Guidelines For "What Should WCW Have Done After Starrcade 1997?" :
Firstly, I want to say thanks to everyone for all the positive feedback to this topic. Secondly, before getting in to the meat of the fantasy booking and you start your own 'guest booker(or read ours)', I wanted to lay out the rules that we(or at least, most of us) used as our guidelines for this scenario :
1. You are the head of WCW creatively moving forward from the day after Starrcade 1997 onwards for a year to Starrcade 1998. As a refresher, here are the results of Starrcade 97 :
-Cruiserweight Champion Eddie Guerrero d. Dean Malenko
-Scott Norton, Vincent & The Macho Man Randy Savage d. The Steiner Brothers & Ray Traylor with Ted Dibiase
-Bill Goldberg d. Steve McMichael
-Perry Saturn d. Chris Benoit, no DQ
-Buff Bagwell d. Lex Luger
-DDP d. US Champion Curt Hennig to win the title
-Larry Zbysko d. Eric Bischoff, "control of Nitro"
-Sting d. World Heavyweight Champion Hollywood Hulk Hogan to win the title
which means our champions as of December 29, 1997 are :
-Word Heavyweight Champion : Sting
-US Champion : DDP
-TV Champion : Disco Inferno
-Cruiserweight Champion : Eddie Guerrero
-Tag Team Champions : The Steiner Brothers
2. We're going to use real-life events as a guideline, so events that unfolded will be deemed inevitable and unavoidable. For instance, Buff Bagwell injured his neck badly in a tag match on Thunder in 1998. Even if you were to change the match, we're going to assume the accident would have happened anyway even if the surroundings have changed. Along those lines, other events such as contract signings and firings will also occur in real-time. What that means is no diversions too big, such as "I'd sign Sabu & The Sandman." Bam Bam Bigelow signed with WCW in late 1998, and therefore, we're going to go with that in this setup also, no sooner or later. How he's used is what's in play. Note : We're going to make a special exception for Ric Flair, as we're going to forgo the contract dispute situation with Eric Bischoff that kept Flair out most of 1998 since we are clearly not Eric Bischoff, so sue Flair if you like, but I'm going to stick with using him!
And so, here's our list of injuries so you know when they're coming :
-Buff Bagwell - neck injury, April(out until October)
-Eddie Guerrero - car wreck, New Year's Eve, Dec.
-Macho Man Randy Savage - knee surgeries, July/August(out rest of the year)
-Rey Mysterio Jr - knee surgery, January(out until July)
-British Bulldog Davey Boy Smith - knee injury, April(out a month), injury* - September(*or just drugged out of his mind, either way, out rest of the year)
-Syxx - already out with an injured neck, fired in early 1998
-Rick Martel - knee injuries, Feb, out until July, then retires
*Sting - worked "injury" October through rest of the year, so it can be ignored
And comings & goings :
-Steven Regal - fired, Feb.
-Warrior - debuts - August, leaves -October
-Bam Bam Bigelow - debuts, November
-Bryan Adams - debuts, January
-Vampiro - debuts, June
-Col. Robert Parker - leaves, spring
-Barry Windham - signs October/November
-Louie Spicolli - dies Feb.
3. Lastly, just so we're clear on who's available, let's go down the roster we have to work with as it was throughout all of 1998(everyone not listed above as coming or going is presumed to have been with the company the entire year. Any * indicates inactivity that can be dismissed for our setup, since you know they'd jump at the chance to be used) :
Main Eventers :
-Sting
-Lex Luger
-Ric Flair
-The Giant
-Bret The Hitman Hart
-Rowdy Roddy Piper
-Warrior
-Goldberg
-Diamond Dallas Page
*Dusty Rhodes
New World Order :
-Hollywood Hulk Hogan
-The Macho Man Randy Savage
-Kevin Nash
-Scott Hall
-Buff Bagwell
-Scott Steiner
-Bryan Adams
-Vincent
-Scott Norton
-Curt Hennig
-Stevie Ray
-Konnan
-nWo Sting
-Disciple
-Masahiro Chono
-Hiroyoshi Tenzan
-The Great Muta/Keiji Mutoh
Celebrity appearances :
-Kevin Greene
-Dennis Rodman
-Karl Malone
-Jay Leno
-Kevin Eubanks
Midcarders/Jobbers :
-Adrian Byrd
-Alex Wright
-Bam Bam Bigelow
-The Barbarian
-Barry Horowitz
-Barry Windham
-Billy Kidman
-The Black Cat
-Bobby Blaze
-Bobby Duncum, Jr.
-Bobby Eaton
-Bobby "Hardwork" Walker
-Booker T
-Brad Armstrong
-Brad Rheingans
-Brian Knobbs
-The British Bulldog Davey Boy Smith
-Bull Pain
-Chad Fortune
-Chase Tatum
-Chavo Guerrero Jr.
-Chip Minton
-Chris Adams
-Chris Benoit
-Chris Jericho
-Dale Torborg
-Damian
-Dave Taylor
-Dean Malenko
-Disco Inferno
-El Dandy
-Erik Watts
-Ernest "The Cat" Miller
-Evan Karagias
-Fidel Sierra
-Fit Finlay
-Gedo
-Glacier
-Greg "The Hammer" Valentine
-Hacksaw Jim Duggan
-Hector Garza
-Hector Guerrero
-Horace Hogan
-Horshu
-Hugh Morris
-Ice Train
-Jerry Flynn
-Jim "The Anvil" Neidhart
-Jim Powers
-Joey Maggs
-John Nord
-Johnny Attitude
-Johnny Grunge
-Johnny Swinger
-Judo Suwa
-Juventud Guerrera
-Kaz Hayashi
-Kendall Windham
-Kenny Kaos
*Kevin Sullivan
-La Parka
-Len Denton
-Lenny Lane
-Little Dragon
-Lodi
-Louie Spicolli
-Lizmark Jr.
-Madusa
-Mark Starr
-Marty Jannetty
-Meng
-Michoyoshi Ohara
-Mike Enos
-Mike Rotundo
-Mortis
-Nick Dinsmore
-Norman Smiley
-Perry Saturn
-Prince Iaukea
-Psychosis
-Raven
-Ray Mendoza
-Ray Traylor
-The Renegade
-Reese
-Rey Mysterio Jr.
-Rick Fuller
-Rick Martel
-Rick Steiner
-Roadblock
-Robbie Rage
-Rocco Rock
-Scott Armstrong
-Scott Putski
-Scotty Riggs
-Sgt. Buddy Lee Parker
-Shima Nobunaga
-Sick Boy
-Silver King
-Steve Armstrong
-Steve "Mongo" McMichael
-Steven Regal
-Sumo Fuji
-Super Calo
-Tokyo Magnum
-Ultimo Dragon
-Van Hammer
-Villano IV
-Villano V
-Wayne Bloom
-Wrath
-Yuji Nagata
Non-wrestling :
-Eric Bischoff(nWo)
-Miss Elizabeth(nWo)
-J.J. Dillon
-Arn Anderson
-Paul "Mr. Wonderful" Orndorff
-Larry Zbysko
-Ted Dibiase
-Ravishing Rick Rude(nWo)
-Kimberly
-The Nitro Girls
-Sonny Onoo
-James Vandenberg
-Jimmy Hart
-Bobby "The Brian" Heenan
-Tony Schiavone
-Mike Tenay
-Lee Marshall
-Mean Gene Okerlund
-Scott Hudson
-Dave Penzer
-Jeremy Borash
-Mark Madden
-Mike Graham
-Nick Patrick
-Charles Robinson
-Billy Silverman
-Terry Taylor
-Ralphus
-Mickie Jay
-Doug Dillinger