Issue # 020

Date:  Tuesday August 25th, 1998  3:43 pm

The newsletter will be going on hiatus for the next four to six weeks.
I need to retool it, since I have not been pleased with its quality
of late. It will definitely return.

All booking plans that I have received will be saved in the meantime.
If you have new plans to send in, you may want to wait until the
newsletter is active, due to timeliness. Feel free to send them in,
though.

I appreciate the many readers who have contributed so much to the
newsletter. YOUR booking plans and comments are what made the
newsletter unique. There are MANY sources for wrestling news; my goal
was to make this newsletter something a little different.

Like many of you, I love to write about wrestling. its been terrific
to have such a large forum to express my views. The newsletter will
definitely be back.

In the meantime, if any of you change E-Mail addresses or screen
names please let me know. When the newsletter returns, I hope all of
you will still be interested in reading it.

Thanks,
Steve Appy
Below, I am pleased to present several reader's submissions:

Submitted by reader: Mrshmllo31 (Casey O'Connell)
I would really appreciate it just to know that I am expressing my
point of view here about this one. For my whole life, which has only
been 14 years, I have watched the WWF and WCW, but not as much with
the WCW.  

Anyway, for a while now, I have just sat back and watched,
keeping my mouth shut and not complaining about the antics of some of
the wrestlers, and some of the promotional clips for upcoming events.
Tonight's promo for the Summerslam coming up with Taker and Stone Cold
looking all mean, while there were girls dancing around half naked
really bothered me. Maybe its because I'm a girl, but nonetheless, if
I had kids of my own, and they were watching that, I would get pretty
mad.

I understand that Vince is hard up for ratings, or whatever the
reason he needs to put topless girls in an ad for wrestling.  It’s just
that girls and wrestling have no connection. Yes, they can be
managers like Sable and Sunny and Luna, but even Sable's body paint
was a little over the top. You are probably thinking "then don't watch
it!", but I hate to say this, but one of my career choices is to be a
manager, so I have to learn somehow. I just don't want to get half naked to achieve my dream. Thank you for your time.
Sincerely,
Casey O'Connell
Mrshmllo31
======================================
Submitted by reader: AE234
In response to: Acoustic76, who wrote:
> I don't think people realize that someone's success in wrestling
is based on how good of a personality they have. Take a look at Ken
Shammrock. If it came down to a real fight Shammrock would destroy
any wrestler but because he is horrible on the mic and has zero camera
appeal, he will never amount to anything in the WWF. >>

AE234 responds:
I have a gripe about this comment made by Acoustic76.

I am a professional wrestler currently working in the NEW, UWF, and RCW. I should be moving into ECW in 4 or 5 months. This person says that in a real fight, Shamrock would destroy any wrestler. I think you just THINK this because the man is from the Ultimate Fighting World. If you watch Ultimate Fighting, you will see that Shamrock NEVER EVER fought the way he wrestles...he gets a push in the WWF.

WWF made Shamrock a MONSTER when he made Shawn Michaels and Bret Hart BOTH tap out in 2 consecutive weeks. In reality, Shamrock has backed down from BOTH Al Snow and Tracey Smothers. Al Snow is the man that TRAINED Dan Severn on how to become a fighter, and Tracey Smothers has been known in locker rooms across the country as THE toughest wrestler around.

You can’t just go by the hype or looks....because the only reason Shamrock backed down from Smothers was because he KNEW Smothers would make a fool of him backstage.
======================================
Submitted by reader: MadamTaker
I agree, although I am a true Undertaker fan I think that Mick Foley is
probably one of the most abused WWF superstars that is in the ranks
today. I was shocked at the Undertaker’s actions although I understand
them. The Undertaker was trying to prove a point and decided to do it
with brutality. But the fact that Mick got up and kept going mad me
respect him more than I have ever done so before. He doesn't know how
to quit.

The WWF's problem with Mick is simple: he doesn't make enough
money for them. The WWF has become obsessed with SCSA and all the
money that he generates. I can understand that but the WWF fails to
understand is that there are several superstars that came before
Austin and will be there when he is no longer hot. I almost think
that McMahon is so obsessed with Austin that he is willing to allow
Austin almost free reign in order to make more money and to beat WCW, which is starting to become a non-issue.

I say this although I believe that the Undertaker will win at
Summerslam (without Kane's help, UT doesn't need it) that the first
title shot should go to Mick Foley. The fans want to see it and it
creates an interesting angle, don’t you think?  UT and Mankind with Kane in the middle, think about it.

That’s just my opinion, Of course I could wrong, It would be a first
but I could be wrong.
Madamtaker
Publisher The Darksider newsletter
======================================
Submitted by reader: mook_@xxx.com (James McCullen)
I totally agree with the mother who wrote in and said she lets her
five year old watch WWF. In fact I am 19 and I tape RAW every week
for my six year old sister to watch the next day (RAW comes on after
her bedtime). And do you know what? I have never ever heard an
improper word come from her mouth. That is because while she watches
RAW I am right there to tell her that what Steve Austin says is not
OK for her to say even if it is hilarious. And she understands that.

 

I don't feel that there is anything wrong with letting children watch WWF as long as there is someone there to explain what is acceptable and what is not.
James McCullen
======================================
Submitted by reader: JJ29
Being a Chicagoan, I was a Nitro and here are my thoughts. Cup
throwing now has been very limited and right now mainly Chicago and
some other cities still do it but for the last 5 Nitro's in Chicago,
it always ended with cups flying.

A nice chant was started with a girl to "Take it off" but when security stopped it, people began chanting "Bullsh!t" and it was still chanted right before Nitro came on but was stopped soon.

No one seems to like Flair since I went around the arena screaming
"WOOOOOOOO" and "FREE RIC FLAIR" and tried to get a chant going saying
"We want Flair". Just my comments, overall, I thought it was a good
show but I never saw Raw so I can't really judge
======================================
Submitted by reader: MHReeder
After reading Alberto Rizzi's idea of the "Savior Group", I don't
think even the daring minds of WWF are ready to try this angle. As
you mentioned in one of your earlier publications the religion angle
would be offensive to many viewers (myself included). McMahon knows
what he can get away with and that wouldn't be it.
======================================
Submitted by reader: OHart32 (Mike Harris)
THE PEOPLE'S CHAMPION
by Mike Harris
I’ve know reading all the stuff in the newsletter all the time about
people booking a certain wrestler to stardom made me wonder. The
bookers can do all they want with a wrestler but if the fans don’t like
or hate the guy plain and simple: It Won't Work! The fans are the key
ingredient in making or breaking a wrestler and this got me to
thinking could a group of dedicated fans turn a mid-card wrestler into
the champion and actually MAKE the promoters give him a push?

I mean could a group of internet fans one day decide to turn a
wrestler, say Edge, into a megastar. Could each one go to as many
events as possible with huge Edge signs and chant EDGE! EDGE! EDGE!
during matches. And when Edge was spotted in the crowd they would
erupt into cheers, and if each one of these people had all their
friends doing this it could be even more potent. If all these fans
bought Edge merchandise and Edge T-shirts dominated the RAW audience,
then what?

But what if they took it even further? What if during Stone Cold's
matches they began chanting BORING! BORING! and WE WANT EDGE! WE WANT
EDGE!, what would that do?  If the franchise wrestler is being booed and during his matches people chant for another wrestler what else could Vinnie Mac do put push Edge into a world title.

Two important aspects of life factor into this: Peer Pressure and The
Almighty Dollar! If a group of fans began chanting for a wrestler
obviously other fans, surrendering to peer pressure, would begin to
follow suit and eventually a whole arena could be chanting and
parading around in T's. And as for Mr McMahon he couldn't afford to
not push the fans choice. He wants to make money and in this business
you do that by pleasing the fans. So McMahon's desire for money would
elevate the situation more!

So could a group of wrestling fans go out one night on a mission to
make a wrestler a superstar? Could a group of dedicated fans turn a
mid-carder into a world champ? In my opinion yes it very well could
and may happen. And if it did the now superstar would truly be, above
all else, the real true People's Champion!
COMMENTS AND/OR QUESTIONS?: E-MAIL ME AT OHART32
======================================
Submitted by reader: JJ29
I'd like to counter comment the statement by MJJnWo

Now I love Foley, I like his characters but alot of people have done worse stuff than he and get boo'ed. Look at the Japanese promotions like Frontier Martial Arts Wrestling (FMW) and the IWA. Just some
examples.  Broken glass matches, exploding time bomb matches, dry ice
matches. Now yes, Foley has done this stuff but only for a while,
these Japanese stars do this every day.

Now you say Foley deserves the belt? What about Terry Funk? He's older, done equally hardcore stuff as Foley yet is just a glorified jobber. Now Foley joining the oddities would just embarrass him because only one character would work with the oddities and that is Dude Love. People like the Oddities is because they are doing a complete 180 with their characaters, from no talking mean Kurrgan to a dancing fool and a
"shark" to a Cartman luvin Golga. The only reasons they work for
Kurrgan and Giant Silva is because they are newcomers, Foley's character is a loner, and the dangerous person, very rarely he's asked for help from someone else, and I don't even think he was ever in a
stable unless it was years ago.

My points are this. Foley is a guy everyone respects. KOTR, when he went through the cage, everyone thought that the crowd just wasn't in it, but did anyone ever think that they were silent because they weren't taking time to scream but to watch? It’s not unusual, in a good match, you shouldn't have to scream, just be silent and watch. And Foley isn't the ONLY guy that deserves the title. What about Vader, or countless others, point is, Foley isn't the most important man on earth just because he fell through a cage.
======================================
Submitted by reader: RebNan@xxxxcebtv.net (Robert Troy)
I would like to respond to one letter, from reader hallsweeti----I
completely agree--let us stop tearing down the federations----they
each have things we may like or dislike--it`s okay to have a
preference, but don`t keep running the other one down-----let`s simply
enjoy the fact that we have a wide choice of wrestling to enjoy--I
just wish it could be more.
OSIRIS
======================================
Submitted by reader: LaserboyX
The theory presented by FF8SquallX intrigued me up until the
part with The Sandman.  Whenever I see the Sandman, I lose interest in WWF, WCW, and ECW for about 3 weeks.  You see, I am by no means an ECW fan. I can respect the things these men put their bodies through...as some of it looks quite hard to fake.

I don't see how you can fall "the right way" from thirty feet onto a table. But the Sandman is the only major problem I have with wrestling these days. Here you've got a guy who's AT LEAST 20 lbs. overweight. He comes to the ring smoking a cigarette and drinking a couple of beers. Then the nimrod decides to beat himself upside the head with them. I want to know if this HONESTLY interests someone enough to buy his t-shirts.

Honestly, this is where wrestling goes from entertaining to idiotic.
Yes, its a gimmick and everything, I know all that. But STILL....who
is lured into this? Who wants to be a fat, drunken, moron? How does
this idiot (or the ROLE of the idiot, rather.) draw an audience? I
just don't see this happening. I for one, can respect what the
hard-core wrestlers do to win a match. But the characters of ECW are
alright, I suppose. But Sandman is just idiotic. And I'll tell you
now why he won't EVER leave ECW. Because no one else with money for a
PPV is desperate enough to take him.
======================================
One place to check out our back issues is by visiting Jon White's terrific site.  Jon is an amateur booker as well, and besides hosting our back issues, he also publishes his own booking plans. Jon is booking his own fantasy version of Raw, and its worth reading. Find it
at:

http://www.geocities.com/Colosseum/Track/2946/

Here are some other great sites worth checking out:
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http://twnpnews.com/hoe/index.html
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http://www.tdi.net/gerweck/wrestle.html
http://www.rawandhardcore.com
http://bbs.linko.com/bbs/bbs.cgi?id=B0020447
http://members.xoom.com/wextra/index.html
http://www.geocities.com/colosseum/bench/8099/
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http://members.aol.com/jeter6z7/wrestlingpit.html
http://members.aol.com/samjerry/
http://www.geocities.com/Colosseum/Field/5314
http://www.geocities.com/Colosseum/Arena/6831
http://www.iwrestling/com
http://members.xoom.com/EXTREMEicon/
http://news.wrestlingman.com/
http://wwfhell.8m.com
http://pws.simplenet.com
http://flair.angband.org/
http://www.wrestlemaniacs.com/micasa98/
http://www.1wrestling.com
http://www.itscwrestling.com/ryder.htm
http://www.wrestlesource.com/
http://WWW.WRESTLINGINC.COM
http://Darkland.Dyn.Ml.Org/StoneCold/index1.htm
http://members.aol.com/w0lfpackid/wrestling.html
http://darkland.dyn.ml.org/StoneCold/index1.htm
http://members.aol.com/skoweslxix/index.html

http://www.phwrestling.com/

Power Hold Wrestling is one of the
premier wrestling-related sites on the net, with up-to-the-minute
news, opinions, dream matches and more!

For all of your wrestling needs, go to Warlock Wrestling Media:  http://members.tripod.com/warlockmedia/index.html
 ===========================
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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.