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Issue # 265
Date: Sunday July 4th, 1999
9:07 am
The Wrestling Booking Sheet
JERICHO SIGNS WITH THE WWF
By Steve Appy
As many of you may
have heard, WWF.COM has announced that Chris Jericho
has signed a
multi-year contract with the WWF (details undisclosed,
believed to be for
three years). Did
Jericho make the right
decision?
Yes.
I imagine it wasn't an
easy decision, though.
Jericho has written
about his strong
Christian beliefs in the past, and its possible
(probably likely) that
he has objections to the WWF's shock television
style.
Jericho might have objections
to the
de-emphasis on
workrate and actual wrestling. He might now look
forward to the road
schedule (250 days a year on the road could do
that).
Jericho knows that McMahon
has a long-standing fetish for size (unique to a level of
its own
in the already muscle
obsessed wrestling culture). With the exception
of Shawn Michaels,
someone as small as
Jericho has never been given
a
franchise push in the
WWF.
Despite some huge
successes in getting over talent, there are many
notable failures
(Vader, Dustin Runnells, and Marc Mero were all once
considered can't
misses). While
Jericho must have agonized
over his
decision, WCW helped
make it clear.
Even now, WCW is not
interested in elevating their overlooked mid-card
talent. The old vs.
young feud fizzled when Randy Savage refused to
be involved, leaving
Buff Bagwell as the only "youngster" who benefited
from it (and we'll see
if its long-term).
WCW is suffering from
declining revenues across the board, and they
feel the solution lies
with the returning Hogan, Goldberg, Hart & Luger.
Would Lex Luger agree
to put
Jericho over in a program?
Probably not,
he refused to do the
same for Kidman.
Even Goldberg, the
Franchise, refused to even work a program with
Jericho. Goldberg was going
to go over, he wasn't going to do any
jobs. His refusal was
based on a fear of selling to the much smaller
Jericho and looking weak in
the process; when would Jericho be given
his chance?
Maybe not ever, at
least in WCW. One of the more promising young stars
in years, compared
favorably to Ric Flair & Shawn Michaels, has left
WCW because he was
considered a Cruiserweight and felt that he wouldn't
ever be given a real
chance. Will WCW learn from this lesson and
promptly elevate Chris
Benoit, Booker T and Billy Kidman to main event
programs? No, the
declining revenues will undergo a spin, and shock
will be expressed that
Chris Benoit & Dean Malenko can't deliver the
ratings (especially
when they wrestle Bobby Duncam Jr. & Scotty Riggs
for 17 minutes). Why
do I feel that it will get worse before it get's
better?
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THE
ROSS REPORT
By Jim Ross
(For the week of July
2, 1999)
Reported at
http://www.wwf.com/
Chris Jericho’s
signing by the WWF is a tremendous accomplishment by
those involved with
the recruiting of and negotiations with this
talented young man.
Jericho is one of the game’s
brightest young stars
and will be given the
opportunity to reach his potential here in the
WWF, unlike his
current employer. Chris has many talents inside the
ring, however, his
greatest attributes are his character and attitude.
Some have compared
Jericho to a young Shawn
Michaels, however, I don’t
see it that way at
all. Both men have comparable physical skills but
have totally different
personalities and approaches to their work. In
other words, Chris
Jericho should be given a fair chance to get over on
his own abilities and
not because he is a HBK clone. Don’t get me
wrong…Shawn Michaels
was (and could be again) an amazing performer, but
Chris Jericho is his
own man and will cast his own shadow.
Jericho’s
debut has not been
finalized but Chris’ creative gameplan has been
discussed, in the
advent that he would sign, for months.
News and notes:
Stone Cold Steve
Austin will throw out the first pitch for the Yankees
vs. Mets subway series
baseball game on Saturday, July 10. The Rock
will throw out the
first pitch on August 1 in
Pittsburgh for the
Pirates.
The Big Bossman is set
to do an appearance on
America’s Most Wanted to
air July 10 on
FOX.
The WWF/MTV
partnership is growing, highlighted by WWF Week on MTV on
August 9. Several
WWF-themed programs will be featured. Triple H and
Chyna are two of the
superstars to be featured.
Catch a variety of WWF
superstars on the TV Guide Channel on July
19-25, every
half-hour. Great promotional tool for July 25’s Fully
Loaded on
Pay-Per-View.
The WWF is close in
securing a marketing partnership with the National
Football League.
Good old JR was
interviewed Friday by Sports Illustrated for a future
article about our
talent’s former athletic careers and our talent
development program.
One out of every six
homes watching cable television Monday were
watching the final
minutes of RAW! I think that’s an all-time record.
UPN’s launch of
SmackDown on Thursday, August 26 will not only be
highlighted by
extensive promotion on UPN, but particularly outside the
network. SmackDown may
be produced a little less edgy than RAW but not
much.
Over 22,000 tickets
have been sold for the October 11 RAW in
Atlanta’s
Georgia Dome. After
the October RAW, the WWF returns to my old stomping
grounds in February of
2000. WCW officials made several calls to the
box office in
Atlanta the day tickets went
on sale to see how the WWF
was doing. The reply
was, reportedly, "WOW!"
The WWF’s October 2
Pay-Per-View in the
UK will be in Birmingham and
will be entitled "WWF
Rebellion." Tickets just went on sale and
probably won’t last
long.
EARLY estimates
indicate that the ’99 King of the Ring delivered
approximately 440,000
buys. This would make last week’s event the best
King of the Ring ever.
The ladder match was really excellent but I
personally thought
some of the other bouts did not deliver what was
expected. Can’t fault
the effort, it was just one of those nights.
That’s my opinion.
The WWF has hired a
full time athletic trainer from Health South.
The WWF is getting new
TV in
Puerto Rico.
Brian Christopher is
back home in
Memphis after successful
surgery to
repair a torn
ACL. Brian might have the
time now to campaign for Jerry
Lawler’s possible race
for Mayor of Memphis. Brian is expected to be
out of action for
about three months.
Expect legal action to
be filed against Rena Mero regarding the "Sable"
trademark which the
WWF owns. I can’t wait for the depositions for this
lawsuit and neither
can others I’ve spoken with recently. Things are
not always as they
seem. Of course, that’s just my personal opinion and
I could be wrong
(thanks Dennis Miller.) Both Mero’s are still under
contract to the WWF,
if anyone is keeping score.
I’m personally happy
that Paul Heyman’s ECW has a national cable outlet
starting soon on TNN.
ECW, through Paul’s tireless efforts, hard work
by their wrestlers and
a wonderful support by ECW fans deserve a break.
I wish them luck.
The WWF has spoken to
several of its performers about getting into
better physical
condition, dropping excess pounds and elevating their
in-ring work ethic.
That’s not too much to ask because our fans deserve
nothing less and
should not accept anything less.
By the way, morale is
super in the WWF locker room, unlike other
organizations where
leadership is weak and too many cooks reside in the
kitchen. One reaps
what one sows, doesn’t one?
No immediate plans for
Jarrett and Debra to split contrary to what I’ve
read.
Expect significant
roster changes within the WWF soon. Some folks,
unfortunately, are not
going to make it…and new arrivals are being
planned as well.
The development of
JR’s BBQ sauce is ongoing. Seriously. See you in a
week! Thanks!
JR
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ROUNDING THE SQUARED
CIRCLE
ECW -
JULY 2, 1999 - CHICAGO, IL
BY
SAMJERRY
Visit my Home Page:
http://members.aol.com/samjerry
The show began with
clips from last week. We saw Steve Corino introduce
Rhino to take on Taz,
however, Taz tore Rhino a new means of emptying
his body waste,
destroying him with a TazMissionPlex thru a table and
the TazMission; and
Lance Storm calling in the favor owed him by Jerry
Lynn. He asked
Lynn to lay down for Justin
Credible, thereby allowing
Credible a World TV
shot tonight v. Rob Van Dam.
Lynn agreed, but
double-crossed Storm
and Credible and ended up defeating Credible.
Storm and Credible
then beat
Lynn up and Storm took the
title shot as
payment for the favor,
since
Lynn didn't lay down. See my
ECW TV
Report,
June 25, 1999, for complete
details.
After the regular ECW
opening, The Dudley Boyz, Bubba Ray (BBR),
D-Von,
Sign Guy, and their
advisor Joel "I could eat Visera and Big Sal E. and
still have room for
dessert" Gertner, who was still playing Phantom Of
The Opera, were in the
ring.
BBR was ripping n the crowd
as he told
them "You all look
like a bunch of pussies." The crowd responded with a
chant of "You suck."
BBR came back with "ChiTown
sucks, it is a city
full of losers, the
White Sox suck, the cubs haven't done a G-d damn
thing in 80 years, if
Dick Butkus was here, I'd punch him in the mouth
and if Steve
McMichaels was here, D-Von would make him his bitch." The
question now is will
Chicago declare war on
Dudleyville, and if they
did, what would there
be there worth bombing and how could you tell if
anything was
destroyed?
BBR will not be named
Chicago's favorite
visitor anytime soon.
After a commercial,
Little Spike Dudley (LSD) was in the ring holding
an Acme Steel Chair,
and The Dudley's at ringside.
BBR told LSD this
was a tag team match
and he needed a partner, and could pick anyone in
the building. Balls
Mahoney came out carrying his trusty Acme "Balls
Special" Steel Chair.
The crowd chanted "Balls" and we had our first
match: LSD and Balls
v. The Dudley Boyz (C),
BBR and D-Von for the ECW
Tag Team Championship.
Balls took the mic and said he wanted to make it
a Chicago Street
Fight, Falls Count Anywhere in the Building. The
Dudley Boyz were only
too happy to accept and the match got underway
with all four men
going at it. LSD paired off with
BBR and Balls with
D-Von. LSD nailed
BBR with a Huricanrana and
Balls caught him with a
kick as he came down
and sent him to the floor. The action was at such
a pace that it was
virtually impossible for anyone to keep up with the
four men. LSD and
BBR fought in the ring and
BBR hit LSD with a Bubba
Slam. Sign Guy threw
him a cheese grater and he ran it across LSD's
face. This got us our
first "Oh, my G-d" from Joey.
BBR yelled "Did,
Spike die." That
didn't seem like a half-brotherly thing to say. He
followed with another
rake of the cheese grater and LSD's face turned
into a crimson mask as
blood poured out all over it. Meanwhile out on
the floor, D-Von was
pounding Balls. LSD fought back with a low blow to
BBR's Little Dudley's and hit
a flying body block that sent BBR to the
floor. LSD picked up
the cheese grater and returned the favor on
BBR,
and we had matching
faces full of blood. Balls and D-Von were in the
ring and D-Von torn
away at Balls' face. LSD came off the apron and hit
BBR with a chair shot. D-Von
charged Balls in a corner and ate his
boot. Balls got a fork
and tested D-Von's back and shoulders to see if
he was done. LSD and
BBR fought up into the crowd
as a chant of "ECW"
broke out. Balls and
D-Von went out to the floor and eventually into
the crowd also.
BBR was pounding his pint
side half brother with his
fists, as blood
continued pouring from both of them. Commercial time.
When we got back, LSD
was up in the balcony and dove about 15 feet onto
BBR, hitting Balls as well.
This got us "Oh, my G-d" number two from
little Joey. It
appears he is back to the entire phrase. All four
fought their way back
to the ring.
BBR hit LSD with a chair shot
on the
way.
BBR pounded Balls, but Balls
fought back with a nice combination
Spine Buster/Power
Bomb, and LSD almost pinned
BBR as a result. Next up
were stereo face first
slams by LSD and Balls.
BBR pounded on LSD, who
hit an Acid Drop on
him, at he same time Balls nailed D-Von with a
Nutcracker Suite, but
amazingly both
Dudley's kicked out of
pinning
attempts. Sign Guy
came in and regretted it as Balls sent him back out
in a hurry. The
Dudley's nailed LSD with a 3D
Dudley Death Drop, but
Balls made the save.
As the Dudley's and LSD lay on the mat, Balls went
under the ring, got
and brought a table in and opened it. He poured a
bunch of thumb tacks
onto the table and poured lighter (?) fluid onto
it. Barbecue time. He
was set to ignite the table, but
BBR stopped him.
Balls set
BBR up for a Power Bomb and
at the same time reached into his
pocket for matches.
D-Von stopped him. D-Von ignited the table and
BBR
planted Balls on it
with a major Bubba Bomb, putting him thru the
flames and destroying
the table. Balls was pinned in the smoldering
debris. The crowd
chanted "Holy Sh*t" and then "ECW." The Dudley left
with the Belts and LSD
pulled a sh*t load of tacks out of Balls back
and @$$. The crowd
chanted "Balls." Joey called Balls real "Hardcore."
Winners - The Dudley
Boyz - Retain the ECW Tag Team Titles
Loser - Balls Mahoney
- he still hasn't learned that playing with
the Dudley's is
hazardous to his health
Winners - The crowd
and TV audience - if they like Hardcore action
Loser - Joel Gertner -
Need I say more?
Joey said that on next
weeks show from Philadelphia, we will see a No
Holds Barred, Extreme
Swimsuit Showdown, between Francine and Dawn
Marie Bytch.
The next match was for
the ECW TV Championship between Lance Storm,
accompanied by "Dawn
Marie, my personal Bytch," and Rob Van Dam
(RVD)(C), accompanied
by manager Bill Alfonso. Dawn Marie pranced
around and shook her
booty for the crowd. Joey said Sabu was in Japan
because he is still
barred from arenas in the USA, as a result of
actions by Justin
Credible and Lance Storm. RVD got his usual big pop
when he was
introduced. The match began with an arm wringer by Storm,
that RVD reversed into
one of his own, followed by a side kick an arm
bar. Storm countered
with a series of punches. RVD hit a flying
cross-body and they
next exchanged a series of chain moves. Storm
landed a front kick,
RVD came back with a Monkey Flip that sent Storm
to the floor to slow
things down. He got back in and RVD applied a head
lock and after Storm
broke it, caught him with a shoulder block. Storm
applied a single leg
Boston Crab. Alfonso chased Dawn Marie around the
ring. Storm saw it and
released the hold to go out after him. As he ran
around the ring, RVD
hit him with a Corkscrew Guillotine Leg Drop
coming off the apron.
Joey called the chase a setup for the move. RVD
went out after Storm
and Irish Whipped him into the guard rail. RVD
liked it so much that
he did it again. RV charged at Storm. Storm
ducked and RVD flew
into the crowd. RVD came back and snapped Storm's
neck on the guard
rail, and then came off the guard rail onto Storm.
Back in the ring RVD
hit a shoulder block, but got caught on the top
turn buckle and
crotched, followed by a Superplex. RVD landed a kick,
but took a Super Kick
from Storm, who then went for a pin. Storm
punched away at RVD
and RVD fired back with a few of his own. Storm hit
RVD with a face first
slam and again went for a pin. Storm played
basketball with RVD's
head on the top turn buckle. They crisscrossed in
the ring and Storm
ended up on the apron, where he took a hit and flew
face first into the
guard rail. As he tried to get back in, RVD hit
Storm with a kick to
the face. Storm went to the top turn buckle and
came off with a flying
Clothesline and once again tried for a cover.
Storm pressed his boot
into the back of RVD's neck. The crowd tried to
get RVD going as they
broke into a chant of "RVD." Storm punched away
at RVD as we headed to
Commercial land.
When we got back, we
saw RVD land one of his patented moves, a Tumbling
Senton Splash and try
for a pin. Alfonso ran across the ring and left a
chair in the middle.
RVD hit an Inverted Atomic Drop and introduced
Storm's face to the
Acme label on the chair. RVD sat Storm on the top
rope, went to the top
turn buckle, Alfonso held a chair in front of
Storm's face and we
were set to see a VanDaminator. Sorry folks, Justin
Credible raced to
ringside and planted his Singapore Cane in RVD's
Face. The lights in
the arena went out. Arena about to see The
Undertaker or Kane?
The lights came back on and Sabu was in the ring.
Guess Joey telling us
he was in Japan was a clue that he was in the
house. He was blasting
Storm and Credible seven ways to Sunday. The
crowd chanted "Sabu."
We then saw Air Sabu: Sabu with a leap off a
chair in the ring, off
the top rope and onto Credible in the crowd. He
brought Credible over
the guard rail and threw him into another one. A
table had been set up
from the apron to the guard rail, and Sabu put
Credible on it. Sabu
went back into the ring and again came off the
chair with a
Somersault onto Credible and the cash register at The Acme
Table and Chair Co.
rang again. Storm and RVD were in the ring and
exchanging punches.
Jerry Lynn came in carrying yet another Acme Chair.
He swung in and both
men ducked. The chair stopped between them. RVD
grabbed the
opportunity and blasted Storm with a VanDaminator. RVD went
to a top turn buckle
and hit Storm with a Five Star Frog Splash and
pinned him to retain
the title. Joey wondered who Lynn was swinging the
chair at.
Winner - Rob Van Dam -
Retains the ECW TV Championship
Winners - The fans and
viewers
Loser - Anyone who
missed the match (and show)
An action packed
program ended at that point.
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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.
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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