______________________________________________________________________ I do not offer subscriptions to a mailing list! I do not e-mail images! ______________________________________________________________________ I'm looking for a copy of the most recent ECW PPV. ______________________________________________________________________ - The WWF had Fully Loaded on this past Sunday, 07/25/99. Overall, I thought the show wasn't that bad. It was far from great. It had a lot of screwiness and garbaginess. I found that I was generous when thinking about the quality of the show because, let's face it, there hasn't been a good PPV from either company in months. So, I'm hungry for a good show; I'm trying to find goodness anywhere possible and some places where it is impossible. I'm not only seeking enjoyment from great matches, should any happen, but I'm also willing to find enjoyment in abysmally bad matches too. I guess I'm still a thumbs in the middle. Before Heat on SportsNet, a commercial aired for the "AbPad," with, drumroll, Rena Mero plugging the product. Something gets lost when she says, "Hi, I'm Rena Mero...." Apparently, the case will be settled out of court, Rena won't get the name Sable, Playboy will be able to use the name in her second layout, but the WWF will get a cut of the Playboy money. During the Heat show before the PPV, the commentators announced that Vince McMahon would be gone from the WWF if Steve Austin won the main event. That stipulation changed several times, didn't it? They also announced that the DX trademark would be on the line in the tag match. I swear that the WWF has made the point that Vince creates characters (think of Undertaker) and owns gimmicks, so who really believes that the winning team will own the trademark? During Meat's match, Kevin Kelly told the family audience that watches this toned down show that "Meat is basically a sex slave for Terri" Runnels. Rundown: * Jeff Jarrett beat Edge to win the IC Title: Edge had captured the title at Skydome the night before in a match that was switch from JJ vs. Ken Shamrock. The commentators made a big deal out of Jeff Jarrett being unprepared to face Edge in Toronto because he had prepared for Ken Shamrock. Does that make sense to anybody? He was fighting the two wrestlers one day apart in the original schedule, so we're supposed to believe that he was totally unprepared to face Edge the night before he was going to face him on PPV. Sheesh. Jerry Lawler even said that JJ spent "months and months" preparing for Shamrock. Yeah, months and months for a spot show and nothing at all for the PPV the next night. Whoever thought of this copout for Jarrett didn't think about it for more than one minute. Jeff Jarrett is now the Honky Tonk Man, "the greatest intercontinental champion of all time." Three seconds into the match, the "we want puppies" chant started up. The match was slow-paced for many minutes, not bad stuff at all, but the crowd was not into it at all. Who can be surprised by that? Despite all of its television success and the good buyrates that the WWF enjoys, the fans who enjoy the TV seem to endure the actual match bodies on PPV; they just want entrances and finishes 'cause that's what they are used to. Edge's hot comeback from a sleeper drew at best a polite, small pop. They did the headbutt to the crotch spot. 11 minutes in, the lights dimmed as the sports entertainment aspect took over: WWF run-ins are annoying 'cause the music and light guys are in on them. Gangrel came out, attacked Edge in the dark, and the lights came back on forty seconds later to reveal Edge standing over a fallen Gangrel. In the ring, Edge hit a spear. Debra got on the apron to distract Edge, Jarrett attacked, Debra fell off the apron, Edge acted concerned, Gangrel guillotined Edge on the top rope, Jarrett got the pin. This was a good opener, but it would have been fine to just have Gangrel run out for the guillotine spot, right? Why get the light guy involved? Despite all of the praise the the WWF cheerleaders want to praise on Edge, he still came out of this match looking unpolished to me, nowhere near the class of the incoming Chris Jericho or the WCW workhorses. Match ran 13:22. After the match, Steve Austin ran in and stunned Jarrett. Austin was mad that Undertaker had reopened his cut and promised to track down UT and bust him open before their first blood match. * Acolytes beat the Hardy Boyz to win the WWF Tag Titles: This match was under "Acolyte rules," we were told, which amounted to no disqualification and the Acolytes taking on the Boyz & Michael Hayes. That made sense. For some reason, though, they wanted Hayes in there. And somehow, just like in WCW, three guys can defend the tag titles. I don't know why the WWF would copy a bad idea from WCW. They brawled outside the ring to start, with the bell ringing afterwards. The Hardy Boyz did some dangerous topes and took some cool bumps, but got a two count off a missile dropkick. The match was tornado style, it seemed, with no tags. It seemed like ECW: just spots. Finally, it turned into a tag match. Maybe the Hardy Boyz' bumping will get the Acolytes over, but I doubt it. The Acolytes just stink. Match ran 9:35. * D'Lo Brown beat Midian to win the European title: In case you don't see the pattern here, we were supposed to conclude that these once insignificant PPVs are actually important and on the same level as the traditional major shows because so many titles changed hands. D'Lo was great in this match, but he couldn't pull anything out of Midian, who just stinks. They want Midian to watch Jake Roberts tapes and mimic his psychology. There was a quiet but sustained "boring" chant. D'Lo won with the frog splash. Bland match ran 7:21. * Big Boss Mann beat Al Snow to win the Hardcore title: The pattern continued. I'd like a pattern of great matches, but that's another story. Certainly, that's a whole different story than this match. To this point in the show, despite the brawling aspects of the tag match the show was mostly a wrestling show. Opener was good, Boyz & D'Lo were great although their matches weren't. It was time to let the garbage wrestling begin. The story line was that Head's screams were driving Snow crazy, but being beat up was a way to avoid hearing the screams. Snow basically begged to be a punching bag. This was so boring and stupid. They brawled out to the sidewalk, walk, walk, walk. Without crowd noise and without being able to sweeten a silent crowd, the match seemed even worse than the bad thing it was. Snow smiled all of the time. Boss Man handcuffed him to a fence, Snow slid down to the ground, and Boss Man pinned him even though his shoulders weren't on the ground. Terrible and lame. Match ran about 10:50, several minutes too long. * Big Slow beat Kane: Match ran 8:16. Give 'em 20:00, Vince! Bob Holly was the referee. Either Big Slow got fatter or he washed his black trunks on a hot cycle, 'cause we were seeing a bit too much of the Big Glutes, if you get my drift. Maybe he's planning on teaming with Billy Gunn, so we can have Bad Ass & Fat Ass. The match had one surprising spot, but that couldn't save the other 8:00. That spot occurred near the start, after some lame ass punches by Slow. Slow hoisted up Kane and tossed him over the top rope, with Kane taking a good bump out onto the floor. They brawled outside. Slow can't sell. He's so bad he makes Kane's selling seem alright, something that you know is a false impression. The punched, punched, punched. Holly's shenanigans made the match a little bit more interesting, but the work was atrocious. Slow lives up to his name ever more. Some fans at ringside catcalled Big Slow calling him a Big Homo, so Slow actually yelled back at them, obviously upset. Watching Slow lumber over to Kane between "moves" was brutal, and the match was mostly Big Slow offense. They didn't do a double foot to the face spot; I was disappointed. Slow powerslammed Kane for a two. Holly yelled at Slow afterwards, telling him to "grab a fucking leg." Slow signalled for an elbow drop, tried, but Kane moved. Kane went on offense, with Slow doing his horrible rubber leg selling. Kane DDTed Slow, climbed to the top, and hit his clothesline on a goofy Slow. Kane then tried for a choke slam, but Holly clipped him. Slow did his choke slam for the pin. It wasn't the negative star affair of their King of the Ring match, which is too bad, 'cause that means it was another DUD match that nobody will ever remember. Lord knows, I will remember the KotR match for a while to come. After the match, X-Pac & Undertaker ran in. Steve Austin attacked Undertaker when he left the ring, busting him open. * Ken Shamrock beat Steve Blackman in an Iron Circle match: Another lame idea, but lord knows that nobody wants Blackman in a wrestling match. The winner would be the first guy to leave this circle of cars; the cars were pointed headlights in to form a circle. Yet the wrestlers walked around the cars and the garbaged it up. They hit each other with everything, like Boss Man & Snow did, but nobody bled, yet Undertaker & Austin bled after one simple attack. Shamrock choked out Blackman. The bell rang before Shamrock left the circle. It seemed like they had toyed with different ways for the match to end, and the wrestlers played it their way while the commentators were on another page. Match was bad, but it only ran 4::08. * X-Pac & Road Dogg beat Chyna & Billy Gunn to win the DX trademark: Match was sort of pedestrian. Heat segment on Dogg. Hot tag. Heat segment on X-Pac. If you didn't think that the faces would win with this match structuring, you should be examined. The ref missed the tag. Chyna went for a handspring something, with the final bit of the spot leaving it totally unclear what she planned to do, with X-Pac clotheslining her. I guess one could say, quite correctly, that she was clearly going for a handspring into a clothesline. Seemed stupid. Hot tag. Everybody was in. X-Pac did the bronco buster on Chyna, with Chyna pulling him outside. Road Dogg hit the pump handle slam on Gunn for the pin at 11:45. The commentators assured us that now when we buy DX gimmicks we will know the money goes to X-Pac and Road Dogg. Vince apparently gets nothing. * Hunter Hearst Helmsley beat Rock in a strap match: Rules were summarized as no countout, no DQ, with the winner having to pin the loser. No dragging the guy around to the different corners. I was grateful for that, 'cause I always hate to hear the commentators ramble about "momentum." I guess the powers that be in the WWF have a sense of reality, so they didn't put these two in a legitimate match. Add a garbagy flavour to it and nobody will notice that the wrestlers are mediocre. 12 minutes of garbage wrestling in, after about five wrestling moves, Chyna came out. She argued with the referee, Rock hit his finisher, and the referee of course didn't count. 16 minutes in, just in case anybody was expecting any actual wrestling they already switched back to garbage. HHH dumped Rock, removed the strap, got a chair, got strapped, and Billy Gunn ran out. Gunn clubbed Rock for the two count. Rock hit the People's Elbow, but Gunn pulled HHH to the ropes. Gunn came in the ring and was rock bottomed. No DQ meant that anybody could do anything. That's so goofy. HHH hit the pedigree and got the pin at 19:21. This match felt like something out of ECW, and not in a good way. * Steve Austin vs. Undertaker in a first blood match: Match had pretty much no real wrestling, with loads of garbagy style brawling. It's the usual deal: if you can overlook the lack of ability required to garbage wrestle, you may well like this match. Finishing minutes saw Undertaker get tangled in the ropes and Austin grab a chair. Shane ran in for a sick chair shot, and Undertaker was freed. Vince was doing guest commentary. Vince didn't check on Shane, so they continue to tease that Vince doesn't care about his son. And, hey, his son should own all of the stock, right? Undertaker took the cover off of the turnbuckle, told Austin he'd make him bleed, and then Austin hit a Stunner. Austin went out to get a chair, laid out Vince, and met a chair shot to the back from UT. UT tossed the referee aside and went after Austin. X-Pac ran in and hit a spin kick on the chair into Undertaker's face. Austin used a video camera on Undertakers head, and knocked out Shane, who came in. Undertaker clearly went for the blade and clearly tucked it back in his tights. That was lame. They traded punches. Undertaker tried to tombstone Austin, but the referee saw his bloody visage and signalled for the bell at 15:36. HHH ran in to attack Austin. Rock attacked HHH. There was talk at one point of making the SummerSlam main event a fourway match so that all four of these guys get the rub from Jesse Ventura pub shots. Afterwards, Austin was knocked bloody too, but managed to stun Vince for the win. The WWF removed the strong sex stuff from the product and replaced it with blood. Maybe when they drop the blood, they'll replace it with wrestling ability. Hey, Jericho is coming in after all. RAW RAW on 07/26/99 aired overnight on Monday on TSN. First off, Hunter Hearst Helmlsey gave a "shoot" interview on Heat the night before, even using the word. He's so cool. He mentioned the clique, which everybody thinks is cool to spell kliq. As always, the Japanese mags were bang on time and published a picture of the infamous MSG farewell. Check my long-unupdated picture archive for an shot of this. I've received a question a month from curious readers, who obviously were not fans at the time, wondering why these guys were together in this picture. The show opened with Undertaker tearing into X-Pac. Fortunately for all of the fans in the arena and those watching on TV, they managed to get to the ring, which is, of course, the place anybody would rush to when they are getting creamed. Kane came down to save X-Pac; Kane must have eaten Mexican food earlier in the night because for the first time in his career he was running! Big Slow came out as well. Oh yes, they are going to put Kane, Slow, and Undertaker in a match. If only Sid weren't with the other company! Backstage, a limo arrived, and Vince McMahon got out. Wow, they violated the stipulation of the PPV main event after just a few minutes. Don't say that you didn't expect that. And WWF cheerleaders will argue, as they did when Owen Hart died, that the WWF fans needed this to occur on RAW, in this case Vince getting his butt kicked one last time before leaving for good. Those WWF fans are so needy. Puppies. Profanity. Catchphrases. Garbage wrestling. That they need. But they apparently don't need great wrestling. Bob Holly announced the first match: Edge & Christian vs. Acolytes for the tag titles. Holly's intro was funny. Acolytes stink. Christian is good but unpolished. And 3:40 matches will never get him polished. Anyhow, in a huge surprise to anybody who has watched any WWF TV in the past few weeks, Gangrel came out to drag Christian away, leaving Edge to be demolished. Holly then ended up getting whacked, and Kane came out to lay out everybody and challenge Big Slow & Undertaker for tonight because they "hurt Sean." They aired footage of Steve Blackman running down Ken Shamrock with a car. Shamrock wants to leave to have one last run in the UFCs before he gets too old. I'm looking forward to any of a dozen different UFC matches for Shamrock moreso than I've looked forward to any of his WWF matches. Vince McMahon came out to explain that he was going to bid us adieu, but Austin crashed the party, refused to shake hands, and laid Vince out. See, that's a big element of why the WWF is successful. They don't make their top babyfaces shmucks like WCW does with every one of them (you know the old, "okay, I'll trust you this time, even though you screwed me over the last three times."). Val Venis & Godfather faced Droz & Prince Albert in a street fight. I think that WWF matches shouldn't bother to mention the stipulations. The only stipulation that they should mention, because the matches are a rare and special occurrence, is a legitimate (i.e. no garbage wrestling) match. I didn't see much of this match, but it ran less than 3:00. HHH & Chyna came to the ring. HHH is a pseudo-Raven; while Raven asked "What about me?" all the time, never getting a push, HHH will get the push and so can proclaim "it's about me." There's something about a wrestler as mediocre as HHH saying that he can be world champion that reeks even though the world title is hardly given to the best workers. And when Jim Ross points out what an awesome technical wrestler HHH, I can't be the only one who laughs so hard he cries, can I? Still, I give the WWF and Vince credit for making the best out of a mediocre situation, first with the Rock and now with HHH, and with so many before them. Vince sees strengths in more of his wrestlers than Eric sees in his, which is so sad because Eric has so many superior workers. And, hell, both guys sees strengths in wrestlers who really have nothing to offer, but the difference is that Vince somehow fools his public into seeing those strengths too, except between wrestling match bells. Anyhow, Rock & Billy Gunn came in, with Rock getting mugged. Rock recovered in a split-second once the heels walked off, challenging Gunn & Chyna to a handicap match, the theme of the night, it would seem. Undertaker & Big Slow faced Kane in a handicap match. You know, this could have been a real sideslapper if only they were given enough rope, er, time to lumber around a lot and bore us to death. The ref called for the DQ on the heels at 2:08. Don't get me wrong, it was bad, but because it was so short it didn't have the bad impact that it could have had. Road Dogg came in just so he could get laid out alongside Kane. Jeff Jarrett & Debra came out. Jeff ended up beating up Ben Stiller because he liked puppies. D'Lo Brown made the save, so I guess we've got ourselves a new program! When I was listing reasons I enjoy the WWF a few weeks back, I may have forgotten to mention D'Lo, who is darn enjoyable. Ivory came to the ring. She dismissed Nicole Bass as history; the Observer reports that Bass left because she earn a lot more money doing apartment wrestling with men. Hey, don't ask me. Some "fan" came in to get beat up. Tori ended up running in for the save, destroying Ivory. Hey, Tori removed all of those words from her body. Damn, I thought she'd be like Hakushi, all written over. HHH faced Ken Shamrock, who made it to the ring despite being hit by a car earlier in the night. And if you wanted to have any real concern for Shamrock's condition, the commentary during that incident, with no hint of concern (perhaps hard to fake now that somebody has actually died in front of them), killed the illusion. Anyhow, in the lead-up to the PPV they made a big deal of Steve Austin bleeding, but Shamrock always bleeds from the inside. Does this guy like biting on condoms or what? They did the same hokey finish as always in this scenario, with the referee stopping the match because Shamrock couldn't continue. Match ran 3:58. During an interview, the Undertaker informed us that Big Slow knows what evil is. Yeah, so do I: any one of his matches. HHH came out for the umpteenth time this night. The one good thing about having a short roster is that when you decide to push somebody heavily, you can have him appear a dozen times and still manage to have the rest of the roster get some air time. Billy Gunn & Chyna faced Rock in a handicap match. HHH did commentary. Can you believe that the promotions are once again doing the same story lines, sort of? I mean, evil promoter here, then evil promoter there, I want to be in control here, I want to be in control there, I was kept down here, I was kept down there. Man, it is so annoying. The worst part about this "being kept down" story line is that the guys in WCW - Chris Benoit, Dean Malenko, the workers - they have a hugely valid argument because they are so talented, yet they will never get the proper respect from the promotion. Meanwhile, HHH, with a (small) fraction of the talent, has had more opportunity and will get a much better position than his talent level warrants. In North American wrestling, life ain't fair no matter where you work. To help get HHH over, Jim Ross did a rare angle with him, taking a bump after riling up the mediocre one. Rock rock bottomed Gunn. HHH & Steve Austin got into it. Somehow the show just ended, and we never learned what happened. We saw 8:25 of a match, well, we were interrupted a lot to see HHH, but you get the point. Tally time: 21:11 of bell-to-bell wrestling. Nitro Nitro on 07/26/99 was the usual live show, this time airing as a two and a half hour show on Wednesday afternoon on TSN, with a half-hour chopped for soccer. As far as I'm concerned, you could clip at least four or five hours of the weekly wrestling fare available on TV and I still would think there's just too much crappy wrestling on TV. Anyhow, Scott Hudson was back as commentator, with reports being that Eric Bischoff told Tony Schiavone he needs a vacation. Make it permanent, Eric. Eric & Hulk Hogan have largely been booking Nitro the last couple of weeks, with influence from others, like Dusty Rhodes, so Nash's stock fell after those highly memorable PPVs he headlined. Show opened with a video on Goldberg to Megadeath's horrible noise. Hulk Hogan came out for an interview. The commentary from Hudson was noticeably so much better than Tony Schiavone just as Hogan was walking to the ring, if you can imagine that. Hogan called Nash "Kevina," which was pretty cool, and said that he had two words for Nash, "Bull crap," which was even cooler. That's sarcasm. Hogan said he had no partner but he would gladly let Nash have a piece of him. They could move pieces back and forth between the two of them all day and at no time have one wrestler who was any good. Nash, Sid Vicious, and Rick Steiner came out. Why doesn't Tank Abbott come out with them? At least he'd be doing something for the money. Nash's heel interview skills and persona were pretty terrible. Hogan ended up punching guys silly until he was triple-teamed, with Sting coming out to clear the ring with a bat. I know! The wrestling promotion is dropping like a rock in popularity, so we'll say that it's because the young guys were kept down by Ric Flair and then continnue to push all of the same guys who have created the problem! That's a cure. Juventud Guerrera & Psicosis faced Bobby Duncum Jr. & Kendall Windham. Let's see: two of the best workers in the promotion against two of the worst (okay, certainly one of the worst in Duncum). I bet the workers lose. Hudson suggested an upset was possible because the heel side was overly concerned with Hennig vs. Goldberg later this night. Don't tease me! Hudson announced Benoit vs. David Flair tonight. Will they put the US Title on the best wrestler in the company? Sure. Bell rang as the heels were just stepping into the ring, which means the match time was artificially increased by 30 seconds. Windham & Juvi blew a hip toss. They pushed the "mystery tag team challenge" for later in the show; if they start hyping mysteries again, they have to be prepared to deliver great surprises, but they won't. The Mexicans bumped for the crappy wrestlers like there was no tomorrow. Match was a terrible squash, with the Mexicans getting essentially no offense. To say this sucked and sent exactly the wrong message from the one the promotion has to try to foster would be an understatement. This match was in the unopposed hour, right? That's the hour where WCW has a chance (okay, not a great chance) of winning over small numbers of viewers from the WWF. This is the hour where they have to push the reeducation process. In 5:26, Windham pinned Psicosis in a travesty of justice. Like Tony Soprano, the heaviness of life was wearing me out one match into Nitro. El Vampiro Canadiense faced Rey Misterio Jr. Konnan is saying that he was injured by the leg drop from one of the Insane Clown Posse last week. Rey was wearing the Cruiserweight title for the first time in a while on Nitro. Vampiro got to lay in a lot of offense. ICP took a bump and interfered for the finish. The commentators missed that one of ICP held Vampiro to block a top rope frankensteiner at the finish, saying instead that Vampiro blocked it. Eddie Guerrero made the save. Match ran 4:50. They aired a video melange of clips from recent Nitros. Nitro's new slogan is "Don't Miss A Minute." I won't take a pot shot 'cause they are too easy. Vincent faced Stevie Ray. In typical WCW fashion, they brought out the two NWO B&W fellows, with no explanation of why they would be fighting, instead having Vincent cut a promo to explain that they were having this match because Stevie Ray wanted to leave the NWO to be with his brother. Stevie Ray is the worst. I don't care which way the talent flows, but wouldn't it be great if Stevie, Sid, Kane, and Big Slow could end up in the same promotion in a fourway match? Hudson mentioned that Chris Rock would be on Nitro in two weeks? Oh, wait, that was some country singer named Chad Brock. Too bad, 'cause Chris Rock might actually make things cool in WCW for one minute. Horace, another awesome wrestling star, interfered freely. Ray got the pin after using his slapjack and then using the wrestling move he calls a slapjack. Booker T held Brian Adams off with a chair. Match ran 3:57. I can't believe that this is the best idea they have for using Booker T. Gene Okerlund witnessed Sting going into Hulk Hogan's locker room, just opening the door and walking in. But Gene apparently didn't realize that he too could just open the door and walk in, instead opting to pound on the door a couple of times. Will Sting be Hulk Hogan's partner? Who cares? Sting came out for an interview. He asked the crowd whether he should team with Hogan tonight: "is it or is not showtime?" One million viewers checked their clocks and answered "no! In 10 minutes on RAW it's Slow time!" Hogan came out. Sting said he'd be his partner, but he better not get screwed. How many times has Sting been the patsy in these deals? Oh well, that won't happen tonight. Sting said "showtime" a half-dozen times, so I guess that might be his new catchphrase. Jason Hervey joined Heenan & Hudson at the commentary table. Hervey did this cocky shtick that just didn't work and tried to pretend that he was a celebrity. Prince Iaukea faced Lash LaRoux. Well, sort of. At 0:52, Randy Savage & Gorgeous George came in to punk both guys for the no contest, making sure that we know that Iaukea & LaRoux are just as immaterial as Kidman & Juvi & Psicosis. Jason Hervey's commentary was so annoying after just 30 seconds. With the finishes, main event, and Hervey, this was a night where I could only think about how bad WCW sucks on so many different levels. Savage dropped the elbow on LaRoux; wonder what he broke this time? Dennis Rodman came out. It ended up with him kidnapping Gorgeous George, an angle we haven't seen in, what, two or three weeks! Ernest Miler faced Evan Karagis. Usual routine, 'cause Miller has nothing else. This time around, Miller open his briefcase to get out his shoes only to find fluffy slippers. Buff Bagwell came out with the shoes to taunt Miller, who was schoolboyed for the surprise loss at 3:36. Yawn. David Flair came out for an interview. He had Torrie Wilson on his arm, and she looked just incredible. David Flair did a "Mean Gene" a la his father. David had the nerve to say that he would be the second greatest wrestler to ever walk the face of the earth, next to his dad. He did a "wooooo" a la Ric. It wouldn't be bad for David to mimic Ric if David had a thimble worth of talent. Curt Hennig faced Goldberg. Hennig still hates rap, but since he started his anti-Goldberg diatribe by bashing Megacrap, you'd think he should also point out he hates heavy metal. But wait, "I hate rap" says that there's only "one" thing that he hates. Hmmm, Curt needs some counselling. Goldberg had a little blood trickling down his forehead after bashing the locker with his head. I wondered why the camera didn't zoom back to the nosebleeds. Goldberg pretty much squashed Hennig, with the remaining rednecks interfering. Hennig cowbelled Goldberg, who sold a little for it. Everybody got speared. The bell rang with no finish announced at 2:51. I guess it was a DQ, but it was a sports entertainment finish. You know, any goodness achieved by dropping Tony Schiavone was totally negated this week by putting Hervey out there. They aired a video package that tried to explain the history between Hogan & Nash, actually trying to appeal to the wonderful continuity in the promotion over the past many years. It's always funny. Boy, it was fun to watch Nash's hair colour change over this time. Lord, this package ran forever. What a great reason for the remaining viewers to switch channels. Patty Stonegrinder faced Madusa. Hey, if I wanted to reestablish a women's division, this is just the sort of match that I would want to put together. And I'd definitely put Jason Hervey on commentary. Madusa hit a lame-ass plancha, trying to fool us into thinking that this time around she'll actually be interesting as the lead figure in the division. Guess what: the division didn't work when the company was popular, it ain't going to work now! But at least they didn't waste any extra money on Chris Jericho. Madusa won with a german suplex and a bridge at 3:22. Scott Putski faced Shane Douglas. Well, there you go, one week in and Shane Douglas is just another wrestler in WCW. And a wrestler that didn't even look good. If you wanted to just absorb Douglas as another wrestler, why would you put him in the ring with someone so supremely untalented as Putski? The mind reels. A small ECW chant went nowhere fast. The commentators talked about Douglas being associated with certain wrestlers but couldn't tell us where that association took place. Doesn't that annoy you? It bugs me. Just in case you wanted to win a bet, the most over wrestler in this match was...Ric Flair, with loud "wooooo"s when the guys traded chops. Douglas got the pin with a fishermanbuster they called the Pittsburgh Plunge in 4:00 that seemed more like 15:00. Chris Benoit faced David Flair for the US Title. Scott Hudson announced that it was time for David Flair's reign to end. That meant that it wasn't going to end. The commentators said that Ric Flair was in Japan, and pointed out that his power in the company was no more. Still, with Sting in charge, for some reason Charles Robinson has a job and ended up being the referee here. The commentators said that Robinson didn't have a friend in the front office any more and may well be forced to call things down the middle. Oh, that's okay then. A sign in the crowd earlier this night read "Benoit for World Champ"; another dreamer like me. What a ridiculous match. Benoit took down Flair at will and emptied his nose on him. Chrles Robinson looked concerned at every turn, even though the commentators told us that he was unbiased. Flair chopped the crap out of David, whose chest was instantly purple. Flair tapped out to a standing Boston crab, but Robinson didn't ackowledge it. Top rope head butt after a suplex. Crossface. In ran DDP to lay out Benoit. DDP laid Flair on Benoit and the referee counted the fall at 4:54. I almost had a stroke that they would go with this finish; maybe, in some warped minds this fits in to a master plan of Ric Flair & family getting theirs, with the babyfaces having their hands raised at the end of the war, but in the mean time they are killing the value of those babyfaces. Dean Malenko ran in. The Triad ran in. Saturn ran in. Everybody traded blows. Shane Douglas ran in with one boot off. Ooops, now he looked even better. Can you believe that finish? I hope that the commentators and Eric Bischoff point out that Sting kept Benoit down. I mean, when Benoit was screwed during Flair's presidency and even before, Bischoff blamed Flair. This time around, it's clear that Sting deserves the blame. And can you believe that they had Malenko & Saturn around backstage just for this run-in? Why weren't they out there at ringside or in the aisle during the match, guarding against the run-ins that everybody expected? WCW makes their babyfaces look like idiots yet again. Do you really think it is accidental? Rick Steiner faced Chase Tatum for the TV Title. You know, they dropped the Nitro Girls & DJ Ran this week just so they could give us extra matches like this. Rick Steiner did his catchphrase entrance, another one that no fans get into. Chase Tatum came out to generic music; shouldn't he have some sort of rap music? With all that money they spent on Master P, surely the No Limit Soldiers will be booked as competitive wrestlers, right? Isn't contract value the reason that other shitty wrestlers are pushed despite having no ability? Well, politics are funny, you see, 'cause Tatum got squashed in 2:26, with a whopping two punches of offense. Steiner got in the mount, but the commentators didn't really play to the shoot style aspect of what Steiner is trying to do these days other than to point out he can stretch a wrestler. Horrible, horrible, horrible. Hulk Hogan & Sting faced Kevin Nash & mystery partner. Millions of TVs switched from that other show to find out who the mystery partner would turn out to be! Hey, think about the fact that somebody actually hoped that would be the case. Oh man. President Sting came out after Hogan. If Sting is president, wouldn't he already know who the mystery opponent is? Wouldn't contracts have gone past him? Oh, the contract didn't name the mystery guy, I guess. Maybe Sting's Vice President knew the details. Wait, who is Sting's Vice President? What's Piper doing? Who raised the briefcase? Who is the Greater Power? Why was he called the Higher Power? Ow, my head hurts. Nash's surprise partner turned out to be Sid Vicious. Wow! What talent in the ring. Ooops, there's that incorrect punctuation again. Hudson had to call these guys "the four biggest superstars in this sport." Heaven forbid that somebody on the booking team pointed out that Nitro would get clobbered in the ratings anyhow by RAW and that the "mystery partner" deal could be used to try to elevate somebody fresh earning Nitro the same rating it got using Sid. No, can't have that. Sid sucks. Nash sucks. Hogan sucks. Sting is stale. Tell us how you really feel, you say. Match isn't even worth talking about. They punched and punched and kicked and kicked. It was like Kane vs. Big Slow except the tag team setting allowed for enough distractions and switches to make it not die quite as badly. Although, an argument could be made that having Jason Hervey at the commentary table should earn this match a few more negative notches. Rick Steiner came out near the end, chairing Sting and slipping the chair into the ring. Hogan was hit with a pitiful chair shot (not that we should praise the sick chair shots, but there is a middle ground), the referee just recovered from a bump, and Nash pinned Hogan. At least they delivered a finish, however screwy, that built for the PPV match, so one could argue that this horrible match served some purpose. And since the PPV buy rate will be higher than the last few, surely that interpretation will be given weight by some. Goldberg ran in, too much, too little, too late. Steiner chaired Goldberg. The heels walked off, the babyfaces were all laid out. Match ran 9:35. Tally time: 45:49 of bell-to-bell wrestling. This was just an absolutely horrible show, beyond words. Okay, they actually built up a few issues for the PPV and there are still two Nitros before that show. That means that the PPV will likely get a much better buy rate that Nash's 0.45ish tour de forces, which were all horrible promoted. Sadly, that means that Hogan will say his return was the key element that turned things around. That means that we'll get more and more of Hogan. I'm so happy. - WCW has Road Wild on 08/14/99. Tentative line-up has * Hulk Hogan vs. Kevin Nash for the WCW Title * Sting vs. Sid Vicious * Dennis Rodman & Madusa vs. Randy Savage & Gorgeous George * Bill Goldberg vs. Rick Steiner for the TV Title * Harlem Heat vs. The Triad for the Tag Titles * Konnan vs. El Vampiro * Buff Bagwell vs. Ernest Miller - The WWF has SummerSlam on 08/22/99. Tentative line-up has * Steve Austin vs. Hunter Hearst Helmsley for the WWF Title with Jesse Ventura as referee Austin vs. HHH was the plan for this show a long time back, but the tease of Undertaker vs. HHH during the Corporate Ministry split actually got me thinking that they might go that route. There was speculation that the match would be turned into a fourway bout so that more wrestlers could get the rub from Jesse. - Vince McMahon was on "Off The Record" on TSN on 07/27/99, taped the week before. I thought about transcribing the interview, even though I'd bet that numerous web pages out there did that already, and even managed to type up a paragraph from Vince before realizing that my reaction to the show was largely affected by Vince's delivery and tone, the fake or acted sincerity that so clearly cracked a few times. With that in mind, I've prepared a few RealMedia movies for you. You will need the [rm.gif] RealPlayer plug-in. I made sure that audio quality on the movies was better than the default, so the audio is pretty crisp. I thought about not including the video, since it is often blocky anyhow, but I felt it added something. There are three movies: Vince on OTR on 07/27, Vince & Linda on OTR on 07/28, and the New Japan Owen Hart tribute from their World Pro Wrestling TV show. 99/07/27 TV 99/07/28 TV 99/06/19 TV Vince McMahon on OTR Vince & Linda McMahon on OTR New Japan's Owen Hart tribute (~20 mins) (~16 mins) (~2 mins) I'm not going to go into a line-by-line analysis of the Vince interview. It is clear that host Michael Landsberg remains a big Vince McMahon fan, as he didn't follow-up Vince's responses with the powerful questions that many of us would have asked. All in all, the most interesting portion of the two shows was the segment on Owen Hart. That's where Vince's acting showed cracks, IMO. First off, he repeated the lie that the promotion didn't know that Owen was dead until an hour later. He explained that the entire crew never even thought about stopping the show. Thinking about that response reveals just how perverted the wrestling insider mindset is. It was weird to hear his justification for continuing change one more time. He explained that the arena crowd was never told that Owen was dead because Vince was worried about how it would affect them. His wording suggested that he was concerned about their emotional well-being, but they could also be interpreted as Vince being worried about not getting good heat for the remainder of the show. Gee, I wonder which one interpretation is more accurate. The most damning moments for me, though, included: * Constantly avoiding the word "death." Owen's death was just an "incident" to Vince. When you hear him say "...Owen's...incident..." at one point, I don't know how you couldn't see through him. * Lambasting Bret Hart. Vince was upset that when he spoke with Bret for the first time since the doublecross, Bret allegedly only said one sentence about Owen, otherwise allegedly talking about how Vince ruined Bret's legacy. Disregarding that Bret couldn't respond to the allegations, the deeper question is why Vince felt that Bret should talk to him about Owen. If somebody was ultimately responsible for the irresponsible death of your brother, would you talk with that person about your brother's life? Vince seemingly didn't want to accept his responsibility in the death, oh sorry, "incident." * Saying that Martha wanted "one of the most lavish funerals ever." Why would he take another pot shot at Martha? And I've got to believe that that description is oh so accurate. Martha told Vince he could bring any WWF people he wanted to the funeral. It's perfectly reasonable to think that she wanted Owen's friends to have a chance to be at the funeral. Vince flew in the crew, loaded them on a painted bus or three, brought in stylists so that they'd all look good. Like she asked for that. But he's going to include those costs in the lavish costs of the funeral. On this issue, he's a prick. - Stuff magazine has a few mentions of pro-wrestling, all WCW. One of their columnists attended the Power Plant for a day of training and wrote about how he was brutalized during the day. They also had a mention of Goldberg elsewhere, with a picture, and a mention of Hulk Hogan. - The National Examiner has a column on the secrets of pro-wrestling. A reporter got backstage access at Nitro and wrote about what goes on before the event. Nothing earth-shattering. The paper also had a column with a few quotes from Earl & Dave Hebner talking about the referees controlling the ring action. - Here's an ad for a local spot show which features Ricky Johnson. I just like the way he bills himself. - The Observer reports that WCW plans to switch the presidency over to Eric Bischoff again and then have him go heel again. Oh, that sounds like a great idea. - I'm sure a lot of people made a big deal out of UPN president Dean Valentine defending his network's decision to air WWF Smackdown in the fall. He used the usual WWF-created explanations for the product. When all else fails, "it's entertainment. Get it!" I didn't have a chance to write anything about it last week, thought about it this week, and then realized that there was a great response to a letter in the Observer that does just that. The letter writer wrote "In recent months, the WWF has claimed that they aren't doing any satanic angles. Then please explain the Undertaker 666 t-shirt in the latest RAW Magainze." The response: It's a symbol. It's not a cross. When Undertaker said on RAW "hook him up to the cross," it was edited out on Livewire that nobody watches, so therefore, he really never said it. The WWF doesn't do satanic worship. They don't have characters who play prostitutes. They're ho's, damnit! They don't have pimps. He's just a fun loving guy who happens to say "pimpin' ain't easy." That stuff with women falling out of their tops. It's child's play compared to 90210 (I'll bet that everyone who repeats that line has never actually seen an episode of 90210). They don't do castration. It was something John Belushi did on Saturday Night Live. Besides, those Saturday morning shows that kids watch are edited. They don't want kids watching RAW. Besides it's fake. Get it. Fake. So it's unfair that they all pick on wrestling. Remember Len Bias, and uh, Len Bias, and what was that other guy's name on the Celtics? And all those athletes in the Olympics on drugs, too. You're asking why they don't have people drop dead so fast. Well, that's against the agreements of an interview. You can't ask about Brian Pillman and you can't ask about deaths or you can't get an interview. Besides it's all fake. You're not suppose to be asking real questions about something fake. Besides, everybody's jealous because they kick the NFL's butt every Monday night. At least among kids under 12. But, remember, they don't want those kids to watch. But if their parents think it's okay, who has the right to get in the way of decision making of parents? And besides, Sting did the same thing 100 times. Don't you know all the made up statistics? As far as your question, and any similar question, and any other questions we have no earthly idea how to answer, you just don't GET IT! - On the 05/29/99 New Japan TV show, they aired several matches from the Top of the Super Junior tournament, so you know that this was a great show. First match had Shinjiro Otani against Masao Orihara. Match was really good. Orihara, as the outsider, was given the advantage early on, with Otani not even getting his ring jacket off for several minutes. Otani finally rallied with a wicked low blow and then went on to hit a bunch of his spots. He did the kick across the face spot. Orihara rallied and did that same spot on Otani, who wagged his finger as if to say "you can't do my move" while at the same time getting ever more groggy and disoriented from the kicks to the head. When Otani had the advantage again, he rubbed his forearm back and forth across Orihara's face. They were in the corner, and Orihara dropped down so his head was at the height of the second turnbuckle, but Otani kept right on rubbing. Outside the ring, Orihara hit a chair shot and poured water on Otani, thinking he was the Rock or something. Orihara did a pildriver, where he first turned to ever side of the arena. He casually covered Otani, raising both hands in a Steve Austin tribute. At this point, the match picked up a lot from the unusual style (for Otani). Orihara did Konnan's top rope German suplex, hooking his own legs so he didn't take a bump. Unlike Konnan, though, who always climbed down to the ring afterwards, Orihara followed up with a moonsault for a two. Otani was getting schooled. Orihara got kneed when he tried another moonsault. Swandive dropkick. Power bomb. 2.9 count. Dragon suplex by Otani for the pin. Orihara came up bleeding around the mouth and nose. Second match on the show as Jushin Liger vs. El Gran Hamada. Now, long time readers know that Hamada is one of my favourites, largely because he's still able to work this style even though he's getting way old. He's older than most of the WCW guys who are clogging up the top level in that promotion. In the last year or two, it seemed like Hamada was a notch below the regular New Japan junior stars, but since those junior guys work the most state-of-the-art style in the world, that's hardly a criticism. Match was good. Lots of mat wrestling early on, a lost art in North America, it seems. Recent arrivals to pro-wrestling fandom in North America who manage to see their first tape of Japanese pro-wrestling often feel compelled to send me an e-mail pointing out that the Japanese promotions have too many restholds mixed into their style. These fans are from the spot-wrestling generation and have never been exposed to matches where mat wrestling and actual ringwork played a role in the psychology of a match or in the slow build to a match's climax. They can't place their minds in a state where mat wrestling actually means something, because it means nothing in North America. But they can wrap their minds around garbage wrestling, 'cause that's the main fare in North American these days. They'd rather see one-dimensional spot-wrestlers like Rob van Dam and Sabu or their WWF or WCW counterparts. Things picked up a few minutes in, with the crowd really into Hamada's passion. Liger hit a tope. They did several nice suplexes and the like, building to Liger hitting the top rope fishermanbuster which used to be a finisher, but in this tournament only got a two count. Hamada caught Liger on top and did a Diamond Cutter off the top, with the commentators even saying "Diamond Cutter" and "Neckbraker" after the move. Hamada did his way cool cartwheel-like flip to avoid a backdrop bump. Liger set up for the running Liger bomb, only getting a two. Tornado DDT. Hamada hit an awesome DDT off the top rope for the surprise three count. Nice finish. I'll just ignore the mediocre matches with the NWO. I'll just that in this setting, Jeff Farmer (NWO Sting) seems to now be a better performer than the real Sting. Particularly noteworthy matches on the 06/05/99 TV show (which actually had no bad matches) were once again the junior heavyweight tournament bouts. I will mention that Yuji Nagata looked really good, even though he gave up the win in his tag match. I also think that Don Frye will have some impact on the North American scene eventually. On to the junior matches. The incomparable Shinjiro Otani faced Minoru Tanaka in a great match. Again, some great mat wrestling at the start, with ankle locks and the type. Otani stomped the crap out of Tanaka into the corner, did the Hogan hand-to-the-ear deal, and then kicked Tanaka across the face in response to the crowd. Tanaka rallied with a great spin kick. He tried to suplex Otani over the top rope to the floor, but Otani swung around behind. Tanaka knocked him down to the floor and missed a plancha. The difference between these matches and the WWF's matches is that when they go to the floor for a spot like that they brawl for one or two spots before returning to the ring to the fan's applause. (Okay, there many many more differences, but it struck me that they thankfully didn't grab each other's hair and walk around forever.) Otani dropkicked Tanaka's knee, with Tanaka taking a spectacular bump. Otani kept going back to ankle lock submissions. The crowd was hot, popping for rope breaks and submission application, booing Otani when he refused to break the hold. In a cool spot, Tanaka managed to get a cover, and when Otani kicked out, Tanaka immediately rode around on top of him and slapped on an armbar submission. Way cool. Otani hit the swandive. He hit the power bomb. Tanaka got out at two, but sold it like he was dead. Otani gestured fpr the dragon suplex, tried it, but Tanaka in a blaze of speed spun around into an armbar. Otani scrambled to the ropes. It's not like they put on these submissions and just lie there, like in North America. They did a wonderful sequence of suplex reversals: Otani went for a dragon, Tanaka blocked, Otani dropped to a German, Tanaka reversed it to his own, Otani blocked, Tanaka rolled around into a great armbar for the submission win. Finish was awesome. In the other great match, Liger faced Koji Kanemoto. Joined in progress, Liger hit a tope on Kanemoto. He whipped him into the rail, did a suplex on the floor, and then got back in the ring. Yes, no walking. Liger slapped the crap out of Kanemoto. Kanemoto hulked up, but still sold it. Liger went for his palm strike on a running Kanemoto, who dropped to the ground and did a neat ankle take down, coming up with an ankle lock submission. Liger spun around a bit and made it to the ropes. Liger dodged a moonsault, hit a power bomb, and got a two. Kanemoto did an awesomely quick belly-to-belly suplex, diving around and putting on a different ankle lock submission. Liger wriggled around like a fish out of water, finally reaching the ropes to huge pop. Liger hit a fisherman buster. He moved gingerly on the bad ankle. He hit his running Liger bomb for a two. It seemed like he favoured the bad ankle. Liger went to the top rope, missing the top rope headbutt. Kanemoto rallied, ending with a nice moonsault for the two. He went back to an ankle lock, yet another variation. Liger tried to wriggle to the ropes, but Kanemoto pulled him to the center of the ring. Liger did manage to make it though. Kanemoto pounded him, lecturing. He went for a second moonsault, got caught, Liger it a top rope German suplex, with Kanemoto turning aroun in the air, landing on his belly. Liger hit the ankle lock, switched to a variation. The crowd was freaking out. Kanemoto tried for the ropes, couldn't make it, tapped. What a great match. Over in All Japan, the 06/06/99 TV show featured two awesome matches. Firstly, Kenta Kobashi & Toshiaki Kawada faced Mitsuharu Misawa & Akira Taue in the expected great match. This was a special dream tag match, with usual partners Kawada & Taue split up. Misawa was phenomenal. Joined in progress, Misawa was getting pounded. He dropped down out of a suplex, though, and hit a few elbows on Kobashi. It was weird seeing Kawada run in to kick Taue out of the ring. Kobashi hit a half-nelson suplex on Misawa, who took the bump on his head and rolled to the floor. Kobashi followed, leading to Misawa taking a duplicate suplex on the floor. Okay, they have mats at ringside, but the guy is still insane for taking that bump on his head. Back in the ring, Misawa kicked out at two. Kobashi dragged Misawa to his feet, hit a few more moves, and got another two. Kawada came in and used Misawa as his kicking bag. For several minutes, Misawa was totally destroyed and was just incredible at it. A few short comebacks were quickly cut off, but Misawa finally hit an elbow out of the corner and tagged in Taue. The match dipped for a second at that point, because, well, this is Taue. Taue tried the nodawa off the apron on Kobashi, but Kobashi blocked twice, so Taue instead hit a DDT onto the apron. In the ring, Taue hit the nodawa (choke slam) but somehow got knocked over and landed on his own head. That allowed Kawada to make the tag and the perennial tag champs faced off, battling with high kicks. They each hit enzuigiris, too. Misawa tagged in, hit a flying elbow, tried for a Tiger Driver, eventually got it, got a two count. He charged for an elbow, but Kawada met him with a high kick, then a lariato. Kobashi tagged in. Jumping knee, power bomb with Misawa's head whacking the top turnbuckle on the way down. Kobashi went up for the moonsault, but Taue ran over and pulled him down. Misawa flew through the ropes with an elbow suicida. In the ring, Taue was pummelling everyone, Misawa flew in with a missile dropkick on Kawada, Kawada dropped out of sight, Misawa hit a frog splash on Kobashi for a two count and tagged out. Taue tried for a power bomb, eventually getting backdropped. Misawa whacked Kobashi with an elbow. Taue hit his power bomb on Kobashi for the 2.8 count. Somehow, Kobashi managed to clothesline a charging Misawa. Kawada managed to get back in the ring, whacking Taue, with Kobashi lartiating him for the pin. All four wrestlers stood in the ring, holding hands, and raised their arms. Absolutely great match. The second great match on the show saw Takao Omori & Yoshihiro Takayama challenged Jinsei Shinzaki & Hayabusa for the All Asian Tag Titles. Now, while the first match on this show would be expected to be great, this bout would hardly have that expectation. Takayama stinks. Omori is okay. Shinzaki & Hayabusa are spot wrestlers. How could that create a great match. Well, truthfully, they only aired the last 6:00 of the bout on TV, so who knows about the earlier 21 minutes (!), but the crowd was hot and the work was really good. I guess you've got to credit Hayabusa & Shinzaki for putting forth the effort. It was still a bit spotty for my tastes, but it was darn good. Finish saw Shinzaki hit his spin kick to the back of Omori's head, follow it with a power bomb, all for the two. Meanwhile, Hayabusa & Takayama were brawling outside. In the ring, Shinzaki set up for his power bomb, but it ended up with Omori coming out with a cover. Omori went to the top, dropped a knee across Shinzaki's head, hit the dragon suplex, got a two. Shinzaki went for a his reverse spin kick when Omori was coming off the ropes, but Omori just stopped and Shinzaki kicked air, which looked really silly. Omori hit a clothesline for the pin, winning the tag titles. The 06/13/99 All Japan TV show featured Mitsuharu Misawa defending the Triple Crown against Kenta Kobashi. Best match of the year. The same people that have e-mailed me after their first exposure to All Japan during this period of WWF-style fandom in North America probably wouldn't enjoy the early part of this match for the same reason. When your diet consists of 2:00 matches with an occasional 10:00 marathon match, all WWF style, it's hard to switch modes to the pacing and building of a 45:00 match of the year in most legitimate heavyweight style in the world. Joined in progress, the wrestlers traded chops and elbows, with Kobashi finally knocking down Misawa with a rolling (spinning) chop. Even though the early minutes in what aired were slower-paced, they worked in numerous big spots and dangerous moves. Kobashi attempted a pin after a face-first brainbuster. Misawa rallied, knocked Kobashi to the floor, went for the elbos suicida, Kobashi moved, Misawa rolled over the ropes to the apron, Misawa went for a diving elbow, Kobashi caught him and turned it into a power bomb onto the ringside floor. Kobashi pulled Misawa up to the apron and went for a power bomb to the floor (a famous crazy spot from an earlier match). Misawa escaped, they tussled, and Kobashi ended up grabbing Misawa arm and leaping at the guard rail, with Misawa wrapping the arm around the metal. Crowd chanted "Mi-sa-wa!" Kobashi went in the ring, then back outside to attack the arm with a couple of moves. He did an arm wringer on Misawa over the turnbuckle connector. Back in the ring, Kobashi worked on the arm. This was the sort of thing that gives my mother a conniption. When she likes a wrestler (like Misawa), she gets really stressed when a body part gets worked over brutally for an extended period of time. These days, of course, she never gets that feeling from the WWF, because there are no matches that go an extended period of time. And the feeling is contingent on the victim selling well, and nobody in the WWF has that characteristic since Bret Hart left. I honestly don't mean to pick on the WWF, but I want to compare the styles. Kobashi hit two awesome German suplexes on Misawa, who, of course, took the bumps on his head. Kobashi immediately went to an armbar. In North America, the fans wouldn't care, but here they were on fire. Kobashi picked up a bloody nose along the way; it was streaming blood all over his chest. Misawa rallied with a DDT, following it up with a spin kick. Every move seemed to be a counter to another move. Misawa went for a kick, Kobashi caught the leg, and then Misawa used the free leg for the spin kick, for example. At this point, 25 minutes were gone. They struggled in a suplex spot, with Kobashi trying to suplex Misawa out of the ring. Misawa went up, twisted, and dropped to the ringside floor on his feet. Before Kobashi, on the apron, could turn around, Misawa hit a backdrop suplex on Kobashi off the apron to the ringside floor. Misawa went back in the ring just so he could fly out with the elbow suicida. Kobashi acted dead. Back in the ring, Misawa hit the frog splash for the two count. Misawa went for the Tiger Driver, but was backdropped. He got up again and hit the Tiger Driver this time, then collapsed, selling the strain that the move had caused his battered arm. That's almost a lost art in North America. A pissed Misawa took Kobashi out to the apron and tried for a Tiger Driver to the ringside floor. He couldn't get him up; Kobashi backdropped him to the ringside floor. 30 minutes elapsed. Kobashi hit a half-nelson suplex on the ringside floor, with Misawa landing on his head. "Mi-sa-wa!" Kobashi pulled him back to the apron. The crowd "oooh"ed. Kobashi tried to suplex Misawa in, Misawa can't be brainbustered, Misawa dropped to behind Kobashi hitting a German suplex for a two. Kobashi power bombed Misawa...once...tried again, Misawa flipped over and ended up getting hotshotted on the top rope, his butt hanging out of his tights. Kobashi got a two. Crowd was rabid. Kobashi screamed, hit a moonsault, got a two. Kobashi nosebleed had dried up. Kobashi waited for Misawa to stand, ran for the lariato, Misawa ducked, Kobashi hit an enzulariato. Another scream. Misawa placed on the top turbuckle. Yes, Kobashi was going for the reverse death valley driver (a death valley driver from a torture rack position). Misawa fought it off, but Kobashi ended up popping onto the apron and clotheslining Misawa back into the ring off the top rope. Misawa rolled to the floor. Kobashi went after him, going for a power bomb on the unmatted area at ringside. Misawa rolled high in the power bomb, and countered it with a head scissors, with Kobashi tumbling into the guard rail. 35-36 minutes had gone by. Kobashi & Misawa rolled in to the ring, both dead. Kobashi hit a jumping knee, went for a clothesline, Misawa ducked, Misawa hit a German suplex. Kobashi rallied with another running clothesline attempt, but Misawa raised his arms to block, still sold the blow, and Kobashi sold his arm being injured. Misawa started pounding the injured forearm, hit the tiger suplex, got a two. Misawa charged with an elbow. Kobashi rose slowly, Misawa went for a Tiger Driver, released it, did a somersault leg drop across the back of Kobashi's neck, went back for the Tiger Driver, dropping Kobashi straight on his head. That's called the Tiger Driver '91. Two count. Kobashi ducked a rolling elbow and hit a crazy suplex: he had his armed wrapped around Misawa's chin in a choke, I guess, and then did a German suplex from that position, with, you guessed it, Misawa landing on his head. Lariato. Two count for Kobashi. Misawa still manahed an elbow, again, a third time, rolling elbow. Commentator: "Rooooolllling elboooooow!" Misawa climbed to the second rope, springing off with a somersault onto Kobashi's back. He then did a half-nelson Tiger suplex, if you can picture that, for a two count. Kobashi managed to get in some chops when he got up, but Misawa hit an elbow, stunning Kobashi, and then picked him up for the emerald erosion (Misawa wears green), which is a pildriver type bump from a side-slam position. That earned the three. Awesome, awesome match. Afterwards, they showed both guys being helped backstage, both of them totally glassy-eyed. Misawa was holding his shoulder, still selling the arm as only the wrestler of the decade could. On 06/20/99 All Japan TV, Yoshihiro Takayama & Takao Omori got a surprise win over Akira Taue & Toshiaki Kawada from the same Budokan Hall show as the above Triple Crown match. Now, Takayama stinks, but the match was surprisingly good. On the same TV show, they aired the 06/09 Tag Title change, with Johnny Ace & Bart Gunn winning the double titles from Kenta Kobashi & Jun Akiyama. The suggestion would be that Kobashi lost the tag title to make fans believe he was going to win the Triple Crown two nights later. IT was a weird match, largely because the American team just didn't seem capable of doing the complicated stuff that gets booked in All Japan tag matches. Ace's star sure has dimmed. And Gunn really doesn't have anything to offer. They like him in Japan because he knocked out Steve Williams. Gunn relied on punches as his main offense, which just seemed weak in this group. The commentator kept yelling "body blow, body blow" which reminded me of this boxing game that was in the video arcades when I was much younger. Match was pretty lacklustre, despite the attempts at intricate booking. When I daydreamed two weeks back about Dan Kroffat's elaborate tag match bookings in All Japan years ago, I figured it could work in a revamped WCW by taking advantage of the great workers in the group. This match might be evidence that you need more than one side of great workers to pull that off. The other side has to be at least good. Match ended when Ace hit a suplex on Akiyama for the pin. Afterwards, Gunn & Ace did an interview, calling themselves "the Movement." Funny, there's only one kind of movement that they me think about. Of course, then, the show ended with Akiyama vs. Ace from the Budokan show two nights later, with Ace losing cleanly to Akiyama to give him back a win. This also wasn't a memorable match, only lasting 3:20 to make sure we realized how fluky the previous victory was. Afterwards, Ace ran around backstage yelling, "Well, I've got the fucking strap, and I want the Triple Crown." Ha ha! - 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. ______________________________________________________________________