WCW '02: From the Ashes

[Benj94]

WCW ’02: From the Ashes​

For this game, I’ll be using Fleisch’s “Flashpoint 2002” mod. This is an alt. reality mod in which Owen Hart never fell to his death, ultimately changing the landscape of professional wrestling.

Meanwhile, Randy Savage was the man to purchase WCW back in ’01.

The thing I like most about this, is that I can create my own backstory and begin from exactly where I want to be. This post will create that story, heading into Starrcade 2001 [which, for TEW purposes, would have taken place on the final day of that year.] I'll have a miniature write-up for the event itself, but the full write-ups will begin from the first Nitro of 2002.

If you are unfamiliar with the mod, or wish to download it then you can find it here: https://tewdb.com/img428.htm

Enjoy.

Stories heading into Starrcade.

The main story heading into WCW’s flagship pay-per-view event sees four of the company’s biggest names fighting it out over the most coveted prize in wrestling – The World Heavyweight Championship. Current holder Kevin Nash puts the gold on the line against Diamond Dallas Page, Bret Hart and Jeff Jarrett in a fatal four way. The big gold belt has changed hand seven times in 2001. Booker T ended Scott Steiner’s four-month reign in March, losing it to Kevin Nash in July before winning the strap back just six days later, entering his fifth reign as champion. Booker signed a contract with WWF in August though, meaning he had to lose the title before he left. Diamond Dallas Page was the man to take the helm, beating Booker at WCW Breaking Point. As WCW continued to grow throughout the latter stages of 2001, Sean O’Haire emerged as a breakout star, shocking the world when he pinned DDP cleanly at Halloween Havok. Unfortunately for him, the higher ups in the company didn’t see O’Haire as the man to take the company forward and had him drop the belt to Goldberg just three weeks later. Goldberg was screwed out of the title on the December 9th edition of Nitro when Kevin Nash cheated his way to victory, with the aid of long-time friend Scott Hall. The booking of this match saw Goldberg leave WCW for good, going to ply his trade with All Japan Pro Wrestling. Since winning the title, Nash has had a huge target on his back. All four competitors who’ll compete in the main event have each had their own success in recent weeks, but in the most recent edition of Nitro, it was Dallas Page who came out on top, claiming a pinfall victory over Nash in a tag team match, giving him the momentum heading into the event.
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Despite winning the World Championship in the latter part of 2001, Sean O’Haire hasn’t quite broken out as a “top guy” yet. Sean had the fans backing and played the role of babyface perfectly up until he lost the strap to Goldberg. Since then, his entire persona has changed. O’Haire has been putting down the fans, the company, and many top stars within it. This led to the return of Ric Flair. The Nature Boy said the reasons for his comeback was mainly because he was sick and tired of these cocky, young punks coming in, bitching and moaning anytime something doesn’t go their way. Flair told O’Haire that he sees all the potential in the world with him. He can’t cry because things didn’t work out the way he expected and told him to find the fire within himself to get the gold back. The two men would team up throughout November and came within inches of winning the tag titles. After coming up short, O’Haire turned on the Nature Boy, beating him to a bloody mess in the middle of the ring. The two have been brawling around arenas ever since and will finally come to blows in an official match at Starrcade.
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Scott Steiner and Buff Bagwell formed a unit in the summer of 2001, when Bagwell saved Steiner from a beating at the hands of Kevin Nash and Scott Hall. They had initially began their story as a babyface pairing, but it wasn’t long before they switched over to the dark side and began to decimate every team in their wake. Steiner and Buff focused on destroying the cruiserweight division, which led to young AJ Styles recruiting Kronik to deal with the egomaniacs. The two teams entered into a feud which saw Scott and Buff take the World Tag Titles from their new rivals at WCW Mayhem in November. In the weeks since, Kronik have been steamrolling teams and have earned an opportunity to get their titles back for the fourth time at Starrcade!
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Sting hasn’t had the best year since WCW was purchased by Randy Savage. During the summer months, a story of authority vs fan-favourite babyface was the main focus of WCW. Sting overcame that and beat Savage on PPV at Bash at the Beach to keep his place in the company and [kayfabe] force ‘The Macho Man’ out of his own company. In reality, Savage no longer wanted to appear on-screen and would rather focus on building success to World Championship Wresting. Since Sting’s emphatic victory though, he’s been on something of a losing streak and slowly falling down the card. This has created much joy for Shane Douglas, who in recent weeks has made a mockery of Sting’s lack of success. Douglas has since recruited ‘Wildcat’ Chris Harris and ‘The Cowboy’ James Storm, and the three men have made Sting’s life a misery week in, week out. On the most recent edition of Nitro, Sting finally got some momentum on his side. With Storm and Harris celebrating a tag victory, the lights went out in the arena. Sting appeared in the ring with his signature bat once the lighting returned and used it to good effect by getting his revenge on Douglas’ lackeys. ‘The Franchise’ would appear on stage, absolutely irate – more so when Sting pointed the bat in his direction to close out the segment. Later on in the show, Douglas cut a backstage promo to say that he’s spoken with WCW management and the match would be booked for Starrcade.
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The United States Championship has been gaining more and more prestige through 2001. The current holder, Scott Hall, spent a while in rehab to deal with his drug and alcohol issues and since his return in July has been undefeated. Hall was a fan favourite, teaming with Hardcore Hak on occasion. He eventually turned on Hak though, citing that he only got close to him because he wanted the gold. He would later defeat Hardcore at Mayhem and claim the title. The following night on Nitro, a new challenge appeared for the now-heel Hall, in the form of Rellik. A mysterious character, Rellik began to stalk Hall backstage. Eventually on the final Nitro of 2001, Rellik made his intentions clear when he attacked Hall during a US Title defence, cementing his place as the number one contender. Hall, later on in the night, was livid – even more so when WCW management informed him he’d be defending against the strange Rellik at Starrcade.
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Billy Kidman is the longest serving champion in World Championship Wrestling right now. He won the title at Bash at the Beach in July 2001. Since then, he’s grown from strength to strength, proving to be the focal point of the recreation of WCW’s Cruiserweight division, defending the title 18 times since besting Shane Helms for it. Since November, Kidman has been embroiled in a war with Yang and Kaz Hayashi, known collectively as The Jung Dragons. Yang has built an obsession with becoming champion, even going so far to steal the title from Kidman after losing to him at the Mayhem PPV. In recent weeks, Kidman has entered an on-screen relationship with Paisley, who found herself at the receiving end of a beating from the Dragons on the final episode of Nitro before Starrcade, understandably angering Kidman. The match is now set for the final pay-per-view of 2001 with the title on the line.
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The final story heading into WCW’s biggest event of the year sees former friends collide. Mark Jindrak and Chuck Palumbo were a force to be reckoned with as part of the Natural Born Thrillers. After Shawn Stasiak was injured and O’Haire went out alone, Jindrak and Palumbo would tear up the tag team division. However, the introduction of Curt Hennig started to create rifts between the pairing. Hennig took a liking to Jindrak and tried to get in his head, telling him that Palumbo was holding him back. Jindrak initially brushed off the comments, but after Chuck took the fall in a tag title match, Hennig managed to get inside his head. Jindrak turned on his partner and began to wrestle under the wing of Hennig. The two rivals fought at Mayhem in a great match, won by Jindrak, which appeared to end the feud, that was until management announced that the TV Title would be returning to the company. Jindrak and Palumbo went through WCW stars as part of a 16-man tournament and will now compete for the strap at Starrcade. Hennig has the ‘Reflection of Perfection’ firing on all cylinders, but can he beat his former partner for a second time and claim the championship?



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[Stojy]

Any sort of WCW lives scenario is always a fun one. Backstory for this Starrcade card is pretty strong, looking forward to seeing the results and following on from there. Best of luck with this.

 

[Benj94]

Notes: This isn’t the most exciting of write-ups, though I did want to get this bit out of the way so I can start focusing on writing proper shows.

The next post will be Nitro.

I’ll be honest, I work in an office Monday to Friday 9-5 and I have my own window cleaning business which keeps me very busy throughout the week.

I get maybe 1 or 2 hours a night free-time which I can dedicate to writing, so the likelihood is that I’ll be posting one show a week for the foreseeable. Sundays are days I can get a bit more done, so we’ll see how it goes.

Like I say though, the below is pretty rushed and not the best. I am set up perfectly moving forward at least. I have a lot of plans for a lot of stars here.

I’ll include a roster + champions on the next post too so you all have an idea of what’s what.

Starrcade 2001 Quick Results​

Billy Kidman © def. Yang w/ Kaz Hayashi to retain the WCW Cruiserweight Title [14:01] - 69
Kidman and Yang set the standard of the evening as they entertained fans to kick off the show in this enthralling opening contest. Kidman’s long reign continued here, as he overcame the odds stacked against him, beating Yang just after the fourteen-minute mark courtesy of a beautiful shooting star press. One match in and one clean finish. Kidman’s officially defeated every member of the cruiserweight division now. Who, if anybody, can step up and take the title from him?

Scott Hall © def. Rellik to retain the WCW United States Title [06:52] - 62
The reigning US champion’s recovery has been nothing short of incredible. He’s looking better now than he did back in his Razor Ramon days. Rellik has proven to be a pain in his side recently though, literally stalking Hall until eventually launching an attack on him just days before this event. The match itself was a short one, with Rellik trying to use mind games to get inside the head of his opponent. Hall wouldn’t be blurred though. He kept his head and overcame the challenge, hitting Rellik with the Outsider’s Edge to pick up the victory.

Bagwell and Steiner © def. KroniK to retain the WCW World Tag Titles [10:24] - 48
Three matches in and this was the worst of the bunch. Bagwell didn’t look up for it tonight and the contest itself probably went five minutes longer than it should have done. Credit to Bryan Clarke though, who looked in great form in the time he spent between the ropes. After ten minutes of what can only be described as a sluggish brawl full of mis-timings on the bigger spots, Steiner did get the win courtesy of a Steiner Flatliner [reverse STO]. Terrible.

Sean O’Haire def. Ric Flair [12:40] – 70
In what turned out to be one of the better matches of the night, Sean O’Haire secured his biggest win since capturing the World Title a few months previous. Flair turned up here and really tried to get the best out of his young opponent. To his credit, O’Haire showed the potential that he has too, really working his balls off. This contest was back and forth throughout, with a lot of near falls. O’Haire resilience was on show, too, as he withstood the figure four leglock hold for over a minute before he broke the hold by grabbing the ropes. Just moments later, he planted Ric with an inverted death valley driver, before ascending the ropes in the corner, landing a Seanton bomb and quickly hooking the leg for a very impressive victory. Post-match, Flair extended his hand in a show of respect. Disgustingly though, this was rejected by the cocky O’Haire, who left the ring with a smug smirk slathered across his face.

Chuck Palumbo def. Mark Jindrak w/ Curt Hennig to win the WCW TV Title [09:10] – 67
We moved forward with another fun match as two former friends collided over the TV strap. This was the final of a 16-man tournament, and both men proved that they belonged at the higher end of the card as they went back and forth for nearly ten minutes here. In the end, Hennig – who’d intervened already on many occasions – found himself being ejected from ringside by the referee after he’d tried to hand his client a steel chair. Jindrak, who’d controlled things for a few minutes prior to this, was furious. He tried to argue with the ref, only to be rolled up from behind… a questionably quick three count was enough, and Palumbo had a huge victory to close out 2001. Jindrak and Hennig will surely have a lot to say about this one.​

Shane Douglas def. Sting [13:34] – 73

In arguably the best match of the night, Sting and Shane Douglas went to war here. It was announced prior to the bell being heard that this would be a no DQ match, something which favoured Shane Douglas as it allowed Chris Harris and James Storm the opportunity to get involved, effectively making this a three on one handicap match. The trio seriously maimed Sting in this bout, using chairs and other weapons to inflict the damage. Sting, with the fans chanting his name, did fight back though. He cleared the ring of Douglas’ lackeys and, with his signature bat in hand, set his sights on his rival. Sting thrived off the fans energy and used the bat to take out Douglas. In the end though, Storm and Harris returned to the ring to double team the Stinger and actually tie him between the top and middle rope as Douglas unleashed a series of left and rights. Douglas grabbed a steel chair soon after and, with brute force, crushed it over the skull of his opponent. The referee had no other option than to call for the stoppage; he simply couldn’t let Sting continue. Post-match, as the heels celebrated the vicious assault and victory, Sting was forced out of the arena on a stretcher. Is this the end of the Stinger?​

DDP def. Kevin Nash, Bret Hart and Jeff Jarrett to win the WCW World Championship [20:09] – 78

With the fans in the arena pissed off over the ending of the previous match, WCW management knew that they needed a big moment here to get them back on side. Thankfully, they provided just that. In a match full of big moments, the ending provided one of the biggest and best of 2001. During the match here, Bret Hart picked up a legitimate injury which require immediate medical attention. It was announced by commentary shortly after he’d been escorted out by EMTs that Bret had broke his ankle after landing awkwardly. The three other men fought it out for a good ten minutes, with Nash finding himself sent crashing through the announce table at the hands of the eventual winner. Jarrett and DDP fought between themselves, and just as things began to drag, a CUTTER from out of nowhere was enough to secure Page a momentous victory to close Starrcade and close out the year.​

 

[Benj94]

Author's Note: So, I'm glad to get this post out of the way. Nothing special again here. I'm now at the point in which can start writing full segments. I have always booked show to show, so I've not actually figured out exactly how much shows will be written, be that in full detail or as recaps for the weekly shows and a full write up for the larger events, but we'll see how I get on throughout the weeks to come.

My goal is to write at least two full segments per night, as well as those minor backstage segments I can get out of the way in twenty minutes or so. This should hopefully allow for one post a week. We'll see how we get on though. Feedback and suggestions are welcomed after.​

WCW Roster
As of January 1, 2002​

World Heavyweight Champion: Diamond Dallas Page
Won December 2001 at Starrcade.
Former champion: Kevin Nash

United States Champion: Scott Hall
Won November 2001 at Mayhem
Former Champion: Hardcore Hak

World Tag Team Champions: Buff Bagwell and Scott Steiner
Won November 2001 on Nitro
Former Champions: Kronik

Television Champion: Chuck Palumbo
Won December 2001 at Starrcade
Former Champion: Jim Duggan*
*Title was retired in 2000, re-introduced at Starrcade 2001.

Cruiserweight Champion: Billy Kidman
Won July 2001 at Bash at the Beach
Former Champion: Shane Helms​

Spoiler: The Full Roster

Major Stars: Bret Hart, Diamond Dallas Page, Goldberg [on hiatus; working with AJPW for the forseeable], Kevin Nash, Ric Flair, Scott Hall, Scott Steiner, Sting

Stars: Jeff Jarrett, Lex Luger, Mark Jindrak

Well Known: Billy Kidman, Brian Adams, Bryan Clarke, Chuck Palumbo, Curt Hennig, RelliK, Rick Steiner, Sean O’Haire, Shane Douglas

Recognisable: AJ Styles, Brian Christopher, Chavo Guerrero Jr., Elix Skipper, Ernest Miller, Hugh Morrus, Kanyon [out injured], Shawn Stasiak, Stevie Ray

Unimportant: Air Paris, Angry Allan, Berlyn, Big Vito, Bob Sapp, Cash, Chris Harris, Christopher Daniels, Evan Karagias, James Storm, Jamie Noble, Kaz Hayashi, Kevin Northcutt, Kid Romeo, Michael Modest, Mike Sanders, Norman Smiley, Reno, Sam Greco, Yang

Others: Terry Taylor, Torrie Wilson, Arn Anderson, Dusty Rhodes, Scott Armstrong, Billy Silverman, Charles Robinson, Gene Okerlund, Jeremy Borash, Mark Johnson, Mickey Jay, Midajah, Mike Tenay, Nick Patrick, Paisley, Scott Hudson, Stacy Keibler, Randy Savage

Up Next: Monday Nitro.

• Diamond Dallas Page begins his fifth reign as the heavyweight champion.
• Bret Hart has a major announcement
• Scott Steiner and Buff Bagwell are challenged by Ernest Miller and Norman Smiley
• Sting will be in action
• Plus, much, much more.

 

[Stojy]

I thought the results of Starrcade were pretty good in general. The Jindrak loss maybe caught me a little off guard, but I don't necessarily have nay issues with it. I just expected young talent with new manager = hot pairing that when their initial PPV outing. Intrigued to see how manage both Palumbo and Jindrak moving forward after this.

O'Haire winning, Douglas winning (with the help of his young lackeys who will eventually be pushed) are the right calls from me. Pushing forward with this new era.

Assuming the Goldberg leaving forever stuff in your opening post was a swerve because he's listed on your roster as hiatus, and he's the only guy on your Nitro poster. Anyway, Starrcade feels like a really good time to kick off from based on the results so looking forward to keeping an eye on this.