IT BEGINS
This, to my knowledge is a unique undertaking. BTB is certainly not unique because within a handful of minutes you could find multiple stories of how John Cena won the WWF/WWE Title. Go ahead and look. I will wait.So yeah BTB is not new, some of it is good, some of it is bad, none of it involves former referees committing suicide in Providence, so clearly its all off the mark somehow.
This is a WWF Counterfactual, one that will span hundreds of pages and two decades of altered history. If the term counterfactual is unfamiliar to you, when you read this you would have learned something and your day will be complete. A counterfactual is a term used in historical scholarship to describe concepts like "What if the South had won the Civil War?" or :What if Kennedy had not been killed?" or :What if Gore had been elected president?"
Well i guess thats actual history as opposed to a counterfactual.
The goal here is to put right what went wrong. I have watched the World Wrestling Federation(i dont have the energy to call it WWE) for the past quarter century. Some of its been great some of its been maddening. For better or worse, in 2005, it appears that the vision of sports entertainment held by Vince McMahon has defined what American wrestling is. And with an increasing portion of its revenue coming from international business, it seems that the sun never sets on the WWF Empire.
But what if... what if instead of spectacle, Vincent Kennedy McMahon grew up loving work rate?
With that simple premise it begins.
The structure of what your about to read requires some explanation there are some ground rules to which i have tied myself.
1 I will be breaking down the last 22 years of wrestling history, with the focus mainly going on the four traditional WWF PPV's: Wrestlemania, Summerslam, Survivor Series and Royal Rumble. Furhter the focus will be on the actual card so while the degree of narrative will greatly expand as we move further along, it will always be focused on the specific quarterly cards.
2 I am limiting my options as to who can wrestle on those cards to those who actually worked on these shows. This means not only wont you see Misawa vs Kobashi headlining Wrestlemania XII, but even contracted WWF workers who were not given matches wont be available to wrestle for me. The thought proces sis that, while it might seem like Dyanmite Kid should have worked the first Wrestlemania, for example, it could be for some reason that he was unavailable. So i am limiting myself to reshaping the cards that i was actually given. The exception wrestlers who worked dark matches or wokred the televised pre show are available to me, as clearly there not being used was a choice.
3 Each card will have 8 matches. 6 singles including two title matches (Heavyweight and IC) and two tags (Tag title and opening tag). The strictness of the structures require a level of creativity (what, for example will i do with the Ultimate Warrior) that otherwise would be absent. So, when i am short talent i can not just run four matches i have to find a way to fill the cards. On the rare occasion when i break format, it will be for a reason and it will have an impact.
4 This means that the Royal Rumble wont actually have a Royal Rumble. I recognise that.
5 I will also provide cards but not commentary, for NWA/WCW and ECW. This is largely for context.
6 The first few years of the Counterfactual move briskly, without much in the way of narrative storyline buildup. Eventually this will change. Really, really change. Eventually, there ill be programming in between the quarterly PPV's but another restriction that i am placing on myself is that the title can only change hands at a PPV, meaning that if Randy Savage worked at Summerslam and not Survivor Series, he can not leave Summerslam with a strap. The result of that sometime lesser workers gee pushed, even win titles, as i am limited to title changes at the four big shows. Like the haiku, sometimes great art requires structure.
7 This is a rule for the readers. Read and enjoy.
