From: ag725@FreeNet.Carleton.CA (Rick Scaia) Subject: [INFO] The News From Dayton -- 08/26/96 Date: 1996/08/26 Message-ID: <4vrkcn$t1p@freenet-news.carleton.ca> Sender: ag725@freenet3.carleton.ca (Rick Scaia) Organization: The National Capital FreeNet Reply-To: ag725@FreeNet.Carleton.CA (Rick Scaia) Newsgroups: rec.sport.pro-wrestling Greetings, kids... it's good to be back at the helm of "The News From Dayton," once again. Here's one more tip of the cap to Shawn1059 from AOL for filling in for me while I was gone! As always, if you enjoy reading the NFD on UseNet news every week, you will positively love the World Wide Web version of it, complete with mid-week updates, cool bonuses (like recent PPV recaps and the like), and a handful of genuinely useful wrestling-related links. The News on the Web is located at -- http://www.ncf.carleton.ca/~ag725/HomePage.news.html This week, some lucky visitor will be the 10,000th person to read the NFD on the Web since I added a counter last month. Why shouldn't it be you? Afterall, there is a special gift pack for whoever is the lucky brouser (consisting of my eternal gratitude and a bright shiny penny)! In all seriousness, I honestly appreciate the 270 people who stop by the NFD every day, making the NFD on the Web the #4 Pro Wrestling Site on the web, as determined by Web Counter. [Note: this doesn't mean I'm really #4.... I'm just #4 out of the chumps who use Web Counter to keep track of hits!] Enough blathering! Onto the News... as always, the highlights of Alex Marvez's weekly Dayton Daily News column leads off -- * Main part of the story is in regards to the latest set of RAW tapings, which will pretty much carry us up through September's IYH PPV. You've heard all the highlights elsewhere, I am sure but here they are again: in the IC Title tourney, Marc Mero advances with a DQQ win over Steve Austin, Sid defeats Hunder Hearst Helemsley (Mr. Perfect appears and "steals" HHH's babe from ringside), and Farooq Asad defeats Savio Vega all in first round action. In the semis, Asad beats Sid by DQ and Mero pins Owen. The Mero/Asad final will take place as part of IYH. In other RAW taping news, the Sultan (who is a shaved-headed Fatu) debuted managed by Bob Backlund and the Iron Sheik, and will be persuing the World Wide Wrestling Federation Title (yes, the WW*W*F Title). Shawn Michaels beat Goldust in the match scheduled for the special Friday Night RAW, then narrowly escaped a beating at the hands of Mankind. Marvez says Barry Windham debuted as a face, and actually looked pretty good in doing so. One bit of info reported by Marvez from these tapings that I haven't seen elsewhere is that Sid and Asad performed so poorly that their semi-final tourney match had to be done a total of THREE times before they got it right. * Other tidbits mentioned by Marvez include stuff already brought up here, such as the possibility of weekly WWF PPVs, Sean Waltman's problems getting a release from the WWF, and Steve Regal winning the WCW TV Title. I don't have the paper in front of me, so I'm not totally sure about other topics covered... but I think Marvez also reported that Rick Rude could be headed back to Titan this fall (I may have read that somewhere else, though....). Also, Marvez says that in a recent cat-fight against Lori Fullington, Missy Hyatt may have broken her arm; actually, according to other information, I believe that both Missy and Lori suffered minor injuries, but that neither broke any bones or anything. * As always, Alex is available online at address "Alex1Marv@aol.com". He heads up thee "Bodyslams" folder on AOL's Grandstand Wrestling section, but is so busy with his real job (covering the Cincinnati Bengals) that he's not been posting too much there. Still, feel free to pop in and ask question or whatever. Now, onto other information, some taken from and/or corroborated by folks like Newzfirst on AOL, MiCasa's Daily News, and the Bagpipe Report. All are great sources, and make *daily* efforts at updating breaking stories, which usually means they'll tell you about news before I get a chance to. So take advantage of them already! * First off, the saga of the WWF's plans for TV programming this fall took an unexpected turn when it was announced that the previously syndicated "WWF Superstars" would be added to the USA Network schedule of WWF shows, taking the place of the Action Zone on Sunday mornings. Titan has made the decision to stop paying their affiliates to air "Superstars" and as such, have lost several of their key stations. On the heels of this, WCW has stepped up their practice of paying for timeslots by offering stations payments in exchange for giving WCW the slots vacated by the WWF. All of this news breaks after a week in which *both* feds scored strong in syndication, with WCW placing as the #6 syndicated program of the week, and the WWF at #11. * The other major development in the WWF programming saga involves the reported possibility of weekly PPVs. From the start, I questioned just how seriously Titan could be about this, and wondered if the strength of these rumors was more due to the overzealousness of the "insider" community. Simply put, I didn't see how the numbers could work out. The handful of "this could work" comments I have seen on the subject, which mostly argue that this concept could be profitable since the total of 64 PPVs means that Titan would have to realize only very small buyrates in order to match the amount of revenue they currently realize from their 12 annual shows. This is based on the faulty assumption that Titan's costs don't go up in producing the 52 additional shows. We must realize that even if Titan recognizes that they will lower the per-event buys in order to increase total annual buys, they still have to get enough orders so as to make each individual new show profitable. There is a break-even point at which an individual PPV event does not profit (for a live broadcast, I believe the number is roughly .25-.3). Considering that there have been both WCW and WWF PPVs that have brushed up against this minimum number in the past year, I believe it would be ludicrous to expect to surpass that number 52 additional times per year. Let's remember that it costs WCW $250,000 or so every week to do a live Nitro. That's what it would cost the WWF every week to produce a live PPV event, too. With a $9.95 price tag, and remembering that half of the revenue goes to cable companies, not to Titan, do *you* think the WWF could generate enough buys to make weekly PPVs profitable? This does not even consider the effects of fans who will probably be totally repulsed by the idea of shelling out upwards of $800 a year for WWF shows. * New subsection, but the same topic.... new information this week, first broken by the Torch (I think), indicates that the strength of weekly PPV rumors is decreasing, but that Titan is now considering adding their new hour of programming, but doing so on a premium cable channel. Since the idea behind the new hour (whether on PPV or wherever) is to go more hardcore (some have reported that this new hour would be a Rated-R version of the WWF), this idea makes sense if Titan would want to avoid the pitfalls of weekly PPVs. Pro Wrestling is a proven cable commodity, and I believe it could easily be pitched to a major premium service. In addition to not asking fans for $10 every week just to watch wrestling, this plan would have the added benefit of allowing for replays of the program during the week, so that the fan who has something better to do with his Saturday nights can still catch it. As bad an idea as I think persuing weekly PPVs would be, I think persuing a premium cable program is every bit as good of an idea. * WWF house show business is up from this same time last year, and this past weekend's shows will likely bolster that trend. Titan had a major show in Toronto on Saturday at Exibition Stadium, to commemorate the 10th anniversary of "The Big Event" (Hogan/Orndorff main event). There were no major surprises at the show, save for a special guest appearance by Roddy Piper. However, it is said the venue was pretty much packed (one RSPW report stated the place was "99% full"). Last night, Titan ran a big show at the Nassau Colisseum (site of one-third of WM2), which included the return of Jim Neidhart wrestling as himself, rather than as "Who." * Speculation over the next NWO member is running as wild as ever. First off, it's been said that Ted DiBiase may finally appear tonight on Nitro in whatever capacity is planned for him. While he will not actively wrestle, he's still likely to be affiliated with the NWO. [On a side bar, a recent newspaper article revealed that Ted DiBiase has "found Jesus" after years of living the life of a heathen.] We also know that Sean "1-2-3 Kid" Waltman is probably *not* going to appear in WCW/NWO anytime soon due to problems in getting his early release from the WWF. Strongest rumors now have Diamond Dallas Page as the fourth man, since he was reported as such on the WCW hotline; you'll pardon my cynicism, but to me, that's the best reason for dis-believing DDP will be #4 I can come up with. If it is DDP, there are already people speculating that the Diamond Doll would be reunited with Page to act as the NWO's valet. Other names still being tossed around as possible NWO members: Jeff Jarrett, Mabel, Eric Bischoff, Bobby Heenan, Lex Luger, and Yokozuna. * Early buyrate reports for SummerSlam are that they show pulled a .58. This is about 15% below the target Titan was reportedly shooting for (a .70)., which seems even more disappointing considering that Shawn/Vader should have been s strong drawing card. Much as I love Shawn Michaels, it might just be time to try putting the strap on a heel.... * In news I have only seen reported by MiCasa (but which bears mention): it looks like Barry "Smash" Darsow is *still* headed into the WWF (unless he'll return as Smash, I don't see why, though.... is anyone dying to see the return of Repo-Repo-Repo Man? Even if this entrance music was pretty dmaned cool....). And it also looks like Lanny Poffo is *still* headed into WCW. Both of these moves were first reported weeks/months ago, but according to MiCasa, both are still gonna go down. * In news I have only seen reported by the Bagpipe Report: we might be seeing ECW's Stevie Richards in the WWF by year's end, possibly in the role of Jerry Lawler's court jester. Also, it seems that the break-up of the Eliminators may be due to the fact that Saturn wants to take an offer from the WWF, while Kronus wanted too much money to jump. Later....... -- Rick Scaia | I'm on the Web now! Important to the Important People | http://www.ncf.carleton.ca/~ag725/ ag725@freenet.carleton.ca | Prepare to be Disappointed!!! ----------------------------------------------------------------------------