Slobberknocker Central Monday Night Recap #181 May 3rd, 1999 The Opening Word: Okay gang, here is the new address for the Slobberknocker Central website: http://www.uslink.net/~petrie/index.html ... and here's my new E-Mail address: petrie@uslink.net Smackdown last Thursday turned out to be a huge show for the WWF. Heads were turned when it not only lead to UPN beating the WB on the night, but it may also have contributed to a nightlong victory over ABC as well! Its ratings were within striking distance of Fox's Thursday offerings. Only NBC and CBS did better, and TV analysts are crediting the WWF with putting a huge dent in NBC's "Must See TV" lineup, which drew some of its lowest firstrun episode ratings in the last five years. The show's overnight rating of 5.8 (which would translate to over a 7.0 on a typical Monday night cable rating) more than doubled UPN's usual Thursday night rating. Once all the TV market report in the rating will be much lower, but is still expected to be one of UPN's highest rated shows ever. Word is UPN has all but decided to add the show to their fall lineup, where it will air for an hour on Tuesday nights, followed by a new action/adventure series. Should this happen then speculation is the WWF may do the show live every week, and tape RAW at the same show the night after a live RAW. If they tape it, they'll do so either the night before during a RAW taping, or on Sundays as part of a live Heat/taped RAW/taped Smackdown combo. No matter how they work it all out, the WWF is going to try and do it so as to have as much live content as possible, and make the shows as fresh as they can (no more week old or longer shows). We'll here more on this in the weeks to come, as soon as UPN makes its official decision. If Smackdown does air on Tuesdays, the happiest ones in all this has to be WCW. Thunder last week aired live, and featured big matches with Kevin Nash, Randy Savage and Diamond Dallas Page--to no avail. The show suffered its worst rating ever, doing barely better than the average WCW Saturday Night rating. The 2.5 rating it earned is barely half what the show hit at it's peak last year. After figuring out the number of viewers the two wrestling shows had last Thursday, Smackdown had something like three times as many viewers as Thunder. Ouch. On a personal note, I hope the WWF can come up with a way to make the new show fresh and unique. I'm not wild about the idea of more wrestling TV to watch every week. I'd hate to see it just serve as a highlight/rehash show for RAW, like Thunder has become for Nitro. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- WCW Monday Nitro: Live/Taped: Live. Length: Three Hours+. Location: Charlotte, North Carolina. HOUR ONE Hosted By: Tony Schiavone and Bobby "The Brain" Heenan. - Ric Flair is headed to the Nitro arena. Rolling along beside his limo is a bus filled with last week's mental patients. No Scott Hall, though, unless he's the guy driving the bus. Wait a minute ... - Clips from last week open the show. - Riki Rachtman annoys the crowd. The Nitro Girls then do a number. You'd think that after dancing to this same song for two years that they'd manage to be in step with one another. - Bobby Heenan is back this week, though he denies being gone last week, because that crowd kept chanting "weasel!" at Mike Tenay. - Another Gorgeous George "training" video, which is a bit easier to watch than the one last week. - The Nitro Girls have a new website. I think "revamped" is a better term, as it's at the same address it's been for the last year. - Another clip package, this one focusing on how crazy Ric Flair has become, and what Roddy Piper plans to do to him at Slamboree. - Riki interviews the WCW racecar driver. For all those RAW bashers keeping track, all of this non-wrestling "action" thus far has lasted easily as long as the usual RAW-opening interview. - THE ARMSTRONGS vs. KIDMAN/REY MYSTERIO, JR. Despite a few seconds of mic time given them here, the Armstrongs still suck. Mysterio pins Steve following a huracanrana off the top. Dean Malenko and Chris Benoit run in, getting solidly booed in what is the heart of Four Horsemen country. Raven and Saturn follow, and all three teams fight each other. The Horsemen come out on top. - Goldberg promo. - ERNEST "THE CAT" MILLER (w/ Sonny Onoo) vs. BUFF BAGWELL Miller does a long turn on the mic, trying to regain some of that heat he had, and lost, a few months back. The crowd is barely behind Bagwell, rooting against Miller more than actually cheering for Buff. Bagwell with the Buff Blockbuster in a slow, boring match. Restholds aplenty. - DJ Lame stinks up the joint. - Flair and the nuts arrive at the arena. He makes his way to the ring, accompanied by Arn Anderson, Charles Robinson and the muscular nurse from last week (think of Ivan Putski's body with Madusa's head). Flair kicks off a long interview segment which leads to ... HOUR TWO Hosted By: Tony Schiavone and Bobby "The Brain" Heenan. - ... Randy Savage, Madusa, Gorgeous George and Miss Madness coming out. (I never want to hear another T&A complaint about the WWF again after seeing this gang.) Flair fires Savage. The Macho Man and Madusa beat up the security guys try to who remove them. Remember when Savage was "crazy"? Savage and the women are eventually removed from the ring, except for Gorgeous George, which leads to the inevitable catfight between her and Robinson. The "Head Nurse" ends up coming to Robinson's rescue. Flair is a heel, right, so doesn't that make Savage and his girls faces? And again I ask why would Flair put a stipulation on a PPV match which would allow back in a guy he's now just fired? Couldn't Flair just turn right around and fire him again? Flair then challenges DDP to a match tonight, and badmouths Sting and Goldberg, who both come out and push Flair around. (Funny to watch Goldberg walk gingerly around the WCW logo on the ramp, so he doesn't trip again.) Goldberg and Sting then begin to fight, requiring security to split them apart. Announcer "analysis" and replays follow. - Ric Flair confers with Stevie Ray of the NWO Black & White, offering him $100,000 if he can deliver Kevin Nash tonight "laid out on a table". Stevie of course jumps at the deal. And, of course, if Nash is actually watching the show, he now knows they're gunning for him. - Nitro Girls. Clearly WCW thinks they can emulate the WWF's current success by not actually wrestling. - HAK vs. BAM BAM BIGELOW Gee, where did all those tables under the ring come from? Presumably from the same place all the WWF's under-the-ring tables come from. Since WCW has shown no desire whatsoever to tamper with their upcoming PPV card, the odds of Bigelow losing here were slim. These recent WCW hardcore matches have killed my taste for them, in either promotion, generally speaking; and a commercial break during the match kills my interest in this one in particular. Bigelow suplexes Hak through two tables set side-by-side. Brian Knobbs then comes out and lays out both men. No winner. - Stevie Ray tells his fellow NWO members that they'll split $50,000 if they can take out Nash. You'd think by now these guys would have learned that they wouldn't get screwed over so much if they'd just watch the show backstage. Anyway, they head off in search of Nash. A toilet then flushes in the adjoining bathroom and out waddles Flair's crazy sidekick, Triple A. I refuse outright to buy into any plot developments this could possibly lead to. - Roddy Piper promo. - Triple A comes across Kevin Nash and warns him that the NWO are getting a million dollars to take him out. I stand by my previous assertion of not buying into any of this. - KONNAN vs. HORACE Does WCW rock or what! No, I thought not. Konnan has the match won with the Tequila Sunrise, but an NWO run-in puts a stop to that. Kevin Nash comes out for the save, is himself overwhelmed, and only the combined might of Nash and Konnan succeeds in winning the day. No Wolfpac reunion, but it seems as if the two are "tight" once again. - One of Flair's nutballs has invaded the control truck. Nothing happens, but we get a few moments of guys yelling "get him out of here!" to savor. Then David Flair (is that Torrie Wilson with him?) meets up with his father Ric. Say, weren't these two like mortal enemies? In fact, didn't David have Ric committed just two weeks ago?! Ric tells David he's going to get his first match tonight, and that Charles Robinson will be the ref on hand to help assure a victory. After David leaves, Flair tells Arn to get Meng. Now THAT'S funny. HOUR THREE Hosted By: Tony Schiavone and Bobby "The Brain" Heenan. - Roddy Piper arrives, wends his way through the back halls, and attacks Flair. The mentals look on, squawking like chickens. Piper decks a policeman who tries to break him up. A catering guy conveniently shows up and Piper takes an ice cube-filled tray from him, dumping its contents on Flair (I'm sure Ric appreciated that unopened pop can nailing him in the head). I'll be interested in hearing how WCW explains Piper not going to jail for slugging that cop. - Flair, having just been destroyed by RODDY PIPER, runs into Scott Steiner in the hall and asks him to take out KEVIN NASH tonight. Does any of this make sense?! Oh yeah, Flair's crazy. - DJ Lame and the Nitro Girls make some noise. - The cut to a "press conference" with Lex Luger and Elizabeth, but the satellite signal cuts out (obviously intentionally), meaning you have to keep watching to see what this is all about. Nice try. - Scott Steiner, looking for KEVIN NASH, bumps in Rey Mysterio, who says Nash is in the next room. Steiner enters, and attacks BUFF BAGWELL. Okay, it makes sense, but only just barely. - DJ Lame and the Nitro Girls make some noise. - DAVID FLAIR (w/ Torrie Wilson) vs. MENG Meng squashes him, earning the win with the Tongan Death Grip. I'm not sure the joke was worth sitting through this match. Flair comes out and oversees his son being stretchered out. By the way, did I just imagine it, or weren't they calling Torrie "Samantha" before she disappeared? Why did they do that, and why have they stopped doing that now? I can only guess that they're trying to get David over as a face here with the stretcher job, shooting for an eventual Father vs. Son match somewhere down the road. (Unfortunately with WCW if they don't do it in the next two weeks, they'll forget all about it.) - Riki Rachtman forces me to yell "get the f**k off my TV screen!" - Diamond Dallas Page promo. - Gorgeous George "workout" video--THE SAME DAMN ONE FROM THE START OF THE SHOW. - "Mean" Gene Okerlund interviews Diamond Dallas Page. DDP brags about winning the World Title. That's about it. - Nitro Girls. - BOOKER T. vs. CURT HENNIG Didn't these two go at it last week on Thunder? Or was it Nitro? Or both? Stevie Ray runs in, Rick Steiner runs in, no one wins, the crowd boos. - Ric Flair promo. - The local cops are finally informed that the mental patents don't have releases to be out, so they head off to round them up. Hey, what about arresting cop-beater Roddy Piper while you're at it? - DIAMOND DALLAS PAGE vs. RIC FLAIR The crowd, having been worn down, burnt out, and fed up all night, gives Flair only a fraction of the response he'd normally get in his hometown. DDP fares little better, getting an equally lukewarm reaction. The match itself was okay, I suppose, but it's hard to care on the heels of a show this bad. The finish sees Gorgeous George run in, pull Flair's hair, lure referee Charles Robinson out of the ring, and DDP knock out Flair with an object tossed in by Randy Savage. A second WCW ref runs in to make the three count. Since things ended a bit early they kill an extra minute with replays. - This Thursday: Nothing announced. - Next week: May be preempted by NBA Playoffs. Comments: This was truly a terrible show. I guess you could call it "The Ric Flair Show", as every damn thing outside the ring (and some in) all revolved around him. He was all over the map, playing face and heel depending on the situation of the moment, and the crowd clearly seemed to lose track, eventually just giving up on him. Only the diehard Flair marks were still "whoo!-ing" by the end. What the hell happened to Lex Luger's "press conference"? It's funny how the current change in direction for WCW has made so many of the usual complaints aimed at the WWF apply to them. Lengthy interviews, gratuitous T&A, weak "hardcore" matches, and so on. The only thing WCW can lay claim to that sets them "above" the WWF is their Cruiserweight Division, which more often than not lately has been poorly utilized. This is what Slamboree looks like: * Diamond Dallas Page vs. Kevin Nash. * Goldberg vs. Sting. * Ric Flair vs. Roddy Piper. Winner controls WCW. * Gorgeous George vs. Charles Robinson. Savage reinstated if George wins. * Scott Steiner vs. Buff Bagwell. U.S. Title match. * Mysterio & Kidman vs. Raven & Saturn vs. the Horsemen. Tag Title match. * Booker T. vs. Rick Steiner. TV Title match. * Bam Bam Bigelow vs. Brian Knobbs. Winner is the "King of Hardcore". * Konnan vs. Stevie Ray. I don't care if Nash wins the Title or not. Whatever happens, WCW will be stupid if they don't have either Sting or Goldberg go cleanly over the other, and go on to beat DDP or Nash for the belt next month. I'm betting Nash does win, and he takes the next month to prove he can carry the company as champ. If he thinks he's getting over, he'll keep the strap. If not, then they have Sting or Goldberg waiting in the wings. The focus in WCW is on Ric Flair right now and, as they saw this week, even his "hometown" crowd wasn't into it. WCW would have been so better off if they'd let Sting keep the belt last week, and did some rearranging to the PPV card. As it is they've locked in the card, throwing all the wrestlers out into any number of things which only partly build up to those matches. The PPV doesn't seem like a result of recent actions, it seems like half those matches are scheduled *despite* what everyone's been doing. Still, no "Hollywood" Hogan. That's an improvement, right? ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- WWF RAW is WAR: Live/Taped: Taped 5/2. Length: Two Hours+. Location: San Diego, California. WWF RAW Hosted By: Jim Ross and Jerry "The King" Lawler. - Smackdown/Heat flashbacks, detailing the formation of the Corporate Ministry. - Shane McMahon leads the Corporate Ministry to the ring. Their theme music is a new version of the Undertaker's theme, with the "No Chance in Hell" lyrics added. That's going to take some getting used to. Shane launches into the usual promo, talking about how those who get in their way will go down, how the fans don't understand how "compassionate" he is, how the fans are all poor, drunk and depressed losers. He brags about the power he now wields. Passing the mic to Hunter Hearst Helmsley, Triple H rags on the fans and the Rock. He promises to end his career at the Over the Edge PPV. Then it's the Undertaker's turn, and he says he hates everyone, but especially "Stone Cold" Steve Austin. He promises to take Austin's WWF Championship, beat him like he's never been beat before, and sacrifice him the next night on RAW. Shane reminds us that he'll be the special referee in that match. Shane wraps up by challenging Vince McMahon to arrive at the arena and face him one-on-one. Mankind, Paul Wight, Ken Shamrock and Test all assemble on the stage, each holding 2X4's. Mankind says all of them were members of the Corporation at one time, and are now a collection of disgruntled employees. Mankind suggests they're now a union, and perhaps should be called "Union of People You OUghta Respect, Son" (U.P. Y.OU.R.S.). He notes that Vince McMahon, who the fans used to call "A-hole", certainly compensated them for their services. Since Shane took over, says Mankind, their paychecks have sucked. The Union charges, clearing out the ring. - "BADD ASS" BILLY GUNN vs. X-PAC As one would expect Gunn dominates this one with his size and strength. X-Pac rallies back for a near pin. He then goes for the Bronco Buster, but Gunn blocks it with a boot to the groin. That leaves X-Pac, doubled over in pain, an easy target or the FameAsser. Gunn covers for the pin. He continues beating on him, which brings out the Road Dogg. Dogg and Gunn come to blows, with Gunn laying the Dogg out with a steel chair. The lights then go out and Kane puts in an appearance. Gunn escapes. Hard to find fault with a decent match featuring a clean finish *and* good post-match story development. I assume the pin here is to settle the issue with X-Pac, so that Gunn will now go on to feud with Road Dogg. Looks like the book is closed on both DeGeneration X and the New Age Outlaws. Shane McMahon's getting worked up behind the closed door of his dressing room. - Shane leads the Corporate Ministry back to the ring. To make a long story short, Shane outlines a series of matches yet to come tonight: The Big Bossman, Midian & Viscera vs. Test in a "Four Corners Match". Mankind faces the Acolytes in a "Hardcore Handicap Match". Triple H faces Ken Shamrock, with Chyna as the special referee. The Mean Streets Posse will square off against Pat Patterson and Gerry Brisco. "The Big Show" Paul Wight must battle the Undertaker. For Shane's "amusement", Sable and Debra McMichael will have an "Evening Gown Match". And to top things off, "Stone Cold" Steve Austin will fight the Rock, in a "Lumberjack Match". The Corporate Ministry will serve as the lumberjacks. You can imagine the disgust displayed by Ross over Shane's ego trip. Talk about a huge lineup! As all this is going on Vince McMahon has arrived at the arena. He is accompanied by his daughter Stephanie and wife Linda, and an armed escort. They enter the arena. Shane welcomes the intrusion, as he challenges Vince to a match tonight. Vince says Shane is going too far, to which Shane replies he hasn't gone far enough. Vince says his family doesn't stand behind him. Linda tries to talk some sense into him, but he tells her to "shut your mouth, Mom!" Huge heel heat from the crowd. Vince immediately grabs him by the collar. Shane tries to goad him into a match, but Vince decides it isn't worth it, and starts to head up the ramp. Shane stops him cold by asking him who he thinks has been behind what the Undertaker and his Ministry has done? How did the Undertaker get in their house? Who was able to get Stephanie's teddy bear which the Undertaker set afire? Who took the candid pictures of Stephanie? "It was ME!" Shane explains that with Vince focused on protecting Stephanie, that allowed him to swoop in and take over the WWF. He asks Stephanie what she though of her wedding dress he picked out for her last week? Vince explodes and charges the ring, only to be met by a barrage of boots from the Ministry. They stomp him into the canvas as Stephanie and Linda look on in tears. After they've left the ring, and the women in his life are able to help him to his feet, Vince accepts Shane's challenge to a match. - Vince tells his wife and daughter "I'm going to kick his ASS!" He then orders the armed escort to take them back to the hotel, so they don't have to see it. - MEAN STREETS POSSE vs. PAT PATTERSON/GERRY BRISCO As the boys from Greenwich are working the crowd over on the mic, Vince tells Pat and Gerry to go out and do what they have to do. Still wearing suits they make their way to the ring, and try to talk the Posse out of fighting because none of them are dressed for it. Both receive shoves for their trouble. The two bounce off the ropes and fire back, Brisco taking on Rodney, while Patterson works over Pete Gas. Brisco with a belly-to-belly suplex. Patterson delivers a kick to the groin. Both are dumped from the ring. Patterson sends Pete into the ring steps, then into the crowd. The two spoiled pinks disappear, and Patterson and Brisco are declared the winner. Backstage Shane tells his crew they're going to pay someone an "office visit". After the break we see them on the move. - THE BIG BOSSMAN vs. MIDIAN vs. VISCERA vs. TEST This is a proper "Four Corners" match, in that each man stakes out a corner and only two men are in the ring at a time. Anyone can tag anyone else in. WCW has done a number of "Four Corners" matches lately and in those all four men have been in the ring. That's not "Four Corners", that's a "Texas Tornado Match". Anyway, the Ministry is apparently so confident here that they actually abide by the rules of the match. Things are going smoothly for them, as everyone refuses to tag in to Test, meaning he has to fight all three in sequence. Then things go awry when the Bossman accidentally clocks Midian with his nightstick, he having held Test for the planned shot. Test drops the Bossman with a big boot, catches Viscera with a forearm, and covers the stunned Midian for the upset pin. That makes the Corporate Ministry 0 and 2 thus far. Test receives a beating for his troubles, and is eventually saved by the arrival of his 2X4 carrying Union mates. Triple H and Chyna exit from an office. Behind him Vince McMahon goes flying into a wall. The Undertaker lays in a kick, then everyone leaves Vince lying on the floor. WWF WAR ZONE Hosted By: Jim Ross and Jerry "The King" Lawler. - SHANE MCMAHON vs. VINCE MCMAHON Shane accuses Vince of chickening out, and says the ref should declare him the winner. The crowd calls Shane an "asshole!" and Ross adds "you're damn right he is!" After some more taunting Ross observes "this kid needs an ass-whipping!" Out comes Vince, holding his ribs and limping down the ramp. He stumbles, and is met with a clothesline by Shane when he gets up. Shane takes him to the ring. Dumped into the corner, Shane gives him the Bronco Buster. Another clothesline follows. Shane goes to the well once too often, though, and Vince ducks the next clothesline, coming back with one of his own. Vince sets his sights, flips Shane the double bird, kicks him in the gut, and lays him out with the Stone Cold Stunner! The crowd goes nuts. Vince gives him a bit of a jaw jacking, hooks the leg, and scores the pin. Unbelievable! - Replays of what went down before the break. - MANKIND vs. THE ACOLYTES Not much to note here. Mankind tries his best, but two-on-one with no rules the Acolytes are nearly impossible to beat. Bradshaw powerbombs Mankind onto two chairs (this being a hardcore match) and covers for the pin. - KEN SHAMROCK vs. TRIPLE H Chyna's wearing the referee's stripes. Given the setup here things go by the numbers. The match is even at first, with Chyna calling things down the middle. Then she starts looking away, doing her nails, making fast counts, all in Helmsley's favor. She eventually gets physically involved, leading to Triple H applying the Pedigree for the win. Paul Wight and the Undertaker are next. - "THE BIG SHOW" PAUL WIGHT vs. THE UNDERTAKER (w/ Paul Bearer) Wight is able to manhandle the Undertaker like few others, forcing the Lord of Darkness to take a few shortcuts. After being knocked to the floor the Undertaker is handed a bottle of ether, which he pours over his left elbowpad. Back in the ring he wastes no time in cinching on a headlock. The fumes make Wight groggy, but fail to put him out. Paul Bearer passes the Undertaker a baseball bat, retrieved from beneath the ring. The Undertaker winds up and cracks the bat over Wight's head! The top six inches or so of the bat breaks off, flying dangerously into the crowd. Wight drops to the mat, and is sporting a bloody forehead moments later. The ref calls for the DQ. The Undertaker tells the unconscious Wight "this is MY show!" Debra and her Puppies are next. - SABLE vs. DEBRA MCMICHAEL No sign of Sable, until she appears on the Titan-Tron. She says she doesn't want to bruise herself on the eve of her next Playboy shoot, so she's arranged for a substitute to take her place. Out comes Nicole Bass wearing an evening gown. Taking one look at her Debra strips off her own evening gown and forfeits the match. That's not good enough for Bass, though, who grabs Debra by the bra strap and starts to tear off her top. Jeff Jarrett runs in and plasters Bass with a guitar, laying her out flat! Val Venis then runs in and clobbers Jarrett, perhaps attempting to repay the "favor" he owes Bass to get her off his back. Venis scoops up and all-too-willing Debra and carries her off. Jarrett, when he clears his head, sets off in pursuit. Hey, there's "Stone Cold" and the Rock. Our first look at them tonight. - Jarrett has found Venis and the two are kicking each others' asses backstage. - THE ROCK vs. "STONE COLD" STEVE AUSTIN No match. As soon as the Corporate Ministry "lumberjacks" surround the ring the trap is sprung. Austin and the Rock are able to fend the first few off, but ultimately they are overwhelmed, and pounded into the mat. Shane McMahon comes out to oversee his handiwork. Moments later they cut to Vince McMahon up on the stage, waving people from behind the curtain to come out and join the melee. Mankind, Shamrock, Wight, Test, X-Pac, Patterson, Brisco, Bob Holly, Al Snow, the Brood, the Godfather, D-Lo Brown, Mark Henry--virtually the entire WWF lockerroom is dispatched to battle the Corporate Ministry! The crowd's going wild. For a brief moment we see Austin and McMahon, side-by-side, pounding on Midian. The massive brawl spills out to the crowd in different directions. Austin follows Midian alongside the ramp, disappearing somewhere under the stage. As the bodies thin out we see the Rock is still at ringside, being doubleteamed by Triple H and the Undertaker. They, along with Chyna, beat on the Rock up the ramp and onto the stage. Here comes Austin, riding up the elevator platform built into the stage. He and the Undertaker go toe-to-toe, fighting onto the platform, which lowers back below the stage. The Rock, meanwhile, is being worked over by Helmsley and Chyna. Bodyslam by Helmsley. The Rock battles back, giving Chyna a shot for good measure. Austin's riding the platform back up. Triple H grabs a rotating light which is usually situated at the edge of the stage, and clocks the Rock, who goes stumbling off the stage, smashing through some equipment below! Austin lays into Helmsley, but is dropped by a big boot from the Undertaker, who also has ridden the elevator back up to the stage. The Undertaker grabs Austin and whips him off the stage, crashing through a line of tables down on the floor!!! Triple H, Chyna and the Undertaker stand triumphant on the stage, as the camera shows us the shattered remains of Austin and the Rock. - Next week: Nothing announced. Comments: Talk about an awesome finish. It reminds me of the night on Nitro a few years back when the entire WCW lockerroom emptied to battle the NWO. That was cool then, and this was cool now. With this being a taped show it looks like the WWF, expecting a huge effort from the competition, decided to make this one as big as they could. About the only thing they didn't do was a World Title change. It wasn't a perfect show, but was easily one of the WWF's best so far this year. I wish they could have this crowd every week. They're live next week, and with Nitro possibly being preempted by the NBA, there's already talk that the WWF may try another killer show to hook those displaced WCW viewers. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Bottom Line: An interesting side note this week. As Nitro was airing, "Hollywood" Hogan was over on NBC doing a guest shot on "Suddenly Susan". That was followed by Randy Savage on "Mad About You". NBC hoped to get a ratings bump by drawing in wrestling fans. Unfortunately that meant they had to compete with Nitro. Either the intended audience would be busy watching something they cared more about; or they would succeed, hurting WCW's ratings in the process. No surprise that Hogan and Savage have their own interests ahead of those of the company they work for. I didn't watch either show, so I couldn't tell you what happened. Fact is I've watched "Mad About You" maybe three times in my life, and I've never watched "Suddenly Susan". Had one of them been on "Frasier" or "Just Shoot Me", maybe I'd have checked it out. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Slobberknocker Central" and "Monday Night Recap" are copyright 1999 by John Petrie, and all opinions expressed therein are his own, and not those of "USLink". Check the "Slobberknocker Central" main page for info on how to receive the "Recap" free via E-Mail every week. Volume One, Number 181 of the "Monday Night Recap", May 3rd, 1999.