Date: Sun, 20 Jul 1997 23:09:30 -0400 (EDT) Message-Id: <199707210309.XAA23430@freenet5.carleton.ca.carleton.ca> From: ag725@freenet.carleton.ca (Rick Scaia) To: nfd@aimnet.com Subject: The News From Dayton -- 07/21/97 Reply-To: ag725@freenet.carleton.ca Sender: owner-nfd@aimnet.com Precedence: list THE NEWS FROM DAYTON For the week of July 21, 1997 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Rude's Ruse! / Harts at Home... Again! 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 July 21, 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 column did not appear this Sunday. Covering Cincinnati Bengals training camp in Georgetown, KY, is a big drain on Alex's journalistic time. The column will return in next Sunday's Dayton Daily News. In the meantime, Dayton-area fans can catch up with Alex's latest wrestling news and ruminations (in addition to getting an earful of intelligent football debate) by tuning in to the "Pressbox" radio show Mondays at 6:00 p.m. on WING-AM 1410. The first hour of the show is dedicated to football, while the second is wrestling-oriented. * 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". And now, Alex can be heard on the weekly "Pressbox" radio show, Mondays at 6:00 p.m. on WING-AM 1410. IN OTHER NEWS... * The biggest news kicking off this week are the wild events out of the ECW Arena last night as part of Heat Wave '97. Cage matches were the rule of the night, as the main event shaped up to pit Jerry Lawler, Sabu, and Rob Van Dam against Sandman, Tommy Dreamer, and a mystery partner. In actuality, Rick Rude, who earlier in the week had raged in an obscenity-laced interview about how much he hated Lawler, Sabu and Van Dam, but couldn't do anything about it because of his injured neck, came out to be the mystery partner. However, in mid-match, he turned against Sandman and Dreamer, shocking the ECW Arena crowd. The match was ruled a no contest, as the ECW locker room cleared, attempting to break up the attack. They were not successful until Taz came to ringside, and cleared out Sabu and Van Dam. Lawler, however, was caught in the ring alone with Taz. At that point, the Triple Threat came out to save Lawler (despite Shane Douglas' reputed hatred for the WWF). Clearly, things are heating up in this marquee feud, as Lawler is now aligned with not only Sabu and Van Dam, but also Rude and the Triple Threat. The other big news from the Heat Wave event was the crowning of new ECW Tag Team Champions. In a cage match, the Gangstas defeated the Dudley Boys to win those titles for (I think) the third time. Due to a stipulation added by Dudley mouthpiece Joel Gertner, Gertner will have to shave his chest hair at the Hardcore Heaven PPV. Other matches on the show: o Terry Funk defeated Shane Douglas by DQ (retaining his ECW World Title); the DQ occured when Francine bit Funk's ear o Taz retained the ECW TV Title, choking out Lance Storm o Chris Candido and Bam Bam Bigelow beat Balls Mahoney and Chris Chetti o Mikey Whipwreck and Spike Dudley got a win over PG-13; PG-13 abandoned their manager, Jason the Sexiest Man Alive o John Kronus defeated El Puerto Ricano Douglas has also been announced as receiving another title shot at Terry Funk at the Hardcore Heaven '97 pay-per-view; I wouldn't be surprised if the outcome is different next time these two fight. * Tomorrow night, the WWF returns to Canada for another edition of RAW is WAR... and nationalistic emotions are likely to be evoked again on the heels of a two incredible live crowds for live WWF telecasts two weeks ago. On July 6 and 7, the WWF held a PPV and a live RAW in the province of Alberta, and Canadian fans rallied in incredibly vocal fashion behind Bret Hart and the rest of the Hart Foundation. Some of that magic may be recaptured tomorrow. Bret, along with Owen Hart and the British Bulldog, have issued a challenge for a Flag Match (in which the winners' flag will be flown high) for tomorrow night. It's not known at this time which three WWF stars will rise to the ocassion, but this could be as good a time as any to introduce the Patriot, and would also be a possible opportunity to continue promoting Steve Austin as the Harts' primary antogonist. * Speaking of tomorrow's RAW, it will NOT be oppossed by an episode of Nitro, as TNT will be pre-empting Nitro for a mini-series. Nitro will instead air on Tuesday night. USA Network and the WWF return the favor in about 5-6 weeks, as RAW will be pre-empted for two weeks, beginning August 25. * A final item about Monday night programming... many people are suggesting that the WWF's success in the 10-11 p.m. timeslot last Monday (with the "Summer Flashbacks" special) might motivate WCW to make a move to counter an unopposed hour for the WWF. However, at the present time, that is not entirely plausible. Most importantly, TNT announced approximately two weeks ago that it had purchased the rights to the formerly-syndicated science fiction series "Babylon 5," and was going to insert it into the Monday night at 10 p.m. timeslot effective this winter. The same announcement included a blurb about TNT cutting down on allowing Nitro to run past 10 p.m. It seems to me that TNT must have pretty high hopes for "Babylon 5," which I believe is a very high-budget program, and thus probably has a high price tag attached. The post-Nitro timeslot would be one way to ensure maximum viewership for the show. Changing plans radically to allow Nitro to air in the 10-11 p.m. hour would mean sacrificing that prime timeslot for the new program. Ways WCW could counter RAW's move to the unopossed hour would still include a few options, however. One would be running "Babylon 5" at 8 p.m. (east coast, with a replay at 11 p.m.) to counter USA Network's reruns of "Walker, Texas Ranger," and then airing Nitro head-to-head with RAW. Another still being tossed around by fans is adding a third hour of Nitro, but airing it on TBS instead of TNT. While either would probably be effective in cutting out a portion of RAW's potential audience in the 10-11 p.m. timeslot, any move on WCW's part would really smack of antagonistic behavior meant to hurt Titan rather than improve their own product; they are currently producing the highest rated wrestling show on cable, and should welcome their *own* unopposed hour. Plus, the move, if it goes unopposed, would give wrestling fans the chance to watch two separate hours of wrestling without interfering with the other show, cutting down the amount of channel flipping and choosing between shows to one hour. * Many other pages/sources are passing along information about an incident between a fan and Shane Douglas at a recent ECW house show. In short, an altercation, complete with fists being thrown occurred when Douglas was attempting to leave ringside after a match. Paul Heymann, though Prodigy's Bob Ryder, has issued a statement basically proclaiming that Douglas and other ECW wrestlers who came to Douglas' aid were not at fault for sparking the incident. In fact, ECW will press charges against the fan because of his behavior. Insufficient security was also noted as a reason for the altercation becoming as intense as it was. The reason I haven't touched on this before is because this is one of those situations where, unless you were present, you really can't tell what happened or why. I think it's sufficient to point to the Heymann statement issued through Prodigy, though, as an indication that ECW will not tolerate fans acting out to the extent that they think they are part of the show. And regardless of the actions of the specific fan in this case, I applaud this move by ECW. * Reports by many sources (as I noted in a Daily Update last week) that Michael Wallstreet was done with WCW and on his way back to the WWF have, in fact, turned out to be premature. Wallstreet wrestled at WCW's long-term tapings at Universal Studios in Florida on Friday, according to an anonymous NFD Reader. This is an indication that WCW doens't intend to Wallstreet to be wrestling for the WWF at any time in the next 4 months. * On a similar note: Disco Inferno also appears to have been enticed to continue his relationship with WCW despite rampant rumors that he was done with the company and close to appearing in the WWF. Reports from Friday's MEWF show had Disco (who is the MEWF Champ) no-showing, while the promotion made the announcement that he'd signed a contract to return to WCW in the near future. * Who else is gonna be in WCW in coming weeks? Well, regardless of wild speculation, it probably won't be Rob Van Dam. Van Dam was spotted backstage at WCW Nitro in Orlando, FL, last week, and also appeared on ECW TV this week wearing a WCW t-shirt while spouting his usual "Mr. Monday Night" schtick. But the former incident was simply because Van Dam lives in Florida and was visiting friends, and the latter was merely because Van Dam needed a prop to needle ECW's Paul Heymann in his interview. In neither case should fans think Van Dam is really headed to WCW effective immediately. If you recall the hubbub after Van Dam was spotted backstage at a Nitro telecast in March, and the resulting inaccurate rumors, you'll understand... * Ken Shamrock and Flash Funk are reportedly suffering from minor injuries. Both worked house shows over the weekend, but both were at FAR less than 100% according to several reports filed by NFD Readers. Flash Funk did a mini-angle where he couldn't work because of injury, but still took about a minute of punishment at the hands of Brian Pillman before the altercation was broken up by officials, and Ken Shamrock was favoring a leg noticeably during matches with the British Bulldog (matches that took only a few minutes to reach completion). The shows also showed that the debut of Dude Love was not a one-time-only occurance; Mick Foley reprised the role at house shows, teaming with Steve Austin to defend their tag titles. * Insane Clown Posse (ICP... get it, "I see pee"?) were a minor newsbite in several music publications a few weeks back, when their debut album was recalled after just a few hours on shelves by Disney. ICP had signed to a record division in the Disney hierarchy, but apparently the parent company got skittish, as ICP is known for rather crude lyrics. This was shortly after Disney had fallen under pressure from several conservative factions for not taking a hard line on homosexuality. ICP has since signed to another label, and their record will be rereleased later this summer. The wrestling connection? Well, ICP are big wrestling fans. Huge fans. The album in question is called "The Great Milenko," which I believe is probably a misspelling of "Malenko," or at least inspired by the Malenko wrestling family. Also, ICP were recently on radio talking about their intentions to attend an ECW show in Queens, NY. And ICP are the masterminds behind "StrangleMania," an absolutely hilarious videotape that includes footage of several "death match" style contests, with overdubbed "Beavis and Butthead"-esque commentary. Just as an example, Cactus Jack (who appears a few times), if refered to as "Cactus Sac." You gotta see this tape, which I believe is available easily enough in the Detroit area. At least, it used to be. * The WWF is working on filling up their light heavyweight divison over the next few months. Already, Great Sasuke, TAKA Michinoku, Scott Putski, and Brian Christopher are emerging as major players. Look for Leif Cassidy to start appearing on TV again soon, with a renewed push, and maybe a revamped gimmick (including acknowldgement of his past accomplishments and identities). He may be aligned with Jim Cornette, and should be yet another major player in the light heavyweight division. * WCW's Mark Madden is saying that Terry Funk will be promoting a retirement card for himself in Texas later this fall. According to the Run For Cover web site, Madden is reporting that the card will be headlined by a Bret Hart vs. Terry Funk match, and will include a lot of ECW talent. If true, this is probably a good indication that ECW will crown Shane Douglas as their new World Champion next month on PPV. * Finally, a quick recap of last week's voting in the NFD Weekly Poll... the question asked readers, on the heels of both major feds offering up their July PPV events, which show they prefered, WWF Canadian Stampede or WCW Bash at the Beach. I'm not entirely surprised that 85% of you voted for the WWF event... partly because I really think it was the superior show, but mostly just because I know my WWF-bias has probably driven away enough WCW fans that my readers are already predisposed towards the WWF anyway. Oh well, there goes any hopes of a good random sampling and a scientific poll. Anyway, the full results, along with a BRAND NEW QUESTION FOR THIS WEEK, are available over in the NFD Readers' Forum. This is only the NFD Weekly Edition. Check here every Monday for in-depth coverage of 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 contents of the pages in the NFD web hierarchy, are the intellectual property of Rick Scaia. Please refer to the "Thanks and Acknowledgements" page for full copyright information. In short: You are not to reproduce the content or style of these pages for financial gain. -- Rick Scaia | VISIT ME ON THE WEB A True Yankee Bastard | http://www.ncf.carleton.ca/~ag725/ ag725@freenet.carleton.ca | http://homepages.udayton.edu/~scaiarij/ ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- - List: nfd - Majordomo v1.94.3 - Aimnet, Santa Clara, California, USA