Jan 22, 2018 2:03:02 GMT 🤯 said:

Oh, shit... What do you do with Goldberg then?

Goldberg vs. Sting. I got all the matches booked in a spreadsheet, I'll do quick build right now.

Jan 22, 2018 2:07:25 GMT Kilgore said:

Jan 22, 2018 2:03:02 GMT 🤯 said:

Oh, shit... What do you do with Goldberg then?

Goldberg vs. Sting. I got all the matches booked in a spreadsheet, I'll do quick build right now.

Is that the world title match? Oooo, you've got me so intrigued!

Jan 22, 2018 2:01:43 GMT 🤯 said:

You guys are killing it with these WCW rebooks!

Were Arn & Eaton actually called the Midnight Horsemen?! I hope so. That's a bad ass name. If not, kudos again to the creative genius of Baker -man.

They were not. A commenter (Kilgore, I think) called them the Horsemen Express in a post and I tweaked it to the even cooler Midnight Horsemen.

*I rebooked 20 Clashes & Pay Per Views during my 93-94 WCW project. Halloween Havoc '93 was the best one but I may post a few of the other better efforts at some point.

Starrcade '98
Molson Centre, Montreal, Quebec, Canada

Singles Match

"Hollywood" Hogan vs. Bret "The Hitman" Hart

World Championship Match

Goldberg © vs. Sting

Singles Match
Ric Flair vs. "Big Poppa Pump" Scott Steiner

United States Championship Ladder Match

"The Man of 1,004 Holds" Chris Jericho © vs. "The Crippler" Chris Benoit

Raven's Rules Match

Raven vs. Diamond Dallas Page

Singles Match

"Big Sexy" Kevin Nash vs. Scott Hall

Loser Leaves Town Match

"Macho Man" Randy Savage vs. "The Total Package" Lex Luger

Television Title Match

Booker T © vs. The Giant

Cruiserweight Championship Three Way Dance Match
Eddie Guerrero © vs. Kidman vs. Dean Malenko

Four Way Dance Tag Team Championship Match

Rey & Juvy (Rey Mysterio & Juventud Guerrera) © vs. The Black Sheep (Rick Steiner & Chavo Guerrero) vs. Saturn and Po (Saturn and Pierre Ouellet) vs. Fallen Youth (Christopher Daniels & Reckless Youth)

The Build:

Bret Hart has been chasing Hollywood Hogan since his WCW debut. Hogan has been distracted by the split up the nWo, the emergence of Goldberg, and then the forced disbandment of the nWo at Fall Brawl (a stipulation of the match in which WCW won), while dismissing Bret Hart as a serious challenger the entire time (calling him the skinny tag team guy that he remembers from WWF). With Hart besting him in the War Games match, Hogan's pride was legit damaged and he unexpectedly said yes to Hart's latest challenge for Starrcade. This fight is billed as the biggest wrestling match in Canadian wrestling history. Who will win the country's biggest match?

SPOILER: Click to show

Goldberg defeated Hollywood Hogan at August's Clash of the Champions (Hogan defeated Sting and Kevin Nash in a triple threat match, pinning Nash to become champion) and has continued his tear through the WCW roster since. After taking time off from injury, Sting dramatically dropped from the ceiling and pointed his bat at Goldberg back in November, challenging him to a Starrcade Title match. Sting feels he never lost the belt with Hogan pinning Nash in the triple threat match, and that not only is the title still his, but Goldberg's status as WCW's ace too. Sting isn't ready to step aside yet. It was only the previous Starrcade that he was Goldberg, basically.

Big Poppa Pump faked it until he made it. His outlandish claims about how much the man he was when he first turned on his brother have turned out to be true as Big Poppa Pump's singles record is the second most impressive unbeaten streak on the roster. Steiner has a personal vendetta against Flair dating back to the early 90's, and after Flair's emotional return to WCW in September, Steiner shot hard on the Nature Boy in the next segment to a near riotous Greensboro crowd. Steiner sees Flair as his stepping stone to the type of singles success he thinks he deserves, Flair disagrees that Steiner is even his league.

Chris Jericho lost the Cruiserweight Title on the scales after Dean Malenko finally outloopholed the loophole master by asking for a weigh in (Jericho and his BFF Eddie Guerrero hilariously tried to keep Jericho's weight down the week of the weigh in to no avail), and Jericho quickly set his sights on the vacant US Championship (after Goldberg vacated it due to winning the World Title, although Jericho would claim this was Goldberg ducking him). Jericho beat Benoit in a tournament finals, and that was just the beginning of their rivalry wrestling several times since. These two Canadians in a ladder match in Canada, where it all began should be their masterpiece.

Raven and DDP have been locked in a feud all year that in typical Raven fashion branched off to pretty much everybody on the roster, but this match feels like the conclusion to the year long rivalry.

Scott Hall has been unreliable all year. His real life, unfortunately, is starting to get in the way. The Nitro after the November PPV (in which Hall didn't show up), Kevin Nash lambasted Hall to his face. After Hall's heartfelt apology, Kevin Nash mercilessly "dropped the dead weight" and viciously attacked his longtime friend in his time of need. Hall's confidence is at an all time low, and cocky as ever Nash is promising to put Hall out of his misery. The WCW fans can't help but root for Hall.

Elizabeth has left Randy Savage for Lex Luger, and the Macho Man is not pleased, to say the least. Motch has been even crazier than usual, and doesn't think he and Luger can be in the same places at the same time anymore, and this personal feud will conclude with the loser leaving town.

Booker T has been TV champion for 48 of the last 52 weeks, losing to Benoit three times in a best of seven set of matches, but always immediately regaining it. The Giant has been lost since the death of the nWo and sees the TV Title as his start back to the top. Booker T sees The Giant as despite still young, already past his prime, and just another victim.

After Jericho was forced to vacate the belt to Dean Malenko, Jericho's tag team partner and best friend, Eddie Guerrero, put Malenko back at the top of his shit list. They've been involved in several great singles matches, as you could imagine, and the cleaned up since leaving Raven and surging Kidman is putting new life into this rivalry.

Rey & Juvy became a tag team out of necessity after Jericho and Eddie Guerrero aligned to become an alliance of the two biggest assholes in the division and all of wrestling (they named their tag team "Border Patrol" Canada and Mexico protecting America from themselves). Rey & Juvy eventually won the tag titles from Border Patrol and have become one of the most exciting tag teams in all of wrestling. Black Sheep (Chavo and Rick Steiner) got involved through Chavo's affiliation with Eddie and Jericho (Eddie's lackey), and Rey and Juvy have little respect for Chavo from those days. Chavo has since liberated himself from his toxic family relationship with Eddie and got himself another wrestler wronged by a family member as a tag team partner (The Dog Faced Gremlin). Chavo and Rick Steiner are both insane and the WCW fans are amused by their insanity, making them fan favorites. Saturn and Po (Pierre Ouellet) are former Flock members, and Fallen Youth are current ones. Fallen Youth debuted in WCW this past summer where the two "greatest unsigned independent wrestlers" were put in a tryout match on WCW Saturday Night and they refused to fight each other, saying they belonged on Nitro. On Nitro, they refused to fight each other again saying they were already better than most of the roster and shouldn't have to try out. Raven liked the balls, took them under their wing as a tag team, and this is where Raven eventually used his new favorite tag team to get rid of his failing old one. These two tag team rivalries are combined into a Four Way Dance for the tag titles. 

Who needs fan fiction when we've got a Rebook a Card thread!?

That was a dope Starrcade '98 indeed, Kilgore. Wasn't sure based on what I saw on paper whether I outright dug it more than your Super Brawl... But then the write-ups made it all make sense, and endeared me to it all the more.

Would love to see all of 'Gore's 1998 WCW in the same way I'd love to see all of Bake's mid-1996/early-1997 WWF (since I already got to see his beautious late-1994/early-1996 WWF on the old PW) and Strobe's redone/fine-tuned 'Manias.

Loving it, guys! Keep 'em coming!

Jan 22, 2018 13:48:43 GMT 🤯 said:

Would love to see all of 'Gore's 1998 WCW in the same way I'd love to see all of Bake's mid-1996/early-1997 WWF (since I already got to see his beautious late-1994/early-1996 WWF on the old PW) 

I'll have a lot of free time tonight-tomorrow. Maybe I'll post every single 95-97 show I wrote up or had planned. It's either that or finish up another PW project.

Jan 22, 2018 22:47:38 GMT Baker said:

Jan 22, 2018 13:48:43 GMT 🤯 said:

Would love to see all of 'Gore's 1998 WCW in the same way I'd love to see all of Bake's mid-1996/early-1997 WWF (since I already got to see his beautious late-1994/early-1996 WWF on the old PW) 

I'll have a lot of free time tonight-tomorrow. Maybe I'll post every single 95-97 show I wrote up or had planned. It's either that or finish up another PW project.

Are you soliciting votes for which way to go? If so, I cast all dozen of my votes for the former.

Time for the 1b best show from my 93-94 WCW fanfic project.

Starrcade 1993

1. Too Cold Scorpio & Marcus Bagwell vs. Harlem Heat

Hot opener to get the crowd involved. Scorp & Bagwell had been an on and off team for most of the year while Heat is still relatively new. I had Scorp & Bagwell going over here since I kept Scorp pretty strong, and Harlem Heat don't really take off for a few more months, but it can really go either way. 

2. Paul Orndorff vs. Mystery Opponent (The Boss)

Boss debuts as Orndorff's Mystery Opponent and kicks his WCW career off with a bang by going over the struggling, yet always credible "Mr. Wonderful."

*After doing a few of these rebooks I realized guys like Mr. Wonderful (and Lawler & Backlund in WWF) are so valuable because you can book them (to lose, mostly) at any spot on the card, against both upper and lower card faces, and it always seems believable.

3. Cactus Jack & Maxx Payne vs. Texicans

Showcase match for the wild & crazy hot new babyface duo of Jack & Payne.

4. Lord Steven Regal (c) vs. Bobby Eaton- TV Title Match

Ideally I would have done His Lordship vs. Arn here in either a passing the torch match from one great TV Champ to the next or (more likely) give Arn the big babyface win on the biggest show of the year. But the Sid stabbing made Arn unavailable. So Regal gets a showcase win over Arn's partner for most of the year.

5. Ice Train vs. Ron Simmons- Grudge Match

Simmons brought Train to the company and had served as his mentor. Jealousy started to seep in. And Simmons walked out on his protege when Train made a mistake which cost them the tag titles against the Blondes last month at the Clash. When Train confronted Simmons about it he got a beatdown. I had Train going over here which caused Simmons to hook up with Harlem Heat (and Train to align with Scorp & Bagwell to even the odds) but it can really go either way.

6. Nasty Boys vs. Sting & Hawk- Grudge Match

Nasty Boys turned heel on Sting following a match (I forget the details). Sting went out and recruited his "Brother In Paint" Hawk to settle the score. Miscommunication leads to a surprise Nastys win. Hawk turns on Sting. They feud.

7. Ricky Steamboat (c) vs. Rick Rude- US Title Match

Rude goes over by cheating in a renewal of their 1992 feud. 

8. Hollywood Blondes (c) vs. Dusty & Dustin Rhodes- Tag Title Match

The Blondes beat down Dustin following Rhodes picking up a singles victory over one of them. "The American Dream" can take no more sitting at ringside on commentary. He rushes the ring! Bionic elbows for all! HUGE pop! The match is set. Dusty is coming out of retirement to help his son take the tag titles from the hated Blondes, who have been champs for most of the year. And they pull it off! The Rhodes Family are your NEW Tag Team Champions! Miscommunication lead to the Blondes demise*. Austin soon turns on Pillman and the next great WCW feud is set.

*Yeah, I realize I went to this well too many times 

9. Vader (WCW Champ) vs. Ric Flair (NWA Champ)- Title vs. Title

Easily the biggest match of the year. Vader has held the belt for nearly an entire year. Flair has been NWA Champ since the summer. Due to War Games stipulations (where Vader was on the winning side) Vader didn't have to give Flair a title shot. But the lure of being a double champion and humiliating Flair once and for all was too great for Vader to resist. They have basically their real life match (only with a better finish) and Flair ends the long nightmare by becoming NEEEWWW WCW Champion. The NWA Title quickly gets phased out.

Summerslam 1996

Figure I'll at least share all the big 95-96 shows I rebooked.

Free For All- Godwinns vs. New Rockers vs. Bodydonnas vs. Smoky Mountain Boys

The New Rockers glorious 4 month tag title reign was ended by the Gunns in a "Do Or Die Match" (Gunns last shot- they must split up if they lose) the previous month at IYH. Smoky Mountain Boys are Tracy Smothers & Tony Anthony w/ Dutch Mantell as their manager. This is their only big show appearance. Godwinns get their first big win in a while to build them up a little because I need a babyface team for something amazing at next month's IYH.

1. Smoking Gunns vs. New Blackjacks- Tag Title Match

Gunns finally got their belts back from the New Rockers last month. New Blackjacks limped onto the scene in June. Bradshaw took offense to Savio Vega bragging that he was the "Master of the Caribbean Strap Match" after beating Stone Cold at IYH May. "It's called a Texas Bullrope Match! And it's MY specialty match!"- Bradshaw. WWF dug Barry Windham out of the mothballs to officiate since it was HIS specialty match back in the day. Windham proved to be a corrupt official by helping Bradshaw win. And thus the New Blackjacks were born. They lose here and never even come close to the tag titles again, though they do stick around for a while, and even do a handful of other PPV jobs.

2. Owen Hart vs. Savio Vega

Not much of a story here. Have them do an inconclusive Raw match, or Savio taking offense at Owen cheating to beat him in a TV match. Something like that. I had Owen winning but this can go either way. Savio winning might even be a slightly better idea since it gives him an ounce of credibility (his PPV record ends up being something like 3-14  :lol: ) and Owen is moving to the tag division after this anyway.

3. Goldust vs. Marc Mero

Goldust & Marlena start stalking Mero & Sable. It's unclear who has the hots for who. I'm leaning towards Mero winning simply because he debuts the Shooting Star Press here and I always thought it was idiotic that he didn't win with that in his debut. But the result is not all that important. Both guys have a big few months coming up. If Goldust wins, it's because Sal Sincere (Mero's next big rival) comes down to make advances towards Sable which distracts "The Wildman." Good grief! Mero & Sable are gonna have to take out restraining orders against the entire roster at this point!

4. Steve Austin vs. Yokozuna

This was the Free For All match in real life which I always thought was stupid. KOTR winner, and soon to be red hot Stone Cold beating a former longtime WWF Champion should have been a much bigger deal. So this gets PPV treatment. Austin wins in like two minutes. This is Yoko's last high profile singles match.

5. Ahmed Johnson (c) vs. Hunter Hearst Helmsley w/ Faarooq Asad- IC Title Match

Hunter challenged Ahmed to an IC Title the night after he beat Savio at IYH July for his first high profile win in months. Ahmed was like "LOL, sure" because HHH hadn't been booked as much of a threat, and Ahmed, like everybody else, thinks Helmsley won't last five minutes with him. But HHH is awfully confident.... 

Because he had an insurance policy! Enter Faarooq (who is probably still a gladiator because, face it, gladiators are cool). Same deal as real life. Faarooq debuts and injures Ahmed with some kidney kicks.

Corrupt Commissoner Monsoon comes out to announce Ahmed cannot compete because of his injuries. HHH smirks while demanding Monsoon hand over the belt. But Gorilla has other ideas. The IC Title will have to be vacated. Gorilla announces a tournament for the belt. And the first match is taking place right here, right now, live in Cleveland, Ohio! It'll be Hunter Hearst Helmsley against his hired gun, Faarooq!

Hunter throws a hissy fit. But Faarooq has no objections. He only did Hunter's bidding because he paid well. If he has to kick Hunter's ass, so be it. Gladiators gonna gladiate.

5. Hunter Hearst Helmsley vs. Faarooq Asad- IC Title Tournament Match

Helmsley does his best Ric Flair impersonation by begging off and running away. Faarooq throws him around for 3 minutes, including into Ahmed who was sitting in on commentary. Well, this is the straw that broke the camel's back. Ahmed grabs a chair and clobbers both men with about a hundred chairshots, only stopping when blood seeps through his white shirt a la Roy Hobbs in The Natural. Match is thrown out. Both men are eliminated from the tournament. Ahmed gains some small measure of revenge against the dastardly duo.

6. Sid vs. British Bulldog- #1 Contender Match

Bulldog had been kept strong most of the year with his only high profile loss coming to WWF Champion Shawn Michaels at KOTR. Sid returned as a Michaels ally the previous month. Sid wins a pretty squashy short match with the Powerbomb. 

7. Jerry Lawler vs. Jake Roberts

This golden oldies feud started when Lawler kept bashing Jake on commentary and mocking his personal demons. Jake naturally took offense to this. The feud kicked up a notch when Jake's protege, a briefly resurgent Barry Horowitz, whom he taught the DDT to, was brutalized by Lawler with not one, not two, but THREE Piledrivers at IYH July to send Jake (who had to get some medical treatment after a rough loss to Mankind on the very same show) a message. Jake survives all Lawler's tricks and puts him away with the DDT. Post-match sees the biggest damn snake Jake ever brought to the ring crawl all over poor, poor Jerry Lawler.

8. Mankind vs. Undertaker w/ Paul Bearer- Boiler Room Brawl

Basically their real life match, only with commentary. Bearer turns to help Mankind win, which was a really big deal at the time.

9. Shawn Michaels (c) vs. Vader- WWF Championship Match

20 minute MOTYC with the wrestling's best abuser against the best man in wrestling at taking a beating. Shawn fights valiantly but a Powerbomb through the ringside table around the 15 minute mark seemingly seals his fate. But wait! Vader still cannot put HBK away. Shawn survives the Vader Bomb and another Powerbomb. Vader goes up top to squash the pesky champ once and for all with a moonsault. But no! Michaels moves. He tunes up the band....Sweet Chin Music...Connects! 1-2-NO! Vader is the first man in forever to kick out of SCM. Michaels goes for it again.....Not this time! Vader decks him. Powerbomb time....Michaels fights it with punches....Frankensteiner....NO! Blocked! Vader hoists him back up again and drills him with the mother of all Powerbombs for the 1-2-3. NEEEWWW WWF Champion! The reign of terror is over! Cornette has done it at last!

*It's important that Vader wins with the Powerbomb here because that sets up his next big feud with Sid over just who is the undisputed Master of the Powerbomb. I put WAY too much thought into Vader finishes, by the way. The Vader Bomb puts most away. He had to break out the Moonsault to beat Yoko at 'Mania. And the Powerbomb here to set up the Sid feud. Warrior got the trifecta to kill him off forever at KOTR. But my favorite was the epic finish I devised for the IYH May main event (Yes, you read that right) against Ahmed. 

*As usual, all these shows are taken from my fanfic project.

Royal Rumble 1995

*Not a ton of changes here or next year but I figured I'd make this "Rebook A Rumble" morning.

1. Smoking Gunns (c) vs. Tatanka & Bam Bam Bigelow- Tag Title Match

Gunns won the belts from Owen & Anvil who won them from Shawn & Diesel (more on that later). Before winning the belts, Dibiase was looking to recruit the Gunns to his Corporation as "The Hired Gunns." And the WWF Universe thought it might happen since the Gunns were in desperate need of money to save their grandparents farm. Yet the Gunns declined Dibiase's offer, but soon won the tag titles, thereby earning enough money to save the farm. Dibiase was not pleased by their refusal. So he's sending his Corporation after the Gunns & their belts. 

Gunns win by pinning Tatanka and continue to feud with Dibiase duos over the next few months.

2. Undertaker vs. IRS

This feud came about because of IRS railing against people not paying the Death Tax. Taker wins a boring, squashy match just like in real life.

3. Razor Ramon (c) vs. Jeff Jarrett- IC Title Match

Another one similar to real life. Razor hurts his knee. JJ works it over. The Roadie gets involved. In the end all this is too much for Razor to overcome and we get ourselves a new IC Champ.

4. Mr. Bob Backlund (c) vs. Diesel- WWF Championship Match

One of my big changes early on in this project was giving Mr. Backlund a nice little run with the title while continuing to build Diesel as a face. The "Moral Majority" stable of Backlund, Owen and Anvil is all over tv in late 94-early 95 with HBK as their ally of sorts. Even though Mr. Backlund was WWF Champion Owen was the real leader of the Moral Majority. He used Mr. Backlund as a pawn/weapon against his many, many enemies.

This match came about when HBK & Owen cut a shady deal. HBK refused to surrender the tag titles when Diesel turned on him because when would HBK willingly relinquish a title? Still having contractual power over Diesel, he booked a defense against Owen & Anvil. HBK refused to tag in and eventually superkicked Diesel, who was more than holding his own against the New Foundation. Owen pinned Big Daddy Cool to win the titles for himself and Anvil. I wasn't crazy about having Diesel get pinned, BUT it did take 3 men, and set up another early (Raw match) challenger for him in Owen.

As a result of the corrupt bargain between Owen & Michaels, HBK now got a title shot against Mr. Backlund as Owen had promised. Mr. Backlund's crazy ass didn't care that Owen was using him because he just wants to Chickenwing fools. He doesn't really care whether they're good guys or bad guys. HBK vs. Backlund was soon interrupted by an angry Diesel, who went right after HBK. Mr. Backlund took offense to Diesel interfering in his match. He stepped to Diesel. And he promptly got a boot & jackknife for his troubles. Crowd popped huge for this. Diesel was now a made man. Diesel wants the belt. Mr. Backlund wants revenge. 

Diesel squashes Mr. Backlund in about a minute. Mr. Backlund jumps Diesel from behind looking to procure the Chickenwing. Diesel is too big. Snake Eyes. Jackknife. New Champ.

5. Royal Rumble

Lex, Mabel & Bundy have pretty good runs early. Final Four is Bret, Michaels, Bulldog & Owen. Owen crossbodies Bret over the ropes, eliminating them both. Bret is pissed. But Owen is rather pleased with himself because even though he won't win, Bret won't win either, and that's what's really important. HBK vs. Bulldog plays out just like it did in real life setting up the Dudes With Attitude explosion at Wrestlemania 11.

Winner: Shawn Michaels last eliminating Bulldog

Royal Rumble 1996

1. Horowitz & Hakushi (c) vs. Bodydonnas- Tag Title Match

Skip's feud with the Underdogs has been raging since July. Approximate Score: Underdogs 128-1. Skip & Sunny would almost be sympathetic figures at this point....if they wasn't such obnoxious douchebags. Underdogs fulfilled their "worst to first" storyline when they won the tag titles in the first ever Raw Bowl, ending Camp Cornette's stranglehold on the belts when Hakushi pinned Yokozuna (which is what really kicks off Yoko's slow burn face turn). 

After failing with Rad Radford, Avatar (mostly), Buddy Landell....and even Mabel, Skip & Sunny debut yet another ally in their personal fitness trainer "Dr. Tom" (Prichard). And finally, after much cheating, in what was billed as his last chance, Skip finally gets one over on the Underdogs. 'Donnas are the new tag team champions. And the Underdogs are quickly phased out since Hakushi is on his way out the door.

2. Ahmed Johnson vs. Jeff Jarrett

This feud plays out much like in real life. Only difference is Ahmed gets the clean pinfall victory here in about five minutes after Hulking Up.

3. Razor Ramon (c) vs. Goldust- IC Title Match

Again, similar to their real life match with the only big change being Kid dressing like Goldust when he interferes to kick off his mini-me "Golden Child" phase.

4. Bret Hart (c) vs. Undertaker- WWF Championship Match

Another similar to real life match ending with Dieselference when it seems as if Taker might become WWF Champion.

5. Royal Rumble

The debuting Vader gets the 1994 Diesel push before getting into it with supposed ally Yokozuna. Final Four is HBK, Owen, Bulldog & Diesel. It naturally becomes a de facto tag match pitting Dudes With Attitude vs. Camp Cornette. HBK eliminates Owen and one second later Diesel eliminates Bulldog. That split second enables Shawn to size Diesel up for a flash Sweet Chin Music, sending his ally over the top rope, and winning it for Michaels. Diesel is not happy. 

Winner: Shawn Michaels last eliminating Diesel

1997 Royal Rumble

*Finally one with a lot of changes. 

1. Owen Hart & British Bulldog (c) vs. Doug Furnas & Phil LaFon- Tag Title Match

Furnas & LaFon debuted with an impressive performance at Survivor Series where they eliminated Owen & Bulldog to win the "tag" Survivor Series match. Since then Owen & Bulldog have been ducking them aided by some slick maneuvering/lawyering from Cornette & Clarence Mason. But they could run no longer after F&L won the 2nd Raw Bowl at IYH December (where Owen & Bulldog successfully defended against.....the Fabulous Freebirds!) to earn this tag title shot. 

After a stellar 20 minute match oddly devoid of heat Owen & Bulldog retain....which few saw coming.

2. Hunter Hearst Helmsley (c) vs. Too Cold Scorpio- IC Title Match

Like Furnas & LaFon, Scorp debuted with an impressive victory at Survivor Series. He remains undefeated going into this title match. Yet he suffers his first defeat at the hands of Helmsley, who cheats to win.

3. "Razor Ramon" & "Diesel" vs. Mystery Opponent (Legion of Doom!)

The Insiders and their allies (1-2-3 Corino and The Real Double J) in the New World Organization were all over tv in the fall as the latest and greatest of my pet projects. They ran roughshod over the midcard for a few months, decimating the Godwinns in September, and winning an 8 man tag over the unlikely duo of Godwinns & New Rockers in October. They hit their first speed bump at Survivor Series when they lost to a team of Yoko and 3 noobs. And things got worse in December when Undertaker easily defeated all four of them in a Gauntlet Match as revenge for them helping Mankind bury him alive in October. Undertaker Tombstoned "The Kid" right out of the promotion and The Real Double J was soon booted from the group as well. Now only "Razor" & "Diesel" remain. They're surly and ready to kick some ass in an open challenge.....

But they weren't ready for the returning LOD! Squash City as LOD destroy The Fakes to an epic pop, Doomsday Devicing them both right out of the promotion.

4. Royal Rumble

Ahmed returns with a vengeance after a lengthy absence by eliminating all three members of Faarooq's Nation. But alas! Faarooq grabbed hold of Ahmed as he was going over the top rope so Ahmed is out too. Funk & Foley also eliminate each other during an early showdown. Sid gets the 1994 Diesel treatment before an unlikely group of faces & heels unite to eliminate him. Final 4 is Austin, Bret, Taker & Vader. Vader & Taker eliminate each other and continue to fight on the floor, gaining the attention of the ringside officials. Bret eliminates his nemesis Austin to win.

Or does he? Because Austin hops back in the ring to eliminate Bret. And is declared the winner! For the distracted referees missed Stone Cold's elimination. Austin gloats. Bret is PISSED.

Winner: Steve Austin last eliminating Bret Hart

*The Final Four of Bret, Austin, Taker & Vader will go on to compete for the title at IYH February due to the winner of our next match relinquishing the belt.

5. Goldust (c) vs. Shawn Michaels- WWF Championship Match

HBK regained his belt at Survivor Series by surviving Vader in an epic war. Goldust won a proto-Money In The Bank type thing at IYH September and had been stalking (for lack of a better word) HBK for months. Goldust goaded Shawn into defending the title on Raw the night after Survivor Series. Keep in mind Vader had just put HBK through hell the previous night. And Goldust capitalized by defeating a wounded HBK to become the NEEEWWW WWF Champion.

IYH December saw HBK pin Sid to become #1 contender while Goldust beat Bret via accidental (or was it?) HBK interference.

So now we have HBK looking to regain the title in his hometown of San Antonio against the hated "Bizarre One" in front of 60,000 plus people.

HBK wins his belt back in fairly decisive fashion sending the fans home happy.

*I think the only late 94-mid 97 major show I have left to cover is KOTR 96. I'll do that one later. Then MAYBE drop the In Your House's at some point in the future when I have the time.

Here's a random rebook-a-card question/prompt...

Did 'Taker miss 'Mania X because of an injury or just because he needed some time off (children being born, etc.)?

Unless it was a truly debilitating injury, I wonder if he could've been convinced to work through 'Mania before taking his sabbatical?

Here's the prompt part... Going back as far as you want, how do you rebook 'Mania X if 'Taker is available?

Keep in mind, the Steiners were available but not used... Perhaps because they were short-timers? And poor Ludvig Borga had suffered a debilitating injury, but feel free to give yourself him as a cheat if you want.

I'm not sure about 'Taker. I've heard injured, I've heard time off. He apparently never got any time off from his debut to the Royal Rumble '94 angle, so that's why they set up Yoko+ to murder him there. That seems ludicrous now, you would surely wait until after WM. I don't know. He'd probably realistically wrestle Crush or Adam Bomb, anyway, so it doesn't really feel like a loss. Maybe you slide Bam Bam in there, and it feels a little bit better.

WMX is always a tough rebook because you feel inclined to ditch the Yoko-Bret-Luger Triangle (as having Yoko wrestle twice is moronic), but you wouldn't dare ditch Bret vs. Owen. A triple threat match is also a little too far fetched. It wasn't a known commodity, and with the Ladder Match on the card, would they really close the show with two (mostly) unknown gimmick matches? I think the Bret/Luger co-winner stays with the same coin toss gimmick. 

Wrestlemania X

Card:

World Championship Match
Bret Hart vs. Yokozuna

Singles Match*
Undertaker vs. Bam Bam Bigelow

Intercontinental Championship Ladder Match

Shawn Michaels vs. Razor Ramon

Singles Match

Diesel vs. Earthquake

World Championship Eliminator Match

Yokozuna vs. Lex Luger

Tag Team Championship Match

Quebecers vs. The Steiner Brothers

No Disqualification Match

Randy Savage vs. Jerry Lawler

Stipulation Match

Roddy Piper vs. Rick Martel

Women's Championship Match

Alundra Blayze vs. Luna Vachon

Singles Match

1-2-3 Kid vs. Jeff Jarrett

Singles Match

Bret Hart vs. Owen Hart

Dark Match Ten Man Tag

Smoking Guns, Men on a Mission & Tatanka vs. The Headshrinkers, IRS, Adam Bomb & Crush

*If 'Taker is healthy.

Build/Results:

Hart-Yoko-Luger remains unchanged (well, maybe we shorten Yoko vs. Luger), and The Rocket pins Bret in the greatest opener of all time. 

IC Championship also remains unchanged. 

Earthquake got the WM squash in real life, but it really should be Diesel getting it. After the impressive Royal Rumble showing, it's odd that he just went back to bodyguard duty at Wrestlemania. Have him squash 'Quake and impressively powerbomb him (I'm confident he could have), and have him get his first MSG moment. 

Steiners vs. Quebecers is whatever. They're the two best tag teams on the roster. The Steiners should go over in a perfect world, but if they're on their way out, let the Quebecers do their thing with a heel victory.

Savage and Lawler were both doing commentary, so their feud can start doing three man commentary, bickering with each other, and Macho eventually challenging Lawler. Not that it would be as legendary as their 1984/1985 work, especially with the version of Lawler that was represented in the WWF, but I imagine they'd figure something good out. This could easily be Piper vs. Lawler, as it would be later in the year, just by having Piper return a couple months earlier. 

Piper vs. Martel is just to get them both doing something. Martel was originally in the ten man tag, and Piper as a special guest ref. If they're in the building, this seems like a waste of both of them. Piper vs. Martel is basically Piper vs. Adonis, with Piper finding the Model a little on the feminine side, he makes a lot of homophobic comments that we laugh at in 1994 and cringe at in 2018 and they put on a helluva match. I made it a stipulation match, just because it's a feud that begs for some sort of cornball stipulation, but I can't think of anything at the moment.

Alundra Blayze vs. Luna makes sense as a Wrestlemania match. Blayze was the female ace, Luna the biggest female heel, they feuded for real, have the match at Wrestlemania. Luna also won't be involved in a Doink-Dink mixed tag on this night because ....

Bam Bam vs. Undertaker is the best match I can think of for 'Taker coming out of the Rumble. A problem for some is, we can no longer kill him there. This will disappoint many. There's just no reason to do it if he's going to be back two months later. In this scenario, instead of the entire locker room helping Yoko, Bam Bam interference causes the Yoko victory, and that's that. 

Kid vs. Jarrett were supposed to be wasted in the Ten Man Tag. It's amazing that the 1-2-3 Kid never got a Wrestlemania match, having to wait until he was X-Pac. Speaking of X-Pac, he and Jarrett would have a very good match four-and-a-half years later at SummerSlam '98, so picture something like that in 1994, and it would be better remembered because wrestling mostly sucked in 1994. I don't know what the feud would be about in early '94, but you didn't really need great reasons in 1994. 

Ten Man is now a dark match because the card is already maybe one match too long. Gets just about everybody remaining on the roster a slot.

My man, Kilgore! I fucking love it. Kid and Jarrett also tangled in '94 in the KOTR semis... I think their little match from there could've worked nicely here.

I also feel your 'Taker pain and get a chuckle out of the fact that in a rebooked WWF, 'Taker likely ends up squashing Bam Bam Bam Bigelow in a back-to-back-to-back 'Mania trilogy.

Let me collect some thoughts and I'll try to come back with a rebooked 'Mania X in a bit.

WrestleMania X

So, parts of my rebooking just might reach way back into early 1993. :lol: Anyway...

Tatanka and the Smoking Gunns vs. Bam Bam Bigelow and the Headshrinkers (w/ Afa)
The exact same thrown-together six-man from SummerSlam '93 that became the sleeper MOTN that night. Same finish, which provides the setup for the post-match where Bam Bam and 'Shrinkers get into an argument over the loss and the 'Shrinkers turn face by attacking Bam Bam. Luna doesn't accompany Bam Bam because she's busy preparing for her upcoming title match against Women's Champion Alundra Blayze. Luna's absence, his team's embarrassing loss, and then Bam Bam getting punked by his partners after the match all serve as seeds for Bigelow to sever ties with his 'Tic in the wake of 'Mania.

Women's Title: Alundra Blayze (c) vs. Luna Vachon
Kilgore is dead-on... This match deserved to happen on PPV. Maybe have Bigelow come out to try offering the support that he didn't get from Luna in his match earlier... Only for his interference to backfire and cost Luna? I dunno, ultimately it's just a women's match in the early/mid-90s, so not really worth overthinking the booking.

Double J's Grand Ol' Open Challenge
Jerry Jarrett convinces Vince that his boy needs a better, brighter spotlight at 'Mania, so this is a thing. Jeff comes out, cuts a promo on how it wouldn't be a memorable 'Mania if he wasn't featured in a match on the card but he wouldn't be surprised if no one in the back has the balls to face him, etc. etc. Only for Earthquake to make his surprise return to figuratively and literally squash Jarrett in the same amount of time it took him to squash Adam Bomb in real life. The dominant win upon his return sets face Earthquake on a course for a sumo showdown with rebounding ex-champ Yokozuna. Meanwhile, JJ is one of those Teflon heels who isn't really hurt by the embarrassing loss. In fact, if anything, it becomes added fuel to his ain't-I-great fire somehow.

Doink (w/ Dink) vs. Irwin R. Schyster
A throw-away match that at least swaps Bigelow out for someone who's Teflon enough to not be hurt by a loss to the lesser version of Doink. I picture the build up being something dumb... Something like Doink laughing at the concept of paying taxes, and IRS taking issue with that since taxes are no laughing matter. Maybe IRS also accuses Dink of being a little short with his last tax payment. (-_-) Anyway... The finish I'm picturing is IRS gets counted out after chasing Dink around the ring and Doing tying IRS' necktie to the ring post. As horrible as it is to say (?) I feel like Doink and IRS were more relevant characters in early '94 than Martel. And I'm OK with keeping Piper as a special ref.

Falls Count Anywhere Match: Randy Savage vs. Jerry Lawler
Again, gonna echo what Kilgore said... Gonna keep the falls count anywhere stipulation though and ground it in this logic: the heated bickering on commentary has wandered so far from the ring at times (i.e., gotten so personal) that it's only fitting for the wrestling to go just as far outside the ring if/as needed. I dunno. I'm just picturing a revised version of the stip where you don't have to return to the ring after scoring the pin. For the match and finish, I'm picturing a cowardly Lawler hightailing it out of the arena... Only for Savage to catch up with him outside the building, where he pins him in the middle of the street after hitting an elbow drop off the hood of a parked car. EXTREME! by 1994 WWF standards.

WrestleMania Rumble
Here's my cheat for getting a bunch of guys a 'Mania payday. Despite the name of this match, it's just a battle royal, for time sake. Also for time sake, the ring fills mostly up while the Falls Count Anywhere Match is going on outside. A little misdirection, if you wheel. Anyway, try to recapture and further build on the Diesel magic from the Royal Rumble by making this a showcase for him. As far as other participants, I'm thinking: 1-2-3 Kid, Bob Holly, Virgil, Koko B. Ware, Adam Bomb, Kwang, Rick Martel, Bastion Booger, Brooklyn Brawler, the Bushwhackers, the Heavenly Bodies, and Men on a Mission. Diesel's final elimination can be an impressive one-man elimination of Mabel in perhaps a bit of foreshadowing to SummerSlam '95. I'm debating saying that winning this match puts Diesel in line for an IC title shot in the wake of 'Mania.

Stipulation Match for the Tag Title: The Quebecers (c) (w/ Johnny Polo) vs. The Steiners
I really wanted to make this a rivalry-settling two-out-of-three-falls match, but I think I have to keep it to a single fall for time sake. Anyway... The stipulation is this: if the Quebecers lose, not only do they lose the belts but they'll also never wrestle in America again (which they view more as a consolation prize anyway); however, if the Steiners fail to win the titles, they can never team together again. Have the match end in some screwy fashion where the Steiners win via DQ but the Quebecers retain, which means that the Steiners are done as a tag team in the WWF. Then this can become a reason for their departure in the weeks that follow; i.e., they aren't happy as singles.

Bret Hart vs. Owen Hart
Speaking of brothers who'll never tag again in the WWF, we gotta keep this epic match. I'm personally OK with it not being the opener (helps me a lot years later when trying to argue the unpopular opinion that Kurt/Rey from SummerSlam 2002 was the greatest PPV opener), and I also think it was dumb from a kayfabe standpoint that Yokozuna's camp wouldn't demand that Yoko's first title defense go on first thing so as to give the champion an advantage in that he'd have more time to rest. Plus, from a shoot perspective, Yoko probably would've benefited from having more time to rest between matches if still going the two defense route. What I haven't told you yet is that I'm not going the two defense route... WHAT!?

Lex Luger vs. Crush [sub. for Ludvig Borga]
If I can't have Luger/Ludvig here because of that injury --even if I'm giving myself 'Taker for the purposes of a thought experiment-- then slot Crush into Borga's spot. The deal I'm envisioning here is Lex gets a do-or-die second chance title shot at Royal Rumble 1994 after captaining his team to a win over Yokozuna's team at Survivor Series 1993. Interference from Ludvig/Crush costs Lex the match at the Rumble, and is the seed for this match here. Lex goes over to keep him strong.

Casket Match for the WWF Title: Yokozuna (c) (w/ Mr. Fuji & Jim Cornette) vs. The Undertaker (w/ Paul Bearer)
Controversial call! Just go with the deferred real life Rumble match. I feel like the post-match shenanigans are enough to help wipe out the bad taste of 'Taker losing. Plus, it's NYC. Fuck the faces. Or, if need be, have the faces come out and swarm the heels before 'Taker ascends to the heavens. Or, worst case, just make this a regular match. But if you do that, then I feel compelled to have 'Taker win... which kinda means he can't take time off. So, I'd try to find some way of keeping the title on Yoko.

Then, coming out of 'Mania, I build toward Bret/Yoko for the belt at KOTR 1994 based on Bret never getting a rematch after losing his first world title to Yoko at 'Mania IX (if Bret had even won the belt in the Saskatchewan Switch in my rebooked universe). Bret ends up winning the title, overshadowing Owen, who wins the 1994 crown. This sets up their SummerSlam title match in the cage. Meanwhile, HBK inadvertently costing Diesel in the KOTR semis is Strike One in the Dudes with Attitudes split.

That is one ballsy call for the main event. Not only is the heel winning, he's murdering the babyface. At Wrestlemania. Brass balls, 🤯

WMX is such a hard rebook because of sentimentality. The smart booking is just have Bret win the Rumble and defeat Yoko at WM. That's it. No need to complicate things. Nobody wants to ditch the Owen match, though, and for good reason, so nobody does that. 

In that case, keep Bret-Owen and lose Bret's title win, but then I'm sentimental about that too. Bret winning at the Garden was magic. He won the IC title there, and now here he was getting the big world title win that he sort of got jipped out of the first time around. MSG was a Bret Hart building. It is also, by far, his greatest Wrestlemania moment. In this scenario, he puts Yoko over at WM9, he puts Owen over at WMX, he's out of the title picture for WM11, he puts Michaels over at WM12, and nobody would dare change a thing about WM13, and he's off to WCW.

I'm always stuck keeping the Owen match, and keeping the Yoko match, so my rebook will never be as adventurous as murdering Undertaker to end Wrestlemania X.

For Wrestlemania X I'm not a huge fan of the setup (too bad Triple Threats hadn't been popularized yet) but, as has been stated, I'd hate to lose the classic Bret/Owen opener. I'd even argue that you CAN'T lose it. Owen's win is so important since it sets up at least the next 5 months.

King of the Ring 1996

KOTR Qualifiers

Steve Austin debuts the Stunner to pin Billy Gunn
Jake Roberts pins Jerry Lawler with the DDT to kickstart their feud
Marc Mero pins Skip
Hunter Hearst Helmsley pins Fatu
Vader wrestles Ultimate Warrior to a draw
Leif Cassidy pins Barry Horowitz
Justin "Hawk" Bradshaw pins Henry Godwinn
Savio Vega pins Marty Jannetty. Both New Rockers got to enter the tournament based on being the reigning tag champs.

KOTR Semi Finals

Steve Austin gets some revenge by pinning Savio Vega. This also lends credence to Austin's claim that he intentionally threw the strap match.
Jake Roberts pins Justin "Hawk" Bradshaw
Marc Mero pins Leif Cassidy
Hunter Hearst Helmsley gets a bye due to the Vader/Warrior draw

Free For All: Godwinns vs. Bodydonnas- Servant or Slop Match

This is the blowoff to their lengthy feud. Sunny had been manipulating Phineas for months. PIG finally saw the light on a Raw leading up to this. If the Bodydonnas win, Phineas becomes their servant. If the Godwinns win, Sunny gets slopped. Sunny gets slopped.

1. Steve Austin vs. Marc Mero- KOTR Match

Nothing changes here. Austin fights through a bloody lip to win. Getting busted open only adds to his growing badass aura.

2. Jake Roberts vs. Hunter Hearst Helmsley- KOTR Match

Old man Jake pulls off the upset as he continues to be the Cinderella Story of this tourney.

3. Justin "Hawk" Bradshaw vs. Savio Vega- Caribbean Strap/Texas Bullrope Match w/ Special Guest Referee Barry Windham

Bradshaw took offense to Savio claiming to be the "Master of the Caribbean Strap Match" following his win over Austin. "It's called a Texas Bullrope Match! And it's MY specialty!"- Bradshaw. WWF dug Barry Windham out of the mothballs to officiate this contest. Windham has taken offense to Bradshaw's claim of being the Master of the Texas Bullrope Match since he claims it's HIS specialty. Lots of offense taking here....But it was all a ruse! Savio was in route to victory after touching three turnbuckles (with the trailing Bradshaw also touching three because every single WWF Strap Match is the same) when BAM! Windham drills Savio with a Lariat. Bradshaw touches the fourth buckle to win his Pay Per View debut. The New Blackjacks are born. The WWF Universe yawns.

*This could be swapped out with Godwinns/'Donnas to the Free For All. Doesn't really matter which one ends up where. I'm not a huge fan of sticking a stipulation match on the Free For All but...umm....we're in a war here! If the Free For All is THIS good imagine what the pay per view will be like!

4. New Rockers (c) vs. Smoking Gunns- Tag Title Match

New Rockers have been tag champs since their unexpected four way win at 'Mania. They've been ducking the Gunns the entire time. Everybody KNOWS this is the Gunns moment. But hahaha no! The New Rockers cheat to win once again. Can anybody stop these guys? Well, I suppose Shawn Michaels can since he did just beat Marty in a WWF Title match at IYH May. Oh yeah. I went there. 

5. Vader vs. Ultimate Warrior- Grudge Match

A rematch from their inconclusive KOTR Qualifier. Warrior comes out strong. Vader fights back. The Rocky Mountain Mastodon hits the trifecta (Powerbomb- Vader Bomb- Moonsault) for the 1-2-3 

Holy shit! Vader just pinned Warrior clean as a sheet in under five minutes. The crowd is stunned. 

*This is maybe the most unrealistic match of the entire project but just pretend Warrior was bombing so Vince gave him a lot of money to put over the next big heel and take a permanent vacation back to Parts Unknown.

6. Goldust (c) vs. Ahmed Johnson- IC Title Match

This feud came about when Goldust gave Ahmed mouth to mouth resuscitation after Ahmed & Vader went through the ring in the main event of IYH May. Ahmed is out for revenge....and to take Goldust's IC Title.

Ahmed wins the title in a squashy sub five minute match to hopefully wake the crowd up after seeing the shocking demise of their Ultimate hero.

7. Undertaker vs. Mankind- Grudge Match

Same match and basically the same build as real life. Mankind wins with some "accidental" aid from Uncle Paul.

8. Steve Austin vs. Jake Roberts- KOTR Final

Same as real life. Obviously. Austin cuts a promo you may be familiar with after winning.

9. Shawn Michaels vs. British Bulldog w/ Jim Cornette, Diana Hart-Smith & Owen Hart- WWF Title Match w/ Mr. Perfect as Special Guest Referee

After some debate I decided to keep the rather dumb "Shawn hits on Diana" storyline. Only I added more Marty Jannetty since he corroborated Diana's story which is what kicked off their most recent feud. The deck is stacked against Michaels here with former rival Mr. Perfect as special guest ref & Diana AND Owen joining Cornette in Bulldog's corner. Owen's streak of wrestling on every PPV since Survivor Series 93, which was easily the longest in the company, finally comes to an end. Poor Owen suffered an arm injury while saving a group of school children from a burning bus (what a guy!) or saving an old woman from a mugger (his story changes from time to time. When you commit as many heroic deeds as Owen Hart, it's hard to keep them all straight). Owen is now wearing a cast and contributed stellar commentary for the first two and a half hours of this show.

Michaels overcomes the odds to win a minor classic just like in real life. Mr. Perfect surprisingly called it right down the middle, Fonzie style.

*Not the most radical show but sometimes WWF gets it (mostly) right. I'll do the 95-early 97 In Your House's at some point just for 🤯

I was getting deja vu doing this. I must have done this one the old board. If Vince wasn't an idiot who blew tens of millions of dollars on a Times Square restaurant and a terrible football league. 

Wrestlemania 18
The End of Competition

World Championship Unification Match

"Stone Cold" Steve Austin © vs. Goldberg ©

Singles Match

The Rock vs. Hollywood Hogan 

Singles Match

The Undertaker vs. Sting 

Singles Match

Triple H vs. Ric Flair 

TLC Tag Team Championship Match
The Hardy Boyz (Matt and Jeff Hardy) vs. Edge & Christian vs. Sabu & RVD

Tag Team Match

The Outsiders (Scott Hall & Kevin Nash) vs. The New Age Outlaws ("Badass" Billy Gunn & "The Road Dogg" Jesse James) 

Street Fight (special guest referee Paul Heyman)

Vince McMahon vs. Eric Bischoff  

Singles Match

Chris Benoit vs. Booker T 

Tag Team Match
The Dudley Boyz (Buh Buh Ray & Devon Dudley) vs. The Steiner Brothers (Rick Steiner & Big Poppa Pump)

Singles Match

Chris Jericho vs. Diamond Dallas Page 

WWF Women's Championship Match
Lita vs. Madusa

Cruiserweight Championship Match
Eddie Guerrero © vs. Rey Mysterio Jr. vs. Tajiri

WWF Hardcore Championship Six Pack Challenge
Raven vs. Tommy Dreamer vs. Sandman vs. New Jack vs. Taz vs. Rhino

Feb 4, 2018 20:27:18 GMT Kilgore said:

I was getting deja vu doing this. I must have done this one the old board. If Vince wasn't an idiot who blew tens of millions of dollars on a Times Square restaurant and a terrible football league. 

Wrestlemania 18
The End of Competition

World Championship Unification Match

"Stone Cold" Steve Austin © vs. Goldberg ©

Singles Match

The Rock vs. Hollywood Hogan 

Singles Match

The Undertaker vs. Sting 

Singles Match

Triple H vs. Ric Flair 

TLC Tag Team Championship Match
The Hardy Boyz (Matt and Jeff Hardy) vs. Edge & Christian vs. Sabu & RVD

Tag Team Match

The Outsiders (Scott Hall & Kevin Nash) vs. The New Age Outlaws ("Badass" Billy Gunn & "The Road Dogg" Jesse James) 

Street Fight (special guest referee Paul Heyman)

Vince McMahon vs. Eric Bischoff  

Singles Match

Chris Benoit vs. Booker T 

Tag Team Match
The Dudley Boyz (Buh Buh Ray & Devon Dudley) vs. The Steiner Brothers (Rick Steiner & Big Poppa Pump)

Singles Match

Chris Jericho vs. Diamond Dallas Page 

WWF Women's Championship Match
Lita vs. Madusa

Cruiserweight Championship Match
Eddie Guerrero © vs. Rey Mysterio Jr. vs. Tajiri

WWF Hardcore Championship Six Pack Challenge
Raven vs. Tommy Dreamer vs. Sandman vs. New Jack vs. Taz vs. Rhino

You'd leave Kurt off the card!? I mean... being left off the card altogether is probably better than wrestling Kane, but still...

Feb 4, 2018 22:24:18 GMT 🤯 said:

You'd leave Kurt off the card!? I mean... being left off the card altogether is probably better than wrestling Kane, but still...

Whoops. Forgot about Kurt (didn't forget about Kane). Felt a little bad about no Big Show.  

Kurt vs. Big Poppa Pump, put the Dudleys in the TLC? I was trying to protect the Big Bad Booty Daddy from being in a singles match. I can't see it being good. Maybe Angle can pull it off, as they suplex the fuck out of each other.

Feb 4, 2018 22:35:59 GMT Kilgore said:

Feb 4, 2018 22:24:18 GMT 🤯 said:

You'd leave Kurt off the card!? I mean... being left off the card altogether is probably better than wrestling Kane, but still...

Whoops. Forgot about Kurt (didn't forget about Kane). Felt a little bad about no Big Show.  

Kurt vs. Big Poppa Pump, put the Dudleys in the TLC? I was trying to protect the Big Bad Booty Daddy from being in a singles match. I can't see it being good. Maybe Angle can pull it off, as they suplex the fuck out of each other.

What about the cliched but always awesome idea of Angle vs. Hennig in a classic wrestling clinic to determine the true "Perfect Kurt/Curt"?

Fuck Big Poppa Pump. Put the Dudleyz in the TLC a "ECW or WWF!?" wildcard, and then have HeAT feature a 30-man battle royal so that you can get guys like Big Show, Kane, and the Steiners on the card (even if it isn't 'Mania proper). Have the Steiner Brothers reunite to clear the ring, with the final two eliminations being Show and Kane, only for Scott to revert to his Big Poppa Pump ways by dumping his brother to win and claim all the glory.

I have Steiner Brothers nostalgia for an all out WWF vs. WCW war. They feel as essential as Sting, almost. I even toyed with them vs. APA for a Baker dream hoss fest. But we are running out of room on the card (Although I planned on making Outsiders squash NAO in like ten seconds, so that only sort of counts as a match).

Kurt vs. Curt is too good to pass up. That needs to be on the main card.

Maybe the Steiners can still fit on the main card against Dudleys or APA (and then the Dudleys slot into the TLC)

If not, there should definitely be a preshow Battle Royal. Throw Lex Luger and Jeff Jarrett's dumbases in there since it's fanfic, and we don't have McMahon vendettas to deal with. Hell, I already have Madusa participating.

Feb 4, 2018 22:56:35 GMT Kilgore said:

I have Steiner Brothers nostalgia for an all out WWF vs. WCW war. They feel as essential as Sting, almost. I even toyed with them vs. APA for a Baker dream hoss fest. But we are running out of room on the card (Although I planned on making Outsiders squash NAO in like ten seconds, so that only sort of counts as a match).

Kurt vs. Curt is too good to pass up. That needs to be on the main card.

Maybe the Steiner's can still fit on the main card against Dudleys.

If not, there should definitely be a preshow Battle Royal. Throw Lex Luger and Jeff Jarrett's dumbases in there since it's fanfic, and we don't have McMahon vendettas to deal with. Hell, I already have Madusa participating.

That's a PI dream hoss fest too. If it gets the Dudleys into the TLC match, I say do it with Steiners/APA. Especially since I prefer that more anyway. :lol:

Benoit's first match back after his neck surgery was on July 1st. He is nowhere near making Mania X8.

Feb 5, 2018 1:11:28 GMT Strobe said:

Benoit's first match back after his neck surgery was on July 1st. He is nowhere near making Mania X8.

I took it as Kilgore going with an realistic approach for pure fantasy purposes. In such a case, who knows? Maybe Benoit isn't hurt. Maybe Eddie's drug issues have him totally clear to be back in time to work a program. No idea how Goldberg, Steiner, Sting, etc. were healthwise at this point.

Feb 5, 2018 1:11:28 GMT Strobe said:

Benoit's first match back after his neck surgery was on July 1st. He is nowhere near making Mania X8.

I was out by 2002, so I have no memories about the real going ons at that time. I'm not surprised things don't jive.

Feb 5, 2018 1:24:01 GMT 🤯 said:

I took it as Kilgore going with an realistic approach for pure fantasy purposes. In such a case, who knows? Maybe Benoit isn't hurt. Maybe Eddie's drug issues have him totally clear to be back in time to work a program. No idea how Goldberg, Steiner, Sting, etc. were healthwise at this point.

That's exactly right, although if I was doing it again, I'd probably leave out Benoit now.

I've been thinking about the big changes in the WWF in the second half of 1992 and how it affected what Mania IX could've been or was planned to be at one point.

With the events at SummerSlam (Savage/Warrior title match with Flair involvement throughout the build and match itself) and the September 1st PTW (with Ramon interference helping Flair regain the title), the main event for Survivor Series was set as Savage/Warrior vs. Flair/Ramon.

Heading towards that, we got some Flair/Warrior and Savage/Ramon matches on house shows and it does not seem completely unreasonable, based on the length of feuds at the time, for those to be two matches that may have ultimately been planned for the big show. Although up to this point, Mania main events typically were not run at all prior to Mania itself, so that it was a fresh match for everyone. Maybe Flair/Warrior was the plan for the Rumble with Warrior winning the title, but then who does Warrior face at Mania? The decision to put the belt on Bret does seem to have been a very quick one after Flair's ear/balance issues and Warrior's HGH-linked firing. Otherwise I feel like they would've clearly built up Bret a bit more before his title win. Like Baker says, he felt very much a midcard champion. So out of that, we have a number of questions:

- If Warrior stays, does he become champion? If he does, who does he work with at Mania?

- If we assume that Flair could be convinced to stay a few months longer (doubtful if he is working with Warrior - the cause of his balance issues), who does he work with at this Mania?

- When does Perfect return to the ring if he isn't forced to replace Warrior at Survivor Series? Does he still ultimately return down the line as a face against Flair?

- Perhaps the biggest one. With Warrior still around, do they push as hard to get Hogan back for Mania? Considering that it was reported in the Observer that one plan was for a Warrior heel turn and Hogan/Warrior II, I'd say yes. Perhaps Beefcake still gets brought in. Warrior winning the title from Flair at the Rumble, maybe Hogan returns and Warrior gets bitter about it, he is the guy to fuck up Beefcake's face in a heel turn and we get the rematch 5 years early.

According to Bret, the plan was always for him to drop the belt to Bulldog and for him to then drop it to Michaels, since the original SummerSlam plan was a IC title ladder match between Bret and HBK if they held it in the States. But with business dwindling domestically but still being relatively good in Europe, would it be a big surprise for them to keep the belt on Bulldog if there were not issues with him (HGH, like Warrior)?

- If Bulldog was staying, does he keep the IC Title? Interestingly, at the Survivor Series showdown, before they definitely knew Bulldog was gone but after he had dropped the IC, new World Champ Bret does say that he wants a rematch with Bulldog. So they had gotten the belt off Bulldog in case he was going, but if he was staying they were planting the seed for a big rematch with the guy that beat the new World Champ. Perhaps another big show in the UK in 1993?

- In a world where Warrior and Bulldog stay, with Warrior as World Champ and Bulldog as or not as IC Champ, who does Bulldog work with at Mania? Do they do the Bret rematch? As mentioned above, would that not be a waste since it would be able to draw them a big gate in Britain? But who else could they have faced? I'm drawing a blank given how the other big names seem to be tied up.

Before he accused Vince of sexual harrassment and left, Nailz was set up to work with Taker. They did an angle on TV in October and were even the cover of the Jan WWF Magazine

- Was Nailz going to be Taker's Mania opponent? If so, does this impact on when and how Giant Gonzalez debuts? Or was Nailz only going to be a short-term Taker opponent for a house show series and perhaps a TV blowoff?

- Since he seems like a natural Taker opponent, what about Papa Shango? He had a very odd run in that he was involved with top names throughout 1992, but his PPV spots were poor - his match was one of 3 cut from the US airing of SummerSlam, he wasn't on Survivor Series and lasted 30 seconds in the 93 Rumble, yet on house shows he feuded with Warrior until SummerSlam and then Bret post, even getting the SNME shot after Bret won the World Title. He was taking on Savage on some other house shows and replaced Nailz against Taker in late 1992/early 1993. Was it not worth running Taker/Shango at Mania, while building up Gonzalez for a SummerSlam match?

The Headshrinkers debuted on TV in August 1992 and, after initial plans to introduce Kokina as the third and biggest member, he became Yokozuna and was debuted in late October. The Shrinkers were working with the Disasters on house shows in late 1992 and then Yoko worked some singles matches with Quake in early 1993 before he left, one of which was released on Coliseum Home Video months later and Heenan actually mentions Quake's sumo history.

- If Quake could've been convinced to stay a few more months, would we have seen a Disasters/Shrinkers or Yoko/Quake match at Mania? Could have Yoko injure Typhoon in the build if doing Yoko/Quake? Maybe even interfering in a Disasters/Shrinkers match, planting seeds for him to be on a team with Shrinkers at Survivor Series and potentially creating a connection between them for down the line (since they made sure to announce Yoko as from the Polynesian Islands and he only represented Japan). Or Duggan returning from his injuries in the knockdown challenge could've been here?
- If the plan was Yoko/Quake and Shrinkers were feuding with the Nastys, as in reality, then why not do the match where they brawl in the concession area here?
- Who do the Steiners work with here then? Do they get rushed into the Money Inc. title program? I could see that working. If we were going full fantasy booking, we could go back and stop Hawk from leaving after SummerSlam and try to do LOD/Steiners here, but Hawk left so long before Mania and it was entirely his own choice.

Jannetty got fired again before they could potentially do HBK/Marty at Mania, although maybe it was not planned after their Rumble match.

- If HBK/Marty is the plan, then what does Tatanka do? Is it time to end his streak here? Would it be worth giving it to Bam Bam? I could see Giant Gonzalez ending it easily if the plan was to build him for Taker in a world where Taker/Nailz is at Mania. Or Lex ending it using the forearm plate seems ideal.

Bossman was still working some house shows post-Rumble and even worked one 2 weeks before Mania. So he still could've been involved in a feud and potentially a match here.

- Maybe Bossman is an ideal name to put over Gonzalez to build him for Taker. In fact, surely Tito would be the perfect disposable old star to lose to the Giant.

- Or could do the Bigelow/Bossman Rumble match here? Although Bigelow against newly face Kamala, as originally planned before being cut for time they had a fun enough short match on TV shortly after, would've been a fine enough win for Bam Bam.

I feel like to make this work properly, I'd need to book the Rumble and KOTR as well, with all of those changes I'm given myself (people staying for various lengths - Warrior, Bulldog, Flair, Quake, Bossman, Nailz). And maybe even give myself some SNMEs in this rebooking, as unrealistic as that is.

Anyway, here is just an example card, with all of these (not altogether unbelievable) historical changes. Just as a starting point. And I'd need 4 hours like some of the older Manias and not the under 3 hours that VIII, IX and X were, resulting in cut matches.

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

WRESTLEMANIA IX

WORLD WRESTLING FEDERATION CHAMPIONSHIP
Ultimate Warrior [Champion] vs. Hulk Hogan

WWF INTERCONTINENTAL CHAMPIONSHIP
British Bulldog [Champion] vs. Bret 'Hit Man' Hart

LOSER LEAVES WWF
'Nature Boy' Ric Flair vs. Mr. Perfect

'Macho Man' Randy Savage vs. Razor Ramon

WWF TAG TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP
Money Inc. [Champions] with 'Mouth of the South' Jimmy Hart vs. Steiner Brothers

Undertaker with Paul Bearer vs. Papa Shango

'Heartbreak Kid' Shawn Michaels vs. Marty Jannetty with Sensational Sherri

'The Narcissist' Lex Luger vs. Tatanka

Yokozuna with Mr. Fuji vs. Earthquake

Headshrinkers vs. Nasty Boys

Bam Bam Bigelow with Luna Vachon vs. Kamala

Giant Gonzalez with Harvey Wippleman vs. 'El Matador' Tito Santana

I love that, Strobe!

My only tweaks would be swap out Kamala as the face to feed to Gonzalez in an epic monster mash visual.

Meanwhile, I think feeding Bob Backlund to Bigelow is more interesting. It keeps him on the card, and plants a seed for how he maybe can't hang with the bad asses of this generation (depending on how fast you have Bam Bam beat him).

Or is that too offensive?

Also, what do you open with? Shawn/Marty, Bret/Bulldog, or maybe the tag title match to pop the crowd with a title change to start?

My only gripe about this card is that Doink is short-changed a spot.

Before they ran their New Generation out in 94/95, WCW had the potential to book some of their best Starrcades with the combination of what they built, and what they were bringing in. I'm just booking matches as if they didn't run people out, and the angles are easy enough to use your own imagination for.

WCW Starrcade '94

World Heavyweight Championship Match
Hulk Hogan © vs. Vader

Singles Match
Randy Savage vs. Ric Flair

US Heavyweight Championship Match
"Stunning" Steve Austin © vs. Sting

Singles Match
Arn Anderson vs. Dustin Rhodes

Tag Team Championship
Harlem Heat © vs. The Nasty Boys

Texas Death Match
Cactus Jack vs. Terry Funk

Tag Team Match
Lord Steven Regal & Jean-Paul Levesque vs. Stars and Stripes

Television Championship Match
Johnny B. Badd © vs. Brian Pillman

---


Starrcade '95

Singles Match
Hulk Hogan vs. Lex Luger

World Heavyweight Championship Match
The Giant © vs. Sting

US Championship Match
"Stunning" Steve Austin © vs. Randy Savage

Triple Threat Match
Ric Flair vs. Arn Anderson vs. Brian Pillman

Tag Team Championship Match
Harlem Heat © vs. The Steiner Brothers

Tables Match
Cactus Jack vs. Sabu

Singles Match
Eddie Guerrero vs. Chris Benoit

Tag Team Match
The Road Warriors vs. The Blue Bloods

Television Championship Match
Johnny B. Badd © vs. Diamond Dallas Page

Cruiserweight Championship Match (Vacant)
Dean Malenko vs. Jushin Thunder Liger

Jun 11, 2018 2:32:43 GMT 🤯 said:

I love that, Strobe !

My only tweaks would be swap out Kamala as the face to feed to Gonzalez in an epic monster mash visual.

Meanwhile, I think feeding Bob Backlund to Bigelow is more interesting. It keeps him on the card, and plants a seed for how he maybe can't hang with the bad asses of this generation (depending on how fast you have Bam Bam beat him).

Or is that too offensive?

Also, what do you open with? Shawn/Marty, Bret/Bulldog, or maybe the tag title match to pop the crowd with a title change to start?

My only gripe about this card is that Doink is short-changed a spot.

I wrote a big response to this, including detailing the bizarreness of Backlund's run and I ended up losing it. Maybe I'll be bothered to re-write it someday.

I don't see much point in jobbing out Backlund, unless you are going to build someone out of it. He had never been pinned on WWF TV before, as far as I know, and was the "unbeaten world champion" from a decade before.

I do like doing Gonzalez/Kamala for 2 reasons: (1) Kamala had left Wippleman so him bringing in Gonzalez and taking revenge makes sense; (2) having Gonzalez beat him even easier than Taker works well before their feud (with Wippleman trying to get his new guy to do what Kamala could not).

I knew I forgot something and it was Doink/Crush. There is maybe too much on my card. I'm sure you could make it work if it was 4 hours. I'd probably need to book the Rumble and KOTR as well, so it all made sense.

Steiners winning the titles seems like the ideal opener to get the crowd going. Can be a 8-10 min almost-sprint with the Frankensteiner finishing it off.

Those Starrcade cards look great, Kilgore. There is some alternate reality out there where Hogan came in to WCW, realised the time of him overcoming monsters was over and decided to work more of his Japanese style. Could have been great.