Date: Mon, 25 Aug 1997 14:23:41 -0400 (EDT) Message-Id: <199708251823.OAA18216@freenet2.carleton.ca.carleton.ca> From: ag725@freenet.carleton.ca (Rick Scaia) To: nfd@majordomo.aimnet.com Subject: The News From Dayton -- 08/25/97 Reply-To: ag725@freenet.carleton.ca Sender: owner-nfd@majordomo.aimnet.com Precedence: list THE NEWS FROM DAYTON For the week of August 25, 1997 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Danger in the Ring / WWF Taping Results 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 August 25, 1997 The News From Dayton remains a combination of the MOST RELIABLE wrestling news as reported elsewhere in the wrestling underground and the most interesting morsels of exclusive and unique news that I can dig up. The goal is the both inform and entertain you, the Home Viewer, without cluttering up your brain with total lies and fabrications that are common on other web pages. By the way, if you are reading the NFD on one of the RSPW newsgroups, or anywhere on the web other than the Official News From Dayton Web Site, or if you are linking directly here without checking out the main NFD 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 * As I first reported a couple weeks ago, Alex Marvez has moved on to bigger and better things. He is no longer covering wrestling and the Cincinnati Bengals for the Dayton Daily News; he will instead be starting his coverage of the Denver Broncos for the Rocky Mountain News starting this season. Alex fully intends to continue his weekly pro wrestling column for the RMN, and has even indicated that it should be made available on the Web every week on the RMN website. And while I'll no longer plagarize Alex's work here (even though I did do it with his full knowledge and approval), I'll make sure that there is always a link from this page to the new OFFICIAL home of his weekly wrestling column whenever it becomes active. IN OTHER NEWS... * The top story this week is going to be something of an NFD Editorial Commentary. Some might argue that that's what EVERY BIT of each NFD is, but this time, I'm coming right out and labeling it for you. Trust me, there is plenty of real news if you keep reading down.... And just what is it that's important enough for me to go out of my way to editorialize on? Well, put simply, it's the wrestling-related death of Japanese female wrestler Plum Mariko. I did place a quick blurb about this on the page last Tuesday; it was brief and sketchy, admittedly. Since then, other online sources like Bob Ryder and Bagpipe Report have been able to gather details beyond my initial outline report. As understanding of exactly what happened increased, so did my desire to address the issue of the genuine danger faced by pro wrestlers inside the ring. You see, the first reports vaguely spoke of Mariko passing out after a match; but as further details came in, it became apparent that she quickly lapsed into a coma in the ring after taking a Ligerbomb bump just the wrong way. Despite immediate medical attention, including surgery, she died the next day. If wrestling were as "fake" as most people would generally like to believe, then something like this would be unthinkable. And even though the true nature of pro wrestling is a lot more "sport" and a lot less "fake" than the mainstream world would have us believe, it's still distressing to be faced with the reality of a situation like this one. Plum Mariko was born Mariko Umeda; she made her pro wrestling debut on August 17, 1986, at the age of 19. She wrestled her last match on August 15, 1997, and died the next day, just one day short of her 11th anniversary as a wrestler. Perhaps saddest of all is that Umeda might have been aware of the danger she faced each time in the ring: she had a history of injuries, including neck and head injuries that had resulted, according to reports, in occassional dizziness and other symptoms. Mayumi Ozaki, who was Mariko's opponent in a tag match and delivered the Ligerbomb, should take comfort in the fact that Mariko had a pre-existing condition that definitely contributed to the tragic events of August 15. But even that is only a partial comfort. Even though we can say that it wasn't *just* a Ligerbomb that caused Mariko's death, the fact of the matter is that her pre-existing condition was also caused by injuries sustained in the ring. You can dance around the truth, but when you get right down to it, staring you in the face is the fact that pro wrestling is just as dangerous, if not moreso, than any legitimate sport out there. This is not the first time tragedy has struck in the ring, either. We need only go back to earlier this year, when a Big Japan trainee named Nogai died of head/neck injuries suffered in training. Nor is this the first time a wrestler has died as a result of something that happened in front of a crowd in a competitive match. In late 1993, Oro, a talented Luchadore who was one third of the Los Metallicos team (with his brothers Bronce and Plata), died in the ring during a match in Mexico. My research is inconclusive, but Oro took either a simple chop or dropkick from his opponent, Kahoz, but fell awkwardly. After a brief delay -- during which the other participants in this six-man match assumed Oro was just "selling" the move -- it became obvious something was wrong. For all the efforts of the other wrestlers to revive Oro, he was dead before he could even receive proper medical attention. Again, a pre-existing condition was suspected as playing a part in the tragedy, but it was likely a condition that was expedited by Oro's past matches. This brief overview of tragedies similar to Mariko's does not even include in-ring deaths unrelated to taking bumps or injury. One example of an in-ring death in that category would that of Larry Cameron -- who briefly wrestled in WCW around 1990. While wrestling in Europe, Cameron suffered a heart attack in the ring, and died before he could receive necessary medical attention. Numerous similar examples pervade the "mythology" of pro wrestling history -- from the in-ring death of "Iron" Mike DiBiase to the pre-title-match heart attack of Buddy Rogers (he still went out and dropped the WWWF Title to Bruno Sammartino in a minute-long match) -- though I will not pretend to be well-versed enough (or old enough) to be 100% accurate in those regards. The bottom line is we as fans should make sure that we truly understand and appreciate what is going on in a wrestling ring. The tragedies of Plum Mariko and -- four years earlier -- Oro illustrate that physical danger is a very real element of pro wrestling. It would, perhaps, not be ridiculous to keep this in mind as we're encouraging wrestlers to fly that much higher or hit that much harder. Or at the very least, we should hope that only those most capable (and most healthy) are the ones that fly highest and hit hardest. * On a somewhat related note, the rumor mill continues to churn in regards to the injured Steve Austin. The latest word is that his doctors want him to take two months off before coming back to get a final evaluation. And while we might be getting to the point where we completely expect our stars to return quickly and danger-free from "serious" neck injuries (guys like Stevie Richards and Pitbull #1 are examples), let's also keep in mind, especially in light of the discussion on the dangers of the ring above, that there are considerations above and beyond pro wrestling. It seems most NFD Readers agree that they'd prefer not to be discussing the "Steve Austin tragedy" and wondering what effect a "pre-existing condition" may have had at some point in the future. In the latest NFD Weekly Poll, 54% of NFD Readers stated that they'd like to see Steve Austin retire rather than risk life and limb by returning to the ring. The remaining vote was split pretty evenly between those who think that the injury (or at least the extent of the injury) is a work and those who want to see Austin back in the ring regardless of his medical condition. Be sure to check out the NFD Readers' Forum for poll results and the brand new poll question. * SPOILER ALERT! Results from the WWF's Chicago TV tapings from last night will follow. If you don't want to "spoil" the taped TV shows, you can skip down to the next bulleted point. By the way, these results come courtesy of a couple of NFD readers (chief among them is Giovanni Camilleri, who gets top billing because he tells me that he got an NFD sign on TV... so now I'm as big as SCOOPS!). The tapings were said to be largely disappointing, as the WWF figured that since their Friday shows don't have any head-to-head competition from WCW, they can resort to showcasing undercard talent and using screwjob finishes in the top matches. Highlights were said to be two interviews by Bret Hart (in regards to his PPV match coming up against the Patriot), and a great lengthy interview by Shawn Michaels. Also notable was an appearance by TAKA Michinoku, who won a squash match. Other than that, run-ins and DQs seemed to rule the day. Any match that featured talent from the top "nations" or stables of the WWF ended with a screwjob it seemed. This included matches contested by members of the LOD, NOD, DOA, and Los Boricuas. And in the three biggest matches of the night, opponents of the Hart Foundation all got DQ wins due to outside interference: Vader defeated Bret Hart, the Patriot defeated Owen Hart, and Dude Love defeated the British Bulldog, all via DQ. Included in the gratuitous overuse of mid-card talent were a couple of appearances by members of the Truth Commission. Notably absent from appearing in any capacity was Steve Austin, which seems to indicate that his chances of doing much of anything at the Ground Zero PPV (except for showing up to do an interview or some commentary) have really dimished. Brian Pillman did NOT wrestle in a dress (fueling speculation that Pillman's gonna get to score a win to ditch that stip in his hometown of Cincinnati, OH, when RAW visits there on September 8). The taping ran just about 3 and a half hours, and included matches taped for Shotgun; it seems hard to believe the WWF got enough footage on tape to fill both two hour late Friday night specials *and* two episodes of Shotgun. So we can probably expect either a "spot" taping, with a few matches of an upcoming house show taped for broadcast, or (more likely) liberal use of prepared videotape history packages and "via satellite" cut-ins and other non-arena footage (like the hotel room interview with Steve Austin). END SPOILER ALERT! * I'm gonna apologize upfront for any diehard WCW fans I pissed off with the most recent web page update. I won't apologize for finding the Sting/bird angle to be completely ineffective and mildly laughable, but the way I handled it (with the front page bird image and all) might have been a bit over the top even for me. Granted, *I* still think it was hilarious, but I'm known to be one biased SOB. As it has been (properly) pointed out to me, the whole thing with Sting and the bird and the little girl's voice is really no worse than the Undertaker's Royal Rumble 1994 "ascension into heaven." Just as we've seen more sensible and believable schtick out of the 'Taker since then, I'm sure we'll see Bischoff and Crew get this thing fixed up enough so that Sting can get on with his act. I think the reason it was so easy to jump on the lameness of the Sting angle is that we've come to expect better out of Sting. From a guy who could previously expect half-way decent interviews and solid ring-work, we have heard not one word and seen not one match in almost a year. So when it was finally time for him to DO SOMETHING, we all hoped it'd be something good (in keeping with his past track record). When it wasn't good, it was particularly disappointing, and because it was -- in fact -- so poorly executed, it almost became laughable. At least with the Undertaker's Lamest Hits, it was hard to muster much more than an "Oh well, that's about what I expect," because we had come to expect his supernatural crap at the time. Apology aside, I still think there's gotta be some sort of a Koko B. Ware joke inside here somewhere. The question is, who's gonna be the one to figure out a punchline... my money is probably on ScoopTHIS. * By the way, ratings are in from the Clash, and as usual, I give due credit to Bob Ryder for getting them first. The composite rating for the show was a 3.7, with the first hour doing a 3.1 and the second doing a 4.0. While definitely respectable, this is not even on par with recent (contested) editions of Monday Nitro, which just might go to show that wrestling fans aren't conditioned to watch wrestling any day other than Mondays. The most interesting feature of the quarter hour breakdowns is that WCW peaked in the final quarter hour or their scheduled timeslot, but actually lost viewers during their overrun into the next show's timeslot. So people turned off during the Sting angle. Maybe I shouldn't be apologizing? * There's an interesting item floating about out there regarding the USA Network "expecting" a 2.0 rating out of the WWF specials on Friday night. I don't know where this came from, but I doubt it was from anyone actually working for USA Network. More likely, this is speculation on the part of a news page... when glancing at the two WWF Slammy specials on USA Network, we have seen ratings right around 2.0, making that a good number to speculate about. But in actuality, USA Network's usual late night fare doesn't generate ratings that high, and it wouldn't necessarily be a good idea to expect the same ratings out of a "filler" show as a special event like the Slammys acheived. * Just to address a bunch of rumors circulating about the WWF and potential new/returning talent such as Mark Henry, Jacques Rougeau, Hugh Morrus, Samu, Fatu, and the Pitbulls.... Mark Henry should be back by late fall. He suffered an injury, then took some time to train for his weightlifting competitions (a extracurricular activity that is allowed by his WWF contract). However, any speculation at this point about Henry joining the Nation of Domination upon his return is unfounded. Fatu will likely be ditching the Sultan gimmick, and recent rumors of Samu talking about a WWF return have naturally sparked speculation that the Headshrinkers may be about to reform. Fatu returning to a less pathetic gimmick seems a lock, but confirmation on Samu's return is not forthcoming. As far as Rougeau, Morrus, and the Pitbulls go, there is not much more than unsubstantiated hotline rumors to look at. The French Canadians disappearance from WCW along with recent Rougeau television appearances in Canada certainly seem to add steam to rumors regarding his interest in a WWF return, however. And the Morrus rumor was started by none-other-than the WWF's Kevin Kelly, who based his entire existance on the Internet on only spreading FACTUAL information. I don't know what to say about the Pitbulls... considering their legal troubles, I'm not sure that Titan would really be interested. But a rumor's a rumor, I guess. * Finally, I'll pass along that Bagpipe Report is reporting on a wider-than-previously-reported rift behind the scenes in WCW between the Giant and WCW officials. As the story goes, the Giant has voiced concern over the NWO storylines and their political power behind the scenes. After doing so, he was mysteriously pulled from a prominent spot on the Clash of the Champions card (he was replaced by Luger in the main event tag). I had actually heard that the booking change at the Clash was made over 2 weeks ago, and was made mostly because it facilitated some of WCW's planned angle maneuvers. But check out Bagpipe's report to see how you think the pieces of the story fit... 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 the 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