______________________________________________________________________ It looks like I have ppp account set up. I'll test it out, make sure my POP mail reader works with it, and update the web page on the weekend. ______________________________________________________________________ I do not offer subscriptions to a mailing list! I do not e-mail images! ______________________________________________________________________ - WCW had Starrcade on 12/27/98. Overall, it was another mostly bad show in a long string of bad shows. Run down, taken from my notes that evening. * Billy Kidman beat Juventud Guerrera & Rey Misterio Jr. to retain the Cruiserweight title: Rey & Billy teamed up early on, but then turned on each other, with the match becoming everybody for himself. This was great stuff, basically reinventing the match gimmick for me. We've seen so many crappy triangle matches from all promotions, but this was just stellar. I remember the garbagy one that Chris Benoit carried on PPV and the great short match featuring the Mexicans on Nitro, but otherwise they've all been damn bad matches. And here we got the match of the year in North America. Loads of dives. Kidman did a shooting star off the top rope to ringside. They did a springboard frankensteiner spot (the finish in the New Japan Jr. Tag Tourney a couple of years back) flawlessly. I was cheering and yelling, while my wife agreed how great the match was. Eddie Guerrero came out. The ending brought a super-great match down a notch, with Eddie interfering, putting Juvi on top of Billy in a roll-up for the pin. Rey saved with a drop kick that flipped the pin over, and Billy got the pin. I was ready to be left flat, but then Eddie chastised both Rey & Juvi and challenged Kidman to a title match. Kidman agreed on the spot, saying that they could have the match right away. Another great impromptu match. Juvi helped Eddie. Rey helped Kidman. Eddie was tremendous, working with one boot on for a bit after using his other boot as a weapon. Rey used Eddie's boot to stop Eddie's cheating. Billy countered a powerbomb with a facecrusher. Juvi tripped up Kidman on the top rope while the referee was distracted. Rey crotched Eddie, tossed him in the ring, hit the shooting star, and got a very satisfying pin. This was the best 40 minutes on PPV all year long from any promotion. Amazing wrestling that actually continued the story line with the LWO and the subtle story line between Rey & Kidman. I can't praise it enough. * Norman Smiley beat Prince Iaukea: Iaukea just isn't that good, at least not good enough to work a style that goes well with Smiley, who is darn versatile. The black fans loved Smiley's dance and copied it. Chicken wing finish for a match that went too long and was boring. Scott Hall came out for a "shoot" interview to say that he lost eveything in 1998 but that 1999 would be his year. They never even mentioned the match with Bam Bam Bigelow. * Perry Saturn beat Ernest Miller: Again, the black fans seemed to be into Miller's shtick, but this was a hugely boring match. Sonny kicked Ernest, who complained and got DVDed. * Brian Adams & Scott Norton beat Jerry Flynn & Fit Finlay: Why the hell is this match on a PPV? With extra time on the show, they should have given us a lucha libre match, something that might actually be good. Mike Tenay tried to make this a match involving guys with Japanese experience. We could hear Norton call a spot or two and there was a small "boring" chant. Hey, don't think the fans were smart or anything; there was a small boring chant during the first match too. No heat otherwise. Norton powerbombed Flynn. So, they followed the best 40 minutes on PPV this year by the worst 55 minutes, and I was depressed. * Konnan beat Chris Jericho to retain the TV Title: Nowhere near as good as I would have hoped. Jericho used the title to get a two count before Konnan hit his tequila sunrise submission. * Eric Bischoff beat Ric Flair: With typical WCW panache, they gave us a finish that nobody wanted to see. They spend so much time trying to come up with creative bullshit endings to avoid doing something predictable or to set up Nitro. Flair was just tremendous, and this match was actually better than all but the first match (two matches) on the show. Eric's kicks looked good. Flair cheated like Roddy Piper with more ability and style. Flair bladed. After what seemed like a dozen low blows had passed, Curt Hennig came out just in time for the referee bump, passing Eric an object, which Eric used for the pin and to escape the figure four. A really FLAT finish. * Diamond Dallas Page beat Giant: Terri Runnels should check out Giant if she wants to know how she should be looking for her current story line. DDP was okay early on, but then the Giant took charge. DDP gave Giant a lot of offence in the match. Bret Hart came out, chaired Giant by mistake, and took a low blow to his injured groin. The fans didn't commiserate because they don't even have groins. DDP hit some top rope clotheslines before getting caught by Giant and choke slammed. Giant didn't go for the pin. DDP countered another choke slam with the diamond cutter. * Kevin Nash beat Bill Goldberg to win the WCW Title: No DQ. Great heat at start for each guy, really next to Goldberg vs. Hogan at the Georgia Dome the best main event crowd anticipation all year long. I was surprised by that, since Nash is not a favourite of mine and doesn't ahve credibility with me. A small "Goldberg sucks!" chant was balanced by a "Nash sucks!" chant. Goldberg speared Nash and Nash low blowed Goldberg. A difference between Goldberg and Austin is that Goldberg tells the crowd that he's going to do his big move while Austin tells his opponent that he's going to do his big move. Nash sold his ribs from the spear, but only for a second. Tony said this was "not a battle, it's a struggle." What the hell?! It was a slow match, but it was okay, sort of like Hogan vs. Ultimate Warrior years ago. Goldberg powerslammed Nash and spin kicked him. Disco Inferno came out. Goldberg nailed him. Bam Bam Bigelow came out. Goldberg tossed him out. Hall came out with a stun gun and shocked Goldberg, with nobody seeing it because Hall was dressed as a security guy and the other guys were all out too because of the run-ins. Nash power bombed Goldberg, who twitched while losing the title. RAW RAW on 12/28/98 aired on tape overnight on Monday in Canada. Given what they've been doing on recent shows, I think that an overnight time slot is actually appropriate. The show opened with the corporate team entering the boiler room area of the arena looking for Mankind. Vince told Shanw that Shawn Michaels would be fired and that Mankind would get a special gift. Mankind ran out of the darkness and attacked Shane before being overpowered. Vince told Mankind that he'd get his shot at the Hardcore Title tonight. Boy, payback is a witch. Shane told Vince that Shawn Michaels had planned for Road Dog to face Val Venis for the title. And that match is just hitting the ring. The human ring entrance that nobody wants to see wrestle, also known as Road Dog, entered the ring, did his shtick, and then faced Venis. Big Boss Man, Ken Shamrock, and Test came out. Test came in the ring. Lawler said, "This is a hardcore match. There's no disqualification." So, of course, the bell rang right away. DX came out. Vince came out on the ramp and said that the match was over -- hey it's not like we expected an actual decision; judging by the crowd reaction, it's unclear whether this match was really "over," if you get my drift. Vince said everybody involved in last week's debacle would pay. Back from a commercial, Vince told Kane that he was going to destroy a member of DX this night. Al Snow came out still covered in "blood" after last week's bath. He was carrying a hairless head, even though he had tossed it in a dumpster before the commercial break. Snow faced Edge. I've liked Al Snow for a number of years, mostly in some of the indy stuff that I saw on video back then. But seeing him in this spotlight makes his deficiencies so visible that I feel like he's just another unpolished worker in the mix. He fits in well with the Brood, Scorpio, Meanie, and the like. At this rate, his career-best match will remain his ECW bout against Chris Benoit. In this match, Snow snapped and headed Edge repeatedly. Everybody ran in. Sable faced Spider Lady. The Oddities ran in and saved Sable from the Spider Lady's attack. George Steele was with the Oddities, egad. Luna was Spider Lady. This sucked. Before the match, a "fan" came in the ring and gave Sable a yellow rose; the "fan" was Terri Power, who will eventually play Sable's sister. The Oddities were taking care of Sable afterwards. Boy, pairing Sable with those stiffs will help keep her over. I guess they are counting on the Playboy spread to make Sable untouchable. X-Pac defended the European title against the Big Boss Man. Okay match, but Boss Man is still Ray Traylor no matter how you dress him up. Test and Val Venis came out to ring side and a brawl erupted, with the bell ringing. They aired a "Rocky"-inspired training video of Vince McMahon that was really funny, with McMahon chanting "I hate Austin" while he trained and Shane McMahon pushing his dad to train harder. Owen Hart & Jeff Jarrett faced Goldust & Steve Blackman. The audience was most interested in getting Debra to strip again; it would be charitable to suggest that the wrestling came in second. Dan Severn strolled out, wearing an unnecessary neck brace. Owen left the ring and apologized to Dan, while backing away from him in fear. That got Owen over, backing away from a guy with a neck brace on. Owen crept back into the ring, but still watched Severn, with Blackman getting a schoolboy for the pin. Ugh. In the parking lot, the Acolytes tossed Dennis Knight into the trunk of his own car, driving off with him. Good thing they didn't do an angle with these guys in front of an audience. At least this way, we don't expect any crowd noise. Hunter Hearst Helmsley and a bare-waisted Chyna came to the ring with the rest of DX. HHH faced Ken Shamrock. Okay match, but nothing memorable. Shamrock refused to break the ankle lock at the finish, garnering the DQ, with Billy Gunn laying into Shamrock. Mark Henry came out and apologized to Chyna for what he did with Terri Runnels & Jacqueline last week. Terri & Jacqueline came out, having named themselves PMS, for Pretty Mean Sisters. Lawler remarked that Terri was starting to show. Sounds like an ECW story line to me. Chyna came out and told Jackie to "stay away from my man," pointing at Henry. Chyan tossed Jackie on her butt, with Jackie trying to to a split-legged crotch shot, but her dress covered her up. Chyna told Henry she'd see him later. Billy Gunn faced the Godfather. Well, no, that was scheduled, but Kane replaced Godfather. Boring match. The stooges came out and told Kane to re-chokeslam Gunn, so DX interfered, leading to no decision. Road Dog faced Mankind, defending his Hardcore title. Garbagy brawling stuff, with a couple of highligth bumps. But Rock came out before the match to do commentary, so the finish was given away. Rock laid out Mankind, who was pinned. Shawn Michaels came out to be fired by Vince McMahon. After the firing, Shawn superkicked Vince and ran off as the corporate team ran in. ______________________________________________________________________ RAW on 01/04 aired on tape overnight in Canada. It was a taped show, with a big finish, planned to counteract the Georgia Dome Nitro. The show opened with a sentimental look back at the career of Shawn Michaels, with Vince interrupting the video to come to the ring with the corporate team. Anybody involved in the "emotional scarring" of Shane would be punished in the near future. As Vince prattled on, the Titantron showed Shawn Michaels walking in, apparently coming out onto the ramp. In the nonsense move of the week, Shawn came out along with DX, who I guess forgive all of the shit he did to them in recent times. The only other possibility is that the Vince vs. Shawn story line is a swerve. We'll see. Guess what? Shawn Michaels' contract as WWF commissioner is "iron-clad," with the only way that he can leave being by resignation. Well, there's a match stipulation waiting to happen...and who will turn on Shawn and lose on purpose to get him fired? Shawn announced that Vince McMahon become a WWF competitor when he entered the Rumble, and, as such, Vince is under Shawn's control. Bingo, Vince is number two in the Rumble, so says Shawn. Shawn also said that he would deliver a surprise on Vince, one that would drive Vince "stone cold crazy." The rest of DX just stood there, with old story line arcs apparently abandoned. When the product is hot, I guess it is easy to get away with that sort of stuff and have nobody complain. Ken Shamrock faced Steve Blackman in a non-IC-title match. Blackman makes me feel like somebody hit my snooze button. The wrestling primitive by any measure, with Dan Severn coming out after a minute. Severn, neck brace and all, stood at ringside, with the commentators finally pushing their past in the UFC. Even with Severn out there and Shamrock acting distracted, there wasn't much to it. Sometimes simple is good, and I for one am interested to see what they can put together with Shamrock & Severn, however late they are to get to it. When Shamrock was rolled up into a small package pin attempt shortly after Severn's appearance, with the story line clearly being that Shamrock was a little "off" because of Severn being out there, Jerry Lawler said that he thought that Shamrock hadn't seen Severn yet. Match ended when Shamrock whacked Severn, Severn distracted Shamrock, and Billy Gunn came in to lay out Shamrock, who suffered a pinfall loss. Gee, don't say you didn't expect that when it was a non-title match. Back from a commercial, we see Gunn & Shamrock duking it out in the back. Mankind came out. The called his crotch-squeeze on Pat Patterson last week "Mr. Jocko." Mankind said that last week was the first time that he ever grabbed a man's testicles. It was the usual funny stuff from Foley, with the pay-off being that Mankind asked for a WWF Title shot at the Rumble. Lawler complained that "the guy is a comedian" which was actually Lawler's best line in a while, considering who it came from. Vince McMahon told Mankind that he would have to face Hunter Hearst Helmsley this night, with Shane McMahon as referee, with the winner getting into the Royal Rumble. Question: who makes the matches in the WWF, Vince or Shawn? Why wouldn't Shawn come out and overrule any matchmaking that Vince makes if it doesn't favour the guys he likes? I'm confused. Goldust faced Mark Henry. Bad match. Henry stinks. His missed punch looked so bad because he aimed a foot above Goldust's head. The commentators pushed the idea that Vince was trying to drive a wedge between Mankind and DX, so why doesn't Shawn overrule it? Who's the boss? If Vince is, why can Shawn change Vince's spot in the Rumble? If Shawn is, why can Vince screw with DX? I wondered all of this stuff while the match with Goldust & Henry was on, since the match was so bad. Chyna and her girlfriend came out, distracting Henry by just standing there. I guess most of the women the WWF are lesbians. Goldust kicked Henry in the crotch and was DQed. Chyna and her girlfriend came to the ring, helped Henry up, gave him a quick kiss, and then did a Jerry Springer: "I have a confession to make." She's afraid, you see, that she isn't enough women for him. Chyna introduced her exotic dancer friend Sammy, saying that Chyna & Sammy would help Henry take a "load" off his mind. Chyna's friend sure looks like a man. They aired a video clip of Dennis Knight in a dank pit, hanging from chains. Uh-huh. Godfather came out. Time for TSN to take care of me again. No, they went to the match quickly, with Test coming out for a singles match. Oh man, this had to be a bad match. One minute in, Val Venis came out on the ramp. The commentators pushed Venis' grips with Test from last week. Venis came down in short order to brawl with Test. It looked pretty bad. Mankind faced HHH in the earlier-announced match. Story line match, with Shane McMahon delivering a quick three-count when Mankind was down for a split-second. HHH said "a win is a win," which drew heel heat, before attacking Shane, which got the babyface pop again. HHH left Shane to Mankind, who stretched him, threatening to break his shoulder. Vince came out and Mankind told him to stop or else he'd break Shane's shoulder. Mankind asked for a title shot this night -- ah-ha, that's why this match was so early --, no DQ, with Vince agreeing. Rocky Maivia came out and complained to Vince, saying that he wasn't ready for the match. Edge faced D'Lo Brown. The commentators called them both tremendous athletes. PMS came out, with Terri Runnels getting on the apron and taking a bump to the floor. They talked about her baby and said that she still didn't know who the father was. D'Lo didn't touch Terri when she bumped. Haven't we seen this angle before? "Keep in mind that Terri Runnels is seven months pregnant," said Michael Cole. Get out of town. She wasn't showing a peanut let alone a seven-month fetus. D'Lo acted distraught as the medical team checked on Terri. Kane, wearing a "Brisco Body Shop" sign on his back, came out with Brisco & Patterson. He had had that paper stuck to his back at the start as well, but it was written in pen and was unreadable. This time out, they wrote a sign in marker. Shane McMahon announced that the match was Kane in a handicap match against Brisco & Patterson. Pay back is a bitch. The paper on Kane's back and the taunting that the stooges did before this match announcement was supposed to make us feel that Kane was the face in this two-on-one. Kane destroyed both guys. Kane went after Shane, but Vince said "no" and told him that he would "go back" if he did it. Brisco & Patterson were funny snapping at each other afterwards. The Acolytes entered Dennis Knight's pit and said "it's time. He's ready for you." Al Snow challenged Road Dog for the Hardcore title. The Hardcore matches give them a chance to break tables and do ECW-style garbage wrestling matches with all of the usual flaws, much more often than not (as is the nature of that style). They ended up walking out into the snow, with Road Dog putting Snow in a dumpster and driving into a steel door. They had trouble keeping their footing. Road Dog piledrove Snow on a wooden palette outside, getting the pin. The commentators made it sound like this match was the best thing we'd ever seen. Uh-huh. On video, the Acolytes dragged Dennis Knight down a shadowy hall, lit by torches, dumping him through a wooden door into a smoky room. Oooooh. Shawn Michaels was set to leave the building presumably to get his surprise for Vince, hugging DX on his way out. "See you later." As the door closed, HHH muttered, "Maybe, maybe not." Gee, I guess they aren't going to abandon those old story lines after all. Shawn had the wrong car keys when he got outside, turning when somebody yelled "Hey, Shawn," with the commentators saying "oh no." Hey, if Shawn was locked outside, what about the poor cameraman filming all of this? Of course, the corporate team was outside and destroyed Shawn. The destruction was off-camera, lots of grunts and smacks. I guess that could leave the door open for a double-swerve, since that would at least explain that there's no problem with Vince and Shawn each seemingly being in charge some of the time. Mankind faced Rocky Maivia in a no-DQ WWF Title match. Rocky wore his gymwear instead of his wrestling gear to show that he wasn't ready for this match. The commentators said that since this match was no DQ it wouldn't end with a run-in, that somebody would have to win the match. Mankind stole Rocky's spot of doing his own commentary. It wasn't much of a match, with everybody interfering and no real wrestling action. Rocky hit the corporate elbow, but only got a two count. I guess Mankind won't sell for the elbow in a plane, and he won't sell for it in a train, but he will sell for it on RAW. Rocky nailed Mankind with the title belt, still only netting a two count. After a DDT, Mankind went for his Socko claw, but Shamrock ran in. This led to everyone getting involved in a melee, with Steve Austin running in to whack Rocky with a chair. Mankind made the cover and won the title. Vince had a near-stroke at ringside, while Mankind celebrated his victory, however tainted. Road Dog announced that Mankind was the new champion. It was nice to Mick Foley be rewarded for what he has done for the company, but it was a bit of circus. But, hey, that's the product these days. Obviously, the WWF hoped that the title change on RAW would counteract any possibility of WCW gaining momentum with its anticipated reshuffling of talent on the huge Georgia Dome Nitro. At worst, the title change freshens things up for the Rumble PPV main event (Rocky vs. Mankind), which needed that sprucing up. Nitro Nitro on 12/28 aired as a two hour show in Canada. Thank god. They aired a tape of the original NWO creation stuff, which of course foreshadows the developments next week. Ernest Miller beat Shima Nobunaga in a minute; Shima was sent to the ring by Chris Jericho, who ensured him that he could win. Booker T beat Dave Finlay in a stiff-as-all-hell match that was actually good. Ric Flair delivered another one of his career-best interviews, this time coming out with his luggage, tossing it around, stripping, and handcuffing himself to the ring ropes, demanding a match with Eric Bischoff in which he would put anything and everything to get a chance at Bischoff and asked that Bischoff put 90 days as president on the line. The Observer writes, "Bischoff when he came out to accept was still limping, selling the figure four spot from the night before. That makes Bischoff a better worker than people like The Rock and Shane Douglas," a line that I just love. Anyhow, Bischoff agreed. Barry Windham beat Prince Iaukea in a horrible match. Bam Bam Bigelow beat Disco Inferno, with the stipulation that if Disco won he'd get into the Wölfpac. Scott Steiner faced Konnan in a match that was even boring in fast forward. Buff Bagwell tried to pull Steiner to the ropes when he was in a submission spot, so Luger came out to pull Buff out, in effect pulling Steiner to the rope. That was actually a well done spot to tease the upcoming talent shuffle. Steiner ended up with a recliner win. Scott Hall faced Brian Adams. Adams just sucks, and I can't figure out why they put him in any meaningful time slots; he's a first-hour guy. Hall used his Edge on Adams, which confused the talent shuffle that was to come, although one can hope that Adams is left out in the cold, along with Horace, Vincent, Windham, and the other NWO stiffs. Ric Flair beat Eric Bischoff to become the president of WCW for 90 days. Not much of a match, but Flair was awesome and the ending was great. At the finish, the Horsemen cut of the saves until Giant came out. Randy Savage came out with his new look and new chick, sporting an NWO shirt, but ended up lowblowing Giant. Flair put the figure four on Bischoff in the middle of the ring, and Bischoff gave up in short order. Booker T, DDP, and the Horsemen all congratulated Flair. Even Dusty Rhodes, Larry Zbyszko, and Tony Schiavone went to the ring to hug Ric. It was a great scene. ______________________________________________________________________ Nitro on 01/04 aired in full in Canada, albeit on tape delay in its usual Wednesday afternoon time slot. Since I started lecturing on Thursday, 01/05, and my lectures were in shape for the early part of the term, I decided to indulge and watch the show as it aired. Rumours had it that Kevin Nash would surrender the WCW title to Hulk Hogan in some way and that the weakening of the various factions (WCW, NWO black & white, and NWO Wölfpac) would be counteracted by a shuffling of the roster. The week before, they already foreshadowed a Lex Luger turn. The show opened with a nice little promo piece for Goldberg vs. Nash, the main event this day. It had me hoping that they wouldn't spend the whole damn show hyping the main event. They announced that Hollywood Hogan was in the house to talk to his fans. Oh man. Some scary fans won the Nitro party contest to hold there party in the Georgia Dome. A never-before-seen announcer interviewed the fans. In the opener, Glacier faced Hugh Morrus. The commentators talked about Ric Flair's victory the week before, saying that he was in charge now. Of course, that means that there needed to be noticeable changes/actions made/taken by Flair to make sure he doesn't seem impotent. The question is whether WCW would do that. Anyhow, Morrus came out with Jimmy Hart. All they talked about was Nash vs. Goldberg, the huge crowd, etc.; they make guys like Glacier and Morrus seem totally insignificant, however warranted or unwarranted that opinion might be, and this is really the huge problem that the promotion faces as 1999 gets started. The 40000-announced crowd pretty much popped only for Jimmy Hart's bump and the final bell, which came after Morrus got the moonsault pin. They summarized the Ric Flair vs. Eric Bischoff situation from the week before, airing lots of clips of Flair's great performance, and mentioned that Flair was in the building and was planning his "state of the promotion" address next segment. In many ways, Flair's role in his promotion over the past few weeks warms my heart more than Mick Foley finally getting some prestigious rewards for his promotion-saving efforts. After a commercial break, "Richard M. Flair" was said to be coming to the ring. Sure enough, Ric came in with his family and Arn Anderson, and was invited into the ring by Gene Okerlund, who billed him as the new president of WCW. They had fans and employees lined up backstage to cheer Flair. Dean Malenko (on crutches), Chris Benoit, and Steve McMichael joined the procession to the ring. Mike Tenay said that Malenko suffered an ankle sprain at a house show the night before, whew! Ric called out Eric Bischoff, who came out looking moribund. As Flair delivered his speech, McMichael kept walking into the camera shot. Flair told Eric he would now work for Tony Schiavone in the commentary booth. Flair brought out Randy Anderson, who had been humiliated by Eric a year ago, and told him he could return to the promotion at double the salary. Flair announced that Souled Out would feature him against both Barry Windham & Curt Hennig, but his son David asked if he could be in the match. Ric said no, but Arn said David knew what he was doing, so Ric said okay. I hope this doesn't turn into an Erik Watts deal. Booker T faced Emery Hale, that big, well-built jobber. It wasn't much of a match, basically a squash for Booker. Chavo Guerrero Jr. faced Norman Smiley. Good match. Chavo did that cool German suplex counter that the Japanese women were the first to do. Smiley did his funny dance at a stupid time and Chavo hit him with a missile dropkick. Smiley started to do his dance again, but collapsed backwards from the beating. Chavo got a roll-up win, but Smiley attacked him from behind and beat him up afterwards. We returned from a commercial break to find Horace Hogan in the ring with Chris Benoit. Benoit is awesome. Horace is the opposite of awesome. Still, Horace did a tope suicida, or something resembling one, and tried harder than usual. That's what being in the ring with Benoit does to somebody. Randy Anderson was the referee; it must be a pleasure to be in there reffing Benoit. Benoit hit the top rope head butt, selling it like he always does. So, Horace managed to sneak in a bit more offence, hitting a shoulder breaker, before Benoit put on the crossface for the submission. What a just verdict! It seemed like Benoit going over got a good reaction. Talk is that Benoit, Malenko, and Eddie Guerrero will all be sticking with WCW after all. I hope that the rumoured plans of WCW "re-inventing" their product includes those guys in prominent positions. Goldberg arrived, with a police officer saying that he was under arrest, not mentioning a charge. Goldberg said that none of the policemen present could take him in, since he doesn't do anything but good in the community. In the end, he did submit to being handcuffed after protesting. Thank god he didn't beat the crap out of the police or vice versa. It's not like the police forces that appear on Nitro and RAW ever look stupid, uh-huh. Back from a commercial, Goldberg was carted off and Kevin Nash came out to tell the police that what they were doing was wrong. Nice touch, but the whole thing went downhill when Hulk Hogan appeared, laughing about Goldberg being arrested, and saying that he's the type of politician that believes in criminals doing their time. The only good thing is that Hogan didn't call himself a wrestler. Sadly, this will lead to his return, building to the first NBC special on 02/14. Perry Saturn faced Chris Jericho. Saturn has to lose the gay vest and scarf. Good match. Jericho pulled the referee into a Saturn cross-body, kicked him low, and went for the Lion Tamer. But the referee called for the bell and said that Jericho was the winner by DQ. We joined Goldberg heading into the police precinct across the street (they drove there...). At least with the precinct being across the street, there was a chance that Goldberg would be back for the main event. On camera, following the latest police protocol, the police told Goldberg that Elizabeth filed assault charges against Goldberg. Goldberg protested his innocence, but acted rather meek. I don't know how that will fly with today's fans, who are used to Steve Austin-type reactions, which would have Goldberg beat the crap out of the police and put a gun to Hogan's head. The Nitro party continued to leave me embarrassed. Luckily, the police force also allowed Nitro camera's in the room for Liz's interrogation. She said that Goldberg might be stalking her because he's everywhere she is: Nitros, PPVs, hotels, gyms, etc. Well, duh, I was left wondering how long it would take the police force to see past this ruse. They aired an Eddie Guerrero video taped in Mexico a few weeks back. Eddie hosted a party. It was funny to see La Parka jivin' at the party. The idea was that Eddie is taking advantage of the LWO members moreso than Eric Bischoff ever did. Billy Kidman & Rey Misterio Jr. faced Psicosis & Juventud Guerrera in what seemed like it could be the first 1999 match of the year candidate in North America. Kidman gave that amazing performance at Starrcade, but they did nothing to follow it up. They really should have lots of video packages on him. Instead, he's in this great match and the commentators talk about everything else. The fans have been so conditioned not to give these guys any value that they chant for Goldberg and do anything but get drawn in by them. Match was great. Finish was also good. Kidman, having been dumped over the top by Psicosis, climbed the top rope to jump back into the ring. Meanwhile, Rey & Juvi were trading German suplex reversals. Kidman's leap coincided with a Rey reversal, so he ended up nailing Rey, who was pinned. The commentators really didn't give a crap, but this match was better than anything else that we saw this evening on either show. Kevin Nash came out for an interview. He talked about Goldberg getting screwed at Starrcade (well, thanks for giving us that match, Nash) and said that everybody knew that Hogan was behind Goldberg's arrest. That made the police look really smart. Goldberg asked Ric Flair to book Nash vs. Hogan for the title this night. Flair came out and said that Hogan can't pull the strings. If Goldberg can't make his match, then Hogan will have to wrestle Nash. Yikes. That's what I wanted to see. And surely there won't even be a match. They are so out of touch with what people want to see, learning nothing from past failures and successes or the successes of their opposition. Okay, maybe I'm being pessimistic, but a return to an NWO headed by Hulk Hogan just doesn't seem like it's going to cut it for me. Liz's interrogation continued, as a second cop asked to hear about everything again, with the cop saying that he had to write everything down. Liz said she was getting a "Pepsi" at the "Coke" machine and that the guy wore red tights. Yeah, those policemen, they're so silly. Gene Okerlund introduced "one of the most popular wrestlers of all time," Hulk Hogan. The crowd booed loudly. They don't get the message that a large percentage of those boos are not good boos, if you get my drift. "The world of professional wrestling still revolves around Hollywood, brother." Oh, crawl under a rock and die, you non-working egomaniacal piece of crap. And take you nephew and friends with you. Hogan said that he owed his fans one last retirement match, that he would take on Nash tonight. As we went to commerical, Tony Schiavone told us not to bother to switch the channel to RAW, since that show is taped and "Mick Foley, who used to wrestle here as Cactus Jack, is going to win their world title. Well, that'll put butts in the seats." They showed a clip of Chris Jericho riling up referee Scott Dickenson earlier in the day, telling him that he should DQ Saturn if Saturn touches him. Scott Steiner faced Konnan. Nobody gets more mic time to deliver more crappy interviews to not get over. Gee, Buff interfered, the ref got dumped, the crowd groaned, and the NWO referee came in to call for the bell as Konnan was in the Steiner Recliner. Afterwards, Steiner beat the mat with a chair three or four times, although the commentators suggested that the chairs actually hit Konnan. Wrath came out and called for any challengers. Bam Bam Bigelow came out. Match was nothing special, with some out of the ring brawling and limited wrestling. Wrath backdropped out of the powerbomb finisher. Bigelow showed Scott Steiner how a chair shot should be thrown. They ended up brawling to a DCOR, yet another finish that the crowd just didn't want to see. Why do promotions always want to kill the golden goose? The bumbling constabulary continued to question Liz. Liz started to get rattled by the crack investigation team, one of whom even asked whether she got a Pepsi from the Coke machine or vice versa. They warned her that perjury is a serious crime, that it could even lead to impeachment. Ooops, wrong story. Liz said that she must have been wrong, that it wasn't Bill, and that she felt terrible because Bill missed his world title shot. Well, we're only across the street, right, and there's a half-hour left in the show, so it doesn't seem like Bill's out in the cold. I see a god-awful three-way deal coming at the end of the show. Brian Adams faced Diamond Dallas Page. How can they put Adams in this time slot? DDP did a plancha, and it looked like Vincent took a bad bump on his shoulder, but he got up right away, albeit with a big grimace. DDP is over, so the match drew heat, but it had absolutely nothing to do with anything that Brian Adams did or didn't do. DDP won with the Diamond Cutter. Goldberg was let go. "Take me to the Dome." Back from a commercial - and surely Goldberg could walk across the street in that time - we head to the ring, where Michael Buffer introduces the main event. Hulk Hogan came out with Scott Steiner in tow. At least they did that right. Goldberg said he was taking time out of his busy campaign schedule; don't do me any favours. Nash came out. What a dreary main event, although the crowd did seem to react to it. Nash had Scott Hall came out after him, with Hall wearing a Wölfpac shirt. Nash & Hall hugged, reunited without any mention of earlier conflicts and issues. "These are not taped matches." That doesn't make them good matches, as I'm sure Hogan will teach us. "This is what World Championship Wrestling is all about." And that's the problem, isn't it? Well, you wouldn't believe this shit unless you saw it yourself: Nash laid down right at the start of the match, Hogan covered him, the referee hesitated a second and then counted three. Hogan, Nash, Hall, and Steiner all hugged. Eric Bischoff, who had been silent on commentary the whole night, finally erupted into commentary, which was the only good part of the whole deal. Goldberg charged the ring and, thankfully, laid out everybody in turn. As he was going for his jackhammer on Hogan, Lex Luger ran in seemingly on Goldberg's side, but he also turned on Goldberg. Goldberg was shocked by Hall, racked by Luger, and spray-painted by Hogan & Nash. This is reinventing WCW: a strong NWO, based on star power, led by Hogan, with Nash, Hall, Scott Steiner, Luger, and Giant in the fold; a strong WCW led by the Four Horsemen, DDP, Booker T, Bill Goldberg, and Randy Savage. Oh yeah, and Cruisers left to the undercard, along with an LWO story line that is going nowhere. I'm a bit disappointed, but I still want to see what Ric Flair manages to do. In hindsight, Starrcade and the past two Nitros told a story that built to this reshuffling and sort of fits in to some earlier story lines. My problem is that it isn't a story that I wanted to see. - The Observer reports that Lex Luger nixed plans for a Luger vs. Scott Steiner match at Starrcade. I guess that that might not be as bad as it sounds since it would fly in the face of the plan for 1999. - As has likely been reported everywhere, WCW has a six show deal with NBC to put on live prime-time specials, all airing from Las Vegas, and all requiring the participation of the NBC-perceived stars like Hulk Hogan and Randy Savage. NBC can cancel the deal at any time, and it is possible that the deal could be extended beyond the current six-show deal. Vince McMahon voices suspicion about there actually being a deal, since NBC hasn't publically acknowledged it yet and the WWF was never even contacted as a possible wrestling choice, but Eric Bischoff is preaching that the WWF's rougher edge coupled with the desire for Hogan made NBC avoid the WWF. The first two shows are slated for 02/14 and 03/28, opposite the WWF's Valentine's Day Massacre and WrestleMania PPVs respectively, although dates may change with the NBA agreement being reached. The difference in exposure between a cable show and a network show is enormous, so this is a huge coup for WCW. NBC is apparently planning to use the current wrestling popularity to push some of its programs by having the stars of those shows appear at the wrestling shows. "Friends"' Matthew Perry is supposed to appear at the first show. - Although the Giant seems to definitely be leaving the promotion, it appears that WCW gets the better part of the deal since Chris Benoit, Dean Malenko, and Eddie Guerrero have all agreed to stay with the promotion for $1.35-million contracts over three years. And with that outlay, it's expected that all three wrestlers will be pushed. Wouldn't it be great to see Benoit & Malenko teaming to beat some NWO team on NBC in front of huge network audience? The Observer actually reports that Benoit might be programmed with Bret Hart, which would be awesome. On the down side, Eddie Guerrero suffered a serious car accident on new year's eve and will likely be out of action for a number of months. And the most marketable talent of all in WCW, Chris Jericho, is still holding out on signing a new contract despite threats of being jobbed out or dropped from TV. But, hey, the "retired" Marc Mero signed a three-year extension to his contract. - I had the chance to watch some All Japan and New Japan TV over the holidays. There can be no doubt that the G1 Climax final night was the best night of pro-wrestling in 1998, with that three-night tourney being the best event of the year. The junior heavyweight matches with Jushin Liger & co. (El Samurai, Kendo Ka Shin) vs. Shinjiro Otani & co. (Koji Kanemoto, Tatsuhito Takaiwa) easily comprised the best feud of the year. The wrestling that these guys deliver is just unmatched by anybody in the world. If you see one of their lowly * * * -rated efforts, you'd be hard-pressed to consider almost any * * * * -rated North American match as being on the same level. - At the key matches at the Tokyo Dome on 01/04/99, Jushin Liger pinned Koji Kanemoto to retain his IWGP Jr. Title, Kendo Ka Shin & Dr. Wagner Jr. beat Shinjiro Otani & Tatsuhito Takaiwa to win the IWGP Jr. Tag Titles, Kensuke Sasaki beat Atsushi Onita by DQ (it had be rumoured that Sasaki would do the job as punishment), Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Satoshi Kojima beat Genichiro Tenryu & Shiro Koshinaka to win the IWGP Tag Titles, and Keiji Muto beat Scott Norton to win the IWGP Title. Word is that Eric Bischoff was strongly opposed to Norton losing the title before he (Eric) had a chance to use his reign for anything. - 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 plan is to have Brian Christopher & Soctt Taylor get married on this show (yes, to each other). - 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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