______________________________________________________________________ Sorry to be absent so long. Term tests and lecture have kept me too busy in recent weeks and I just haven't had the time to put a good update together. Things have accumulated to make this a huge update. Lots of interesting things besides the TV discussion. Hopefully, I'll have an e-mail account set up by next week. ______________________________________________________________________ I do not offer subscriptions to a mailing list! I do not e-mail images! ______________________________________________________________________ RAW RAW on 11/09 was a taped show. The show opened with X-Pac challenging the Undertaker. Before the mismatch could take shape, the lights went out and Kane came down to ringside. Just to show Hulk Hogan how it's done, Kane shot a fire ball at Undertaker, with UT pulling X-Pac into its path. X-Pac sold it as having hurt his eye, which has had a rough few months. Vince and Mankind did an interview segment saying that Manking would be made over and that he would face Ken Shamrock in a falls count anywhere match. Val Venis came out, with Terri Runnels bringing up the rear. The story line is that Venis had a vasectomy to avoid the situation over which Terri is accusing him. Val told Terri to leave ringside. Val faced Steve Blackman. It was a lame match. Terri came out and hit a low blow on Val. Both Owen Hart and the Blue Blazer came out and attacked Blackman, who the commentators had pushed as the first guy to suggest that Owen was the Blazer. The next match was a triangle bout featuring Road Dog vs. D'Lo Brown vs. Mosh. Each man had his regular tag partner at ringside, which guaranteed the finish. During the match, they guaranteed that a new WWF champion would be crowned at Survivor Series, which is no doubt true, but which also reminds the regular viewer that he's been screwed on that count at the past two PPVs. As anybody watching would expect, the tag partners got involved, leading to Road Dog dropping a fall in the melee. Jeff Jarrett faced Goldust. Terri Runnels came out but Dustin told her to leave. JJ had Debra McMichael in his corner. Match stunk and was surely another JJ ratings killer, with the predictable ending of Goldust getting distracted only to turn into a guitar shot. Remember when that sort of shot or a stiff chair shot had some meaning? In the hyped match on the show, Ken Shamrock faced Mankind for the Hardcore Title. Mankind came out looking all cleaned up and wearing an evening suit. They brawled all over and most of it was good. Vince, the Three Musketeers, and the Boss Man came out to watch, so the wrestlers naturally brawled up the ramp towards the boss, with even the blind seeing the finish coming: Boss Man cracked Shamrock so Mankind could get the win. It's darn funny to hear Mankind call Vince "dad." Steve Austin did his requisite interview, but he was surely being downplayed on this show. Al Snow faced Tiger Ali Singh. Babu ended up starting the match, until Debra came out and took the head, which led to Singh getting a quick pin. This made little sense. Edge faced Kane. Kane stunk, as usual. Edge tried some good stuff. Gangrel & Christian were at ringside to distract Kane, who actually tried a bit harder than usual. Finish was a DQ when the Brood all attacked Kane. Fine and dandy, but then Kane choke slammed them all, and even nailed the referee, and then tried to pour gasoline all over them. Jim Ross and I were begging for a commercial break. Vince McMahon did his requisite interview about Steve Austin. I guess he's making sure that his character is established before the Bret Hart documentary airs. Shane McMahon came out and tried to bring his father back to the side of the force, but Darth, er, Vince, has evil in his blood. Poor Shane is now demoted to a referee. The idea is that fans will get to see him climb up from the lowest level in the company, as Austin's buddy, before actually having any power. Main event was Rocky Maivia against Mark Henry. If Rock won the match, he'd get back into the Survivor Series tournament. Rock had been laid out earlier in the show, but it didn't really matter. He pulled an okay match out of Henry, although the match quality really had nothing to do with the big oaf. Of course, Rocky won the match, even outwitting Boss Man and dropping the musketeers. That left Vince, who was also laid out and hit with a People's Elbow. You really have to take your hat off to Vince for noticing when one of his guys gets over and pushing him effectively as a result. RAW on 11/02 was a live show. This is the first RAW to air live in Canada in accordance with the new five-year deal announced WWF Canada president Carl DeMarco. Of course, the deal is apparently pretty felxible, since no RAW airs live on Monday next week. Tonight's RAW opened with the usual Vince McMahon interview segment. This time around, Vince demoted Shane McMahon to referee after Shane announced that Steve Austin would get his title shot on RAW the night after Survivor Series on PPV. Vince changed that, saying that Austin would the title shot, as per his Shane-given contract, on the night of Survivor Series. Wow, there's actually a moment of sense in that, since Vince is making it harder for Austin to regain the title (that sense wasn't in the previous triangle match story line). The show started right at 9:00pm EST in Canada, perhaps on a three-minute delay from the US broadcast? Nah. But there was certainly a seven-second delay in effect as Austin's "asshole" reference was blipped. But Vince's similar reference got through. First match was Billy Gunn & Road Dog & X-Pac against Edge & Gangrel & Christian. Edge & Gangrel & Christian are called the Brood. That name brings back my youth, when the X-Men were dealing with the Alien-inspired brood in their Marvel comics title. Anyhow, they aired the attack by the brood on Kane from last week, foreshadowing the finish. Yeah, Kane lumbered in and choke slammed the DX members. I like the Brood trio; they're kind of indyish and unpolished, but they have potential. Hawk faced Droz, based on a challenge from Sunday Night Heat. Hawk came out inebriated, so they are back to that angle again. Droz laid into Hawk, who couldn't defend himself. Animal came out and watched. I've had enough of this 90s story line of guys with real addictions having worked addictions. Really, I didn't even like it years and years ago when Paul Diamond did it in Memphis. Mankind & Al Snow faced the Oddities, Kurrgan & Golga. Man, Kurrgan just stinks. Match was goofy. Mankind wanted to put the Socko mandible claw on Kurrgan after a DDT, but couldn't find the sock. Al Snow ended up heading Kurrgan, but Mankind still didn't cover him, looking for Socko instead. He ran to the back to find him. That left Snow to be Earthquaked by Golga (can you believe that RAW magazine's "dream" match-up this month is Golga vs. Earthquake?). I missed the actual finish, but asked my wife to catch it for me. She described it and then told me it looked really lame. After the match, Vince, who had been on a tirade in the back, chastising everybody, bumped into Shaq and told him he should leave. Mankind went on a search for Socko. Steve Regal debuted for the second time. He had horrible entrance music, like Paul Orndorff did a few years ago in WCW. He challenged anybody to come down and fight him like a man, which led to Goldust coming out and setting up a slew of obvious jokes. The commentators mentioned that Terri Runnels announced she was pregnant on Heat last night, which sounds like an ECW story line. Anyhow, Regal and Goldust didn't work well together. Before they had done a few bad-looking things, Terri came out in a skin-tight gold dress, cigar in hand, to do a Monica Lewinsky impression. Okay, I guess she was going to say that Goldust is the dad of her baby. The commentators talked about poor Dustin having to deal with his wife sleeping around; did I mention that Edge will be Toys'R'Us in Scarborough this Saturday to hype the evening house show in Toronto? But the WWF surely doesn't target young viewers, not with these mature story lines. Tommy Dreamer came out and piledrove Beulah...er, no, Kane came out and tried to choke slam Terri after laying out Dustin. I guess that night of Undertaker & Kane run-ins worked so well that they decided to do a night of Kane solo run-ins. Mankind found Vince and asked about Socko. McMahon asked Vince not to interfere in the upcoming Ken Shamrock match and then awarded Mankind a taped up title belt that the called the hardcore championship. Ken Shamrock challenged Rocky Maivia for the IC Title. Vince McMahon said that if the people's champion didn't beat Shamrock for the title this night then he wouldn't go to the Survivor Series to be in the title tournament. I know that a lot of people are high on the Rock, but I still don't smell what he's cooking, or, at best, it smells like a pretty good hamburger. Match was okay, with Shamrock eventually going for a chair with the ref laid out. Shamrock ended up hitting himself in the head with the chair, Rock hit the elbow (don't get why that move is over), and there was no referee to count. I supposed one could argue that given how inexperience these two are the match was really very good. Val Venis beat Jeff Jarrett by DQ. The Blue Blazer ran in and attacked Venis; nobody knows why. The Head Bangers faced D'Lo Brown & Mark Henry. Boy, the tag team scene in North America is so sad. Match had no decision, ending when Kane showed up. The fans couldn't have cared less. Owen Hart beat up an injured Dan Severn. When he was being stretchered out backstage, both Owen & The Blue Blazer were on camera. Okay, is it Phil LaFon? The show ended with the cage lowering and the Three Musketeers going inside, along with the Boss Man. Vince, sipping his coffee, ordered Boss Man to destroy the other three for failing him last week. Okay, that made some sense. As they were being destroyed, they begged Vince to stop it and Vince said he would if they pledged allegiance to him. I thought they were pretty supportive of Vince, but they didn't go that far because it wouldn't have made good TV. Fine and dandy, they should get destroyed then. In a strange booking moment, though, Steve Austin came to ringside scaled the ring and attacked Boss Man. Now, that was stupid. Why wouldn't he go kick Vince McMahon's butt while all of Vince's goons are in a cage, most of them incapacitated? He climbed into the cage and ended up getting attacked by Pat Patterson, who wouldn't pledge his allegiance to McMahon, but apparently would ignore the beating he had just been given. This all made no sense. It got worse, with both Undertaker and Kane coming to the ring and the two of them and Austin duking it out. There was a great visual effect at the finish when the cage lit on fire in parts with the lights really low. All in all, though, you've got to be a real WWF mark to explain this stuff as part of the established story line. Nitro Nitro on 11/09 was the usual three-hour live show, this time airing in full on TSN on Wednesday afternoon. The show opened with the incredibly stupid announcement that Hulk Hogan was going to run for the presidency of the United States...like anybody in the audience actually believed that announcement or took it seriously. Actually, they said that Hogan was "running for the president of the United States," which made me wonder what Bill Clinton hoped to gain by asking Hogan to work out in this manner. Then they went backstage to say that the president of the US was expected to arrive shortly. As limos pulled up and Mean Gene suggested that the president was here, the NWO Wölfpac and NWO Hollywood members emerged to have a really lame short brawl. Kevin Nash & Scott Hall paired up and Giant & Konnan paired up. Yawn. Not a good beginning. After a Bret Hart recap that ran several minutes (hey, Bret is one of the few marquee guys that isn't injured or isn't seeking time off), Kaz Hayashi faced Juventud Guerrera in the opening match. Of course, they had to screw around, didn't they? Right at the start of the match, after just a couple of great exchanges, they cut away to Eric Bischoff at the commentators' desk. Eric wanted to let us know that the president would be here tonight. Yeah, and everybody believed him. The fans started a short "asshole" chant because they thought they were at a RAW taping. Back to action; a few minutes in and the commentators have said two "what a move"s about the match and have otherwise talked about the NWO battle and the upcoming Battle Bowl PPV. Finally, they decided to pay a little attention to two of the best workers in North America. Match was really good, but it seemed like somebody decided that Kaz had to develop some North American "colour," which of course translates to wrestling less and acting cocky and playing to the crowd. Well, they both hit a tope and did lots of hot moves. Kaz dominated much of the match, but the commentators pushed it as a rematch of their match from Saturday night, which Juvi won. They went to the near falls with great hot stuff. The crowd rose and looked to the entry ramp, just like those old Dusty Rhodes era finishes, because Ernest Miller and Sonny Onno came out. Sonny kicked Kaz, who got pinned. Lame finish to a great match, a match that was better than anything on RAW but was given very little value on Nitro. Next up, Alex Wright beat Barry Horowitz in reasonably short order. Alex's new gimmick is that he requests the audience be completely silent during the match so that he can concentrate. At least he isn't seeing a national anthem. Alex should be a great future star; he's already a hell of a good worker. But I don't really know if WCW has a clue how to groom young guys and, perhaps more noticeably these days, how to send the old farts out to pasture. During the match, "secret service" guys roamed the ringside area. Match ended when the NWO Wölfpac interrupted the bout to challenge NWO Hollywood members to any match. Next match saw Scott Norton crush Lodi, who came out with a "No more jobs in 1998" sign. Gene Okerlund interviewed Disciple next, which led to Horace Hogan and the second-string NWO Hollywood wrestlers coming out. Oh god, Horace says he is better than Disciple, so it looks like we've got a real contender for "worst feud of the decade" upcoming. They had a ridiculous brawl, made worse by the Warrior coming out for the save, stuffing a t-shirt into Horace's mouth. Less than 30 seconds after Warrior's run-in, we went to commercial, while the melee continued in the ring. They've obviously learned that Warrior will likely get a negative reaction, so they are minimizing his TV exposure. Hulk Hogan did his usual terrible segment, this time mentioning Jesse "The Mind" Ventura and announcing that he wanted to run for the office of the president of the United States. Eddie Guerrero faced Rey Misterio Jr. Match was good, with Chavo coming out at the end, Eddie getting distracted, and Rey getting the pin. The LWO attacked Chavo afterwards, and Rey saved him. They aired the Konnan music video again. Just tremendous. Eric Bischoff did a horrible interview segment, laying into WCW office staff. Nobody believes this crap, so why do they do it? Buff Bagwell & Scott Steiner followed this up with their own crappy interview time, talking about the recent fines that JJ Dillon laid on them. Nobody cared. What a load of crap. There has been talk that this stuff is going to lead to Roddy Piper returning, and his name was dropped during this segment. The story line is that that the WCW referees are refusing to work Scott's matches because he injured Nick Patrick's knee. They called out anybody and Chris Adams came to meet the challenge, only to be double teamed by the heels. It was sad. My wife caught a glimpse of the goings on and commented on the camera angle changes designed to hide how weak the punches and kicks were. Rick Steiner ran in to break things up. He said that he and a partner would defend the belts against Scott & Buff tonight. It seemed like Rick dropped Kaos as his partner here. The last time a single wrestler tried to have different partners defend the titles, JJ Dillon vetoed the idea, didn't he? The aired a package on Lex Luger that seemed really phony because it really built him up. They announced that there would be an hour of Nitro on Tuesday, which is just insanity. Can "WCW 24-hour Nitro... only Nitro, all the time" be far off? Thank goodness we don't get this in Canada. I've reached my saturation point. In a stupid moment, Buff Bagwell & Scott Steiner challenged Rick Steiner & Judy Bagwell for the tag titles. Judy might have been fun once, but we don't need to see her every week. Poor Buff had to swing at his mom and then take a bump for her. Bret Hart faced Konnan. Konnan reminds me a bit of the New Age Outlaws. He's an okay worker, but the fans are really only into his entrance shtick. It sounded like the audience chanted "We want Flair." The match finally ended when Bret took a chair and whacked Konnan's knee. maintaining his recent trend of knee attacks. Lex Luger ran in and chased Bret off. Chris Jericho was interviewed by Gene Mean. Once again, Jericho joked about "Greenberg," saying that he was 4-0 against him. He even challenged Goldberg to come out, saying he would come out if he had some guts. They cut to the back to show Goldberg arriving in the building, seeing Jericho's show on the monitor, destroying a little furniture, and racing out to confront Jericho. Jericho ended up taking an awesome spear bump on the floor. Giant & Scott Hall faced Kevin Nash & Lex Luger. I don't care. Boy, Giant is getting fat. He just doesn't give a crap about improving; I guess that's the result of being given to much too soon. Tony Schiavone rambled on about low blows becoming common place in main event matches in recent years, like that's a good thing. Just to mock me for not caring, the crowd started a "Let's go Wölfpac" chant. Even just running the ropes in the ring, Nash looks like he's crippled. As I had that thought, Bret Hart ran in the ring and laid ou Nash, attacking his knee. Luger managed to free himself and use a chair to clear the ring. The crowd chanted "We want Flair!" The problem with Nitro, for me anyhow, is that it doesn't leave me wanting more. It actually leaves me feeling glad that it's finally over. That's not to say that there isn't some great stuff on a typical show, just that it drags too long because there's too much junk on the show. Nitro on 11/02 was a three-hour show, with only two hours airing in Canada. There was a time, before things became so busy for me at work, that I thought Canadian fans were gypped a bit by getting one-and-a-half or two-hour edits of Nitro. These days, with Thunder added, I actually smile when I see that TSN is only airing a two-hour edit of the show. This was one of those weeks, as evidenced by the fact that I didn't even get around to watching RAW, Nitro, and Thunder until the week was almost over. In the first match on our show, Alex Wright beat Norman Smiley. We came back from a commercial to hear that Bret Hart is faking an injury and Lex Luger is somehow involved, not that we saw any of it. Oh well. After airing some more Hulk Hogan vs. Ric Flair stuff, credited to Eric Bischoff's mischievousness, the show moved on with the Four Horsemen coming out for another great interview. They are doing a good slow brew of this story line, IMO. It's smart to use Ric Flair's drawing power without exposing his age too much. Unfortunately, they ended things with Steve McMichael chiming in for a couple of sentences; he just has to go. The Observer writes, "Everyone in the company is said to personally like McMichael, but recognize with his shortcomings, that he shouldn't be in the spot he is." McMichael is holding off on signing a new contract with the promotion because he wants a guarantee that he won't be chucked from the Horsemen. Frankly, this is one time where I hope the parties don't come to term. And just as you think you've seen one of the worst interviewers in the business, Scott Steiner came out. Scott faced Kenny Kaos, who teamed with Rick Steiner last week to defend the WCW Tag Titles and came out with the tag titles here. JJ Dillon interrupted Kaos' ring entrance to make an announcement, but Scott Steiner came down to stop him. Scott's heel persona seems weak in the 1990s because he talks about kicking Dillon's "butt" and says that "WCW sucks." Harsher stuff is the norm in the 1990s. Anyhow, Dillon said he did have something to say, but we cut to a commercial abruptly. Well, that was never filled in for us. Strangely, though, story lines involving the Steiners really come across better when somebody briefly explains them; it is less painful that actually sitting through the story line development. Psicosis faced Rey Misterio Jr. in a pretty good match. Rey was set for a top rope rana for the pin, but the LWO came out and a distracted Rey ended up getting pinned. Chris Jericho came out for an interview. When he says "Gene Mean," it cracks me up. Not much to note in the interview. Raven faced Dean Malenko. Raven had a Marvel Comics "Sandman" T-shirt on that nobody ever mentioned. Lodi & Steve McMichael got involved for a few seconds. Malenko was great and Raven was better than usual, so this was a pretty good match as well. When Malenko was going for the Cloverleaf, Kanyon came out. The distraction led to a lot of quick pin attempts, with the Horsemen coming out. Bret Hart ended up attacking Chris Benoit, with Lex Luger making the save. The Giant rescued Bret. Kidman faced Chris Jericho. Another good match. A show like this makes a Canadian fan think that he's missed some more great wrestling in the edited hour. Of course, whenever we get the full three hours it becomes painfully clear that that's never the case. This was a good match, with lots of good spots. It went to a time limit draw. As a lowlight, the commentators talked about how the smaller guys don't have that big of a chance in the Battlebowl battle royal. JJ Dillon laid down fines on Scott Steiner & Buff Bagwell. They both came out and chased off the commentators, with Scott laying into the furniture. Hey, maybe they'll do a roid rage story line. They invited Kenny Kaos into the ring. Any idiot watching knew that Kenny was going to get killed. Scott's mic work was as horrible as always. Booker T faced Scott Hall, based on an earlier challenge by T that didn't air here. Match was nothing special, but it was a lot better than anything Hall has done in recent memory and T shows so much promise. Finish was lame, with Hall pulling the referee into Booker's missile dropkick for the DQ. They really haven't learned from the past or from what has turned business around elsewhere in the world. Oh well, enjoy the good business period and repeat all of the old mistakes. Giant faced Lex Luger. Ho hum. The Giant showed so much promise when he started and some people told stories about him trying to learn moves that would be astounding for a man his size, but, be it due to WCW not motivating him or he himself just not giving a crap, he has really turned into a drag to watch. Loud "boring" chants filled the air as Tony Schiavone had the nerve to say we were watching a "classic Giant match." Bret Hart ran in and attacked Lex Luger with a piece of the safety rail. The fans still chanted "boring." Only when Goldberg came out did the crowd react. In a cool story line spot, Goldberg went for a spear on Hart, who moved, with Goldberg hitting Luger by mistake. It was sort of reminiscent of the Kevin Nash angle a while back, but it was still well-executed. Thunder Thunder on 11/12/98 was a two-hour show. Glacier beat Chris Adams with a nerve hold submission. Tony Schiavone identifies all that is wrong with the thinking in WCW by saying that the main reason Monday night was memorable was is because Hollywood Hogan announced his candidacy for the office of the president. Opening match saw Glacier beat Chris Adams, with the commentators talking about the battle of super kicks. Who cares? Kendall Windham faced Kenny Kaos; Windham makes every match he's in seem to crummy. Kaos was announced as representing the team of High Voltage, which I guess means that any attempt to elevate him by putting him with Rick Steiner has been abandoned. Kaos went over. They ran that Lex Luger package again. Man oh man, they've got to realize that up-and-comers need to be hyped. Things are just too stale on top. Stevie Ray beat Jerry Flynn; nice way to give Flynn a send-off for his upcoming New Japan tour. Juventud Guerrera faced Rey Misterio Jr. They've got the same crosses all over their ring attire, which made my wife think that tag partners were facing off. Two minutes in, Rey's chest was already purple from hand slaps and he was already limping noticeably; these guys give so much of themselves and their promotion really doesn't care. They interrupted the match for a commercial, which was really just a "Ringside Release" promo for Jerry Springer's upcoming movie. Well, I'm glad that that takes precedence. Back from the promo, they pulled out a lot of great moves. Rey still isn't what he once was, just due to injury and bulking up a small amount, but Juvi is just a phenomenal worker. They did a muddled power bomb into a rana. After lots of other good stuff, Juvi hit a brainbuster suplex and got a two count. Then the bell rang, but they announced that the match would continue since the winner would get a PPV title shot. They'd already gone about 15 minutes. Rey missed a top rope senton. Juvi hit a tope. Juvi countered a top rope spot into a sunset flip power bomb, but still didn't get the pin. He finally hit his Juvi driver, as the commentators talked him making mistakes and wasting time. Juvi went for the firebird splash, but Rey got up and stopped him, hitting the top rope rana for the pin. Great match. Billy Kidman DQ Chavo Guerrero Jr. to retain the Cruiserweight title. Well, that was the decision that Tony Schiavone announced, but it made little sense. They had a darn good match, that could have been great if only Pepe were removed from the mix. Finish saw Kidman apparently setting up for the victory when the LWO ran in an attacked him. He tried to fight them off, and Chavo came to his assistance. That's why a "no contest" makes more sense than a DQ. Eddie Guerrero came in last and pulled the LWO guys off of Chavo. Rey Misterio Jr. came in and helped chase Eddie off. Good match, with Rey & Kidman standing in the ring alone at the end. Dean Malenko faced Kanyon. Another good match. Everybody ran in, so it was a duplicate crummy finish. The main event saw Giant face Konnan. At least they are doing something right, here, with Konnan being booked competitively against the big stiff. A frustrated Giant choke slammed the referee. Thunder on 11/05/98 was a live two-hour show. Kanyon beat Barry Horowitz in the opener. Scott Steiner & Buff Bagwell came out to do another interview, sigh. The commentators remind us that Scott was fined $100K in monopoly money on Monday. It seemed like this interview went on forever. Alex Wright, doing his "you stupid Americans only speak one language" shtick, faced Raven. Either losing agrees with Raven or his better opponents are getting to shine because they are put over Raven, but I've sure liked Raven's recent losses a lot more than his old wins. Disco Inferno & Kanyon got involved. Things turned into a melee. Chris Jericho came out for another funny interview regarding Goldberg. Fit Finlay faced Booker T, who won with a sunset flip. They aired Konnan's misuc video, which is absolutely tremendous, probably the best-produced item of this sort I've ever seen in pro-wrestling. Ernest Miller came out and insulted the fans a bit. Glacier came out and offered to aid Miller if he ever needs it. If Miller's gimmick is that WCW screwed him over by not respecting his martial arts ability, why does he wear a jacket with a WCW monogram on it? Norman Smiley lost to Horace Hogan. Poor Norman. Rey Mistero Jr. faced Eddie Guerrero with the stipulation that if Eddie won Rey would have to join the LWO. Match was good, but not great, ending in a time limit draw. Chris Jericho beat Prince Iaukea in a match that was pretty competitive. With loads of cheating, Scott Hall beat Disco Inferno. The Four Horsemen had a hot interview. They once again pushed the idea of Ric Flair taking Eric Bischoff's job; it's good that they mention upfront that this is the direction they plan to go. It's an extension of the WWF's Austin vs. McMahon program, but this dea has never even been hinted in the WWF. This way, if the WWF decides to steal the idea before WCW gets there, fans will at least know where the idea was born. Going overtime, we hit the main event of Lex Luger vs. Scott Steiner. Steiner laid out the referee before the match, so the match went on without an official. Eventually, Rick Steiner ran out. - The WWF has Survivor Series on 11/15/98. Tentative line-up has: * Sixteen man tournament to determine the new WWF Champion. First-round matches: + Undertaker vs. bye + Kane vs. bye + Rocky Maivia vs. Triple H + Goldust vs. Ken Shamrock + Mankind vs. ??? + Jeff Jarrett vs. Al Snow + X-Pac vs. Steve Regal + Steve Austin vs. Bossman * Sable vs. Jacqueline for the WWF Women's Title It's largely expected that Rocky Maivia will win the title on this show, likely winning a Rocky vs. Mankind tournament final. - In a sad note, due to an accumulation of injuries, it appears that El Ultimo Dragon, real name Yoshihiro Asai, will perhaps be taking a permanent leave from wrestling. He has been let out of his WCW contract. Asai is one of the few wrestlers who so revolutionized a sport that a move (the quebrada) was also widely named after him (the Asai moonsault). - Bret Hart was on Jane Hawtin Live on Wednesday night, replayed Thursday morning. The topic was: "Do wrestlers make good role models?" Bret talked with Jane about his upbringing and his dad, hyping the documentary that airs next week in Ontario. He said that he was basically afraid of garnering his dad's wrath during his childhood, because he knew his dad would stretch him as punishment. He talked about having two identities as a kid, being nervous around girls and not treated specially at school and being treated like a hero when he was involved in the wrestling matches early on. He was very candid about the booked nature of pro-wrestling. Jane said that she has inverviewed Andre the Giant and Hulk Hogan, for example, and neither was anywhere near as open about what pro-wrestling is. Bret openly admitted that the finishes of the matches (which he called the endings of the stories of matches) were predetermined by the guy that runs the show, Vince McMahon in the dicussion, but that he designed the story for the match that built to the predetermined winner going over. He made the point that in the past ten years, many of the great stars in the WWF - Shawn Michaels, Steve Austin, Diesel, Davey Boy Smith, etc. - had their best match with Bret Hart; he took this as a credit to his ability to create memorable matches, since in every case the matches were put together by him. He lamented that this aspect of the craft is being lost as the new crop of stars hasn't been groomed this way and the sport has changed. He also talked about never hurting anybody in a wrestling match, noting that fans who have been watching Nitro recently would likely argue with him over that. But there's a difference between working solid, stiff matches that let everybody go home healthy and the stuff that an outfit like ECW, mentioned by name, does: "the idea of actually hurting somebody on purpose? That's not what I do." They showed clips from "Wrestling with Shadows." Intense, great stuff. He talked about staying with Vince out of loyalty when WCW offered him the big bucks, but pointed out that Vince's "little black heart" wanted to tear down his character. He went along with turning heel because he thought it might be an interesting platform given what was happening at the time (Donovan Bailey kicking an American's ass, for example). He suggested that Vince was setting him up in the belief that the WCW offer would then fall through and Bret would either leave with his tail between his legs or beg to return at a reduced salary. "Wrestling fans dictate policy in wrestling." Since he works in the US now and US fans are used to him as a US-bashing Canadian, he feels that he's sort of stuck in the role of a heel, and, besides, the babyface/heel split may not be the same as it used to be. A child psychologist joined the mix, basically to argue that wrestling is another violent thing on TV that sends messages that aren't family centred. Peter Maurin, author of "It's only wrestling," joined in as well, arguing that wrestling has hardly been something that targeted children consistently over the years, really only having that focus during the 1980s WWF years. Bret made the argument that his WWF character through to 1996 was a good role model to kids, but that that was an era where there were still white hats and black hats. The psychologist raised my ire and Bret's as well by saying that kids know that wrestling is fake. Bret interrupted after the third "fake" to say that he didn't appreciate people saying that what he does for a living is "fake." She offered "orchestrated." He still bristled. She offered "choreographed." He still said the term was wrong. Nobody understands what wrestling is. And this psychologist even said she had seen the documentary in preparation for the show. The first caller supported Bret, saying that he teaches kids to fight for what they believe in. Bret was very careful to say that right up until he left the WWF he was a good role model. The psychologist chimed in and talked about teaching kids not to fight, which was knocked down as being an idealized world view. Bret talked about how raunchy the WWF has become, acknowledging that he only heard about it from others because he doesn't watch the show and doesn't allow his kids to watch it. He mentioned the kielbasa queen and the Austin/McMahon gun episode. While Vince says his product is directed at older males, you still see a shelf full of WWF action toys in the toy store. Bret said that other raunchy products, like Howard Stern's show or Jerry Springer's show, don't try to sell toy to kids. If Vince wants to change the flavour of his show, he shouldn't make toys for kids. Bret also acknowledged that there is a tendency to try to compete with the WWF for that group of fans by playing a little to the raunchier stuff, but that WCW can never cross the lines that the WWF has. While WCW might have a bit or piece that teases the line, almost all WWF stories hit or cross the line. Bret said that WCW won't have a gun on TV, won't have the overt sex stuff, won't have overt racism, tries hard to minimize bad language and gestures, etc. He mentioned that right near the end of his WWF run, Vince wanted him to do an angle where he was an overt racist (remember the NOD locker room being vandalized?) but that Bret voiced his discomfort with that direction and refused to do it. He said that the locker room vandalism angle aired while he was in the ring and aired without his knowledge; he was left standing in the ring, fuming over the angle. Jane asked how he could have trusted Vince in the end, given that angle. Bret said that he didn't trust Vince, but that he did trust the referee in the title bout (the sprinter, Earl Hebner). Bret said that one could possibly allow kids to watch the Saturday shows, but that Nitro needs some supervision. RAW is off-limits for kids, in his opinion. We were joined by Jermain Wilson, who wrestles in Ontario for the Renegade Wrestling Alliance as J.Q.Publik. He really didn't offer too much, just saying that his character is a positive one. Bret was asked about a lack of heroes given his recent actions in WCW. Bret said his mother didn't want him to be a wrestler. He also said that Bill Goldberg is a great hero, who looks the part and is a really decent guy. Peter Maurin argued that college student fans don't want heroes and would rather have attitude. Bret wouldn't say whether he'll be turned around into a babyface. He took one final shot at the psychologist, saying that wrestling is a morality play, much like biblical stories, like David vs. Goliath, so we also might consider stopping our children from reading the bible. - Wrestling got a mention in Thursday's Globe and Mail. In a small bit, they talked about Jesse Venture winning his run at Governor. They then had a small blurb on babyfaces in pro-wrestling, talking about Hogan from years gone by, and talking about Shawn Michaels, Steve Austin, and Bret Hart. - NBC ran their "Secrets of Professional Wrestling" special two Sundays back. It was a bad show, IMO, because it really revealed secrets of wrestling in 1970s. Except for the discussion of tables and the huracanrana, that's how it felt to me. Everybody was caught up in the babyface vs. heel style of promoting that is a more than a little passé. Although everything they said outside of the planted granny and wrestler's son and the silly idea that promoter's still make signs for the fans was true, it still garnered a big "so?" from me. My wife joked that the idea of the show might have been to see how many times the lead reporter could say "secret" in an hour show, as he said "but now you know the secret" 100 times. The discussion of wrestling moves and finishers was also dated. Yeah, that backbreaker is a devastating finisher these days. The moves they profiled, except for the piledriver, all were based on the exact same bump. Instead of focusing on a move for five minutes, slowmo-ing the bump, wouldn't it make more sense to focus on the bump, show some minor variations of that same bump, and then list and show clips of numerous moves that take that same bump? That it ended with the wrestlers challenging any detractors to get in the ring gave the show a campy finish. Blah. The Learning Channel airs their exposé this Sunday at 9:00pm opposite Survivor Series and the second episode in the new X-Files season. Thank goodness for multiple VCRs. - Steve Austin was on Ricki Lake yesterday, 11/13/98. The idea of the show was that fans would get to meet their favourite celebrities. These incredibly geeky guys wanted to meet Austin. They spouted off song-and-verse the things that Austin has been doing on RAW. They were shown wrestling in their living room (they were roommates). It was totally embarrassing and sort of gay to see these guys, the sort of stuff that makes you realize why people react the way they do when you mention that you are a pro-wrestling fan. Anyhow, Austin came out and gave them tickets to an MSG show. Later on, we saw them backstage at the show urging on Austin and at ringside acting crazy. The only parts that were actually unintentionally good were Ricki constantly screwing up the name of the promotion and one of the guys responding to Ricki, who called him by the wrong name, saying, "I'm not Jim. I'm mark." My wife said, "I think he's a mark." - Val Venis was on TSN's Gallagher show on Thursday last week at 10:30pm, hyping the appearance of the WWF in Toronto. Val slipped in and out of character in the discussion, talking about his background in wrestling prior to coming to the WWF and taking on the new gimmick. He really dissed Teri Runnels, talking about kicking her to the curb. They did a mock dating game, where Val delivered sports questions to three women in the audience, all attractive and all plants, it would seem. In the end, Val chose all three women and they had a group kissing session while everybody laughed. - The WWF was in Toronto on 11/07/98. Quick results: * Steve Austin pinned Rocky Maivia to win a fourway match that also included Undertaker & Kane * Ken Shamrock beat Mankind in a street fight * X-Pac beat Jeff Jarrett in a guitar-on-a-pole match * New Age Outlaws beat D'Lo Brown & Mark Henry * Sable & Edge beat Marc Mero & Jacqueline * Gangrel & Christian beat Too Much * Steve Regal beat Steve Blackman * Tiger Ali Singh beat Al Snow * DOA beat LOD I always get confused when I see the house show results for the WWF. Isn't the story on RAW that Vince fired Austin, but Shane gave him a contract for a title shot. Vince one-upped Shane by making that title shot a spot in the tournament at Survivor Series. If this is the case, why is Austin working these fourway matches at house shows? - The "Bret Hart: Wrestling with Shadows" documentary airs in Ontario on 11/18/98 on TVO at 10:00pm. The funny thing is that the program is listed as an educational documentary running 105 minutes. It airs in the US in a couple of weeks. I've already watched a really crummy copy of the tape of the documentary, and it is just tremendous. Any knocks on this thing by the WWF (which is saying that the film is amateurish) are misplaced. The film is laid out with the Montreal Survivor Series double cross opening the show; well, they talk all around it. That opening segment ends with Bret Hart saying that he thought he would spend his whole career with the promotion. They also air a clip from the RAW interview with Vince McMahon where Vince said he didn't feel sorry for Bret. They then jump back in time to the Calgary In Your House, showing Bret off as a huge hero to his fans. The footage of his family is great, and the discussion of Stu Hart stretching all of those wrestlers who passed through Calgary over the years was great. Helen Hart talked about how she discussed Stu's involvement in pro-wrestling with him before they got married, with them deciding that it might just be a two-year deal. She never imagined that and suggested she didn't want all of her kids to become so closely involved in pro-wrestling (daughters all marrying wrestlers, sons all wrestling). We see the backstage planning for the Calgary In Your House, including the planning of the finish. Brilliantly, clips of that main event are played with the audio track overlaid by the planning of the spots. It was amazing to watch; loads of profanity, as well. Bret talked about breaking his sternum when he was in a match with Dino Bravo. He talked about good babyface requiring facing good heels. So, we run down the list of heels: Mankind, Hunter Hearst Hemlsley, and Steve Austin. Each of these guys is interviewed out of character. "Something strange has been happening. The guys that the American fans are supposed to hate are becoming the heroes." That leads to the discussion of Steve Austin getting over, and the fans turning against Bret Hart in the process. "I don't think there are any good guys any more." Vince wanted Bret to turn heel. He talked about the Wrestlemania match, saying that that was the point where they changed positions. Like the classic babyface, Austin didn't give up. Like the classic heel, Bret attacked him after the match and refused to stop. "And just like that, I'm a bad guy." He talked about the not understanding the fans' attitude when it came to liking Austin. "I don't have a problem being the bad guy. As long as I don't sell out." They showed Austin lay into Bret's knee while Bret talked about how the fans were cold-blooded for cheering him on after all his character had done. That was the underlying reason for the shift in his character. That show, where Austin attacked Bret in the ambulance, was one of the best TV shows they ever did, says Bret. They played Bret's monologue where he said that he didn't respect American wrestling fans any more, telling them to kiss his ass. "It's a role nobody else has ever gone down," with the American fans hating him and Canadian fans cheering him. They played the interview from the Canadian RAW where Bret laid into aspects of American society that Canadians find inferior. Cut to the flag-waving of the Patriot and the cheering of the American fans at the next PPV. Then off to the classic "the United States is one big toilet bowl." Bret said he was urged to say that Pittsburgh was the spot that deserved the enema hose. He said he didn't think that, but maybe Washington deserved the honour. American fans are asked why Canada sucks. "Because they said we suck" is the answer. That's offset by a Canadian fan explaining with some clarity that the American fans turned on Bret after he gave them a lot. More American fans saying that America is number one. The selected clips of the fans were pretty darn interesting. He worries about "losing his heat" to Shawn Michaels as the referee. "Is Shawn going to be a heel?" That's what he's told. We get to the SummerSlam match between Undertaker and Bret Hart. We see random clips of the action, mostly Bret selling it seems. We cut to the back to see Jerry Brisco and company watching the match on the monitors. Bingo, Shawn counts grudgingly and Bret wins the title. We see him changing in the back, with his son and family members in the same locker room. He poses for some pictures, etc. Sombre music plays. Next comes footage of Bret working out. "Ten more years of wrestling? I'm like the guy wandering around the prison cell that's a lifer." But "I can't wait to get out. As soon as I get out, that'll be the real test." Whether he can get out and stay out and be normal. We see him playing video games with his kids, while praising his wife for doing all the dirty work. "I don't know how Julie puts up wth it." She says she's been waiting for him hang up his boots since he was 25, looking really strained as she talks about it. The WWF starts losing the ratings war to WCW. Vince takes the promotion in a raunchier direction. DX appears. Cut to RAW where DX does their typical interview while Bret looks on, while the footage of Shawn sticking the Canadian flag up his nose airs. Bret says he doesn't understand the thought process that has turned the WWF into "smut TV," things like Shawn pulling his pants down. Vince drops a bomb shell. He says that he wants out of their twenty year contract. Bret sits at the kitchen table talking with his wife about the situation, telling her that the company is in financial peril. Julie doesn't understand how Vince could have begged him to sign that deal a year ago. Vince's spin airs, with Vince saying that he let Bret leverage him against WCW, and he listened to bad advice in signing Bret to the deal. The conversation gets emotional and Bret asks for the camera to be turned off. Bret, having been told he can come to WCW, calls up Vince and says "Convince me to stay." Vince says, "What would you do with Bret Hart?", asking Bret to put himself in Vince's shoes. "And then I realized what a horrible, ridiculous situation I was in. I had been the number one good guy in the world, and I gave that up to be the number one bad guy." But he has been positioned poorly in the interim. "I can't be a great good guy and I can't be a great bad guy." Stuck in limbo. He said he couldn't believe the sadness when he decided to leave the WWF. They aired footage of Vince and Bret talking about the change in the WWF product. Remember Vince's canned interviews that talked about not insulting the fans' intelligence? Dave Meltzer on "Off the Record" airs. Bret says that Vince leaked it out that Bret was leaving the WWF for money, that he sold out, so Bret went public with his opinion of the creative direction of the WWF's product. They air raw footage from Detroit, with American fans chanting "You sold out." A limo heads off, including Bret, WWF Canada head Carl DeMarco, Jim Neidhart, and Honky Tonk Man. Bret talks about the things that they wanted him to say in interviews: that Shawn was gay, etc. Bret says he was uncomfortable with it and didn't do a lot of things. Vince tells Bret he has to lose in Montreal at Survivor Series, that he can lose any way. Bret mentions that he has reasonable creative control in the last thirty days. He says, "I don't have to worry about the referee tomorrow because I talked to Earl. And he swore on his kids that he's not going to let anything happen. And I can trust Earl." Bret talks with Stu about things, saying that he doesn't want his character's value in Canada destroyed, because he wants to take that to WCW. Stu says something about Bret having always done a good job for Vince for 14 years, and not understanding why Vince would be so anxious to get rid of him. Bret says that he thinks the request not to lose the title in Montreal is a modest one, especially in light of the fact that Vince told him he could leave any way he wanted to. "I've got reasonable creative control," which pretty much means that any decision has to be agreed to by both parties. Bret says that he'll lose the belt any other time and Vince can even air that loss over and over on TV if he wants. Keep in mind that this stuff was filmed before the double cross. Jason Sensation is seen hyping the Hitman. Other Canadian fans also praise Bret and deride the WWF's direction. Bret likens losing the title in Montreal to blowing his character's brains out. "I won't let them rape me." He gets pretty emotional talking about this, tears in his eyes. He's obviously sad to leave the promotion. Sunny looks shocked while talking to Julie backstage. Julie gets hugs from others. The DOA and Sunny play with Bret's kids. Earl Hebner talks to Julie about missing Bret. Scoundrel. Bret's son cries. This is the life he's been used to, right? Julie laments a bit as well, mostly for the kids, of course. Bret and Vince meet to discuss the finish tonight. We hear the dialog. Vince asks Bret what he wants to do. No finish has been solidifed. Bret says, "I think I just want to get through today." He talks about doing a farewell speech the next night on RAW. At this point, Vince has missed a lot of chances to get the belt of Bret. "I don't have to beat Shawn." Vince says he's thinking of a "run-in thing." Slightly ominous music comes in and the characters are readied: Bret, Vince, Earl Hebner. Bret says to Julie, "It's okay. I just talked to Vince. Disqualification." The match. Shawn comes out. Bret comes out; we see him making his way out from the back as Shawn humps the Canadian flag in the ring. We see parts of the match. Shawn gets berated by Vince, who tells him to get back in the ring. They slow-mo for the ref bump and step through the finish with Bret and Vince discussing the finish of the match overlaid over the match footage. Bret talks about Vince saying "ring the bell." "He really screwed me. Lousy bastard." Bret spits on Vince. Once again, they play the discussion between Vince and Bret where Vince says, "whatever you want." My wife, watching, says, "liar!" It's pretty intense stuff. Julie looks flabbergasted backstage. Bret looks like a ghost changing in the locker room, his forelorn son sitting next to him. Shawn comes in and says he didn't know anything about it when Bret asks if he was in on it. Shawn uses "fuck" a lot to indicate that he had no clue about the double cross, something that has since been disputed. "My fucking hands are clean, I swear to God." Vince strolls down the hall and into the locker room. Bret says that the camera better be turned off. This way, I guess we'll never know who swung first. In the hall, Julie defends her husband, laying into Helmsley and company. "Don't give me that shit. You guys knew it from the very beginning." She's a hero, a hell of a strong woman. The guys mumble, "I don't have anything to say." It reminds one of an adult chastising a bunch of hooligans, who hang their heads because they don't know what to say. Owen walks off with with Julie. Back to Bret. "Vince ran into my hand." We see Vince hobble down the hallway on his broken ankle. They show Vince's bullshit interview on RAW about this situation. He says one member of their fourteen-year relationship forgot where he came from. My wife remarks that Vince forgot where Bret came from. Bret wonders aloud about why Vince felt he had to do what he had to do, suggesting that it had something to do with putting the wrestlers in their place. The bit with the midget on RAW airs, in that time period when RAW was still all about Bret. Bret and Julie look at each other, hurt over what the WWF has stooped to. Bret and his dad stroll through their grounds. We are told that Bret now wrestles for Ted Turner's WCW. I'd have to say that this is the best film or segment on pro-wrestling that I've ever had the fortune of seeing. Certainly, Vince McMahon was cast as the villain in the movie; that's strong wording since the film strives to be a documentary. I've always held the opinion that Vince's actions surrounding Bret's last year in the promotion were questionable at best and that the double cross was an absolutely horrible action that speaks to the lack of character in the man. The movie solidified my opinion. I'm not sure how the McMahon defenders that were in evidence after the double cross will react to the film. It probably won't change their minds. The movie didn't delve into Shawn Michaels' role in the whole double cross or, more importantly, his involvement in the circumstances that led to the double cross. In the end, Bret's desire to keep his character strong in Canada -- and it was really strong because of his defence of the country while bashing American fans -- comes across as the reason that Vince felt he needed to screw him in Canada. Vince didn't want to let his most popular wrestler in Canada at the time jump to WCW, leaving the potential for the WWF to lose ground in the wrestling war in Canada as it was in the US at the time. - It's still strongly expected that Eric Bischoff will end up forming his own Four Horsemen to feud with the current Four Horsemen. I guess that Midnight Express vs. Original Midnight Express feud from the 1980s brings back fond memories for some. Tully Blanchard, Barry Windham, and Ole Anderson have all been talked to about this idea. Maybe they could use Bryant Anderson, Ole's son, and have Ole just work the microphone for the group, like Arn. - Eric Bischoff is really trying to coerce the good workers into signing new contracts. Only Juventud Guerrera has signed a new deal, so we can expect him to be pushed a bit now, just to send the message to the other guys who are languishing. Chris Benoit, Eddie Guerrero, etc., all have a decision to make. If the Horsemen don't get off the ground soon, who knows what Benoit will decide. The only guy who hasn't signed a new deal who is being pushed somewhat is Chris Jericho, because Bischoff has always liked him a lot and is giving him extra time to decide if he wants to sign something at this point. Likely, if Jericho makes no decision in the short-term future he'll also be downgraded. It sure seems like they are positioning him for a possible Goldberg squash if he doesn't play ball. Talk continues that the Giant will also be leaving for the WWF as soon as he can. It will be interesting to see how he would be fit into the WWF mix right now, with his ego and motivation what they are. - WCW has World War III on 11/22/98. Tentative line-up has: * Battle Bowl, 60-man three-ring battle royal, with the winner getting a title shot at Starrcade. * Billy Kidman vs. Juventud Guerrera for the Cruiserweight Title * Rick Steiner & Judy Bagwell vs. Scott Steiner & Buff Bagwell for the WCW Tag Titles * Kevin Nash vs. Scott Hall - The WWF has In Your House on 12/13/98. - WCW has Starrcade on 12/27/98. Tentative line-up has: * Bill Goldberg vs. winner of Battle Bowl for the WCW Title * Ric Flair vs. Eric Bischoff It's expected that Goldberg will face Kevin Nash. Earlier in the year, a disgruntled Nash was promised by Hogan that he would win the title at Starrcade. Boy, wouldn't that be the wrong move. Apparently, Ric Flair's deal for his return to WCW stated that his first match back would be a Starrcade match against Bischoff. - RAW beat Nitro on 10/15 with a 4.8 rating versus a 4.7 rating. The detailed ratings are a click away. I still haven't managed to update them. - I've updated the PPV figures below. Check out the "Last 6 Months" and "1998" numbers; as evidenced by the Monday Night ratings numbers more often than not in recent times, the WWF's business is in a definite upswing while WCW is languishing. I'd like to make the argument that WCW's decline coincides with the decline in effort in hyping undercard matches as important. I think the drop is a combination of that and the fact that they are missing the boat on what their audience wants by hyping Hulk Hogan and Warrior, etc. At this stage in 1998, the two promotions are pretty much even in every aspect, including the fact that they don't deliver a hell of a lot of great matches on PPV. Some things are certain, though. Based on the details below, ECW's WrestlePalooza has to win the worst PPV of the year honours. There are very few strong choices for "Match of the Year" from the North American groups. Anybody who has seen a week or two worth of New Japan and All Japan TV will like have several choices to put ahead of the North American entries. It's sad to me that as the pro-wrestling popularity cycle swings around again to deliver another boom period there really aren't that many quality matches being delivered. It's made worse by the fact that there are so many strong workers that could be delivering the great matches. PPV buy rates, revenue (in millions), and match statistics for the WWF, WCW, and ECW are presented in the following 1998 summary sheet (the PPV draw(s) are listed, as well as the quality matches): Show Data Match Rating Data Show Details Buy Rate Gross Mean Median Peak % >= * * * * WWF 98/10/18: Judgment Day Undertaker vs. Kane 0.89 $3.99 1.61 * 1/2 * * * 1/2 X-Pac vs. D'Lo Brown 0.0% (0 of 9) 98/09/27: Break Down Steve Austin vs. Undertaker vs. Kane 0.86 $3.85 1.69 * 3/4 * * * 1/2 Rocky Maivia vs. Ken Shamrock vs. Mankind 0.0% (0 of 9) 98/08/30: SummerSlam Steve Austin vs. Undertaker 1.48 $6.57 2.06 * * * * * * * 1/4 Hunter Hearst Helmsley vs. Rocky Maivia 12.5% (1 of 8) 98/07/26: Fully Loaded Steve Austin & Undertaker vs. Kane & Mankind 0.5 (WWF claims 0.95; WCW claims 0.34; 0.5 independent figure) $2.23 1.81 * 1/4 * * * 1/4 Rocky Maivia vs. Hunter Hearst Helmsley 0% (0 of 8) 98/06/28: King of the Ring Steve Austin vs. Kane Undertaker vs. Mankind 1.1 $4.99 1.72 * 1/2* * * * * 1/2 Undertaker vs. Mankind 11.1% (1 of 9) 98/05/31: IYH Over the Edge Steve Austin vs. Dude Love 0.65 $2.90 1.06 1/2* * * * * 1/2 Steve Austin vs. Dude Love 12.5% (1 of 8) 98/04/26: IYH Unforgiven Steve Austin vs. Dude Love Kane vs. Undertaker 0.85 $3.78 1.75 * * * * * Steve Austin vs. Dude Love 14.3% (1 of 7) 98/03/29: WrestleMania Shawn Michaels vs. Steve Austin Kane vs. Undertaker 2.20 $9.52 1.81 * * * * * * 1/4 Michaels vs. Austin Cactus & Funk vs. NAO 0.0% (0 of 8) 98/02/15: IYH No Way Out HHH & NAO & Vega vs. Austin & Owen & Funk & Cactus Kane vs. Vader 0.45 $1.67 1.43 * 1/2 * * * 1/2 HHH & NAO & Vega vs. Austin & Owen & Funk & Cactus 0.0% (0 of 7) 98/01/18: Royal Rumble Shawn Michaels vs. Vader Royal Rumble 0.97 $3.62 2.38 * * 1/2 * * * 1/2 Royal Rumble Max Mini & Nova & Mosaic vs. Battalion & Torio & Tarantula 0.0% (0 of 6) Last 6 0.93 $4.16 1.79 1.88 3.563 2.9% (1 of 34) 1998 1.00 $4.31 1.72 1.75 3.75 5.1% (4 of 79) 1997 0.61 $1.84 2.18 1.81 3.792 27.9% (6 of 21) Show Data Match Rating Data Show Details Buy Rate Gross Mean Median Peak % >= * * * * WCW 98/10/25: Halloween Havoc Diamond Dallas Page vs. Bill Goldberg Hulk Hogan vs. Warrior 0.78 $3.48 1.70 * * * * * 1/4 Diamond Dallas Page vs. Bill Goldberg 0.0% (0 of 12) 98/09/13: Fall Brawl Wargames 0.70 $3.11 0.19 DUD * * * 1/2 Perry Saturn vs. Raven 0.0% (0 of 9) 98/08/08: Road Wild Hulk Hogan & Eric Bischoff vs. Diamond Dallas Page & Jay Leno 0.93 $4.15 0.61 * * * * 1/2 Juventud Guerrera vs. Chris Jericho 0.0% (0 of 9) 98/07/06: Bash at the Beach Hulk Hogan & Dennis Rodman vs. Diamond Dallas Page & Karl Malone 1.6 $7.21 1.81 * * 1/4 * * * * Juventud Guerrera vs. Billy Kidman 11.1% (1 of 9) 98/06/14: Great American Bash Hulk Hogan & Bret Hart vs. Roddy Piper & Randy Savage Sting vs. Giant 0.8 $3.52 1.67 * * 1/4 * * * 1/2 Chris Benoit vs. Booker T 0.0% (0 of 9) 98/05/17: Slamboree Kevin Nash & Scott Hall vs. Sting & Giant 0.72 $3.20 1.92 * * 1/2 * * * 1/4 Chris Benoit vs. Dave Finley Chris Jericho vs. Dean Malenko Eddie Guerrero vs. Ultimo Dragon 0.0% (0 of 9) 98/04/19: Spring Stampede Sting vs. Randy Savage Hulk Hogan & Kevin Nash vs. Giant & Roddy Piper 0.72 $3.20 2.40 * * 1/2 * * * * Ultimo Dragon vs. Chavo Guerrero Jr. DDP vs. Raven 20.0% (2 of 10) 98/03/15: Uncensored Hulk Hogan vs. Randy Savage Sting vs. Scott Hall 1.10 $4.12 1.69 * * 1/2 * * * 3/4 Raven vs. DDP vs. Chris Benoit 0.0% (0 of 9) 98/02/22: SuperBrawl Hulk Hogan vs. Sting Outsiders vs. Steiners 1.10 $4.12 1.67 * 1/4 * * * 3/4 Juventud Guerrera vs. Chris Jericho 0.0% (0 of 10) 98/01/25: Souled Out Bret Hart vs. Ric Flair Giant vs. Kevin Nash Lex Luger vs. Randy Savage 1.02 $3.81 1.92 * * * * * Chavo Guerrero Jr. & Super Calo & Lizmark Jr. vs. Juventud Guerrera & La Parka & El Dandy 11.1% (1 of 9) Last 6 0.92 $4.11 1.25 1.67 3.5 1.8% (1 of 57) 1998 0.95 $3.99 1.52 1.73 3.65 4.2% (4 of 95) 1997 0.77 $2.45 1.96 1.98 3.813 5.9% (6 of 102) Show Data Match Rating Data Show Details Buy Rate Gross Mean Median Peak % >= * * * * ECW 98/08/02: Heatwave Taz vs. Bam Bam Bigelow 0.23 $0.42 3.08 * * 1/4 * * * * Mike Awesome vs. Masato Tanaka 16.7% (1 of 6) 98/05/03: WrestlePalooza Shane Douglas vs. Al Snow Sabu vs. Rob van Dam 0.24 $0.45 0.64 1/2* * * Mikey Whippreck vs. Justin Credible 0.0% (0 of 7) 98/03/01: Living Dangerously Shane Douglas & Chris Candido vs. Al Snow & Lance Storm 0.23 $0.42 1.56 * * * * * 1/4 Buh Buh Ray Dudley & D-Von Dudley vs. Spike Dudley & New Jack vs. Axl Rotten & Balls Mahoney 0.0% (0 of 8) Last 6 0.23 $0.43 1.69 1.58 3.08 4.8% (1 of 21) 1998 0.23 $0.43 1.69 1.58 3.08 4.8% (1 of 21) 1997 0.22 $0.38 2.10 2.50 3.583 10.0% (2 of 20) I'll update the figures for next week. Longer-term data is available. The data now runs back to 1991. A table of wrestlers who have delivered quality matches is also online. - WCW has Souled Out PPV on 01/17/99. Rumour has it that the show will feature Ric Flair vs. Hulk Hogan. - The WWF has Royal Rumble on 01/24/99. - The WWF has In Your House on 02/14/99. - The WWF has WrestleMania XV on 03/28/99. - The WWF has In Your House on 04/25/99. - The WWF has In Your House on 05/23/99. - The WWF has King of the Ring on 06/27/99. - The WWF has In Your House on 07/25/99. - 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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