______________________________________________________________________ If you are on the web and you aren't reading this on my web page, click here or 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! _________________________________________________________________ I hope everybody reading this page had a happy new year. _________________________________________________________________ - As part of the weekly TidBits, I'll try to include some graphical element with regularity once again. Soon, I hope, I'll start my second set of high quality still images for collectors. I'll also continue to have animated gifs when appropriate. But, I've decided to experiment even further, so, for the first time, I'm including two RealVideo movies, complete with sound. In order to view these movies, you will need the [rm.gif] RealPlayer plug-in. Keep in mind that uncompressed movie files are huge (one megabyte per second, it seems, from experiment), and that reasonably lossless compression only shrinks them by a factor no greater than ten. The magic of RealVideo is that yet another order of magnitude of compression can take place with a reasonable image maintained. There is some blockiness, but it is really unavoidable. I'll look forward to getting some feedback on the movies. This week, I've got two movies for you to see. The first comes from New Japan Pro-Wrestling's TV show, featuring a show-opening promo for NWO Japan. I just thought people would find it interesting to see that the NWO is promoted as strongly in New Japan as it is in WCW. The clip runs about 50 seconds and is 196K. Secondly, in the last update I mentioned a wonderful tag match I saw from All Japan Women, featuring Manami Toyota & Mima Shimoda against Kaoru Ito & Mariko Yoshida. You can get a little background on these women by browsing the women's page, although I must apologize for letting that page get a little out of date. In any case, quickly, Toyota & Shimoda defended the WWWA Tag Titles in a two-out-of-three fall match, against the younger Ito and the reasonably recently-returned Yoshida (Yoshida had been out for a long while after suffering a broken neck due to a bad tope; she first came back as a referee before finally returning to the ring). Just to push the boundaries a bit, I'm offering you the final five minutes of the first fall of this WWWA Tag Title match; it's a huge file at almost 1.2 megabytes, but keep in mind that it was generated from a 133 Mb compressed .avi file that would be impossible to post! - WCW had Starrcade on Sunday. The show had to be tweaked at the last minute, with Kevin Nash vs. Giant being dropped (presumably due to Nash's knee, but, given history, likely also due to the fact that Nash was slated to lose) and Chris Benoit facing Perry Saturn instead of Raven (due to injury). The lost match meant nothing to me, since I was not looking forward to what would be a bad match anyhow. Overall, the show stuck to the usual formula: there was one very strong match on the undercard, which was hurt by the lack of luchadores or a second cruiser match; as we climbed through the card, the matches were generally lacklustre, with one okay exception; in the only twist, Bret Hart made a huge impact in WCW's favour, establishing himself as a top babyface and the bane of the NWO. Results: * Eddie Guerrero beat Dean Malenko to retain the Cruiserweight Title: It's hardly a surprise that this was the best match on the show. Eddie ended up winning with the frog splash at close to the twenty minute mark. * Randy Savage & Scott Norton & Vincent beat Ray Traylor & Steiners: Savage subbed for Konnan. Nothing special at all, but not embarrassing. It was still a huge drop in quality from the opener. Scott Steiner was pinned after Savage's elbow drop. * Bill Goldberg beat Steve McMichael: Not a good match. Some people rave at how much McMichael has improved and I suppose this match not being in the negative star range speaks to that, but a half-star match is hardly something to get excited about. McMichael took a bump through a table. The match had little cohesiveness. * Perry Saturn beat Chris Benoit: It's unspeakably annoying to see Benoit saddled with a program against Raven's flock. There are people that get orgasmic about Saturn because of his history with the highly-overrated and extra-sloppy Eliminators tag team, which delivered stunt men matches with no transitions in ECW; those people now cling to the fact that Saturn has an injured knee and that he's not in ECW as explanation for his lack of roundedness. In reality, he could never perform at the level of a Chris Benoit, and will only ever get raves for his ECW performances, and then only from people who like spots with limited connection to wrestling. In any case, Benoit has had better matches with jobbers on WCW Saturday Night. His Nitro match against Billy Kidman was mounds better than this match. It wasn't brutally bad or anthing, but Benoit was completely wasted in this role. Raven ended up interfering and dropping Benoit on his head so Saturn could put on his submission. Because it was a "no DQ" match, the interference was alright; this style of booking annoys me, since the people interfering might as well have done so right at the get go. It's reminiscent of the WWF casket match where everybody interfered to stuff Undertaker in a casket. * Buff Bagwell beat Lex Luger: The NWO interfered, Savage got racked, Elizabeth shook her way to ringside, and Bagwell got the cover. Lightning did not strike twice as Bagwell, who had pulled a suprisingly good match out of Luger on Nitro, I believe, was not able to perform the miracle twice. Luger did all of his signature stuff: the embarrassing reverse atomic drop where he barely bends his leg at the knee and his clotheslines that miss by a country mile. * Diamond Dallas Page beat Curt Hennig to win the US Title: An okay match, not as good as it possibly should have been, but still okay. Page reversed the "Hennigplex" to get the Diamond Cutter on Hennig in a great finish. * Larry Zbyszko beat Eric Bischoff: Bret Hart was the referee for the match and the commentators constantly ragged on him for seemingly being tougher on Larry. Nitro was on the line; Larry faces Scott Hall at Souled Out II now that he has won this match. Bischoff did some nice kicks, but this was a DUD match. Bischoff took a hard bump against the metal ring steps, leaving a big welt on his back. At the finish, Scott Hall placed a metal plate in Bischoff's protective shoe while Hart was not looking. Bischoff went to kick Larry, but the plate flew out when it shouldn't have, dangerously flying into the crowd. Larry still sold the kick like he'd been hit with the plate. Bret Hart saw the plate fly out and ended up decking Bischoff and declaring Larry the winner by DQ. Bret then put Hall in the sharpshooter. I wonder if the same people who raved about Sgt. Slaughter's performance in the forgetable boot camp match against Hunter Hearst Helmsley will give Bischoff the same raves for what was a similar quality performance? * Sting beat Hulk Hogan to win the WCW Title: The referee for the match was Nick Patrick, selected at random from a hat of WCW referees. This was sort of weird because they had made a stink about ensuring that a high quality referee was involved in the match; why then do a random draw? Ah, for storyline. The match was a throwaway. In the end, Hogan covered Sting and held his tights while Patrick counted to three. It was apparently supposed to be a fast count, but it didn't come off particularly well. The commentators played it like Patrick had been siding with Hogan all night. Bret Hart came out and stopped the bell from being rung to signal the end of the match. Patrick confronted him and Bret said he wasn't going to get away with it again. Bret took over the match, since he was licenced as a referee for the evening. Sting ended up knocking down a few NWO guys before getting the scorpion deathlock on Hogan, who submitted. This part was well done. Bret passed the belt to Sting and sat on the top turnbuckle. All of the WCW wrestlers, who had been in the crowd all night, stormed the ring, heels and faces alike, to celebrate with Sting. I think it was a great closing image, despite the fact that the match was worthless and the Patrick angle was not well done. I suppose the point was to set up an angle between Bret and Hogan, without hurting Hogan's credibility too much, but, then, I don't think Hogan has any credibility anyhow. Overall, I gave the shows a thumbs in the middle, bordering down. It was one of the weaker WCW PPVs of the year because they only had a single cruiserweight match on the undercard. Still, Sting holding the title and Bret being involved in main events will only help the match quality on top. I still don't see a lot of possibilities for stellar matches, but it's a lot better than it was. - When a year comes to a close, it is always interesting to survey the year that was, consider the highs and lows, see what trends emerged, and get a feel for the year to come. North America WCW: Strong undercards, weak main events. Undercard wrestlers that get over because of what they do in the ring, main event wrestlers who get over because of who they are, despite of what they (don't) do in the ring. The year was pretty much the same all the way through: NWO vs. WCW on top in heated matches, with lots of run-ins and screw jobs and limited work; cruiserweights providing lots of quality wrestling, with numerous wrestlers getting over, sometimes (it seemed) despite being completely misbooked. With limited exceptions, the roster on top remained the same for the whole year. Early in the year, Hulk Hogan & the NWO added Randy Savage to their roster. Later in the year, Curt Hennig would also join them. WCW's main event squad saw Diamond Dallas Page get pushed to the top level, working a Terry Funk style of wrestling with over-acted bumps. Later in the year, Jeff Jarrett would leave the promotion, and Bret Hart would be brought in, presumably to join team WCW. The year built to Starrcade's main event of Hulk Hogan vs. Sting, which for whatever strange reason, despite miscues along the way (remember the screwed up vulture angle at the Clash of Champions?), would turn into an incredibly hot match. The Cruiserweights provided the majority of quality wrestling this year. One has to give Eric Bischoff credit for making this new style an integral part of every show. When the NWO's Cruiserweight, Syxx, finally gave in to accumulated injuries, that title became pretty much a WCW domain, with Eddie Guerrero ascending to the top of the mountain, feuding with Rey Misterio Jr. and Dean Malenko. Early in the year, of course, Syxx was a key challenger for the title, eventually winning it from Dean Malenko. Taking nothing away from the sadness of Syxx' injuries, it was heartening to see that the NWO didn't immediately acquire somebody so that the group could hold or challenge for the Cruiserweight title. I think the promotion was helped by having some other issues besides NWO vs. WCW. Besides those mentioned above, WCW has locked up the quality Mexican wrestlers, even "stealing" some unneeded ones that had appeared on WWF broadcasts this year, as well as the junior heavyweights in New Japan. Unfortunately, talk of a round robin Cruiserweight tournament a la New Japan faded as the year closed out. There's not much point in analyzing the television situation in comparison to the WWF. Throughout the year, WCW's Monday Nitro had a higher rating than the WWF's Monday Night RAW in every competitive broadcast. Nitro did climb from low to mid 3's up to high 3's or low 4's as the year went on. The house show business was tremendous for the promotion as well, as it became the in vogue thing to be at Monday Nitro tapings and PPVs. Ticket prices were increased and attendance increased as well. It flowed over to the typical house show tours as well. Consider the PPV year for WCW (apologies for incompleteness on some recent shows): Date Show Buy Rate Gross Average Match Rating Peak Match Rating matches >= * * * * 97/01/25 Souled Out 0.47 $1.31 1.13 * * * * 11% (1 of 9) 97/02/23 SuperBrawl 0.75 $2.29 2.78 * * * 3/4 0% (0 of 10) 97/03/16 Uncensored 0.8 $2.44 2.18 * * * 3/4 0% (0 of 7) 97/04/06 Spring Stampede 0.58 $1.77 2.19 * * * * 1/4 12.5% (1 of 8) 97/05/18 Slamboree 0.6 $1.88 1.83 * * * 3/4 0% (0 of 9) 97/06/15 Great American Bash 0.6 $1.88 2.19 * * * 3/4 0% (0 of 9) 97/07/13 Bash at the Beach 0.78 (1) $2.44 2.67 * * * * 1/4 22% (2 of 9) 97/08/10 Road Wild 0.77 (2) $2.41 1.75 * * * 0% (0 of 9) 97/09/14 Fall Brawl 0.53 $1.83 2.47 * * * 3/4 0% (0 of 8) 97/10/26 Halloween Havoc 1.1 $3.52 1.89 * * * * 3/4 11% (1 of 9) 97/11/23 World War III 1.33 * * * * 11% (1 of 9) 97/12/28 Starrcade 1.41 * * * * 11% (1 of 9) Average 0.70 $2.18 1.98 3.92 6.67% (7 of 105) Footnotes: (1) WCW claims 1.01; (2) preliminary figure never finalized The average gross in 1996 was "only" $1.91-million; although I cannot offer figures for World War III or Starrcade, the belief leading up to Starrcade was that the show would set a company record. Certainly, the PPV gates have been setting records throughout the second half of the year and Starrcade seemed to be the topper. Put it this way: in order to "only" achieve a $1.91-million average gross, the combined gross from WWIII and Starrcade would have to be $1.12-million, a figure that will be easily surpassed. So, it is safe to say that this was a record year for WCW. Better yet for the company, the year ends with a surge in the final months and their key issue (NWO vs. WCW) seems to still have a lot of life in it. I thought it would be interesting to look at the final three columns of data as well. After all, when we talk about how good or bad a PPV show was, it's usually tempered by exactly how much good stuff there was. (It might be interesting to also look at how much bad stuff there was, but I'd like to end the year viewing the glass half full). On average, then, WCW gives us very close to a * * * * match on every show, coming in with a 3.92 peak average match rating per show. Still, only 6.67% of all PPV matches were * * * * or better in 1997 and the average PPV match rating was just under * * , sitting at 1.98. Now, Nitro and the two Clashes also slipped a few strong matches into the mix, there are practically nine matches on every PPV show, and we tend to remember only the good matches, so it's understandable that one might perceive things to be better than they are. If I could make one wish for 1998, it would be to increase the number of great matches per show, something that WCW is easily capable of doing. With the arrival of Bret Hart and the return of Sting, there might even be a freak chance that a great match could occur at the top of a card, but that's probably a fantasy. WWF: Strong main events, weak undercards. Main event wrestlers who get over because of who they are and what they can do, undercard wrestlers that can't get over at all, with limited exceptions in both cases. All year long, there have been three primary star workers in the promotion: Shawn Michaels, Bret Hart, and Steve Austin. Undertaker gets added to the list of stars, despite his lower quality work (only working good matches when paired with the first three guys), because of his undying appeal. Vader, Owen Hart, and Davey Boy Smith round out the list of real stars in the promotion. In fact, Owen Hart & Davey Smith proved to be the only star caliber tag team in North America in 1997. Any of Mick Foley's characters (Mankind, Dude Love, and Cactus Jack) have also offered some good moments, but he's not at the level of the others listed. There are some prospects among new arrivals. Doug Furnas & Phil LaFon were among the best tag teams in All Japan prior to coming in to the WWF, but the promotion has been unable to get them over. It's partly due to a style clash: All Japan focuses on legitimate, athletic wrestling, something that rarely gets pushed in the WWF (or WCW, excluding the Cruisers). Only the aforementioned Owen & Davey team could possibly work the style that would let Furnas & LaFon shine. Still, one has to hope that ability will win out in 1998 and that the team will finally catch on. Ken Shamrock, with the training of Bret Hart, managed to become a strong performer in a record short time. He was carried through a great match by Vader, but has had trouble legitimizing his claim as an upper echelon star; it's clear that that is the plan as the year runs out and commentators talk about Shamrock winning a title in 1998. Hunter Hearst Helmsley, despite being coupled with Chyna and Shawn Michaels, still isn't over (when he's without Michaels) and still doesn't deliver stellar matches. In a desperate attempt to capitalize on the success of the cruiserweights in WCW, the WWF created a lightheavyweight division in 1997. This poor assessment of the thought behind the process seems jusitifed when one examines the title tournament and the stars that are in the division. Only one real star sits in the division, namely Taka Michinoku. WCW had locked up so many avenues to lighter weight wrestlers that the WWF had trouble coming up with real talent. Brian Christopher is pushed as the other star in the division, but he's a failure as a lightheavyweight: he does nothing new...it's the moves that have gotten the cruisers over. Aguila is too green to mention. The WWF floundered opportunities with various other Mexican stars, although, admittedly, the Mexican promotions were in their usual tumultuous state this year. The shining light at the end of the year is the rumour that the WWF wants to buy out Michinoku Pro. I can only dream of seeing a renewal of the Michinoku Pro feud between Taka and Tiger Mask IV. Still, on its own, the WWF ligthheavyweight division promises a pretty good match with Taka facing Christopher, even though nothing else is on the horizon. When thinking about the WWF's match prospects alone, it is unfair to compare the division to the talent-rich WCW cruiserweights. The WWF also experimented with the Mexican minis, who often put on the only entertaining and good match on Monday Night RAW when they appeared. There was a muddled attempt to make Max Mini a tiny superstar, but there is little focus on the division and a continual reliance on the old-style comedic midget nonsense, which really hurts the perception of everything on the show. The big news of the year, of course, was the WWF doublecross of Bret Hart, taking the WWF Title from him in a transparent screw job finish at Survivor Series. That issue has been discussed on this page before, and there is much information available to the interested fan from numerous sources. The bottom line is that Bret Hart has left the promotion. Davey Boy Smith is not far behind. Owen Hart is staying and will work a program with Shawn Michaels. Looking at the remaining talent, Kane seems to be catching on, despite being a horrible prospect from a match quality standpoint. Steve Austin is injured, perhaps never to be the same. Shawn Michaels' ego knows no bounds, as he has reportedly claimed that he would never lay down for any other wrestler in the promotion, even making fun of that line this past week on RAW before "losing" the European Title to Hunter Hearst Helsmley. Helmsley is pushed despite being mediocre at best. Marc Mero lost all of his charisma and, semmingly, his ability as well, due to injury. Goldust is an embarrassing experiment. Morale is terribly low. Let's look at the PPV story for the WWF in 1997 (again, apologies for some blanks): Date Show Buy Rate Gross Average Match Rating Peak Match Rating matches >= * * * * 97/01/19 Royal Rumble 0.6 (1) $1.80 1.54 * * * 0% (0 of 6) 97/02/16 In Your House 0.61 (2) $1.27 2.45 * * * * 1/4 20% (1 of 5) 97/03/24 WrestleMania 0.77 $2.14 2.03 * * * * * 12.5% (1 of 8) 97/04/20 In Your House 0.5 $1.04 1.50 * * * 3/4 0% (0 of 6) 97/05/11 In Your House 0.6 $1.27 1.19 * * * 1/4 0% (0 of 8) 97/06/08 King of The Ring 0.46 (3) $1.54 1.69 * * * * 12.5% (1 of 8) 97/07/06 In Your House 0.59 $1.32 2.90 * * * * 1/4 40% (2 of 5) 97/08/03 SummerSlam 0.79 (4) $2.31 1.64 * * * 0% (0 of 7) 97/09/07 In Your House 0.45 $1.67 1.75 * * * 3/4 0% (0 of 7) 97/10/05 Badd Blood 0.64 $1.87 1.43 * * * * 1/2 14% (1 of 7) 97/11/09 Survivor Series 0.9 $2.63 1.64 * * * 3/4 0% (0 of 7) 97/12/07 IYH Degeneration X 1.38 * * * 1/2 0% (0 of 8) Average 0.62 $1.72 1.71 3.81 7.3% (6 of 82) Footnotes: (1) WWF claims 0.8; (2) WWF figures; (3) WWF claims 0.5; (4) preliminary figure never finalized The average WWF PPV gross in 1996 was $1.74-million, roughly the same number as this year. But, the state of affairs is clearer when one takes into account that in 1996 all of the In Your House PPVs were cheaper shows. Indeed, Royal Rumble and WrestleMania in 1996 both brought in around $3.5-million, a figure that was never approached this year. A look at all of the detailed figures shows that the WWF took a huge drop in 07/96 and has never really recovered. WrestleMania still gets a good buy rate, but 1997's event was ruined by Shawn Michaels' ego, and the promotion suffered in the follow-up shows and, seemingly, ever since. Still, if the bottom line PPV average hasn't changed, and the house show business has really picked up, one has to wonder about two things: the legitimacy of Vince's claim that he had to cut Bret Hart's salary, and the sincerity of his contract negotiation in late 1996 to begin with. The WWF also delivers very close to a * * * * match per show and has given us six matches at that level or higher this year. Because the WWF delivers fewer matches per show, this works out to 7.3% of PPV matches being that good or better in 1997. Keeping in mind that the WWF delivers an average of seven-or-so matches per PPV, with one (usually the main event) very close to the * * * * level, makes the average PPV match rating of just under * 3/4 glaring. This shows just how bad the WWF undercards are, although the lightheavyweight division will help the average. There was lots of talk this year of a WWF/ECW working relationship. Indeed, the WWF sent numerous wrestlers to ECW for seasoning or as favours. Still, anybody without blinders on has to realize that ECW is nowhere near its glory days, when workers like Chris Benoit, Eddie Guerrero, and Dean Malenko were in the promotion. As ECW's PPV efforts in 1997 show, they are not going to provide the influx of quality talent that the WWF seems to need. There is also talk that the WWF is working a talent deal with All Japan Pro Wrestling. It's not a stretch to think that Johnny Ace or Steve Williams might be able to negotiate a deal with each group, but I can't imagine seeing Mitsuharu Misawa or Kenta Kobashi in the same ring as Goldust or Mankind. Unfortunately, as the year comes to a close, quality match lovers have to be nervous. The loss of Bret Hart is a severe hit. The WWF has returned to its roots: instead of pushing guys with ability, push the biggest stiffs you can find. This year saw the emergence of Kane, the DOA, the Truth Commission, and, later, Kurrgan, all of whom offer no chance of a good match despite all being over six feet tall. Perhaps in an attempt to draw a separate viewership, the WWF has been promoting a more risque product, a tough road to travel because of the worries of sponsors and networks. Comparison: First and foremost, from a match quality perspective, there is little difference between the two companies. I think that will surprise some people. This year, perhaps more than any other, the net, both r.s.p-w and the www, was besieged by cheerleaders for each of the two sides in the "battle." Each side supports their chosen product vociferously, highlighting the strengths of "their" promotion, while attacking the weaknesses of the opposition. It is stupid and immature. Which product is better? It's a loaded question. From a match quality standpoint, there's little difference: both deliver an average PPV match of just under * * , although the WWF is about a 1/4* below WCW, a peak average PPV match of just under * * * * , and exceptionally few matches at that high level. Does it matter that the WWF's great match is usually a main event and that WCW's great match is usually a cruiserweight mid-card bout? In the end, no. Does it matter that the great WWF match, much like All Japan, only involves one of a small groups of wrestlers, while WCW has more wrestlers in the "great match" circle? In the end, no. Does the 1/4* difference in average PPV match ratings matter much? In the end, no, it's too small to quibble over. Does the tenth-of-a-star difference in peak match ratings matter much? In the end, no, for the same reason. The same is true of the tiny difference in the percentage of great matches. No, what matters to a quality match lover is that both companies somehow only manage to turn out on average one match per show at this high level. Still, it is interesting to make the comparison between the two companies concrete. The problem is that there are so many measures that people might consider using when comparing the two companies. Let's consider the most likely measures (refer to the tables above to see where these conclusions come from): 1. pay-per-view buy rates: WCW gets the nod. 0.70 average to 0.62 average. WCW also scored over 1 this year when the WWF did not, likely doing it twice if Starrcade lives up to its billing. I think the most telling tale is that WCW's buy rates increased reasonably strongly as the year ended and show no prospect of weakening. The WWF will take a hit because of the loss of Bret Hart, particularly in Canada, a hit that will benefit WCW. 2. television viewership, particularly on Monday nights: WCW gets the nod. As mentioned earlier, Nitro gets a higher rating in every week of opposition. The last victory for RAW was on 06/10/96. WCW is going to up the stakes or, perhaps, blow their domination, by adding a live Thursday night show in January. It's a high-risk idea, but the intent is to further establish WCW and the NWO as two distinct wrestling promotions, knocking the WWF into "third spot." 3. house show business: I'm not sure how to judge this one. Both promotions have done tremendous business, thanks to the increased interest in attending RAW and Nitro tapings. Since RAW is taped with frequency and Nitro is always live, Monday house shows go to WCW, in all likelihood. But the WWF had succesful tours in the UK, Europe, and Canada, while WCW sits idly in the US. For whatever reason, my perception is that the WWF does better merchandise sales than WCW. I suspect a lot of these things will chance in 1998, but for 1997, my perception is that the WWF gets the nod here. 4. average match quality: WCW gets the nod, in a squeaker. The average WCW PPV match is just over 1/4* , better than its WWF counterpart. Lump in the cruiser and lucha matches on Nitro and the Clashes compared to the average RAW fare and I think WCW stays in front. 5. peak match quality: Too close to call, really. 6. main event match quality: The WWF in a landslide, with no argument required. 7. prospects for the near future: There is no question that this goes to WCW. The loss of Bret Hart was a tremendous hit to the WWF, despite being briskly dismissed by the promotion and the cheerleaders that populate the net. But look at the numbers of 1997. Bret Hart was involved in the best match on seven of the twelve WWF PPVs this year (which includes the Rumble) and three of those matches were at or over * * * * . After the Survivor Series doublecross, RAW had strong ratings for a few weeks, perhaps in no small part because of the constant references and teases to Bret, the shows being largely built around him, and the curiousity regarding his future. No, there is no question that the loss of Bret Hart will be felt. Besides Owen Hart vs. Shawn Michaels, the WWF seems to have nothing to offer on top when it comes to great matches. There are no superstar workers positioned for the top spot. Steve Austin doesn't work more than a handful of minutes because of his injury. Undertaker is a draw, but he plays no role in making a match great because of his gimmick. There are some prospects, but the WWF enters the year much worse off than it typically was in 1997. It is no surprise that the WWF cheerleaders on the net talk about nebulous prospects for the promotion: Johnny Ace & other All Japan wrestlers turning up maybe, Michinoku Pro being bought out by the WWF maybe, Steve Austin being fully recovered in early 1998 maybe, ECW wrestlers working in the WWF maybe. Maybe is the key to the WWF's future, even to its most ardent supporters. In the mean time, the preliminary buy rate for the Degeneration X PPV was only around 0.5. Perhaps Shawn's heel act is not as over as people seem to think or perhaps the repercussions of the doublecross were greater than anybody expected or perhaps it means nothing and the Rumble will post a strong buy rate. Worse yet, with the exception of Owen Hart, and, perhaps, one might argue, Mankind, the Degeneration X show featured all of the good or better workers in the promotion, yet still managed to score a paltry average match rating. Starrcade scored an extremely similar average match rating, but the list of good workers that were excluded from the show is large. To me, this underlines the immense difference in talent depth between the promotions; and it's that depth that translates into promise for the future to a quality match lover. WCW has one diamond on its hand with the cruiserweight division. Despite making a lot of mistakes along the way, WCW has managed to get several wrestlers in the division over (that seems misworded, since, in each case, I think the wrestlers, through hard work, much like Steve Austin in the WWF, got themselves over) and, better yet, get a new style and new moves over. On top, the addition of Sting and Bret Hart to the mix means that there might be some good main events in the future. For example, Sting will defend against Scott Hall at the February SuperBrawl show, already a more promising match than any WCW main event this year (although not a great-looking match). Bret Hart's arrival will have repercussions in Canada; Eric Bischoff is already negotiating with The Sports Network about giving Nitro a higher profile than RAW. WCW will tour Canada. The NWO vs. WCW storyline is still super strong and shows no signs of sagging. The storyline will be advanced in 1998 with the creation of an NWO wrestling show, a risk, to be sure. Overall, then, from a business perspective, WCW has moved in to rule the roost in 1997. From a quality match perspective, there was little difference between the two groups in 1997. That's why I continued to order PPVs from both companies this year: the promise of that one great match keeps me coming back. That's also why the cheerleading by people who are not fans of wrestling, per se, but fans of a promotion, be it the WWF or WCW, is so annoying. When you break things down, the strengths of the two promotions form a short list; it's the problems that fill the page. While it's nowhere near the dire level that some WCW cheerleaders want to paint it, the WWF will have to put some effort into maintaining that one great match per show and a reasonable average match rating. I will find that interesting to watch. Japan I don't have it in me to try to summarize the business goings-on in Japan to the same degree as the North American business. I did think it would be particularly interesting to note that, just as WCW and the WWF each have their strengths and weaknesses product-wise and just as they've settled into a pattern of business dominance by WCW, the two key men's promotions in Japan, New Japan and All Japan, have almost mirrored characteristics. It's been said that Eric Bischoff became a student of the business in Japan to try to ascertain what path to wander down in North America. He decided to mimic the most successful pro-wrestling company in the world: New Japan Pro Wrestling. New Japan has held numerous large dome shows this year, probably all sellouts with enormous gates and unbelievable souvenir sales. Remember that PPV is still a few years away in Japan, so the business has a different dynamic, with TV playing a different role. In any case, nobody will question the dominance of New Japan. The product mix was very similar to WCW in 1997: the New Japan junior heavyweights provided most of the stellar wrestling; the established stars, like Keiji Muto/Great Muta, Masa Chono, Kensuke Sasaki, and the gang that hit it big in the late 1980s and early 1990s had almost exclusively poorer quality matches, much like Randy Savage, Curt Hennig, Kevin Nash, and Scott Hall; Shinya Hashimoto was the one strong-style, legitimate worker in the mix, much like Bret Hart will become, I would guess; the NWO Japan feuded with New Japan, with frequent run-ins and loads of screwy stuff. The similarities to WCW are numerous. Meanwhile, in All Japan, the same three or four strong workers, Mitsuharu Misawa, Kenta Kobashi, Toshiaki Kawada, and Akira Taue, continued to put on great matches focused on work, similar in many ways to Bret Hart, Shawn Michaels, Steve Austin, and Undertaker, respectively. The parallelism here is meant to point out that while Taue has some great matches against the other three, he is not in their class from a work standpoint, similar to the Undertaker. In All Japan, however, Jun Akiyama broke through to the top level, spicing things up at least a little bit. In the WWF, despite all attempts, the Patriot, Rocky Maivia, Hunter Hearst Helmsley, and Ken Shamrock have not been able to legitimately make that move. The comparison to All Japan breaks down when one goes past the main event. The ever-conservative Shohei Baba continues to push wrestlers based on ability and, with some strange exceptions (Hayabusa, Jinsei Shinzaki, Black Jacks) only uses guys with ability to begin with, while the WWF has resorted to pushing anybody with size. This battle between New Japan and All Japan has raged for years, with the promotions always taking the line of attack that they took in 1997. It's interesting, to a point, because the WWF-to-All-Japan comparison does not hold up all that well, that when similar stances were taken in North America in 1997, we ended up with a similar result. And, yet, there were so many people a few years ago who argued that North American pro-wrestling promotions could learn nothing from Japan. RAW was a live show this week, and, fairly early on, started hyping the one great match that the promotion seems to be building to down the road, Owen Hart vs. Shawn Michaels. However, the show began with a completely embarrassing segment, with Goldust coming out as the New Year's baby, in diaper and bonnet, and Steve Austin then dumping him into a port-a-potty. My mind reeled from the insult and harkened on Vince's press release during the Bret Hart doublecross fiasco, wherein he said that the WWF was trying to challenge the intellect of its fans by delivering an intelligent product. Yeah. DOA faced Boricuas in their usual cluster____. Then came the push for Owen vs. Shawn, when Sgt. Slaughter demanded the match this night. Chyna has purchased breasts, continuing the tragic trend in North American wrestling. Shamrock beat the Ultimate Fighting Machine, Kama Mustafa, with Rocky Maivia then saying that Faarooq will challenge him next week. The Nation of Domination looks ready for a break-up. Vince McMahon did his second segment, sounding falsely sincere as usual, telling us that we ain't seen nothing yet...after Goldust, you've got to wonder how he can top himself. Finally, the reason for getting rid of Bret Hart became clear: to free up cash to bring back George "the Animal" Steele, who teamed with Taka Michinoku against Jerry Lawler and Brian Christopher in a match that makes one care even less about the lightheavyweights. How any wrestling fan can find Steele entertaining is beyond me. No, the real reason that they got rid of Bret Hart surfaces next: to free up cash to bring in Terry Funk as Chainsaw Charlie, in a bad imitation of a bad IWA wrestler who was once a bad WWF wrestler. Anyhow, Funk & Cactus Jack seem to be forming a tag team, which is mildly interesting, but hardly promises great wrestling. Later, the wrestlers who have been attacked by Kane try to team up against him, but Undertaker makes the save for his brother. In the main event, Owen laid waste to Shawn Michaels for most of a good match that ended with, of course, DX interference. They also hyped a connection to Mike Tyson all show, finally revealing that, gasp, negotiations are underway to bring the convicted rapist and barbaric monster to WrestleMania. Any press is good press. Nitro was a hot live show following on the heels of Starrcade. Bill Goldberg squashed Glacier. Bret Hart challenged everybody under the sun. Chris Benoit continued to be saddled with a horrible program with Raven's flock, this time fighting the unskilled Hammer until the Flock ran in. Steve McMichael made the save. The uninspired use of Benoit was only offset by Bret Hart mentioning him as somebody he would like to wrestle and the crowd popping more for Benoit's name than they did for Luger's name. In a short but good match, El Ultimo Dragon won the WCW Cruiserweight Title from Eddie Guerrero with the Dragon Sleeper submission. Are they trying to position people for the much-anticipated but held-off Cruiserweight tournament? Booker T beat Disco Inferno to win the TV Title. Booker T seems to have a lot of potential as a singles wrestler. Curt Hennig beat Chris Jericho, who "snapped" after the match. Lex Luger finally got his revenge, beating Marcus Buff Bagwell with the Torture Rack in a match that also didn't have the spark of their first pairing. The main was a rematch between Hulk Hogan and Sting. It was another weak match, ending when the show went off the air. - New Japan has its annual Tokyo Dome show on 01/04/97. Announced line-up has: * Riki Choshu's short retirement matches * Noaya Ogawa vs. Don Frye * Tatsumi Fujinamai & Osamu Nishimura vs. Satoshi Kojima & Manabu Nakanishi * Yuji Nagata vs. Hiroyoshi Tenzan * Shinjiro Otani vs. El Ultimo Dragon * Koji Kanemoto vs. Kendo Ka Shin - The WWF has Royal Rumble on 01/18/97. Tentative line-up has: * Royal Rumble for a title shot at WrestleMania * Undertaker vs. Shawn Michaels for the WWF Title in a casket match * Goldust vs. Vader - NWO Souled Out will take place on 01/24/98. Tentative line-up: * Larry Zbyszko vs. Scott Hall It's rumoured that some NWO Japan wrestlers from New Japan will appear. - On 01/26/97, Mitsuharu Misawa defends his Triple Crown against Jun Akiyama. That should be better than any North American match in January. - - RAW 12/29 with a 4.6 rating against a 3.3 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 0.64 (0.61) and average gross of $1.89-million ($1.62-million), while WCW has an average buy rate of 0.73 (0.71) and average gross of $2.33-million ($2.17-million). It's interesting to note that the most recent figures have bolstered the averages for each promotion. WCW is likely going to get another strong hit from Starrcade, while preliminary reports are that the WWF's Degeneration X show did not have a good buy rate. The details as they stand are available. - 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. ______________________________________________________________________ If you have any feedback regarding my web pages, please send me e-mail. Don't forget to delete the leading "x" from my e-mail address; that "x" is my web spider spam guard. ______________________________________________________________________