Welcome to the new Book This! Magazine: The Wrestling Scoop! Here, you will find the happenings of the BT's that are going on right now. Graphics are made by your friendly sig-maker Jam. Hope you all like it, and I hope to continue this and to make it better after each issue. Would love some feedback on how you think I could improve it. Enjoy the read!
GCB's Section
Imagine any WWE pay-per-view, imagine the main event, you just know what youre going to hear...
LETS GO CENA!
CENA SUCKS!
LETS GO CENA!
CENA SUCKS!
LETS GO CENA!
CENA SUCKS!
For what seems like an eternity nowadays, John Cena has been the epitomy of the WWE, the babyface to end all babyfaces, the poster boy, the single stand out attraction of the Vince McMahon empire. However, in recent months, a new regime in the WWE seems to have brought a new mindset for the Leader of the Cenation and the man living by the motto: Hustle. Loyalty. Respect. 2010 has proven to be the year that the ultimate WWE babyface turned his back on the Cenation ...
There has always been something special about John Cena. Right back to the days of 2002 when he accepted an open challenge to debut against and nearly beat Kurt Angle on SMACKDOWN before his early days in the WWE as a villainous rapper, Cena has always been in the title picture since the minute he stepped into the WWE. At WrestleMania XX, his first match at the WWEs showcase event, Cena lifted up the gigantic Big Show and hit the Attitude Adjustment to win his first singles title, the US Championship. A year later, Cena went one better as he ascended to the top of the mountain after just two years in the business: a WrestleMania 21 victory over JBL to win the WWE Championship and celebrated wildly with his adoring WWE fans in Los Angeles.
And so began the era of Cena dominance as he began to shed his rapper gimmick to become one of the most controversial WWE superstars of all time. Whilst he retained his legions of fans, there were many people who began to grow tired of Cenas in-ring style and his dominance of the WWE. Transferred to RAW, Cena continued to win championship after championship and defeated legends and future legends in doing so. The dissenters began to chant louder and more forcefully and the infamous Lets go Cena! Cena sucks! chant began to grow in prominence. Nobody who was in the Hammerstein Ballroom for the ECW One Night Stand PPV will ever forget the treatment given to Cena by the ruckus ECW old school crowd. However, whilst Cena had a large number of fans who disliked him and werent afraid to show it, his Cenation army of fans women and children in the main seemed to grow in numbers too. As Michael Cole so often reminds us, nobody garners reaction as much as John Cena does. Love him or hate him, he causes a reaction.
But for how long would John Cena accept the vicious and hostile haters who seemed to grow in numbers at every WWE show? For the past couple of years, Cena has not been afraid to acknowledge these fans and often jokes with them during his promos. It appeared to the WWE Universe that the haters could boo and jeer Cena as much as they wanted, whilst Cena had the younger WWE fans following and supporting him, he didnt care.
Until 2010.
According to a recent promo from Cena, his first shift in attitude came during the early part of 2010 when he lost the WWE Championship to Batista largely thanks to Vince McMahon handing Batista a title match immediately after Cena had seen off five other guys in the Elimination Chamber match. Despite Batista calling out the fans week in, week out, it appeared that a large proportion of the WWE Universe were cheering Batista on during the feud that followed. In the summer of 2010, Wade Barrett and the Nexus joined the WWE who can forget their devastating first night on RAW? Despite Cena taking beating after beating from Barrett and his cronies, there were still a significant number of the WWE Universe cheering on Barrett as he faced Cena. John Cena was fighting for the WWE Universe, fighting for the honour of the WWE yet he was getting jeered for it.
Cyber Sunday.
The final insult for Cena. Randy Orton, the WWE Champion, would face Wade Barrett for the title after the Nexus leader beat Cena with a little help from Nexus at No Mercy. However, the RAW General Manager, anonymous at the time and later revealed as Shawn Michaels, handed Cena a lifeline. The Cyber Sunday audience would vote on whether or not John Cena would be allowed to join the match and make it a Triple Threat for the WWE Championship. At any point in the past six or seven years, there wouldnt have been any question about Cena not getting the votes needed but on this night, the WWE Universe failed to do so. John Cena was left out of the WWE Title match and seemingly rejected by the WWE Universe.
Signs of Cenas own Attitude Adjustment began to appear. An AA to Orton who retained the title followed and so began a feud between the pair. Shawn Michaels forced Cena to team up with Team Orton at Survivor Series to help Randy defend the WWE Championship against Wade Barrett and his Nexus. Justin Gabriel pinned Cena, the title went to Wade Barrett and a hundred questions arose. Did Cena lose the title on purpose? Could Cena have saved Orton? Did he choose not to?
Orton certainly seemed to agree. Refusing to accept Cenas apology, Orton immediately was granted his rematch for the title the following night on RAW. However, John Cena chose this night to prove that he had completely changed. Gone was the handshaking, shirt tossing favourite of the WWE Universe, gone was the Leader of the Cenation ... Cena interfered in the title match, Wade Barrett retained and Cena was transferred to SMACKDOWN by Teddy Long. Any hopes of a fresh start were thwarted as Orton came searching for Cena on the blue brand and now it will culminate in a match at Vengeance, John Cena vs. Randy Orton, no titles, just pride on the line. Orton has the WWE Universe on his side, Cena has his new attitude but will Cena have enough to end 2010 the way he wants it to?
What will 2011 hold in store for the new John Cena? Its a question that has everybody in GCBs WWE wondering and speculating. Will Cena be able to win the coveted World Championship? He has promised to do just that a win over Orton at Vengeance would be a great springboard into the Royal Rumble and the Road to WrestleMania. Either way, WrestleMania 27 promises to be a complete reversal of WrestleMania 21. Where he was once loved, Cena is now hated. And he couldnt give a damn anymore.
Peep's Section
Friday Night Smackdown has always been known as a show where exciting, young talent bursting with potential have made their start in the WWE and given the the platform to go on to score impressive victories, win championships and amaze the WWE Universe. Another image synonymous with breeding future stars is the prestigous Intercontinental Championship and, after being stripped from former champion Wade Barrett by General Manager Theodore Long, the championship currently has no one to call it their own. So, after much talk between the Smackdown General Manager and the higher ups in the WWE brass, Theodore Long has formally announced the introduction of a tournament to crown a new champion. Eight men will enter but only two will advance to Seattle, Washington at Over the Limit to fight for the chance to capture one of the most important championships in the history of professional wrestling. Of the eight competitors named, only one is a former Intercontinental champion and the pool is filled with hot, young talent ready to rise to the top of the blue brand.
The eight men involved in the Intercontinental Tournament are: Chris Masters, Cody Rhodes, Curt Hawkins, Daniel Bryan, DH Smith, Evan Bourne, Jack Swagger and Rey Mysterio.
Theo's Section
At Extreme Rules, John Cena was attacked by a masked man and was put on the shelf for an undisclosed amount of time. Last week saw the return of the masked assailant after he attacked Miz after his matche with Sheamus. However, he didn't put Miz on the shelf like he did with Cena, just a simple attack. Meanwhile, Punk is rebelling against everything until he gets his way and that is world recognition. Punk, along with Sheffield are boycotting shows, and last week was an indcation of that. Many believe that due to Punk's new attitude that he is somehow behind the attacks, though he claims he hasn't done a thing. One thing is for sure and that is no one on the roster is safe at the moment as it is clear that the masked assailant doesn't care who his victim is.
Prophet's Section
This very exclusive interview will be taking place backstage at a live WWE event. This is not shown on WWE television but instead will be released to a magazine.
Todd Grisham: Hello ladies and gentleman and welcome to this very special exclusive right here tonight. Im your host Todd Grisham and in a few moments Ill be joined by the reigning WWE Champion Justice. Now for those of you who dont know who this man is
With the WWE Championship hanging over his shoulder like a toy, Justice walks into the room. He stands with his chest sticking out to show his superiority over Grisham. Not a word is said while Justice takes his seat next to Grisham. This silence last a few more moments until Grisham mumbles a sentence.
Todd Grisham: Firstly I would like to thank you for being here tonight Justice. I know you dont do many interviews so this is very important to me. I have wanted to interview you for some time, so do understand how much I value this.
The blank stare that Justice entered the room with hasnt changed into something showing interest in what Grisham has to say. With sweat making its way down to forehead of Todd Grisham he once again address this high profile guest.
Todd Grisham: I would like to start at the beginning of the mayhem you and The Church have caused here in the WWE. The night you all
What could be rage, hatred or a combination of the two bursts out from inside Justice. Our WWE Champion leans forward and cuts Grisham off before he can continue with his description of the events that saw Justice rise to the top.
Justice: Mayhem that we caused. You are just like them. People like you that believe The Church caused the chaos that is happening in the WWE at the moment. It wasnt us that did this. The mayhem and chaos was already there in front of you. It always has been. The only thing that was different this time though was that the fans had someone from the outside to blame it on. No longer could the WWE cover up what everyone else had seen for years. This place, this company was in ruins.
A look of confusion appears on the face of Todd Grisham.
Todd Grisham: The company was in ruins? Im sorry Justice but I think youre wrong.
People have been beaten to a bloody mess for less than that Todd.
Justice: What did you say?
Todd Grisham: I dont mean to sound rude but I disagree with that. The company had been going well in the ratings and the buys for the PPV events. I
Once again Justice comes in by cutting Grisham off before he can finish.
Justice: I didnt ask for a reason behind your statement. I just wanted a pure replay of what you said. Now you can talk about the buys for PPV events and all that. But you cant deny that people have been unable to feel safe in this company for the last couple of years. Guys have been walking on eggshells Todd. And when we came into the company someone saw it as the chance to blame this situation on us. From day one each member of this locker room had something to target us with. They used what they heard to judge us. They were prejudice toward us and we never had a chance to survive without adding to the mayhem.
A small pause by Justice.
Justice: Youre right on one point Todd, we did add some chaos. Only a small amount however. And we didnt start any though. We added to the already existing chaos that was made by the WWE itself. See this company wants to blame us for everything but when the time comes and we all look back at this time period. The truth will be told. When people watch this they will know that The Church didnt start the mayhem. We never caused the destruction to begin but we did use it to our advantage. The Church was peaceful until the WWE declared war.
As Justice leans back into his seat Grisham flips over a piece of paper and scribbles something down. He then looks back up at Justice and continues this interview.
Todd Grisham: Very interesting to say the least Justice. I understand what you mean and on some points I agree. However you cant deny that the WWE has become more of a warzone since The Church arrived?
Justice: Thats not the question though Todd. The question is who made the WWE a warzone? Was it The Church or was it the already existing WWE?
A very intense question from Justice. If nothing else the question does raise some good points about how the WWE media has made The Church look since they debuted.
Todd Grisham: Now Justice I would to move on and talk about what many would consider to be one of the biggest screwjobs in the history of this company. September 12th 2005 in the main event of Unforgiven. We saw Triple H take on you for the WWE Championship. The lights went out and Kane appeared in the ring. I really dont have to repeat what happened but tell me what was going on with you leading up to the event?
Once again Justice looks uneasy about how this question was delivered. He grabs the WWE Championship and places it on his lap before commenting.
Justice: Screwjob. When you look it up in the record books in doesnt say screwjob. It says victory to Justice over Triple H for the WWE Championship. I won and that is a fact. Nobody can take that away from me ever. Now how did I feel leading up to the event? I was prepared. I guess Triple H wasnt. I took this seriously. He didnt. I was training harder than ever to become the WWE Champion and I wouldnt let this pass me by.
Slowly Justice lifts the title high above his head.
Justice: I knew what it would take to win the match and I made sure that I would win. Nothing was going to stop me and that is why I had Kane in my pocket. I made the call to bring another monster into The Church. Sure James Mitchell takes a lot of the credit for everything that was been done. But dont ever think that I sit back and just watch. I made the decision that night. Not James Mitchell. I got Kane into the group. Not James Mitchell.
Another small pause by Justice as he puts the title down.
Justice: Unforgiven is a night that Ill never forget. Its the moment that everyone stood back and began to fear me. That fear is still with them today. That terror they felt that night is still with them. That horror they felt flowing through their body will never leave them. I put the world on notice that night. September 12th 2005 I won the WWE Championship. September 12th 2005 the WWE found out you cant control Justice.
A lingering silence
Todd Grisham: Justice with all this mayhem and everything how do you feel about being seen as a monster? I mean you cant enjoy it or can you? Do you find yourself wondering how you can love someone when so many people believe youre a monster?
I need somebody to love well you get what I mean.
Justice: Love, I dont need love. I dont understand love or want love in anyway. Im above love and all emotion. The only emotion I need is hate. A monster doesnt need compassion. A monster needs to dominate. Every monster that has grown attached to something has died. Nothing kills a monster quicker than love. I dont plan on falling anytime soon.
Todd Grisham: As I said before September 12th 2005 you became the WWE Champion. The next big match you had was with Triple H again, this time however it was inside Hell in a Cell, what was going through your head when you walked into Survivor Series that night?
At this point in the interview Justice leans forward while looking down at his WWE Championship.
Justice: When you go into a fight like Hell in a Cell you dont think. Entering the cell changes you as a person but lucky for me, Im not a person. When I walked into the cell at Survivor Series I knew how bad it would get. I knew someone would bleed. I knew that if the time came I would be forced to feel the steel chair crack off the top of my skull. Hell in a Cell is something bigger than anything I have ever been through before. But did it change me? Of course not, I was always a dangerous man and that is a fact. The only thing Survivor Series did for me was show that Triple H is washed up like we said.
With this interview nearly the end Grisham attempts to extract whatever is left inside the head of Justice.
Todd Grisham: Just a few more questions before we end this interview Justice. When I watched RAW and see The Church roaming around the building attacking people, I cant help be feel a little afraid. Do you think that because people see you as a threat that the WWE roster will not want to face you in future?
Justice: Do you think that the roster wants to face me at the moment? No way in hell does anyone want to face me. They all run away in fear when they see me walking. Im undefeated and the reigning WWE Champion of the world. How many guys have won the title so quickly off a debut? None! I was the first and only guy to win the WWE Championship just weeks after his arrival. Now Todd as for these men fearing me, Im used to it. But each and every one of them are just making their suffering longer. In the end they will all fall to The Church.
Quick pause so Todd Grisham can have a drink of water.
Todd Grisham: A couple of days ago I was thinking what questions I could ask you Justice. When thinking I thought of two that really stuck with me. I want to end this interview with these two final questions. The first is what does James Mitchell see you as?
Justice: What do you mean?
Todd Grisham: Does he see you as a friend, a brother, an animal or a work horse?
A long silence comes over the interview as it has several times during this session. Justice slowly stands up and grabs the WWE Championship. Suddenly Justice begins to walk away!
Todd Grisham: Excuse me Justice, I wasnt finished.
No matter what Grisham says it appears he has just pissed off the monster inside Justice. This interview is over as Justice slams the door behind him.
GrandSword's Section
(A letter from GrandSword himself)
As a TNA fan, I've been unhappy with the direction of the company for a long time, even before Hogan arrived. I discovered the great BT section and wanted to create a company that IWCers or whoever would say If TNA was like GrandSword's I'd watch it.
I believe that TNA has the best roster in the wrestling industry and I wanted to show that with some logical booking and my way of pushing the right guys (well who I think are anyway), TNA iMPACT could be a great show.
I think 5 years ago after the Unbreakable 3-way main event that the three guys in that match deserved to be the ones to take the company to the next level. But management just refused to do it. So I used that as my way of removing Hogan from TNA and proceeding to change the direction of TNA to focus on the originals and make them as strong as any name (Insert WWE reject) wrestler that was brought into the company.
Right now, Samoa Joe is my World Champion, the Motor City Machine Guns are my Tag Champions and Low Ki is my X Division Champion. While Sting, Kurt Angle, Team 3D, and Jeff Hardy are still on the roster, they are not currently on the show. I want to show that without the big "names" that TNA can put on a great show by using it's original talent, and then bring them back in to support and build and take the originals to even another level.
That's my plan and I want to thank those who've been reading for coming along for the ride with me so far. Cheers everyone for your support and to Jam for his great graphics that pimp my BT!
Thanks!
GrandSword
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SPECIAL BONUS! AN EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW WITH MR. LSN HIMSELF! MUST-READ!
LSN's Section
(An exclusive interview with LSN)
1.Why don't you have your own BT?
Numerous factors go into that. As much as I think I have a creative mind and could come up with specific ideas for characters and interesting shows, I don't believe I have the talent to actually write specific shows with the detail and the intricacies of what Ive read. Its part of my fascination with BT!, in that I admire and respect each of the members of the Book This crew, because of the talent and detail with which each of you guys write with. I respect and admire the detail and the abilities each of you show to tell a compelling story.
2. Ever think of having your own BT?
I have, but several factors make me think I couldn't do it. The time it takes Id imagine is something that shys me away, because between running a section here, a full time job and being married with a pregnant wife, I don't know that Id have the time, to be honest. I think it would be fun to give it a try sometime in the future, and I'm not closed off to it. But for now, I'm content reviewing shows.
3. If you had a BT, what time period and company would you do?
Even though I'm not a huge TNA fan, Id like the challenge of rebooking the show since Hogan and Bischoff took over. I actually liked the product quite a bit before they took over, and felt the changes that were made during that time have been ones that have been without benefit to the company. I think the challenge of doing this era and trying to create a greater balance between the changes they were made while still spotlighting the stars that had made them successful would be a good one. I keep up with the product still, so i think I could rebook it from two years ago until today.
4. How was judging the Book This Tournament?
I enjoyed it. I wont lie--it was difficult and time consuming, because the other judge dropped out halfway through, so I had to use my own criteria and scores only, which made it difficult. I was counting on him to average the scores with mine, but he was upset with some goings on with the forum, and he dropped out as a result. It put a strain on myself to determine the winners and the placing by myself, but it was a fun experience Id do again, even if it was by myself once more.
5. What's something new you'd like to see in the Book This section?
Good question. I think it would be good to see a moderator in there, one who could plan more things for the section and motivate more people to start their own Book This!. I think a moderator would be very beneficial to the section.
6. What's the best match you've read?
It's hard to single out just one, to be honest. Ive read alot of good matches in my time reading there. Im going to go with GrandSword's from the BT tourney. It was well-written in every way as it truly exemplified everything I look for in a good match. Peep and Theo's Extreme Rules PPV was very good as well.