______________________________________________________________________ I do not offer subscriptions to a mailing list! I do not e-mail images! ______________________________________________________________________ Well, the site should be running properly. E-mail links are all fixed; please note the warning in the e-mail graphic so that you correct my mildly modified address. The last thing I need is to start receiving a million spam e-mails again, so I've stuck with having a web spider block. There is a tape update as well, just including all of the New Japan and All Japan TV almost to the end of 1998. I should get the shows through to 01/99 shortly. I've now got over 180 unwatched tapes waiting to be viewed. Sigh. Although I had this update ready on Thursday, 02/11/99, there was a rejigging of IP addresses that affected twc-online.com. The change has to propagate through the net ether, so it took a while for things to become available. Just as I get back on my regular schedule, outside forces conspire to work against me. ______________________________________________________________________ RAW RAW on 02/08/99 aired live in Canada on TSN. In a bit of a twist, the show airs on tape in the US on Saturday night, so Canadian fans get a treat. You have to understand that this show was hyped as the "biggest RAW" ever. The hyped main event was Mankind vs. Steve Austin, perhaps for the WWF Title. Toronto fans were lured to the SkyDome by that banner pairing. The announced crowd at SkyDome was 43000-or-so. Local news broadcasts said that there were still seats available an hour before the dark matches started. Carl DeMarco was interviewed on one Toronto news station, repeating his mantra that the fans no longer want to see two guys in their underwear trading moves. Of course, then, the show opened with four men not in their underwear (Steve Austin, Mankind, Rocky Maivia, and Vince McMahon) trading verbal barbs for a good 18 minutes. Austin promised blood in the cage match with Vince. Mankind promised a fight for the main event on RAW (vs. Austin). Rock promised to beat the tar out of Mankind at the PPV. Vince promised that the announcer would say Vince McMahon was the winner in the cage match, guaranteeing Austin that not one Corporate member would interfere "in any way, shape, or form" in the cage match. If one of the Corporate members interferes, the entire corporate will be fired. This means that the Giant will debut as a non-Corporate member to interfere in the match. Vince said that Austin's life in the WWF will never be the same after the PPV, I guess because of the Giant's entrance into the promotion. Finally, Vince said that he would referee the Austin vs. Mankind match this night. 18 minutes. D'Lo Brown faced Jeff Jarett. Mark Henry accompanied D'Lo. Debra & Owen Hart came to the ring with JJ. Michael Cole announced that D'Lo & Henry would challenge for the tag titles at the PPV. Before the match, D'Lo told Mark not to be distracted by Debra, instead bringing out "Ivory" to ringside as a gift to Henry to keep Debra off his mind. Just in case you have an attention span, you needn't bother to use it in this match. D'Lo got the win at 1:13 after Ivory came in to the ring to distract Jarrett, who released his figure four (put on at the one-minute mark!) to confront her. As a cutesy tribute to Toronto SkyDome history, they showed footage from earlier in the day of Val Venis with Ryan Shamrock in one of the Skyboxes, presumably getting ready for sex. There was a famous incident in the Skydome a few years back where a couple did just that during a baseball game, getting their pictures (in the act) in the tabloid Toronto Sun. They also showed a sign saying that RAW was sold out. Summary of Val Venis vs. Ken Shamrock. Val & Ryan came out to ringside to talk about things, with Ryan wearing a tarty outfit. Ryan is an actress; Shamrock has no sister. Kevin Kelly interviewed the pair. "I don't have to get a rise out of Ken. I'm too busy with Ryan getting a rise out of me." One line in, Shamrock came out to attack Venis. Kelly took Ryan out of the ring. Shamrock laid out the refs that came in for the save, putting the ankle lock on one ref, who tapped out, because we all know that an out of control wrestler will stop his attack if you tap. They aired a commercial for "Hitman Hart: Wrestling with Shadows," which they plugged as being available at Music World, a record store. I'm sure that ad won't air in the US and I'm sure that Vince will be happy it aired in Canada. Of course, the conspiracy theorists will say that this is another sign that the legitimate double cross by Vince was really just an elaborate work. So, 37 minutes in, we had 1:13 of a wrestling match and one 30 second melee. Back from a commercial, Ryan massaged Venis' shoulders. Venis said he's going to end the problems with Shamrock tonight. Goldust, who faces Bluedust at the PPV, faced Gillberg. An usher came out to give Goldust blue roses, but Goldust tossed them aside. I guess the WWF is intent on making Goldberg a household name. Gillberg made his march to the ring while the commentators laid into him. "Gillberg is 0-2. Who will be first?" Pretty funny, but I'm not sure that it serves a good purpose for the WWF. Gillberg's spear made him bounce off of Goldust, who then laid into him. After Goldust hit his finisher, his music came up and a Bluedust video aired. It was a parody of an early Goldust video. Gillberg hit a schoolboy on Goldust and got the win at 1:31. The lights went out and blue lights came on. All lights went off. When they came back on, Goldust was covered in blue paint, which the commentators called a "bluebath." Earl Hebner announced that none of the WWF would referee Ken Shamrock's match at the PPV because of Shamrock's earlier attack. If no qualified person steps forward to referee the match, Shamrock will have to forfeit his title. This makes sense: Vince's employees have the power to screw up Vince's Corporate IC champion's title defence. At 9:47, we had had a whopping 2:44 of match time. I was damn glad that I wasn't at the SkyDome. DX came out for an interview. Each member hyped his PPV match, stretching this episode of RAW is TALK even longer. Billy Gunn offered to be referee in the Venis vs. Shamrock title match. As we headed to commercial, we saw Vince McMahon heading to the ring to referee the main event. This must be a record. One hour into the show and 2:44 of bell-to-bell wrestling action, 30 seconds of which was a Bluedust video that aired during a match. It's not like a lot of brawling action is excluded from that time, either, since the Shamrock vs. Venis brawl wouldn't add much to the time total. I think they should have to drop the second "W" from the WWF; replace it with an "SE" for "Sports Entertainment." Vince came to the ring, posing along the way. Mankind faced Steve Austin in a non-title match. Mankind came to the ring first. Even though it was not a title match and Austin has the hot issue with McMahon, it bugged me that the champion came to the ring second. That's a complaint I voice every time it happens in either promotion. Vince instructed the wrestlers before the match, basically telling them that all rulebreaking tactics were encouraged. It was sort of funny. Austin said, "So you want somebody's ass whipped?" Vince said yeah. Austin said he and Mankind were not going to get their asses kicked. Meanwhile, Mankind put on Socko and attacked Vince, slapping on the sock. It makes sense for Mankind to not attack Austin after all of those Stunners he's received for no good reason. The Corporate Team hit the ring instantly, with Austin and Mankind laying them out, including Rock, Shamrock, Boss Man, and even Kane. Shamrock & Rock were stunned. Kane did his non-bumping, non-selling selling. So, the advertised main event of the show amounted to a 45-second melee and no match. Boy, the fans had to be happy with that. Well, it was only 10:06, so there was a chance that the promotion would deliver something before the night was done. After a commercial, Vince McMahon came out to tell the fans that he hoped they were satisfied, that he figured that Austin & Mankind figured that they got the best of Vince. Vince said that Austin would have to face each and every member of the Corporation this night "until somebody is pinned." Huh? How does he move from one member to the next? By pinning him? What happens if, as unlikley as it is, a Corporate member pins Austin? Is the match over? I dunno. The Godfather came out with some Toronto hos. Toronto has nice strippers, you know, and no g-string law or, heaven forbid, pasties law. For a while, clubs were offering lapdances and fullblown sex in private booths, but the moral politicians clamped down on that. Most clubs with private areas still offer all of that stuff, of course, 'cause you can't fight human nature. Anyhow, these hos looked nicer than usual to me. Maybe I was looking for something to enjoy in this show, 'cause there sure wasn't going to be much wrestling. Godfather faced Viscera. Viscera now wears white contact lenses. Godfather didn't even offer his hos in exchange for a forfeit. Viscera sure makes me react viscerally. Mideon came out to do commentary, rambling on about Undertaker's power of evil. Egad. Mideon had a "real" eye in a jar at ringside. Mideon hit the ring at the 1:26 mark because Godfather actually knocked Viscera off his feet. There's just no point in having Viscera around, is there? Mideon acted as though he had some power to calm down Viscera, but they still pummelled Godfather after the match. Backstage, Val Venis and Ken Shamrock were brawling, with Billy Gunn stumbling upon them and telling them to break it up before getting involved himself. DX tried to break things up. Commercial break. Back for Kane vs. X-Pac, with Chyna watching from the corner. Chyna was wearing thong underwear with cutaway chaps and loads of make-up. X-Pac bumped like a pinball for Kane, who no-sold X-Pac's limited offence and even ended up out of position a few times. Chyna interfered and laid into X-Pac, telling Kane to stay back while she pedigreed X-Pac. HHH made the save before Chyna could hit the move. Chyna then begged both men to fight her, but Kane pulled her out of the ring. Total match time was a marathon 3:00. Real depressing. Al Snow came to the ring with Head. He did a promo for the Hardcore match at the PPV. He called Road Dog Jesse James. He pulled some props out from under the ring and said he'd face anybody in a hardcore match. He mutilated the Jeopardy theme. Nobody came out. He said that he'd have a hardcore match with himself, which was damn stupid. He whacked himself with a cookie sheet and stick, used a fire extinguisher to his own face, and moonsaulted an empty table. At least that Monty Python sketch was funny; this wasn't. Bob Holly came to the ring to take Snow out, but Snow kept pushing Holly back, finally nailing him. Holly fought back, as the two job squadders went into the crowd for a second, trading punches. Snow hit a chair shot on Holly, who returned the favour. Two minutes into the totally uninspired brawl, three referees came in to break it up. After less than three minutes of reasonably uninspired brawling, we went to a commercial break, with Holly walking to the back and Snow laughing in the ring. Droz was interviewed about the Oddities. Obviously, the whole Road Warriors story line has been abandoned. Droz whacked Kevin Kelly, and Steve Blackman came to the rescue. Back to the ring, Steve Blackman faced Rocky Maivia. Rock cut a quick promo before the match. They traded offence early on. Rock's selling is really amateurish. The fans started a "Rocky" chant. After a DDT, Rocky did his own commentary for a few seconds. Rock hit the Rock Bottom after Blackman missed a high kick. Rock followed it up with the Corporate elbow and got the pin. Match ran a whopping 3:52. We went to our final commercial break with one match to go. The ring entrances for the gauntlet match started at 10:49. Vince & Shane McMahon came to the ring with Test, Big Boss Man, Ken Shamrock, Chyna, and Kane. Michael Cole said that match would end only when Austin beats one member of the Corporation. It started with Austin vs. Shamrock. They had the best wrestling sequences of the night for the 1:40 or so it lasted. Test broke up the pin attempt when Austin hit the Stunner on Shamrock. Michael Cole said that "Shamrock has been disqualified so now Austin is in there with Test." Austin stunned Test in short order, but Kane made the save, so Test also lost by DQ. What a stupid match format. Austin took down Kane with a Lou Thesz press, but Kane rallied. Kane hit a weak choke slam, but Austin kicked out. Austin slipped through a tombstone, hit the stunner, and Chyna made the save with a low blow. Austin stunned her too, immediately, but Boss Man made the save. Fans were pelting the ring with garbage. Vince tossed a night stick in to Boss Man. Earl Hebner didn't do anything about the night stick attack that followed. Vince ordered the whole Coporation into the ring, but ended up going in himself, telling Boss Man to get out of the ring. Vince took his shirt off, did a cocky strut, and then went for the cover. Austin laid down for the three count (having been choked out by Boss Man). Vince then guzzled a beer, and the Corporation attacked Austin, holding him back while Vince drank his beer and poured beer on Austin. Vince kept yelling at Austin that he'd never be the same after the PPV. There were some "bullshit" chants from the fans. Total match time was 6:55. In total, then, the show had 17:57 of wrestling bell-to-bell, with maybe 5:00 of brawling stuff outside of matches. Can you imagine sitting in the SkyDome for two hours straight to see 23 minutes of what a generous soul might call action? Hell, in the old days when I used to go to Maple Leaf Gardens every week, I would see that much action in one Ric Flair title match. In the old days, when promotions held a house show in a city, and the house show was filled with no shows and srew jobs and stuff that just pissed off the fans, the fans weren't all that forgiving about it. If you did it once or twice, depending on the city, you could kill that market for your product. Obviously, Vince thinks that the fans are paying to see something other than in-ring action, that the biggest RAW show of the year can have an advertised main event that doesn't amount to squat. I don't "get it." Maybe that's what sports entertainment is all about. Me, I saw the Toronto fans pelting the ring with garbage and chanting "bullshit" a few times during the show. Some might argue that they were reacting the way Vince wanted, look at the buy rate on Sunday, and conclude that all is great with the WWF. Me, I think that this sort of stuff can kill a city and that a promotion's level of success can drop immensely without the promotion knowing what hit it (look at WCW). Despite all of the often well-founded criticisms leveled at WCW, when they had their biggest Nitro in mid-1998, they delivered an incredibly memorable main event that left viewers feeling they'd seen something special and definitely sent the fans home satisfied. And despite all of the praise that the WWF gets, mostly for story lines but also for main event match quality, when they delivered their biggest RAW ever, they delivered nothing special, nothing memorable (at least not in a positive sense), sending viewers away depressed and fans home unsatisfied, albeit without their concession stand garbage. The biggest RAW ever turned out to be the biggest disappointment of 1999 so far. As an afterthought, there seem to be a few possibilities: (1) The Toronto fans don't "get it," (2) Vince actually doesn't "get it," (3) I don't "get it," or, most interestingly, (4) The WWF has owned Canada since shortly after Hulkamania made its WWF debut in 1984. Prior to that the NWA had a strong presence in Toronto and elsewhere, but then Vince invaded. The rest is history. It's strongly believed that when Bret Hart was told to leave the WWF, Vince was concerned about his stranglehold over Canada, a pretty large and important market that contributed to his company's financial success. In hindsight, one might argue that Vince spent a year or so trying to devalue Bret Hart's character in Canada and then he wanted to deliver a death blow at the infamous Survivor Series. Sure, Bret went to WCW and was largely unused, and everybody criticized the company for it. WCW Nitro has settled into a stable slot on TSN in Canada in the past year. The time is ripe. WCW will come to Toronto (not in the SkyDome, but in the brand new Air Canada Centre) on 03/29/99, not too far off. And guess what? Tickets go on sale this Friday. I can think of about 43000 fans that are probably pissed off at getting ripped off for a live Monday night show and likely won't consider buying tickets to another event so soon. Hey, I don't honestly believe that Vince would put on a brutally bad RAW in Toronto after all that hype just to kill Nitro's chances ('cause I don't think it will work), but I'm trying hard to come up with a somewhat intelligent reason for the crappy showing on Monday. - Lots of media coverage of the Toronto RAW, well, mostly on TSN. On Gallagher on Monday night, the WWF women appeared: Sable, Debra, Chyna. Gallagher airs live from Wayne Gretzky's restaurant in Toronto. It's a mix of current sports results and in-studio stuff with the guests, so the 22 minutes of air time is only in part devoted to the guests. This night was a little different, though. They opened discussing the title match to come on RAW, actually believing that we'd see a match. Little did they know how screwed we'd be. Sable came out in a skin tight bodysuit, that was actually pretty unflattering. Debra came out in her business suit with skirt. Chyna wore jeans and a t-shirt. The heels were separated from Sable & John Gallagher. They started by announcing that Sable would be on the cover of the April Playboy. As soon as Debra spoke, I thought "redneck." She rambled about having a bad day travelling to Toronto, coming across as a total airhead. Chyna's face, without much make-up looked weird based on earlier photos of her as Joanie Lee, woman wrestler. She said that she switched allegiances for money and seemed pissed when Gallagher suggested that there might be something more to her relationship with Vince. Sable named Luna as her number one and toughest challenger. Debra said she does not wrestle, she just causes trouble. Chyna says that she considers herself more a part of the men's group than the women's group in the WWF. Easy potshot left out. Sable actually had the nerve to talk about the style of women's wrestling changing. Carl DeMarco was quoted as saying that ten years ago people were laughing at the WWF, but that nowadays nobody laughs. When asked why, Debra said, oh so intelligently, "because they have us three girls!" Chyna pitched the sports entertainment party line. Sable supported the "best soap opera" label. Gallagher asked, "What is the most frequently asked question for Debra McMichael?" Debra looked like she had to figure out cold fusion. "Are you still married to Mongo?" No, she's not, she said, yelling out "I'm single!" She's also damn annoying. Chyna offered to show Gallagher one of her favourite moves, getting him up, and telling him to just spread his legs a little bit. Gallagher balked and said no. Sable needled Gallagher, saying that he said he was up for anything, following that by saying that if Chyna did what she wanted to do he wouldn't be up for little while. Chyna said she had no interest in the women's belt, which led to a little bit of a verbal catfight about who could beat who. Debra offered to be the referee. Sable preached that Chyna's cavalier attitude, saying that she could squash Sable in a second, demeans the company, and Chyna should remember that they all work for the same company. Sable said that not everybody does what Chyna does to get a body like that, hinting at drug use, if you can believe it. She must have been legitimately pissed. Chyna said that she's twice Sable's size and Sable asked how she got that way. Sable: "I work out just as hard as you do, but I do not supplement my body the way you do either." Can you believe this? It was actually the best two minutes of Monday night on TSN. Chyna, pissed, pointed at Sable's boobs and said, "It depends on whether you call that stuff supplements." Sable: "Excuse me! I think you've been to the plastic surgeon a lot more than I have." Chyna, flexing: "And you know what? This is built by me. This is built by Chyna. There's no plastic surgery there." Sable, flexing: "And this is natural." Gallagher had to dive in to break it up. Too bad. Off to questions from the audience. Chyna said that wrestlers work hard. Debra said she'd pose for Playboy. Chyna said she wouldn't pose, but then kept talking as if to say that she just hadn't been asked. They really pushed RAW as the biggest show ever. Sable said she wouldn't be at RAW. As a footnote to the John Gallagher show story, Gallagher was cancelled as of Friday's show. The reason given was that ratings never reached what the network had hoped. John will return to putting together "news minute" type video clips. The show typically drew 100000 viewers from across Canada (not much less than Off The Record draws for typical shows) and managed to peak with the above "WWF Women" show being the most-watched episode ever with 285000 viewers. Gallagher had been taking interviewing lessons, because it was widely accepted that he lacked a lot of ability at drawing things out of guests. That is obviously Off The Record's Michael Landsberg's strength. On Off The Record on Monday, Mick Foley appeared for an interview. Off the top, host Michael Landsberg asked Mick Foley what got him into wrestling. Foley talked about being a fan and remembering classic matches and classic moments of the time. When he broke into wrestling, he said, he wasn't experienced enough to have classic matches, so he set about creating some classic moments. He talked about Jimmy Snuka being his hero, retelling the story of going to MSG to see Snuka do the cage leap. He said he loves getting reactions from fans: "I'd much rather lose a match that is memorable than win one that people won't remember." They talked about wrestlers not breaking character for media interviews, something that bugs Foley; in this interview, Foley was himself. Foley said that the Mankind character is what a lot of people are (not comfortable with themselves, insecure), while Austin is what a lot of people wish to be (beating up the boss). Foley said his hardcore reputation was cemented in Japan. He defined hardcore, based on interactions with Terry Funk, as "somebody who loves wrestling so much that they can't get enough of it on TV." That's me. It's not "someone who wraps barbed wire around himself or who bleeds a lot." He said Vince McMahon is hardcore because he gets hit in the head with a chair when he doesn't have to be (because he's rich). Foley said he's not a millionaire yet, but said that Vince has been rewarding him appropiately. Although he didn't use the words, he's on a downside guarantee contract, which basically means that he gets a minimum salary with bonuses based on business and his role in that business. As a result, he's expecting that he'll get a bit bonus for the Rumble doing well. He described himself as a model employee, who isn't afraid of being replaced or demoted by Vince. He said he had to get nine stitches after the Rumble match, and that he received those stitches in front of his children for the first time. He actually went to his kids backstage before getting medical help, in order to tell them that he was okay. "Daddy just got a little boo boo." His daughter: "That looks like a big boo boo." That led to Michael Landsberg talking about the Hell in The Cell match, calling it the legendary match of all time. He said that the table bump off the top of the cage saw him land on his kidney, that that bump led to him feeling discomfort for 10 weeks with every movement. His shoulder was dislocated in the bump. He said that the piece of cage he fell through broke lose unexpectedly and the chair fell down and hit him in the face. He also pointed out his tooth in his nose. His jaw was dislocated. Bruised kidney. Concussion. He said it took four hours in the emergency room to go through his "shopping list," primarily the dental surgery. At the Rumble, Foley said he wasn't afraid of the pain, but he was afraid of being hurt by the chair shots. He was also afraid of the effect it would have on his children to watch that. Landsberg talked about wrestlers retiring in an unhealthy state and asked whether Foley was afraid of that sort of future, mentioning Shawn Michaels in particular, retired at 33, and Dynamite Kid, who Foley called one of heroes. Foley said that waking up from being knocked out at the Hell in the Cell, realizing he was in the middle of a PPV match, made him afraid. He's afraid for his family, but not really for himself. Landsberg said that Foley is a danger to himself because he wants to give so much. Foley said that fans need to see something when they spend money, but made sure to say that he isn't reckless. Landsberg & Foley debated what reckless means. Foley argued that falling on thumb tacks isn't reckless, but bumping on your head is. Landsberg asked whether Foley should bear any responsibility for kids wrestling in backyards doing crazy spots because they have seen Foley make a name for himself from that beginning. Foley tried to suggest that he was very careful with how he got into things, that he never left the ring for his in his first year as a wrestler. He talked about being careful in everyday life. When asked what he wouldn't do in a ring, he said he wouldn't take a backdrop on his head, despite having tried to come up with ways to avoid damage. Word association time at the end of the show. Landsberg says a name and Foley gives a short impression: * Eric Bischoff: "Great hair. Great cheek bones. Let Steve Austin go. Let Mankind go. I left, but I gave him a formal notice. Anybody who couldn't see the potential..." * Terry Funk: "My mentor...and I believe the greatest wrestler of all time." * Jim Ross: "Best broadcaster of all time...and without him I'd probably still be in Japan." * Ric Flair: "I love some of his matches...not so sure I love the guy." * Hulk Hogan: "I used to pay to see him, so anything I say negative would be hypocritical." * Paul E. Dangerously: "He's a genius...but he looks bad for 33." * Undertaker: "I have nothing but respect for Undertaker...one of my favourite wrestlers." * Vince McMahon: "Hey man, I like Vince a lot. I saw him after the Rumble. He looked like a little kid. He did not look like a 53 year old man. Some days, he looks 20 years younger than he actually is." On Off The Record on Monday, they aired a Rocky Maivia interview. Michael Landsberg called him Duane Johnson first off, reminding everybody that he first broke in as the son of Rocky Johnson, or Sweet Ebony Diamond as Canadians fans knew him. Rocky knew he'd make it eventually. Rocky said his dad likes the new direction for the WWF, that he's paved the road for current stars. Landsberg talked about the race issues being played in the promotion, with Rocky saying that he didn't like the race card being played. Landsberg pressed the issue, asking if Rock went to Vince and said he wasn't comfortable with the story line, leading to Vince retreating on the issue. As performers, do wrestlers have some say in story lines. Rock said that they do (or he does) without a doubt, especially guys that are "in tune with their character" since they know what will work and what won't. His spin was that the fans will know when a wrestler is acting out something that he doesn't really feel, and Vince respects that. Johnson continued to talk about himself in the third person, "the Rock" this, and "the Rock" that. Annoying. He said his mom is Samoan and his dad is Black, so "the Rock" is half and half. He's the first man of colour to hold the WWF Title, two times, and he's proud of that. But of course he wants "the Rock's" fans to say that "the Rock" is the most electrifying... yadda...yadda...yadda. You start to see why Foley gets annoyed by guys who can't check their wrestling character at the door. In 1996, Johnson was released by the Calgary Stampeders. Landsberg asked if Johnson was surprised not by how good he is but how quickly he reached this point. "No," says Maivia, "persistence and hard work..." Landsberg: "Come on," followed by reiterating that Maivia couldn't have expected his success. "I knew one day it was going to happen." Maivia called his catchphrases "Rockisms." The conversation got surreal at times because of Landsberg calling Rock by his real name and Rock answering in the third person. Landsberg said he gets e-mail calling him a jibroni. "What is that?" "Well, to the Rock, the Rock says a jibroni is a flunky..." Landsberg credited Rock with making up the term, but Rock acknowledged that it's a term used in the wrestling business for years. Rock claimed that he writes his own stuff, which flies a bit in the face of past reports that the WWF was using scriptwriters and those really stiff Rock interviews at the start. The conversation got good at this point, with Landsberg saying that Vince McMahon said that wrestlers must do what they are told to do in the ring. He then pointed out that many guys haven't or didn't do what they were told to do. Shawn Michaels said he'd "never lie down for anyone" eventually did lie down for HHH. The clip was shown. Landsberg: "I felt that was an insult to the industry. What do you think of guys who don't do what they are told, who don't know their roles?" Rock: "Well, as far as guys who don't do what they are told in the ring, it's unprofessional. I would never never go out there having something mapped out, lined out, knowing what I wanted to do, and then go out there and change it, just because I think I can. Well, no, it doesn't work that way." He said he had too much respect for the business, leading to them talking about ego taking over too often. Rock said that things are pre-planned and pre-determined, so it's pointless to talk about it being fake. Rock said he respects Shawn Michaels for what he's done in the ring and that he's never had a problem with him. Landsberg brought up that Michaels was heavily involved in the politics backstage, which Rock acknowledged, saying that he didn't care too much for that, but was never involved with it. He talked about Shawn in the past tense. Landsberg brought up Survivor Series from last year, and the Bret Hart match from the year before, pointing out how one finish copied the other. Rock laughed and said that the first 20 rows heard Mankind say he quit. "That's one story, now on the other hand, yeah, that was the mirror finish of the infamous sharpshooter Shawn Michaels/Bret Hart finish..." Landsberg asked whether that finish was created to poke fun at the Bret Hart deal. Rock said it was one of the best Survivor Series ever done and that he was comfortable with it. He said he was very close with Bret Hart and that Bret helped him a lot, but that he never heard any comments about the mirror finish from Bret. Rock said he created the Corporate elbow and the people's eyebrow (that's what he called it), and that he writes his own stuff. Landsberg couldn't take that last bit and said, "Vince Russo gives you a little hand though, right?" Rock: "Oh no, Vince Russo doesn't give the Rock any of that stuff. Props go out to Vince Russo, though." Hmmmm. Landsberg asked whether Rock felt animosity from other performers, saying that he knew for a fact that there were other wrestlers who thought Rock was a punk who was being pushed too quickly. When Rock nodded but didn't volunteer anything really, Landsberg went on, showing a clip of Austin vs. Rock, saying that Rock took Austin's spot. While nobody will deny that Austin is a huge wrestling star and nobody can sell t-shirts like Austin, "he was jealous, wasn't he?" Rock: "Uhhh. [...] No, no, he wasn't jealous. Once you reach a certain level, you understand the business. You understand that this guy is here and he's got a certain look to him and he's creative and he has a passion for what we all do. [...] This guy is going to help everybody." Rock also said that Ron Simmons wasn't mad about Johnson being put ahead of him. He said that he's from some critics that he's only been wrestling for three years, but nobody has said things while he was listening. Landsberg: "Who brings the best out of you? [...] Is it Mick Foley?" Rock: "Mick Foley is one of them. Mick Foley brings out a different side of the Rock [editor's note: yeah, the no-selling side]." Rock named Steve Austin as his best opponent, though. Landsberg said that Rock was selling the next PPV with that answer. Back from a commercial for the final segment, in time to play confirm or deny the following rumours and the first impression game: * The Giant will debut in the WWF before WrestleMania: "Confirm that." * Dan Severn...probably done in the WWF: "Confirm that too." * WrestleMania XV will be called "Raging Climax": "I don't know about that." * Jackyl was released because of heat with guys backstage: "Combination of things." * The new Blue Blazer is Koko B. Ware: "Yeah. The Blue & Black Blazer." * Jerry Lawler: "Entertaining." * Bret Hart: "Legend." * Kevin Nash: "Pretty Smart." * Ric Flair: "Legend." When called on using "legend" twice, Rock said, "Those two guys, man, they're the ones." * Ahmed Johnson: "pthhhpthh. Well, Ahmed had some issues he had to deal with." Rock acknowledged that Ahmed hurt some people and that occasionally a wrestle even at this level is a danger to others. Landsberg said that Ahmed wasn't that great of a wrestler. RAW Many articles ran in the Toronto Sun leading up to the show, and articles ran after the show as well in the Toronto Star. The image to the left was pictured in the Star. I've scanned the articles, even though they don't contribute much. Still, people might be curious to see what sort of things were said. I'll add a couple of comments after the stream of articles. 43,000 flock to WWF rasslin' extravaganza at the SkyDome Josh Dortono flew in all the way from Edmonton for some hard-core, down `n' dirty, foul-mouthed, raw rasslin' action. Even before the action got under way, a pumped-up Josh jumped up on his SkyDome seat and shot his arms up and his middle fingers in the air - the Stone Cold salute. Josh is four years old. His grandfather, Dave Dortono Sr. from St. Catharines, said he's not worried about what Josh is learning from the WWF: "He's seen it all already." Last night at SkyDome, a roaring crowd of 43,000 fans saw it all - and more Ä at Monday Night Raw. The fans went nuts as superstar after superstar strolled into the "War Zone" ring. Owen Hart, Val Venis, Mankind, Vince McMahon and, of course, the vivacious Chyna. All were there and in outrageous form, as were the fans. While the card itself was a slammin' success, a few parents wondered whether the sex and violence of the new WWF has gone too far. Mat-mania in 1999 is sex, sadomasochism, and Ä beyond everything else Ä pushing the boundaries. Posters of Sable (covered strategically in sand), $12 foam fingers of the Stone Cold Salute Ä it never ends. Doug Zehr, 38, brought his 10- and 16-year-old sons all the way from Trenton for fight night, but he said wrestling has changed from when he watched. "For the younger viewers, I think it can be a bit vulgar," he said. "I think they can have the event vithout the gestures." That includes the pelvis thrusting, crotch-chopping actions that accompany Degeneration X's yell of "Suck It!" Zehr remembers a cleaner era, even as recently as Hulk Hogan when there was no swearing. But the WWF claims the stadard good-versus-evil doesn't sell. Its ratings were down and expectations were up. With its sexier sell, wrestling has never been so popular. It's the top-rated show on TSN and number two on the CANOE website. "I'm not worried," said Debra Nurse, who brought three of her kids, including 13-year-old Steve, from Havelock. "They have their values already and they don't repeat what they hear here Ä at least in front of us." Jason Porisky, who brought his five-year-old son, Andre, from Oshawa said the sexy sell isn't a problem: "He's been raised good enough to know he can't raise his middle finger to everyone." StilI, the thrill never dies. "As soon as you sit down it's the ultimate," said Andrew Burke, 16. "You get goose bumps you're so excited "Some kids may be here for the Jerry Springer-type thing," said the Mississauga native. "I'm here because I love it." Wrestling too raw for kids? As wrestling fanatics get ready for one of the biggest events ever tonight at SkyDome, some are wondering if the rumbling show of sex and violence is suitable for kids. For the first time, the World Wrestling Federation is tumbling into Toronto today with its popular Monday Night Raw event and, with 45,000 expected to show, it's being billed as the biggest and baddest of them all. But some fans are warning parents to leave their kids behind, saying storylines with foul-mouthed heroes, medically enhanced beauties and back-stabbing bosses are too mature for the average seven-year-old "Wrestling is a lot different than it was 10 years ago," said Jay Barron, 22, who's been going to shows for 12 years. "The show isn't made for kids anymore, even though (they) make up the largest pai~t of the audience. But, I guess it's no different than watching South Park." In the past few years wrestling has become one of the biggest money-making shows on TSN. Tonight's event will be broadcast live on the network and is expected to break the viewership record set a month ago when 648,000 tuned in. During tonight's show a gold record will be presented to WWF Canada as its CD featuring wrestlers' entrance songs is one of the country's best-selling recordings. "Our fans eat, sleep and breathe wrestling and we're almost more popular than hockey in this country," said Carl DeMarco, Canadian WWF president. "It's like the best mix of a TV action series, a soap opera and a rock show. You just can't see a better show than this." The price of success is a growing dependance on adult themes, including sadomasochism on stage and a new adults-only wrestling magazine with nudity and swearing. Sable, one of the buxom female stars of the WWF, is appearing in April's Playboy. "People should know what they're getting when they come to see a show and what they're getting is their money's worth and much more," DeMarco said. "It's an experience like no other in sports or entertainment." "I've been crossing off the days on the calendar," Barron said. "I can't wait to see Stone Cold." Stone Cold Steve Austin, the beer-guzzling, finger-brandishing anti-hero, is the most recognizable symbol of the nastier image of wrestling. Many of them will gladiy greet him with his famous one-finger salute~ "If I was going to give the show a rating it would probably be AA. Kids under 13 really shouldn't go," Barron's brother Peter said. Toronto ready to get Raw Sex, violence and sports Ä they propel wrestling, at least in the World restling Federation. And you can expect to see a mixture of that tonight as Monday Night Raw comes to the SkyDome for a telecast to be seen live in Canada only, on TSN. Parental guidance is advised as the WWF has taken a harder edge heading into the new millennium. While some of the characters are cartoonish, they are more like Beavis and Butthead than those Saturday morning shows that were family oriented. Raw is rated PG on TV because of its adult-oriented content. While it is no longer considered family entertainment, it consistently is one of the top-rated cable shows in the United States. And on TSN, it puts up better numbers than the Maple Leafs and Blue Jays. In the U.S. last Monday, 10% of people with cable TV were watching wrestling. More than 40,000 fans are expected at the SkyDome to watch the likes of Toronto's Edge, the Undertaker, Val Venis, Mark Henry, Jeff Jarrett and various members of De-Generation X. Mankind, who is supposed to defend his WWF heavyweight title against The Rock next weekend, battles Stone Cold Steve Austin in tonight's final match. It is important for the WWF, after all the buildup, to stage a better-than-average card tonight, especially with the rival WCW ready for a March 29 card at the Air Canada Centre. The card gets underway at 7:45 p.m., with local talent trying out on matches that will be shown on some of the WWF's weekend programming. Raw is set to get under way just before 9 p.m. Big-time wrestling grips Toronto WWF superstars strut their best stuff to crowd's rave reviews Bouncin' brutes and buxom babes had Toronto on the ropes last night as thousands of big-time wrestling fans packed the SkyDome for the spectacle that is the World Wrestling Federation. The superstars of the WWF took over the stadium last night for Raw Is War, and fans say the action provides a mix of sport, drama and fighting fun. "It's not a question of whether or not it's fake Ä it's whether or not you enjoy it," said Matt Sickinger, 20, sitting in the stands with his 16-year-old brother Andrew and friends Chris Baker, Reagan Singh, Dave Thornton, all 18, and Peter Sgouros, 17. They've all been watching professional wrestling since they were small enough to get into the ring without ducking under the ropes, and they consider themselves aficionados. The lads are asked: it is set up, isn't it? "Oh yeah," all six reply, nodding vigorously. "It's all set up. They tell you that," Thornton said. "But they do get hurt, like when they get hit with chairs and stuff." "It's like a movie. It's all choreographed," Andrew Sickinger said. "But if it's such a bad sport, why do so many people watch it?" "People should get real," he said. "They like it. They should just admit it!" With 43,000 fans in the stands last night Ä they paid anywhere from $15 to $50 for tickets Ä Toronto showed it sure likes wrestling. The same is true around the world. The WVF says 10 million people watch its television programs each week in more than 110 countries and eight languages. The guys say there's no shame in watching the WWF. Like many people at the SkyDome last night, they say the sport is full of plots and intrigue, good guys and villains in black hats. The women of the WWF have added another element to the mix Ä they're hated and loved as much as some of the men fighting in the ring. This month's WWF magazine features a profile of Debra McMichael, one of the women who's making it big working with wrestler Jeff Jarrett. While it was mostly young men who packed the SkyDome, families, couples Ä even her 8-year-old daughter "I enjoy it myself every once in a while," said Lydia Evangelista, with Alyssa. "I'm usually on the and my kids are watching it, watch it with them." Beverly Robsoil, 21, admitted a sheepishly that she watches matches every week with her boyfriend, Darryl Dempsey, also 21. "I wasn't (a big fan) until he got me into it," said Robson, from Barrie. Dempsey isn't quite sure what draws him in each week, saying "maybe it's just their size Ä how big the are compared to regular people." The wrestlers are huge. Vicera. at 484 pounds, was the largest, followed closely by "Sexual Chocolate" Mark Henry, a native of Silsby, Texas, who tipped the scales at 400 pounds. My comments: I find Carl DeMarco's shtick really annoying. I wonder if he agrees with the column that said that the WWF had to deliver a star show to make sure that WCW doesn't make inroads into Canada. I wonder if he thinks they did. Nitro Nitro on 02/08/99 aired on Wednesday afternoon in full in Canada. Before the show, TSN once again carried the Gallagher & Off The Record shows from Monday night. As the show started, The Outsiders let Disco Inferno beat up a fallen Arn Anderson. They joked about the Horsemen, mocking them. A lot of pre-taped vignettes aired throughout the show, Kevin Nash's influence. I found them annoying for the most part. They tried to reshape Raven's character, turning his brooding into an act designed to piss off his mom. Hogan told Horace to take charge of the Black & White NWO, but to do it on the down low. Eric Bischoff had to work as head custodian, cleaning the washroom. Raven & Kanyon took a lot of money out of the bank. Hogan told Brian Adams to take over the Black & White NWO, but do it secretly. Oh boy. Hey, did you know that Adams was trained in Japan for wrestling by Antonio Inoki, legit. That doesn't make him not suck. Hogan told Stevie Ray to take charge of the Black & White NWO. Raven bought Kanyon a Versace outfit. Throughout the show, snippets of a blonde chick talking to me aired. Okay, so you think she was talking to you, but I swear she was looking right at me as we drove in the limo, walked through the foyer, and entered the hotel room. Rey Misterio Jr. faced Blitzkrieg, who Mike Tenay identified as an independent wrestler on the California circuit. It was a very good match, but a little too "spotty" for me at times. Blitzkrieg showed tremendous balance and gymnastic ability. My wife thinks it sucks that Rey Misterio Jr. is going to lose his mask and that WCW doesn't respect the heritage attached to the mask; "just because the American audience doesn't understand it, doesn't mean that they should kill it. It's not like he isn't appreciated as a performer by the fans. My god, that made it sound like I know something about wrestling." Man, Tony Schiavone & Larry Zbyszko suck. Mike Tenay was good, but they kept pulling him down. Lots of topes and good, fast spots. Blitzkrieg missed a skytwister press and Rey hit a top rope Frankensteiner for the pin. Although it didn't take much given what RAW offered this week, this was already easily better than anything on RAW. Fit Finlay faced Booker T. Another good pairing. Finlay is an underrated worker. While WCW is doing a good thing in carting out matches like these two, and the fans at least react to the wrestling and seem reasonably into the matches, they miss the mark when it comes to creating new stars during this time of high ratings. All of the good workers that should be developed into stars get squashed by the old guard. All of the old guard can't work, so the message to the fans is that being able to work isn't important, even though crowds all over the US give us the impression that they want to like the workers. The match was booked pretty evenly, with momentum shifting back and forth throughout. Finally, Booker T hit his axe kick and a very sloppy missile dropkick, slipping off the top rope, to get the pin. Good match. After two matches, this was already a better show with more bell-to-bell wrestling than RAW. Ric Flair told Bret Hart that he had to defend the title against Roddy Piper, while Hart proclaimed that he had a groin injury. They showed Will Sasso from Mad TV at ringside in the crowd, surely because he would lead to Hart losing the title. Horace & Brian Adams faced Curt Hennig & Barry Windham in the tag tourney. Okay, this looked brutal on paper. Boring match. Vince came out with Stevie's slapjack, Stevie Rey came out, Stevie accidentally whacked Brian Adams with the slapjack, and Windham & Hennig won. Afterwards the Black & White NWO argued amongst themselves. Bam Bam Bigelow and Goldberg had a brawl to hype their PPV match. Diamond Dallas Page beat Kenny Kaos. Not a great match, really too long for what they can bring to the table. I don't enjoy DDP much. He fits the bill of several popular WWF wrestlers: good interviews, strong push, but mediocre ring product. Ernest Miller called out any opponent. Vince was sent out by the other B&W NWO members and, along the way, tried to talk Disco Inferno into going out. The fans were really happy to be listening to Miller for so long. Vince finally came out. They had a pretty bad, short match, with Vince going over. They aired the Bret Hart segment from MAD TV (which aired this past weekend on FOX). Bret Hart destroyed Will Sasso with some chair shots and a sharpshooter. The fact that they showed this segment on Nitro meant that Sasso would be involved in Hart's match, I'm sure. I guess they aired a Scott Steiner vs. Kimberly bit, but it didn't make the Canadian cut, at least not on the afternoon show. Roddy Piper beat Bret Hart to win the US Title. It really bugs me when somebody who has been out of action beats a more active wrestler of the same stature. Piper did his usual crappy brawling stuff that everybody raves about when Austin does it. Hart limped a lot to sell his groin injury and stretch the match out. Something happened in the crowd and everybody turned to look. Piper hit a low blow that nobody saw, with the commentators acting confused about whether there was low blow or not. It wasn't a bad way of stopping the match until the disruption in the crowd cleared. Sure enough, when eyes were back on the ring, Hart got back up. Of course, as the match wore on, Bret Hart attacked Will Sasso at ringside; Sasso knelt at ringside for a while selling the attack. In the ring, Piper did a few wrestling moves on Hart, and they bumped the ref. Sasso rose to his feet and cheered on Piper. Bret put an object on his hand, knocking Piper loopy. Bret revived the ref, and Hart and Sasso had a tug of war with the referee. When Sasso let go, Hart stumbled into a schoolboy by Piper, who got the win and the title. Sigh. Hart is supposed to retreat, return as a face, and build to a Halloween Havoc program with Hulk Hogan. I'm sure that a Hart turn ties in to a WCW "invasion" of Canada. Back from a commercial, they talked about Kimberly being thrown out of a car by Scott Steiner, but we didn't see it in Canada. In the main event, Scott Hall & Kevin Nash faced Ric Flair & Steve McMichael. Oh man, please, please, please, let this be the death of McMichael. Heat segment on Flair, who made a tag to Mongo with five or six minutes to go. Mongo left his black t-shirt on because he's looking worse and worse. Hall & Nash quickly beat the tar out of Mongo. Eventually, Hall put a sleeper on Mongo, who dropped into a jawbreaker. Hall cut off Mongo's tag, but Ric Flair came in anyhow. Was there a tag? The commentators said so. Flair did all of his cheating stuff, ending with the figure four on Hall after crotching Nash. Backstage, all of the support staff was laid out and Hogan took the mop bucket from Bischoff, heading outside with it. Okay. Meanwhile, Hall reached the ropes, rallied a bit, and he and Flair were trading spots. Hogan came to ringside with the bucket, missed Flair with it, but splashed it onto Mongo, who sold his eyes. Please be gone. Flair was about to be triple teamed, but instead managed to hit low blows on Hall, Nash, and Disco. Goldberg came to the rescue. Please be the new fourth Horseman. Bigelow came in, but Goldberg dumped him too. Fade to black. - The WWF has In Your House: Valentine's Day Massacre on this Sunday, 02/14/99. Line-up has * Steve Austin vs. Vince McMahon in a cage match for Austin's title challenge spot at WrestleMania * Rocky Maivia vs. Mankind for the WWF Title in a "last man standing" match * Ken Shamrock vs. Val Venis for the IC Title with Billy Gunn as referee * Billy Gunn vs. Val Venis vs. Ken Shamrock in a triangle match for the IC Title * Road Dog vs. Al Snow in a two-out-of-three falls match for the Hardcore Title * Owen Hart & Jeff Jarrett vs. Mark Henry & D'Lo Brown for the Tag Titles * X-Pac & Hunter Hearst Helmsley vs. Kane & Chyna * Goldust vs. Bluedust * Gillberg vs. Christian for the WWF Lightheavyweight Title * Brian Christopher & Scott Taylor vs. Too Cold Scorpio & Bob Holly The first eight matches listed have been announced and the final two matches were on the show in its preliminary planning stage. That seems like a lot of matches for a show, so maybe the last two won't take place. The Observer reports that the Hardcore match will be the second in a series of three matches, the first one won by Road Dog of course, but I thought they signed this bout as a two-out-of-three falls bout. It is possible that the match won't even take place due to Road Dog being injured. Billy Gunn was originally slated to win the IC Title at the Rumble, but that move was pushed back because he's been misbehaving. Rather than reward him for his behaviour, they punished him by having him submit to Shamrock's ankle lock. So, don't take that submission as a new company dedication towards submissions. Gunn was even removed from what was originally planned to be a three-way match on this show. It's expected that the IC match on this show will set up either the three-way for WrestleMania or a Gunn title challenge on that show. - WCW has SuperBrawl on 02/21/99. Line-up has * Hulk Hogan vs. Ric Flair for the WCW Title * Dean Malenko & Chris Benoit vs. Barry Windham & Curt Hennig for the WCW Tag Titles * Bret Hart vs. Scott Hall for the US Title * Billy Kidman vs. Chavo Guerrero Jr. for the Cruiserweight Title * Lex Luger & Kevin Nash vs. Rey Misterio Jr. & Konnan, with Misterio's mask against Liz's hair * Diamond Dallas Page vs. Scott Steiner * Goldberg vs. Bam Bam Bigelow The tag match with the Horsemen against Hennig & Windham will be the tag tourney final, and what a great, clear tournament that has been, right? Benoit & Malenko are slated to win the titles, which somewhat explains the atrocious use of Benoit on last week's Nitro. Rey Misterio Jr. will lose his mask in his match. He's also set up a mask vs. mask match against Psicosis in Mexico, so I guess he'll lose his mask there too. It's expected that the mask loss will be rewarded with a spot in the NWO. That's a mixed blessing, I think. It's possible that could lead to some higher profile cruiserweight matches, since that division has largely been separate from the NWO vs. WCW stuff. At this same time, that doesn't strike me as a particularly good thing given that the NWO vs. WCW story lines are always filles with bullshit. - Thunder on 02/11 was the usual two-hour show, with longer matches and all of the vignettes that aired on RAW. In the opener, Kendall Windham & Mike Enos beat Barbarian & Meng in a tag tourney match. Boring. Whoever thinks that Barbarian & Meng can be positioned as ratings draws is deluded. Finish saw Barbarian turn on Meng at the behest of Jimmy Hart, which of course means that we'll get to see more matches in that awesome Barbarian vs. Meng series. Ugh. They aired the Kimberly bit from Nitro that TSN had edited off the show. Interesting that TSN edited that off the show, but the family-friendly TBS, notorious for its movie editing, let it through. Anyhow, an obvious stunt double took a bump out of a racing car. Super Calo lost to Lash Laroux in a good short match. Glacier tried to sell his ring entrance to Ernest Miller. Fit Finlay & Dave Taylor faced Chavo Guerrero Jr. & Billy Kidman in a tag tourney match. Anybody who has been paying attention knew that this would lead to a blow-up between Chavo & Kidman to lead to their cruiserweight match at the PPV. Match was good. I like everybody except Taylor a lot. Sure enough, with the ref distracted by Taylor, Chavo missile dropkicked Finlay, who was holding chair, and Finlay ended up nailing Kidman. One piledriver later and Kidman was history. Glacier tried to sell his costume to Miller, as well. Kaz Hayashi was called over by Sonny Onno, who lied about the cost of all of the costume pieces, ripping Kaz off in the process. This was actually mildly funny, with Kaz showing more charisma than all of the English-speaking participants. Chris Adams and Disco Inferno had a long and pretty boring match. Disco got the win with his chart buster after Adams stopped in mid-step to avoid kicking the referee. Gene Okerlund interviewed Billy Kidman, who said that he & Chavo miscommunicated. Gene tried to push Kidman's buttons, with Kidman repeatedly giving Chavo the benefit of the doubt. Chavo came over and ended up clotheslining Kidman and telling him that he dropped the ball. They announced later that the cruiserweight match was on for the PPV. In the TV main, Dean Malenko & Chris Benoit beat Kaz Hayashi & Van Hammer. Although I'm damn glad that they will give the tag titles to Malenko & Benoit, I've got that sense of meaninglessness in my gut. Who will they work against? Look at the teams the pulled together for the tournament. It just doesn't seem like the tag titles will be put into programs for the workers. Still, wouldn't it be amazing to see Benoit & Malenko defend down the line against a healed Eddie Guerrero & a staying Chris Jericho? (Oh yeah, the latest suggestions are that Chris Jericho will in fact stay with WCW.) Anyhow, this match was good when Hayashi was in; actually, it was quite good for those times. Hammer obviously dragged things down. Nitro Not only will WCW be running their first Canadian Nitro on 03/29/99, they will also run a house show in Kitchener on 03/30/99. That's a five-minute drive for me, so I might just go, especially because all of the workers tend to have to carry WCW the house show schedule. Gene Okerlund, Bret Hart, and the Nitro Girls will be doing promotional work for the Canadian WCW events. The ad for the Nitro appears on the left. Pretty cool to Chris Benoit get a high profile spot on the ad. The WWF uses the SkyDome for its Toronto appearances, so WCW managed to get an exclusive deal for the new Air Canada Centre. I remember reading the promotions were fighting to see who would get to run in the building. The Air Canada Centre will be the home of the Toronto Raptors, Toronto's NBA team. It opens on 02/20/99, so this will be an appearance in a brand new building. In the lead-up hype for the opening of the building, they are talking about the high quality food that will be served. Yeah, there will be a Pizza Hut, popcorn, and the like, but the building will actually have a head chef with a cooking staff that will stock the various food kiosks. So, there will be fancier fare, like smoked chicken with asiago cheese, calamari, and hotdogs with homemade salsa and red cabbage relish. There is a brewery in the building, and they have hired somebody to brew the beer specifically for the arena. You know, even with the longer matches that promise something good for a fan like me, I didn't really consider going to the live Nitro because you just know that it is going to drag and be terribly boring to hang around for that long for a show geared towards a TV audience. But the description of the food that the building will serve almost got me interested. In any case, I think for good wrestling it's probably better to go to the Kitchener house show. - Well, as soon as I reconnected the e-mail link on my pages, I received a slew of e-mail from old correspondents in Canada, the US, and Japan. Included in that wrestling barrage were some e-mails trying to explain the WWF story lines involving Steve Austin & Vince McMahon. You see, it all makes sense...no, I really don't believe any of that. Who calls the shots in the promotion? Vince? Shawn? Mankind? Earl Hebner? All of them have added a match or stipulation to a show, with the last three adding matches that Vince wouldn't want. It all makes no sense. Honestly, with a few four-minute-long-at-best matches in a two-hour RAW, don't you ever feel that the WWF just throws a half-dozen ideas at the wall to see what sticks? The one common theme in the e-mail explanations (all of which took at least one huge paragraph to explain just one story line element...a hint at chaos if I ever saw one) is that the WWF story lines make more sense than WCW's story lines. That's not an issue to me. Both companies have story lines that their cheerleading fans, with supreme effort, can try to make sensible. Both promotions have a lot of dangling story lines, changes midway in story lines leading to confusion, etc. My point is that WWF cheerleaders, faced with the lack of wrestling quality on RAW (see this week) and the lack of crowd heat during matches (see almost any show and any match, especially any match longer than five minutes), appeal to the high quality of the WWF story lines as the reason that RAW and the WWF in general is doing well (or better than WCW). My contention is that RAW is doing well because fans are into the rough product, the stripping women, the profane catchphrases and gestures, and a few of the main characters. (They are certainly not into wrestling.) The actual story lines are really irrelevant when it comes to the success the promotion is enjoying; well, they can't be brutally bad or the fans will turn on the promotion (see the Undertaker vs. Austin), but they don't have to be (and are not) great. Throughout 1998, as the year-end figures bear out, WCW and the WWF were pretty much equivalent on many counts: average match quality, mean match quality, number of great matches on PPV, buy rates. The difference for me is that WCW had a few more great matches on free TV, but because of TV volume they also had many more bad matches as well. The style of great match that WCW puts on (mostly with Kidman & Juvi this past year, it seems) is more appealing to me than the type that the WWF has put on (garbagy brawls...) largely because I firmly believe that the first style requires much, much, much more skill than the second style. The basic rule is if New Jack and Sandman can do it, it doesn't require wrestling skill. The second basic rule is that if Sanjay raves about it, it doesn't require wrestling skill. Okay, that's tongue-in-cheek, but there's more than a grain of truth to that, IMO. Notice that the best WWF match of the year by all accounts was the Hell in the Cell "match," that was less a match than a stunt man performance by Mick Foley. I can't relate to the mindset that would give that insane one-man performance that standing. Perhaps if there were no other good matches that took place, one would be understandably forced to consider one-man shows of such "testicular fortitude." But that wasn't the case in 1998. - The Dateline NBC piece on pro-wrestling didn't air as scheduled. It's now slated to air on Sunday night. Jeez, PPV, the X-Files two-parter conclusion, and Dateline...the VCRs will be busy. Inside Edition will air a segment on pro-wrestling on 02/23. Could this be another of many segments on the direction of the WWF? Chris Cruise, who has been on a crusade against the new direction, will be interviewed in the segment. This reminds me. Several weeks ago, I saw a piece on CNN. It was used to round out the hour of news and featured interview clips with Eric Bischoff. Eric talked about the WWF's direction being short-term gold, but long-term disaster, and the piece played up the moral differences between the company. - 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 99/01/24: Royal Rumble Mankind vs. Rocky Maivia Royal Rumble 1.57 $6.97 1.83 * 1/2 * * * 3/4 Mankind vs. Rocky Maivia 0.0% (0 of 6) Last 6 1.17 $5.22 1.84 1.62 3.54 1.9% (1 of 54) 1999 1.57 $6.97 1.83 1.5 3.75 0.0% (0 of 6) 1998 1.02 $4.42 1.60 1.63 3.65 4.0% (4 of 101) Show Data Match Rating Data Show Details Buy Rate Gross Mean Median Peak % >= * * * * WCW 99/01/17: Souled Out Bill Goldberg vs. Scott Hall Ric Flair & David Flair vs. Curt Hennig & Barry Windham 1.83 * 1/2 * * * * Billy Kidman vs. Rey Misterio Jr. vs. Juventud Guerrera vs. Psicosis 11.1% (1 of 9) Last 6 0.82 $3.66 1.20 1.33 3.75 3.6% (2 of 55) 1999 1.83 1.5 4 11.1% (1 of 9) 1998 0.93 $3.96 1.54 1.73 3.73 4.5% (5 of 111) Show Data Match Rating Data Show Details Buy Rate Gross Mean Median Peak % >= * * * * ECW 99/01/10: Guilty As Charged Shane Douglas vs. Taz 0.2 $0.42 1.68 * * 1/2 * * * 1/2 Yoshihiro Tajiri vs. Super Crazy 0.0% (0 of 7) Last 6 0.22 $0.42 1.93 2 3.42 5.3% (1 of 19) 1999 0.2 $0.42 1.68 2.5 3.5 0.0% (0 of 7) 1998 0.23 $0.43 1.56 1.5 3.00 3.7% (1 of 27) Longer-term data is available. The data now runs back to 1991. A table of wrestlers who have delivered quality matches is also online. - The WWF has WrestleMania XV on 03/28/99. It's still anticipated that they'll have a Mankind vs. Steve Austin main event on this show, holding off on Austin vs. Rock until SummerSlam. - 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. Don't forget to delete the leading "x" from my e-mail address; that "x" is my web spider spam guard. ______________________________________________________________________