______________________________________________________________________ I do not offer subscriptions to a mailing list! I do not e-mail images! ______________________________________________________________________ RAW RAW on 07/19/99 aired overnight on Monday on TSN. Several readers wrote to let me know that Heat last week did in fact air on Sunday, but outside of its usual timeslot on CTV SportsNet. RAW was a taped show from last week, but that doesn't even play a role in the ratings. Remember when everybody was going on about taped vs. live programs? In the end, we've all learned, if we didn't know it already, that it's good vs. bad programming that determines viewership. Understand that good/bad programming has little do to with good/bad wrestling. Kevin Kelly was substituting for Jerry Lawler for a portion of the evening. The Corporate Ministry came out to do their interview shtick. The point was to build interest in the main event at the PPV. They were finally pretty clear about what the stipulation in the main event is. Somehow, I just don't see Vince McMahon never appearing on RAW again (originally, Vince had said he would stay out of Austin's business); face it: the McMahons are the stars of the show! You don't just drop the lead on a successful show! Vince, Undertaker, and Hunter Hearst Helmsley teased some dissension. The fallout was that Undertaker would face HHH this night on RAW, with the winner facing Austin at the PPV and the loser facing Rock to determine who gets the next title shot (at SummerSlam). Undertaker said he'd bathe in Austin's blood on Sunday. Charming. Austin drove out in a "bloodmobile" and said that he would draw blood from Vince sometime this night, so you knew it was going to happen. Since Austin has to lose at the PPV, he has to collect on all of his other promises. Can you believe that they'll screw Austin two PPVs in a row? The plan is to give HHH the star treatment in an attempt to finally elevate him to the top level, so we should expect HHH vs. Undertaker for the title, perhaps with a change, at SummerSlam. I give the WWF credit for building new stars, but guys like the Rock & HHH are good, but hardly great, so it is hard for me to get too excited. Finally, the thought of Austin vs. Undertaker again does little for me. everybody complains about All Japan being stale on top while the main events still deliver the best heavyweight wrestling in the world; meanwhile, the WWF offers garbage wrestling matches on top involving the same guys all the time and nobody complains. It makes no sense to me. First match had Road Dogg vs. Chyna in a dog collar match. Road Dogg did some close-to-profane interview stuff. Before the bell could ring, Billy Gunn stormed the ring to attack Dogg. X-Pac came in. More building for a tag match. The commentators explained that the heels want the money fromt he DX gimmick and the faces want to attitude and style. If that's the case, you'd think they could just make that the agreement. Doesn't a fight usually occur only when two people want the same thing? After all of the sexual stuff that Road Dogg said, they still aired commercials for super soakers. I was flamed a few times for talking about the WWF marketing dolls, er, action figures at kids because a few readers took offense, claiming that there is a substantial adult market for the d..action figures (I've never seen an adult buy one for him/herself at Toys'R'Us, but I digress). I suppose adults are buying all of the super soakers, too. Shane McMahon & his Posse called Stephanie out to the ring. The commentators praised Shane for apologizing to Stephanie, but he of course then said that she should get back together with her old boyfriend Joey Abs. Stephanie said that the two of them had only been on one date and that she did that as a favour to Shane. Joey said he'd take her back. Stephanie slapped him. Brandon then told Kelly that Dylan had actually been with Stephanie, but Donna interrupted to clear that up. Oh wait, wrong show. Hardy Boyz vs. Val Venis & Godather vs. Acolytes vs. Prince Albert & Droz was next up. This match was pretty bad, but at least we finally had a match. The commentators embarrassingly push the Acolytes as the best thing ever. The Hardy Boyz came out on top in 4:25, but they'll have to face the Acolytes at the PPV. Based on the commentary, it seems like the plan is to put the belts back on the Acolytes. Jeff Jarrett faced Christian. Jerry Lawler returned just in time to say "puppies" a dozen times. Match was really short, but all action, ending with JJ getting a Russian leg sweep for the pin in a whopping 2:06. They even managed to introduce the guitar and Debra into the match. Crazy. Jarrett faces Edge at the PPV. Rocky Maivia faced Billy Gunn. Based on the position that these guys have in their promotion, you'd expect a lot better than we got. Match was sort of uninspired, ending in 7:25 when Gunn got the pin. Oooh, I guess we are supposed to think that Rock will win at the PPV, but I'm guessing that they'll do another Gunn interference ending. The Observer, reporting on the taping of this show, said that God had to put Rock in his place. Al Snow faced Big Boss Man, wait, no he didn't. No match took place, althought they announced it as a DQ because Boss Man used his night stick before the match began. Edge & D'Lo Brown faced Midian & Gangrel. Truthfully, I barely watched. I did zero the tape counter, so I know that the match ran 2:50. I also know D'Lo pin Midian. Steve Blackman faced Test. Big surprise, before the match could come to an end, the Mean Street Posse ran in, with Test & Abs pairing off. And in even less of a surprise, Ken Shamrock came in to attack Blackman. After that awesomely bad WCW Hardcore match in the ring of cars, the WWF is going to do the same deal with Ken Shamrock vs. Blackman at the PPV. Match ran 3:52. Big Show & Bob Holly faced X-Pac & Kane. Big Show likes Bob Holly. I still think they should pair up Nicole Bass with the Godfather and, after a while, have her jump over to Paul Wight's side. That way we could have the Big Slow & the Big Ho. X-Pac was great, but the stars of this show are Kane & Slow. I haven't been this excited about a PPV match in a long time. That affected my ability to enjoy this tag match, which lasted a short 1:51, I think, before the sports entertainemnt finish. Undertaker came out and choke slammed X-Pac for being friends with his brother and trying to corrupt him. Kane saw that his brother...wait, Undertaker is an actor named Mark Calaway playing a role - Vince told us this...but everybody says these guys are brothers and the commentators actually talk about their parents. My head is spinning. Anyhow, Kane saw that his, um, brother had been corrupted by the dark side, so he choke slammed Undertaker. Kane & X-Pac hugged afterwards. What a wonderful, warm feeling. In the main event, HHH faced Undertaker to deteremine who gets the title shot at the PPV. Match was pretty stinky, but Undertaker is like the Randy Savage of the WWF. He doesn't have anything left. Wouldn't you know that Steve Austin ran into the ring to attack the Undertaker. Rock followed up to attack HHH. They disappeared. Austin locked Undertaker in the back of the bloodmobile. Apparently, there's no access to the driver and passenger doors from the back in a bloodmobile, 'cause that was all we saw of Undertaker. How did Gangrel control himself with a bloodmobile on set all night? Anyhow, Austin went after Vince at ringside, belted him, and Vince bladed. Jim Ross announced that Undertaker would face Austin at the PPV. But Undertaker didn't win this match! I don't get it. They didn't even do the stupid explanation of Austin interfering to attack Undertaker leading to a HHH DQ. They never did announce a finish. Finishes are irrelevant in sports entertainment. Match ran 4:22. Tally time: 26:51 of bell-to-bell wrestling. Nitro Nitro on 07/19/99 was the usual live show, airing in full on Wednesday afternoon on TSN in Canada. They opened with a recap of the previous week's Nitro, including the inexplicable deal between Sting & David Flair & Ric Flair. Remember that Sting faced David, with a win needed to face Ric for the presidency of the company. Well, it was a sports entertainment finish, with no winner declared, yet somehow Sting earned the shot at Ric. In the recap, they showed David tapping with no referee around, so that apparently justified giving Sting the match. It makes Flair's supposed control of the company seem so suspect to anybody that wants to believe. Sigh. Tony Schiavone was replaced by Scott Hudson tonight, and maybe that was the reason that I enjoyed the show a lot more than usual; rereading that, I think I should say that I came close to enjoying the show for the first time in a long while. They announced off the top that Hogan would face Sid in a title match this night; thank goodness they didn't do an interview confrontation deal a la RAW to set that one up. They also hyped Sting vs. Flair for later, Dennis Rodman being in the building, the Insane Clown Posse being there, and Arliss being around. Wow, I was excited. That promised just about zero great wrestling matches, but one could be good. In the arena, Sid tried to find his way to the ring. He was slower than Big Slow, making Sid perhaps the Big Slowest. Sid did a brutal interview to build the main event. I was glad they got that out of the way. And, hey, only 11 minutes were gone in the show at this point. Was that good or bad? In the first match, Dave Fit Finlay faced Jerry Flynn. The crowd booed Finlay and cheered Flynn, which was sort of weird, since the First Family seemed to be positioned as heels in the last few weeks. But you can't get American fans of WCW to pass up a chance to chant "USA!" (To apply this theory to the WWF, you'd have to change the chant to "puppies" or "asshole!") Finlay was smart, though, and worked the match in the role that the crowd wanted him to be in. Every time I say this I get a lot of e-mail wondering if I'm on drugs, but I'll say it again: Finlay is good. I'll gop further and say that if I have the choice of watching Finlay & Norman Smiley or HHH & Rock in wrestling matches, I would choose the first pair. Match was marred by Jimmy Hart popping up on the screen to berate Finlay and cheer Flynn. Hart was outside the arena, holding Flynn's Hardcore Trophy. Finlay laid out Flynn and just walked out to get his trophy back. Jimmy Hart had crawled under a bus, which was sort of funny, made funnier by the trophy falling apart, and Flynn pulled him out. Of course, the First Family attacked Finlay, garbaging it up a bit. I don't think a bell rang. In my notes, I called this match 5:00. They cut to the back to show JJ Dillon going over the contracts of Lodi & Lenny Lane. Like they'd have a camera in this meeting. Anyhow, despite another closet reference by JJ, it seemed like they used this as a way to abandon the gay lovers deal with Lodi & Lenny. JJ revealed that the two of them are brothers. That's why Lodi was massaging Lenny. That's why they were talking about all of the "others" just like them in WCW. What a swerve. Gene Okerlund interviewed Hulk Hogan to hype the main event. Oh lord. In the second match of the night, Lodi faced Norman Smiley. I like Norman. I think he could be a great player, but they'll never use him like that. Smiley did a couple of nice things, but this was pretty much a nonmatch, with Smiley going over in 4:24. Boy, Lodi & Lenny are important. Sting faced Ric Flair. We've seen it all before. Scott Hudson mentioned that we saw them face each other in 1987 at the first Clash, which is close to right: the first Clash was on 03/27/88. Anyhow, Flair did a great job. Last week, his match with Dean Malenko actually suffered less of a crowd loss than the usual Nitro open, and I would guess that match, which was approaching its climax when RAW started, had similar appeal. Flair is the 60-minute man because he's the guy to put on 60 minutes into Nitro. Match was good, but the finish was crazy. Sid got involved, Asya and Arn got involved, Charles Robinson bumped, a replacement referee bumped, Sting put on the Scorpion, and Eric Bischoff, who was guesting at ringside, went in to call the submission by Ric. Afterwards, Sid Vicious lumbered out and powerbombed Eric. Hogan made the save. Match ran 8:41. Rick Steiner faced Horace Hogan, as another million viewers switched channels to RAW. Hudson & Heenan made such a big deal out of Horace being related to Hulk that we were led to believe that there might even be a title change. Well, no, Kevin Nash came out to interfere, with Steiner then hitting the bulldog for the pin at 4:20. Hulk came out for the save again, with Nash telling him that things between them was real personal. Psicosis faced Eddy Guerrero. Great match, with Eddy winning with the frog splash. Villano V and La Parka ran in afterwards, apparently still insulted by the unmasking deal from a couple of weeks back, but Rey Misterio Jr. made the save. Afterwards, Eddy & Rey shook hands. Hudson got excited at the impact this team could have for years to come. I was wondering why the one hold-out from the LWO would join the original leader of that group. Oh well, I guess they had to do something with Rey to separate him from the sinking Konnan. At least Rey didn't yell "hootie hoo." Match ran 5:21. Diamond Dallas Page faced Stevie Ray. Ray is just as bad as Kane. Okay, I get so much e-mail telling me I'm too negative: Rey is just as good as Kane. There, that was positive. The Triad did a pre-match comedy routine that just sucked; it was almost funny because it wasn't funny, if you get my drift. I felt bad for Kanyon, but I love watching DDP sink. Match just stunk because of Stevie. Here, Kanyon has been involved in great TV matches with Booker T and Chris Benoit, but he couldn't get anything out of this stiff. Even though nobody else could get a win over Kanyon because of interference from the Triad, they decided to give Ray the pin before the Triad could interfere. Yeah, give one of the worst workers on the planet the win. Afterwards, Kanyon tried to do a flatliner on Ray, who took a really poor bump for the move. Now that was funny. Booker T made the save. The plan, in case you didn't guess, is to have Harlem Heat feud for the tag titles. Match ran 4:56. Randy Savage faced Billy Kidman. Arliss (actor Robert Wuhl) was at ringside. I was impressed that Kidman actually was given more of the match than I expected. And the crowd supported him. You know that meant he had to lose; this is WCW! Arliss ranted on about Dennis Rodman being the biggest potential star in wrestling. Shut up. So, I guessed Rodman would surface during this match. Kidman was awesome. Macho Man stunk. The women got involved. Apparently, the plan is to have Miss Madness & Madusa split from Savage to be two wrestlers in a new women's division. Savage is against it because he knows that it means the two people he counts on to work his matches would be gone. Screw Savage. Savage ended up hitting the elbow off the top. Bastard. First, he devastates Charles Robinson with the move because he can't take the bump on his hip and knees any more so he hits the victim more. Okay, maybe Robinson just didn't have a muscular chest to withstand the bump. Why then did they let him do it on Juventud? And after injuring Juvi, who was out for a few days, why did they let him do it on Kidman, twice no less? Nash is a jerk, and Savage is a bastard. Dennis Rodman came in. Match ended with no real decision in about 6:50. Somewhere amidst challenges between Rodman & Savage, Madusa and Miss Madness scuffled, so I guess Savage loses the girls after all. Can you imagine how great Rodman vs. Savage will be without the women to work the match? Oh wait, maybe they will put one woman in each man's corner so that the women can work with each other! Konnan faced Vampiro Canadiense. This was a return bout from last week. They aired clips from last week's match. Konnan is sinking in large part because of his critical newspaper interview. It surely didn't help that Curt Hennig stole his heat. Bout it, bout it, and rowdy, rowdy. Vampiro was called a "punk mark buster" who has to "show improve." Damn, I hope Vampiro seizes the opportunity. He's getting a push because he took a legit beating from Rick Steiner in their TV match, coming out of it with lots of bruises, but didn't complain at all. Vampiro looked good, albeit a bit unpolished a la Edge & Gangrel & other WWF company. At 2:10, Insane Clown Posse ran in for the DQ, attacking Konnan for some reason. Raven walked down to ringside and...watched. Vampiro & ICP destroyed Konnan. Raven got on the apron. Rey Misterio Jr. ran in and hit a rough rider on an ICP guy (I pledge to never bother to learn the names of these morons) before Vampiro hit a power bomb. This was total WWF style, with so much happening with so many guys, totally inexplicable, overwhelmingly undigestible. Buff Bagwell & somebody, along with Nitro Girl Chae, did a parody of Ernest Miller & Sonny Onno. It was pretty funny. Of course, Miller & Onno came out. Onno destroyed his imitator, while Miller kicked Bagwell while wearing his shoe. Onno counted a pinfall on Bagwell, the second week in a row. How can they want Bagwell to be the breakthrough young star and put him these positions (using his mother, getting punked here)? Ah, I think that question may well answer itself if you think about it. Curt Hennig & Barry Windham faced Perry Saturn & Chris Benoit. The plan is to reform a Four Horsemen unit, so it was fairly clear that this was the match to initiate that. Rumours abound that Shane Douglas will be involved in the new unit, perhaps with Saturn & Benoit & Dean Malenko. During the match, Scott Hudson did a great job of explaining the tag team situation and the history between the wrestlers in this match. Demote Schiavone and keep Hudson in this spot, I say. Match was pretty short, with some good work, hurt by a commercial interruption, so we only saw 3:50 before the lame DQ finish. Sure enough, as the extra rednecks interfered, Dean Malenko came in, only to be knocked down as well. Bingo, Shane Douglas came out to even things up. After clearing everybody out, Shane Douglas did an interview similar to my daydream interview from last week. "If someone holds you down, you step in front of them, you bash their brains out with a stop sign, and you take your spot back. There's a cancer here in WCW and we all know what I'm talking about. I say tonight we take out the trash and we take out the cancer. We're taking WCW back where it rightfully belongs." Hmmm, earlier in the night, Sting won the presidency, while Eric Bischoff talked about Ric Flair holding everybody down, mentioning Billy Kidman & Chris Benoit by name. Could it be? Nah, this is WCW, so don't get hopeful. As it happens, the live crowd didn't really know who the hell Shane Douglas was. There was a very small ECW chant, sounding like three guys. Finally, in the main event, Hulk Hogan defended his WCW Title against Sid Vicious. I viewed this match as a precursor to Kane vs. Big Slow on Sunday. The poor commentators had to push this match as the best thing since sliced bread. Imagine having to choose between that and not feeding your family. Heenan: "Granny, put away the hot milk and watch this." He obviously knows that the 55+ women demographic is the only one that WCW wins over the WWF. Of course, Heenan also called Hogan "one tough S.O.Guy"...son of a guy? They stalled for the first 3:30. Can you believe that? Of course you can! That's why this match won't be as great as Kane vs. Big Slow. Hogan blocked an attempted turnbuckle smash! What excitement! Oops, wrong punction mark there. Hogan bit Sid. Or should that be "Hogan and Sid bit." Hogan's knee gave out when he tried a body slam. Hudson: "Did you see that? Sid did not do anything." I think they can play that commentary back during any Sid match. Why not just loop it? Sid barely bent Hogan's knee around the post, but the commentators suggested that the knee wasn't meant to bend that way. I don't think they mentioned that Hogan had been out because of a knee injury. Sid is so versatile that he didn't have to resort to the chinlock this time around; instead, he went for the cobra clutch sleeper. Hogan's arm didn't drop the third time. Hogan came back. You could smear this crap with a knife, or something like that. Sid missed the legdrop. Hogan did his trademarked routine. Sid didn't go down for the boot to the face. While Hogan gestured a slam to the crowd, Sid stumbled around the ring. What quality! I mean, what quality? Kevin Nash ran in for the DQ at 9:11, a number somebody should have called to save this wrestling show. Sting came in for the save. Rick Steiner joined in on Sting. Goldberg made the final save. Wait, after Hogan said he wanted to face Goldberg when he was Larry King, why would Goldberg stand beside him. It was at least good to have the three heels and three faces confront and trash talk each other as the show went off the air. Match ran 9:11. At this point, shouldn't Shane Douglas & Benoit & Malenko & Saturn have taken the opportunity to face down all of the cancer that was near the ring? I guess not. Douglas said he'd do it "tonight" and then did nothing. Good start. When Austin says Vince will bleed tonight, Vince bleeds tonight. That's the difference between the WWF and WCW. Tally time: 54:43 of bell-to-bell wrestling. Although the show wasn't great by a longshot, they at least seemed to build up a set of issues long in advance of the PPV for once. It almost seemed like they had some focus. Nah. - The WWF has Fully Loaded on 07/25/99. Tentative line-up has: * Steve Austin vs. Undertaker in a first blood match: If Austin wins, Vince will never get involved in his business and we will never see Vince again (whatever that means). If Undertaker wins, Austin will never challenge for the WWF Title again. No explanation of what happens if there is a DQ, but I guess this match stipulation precludes that possibility. * Rocky Maivia vs. Hunter Hearst Helmsley * Acolytes vs. Hardy Boyz for the Tag Titles * Jeff Jarrett vs. Edge for the IC Title * X-Pac & Road Dogg vs. Billy Gunn & Chyna * Big Slow vs. Kane * Ken Shamrock vs. Steve Blackman in an Iron Circle match * Test vs. Joey Abs - I received an e-mail from a reader that I think will give you an idea of the, um, cultural impact that the WWF has had on Toronto. He reports that a strip club which he frequents routinely plays the Rock's theme song as a bridge between acts. This club is actually well-known for its carefree adherence to the anti-contact laws in effect in Ontario strip clubs. Imagine getting a very friendly dance while the Rock's voice booms "know your role." - WCW has Road Wild on Saturday 08/14/99. Reports are that this will be the final show in Sturgis, largely because the company can't afford the luxury of giving up the huge gate that a live arena PPV show generates. - The WWF has SummerSlam on 08/22/99. Tentative line-up has * Undertaker vs. Hunter Hearst Helmsley for the WWF Title with Jesse Ventura as referee - The Observer reports that the Hardcore Title match at Bash at the Beach cost $100K to produce. Can this company spend even more money with increasingly less impact? Of course. - The Observer also reports that Kevin Nash wants time off to concentrate on the booking chores. That explains why the booking has been so bad lately: he hasn't been concentrating. It's expected that Scott Hall will return soon, somehow freeing up Nash. Nash is even selling his home so that he can move closer to the offices and work there full-time. - Sure enough, on Thunder on 07/22/99, they had a women's match. First off, though, they pissed me off by putting Kaz Hayashi in a great match with himself. He ended up losing to Van Hammer, who was also in the ring. The women's match featured Miss Madness against Brandi Alexander. Madness wrestled in a short dress, with no boots. The dress had a cut-out chest area, so Madness' cleavage could be displayed. The commentators said that if Brandi were to get a win over Madness she'd make her name in the sport. What? How many matches has Madness wrestled? The first answer is zero, which makes the commentary stupid, but the real answer is "the same number of matches that Randy Savage has been billed in." Madness took a great bump off a stiff clothesline. You could see the difference between her and the nonworkers that the WWF put in women's matches. She did a headscissors takedown a la Rey Misterio Jr. and the handspring elbow. She finished with a bridging suplex. Combining her missile dropkick with the few bits of goodness she showed here, Madness actually shows promise. They aired a video featuring Megadeath and Goldberg. Curt Hennig & co. hit the ring to put down Megacrap; Hennig challenged Goldberg to a match, if Goldberg was in the building. No Goldberg. Hennig said he'd face Goldberg on Monday on Nitro. He called him Bill Goldturd, with the censores blipping the "turd" part. Hennig faced Chase Tatum; each side had representatives in the corner. The No Limit Soldiers consisted of Chase, BA, Swole, and 4x4. What a team! Glad to see Rey Misterio Jr. wasn't there. Hennig went over in a screwy finish. Rey Misterio Jr. & Eddy Guerrero faced Juventud Guerrera & Psicosis in a great match with Rey & Eddy going over. Of course, with this being the one great match on the show to this point, they had to interrupt it with a commercial break. Randy Savage came out to challenge Dennis Rodman. He announced that Madusa was fired. Savage said that Miss Madness had "confused a lot of the situations around the ring," said that a new contest would be run to find a new Miss Madness, asked her to beg for her job, and then fired her. Rick Steiner challenged Goldberg in a prematch interview and then beat Sickboy. They aired a vignette for Alex Wright's new character "Berlyn." Kevin Nash challenged Hulk Hogan & Sting to a tag match; Nash said his partner would be a surprise, but everybody would expect Scott Hall. Sid beat both Lodi & Lenny Lane in a handicap match. Dean Malenko faced Ric Flair. The commentators pushed this as Dean's last chance to prove himself. Asya managed to interfere a couple of times. Finish saw Flair start to run, but Benoit & Saturn came out to send Flair back to the ring. From behind, the Triad came out to pound on Benoit & Saturn. DDP snuck in the ring, but Malenko pushed him off into Asya, screwing up his attempted interference. The referee managed to miss all of this, turning around just as Flair schoolboyed Malenko for the pin. At some point soon, they've got to put Malenko over a few times straight to remove the dorky stigma they've given him. - I had the chance to catch up on Japanese tapes this past week. On New Japan 04/17/99 TV, they aired Egg Dome show matches. Of course, Masa Chono vs. Atsushi Onita bit, but the IWGP Jr. Tag Title change, with Jushin Liger & Great Sasuke winning the titles from Kendo Ka Shin & Dr. Wagner Jr. was good. It wasn't as good as I thought it would be, though. On All Japan 03/14/99 TV, Kenta Kobashi & Jun Akiyama retained the double tag titles against Mitsuharu Misawa & Yoshinari Ogawa in a great * * * * 3/4 match from 03/06/99. Say what you want about individual performers in North America and Japan, but nothing else has the feel of a great All Japan match. The crowd was stoked for Misawa vs. Kobashi early on. They did a great spot where Misawa wanted to hit his elbow suicida out of the ring onto Kobashi, but Kobashi had too much fighting spirit and kept making it up on the apron. Misawa would knock him down and then get in position to run off the opposite ropes for his tope, but Kobashi was too determined. Misawa finally hit the move. Kobashi was still selling his neck and shoulder minutes later. While Ogawa doesn't have the technique of the other three, who really does? He still fit himself nicely into the match. When Kobashi bumped for Ogawa's flurry of punches, the crowd popped huge at Ogawa's passionate reaction. Late in the match, Misawa & Kobashi squared off again, after a hot tag, with the crowd intensely into the match. Kobashi put a traditional sleeper on Misawa and, after a few seconds, whipped him back in a pseudo German suplex. That was tremendous. Akiyama tagged in and hit a couple of dramatic moves on Misawa. The crowd was very excited at the prospect of Akiyama pinning Misawa. They tried to do a double powerbomb on Misawa, but he countered it with a double head scissors, tagging in Ogawa. Now, Ogawa really isn't at this level, but he managed to outsmart his opponents several times, with the excitement level climbing. Kobashi lumbered into the ring to break Ogawa's scorpion, but Ogawa held on for a handful of shots, with the referee getting excited that Kobashi didn't leave the ring. Misawa didn't come in until after the hold was broken. Kobashi & Misawa squared off. Kobashi hit a half-nelson suplex, with Misawa taking a second bump straight on his head. But Misawa's elbow slowed Kobashi; he laid out Kobashi with a rolling elbow. He tried for a tiger driver, hit it, got a two. Both guys were spent. Misawa tagged in Ogawa, and the crowd popped. Who would have thought? Ogawa hit a flubbed back duplex for a two. He did a much better-looking one with Misawa combining with a clothesline for another two. Akiyama was knocked down, but came back in with an exploder suplex on Misawa. Oh boy, they double teamed Ogawa, surely for the finish. No, Ogawa kicked out. Akiyama hit a jumping knee (tribute to Jumbo?) off the top, got a two, Ogawa countered a roll-up, Misawa came in and elbowed Akiyama, roll-up by Ogawa, Misawa on Kobashi, two count. Akiyama rallied while Misawa & Kobashi squared off on the floor. Exploder for a two. Misawa & Kobashi came in, with Kobashi knocking Kobashi to the floor. Kobashi passed Ogawa up to Akiyama, who was on the top ropes, with Akiyama hitting a powerbomb off the top for a two, thanks to Misawa's save. Misawa was clotheslined into the next day. Ogawa managed a surprise counter for a two. Akiyama hit an exploder for the three. Man, the final many minutes in this match were just incredible. Ogawa's passion and spirit were built up throughout the match, so all of the wrestlers came out of this match strong. If this tag match were to take place in a North American promotion with North American wrestlers (an impossibility, for sure), it would be the match of the year in North America without hesitation. On a subsequent show, the annual Champion Carnival tournament got started. On opening night, Mitsuharu Misawa beat Jinsei Shinzaki in a pedestrian match while Vader watched on from the backstage area; the idea was that Vader would face Misawa a couple of days later. In a great moment for me, because I really like one and really dislike the other, Jun Akiyama beat Akira Taue. Two nights later, Vader faced Misawa. Vader was great; it's embarrassing that the WWF couldn't find a way to use him. He's clearly winding down his career, but to be this good in this setting means he still has something left. Match had a great finish, with Misawa coming off the ropes and hitting a surprise elbow on Vader, flowing into a roll-up for the pin. It had just the right fluky feel to it. On the 05/01/99 New Japan TV, the opening match featured Shinjiro Otani & Tatsuhito Takaiwa vs. Koji Kanemoto & Kendo Ka Shin in a * * * * 1/4 junior heavyweight tag match. During the match, the commentators mentioned WCW here and there, but I couldn't pick up the point and I didn't rewind. I'm just pointing out that New Japan mentions WCW during this great wrestling match, no doubt saying something very positive, while WCW has mentioned New Japan once this year, just to say that Swole wrestled there (although I have never seen him). Match was wonderful. You know, I never got into Kanemoto, perhaps because he was saddled with living up to the Tiger Mask gimmick, but now I think that he's awesome. On the contrary, I think I've been easy on Kendo Ka Shin, who I also think is great. Takaiwa works these believable power spots into his matches. Otani did his kick across the face of Kanemoto, including one where he ran full speed off the ropes. Kanemoto blocked another running kick, though, and missed the Tiger Mask somersault off the second rope. Otani hit him with a swan dive dropkick. As the other two guys occupied each other outside, Koji reversed a german suplex with his own, hit the moonsault, and got the 2.9 count, with Takaiwa making the desperation save. Now that was great, sort of like some of the spots in the Benoit & Saturn vs. the Triad matches, with the exception that they didn't piss the close falls away on a screwjob finish. The finish was weird, though, only because Koji went up for a spin kick while Otani was out of place. They improvised, with Koji hitting an axe kick and then going up for his spin kick. Otani blocked the kick, hit a german suplex with a sweet bridge, and got the pin. Takaiwa attacked Koji after the match, after shoving off Otani. Not that I want to detail the next match, but I will mention the participants: Michael Wallstreet & NWO Sting & Masa Chono vs. Brian Johnston & Manabu Nakanishi & Kensuke Sasaki. Needless to say, this wasn't good. The NWO side got a great reaction coming out, but Masa Chono strikes me as being similar to some of the Americans I don't care for much any more, guys whose physical limitations are apparent in the ring but who still have great presence and psychology. Back to the Champion Carnival, on 04/11/99 TV, Kenta Kobashi faced Jun Akiyama in a great * * * * 1/4 tournament match. Akiyama kept working over Kobashi's knee. Vader, in civvies and sunglasses, sat in a ringside seat watching the match. Akiyama hit a twisting powerbomb on Kobashi on the ringside mats. Akiyama hit the top rope jumping knee, an exploder, and got the two count, with the crowd heating up. Kobashi did his patented slow crawl/climb to the feet with the great facials. Akiyama hit another knee to the back, another exploder, for another two. Kobashi blocked the next suplex, though, only to be met with a dropkick to the knee. Kobashi managed to get a sleeper on in the next triple-counter exchange, immediately going to that dangerous suplex from that position. Kobashi got to his feet, slowly, with Akiyama countering, but Kobashi eventually hitting a suplex. Wow, the counters and counters to counters were just incredible. This is the sort of match that makes me a wrestling fan. Kobashi hit a spinning chop, an enzulariato, and a lariato for the pin. It was tremendous. Four days later, Vader faced Kobashi in the carnival. These guys work so well together. Vader draped Kobashi's gut across the guard rail and then did a splash across him, with Vader himself tumbling over into the ringside area. Kobashi acted like he was dead. Back in the ring, Vader hit a couple of splashes but only managed to get a two count. Another splash in the corner, a big van crush splash out of the corner, all for a two count. When Vader clotheslined Kobashi, four times, without Kobashi going down, the sweat splash off of them. It was a cool effect. Somehow, Kobashi managed to get an ankle lock on Vader, who tried for a rope break, but was pulled back to the middle of the ring. He did make the ropes, though. He went for a german suplex, but Kobashi did a neat drop down into another ankle lock. Vader got to the ropes, hit a few punches, and tried for the powerbomb. Back drop counter. Double lariato. Kobashi recovered first, hit a few moves, and then went for a moonsault for a two count. Vader clothesline Kobashi out of his boots for a two count. Vader hit a german release suplex for a 2.9 count. Kobashi managed to hit a german suplex of his own, with guys lying there. Kobashi got a two count. Stiff punches by Vader. Splash into the corner. DDT. Two count. Big van crush. Two count. They traded slaps. Kobashi hit a chop. Two count. Both guys were selling now like everybody does one minute into a RAW match. The bell rang for the half-hour time limit draw. Eight days later, Vader & Kenta Kobashi found themselves matched up again in the match to decide the tournament. Both this and the previous match were * * * * affairs. The final tournament match was another enjoyable bout. Vader ended up going for a powerbomb, tenderizing Kobashi first, then hitting the powerbomb, all for a two count. Vader shook his head as if to indicate that he didn't know what he had to do. As Kobashi got to his feet, Vader charged him with a running splash, taking him down in a pseudo Thesz press deal for the pin and the tournament victory. Vader helped Kobashi to his feet, shook hands with him, and hugged him. They showed Vader backstage, crying due to his emotional victory. I've still got to watch tapes through to the end of June TV! - I've updated the PPV data for the WWF. I decided to include the Over The Edge buy rate and revenue figures, but the matches themselves were ignored. Notice that Vince McMahon made $5.28-million by not stopping the show when Owen Hart died. Lest WWF cheerleaders get concerned at just how bad the King of the Ring match quality data looks, rest assured that WCW's Bash at the Beach will be even worse. 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 99/06/27: King of the Ring Steve Austin vs. Vince McMahon vs. Shane McMahon 1.13 $5.41 1 3/4 * * 1/2 Steve Austin vs. Vince McMahon vs. Shane McMahon 0% (0 of 10) 99/05/23: Over The Edge Steve Austin vs. Undertaker 1.1 $5.28 Owen Hart dies 99/04/25: Backlash Steve Austin vs. Rocky Maivia 1.06 $5.09 2.28 * * 1/4 * * * * 1/4 Steve Austin vs. Rocky Maivia 12.5% (1 of 8) 99/03/28: WrestleMania Steve Austin vs. Rocky Maivia 2.3 $12.04 1.13 * 1/4 * * * 1/2 Steve Austin vs. Rocky Maivia 0.0% (0 of 9, no shoot) 99/02/14: St. Valentine's Day Massacre Steve Austin vs. Vince McMahon Mankind vs. Rocky Maivia 1.2 $5.33 1.28 * 1/4 * * * 3/4 Mankind vs. Rocky Maivia 0.0% (0 of 8) 99/01/24: Royal Rumble Mankind vs. Rocky Maivia Royal Rumble 1.57 $6.97 1.83 * 1/2 * * * 3/4 Mankind vs. Rocky Maivia 0.0% (0 of 6) Last 6 1.39 $6.69 1.46 1.4 3.55 2.4% (1 of 41) 1999 1.39 $6.69 1.46 1.4 3.55 2.4% (1 of 41) 1998 1.02 $4.42 1.60 1.63 3.65 4.0% (4 of 101) Show Data Match Rating Data Show Details Buy Rate Gross Mean Median Peak % >= * * * * WCW 99/06/13: Great American Bash Kevin Nash vs. Randy Savage 0.43 2.05 0.75 3/4* * * * 1/4 Chris Benoit & Saturn vs. Diamond Dallas Page & Kanyon 0% (0 of 9) 99/05/09: Slamboree Kevin Nash vs. Diamond Dallas Page 0.45 2.15 1.75 * * * * * 1/4 Raven & Saturn vs. Rey Misterio Jr. & Konnan vs. Chris Benoit & Dean Malenko 0% (0 of 9) 99/04/11: Spring Stampede Ric Flair vs. Hulk Hogan vs. Diamond Dallas Page vs. Sting 0.6 2.86 2.31 * * 1/2 * * * * 1/4 Juventud Guerrera vs. Blitzkrieg 11.1% (1 of 9) 99/03/14: Uncensored Ric Flair vs. Hulk Hogan 0.73 $3.48 1.83 * * * * * 1/2 Billy Kidman vs. Mikey Whippreck 0% (0 of 9) 99/02/21: SuperBrawl Ric Flair vs. Hulk Hogan 1.1 $5.27 1.89 * * 1/2 * * * 1/4 Rey Misterio Jr. vs. Kevin Nash Scott Steiner vs. Diamond Dallas Page 0% (0 of 9) 99/01/17: Souled Out Bill Goldberg vs. Scott Hall Ric Flair & David Flair vs. Curt Hennig & Barry Windham 0.78 $3.64 1.83 * 1/2 * * * * Billy Kidman vs. Rey Misterio Jr. vs. Juventud Guerrera vs. Psicosis 11.1% (1 of 9) Last 6 0.75 $3.51 1.73 1.89 3.71 4.8% (3 of 63) 1999 0.68 $3.24 1.73 1.88 3.58 3.7% (2 of 54) 1998 0.93 $3.96 1.54 1.73 3.73 4.5% (5 of 111) Show Data Match Rating Data Show Details Buy Rate Gross Mean Median Peak % >= * * * * ECW 99/01/10: Guilty As Charged Shane Douglas vs. Taz 0.2 $0.42 1.68 * * 1/2 * * * 1/2 Yoshihiro Tajiri vs. Super Crazy 0.0% (0 of 7) Last 6 0.22 $0.42 1.93 2 3.42 5.3% (1 of 19) 1999 0.2 $0.42 1.68 2.5 3.5 0.0% (0 of 7) 1998 0.23 $0.43 1.56 1.5 3.00 3.7% (1 of 27) Longer-term data is available. The data now runs back to 1991. ______________________________________________________________________ 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. ______________________________________________________________________