The Wrestling Booking Sheet online newsletter

Issue # 196

Date: Wednesday March 31st, 1999 11:24 am

The Wrestling Booking Sheet

BRET HART'S STATEMENT
On Bret Hart's official website, Hart release a statement furthering his new
angle. While his comments are interesting, please don't misunderstand them, this is an
angle (granted, a well executed one).
Reported by: http://www.brethart.net/
Monday, March 29 at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto, ON, Bret Hart quits
professional wrestling: “That’s it, WCW, Eric Bischoff, I quit” announced the
Hitman.

His statement from hisCalgary home, Tuesday afternoon
“Basically, I feel right now I have nothing to prove to anyone in the Wrestling
profession anymore. Maybe my feelings will change but I doubt it. I would like
to have left on a nicer note, but any kind of goodbye to all my fans would be
hard and the WCW would probably cut to a commercial anyway. I proved I’m still
the best, I beat the top guy they had, and in such a clever way, in front of my
Canadian fans. I’m not saying that I absolutely never wrestle again but my
contract expires with the WCW on December 1, 1999 and at present I feel that
neither the WCW nor the WWF would be a suitable place for me. I feel it was a
crying shame what the WWF did to me, and maybe worse what the WCW didn’t do with
me. I’m going home – to watch hockey.”

ESPN OUTSIDE THE LINES
Last night, we finally got to see the long awaited 'Outside the Lines', and it
made a very strong impression. I have a feeling that executives from both the
WWF & WCW hated the feature; the ironic fact is that the piece was very well
done. Most of the major players in the industry were interviewed, and the piece
was not sensationalistic. While you may disagree with their conclusions, there
were no glaring mistakes either. If its replayed I will publish the date &
time; definitely a sobering look into the wrestling business.

MARCH MADNESS TOURNAMENT
Donvanboy is conducting a March Madness Tournament with 64 wrestlers.
To take part in the tournament, contact Donvanboy, and he will send you
the brackets.

ECW NEWCOMER
Speaking of ECW, Rob Bihari and Bill Barnwell sent me this. ... Here is some
info on Mosca de La Merced (who debuts at the ECW Arena this weekend). He
started off in AAA in 1995 and immediatly got in a feud with Perro Aguayo Jr.
That went nowhere fast and he was a mid-carder in AAA till he teamed with Fuerza
Guerrera to beat Venum and Heavy Metal to win the Mexican National Tag Titles.
They held the belts till Mosco left AAA in Aug. 97 to join Promo Azteca. AAA
gave his title to the fake Mosco De La Merced. In Promo Azteca, he teamed with
Super Crazzy on the undercard. They make a great team. He never really got
anywhere in Azteca and recently he lost his mask in an 8 Way Cage Match in
Monterrey. He likes to do suplex combo's and moonsault variations. He is an
excellent worker and should get over fine at the Arena. Watch for his suicidal
Asai Moonsault where he somehow manages to land on his feet on the concrete
floor once his opponent moves.
Reported by Dave Scherer at: http://www.1wrestling.com/
===========================================
ROUNDING THE SQUARED CIRCLE
"LOOK UP IN THE SKY, its A BIRD, its A PLANE,..."
OR
"WHO WAS THAT UNMASKEDMAN?"
BY SAMJERRY
Visit my Home Page: http://members.aol.com/samjerry
A quick note: I'd like to again mention that I am still receiving IM attempts
while my computer is running Automatic AOL to Download/Upload my mail. If you
attempt to IM me and I don't respond, it is not because I am ignoring you, it is
because I am not at my computer. If this happens and you want to contact me,
please do so via e-mail. I want to stress that if I am on-line and receive an IM
attempt, I always respond to it.

Attempting to close the ground between RAW and NITRO, Monday WCW featured the
return of two of their biggest stars, Sting and Dirtbag Doophus Page. This gave
them a major opportunity to put dent in RAW's overwhelming ratings advantage.
How did they handle it? We got to see Sting in his old haunt, hanging out in the
rafters of the arena, and Dirtbag picking up right where he left off.

The bookers at WCW saw fit to return Sting to his perch high above the arena.
You may recall this angle was old and not going anywhere when he vanished
several months ago. Once considered WCW's "Franchise Player," Sting was reduced
to dropping out of the ironwork and using his trusty Louisville Slugger on the
NWO, week in and week out. After his long absence, wouldn't it have made more
sense to make his return somewhat more dramatic then to just pull the same, old
"Did you see who that was up there" routine. If he reverts to his imitation of
Mark McGwire, they will have wasted an excellent opportunity to cash in on his
popularity. One can only hope.

In the case of Dirtbag, he unveiled a new persona. He no longer wants to be
known as "The People's Champion," a title he bestowed upon himself. He now just
wants to do his job and doesn't care if the fans like him or not. It was such a
dramatic switch that he has come up with a new word for his enemy du jour, the
ever popular "Scum," as in Scott "Scum" Steiner. What a breath of fresh air.

How did he make his return? He is seeking revenge for the dastardly deeds of Big
Poppa Steroid. Being away for a month did absolutely nothing to improve his
sunny disposition. He picked up right where he left off. New persona?

While Sting was restricted to being spotted among the cobwebs, Dirtbag jumped
right back into the action. With Old Baldy and Slick Ric in the ring, Dirtbag
came down and demanded satisfaction against Big Poppa. What he got was a match
against Old Baldy, with Slick Ric his self appointed manager. With the three of
these geezers in the ring at one time, it looked more like a meeting of the AARP
or the early bird special at the neighborhood buffet in Sunset City. Why would
WCW put three of their most ancient relics in the ring at the same time and then
have all three involved in the night's Main Event?

On a positive note, the Tag Team Championship Match pitting the team of Chris
The Crippler and Deeno Macheeno (C) v. Big SoxyJr., Billy The Kid-man, was
everything you could ask for. As we have become accustomed to, these mostly
Cruiserweights put on a great match, one worthy of being the Main Event. Too bad
it was decided by Raven's interference, but nevertheless, an outstanding match.
The work by these individuals has been the only socially redeeming factor on
NITRO the past six months or so. It is beyond me why the bookers are apparently
the only ones that haven't gotten the message.

The Canadian Crybaby did a "shoot" interview (don't worry, it was a work), in
which he tore up Good King Eric and his treatment since he arrived to a hero's
welcome a year ago. He even made a point of telling us that he has beaten Stone
Cold Steve Austin in all their past matches. This was a most curious and very
interesting thing, because it is but another sign of Good King Eric's growing
desperation. There was a time that mere mention of anyone in the WWF was
strictly taboo. Maybe next time he'll pull a Goldberg and challenge Austin to a
match, anywhere, etc., etc., etc. He did get to experience (and survive) a
Goldie Spear after reminding us of his eternal greatness. The Crybaby wore a
steel plate beneath his hockey shirt and Goldie's head lost a collision with it.
Do you smell what the Jock was cooking? Looks like The Crybaby will get his wish
and prove he can beat Goldie in five minutes.

I would love to see NITRO make a dramatic improvement. This can only benefit all
the fans, because it will push the WWF to improve. If WCW continues their
hackneyed, going no place story lines, there is no incentive for the WWF to get
better. The better both do, the better it is for all of us. Last night didn't
raise my hopes too much. Thank G-d for Big SoxyJr. and Billy The Kid-man.
===========================================
VIEW FROM THE RISINGSUN
By Masanori Horie (masa-h)
http://www.geocities.com/Colosseum/Bench/5904/japan.htm
All Japan At The Crossroads
Gene Kiniski, The Destroyer (Dick Beyer), and Bruno Sammartino received letters
from All Japan Pro-Wrestling and were invited to be special guests for "Giant
Baba's Retirement Ceremony" at their Tokyo Dome show at 3:00 p.m. on Sunday, May
2.

However, Mrs. Motoko Baba must be ashamed that All Japan didn't invite three of
the biggest men of merit ... Dory Funk Jr., Terry Funk, and Abdullah the
Butcher. They expressed their condolences, and, especially, Dory and Terry sent
flowers to Mrs. Baba, when even All Japan's regular gaijin (foreign) wrestlers
didn't know of their boss' death. There was a possibility that All Japan would
just ignore them and make it look like they haven't answered All Japan's
request. They know the timing isn't
good, because Giant Baba's Farewell Ceremony will be held at Nippon Budokan
from 1:00 to 3:00 p.m. on Saturday, April 17. Dory was a referee for Antonio
Inoki's UFO show at Yokohama Arena on March 14. Abdullah is wrestling for Big
Japan Pro-Wrestling right now from March 26 to April 8. Terry will come with his
wife, Vicki, for the IWA from April 9 to 13. They decided to do mourning in
memory of their biggest rival by their styles.

On the other hand, it is said that there is antagonism between Mrs.Baba and
Mitsuharu Misawa. First, Mrs. Baba is the money woman, but she is rather mean
over everything, which put big pressures on both wrestlers and office workers.
Tomomi "Jumbo" Tsuruta, who had been a top star for 20 years, retired and
resigned as director abruptly. He left Japan on March 10 to study abroad in
Portland, Oregon for two years. It looks as if Mrs. Baba keeps managing the
"Giant Service" (goods company / T-shirts, videotapes, etc), and Misawa is
managing as a matchmaker at the shows. As a lot of wrestlers know, Mrs. Baba has
patronized Johnny Ace (John Laurinaitis). Johnny, along with Kyohei Wada (a
referee / right hand man of Mr. & Mrs. Baba) came by the late Shohei "Giant"
Baba's mansion in Ebisu,Shibuya in
Tokyo after the opening show of "Champion Carnival '99" (3/26 - 4/17) at
Korakuen Hall in Tokyo on Friday, March 26.

Johnny had a meeting with Mrs. Baba, and he will be an official booking agent
for All Japan, because she hasn't been on the road yet (maybe she won't), and
Johnny won't be back in Tokyo until Saturday, April 10. Actually, all the gaijin
(foreign) wrestlers, such as Stan Hansen, Vader, Gary Albright, Johnny Ace,
Johnny Smith, Giant Kimala (Ben Peacock), and Wolf Hawkfield (Jim Steele), came
to Baba's mansion to express to Mrs. Baba their condolences on Friday, March 5,
one night before the last Nippon Budokan show (3/6/99).

However, nobody, except Johnny Ace, had an ambition and ability to be a
coordinator.He is planning to bring old regular gaijin back, such as Patriot
(Del Wilkes), Eagle (George Hines / Jackie Fulton), and add 2 Cold Scorpio, Bart
Gunn, and Curtis Thompson as regulars. He and Wolf Hawkfield visited Big Japan's
show at
Korakuen Hall to see Abdullah the Butcher in secret on Sunday, February 28. When
Baba was alive, wrestlers would be fired if they visited other companies' shows.
The hoops got loose, or his power was surely up. I don't think Johnny is a man
of "top gaijin" caliber, which Stan Hansen, Abdullah, and The Funks had. He, as
a wrestler, doesn't have something to sell Nippon Budokan out by himself. But
this 33-year-old man is a very smart and ambitious man as a coordinator. He has
gotten jealousy and heat since he started as a wrestler whose brothers are Road
Warrior Animal (Joe) and The Terminator / Fury (Mark).

Ace was coached by Nelson Royal in Mooresville, North Carolina. He is one of the
last generation from the old school. He claims that he has the connections with
both the WWF and WCW. He would like to have Kenta Kobashi & Jun Akiyama vs. New
Age Outlaws and Hiroshi Hase vs. Owen Hart at the Tokyo Dome (some internet
media reported that All Japan has made contact with the WWF about bringing in
three wrestlers for the 5/2 Tokyo Dome show, two of whom would be the New Age
Outlaws. The WWF turned down the proposal, since they have major domestic house
shows that weekend, and the proposal didn't make clear who the Outlaws would
face and what the result would be). If Johnny Ace has keen eyes and ears to
catch how to appeal to Japanese fans' minds, it will help All Japan, and he will
deserve high praise. If he concentrates on putting himself over, it will hurt
All Japan.

The WWF 's international representative, Victor Quinones, was staying in Japan
from March 17 to 27. He left Tokyo on Saturday for WrestleMania XV in
Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania on Sunday. He showed up backstage at All Japan's Korakuen Hall show
to see Misawa and Johnny Ace on Friday, March 26. He also showed up
backstage at New Japan's Nagoya Rainbow Hall show to see Seiji Sakaguchi, the
President of New Japan, on Saturday, March 20. He was looking for a Japanese
office that can have long-term business with the WWF. Plus, he surprised us that
he shook hands again with Mr. Asano (an owner of IWA in Japan), with whom he
split about three years ago, and booked Terry Funk for their April tours. In
February, he had two shows of the IWA (International Wrestling Association), the
company in charge of setting up the WWF's Puerto Rican tours. He is going to
start the IWA weekly regular circuit in Puerto Rico in September. He booked
Ricky Banderillas for Battlarts, and Pablo Marquez (a.k.a. Babu) & Zorro for
Michinoku Pro-Wrestling to give them seasoning.
===========================================
LIVE RAW NOTES
Submitted by reader: PeachFz128
- Dark Match: Tiger Ali Singh d. Mike Powers
- Dark Match: Woman' Match: Lena Chen d. Musaki Kim

- Shotgun Tapings:
- Droz d. Lance Diamond
- Al Snow d. Gillberg
- Too Much d. DOA, The Public Enemy, & The Hardy Boyz in a Fatal Four Way Tag

- SuperAstros Tapings:
- Migeal Perez d. Jesus Castilo & Mens Tehio in a Triple Threat Match:
- Armando Ferendez & Taka Mitchounku d. Papi Chula & Pink Cat w/ ElPantera

- I Had upper section seats but had a great angle to the ring where I could
also see behind the TitanTron. It was
great, I saw how the wrestlers warm up for their matches. Some wrestlers were
doing push-up's, including Hardcore Holly.

- Before the Paul Wight vs Test Match, "The Big Show" was smoking a cigarette
behind the TitanTron right before he was introduced.

- During the Road Dog/Goldust & Triple H/X-Pac matches, if any of you at home
were watching you may have heard some Asshole chants during those matches.
That's because in section 221, which is only three away from mine at 218, there
was a huge Brawl. These two drunk guys stood up in the aisle way and one guy
punched
the other guy and he went flying down the stairs headfirst and almost broke his
neck and back. He went down at least 15 stairs. T

here was at least 10 beachballs in the crowd which everybody was trying to get
them near the ring but were all taken away by security. One guy so mad that his
beachball was taken away that he threw a beer at the security guard.

- Post Raw Results:
After Raw went off the air, Paul Wight kept chokeslamming everybody but was
stopped when Austin and the Rock shook hands and chugged beers together. The
Rock went for a clothesline and Austin ducked and stunned him.

Best Pops:
1. The Rock
2. Stone Cold Steve Austin
3. Gillberg
4. Road Dog
5. The Undertaker

Best Heat:
1. Vince McMahon
2. Shane McMahon
3. Tiger Ali Singh
4. Gangrel
5. Triple H
===========================================
AREN'T WE JUST FANS?
Submitted by reader: ICHIBAN729
I just wanna say real fast.... instead of the MARK term, why not just use the
word FAN? The word Mark makes me feel.... so weird. "I'm a mark"...ugTriple Hh.
But "I'm a fan"... that sounds much better. While some lingos are cool, lets
keep some basics to basics.

P.S. Since nowadays in interviews wrestlers have trademark (that word again!,
Tradefan, naw sticking to basics here) phrases... heres my prediction on an up
and coming line..... (I can see Mankind saying this) "WHAT IT IS..... IS WHAT
IT IS!"
===========================================
WCW VS. WWF
Submitted by reader: SmitySmurf
I just want to say something about the WCW and WWF ratings fued that is going on
right now. Now, I know that most of the people always talk about how the WWF is
better then WCW because WWF has all the rising stars and WCW has all the old
guys. But, let me ask you one question. Why do you watch wrestling? The
majority of people who watch wrestling are guys. So guys, why do you like the
up- and-coming stars? Is it because they have nice bodies? Think about what
you are saying.

I am a guy and I watch wrestling because it is entertaining. The WWF does the
same thing each week and they also try and fit three hours of entertainment into
two hours. The WCW changes each week. Although they say they are under going a
new G-Rated show, that is a pile of sh*t. Look at the stars in WCW and compare
them to the WWF. WCW has Hogan, Macho Man, Nash, Hall, Luger, Scott Steiner,
Buff Bagwell, Rick Steiner, Flair, Konnan, Bret Hart, Sting, Rey Mysterio Jr.,
Kidman, all of the rest of the Luchadores, DDP, Jericho, Malenko, Benoit. They
have Hak who is decent, Raven, Saturn, Kanyon, Booker T, and Wrath. Those are a
few of the top competitors. Heck, that number of superstars is almost the same
number that WWF has on its roster! What I'm trying to say is, the WCW is wising
up and the return of Sting is now and Macho Man is near. Look for WCW to start
winning ratings, the fans are tired of seeing the same man come out and shout
profanities and flicking people off...
If you have any thoughts on that, email me at SmitySmurf
===========================================
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The Madhouse (http://themadhouse.hypermart.net/) is looking for reporters,
columnists, and show result writers. The site is still under major construction,
but negotiations are underway with many independent feds including New Dimension
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===========================================
ADVERTISEMENT

Southern States Wrestling is presenting "FanFest 99" Saturday May 8th at the
Civic Auditorium in Kingsport TN. This event is a funraiser for Children's
Miracle Network Telethon. Here is a run down of the events. Saturday May 8,
11am to 4pm - trade show - already signed to be there for the trade show
Renfeild Merchandise (The official Smokey Mountain Wrestling Merchandise) ,
Whoowrestling.com , and former NWA National and World Tag Team Champion The
orginal Masked Superstar.(more being added daily)
4:30pm - meal with Fanfest goers and the legends
8:00 - Wrestling card featuring the Kingsport Hall of Fame induction
Masked Superstar vs. "Conan" Chris Walker and much more to be added in the
next week.

Don't forget the big card Sunday April 25th at The Kingsport Nat'l Armory
S.S.W. Title "Rock n Roll Express" Ricky Morton vs "Handsome" Beau James
S.S.W. TAG TITLES: Jimmy "Boogie Woogie Man" Valiant & A Mystery Man vs.
Death and Destruction
Int'l Title"Conan" Chris Walker vs. Henriech Franz Keller
and more. Tickets go on sale April 12th at Cats in Kingsport
===========================================
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

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.

"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