretty much headlined by women who were sent here to work on their skills away from the TV cameras of the promotions that were most invested in their success. As such, Daizee Haze & Sarah Stock were involved in matches that helped develop their skills, while "Crazy" Daizee James & Natasha Graves were the ones who received attention in NWA: Memphis & NWA: Mexico City respectively. The same thing happened with Cheerleader Melissa & Sara Del Ray who were shown on NWA: MC programming as Melissa Anderson & American Angel. Aside from those four, Angel Williams was groomed for stardom as she worked as an announcer and interviewer which helped her became valuable enough to become part of the NWA: Florida roster. Gail Kim managed to make her way to the top of the pack as well, but was promptly snapped up by WCCW.

2007

This was the year that the leadership of LLPW decided to lean more heavily on workrate with the hopes that their big names wouldn't end up being pulled away in the midst of pushes or prominent feuds. Sumie Sakai became the first of five consecutive Japanese born LLPW Women's Champions while Meiko Satomura & Nanae Takahashi spent the majority of the year presented as the dominant tag team. Their rivalry with Canadians Belle Lovitz & Natalie Neidhart was instrumental in getting Neidhart signed with NWA: NY where she works with her cousin Teddy Hart. The run with Japanese workers at the top wasn't entirely without problems either as Aja Kong was yet another champion to leave with very little warning, although she did job the title away unlike Kim a few months earlier. The formation of SHIMMER hadn't really done much to change LLPW's strategy though some preferred its sexier and lighthearted approach to women's wrestling.

2008

The biggest stars of the year were Satomura & Takahashi and it made sense that trouble struck when rumors began to swirl that Takahashi had plans to retire soon to start a family. With her future up in the air, 'The Croatian Panther' Wesna Busic received a massive push and recently became the 11th woman to hoist the title in November. The tag ranks also saw a new set of champs as Cindy Rogers & MsChif dethroned the dynamic duo. Satomura was said to be upset with the promotion for depushing her based on a rumor involving her longtime tag team partner and was hoping to move on to NWA: Tokyo if the situation wasn't rectified soon.

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NWA: LLPW Women's Title History

1/14/06 - 3/11/06 Daizee Haze (won a 16 women tournament to become the initial champion)

3/11/06 - 5/13/06 'Sweet' Sarah Stock/Natasha Graves

5/13/06 - 9/23/06 Daizee Haze [2]

9/23/06 - 12/11/06 Gail Kim (vacates the title when she is signed to a WCCW contract and forced to skip her next title defense)

1/20/07 - 2/17/07 Sumie Sakai (won an 8 woman tournament to crown the next champion)

2/17/07 - 6/16/07 Aja Kong (Kong signed with NWA: Tokyo, and dropped the title in a 4 way dance where the 3 other opponents ganged up on her)

6/16/07 - 10/20/07 Nanae Takahashi

10/20/07 - 2/16/08 Yoshiko Tamura

2/16/08 - 6/21/08 Meiko Satomura

6/21/08 - 11/15/08 Nanae Takahashi [2]

11/15/08 - current 'The Croatian Panther' Wesna Busic

NWA: LLPW International Tag Team Title History

2/18/06 - 8/19/06 Cheerleader Melissa & Sara Del Ray (were the final two in a battle royal to determine the champions)

8/19/06 - 12/16/06 April Hunter & Lexie Fyfe

12/16/06 - 5/19/07 Meiko Satomura & Nanae Takahashi

5/19/07 - 11/17/07 Belle Lovitz & Natalie Neidhart

11/17/07 - 9/16/08 Meiko Satomura & Nanae Takahashi [2]

9/16/08 - current Cindy Rogers & MsChif

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SHIMMER

It's quite ironic that there are now two women's promotions in NWA Worldwide when we nearly saw the demise of women's wrestling back in March 2003 when Nora Greenwald died due to injuries suffered on an NWA: Hardcore City PPV. It wasn't until 2006 that LLPW was born, and it didn't take very long for (~18 months) SHIMMER to follow. While SHIMMER was never meant to be taken as seriously as LLPW, they've shown that they are willing to make things as wacky as possible with dance offs, karaoke competitions and full contact pillow fights making regular appearances on their shows. On the positive side, Angel Williams was able to make the most of her brief time with the group as she ended up signing with NWA: Florida while still being allowed to compete as a wrestler. As SHIMMER has become more successful, it seems as though the women who are employed here may be better suited to jump to the larger promotions than those who emerge out of LLPW mainly because they're more marketable. In that regard, it appears that the "divas" of SHIMMER have an advantage over the LLPW female wrestlers even though they wouldn't be able to beat them in the ring.

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The history of NWA: SHIMMER's Championships and major feuds

2007

The SHIMMER Women's Title was shown to be thought of as a bit of a prop when Angel Williams became the first champ after calling the match from the ringside area, sneaking into the ring and tossing Rebecca Knox over the top rope after she thought she'd won the match. The absurdity of that finish was outdone about a month later when Knox won the title after beating Williams in a dance off after they battled to a time limit draw. Knox was dethroned by the 6'2" Aussie born Madison Eagles as things became more normal until Knox decided that their rematch should be the first pillow fight for the title, and lost her bid to reclaim the gold when her pillow broke first.

2008

The start of the year saw some jailbait come SHIMMER's way as Britani Knight left NWA: UK to make her stateside debut. Wearing shirts that let fans know that she was only 16 she would often try to seduce older men in the crowd, but eventually got bored of that gimmick and then decided she would play up her "historic" lineage although most of the fans would not recognize her parents since they were only starts in the UK. Knight still hasn't won a match in SHIMMER, but is one of their future stars as she manages to get over just by being an annoying goofball. Bambi is another undersized woman who took a ridiculous gimmick and ran with it as she wrestles like a Super Heavyweight and is often seen carrying around barbells to the ring or drinking protein shakes when she's not busy chokeslamming opponents.

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NWA: SHIMMER Women's Title History

8/17/07 - 9/22/07 Angel Williams (won a 10 woman battle royal to crown the champion)

9/22/07 - 12/15/07 Rebecca Knox (won the title in a dance off against Williams following a 20 minute time limit draw)

12/15/07 - 4/19/07 Madison Eagles

4/19/07 - 7/19/08 Lorelei Lee

7/19/08 - 10/18/08 Bambi

10/18/08 - current Rebecca Knox [2]

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Next up: NWA: Calgary/Canadian Stampede: How The Mighty Have Fallen

[StevenRichardsRules]

I could definately help with NWA: Quebec, if you like.

[naiwf]

That would be helpful because I really don't have much for them. The roster seems to be basically people who wrestled Canadian indies years ago and a couple of more well known names who were sitting in the free agent pool. Basically all I have there right now are Colt Cabana, Dru Onyx, Guil Reno, Handsome JF, JJ Money, Jake Matthews, Johnny Devine, Madd Dogg, Manny Vegas, Michael Von Payton, Mystik, Prof. Adib Mansour, Razz Mansour, Ron Garet, Sinn, Steve Charette, Sunny War Cloud, Tank NWA-Q, Trent Acid & Vanessa Kraven.

You can pretty much shape the roster however you think is best since this is one of the promotions that needed a drastic overhaul anyway. Thanks.

[StevenRichardsRules]

I'd say add Sidi Mansour and Koko Mansour, at the very least. Sidi and the Professor usually team up, as do Razz and Koko.

Other possible additions - 2.0 (Shane Matthews and Jagged), 21st Century Fox, Excess, Justin White, Aftershock (Drake and Damien Styles), maybe Don (Dan) Paysan, Shayne Hawke, Eric Mastercola

Ummm, possibly Stefany Sinclair, Damien Steele, Trauma Unit (Stew Korvus & Antonia Corsi), Markos Estrada

Possibly some up and comers from NCW as well?

Just off the top of my head - Alex Price, Raid, Kid Kamikaze, Darren Knife, Beef Wellignton, Maniako, Jay Charismo, Twiggy, Pornstar Juan, “Mr. Suave” Joshua Aero, Bishop, Mark Andrews, Adrian O'Ryan, Busty Love, Gorgeous Mike, James Kraven, Jay Phenomenon, Stalker (if still active), Jimmy Stone, Samson, LuFisto, Nova Cain, Maxx Fury, Player Uno, Stupified (Player Dos), Lex Lerman, Jagger Miles (Link), Fredrick La Merveille

Yeah, there's alot. It all really depends on what the NWA: Quebec is supposed to be based around.

Edited April 29, 2009 by Whispering Eye

[naiwf]

That looks good, I'll see what I can do with those people. If I don't put all of them in Quebec, I will probably end up using them in Calgary/Canadian Stampede. Thanks.

I've already pretty much sorted out all of the women and put in a lot of the CHIKARA guys and spread them out amongst the three newest branches (Detroit, Florida & LA). Look for the next update sometime this weekend. If anyone has a grasp on what WWE's developmental situation looks like feel free to let me know the major names.

[naiwf]

Canadian Stampede is the oldest remaining branch of NWA: Worldwide starting way back in 1948 when the legendary Stu Hart began his own wrestling promotion in Edmonton (then called Stampede Wrestling), which eventually moved to Calgary in the late '50s. Although this promotion has a long and storied history we are only going to focus on the last 20 years since that is when NWA: CS joined in as the inaugural branch of NWA Worldwide. Interestingly enough, the Hart Family Dungeon produced the majority of the top stars who have passed through NWA: CS with three of Stu's graduates going on to become NWA World Heavyweight Champion at some point, an accomplishment that will likely never be duplicated by any individual trainer.

The early years of NWA: Calgary Stampede under the Worldwide umbrella were dominated by the Hart family as Bret 'The Hitman' Hart was not only the NWA Canadian Heavyweight Champion, but also the NWA World Heavyweight Champion for most of 1985. Although Hart didn't see the NWA World Title again until the 90's, he was a dominant figure in the Canadian Heavyweight ranks for almost 15 years. His younger brother Owen made his move into the company in 1990 and continued to establish the family name. It was shortly after this time that 'The Canadian Crippler' Chris Benoit appeared on the scene and engaged in a bitter feud with Owen for the NWA: CS Junior Heavyweight Title which ultimately ended up with Benoit accidentally breaking Owen's neck on a simple backdrop attempt. While Owen never wrestled again, he solidified his legacy as one of the nicest men to ever compete in the business by publically thanking Benoit for making him see how dangerous wrestling was, and giving him the chance to see what was really important in life. Owen subsequently proposed to his future wife on a 1991 edition of Stampede Wrestling erasing what could have been a huge stain on Benoit's career and turning it into a high note instead. Benoit ultimately went one step further by later adopting the Hart name into his wrestling persona and forming the greatest tag team in NWA: CS history with 'The Hitman'. The Hart Foundation owned the tag ranks for nearly 5 years before the two Harts finally split with Chris eventually turning on Bret, starting one of the greatest feuds any NWA branch had ever scene.

That feud cemented Chris as one of the best wrestlers in the world, and after dropping the Canadian Heavyweight Title, Chris reclaimed his birth name and went on to win the NWA World Heavyweight Title for the first time in 1997. After dropping the belt to Pillman, Benoit left for Japan, made the rounds in the major American branches and didn't return to Canada until 2004 where he recaptured the Canadian Heavyweight Title. While Benoit was gone, other stars rose in his place such as Adam Copeland, Christian Cage, Chris Jericho (the 3rd Hart graduate to win the NWA World Title) & Lance Storm. However, they all left when NWA Americas was formed with Copeland and Jericho heading to WCCW, and Cage going against conventional wisdom by heading to Mexico City instead. Storm wandered around for a while before retiring, but this quartet's departute pretty much signalled the end for Calgary Stampede. While NWA: CS is easily the most historic branch of Worldwide as you'll soon see, it is also the most tragic as its fall from grace is now legendary.

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The history of NWA: Calgary/Canadian Stampede's Championships and major feuds

1985

NWA: CS joined NWA Worldwide with only one officially recognized championship at the time, the Canadian Heavyweight Title, which Bret Hart won for the 4th time from his future brother in law Davey Boy Smith in January just a week before becoming NWA World Champion. These two feuded bitterly for most of the year, and ended up adding in Jim Neidhart and the Dynamite Kid into the mix as their respective allies. While Smith eventually regained the title in November, it was clear that he simply was not on The Hitman's level and suffered whenever he didn't have the benefit of defending the title against Bret.

1986 & 1987

Calgary Stampede went through a dry spell here as Bret was so far and away their top attraction that they had a very hard time establishing anyone else as being on his level. Smith had to drop the belt back to Bret while Stu and company figured out where to go next. While the majority of their undercard was filled with aging stars and other Harts, this was about the time that 'Flyin' Brian Pillman burst onto the scene as perhaps the greatest Junior Heavyweight in the world, going on to win the NWA World Cruiserweight Championship making NWA: CS the first company to hold two of the top titles in NWA Worldwide.

1988 & 1989

It was around this time that Davey Boy Smith's body took a major change as the formerly lean but muscular Brit ended up exploding with muscles thanks to a steroid problem that ultimately caused his death about a decade later. Sadly, Smith's new physique brought about a resurgence in his popularity and showed many young wrestlers that getting on the gas was a way to get to the top and stay there as Smith took the belt back from Hart and finally had a good run with it. Pillman continued to bring prestige to the company even after dropping the Cruiserweight Title and as a result NWA: CS officially added a Junior Heavyweight Championship which was essentially his throughout this two year period.

1990 & 1991

This was the time of NWA: CS' resurgence as Owen Hart & Chris Benoit broke out in a major way. Owen finally ended Pillman's near two year run as champ shortly after his debut, and the well publicized Hart/Benoit battle began almost immediately. 'Flyin' Brian didn't suffer for long though as he shockingly upset Smith to become the first non Hart relative to win the Canadian Heavyweight Title in the Worldwide era. Smith's 29+ month reign took a toll on his mind and body and he ended up in drug rehab for an addiction to painkillers that he ended up fighting for the rest of his life. It seemed clear that Stu was trying to send a message that it was OK to be an undersized wrestler, but it was far too late for that as larger and larger workers were spotted everywhere around the country as Smith had become a cultural icon of sorts. Bret ended up '91 as the dual Canadian Champ as he held both the Heavyweight and newly reinstated Tag titles.

1992 & 1993

Eddie Guerrero spent part of his time in NWA: CS here as the World Cruiserweight Champ, going on to make history as the first Mexican to ever hold a Canadian title when he won the Jr. Heavyweight Title before dropping it back to "Hart" (Benoit). Despite that, Pillman, Smith and the Hart Foundation remained at the top trading the titles amongst themselves for the majority of this two year run, but in October 1992 we got our first looks at the dynamic duo of Chris Jericho & Lance Storm who would ultimately establish themselves as one of the best tandems in the World, and gave NWA: CS the 'Triple Crown' when they became the first Canadian duo to win the World Tag Titles at Starrcade '93. Smith's lengthy career came to an early end as years of steroid abuse began to break his body down as he blew out both of his quads on a botched bump over the top. Guerrero briefly returned and reclaimed the Jr. Heavyweight Title before losing it to up and comer Christian Cage, a man he would meet many times over the next decade.

1994

This was the height of the classic Bret Hart/'Nature Boy' Steve Borden feud which began at Starrcade '93 when Borden and Hart wrestled arguably the greatest match of all time, a 60 minute time limit draw between Canada and America's top draws. Then NWA World Champion, Borden toured the globe extensively but spent the better part of '94 as a member of NWA: CS, which was still the hottest individual branch in Worldwide at the time. Borden eventually became one of the most hated wrestlers in Canada when he defeated Hart for the Canadian Heavyweight Title and then took it back with him to the US, only returning to make defenses every 90 days or so in order to prevent himself from being stripped. Unbeknownst to most fans at the time, this was one of the finest angles ever run as Hart's inevitable triumph at Starrcade '94 earned him the respect of millions and both the NWA World Title and Canadian Heavyweight Title yet again. Also of note was a brief run by future megastar Steve Austin as Tag champ with Pillman.

1995 & 1996

Although Adam Copeland debuted in '93, his emergence on the scene added a great deal of depth to both the Jr. Heavyweight and Tag Team ranks as he was able to hold both of those divisional titles in this two year block, while Hart continued to carry the NWA: CS banner with arguably the greatest Canadian Heavyweight Title reign to date. Rob Van Dam got his big break here after toiling in Mexico and Japan under a mask. The charismatic Michigan native enjoyed a great deal of success as well as he, Copeland, Cage, Jericho & Storm were all set to break out in the coming years. Dean Malenko also made his debut in mid '95 making the Jr. Heavyweight division one of the hottest in all of NWA Worldwide.

1997 & 1998

The Chris "Hart"/Bret Hart feud finally came to a head when Chris ended Bret's 8th run as Canadian Heavyweight Champ shortly before becoming NWA World Heavyweight Champion as well. It was at this point that 'The Hitman' took some time off after nearly 15 years as the dominant player in the company. With Bret gone, and Benoit receiving international prominence as NWA Champ, 'The Crippler' decided to leave NWA: CS to pursue other options, and the Canadian Heavyweight Title went back to Pillman who was now the longest tenured wrestler on the roster. Fortunately, the undercard was ready to take up the mantle, and they benefitted greatly when 'The Nature Boy' decided to spend all of 1998 in CS after a Hitmanesque run in the States. This time the fans were on his side when Borden won the belt and claimed it to be as much of an honor as holding the NWA World Title which had been his a record 6 times. Pillman finally hung up his boots on an emotional tribute show after Davey Boy Smith's passing after revealing that he got a wakeup call when realizing that his life was very similar to Smith's when factoring in the steroid use and painkiller addictions. 'Flyin' Brian went on to work in the NWA: CS office for the next five years before leaving the business entirely.

1999 & 2000

1999 was the year that Chris Jericho got "made" by beating 'The Nature Boy' in his final match in Canada. Bret returned after a year off and was immediately back in the title hunt as he and Jericho wrestled some of the greatest matches anyone had ever seen, although 'The Hitman' never did win the title for the 9th time. In the meantime, Copeland and Cage split up and traded the Jr. Heavyweight Title a few times as NWA: CS was widely perceived as having the most talented roster assembled on the planet. That claim was only bolstered in early 2000 when Kurt Angle bucked conventional logic by leaving a HUGE deal on the table to compete in the U.S., instead opting to go to where "all the talent was!". It didn't take Angle very long to make history by winning the NWA World Title less than 8 months after his pro debut! Angle held that title for over a year, but could NOT beat Jericho for the Canadian Heavyweight Title no matter how hard he tried, raising Jericho's status even higher. The Dudley Boys made a stop in NWA: CS and collected more championship gold as they left no doubt that they are the most decorated tag team ever. The Hardys also were part of NWA: CS at this time and had a brief run as well.

2001 & 2002

Angle lost the NWA World Title at Starrcade '01 to Benoit on the same show that Jericho was defeated for the Canadian Title by fast rising star Paul Levesque, a man who had never competed in Canada at that time! Levesque and Angle then embarked on a bitter, bloody feud that earned them the 2002 MOTY award, while Jericho eventually went on to take the NWA World Title from Benoit, bringing more honor and glory to the NWA Worldwide flagship. Lance Storm had been floundering since Jericho took off on his own, but managed to end the Levesque reign on the same day that Jericho became World Champ. Storm's time to shine was brief though as he dropped the title right back to Levesque two months later, before Angle took the belt for the first time at Starrcade '02. Non NWA: CS tag teams continued to rule the division as The Acolytes became the third straight team based outside of the promotion held the titles as management foolishly put all of their eggs in one proverbial basket focusing solely on the top of the card.

2003 & 2004

Angle eventually reasserted himself as the top wrestler in the World by winning the World Title from Jericho, but ultimately dropped it to his nemesis Levesque who then left NWA: CS to star once more in the United States. This was the beginning of Calgary Stampede's downfall as Angle soon followed and things were looking bleak for the promotion when tag champs Malenko & Van Dam followed them out the door. There was even fear that NWA: CS might close after 55 years in business until Benoit finally returned and brought some star power back as he recaptured the Canadian Heavyweight Title from Copeland, who won it after Angle vacated it in mid '03 when his contract inexplicably expired without a renewal. With Angle leaving as the top champ, NWA: CS may have panicked, and in a move that saddened many, both the Jr. Heavyweight Title and Canadian Tag Titles were scrapped on that day as well, hearkening back to 1985 when the Canadian Heavyweight Title was the only title the company had.

2005

NWA: CS fell on tough times thanks to the problems experienced from June 2003 until March 2004 as they were no longer the universal #1 in NWA Worldwide, losing that honor to the amalgamation promotion, NWA Americas which was masterminded by the trio of Paul Heyman, Jerry Jarrett & Eric Bischoff in mid '04. With all of the major stars flocking to that promotion, Benoit, Copeland, Cage and Storm were essentially all that remained as far as top flight talent is concerned, but all four also worked elsewhere leaving NWA: CS a shell of what it once was as we headed into 2006.

2006 & 2007

Calgary Stampede's slide into mediocrity had been tough to watch for longtime fans of the NWA as the once proud branch was all but withered and dead after Chris Benoit sold them out yet again, this time opting to ply his trade with WCCW. Once Benoit left on October 1st, 2006, that paved the way for Christian Cage to finally sign a written deal with Konnan's promotion in Mexico City. With the writing now firmly on the wall, Adam Copeland also opted to bid his home base farewell settling in with WCCW. It was pretty safe to say that there were no big stars left in NWA: CS as former jobber to the stars Black Dragon had a 10 month run as Heavyweight Champion in order to try and establish him as the top guy in the promotion, but even that failed as attendance has hit a 25+ year low in recent months.

With their fanbase in Calgary all but dried up, the promotion renamed itself Canadian Stampede midway through 2007, and as its 60th Anniversary Year seemed to be going down in flames they turned to an up and comer by the name of Anthony Carelli in one last ditch effort to get things headed in the right direction. At 5'10 and about 225 pounds he had the same build as Benoit and while he was nowhere near the level of wrestler that Benoit was, he had a charisma that was unmatched by anyone else currently in the promotion. His feud with Raven sparked a bit of a resurgence over the last 6 months of the year and helped raise attendance as the company headed into 2008.

2008

Carelli's star continued to brighten and NWA: CS started to see some new blood come their way as as Bobby Rude, Don Paysan, Lash Leroux, Nova & Petey Williams brought some excitement back to the promotion. With very few heavyweights on the roster, the NWA Junior Heavyweight Title was reinstated after a near 5 year absence. While Carelli and Canadian born Sean Morley have traded the top title over the last 12 months, there does seem to be a sense that Canadian Stampede is finally turning the corner as they have finally added some talent that the fans care about. It just remains to be seen whether they can prevent WCCW, or anyone else from stealing them away in the future.

NWA: Canadian Heavyweight Title History

1984 - 1/19/85 Davey Boy Smith

1/19/85 - 11/30/85 Bret 'The Hitman' Hart [4]

11/30/85 - 3/22/86 Davey Boy Smith [2]

3/22/86 - 1/16/88 Bret 'The Hitman' Hart [5]

1/16/88 - 6/23/90 Davey Boy Smith [3]

6/23/90 - 9/28/91 'Flyin' Brian Pillman

9/28/91 - 1/25/92 Bret 'The Hitman' Hart [6]

1/25/92 - 7/25/92 'Flyin' Brian Pillman [2]

7/25/92 - 1/22/94 Bret 'The Hitman' Hart [7]

1/22/94 - 12/17/94 'The Nature Boy' Steve Borden

12/17/94 - 3/22/97 Bret 'The Hitman' Hart [8]

3/22/97 - 10/25/97 'The Canadian Crippler' Chris Benoit

10/25/97 - 5/24/98 'Flyin' Brian Pillman [3]

5/24/98 - 3/27/99 'The Nature Boy' Steve Borden [2]

3/27/99 - 12/22/01 Chris Jericho

12/22/01 - 6/22/02 Paul Levesque

6/22/02 - 8/24/02 Lance Storm

8/24/02 - 12/21/02 Paul Levesque [2]

12/21/02 - 6/21/03 Kurt Angle (vacated when Angle left NWA:CS)

7/26/03 - 3/27/04 Adam Copeland (won a 20 man battle royal to determine the new champion)

3/27/04 - 11/20/04 'The Canadian Crippler' Chris Benoit [2]

11/20/04 - 3/26/05 Lance Storm [2]

3/26/05 - 8/6/06 'The Canadian Crippler' Chris Benoit [3]

8/6/06 - 6/17/07 Black Dragon

6/17/07 - 9/23/07 Vance Nevada

9/23/07 - 4/20/08 Anthony Carelli

4/20/08 - 10/19/08 Sean Morley

10/19/08 - current Anthony Carelli [2]

NWA Junior Heavyweight Title History

3/26/88 - 3/24/90 'Flyin' Brian Pillman (awarded due to his status as former NWA World Cruiserweight Champion)

3/24/90 - 1/19/91 Owen Hart (vacated due to injury)

3/23/91 - 1/25/92 Chris "Hart" (Benoit)

1/25/92 - 6/27/92 Eddie Guerrero

6/27/92 - 1/23/93 Chris "Hart" (Benoit) [2]

1/23/93 - 5/22/93 Eddie Guerrero [2]

5/22/93 - 11/19/93 Christian Cage

11/19/93 - 1/22/94 Chris "Hart" (Benoit) [3]

1/22/94 - 1/28/95 Christian Cage [2]

1/28/95 - 11/16/95 Adam Copeland

11/16/95 - 5/18/96 Dean Malenko

5/18/96 - 1/25/97 Chris Jericho

1/25/97 - 3/22/97 Rob Van Dam

3/22/97 - 9/27/97 Dean Malenko [2]

9/27/97 - 1/30/99 Christian Cage [3]

1/30/99 - 7/24/99 Adam Copeland [2]

7/24/99 - 3/25/00 Christian Cage [4]

3/25/00 - 11/17/00 Adam Copeland [3]

11/17/00 - 5/26/01 Rob Van Dam [2]

5/26/01 - 7/28/01 Adam Copeland [3]

7/28/01 - 3/22/03 Christian Cage [5]

3/22/03 - 5/24/03 Dean Malenko [3]

5/24/03 - 6/21/03 Christian Cage [6] (title abandoned)

3/16/08 - 7/27/08 Lash Leroux (won an 8 man tournament to crown the new champion

7/27/08 - 11/16/08 Don Paysan

11/16/08 - current Petey Williams

NWA: Canadian Tag Team Title History

6/22/91 - 3/28/92 The Hart Foundation (Bret Hart & Chris "Hart" (Benoit), won reinstated titles by defeating Smith & Pillman)

3/28/92 - 6/27/92 Davey Boy Smith & 'Flyin' Brian Pillman

6/27/92 - 5/22/93 The Hart Foundation [2]

5/22/93 - 3/27/94 The Thrillseekers (Lance Storm & Chris Jericho)

3/27/94 - 9/17/94 The Hart Foundation [3]

9/17/94 - 1/28/95 'Flyin' Brian Pillman & 'Superstar' Steve Austin

1/28/95 - 7/22/95 The Thrillseekers [2]

7/22/95 - 1/27/96 The Hart Foundation [4]

1/27/96 - 7/26/96 Adam Copeland & Rob Van Dam

7/26/96 - 11/22/97 The Thrillseekers [3]

11/27/97 - 7/25/98 Adam Copeland & Christian Cage

7/25/98 - 11/21/98 Dean Malenko & Rob Van Dam

11/21/98 - 1/30/99 The Thrillseekers [4]

1/30/99 - 1/22/00 Dean Malenko & Rob Van Dam [2]

1/22/00 - 7/22/00 The Dudley Boys

7/22/00 - 1/27/01 The Hardy Boys

1/27/01 - 8/24/01 The Acolytes (Ron Simmons & John 'Blackjack' Bradshaw)

8/24/01 - 6/21/03 Dean Malenko & Rob Van Dam [3] (title abandoned)

[naiwf]

This is just a quick update on where I'm at. I've finished retooling the rosters for the two Canadian branches (NWA: CS & NWA: Quebec) as well as NWA: Tokyo. I decided to delete NWA: Strong Style so that the workers could end up with either Detroit, Florida and/or Los Angeles. I completed the NWA Women's World Title history. I've imported a ton of workers from CHIKARA and people I didn't have who work/worked for TNA & WWE. I've been working on the backstories for pretty much everyone except for the three new feds, though I have general roster ideas in place for everyone. NWA: NY is giving me the most trouble because they're supposed to be on par with WCCW but I haven't figured out how to make those two rosters strong while leaving people who choose the other US branches with options.

I'm trying to leave every promotion with a style of preferred workers, or at least a gameplan in place. I'll probably get around to completing the NWA: Tokyo backstory next and post it this weekend. I'm waiting to see if EddieG can hook me up with some new/revised promotion logos and I'm guessing I'm about a month away from fixing everything up so that it's playable from the start. I don't have any dojos, and probably won't bother to include them, but other than that I think this will be better than the old mod which I think was fun to play although I didn't particularly like the way I implented the NWA Americas idea. Now that that's been split back up into 3 parts, I think this should be better.

If anyone has suggestions, ideas or complaints feel free to chime in at any time.

[Draevyn]

Oh god yes! I planned to buy TEW a couple of weeks ago, but seeing this right here means I'm definitely going to be buying it next week. This kicks ass.

[naiwf]

What do you call a promotion that is widely disrespected by NWA Worldwide fans despite having an NWA World Champion titleholder, seven of its wrestlers hold the NWA World Cruiserweight title an astonishing 15 times, and one of the greatest tag teams in the history of the business to its credit in its nearly 40 years of existence? The answer is NWA: Tokyo. The only major promotion in Japan began in 1972 when Shohei 'Giant' Baba & Kanji 'Antonio' Inoki grew tired of the overt racism prevalent in the southern US, where they had been a somewhat successful tag team in NWA: Texas. After a two year run that saw the two men spat upon and verbally abused on countless occasions, the two finally had had enough and broke their contract with NWA: Texas, never to return again. While this act enraged NWA: Texas' ownership, the duo was still somehow successfully able to gain an NWA license, and worked to establish itself as a branch that was willing to take on all comers and promote them in a positive light.

So, why is NWA: Tokyo still treated like the bastard stepchild of NWA Worldwide even though it's existed longer than almost all of the promotions involved you might ask? The answer is relatively simple, Inoki & Baba never felt the need to allow or encourage their top stars to tour the US, Canada or Mexico. After their own experiences abroad, they essentially created a family friendly vibe within their promotion, and as a result the few times NWA: Tokyo was presented on the big stage was when gaijin wrestlers got big enough to draw interest. The '80s and early '90s were the height of the big men from overseas as The Titans of Terror (Super Vader & Bam Bam Bigelow), Stan 'The Man' Hansen & Bruiser Brody, The Fabulous Freebirds (Michael P.S. Hayes & Terry 'Bam Bam' Gordy), Barry Windham & 'Dr. Death' Steve Williams all starred for the promotion at various points. Considering how lucrative NWA: Tokyo was, the NWA often pacified them by sending the NWA Cruiseweight title to Japan when there was no legitimate American or Canadian born alternative. The divide between Tokyo and everyone else finally came to an end on July 25th, 1999 when The Great Muta became a national hero when he defeated The Rock for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship in the Tokyo Dome in front of some 57,500 people, 2,500 more than capacity! Muta's reign ended at Starrcade that year, but it did lend an air of legitimacy to one of the truly historic branches of NWA Worldwide.

Although Inoki and Baba no longer run NWA: Tokyo, their legacy has had lasting effects as even the best that Japan has to offer know that they are not likely to get a fair deal in the States or Canada due to language barriers and years of damage done when certain wrestlers "vanished into the wrestling black hole at the city limits of Tokyo" as a prominent wrestling analyst wrote in the NWA Worldwide 15 Year Anniversary magazine in 2001. When a wrestler the caliber of 'The Canadian Crippler' Chris Benoit is often criticized for his choice of spending the better part of seven years "out of the spotlight", it is not likely that NWA: Tokyo will ever be viewed by the fans in the light it truly deserves.

That point is further reinforced by Muta's decision to send forth his two greatest young wrestlers to NWA Americas in 2006. The Great Michinoku was allowed to leave because he had held the NWA: Tokyo Junior Heavyweight Title six times since its mid 1992 inception and had all but run out of viable competition. Muta was reluctant to allow him to move up to the heavyweight ranks and sent him to be an ambassador for NWA: Tokyo. That experiment failed when Eric Bischoff kept Michinoku on the sidelines complaining that he was "even smaller in person than he looked on TV!". So, Michinoku defected to NWA: Mexico City and was one of the first major salvos in the NWA: MC/WCCW war. Interestingly enough, Muta expected bigger things out of Hiroshi Tanahashi since he had the size and look that Bischoff desired, but he too was left to rot on the sidelines because of language barriers. In fact, Tanahashi only wrestled 5 televised matches in his 18 month stay with WCCW and lost all but the first one. Realizing that these two excursions had failed miserably Muta brough Tanahashi home and groomed him to be his own successor as NWA: Tokyo's ace. Ironically enough, Bischoff once again missed on two potential superstars because of his own fear that smaller men who didn't speak English fluently could not be marketable.

----------------------------------

NWA: Tokyo's Championship history

NWA: Tokyo Heavyweight Champion

1984 - October 1986 - Antonio Inoki [4]

October 1986 - March 1987 - Giant Baba [3]

March 1987 - October 1987 - Super Vader

October 1987 - October 1988 - Antonio Inoki [5]

October 1988 - March 1989 - The Great Muta

March 1989 - April 1989 - title held up after a no contest with Super Vader

April 1989 - September 1990 - Super Vader [2]

September 1990 - March 1992 - Stan 'The Man' Hansen

March 1992 - July 1992 - The Great Muta [2]

July 1992 - October 1993 - Masahiro Chono

October 1993 - May 1994 - The Great Muta [3]

May 1994 - October 1994 - Masahiro Chono [2]

October 1994 - March 1995 - The Great Muta [4]

March 1995 - July 1996 - Stan 'The Man' Hansen [2]

July 1996 - July 1998 - The Great Muta [5]

July 1998 - March 1999 - Chris Benoit

March 1999 - August 1999 - Tatsumi Fujinami

August 1999 - January 2000 - Chris Benoit [2]

January 2000 - March 2000 - Kenta Kobashi

March 2000 - March 2001 - Chris Benoit [3]

March 2001 - January 2002 - Kenta Kobashi [2]

January 2002 - October 2002 - Chris Benoit [4]

October 2002 - May 2003 - Chris Jericho

May 2003 - October 2003 - Chris Benoit [5]

October 2003 - January 2004 - Shinsuke Nakamura

January 2004 - April 2004 - Masahiro Chono [3]

April 2004 - October 2004 - Shinsuke Nakamura [2]

October 2004 - February 2005 - The Great Muta [6]

February 2005 - October 2005 - Chris Jericho [2]

October 2005 - March 2006 - 'Cactus' Jack Foley

March 2006 - June 2006 - Yuji Nagata

June 2006 - Janauary 2007 - Masahiro Chono [4]

January 2007 - May 2007 - Giant Bernard

May 2007 - November 2007 - Yuji Nagata [2]

November 2007 - August 2008 - Shinsuke Nakamura [3]

August 2008 - current Hiroshi Tanahashi

NWA: Tokyo Junior Heavyweight Title History

July 1992 - March 1993 - The Great Michinoku (won a 16 man title tournament to become the 1st champion)

March 1993 - August 1993 - Hayabusa

August 1993 - January 1995 - The Great Michinoku [2]

January 1995 - July 1995 - Mr. JL

July 1995 - October 1996 - The Great Michinoku [3]

October 1996 - May 1997 - Hayabusa [2]

May 1997 - October 1998 - Mr. (Alex) Wright

October 1998 - June 2000 - The Great Michinoku [4]

June 2000 - January 2001 - Hayabusa [3]

January 2001 - March 2002 - The Great Michinoku [5]

March 2002 - October 2002 - Allen Sarven

October 2002 - March 2003 - Koji (Kanemoto)

March 2003 - September 2003 - Kaz Hayashi

September 2003 - October 2004 - The Great Michinoku [6]

October 2004 - January 2005 - Minoru

January 2005 - October 2005 - Kaz Hayashi [2]

October 2005 - March 2006 - Minoru [2]

March 2006 - July 2006 - Judo Suwa

July 2006 - November 2006 - CIMA

November 2006 - May 2007 - Hi69

May 2007 - October 2007 - Taiji Ishimori

October 2007 - July 2008 - Kaz Hayashi [3]

July 2008 - current Naomichi Marufuji

NWA: Tokyo Tag Team Title History

1984 - March 1985 - Antonio Inoki & Giant Baba (award themselves the Tag Team Titles)

March 1985 - March 1986 - The Titans of Terror (Bam Bam Bigelow & Super Vader)

March 1986 - April 1986 - titles held up after a double DQ against Inoki & Baba

April 1986 - November 1986 - The Titans of Terror [2]

November 1986 - January 1987 - Stan 'The Man' Hansen & Bruiser Brody

January 1987 - October 1987 - The Titans of Terror [3]

October 1987 - January 1988 - Stan 'The Man' Hansen & Bruiser Brody [2]

January 1988 - March 1988 - The Titans of Terror [4] (vacated when Bigelow was injured)

March 1988 - June 1988 - The Great Muta & Masahiro Chono

June 1988 - July 1989 - The Titans of Terror [5]

July 1989 - December 1989 - The Great Muta & Masahiro Chono [2]

December 1989 - January 1991 - The Titans of Terror [6]

January 1991 - March 1993 - Stan 'The Man' Hansen & Bruiser Brody [3]

March 1993 - October 1993 - Tatsumi Fujinami & Kengo Kimura

October 1993 - May 1994 - Jurassic Powers (Scott Norton & Hercules)

May 1994 - October 1995 - Stan 'The Man' Hansen & Bruiser Brody [4]

October 1995 - October 1996 - Hiroshi Hase & Hiroyoshi Tenzan

October 1996 - March 1997 - Toshiaki Kawada & Akira Taue

March 1997 - October 1997 - Hiroshi Hase & Hiroyoshi Tenzan [2]

October 1997 - May 1998 - Toshiaki Kawada & Akira Taue [2]

Titles were abandoned from May 1998 to January 2003

January 2003 - July 2003 - Taiyo Kea & Jamal (win an 8 team tournament for the re-instated titles)

July 2003 - May 2004 - Hiroshi Tanahashi & Shinsuke Nakamura

May 2004 - January 2005 - Manabu Nakanishi & Yuji Nagata

January 2005 - June 2005 - The Road Warriors

June 2005 - April 2006 - Giant Bernard & Matt Morgan

April 2006 - August 2006 - The Road Warriors [2]

August 2006 - January 2007 - 'Cactus' Jack Foley & Mark Calloway

January 2007 - August 2007 - Steve Corino & Taiyo Kea

August 2007 - August 2008 - The Great Muta & Masahiro Chono [3]

August 2008 - current Manabu Nakanishi & Togi Makabe

[naiwf]

Like its neighbor south of the border, NWA: Hardcore City is another renegade promotion that managed to tap into the pulse of the American fans as the '90s were marked by a culture widely influenced by an attitude captured in the "grunge" movement and generally rebellious tendencies. Hardcore City was founded as Eastern Championship Wrestling, and struggled from its 1992 inception until August 27, 1994. During its first two years, and under the helm of Tod Gordon, ECW poorly marketed itself as an alternative to the "big time" feel of the other major US branches, but it ended up coming across as a bush league promotion that struggled with the stigma of being a poorly funded, poorly thought out idea. Why would anyone watch a cheap knock off with no name talent when you could tune into World Class Championship Wrestling, who had the biggest stars in the world and a budget about 100 times greater than ECW's? Gordon was wondering that as well when he requested Paul Heyman's assistance in booking a big show called Ultra Clash '93 (on September 18, 1993) at the ECW Arena in Philadelphia. Heyman shook up the company with that event, and created a buzz that a Gordon led ECW had yet to capture.

Over the coming months Heyman gained more and more control of the "book" and turned ECW into an underground phenomenon. What Heyman knew was that Eastern Championship Wrestling didn't have the right sounding name for his ideas, so he went to the NWA board and petitioned for a name change. That request was denied, and enraged Heyman to the point where he orchestrated quite possibly the most offensive angle in the history of NWA Worldwide! On July 23rd, 1994, then ECW star, 'The Franchise' Shane Douglas defeated Eddie Guerrero for the NWA World Cruiserweight Title in a move that many viewed as the NWA handing ECW its version of an olive branch. On the surface, everything seemed peaceful, but it was only five weeks later that Heyman and Douglas shocked the world by having Douglas toss the title in a garbage can and simultaneously proclaiming himself the Hardcore City World Champion as ECW split from the NWA!

Needless to say, the NWA was livid, but the more they tried to bury the fledgling Hardcore City, the more they fueled its fire. Heyman had found a way to make a mark on the wrestling world that would never be forgotten and notched a monumental victory against "the man" when the NWA paid him upwards of $20 million to rejoin just two and a half years later when they realized that Hardcore City's style was something that fans were falling in love with, and that bringing Heyman's creation back into the fold would finally give the organization a chance to showcase the hottest act in the world, 'Superstar' Steve Austin! From that time until 1999, NWA: HC was one of the three most important branches in NWA Worldwide alongside NWA: CS & WCCW.

However, NWA: HC later took a couple of major hits when Austin left for WCCW, and more importantly when Nora Greenwald died in one of the most horrific scenes in pro wrestling history in 2003. Although NWA: HC was no longer the internet darling of the bunch after that incident, it was still one of the most viable promotions in NWA Worldwide, which made its decision to partner up with its former rival WCCW, and NWA: Memphis in 2004 all the more puzzling. Rumor has it that Heyman felt that he had already exhausted all of the possibilities that hardcore wrestling could provide and that he had numbed the fanbase to its ultraviolent ways. However, when compared to the glitzy style of WCCW, and the old school feel of Memphis, even a greatly watered down NWA: HC would still seem relatively edgy.

While some viewed Heyman as a sell out for becoming part of NWA Americas, there is no doubt that NWA: HC regained its edge when Heyman released a series of shoot promos on Eric Bischoff in late 2006, which caused the NWA Americas experiment to come to a brutal end. While Heyman has struggled to make new singles stars ever since Austin left, his Midas touch with tag teams is still evident as Degeneration X were the 2008 NWA International Tag Team of the Year and have held the NWA World Tag Team Titles in addition to their 3 stints with Hardcore City's version of the titles.

----------------------------------

The history of NWA: Hardcore City's Championships and major feuds

1994

Shane Douglas may have put Hardcore City on the map, but it was his feud with Raven, the PERFECT character to sum up NWA: HC's mission statement that made Hardcore City a powerhouse. These two were able to cut some of the best promos heard during this era, and also backed it up with some of the most barbaric matches in the history of American pro wrestling.

1995 & 1996

Interestingly enough, it was the beer swilling, unfiltered cigarette smoking Sandman who ended Douglas' reign as champion as Heyman realized that Douglas/Raven would sell tickets whether it was for the title or not. NWA: HC then created one of its weirdest stars ever as former ring crew member Mikey Whipwreck captivated the attention of the crowd with his willingness to take ridiculous bumps, and was rewarded for his efforts with perhaps the least likely major title run in NWA Worldwide history. Whipwreck was destroyed just a few weeks later when recent acquisition 'Superstar' Steve Austin beat him to a bloody pulp at the 1995 edition of November 2 Remember. Eventually, the audience had had its fill of Douglas/Raven and after Raven finally beat Douglas to end their 2 year long grudge, he moved onto a feud with Austin. 'Superstar' Steve Austin proved to be a master manipulator though as he brought in "someone from Raven's past", a man we'd later find out was named Tommy Dreamer. As a group, Austin and Dreamer dominated ECW, and went on to become its first ever tag team champs, ironically beating former rivals Raven & Douglas.

1997 & 1998

Austin had become a star of such a high magnitude when 1997 rolled around that Heyman ultimately could no longer afford to pay him without losing most of his other stars, and THAT is why Heyman opted to sell his company back into the NWA umbrella. Realizing that his personal pride was not as valuable as what Austin could provide him, Heyman sucked it up and proved to be a genius as Austin's aura created stars out of Dreamer, the new tandems of The Eliminators, The Gangstas & The Dudleys and especially Raven when the enigmatic loner FINALLY became champion at November 2 Remember '97 ending the run Austin had begun at the very same event 2 years earlier. It didn't matter much for Austin though, as he became NWA: HC's first ever NWA World Champion at StarrCade '97 when he defeated 'The Canadian Crippler' Chris Benoit about a month later. In the meantime, Raven then embarked on another lengthy feud with Dreamer this time, and was shocked to see Austin turn on Dreamer to prevent Tommy from becoming champ. Austin then defeated Raven, leading to the unlikely alliance of Raven & Dreamer who ended up seriously injuring Austin in a match by cracking one of his vertebrae with an errant tandem chairshot. This was not the first chairshot gone awry in NWA: HC history, but it was the most famous until the tragic incident in 2003 which we will get to later. Austin's injury also soured the NWA Championship Committee from relying on NWA: HC to look out for the interest of any potential World Champions in the future as Austin was forced to vacate the title on the same show where Taz made his debut.

1999 & 2000

Heyman lost confidence in Raven and Dreamer for ruining his plans, and hurting his one true superstar so he promptly jobbed them out until Austin returned in January of 1999. Shane Douglas had benefitted the most from the burial as he claimed a second run with the title, but soon lost it to Austin whose momentum had not been diminished at all. While The Dudleys had already cemented themselves as the top tag act in the US, NWA: HC caught a big break when 'Cactus' Jack Foley left WCCW and set the company on its ear by knocking off Austin in a brutal cage match at the 1999 November 2 Remember. Foley was a perfect fit for the hardcore style here after years in Japan, and momentarily surpassed Austin in terms of popularity within the company. This fact didn't sit well with Austin who then caused a major controversy by jumping ship to WCCW a few weeks after dropping the title to Foley, never to return again. Fortunately, Heyman was able to create a couple of new stars when he brought in Rhino Richards & Justin Credible in early 2000, and paired them up as the Impact Players. NWA: HC also got some more talent from Japan when Tajiri & Masato Tanaka debuted later in the year.

2001 & 2002

Taz put an end to Foley's year plus long run as champ, but tore a bicep in the process forcing Heyman to hotshot the title back onto Douglas, who dropped it back to Taz once he was fully healthy. After being almost nonfactors on TV since the Austin incident, Raven & Dreamer paired up to win the Tag titles, but they were simply used as fodder for the Impact Players. Two of the men who had initially made NWA: HC a hot commodity were then released, their careers ultimately being the victims of one horrible spot as Austin, now one of the biggest stars in the industry, all but had them blacklisted from NWA Worldwide for accidentally breaking his neck. Taz had a great first legitimate run as champion improving business in all facets, but eventually dropped the belt to Rhino Richards at the 2002 November 2 Remember as Richards was now viewed as one of the best big men in the business, while Taz went on to team up with Douglas as their chemistry on screen led Douglas to turn face for the first time in years. Richards was so hot that he was given the honor of headlining StarrCade '02 against NWA World Champion Chris Jericho, and although he lost, he proved that he could be relied upon as the future of the company. That event proved to be NWA: HC's coming out party as The Dudleys became 2-time NWA World Tag Team Champions after dropping the titles one year earlier.

2003 & 2004

The "dark days" of NWA: HC will always be remembered for the death of Nora Greenwald at the 2003 Living Dangerously Pay Per View. Greenwald and bitter rival Amy Dumas had often battled for the NWA Women's World Title, and Heyman was ecstatic when he was able to get the NWA Championship Committee to let them continue their feud in a Steel Cage Weapons match on the March 15th event. Greenwald had shown an affinity to competing in dangerous matches as she had often wrestled against men in NWA: NY quite often thanks to her real life relationship with Matt Hardy as the duo were one of the most popular tag teams on the East Coast. Days before her passing, Greenwald noted that she had been most proud of the fact that she'd never been injured in her career which dated back to 1997. Unfortunately for everyone involved, Dumas lived up to her reputation as one of the most reckless women ever to wrestle as she hit Greenwald so hard with a chairshot to the back of the head that Nora went down immediately and never got back to her feet. The situation was worsened as we later found out that Greenwald likely could have been saved if she had just arrived at the hospital a couple of minutes sooner, but during the commotion Heyman hesitated, and by the time the cage door had been unlocked Greenwald was already losing the fight for her life. This death had a tremendous impact on the industry as Dumas never wrestled again, Hardy went down a self destructive path for nearly two years before finally cleaning his life up and becoming one of the most inspirational men in the business, and NWA Worldwide permanently retired the Women's World Title after naming Greenwald its immortal champion at an emotional ceremony at StarrCade '03.

Dean Malenko & Rob Van Dam ended up joining NWA: HC after leaving NWA: Calgary Stampede and embarked on one of the best tag team feuds ever with the Dudleys as the final NWA: CS tag champs did battle with the NWA: HC & NWA World Tag Team Champions in a series of matches that solidified the Dudleys as the best in the business. Eventually Malenko & RVD took the NWA World Tag Team titles from the Dudleys at StarrCade '03, and the Dudleys were forced to take some time off after dropping the Hardcore City Titles to Tazz and Douglas who had put their careers on the line in order to receive the title shot. It was during their hiatus that Heyman felt as though the Dudleys had in a way crippled his tag ranks as they held the titles for more than 5 of the 7 years from the start of their first reign until the end of their seventh. Malenko & Van Dam never did win the Hardcore City titles which surprised many considering their status, but all was forgiven when Van Dam ended up beating Rhino at the 2004 November 2 Remember, ending a 2 year reign. Freelance specialists, The Acolytes settled into NWA: HC's territory during the time NWA: Americas was being formed and brought a breath of fresh air to the tag ranks.

2005

With the Dudleys moving over to the WCCW branch of NWA Americas late in '04, and Van Dam ultimately failing as champion when he couldn't shake the stigma of being a tag team specialist, Heyman had little choice but to have one final run by 'The Franchise', who retired shortly after dropping the belt to Richards 10 years to the week that he lost it for the first time. RVD seemed to back into his second title run as Richards got hurt just a month before the 2005 November 2 Remember. With that in mind Van Dam reclaimed the title, but that didn't stop fans from beginning to wonder if Heyman has lost the magic touch he had for most of the last decade despite arguably creating the most recognizable individual wrestler (Austin) and tag team (Dudleys) in wrestling history.

2006 & 2007

The NWA Americas experiment did not work as NWA: Mexico City waged a vicious war on Eric Bischoff's WCCW during the last half of 2006, eventually forcing NWA: Hardcore City & NWA: Memphis to go back to running shows on their own. While NWA: HC did better than WCCW right after the split, they lost a lot of momentum when they were splitting their TV taping schedule with NWA: Memphis who gained the most from the brief Americas ordeal. As other stars around the country took off, Heyman's crew seemed to regress quite a bit and aside from Abyss & The Last Dragons making it big during these two years. Rhino Richards remained the focal point of the singles action although he's not nearly as hot as he once was thanks to being exposed for being undersized when compared to the monsters that were part of WCCW during the Americas run. The fans finally grew sick of The Dudley Boys and Heyman had to cut ties with them early on in 2007.

2008

It seems as though 2008 will be remembered as the end of the Rhino Richards era as he was beaten for the Heavweight Title by Taz, and then started being phased out of title contention as the year progressed. Ultimately he was let go in similar fashion to The Dudleys before signing on with NWA: Detroit, while Abyss became the focal point of the singles ranks. While there is definitely room for improvement in terms of marketing singles stars, the tag team division seems to be as competitive as ever thanks to The Acolytes, Degeneration X, The Last Dragons & The Orient Express all being in the mix for the NWA World Tag Team Titles.

NWA: Hardcore City (World) Heavyweight Title History

8/27/94 - 4/15/95 'The Franchise' Shane Douglas

4/15/95 - 10/25/95 The Sandman

10/25/95 - 11/18/95 Mikey Whipwreck

11/18/95 - 11/22/97 'Superstar' Steve Austin

11/22/97 - 7/25/98 Raven

7/25/98 - 3/27/99 'The Franchise' Shane Douglas [2]

3/27/99 - 11/20/99 'Superstar' Steve Austin [2]

11/20/99 - 3/24/01 'Cactus' Jack Foley

3/24/01 - 3/24/01 Taz (Taz won the belt from Foley then lost an impromptu match to Douglas after tearing his bicep in the first contest of this unplanned double dip)

3/24/01 - 8/25/01 'The Franchise' Shane Douglas [3]

8/25/01 - 11/23/02 Taz [2]

11/23/02 - 11/27/04 Rhino Richards

11/27/04 - 3/19/05 Rob Van Dam

3/19/05 - 4/16/05 'The Franchise' Shane Douglas [4]

4/16/05 - 11/19/05 Rhino Richards [2]

11/19/05 - 2/26/06 Rob Van Dam [2]

2/26/06 - 3/25/07 Rhino Richards [3]

3/25/07 - 10/31/07 Abyss

10/31/07 - 3/23/08 Rhino Richards [4]

3/23/08 - 8/24/08 Taz [3]

8/24/08 - current Abyss [2]

NWA: Hardcore City Tag Team Title History

3/23/96 - 12/20/96 'Superstar' Steve Austin & Tommy Dreamer (defeated Raven & Shane Douglas to become the inaugural champs)

12/20/96 - 3/15/97 The Eliminators (Perry Saturn & John Kronus)

3/15/97 - 4/13/97 The Dudley Boys

4/13/97 - 6/20/97 The Eliminators [2]

6/20/97 - 10/18/97 The Dudley Boys [2]

10/18/97 - 12/6/97 The F.B.I (Full Blooded Italians/Tracy Smothers & Little Guido)

12/6/97 - 11/20/99 The Dudley Boys [3]

11/20/99 - 1/9/00 The Eliminators [3]

1/9/00 - 3/24/01 The Dudley Boys [4]

3/24/01 - 4/28/01 Raven & Tommy Dreamer

4/28/01 - 10/27/01 The Impact Players (Rhino Richards & Justin Credible)

10/27/01 - 3/23/02 The Dudley Boys [5]

3/23/02 - 7/27/02 The F.B.I [2]

7/27/02 - 7/26/03 The Dudley Boys [6]

7/26/03 - 10/25/03 The Impact Players [2]

10/25/03 - 3/27/04 The Dudley Boys [7]

3/27/04 - 9/25/04 Tazz & Shane Douglas

9/25/04 - 5/28/05 The Acolytes (Ron Simmons & John 'Blackjack' Bradshaw)

5/28/05 - 9/24/05 The F.B.I [3]

9/24/05 - 3/8/06 The Acolytes [2]

3/8/06 - 7/23/06 The Last Dragons (The American Dragon & The Ultimate Dragon (Low-Ki)

7/23/06 - 9/13/06 Degeneration X (Alex Shelley & CM Punk)

9/13/06 - 7/18/07 The Tormented (Abyss & Nate Hatred)

7/18/07 - 1/16/08 The Last Dragons [2]

1/16/08 - 6/22/08 Degeneration X [2]

6/22/08 - 9/21/08 The Orient Express (Jimmy Yang & Masato Tanaka)

9/21/08 - current Degeneration X [3]

[naiwf]

NWA: Memphis is one of many of the "fringe" promotions to fold and come back to life at some point throughout NWA's illustrious history, which dates back to the late '40s, though many fans of NWA Worldwide weren't alive when the Tennessee based promotion was a somewhat major player in the late '60s/early '70s, and only know its greatest success of that era, Jerry 'The King' Lawler, and its current incarnation which is just about 3 1/2 years old. The modern NWA: Memphis is the brainchild of one of the few legendary promoters in the business, Jerry Jarrett. Although the original 'Double J' achieved moderate success with Mid-South Wrestling, the Continental Wrestling Association, and his joint venture with Lawler, the United States Wrestling Association, it wasn't until early 2002 that he finally struck gold. With the sports entertainment themed WCCW/NWA: NY war over for three years, and NWA: Hardcore City alienating fans of "traditional wrestling" as they continued to push the envelope, Jarrett gave it one last try by going into business with a few other southern legends as he convinced Lawler, Terry Funk & 'The American Dream' Dusty Rhodes to pool together their funds and try to bring back the style of wrestling that they loved.

Although times were lean in the beginning with only moderately successful stars like an aging Funk, Jeff Jarrett, Dustin Rhodes & The Smoking Gunns on the roster, fans began to watch as simple, "old school" wrestling was once again available on the national level, at least on PPV. With no regular TV deal in place, NWA: Memphis explored a weekly PPV model for that first year, but they nearly ended up driving themselves out of business because their market share was so low. In a stroke of pure genius, their top announcer Joey Styles suggested taping events to be broadcast on the internet. Styles' ability to build up their characters and put forth Jarrett's vision was a big factor in their rise, and when the decision was made to add Lawler to the "booth", NWA: Memphis hit its stride running as they offered the best of old school and new school. What Memphis lacked in big names, it made up for in determination, heart, and a willingness to take risks as they essentially gave the bulk of their current roster their "big breaks". With homegrown stars being made as the promotion was growing, Memphis was rapidly becoming a hot commodity. Although they have created their fair share of questionable characters like the Wild Samoans, the rebel flag wearing James Gang, a mafia style stable of wrestlers all named Johnny, and most notably Ronaldo (later 'The Suntanned Superman' Ron Killings), Jeff Jarrett's African-American manservant, Memphis has managed to stay true to their mission goal in that they let the wrestlers wrestle and use storylines to fill in the gaps for the most part.

Memphis continued to show slow and steady growth eventually gaining a national TV deal just two months before the blockbuster deal that saw NWA: Hardcore City & WCCW agree to work together. Realizing that he'd have almost no chance to beat that kind of powerhouse, Jarrett managed to join in on the deal by sacrificing his autonomy and the crown jewel of NWA: Memphis, an internet show hosted by the top announcing tandem in the business, Styles & Lawler. While most fans watched all of the major NWA shows (WCCW Monday Nitro, Wednesday night's Hardcore Heaven, and Memphis' Friday Night Impact) regularly, there was no doubt that fans of all branches enjoyed the chance to listen to Styles and Lawler comment on all the happenings in NWA Worldwide as Styles had another brilliant idea when he created a live internet show the first Saturday of every month from 4-6 PM EST. With clips from events from Tokyo to Mexico City to Calgary and all points in between, that one monthly show gave fans a chance to catch up on what they were missing elsewhere as well as get a second glance at some of the best events in Memphis during the past 30 days or so. When they eventually added in viewer participation segments like live calls, e-mails, and live in studio interviews with NWA: Memphis stars it only became a more popular source of both information and entertainment for the NWA Worldwide fanbase.

It was known that Bischoff in particular coveted the opportunity to have more of an involvement with this program when he saw what a simple 15 minute chat with Matt Hardy was able to accomplish in terms of rallying the fans behind a specific wrestler. As part of the reshuffled NWA Americas promotion, Memphis and NWA: HC ran their shows back to back in a single night three hour taping on Tuesdays (with the order alternating every week) which allowed both companies the chance to focus their action more, since they are no longer competing with WCCW Nitro's ability to trot out enough stars to fill up 2 hours every week. Some say that Memphis made out like bandits on the deal as they were able to have Styles and Lawler on air more than any other announcing team, kept their stellar tag ranks intact, and had the ability to save money on their TV taping schedule while only losing out on a bit of PPV time for some of their "still not ready for primetime" undercard. Therefore it wasn't surprising that Memphis was able to take the hit of the NWA Americas collapse in stride. The only thing that remains to be seen for this group is whether or not they can ever create a star that measures up with the NWA World Championship level workers strewn throughout their competition since Jeff Jarrett is NOT that guy and no one else has ever come close.

----------------------------------

The history of NWA: Memphis' Championships and major feuds

2002

Formed on May 10, 2002, but not debuting until June 19th, NWA: Memphis didn't have much in the way of feuds in its first 6 months of action as Jeff Jarrett was the undisputed king of the company thanks to his relative youth and well, his obvious ties to the head booker. We did however manage to see the early seeds of what would become a major rivalry between Jarrett and his servant Ronaldo, and the beginning of Brian James' transformation from a wigger to a rebel flag wearing racist. James showed up to the October 2nd event with a black eye and "stitches" in his forehead claiming that a group of "coloreds" had attacked him the night before, going so far as to question Ronaldo about his whereabouts the night before "'cause you looked like that one that suckerpunched me outside the club!". This led to Ronaldo's first in ring action a month later, and Jarrett eventually tossing him aside as he began to use the James Gang as back up, when Brian's "cousin" Jamie James entered the promotion.

2003

The second event of the year saw the James Gang become the first NWA: Memphis Tag Team champs in the new regime by defeating Dusty & Dustin Rhodes, The Smoking Gunns & The Wild Samoans in a surprisingly well wrestled fatal fourway. Ronaldo ended up changing his name, piercing himself a few times and returned as Ron 'The Truth' Killings ultimately ended Jarrett's 1st run as champion when a friend of his, the 6'2 280 pound Alpha Male took The James Gang out at the end of one of the most hotly contested title matches Memphis had ever seen, even going back to its first incarnation. Killings' reign didn't last very long as Jarrett quickly regained the title with a little help from his special enforcers twin towers Ron & Don Harris aka The Tennessee Enforcers. Jarrett then went and sabotaged the James Gang leading his team to a title victory as Jarrett wanted "all the stroke 'round here!". Fans began to really give it to Jarrett around this time as he dominated most of Memphis' TV time and seemingly squashed all threats with help from the Enforcers. It was at this time that The Jersey Boys (pronounced Joisy) showed up, a group of pretty boy Italians borrowing HEAVILY from The Sopranos TV show. Since all of the original members were named Johnny they all adopted nicknames as Johnny Stamboli became Johnny The Bull, Johnny Cena became Johnny C-Note and Johnny Parisi became Johnny The Swinger. C-Note was the breakout star of the group, coming dangerously close to taking Jarrett down, but failing as Jarrett once again overcame the odds with assistance from his allies.

2004

The Smoking Gunns finally ended the Tennessee Enforcers' reign as champ, but Jarrett was still holding onto the Heavyweight Title with a deathgrip that caused many to lose interest in the product's top of the card matches. Realizing that there was a huge, and ever growing backlash against him, Jarrett brought in a handpicked heir to his throne as he gave young Allen Jones a chance to shine in a rehash of sorts of the Ronaldo storyline as Jones was his image consultant. Jones couldn't get the fans to stop hating Jarrett, who then asked Jones if HE thought he could handle the pressures of being the NWA: Memphis Heavyweight Champion in a promo. Jones surprised everyone by saying yes, and took the title from Jarrett CLEANLY in June ending a 1+ year run for Jarrett. The problem was that Jones was made to look like a fool after that match as Jarrett interfered on his behalf on most nights stating that HE wanted to beat Jones for the belt and that no one else would have that opportunity. Needless to say, Jarrett ended up getting the belt back as Jones suddenly disappeared from TV for the rest of the year.

The tag titles were passed around a bit to compensate for the lack of flexibility in the heavyweight ranks as Killings changed his name yet again now going by 'The Suntanned Superman' as he teamed with The Alpha Male, and new teams made some strides as The Soldiers of God (Azrael, Gabriel & Christian Daniels), The Matthews Boys (Joey & Josh) & The Last Dragons (American & Ultimate Dragon) all debuted and made immediate contributions as The Tennessee Enforcers were also pulled from TV with little to no explanation. The James Gang doubled in size from two to four when Brian and Jamie were joined by their cousins, a pair of sisters named Crazy Daizee & Lacey Mae James.

2005

A fifth member was brought into the James Gang when Jamie was hurt after they dropped the titles as Kid James became yet another cousin. Allen Jones returned with flashier ring attire and moves as AJ Styles, a rib on the always well dressed Joey Styles. This character seemed destined to fail as he was again placed into a feud with Jarrett ultimately leading to Jarrett dropping the belt to Styles' secret ally, major acquisition Jeff Hardy. While Jeff didn't do much to improve business, his ability to convince management to give his brother Matt another chance turned out to be the biggest coup for Memphis to date as Matt cut a heartfelt shoot on their internet show a month before he returned to the independent scene (the NWA 20 @ 20 will explain this story in full).

With a few of Matt's other friends working here as Gregory Shane Helms & Shannon Moore joined the company a few months earlier Matt ended up choosing Memphis over WCCw, NWA: HC, NWA: CS and NWA: Tokyo. With Matt on the roster the fans DEMANDED a new champion and got one when he destroyed Jarrett on one of their last shows of the year, generating the loudest reaction of the last 3 1/2 years. The tag division was still a strong selling point as they had a handful of teams in legitimate contention for the NWA World Tag Titles, with The Future Boys (Frankie 'The Future' Kazarian & 'The Future' Chris Sabin) making the most noise of their rookie tandems.

2006 & 2007

'Crazy' Daizee James brought Memphis some notoriety as the first champion in the female only LLPW promotion based in Canada, but 2006 will be known as the year where Memphis had to fly solo again as the NWA Americas experiment failed. NWA: Mexico City's vicious war with Eric Bischoff's WCCW forced NWA: Hardcore City & NWA: Memphis to go back to running shows on their own. Fortunately, Memphis found their stride in the last year and a half and have put themselves on the verge of competing on the same level with WCCW, NWA: NY, NWA:HC, NWA: LA and NWA: Mexico City. The Hardy Boys have grown from being a pair that the fans have always liked to two superstars capable of headlining a successful promotion as Matt and Jeff have run with the ball farther than anyone thought they could.

Matt's arrival in late 2005 and dominance as Heavyweight Champion was Memphis' hottest story until the duo won the Tag Titles and eventually vacated them when Jeff turned on Matt by helping Johnny C-Note finally win the first Heavyweight Title of his career, claiming that he was tired of living in Matt and Nora's shadow. A bitter feud between the two ran the course of a whole year and ended with Matt finally reclaiming the title from Jeff. The two brothers reconciled after the match, but now faced serious threats to the top spots from former champs C-Note, a resurgent Allen Jones/AJ Styles, as well as the hottest prospect in the promotion, Austin Aries who made a huge name for himself by forcing 'El Terror de Tijuana' Tito Ortiz to submit in an interpromotional match that all but stole the show at StarrCade '07. The James Gang also did Memphis proud by winning the NWA World Tag Team Titles in January of 2007 and bringing them to the promotion as compensation for losing the NWA World Cruiserweight Title when Christian Daniels jumped ship to NWA: NY.

2008

NWA: Memphis eventually lost control of the NWA World Tag Team Titles and had to rebound by creating some new stars. They were able to do that when they brought in a man Jerry Jarrett had discovered and promptly decided to push to the top. Born Oleg Prudius, Jarrett decided to pair up the Russian machine with Alex Kozlov as his older brother/bodyguard Vladimir Kozlov. They quickly went on to capture the Tag Team Titles but Alex was pretty much tossed aside as soon as they dropped the belts as Vladimir has risen through the ranks with one punishing victory after another. Similarly, Johnny The Body went on to capture his first Heavyweight Title as he surpassed Johnny C-Note in terms of favor with Jarrett and is being groomed to be one of the major players along with the Hardys, Aries, The Alpha Male and Vladimir Kozlov. It is interesting to note that while Jeff Jarrett hasn't held theHeavyweight Title for just over 3 years now, the fans STILL have never quite gotten over his initial monster push that turned some against him permanently.

NWA: Memphis Heavyweight Title History

7/3/02 - 3/19/03 Jeff Jarrett (won a 10 man battle royal to become the first champion)

3/19/03 - 5/28/03 Ron 'The Truth' Killings

5/28/03 - 6/16/04 Jeff Jarrett [2]

6/16/04 - 9/17/04 Allen Jones

9/17/04 - 5/29/05 Jeff Jarrett [3]

5/29/05 - 8/17/05 Jeff Hardy

8/17/05 - 12/11/05 Jeff Jarrett [4]

12/11/05 - 7/21/06 Matt Hardy

7/21/06 - 2/25/07 Johnny C-Note

2/25/07 - 7/22/07 Jeff Hardy [2]

7/22/07 - 1/27/08 Matt Hardy [2]

1/27/08 - 4/20/08 AJ Styles [2]

4/20/08 - 11/23/08 The Alpha Male (won the title thanks to interference from The Talia Madison)

11/23/08 - current Johnny The Body

NWA: Memphis Tag Team Title History

1/15/03 - 6/25/03 The James Gang (Brian & Jamie James, won a fatal fourway to become the initial champions)

6/25/03 - 3/10/04 The Tennessee Enforcers (Ron & Don Harris)

3/10/04 - 5/26/04 The Smoking Gunns (Bart & Billy)

5/26/04 - 8/4/04 'The Suntanned Superman' Ron Killings & The Alpha Male

8/4/04 - 10/29/04 The James Gang [2]

10/29/04 - 1/19/05 The Smoking Gunns [2]

1/19/05 - 4/24/05 The Soldiers of God (Azrael & Christian Daniels won the titles, but they defended them with Gabriel in random combinations)

4/24/05 - 8/28/05 The Wild Samoans (Samoa Joe & Fatu)

8/28/05 - 11/20/05 The Last Dragons (The American Dragon & The Ultimate Dragon (Low-Ki)

11/20/05 - 6/25/06 The James Gang [3]

6/25/06 - 7/22/06 The Hardy Boys (vacated the day after Jeff turned on Matt)

8/18/06 - 2/25/07 The Jersey Boys (Johnny The Body & Johnny The Swinger won a fatal four way to claim the vacant titles)

2/25/07 - 8/26/07 The Future Boys (Frankie 'The Future' Kazarian & 'The Future' Chris Sabin)

8/26/07 - 2/15/08 OMEGA Team (Gregory Shane Helms & Shannon Moore)

2/15/08 - 6/22/08 Alex & Vladimir Kozlov

6/22/08 - 9/21/08 The Wild Samoans [2]

9/21/08 - current The Jersey Boys [2] (Johnny C-Note replaced Johnny The Body in the tag team when Johnny The Body won the Heavyweight Title)

Edited May 28, 2009 by naiwf

[naiwf]

If there's anybody out there who wants to give me their opinion on the three new rosters (Detroit, Florida & LA) and/or what they think of the balance between NWA: NY & WCCW (my version of the Monday Night Wars) please send me a PM. I've got one more final on Tuesday, but I'll be doing a lot more work on this in the coming weeks and hope to finish it by the middle of June at the latest.

[naiwf]

"FUCK THE NWA!"

That chant had been heard in English AND Spanish at the start and finish of essentially every NWA: Mexico City show from the end of 1996 until midway through 2005. Why would Mexican fans be so angry at the NWA for nearly a decade you ask? It's pretty simple really. Imagine if you will, being a rising star in the US, who just so happens to be 'El Hombre' in Mexico and one of the few gaijins ever to headline shows in Japan. Imagine if you will, being promised a chance to take on the NWA World Champion at the annual Starrcade event if you'd just "do the right thing, and help us out". Imagine if you will, getting a knife buried so deeply in your back that the hilt was practically falling out your stomach! Such is Konnan's plight, and that is why the "K-Dawg" and all of his loyal supporters had essentially cut ties with the National Wrestling Alliance for almost 10 years. Some say Konnan was naive, others say he was duped, but whatever side of the coin you tend to fall on the facts are what they are.

Konnan was essentially THE gatekeeper to the entire mid '90's "Mexican Revolution". As the primary go between for the NWA and Mexican wrestlers everywhere, he gladly helped get Los Guerreros, Rey Mysterio, El Vampiro Canadiense and others to compete in the American branches of the NWA. In exchange for doing so, he had been promised the chance to prove the viability of Mexican wrestlers on the national level in America when he was to face the NWA World Heavyweight Champion at Starrcade '96. Everything was going as well as planned, attendance was up, the NWA was breaking into the TV realm in different areas largely due to the influx of talent he had helped along the way, and Konnan's popularity was at an all time high. The rumor is that he would have won the title, but three days before the event, the Executive Board of the NWA rescinded on the deal. Not only was Konnan not going to be in the Main Event, he was pulled from the show completely! No explanation was ever given, and as a result NWA: Mexico City took a major hit as they'd promised the fans that they would be represented at the biggest show of the year, and through no fault of their own failed to deliver the goods. Konnan was distraught by what had happened, and contacted all of his friends who rightly walked out of their respective companies and came back to NWA: MC full time. Since that day, Mexico City had done everything they could to spit on the so-called NWA World Championship's legacy. They even went so far as to name their top title a "World Title", but it was cleverly done in Spanish.

Their title history has since been revised restoring NWA: MC's top title's name as the NWA: Mexico City Heavyweight Title because everything changed early on in 2005 when both of NWA: MC's champions got hurt in the main Event of a January PPV. With increasing pressure from his roster to break the NWA boycott, Konnan finally caved in and Mexico City got a much needed bump in terms of roster flexibility and star power as one of the greatest Cruiserweights/Junior Heavyweights of the generation, Christian Cage made his way "south of the border" and became a huge star. It was after the border opened that things got wild as Konnan declared war on WCCW & Eric Bischoff. The two owners nearly destroyed each other as Bischoff lost control of NWA Americas when NWA: Hardcore City & NWA: Memphis broke away. Major names went back and forth between these two branches of NWA Worldwide and ratings were on their way up until Konnan and Bischoff got cute and each man played a game of high stakes chicken revolving around June 25th of 2006. Bischoff moved WrestleMania back a week to compete with Triplemania and then offered Eddie Guerrero an NWA World Heavyweight Title Match against Chris Jericho if he would simply no show. Instead, Konnan was able to convince Jericho to no show and Guerrero won the title leading to a MAJOR fiasco as Bischoff threatened to pull WCCW out of the NWA!

The battle came to an end at StarrCade that year when Bischoff won a bidding war for the services of 'The Canadian Crippler' Chris Benoit and Konnan lost Guerrero to the upstart NWA: Los Angeles! 2007 & 2008 proved to be years of rebuilding that provided uneven results at first, but Konnan stuck with it and seems to have achieved a better balance of talent than he has had at any point in recent years as he has finally learned the dangers of putting all of his eggs in one proverbial basket.

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The history of NWA: Mexico City's Championships and major feuds

1994

NWA: Mexico City started off as a grassroots organization for the most part. Many of the wrestlers were relatives, and most were friendly with each other. The notable exception to that rule was El Vampiro Canadiense! He was a bastard in and out of the ring, and revelled in that knowledge. Between his numerous arrests for assaulting bitter fans before, after and DURING shows he was without question Mexico's top heel, and it made sense that he would be the first NWA: Mexico City Heavyweight Champion. Although he was not nearly the most reliable man, El Vampiro headlined consistently sold out events throughout Mexico. The 1994 Mexican Match of the Year between Vampiro and Rey Mysterio Sr. took place in Estadia Azteca in October at the biggest show of the year, and to this day is perhaps the most brutal hair versus mask match in the history of the company. Mysterio was a long time detractor of Vampiro's and the wild Canadian took this match as a chance to try to put Rey Sr. out of the business! The biggest controversy of the early days of NWA: MC is whether or not his botched Nail in the Coffin was done on purpose or if it was simply an unfortunate accident. Rey Sr. ended up with a broken neck, Vampiro took his mask, and the company nearly went under all in one evening!

1995

With the huge backlash caused by Vampiro's actions building up from last October, someone had to step up and take the only title in the company away from him. That man was Konnan. On Saturday, February 18th the champion's thirteen month long reign of terror finally came to an end with Konnan's soon to be infamous TEQUILA SUNRISE finisher. The two literally tore the house down throughout the bulk of '95 with numerous sell-outs and no fewer than five riots induced! Konnan's first championship reign came to an end when he blew out a knee on an attempted moonsault to the outside during a tag match with Rey Jr. as they went up against Vampiro and his new ally, El Scorpio (2 Cold Scorpio). Given Vampiro's bad reputation, El Scorpio stepped in and took the title in late July, allowing Konnan to go get surgery. It was during this time that Rey Jr. and Eddie Guerrero stepped into the spotlight with a tremendous on and off feud that lasted well into '98. Konnan returned on the anniversary of the Rey Sr. injury in the last week of October, and regained his title in a 39 minute classic that won the 1995 Mexican Match of the Year award. It was this match that propelled Konnan to iconic status in Mexico as he exemplified the fighting spirit that many Mexicans admire in their professional fighters whether it be in boxing or wrestling.

1996

This was the year that Konnan became the closest thing to an international household name that Mexico had ever seen, as he headlined shows in the US, Japan and Mexico. It was also the year that saw the debut of Chavo Guerrero, who quickly ascended the ranks to becoming the top Jr. Heavyweight in the company. As a result, the NWA: MC Lucha Libre Title was created with Chavo defeating his uncle Eddie and Rey Jr. in the 1996 Mexican Match of the Year. In all honesty most of the crowd was more interested in what Eddie and Rey were doing, but that match solidified Chavo as a threat for the rest of his career. Konnan defeated Vampiro in front of a sell out crowd at the biggest event of the year and became the second wrestler to surpass a one year reign as champion as a result. Then the whole NWA debacle took place, and NWA: MC took a major dive in attendance, and quality. Desperate to try and reignite interest in the product Konnan dropped the title to Vampiro a few days before Christmas. . .

1997

. . . that turned out to be a HUGE mistake. Less than two weeks later, Vampiro was arrested yet again, and for the first time ever an NWA: MC show took place without a Heavyweight Title match. Fortunately, Rey Jr. saved the day by defeating Chavo for the first of his two Lucha Libre reigns as the two exchanged the title throughout the year. When Vampiro finally returned in March, he dropped the title to Eddie, who failed to set the world on fire as most viewed him as being unprepared to take up the mantle left behind by Vampiro, and especially super fan favorite Konnan. Although Konnan wanted to take some time away from the business, he realized that he was NWA: MC's top drawing card and regained the title on another October supercard. That show turned out to be significant for two other reasons, as its opener was the debut of Juventud Guerrera, and it also saw the end of Vampiro's NWA: MC career as both he and Konnan felt it was time to move on.

1998

With Vampiro gone, El Scorpio stepped up again as the company's top heel while Eddie and his nephew embarked on a bitter feud that lasted the whole year. El Scorpio once again claimed the top title, this time by defeating Konnan which instantly established him as the primary non-native wrestler on the roster. Scorpio also proved to be the most adaptable wrestler on the roster and that led to an eventual double turn at the October show, when Eddie once again became champion in what turned out to be Scorpio's 2nd Mexican Match of the Year honor. Earlier that evening, Juvi became the first man not named Chavo or Rey to hold the Lucha Libre title ending Chavo's year plus long run.

1999

October '99 was a month of major changes as Konnan FINALLY turned heel on Scorpio, who subsequently left the company when Konnan would not meet his contract demands. This loss would be just the first of many questionable business decisions Konnan made as he ultimately became more and more convinced that as long as NWA: MC had him, they didn't really NEED anyone else on the top level. Eddie's second reign was much better received than his first, and he came up just one day short of a year as champ when his long time rival Rey Jr. took the crown in the Mexican Match of the Year! Sadly, Rey never really had a chance to enjoy the spotlight as he was squashed by Konnan less than two months later on Christmas night! The Lucha Libre title switched hands when Super Crazy did something previously unseen in the company as he won a title in his debut match, defeating Juvi after cheating his ass off. Mr. Aguila quickly climbed the ladder as he added an element of danger to NWA: MC matches as he frequently made dives into the front row of crowds as long as he could get a piece of his opponent in the process.

2000

NWA: MC largely kept with the status quo this year as a movement was made to add younger blood to the roster while some of the older, less athletic workers faded into the sunset. Konnan struggled with injuries throughout 2000, but did what he could to continue to sell tickets as he easily remained the biggest star in Mexico. This was also the year that the workers seemed to reject some of Konnan's ideas as he was routinely going over in matches with more talented, healthier workers. The worst of these offenses occurred when he again squashed Rey Mysterio on the October supercard. Mr. Aguila finally notched his name on the championship register this year, and did it twice as he won the title from Super Crazy, lost it to Juvi and regained it from Guerrera in a classic.

2001

The uproar in the locker room continued at a fever pitch until Konnan finally dropped the title to Eddie in October before retiring from active duty. Rumor has it that everyone would have bolted the company if Konnan hadn't made the decision to put Eddie over and give up his spot because after two long years his selfish behavior which was ruining the product to the point where men who had been loyal to him for the 5 years since the NWA incident were seriously looking into opportunities abroad. Aguila also dropped his title on Konnan's final show, to the most bizarre man in NWA: MC, La Parka. There was absolutely NO reason Parka should have ever been over, but he was, and in a way he paved the way for other kinds of workers to get a foothold in the company, not the least of which debuted next year in a fashion reminiscent to Konnan's bursting onto the scene.

2002

If you were anywhere in Mexico this year you already are quite familiar with the man who combined all the positive attributes of Konnan and Vampiro, the youngster who came to be known as 'El Terror de Tijuana' Tito Ortiz. It had been a full eight years since someone came along that was able to draw the attention that Ortiz did, and his arrival may have singlehandedly save the company from bankruptcy as business had grown lean towards the end of Konnan's final run. Ortiz was also the first worker in NWA: MC with a legitimate athletic background, and as a result that made him the man you love, or the man you love to hate. In less than five months Ortiz went from opening shows to winning the Heavyweight Title as many compared him favorably to another man who rose in meteoric fashion, former NWA World Champion Kurt Angle! Psicosis finally managed to make his way to NWA: MC after toiling for years in the Mexican independent scene, and captured the Lucha Libre title in a surprisingly great match with La Parka.

2003

Chavo Guerrero finally re-established himself as a champion ending a near five year drought without gold when he beat Psicosis in August. Ortiz continued to dominate the Heavyweight Title ranks, Main Events, attendance figures and magazine ads as he came close to being the most talked about athlete in Mexico, falling just short to the national football team. Eventually, Ortiz fell in an epic encounter with Eddie Guerrero, in the Mexican Match of the Year, the company's first since '99. While Ortiz' 17 month reign couldn't match Konnan's record of 22 months a few years earlier, it did surpass it as the most successful championship run in the history of the company by all accounts. Dirt sheets claim that WCCW's Eric Bischoff was desperately trying to sign Ortiz to a contract, but Tito opted to stick it out with the company that made him a star, making him one of just a handful of men to spurn Bischoff's cash.

2004

This year saw a resurgence of wrestlers who had been somewhat lost in the shuffle as Rey Jr., Super Crazy and Aguila got back into the fold with excellent matches throughout the year. Eddie's record tying 4th title run was perhaps his best to date as he stepped up his workrate in every match, earning 2004 International Wrestler of the Year honors despite never leaving the country! Given that an American, Canadian or Japanese worker had won that award every year since its inception, Eddie's historic victory brought about a renewed interest in NWA: MC, and led to Konnan telling the NWA Executive Board to "fuck off" when Eddie was being discussed as a potential NWA World Title contender. Eddie's furious workload however, also led to an untimely hamstring tear as he had to vacate the title just before an October supercard rematch with Ortiz, making this the first time in over 10 years of existence that NWA: MC didn't have a Heavyweight Champion. Ortiz regained the belt when he squashed Rey Jr. leading many to believe that Konnan now had a personal vendetta against him as everyone knew he was the head booker as well as owner. Chavo's 4th run with the Lucha Libre title ended when he lost to Super Crazy, a man who hadn't held the belt in over 4 years.

2005

In early 2005 NWA: MC learned that fate is a cruel bitch sometimes as both Ortiz AND Super Crazy suffered injuries in the same match, a January title versus title affair that ended in a double DQ. With no one really in position to take the belts and two champions in need of minor surgery, Konnan went with his old standbys as the Guerreros each claimed their 5th championship reign on February 26th. It was around this time that Konnan finally decided to bury the hatchet with the NWA, and as a result NWA: MC was finally able to use its talent elsewhere and also see workers from the US, Canada and Japan come in and out of the company. With Ortiz and Crazy back, storylines heated up although Konnan still seemingly refused to use Rey Jr. in any prominent role despite the fact he was one of the most popular workers in all of NWA Worldwide. On the annual October super show Eddie Guerrero successfully defended his title against Ortiz, but his nephew was not so lucky as Christian Cage became the first non-Latino to win the Lucha Libre crown since its inception in mid '96!

2006

This was the year that Mexico City exploded into international prominence as Konnan declared war on WCCW & Eric Bischoff. That head to head battle was largely responsible for the destruction of NWA Americas and a handful of huge names jumping ship as Chavo Jr. fled to WCCW, while The Great Michinoku defected to NWA: MC in retaliation. Bischoff also lost The Black Panthers early on in the year, but when Konnan convinced Chris Jericho to no show his scheduled title defense against The Rock @ WrestleMania VII and show up to challenge Eddie Guerrero at this year's Triplemania this battle hit its apex. Eddie won the match and that ignited a controversy as to whether Guerrero or The Rock was the champ with Konnan claiming the former, and Bischoff claiming the latter. In any event, business was going very well for Konnan until StarrCade came around. As we've learned in the past Konnan and StarrCade do not mix and this year was no different as both Guerrero and The Rock were defeated by 'The Canadian Crippler' Chris Benoit for the title. Benoit then spurned Konnan's offer and headed to WCCW as Bischoff cackled in the distance, but most importantly Eddie Guerrero exercised his option to finally terminate his contract with Mexico City and decided to jump ship to NWA: Los Angeles which was starting up a few weeks later!

2007

Konnan was reeling as Guerrero's depature left a gaping hole at the top of his cards and he had to rethink some of his booking strategies. He was able to bring in The Giant who had been disgruntled with WCCW and realized that Benoit heading there meant his role would be further diminished. The Black Panthers quickly dropped the Tag Team titles early on in the year as Konnan pushed Mr. Benjamin to the title . . . only to have Bischoff offer him "the biggest contract in the history of NWA Worldwide" in June. Benjamin accepted and left behind both his girlfriend and partner, forcing Konnan to finally reconsider his grudge with Rey Jr. who experienced a resurgence. Team Hennig was also split up to add some depth to the Lucha Libre ranks while The Giant captured the Heavyweight Title and cemented himself as the man to beat. With the two most recognized tag teams in the company gone this left room for 'Hollywood' Shelly Martinez to capture her first championships as she guided Chessman & Ozz to the gold. Shelly had hit the jackpot here as Ozz continued to soar in popularity throughout the year and became one of the top draws in the company. Faby Apache made history when she and Rey Jr. won the Tag Team Titles in November, making Rey the first ever NWA: MC Triple Crown winner and Faby just the third woman in NWA Worldwide's existence to win a non female title after Nora Greenwald & LuFisto.

2008

Ozz shocked the world when he beat The Giant cleanly in the middle of the ring drawing one of the loudest cheers ever heard at an NWA: MC event. At the conclusion of that show Faby Apache left after a contract dispute which allowed Rey to focus again on singles competition. Rey's meteoric rise back up through the ranks was complete when he unseated Ozz for the belt meaning he had held all three titles in the last 18 months leaving many to wonder why Konnan had sat on this opportunity for so long. Christian Cage reclaimed the Heavyweight Title and reunited with Sarah Stock making them NWA: MC's power couple once again. The Martinez Family also regained the titles and 'The Suntanned Superman' Ron Killings finally managed to win the Lucha Libre Title he had been vying for for almost 2 years. While NWA: MC is not as popular as it was in it's glory days from mid 2006 until January of 2007 it may perhaps be in better shape as they are no longer relying on its legendary figures like Konnan, Los Guerreros or Vampiro to sell tickets.

NWA: MC Heavyweight Title/Campeonato Mundial History

1/29/94 - 2/18/95 El Vampiro Canadiense (won an 8 man title tournament)

2/18/95 - 7/29/95 Konnan

7/29/95 - 10/28/95 El Scorpio

10/28/95 - 12/21/96 Konnan [2]

12/21/96 - 3/29/97 El Vampiro Canadiense [2]

3/29/97 - 10/25/97 Eddie Guerrero

10/25/97 - 2/28/98 Konnan [3]

2/28/98 - 10/31/98 El Scorpio [2]

10/31/98 - 10/30/99 Eddie Guerrero [2]

10/30/99 - 12/25/99 Rey Mysterio Jr.

12/25/99 - 10/27/01 Konnan [4]

10/27/01 - 5/25/02 Eddie Guerrero [3]

5/25/02 - 10/25/03 Tito Ortiz

10/25/03 - 10/10/04 Eddie Guerrero [4] (vacated due to injury)

10/23/04 - 2/26/05 Tito Ortiz [2]

2/26/05 - 04/16/06 Eddie Guerrero [5]

04/16/06 - 10/29/06 Christian Cage

10/29/06 - 6/24/07 Tito Ortiz [3]

6/24/07 - 1/20/08 The Giant

1/20/08 - 6/29/08 Ozz

6/29/08 - 10/26/08 Rey Mysterio Jr. [2]

10/26/08 - current Christian Cage [2]

NWA: MC Lucha Libre Title History

6/22/96 - 1/25/97 Chavo Guerrero (defeated Eddie Guerrero & Rey Mysterio Jr. in a triple threat match)

1/25/97 - 5/24/97 Rey Mysterio Jr.

5/24/97 - 7/26/97 Chavo Guerrero [2]

7/26/97 - 10/25/97 Rey Mysterio Jr. [2]

10/25/97 - 10/31/98 Chavo Guerrero [3]

10/31/98 - 7/24/99 Juventud Guerrera

7/24/99 - 3/25/00 Super Crazy

3/25/00 - 6/24/00 Mr. Aguila

6/24/00 - 10/28/00 Juventud Guerrera [2]

10/28/00 - 10/27/01 Mr. Aguila [2]

10/27/01 - 7/27/02 La Parka

7/27/02 - 8/23/03 Psicosis

8/23/03 - 6/19/04 Chavo Guerrero [4]

6/19/04 - 2/26/05 Super Crazy [2]

2/26/05 - 10/29/05 Chavo Guerrero [5]

10/29/05 - 3/19/06 Christian Cage

3/19/06 - 1/28/07 The Great Michinoku

1/28/07 - 6/24/07 Rey Mysterio Jr. [3]

6/24/07 - 10/21/07 The Great Michinoku [2]

10/21/07 - 3/30/08 Milano Collection AT

3/30/08 - 8/24/08 Armando Flores

8/24/08 - current 'The Suntanned Superman' Ron Killings

NWA: MC Women's Title History

1/13/06 - 4/16/06 Lisa Marie Varon (won a fatal 4 way to become the initial champion)

4/16/06 - 8/27/06 Natasha Graves (previously known as Sarah Stock)

8/27/06 - 10/24/06 MIYUKI

10/24/06 - 1/28/07 Ayako Hamada

1/28/07 - 6/24/07 Melissa Anderson

6/24/07 - 12/18/07 Ayako Hamada [2]

12/18/07 - 3/11/08 - Michiko Ohmukai

3/11/08 - 6/22/08 - Marie Rougeau

6/22/08 - 11/23/08 - Melissa Anderson [2]

11/23/08 - current Sarah Stock [2]

NWA: MC Tag Team Title History

8/27/06 - 2/5/07 The Black Panthers (Mr. Benjamin & 'The Suntanned Superman' Ron Killings, won an 8 team tournament to become the initial champions)

2/5/07 - 6/24/07 Team Hennig (ARMANDO & MILANO)

6/24/07 - 11/16/07 The Martinez Family (Chessman & Ozz)

11/16/07 - 1/20/08 Faby Apache & Rey Mysterio Jr.

1/20/08 - 10/26/08 Juventud Guerrera & Super Crazy

10/26/08 - current The Martinez Family [2]

Edited May 21, 2009 by naiwf

[naiwf]

I edited the NWA: Memphis story into post # 12 of this thread to make up for the doubleposting of NWA: Tokyo. I still have 5 promotions to go (Detroit, Florida, LA, NY & WCCW) and then I need to work on fixing the TV deals and promotion styles. The million or so entries for title lineages is what I'm dreading the most though.

Any suggestions or complaints would be greatly appreciated.

I also need some logos done. If you can help, send me a PM.

[naiwf]

MOTOR CITY MADNESS INFECTS NWA WORLDWIDE!.

NWA: Detroit was one of three promotions born during the June 2006 NWA Executive Board meeting. With NWA Americas on the verge of collapsing there were some fears amongst the executives that both NWA: Hardcore City & NWA: Memphis would face major issues as they extricated themselves from their working agreement with the much larger WCCW. As a result the board decided to expand in three regions, the South East, the Midwest and the South West. After much deliberation the order was set with NWA: Detroit being the first group that would be rolled out in October of 2006 and then NWA: Los Angeles following three months later (January 2007) and finally NWA: Florida three months after that in April of '07.

Detroit was originally envisioned to be a fall back plan in case Hardcore City failed considering that many have felt that Paul Heyman had burned out his fanbase by repeatedly using the same handful of people at the championship level. While Detroit was never going to be as heavily tilted towards blood, guts and extreme bumps, they did manage to carve a bit of a niche with a version of Strong Style that showcased a diverse range of lesser known stars. The primary reason that Detroit has been successful from its opening was a lack of competition in the region. The leadership was also wise to take chances on workers who had not been big names elsewhere as they were able to develop stars who largely had blank slates. While things did not always work out as you'll soon see, in Detroit is already a thriving and successful territory. If they can find a few more "diamonds in the rough" and capitalize on the recent arrival of hometown hero Rhino Richards, 2009 could be the year they emerge as a major factor nationally.

----------------------------------

The history of NWA: Detroit's Championships and major feuds

2006

Given Detroit's decision to go with hard hitting action, it was logical that they started off by hoping to build around the most physically impressive and imposing member of their roster, the 6'6" 320 pound 'The Predator' Sylvester Terkay. While he had the right look and a legitimate athletic background, he was largely unable to sell tickets because he could not generate interest in his matches. In a shocking turn of events he was released less than 6 months after the date he was made the first champion in the promotion's history. Ironically, Terkay managed to salvage his career as NWA: Florida took a chance on him and he has since flourished as one of their cornerstones.

2007

With Terkay failing to catch on, the leadership in Detroit decided to showcase their smaller, more athletic workers and created a Junior Heavyweight Title which was captured by Elijah Burke who, like Terkay, came from a legitimate sports background and had the right look. Unlike Terkay though, Burke was able to cut a promo and had the ability to draw the fans into his matches. The disparity between the marketability of the two became so pronounced at one point that Burke's title match headlined their March event. Terkay eventually dropped the belt to BJ Whitmer and was released. The Whitmer title reign was a success, and it was around this time that Detroit managed to negotiate their first TV deal as the Junior Heavyweight ranks continued to be a strong selling point.

Whitmer eventually dropped the title to LuFisto, who had left NWA: Mexico City months earlier when she grew tired of being part of their women's division. While some fans didn't like this choice it got the internet buzzing as she was booked to defend the belt against the Samoan savage UMAGA in the Main Event of their first ever Motor City Madness broadcast. The ratings for that show increased throughout and there was a major spike in the last 15 minutes which saw UMAGA brutalize the fiesty LuFisto and claim the championship after a devastating powerbomb on the floor. While LuFisto's reign lasted a mere two months, her popularity has soared ever since and eventually allowed the mammoth Amazing Kong to cross gender lines and wrestle against the men as well.

2008

UMAGA eventually dropped the Heavyweight Title to rising star Mark Copani who was previously (in)famous for spurning his WCCW Developmental contract when he refused to play an Arab terrorist sympathizer appropriately named Muhammad Hassan. Copani's entrance into Detroit played off of this history as he was brought in as a counter to the militant Daivari who had been a major player in the Jr. Heavy ranks for the last year. Once Copani dispatched him he was pushed straight to the top and helped Detroit's fanbase grow as ticket sales were at their peak during his 5 months as champion. Eventually, Copani ran into a brick wall (figuratively) as he was taken down by Big Zeke and his associates, Burke & J.P. Money. While Zeke is not the most graceful wrestler that ever lived his imposing demeanor, massive musculature and his two henchmen have made him the top heel in the promotion. Just when it seemed like things could not get any better Detroit was perhaps given a gift when they managed to pick up Detroit native and former 4-time NWA: HC Heavyweight Champ Rhino Richards after he was let go. At just 33 years of age and incredibly motivated to prove his doubters wrong, Paul Heyman may have just given away a very marketable piece to the promotion that was created with his potential demise in mind.

NWA: Detroit Heavyweight Title History

11/26/06 - 4/22/07 'The Predator' Sylvester Terkay (won a 20 man over the top battle royal to become the inaugural champion)

4/22/07 - 9/23/07 BJ Whitmer

9/23/07 - 11/28/07 LuFisto

11/28/07 - 5/25/08 UMAGA (defeated LuFisto for the title on the first ever Motor City Madness TV show)

5/25/08 - 10/26/08 Mark Copani

10/26/08 - current Big Zeke

NWA: Detroit Junior Heavyweight Title History

2/18/07 - 6/24/07 Elijah Burke

6/24/07 - 10/28/07 Daivari

10/28/07 - 3/26/08 J.P. Money

3/26/08 - 9/3/08 Sonjay Dutt

9/3/08 - current Petey Williams

[DMN in the House]

I meant to post this earlier. Even though I don't play TEW, if you need any help or reccomendations for Los Angeles, just ask. It'd be nice to see the homegrown talent actually make it onto a Los Angeles roster from the beginning.

[naiwf]

NWA: Southern States Reborn.

NWA: Florida was one of three promotions born during the June 2006 NWA Executive Board meeting. With NWA Americas on the verge of collapsing there were some fears amongst the executives that both NWA: Hardcore City & NWA: Memphis would face major issues as they extricated themselves from their working agreement with the much larger WCCW. As a result the board decided to expand in three regions, the South East, the Midwest and the South West. After much deliberation the order was set with NWA: Detroit being the first group that would be rolled out in October of 2006 and then NWA: Los Angeles following three months later (January 2007) and finally NWA: Florida three months after that in April of '07.

Florida came about as an offspring of the long defunct NWA: Southern States branch. A few decades ago Southern States was one of the most significant pieces of NWA Worldwide in the beginning trailing only NWA: Calgary Stampede & NWA: Texas in terms of importance and size. The Southern States in the name were technically Florida & Georgia although the promotion ran shows everywhere in the Deep South. When Texas began to grow exponentially they began to suffer losses and once NWA: NY and the newly renamed WCCW continued to poach their stars it was inevitable that Southern States would close up shop. As Detroit was created just in case NWA: Hardcore City failed, Florida's reappearance was done primarily in case NWA: Memphis went under after the failure of NWA Americas. In perhaps an homage to its roots, NWA: Florida has had a very strong tag team base in its brief existence though some would argue that they are a little bit light on top of the line singles talent. That is the primary reason that Florida's growth outside of the region has been minimal and why they need to infuse some new singles stars into their already existing talent base.

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The history of NWA: Florida's Championships and major feuds

2007

With both NWA: Detroit & NWA: LA having their pick of the free agent pool there was not a lot left for NWA: Florida to do except to look at workers who had not yet been able to make it big, or failed elsewhere. Fortunately, they were able to add some credibility to their early shows by building heavily around The Dudley Boys. While that was a logical decision, dusting off a star of a bygone era like The Sandman and pushing him as their top solo star was about as out there as one could imagine. Somehow though, it worked as The Sandman and The Dudleys quickly began to embrace the fact that the crowd began to turn on them and went on a violent heel rampage. The Sandman's body wouldn't hold up for very long though as he tore a ligament in his left knee and promptly dropped the title to Ace Steel who was in the right place at the right time. With The Sandman on the shelf, the men in charge of Florida took another risk by signing 'The Predator' Sylvester Terkay who had just failed miserably as the Heavyweight Champ in NWA: Detroit earlier in the year. He was paired up with So Cal Val who had been splitting time between LA & Florida and that pairing worked wonders for both of their careers as Val was able to give Terkay the edge that he needed and the crowd loved it when he took the title from Steel.

2008

The love affair with Terkay didn't last long though, as he then aligned with The Dudleys and continued the reign of terror over the rest of the roster. Eventually, the youngsters broke through as the most recent version of "The Andersons" (Karl & Ken) beat the Dudleys in a tremendously vicious match which put D'Von out of action for a few months with a broken right arm. With one of The Dudleys out, Bubba attempted to work as a singles wrestler but was largely unable to do much aside from put over younger guys. The main beneficiary of this solo stint of Bubba's was young Erick Stevens who came from out of nowhere, rode the momentum his feud with Bubba provided him and ultimately ended Terkay's first reign as champ. While Stevens dropped the belt back to Terkay he now has the makings of a potential superstar. The tag team ranks continue to be a strong point as The Shanes (Mike & Todd) and America's Most Wanted proved to be more than capable of picking up the slack left behind when The Dudleys were out of commission. While The Dudleys are competing as a unit again at this point, they seem to be on their last legs just like The Sandman. The foundation is solid in Florida, but they desperately need to supplement their roster with a few larger names who aren't on the verge of retirement if they ever want to grow.

NWA: Florida Heavyweight Title History

5/19/07 - 8/25/07 The Sandman (won a 4 man single night tournament to become the inaugural champion)

8/25/07 - 11/17/07 Ace Steel

11/17/07 - 6/21/08 'The Predator' Sylvester Terkay

6/21/08 - 10/25/08 Erick Stevens

10/25/08 - current The Predator [2]

NWA: Florida Tag Team Title History

7/21/07 - 1/19/08 The Dudley Boys (Bubba Ray & D'Von, def. The Andersons, The Shanes & AMW in a 4 team elimination match)

1/19/08 - 4/26/08 The Andersons (Karl & Ken)

4/26/08 - 8/23/08 Mike & Todd Shane

8/23/08 - current America's Most Wanted (Chris Harris & James Storm)

Edited May 25, 2009 by naiwf

[naiwf]

NWA: LA brings Lucha Americana to Los Angeles

NWA: Los Angeles was one of three promotions born during the June 2006 NWA Executive Board meeting. With NWA Americas on the verge of collapsing there were some fears amongst the executives that both NWA: Hardcore City & NWA: Memphis would face major issues as they extricated themselves from their working agreement with the much larger WCCW. As a result the board decided to expand in three regions, the South East, the Midwest and the South West. After much deliberation the order was set with NWA: Detroit being the first group that would be rolled out in October of 2006 and then NWA: Los Angeles following three months later (January 2007) and finally NWA: Florida three months after that in April of '07.

Amazingly enough about 60 years after the inception of the NWA, Los Angeles owns the distinction of being the first ever branch with its headquarters on the West Coast of the United States. While the now defunct NWA: Hawaii was further west than LA is, it was limited in terms of the area it could recruit due to the isolated nature of the islands and that is one of the primary reasons for its demise. LA on the other hand was able to tap the thriving SoCal indy market and managed to find a nice array of talent thanks to the style they were hoping to present and the fact that a myriad of unsigned workers were used to working in the area. The quantum leap up from emerging market to potential national powerhouse took place when Eddie Guerrero accepted the offer to become a co-owner of the company just days after dropping his share of the NWA World Heavyweight Title at StarrCade '06. Guerrero was able to bring along Vampiro, who was one of his longtime rivals from Mexico City and LA's windfall continued when former 2x NWA World Tag Team Champion Lance Storm came out of retirement and decided to make his way to California as well. Although these three were getting up there in years they were never overexposed in this part of the US and the fans were rabid to see some of the biggest names in NWA Worldwide's past up close and personal.

With Guerrero still in the mix for the NWA World Title, the tag team divison has also had one of its members already solidified amongst the industry's elite. The diminutive 2006 WCCW Diva Search contestant Chrissy Rivera proved to be the last piece of the puzzle for The Latin American Xchange (Hernandez & Homicide), who emerged from nowhere to become the 2007 NWA International Tag Team of the Year after winning the NWA World Tag Team Titles and also becoming the first ever NWA: LA Tag Team Champs. Although LAX dropped the World titles in 2008, they are still in contention to regain the belts and have helped elevate some of the other teams in Los Angeles. There is no doubt that LA can continue to promote its top singles wrestler and tag team as the cornerstones of their promotion, but they do need to bring some opposition up to their level eventually if they ever want to be a legitimate threat to NWA: NY & WCCW.

----------------------------------

The history of NWA: Los Angeles' Championships and major feuds

2007

There was no reason for Eddie Guerrero not to be the centerpiece of NWA: LA as he was far and away the most marketable name on the roster from its inception. Therefore, it was not a surprise when he picked up the Heavyweight Title by winning a tournament which concluded on their second ever monthly event in February. With Eddie in place a TV deal came quickly and Lucha Americana, a not so subtle dig at his former employer, broadcast for the first time in March. With their TV show in place, that's when the LAX took off and went from a tag team that had received limited success in the indies straight to the top as they became a ratings smash and helped cement The Havana Pitbulls as a legitimate tandem when the Pitbulls beat them for the LA version of the Tag Team Titles a couple of weeks before Hernandez & Homicide won the World Tag Titles. Guerrero eventually dropped his Heavyweight Title to Vampiro in one of the wildest brawls ever seen in the state of California as both men were bloodied beyond recognition in a Steel Cage match that saw Vampiro eventually cuff Guerrero to the cage before escaping. This match was a 2007 MOTYC for all of NWA Worldwide and again proved that LA was going to be a factor someday.

2008

The bloodbath between the former NWA: MC mainstays took a lot out of Vampiro and his stint with the title was short as he suffered a major concussion which had gone undiagnosed for about 6 weeks. He dropped the title back to Guerrero and then spent about 4 months on the sidelines recovering which set Lance Storm up to be Eddie's newest threat. Storm and Guerrero hadn't wrestled each other since 1993, and it was clear that the ring rust Storm had accumulated during his retirement was the difference between the two as Eddie beat him the first two times they squared off for the title. However, the third time proved to be the charm as Storm won the belt in October in a classic. The Pitbulls were beaten by a bunch of "ants" as The Colony used their numbers to steal the titles a couple of months before being crushed by a resurgent LAX. The most memorable portion of that match was the Chrissy Rivera top rope double stomp on Fire Ant which ultimately won her team the match, but also broke her right ankle in the process. The LAX didn't waste this opportunity though as Rivera has managed to incorporate her crutches into their offense on more than one occasion. Los Angeles is on the verge of big things, and only need to acquire a few more "names" before they'll be able to compete with the East Coast titans of NWA: NY & WCCW.

NWA: Los Angeles Heavyweight Title History

2/25/07 - 11/25/07 Eddie Guerrero

11/25/07 - 2/24/08 Vampiro

2/24/08 - 10/26/08 Eddie Guerrero [2]

10/26/08 - current Lance Storm

NWA: Los Angeles Tag Team Title History

2/25/07 - 7/22/07 The Latin American Xchange (Hernandez & Homicide)

7/22/07 - 3/23/08 Havana Pitbulls (Ricky Reyes & Rocky Romero)

3/23/08 - 5/25/08 The Colony (Soldier Ant & Worker Ant, though the team regularly included Fire Ant and one of the others)

5/25/08 - current The Latin American Xchange [2] (def. The Colony for the titles in an impromptu 6 person match)

[Gameover112]

just wanted to say the looks excellent to say the least and i really cant wait for it.