I'm in training for a new job this week.
Naturally, that means I spent some meeting time scratching out an All-Star wrestling weekend.
Card rules are the same as for the body of the Counterfactual, 8 matches a night, two of them are tags, plus a dark match for each show. I'd like every match for all 3 nights to approximate 20 minutes, making each night (considering entrances and exits) about 3 hours. I sort of like the idea that every match gets the same bell time so we can fairly compare them. Everyone gets 20 to have the very best possible match they can have. That's what I like.
I didn't have the benefit of much contemplation, could be I've overlooked someone.
Night One:
Dark: Eddie Edwards v. Roderick Strong
Opening Tag Match: Ikuto Hidaka/Akira Tozawa v. Hiroshi Yamato/Dragon Kid
Match 2: Hirooki Goto v. Kazuchika Okada
Match 3: Jun Akiyama v. Christian
Match 4: Daisuke Sekimoto v. Takeshi Morishima
Match 5: CM Punk v. AJ Styles
Match 6: CIMA/Mochizuki v. Kaz Hayashi/Ry Taguchi
Semi-Main: El Generico v. Pac
Main Event: Bryan Danielson v. Davey Richards
Night Two:
Dark: Daichi Hashimoto v. Taiji Ishimori
Opening Tag: Tetsuya Naito/Yujiro Takahashi v. Kenny Omega/Dolph Ziggler
Match 2: Kevin Steen v. Kazushi Miyamoto
Match 3: Go Shiozaki v. Togi Makabe
Match 4: Rey Mysterio v. Chris Jericho
Match 5: Yuji Nagata v. Masato Tanaka
Match 6: Briscoes v. Kings of Wrestling
Semi-Main: Hiroshi Tanahashi v. Shinsuke Nakamura
Main Event: Katsuhiko Nakajima v. Prince Devitt
Night Three:
Dark: Tyson Kidd v. Tyler Black v. Ricochet
Opening Tag: Young Bucks v. Atsushi Aoki/Yoshinobu Kanemaru
Match 2: Low Ki v. Austin Aries
Match 3: Shingo Takagi v. Kohei Suwama
Match 4. Kurt Angle v. Takashi Sugiura
Match 5: Kotaro Suzuki v. Kota Ibushi
Match 6: Yoshino/Doi v. Motor City Machine Guns
Match 7: Samoa Joe v. Brock Lesnar
Main: Kenta v. Marufuji
A Counterfactual History - The 2000s, Part I
Thursday, June 21, 2012
The 90s are here.
-Angle beats both Davey Boy and Waltman, symbolizing a dominance over the remnants of both factions; there's a flaming table, a cage, and Cactus keeping the strap over Taz at MSG.
-WWF got invaded and that led to an all time great Mania; Saturn beat Snow, Rock beat DLo, Dean Malenko beat Taka, Angle beat Taz, the Hardys beat the Dudleys and Edge and Christian in the first ever TLC, Eddy Guerrero took Jericho's IC, and Benoit took Foley's WWF Title. Maybe the best workrate event to that date.
54. Summer Slam 2000
-Waltman beats Stevie, Taz beats Hunter, Angle beats the Undertaker, Edge and Christian win TLC2, Jericho retakes the IC from Eddy and Benoit keeps over the Rock - the workrate train rolls on at Summer Slam 2000.
-The Dudleys put Lita through a table even though they were babyfaces at the time, this is part of the angle that got Paul Heyman to the WWF. Angle beats Saturn and Eddy Guerrero beats Dean Malenko. Waltman turns on Hunter; Regal takes Jericho's IC, and Benoit keeps the belt over a returning Austin.
-Raven/Taz/Justin Credible all beat down the Hardys and Raven/Taz become tag champs by beating Edge and Christian. Angle beats the Rock, Regal keeps the IC over Austin, and Benoit keeps his belt over Jericho.
57. Wrestlemania XVII 2001
-Did Vince McMahon, current CEO of the World Wildlife Fund, really wrestle his son at Wrestlemania? Find out here. The Rock beats the Undertaker and Hunter beats Waltman. Jericho beats Eddy and, better still, he and Stacy become a couple. The Dudleys get their tag belts back, Austin gets Regal's IC, and Kurt Angle beats Benoit in the main for the strap. Such a good show.
-Paul Heyman on the announce. We had interpromotional matches here as the NWA and ECW resurfaces here. Jeff Hardy beats Edge in an all WWF Match; Booker T from the NWA beat the Rock; all 3 companies had their tag belts unified when the Dudleys beat DDP/Kanyon and Rhyno/Spike Dudley. The IC belt was unified with the NWA US Title and the ECW TV Title when Tajiri from ECW beat Austin and Lance Storm. And in the main RVD came in with the ECW World Title, but lost it to Angle, who now held both companies belts.
-Edge and Christian beat the Hardys, I acknowledge these four have to do some running in place given the talent influx from the other two companies. Van Dam went over Chavo and Shane Helms (the Spreekillers). DDP, from the NWA, beat Austin. Bang! Regal jumped from WWF to NWA but loses here to Rock. Taz takes the IC from Tajiri. Angle keeps over Booker in an NWA/WWF lumberjack match.
Both the NWA and ECW angles end here...for now...Some Survivor Series rematches, and they go the other way, Regal beats the Rock and Austin beats Page. Jericho and Storm take the tag belts, its the end of ECW as RVD beats Taz for the IC. And in Atlanta, Kurt Angle beats Ric Flair to keep the WWF and ECW World Titles.
This is the "legends come home" Mania from Toronto. Edge and Christian beat Razor and Hunter and then were taken out by a returning Michaels. Flair won a 3 way against Hogan and Undertaker. Booker ended Page's career; Rock submitted Regal with the sharpshooter, Jericho and Storm won TLC3; Van Dam kept the IC over Austin and Angle kept the big belt by beating Mr. Perfect.
62. Summer Slam 2002
Flair beat the Undertaker; Brock made his PPV debut and beat the Rock; Benoit and Eddy returned under masks to win the tag titles and reform the Horsemen with Flair and Leviathan. Michaels took Van Dam;'s IC title, and the final NWA Champ, Rey Mysterio, brought his belt to WWF - and lost it to Kurt Angle.
Angle, much like Bret during his long reign, began to get a heel reaction from some fans, and he addressed it here. Eric Bischoff joins the WWF to manage the Hardys. Lance Storm beat Edge and began to get closer to Stacy than would be ideal for Jericho. Mysterio beat Regal, former partners Chavo and Helms fought, Brock F5d Hunter on the ramp, Van Dam retook the IC from Michaels in a 2 out of 3 belt ladder match and Angle kept over Jericho and wound up superkicked for his trouble. The slow Angle turn, facilitated by his support for the heel Brock, was good storytelling albeit just a better version of the Bret storyline.
The Hardys won TLC 4 in the stretcher match blowoff to the long program with Edge/Christian and the Dudleys that saw everyone but Matt carted away. Chavo was trying to get into the Horsemen and he beat Tajiri. Lance beat Regal then made out with Stacy, the shock of which sent Jericho into a long, slow spiral. Your new tag champs, Haas and Benjamin, who came in as young babyfaces and left as protegees of Lesnar; Benoit turned face for the first time in the WWF. Mysterio took the IC from Van Dam and Angle kept the WWF Title over Michaels. That's a good show. I caught a good break to move from a company built around Bret/Owen/Shawn right into Angle/Benoit/Eddy.
Rock beats Austin in the legends match, the long Matt v. RVD series begins, Jericho batters his former partner Storm, Eddy Guerrero beats Chris Benoit, Michaels and Hunter are your babyface tag champs, Rey keeps the IC over Chavo - and Kurt Angle beats Brock Lesnar, both men nearly dying in the process and Angle's near paralysis requires that the belt be held up and a 64 man TV tournament be held to fill it. Rock/Austin, Eddy/Benoit, and Angle/Lesnar - that's Wrestlemania 19.
Angle had turned heel, Eddy babyface, in the build to Summer Slam. Goldberg made his PPV debut here; Van Dam/Matt continued; Jericho beat Flair; Angle and Benoit went to a time limit draw, Tajiri beat Rey for the IC - and Eddy beat Lesnar to win the vacant WWF Title.
Jamie Noble beat Chris Benoit; Van Dam beat Booker - Christian returned from injury to beat Jericho, a program that saw them eventually doubleturn. Chavo took the IC from Tajiri, Eddy kept the belt in a 4 way against Angle/Brock/Benoit.
-Christian went over Matt to begin the process of revisiting that rivalry, Jericho beat Van Dam, Brock and Goldberg urinated on Mick Foley, Haas and Benjamin retook the tag straps as Hunter's jealousy over Michaels's relationship with London and Kendrick began to surface, Chavo kept the IC and Angle regained the WWF Title - he clearly being the dominant figure of the first half of the decade.
Rock and Sock beat Lesnar and Goldberg with Austin as the guest referee in a star studded opening match. The Van Dam/Matt program ended. Jericho beat Christian in the second Hell in a Cell match, Rey beat Tajiri and Ultimo Dragon in a 3 way, Michaels beat Hunter and a new Clique: Michaels/Edge/Christian/London was formed. Eddy took the IC from Chavo in a ladder match - and Benoit beat Angle for the belt in what was probably the best match from this half of the decade. The Eddy/Benoit hug was replicated here.
Matt quit in the middle of the ring after losing to Booker T; Edge beat Hunter; Rey and Van Dam became the tag champs, Jericho took Eddys IC belt, and Benoit won a 2 of 3 falls match against Angle, now a Vic Mackey (the Shield) like character, heading up Team Angle (Regal/Haas/Benjamin).
The first half of the decade ended here. Angle and Benjamin took the tag belts, and Benoit and Eddy had a time limit draw in their first ever WWF PPV main event matchup.
TNA Lockdown 2012
Monday, June 11, 2012
TNA Title: AJ Styles d. Jeff Hardy
X: Bobby Roode (w/Horsemen)d. Chris Sabin
Tags: Dudleys d. RVD/Jeff Hardy
Samoa Joe(w/Flair/Williams) d. Alex Shelley
Austin Aries d. Kurt Angle
Frankie Kazarian d. Chris Daniels
James Storm (w/Hernandez) d. Ken Kennedy (w/Burke)
Crimson/Garrett Bischoff d. Morgan/Magnus
From the bottom, Crimson and Morgan are locked in a crappy feud; Storm beating Kennedy is the blowoff to the Tex Mex v. Future Endeavors program; Kazarian and Daniels are both babyfaces; Aries wins the blowoff to the Angle feud, it's designed to really put him over strong; the Machine Guns got wiped out by the Horsemen and now return for babyface revenge, the Horsemen promised that Lockdown would be their night - it starts off that way here, Joe beating Shelley clean out of the company. The Dudleys reformed at Final Resolution as babyfaces, and in a "last ride" sort of a way, go over Van Dam and Jeff in as much of a collision match as they can do. The Dudleys win the TNA belts for the first time in 6 years, Jeff and Van Dam break down during the match as Jeff moves further and further toward disgruntled never became who he wanted to be status. The Horsemen wipeout of the Guns continues as Roode keeps the X belt, and then the group (who already took out Jarrett and Sting) takes out their leader Flair. They don't want to be cool heels, they don't want to hear the fans "Whoooo" - they're bad, bad men. That ends Flair's run. AJ keeps the TNA Title in the ladder match over Jeff.
Real world Bound for Glory will mean Counterfactual Slammiversary - the title match - AJ Styles vs. Austin Aries.
A Counterfactual History - The 1990s, Part 2
Friday, June 01, 2012
-The Davey Boy/Backlund tag team wins the titles; Owen takes the IC from Razor, kicking off a Harts/Clique brawl; Shawn keeps the strap in a garbage match over Diesel.
-Razor retakes from Owen, Tammy Sytch turns heel and joins the Clique; Bret takes the title from Shawn in the MOTY.
-Hunter's first PPV; Waltman beats Candido; Shawn takes the IC from Razor in a ladder rematch from X; Bret keeps over Hakushi.
-Waltman beats Hakushi, the future NWO wins the tag titles, Shawn keeps the IC over the Franchise Shane Douglas and Bret beats Davey Boy.
-Waltman beats Hakushi again; Austin/Dustin win the tag straps as Rumble '96 marks the turning of the page away from the Harts/Clique domination of the WWF, Vader takes Shawn's IC and Bret keeps the WWF Title, beating Owen.
-Hunter beats Diesel as Nash leaves the territory; Owen beats Davey Boy; Shawn takes Bret's title in the Iron Man Match.
-Would you like a Cactus Jack promo? Vader keeps the IC over Cactus; Shawn keeps the WWF Title over Owen.
-How about another Cactus Jack promo? The Rock debuts; 2 Cold beats Al Snow; Austin beats Owen; Cactus takes the IC from Vader in a cage and Bret wins his third WWF Title - WWF's on a big workrate roll.
-The 40th WWF PPV was Rumble '97. Did Mil Mascaras work an 8 man tag on WWF PPV? Yes he did. Was Sid dressed like Goldust? Yes he was. How about 2 Cold beating Hector Garza and Austin going over Vader? Owen and Davey Boy win the tag straps, Cactus wins a death match over Terry Funk, Bret keeps over Shawn in a Hart/Clique lumberjack match that ends with Austin and Pillman wiping out both sides in what was my favorite angle to that date.
-Rock beats 2 Cold; how about a tag title match between Owen/Davey Boy and Furnas/LaFon, Cactus Jack keeping the IC over Vader and then getting suplexed by guest referee Ken Shamrock, Austin takes Bret's title. This is a good work stretch.
-The year+ feud between Hunter and Dustin ends; Owen beats Pillman; Shamrock beats Cactus in the Octagon as Foley turns heel; Michaels is the guest ref for the Austin/Bret title match and the result is the belt is held up for the first time ever.
-Lafon beats Furnas, Vader beats Davey Boy, Shamrock beats Cactus again, and Owen wins the Montreal Match, winning the strap but sending Bret out of the company, Bret fastens the title around his little brother's face.
-Shawn beats Undertaker in a casket match, Cactus and Funk win the tag titles, Shamrock beats Vader in the Octagon - Mike Tyson and Shamrock going nose to nose postmatch, Owen beats Austin in a referee stoppage due to blood loss when Steve won't submit to the sharpshooter.
-How about a "Let Them Play" chant for the Ring Boys? A Regal promo? Taka beating Aguila? Hunter/Waltman/Billy/Dogg are the crotch chopping Clique? A time limit Octagon draw between Shamrock and Austin with Tyson as the guest referee? Owen beating Shawn to keep his belt. Owen is the biggest star of the back half of the 90s, and maybe of the 90s altogether.
-Edge, pre-gimmick, beats Vader; Taka beats Dick Togo; Austin takes the IC from Shamrock, Cactus takes the WWF Title when he sets Owen on fire.
-Al Snow beats the Undertaker in a program built on the Taker not paying Al the appropriate amount of respect in the locker room; Waltman beats Scorpio; Austin keeps the IC over Regal; and Cactus keeps the WWF Title in the first ever Hell in a Cell.
-Jeff Hardy beats Scorpio (I really like Scorp and I jobbed him out; I also should have found a way to main event Taka). Shamrock beats Severn; Maivia/DLo beat Hunter and Waltman, Austin beats Snow, and Owen wins his third WWF Title in a barbed wire match against Cactus.
-Kurt Angle (along with Buddhist Vince McMahon and his son Skip) opens the show. Hunter and Waltman beat down the Outlaws. Paul Wight debuts. The Hardys beat the NOD in a ladder match to win the title - and then are turned on by their friends Edge and Christian who join the Clique along with Jeff's girlfriend Trish. Al Snow wins the IC, Cactus takes the title from Owen.
-It's WWF 50, the 50th PPV in WWF history as the 90s near an end. Stevie Richards wrestles, Hunter beats Shamrock, the Hardys beat Edge and Christian, Waltman takes the IC, and Cactus wins a Career v. Career match over Austin.
-The Dudley Boys make their PPV debut and take the title from the Hardys in a tables match; Jericho makes his PPV debut and takes Waltman's IC - and Foley wins a 3 way dance over Rock and Hunter to keep his title as the 90s end.
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