Long time no see! (2002 Recap)

 Hey! So as I've been struggling with college and... life in general, as a disabled trans person, I've taken to just booking without posting anything so I could use TEW for stimulation. As a result, I'm now in May of 2003 - yeah, I've done over a year since the last post! I'm going to very, very briefly try and sum up some of the major beats of 2002, and then I'm going to focus on booking through Bash of the Beach 2003. Following BATB is going to be the first trades in the brand split, plus it's my second biggest PPV of the year. After that, I'll work on an updated roster, title histories/championships, and getting the Starrcade 2002 card posted up just for fun. Check the quick retrospective below the cut!

THUNDER:

• The main theme of Thunder in 2002 was a generational war between Titan Unlimited and New Blood (members listed in subheading below). Titan wanted wrestling to be like it was in the "Golden Era", crusading against traditional wrestlers having their spots taken by smaller guys, international stars, and mixed martial artists. They were very hypocritical and spent a lot of time crying about respect while attacking the New Blood. This feud officially went on until WarGames, where the New Blood won with the help of their new member Bob Sapp. The after effects were felt at Starrcade, but Titan Unlimited were forced to disband. With their problem solved, New Blood (most of whom didn't like each other anyway) disbanded as well.
• Additionally, Sting and Keiji Mutoh were courted by Titan Unlimited, and both refused their invitations. Sting didn't want any part of another war, while Keiji Mutoh unofficially sided with the New Blood by letting Hector Garza, something of an apprentice to Mutoh, join.
• Titan Unlimited - Hulk Hogan (leader), Big Van Vader, Kevin Nash, Scott Hall, Scott Steiner, Rick Steiner, Bam Bam Bigelow, Dustin Rhodes (and his protege, R.C. Haas, who Dustin claimed as the only respectful rookie in wrestling), an international contingent of Yoshiaki Yatsu and Masa Chono, and Jimmy Hart (managing the Steiners) and Sherri Martel (Hogan's valet) as support. People like Chono and Vader reverted to the old forms of their ring names as part of the idea that Titan's generation was the best one.
• New Blood - Rob Van Dam, Power Warrior (later joined by Queen Hokuto), Chris Jericho, Bob Sapp, Adam Castle, Steve Corino, Tajiri, Milano Collection A.T. (and his valet, Vittoria Valentine), Ken Shamrock, Mark Jindrak, and Hector Garza.
• There were also, of course, other stories throughout the year. Milano Collection A.T. had a successful National Openweight title reign as a giant killer for a while, Simon Diamond and Diamond Dallas Page officially brought Diamonds in the Rough to the main event, and a lot of other, less consequential stuff happened.
• The finals of the Women's championship tournament saw Amy Dumas defeat Aja Kong to become the first WCW Women's champ in several years.

NITRO:

• Nitro was a lot less centralized than Thunder was. The main cast of the year were Dwayne Johnson, Steve Austin, Randy Savage, Curt Hennig, Deadman Callous, Goldberg and Vampiro, with Brock Lesnar, Shelton Benjamin, Jeff Hardy, Perro Aguayo Jr., Homicide, and Sean O'Haire rising up as well. Additionally, Jeff Jarrett debuted by attacking Steve Austin during an open mic at the Great American Bash, after which Double J allied with GM Ric Flair.
• Curt Hennig spent the first quarter of the year as world champ with Brock Lesnar and Shelton Benjamin backing him up as Team Perfect.
• Vampiro formed Dark Veil, a brooding and calculating stable designed to take power in the shadows. He was joined by Sean O'Haire and Cibernetico, both of whom enjoyed a rise to the main event. They made their biggest move when they took out Randy Savage by hitting him with a car before their formation, using David Arquette as a pawn who was easily manipulated due to heat with Savage stemming from Ready To Rumble, which still happened in this timeline.
• Savage won the world title upon his return in April before losing it to Dwayne Johnson at Bash at the Beach in a historic match which had been built up ever since Dwayne Johnson joined the nWo in 1997. It was the first time the two had been physical with each other.
• Afterward, Dwayne Johnson had a successful reign with Steve Austin persistently chasing him, but not getting a chance to challenge him until Starrcade.
• Elsewhere, Chris Harris and James Storm spent months being courted by several managers until they chose to sign with J.J. Dillon, who rechristened them America's Most Wanted. They would defeat Pacific Stampede for the tag titles at Fall Brawl. Meanwhile, Paul Ellering introduced a new team: The Pantheon, consisting of Leviathan (Batista) and Predator (Terkay).
• The United States championship was swapped several times between Dr. Wagner Jr. and Christian Cage in a heated feud, leading to an iron man match at Starrcade.
• Kaz Hayashi established the Brass Knuckles championship as a title for legitimate fighters instead of hardcore wrestlers, both drawing the ire of hardcore guys and attracting the attention of wrestlers wanting to claim to be the toughest, such as Sam Greco. 
• Unfortunately for Kaz, it became a point of contention for Brock Lesnar and Goldberg, the former of whom grew increasingly frustrated after never being able to get a win over Goldberg, and the latter being frustrated after he was unable to put Brock away during a Beat the Clock Challenge against Curt Hennig in Lesnar's first major showing. Goldberg established himself as the "Ultimate Fighter" by defeating Don Frye in a (worked) mixed martial arts fight (billed as MFA [Millennium Fighting Arts] Rules) at Bash at the Beach. In retaliation, Lesnar dominated Hayashi to win the Brass Knuckles title and say he's the real Ultimate Fighter, leading to a Brass Knuckles title match at Starrcade between him and Goldberg.
• Black Tiger made his return to WCW after a decade since his last appearance, making a quick mark on the cruiserweight division and heading into Starrcade the champ.
• The Flyin' Brian Cup took place, with the field listed below. Perro Aguayo Jr. would win the finals at a WRESTLE-1 crossover show with IGF in Japan.
• First Rounders: Masato Yoshino, Jose Maximo, Ricky Marvin, Chris Sabin, Nigel McGuinness, Julio Dinero, Jerrelle Clark, Incognito, Jody Fleisch, Matt Cross, Nick Mondo, TJ Wilson, Sonjay Dutt, Volador Jr., Shawn Daivari, and Leon Kendrick.
• Second Rounders: Joel Maximo, Amazing Red, Claude Marrow (Ruckus), Bryan Danielson, Onyx, Petey Williams, Mikey Whipwreck, and Shark Boy.
• Quarter Finalists: Low Ki, Michael Shane, Homicide, and CIMA.
• Semi-Finalists: Shuji Kondo and AJ Styles.
• Runner Up: Caol Uno.

COMPANY WIDE:

• The WCW vs. the World tour returned, this time hosting six events: "Start the Revolution" in Moscow, "Outback Impact" in Melbourne, "Clash in the Kingdom" in Manchester, "When Worlds Collide" in Mexico City, "World in Japan" in Tokyo, and "Shadow of Giants" outside the Colosseum in Rome.
• This year's Blackjack Classic was won by Chris Jericho, who unsuccessfully challenged Rob Van Dam for the WCW International Openweight championship at Shadow of Giants. The tournament featured five outside participants, which were Kenta Kobashi, Manabu Nakanishi, Josh Barnett, Deadman Callous, and Monty Brown. The field is below:
• First Rounders: C.W. Anderson, Kanyon, Josh Barnett, Big Van Vader, Manabu Nakanishi, Andrew King, Taiyo Kea, and Lance Storm.
• Quarter Finalists: Kenta Kobashi, Shinya Hashimoto, Curt Hennig & Shelton Benjamin (went to a draw), and Monty Brown.
• Semi Finalist: Sting.
• Runner Up: Deadman Callous.

MILLENNIUM FIGHTING ARTS

• The first year of WCW's newest alliance in Japan was a rousing success. Antonio Inoki returned from retirement and became the oldest world heavyweight champion in history by defeating the inaugural DREAM Openweight champion, Yoshihiro Takayama. Inoki would defend throughout the year until losing to Power Warrior in November at Millennium Fighting Arts Presents: Ultimate Crush, a show mostly contested under mixed martial arts rules.
• Power Warrior earned his shot by winning the Millennium Grand Prix, contested over two events in August and October. The field was as follows:
• First Rounders: Sean O'Haire, Yoshihiro Takayama, Scott Steiner, Osamu Nishimura, Great Sasuke, Atsushi Onita, Kazushi Sakuraba, and Naoya Ogawa.
• Quarter Finalists: Masahiro Chono, Bob Sapp (defeated Manabu Nakanishi to be the official alternate, replaced Nobuhiko Takada), Black Tiger, and Shinya Hashimoto.
• Semi-Finalists: Toshiaki Kawada and Ken Shamrock.
• Runner Up: Keiji Mutoh.