[AAR]WCW 1991 - the Challenge

[Syt]

Syt, in your estimation how do you "win" as it were, I know in opening post you said be able to take on WWE, how do you gauge that?

Well, you're rated for popularity, so overtaking the WWF there (and in TV ratings) would be good. That said, this is pretty much a sandbox game with no goals as such.

[katmai]

Syt, in your estimation how do you "win" as it were, I know in opening post you said be able to take on WWE, how do you gauge that?

Well, you're rated for popularity, so overtaking the WWF there (and in TV ratings) would be good. That said, this is pretty much a sandbox game with no goals as such.

Yeah i figured, I was wondering how you would meet your goals.

[Syt]

Basically - hire prospects/good performers and put out the best line up I can, thus attracting more people, and following the whims of the market, thus being able to hire bigger names etc.

[Syt]

WCW Saturday Night, Week 1, February 1991

A dark match that pleased no one: In a bout that had solid in-ring action but non-existent crowd heat, Cactus Jack and Chris Jericho defeated Chris Benoit and Dutch Mantel in 6:20 when Cactus Jack defeated Chris Benoit by pinfall with a Pulling Piledriver. [18]

Kevin Nash is backstage, arguing with Scott Hall. It gets heated, and the shouting catches the attention of Ted Stryker who is passing by. He walks in and decides to settle it by booking them to face each other in a singles match. [63]

In a match that had some good action and average heat, Vader defeated The Juicer in 5:53 by pinfall. [50]

In a bout that had solid in-ring action but not much in the way of heat, The Reverend Buddy Landel defeated Brian Armstrong in 5:42 by pinfall with a Corkscrew Elbow Drop. [39]

Ric Flair comes to the ring and challenges Lex Luger to a match. [75]

In a match that had some good action but not much in the way of heat, Scott Hall defeated Kevin Nash in 8:33 by pinfall with an Outsider's Edge. [50] Scott Hall was not performing well tonight.

Barry Windham and Ron Simmons are backstage; an argument breaks out, and they start brawling with each other. A host of road agents and staff have to pull them apart. [57]

In a match that had some good action and average heat, Brian Pillman and Steve Austin defeated The Lightning Express in 10:45 when Tim Horner was counted out while fighting Steve Austin. [58] Pillman was having trouble performing at his best.

After the match, Austin and Pillman attack the Lightning Express beating them down into the mat. [51]

Lex Luger appears and says that he accepts the challenge laid down by Ric Flair, he'll face him in a match - a best of three pinfalls match! [61]

Sting had an interview hyping his upcoming singles match with Kevin Sullivan. [72]

In a match that had some good action and average heat, Michael Wallstreet defeated Big Josh in 8:10 by pinfall with a Samoan Drop following interference from Arn Anderson. [48] Note from road agent: Big Josh and Michael Wallstreet don't click in the ring, and therefore it was an awkward fight.

A video plays hyping the Ric Flair vs. Lex Luger 2 out of 3 pinfalls match. [75]

In a bout that featured great action and great heat from the audience, Kevin Sullivan defeated Sting in 15:22 by pinfall with a Devil Stomp. Kevin Sullivan wins the NWA World Heavyweight title.  [85]

In a bout that featured great action and great heat from the audience, Ric Flair defeated Lex Luger in a Two Out Of Three Falls match in 20:01 by two falls to one after losing the first, with the final fall happening by submission with a Figure Four Leglock after blatantly cheating. [83]

Lex Luger is being attacked by Flair and Sid in the ring. Seeing the assault, Sting comes running in and fights them both off, saving Luger from a serious beating. [67]

Final Rating: 78

I thought I had set Sting to be the winner, but it appears I forgot  However it means that Sting is now free to feud for Flair's title, but I need to figure out something about Sullivan.

[Syt]

Also, Lex Luger is pretty irritated that I don't let him do any mic work without a script. I've tried it before, and he sucked. I guess I need to book him only into angles where he doesn't need to talk.

[Syt]

Time to resurrect this thread. I was thinking about starting the 1997 post-Montreal scenario and add an ECW clone league with Languish characters, but creating all those workers with gimmicks, character traits, contracts and abilities is more work than it's worth.



The WCW in Week 2 of February 1991:

NWA World Heavyweight Champion: Kevin Sullivan due to the accident above.
WCW US Title: Lex Luger - the title is ranked Midcard, and Luger is a Main Eventer, so this needs fixing
WCW TV Title (the lowest ranked by prestige at 55%): Tracy Smothers - another Midcard title, but I need to create a bit more competition for it
WCW World Tag Team Champions: The Lightning Express (Brad Armstrong and Tim Horner) - I'm still aiming to build up the Hollywood Blondes (Pillman & Austin) to contend there

Ongoing storylines:
1. Lex Luger + Vader vs. Sid Vicious + Bobby Eaton (Heat: 68)
2. DDP (+ Kevin Nash) and Teddy Long (+ Tracy Smothers) feud over who is a better manager (Heat: 57)
3. Hollywood Blonds vs. Steiners (Heat: 51) - I will have to discontinue this one. The Steiners are Main Eventers, while the Blonds are Midcard and Lower Midcard atm.
4. Sting vs Ric Flair (Heat: 61) The heat on this has gone down a fair bit, so I will try once more to increase it, before moving on.
5. Kevin Sullivan + Arn Anderson vs. Big Josh and Junkyard Dog (Heat: 48) - Yeah, time to pull the plug on this.
6. Michael Wallstreet vs. Scott Hall (Heat 50) - Yeah, not going so well, either.
7. Barry Windham vs. Ron Simmons (Heat 57)

Notable contracts running out in the next two months: Arn Anderson, Sid Vicious, Gordon Solie and Larry Zbysko.

It's two weeks till WrestleWar '91, and I have 4 shows to build up heat for this PPV. I will probably hype Flair vs Sting at the PPV, hand the tag titles to the Steiners, and possibly give the WC to Luger (can add Sullivan to his storyline). I should also do something with El Gigante, who was unhappy to be left out of the last PPV.

[Syt]

WCW Main Event, Week 2, February 1991

Three dark matches to kick things off:

In an extremely short match, Cactus Jack defeated Chris Benoit in 2:48 by pinfall with a Pulling Piledriver. [14]

In an extremely short match, Ranger Ross defeated Chris Jericho in 4:56 by pinfall with a Super Kick. [39]

In a bout that had solid in-ring action but not much in the way of heat, Master Blaster Blade and The Juicer defeated Steve Armstrong and Norman in 7:48 when The Juicer defeated Steve Armstrong by pinfall. [39]


The TV show itself:

In a match that had some good action and average heat, Brad Armstrong defeated Kevin Nash in 5:38 by pinfall with a Side Russian Legsweep. [63]

The Reverend Buddy Landel comes to the ring and challenges Lex Luger to a match. [38] (this is part of transitioning the US title from Luger through Landell to Vader)

The Hollywood Blonds (w/ Paul E. Dangerously) cut a backstage promo with Missy Hyatt [65]

In a match that had some good action and average heat, Big Cat defeated Dustin Rhodes in 7:45 by pinfall with a Powerslam following interference from Michael Wallstreet. [45]

Dustin Rhodes is being attacked by Cat and Wallstreet in the ring. Seeing the assault, Scott Hall comes running in and fights them both off, saving Dustin Rhodes from a serious beating. [35] (This was an attempt to expand the Scott Hall vs. Michael Wallstreet storyline by adding Big Cat from Wallstreet's stable, and throwing Dustin Rhodes into the mix ... did not go over well ...)

In a match that had some good action and average heat, The Hollywood Blonds defeated Tommy Rich and Brian Armstrong in 8:52 when Brian Armstrong was counted out while fighting Brian Pillman. [50]

The match is over, and Brian Armstrong and Rich are left down. The Hollywood Blonds are celebrating, but then stop and see that their opponents are still on the ground. They attack, and beat both Brian Armstrong and Rich into the canvas. [42]

Lex Luger appears and says that he accepts the challenge laid down by The Reverend Buddy Landel, he'll face him in a match. [74]

In a match that had an average crowd reaction and some decent in-ring action, El Gigante defeated One Man Gang and Rip Rogers in 11:37 when El Gigante defeated One Man Gang by submission with a Clawhold. [38] (El Gigante and OMG were both not performing well.)

The Lightning Express attack The Hollywood Blonds backstage (in revenge to the Blonds' earlier beatdown), and leave them down and out. [50]

Overall Rating: [50]

(In short: this sucked)

[Syt]

Ok, let's see how this goes. Bit tired, so I expect it to be baaaad.

WCW Saturday Night, Week 2, February 1991

A few dark matches to warm up the crowd:

In an extremely short match, Cactus Jack defeated Chris Benoit in 4:35 by pinfall with a Double Arm DDT. [16]

In a bout that had solid in-ring action but not much in the way of heat, The Juicer defeated Chris Jericho in 6:12 by pinfall. [44]

In a bout that had solid in-ring action and average heat, Dutch Mantel and Lt. James Earl Wright defeated Dustin Rhodes and Tracy Smothers in 6:17 when Dutch Mantel defeated Tracy Smothers by pinfall with a Scoop Slam Piledriver. [42]

In an extremely short match, Steve Austin defeated Tommy Rich in 4:39 by pinfall with a Stunner. [40]

Overall, not the worst warm up program.


The TV taping:

Junkyard Dog is shown backstage powerlifting a huge weight in order to show his incredible physical strength. [61]

NWA World Champion Kevin Sullivan is in the ring with a microphone. He claims that he is so good that he cannot be defeated by anyone, and so he is making an open challenge for any wrestler on the roster to face him in a singles match. [70]

In a match that had some good action but not much in the way of heat, Kevin Nash defeated Steve Armstrong in 5:44 by pinfall. [48]

Michael Wallstreet has a microphone, and says that he is very confident that he will get the win in his upcoming match against Vader. [60]

Sting, Rick Steiner and Scott Steiner had an interview hyping their upcoming six person tag team match with Ric Flair, Arn Anderson and Sid Vicious. [69]

In a match that had some good action and average heat, Michael Wallstreet defeated Vader in 5:31 by pinfall with a Samoan Drop. [46]

After the match Big Cat joins his stable mate Michael Wallstreet in the the ring. After some back-and-forth insults, they attack, laying Vader out two-on-one. Scott Hall comes out from the back, hits the ring, and cleans house, saving Vader. [49]

A video plays hyping Barry Windham vs. Junkyard Dog. [72]

Ron Simmons appears and says that he accepts the challenge laid down by Kevin Sullivan, he'll face him in a match. [61]

The Hollywood Blonds are shown sitting in the crowd watching the show. [48]

In a match that had some good action and average heat, The Fabulous Freebirds defeated The Lightning Express in 8:16 when Brad Armstrong was counted out after being attacked by Brian Pillman. During the match we also had Steve Austin run in and attack Horner. [57]

DDP and Nash attack Teddy Long backstage, and leave him down and out. [36]

The Hollywood Blonds with Paul E. Dangerously, have microphones, and proceed to taunt The Lightning Express, calling them names and generally acting like they're totally unafraid. [55]

In a bout that had a good crowd and good action, Junkyard Dog defeated Barry Windham in 9:36 by pinfall with a Thump after a distraction from Ron Simmons. [55] (JYD was getting tired towards the end; guess I need to book him in shorter matches.)

Ric Flair, Arn Anderson and Sid Vicious had an interview hyping their upcoming six person tag team match with Sting, Scott Steiner and Rick Steiner. [74]

Tracy Smothers finds Kevin Nash backstage, and beats him up to gain a measure of revenge. [48]

In a bout that had great heat and great wrestling action, Sting and The Steiner Brothers defeated Arn Anderson, Ric Flair and Sid Vicious in 13:19 when Sting defeated Sid Vicious by submission with a Scorpion Deathlock. [78]

Having just picked up the victory, the team of Sting, Rick Steiner, and Scott Steiner celebrate in the ring. [73]

Amidst a chaotic in-ring scene, Diamond Dallas Page and Tracy Smothers finally come face to face on opposite sides of the ring. They both pause, psyche themselves up, and charge. The ring gets flooded by numerous other wrestlers, and the two are pulled away before they can make contact by Larry Zbyszko, Chris Jericho, Dusty Rhodes, Scott Steiner, El Gigante and Cactus Jack. [35] (OUCH)

In a bout that had a good crowd and good action, Kevin Sullivan defeated Ron Simmons in 15:46 by pinfall after using a foreign object. Kevin Sullivan makes defence number 1 of his NWA World Heavyweight title. [63]

Overall rating: [68]

This show increased our popularity in 11 regions. This show decreased our popularity in 3 regions.

[Caliga]

Chris Benoit 

Also, Cactus Jack = Mankind/Mick Foley, right?

[Barrister]

Also, Cactus Jack = Mankind/Mick Foley, right?

[Caliga]

Cool, couldn't remember for sure.

On an unrelated note:

D'VON.... GET THE TABLES!!!!!!!!11111111111111111111111111

[Syt]

The problem is that at this point Jericho, Benoit and Foley are inexperienced newcomers that no one wants to see. I probably should have left them be so that they can gain experience in smaller promotions first before making the jump.

At the moment the best I could do for them is to book them in squash matches with veterans so that they earn some experience that way, but it would kill my ratings if I do it on TV. I guess it would be somewhat realistic, though - I remember many a pre-Monday Night Wars WWF show that featured three or four squash fights of big names against the federation's regular jobbers (e.g. Reno Riggins, Duane Gill or Barry Horowitz) and a midcard fight as main event.

[Neil]

Don't forget the Brooklyn Brawler.  He was always willing to do a job.

[Syt]

Yeah. He was supposed to be a bigger name, but he never quite worked out. They tried to make him Abe "Knuckleball" Schwartz during the MLB strike, and he briefly appeared as MVP, too.

He's mostly working as road agent for WWE these days, I think.

[Syt]

WCW Main Event, Week 3, February 1991

Warm up program:

In a match that had some good action and average heat, Kevin Nash defeated El Gigante in 5:45 by submission. [54] Turns out El Gigante and Kevin Nash have good chemistry. A tag team opportunity?

In a bout that had solid in-ring action but non-existent crowd heat, Tommy Rich defeated Chris Benoit in 6:05 by pinfall with a Sitout Suplex Slam. [43]

In an extremely short match, Dustin Rhodes defeated Chris Jericho in 4:53 by pinfall with a Running Bulldog. [56]

In a bout that had solid in-ring action but not much in the way of heat, Big Cat and Butch Reed defeated Cactus Jack and Norman in 6:43 when Big Cat defeated Norman by pinfall with a Powerslam. [49]


And now - WCW Main Event!



Vader is backstage, arguing with The Juicer. It gets heated, and the shouting catches the attention of Ted Stryker who is passing by. He walks in and decides to settle it by booking them to face each other in a singles match. [62]

The announcers put over the fact that we'll be seeing Tracy Smothers take on Michael Wallstreet for the WCW TV Title. [55]

Lex Luger is backstage, psyching up Vader for his upcoming match. [63]

Brian Pillman and Steve Austin with Paul E. Dangerously parody WCW superstars. [65]



The Lightning Express have an interview, in which they go off on a rant about how much they hate The Hollywood Blonds. [50]

In a match that had some good action but not much in the way of heat, Vader defeated The Juicer in 5:32 by submission. [62]

In a match that had some good action but not much in the way of heat, The Hollywood Blonds defeated Brian Armstrong and Steve Armstrong in 6:38 when Brian Armstrong was counted out while fighting Steve Austin. [51] The Blonds are visibly happy to put Brad Armstrong's brothers in their place.

In a match that had some good action and average heat, Bobby Eaton drew with Big Josh in 7:10 following a double disqualification. During the match we also saw Sid Vicious distract Josh, and Vader also attack Eaton. [62]

WCW World Champion Kevin Sullivan goes backstage into the locker room, only to find a note taped to his bags. He reads it, looks upset, then quickly leaves. [72]

In a match that had some good action but not much in the way of heat, Michael Wallstreet defeated Tracy Smothers in 10:38 by pinfall with a handful of tights. Michael Wallstreet wins the WCW World Television title. [52] Despite good ringside work from the managers, and great chemistry between the two such a bad score? Wow.

Having picked up the victory, Michael Wallstreet celebrates in the ring. [50]

Overall rating: [60] Decent result, I guess, considering that I had mostly midcarders slugging it out.