Zack Malibu

Uh, KC..."Union" Jack Winthrop is an old jobber creation of mine. You might wanna tweak that.

Cal's gonna be the GM. Your deal should be that the company (corporate AND The Originals) have shunned you for two long. You getting back in a position of power goes against a lot of the old stories.

"Dude...ZYON? Call me." After hearing the voicemail, Todd Cortez hits his speed dial. After several rings someone picks up. "About time you called back." "Well I figured I'd wait a while so you didn't bust my balls too much." "Listen, I'm not going to bust your balls. I'm going to be dead serious. You need to pull your head out of your ass." Cortez is taken aback by the blunt statement from the voice on the other end. "What are you..." "No excuses, Todd. You think I don't keep up with things? C'mon, man. I know what you're going through. I know why you lost. For once in your career, you went into a match without focus." "Here comes the "don't let a woman ruin your chances" talk, right?" "No. I know what's on your mind, and that's why you lost. The only thing you can think of, the only thing you want to do, is get your hands on Landon Maddix. Am I right?" "Yeah, you're right." "OK, but you can't let this vendetta take you down the ladder. You have achieved so much, and truthfully, not to toot my own horn, but I think Martial Law held you back a little. Maybe I'm even responsible for holding you back a little, because you've been a loyal friend and fought my battles for me, even long after I was gone. It's appreciated, but I want you to start worrying about yourself. You can't start slipping, not now. You've got a match this weekend, right?" "Yep, hardcore. Ghost Machine." "That's perfect. Get all your frustration out. Maim the damn kid for all I care. Just can I give you a bit of advice." "Even if I said no, you would." "That's my man. Look, you've got Landon on the brain, and you need to channel that to your other responsibilities. If you can't shake Landon, you use that to your advantage. Adapt to your mental enviroment, if I may paraphrase you." Cortez's eyes light up, and a smirk comes across his face. "...pretend I'm in the ring with Landon?" "No doubt. The way you've been chasing him, you'd climb Everest barefoot if it meant the chance to land a punch. If you're gonna have him on the brain, use it so it works for you. When you get in that ring Friday night, Ghost Machine can't be just another opponent. He needs to be your worst enemy. He needs to be Landon Maddix. Get it?" "Got it." "Good. Glad to be of help. Oh, and one more thing." "What's that?" "...ZYON?" "Mike..." "Haha, OK, I'm out. Peace." "Later." Cortez flips the phone shut, and throws it on the bed. Standing silently for a moment, he sighs, and quietly mutters the name of the man that haunts his thoughts. "Maddix." FADE OUT.

There definitely can't be full unity in the Originals in the early stages of this angle. We'd have the factions to feed off of (TOE, Zack/SG/Caboose, maybe Zack and Peter Knight if PK is on our side (and the reasons for that should shine through in my promo this week). We'll obviously work it out, but the unified front needs to come from The Upstarts for a while.

True dat. Popick/Malibu need to have the CWM/Malibu dynamic, although in the case of CWM, he grudgingly respects Malibu. Popick just flat out hates him, but works with him "out of convenience".

Lawler didn't coin Jacobs Unibomb (it wasn't Unimbomber). Unibomb was Jacobs' SMW gimmick. Doomsday was his USWA gimmick, as it was the precursor to the Kane character.

IF by "work together" you mean WWE pulling Richards out so he couldn't do any matches in ROH after he appeared at one show. There's nothing there, folks. I had thought the deal was solely for appearances/run-ins and not actual matches, as it was during his injured leave?

Hoff I think.

You could do a bit where Some Guy says he wants no part of the match, and he has other business to take care of (his match with Alfdogg). Rodez will think he's up shit creek, but Zack at the last second offers his services. Rodez can then say he's going to off to find another partner, but Zack stops him and says he's got someone for the job.

You doing a speech regarding Drek/GPX wouldn't interfere. Like you said, it'll add to the dynamic when Black supposedly strikes a deal. The HeldDOWN~! after LTP is fine by me. Cal, you'll be reading this eventually, so prepare. If anyone sees Ken online, refresh his memory. I'll do so if I catch him first.

Use Caboose. He's always willing to do anything I ask of him. We can make it where Some Guy gets wrapped up with Alf, Drek/GPX think they have an advantage, and when we come out, I get on the mic and call Caboose up from Sofa Central.

They've worked together for some time now. Dreamer and Richards have made appearances for the group as well.

Hmmm... I think I have an idea. What if the Upstarts offer Popick their support, saying that they could lead him to redemption against the old guard, since in storyline we all pretty much hate you for past offenses? Then once you realize you're being used, you shift back our way?

It's WWE. The guys that can work linger in OVW for eternity, and the guys that can't work get called up after a few months.

Interestin'. Hmmmph. KC, we might have some tweakin' to do.

My plan: This week. Cut a promo that winds up with Zack/Drek face to face. I really don't want to go too much more into detail, but suffice to say, it's further build until we finally go at it. What I was thinking was that Dan Black and Zack can again get hostile towards one another, with Black trying to use this budding revolution to his favor, and try to oust Zack from the company. Black, showing his business side from his GM days, will try to "cut a deal" with Drek and the GPX leading up to License To Pin, and this will rub Tony and even CWM the wrong way. Black assures them he knows what he's doing. LTP. Streetfight. Zack Malibu and Dan Black. I want to make it epic, and just plain brutal, so Eski if you're down, let's get our writing shoes on. At the climax of the match Drek and the GPX, or even just GPX (sent by Drek no doubt) run out and jump Zack, working him over and putting Black on top for the pin. Black wins, everyone's shocked...and then GPX/Drek/whoever annihilate him as well, and we're both left bloody messes. Black gets revealed as a sucker, it gives Black T more of a reason to go after Upstarts moreso than Zack and co., and puts the Upstart group over as disrepectful killer heels. The vibe for the attack is that they've had us killing each other for so long, and they got easy pickings.

I haven't seen him on here or The Pit lately. I might reference this this week, and do the "OMG he VANISHED~!" type of bit. To his credit, he usually always comes back. If you want, Hoff, use him this week and he won't mind, unless you think you could come up with something better.

Hrm. Skydome, Toronto, anyone?

I haven't been on TSM much since then, save for the occasional "OMG lemme check!" stop-over. Not putting blame on anyone, just had a busy weekend and probably should have looked sooner.

I plan on doing OAOVW bits like the house show reports. It's also a way for people to get their ideas to come to fruition, find a place for jobbers, etc.

My showing is a bit up in the air. I wasn't online much since Friday, and didn't see Cortez edited into the card until today. I've been scrambling to get a match done, but I'm at work and paychecks kinda take precident. So if I don't show, now you know.

A lot will be explained this week during a promo I intend to do, not only to build up Zack/Drek, but to build up the angle as a whole. In my eyes, The Upstarts would open to everyone who came in post AM2 on, but that doesn't mean they'd all join up.

Yes folks, we've opened up a developmental territory. What I figured we'd do this for (in storyline terms at least) is so we have a place to stick people that we have ideas for, but aren't quite sure how to introduce them yet. It can also be a place for "send downs" (re: if someone is taking a leave, etc.). We already do the HI-YAH stuff, so why not do this, right? I've come up with several characters for the roster, but I'm keeping them as freelance for now. I'd just like a heads up if they plan on being used anytime soon. Los Diablos Del Fuego, or "Devils of the Fire". (Mariachi and Moracca). Cool name, huh? Sounds badass, don't it? Well, there's nothing badass about these guys, unless you think pink tights and sombreros strike fear into the hearts of others. Yes, it's a luchadore tag team doing a gay bit, and they're shockingly popular for it. Cameron Carmichael. This was the guy I had intended on using in the WDI fed, which faltered. Over there, he was doing the MNM gimmick (before they were, I might add, so GO ME~! Here, he's the "Pure Athlete", and will gladly pee in a cup to prove so. "The Specialist" Brian Bradley. Impressive matwork and high-flying at only 19 years of age. Has a great in-ring charisma, but the promo's leave a little to be desired for now. Should easily be a major star on the main roster within the next year or two.

That's right, I was going to mention Pillman's heel turn and the beginning of the Loose Cannon era coming later in the show. I also need to put the Havoc '95 Horsemen swerve on DVD.

Showtime also has Family Business, which is one of the better reality shows out there.