Booking 101: Tim's NWF

[Cory Olson]

tdalton said:

Besides, we're all about the money here in the NWF

What about the fans?!

Great write-up as usual, Tim! Cool to see local boy Parisi got the win.

[TDalton]

The final three particiapants in the 2007 World League Challenge have been announced!

IVAN KOLOFF (RUS) - this will be the Russian Bear's first time in the NWF area. He brings a big reputation and a big chain to the party. Will he measure up with the other Russians (Volkoff and Hackenschmidt) already in the tournament?

THE SHEIK (SYR) - the Syrian madman brings his reign of terror to the WLC! The reigning NWF North American champ has been unbeatable in the NWF, but can he do the same against the elite WLC field?

The representative for the United States came down to three men. American wrestling icon Frank A. Gotch, a former NWF competitor and United States Champion was the first. Nick Bockwinkel is the current NWF World's Champion and, love him or hate him, is the face of the host promotion. But in the end, the WLC Selection Committee went with a man who will be making his first appearance in the area...

STEVE WILLIAMS (USA) - the All American wrestling machine has been named as the U.S. representative. Doctor Death is looking to use his Oklahoma Stampede to mow down the competition.

Nick Bockwinkel and Bobby Heenan were livid when the decision was announced. Bockwinkel went on a rare tirade, calling the choice "ridiculous." Heenan said there is no way this tournament can be taken seriously without Bockwinkel, who he called "the greatest wrestler in the known universe."

[Tournament Master]

Shocking decision to include Dr. Death in the World League challenge. Both do hold wins over Monolith at Galacticon. But you can't help but feel that the champ was slighted here. I see a new feud developing here.

[Cory Olson]

Nice surprise pick for the USA! Hopefully Dr. Death will do better in this tournament then when he debuted in the WWF in the Brawl for All.

Seriously, that is a cool way to debut him. Can't wait to see who wins it all!

[TDalton]

Steve Williams will be a part of the World League Challenge, but not officially enter the NWF until later in 2007. At least, that's the current booking plan.

I'll have the official bracketing for the WLC up soon.

[TDalton]

Card #205 - 12/8/06
North Laurel Junior High School Gym - New Castle, PA

An already lively PA crowd went even crazier when it was announced that Bobo Brazil would be in Mad Dog Vachon's corner in the main event North American title match.

1. Diamond Dallas Page & King Kong Bundy b S.D. Jones & Virgil
The New Jersey duo had a relatively easy time in their first match. Bundy pinned Virgil with the Avalanche, and still demands a 5 count. They challenged any team in the NWF, which brought fan favorites Antonino Rocca and Ilio DiPaolo to ringside.

2. Jimmy Snuka b Masked Executioner #2
Snuka and the NWF are still trying to recover from Bruiser Brody's sudden departure. Snuka took some aggression out on #2, dominating the action and winning with the Superfly. It appears Snuka has narrowed his search for a new tag partner to two men, Don Leo Jonathan and Red Bastien.

3. Yukon Eric b Bob Orton, Sr.
After a slow start, Yukon has had newfound success in singles competition. He always seems to take a pretty good beating then make a big comeback. It took Yukon four times to finally get the Kodiak Krunch applied, but once he did it was all over for Orton.

4. Ray Stevens b Jimmy Valiant
The fans have really been behind Valiant since his return. He had The Crusher at ringside to offset Heenan's presence. Stevens used all sorts of dirty tactics and finally scored the pin with the Bombs Away. After the bell, a frustrated Crusher steamrolled Heenan and went after Stevens. It was a one-sided affair, and Stevens wound up with a knee injury that will have him hobbling for the next five weeks.

5. Billy "Red" Lyons & Danny Hodge b Iron Mike DiBiase & Koko B. Ware
This was a tag battle of NWF junior heavyweights. Koko had some surprising early success against Hodge, but it was Lyons coming out on top with the Figure 4 on DiBiase.

6. Larry Zbyszko dq The Crusher
Big grudge match. Zbyszko was ready, and used the Piledriver three time on Crusher, but couldn't get the pin. "The Man Who Made Milwaukee Famous" stormed back and was pounding on Zbyszko. Heenan tried to interfere, but got popped by Crusher as well. Crusher has been really fired up lately, and got DQ'd for refusing to stop punching Zbyszko, who was tangled in the ropes.

7. Justin Credible & Danny Doring b Chris Candido & Steve Corino (Elimination Tag Match)
This was a rematch from the last show, but under elimination rules. It turned into a wild and crazy brawl, with everyone but Credible bleeding like mad. Both Corino & Candido were beaten up before cornering Doring and busting him open. Credible scored the first pinfall, beating Corino with a top rope bodyblock. Justin can beat Corino in everything but a singles match. Candido had Doring pinned with the Blonde Bomb, but Credible pasted him with the Singapore Cane, allowing Doring to recover and use the Danaconda for the win.

8. Don Leo Jonathan b Magnificent Muraco
Another rematch from last week where Muraco used the controversial Asiatic Spike to upset Jonathan. Muraco looked good early, but Jonathan survived a Hawaiian Hammer. He came back and got a near fall with the Mormon Swing, with Muraco saved by Albano's interference. The ref saw it, and to the fans' delight, ordered Albano back to the locker room. This gave Jonathan the opportunity to use the Mormon Swing again and hand Muraco his first NWF loss.

9. North American Championship: The Sheik b Mad Dog Vachon
The ovation for Vachon and Brazil rocked the gymnasium, but once again, The Sheik used his underhanded tactics to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. Mad Dog was all over the champ, and nearly won the match with a Piledriver, but Sheik barely got his foot on the bottom rope. Finding no answers for Mad Dog's buzzsaw-like attack, he used a distraction from Sabu to throw a Fireball and get the pin on a blinded Vachon. Bobo attacked Sheik after the bell, who bailed out of the ring to save himself. Note - with this victory, The Sheik will surpass Don Leo Jonathan's record 36 card North American Title reign.

Can anyone end The Sheik's unholy reign of terror? The Syrian madman has been in the NWF for over a year and has still not been pinned!

The craziness continues next week from the Stambaugh Auditorium in Youngstown, OH!
* The main event will see the final NWF Championship bout before the Superbowl of Wrestling 4 as Nick Bockwinkel (boo!) defends against The Crusher!
* Lou Albano has announced that he has just signed another major star who will debut either in Youngstown or the following week in Steubenville!
* Justin Credible will try yet again to pin Steve Corino's shoulders in a singles match
* King Kong Bundy will square off against Ilio DiPaolo - can DiPaolo get him up for the Airplane Spin?
* Boogie Woogie Man Jimmy Valiant gets a rematch with the limping yet devious Ray Stevens
* And this match has just been signed! In one of the most anticipated encounters in some time, The Sheik & Sabu will face the team of Mad Dog Vachon & Bobo Brazil!

Dont' miss the NWF action next week from Youngstown!

[Cory Olson]

That's a cool list, Tim! At first I thought it was crazy that he had done so well for you, but so far he's doing the same in the USWA.

[TDalton]

Card #206 - 12/15/2006
Stambaugh Auditorium - Youngstown, OH

Lou Albano announced that his latest "surprise" signing refused to wrestle in a city like Youngstown, and then introduced Ravishing Rick Rude! Rude said he will debut in Steubenville next week, since this will give all the women there a chance to buy tickets. Of course, they'll want to be there to see Rude take off his robe and show them what a real man looks like.

1. Chris Candido b Danny Doring
Candido was upset about Doring pinning him in the tag elimination match last week, and did some damage in this singles bout. Despite some shenanigans from Justin Credible to turn things in Doring's favor for a while, Candido managed to come back and get the win with the Blonde Bomb.

2. Yukon Eric & Danny Hodge dq Iron Mike DiBiase & Bob Orton, Sr.
Solid back and forth action with Hodge showing no problems competing with heavyweight Orton. Finish was Orton getting DQ'd for slamming Yukon's head into the ring post during a lengthy out of ring scuffle. Hodge issued a challenge to current World Junior Heavyweight Champion Bobby Eaton for the Superbowl of Wrestling 4.

3. Justin Credible dq Steve Corino
What does Credible have to do to pin or submit Corino? In this match, Corino was bleeding to the point the match was nearly stopped, but he got some timely interferemce by Candido. Credible got some retaliatory help from Doring. Corino was an absolute mess and got himself intentionally DQ'd for a low blow right in front of the referee to continue Credible's frustrating streak.

4. Koko B. Ware b Billy "Red" Lyons
A battle of two junior heavyweights based on last card's tag-team battle. Koko jumped Billy Red off of a distraction by Sherri Martel at the bell. Lyons never recovered and was pinned with the Ghostbuster.

5. Ilio DiPaolo b King Kong Bundy
The big question here was whether Italian powerhouse DiPaolo could get the mammoth Bundy in his famed Airplane Spin. The popular Ilio survived an early Avalanche by Bundy, kicking out at 4 (as Bundy demanded a 5 count). DiPaolo fired up, and after Bundy was worn down, somehow managed to get him up in the Airplane Spin as the crowd went crazy. It wasn't pretty, but it was effective and got the win for Ilio!

6. Magnificent Muraco & Lou Albano dq Jimmy Snuka & Don Leo Jonathan
Snuka has chosen Don Leo Jonathan to be his new tag-team partner, replacing the AWOL Bruiser Brody. Snuka & Jonathan will meet Lou Albano's Masked Executioners at the Superbowl of Wrestling 4 to decide the held up tag titles. Both Snuka and Jonathan have issues with Muraco. He and Jonathan have recently split singles wins, and his history with Snuka outside the NWF is well documented. Albano never tagged in during this match (shocking) and it came down to the feuding Muraco and Jonathan. Jonathan was getting the best of the situation but pie faced the referee who was trying to restore order, which resulted in a DQ.

7. Jimmy Valiant dq Ray Stevens
Great bout with a lot of near falls and hot action. Crowd has really gotten behind Valiant's style. Despite the injury, Stevens looked good early on. Gradually though, the injury began to slow Stevens down. Lots of brawling and blood. Both bent most every rule in the book, and Stevens was finally DQ'd by the ref, although Valiant wasn't exactly an innocent bystander.

8. Bobo Brazil & Mad Dog Vachon b The Sheik & Sabu
This match had a huge buzz to it since it was announced, and made this show one of the hottest tickets of the year. The people that managed to get tickets witnessed NWF history being made, as Bobo Brazil pinned The Sheik with a big body slam!! It is The Sheik's first loss by pinfall or submission since he entered the NWF in November 2005 (42 matches)! The match itself was a crazy brawl that was nearly declared a no contest by the referee, who had trouble controlling the four participants. Everyone but Vachon was bleeding, and Sheik kept kicking out of pin attempts (or was saved by Sabu) to the point where the crowd was counting along with the ref on the near falls. Crowd just blew the roof off the arena at the finish, and mobbed Bobo as he tried to return to the dressing room. This appears to set up another meeting between the seemingly life-long rivals at the Superbowl.

9. NWF Championship: The Crusher dq Nick Bockwinkel
It's rare to see an anti-climactic NWF Title match, but after that last bout, the crowd was exhausted. Bockwinkel got the early edge, but Crusher made a buzzsaw-like comeback that saw Heenan resort to hitting him with the title belt for the DQ.

Amazing! Does Bobo's win mean The Sheik's unholy reign of terror (see bottom of page 6 for details) has reached it's end? Only time will tell! The situation between the two longtime enemies should become clearer over the next few days.

Meanwhile. with only two weeks left before the Superbowl of Wrestling 4 in Pittsburgh, the next card from Steubenville will certainly be a barnburner! Lots of matches on the "Road to the Superbowl" card have already been signed!

* One challenge appears to have been answered, as Yukon Eric & Danny Hodge will face Bob Orton, Sr. & Junior Heavyweight Champion Bobby Eaton!
* Coming off his big (!) win over King Kong Bundy, Ilio DiPaolo will meet Bundy's tag partner Diamond Dallas Page!
* The Flying Redheads team with Jimmy Snuka to battle the Masked Executioners & Ravishing Rick Rude in a six-man tag match!
* Bobo Brazil takes on The Sheik's nephew, the death defying Sabu!
* Justin Credible will be faced with Falls Count Anywhere rules in an effort to get his first decisive win over Steve Corino!
* St. John's Arena will host the rubber match between Don Leo Jonathan and Magnificent Muraco!
* The main event will see The Crusher & Mad Dog Vachon square off against NWF kingpin Nick Bockwinkel (boo!) & Ray Stevens!

It doesn't get much better than this wrestling fans! Stay tuned for more developments as we gear up for the biggest show of the year!

[Cory Olson]

I think it's fitting that Bobo was the first to end the Sheik's insane winning streak!

That's awesome that Ilio could pick up King Kong Fatty in the airplane spin. Must be something in the pasta sauce.

[TDalton]

Having Bobo end the streak was good karma. The real question is where it goes from here. Sheik still hasn't been beaten cleanly in singles and has a firm hold on the North American Title. I almost never (Buddy Rose the lone exception) give him an "easy" title challenger because whoever beats him will get a huge boost. I want it to be someone who can live up to the task, and not a mid-carder who got a fluke win. There are lots of things brewing for Sheik and Bobo leading up to Superbowl 4. I'll be posting more in a few days.

I have a match on video where Ilio gets Crybaby Cannon up for the Airplane Spin, so I figured what the heck. Artistic license.

[Dustin Neal]

Wow. I really enjoyed reading this card. I'll be keeping up with it in the future!

[Tournament Master]

I love it when the dice help to creat some great storylines.

Bobo vs. The Sheik at SBOW 4 should be awsome. I think the fans will be more excited to see this than Bockwinkel (boo!) in a title defense.

And Tim, where are the World League Challenge brackets. You promised me they would be up soon.

[TDalton]

SUPERBOWL OF WRESTLING 4
December 29th
Civic Arena - Pittsburgh, PA


Lights Out!
Barbed Wire Cage Match
Bobo Brazil vs. The Sheik

NWF Championship
Grudge Match
Nick Bockwinkel vs. The Crusher

NWF Tag-Team Championship
Winners get the held up titles!
Jimmy Snuka & Don Leo Jonathan vs. the Masked Executioners

Jimmy Valiant vs. Ray Stevens

Mad Dog Vachon & Billy "Red" Lyons vs. Larry Zbyszko & Magnificent Muraco

World Junior Heavyweight Championship
Bobby Eaton vs. Danny Hodge

Antonino Rocca & Ilio DiPaolo vs. Diamond Dallas Page & King Kong Bundy

Justin Credible & Danny Doring vs. Chris Candido & Steve Corino

Special Attraction
"The American Dream" Dusty Rhodes vs. Jesse "The Body" Ventura

Red Bastien vs. Rick Rude

Yukon Eric vs. Bob Orton, Sr.

S.D. Jones & Virgil vs. the Riviera Playboys


This is now the complete lineup. Look for the results soon!

[Dustin Neal]

This card looks to be good, dude!

[TDalton]

**NWF NEWSFLASH**
Superbowl 4 Update!
The Sheik vs. Bobo Brazil

A shocking series of events has put wrestling fans on the edge of their seats leading to the match between The Sheik and Bobo Brazil at NWF's Superbowl of Wrestling 4. For many months, there has been quiet speculation that The Sheik could not have been orchestrating his unholy reign of terror alone. That theory has been proven true, as The Sheik's former manager Abdullah Farouk has emerged from the shadows to become a major player in negotiations for the big match at SB4!

No one knows how long the two have been in cahoots, but Farouk has wasted no time making his presence known. Initially, his primary contention was that Brazil did not deserve a match for The Sheik's North American Championship. He brought up Brazil's inability to beat The Sheik in the past, noted Bobo's part-time status with the NWF over the past several months as well as the fact that he is not currently scheduled for any NWF matches in 2007.

The NWF Board said they would consider these arguments and render a decision as quickly as possible. Meanwhile, a verbal war broke out between Brazil and Farouk. It got very heated very fast, with Brazil saying that he would do whatever it took to get his hands on The Sheik again! He even agreed to let Farouk pick the match stipulations! At this point, the NWF Board agreed that the North Amarican Title would be defended at SB4.

On a live televised segment the next day, Brazil and Farouk were nose to nose once again. Farouk brought out a contract for the match, stating that if Brazil was a man of his word, he would sign it. Bobo grabbed the contract, signed it, and threw it back in Farouk's face. Farouk revealed that the match would be contested inside a Barbed Wire Steel Cage, the first such bout in NWF history! There was a huge buzz off of the TV show, and the remaining tickets at Pittsburgh's Civic Arena sold out immediately.

The NWF Board called an emergency session after the TV show. They unanimously ruled that the NWF would not sanction such a dangerous and barbaric match due to the potential risk to the competitors. Of course, they also realized there was a binding contract in place, and that cancellation of the match could cause serious future revenue loss at the venue, and possibly throughout the territory.

As a compromise, they agreed to allow the match to take place at SB4 as a "Lights Out" non-sanctioned event, where the North American Title would not be on the line.

This sets up what will surely be a bloodbath between two bitter rivals at the NWF's biggest show of the year. But when looking at this from an objective viewpoint, it appears Farouk and The Sheik have won this battle. The North American Title will not be at stake, which is what Farouk wanted in the first place. Also, this match will not be "official," so even if The Sheik does lose, his actual NWF record will still show no pinfall or submission losses.

Has the unveiling of Farouk made the The Sheik even more dangerous? Did Farouk play on Bobo's ego and desire to make the fans happy? Keep watching wrestling fans! Only two weeks until we see everything hit the fan at the Superbowl of Wrestling 4!!!

[Tournament Master]

That sneaky Farouk! Scott Boras has nothing on him. ;D

I gotta check Stubhub and see if there are any second hand tickets left for SB4, I gotta see this bloodbath.

[TDalton]

"Road to the Superbowl"
Card #207 - 12/24/2006
St. John's Arena - Steubenville, OH

Traditionally, there are no title matches the week before or after the Superbowl of Wrestling. This allows the champs and challengers a little extra time to prepare without worrying about their titles being on the line.

1. Playboy Buddy Rose dq S.D. Jones
Philadelphia's favorite son was fired up for this one! After being on the receiving end for a while, Jones threw Rose outside the ring and went to work. Sherri Martel even got bumped when she jumped on S.D.'s back. Jones got carried away and was DQ'd for his actions.

2. Yukon Eric & Danny Hodge b Bob Orton, Sr. & Bobby Eaton
Current World Jr. Heavyweight champ Eaton arrived for his title defense against Hodge at SB4. Eaton's manager Jim Cornette was not at ringside, as Eaton flew in while Cornette chose to drive (much to the chagrin of Dairy Queen owners along his route). Crowd was into the Eaton/Hodge confrontations, and popped when Hodge pinned the champ with the Oklahoma Sideroll.

3. King Kong Bundy dq Antonino Rocca
Rocca pulled out all the stops, and had to contend with DDP at ringside. Finish saw Rocca attacking DDP but he got double-teamed outside the ring. Bundy tried for an Avalanche against the ring post, but Rocca moved. Bundy hit the post and was KO'd. Rocca grabbed a chair and was getting ready to go after DDP. The ref, who had been knocked down earlier, saw Bundy out cold and Rocca with the chair and called for a DQ. Really unpopular decision.

4. Ilio DiPaolo b Diamond Dallas Page
Page's first singles match in the NWF started out well, as he was all over the popular DiPaolo, even busting him open. But DDP found out the hard way that Ilio is a tough guy to put away. Ilio got him up for the Airplane Spin. Bundy got on the apron to interfere, but got knocked down by DDP's spinning feet! Ilio headlocked the dizzy Page, climbed the ropes and took him over into a cover for the win.

5. Steve Corino b Justin Credible (Falls Count Anywhere)
More frustration for Credible, who cannot pin Corino in a singles match to save his life. Credible was doing well until the mayhem began. This brawl went into the concession stands, the locker room and all over the arena. Corino got the pin after putting Credible in position for an over the shoulder backbreaker, then running him head first into a concrete wall.

6. Flying Redheads & Jimmy Snuka dq Masked Executioners & Rick Rude
Rude makes his NWF debut in front of the "Steubenville Sweathogs." Executioner #1 was almost pinned right away by a perfect Superfly, but Rude saved. Rude almost pinned Bastien twice after Rude Awakenings, but spent too much time playing to the crowd. Lyons had Rude in the Sleeper, but both Executioners interfered causing the DQ. Both Jonathan and Muraco soon joined the party, and this turned into an 8 man post-match brawl.

7. Bobo Brazil dq Sabu
Short but action packed match. Bobo caught Sabu with a Coco Butt after a missed Triple Jump Moonsault and had him dead to rights, but The Sheik interfered (there's a shocker). Security was waiting for something like this and mobbed the ring immediately in an effort to control the situation. It was announced that Brazil has contractual commitments outside the NWF for 2007, so his unsanctioned Barbed Wire Cage match with The Sheik at SB4 will be their final confrontation!

8. Don Leo Jonathan b Magnificent Muraco
This was the rubber match between these two, and Jonathan never let Muraco get on any kind of a roll. He pounded Muraco with three Mormon Swings and worked over the big Hawaiian's neck and back the entire bout, finishing him with a swinging full nelson.

9. Nick Bockwinkel (boo!) & Ray Stevens cor The Crusher & Mad Dog Vachon
Great match with lots of big moves by all the participants. Crusher nailed Bockwinkel with two Bolo Punches, but Stevens saved him each time. Later Bockwinkel had Vachon in trouble, but couldn't pin him. It turned into a barnburner where Mad Dog had Stevens on the run, but got caught up in a tussle with outside the ring with Larry Zbyszko and was counted out.

Another great show is over, with only the Superbowl of Wrestling 4 left to finish off the 2006 year!

More exciting matches announced for SB4:
* "Boogie Woogie Man" Jimmy Valiant will continue his battles with Heenan Family member Ray Stevens!
* S.D. Jones & Virgil will meet the Riviera Playboys!
* Yukon Eric will square off against "The Big O" Bob Orton, Sr.!
* Rick Rude will have his first NWF singles match, meeting Red Bastien!
* The NWF's two premier managers join forces for the first time as Bobby Heenan's Larry Zbyszko and Lou Albano's Magnificent Muraco will team to face Mad Dog Vachon and Billy "Red" Lyons!

Superbowl 4 is on the horizon! Only seven days left until the biggest show of the year!

[Cory Olson]

tdalton said:

Eaton's manager Jim Cornette was not at ringside, as Eaton flew in while Cornette chose to drive (much to the chagrin of Dairy Queen owners along his route).

"What do you mean the food's not ready?! We've been waiting for 30 minutes!!" (Classic!)

Cool to see that Ilio beat the three-time (three-time, three-time) WCW champion! Poor Credible, can't beat Corino.

Great write-up as always, Tim!

[blueraider2]

i tend to agree grand stuff tim.

[TDalton]

Quick note: the Superbowl of Wrestling 4 (we don't use those silly Roman numerals here in the NWF) post earlier on this page has been updated to reflect the entire card. The results will be posted later this week.