"The MSD Challenge"
Own and operate a 63-name talent pool from anywhere in wrestling's history. Combine them in ill, creative ways for the duration of 24 full-length PPVs - roughly two years in real time. That's the MSD Challenge and I will be the first to attempt to scale this mammoth creative mountain. I think I may know the secret to a long range booking arc with so many different characters (I'll refrain from releasing that information here, as its still in the testing stage). As publicist for Broken City Championship Wrestling, I am proud to say we are almost half way towards our 24-card quota. More than any other fantasy wrestling promotion in history. And the hits keep on coming:
1) Respect the Shooters & Hookers
2) City of Champions
3) Know the Ledge
4) Behind the Walls
5) Grand Conjunction
6) Aftermath
7) Double Down
8) Deeper than Rap
9) Origin of Violence
10) Marciano Cup (Trustbusters Invitational)
11) Gang Rulz
Goals include tangible draws (you need names to fill seats), intangibles like heart & spirit, a well-rounded roster that can appeal to wrestling fans of every avenue, properly showcasing superstars, building new characters, cohesive, gripping and exciting storylines, action, adventure, drama and above all else - entertainment value. Long range booking is a totally different beast than hotshotting one or two "dream card" productions. This involves time, build-up, intriguing characters, a beginning, middle and end. If you can successfully reach this lofty plateau (24 full-length PPV releases) you can truly tell everybody "My Stories Dominate". Good luck and Godspeed.
BEHIND THE GMz SCREEN (Interlude)
The purging of BCCW continues. I've gone back-and-forth with myself over the issues of cap space and maximum roster slots many times. It seemed I almost didn't want to give back any of my old toys - just make more room and build bigger shelves for the new ones. Not a bad idea, considering when you look back over 2 years (or 24 PPVs) worth of any particular wrestling organization - the upper hemisphere of main eventers remains virtually unchanged. But instead of just saying "F it - have a 100 wrestler league" like I wanted to, I decided on the 63-name capped limit. That's 9 rows of 7 MK's each - more than you'll ever be allotted in any one draft, but still far less than infinity. But as we all know, after a while new blood just forces itself to rise. And that's exactly what is beginning to happen here in BCCW as we reach the roughly half-point mark of the "MSD Challenge". So stay along for the ride as the face of BCCW continues to change in a very public fashion. Can Gold Dust Trio Inc keep it together amidst rumors of business transactions turned sour and growing gambling debts? Can anyone challenge Masahiko Kimura's claim to be the toughest man in the galaxy? How long will the Trustbusters continue to reign as tag team champs with a whole new army of contenders gunning for them? BLK MOBB? Diamond Dynasty? Freebirds? Crooked Cannibal Cartel? What does the future hold? Tune in to the next BCCW show and find out!!!
MSD's ETERNAL WRESTLING TRUTHS #6: Wrestling is a Prison
"Lots of fine people have sat staring at prison walls. Socrates, Joan Of Arc, Gandhi... even Our lord Jesus Christ. He spent the last night of His Life not with holy men but with scum like the kind we got in Oz. One of the last things Jesus did on Earth was to invite a prisoner to join Him in Heaven. Jesus loved that Criminal. I say He loved that criminal as much as He loved anyone. Jesus knew. It takes a lot to love a sinner. But the sinner, he needs it all the more..."
* Augustus Hill (OZ Season 5)
BCCW is retro, BCCW is retribution. You wanna punish a man? Separate him from his family, separate him from himself, cage him up with his own kind. Much like the realm of RAVENLOFT exists in a plane of Deep Ethereal - BCCW too exists in the land of Mists. Is it a prison to some of the most vile human beings in wrestling history? Or a bastion for a true Hero of Light to emerge from the shadows? Though the ultimate goal of the Dark Powers may never be revealed, one thing is certain - the pro wrestling locker room is like that of a prison cell. So called "lifers" traveling the same dead-end path, punishing themselves for their own sins (and the sins of others). Beyond the fad, and the prison culture hustle (where prisons are a booming economical practice in America). In the zoo of madness, where only the strong survive and gangs are necessary safety precautions, steel bars surround us all.
Wrestling is a prison, because to those committed - the life is unescapable. On stage, the masculine aggressiveness required to become Alpha male of the pack (aka World Heavyweight champion) leads itself to shocking and heinous incidents. Violent actions that in any real-world situation would result in a prison sentence. Attempted vehicular homicide (Lawler vs Gilbert / Cena vs JBL / Austin vs Triple HHH to name a few), stabbings (Berzerker vs Undertaker / Cena vs Jesus & Carlito in the club), jumping your opponent in a parking lot, tying his hand to a truck and smashing it with a baseball bat while you record it (4 Horseman vs Dusty Rhodes)... these are all traits and actions of pro wrestling lifers. Fashion, knowledge, affiliation and language traits have all been absorbed into the mainstream from prison life. In some walks of life, much like college or the army, prison is a rite of passage. In the prison that is BCCW, the inmates still struggle for a control that's not strictly theirs. When you constrain such a large number of violent, volatile fighters in a confined environment on a daily, weekly, yearly basis (such as the touring schedule of any major rock-band or pro wrestling production) tension and animosity bubbles and boils. Poised to explode in the flash of a prison yard shanking, or parking lot assault. Wrestling is a prison, and we're all damned to lead this life. For once you're in the system (or wrestling is in your blood), you're in it forever.
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