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Ok, so one of the new things I want to start writing is some "fantasy booking" of sorts basically taking workers and situations from area promotions and telling how I would book it if I were the booker.
Our first scenario- The Eric Wayne/Greg King Jr. Situation
So after writing that column the other day and reading more about the Eric Wayne/Greg King Jr. situation I was wondering to myself how would I go about handling the situation if I was the booker for N.E.W.? Now having read this week's results and seeing what they've done so far I thought I'd give my ideas for what I would have done, just for shits and giggles.
Ok, so Ken Wayne has decided to ban kicks to the head due to the recent string of injuries that have resulted from them. So the first thing I'd do is have Eric work on perfecting those kicks to the face to where there's hopefully enough accuracy that no one else gets hurt.
From there at this week's show I would go ahead with Ken's ruling to ban kicks to the face due to Greg King Jr's injury and Scott Fury's previous one. It would be stated that if the referee catches anyone kicking someone in the head during a match they will be disqualified immediatly. However, I would have had Eric come out and lay on a thick speech about how he's sorry that Greg got hurt that he's only there to compete and sometimes his competitive nature gets the best of him and he takes things farther than he should (to not just totally break kayfabe) and that his only reason for ever stepping into the ring is to be the best and that there's so much pressure on him to succeed being a third generation wrestler that someone he gets too intense and he's trying to work on that. He could also talk about his father having held the U.S. Jr. Title and how he wanted to hold that title as well so he may have been a bit over zealous competing in the tournament.
So hopefully that would come across babyfacing Eric a bit with the announcers playing up the fact that Eric seems sincerely upset about the fact Greg was injured and that he will make sure it doesn't happen again, that he's only out there to win matches, not hurt people. Then fast forward to later on that show, Eric has a match, it doesn't matter against who. In the match Eric wrestles a somewhat noticably different style, a little more sportsman like and less intense. Anyway, Eric gets the win with some kind of roll up (small package, bridge, etc). Then after the match after the referee has raised his hand and turns away to tell the ring announcer the official decision, Eric turns around to his opponent who is still getting up off the mat and kicks him square in the face and laughs. Then the referee turns around and sees the guy on the mat writhing in pain holding his face to which Eric just shrugs and gives a "wasn't me" type brush off and leaves the ring as the fans would be irate.
So then from there, more and more in his matches you have Eric sneaking in illegal "overly aggressive" kicks and what not which would make him absolutely hated as he always manages to not get caught by the referee and since the referee has the final say so, he keeps getting wins. So now you've got Eric still "endangering" the other wrestlers, then lying about it and playing 'Mr. Nice Guy' on the mic and to the Ref all while laughing about his illegal actions right in the crowd's face when it's going on.
Now here is where if you really wanted to make Eric the most hated heel in the promotion you could build to this. After weeks of doing this and not getting caught by the referee Eric gets a title shot and manages to cheat behind the referee's back to win the US Jr title. Finally, the owner/Eric's father has enough and calls Eric out on all his B.S., and Eric gives a half hearted apology all while smirking at the crowd when Ken is not looking, however rather than falling for it at the end Ken tells him, he's no dummy he's forgotten more dirty tricks than Eric will ever know and he strips Eric of the US Jr title. This is too much for Eric who ends up attacking his own father and for the crowning blow kicks him square in the face (maybe even busting his nose or something) Then you've got Brian Thompson and them on commentary putting over how heinous this scene was and you've basically turned Eric Wayne into one of the most hated heels in the Mid South.
The following week you have Ken Wayne come out and announce that not only is Eric stripped of the U.S. Jr. Title but he's firing him from the company that N.E.W. is not about that kind of behavior and NO ONE was gonna get away with that, not even his own son. Now I don't know how they'd feel about this but I think it would be fun playing on Eric's '3G' gimmick to have Buddy Wayne show up pleading on his behalf to get Eric back in to which Ken still adamently says "no!" That is untill Greg King Jr. shows back up from his injury looking for revenge on the guy who kicked his face in. He pleads with Ken to rehire Eric so that he can get him in the ring, a match is signed Eric Wayne vs. Greg King Jr. which would have all kinds of interest due to the recent hype of what really happned and the great angle that's been ran in the meantime. You could even have Buddy in Eric's corner and Ken in Greg's corner if you wanted to keep them involved. Greg could say in interviews on the websites that he's planning on giving Eric a receipt for his injury and Eric could promise to "break the rest of his face" this time around.
Again, this is just some of my "fantasy booking" but I think it would work to help make something out of an unfortunate situation and it would help make Eric into an even bigger heel. Now there would be the folks giving grief about pushing Eric too much on this deal but so what, if it's "over" who gives a shit?, it's not like he's George Gulas....or Greg Gagne even.
Again, this is all in fun. Let me know what you think on whether this would work or not. Post your thoughts on the kayfabe board of why it would or wouldn't work, or how it could be improved. Granted they have small crowds but this type of angle could help build up the show. I know it's not exactly what they are going for but regardless of what "style" of show you try to run there's got to be some "heat" to draw money and think this possibly would. I'd love to see more of this type of thing posted on the message board for more of the promotions in the area. Everyone is always griping about this and that is bad, well share some ideas of what you think is good.
Thanks for reading,
Gene
genejackson95@gmail.com
