Random Happenings

I wanted to include the news that happened while I was sorting my roster.

Impact purged their women's division at the start of the game. Taya, Katarina, Su Yung, Rosemary, Jordynne Grace, and KC Spinelli (Undead Maid of Honor) were all let go. Two weeks later, they hired Lita.

WWE entered into a non aggression pact with Lucha Underground and Impact, meaning WWE would not offer any exclusive contracts to employees on the LU and Impact rosters, while also promising not to counter their programming.

LU followed this up by signing Sting to a PPA contract. They have yet to give him a place on the roster.

The NWA alliance is all but nonexistent now after Championship Wrestling From Hollywood, the one name fed in the alliance, pulled their membership. Nick Aldis was on my radar following this, but he insists on being paid $2,500 per appearance with all expenses paid and creative control. Seriously, you are more known as Mr. Mickie James, let it go.

WWE cancelled 205 Live. The CW Title remains exclusive to Raw, but a handful of notable CWs, Drew Gulak, Akira Tozawa, Lince Dorado, Cedric Alexander, TJP, and Mike Kanellis were sent to Smackdown.

The biggest shock for me was Baron Corbin turning face and pairing with Seth Rollins in a feud against Jinder Mahal and Dolph Ziggler. The feud was cut short however when Corbin beat Rollins after Rollins turned heel in a #1 contender match. Corbin would go on to beat Brock Lesnar the next episode of Raw to win the Universal Title. Lesnar then took a hiatus while remaining under contract.

Drew McIntrye was shipped to Smackdown.

WWE split up AOP and sent Akam to Smackdown while Rezar remained on Raw.

WWE also seems intent to relive the Daniel Bryan/Big Show feud. Its the focal point of Smackdown.

A lot of the NXT staff were promoted to the main roster. William Regal was replaced as GM by Truth Martini and Nigel was replaced by former ECW manager Joel Gertner.

Lance Storm was signed by WWE:UK as a trainer and color commentator. As if the show wasn't already vanilla.

New Japan did host WK 13, main evented by an A rated match between Kenny Omega and Tetsuya Naito. Omega retained the IWGP Heavyweight Title, but has yet to sign a new deal with New Japan.

In a shocking move, PWG hired Jim Cornette as their on air authority figure. I low key really think this could be a good move in real life.

Juggalo Championship Wrestling declared bankruptcy a week in. As it stands a new buyer has yet to step in, but the owners, ICP, went overseas to work for AJPW.


ROSTER

Main Event
James Storm - Heel
Carlito Colon - Heel
Rob Van Dam - Face
Aaron Stevens (Damien Sandow) - Heel
Chris Adonis (Chris Masters) - Heel
Joey Ryan - Face [Out injured]

Upper Midcard
Pac - Face
Hurricane Helms - Face
Tenille Dashwood (Emma) - Face
Jay Bradley (aka Aiden O'Shea in TNA and Ryan Braddock in WWE) - Face
Robbie E - Heel

Midcard
Jay-TG - Heel
Crimson - Heel
Trent - Face
Barry Ryan (Mason Ryan) - Heel
Shad - Heel
Christian Rose - Face
Matt Cage - Face
Taya Valkyrie - Heel
Chuck Taylor - Face

Lower Midcard
Afa Anoa'i Jr (Manu, the forgotten member of Legacy) - Face
Cortez (Cortez Castro from LU) - Heel
Cliff Compton - Face
Amazing Red - Face

Openers and Enhancement Talent
Ricky Starks - Face
Aaron Solo - Face
Jax Dane - Heel
Michael Dante - Heel
Sugar Dunkerton - Face

Tag Teams/Stables
Best Friends (Chuck Taylor and Trent)
Cryme Tyme (Jay-TG and Shad)
Team Titan (Chris Adonis and Barry Ryan)
Team Marvel (Pac and Hurricane Helms)
Team Overkill (Christian Rose and Matt Cage)
The War Kings (Crimson and Jax Dane)
Extra Talented (Aaron Solo and Ricky Starks)

Non Wrestling Staff
Taz - Color Commentator/Road Agent
Bruce Prichard - Manager of Team Titan
Justin King (Former token black WWE ref) -Referee
Brian Stiffler - Referee
Rip Rogers - Road Agent
Christy Hemme - On Air Authority Figure

I told myself not to simply hire guys I was fans of, so I limited myself to Joey Ryan, Sugar Dunkerton, Cryme Tyme, and Best Friends. None of which I would call worthless.

RVD was pricey, coming in at $2200 per appearance, the most expensive person on roster, but he has no downside so the plan is to use what little the 48 year old likely has left to win the first WHC and then help establish a heel champion. Taya and Dashwood were both surprisingly affordable at $600 per appearance and carry decent popularity and solid in ring skills so they were easy calls.

James Storm is the prize of the roster and was going to be my focal point early but he requested to work as a heel.

Despite being a fairly prominent midcarder for WWE, Carlito was cheap at $650 per show. He has a poor influence on the locker room so my goal is to use him to build some of the unknown talent and then let him walk.

Stevens is a weird hire for me. I personally found him overrated in his post Mizdow run, but he has solid mic skills and I hope to use him as my eventual color commentator, as Taz was not my first choice. Mick Foley was my original pick but House of Hardcore offered him more than I did and I didn't want to have anyone on the broadcast team who may flake for other feds.

Team Titan managed by Prichard was a surprisingly solid heel team in my test run so I want to go back to that well. Cryme Tyme and Best Friends are two personal favorites of mine and the only two truly established teams in my price range. Crimson and Dane were actually former OVW Tag Champs in real life so I gave them a shot. Pac and Hurricane were paired up at Hurricane's request to help him extend his in ring career. He has the ability to serve in multiple backstage roles once he retires, so I'm willing to give him the occasional match with Pac, who can carry the team.

Michael Dante was a tag partner of Aliester Black when he wrestled as Tommy End on the European circuit, so my hope is he has some of the skills.

Former WWE referee and Lunchtime Suicide survivor Tim White was one of the referees I negotiated with, but he wanted $1900 per show, as a referee. There were a few former WWE/WCW refs available but they are just refs.

Then we have Christy Hemme as our on air authority figure. This was really a last resort signing. There were a few former pros who fit the bill, such as Edge, DDP, and Stu Bennet (Wade Barret) who I looked into, but could not justify the price tag. Teddy Long was in my price range but decided against it due to his age. I offered the gig to Prichard, but he preferred his manager role. My choices came down to Hemme, Danielle Moinet (Summer Rae), and Anthony Carelli (Santino). Carelli was the best person for the job, but took a role with Impact. Maybe I should just swallow my pride and hire Adam Blampied.