We’re kicking off this rebooking at the end of the Vince Russo era. So that means Souled Out 2000, as Vince Russo was done heading into that show. First and foremost, lets be exact with his departure. He left about a week before Souled Out. The reason? Jeff Jarrett and Bret Hart had to vacate their US and World titles respectively, and Russo settled on Tank Abbott to win the title, which…was not a good idea. Chris Benoit threatened to quit the promotion if Kevin Sullivan was put in the head booker role, and even though Benoit was acting like a child, Sullivan still booked him to win the title.

(*Road to Souled Out*)

I wouldn’t of done that. In fact, I’d fire them and book without them. Anyone who threatens me to get what they want can walk off a cliff. So the original card, it’s scrapped. Gone. See Ya!

I’d open up with four qualifying matches. First up Curt Hennig taking on Tank Abbott, then Booker T vs. Kidman, Vampiro vs. The Wall and finally Kevin Nash vs. Sid Vicious.

Hennig would get the quick win over Abbott, after 3 Count attack him prior to the match. Booker would go over on Kidman, and they two would show respect to each other. Vampiro would defeat The Wall, and Nash would screw Vicious.

This sets up Booker vs. Hennig in a Bunkhouse Brawl and Nash vs. Vampiro in a Catch-as-Catch Can match. Hennig would outlast Booker, who would eat a distraction from Stevie Ray, while Vampiro would kick Nash over the top ropes, and since that’s how you win, Vampiro is declared the winner over a surprised Nash.

Vampiro and Hennig would meet in the main event, which would be the “Caged Heat/Hell in a Cell” match. It’d go longer, and would see Hennig surviving Vampiro’s onslaught and getting the pinfall victory.

That’s seven matches on a twelve card show. The Hardcore Title goes off as usual, only with Norman Smiley winning. Midnight and Madusa fight in what would be the start of the WCW Women’s Division, and Madusa would be the inaugural champion. The Cruiserweight itle would be declared vacant, and a tournament would happen on Thunder over the next few weeks.

Buff Bagwell and DDP would still fight in their Last Man Standing match, but now it’s also for the WCW United States Championship, which Buff Bagwell would finally win. Terry Funk would fight David Flair, in a match that would retcon’s David’s “insanity” as a long con by his father to get over on Funk, as Funk would continue on as Commissioner. And of course that means the Mamalukes vs. Harris Brothers match becomes a Number One Contender match for the WCW World Tag Team Titles.

So in order:

Qualifying Match
Curt Hennig vs. Tank Abbott

Qualifying Match
Booker T vs. Billy Kidman

Qualifying Match
Vampiro vs. The Wall

Qualifying Match
Kevin Nash vs. Sid Vicious

Hardcore Championship Match
Meng vs. Brian Knobbs (c) vs. Fit Finlay vs. Nomran Smiley

Number One Contender Match
The Harris Brothers vs. The Mamalukes

Semi-Final: Bunkhouse Brawl
Curt Hennig vs. Booker T

Semi-Final: Catch-as-Catch-Can
Vampiro vs. Kevin Nash

WCW Women’s Championship
Midnight vs. Madusa (c)

Terry Funk vs. David Flair w/Croward and Daffney

WCW United States Championship Match
Buff Bagwell vs. Diamond Dallas Page

WCW World Heavyweight Championship Finals – Caged Heat/Hell in a Cell
Curt Hennig vs. Vampiro

(*Not Used: Shane Douglas*, Dean Malenko*, Chris Beniot*, Perry Saturn*, Oklahoma**, Spice, Jerry Flynn, Disco Inferno)
* – quit/will quit
** – fired

(*Road To SuperBrawl X*)

Now, some general information before moving forward. In the tag team division, the Mamalukes will essentially split up, allowing for Disco and Big Vito to partner up, and moving Johnny The Bull to a singles position for the interim. Booker T and Billy Kidman will form a potent tag team to challenge the new Harlem Heat. I’m not sure how long I’ll keep Big T around, but we’ll see what happens there. David Flair and Crowbar will stick around for the short term, I have plans for them….

I’m also booting up a women’s division, this was actually in the cards with Sullivan in charge. The division was going to be built around Mona and Madusa, so if you add Aysa, Midnight, and Daffney, and you actually have a few solid pieces in place for a nice women’s division.

The United States title scene will see Buff Bagwell leading the charge, and will actually run through the former headliners like Sid Vicious.

Jeff Jarrett, Curt Hennig, Vampiro, Dustin Rhodes and eventually Booker T will all headline going forward, with Sting added in. Hulk Hogan and Flair will be used sparingly. I’m not sure if Hogan and Flair will partner up with Horace and David respectfully, or if Hulk and Ric will partner up but the basic idea is to use them in the tag team division. Terry Funk, going forward, will act as on screen authority. DDP, Scott Steiner, Kevin Nash, Konnan and Shane Douglas will be integrated back into the roster slowly.

So with the general ideas in place, lets continue on with the booking.

So coming out of this, Curt Hennig is celebrated on the next night of Nitro with all the confetti and all the pomp and circumstance the world can muster. Wrestlers like Dustin Rhodes, Terry Funk, Billy Kidman, Vampiro even, and others line the entrance to the ring to shake Hennig’s hand and congratulate him, with Vampiro even hugging him. The faces and even some heels like The Mamalukes and Harris Brothers, give Hennig a huge ovation leading to him breaking down in the ring and tearing up. Either for real, or cus he was scripted too. Either way, he cries.

As he’s about to start thanking fans, Ric Flair comes out to a huge pop (David’s fake out will not yet be revealed). Flair struts down, drawing crossed glances from Funk and Rhodes, before entering the ring. Flair takes the mic and hypes up Hennigs title win. He puts him over as more than deserving for the belt and the two embrace, as the announcers put over their history. After they separate, Flair then does his typical heel move by going in on Hennig for his inability to never being close to Flair’s level. This results in Hennig decking Flair to the delight of the crowd.

Curt Hennig is now your champion, and heading into SuperBrawl X (formelry SuperBrawl 2000) will face off with Ric Flair for the WCW World Title. This will be the last time he gets a world title shot for some time. (If I can convince him, which is obviously a challenge in of it self, I’d have Hogan do the j-o-b for Hennig at Uncensored). The general idea behind Hennig and Flair is that Hennig never beat Flair for the title during their time together, and that Flair has beaten everyone there is, yet Hennig hasn’t. It’s a simple build up, built around their history.

The tag titles however are a different story. I’d have Crowbar and Flair drop the belts to Booker and Kidman in the interim and have them feud with Stevie Ray and Elix Skipper. I’d make Skipper bombastic in his personality, to such a point that even Stevie Ray finds him annoying. The two would go up against Kidman and Booker at SuperBrawl. Big T would be released from his contract. I’d also strip down the rest of Harlem Heat, and just make it Stevie and Elix. Elix would showcase his athleticism, and would win a lot of 1 on 1 Cruiserweight Matches to put over his over the top attitude.

Norman Smiley, as the Hardcore Champion, would be booked to take on Finlay in a Hardcore Title match, until Rick Steiner lays out Finlay and takes his place. I’m talking about high comedy here folks. Rick Steiner is horrifying. Smiley is afraid of everything. This is a match made in comedy heaven.

Bagwell’s US title win would “corrupt” him. I’d transform his gimmick post DDP feud into something that mirrored the accusations. For those who don’t remember, DDP accused Bagwell of having the hots and even sleeping with his then wife Kimberly. I’m going to fully embrace this new gimmick, making him a philander who would pray on women who were in relationships that were on the rocks. He’d say all the right things, be a charming man, and then after the relationship imploded, because of him, he’d “ghost” out and be unreachable. To launch his new found heel-ness I’d place him in a feud with Prince Iaukea, who will drop the “Artist Formerly Known As” gimmick, as well as The Maestro and have him go after Paisley and Symphony. This will follow Bagwell breaking up The Maestro and Symphony (Ryan Shamrock), and having her as his valet while he went after Paisley as well. The idea is two-fold. One, it’s to give Bagwell this appeal that, even though he’s a jack ass, the women deal with it to be with him, as he’ll now retain both Paisley and Symphony as his valets. Also, it’ll allow me to switch The Maestro to Gorgeous George Jr (since I’ll have let Savage walk at this point), and give him the moniker of the Maestro of Pain. The idea is to have Prince Iaukea and the newly rechristened Gorgeous George Jr as serious mid card acts who could challenge for the WCW Cruiserweight and Television titles. Bagwell will ultimately put up his title against their respective valets, and that’ll lead to a triple threat match at SuperBrawl where both valets essentially turn on their former wrestlers, showing their displeasure in them.

For the Cruiserweight title, with Chris Candido coming in, but also knowing he won’t be reliable, I’m kind of torn. Mysterio is hurt, and Kidman is in the tag team division, so I’m kind of limited in who I can use. Knowing this, and knowing that I hate weighted titles, I’d actually run an angle where the members of 3 Count, Kaz Hayashi, Psicosis, Lash LeRoux, Crowbar, and Chavo Guerrero would compete in tournament to crown a new champion. It’ll come down to Shane Helms and Evan Karagis on Thunder, but before either could win, Tank Abbott will come out and smash the hell out of both men, ending the match in a no contest. Abbott would then destroy the Cruiserweight title, and being a process of beating up any talent who tried to wrestle in Cruiserweight matches. The idea behind this will spurn WCW to “rebuild” the division with input from the wrestlers. This is where I create the WCW version of the X-Division title. Considering everyone who had anything to do with creating the title was in both WCW at this time, and TNA at that time, it’s safe to say that the name would of eventually been suggested, so we’ll go with that. Because of that, and the fact that the X-Division will not be about weight limits, Tank Abbott will be allowed to compete for it. However, that’s not for another month, as SuperBrawl X would feature 3 Count vs. Tank Abbott in a No DQ match.

With several of the younger pieces in some high profile matches, we’re now going to focus on Vampiro. To begins his ascension, we need to really highlight his talents, so the best thing to do is feature him in a match where the guy has a name and will sell for him. So, off the top of my head that’s Lex Luger. Luger’s not a great worker, but he always sells for faces, and that’s what we need. The angle is simple enough, Vampiro will be on t.v. embracing the punk lifestyle, and highlighting his time with The Misfits. Luger, will come out and insult the band, calling them hacks and claiming they’re not inspirational like real musicians, such as Michael Bolten. Vampiro will be insulted and he’ll blow off Luger. Then Luger will insult a kid wearing a Vampiro shirt, and then we find out that Vampiro is a man of the people. He’s a dark protector. That’ll launch the feud off into a match at SuperBrawl.

The Harris Boys, Jeff Jarrett, Scott Hall and an injured Kevin Nash will round out the rest of the angles heading into the card. The five of them will constantly bag on Terry Funk, leading to Sid Vicious coming to Funks aid. Eventually, this will bring back Hulk Hogan. At SuperBrawl, they’ll all throw in together, if Hogan, Sid and Funk can find a fourth member. I actually have some plans for this angle, and some hope that I can salvage the newest incarnation of the nWo.

To begin the Women’s Division in earnest, I’d have Madusa lay out a gauntlet match at SuperBrawl X, declaring that she only was given this belt to make up for the whole Ed Ferrara nonsense. She wants to prove to the locker room and the fans she deserves this title. This will see Asya, Midnight and Daffney all respond to the challenge at SuperBrawl X. Madusa will start off facing Midnight, and then whoever wins, would then face off with the next competitor, until someone is left standing.

If needed for time, Johnny The Bull will take on Meng where Bull gets the win, as well the Mamalukes (Disco and Big Vito) will take on David Flair and Crowbar in Number One Contender’s match. If not at SuperBrawl, on Nitro then. Either way, it’ll see David Flair assaulting Crowbar post match and leaving Daffney and Crowbar.

WCW World Title
Curt Hennig(c) vs. Ric Flair

nWo (Jeff Jarrett, Scott Hall, The Harris Brothers w/Kevin Nash) vs. WCW (Hulk Hogan, Terry Funk, Sid Vicious, and ???)
–

WCW World Tag Team Title
Booker T and Kidman (c) vs. Harlem Heat (Stevie Ray and Elix Skipper)

3 on 1 – No DQ
3 Count vs. Tank Abbott

WCW Women’s Title – Gauntlet Match
Madusa(c) vs. Midnight vs. Asya vs. Daffney

WCW United States
Buff Bagwell (c) vs. The Maestro vs. Prince Iaukea

Lex Luger vs. Vampiro

WCW Hardcore
Rick Steiner vs. Norman Smiley (c)

We’ll open up with Steiner vs. Smiley for the Hardcore title. Typical blend of Smiley screaming, and Steiner beating his ass. Eventually Smiley will make a comeback only for Steiner to put Smiley down in the midst of it, and get the win and the title. Post match would see Fit Finlay make the save.

During the Luger and Vampiro match, Luger will continue to antagonize fans (plants), ripping their signs, spitting on their merch, you know, heel things. Vampiro would also survive numerous involvements from Elizabeth, and Luger’s cheap tactics to get the win with the Nail in the Coffin. He’ll celebrate in the fans to further promote this “man of the fans” idea.

Bagwell will put down the Maestro and Iaukea after both Paisley and Symphony betray their former wrestlers. They’d enter with Bagwell, clearly disgusted, but leave with him voluntarily, putting over the idea that Buff really is The Stuff. This will be the catalyst for the character change in both men.

Madusa will start first, easily defeating Midnight, then surviving the onslaught of Asya, before finally putting down Daffney with a crossbody block. The announcers, will put over the fact that this is an “open challenge” type gauntlet. So after Daffney is defeated, Mona (Molly Holly) will come out and get in the ring and address Madusa. She’ll declare that she doesn’t want to fight Madusa, not tonight. Not yet. She wants Madusa well rested, as she’s all about winning that title honorably. This will be the feud that’ll launch the division into something must see.

Tank Abbott will survive the 3 Count 3-on-1 match. Post match will see the former Cruiserweight Division come out and get laid out by Abbott one after another. This will be the crescendo of the death of the division, as he lays the broken pieces of the title all over the fallen wrestlers.

For the tag titles, Harlem Heat (Stevie Ray and Skipper) will fall just short after Booker hits the axe kick on Stevie and Kidman hits the Shooting Star Press, allowing Booker to pin his brother. Skipper will chastise Stevie after, who would be shown to be dominant against both Kidman and Booker throughout the match.

In the sup-main event, the nWo will defeat Hogan, Funk, Vicious and Dustin Rhodes when Jarrett pins Hogan thanks to Nash hitting Hogan with his crutch. Post match will see Jarrett talk about “recruiting more” talent to their ranks.

Then in the main event, Curt Hennig will pin Flair to retain the title in a standard affair. Post match will see Hennig extend his hand to Flair, who rejects it and leaves to much heat from the crowd.

(*Road to Uncensored*)

So now the idea is that Hennig needs a new opponent and that the nWo will be trying to recruit Hulk Hogan to rejoin them. Two pretty big spotlights to fill. So lets start with the title match. Post SuperBrawl, the fans are clamoring for Hennig as he comes to the ring to start off the show. He’ll talk about wanting to be a fighting champion and will defend his belt, right now, against the first person who walks through the curtain. That’s Johnny The Bull. Bull comes in, and has a good match with Hennig, coming off of his big win over Meng, this will be seen as Bull being a natural. Hennig wins, cleanly, but post match pays respect to Bull by shaking his hand and giving him the ring.

Later in the night, Hennig will be approached by Terry Funk and told to head out in the main event to find out who his next opponent is. With Hennig and Funk in the ring, Lex Luger comes out to challenge Hennig, follwed by Jeff Jarrett flanked by The Harris Brothers. Jarrett comes out and “takes” his spot as Hennig’s opponent, causing Luger to have a hilarious outburst. Hennig, assuming Jarrett is the challenger starts in on him, chastising him and getting into it with him. That is until Funk cuts off the confrontation, mocks Jarrett a little bit, and then tells Hennig “…it’s not Jarrett, it’s…” before pointing to the screen. The screen then cuts to hype package of dark ambient noises and sounds. Gravestones will be seen scattered about, and a dark figure crosses the camera. Eventually we’ll see an unmarked grave, where a hand shoots out of it, the figure crawls out with his back to the screen before shaking off the dirt, and slowly turns around…to reveal STING! He’ll slowly say “…I’m….back!” before walking off. Luger will make a mad dash through the audience, being petrified of Sting’s new aura.

The idea behind the Sting gimmick is that it’s his “reincarnation” as a dark defender. He’ll talk only when he must, and stalk his opponents to build up to matches. He won’t be good nor bad, just Sting.

Also heading into the show will feature Jeff Jarrett vs. Hulk Hogan. As Hall is unreliable, we’ll settle for Jarrett. Nash will continue to try and coax Hogan back to the nWo, with him, Hall and Jarrett running rough shot. (*I wont’ fire Hall…yet). Hogan will hem and haw and will ultimately reject Nash at first, but oh so hesitantly. Jarrett lays down a challenge to Hogan to face him then at Uncensored, to which Hogan accepts.

We’ll see Dustin Rhodes take to Terry Funk going forward (until we bring Dusty back). The two of them will be buddy buddy, and Rhodes will be a big opponent to the nWo. Who’ll get a big bump in terms of ranks from Rick Steiner. Scott Steiner is still part of the group, but isn’t a regular. He asks Jarrett for Rick to take his spot as an active member. He’ll agree and Steiner will begin bullying anyone he wants, including (or at least trying to) with Funk. This will see Rhodes and Steiner get into it and start brawling around the arena.

Side note, Funk will always be around fights, and will never ever care. He’ll never move, never back out of the way, he’ll never run. He’ll just start throwing punches against anyone if they get to close.

Funk, with an injured Rey Mysterio, will come out eventually before Uncensored and announce the creation of a new division, meant for wrestlers like Rey Mysterio. They’ll call it the X-Division, a division based off of flash, style and substance. A division that’ll embrace the history of the Cruiserweights of the US, the junior-heavyweights of Japan, and the luchadores of Mexico. They’ll formally announce that it’ll have no weight limit, and also no formal disqualification or countout. Each match must end in a pin fall or submission. Though weapons and such will be frowned upon in the division and “…anyone who feels the need to use weapons will find themselves suspended from competing in the X-Division”. They’ll announce a ten man battle royal for Uncesnored. Tank Abbott, 3 Count, Psicosis, Chavo, Lash LeRoux, Crowbar, Kaz Hayashi, all for the match, with a mystery tenth member for the show.

Bagwell and his ladies will be a target next of Vicious. Jarrett will come to Bagwell and offer him a spot in the new nWo, which will motivate Vicious to tell him he “…can’t join the nWo.” This will offend Bagwell, and he’ll respond by attacking Vicious from behind. This sets up Bagwell’s push against top talent. I know, I know. But considering guys who got misused and those who quit, it’s hard to find young talent to develop on this roster right now.

By this point, Flair will have left Crowbar and Daffney. He’ll come out and confront Crowbar and the two will brawl. David will reveal that he had a “little episode” and that Crowbar wasn’t some mechanic he just stumbled across. He was his father’s personal trainer and a long time friend of the family. David will go into detail how the pressure of being United States Champion when he wasn’t ready made him have a mental breakdown and Crowbar did everything possible to prolong his recovery. He’ll go on to say that his father trusted Crowbar to help protect and keep his son safe. That didn’t happen. Instead he developed a penchant for pain. In reality, I’d have David Flair start working on brawling. I’d have him train with Meng, Funk, and others who excelled in that style. Flair will be sidelined for this month, as he cuts promos on Crowbar.

For the tag team titles, Kidman and Booker will open up the championships to an open invitational brawl. Anyone who shows up, has a shot. If they’re pinned, they’re gone. This will allow teams like Harlem Heat, The New Mamalukes, The Harris Boys, Fit Finlay and Norman Smiley, Bam Bam and The Wall, Lenny and Rave, and Gorgeous George and Prince Iaukea all to show up and get air time.

To further fuel not only Sting’s return but his eventual assault on Luger (who injured him at Starrcade), Luger will have a series of psychotic breaks. He’ll come in and see Sting merch in his bag, but when he shows Liz, it’ll be Total Package gear, in other instances he’ll beat up a fan wearing a Sting mask, thinking it’s actually him. This will all coincide with Vampiro mocking him for losing at SuperBrawl to him, and claiming that if anyone should of been out there challenging Hennig, it should of been Vampiro. At this point, the psychosis will begin to become too much and he’ll freak on Vampiro, attacking him before a match with a bat and calling him Sting. This will set up a blow off match at Uncensored in a baseball bat on a pole match. ….cus I’m evil….

Finally rounding out this month’s show will be Madusa taking on Daffney in an I Quit match. The match will come about when Mona is tossed off the Nitro stage by Daffney the night after SuperBrawl, resulting in Mona “injuring” her arm and being ruled out for the pay per view match. Daffney will be split between her desire to be there for Crowbar and wanting to win “…such a pretty belt”.

Uncensored 2000
WCW World Title
Sting vs. Curt Hennig (c)

Jeff Jarrett vs. Hulk Hogan

WCW World Tag Team
Open Invitational Match

I Quit
Madusa vs. Daffney (c)

WCW United States
Sid Vicious vs. Buff Bagwell(c)

Baseball Bat on a Pole Match
Vampiro vs. Lex Luger

WCW Hardcore
Dustin Rhodes vs. Rick Steiner (c)

WCW X-Division
Tank Abbott vs. Evan Karagias vs. Shannon Moore vs. Shane Helms vs. Psicosis vs. Chavo Guerrero vs. Lash LeRoux vs. Crowbar vs. Kaz Hayashi vs. ???

During the inaugural X-Division ten man elimination match, Rey Mysterio will be at ringside with the new title, dressed to the nines. During the course of the match, nine men entered the match and during the course of it, sees David Flair run in and attack Crowbar. He’ll toss out Crowbar, and the rest of the match will see everyone whittled down to Abbott and Karagias, who will eventually catch Abbott and toss him out, winning the title….or you’d think. As Rey gets in the ring and hands Karagias the title, Tammy Lynn Sytch comes out and says that in her hand she has the contract of the tenth man, and it wasn’t David Flair…it’s Chris Candido. Candido comes in and accosts Karagias for a minute or two, below tossing him out and winning the title.

In the hardcore title match, Steiner will upend Rhodes thanks to interference from Scott. Rhodes will snap after the match and attack the ref. Accusing him of working with the nWo. Funk will come out but Rhodes won’t hear it and shoves him to the ground.

In the Bat on a Pole match, Luger and Vampiro will have a short match, with Luger getting the bat. He’ll freak out and drop the bat, cus it’s signed by Sting. That’ll allow Vampiro to use it and win the match.

For the U.S. title, Vicious will dominate most of the match, with Bagwell constantly running out of the ring and hiding behind Paisley and Symphony for protection. At no point does Vicious physically engage them, but Bagwell does push them into him on occasion. Eventually he’ll throw one of them into Vicious in the ring, and when Sid catches her and moves her, Bagwell will hit his Blockbuster on Sid for the win.

In the I Quit match, Daffney will lose fairly fast to Madusa, after David Flair comes down to ringside and whispers in her ear. Later it’ll be revealed that if she didn’t quit, he would cripple Crowbar. Madusa will try and help Daffney post match but she’ll run off before she could help.

The tag team open invitational goes off fairly easily, with Booker and Kidman eliminating every tag team in the match and will stand tall. Elix Skipper though will attack Stevie Ray after the match, as Elix will have showcased his talent and were part of the last team standing. However, he’ll blame Stevie again for his lack of effort and beat him down. This will see Booker and Kidman make the save, but Stevie will just walk off instead of making things right with Booker.

Ideally I’d like Jarrett to go over, so instead (cus I know how this’ll end), I’d have Jarrett get DQ’ed on purpose to “send a message” that he isn’t here to kowtow to Hogan or try to get him to rejoin the nWo. Nash and Jarrett will argue about that post match, with a bloodied Hogan crawling around the ring trying to stand up (as Jarrett would of smashed him with a guitar). Jarrett tells Nash if he can’t accept the new reality, that the nWo will move past him and Hall.

Then in the main event, Hennig comes out first. He’ll look slightly worried, and a bit apprehensive. The lights dim, then go out, and Sting’s entrance theme will start before being abruptly cut off. The lights will spring back on, and in the corner of the ring will be Sting, staring down Hennig. He’ll have black face paint with white lines, flipping the traditional black on white he used to have. He’ll also have a color swapped singlet on now too, with a white base and black details. Throughout the match, Sting will attack Hennig viciously and every time Hennig gets the upper hand, Sting will just “rise out of it” and proceed to his pummeling of Hennig. The match will end when Sting starts assaulting Hennig on the outside, by tossing him into the ring posts, and the security rails over and over again as the ref counts to ten. Luger flies out and tries to attack Sting while he’s distracted but misses, and sprinting away again. Sting will walk away and begin pursuing Luger, as Hennig crawls into the ring and wins via Count Out. Sting at no point returns and just proceeds to silently stalk Luger.

The next night on Nitro, Hennig and Funk will talk backstage and Funk will reveal that Sting’s agent wanted Sting’s return to be against Luger, but Funk was trying to make a big time main event and wouldn’t allow Sting to return unless he took the title fight first. Later on in the night, he’ll tell Luger that Sting got the title fight only because he promised him one thing in return, at Spring Stampdede, Sting got Luger, in what will be called an Asylum Match (Hell in a Cell but with barbed wire and weapons). Half of the hype for the match will be about the cage.

(*Road to Spring Stampede*)

The build up for Sting and Luger will be simple. The first night after Uncensored, Luger will sprint off when he finds out he’s facing Sting. When he reaches his rental car, there’s three words sprawled across it, “Time for games”. The announcers will cobble together the idea that Sting meant “mind games” and for the next few weeks Luger will be steeped in the mind games. For one, Chris Harris (he was in WCW at the time) will be seen ringside wearing the new face-paint design as he sits ringside for Luger’s match, making him think it’s Sting. Another instances will see Luger having issues with the light in his private locker room before the spring to life and Luger finds himself in a sea of Sting cardboard cut outs that are “bleeding”. Sting won’t actually confront Luger until the pay per view event.

Hogan gets Hennig for the WCW title, with it being touted as a dream match finally come to fruition. The build up will feature two “veterans” trying to show up each other in matches. One of them will feature Johnny The Bull nearly upsetting Hogan, which sees Hogan shake the hand of the young up and comer. This match won’t main event the show, and I’ll do everything in my power to put over Hennig. If not, I’ll fuck with Hogan until he quits. Either way Hennig is going over somehow.

Now at this point, Scott Hall is suspended by WCW brass, and Kevin Nash is still out with an injury. But….Scott Steiner is back. Steiner and Jarrett will formally kick The Outsiders out of the nWo, and will have the Harris Brothers tear off The Outsiders shirts from a few “fans” ringside. The duo go on to “purge” the team from the group and introduce their newest members; Bam Bam Bigelow, Chris Candido and a returning Shane Douglas. The nWo then claim that they have a secret weapon coming at Spring Stampede. Douglas and Bam Bam are “given” a tag team title match against Booker and Kidman, while Candido challenges anyone to an open invitational X-Division title match. As Jarrett and Steiner are proclaiming that the nWo are now genuine “Triple Threats”, Sid Vicious comes out and runs down Jarrett for being a punk. He proclaims that it’s guys like Jarrett and the Steiner’s who influenced guys like Buff Bagwell to be “clowns” who have no honor. This will then involve the six members (Scott, Jarrett, Triple Threat and Rick Steiner) assault Vicious before DDP returns with a baseball bat to clear the ring. Page then runs down Steiner and Jarrett and proclaims that both men are responsible for how he was treated by Bagwell post Souled Out (as it’ll be said that Bagwell was the one who injured Page). The duo will demand that Scott Steiner and Jeff Jarrett man up and take their punishment. Scott answers, obviously, for them both and announces his return to the ring at Spring Stampede with Jarrett.

David Flair will finally get Crowbar to give him a one on one match on an episode of Nitro. As the two are about to come to blows, Ric Flair assaults Crowbar and is joined by David in beating Crowbar. The duo then rip into Crowbar and Ric laments hiring Crowbar to “watch” his son, as he failed in every aspect. He helped indulge David in his desires to branch out from Ric and explore a destructive lifestyle Ric didn’t support. He’ll claim Crowbar took advantage of David’s fame and fortune for his own personal reasons. It’s for his betrayal towards Ric and David that he’ll stand in his sons corner and watch David take on Crowbar in a hardcore match.

Dustin Rhodes will become a crusader, becoming violent and angry with the nWo. He’ll claim that those letters ruined his fathers legacy in WCW, and will seek to rid the group once and for all. His violence though is not met well by Terry Funk, who’ll try and calm Dustin. However it’s for not. Rhodes will end up putting both Ron and Don Harris on the shelf by his lonesome (and a cowbell) but is then suspended for overstepping his bounds by trying to end their careers, nWo members or not. Rhodes, being enraged will address Funk, calling him an nWo sympathizer, and assaults him. Rhodes will become a very dark and obsessed character determined on ending the nWo at all costs.

Buff, and his lovely ladies, will take a different approach during this build up and will spend the time partying and hanging out with the personalities like Major Gunns and Midajah (before they were Gunns and Midajah). This will draw the ire of Fit Finlay and Norman Smiley. Smiley will be dispatched early, but Finlay will come out and essentially call Bagwell a bitch and will use a weapon of some sorts to smash Bagwells hand. Finlay will then spend the rest of the time prior to Spring Stampede attacking Bagwell to prove how weak he’s really become as a champion. Finlay ends up convincing WCW management that he should get a shot and it’s booked.

Vampiro ends up running afoul with Rick Steiner after their matches at Uncensored. Vampiro will be cutting a promo about how Sting should really lead WCW and help kill the nWo once and for all, citing what their influence has done to guys like David Flair, Lex Luger and Konnan. He’ll rip into Konnan a bit more than most before Rick Steiner attacks him, repping the nWo colors. A brawl breaks out that sees Vampiro throw Rick off of production truck’s hood. The fall injures Steiner for a few weeks but from his home, he challenges Vampiro to a Hardcore title match at Spring Stampede, to which Vampiro excepts.

Finally, Madusa will demand that someone worthy of her talents comes forward to take the WCW Women’s title from her, if they can. She even goes as far to get an open contract for anyone who wants it. She’ll name drop Mona and even suggest some men should take a shot too. This prompts Asya to come out, and beats Madusa down. The beating leads Madusa to be off t.v. for a few weeks as she recovers, with Asya and Midnight having a few t.v. matches between then and Spring Stampede. Mona will also interfere on occasion, resulting in Asya to attack Mona too.

Spring Stampede 2000

Steel Asylum
Lex Luger vs. Sting

nWo vs. Sid Vicious and Diamond Dallas Page

WCW World Title
Curt Hennig(c) vs. Hulk Hogan

WCW Women’s Title
Asya vs. Madusa (c)

WCW World Tag Team
Bam Bam and Douglas vs. Booker and Kidman(c)

WCW Hardcore Title
Vampiro vs. Rick Steiner (c)

WCW United States Championship
Fit Finlay vs. Buff Bagwell(c)

WCW X-Division
Chris Candido (c) vs. ??? (revealed to be a healthy Juventud Guerrera)

Hardcore Match
David Flair vs. Crowbar

David and Ric Flair beat on Crowbar (and sometimes Daffney) for the opener. David hits a few high spots, leaping off of the stage at one point and onto both Daffney and Crowbar. The end comes when David locks Crowbar in a modified crossface, using his own knee to apply pressure to the back of Crowbar’s neck, resulting in a submission via pass-out.

Candido and Tammy are surprised by the returning Juventud Guerrera who ends up narrowly getting the upset over Candido, before Candido hits Guerrera with a brainbuster form the middle rope for the win. Tammy celebrates by dancing over Guerrera’s body.

Finlay narrowly beats a bloodied and beaten Bagwell, but he misses his opportunity and Bagwell scores with the Blockbuster. Paisley and Symphony carry Bagwell to the back basically, as he leans on them bloodied.

Vampiro will have Steiner beat early and often but a returning Konnan costs Vampiro the belt. The post match sees both Konnan and Steiner beating on Vampiro, before Konnan throws him off of the same production truck Steiner got chucked off of earlier.

Bam Bam and Douglas come up short against Kidman and Booker, but Kidman snaps a bit after Booker blind tags himself into the match and gets the win, much to Kidman’s dismay. Booker’ll try and explain himself but Kidman leaves with his half of the title.

Madusa beats Asya with a crossbody block after making a major comeback. Mona comes out post match and fends off an attempt by Asya to hurt the champ. Mona says that at Great American Bash in June, they’ll finally hook up and see what’s what.

Curt Hennig should get the clean pin here. If he doesn’t, if Hogan is a douche, I’m having Hennig go over screwjob style. Or having Hennig lay on the outside “hurt” after an attack. But lets pretend that Hogan isn’t a total piece of shit and he puts Hennig over the right way.

Jarrett and Scott Steiner make DDP tap out to the Steiner Recliner. Sid ends up leaving near the end when it became clear that Scott was too good still, despite all the time off and the injury. In fact, Scott won’t take a bump at all. Never leaving his feet. Something the announcers are flabbergasted by.

Prior to the main event, a grave, and headstone are rolled out with the stone saying “Here Lies the Soul of Sting”. Luger comes out first and stares at it, all morbid and what not. The lights go out and Sting appears in the ring, with the Asylum around him. Then the lights go out again and he’s gone when they come back out. Luger backs to the grave, where hands shoot out from the dirt and yank Luger down. Eventually Sting emerges, dragging a bloodied Luger out of the grave. Sting drags him to the ring and throws him into the Asylum where he spends the next 12 minutes brutalizing Luger. Eventually Luger taps out, while lying in a pool of his blood as Sting stands above him. Sting doesn’t relent, wanting to go for the knockout blow. Liz, after minutes of trying, finally gets in and tries to stop Sting, but he tees of on Luger’s head. Eventually the locker room comes out, like Three Count, Tank Abbott, Hugh Morrus, Lash LeRoux and others to try and build a wall between Sting and Luger, but Sting goes through it again and puts Luger in the Scorpion’s Last Breath (Dragon Sleeper), until he’s unresponsive. The paramedics run in, as well as WCW management, and even more wrestlers, separating Sting from Luger. Funk begrudgingly tells the ref to declare Sting the winner, as Sting walks away without saying a word or showing any emotion.