Issue # 135

Date:  Sunday January 17th, 1999  12:03 pm

The Wrestling Booking Sheet

MANKIND WARNING
Mick Foley has told people he's expecting his Royal Rumble "I Quit" match
against The Rock to be a match of a lifetime, which sounds both good and also
pretty scary. The last time he tried that (The Hell In the Cell against The
Undertaker), it was a memorable match and he could have easily been maimed in
the process, which may sound entertaining to some but shouldn't. Either way, I
know I'm curious...
(Reported by Dave Meltzer of The Wrestling Observer)

NORTON & NEW JAPAN
Scott Norton, who recently lost the IWGP World Championship to The Great Muta,
was originally promised a one year title reign. He was told it wasn't anything
personal regarding him why they switched it, but they had to get it off him
because of all the problems working with WCW.
(Reported by Dave Meltzer of The Wrestling Observer)

BILLY JACK HAYNES
Former WWF star Billy Jack Haynes, 45, surrendered to the St. Helens, OR police
on 12/4 on charges of multiple counts of theft in allegedly taking money to
promote a wrestling show in town and skipping town and never running the show.
He was taken to jail in Oregon City, but was released the next day due to
overcrowding in the jail. Haynes denied having a drug problem, but admitted to
a gambling problem and said he was working in collections in 1995, admitted
intimidating people, but also claimed to have never hurt anyone. He claimed he
needed money fast to pay off gambling debts and admitted being wrong and said he
would try to pay off the people he burned. The Oregon State Consumer Fraud
Division is also investigating.
(Reported by Dave Meltzer of The Wrestling Observer)

SABU DETAILS
In regards to The Guilty as Charged PPV, Sabu really wanted a Three-Way Dance
rather than just to come in for spots. He legitimately injured his neck to a
degree being suplexed on his head and at numerous times came close to quitting
ECW, but The Sheik, who Sabu listens to, advised him not to go to WCW even
though he's now 35, the money offer was much bigger and there is much better
disability insurance (which would be a major factor in his case). The problem
at WCW is that he would be mid card at best, because he wouldn't have a prayer
of getting past the glass ceiling, while in ECW he can be a top player.
(Reported by Dave Meltzer of The Wrestling Observer)

HUGH MORRUS ALMOST QUITS WCW
Hugh Morrus gave his notice on 1/4, but it now appears he's going to stay and
they are going to put Morrus, Meng & The Barbarian back together as a group
under Jimmy Hart.
(Reported by Dave Meltzer of The Wrestling Observer)

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ECW ARENA RESULTS FOR SATURDAY, 1/16/1999
By Dave Scherer of http://www.1wrestling.com
ECW returned to the ECW Arena on 1/16/99 with a show that was heavily hinted to
have the return of the four time ECW World tag champs, the Public Enemy. The
last time the PE had been in the building was at House Party 96 on January 6th
of that year. In the mean time, they went off to WCW, and were largely not used
much at all by the company. One wondered how their return would be viewed by the
hardcore ECW fans that, in many ways, looked at the PE as the poster boys for
the "cause" years ago.

Well, that question was addressed before the show even started, as the company
did an estimated crowd of 1,700 fans, with at least a hundred more turned away
at the door. The bizarre part, fans were told as they came in at the end that
they were paying a non-refundable ten dollars for the chance of standing on the
floor to watch the show. They got no guarantee they would even be able to see
anything, yet they spent their money anyway.

Spike Dudley pinned Danny Doring

The next match saw Steve Corino take on Chris Chetti. Corino was funny early on,
teasing big spots into the crowd, only to not do them. That gets the heel heat
nowadays folks.Nice back and forth match that saw Chetti get the pin with the
triple jump moonsault in nine minutes.

Antifaz Del Norte pinned Little Guido.

Super Crazy pinned Yoshihiro Tajiri in an awesome aerial showdown

The Tommy Dreamer vs. Justin Credible feud continued as the two met again. As
always, Justin was accompanied by his flock. Dreamer had a cast on his hand.
Before the match started, out came Lance Storm, with Tammy Bytch. Bytch looked
fabulous, and has a great presence in the ring. There is a rumor that she is
getting a breast enhancement surgery next week and all I can say is, she doesn't
need it. Anyway, Lance came out and said that these guys think they had the best
match on the PPV last week, but he actually did with Rob Van Dam. He told each
one he'd kick their butts. Tommy said BS and said that they would do what put
ECW on the match and have a three way dance. Dreamer did a great interview where
he ripped on the flock. Classic stuff. Dreamer then said he has been here five
years and he was dying to see a decent set of, well, mammaries, and out came
Francine. Francine took the mic out from between Dreamer's legs and said that
the fans have been chanting for her to disrobe for five years, and she was about
to do it when Lance covered her up, and took her to the back. Tammy was ticked.
Dreamer beat on Justin for a few minutes until Lance came back out and the heels
double-teamed Dreamer for the next few minutes. Six minutes in, the heels
started to fight and Dreamer went to the back. He came back immediately with a
ten foot ladder. He juiced Jason with the ladder and then did a nice Monkey Flip
spot onto Justin in the corner. Tommy laid them both on the ladder, but missed
splash on both. Dreamer came back and had the ladder over his shoulder and did a
cool Terry Funk battering ram spot. He abused them until they did a double-team
spot which put Dreamer through a table. Tommy came back again, hitting a DDT on
Justin into Lance's groin. Tommy had the match won when Jazz and Tammy attacked
him. Justin went to hit Tommy with the cane but Tommy scooped him up. Justin
threw the cane to Lance, who creamed Tommy. Storm then creamed Justin with the
cane, and Tommy rolled him up. Dreamer then got the pin on Storm with a Russian
legsweep in 13 minutes. Good match.

Next up was an impromptu match for the World tag titles, as Sabu and Rob Van
Dam, with Bill Alfonso, took on Axl Rotten and Balls Mahoney. The champs hit
rolling thunder on Mahoney. Balls was bleeding from the mouth, as they hit the
double leg drop off the top, through a table for the pin. Psychotic match.

John Kronus pinned Ulf Herman.

The crowd, sensing the opening for the TV show, chanted "Joey". Little did they
know that he was home with the flu. Get better Mr. Styles. Luckily for him, he
has the lovely Mrs. Styles at home taking care of him.

Next up was the return to Philly of Chris Candido and Tammy Sytch, as he was
here to take on the World Champ, Taz. This match was set up at the house show in
Trenton, NJ on 1/15 when Candido challenged Taz to the match. Taz got a very
mixed reaction, with as many fans cheering as booing the new champion. Before
the match started, Francine came out to ringside. While she was distracting the
ref and Candido, Shane Douglas came out and pasted Candido with a chair in the
back. He then hit a fisherman's suplex on Candido, on the chair. Francine and
Tammy got into it a little, but Shane broke them up. He told Francine to get
dressed and head to the back. He said that the belt he made was never about T
and A. He said he built this house, and this title, on wrestling, and asked for
a match. Taz agreed, and the crowd popped big. Douglas, who was wearing a new
cast on his injured wrist, was sporting a new, shorter hair cut and came across
a babyface. The first few minutes featured a lot of matwork until Taz hit a
T-Bone on Shane. They went onto the floor. Shane hit a splash from the top to
the floor. Taz suplexed Shane through a ringside table. It looked like Taz threw
Shane off of the bleachers through RF Video's tape table. They got back up on
the lower stage where Shane suplexed Taz. He went to the top stage and hit a
nice splash from the top onto the lower stage, on Taz. They took another bump
through the RF table. They moved to the merchandise tables, where Shane threw
Taz through one of them. From there, they went outside and then came back in the
front door. They made it back to the ring. Shane started at the belt, longingly,
then put a table in the ring. He hit a suplex and a neck snap. The crowd was
chanting his name. He went to whip Taz into the table but Taz reversed it and
went to work on Shane. His fans popped for him. They went back and forth for the
next few minutes with actual wrestling moves. Gotta love that. Taz hit a big
suplez and slapped on the choke, which he turned into a Tazmission plex through
the table, which was set up in the corner 15 minutes earlier, for the pin. Super
match.

Afterwards, Taz called for them to cut his music. The crowd gave both men an
ovation. As Shane got up, the clapped louder and chanted "ECW". Taz left and
they chanted Shane's name, and they gave him a standing O. He acknowledged their
cheers like a babyface. They then chanted, "Please don't go". Shane seemed
touched. It was great stuff.

Out came Joel Gertner and Sign Guy Dudley, followed by Bubba and D-Von, followed
by Big Dick. Bubba informed the crowd that they shouldn't get excited, because
he was going to shoot with them. He said the Public Enemy were not there. He
said not to blame them, because they didn't advertise, and Joey Styles never put
them over. He said the PE sold out the fans, and that he felt bad for the fans
not getting to see the match. Bubba then said they were going home, and Bubba,
Big Dick and D-Von left through the crowd, while Gertner and Sign Guy went out
through the curtain.

Skull Von Krush then came out, followed by Judge Jeff Jones. Jones found Skull
"guilty as charged" for spitting at him, and brought out his executioner "The
Man". Out came Sid, to a big pop. Sid dominated and chokeslammed him through the
table viciously. He threw him over the guardrail throat first twice, then tossed
him back in. Sid hit the powerbomb for the pin, then, at the crowd's request,
hit another powerbomb, which led to an ECW chant. Skull was stretchered out of
the area.

Gertner and Sign Guy came back and and said that the other Dudleys had left the
building. Joel said that they were disgusted that the PE they left so instead of
getting that match, they will get Gertnervision. Joel said that it was 1995,
crackheads were everywhere in Philly and the wrestling business was in the
toilet. So of course, that was when PE ruled the wrestling business. He said
that he was ringing the bell then, and he had great memories of the PE. He ran
down the PE, saying they tried to have good matches, but Rocco couldn't work and
Johnny was smelly, like, well, things I can't type here. He said if anyone
wanted to see PE, that five women should stand in line and the only "PE" they
would see was, well, oral sex with Gertner. He said the only reason he is saying
this is because he knows the PE are not here and they can't come out and kick
his butt. Then, the Hotstepper played again and Gertener went nuts. From the
back came Bubba and D-Von, in PE garb. They did a great mock-up of the PE's
intro. Bubba took the stick and said, "Oh Rocco, I'm already blown up from
dancing". It was hilarious and the crowd popped. He said "we are back home" and
some fans chanted, "Welcome back". Bubba said that all of the rats they used to
have se sex with weren't here. It was great. Then, Bubba got serious and said he
told everyone that the PE weren't here. He said that the Dudleys did not do the
fans wrong. He said that as much as it hurts him to say it, Paul Heyman didn't
do them wrong either. He said that they didn't answer the challenge because they
were afraid that Bischoff would fire them, and that if they came here that the
WWF wouldn't hire them. He said that mostly though, the PE was afraid that the
fans would not welcome them back. He said that the PE was dead. Then, again, the
Hotstepper and back they came, to a huge pop! They trashed the Duds for a
minute. The teams faced off when Dick came in from behind and laid them out. The
Duds worked them over. The fans chanted for New Jack, and out he came. Kind of
weird given his history with PE, but this is wrestling after all. Jack fought
Dick to the back, and the PE ran off the Duds. The fans chanted "Welcome back".
Johnny said it was good to be back, and he said that they have ECW stamped on
their hearts. He ran down the Duds, who by now were up on the stage. Grunge said
it was time to end the House Party ECW style and said party on. They went into
the crowd, and it ended kind of flatly. The build up was great up until then
though.
By Dave Scherer of http://www.1wrestling.com
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THRASHER OUT OF ACTION
Dave Meltzer reports that Headbanger Thrasher has a torn meniscus and will
undergo surgery on 1/18 and be out of action three months or more. The staff of
The Booking Sheet wishes him well, and looks forward to his return to the ring.
On the Headbangers WWF Message Board, Thrasher made the following statement:
"WELL THERE IS ALOT OF STUFF GOING AROUND ABOUT ME BEING INJURED. NOW ITS TIME
TO TELL. YES I HAVE A VERY BAD KNEE PROBLEM . IT HAPPENED WHEN WE DRESSED LIKE
BILLY AND JESSE AND I HAVE BEEN TRYING TO GET THROUGH IT BUT SAD TO SAY I CAN"T.
SO ON JAN 18TH I WILL GO UNDER THE KNIFE TO GET IT FIXED. THIS IS VERY HARD FOR
ME TO BE OUT OF THE RING AND AWAY FROM THE FANS BUT IT IS THIS OR NOT WALKING
WHEN I'M 40. SO I NEED TO DO THIS SO I CAN COME BACK AND BE THE SAME THRASHER I
WAS BEFORE. IT HELPS TO HEAR ALL THE FANS WISHING ME THE BEST. I GUESS THAT IS
WHY WE ARE THE WAY WE ARE WITH THE FANS.. I WANT TO THANK EVERYONE FOR ALL THEIR
WELL WISHS AND I WILL LET EVERYONE KNOW WHAT IS GOING ON. THANKS ONCE AGAIN...

THRASHER"
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DAVID FLAIR TURNING?
Submitted by reader: KFITZPATI
Kudos to Mick Foley for standing up man-to-man to the diabolical "Georgia Fats"
and his so-called comments a couple of weeks ago on Nitro to Foley. And-
surprise- I should not have been shocked that Tony S. said he was up to it
courtesy of Bischoff. While this newsletter and readers figured as much, well,
if that is the "dean" of WCW commentators, with all due respect that does not
sound like a good indication of WCW's direction in 1999. Why am I so critical
of the WCW product, WCW diehards will ask? I think the words of the fan at
phuckyou69@xxxxs... said it best. Like that fan I grew up seeing Flair and his
boys put together some good bouts on TBS- the Horsemen were brought together as
heels, and -though you saw it repeated many a time- they put on classic feuds
with Rhodes, T.A., Koloff, the L.O.D., etc. But as soon as I saw McMichael go
from the broadcast booth to holding four fingers up, I knew there was trouble.
It is very hard to watch. Also, I -like many internet fans- would like to see
Benoit get the push he deserves. As of now that means coming into the ring and
standing for ten minutes during a Flair interview.

Which points to something that many people seem to be agreeing with- Bischoff
is not working even close to potential with his talent in running the WCW. If
WCW continues to struggle in this ratings war with the WWF, the man who must
shoulder the blame is the man who all but said that the WWF was"finished" in
a Prodigy interview in 1997- and that man, folks, is Good King Eric.
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===========================================
The staff of The Wrestling Booking Sheet
Editor: Steve Appy
Columnist: Mark George
Columnist: SamJerry
Columnist: Fritz Capp
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Columnist: Darren Kramer

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