Post by Johnny Q Public on Mar 15, 2013 21:43:13 GMT -6
Suggested listening while reading “Wish You Were Here,” and “Shine On You Crazy Diamond.”
Well boys and girls it's time for a story lets set the way-back machine for 15 years ago circa 1998, or so the memory is hazy with too much Jack and Coke, wrestling was at it's peak, people were tuning in to there TVs in droves to watch Bischoff change the face of wrestling with the N.W.O. We were shocked when the ultimate good guy Hulk Hogan turned heel.
Around this time a group of college kids got together drank a lot of beer and other substances and began debating the finer points of wrestling, kids let's be real it got to point where we were debating the most minute details of a match, who was the better worked, we were smarts we saw through the kayfabe and saw the athleticism behind it all. A group of kids who had been around since the beginning because they considered themselves elite, started calling themselves the M.W.O or Mature World Order. They always said they were better than everyone and could do the moves better. One night after far far too much booze they started playing around in the back of the bar, and executing a few moves, well, it wasn't too long until, the play was moving into gyms, and actual matches were being done, and then people started watching, and with the watching came the video taping, these videos were traded it was kind of fun people felt like they were part of some indie scene, Eventually they even created there own little piece of heaven on the Internets called Latest Wrestling News, they posted inside bits of info about wrestling, and discussed the finer points of Goldberg's 2 move-set and how in the hell he was getting a push. They talked about movies, music, and they even had a little small space devoted to there “matches.” Eventually people took notice, people would avoid the news and focus on the “matches.” It was crazy eventually all traffic to said site, was devoted to the “matches.” Then low and behold a TV deal, and things as they say in the business were “hotshoted.”
People were noticing, people began paying attention to this little upstart fed, compelling storylines, amazing matches, hard workers, if ECW was the alternative to WWE and WCW back in the day then LWN was the alternative to the alternative.
All good things as they say must come to end. Midway through it's peak strange things began happening, it became stale, sure a little bit of life was infused with controversial characters, like J-Pac, who made life a vertiable hell for LWN execs, the guy was a helluva worked but pitched so many fits it made the 90's era Shawn Micheals same like a company man. Anyway as they say things began changing, strange cutting of feeds mid match. The M.W. O dominating storylines, people getting booted from the fed for even questioning authority. It was strange. We saw people who could be considered legends now like Hoyakillah getting squashed in 3 minute matches. We even saw legends like Dave Dudley, getting fired before even competing. The breaking point was when an epic star was making his return, Nonz, at the end of what was to be LWN's crowing moment “The Brawl For It All,” yet the PPV feed cut on the word of a worker who was rumored to have “heat” with Nonz Backstage. LWN returned but never achieved the same glory.
This kids is as they say where the story gets interesting. Wrestlers becoming disillusioned with LWN, began plying there trades elsewhere. Upstart Feds like EFWO,HCW,MWF,HCW and the like, it was like the Monday Night Wars only to the 9th degree. Wrestlers would compete in multiple shows, multiple feds, some would go saw far as to invade other feds without provocation and buy tickets to the front row and do nothing but berate the wrestlers for blown spots, badly choreographed matches, and just being rude unruly S.O.B's.
Let's look at one of the players who seemed to be involved in all the feds at some point.
Dave Dudley.
He got fired from LWN before ever competing just because he questioned the authority of Derrick the CEO, it was sad really, it was the most blatant power abuse ever seen. Dudley floated around from fed to fed, he plyed his craft in EFWO HCW MWF. His EFWO time was kinda fun to watch, he would show up wrestle put the established stars to shame by showing them how it's done, and then he would be fired again and again and again. It was funny. Turns out he was just learning his craft learning what worked in matches, what the crowd responded to, and what they didn't.
He then scrapped together enough money to even start his fed, he called it HCW, Hardcore Championship Wrestler, he signed up and comers who he thought could be great, named like Hacksaw Jim, and the like, he even signed this completely green wrestler named Johnny Q Public, now Johnny had been trying to get into a decent feud in LWN under the auspicious moniker of Phreak, lets face it he was green, a solid worker, but because of the powers that be he would never really go beyond the Hardcore Title and the dumbly named DVD title. So Johnny had a thirst to prove himself.
However Dudley in a drunken haze got involved in a Nigerian Bank Scam and lost the fed before it could even start.
Things looked bleak, all the feds were becoming stagnant, EFWO had become a members only club. Derrick of LWN fame got arrested for sex trafficking and is now a guest of the Brazilian government for an indefinite period of time.
But our story doesn't end here. Ya see there was this guy, a real tool named Lmo who got some money from his parents, and started this fed called ICW (Insane Championship Wrestling). He signed a couple of guys, but they were all green, and after a disastrous PPV called Red Alert, they even had Johnny Q Public (who at this point was desperate for work), got stuck in a match with a diva. The PPV in word was less than stellar it made the Legends of Wrestling PPV where Jake the Snake was drunk on camera, look like Wrestlemania.
Things weren't over yet though, ya see Dudley had this friend, his name was Mark Andrew McPhail. Mr. McPhail was a media mogul. Dudley convinced Mr. McPhail to purchase ICW site unseen from Lmo.
Little did everyone know it but at the time these two guys would change the LWN wrestling wars underhandedly.
Mr. McPhail was the money but Dudley was the real power, he signed talent. His first signing Johnny Q Public who was on the verge of quitting the biz all together, he hand languished in LWN saddled with horrid gimmicks, a punk rocker, an ex-con, in LWN sure he got see Hoyakillah get destroyed by Dplo in a 3 mins squash he saw all the wrestlers of LWN walk to the other feds, but he never achieved greatness, he tried his trade in EFWO, CHF, and he was never used properly. Dudley however saw the spark of something, he knew that given the opportunity that things could be epic. He signed other stars like Scottie PP7, Dan Hampton, Amalek, Jeff Watson, he even opened the doors and let EFWO members compete. He was just building a talent base.
Momentum built slowly at first, matches with Thaonos and Reno Starr were pure wrestling clinics, people revealed in Lone Wolf and Dudley's hardcore matches. People loved Scottie PP7's catchphrase “I'M SCOTTIE PP7 DAMMI!!”
With Amalek ICW had the monster heel they needed. With the advent of ICW's PPV To Hell and Back: We Ain't Dead Yet, the Amalek v Dudley inferno match, set the standard for PPV's. It was a hardcore bloodfest but it made people take notice, word got around the match lit up you tube, traffic, was so heavy on the ICW website, that the site crashed. People began to notice.
Through it all wrestlers like Johnny Q Public who even though had open contracts with other feds like EWA still remained true to ICW, he truly blossomed. He even at one point became ICW champion, people came and went, ICW came and went but whenever the call was sounded for ICW to rise from dormancy for one night shows, Johnny was always there. Now what do we have, well there are no feds around.
LWN-gone.
EFWO-gone
MWF-gone
EWA-gone.
But somehow ICW is still hanging around. Even though the fed is “dead.”
Strangest thing though it's only mostly dead kids, ya see I keep hearing rumors. Rumors, that Dudley and Mr. McPhail are trying to cobble together a TV deal, a deal for one last run of glory with ICW. I've even heard rumors that old names are being rumored to return. I even hear that a few rookies are joining. If ICW does return you can beat two things.
1) It will be freaking epic.
2) Johnny Q Public will answer the call.
Well boys and girls it's time for a story lets set the way-back machine for 15 years ago circa 1998, or so the memory is hazy with too much Jack and Coke, wrestling was at it's peak, people were tuning in to there TVs in droves to watch Bischoff change the face of wrestling with the N.W.O. We were shocked when the ultimate good guy Hulk Hogan turned heel.
Around this time a group of college kids got together drank a lot of beer and other substances and began debating the finer points of wrestling, kids let's be real it got to point where we were debating the most minute details of a match, who was the better worked, we were smarts we saw through the kayfabe and saw the athleticism behind it all. A group of kids who had been around since the beginning because they considered themselves elite, started calling themselves the M.W.O or Mature World Order. They always said they were better than everyone and could do the moves better. One night after far far too much booze they started playing around in the back of the bar, and executing a few moves, well, it wasn't too long until, the play was moving into gyms, and actual matches were being done, and then people started watching, and with the watching came the video taping, these videos were traded it was kind of fun people felt like they were part of some indie scene, Eventually they even created there own little piece of heaven on the Internets called Latest Wrestling News, they posted inside bits of info about wrestling, and discussed the finer points of Goldberg's 2 move-set and how in the hell he was getting a push. They talked about movies, music, and they even had a little small space devoted to there “matches.” Eventually people took notice, people would avoid the news and focus on the “matches.” It was crazy eventually all traffic to said site, was devoted to the “matches.” Then low and behold a TV deal, and things as they say in the business were “hotshoted.”
People were noticing, people began paying attention to this little upstart fed, compelling storylines, amazing matches, hard workers, if ECW was the alternative to WWE and WCW back in the day then LWN was the alternative to the alternative.
All good things as they say must come to end. Midway through it's peak strange things began happening, it became stale, sure a little bit of life was infused with controversial characters, like J-Pac, who made life a vertiable hell for LWN execs, the guy was a helluva worked but pitched so many fits it made the 90's era Shawn Micheals same like a company man. Anyway as they say things began changing, strange cutting of feeds mid match. The M.W. O dominating storylines, people getting booted from the fed for even questioning authority. It was strange. We saw people who could be considered legends now like Hoyakillah getting squashed in 3 minute matches. We even saw legends like Dave Dudley, getting fired before even competing. The breaking point was when an epic star was making his return, Nonz, at the end of what was to be LWN's crowing moment “The Brawl For It All,” yet the PPV feed cut on the word of a worker who was rumored to have “heat” with Nonz Backstage. LWN returned but never achieved the same glory.
This kids is as they say where the story gets interesting. Wrestlers becoming disillusioned with LWN, began plying there trades elsewhere. Upstart Feds like EFWO,HCW,MWF,HCW and the like, it was like the Monday Night Wars only to the 9th degree. Wrestlers would compete in multiple shows, multiple feds, some would go saw far as to invade other feds without provocation and buy tickets to the front row and do nothing but berate the wrestlers for blown spots, badly choreographed matches, and just being rude unruly S.O.B's.
Let's look at one of the players who seemed to be involved in all the feds at some point.
Dave Dudley.
He got fired from LWN before ever competing just because he questioned the authority of Derrick the CEO, it was sad really, it was the most blatant power abuse ever seen. Dudley floated around from fed to fed, he plyed his craft in EFWO HCW MWF. His EFWO time was kinda fun to watch, he would show up wrestle put the established stars to shame by showing them how it's done, and then he would be fired again and again and again. It was funny. Turns out he was just learning his craft learning what worked in matches, what the crowd responded to, and what they didn't.
He then scrapped together enough money to even start his fed, he called it HCW, Hardcore Championship Wrestler, he signed up and comers who he thought could be great, named like Hacksaw Jim, and the like, he even signed this completely green wrestler named Johnny Q Public, now Johnny had been trying to get into a decent feud in LWN under the auspicious moniker of Phreak, lets face it he was green, a solid worker, but because of the powers that be he would never really go beyond the Hardcore Title and the dumbly named DVD title. So Johnny had a thirst to prove himself.
However Dudley in a drunken haze got involved in a Nigerian Bank Scam and lost the fed before it could even start.
Things looked bleak, all the feds were becoming stagnant, EFWO had become a members only club. Derrick of LWN fame got arrested for sex trafficking and is now a guest of the Brazilian government for an indefinite period of time.
But our story doesn't end here. Ya see there was this guy, a real tool named Lmo who got some money from his parents, and started this fed called ICW (Insane Championship Wrestling). He signed a couple of guys, but they were all green, and after a disastrous PPV called Red Alert, they even had Johnny Q Public (who at this point was desperate for work), got stuck in a match with a diva. The PPV in word was less than stellar it made the Legends of Wrestling PPV where Jake the Snake was drunk on camera, look like Wrestlemania.
Things weren't over yet though, ya see Dudley had this friend, his name was Mark Andrew McPhail. Mr. McPhail was a media mogul. Dudley convinced Mr. McPhail to purchase ICW site unseen from Lmo.
Little did everyone know it but at the time these two guys would change the LWN wrestling wars underhandedly.
Mr. McPhail was the money but Dudley was the real power, he signed talent. His first signing Johnny Q Public who was on the verge of quitting the biz all together, he hand languished in LWN saddled with horrid gimmicks, a punk rocker, an ex-con, in LWN sure he got see Hoyakillah get destroyed by Dplo in a 3 mins squash he saw all the wrestlers of LWN walk to the other feds, but he never achieved greatness, he tried his trade in EFWO, CHF, and he was never used properly. Dudley however saw the spark of something, he knew that given the opportunity that things could be epic. He signed other stars like Scottie PP7, Dan Hampton, Amalek, Jeff Watson, he even opened the doors and let EFWO members compete. He was just building a talent base.
Momentum built slowly at first, matches with Thaonos and Reno Starr were pure wrestling clinics, people revealed in Lone Wolf and Dudley's hardcore matches. People loved Scottie PP7's catchphrase “I'M SCOTTIE PP7 DAMMI!!”
With Amalek ICW had the monster heel they needed. With the advent of ICW's PPV To Hell and Back: We Ain't Dead Yet, the Amalek v Dudley inferno match, set the standard for PPV's. It was a hardcore bloodfest but it made people take notice, word got around the match lit up you tube, traffic, was so heavy on the ICW website, that the site crashed. People began to notice.
Through it all wrestlers like Johnny Q Public who even though had open contracts with other feds like EWA still remained true to ICW, he truly blossomed. He even at one point became ICW champion, people came and went, ICW came and went but whenever the call was sounded for ICW to rise from dormancy for one night shows, Johnny was always there. Now what do we have, well there are no feds around.
LWN-gone.
EFWO-gone
MWF-gone
EWA-gone.
But somehow ICW is still hanging around. Even though the fed is “dead.”
Strangest thing though it's only mostly dead kids, ya see I keep hearing rumors. Rumors, that Dudley and Mr. McPhail are trying to cobble together a TV deal, a deal for one last run of glory with ICW. I've even heard rumors that old names are being rumored to return. I even hear that a few rookies are joining. If ICW does return you can beat two things.
1) It will be freaking epic.
2) Johnny Q Public will answer the call.
