Real World[]
The Creation[]
The Cornellverse was created by Adam Ryland, as part of his Total Extreme Wrestling series, a wrestling booker simulation game that had been previously released as Extreme Wrestling Revenge. Unlike EWR, which was released for free with real world workers and promotions attached to it, TEW was released with a fictional world attached to it due to it being a commercial release and copyright laws. Over the years the Cornellverse has gained a life of its own and attracted many fans from the .400 Software Forums and most recently from the forums of Grey Dog Software, the game's publisher since 2005. Its forum has seen a host of fan based dynasties and mods created for the Cornellverse over the last 5 years - most notably Mr.T Jobs to Me's 1975 and Derek B's 1997 mod. Adam Ryland has shown interest in adding both the 1975 and 1997 databases to the Cornellverse canon.
Debut[]
Despite the Cornellverse making its first appearance with Total Extreme Wrestling 2004 (then Total Extreme Warfare), many of the characters who became prominent fan favorites were not included in the database, and others had different names. No pictures were included to accompany the workers, and many of the women wrestlers weighed twice the maximum limit for their gimmicks. At least one listing in the gimmick file (Power and Paint) was not attainable by any worker at the time gameplay started. The Australian continent was depicted as having no wrestling promotions and only two workers, Bruce The Giant and Golden Delicious, hailed from the region. Despite these limitations, Adam Ryland's introduction of the Cornellverse proved that a wrestling simulator using an entirely fictional database could be a commercial success. Fans of the Cornellverse contributed hundreds of renders, and by the release of Wrestling Spirit every active wrestler in the United States region had at least one profile picture. By the release of Total Extreme Wrestling 2016, every worker in the game had at least one profile picture. Many characters currently have alternate pictures made by fans.
History Of The CornellVerse[]
America[]
The Traditional Era (1960-1972)[]
In America, the first major promotion to open was Championship Wrestling from Boston. A major territory, it boasted names such as Dan Stone, Ed Henson, and Corporal Doom, among others. In 1968, both All-American Florida Wrestling and the Texas Wrestling League were born. They would control the southeast and midsouth respectively. AAFW had guys like George DeColt, Dick The Devastator, Chief Two Eagles, and more. TWL boasted names such as Sam Keith, Rip Chord, and Jackson Andrews. In 1969 the American Pro Wrestling Federation was born, followed by California Pro Wrestling in 1972. However, that same year, the Supreme Wrestling Federation was born, and within 20 years they would change the wrestling landscape in America.
The Eisen Empire Begins (1972-1995)[]
Richard Eisen was only 17 years old when he formed the Supreme Wrestling Federation. Operating out of New England, they used men like Micky Starr and Sam Strong at the start of their existence to build themselves up. Throughout the rest of the 1970s and 1980s, they took guys like Corporal Doom, Marcus McKing, Rip Chord, and Sam Keith and eventually took most of the best stars in America.
In July 1977, the American Pro Wrestling Federation was the first to fall, with Championship Wrestling From Boston falling in July 1978 and All-American Florida Wrestling following in December 1978. The Texas Wrestling League held on until February 1995. Following TWL's death, all promotions of The Traditional Era were out of business. However, the late 1990s would prove to be a boom for hardcore wrestling.
The East Coast Wars (1995-1998)[]
In the Tri State region of America, four promotions were flourishing. DAVE, Philly Power Pro Wrestling, Rapid Pro Wrestling, and the Xtreme Federation Of Wrestling were engaged in a war for supremacy. All four promotions had a product that relied on hardcore wrestling, which was very popular in the Tri State region. None of the promotions were able to gain an advantage in the war, until March 1998.
A tournament was held at the one time event known as Final Battle 1998 to end the East Coast Wars. Involving all four champions from each promotion, the tournament was meant to crown a unified champion. In reality, PPPW, RPW, and XFW were all going to go out of business, and had sold out to DAVE. The champions of DAVE (Johnny Martin), PPPW (Chris Rockwell), XFW (Shawn Gonzalez), and RPW (Alex Braun) fought each other in a tournament. Rockwell defeated Gonzalez and Martin defeated Braun. In one of the biggest matches of hardcore wrestling, Johnny Martin beat Rockwell to unify all four titles into the DAVE Unified Championship, officially ending the East Coast Wars.
The Big Three (1998-2014)[]
Going into the 21st century, three promotions would rule over American wrestling. Total Championship Wrestling would emerge in 1996 as the Hollyweird Grappling Company, and thanks to J.K. Stallings money, they signed some of the biggest stars that were once in SWF and used a product similar to SWF's own sports entertainment based product. Despite this, the Supreme Wrestling Federation continued dominating America. In 2001, the United States Pro Wrestling was formed by former SWF announcer Danny Jillefski. Originally thought of as a retirement home for wrestlers, it slowly began pushing younger stars.
Two major shifts of power would occur in 2004 and 2006. By 2004, HGC had lost a ludicrous amount of money. On the verge of bankruptcy, they were bought out by Tommy Cornell. At the time, Cornell was a main eventer in HGC, and was considered one of the best wrestlers of the world. He changed HGC's product to a product that relied on a wrestler's performance, and changed the name of the company to Total Championship Wrestling. His leadership pushed the company forward, but due to their budget they couldn't expand as much as they wanted to. Cornell did help come up with storylines such as the storyline surrounding his Syndicate stable, which made young stars out of heel Wolf Hawkins and face Rocky Golden.
In 2006, Sam Strong retired and bought USPW from Danny Jillefski. Strong began to push younger stars, among them USPW's future figurehead Nicky Champion. Champion was carefully pushed by Strong, until he became the figurehead of the entire company by 2010.
Meanwhile, the retirement of Nemesis from in-ring activity saw the beginning of the end of DAVE, as with the additional competition and a lack of funding combining with the retirement of their main star, the promotion began losing key wrestlers to other promotions with less dangerous styles (or for larger paychecks), and eventually, in 2007, the promotion folded.
In this time frame, three men would become the best workers in North America: Nicky Champion of USPW, Jack Bruce of SWF, and Rocky Golden of TCW dominated their respective companies. With a load of future talent being produced by smaller companies, the American wrestling scene looks destined to be loaded with talent for years to come. Despite two new challengers, SWF stayed on top until 2014, when USPW was purchased by Allen Packer.
The Reverie Era (2014-Present)[]
In August 2014, Allen Packer purchased USPW from Sam Strong. Being bought out by one of the richest men in America, USPW's budget increased dramatically. Packer bought USPW because he needed content for his new Reverie subscription based broadcaster. The first of it's kind, Reverie generates revenue based on the number of subscriptions. The buyout was what USPW needed to overcome the SWF. They stole away stars like Rick Law, Steve Frehley, Rich Money, and Dawn Gemmell, with the latter three jumping ship in November 2014 in what would be known as the "Black Wednesday Betrayal". With great stars, a lot of money, and a growing network, USPW look to stay the top company for years to come.
Canada[]
The Henson Era (1974-1985)[]
No major promotion existed in Canada prior to March 1974, when the Canadian Wrestling Federation was created. Formed by the legendary Ed Henson, the CWF were the first major promotion in Canada. Their biggest stars, Dan Stone, George DeColt, Whipper Spencer Marks, and Jackson Andrews would define wrestling in Canada for the next few decades. Two in particular, Dan Stone and George DeColt, would go on to form what would become the top two companies in Canada.
Stone vs DeColt (1985-2009)[]
In 1985, Dan Stone formed North Of The Border Pro Wrestling. The company had a product that relied on traditional and realistic wrestling. In 1989, Ed Henson died after a short illness and his company would die that same year. With only NOTBPW, it seemed that Canada might go through another decade of having one major company. However, the next year in 1990, George DeColt formed Canadian Golden Combat. Throughout the 1990s, CGC and NOTBPW would grow and co-exist in relative peace. Three of George's son's, Jack DeColt, Alex DeColt, and Steve DeColt dominated CGC throughout the 1990s, and the youngest son Ricky DeColt added onto that domination when he debuted in the early 2000s. The DeColt's were dominant babyfaces who would feud with heels and always overcame the odds. This worked well for the business. Over in NOTBPW, Edd Stone, Duane Stone, Jeremy Stone, Victoria Stone-McFly, and Dan Stone Jr would win many of NOTBPW's titles. The two families didn't interact much in the world of wrestling, but in 2009, George DeColt retired and handed CGC to Alex. Alex handed the booking job to former DAVE owner Phil Vilbert, which irritated eldest DeColt son Steve. Steve disagreed with how Alex ran the company, and in 2009, Steve DeColt joined NOTBPW.
North Of The Border Domination (2009-Present)[]
With a DeColt family member in their company and a constant stream of great wrestling, NOTBPW dominated the wrestling scene in Canada. In 2011, Dan Stone retired and handed the business over to his son Jeremy Stone, with daughter Victoria Stone-McFly taking over as the new head booker. As NOTBPW grew, CGC began to get smaller. After Phil Vilbert left in March 2014, Alex took over the booking, and the quality of the product began to get lower and lower. While the future looks bright for NOTBPW, it looks bleak for CGC.
Mexico[]
The People's Promotion (1955-1975)[]
In January 1955, OLLIE was born. OLLIE was the first major promotion in Mexico and is the oldest living promotion in the world. Known as "The People's Promotion" because of their low cost shows filling up arenas throughout the country, OLLIE had no major challengers. For 20 years, they controlled the Mexican scene, and had stars such as El Barbaro, El Aguila Americana, El Patron, El Fantasma, and Mephisto. However, that all changed when in April 1975, those four stars left OLLIE after a contract dispute and formed the Mexico Premier Wrestling Federation.
The Big Two (1975-1998)[]
Mexico Premier Wrestling Federation was different from other challengers OLLIE had faced. Being formed by four of OLLIE's biggest stars, it relied on their star power to grow and overcome their more powerful rivals. OLLIE and MPWF fought hard for many years, and neither company ever gained an advantage over the other. However, in 1998, a new company was thrown into the mix which would eventually turn the "Big Three" in just one.
South Of The Border (1998-2005)[]
In August 1998, South Of The Border Pro Wrestling was formed. Although it wasn't at first a real threat, that all changed in March 2002 when Jorge Ibanez bought a controlling option in SOTBPW. Using it's money to buy some good talent, it's best lucha libre star would turn out to be Champagne Lover, who's role as a fireman in a soap opera made him a mainstream sensation, which led to his roles in numerous movies. Considered to most popular luchador in lucha libre's entire history, his popularity allowed SOTBPW and lucha libre to rise, but it was all in danger of ending in 2005.
National Day Of Lucha (2005)[]
In 2005, the Mexican government underwent a powershift, and when it was reforming, it learned that many contracts of Mexican wrestling promotions weren't legal. Thus, all contracts were null and void. With the future of lucha libre at stake, SOTBPW, MPWF, and OLLIE teamed up to hosted a large event in September 2005, where a large draft took place. Many stars such as Phoenix I and Champagne Lover stayed with their original homes. After the event, all promotions signed a non-aggression pact. However, once SOTBPW began to grow, it ended it's non-aggression pacts and began to raid OLLIE and MPWF.
The New Era (2005-Present)[]
SOTBPW's rise led to MPWF and OLLIE suffering. The big two of Mexican wrestling got smaller, and in November 2014, MPWF officially closed down. However, in January 2011 and April 2012, Comite Internacional de Lucha Libre and Extreme Modern Lucha Libre were formed, adding two new promotions to the wrestling scene in Mexico. CILL was formed by El Maestro, who was synonymous with OLLIE because he worked his entire career as an active wrestler with them. EMLL was formed by El Bandido. Being a star in MPWF and the early SOTBPW, he used his star power to try and capitalize on the Mexican wrestling boom by forming EMLL. Meanwhile, OLLIE continued to barely hang on to life. Although given financial support by owner Joaquin Soler, many wonder what will happen once Soler is gone. With a main event scene that has a few aging luchadors, OLLIE's best hopes are for men like Gino Montero. Meanwhile, SOTBPW expanded into America, and with two TV shows and a lot of coverage, they are looking to expand into America and possibly take on the big three in America.
British Isles[]
Men Of Steel (1980-2006)[]
While North America and Japan were enjoying a good wrestling scene, the British Isles were not. Prior to 1980, the British wrestling scene was virtually dead. However, in July 1980, Men Of Steel Combat was born. Owner Highland Warrior ran the promotion with a sensible business plan, running low cost "blood, beer, and brawling" shows for crowds in the Northern British Isles. Dominating England for over 20 years, they were left without competition until Ring Of Fire opened in September 1998. Offering pure wrestling, it gave British fans quality wrestling and managed to grow. In January 2001, 21st Century Wrestling came along. With a cutting edge, high flying product, it gained some fans, but it was a commercial flop. Within a few years, it was on the verge of bankruptcy until it was sold.
UK Sports Entertainment (2006-Present)[]
Owner Tyler Baker sold the promotion to Jeff Nova, who gave 21CW a new Sports Entertainment product, similar to what SWF and CGC had in North America. Using his combination of vision, media contracts, and work ethic, he turned 21CW into a large promotion within four years. 21CW's growth resulted in MOSC closing in February 2010 and ROF following in November 2010. Now the only major company in the country, 21CW continued to grow. Eventually, in March 2015 Mark Carnie convinced the Scottish National Arts Council to give him a $5,000,000 grant to start a wrestling promotion. The result was Scottish National Promotions. Although Carnie is the definition of a scumbag indy promoter, SNP has managed to get a dedicated Scottish fanbase among Scots who refuse to watch 21CW. With a lot of money and a dedicated fanbase, it seems that SNP might stay around for a bit longer. In October 2015, Tommy Cornell returned to the UK at 21CW Hardcore Halloween Show, helping his younger cousin Edward Cornell win the 21CW World Championship.
Japan[]
From A Giant To The Darkness(1900-1960)[]
Wrestling had always been a part of Japanese culture, but from the early 1900s to the 1930s, Giant Pro Wrestling was the only major promotion in the country. This time was known as the "Giant Era". It's stars became national icons. However, in 1933 Giant Pro Wrestling went out of business under mysterious circumstances. The way GPW had closed shattered the public's trust in wrestling. This led to the "Dark Era" where no wrestling events happened in Japan. It ended in 1960 when Golden Canvas Grappling was formed.
From Darkness To Light (1960-1996)[]
GCG was formed in May 1960 and began to slowly grow overtime. It's birth was followed 6 years later by the birth of Burning Hammer of the Wrestling Gods in May 1966. These two promotions fought hard in a war that lasted until the 1980s when BHOTWG came out on top. Left financially ruined, GCG held on. After this, promotions such as 5 Star Supreme Wrestling came along, propelling Joshi wrestling up in popularity. BHOTWG remained on top, but in July 1996, a new promotion came along.
The Pride Era (1996-2006)[]
Sadaharu Jimbo formed Pride Glory Honor Wrestling wrestling following his 1990 retirement from wrestling. A star from GCG, the combination of his name power and the great wrestling provided by PGHW allowed them to survive and thrive. They began to be seen as a rival to BHOTWG. In this time frame, promotions such as World Level Wrestling, Pro Wrestling SAISHO, and Warrior Engine XXV were formed, further enhancing Japanese wrestling. In 2006, the "INSPIRE" crisis occurred.
From INSPIRE To Uninspired (2006-2011)[]
In 2006, a group of wrestlers walked out of BHOTWG following a dispute. In this group was the legendary Tadiyuki Kikkawa. The result was Inspire Diversity Group International being formed in May 2006. The promotion was born in a blaze of media fire, but once the hype died, so did the promotion. MMA fans stayed with the giant ALPHA-1 promotion, and wrestling fans stayed with the traditional BHOTWG and PGHW. INSPIRE died in April 2009. However, Japan was once against rocked when the Modern Japan Movement was founded in June 2011.
The End Of Tradition (2011-Present)[]
Formed in June 2011 by Warrior Engine XXV owner Ryu Kajahara, the Modern Japan Movement was considered an insult to tradition in Japan. It's aim was to eliminate to traditional touring schedule used by Japanese promotions. WEXXV and World Level Wrestling were the founding members, but when GCG joined that same year, it gave the movement momentum and showed it could change the entire wrestling industry in Japan. In December 2011, young promotion EXODUS 2010 joined the movement. This was followed by Pro Wrestling SAISHO entering the movement in 2014, and 5 Star Supreme Wrestling entering in 2015. However, the movement's shining moment was when Burning Hammer of The Wrestling Gods switched to a new schedule and started a weekly TV show. Although they didn't join the movement, the switch was all that was needed. Although this wasn't taken by traditionalists lying down (Black Canvas Grappling was formed in December 2011 by the legendary Yoshifusa Maeda in response to GCG joining the movement), it's left Black Canvas Grappling and Pride Glory Honor Wrestling as the last companies in Japan that use the traditional touring schedule.
Europe[]
Ultimate Combat (1998-2007)[]
Before 1998, most wrestling promotions in Europe were small independent promotions who lived short lives. That changed in April 1998 when Ultimate Combat Ring opened. Owner Louis Figo Manico took a few years to find a good product, trying everything from sports entertainment to psuedo-hardcore wrestling. He settled on an old school styled product, with seemed to make fans happy. Although they enjoyed success in Europe with no real competition, Louis grew bored with pro wrestling and closed UCR to take a lengthy hiatus from pro wrestling. Europe didn't stay without promotions for long. Two months after UCR closed, former UCR wrestler Byron formed European Wrestling All-Stars, a promotion with a product based on sports entertainment. The next month in August 2007, former UCR wrestler Ali Bloxsome formed Ultimate European Wrestling. The promotion offers a traditional wrestling product, similar to what UCR had before it closed. Before the end of that year, both promotions had split the former UCR roster 50/50.
Relative Peace (2007-Present)[]
In April 2009, Albert Thorp formed the Victory Wrestling Association. With three promotions in Europe, EWA and UEW formed a non-aggression pact, agreeing to not sign each others workers. Now in 2016, EWA is the largest promotion in Europe, being a regional sized company, but UEW is close behind, with VWA being in the back of the pack.
Australia[]
Aussie Rules (????-2009)[]
Prior to 2007, wrestling in Australia was mostly inactive. Although there were a handful of small promotions (the Melbourne Wrestling Federation being most prominent), those promotions were extremely small and were struggling to stay alive. In February 2007, Australian Pro Wrestling was formed by James J McMinister. With McMinister's money and the boom period around the corner, APW began to rise. Buying out the smaller promotions and using their best talent, it seemed likely they'd go big. However, that changed in March 2009 when Revolution Australian Wrestling was formed.
RAW Rules (2009-Present)[]
In March 2009, The Australian Sports Network (ASN) needed a new show to boost ratings. Tristram Day pointed out that wrestling shows tended to test extremely well in the key demographics that the network was after. Instead of paying a large sum of money to import shows from America, Day convinced the network to start Revolution Australian Wrestling. As the worlds first wrestling promotion created entirely for TV purposes, it garnered a lot of hate from most wrestling fans as the promotion had very few matches and was mostly a soap opera. Despite this, Raw is the largest promotion in Australia, and has the most popular stars in the country. Smaller promotions such as APW, Deep Impact Wrestling, and ZEN: Art Of Wrestling have remained small, while RAW's popularity continues to skyrocket.