NWA: Rising From The Ashes

[LAURINAITIS33]

NWA: Rising From The Ashes

It is January 2009, NWA's pay per view "Slammiversary" is sold out at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California. Thousands of fans roar into the arena holding their AJ Styles and Samoa Joe signs and wearing their Sting T-shirts, eager for the show to start. Wrestling internet sites is buzzing with rumors and predicitions of the biggest wrestling pay per view of the year while millions fans at home spend their $49.95 fee to watch it at home. Everybody is ready for "Slammiversary" to begin.

Dixie Carter, President of the NWA, looks down from her luxury box at the crowd below with a huge smile on her face. Her assistant hands her the latest buy-rates predicition which is even bigger than previously predicted. She pulls out her cell phone and calls her partner Jeff Jarrett to deliver the great news, the two chat for awhile then she laughs and hangs up the phone. A nearby journalist comes up and asks Dixie for an interview but she declines. Tonight she wants to relish in her moment of triumph. She picks up a book and hands it to the journalist and tells the man to make an appointment with her assistant for a later date for a proper interview. The journalist agrees and takes the book and sits down to watch the show. He looks down at the book and reads the title...

"NWA: Rising From the Ashes"

He opens it up and reads the title of the first chapter "2004..The Merger...."


...TO BE CONTINUED ​

 

[The Rated R CMStar]

I think you should go into more detail as how Dixie Carter became the president of NWA and stopped being the president of TNA.

Other than that, there's not much more to say. I'll keep looking to see where you go with this

 

[Moonlight Drive]

Very, very intriguing so far. I'm definitely going to check this out.

 

[LAURINAITIS33]

Chapter One "The Merger"

Once upon a time the N.W.A. ruled supreme in the world of professional wrestling, if you were a worthwile promotion you was a member of the NWA promotional umbrella. But soon it started to change, Vince McMahon Sr. and his WWF promotion broke free from the control of the NWA branching off on his own as Vern Gagne and the AWA and Ted Turner and WCW soon followed. These depatures crippled the NWA to near disaster as it lied dormant for years. In 2002, Jeff Jarrett's new company, TNA, remembered the historic NWA and used their titles to give his promotion instant credibilty but in 2004 they too was threatening to sever ties with the NWA. This time things will be different.

As the departure threat loomed the NWA Board of Directors sprung into action as they fired NWA President Ernie Todd opening the job for a new person. They had one person in mind and that was TNA President, Dixie Carter. The NWA made a deal with Dixie Carter to become the NWA President that she accepted. Many people around the wrestling world questioned this decision by the TNA leader, but Dixie had her own ideas. They also added Jerry Jarrett and Jeff Jarrett to the Board of Directors giving TNA solid control of the NWA. The NWA won't go away this time.

Carter,in her new role, quickly made friends with many promotional owners under the NWA brand, these brands were set up as a developmental system to the bigger name ,TNA promotion. In return TNA will let their famous stars appear at these various promotions helping them make money at big city events. These promoters were very pleased with the new found alliance.

Carter finally announced that TNA will change their name to NWA Wrestling, a move that was made for a fresh start. They also went back to a standard ring instead of using the Lucha Libre-style they had previously used. These moves were set up to make fans take the NWA more seriously and forget all about TNA.

In Chicago, another promotion, Ring of Honor, was having their own issues. Their owner and founder, Rob Feinstein, was arrested in an underage sex sting. A promotion that had been waiting to get noticed was now getting their names in the news for the wrong thing. Feinstein, not wanting to drag down Ring of Honor, sold his company to Chicago businessman, Cary Silkin. Silkin was left with a damaged product with an uncertain future.

Dixie Carter, the opportunist, saw the writing on the wall and made a call to the new owner, She offered Cary Silkin and Ring of Honor a place in the new NWA. The deal was that Ring of Honor will become the number one breeding ground for NWA Wrestling and Cary Silkin keep full control of the product and have a seat on the NWA Board of Directors. Silkin deliberated on the move and finally agreed.

In a few months of being on the job, Dixie Carter has put in place the foundation for future success. The NWA now possessed the largest developmental program in wrestling, one that will hopefully give them a stockpile of future talent for many years. She also assembled herself a solid core group of wrestlers insiders at her side to guide her throught the competitve business. Now with a television contract with FoxSports getting ready to start and the first ever "NWA Xplosion" on the horizon, they needed some big names for instant cash, after thinking long and hard on who was out there, they decided that only one man can do the trick and that man was


HULK HOGAN!!


UP NEXT...CHAPTER TWO..."2004...HULKAMANIA MEETS THE NWA"

 

[Evil Austin]

Sounds really good man, lots of time and thought came into this and it shows. Good luck.

 

[taikimoto]

good read

 

[CT Styles]

Very good and intriguing.

 

[Dylanfsd]

Looks promising so far, good luck man.

 

[LAURINAITIS33]

Hulkamania meets the NWA


The first everNWA Xplosion was about a month away and the reborn promotion was missing one thing and that was star power. They had great young talent with the likes of AJ Styles and Christopher Daniels from TNA and CM Punk and Samoa Joe from Ring of Honor but was anybody going to watch them week in and week out.It was decided by Carter and the NWA Board of Directors that bigger names needed to be brought in to cement the NWA's place in the wrestling world. After the meeting it was determined that only one man can fill their needs and that was the "Immortal" Hulk Hogan.

Hulk Hogan was leery of the offer, did he want to risk further appearance offers from WWE or risk it all on the new promotion. Finally playing to his ego, Hogan accepted the offer and became the newest member of the NWA roster. Nobody knew the terms of the contract but it was rumored that it made Hogan, by far, the highest paid member of the NWA roster and one of the apples that was lured for Hogan to join was to make his good friend, Jimmy Hart, the Head Booker. Hart was looked on as a great wrestling mind and will be respected for his ideas but he would have no say in brining in talent. The Hogan/Hart combo was met by disgust from the old TNA wrestlers as they felt like they were being left behind after making the company. After a meeting with the wrestlers, Dixie Carter and the Jarretts assured the younger wrestlers that there time will come and this signing was needed for the long run. The wrestlers still skeptical decided to stick it out and see if they can fulfill that promise.

After the Hogan signing, the dominoes fell in place other big name talent was signed, Randy Savage, Kevin Nash, Scott Hall, Diamond Dallas Page, Sean Waltman and The Steiner Brothers were signed to solidfy the roster. Samoa Joe, CM Punk and Bryan Danielson became the only three wrestlers taken from the Ring of Honor merger to the main roster. Finally it was announced that the NWA United States Title will be added to the title picture.

A lot of criticism was given to the NWA front office for the moves as they shuffled younger stars like Chris Sabin, Alex Shelley and the Naturals down to Ring of Honor to develop their talents against the competition there instead of getting lost in the shuffle. The NWA was going to be a retirement home for old names is what the critics said but nothing was further from the truth.


NWA Roster 2004

NWA World Champion-Jeff Jarrett
X-Division Champion-Christopher Daniels
NWA World Tag Team Champions-America's Most Wanted

Single Wrestlers

Hulk Hogan
Kevin Nash
Diamond Dallas Page
Randy Savage
Sting*
Raven*
Buff Bagwell
Monty Brown*
Abyss*
Sean O'Haire
Dustin Rhodes*
Konnan*

Tag Teams

Scott Hall & Sean Waltman
Steiner Brothers
Ekmo & Kimo*
3 Live Crew (Konnan & BG James)*
Disco Inferno* & Rico Constantino

X-Divsion

AJ Styles*
Bryan Danielson*
Samoa Joe*
Brian Lawler
Low Ki*
CM Punk*
Sonny Siaki*
Jeff Hardy*

(*NWA originals)



UP NEXT...CHAPTER THREE....2004 "IT'S ALL ABOUT THE MONEY"​

 

[The Leviathan]

It is indeed a very controversial one. It's somewhat turning into the old WCW after seeing the oldies step up. Well, I am also against Hogan and the others but I believe you have something that will really make us surprise. I am going to read the next chapter.

 

[THE Renegade Diesel]

This looks good. I skimmed through the two chapters, and they were inovative, and interesting throughout. Hogan's role, sounded was like it was going to be generic, which honestly it somewhat was, but you added some spice to it.

The roster's are good, and appealing. You just don't have old stars, you have youngsters like Punk, and Styles, but I honestly don't see Punk, Styles, or Hardy being in this one. Yet, it is fiction, and it doesn't matter what we don't see. They should be good add on's to the roster.

All About The Money, I say is going to be a short, explanation, of how NWA gets their finnacial backing. Nothing great their imho, but anyways, I'll try to stay more in touch with this BTB. I have predictions up if you don't mind.

 

[LAURINAITIS33]

Chapter Three.. "All About the Money"


Now with a new name, new wrestlers and for the first time a nationally televised show the NWA was on a roll. People were saying good things and bad things about the NWA's move but at least they were talking about the NWA which they wasn't months earlier.

NWA "Xplosion" debuted at 6pm on a Saturday in April. The buzz created by the NWA's move set records for a debuting pro wrestling show. The show featured the debut of Hulk Hogan, who was brought in as the new on-air owner of the NWA, thus explaining the changes to TNA wrestling in a storyline. NWA World Champion, Jeff Jarrett, came out and confronted his new boss but Hogan kept his cool and avoided a confrontation.

This went on for weeks as Jarrett did anything and everything to get under Hulk's skin and after insulting Brooke Hogan, Jarrett got his wish. Hogan and Jarrett headlined the biggest NWA pay per view history, naturally named "Genesis" taking place in March. There Jeff Jarrett regained the title as Hogan's former stablemates Kevin Nash, Scott Hall and Sean Waltman interfered on Jarrett's behalf by assaulting Hogan with a baseball bat while the referee laid unconcious.

As the owner, Hogan announced that their will be a special four man tag at the next pay per view called "Lockdown" taking place in April where both teams will be locked inside a steel cage unable to run. Over the next four weeks Sting and the Steiner Brothers were announced as the Hulkster's teammates. The highlight of the announcement was Hogan asking for Sting's help despite the two's past feud with the crowd roaring the two shaked hands in one of Xplosion's biggest moments yet.

"Lockdown" was a success as the Hulkster's team won after Hogan delivered the big leg drop to Sean Waltman for the win.Hogan and his team celebrated as Jarrett berated the fallen Waltman. The verbal assault was ended as Jarrett received a jacknife power bomb by Kevin Nash, as Jarrett's teammates left him in the middle of the ring.

The next night on Xplosion it was announced that Sting tore his left bicep in the matchup last night and will be out of action for close to a year. The announcement was interrupted by Jeff Jarrett, who laughed at the Sting injury. NWA owner, Hulk Hogan announced that Jarrett will defend his title against himself and Jarrett's new found enemy, Kevin Nash, in a three way match that very night. Jarrett was under a constant attack from both man as Nash finally jacknifed him in the middle ring only to turn around and catch the big boot from Hogan. After asking the fans on who to drop the legdrop on, Hogan hits it on Jarrett to become the NWA World Champion. Hogan offered his hand in friendship to Nash after the match only to have it slapped away and a disgusted Nash left the ring. The next week, Hogan gives up his match making powers as owner to Sting for believing in him earlier and getting injured at Lockdown. Sting then announced that Hogan will defend the title against Kevin Nash at the next pay per view "Unbreakable".

The next four months the NWA saw Hogan go through a list of challengers at the pay per views. Kevin Nash,Randy Savage,Scott Hall and Diamond Dallas Page all become victims of the mighty leg drop. Also in a special pay per view only shown in Japan, Hogan faced Kenta Kobashi, where both man where counted out. The match was believed to be Hogan's best in 10 years. After the much internet hooplah about the match, it was shown on Xplosion for all the fans to see. Hogan was being the star that the NWA brought him in for.But there was alot more going on in the NWA other than the big name action.

While the fans were going wild for Hogan, the show was actually being stolen by X-Divison stars, Samoa Joe, Christopher Daniels, CM Punk, Jeff Hardy, Bryan Danielson and AJ Styles was putting on unbelievable matches show after show, with each star becoming X-Division Champion at least once in the first 6 months. America's Most Wanted was also proving themselves as the best tag team in wrestling keeping the belts the whole time fighting off advances by the Steiner Brothers, Scott Hall/Sean Waltman and the ,gigantic Samoans, Ekmo and Kimo. And not to be outdone in terms of credibilty Sean O'Haire won the NWA United States Championship in a tournament over none other than Diamond Dallas Page in the finals. O'Haire then found himself in physical feuds with Raven, Monty Brown and Abyss only losing the title to Brown before regaining it a month later in the rematch.

Everything was coming up roses for Dixie Carter and the NWA. They were making money as each pay per view was a solid seller,FoxSports was more than happy with the first 6 months ratings of "Xplosion" and the biggest thing was the fanfare the younger stars were getting due to the fact of the older wrestlers getting viewers to tune in.

The gameplan couldn't be going any better since this first year was just about one thing it was about making money and with six months to go, it was time to slowly switch to phase two.


"Chapter Four....."The Big Mistake"

.....TO BE CONTINUED​

 

[LAURINAITIS33]

Chapter Four "The Mistake"​

The year of 2004 has been a banner year for the NWA, under the booking guidance of Jimmy Hart and the star power of the older wrestlers, especially Hulk Hogan, they garnered fans and most importantly money. But now the problem came to what to do next?

The older stars were signed to one year contracts and with their young talent in NWA/ROH ready to make the jump the big time, it was time for a massive shake-up, but how to they do it successfully.

As 2004 drew to a close, Hulk Hogan had held the title for almost the whole year, so who would take the title from him? All the candidates had their problems. Jeff Jarrett was the logical choice but he had been beated by Hogan numerous times. Sting was another choice as he was recovering from injury but they felt he had solidfied his alliance with Hogan and a Sting heel-turn would only hurt in the long run. Samoa Joe and AJ Styles were mentioned but both was deemed too important for the X-Division. They finally came to one conclusion and that was the current United States Champion...Sean O'Haire.

Sean O'Haire had been impressive in his comeback in '04. He looked dominant in feuds with Abyss, Monty Brown, Scott Steiner and Diamond Dallas Page and had garnered a solid fan base. Finally the NWA Board of Directors voted and O'Haire was chosen as the man to lead the NWA into 2005.

So at Turning Point (Nov 2004), a King of the Mountain match took place. Hulk Hogan, Randy Savage, Sean O'Haire, Jeff Jarrett, Kevin Nash and Abyss was booked for the match. The ending saw Sean O'Haire pin Abyss after the Seanton as Savage and Hogan battled on the outside. The new era had begun.

On the next week's Xplosion, Hogan approved the O'Haire reign as he challenged Randy Savage to a retirement match for Final Resolution. O'Haire defeated Kevin Nash at the pay per view in his first title defense as Hogan and Savage wrestled to a double countout. The retirement stipulation was up in the air due to the outcome but was settled on the next "Xplosion" as both men was ruled as being forced to retired. Savage was outraged by the decision and left right there to the boos of the crowd as Hogan took the decision gracefully. The last "Xplosion" of 2004 was a special Hulk Hogan retirement show as the stars paid tribute to the "Hulkster".

January 2005 kicked off as Paul Heyman joined the "NWA" on-air as the new owner and off-air as Head Booker replacing Jimmy Hart. This move was really embraced by wrestling fans as Heyman quickly called up young talent from the Ring of Honor developmental promotion. Heyman stuck with O'Haire as the World Champion but after 3 consecutive months the pay per view rates were going down and the NWA faced a their first serious problem.

Heyman saw what Vince McMahon was doing with the new ECW and the outcry of fans for the original stars so Heyman came up with an angle of his own. Soon ex-ECW stars invaded the NWA, the Dudleys were first and then Rhino, Sabu, Mike Awesome and Steve Corino followed. They were joined by Raven as he turned on the NWA stars at Lockdown after swearing his total alliance to the NWA after receiving skepticism by NWA captain Sting.

The Dudleys quickly became tag champions after defeating America's Most Wanted in May at Sacrifice and Steve Corino unsuccessfully challenged CM Punk for the X-Division Title. O'Haire retained his title after he ran the gauntlet against Rhino, Sabu, Awesome and Raven. The ECW invasion storyline was first embraced by fans but was soon bashed. But Paul Heyman stuck with his idea.

After a big surprise as Abyss joined the ECW-invasion team, Abyss upset Sean O' Haire at Slammiversary after interference by Heyman, costing Sean his title. Aybss was soon defeated at Hard Justice in a steel cage to Sting for the title.

After a increasing decline in pay per view buys and ratings, Dixie Carter decided to fire Paul Heyman after 9 months on the job. The view by the NWA Board of Directors was that they traded big name older stars for lesser name older stars. Heyman was outraged by the firing as Carter replaced him with his former ECW employee, Gabe Sapolsky, as he was moved up from his duties in Ring of Honor.

The dip in ratings wasn't a turn off for SpikeTV though. The station which was shunned by the WWE's show RAW, when they signed back with the USA Network, offered the NWA a spot for a show on their prime-time weekly night lineup. After negotations a show called "Impact" was set to debut. It was decided that "Impact" would become the flagship show due to it's weekly primetime spot and "Xplosion" will become exclusively a show for the "X-Division". Soon it was announced that the NWA World Title, NWA US Title and the NWA World Tag Team titles will becomne exclusive to "Impact" as "Xplosion" will have the NWA X-Division Champion and the newly created NWA Television Title and NWA X-Division Tag Team Titles, exclusively for "Xplosion". Wrestlers in the developmental system was deemed to be ready and many were called up to make a name for themselves on the new stage.

Gabe Sapolsky was excited with the moves and set up his rosters for both shows. He went out of the system and signed two recently fired wrestlers from the WWE in Matt Hardy and Christian Cage. He was eager to start a new show and a new roster from scratch with the "Xplosion" brand as he had great talent to work with.

With the mistake of the Paul Heyman behind them, the NWA staked their future on their home grown talent and Gabe Sapolsky. Will it work or will the NWA drift away?




NWA "Impact" Roster as of November 2005

NWA World Champion-Sting
NWA World Tag Team Champions- The Dudleys
NWA United States Champion-Monty Brown

Jeff Jarrett
Christian Cage (signed as free agent in '05)
Jeff Hardy
Matt Hardy (signed as free agent in '05)
Sean O"Haire
Abyss
Raven
Rhino
BG James
Konnan
Ron Killings
Disco Inferno
Rico Constantino
Chris Harris
James Storm
Dustin Rhodes
Antonio Bank$$ (called up from developmental,known to many as M.V.P.)
Ken Anderson (called up from developmental,known to many as Mr. Kennedy)
Ekmo (known to many as Umaga)
Kimo (known in to many as Rosey)
Robert Roode (called up from developmental)
Vampiro (signed as free agent)




NWA "Xplosion" Roster as of November 2005

NWA X-Division Champion-CM Punk
NWA Television Champion-TBD
NWA X-Division Tag Team Champions-TBD

Samoa Joe
AJ Styles
Christopher Daniels
Bryan Danielson
Chris Sabin (called up)
Austin Aries (called up)
Andy Douglas
Chase Stevens
Low Ki
Brian Lawler
Scotty Taylor (singed as free agent)
Homicide (called up)
Rocky Romero (called up)
Ricky Reyes (called up)
Sonjay Dutt (called up)
Sonny Siaki
Petey Williams (called up)
Teddy Hart (called up)
Joey Matthews (called up)
Chris York (called up)
Eric Young (called up)



Chapter Five " X Marks the Spot"

TO BE CONTINUED.....​

​

 

[LAURINAITIS33]

NWA Title History
(since I can't include every kind of a move in my chapters lol)


NWA World Title

Jeff Jarrett
Hulk Hogan
Sean O'Haire
Abyss
Sting


NWA United States Champion

Sean O'Haire
Monty Brown
Sean O'Haire
Monty Brown
Abyss
Dustin Rhodes
Monty Brown

NWA World Tag Team Champions

America's Most Wanted
Kimo/Ekmo
America's Most Wanted
Disco Inferno/Rico Constantino
America's Most Wanted
Kevin Nash/ Scott Hall
Steiner Brothers
Disco Inferno/Rico Constantino
Kimo/Ekmo
America's Most Wanted
The Dudleys
The Hardys


NWA X-Divison Champion

Christopher Daniels
Bryan Danielson
AJ Styles
Jeff Hardy
CM Punk
Samoa Joe
AJ Styles
Samoa Joe
CM Punk
​

 

[The Leviathan]

Hmmm... I think this should be the start of the show but looks like you're giving some infos about the X-Division. The story is more likely a WCWish storyline then I marked out to see another Sean O'Haire Godly Push but then he got dropped (he should be on the Main Event scene still). I really thought the oldies will stay but thank God not. Lol @ Macho Man getting pissed off when he was retired. Looking forward for some developments.