Issue # 036

Date:  Friday October 16th, 1998  3:13 pm

WCW Thunder Report for October 15th, 1998
By Steve Appy
Van Hammer pinned Sick Boy
A battle of former Flock members. I've said it before, but Van Hammer
could compete with The Disciple for the most overpushed wrestler in
the business. While Sick Boy is a decent developing talent he's not
nearly ready to carry Hammer to a watchable match. Sick Boy was given
a little offense but Van Hammer scored the victory after the
Gordbuster.

Highlights were shown of Bischoff's arrest Monday night. While I acknowledge his overacting this was a great segment.

Konnan defeated La Parka via submission after The Tequila Sunrise
La Parka is one of the best and Konnan is decent enough to be carried
to a good match. While La Parka was great selling a Konnan’s offense the whole match looked too choreographed. The major downside to Lucha
Libre. La Parka wasn’t given a chance to show much before tapping out to The Tequila Sunrise.

Fit Finlay pinned Scotty Riggs
A decent match where both men got plenty of offense in. Neither man
looked all that great, though. Finlay got the pin after he delivered a
Tombstone Piledriver.

WCW Cruiserweight Champion Billy Kidman pinned Kaz Hayashi
Kidman's become one of the best workers in WCW and Hayashi is
developing great. When Ultimo Dragon trains you he apparently trains
you right. Mike Tenay acknowledged Hayashi's recent challenge to IWGP
World Lightweight Champion Jushin Liger; this is what makes Tenay one
of my favorites. Although Kidman has been getting a great crowd
reaction lately the fans were dead for this match. Hayashi hit
Kidman with a Suicide Dive. The work here was solid; something just
didn't click, though. Hayashi missed a Moonsault which enabled
Kidman to take the advantage. Hayashi retook the advantage, and hit
Kidman with a Brainbuster. When Hayashi went for a flying bodypress
Kidman nailed him with a dropkick. At this point the match took off.
As Sonny Onno watched on from ringside Kidman hit The Shooting Star
Press for the victory. Onno attacked Hayashi after the match until
Kidman made the save. While Onno sucks, his kicks do look cool.
Kidman & Hayashi shook hands after the match. Started slow, but was
very good near the end.

Ernest Miller put out an open challenge, and a "fan" from the stands
charged the ring. Miller beat him down until security arrived. I
don't know who the "fan" was but I'm pretty certain it was no fan.
If a fan really did charge the ring, WCW would never air it,
especially on a taped show.

Chavo Guerrero Jr. pinned Prince Iaukai
Chavo really has to drop this Pepe/crazy gimmick. Chavo would dance
around after getting some offense in. Chavo really has become a great
worker and he'll go far once he drops this lame gimmick. After a
boring match Chavo scored the victory after a cool looking Tornado DDT.

Tony Shiavonie interviewed Diamond Dallas Page. DDP claimed to be the
underdog against Goldberg but he also claimed to have the key to beat
Goldberg. DDP said nothing new; he just promo'ed his upcoming main
event.

Dean Malenko defeated Stevie Ray (w/Vincent) via Disqualification
Michael Buffer introduced the participants. Stevie Ray is awful, the
complete opposite of his far more talented brother. Of course,
Vincent interfered to help Stevie Ray get the advantage. Malenko
almost looked like a midget next to the huge Stevie Ray. Malenko sold
for Stevie Ray most of the match and Malenko's one of the few men
good enough to make Stevie Ray's offense look halfway good. Stevie
Ray almost can't even function competently in the ring. Malenko
locked Stevie Ray in the Texas Cloverleaf and Vincent and Scott
Norton ran in for the DQ. The Horseman made the save, causing The nWo
to flee the ring.

Arn Anderson told the crowd that Malenko was okay and that Bischoff's
goons were incompetent. Arn's interviews are logical and give the
whole business credibility. Flair ripped on Bischoff some more and
then handed the mike to Malenko. It elevates Malenko when he's
featured with the big boys.

Notes: Poor show. The only good match was the Kidman/Hayashi match.
The level of matches is almost as bad as WCW Saturday Night. The fans
were DEAD for the entire show, which hurt the quality of the matches.
It was nice to see The 4 Horseman, though.
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To Subscribe to The ECW Newsletter, please E-Mail: ECWNews
TV Show Report Show: 10/9
by Thomas A Misnik "Mr ECW"
Hello Once Again Everyone---
This Saturday Night, ECW returns home to the place where it all began-
the ECW Arena at Swanson & Ritner with what will be the last Arena
show before the sixth Annual November to Remember. Four Big matches
already announced as well as the ECW Arena debut of the One Man Gang-
tickets available at the door as well as the usual ticket outlets.

Tonight’s show emanates mainly from the NW Georgia Convention Center
in Dalton, Georgia. It starts off as we see Lance Storm taking on the
first graduate of the house of hardcore, Chris Chetti. Storm gets the
win on Chetti and Joey Styles goes on to mention how far Storm has come with his career in ECW recently- seems to me that things have turned around since he had the damn tail cut off, but that’s just me.

A Video package of some of Lance’s high flying moves and his matches with former partner Chris Candido shown and also ample time given to Lance’s valet, Tammy Lynn Bytch. Lance will be facing “Mr Monday Night” Rob Van Dam at the Arena on Saturday Night for RVD’s ECW World Television Title.

After the show opening, which includes the promo for ECW”s upcoming
music CD release, Extreme Music which hits stores October 27th- its to
Joey who of course cordially welcomes us (as we hear Paul poking him
in the back to push the CD more) but goes on to talk about the Sixth
Annual November to Remember - Sunday Night November 1st from the UNO
Lakefront Arena in New Orleans, Louisiana. Limited packages for the
festivities surrounding that package still remain- for further
information visit www.1wrestling.com or www.ecwwrestling.com. The Main
Event “officially” announced tonight on TV is a battle of the Triple Threats as its “The Franchise” Shane Douglas, Chris Candido and Bam Bam
Bigelow along with the lovely Francine taking on Sabu, Rob Van Dam and
the FTW Champion, Taz along with Bill Alfonso. More matches coming-
for those with a DSS system, the event will be available on USSB
Channel 905 with the show starting at 8pm Eastern Time.

When we get back to the Arena, we see Wild Bill WIles now making his
way to the ring with cigar and drink in hand showing the ropes so to
speak to a new timekeeper, apparently now Bill is running a time
keeper school or something as Joey seems to be alluding to.

Opening match up sees Justin Credible along with Jason and Chastity
taking on Balls Mahoney- Balls is accompanied to the ring by his
partner Axl Rotten. Nice to see Axl up and around and back in the ring
even if its as a second- and that he is on his way to making a full
recovery. Match goes back and forth, but later in the match it seems
as though that Balls not only wants to defeat Justin Credible- but he
wants to pound him into submission after what happened with Tommy
Dreamer the last time-- just as Balls is about to go in for the kill,
Chastity gets involved and ends up with a Nutcracker suite for her
troubles- then Jason is on the ring apron, but Axl grabs him down from
there. Axl then throws Jason back into the ring and is about to nail
him with a chair but then Axl misses with his chair, but No- Balls
connects and the shot is loud and hard (kind of like the ECW CD coming
October 27th)- Justin Credible now up takes the time to get a hold of
Axl and hits Axl in the kidneys and midsection after laying out Balls
Mahoney- Credible could have hit Axl in the head, but no he went after
that area that Axl had to be hospitalized for.  Axl is now down on the canvas and is coughing up blood, with Balls Mahoney laying over his
tag team partner taking the cane shots for him.

Tommy Dreamer is out to the ring and he goes right after Justin
Credible, ducks the cane and then goes for the side Russian leg
sweep-gets the cane off of Justin as he’s about to cane the hell out
of him- the hired thugs- Jack Victory and Rod Price are out and then
get to Dreamer and leave him laying.

We go to a fast break and come back as Axl Rotten gets medical
attention- Joey seeming flustered and not sure where to go or do- so
then of course Paul E has him promote the CD and then from there he
also reminds us that the ECW action back at the Arena this Saturday
night and its the last ECW Arena show before the PPV on 11/1.

Highlights of last Arena’s show aired- things like Tammy’s dive onto
Chris and Lance Storm- Mikey Whipwreck vs Jerry Lynn- the ECW returns
of JT Smith and 911- Spikes win over 911 and of course the debut of a
*new* Triple Threat, Rob Van Dam, Sabu and Taz- even more amazing is
the embrace between Taz and Sabu

Our second match of the night sees Masato Tanaka taking on Buh Buh Ray
Dudley as things continue between Tanaka and the Dudleys or maybe even
more than that.  Tanaka and Buh Buh having their match and then the
Triple Threat of Douglas, Candido and Bigelow are at ringside and
Shane is making some kind of gesture about the Dudleys being some kind
of part of the Triple Threat (to me Triple always meant three) then
Bigelow is in the ring to get his revenge on Tanaka- that then brings
out Sabu and Van Dam and we have all men in the ring fighting it out.
Tanaka gets the win as Sabu and RVD help lay out Buh Buh and put
Tanaka on there as ref Jim Molineaux makes the count. That change
brings everyone around and its gets worse, but just as you all thought
it couldn’t the mood is gonna change as the human suplex machine- Taz
comes out to the ring and then cleans house and we soon have all
parties spilling out into the Dalton, Georgia crowd and what we have
is a preview of what we’re gonna be seeing Sunday Night November 1st ...
**November to Remember Line-Up**
-Battle of the Triple Threats
Sabu, Van Dam, and Taz vs. Shane, Candido and Bam Bam

-Scaffolding Match
Tommy Dreamer vs. Jack Victory

-Changed Match
Jerry Lynn vs. Lance Storm

(Special Refs Tammy Lynn Sytch and Mikey Whipwreck)

-Battle for the Future
Justin Credible vs. Masato Tanaka
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Reader Mailbag
Submitted by reader: Eddie mfnZ
I will not argue that Hogan made wrestling everything it is today. I
won't argue that if it weren't for Hogan, wrestling would not be what
it is today. However, it is well documented that even when Hogan was
the "Real American", he was often a guy who because he held so much
power in the booking aspect of wrestling he would make life all peachy
for him & his friends & not give a damn about those that weren't in
his little clique.

One reporter close to the wrestling world once said that while many wrestlers will tell you that Hogan is a nice guy one on one, in the booking he is as sneaky & underhanded as they come. He looks out for him & those close to him & doesn't care what happens to others. That's a real man for you. Yeah right. The proof in the pudding is this, you can say what you want about Goldberg, but, like it or not, he IS the future of WCW.

So how can you explain the fact that even though he has the title, Goldberg is relegated to playing second fiddle while the untalented
Hogan still holds the main event? its common opinion in the wrestling world that if Hogan would swallow his pride a little & give Goldberg a
bigger share of the spotlight that WCW would once again take over in
the ratings war.

Bischoff is nothing more than Hogan's b**ch.  Hogan holds secret meetings with his clique in the privacy of his own home to discuss how to improve their angles while other wrestlers have no say in what goes on in those meetings.

Hogan is, always has been & always will be out for himself, his close
friends & NOBODY else. He can make himself look like a nice guy by
signing autographs until he's blue in the face but it won't change the fact that the man is selfish.  He needs to realize that his time is nearing an end & he needs to give the younger stars some play. Guys like Hall & Nash are trying to get fired because they can't stand the antics of Hogan & Bischoff. Hogan is an old washed up baboon. Even Gorilla Monsoon says that Hogan doesn't know an wrist lock from an wrist watch.

Open your eyes & realize that Hogan is actually doing worse for WCW than he's doing good. Feel free to send me an email with your thoughts, I'd be happy to respond because I am a real man & I can take the heat.
Eddie Z
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Reader Mailbag
Submitted by Ed Pyle (Fyrcraker9)
I may be a little bit on the edge of what I think will become a new
movement among wrestling fans. I want to see the concept of "gang
warfare" ended, the sooner the better (at least for a while). I think
the whole concept of stables or factions is based on the assumption
that a wrestler who is not very interesting on their own will become
more interesting when they join up with a more popular (or over
personality). This was certainly the case with Konnan joining with
Kevin Nash, and Triple H joining Shawn Michaels. Don't get me wrong I
thought NWO, and D-X were cool at first, but I think the potential for gang warfare had has been tapped.

Scott Steiner for example can draw heat by aiding Hollywood Hogan. Unfortunately for Steiner and wrestling fans, Steiner could also draw heat by winning a belt (like D-lo), or feuding with a big name. It is essentially the second formula that took Steve Austin to the top of the WWF (an early Stone Cold vs. Hart match only received top billing because of Hart). Thus by putting wrestlers in factions you take away some potentially interesting main-event type matches (Steiner vs. Hogan, Hart vs. Hogan, Nash vs. Sting) but you also take away the potential for a guy like Steiner, Konnan, Buff, X-Pac, or Mark Henry to develop main event talent as their appearances will be overshadowed by Hogan, Nash, The Rock, Shawn Michaels or whoever the charismatic faction leader is.

The list of current main eventers in the twilight of their careers
won't allow this.  Hogan, Savage, Piper, Nash, Michaels, Hall, Hart, and probably many others will be in their 40's and 50's soon. There will be a changing of the guard in the wrestling world soon, as the older generation calls it quits. There are few current wrestlers able to take the places of the above mentioned men in main events. If "gang warfare" is allowed to continue the quality of pro wrestling will suffer within the next few years, and the fans will be the losers.

How to fix the problems
I think the WWF is on the right track, D-x and the Nation appear to be
splitting, the Oddities are novelty wrestlers who probably won't last
long, and DOA and Los Boricuas appear dead. Resist the temptation to
form two D-x factions.

WCW is getting worse. The nWo Hollywood, Wolfpac, LWO, OWN, and the
Horsemen. I suggest that the Horsemen and NWO Hollywood feud with the
Horsemen driving apart NWO Hollywood. After this happens Nash decides
Hollywood is dead and he doesn't need the Wolfpac. The Wolfpac is
disbanded. The LWO and OWN are just forgotten because nobody cares
about them anyway.  With the Horsemen as the only faction, all the members get swelled heads and start infighting. WcW bookers get more freedom and maybe their angles will make more sense.
===========================================
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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

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