The Wrestling Booking Sheet online newsletter

Issue # 245

Date: Tuesday May 11th, 1999 7:50 am

The Wrestling Booking Sheet

RAW Ratings for May 10th, 1999
1st Hour- 7.8
2nd Hour- 8.4
Composite- 8.1
I knew that the WWF would do a big number in the ratings for 5/10, but I was not
prepared for what was the highest rated wrestling show ever on cable. That's
right folks, off of hours of 7.8 and 8.4, the WWF came home with a monstrous 8.1
rating for the 5/10 Raw. WOW! The quarter hour over run, for the six-man match,
did an awesome 9.2. The highest rated quarter during the regular two hour period
was an 8.6 for the segment from 10:15 to 10:30 (which featured Bradshaw vs.
Faarooq and the super Pat Patterson and Jerry Brisco vs. The Mean Street Posse
matches).

Obviously, the WWF was unopposed for this show but even still, this show is one
of, if not the, highest rated cable programs ever. The WWF is, quite simply, on
fire. … The 5/11 Heat did a 3.9 rating.
Reported by Dave Scherer at: http://www.1wrestling.com/

SCOTT HALL UPDATE
Scott Hall was backstage at the PPV and scheduled to do a run-in but, according
to Mark Madden, he is taking another three months off to get his family life
back together. He ended up leaving the PPV before it was even over. He was also
supposed to be on WCW LIVE! on May 10th but he no-showed.
Reported by Dave Scherer at: http://www.1wrestling.com/
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ROUNDING THE SQUARED CIRCLE
"IF YOU BUILD IT, THEY WILL COME ... OR WILL THEY?"
OR
"ALWAYS LEAVE THEM LAUGHING ... AND WANTING MORE"
BY SAMJERRY
Visit my Home Page: http://members.aol.com/samjerry
I am always reading Articles, Reader Comments and E-mails sent to me extolling
the virtues of the WWF over WCW and vice versa. Most of them compare WCW's
"superior" roster and matches with the "glitz" of the WWF "Sports Entertainment"
approach. Some cite The Ratings. In the past few weeks I have witnessed what may
the real difference and that is fan acceptance of what we are seeing now.

A few weeks ago, Thunder was live from Orlando. Granted that WCW treats Thunder
differently than NITRO, but right up until show time there were tickets
available. In fact, one radio station offered free tickets to anyone who showed
up at their studio the day of the show with a banner mentioning them. Even with
the big giveaway, the arena wasn't sold out. On Monday, May 10, 1999, RAW was
live from Orlando. Within hours of the tickets going on sale, the arena was sold
out. Needless to say, the radio station that gave the Thunder freebies away
didn't give many out for RAW. They did however provide one of girls who played
one of The Godfather's Ho's, Sexy Savannah, a member of their regular afternoon
program. She is just that ... Sexy.

Another telling sign was the Orlando Sentinel mentioned RAW being at the Arena
the day of the show, and had a Front Page story about the show the next morning.
Thunder was barely mentioned. It would easy to brush this off with words like
"Orlando is a WWF City," however, that is far from the truth since it has
traditionally been a stronghold for the WCW, who visit here much more often. In
fact, Orlando was home of Wrestling From Florida before it merged into Turner's
Toy. Many WCW TV shows are still taped here at Universal Studios.

What happened here inOrlando is not unique. WCW is experiencing problem selling
out their shows in many places. Slamboree, their most recent PPV this past
Sunday had such a poor gate sale, that WCW gave as many tickets away as they
could to make the Arena look full on TV. It wasn't entirely successful as empty
seats were apparent. Granted that it was held in a large arena, but the gate was
poor by any standard. Judging by how fast the Orlando Arena sold out, I suspect
they could have easily sold three or four times the number of tickets.

What it all comes down to after you remove Federation bias and separate the
"Purist" v. "Sports Entertainment" argument, is that the fans prefer what the
WWF is giving them. The electricity in the Arena last night for RAW was
unbelievable. You had to be there to appreciate it. There was no need for "piped
in" cheers, the show was all that was needed.

A few months ago, RAW was preempted by The USA Network for the Westminster Dog
Show, as is done every year. They do the same for the US Tennis Tournament. That
night WCW/NITRO had the airways to themselves. They gave us a plain vanilla
NITRO. Last night the WWF had Monday Night to itself and gave us a hell of a
show. They brought in Shawn "The Heartbreak Kid" Michaels, WWF Commissioner, and
perhaps the only man who rivals Stone Cold Steve Austin in popularity. He made
an instant impact by changing the card for RAW. The eight matches he set up were
for the most part matches the fans loved. He matched The Acolytes against each
other; had The Big Show matched (or should I say mismatched) against The Fat
Man, Paul Bearer, giving the fans what they wanted to see ... Bearer get his
lard @$$ kicked; Ken Shannon v. Chyna, billed as The World's Most Dangerous Man
v. The Worlds Most Dangerous Woman, in a match we all knew wouldn't really
happen but added spice to the card and did allow Shannon to Suplex Chyna;
Brought back Cactus Jack for a one-time only appearance; An Evening Gown Match
for the WWF Women's Championship, that brought the house down; and for the Main
Event, a Six Man Tag Team Match involving The Rock, Austin, The Undertaker, Triple H,
as well as father v. son, as he had Vince McMahon on one team and son Shane on
the other, with himself as Guest Referee. The booking was a fans dream.

I hope the bookers and wrestlers at WCW stayed home last night and watched RAW.
What they saw was why RAW is blowing NITRO away. The matches were interesting
and the story lines advanced. If there were any dead spots, they were few and
far between.
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THE WWF OF 1999
Written by reader: KFITZPATI
Not too sound like a broken record, but SAMJERRY's commentary on Monday's RAW in
issue #244 was right on the mark. Simply put: a lot of folks who have been
critical of the WWF booking of late have rallied around two points:

1) "No more Undertaker lecturing" and

2) "fewer interviews, more wrestling." Like him or not, the Vince McMahon of
1996 would not have listened- hence more Owen vs. Bret, Owen vs. Bret, and the
return of the Ultimate Warrior. But the Vince McMahon of 1999-and I will stand
by this comment until the shows clearly prove otherwise-listens to the fans.
Translation: instead of the Son of Texas miracously fleeing the hospital from
the Duke of Darkness (\'Taker) dominating throughout the show in order to push
this month's
pay-per-view (see: Dec. 1998), McMahon seems to have hit on a pattern that the
ratings show to be working: have your matches get set up in the first 15 minutes

between your warring factions (last week by Son Shane, this week by Michaels)
and then get to the grappling. And the last two weeks have seen plenty of it.

The WWF has come a long way in this regard, folks: no longer do they have to put
Austin or Vince's stamp on EVERY single moment on a two-hour telecast. And if
you are following or comparing the WWF with the boys of Turner, here's another
fact: the WWF had an opportunity to have a show without any competition thanks
to the NBA playoffs this week, and make it a show with action-packed wrestling
and a few surprises. With the crowd reactions to Sable and Michaels, and the
fact that VINCE MCMAHON, BRISCO AND PATTERSON got major pop- well, it looks like
a good way to get momentum for a very interesting summer for Titan.......
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THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN WCWAND THE WWF
Written by reader: DevonEmail
<< We got a shot of Monica Seles, who was among the crowd watching the
action. >>

If this was on WCW - in a Battle Royal - REY MYSTERIO JR. (after pinning 15 400

pound men that conveniently lift their legs to help REY pin them...) Rey is
facing the last man standing - Goldbrick - During the ROYAL- Rey grabbed his
head about 12 times in agony - while Goldbrick found time during the match to
find the main camera 16 times.
{{{NOTE TO WCW DOCTORS: Someone test Goldbrick's red cells count-that hole
in his head is always seeping pus or blood or something}}}}

After being tossed around for 20 minutes, Rey jumps on a two ton Zamboni and
somehow winds up tipping it over and pins that too.
{{{NOTE TO WCW LIGHTWEIGHTS - NEXT Time Rey Flips over the ring at you - step
aside and let him fall. Or rehearse your catches to make them look real - he
needs all the help he can get selling moves.}}}

THEN when Rey is getting tossed around and seemingly defeated -Monica SELES
jumps in the ring and despite never wrasslin in her life - puts a perfect
Diamond Cutter on Goldbrick, pinning him. Rey crotch chops Monica but then
receives a
PERFECT SPEAR from Monica....Show ends with Monica dancing around the ring
along with at least 15 other famous actors and sports people.
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CLARITY
Written by reader: NekBreakr1
Im not sure if anyone had noticed that last night on RAW, right before the
Shamrock, Chyna match when Chyna was interviewed... We could actually understand
what she was saying! Why? I looked closer and realized that she has had her
braces taken off i also didn't pick up on the lisp so I guess the braces were
behind her little "speech" problem. Just a little thing to point out.....
Thanks,
John
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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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