Issue #
029
Date:
Saturday October 10th, 1998 5:20 pm
WCW Saturday Night
Report for October 10th, 1998
(Taped 10/6/1998 in
Gainsville,
Georgia)
By Steve Appy
Raven & Kanyon
defeated Scott & Steve Armstrong when Kanyon pinned
Scott.
Mike Tenay &
Scott Hudson were critical of Scott Hall and The
Giant
for not
defending the Tag Team belts, mentioning that there
were many
quality teams
angling for title shots.
Hudson alluded to a
big movie
star appearing
on Nitro Monday night (Jackie Chan?). While both
Armstrongs are
good workers they've been jobbers for so long that
they are stale.
Ironically enough, Kanyon & Raven were presented as
a
more cohesive
and effective tag team than The Armstrongs, victims
of
the infamous
curse cast by Dusty Rhodes. Kanyon pinned Scott
after
The Flatliner.
Although they
aren't brimming over with charisma, its nice to see
two
announcers (Tenay
& Hudson) who actually pay attention to the
storylines and
really attempt to get the undercard wrestlers over.
Chavo Guerrero
Jr. pinned Mike Sanders
Total squash.
Chavo really is talented, and this whole crazy/Pepe
act
is not
complementing his abilities. The announcers hinted
that Chavo
would possibly
join the LwO; I hope not! Chavo pinned Sanders after
performing a
Tornado DDT off the top rope; neat looking maneuver.
Alex Wright
came out for an impromptu interview, spoke German
and then
insulted the
American fans, telling them that they can only speak
one
language and
they can't even speak that well. The British Bulldog
stormed the
ring and threw Wright out. Davey Boy challenged
Wright to
a match later
in the show. The Bulldog was an effective performer
even a year ago
and I hate to see how far he's sunk. its not just
the
fact that he's
positioned so low on the card, usually with no
storyline;
Davey Boy has lost his fire.
Fit Finlay
pinned Johnny Swinger
I've read for
years that Finlay is an entertaining performer in
the right venue; as far as I'm concerned, he's
really never impressed me.
Maybe in a
smaller promotion Finlay could have the forum to
show his
skills. WCW
just has too much talent to give Finlay a chance to
get
himself over.
Finlay won with the Tombstone Piledriver.
Stevie Ray
(w/Vincent) pinned Nick Dinsmore
Stevie Ray is
now calling himself "The Enforcer of the nWo", and
he's
claiming to be
a better Enforcer than Arn Anderson. Not even worth
a
response. its
appropriate that Stevie Ray is the nWo's enforcer,
since he sucks,
just like MOST of the nWo (with a couple
exceptions).
Vincent hit
Dinsmore with kicks outside the ringand but Virgil's
kicks
looked really
lame.
Van Hammer
pinned Mike Tolbert
Hammer is as
bad as The Disciple. Hammer does a really bad stoner
gimmick.
Combine a bad character and even worse wrestling
skills and
its pretty bad.
I guess Hammer is a heel, but I'm not even sure. I
know Hammer is
friends with DDP,
but I really
hope they get rid of him. He really is one of the
worst
(that's almost an honor, considering the
competition).
Rick Steiner
pinned Al Greene
Greene was
Kevin Nash's old partner in The Master Blasters back
in
1990. Steiner
has wrestled some great matches in his time and I
hope
he gets a
chance to put his working shoes back on in the
future. I
still remember
Rick & Scott for their great matches in
Japan; they
teamed in some
of the best matches I've ever seen. Maybe WCW should
send Rick to
Japan for a few
months, and give him a chance to get
sharp again.
Let Shinya Hashimoto pound him around a couple times
and Rick will
understand how to interject some drama in his
matches
again.
Jerry Flynn
defeated Rick Fuller via submission
Its nice to see
Flynn get a TV victory; Fuller was supposed to be in
line for a HUGE
push, but those plans appear to have been put on
hold.
Flynn's style
is realistic, which melds well w/ Goldberg, Meng and
Benoit (not that I mean to place those three names
on the same level).
Flynn didn't
look as good against Fuller as usual.
Ernest Miller
(w/Sonny Onno) pinned Kaz Hayashi
Johnny Boone
was originally scheduled to be Miller's opponent,
but Kaz
took his place.
Of course, The Super Karate Fighter took care of
Hayashi. In the
context of the storyline, why would anyone want to
be managed by Onno, considering
he's turned on
just about every wrestler he's ever managed (Ultimo
Dragon,
Psychosis, Kaz Hayashi)?
Gene Okerlund
interviewed Raven and Kanyon backstage. They
repeated
their challenge
to The Giant & Scott Hall. While Kanyon is a good
worker he's
terrible behind the mike. Find him a role where
talking
is not
required. They brought up the point that the tag
team titles
are rarely
defended.
Alex Wright
fought The British Bulldog to a Double Countout
Wright is a
great wrestler, and he will hopefully leave stiffs
like
The Bulldog
behind him. The work wasn't bad, but it was
ininspired.
Since it was
the main event, and neither man is heavily involved
in
storylines,
couldn't they have delivered a clean finish to the
match?
Whose career
would have been injured?
===========================================
Reader Mailbag
Submitted by reader: Jeff
McCourtie (JefMarMcC)
Interesting
story about Bad News Brown and Andre the Giant. Even
more
interesting is
that Hogan was on that bus and not in his limo.
===========================================
Reader Mailbag
Submitted by reader:
LaserboyX
Personally, in
reference to the Scott Hall issue, I find it
appalling.
I had known of
Hall's problem, but I thought that perhaps he was
recovering.
Having seen the same things in my own family, I
believe
Eric Bischoff
needs to stop the blatant exploitation of Hall's
addiction.
I know I can't
be the only one who feels this way and if you will
go
along with
this, Steve, I believe we should start petitions
about this
and send them
to WCW.
I think its a
horrible thing to do, even if he was recovering. We
deal with
alcoholism everyday, some more than others, and I
think that
something must
be done. its time to tell the wrestling corporations
that we don't
want to see such things. And although they are
gimmicks, they
are based on fact and should not be displayed. It is
disgusting that
Bischoff would allow such a thing and it seems only
fitting that he
would use such a ploy to cover his own half-assed
business
ethics.
WCW is striving
to compete with WWF, and they also have used such
ploys. So,
both
corporations are in dire need of being put in their
place. Do we
know its fake?
Yes. But its still inappropriate and frankly quite
assanine to
display such behavior.
Those are my
thoughts on the matter.
~Tim R.
Steve Appy
responds: Interesting idea of Tim's. Does anybody
have the
general mailing address for World Championship
Wrestling? If so,
please pass it
my way.
===========================================
Reader Mailbag
Submitted by reader
Dhdstaeven
I have been a
fan of this newsletter since its inception. I have
been
an avid fan of
professional wrestling for over 20 years. I have
also
been a clean
and sober for over 6 years. I am thoroughly
disgusted at
the content of
WCW Monday Nitro over the past several weeks.
First,
Chris Jericho
decides to come out with his Jeri-aholics Anonymous
t-shirt. Isn't
anything sacred? Does WCW think for a second that it
has any
responsibility to the community? They are making fun
of
something that
has saved my life and countless thousands of other
people. I have
tried to send this opinion to Chris Jericho first
but
it was not able
to be delivered to his email box. How
appropriate is
that? A full email box.
Second, Scott Hall's
behavior/angle,
given his
problems in the past is deplorable. Don't think for
a second, Vince,
that I have
forgotten about Hawk. I haven't. I wonder, does WCW
want Scott Hall
to be a productive member of its staff? Or, are
they
trying to destroy the rest of his career?
In the process of this
angle, especially if it takes negative turns in
his personal
life, is he going to be fired? You know, I have
been
sick of WCW's
product for the past several months. I thought that
the
return of Ric
Flair would make it better but I can't sit and watch
all
this crap going
on in the background. I might end up watching
Walker,
Texas Ranger on USA
instead of the first hour of Nitro if this crap
continues. If
only I could get ECW on my cable system all my
problems
would be
solved. My heart goes out to Dana Hall in her last
letter.
I am sure that
there were several people in my past that felt the
way
she does. The
only thing I can say to Scott Hall is "There is no
time like the
present" if you want to get your act together. If
you don't,
that’s fine too. Because, better you than me to be
an
active drug
addict and alcoholic.
Dan
===========================================
Reader Mailbag
Submitted by reader: Kim
Dickson (redhot_cb@xxx.com)
Scott Putski
may not be the best wrestler in the world but he can
be.
I've been
watching him for years and like that he is getting
to
professional
level. Once he has enough ring experince he will be
good.
He needs more
interviews and to learn how to play with the big
boys and
he will be
great like his father. I wish the best of luck to
him,
and by the way
I like his tights.
Kim Dickson
e-mail:
redhot_cb@xxx.com
===========================================
Reader Mailbag
From: Chris Ballinger (OuTkAsTcjb)
Well, I’ve been
reading this newsletter for quite a while, and it’s
great. It has
“inspired” me to become a booker. How I am going to
do
that is the
hard part.
Anyway, since
the WWF seems to be planning another angle between
Austin and the Rock,
here is how they can do it RIGHT (strictly IMO)....
10-11-98, Sunday Night
Heat
The Rock comes
to the ring with D-Lo Brown and Mark Henry. He says
that Owen Hart
is out of the Nation because now he’s “actin like
nothin but a
jabronie”, and Owen runs out. He tells the Rock that
he
hasn’t gone
soft, he just doesn’t agree with his past decisions.
He
says he will
fight Steve Austin tonight to prove he still is a
great wrestler.
The Rock agrees, and tells him that if he loses, he
must leave the
Nation. He then directs his attention to the subject
of
the Heavyweight
Title. He says that
Austin better declare
a champ,
because “The
Rock has been waiting to get his damn belt from
whoever
holds it”.
Austin comes out and
says that he will take Hart up on his
challenge and
that the Rock can rest assured “because somebody’s
walkin out with
the belt, and that’s the bottom line”. The Rock and
Austin stare each
other down as
they go to commercial.
Owen and Austin
come to the ring for their match. The Rock is at
ringside, but
does not appear to be rooting for anyone. The match
progresses, and
Austin has the
advantage. Hart
is down and
Austin goes outside to
get a chair. The
Rock watches as
Owen is attacked with the chair, and cries out for
The Rock
to help him. The Rock spits on Owen, who yells back
(he is
standing), and
Austin spins Owen
around and stuns him. He covers him
and wins.
Austin and the Rock
stare at each other as D-Lo and the
Godfather
attack Owen. Mark Henry picks up the chair and
attempts to
hit Austin, who
is looking the other way (at the Rock, who sees
Henry). The
Rock
pushes
Austin aside and Henry
hits the Rock instead. D-Lo and the
Godfather
question Henry
as
Austin slides out of
the ring and wonders why The
Rock did what
he did.
10-12-98 Monday
RAW/WarZone; The show starts as Austin comes to the
ring.
He has the
Heavyweight Title and he waves it around as he gets
in the
ring. He
grabs a mic and talks about what the Rock did last
night. He asks
himself why the
Rock would do such a thing, and says he feels it’s
just ass
kissing so the Rock will get a better shot at
winning the
title. He says
he hates ass-kissers but hates fat-asses even more.
He
challenges Mark Henry to a match, and then the
Nation’s music plays.
The entire
Nation (sans Owen Hart) comes to the ring and Mark
Henry
has to be
restrained by the Godfather and D-Lo. The Rock says
that he
would rather
kiss Chyna’s
ugly face than
Austin’s ass, but he
would love to see
Henry kick it
instead. He
says he saved
Austin on Heat because
he wants to make sure
Austin refs the
Undertaker/Kane match at Judgment Day. He then says
that Henry
won’t be allowed to fight
Austin, for that same
reason.
Austin
grins and then attacks Henry. The Rock backs away,
then pulls
D-Lo and
Godfather back as they try to go after
Austin. The Rock pulls
Austin away and
pins him down as Henry gets out of the ring and the
Nation then
leaves.
The Undertaker
and Kane come to the ring. Undertaker says that the
Rock is a fool
for protecting Austin, just as he was a fool for
protecting
McMahon. He says that
since he beat
him last week that The Rock will fight Kane this
week. Taker
says that
Austin will not be protected by him but he won’t
attack him
either. He also says that at the PPV he will fight
Kane, but it will
be in
competition, not hatred.
The Rock and
Kane both have their entrances and start the match.
Mark
Henry is
outside the ring for the Rock and he gets involved
early. He
trips Kane
several times, but on the outside, Kane attempts to
chokeslam
Henry. The Rock stops it and rolls Kane into the
ring.
Austin runs to
the ring and attacks Henry while Kane sets up for a
chokeslam. The
ref is trying to break up Austin and Henry, and the
Rock reverses
the chokeslam into the Rock Bottom. He covers Kane,
but
the ref is
still outside the ring. The Rock gets out and pushes
Austin
down, who
pushes the Rock back. Henry hits Austin from behind,
bringing out
the Undertaker. He chokeslams Henry and rolls the
Rock
into the ring.
Kane attacks the Rock and eventually Tombstones him
for
the win. Kane
and Undertaker walk off as Austin, Henry, and the
Rock
all lie around
or in the ring. The Rock and Henry get up and leave
and Austin
chases them into the back as the show ends.
10-18-98 Sunday
Night Heat
At the end of
Heat, Austin comes out and says he feels so special
now
that everyone
is trying to protect him. He says that he already
forced
the bookers to
sign a match between Henry and Austin for the PPV
and
that he would
be fine come time to ref the main event. The Rock
comes
out with Henry.
The Rock says that he
is sick of
watching his redneck ass and that Henry has
permission to
destroy him. He
orders Austin to be sure someone wins the title
tonight, and
Austin, not one that likes to be ordered, stuns
Maivia and
Henry. The Undertaker comes down and tells Austin
that he better
not no-show the
main event or his life is going to become hell.
Austin gives
the Undertaker the middle finger, and the Taker
returns
it with an
attempted chokeslam. Kane, however, stops the
Undertaker,
who stands
nose-to-nose with Kane as they cut away to a PPV
promo,
marking the end
of Heat.
10-18-98 WWF
Judgement Day
The
Austin/Henry match starts to Austin’s
advantage. He
puts some great moves on Henry and almost wins.
Henry
comes back with a few splashes and elbow drops. He
gets Austin in a
bearhug, but
Austin refuses to give up. He gets out of it and
rebounds. He
starts to set Henry up for the Stunner but the Rock
runs to
the ring. He knocks Austin down and chokes him while
Henry goes to
Austin’s knee.
Kane and Undertaker run down and rid the ring of the
Nation and the
bell finally rings in a double- disqualification
(The Rock
hit the ref with a chair on his way to the ring, so
he was
knocked out).
Kane and Undertaker
bump into each other, and Kane
punches The
Undertaker. Taker responds with
another punch
and it turns into a fist fight. Both men attack each
other until
Austin
breaks them up. Taker accidentally hits Austin in
the fight, and
Austin then
attacks Taker. Kane attacks Taker as well, and the
announcing team
questions whether Austin will be biased for Kane
in the main
event.
In the main
event, Austin acts pretty fair for most of the
match. The
match goes back
and forth, and it leads outside the ring. Kane sends
the Undertaker
through a table and the Undertaker later does the
same
to Kane.
Mankind runs into the match to attack Kane, but
Austin stuns
him before he
touches either man. While Austin attacks Mankind,
Taker
Tombstones Kane
and covers him. Austin is not able to make a cover,
and Kane is
able to return to consciousness. Undertaker is
enraged,
and he goes
outside where Austin has just put Mankind in the
Stunner.
Austin turns
around, only to be Chokeslammed by Taker. The Rock
runs
to the ring and
attacks
the Undertaker, while the Godfather and Mark Henry
attack Kane.
Austin wakes
up and puts the
Stunner on Henry and the Godfather, but the Rock
gets away
before
Austin can touch him. Back in the ring, Kane
chokeslams Undertaker and
covers him,
nearly winning. Undertaker rebounds after reversing
a
Tombstone (he just drops Kane). He walks the ropes
and before he can
hit him, Kane
pulls Austin in the way. Austin goes down, but the
Undertaker
still maintains the advantage as Austin gets up (he
was hardly
affected by the hit). Taker hits the Tombstone on
Kane and
covers him and Austin makes the count. It goes to
three, and the
Undertaker is
declared the champ. Austin hands the Undertaker the
belt, but the
Rock quickly gets in the
ring and
attacks the Undertaker. Austin backs off and watches
the two
fight.
Austin
keeps the
Nation away and allows the Rock and Undertaker to
fight,
which leads to Austin refereeing the Rock/Undertaker
title match at the
next
Pay-Per-View.
Chris Ballinger
OuTkAsTcjb
===========================================
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Editor: Steve Appy
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