Issue # 337
Date:
Monday October 4th, 1999 8:50 am
The Wrestling Booking Sheet
VINCE RUSSO GOES TO WCW
Reported at:
http://www.wwf.com
In a huge move, WCW
has acquired the services of Vince Russo. Often
credited as being one
of the main reasons behind the WWF's resurgence,
Russo is one of the
driving forces behind the de-emphasis on the
in-ring product in the
1999 WWF.
Will we now see WCW
attempt to compete with the WWF in the variety show
sweepstakes? Will WCW
neglect their in-ring product shortly after
producing several high
quality television matches? Below we have the
brief announcement
posted on WWF.COM:
"Vince Russo resigns
Effective Sunday,
October 3 at
9:45 p.m. ET, Vince Russo,
one of the
creative writers, will
no longer be with the World Wrestling
Federation. Russo
abruptly resigned over the phone and will now be
working for WCW."
HALL & NASH IN KANSAS CITY
TONIGHT
Reported by Bob Ryder
at:
http://www.1wrestling.com
Scott Hall & Kevin
Nash will both be in
Kansas City for Nitro
tonight;
at this point I would
expect that they will not be shown on-camera.
One would think that
Russo would like to script their return himself at
this point…
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
experienced 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
===========================================
ADVERTISEMENT
To check out Chris
Nelson's online superstore, go to:
http://www.backyardsports.cjb.net/
For all of you
backyard wrestlers out there, this is the place to go!
===========================================
A BRITISH VIEW ON THE
BULLDOG
Written by reader:
Joseph Cassidy (LooseCannonJC@xxxxc...)
Well, I've read many
wrestling web sites' opinions of WWF Rebellion
sinceSaturday, but the
one thing that seems to be missing is a British
person's view of the
whole thing. So, as a British person and a
long-timeBulldog fan,
I HAVE to give my opinion. For those of you who
have not heard or seen
what happened at Rebellion concerning the
Bulldog, and there are
probably many of you, the WWF went COMPLETELY
wild, and decided to
make the Bulldog an out-and-out, 100% diabolical
HEEL.
Yes, they WANTED the
Brits to boo the Bulldog. And the way they done it
was very ironic; They
have ruined the Bulldog's career in muchthe same
way they ruined Jeff
Jarrett's career. First of all, they had Davey Boy
"accidentally" knock
out Stephanie McMahon with a trash can, and then
run-out and Powerslam
Chyna during her "bonus" match against Jarrett.
Firstly, if the WWF
really WANT Jarrett and the Bulldog to go heel,
theWORST possible way
they could go about it is by having them attack
women. All these
wrestlers attacking women is setting a terrible
example for the
hundreds of little kids that watch the WWF's
programming. Also,
this gets a reaction from most of the "mature" fans
not of "hatred" for
the wrestlers, which is what a heel persona aims
for, but more a
reaction of "disgust" towards the wrestlers, and the
fans will then soon
lose interest inJarrett and the Bulldog completely,
and they will fade
into obscurity, their careers ruined in much the
same way in which the
WWF destroyed the careers of many a talent
before, such as Vader
and the late Brian Pillman.
As if that,wasn' tbad
enough, having the Bulldog go heel in
Britain was
a TERRIBLE mistake.
Are the WWF trying to COMPLETELY ruin the British
wrestling market? The
Bulldog is the
ONE wrestler in the WWF who,
through thick and
thin, hasALWAYS received cheers from a British crowd,
and has always just
"been there", and was the main reason for a LOT of
young British children
watching the WWF.
Now with Bulldog as an
INTERNATIONAL heel, I believe tha tmany British
fans will soon lose
interest, and the sport of wrestling will be
completely forgotten
in the
UK once again. This is a real
shame, since
wrestling has come
back with a vengeance over here as of late, and even
British Independent
Promotions are now actually doing some GOOD
business for the first
time in years, such as NWA-UK Hammerlock, the
FWA and the new
"shining star" of British wrestling, the UWA.
So, WWF, sit down,
think abou twhat you've done. Bulldog may work
incredibly well as a
heel in the
US, but he CERTAINLY does not
abroad.
The WWF have until
mid-2000, when the next WWF appearance in the
UK
will be to re-think
their strategy. Let's just hope they do the right
thing and make The
British Bulldog that one wrestling role-model that
children across the
UK really need these days,
since EVERY British
wrestler seems to be
pushed as a heel nowadays.
--Joe Cassidy
===========================================
TAZ'S ROLE IN THE WWF
Written by reader:
Adam Schlosser (kenkoretzin)
A big question has
been whether Taz will be a face or a heel and who
will he feud with.
Yesterday though, I passed an interesting question,
will his size diminish
his standing? True, most WWF superstars are
huge, I think even the
smallest stands at least 6'0 tall. Taz stands
only 5'8. I don't
think Taz's short stature will have any impact on his
outcome with the
company, mainly because of attitude.
I mean, you look at
the Rock and say, "He's some big tough mouthy guy
on TV, but he probably
goes home and plays a round of golf with the
boys from the country
club." Or you see Chris Jericho, who's all
arrogant and brash but
you think, "No, he's probably just a nice
relaxed guy outside
the ring." Look at Taz though. I've seen him smile
sure, but when I see
him, and I hear him talk, I can't help thinking
that he carries that
attitude 24/7.
I don't see Taz
hitting the links or lounging in his favorite recliner
at home with a cigar.
No, I see him sitting at home telling his wife to
get the pork chops on
the table, and that his kid better eat his peas
or he's going to get
choked out. Sure Taz is short, but he's going to
go in that ring mean
and tough.
5'8, so what if the
Rock is 6'5, or The Big Show is 7'2, or 7'4 or
whatever his specified
height is for the week. I can see The Rock
falling prey to a
Taz-Plex, or Taz leaping on The Big Show's back and
choking him out with
the Kata-Hajime. I can even see WWF's main draw
Stone Cold Steve
Austin on the receiving end of a T-Bone Taz-Plex or
two, but of course,
with
Austin's arrogance he'll have
to get up
immediately and be
able to stun Taz. Anyways, what I'm saying, is
anyone that thinks Taz
is too small for the WWF better think again, WWF
sells attitude and Taz
packs a lot of it. He may just be too big for
the WWF, not too
small.
===========================================
RESPONSE TO SNAKEPITT7
Written by reader:
Richard Knott (flyer88)
Just a few comments
regarding the letter from snakepitt7. While I
admire the
intelligence behind the letter, it brings up some points
that drive me
absolutely crazy. The whole WWF vs. WCW is to me a
creation of the
internet and nothing more. It is a bogus issue, about
as serious as the
great Coke vs. Pepsi controversy. The fact that
people are now
obsessed almost more with ratings points each Tuesday
than with what they
actually saw on Monday speaks volumes.
Does anyone really
believe that Turner is going to pull the plug on a
cash cow like WCW
because it is losing to WWF in the ratings? It may
be a blow to his ego,
but as long as the revenues keep pouring in, I
think he can live with
that. Changes are being made at WCW not because
of ratings, but
because the company was LOSING money. And it wasn`t
losing money because
of ratings, it was losing money because Bischoff
was tossing cash
around like it was Monopoly money. Easy to do when it
is not your money.
He hired wrestlers for
whom he had absolutely no plan..no need, in
fact..just so no other
company would have them. His roster became
bloated and the
payroll, thanks to the stupefying salaries he was
paying to just about
everyone, whether they earned it or not, had
become more than just
a slight problem.
WCW is not in danger
of dropping off the airwaves. It is a viable
product with a solid
fan base and it will survive. Even if it doesn`t,
so what? These
"desperate" plans to "save" WCW crack me up. Save it
from what? From the
nightmare of being number two? Horrors!
Don`t ever forget that
it was Turner`s dislike for McMahon and
Bischoff`s COLOSSAL
ego that started the whole Monday night wars.
Using Turner`s money,
Bischoff raped McMahon`s roster and
"in-your-faced" him by
deliberately putting Nitro on Monday. Make no
mistake about it, the
plan was to destroy the WWF COMPLETELY, not just
win a ratings war.
They were out to ruin Vince. The fact that they
couldn`t, though they
came close, is a testament to his business acumen
and his amazing
resiliency.
That brings me to
another point...on what basis is it fair to call
McMahon, "the lowest
of the low"? What incredible inside information
regarding his personal
life do people on the internet have that enables
them to assassinate a
man`s character like that? I happen to prefer
the WWF. But do I
think it goes too far? Sure, sometimes it does.
The Henry/transvestite
angle was embarrassing. Seventy year old women
in the ring, much less
in a title match? Ludicrous, pointless and
potentially dangerous.
But get down off your soapboxes, people. WCW
isn`t exactly a Sunday
sermon, either. I will say it to my dying day:
as a parent, I would
rather have my child see a woman in a thong than
be taught that it is
cool to be part of a "gang" and that you are cool
and sexy when you
attack four and five on one and spray paint your
"colors" on the bodies
you leave laying when you leave. And that is
exactly what the
NOW was...a glorified street
gang with all the cool
guys as members and
which always came out on top by using those same
street gang tactics.
And don`t think that WCW won`t saddle up that
horse and ride it
again if they think it will help their cause. Let`s
see where all the
internet moralists are then.
As for Bret Hart, if I
hear one more time that he was "screwed", I will
puke. Why is it that
the same people who moan about the "colossal egos"
in the WCW locker
rooms and cite as one of its biggest problems the
unwillingness to "job"
for the good of the company are the ones saying
Hart was screwed
because he refused to job on his last night in the
company that had made
him what he was? What kind of ego refuses to
allow a wrestler to do
for another wrestler what so many other
wrestlers had done for
him in the past? Hell, Ric Flair jobbed to Hart
in a title match,
losing the belt.
Hart was the
"Excellence of Execution" because McMahon made him that.
McMahon told the other
wrestlers in the WWF that Hart was the "man". He
told them to job for
Hart, and they did their job. Do you think they
all liked it? That
they
all liked him? Doubt
it, but they did their job and put him over,
because that`s how the
game is played. Betcha some of them didn`t like
Hart and a few of them
even thought that they could kick his ass in a
legitimate fight...but
they did their job.
Hart`s job was to lose
the belt, pass it on to Michaels and move on to
WCW to cash his fat
paychecks and start a new "legend". But he
couldn`t..wouldn`t do
it. Why, because he didn`t "like" Michaels? So
what? Because he
didn`t want to lose in front of Canadian fans.
What??!! Somewhere
along the line, Canadians must have seen him lose.
If not, they were due
and probably would have gotten over the shock
eventually. Hart`s own
ego "screwed" him. I really believe he thinks he
is the character he
portrays. The best there was, blah, blah, blah!
I don`t even want to
judge him or the depth and sincerity of his grief
over the loss of his
brother, but how hypocritical is it for him to
blast what the WWF did
in its heart felt tribute to Owen (probably the
classiest thing the
WWF has EVER done) as
exploitation? What the
hell does he think WCW did with his
strategically placed
"return" interview and is doing with its upcoming
"tribute" match on
Nitro between Chris "the man who the internet would
be king" Benoit and
himself? Think that might draw a few more viewers
than usual and really
bring him to the forefront again? I hate to be a
cynic, but if he was
really saying, "gee, I don`t know if I`ll ever
wrestle again, but I
might if I have a program with Hogan and a title
reign", to WCW after
his brother`s tragic death, who is the cynic? Just
thinking out loud.
Thanks,
Dick
===========================================
ADVERTISEMENT
New Dimension
Wrestling will be returning to Thomavsille, NC this Sat.,
night Oct. 9th, at the
National Guard Armory (off of National Highway),
7:30p.m. belltime.
In the main event,
Jimmy "The Boogie Woogie Man" Valiant returns to
Thomasville against
the The Masked Assassin. In other matches, "For
Total Control of New
Dimension Wrestling", The Dirty White Boy with
managers Chris Cruise
& John Hitchcock will lock up one on one with a
hardcore mystery
wrestler to be determined by Executive Committee
Member Chris Plano.
The original scheduled
opponent Beastmaster Rick Link was suspended
indefinitely from New
Dimension Wrestling this past weekend and will be
replaced in
Thomasville this Saturday night.
Plus you will see,
Otto Schwanz, Cham Pain, King, Nite-Stic Eddie
Brown, Chilly Willy,
Toad, Mike Gunner, Brute Shooter, Fuego Dimente,
Tim Sells, over 20 NDW
Wrestling superstars to appear.
Jimmy Valiant will be
holding autograph sessions this week throughout
Thomasville at the
following locations; Thursday at Ingles Supermarket,
Friday at Winn-Dixie
Supermarket, and Saturday at Westchester Flea
Market.
Advance tickets are
available at Southwest Expressions (Archdale), Hix
Insurance Center (High
Point), or at the armory the day of the show.
For information, call
the New Dimension Wrestling hotline at
336-882-4921 or on the
worldwide web at
http://www.ndwwrestling.com Be
There!!!!
===========================================
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
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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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