Issue # 046

Date:  Sunday October 25th, 1998  10:53 pm

Halloween Havoc might have been the best WCW pay per view this year.
Terrific show, and for once, WCW really aimed to please. Below I
posted the results:

Gene Okerlund interviewed Rick Steiner, who was soon joined by Buff
Bagwell. Buff asked Rick if he could be in his corner later tonight
to watch his back. Rick was reluctant, but finally agreed.

TV Champion Chris Jericho defeated Raven via submission.
Probably the best match of the evening. This match had some great
brawling; the announcers played up Raven's recent losing streak. One
of the best matches I've ever seen Raven in. After Kanyon's
interference failed, Jericho caught Raven in the Liontamer for the
victory.

Hollywood Hulk Hogan and Eric Bischoff were interviewed. Bischoff
sported a much shorter haircut; Hogan made a big deal about what he
did to his nephew Horace.

Wrath pinned Meng
Pretty bad offense on both men's parts but at least it was kept
short. Wrath scored the pin after delivering The Meltdown.

Lee Marshall interviewed WCW Cruiserweight Champion Kidman. Kidman
came across as a soft spoken, credible athlete.

Disco Inferno pinned Juventud Guerrera Jr.
A better match than I expected; Juvi was his usual awesome self and
Disco proved that he really is an underated worker. Disco scored the
pin after a piledriver to earn a shot at Kidman later in the evening.

Scott Steiner and The Giant were interviewed; I hate to say it, but
Scott really is becoming decent behind the mic. They challenged Rick
& Buff to a WCW World Tag Team Title match later in the evening,
replacing the singles match between the brothers. JJ Dillon joined
them, and made Scott agree to face Rick in a singles match immediately
following the tag match if Rick & Buff won the tag titles. What about
poor Scott Hall?

Alex Wright pinned David "Fit" Finlay (subbing for Davey Boy Smith)
There was no mention of The Bulldog's absence; Wright scored the
victory after a Reverse Neckbreaker. Decent match.

Lee Marshall interviewed Ernest Miller. As much as I dislike Miller,
him & Marshall were pretty funny in the interview.

Saturn pinned Lodi
Saturn wore a new ring outfit that will not improve his image. Saturn
won after a Death Valley Driver (why is this match on PPV?).

WCW Cruiserweight Champion Kidman pinned The Disco Inferno
Very good match; Kidman shows the ability to carry an opponent.
Kidman kicked out of a Disco piledriver and scored the pin on Lodi after The Shooting Star Press.

A Konnan music video was shown, with the lyrics half Spanish / half
English.  While not my style of music, it was very well produced.
This video would have been better suited for the first hour of Nitro.

Rick Steiner & Buff Bagwell defeated The Giant & Scott Steiner to win
The WCW World Tag Team Championship when Rick pinned The Giant
It was Buff's first match back, and he came to the ring wearing jeans.
Unfortunately, Buff promptly turned on Rick and left the ring. After
the nWo double teamed Rick the entire match, The Giant missed a top
rope dropkick and nailed Scott. Rick scored the pin on the stunned
Giant to win the championship. No word on how the situation with the
belts will be resolved; besides Rick & Buff becoming "enemies", Buff
is still months away from returning to the ring. Maybe Rick will go
Wolfpac?

Rick Steiner pinned Scott Steiner
Buff jumped over the railing wearing a suit and a Bill Clinton mask.
Stevie Ray handed Buff a slapjack, and he nailed both the ref and
Rick. Scott took the advantage, but Rick regained control and pinned
Scott after Nick Patrick took over.

Scott Hall defeated Kevin Nash via countout
Hall staggered to the ring, drink in hand, which he threw in Nash's
eyes. Both men were busted open, and Nash delivered two powerbombs to
Hall. Instead of covering Hall for the victory Nash simply walked
away from the ring, insisting his point was made. Decent brawl, but a
lame finish.

US Champion Bret Hart defeated Sting via knockout
Sting had a goatee, the first time I've ever seen Sting with facial
hair. A decent brawl until the ref was knocked out; Hart then hit Sting with a baseball bat five times. Sting was knocked out, and by the time the referee awoke, Sting was wrapped in The Sharpshooter. Since Sting wasn't responding the bell rang and Hart was awarded the victory. Sting was put on a stretcher after the match and taken away by ambulance; Sting did a great job of selling his injury.

Hollywood Hulk Hogan pinned The Warrior
Hogan wore a feather boa to the ring to get some cheap heat. Stiff,
plodding offense from both men; they both looked pathetic. The
Warrior was out of breath just from running to the ring. Note to the
Warrior: Working out is great, but try some cardiovascular training
to go along with the weights. Match ended when Horace entered the
ring and nailed Warrior with a chair; Hogan said that Horace passed
the test (is he now in the nWo?). Horace covered Warrior with lighter
fluid and was about to set him on fire until security intervened.
After RAW last week there are no more remaining boundaries.

WCW World Heavyweight Champion Goldberg pinned Diamond Dallas Page
Amazingly good. All the talk of these two practicing their match at
the Power Plant appeared to pay off. Easily the best match of
Goldberg's career. The offense was good by both men and they had no
problem selling for each other. Goldberg kicked out of The Diamond
Cutter and nailed DDP with The Jackhammer. Both men hugged after the
match.

Notes: For once, a great main event. The show ran until 8:20 Pacific
time, the first time I can remember when a match went past its
allotted satellite time. Jericho VS Raven was the best match; Hogan VS
Warrior was easily the worst. Good undercard; the Cruiserweights
really worked hard. The talent depth on this show highlighted WCW's
strengths.
===========================================
Swami's Weekly Poll #2
Last weeks' poll result:
What stable rules WCW?
A. The IV Horsemen 14 votes - 17%
B. One Warrior Nation 2 votes - 3%
C. Latino World Order 8 votes - 10%
D. nWo Hollywood 21 votes - 26%
E. Wolfpack 33 votes - 41%
F. All other WCW Wrestlers 3 votes - 4%
"The Four-Horseman are by far the dominant group in WCW. That's why
Bischoff fears them so much more than WCW or the Wolfpac."
Cobra1209
"its all about El Dandy and the LWO. El Dandy is the whole show."
Jobber4WCW
"I think that nWo Hollywood will dominate. Yes, people might not like
them, but they are all the bad guys and can beat on anyone. I don't
care how good
you are, the superior numbers of the nWo White and Black will win.
(i.e. Nitro, Warrior runs out to get the smack down laid on his candy
ass.) The Wolfpack always gets beat up by Hollywood's nWo. The 4
horsemen have maybe 1 no, 2 good stars. There's Ric Flair, who I
personally hate, and Benoit, who I don't like ethier. Oh yeah, I
forgot. They have Mongo. Oh, please. The four horsemen can't beat
nWo Hollywood. They just aren't good enough."
N8playslax
"The Wolfpack clearly rules WCW, whether for better or for worse."
Rebel4war
Total number of votes= 81
Margin of error= 1%
1 vote= 1.23%
Swami's pick to win last weeks poll: Wolfpack, I was right. And no,
I did not count my vote.

This weeks poll:
Who is your favorite wrestler? and Who is your least favorite wrestler?
(Please limit wrestlers to WWF or WCW. Thanks)
To vote, send an e-mail to <nwo4life4ever@xxxxpuno.com> with the subject
box reading 'POLL'. Here is how the message should read:
Favorite: Jim Jobber
Least-Favorite: Jobber Jim
and feel free to express your views as to why they are good or bad.
Swami's pick to win this weeks poll: I am going to choose The Rock
and Warrior to win this one. Rocky has become a real fan favorite in
the last few weeks. And Warrior continues to lay the smack down on
himself with all those big words.

Swami's picks (not counted in final tally): Hollywood Hogan and
Goldberg. Hogan made wrestling and Goldberg is getting OLD-berg.
===========================================
Reader Mailbag
Submitted by reader: VONERICH1
An ultimate way to end a WCW Nitro show (Eric Bishoff rags on Wolfpac
and Horsemen, they all come out and brawl with nWo Hollywood, nWo
Hollywood kills them in the brawl until the newest supergroup comes out- THE FREEBIRDS, consisting of Michael Hayes, Terry Gordy, Buddy Roberts, Iceman Parsons, Jimmy Garvin and last but not least KEVIN VON ERICH. They clear the ring and RAVEN comes and joins the Freebirds and also introduces the manager of the group JAKE ROBERTS. What a show that would be. I guess I'm still living in the past.
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Reader Mailbag
Submitted by reader: SlickVenom
Hey, what up? I've been reading this newsletter for quite a while now,
but this is my first time writing in. The following is taken from
issue #44:
"Finally, lure Sabu and Jushin Liger into the league to create the
MOST prolific, exciting tag team available. Throw Furnas and LaFon in
there too, and you have a bonafide tag team division."

This is one of the most ridiculous things I have ever heard. Lets get real! I was once a pretty big Sabu fan, but the man has just lost the impact he once had. He used to be so innovative but now its just the same blown spot after blown spot with no psychology whatsoever. Jushin Liger, on the other hand, is the best wrestler in the world (some Misawa marks may disagree) but there is not a snowballs chance in hell he would ever sign with the WWF. Besides, he does NOT have the physical ability these days to do the moves that made him a superstar. When was the last time he did a Shooting Star press, or even a Moonsault? Probably back in 1993.  So how could this team be what you hyped them up to be?
===========================================
Reader Mailbag
Submitted by Ed Pyle (Fyrcraker9)
Although I find the angle of the Godfather stupid (what the WWF
implied with the Flash Funk gimmick it is just coming out and saying
with the Godfather), and I can't believe the people cheer for him, I
see some potential in this angle if it is handled correctly. The only
way I could find the Godfather the least bit palatable is to make him
a monster heel, old school style. In the old days, wrestling heels
would spit at, and insult the fans. Sometimes they would raise their
fists, or look like they were about to start a fight with the crowd.
It made you want to cheer the good guy even more.

Today's heels like the Rock, act a lot like the faces of old.  So for the Godfather, I want him to come out spit at the fans and call them a bunch of names. I want him to leer and say obscene things. When he fights, I want him pull out foreign objects like brass knuckles. In interviews he should say why he is so much smarter than the stupid fans, "cause he made his money the old fashioned way". I think this way Godfather could draw a lot of heat. With the monster heel heat generated by Godfather, he could turn someone like the Rock or the Edge into a complete babyface by feuding with them. It would also mean a revival of the "toughman contests" - rule breaker vs rule breaker matches with cheating beyond the dreams of the most hardcore
wrestling fans.

Tiger Ali-Singh also has good potential as a monster heel of the future, combining two of the greatest heel gimmicks of all time (The Million Dollar Man and the Anti-American Bret Hart). Tiger seems to have enough charisma, hopefully his ring skills will justify the classic gimmick. Hopefully the WWF will have enough brains to see
that a fan favorite pimp is really bad taste, and will let Tiger
Ali-Singh live up to his potential.
ED
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Reader Mailbag
Submitted by reader: horsemen4ever@xxxxpuno.com
I TOTALLY AGREE, THE WWF IS WAY BETTER!!!!!! When I went to WCW's Fall Brawl '98 I did not know what to expect. The card to Fall Brawl had a
chance to have great potential and could have become a great show.
But then on the other side you had WCW's recent performances (IT
SUCKS). And then when I walk in I had a sign that said Raw cooks
Nitro. And they ripped it up! I was really mad! So I went figuring
that they would fit Goldberg in the card somewhere. And when Jericho
announced him and Goldberg fighting that was what I expected.

Then I get jazzed up over a match that could have great potential. But when it happened it had a Goldberg look alike come out. I was totally PISSED. In fact I could tell the rest was going to suck so I left! That is right, I left the arena! And I am a true wrestling fan but what was the point knowing that some screw job was going to happen in War Games and it happened.

On 10/24 I went to WWF house show in Greensboro, North Carolina. The
high points of the night was: It was mad fun!

First of all the first match to the last match was good.  This kid beside me threw a quarter at Mark Henry when he was fighting the Rock right in front of us. And when the Rock hit Mark Henry's head on the wall in front of us we heard it!

Plus the fact that when the Rock came out he looked at me and did his
little People's eyebrow.  During the New Age Outlaws match a woman showed her breasts.  I touched the Oddities, the Hardy Boyz, and Too Much Edge said hey to me.  Mick Foley said hey to me.  I saw D'lo Brown, Brian Christopher, and Mark Henry go in to the building.  X-Pac spit his water on me There is not a snowball's chance in hell any of this could have happened at a WCW event.
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Reader Mailbag
Submitted by reader: Mikey G (playa64@xxx.com)
I would like to respond to Mrmonteiro He was talking
about backyard feds. I agree with him so much. I am in a fed called
PAW and it runs out of my town and we put it on public access Friday
nights at ten. We have an event about once every two or three weeks.
The whole league is pretty cheap, we wrestle on a trampoline and stuff
like that. We all wrestle for free. But I know just about as many
people in my town that watch PAW as that watch WWF and I know more
people watch PAW than WCW or ECW. The league has grown in popularity
so much and it makes me feel proud to be in it. I am also in two
smaller leagues in my town. When I was in my first league, RITYWF, I
remember looking up to people in PAW and striving for that goal to be
in it and now I'm in and I love it. PAW is the largest league in my
town and actually the third league I'm in saw me on the show and
wanted to have me in his league. I think that backyard feds are a
great thing and that everyone who has a chance to be in one definitely
should be.
===========================================
Reader Mailbag
Submitted by reader: AndySixers
The WWF tag team division is looking a heck of a lot better than WCW's
right now, but I have a suggestion that would make it even more
exciting and competitive than it currently is. BRING BACK DEMOLITION!
Go get Barry Darsow from WCW who right now is jobbing to everyone in
sight, and take Ax back from the independants.

I know the last time the WWF brought a big team back (LOD) they had a good few months and then started to suck, but don't give Ax and Smash a huge work schedule and let them save their energy for TV, no house shows. Maybe I just got a bit too attached to them a few years ago, but I really believe they could really make the WWF tag team division shine.
===========================================
Reader Mailbag
Submitted by reader: IMKingDouG
I have one comment to WCW, why are you trying to entertain 8 year olds
still? You guys have freaking jobbers, I mean who wants to watch Perry
Saturn beat up on Johnny Swinger, like that's a match anyone would
want to see.

Second of all, who in the world actually thinks the Warrior has magic
powers? It isn't entertaining when you have a guy act like a fool and
pretend he is Batman. Also he isn't over with the fans, it plain sucks.

You can't forget the two greatest things going in WCW, The Wolfpac and
Bill Goldberg, haha. These two groups are one in the same. Take for example Konnan, he goes and fights Silver King, he wins, why? Because the fans like him, pretty dumb huh, but it is the god written truth. That goes with the rest of the Wolfpac, they fight and they win because they are good guys. Then you have the 30 second man, Goldberg. Like a month ago or so, the WCW Heavyweight Champion of the world, fights Al Green. That makes me sick!! Who in their right mind would watch that? A 8 year old I bet. For Pete's sake, make him lose to someone. It got old after 127-0.

Last and certainly least is their mic skills. I was watching WCW when
Eddie Guerrero was having his baby tantrum with Eric Bischoff. I hear him say this word for word, "Eric you could kiss my you know what," I about died of laughter when I heard that. I then turned to RAW, at that moment Sable was in the ring, she challenged Jacky to a fight and I hear what she has to say, " Jacky get your ass out here right now!!," You understand what I mean?? WWF has "Attitude," while WCW is still "The nice guys."

So while WWF is entertaining there fans as they grow, the boys down
south want you to stay at, oh I say 8 years old. If they bring in
attitude, take away jobbers, they might bring in some interest to us
above 8 years old
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The staff of The Wrestling Booking Sheet
Editor: Steve Appy Columnist: Mark George
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