Wrestling TidBits - 11/01

- Along with the "big" names of Jim Neidhart, Honkytonk Man, and Greg
Valentine, others that have met the axe in the WWF cutback include
Paul Diamond, Jim Brunzell, & Lanny Poffo.

- Steve DiSalvo has started working in the CNWA. He has yet to wrestle,
but has appeared in an "enforcer" type role to stop interference in
Ron Ritchie's title shots against champion Gerry Morrow. Temporarily
absent from the CNWA is Johnny Smith, who left with an "injury" at
the hands of Gerry Morrow (which no doubt means a face turn for Smith
upon his return) to work a stint in Japan with Dynamite Kid as the
New British Bulldogs.

- The yearly prime-time live WWF special that precludes WrestleMania
will be broadcast on the FOX television network this coming year.
NBC apparently canned the event due to the drop in ratings from
year to year. I don't know what this means for the SNMEs on NBC.
Early word is that FOX will take a 1.5 hour long special.

- The blind Jake Roberts angle hit us this past weekend on the WWF
syndies. The blindness angle is a standard in pro-wrestling that
we haven't seen for a little while, and the eye-effect they've
achieved with Roberts is pretty cool. Unfortunately, I don't
really like the way this one is going. Jake grasped at the air on
Brother Love when he was being taunted, and somehow got a hold of
BL and DDTed him. This set up the commentary for the rest of the
show; things like "In wrestling, you don't have to see your opponent;
you just have to grab a hold of him to be able to do some damage."
They seem to be leading towards Jake entering the ring "without
vision."

- The next SNME is on November 24th. The card was taped on Tuesday.
No word on the full results yet, but it seems that the Hart Foundation
dropped the tag belts to the Rockers.

- Curtis Hughes has started with the NWA. He worked for the AWA a bit
most recently. Big Van Vader should be back too.

- The tall Master Blaster, Steele, is trying out for a role in the
second Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie.

- Dino (why is he being pushed?) Bravo has added the Power Bomb to his
arsenal. I guess this means that he'll continue to be pushed.

- Stan Hansen's victory at Halloween Havoc must mean that he has made
a commitment to stay in the US and work with the NWA. I'm really
surprised since he's a very busy guy in Japan defending the Triple
Crown - one is led to conclude that he won't hold the title too long.

- Speaking of Japan, next week may see the creation of the next phenom
of women's wrestling. Ever since Dump - I love her nickname: The
Dumpster - retired, they've really been without a super superstar.
The signs of change appeared when Aja Kong arrived on the scene.
I believe that Aja is only 19 years old - she is half Japanese and
half Black, a big girl who wears her hair in a mohawk. In any case,
Aja has developed quite a following and next week faces champion
Bull Nakano in a steel cage match. Bull has said that if she loses,
she'll retire. Feelings are that Aja will win and thus retire Bull
and establiah herself as the new phenom.

- Rumours are strong that Paul Orndorff will be joining the WWF again.
Could he be in the egg? Nah. Current word is that it's Mark Callas
who'll get a super push.

- The NWA's card in Toronto last Thursday only saw 600 fans show up.
These die-hards were treated to Lex Luger pinning Sid Vicious in the
main event. El Gigante was a no show and the Black Scorpion was a
skinny jobber. Apparently, Mr. Gigante was held up at the border
because his papers weren't in order. The NWA returns to Toronto
on November 29, with the following line-up: Sting vs. Sid Vicious
for the NWA title, Steiners vs. Nasty Boys for the US straps, Mike
Rotunda vs. Brad Armstrong, Trucker Norm vs. Cuban Assassin, Wild
Bill Irwin vs. Brian Pillman, Southern Boys & El Gigante vs. The
Midnight Express & Jim Cornette.

- We all know the results to Halloween Havoc thanks to result postings,
but Saturday night also saw the WWF attempt to shrink the NWA crowd
by putting on a show simultaneously in Chicago. This card saw Randy
Savage face the Ultimate Warrior for the first time in their feud,
with Savage winning by countout. The Hart Foundation pinned Rhythm
& Blues and Ted DiBiase pinned Dusty Rhodes when Virgil interefered.

- Interesting interview tidbit from this weekend's WWF syndies had
Demolition say "Just when you think you've got all the answers, we
change all the questions" during an LOD match. When we returned
to Piper & Vince, Roddy said "Where have I heard that before?"
As I recall, the Warriors used that same line quite frequently in
the NWA. Nice inside move, Vince.

- It looks like Starrcade this year will be a tag-team tournament with
single matches interspersed throughout the card. What's interesting
is that the NWA is apparently looking to bring in foreign, and
possibly unkown (certainly by average fans), talent for the tourney.

- Rumours are strong that the WWF is going to try to lure Jesse Ventura
back into the fold.

- It was reported in a newspaper from Altoona that Jim Cornette hit
a fan with his tennis racquet. The guy had jumped the guard rail
and Cornette whacked him in the face.

- I'd like to propose what will hopefully become a yearly event in
Rec.sport.pro-wrestling: The Usenet Year End Achievement Awards.
Below is a list of some of the awards that I think would be good.
For the next week, I'll take submissions for awards that don't
appear below. In my posting next week, the "official" list will
be presented and the voting will begin. We can let the voting
run for a couple of weeks and then I'll post the reults. Oh yes,
I don't mind being the vote counter. Of course, all this is open
to change by suggestions from anybody. I suspect that these awards
will have a strong North American tone to them, so perhaps we should
limit the scope of the awards - then again maybe not. We'll see how
things go.
In any case, my suggested list of awards (with descriptions)
go like this (I've listed some candidates from the "big two" North
American orgs...):
-- First, the "good" wrestling awards --
1. Best Wrestler of The Year
To be given to the athlete who was the best overall wrestler
of the year. This includes all facets of wrestling: workrate,
interviews, charisma, etc.
Some candidates: Hulk Hogan, Ric Flair, Randy Savage, Lex Luger,
Sting, Ultimate Warrior...
2. Best Tag Team of The Year
To be given to the tag team who were the best overall team of
the year. This includes all facets of wrestling: workrate,
interviews, charisma, etc.
Some candidates: Steiners, Hart Foundation, Midnight Express,
Doom, Demolition, Rockers...
3. Best Heel Of The Year
To be given to the person who best incurred the wrath of the mark
in all of us.
Some candidates: Earthquake, Sid Vicious, Ric Flair, Rick Rude,
Curt Hennig, Ted DiBiase...
4. Best Babyface of The Year
To be given to the person who best portrayed the "hero" in the drama
that is pro-wrestling.
Some candidates: Hulk Hogan, Sting, Lex Luger, Ultimate Warrior...
5. Best Worker
To be given to the wrestler with the best workrate on average.
Some candidates: Ric Flair, Randy Savage, Curt Hennig...
6. Most Improved Wrestler
To be given to the wrestler who most improved themselves in all
facets of the sport.
Some candidates: Lex Luger, Ultimate Warrior...
7. Most Overrated Wrestler
To be given to the wrestler who really has little talent, but has
a large place in the spotlight nonetheless.
Some candidates: Ultimate Warrior, Sid Vicious, Demolition...
8. Best Wrestling Move
To be given to the move that is just the damn best thing you've seen.
Some candidates: Scott Steiner's Frankensteiner or Tilt-A-Whirl
Slam, the Steiner's top-rope DDT...
9. Best Match of The Year
To be given to the best wrestling match you've seen this year.
Some candidates: Hulk Hogan vs. Ultimate Warrior at WM VI, Sting vs.
Flair at Bash '90...
10. Best Feud of The Year
To be given to the feud that gave us the most heated and best
wrestling match(es) of the year.
Some candidates: Hulk Hogan vs. UW, Hulk Hogan vs. Earthquake, UW
vs. Rick Rude, Ric Flair vs. Sting, Doom vs. Steiners, Doom vs. Flair
& Anderson...
-- Now the "bad" wrestling awards (with opposite descriptions) --
11. Worst Wrestler of The Year
Some candidates: Junkfood Dog, hands down. El Gigante, Dusty
Rhodes...
12. Worst Tag Team of The Year
Some candidates: Andre The Giant & Haku, Hacksaw Duggan & Nikolai
Volkoff
13. Worst Heel of The Year
Some candidates: Earthquake, Sid Vicious, Black Scorpion...
14. Worst Babyface of The Year
Some candidates: Sting, UW, Juicer...
15. Worst Worker
Some candidates: Junkfood Dog, hands down.
16. Most Unimproved Wrestler
Some candidates: Dino Bravo, Hacksaw Duggan...
17. Most Underrated Wrestler
Some candidates: Barry Horowitz, Tim Horner...
18. Worst Wrestling Move
Some candidates: You-Know-Who's Leg Drop, Anything the JFD tries...
19. Worst Match of The Year
Some candidates: JFD vs. anyone, most notably JFD vs. Flair at the
CoC...
20. Worst Feud of The Year
Some candidates: DiBiase vs. Rhodes, Savage vs. Rhodes, Sting vs.
Black Scorpion...
-- Now the "good" non-wrestler awards --
21. Best Manager of The Year
To be given to the manager who outperformed his peers at ringside
and behind the microphone in interviews.
Some candidates: Jim Cornette, Bobby Heenen, Jimmy Hart, Sherri
Martel, Paul E. Dangerously...
22. Best Announcer
To be given to the commentator/announcer who makes the most
insightful and entertaining comments while pushing his product.
Some candidates: Jesse Ventura, Jim Ross, Roddy Piper, Dutch
Mantell...
23. Best Interviewee
To be given to the person who gives the best interview in the biz.
Some candidates: Ric Flair, Hulk Hogan, Arn Anderson, Jim
Cornette...
24. Best Angle of The Year
To be given to the best angle you've seen in the sport this year.
Some candidates: Hulk Hogan's retirement from Earthquake, Jake
Robert's "blindness," Black Scorpion...
25. Best Organization
To be given to the organization/promotion that has the best product.
This is the organization whose TV and house shows you just can't miss.
Some candidates: NWA, WWF, CNWA (okay, just kidding ;-))
-- Now the "bad" non-wrestler awards (with opposite descriptions) --
26. Worst Manager of The Year
Some candidates: Slick, Mr. Fuji, Thunderbolt Patterson...
27. Worst Announcer
Some candidates: Vince McMahon, Lord Alfred Hayes, Gorilla Monsoon,
Lance Russell...
28. Worst Interviewee
Some candidates: Junkfood Dog, UW...
29. Worst Angle of The Year
Some candidates: The Black Scorpion, Nikolai Volkoff's facification,
Hulk Hogan's retirement...
30. Worst Organization
Some candidates: WWF, NWA, CNWA (okay, I'm not kidding ;-))

So, what's the concensus? I didn't realize I'd list 30 categories (!)
when I started this. Should we shrink the list of awards? Keep it?
Talk to me.

Herb...

As always, comments, criticisms, and questions are encouraged and appreciated.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Herb Kunze : "Whether you like it or you don't like it,
Applied Math Department : learn to live with it, 'cause
University of Waterloo : it's the best thing going today!
hek...@watmsg.waterloo.edu : Woooooooh!"
hek...@water.waterloo.edu : - Ric 'Nature Boy' Flair