______________________________________________________________________ Sorry for being out of it yet again. This has been a very busy teaching term for me. Next term things are a little lighter, so I should have time to resume my regular schedule. And, hey, I'll have an e-mail address for wrestling correspondence by that time. ______________________________________________________________________ I do not offer subscriptions to a mailing list! I do not e-mail images! ______________________________________________________________________ RAW RAW on 11/30 aired live in Canada, although the previous live Canadian broadcast on TSN was edited at several points, so it seems to air on a few-second delay. In the overnight rebroadcast on TSN, they inserted a bit of the stuff that didn't make the prime time cut. This time around, before the show aired, a warning came up: "This program is intended for a mature audience. Viewer discretion is advised." Indeed. Did you happen to read former WCW commentator Chris(py) Cruise's letter to the editor in the Observer this past week? Cruise has been trying to help the industry (read: the WWF) from forfeiting its long term viability for the sake of short term gains. That's his assessment of the current product flavour of the WWF, and he's made various politicos aware of just what the WWF has been doing on TV of late, in a product that is still largely marketed at children. Anyhow, the show opened with Steve Austin coming into the ring, laying out the Head Bangers, saying that he didn't want to wait until the PPV, and then storming off in search of the Undertaker. When we come back from a commercial break, TSN has another "viewer discretion" warning before returning to the show. This makes me start to wonder if the WWF isn't responsible for this trailer. That wonder is amplified when the segment opens with mention of the TV Guide story that says that young viewers are turning to RAW in droves on Monday night. Jim Ross takes the chance to knock Hulk Hogan & Goldberg. First match has the New Age Outlaws taking on the Brood of Gangrel & Edge. Outlaws have a really hot ring entrance and then nobody gives a crap about them. First real heat happened when Vince McMahon & co. came out on the ramp. The wrestlers are so over that everybody turned away from the ring and broke the silence by chanting "asshole." In the ring, when Billy Gunn was close to hitting a big move, Christian interfered for the DQ. Big Boss Man & Ken Shamrock ran into the ring to help the Outlaws, as Vince attempts to lure the Outlaws into the fold. Backstage, Austin poked his head into a freezer and was tossed in by the Undertaker, who locked the door. No warning as we go into the third segment. Mark Henry and D'Lo Brown discussed Henry's date with Chyna. Undertaker came into the ring while the commentators wondered about Austin. UT called out Kane and then laid into him. A group of guys in white coats came out and tried to take Kane away, presumably to some sort of asylum, but Kane escaped. D'Lo played the role of Henry's chauffeur. They picked up Chyna. Crowd noise was piped in over some of the segments to make it seem like people actually cared about this. Chyna acted like she didn't want to go out with Henry. X-Pac came out. Jim Ross actually said that people are speculating that X-Pac would be the world champion if not for Shawn Michaels; he may be the best worker in the promotion, but he's not a world champion. He called out Michaels; thankfully, they kept is mic work short. Michaels came out for a mic duel with X-Pac. They did a tasteless interchange about excrement. Michaels said he'd send X-Pac down to that "money pit" in Atlanta if he rubbed him the wrong way. Michaels declared that X-Pac would defend his title against Ken Shamrock tonight. Mark Henry and Chyna reached their restaurant, with Henry giving Chyna his $1.99 bouquet. Austin apparently escaped from the freezer; hey, he is stone cold. Mark Henry romanced Chyna at the dinner table, showing more personality that he ever has before. Goldust faced Jeff Jarrett. Owen Hart was at ringside as a guest commentator, protesting that he was retired. Jarrett was the Blazer just the previous week, so I was wondering if anything would play out here. If this segment wins in the Monday night rating battle, then WCW really has to reevaluate its strategy. The crowd could not have cared less about these two. Debra got in the ring to shield Jarrett from a crotch shot. Owen Hart ended up going into the ring to beat up Goldust. The Blue Blazer came into the ring and attacked Owen Hart. Steve Blackman turned out to be under the mask. What a dead story line. Mankind defended his hardcore title against Big Boss Man in a match under "ladder match rules." Isn't that just usually called a ladder match? Shawn Michaels came out and did commentary, along with rating the ladder bumps with score cards. Mankind did the arduous one-step-at-a-time ladder climb, reaching tentatively for the belt along the way. Man, I hate what ladder matches have become. Mankind hit the socko claw on Boss Man. Rocky Maivia came in and attacked Mankind. Several bumps later, Boss Man climbed up and grabbed the title, in a really sucky finish, even if the point is to get over that Michaels is a stooge for Vince and to establish Mankind's claim against Rocky for the PPV. Another "mature audience" warning as we came back from commercial. Kane & Undertaker brawled around a conference room. Kane was going to be body bagged, but Austin made the save. Marc Mero challened that "jobber," Dwayne Gill, saying that if he didn't beat the local wrestler, we'd never see Mero again. Gill came out with his local football team. Yeah, and RAW is adult programming that is not marketed to children. Oh god, the Blue Meanie interfered to set up a Mero loss. The commentators said that Marc Mero is history with the promotion. I guess that they've realized that Mero is never going to get over, so they are going to repackage him. Mark Henry listed his favourite artistss: Luther (Vandross), Teddy (Pendergrass), Freddy (Jackson), Marvin Gaye. Hey, maybe I've been judging the guy to harshly, 'cause he's listing some of my favourites. X-Pac faced Ken Shamrock, defending his European title against the Intercontinental champion. It was an okay match, with X-Pac seemingly setting up for the finish and Shawn Michaels getting involved. As X-Pac was set to lose his title, Hunter Hearst Helmsley ran in and caused the DQ. I guess he's back until they shoot another knee injury angle. Mark Henry & Chyna danced; well Henry did anyhow. It was funny seeing them move to "Brick House." When Henry went to the washroom, some guys hit on Chyna. What couold they be thinking? Henry came to her defence. I bet HHH is happy over where this story line is going. Val Venis faced Tiger Ali Singh. Venis came out with the Godfather, who, like most WWF wrestlers, is over as long as he doesn't wrestle. Venis shows a lot of potential, but Singh stinks. Godfather sent his girls over to Babu, so that Singh's assistant would be distracted. As Venis was dominating, Terri Runnels & Jacqueline came out. Terri ended up delivering a low blow on Venis, with poor Jim Ross saying that she was "going down on Val Venis with a low blow." Faaroow & Bradshaw came out and attacked Singh. Talk about overbooking and hotshotting. Meanwhile, Paul Bearer was having a body bagged body delivered away by ambulance. When the ambulance rode off, Bearer said he now had to go track down the Undertaker. Of course, this meant that the Undertaker was the guy who was in the ambulance. Sure enough, Steve Austin & Kane were backstage planning something. Shane McMahon came out with Sable and introduced WWF Attitude, a new cologne for men and eau de toilette for women. Shane pronounced eau "ooooh". Sable sprayed it in his face. Al Snow challenged Rocky Maivia. Rocky's entrance music is cool. Al's work looks amateurish on this stage, actually make good worker Rocky seem like a really good worker in comparison. And Al is a lot better than some of the guys that the WWF is using in the midcard slots. In one of the silliest spots in wrestling, Rocky hit the corporate elbow drop on the head. The ref was bumped earlier. Snow used the head to lay out Rock. Snow then spent some time with his head and being distracted by Boss Man & Shamrock at ringside. When Snow turned around, he was met with a Rock Bottom. Ref Earl Hebner did his famous crawl-and-count bit to give Rock the win. Mankind came out. The JOB squad came out. A melee ensured. Mankind & Rocky squared off to set up their PPV match. Backstage, Kane & Austin caught up with Paul Bearer. They dragged him out to the ring. Austin tormented Bearer. Austin threatened to gut him, then said that it would be "too easy" and he had a "better idea" than murder. Good message. They dragged Bearer out into the street and threw Bearer into the sewer headfirst. Next week, the WWF goes for controversy, with Undertaker crucifying Austin. ______________________________________________________________________ RAW on 11/23 was a taped show. The show opened with Vince McMahon announcing that Shawn Michaels will be the new commissioner of the WWF. The opening interview by Shawn sold things like he was on the side of good, when he was in reality working with Vince. Vince and Shane acted a little confused by Shawn's announcement that Rocky Maivia would defend this night against X-Pac. Head Bangers beat the Oddities when Golga was pinned. The story was that the Insane Clown Posse turned on the Oddities and joined forces with the Bangers. They spray painted the Oddities and the Head Bangers cut Luna's hair. I'm not sure anybody cared. The Blue Blazer came out to face Steve Blackman. Blazer is usually Jeff Jarrett, although Tom Prichard has played the role once. Blazer always covers his face when the camera zooms in, since the story line is that the Blazer is Owen Hart except when Owen stages a replacement. After Blackman won the match, Owen Hart ran in to attack Blackman before he could unmask Blazer. They showed a clip of Steve Austin blacking out in San Jose on Sunday, which the credited to the Undertaker assaulting Austin with a shovel. The doctor told Austin he needed to take a couple of weeks off after his concussion, but Austin said he'd do what he had to do. Gangrel & Edge faced D'Lo Brown & Mark Henry. I was pretty bored by the match. The crowd didn't react to it; in fact, a lot of the heads facing the ring were turned to their right for some reason. Chyna came out onto the ramp, distracting Henry, who was rolled up. Henry got up smiling, looking at Chyna, while D'Lo yelled at him. Chyna had a microphone; she agreed to go on a date with Mark. Henry rolled around the ring like he was actually going to date a pretty woman. Goldust faced Marc Mero. Nobody cared. The fans were mugging for the camera and look anywhere except the ring. Terri Runnels came out to ringside wearing a revealing outfit. The crowd whistled a bit. Of course, Jackie came out as well. Anybody paying attention would expect the women to attack the guys, and that's what happened, of course. Since Terri was semi-naked, it was sort of interesting. Next up was a triangle match for the Hardcore Title with Mankind defending against Ken Shamrock & Big Boss Man, a threesome that really makes sense. Mankind won, but it wasn't anything special. Dwayne Gill won the lightheavyweight title from Christian, and the joke is already old. Kama the Godfather faced Tiger Ali Singh, but Steve Regal interrupted, ending the match with no decision. Val Venis saved the Godfather from the attack, and the two will apparently form a tag team called "Supply and Demand." Darn, I wanted Val to team with Maivia, the world champ, to be called "A Rock and A Hard Place." Too Cold Scorpio & Al Snow beat the New Age Outlaws in a surprise, with loads of screwiness and Mankind getting involved. Scorpio has looked like crap through his whole WWF run. We always make a big deal about how wrestlers gain their shine when they go to the WWF from WCW. But Scorpio, Marc Mero, and Vader are noticeable examples of guys who lost their lustre in the jump. The main event saw Rock face X-Pac. X-Pac may be the best worker in the promotion, but the match was still only good because it wasn't really about the match. The finish saw Michaels fool nobody in turning on X-Pac to join Vince McMahon's corporate team. More nonsense: didn't Vince and Shawn have issues not that long ago? The idea is that Vince will avoid overexposure by having Shawn rag on the babyfaces on his behalf. This is a good move. It also means that Shawn Michaels, who likely won't ever come back to the ring, certainly not on any sort of regular schedule, earns a little of his pay cheque. This is also a good thing. It does mean, though, the Michaels gets a lot of microphone time. That's a mixed bag, but it isn't as bad as giving Scott Steiner loads of interview time. - After faltering ratings for Hulk Hogan-led PPVs and stumbling in the Monday night ratings race even in the Hulk Hogan segments, it appears that WCW is reevaluating its formula. The outcome may be good for fans of wrestling. On Jay Leno's Tonight Show, Hulk Hogan announced his retirement from pro-wrestling, with the cover story being that he wants to seriously pursue his candidacy for the presidency of the US. This has received still more mainstream press, as even on the car ride into work on the next Friday morning, the three minutes of news on the radio made mention of Hogan retiring. It's ironic that Hogan's announcement, motivated by declining interest in him, reveals that there is still mainstream interest in him. I think it's just the time lag where reporters are still associating a previous generation's icon with the sport. Hogan's appeal in WCW, at least in the role he was in, was clearly on the decline. Faced with crushing defeats on Nitro in recent weeks at the hands of a much less-talented roster on RAW, WCW has apparently concluded that the fans don't want to see some of the elements that they have been pushing so strongly. I think that that is part of it, but they also have to realize that the WWF TV shows have just been better TV shows. While WCW has had the best wrestling matches on TV pretty much every week, those 10-15 minutes of greatness each week aren't enough to keep the casual fans sitting for two or three hours. No, the lack of any quality in the booking of angles and story lines does nothing to attract new fans. Part of the problem is that even though Eric Bischoff has final approval of and responsibility for anything that airs on WCW TV, there are a few notable wrestlers who have his ear and necessarily suggest ideas that elevate themselves and their friends ahead of much more talented wrestlers without this clout. The lack of hype for PPVs, of angles that actually build interest in that most basic and essential revenue stream, has been a huge problem. The decline in WCW buy rates has coincided with the decision to hype a main event or three and leave the undercard unmentioned. The idea is that after the high period earlier in the year the fans should know they can trust the promotion to put together an exciting undercard, with no advertising, story lines, or TV time hyping those undercard wrestlers required. Looking at the undercards on recent shows and the buy rates for those shows, the fans clearly can't and don't trust the promotion in this regard. So, like the WWF several times before it, WCW has decided to try life without Hogan for a while, anyhow. The success or failure of the promotion in the next few months will likely determine whether WCW decides to reincorporate Hogan into its product again. Hogan is contractually bound to the promotion for two more years and will likely still receive money even though there are no plans to use him in the near future (which in the current wrestling climate means "this week"). Business acumen doesn't seem to be a WCW strong suit. They already have one overpaid, under-drawing wrestler in the fold in the Warrior, who has actually shown up for TV broadcasts only to learn that they have nothing for him to do. Salary should be commensurate with drawing power. Diamond Dallas Page has been turned into a star and has just signed a three-year $900K-per-year deal with WCW. Despite the fact that I find his wrestling ability wanting, that is a fair figure given his appeal. (I find, though, that Page, because of his friendship with Bischoff, helps elevate guys that don't deserve the spot (like Raven).) Still, for every one sensible move like that, WCW seems to make at least one or two silly moves. Signing Warrior to begin with and pushing him the way they have. Signing Barry Windham. Occasional talk of using Sid Eudy. And then there's Bam Bam Bigelow. Signed to a three-year deal, Bigelow was brought in to be a fresh feud for Goldberg. They did the outsider angle with Bigelow, the angle that always gets over when done well. They did do it well. But the rating for Nitro in that final quarter-hour when Bigelow & Goldberg squared off was trashed by Steve Austin vs. Rocky Maivia. Of course it was; is that a reason to abandon the angle or dilute it? I don't think so. Some will argue that the promotion has done neither of those things, but the original plan was to bring in Bammer, do the Nitro as it happened, have Bigelow be a surprise entrant in Battle Bowl, and put Bigelow over huge by having him win his first WCW match to earn the title shot that could then be hyped. Instead, Bigelow is doing stale run-ins. The uninspired, over-the-hill, and broken-kneed Kevin Nash gets the title shot. That match may draw, but it offers no future. Well, there's a reason for this shift in direction. With Hogan leaving a big space open near Hulk Hogan's ear, Kevin Nash immediately moved in to fill it. There is a school of thought that credits Nash with creating the original Outsiders angle, although there's a lot of evidence that that credit may be misplaced. In any case, Nash's influence certainly helped put him over even more. At the PPV, Nash crushed the opposition in his ring for the Battle Bowl match and Nash didn't have his match against Hall (he's been vocal about not wanting to do the angle). At Nitro the next night (detailed below), Nash broke Wrath's winning streak and Nash had a pull apart to hype the Starrcade main event. Nash is also being credited for Nitro having some longer matches that tell a story. Nitro Nitro on 11/30 aired in full in Canada. The show opened with more discussion of Hulk Hogan retiring, keeping the door open for this just being an angle or eventually being turned into one. NWO Hollywood, which I guess should be renamed or permanently referred to as NWO Black & White, came out for an interview, with Scott Steiner taking centre stage. At this point, I figured I was in for a long night. The day was saved when Konnan challenged Chris Jericho for the TV Title in a really good match, with Konnan going over. I'm not too sure of that result, but I did like that the NWO Wölfpac members came out to hug Konnan and congratulate him on the victory. That made the title seem important, an idea that has been lacking in WCW lately (look at the tag belts). It also made it seem like Kevin Nash is giving his friends something. Rumour is that Eric Bischoff wants the pushes for possibly-leaving talent (read: Jericho, Malenko, Benoit) to stop, but it is way too early to draw any conclusions in that regard. Scott Hall did an interview, which led to Kevin Nash coming out to say that he'd be Hall's partner in a tag match this night. Kanyon & Raven faced Scott & Steve Armstrong. Raven blamed his mother for his problems, and Kanyon told him to get over it. Raven ended up walking out, and a disoriented Kanyon was pinned by the Armstrongs. Hour two started with Gene Okerlund hyping Bret Hart vs. Diamond Dallas Page, scheduled for the show. Hart did an interview. He is so amazing. Bret said he had an injured groin, thanks to Dean Malenko, and couldn't work. DDP came in and berated Hart, who agreed to the match, but asked for it to be no DQ. Eddie Guerrero faced Billy Kidman in another really good match. There was too much good stuff to list, as Kidman is just great and Eddie seemed more motivated than usual. Kidman has improved so much in the past year. The referee was bumped. Juventud Guerrera came out to interfere, but Kidman nailed him with a dropkick off the top, knocking him off the apron. Rey Misterio Jr. came out as well, but ended up dropkicking Eddie, probably what he was planning to do all along. The LWO came out and chased off Kidman & Rey. Can you imagine the tag match that could be built from this? Eric Bischoff, along with Barry Windham, called Dean Malenko out. Dean came out with all of the other Horsemen, minus Ric Flair. Eric told Dean that he had to beat Barry Windham in order for Flair to get his match against Eric. After Dean agreed, Eric announced that Dusty Rhodes would be the referee for the match. It was a sad thing to see Dusty come out again. They let Dusty deliver an interview, as my wife complained that "the guy can't even talk." Wrath squashed Bobby Blaze in 10 seconds. Ernest Miller said Saturn should face Sonny Onno. This led to Glacier & Miller getting involved in the match. Saturn had Onno pinned, but the referee found a chain in the ring and gave the win to Onno. This idea is old. Goldberg came out for the contract signing against Kevin Nash. Since they don't routinely show contract signings, we always expect an angle when they show one. Bam Bam Bigelow yelled up a storm; he was sitting in ringside seat, having bought a ticket (wink, wink). Brian Adams faced Lex Luger. Another ref bump. Vincent came in. Adams used a chair and the two heels piledrove Luger on the chair. Luger kicked out at the two-and-three-quarter mark. Luger went for a schoolboy on Adams, who complained to the ref about the earlier count. Whoopee. This was supposed to be fast-paced stuff, I guess. Vincent held a chair up while standing on the apron, but Luger reversed the attempted whip into the chair. Torture rack. Dean Malenko faced Barry Windham. Dusty Rhodes acted like he was favouring Windham throughout. Finally, when Barry was pounding Malenko into the ground in the corner, Dusty signalled for the bell. He then raised Malenko's hand and DQed Barry, turning babyface in the process. The Horsemen came out and destroyed Windham in the aisle before going to the ring, where Ric Flair told Eric Bischoff he would have to wrestle him. Scott Steiner & Horace Hogan faced Scott Hall & Kevin Nash. They said that Steiner was the new leader of the NWO Black & White. Boring match. The NWO referee worked the match and constantly favoured his side. Finally, Hall edged Horace and Billy Silverman came in to count the pin. Outside, Bam Bam Bigelow kept calling Goldberg out. Goldberg came out and the brawled around the parking lot for a few minutes. The main event saw Bret Hart challenge Diamond Dallas Page for the US Title. The match was no DQ, so Hart simply had the Giant come in and lay out DDP, before putting the sharpshooter on him and regaining the title. At first, I wondered why Nash's friend was losing a title, but I think you have to look past that at what was set up: DDP beating Giant. Yeah, I'm thinking that the Giant is pretty much known to be leaving for the WWF whenever possible, so they are going to feed him to DDP. ______________________________________________________________________ Nitro on 11/23 followed on the heels of the reasonably lackluster World War III PPV. Thankfully, the show was edited down to two hours for broadcast in Canada on TSN. As I've said a few times now, when Nitro is snipped down by an hour, it usually comes off as a better show. Going in to this show, however, I was nervous that they'd snip any cruiserweight stuff in favour of Hulk Hogan's latest idiotic presidential interview. With some trepidation, then, the show goes on. Opening match saw Mike Enos lose to Lex Luger. Enos looks alright in Japan, but will never gets a chance for anything in WCW (and I'm not saying he should, necessarily). Speaking of Japan, I'm still way behind on tapes, but pictures in Weekly Gong show that Mike Rotunda/Wallstreet has a totally new look while working for NWO Japan. At least Enos got to hit Lex Luger with a piledriver before losing. Tokyo Magnum faced Kanyon. Before the match, Kanyon tried to encourage Raven to wrestle and Raven said that Kanyon sounded like his mother, which I guess sets the stage for another bad angle. They didn't learn from Judy Bagwell, I guess. Kanyon went over, of course. Billy Kidman faced Rey Misterio Jr. Could this be the TV match of the week? Kidman took a a tremendous bump over the top rope. Based in some part on the misuse of the better workers in WCW, Kidman, because he always has a great opponent, is already pretty much "the show" for me in WCW. They pulled out some great stops and did a lot of spectacular stuff, while also keeping things nicely focused. Some of the near falls were great, just sold and executed right. Rey hit a bizarre bulldog variation. The audience was popping for the wrestling, which of course means that the powers that be will continue to leave their PPV matches unhyped and never give the division any focus. Members of the audience actually did a somersault hand gesture when Kidman went for the shooting star press. As anybody who is paying attention would expect, Juventud Guerrera & Eddie Guerrero came out. Eddie nailed Rey in retaliation for Rey's interference the night before. Kidman, who didn't see the spot, went for the shooting star and got the pin. Amazingly good match. I'm very happy this wasn't cut from the shwow. And, unless I'm delusional, it seemed like the cruisers were given a little more focus than usual. We came back from a commercial break to find Ric Flair and Eric Bischoff in the ring confronting each other, with the confrontation already half over. Eric called out Barry Windham, who Ric Flair had suggested he was bringing into the Horsemen. As expected, Eric said that Windham was on his (Eric's) side and that he would knock Flair out. Windham did some subtle facial gestures to confirm Eric's claim while Flair was defending the former Horseman. Bischoff hit Flair, who nailed Bischoff, and, sure enough, Barry Windham laid into Flair. Bischoff did some martial arts kicks into Flair, who sold the attack like he was dead. When the Horsemen came running down the aisle, the NWO Hollywood goons attacked them from behind. This was a pretty hot segment. I hope it isn't too little (working against the low-level NWO goons) too late. Konnan faced Booker T. Not a great match, with a crummy finish as Stevie Ray came out and whacked Konnan. Bret Hart did an interview, with Gene Okerlund immediately pointing out that Bret lost the night before. Bret demanded a rematch, saying that he would set an example with each of his upcoming opponents. Back from a commercial, we heard that hour three of Nitro was starting, so the first two hours were edited down to one hour. Wrath faced Kevin Nash. Why do they respond to the reaction that Wrath has managed to generate by putting him this match? Wait, that's not the right question. This is a smart move, but it is annoying that other guys that get strong reactions don't get a spot. The match was a sticky pickle, though, since Nash should go over strong because he's got the PPV title match in a few weeks. Still, Wrath had some offence in the early stages. Nash can't sell worth a crap, but, hey, with his knees he can barely walk. Wrath ended up getting squashed in the power bomb. They pushed it as Nash having broken Wrath's unbeaten streak, which is the same task he faces when he meets Goldberg. Chris Jericho was interviewed by Gene Okerlund. He came out without his security guys, with his hair all tousled. When Jericho says "Gene Mean" I crack up. He should be pushed into main event status and put over huge ASAP, but the promotion is going to miss the boat and let him jump ship to the WWF. Instead of being put into an important role, Jericho faces Bobby Duncum Jr. Duncum came out with Jericho's security guy and hogtied the guy. It was sad. I want to see the battle of the Chrises (Jericho & Benoit) for the world title. Isn't that what the promotion should be thinking of in their long-term plans? What are long-term plans? Scott Hall came out and said that this would be the last survey. He's missing the boat, since catchphrases, not wrestling, are all what's really over these days. Hall faced Alex Wright, which prmoised to have another sad conclusion. Over the past three segments, then, I felt that I was reminded that young guys that are getting will be crushed by the old guard or by the stupidity of the people in charge. Bret Hart faced Dean Malenko. The earlier attack on the Horsemen injured Malenko's knee, so he was selling the bandaged knee. Bret went after it straight away. Still, Dean rallied here and there and did some really nice work with Bret, as we'd expect from these two. I don't like Bret's cheating style, at least not when he plays to the crowd with choking and the like, but his work is just so amazing. Dean managed to slip on the sleeper, which Bret countered with a beautiful suplex. Bret ended up working over Dean's knee; this was a really good match. Diamond Dallas Page ran in and challenged Bret. Goldberg pinned Giant. I guess they believe that Giant is leaving, so the future WWF champion is jobbing for the WCW champion. Giant did the single-best thing he's done in recent memory, taking a great bump off of Goldberg's spear. One jackhammer latter and he was killed. Bam Bam Bigelow and Kevin Nash both ran in to attack Goldberg as WCW lines up the heels for Goldberg. I guess this sets up Goldberg losing the title to Nash thanks to Bigelow's interference. - The WWF has In Your House on 12/13/98. Tentative line-up has * Rocky Maivia vs. Mankind for the WWF Title * Steve Austin vs. Undertaker in a Buried Alive match - WCW has Starrcade on 12/27/98. Tentative line-up has * Bill Goldberg vs. Kevin Nash the WCW Title * Ric Flair vs. Eric Bischoff - PPV buy rates, revenue (in millions), and match statistics for the WWF, WCW, and ECW are presented in the following 1998 summary sheet (the PPV draw(s) are listed, as well as the quality matches): Show Data Match Rating Data Show Details Buy Rate Gross Mean Median Peak % >= * * * * WWF 98/10/18: Judgment Day Undertaker vs. Kane 0.89 $3.99 1.61 * 1/2 * * * 1/2 X-Pac vs. D'Lo Brown 0.0% (0 of 9) 98/09/27: Break Down Steve Austin vs. Undertaker vs. Kane 0.86 $3.85 1.69 * 3/4 * * * 1/2 Rocky Maivia vs. Ken Shamrock vs. Mankind 0.0% (0 of 9) 98/08/30: SummerSlam Steve Austin vs. Undertaker 1.48 $6.57 2.06 * * * * * * * 1/4 Hunter Hearst Helmsley vs. Rocky Maivia 12.5% (1 of 8) 98/07/26: Fully Loaded Steve Austin & Undertaker vs. Kane & Mankind 0.5 (WWF claims 0.95; WCW claims 0.34; 0.5 independent figure) $2.23 1.81 * 1/4 * * * 1/4 Rocky Maivia vs. Hunter Hearst Helmsley 0% (0 of 8) 98/06/28: King of the Ring Steve Austin vs. Kane Undertaker vs. Mankind 1.1 $4.99 1.72 * 1/2* * * * * 1/2 Undertaker vs. Mankind 11.1% (1 of 9) 98/05/31: IYH Over the Edge Steve Austin vs. Dude Love 0.65 $2.90 1.06 1/2* * * * * 1/2 Steve Austin vs. Dude Love 12.5% (1 of 8) 98/04/26: IYH Unforgiven Steve Austin vs. Dude Love Kane vs. Undertaker 0.85 $3.78 1.75 * * * * * Steve Austin vs. Dude Love 14.3% (1 of 7) 98/03/29: WrestleMania Shawn Michaels vs. Steve Austin Kane vs. Undertaker 2.20 $9.52 1.81 * * * * * * 1/4 Michaels vs. Austin Cactus & Funk vs. NAO 0.0% (0 of 8) 98/02/15: IYH No Way Out HHH & NAO & Vega vs. Austin & Owen & Funk & Cactus Kane vs. Vader 0.45 $1.67 1.43 * 1/2 * * * 1/2 HHH & NAO & Vega vs. Austin & Owen & Funk & Cactus 0.0% (0 of 7) 98/01/18: Royal Rumble Shawn Michaels vs. Vader Royal Rumble 0.97 $3.62 2.38 * * 1/2 * * * 1/2 Royal Rumble Max Mini & Nova & Mosaic vs. Battalion & Torio & Tarantula 0.0% (0 of 6) Last 6 0.93 $4.16 1.79 1.88 3.563 2.9% (1 of 34) 1998 1.00 $4.31 1.72 1.75 3.75 5.1% (4 of 79) 1997 0.61 $1.84 2.18 1.81 3.792 27.9% (6 of 21) Show Data Match Rating Data Show Details Buy Rate Gross Mean Median Peak % >= * * * * WCW 98/10/25: Halloween Havoc Diamond Dallas Page vs. Bill Goldberg Hulk Hogan vs. Warrior 0.78 $3.48 1.70 * * * * * 1/4 Diamond Dallas Page vs. Bill Goldberg 0.0% (0 of 12) 98/09/13: Fall Brawl Wargames 0.70 $3.11 0.19 DUD * * * 1/2 Perry Saturn vs. Raven 0.0% (0 of 9) 98/08/08: Road Wild Hulk Hogan & Eric Bischoff vs. Diamond Dallas Page & Jay Leno 0.93 $4.15 0.61 * * * * 1/2 Juventud Guerrera vs. Chris Jericho 0.0% (0 of 9) 98/07/06: Bash at the Beach Hulk Hogan & Dennis Rodman vs. Diamond Dallas Page & Karl Malone 1.6 $7.21 1.81 * * 1/4 * * * * Juventud Guerrera vs. Billy Kidman 11.1% (1 of 9) 98/06/14: Great American Bash Hulk Hogan & Bret Hart vs. Roddy Piper & Randy Savage Sting vs. Giant 0.8 $3.52 1.67 * * 1/4 * * * 1/2 Chris Benoit vs. Booker T 0.0% (0 of 9) 98/05/17: Slamboree Kevin Nash & Scott Hall vs. Sting & Giant 0.72 $3.20 1.92 * * 1/2 * * * 1/4 Chris Benoit vs. Dave Finley Chris Jericho vs. Dean Malenko Eddie Guerrero vs. Ultimo Dragon 0.0% (0 of 9) 98/04/19: Spring Stampede Sting vs. Randy Savage Hulk Hogan & Kevin Nash vs. Giant & Roddy Piper 0.72 $3.20 2.40 * * 1/2 * * * * Ultimo Dragon vs. Chavo Guerrero Jr. DDP vs. Raven 20.0% (2 of 10) 98/03/15: Uncensored Hulk Hogan vs. Randy Savage Sting vs. Scott Hall 1.10 $4.12 1.69 * * 1/2 * * * 3/4 Raven vs. DDP vs. Chris Benoit 0.0% (0 of 9) 98/02/22: SuperBrawl Hulk Hogan vs. Sting Outsiders vs. Steiners 1.10 $4.12 1.67 * 1/4 * * * 3/4 Juventud Guerrera vs. Chris Jericho 0.0% (0 of 10) 98/01/25: Souled Out Bret Hart vs. Ric Flair Giant vs. Kevin Nash Lex Luger vs. Randy Savage 1.02 $3.81 1.92 * * * * * Chavo Guerrero Jr. & Super Calo & Lizmark Jr. vs. Juventud Guerrera & La Parka & El Dandy 11.1% (1 of 9) Last 6 0.92 $4.11 1.25 1.67 3.5 1.8% (1 of 57) 1998 0.95 $3.99 1.52 1.73 3.65 4.2% (4 of 95) 1997 0.77 $2.45 1.96 1.98 3.813 5.9% (6 of 102) Show Data Match Rating Data Show Details Buy Rate Gross Mean Median Peak % >= * * * * ECW 98/08/02: Heatwave Taz vs. Bam Bam Bigelow 0.23 $0.42 3.08 * * 1/4 * * * * Mike Awesome vs. Masato Tanaka 16.7% (1 of 6) 98/05/03: WrestlePalooza Shane Douglas vs. Al Snow Sabu vs. Rob van Dam 0.24 $0.45 0.64 1/2* * * Mikey Whippreck vs. Justin Credible 0.0% (0 of 7) 98/03/01: Living Dangerously Shane Douglas & Chris Candido vs. Al Snow & Lance Storm 0.23 $0.42 1.56 * * * * * 1/4 Buh Buh Ray Dudley & D-Von Dudley vs. Spike Dudley & New Jack vs. Axl Rotten & Balls Mahoney 0.0% (0 of 8) Last 6 0.23 $0.43 1.69 1.58 3.08 4.8% (1 of 21) 1998 0.23 $0.43 1.69 1.58 3.08 4.8% (1 of 21) 1997 0.22 $0.38 2.10 2.50 3.583 10.0% (2 of 20) I'll update the figures for next week. Longer-term data is available. The data now runs back to 1991. A table of wrestlers who have delivered quality matches is also online. - WCW has Souled Out PPV on 01/17/99. Rumour has it that the show will feature Ric Flair vs. Hulk Hogan. - The WWF has Royal Rumble on 01/24/99. - The WWF has In Your House on 02/14/99. - The WWF has WrestleMania XV on 03/28/99. - The WWF has In Your House on 04/25/99. - The WWF has In Your House on 05/23/99. - The WWF has King of the Ring on 06/27/99. - The WWF has In Your House on 07/25/99. - Videos: I have posted something about the availability of videos. If you missed it, I'll send it to you in e-mail upon request. ______________________________________________________________________ Thanks to: Masaki Aso. ______________________________________________________________________ If you have any feedback regarding my web pages, please send me e-mail. 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