From: hekunze@barrow.uwaterloo.ca (Herb Kunze) Subject: Wrestling TidBits - 01/09 Date: 1997/01/10 Message-ID: X-Deja-AN: 208865263 sender: news@undergrad.math.uwaterloo.ca (news spool owner) organization: University of Waterloo newsgroups: rec.sport.pro-wrestling [Wrestling TidBits] --------------------------------------------------------------------------- If you are on the web and you aren't reading this on my web page, click here to make the leap. There are other items to browse. I do not offer subscriptions to a mailing list! I do not e-mail images! --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Pictures of The Week This week's pictures feature the incomparable Chris Benoit and a shot from JWP's Extreme J Night --------------------------------------------------------------------------- [ Sunny ] [ - RAW ] this past week featured an anomaly in this neck of the woods. First off, the matches were nothing too special, but the show did a very good job of building to the Royal Rumble. Is there any doubt that Bret Hart is going to win the Rumble and then win the WWF Title at WrestleMania? It is clear that he is doing jobs to build up contenders for his next run. The anomaly took place at the end of the show. We get two versions of the show here, a TSN broadcast at midnight which seems to be the same as the USA show and a Canadian version of the show on CKVR, featuring the abysmal commentary team of Ray Rougeau & Kevin Kelly (who joined Jim Ross in incorrectly called Flash Funk's somersault splash the shooting star press). Although CKVR sometimes edits for content, both broadcasts showed Sid's power bomb of Jose Lothario's son in the locker room. The weird thing is that the two power bombs were different. They both started from Sid holding his victim in a choke, but everything, words and bumps, changed from there. Looks like they did (at least) two takes of the angle and we got to see both here. [ - ] The WWF's Shotgun Saturday Night debuted this past Saturday to mixed reviews on the net. There were raves for Marlena flashing, but the spot and the reaction by Sunny all seem to be more cheap desperation, IMO. Remember when Elizabeth took off her skirt in a 1988 match? The Flying Nunns were the Harris Twins (Grimm Brothers). [ - ] The WWF has the Royal Rumble on 01/19/97. Tentative line-up has: * Royal Rumble, which will include some AAA wrestlers, Terry Funk, and everybody in the other matches on this show except Sid, Shawn, and the six Mexicans * Shawn Michaels vs. Sid for the WWF Title * Hunter Hearst Helmsley vs. Goldust for the IC Title * Ahmed Johnson vs. Faarooq * Undertaker vs. Vader * El Canek & Perro Aguayo & Hector Garza vs. Jerry Estrada & Fuerza Guerrera & Heavy Metal [ - ] WTBS had a show called Playing The Odds with a segment on the UFC on Sunday night. It ran about 10 minutes and focussed on the Detroit UFC. It was the first admission I've seen on any of these stories that the lack of gloves actually makes the event safer, but it otherwise cast the fans of the UFC as violence-loving morons, which some of them surely are. [ Jushin Liger vs. Billy Kidman ] [ - ] NWO has a Clash of Champions on 01/21/97. Tentative line-up has: * Eddie Guerrero vs. Diamond Dallas Page for the US Title * Chris Benoit vs. Kevin Sullivan in a falls count anywhere match * Dean Malenko vs. El Ultimo Dragon for the WCW Cruiserweight Title * Steve Regal vs. Rey Misterio Jr. for the TV Title * Steiners vs. Amazing French Canadians The main event tag match with Hogan & Giant teaming is apparently dead after last Monday's Nitro, so they'll add something to heat up the Hulk Hogan vs. Giant match at the PPV. [ - ] Lots of talk that Hayabusa will get a shot with All Japan. Atsushi Onita is negotiating the deal with All Japan owner and booker, Giant Baba. [ - ] NWO has NWO Souled Out on 01/25/97. Tentative line-up has: * Hulk Hogan vs. Giant for the Title * Kevin Nash & Scott Hall vs. Steiners for the Tag Titles * Syxx vs. Eddie Guerrero in a ladder match for the US Title * Marcus Bagwell vs. Scotty Riggs * Masa Chono vs. Chris Jericho [ - ] New Japan had their first major show of the year, Wrestling World in Tokyo Dome, on 01/04. Results: * Shinya Hashimoto beat Riki Choshu to retain the IWGP Title; this match had been set up during the G1 Climax tourney in 1996. * Jushin Liger captured the J Crown from El Ultimo Dragon. Dragon's newly-won WCW Cruiserweight Title, which was unified with the J Crown, did not change hands, with the spin being that the match contract was signed at a time when the J Crown was only eight titles, so Liger had no claim on the ninth belt. Liger named Shinjiro Otani as his top challenger, since Dragon is now bound to WCW for the rest of the year. * Jinsei Shinzaki (formerly Hakushi in the WWF) beat Michiyoshi Ohara. * Power Warrior beat The Great Muta. Kensuke Sasaki & Keiji Muto both used their gimmick characters in this match, billed as the Battle of The Double Dealer. * Tatsumi Fujinami & Kengo Kimura beat Masahiro Chono & Hiroyoshi Tenzan to win the IWGP Tag Titles. Fujinami & Kimura were a legendary tag team in the 1980s; Fujinami made Chono submit. * Antonio Inoki beat Willie Williams. * Super Liger beat Koji Kanemoto. Kanemoto returned to New Japan to lose. There is every indication that Super Liger was Chris Jericho. * In the first of four New Japan vs. Big Japan (a minor league) matches, Masahiro Chono (NJ) beat Shoji Nakamaki (BJ) in 67 seconds. I'm surprised they booked Nakamaki for such a long wrestling match, since his forte is garbage wrestling. * Masa Saito (NJ) got a submission from Great Kojika (BJ). * Kendo Nagasaki (BJ) beat Tatsutoshi Goto (NJ). * Shinjiro Otani (NJ) beat Toshihiro Tajiri (BJ). * Junji Hirata & Manabu Nakanishi & Satoshi Kojima & Osamu Nishimura (NJ) beat Kazuo Yamazaki & Osamu Kido & Takashi Iizuka & Yuji Nagata. Nagata did the job to Hirata in his final match for 1997; he will be with WCW for the entire year. [ Extreme J Night ] [ - ] ECW's PPV, tentativly scheduled for 04/13/97, may reach the air waves after all. As more facts emerged on the story, it's become quite clear that both Viewer's Choice and Request balked at carrying the ECW PPV because of content. Viewer's Choice abandoned the PPV because of the oft-discussed use of Sandman's son Tyler, the characterization of his mother, the treatment of women in the promotion, the blood, and the brawling in the crowds. The expanding string of incidents that haunts the promotions made Request skeptical of ECW's ability to control the product that it delivers, but interview snippets from Request lead one to believe that they would carry an ECW PPV if ECW could offer assurances that no similar incidents would occur on the show. Paul (E. Dangerously) Heyman was reportedly adamant that an ECW PPV could not take place without the above elements, although he was willing to perhaps negotiate the most offensive item away. After Request made an announcement a few weeks back that they would not carry the show, Paul Heyman seems to have changed his tune, likely because he can't bail out of the PPV and still hold the "PPV carrot" in front of the wrestlers that have stayed with the promotion instead of looking for work elsewhere. The Observer reports that Request and ECW are reaching "compromises," while anybody reading the next paragraphs and thinking about ECW's product has to see things as pretty one-sided compromises. "The compromises being worked on have to do with ECW putting regulations and safeguards in place that would keep Request out of a major scandal and avoid a repeat of incidents such as the fire incident or the Revere, MA, incident. [Request President Hugh] Panero said he wasn't against blood being used on the show as long as the show is appropriately labelled with a warning at the beginning of the show that there may be graphic violence, and that the blood isn't overdone. Heyman said that they had agreed that no stabbing or puncture type of movements with sharp objects would be used on the show such as an Abdullah the Butcher type gimmick. He said that Request wanted the names and IDs of all participants in such a show ahead of time to make sure they are of age and that he has no problem with it because he wants every participant in the show to be under contract before the show before advertising them. Request wanted to be informed of any `last minute surprise' participants beforehand and Heyman considered all of Request's concerns to not be unreasonable." "Heyman said the show itself would contain a lot of wrestling and wouldn't be a bloodfest. There will be no gimmick matches with blood connotations, at least as he has the show planned, such as cage matches, barbed wire matches, chain matches or dog collar matches. He said the show would culminate many feuds and would be the ECW product as it is today with no watering down." [ - ] WCW has SuperBrawl on 02/23/97. Tentative line-up has: * Hollywood Hulk Hogan vs. Roddy Piper for the WCW Title [ - ] WCW has Uncensored on 03/16/97. [ Awesome Mr. Pogo ] [ - ] The WWF has WrestleMania on 03/23/97. [ - ] The WWF has In Your House on 04/20/97. [ - ] [ - ] [Nitro ] beat [RAW ] on 12/23 with a 3.1 rating (5.2 share) against a 1.5 rating (2.6 share). Nitro's two hour broadcast rating is averaged. That is the worst RAW rating ever. 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 0.53 (0.65) and average gross of $1.39-million ($1.69-million), while WCW has an average buy rate of 0.60 (0.57) and average gross of $1.82-million ($1.69-million). The details are an interesting read. [ - ] The WWF has [In Your House ] on 05/11/97. [ - ] The WWF has King of The Ring on 06/08/97. [ - ] The WWF has [In Your House ] on 07/06/97. [ - ] The WWF has SummerSlam on 08/03/97. [ - ] The WWF has [In Your House ] on 09/07/97. [ - ] The WWF has [In Your House ] on 10/05/97. [ - ] The WWF has Survivor Series on 11/09/97. [ - ] The WWF has [In Your House ] on 12/07/97. [ - ] 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. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Thanks to: Masaki Aso. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Click here to return. E-mail: hekunze@jeeves.uwaterloo.ca