______________________________________________________________________ I do not offer subscriptions to a mailing list! I do not e-mail images! _________________________________________________________________ The WWF had Survivor Series this past Sunday, 11/14/99. They painted themselves into a bad corner and tried their hardest to get out of it without pissing off their fans. It's been known for a while that Austin was avoiding ringwork because his neck was bugging him again. On TV, he'd done "enforcer" gimmicks and some run-ins, but had really limited his bumping. Still, the promotion stupidly hyped Survivor Series as pretty much a one match show, knowing full well that they might not be able to deliver that one match. That sucks when any promotion does it. But with the climate as it is right now, the WWF can get away with it, I guess. Anyhow, I was in a good mood when Sunday rolled around. There were only three weeks of lectures left for me to deliver, all my term tests had been written, and there were some success stories on the most recent test. Even though I expected Chris Jericho to lose his match, I was figuring that we would get to see Jericho-the-worker in his match for once in the WWF. I also had high hopes for the tag match involving all of the workers. And I was curious as to how the promotion would handle the main event, especially after not backing off the hype on Heat. Since I get up way too early for work, I only watch up until that really good tag match before going to bed and letting the VCRs work their magic. At that point, I was leaning to a thumbs up, believe it or not, provided that the main event was strong. It wasn't. The show has to get a thumbs down because of that. Rundown: * Godfather & D'Lo Brown & Headbangers beat Dudley Boyz & Acolytes: The faces all came out dressed like pimps, with the Bangers wearing 70s afros. I know they like to start shows with the Godfather because he gets a good reaction coming out, but I felt like they had finally merged racism and sex into one entrance. Match was like several RAW matches tacked together. I don't know why anybody would want to see this sort of elimination tag match in a climate where falls have to happen quickly. It's just so annoying. Bradshaw pinned Thrasher at 3:10. Buh Buh pinned Mosh after 1:47. D'Lo Brown offered the only good work in the match. Bradshaw was DQed 0:54 later. Faarooq & D-Von were counted out 0:53 later. D'Lo took a top rope power bomb from Buh Buh. Finaly D'Lo frog splashed Buh Buh for the win at a total of 9:36. It all seemed rushed and bad, except for D'Lo, who deserves a lot better. * Kurt Angle beat Sean Stasiak: Now, everybody was expecting Angle to turn heel after crowds obviously didn't appreciate him, but it all happened in one match. It was apparent that this was the WWF plan from the start, since they conditioned their fans to hate actual wrestling and then they turned around and hyped Angle as an actual wrestler. It's actual shrewd, but I don't see it delivering any great wrestling, so I could not care less. Here, they put him in the ring for his PPV debut against a guy that the crowd would not care about. Smart move number one. They also picked a guy who wasn't about to make the fans care about him this time. Anyhow, Angle turned heel and yelled at the fans for not respecting him, more or less. He pinned Stasiak with a fallaway slam at 5:56. Not really a PPV match, I'd say. * Val Venis & Mark Henry & Gangrel & Steve Blackman beat British Bulldog & Mean Street Posse: Where the hell did that first team come from? All I can wonder when I see Davey Boy Smith is "He destroyed his extended family for this?" Less than one minute into the match, the mentioned Montreal. Match was bad, with the Posse being wiped out, Bulldog getting a couple of eliminations and then getting killed by Henry and pinned by Venis at 9:05. * Mae Young & Fabulous Moolah & Tori & Debra beat Ivory & & Terri Runnels & Jackie: This match only ran for a single fall. I was really disappointed about that. I'm serious. I love really great wrestling and really bad wrestling; I hate watching mediocre pap time and time again. I want stuff that is memorable for being at one extreme or the other. And you know that this could have been extreme. Anyhow, they ruined what could have been a great experience for me by having Moolah pin Ivory at 1:54 (the entrances took 4:47). Afterwards, Terri had her top ripped off to reveal her bra. The crowd was upset that they didn't get actual nudity. As the sex part of the WWF product goes, I feel like they've reached the point where they can't one-up themselves any more, and the fans, as a result, are going to get disinterested with this aspect of the product, unless the WWF adds some new women who the fans haven't yet seen semi-nude. * Kane DQ X-Pac: This sucked. If Kane has improved so much and if X-Pac is so great (I believe one of those statements), why did this match suck so badly? It's not like the promotion didn't know going in that they had lost one of their likely great matches in the main event. Shit. Kane punched the post and didn't sell it after shaking his hand a couple of times. X-Pac's kicks looked wonderful. He was caught in the chokeslam when he tried the bronco buster. Road Dogg ran out to save X-Pac from Kane. Kane whacked him. X-Pac hit the X-Factor for a two. He got caught when he tried a crossbody. That left him tobe tombstoned. But, no, HHH ran in with a title belt shot. Tori came out, X-Pac kicked her, and DX ran off. Kane looked after Tori. The bell rang at 4:18. This sucked. * Big Slow beat Prince Albert & Big Boss Man & Mideon & Viscera: Earlier in the show, Slow beat up his scheduled partners for the night, the awesome combination of Blue Meanie, Taka Michinoku, and Shoichi Funaki. The graphic read "Mideon" even though his tights read "Midian." It drives me nuts. The mentioned the funeral angle again. In case you missed it, in a completely tasteless angle for so many reasons, the Boss Man showed up at Big Slow's daddy's funeral, bowled over Slow, strapped the coffin to his car and drove off with it. Slow jumped on the coffin and fell off, as Boss Man drove off. Before they showed this on TV, the commentators talked in Owen-Hart-death style monotone voices, saying how disgusting the footage was (why'd they show it, then?). The weird part was that they mentioned that the funeral took place a few days later (which JR forgot, saying instead that the funeral took place on the same day). But Boss Man drove off with the coffin. Did he give it back? Didn't he burn the body and feed it to Big Slow? I'm so confused. Anyhow, this wasn't a match. The entrances ran 4:17. Big Slow chokeslammed Mideon in 0:18, Albert in 0:11, and Viscera in 0:26. Boss Man ran away for the count out. What a finish. Match ran 1:25. * Steve Austin was the victim of a hit-and-run in the parking garage. There was nothing really wrong with the execution of the angle. It was weird that the camera that followed Austin into the garage as he chased DX zoomed in on the car through the gate before it made its intentions clear. They had to do that so that the stunt double could get in position, of course. The angle was sad for two reasons. Firstly, Jerry Lawler did Owen-Hart-death style "it doesn't look good" remarks, which probably don't bother WWF cheerleaders, but come off as really classless and tasteless given that the promotion is trying to exploit people's memory of a real tragedy. Jim Ross said, "I've seen a lot of shocking stuff, but..." this was the most shocking. Bite me. Secondly, we understand that they had to remove Austin from the picture because of his injury, but they ended up giving him the same stunt that David Flair was involved in on Nitro two weeks earlier. That's sad. Austin has Flair's stunt. Usually, the WWF is more savvy in avoiding those sorts of coincidences. Anyhow, as Austin was being treated, the entire McMahon squad stood over him, with Vince yelling "Don't touch him!" at the paramedics. That seemed incriminating. Let's see: Vince eliminates Austin, he'll screw Rock & HHH, and he'll give the title to somebody malleable. Anyhow, DX denied everything, although Billy Gunn was nowhere to be seen. Seeing Austin punked out by a stunt that left David Flair unscathed and seeing him with the McMahon's standing around him all concerned will kill off his heat even more quickly. * Chyna beat Chris Jericho to retain the Intercontinental Title: Great performance by Jericho. The first great performance in his WWF tenure. It's like somebody turned on a switch and he decided to work again (or was allowed to work again). Early on, Jericho hanged himself in the tree of woe, doing it almost as badly as the Sandman the week before. Chyna took her over the top rope bump, which always looks like a planned jump out of the ring to me. Kitty had her butt on display, with Jerry Lawler getting all excited about it. Jericho hit a tope. JR had trouble doing his job, with Lawler telling him to be professional about it. Somehow they managed when a wrestler actually died in front of them. Jericho hit a missile dropkick for a two count. As the match wore on, the crowd turned totally in Jericho's favour. Whenever Chyna would hit a comeback, they'd boo, often loudly. When Jericho cut her off, they'd cheer. Jericho did loads of mores. Jericho used the belt for a two. That only pins men, I guess. Chyna used the pedigree for a two. That only pins people when a man does it, I guess. Jericho hit the Lion Tamer for a submission, but Chyna managed to hit the ropes. The ambitious finish had them on the top rope with Chyna hitting a top rope pedigree for the pin. It didn't look anywhere near as good as it might sound. Match ran 13:46 and was first good match of the show. Jericho now has to get a sex change in Switzerland according to his pre-match promises. After the match, HHH was interviewed backstage, saying that "what happened is a tragedy." The match itself can only be rated as good at best, because of the work flaws and garbagy elements. If you take the crowd into account (which I tend not to do), you might be harder on this match, because they clearly didn't want this finish. * Hollys & Too Coll beat Hardys & Edge & Christian: Everybody worked really hard, and this was the best match on the show. They did a series of topes early on. Edge and Matt were first gone. Jeff & Taylor did the Malenko/Guerrero near falls, except they did them at half at the speed. That's still alright, but it was noticeable that these guys are not Malenko & Guerrero, if you get my drift. The Hollys squabbled for a bit. Jeff debuted a firebird splash to pin Taylor. They did a spot where Jeff was dropkicked while he was in the air. The actual bump was okay, but the set up was really weak. Match ran 14:31 with Holly surviving by pinning Christian at the end. Good match, but no great. * Road Dogg & Billy Gunn beat Mankind & Al Snow: This match couldn't follow the previous one. Mankind is too banged up, and the New Age Outlaws are an entrance not a wrestling team. The crowd could not have cared any less once the bell ran. There was no heat except for a weak "We Want Head" chant. Mankind used a double mandible claw. They pinned Mankind with a spike piledriver. Match was boring. Jim Ross called the NAO, "Maybe the best tag team of all time in the WWF." Yeah, right up there with the British Bulldogs, the Jumping Bomb Angels, the Rockers, and the Brainbusters. Jim Ross' work is going in the toilet as he turns more and more into Gene Okerlund with this huge lies. Match ran 11:59. * Big Slow beat Hunter Hearst Helmsley & Rock to win the WWF Title: Slow was announced as the replacement for Steve Austin. Right at the start of the match, Slow started with lots of punches and high kicks. All of his offense looks so weak. You see him punch his own hand. You see his kicks miss by inches. It's just terrible. Under WWF triangle rules, the champ can lose the title without losing the match. HHH & Slow went back to the entry way. HHH went through a plastic table. Rock used the fire extinguisher on Slow. Loads of garbage stuff at this poin. Rock & HHH double suplex Slow through the Spanish commentators' table. HHH & Rock then did their own garbage. Match was okay at this point, because Slow was gone, but it is clear that the crowd doesn't care about HHH. Given his push, that's a failure. The ref bumped. Rock his the Rock Bottom. Shane McMahon came in and counted a two. Big Slow came back in. Outside the ring, he pulled the top piece of the commentary table off, then dropped it, and then went in the ring. That made sense. HHH pedigreed Shane. DX ran in. Vince strutted out, the cock of the walk. He belted HHH, and Slow choke slammed him. Vince counted the fall. Jim Ross yelled that "McMahon has screwed Helmsley." Slow cried while he held the title, probably wondering how he could be given the belt when he regained all of the weight that was taken off him by liposuction. RAW RAW on 11/15/99 continued the storyline that began on the Survivor Series PPV. The show opened with DX coming to the ring so Hunter Hearst Helmsley could complain about getting screwed out of the title. He used the word "crime" a million times. That led to Vince McMahon coming out; he talked about the "crime" against Steve Austin the night before. Indeed, they showed the footage of the hummer, oops, Kimberly driving her car, oops, a car driving down Austin's stunt double. Vince pushed so hard the idea that Austin was run over by HHH that you had to think he himself did it. Again, look at the outcome: Austin is gone, HHH loses the title, Vince could screw HHH without the audience turning on him, and the malleable Paul Wight was given the title by Vince, so the uncooperative Rock was screwed too. Anyhow, Vince brought the Monday Night cops out to question DX. This storyline is weak because WCW used a hit-and-run with no real impact a two weeks before. It's also weak because it means Big Slow is ruining what used to be strong (albeit garbagy) WWF main events. Val Venis faced Mankind. The commentators talked about Austin for half the match. Mick Foley has very little left; but with Austin likely gone for a long time, Mick isn't going to be getting his rest time any time soon. Mankind tried for the socko claw, but Val ducked under and stayed on offense. When Val tried for a double axe handle off the ropes, Mankind hit the socko claw. Val escaped for a second, but Mankind put it back on and got the pin at 4:55. Pretty lame match. The cops kept questioning DX, who didn't cooperate. The acting was horrible. HHH finally fingered Vince McMahon. If they reveal it was Rock, or, worse yet, Taz, who ran over Austin, it will be anticlimactic or nonsensical, but if they reveal it was Vince, it will be deja vu all over again. I don't see it as a winnable situation. It's all going to come down to delivery. Luna gave Stephanie & Test a stuffed rabbit as a wedding present. I don't know why they opened it now. The joke was that it was a real stuffed animal. The "fun loving" Godfather faced Kurt Angle, who was booed. When offered the hos, Angle said, "I'm here to wrestle," drawing another chorus of boos. Lawler joked that Angle's first match was against a pimp. Jim Ross said, "He's not a pimp; he's the Godfather." What? Give the WWF credit for expertly positioning Angle (subtly and not so subtly) as a heel before his debut. A guy in the ringside area held up a "WWF is Immoral"/"World Wide Filth" sign, distracting Godfather, who then gave up the fall at 3:40. The "protestor" was taken away, I guess, with Jim Ross saying that fans should never try to get past the ringside barriers. It looks like Angle has a manager. Vince was questioned by the police. He said that Austin and he had grown closer in recent times. Beaten by a woman the night before, Chris Jericho came out looking embarrassed. Instead of talking his way out of the promise he made on Heat (that he'd get a sex change if he lost to Chyna), he faced Gangrel, who came out with his wife Luna. Before the match could start, Chyna came out, looking coy. She carried hedge trimmers, while Miss Kitty wore a nurse's hat. Kitty pulled out cuticle scissors and said they were more Jericho's size. Chyna did a lot of feminine hygiene jokes. Finally, Gangrel realized that that bit wasn't getting over at all, so he attacked Jericho. Jericho tried to show more fire than he's shown in his WWF TV appearances. But Chyna & Kitty came to ringside to distract him. Jericho hit his Lion Tamer, but the women distracted him. Gangrel hit a northern lights suplex on Jericho for the pin at 1:30. This is going to get Jericho over, right? The commentators talked about how embarrassed Jericho was, saying he snapped. He was pushed right "over the edge." Well, that phrase was dropped from the WWF phrase book for just under six months. I guess that's close to "forever." Vince put together matches involving DX guys in retaliation for them pointing the finger at him. The police questioned Jerry Brisco & Pat Patterson, who said how great Vince was. Pat brought up that Vince tried to take them out and that Austin held Vince "'ostage." The Acolytes got into a brawl with four guys in the parking garage. The Acolytes decided they didn't get enough, so they left the building to go find a fight. Only in the WWF would wrestlers leave the arena to look for a fight. Oh, wait, they actually went into one of the locker rooms to attack the same four guys some more. "Weeeelllll, it's the Big Slow." Big Slow faced Davey Boy Smith. Slow's new shirt says "Livin' Large and In Charge." I think somebody should have a contest to come up with a more accurate slogan for Slow, like "Movin' Slow and Can't Go." Smith came out in his jeans; they were wet all over the crotch area, which just seemed weird. Choke Slam for the win at 0:29. Afterwards, he choke slammed the entire Posse. I'd almost feel bad for Smith, if it wasn't for all of the circumstances surrounding his new run. The police questioned Rock. They mentioned that the car that hit Austin was registered in Rock's name. Rock said he called in that his car had been stolen. Rock told the police to stick a donut of their asses. Jerry Lawler pointed the finger at Jim Ross. Road Dogg faced Al Snow. Ten seconds in, Snow grabbed Dogg's crotch. They talked about the media being biased against the WWF. That's so funny. They did a really weak cross body spot, reversed by Dogg. It was like they were trying to do fast-paced spots, but nobody cared and the execution was off here and there. Dogg hit a pump handle slam for the pin at 4:11. Mankind came out to console Snow. Mankind got the crowd to sing "For He's a Jolly Good Fellow." Mankind announced that Mankind & Snow were going to get a break, that the office was going to let them go to Las Vegas. It was funny. "We are going to party like it's 1999." X-Pac & HHH lured Kane into an attack, since HHH had to face Kane this night. Billy Gunn faced Test. The commentators talked about Jericho hitting Chyna with a hammer numerous times, but we didn't see that in Canada. Match drew no heat. The commentators talked about Austin. 2:50 in, the wrestlers acted like it was 20 minutes in. Test countered the Famouser with a side slam for a two count. Gunn did a suplex spot that resembled a WCW move, with Jim Ross even calling it a jackhammer. Test ended up getting the pin at 4:29. Gunn did the Famouser on Test afterwards. When they showed Test lying on the mat, his shoulder was covered with huge zits. Gee, I wonder what could cause that? Has he passed the test? Vince McMahon came out to join the commentary team. Vince said that that he thought Billy Gunn was the likeliest suspect. Vince denied having a "personal rivalry" with HHH. HHH faced Kane. X-Pac attacked Kane on the ramp. HHH left the ring to get a piece. The officials dragged X-Pac away. Kane & HHH brawled back to the ring. "HHH screwed HHH." JIm Ross called it a "time-honoured tradition at the Survivor Series." When will everybody get over using that doublecross for current wrestling storylines? Match had no heat. If HHH is supposed to be the hottest heel in the promotion, he should draw some heat, right? Austin draws heat. Rock gets heat for all of his trademarked moves, anyhow. HHH draws silence, or, at best, Kidman/8 reactions. HHH shoved Vince, who climbed in the ring only to bump for HHH. The bell rang at 4:41. Vince and HHH traded blows, with Kane then chokeslamming HHH. HHH was given the DQ win. Big Boss Man faced Rock to determine the number one contender to the WWF Title. Huh, wouldn't HHH get that spot? Oh, Vince was trying to screw him. This was a hardcore match. Rock draws a great reaction coming out. Rock destroyed Boss Man outside the ring. Rock hit a lame Rock Bottom on the ramp. Prince Albert came out to save Boss Man. No DQ, said the commentators. As Boss Man held Rock, Albert squng a chair, nailing Boss Man of course. Rock nailed Albert. For some reason, Albert had tossed two chairs in the ring. See, one was for the Rock to nail him. That was lame. Boss Man rallied while Albert distracted Rock, with Boss Man hitting a side slam for the pin at 4:42. That means that Wight vs. Boss Man will be a title match. Oh lord. Rock made a comeback, beating Boss Man bloody while Albert was laid out. Rock laid out some officials. Rock has stepped "over the edge!" yelled Ross. See, that phrase is allowed again. The crowd chanted for the Rock, who pouned both heels bloody. He even chained Sgt. Slaughter. Lawler yelled "over the edge" as well. Nitro Nitro on 11/15/99 had me a bit hopeful. It's no secret that throughout 1999 I haven't really looked forward to the weekly wrestling shows from either promotion. I'm not a big fan of a lot of the stuff that Vince Russo put together in the WWF or WCW, but I am stoked at the possibility of Chris Benoit finally getting the spotlight. Rumours persist that the main event on Sunday at WCW's Mayhem PPV will be Chris Benoit vs. Bret Hart for the WCW Title. The Observer even says that each guy has been talked about as the winner of the match. Either way, that would be a great match, but Benoit going over would be such a super result. Norman Smiley faced Jimmy Hart in a hardcore match. Smiley came out wearing foorball gear. Hart came out in a suit of armor. It was comedy, but when Heenan said, "this is great," I had a sinking feeling. Smiley has a lot of potential to get over huge. Hart tossed powder into Smiley's eyes. Smiley started screaming because his eyes hurt and Jimmy was hitting him with objects. Crowd wasn't into it at all. Brian Knobs ran out, chaired Norman, and Hart got a two count. The crowd was already booing, so they were lucky that wasn't the finish. Knobs pulled a table out from under the ring and set it up at ringside. Smiley ran away Knobs. He ran right into Hart's armor, although the camera missed it. Knobs finally put Norman on the table. Hart missed the dive. Norman got the pin while Knobs celebrated, having missed that Hart missed. Afterwards, Knobs beat up Norman, who screamed. Match ran 4:50. During the rundown of the matches this night, the commentators called the "Powers That Be" the "Powers To Be" many times. It's annoying. The Nitro Girls brawled. AC Jazz left the Nitro Girls because she didn't want to get pulled into a mud wrestling match. Kevin Nash & Scott Hall came to the ring, with Nash made up to look like Sid. They made fun of Sid. The segment went way too long. Sid finally came out. Sid said, "You know and I know that you are half the man I am, and that I have half the brain you do." Sid challenged Nash to a match. Nash said he's still retired. Booker T was interviewed. He had to face Creative Control in a one-on-two. Creative Control's names were revealed as Patrick and Gerald. Yuck, yuck. Booker said that midnight would strike tonight, so I guessed he was getting a woman. WCW wants to bring in Ryan Shamrock and Kimona. Kimberly met with the "Powers That Be." She complained that she didn't want to be a wrestler. She was told that she would have to wrestle Asya this night. She said she wouldn't do it. Nash strolled in to see Russo about facing Sid. Booker T faced Creative Control. Booker could be huge. Hopefully, pairing him with a woman will lead to a big push. The crowd started a short but loud "Booker T!" chant. The heat was pretty good at points in this match. When T his his comeback, there was a huge pop. This doesn't bode well for the WWF in four to six months. What I like about it is that the crowd is popping for good wrestlers. T got pinned, but I missed the match time. No woman surfaced. That has to be what they were teasing though. Ah! Back from a commercial, they said that Creative Control was beaten up by a woman. So there was a woman, but we didn't see her in Canada. I can only wonder why. (Referee) Johnny Boone faced Evan Karagias. Madusa did commentary, talking all throaty and stuff. Crowd chanted "boring" quietly. Madusa acted weird, given her recent storyline. Madusa went in the ring when Johnny had the upper hand. She took Boone's shirt off, shoved him over Evan, and Evan got the pin. Match ran 3:00-or-so. It was weird. Backstage, Russo laid into the luchadors. He said they would have a pinata match. Steve Williams arrived at the building with a Jim Ross lookalike. Williams was fired by the WWF on 11/01. The pinata match took place. Silver King, Villano V, Psicosis, Juventud Guerrera, and El Dandy each had sticks. They could whack each other or whack the pinata. Whoever brought open the pinata would get $10000. The pinata fell into the ring right at the start of the match. The guys wrestled anyhow. It made no sense. Juvi drew great heat when nobody had a reason to care about him. During the match, "Jim Ross" (Ed Ferrara) and Steve Williams came out. "Ross" ran down Williams' legitimate credentials. "Ross" made fun of Jim Ross' commentary. The fake "Ross" even twisted his face to make fun of Ross' Palsy. That was so tasteless. "Ross" talked about football statistics. The in-ring action was a joke. For some reason, the luchadors tried to put the pinata back up on the poll. We missed the Juvi Driver because they wanted to show the gimmick. Juvi shook all of the candy out of the pinata. Steve Williams destroyed the luchadors, suplexing each of them like crazy. El Dandy broke his collar bone. Juventud separated his shoulder. Psicosis twisted his ankle. Silver King celebrated with the cheque. Williams took it and press slammed King. Goldberg faced Curt Hennig. Hennig attacked Goldberg backstage, but they eventually came out to the ring. They said that Hennig couldn't get pinned if he wanted to keep his job. The commentators called the fake "Jim Ross" Mr. Oklahoma. Hennig went after Goldberg's knee. Goldberg dropped Hennig into an ankle lock for the submission. The commentators said that Hennig didn't get pinned, so I guess he still keeps his job. Jim Duggan was working as a handyman. He had to change a fuse. Chavo Guerrero Jr. offered him a fuse. This was ridiculous. El Vampiro and the Misfits faced Berlyn & the Bodyguard. Berlyn seems to be around only because they want to use the bodyguard somehow. They called the bodyguard The Wall. He kicked gothic ass whenever he got in the ring, eventually pinning Vampiro. Berlyn seemed to have an altercation with the Wall, but they seemed okay at the end. I guess they will split them and kill off Berlyn. Rick Steiner faced Sid. They brawled into the crowd. In ECW and the WWF, this would be called awesome, but the truth is that pretty much all of this crap sucks. Why? Because anybody can do it. There's absolutely no learning curve. They ended up on the ramp. Bringing back memories of the famous Outsiders vs. Eric Bischoff spot, Sid ended up powerbombing Rick Steiner through the stage. Steiner was wrapped up in a neck brace and stretchered off. They cut to the basement of the building, calling it "the block," where Jerry Flynn & Barbarian had a horrible brawl. Tony Schiavone called it "sort of UFC" style match, which was beyond his usual level of stupidity. "WCW's version of Fight Club." I wish they did WCW's version of actual wrestling. Flynn ended up knocking out the Barbarian. Asya faced Kimberly. Torrie Wilson was the referee. I guess the idea of the segment was to showcase the WCW women, so fans of the WWF style of product know that WCW has T&A too. Kimberly had a great ring entrance. Torrie Wilson wore a slinky bikini with black and white stripes. She came out to burlesque music. Asya went after he bra straps. Asya ended up taking down Torrie and the had a hair pull fight. Kidman came to the rescue with a little jacket for Torrie, taking her away. Meanwhile, Kimberly jumped on Asya's back. They called it a sleeper. David Flair showd up. Chyna and Flair ended up getting involved. Flair suplexed Asya and whacked Douglas with a crowbar. Chris Benoit faced Scott Hall. I was seriously hoping for Benoit to go over and go over strong. I figured that he'd over with a screwy finish. During the show that had continually mentioned that Goldberg was still around, so I was expecting either him or Sid to screw Scott Hall. One thing seemed certain: if they were given even seven minutes for this match, it would likely be the best Scott Hall match in WCW history. In earlier tournament matches, the US title changed hands. They had to deliver a finish that kept that belt on Hall, right? Bret Hart came out to walk to the ring with Benoit. Are they still planning to align Hart with the Outsiders? They actually traded some holds at the start. Thank god. I can't stand the new style matches where guys sell the 2:00 mark like it's the 20:00 mark. Benoit looked like he was considering a tope when Hall went to the floor. There was a big delay because Kevin Nash got on the apron. Back to wrestling, Benoit hit those awesome chops in the corner. Hall took a hanful of them, also known as four more than Sid was willing to take. Hall whipped Benoit to the ropes, but Old Sexy got involved, so Hall actually scored a two count. Hart voiced some displeasure. Hall got a bit of offense in, but Benoit wouldn't lie down. Benoit hit the backdrop suplex and at 7:44 they were selling like it was 20:00. They both got up and started again. When Hall got dumped, Benoit hit a baseball slide. Kevin Nash started pounding him. Bret Hart pulled Benoit off of Nash's shoulder, Benoit posted Nash, Sid powerbombed Hall, Benoit climbed to the top, Benoit hit the headbutt. Two count, thanks to Nash getting involved. Hall pulled out some knuckles. As he went to punch Benoit, Benoit slapped on the crossface for the submission at 9:39. Even with all of the crappy elements, nobody has pulled that good of a match out of Hall. Kidman faced Bret Hart. Match was disappointingly short. Outsiders came out to taunt Torrie. Eddie Guerrero & Konnan got involved with them. Rey Misterio Jr. sat at the commentary table and didn't get involved because of his injury. As Kidman tried for a rana, Hart dropped him into the sharpshooter for the submission in less than 4:00. The commentators explained that Rey got knocked off the apron, taking a bad bump. Buff Bagwell faced Jeff Jarrett. Creative Control tossed a guitar in. The referee tied his shoe. Bagwell guitared one of the Control. Jarrett got the pin. Lame. The other Control guy and Jarrett destroyed Bagwell some more. Dustin Rhodes made the save for Bagwell. Dustin was dressed in all black. He looked weird. They cut away before we could see him much. Lex Luger put Ex-Lax in brownies and sent them to Sting. Jim Duggan intercepted them, eating them himself. Yuck, yuck, yuck. Those new writers, they so funny. Perry Saturn & Dean Malenko faced Eddie Guerrero & Konnan in a "House of Pain" match. It was a cage match with a roof on the cage and "shackles" hanging down from the top of the cage as well shackles lying in the ring. The winning team would be the one who shackled both members of the other team. The Revolution trapped Eddie Guerrero, shackling three limbs, while Konnan was laid out outside. Konnan finally got in and managed some offense. They spiked Konnan, shackled Eddie completely and shackled Konnan. It was silly. Shane Douglas and Asya hit the ring. He laid out the referee. Konnan & Eddie were getting pounded. Rey Misterio Jr. ran in, but ended up getting clotheslined by Asya. They mentioned that Kidman was unable to save because he was laid out by the Outsiders. The Revolution added some more handcuffs to the cage an hung Rey by his knee from the top of the cage. The beat the crap out of his knee. Finally, Doug Dillenger and security came in and tried to stop the attack. I guess Rey now has a reason to get his knee surgery. Lex Luger faced Sting. Luger acted surprised that Sting came out. Is Sting a face or a heel? I guess he's a face again. What a waste that turn was. Sting dominated early on, working on Luger's knee. Match was pretty bad, although it could be argued that it was nowhere near as bad as Hogan's stuff. I guess I've got really low tolerance for mediocre and worse wrestling. As Sting had the scorpion on Luger, Liz came in and sprayed him in the eyes. The ref was down. Meng ran in and but the Tongan death grip on Luger. Meng put Sting on top and shooke the ref to his senses. Sting got the pin. The final match on the show was an "anything goes street fight" (how's that different from a hardcore match?) between Sid & Kevin Nash. Goldberg seemed like he was going to get involved. I had zeroed my tape counter along the way, so I had no idea how much time was left in the show. I was hoping for less than five minutes. They brawled in the aisle. They brawled at ringside. Well, I definitely wasn't missing Nash. Tony Schiavone said that these two had the "intestinal fortitude of hundreds of men." I think he meant "egos." Heenan said "there's so much talent in that ring right now." He must have thought very highly of the referee. The fans knew the score and started chanting "Goldberg!" Finally, Scott Hall came out to attack Sid. Goldberg ran in and hit a double spear on Hall and Nash. Sid got up and attacked Goldberg, who no sold things. Goldberg powerslammed Sid, who low blowed him. Bret Hart made the save. Brackets and results in the WCW Title Tournament (1024x768 resolution helpful to avoid scrolling): GROUP 1 GROUP 2 1st Round 2nd Round 3rd Round 4th Round 1st Round 2nd Round 3rd Round 4th Round Bret Hart Lex Luger Bret Hart (Nitro, 10/25) Lex Luger (Nitro, 10/25) Bill Goldberg ______________________________________________________________________ Bret Hart (Nitro, 11/08) Rick Steiner ______________________________________________________________________ Lex Luger (bye) Perry Saturn Diamond Dallas Page Perry Saturn (Nitro, 10/25) NO CONTEST (Nitro, 10/25) Eddie Guerrero ______________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________ Bret Hart (Nitro, 11/15) David Flair ______________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________ Sting (Nitro, 11/15) Norman Smiley ? Norman Smiley (Nitro, 10/25) Meng (Nitro, 10/25) Bam Bam Bigelow ______________________________________________________________________ Norman Smiley (Nitro, 11/08) Madusa ______________________________________________________________________ Sting (bye) Billy Kidman Brian Knobs Billy Kidman (Nitro, 10/25) Sting (Nitro, 10/25) Konnan ______________________________________________________________________ Sting ______________________________________________________________________ GROUP 3 GROUP 4 1st Round 2nd Round 3rd Round 4th Round 1st Round 2nd Round 3rd Round 4th Round Chris Benoit Buff Bagwell Chris Benoit (Nitro, 11/01) Buff Bagwell (Nitro, 11/01) Dean Malenko ______________________________________________________________________ Chris Benoit (Nitro, 11/08) Stevie Ray ______________________________________________________________________ Buff Bagwell (Nitro, 11/08) Madusa El Vampiro Madusa (Nitro, 11/01) El Vampiro (Nitro, 11/01) Evan Karagias ______________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________ Chris Benoit (Nitro, 11/15) Berlyn ______________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________ Jeff Jarrett (Nitro, 11/15) Scott Hall Disco Interno Scott Hall (Nitro, 11/01) Curt Hennig (Nitro, 11/01) Sid Vicious ______________________________________________________________________ Scott Hall (Nitro, 11/08) Disco Inferno ______________________________________________________________________ Jeff Jarrett (Nitro, 11/08) Ernest Miller Booker T Lash LeRoux (Nitro, 11/01) Jeff Jarrett (Nitro, 11/01) Lash LeRoux ______________________________________________________________________ Jeff Jarrett ______________________________________________________________________ - Chris Jericho is on "Off the Record" tonight on TSN. I bet he'll say that he's really happy in the WWF. - WCW has Mayhem on 11/21/99. Tentative line-up: * Semi-final and final matches in the WCW Title tournament: winner of Bret Hart vs. Sting facing winner of Chris Benoit vs. Jeff Jarrett * Goldberg vs. Sid in an "I Quit" match * David Flair vs. Kimberly * Norman Smiley vs. Brian Knobs for the hardcore title * Evan Karagias vs. Disco Inferno for the Cruiserweight Title * El Vampiro vs. Berlyn in a chain match * Dean Malenko & Perry Saturn vs. Eddie Guerrero & Konnan * Buff Bagwell vs. Curt Hennig in a loser must retire match * Lex Luger vs. Meng * Rick Steiner vs. Scott Hall Lots of talk that Bret Hart & Chris Benoit will square off for the title in the tournament final. The local radio ads mention the final four wrestlers (how about that...WCW ads that include results from Nitro this week) and point out that we could have an all-Canadian main event. If that is the main event, this show looks like it has thumbs up potential. - On the 01/04/00 Tokyo Dome show, Bill Goldberg will face Rick Steiner. WCW didn't want to let Bill work against a Japanese guy, even in a routine Nitro-style squash. It's expected that Chris Benoit & Dean Malenko will also work the show. - Everybody praised Jeff Jarrett for dropping the Intercontinental Title to Chyna on PPV. In reality, he hled the promotion up for a money figure that the Observer described as "way less than $200000 but well in excess of $100000." Meltzer writes, "Jarrett refused to do the show and drop the IC Title to Chyna unless he got what he perceived was all the money that would be due him, including PPV payoffs for August through October and other income that would come later from merchandise and payoffs from house shows that he hadn't received up until that point. Jarrett and Jim Ross, after much haggling, agreed on a price (actually they agreed on a price, then Jarrett threatened to pull out again and wouldn't do the match unless the upped the price), which the belief is was probably a higher number, significantly so, than he would have eventually received under normal circumstances, and wouldn't do the show unless he received a cashiers' check in the amount before going on and dropping the title. In 1998, Jarrett earned $428000 even though his downside guarantee was $250000 and this year topped his $350000 downside guarantee." - I saw Fatu's redebut on Jakked on the weekend. Brutal gimmick. He wears a thong, so his whole big butt hangs out and uses Yokozuna's finisher. Terrible. - Both the WWF and WCW are swinging through Ontario this weekend. There are lots of promotional events by both groups. Of all of the appearances that are happening around Toronto, I'm thinking I might actually bother to pop by and meet Chris Benoit. It's not often that you have the chance to meet the best damn wrestler in North America, right? - Dusty Rhodes, Sonny Onno, and Wrath were all dropped by WCW. - PPV buy rates, revenue (in millions), and match statistics for the WWF, WCW, and ECW are presented in the following 1999 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 99/09/26: Unforgiven Hunter Hearst Helmsley vs. Davey Boy Smith vs. Mankind vs. Rock vs. Big Show vs. Kane 1.6 $7.68 1.03 * 1/5 * * * 1/2 Hunter Hearst Helmsley vs. Davey Boy Smith vs. Mankind vs. Rock vs. Big Show vs. Kane 0% (0 of 9) 99/08/22: SummerSlam Test vs. Shane McMahon 1.61 $7.73 1.53 * * 1/4 * * * 1/2 Mankind vs. Steve Austin vs. Hunter Hearst Helmsley 0% (0 of 13) 99/07/25: Fully Loaded Steve Austin vs. Undertaker 1.4 $6.7 1.75 * * * * * 3/4 Steve Austin vs. Undertaker 0% (0 of 9) 99/06/27: King of the Ring Steve Austin vs. Vince McMahon vs. Shane McMahon 1.13 $5.41 1 3/4 * * 1/2 Steve Austin vs. Vince McMahon vs. Shane McMahon 0% (0 of 10) 99/05/23: Over The Edge Steve Austin vs. Undertaker 1.1 $5.28 Owen Hart dies 99/04/25: Backlash Steve Austin vs. Rocky Maivia 1.06 $5.09 2.28 * * 1/4 * * * * 1/4 Steve Austin vs. Rocky Maivia 12.5% (1 of 8) 99/03/28: WrestleMania Steve Austin vs. Rocky Maivia 2.3 $12.04 1.13 * 1/4 * * * 1/2 Steve Austin vs. Rocky Maivia 0.0% (0 of 9, no shoot) 99/02/14: St. Valentine's Day Massacre Steve Austin vs. Vince McMahon Mankind vs. Rocky Maivia 1.2 $5.33 1.28 * 1/4 * * * 3/4 Mankind vs. Rocky Maivia 0.0% (0 of 8) 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 1.32 $6.32 1.56 1.75 3.5 2.0% (1 of 49) 1999 1.44 $6.91 1.5 1.59 3.56 1.4% (1 of 72) 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 99/09/12: Fall Brawl Kevin Nash & Sting vs. Randy Savage & Sid Vicious 0.33 1.58 1.58 3/4* * * * 3/4 Lenny Lane vs. Kaz Hayashi 0% (0 of 9) 99/08/14: Road Wild Kevin Nash & Sting vs. Randy Savage & Sid Vicious 0.54 2.59 1.25 * 1/4 * * * 1/4 Chris Benoit vs. Diamond Dallas Page 0% (0 of 9) 99/07/11: Bash at the Beach Kevin Nash & Sting vs. Randy Savage & Sid Vicious 0.41 1.95 0.75 1/2* * * * 1/2 Chris Benoit & Saturn vs. Diamond Dallas Page & Kanyon & Bam Bam Bigelow 0% (0 of 7) 99/06/13: Great American Bash Kevin Nash vs. Randy Savage 0.43 2.05 0.75 3/4* * * * 1/4 Chris Benoit & Saturn vs. Diamond Dallas Page & Kanyon 0% (0 of 9) 99/05/09: Slamboree Kevin Nash vs. Diamond Dallas Page 0.45 2.15 1.75 * * * * * 1/4 Raven & Saturn vs. Rey Misterio Jr. & Konnan vs. Chris Benoit & Dean Malenko 0% (0 of 9) 99/04/11: Spring Stampede Ric Flair vs. Hulk Hogan vs. Diamond Dallas Page vs. Sting 0.6 2.86 2.31 * * 1/2 * * * * 1/4 Juventud Guerrera vs. Blitzkrieg 11.1% (1 of 9) 99/03/14: Uncensored Ric Flair vs. Hulk Hogan 0.73 $3.48 1.83 * * * * * 1/2 Billy Kidman vs. Mikey Whippreck 0% (0 of 9) 99/02/21: SuperBrawl Ric Flair vs. Hulk Hogan 1.1 $5.27 1.89 * * 1/2 * * * 1/4 Rey Misterio Jr. vs. Kevin Nash Scott Steiner vs. Diamond Dallas Page 0% (0 of 9) 99/01/17: Souled Out Bill Goldberg vs. Scott Hall Ric Flair & David Flair vs. Curt Hennig & Barry Windham 0.78 $3.64 1.83 * 1/2 * * * * Billy Kidman vs. Rey Misterio Jr. vs. Juventud Guerrera vs. Psicosis 11.1% (1 of 9) Last 6 0.46 $2.2 1.40 1.29 3.54 1.9% (1 of 52) 1999 0.6 $2.84 1.55 1.53 3.56 2.5% (2 of 79) 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 99/09/19: Anarchy Rulz Masato Tanaka vs. Taz 0.2 $0.42 1.875 * * * 1/4 * * * 3/4 Mike Awesome vs. Taz vs. Masato Tanaka 0.0% (0 of 8) 99/07/18: Heatwave Taz vs. Yoshihiro Tajiri Rob van Dam & Jerry Lynn vs. Lance Storm & Justin Credible 0.2 $0.42 2.125 * * 1/4 * * * 3/4 Rob van Dam & Jerry Lynn vs Lance Storm & Justin Credible 0.0% (0 of 6) 99/05/16: Hardcore Heaven 0.2 $0.42 1.75 * * 3/4 * * * * 1/4 Rob van Dam vs. Jerry Lynn 12.5% (1 of 8) 99/03/21: Living Dangerously Taz vs. Sabu 0.2 $0.42 1.53 * * * * 1/2 Rob van Dam vs. Jerry Lynn Taz vs. Sabu 0.0% (0 of 8) 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 0.2 $0.42 1.90 2.75 3.92 4.5% (1 of 22) 1999 0.2 $0.42 1.40 2.17 3.58 2.3% (1 of 43) 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. - The WWF has Armageddon on 12/12/99. - The WWF has Royal Rumble on 01/23/00. - The WWF has No Way Out on 02/27/00. - The WWF has WrestleMania on 04/02/00. - The WWF has Backlash on 04/30/00. - The WWF has Judgment Day on 05/21/00. - The WWF has King of the Ring on 06/25/00. - The WWF has Fully Loaded on 07/23/00. ______________________________________________________________________ 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. ______________________________________________________________________