by JT IceFire
The year was 1998. On the backs of Stone Cold Steve Austin and the nWo, professional wrestling was skyrocketing to a level of popularity even higher than the Hulkamania era. The WWF and WCW clashed for TV supremacy every week in the height of the Monday Night Wars, and ECW rose to national prominence with its new pay-per-views.
This surge in popularity naturally led to a new generation of kids scouring the internet for a place to argue about their new passion. They found a community waiting for them at rec.sport.pro-wrestling, and a number of dirt-sheet and commentary websites to fuel their passion. Such was the birth of the internet wrestling community of today.
And as with every community, it was filled with people who thought they could do it better.
Fantasy booking ran rampant. Even more prevalent were e-federations, were people would sign up as real or original characters, and win or lose matches based on the strength of their “roleplays”- written clips, speeches and promos. The stronger your creativity and writing skills, the better your wrestlers performed in general. I myself founded or participated in a dozen of these leagues during the late 90's. But, this isn't about that.
There were people still who wanted to apply their vision of a better wrestling ring to the whole of a business, not just one wrestler. For these people, there was the TNM wrestling simulator.
The brainchild of German programmer Oliver Copp, TNM was in a class by itself for fantasy wrestling, in a day well before the elaborate create-a-wrestler-his-finisher-his-entrance-and-his-everything-else standard in today's wrestling games. This DOS-based, all-text sim was our own Micro League Baseball, with fully customizeable wrestlers, movesets, weapons, matches, managers- anything one could possibly need to bring his own sports opera to life. But this isn't quite about that, either.
In this fertile ground of squared-circle creativity, a Canadian named Kirk McCullough created something awesome.
While other TNM feds used real wrestlers, or a mix of those and some bland original creations, Kirk made something that stood tall above the rest- and he did it with something long-forgotten by wrestling fans and video gamers alike.
Enter the Slam Masters Wrestling Association.
Kirk adapted the ten characters from the obscure Capcom wrestling/fighting hybrid game Saturday Night Slam Masters- including Final Fight star Mike Haggar- surrounded them with a nuanced cast of original creations, and turned them loose on one another. Other Capcom characters came along for the ride as well- Final Fight's Cody and Zangief from Street Fighter were also SMWA mainstays.
He made some twists, of course- replacing fictional locales such as Metro City and -ugh- “Slam City”- with places like New York City and Portland, Oregon, and giving some of them less embarrassing names (“Titanic Tim”, for example, became “Titan” Tim Redbury)
The result was magic.
In a time where most armchair McMahons would simply be content to post card results and the occasional promo, Kirk used his TNM logs to build full, descriptive recaps of every event, every match, every promo. With this, he took the cardboard cutouts of the original Slam Masters, and made them three-dimensional characters, all with their own goals, influences, personalities, and epic battles.
Did you know Biff Slamkovich and Gunloc were once best friends, until the latter came under the influence of a furious xenophobe named Chad Hillsman?
Did you know that Oni lost a bitter feud, and became a being of light to get back at the Japanese mystics who had bested him?
Did you know Alexander “The Grater” has been kicked out of every stable he's ever been a part of?
Did you know The Scorpion held an entire wrestling organization hostage just to get his revenge on Mike Haggar?
These were but a few of the myriad storyline threads woven through McCullough's wrestling world by the time it folded in 1999.
It sounds like fanfiction - and generally, all fantasy booking is - but McCullough did something much greater than your average Cloud/Sephiroth slash fest. He took characters with no definition and defined them. He took a background, and made it a world. It was the cream of the crop in the old TNM community, and everyone knew it. I'm happy to have been a part of it.
The Basics
by Kirk McCullough
Monday Night Massacre
The SMWA's biggest weekly card. This is where the biggest stars come out
to shine, and where 80% of all the big events take place. Slam Masters
is the place to be on Monday. Air weekly, Mondays at 9PM on FOX (right
after Melrose Place).
Saturday Night Slam Masters
The original SMWA show, it is a place for the up and comers to shine.
The main event is of star quality, but there are a few jobber matches,
and somebody is more likely to make their debut on SNSM than on
Massacre. Also, top contender matches will occur more on SNSM. Also on FOX,
Saturdays from 7PM to 9PM.
Slam Masters: [special card name]
Replacing a normal SNSM, this event is done in the same style as the old
two-hour In Your House events--5 or 6 really big matches. It's my way of
making sure those that "can't get PPV" can still see a supercard. And
the World Title does change hands on these cards occasionally.
Bi-Monthly, FOX, 8PM to 10PM.
The PPVs
New Year's Smash: held New Years Day, a day long festival with all
the players on the roster appearing on the show
March Madness: Next year, there's going to be some sort of
tournament, a la king of the ring. This year, just a normal PPV.
The Crash Carnival: The BIG event. This is where it all comes to a head
(May!). Again, everybody gets involved, but only the best (biggest) matches
make the PPV.
Firestorm: I keep changing the name of this one, since I haven't run it
yet. The SummerSlam-esk card, often with a tag team main event. (July)
Back Street Brawl: My Uncensored (September)
Thanksgiving Thunder: Take a guess.
The Original Ten
by Kirk McCullough
Well, anybody who'se going to want to know about a fed involving the Saturday Night Slam Masters is going to want to know what has happened to the original ten guys from the game. Here are brief synopses of where they are now.
Mike Haggar
6'8 308 lbs, New York City
Current SMWA Champion, hero of heroes. Feuding with the Doomsday
Hunters, especially Doomsday, whom he will face at Crash Carnvial at the
as yet unknown Doomsday Match. 4 time world champ, twice North
American. Managed by daughter Jessica and has taken on young Jack Slade
as a protege. Slade is Haggars closest friend, sticking by him in all of
his feuds, especially when the two went head to head vs Grater and The
Scorpion.
The Scorpion
6'2, 275 ????
Lost a handicap match while paired with Alexander "the Grater" against
Mike Haggar at Thanksgiving Thunder '97. The stipulation was that if Haggar won, he would get
Grater's World Title and Scorpion would leave the SMWA. Thing is,
Scorpion hates Haggar with a passion, and their feud carries a deep, dark
secret neither one will share. Scorp will be back to take on Haggar
again...it's just a matter of how and when.
Alexander "The Grater"
6'6, 365 Kentucky
Formerly a member of the Doomsday Hunters, they dumped him when he was
unable to regain the World Title from Haggar. An attack by Doomsday put
Grater on the shelf for two months after New Years Smash. But anybody
would be foolish to think he wont return to extract his pound of flesh.
Very terrifying, but easily distracted. Has held the World Title and North American Title.
King Rasta
6'6 330 Venice Beach
The Hardcore Legend of the SMWA. A total lunatic, but all the fan
favourites like him, because he is a fun guy outside of the ring. Came
damn close to dethroning Mike Haggar a few times for the world belt, is
still one of his closest allies. With Bobby the Monkey at his side, is
currently feuding with Skarzz and the Seven Deadly Sins and has formed an
uneasy alliance with former foe Zangief. Former TV Champ.
The Great Oni
6' 220 Osaka, Japan
Former ally of the Scorpion until Scorp decided to team with Mike
Haggar. Even though Scorp's whole plan was to betray Haggar and asault
him with Grater at his side, he never told Oni, who turned on his
partner. Becoming a fan favourite by default by teaming with Jack Slade
against Scorp and Haggar, Oni went on a directionless career skid until
he turned bad once more, assaulting fellow, and fan favourite, countryman
Akira Wan-Pai. Oni is a former World and North American Champ.
Jumbo Jack Flap
6'5 390 Winnipeg, Manitoba
Was forming a decent team with West Bronco until being burned by former
sin member Nitro. Flap took on the role as Bronco's advisor/manager,
reforming the "Cross-Border Cowboys" as they were called on occasion.
However, Bronco hit a slump and was convinced by Extinct, Jumbo's number
one rival in possibly the longest running SMWA feud ever, to join the
Doomsday Hunters. Disgusted that his protege turned against him, Jumbo
has quit the SMWA, though commisioner McCullough is trying to get him
back in some capacity. Five-time North American Champion.
Titan Tim Redbury
7'7 440 London, England
Since losing the North American Title to the xenophobic racist Chad
Hillsman, Titan has been a giant without a cause. May have found a new
one against the Doomsday Hunters, who attacked him after a loss to World
Champion Mike Haggar (more on that in a future installment). Titan is
managed by the devious Sarge X, who likes to keep his stable numbers
small and with a few good men. Titan is the bully of the SMWA, and loves
to throw his size around...which, when you're 7'7", 440, is not hard to
do. Twice North American Champ, once tag champ with El Stingray.
El Stingray
5'6 163 Tiajuana
Currently a former half of tag team Champions SuperStars Inc. with
up-and-comer
Terry Sky, but they are still in the title hunt. Stingray is the tag team
specialist of the SMWA, but should
get more singles exposure with the newly formed cruiserweight division.
Still believes himself to be the sexiest masked man alive, and still
hates the ugly. It's a wonder with his ego that he can wrestle on a
team. Three-time tag team champion. Managed by Sarge X.
The Super Powers
Gunloc 6'4, 272 Portland
Biff Slamkovich 6'4 264 Kiev, Ukraine
The greatest tag team in the history of the SMWA recently went through
some big troubles. Gunloc became far too wrapped up with the Super Power
feud with the Philadelphia X-TremeMachine and wouldn't let it go
attacking the PXM and anybody near them whenever he got the shot. Biff
wanted to move on and a huge rift formed between the two. Biff left
Gunloc alone for several matches, and at March Madness forced Gunloc to
wrestle both members of the PXM in a handicap match. This finally woke
Gunloc up. He appologized, and now the Super Powers are together
again...but for the moment, out of the title hunt, as promoters want to
make sure these two can function once again before risking total meltdown
withing the tag team champions. Expect Biff and Gunloc to cause huge
problems...together.
The Doomsday Hunters
by Kirk McCullough
Right now my biggest stable in the Slam Masters Wrestling Association are the Doomsday Hunters. Here is their roster:
Doomsday,
The Philadelphia X-Treme Machine, "Daredevil" Ron Grayson,
West Bronco,
Charles Slayer (group jobber), and Extinct (manager)
Well, I recently vacated my TV Belt because my TV champ was too strong (you like to have the TV belt change hands as much as possible, you know), and I had a battle royal for the belt. Well, right off the bat, Slayer tosses Bronco and Grayson, his stablemates. Apparently, Charlie was POed that he was the Hunters' jobber and thought they were holding him back. But Slayer was slated to face my World Champion, Mike Haggar, on the next Monday Night Massacre.
Here's the other part of the angle. Mike Haggar and Doomsday have been locked in a gigantic feud. Doomsday nearly had Haggar pinned at Slam Masters: Armageddon II, but lost when a member of another stable, Skarzz (the TV Champ whose title I vacated after he "attacked some referees") from the Seven Deadly sins, interfered in the match. Doomsday had interfered in each one of Haggar's matches since then, until the SMWA Commisioner put down the following warning:
If Doomsday interfered in any match of Mike Haggars, or so much as touched Haggar in anything but an official match from now until Crash Carnival (my WrestleMania), Doomsday would lose his title shot.
Doomsday and Extinct countered with a simple response--If they couldn't attack Haggar, they would attack every single opponent Haggar faced immediately after Haggar wrestled them. In other words, wrestling Mike Haggar meant being beat up by Doomsday immediately after.
So, of course, when Slayer acted up...with a title shot right around the corner...
The thing about Haggar is that he's such a hero that he doesn't want his opponents to get seriously hurt (unless he's feuding with them, in which case he'll allow a little leway). So when Slayer lost to Haggar and Doomsday made his way to the ring, Haggar immediately threw himself on top of Slayer so Doomsday couldn't touch him.
Other Hunter angles included Bronco turning against his mentor, Jumbo Jack Flap, who happens to be Extinct's classic enemy.
Ron Grayson and "Jackhammer" Andrew Marshall have been wrestling each other since November, but neither has been able to score a clean (or any sort of) pinfall over the other.
Bronco recently cost Alexander "The Grater" a match with Doomsday (this is significant because Grater, and another wrestler of mine, Nord Fullstrom, both posed as Doomsday along with Doomsday to trick Mike Haggar out of the world title at Crash Carnival '97). So Grater is now feuding with his former stable.
The P-X-M is in a brutal four way feud with The Dream Team (Rod Emerson & Peter McKee), who are the SMWA Tag Champs, SuperStars Inc. (El Stingray and Terry Sky), and Los Viajeros Dos Mil (BC-2000, IS-2000).
The Haggar-Doomsday Feud
by Kirk McCullough
This feud is a bit complicated. At SMWA New Years Smash 1997, Extinct debuted his latest find, Doomsday, a 6'6", 390 mountain of muscle with some surprising ariel moves. Doomsday was unstoppable and, in his first few matches in the fed, he severely injured Gunloc of the Super Powers. Doomsday cut a swath through the competition.
At the time, the opposition to Extinct, Doomsday and the Doomsday Hunters (then Doomsday, The Philly X-Treme Machine, Norful the Viking and Charles Slayer) were Mike Haggar, Jack Slade, The Super Powers, King Rasta and Alexander "The Grater". There were various matches and attacks coming from both parties, and Grater challenged Doomsday for a match on the innaugural Monday Night Massacre in March. Before that match could even begin, Norful and Doomsday worked Grater over in the back, severly injuring his right arm.
Mike Haggar, Grater's good friend, immediately challenged Doomsday to a match at Crash Carnival 97, with Haggar's world title on the line. Doomsday and Extinct accepted.
The match itself was a blood bath, with both men fighting tooth and nail to the end. However, the turning point came when Haggar took a spill outside of the ring and he was confronted by TWO MORE DOOMSDAYS (maybe now would be a good time to mention that Doomsday wears a mask). This distracted Haggar enough so that the "original" Doomsday could sneak up from behind and level him. He rolled him into the ring and nailed Haggar with a move which resembled Alexander "The Grater"'s Kentucky Tornado and scored the pin.
The fans were up in arms at this point, wondering what had just happened. But when Doomsday grabbed the mic and started talking in a gravely, Kentucky accent, everybody knew what was happening.
The hood came off, and underneath was Alexander "The Grater". He went on to have the feud of the year with Mike Haggar, but that's another story.
Grater was quite upset that he had been pushed out of the World Title picture because of his friendship with Mike Haggar and decided that it was no more Mr. Nice Guy.
Helping Grater in his world title quest were Norful as one of the Doomsdays and a man who was litterally known as Doomsday. It is on this man whom we shall now focus (though you WILL hear of Haggar vs Grater eventually)
Doomsday continued to destroy everything in the SMWA, being used as the hired muscle of the Doomsday Hunters. It eventually came down to August and Slam Masters: Road to Retribution. Gunloc made his return to the ring and nearly dismantled the right knee of Doomsday, though D-Day never gave up and the match was only stopped when it became evident that Doomsday could not walk. Doomsday was on the shelf for a while.
In the meantime, Mike Haggar regained the world title and went his way. Doomsday returned at Slam Master: We Aint Dead Yet in December and defeated former Doomsday Norful, now going by his real name Nord Fullstrom. Doomsday then beat Jack Slade at New Year's Smash '98 and immediately challenged Mike Haggar to a title match at the next Slam Masters in february, appropriately entitled "Slam Masters: Armageddon".
This match was marred by the interference of the 7 Deadly Sins, who will be dealt with at the upcoming Slam Masters: Purgatory in a weeks time. The key events here were Doomsday kicking out of the Screwdriver at 2 minutes and nearly having Haggar pinned after the Armageddon when the match ended because of the Sins.
Extinct was livid and immediately petitioned for a rematch. Haggar said Doomsday would get one ASAP, but then Extinct named the place for the rematch--Crash Carnival, which was 3 months away. The catch was, the match was to be fought under "Doomsday Rules" and those rules were not to be disclosed until Crash Carnival.
Haggar accepted, but then had to deal with Doomsday attacking him at every opportunity possible leading up to Crash Carnival. It never failed...Haggar would show up to wrestle or for an interview, and Doomsday at some point would try to attack him.
SMWA commisioner Jack McCullough, not wanting to see his world champ injured before the biggest event of the year, laid several fines on Doomsday and, when that failed, made this decree.
If Doomsday touches Mike Haggar before Crash Carnival, he loses the opportunity to wrestle at the event.
This looked like a good idea at the time, but then Extinct and Doomsday found a way to get around the ruling and under Haggar's skin. Whoever Haggar wrestled from now until Crash Carnival would be attacked by Doomsday. Titan Tim Redbury was the first victim.
This has put Haggar in an interesting spot. If he wrestles, somebody gets beat up because of him, and that's not something he wants on his concious. If he doesn't, he goes into Crash Carnvial cold against the most dangerous man in the SMWA. And if he attacks Doomsday, that would either give Doomsday free shots on Haggar or force McCullough to cancel the Crash Carnival match, thus costing Haggar his chance to end the Doomsday threat.
It's going to be an interesting few weeks as Mike Haggar, hero of all heroes and the unstoppable Engine of Destruction known as Doomsday must blaze two seperate, yet two parallel paths to Crash Carnival.
The Marshall-Grayson Feud
by Kirk McCullough
These two want to get at each other more than anything else...too bad that something always has to get in the way.
It all started with a logjam of talent at Slam Masters: Choosing Allies. Four men--Andrew Marshall, Ron Grayson, Jean DuPuis and Akira Wan-Pai--had spent months exchanging victories over each other, without one man coming out the definite victor. Matches ended by count-out, disqualifications, time limit draws or fluke pinfalls, and neither one of these four was able to beat two of the others without losing to the third.
To settle it all up, SMWA Commisioner Jack McCullough decided on a one-night Iron Man contest. Each man would wrestle his nemesis on the same night in a round robin tournament--whoever got the most wins would win.
In other words, in one night, each man would have three matches--against opponents dealing with similar odds.
And the winner would get a North American Title Shot at Thanksgiving Thunder.
Tonight, it was time for Jean DuPuis to shine. He swept the opposition,
but not without contreversy. He beat Akira when Chad Hillsman (feuding
with Akira at the time) attacked him outside of the ring. What happened
next...
Marshall and Grayson faced off against one another in a great match. It was back and forth power wrestler vs ariel superstar. In the end, Grayson took it when Marshall passed out while in a scorpion deathlock.
Grayson's next bout would be against Jean DuPuis. Grayson and DuPuis have one of those Guerrero/Malenko feuds going, where they both respect each other's ability but can't stand each other. This time, it was DuPuis who got the duke, nailing Grayson with a powerbomb for the pin.
Grayson then fought Akira, who had already lost to DuPuis and Marshall (again, Chad Hillsman's fault), and beat him. Grayson was done for the night and knew he couldn't win. If both he, Marshall and DuPuis finished 2-1, the series was going to end up a tie. So Grayson decided if anybody was going to take it, it may as well be the man who beat him.
Shocking all of the fans in attendance, Daredevil assaulted Marshall during the match, nailing him with a Shooting Star Legdrop when DuPuis and the ref were out. He put DuPuis on Marshall and the Cajun got the pin.
As Grayson left the ring, he was asked why. He simply responded "Felt like it, had nothing better to do. I'd rather have some guy who could take me down win the whole thing than have some no-talent, overmuscled punk cause all three of us to tie. Besides, I'm on to bigger and better things than this dumb feud."
Well, Grayson was on to something bigger...but it sure wasn't different.
The next night on Massacre, Marshall came out and challenged Grayson to a fight...not a match, just a one-on-one fight. Grayson decided "what the heck, nothing better going on" and accepted. He came to the ring, where an enraged Marshall beat him to a pulp and had to be restrained by officials. He then challenged Grayson to a match at Thanksgiving Thunder.
Of course, Grayson had an ace up his sleve. On the following Saturday Night Slam Masters, he came out from the back to assist the Doomsday Hunters in an assault on Jack Slade, confirming his membership to that group. The relationship was bound to benefit both sides...Grayson had an experienced heel (Extinct) to break him into rulebreaking, while the Hunters lacked a cruiserweight since Rick Clark and Ron S. Race defected/were kicked out.
Until Thanksgiving Thunder, a few things happened. Grayson and Extinct
caused Marshall to miss a match by slashing the tires on his car,
Marshall cost Grayson a match with North American champ Rick Clark, and
the two got involved in each others matches any time the two were in the
same building.
It came to Thunder and the rematch. As soon as Grayson hit the ring, Marshall was all over him. Suplexes, power throws, clotheslines...Grayson couldn't lie on the mat long enough before Marshall was picking him back up and knocking him down. When, at two minutes into the match, Marshall almost landed his deadly De-Facer (then called the Face Breaker), Grayson decided he wanted no part in the match. He slugged the ref, getting disqualified, Extinct distracted Marshall, and Grayson hightailed it to the dressing room.
This is where the feud started to get a little interesting. More than anything, Marshall wanted to get a shot at Grayson, but "Daredevil" was scared to death after the beating Marshall put on him at Thanksgiving Thunder and would do everything he could to avoid him. Marshall pushed hard for a match at Slam Masters: We Aint Dead Yet, but Grayson quickly signed himself on for the ten-man tag main event, which would be Mike Haggar, Jack Slade, Nord Fullstrom and The Super Powers against Alexander "The Grater, The Philadelphia X-Treme Machine, Charles Slayer and, of course Grayson. It looked as if Marshall would have to wait again...
However, in an interesting slip up by Extinct, he challenged Fullstrom to face his "mystery opponent" at We Aint Dead Yet. When Nord accepted, that left a vacancy to be filled on the side of the good guys.
Marshall took the spot the minute he heard it was open. And Grayson was nearly wetting himself.
The ten man match was vicious, and every time Marshall got in the ring, Grayson made sure he'd stay clear on the outside. The key moment for Grayson and Marshall came when Marshall scored a HUGE upset pinfall over Alexander "The Grater" after snaring him in the Face Breaker. Grater, his usual upset self, beat the hell out of Marshall as the ring filled up with both corners emptying mid match. Grater felled Marshall with the Doomsday Tornado, and left the ring.
Of course, with Grater, the legal man having been elminated, and the Hunters needing a man in the ring...and with Marshall unconcious....
Grayson climbed to the top rope, unesscessarily delivered his Shooting Star Legdrop, and pinned Marshall. A big accomplishment, considering Grater had done all of the work.
Again, Marshall wanted a rematch, but Grayson wouldn't even think about facing him on even terms. For a month, Grayson even stopped interfering in Marhsall's matches, hoping Jackhammer would forget about the feud. Didn't work. Marshall pushed the SMWA for a rematch, and one was signed for January 1, 1998...The SMWA New Year's Smash.
This match hit another snag. Also at the Smash would be the finals of the SMWA Crusierweight title tournament, in which Grayson was entered.
Well, Grayson made it to the finals of the tournament and, having to wrestle two matches in one night, worked his way out of the Marshall match, convincing promoters that a match to determine the crusierweight champ was too important to have one of the participants worried about another matchup. Marshall didn't like that.
The final match was Ron Grayson vs Akira Wan-Pai, while Marshall fought in a battle royal, won by Judgement. In the cruiserweight final, at about the 3 minute mark, Marshall showed up at ringside. Grayson, who was outside the ring at this point, grabbed a chair, rushed into the ring and took a defensive stance. Marshall just stood at ringside, and when the ref tried to take the chair away from Grayson, he got clocked and DQed. A rematch for the title on the following Slam Masters featured Marshall costing Grayson the match via pinfall when he cracked him in the head with the cruiserweight belt.
At this point, Grayson told Marshall "Now it's my turn to coming looking for you." A rematch was signed for Slam Masters: Armageddon II in February, and sneak attacks and bad mouthing between the two continued.
At Armageddon II, Grayson was all set for his match when Marshall was jumped in the back and replaced by Clone of the 7 Deadly Sins. Grayson wrestled Clone until Marshall chased him out of the ring, but the bandaged Marshall, though eager to go, was stopped from wrestling Grayson by officials and ringside doctors.
Another rematch was scheduled for March Madness, but this time it turned out to be Clone Marshall vs Ron S. Rayson (Ron S. Race), who got to the ring first as the sins held back Marshall and Grayson. These two did eventually make it to the ring, but then had to deal with a group beating by the Sins. Again, no match.
As Clone and Race continued being Dopplegangers, Marshall and Grayson began to form an uneasy alliance. They hated each other but knew that they would not be able to have a match until the Sins were eliminated, especially Clone and Race. After a problem with ex-Sins Pain & Agony, Marshall and Grayson pledged to team against Race and Clone (or "The Battling Buddies") at Slam Masters: Purgatory.
There will definitely be a match at the Crash Carnival--guaranteed. Though with the way things have been going, one of the two will probably be struck by lightning and be unable to attend.
This Ain't No Cold War: The Zangief-Hillsman Feud
by Kirk McCullough
The physical confrontations have been few and far between, but this war of the worlds has developed into one of the most heated feuds in recent memory. USA vs Russia….not a Cold War….and the Russian is the good guy.
Chad Hillsman is a xenophobe and a racist. In his opinion, if you’re not born and raised in the United States of America, you have no business being here. This man comes to the ring every night, waving one American Flag, draped in another, and decked out in the Red, White and Blue….spewing racist terms like there was no tomorrow.
Hillsman had just come off a feud with Japanese cruiserweight Akira Wan-Pai
when he decided to go for his big kill. The Saturday Night Slam Masters after
SMWA Thanksgiving Thunder, Hillsman challenged Zangief, promising “pick up
where the government never should have left off.
Zangief had just come off a quick, sudden loss to King Rasta the night before
in a TV Title Match, so nobody knew how he would react. Well, on Monday Night
Massacre, Zangief reacted. While Chad Hillsman faced off against North
American Champion Rick Clark, Zangief came to ringside and powerbombed
Hillsman on the CONCRETE FLOOR! The feud was on.
And then, with one tragic happening, it was off.
The morning of that Saturday, Zangief got a phone call from his family in
Moscow…his mother was on her deathbed and wanted to see her son. Zangief
packed his bags and booked the quickest flight to Russia. Scheduled to be at
Saturday Night Slam Masters, he stopped by the arena to say good-bye to the
fans. It was a heartfelt speech, where Zangief thanked the fans for all of
their support after he left the Doomsday Hunters and how well he was treated
in this country.
“I don’t know when I’ll be back. Maybe never. But I enjoyed my time here in America.”
In the middle of Zangief’s speech, Chad Hillsman came into the ring and called Zangief every name in the book. “Pinko coward”, “Red Bastard” and “Soviet Jackass”. Zangief took it all, and started walking away from the ring. Then, Hillsman went too far…
“That’s right, Zangief. Run your Red ass away. Go back home to your mother. Heh. As far as I’m concerned, the only good Red is a DEAD RED!”
Zangief dropped his bag, charged back to the ring, and the fight was on. A match was made for later that evening.
Hillsman was just about killed. Zangief wouldn’t let up, and hit the All American with every move in his arsenal…2 or 3 times each. But he never went for pinfalls. Zangief was content to beat Hillsman down, which ended up costing him the match. Hillsman managed to snare Zangief in a powerslam and grab the win. Incensed, Zangief continued to beat Hillsman and had to be restrained by other wrestlers. The program ended with a close up of Zangief, tears running down his face, yelling “You’re dead!”
Zangief missed his flight at the airport. The next one got him to Russia too
late. His mother had passed on. Overcome with grief, Zangief decided on an
extended stay with his family at home.
In the meantime, Chad Hillsman, who still took shots at Zangief whenever he
could, started more World Wars, attacking The Great Oni from Japan, whom he
beat at The SMWA New Year’s Smash, several Luchadors including both members of
Los Viajeros Dos Mil, and finally, Titan Tim Redbury from England. Titan was
already feuding with North American Champ Rick Clark, and a three way feud for
the belt was on, with Hillsman eventually coming out on top at SMWA March
Madness. But, that celebration was short lived.
American Airlines Flight 163 from Russia arrived at the airport at 8 pm.
Zangief was at the arena at 9:07 pm, and Chad Hillsman was being beaten to a
pulp at 9:12 pm by the man he had “sent to Russia.”
Both men, anxious to face off, were sidetracked by other feuds. Zangief had to fend off the Seven Deadly Sins, while Hillsman drew the ire of Akira Wan-Pai, Naga Yajito and The Great Oni.
But at Slam Masters: Purgatory, Hillsman cost Zangief and King Rasta their match versus Skarzz by pulling Zangief from the ring apron, allowing Skarzz to pound Rasta alone. Hillsman and Zangief fought all over the building and had to be seperated by the police.
A week later, Hillsman and Zangief fought on opposite sides of a tag team match. At the end, America vs Russia again moved all over the building once again and then into the parking lot. Hillsman was thrown through a car windshield, his right leg getting filled with broken glass and wrapped around the frame of the car. It was a pretty nasty injury.
Going into Crash Carnival, Hillsman is on the sidelines and doctors aren’t sure if he should wrestle. However, Hillsman says he will face Zangief at the Crash Carnival, Falls-Count-Anywhere, even if he has to do it on crutches. Zangief would like nothing better. As wretched as Hillsman is, one must admire his guts.
Hillsman kept Zangief away from his family in their time of need. Zangief plans to give Hillsman time with his…as they wait around his hospital bed. This aint no Cold War.
The Best Feud So Far
by Kirk McCullough
My best angle so far has to do with my created fed, the Slam Masters Wrestling Association. The Tag Team Champs, SuperStars Inc. (Terry Sky, whose the Shawn Michaels type, and El Stingray, a masked luchador who's the sexiest man in Mexico) were defending their tag team titles against The Dream Team (Rod Emerson and Peter McKee, two old schoolers a la Gordy/Williams) at The SMWA New Year's Smash. SuperStars Inc. were getting destroyed and walked out at the 15 minute mark. And refused to give The Dream Team another shot. McKee and Emerson kept trying to get the champs to agree to a rematch, but SuperStars found a new team to face off against in Los Viajeros Dos Mil.
The SuperStars and Los Viajeros fought about four matches, each one going over twenty minutes and each one ending with SuperStars getting DQed or counted out. Finally, Los Viajeros challenged Sky and Stingray to a titles change on DQ or countout match. Sky and Stingray won in 2:02.
Then, on my Saturday night program, Los Viajeros faced the Philadelphia
X-Treme Machine, who are members of the Doomsday Hunters, my version of
nWo. Emerson & McKee came to ringside, beat up los Viajeros, allowing
hte PXM to win. Dream Team then challenged SuperStars to a title match
that night and they accepted, high off of their title win, accepted, and
lost.
Now, the Dream Team is on the bad side of Los Viajeros and SuperStars (who get a rematch at SMWA March Madness), and are caught between the vicious PXM/Super Powers feud, since Super Power Gunloc didn't like the Dream Team interfereing on the behalf of the PXM.