JvK books WCW in 1991

[JerryvonKramer]

In a move that has shocked the wrestling world, WCW Chief Executive Jim Herd has replaced Ole Anderson with a booker who has not been active in wrestling since 1983.

 

 

 

Jerry Von Kramer, known by many industry insiders as "the man who had Bruno pinned in his last match at MSG", last worked for Vince McMahon but left Titan in mysterious circumstances in the September of 1983. Among other things, his time with the WWF will be remembered for making Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka WWF Champion and a big star, and the long "battle of the generations" feud between Bruno Sammartino and Ted DiBiase.

 

Von Kramer joins WCW at a difficult time. Gates are at an all-time low, and last year's storylines included the infamous Black Scorpion debacle and Robocop becoming an ally of Sting. Some commentators on the business, such as Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer, criticised Anderson's tenture for pushing older veteran stars over up-and-coming talent, who have increasingly been jumping over to arch-rival WWF. It remains to be seen if Von Kramer can reverse any of these trends in order to compete effectively with his old employers. Watch this space for further updates!

[LowBlowPodcast]

Are you using 2016??

[Matt D]

I look forward to the fifteen person York Foundation.

[Beast]

Yay!

[soup23]

We want Frey! We Want Frey!

[NotJayTabb]

I'm looking forward to a big push for the Z-Man

[Beast]

There was a guy on the old EWBattleground board who did a WCW 1991 Fantasy Diary and he brought in Stan Lane, Ronnie Garvin, and Jeff Jarrett with mega pushes, pushed the Freebirds to the top of the tag division, and turned Zenk heel and made him an associate of Mr. Bob Backlund.

 

You have big shoes to fill.

[JerryvonKramer]

Schedule and TV:

 

I've gone for the most "classic" feeling line-up of WCW PPVs for the year. 12 is far too many PPVs, so I've gone with 8.

 

I plan to have four Clashes for the year in Jan, March, August, and November.

 

Five different TV shows is quite a lot, that's 6 hours of TV to fill every week.

 

 

World Championship Wrestling is the traditional flagship show on TBS (the GCW Saturday slot).

 

Also on TBS are Power Hour (Fridays) and Main Event (old Watts Sunday slot).

 

Worldwide is the old JCP syndicated slot, and Pro is the old MACW syndicated slot.

 

Worldwide has a deal to be shown on ITV giving exposure in the UK, while World Championship Wrestling can be seen in the rest of Europe on DSF. Canadian viewers can see Power Hour on TSN.

 

This means that of the five shows, Worldwide (UK), World Championship Wrestling (Europe) and Power Hour (Canada) are probably the most important in terms of eyeballs.

 

Currently, there is no way for viewers outside of USA to see any of the PPV events, and ideally I need to find a way for them to see them -- especially for a certain young man in South Wales.

 

Let's take a look at the roster.

 

Faces:

 

Main event:

 

Sting

Lex Luger

Scott Steiner

Rick Steiner

JYD

 

Upper-midcarders:

 

Dustin Rhodes

Brian Pillman

Ricky Morton

Robert Gibson

Tommy Rich

 

Midcarders

 

Brad Armstrong

Norman the Lunatic

Owen Hart

Steve Armstrong

Terry Taylor

Tracy Smothers

Z-Man

 

JTTS

 

Chris Youngblood

Mark Youngblood

Pez Whatley

Ranger Ross

Tim Horner

 

Jobbers:

 

Keith Hart

Italian Stallion

 

Special attractions:

 

Dusty Rhodes

El Gigante

 

Heels:

 

Main event:

 

Ric Flair

Vader

Stan Hansen

Sid Vicious

 

Upper midcarders:

 

Arn Anderson

Barry Windham

Bobby Eaton

Butch Reed

Ron Simmons

Michael Hayes

Jimmy Garvin

Kevin Sullivan

Larry Zbyszko

Michael Wallstreet

 

Midcarders:

 

Big Cat

Dan Spivey

DDP

Dutch Mantell

Master Blaster Blade

Master Blaster Steel

 

 

JTTS

 

El Cubano

Jack Victory

Lethal Larry

Moondog Rex

Motor City Madman

Rip Morgan

Rip Rogers

Scott Armstrong

The Juicer

Sgt. Buddy Lee Parker

 

Jobbers:

 

George South

Jim Clontz

Mark Kyle

Pat Rose

The Minotaur

 

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

 

Thoughts:

 

Roster seems heel heavy. There is a huge amount of talent on this roster, but also a lot of total shit like Motor City Madman and Master Blaster Blade.

 

Need to beef up on faces, and clear out the crap.

 

Going to see who is currently unemployed.

 

Well, this one is a no-brainer.

 

Ditto.

 

Ditto.

 

Maybe one last MX run. Let's see if he accepts.

 

He's young, but I think this one has potential.

 

Just to annoy Johnny Sorrow.

 

Cos early 90s WCW wouldn't be the same without Sexy Eric Bischoff

 

Seem to be short on face jobbers.

 

Okay, let's see who else I could pick up who isn't locked down on a written contract.

 

Complete no brainer.

 

Of course.

 

You're right Dusty.

[JerryvonKramer]

Let me have a quick look at the non-wrestlers.

 

 

Managers:

 

Paul E. Dangerously

Alexandra York

DDP

Harley Race

Teddy Long

 

Refs:

 

Nick Patrick

Randy "Don't Call Me Peewee" Anderson

Jimmy Jett

Mike Atkins

 

Play-by-Play:

 

Jim Ross

Gordon Solie

Lance Russell

Tony Schiavone

 

Colour:

 

Magnum TA

Missy Hyatt

 

Authority Figures:

 

Jim Herd

Jim Crockett Jr.

Ole Anderson

 

Road Agents:

 

Dick the Bruiser

Grizzly Smith

Jody Hamilton

Mike Graham

 

-----------

 

I've already made a move for Jesse, but it seems to me that while I'm absolutely loaded up with top play-by-play guys I don't have that many colour men.

 

I like the idea of re-uniting Tony Schiavone and David Crockett, and I might stick them on Worldwide together.

 

Jim Ross can front World Championship Wrestling, but I want Gordon Solie on that show too as a spiritual link to its roots.

 

Russell can take Main Event.

 

I'll give Solie Pro.

 

If Eric Bischoff comes in, he will get Power Hour. If not, I'll give it to Ross.

 

If Jesse comes in, he'll be on PPVs and World Championship Wrestling.

 

I could put Paul E., Michael Hayes or Dutch Mantell on colour on some of the shows. I wonder what Corny is up to ... if I'm going to reunite Eaton and Condrey, he needs to be around anyway.

 

Well Eaton approves.

 

As does Ross.

 

But the boss doesn't. I'm going to try to sign him anyway.

 

Okay, let's try 9 months.

 

Bill Watts is currently unemployed, so maybe he could come in as an analyst. There is also the option of putting MYSELF on colour; but I think I will resist that temptation. And there's always Dusty

 

For now though, I'm thinking:

 

WCW: Ross and Ventura

Worldwide: Schiavone and Crockett

Main Event: Russell and Mantell

Pro: Solie and Hayes

Power hour: Ross / Bischoff and Cornette

 

Jesse has better chemistry with Tony than with JR, Corny has better chemistry with Ross. But I kinda love the idea of having Tony / David Crockett back together in 1991.

[JerryvonKramer]

Oh, Jim Herd has spoken, he has set me some targets:

 

 

There goes my plan of turning Gibson into a glorified jobber.

 

I'm sensing R n R vs. MX part 328 on the cards. And maybe a Varsity Club reunion?

 

I hope to ignore goal #5 by hiring Dory Funk Jr.

[JerryvonKramer]

I need to get through the first week or two of TV in order to get all my ducks in a row, make all the major signings I want, and execute my plans. Also there have been some changes to TEW 2016 (as compared with TEW2013), so there's a bit of a learning process.

 

I've fiddled around with the taping schedule a bit:

 

Power Hour and World Championship Wrestling are taped on Wednesdays in the same venue. Power Hour airs Friday, WCW on Saturday.

 

Worldwide is taped on Thursday in its own taping, and also airs Saturday.

 

Pro and Main Event are taped on Friday in the same venue and both go out on Sunday.

 

I've worked out a monthly schedule.

 

Wednesday tapings

1. Cap Centre, Landover, MD (Mid-Atlantic) 2. Denver Coliseum, Denver, CO (South West) 3. Kiel, St. Louis, MO (Mid-West), 4. UIC Pavillion, Chicago, IL (Great Lakes)

 

Thursday tapings

1. The Omni, Atlanta, GA (South East), 2. Riverside Centroplex, Baton Rouge, LA (Mid-South), 3. Spokane Arena, Spokane, WA, (North West) 4. Wildwoods Convention Center, NJ (Tri-State)

 

Friday tapings

Disney MGM Studios

 

From running the first week of shows, I realised that World Championship Wrestling and Worldwide are both going to attract big crowds and so can be run in big arenas, but the B-shows aren't going to draw at all, so might as well do those at Disney.

 

On this scendule, I eight of the major markets at least once a month. Also, for example, if you're a fan in Atlanta, you'll know Worldwide is coming to The Omni on the first week of every month, so always a reason to come back.

 

Not much going on during these first shows, they are placeholders really while I am finding my footing here.

 

Power Hour:

 

Admittedly, a bit of an insult of a show. Traditional jobber matches with a pretty weak main event. But this is all you can expect from Power Hour under my reign. It's a C-show.

 

Note, Eric Bischoff has started already and is hosting the show solo. He'll fill in as an interviewer across the TV also.

 

Sal Bellomo also started as a face jobber. He can forget about the gimmick too, he's going back as the pudgy bland Italian guy a la mid-80s WWF.

 

World Championship Wrestling:

 

Jesse Ventura has signed but his contract hasn't started, he'll take over from Paul E. on colour from next week.

 

Spot the lengthy road-agent note about production values. I have now upgraded them. Spending Turner's money pretty fast in the process:

 

 

There was a hot match in the middle of this card:

 

 

This match was mainly to remind fans of the idea of the Horsemen as a unit of four.

 

And after that excitement, here's the definition of a "cooler" match:

 

 

Like I said, Bellomo will be reverting to his mid-80s gimmick.

 

 

NWA world title defense for Sting against a middling opponent. He did well.

 

This was a good example of "peaks and troughs" style booking. 4 Horsemen match got the crowd pumped, Bellomo-Rose brought them back down, Sting-Taylor pumped them back up again. I learned that from VKM.

 

Pro:

 

As you can see, small crowd for these tapings. Note the line about "attractive women" being on the show. I might need to get more Missy Hyatt onto these shows.

 

That reminds me also: I need to unite the World and US tag titles. I've never liked the idea of the US tag titles.

 

Main Event:

 

I need a few more jobbers to give Pat Rose a break. Losing to Bellomo and Norman the Lunatic in the space of a week is probably a bit much.

 

Mark Youngblood pretty much shit the bed in his match and I think that the Youngbloods are going to be jobbers for me. There is a lot of shit buried deep in his roster underneath all the quality.

[Matt D]

There's cooling the crowd down and then there's dressing up in a fuzzy parka and shooting them with a freeze ray while cackling maniacally. 16 minutes for Bellomo vs Rose?

[JerryvonKramer]

Week 2:

 

Power Hour:

 

Major plot point on this show was Ole rejoining the Horsemen as their manager.

 

World Championship Wrestling:

 

Here, I had Tully Blanchard return, turning Sid face in the process.

 

 

 

 

Tully Blanchard! From nowhere, did he come from under the ring?! Schoolboy trip on the big Sid Vicious. Ole Anderson ... knee drop! Barry Windham in the knee! Arn Anderson with a knee drop. And ... Ric Flair has dropped a fourth knee onto the head of Sid Vicious. He's going to get a concussion! Arn Anderson and Windham now, they each grab one of Sid's huge arms and pin him down. Flair is beckoning for the house mic ...

 

Flair: Since 1985, this organisation, the FOUR Horsemen has been a representation of the ELITE in this sport. And now, my good old friend Mr. Tully Blanchard is BACK in WCW. So, you see, Sid, you see, ha ha, you were only ever making up the places. You were never a TRUE Horsemen.

 

Ole: This sport is about wrestling. Professional wrestling. That means picking a bodypart, be it an arm or a leg, and then ripping it apart like a Master Surgeon. That means knowhow in the ring. That means SMARTS. And you, Sid, you big musclehead, you meathead, you great lug, you are found wanting. All the things you'll never be are represented by the one and only Tully Blanchard.

 

Tully: That's right! The Four Horsemen are BACK to take over Professional wrestling. And it's good to be back. Do you understand, "Sid Vicious", why this had to take place?

 

*Arn and Barry hold Sid in place. Tully slaps him in the face.*

 

Tully: That, boy, is a lesson I hope you'll learn.

 

*Flair slaps Sid in the face.*

 

Flair: You're no longer a Horseman, you never were a Horsemen, and you'll never be one! Get him out of my sight!

 

*Arn and Barry roll Sid out of the ring.

 

All five men -- Flair, Arn, Tully, Barry and Ole -- stand side-by-side and hold the four fingers aloft.

[JerryvonKramer]

However, unfortunately ... after less than two weeks ... I've been fired. Well that was rather sudden!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Unbelieveable.

[Matt D]

That's sort of what happened with Frey.

[JerryvonKramer]

Man. I am pretty gutted because I'd put all the pieces in place to execute my masterstroke booking plan. I'd signed all of the people too, was just waiting for their start dates. Since it's not going to happen now, let me talk through it.

 

Wrestler of the Century

 

1. Current NWA World Champion, Sting has been voted the "Wrestler of the Century" by the WCW fans.

 

2. During the presentation ceremony, someone interrupts proceedings ... Harley Race! He cites his 8 world titles and says that HE should have won the award.

 

3. Then Dory Funk Jr. comes out and says that since he held the belt for four years, HE should have won it.

 

4. Jack Brisco comes out.

 

5. Terry Funk comes out.

 

6. Gene Kiniski and Killer Kowolski both come out.

 

7. Buddy Rodgers comes out.

 

8. Lou Thesz comes out.

 

9. Ricky Steamboat comes out.

 

10. Ric Flair comes out.

 

11. Soon every living former NWA champion including Baba, Dusty and Tommy Rich are all there.

 

Somehow it all works out that Sting has to go on the "Wrestler of the Century" gauntlet facing each of the former champions in turn, starting with Thesz at 70+, Rodgers and Kiniski in their 60s, etc. etc. until he gets all the way through Race to Flair.

 

Most of the matches against the older guys would have taken place on Clashes / TV but the plan was:

 

Superbrawl: Sting vs. Dory Funk Jr

Spring Stampede: Sting vs. Jack Brisco

Slamboree: Sting vs. Terry Funk

GAB: Sting vs. Harley Race

Bash at the Beach: Sting vs. Dusty Rhodes

Fall Brawl: Sting vs. Tommy Rich

Halloween Havoc: Sting vs. Ricky Steamboat

Starrcade: Sting vs. Ric Flair

 

I guess it wasn't to be.

[Grimmas]

This is why I don't play TEW, because the mods suck (no promotion should drop in size two weeks into a game). Since I am too lazy to create my own mod (well made plans, but don't have the time) I just don't play.

[JerryvonKramer]

Well there aren't any other booking jobs available, so I might just have to start my own promotion ... A shame I've just signed every single former NWA champion to 3-year written contracts!

[Jesse Ewiak]

Just create a 2nd player and add them as the booker for WCW.

 

Go to Edit -> Add New Player -> Select Whomever -> Then Choose WCW as a booker.

 

Also, are you sure the right shows were marked as A and B shows?

[JerryvonKramer]

Yes; they were wrong to start with, but I ensured they were correct as of Jan 91.

 

I am going to go it alone with a brand new company. WCW do not deserve me!

[Karl]

Must admit, I tinkered with the mod slightly and removed Herd as WCW owner and replaced him with Ted Turner...otherwise there was no real way of getting rid of Herd as IRL.

[goc]

Your firing feels kind of justified with you putting a 16 minute Bellomo/Pat Rose match on TV.

[Beast]

Yeah, unfortunately, I think WCW made the right call here. Sting vs. Dory, Harley, Brisco, Dusty, and Rich headlining PPV's in 1991????? Or ever????

 

And 16 minute Bellomo vs. Rose is unforgivable. Your TV showed no real evidence of better things to come.

[soup23]

Glad this dime store imitation of Vince Sr. got canned. Sorry Parv but the "wrestler of the century" pattern seems really grasping at the aging fans of the Carolina's and the wrestling domestic market was already shrinking in 1991-1992 for the lack of creation of a new batch of stars. Sting possibly could have came out looking stronger or it could have appeared he went on a rampage through the nursing home.

[Matt D]

Can you imagine 91 sheets. "Another geriatric snoozefest booked by Von Lamer."