Issue # 317
Date:
Sunday September 19th, 1999 5:15 pm
The Wrestling Booking Sheet
ICP ALMOST RETURNS TO ECW
Reported by Dave
Scherer at:
http://www.1wrestling.com
Scherer spoke with
Paul Heyman Friday night and he said that they were
supposed to be Steve
Corino's mystery team this weekend. The deal was
supposed to be that
ECW would help them promote their CD through
commercials and on TV.
They would job to Raven and Dreamer this
weekend, and then get
a big push at the ECW taping in
Michigan last
week in front of their
hometown fans. Then, Heyman heard from them
last night and they
said they did not want to do the job on the PPV and
that they were staying
in WCW because they said that WCW would give
them the Cruiserweight
title, like that is a big bonus or something.
Heyman asked them if
they wanted to be wrestlers or they wanted to sell
their music, since
they had told him that the push for the music was
what was important. As
of last night, the offer was pulled off of the
table by ECW.
THURSDAY RATINGS
Reported by Dave
Scherer at:
http://www.1wrestling.com
The 9/16 edition of
Thunder did a 2.4 rating with a 3.8 share.
Smackdown did a
monstrous 4.5 broadcast rating with a 7.5 share. I
think part of the
reason that the numbers for both shows are so high
was due to the fact
that many people in the Northeast had nowhere to go
due to the storm.
THUNDER FORMAT CHANGES
Reported by Dave
Meltzer & Mike Samuda at:
http://www.wrestleline.com
According to Dave
Meltzer, WCW is planning to revamp Thunder in about a
month or two and
perhaps WCW Saturday Night as well. Instead of taping
two Thunder shows
every other Thursday, WCW may move the second Thunder
taping to Friday,
which would be shown the following week. Got that?
Management is also
planning to book these shows well in advance, so
only the wrestlers
booked for the show will be flown in. You can expect
to see several other
cost cutting measures from WCW in the near future.
===========================================
The Ross Report
By Jim Ross
Sept. 17, 1999
Courtesy of
http://www.wwf.com
The World Wrestling
Federation is actually developing plans to enhance
its relationship with
the NHRA. Look for the WWF to take steps in
becoming a key player
within the NHRA.
Look for MTV's "Whoop
Ass Weekend" coming soon, featuring Stone Cold
Steve Austin. This
will be a part of a special "Celebrity Deathmatch"
marathon. Production
was done last week in
Los Angeles.
Chyna recorded some
on-air promos for UPN's "Shasta McNasty" program
that will be airing
soon.
Stone Cold, The Rock
and the Road Dogg are the top three merchandise
sellers of the past
month. Very impressive showing for the Road Dogg.
I enjoyed the
Rattlesnake's performance Thursday on "The Martin Short
Show." Of course, I am
a Stone Cold mark, according to "The King."
Lawler's right, for
once.
Chyna's Emmy attire
was photographed thoroughly by the media covering
the red carpet
entrance to the annual television awards show. Look for
photos of Chyna to pop
out (no pun intended) in a variety of
publications in the
next few weeks.
USA Network will
heavily promote Mankind's "GvsE" appearance on Oct.
10. Don't forget about
Mick's book.
The Wall Street
Journal is preparing a feature on the Federation soon,
focusing on the
business side of the company.
The New York Post had
an article on Tuesday highlighting Ted Turner's
management changes in
his wrestling company entitled, "Turned Pinned to
Mat." More major
changes in Turnerland are almost a certainty, but will
they be made where
most needed?
The Federation was
featured in the "Cheers" section of TV Guide.
Anti-WWFer and TV
Guide contributor Phil Mushnick can't be too pleased.
SmackDown! is sold out
of its advertising inventory for the balance on
1999 on UPN.
The WWF New York
restaurant will be open before the end of the year.
Mid-November has been
discussed. Of course, they'll be serving J.R.'s
barbecue sauce, which
should be ready to roll in December or January.
Only an idiot would
report that the WWF isn't doing well in the
television ratings for
SmackDown! Hot shotting, my
Oklahoma ass.
We should all be so
lucky to have the passion for our business that our
late friend Brian
Hildebrand had.
The prime-time WWF
Jakked broadcast on WWOR Channel 9 last Saturday was
the highest-rated
program of the day on channel 9, reaching 263,000
households.
The Wrestlemania Fan
Fest is shaping up to be huge! Meetings are
ongoing regarding the
planning and organization of the March 31 weekend
events. WrestleMania
2000 will be Sunday, April 2, in
Anaheim, Calif.
Steve Austin tapes a
"Nash Bridges" episode next week in
California,
Sept. 21 - 24.
Is it so automatic
that if Randy Savage were available that he would be
brought back to the
Federation? Some folks sure think so.
The Federation is
discussing with FMW in
Japan the possibility of
Shawn
Michaels refereeing a
special match there in the near future.
Can you guess which
wrestler requested Halloween off? Answer to follow.
The Six Pack Challenge
at Unforgiven has the opportunity to be very
good and, because of
the number of participants, has the chance to be
bowling-shoe ugly.
Some lawsuits I've
read about recently seem to be so absurd that they
are actually humorous.
Helluva football
weekend, especially in the college ranks. I'll be
watching the Sooners
take on the Baylor Bears Saturday.
Norman, Okla.,
is heaven on Earth on
game day.
Viscera is doing very
well and may have earned more exposure (don't go
there) because of his
efforts.
The
Dudleys are adjusting well in
the World Wrestling Federation and
are readily being
accepted throughout the locker room. Solid guys who
work hard. its not
that complicated a formula.
SmackDown did a 4.5
rating Thursday, its highest number in its four
weeks on UPN. Almost
4.6 million households tuned in!
This Monday's RAW is
expected to be very hot in
Houston! Crowd is
always into the
Federation product and with a new champion, you just
never know what's
going to happen.
The World Wrestling
Federation was expecting to make an announcement of
a major player's
signing; however, lawyers and agents tend to drag
their feet. Too bad
because windows of opportunity stay open forever.
===========================================
"Straight Shooting"
By : Fritz Capp (pwbts)
September 17, 1999
http://pwbts.com
PWBTS 2000
Is there more
wrestling news than we really need in one week? Sure, so
let's have some fun
and go over some of the happenings throughout the
industry:
Well since the last
time I wrote it is now confirmed that dear old Eric
Bischoff is out of WCW
for the most part. Not that it really mattered
much this past Monday
night as WCW once again took what could have been
a great angle and blew
it right out of the water because they still do
not have a clue on how
to start a successful angle. Maybe if they could
get some more WWF
talent to defect like they did when Nash and Hall
went down there so
they could give them some ideas they would be ok
again.
=====
ATriple H....let's not
miss this tidbit. Sexy, voluptuous, and every mans
dream Nichole Bass is
suing the WWF for 120 million dollars for get
this...sexual
harassment. Now lets have a dose of reality here people,
who the hell would
find this reject from the Amazon even the least bit
attractive? If you do
then you need to see your optometrist as soon as
possible. While other
so-called "journalists and webmasters" are
putting at the end of
their newsbyte on this topic that Rena Mero filed
a similar suit against
the WWF that was settled out of court let thus
trying to make the WWF
sound like this happens all the time let's look
at the suit.
Rena Mero filed a suit
against the WWF in the amount of 120 million
dollars.
Nichole Bass filed a
suit against the WWF in the amount of 120 million
dollars.
Rena Mero claimed she
was sexually harassed.
Nichole Bass claimed
she was sexually harassed.
Talk on the Howard
Stern show brought up the subject of holes being
drilled in locker room
walls when he talked with Rena.
Talk on the Howard
Stern show brought up the subject of holes being
drilled in locker room
walls when he talked with Nichole.
Rena made comments
that she was afraid to say anything because of
alluded threats made
to her.
Nichole made comments
that she was afraid to say anything because of
alluded threats made
to her.
Rena made claims that
she was not trained to be in the ring thus she
could get hurt.
Nichole said she was
hurt in the ring by an ungimmicked guitar.
Rena Mero brought up
the name Owen Hart to put that memory in the
forefront of people's
minds hoping that it would tie her in with the
people that she was
wrong by the despicable WWF.
Nichole Bass brought
up the name Owen Hart to put that memory in the
forefront of people's
minds hoping that it would tie her in with the
people that she was
wrong by the despicable WWF.
Need I go any further?
Rena's lawsuit was
about one thing, getting out of her recently
renewed/re-signed
contract because she wanted to pursue an acting
career.
Nichole's lawsuit is
about one thing, the WWF couldn't find a nitch for
this steroided out no
brained no talent idiot and got rid of her and
she has no where to go
because no one else wants her either.
This is without a
doubt the most bogus lawsuit brought in this country
this year. Nichole
Bass should understand that even ECW didn't want her
anymore. She talks
like a goon, she has no personality, she has no
verifiable wrestling
skills what-so-ever and she is probably hung
bigger than most of
the guys in the locker room anyway. Nichole should
stick to steroids. Oil
wrestling and listening to her little bitch of a
husband who is
probably the one behind this anyway. Who would
voluntarily sleep with
that anyway! UGH!
=====
Chris Benoit went
online to squash the rumor that was started by
Micasa. The rumor once
again was that Chris refused to job to Dean
Malenko and vice versa
and subsequently Sid Vicious did a run in so
neither would have to
put the other one over on a Nitro a few weeks
back. Funny, I thought
we squashed that rumor last week right here in
this very column and
on the PWBTS website. Oh that's right...we did.
But as usual no one
wanted to hear that the great Mike Samuda was
worked to the hilt by
WCW's "Dancing Machine" but as always time bears
out everything that we
try to tell you and you all refuse to hear.
Someday you'll all
learn who is giving it to you straight and who is
nothing more than a
"Net Mark with a website." Just because the website
looks cool and someone
can write a column and re-write what he reads in
the Observer and Torch
doesn't mean that they have credibility, all
that shows is how
gullible a lot of "Net Marks" really are when it
comes to seeing the
truth because of some misplaced belief of loyalty.
=====
Taz is being reported
that he has inked a deal with the WWF and should
be leaving ECW by the
end of the year. Now there are a lot of people
saying that Taz has
"sold out". Why? Isn't he allowed to shoot for
better money? Isn't he
allowed to try to make it one of the bigger
promotions? Doesn't he
have the right to be able to say, "Hey, its
time to try and take
it to the next level? Obviously not according to a
lot of people. What's
the matter? Won't you be a Taz fan anymore? If
not, why not? Isn't he
the same person you were just rooting for last
week before he signed
with the WWF?
When I was at the
height of being the consummate ECW mark and Eddie Guerrero,
Chris Benoit and Dean Malenko left I was still a fan of
theirs. When Public
Enemy, Steve Austin and Mick Foley left I was still
a fan of theirs. When
Rey Mysterio Jr., Psychosis and Chris Jericho
left ECW I was also
still a fan of theirs. Sure I didn't like it that
they were leaving ECW
but this stuff happens all the time. It just
meant if I wanted to
see them I had to watch whichever promotion they
went to. Just because
someone leaves a promotion doesn't mean they are
selling out. It
usually means that they feel they have a better shot at
going big time
somewhere else or there are problems happening that
warrants a departure.
Sometimes it even is just because of a bigger
payday. Now tell me
which one of you would stay at your present job if
you were offered a lot
more money by someone else? Anyone who said they
would is nothing but
an absolute liar! You people who label people as
sellouts just because
they go to another promotion shows that you are
just a fan of the
promotion and not the workers involved. Remember
people, its not the
promoters who are out there busting their ass each
and every night, its
the workers who do that.
=====
One uninspired
Internet writer is hinting that the WWF cannot ever say
anything again because
now that Vince McMahon is the heavyweight
champion their
champion is 56 years old. The difference is Mr.
Reporter/Webmaster is
that this is an angle. WCW's heavyweight
champions are all over
aged and most are over the hill and should have
retired years ago.
Everyone knows that Vince is turning that belt over
soon, How long has
Hogan held the title since he's been in WCW?
=====
I usually do not make
many predictions and I'm not going to start here
because if anyone
cannot see that Chyna is being set up as the "savior
for all women" and
should take the I.C. belt from Jarrett at the
upcoming pay-per-view
I do not know what to say.
=====
Mark Madden is once
again trying to make himself larger then what he is
(and that is not some
small feat). Recently on the WCW Live program he
stated that he just
gave the new WCW vice -president an idea that will
have Vince "pulling
his hair out". Well of course we have the exclusive
for all of you. Word
has it that Madden himself wants to step into the
squared circle himself
after all these years of just dreaming about it
to help WCW's sagging
ratings. His first altercation is being set up as
we speak. His first
match will be a dreaded "Thong Match" against
Yokozuno in which
Madden of course will be victorious thus leading to
an in-ring persona for
him.
He will become
superstitious and wear the "thong" he beat the great
Yokozuno in during
every match and interview and he will take on a
bakers gimmick adding
a white hat to his thong costume and will be
called "Big Bunz".
Expect a huge push for him around the end of the
year. (could there be
any other kind)
=====
The official opening
of the PWBTS Chartroom was a success. While we
were not inundated
with huge numbers (which has it advantages) the chat
was friendly and
cordial and we all got to talk without having to deal
with the minions of
chat room goers who like to do nothing but disrupt.
One funny thing that
went on was that Fanatics (the WCW chartroom op
who's ego is
definitely larger than his genitalia) decided to lurk
under a phony name so
he could see what was going on for whomever. Well
of course we gave him
the boot the same he does to everyone in the WCW
chat room after we all
gave him enough to run back to his new idol
with. The next chat
will be during the ECW pay-per-view. You can access
the chatroom via irc
at #PWBTS or by going to the PWBTS website
(http://pwbts.com)
going to the "Fan Interactive" section and clicking
on the chatroom link.
Also visit our interactive message board.
=====
Mankind's comic book
is now on the shelves at your favorite comic book
store. If you do not
now where a comic book store is in your area just
call 1-888-COMICBOOK.
=====
Mark Madden said on
the WCW Hotline that Vince winning the WWF title is
a sign of the WWF
panicking. Is this guy the quintessential moron or
what? Panicking over
what? WCW's sagging ratings? WCW not knowing how
to book a complete
storyline? Maybe the WWF is panicking because they
collectively kick
WCW's ass every time a WWF program goes up against a
WCW program. Hell the
WWF doubles the ratings of WCW when WCW goes
unopposed. I remember
when WCW tried the same time slot that the WWF
used during the
U.S.Open and they got trounced. So I ask Mark Madden,
what is the WWF
panicked over? It cannot be the ratings because WCW
wishes they could pull
the numbers that the WWF does. I also ask him
what is it like to
shill for a dead in the water promotion?
=====
There are a lot of
rumors going around that Disco Inferno will be
starting up his own
group. Well PWBTS's P.J.Capri caught up with Disco
and here is what he
had to say, "Someone must know something I
don't.... I've started
three angles in the past couple months.... All
of them were never
followed up on for whatever reason. Now that
everything has been
shaken up... Who knows....If I get to start my own
group, great.... I'm
not holding my breath." For those of you who don't
know, P.J. Capri was
Disco's tag team partner when Disco was wrestling
the independent
circuit.
=====
And with that I'm
outta here. Remember wrestling is nothing more than
it appears to be.
Fritz Capp (pwbts)
PWBTS 2000
http://pwbts.com
===========================================
BENOits A GREAT
WRESTLER, BUT IS HE A FUTURE WORLD CHAMPION?
Written by reader:
Mase964403
I think everyone on
the Internet knows that Chris Benoit is a great
wrestler. Even if you
don't believe it, its been banged into your head
enough so you think
its true and its true, Chris Benoit is one hell
of a wrestler.
However, I don't think
he's a future WCW or WWF World Champion. The
majority
of wrestling fans
don't like wrestling, they like "sports
entertainment," which
hurts Benoit. Benoit isn't as charismatic as The
Rock or Chris Jericho;
Benoit has charisma from his no nonsense
attitude, the same as
Goldberg. Unfortunately, Benoit doesn't have the
size of Goldberg,
which also seems to get fans attention.
The only way for Chris
Benoit to be the World Champion is for the
average wrestling fan
to become a fan of great wrestling rather than
"sports
entertainment." I just don't see it happening.
===========================================
McMAHON TWISTS & TURNS
Written by reader:
NYPaisan57
An interesting thing
happend to me Thursday while I was sitting there
watching Smackdown. I
enjoyed watching Triple H kick the crap out of
Vince, expecting the
usual Stone Cold run in and Vince heel turn where
the boss would
reignite his feud with the rattlesnake. The funny thing
is... it never
happened. Sure, Stone Cold ran down and Stunned the
world as usual, but
then he pulls Vince on top?? Vince becomes the new
WWF Champ?!?!
Yeah, I know what your
thinking. Vince will turn heel champion to be
beaten by one of the
move popular federation superstars... but i don't
think so. I think
Vince will definitely lose the belt, or hand it on
to someone more
qualified (maybe even his future son in law... yeah
yeah, I know Test
isn't main event quality yet... but it would be a
hell of an interesting
angle).
I think Fully Loaded
was the end of an era... not
Austin v. Vince, but
Vince as a heel. Could
the greatest heel of this decade, the most hated
man in sports
entertainment, the a$$hole himself... become a babyface
fan favorite??... I
wouldn't put it past him, and God knows if anybody
could pull the old
switch off it would be Vince.
===========================================
FANTASY BOOKING (This
will not happen)
Written by reader:
phodawg
In the week leading up
to Unforgiven, Jeff Jarret continues to feud
with Ivory. At
Unforgiven, Intercontinental Champion Jeff Jarret
defeats Chyna with the
Figure-Four Leglock. The next night on RAW,
Jarret comes out and
talks about how last nights match was his hardest
fought to date.
He praises Chyna and
women in general, saying they offer more
competition than the
so called challengers he has to face. In his next
statement, he
challenges anyone wearing a dress to a match for the
Intercontinental
Title. He expects Ivory to come out trying to get
revenge, but instead
the words "What Does Everyone Want" blare
throughout the arena.
Out walks Al Snow, wearing a dress! After an
actual wrestling
match, Al Snow beats Jeff Jarret to become the new
Intercontinental
Champion.
Visit my efed at
http://members.xoom.com/newgwf
===========================================
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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