Issue # 189
Date:
Saturday March 27th, 1999 11:32 am
The Wrestling Booking Sheet
Ratings for March 22nd, 1999
RAW Nitro
First Hour: n/a 4.8
Second Hour: 6.4 3.6
Third Hour: 6.4 3.5
Composite: 6.4 4.0
Other weekend ratings
saw Live Wire do a 1.8. Superstars did a 2.3. Heat did a
4.1. WCW Saturday
Night did a 2.3. Thunder on 3/18 did a 3.3.
Reported by Dave
Scherer at:
http://www.1wrestling.com/
VINCE McMAHON ON THE
RADIO
Vince McMahon was on
the Fabulous Sports Babe show today as the push for
Wrestlemania
continues. Vince was in sales mode. He was mostly working
early,
playing along with the
storylines. He acted like he loved Rock and hated
Austin.
Babe asked about the
hotel they bought in Vegas and asked if that was where they
were going to do all
of their shows, and he said no. Vince then said that he
enjoyed playing his
character, and patterned it after people like George
Steinbrenner. They
talked about how going to a live show is a release, and its
entertaining. A caller
said that wrestlers are nice people, and then he said
that Vince is great at
his role. A caller asked if they would be in negotiations
with All Japan (no),
what he thought about Chris Jericho (he would love to have
him), Eric Bischoff
and Bret Hart. Vince would not say anything about the
latter. Babe asked him
about signing Randy Savage and Vince said that would be
interesting. When
asked if he watched the "other two" Feds, he forgot the
question because he
said that he loves having his family involved in the
company. Babe then put
him over and he left.
Reported by Dave
Scherer at
http://www.1wrestling.com
MRS. ROBINSON
As many of you have
picked up on, David Flair's encounter with "Mrs. Robinson"
on Nitro was a homage
to the 1967 Oscar winning film 'The Graduate'. The
classic line "Are you
trying to seduce me, Mrs. Robinson" brought back memories
to many of our older
readers. The specualtion centers on whether there is more
to the angle, perhaps
a connection between "Mrs. Robinson" and referee Charles
Robinson. This being
WCW there is no guarentees, but I would think the name
might symbolize more
than a movie Kevin Nash enjoyed as a teenager (though a
great movie).
LA COOCARACHA UNMASKED
As many of you
figured, the mystery "Luchador" on the 3/22 Nitro was The
Disco
Inferno. I didn't
notice it myself (these three hour Nitro's are numbing my
brain), but many
viewers were a little more observant. I guess the give away
was the little dance
and the Chartbusters. This seemingly will be used to
develop the Konnan/Disco
storyline...
RICK MARTEL RETURNS
In a piece of good
news, former
AWA World Champion Rick
Martel is back in the
ring again! It seems
that he and Tony Atlas have been wrestling for the original
"Rock", Don Murraco,
at his shows in
Hawaii! I could think of
worse places to
have to wrestle. Don
owns the H.I.W.F., Hawaii International Wrestling
Federation and
featured Atlas and Martel over the weekend. For the record,
Martel won with the
Boston Crab against the Metal Maniac. Our man on the scene,
Lane, also mentions
that their next show on the 30th will feature Murraco's
greatest opponent,
Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka.
Reported by Al Isaccs
at:
http://www.scoopscentral.com
WRESTLEMANIA PREVIEW
SHOW
The Wrestlemania PPV
Preview Show is now fully recorded. Cueball Carmicheals,
Samu, Donnie B, and
Bobby Starr all give great interviews. Cueball tells
everyone about Tori's
wrestling past, and why he couldn't care less who win's
the Mankind/ Paul
Wight match. Then Samu talks about his cousin The Rock, and
the history the Somoan
family has in the WWF! Then Donnie B tells the world
that Jim Ross is not
using Novocain to make his appearance seem worse. Bobby
Starr then comes on
and gives his prediction of what will be the Main Event for
Wrestlemania 16! You
will be shocked! Also by listening you can find out where
you can hear exclusive
real audio interviews from Super Nova and Gillberg! To
listen to the show go
to
http://wrestling2000.com/Wrestlemania.ram
note: The Wrestlemania
PPV Preview Show Is Sponsored by Wrestling2000.com,
Wrasslin.com,
Wrestlescoop.com, Showdown.net, Wrestlingman.com and
TWrestling.com
(Reported by Kevin Ross)
===========================================
ROUNDING THE SQUARED
CIRCLE
"TESTOSTERONE
OVERLOAD"
OR
"HOOF
AND MOUTH DISEASE EPIDEMIC
SPREADING"
BY
SAMJERRY
For those fans that
may have missed this past weeks/weekends happening in
Titanville, never
fear...RTSC is here to bring you up to date.
Item: The big
announcement on Shotgun Saturday Night and Sunday Night Heat
was
that we are going to
see "The Greatest Main Event In RAW's History" tonight on
RAW. Stone Cold Steve
Austin (SCSA) will be facing The Big Show, Paul Wight in
the last RAW before
Wrestlemania. Rest easy fans, Emperor McMahon hasn't hired
Fat Tony, they just
borrowed his dictionary. This begs the question, "Today his
dictionary, tomorrow
his lard @$$?" What in hell is the WWF thinking? They are
kicking WCW's @$$
worse than we kicked Saddam's, so why the hype game? What's
next.. having Mideon
and Viscera fight over who's in charge of The Ministry Of
Darkness next time The
Undertaker goes in for his 3,000 year service?
Item: The Rock bad
mouthed members of The Corporation and challenged The Big
Bossman to a match on
Heat. Who tried to keep the peace? Nutso! Nutso being a
calming influence is
about as likely as Saddam winning The Nobel Peace Prize.
Next thing you know,
Jerry Falwell will start wearing a purple suit and a
triangle on his head,
Slick Willie will join Celibate's Anonymous and Val Venis
will announce he's
gay.
Item: Triple H put the
moves on The Godfather's Ho's. Yo Hunter, Pimping Ain't
Easy,
and the Ho's Aint
Free...unless The Godfather gives them to you. While its
understandable you may
be in a slump since Chyna kicked you to the curb, the
Ho's aren't looking
for a meaningful relationship, just a few crisp $100 bills.
Item: Road Dogg wins
the Intercontinental Championship and Bad @$$ the Hardcore
Championship (so what
if it happened on RAW). In a swerve that nobody saw coming
(at least I didn't),
WWF's Bookers pulled a neat switch. This is Booking at its
best. Both are well
deserving of a Title and this makes things that much more
interesting. It almost
makes up for The Hype Job, almost ..not quite. Maybe at
the next PPV, we'll
see Chyna challenge for the WWF Championship...The Men's
that is. Would you bet
against her? Then Goldberg can challenge her..if he has
the testicular
fortitude.
===========================================
WCW Thunder Report for
March 25th, 1999
By Rick Phelps (WrestleRic)
Opening
Tony Schiavone
announced that the "Nature Boy" Ric Flair would defend his
title
against former
Horseman Barry Windham in the main event.
Jerry Flynn versus
Scotty Riggs
Lightning Foot forced
Riggs to submit to his cross armbreaker.
Winner: Jerry Flynn
via submission
--A clip was shown of
Scott Steiner attacking Buff Bagwell.
Mike Enos versus Wrath
The big man pounded
Enos into the mat with the Meltdown.
Winner: Wrath via
pinfall
Chris Adams versus Fit
Finlay
This international
battle ended when Finlay put
Adams away with the Tombstone
piledriver.
Winner: Fit Finlay via
pinfall
Blitzkrieg versus
Kidman
Kidman ended this 90
M.P.H. match after nailing his opponent with the Shooting
star press.
Winner: Kidman via
pinfall
Horace versus Kaz
Hayashi
Horace made Uncle
Hollywood proud by defeating Hayashi with the H-Bomb.
Winner: Horace via
pinfall
--A recap was shown of
Scott Steiner and Meng advancing in the U.S.title
Tournament.
Saturn versus Booker T
The reigning
television champion advanced in the U.S. Title Tournament by
pinning WCW's current
dominatrix, Saturn, with a rollup.
Winner: Booker T
(Advanced in U.S. Title Tournament)
Barry Windham versus
Ric Flair
Assigned referee
Charles Robinson was clearly not impartial in this
Heavyweight
title match. At one
point,
Windham hit his patented
Superplex from the top rope,
but Robinson was slow
to make the three count. While arguing with Robinson, (who
was on his knees)
Flair pulled the old school boytrick by pushing
Windham over
the referee and then
applying the Figure Four. Amazingly, ARN ANDERSON, who had
made his way to the
ring, pulled
Windham to the ropes to break
the hold. "AA"
then said something to
Windham, who walked away from
the match as the show left
the air.
Winner: Ric Flair via
countout
Ricks Comments:
--I found it odd how
Mike Tenay referred to the attitude of Ric Flair as being
"new" ......not
new......just resurfacing.
--This is what a
wrestling show should be.......good solid wrestling matches
and
not 1 hour of clips.
--Bobby Heenan is the
"Man".....he says so many humorous things that you can
help but
laugh.......the man is my idol.
===========================================
ONECOUNT----by OSIRIS
(burkeandhare@xxxxc...)
Someone asked me once
who my all-time favorite wrestler was and I had to reply
Lou Thesz. Then I was
asked about today`s crop of grapplers and I had to stop
and think. Upon
reflection, I came up with 6 names: 2 in WCW, and 4 in the
WWF.
These men all
intrigued me for many reasons: their brawling style (so
reminiscent of days
gone by), their ability to adapt quickly, and for the most
part, their mic
skills.
In WCW, my 2
candidates are Fit Finley and Rick Steiner. Finley, whether
you
agree or not, is very
reminiscent of the old school. Now, the WWF has several
who embody the
characteristics listed above: X-Pac, Road Dogg, Bad Ass
Billy
Gunn, and the one man
I think is the greatest showman in either major
federation: Mankind!
Now, argue with that,
those are my choices.
Just a very short bit
about announcers. As I`ve said before, the greatest
wrestling announcer of
all time is Gordon Solie, but unfortunately he is
retired. I have to
consider today`s crop: in WCW, there are 4 individuals (and
here I part company
with my good friend, writer SamJerry, since he doesn`t like
either too much). In
WCW, I truly enjoy the color commentary of Larry Zybsko
and Bobby "The Brain"
Heenan. I like the expertise of Mike Tenay and Tony
Schiavone. Shiavonie
has to play the hand he is dealt by his bosses; now in the
WWF, I`d consider 2
men: Jerry Lawler for color commentary and Jim Ross for his
overall expertise.
Relative to Ross, the WWF has committed a crime: they have
stuck him with this
godawful on-air gimmick. Are they trying to humiliate him
off the air, or is
this one of Vinnie Mac`s long, serpentine plans?
Well, that`s
it!-------see ya around---------osiris--------
===========================================
VINCE McMAHON ON
FOX NEWS
Submitted by reader:
Dan Moreland (PASpoiler)
Vince McMahon appeared
on Fox News Channel this morning to answer questions
concerning WWF
content. While McMahon did a good job answering many of the
questions he also came
across as arrogant, paranoid and uncomfortable, probably
in line with his
television character. Among the highlights:
-Expressed displeasure
that WWF bashing columnist Phil Mushnickwasn't in the
studio, that he was
promised he would be, and said that this proves Mushnick
is a "liar" and a
"coward" . . .
-Stated that the WWF
can't be criticized in the context of being sport, but
should be considered a
"2 hour movie" to be compared to TV dramas and movies
that also contain a
lot of violence and sexual imagery.
-In response to the
"is the show bad for kids" question, stated that he
considers a child
anyone 12 or under, and that this consists of 15% of his
audience (which may or
may not be argued over the next few days) and that he
writes Raws content
towards his main audience which is teenagers and young
adults. He said that
if any children watch Raw it should be with parental
discretion. His point
was that Raw is written based on what the audience wants
and if that's sex and
violence, then that's what they get. He referred to WWF
violence as "cartoon"
violence as opposed to the shootings and stabbings seen on
many TV shows.
-McMahon admitted that
if he had a child under the age of 12, he would not allow
them to watch Raw, but
in the interview implied that he can't be held
accountable for
society's ills, including single parent homes where there
may be
less parental
supervision.
Credibility and spin
doctoring aside, McMahon answered the questions
intelligently with
logical arguments. However, considering that wrestling is
ripe for yet another
crippling scandal, McMahon may want to consider hiring a
consultant to sharpen
his on air interview persona. It may be a work, and I
don't know McMahon
personally and dont know if in private he's a pleasant
person
to talk to or really
is a prick. Wrestling is hot right now and if he wants to
portray himself as
"Mr. MikeMann" on TV interviews at the present moment thats
OK because its good
for business and gets his heel character over. But this
persona will not fly
when he's under the gun a few years from now when wrestling
isn't as hot and he's
potentially being questioned about scandals. You catch
more bees with honey
than with vinegar, Vinman.
Dan "Wrestlers
Heart"Moreland, Pro Wrestling Between the Sheets:http://pwbts.com
===========================================
ACTIVE BOOKERS
Submitted by reader:
Marq Piocos (flair_dog)
Something for you
frustrated fans, like myself...
Why the Foxes Should
Never Guard the Hen House Or
Why Active Wrestlers
Should never be a matchmaker
First, a brief
history: In the beginnings of the sport, promoters
(non-active
wrestlers mainly) did
most of the matchmaking. If they had a really great
talent, which was
rare, they would have some say, simply because they could
beat
anyone whenever.
Fast forward to the
early ‘90’s. The WWF’s matchmakers are the Kliq, a group of
wrestlers who are
talented enough to influence storylines and who the
champions
are. The ratings slide
as a new show, WCW Monday Nitro, shows us new talent and
a more interesting
storyline, the nWo. They take storylines in new directions
under matchmakers who
were former wrestlers, Terry Taylor and Kevin Sullivan.
The present: The WCW
has been losing in the ratings war. After firing Taylor and
demoting Sullivan,
Eric Bischoff enlists the aide of Hulk Hogan and Kevin Nash
in booking duties. The
WWF’s booking team consists of Jerry Brisco and Pat
Patterson. And the
WWF's ratings are better then ever. The WWF has learned from
its mistakes, and the
WCW is just learning—don’t let active wrestlers book.
Why? First, the ego of
the wrestler increases ten-fold. They feel they are the
best in the federation
and simply put, the power goes to their heads. Second,
the people who kiss
the most a$$ gets the bigger pushes (See Disco Inferno—-he
must be kissing a lot
of it to be getting this big of push.) Personal
relationships with
other wrestlers are important factors to consider. If the
wrestler doesn’t like
you for any reason, he simply pushes you down to lower in
the card—wasting their
talents, or
else forces you to job
every single week.
Retired wrestlers and
non-wrestlers as matchmakers are different from active
wrestlers. They aren’t
always in the locker room listening to the guys talk
about each other. They
do what’s best for the company or else they don’t get
paid. (McMahon has
this against him—-Bischoff can screw up forever—-but that’s
another story.) They
see talent and push the ones that have earned it. Being in
a match with another
wrestler and watching two wrestlers work with each other
are two different
things. Epic matches are created with two great workers, and
you can't judge while
you work--simple fact.
To sum up, the WCW
needs to get better bookers. Nash’s and Hogan’s egos have
created terrible
storylines, as well as degraded the talent they have.
Bischoff
is rumored to be
leaving WCW, reminds me of a rat leaving a sinking ship. I
don’t blame him.
-Flair_Dog
===========================================
NHB TRANSITION
Submitted by reader:
FabDoggRec
Hmmm I finally got my
hands on
UFC newsgroup. Being a big
pro wrestling fan, I
know a few people in
the "biz." Mark Coleman is indeed going to the WWF. WCW
had no interest for
him at the current time. Mark Kerr is also headed to the WWF
or WCW, but probably
WWF. Does anyone know anything else on Kerr?
---Marc Middleton
WoW/ECW Magazine (http://www.CandidoSytch.com)
===========================================
WCW EXPRESS STOPS AT
THUNDER STATION
Submitted by reader:
matt
If anyone have watched
Thunder in the last weeks they would see that WCW is
trying to make it
more, if you will, "high profile". Last week on Thunder, we
saw Hogan defeat
Hennig, and this week we saw Flair and Windham go to a no
contest. Thunder last
Thursday had more undercard matches to lead up to the main
event. The only
support Flair/Windham got was Saturn/Booker T which wasn't
that
great of a match.
Thunder was not meant for World Title matches. Keep those
for
Nitros. However, this
match might be needed for story development for those
rumors saying Windham
will be a new member of the Horsemen. But if WCW wants a
better show on Thunder
the only thing that can be done is to make it shorter. By
doing this they can
take the best matches and matches needed for story lines and
put it in one hour.
The card would be much better if it were done like this:
Jerry Flynn vs. Scotty
Riggs, Wrath vs. Mike Enos, Horace vs Kaz Hayashi, Kidman
vs Blitzkrieg, Flair
vs Windham
The first 3 matches
are to put those people over. I see Jerry Flynn becoming a
low midcarder and
Horace and Wrath both becoming heels to put midcarders over.
The WCW train has made
some ground on the right track in that they are giving
the undercard
storylines. We saw Jerry Flynn start a feud with The Cat
which
should have ended on a
Nitro not a PPV. And recently, we saw Rick Steiner and
Fit Finlay get into
and argument which was settled in a match on the 3/22
Nitro.
Matt
===========================================
ADVERTISEMENTS
Check out
http://www.knowyourrole.net COMING SOON! Know your role,
and visit
the site!
Join the new, best
E-Fed out there, The BSWF. To get an application write to
MDLLB64
OWF is a hot new fed
with a few RPers already.We only want good Roleplayers so
if you are good and
you have the time check it out at:
http://members.tripod.com/~sycho311
I would like to invite
you to join the 512-Man_Crystal_Cup mailing list. The
description of this
mailing list is: This is my nine round tournement, and it
features 512 wrestlers
from all around the world. Whoever gets the most votes in
a certain match will
go onto the next round.You can join this list by going to
the following web
page:
http://www.onelist.com/subscribe.cgi/512-Man_Crystal_Cup
xCw the best rp fed on
AOL. It has been running for
2 months now and has over
20
members, many WcW and
ECW wrestlers left, if ya wanna join E-Mail me at
APage24223
To subscribe to Isaiah
Kondas' Pro Wrestling Newsletter, send a blank email to
pwn316-subscribe@xxxxpGroups.com In its 30th issue,
PWN gives its readers all the
news they can handle!
Want to join an
exciting E-Fed with lots of potential? Do you think you're
tough enough? Do you
think you can handle it? Do you think your the best?
Well, its gut check
time! Come to the BSW and find out
http://bsw.virtualave.net/
That's the address,
now come and hang with the big boys...If you can handle it.
Tell them Gladiator
sent you.
Join the EWO
federation by e-mailing
RKTS715
On April the 23rd in
London, Ontario Canada, a HUGE indy show will take place
with former WWF
Superstars including the Honky Tonk Man Bastion Booger, The
Brooklyn Brawler, Iron
Shiek, Nikoli Volkoff and Doink The Clown. Hardcore
Wrestling is putting
on this "HUGE" Show, For Only $10 bucks you can check out
all the excitment. In
the Main Event of the evening fan's will see former WWF
World Champion The
Iron Sheik face The Brooklyn Brawler in a Brooklyn street
fight. Seating is
limited get your tickets
NOW. Meltdown 99 | April 23rd
Medway
Arena Wonderland RD
North London Ticket Centre 519-673-5715
http://www.wrestlesource.com/hwf
The
NEW REBELLION wrestling
website has entered the internet. I'm the
"Undisputed King of
Wrestling Media" "Mockingbird" Max Mocker and I'm the staff
writer for the
website. I write a weekly article known as The Mock Report
and I
post news daily. The
website is right here so click onto that:
http://www.wrestlecanrana.com/rebellion/ On 3/27 the
"Undisputed King of
Wrestling Media"
"Mockingbird" Max Mocker has a special announcement to make
so
be there for that.
That's all the news for now and remember The Rebellion is
the
going to be the best
site in the world!
-MaxMocker
===========================================
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
Any submissions sent
in by readers or columnists become the property of The
Wrestling Booking
Sheet, and are subject to editing due to grammar, spelling,
or content. Any
information taken from The Wrestling Booking Sheet must be
credited properly,
with our E-Mail address listed. We have no problem if you
want to use our stuff;
just credit it properly.
Copyright- Steve Appy of The
Wrestling Booking Sheet ©1998, 1999, 2000
"When you're young and you
pick up a guitar, it feels so powerful. It feels
like you pulled the
sword from the stone. I used to believe that it could save
the world. But I don't
really believe that anymore." - Bruce Springsteen
"The greatest challenge of
adulthood is holding on to your idealism
after you lose your
innocence and believing in the power of the human
spirit after you come
crashing into the limits of the real adult
world." - Bruce
Springsteen
