NEXT: AN Overview and 1st Show Preview

[magnusd]

A new promotion has been born, NWA NEXT, out of Chicago, Illionois. This organisation is unlike the average wrestling company, in fact it may be more appropriate to call NEXT a concept as opposed to a traditional wrestling promotion.

NEXT is a showcase for the very best young professional wrestlers from not just America, but around the wrestling world. Each of the talents chosen to compete in NEXT will have a chance to develop their skills as performers, which in turn may lead them on to future glory in other promotions around the world. NEXT may be viewed as a developmental promotion for the NWA.

If at any point a strong interest is shown in any of our performers by another promotion, we will quite happily release said talent to them, letting that worker reach their potential that we will help unlock. This will then free up a spot for another new young star to develop their skills, and the cycle will go on.

We are also a promotion that chooses not to follow the traditional structure of a wrestling organisation, as will be proven evident by the way in which we will crown the holder of our first title, the NEXT Standout Crown. At NEXT 1, a tournament will take place to crown the holder, but this is a tournament with a twist.

It will open with a 24 man battle royal. In order to advance in the tournament, you merely have to eliminate an opponent from the matchup: your opponent will be eliminated while you will advance. 12 will advance this way while 12 will obviously be eliminated.

The second round will consist of four 3 way one fall to a finish matchups, followed by 2 semi finals and finally our final matchup to crown the holder of the NEXT Standout Crown!

Make sure to stay tuned, as after NEXT 1 we will take a look at the concept behind NEXT 2, where our tag team champions will be crowned!

[Deleted]

So then I guess in the battle royal, once you get 1 elimination, you are out as well? Otherwise they could get another elimination or be eliminated themselves and the entire idea becomes flawed. I assume that is how it works. Did you put any thought into a TNA reverse battle royal where 24 guys start on the outside and 12 have to fight their way in? That would be really cool to see set in 1993 as I was always a big fan of those in recent years.

[magnusd]

Yup, thats how it works, when you eliminate a wrestler from the matchup, you are then out of the match having already advanced in the tournament. Obviously if a situation occured where you eliminated someone then got shoved out before you could leave the ring, that elimination wouldn't count.

And the thought of a reverse battle royal never crossed my mind, that's something to consider down the line for sure.

[Deleted]

What happens if 2 or more join together on an elimination? Like using the 94 Rumble as an example, I think something like 7 guys grouped together to eliminate Diesel. That seems to happen frequently enough there should be a ruling in place ahead of time, because if both guys got credit and advanced, it throws everything off. Maybe the elimination would not count and all 3 or more eliminators and the eliminated go back in? Or if 1 guy eliminates 2 at once too?

[magnusd]

In that situation, the wrestler who the referee deems to have been first to initiate the elimination would be the one to advance. So say Shawn Michaels tried to eliminate Diesel, then got 3 or 4 other guys to help him, Michaels would advance. The incentive being that while Michaels would advance, the other guys would have removed a major threat, and could still take one of the remaining spots with an elimination of their own.

As for a situation where say a wrestler eliminated 2 men at once, its up to the referee to make a judgement call and say who's feet hit the floor first. That person would be eliminated while the other man could return to the ring.

[cdw]

Looking forward to the first shows.

[Deleted]

It's an interesting concept that's far too ahead of it's time to work in '93 as you're catering to an audience that doesn't exist, using talent that isn't ready, and importing talent that it really doesn't make sense to import at this time. Basing it out of Chicago seems pretty random as well, and using a big name like Jessie Ventura in the booth when you've got a mixture of extremely low end, and future high end talent that isn't ready yet is a bit much as well. Plus if the idea behind the product is ring work over characters (which it appears to be), then you've got an announcing team that counter acts that entirely.

I'm not saying it can't be a fun read, heck it might be, but just seems a bit "too smarky" for my personal taste.

We all know everyone's end game (Jeff Hardy, Mysterio, RVD, Juvy) but in '93 no one would have, nor should they have as 1993 Jeff Hardy is a far cry from 1998 Jeff Hardy.

Rey & Juvy were JUST starting to tear it up, in tags with bigger name attached, but as the ONLY luchadores in your promotion? Seems a bit much. Now if you had Fuerza Guerrera or Rey Sr. there then I can get a promoter taking a "chance" on pretty much unknown talent like Rey & Juvy, I'd take to it more. But their being there seems more based on what they become rather than what they were. Reminds me of an early WCW project here, before JP, where someone was pushing Rey & RVD as the top tag team. Just seemed TOO out of place.

Aside from that, it's Chicago in 1993, so it's pretty darn random to see ANY luchadores there.

[Deleted]

Yeah, I am willing to give it a chance at the point it has been green lighted.

In regards to the above post, this idea does strike me as being written by somebody that was not actually watching wrestling in 1993 so the stuff like Jeff Hardy, Mysterio and Guerrera, goes over the writer's head because they see the name and know them all from what they remember or have seen on DVD after the fact, and would be based more on how wrestling was later on and what it evolved to in the late 90s / early 2000s, where this stuff was more common. For 1993, the climate of the industry just does not match up with this idea on paper and literally nobody would be paying to see this in 1993 in my opinion because it is just a bunch of inexperienced non local nobodies working other similar names. That is in theory. In execution? Could be wrong and I am curious to see the first card play out. I would suggest taking time to really get the ideas right with the roster you have over rushing anything out though because I think the margin of error to make this work in 93 is extremely small, if existing at all.

I have clicked on the link in the signature and checked out the 2013 stuff you wrote and it works perfectly fine there without issue, so it is not like you have no skill as a writer. You clearly are quite good. I am just not sure you do for 1993 because it is not like this is an idea that would work even 5 years later on paper to me, although the roster would by then. You would have to go to the mid 2000s in my opinion for a wrestling fan to be open minded enough for this complex tournament idea when in 93, a regular tournament was still so novice that WWF was just now basing a regular PPV around the idea. And my comment about the reverse battle royal was a joke for the record. It is an awful idea that I hope to never see replicated here or anywhere lol.

[Grape Ape]

With the dropping of the luchadores, minus Rey Jr., you've taken care of luchadores in Chicago though it might have been interesting to see what transpired with them under your control with an early version of Lucha Va Voom.

What it lacks for me is the local talent and a territorial flavor. You have some very "talented to be" guys but very little of a local flavor to draw people in. Will that be a downfall in your hands? I don't know though I am willing to give the benefit of the doubt as you can clearly write.

I am with JP on the theory and we'll have to wait and see on the execution. Looking forward to see how this all plays out.