The JWL

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Fanfiction
Title: The JWL
Author(s): JKFAN
Date(s): 2001-2014
Length: 80 TV episodes and 6 PPVs
Genre: gen
Fandom: Professional Wrestling
External Links: My Fan Fictions Page, TV Tropes
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Canon

The JWL was a Professional Wrestling Fanfiction series that existed from 2001-2014.

It combined wrestlers from World Wrestling Entertainment, World Championship Wrestling, Extreme Championship Wrestling, WOW Women of Wrestling, Total Nonstop Action Wrestling and some independents, sometimes with alternate gimmicks.

It had 80 TV episodes and 6 PPVs, with the titles taken from either WWE events (Royal Rumble, WrestleMania and Vengeance) or National Wrestling Alliance/WCW events (SuperBrawl, Slamboree and The Great American Bash.) It was written in Script Format. It was slightly Alternate Universe due to being a fictitious promotion and featuring gimmicks and teams/stables that did not exist in real life. (The fact that it had only 80 TV episodes over some 12 years was due to how long it sometimes took the author to write and post a show.)

The focus of The JWL was WRESTLING, not on love affairs, social media, interfering officials or any of the other nonsense that drags down actual wrestling shows today. [citation needed]

The JWL was shut down in January 2014 due to the author running out of ideas and having no audience. [citation needed] By that point, all three Championships were vacant.

Authorial Intent

"Will You Still Need Me, Will You Still Feed Me When I'm Episode 64" started with former ECW wrestler 911 Squashing "Mr. World Cup" (Ken "Kenny Dykstra" Doane as a jobber dressed as a generic Soccer player), as a rip on what 911's manager Paul E. Dangerously called Mr. World Cup's "pointless so-called sport." While the segment was well-received on Wrestling Classics.com, that it was a rip on soccer was completely overlooked.

I liked the 911 squash to open the show. Very timely, considering TNA is trying to cash in one ECW nostalgia IRL right now.[1]

On a larger scale, there was an emphasis on pushing wrestlers who often had the rug pulled out from under them whenever they got momentum in real life.[note 1] Conversely,the author's personal biases toward/against certain people may come through at times.[note 2]

Episode List

Episode Arena Main Event
Episode 1 The Ice Palace, Tampa, Florida Bam Bam Bigelow vs. Triple H
Episode 2 The Ice Palace, Tampa, FL Norman Smiley vs. Billy Gunn
Episode 3 The Ice Palace, Tampa, FL The APA (Faarooq and Bradshaw) vs. The Dudley Boys (Bubba Ray and D-Von)
Episode 4 The Ice Palace, Tampa, FL Spike Dudley vs. Scott Hall
Episode 5 The Ice Palace, Tampa, FL Team Xtreme (The Hardyz and Shannon Moore) vs. Raven's Nest (Stevie Richards and The Dudley Boys)
Episode 6 The Ice Palace, Tampa, FL Lita vs. Tori (Terri Poch)
Episode 7 The Ice Palace, Tampa, FL Ric Flair vs. Kanyon
Episode 8 The Ice Palace, Tampa, FL Kanyon vs. Shane Douglas
Episode 9 The Ice Palace, Tampa, FL Matt Hardy vs. Rhino
JWL Royal Rumble 2003 (PPV) The Ice Palace, Tampa, FL 30-Man Royal Rumble match to crown the inaugural JWL World Heavyweight Champion
Episode 10 The Ice Palace, Tampa, FL JWL World Heavyweight Champion Chris Benoit vs. Triple H
Episode 11 Greensboro Coliseum, Greensboro, NC Dean Malenko vs. Lance Storm
Episode 12 The Baltimore Arena, Baltimore, MD Tommy Dreamer and The Sandman vs. The Rock and Rob Van Dam
Episode 13 The Baltimore Arena, Baltimore, MD JWL World Heavyweight Champion Chris Benoit vs. Lance Storm
Episode 14 Wachovia Center, Philadelphia, PA The Misfits (Gangrel and Crowbar) vs. High Standards (Kurt Angle and Christopher Nowinski)
Episode 15 The Wachovia Center, Philadelphia, PA American Badass Inc. (The Undertaker and The APA) vs. Raven's Nest (Rhino and The Dudley Boys)
Episode 16 The Fleet Center, Boston, MA The Shooters (Ken Shamrock and Steve Blackman) vs. The New Age Outlaws (Road Dogg Jesse Jammes and "Badass" Billy Gunn)
Episode 17 The Fleet Center, Boston, MA JWL World Heavyweight Champion Chris Benoit vs. Kanyon
Episode 18 The Fleet Center, Boston, MA Tag Team Tables Match: The Hardyz vs. The Dudley Boys
Episode 19 The Dunkin' Donuts Center, Providence, RI The Four Horsemen (Chris Benoit and Dean Malenko) vs. T&A (Test and Albert)
Episode 20 The Dunkin' Donuts Center, Providence, RI The Disciplinarian vs. Poison[2]
Episode 21 The Dunkin' Donuts Center, Providence, RI Caged Heat (Loca and Delta Lotta Pain) vs. Harley's Angels (Charlie Davidson and EZ Ryder)[2]
JWL SuperBrawl I PPV Asbury Park Convention Hall, Asbury Park, NJ 22-Woman Royal Rumble to crown the inaugural JWL Women's Champion
Episode 22[note 3] Asbury Park Convention Hall, Asbury Park, NJ JWL Women's Champion Molly Holly vs. Trish Stratus
Episode 23 Asbury Park Convention Hall, Asbury Park, NJ JWL Women's Champion Molly Holly vs. Charlie Davidson
Episode 24 The Pepsi Arena, Albany, NY JWL World Tag Team Title Tournament, Round 1: Tommy Dreamer and The Sandman vs. The Dudley Boys
Episode 25 The Pepsi Arena, Albany, NY JWL World Tag Team Title Tournament, Round 1: The Four Horsemen (Ric Flair and Arn Anderson) vs. Raven's Nest (Raven and Stevie Richards)
Episode 26 The Pepsi Arena, Albany, NY Non-title: JWL Women's Champion Molly Holly vs. Tori
Episode 27 The Pepsi Arena, Albany, NY JWL World Tag Team Title Tournament, Round 1: The Faces of Fear (Meng and The Barbarian) vs. The Outsiders (Scott Hall and Kevin Nash)
Episode 28 The Mid-Hudson Civic Center, Poughkeepsie, NY Ivory vs. Tori
Episode 29 The Mid-Hudson Civic Center, Poughkeepsie, NY JWL World Tag Team Title Tournament, Round 1: American Badass Inc. (Ron Simmons and D-Lo Brown) vs. The Royals (Diamond Dallas Page and Christian)
Episode 30 The Mid-Hudson Civic Center, Poughkeepsie, NY JWL World Tag Team Title Tournament, Round 2: The Shooters (Bam Bam Bigelow and Big Van Vader) vs. High Standards (Kurt Angle and Christopher Nowinski)
Episode 31 The Mid-Hudson Civic Center, Poughkeepsie, NY JWL World Tag Team Title Tournament, Round 2: The Misfits (Perry Saturn and Gangrel) vs. Raven's Nest (Raven and Stevie Richards)
Episode 32 The Mid-Hudson Civic Center, Poughkeepsie, NY JWL World Tag Team Title Tournament, Round 2: Tommy Dreamer and The Sandman vs. The New Age Outlaws
Episode 33 The Mid-Hudson Civic Center, Poughkeepsie, NY JWL World Tag Team Title Tournament, Round 2: The Faces of Fear vs. The Royals
JWL WrestleMania I PPV Madison Square Garden, New York, NY JWL World Heavyweight Champion Chris Benoit vs. The Rock
Episode 34 Madison Square Garden, New York, NY JWL World Heavyweight Champion Chris Benoit vs. The Rock
Episode 35 Madison Square Garden, New York, NY The Shooters (Al Snow and Ken Shamrock) vs. The Clique (Shawn Michaels and Triple H)
Episode 36 Madison Square Garden, New York, NY JWL World Heavyweight Champion Chris Benoit vs. Taz
Episode 37 Burt Flickenger Athletic Center, Erie Community College, Buffalo, NY The Shooters (Bam Bam Bigelow, Big Van Vader and Norman Smiley) vs. The Clique (The Outsiders and X-Pac)
Episode 38 Burt Flickenger Athletic Center, Erie Community College, Buffalo, NY JWL World Heavyweight Champion Chris Benoit vs. Diamond Dallas Page
Episode 39 Mellon Arena, Pittsburgh, PA JWL World Heavyweight Champion Chris Benoit vs. Scott Steiner
Episode 40 Mellon Arena, Pittsburgh, PA The Stranger vs. Triple H
Episode 41 Mellon Arena, Pittsburgh, PA The World's Greatest Tag Team (Shelton Benjamin and Charlie Haas) vs. The Nasty Boys (Jerry Sags and Bryan Knobbs)
Episode 42 Quicken Loans Arena, Cleveland, OH JWL World Heavyweight Champion Chris Benoit vs. Jeff Jarrett
Episode 43 US Bank Arena, Cincinnati, OH JWL World Tag Team Champions The Faces of Fear vs. The Outsiders
Episode 44 The Joe Louis Arena, Detroit, MI The Four Horsemen (JWL World Heavyweight Champion Chris Benoit and Dean Malenko) vs. High Standards (Bret Hart and Christopher Nowinski)
Episode 45 Conseco Fieldhouse, Indianapolis, IN Taz vs. William Regal
JWL Slamboree I PPV United Center, Chicago, IL JWL World Heavyweight Champion Chris Benoit vs. Bret Hart
Episode 46 BMO Harris Bradley Center, Milwaukee, WI Ric Flair vs. Raven
Episode 47 Target Center, Minneapolis, MN JWL World Heavyweight Champion Chris Benoit vs. Bret Hart
Episode 48 Wells Fargo Arena at the Iowa Events Center, Des Moines, IA Brock Lesnar vs. Crush
Episode 49 Edward Jones Dome, St. Louis, MO The Dangerous Alliance (Brock Lesnar and The World's Greatest Tag Team) vs. Dusty's Dream Team (The Nasty Boys and Crush)
Episode 50 University of Missouri at Kansas City Municipal Auditorium, Kansas City, MO JWL World Tag Team Champions The Faces of Fear vs. The Nasty Boys
Episode 51 Bramlage Coliseum, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS The Four Horsemen (JWL World Heavyweight Champion Chris Benoit and Ric Flair) vs. Raven's Nest (Raven and Stevie Richards)
Episode 52 Sapp Fieldhouse, University of Nebraska at Omaha, Omaha, NE Mike Awesome vs. Christian
JWL The Great American Bash I PPV Pepsi Center, Denver, CO JWL World Heavyweight Champion Chris Benoit vs. Raven; Mask vs. Career Hell in the Cell: The Stranger vs. Shawn Michaels
Episode 53 Pepsi Center, Denver, CO JWL World Heavyweight Champion Chris Benoit vs. Raven[note 4]
Episode 54 MetraPark Arena, Billings, MT JWL World Heavyweight Title Tournament, Round 1: Tommy Dreamer vs. William Regal; 2 Cold Scorpio vs. Kurt Angle
Episode 55 Taco Bell Arena, Boise State University, Boise, ID JWL World Heavyweight Title Tournament, Round 1: Kane vs. Crowbar; Big Van Vader vs. Triple H
Episode 56 Key Arena, Seattle, WA JWL World Heavyweight Title Tournament, Round 1: D-Lo Brown vs. The Rock; Al Snow vs. Christian
Episode 57 Rose Garden, Portland, OR JWL World Heavyweight Title Tournament, Round 1: Taz vs. Dave Batista; The Sandman vs. Raven
Episode 58 Rose Garden, Portland, OR JWL World Heavyweight Title Tournament, Second Round: Tommy Dreamer vs. Kane; 2 Cold Scorpio vs. HHH
Episode 59[note 5] Cow Palace, San Francisco, CA JWL World Heavyweight Title Tournament, Second Round: D-Lo Brown vs. Christian; The Sandman vs. Dave Batista
Episode 60 Power Balance Pavilion, Sacramento, CA The Sandman and 2 Cold Scorpio vs. Kane and Christian
Episode 61 Oracle Arena, Oakland, CA Taz vs. Elijah Burke
JWL Vengeance I PPV HP Pavilion at San Jose, San Jose, CA JWL World Heavyweight Championship Tournament Final: Kane vs. 2 Cold Scorpio[note 6]
Episode 62 HP Pavilion at San Jose, San Jose, CA JWL World Tag Team Champions The Redneck Wrecking Crew (Trevor Murdoch and Lance Cade) vs. The Faces of Fear
Episode 63 Staples Center, Los Angeles, CA JWL World Heavyweight Champion Kane vs. Masato Tanaka
"Will You Still Need Me, Will You Still Feed Me, When I'm Episode 64" Viejas Arena, San Diego, CA The Undertaker vs. The Burmese Python
Episode 65 The Pit at The University of New Mexico at Albuquerque, NM JWL World Heavyweight Champion Kane vs. Matt Hardy
Get Your Kicks on Episode 66 Amarillo Civic Center, Amarillo, TX JWL World Heavyweight Champion Kane vs. Meng
Episode 67 Don Haskins Center at The University of El Paso, El Paso, TX JWL World Heavyweight Champion Kane vs. Al Snow
Episode 68 Freeman Coliseum, San Antonio, TX JWL World Heavyweight Champion Kane vs. Crowbar
It Was the Summer of Episode 69 American Airlines Center, Dallas, TX[note 7] Jacqueline vs. Melina Perez
Episode 70 Houston Toyota Center, Houston, TX The Undertaker and The World's Greatest Tag Team vs. Daivari International (The Burmese Python, Trevor Murdoch and Vladimir Kozlov)
Episode 71 BMO Harris Bradley Center, Milwaukee, WI[note 8] The Undertaker vs. Vladimir Kozlov
Episode 72 The New Orleans Arena, New Orleans, LA The Undertaker vs. The Burmese Python
Episode 73 Philips Arena, Atlanta, GA JWL World Heavyweight Champion Kane vs. Jack Swagger[note 9]
Episode 74 Colonial Life Arena, Columbia, SC Kane vs. Dave Batista
Episode 75 Greensboro Coliseum, Greensboro, NC The World's Greatest Tag Team vs. The Royal Assassins (Randy Orton and Dave Batista)
Episode 76 Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena, Jacksonville, FL JWL World Heavyweight Title Tournament, Round 1: 2 Cold Scorpio vs. Johnny Nitro; Bobby Lashley vs. Raven
Episode 77 Amway Center, Orlando, FL JWL World Heavyweight Title Tournament, Round 1: Samoa Joe vs. The Rock; Crowbar vs. Christian
Episode 78 War Memorial Auditorium, Fort Lauderdale, FL JWL World Heavyweight Title Tournament, Round 1: Vladimir Kozlov vs. Cody Rhodes; Masato Tanaka vs. Ted DiBiase Jr.
Shakedown Episode 79[note 10] War Memorial Auditorium, Fort Lauderdale, FL JWL World Heavyweight Title Tournament, Round 1: Al Snow vs. Dave Batista; Randy Orton vs. Kane
Episode 80s, I'm Living in the 80s[note 11] Tampa Bay Times Forum (Ice Palace), Tampa, FL JWL World Heavyweight Title Tournament, Second Round: Johnny Nitro vs. Bobby Lashley; Samoa Joe vs. Christian

Reviews and Reactions

"I am impressed! Great wrestling. I was especially impressed with the Hennig-Steamboat-Doink segment. Great win for Haas. I really wish that the stuff on TV today was this well booked. Liked the nod to the deceased wrestlers. Thanks for posting the show here JWL".[3]

"You certainly have a fun cast of characters on your roster. It's a very unique approach, I'd say. That could easily make for fresh & entertaining matches for your super-cards. I still find things to be a little stable-heavy for my tastes though. Things like pairing The Rock with Lawler are just too far-fetched for me to get into, to be honest.

But hey. Any Doink sighting is okay with me! I like seeing him as the evil prankster. Fun stuff with 911, who is the sort of guy that would be the perfect foil for the character in real life. Good stuff there.

Tanaka versus Batista wouldn't exactly be Tanaka/Awesome 2.0, but it could have been pretty awesome on its own. I mark for the Roaring Elbow, so seeing it break down Batista would have been a nice visual."[4]

"Interesting show.

Too many interference and attacks in the opening, but good solid wrestling action near the end.

Angle should of had an easier time against Mr. 630. Make him really hard to beat at the beginning, and then get some guys really giving him a hard time. First time out, with almost a nobody, and he has trouble, doesn't make him look tough, IMO"[5]

[note 12]

"You're promoting and build up of the womens Royal Rumble was well done and Molly Holly will be a great champion. The undercard was well done, and pretty interesting."[6]

"Not really sure what to make of the JWL. Considering the roster you choose to use this show was another letdown.

Hasn't your tournament to crown a new champion being going on for the better part of 6 months?

Doesn't building the debuts of three new acts at the same time dilute the impact of all of them?

Tajiri vs. TAKA is the sole highlight for me."[7]

"I've been one guy that was extremely hard on you and your promotion, but you really did some good work. I enjoyed reading your shows, and sometimes I was hard, cause I saw the potential you had, and wanted to bring it out of you, but I could of possibly did it a little better."[8]

[note 13]

"Looks really good man! I really like Dusty's group. I'm thinking about using OMG down the road in my Memphis promotion because of the way you are using him has sparked an idea for me. Bret's always great, and WM looks awesome!"[9]

[10]

"Ehhh... Not really my cup of tea. To be honest, I always give you praise about the diversity of your roster. It's really stacked, but it's almost detrimental to itself in that respect. You absolutely have WAY too much going on here. The show is filled to the brim with happenings that would be hard for viewers (and readers) to keep track. Combined with the inconsistency of the shows, I feel like I need a scorecard to keep up.

That's not to say I don't enjoy some of the stuff you're doing. I do. I dig the roster plenty. DiBiase Jr. with the Million Dollar Belt is always cool. I like Joe Hennig getting a little respect, and I'm a bit of a mark for the novice Richie Steamer. I seriously like that you seem to have your finger on the pulse when it comes to all these developmental guys down in (real life) FCW & all that. Good stuff there.

However, I find that - as a fan in attendance - I would have enjoyed the presentation of your dark matches more than any of your actual TV show. That's saying something. The action in those non-televised bouts just seem more appealing to me than any of the angles or stories you're creating for television. I just don't see a draw or a hook to keep me coming back & leave me wanting more.

The Raven interview could have been some stellar stuff, but you riddled it with constant mentions of things like "Episode 4" and "Episode 57." I just think it's a little unrealistic to imagine Raven using that kind of dialogue. I can't see him speaking those words in real life. It takes me out of the moment & sort of ruins the whole illusion of things.

Kane as World Heavyweight Champ has run a little thin for me. But you aren't really lining up any guys who could legitimately surpass him either. So that's an issue. The constant stream of hype videos & vignettes need to be scaled back a bit. Focus on one or two guys at a time. Run their videos, advertise them, build them up, & then introduce them at the right moment. Get a strong reaction. Establish them. Then begin again, with a new piece of talent.

Here, you must have played 10 different videos for guys. That's too much. In essence, each vignette diluted & watered down the one before it. It got to the point where nobody was outshining anyone else. Trying to create too many stars at the exact same time ultimately just leads to you creating none.

All in all, it's cool to see you still cranking out some shows. I've been a fan of some of the things you've done in the past. This particular edition just wasn't for me. Hope to see you rebound though."[11]

ALWAYS worth the read! Strengths of top notch production values and research are a draw. But, being "unto yourself" can be a double-edged sword. Noted above as "too much going on" - the "going on" part is very creative, BUT, the unlimited feel of your options can be "too MANY".

Enjoy the spin you put on things, such as the ring names - Daffney using a last name, the mix and match of real-life and originality suits my tastes. Off course, there ARE some that makes me want to scope out the JWL roster thread to see if I'm on top of everything!

Interested by Niles comment regarding intro's - I use them, I feel they are useful to add things such as billing info, entrance themes and other details.

Wish there was more I can STEAL here for 1992 use (reminding me to research Psicosis using "Battery" in AWA or not)."[11]

[10]


I'm not a reader of JWL or Valiant not because of the writers but because I simply follow very little if any of today's product, but Jason's post made me realize what a huge DIS-advantage he and Dean have versus WCFL writers. When writing WCFL, you have the foresight to know when one of your wrestlers is going to die in a car wreck, overdose on drugs . . . or as we will see in 1988, murder another wrestler in a shower, and plan around that in advance.

Jason didnt have that luxury last week. However, I agree, Jason you owe it to your readers, if this were a real promotion to your fans and wrestlers, to make sure the 'show does go on', and to give us an JWL title tournmanet that not only will be a great show, but one in which the reader will forget all about Chris Benoit (as much as possible) and make them very excited about the new champion and about wrestling again.

THIS is the ultimate test of a fantasy wrestling writer, you have been thrown the ultimate monkey wrench, now go forth, my son, and BOOK![12]

[note 14][note 15]


References

Notes

  1. ^ The inaugural Champions were Chris Benoit, Molly Holly and The Faces of Fear (Meng and The Barbarian). Kane's JWL World Heavyweight Title reign saw him pushed as the destructive monster he should be. Jack Swagger defeating him for the Title on Episode 73 was the only time Kane had been pinned in a singles match, and only his third loss of any kind to that point. (By contrast, his storyline "brother" The Undertaker had lost one TV and two PPV matches to Rhino.)
  2. ^ In WCW Canon, The Dungeon of Doom were huge heels (until the NWO stole the spotlight). Here, they were Faces feuding with Shane Douglas' group The Franchise Foundation. WWE made Trish Stratus into the top Face of the Divas. Here, she was a Heel as the leader of Stratusfaction Inc.
  3. ^ This episode was supposed to have included a match between The APA and The New Age Outlaws (Road Dogg Jesse Jammes and "Badass" Billy Gunn) but John "Bradshaw" Layfield was fired due to his doing the Nazi salute in Germany in real life in June 2004.
  4. ^ This was Benoit's last match. After the double murder-suicide, the title was declared vacant. Nine days later, it was announced that the promotion would continue and a tournament would be held to fill the vacant title.
  5. ^ This show featured "The Female Fighting Phenom" Jazz's third and final JWL Women's Title defense. She had to forfeit the title because she was pregnant in real life. The vacancy was never filled, meaning she was the second and last JWL Women's Champion.
  6. ^ This is the essence of fantasy booking, creating opportunities for people that wouldn't exist otherwise, since there is NO WAY this as a main event would have drawn a dime in real life, since the only promotion in the U.S. where Scorpio was ever seriously pushed as a singles wrestler was in ECW, and that was in 1994-1996, and this event was in 2008. In fact, this would likely apply to a lot of these main events.
  7. ^ Dallas is Jacqueline's hometown.
  8. ^ This show was relocated from Louisiana due to the hurricanes threatening the Gulf Coast/Mid-South area in June 2012. It wasn't posted until September.
  9. ^ A few days after this show was posted, Jacob "Jack Swagger" Hager was arrested for DUI, speeding and having drugs in his car. He was fired for this.
  10. ^ Title is a reference to "Shakedown 1979," the opening line of The Smashing Pumpkins' "1979."
  11. ^ Title is taken from the Killing Joke song "Eighties".
  12. ^ Any and all spelling or grammatical errors from the comments are maintained here.
  13. ^ This can be found on Page 2 of the thread.
  14. ^ At the time, board member Finchey, also known as Dean Douglas Moore, was writing his own series, Valiant Wrestling Entertainment.
  15. ^ On July 16, 1988 in Bayamon, Puerto Rico, wrestler Jose Gonzalez stabbed Frank "Bruiser Brody" Goodish in a shower.