Walking Upon a Different Path – a wrestling timeline

[Ico]

wrestling television schedule from August 2001.

Monday - Raw on SpikeTV

Tuesday

Wednesday - Wednesday Night Nitro on FX

Thursday - Smackdown

Friday - ECW on TNN

Saturday - WCW Saturday Night on TBS

Sundays - mainly PPVS.

Wrestling television schedule as of March 2023.

Monday - Monday Night Nitro on TNT/ Monday Night Raw on USA Network (1)

Tuesday - NWA Impact on ShowTime (3)

Wednesday - AEW Dynamite on TBS (2)

Thursday - Thursday Night Thunder on TBS

Friday - Smackdown on Fox/AEW Rampage on TBS

Saturday - WCW Saturday Night on TBS/PPVS

Sunday - Mainly PPVS or Premier Live Events if you're WWE

1. Don't get your hopes up its not a another Monday Night War situation, it's more of a friendly competition for WCW and a living hell for the once owner of Vince McMahon, the show returns when WCW was sold back to Time Warner in 2015, Time Warner believe that they could create a alternate wrestling show due to the WWEs low ratings, also they well about to lunch their own streaming service HBO Max and value for the WCW library.
2. I have AEW here because I think it's a good alternative to the two giants of the wrestling landscape, it's service as ECW before getting brought by the WWE in 2010, why TBS I don't know many Americans networks and it can't be harmful to have two wrestling shows on a network.
3. NWA has a partnership with paramount in 2016 and change channel to Showtime, they remain independent but did agree to have their shows on their streaming service.
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[Ico]

Timeline of Wrestling in 2001.

ECW - The beginning of the year started with the Guilty as Charged Pay Per View on January 7, 2001 which saw RVD finally winning the ECW Championship from Jerry Lynn, after the PPV however there's was a lot of uncertainty over the promotion, with Tuner advertising campaign for the Pay Per View and McMahon willingness to work with Heyman at the time there's was growing tensions within the company, nevertheless the show must go on as they say which ECW did, Heyman would feel lost within his creation of the fact that he wanted to change the philosophy of ECW, the company had been known as the land of extreme which Heyman wanted to distance himself from the label, the new philosophy of the decade was known as work rate in essence the term "work rate" mean rewarded by the in ring work instead of the hardcore factor which the whole industry would evolved from, Heyman would "leave" ECW while still remaining both ownership and creative, McMahon offered Heyman a job at the WWF to be a commentator which he agreed with on the terms that he could still run ECW, with Heyman "leaving" everyone began to wonder their place in the company, famously the champion at the time RVD said that "the whole company that we build up only for the owner of the company to jump ship is not just disgusting but a disgrace to the boys in the back", this was a worked shot angle known as the "Heyman sold out" storyline, it was a cover up for the new philosophy of which the company was taking and for Wrestlers in ECW to find work for the landscape at the time was uncertain, many wrestlers turn their head toward WCW since the company has been rumoured that Bischoff was interested in bringing in a few ECW guys for his new reboot, Bischoff was more than happy to negotiations between him and wrestlers, meanwhile you wouldn't know since the television were doing well with the Living Dangerously in March gaining a good reception among both fans and critics.

The rumours about the ownership of the company began to spread around the Internet regarding the "real owner" of ECW, the rumours began from the Internet Wrestling Community when an post was made "confirming" that the WWF has made a purchase of ECW in the coming month of April, while there were some people who dismissed the information as false many other believe that this was Vince's way of getting back at Bischoff for screwing him out off buying WCW, Heyman did comment about the rumours saying "there's nothing to worry about it's only temporary." When April came round there were a announced that the WWF were interested in buying ECW, there's were even one rumour that one Donald J. Trump was interested in running a New York based wrestling promotion in which if he brought ECW there's would be changing within the company but luckily talks about the purchase of ECW fall through. Vince did agree with keeping ECW afloat in order for more competition and the WWF could used the company as a vessel for talent.

Many originals would leave ECW such as RVD dropped the title to Rhino at the CyberSlam PPV in order for him to join WCW in May, the others joined the WWF since Heyman works their and their hope that Heyman would protect them from the other WWF guys, this was a good advertising campaign for ECW due to them being on the same network with the WWF, the original storyline were a ECW invasion of the order of Heyman who wanted to get his revenge on Vince McMahon who he believes betrayed him by cutting the head of ECW in coup attempt at controlling the wrestling world, the storyline didn't go anywhere but at least they try to explain why the ECW roster was there.

The ECW on TNN had some cross over with the WWF with wrestlers from the WWF would come to ECW to challenge the wrestlers there who believed that they were below them, wrestlers such as Chris Jericho and Chris Benoit would go down to the ECW arena in order to get some buss for the show, the ECW championship was even defended on WWF television from time to time since they were both on the same network they was no rules against cross over, the company saw new talent from the indies scene of trying them out to see if they were comfortable with working for the television, wrestlers such as CM Punk and Bryan Danielson were there for the tryouts, many fans of the original ECW which was more hardcore in nature saw less of the brutality of what they wanted instead they got lot more technical wrestling matches, there were some hardcore elements such as blood and weapons but it was more timed than it was before.

November saw the return of Paul Heyman to his creation and was a on scene character, Heyman was there to negotiations between the two companies that were having disagreement over whether ECW should become a developmental scene for the WWF than a competition, there were some booking disagreement over the championship in ECW which the WWF believed they had a say on the championship mainly who was champion, ECW response was to have a WWF star to job on ECW television to show their message to the WWF, negotiations broke down by December and the two companies didn't have a agreement with the crossover the two had, in short order ECW began to shooting on the WWF which was the end of the partnership between the two, Heyman was caught up with the two which Vince wanted Heyman to work with him instead of his creation, Heyman stayed in ECW for another month before selling his shares in the company in February 2002, the company was renamed from Extreme Championship Wrestling to Evolve Championship Wrestling with began their new philosophy younger guys of the next decade.


WCW - the most important year of the company's history, the beginning of the year saw Ted Tuner himself selling the company while keeping some stocks within, it was Eric Bischoff who was lucky enough to buy the company from Tuner with a ten year television deal on the Tuner Network, no one knows about the meeting of the two which had the deal finalists for the company, Bischoff tells the story differently each time he tells it while Tuner remains silent about the meeting, the company was changing its philosophy of old this new WCW would be focusing on the younger talents which help build the company, there were some theories of the older guys such as Kevin Mash and Ric Flair and how they would fit in this new version of WCW, Bischoff stated in a interview "they still have a place in WCW, they are the guys who will put over the younger generation and if willing help with the new version of WCW." There were much speculation about the payment of the wrestlers while Bischoff brought the company from Tuner they would still be on their Time Warner contents until resigning for a new one under the new regime,it didn't take long until the online wrestling community began to theories that some of the guys might be jumping to the WWF until their contracts run out.

The last ever Monday Night Nitro on TNT happen on the 26 March was a farewell from the show and amity also a defeat for the company owner pride, while being off air Bischoff decision to run a Clash of the Champions in April to get some buss around the Big Bang PPV, the three hour special which aired on TBS from April 19, 2001 dub the Night of Champions was well received by fans, while still airing on TBS Bischoff wanted to find a time slot for Nitro sine he believed that the shows still has name value, Tuner didn't want Nitro on his network so Bischoff went to other television stations in order to find a way to revive Nitro, there were two networks who were out of the negotiations they were the USA Network since they were hosted the WWF and SpikeTV who were airing the WWF at the time, Bischoff found his station in FX which was hesitant at first about airing Ntiro, Bischoff negotiations with the Network of the details of the show such as time slots, it was agreed upon by both parties that Nitro would aired on FX but with a different day of not having to run the same hour as the WWF to being in more viewers without the worries about changing the channel, the day that was agree to was Wednesday with a two hour two slot from 8 pm to 9 pm,the only question that remains was the announcement of the day Nitro would aired.

The Big Bang PPV aired which was received well by both fans and critics, the general consensus about the PPV was that it was a good step in the right direction for the company, the PPV prove that there were some fans willing to pay for WCW and the return of the southern style of wrestling was a welcome return to many, during the end of the PPV it was announced that Nitro would return on FX to many surprises, the first Nitro on FX was a success with a viewership of 4.6 million people tuning into the show.

The rest of 2001 for WCW saw great growth in both terms of revenue and precaution, no where near as they once were but recovered from the downturn that they once were, the philosophy of the show began to pay off with the younger guys having more time to develop and the older began to put them over, Ric Flair would leave the company in November after having a loser leaves the company match against DDP at Halloween Havoc, there were rumours about Kevin Nash leaving the company as well by next year which was confirmed by Nash himself as he lost to Scott Steiner at Starrcade for he released by Bischoff, by the end of the year the company show great promise and hopefully would keep the good will that the company has.

WWF - the WWF still remains both the largest and most popular wrestling show in North America as McMahon's wrestling empire continues to grow, the year 2001 might be a turning point in the WWF while its remaining popular with fans there's a stagnation in terms of viewership and growth, the company had its most successful PPV with WrestleMania 17 which was praised by both fans and critics apart from one shadow over the event which was the ending, the ending saw the anti hero Stone Cold Steve Austin turned on the fans by seemingly siding with McMahon himself or as JR called it shaking hands the Devil Himself, lucky Austin stunted Vince but remains a heel, the heel turn is a mix bag for the wrestling community on the one hand Austin wanted to turn heel in saying that he done everything he do as a face and wanted to be a heel, on the other it's Steve Austin how could you boo the man who been the top face for the past four years, it was a challenge which the WWF hadn't considered the possibility of the turn backfiring on them, Austin became a lone wolf type of character akin to his early days of the characters with a bit more brutality mixed within, Austin wouldn't back down from a fight from anybody and the ones who dare challenging him ends up being much more beating up in the end, it was the rematch between the Rock and Austin which main event Summer Slam with the rock picking up the victory after a hard turn battle With Austin, The Rock would have the championship for two months until dropping the title to Chris Jericho at No Mercy, Jericho would have the title for the rest of the year until dropping it at WrestleMania.

 

[Ico]

Underneath the Bygone era.

The Aftermath of Genesis or The Beginnings of Eden - NBC documentary which aired on July 12, 2005.


and now for the NBC special report with Jack Callahan about the modern Wresting industry.

'good evening and welcome to a special NBC report about one of Americans favour pastime, some say that it is the modern gladiator while other says that it nothing more than a violence soap opera, I am talking of course about American Wrestling which over the past four years has seem to be fading out of the public consciousness, the view ship of the most popular wrestling shows Monday Night Raw has been on the downward turn recently with many wondering if Vince McMahon's empire has a stable business model, from our research here at NBC we found that the current ratings on Raw is a 3.81 a far cry from five years with Raw bring in a 5.88, the current ratings are only a 3% up from last years which while still impressive has many wondering if wrestling has already peaked it's popularity, to get a better insight of the situation I went and interviewed one of wrestling's most decorated journalist and is know as the Wrestling Observer Dave Meltzer.

JC - Hello Dave how are you?

Dave Meltzer - I'm doing good thanks and thanks for having me on.

JC - now Dave I heard some called you the Wrestling Observer is there a reason why you been given such a name?

DM - Well Jack it's the name of the newsletter not a title which has been given to me, we cover all types of wrestling all over the world and with a industry as large as wrestling things can be missed in the details.

JC - interesting, now Dave do you believe that American wrestling has peaked in popularity?

DM - well if we look at history there's has been a number of times which many believed wrestling has peaked, some may argue that the 80's were the last time wrestling has any real impact with the Hulkamaina era, hell I remember people saying that wrestling will never be popular again from the mid 90's.

JC - What do you believe is the course of steady decline of the ratings of Monday Night Raw?

DM - Two things the first could be that people are tired of the current form of wrestling programs which follows the same 'sports entertainment' type of style, the second could be that people are growing out wrestling, it's a sad reality to think about but many of kids who grew up with wrestling are now feeling that it's not for them, I remember in 2001 that there was a impact of view ship in which a unpopular decision was made to turn their biggest hero's into villain's.

JC - with the alternative of WCW having been on the up trick again do you believe that there's a chance of which WCW could over take the WWE?

DM - Never, I don't believe so since when they did try it nine years ago they were defeated in both in the ratings and popularity.

JC - ECW has been on the rise for it's counter culture youth movement against the Bush administration, what do you think about that?

DM - It's very interesting to see ECW being on the rise again with the youths but I can't say I'm surprise by it.

JC - Where do you think American Wrestling will be in ten years from now?

DM - It's hard to say where's the wrestling business will be in the next year never mind ten, I believe that wrestling will still be around.

JC - Dave thank you.

'it's not only McMahons wrestling which has been effect but as well as Ted Turners WCW, there's has been a power struggle over at Time Warner with Turner and the newly brought out AOL, the deal of the century which turned into a nightmare when Time Warner wanted to merger with AOL, unfortunately before the merger could have been begin the Dot Com Bubble burst which made AOL in a weaker spot than they were before, over the past four years both Turner and AOL has been in a battle for control over the company leadership, with it being report that Turner will be standing down next year as Vice Chairman one has to wonder about the future of WCW, up next I sit down with WCW President Eric Bischoff to discussion the future of WCW but first a word from our sponsors.'

….

'It was nearly a decade ago that WCW was one of the most popular wrestling shows if not Americans most favours shows on the air waves, but there been down period in which some believe that the show was on the downward spiral after Eric Bischoff left in August of 1998, now like the Phoenix it seems as WCW has risen from the ashes and found their place again with fans and critics alike slowly coming back, now with their Wednesday Night show being on Fx with the television negotiations being up this year one might believe that WCW is safe to renegotiation, however, with the rumours that Ted Turner is stepping down from Vice Chairman from Time Warner the future seems uncertain for if WCW to can keep their relationship with Warner with their biggest backers stepping down, WCW has a Saturday Night program which airs on TBS and is one of oldest shows which has a loyal following since 1971, with Time Warner wanting to take TBS in a new direction making it more friendly to the teenage demography than the WCW Saturday Night program might be axed, I sat down with WCW president Eric Bischoff to discussion what the future holds for WCW.'

JC - Now Eric there's been a lot of speculation of what the future holds for WCW, could you tell me if there is any plans for if Time Warner cuts you from the network?

Eric Bischoff - Well Jack truth is I don't have the answers to say whether or not the good folks at Time Warner will axed us, it's all been rumours for now but rest ashore that there is a plan in place if Time Warner decided to cut us.

JC - with losing one of yours biggest financial backers and also one of your biggest advocate how does that make you feel?

EB - Ted's a good guy and I'm really grateful for all of the opportunity he gave me and WCW at large, his willingness to sell the company to me couldn't have been a easy choice since he pour billions into making WCW what it is today.

JC - what about Fx?

EB - What about them, they been great to us as we been trying to find our footing again.

JC - television's contracts are coming up are you hoping to stick with Fx?

EB - We're wait and see.

JC - on the topic of the rebrand of which WCW has been famous for over the past four years how do you see WCW's future?

EB - good question well for one I have learned my mistake of trying to beat Vince McMahon and the WWE I learned that the hard way, if we keep on track and focus on what we doing now I can only see bright roads ahead.

JC - one last question Eric, there's been some reports about the possibly of WCW being brought by Rupert Murdoch, do you have any comments?

Eric Bischoff with a smile - No comment.

…..

hello there long time no see ah, I would like to apologise for taking long to update but don't worry it's not dead in the waters just yet, I'm going to charge the name of the timeline to Walking Upon a Different Path since firstly it sound better and secondly we going to go back to sort WCW for a better timeline before Turner sells it to Bischoff, there so around 1996 - 1997 we start from.

I would also like to thank the inspiration for the idea of the interviews and that's Under The Hood.

I try to copy both the mannerism and the vocabulary from the documentary, I might do another one while finishing the history of the championships. have a nice day.

 

[Ico]

Prologue - Ozymandias
…
What is Kayfabe?

Imagine if you will that you're a pound owner of a wrestling company, now running said company is akin to the world of entertainment which being the glitz and glamour of Hollywood or the nether dry approach which us Brits take but that's a conversation for another day, regardless the matter still stand at hand as you're the owner of one of the world's biggest wrestling company through it has seen better days, but never mind that for now since your the owner let's talk business, question how does one maintain loyally among wrestling fans? Kayfabe.

What is Kayfabe if may ask, well it's a illusion the same illusion you might see in a film or television show but instead of the glitz and glamour you might see in Hollywood, Kayfabe itself is a work of illusion of one's prospective, for example one might go and watch a film with Tom Cruise in it, sure the film has the illusion of Tom Cruise playing a character but it's still Tom Cruise at the end of the day, Kayfabe on the other hand make sure the illusion is real enough for you to buy into it, when you go to see Ric Flair wrestle it's Ric Flair himself not a character nor an actor playing him, that the illusion of Kayfabe that these men are the new gladiators with a bit more mixture added in, as for today with kayfabe that's best save for another day but hopefully new viewer that this explains why Kayfabe is impartment to wrestling back in the day, now let's us journey to see how the illusion of kayfabe was broken in front of many which lead to a domino effect in the industry.

now imagine yourself as the owner of the biggest wrestling company and you see in front of your very eyes the illusion is shattered, what would you do?
…

May 19, 1996 Madison Square Garden - the Night of the Wrestling Domino Effect.

It was a night as many nights were in Madison Square Garden than home to the WWF which made their name here countless time before but when the event ended on that very night it began a domino effect, first let us explain what happen which lead up to the incident in the Garden that very night, two of the top "Superstars" Kevin Nash (know as Diesel) and Scott Hall (Razor Ramon) were both leaving the WWF due to payment issues, simply put they wanted more but Vince McMahon (the owner) wouldn't let them have a pay rise, this wouldn't be a issue if it weren't for a little company down south otherwise knows as World Championship Wrestling (WCW) who at the time were looking out for any talents for their recently new wrestling television programs Nitro which stared in last September to combat WWF's Raw on Monday Nights, WCW did have a trick up it's sleeve and that would be Ted Tuners moneys, after rumour's got out that both Nash and Hall wouldn't be resigning to the WWF one Eric Bischoff appeared such as the devil from the cross roads in New Orleans to make a deal, Bischoff believed that both men would be beneficia for his vision of wrestling and made the extra offer of having guaranteed contract with fewer dates to boot, both Nash and Hall would sign with WCW in April and their last match for the WWF would be May 19 in Madison Square Garden.

The main event is almost over with the WWF champion Shawn Michaels facing his former friend Diesel in a steel cage for the belt, as Michaels hits sweet chin music for the victory Scott Hall (Razor Ramon) makes his way to the ring for his final goodbye, he hugs Shawn which was fine since both were baby faces at the time but unexpectedly the wrestler know as Hunter Hearst Helmsley (real name Paul Levesque) made his way down to the ring, as the four men look at one another in the ring they embrace each other as a form of farewell to Nash and Hall, a little backstory all four men were friends and were in their own little Kliq together know as well the Kliq, now imagine yourself as Vince McMahon watching this unfolds in front of you're very eyes, years and years of building the company to a national level, the WWF is a house hold name not only in American but the whole world, the very reasons of this success is because of the old wrestling tradition of kayfabe, the illusion of larger than life characters which had their own rules to make the illusion seemed real, all gone in seconds for a farewell affair for two guys leaving your company for the rival down south, now who's to blamed for this teensiest act and what should be the punishment for such a crime.

The question remains of what should be done with those who were involved with the now dub Curtain Call incident, it was the first time in the WWF which the illusion of kayfabe were broken in front of a audience, which became much worst when it was discover that there was a camera recording the whole incident, the wrestling Zapruder film one might call it, now with the internet not only those who were in attendance but now millions at home can watch it as well, Vince McMahon at first believe that there should be some sort of punishment but later as we find out there were some who believed that punishment wasn't enough.

There's was only one person who could be punish since Nash and Hall left the company the next day, Shawn Michaels was the world champion of the WWF at the time and was choose to lead the company as their next big baby face, there was one who could theoretically be punish for letting the cat out of the bag and that man was Paul Levesque, the first agreeable punishment for Levesque was simply a demoted from the card, it was learned later that year Mr. Levesque would've won the King of the Ring tournament which was a prize itself, Levesque would of agree to the terms of the punishment if only word didn't get out to the locker room and one Bret Hart

It's not only the fans who believed in kayfabe but it was the wrestlers themselves who had respect the rules of kayfabe as it was their livelihood as well, your not a character nor a actor you're that being on itself, Bret Hart was one of the most respected wrestler in the company at that time and when he heard that Levesque punishment would only be a demoted, Hart felted dishearten since Levesque and his buddy's broken the most respected rules of that time, plus it didn't help that Hart wasn't a fan of the Kliq themselves personally nor professionally, from the following days there were rumours behind close doors of a coup d'état from the wrestlers if the punishment wasn't reversal into a more suitable one, now since this was all behind close doors and no one is willing to speak on the matter it's mostly a half's truths.

Vince McMahon hands were tied on the on hand there's was you're best employer and top guy Shawn Michaels with his best friend Paul Levesque who both instigators in the incident, on the other Bret Hart who is one of, if not the loyalist wrestler you have, Hart has been there so many years and always had your back in darker times, you was the face of the company when the steroids scandal hit three years ago and he is always loyal to your cause, McMahon hands were ties face some backlash from your top star or face a coup from the wrestlers, McMahon decision were clear and on June 2, 1996 McMahon ask both Michaels and Levesque to come to his office, there's has been many reports on the meeting which took place on the 2 June, one truth remains condition in each story with McMahon asking Levesque if you wants his WWF name rights since after that day Paul Levesque was fired from the WWF, some reports that Michaels had only to be describe as a tempered tantum which every word only the sun were heard, with others stating that Michaels were cool calm and collected, there are three accounts of the story between the three men, the first being Levesque who said on the matter that while he was disappointed in the decision he understood why McMahon did what he did and doesn't blame him for his actions, Michaels can't recall the meeting itself but there has been some little hinds here and there about his feeling of the meeting, overall Michaels was pissed off at the whole situation and he was determined to prove his worth as champion, while McMahon had made multiple statements about the meeting the most recent one McMahon express remorse of his decision to fired Levesque, "if I could go back and charge anything from that situation I would've not been so weak to let him go and stood by my first decision."

"My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings:
Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair."
…

Authors notes - hello everyone I apologise for the long wait but I couldn't make up my mind if I wanted this to be the point of divergence, I can say now with full confidence that this is the way forward, hope you enjoy it, oh I must apologise again if it seems more of a lecture of the history of wrestling than being a alt history of wrestling, I through it be easier to those who are not familiar with wrestling. again hope you enjoy and take care.

 

[Ico]

Don't not fear lads I'm not cancelling the timeline all together I want to rework into a new one, why you might be asking? it's quite simple I had a charge of heart and do not wish for Triple H to be in WCW, the main purpose of which would led to Triple H as the head of WCW in 2015 after Dusty passed away, I come to realise that I wasn't of this timeline so I want to rework it, I apologise but again I'm not giving up I want to go and try a different direction, until than hope you have a nice day.