______________________________________________________________________ Apologies. I really did want to have some new images today, but I'm caught up in using my "web time" to restructure the pages, hopefully to debut a new look in a week or two. Thanks for all of the positive feedback regarding the psychology/transitions bit a couple of issues ago. It seems like there's quite an interest in that sort of information, so I'll try to have an informational segment with regularity once I get the new-look web pages up. ______________________________________________________________________ I do not offer subscriptions to a mailing list! I do not e-mail images! _________________________________________________________________ RAW was a taped show with little in the way of good wrestling. Opening match had Owen Hart & Rocky Maivia facing Faarooq & Steve Blackman. At the tapings, they filmed two versions of this match because they couldn't decide on a finish, I guess. The first taped match is what aired: Jeff Jarrett interfered to cause Blackman to get pinned. The second taped match was a quickie count out. Owen Hart never explained why he joined the Nation of Domination. Maybe they wanted to give him a new direction, but it would be nice if it was explained. Dan Severn beat Savio Vega by submission. Without Cornette to get him heat, Severn will struggle. I like the guy in a UFC setting, but he seems so boring here. Jerry Lawler "accidentally" left his camera on during what he thought was a commercial break before a scheduled interview with Paul Bearer. Paul talked about being a nineteen-year old virgin when he fathered Kane; the story line gets increasingly inane. This segment was edited off the day time broadcast of RAW in Canada. Marc Mero and Jeff Jarrett had a non-match when Steve Blackman interfered right of the start. The Jeff Jarrett vs. Blackman thing had to be taped twice as well. Boy, I can't wait to see Blackman vs. Jarrett! Skull & Eight Ball & Hawk & Animal faced Hunter Hearst Helmsley & Chyna & Road Dog & Billy Gunn; the faces lost when they started fighting amongst themselves, which surely suggests a great feud down the road. Goldust faced Kane in a match that ended with the Undertaker running in. The main event was a falls count anywhere match between Mick Foley and Terry Funk, refereed by Pat Patterson. Steve Austin was guest commentator. They used stiff chair shots, Foley bled from the back of the head, and they basically delivered a mediocre brawl. Funk did a moonsault off the balcony, seemingly landing badly and selling his shoulder from that point on. Steve Austin continually said that this was quality wrestling and that this was what the WWF is all about, and he seemed to mean it, which is pretty darn scary. Match ended with Foley winning. The idea, not explained all that well during the show, was that Vince McMahon wanted Foley to find his edge again and that he would find it by doing anything and everything to destroy his friend in a brutal match. At the end, Foley re-embraced his Dude Love character and danced with Vince and the requisite thong-clad women on the platform. Nitro was a two-hour show this week, which aired in full in Canada. Chavo Guerrero Jr. lost to Scott Norton in short order. The idea was that Eddie Guerrero was supposed to wrestle Norton but couldn't when a sudden knee injury kicked in. That put Chavo into the spot, totally unprepared for the match. The idea would have worked better if fans believed that Chavo actually had a chance of winning the bout that Eddie threw him into, so that the lack of preparation actually had some meaning. Of course, they've conditioned us well enough to know that Norton vs. Cruiser means a loss for Cruiser. I just think Norton shouldn't have been used in this angle. The dreadful Scott Putski, who was put out for a while after a knee injury suffered in the WWF, debuted in WCW to face Billy Kidman. Putski sucks, so the fact that this match didn't stink is a credit to Kidman. The Wolfpac interrupted and powerbombed Putski before delivering their speech. Chris Jericho did a funny interview, bashing Dean Malenko, before trouncing the Man of One Hold, Bore Us Malenko. Since it was short, it was pretty funny. Jericho actually pulled a battered Bore Us on top himself and pretended that he was almost pinned. Hugh Morrus & The New Barbarian & Jimmy Hart faced the Public Enemy in a street fight. I'm not sure what's new about the Barbarian. This was the usual uninspired street fight with a couple of table spots. Grunge beat Jimmy Hart for the finish. Hammer faced Perry Saturn to determine who gets to stay in the flock. A "vendor" interfered, causing Hammer to beat Saturn, so I guess Saturn is out of the flock. Diamond Dallas Page attacked Raven in the locker room and led him out into the ring, using a bull rope to work him over a bit; I guess that's the next gimmick match that these two will have. Rick Steiner was doublecrossed by his brother, leading to him getting demolished by the NWO. I guess that gives Rick a chance to heal his shoulder problem. Sick Boy faced Juventud Guerrera. They screwed up the spinning head scissors spot. Horace Boulder interfered as Juventud was going for the firebird splash after an "enzudropkick." Bill Goldberg saved Juvi. Brian Adams faced Konnan. Bret Hart whacked Konnan into the guard rail, and smiled, suggesting that he's pretending that he's supporting Hogan's side; in reality, he whacked an NWO guy, and what's so bad about that? Kevin Nash came in as Adams was covering Konnan. In a surprise, Dave Finlay beat Booker T to win the TV Title when Chris Benoit came out to distract Booker. Lex Luger DQ Kevin Nash when the Wolfpac came in. Sting & Giant made the save while Bret Hart & Brian Adams watched on, with Bret holding Adams back. Thunder wasn't on this week. The CHCH broadcast overnight Sunday aired the Thunder episode from the week before for the second time. Will they really air that same episode for the third time this weekend? You'd think that if WCW had their stuff together they'd know that their national broadcast on TSN didn't air the two-hour Nitro from last week, so they'd send that broadcast to CHCH in the absence of a new Thunder. WWF Unforgiven didn't fair too well in the preliminary Observer reader poll, with 40.9% giving the show a thumbs down and 30.9% giving a thumbs in a middle; that doesn't leave too much for a thumbs up. (In contrast, Spring Stampede ended with an 84.5% thumbs up). The main event seemed to save the show, easily getting "best match" kudos and drawing a * * * * match rating. In describing the Kane vs. Undertaker match, there was a very insightful comment: Kind of ECW style in that there was a lot of bad wrestling, but the well set up big spots of the match gave things to make the match memorable. - Steve Austin was on TSN's Off The Record this past Tuesday. Unlike previous appearances by Eric Bischoff, Vince McMahon, Bret Hart, and Hunter Hearst Helmsley, this time around the wrestler stayed in character throughout the show and maintained kayfabe. In that sense, the show was disappointing. Austin talked about losing his best friend in wrestling when Brian Pillman passed on, but said he felt no guilt over not trying to help Brian beforehand (Bret Hart had expressed such guilt even though he didn't know Brian that well). He talked about the McMahon angle as if it were reality. He did admit that Bret was one of the best wrestlers he's been in the ring with, but when pushed to name the best picked Ricky Steamboat. Speaking of Austin and Canada, the WWF Slam Jam segments were making a big deal about the upcoming Austin vs. Hunter Hearst Helmsley match in Toronto (on 05/23, I believe). At that show, Vince McMahon will referee the title match in his debut in that role. - The Observer reports that Marcus Bagwell had to have two pairs of veterbrae fused together in a grueling surgery that saw him in danger for a short while. It's expected that he won't be able to train again for six months and that he won't be in the ring again for at least one year. Bagwell is 28. - The annual Best of the Super Junior tournament in New Japan breaks the participants into two groups, each of which will have a round robin. Group A features Jushin Liger, El Samurai, Shinjiro Otani, Tatsuhito Takaiwa, Dr. Wagner Jr. Group B features Koji Kanemoto, Kendo Ka Shin, Hayato Nanjyo, Yuji Yasuraoka, Shiryu (Kaz Hayashi in WCW), and Felino. - The local wrestling columnist reports that Dean Malenko's contract with WCW expires next month and won't be renewed. That seems weird since the promotion is putting a bit of effort into building Chris Jericho vs. Dean Malenko for Slamboree. Are they really going to blow Malenko off? Bill Goldberg has signed a new contract with WCW. - Steve Williams will leave All Japan after one more tour and join the WWF. This would have been big news a few years ago, but nowadays Williams is many notches below his previous level. - All Japan had a Tokyo Dome show on 05/01/98. Run-down: * Toshiaki Kawada pinned Mitsuhara Misawa to win the Triple Crown * Kenta Kobashi & Johnny Ace beat Stan Hansen & Vader when Kobashi pinned Hansen * Jun Akiyama pinned Hiro Hase * Wolf Hawkfield & Johnny Smith beat Jado & Gedo * Headhunters beat Tamon Honda & Masao Inoue * Jumbo Tsuruta & Rusher Kimura & Mitsuo Momota beat Masa Fuchi & Haruka Eigen & Tsuyoshi Kikuchi * Maunakea Mossman beat Daisuke Ikeda * Steve Williams & Gary Albright beat Yoshihiro Takayama & Masahito Kakihara * Akira Taue & Takao Omori & Yoshinari Ogawa beat Gladiator & Hideki Hosaka & Tetsuhiro Kuroda * Giant Baba & Hayabusa & Kentaro Shiga beat Giant Kimala II & Ryakaku Izumida & Jinsei Shinzaki * Satoru Asako beat Yoshinobu Kanemaru - WCW has Slamboree on 05/17/98. Tentative line-up has: * Bret Hart vs. Randy Savage * Bill Goldberg vs. Curt Hennig for the US Title * Scott Hall & Kevin Nash vs. Sting & Giant for the Tag Titles * Chris Jericho vs. Dean Malenko for the Cruiserweight Title * Chris Benoit vs. Booker T for the TV Title * Diamond Dallas Page vs. Raven (perhaps in a bull rope match) * Brian Adams vs. Konnan Presumably, they will put the TV Title belt back on Booker T or move it to Chris Benoit before this show. - The WWF has In Your House on 05/31/98. - Nitro beat RAW 04/20 with a 5.1 rating against a 4.4 rating. On 05/04, the shows each aired unopposed, Nitro two hours before RAW. RAW drew a 5.5 rating and Nitro drew a 3.5 rating. Next week, the shows air in opposition again. The detailed ratings are a click away. - PPV buy rates and revenue (in millions) for the WWF and WCW are presented in the following table. Largely due to the financial success of WrestleMania, the WWF has managed to really close the gap for the "past 6 months" figures. Keep in mind that even though the WWF scores a lower buy rate on average, the steeper prices translate into a comparable revenue. WCW WWF Past 6 Months Past Year Past 6 Months Past Year Average Buy Rate 1.05 0.89 0.93 0.74 Average PPV Revenue $3.71 $3.02 $3.58 $2.55 It appears that the WrestleMania buy rate figure settled up to a 2.2; it's also possible that that is a WWF figure, so I've flagged it as such. Recall that the preliminary figure was 1.78. Spring Stampede has come in with a 0.7. Here's the 1998 summary sheet: Date Show Buy Rate Gross Average Match Rating Median Match Rating Peak Match Rating matches >= * * * * 98/01/18 WWF Royal Rumble 0.97 (1) $3.62 2.38 * * 1/2 * * * 1/2 0% (0 of 6) 98/02/15 WWF IYH No Way Out 0.45 $1.67 1.46 * 1/2 * * * 1/2 0% (0 of 7) 98/03/29 WWF WrestleMania 2.2 (4) $9.52 1.81 * 1/2 * * * 1/4 0% (0 of 8) 98/04/19 WWF IYH Unforgiven 1.75 * * * * * 14% (1 of 7) WWF Average 1.21 $4.94 1.83 * 1/2 * * * 1/2 3.6% (1 of 28) 98/01/25 WCW Souled Out 1.02 (2) $3.81 1.88 * * * * * 11.1% (1 of 9) 98/02/22 WCW SuperBrawl 1.1 (3) $4.12 1.68 * 1/4 * * * 3/4 0% (0 of 10) 98/03/15 WCW Uncensored 1.1 $4.12 1.69 * * 1/2 * * * 3/4 0% (0 of 9) 98/04/19 WCW Spring Stampede 0.7 $2.62 2.4 * * 1/2 * * * * 20% (2 of 10) WCW Average 0.98 $3.67 1.92 * 1/2 * * * 3/4 7.9% (3 of 38) 98/03/01 ECW Living Dangerously 0.23 $0.42 1.56 * 1/2 * * * 1/4 0% (0 of 8) Footnotes: (1) WWF claims 1.03; (2) WCW claims 1.1; (3) preliminary figure; (4) possibly WWF figure; Detailed data is available. - New Japan has a big show on 06/05/98. Shinya Hashimoto will challenge Tatsumi Fujinami for the IWGP Title and is expected to recapture the belt. The promotion has nobody at Hashimoto's level to carry things. - WCW has the Great American Bash on 06/14/98. - The WWF has King of the Ring on 06/28/98. - The WWF has In Your House on 07/26/98. - The WWF has SummerSlam on 08/30/98. Jerry Springer is expected to be involved in the show. - The WWF has In Your House on 09/27/98. - The WWF has In Your House on 10/18/98. - The WWF has Survivor Series on 11/15/98. - The WWF has In Your House on 12/13/98. - 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. 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