Tim's NWF: Retro 2003

[TDalton]

Slymm asked me to post a few of my first NWF cards. I wasn't making many notes back then, so this will mostly be results with a few side notes about my thought process (or lack thereof).

I started with the original 24 plus Virgil and Nikita Breznikov. I would do three tournaments for the NWF, United States and Tag-Team titles.

Competitors for the titles:

NWF
Baba, Bockwinkel, Destroyer, Gotch, Kowalski, Race, Rogers and J Valentine

United States
Brazil, Bundy, DiBiase, George, Iron Sheik, Rose, Snuka and Volkoff

Tag-Team
Road Warriors, Valiants, Iron Sheik & Volkoff, Rogers & Snuka, Destroyer & Bastien, Valentines, DiBiase & Virgil and Ox Baker & Sandman

The first six weeks were built around crowning the champions. My reason for picking the guys in the NWF group was that they were 8 of the 9 top guys (based on my opinion of course, Bobo was the ninth) and I wanted my first champ to be able to go.

I've never been a big fan of multiple title holders, and was scared to death that Rogers would win the NWF belt, Snuka the U.S. and they would combine for the tag titles.

Why the heck did I pick the U.S. Title? The NWF I grew up on had a North American Title. What was I thinking? Luckily, I tied that loose end up in a later year.

Other than that, I just kind of let things fall out, then dealt with the results.

Let's get to the action...

[TDalton]

Card #1 - 01/04/2003
The Palisades - McKeesport, PA

1. Killer Kowalski b Red Bastien *

2. Giant Baba b Playboy Buddy Rose ***1/2

3. TT: Jimmy & Johnny Valiant b Ted DiBiase & Virgil DUD

4. US: Jimmy Snuka b Nikolai Volkoff DUD

5. US: Gorgeous George dq Iron Sheik ****

6. TT: Road Warriors b Ox Baker & Sandman 1/2*

7. NWF: Frank A. Gotch b Destroyer ***

8. NWF: Johnny Valentine b Buddy Rogers ****

Due to the limited number of guys, I was doing 8 matches per card versus 9 now. I wanted to space out the tournament matches so that the finals happened on different shows (4, 5 and 6). In the two non-tourney matches, I wanted to incorporate some guys from the upcoming tourney bouts on Card #2. Why I chose to start the circuit in McKeesport instead of Buffalo, Cleveland or Pittsburgh I don't recall. Maybe I just thought "The Palisades" was a cool name (and it is).

[TDalton]

Card #2 - 01/10/2003
The Aud - Buffalo, NY

1. Hawk b Johnny Valiant 1/2*

2. Frank A. Gotch b Ox Baker ***

3. US: Ted DiBiase b King Kong Bundy *

4. TT: Buddy Rogers & Jimmy Snuka b Johnny & Greg Valentine ***

5. US: Bobo Brazil b Playboy Buddy Rose *

6. TT: Iron Sheik & Nikolai Volkoff b Destroyer & Red Bastien ***1/2

7. NWF: Harley Race b Killer Kowalski ****

8. NWF: Giant Baba b Nick Bockwinkel *1/2

Yes, Nick Bockwinkel, my unbeatable champion, began his NWF career 0-1. You could see I was already picturing the Valiants vs. Road Warriors in the tag-team finals by having the singles match That was my first adventure in the NWF into bad booking. Also, everyone at the time was doing the Valentines teaming briefly, then feuding, which mirrored Tom's fed results. I planned on keeping them together for a while. Even here I wasn't using tag-team names. I hated that whole era when every team had to have a name.

[TDalton]

Card #3 - 01/17/2003
War Memorial - Rochester, NY

1. Destroyer b Sandman 1/2*

2. Killer Kowalski b King Kong Bundy **1/2

3. Nick Bockwinkel b Greg Valentine ***

4. TT: Iron Sheik & Nikolai Volkoff b Jimmy & Johnny Valiant ***1/2

5. US: Ted DiBiase b Bobo Brazil *

6. TT: Buddy Rogers & Jimmy Snuka b Road Warriors **1/2

7. NWF: Johnny Valentine b Frank A. Gotch *****

8. NWF: Harley Race b Giant Baba ****1/2

After the show, Kowalski & Bundy decided to become a team based on what they saw of one another in their singles match. Destroyer vs Sandman set up a tag on the next show. So much for Road Warriors and Valiants. Bright side was that Rogers & Snuka vs Road Warriors became my best tag feud of 2003 and led to my big angle at year-end where Rogers turned on Snuka. That singles feud went for about 8 months in 2004. Great show as far as a couple of quality main events. I remember not wanting to give Race - Baba 5 stars since I just gave the top rating to the previous match, but it was right up there. It was the next few cards where I really tried to start thinking about where I was going with some of the guys for the rest of the year.

[TDalton]

Card #4 - 01/24/2003
Civic Arena - Pittsburgh, PA

1. Ted DiBiase & Virgil b Nikolai Volkoff & Nikita Breznikov *

2. Playboy Buddy Rose b Jimmy Valiant **

3. US: Gorgeous George b Jimmy Snuka DUD

4. Destroyer & Bobo Brazil b Ox Baker & Sandman **1/2

5. Buddy Rogers b Greg Valentine DUD

6. Iron Sheik b Red Bastien (Texas Death Match) *1/2

7. Road Warriors dq Killer Kowalski & King Kong Bundy ****

8. NWF Championship: Johnny Valentine b Harley Race to win title (Best of 3 Falls) *****

Holy "lack of buildup" Batman - where the hell did that Texas Death Match come from? I did have Bobo, Destroyer and Red as a threesome against the "evil foreigners" of Iron Sheik, Volkoff & Breznikov. Maybe I wanted another "big match" on the show to decide my first NWF champ. Kowalski & Bundy were going right after the Road Warriors, claiming they were bigger and stronger. I was still trying a few random type matchups due to fed size and just getting a feel for what they could do. Johnny Valentine beat Race 2-1 by winning the last 2 falls in a great contest that was runner-up for Match of the Year.

[TDalton]

Card #5 - 01/31/2003
Cleveland Arena - Cleveland, OH

1. Bobo Brazil b Jimmy Valiant **

2. Frank A. Gotch b Sandman ***

3. Ted DiBiase & Virgil dq Gorgeous George & Playboy Buddy Rose DUD

4. King Kong Bundy dq Road Warrior Animal DUD

5. Red Bastien b Nikita Breznikov DUD

6. Harley Race & Nick Bockwinkel b Johnny & Greg Valentine 1/2*

7. Destroyer b Giant Baba ***3/4

8. NWF Tag-Team Championship: Buddy Rogers & Jimmy Snuka b Iron Sheik & Nikolai Volkoff to win titles ***

At this point I was making a little more sense. I was setting up the Valentine/Race rematch and also establishing Race & Bockwinkel as a team so that I could split them up and feud them on top. The DiBiase tag is a prelude to the US Tourney finals on the next card. Keeping the Road Warriors and Bundy & Kowalski going. Bastien against evil foreigner. Baba and Destroyer for me was always the respectful feud where they could fight one week and team up the next. That wouldn't stop Destroyer from thumbing Baba in the eye when they met in singles though. Didn't use them regularly as a tag for a couple of years. Roger & Snuka were my most dominant tag champs ever, holding the belts for most of the year.

[TDalton]

Card #6 - 02/07/2003
Erie County Fieldhouse - Erie, PA

1. Jimmy & Johnny Valiant cor Ox Baker & Sandman 1/2*

2. Bobo Brazil b Greg Valentine **

3. Jimmy Snuka b Playboy Buddy Rose ***1/2

4. Destroyer & Red Bastien cor Nikolai Volkoff & Nikita Breznikov *1/2

5. Nick Bockwinkel b Frank A. Gotch **

6. Giant Baba dq Buddy Rogers ***1/2

7. Road Warriors b Killer Kowalski & King Kong Bundy **

8. United States Championship: Gorgeous George b Ted DiBiase *****

So now I had my champions in place. George taking the U.S. Title shocked me, but he wound up holding it for a while. Thirteen tokens in that final match - how did that not get MOTY? Later in 2003, the U.S. belt became a hot potato, changing hands constantly. The evil foreigners were getting the evil foreigner heat. Snuka and Rose would later become a decent tag-team of Pacific Northwest legends for me. I was doing an angle with Gotch where he thought everyone was a joke and he would just steamroll everybody. Then Bockwinkel beat him a couple of times, they became friends, and Bockwinkel stabbed him in the back down the line.

Not a bad start. I probably would have done some things differently looking back, but it was fun. I really didn't have any set "babyface" or "heel" roles. Especially since the first set was so heel-heavy. Other than Bobo, Red & Destroyer vs Sheik, Volkoff & Breznikov I didn't have any long-term feuds planned out.

I did know Race vs Bockwinkel would be my headline feud all year and the blowoff would be at the SUPERBOWL OF WRESTLING in December. I'm glad the dice cooperated. Funny note: I originally planned on having the SUPERBOWL in Forbes Field, then realized an open air stadium in December wasn't a good idea here in snow country. I also wanted the Rogers turn on Snuka as the big angle at the SUPERBOWL show.

Everything else just kind of happened.

[Slymm]

Nice Tim and thanks again for taking the time!

Slymm