Date: Sun, 9 Mar 1997 21:35:05 -0500 (EST) Message-Id: <199703100235.VAA04346@freenet2.carleton.ca> From: ag725@freenet.carleton.ca (Rick Scaia) To: nfd@aimnet.com Subject: News From Dayon -- 03/10/97 Reply-To: ag725@freenet.carleton.ca Sender: owner-nfd@majordomo.aimnet.com Precedence: list THE NEWS FROM DAYTON For the week of March 10, 1997 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------------------------- "RAW" fighting hard in losing "War" / The Piper Debacle Read on for more on today's Headline Stories! --------------------------------------------------------------------------- The News From Dayton is compiled weekly by: Rick Scaia (ag725@freenet.carleton.ca) However, I do not work in a vacuum... by virtue of being much more dedicated to to regular, insider updates on breaking news than I am, the following informative online personalities and forums provide key corroboration and details on the stories I report here; the NFD counts on them to make sure only the most reliable information is passed on to you, the eager fan: Alex Marvez and his Weekly Dayton Daily News Wrestling Column The Wrestling Lariat The Newzfirst Folder (on America On-Line) and the brand new WrestleSite Web Page The Bagpipe Report and MiCasa's Daily News WWF On-Line (on America On-Line) and of course... My Many Top Secret Sources Whose Names I Cannot Divulge --------------------------------------------------------------------------- The News -- For the Week of March 3, 1997 The News From Dayton, as always, remains a combination of the weekly Dayton Daily News pro wrestling column, penned by Alex Marvez, and other pieces of information I feel are unique and worth passing on to you, the Home Viewer. If you are reading the NFD on one of the RSPW newsgroups, or anywhere on the web other than the revamped News From Dayton Web Site, I strongly encourage you to make the jump to the NFD on the web at http://www.ncf.carleton.ca/~ag725/HomePage.news.html I think you'll find the trip worthwhile, as there are many exclusive features to the NFD Web Site, along with updates on breaking news, so that you don't have to wait a full week for the NFD's take on the latest rumors. But for now, let's kick things off with Alex Marvez's column: * While the response to my own personal editorializing about the horrid Roddy Piper segment generated *mostly* agreeable e-mail, there were a few folks who thought I was unecessarily harsh, and that I should keep my "obvious WWF bias" to myself on this matter. Well, if it helps any, Alex Marvez -- a man who gets paid by a major daily newspaper to contribute his unbiased reports on pro wrestling every Sunday -- was even a bit more harsh. To prevent being accused of any improperly biased summary of Alex's own ideas, I will instead use the following exact quotes from the Sunday, March 9, 1997 Dayton Daily News. The column headline this week was "Piper's exploits hurt WCW show." The by-line underneath read "Phony-looking brawls by Piper and his new partners tunred off many Nitro viewers." And it got better, as the column's first paragraphe read, "Roddy Piper's massive ego resulted in one of the worst skits in wrestling history on last weeks WCW Monday Nitro." Now that I've established I'm not completely off-base in offering a negative opinion on the Piper Debacle of last Monday, here's some more particulars about the situation, offered by Alex. First, the boxer was Craig Malley, and the kickboxer was Layton Morrison, both of whom are friends of Piper's in real life, and neither of whom has any pro wrestling experience. Secondly, this was an example of Piper's behind the scenes clout, as he has creative control over his angles; as such, he demanded that his friends be allowed not only to particpate in this angle, but also that they join him in the Uncensored PPV main event. Next, Alex noted that while the Piper segment kicked off with a 4.5 rating (the highest of the entire 2 hour Nitro show), they lost an entire ratings point (680,000 viewers) in the next quarter hour. Finally, there is some pressure on Piper to acquiesce to WCW booking desires, which would place the three healthy Four Horsemen (Benoit, Mongo, Jarrett) in the PPV main event with Piper; we will find out on Monday if Piper has been confronted about this situation, and if he's given in. * Dennis Rodman has agreed to a WCW contract, and will be brought in as a member of the NWO (in the NWO corner at the PPV). It appears that D-Rod's contract is for "several" appearances (not for three years as reported elsewhere), and is in the seven-figure salary range. This deal will likely end with Rodman actually wrestling come summer. But for now, expect Rodman's association to begin with a taped message to appear on this Monday's Nitro. This deal with WCW comes after Rodman was courted by the WWF for a series of special appearances leading up to WrestleMania, which is in Chicago (where Rodman plays for the NBA Bulls); however, Rodman's agent decided to investigate whether or not there were more lucrative options for Rodman in the pro wrestling world, and the deep pockets of Ted Turner were able to provide for a deal even more attractive than the reported 3 appearance, $1 million deal the WWF offered. FWIW, as much as seeing Rodman in the wrestling world will be a lot of fun, I gotta look at the recent high ticket price items Vince has picked up for the WWF (Ken Shamrock and a three year $1 million contract, as well as the Road Warriors) and give him credit for being an extremely smart shopper. I mean, Rodman will be an interesting side show to the normal WCW goings-on, but the money spent on Shamrock and the LOD will actually pay off in the ring. * Alex next recaps the weak ratings performance by the latest edition of WWF RAW. While Nitro continued strong with a 3.4 rating over the two hours, RAW dropped a full half ratings point from the previous week's performance, down to a 1.9 over the two hour period. As documented, the quarter hour with the start of the Piper segment was the peak for Nitro (4.5), while the same quarter hour was the low point for RAW (1.5, and this was during the WWF Title match between Sid and Mankind). * Finally, Alex closes with a recap of some tidbits from behind the scenes at the last Nitro. The wicked briefcase shot Mongo McMichael took from Jeff Jarrett required 20 stitches to close up. And as we've known for a while, "Disco Inferno" Glen Gilbernetti was fired before the show got underway for refusing to drop a match to Miss Jacqueline. * Alex Marvez's weekly Dayton Daily News Wrestling Column provides the timely and accurate information that generally makes up a portion of the NFD. Have you got a wrestling question you'd like answered as part of Alex's weekly column? If so, Alex can be contacted via e-mail at this *NEW* address: "alex_marvez@coxohio.com". And now, if you're in the Miami Valley, you can listen to Alex's commentary on wrestling (and other sports) on WING-FM (102.9) Mondays and Fridays at 7:20 a.m. Due to time and computer limitations, Alex is no longer part of the AOL Grandstand Wrestling Area. Here are some other newsbites I've put together for you: * Despite being a ratings loser for 30-plus weeks, Monday Night RAW shows no signs of letting up in terms of being the superior show in terms of entertainment value... in previous weeks we have had title changes, surprise appearance by Ken Shamrock, and the wonderfully crafted ECW angle, and this Monday will see a convergence of a lot of the factors which have made the last month's worth of shows so superb. First, in action that builds to the WWF's top PPV show of the year, WrestleMania 13, main event foes the Undertaker and Sid will be made to team up. Also on hand will be Ken Shamrock, who is expected to be interjected more directly into the Bret Hart Steve Austin feud, thus explaining his role as the referee for thier WM13 submission match. And everyone and their uncle is guessing that, despite Paul E. Dangerously's lack of a solid promise to be in Worcester, MA, the boys of Extreme Championship Wrestling will be there in force. If ECW is in the house, it's expected that not only will the ECW vs. ECW matches be taken up a notch in intensity (the ECW camp is pushing heavily for Vince to put a Sabu and Rob Van Dam vs. Eliminators match on the card -- and the four times these four have wrestled each other in ECW, it's always been a ****+ affair... also, Sandman might be in action), but there is also the very good chance that the seeds of a series of WWF vs. ECW matches will take place, with Jerry Lawler in the role of the coordinating the WWF forces. And last but not least, tommorrow night's show will also feature the stars of Mexico's AAA promotion, as Latin Lover (previously seen as a combatant in the Royal Rumble) and Hector Garza will be part of a Trios match. All that action, and the WWF is also expected to debut a new sleek look for RAW (capitlizing on the "RAW is WAR" motto) tommorrow night. IMODO, that's more than just a stacked deck; it's practically a four-of-a-kind. Stars from four promotions (WWF, ECW, UFC, AAA) all on one show... who'd have guessed a year ago that the Monday Night Wars would get this heated? * Even a week away from the WCW Uncensored PPV, and we still aren't exactly clear on the main event match and stipulations. I guess they are confident enough that they can tell their stories in a hurried fashion and at the last second because of the huge Monday night crowds they generate on cable TV; thus, no need to hype a series of matches for a PPV, as long as they can generate the impulse buys. The best thinking is that we've got Hogan, Hall, Nash, and Savage on the NWO team, with Giant, Luger, and the Steiners for the WCW team, and Piper, along with his three hacks (Malley, Morrison, Tenta) on a third team. Some are saying that a Savage/DDP singles match may be on the card. I don't know. I don't keep up with WCW the way I should... anyway, according to MiCasa, the stipulations for this match are that if the NWO wins, they will get title shots at any WCW belt-holders on a future PPV. If WCW wins, the NWO must vacate all titles and can't wrestle on WCW for three years. And if Piper wins, he gets a cage match against Hogan on a future PPV. We'll see if these come to pass... but if they do, any sucker who buys this show actually thinking Team WCW would win has my sympathies. The WCW win is the only stipulation worth getting excited about, and it's the only one that would never, in a million years, come to pass. Or more accurately, come to pass with the stipulations met completely. [I can just see WCW trying to throw a swere by "stunning" the smarts with a WCW win, but then pulling some BS to allow NWO to continue to exist...] Time will tell. * Last year at this time, "Johnny B. Badd" Marc Mero was fired by Eric Bischoff for what amount to basically "creative differences." This year, early March has brought us the firing of "Disco Inferno" Glen Gilbernetti for similar reasons. Last year, Marc Mero debuted in the WWF a few weeks later as himself at WM12. Will this year bring us the start of the WWF leg of the Shake Your Booty Tour? It's too early to say... but a lot of fans are already hoping for exactly that turn of events. It's unknown if any "no-compete" clause exists, or even if it would apply in the case of Gilbernetti being fired. In regards to some who are questioning whether "Disco Inferno" could appear in the WWF, the answer is, "Yes, he can." Glen Gilbernetti was doing that gimmick well before he entered WCW, so unless he agreed to one of those screwy retro-active character control contracts that the Headbangers agreed to to retain their gimmick (Flash "2 Cold Scorpio" Funk turned down a similar option upon signing with Titan), he can legally enter the WWF as the Disco Inferno. The question would then become whether that would even be a desirable situation... personally, I can see Gilbernetti as a guy with potential beyond becoming the HonkyTonk Man's protege and remaining the "Disco Inferno." Just as Marc Mero dropped the goofy and one-dimensional "Johnny B. Badd" gimmick upon entering the WWF, I'd like to see the WWF tweak the "Disco" gimmick just enough that it retains it's appeal without retaining the stigma of being WCW's goofy dancing loser. But such speculation is *way* early, as the guy has yet to start negociating with anyone. * On the subject of talent signings... we all found out that WCW had acquired the services of Luna Vachon (to relive her 1994 feud with Alundra Blayze/Madusa). And it took less than a week to find out she was once again bringing her husband, Vampire Warrior (David Heath), along for the ride. When Luna was a big part of ECW back in mid-1995, Warrior also mysteriously appeared for a brief run. While Luna was in the WWF, Warrior, wrestling as David Heath, got a number of try-outs. [One try-out I saw in 1993 still sticks out in my mind as one of the worst displays of wrestling I've ever seen... Heath just couldn't get it together with the othef jobber guy, and they didn't connect on a single good spot. Finally, the ref counted a quick three out of nowhere -- after something tame like a bodyslam -- just to get the two out of the ring.] * Eric Bischoff had a chat session on Prodigy last week... I don't know if I'm gonna get the entire transcript here or not. But the highlights included Bischoff being oddly more overreactive and defensive when issues regarding the WWF came up; his retorts were a lot more personal than in the past, at least. Also, Bischoff said that in his mind, the biggest threat to Nitro's continued success on Monday Nights was the involvement of ECW on RAW in the future; I'm not sure if he meant that as a slap in the face to Titan (their product isn't good enough to compete on its own), an attempt to over-credit ECW with ratings success on 2/24 (and maybe drive a rift between Paul E. and Vince?), or an honest observation that ECW is a lot of fun to watch (as witnessed by the ratings spike on 2/24). Bischoff also addressed the Disco Inferno situation (pretty much using the same "our talent has to realize they have to be team players and play the role I tell them to" party line that he used in regards to Marc Mero last year... a party line that is really hard for any intelligent fan to swallow considering the fact that Bischoff has no problem letting guys like Hogan, Savage, and Piper write their own tickets). And he discussed the Roddy Piper Debacle, trying to convince fans that Piper really is an unaffiliated wrestler (no WCW contract), and thus, could only pick from other unaffliated athletes... it didn't make much sense to me either. * The Real News Wrestling Sheet is reporting that Chris Benoit has just agreed to a new 3-year deal with WCW. [BTW, the RNWS is a relatively new info page that does a super job providing daily updates on breaking news... check it out!] * Whatever ratings momentum the WWF may (or may not) build over the next three weeks with live RAWs, if the recent poor performance of the taped overseas RAW is any indication, that momentum will come crashing to a halt for the three week period including March 31, April 7, and April 14. For those three Mondays, the WWF stars will be touring the Middle East and Africa, and plans are to tape more of the international events to air on TV here. With the exception of the live post-WrestleMania 13 RAW from Rockford, IL, this would make each RAW between WM13 and the following IYH PPV a taped program. * Quick "did you see" from an NFD Reader.... apparently Hulk Hogan and Eric Bischoff were seated behind the Knicks bench during today's Knicks/Bulls game on NBC; this would probably be used to tie in with Bulls star Dennis Rodman's eventual WCW appearances. * Finally, the News From Dayton is honored to be the first ever Bagpipe Report Featured Site. The BPR is one of the premier wrestling media outlets (I have to "media outlet" since they exist as both a web page and as a newsletter :) ), and it's a huge compliment to be considered by the BPR web page as being near the top of the list of other wrestling web pages. So big thanks to the Bagpipe Report Web Page; and a suggestion from me that if you haven't already stopped by there today, you do so now. Hell, let Jon know that you think the picking the NFD as a Featured Site is one damned cool idea, while you're at it! :) * WWF pay-per-view dates for the foreseeable future: o WrestleMania 13 --- Chicago, IL --- March 23, 1997 o In Your House --- Rochester, NY --- April 20, 1997 o In Your House --- Richmond, VA --- May 11, 1997 o King of the Ring --- Providence, RI --- June 8, 1997 o In Your House --- Calgary, Alberta, Canada --- July 6, 1997 o SummerSlam '97 --- E. Rutherford, NJ --- August 3, 1997 o In Your House --- Louisville, KY --- September 7, 1997 ************ The News From Dayton This compilation is Copyright 1995, 1997 by Rick Scaia (ag725@freenet.carleton.ca) All rights, if any, reserved. Proper credit is given to sources of information whenever possible. Reproduction of this document, or the contents thereof, is permitted, and encouraged as long as: (1) in reproducing any part of this document, you give proper credit to both the original source of information as well as to "The News From Dayton," and (2) no profit is made from the reproduction or distribution of this information (this info is not meant to be disseminated via 1-900 lines or other media which cause the reader to incur a cost or which generate any kind of revenue for the information provider!). ************************************************************************** -- Rick Scaia | I'm on the Web now! RSPW Posse Minister of OFFENSE | http://www.ncf.carleton.ca/~ag725/ ag725@freenet.carleton.ca | Prepare to be Disappointed!!! ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- - List: nfd - Majordomo v1.94.1 - Aimnet, Santa Clara, California, USA