Fantasy circuit set in early 80's

[bradu]

I have begun a circuit set in the early 80's. Been watching a lot of territories stuff and got to thinking, if I ran a territory, who would I want on my roster, and how would things work out? So that's kind of my basis here. Being from Portland I'm kind of envisioning this as the Portland territory but that's not really important.

I'm thinking of this starting about '81. I plan to hopefully go through the mid 80's. By late 80's I wasn't following wrestling as closely, and as I look back now that I'm older, I like the 'feel' of pro wrestling from about 83-86 more than late 80's into the 90's. Anything I know from 80-83 or so is from me looking it up as an adult, because while I was watching wrestling at that time, I was born in '76 so at 5 or 6 years old I might have been watching wrestling but I really don't remember much, nor would I say I understood it. That's a bit of my background.

One other thing about my circuit...I'm running it more as what I 'thought' wrestling was as a kid moreso than what I know of it now. That is to say 'it's still real to me!' As such, almost all matches will be unbooked. There are very few exceptions if it's integral to a story. For instance a few cards in there's an event that wouldn't happen with an unbooked match, so I booked a non-finish that allowed for that storyline to progress.

My starting roster will be 8 faces, 8 heels, and 10 'jobbers' of which a couple tend toward face, a couple toward heel, a couple more neutral. A very high percentage of my matches are chosen randomly, so face vs face and heel vs heel matches are quite common anyway. My initial idea was to have 12 cards per year, 1 per month. However I'm considering bumping that up to 2 cards per month, 24 in a calendar year. I guess I haven't fully decided yet, so I'll simply refer to the cards with numbers and names, instead of dates, until I'm sure.

I determine fight results using dice. It's a game I came up with separately, and it occurred to me that I can run my matches using my dice system, and then 'book' the cards into TNM to keep records and rankings organized much more easily, so that's primarily what I'm using TNM for.

Here is my starting roster. As the years wear on I will add new wrestlers, up to probably 15 faces and 15 heels with jobbers as well.

*the number after the wrestler is their 'push' rating. When I put them into TNM I will be doubling this number and hopefully that will give me a pretty accurate representation of my ratings. These numbers are not static, wrestlers who win in an upset will see an increased push and vice versa. Also, an impressive showing, or something like a battle royale win would result in a push as well.

FACE:
Dusty 40
David Von Erich 37
Blackjack Mulligan 33
Kevin Von Erich (R) 32
Wahoo McDaniel 28
Ted Dibiase 27
Ole Anderson 23
Stan Stasiak 21

HEEL:
Ric Flair 38
Iron Sheik 35
Bruiser Brody (R) 34
Terry Funk 31
Ivan Koloff 30
Abdullah the Butcher 26
The Spoiler 24
Baron Von Raschke 18

JOBBERS:
Jimmy Valiant 15
Mike Sharpe 13
Bugsy McGraw 12
Brooklyn Brawler 10
Mike Miller 9
SD Jones 6
Bill Mulkey 4
Randy Mulkey 3
Masked Jobber #1 2
Masked Jobber #2 1

[bradu]

1981: card 1, the beginning. 8 singles matches, determined completely randomly just to set a tone and introduce some of the roster.

Brooklyn Brawler 10 def Bill Mulkey 4 (23-18) by KO Punch
Ivan Koloff 30 def Bugsy McGraw 11 (43-17) by DQ
Stan Stasiak 21 def Ted DiBiase 27 (36-33) by cheating/interference
David Von Erich 37 def Mike Miller 9 (54-14) by cheating/foreign object
Dusty Rhodes 40 def SD Jones 6 (58-14) by bionic elbow
Iron Sheik 35 def Ole Anderson 23 (37-30) by cheating/interference
Blackjack Mulligan 33 def the Spoiler 24 (50-29) by iron claw
Bruiser Brody 34 def Wahoo McDaniel 28 (39-29) by piledriver

Gordon Solie is calling the action as the night starts off with Brooklyn Brawler getting a KO over Bill Mulkey, not bad!... Bugsy McGraw comes out dancing around, hi fiving some kids, and then proceeds to get thoroughly dominated by the rugged Russian, Ivan Koloff. The battle is so one sided that McGraw's friend Jimmy Valiant finally interferes, simply pulling McGraw from the ring as the referee signals for the DQ and Koloff shooes them away...Stan the Man Stasiak and Ted Dibiase were in the middle of a clean, competitive match, when the referee takes a bump from Stasiak and they both go down. Suddenly Terry Funk appears at ringside and clobbers Dibiase with a branding iron! Dibiase goes down in a heap, a confused Stasiak sees him down, makes the cover, and the ref comes to to make the 3 count! Dibiase didn't see what hit him, and he has some heated words for Stasiak who is trying to apologize and say he doesn't know what happened either...David Von Erich is thoroughly dominating Mike Miller, when Iron Mike Sharpe shows up and tries to toss some brass knuckles to Miller. The ref is busy trying to get Sharpe to leave ringside when Miller fumbles the knucks, David picks them up and plants a haymaker on him, and pins him!...Dusty Rhodes dominates SD Jones in a squash...Iron Sheik and Ole Anderson are just getting going when Ivan Koloff interferes and distracts the referee. Sheik loads his silly elf boot, kicks Ole down and puts him in the camel clutch for the W!...
Blackjack Mulligan makes fairly easy work of the Spoiler, finishing with the deadly iron claw...Rookie Bruiser Brody and Wahoo McDaniel had potential for an action packed match, but it fell flat as the action was pretty slow. Brody did finish with an impressive piledriver for a clean win.

There were interviews throughout the night with Mean Gene Okerlund in the Crow's Nest, including Jimmy Valiant and Ole Anderson both calling out Ivan Koloff, Ole mentioning that they used to be friends and partners in another territory, but no more. DiBiase also comes out and calls out Funk after finding out he interfered.

The night ends with an announcement from Gordon Solie that the initial World Heavyweight Champion will be crowned next card with an 8 man tournament to determine the new champ!

potential future matchups to make:
Koloff vs Ole or Valiant
DiBiase vs Funk
David Von Erich vs Mike Sharpe?

push changes:
Stasiak +1
Dibiase -1
Wahoo -2

[bradu]

1981 card 2: Tonight's card features an 8 man tournament to crown our inaugural heavyweight champ!

Alternate bouts:
Baron Von Raschke 18 def Masked Jobber #1 2 (32-3) by Iron Claw
Kevin Von Erich 32 def Mike Sharpe 13 (44-17) by flying splash off the top rope

Tournament r1:
Iron Sheik 35 def SD Jones 6 (43-7) by interference (Koloff)
Stan Stasiak 22 def Bugsy McGraw 11 (51-17) by heart punch
Ted DiBiase 26 def Mike Miller 9 (31-24) by sleeper hold
Blackjack Mulligan 33 def Jimmy Valiant 15 (36-34) by iron claw

r2:
Iron Sheik 35 def Stasiak 22 (48-24) by camel clutch
Blackjack Mulligan 33 def Ted DiBiase 26 (46-32) by lariat

FINALS
**Iron Sheik 35 def Blackjack Mulligan 33 (51-48) by camel clutch

As the tournament participants are introduced, each is given a brief interview, the most memorable by far being that from the Iron Sheik.

"You know Gene Mean, I am here for one reason and that's to win the Worlds Heavyweight Championship of the World! I don't care if it's, Stanislav Stasiak, Bugsy McBunny, Slapjack Mulligan, a Woogie Man Boogie Man, whoever it is I'm from Tehran Iran I'm gonna put you in the camel clutch, break your back, make you humbel!

Now let's get to the action. First up are two alternate bouts, if a participant drops out for any reason he will be replaced by the first alternate winner. It's our first look at Baron Von Raschke as he takes on the appropriately named mysterious Masked Jobber. The jobber runs across the ring, straight into the iron claw! This one is over in mere seconds, folks!...next up is one of this year's rookies, Kevin Von Erich. He has an impressive debut, flying high to splash Iron Mike Sharpe off the top rope for the W...

The first round of the tournament is up next, with a repeat for the Iron Sheik, as once again Koloff interferes early in the match and the Sheik is able to take advantage and put SD Jones in the camel clutch...Bugsy again gets squashed after dancing his way to the ring, when Stan the Man lands a heart punch on him...Mike Miller has a pretty solid showing in a losing effort, giving DiBiase perhaps more than he expected, though DiBiase did come away with the win...Blackjack Mulligan and Jimmy the Boogie Woogie Man Valiant, two fan favorites, put on a very competitive display, with Mulligan coming out on top...Iron Sheik gets a surprisingly easy win over Stan Stasiak as he's headed to the finals having barely expended any energy at all!..Mulligan makes his way to the finals as well with a win over DiBiase.

The finals between the Iron Sheik and Blackjack Mulligan was an extremely close match! So close, in fact, that the two actually battled to a time limit draw, with an exhausted Blackjack Mulligan barely able to see the final bell! There is confusion, as Baron Von Raschke comes to the ring and pleads his case that he should now be in the finals as the alternate, and that both Sheik and Blackjack should be eliminated! But Don Owens won't hear any of that, and says Sheik and Mulligan need to compete until there's a winner. When the match restarts, Sheik is able to take over and win, surprisingly cleanly, getting Mulligan in the camel clutch. Your first Heavyweight Champion of the World, the Iron Sheik!

matches to make: possibly Mulligan vs Sheik rematch as Mulligan's case could be he was already worn down and wants a shot at the title when both are fresh.

push:
-1 to SD Jones
+2 to Mulligan (for making the finals)
temp +5 to Iron Sheik (as long as he holds the title)

[bradu]

1981 card 3

Mike Sharpe 13 def Masked Jobber #1 2 (17-7) by iron bomber
Jimmy Valiant 15 def Masked Jobber #2 1 (33-14) by body slam
*Terry Funk 31 def Randy Mulkey (badly bloodied) 3 (45-14) by cheating/foreign object
Abdullah the Butcher 26 def Mike Miller (bloody) 9 (31-14) by piledriver
Bruiser Brody 34 def Brooklyn Brawler 10 (40-19) by cheating/foreign object
*Ric Flair 38 def SD Jones 5 (50-15) by figure four leglock
David Von Erich 37 def the Spoiler 24 (40-25) by KO Kick
*Ivan Koloff (bloody) 33 def Ole Anderson 23 (39-37) (cage match) by bear hug

This card was primarily a bunch of squash matches to give the spotlight to some stars who haven't wrestled yet. Iron Mike Sharpe and Jimmy Valiant had separate wins over the Masked Jobbers to start things off. And then an already sweaty Randy Mulkey showed up and took a pretty severe beating at the hands of Terry Funk. Funk showed no mercy, beating Mulkey far beyond what was necessary and to a bloody pulp. At the end of the match he went for the branding iron to beat him even further, but it didn't take long for Ted DiBiase to hit the ring for the save. Funk disappeared pretty quick when DiBiase showed up, avoiding a confrontation with him...Abdullah the Butcher made short work of Mike Miller. Stick a fork in him, he's done...Bruiser Brody handled the Brooklyn Brawler easily, that's 3 matches in a row with some of the meanest dirtiest guys in the business just showing how nasty they can be...Ric Flair really showcased his wrestling skill, finishing off SD Jones with his signature figure 4 leglock...David Von Erich and the Spoiler had a surprisingly sloppy match with Von Erich getting the W with a superkick KO...The main event was predictably the best match of the night and also the first real grudge match we've seen. Ole put up a tremendous fight, dominating the early going and bloodying Ivan by ramming his forehead into the steel cage several times. But Koloff showed his toughness and why he's good in these more hardcore type matches by withstanding the beating and coming back in the end, catching Ole in a powerful bear hug, and squeezing until Ole was limp. At that point Koloff dropped him to the mat like a corpse, climbed to the top of the cage, raised his arms, and climbed down for the victory as Ole was just starting to sit up.

matches to make: none in particular as a result of this card, but the next card is supposed to feature our first tag team matches. Over the last few cards a few potential alliances have been formed so we will probably see a few of them in action. The Iron Sheik will also probably make his first title defense, do we have a worthy contender yet?

push: no changes

[bradu]

Klaw 21 def The Mulkeys 4 (39-11) by double claw
**Butcher and Bruiser 30 def the Masked Jobbers (bloody) 2 (47-17) by big boot
The Mikes (Miller and Sharpe) 11 def Bugsy and Boogie 13 (26-14) by aided brainbuster
**Wahoo McDaniel (bloody) 26 def Brooklyn Brawler 10 (44-29) by sleep hold
Kevin Von Erich 32 def SD Jones 5 (41-13) by DQ
Dusty Rhodes 40 def Stan Stasiak 22 (57-33) by big boot
Ric Flair 38 def Ole Anderson 23 (41-34) by figure four leglock
Ted DiBiase 26 def Terry Funk 31 (44-33) by loaded glove No DQ
*Blackjack Mulligan 38 def Iron Sheik (very bloody) 40 (50-45) by bulldog Cage match

The winners of the first tag team match ever are Baron Von Raschke and the Spoiler, going by the tag team name of Klaw. They applied simultaneous iron claws to make the Mulkeys submit...next up, a wild and dangerous team of Abdullah the Butcher and Bruiser Brody, who defeated the Masked Jobbers. The MJs must have really had a hard warm up in the back as they appeared to the ring all sweaty as if they had already had a match, hmm. Bruiser and the Butcher had a hard time working together as it appears each always wanted to be the man in the ring doing the damage. They did plenty of damage though, some blood was seen trickling through the mask of one of the jobbers, though who can tell them apart...The next match was very even on paper, but Iron Mike Sharpe and Mean Mike Miller pulled off a mild upset by handling the Boogie Woogie Man and Bugsy McGraw. Boogie and Bugsy sure had the crowd into it on their way to the ring, but once the action started there wasn't much for the fans to cheer about...Wahoo McDaniel and Brooklyn Brawler had a surprisingly entertaining match! Brawler was even able to bloody Wahoo before succumbing to a sleep hold...Kevin Von Erich dominated SD Jones to the point that the normally even tempered Jones resorted to bringing a chair into the ring and attempting to use it, getting himself disqualified...Dusty Rhodes and Stan Stasiak had a hard but clean match with Dusty using a big boot to pin Stan...Ric Flair beats Ole Anderson with a figure four in a clean match. When Ole gets up he congratulates Flair and the two shake hands in a show of sportsmanship...After multiple run ins, DiBiase and Funk finally meet in the ring, in a no Dq match! DiBiase pulls off a pretty good upset here, when he appeared to adjust his one black glove and clobber Funk with it while Funk was just bringing his branding iron into the ring!...Blackjack Mulligan got his wish of a rematch with the Sheik while both are fresh, not only that but in a cage (where Blackjack arguably has the edge!) The match itself was very competitive, though by looking at the participants you'd think Blackjack dominated because Sheik was covered with blood! Blackjack wore down the champ with multiple rams into the cage, a big lariat, and finished with a bulldog, giving him time to escape the cage. We have a new champion ladies and gentlemen, Blackjack Mulligan!

matches to make: 4 team tag team tourney to crown initial tag team champs, including the 3 teams that won today and one more team.

push changes:
the Mikes +2 each, Bugsy and Boogie -2 each
Brooklyn Brawler +1
Dibiase +2, Funk -2
Sheik -2
Mulligan +2 permanent, +5 temp while champ