Issue # 038

Date:  Sunday October 18th, 1998  12:37 pm

WCW Saturday Night Report for October 17th, 1998
By Steve Appy WCW Cruiserweight Champion Billy Kidman pinned Lenny Lane in 7:52
At first glance Lane really does look like Chris Jericho. Lane got
the advantage when he performed the Hot Shot on Kidman with the top rope. While Lane has personality he's still pretty green. Lane was on offense almost the entire match and few sell better than Kidman. The real downside is that since Kidman wasn't on the offensive we missed seeing some of Kidman's great aerial spots. Lane almost reversed Kidman's flying bodypress into a victory with a real close two count. Kidman hit The Shooting Star Press for the victory.

Disco Inferno entered the ring after the match with a scale. He
challenged Kidman and claimed to weigh only 215 pounds. Kidman
responded to Inferno, and accepted his challenge for a future match.
Kidman was okay on the mike and seems to have alot of potential.

Vincent defeated Barry Horwitz via submission in 3:17
Although Barry Horwitz may not be at his peak anymore I still hate
seeing him put over a non-talent like Vincent. Vincent got most of
the offense and won with an Armbar Submission. A waste of TV time.

Wrath pinned Rex King in 3:26
Wrath's push is reminiscent of a man called Goldberg.  Poor Scott
Hudson! He had to claim that "Bride of Chuckie" had people lined
around the block. He then wondered if Chuckie was nWo. Way to lose
credibility, Scott!  King was actually given a little offense but to no
avail. Wraith pinned King after The Meltdown.

Meng pinned Hardbody Harrison in 4:40
Total squash. Meng dropped Harrison into a back suplex that looked
kind of dangerous. Meng also delivered a cool looking Power Bomb.
Hardbody was given almost no offense. The bookers don't realize that
no matter how hard Meng is pushed the fans have never cared. After
applying the Tongan Death Grip Harrison was counted down for the pin.

Advertised for this Monday's Nitro: The Disco Inferno, Rick Steiner,
Raven, DDP, and WCW World Champion Bill Goldberg

Bret Hanmer defeated Barry Darsow via forfeit
Darsow is doing a new gimmick where he is a golfer and won't wrestle
because he's late for his golf tee time. Awful; which WCW brain
surgeon thought up this gimmick. A rib on Larry Zybyszco?  Hanmer is
another muclehead from the Power Plant; we didn't get a chance to see
if he can actually wrestle, though.

Gene Okerlund interviewed Scott Steiner. Scott did his Superstar
Billy Graham imitation. Geez, his arms are scary looking. Scott
doesn't look healthy anymore, instead he just looks like a monster.
Scott said that Chuckie wants Steiner in his next movie; I feel sorry
for these guys who have to sell the Chuckie character. While Scott's
interviews are improving his act is damaged without Buff.

TV Champion Chris Jericho fought Fit Finlay to an "official" 15 minute
time limit draw in 11:28
Although he's not quite as good a worker, Jericho is reminding me of
Shawn Michael's at the same stage in his career. Jericho introduced
himself and did a good job of it.  Finlay was looking to win his
second TV Championship.  Jericho did alot of early stalling, once again ala Larry Zybyzsco. Tenay and Hudson did a good job of selling Jericho's brat character.  Finlay is so mature looking, Jericho looks almost like a teenager in comparison.

Jericho nailed Finlay on the left arm with a dropkick off the top
rope. Jericho tried for the submission with an Armbar but Finlay
reversed it. Jericho tried to apply the Liontamer but Finlay kicked
out of it before it was fully applied. As they were brawling outside
the ring the 15 minute time limit expired. Unfortunately, the match
didn't actually go 15 minutes. Lame

Gene Okerlund interviewed Wrath. He tried to come off as a bad ass;
instead, he just came off as a phony.

Saturn pinned The Gambler in 1:45
Tenay went on and on about how Saturn's career has taken off since he
defeated Raven at Fall Brawl; actually, he hasn't been involved in a
storyline since that match.  Total squash; Saturn won with a Death Valley Driver.

Gene Okerlund interviewed Meng. Funny stuff. Okerlund tried asking
Meng questions and Meng would just respond in different languages
(French, Japanese, etc.).

Konnan defeated Lodi via submission in 3:21
Lodi got on the mike before the match and he was pretty good. The
match was pretty evenly matched but the two just didn't jell together.
Konnan won with The Tequila Sunrise.

Rey Mysterio Jr. was advertised as returning to action on Thunder
this Thursday.  Awesome! It'll be great to throw Rey back in the mix of Cruiserweights.

WCW World Tag Team Champion Scott Hall (w/out the Giant) defeated
Disorderly Conduct in a handicap match in 4:39
Hall came to the ring with his "drink", off course. Hall claimed he
gave Giant the night off. Although Hall was supposed to be drunk he
wrestled fine; he wasn't selling drunkenness. Hall controlled all the
offense and pinned both men after applying The Outsider's Edge.
 

Notes: Jericho, Konnan, and Hall were the only stars who wrestled.
Not a good show, but better than most editions of Saturday Night.
===========================================
Lethal Injection
By Ryan Oaks A.K.A. The Ticking Timebomb, The Loose Cannon, High Flyin
Ryan Pillman

Any questions or comments are to be sent to me Warriorism@xxxxpuno.com
Remember, I welcome all your comments
Okay, everyone, I have been reading the "Readers Mailbag" lately. Come on now guys, just
because someone is a Hogan fan that believes Hogan earned his way to
"SUPERSTARDOM" this is no reason to treat him badly. Even if he does make idol
threats through the "Readers Mailbag". Don't we all understand that
there is a little bit of Hulkamaniac inside all of us?

Yeah right!!!  If you’ll buy that then I'll sell you some ocean front
property in Arizona with all the girls in Bikinis that you can
imagine. I really hate having to rip on the readers, but I had no
choice when this position was put in front of me. I read his article
that says that we Austin fans stand for everything that is wrong.
Well, I am sorry to tell you, my friend, that each week when Austin
comes out and does his weekly deeds to McMahon, most people like it because he is a no nonsense kind of guy and that is what wrestling has needed for a long time.

Well I am still not to my point about this article, because if all it
was an Austin Bashing, I really wouldn't give a damn. Even if it
was another Hulkamaniac, I really could care less because people are
entitled to their own opinion and that’s just fine and dandy with me.
The problem with his article being that he came out and the first
thing he did was call all of us Marks. Ha, if anyone is a mark it is
you pal.

Listen to what you are saying. Take this one for example, in your article you said, and I quote, "I've sat here too goddamn long
listening to your want to be markishness on which all you support is
everything that is wrong in this world, which is common these days
because there are no more heroes". Heroes!!! If you want Heroes
watch Superman or Spiderman or one of those cartoons, and man I sure
am sorry that wrestling has somewhat surpassed the stage of superheroes such as Hogan.

Of course, WCW is trying their best to get that back by making The Warrior into Batman, and making Goldberg the amazing unbeatable man. You say how all of us that critique Hogan now would be cheering him on if he was a babyface. Let me tell you something buddy, I never was, nor will I ever be a Hulkamaniac, an NWOite, or anything else that has to do with Hogan because I really don’t care for him as a wrestler or a human being in particular.

Oh yeah, Hogan took out 7 guys one at a time at Fall Brawl, but does it really matter? Do you not have the point that wrestling is entertainment through your head yet?  Hell, if I was to walk into WCW right now and old uncle Eric decided that he liked me, I too could take out 7 guys in one match. Get this through your head, Eric makes the winners, Hogan is Eric's favorite, therefore Hogan looks like a real
tough guy.

From there you made more remarks about how Austin is a "ZERO". Ha, I
don't know about anyone else, but does anyone remember when Hogan was
in ECW and he took on every contender that got in his way and beat
them to a bloodied pulp. Yeah, you know, when he took the ECW
champion on head to head and beat the ever living crap out of him and
became the ECW champ. Uh huh, sure.

No, we have never seen Hogan step one foot into anything risky. Now I am not saying that Steve Austin has done all of that, all I am saying is that at least he had the guts to try ECW out. Lets take a look at Hogan’s crowning achievement of his entire career, the match between him and Andre The Giant. Yes, Hogan walked away from that match as the champion that night but was it because Hogan was the better man? No, and he has admitted that to the world on national television on I believe the A&E pro wrestling special. Him and Vince both said that if Andre decided he didn't want to lose the belt that night, that Andre would have not gone through with it. They both said that at any moment if Hogan made Andre mad that Andre would kick his ass and Hogan would not be able to do anything about it. This coming from the person who put on the match, Vince McMahon.

Wait, I forgot wrestling is totally 100% real, my bad. Do you really think that Stone Cold could beat Mick Foley if wrestling was real. Hell no, Mick Foley would wipe the floor with him.

From there you go on to say that we are bashing a great man. Hogan is
not a great man because he has really never done anything that is
admirable at all. You were talking about how all the wrestling fans
used to say "Forever and a day". Yes, they might have, but unlike
you, most of them got over the idolization of Hogan after about the
age of 8. You are trying to say that Hogan made the sport what it is
today? Please man, give me a break, WWF at any time could have picked
someone much more qualified for the job of being the main superhero, instead they picked a steroid pumping loser that couldn't make it in the NFL so he decided to try wrestling out, which he has proved to be no good at as well.

You are imitating Raven yet you say that we stand for everything that is wrong when we cheer for Steve Austin. What good does Raven stand for?

 

I have never seen this man come out and do anything commendable. He
comes out and attacks people from behind, or he will send other people
to the ring to do his dirty work. Oh yeah but that is real upstanding and honest. Just like the nWo Hollywood, always attacking from behind or sending the rest of the group to do his dirty work.

Oh well, since Vince made him look good a few years ago that makes it okay to do whatever he wants to now. Think about what you are saying, man. You say how much Stone Cold is bad but to me it looks like Hogan does a lot worse, at least Austin is only a one man attack and doesn't cower at the challenges that he receives. Get a life pal.

That’s it for this weeks Lethal Injection and I will see you all again
next week. Also, if you would like to see my article more often,
subscribe to The House Of Wresting Newsletter by mailing to
BCelticsfn and he will give you the info on how to subscribe.
Please be sure to tune in to The ShadoweMan on Squared Circle Talk on
C.R.N. The Cable Radio Network, from 10:00 PM to Midnight Pacific Time.

Any questions or comments are to be sent to me at Warriorism@xxxxpuno.com
and be sure to read my next edition of Lethal Injection. And remember, I welcome all your comments
===========================================
Reader Mailbag
Submitted by Ryan O'Donnell (ODOG15146)
Gertner and the Dudley Boyz were walking down a street in Pittsburgh.
That has been their latest trend, to make fun of my hometown, the
'burgh. I would say, look for the Franchise to become enraged by the
Dudley's actions and take his frustration out on them at the David L
Larence convention center.
Ever Helpful,
Ryan O'Donnell
===========================================
Reader Mailbag
Submitted by reader: BossBlues1
I would like to address the biggest problem in WCW right now.  There is
absolutely no ladder of success. Look at the roster of WCW.  The Tag
Team Titles have always been a launching pad to great singles careers.
Look at Ric Flair, Arn Anderson, Shawn Michaels, and even Steve
Austin, they all started out by winning the Tag Titles. WCW's Tag
Titles have served to launch two careers (Booker T and Buff Bagwell)
in the past 3 or 4 years. Since then they have been taken over by guys
like Kevin Nash, The Giant, Lex Luger, Sting, and Scott Hall. Not to
mention those guys have all but buried the division.

Secondly, EVERYBODY in WCW gets a push of some kind. I know WCW has
hours of television to fill a week, but Nitro, Thunder, and for the
most part Saturday Night should feature ONLY wrestlers people care about. If they want people to care more about certain wrestlers they should push fewer altogether.

Here's what I would suggest. Bring back the Tag Titles in a major way.
With Scott Hall's drunk gimmick/real life status, and the possibility
of The Giant jumping ship to the WWF, it seems very stupid to have
them keep the titles. Group together some younger guys like Saturn &
The Sandman, Raven & Chris Kanyon, Chris Benoit & Dean Malenko, Eddie Guerrero& Chavo Guerrero Jr., Rey Mysterio Jr. & Juventud Guerrera Jr., Buff Bagwell & Scott Steiner, Fit Finley & Brad Armstrong, Mike Enos & Lenny Lane. Put all of those teams together and use already
established teams like The Public Enemy, High Voltage, Disorderly
Conduct, The Villanos, The Faces of Fear, and Harlem Heat (in their
last run) as jobbers, and you've got a GREAT tournament as well as a
division.

Also, for singles wrestling, get about 15 guys total like Barry
Horowitz, Barry Darsow, Hugh Morrus, La Parka, Scott Riggs and a few
younger guys who are still too green to push, and use them as STRICT
WORKERS. No wins, no push... just occasional 20 second mike time and a
spot on the card to lose. Make them faces and heels, but don't push
them at all, or even give them title matches. Their jobs would be to
draw heat onto their opponent and make them look good.

For JTTS (jobbers to the stars), have about 10 guys. Guys like Disco
Inferno, Alex Wright, The Public Enemy, Tokyo Magnum, and other
characters along that line. This is an interesting division because if
done right, these guys can end up being major title holders if their
patient. I'd have guys like this ONLY beat each other within the JTTS
division, as well as strict workers. its also important that they
never hold title belts unless its within the midst of a push out of
the JTTS division. The Television Title is pretty much ruined by guys
who are JTTS winning it out of nowhere.

Lastly, TRIM THE FAT ON THE ROSTER. Seriously. If there are guys on
the card who just totally suck it up when it comes to wrestling and/or mike skills and they can't or won't take a step down the ladder.

You must fire them or at least not resign them. Roddy Piper is a prime
example. He's a horrible wrestler, he's OK on the mike. I'd have him
booked with/against guys who are red hot and in the middle of a push.
Since Piper is still over at this stage in his career I'd have him
feud with guys like Booker T, Raven, Chris Benoit, Chris Jericho, and
others who are on the brink of major stardom. The Warrior has no
ability at all and is not worth millions of dollars by any stretch of
the imagination. Same with Hollywood Hogan.  He might, I repeat might,
have enough heat and ability right now to make a good manager, but
that's about it. Others who must be fired or take a step down the ladder immediately: Steve McMichael, Vincent, Brian Adams, Rick Steiner, Ernest Miller, Diamond Dallas Page, Jim Neidhart, The British Bulldog, Meng, The Barbarian, and Scotty Riggs.

That's my take on WCW's Roster. Fortunately there is more good than
there is bad, IMO ... and they still have the ability to put on a
great show a few times a year for free on Nitro.
-J.Schorin
===========================================
Reader Mailbag
Submitted by reader: Poe2815200
This whole Hogan/Warrior angle on WCW is the most pathetic thing I
have ever seen. WCW has truly sunk to a new low, by copying WWF matches and using old WWF information to promote it. I'm surprised that the WWF hasn't yet sued WCW for copyright infringement. Look at it this way. There have been constant referrals to how Hogan lost the match, and also I watched Nitro last week and saw Tony (who I think is one of the worst announcers ever and its no surprise the WWF isn't employing him) and The Brain talking about how they were there and what it was like. They also twisted the facts, saying like that Hogan got a decent reaction while the Warrior's was alot better.

Let me ask you all this: How many of you have actually SEEN the
Wrestlemania VI match of this? Lots of you I bet. Warrior did not get
NEARLY as much crowd support as Hogan did. It was impossible. Hogan
was the #1 star with his "All-American" image, and he clearly was more of the favorite. Granted, I liked Warrior more than Hogan back then, but Hogan still had a better following. I mean, has WCW gotten so strained for ideas that it has to do re-matches of old WWF main
events? I think that WCW could NEVER produce a Warrior/Hogan match as
great as the one at Wrestlemania VI. Both of these guys were in their prime back then. Now Hogan is barely surviving, and although the Warrior is still kicking, the intensity he had back then just isn't there.

Personally I think that the whole WCW organization is a joke, Nitro is
more interviews than matches, Eric Bischoff does not play a heel even
half as well as Vince does, and their clean-cut attitude died from the
WWF years ago.