From: hekunze@barrow.uwaterloo.ca (Herb Kunze) Subject: Wrestling TidBits - 07/25 Date: 1996/07/26 Message-ID: X-Deja-AN: 170345383 sender: news@undergrad.math.uwaterloo.ca (news spool owner) organization: University of Waterloo newsgroups: rec.sport.pro-wrestling [Wrestling_TidBits] --------------------------------------------------------------------------- As many people reading this know, I'm teaching a third year course on Partial Differential Equations this term. I've spent a lot of time over the past week composing the final exam for my students, so I don't have much to say here this week. Apologies. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Picture of the Week This week's picture is a collage featuring the Jushin Liger vs. Black Tiger (Eddy Guerrero) match from the New Japan Best of the Super Junior tournament, 05/24/96. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- [Headhunters][ - ] The WWF had [In Your House] this past Sunday. I wasn't too moved by the show because the In Your House events are, more than ever, becoming shows that focus entirely on setting up other shows. Obviously, setting up other shows is important, but it comes across as a bit lame when so many finishes are screwy to avoid tarnishing anybody's record along the way. The lowlight for me was, you guessed it, the Undertaker match finish. Maybe we'll get lucky at a boiler will explode in their "boiler room match" on the next show; I'm almost that desperate to never have to see the Undertaker again. After WCW's past two PPV shows, it just seems that for the first time ever WCW actually has storyline and wrestling momentum that the WWF just doesn't have to the same depth. If Vince doesn't do something dramatic, it wouldn't surprise me if the PPV buy rate battle finally turns in WCW's favour. Things are already heading in that direction. [ - ] Ron Simmons debuted as Sunny's singles superstar on the live Monday Night RAW this past week. He wore a strange gladiator-like outfit with helmet and Vince pretended he had no clue who he was while Jerry Lawler said it looked like Ron Simmons. He attacked Ahmed Johnson; it seems obvious that the thing to do is have your two Black wrestlers feud. This is a little funny because late last week local mat fan & ECW supporter, Sanjay Mohanta, was trying to convince me that Ron Simmons should be pushed into a feud with Steve Austin, saying that it would be better than having Austin waste his time with Savio Vega. I responded that Vega and Simmons are very close to the same level on my talent scale. Anyhow, Simmons' debut has Sanjay just shaking his head from side to side and sighing. [ - ] Odds are that Ultimate Warrior will not return to the WWF. [ - ] WCW has Hog Wild on 08/10/96. Line-up has: * Giant vs. Hulk Hogan for the WCW Title * Sting & Lex Luger vs. Scott Hall & Kevin Nash * Ric Flair vs. Eddy Guerrero for the US Title * Harlem Heat vs. Steiners for the WCW Tag Titles * Chris Benoit vs. Kevin Sullivan * Scott Norton vs. Ice Train * Madusa vs. Bull Nakano * Rey Misterio Jr. vs. El Ultimo Dragon or Jushin Liger The PPV takes place on a Saturday and will be preceded by a live two-hour Saturday Night show. [Liger vs. Kidman][ - ] WCW has Clash of Champions XXXIII on 08/14/96. [ - ] The WWF has SummerSlam on 08/18/96. Line-up has: * Shawn Michaels vs. Vader for the WWF Title * Ahmed Johnson vs. Owen Hart for the IC Title * Godwinns vs. Bodydonnas vs. Smoking Gunns vs. New Rockers in an elimination tag match * Psycho Sid vs. Davey Boy Smith * Undertaker vs. Mankind in a boiler room match * Jake Roberts vs. Jerry Lawler * Marc Mero vs. Goldust [ - ] The WWF has the sequel to the Big Event at the Canadian National Exhibition in Toronto on 08/24/96. Line-up has: * Shawn Michaels vs. Goldust for the WWF Title in a ladder match * Psycho Sid vs. Vader [ - ] [Nitro] beat [RAW] on 07/15 with a 3.4 rating (5.8 share) against a 2.6 rating (4.2 share). Nitro's two hour broadcast rating is averaged. Nitro's recent stampede continues, with the show having scored the highest five ratings over the past five weeks since the head-to-head competition began. The detailed ratings are a click away. [ - ] The PPV buy rates of the past six month (year or so) show that the WWF has an average buy rate of 0.89 (0.73) and average gross of $2.48-million ($1.79-million), while WCW has an average buy rate of 0.60 (0.54) and average gross of $1.80-million ($1.28-million). The details are an interesting read. [ - ] WCW has Fall Brawl 09/15/96. [ - ] The WWF has [In Your House] on 09/22/96. [ - ] WCW has Halloween Havoc 10/27/96 from Caeser's Palace. It will be an outdoor show. This is the first show that Jeff Jarrett can work. [ - ] The WWF has [In Your House] on 10/20/96. [ - ] The WWF has Survivor Series on 11/17/96. [ - ] WCW has World War III 11/24/96. [ - ] The WWF has [In Your House] on 12/15/96. [ - ] WCW has Starrcade on 12/29/96. The Observer reports that there are very serious talks about doing the show live from Tokyo. [ - ] WWW: My home page is at http://barrow.uwaterloo.ca/~hekunze. The wrestling portion includes this post, tape lists, awards history, Japanese wrestling stuff, and other things. [ - ] 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. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Click here to return. E-mail: hekunze@jeeves.uwaterloo.ca