The Next Generation of WWE Superstars

[Plankton]

Raw

June 23, 2003

TNN

Joey Styles and Paul Heyman welcome the viewers to Raw. They hyped up the big tag match of the night: Lance Storm and Dave Batista vs. Raven and Tajiri. They mention that all four men have advanced to the semi-finals of the King of the Ring. Lance Storm will wrestle Raven and the Pay-Per-View and Tajiri will take on Dave Batista.

Gregory Helms vs. John Cena

Rico comes out with Cena and the announcers note that Chavo is injured so Helms won’t be getting any help. Rico ends up helping Cena get the win by holding down Helms’ legs during a pin.

Winner: John Cena

John Cena and Rico hold down Gregory Helms to beat him up, but Billy Kidman runs in for the save and scares them off.

Styles: Chavo may be gone, but it looks like Billy Kidman has Gregory Helms’ back!

(This was sort of a weak way to replace Chavo as Kidman had no specific reason to help of Helms other than that he is just a swell guy. I guess it works decently, but not as much as I would have liked it to. There’s not a lot to latch onto storyline-wise.)

Crowd: 73

Match: 83

Overall: 78

SKeith: ***

Rey Mysterio and Christian Challenge Sean Morley

Rey and Christian come out together with mics. They said that they had a dispute last week, but since then they’ve worked things out and they’re on the same page. They said they’re going to work together against Morley at King of the Ring and beat him until he can’t move and then see who the best between the two of them is.

Christian: But before King of the Ring, we want Sean Morley in a handicap match tonight!

Sean Morley came out with a mic.

Morley: A handicap match? Do you think I’m stupid? I’m no idiot, but I am ruthless. If you guys want to play unfair at King of the Ring, that’s fine. But tonight, I’m going to rip you two apart. We’ll all have a match, but I’ll have William Regal in my corner.

Rey and Christian agreed to the match and they cut to a commercial.

(This is the start of a new promo style for me as it was half recap and half dialogue. I think it works well in some instances.

Again, I have a problem with Rey and Christian being to buddy-buddy with each other. And I don’t really get the line “I’m no idiot, but I am ruthless” since Morley didn’t really suggest and ruthless alternative. Oh well.)

Overall: 85

Al Snow vs. Johnny Stamboli

Styles: It was last week that Al Snow ended Brian Kendrick’s wining streak.

Heyman: Excuse me, Joey, that’s the “Amazing” Brian Kendrick now.

Al Snow had Johnny Stamboli set up for the Snow Plow when Brian Kendrick ran down the ring and started shouting at Al. Al Snow walked over to the other side of the ring to tell Kendrick to leave and Kendrick grabbed his left leg long enough to give Stamboli time to recover and hit Al with a Reverse DDT for the pin.

Winner: Johnny Stamboli

(I could have used someone other than Stamboli in this role, but I think it accomplishes the goal to move the Kendrick/Snow feud.)

Crowd: 70

Match: 84

Overall: 77

SKeith: ***

William Regal Attacks Taka Michinoku

Michael Cole was backstage with Taka, asking him what his plans were for his match against William Regal at King of the Ring when Regal ran up out of no where and hit Taka with a pair of brass knucks. Regal grabbed Cole’s mic.

Regal: He doesn’t have any plans because it doesn’t look like he’s going to make it.

(A short and sweet piece of dialogue from Regal that sounds believable and does exactly what it needs to do.)

Overall: 70

Eric Angle vs. James Maritato

Styles: Ladies and gentlemen, we just received word that Taka Michinoku is okay; he’s just a little out of it. He’s driving himself to the hospital right now just to take precautions.

Eric Angle beat Maritato with an STF in a very scientific match.

Winner: Eric Angle

Jamie Noble ran down the ring and attacked Eric and put him the Trailer Hitch. Eric was left laying in pain.

Crowd: 66

Match: 87

Overall: 76

SKeith: ***

Randy Orton Interview

Orton: You know, I’m just a little irritated in the treatment I have been given this month here at WWE. As all of the Randy Orton fans have probably noticed, I haven’t been on television very much. This comes as a surprise not only because I am currently the best pure wrestler on the roster, but also because I am the winner of the tournament that was put on not too long ago for this coveted title, the Intercontinental Championship. Why wouldn’t I be included in the King of the Ring tournament? Now I know all of my fans out there are just as upset as I am about this, but I guarantee you, I have plans coming up after the King of the Ring to make an impact. Don’t worry, you’re hero’s coming to the rescue.

Randy smiled real big as the camera faded out.

(This promo works because I think it sounds like something Randy Orton can do and it worked. I decided to model it after the Get Well, Randy promos that ran years ago as I think, charismatically, that is when he was at his strongest. Of course, it’s not hard to sound good during taped promos like that.)

Overall: 78

Lance Storm and Dave Batista vs. Raven and Tajiri

Styles and Heyman hype the King of the Ring tournament. They said that all men were about equal, so there’s no telling who will win. They also noted that Dave Batista and Lance Storm, who have an alliance together with Sean Morley, may have to wrestle each other.

The match was a normal tag team exhibition until things got out of control and all men started brawling outside. They all ended up getting counted out.

Winner: Double Count Out

Heyman: What kind of mayhem are these guys going to cause at King of the Ring, Joey?!

(I think it would have been appropriate to see Tajiri and Raven go at it a bit. However, I don’t think a clash between Lance and Batista would have worked at all since there were no plans in the future to see either of those two leave their group to feud with each other. There just would have been no pay off.)

Crowd: 76

Match: 89

Overall: 82

SKeith: ***1/4

Tazz vs. Charlie Haas

Tazz controlled most of the match. He seemed to have it won, until Benjamin ran down ringside. He was stopped short though by Sabu who attacked him from behind. Tazz won with the Tazzmission.

Winner: Tazz

Styles: It looks like the Living Legends might be in trouble this Sunday!

Crowd: 69

Match: 88

Overall: 78

SKeith: ***

Sean Morley and William Regal Interview

Michael Cole was backstage with Sean Morley and William Regal. He asked Morley how he felt about Rey and Christian’s alliance. Morley just laughed and said that there’s no way it will last past tonight. He said that last week showed him that the two still have animosity lingering between them and he will use that to his advantage.

Cole then asked Regal how he felt about his match against Taka Michinoku at King of the Ring. Regal responded that it was nothing and it would just be a warm-up match for him.

(Warm-up for what?)

Overall: 85

Rey Mysterio and Christian vs. Sean Morley and William Regal

Rey and Christian worked really well together. They did a lot of double team moves. Styles made sure to note several times that Sean Morley was underestimating their coalition. They hit a leg drop/moonsault combination on Morley and Christian let Rey pin him.

Winners: Rey Mysterio and Christian

Styles: Rey Mysterio and Christian are definitely on the same page! I’ll be surprised if Morley makes it past King of the Ring with that belt!

(At this point I was definitely going for the whole “heel champion somehow wins the match against all odds” story. I think it was needed since it’s a little more difficult to build a monster heel rather than a babyface the fans are willing to get behind. It just seemed like a greater priority.)

Crowd: 77

Match: 84

Overall: 80

SKeith: ***

Overall Rating: 79

TV Rating: 5.10

(This was an okay show that, retrospectively, might sink or swim depending on how the PPV goes. It was pretty much all set-up.)

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

Sophie had some news for me Saturday night.

Me: Isn’t this great, Sophie? The ratings have gone way up in the past few months and TNN has even signed a contract extension.

Sophie: Don’t get too comfortable. Vince is pissed.

Me: Why?

Sophie: NWA:TNA went global today. We’re only a high national company right now.

Me: We’re that low? I wasn’t aware.

Sophie: Yeah, the months before you came were really hurting us. Anyways, Shawn Michaels and The Big Show signed with them today.

Me: Eh, who cares? Big Show’s lazy and Michaels is old.

Sophie: It’s a problem because it means that Jerry Jarrett is making a lot of money. He has to be in order to afford those guys.

Me: Oh. True.

Sophie: So stay out of his way until the Pay-Per-View. Hopefully it’ll come off really well and put him in a good mood.

Me: What if it doesn’t?

Sophie: Then Vince will probably have your head on a platter.

Me: Sophie, I’m scared. Hold me.

Sophie: Did you know that in these day almost anything can constitute as sexual harassment?

Me: No I didn’t.

Sophie: Well, it’s true.

Me: Will you at least bring me a fudge popsicle?

Sophie: (sigh) Fine.

[Plankton]

King of the Ring

June 29, 2003

PPV

Dark Match: Gregory Helms and Billy Kidman vs. West Side Posse

Helms and Kidman worked well as a team and did some cool double team moves. Helms ended up getting a pin on John Cena after a Shining Wizard.

Winners: Gregory Helms and Billy Kidman

(I think this was a nice low key way to get the engines warming up for the inevitable tag tournament for the belts. However, it would have been nice if two other tag teams would have been feuding rather than just Helms and Kidman/Posse and Tazz and Sabu/Legends.)

Crowd: 71

Match: 83

Overall: 77

SKeith: ***

Pyro went off and Joey Styles and Paul Heyman welcomed everyone to the King of the Ring. Heyman said he couldn’t wait to see how Sean Morley would get past Rey Mysterio and Christian in the main event. Styles mentioned that his chances are slim, but Heyman assured Joey that he would somehow manage to do it, he just didn’t know how.

King of the Ring Match: Raven vs. Lance Storm

Lance Storm tried to keep Raven grounded by dropkicking the knees and putting a lot of submissions holds on him. Raven began to come back and set Lance up for the Raven Effect, but his knees gave out and Lance applied the Sharpshooter for the win.

Winner: Lance Storm

(I think the psychology for the match makes a lot of sense and puts Storm over as a technician.)

Crowd: 77

Match: 89

Overall: 83

SKeith: ***1/4

Tajiri vs. Dave Batista

Tajiri hit Batista in the head several times in the match. Batista eventually got so dazed he just tumbled down.

Styles: The giant Dave Batista has tumbled down like a giant redwood tree!

(I always kind of liked that line.)

Tajiri lifted his head up and kicked him once more for good measure and won the match.

Winner: Tajiri

Heyman: Tajiri was a madman in that match!

(The one thing I would have loved to have done different is make this match description longer to really give the impression that Tajiri was systematically chopping Batista down. I think it would have given the match much more flavor and put Tajiri over as a madman like I wanted.)

Crowd: 75

Match: 90

Overall: 82

SKeith: ***1/4

Al Snow vs. “Amazing” Brian Kendrick

The match opened up with a lot of reversals that ended with Al schooling Kendrick. Brian got frustrated and jumped at Snow, starting a brawl. Brian Kendrick eventually got the clean win with the Beyond Belief.

Winner: “Amazing” Brian Kendrick

Kendrick stood around for a little longer in the ring to pose and gloat.

(It seemed like I cut out the part of the match that happened after the brawling and before the pin. How did Kendrick regain control? Ws it the brawling? Is a reader really going to buy into the idea that little ol’ Spanky out brawled Al Snow? It just needed more to illustrate how Kendrick was able to outdo Snow.)

Crowd: 63

Match: 85

Overall: 74

SKeith: **3/4

Eric Angle vs. Jamie Noble

This was a very technical match that the fans started to get into. Eric Angle is really getting over and this match proved it. Eric had Noble in an STF, but Noble escaped it and rolled him up. He got the pin after grabbing some tights.

Winner: Jamie Noble

(Okay, okay, so this was pretty much a blatant rip-off of Angle/Benoit from WrestleMania 17.)

Crowd: 73

Match: 87

Overall: 80

SKeith: ***

Taka Michinoku vs. William Regal

Regal controlled the match at a slow pace which eventually worked against him when Taka started to make a comeback, using quick high flying moves. Taka won after hitting a standing Regal with a moonsault

Winner: Taka Michinoku

Styles: Taka wins! Regal can’t believe it!

Heyman: How did that little runt do it?!

(I actually think these guys could have a fantastic match if they were both 100%. Regal seems like somebody who would work well with a cruiser like Taka.)

Crowd: 75

Match: 85

Overall: 80

SKeith: ***

Tazz and Sabu vs. The Living Legends

This was a brawl with surprisingly very little cheating. Both Styles and Heyman note that Haas and Benjamin have come a long way as a team. Haas ended up getting a clean pin on Tazz after a Haastruction.

Winners: The Living Legends

Styles: And can you believe that? The Living Legends gets a clean pin!

Crowd: 68

Match: 88

Overall: 78

SKeith: ***

King of the Ring Finals: Tajiri vs. Lance Storm

This was a really great match, one of the best in the Next Generation so far. Lance tried to take Tajiri’s legs out, but Tajiri kept moving too fast for him to concentrate on them long enough. Tajiri ended up getting the pin on Storm when he kicked Storm in the head from the top turnbuckle.

Winner: Tajiri

(In retrospect, I wish Lance would have won it as the year wouldlead to bigger and better things for him. But I’ve always been a mark for Tajiri.)

Styles: Tajiri’s done it! He’s the new King of the Ring!

Crowd: 76

Match: 95

Overall: 85

SKeith: ***1/2

WWE World Championship Match: Sean Morley © vs. Rey Mysterio vs. Christian

Heyman: Now let’s see if Rey Mysterio and Christian are really as tight as a team as they claim.

Rey and Christian worked together as a team really well for a while. Too many mistakes in the double team moves eventually resulted in the two of them slugging it out. Morley took breathers whenever he could and then came back in to take them out. Rey hit Christian with the 619 and Sean immediately threw Rey out of the ring. He beat on Christian for a little while and threw him out of the ring as well. He played to the crowd for a bit, getting some heat, when out of nowhere Rey jumped at him with an attempt at a West Coast Pop. Morley caught him and reversed it into a Fisherman’s Suplex for the pin and victory!

Winner: Sean Morley

Heyman: I told you! Sean Morley would find a way to win!

Styles: I don’t know how, but he did it!

(I like the idea of Morley taking breathers and then taking advantage at a key moment of the Rey vs. Christian portions of the match. The description here was adequate, but I actually think it could have been given more considering how it seemed like a fun match to watch.)

Crowd: 77

Match: 86

Overall: 81

SKeith: ***1/4

Overall Rating: 80

PPV Buyrate: 0.77 (-.01)

Attendance: 9, 143 (+528)

(Overall, a success. But I still wish Lance Storm would have been the King of the Ring and a few of the matches (namely Tazz and Sabu vs. The Living Legends and Angle vs. Noble) could have used a bit more flavor. I think the flaws here were primarily in the lack of match descriptions.

But my biggest problem with this is the fact that, even though I believe Lance should have been the King of the Ring out of the final four I had already chosen, I think the best guy that could have won wasn’t even in the tournament: “Amazing” Brian Kendrick. I knew I was pushing him high and I even knew exactly how high he would go, assuming everything went well. Instead of going for a guy I merely mark for, I should have gone for a guy who had the most to gain from a victory (not that I don’t mark for Spanky). I think that would have put him on the map and given him even more to gloat about a lot more than a feud with Al Snow did.

On the other hand, the only downside to a Kendrick King of the Ring victory I see is that his winning streak would have been lengthened. It’s not that I don’t think a winning streak benefits anyone, it’s just that once they lose, a lot of steam can be taken away from their momentum if they had a lengthy streak. This was something I was al little worried about with Kendrick, so I kept the streak short and his dominance lengthy. Still, a loss in July would have been fine.)

[Hailtothechimp]

Well I just caught up with the diary and I still love the thing, but I do have a few complants.

1. The King of the Ring tournament felt so... underwhelming. I love the KOTR and when WWE dropped it, I was heart broken. I was glad when I saw you do it, but when the PPV came, it was rather, dare I say underwhelming again? Yes I do.

Secondly, I think we all of these ECW guys coming back into the WWE, the Hardcore Divison could have come back and gave you some more guys to push and some good ratings instead of making Test job to Orton in 3 matches in the same month.

Third, more of a complaint, BUT WHY JUSTIN CREDIBLE, WHY GOD WHY.

And now for the good news...

Frank Shamrock beat CW Anderson

[Plankton]

Well I just caught up with the diary and I still love the thing, but I do have a few complants.

1. The King of the Ring tournament felt so... underwhelming. I love the KOTR and when WWE dropped it, I was heart broken. I was glad when I saw you do it, but when the PPV came, it was rather, dare I say underwhelming again? Yes I do.

Edited June 9, 2005 by Plankton

[Plankton]

Me: This is great, Sophie! The Pay-Per-View went really well. Vince even told me he liked me afterwards.

Sophie: Well, that’s good to hear because I love spoiling your good moods.

Me: Huh?

Sophie: Guess who Vince just signed before King of the Ring.

Me: Oh no, who?

Sophie: Steve Corino.

Me: Corino?! That’s great! I have some many programs I could put him in! Oh man, let’s start soon as we can at putting him in a program where he would get the belt. I have an idea! Morley will bring him in as insurance once again, like a tag team partner, and eventually after a few months he’d realize that Corino was only using his to get to the belt and we can make him into one of the greatest heels ever!

Sophie just stood there with a huge grin on her face.

Sophie: He broke his neck Sunday night only an hour after he was hired. I think he fell down some stairs.

Me: I hate my life.

(Those plans were 100% true. And it’s also true that Corino was injured very soon after I had hired him, although 1 hour is an obvious exaggeration since it’s impossible in the game.

In actuality though, as much as I still love those plans, I think there would have been major problems with them 1.) there would have been so much attention drawn to the plans of having Corino and Morley being dominant that I think it would have buried all of the faces. And since all of my ME faces weren’t exactly on the strong side, that would have given me major problems. 2.) The feud would have been too long. I would have needed months to build up the companionship so it actually meant something when Corino would turn on Morley, I would have needed several more months to play the feud out sine I planned on giving Corino the belt and turning Morley into the face that would eventually take the belt away from him, and then I would need even more months to execute the major angle I had been planning since day 1. Since that major angle needed to be set up, executed and finished by WrestleMania that would have given me eight months to go through two major and long angles that could not have coexisted. I would have really gotten myself into a bind.)

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

It was the end of the month. The clip show on Raw had just aired and I was preparing things for July.

Sophie: Vince is out of town for a week, but I’ve got some big news.

Me: Good news I hope.

Sophie: Not really. We released some more people.

Me: But we’re short as it is.

Sophie: That’s what I’ve been thinking. Anyways, here’s the list.

Tommy Dreamer

Chavo Guerrero

Goldust

Jeff Hardy

Steve Corino

[Plankton]

Raw

July 14, 2003

TNN

Christian Challenges Sean Morley

The show opened up with Christian coming out with a mic. He talked about how it took Rey and him a month to finish the #1 contender’s match way back in the beginning of June. He added that since he won the match last week he thinks that he should be #1 contender for the World title.

Sean Morley came out and said that he didn’t care who won the match last night, he beat both of them at King of the Ring. Christian brought up the fact that Sean never pinned him in that match. Morley thought about it for a while and said that he’d wrestle Christian at Vengeance Day, but that he’d regret ever challenging him.

(I think having no dialogue here takes a lot of authenticity that a segment like this can have if it were to have dialogue. I don’t mind recapping part of it and having dialogue for the other part, but all recapping does not make it come alive like dialogue does.)

Overall: 82

Tajiri vs. Lance Storm

Tajiri and Storm had an awesome match despite the ending. Tajiri was wearing Lance Storm down when Dave Batista ran down the ring to interrupt the match. He swung a chair at Tajiri’s head while the ref was being distracted by Storm. Lance made the cover and won.

Winner: Lance Storm

Batista and Lance started to beat down on Tajiri when Rey Mysterio ran in for the save.

Styles: Rey Mysterio has saved Tajiri from a beating, but I think the damage has been done!

Crowd: 76

Match: 94

Overall: 85

SKeith: ***1/2

Tazz and Sabu Challenge Their Stalkers

Tazz and Sabu came out to the ring.

Tazz: Last week two men ruined Sabu mine’s chance at getting the tag belts. And I know for a fact that it was two guys. And I also know for a fact who those two men were. I know this because I’m very familiar with the move they hit me with. Sabu and I haven’t told anyone because those are two men that I respect deeply. So right now I’m going to give them a chance to explain themselves and then fight us. Dudley Boyz, get out here.

(Although it is probably obvious, I think it should have been mentioned that he was hit by a 3-D.)

The Dudley Boyz’ music hits and they came out with mics.

Bubba: You want to know why we did it, Tazz? I’ll tell you why, but first let’s talk a little about you. You come out here each and every week and preach about the ECW family. You talk about the loyalty, the trust, and the comradery like it actually exists. Let’s rewind for a second. Remember when D-Von and I left ECW for WWE? Do you remember what you said to us at our last show? You told us that we were a bunch of sell-out punks. A couple months later and you followed suit. 2001 rolls around and you and our brother Spike go after us and our tag belts. You couldn’t stand for the glory to shine away from you for one second. And now, just two months ago we’re put out of action from an assault by Lance Storm and William Regal. What did you do? Did you come to our aid? Did you even go to the hospital with us that night when it happened? No. Only minutes after it happened you vowed on television to get revenge. You made a testament to the world that big bad Tazz would bring in his friend to finish what the Dudleys couldn’t. You tried to take advantage of our situation to create more glory for yourself. Well, we’re not taking it this time, Tazz.

Tazz: You know that’s not the way it is.

Bubba: Is that right? Did I just imagine all of that? Well, you know what, Tazz? You want your match tonight, well you’ve got it.

Bubba threw the mic down and he and D-Von began to brawl with Tazz and Sabu.

(I like Bubba’s speech. I remember being concerned that it would come off weak because, to me, this was important. The reasons for betrayal seem legit and grounded in reality. I think it was important here to turn the Dudleys heel because they were very stagnant as faces at this point.)

Overall: 72

Tazz and Sabu vs. The Dudley Boyz

Tazz looked emotionally distraught through the whole match, which was enough to give the Dudleys a lead. The Dudleys ended up getting out tables and powerbombing both of their opponents through them, causing a DQ.

Winner: Tazz and Sabu via DQ

Heyman: The Dudleys have made the impact that they wanted on Tazz and Sabu here tonight! And even you have to admit, Joey, Tazz deserved it!

Styles: Actually, I don’t! The Dudleys are blowing things way out of proportion!

Heyman: Get your head out of the clouds, Joey! Tazz has always been a scumbag and you know it!

Crowd: 75

Match: 83

Overall: 79

SKeith: ***

Randy Orton Interview

Michael Cole was backstage with Randy Orton. He asked him how he felt about his title defense against newcomer Jody Fleisch tonight. Randy said an opponent like Fleisch was below him and is a slap in the face to his credibility. He can’t believe how is continuously being mistreated.

Overall: 68

WWE Intercontinental Championship Match: Randy Orton vs. Jody Fleisch

Styles: Ladies and gentleman, I’ve just been informed that the main event tonight will be a tag match. Rey Mysterio and Tajiri will wrestle Lance Storm and Dave Batista right here tonight!

Heyman: That’s a <i>huge</i> announcement!

Jody Fleisch got an upset win with a school boy over Randy Orton to obtain the IC belt.

Winner: Jody Fleisch

Styles: Jody Fleisch wins! He’s the new Intercontinental Champion! I can’t believe it!

Randy looked really pissed afterwards.

(The description needed WAY more for such an occurrence.

The thinking here was that I needed to go all the way with the momentum Fleisch got from his debut match. Unlike what WWE did with the likes of John Cena (who debuted in a similar way), I decided to go much further. I think in the long run, it falls a little flat, but had I chosen someone more suitable than Fleisch, it may have worked out better.)

Crowd: 72

Match: 86

Overall: 89

SKeith: ***

William Regal vs. Super Calo

The announcers put over how Regal is wrestling cruiserweights to play mind games with Taka. Regal won the match fairly easy using the Regal Stretch.

(Again, a rookie would have been more suitable.)

Winner: William Regal

Regal wouldn’t let go of the move.

Styles: Just let go of the move already!

Heyman: He’s just proving his point, Joey!

After a few more moments of this, Taka Michinoku ran down the ring and dropkicked Regal in the face to break the move. Regal ran after him, but Taka was too quick and got away.

Styles: Well I think Taka just made a point right there!

(What I was trying to establish here was the Taka’s weakness (his size) was also his strength (his ability to move much quicker than most of his opponents). Unfortunately, by using somewhat established opponents instead of no name rookies, I think the attempt was negated.)

Crowd: 49

Match: 81

Overall: 65

SKeith: **

Eric Angle vs. Matt Hardy

Eric Angle defeated Matt Hardy with an STF in a technically charged match.

Winner: Eric Angle

Crowd: 69

Match: 81

Overall: 75

SKeith: **3/4

Jamie Noble Interview

Michael Cole was backstage with Jamie Noble. Noble said that Eric Angle is getting a big head because Noble couldn’t make him tap at King of the Ring. He said he doesn’t think Eric could make him tap even on a good day. He challenged him to a submission match at Vengeance Day. Styles and Heyman figured there was probably no chance Eric would back down.

Overall: 81

Christian Gets Attacked

As Michael Cole was finishing his conversation with Noble, he saw Christian.

Cole: Christian! Over here!

Christian walked over to Cole.

Cole: Christian, I’d just like to ask you a few questions on your match at Vengeance Day. Are you worried that some of Morley’s goons will interfere?

Christian: Well, Michael, actually…

Christian never answered because Sean Morley came out of nowhere with a chair and began beating the life out of Christian. He slammed him against the walls, threw him into some pipes, and basically just destroyed him until some road agents pulled him away. He was taken away in an ambulance.

Overall: 81

Rey Mysterio and Tajiri vs. Lance Storm and Dave Batista

This was another really good match which ended with Rey pinning Lance with a West Coast Pop.

Winners: Rey Mysterio and Tajiri

(For being a main event, this needed way more description.)

Crowd: 76

Match: 90

Overall: 83

SKeith: ***1/4

Overall Rating: 77

TV Rating: 5.29 (+.07)

(This was a pretty bland show and I really can’t think of much more to say about it. Aside from the Dudleys turning heel, everything else was part of storylines that were being stretched a bit to thin to make it to Summerslam.)

[Plankton]

I put this Raw and Vengeance Day through EWR and wrote out the results in Word earlier today… and then lost it. It really sucked. Fortunately, I remembered every single segment and where it went. I even remember the star ratings for each match (give or take a ¼). The Overall ratings for backstage segments is an estimate though. Hopefully this is the only time that will happen. This Raw happened to be “one of those shows too” :\

Raw

July 21, 2003

TNN

Joey Styles and Paul Heyman hype the big 8-man tag match tonight, Rey Mysterio, Tajiri, Taka Michinoku, and Christian vs. Sean Morley, Dave Batista, Lance Storm, and William Regal. They said that as far as they knew Christian wasn’t here and wouldn’t be. His team might have to wrestle the match with a handicap or find a new partner.

(The issue of having no legitimate main eventer who isn’t a cruiserweight is pretty obvious here.)

Raven and Chris Kanyon vs. West Side Posse

Joey Styles reminds us that the winner of this match will go on to face The Living Legends at Vengeance Day next week for the tag titles. Heyman made sure to add that the West Side Posse defeated Tazz and Sabu to get this match.

Raven and Kanyon won after Kanyon hit Rico with a Flatliner.

Winners: Raven and Chris Kanyon

Charlie Haas and Shelton Benjamin ran in and started beating on Raven and Kanyon.

(This may not have been a bad match for the finals. The idea of the West Side Posse sneaking in the tournament and then getting to the finals (or even perhaps winning) seems appealing.)

SKeith: **3/4

Randy Orton Interview

Michael Cole was backstage with Randy Orton. Randy said he was furious about losing his title to Jody Fleisch last week. He said that he wasn’t told about the match before that morning so he didn’t have a fair enough time to prepare. He even went as far as to make a wild accusation that Jody Fleisch used “illegal” high flying moves. He added that they would be having a match at Vengeance Day and that he would gain back his title.

(“Illegal high flying moves” was always a favorite of mine and I think if I would have added more little things like that into the character, it really could have worked. I think at this point it probably would have been smart to play the character off in the same way that Conspiracy Victim Chris Jericho was in WCW. I think the fact that Orton doesn’t use aerial moves like Jericho did would have given him an opportunity to make some fresher statements like the one I just mentioned. There could have even been an angle where Orton’s Achilles’ heel was cruiserweights, furthering driving home the point I argued that I should have made with Taka that cruiserweights can be just as dangerous in the WWE world.)

Overall: 68

WWE Intercontinental Championship Match: Jody Fleisch © vs. Scotty 2 Hotty

These two had a good match until Randy Orton ran in and beat the crap out of both of them.

Winner: Draw

Heyman: Randy Orton’s taking a page out of the Living Legends’ book tonight and getting a head start on Vengeance Day!

(And this segment right here pretty much does the opposite of what I was just talking about and makes Fleisch look like a chump since Orton was able to beat him and Scotty down with seemingly no problem.)

SKeith: **

Al Snow vs. Matt Hardy

This was a good filler match which Matt Hardy won with a Twist of Fate.

Winner: Matt Hardy

SKeith: **1/2

Eric Angle vs. Crash Holly

Eric Angle dominated this technical match. Styles and Heyman made sure to bring up Angle and Noble’s submission match at Vengeance Day. Eric won with the STF.

Winner: Eric Angle

Jamie Noble ran in after the match and put Eric in the Trailer Hitch. After being in the move for quite a while, Eric tapped.

Heyman: He tapped! Did you see that, Joey?! Eric Angle tapped!

Styles: I can’t believe it!

Noble released the move and had a huge smirk on his face.

SKeith: **

Tazz Interview

Tazz was backstage with Michael Cole. He said that he still considers the Dudley’s his friends and he won’t get in a bloody feud with them. Cole mentioned the fact that Bubba and D-Von have asked them to come out in the ring tonight. He asked Tazz what he thought that was all about. Tazz said he wasn’t sure.

(The WWE version of Tazz was pretty watered down compared to the ECW version. My original intention with Tazz was to bring him out and immediately be the man he used to be (although I pretty much ignored the neck injury since EWR allowed it. I’ve always stood by the idea of playing within EWR’s limitations for the most part and not so much the world’s. For instance, as we’ll see further down the line, I hired Simply Luscious and was able to get her charisma up. She worked as a good manager even though her real life mic skills were pretty weak. EWR, however, was telling me that they had drastically improved in this world and that’s what I went by. In this case, Tazz was willing to work fulltime and his stats were good). However, I think I realized that Tazz needed a reason to go back to the way he used to be and this is what was meant to do it. The idea was that deep down Tazz cared about his friends and was enough of a softy to not destroy them. But in time we would see a transformation.)

Overall: 86

The Dudley Boyz Confront Tazz and Sabu

The Dudley Boyz were in the ring as Tazz and Sabu came out.

Tazz: You called us out here, so what do you want?

Bubba: Tazz, we want to apologize. What we said last week was out of line and what we did to you guys later was way out of line. We’re sorry.

They held out their hands to shake. Tazz and Sabu looked doubtful, but shook anyways. And, you guessed it, the Dudleys began to beat down on Tazz and Sabu. D-Von got out some tables and they laid Sabu out on it and powerbombed Tazz on top of him.

Bubba: You two and us, Vengeance Day, tables match!

That’s all he said as he dropped the mic.

Styles: He didn’t need to say anymore than that! What an impact!

(The problem here, aside from the fact that it’s a pretty abrupt promo with slapdash dialogue from Bubba, is that Sabu is playing the same sucker that Tazz is which is totally out of line with his character. In the process of building up one man of the team, I broke down another. I should have had Sabu been the doubtful member of the tag team to establish this about him and make his character (which at this point was nothing more than “that ECW guy who tags with Tazz) thicker.)

Overall: 81

Reckless Abandon vs. “Amazing” Brian Kendrick and James Maritato

Styles: Two weeks ago Brian Kendrick helped James Maritato win a match. Maritato looked confused, but it seems like he’s embracing Kendrick’s partnership now.

Reckless Abandon controlled most of the match. Near the end Maritato started to gain an advantage. At the request of Kendrick, he held Kidman so Brian could superkick him. Kidman ducked and Maritato got hit. Kendrick got dumped out of the ring and Maritato got pinned.

Winners: Reckless Abandon

Styles: James Maritato looks furious!

SKeith: **

Sean Morley Interview

Sean Morley was backstage. He said that there was no way that Christian would be showing up tonight or even next Sunday. He said that tonight would be an easy match and next Sunday would be an even easier match.

overall: 80

Rey Mysterio, Tajiri, Taka Michinoku, and Christian vs. Sean Morley, Dave Batista, Lance Storm, and William Regal

Rey and his team came out first, followed by Sean Morley’s team. They almost started the match when Christian’s music played and he came out.

Styles: Christian’s here! He made it!

Heyman: Yeah, but is he 100%?

Styles: It looks like we’ll find out real soon.

This was a really intense and fast paced match. Christian looked like he was in great shape. Everyone got to wrestle a little bit with their opponents at Vengeance Day. Christian got the pin on Sean Morley after an Unprettier.

Winners: Rey Mysterio, Tajiri, Taka Michinoku, and Christian

Styles: He did it! Christian pinned Sean Morley! We might be seeing that at Vengeance Day!

SKeith: **3/4

(I think this was an okay show that was just buying time before the PPV. The only thing of note that really happened was Raven and Kanyon advancing.)

[Plankton]

Vengeance Day

July 27, 2003

Pay-Per-View

Dark Match: Gregory Helms vs. James Maritato

James Maritato actually had control of most of the match. Brian Kendrick came out to help him by grabbing Helms’ feet to trip him, but he accidentally grabbed Maritato’s, causing him to lose.

Winner: Gregory Helms

James Maritato chased Brian Kendrick to the back.

(I think this kind of works against how much Brian Kendrick had been built up earlier. He was undefeated and working almost flawlessly earlier, now he can’t seem to interfere properly.)

SKeith: ***

Pyro sailed throughout the arena as Joey Styles and Paul Heyman welcomed us to the event.

William Regal vs. Taka Michinoku

Regal spent almost the entire match trying to catch the speedy Taka Michinoku. This caused a few comedy spots. Taka went for a moonsault on a standing William Regal, but he caught him and hit Taka with a tombstone piledriver, which is rare in the WWE. Regal pinned him for the win.

Winner: William Regal

Styles: Taka Michinoku is out cold after that vicious tombstone piledriver!

(I like this as it plays off of Taka’s strengths and also keeps Regal strong by using Taka’s strength against him in a chance moment. Everyone Is still looking good at this point.)

SKeith: ***

WWE Intercontinental Championship Match: Jody Fleisch © vs. Randy Orton

Randy Orton was very aggressive in this match. Jody Fleisch almost won again, but Orton hit the O-Zone for the victory.

Winner: Randy Orton

Heyman: Randy Orton has regained the title that was rightfully his in the first place!

(Eh, I don’t think this works. Fleisch didn’t even have the title long enough to successfully defend it once. It makes the whole thing look like a fluke.)

SKeith: ***

WWE Tag Team Championship Match: Raven and Chris Kanyon vs. The Living Legends

Charlie Haas and Shelton Benjamin used a lot of heel tactics, but they couldn’t get the win. Raven and Chris Kanyon won after Raven hit Charlie Haas with the Raven Effect.

Winner: Raven and Chris Kanyon

(Raven and Kanyon were the most over tag team, which made them prime candidates for champions in my opinion at the time. However, I think pushing a newer heel team (like the West Side Posse) or strengthening the Legends’ dominance may have been the way to go.)

SKeith: ***1/2

Tajiri vs. Dave Batista

Tajiri tried to hit Batista with his lethal kicks early on, but Batista was on his game and blocked almost all of them. Tajiri was able to get a few good ones in, but it was no use. Batista got the victory pin after a Sitout Powerbomb.

Winner: Dave Batista

(I think this works and because it seems ot have worked so well, I’m not sure why I didn’t push Batista as much as WWE is now.)

SKeith: ***1/2

Submission Match: Eric Angle vs. Jamie Noble

This match was all over the mat. Jamie Noble acted really arrogant, while Eric was straight-faced and intense. Eric got the win after putting Noble in the STF. It took him a few minutes to get him to submit.

Winner: Eric Angle

Styles: Jamie Noble may have been a little overconfident! Eric Angle made him submit, and I believe that’s the first time we’ve seen Eric with a smile that big!

(I think because of the way this match was structured, the feud has at least one more PPV match left in it. It leaves the fan wondering if Noble lost because he was not the better man, or just because he was being arrogant.)

SKeith: ***

Rey Mysterio vs. Lance Storm

This was a really fast-paced match. Rey pulled off a lot of high flying moves while Lance Storm kept him grounded as well as he could. He worked on Rey’s knee for a while, making a West Coast Pop impossible to do. Rey was, however, able to roll up Storm for the win.

Winner: Rey Mysterio

(I have kind of wondered if it would have been better to go with Tajiri vs. Storm II and created a new feud in Batista and Rey. However, I think I was liking the kind of match Tajiri and Batista had at KotR. In retrospect though, it would have been nicer to see Lance get a win back.)

SKeith: ***3/4

Tables Match: Tazz and Sabu vs. The Dudley Boy

This was a brutal match. Joey and Heyman noted that Tazz must not feel so sympathetic towards the Dudleys anymore. He was really ripping into them. Sabu went through a table first when D’Von hit him with a splash from the top rope. Tazz put D-Von through next with a belly-to-belly suplex. Bubba got the win for his team though when he powerbombed Tazz through a table.

Winners: The Dudley Boy

Heyman: What a brutal match! I’m just glad that Tazz got what he deserved!

Styles: I don’t know if it’s fair to say that, but it was brutal!

(This definitely needed more description of the insane spots these guys would have done; especially Sabu.)

SKeith: ***

WWE World Championship Match: Sean Morley © vs. Christian

Joey and Heyman question Christian’s health, but he never showed signs of slowing down until the end.

Styles: It seems that fatigue is taking over Christian!

Christian began to mount a comeback, but Sean Morley was able to hit him with the World belt after a ref bump. He got the pin to retain.

Winner: Sean Morley

Heyman: Sean Morley has done it again!

Styles: But you’ve got to wonder Paul, will there be consequences next week on Raw?

SKeith: ***

(This was another weak PPV, in my opinion. My roster was a little thin and didn’t have any real superstars shining through and it was beginning to show at this point.)

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

I walked into my office an hour late.

Sophie: So, where were you?

Me: Um… out.

Sophie: Where?

Me: I had a talk with someone.

Sophie: Oh! Was it… you know?

Me: No, no, I haven’t talked to him since our first conversation.

Sophie: Well, who were you speaking to?

Me: Curt Razo.

Sophie: The owner of PWI?

Me: Yeah. He offered me a job.

Sophie: If Vince knew you were talking to him, he’d be pissed. What did you say?

Me: I said no. I think they’re going to go under soon. They don’t have very much money.

Sophie: So, you actually considered this?

Me: You do realize that Vince isn’t paying me anything, right?

Sophie: Hmmm… maybe I will talk to him about that.

Me: I’d appreciate that.

Sophie: Well, I have big news. We reached global today.

Me: Really? Are you serious?

Sophie: Yeah! I don’t think it will take much to get Vince to start paying you now.

Me: Oh, wow, that’s great!

Sophie: We hired a few more people and sent them to OVW. Mike Sanders already got injured.

Me: Is he going to get fired too?

Sophie: No, he’s only out for four more months.

Me: Well, who else did we sign?

Sophie: Here. Watch this tape. They all wrestled at an OVW show last night and Vince wanted you to see the tape ASAP to see if you wanted to do anything with them.

The tape was really good. I was impressed by the talent.

BJ Whitmer and Ash Park d. Blitzkrieg and Super Calo

Nathan Jones came out and challenged Devon Storm

Slim J d. Air Paris and Funaki

Onyx d. Kid Romeo

Frank Shamrock d. Matt Stryker

Nathan Jones d. Devon Storm

[JStarr]

lol, america