______________________________________________________________________ I do not offer subscriptions to a mailing list! I do not e-mail images! ______________________________________________________________________ The e-mail link on all pages now works (or will work by Friday)! I will check e-mail daily. I've also got a tape update ready to go. Hopefully, it will have been uploaded by the time you feed this. In order to fix the e-mail link on every page, I have to upload every text file on my site. This could take a while, because the server sometimes gives up on me after 500 files (and the entire site is probably closer to 2000 text files!). I'll be interested to hear from all long-time correspondents again. Drop me some mail. ______________________________________________________________________ Women Boy, it sure is tough being a woman in pro-wrestling. ______________________________________________________________________ RAW RAW on 02/01/99 was a taped show that followed the usual formula. The focus was on story lines thrown out a rapid pace, whether they made sense or not. A lot of people praise the WWF product because of the story lines, crediting those stories for the success of the product. It seems to me, though, that the current successful climate for pro-wrestling brought about by the actions of both major companies and the cyclical nature of wrestling in North America allows both promotions to deliver whatever they want right now...at least until they kill the goose that gave them this golden egg. In the case of the WWF, do people honestly believe that the story lines in the promotion are awesome? Austin's feud with Vince & co. is hot, but is that because the characters are hot or because the story lines are great? I would argue that even this most important WWF story line is filled with muddled, often contradictory, bits. I've wondered about some of these things in the past on this page. The real success of the WWF is the rough edge, through all levels of the product. Lewd catchphrases, stripping valets, "hardcore" action. I keep thinking that these idea all promise short-term success, but at some point, probably this year, the WWF is going to have to bend and tone the product down. On this RAW, they started hyping the cage match between Vince McMahon and Steve Austin. In a series of vignettes, McMahon and his stooges went to Texas to find Austin, with the idea being that Vince would get Austin to blow up, punch Vince, and hence violate his agreement to not touch Vince outside of a match and be history. If Vince owns the company, why doesn't he just can Austin or at least kill his match with Austin or Austin's spot in WrestleMania? Yeah, what great story lines. The vignettes were supposed to be funny, I guess, but I didn't "get it." The main event was Hunter Hearst Helmsley vs. Kane in a cage match. HHH is better than I give him credit for, but he's still not special. And you have to be special to have a watchable match with Kane. The Observer mentioned that a long-time subscriber wrote the stuff in the current MAD magazine wrestling issue. In there, they plug a Kane cardboard cut-out: place it wherever you want and it just stands there. That's the truth. X-Pac & Chyna got involved, with HHH winning. X-Pac vs. Kane looks on for the Valentine's day PPV. Wrestlingwise, RAW once again offered pretty much nothing. The Brood joined up with Undertaker's Ministry, which is an absolutely brutal squad of guys. Nitro Nitro on 02/04/99 was a three-hour show. Nitro airs Wednesday afternoons on TSN in Canada. The opening hour was pretty frustrating. They talked about and recapped past stuff for the first 20-odd minutes. Brutally boring. The only new stuff saw Scott Steiner attempt to molest Kimberly again. What a drag. Finally, Chris Benoit & Dean Malenko faced Barry Windham & Curt Hennig, a match that actually has a lot of issues attached to it. Benoit was absolutely awesome, as we'd expect. The match was reasonably long, with the crowd largely in support of the Horsemen, but it was only good if you are a Benoit watcher (and then it was frustratingly good, because you spend so much time thinking that he deserves so much more). Of course, that Horsemen crowd support meant that they had to lose, with Benoit doing the job. This added to my frustration because Benoit had sold like mad last week to make stiffs look good and then did the same this week, but he never gets put over. Just as I was lamenting the crappy use of Benoit, they set up a Benoit vs. Scott Hall match for later in the show. Please let Benoit break out, my heart said. Don't hold your breath, my brain answered. The tag match was a tag tournament match, with the tournament crumbling ever more with every TV broadcast. Speaking of crappy, Sandman, called "that man" by Tony Schiavone throughout the segment, came out to claim his crown as the king of garbage, er...hardcore, wrestling. He was wrapped in barbed wire and hit an okay promo, but he's the Sandman. They didn't acknowledge his appearance as a civilized friend of Raven's family. Weird, but I guess the powers that be think that garbage wrestling has a fanbase. It was sort of a sad moment for me. I was laughing when Sandman talked about other peole stealing his work...like what he does could ever be called "work." He called out Bigelow and the two had a horrible "match." Sandman took a few chair shots. You know, I didn't care. Before Bigelow came out, they went to a commercial. TSN airs its own commercials, of course, cutting away to a live sports desk update. The sports reporter, who usually acts very insulting towards what he calls "rasslin'" has to watch the monitor so he times his opening correctly. He often makes a remark about the star wrestler in the segment he follows. This time around, with Sandman standing in the ring, the TSN guy said, "That guy.......has a lot of problems." Scott Steiner did a promo, saying that the women in the crowd were "mesmermized" by his presence. Why does he get mic time? Bobby Heenan actually joked about the verbal miscue, which was darn funny 'cause Heenan will probably get heat for it. Steiner beat Chris Jericho, thanks in some part to Saturn's interference. Jericho actually submitted to the Steiner Recliner. Eric & Kimo To the left, Eric Bischoff & Kimo Leopoldo meet. Kevin Nash & Lex Luger will face Konnan & Rey Misterio Jr. at SuperBrawl, with Rey's mask on the line against Elizabeth's hair. Benoit vs. Hall received main event status. The winner of the match earned the title shot at Bret Hart at SuperBrawl. Bret Hart did guest commentary. Hart said he'd like to face Benoit, which sealed Chris' fate. Kevin Nash came out, Benoit got distracted, and Scott Hall got the win. I was damn deflated with that finish, terribly disappointed that they didn't take the chance to elevate Benoit. Is it any wonder that Chris Jericho wants to leave? During the show, they aired some clips of Hulk Hogan stalking David Flair. They waited on him at the gym, but the show went off the air as David arrived and Hogan joked about what he was going to do to him. - I managed to get through the All Japan and New Japan TV from the last few months. After watching the shows, I had a few thoughts. The best feud of 1998 without any hesitation and with no doubt was Jushin Liger & co. vs. Shinjiro Otani & co. The junior heavyweights delivered the most incredible wrestling every time they were on TV (and, you know, every time they worked, period). The style in the Jr. Heavy division is the most revolutionary style in the world. Kidman & Rey & co. are a notch behind, as the New Japan juniors manage to always add a few extra elements as time goes by. Cutting edge stuff. I absolutely love Shinjiro Otani's rotating power bomb. The Mistuharu Misawa vs. Kenta Kobashi title match on 10/31/98 deserved the match of the year kudos it received in the Observer readership poll. I also enjoyed seeing Yuji Nagata get to show some greatness. He was actually darn awesome in some matches. The IWGP title match with Scott Norton was really disappointing because Norton didn't sell for Nagata. - Mankind has been making some guest appearances in Toronto, building to the 02/08/99 live RAW from Toronto's SkyDome next week. Firstly, on Monday, 02/01/99, Mankind appeared at a mall in Scarborough, where my parents live. For whatever reason, the WWF routinely has their talent appear in Scarborough. Last year, Edge appeared at a different mall and the New Age Outlaws appeared at a Walmart. Neither of those guys managed to lure my parents out of the house. But they did decide to go see Mankind. The appearance ran from 4pm to 6pm, and my parents rolled into the crowded parking lot at 4pm. The queue already went out of the mall and ran through the parking lot. My dad guestimated that 500-600 people were milling about. Inside the mall, security officials made the line run down the middle of the mall's concourse, yelling that people had to be able to access the shops. My mom nonchalantly strolled down the aisle, and Mankind's eye caught her. She was decked out in her Smoky Mountain Wrestling T-shirt, as a joke. Mankind's eyes stayed on her long enough for her to just stroll over and say, "Hi Cactus, it's a pleasure to meet you." Foley, in full Mankind garb, laughed and gave her a signed promo photo. That night, Mankind appeared on Gallagher on TSN. Nothing special to note here, but Foley did joke about taking 15 chair shots to make his fans happy. I found that kind of sad, actually. Someone asked what sort of gimmick matches he's been in. He said that earlier that day (at the Scarborough mall) a male fan met him and told him that he watches the "King of the Death Match" tournament every day. Foley said that made him think two things right away: (1) This guy does not have a girlfriend, and (2) This guy has way too much time on his hands. I actually had those two thoughts and a third one: (3) How did Sanjay get to Scarborough on a Monday afternoon? That Gallagher show featured the Canadian debut of the WWF Superbowl commercial. The production value of the ad was amazing, but the "Get it!" message is annoying. I guess I don't "get" the entertainment value of a guy having his brains whacked out by a steel chair (among other things). But the WWF is trying to get "bad boy" heat that it can spin as a positive. It is definitely a razor's edge to navigate. There is a lot of talk that the WWF is feeling some heat from sponsors about the flavour of its product. Certainly, in Canada, there's the incident in Winnipeg. The school board isn't bending to the WWF's PR attempts. - Regarding the Rocky Maivia vs. Mankind match at the Rumble, the Observer writes, "One of the problems with this match was it was evident Rock wasn't going to take any punishment while Foley was going to take a ton, so it was more like a stuntman show with a few spots being set up, than a tension filled wrestling match." Indeed. Meltzer also called the Rumble match the worst Rumble match of them all. - Sadly, Shoehi "Giant" Baba passed away on Sunday, 01/31/99. I found out on Monday, just after reading the Observer, which talked about how nobody was really worried that his recent hospitalization meant anything too serious. Baba was a huge symbol of puroresu and there are sure to be emotional moments in Japan because of his death. Every newspaper and news program mentioned his death. - The WWF is reporting that the Royal Rumble drew a 1.6 buy rate, which, given the history of the company, means the actual number was lower. I'm sure they broke through the 1.2 mark, but I doubt that they are releasing a legit figure. Even when the truth is impressive, wrestling companies lie. - The TV Guide in the stores here this week have Steve Austin or Edge covers. - The WWF has In Your House: Valentine's Day Massacre on 02/14/99. Line-up has * Steve Austin vs. Vince McMahon in a cage match for Austin's title challenge spot at WrestleMania * Rocky Maivia vs. Mankind for the WWF Title in a "last man standing" match * Ken Shamrock vs. Billy Gunn vs. Val Venis for the IC Title * Billy Gunn vs. Val Venis vs. Ken Shamrock in a triangle match for the IC Title * Road Dog vs. Al Snow in a two out of three falls match for the Hardcore Title * Owen Hart & Jeff Jarrett vs. Big Boss Man & Test for the Tag Titles * X-Pac vs. Kane * Gillberg vs. Christian for the WWF Lightheavyweight Title * Brian Christopher & Scott Taylor vs. Too Cold Scorpio & Bob Holly This show was originally going to feature the wedding of Too Hot, but that idea seems to have been killed, perhaps largely in part to Brian's worries. Just to show that both sides book a lot of things on the fly, the current WWF RAW magazine mentions that there is talk that Brian & Scott are getting closer and may adopt a small addition to their pair. No joke. The Observer muses that the killing of the wedding also seems to have killed whatever push may have been planned for Too Hot, which is Too Bad. - WCW has SuperBrawl on 02/21/99. Line-up has * Hulk Hogan vs. Ric Flair for the WCW Title * Bret Hart vs. Scott Hall for the US Title * Lex Luger & Kevin Nash vs. Rey Misterio Jr. & Konnan, with Misterio's mask against Liz's hair * Diamond Dallas Page vs. Scott Steiner * Goldberg vs. Bam Bam Bigelow It's expected that Misterio will lose his mask in his match (you don't expect Liz to lose her hair, do you?). Apparently, even though he balked at the idea a year-and-a-half ago, this time around he's willing to do it because he believes that the new booking regime will look after him. - PPV buy rates, revenue (in millions), and match statistics for the WWF, WCW, and ECW are presented in the following 1998 summary sheet (the PPV draw(s) are listed, as well as the quality matches): Show Data Match Rating Data Show Details Buy Rate Gross Mean Median Peak % >= * * * * WWF 99/01/24: Royal Rumble Mankind vs. Rocky Maivia Royal Rumble Last 6 0.99 $4.43 1.55 1.59 3.417 1.8% (1 of 56) 1998 1.02 $4.42 1.60 1.63 3.65 4.0% (4 of 101) 1997 0.61 $1.84 2.18 1.81 3.792 8.0% (6 of 75) Show Data Match Rating Data Show Details Buy Rate Gross Mean Median Peak % >= * * * * WCW 99/01/17: Souled Out Bill Goldberg vs. Scott Hall Ric Flair & David Flair vs. Curt Hennig & Barry Windham 1.83 * 1/2 * * * * Billy Kidman vs. Rey Misterio Jr. vs. Juventud Guerrera vs. Psicosis 11.1% (1 of 9) Last 6 0.82 $3.66 1.20 1.33 3.75 3.6% (2 of 55) 1999 1.83 1.5 4 11.1% (1 of 9) 1998 0.93 $3.96 1.54 1.73 3.73 4.5% (5 of 111) Show Data Match Rating Data Show Details Buy Rate Gross Mean Median Peak % >= * * * * ECW 99/01/10: Guilty As Charged Shane Douglas vs. Taz 0.2 $0.42 1.68 * * 1/2 * * * 1/2 Yoshihiro Tajiri vs. Super Crazy 0.0% (0 of 7) Last 6 0.22 $0.42 1.93 2 3.42 5.3% (1 of 19) 1999 0.2 $0.42 1.68 2.5 3.5 0.0% (0 of 7) 1998 0.23 $0.43 1.56 1.5 3.00 3.7% (1 of 27) 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. - 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. Don't forget to delete the leading "x" from my e-mail address; that "x" is my web spider spam guard. ______________________________________________________________________