The Wrestling Booking Sheet online newsletter

Issue # 295

Date: Saturday September 4th, 1999 12:46 pm

The Wrestling Booking Sheet

HART RETURNS TO NITRO MONDAY
In Bret Hart's Calgary Sun column for 9/4/1999, he revealed that he
will be making an appearance at the Florida house shows this weekend,
leading to his return on Nitro this Monday. Hart claimed not to know
his role on Nitro (and knowing WCW, this is very likely), though a
challenge to Hulk Hogan is always possible...

THURSDAY RATINGS
Reported by Dave Scherer at: http://www.1Wrestling.com
Smackdown did a 3.7 (national) rating with a 6.5 share (3,770,000
households).

Thunder did a 1.9 rating and a 3.3 share. The first hour did a 1.7
rating, 3.0 share (1,329,000 households). The second hour did a 2.1,
3.5 share (1,656,000 households). The replay of Thunder did a .9 first
hour, 1.0 second hour.

9/4 ALL JAPAN BUDOKAN HALL RESULTS
Reported by Zach Arnold at: http://www.1Wrestling.com
Kentaro Shiga, Yoshinobu Kanemaru, & Makoto Hashi defeated Takeshi
Morishima, Satoru Asako, & Masamichi Marufji when Shiga used a swinging
DDT to beat Morishima in12:25.

Masa Fuchi, Haruka Eigen, & Jun Izumida defeated Rusher Kimura, Mitsuo
Momota, & Masao Inoue when Izumida used a diving headbutt to pin Inoue
in 12:02.

Yoshinari Ogawa & Masahito Kakihara defeated the team of Tsuyoshi
Kikuchi & Jinsei Shinzaki when Kakihara used a palm strike to put away
Kikuchi in 8:35

Johnny Ace, George Hines, & Mike Burton defeated Scorpio, Gary
Albright, & Manukea Mossman when Burton used a diving elbow drop on
Scorpio to get the pin in 7:53.

Akira Taue defeated Hiroshi Hase in 15:11 with his nodowa-otoshi to
finish off Hase.

Mitsuharu Misawa defeated Yoshihiro Takayama in 18:11 when Misawa used
a running elbow smash to put away Takayama.

Kenta Kobashi defeated The Gladiator in 19:09 with a lariat.

Vader had little trouble in defeating Mitsuharu Misawa in 7:21 with a
powerbomb.

In the main event, Jun Akiyama defeated Takao Omori in 24:29 seconds
with the exploder.

WCW HOUSE SHOW RESULTS FOR PENSACOLA, FL - September 3, 1999
Reported by Joe De Leon & Raven58 at: http://www.ultimowrestling.com/rw
in/index.shtml

- Rick Steiner came out and said Sting was too scared to wrestle him.
He beat up two Power Plant trainees.

- Prince Iaukea and Blitzkrieg defeated Chris Adams and Lash LeRoux.
LeRoux carried the entire match.

- The ring announcer (not David Penzer) promoted the WCW credit card,
when Bret Hart's music hit. The crowd went crazy. Hart said he didn't
know where his career was going, but at this time, he wanted to do only
one thing, and that was wrestle Hulk Hogan. Hogan made his way out to a
huge pop. He said he would give Hart his match with the Heavyweight
Title on the line. He also said it would be the main event. He also
mentioned something about Sting watching television at home with his
kids and his title match at the PPV would be off for now.

- ? defeated Hardwork Bobby Walker.

- Disco Inferno defeated Vincent.

- Perry Saturn defeated Eddie Guerreroin the best match of the night.

- The Insane Clown Posse defeated Lenny and Lodi. ICP came out to a
huge pop and worked a good match.

- Harlem Heat defeated Diamond Dallas Page and Bam Bam Bigelow.

- Hulk Hogan and Bret Hart went to a No-Contest, to let Hogan retain
the Heavyweight Title. Diamond Dallas Page, Bam Bam Bigelow, and Rick
Steiner all interfered. At one point in the match, Hart had Hogan
locked in the Sharpshooter, but Hogan powered out of it. Hart was able
to dodge the Big Leg Drop.

TENTATIVE FALL BRAWL LINEUP
Reported by Dave Meltzer of The Wrestling Observer Newsletter
The current lineup for the Fall Brawl PPV on 9/12 in Winston-Salem, NC
is Hogan vs. Sting, Benoit vs. Sid, Goldberg vs. DDP, R. Steiner vs.
Saturn, Windhams vs. Harlem Heat, Berlyn vs. Bagwell, Lane vs. Hayashi,
Malenko & Douglas vs. Knobbs & Morrus, and Kidman, Mysterio & Guerrero
vs. ICP & Vampiro

WRESTLING OBSERVER SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION
To subscribe to Dave Meltzer's renowned Wrestling Observer Newsletter,
send $11 for 4 issues to:
The Wrestling Observer
P.O. Box 1228
Campbell, CA 95009-1228
===========================================
"Straight Shooting"
By: Fritz Capp (pwbts)
09-04-99

http://pwbts.com
PWBTS 2000

Well hello everybody, I’m back from vacation and ready to take on
another weeks worth of wrestling news. Now for those of you who have
continually said that I do not have a life outside of the computer I
guess the fact that I was away from it for a week should prove to you
all that you are once again wrong. Of course I’m not going to tell you
about the cold sweats and the shakes I suffered each and every day
because of lack of wrestling news basically because that would only
make you think that you could be right about me and we all know that
isn’t possible.

Anyway even though Hurricane Dennis swirled off of North Carolina
making for a less than sunny stay at the beach there were plenty of
people walking the boardwalk. There was also a plethora of wrestling
merchandise for sale so being the naturally inquisitive person that I
am as I browsed the gift shops I talked to the owners of the stores
about their immense wrestling inventory. What I found out was really no
surprise. Steve Austin and The Rock was the highest selling merchandise
they all had. What was a bit of a shocker was what was being worn by
the majority of wrestling fans visiting Wildwood this week. The Rock’s
shirts outnumbered everyone else by at least 3:1, and that included
Austin. The same was true at Six Flags Great Adventure but the margin
was a bit smaller. I would say 2:1. It strikes me funny as debate after
debate is happening as to how the WWF will fare without Austin. I
believe from what I have seen that the WWF will do just fine. Of course
we all know that Austin will be back soon but I have a feeling that the
WWF will survive even ifAustin retired right now.

So I understand that WCW wrestling fans have shown that they are worthy
of the moniker, "Absolute True Morons"! Well, what else can you call
them after the past Monday Nitro? Now while it is true this happens in
"ALL" the promotions, this time it happened in WCW so I am going to use
that as a small platform. For all the WCW jobrones who feel I am
attacking them, get a life. This goes out to ALL WRESTLING FANS: "WHAT
THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE?" Are you all that mentally
challenged that you have to resort to throwing things into the ring?
Are you all that much of a "MARK" that you cannot differentiate between
what is real and what isn’t? Are you all that "STUPID" that you throw
"GLASS BOTTLES"? You know, this sport has fought and begged and crawled
for even the smallest amount of respectability and here are the fans,
the people who are supposedly the ones who will do anything to help the
sport actually hurting it with childish and inexcusable actions such as
what happened Monday night. This kind of behavior should not be
accepted in WCW, the WWF or ECW as not only are the workers at risk,
but also other fans. Grow the hell up people, don’t hurt what you say
you love so much!

According to the WCW Hotline, Shawn Michaels is running his mouth about
what he feels is wrong in the WWF, especially Austin. For someone who
does an occasional appearance but makes $750,000.00 I do not think
Shawn should be opening his mouth about anything. It seems as if Shawn
is quick to jump onAustin, which I feel is nothing more than
professional jealousy as Shawn no longer has the stroke that he once
had in the company.

StevePJC reported on the PWBTS newsboard he had a chance to talk to
Road Dogg about his recent reported "suspension". Steve is a pro
wrestler and we are happy to have him on the site. Here is the
"exclusive" quote from Road Dogg, "Some guys like the Internet, other
guys hate what it can cause.... Me on the other hand, I don’t pay
enough attention to worry about it.... When something involves me that
is along the lines of me being suspended for drugs??? Well some kid
probably ASSUMED the worst..... Only thing I can say to the kid if he
is reading is this.... NEVER assume... It makes an ASS out of YOU and
me if people believe it."

Even though WCW went unopposed it still didn’t garner any ratings this
past week. Do you think that they may get a clue any time soon?

Everyone is still talking about Gene Okerland and his contract expiring
soon. I have to ask, Who cares? If Gene goes to the WWF will it change
anything? How about if he stays in WCW? The answer to both is an
emphatic NO! Okerland is a kayfabe reporter who puts over whatever
company he works for. Nothing more, nothing less. Why is this even
considered news?

ECW on TNN took it to the next level by opening the show with a title
shot for Tajiri against the Human Suplex Machine, Taz. It was a great
way to initiate the news fans into the fact that ECW can do more then
break tables. While the match was short it showed that these two have
some great wrestling ability. ECW will have to realize that it is going
to be a long slow road to great ratings, but with patience,
perseverance and continued solid broadcasts they have a great shot to
bring themselves to levels they only dreamed of. One thing
though...watch the placement of the commercials.

And with that I’m outta here. Remember wrestling is nothing more than
it appears to be.

Fritz Capp
PWBTS 2000
http://pwbts.com
===========================================
ROUNDING THE SQUARED CIRCLE
"EC-F'N-W: KICKING ASSAND TAKING NAMES"
OR
"TNN: its NOT JUST FOR MONSTER TRUCKS ANYMORE"

BY SAMJERRY
Visit My Home Page At: http://members.aol.com/samjerry

ECW made its Network debut on TNN last week with a rating of 0.9. That
may not sound like much, but to TNN its unheard of. TNN's main fare
has always been Country related programming aimed at a niche audience,
and their rating numbers proved it. It looks like ECW has put TNN on
the map. Considering that TNN doesn't have the ability to advertise its
programming on a half dozen stations owned by the same company as the
promotion, and that ECW's presence has mainly been done by word of
mouth, and the 0.9 is out-F'N-standing.

Judging by the mail I received after last weeks show, a lot of fans who
had only read about ECW are already converts. A common thread was that
everything they heard about ECW is true. The first show introduced
ECW's top talent and most of their undercard wrestlers. A lot of the
mail asked me to write an Article telling a little more about each so
they would be more readily identifiable. It was barely hours after the
second show and my TV Report that the mail began pouring in again.
Every piece of mail I got was positive.

It looks like Taz, the ECW Champion made quite an impression. Most
comments were related to the variety of Suplexes he uses and about his
submission hold, The TazMission. Other people wrote and said that after
seeing the Jerry Lynn / Rob Van Dam (C) ECW TV Title Match from
Hardcore Heaven on the first show, can't wait for next weeks show when
they will meet again. Having seen these two in many matches, all I can
say is I expect more of the same.

I also got a bunch of mail related to The ECW Tag Team Title Match won
by The Dudley Boyz. These were in two separate categories: the first
expressed that they hope The Dudley Boyz can retain their style in the
WWF; the second wanted to know if Ballz Mahoney takes the kind of bumps
they saw on a regular basis. Those that have seen ECW over the past six
years and those that follow ECW in my TV Reports know that what they
saw was commonplace for him. He has gone through a thumb tack laden
table many times, usually while its on fire. He bleeds enough to keep
Dracula happy for a month of Sunday's.

As far as work rate goes, its not a question in ECW, its a way of
life. Kevin Nash would either have to do a 180, or else he wouldn't
last a New York minute in ECW. Jobbers don't just get squashed, they
put up a match. A refreshing change from what most are used to

Then there were those that remarked about Raven's return to ECW. The
match he joined Tommy Dreamer, his long time bitter enemy, in to win
the Tag Team Titles from The Dudley Boyz was taped literally hours
after he left WCW. The syndicated ECW show, "ECW HARDCORE TV," that was
on later last night, covered the Tommy Dreamer / Raven feud in detail.
See my ECW HARDCORE TV Report for September 4, 1999, for complete
details. Their feud has been described as the most intense in ECW
history, To see Raven help Dreamer out had to stun long time ECW fans.
Dreamer's valet Francine looked on in disbelief. Raven was welcomed
back by the ECW Arena fans in a big way, and in just a few moments, got
more heat then he did in his entire time in WCW.

It will take a while to build up an audience on TNN. Friday night isn't
the best time slot, but it beats a poke in the eye with a sharp stick.
its too bad everyone doesn't have access to the syndicated program,
but its a start. It looks like ECW Owner Paul Heyman is programming
the two shows so that viewers of ECW On TNN wont miss out on anything
by not having access to ECW HARDCORE TV.

It seems only fitting that I end this Article as if I were at an ECW
House Show:
"ECW, ECW, ECW....."
===========================================
ROUNDING THE SQUARED CIRCLE
ECW ON TNN - SEPTEMBER 3, 1999 - QUEENS, NY

BY SAMJERRY
Visit My Home Page At: http://members.aol.com/samjerry

This was ECW's second week on TNN. With Joey Styles calling the action,
the program began with an ECW Championship Match between Taz (C) and
Yoshohiro Tajiri, accompanied by Steve Corino and Jack Victory. Taz
used a variety of TazPlexes, including a Hardway TazPlex, a Cradle
TazPlex, an Arm and Head TazPlex. Tajiri used his aerial attack. The
fans chanted "Taz" and "Kill him." Tajiri tried everything including
The Tarantula but succumbed to The TazMission.
Winner - Taz - Retains the ECW Championship

After the ECW opening, Styles was in the ring and welcomed the crowd
and TV audience to ECW On TNN. Joel "I'm like a Rubik's Cube, the more
you play, the harder it gets" Gertner came out and joined Joey. He said
it was about time that ECW revealed its color commentator for TNN. He
introduced Jerry Lynn, who joined them in the ring. Lynn said he wasn't
making a phony promo like we see on Monday Nights. A chant of "Jerry"
began. He said we will see the difference between WCW, the WWF and ECW.
A chant of "ECW" rang out. He challenged Rob "Mr. PPV" Van Dam (RVD) to
put up his ECW TV Title tonight. Van Dam's manager Bill Alfonso came to
the ring and told Lynn he had shot his load and wasn't getting another
title shot. Lynn jumped him. Van Dam came in to make the save. It took
a slew of ECW officials to pull them apart.

Gertner said we will see Lynn and Van Dam next week.

Joey gave ECW's House Show schedule through the beginning of October.

The next match was for the ECW Tag Team Championship, pitting Balls
Mahoney and Little Spike Dudley (LSD) (C) v. The Dudley Boys, Bubba Ray
(BBR) and D-Von, with Sign Guy at ringside. It was a your basic
Balls/LSD v. Dudley Match. Some of the action we saw included: With The
Dudley's on the floor, Balls played javelin with LSD, throwing him onto
them. It was good enough to get an "Oh, my G-d" from Joey; Balls and
LSD simultaneously hit a Nutcracker Suite and Acid Drop; BBR hit LSD
with a monster Sit-Out Bubba Bomb from the top turn buckle; BBR threw
LSD over the top rope into the guard rail; and LSD low blowed BBR.
Balls brought a table in and poured thumb tacks on it. He attempted to
drop BBR onto the tacks, but D-Von stopped him and The Dudley's put him
thru the table with a Bubba Bomb. This got another "Oh, my G-d" from
Joey. They turned Balls into a human pin cushion. LSD prevented a pin,
but was destroyed by a 3-D Dudley Death Drop and pinned.

Winners - The Dudley Boyz - New (Eight Time) ECW Tag Team Champions
Loser - Balls Mahoney - Will be picking tacks out of his back and
ass for a month

Joey said its a crime, but The Dudley's will be taking the Titles to
the WWF.

Styles again gave ECW's House Show schedule through the beginning of
October.

We saw a Rob Zombie music video that highlighted Lance Storm and Dawn
Marie. It was followed by Storm and Justin Credible (The Impact
Players) and Jason backstage telling us how wonderful they are.

Gertner plugged RollerJam.

The Dudley's returned to the ring. Bubba Ray said "ECW turns boys into
men, and men into heroes. The WWF turns heroes into legends, legends
into God's and The Dudley Boyz will be Gods." The crowd chanted "Na Na
Na, Hey Hey, Good-bye." BBR called them "typical disrespectful jerks
from Queens." BBR said anyone that wants to try to take the Belts was
welcome to try. The crowd chanted "Sabu." He then called Tommy Dreamer
out, calling him broken down and washed up, all because of the hits he
has taken in ECW. We saw clips of the teams The Dudley have beaten as
he talked. He then talked about having put Beulah McGillicutty in the
hospital and had a few choice words about he and D-Von paying her a
bedside visit. He called Francine a $2 whore. Tommy came out as
Francine and Paul Heyman tried to restrain him. He broke loose and went
to the ring. He took The Dudley's on by himself, nailing both with a
Double Side Russian Leg Sweep and several other moves. He put a ladder
into the ring and hit both Dudley's in the head with it as they came
near it. He jammed the ladder between the middle and top turn buckle
and threw BBR into it. Alas, all good things must come to an end. and
they did for Tommy.BBR threw him back first into the ladder and hit
him with a Belly-to-Back Suplex as he bounced off of it. They
systematically took Tommy apart to a point that Sign Guy tried to stop
them. He took a shot from his brothers for his efforts. Tommy blocked
an attempt at a 3-D Dudley Death Drop with a DDT on D-Von. Tommy's old
enemy Raven hit the ring, making his return to ECW, and did likewise to
BBR. A cover and we had new ECW Tag Team Champions for the second time
tonight. The crowd chanted "Raven" and "Welcome back." Tommy and Raven
stared at each other as Francine looked on in disbelief that Raven
helped Tommy. Raven went out and celebrated with the fans as Tommy and
Francine watched from the ring

Winners - Tommy Dreamer and Raven - New ECW Tag Team Champions
Winner - ECW - The Dudley don't get to take the Belts with them to the
WWF
===========================================
ECW A SNORE?
Written by reader: Joe (PeptoFreak)
I'm from California, and my first exposure to ECW was a few years ago
when they appeared on RAW. I was impressed from the start, but
obviously was unable to keep up . . . until now.

When I first found out two months ago that ECW would be going national,
I was reveling in the fact that I could now see what all the hype was
really about. When it premiered on the 27th of August, I was at a
friend's house and I forced them to watch
the show. I didn't expect to see a promo, but I was further impressed
with the show and characters, especially Sabu and RVD. The moves were
spectacular (especially that Tazplex on the table) and the interviews
were okay. I couldn't wait to see it the following week.

Then the show actually airs. Big dissappointment. I wanted to watch
ECW, not listen about Eric Bischoff granting releases, not hear "WWF"
come out of Joey Styles' mouth every other word, I didn't even want to
see the Dudleys (not to mention that the WWF did premiere them on
Smackdown the day before the ECW show aired, that probaly ruined ECW's
TV plan).

I kid you not, the half hour of the Dudleys in the ring, and the
ranting that it would
"disgrace" ECW if they showed up on Monday (granted they showed up on
Thursday) with their belts on RAW, was boring and I was asleep during
it.

I do feel, along with most everyone else, that ECW does have something
special,
and should forget about the dealings of the WWF and WCW and just focus
on what they are known for, EXTREME Championship Wrestling. I just
don't think I'll be staying home on Friday nights to watch it anymore.
===========================================
ADVERTISEMENT
Blake Carter has recently started a campaign through the ECW Feedback
section to get two relatively unknown superstars. His campaign is for
Madman Pongo, 'the most hardcore indy wrestler on earth", and Reckless
Youth, an amazing high flyer, to be signed to an ECW contract. If you
would like to help, go to
http://www.ecwwrestling.com and then click on the feedback section.
From there, explain that you are part of a large campaign to get
Reckless Youth and Madman Pongo in ECW! Thanks and e-mail Blake if you
would like to help at BlakeC14
===========================================
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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