The Wrestling Booking Sheet online newsletter

Issue # 193

Date: Sunday March 28th, 1999 7:54 pm

The Wrestling Booking Sheet

Wrestlemania 15 Report for March 28th, 1999
By Steve Appy
Live from Philadelphia PA
Boyz To Men opened Wrestlemania 15 with the 'Star Spangled Banner'. FrEddie
Blassie followed with a narration of the WWF legends, lending immediate
importance to the event. Michael Cole and Jerry Lawler hosted the festivities;
Jim Ross would make the show complete.

Hardcore Holly defeated Al Snow and Billy Gunn in a Hardcore Triple Threat Match
in 7:04 when Holly pinned Snow to win the WWF Hardcore Championship
Snow entertained the crowd with a broken broomstick, following up Gunn's use of
a hockey stick. After knocking down both men with Head, Snow brought a table
into the ring. Momentum backfired, and Gunn sent Snow crashing through the
table. Gunn used the "Famouser" to knock Snow unconscious, and Gunn seemed
poised to retain his championship. Holly knocked Gunn off Snow, and covered
Snow for the victory himself; title changes where the champion doesn't lose
directly are always suspect.

Jeff Jarrett & Owen Hart (w/Debra) defeated D-Lo Brown & Test (w/Ivory) in 3:54
when Jarrett pinned Brown
Test & D-Lo immediatly teased dissension; under her robe, Debra wore a bra &
panties (must be seen to be appreciated). Owen clipped D-Lo from behind,
allowing Jarrett to score the victory. In the midst of all this, PMS brawled
with Ivory, continuing their never ending feud with Brown.

Butterbean knocked Bart Gunn out in 0:45 seconds of a Brawl for All Matchup
Kevin Rooney, Chuck Whipner & Gorilla Monsoon (showing the signs of his illness)
were the judges; Vinny Ponzenza was the referee. Butterbean knocked Gunn out in
the first round in an apparent shoot (Gunn's mystique was killed tonight).

Mankind defeated Paul Wight via disqualification in 6:49 to become the referee
in the WWF World Championship match
Foley continually hooked the Mandible Claw, and the third time seemed to be the
charm. As Wight appeared to be on the verge of passing out, he slammed his
whole body weight onto Mankind, knocking Foley senseless. Showing far too much
aggressiveness, Wight chokeslammed Foley through two chairs, earning a DQ loss.
Vince McMahon was livid, and pushed Wight to the point where Wight used a big
fist to knock McMahon unconscious. As Foley was stretchered to the back,
Patterson & Brisco assisted Vince to the back. Vince demanded that Wight be
arrested; far too early to go through with this turn...

Intercontinetal Champion Road Dogg defeated Goldust (w/The Blue Meanie & Ryan
Shamrock), Ken Shamrock & Val Venis in a elimination IC match.
Brawling on the outside, both Venus & Shamrock were counted out. An enraged
Shamrock belly to back suplexed both Road Dogg & Goldust, putting both men
at an even level. Ryan "accidentally" tripped Goldust, giving Road Dogg a chance
to schoolboy poor Goldust. Ryan walked to the locker room alone, at least for
now...

Kane defeated Hunter Hearst Helmsly via disqualification in 11:33
The Pazmanian Devil attacked Kane, and was unmasked as Pete Rose. Repeating his
performance at last years Wrestlemania, Rose suffered a Tombstone Piledriver for
his troubles. Triple H carried Kane to the best match of his career before both men
were distracted by Chyna's arrival. She threw the ring stairs into the ring,
and Triple H used a drop toe hold to send Kane face first into the stairs. After
Kane chokeslammed Triple H, Chyna turned on Kane, connecting with a chair into the
confused Kane. As Kane laid broken hearted, Chyna embraced Triple H, rejoining DX in
the process.

As Mick Foley was declared to be too injured to referee the main event, Vince
McMahon announced himself as the new official.

WWF Women's Champion Sable pinned Tori in 5:02
Tori wore a sexy bodysuit that brought back memories of Catwoman; Nicole Bass
destroyed Tori, leaving her easy prey for a SableBomb. Bass appears to be
Sable's new bodyguard, an albatross that Sable doesn't need.

Kevin Kelly interviewed a complete and reunited DX; with Chyna at their side, DX
promised that Shane McMahon would feel their wrath.

European Champion Shane McMahon (w/Test) pinned X-Pac
X-Pac encountered interference by Brisco, Patterson & Test; McMahon used a belt
to whip a battered X-Pac. Test hit X-Pac in the face with the strap, and gained
a near fall on X-Pac. Missing a Bronco Buster, Shane crotched himself; after
hitting the X-Factor, X-Pac covered Shane for an apparent victory. Triple H & Chyna
came to ringside, and Triple H TURNED ON X-PAC! With Triple H & Chyna in the Corporation,
the New Age Outlaws tried to make the save, only to be rebuffed by Test & Triple H.
Kane made the save for DX (could he be DX's new member?). Seems like a bad
fit...

The Undertaker (w/Paul Bearer) pinned The Big Boss Man in a Hell In the Cell
Cage Match in 9:45
Handcuffing UT to the cage, the Boss Man hammered UT with his nightstick. With
his forehead busted open, the Undertaker seemed like easy prey for the Boss
Man's attacks. After nine minutes of the worst Hell in the Cell yet, UT pinned
the Boss Man after the Tombstone Piledriver. The Brood descended from the
ceiling, perched on top of the cage. The Brood tore their way into the Cell,
and a noose was wrapped around the Boss Man's neck as the cage was raised.
While a scary visual, it also came across as yet one more lame supernatural
angle.

In a wonderful move, Jim Ross was introduced as the play by play man for the
main event. Even now, Ross is indisputably the best commentator in the
business. He was followed by the Showstopper...

Surprising Vince McMahon, Commisioner Shawn Michaels sent Vince back to the
locker room, appointing referee Tim White as tonight's official. HBK's charisma
may be without equal.

Stone Cold Steve Austin pinned The Rock in 16:50 to win his third WWF World
Heavyweight Championship
The Rock worked overAustin's heavily braced right knee; Austin used a flying
elbow to send The Rock through the Spanish announcers table (poor guys). Austin
barely kicked out of The Rock Bottom, and Stone Cold inadvertantly knocked out
the referee with a chair. A new official took his place, and Austin showed
incredible timing in kicking out of near falls. After the Rock destroyed the
second referee, Earl Hebner became the third official of record. As Vince
McMahon knocked out Hebner, Vince & The Rock double teamed a prone Austin. An
injured Mankind limped to ringside, and became referee #4. Austin avoided the
Corporate Elbow, nailed the Stunner, and covered The Rock for the victory.
Chugging two Coors Lights, Stone Cold celebrated in style; surprisingly, Mankind
& The Rock left ringside quietly. As a sobbing McMahon limped to the back,
Austin celebrated with his good pal Earl Hebner. Crazy enough to scold Austin,
McMahon suffered both a stunner and a beer drenching. A fitting conclusion...
===========================================
ESPN REMINDER
On Tuesday, 3/30, ESPN's Outside the Lines will have a feature about wrestling.
While details are still scarce, Dave Meltzer thinks that we will see a pretty
informative feature. Scheduled for Tuesday @ 7:30-8:30 PM EST on ESPN, be sure
to check your local listings for time and channel number. My thanks to
GBWrestle for the reminder.
===========================================
'Rock' on superstar track
By Mike Mooneyham
Sunday, March 28, 1999
Can you smell what The Rock's cooking? Smells a lot like the World Wrestling
Federation heavyweight title.

Rocky Maivia, a third-generation grappler who has taken pro wrestling by storm,
is right on track to become the biggest superstar in the business. Tonight at
Wrestlemania XV he assumes the role as WWF world champion as he defends the
title against "Stone Cold" Steve Austin in the WWF's biggest show of the year,
and the biggest match in Maivia's young career.

Maivia, or simply "The Rock" as he is more commonly known, has fans and
wrestling veterans alike touting his incredible star quality. He has all the
ingredients - the ability, the look, the talk - and many longtime observers are
touting The Rock as the industry's hottest piece of talent.

Three world title reigns in a span of several months, one of the most over
finishers in the business (the "People's Elbow"), a torrid feud with Mankind
(Mick Foley) and a main event on a show that is expected to be the
highest-grossing Wrestlemania ever, have all helped elevate the 27-year-old
phenom to the very top tier of the wrestling business.

The brash WWF titleholder comes by his credentials quite naturally. His father
is wrestling great Rocky Johnson, while his grandfather (on his mom's side) was
the late mat star High Chief Peter Maivia. The Rock, whose real name is Dwayne
Johnson, took the first name of his dad and the last name of his grandfather.
But he copied his style from the man widely regarded as the greatest performer
of the modern era - Ric Flair. Rock's character in many ways evokes images of a
younger "Nature Boy."

"About a year and a half ago when the character started developing, I went to
Vince (McMahon) and told him that I saw The Rock as the '90s going into the new
millennium version of Ric Flair," says Rock, who always refers to his character
in the third person. "He wears $500 shirts. The Rock's a little more brash. The
great thing about 'The Rock' is there's a lot of depth. In The Rock's eyes, he's
the smartest guy walking God's green earth. He's extremely intelligent and
cocky. its almost like he personifies class, yet he can be a real piece of crap
when he wants to."

Although they represent rival organizations, Rock calls his world-champion
counterpart one of the greatest performers to ever don a pair of tights.

"its good to see him back. Ric Flair is an icon in this business. Nowadays the
word icon is thrown around like an egg-white omelette is thrown around. But he
definitely is an icon. There are certain ingredients of The Rock taken from some
of the Nature Boy. He's an extreme asset to the business. There's no getting
around it. Period."

Rock says his dad, who was a main-eventer in a career that spanned 1964-88 and
held the WWF tag-team title with Tony Atlas, works out every day and remains in
tip-top shape. Rock says his dad, who still trains wrestlers, "put a lot of
effort into me, but unfortunately he doesn't have that much time."

Rock portrayed his father on a recent episode of "That 70s Show" and delivered
the best line of the program. Signing an autograph for a father and his son,
Rock added that he had a son who would one day grow up to be "the most
electrifying performer in sports entertainment," a catch phrase Rock currently
uses to describe himself.

Mike Mooneyham can be reached by phone at (843) 937-5517 or by e-mail at
mooneyham@xxxxc.... More wrestling news with Mike Mooneyham is
available every Monday on The Wrestling Observer Hotline. The number is
1-900-903-9030. Calls are 99 cents per minute, and children under 18 must get
parental permission before dialing.
===========================================
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===========================================
WCW HOUSE SHOW RESULTS FOR 3/27/1999
Submitted by reader: OuTkAsTcjb
March 27th, 1999, Live in the Palace of Auburn Hills (a suburb of Detroit).
To start it off, Penzer ran down a few scheduled appearances, and noted that Ric
Flair would defend against Hollywood Hogan. Flair got a pretty good pop, though,
mysteriously, this changed the second time it was announced, later in the show.

Rey Mysterio, Jr. defeated Juventud Guererra and Kidman via pinfall to retain
the Cruiserweight Title. This match seemed a bit slower than most Cruiser
matches involving Kidman, who was surprisingly not involved as much in this one.
Rey and Juvy showboated a bit too much, slowing down the pace of the match.
There was, however, some great moves exchanged by all. Rey finally won it after
a Frankensteiner on Guererra off the top rope. Afterwards, Rey and Kidman
embraced.

Booker T defeated Bryan Adams via pinfall at retain the TV Title. Alot of heel
work by Adams, who repeatedly got on the mic and degraded Booker. He dared
Booker to try and bodyslam him, but attacked him as he attempted it. The two
went back and forth, with Booker hitting a Sunset Flip-type rollup for the
3-count. Funny thing, I actually saw the flash of the pen from David Penzer.
That was really the only thing I learned from The Secrets of Pro Wrestling:
Revealed.

Chris Benoit and Dean Malenko defeated Fit Finley and Dave Taylor via submission
to retain the Tag Team Titles. This match was fairly entertaining, with Arn
Anderson watching the action from outside the ring. Control of the match went
back and forth, with a lot of scuffles on the outside. Malenko held Finley's
legs as Benoit hit the Diving Headbutt, and Malenko then turned him over into
the Texas Cloverleaf for the victory. Afterwards, Finley and Taylor held the
champs "hostage," holding chairs outside the ring so neither of the three
Horsemen could exit. They finally dropped the chairs and left.

Konnan defeated Blitzkreig via submission. Blitzkreig looks to be finding an
angle; something along the lines of a "party animal." He stopped during the
match to go to the outside, where he grabbed a cup of alcohol and began toasting
members of the audience, drinking. Hey, that is a damn good way to get over with
these fans, as no keg was left filled as the night came to an end. Anyway,
Konnan, who really didn't sell any of Blitzkreig's moves well, took control and
made him submit to the Tequila Sunrise. Konnan, by the way, received one of the
bigger pops of the night.

Saturn defeated Chris Jericho via pinfall. Again, Jericho was great on the mic,
proclaiming that he would not let the Detroit fans down as the Red Wings do each
and every season. Saturn came out to pretty big pop (in part because the fans
were giving Jericho a lot of heat, and just wanted to see him get hurt), and
surprisingly, Jericho actually controlled the flow of the match. Saturn mocked
his showboating at times, but Jericho continued to keep him down. Saturn
eventually reversed a manuever of Jericho's into the Death Valley Driver for the
victory.

Bill Goldberg defeated Hugh Morrus via pinfall. This was the match I deemed my
"Go Get A Drink" match, and missed basically all of it. Goldberg eventually got
up immediatly after a suplex from Morrus and speared him, then hit the
Jackhammer in what was possibly the night's biggest pop.

Rick Steiner defeated Scott Steiner via pinfall. Again, Scott insulted the
Detroit fans, getting some nice cheap heat (the only way he knows how), and
again challenged the audience (I take that back, this is the second way he knows
how to draw heat). Anyway, Rick got on the mic and told Scott that "Somebody
from Detroit was gonna kick his ass tonight." Scott got in the ring and the
match began, with Scott controlling much of it. He argued with the referee
several times, then eventually hung him upside down on the turnbuckle and
attacked him after what he thought was a slow count. As he attacked the referee,
Rick grabbed a chair and knocked his brother out. A second referee made the
3-count, giving Rick the victory.

Hollywood (or should we go back to Hulk?) Hogan defeated Ric Flair via DQ. As
Flair came out, the reaction was mixed. However, a few minutes on the mic
drastically changed everything. Flair went back to the days of Space Mountain
and Slick Ric, and Hogan went back to a face! He fought one of the better
matches I've seen him in for quite awhile, and Flair stuck to the"dodge and run"
tactics. Hogan chants actually began to ring out across the arena, and fans
stomped their feet, giving him that good ol' Hulkamania power. He reversed a
Figure Four and then hit Flair with a big boot, and then nailed him with the
Atomic Legdrop. He ignored a pin, and Arn Anderson charged out with the tire
iron. Hogan blocked it and started hitting Arn, which brought out Benoit and
Malenko. The ref stopped the match, and Hogan grabbed the World Title belt. The
Horsemen gave up on trying to get it back as Hogan kept them back with the tire
iron. They eventually left, and Hogan got the crowd on their feet, posing for a
good two minutes. I swear, this was like a big
flashback to the late 80's, and you could tell everyone, including the Hogan
impersonator who appears at every show, was thinking the same thing. I even saw
an old Hulk Hogan stuffed toy.

All in all, it was a great show, much better than World War Three, the last
Detroit event. Drastic difference from the Port Huron show a night earlier.
===========================================
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.

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