From: hekunze@barrow.uwaterloo.ca (Herb Kunze) Subject: Wrestling TidBits - 03/20 Date: 1997/03/21 Message-ID: X-Deja-AN: 227246537 Sender: news@undergrad.math.uwaterloo.ca (news spool owner) Organization: University of Waterloo Newsgroups: rec.sport.pro-wrestling [Wrestling TidBits] --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Pictures of The Week [Image] [Image] JWP's Cutie Suzuki and Cooga are featured this week. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- [Image] When Great Sasuke fractured his skull last year, x-rays of the injury were published. [ - ] WCW had Uncensored this past Sunday. It was a thumbs up show, but I'm still perturbed by the frequency of screwy finishes (both here and in the WWF) since I think that they could kill the golden goose. Some comments: * I miss the live pre-game show, especially when it was extended to be a live WTBS TV show. * Dean Malenko vs. Eddy Guerrero: I thought they worked a very solid match and gave it a gritty feel to build the tension. I was a bit disappointed that it didn't pick up more at the finish and that they ran with the lame finish they did. I think they could have used the Syxx story line and still continued with a clean finish to achieve the same end: a strong champion and a respected former champion with a new issue, all to set up triangle matches between the three wrestlers (triangle matches are the plan). * Ultimo Dragon vs. Psicosis: Dragon has done a tremendous job of adapting his style to the North American "big 2" framework; so has Rey Misterio Jr. I think Psicosis is excellent, but I don't think he's as comfortable with the style change. The match was really good. After these two matches, the show already had to get a thumbs up. * Glacier vs. Mortis: Definitely nothing special. Strangely, it was not as bad as I expected (which tells you I was being pretty pessimistic). After the finish, Bryan Clark (Adam Bomb in WWF) came in the ring in another "martial arts" video-game get up and my blood did run cold at the thought of how poor this story line is. * Buff Bagwell vs. Scotty Riggs: They didn't do the usual strap match finish, which is a plus. Bagwell looks to be an excellent heel and his charisma and work are damn good. He's the only NWO guy who I'm interested in seeing because none of the others work hard. They worked quite stiffly with the strap and did some nice spots. The commentary was terrible since the commentators had to talk about "stopping your opponent's momentum." They missed the call on Bagwell going for the Buff Blockbuster, his finishing neckbeaker off the turnbuckles, the move that he debuted at Souled Out to beat Riggs, even though Buff gestured that he was going to go for it. Riggs sidestepped the move and the spot ended up looking silly because of the poor commentary. At the end, Bagwell had laid Riggs out and then just walked to each turnbuckle in sequence, touching the last one with his butt. It would have been nicer if he had dragged Riggs around the ring. * Public Enemy vs. Harlem Heat: When the lights are bright and the cameras are up close, tha ECW brawling style looks weak. That's my only conclusion. Chris Benoit has come across as a much better brawler than Public Enemy. They used a lot of weak objects and did the requisite sloppy nonsensical brawling. Sherri Martel got involved a lot and somehow got a small cut on her cheek. Johnny Grunge bled. They broke a table. I was not excited. * Rey Misterio Jr. vs. Prince Iaukea: They worked very well together and Iaukea is improving a lot. The 15:00 time limit expired at 11:57, which annoyed the hell out of me. * Main Event: Once again, just like with the Final Four match at the WWF PPV, nobody wanted to lie down for anybody else, so they added an over the top rope elimination rule to the match. The NWO cleaned house again until it came down to all of them against Lex Luger. Prior to that, I was pleased that they gave Benoit the most ring time. Outnumbered, Luger still managed to rally and get some way-too-quick torture rack submissions from the NWO guys, which turned me off. Dennis Rodman's involvement did nothing for me except make me realize again how many screw jobs the promotion is booking. The post-match scene had Sting descend from the ceiling, which still looks way cool, and deliver reverse DDT's on everybody. That post-match scene was excellent. During the show, they ran an angle involving Diamond Dallas Page and the returning Kimberly along with Randy Savage and Elizabeth, which sets up the mixed matches between those two teams. [ RAW ] this week featured a Bret Hart vs. Sid cage match for the WWF Title. Unfortunately, they didn't change the belt and the WWF Title match at WrestleMania this weekend remains crummy. There was nothing very noteworthy about the undercard on RAW, although it was interesting to see that there was one pro-ECW sign (supporting Mikey) and several anti-ECW signs. Shawn Michaels returned and said that he would appear at WrestleMania to do commentary. During the main event, both Steve Austin and Undertaker interfered since each wanted their WrestleMania opponent to have the title. It helped the viewer miss how bad Sid is, although he did take a superplex bump. Bret Hart was "screwed" again in the finish and did a profanity-laced interview afterwards, which ended the show on a strong note. In the post-match brawl between all four wrestlers, Shawn Michaels appeared and came nowhere close to being involved, grabbing a chair and swinging it in the ring when nobody was around. His presence hurt the angle somewhat, but it's clear that we were to conclude that these five guys are all equal. The only interesting thing on the undercard was the small angle with Ken Shamrock. Billy Gunn accosted him and Shamrock entered the ring. Twice in a row, Shamrock dropped Gunn into a quick submission before breaking. Shamrock said that he would break something the third time and Gunn walked off. We know what they are trying to do with this angle and I like Shamrock a lot, so I enjoyed it, but it was weak because of lack of education and the fact that Gunn is a mid-carder. Submissions can't be made instantly legitimate, at least not by having Shamrock put weaker ones (one that are the farthest from being over) on Gunn. The commentators had no clue how to call these things. If they wanted to legitimize Shamrock to the WWF fan who knows nothing about UFCs, they needed to have him be confronted by Steve Austin or Bret Hart and do the same thing to those guys. But in the current climate of screw jobs, that just isn't going to happen, is it? [Image] [ - ] The WWF has WrestleMania on 03/23/97. Tentative line-up features: * Sid vs. Undertaker for the WWF Title * Bret Hart vs. Steve Austin in a submission match * Davey Boy Smith & Owen Hart vs. Vader & Mankind for the WWF Tag Titles * Rocky Maivia vs. The Sultan for the IC Title * Faarooq & Crush & Savio Vega vs. Ahmed Johnson & Legion of Doom in a Chicago street fight * Hunter Hearst Helmsley vs. Goldust * Doug Furnas & Phil LaFon vs. Headbangers vs. Blackjacks vs. Godwinns * Flash Funk vs. Diesel There are some matches with potential in the line-up. [Image] [ - ] The Observer writes about an article in The Improper Bostonian that deal with ECW. It's interesting to me because the article is written by Betsy Sherman, who I met at SMW's 1994 Fanweek. She's a long time wrestling fan that has visited all of the territories in North America as well as major events for the "big 2"; she struck me as a very knowledgeable, if somewhat quirky, fan. At Fanweek, during an intermission, I used the time to write down some notes about the events of the day and she approached me, thinking I was also a freelance journalist. Since she was planning to shop around a story on Fanweek, she wanted to check out the perceived opposition. Dave Meltzer apparently hasn't heard of her, but praised her for her knowledge of the business. In the story, she writes that Paul Heyman has "an ingenuousness that would make Oliver North jealous" and she goes on to interview Erich Kulas, who was brutally wounded in a "match" by New Jack. Erich says (as Meltzer typed it, but surely Betsy used different punctuation), "you can't really call it blading. Blading is just a prick. And I've got a six-inch slice that says it wasn't blading. I have a crack in my skull. I have permanent nerve damage in my head. You know the fork he was carrying on a noose? I have holes that they couldn't stitch, they were so small. So not I got craters all over my face...I feel I hate Mt. Heyman for lying through his teeth. I hate New Jack for what he did to me, for what he did to my face, for what he did to my family. The hardest time of my life has been th holidays. Especially Thanksgiving, I would sit here and almost start crying, because I had so much to be thankful for, and my grandmother would start crying. I can't go over to her house, because every time she sees my face she starts crying. I feel if they did anything else, I would have been raped. It was almost like getting crucified with a thousand people watching...As of now, I hate wrestling. It ruined my life. And I advise anybody out there, never want to wrestle. It's a dirty sport." His dad is quoted as saying, "They're claiming my son lied about his age, whic he didn't. They used my son, and it wasn't for his ability. They used him as a patsy. They just wanted somebody big they could stab." The story went on to say that the Kulas' have a copy of the video of the incident and are going to take ECW to court. [Image] [ - ] WCW has Spring Stampede on 04/06/97. Tentative line-up features: * Akira Hokuto vs. Madusa for the WCW Women's Title [ - ] WCW comes to Montreal, Quebec, making a rare visit to Canada, on 04/11/97. Planned matches include: * Hulk Hogan vs. Jacques Rougeau * Giant vs. French Canadian Pierre in a "patch match," where each wrestler wears an eye patch * Harlem Heat vs. Faces of Fear * Lex Luger vs. Steve McMichael * Eddie Guerrero vs. Dean Malenko Several matches with local wrestlers will also be added. [ - ] New Japan has a Tokyo Dome show on 04/12/97. Featured line-up includes: * Jushin Liger vs. Great Sasuke * Great Muta vs. Masa Chono [ - ] ECW has their first PPV on 04/13/97, airing from the ECW Arena from 9pm to 11:55pm. Tentative line-up includes: * Sabu vs. Taz * Terry Funk vs. Sandman vs. Stevie Richards in a triangle match for a title shot against Raven later in the show * Shane Douglas vs. Pit Bull #2 for the TV Title * Great Sasuke & Gran Naniwa & Gran Hamada vs. Dick Togo & Taka Michinoku & Terry Boy The affiliated (?) ECV is also rumoured to be trying to get on PPV. [Image] [ - ] The WWF has [In Your House ] on 04/20/97. [ - ] [Nitro ] beat [RAW ] on 03/17 with a 3.5 rating against a 2.4 rating. The detailed ratings are a click away. [ - ] The PPV buy rates of the past six months (year or so) show that the WWF has an average buy rate of 0.49 (0.59) and average gross of $1.21-million ($1.54-million), while WCW has an average buy rate of 0.68 (0.64) and average gross of $1.97-million ($1.90-million). The details as they stand are available. [Image] [ - ] 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. [Image] [ - ] 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. [Image] [ - ] 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