Date: Mon, 12 Jan 1998 19:21:20 -0500 (EST) Message-Id: <199801130021.TAA00931@freenet3.carleton.ca.carleton.ca> From: ag725@freenet.carleton.ca (Rick Scaia) To: nfd Subject: The News From Dayton -- 01/12/98 Reply-To: ag725@freenet.carleton.ca Sender: owner-nfd Precedence: list Content-Type: text X-UIDL: d33751c5998c00c4a7d12d6447bdd934 Status: O X-Status: THE NEWS FROM DAYTON For the week of January 12, 1998 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Hogan's Future / Flash Funk's Past 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 January 12, 1998 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. THIS WEEK'S NEWS... * Hulk Hogan's future has been the topic of much speculation in various wrestling newsletters and on the internet. While Hogan himself may have been trying to silence the rumors when he included the comment "I'm staying here 4 life" in an interview on WCW Thunder, the WWF emerged to finally address the rumors on their hotline, and were -- suspiciously enough -- very complimentary to Hogan. For what it's worth, the initial rumors were that either Hogan's contract with WCW had come to an end, or that he had an opportunity to exercise an "out clause" such that he would be free and clear to start appearing for the WWF as soon as tonight's edition of RAW. While the truth or fallacy of those rumors has yet to be tested, the current schools of thought are (a) Hogan is under iron-clad contract to WCW for AT LEAST 4 more PPVs, and won't be "jumping" anywhere, and (b) Hogan CAN escape his current contract, but is more than likely just playing games to get more money out of Bischoff and Ted Turner. The third school of thought, which has Hogan actually popping up in the WWF in the near future, is losing popularity in light of the "4 life" comment by Hogan on Thunder. Still, a new WWF Hotline update by Jim Ross speaks highly of Hogan, and includes the fact that if the WWF were legally able to speak to Hogan, they would like to open those lines of communication, and that there are those within the WWF organization that would like to bring Hogan in. It is possible to interpret that as being a way to communicate a certain message to Hogan although it's not legal right now to communicate with Hogan regarding contractual issues. It's also possible that the WWF is just trying to screw with whatever internal issues exist between Hogan and WCW, in hopes of inflating Hogan's price tag to Turner and creating some kind of dissent. Hell, it's ALSO possible that the update is just a big wad of BS by Ross to add feul to the fire and give die-hard WWF fans some little piece of hope that Titan may finally win a major battle against WCW. If you're interested in keeping totally abreast of this breaking (non-)story, then be advised that Bob Ryder's 1Wrestling.com is the leading proponent of the "Hogan is staying" theory, while Mike Samuda's MiCasaWrestling.com is doing a top-notch job of summarizing and breaking the various elements of the "Hogan might jump" theory. * At the "House Party '98" event at the ECW Arena in Philadelphia, ECW welcomed home a prodigal son. The WWF's Flash Funk, who rose to stardom first in WCW and then in ECW as "2 Cold Scorpio," came home to challenge Taz. Scorp left ECW about 15 months ago with an issue pending against Taz, and popped up to settle it on Saturday night. Unfortunately for 2 Cold, Taz continued his winning ways against the visitor from Stamford. By all accounts, this is NOT the start of an extended run with ECW for Scorpio/Flash. Instead, this is being characterized as a one-shot deal. The afore-mentioned MiCasa has a unique angle on the deal, suggesting that Flash may have been loaned to ECW by the WWF in exchange for footage of Cactus Jack and Terry Funk competing as a tag team. Regardless, don't expect Flash to join the likes of Chris Candido and Al Snow, who started wrestling full-time for ECW while still under contract to the WWF (Snow remains under WWF contract to this day, I believe). Another highlight of the ECW Arena show was the beginning of co-promotional efforts between ECW and Michinoku Pro Wrestling (from Japan). The Great Sasuke returned to the states, but was once again beaten by Justin Credible as part of the on-going angle to get Credible over as a major superstar and as a deadly competitor. Also at the E-rena, Mich Pro stars were featured in a second match, as Gran Hamada topped Gran Naniwa. * There are also sketchy accounts of a post-show incident in which upwards of 20 fans and the entire ECW locker-room were on opposite ends of a scuffle. Chris Candido and Sunny were said to have been the focal point of the initial furor, though eventually Sabu and New Jack were said to be heavily involved, with almost all ECW's roster looking on or taking part in some way. The best first-hand accounts of the incident are available elsewhere, most notably in the Bagpipe Report. One brief account I received made the unique observation that it was NOT necessarily ECW fans who sparked the incident, but rather some average folks coming out of a near-by bar who were unfamiliar with ECW and its wrestlers. I mention this only because it might be worth noting that, for once, ECW's often-moronic fan base may not deserve all the blame. * The hated Westminster Dog Show is back for another year.... the USA Network will pre-empt WWF RAW/WarZone on February 16 (the day right after the No Way Out PPV scheduled to be headlined by an 8-man tag match pitting the Legion of Doom, Steve Austin, and Owen Hart against DX and the New Age Outlaws) in favor of the pooch-fest. However, the WWF will air a two hour special on Saturday night, February 21, at 8pm, on USA Network, according to recently released programming grids. The 2/21 event will be taped on 2/16 in Dallas, TX. * WCW Thunder debuted to huge numbers, as almost the entire Nitro crowd seemed to follow WCW to Thursday night for the big show. On hourly ratings of 3.8, 4.2, and 4.1, Thunder drew a composite rating of 4.0. That rating is just about on par with recent Nitro ratings, and has the folks at Turner very happy. If they can sustain that size of an audience for both prime time shows, it'll be a major coup. * Dan Severn, renowned Ultimate Fighter and current NWA Champion, has finally agreed to terms with the WWF. He may appear as early as tonight's RAW, and may be used as part of the new Jim Cornette/NWA angle (which is expected to also result in the return of the Rock 'n' Roll Express and/or the Midnight Express). He will almost certainly be booked into a feud with fellow UFC fighter Ken Shamrock for this year's WrestleMania. Also on RAW tonight, expect a drawing for Royal Rumble entry order and a Jeff Jarrett vs. Undertaker NWA North American Title match. * The WWF held a huge show at Madison Square Garden on Sunday. Despite a fairly week card, the building was (nearly?) sold out, and Titan is said to have drawn the strongest gate for a non-televised event in the building in a LONG time. I'm sure numbers will be forthcoming. The main event saw the Undertaker and the returning Legion of Doom earn a win over the combined forces of Shawn Michaels and the New Age Outlaws. [BTW, Shawn DX co-hort, HHH, will probably be out of action until the February PPV with his knee injury.] The only other really notable match was a tag team affair that saw Steve Austin and Cactus Jack team up to defeat Rocky Maivia and D-Lo Brown. * The WWF's "Attitude Check"/"Funking Dojo" Training Camp is said to have been a success, with a nice combination of promising rookies and re-dedicated veterens going through the camp. Most notable are Adam Copeland -- a young Canadian wrestler who got high marks during his try-out matches during the WWF's TV taping swing through Canada back in November -- and Ahmed Johnson -- who is trimmed down and focussing on impressing fans upon his return. You can also check out the WWF's official account of how the camp went, including a comprehensive scouting report on each of the dozen or so wrestlers who participated. * Wrestling's #1 Online Satirist, NoSoul, has agreed to be interview by Yours Truly in the near future. As I'm sure you all know, NoSoul is the man behind the "ScoopTHIS!" website, and he promises some genuinely earth-shattering news about ST! in this sure-to-be-revealing interview session. Keeping in mind that NoSoul really burned web guru Bob Ryder during an interview several weeks back, I'm asking YOU FOLKS to come up with some questions of your own to toss NoSoul's way. Irreverent or illuminating, I don't care... just send any questions for the guy to me via e-mail at NFDFeedback@hotmail.com. * Alert NFD Reader "Braley1" reports to me that he spotted Ken Shamrock making a brief appearance on the episode of "Nash Bridges" that aired on Friday night (1/9). In other non-wrestling-show TV news, Steve Austin will be part of a "Celebrity Death Match" thingie that will air on MTV during the half-time of the Super Bowl. I was wondering how in the world MTV could possible replace the world-famous "Butt Bowl" half-time spectacular, but anything involving "Stone Cold" works for me. Austin cut a promo for the thing at MSG, and it'll be used as a commercial starting next week on MTV. Keep your eyes peeled. This may mark just the beginning of higher-profile appearances for WWF stars, as Titan has come to a deal to have all WWF wrestlers represented by the William Morris talent agency. The idea is that with William Morris representing the WWF and its stars, more WWF talent will get placed in TV shows, commercials, etc... [Side note: Yokozuna is currently "starring" in a new Diet Coke commercial, as well.] * Finally, something so wacky you'd think that NoSoul must've made it up (but trust me, it's real).... NFD Reader and Renaissance Man Wyatt Cox was off duty and perusing the adult regions of the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas over the weekend when he stumbled across promotion for "Nude World Order: the Creation," an upcoming porno flick that had all outward appearances of being inspired by wrestling's own NWO. Among the details that were passed on to me: the movie is being released by Sin City Video, and will star Asia Carrera, Jill Kelly, and Sana Fey. The release date is sometime in February. I hesitated to include this morsel of info, lest one of my many visitors from the turner.com domain (howdy, guys!) feel the need to forward this to the legal department and possibly put a halt to what I'm sure will be an artful and truly entertaining parody. But then I realized that an industry that has gotten away with such blatent rip-offs as "Babewatch," "Sorest Rump," and "Rear and Pleasant Danger" would probably have no problem getting away with the "Nude World Order." Note to adult video fans: I have no idea if "Babewatch," "Sorest Rump," or "Rear and Pleasant Danger" are real or not. The (possibly non-existant) titles just made me chuckle, and are included here for comedic effect. Please do not e-mail me asking for details. Really. I can't help you. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------------------------- The News From Dayton is Copyright 1995, 1998 by Rick Scaia. -- 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 v1.94.4 - Aimnet, Santa Clara, California, USA