The Wrestling Booking Sheet online newsletter

Issue # 221

Date: Tuesday April 20th, 1999 2:04 pm

The Wrestling Booking Sheet

Ratings for April 19th, 1999
RAW NITRO
1st Hour n/a 4.2
2nd Hour 5.7 4.0
3rd Hour 6.4 4.1
Composite 6.1 4.1
Like last week, the combined ratings banged over a 10, so this is one of those
games where everybody wins. The 4/15 Thunder did a 3.2 rating off of hours of
2.8 and 3.4. The replay did a 1.0 composite.

Other weekend ratings saw Heat do a 4.1. I was wondering why the number was down
when a very wise man pointed out the obvious to me, and that is that with
Daylight Savings Time, people have more things to do into the seven o'clock
hour. The quarter hours for the show bear that out, as they rose throughout the
show, doing a 3.6, a 4.0, a 4.3 and then peaking at a 4.8.

Other weekend ratings saw Live Wire do a 2.3 and Superstars do a 1.8
Reported by Dave Scherer at: http://www.1wrestling.com/

UPDATE ON WRATH
Bryan Clark (Wrath) has a torn acl. He is scheduled for surgery on Thursday,
April 29th, and will probably be out for anywhere from 4 to 6 months. The staff
of The Booking Sheet would like to wish him a speedy and complete recovery.
Reported by Georgiann Makropoulos at:
http://www.egroups.com/list/wrestlingreview/

MORE WCW INJURIES
I have been told that Saturn will need to take some time off. He has had a
chronic lower back injury and it has gotten a lot worse. He is scheduled to
undergo an MRI on 4/20 and then may need further procedures later in the week.
Until they determine what is wrong, he is not supposed to wrestle.

And in other injury news, Barry Windham was also slated for a knee scope the
week of 4/19. His was just to clean up some tissue and such and he won't miss
but a few days.
Reported by Dave Scherer at: http://www.1wrestling.com/

NEW DIMENSION CORRECTION
On Saturday, May 1st, New Dimension Wrestling will be appearing in Binghamton,
NEW YORK, not North Carolina. The Municipal Stadium where the event will take
place is the home of the AA Eastern League Binghamton Mets. The New Dimension
Wrestling event will take place immediately following the Binghamton Mets game.
Reported by tbrutis1

KOLOFF/VOLKOFF CORRECTION
And just to prove that my editing skills just weren't up to snuff this week, I
made a pretty big oversight. In # 219 Nikolai Volkoff was referred to as
Nikolai Koloff, in mistaken homage to retired JCP superhero Nikita Koloff. It
was Nikolai VOLKOFF who teamed with Ivan Koloff a week ago; Nikita Koloff
retired in 1992 after being injured in a match against Vader, and was fortunate
enough to collect a Lloyds of London Insurance Policy. My bad...
===========================================
WCW Monday Nitro Report for April 19th, 1999
By Steve Appy
To subscribe to The Wrestling Booking Sheet, e-mail Appy@xxxxs...
Live from the UF O'Connell Centerin Gainesville, FL
Hosted by Tony Shiavonie & Bobby Heenan

As Bill Goldberg entered the arena, he announced that he would be fighting DDP
for the WCW World Championship tonight.

Chris Benoit & Dean Malenko (w/Arn Anderson) defeated Scott & Steve Armstrong
via submission in 7:24 when Malenko locked Scott Armstrong in the Texas
Cloverleaf
Scott sported bleached blonde hair; Flair ally Charles Robinson was the referee.
The live crowd was totally into the action, and were as loud as any in recent
memory.
After a vicious double team, Malenko bullied Scott into submission.

Roddy Piper met with Ric Flair's secretary Georgia, and was surprised that Flair
signed two documents without reading them (apparently in Piper's favor). As
Doug Dillinger tried to bar Randy Savage & Gorgeous George from the arena, Piper
forced Dillinger to let them in.

Gene Okerlund interviewed WCW World Heavyweight Champion Diamond Dallas Page;
playing the insincere babyface, DDP wished the injured Hollywood Hogan well.
When Page tried to back out of his title defense against Goldberg, a face to
face confrontation with the former champion goaded DDP into going through with
the title match.

Piper convinced David Flair to sign papers committing his father to 72 hour
observation, since they were both "worried" about his health. Does this make
David the Shane McMahon of WCW?

Psychosis defeated Rey Mysterio Jr., Blitzkrieg, & Juventud Guerrera Jr. in 20:36
to win his first WCW Cruiserweight Championship when he pinned Blitzkrieg
Watching in the first row was a made over Alex Wright, with a dyed black mohawk.
The match (and the championship) will be decided by a single fall, even if the
reigning champion wasn't involved in the decision. Rey & Blitzkrieg paired off
against Psychosis & Juvi, and the babyfaces both hit Asai Moonsaults onto the
fallen Luchadors. Although the high spots were incredible (as expected), it was
more a cluster of spots than a story. At the same time, the action was
spectacular enough that its almost petty to complain. With each man aborting
every pinfall attempt, we were treated to each man's finishing maneuvers.
Psychosis won the championship after hitting a Guillotine Legdrop on Blitzkrieg
for the pinfall; its nice to see WCW finally elevate the super talented
Psychosis.

Gene Okerlund interviewed WCW President Ric Flair (w/Arn Anderson). Offering to
buy Gainesville a round of drinks, Flair got a total babyface reaction from the
audience. Commissioner Piper questioned Flair's sanity, and spurred Flair into
stripping to his boxers. Handing over a document, Piper acquired a court order
securing a competency hearing to determine Flair's sanity. With one more ace up
his sleeve, Piper produced a contract matching Flair against Kevin Nash tonight
(which a distracted Flair signed at the 4/15 Thunder). An enraged Flair ordered
Piper to face him at Slamboree, with the Presidency of WCW on the line. Flair
pushed Piper into a brawl toward the backstage area...

Stevie Ray (flanked by the nWo Black & White), told Konnan that Kevin Nash was
looking for him. When Konnan blew them off, the nWo jobbers beat K-Dawg into
the ground.

Brian Knobbs pinned Hardcore Hak (w/Chastity) in 6:53
Knobbs made his WCW return in a Hardcore match; as Chastity filled the ring with
weapons, both men pounded the hell out of each other. The brawling looked good,
which is easier when you just work stiff and have little regard for either your
opponents or your own safety. A brief "ECW" chant erupted; after Bam Bam
Bigelow pushed Hak off the top rope, Knobbs scored the pinfall with the help of
a stray garbage can.

Randy Savage introduced Gorgeous George's trainer for Slamboree, the returning
Madusa. Madusa promised that she could train George to the point that she could
beat ANY man in WCW; would it shock anybody to see Madusa turn on Savage at
Slamboree and become Flair's valet.

Kevin Nash confronted the nWo Black & White, angry that the jobbers were acting
as rogue operatives (Nash never ordered an attack on Goldberg). As their
confrontation grew heated, Scott Steiner interrupted and told Nash that the
Slamboree title match should be his, not Nash's. As Nash walked away, he
appears to be on the outs with the entire nWo.

Buff Bagwell pinned The Disco Inferno in 5:03
Buff challenged Scott Steiner to a US Championship match at Slamboree; Buff
reversed The Last Dance into the Blockbuster for the victory.

United States Champion Scott Steiner (flanked by his own "Ho Train") accepted
Bagwell's challenge for Slamboree. Steiner really demeaned Buff's
qualifications, dismissing him as little more than an exotic dancer. As the
segment ended, Steiner ignored a thunderous 'Steroid" chant.

Billy Kidman fought Raven (w/Perry Saturn) to a No Contest in 2:44
Benoit & Malenko stormed the ring and attacked all three men; Mysterio made the
save, and all three teams brawled all over the ring.

US Champion Scott Steiner pinned Scott Norton in 4:10
nWo vs. nWo; Norton subbed for Konnan, still injured from the earlier attack by
the Black & White. Shiavonie announced that Mike Tenay was involved in a car
accident this past weekend, but will be at Thursday's (taped) Thunder. This
time the "Steroid" chant rocked the arena; Steiner pinned Norton after using the
ropes for leverage (the same way he beat Meng in the US Title Tournament).

Kevin Nash pinned Ric Flair (w/Arn Anderson) in 10:14
Nash promised Hogan that he would break DDP's back "when the time is right".
Nash was prepared to face either DDP or Goldberg at Slamboree, putting the
finish of tonight's title match in question (a good move). Charles Robinson was
the referee, and did everything possible to help Flair overcome Nash's
overwhelming size advantage. While Robinson turned a blind eye, Flair & Arn
continually double-teamed Nash. When Nash had Flair pinned after the Powerbomb,
Robinson refused to make the count, and was knocked out by Gorgeous George.
George donned the referee jersy, and counted Flair down herself.

The men with the white coats loaded Flair onto a stretcher, as Roddy Piper
escorted Flair into a waiting ambulence. Arn Anderson was mystified, wondering
where the actual medical supplies were. It was too late when Anderson realized
that Flair was being taken toCentral Florida Mental Hospital, where's Flair's
psyche would be the focus, not his injured spine.

WCW World Heavyweight Champion Diamond Dallas Page fought Bill Goldberg to a No
Contest in 7:27
Three time NWA World Champion Dusty Rhodes provided color commentary; an alert
Page avoided the Spear and sent him into the ringpost; Goldberg actually kicked
out of The Diamond Cutter, which got a pop. Goldberg's next Spear accidentally
destroyed referee Mickey Jay, and DDP finished the job for good measure. Using
the ring steps and a steel chair, DDP attempted to ruin Goldberg's knee, as he
set him up for the Figure Four around the ring post (the same move that
"injured" Hogan). In a startling development Nash made the save, sparing
Goldberg further damage. As Nitro ended DDP laid Nash out with the belt,
triumphant over both of his main challengers.
===========================================
IVAN KOLOFF'S STATUS
Submitted by reader: Jeremy Haymore (JMPNJAC1)
I wanted to clear up something about this whole Ivan Koloff story. I attended
an indy show on 4/9 here inFarmville, Virginia (Longwood College) where one of
the matches was Ivan Koloff & Nikolai Volkoff vs. The Double Doinks. Anyway,
just as rumored the two Russians were together, HOWEVER...after Nikolai did his
famous rendition of the Russian national anthem, the two Russians agreed that
only of them would fight both clowns since they were "too good" for both of them
to have to fight. The point I am making is, Ivan Koloff did not wrestle, he
only stood at ringside, and eventually interferred, as Nikolai wrestled. This
may clear up the whole story of his
coming out of retirement.
Thank you,
Jeremy Haymore
===========================================
THE MEANING OF EXTREME
Submitted by reader: USSR4ever
On Saturday night, I had the opportunity to attend a WXW (World X-Treme
Wrestling) event. Although I certainly had a terrific time, I was a little
disappointed. The show was anything but extreme (let alone "x-treme"). If
anything, it reminded me a lot of more of the 80's when wrestlers tried to win
by using submission holds rather than chairshots. Once again, I have no problem
with that, but I don't think the show should be advertised as "Extreme
Behavior."

That brings me to an important point. The word, "extreme," is being overused
alot these days. Both of the major federations like to think that they have the
most extreme wrestlers and matches, but I don't think they even realize what the
word really means. The WWF thinks that by throwing a few weapons into a match,
it automatically makes it hardcore. Sure this is a fine addition to an
"extreme" match, but it doesn't complete it. As for WCW, they were able to
piece together a decent match at Spring Stampede with the Sandman (yes, that's
what his real name is) and BBB. However, this was a rare occurrence intended
only for the likes of a pay per view.

Being hardcore means putting your own body on the line. We've all seen that
taking a chair shot really isn't that difficult a feat. Hell, kids do it in
their backyards every day. Give me a dive off a balcony or give me a moonsault
à la Super Crazy into the crowd. Now, that's "extreme."

Just on a quick side note, I'm not sure if I ever really saw any rising stars at
the WXW event, but I did get to meet a stable known as the Bad Crew. One of
them, #1, had some nice mic. skills. Now all he has to do is change his name.
I gave him some suggestions and he seemed to like them.
===========================================
WWF SUPERASTROS
Submitted by reader: ICHIBAN729
I caught WWF SuperAstros over the weekend and it was pretty darn good! I always
love the Lightweights in the WWF, even though they don't quite compare to some
others elsewhere. It is nice to see some high flying action once in a while.
Someone somewhere on this board recently said and I quote "Terry Taylor could
restart the lightweight divison." I LOVE THAT IDEA! I like Terry too, I think
he is very presentable. Lucas would be the perfect man interviewing the LWs.

I doubt we will ever see lightweights on RAW again, but if you can catch
SuperAstros, you'll see they aren't that bad. I saw a match between El Pantera
and Papi Chulo... it was a fast-paced match and the crowd was really into it!
Papi came out with his slick theme music, jumped over the top turnbuckle and
threw his hat at Pantera, followed up by a sweeeeeet hurrancanrana. The biggest
pop came when Papi Chulo ran and 360 vertical flip and nailed Pantera on the
outside, that move shocked me! Papi was like 12 feet in the air! There was a
big
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOTriple HTriple HTriple HTriple HHH ushering over the crowd.....I began to smell
something good here..... LET THESE GUYS BATTLE ON RAW! To end SuperAstros, we
saw Papi, and TAKA and Sho Funaki working the camera as the Kaientai music
played. I thought that theme would never be played again! All in all, I have
become a bigger fan now.

The mystery Lightweight divison has pulled me in. While there isn't as great
talent as elsewhere, I still think we have something pretty special here, VINCE
WE LOVE THE CRUISERWEIGHTS!!!!!!
P.S. I read a lot about WWF/WCW influence on kids and such but let me say
this... NOT moralswise BUT wrestlingwise.... the two MOST tragic things going on
today between WWF and WCW is WWF's seemingly forgotten Lightheavyweight
Divison and WCW's "Tragic Wrestler" Lenny Lane....
===========================================
MY TAKE ON IT
Submitted by reader: Eazeonin
Well, I can't say that I'm happy with this apparent "heel turn" of Steve
Blackman. Last Heat, we saw Blackman lose a match to Val Venis, and then beat
the crap out of him with his kendo sticks on a revenge crusade. I don't mind
Blackman turning "heel", but I sure hope the WWF spinmeisters don't use the
discarded "pissed off gimmick" they had for Jarrett or the "madman" routine they
had Shamrock caught up in because that's what it looked like they were heading
towards. On another note, there are rumors circulating that Blackman’s contract
will be up soon and will not be renewed. Don’t believe it. Blackman will stay
and be part of Shamrock’s soon to be “Shooters!”

Speaking of Shamrock. This "Stephanie McMahon angle" where they had Ken
discovering her in the basement seemed to do him some good. Keeping him
bloodied up while rummaging around searching for her was a nice touch. Shamrock
seems to fare better with the fans when he shows his human side. At least he is
bearable for me to watch now.

The Big Show! Ok, I held off of giving my opinion on Paul Wights debut, and
I'm glad I did. His first few appearances as a Corporation member did nothing
for me, but aligning him withAustin works. I like the "Big Show". I can see
why the WWF made such a huge investment in him. The guy is freaking awesome! I
expect some exciting angles to be developed around Wight.

Triple H is finally where he needs to be. The snotty arrogance he displays is better
suited for a heel than it is for a fan favorite. He always looked a little out
of place as a DX member to me. X-Pac, Road Dogg and Bad @$$ will have no
trouble finding a replacement: Maybe Kane? Wouldn't that be something.

Talking about Kane, how about him and Xpac?: Tag Team Champions! I like that a

lot. Maybe this is how they will finally unmask Kane and give him a little
personality change.

Wow! Nice cover-up job for Terri Runnels. My friends who were at the Raw
taping said that after her shirt was ripped off by Ivory, she took advantage of
the lights going off , reached under the canvas, grabbed a T-shirt, and
hightailed it out of the area.

The Ministry. What can you say about this? At least, with the McMahon's
involved, its somewhat interesting. Still a little too boring for my taste,
but hey....what do I know, I'm just a dumb ass wrestling fan.

GILLBERG, GILLBERG, GILLBERG! Soon to come: Gillberg Vs. The Brooklyn
Brawler. Will the Brawler be next, first, last, or what? Who cares? its
funny as hell anyway!

What will become of Bart Gunn? I hate to say I told you so....but I told you
so! Bart didn't lastONE round with the awesome Butterbean. It seemed like
Bart was counting on that win to give him a reputation that would finally get
him over with the fans, but it never happened. Still though, if history repeats
itself, as it usually does, Bart will be back. McMahon, if anything, is loyal!
He won't give up on a wrestler. Look at all the times he made over Jarrett,
Shamrock, Holly, and a number of other
superstars.

Hey, one last comment. I don't know if anyone but me cares about this
but.....What ever happened to the way the Godfather used to deliver his awesome
"Ho Train" move. He used to corner his opponent on the opposite turnbuckle,
then wind his arms around and run like crazy at the wrestler with his arms still
going like a locomotive, then , WHAM!.....Welcome to the "Ho Train!". But
lately, he hasn't done it right. He only does a half-ass attempt at it now. I
miss that move. Ok, "That's My Take On It!". Send your questions and comments
to eazeonin
===========================================
ROUNDING THE SQUARED CIRCLE
YOU MIGHT BE A DUDLEY JEDI KNIGHT IF....
BY SAMJERRY
1.You ever heard the phrase, "May the force be with y'all."
2. Your Jedi robe is camouflage.
3. You have ever used your Light Saber to open a bottle of Bud Light.
4. At least one wing of your X-Wing is primer colored.
5. You can easily describe the taste of an Ewok.
6. You have ever had a land-speeder up on blocks in your yard.
7 The worst part of spending time on Dagobah is the dadgum skeeters.
8. Wookies are offended by your B.O.
9. You have ever used the force to get yourself another Bud Light so you didn't
miss
an interview with any of the Allisons.
10. You have ever used the force in conjunction with fishing/bowling.
11. Your father has ever said to you, "Shoot, son come on over to the dark
side...it'll
be a hoot."
12. You have ever had your R-2 unit use its self-defense electro-shock thingy to
get
the barbecue grill to light.
13. You have a confederate flag painted on the hood of your land-speeder.
14. You ever fantasized about Princess Leah wearing Daisy Duke shorts.
15. You have the doors of your X-Wing welded shut and you have to get in through

the window.
16. Although you had to kill him, you kinda thought that Jabba the Hutt had a
pretty
good handle on how to treat his women.
17. You have a cousin who bears a strong resemblance to Chewbacca.
18. You suggested that they outfit the Millennium Falcon with a redwood deck.
19. You were the only person drinking Jack Daniels during the cantina scene.
20. If you hear . . . "Luke, I am your father...and your uncle."
===========================================
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.

"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