Issue # 225
Date: Saturday April 24th,
1999
The Wrestling Booking Sheet
BRET HART BACKSTAGE AT WWF
SHOW
This story is a week
old, and the delay was caused by wanting to wait for Dave
Meltzer's
confirmation. Bret Hart was backstage at the 4/17 Calgary
WWF show.
Alot more was made of
it than probably should have, because he is friends with
people like Mick
Foley, The Undertaker, The Rock and several others. Eric
Bischoff was
apparently glad to have Hart do it because the idea in
Bischoff's
mind was to get people
on the internet thinking that Hart was about to go back
to the WWF. Since this
continues the idea that he really quit WCW, so it
accomplished that
goal.
Hart did talk very
briefly with Earl Hebner at the show, which apparently was
limited to asking
about his health; Hebner noted that he's going through a
divorce and Hart
responding along the lines of, "join the club".
Just to answer the
obvious question, Hart WILL NOT be returning to the WWF
anytime soon; he is
under contract to WCW for another two and a half years, and
will be returning in a
couple of months.
Reported by Dave
Meltzer of The Wrestling Observer
Eddie GuerreroUPDATE
Eddie Guerrerowas
backstage at the house show in
Tampa and looked to be in
great
shape. The betting
line is that he's two months away from returning to the
ring.
Reported by Dave
Meltzer of The Wrestling Observer
To subscribe to The
Wrestling Observer, send $11 for 4 issues to:
The Wrestling Observer
P.O. Box 1228
Campbell, CA 95009-1228
PILLMAN MEMORIAL
CARD
Ric Flair will be at
the Brian Pillman Memorial show on 5/19 in
Cincinnati. The
whole card for that
show, as sent by Josh Bricker, will be:
The Nature Boy will
not only serve as a host for the show, but will ALSO be
available for pictures
before the event!
ALL TICKETHOLDERS are welcome
to join
us in the
Cincinnati Gardens Expo
Center from 4-6pm before the event!
Also, a new match has
been added to the card:
BULL PAIN returns to the
Pillman
Event to face Ohio
Valley Wrestling's ROB CONWAY! This on top of an historic
card:
WWF
MAIN EVENT!
MANKIND vs D-LO BROWN
WCW
MAIN EVENT!
Special Guest Referee:
PWI's Man of the Year MARK CURTIS
DEAN MALENKO & CHRIS
BENOIT vs
REY Mysterio JR. & KONNAN
SPECIAL GRUDGE MATCH!
AL
SNOW vs "ROAD DOGG" JESSE
JAMES
LEGENDS MATCH
TERRY TAYLOR vs DR.
TOM PRICHARD
and in the Brian
Pillman Memorial Cruiserweight Tournament:
Shark Boy, Chip
Fairway, Matt Stryker, Chad Collyer, Terik the Great, Jeremy
Jett
Special Guests: RICKY
"THE DRAGON" STEAMBOAT and WOMAN
Also the first event
confirmed for the special celebrity auction: D-LO BROWN's
ORIGINAL CHEST
PROTECTOR that he wore as the WWF European Champion! More
items
to be announced!
Tickets are still
available through Ticketmaster (www.ticketmaster.com) and
through the
Cincinnati Gardens box office
at 513-631-7793.
Reported by Josh
Bricker & Dave Scherer at:
http://www.1wrestling.com/
===========================================
Be sure to check out a
terrific wrestling site, found at:
http://members.tripod.com/JohnHix/wrestling.html
===========================================
April 24th, 1999
Jackal's Winnipeg
Sun/Thunder Bay Chronicle Column
By Don Callis
Be sure to check out:
http://freeweb.digiweb.com/sports/thejackal
With WCW Nitro ratings
in the tank and talk of corporate sabotage and double
agents rampant,
knocking WCW and new booker Kevin Nash has become all the
rage.
After serving only a
few weeks as the creative force behind World Championship
Wrestling, the broad
shoulders of everyone's favorite seven foot politician have
had to bear the weight
of the wrestling world. its the most thankless job in
the world....its the
WCW booker.
As I mentioned in last
week's column, you cannot expect a new booker to turn
around a company in a
few short weeks, and Kevin Nash should not be judged just
yet. Like a new
government who is saddled with the fallout of the decisions
of
the last
administrations, Nash is fighting to reverse many weeks of
damage that
may have turned off
much of WCW's loyal audience. As Kevin tries to give the
product a hipper,
newer feel to compete with the ultra-hip WWF, he must still
placate some of the
old guard who maintain "creative control" of their
characters, while
trying to give younger talent a well deserved push.
The recent addition of
the informal Hardcore Division has been a plus, as well
as the focus on having
their cruiserweights, who are some of the best performers
in the business,
deliver superb matches.
Nash has taken a lot
of blame for the misuse of Bret Hart, but much of the
damage to Bret was
done long before Kevin ever got the book. There are obvious
problems, such as the
mid-card-4-life status of Chris Benoit who is the best
pure physical talent
on the planet, and then, of course, there is the haphazard
approach they have
taken to Chris Jericho. Anyone who has paid any attention
whatsoever can
understand what Chris is looking for, but WCW seems unable
or
unwilling to recognize
it. Pushing Benoit and signing
Jericho are no-brainers.
Supposedly Eric
Bischoff has given Nash free reign to make changes, in other
words sink or swim.
WCW didn't lose its lofty status in the ratings overnight,
and it cannot hope to
regain them overnight either. Whether they do or not will
be dependent on the
considerable intellect of Kevin Nash, and, perhaps more
importantly, the
patience of Eric Bischoff.
Ringside Insider:
The WWF training camp,
currently located in the Titan Television building in
Stamford, Connecticut, is set
to move to Louisville, Kentucky, where it will be
run by Jim Cornette.
With the Power Pro promotion out of
Memphis now being used
as a sort of triple A
deal for WWF, the
Louisville promotion will act
as a
feeder for the
Memphis promotion,etc., just
like a baseball farm system. Sounds
like a good
idea...Good to see fellow Canadian and former Thunder Bay
resident
Vampiro back on WCW
TV...Have to give myself a belated slap on the back for
predicting as I did,
on the No Holds Barred radio show, that Diamond Dallas Page
would win the WCW
title (that's why they say I'm a prophet)...WWF is getting
ready for its new
special on the UPN network, to be called WWF
Smackdown...According
to stats I lifted from my pal Dave Meltzer, who writes the
Wrestling Observer
Newsletter, since last March, WCW ratings on Monday nights
are down 15%, and
WWF's are up 70%, quite a turnaround...I'm headed down to
Queens, New York today
for the big ECW show at the Madhouse on Queens Blvd.,
where I made my ECW
debut in February...ECW legend, "The Franchise" Shane
Douglas has been
slowed down with a broken ankle, all the best for a speedy
recovery Shane...Those
of you who listened last week to the No Holds Barred show
heard me drop the
bombshell that you couldn't get anywhere else that Hollywood
Hogan is returning to
the WWF in the near future. Surprised? You shouldn't be.
Hogan is an
opportunist and a very smart businessman...Finally, we all
grieve
the loss of one of
wrestling's greatest ever heels, Rick Rude, (Richard Rood),
who passes away this
past week at his home in Georgia.
Jackal can be heard
every Sunday from
6-7pm on 92 CITI FM, on Joe &
Jackal: No
Holds Barred,
broadcast LIVE from the Pony Corral restaurant.
Cyrus (formerly known
as the...)
Jackyl
===========================================
JERICHO COMMENTARY
Below we have Chris
Jericho's latest message to his fans, found at his official
website:
http://www.chrisjericho.com/
4/20/99
NP:Michael
Kiske-Readiness To Sacrifice
Hello Jerichoholics!
Let me just express my
sadness and regret at the Great One's announcement of his
retirement. Never has
a player so dominated his sport with such class and
honour as this fine
man. I can remember watching in awe as a 10 year old kid, at
his exploits in the
first year of his and the Edmonton Oilers career. I remember
buying ten packs of
cards at a time, searching for his rookie card, which still
resides in a milk
carton at my mom's house. I can remember my mortification
when I had the good
luck to meet
Wayne and having my mom grab
his chin and say
"Oh look at your peach
fuzz!" Gretzky was, is and always will be my favorite
player and he will
live on in my Playstation seasons until the day I die!
Thank you G-Man and
good luck in everything you do. I'll always appreciate the
magic you created.
I just came back from
the doctor and he gave me the prognosis of no more
wrestling.....for
three weeks at least. So, I'm not gonna be around little
troopers! I need your
help in keeping the
Jericho name alive. The only
way we
can do that is by
making signs, signs, everywhere a sign, blocking up the
scenery making my mind
do this don't do that can't you read the signs
We need more
Jerichoholic signs than ever. If you feel like helping out,
draw
yourself up a good one
and get it on Nitro, Thunder or Saturday night. That
way, no one will
forget about us, as much as WCW wants us to be forgotten!!
Prayers and well
wishes go out to my mother, Davey Boy Smith and Brian
Hildebrand, all who
are suffering from some serious health problems. God bless
you guys, as well as
any of you at home who have health problems. One of the
most important things
in life isn't money or possessions, its having your
health!
The biggest rumour
around right now is the announcement that chrisjericho.com
is
closing down. That is
a load of crap, as we are most DEFINITELY not closing
this bad boy down. I
have too much fun communicating with you vatos and getting
input from you maniacs
to stop doing this. Besides, when myself and webmaster
Lee started this site,
our main goal was to reach one million hits. We ain't
there yet, so we ain't
going down!
I'm still in
negotiations for a special Jericho CD and the details will
be
announced as soon as I
get them finalized.
Alot of you guys have
been asking me when my 1000th match will be. Well, as of
April 5, 1999 (the match
where I was injured) I have 982 contests under my belt.
So I should have a
millenium of matches before the new millenium, God willing!
The movie of the week
is the Phantom Menace. I can't wait to see this
masterpiece and like
the rest of the world, I am counting the days to its
release. Darth Maul is
my new favorite hero!!
Well God bless you
guys and be good to one another!!
CJ
===========================================
LITTLETON RESPONSE
Submitted by reader:
josh725
This Monday, what will
the WWF and WCW's responses be to the
Littleton
Colorado shooting? In USA
Today, The Undertaker was compared to the
shooting, but I
noticed that they looked over a more prominent black
trenchcoat
wearer-Sting. What will Sting be wearing on Monday? I don't
watch WCW, but this
may have some impact. In the WWF, I don't expect
anything to change at
all.
Josh
Subscribe to my
all-WWF newsletter (josh725),
just email me and I'll
send more
information!
===========================================
WRESTLING DEATHS
Submitted by reader:
Peanut316
In the past couple of
years I have gotton into wrestling alot and in the past
couple years I have
seen more wrestlers die of drug use or abuse then old age.
If you saw this happen
in Football or Basketball the media would jump right on
it and something would
happen. But wrestling lets it go and more and more deaths
happen. The
latest death would be
Rick Rude. A man I thought a couple months ago would be
able to return to the
ring as some internet rumors said.
Now he dies at the age
40. Eric and Vince, do you just do this for the money or
do you even make
friends with the wrestlers and see that some of them are
using
and abusing drugs?
That's my opinion and think what you want but this is 100%
what I feel.
Mike
===========================================
SIZE MATTERS
Submitted by reader:
Tom Schultz (tomscha)
What is with the cozy
little ring that WCW uses? It seems alot smaller than the
WWF's. its not just
due to camera angles, because I've seen house shows for
both companies, and
WCW's ring is smaller. It takes about two and a half steps
for the average
wrestler to go from one rope to the opposite one. Are they
using
a small because of the
plethora of smaller wrestlers in the WCW, or is it a
means to boost the
workrate in what can best be described as the Seniors
Division of WCW?
Where are the
Barbarian's antlers and the little skull on a chain? I
cracked up
when Heenan said, "The
Barbarian's very particular about his antlers."
Tom Schultz
===========================================
10 SIGNS THAT YOU LOVE
WRESTLING
JUST A TAD TOO MUCH
Submitted by reader:
hbk_dhc
10) Whenever asked
what time it is, you reply "Vader Time."
9) When asked to give
a speech you begin it with "Hey Yo."
8) During music class,
you always say "This is not sing along with the (your
name here)."
7) You signed your tax
return by adding 'Stone Cold' or 'Big Sexy' to your name.
6) During church,
after browsing furiously, you finally conclude Austin 3:16
must have been left
out of the Bible due to error.
5) Whenever you see or
here of a car crash you automatically begin clapping and
humming Mankind's
theme song.
4) When asked about
your nickname for the school yearbook, you always say, "The
Whole F'N Show."
3) When voting for
president you inquired as to why Ric Flair wasn't on the
ballot.
2) Every month, you
line up all your stuffed animals on your bed, give it a PPV
name, and have
matches.
1) Every month, you
line up all your stuffed animals on your bed, give it a PPV
name, have matches,
and somehow lose.
===========================================
INTERFEDERATION
BATTLES
Submitted by reader:
Dabigmoo
In the recent past the
WWF has worked with other companies. The (now defunct)
USWA, ECW, NWA and
AAA. Now, with the on again, off again rumors of working
with All Japan and the
loaning of their stars to PPW (or is it MCW? Forgot which
one) it would be a
good time to have inter federation battles. The only
'problem' I see is the
huge success the WWF is enjoying on their own right now.
IMO though, if the WWF had
time for BFA matches then why not special inter
federation matches?
Remember Candido vs Christopher? I thought that was great.
If the WWF feels
superior to these smaller companies then maybe they could
employ their mid-card
wrestlers to participate. Maybe someone like Blackman
defeats Taz on a WWF
PPV but then has to defend the title in ECW. Or if Val
Venis won the AAA
title and had to go back to Mexico to defend that title. It
could be a huge talent
swap/loan. Maybe PPW gets Droz for a while because he won
the PPW title but the
WWF gets Spellbinder because he won the IC title or
something. There's
alot of former WWF stars out there that people would
recognize. Vader, the
Triple Crown champ could represent All Japan and defend
his title against Dan
Severn, who wants to bring that title to the NWA. Who
would Jerry Lawler
side with? Or Brian Christopher? Or Steve Williams? Maybe a
new inter-federation
title could be established.
===========================================
DX'S ROSTER
Submitted by reader:
siedzikj
In issue #223,
LaserboyX suggested that the only wrestler that could
possibly lead DX now
is Road Dogg. Nice to see someone that isn't thinking
"Hmmm... X-Pac and
Kane are the tag champs... Let's put Kane in DX!" To
paraphrase LaserboyX:
"If anyone even CONSIDERS putting Kane in DX, I will shoot
myself."
What are you people
on? True, Mr. Ass doesn't seem like much of a fit for DX,
but Kane? That's
almost as logical as saying that Chris Jericho's going to
sign
with the WWF and
become DX's new leader. Wait... I'm sure someone's brought
up
the idea. Think about
it. Kane's gimmick is that he's the mute brother of the
Undertaker. How in the
hell would he even know what a crotch chop represents,
according to this
gimmick? If Kane had
to join any stable in the WWF or die, he'd probably be a
decent fit in either
the Ministry or founding his own face Ministry with the
Brood (a damn good
stable in their own right). But not DX. Please. The
Ministry's starting to
make that heel turn...but this isn't the time for another
Ministry to come
around. Just leave Kane as a loner, in his current "Big Red
Machine" gimmick, and
watch the
results. We aren't
going to see Kane unmask and do 50 crotch chops a show any
more than we'll see
Chris Jericho start practicing Satanism.
Face it, people...
there aren't too many people in the WWF that would work in
DX.
Now, the obvious
question: Who do I think could work as DX's new member? And
who would be a good
leader for them? Well, the best fit that I could see would
be Test. He wrestles
just like a smaller, faster version of Diesel (not Kevin
Nash, but how Nash
wrestled in the WWF), so he could have the attitude
necessary
to be a degenerate.
(its not as easy as it looks.) Besides, Shane's
Corporation decided
that they don't need him anymore, and Vince seems to be
pulling out of the
ringside
affairs. The only
thing he's done lately is get thrown out of the Corporation,
and convince Shamrock
to leave (which, might I add, was a good move for
Shamrock). He isn't
going to start a new Corporation, so any wrestlers with
"loyalty to him" can
do whatever they want.
As for the new leader?
If they had to have a leader, then (maybe) Road Dogg.
He's the only one with
the mic skills to fit DX. They would probably be better
off without a leader
altogether, though. Think about it...
The People's Jason
siedzikj
===========================================
NEBRASKA CHAMPIONSHIP
WRESTLING PRESENTS
"Mayday Mayham", May
1st, at the D & N Event Center in North Platte, Nebraska
The doors open at 2:00
PM, and the wrestling starts at 7:00 PM
(Main Event) The Cuban
Assassin vs. Greg "The Hammer" Valentine
The Honky Tonk Man vs.
"Cowboy" Bob Orton
Hardcore Tag Team
Weapons Match: Hack Myers & Madman Pondo vs. Angel &
Suicide
"Wildcat" Chris Harris
vs. Prince Justice
"Dangerous" Danny
Blackhart vs. The Wife Beater and a Battle Royal
There will also be a
Powerlifting contest at 3:00 PM with Guestlifter Ray
Benemerito
Sponsored by Hot97.1,
Coca-Cola Bottling of North Platte & Budweiser
===========================================
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
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