The Wrestling Booking Sheet online newsletter

Issue # 272

Date: Sunday August 1st, 1999 4:31 pm

The Wrestling Booking Sheet

Hogan's knee injury another setback for WCW
By Mike Mooneyham
Sunday, August 1st, 1999

WCW, in the midst of a desperate attempt to rebuild the foundering
company around Hulk Hogan, suffered another blow when its egomaniacal
world champion hyperextended his knee last week on Nitro. Hogan, who
just came back from knee surgery, is expected to work the Road Wild
pay-per-view against Kevin Nash later this month in Sturgis, S.D.,
before taking time off to allow his knee to heal.

Hogan, who was given the WCW strap on his first night back July 5,
suffered the injury early in a match pitting him and Sting against Sid
Vicious and Kevin Nash. No surgery is expected. Hogan's injury is the
latest in a number of problems that have plagued the company in recent
months. Among those who have been on the shelf for most of 1999 include
Bill Goldberg, Lex Luger and Scott Steiner. Another top-tier talent,
Scott Hall, also has missed most of the year as he has taken time off
to try and repair his family life.

Nash, who recently told management that he wanted a break due to his
grueling schedule, also is expected to take time off following Road
Wild. Nash rarely works house shows, preferring to showcase his talents
exclusively on TV and pay-per-view, so it apparently is the rigor of
booking those horrendous WCW storylines that has him worn out.

• The complaints from WCW's new hard-core division have grown louder
following Fit Finlay's career-threatening leg injury a week ago.

Finlay suffered the injury when his leg went through a table during a
hard-core match with Brian Nobbs July 25 at a house show in Jackson,
Miss. Several tendons in Finlay's leg were severed, and he underwent
emergency surgery immediately following the bout. Finlay, regarded as
one of the toughest but most underrated workers in the business, is
expected to be sidelined for at least a year.

Several members of the hard-core division, including Hardcore Hak,
Ciclope and Silver King, also suffered injuries during WCW's recent
Junkyard Hard-Core Invitational. In addition to the injuries incurred
by the participants, the event cost the company more than $100,000 to
stage.

The hard-core group has maintained that WCW management has failed to
properly push that division and that they have no chance of being
elevated despite the risks they take and the high injury factor.

• WCW will throw away some more of its money when it doles out a
whopping $500,000 to classic rock band Kiss for a two-song performance
at the Aug. 23 Nitro in Las Vegas.

WCW hopes to build an angle off the Kiss stint by introducing its own
Kiss Demon character along with a group known as The Kiss Warriors.
Gene Okerlund reported on his hotline that WCW Power Plant grad Dale
Torburg (son of former major league ball player and manager Jeff
Torburg) would fill the role as The Kiss Demon, but recent reports have
tabbed Brian Adams as the most likely candidate.

• Think the WWF is cooling down? Better think again.

Last week's Raw drew the second-highest competitive rating in the
history of the Monday night wars as it posted a phenomenal 7.11 (6.91
and 7.30 for its two hours). Nitro's numbers fluctuated little as the
show registered a 3.43 (3.99, 2.91 and 3.39 for its three hours). Raw
came in slightly below its all-time record rating for the Owen Hart
tribute show.

The 7.81 for the Kane-Big Show vs. Undertaker bout made it the
most-watched head-to-head wrestling match in the history of cable
television. The Steve Austin-Vince McMahon closely followed at 7.77.

The Raw main event of The Rock vs. Billy Gunn-Chyna did a 6.6 (7.5
overrun) going against Nitro's headliner of Hogan-Sting vs.
Nash-Vicious at 4.1 (4.4 overrun).

Goldberg's return drew a disappointing 3.5 that was doubled by
less-than-impressive opposition (Godfather-Val Venis vs. Droz-Prince
Albert) on Raw.

• Read all about it every Sunday morning. Watch it for five hours
every Monday night. And, beginning soon, listen to it every Tuesday
evening. "Ringside Wrestling Talk" with Mike Mooneyham (that's me) will
hit the airwaves on Aug. 24. The weekly wrestling gabfest will air
Tuesdays from 6-7 p.m. on WQNT ESPN Radio 1450. The show will be a
fast-paced hour of the latest mat news and will feature occasional
guests and a chance for Lowcountry fans to call in and share their
views on the wrestling business.

• Vince McMahon's personal battle with Bret Hart appears to be far
from over.

That subject dominated Michael Landsburg's interview with McMahon last
week on TSN's "Off The Record" show broadcast in Canada.

McMahon related details of a two-hour meeting with Hart on May 30 - the
day of Owen Hart's funeral - that took place at a park in Calgary,
Canada. McMahon said that he blamed Bret for the public relations
problems that followed Owen's death. McMahon said Bret blamed him on
the breakup of his marriage and accused McMahon of damaging his career.

McMahon defended the letter he wrote to the Calgary Sun in which he
itemized funeral costs, adding that he didn't expect the letter to be
printed. He said that Martha Hart had wanted a lavish funeral, and that
he had been willing to pay for it, but lawyers intervened.

"She could be lying through her teeth, but I'm not going to win
regardless of the facts," McMahon told Landsburg.

He also claimed that Bret "brainwashed a vulnerable widow" and blamed
him for the rest of the Hart family's reaction.

McMahon also admitted that at no time was the possibility of stopping
the Over The Edge pay-per-view even considered. Landsburg said he
considered that as showing disrespect to the family, although McMahon
said no disrespect was meant.

McMahon also defended WWF content, saying he was just giving the public
what it wanted, a position Landsburg equated with pornographers.

• Another example of life imitating art: Dustin Runnels and wife Terri
have parted ways and are in the process of getting a divorce.

It seems to be a disturbing trend in which wrestling couples break up
as part of a storyline, only to later split in real life. Two recent
examples are Steve and Debra McMichael (Debra is now dating the
recently divorced Steve Austin), and Kevin and Nancy (Woman) Sullivan
(Nancy and Chris Benoit are now a pair; Kevin has since remarried).

McMichael and Runnels, who also has experienced strained relations with
dad Dusty Rhodes (Virgil Runnels) in recent years, both have been
battling depression. McMichael was released by WCW after no-showing a
string of WCW events. Runnels was granted a release from the WWF and
could resurface in WCW as Dustin Rhodes.

Runnels and his wife have been married for eight years. The two met at
a WCW pay-per-view inPhoenix when Terry was working for WCW as a
character known as Alexandra York. They have a 4-year-old daughter,
Dakota.

• Bill Goldberg is back, but for how long?

Goldberg, slightly appeased by a contract restructuring that nearly
doubled his $800,000 salary, reportedly still is upset with the way WCW
management (mis?)handled his character, put him on the road and
scheduled him for numerous public appearances while he was complaining
of an injured knee, and for comments made by both Hulk Hogan and Kevin
Nash while he was sidelined.

• The WWF and Rena Mero have reached a settlement in her $140 million
lawsuit against the company, and it appears that the artist formerly
known as Sable has come out on the short end. Mero will not be able to
use her ex-moniker, nor will she be allowed to appear in WCW until
August 2001. Husband Marc Mero also has been released by the company.

Don't rule out that the possibility that Sable could re-emerge in the
WWF in the not-too-distant future, but conditions for such a return
likely would favor the WWF this time around.

Rena Mero was interviewed at her home prior to the settlement in a
segment that aired last week on Fox Files. She didn't raise any new
arguments against the WWF, but after the piece aired the reporter who
interviewed her noted that Marc Mero had stormed into their session and
"took off" with the tapes. The Fox reporter said that local authorities
and lawyers were brought in to handle the situation, and the tapes were
returned by Rena Mero after hours of negotiations. The reporter added
that it was one of her most disappointing journalistic experiences ever.

Rena Mero, using the name Sable for possibly the last time, is featured
in the August issue of Playboy that hits the stands this week.

• ECW tag-team champs The Dudleys reached a verbal agreement with Jim
Ross last week and are headed to the WWF.

TNN officials were less than pleased with a particular segment
involving The Dudleys on the recent ECW Heat Wave PPV. ECW executive
producer Paul Heyman reportedly took heat over Buh Buh Ray Dudley's
10-minute, obscenity-laced promo prior to a match pitting The Dudleys
against Balls Mahoney and Spike Dudley. TNN also expressed concern over
the excessive use of blood in that bout (all four participants bled),
and Buh Buh Ray going out into the crowd challenging fans.

"We're going to try and keep some of that down," TNN president David
Hall said recently, referring to ECW's hard-core style. "Sometimes we
have trouble with that in the taped programming; sometimes that
happens. But I think some of it has gotten way too blatant."

"You can imagine that was one of the real soul-searching discussions
between TNN and us," said ECW managing director Steve Karel. "We
certainly understand that a Friday night 8 p.m. show is not a Friday
night 2 in the morning show. The integrity of ECW will be preserved."

ECW's first regular show on TNN will air 8-9 p.m. Aug. 27.

• Dudleys manager Joel Gertner, who reportedly will assume the color
commentary spot on ECW telecasts on TNN with play-by-play man Joey
Styles, made a number of tasteless, off-color remarks concerning the
late John F. Kennedy Jr. on a recent ECW show.

Heyman said that it was meant as a publicity stunt, much like Howard
Stern's ill-advised commentary in the wake of the Columbine school
shootings.

• Ric Flair's 11-year-old son, Reid, who won a national amateur
wrestling tournament last year in Detroit, is competing in a tournament
in Japan sponsored by Dick Beyer. Beyer is regarded as a legend in
Japan (as well as the United States) where he headlined during the '60s
and '70s as The Masked Destroyer.

• The lead Nitro announcing job appears to be Scott Hudson's to lose
after a couple of sterling performances in his first live broadcasts.
Eric Bischoff yanked longtime announcer Tony Schiavone in an attempt to
give the broadcast a fresher look and also to give Schiavone a break
from the grueling grind. Schiavone in recent months saw his off-air
relationship with co-announcers Bobby Heenan and Mike Tenay deteriorate.

• The Ladies International Wrestling Association will hold its second
East Coast Convention Sept. 23-25 in Myrtle Beach. A casino dinner
cruise is planned on Sept. 23, an autograph session and the Golden
Girls Extravaganza on Sept. 24, and a benefit dinner and awards
ceremony on Sept. 25. Among the honorees will be: (ladies) Fran
Gravette, Wenona Little Heart, Doll Page, Beautiful Brandy and Angie
Menelli; (men) Wahoo McDaniel, Nelson Royal, Sam Houston and Jay Eagle;
Billy Blue River (Founders Award); and Andy McDaniel (Independent
Promoter of the Year).

Those planning to attend are asked to write the LIWA at
P.O. Box 42081, Columbia, S.C. 29206.

• For a trip down memory lane, David Williamson is offering a dozen
pages of nostalgia sheets, wrestling clips mostly from the Mid-Atlantic
area from the '60s, '70s and '80s, for just $3. Write him at 3405
Freewill Road, Cleveland, Tenn. 37312-2030.

• Dennis Rodman will meet Randy Savage in a singles match at WCW's
Road Wild pay-per-view.

• Billy Kidman and Dean Malenko both expressed their discontent with
WCW on recent episodes of WCW Live.

• Shawn Michaels will appear on an episode of "Pacific Blue" tonight.

• New Japan's Ricki Choshu, Tatsumi Fujinami and Masa Saito were at
Nitro in Memphis to negotiate a deal that would land Bill Goldberg for
a major show in Japan.

• Mankind (Mick Foley) appeared in a six-man match Thursday night at
Baltimore Arena as he teamed with Kane and X-Pac to defeat The
Undertaker, Big Show and Hunter Hearst Helmsley.

Foley, recovering from double knee surgery, wasn't scheduled to return
until September. He is slated to throw out the first pitch for the
Yankees-Twins game the weekend of Summer Slam.

Foley, who recently returned from a promotional tour of Australia, said
in a recent interview that the artist formerly known as Sable (Rena
Mero) was the least talented person ever to make a million dollars.

• The Calgary Sun reported last week that the New York Senate is
organizing a task force that will consider a censorship bill on
wrestling. The legislation would label wrestling shows as adult
entertainment.

The New York State Athletic Commission barred children under 14 from
attending pro wrestling shows following a riot during the late '50s at
Madison Square Garden that occurred as a result of a wild tag-team
match with Dr. Jerry Graham and Dick The Bruiser against Argentina
Rocca and Edouard Carpentier. The ban lasted nearly two decades.

Mike Mooneyham can be reached by phone at (843) 937-5517 or by e-mail
at mooneyham. More wrestling news with Mike
Mooneyham is available every Monday on The Wrestling Observer Hotline.
The number is
1-900-903-9030. Calls are 99 cents per minute, and children under 18
must get parental permission before dialing.
===========================================
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Ric Flair will be making an appearance August 29th at the Crowne Plaza
in Secucus, NJ. For more information call 1-888-478-0667 toll free, or
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Then check out the following web pages:-
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Respectfully,
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===========================================
The following letter is in reply to Mike Mooneyham's 7/25 column:

Written by reader: Richard Knott (flyer88)
You are dead-on in your comments regarding Ric Flair. I haven`t always
been that big a fan of his, but I have always had the utmost respect
for his performance level and dedication to his chosen field.

His current treatment in WCW is a disgrace, but nothing new. Remember
when Hogan first came to WCW and they turned Flair into a ranting,
raving lunatic who was insanely jealous of the great Hulk Hogan? They
had him dressing in women`s clothing and needing Sherri Martel to win
his matches, for God`s sake. I guess he had his reasons for choosing to
stay with WCW, but one has to wonder what he would do if he were given
that choice again.

It`s one thing to see an aging athlete`s reputation become tarnished
because he stays around too long and his skills deteriorate, but it is
quite another to see it happen because his bonehead employers
intentionally bury him. I, for one, can`t help but wonder what would
have happened had he chosen the WWF.
Thanks,
Dick

Steve Appy responds:
Since the early 90's (1990), WCW has felt that burying Flair would
somehow elevate their chosen franchise stars to new levels. So many
received the rub from Flair, from Sting, Luger to Hogan, and they all
failed to take their character to the next level.

Hogan somehow felt that Legdropping Flair all over the Carolina's would
endear him to the core WCW fan; instead, Flair's mistreatment helped
WCW kill their traditionally strongest territory.

The ironic fact is that Flair is STILL WCW's top rating draw; despite
outlandish storylines and jobbing every week, the television audience
still prefers Flair to any of WCW's stars, including Hogan, Nash &
Goldberg.

Since its doubtful that WCW will put Flair over any of their chosen
favorites, I'd love to see Flair work a series of single matches
against Benoit. They could split decisions, and Benoit would come out
the series a star. Better than putting Hogan & Sting over at every
opportunity.
===========================================
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