Date: Mon, 2 Jun 97 16:58:40 EDT Message-Id: <9706022058.AA08379@freenet5.carleton.ca> From: ag725@freenet.carleton.ca (Rick Scaia) To: nfd@aimnet.com Subject: The News From Dayton -- 06/02/97 Reply-To: ag725@freenet.carleton.ca Sender: owner-nfd@majordomo.aimnet.com Precedence: list THE NEWS FROM DAYTON For the week of June 2, 1997 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Hart and Pillman Out? / Flair's Still the Man! Read on for more on today's Headline Stories! --------------------------------------------------------------------------- The News From Dayton is compiled weekly by: Rick Scaia (ag725@freenet.carleton.ca) --------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------------------------- The News -- For the Week of June 2, 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, or if you are linking directly here without checking out the main News From Dayton Headlines Page, I strongly encourage you to make the jump to the NFD on the web at http://homepages.udayton.edu/~scaiarij/wrestling/nfd.htm 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. THE ALEX MARVEZ COLUMN * Alex's top story this week is the response of Dayton-area fans to recent local events promoted by both the WWF and WCW. In a nutshell, the recent WWF return to Dayton was a box office disappointment, while WCW's shows have recently become virtual guaranteed sell-outs. The WWF show on May 24 was entertaining to the over 3,100 fans who did show up; but that number is well below the WWF's national average attendence figures. Because of the poor box office showing, it is not expected that the WWF will come back to Dayton again until February, 1998. The reasons for the small crowd could be blamed on many things, but poor promotional efforts and confusion surrounding the main event are two likely causes. Only limited radio and television ads were used, and print ads in the Dayton Daily News included "Kevin Shamrock" in the main event. Ken Shamrock was actually scheduled to be part of the main event six-man tag match, but he was pulled from the spot after coming down with a case of food poisoning while in Calgary (where Shamrock is now training in the Hart family dungeon). [BTW, results from the show are available in the NFD Archives. On the other hand, WCW's recent shows at the Hara Arena have been major successes for the group. An April show sold out the venue, and tickets for tonight's Nitro event were also sold out days ago (though Alex does say that Hara and WCW are considering reconfiguring camera and production equipment to make more seats available... call 937-278-4776 to see if any more tickets have gone on sale). Although last week's events on Nitro dictate that fans attending the live Nitro telecast will see a Chris Benoit vs. Barbarian match, WCW is not releasing any information on what other events/matches will take place at the Hara Arena tonight. I should have a full report from ringside (including dark matches and what you don't see on TV) here tomorrow. * Next, Alex speculates that Vader may be in trouble with the WWF front office. On TV last week, Vader was beaten quickly by Ahmed Johnson on RAW; over the weekend, he also took the fall in a 6-man tag match on Shotgun. Alex also speculates that this might mean Vader is on his way out of the WWF. Vader did those televised jobs despite a badly broken nose that is not yet fully healed. * The long-rumored split between Roddy Piper and Ric Flair should now take place after the duo faces Kevin Nash and Scott Hall June 15 at the Great American Bash PPV. Various events have resulted in that angle being delayed by a month, as it was initially suppossed to take place at the last PPV show. * Alex's final topic is the much-deserved push that ECW's Stevie Richards is receiving. Richards will challenge for the ECW Title held by Terry Funk this Saturday at the ECW Arena, and may be getting a more "serious" persona after several years of providing comic relief in ECW. On a sidenote, Marvez notes that Terry Funk plans on wrestling full-time through the rest of 1997 before cutting back on appearances. * Alex Marvez's column appears every Sunday in the Dayton Daily News. In addition to sharing his wrestling thoughts there, Alex is also once again lurking about the America OnLine Grandstand Wrestling Area, and can be e-mailed with questions at "alex_marvez@coxohio.com". Also, Alex can also be heard on Mondays and Fridays on WING-FM (102.9) at 7:20 a.m. talking about wrestling and other sports. IN OTHER NEWS... * Two months ago, the prognosis for Bret Hart's new knee injury was that he'd be back "by King of the Ring, at the earliest." Well, even though plans were made for him to be in action at the earliest possible juncture, it seems the knee is not co-operating. After a week of speculation that the reason for Steve Austin's attack on Hart's knee on the May 26 RAW is WAR was to explain a further hiatus for Hart, current information suggests that is, in fact, the truth. It is a virtual lock that tonight's RAW is WAR will include an announcement from Hart that he cannot wrestle as planned on the June 8 PPV. As a matter of fact, other sources are also reporting that Hart has been pulled from all his scheduled matches through June, and that his return to the ring has been delayed until the July In Your House PPV in his hometown of Calgary. The most widely-circulated rumors have Bret Hart being replaced in his King of the Ring co-main event against Shawn Michaels by "Stone Cold" Steve Austin. This scenario could be quite interesting, as Michaels and Austin are the current tag team champions of the WWF; also, Austin is already scheduled to wrestle against Brian Pillman on the KotR show. Other sources speculate that the Legion of Doom could win the tag titles tonight on RAW and that Pillman may be pulled from the PPV to allow Austin to wrestle Michaels. Prodigy's Bob Ryder spoke to a WWF source that said that Pillman being pulled from the PPV should not be taken as a sign that he is not ready to wrestle, but as a sign that the WWF does not want to bury Pillman on the mid-card of his first PPV. Another rumored potential change to the KotR card is the insertion of Psycho Sid to the LOD/Hart Foundation feud. As reported here during the week, Sid may return to action tonight on RAW; some sources say that he could join the LOD to face a team of Owen Hart/British Bulldog/Jim Neidhart at the PPV. In addition to a tag title match between the unlikely duo of Shawn Michaels and Steve Austin and the challengers, the Legion of Doom, tonight's RAW will also include the final first round King of the Ring match, a match between Ahmed Johnson and Faarooq, and the continuation of the fascinating Mankind shoot-style interview. * As I reported here over the last week, the future of the UFC is in serious doubt, as many cable systems were scheduled to stop showing the events after Friday's "Ultimate Force" UFC13 PPV. Well, my cable system jumped the gun, and much to my surprise, did not offer the Friday event. To put it mildly, I was livid that anyone other than ME was deciding what I could and could not watch (especially on a cable system where four hours of soft core pornography courtesy of the Playboy Channel is just one phone call away!). All TCI and Time Warner Cable Systems will continue to black out all extreme fighting events in the future. I suggest making sure you voice your disdain with that decision with your local cable company, should you be in the same boat. Although I missed the event, several readers passed along skeleton outlines of the show [Tony Halme (a/k/a the WWF's "Ludvig Borga") was defeated in the first round of the heavyweight tournament, for anyone who was interested in his performance]: o Metzger won the lightweight tourney, defeating Tito Ortiz (who was subbing for the injured Enson Inoue in the finals) o Randy Couture won the heavyweight tourney, beating Steven Graham in the finals (Couture beat Halme in the opening round) o Vitor Belfort defeated Tank Abbot in the Superfight when referee John McCarthy stopped the match * The first matches were announced for the July In Your House scheduled to take place July 6 in Calgary. Two "official" matches include Ahmed Johnson vs. Vader and Sid vs. Faarooq. In local promos for the event, Dok Hendrix also said that a 10 man tag match was also in the works, with the Hart Foundation (Bret, Owen, Bulldog, Pillman, Neidhart) taking on Steve Austin, Shawn Michaels, Undertaker, and the Legion of Doom. As always, don't write those matches down in ink, as they tend to change a lot from initial announcement to final PPV line-up. * Jerry Lawler called out ECW on USWA television over the weekend. Lawler has been the most vocal critic of ECW in the slow-moving WWF/ECW angle, and said that even if he didn't have any friends who agreed with him in the WWF, he had tons of friends in the USWA who agreed with him about ECW. He challenged them to come on down south. Rumors are circulating that ECW might begin a co-promotional feud with USWA starting on June 14. * Speaking of the WWF/ECW thing... Rob Van Dam's tour of Japan ends -- I believe -- on June 6 or 7. His next possible appearance stirring up trouble in either the WWF or ECW would be next weekend. Many people expect that once Van Dam is back, the ECW/WWF angle will begin full-force, with a full-blown ECW invasion of RAW sometime during June. On a side note, the Michinoku Pro stars who appeared on ECW's Barely Legal are expected to be major players in the WWF's new light heavyweight division (BTW, the weight cut-off will be only 215 lbs., meaning guys like Leif Cassidy and Bob Holly will have to drop some pounds), and should debut with the WWF on either June 23rd or June 30th. * Interesting little item from the Real News Wrestling Sheet: Ric Flair was apparently cited in Chapel Hill, NC, for violation of the state's open container law. You're not allowed to walk around with an open alcoholic beverage, and at 1 a.m. last Thursday night, Flair was caught doing just that outside of a bar. A small fine accompanies the citation. * Finally, I just wanted to make mention of an incredibly entertaining segment of ECW's weekly TV show this past Friday.... in the show's main event, Balls Mahoney and the Sandman had a bloody brawl where the only thing on the line was an ice cold Budweiser. The pre-match taunting and posturing, along with the commentary from Rick Rude and Joey Styles were absolutely hilarious. This is the sort of thing that makes ECW so damned entertaining in my book. But maybe you just had to see it for yourself; or maybe you're the sort of person who still wouldn't have enjoyed it even it you did see it for yourself. All I know is that I got kick out of it. BTW, the match ended with interference from the Dudley Boys. Balls and the Sandman bonded, however, and will now be facing the Dudleys at the next ECW Arena show (June 7). I could remind you where you first read about Balls and the Sandman becoming a tag team over a month ago, but I'm sure all of you remember that it was right here in the NFD! This is only the NFD Weekly Edition. Check here every Monday for the in-depth looks at all the news, as well as for the exclusive Web Home of the Alex Marvez Column. At other times during the week, be sure to check out The NFD Updates for quick recaps of breaking stories! --------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------------------------- The News From Dayton is Copyright 1995, 1997 by Rick Scaia. This document, as well as all web pages in the NFD hierarchy, is the intellectual property of Rick Scaia. Duplication of the style or content contained there-in for financial gain or without giving credit to the NFD and Rick Scaia is frowned upon. I mean REALLY frowned upon. You know who you are! -- Rick Scaia | VISIT ME ON THE WEB A Loathesome, Offensive Brute | http://www.ncf.carleton.ca/~ag725/ ag725@freenet.carleton.ca | http://homepages.udayton.edu/~scaiarij/ ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- - List: nfd - Majordomo v1.94.1 - Aimnet, Santa Clara, California, USA