The Wrestling Booking Sheet online newsletter

Issue # 277

Date: Saturday August 14th, 1999 8:01 pm

The Wrestling Booking Sheet

ROUNDING THE SQUARED CIRCLE
"THE NEW KID ON THE BLOCK"
OR
"ECW, ECW. ECW..."

BY SAMJERRY
Visit my Home Page: http://members.aol.com/SamJerry

With Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) set to make its national TV
debut in a few weeks on TNN, and with several requests to write an
Article about ECW, I thought an introduction to ECW would be in order
for those who aren't familiar with it. ECW is owned by Paul Heyman,
know to many as Paul E. Dangerously, the name he used when he was a
Manager. He is widely considered to be one of the very best Bookers of
all time. It is headquartered in South Philadelphia, PA. Up until
recently, its main venue was the ECW Arena there.

Many of the stars in WCW and the WWF have wrestled in ECW. These
include Raven, Chris Jericho, Chris Benoit, The Steiner Brothers, Steve
Austin, Mick Foley and Terry Funk. The most recent defections include
Bam Bam Bigelow, The Sandman (Hak), Shane Douglas, and arguably the
best tag team in the world, The Dudley Boyz. ECW has been able to
survive despite the lost of these and others, and is now poised to
battle WCW and the WWF on a national scale.

As its name implies, ECW is heavy on the Hardcore type matches,
although they are expected to tone it down for TNN. TNN Executives were
in attendance at ECW's PPV last month and it is said that they were a
little concerned about what they saw and heard. It is widely
anticipated that ECW's syndicated program will not change.

ECW's fans are among the most loyal there are. It is quite common to
hear chants of "ECW, ECW..." during matches and interviews. What other
organization can make that claim? Another thing is that sometimes the
ring gets very little use during matches, as a lot of the action takes
place ringside and in the crowd. You might as well forget about
count-outs, unless they use a 10 minute count.

I think it would be useful to identify the top players in ECW and talk
a little about each. This should give you an idea who they are and what
to expect.

ECW Heavyweight Champion: Taz currently holds this Title, having won it
from Shane Douglas about 5 months ago. He uses a wide variety of
TazPlexes, including The TazMissionPlex, which is a Suplex version of
his submission hold, The TazMission. Taz's character is that of a nasty
SOB from a tough section of Brooklyn, NY. If there was ever a wrestler
whose gimmick was to be playing himself, Taz is it. He would be last
man on earth you would want to meet in a dark alley or have mad at you.
His catch phrase is "Beat me if you can, survive if I let you." Most
who run into Taz don't survive.

ECW TV Champion: Rob "Mr. PPV/The Whole F'N Show" Van Dam is the
current titleholder, and has held it for the past year and a half. Up
until recently, he was also co-holder of the ECW Tag Team Title, with
partner Sabu. He is managed by Bill "Fonzie" Alfonso, former referee.
In my opinion Van Dam is the best wrestler in the world. He is that
rare individual who combines strength, speed and agility. His aerial
moves are as good or better than any Luchadore. He has several crowd
pleasing moves in his arsenal including a Rolling Senton Splash and
Guillotine Leg Drop. The crowds often chant "RVD" after one of his
moves. His finishing move is a Five Star Frog Splash, delivered higher
than any other you will ever see. It is usually preceded by a
VanDaminator. This is a move in which Van Dam sets his opponent astride
the top rope (although he also delivers it in the ring), a chair is
placed in front of the opponents face by Alfonso, and Van Dam delivers
a Flying Kick to the chair. This renders his man helpless and sets up
the Frog Splash. It is expected that he will soon lose the TV Title and
that will mark a push to the ECW Championship.

ECW Tag Team Champions: Balls Mahoney and Little Spike Dudley (LSD)
recently won the Titles from six time champions, The Dudley Boyz. LSD
is a 150 pound outcast half bother of The Dudley Boys. Mahoney is a
long time ECW competitor who has teamed with others in the past. He
carries his own chair to the ring for his matches. LSD is known as "The
Giant Killer," as he has beaten almost every big man he has faced using
his finishing move, The Acid Drop. It is a move where he runs up the
turn buckle, with his arms around is opponents head and neck, and
delivers a Stunner type drop on them. His victims include Bam Bam
Bigelow and 600 pound Big Sal E. Graziano. He is also prone to diving
off balconies and ledges onto his opponents. He has also been used by
many as a human javelin, being thrown into the crowd. Mahoney uses a
New Jersey Jam followed by a Frog Splash to finish off his opponents.
Many feel he is trying to emulate Mick Foley. He takes many big bumps,
and chair shots, and probably has a charge account at the local blood
bank.

Sabu is known as the "Most Homicidal, Suicidal, Genocidal Wrestler in
the World." He is just that. He uses an assortment of leaps, Plancha
and Somersaults, with no regard for his own body. He is full of scars
he got mostly during his time in Japan, wrestling in all kinds of
matches. Most recently he competed with a fractured jaw. He also
receives chants of "Sabu" when he performs one of his moves. He is Van
Dam's tag team partner, also managed by Alfonso. Their alliance came
after a series of brutal matches between them and has been marked by
jealously over who was top dog. Despite Alfonso's efforts to keep the
peace, their partnership has unraveled recently and they will face each
other in a Three Way Dance, along with Jerry Lynn at the next PPV.

Jerry "The New F'N Show"Lynn is a young and on his way to the top
performer.
He recently wrestled a series of matches against Van Dam for the TV
Title and took Van Dam to the limit. He has been in other Federations,
wrestling in WCW as "JL" or "The Mysterious JL." He recently adopted
his nickname, saying he was the real show, not Van Dam. Lynn is a
skilled ring technician who employs a Cradle Pile Driver as his
finishing move.

Lance Storm is allied with Justin Credible as the Impact Players, Storm
plays a heel role, using his Canadian heritage to antagonize the fans.
His mic work always includes that he is from "Calgary, Alberta,
Canada," and that makes him better than anyone else. He almost is.
Despite the rhetoric, Storm is an outstanding wrestler, who could
easily hold any title there is. He comes to the ring with Dawn Marie
Bytch, who brings an ample set of Puppies with her. He is also aligned
with sometimes manager/sometimes wrestler/full time @$$hole Jason.
Quite often Storm uses a Pile Driver to win his matches.

Justin Credible is the other half of the Impact Players, and brings
Jason with him as well. He wrestled in the WWF as Aldo Montoya. It is
common to hear the fans chant "Justin @$$hole" when he is the ring. He
carries a Singapore Cane with him and uses it on his opponents heads
and back. like Storm, he is an excellent ring technician and should
hold titles in the future.

Tommy Dreamer, known as The Innovator Of Violence, is a long time ECW
competitor, currently on the shelf due to a back injury. He is trying
to avoid possible career ending surgery with a regimen of physical
therapy. Tommy epitomizes ECW in that he is a hard fighting, fan
favorite brawler, who will do
anything with his body to win a match. He has taken part in all kinds
of wild matches, including the historic Scaffold Match against
"Prime-time" Brain Lee. He is accompanied by Francine, who used to
"valet" for Shane Douglas.

Steve Corino is a talented young wrestler with a big mouth. He has
spent the past four months or so harassing Taz. This will eventually
lead to their meeting in the ring and could end up in Corino's funeral.
If he is one-tenth as good in the ring as he is with his mouth, he
would be a contender. However, despite the act, he brings a solid
wrestling background with him.

Little Guido is one of the two remaining members of The Full Blooded
Italians (FBI), now that Tommy Rich and Tracy Smothers are gone from
ECW. Guido is another excellent wrestler, who makes up for his lack of
size with a big heart. The crowd loves to hate him. He takes on all
comers and holds his own. His finishing move is The Italian Crab.

Big Sal E. Graziano is the other remaining member of the FBI. Sal's big
claim to fame is his size; he weighs 600 pounds. He accompanies Guido
to the ring and assists him in his matches. He wrestles on his own on
occasion, with a Splash as his finisher.

Yoshohiro Tajiri is a classic Japanese wrestler who recently wrestled a
series of title matches against Taz. At ECW's most recent PPV, Taz
wrapped his face and mouth in barbed wire. Since then he has come to
the ring wearing a big bandage covering his "stitched" face. This match
was one of the things that bothered TNN's brass. He uses a Tarantula,
entwining his opponent in the ropes.

Super Crazy is just that, Crazy. He is a Luchadore's Luchadore,
employing every conceivable Plancha, Somersault and any other aerial
move you can thing of. Most of his matches feature a move from the top
turn buckle onto his opponent in the 2nd or 3rd row of fans. His
matches against Tajiri and Guido were outstanding.

Axl Rotten and New Jack: Axl used to be the tag team partner of Balls
Mahoney. They were forced to split up and fight each other as a
condition of losing their final attempt to defeat The Dudley Boys. He
is just returning and is now teaming with New Jack. Axl is brawler and
well suited for ECW's style of wrestling. New Jack used to team with
Mustapha to form The Ganstas. He brings a garbage can full of weapons
to the ring, and uses all of them. He is returning from an extended
absence, that included a trial in Boston. He had been accused of
severely beating and tearing open a young wrestler, who said he was
never told what to expect. New Jack was found innocent after a mountain
of evidence proved his accuser to be lying. These two make a lethal
team, with a legitimate shot at the tag team titles.

There are many more on the roster including Dastardly Danny Doring,
Amish Road Kill, Jack Victory and Nova. What is unique about them and
just about everyone who performs in WCW, is that they all generally
provide interesting matches. The term "Jobber" seems to have a
different meaning in ECW.

I should also mention the women in ECW. Francine has been there a long
time and had many cat fights. She has fought with Tammy Lynn Sytch
(Sunny) among others, and most recently has gone at it with Dawn Marie
Bytch. Francine often gets involved with the men also. At the most
recent House Show in the ECW Arena, she blasted Tajiri as he hung in
The Tree Of Woe and applied a Figure Four to Corino. She has delivered
Bronco Busters to others. By the way, did I mention Francine carries a
pair of full grown Doberman Pinschers with her?

Dawn Marie Bytch is easy on the eyes and made all the trips to the
pound also. She used the name Tammy Lynn Bytch for a while to agitate
Tammy Lynn Sytch when she was in ECW; it worked and caused many cat
fights. She has reverted to Dawn Marie (her real name) and kept the
Bytch. Lance Storm refers to her as his personal Bytch. As with most
females in ECW, she also gets involved with the men and usually ends up
on the short end.

Angelica is Doring's valet. She has appeared on TV a few times and you
can expect to see more of her in the future.

Just as many men moved on from ECW, so have the women. Chastity is now
in WCW and Jacqueline is in the WWF. Others that have been there
include Nicole Bass, Beulah McGillicutti and Kimona Wanalaya.

The primary announcer is Joey Styles, who handles the syndicated TV
program by himself. Think of Joey as a young and excitable Jim Ross. He
knows the names of every hold ever applied, and is easy to listen to.
Expect to hear his catch phrase "Oh, my G-d" when something wild
happens. He will be joined by one of two people on the TNN program,
Cyrus "The Virus," who you will recognize from his WWF days when he was
known as The Jackyl, or Joel Gertner, formerly "Advisor" to The Dudley
Boyz. Word is that Cyrus will be the man.

There you have it. ECW101 - Introduction To ECW. I hope this helps you
when ECW debuts. I am looking forward to it.
===========================================
JERICHO COMMENTARY
Below we present Chris Jeircho's latest commentary to his fans, found at
http://www.chrisjericho.com/

08/13/99
NP:Limp Bizkit-Significant Other
Hello Jerichoholics!

I want to thank everyone who emailed me and gave me your opinions of
.Raw Is Jericho. The consensus was 99% positive and you guys told me
that you thought it ROCKED!!! From my point of view, it was absolutely
one of the greatest experiences in my 9 year wrestling career. The
entire segment was completely insane!

Here's the breakdown of my feelings on the deal. Standing backstage
listening to the Rock do his interview, I was nervous and totally
excited. We had rehearsed the entrance a few times earlier in the day,
so I knew what to expect. When I heard the countdown start, it was
showtime. The last ten seconds of the clock were counted down by the
audience. They were psyched to be sure! Then the lights went out and
the pulsing started. The crowd was abuzz. When the bombs went off,
that was my cue. I ran onto the stage and postioned myself with my
arms stretched out, back to the crowd. The music and the video (which
were both very cool I thought, how about you?) began to play at this
point.

The coolest part was because of internet geeks like you guys, lots of
people in attendance knew that this was our time. There were Jericho
chants at this point, before anything had really happened. Then the
letters J E R I C H O, flashed on the Titan Tron and it hit the
proverbial fan. There was a huge reaction, matched only by the one I
got in Toronto back in March. Very cool.

The promo was a good one and the Rock's rebuttal was classic. My fave
part of that whole scene was when I had finished and the Rock was about
to reply, it was like an old western. Two grizzled sharpshooters,
weapons in hand waited to duke it out. It was an electric moment. The
crowd was ready for us to go at it, both physically and verbally.
Needless to say that Jericho vs Rock will be one of the greatest feuds
of all time.

I'm excited with the WWF so far and I now know for sure that I made the
right choice. The company was an unbelievably well oiled machine and
there's lots of exciting stuff on the boards already! Be on the look
out for Jericho shirts very soon. Not bad after one week. It only
took two years in WCW!

Speaking of which, a lot of my WCW boys called with glowing reviews, as
well as friends and family, but most important was the response from
all of you!

The movie of the week was Planes Trains and Automobiles. Always a
classic and a mirror image of my life sometimes!

Well God bless you guys and let's keep the hits coming!
Y2J has arrived!
-Chris Jericho
===========================================
INTRODUCTION OF AN UPAND COMING STAR
"All-American" Jeffery Peterson, 18 years old, 5'9,' 150 pounds, was
trained by his uncle, Jim Kettner, who runs the ECWA (East Coast
Wrestling Association) in Delaware, and "Super Star" Lance "Simon"
Diamond, who is now in ECW, and also has had some guidance by 2 Cold
Scorpio, who learned in the New Japan's Dojo.

Jeffery's uncle, Jim, was his main reason to become a professional
wrestler. He said, "I don't think I would be around a ring without
him." He has been wrestling about a year-and-a-half and wrestled for
ECWA in Delaware, PCW (Pennsylvania Championship Wrestling) in
Pennsylvania, APW (All Pro Wrestling) in California, IPW Hardcore
(Independent Pro-Wrestling) in Florida, SCW (Southern Championship
Wrestling) in Florida, MCW (Maryland Championship Wrestling" in
Maryland, NWA (National Wrestling Alliance) in New Jersey, and ATCW in
West Virginia. He also
participated in the ECWA's Third Annual Super 8 Light Heavyweight
Tournament
with Christian York (, Jeff & Matt Hardy, Chris Daniels, Devon Storm,
Ace Darling, and Steve Bradley and Wrestled in the MCW Shane Shamrock
Memorial Cup with Christian York, Joey Mathews, Adam Flash, Quinn Nash
and Ramblin Rich.

His style is a combination of Lucha Libre, Japanese, and Traditional
Wrestling. Someday Jeff hopes to wrestle for the WWF or WCW and even
would like to expand to Japan. Expect big things from this Young and
Upcoming Light Heavyweight in the Future.
===========================================
WCW's future "stars": the road to success or to nowhere?
Wriiten by reader: Sting833

I know I'm probably going to come under fire for saying some of these
things, but I think they must be said. Everyone has been crowing for
months now about how WCW needs to push its younger guys to the top,
and have the older guys step down. However, some of the younger guys
who everyone feels are the future superstars, are not that, and in
fact, are far from it. Let's look at a few of these guys:

-Chris Benoit: One of the few of these young stars who gets a reaction
from the crowd, Benoit deserves a push to the United States Title. A
run there would serve as a good barometer as to how marketable he is.
Benoit himself once said, "It is not the belt that makes the champion,
it is the champion that makes the belt". If Benoit can make the US
Title mean something again, then I will be duly impressed. I've always
liked the guy, and he deserves a chance to shine.

-Dean Malenko: From one guy that should be pushed to one unworthy of
any status above mid-carder. Malenko is a terrific wrestler. But he's
also boring as hell. He has almost no charisma, and the fans really
aren't all that into him. He's got talent, but he lacks that something
else that gets the fans going that true stars have. He would be good as
a heel in the mold of Steven Regal, with the attitude that he's better
than everyone.

-Saturn: I like Perry Saturn, I really do, but his character is a
little too quirky to be a main eventer. He's almost like Johny B. Badd,
because as good as Mero was in the role, and as over as he was, the
character just didn't have what it takes to be a top draw. Saturn would
do well at a level just below main eventer, perhaps with the US Title.

-Disco Inferno: I think this guy has potential, but WCW needs to make a
few small character changes. The character is seen mainly as comedy,
very cartoonish, but then again, so was Razor Ramon. The character
wasn't really all that threatening, even though he got pushed as a heel
initially. What WCW should do is forget about the dancing for the most
part, and have him focus on wrestling, just like the WWF did with
Ramon. He got instant respect when he won the IC Title and started
simply defeating guys. I say give
Disco the TV Title, and let him have a good run with it. Get him into a
feud with an established guy, perhaps Curt Hennig, and let Disco win
the feud in the end. He might eventually move up to high on the card,
or perhaps even a main eventer if they play their cards right.

-Buff Bagwell: He's rather over, and its clear the fans want him to
succeed. The first thing WCW needs to do is have him finish off Miller.
He's a guy, like Disco, who could benefit from an extended feud with an
established, if not main event, heel, or perhaps an intense feud with
another younger guy.

-Booker T: First of all, this Harlem Heat reunion needs to end now.
This is equivalent to having the Hart Foundation reunite after Bret
lost at Summerslam to Davey Boy. its ridiculous. Feud him with Benoit
over
the US Title, and let them strut their stuff. They're already capable
of producing an intense feud, and as we all know, a good feud can be
done at least twice (witness Bret-Lawler in '93 and '95 and Bret-HBK in
'93, '96, and '97). This guy could be a main eventer, and may end up
being the first black World Champion since Ron Simmons.

WCW's main problem is they've got all the young guys as faces, feuding
with the "Old Guard". Unfortunately, Piper is all but done, and Flair
wants to stay off TV for awhile. So that feud is on a road to nowhere.
WCW needs to turn at least one or two of these guys heel (Malenko is a
good one to start with), and also raise the level of some other heels
lurking around in the company. I think the First Family could be an
effective heel group if WCW just lets them get a few high profile wins.
They also have the West Texas
Rednecks. Perhaps they could feud Disco with the Rednecks and Bagwell
with the Family, or something like that. The problem, as I said
earlier, is that many of these guys who people feel should be pushed to
the top aren't main event material, save for a few(Benoit, Booker,
maybe Bagwell).

WCW also has to make sure that they do War Games right this year. I say
Revolution-Triad/Flair (either one of them), instead of some hideous
thing with their main eventers. I love War Games, but watching Hogan,
Nash, Steiner, and the getting lazier Sting give each other love taps
into the cage is not what we needs to see. Although, Sid could make
things fun with a nice stiff power bomb on Hogan. A good power bomb and
Hogan could be left as limp as Pillman was in War Games '91 by Sid.

And finally, my final word of advice to WCW: give the World Title to
Goldberg and let him run with it. Have him squash Hogan, then a win
over Nash at Fall Brawl, Sid at Halloween Havoc, and then build up a
showdown with him and Sting at Starrcade. A main event like that is
what WCW needs to make Starrcade regain its luster.
-Chris Migliaccio
===========================================
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