Issue # 334
Date:
Saturday October 2nd, 1999 10:04 am
The Wrestling Booking Sheet
NITRO TRIBUTE TO OWEN HART
Reported at:
http://www.wcw.com
With Nitro live at the
Kemper Arena this Monday night, WCW is putting
on a match that has
the potential to be legendary. Below is the
statement directly
from WCW.Com:
"At the request of
Bret Hart, WCW officials are highlighting a tribute
match to Owen Hart at
Monday Nitro in
Kansas City. The match will
feature the best two
Canadian wrestlers in the world – Chris Benoit and
Bret Hart. The match
will take place in the building where Owen Hart
suffered his tragic
death earlier this year."
I imagine that they
will be given the time to put on a classic; Owen
did briefly wrestle
for WCW in 1991, and it would be a classy move to
show some footage (I
remember that he did go over Bobby Eaton several
times).
With any luck WCW will
avoid commenting on the WWF, and will hopefully
keep the focus
positive, and directly on Owen. Petty (even if they are
correct) comments
about the WWF's handling of the situation will
undermine the classy
idea behind the show.
DAVE MELTZER INTERNET
RADIO SHOW
Dave Meltzer of The
Wrestling Observer revealed an exciting new project
in this past weeks
issue. Starting Monday, October 4th, Meltzer will
host a live call-in
radio show over the internet (similar in format to
WCW Live). Broadcast
on Eyada.Com,
the show will be daily
(Monday-Friday) from 6:00 PM-8:00 PM EST
(3:00-6:00 on the West
Coast).
Meltzer is the top
wrestling journalist in the world; I'm hoping that
this venture will
expose his viewpoint to the internet fans that all
too often haven't been
exposed to The Observer. I hope all of you will
give the show a
chance, it promises to be interesting. Find it at:
http://www.Eyada.com
BRET HART'S CALGARY
SUN COLUMN
Bret Hart posted some
comments about Davey Boy Smith & Monday's Nitro
in his October 2nd
Calgary Sun column. While I share many of his
opinions on the
subject, I also feel that he should not publicly
address it any longer.
Here's the portions regarding Smith & Nitro:
"Speaking of dreams,
when I heard the British Bulldog expounding on
how it was his dream
to come back to wrestling in honor of my brother,
Owen, I had no idea he
was going to go back to fight girls. I don’t
watch the WWF shows
but I heard he got beat up by a girl on Monday, or
something like that
and if that’s the case I guess I should wish Davey
the best of luck
winning the ladies titles. I don’t know what to think
of this anymore than
anyone else but it does seem to explain this
really funny photo
that someone passed on to me. I’m assuming maybe it
must be Davey’s latest
publicity shot. At least I hope that’s what it
is. I like the braids.
I don’t approve of
anyone who says they’re doing something to honor my
brother, Owen when it
turns out they stand to gain from it either
financially or through
publicity. If you want to honor my brother, do
it selflessly, with
Owen in mind.
That’s why when WCW
told me they’re doing a Nitro show this Monday in
the same arena where
Owen was dropped to his death, a show that was
scheduled long before
any of this happened, I had to think long and
hard about what my
role should be. I’ve put a lot of soul searching
into how to best honor
my brother in a way that would be clearly seen
by anyone as tasteful.
They told me I didn’t have to be there at all
but that seemed to me
to be slighting Owen’s memory. Besides, why
shouldn’t I be there
for the fans in Kansas City? The more I thought
about it the more I
realized this is something you decide with your
heart more than your
head. I came up with
something that I think
anyone who loves wrestling will appreciate and
will understand it for
what it is.
The thing is ....no
matter how hard I try not to, I know I will be
compelled to look up.
And that will be one of the hardest things I’ve
ever done in my life.
By far, this will be the single most important
time I’ve ever climbed
into the ring. I will try my best to do my
brother proud. I hope
my best is good enough. I dedicate this Monday
night to you, Owen,
and to those who loved you."
HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE
10/1 ROSS REPORT
Ross claims that the
WWF has had no conversations with Madusa in quite
some time about
returning; he said that the WWF has not negotiated with
Yokozuna, though there
could be interest if he got his weight under
control; Kimona
Wanalaya has not signed with the WWF nor has she spoken
with anyone who can
offer her a full-time contract. The odds of her
coming in are slim;
Vic Grimes may be loaned to ECW; Taz won't be
joining the WWF until
after January 1st;
ONLINE VINCE RUSSO
INTERVIEW
Ben Miller has
conducted a must-read interview with WWF writer Vince
Russo. One of the more
influential figures in the industry, his views
are shaping the
industry, for better or for worse.
I personally disagreed
with many of his conclusions; check it out and
decide for your
yourself. The transcipt can be found at:
http://www.wrestleline.com
Q & A CORRECTION
When we listed many of
the Doinks, we neglected one very prominent one.
Ray Apollo donned the
clown gear immediately after Matt Bourne vacated
the role...
(My thanks to Sal)
===========================================
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===========================================
"Straight Shooting"
By : Fritz Capp (pwbts)
October 1, 1999
PWBTS 2000
http://pwbts.com
Well everyone who
loves to trash and bash get your e-mails open because
this week your gonna
have a lot to say.
WCW.com is reporting
that Bret Hart has requested a special "tribute"
match in memory of
Owen Hart, coincidentally in the very same building
that Owen died in
earlier this year. Now I think that is great, a true
way to once again
remember Owen Hart, right? Well it would be if Bret’s
wishes didn’t once
again show the utter hypocrisy of both Bret Hart and
WCW. You see, if Bret
and company would have just kept their mouth shut
as far as saying that
the WWF did their Owen tribute just to increase
their ratings
everything would be fine. But neither did so. Every time
that they do something
to promo something on Nitro using Owen’s name it
just rings that little
alarm in my head saying, "ummm...aren’t you
doing the same thing
right now?" I am sure that Bret is going to go
through many emotions
when he walks into Kemper Arena and I understand
how he feels, truly I
do. He is not the only person to lose a family
member. And my
sympathies have always gone out to the Hart family
because the loss of
Owen was tragic and needless, but it was an
accident and no one
entity should be blamed for it.
I guess what I am
trying to say is that Bret, in his infinite wisdom,
should learn to keep
his mouth shut on certain things because they
always seem to come
back and bite him, especially when it comes to Owen
and ratings. This is
now twice Bret has allowed WCW to use Owen’s name
for ratings or to draw
viewers since Owen passed away. Keeping the
memory alive is one
thing, allowing and hoping this will bring viewers
is another. I can
imagine the outcry if the WWF every 4-6 weeks found a
way to mention Owen.
This past week I went
haywire posting around the new Playboy cover
featuring Rena Mero. I
have come to find out that at that particular
time I was one of the
very elite who had it. I got it in my mail. The
person who scooped the
Internet on that was Georgiann Makropoulos.
Since I got it in my
mail I really didn’t know that at the time or I
would have given
Georgie credit in my posts. Anyway I saw that NO ONE
had it and I posted it
around as I said above. Only this time, (and
this is one of the
very few times I did this) I didn’t put the pic on
the boards, I kept it
on my site and directed people there. Now as I
see it this is done
hundreds of times everyday, this is not something
new to the Internet,
in fact scores of reporters do that, even on my
site. Well one
newsboard dropped me because I did that. After all the
news I have provided
for them they got all pissy because for once I did
something to promo my
site. Awww....what I saw was funny was that they
deleted my post and
another one replaced it with the picture. Talk
about little kids. So
to all the people who read the top-rope newsboard
and are wondering
where I am, that’s what happened. (I was going to
trash the juveniles
but why?...they probably wouldn’t get it anyway)
I am trying to figure
out where some of you utter morons get your
wrestling news? Did
you get it out of your favorite cereal box? Maybe
someone in school is
related in someway to your neighbor who has a
friend who knows
someone who is the second cousin twice removed from
the janitor who used
to work for the company who picks up the trash
next door to the
advertising firm who used to do the ads for a small
indie promotion? I
mean come one, in the past couple of weeks while
browsing the boards I
have seen that Jimmy Hart died, Road Dog was out
of the WWF because of
a drug suspension, people are leaving their
company although they
have contracts, people are signing contracts
although they have
never even contacted or been contacted by anyone. It
is all so mind
boggling it isn’t funny. What really gets me is a lot,
and I mean a lot, of
this crap is taken as factual news and it shows up
everywhere. Now I have
to say that save the very very very few people
on here who actually
work for a promotion (and even their news is
suspect because they
are told what they can say and what they cannot)
almost every person on
the net in nothing more than a read and paste or
cut and paste artist.
The PWBTS site has a former wrestler, a current
wrestler, two
referees, an announcer and people who have been around
the business longer
than most of you have been alive. Think about it.
A lot of whining and
crying came out of the NWA-New Jersey promotion on
Thursday due to a
piece that Dan Moreland wrote on the PWBTS site. It
basically mocked last
years Eddie Gilbert Memorial debacle where Dennis
Corralluzo and The
Gilbert family had a screaming match with some fans
at ringside during the
"plaque presentation" part of the show. In fact
Dennis himself called
me up trying to "hold me responsible" and tried
to strong arm me into
taking the post down. What a hoot! Dennis tried
to talk to me about
credibility. Who is this guy to even mention that
word? Just check into
some of the things that Dennis has been involved
in. Can we say
"Charity Show" Dennis?
Two so-called "big
names" on the Internet are once again working the
fans pretending to be
fighting hoping that people will grab this and
run with it thus
getting their name mentioned all over the Internet.
How sad is this? I
will not ever understand how these two overweight
jobrones could ever be
considered credible considering how many times
they have "worked" all
of you. But then again, maybe you like it like
that huh?
A lot of people are
trashing the 20 minute piece that the Rock and
Mankind did on Raw.
Personally I loved it but then again I do not hide
the fact that I am a
"Foley" mark. While I hope the WWF does not
continue this as it
should be just a one shot deal I fear that since it
garnered an 8.4 rating
for that quarter hour we will be subject to
another attempt at
this kind of programming which I feel will be a big
mistake.
Speaking on that for a
second though I have a question, "How much is
the WWF product going
to suffer when Vince actually starts to get into
television programming
and making movies like he is positioning his
company to do? I
remember when Paul Heyman went more into production
instead of booking and
the results were two years of dismal ECW
product. Will the same
thing happen when Vince does this? Give me your
opinions and I’ll
print some next week in this column (send your
thoughts to
pwbts, do not hit reply).
Do the WCW
cruiserweights kick ass or what? I now realize why Bischoff
and the top guys would
never really allow these guys to get air time or
would just have them
squashed. Because they make the top names in the
fed look like horse
crap in comparison that’s why. Give me a night of
Kidman, Benoit,
Malenko, Mysterio, Psychosis, Juventud and the rest
anytime over DDP vs
Hogan.
I hope that Vince
doesn’t do to Taz what he is doing to The Dudley’s.
Vince is killing them
with the stupid stuttering gimmick. Here we have
one of the top ECW tag
teams ever and they can’t even beat the
Acolytes. This feud is
generating no heat whatsoever in my opinion. Get
rid of the stuttering,
Bubba Ray can rip a crowd apart and generate a
lot of heat if you
would let him.
Eric Kulas is suing
ECW again? While it is true that New Jack cut this
guy open so bad that
the blood flowed from his head like a gushing
fountain and poured
out like running stream (you have to see the tape
to believe this) Kulas
has to realize that this is going to be another
failed attempt. My
guess it is to keep his name in the limelight so to
speak because I highly
doubt he is going to get a dime and I cannot
imagine a promoter
wanting to touch this kid with all these lawsuits.
What do you think of
when you think of the NWA? Sold out Tokyo shows?
The Four Horsemen
showing people why they were the true force in the
business? Magnum T.A.
doing a perfect belly to belly suplex on his
opponent? Ric Flair
showing you why he was "Space Mountain"? For those
of you who remember
this once great promotion send in to me in some of
your fondest memories.
Try not to have them too long as I am looking to
have them in upcoming
issues of "Straight Shooting". In fact if I get
enough of a response
I’ll make a special section in "Straight Shooting"
devoted to just that.
(pwbts)
And with that I am
outta here. Remember wrestling is nothing more than
it appears to be.
===========================================
ECW ON TNN
Written by reader:
ROBLEE4U
I have a question and
a reality check for all wrestling newsletter
scrips who seem to be
overwhelmed with their love of ECW to the point
of avoiding the
obvious ... they are a monumental bust on TNN.
Why is it scripts do
not report the facts that ratings of 1.0 and
lower, which ECW has
achieved from week one on TNN, fall WAY below the
promised 2.5 ratings
TNN promised their sponsors? If things keep up
this way with the
ratings, TNN will start to have to make refunds to
their sponsors and
someone's head will roll (Paul E?) if not flat out
cancelling the show.
Secondly, TNN made it
clear it was adding pro wrestling to their Friday
night lineup to help
building the ratings of their piss poor Roller Jam
show. Last time I
checked the Roller Jam ratings were at an all time
.5 rating. So much for
ECW helping out that cause.
As Jim Liberatore of
the Sunshine Network told me "ECW has a large
following
among a very small
segment of the population and we find that our
sponsors have little
or no interest in promoting their products and
services to neo-nazi's
and skin heads".
The proof is in the
pudding ... ECW is a bust on national TV because
their target market is
exactly as Jim Liberatore stated above. They
have no recognizable
names to the general public and are far to rude
and crude for family
oriented programming on TNN. That's the facts Jack!
RR
=========
Steve Appy
responds:
ECW fans are
"neo-nazi's and skin heads?" Come on, a little harsh!
Getting nasty like
that is the best way to ruin an otherwise
well-reasoned point of
view...
===========================================
SHADES OF GRAY
Written by reader:
Newton E Calkins (mr.gray)
I haven't written to
this sheet in a while, but I felt I had to respond
to a recent fan
response. This was a WCW fan. First of all, he stated
that he could remain
objective. Sure. Right. Obviously his view was
objective enough to
get printed, but I think it was still way too
biased.
He pointed out Stone
Cold, and the shades of gray that exist in
characters represented
by the WWF. I agree to an extent. I think the
Rock's responses on
Raw to Mick's guests were totally uncalled for.
He's supposed to be
representative of a hero. Maybe making fun of his
home-ec teacher was
funny. A little extreme, but funny. And the coach
too. But his response
to his high school sweetheart was sickening.
She wouldn't let him
get to third base? Well, Rock, as date rape
victims will tell you,
no means no. So I can agree that some actions
aren't appropriate for
a
character. But that
was one tiny example.
I can't see the bland,
black-and-white characters that this WCW fan
wants back, and I'm
happy for it. The world isn't black and white, so
neither should
wrestling
characters be. The
last thing that bothered me was the citing of DX
crotch chops. Look,
for the last damn time, PARENTS, not the WWF, are
responsible for a
youth's upbringing. You don't want kids doing crotch
chops and saying "suck
it", DON'T LET THEM WATCH. That's it. That's
all. Final. WWF is NOT
a kid's product. Yes, they make toys. But
you know who buys
toys? EVERYONE, not just kids. I really hate this
mindless call for
censorship...
===========================================
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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