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WCW vs. WWE: The Angle of Death (2014)


Microfrog

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ABOUT

 

WCW vs. WWE: The Angle of Death is an alternate history of professional wrestling. It begins in late 1998 during the peak of the Attitude Era, just a few years before the boom period of the wrestling industry ends. Vince McMahon, who often comes up with controversial and, dare we say, depraved storylines, decides to create a story involving his young daughter Stephanie, who he brings into the company.

The storyline he creates is a bust. Although it makes WWF's ratings jump through the roof temporarily and helps WWE win the Monday Night Wars for two weeks, the effects of it afterwards are tremendous (in a very negative sense of the word).

WWF begins to be plagued by dwindling ratings, a diminishing fan base, and sponsors refusing to sponsor the WWF anymore. What's worse, the WWF, who just recently went public on the stock exchange, has their stock price drop dramatically. The WWF is in a bad way, and what's worse, is slapped with a lawsuit from the World Wildlife Fund.

Meanwhile, WCW benefits from this turn of events. Having been a clear winner in the Monday Night Wars for 84 weeks in a row, WCW saw a sudden increase in ratings from WWF's Angle of Death. WCW quickly rose to the #1 promotion spot, while the WWF kept dropping and dropping.

ECW also thrived on this misfortune of the WWF. Seeing that fans were turned off by the radically taboo nature of WWF's programming, ECW offered an alternative to the starkly family-friendly product of WCW. What the WWF couldn't do when it tried to cause controversy, the ECW could do, and has done, and will always be able to do successfully. ECW remains the #3 company, and thus the Big Three survive to this day.

It took a few years for the WWF, now the WWE, to pick itself up, dust itself off, and start the recovery process. However, the process begins a little too late, as the wrestling market is in a severe slump and is only getting worse and worse. Soon, it will most likely hit rock bottom, and the one promotion out of the Big Three which will be hit the hardest is the WWE. Though they will probably survive, nothing is for certain in such an erratic market as we have in 2014.

WCW's product continues to improve in quality, WWE is now transitioning from the Universe Era to the Reality Era and attempting to get back some of its former glory from the Attitude Era, and ECW is doing what ECW always does: Put on four and five star matches and help new stars make names for themselves.

The universe of WCW vs. WWE: The Angle of Death is not too radically different than the real world. Much of what we've seen in the WWE happened in this universe, but many, many things have changed, both big and small. Things like the Invasion angle and the opening of TNA never happened. Some of WWF/WWE's big superstars would leave, mostly to go to WCW, while a few of WCW's veterans packed their bags and left after Bischoff was demoted and Jim Cornette took over WCW's creative direction.

What will differentiate this diary are mainly two things: The kayfabe and the facetiousness. First, the world of this diary is, for the most part, written as though kayfabe were real. In other words, if Kane wears a mask that turns him into a demon, he really does turn into an actual demon. If Undertaker is buried alive, then Undertaker is dead (for a little while at least). Some of the storylines are "planned" by their respective companies, but beyond that, all kayfabe is reality. Secondly, this diary is not totally serious. Some storylines, angles, and news are serious in nature, but for the most part, nothing is totally serious. This means you could see Vince McMahon hiring Dixie Carter and giving her a prostitute gimmick, or Triple H sustaining brain damage and thinking that he's married to a steel chair. Basically, through this two aspects of the diary, virtually anything is possible.

This is currently a work in progress. The diary won't technically begin for a little while, as I'm still working on the EWR database. Although the majority of things in the update for 2014 haven't changed in this alternate universe, there are many things that have. As a result, it will take a bit for me to work on it. But I ask that, if you're interested in what's going down in this diary, to bookmark this diary and keep coming back to see what's been updated.

Lastly. I still haven't decided which of the Big Three promotions I'll be playing as in the game. At first I wanted to play as the WWE, but now I'm not too sure. I'll definitely make a decision very soon though, but if you have any suggestions I would love to hear them.

As for other suggestions and comments, feel free to give them in a reply here. I'd love to hear from you. I take suggestions and constructive criticism very seriously, as I'm not perfect and I'm always looking to improve both my promoter ability and writing skills.

Thanks for stopping by, and "stay tuned" for further information. :)

 

STORY

 

The year was 1998. WCW and WWF were waging the long and grueling Monday Night Wars, which saw neither of the two competitors gaining a clear advantage. WCW's ratings were steadily climbing thanks to big name stars like Goldberg and the new angle of the split in the NWO faction between NWO Black & White and NWO Wolfpac. They featured a product that focused more on wrestling and less on storylines compared to the WWF. With billionaire Ted Turner pumping money into WCW and Eric Bischoff as the brains of the promotion, billionaire Vince McMahon had a formidable rival. In fact, the WWF, formerly the #1 name in professional wrestling, was losing the Monday Night Wars week after week after week.

But the WWF kept an iron grip on its consistently high ratings. The Attitude Era was at its peak, with stars like the Rock, Steve Austin, Triple H and Degeneration-X leading the roster. WWF's Attitude product was significantly riskier than WCW's more family-friendly shows. While WCW's storylines were mostly PG worthy, the WWF would run wild stories involving lesbianism, crossdressing, miscarriages, crucifixions, kidnappings, and even an old woman giving birth to a hand. This was Vince McMahon's contribution to the wrestling world. As the owner of WWF, and with the final say in all storylines and gimmicks, he did everything he possibly could to stir up controversy and increase WWF's ratings.

However, in late-1998, Vince McMahon put an angle on television that is remembered to this day as the "Angle of Death." It was the angle, the one thing, that has gone down in history as the biggest mistake WWF had ever made.

Vince would bring in his real life daughter, Stephanie McMahon, for an angle involving a kayfabe pregnancy. While it was implied that Triple H and Stephanie were secretly dating, and thus Triple H was the father of the child, there was a gigantic swerve in the angle. Through DNA testing, it was determined that Triple H was, in fact, not the father of Stephanie's child. It was revealed that Vince McMahon himself was the father. This incest angle at first caused a dramatic increase in ratings as people switched from WCW Nitro to WWF Raw. However, the aftereffects were devastating. The risqué angle led to numerous protests, and most of WWF's current sponsors dropped them. WWF would have a difficult time finding sponsors for a long time afterwards, causing WWF to have severe money problems. Because of this, they would go on to lose tens of millions of dollars in potential sponsorships.

Many of WWF's fans would simply turn off the WWF, and the majority of them would flock to WCW, while a small portion of the smart marks would move on to ECW. ECW only had one show at that point, ECW Hardcore TV, which was only available locally and in syndication. But the fans were resourceful, and the underground ECW fan community swelled in numbers, and tapes were exchanged in even greater numbers than before. The increase in attention on ECW helped lead them into signing a television show on TNN, simply called ECW On TNN, which aired on Friday nights. Though ECW would never quite get ratings anywhere near WCW or the WWF, they thrived on TNN as TNN would pick up ECW's Hardcore TV as well, putting it in their prime time slot on Wednesdays.

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Soon after WWF's Angle of Death, WCW capitalized on Monday Night Nitro's increased ratings by further turning their product more family friendly. Though some of their PPVs would include violent and bloody matches, they stuck, for the most part, to a PG script throughout each show.

WCW would go on to dominate the wrestling industry for years. All the way to 2014, WCW remains the big dog of the Big Three. WCW is not only where the big boys play, but it's the primary promotion for young and talented stars to shine.

Early on in their dominance, a lot of backstage politics got in the way of providing a superior product to the WWF. They still heavily pushed older veterans over younger talent, but when Hulk Hogan left, things began to change. Ted Turner, not wanting to let this window of opportunity pass WCW by, replaced Eric Bischoff as Executive Producer with Jim Cornette, who had significantly more experience and knowledge of the wrestling business. Bischoff stayed in WCW, but was demoted to Assistant Producer.

The older veterans stayed, with the exception of Kevin Nash and Scott Hall, but were no longer consistently main eventing WCW cards. Instead, there would be a mix of older veterans and young talents, with the young talents being pushed far more than they had been before.

Jim Cornette also significantly improved WCW's training schools and developmental territories. He would bring in numerous big name indy stars to prepare them for the big time in WCW. WCW did what WWF had always done: Make their own superstars rather than rely on already-established faces in the business.

As the #1 wrestling promotion, the WCW is able to comfortably ride out the slump in the wrestling industry. The market will probably hit rock bottom in the near future, but WCW doesn't seem to be too worried about it. Their profits are still high, and although shows aren't getting sold out quite as much as they used to, WCW is in a safe place to be. Will they continue to dominate wrestling, or will their competitor, the WWE, pull something out of their sleeve and take a considerable chunk out of WCW's business?

WCW runs three shows a week (Nitro on Mondays, Thunder on Thursdays, and Saturday Night). WCW runs one pay-per-view every month. WCW also owns and operates the WCW Nexus, an online database similar to the WWE Network which contains all previous WCW shows, PPVs, and specials, as well as Nexus-exclusive television shows and specials for a monthly subscription.

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WWE's infamous Angle of Death proved to be severely detrimental to their product. WWE would have a hard time finding the sponsors that they needed. The angle took place shortly after the WWF had their initial public offering as a publicly traded company. As a result, their stocks were hurt badly and investors packed up their money and ran for the hills.

Vince McMahon, desperately seeking damage control, ran more commercials, offered their pay-per-views at a lower price, and cut costs as much as possible. Because of this, their roster was almost chopped in half, and the quality of their product was diminished.

WWF was sued by the World Wildlife Fund in 2000, causing them to change their name from WWF to WWE (World Wrestling Entertainment). Fortunately for them, they were able to narrowly escape from having to pay the World Wildlife Fund.

On April 1, 2001, the WWF held Wrestlemania 17. In the main event, the fan favorite The Rock shocked the world by turning heel, brutalizing fellow fan favorite "Stone Cold" Steve Austin with a steel chair, winning the WWF World title, and aligning himself with Vince McMahon. This event is widely considered to be the end of the Attitude Era and the beginning of the end of wrestling's "boom period." The wrestling market started a decline, and the WWF ushered in a new era: The Entertainment Era, a transition period between the Attitude Era and the Universe Era.

Now, in 2014 as the #2 company, WWE has entered into the Reality Era. The product is slightly less risky than it has been before. The WWE is trying to recapture its former glory. The wrestling market is almost at the lowest point in WWE history, and many are unsure of what will happen in the wrestling business because of this, much less WWE itself.

The WWE continues to provide a great less family-friendly alternative to the WCW, and has its own collection of superstars putting on great matches and entertaining the fans, but will the WWE continue to diminish as the market reaches an all-time low?

WWE runs three shows a week (Raw on Mondays, Main Event on Tuesdays, and Smackdown on Thursdays). WWE runs one pay-per-view every month. WWE also owns and operates the WWE Network which, like the WCW Nexus, is a subscription-based database of all WWF/WWE events, including former televised shows, pay per views, and Network-exclusive shows.

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ECW has always been the third of the Big Three. They started off as a small indy promotion under the NWA banner as Eastern Championship Wrestling, but eventually broke away from the NWA and changed their name to Extreme Championship Wrestling. The ECW is famous (or, at times, infamous) for its gritty realism, violent matches, and controversial angles. Paul Heyman, ECW's promoter and the man in charge of ECW's creative direction.

While Heyman is not exactly the most loved man in professional wrestling, there can be no doubt that Heyman is a genius. His ability to run intriguing storylines and create memorable characters is second to none, so much so that WCW and WWF/WWE have frequently copied ECW's storylines to use in their own promotions. Heyman's main gift is his ability to take the least talented wrestlers and turn them into big draws. He can take a pretty boy rookie like Tommy Dreamer and turn him into the King of Extreme and the face of ECW. He can take a sluggish alcoholic like Sandman and turn him into the biggest fan favorite in ECW.

WWF's Angle of Death proved to be an opportunity that Paul Heyman couldn't pass up. Seeing that the WWF tried their hand at controversy and failed, Paul Heyman ramped up his own controversial product, proving to be a ratings grabber. What Vince couldn't do with a taboo storyline, Paul Heyman could do and succeed.

While the WWF has slowly traveled away from their former adult-oriented programming, and while the WCW provides a wrestling product that the whole family can enjoy, ECW has remained the same through and through. The diminishing of WWF's fan base and ratings gave ECW a new surge of attention. Taking advantage of this, Heyman was able to sign a deal with TNN for ECW's own televised show. Later, TNN brought on ECW Hardcore TV.

ECW now has a mixture of extreme wrestling that definitely isn't "family friendly," and great talent putting on five star matches, with Heyman bringing in young stars from all around the world. ECW continues to be the trend setting, controversy getting, high rated match having third leg of the wrestling business, but things are certainly looking up for ECW.

Their ratings are increasing at a slow pace, but their PPV buys are becoming inflated over time. Perhaps, if they're lucky, they may just become a serious competitor of WCW. Will they ever reach the kind of level that WCW is at, or will they be destined to remain where they're at, as the third of the Big Three?

ECW runs two shows a week (ECW On TNN on Fridays, and ECW Hardcore TV on Sundays). ECW runs one pay-per-view every two months, which they then skip August and September and hold one PPV each month on October, November, and December. ECW also has a thriving internet community, and although they don't have a big online database to subscribe to, they allow fans to purchase previous TV shows and pay-per-views online for very low prices.

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DIFFERENCES

 

Here I'll post what all is different between the real world and this fictional alternate universe. This list will be updated just about every day until I begin to write the diary, so keep checking for more updates. If you have any suggestions, feel free to write me a reply or send me a private message. Thanks. :)

Big Three

The "Big Three" promotions survived all the way to 2014. WCW is the #1 promotion now, with WWE at #2 and ECW at #3.

Other Promotions

Most other promotions are still open and running. The only ones that never started were TNA and ROH. TNA never began because TNA was the result of WCW closing down, and ROH never began because ECW never died. As a result, WWE, in some ways, replaces TNA while ECW replaces ROH.

CZW isn't as popular as it would be had ECW closed down, as ECW closing down allowed CZW to fill the niche ECW left, and thus didn't get the kind of attention it would have. But they provide even more extreme wrestling than ECW, and so fringe ECW fans continue to keep an eye on CZW.

Cornette Runs WCW

Ted Turner demoted Eric Biscoff and hired Jim Cornette to be the Executive Producer of WCW, meaning Cornette would be in control of the creative flow of WCW.

Veterans Leave WCW

Once Jim Cornette is put in charge of WCW and Eric Bischoff no longer has the kind of power and authority he once had in WCW, WCW starts pushing younger talent rather than established veterans. While the veterans are still pushed well, they no longer continuously headline cards and pay-per-views. Hulk Hogan tries to play his creative control card, but it does little to help him out, and he unhappily leaves WCW once his contract runs out. Along with him go Scott Steiner, The Disciple (Brutus Beefcake), Kevin Nash, and Scott Hall, leaving both NWO Black & White and NWO Wolfpac splintered badly. Cornette picks up the pieces, however, and saves the entire NWO by installing new leaders of these two factions.

Linda Doesn't Run/No PG

Linda McMahon, who ran for the US Senate twice in the real world, doesn't try her hand in politics. Because of Vince's dumb angle, the McMahons would never be able to run for a public office like that. Because Linda doesn't run for US Senate, the WWE doesn't have to tone down its product for better PR, and therefore never turns PG. Their product remains PG-13, allowing them to continue to do risque things without pushing the envelope too much, not wanting to risk another debacle like before.

Shane, Not Steph

Because of the stigma placed on Stephanie due to the Angle of Death, Stephanie never had a chance in taking charge of WWE. Along with her husband Triple H, they have less power in the company. Shane McMahon, Vince's son who had been groomed for years to take over the company, is finally put into the position where he WILL take over WWE when Vince should step down or pass away.

No Buyout, No Invasion

Because WCW and ECW never die out, WWE doesn't buy the two companies. Because of this, no Invasion angle happens, although some ECW stars leave ECW as before (Taz goes to WWE and Mike Awesome goes to ECW).

 

 

Promotion information will go here whenever I start the diary.

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