WCW 2001: A Natural Continuation

[El Hijo Del Ami]

World Championship Wrestling LIVES!​

After several months of negotiations and haggling, after a critically successful but financially disastrous WCW Greed PPV, WCW has finally received new ownership. Initially looking like the partnership between Eric Bischoff and Fusient Media Ventures was going to come through, Fusient dropped out of the deal leaving Eric high and dry. This led to a new figure, Lucas Spradlin and his multi-million dollar studio SuperSpeed Inc to acquire the promotion! The news that WCW will be leaving Turner Broadcasting for the first time in it's history isn't ideal, but the company has already announced Pay-Per-Views for the rest of the year, including Spring Stampede which is set to take place as early as a month from now! While a nice, steady few months may be too much to ask for with a company so aligned with chaos and mismanagement, maybe a complete break from Turner is what's needed to help steer WCW into a brave new future.

Roster:
* Injured/Written off

Faces:

Air Paris
AJ Styles
Bam Bam Bigelow
Big Vito
Billy Kidman
Booker T
Brian Adams
Bryan Clark
Chuck Palumbo
Crowbar
Diamond Dallas Page*
Dustin Rhodes
Dusty Rhodes
Ernest Miller
Goldberg*
Hugh Morrus
Jason Jett
Kaz Hayashi
Kevin Nash*
Konnan
Lash LeRoux
Michael Modest
MI Smooth
Norman Smiley
Randy Savage*
Rey Mysterio Jr
Sean O'Haire
Shane Douglas
Shane Helms
Sting*
Yang

Heels:

Alex Wright
Animal
Buff Bagwell
Cash
Chavo Guerrero Jr
Christopher Daniels
Disco Inferno
Elix Skipper
Evan Karagias
Jamie Knoble
Jeff Jarrett
Johnny The Bull
Kanyon
Kid Romeo
Kwee-Wee
Lance Storm
Lex Lugar
Mark Jindrak
Mike Awesome
Mike Sanders
Reno
Ric Flair
Rick Steiner
Scott Steiner
Shannon Moore
Shawn Stasiak
The Wall*
Vampiro*

Tag Teams/Stables:

3 Count: Evan Karagias & Shannon Moore
Air Raid: Air Paris & AJ Styles
The Boogie Knights: Alex Wright & Disco Inferno
The Filthy Animals: Billy Kidman, Konnan & Rey Mysterio Jr
The Heartthrobs: Elix Skipper & Kid Romeo
The Jung Dragons: Kaz Hayashi & Yang
KroniK: Brian Adams & Bryan Clark
The Magnificent Seven: Animal, Buff Bagwell, Jeff Jarrett, Lex Lugar, Ric Flair, Rick Steiner & Scott Steiner
Natural Born Thrillers: Chuck Palumbo & Sean O'Haire
The Re-Enforcers: Kwee-Wee & Mike Sanders
Team Canada: Lance Storm & Mike Awesome

Champions:

WCW World Heavyweight Champion
Booker T (4x)
(26/03/2001-Present)

Spoiler: Title History

1/56: Scott Steiner - 120 Days (26/11/2000-26/03/2001)

WCW United States Champion
Booker T
(18/03/2001-Present)

WCW Cruiserweight Champion
Shane Helms
(18/03/2001-Present)

WCW World Tag Team Champions
The Natural Born Thrillers (CP & SO)
(14/01/2001-Present)

WCW Cruiserweight Tag Team Champions
Elix Skipper & Kid Romeo
(18/03/2001-Present)

PPVs:

Spring Stampede (15/04/2001 - Chicago, Illinois)
Slamboree (13/05/2001 - St Louis, Missouri)
The Great American Bash (10/06/2001 - Baltimore, Maryland)
Bash At The Beach (15/07/2001 - Daytona Beach, Florida)
Beach Blast (12/08/2001 - Tacoma, Washington)
Fall Brawl (09/09/2001 - Norfolk, Virginia)
Halloween Havoc (28/10/2001 - Detroit, Michigan)
Mayhem (25/11/2001 - Milwaukee, Wisconsin)
Starrcade (30/12/2001 - Washington D.C)​

 

[TFC]

Hey man just wanted to stop by and say I will be reading along

I didn't get into pro wrestling until waaaaaaaaay after WCW closed down, but I am keen to see what your spin on it will look like

 

[Lucas_Gri]

It will be interesting to read, how this alternate wrestling reality will span out, I wish you best of luck going with this one!

 

[BattleTank]

Really excited to see you back in the BTB game, my friend! Huge fan of this time period, so many different ways you can take things. I am looking forward to the first episode. Best of luck writing!

 

[Dubb]

WCW continuations are among my favorite BTBs so I am definitely excited to see where this goes. Best of luck!

 

[Stojy]

Enjoyed what you've written previously, and there's something about a WCW lives BTB that just works. Really looking forward to this. Good luck mate. Oh, and push Sean O'Haire. Thanks.

 

[Szumi]

Definitely going to pop back in to this one as you progress! WCW 2001 is a favorite of mine, and looking forward to seeing how you balance the roster with potential new additions, especially if you choose to pursue w/ECW going bust, and what even more what happens with the Time Warner contracts for all the marquee expensive signings. This has so much potential no matter how you push it, looking forward to your story!

 

[El Hijo Del Ami]

WCW News!​

• On the pen-ultimate episode on WCW Nitro, we heard from Lucas Spradlin for the very first time, in a phone-call during a face-off between WCW World Heavyweight Champion Scott Steiner and United States Champion Booker T. Spradlin announced that the 21/03 edition of WCW Thunder and the 26/03 edition of Nitro would be the final ever episodes of WCW Programming on Turner Broadcasting. However, after some searching, the company WILL continue, being offered a 90 minute show every Tuesday on FX! The company after the final TNT Nitro will go on a 2 week hiatus, coming back for WCW Spring Stampede at the United Center in Chicago, the first WCW Nitro coming after that!

• After the show there was updates about the Time Warner contracts too. As a show of good faith from Ted Turner, Turner Broadcasting are willing to pay the big money contracts for as long as they run, meaning WCW will still have the likes of Kevin Nash, Sting, Randy Savage, Goldberg and Ric Flair for as long as those contracts last. Of course once they expire it's entirely on WCW to negotiate deals with them on their own, and will give them time to plan ahead.

• The company is also going to be downscaling considerably to stay afloat. While SuperSpeed have money, they simply don't have the capital to go insane like the 90's without the company dying in months. Luckily, Time Warner paying their huge stars' contracts has given them a lifeline in that regard, with negotiations with a LOT of talent on the undercard who are looking to maybe get a renewed focus now that there's no longer a guarantee all the huge names will be staying.

• With Extreme Championship Wrestling's closure occurring 2 months beforehand, WCW are in negotiations with a few big names. Attempts have been made with the likes of Rob Van Dam, Super Crazy, Little Guido, Tony Mamaluke and Yoshihiro Tajiri. The World Wrestling Federation are already in talks with the likes of RVD and Tajiri, with WCW reaching out essentially just to test the waters in case there is room for negotiation. The likes of Jerry Lynn & Steve Corino are on their radar, but the new regime doesn't want to sign anyone just for the sake of signing people like before.

Spoiler: WCW Results

WCW Monday Nitro
17/03/2001
1 Chavo Guerrero Jr defeated Jason Jett
2 M. I. Smooth defeated Kanyon via disqualification
3 Sean O'Haire defeated Lance Storm
4 Bam Bam Bigelow defeated Shawn Stasiak
5 Booker T (C) defeated Rick Steiner for the WCW United States Championship

WCW Thunder
19/03/2001
1 The Heartthrobs defeated Air Raid
2 Jason Jett defeated Cash
3 3 Count & The Jung Dragons defeated The Boogie Knights & The Re-Enforcers
4 Shane Helms (C) defeated Billy Kidman for the WCW Cruiserweight Championship
5 Mike Awesome defeated Chuck Palumbo
6 Scott Steiner (C) defeated Dustin Rhodes for the WCW World Heavyweight Championship

WCW Monday Nitro: Night of Champions
26/03/2001
1 The Heartthrobs (C) defeated The Filthy Animals for the WCW Cruiserweight Tag Team Championships
2 Shane Helms (C) defeated Chavo Guerrero Jr for the WCW Cruiserweight Championship
3 Shane Douglas defeated Rick Steiner
4 The Natural Born Thrillers (C) defeated Team Canada for the WCW World Tag Team Championship
5 Shawn Stasiak defeated Bam Bam Bigelow
6 Dustin Rhodes defeated Ric Flair
7 Booker T (C) defeated Scott Steiner (C) for the WCW World Heavyweight Championship & WCW United States Championship

 

[Stojy]

News is solid here. I don't mind the reduction to 90 minutes, and I don't mind the idea of keeping all the big names around. I do wonder how 90 minutes will work with a roster that isn't as lean as most WCW lives scenarios though. Completely expect some form of ECW wrestlers to end up here as well. I'd be more than happy even if it was only Corino, because he's the man, and Tajiri because he's awesome. Looking forward to the first show.