Issue # 315
Date:
Thursday September 16th, 1999 1:08 pm
The Wrestling Booking Sheet
HALL & NASH TO WORK NEW
JAPAN?
Reported by Chad
Damiani & Curt Creighton at:
http://www.ultimowrestling.com/rwin/index.shtml
After Mark Madden
reported on the WCW Hotline that Hall & Nash may be
making an appearance
in another wrestling promotion before returning to
WCW, Chad Damiani
tells us that an appearance in New Japan may be in
the works.
If Hall & Nash do work
a well publicized tour, this could help them
further the upcoming
"Outsider" angle for their return. It would also
allow WCW to send two
"big names" to New Japan, a relationship often
neglected.
Since neither man has
ever made much of an impact in
Japan, the box
office benefits for
New Japan are questionable. The lumbering Nash
would have to be
booked as a monster to make any sort of impact, and
that would be
questionable business if this is a one time tour.
DR. DEATH AT A
CROSSROADS
Reported by Bob Ryder
at:
http://www.1wrestling.com
Steve "Dr. Death"
Williams reports that while he is ready to return to
the ring, the WWF
seems to have little interest in using him.
Although a Big
Bossman/Williams house show match was proposed (a
rematch of Dr.Death's
1987 UWF Title victory), the WWF has taken other
steps that may be an
encouragement for Williams to violate his contract
(and thus be off the
hook for his guaranteed deal).
The WWF has booked
Williams for a tour of the Japanese promotion FMW;
Williams has a decade
long association with All Japan Pro Wrestling
that would be
jeopardized by such an arrangement. All
Japan is
Williams most
attractive alternative to the WWF, and he is well aware
of how personal they
have taken such "betrayals" in the past.
Either he does the FMW
tour (and likely burns his All
Japan
connections) or
violates his WWF contract by refusing the booking (and
All Japan has not
guaranteed him a spot regardless). Definitely a
no-win position for
the 39 year old veteran.
VADER/MISAWA SHOWDOWN
Reported by Zach
Arnold at:
http://www.1wrestling.com
Mitsuharu Misawa will
defend his Triple Crown against Vader at the
tour-ending show for
All Japan's upcoming Giant Series tour on October
30th at Nippon Budokan
(Tokyo martial arts building).
Many are speculating
that Vader will defeat Misawa for the
championship; Misawa
has recently defeated almost all of his potential
challengers for the
title, and Vader will have several somewhat fresher
challengers available.
MIKE AWESOME INVOLVED IN
ANARCHY RULZ
Reported by Al Isaacs
at:
http://www.scoopswrestling.com
Mike Awesome may get
himself involved in the ANARCHY RULEZ main event
this weekend. As of
right now Taz is slated to take on MasatoTanaka,
but it could very well
become a three-way before the bell rings.
If Awesome does agree
to become a regular, this could be a huge
opportunity for the
big man. If Heyman does opt for the quick title
switch, Awesome would
probably be the favorite, especially since Tanaka
is on loan from FMW.
DiBIASE GONE FROM WCW
Reported by Al Isaacs
at:
http://www.scoopswrestling.com
Isaacs heard from Ted
DiBiase last night, who confirmed that he's out
of the wrestling
business. The last couple of months in WCW he was
serving as a backstage
commentator, but decided to walk away and pursue
other interests. And
when I say walk away, I mean not looking back. To
the point that he
didn't know that
Eric Bischoff was
gone! When Isaacs gave him the news, however, he did
get an unexpected
response...'Who knows, maybe somebody new will think
a twenty year veteran
who has been on top most of those years might
have some value in the
company. It
would be interesting
to find out.'
A NEWSLETTER DEVOTED
TO WCW FANTASY BOOKINGS
UMWChris has started a
newsletter totally devoted to WCW Fantasy
Bookings. For all of
you armchair bookers out there (and I'm one of
them), this is one
newsletter that you might as well check out. For
your free
subscription, all you have to do is send a blank e-mail to:
fantasybooking-subscribe
SAMJERRY SMACKDOWN
SPOILER
In SamJerry's column
today, at the conclusion of the newsletter, there
is a spoiler regarding
Thursday's Smackdown. If you resisted the urge
to peek at the spoiler
in our last issue, be prepared to be cautious
once again.
===========================================
its
ALL ABOUT RESPECT
Written by reader:
KGill87358
I just read Benoits
commentary in issue # 313 and I just want to thank
you for putting it in.
I have so much respect for Benoit and what he
had said really hit it
on the money, he really is a team player. I feel
that this year was his
breakthrough year and next year could be bigger
with a possible title
reign. In response to "The Hardcore Truth", it
seems to me that this
person doesn't respect the wrestlers that made it
in this business. He
called the Sting, Luger, and Flair segment
"boring"?? To me, it
made the show.
As I was watching
those three work the mic it reminded me so much of
1989 when there was so
much debate over who will carry the NWA into the
90's. They had claimed
that Flair was passing the torch to Sting and
Luger. In fact that
year, Starrcade '89 'Future Shock' was a tournament
type of matches that
had Sting, Luger, Muta, and Flair involved. Every
match was very
exciting until the end when Flair put Sting over to win
the tournament.
The biggest problem I
have with the younger wrestlers. and even some of
the fans nowadays, is
that there isn't enough respect in the business.
You have workers like
Konnan, Mysterio, and Kidman who complain about
their position in WCW
and they all want out. Then you look at someone
like Ric Flair, a 14
time World Champion, and yet the only man that was
willing to put some of
the younger workers over. He felt it was better
for the company to do
that in the young vs old angle that mysteriously
got dropped because
nobody else was willing to job to the other.
Then you have three
younger guys, who just because they are not where
they want to be in the
company want to leave and cause more friction
with the company. I
personally don't understand their position because
as I see it, Kidman at
that point was going to be elevated to mid card
status in a feud with
DDP, a former World Champ. Mysterio had the
"Giant Killer" angle
going and is many times a Cruiserweight Champ.
Then you have Konnan,
who at one time was a terriffic worker, but age
really caught up with
him and fast because now he is very lazy and
tired when he works.
Flair respects the
people that have worked before him, and he often
mentions some of the
greats in his interviews...The Race's, The Funk's,
The Brisco's, the list
goes on and on. In my own opinion, I just don't
think those other
three really have any idea about the past wrestlers
and the fact that if
it wasn't for them, they wouldn't even be in the
business if it hadn't
been for them.
===========================================
SPOILER FEEDBACK
Written by reader: Jim
Jacobs (jjacobs)
Thank you at least for
announcing the spoilers, and putting them at the
end, so that we have a
choice! The !!*# WWF WebSite announces in
big headlines what's
going to happen on Smackdown a day ahead of time.
If you don't want to
be spoiled, then the only recourse you have is to
avoid their WebSite
entirely.
Of course, in my area,
it doesn't matter a whole lot...since we don't
have a UPN outlet.
jj
[and that is all the
people need to know!]
===========================================
RANTINGS
Written by reader: Tom
Schultz (tomscha)
I've seen ECW on TNN
twice, and I'm not surprised that their ratings
took a little dip.
Already I feel that I could go for a few weeks
without another Jerry
Lynn/Rob Van Dam match. its about time that we
saw some of the rest
of their talent, in the ring, before they all
leave. But the
production values overall are pretty good. You almost
feel as if you're part
of the crowd, which is sadly lacking in the
over-produced WCW. (I
almost expect Vanna White to come walking down
the ramp.)
I'm extremely tired of
Jeff Jarrett and others abusing women--including
Chyna--even if it is a
work. I wish somebody would
take that guitar, turn
it sideways, and stuff it up his candy ass!
Tom Schultz
+++++++++++++++
Steve Appy: This
letter illustrates one of ECW's biggest
obstacles. The WWF &
WCW have shortened the attention spans of
wrestling fans to the
point that many are bored by 12-15 minute
matches, no matter how
well worked.
Van Dam & Lynn (and
Paul Heyman) are putting together the best feud in
North America; competition,
athleticism and mutual respect are the
hooks. While I have my
own critiques of Van Dam's work,
Lynn is solid
enough that he missed
moves are kept to a minimum (and there actually
is an element of ring
psychology). Can an audience dumbed down by 90
second RAW matches be
trained to appreciate a well-worked 15 minute
match? That may be one
of Heyman's greatest challenges.
===========================================
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===========================================
SMACKDOWN SPOILER
IF YOU WANT TO BE
SURPRISED, DO NOT READ
ROUNDING THE SQUARED
CIRCLE
"WHAT IS "F" IS GOING
ON HERE??"
BY
SAMJERRY
http://members.aol.com/samjerry
On the
September 16, 1999, edition
of SmackDown, WWF Champion Triple H
selected his opponent
to defend the Title against. He selected WWF
Owner Vince McMahon,
and picked Shane as referee. After initially
refusing to fight,
McMahon was "forced" into the match when Triple H
insulted Linda "Mommie
Dearest"
McMahon. With the aid
of Stone Cold Steve Austin (SCSA), who nailed Triple H
with a Stunner and
placed a fallen McMahon atop him, McMahon became the
Champion of his own
Federation.
I have seen a few
reactions thus far about this. Some thinking it was a
cool move on the part
of the WWF's bookers, and others thinking it was
a very dumb move. If
nothing else it was a controversial move, and as
we all know
controversy drives wrestling. McMahon lives by the credo of
"Anything can
happen in the WWF." It
just did. I can't recall reading a single
thing suggesting this
was going to happen. If represents a surprising,
dramatic (and risky)
move on the part of the WWF. How it plays out
could set the tenor
for the next several months.
One of the things that
has been widely discussed is the limited
number of Main
Eventers (and hence possible WWF Champions) there
are/were in the WWF.
While I don't expect him to remain Champion very
long, it does set up
both SCSA's rumored heel turn or an alliance with
McMahon as a face.
Both would be new directions and could serve to
widen the field of
Title contenders.
We have all witnessed
McMahon taking some major bumps in matches
against SCSA, so his
being in the ring has some legitimacy. I am going
to reserve further
judgment on McMahon being the Champion until I see
where it goes from
here. There is always the possibility that it was
decided to go this
route because of WCW's "reassigning" Good King Eric,
and the attention that
the move has drawn.
This has the potential of shifting the focus away
from WCW's management
restructure and back onto the WWF. If that was
the intent and it is
successful, it could be a stroke of genius.
However, it could just
as easily backfire and blowup in McMahon's face.
As I said earlier,
controversy is what wrestling is all about and this
sure fits the bill.
===========================================
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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