More Recap of 2003

Hi there. As we continue with th news from 2003, September finally rolls around. Donnie B ends up putting Mr. Tuttle as the GM of ECW and Mr. Graham as the GM of WCW but left Mr. Meyers with some creative control over a few of the characters. Mr. Tuttle, thinking he bit off more than he could chew, brought in Jim Cornette as a co-GM to help with the daily running of the organization.
September also saw Sting hang up his boots (for the first of many retirements). His replacement is brought in and we see Bill Goldberg step up to the plate to fill the vacancy. Donnie B then shocks the world with the announcement of a new GM for the WWF…it was none other than STING!

The next PPV, First Blood, would encompass matches from all three federations but would also be extended to have “blast from the past” matches. Prior to event time, the following matches were made:

Road Warriors vs Sheik and Volkoff
Nikita Koloff vs Vader
Lex Luger vs Ken Shamrock
Rick Steiner vs Ricky Steamboat with special guest referee Magnum TA.

Just prior to the event beginning, we were told Nikita wouldn’t be able to make it in for the show so he was replaced by Ted Dibiasi. Additional matches were added which included King Kong Bundy vs. Rick Martel; Randy Savage vs. Dean Malenko; and DDP vs Abdullah the butcher in a barbwire steel cage.

The ECW IC title ended up being vacated so a mini tourny was held to see who would wrestle for that belt. After a hard fought battle, Undertaker ends up defeating HHH to win the coveted championship. Kane successfully defended his ECW World title against Bubba Ray Dudley. Brock Lesnar retained the WWF IC title against Farooq after Randy Orton was laid out prior to match time. The Hurricane defeats Rey Mysterio to win the WCW Cruiserweight title but Rey wins it back immediately after outside interference from Hurricane’s sidekick Rosey. Rosey turned on the Hurricane to help Mysterio. After a brief hiatus from the ring, the returning Edge defeats the Big Show. Angle retains the WWF world title against Brock Lesnar after Lesnar is DQ’d for attacking the ref (in a cage). Sting came out and called the decision. RVD defeated Ric Flair. Shiek and Volkoff are victorious over the LOD. WCW World champ Chris Benoit barely retained his title after a time limit draw against the Rock. Vader defeated Dibiasi in a very bad match. Lance Storm retains his title against the Super Warrior after SW got counted out. Luger walked out of his match against Ken Shamrock after chants of “You killed Liz” made him distraught. Rick Steiner and Ricky Steamboat was up next. After Steamboat was steamrolling his opponent, the lights go out and when they come back on, we see Magnum knocked out. Standing in the ring is Randy Savage and he viciously attacks Steamboat with the ringside bell. Magnum wakes up just in time to see Steiner superplex Ricky from the top rope and makes the count. Randy Savage defeats Dean Malenko but is attacked by Steamboat running in from the crowd. Steamboat got a bit of revenge before 8 refs hit the ring to break up the action. Tajiri defeated Chris Nowinski. Nash defeats Bradshaw via countout. Batista got to wrestle Stone Cold Steve Austin and found out what it felt like to be on the receiving end of a stunner. Austin gets the win and becomes the new WCW US champ. John Cena defeated Eddie Guerrero to retain the TV title.

The next match was the culmination of almost a year of hassle. At the beginning of the year, Undertaker and MW3 had a match which saw the Undertaker get injured. MW3 cut some great promos that included taking potshots at some of Undertaker’s famous sayings (This is MY yard). MW3 came back with “I just CRAPPED in your yard”. This went on for months. Each time the Undertaker came back, he and MW3 would wrestle and Taker would get injured AGAIN…and AGAIN…and AGAIN. Finally, at this PPV, the two of them had it out and finally saw Undertaker get the win. After the match, he raised MW3’s hand in a great show of respect.

Scott Steiner defeated Hulk Hogan; Steamboat and Savage met in an I Quit match. Steamboat had to call it quits after Savage broke his leg at the 3 minute mark. Chris Jericho defeated the Mexorcist (this was the character of that Jackass I won’t name. DDP came out unscathed in his match against the Butcher but Abby left a bloddy mess. Benoit ends up defeating Kurt Angle after outside interference from Brock Lesnar. Kane, the Undisputed Champion looses the belt to the rabid wolverine and Benoit wins the Undisputed Title for the first time.

In October, it was decided that a talent exchange would take place within all 3 federations. Only the title holders would be exempt from the draft. We also finally get a structure in place to determine proper top contenders (in the past, I just would draw a wrestler at random and they would receive a title shot).

There was no news for all of November due to this writer being without the internet. Once December rolled around, the final ppv of the year was held. In the WWF, after winning 2 of 3 falls, Chris Jericho ends up defeating world champ Kurt Angle to become the NEW champion. ECW IC champion Undertaker takes on WCW US champion for both titles. Undertaker ends up walking out with both titles. Somewhere in all that, Benoit ended up also winning the ECW world title. Angle, who lost out to Jericho, was offered a shot at the ECW title but Benoit was able to hang on and retain that title.

When I return, we will start looking at the happenings in 2004.

Recap 2003 continued

Hi and welcome back. Picking up where I left off yesterday, Kurt Angle, the WCW champion was turning and burning through his opponents until he came across Chris Benoit. Benoit took the fight to the Olympic Hero and captured the World title. Angle got a rematch but wasn’t able to win the title back. This would become the beginning of Benoit’s domination in the sport. At the Evolution PPV (the second of the year), Cena wins the TV title by defeating Eddie Guerrero and ended up shaving him bald too. MW3 and the Undertaker begin what was almost a year long feud. Booker T becomes the man-servant for Sting. Kurt Angle, who moved to the WWF in exchange for the Rock, takes the World title from Hogan. The PPV also saw a new Unified Champion crowned when the ECW world Champion Kane relieved Hogan of that title.

We then disappeared for 4 months. The reason given is that the jackass that was in charge of running ECW (in the game, not real life) filed an injunction to prevent any matches from happening. In reality, I just got so busy with life that I didn’t make time for the game. Just as that one was wrapping up, The Hawk decided he wanted control back of WCW (Jeff Meyers). He then filed an injunction (again, game related – Jeff would never have done this in “real” life) and that prevented any wrestlers under WCW from participating in any WWF angles. In both cases, Donnie B comes out on top (and why wouldn’t he – I created the darn game in its current form myself). In a shocking turn of events, the Hawk and the unmentioned jackass teamed up to take 51% of the WWF thereby forcing me out of the company. But before the ink could dry, I gave my shares to Wayne “Super Warrior” Tuttle and Anthony “Negronomicon” Graham. (editors note: Little did I know at the time that power would go to N’s head – but that’s a recap in a future update). A little wheeling and dealing on Donnie B’s part saw new lawsuits leveled against the WWF’s new leaders and not only did the Super Warrior and Negronomicon sue for misuse of their characters, so did most of the major names in all the federations. If Jackass and Meyers lost, they would be broke. Donnie B came back in with his proposal to nullify all the lawsuits, take back 52% controlling interest in all federations. Meyers and Jackass were left with 24% but little did I know (actually I did) that SW and N both had separate lawsuits against them and took their share. Eventually, Donnie B gets back everything but it was a long drawn out process.

Stay tuned….