The Wrestling Booking Sheet online newsletter

Issue # 333

Date: Friday October 1st, 1999 9:17 pm

The Wrestling Booking Sheet

INITIAL SMACKDOWN RATING
Reported by Dave Scherer at: http://www.1wrestling.com
The early rating for Smackdown (based on metered markets in major
cities) is a 5.7 rating with a 9 share. A phenomenal number, and one
that propelled "Shasta McNasty", the new show that followed Smackdown,
to a strong 5.1 rating.

FLAIR ON THE RADIO
Reported by Big Daddy & Dave Scherer at: http://www.1wrestling.com
Ric Flair was on aPhoenix radio station today and had several
interesting comments. When asked if he and Hogan will remain a team,
Flair replied that "he is not sure since he is split on how he feels
about Hogan and is not sure if he wants to be involved in that camp."
He listed his toughest opponents ever as Ricky Steamboat and Jumbo
Tsuruta.

Tsuruta is a recently retired All Japan headliner who had several
memorable matches against Flair in the late 80's; Steamboat was
arguably his best-matched opponent, both ability and character-wise
(they made a great contrast to each other).

GORDY BACKSTAGE AT THUNDER
Reported by Dave Scherer at: http://www.1wrestling.com
Terry Gordy was backstage at Thursday's Thunder in Chattanooga, TN.
Although still semi-active in the business, Gordy is best known for his
All Japan stint as a headliner and his longtime Freebird association.

Gordy was apparently looking to line up an opportunity for his 20 year
old son, who briefly wrestled for Memphis's Power Pro Wrestling. Dave
Meltzer reported that while the younger Gordy showed a lot of
potential, he was missing one thing that his father had plenty of:
size.

Terry Gordy was one of the top workers in the world, with the highlight
of his career when he won the All Japan Triple Crown. Still relatively
young (in his late thirties), he is still a bankable name for
independent shows inJapan.

VENTURA INTERVIEW CONTROVERSY
As many of you are aware, there is controversy over comments made by
Minnesota Governor Jesse Ventura in next month's Playboy. While I'm
going to avoid comment until the issue comes out and I can read the
complete transcript, it looks to be one time I am on Ventura's side
(this may be a first). When the interview is published we'll bring you
all of the details.

Q & A: DAVE SULLIVAN UPDATE
In response to our Q & A section on Dave Sullivan, Shannon
(SDavis1465) was kind enough to fill us in on his whereabouts:
"Speaking of Dave Sullivan, I live in Tulsa Oklahoma. Here we have
Oklahoma Pro Wrestling (OPW) and Dave Sullivan is occasionally booked
on their shows. I guess he goes around to different indy's and works
where he can."

Q & A: DDT DETAILS
Regarding the background of Jake Roberts famous DDT maneuver, Ken
Jeanis (kdjeanis) shared some insight from his own
encounter with Roberts:
"Jake Roberts started using the DDT in Mid-South Wrestling and one
night in my home town, after a show, someone asked him what DDT stood
for and he just smiled and said "Dirty Damn Trick". Also, the move was
so popular that it got him over with the fans and got him a face push."
===========================================
ADVERTISEMENT
PRO WRESTLING FANTASY TOURNAMENT
We are part way through the second round of what started with 310
wrestlers from any fed and any era. The voting method has slightly
changed but the premise is still the same. To add your two cents, go
to:
http://community.webtv.net/rickxtn/wrestling
===========================================
IN SUPPORT OF LODI & LENNY
Written by reader: Chris York (UMWChris)

I would have to agree to disagree on your analysis of Lodi/Lenny Lane.
Lenny & Lodi's new characters were not only humorous, but done in a
more tasteful manner, due to the humor, than the likes of Goldust. You
didn't see Lenny orLodi stick his tongue in the mouth of an opponent,
but remember Goldust did just that to Ahmed Johnson.

The fact that it was similar to Too Much sucked at first, but it just
seems that Lodi and Lenny played it off so much better. With Lodi
being the closet case, and slowly coming out, while Lenny Lane was a
cross between Elton John and Chris Jericho and putting it into one
character. The other funny thing was the way they would land on each
other in the ring. Bret Hart and Sting could of landed the same way
and no one would second guess it, but Lenny & Lodi do the same thing,
and immediately, controversy struck into our minds.

Basically, I just want to say, to Lodi & Lenny, I wish them the best
of luck in all future endeavors, and I hope WCW doesn't just kill this
off and bring them back as if nothing happened. After all, Lenny is
the Cruiserweight champion. We don't need another Gillberg incident
where the lightweight belt just disappears!
Thanks as always,
Chris York
UMWChris
===========================================
ON THE OTHER HAND
Written by reader: Jackie VanSlyke Jr. (riv2)

I totally agree with you, although Lenny and Lodi are talented young
wrestlers and fun to watch, the gay stereotype was getting too much. I
hope that they bring them back in some other way.

But most of all I want to thank you ! You have to be the first Male
reporter to come out against the stereotyping that wrestling uses for
ratings. I can't wait to see your report coming out against the
sexiest remarks and acts in the WWF. Also your report of the
stereotyping of the black man as a pimp and not being to smart. Of
Germans being like Beryln, Mexicans being in gangs...people. being
inhuman to animals, women only being good for one thing....and don't
forget Jeff Jarrett.

You are God sent for us out here who don't like the stereotyping in
wrestling, You are right, no person should be stereotyped because of
the color of their skin, religion, sex, or sexual preference. Each
person should be valued for who they are not what they are. We all
belong to that great thing called the human race. We all have
feelings, thank you so much for being the first reporter to say that
mistreating ANY person for the sake of rating is wrong. Keep up the
good work, I'll be waiting for more.
Jackie VanSlyke
============
Steve Appy responds:
While I appreciate Jackie's complements, I know that MANY wrestling
writers have expressed their own concerns about the stereotyping that
dominates wrestling (Dave Meltzer, Bruce Mitchell, and Phil Mushnick
immediately come to mind).

Once you start its a subject that can make you question your love for
the business. Just about every imaginable racial stereotype has been
exploited by wrestling at one time or another; actually, we could
probably devote the entire focus of the newsletter to this subject.

While we usually justify our blind eye by using the "its only
wrestling" line, I think we do ourselves a disservice by doing so.
Which angles/storylines really make you feel disgusted to be watching?
While Jeff Jarrett's offensive crusade against women is not
stereotyping, it is as crude as it gets. I'll print as many
intelligent letters as space permits…
===========================================
LODI THE WORKER
Written by reader: UKAKing

Sorry, I have to disagree with you on your view as Lodi being a future
star. I am an indie worker myself and have had the displeasure of
working with this moron. He can't call spots, he is scared to take
stiff moves and his mic work is some of the worst in the business. I
mean, we are talking about the same guy that hooked CW Anderson in a
suplex on the floor and decided to DDT him instead, busting his skull
wide open in front of my eyes.
===========================================
FANTASY BOOKING (Fiction, this will not be happening).
Written by reader: Rattwap

Austin fails to capture the title from Triple H at No Mercy, and stays
committed to keep after it. Triple H loses the title at one point to Kane,
but manages to win it back. He holds onto it through to the Royal
Rumble. Austin is confident that he will win the Rumble and get the
title shot at Wrestlemania.

Royal Rumble 2000
-The first 2 participants come in and fight. It goes on for a while,
with people coming in and getting thrown out. Then, spot 15 or so,
Austin comes in and cleans house. The ring is cleared over time and
then, # 25 comes out.....its TAZ!!!! Taz runs down to the ring and
goes right after Austin. The two brawl and Taz gets Austin set up for
a Head and Arm Taz-Plex. Taz pauses, and throws Austin over his head,
leaving Austin out of the ring.

Austin is eliminated, as Taz waves him off. Austin tries to get back
into the ring, but is forced away by the refs. The next participant
comes in and him and Taz fight. Just as the count for the last
participant is about to start, the millennium Clock begins.
5...4...3...2...1.... The lights go dark and then come back with a
bang, as Chris Jericho goes to the ring. He joins the fray and manages
to be one of the last 2 in the ring. Thanks to help from Curtis
Hughes, Y2J wins the Rumble!!!!

RAW the night after
-Clips from the Rumble are shown

-Austin comes down and does his usual thing for the crowd. He is
extremely pissed. He calls out Taz and starts bad mouthing him, which
brings the Human Suplex Machine out. Austin and Taz start going back
and forth. It begins with Austin putting forth a challenge for Taz
later that night. It ends with Taz saying his usual, "Beat me if you
can. Survive....if I let you!"

-Chris Jericho is brought out for an interview dealing with his victory
at the Rumble the night before. Jericho goes on talking, when
suddenly, Earl Hebner comes out. Hebner is mad at how Jericho cheated
in the Rumble and as senior official, has the decision overturned.
Now, there is no Number One Contender, and Jericho gets extremely
pissed.

-Austin and Taz fight. The match goes on, with each getting the upper
hand at times. Taz hits Austin with a chair outside, behind the ref's
back. Taz then sets up a chair in the corner of the ring and is yelled
at by the ref. Taz puts Austin in a Full Nelson and hits a Dragon
Suplex into the table. Taz is DQed and the bell is rung. Taz drags
Austin into the middle of the ring and applies the Taz-Mission. RAW
then goes off the air with Austin unconscious, choked out by Taz.

The fued with Taz and Austin goes on for months, and a Battle Royal is
held at the next PPV for the #1 Contender's Spot.
===========================================
A RESPONSE TO SAMJERRY'S COLUMN
Written by reader: Danny Hehmann (Edge_18)

-"Reply to SAMJERRY"
Jerry, of SAMJERRY, recently wrote a column in response to an article
of mine. He said some things that were not true as well (ie.saying I
called someone a "WWF mark") and I felt I had the right to reply. So
here goes:

((His Column)) Jerry said:
{{I just finished reading an Article that should have started with
"Once upon a time," and ended with "And they all lived happily ever
after." That would have been the appropriate beginning and ending
because it sure was a fairy tale. It contained the response written to
who someone the author deemed a "WWF Mark." That is the term used by
virtually every one of WCW's Defenders Of The Faith. They lump most WWF
fans in a group they classify as "non-fans," "Johnny-Come-Lately's,"
and "Austin Lovers."}}
Now hold up, did I ever once use the term *WWF mark*???? No I did not,
because I have been very vocal about my dislike for the over use of
that word. In my opinion, on the internet or not, the definition of a
*mark* is each and every wrestling fan, including myself. The way so
many use it as a derogatory remark makes me laugh every time.

You on the other hand, called me a *WCW Defender* in the same sentence
as saying I was calling someone something, now that is plain
hypocritical. You don't even know me, you have read a column or two,
and you are already judging me. Again, I have and always will say what
I think was or was not good on each show, no matter what fed it came
from.

Jerry said: {{At the same time, they claim they are "real" wrestling
fans and
want nothing more than to see to see hour long matches between their
heroes,
like Benoit and Malenko.}}
Did I once say that I was a "real" wrestling fan? No I did not, and
its funny you keep assuming things. You may have been speaking about
the general WCW fan, but this is about me regardless, so I replied.

Jerry said:
{{The Defenders completely ignore that the product the WWF provides is
what most people want to see. A perfect example is Mankind's "This Is
Your Life" tribute to The Rock this past Monday on RAW, that garnered
the highest rating ever by a wrestling show (8.6), while NITRO scored
less than a 2.0 for the same time period. If you look at the prior and
post quarter-hours, you can readily see that NITRO dropped and then
went back up. You don't have to be a rocket scientist, or even one of
the geniuses that live in Ames, Iowa to see that many NITRO fans left
to watch the segment and returned after it was over. Seems like a lot
of NITRO fans enjoy Sports Entertainment also, no matter what
TheDefenders say.}}
In my review, I said that was the one thing that I liked. That and the
exchange between Mankind and Stevie in the back. So I do not get how
this adds to your point.

Jerry said:
{{Getting back to our junior Aesop, he found good in almost everything
on NITRO. He thinks the viewers were interested in such things as The
Pussy Cat's match, the return of Slick Ric Junior, aka David Flehr, and
the Saturn v. East El Lay's Favorite Taco Vendor. He found virtually no
faults in NITRO and very little good in RAW. This was his idea of a
balanced view.}}
I have already replied to this, so I won't go into detail. But it was
my balanced view, and it was my opinion on each show. It doesn't mean
that you or anyone else has to feel the same way, but it was what I
felt. I have said many times in the past couple months that I was very
displeased with the WCW product, and that the WWF's was better. It just
so happens that I have found the last three Nitros to be very well
done, and the opposite regarding Unforgiven and the past Raw. And
again, it is *absurd* to say that anything involving those wrestlers,
absolutely can't be any good. Any wrestler, and I mean any, can have a
good match in their career. You can not base how good a match is on
whether you like a wrestler or not. You have to base it on the quality
of the match, however strange that may be to you.

Jerry said:
{{Anyone that wanted to could go thru either match-by-match,
promo-by-promo and come out with any conclusion they wanted to. I am
the first to call anything involving Mideon, Visera and Steve Blackman
a waste, but I think I would have to say the same about anything
involving The Pussy Cat, Flexy Lexy (who has now dropped his name and
hiding under the full time alias of The Total Package), Konnan, etc. }}
You simply can not base how good something was just on who was
involved, it is simply illogical. I have said many times in this, that
if the WCW does something I don't like, then I'll say I didn't like it.
On Monday, they happened to do thing that I mostly liked, or at least
thought was decent.

Jerry said: {{This budding fable writer falls in with the group the
seems to think every WWF fan is either new, under 12, a male with over
active hormones, or some combination of them. They totally disregard
reality, but I guess if you are writing a fable, that's how its
done.}}
Funny because that would mean that I am either new, under 12, a male
with over active hormones, or some combination of them. Because I'm a
WWF fan, an ECW fan, a WCW fan, hell a fan of wrestling all together.
Do I prefer WCW? Yes.. but that does not mean that I do not like the
WWF or ECW, because I do. I watch all the programming from all three,
and say what I liked or didn't from all three plain and simple. The
fact that you say I fall into that category makes me laugh, because
I would also be calling myself the same thing.

Jerry said:
{{They continue to cite the WWF's use of T&A, while ignoring the fact
that the worst cases of "T" were done weekly by Savage's Bimbo's. They
showed more "T" then you might see anywhere, short of going to a
Gentleman's Club.}}
And when it happened, I said the same thing about them that I have
about the WWF's use of it. And I never did say that I did not like
seeing T&A, I said that its not wise to use it as a focus on bringing
in viewers.

Jerry said: {{Blast the WWF if you want, but remember that first, last
and
foremost, that wrestling is a business, and businesses exist to make
money.Last I
looked, not a single wrestling Federation was listed as a Charity.
Higher attendance means more revenue, higher TV ratings mean more
revenue, more merchandise sales mean higher revenues, etc.}}
You are 100% right, and I never denied that fact. All I said was that
the way they are going about it, is focusing on drawing in more
viewers, and not pleasing the wrestling fan. When those viewers get
sick of the WWF, they will be left with unhappy wrestling fans. That is
not a good thing, and that is all I pointed out. You assume too much,
Jerry...

Jerry said:
{{At this time, the WWF is giving the majority of the fans what they
want to see. Nothing lasts forever. When tastes change, maybe what WCW
provides will be on top. Rather than rehashing the same old tired and
worn out arguments and telling the world about the evils of the WWF,
enjoy what you watch.}}
I never said anything in the WWF was evil, again, you assume too much.
"Enjoy what you watch" I do and I enjoyed Nitro this past Monday, alot
more then I did RAW. That does not mean that I will always enjoy Nitro
more, and it definitely does not mean that I always have. I was just as
quick to point out that the WWF's product was better then WCW's back
when the tide started to turn, as anyone else was. You can't base your
judging of me on one little column you read, it just can't be done that
way.

Jerry said: {{Don't label any fan a "Mark" because he prefers one over
the other(s)}}
I never did, again I hate that word.

Jerry said:
{{and don't give the Phil Mushnick's of the world ammunition they can
use to further their agenda of having wrestling taken off TV. Remember
that WCW's new Bean Counter In Charge himself said he liked and watched
RAW. That may be a clue in which direction WCW will be heading.}}
I am in no way giving Mushnick *ammunition*. The ONLY thing that I did
in my column was say how I felt about the shows, you felt you had to
try and belittle me for it. So the _Bean Counter_ so to speak watches
Raw, what does that mean? It still does not take away from the fact
that WCW has improved over the last three weeks, and does not give a
clue to where WCW is heading.
----------------------------------------------
That's my reply to the things that Jerry said in both his column and
e-mail about me. This is not a way for me to trash or belittle Jerry,
but just a way for me to show my side of the story.
-Danny
===========================================
ADVERTISEMENT (Courtesy of SamJerry)
SSCW just this week has announced 2 HUGE shows for the month of
November.

First off Nutley, NJ is all a buzz over the annual SSCW BasketBrawl
this year dubbed Ring Rage. And believe me there is good reason for
that For months now Tommy Fierro and the ISPW Superstars and Afa and
the WXW Superstars have been going at it. Well that all changed in
Wildwood NJ when Tommy turned his back on ISPW and shocked the
independent wrestling world. Well now it seems that the WXW crew has
their sights set on the SSCW. But their hostile takeover attempts will
not be unmatched. Upon speaking with Commissioner Johnny Dreamer I can
assure you the the TWC will be all geared up and ready to take WXW out.

But that's not all. Those in attendance will also be treated to see The
Headshrinkers, and 2 living legends, King Kong Bundy and The Iron
Shiek. You will also see Inferno Kid defend his SSCW Heavyweight
Championship against Ace Darling. Judas Young and Ryan Wing will battle
for the SSCW Lightweight Championship that was vacated by Devon Storm.
And many more surprises.

Tickets are General Admission: $10.00. Email SSCWCJStorm for
ticket info, details, or directions.

No we're not done yet. SSCW will roll into Roselle, NJ on Friday Night,
November 19 for Millennium Mayhem. I can also assure you that WXW will
continue its assault on the SSCW and the TWC. Will they be stopped?
Can they be stopped? Time will tell.

Card Lineups for November:
BasketBrawl '99, Ring Rage, St. Mary's Gymnasium, Nutley, NJ, Saturday
Night, November 13, 1999 7:30p.m Belltime

Millennium Mayhem
Abraham Clark High School Gymnasium, Roselle, NJ
Friday Night, November 19, 1999
7:30p.m Belltime

Card still in the works. But a guaranteed appearance by the one and
only WWF Light Heavyweight Champion Gillberg.
===========================================
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