Issue #
003
Date:
Thursday July 9th, 1998 10:26 pm
The Wrestling Booking
Sheet
The WWF has Steve
Austin, arguably the top draw in the business.
Unfortunately,
they don't have much else. Titan's thriving business
is rested squarely
on the shoulders of one man, one man who is one serious neck
injury away from partial paralysis. To be fair, both
The Undertaker and
Shawn Michaels are major draws in their own right; however, their
drawing power doesn't even approach that of
Austin.
Let's briefly
list the major supporting players, and afterwards
try to examine their
future roles.
These are the
men Titan is hoping to elevate to super stardom:
Rocky Maivia. HHH.
Owen Hart. X-Pac. Ken Shamrock. Steve Blackman. Jesse James.
Billy Gunn. Kane. Dustin Runnells. Val Venus. Taka Michinoku. Jeff
Jarrett. Dan Severn. Edge. Brian Christopher. Steven Regal.
Marc Mero. Cactus Jack.
There are
several reasons the WWF is working so hard to create
new stars. The
first, and probably the main one, is that big stars
sell tickets, move
merchandise, etc. The second is to provide credible back ups in
case Stone Cold is put out of action. WWF business
would get flushed
down the toilet right now if
Austin missed
significant
time out of the
ring. The third reason, and it ranks right up there with the first
two, is that
Austin needs
opponents. As popular as Austin is he needs
interesting enemies that force the fans to
actually care
about what Stone Cold will do this week.
I'm asking you,
to send in
your ideas on how to create a superstar. Pick a
wrestler from the
above list and
draw up a detailed booking plan that is a map to
super
stardom. Explain character development and angles
that you would
pursue to move
one of these men up a level. Please be super
detailed and explain what opponents would help shine
the spotlight on your
superstar. Use
as an example the Savage/DDP feud of last year,
which made
DDP a legitimate star.
We will print
as many quality ideas we can fit into available
space. The responses
to previous booking plans have been great, what is needed is more
of them.
A tribute to
Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat can be found at
http://www.geocities.com/~rickysteamboat/
Two other sites you are
encouraged to
check out are
http://www.geocities.com/colosseum/track/9329/
and
http://iwrestling.com/
The last two sites are terrific places to
find all the
scoops.
One of the
weaknesses of the nWo Wolfpac is the quality of
workers in the group.
Both Sting and Konnan are adequate, if uninspired.
Kevin Nash has always been lazy and makes his mark
due to charisma and size. This is not the worst
thing; all
three men are effective in different ways. Scott
Hall, my choice
to replace Lex
Luger, while a step above Nash, Sting, & Konnan, is
still only an
above average worker. The plan is to add a super
worker to
The Wolfpac, one who is both dynamic enough to carry
the load in
tag matches and
someone who could use the rub of the Wolfpac to get
himself over.
My choice for the spot is Juventud Guerrera Jr.
Although he is
given little respect by WCW bookers, Juvi has still earned great
reactions from the fans. To have a chance to jump to
the next tier the
audience needs to be informed that Juvi is someone
they are supposed to
care about. At this moment, Guerrera is lacking in star power. He
has won few big matches and has lost to every top cruiserweight.
The crowd needs to be told by Nash that Juvi is cool and that he
deserves their attention.
Many of you
think it should be Rey Mysterio Jr. who joins the Wolfpac.
Although I’m a huge fan of Rey, his character hasn't
suffered the damage
Juvi's has. He can still get over with his current gimmick and
doesn't need The Wolfpac rub. Neither does Randy
Savage. Savage is
better served as the lone wolf, he loses his edge if
he's identified as a
team player. When Savage returns (which won't be until early
1999) have him feud with both factions of the nWo.
He
hates The
Wolfpac for allowing him to be destroyed, he hates
NWO
Hollywood for doing
the destroying.
=====================================
Below are
reader responses. This feature will be expanded as
soon as more booking
ideas are sent our way, I hope to see your ideas
here soon:
Reader:
NIRVANA533
I think the
idea concerning Luger, Hall, and both factions of
the NWO is good. The
only thing that doesn't look right is the tag
partner of Luger, DDP. At
Fall Brawl, I can see DDP fighting Hogan, since I think he may
get another push. I see him getting the belt late
'99 or
Starcade 99.
The reason I say he won't team with Luger is that
DDP is probably the
only person in WCW who hasn't fought with Hogan. By
that I mean only
superstar. Also, they both are avid bikers, which
may induce bikers
to see 2 of their own to fight 1 on 1.
Reader:
Sundan3600
Do not see it
all the way you do. Hall? What makes him SO great?
Sorry, I
was never impressed w/him. Especially with his
toothpick (re:Razor Ramon days) and
his survey........hey yo? Idiot language!!!!! Hogan is a washed up
moron. Put him and Flair out to pasture. Now, Sting
is
the man (in my
book) along with Nash. Goldberg rising fast & will kick
ass........SPEAR!!!!!!! Hennig? Poor idiot cannot do
anything without Rude
and others to kick butt for him.
Reader:
HBK2132
Speaking of the
4 Horsemen, there is no Four Horsemen without Flair.
He must be the
leader. I don't see Goldberg as a Horsemen. Get rid
of Mongo also but
bring back Queen Debra to be their valet and that
could lead to a feud
with Mongo, maybe even a setup. The Horsemen should
be
managed by Arn,
their valet Debra, and their leader Flair. The other 2 for sure
should be Benoit and Malenko. The perfect 4th would
be Buff Bagwell
after he returns from injury, also a possibility
would be the return of
Dustin Rhodes to WCW, but again without Flair the
Horsemen are
boring just like WCW will be. Bischoff, if you're
smart you'll sign
Flair quick or be prepared to lose to Vince every
week.
Whooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Reader:
Dhdstaeven
Again a fine
piece of "what the world would be like without egos" wrestling
journalism. However, no matter how much I think
about it I can't get
ONE THOUGHT out of my
mind. I mean this thought blocks out
any other
thoughts that want to come into my mind. I will
remember
this thought
for a very long time.
The time is
approximately five
minutes of
eleven (eastern standard time) and Goldberg has just
won the
WCW World Heavyweight Title. I look around the ring
and see in
the background Hollywood Hulk Hogan glance up and
then "do his duty"
and roll out of
the ring. I have been waiting since 1979 to feel
this
feeling. This all encompassing thought that is
crowding out all other
thoughts is
just one simple word. That word is "FINALLY". Now
I'm able
to sleep peacefully again.
The staff of The Wrestling Booking Sheet
Editor: Steve Appy
Columnist:
Mark George
Columnist: SamJerry
Columnist: Fritz Capp
Columnist: Rick Phelps
Columnist: Cindy Barnes
Columnist: Josh Hewitt
Columnist: Swami
Columnist: Tom Misnik
Columnist: Nate Pelley
Columnist: Robert Troy (Osiris)
Columnist:
Tom Kirkbride
Columnist:
Ryan S. Oaks
Columnist:
Darren Kramer
Any submissions sent
in by readers or columnists become the property of The Wrestling
Booking Sheet, and are subject to editing due to grammar, spelling, or
content. Any information taken from The Wrestling Booking
Sheet must be credited properly, with our E-Mail address listed. Copyright- Steve
App of The Wrestling Booking Sheet ©1998, 1999, 2000 |