Issue # 070

Date:  Wednesday, November 18th, 1998  1:31 pm

The Wrestling Booking Sheet

ROUNDING THE SQUARED CIRCLE
"NORMAN BATES WOULD BE PROUD"

OR
"BUFFY, THE MOTHER SLAYER"
BY SAMJERRY
VISIT my Home Page: http://members.aol.com/~samjerry or
http//rtsc.cjb.net

Remember when Good King Eric climbed the pulpit and preached family
values? How he derided the WWF's excessive use of vulgarity and
exploitation of women?

How he said the public would rebel at it? How Turner Broadcasting
would never stand for it? How terrible the USA Network was for showing
such tasteless trash?

Sure the WWF has pushed the envelope of what borders on bad taste.
Sure the WWF has played T&A game. But, they came right out and said
that was what they were doing. They made no bones about it. There have
been angles that I thought went over the line. Dustin Runnels'
religion angle for one. Religion is one area that is best left alone.
The WWF must have recognized that also because they abruptly dropped it.

Yo Eric, those who live in glass bricks shouldn't throw houses (even
if they have the "natural" muscles of Pumped Up Poppa). The current
angle that has Buffy's mama joining with Ricky, The Wonder Dog,
against her little boy and Poppa just passed that one for bad taste.
Poppa beating up Buffy's mama, while Buffy stood by? What is going on
here? Not only have you gone into abusing a woman, but abusing a
mother while her son stood by cheering the abuser on. You show mama in
a hospital bed as the result of the beating to show the severity of
it. This leads fans to conclude that it wasn't just a little slap, not
that that would make it right. All this to set up a Tag Team
Championship Match pitting Bow Wow and Mama vs. Buffy and Poppa!
As an aside, it really shows the disdain you have for tag team
wrestling. An elderly woman is going to defend WCW's Tag Team Title. I
wonder how Kaos feels about being dumped in favor of Buffy's mama. Of
course, no one expects her to spend much (if any) time in the ring,
probably coming in only to get the pin.

And speaking of T&A, I am sure the Bimbos are there purely for their
dancing skill and to showcase Mrs. Dirtbag's choreographic acumen.
Certainly you would never exploit their looks. I know they dress as
they do because to wear more would hinder their dancing.

I didn't want to mention it, but since The Fearless Four would have
(over and over) if NITRO won this past Monday's ratings, I am going
to. Head-To-Head (9-11PM), RAW averaged 5.5 to NITRO's 3.9. If that
were a boxing match, it would be like a knock out in the first or
second round. Throwing in NITRO's uncontested 8-9 PM rating of 5.0, it
brings NITRO up to a 4.3. Still a wipeout, no matter how you look at
it. It also shows that a lot of the 8-9 PM viewers left and went
elsewhere, some most likely to RAW. Looking at the run over after 11
PM, RAW scored an amazing 7.3 to NITRO's 2.7. It looks like viewers
watching the SuperDuperMan v. Bam Bam Bigelow non-match switched to
see the end of the Title Match between The Rock and Stone Cold Steve
Austin on RAW. That doesn't say much for SDMan's holding power, does it?

 

Of course, the 7.3 could have been due to viewers switching to USA to
see a rerun of New York Undercover. Not.

I mention the ratings only because when I first started writing a year
and a half ago, anytime I defended the WWF, I was deluged with mail
from WCW fans saying, "Look at the Ratings." This was the response I
got to virtually everything I wrote. "WCW has got to be better, look
at the Ratings." "The wrestlers in WCW are the best, look at the
Ratings." "The WWF sucks, look at the Ratings." I am looking. The
Fearless Foursome were very proud each week to say, "NITRO is No. 1 in
The Ratings for the 3,786th week in a row." To listen to Tony The
Shill, you would think that it was better than sex. If it is, Tony has
gone into dry dock.
===========================================
Reader Mailbag
Submitted by reader: Josh Pontrelli (mail-2-josh@xxxxpuno.com)
When LOD 2000 came out, and Hawk was on the top of the TitanTron, I
was really surprised what WWF did here. Sure, I know it was played out
well, and rehearsed, but let me ask you this: Is it right for the WWF
to be mocking suicide? My answer, as well as yours, is probably no.

When somebody who is on the verge of killing themselves, sees someone
doing it on TV, a hero or not, it makes them think about it. Believe me, I should know. (MY friend almost did it once but we talked him out of it).

So pretend this kid was in love with LOD 2000 and somewhat suicidal.
Hawk was his favorite wrestler. He sees Hawk on top of the TitanTron,
ready to fall to his bloody death, on purpose. What would he think?
Well, lets see, "MY HERO IS KILLING HIMSELF, SOUNDS GOOD FOR ME." He
could just go to his roof and jump. Or, it could be a kid. Imagine if
it was your kid. Kids do what they see on TV, they could end up
killing themselves. How would you like that?

This is a subject that should not have anything to do with the WWF,
let alone any wrestling promotion. Everyone knows that Droz pushed him
and it was a setup. But just think if it was a real situation. Yes, I
am a WWF fan, and love what they do with most angles, but this is not
one to consider good. WCW sucks, they can't come up with JACk! So, to
sum everything up, Suicide is not a good subject matter for the WWF to
pursue. It should be left alone.
=========================================
Reader Mailbag
Submitted by reader: OsVVizards
While Bret Hart has been vocal about the screw job, he should be.  Some
say that McMahon is past it, well that is because he's the bad guy in this situation. Why would he want to bring it up? McMahon is forever
trying to merge together the line between works and shoots.

This SS ending makes it look like last year was just another work when it was actually a screw job. That's the difference, comparing the Mankind screw job to Bret Hart's makes you sound stupid because this SS it was a work, Bret Hart's screw job was the real thing.

If any of you critics of Bret could take a minute to read Dave Meltzer’s account of the incident in The Wrestling Observer you will know that Bret has the right to voice out what happened to him for the rest of his life.
===========================================
RAW SPOILER- THE RESULTS FOR RAW ON 11/23/1998
REAL RESULTS
This report is courtesy of Phil Huckelberry and Scoops
DO NOT READ IF YOU WANT TO BE SURPRISED!!!!!!

Vince, Shane, Stooges come out. Vince says he had nothing to do with
the shovel attack and he doesn't lie. its time to announce a new WWF
commissioner - an independent free-thinker. The commissioner will be
in charge of all of the wrestlers except for Stone Cold. The new
WWF Commissioner is...
The Heartbreak Kid!

This came out of NOWHERE. Michaels hits the ring, blabs some, and
announces his first booking - tonight, for the WWF Title, Rock v.
X-Pac! Crotch chops, DX music, and the Stooges huddle but don't do
anything.

HEADBANGERS v. KURRGAN & GOLGA (w/ Oddities, ICP)
Golga gets his bare belly fling on Mosh, which was the most
interesting thing that happened in the match proper. In comes ICP - to
attack Golga! Hair spray in the eyes of Kurrgan and Silva, Golga gets
punked, and the Evil Clowns cut Luna's hair. They leave the ring with
the Headbangers. The Oddities all look very sad.

BLUE BLAZER v. STEVE BLACKMAN - this is NOT the same Blue Blazer that
wrestled in a dark match. Dragon sleeper on Blackman – then Sharpshooter -but Blackman finds the rope, and then wins about out of
nowhere. The move was so normal I didn't even remember it immediately
after it happened. Blackman goes to unmask the Blue Blazer and Owen
Hart runs out to make the save.

The crowd sees very brief footage of Shawn Michaels telling Vince to
trust him.

EDGE & GANGREL (w/ Christian) v. D'LO BROWN & MARK HENRY - Edge and
Gangrel pull off a nice double DDT on D'Lo and then a nice double
twirl slam on Mark Henry. Chyna comes out. Mark is entirely distracted
and Gangrel rolls him up for the pin. D'Lo starts to chide Mark Henry
but he points at Chyna, who from the top of the ramp says merely,
"Okay, Mark, I'll do it." He is THRILLED, and 20,000+ people saw for
probably the only time in their lives what a 450-pound weightlifting
champion looks like when he's all smitten and bubbly. He races off
after her and D'Lo looks utterly confused and slowly leaves the ring.

Heartbreak Kid with DX backstage - we don't hear a word of it.

GOLDUST v. MARC MERO - not much happens in the match. Terri comes out
fairly early and Jacqueline appears shortly thereafter. Eventually
Goldust gets the Shattered Dreams set up - so Jackie runs in and nails
HIM with a low blow, and then Terri runs in and does the Shattered
Dreams on Mero himself! The ladies give each other congratulations and
walk off. No decision.

KEN SHAMROCK v. BIG BOSS MAN v. MANKIND (Hardcore Title Match) - This
looks like an utter stompfest. Mankind comes out last and leaves the
belt at the announcers table, then enters the ring and after a long
feeling-out, starts getting pummeled. Boss Man went for the pin first
-is he supposed to get the belt? - but it winds up outside of the
ring. Mick puts up a damn good fight on the ramp -Shamrock gets
suplexed but Boss Man breaks that up. Back in the ring, nightstick
choke - Vince and Shane come out. Back on the outside, Mankind's
getting whupped on - but he gets a BROOM (apparently left from
sweeping up Luna's hair) and wreaks havoc. The broom breaks but after
about the fourth swing from where we were sitting so it didn't appear
to be treated. It all winds up on the other side at the announcers
table - and Mick winds up ON the table. Boss Man grabs a chair - back
in the ring - and the chair shot misses Mankind and nails Shamrock.
Mankind follows with a double-arm DDT on the chair. All three are down
but Mick gets up first, throws Shamrock out, chucks him into the
steps, and whips off Mr. Socko - Mandible Claw! But Boss Man breaks it
up. Back in the ring - Mandible Claw on Boss Man! Shamrock breaks that
up and gets a slam in. Then... the J.O.B. SQUAD shows up out of the
crowd. It gets really confusing but essentially, Al Snow comes in,
Head lays out Shamrock, and Mick gets the pin and keeps the belt. He
gives chase to Vince and Shane but gets jumped by Shamrock and the
fighting spills through the ramp entrance.

The Gangrel thing is set up for the THIRD time and people audibly boo.

CHRISTIAN v. DUANE GILL (Light Heavyweight Title Match)
You guessed it - Duane Gill was announced and the crowd audibly went
"Uh?" Christian with a nice drop knee gut on Gill - and Gill gets beat
up by all three - but, lo and behold, the J.O.B. SQUAD appears AGAIN
and its mass chaos. Scorpio hits Christian from the top rope and Gill
winds up on top - and there's your new WWF Light Heavyweight Champion.
The Brood gives chase when all is said and done.

 

We see Rocky yelling at Shawn - but have no clue what's going on.

GODFATHER (w/ Hoes) v. TIGER ALI SINGH (w/ Babu) - Long Godfather
spiel, he offers Tiger a hoe at a nice price; Steven Regal comes out
to tell Tiger not to trust Godfather, hoes leave the ring (no mooning
to-night), and Godfather is promptly double-teamed. Who makes the
save? Why, its VAL! The dust clears and Val walks off with a hoe
around each arm. If this really is a tag team to be, I hope they're
called Supply and Demand.

We see Shawn Michaels talking to a referee - the Titantron is very
little good for the live fans, ironically. Nobody has any clue what's
going on.

NEW AGE OUTLAWS v. J.O.B. SQUAD (with Duane Gill, Al Snow, Head) - Big
pop for the Outlaws, and they're the clear favorites. TV viewers will
hear a loud, moronic chant here - its "O - H" - "I - O" over and over
again. Road Dogg and Bob Holly start it off - Holly sort of hits
The Meltdown (is there another name for this?). They should really mix
up this "Road Dogg gets his a$$ kicked, finally makes the tag, and
Billy cleans house" thing - but, eh, it happens again. He hits a nice
spinning DDT - but MANKIND is out with the leaf blower, and he nails
Billy with it! Scorpio covers - and that's a pin. Boss Man and
Shamrock are out, and its a regular melee, with Shamrock and Boss Man
clearing the ring when its all said and done. Apparently the match
was a non-title match but that was never made clear.

Vince, Shane, and the Stooges meander out and talk to the Outlaws
briefly.

X-PAc (w/ Outlaws) v. THE ROCK (w/ Shamrock, Boss Man) (WWF Title
Match)
- Rocky gets some cheers, but mostly just resounding boos. Shawn
Michaels comes out as well and sends everyone but the two men in the
match back. X-Pac offers Rock some nice crotch chops and they have at
it. ROCKY SUCKS chant. It starts off VERY slowly. Rock hits a swinging
neckbreaker and then flips X-Pac out - outside X-Pac goes into the
ringpost groin first. Ouch. Shane and Vince come out just about as
X-Pac gets some momentum - spinning heel kick - both down - both up -
and another spinning heel kick for 2. Bronco Buster! Rock nails a
Samoan Drop for 2. X-Pac nails the Face Buster - only 2. Scoop slam
for 2 - Rock exits the ring and grabs a chair. Michaels comes in and
takes the chair away - and turns and nails X-Pac with it!!#?$#% He's out. Corporate Elbow, pin.

Outlaws run out and go after Rock. Shamrock and Boss Man run out and
go after Outlaws. Vince, Shane, Shawn, and Rock head out and offer
crotch chops all around. Boss Man punks all three DX boys with the
nightstick - and then FINALLY, here comes Austin. Boss Man - stunner.
Shamrock -stunner. Strutting. Bad Ass - stunner. Road Dogg - stunner.
More strutting. When X-Pac finally gets up, Austin goes to console him
- stunner. The Austin Thing for the crowd. He gets tossed a couple of
Steveweisers - Rock runs out - stunner. Shane comes out - Austin punks
him, flips him into the ring - stunner. Austin and the ref each have a
Steveweiser. Shane gets up - stunner. More beer. Shane gets up again -
stunner and an elbow. More beer. Lots of strutting, lots of fingers,
and, well, he didn't really DO a damned thing, but the fans love it
anyway.

So we have one new champion - Duane freakin' Gill; we have a new WWF
Commissioner - Shawn Michaels - and a heel turn at that; we have a
Rock/Mankind title match at WWF Rock Bottom; and a whole lot more. The
crowd favorites were, in order, Austin, Sable, and the Outlaws -
people are into Al Snow but don't seem to really get the J.O.B. Squad
angle. It looks like Mankind MIGHT be joining up with the J.O.B. Squad
but we can't really tell. No Undertaker or Kane - odd, since both were
in Lexington - but hey, whatever works.
===========================================
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: Osiris
Columnist: Tom Kirkbride
Columnist: Darren Kramer
 
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