From: hekunze@jeeves.uwaterloo.ca (Herb Kunze) Subject: Wrestling TidBits - 07/20 Date: 1995/07/21 Message-ID: X-Deja-AN: 106694937 sender: news@watdragon.uwaterloo.ca (USENET News System) organization: University of Waterloo newsgroups: rec.sport.pro-wrestling - WCW had Bash at the Beach on Sunday, with nothing eventful taking place. Well, that's not completely accurate if you count negative events. The negatives included: - WCW adopting the "first out of the cage" stipulation as another way to win a cage match (on top of pinfall or submission). I suppose the positive spin on this is that Vader didn't have to do a clean job for Hogan. - Renegade trying a drop kick four or five times. One time, he got as high as Orndorff's gut and even almost touched him. This was a confusing finish, too. They wanted us to think that the ref screwed up and missed Orndorff lifting his shoulder off the mat in the "back suplex pin" position, but Orndorff only seemed to lift his arm in the air. His shoulder looked to be squarely on the mat. Of course, the shoulder directly in front of the ref, the one that nobody made a fuss about, seemed to be in the air. This controversy obviously sets up a return match. - Zodiac (aka Ed Leslie, or the Butcher, or Brutus Beefcake) trying to interfere in the main event, suddenly acting like a no-mind savage, and the announcers continuing to pretend that they have no clue he was once the Butcher. Why? They do the same thing for the Shark (aka John "Avalanche" or "Earthquake" Tenta) when everybody can see it's the same guy. Whose idea is this? - Kamala vs. Jim Duggan. Ugh. On the up side -- and it is getting harder to find an up side as the Hogan vs. Dungeon of Doom story line becomes the focus of the promotion each week on TV --, Flair vs. Savage was good, Vader vs. Flair was set-up a bit, and the triangle match was entertaining, but disappointing on the action side. - The WWF has the second "In Your House" PPV on Sunday. Line-up has: - Diesel vs. Sid for the WWF Title in a lumberjack match - Owen Hart & Yokozuna vs. Davey Boy Smith & Lex Luger for the Tag Titles - Jeff Jarrett vs. Shawn Michaels for the IC Title - Roadie vs. 1-2-3 Kid - Bam Bam Bigelow vs. Henry O. Godwinn - Razor Ramon & Savio Vega vs. Men on a Mission The Bret Hart vs. Jean Pierre Lafitte match will apparently be dark. Most people are expecting Michaels to win the IC Title here. - Although Vince McMahon mentioned on RAW that he saw what internet fans were thinking about the King of the Ring and he read us loud and clear, the plan is still to give Mabel a run as top heel. - On this weekend's WCW Saturday Night, Bunkhouse Buck & Dick Slater challenge for and win the WCW Tag Titles from Harlem Heat to help add heat to the story line that is mostly based on Colonel Parker liking Sherri Martel. Apparently, they will also air footage of a locker room brawl/confrontation between Vader and Ric Flair & Arn Anderson that took place after the Bash PPV. This sets up the Clash match. - As mentioned last week, Ric Flair is out of his booking position with WCW. Kevin Sullivan now heads the booking committee, which seems more likely to go strongly in the direction Hulk Hogan desires, namely (talentless, by and large) babyface champions who defeat all heel challengers, except for the occasional extreme screw job. Sigh. I think the one thing that most old NWA fans liked about the promotion in the 1980s - compared to the WWF - was the idea of having heel champions who could work and babyfaces that chased them and really only reigned for short stints. While the Observer has downlplayed it, there has been some talk that Sullivan plans to bring in new, younger, cheaper talent, with his old ECW connection being played up. The Observer reports that Paul (E. Dangerously) Heyman is not particularly concerned by this suggestion since he figures that Sullivan is smart enough to know he'll lose his job with WCW some day (most everybody does), so he won't be stupid enough to burn a good bridge beforehand. - SMW Fanweek is fast approaching (first weekend of August). As most here know, I went last year; I haven't made any plans to attend this year, though, mainly due to my teaching commitments, partially due to my recent trip to Vancouver being a big enough drain on bank book, and partially due to the feeling that there'll be a larger contingent of annoying fans this year. In any case, SMW's most recent mailing on the event mentions that Chris Benoit will not be at the "Super Bowl of Wrestling" show on 08/04 and that Al Snow will instead work against Marty Janetty. The line-up for that show has: - Brad Armstrong vs. Billy Jack Haynes for the USWA title - Buddy Landell vs. Shawn Michaels (presumably) for the WWF IC Title - Dan Severn vs. Bobby Blaze for the NWA Title - PG-13 vs. Jackie Fulton & Steve Armstrong for the USWA Tag Titles - Dirty White Boy & Tracy Smothers vs. R'n'R Express for the SMW Tag belts - Headbangers vs. Steiners - Undertaker vs. Unabom - Bob Armstrong vs. Punisher - Terry Gordy & Tommy Rich vs. Mongolian Stomper & Boo Bradley The usual events are line-up: barbeque with the heel wrestlers, training school (with coach Al Snow), Q&A with Jim Cornette, and lots of wrestling of course. Rooms for the whole run of 9 nights costs $595 for a single (last year, with a $500 flight, the whole shebang set me back ~$2000 or so in Canadian bucks). - WCW has the Collision in Korea PPV on 08/04/95 featuring matches from the New Japan trip to Korea. The show will be cheaply priced at $12.95. Tentative line-up: - Antonio Inoki vs. Ric Flair - Rick & Scott Steiner vs. Hiro Hase & Kensuke Sasaki - Hawk vs. Tadao Yasuda - Bull Nakano vs. Akira Hokuto - Scott Norton & Masa Chono vs. Akira Nogami & Takayuki Iizuka - Wild Pegasus vs. Too Cold Scorpio - Black Cat vs. El Samurai - Hiro Saito vs. Yuji Nagata They plugged this show at the Bash at the Beach, mentioning the main match and that the Steiners were on the show. - WCW has a Clash of The Champions on WTBS on 08/06/95. Tentative line-up has: - Vader vs. Arn Anderson & Ric Flair - Harlem Heat vs. Blue Bloods for the WCW Tag Titles - Diamond Dallas Page vs. Johnny B. Badd - Sting & Hawk vs. Meng & Manabu Nakanishi - Renegade vs. Paul Orndorff for the TV Title - The WWF has SummerSlam on 08/27/95. - WCW will air a "UFC-style" PPV on 09/01/95. - WCW has Fall Brawl on 09/17/95, without Hulk Hogan. - Interview: This is the final part of an interview with 2 Cold Scorpio from the defunct Wrestling Flyer. I'm not sure what I'll have on tap here next week. Clark: Has your year and a half tenure at WCW altered your attitude towards the wrestling business? Scorpio: No, I can't really say it has. It kind of made me real leery and kind of opened my eyes up to a lot of the bullshit that's going on out there. I mean it really smartens you up to a lot of things that's happening out in the world itself. So it really was a good learning experience in itself to take elsewhere. Learning from my mistakes is the one thing I can do. Clark: When you talk about the crap that's going on in there and maybe the lack of communication from the management, did you ever have problems like that in Japan or Mexico when you worked there? Scorpio: No, none. And to go to Mexico and not speak the language and be down there for four months and never have a problem is great. To go to Japan and work there for eight months and live there where nobody speaks English, it would seem like you would run into more complications with trying to do spots and attitudes and ego trips, but it really wasn't like that. The people were very respectable towards me. It was a real good learning experience. Clark: So that crap in wrestling basically only exists in America? Scorpio: Yeah, it does. And the thing is, you've got so many guys down there with ego trips and you've got a lot of guys with a lack of communication. If a guy would communicate a little bit and some of the top guys who have been in the business for so long, even some of those guys, if they would just shut up and listen to some of the young guys sometimes, you know, even they would be amazed on how a match would come off sometimes. So it has a lot to do with that and a guy being like, "Well, I've been in the business ten years, I've been in the business twenty-five years, I know what I'm doing." "Okay, twenty-five years ago, that was fine. This is 1994. This is what they want to see now." And then again, if you voice your opinion and they feel that you're going against them, somebody goes to the office, and the next thing you know, there's the bullshit. So your best bet to do is to try to keep away, which I did, as I didn't really ride with anybody. I stayed in my hotel by myself. I get along with everybody, but don't really hang out with anybody. And when I do get high or whatever I do is pretty much by myself. Because the simple fact is, when you do it with other people, people tend to snitch. People want to do this because that's what they're paid to do. Clark: What kind of an impact do you think your experience at WCW has had on your overall career in the business? Scorpio: I think it's had a very good impact. It made me want to work a lot more harder to prove to these guys that I am the championship material that I should have been. And if they want to take me back and make me a champion, they can. And if they don't, then I'm not going to sweat it because I'm going to go on to bigger and better things where I have to go. It's just like the old saying goes, you go from A to Z and back again. A lot of guys that have been here now have been around the world and back again. Flair has been around the world twice and back. I'm ready for him to disappear off the earth now. Clark: But as far as exposure for yourself, you've been on TV a lot and people in the States have now been able to see you for the first time. Scorpio: Yeah, that's really helped a lot. The biggest thing is that I hear a lot more fans and a lot more people talking about how they appreciated and how they loved seeing me wrestle and how they weren't watching wrestling anymore and then they started watching wrestling again when they saw me wrestle. You know, that's a good feeling in itself. So just with that alone is enough to keep me going because I know that the people want to see me whether it be in the WCW or the WWF. The people want to know what's going on with Too Cold so I'm going to try to keep that in mind and keep that going for them as well. Clark: Well, you came into WCW and you probably had one of the more exciting debuts, but where... Scorpio: Really, and I thought that was really good. I was real nervous and the ring was a little bit smaller so I had to get used to working the smaller ring like overnight. It was different but the overall crowd response that I got from "the diss that don't miss" itself was incredible. Clark: But where do you think they could have taken you from there? Scorpio: I think right now today there ain't no way that I shouldn't have been the U.S. TV heavyweight champion. I now should be maybe running an angle with Steve Regal or I think I should have been a U.S. champion before Dustin (Rhodes) was a champion. But then again, that comes back from his daddy being in the office, if you ask me. But the thing about Dustin is he's a good kid and he works really hard and if it wasn't from his daddy I think he'd be a hell of a lot more wrestler and people would respect him a lot more. That goes back to the old Erik Watts. Daddy came in and put him on top. But the thing about Erik Watts is that they tried to discourage him and they tried to make him quit, but he's still there fighting and going on strong. They're trying to keep him on ice but he's still fighting. And I love to see anybody that's doing that, that has that much strength and energy to keep going for the sport itself regardless of what they keep doing to you. Clark: What kind of interaction did you have with the WWF during your WCW employment and do you think there's a possibility of you going there now? Scorpio: The only thing I had was basically Big Van Vader keeping in touch and talking with somebody up there. There was some talk then that me and Vader might be going up there. Now there might be some talk that Scorp' might be going up there. It's just if somebody wants to pay you right and everything is going good, then you've got to do what you've got to do. Clark: Would you look forward to going up to the WWF? Scorpio: Actually I would if he's going to do the right thing with me. I really would. But for right now I'm kind of set and I'm kind of stuck with just Japan and right now would rather prefer to be in WCW. But I'm not going to sweat that because I'm a businessman. If the proposition comes up and I have an opportunity to work so many days a year and make so much money or I have an opportunity to work somewhere and I know it's guaranteed, then I've got to go for what's guaranteed. Clark: In the 80s everybody in the business wanted and strived to go to the WWF. Do you think that attitude has changed now? Scorpio: I think that everybody kind of wants to be down there in WCW just for the simple fact that they don't know what's going to happen up there in the WWF. But in all honesty I think with (Jim) Cornette being around and he's been around for a long time, and Jerry Jarrett, between those two families alone who've been around the business just as long as the WCW or anybody else who has ran it at one given point in time, I think they could pick it up off the ground and do the right thing with it; you know, give the people what they want to see and bring back the old style of wrestling. But the thing is, I like the WCW because it's still kind of like under the wrestling than more or less under the entertainment. That's why I kind of like Japan and Germany, because it's still the wrestling and not really so much of the entertainment. Clark: Could you tell me what you saw during that incident with Arn Anderson and Sid Vicious in England? Scorpio: They were in the hallway of the hotel when I saw it happen. Sid was stabbing, punching, kicking, and all kinds of shit. I tried to get in between them. Then Sid took off and headed for the lobby area, and he was covered in blood. Leon was standing there and he tried to hold back Sid, before he ran out of the hotel. All's I know is that they were fighting and Sid was on top of Arn, he was obviously winning the fight. I don't know exactly what happened before I got there, but the chair was destroyed and was laying all over the floor. I think Arn had the scissors, but I'm not that sure, and then of course Sid got a hold of them. You wouldn't believe how much blood was all over that hallway. They were fighting all over from one end of the hallway to the other end of that hallway. It's amazing how Arn was able to survive that, you know, with how big Sid is. Clark: What plans are you making for your future; whether it's Japan, Mexico, WWF, or independents? Scorpio: Right now I'm working on Japan, Mexico, and Germany. I want to try to work between those three in the next year. I'm looking forward to working independents too because a lot of people that go to the independent shows have seen me on TV as well. So I'm just basically going to put myself out there all over the world. I'm going to be here today and going to be there tomorrow. So I'm planning on being on the scene for a while. Clark: What do you hope to accomplish in your pro wrestling career? Scorpio: I hope to accomplish a title around my waist and maybe a short-temm or a long-term contract with Japan or Germany over a period of time where I could work between both of them and still have enough time to come home. A lot of times I can work so many weeks in Japan and still be home more in Atlanta than I can if I'm working with WCW and still make the same amount of money. So right now my goal is to shoot for more money, less weeks and still do what I'm doing. Clark: What do you think you would be doing if you weren't in the wrestling business? Scorpio: If I wasn't doing this right now I probably would have been training to go out for professional football, being how the free agent gimmick had come back there for a while. I probably would have had to go out for football because I've always loved the sport. Then again, I'm a handy man so I probably would have been playing Mr. Mom and cooking or painting or running some kind of shop some place. You know as they say, doing that nine to five everyday job. Clark: What other things are an invaluable part of your life right now? Scorpio: The things that are most important to me in my life right now is basically my family and my kids. My kids mean a whole lot to me. The other thing that's real important right now is that I feel that I have this thing to do for wrestling as far as bringing a new flavor to it and bringing it to the 90s and getting people used to this style. It's time for some of the older guys like Ric Flair to get out and let some of the younger guys do their thing. They might be surprised at what us young guys can do for wrestling. But I want to get people used to this style, so it's like "I'm On a Mission!" (IOM). So one of the most important things in my life right now is completing that mission like I should complete it. Everybody says that heroes die but legends live forever. I want to be one of the legends in wrestling. - Booking Prediction Tourney: The ballot for In Your House #2 was posted a couple of days ago. I'll try to get the results for Bash and IYH done by early next week. My schedule is pretty heavy right now as the term finishes up; I'm faced with preparing the final lectures for the term as well as the final exam I plan to give the students. Writing a final exam is *much* tougher from this side of the desk, especially for a course like this (Partial Differential Equations I) that has such rich material. - WWW: My home page is at http://barrow.uwaterloo.ca/~hekunze. You can access the wrestling portion directly in ~hekunze/wrestle/wrestle.html. Weekly TidBits will be included on the page, along with some other stuff, and my entire (detailed) tape list. - Videos: I have posted something about the availability of videos. If you missed it, I'll send it to you in e-mail upon request. The VideoMarinepiad III home video is now available. Herb...