Moonlight Drive
Guest
Part I
The Beginning
January 1, 2009.
The WWE’s culling of superstars and other’s employees thanks to the current economic struggle didn’t end in 2008, as many ushered in the New Year as some of the many joining the unemployment statistics. Wrestling newsites and reporters had a field day though, as they started 2009 with a huge story. WWE had sifted out 20 of it’s employees, many with an astonishing amount of talent.
The internet erupted with posts on blogs, columns and wrestling forums, videos across Youtube and every other site imaginable, the WWE nay-sayers equipping this news as fuel for their Anti-E flamethrowers as many were left dumbfounded at the WWE’s train of logic in the release of so many talented individuals, even in these economic times. None more vocal than former WWE, WCW and ECW wrestler, Lance Storm, who posted a special commentary the following day, on January 2. Here is a small excerpt:
Along with the vocal internet fans, prominent wrestler figures such as Eric Bischoff and Rob Van Dam gave a very negative response to these actions.
At the other end of the spectrum, Total Nonstop Action’s year hardly got off to a great start either. The company were slowly losing fans and many key figures who were holding the show together suffered serious injuries, the TNA World Heavyweight Champion, Sting, Kevin Nash, Chris Sabin and Jay Lethal all suffering injuries that would take them out of action for at least 4+ months. The days looked dim for TNA, losing money by the day.
But those who wanted an alternative to the screw-ups of mainstream wrestling always had Ring of Honor. Or did they? Adam Pearce began to take RoH in a similar direction to TNA, focusing on former ‘E stars and entertainment, slowly transforming show by show into WWE Jr. Gabe Sapolsky posted a video blog on Youtube, proclaiming that Ring of Honor would soon die.
2009 seemed to be off to a terrible start for the wrestling world. But this was only the beginning, a revelation would soon be made which would change professional wrestling for years to come.
Next, Part II: The Bombshell
As for the reasoning with my backstory in parts instead of just a shorter thing, I usually lose motivation quickly if I'm not receiving feedback, so I figured this was a better way. Plus I've been trying to tweak my generic backstory anyway. The 'net was down this week so I managed to finish the backstory much quicker than I anticipated, but I have scaled it down to a much more comfortable reading length.
----
Part II
The Bombshell
January 14, 2009
Vince McMahon sits at his desk, a deep furrow in his brow, unfathomable stress collapsing upon him as sits at his desk, buried in thought and trouble.
Steroids have always been a vehement issue in the sport of professional, and on January 4, 2009, leapt to the fore front. Loyal and hard-working employees of many years, Dusty Rhodes, Pat Patterson and Dave Finlay posted a video across every website and spoke to any media outlet who would listen. Their message? Backstage steroid abuse in the WWE was bigger than it had ever been, and Vince McMahon had been tip toeing around the issue, keeping his top stars from suspensions and in some cases, having their contract terminated by specifically not testing them. For a little over a week, Vince ignored the claims made by the trio as news stations nation wide picked up on the story. By the end of the week, the video had almost 500,000 views on Youtube, added on by the various media outlets reporting the story. As the video was posted, former WWE employees of many years such as Big Show, Matt Hardy, Chavo Guerrero and Hurricane Helms all backed up the video, adding some legitimacy to it.
Vince didn’t know what to do. The WWE could no longer be considered family-friendly after a foray like this, the ratings of Raw dropping down to a feeble 2.4 on the following Monday. McMahon never denied or confirmed the claims, preferring to stay out of public sight, becoming somewhat of a recluse. But now an important decision had to be made? How could he save his company? That’s when he made two decisions, which would change the destiny of the WWE forever.
Meanwhile, the plug was officially pulled on TNA. Despite still having cash enough to keep the company running for at least 6-8 more months, Impact lost it’s television deal. Rather than continue on with Pay-Per-Views, Jeff Jarrett decided his dream of offering an alternative wrestling experience to the WWE was over, he and Dixie Carter cutting their losses. Against All Odds was the final TNA PPV, which was highlighted by Sting defeating Kurt Angle for the TNA Championship, and Samoa Joe defeating AJ Styles in a battle of the TNA Originals.
Ring of Honor continued to trudge the treacherous path TNA had once followed, going as far as to hire recently released WWE superstars to an open contract to work some shows for them, including Big Show, Matt Hardy and Hurricane Helms.
Lance storm continued to once again be extremely vocal about the issue in professional wrestling, citing he now had the desire to create his own company and show them how it’s really done, the lack of funds holding him back. Rob Van Dam, Eric Bischoff and Gabe Sapolsky offering similar sentiments. Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson’s latest movie ‘The Babysitter’ was considered a flop on all accounts and said returning to the ring was on his mind, but he said he would never go back to the WWE.
Back on that topic, what would Vince do? How could he fix the unfixable, repair the gaping whole in his company which the steroid allegations had created? There was only one thing he could do.
Up next, Part III: The Revolution
----
Part III
The Revolution
January 28, 2009
Vince ached as he signed the papers. He knew this plan couldn’t be executed without a few scapegoats clearing his name, but still, a pang of reluctance reverberated through him. Vince tested every member of the roster, but this didn’t matter. He already had the men who would suffer picked out, this known only to himself and two or three higher up testers. The men had to be released, to try and show that he in fact would suspend, and in some cases terminate contracts of anybody who failed the drug test. Umaga, John Morrison and Ted DiBiase Jr. were suspended, but knowing they had not failed and that they were clean, left the company in protest of Vince. William Regal had his contract terminated, as did Jeff Hardy and perhaps the biggest shock of all, Randy Orton. Phase one was complete, now for Phase Two; the official beginning of Attitude Version 2.
The initial plan was one of controversy and shock, things Vince wanted to become trademarks of his new show. And what better way to do this than to have one of his loyalest employees, born again Christian, Shawn Michaels, turn into a Satanist and join up with the Undertaker as a heel. The idea was for Shawn to go to the ring with Undertaker and set a crucifix on fire, before crotch chopping in it’s direction. Both Michaels and Undertaker objected greatly, right until the moment of the segment. The Deadman reluctantly walked to the ring and waited, HBK making his way down to the ring. It was easy to see the conflict in his eyes, before he muttered that the WWE would soon hang from the crucifix in the ring. Undertaker and Shawn both walked out through the crowd. After being embarrassed hugely on live television and Raw’s rating dropping to 2.1, both HBK and Undertaker were fired.
To see who he could truly rely on, the same segment was set up next week, with Chris Jericho, another devout Christian, burning the crucifix. Y2J slapped Vince across the face and was released, McMahon finally finding a man willing to set Attitude Version 2 into being: Triple H.
Ring of Honor was soon becoming a less desirable destination for independent performers than the WWE, and it seemed as if nothing would topple World Wrestling Entertainment. That is, until one phone call changed everything.
Up next, Part IV: The Call
----
Part IV: The Call
February 10, 2009
Lance Storm sat inside a local Toronto café, surrounded by a who’s who of professional wrestling. A few calls around and he’d managed to pull together Pat Patterson, Dave Finlay, Gabe Sapolsky, Dusty Rhodes and Eric Bischoff, some of the best wrestling minds, all of them despising the current state of wrestling. All were confused by Storm. The thought of beginning a wrestling promotion was one they had all spoke of within each other, but money was always an issue, even if they put all their cash together. But this problem had been fixed, by none other than Jeff Jarrett and Dixie Carter.
Men whom held a grudge against McMahon were many, such as Kurt Angle, Shawn Michaels and Chris Jericho, who would provide the star power for the company. The former TNA superstars, the men who were recently released and those who could no longer stand Ring of Honor quickly joined the ranks. Retired stars who wanted another piece of the action such as Rob Van Dam, The Rock and Bret Hart just added the extra icing on the cake to the new promotion. It would be the beginning of a new era, one of Excitement, Revolution and Aggression. ERA. The first show would be a four hour Pay-Per-View extravaganza, WrestleFest.
----
ERA
Excitement Revolution Aggression
On-Screen Owner: Eric Bischoff
General Manager: Bret Hart
Commentary: Dusty Rhodes & Joey Styles
Main Event
Shawn Michaels (Face)
Chris Jericho (Heel)
The Rock (Face)
Randy Orton (Heel)
Undertaker (Face)
Edge (Heel)
Umaga (Heel)
CM Punk (Face)
Rob Van Dam (Face)
Lance Storm (Face)
John Morrison (Heel)
Santino Marella (Heel)
MVP (Heel)
Bryan Danielson (Face)
Tag Team Division
The Empire (William Regal & Finlay) - Heel
The Colons (Carlito & Primo) - Face
Team 3D (Bubba Ray & D-Von) - Heel
Matt Sydal & Rey Mysterio - Face
The Brian Kendrick & Ezekiel Jackson - Heel
Canadian Bulldogs (DH Smith & TJ Wilson) - Face
Championships
ERA Championship
Current Holder:
Won From:
Date Won:
Event Won:
Former Champions:
ERA Intercontinental Championship
Current Holder:
Won From:
Date Won:
Event Won:
Former Champions:
ERA Extreme Championship
Current Holder:
Won From:
Date Won:
Event Won:
Former Champions:
ERA Tag Team Championships
Current Holder:
Won From:
Date Won:
Event Won:
Former Champions:
Pay-Per-Views
ERA holds PPV's once a month, twelve a year. There are 8 smaller events (names always changing, ala IYH) and 4 big events; Battle for Supremacy (Annual Battle for Supremacy tournament held), Red, White and Bruised (Every Match is a gimmick match), Survivor (Annual Survivor match-up) and the biggest of them all, WrestleFest.
The Beginning
January 1, 2009.
The WWE’s culling of superstars and other’s employees thanks to the current economic struggle didn’t end in 2008, as many ushered in the New Year as some of the many joining the unemployment statistics. Wrestling newsites and reporters had a field day though, as they started 2009 with a huge story. WWE had sifted out 20 of it’s employees, many with an astonishing amount of talent.
NoDQ.com said:
The internet erupted with posts on blogs, columns and wrestling forums, videos across Youtube and every other site imaginable, the WWE nay-sayers equipping this news as fuel for their Anti-E flamethrowers as many were left dumbfounded at the WWE’s train of logic in the release of so many talented individuals, even in these economic times. None more vocal than former WWE, WCW and ECW wrestler, Lance Storm, who posted a special commentary the following day, on January 2. Here is a small excerpt:
Stormwrestling.com said:
Along with the vocal internet fans, prominent wrestler figures such as Eric Bischoff and Rob Van Dam gave a very negative response to these actions.
At the other end of the spectrum, Total Nonstop Action’s year hardly got off to a great start either. The company were slowly losing fans and many key figures who were holding the show together suffered serious injuries, the TNA World Heavyweight Champion, Sting, Kevin Nash, Chris Sabin and Jay Lethal all suffering injuries that would take them out of action for at least 4+ months. The days looked dim for TNA, losing money by the day.
But those who wanted an alternative to the screw-ups of mainstream wrestling always had Ring of Honor. Or did they? Adam Pearce began to take RoH in a similar direction to TNA, focusing on former ‘E stars and entertainment, slowly transforming show by show into WWE Jr. Gabe Sapolsky posted a video blog on Youtube, proclaiming that Ring of Honor would soon die.
2009 seemed to be off to a terrible start for the wrestling world. But this was only the beginning, a revelation would soon be made which would change professional wrestling for years to come.
Next, Part II: The Bombshell
As for the reasoning with my backstory in parts instead of just a shorter thing, I usually lose motivation quickly if I'm not receiving feedback, so I figured this was a better way. Plus I've been trying to tweak my generic backstory anyway. The 'net was down this week so I managed to finish the backstory much quicker than I anticipated, but I have scaled it down to a much more comfortable reading length.
----
Part II
The Bombshell
January 14, 2009
Vince McMahon sits at his desk, a deep furrow in his brow, unfathomable stress collapsing upon him as sits at his desk, buried in thought and trouble.
Steroids have always been a vehement issue in the sport of professional, and on January 4, 2009, leapt to the fore front. Loyal and hard-working employees of many years, Dusty Rhodes, Pat Patterson and Dave Finlay posted a video across every website and spoke to any media outlet who would listen. Their message? Backstage steroid abuse in the WWE was bigger than it had ever been, and Vince McMahon had been tip toeing around the issue, keeping his top stars from suspensions and in some cases, having their contract terminated by specifically not testing them. For a little over a week, Vince ignored the claims made by the trio as news stations nation wide picked up on the story. By the end of the week, the video had almost 500,000 views on Youtube, added on by the various media outlets reporting the story. As the video was posted, former WWE employees of many years such as Big Show, Matt Hardy, Chavo Guerrero and Hurricane Helms all backed up the video, adding some legitimacy to it.
Vince didn’t know what to do. The WWE could no longer be considered family-friendly after a foray like this, the ratings of Raw dropping down to a feeble 2.4 on the following Monday. McMahon never denied or confirmed the claims, preferring to stay out of public sight, becoming somewhat of a recluse. But now an important decision had to be made? How could he save his company? That’s when he made two decisions, which would change the destiny of the WWE forever.
Meanwhile, the plug was officially pulled on TNA. Despite still having cash enough to keep the company running for at least 6-8 more months, Impact lost it’s television deal. Rather than continue on with Pay-Per-Views, Jeff Jarrett decided his dream of offering an alternative wrestling experience to the WWE was over, he and Dixie Carter cutting their losses. Against All Odds was the final TNA PPV, which was highlighted by Sting defeating Kurt Angle for the TNA Championship, and Samoa Joe defeating AJ Styles in a battle of the TNA Originals.
Ring of Honor continued to trudge the treacherous path TNA had once followed, going as far as to hire recently released WWE superstars to an open contract to work some shows for them, including Big Show, Matt Hardy and Hurricane Helms.
Lance storm continued to once again be extremely vocal about the issue in professional wrestling, citing he now had the desire to create his own company and show them how it’s really done, the lack of funds holding him back. Rob Van Dam, Eric Bischoff and Gabe Sapolsky offering similar sentiments. Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson’s latest movie ‘The Babysitter’ was considered a flop on all accounts and said returning to the ring was on his mind, but he said he would never go back to the WWE.
Back on that topic, what would Vince do? How could he fix the unfixable, repair the gaping whole in his company which the steroid allegations had created? There was only one thing he could do.
Up next, Part III: The Revolution
----
Part III
The Revolution
January 28, 2009
Vince ached as he signed the papers. He knew this plan couldn’t be executed without a few scapegoats clearing his name, but still, a pang of reluctance reverberated through him. Vince tested every member of the roster, but this didn’t matter. He already had the men who would suffer picked out, this known only to himself and two or three higher up testers. The men had to be released, to try and show that he in fact would suspend, and in some cases terminate contracts of anybody who failed the drug test. Umaga, John Morrison and Ted DiBiase Jr. were suspended, but knowing they had not failed and that they were clean, left the company in protest of Vince. William Regal had his contract terminated, as did Jeff Hardy and perhaps the biggest shock of all, Randy Orton. Phase one was complete, now for Phase Two; the official beginning of Attitude Version 2.
The initial plan was one of controversy and shock, things Vince wanted to become trademarks of his new show. And what better way to do this than to have one of his loyalest employees, born again Christian, Shawn Michaels, turn into a Satanist and join up with the Undertaker as a heel. The idea was for Shawn to go to the ring with Undertaker and set a crucifix on fire, before crotch chopping in it’s direction. Both Michaels and Undertaker objected greatly, right until the moment of the segment. The Deadman reluctantly walked to the ring and waited, HBK making his way down to the ring. It was easy to see the conflict in his eyes, before he muttered that the WWE would soon hang from the crucifix in the ring. Undertaker and Shawn both walked out through the crowd. After being embarrassed hugely on live television and Raw’s rating dropping to 2.1, both HBK and Undertaker were fired.
To see who he could truly rely on, the same segment was set up next week, with Chris Jericho, another devout Christian, burning the crucifix. Y2J slapped Vince across the face and was released, McMahon finally finding a man willing to set Attitude Version 2 into being: Triple H.
Ring of Honor was soon becoming a less desirable destination for independent performers than the WWE, and it seemed as if nothing would topple World Wrestling Entertainment. That is, until one phone call changed everything.
Up next, Part IV: The Call
----
Part IV: The Call
February 10, 2009
Lance Storm sat inside a local Toronto café, surrounded by a who’s who of professional wrestling. A few calls around and he’d managed to pull together Pat Patterson, Dave Finlay, Gabe Sapolsky, Dusty Rhodes and Eric Bischoff, some of the best wrestling minds, all of them despising the current state of wrestling. All were confused by Storm. The thought of beginning a wrestling promotion was one they had all spoke of within each other, but money was always an issue, even if they put all their cash together. But this problem had been fixed, by none other than Jeff Jarrett and Dixie Carter.
Men whom held a grudge against McMahon were many, such as Kurt Angle, Shawn Michaels and Chris Jericho, who would provide the star power for the company. The former TNA superstars, the men who were recently released and those who could no longer stand Ring of Honor quickly joined the ranks. Retired stars who wanted another piece of the action such as Rob Van Dam, The Rock and Bret Hart just added the extra icing on the cake to the new promotion. It would be the beginning of a new era, one of Excitement, Revolution and Aggression. ERA. The first show would be a four hour Pay-Per-View extravaganza, WrestleFest.
----
ERA
Excitement Revolution Aggression
On-Screen Owner: Eric Bischoff
General Manager: Bret Hart
Commentary: Dusty Rhodes & Joey Styles
Main Event
Shawn Michaels (Face)
Chris Jericho (Heel)
The Rock (Face)
Randy Orton (Heel)
Undertaker (Face)
Edge (Heel)
Umaga (Heel)
CM Punk (Face)
Rob Van Dam (Face)
Lance Storm (Face)
John Morrison (Heel)
Santino Marella (Heel)
MVP (Heel)
Bryan Danielson (Face)
Tag Team Division
The Empire (William Regal & Finlay) - Heel
The Colons (Carlito & Primo) - Face
Team 3D (Bubba Ray & D-Von) - Heel
Matt Sydal & Rey Mysterio - Face
The Brian Kendrick & Ezekiel Jackson - Heel
Canadian Bulldogs (DH Smith & TJ Wilson) - Face
Championships
ERA Championship
Current Holder:
Won From:
Date Won:
Event Won:
Former Champions:
ERA Intercontinental Championship
Current Holder:
Won From:
Date Won:
Event Won:
Former Champions:
ERA Extreme Championship
Current Holder:
Won From:
Date Won:
Event Won:
Former Champions:
ERA Tag Team Championships
Current Holder:
Won From:
Date Won:
Event Won:
Former Champions:
Pay-Per-Views
ERA holds PPV's once a month, twelve a year. There are 8 smaller events (names always changing, ala IYH) and 4 big events; Battle for Supremacy (Annual Battle for Supremacy tournament held), Red, White and Bruised (Every Match is a gimmick match), Survivor (Annual Survivor match-up) and the biggest of them all, WrestleFest.
.
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