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Vandy! (September 1996)

 

Beer!  (February 2006)

Issue # 344

Date:  Saturday October 9th, 1999  11:13 am

The Wrestling Booking Sheet

GORILLA MONSOON: A TRUE LEGEND
By SamJerry

What feelings does the name Gorilla Monsoon bring to me? It brings back
fond memories of the times wrestling was fought in small neighborhood
venues, with no TV cameras and no fireworks. It means
Madison Square
Garden, "The Mecca of Wrestling." It means a commentator who called
things as they were; no shilling and no nonsense. When a move was
missed, he told you it was missed. It bring back memories of a man who
knew the sport telling Bobby Heenan what a liar he is, and doing it all
in good spirit. It reminds me of a man trading verbal jabs with Jesse
Ventura. But mostly it reminds me of a very simple human being. A man
who loved the sport he spent most of his life in; A man who loved his
family; and A man who called things as they were, not as others would
have them called. The true worth of a man is how others see him.
Gorilla Monsoon was universally loved and admired. A man who was missed
immediately when he was no longer in the public eye. I was one of those
who missed him immediately. I miss him more now. Rest In Peace,
Gorilla. You earned your place on the Honor Roll Of Life.
===========================================
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===========================================
"Straight Shooting"
by : Fritz Capp (pwbts)
October 8, 1999
PWBTS 2000
http://pwbts.com

I cannot believe everything that is either going on or that has
happened this week. There are so many places that I could begin, but
there is only one place that I can.
===
Robert "Gorilla Monsoon" Marella passed away this week. Now I know for
a lot of the younger wrestling fans this means absolutely nothing to
them, but to those of us who have been watching pro wrestling for the
past 30 odd years this is something akin to a major movie celebrity
passing away after having been on screen for years.

I remember going to the old Philadelphia Arena with my parents and
totally hating Monsoon. There really wasn't anyone who could really
take him on save a Sammartino, who was the heavyweight champ. Even
then, Monsoon pounded on Sammartino like I had never seen before. He
was the consummate heel back then.

Some of my fondest memories of Gorilla though is him being teamed with
Bobby "The Brain" Heenan at the announcers table for the WWF. Was there
ever a better team put together? Although some of today's fans may
argue I would have to say no. Heenan and Monsoon had a chemistry
between them that just didn't quit. It was always quite humorous to see
Heenan try to needle Monsoon only to have Monsoon put him in his place
real quick.

My condolences go out to the Marella family in their time of grief.
===
I was up at a business meeting in New York on Wednesday and when I
returned home I not only found out about the passing of Gorilla but
also about the horrible injury that Droz sustained in the ring at the
Smackdown tapings Tuesday night. I wish Droz the best for a speedy
recovery but I wonder what all those people who say that "wrestling is
fake" have to say about this.

You can send Get Well wishes to Droz at:
Get Well DROZ
PO Box 2594
Ventnor, NJ 08406
===
Staying on the subject of Droz for a second why is it that everyone and
their mother when reporting this story bring up Owen Hart? From
ESPN.com to 1wrestling.com and almost everyone in between while
reporting the Droz story had to take a jab at the WWF and the Owen Hart
tragedy? I am still trying to figure out what the two had in common to
help support the use of Owen's name in this story. If any of you can
come up with any similarities other then the fact that they both worked
for the WWF let me know. Can we all let Owen "Rest In Peace"?
===
Leslie Davis, that fun loving sore loser from
Minnesota, once again is
trying his best to get Governor Jesse Ventura removed from office. This
time the charges are malfeasance and he is alleging that
Ventura used
his position for personal gain. Can anyone say jealousy? From
everything I have read on the subject
Davis has not yet been able to
accept the fact that
Minnesota just did not want a person like him in
office and that Jesse was in fact the better candidate. The proof is in
the pudding folks, since Jesse won the election. This moron, instead of
trying to help other people who I am sure are in need in
Minnesota, has
instead created a one man witch hunt against the Governor Ventura. This
mostly appears to be to keep his name in the public eye, even if he
does appear to be nothing but a whiner.

Here is a snippet from the AP article, "Davis, an environmental
activist, alleges that
Ventura used his position to make money from his
autobiography and from his August return to the professional wrestling
ring as a referee. Those ventures could bring
Ventura as much as $2
million. If the 25 signatures
Davis gathered so far can be verified,
the state Supreme Court could order a public hearing."

Let me guess,
Ventura's book wouldn't have sold if he hadn't been
elected Governor? Give me a break. I'll bet it is safe to say that a
minimum of 85% of those book sales went to wrestling fans. Minimum!
Also like there is going to be a question about the signatures.
(although it would be funny if they were faked) Even a losing dweeb
like this guy has 25 friends he could get to sign a petition. (of
course these signatures were bought and paid for with promises galore I
would be willing to wager)

All in all what we have is someone who should be in wrestling not
politics because all this jabrone can do is whimper and whine about
something he already lost and cannot accept. Boy do I know a website
this guy could work at.
===
What the hell is up with the WWF and this utterly stupid Mark Henry
angle? This isn't wrestling and it certainly isn't entertaining. Sorry
folks but I do not find anything entertaining that has to do with
having sex with your sister, or any other family member for that matter
and if you do then you have a very deep seated problem and should seek
professional help immediately. I said it a few months ago and at that
time no one wanted to listen but the handwriting is starting to become
very clear on the wall. The WWF is out of control as far as being in
touch with the fans anymore. This could very well be a case of history
repeating itself as this also happened to the WWF in the late
80's/early 90's, a time when it was hard pressed to find WWF fans due
to their lack of product or intelligent story lines. My guess is some
people just cannot learn from their past.
===
There has been a contest geared for wrestling fans going on the past
couple of days, have you entered it yet? Well if you haven't why the
hell not? I know, you don't want a chance at the $1000.00 Grand Prize
right? You don't want any part of winning on of the daily prizes either
huh?

What's that? You didn't know about it? Well not because of the lack of
me trying to get the news out there to you. You see, not only have I
posted around on the boards this news twice in the past two days but I
also e-mailed every webmaster and reporter that I could to post the
press release telling you of this contest.

You say this press release wasn't on your favorite newsboard or
wrestling website? Well all I can say is it should have been. This
leaves me to wonder a few things:

1 - Is your favorite webmaster only thinking of himself and this is why
he wouldn't share this contest with his faithful readers?
2 - Is your webmaster keeping this news to himself in the hopes that he
has a better chance of winning a prize if there are not as many
submissions?
3 - Is your webmaster just a jerk because he wouldn't print a press
release just because the news didn't come directly to him?

If any of the above are true then all I can say is your favorite
webmaster is not on your side, because every webmaster and reporter
should be telling everyone they can about this chance for all of the
Internet wrestling fans.

Here is the official press release from Ad-Cast on their October
SlamFest contest:
---
AdCast's October Slam Fest
Wrestling Contest Entry

Create the Greatest Wrestling Tag Team Ever!

Who: All Wrestling Fans and Internet Surfers

What: Enter to Win Fabulous Prizes by Creating Your Own Wrestling Tag
Team

Where: Visit http://octoberslamfest.dai.net within AdCast's Network of
Wrestling Web Sites

When: October 1 through October 31, 1999

How: Create the Greatest Tag Team Ever by Selecting Your Favorite
Wrestling Duo from Over 700 Professional Wrestling Stars Featured on
AdCast's October Slam Fest Web Site. Visitors May Enter the Contest by
visiting http://octoberslamfest.dai.net

Why: For Wrestling Action and Fun! Contest Entry's are Submitted for a
Drawing to Win Fabulous Prizes Including:

GRAND PRIZE: $1,000, WCW Mayhem Electronic Game and Either a Sony
PlayStation™ or Nintendo 64™ Game Console

OTHER PRIZES: Games from Electronic Arts (EA) including WCW Mayhem and
Many More!

AdCast reserves the right to substitute prizes of equal value..

For more information please visit the site at http://octoberslamfest.da
i.net Or AdCast, Inc. at http://www.adcastdelivers.com
---
How about we try something different. We all did it to vote for Ric
Flair in the People Magazine Contest, maybe we can do this again, only
this time the angle is we're doing it for every wrestling fan on the
Internet.

Take this press release and send it to everyone you know who would be
interested in entering a contest with these prizes. Have them send this
press release to everyone they know, and so on and so on. (Be sure that
you do not just spam this press release as it defeats the purpose and
could injure the integrity of this contest seeing to it that neither
Ad-Cast nor Electronic Arts would ever want to do this again.) This
should only be sent to friends. Also if you like to visit wrestling
chat rooms you could also put this contest out in there also, thus
spreading the word even more.

So what are you waiting for? Enter the contest yourself
NOW, and then
spread the word to all your friends. This contest only runs until
October 31 so don't delay.
===
Reports are flying everywhere that Hogan has exercised a 90 day "out
clause" in his contract due to the fact that Vince Russo, who recently
jumped from the WWF to WCW, has no plans to push the one time biggest
name in wrestling. It is also being reported that a majority of the WCW
see this as a "slap in the face" to everything they have done and had
to put up with because of Hogan. As well they should. If Terry Bollea
has indeed opted to leave WCW because of the fact that he in no longer
going to be "the big dog" in the house anymore this is the biggest slap
that Hogan could give his fellow co-workers, who have time and time
again had to sit in the back and watch Hogan be pushed through the roof
, whether he deserved it or not.

Hogan's heyday was with the WWF and the early part of the NWO. Since
then Hogan has done nothing for WCW but hurt it time and time again. I
say good riddance with my only fear being that Hogan would once again
show up in the WWF. I hope Vince in not that stupid as Hogan is no
longer a draw. At least not in the big markets.

Even though Hogan is responsible for wrestling being taken to the
heights he took it to which allowed to reach the heights it has in
recent years, it is time for him to either hang the boots up or to go
out on the indie circuit and autograph signing circuit but that is
about all the is left for the one time most known wrestling heavyweight
champion. Hey, I know a promoter in Deptford, NJ that is hard up for
decent talent. Not that Hogan is decent but at least he is a name.
Wait, I can hear Dennis making that call now....
===
Keeping with Hogan for another second did you get to read the
transcript of him on Larry King Live? This guy is a work in progress.
I'm not going to rip apart the transcript piece by piece, it would be
too easy. Instead if you haven't read it look around, find it and take
5 minutes to read this piece of garbage. If you can't find it, it is
still on the PWBTS 2000 site at pwbts.com
===
Jerry Lawler came in third as far as voting was concerned for his bid
to be Mayor of Memphis, Tenn. While inside politics played a roll in
Lawler not winning the election it was not the only factor and although
he did not win, he should hold his head up because he gave it one hell
of a shot. Better luck nect time King.
===
Have we had enough of Moolah yet? Look, I have no problem with the fact
that Moohlah wrestled all those years for basically welfare and I am
glad she is getting a couple of the big bucks now but lets face facts,
the angle sucks, the so-called wrestling sucks and seeing MaeYoung get
stripped really sucks (have I said this sucks yet?) I am for them
getting some kicks but enough is enough already.
===
I would like to send my condolences to all those people who have lost
their favorite place to have intelligent wrestling chats, WCW.com. It
seems as though certain people who cannot take criticism to save their
life has now destroyed 3 years of dedication by loyal fans by creating
such controversy, even among the ops, that all of the regulars and ops
have left. I went there today and the room was totally empty. If you
were a regular to the old WCW chat room and are interested in going to
talk to your old friends goto: evilspeak.com port 6667 Everyone, old
friends and new are welcome and you do not have to fear someone with an
inferiority complex freaking out because you disagree with him.
===
Am I the only one who finds the Goldberg/Sid Vicious car routines
pretty funny? And was that a great promo (thank God they are starting
to get it) that Goldberg did after his match on Nitro? I really enjoyed
hearing him say he was going to kick Sid's "ass" instead of all the
watered down phrases that they had to use before.
===
Was it really a wise move for WCW to show Scott Hall with 2 beers in
his hands after all the trouble his real life drinking problem has
caused him?
===
Is there/was there a need for a "phantom" title change this past week
on Nitro. Ya know, Lenny and Lodi were only following what WCW told
them to do and now they are being ostracized because of it? How bogus
is that? One (ahem) reporter stated that WCW had been getting harassed
by "gay right groups" because of the way the fans yelled "faggots" at
The West Hollywood Blondes when they came to ringside. My thing
is..."so what"? If it looks like and egg....and it sounds like an
egg.... Besides that report I have heard from many sources is one of
the biggest crocks perpetrated on the Internet in...well this week
anyway. I wish these so-called self professed "wrestling insiders"
would just shut up and stop trying to make things up to make themselves
look good in some marks eyes.
===
As I said last week, I am going to share with you some of the memories
of the real NWA. (Not the phony wanna-be promotion that runs out of New
Jersey, but the real one that ran all those years ago. This one is from
Christian Nichols :
---
I have two very distinct memories of watching NWA from years past, the
first is seeing a heel, newly inducted Four Horseman Lex Luger make
Nikita Koloff, who at this time had turned into a monster face with
Dusty Rhodes, submit to a torture rack inside a cage for the US title.
I couldn't believe that Nikita actually SUBMITTED...I was shocked, and
I hate to admit it, I liked Luger as a Horseman.

The second was watching Ric "I-put-on-the-BEST-show-in-town,
kiss-my-ass-Bischoff" Flair make Terry Funk submit to the figure four
in a submission match at a Starcade or Clash Of The Champions from
years ago. What made this incredible to me was that after months of
chasing Flair, embarrassing him, beating him down, stalking him,
hitting him with the branding iron that he carried at the time, and
basically causing general hell, Funk walked over, snatched the NWA
Heavyweight Belt (which was on the line)...looked at it...and handed it
over to Flair, and he raised Flairs hand in victory. Awesome match with
an awesome finish which made me mark out totally!
---
Two great memories from a time when wrestling was wrestling, and not
just an afterthought. Thanks for sending that in, Christian. We'll have
another one next issue.
===
With that I'm outta here. Remember wrestling is nothing more than it
appears to be.
===========================================
RUSSO EXAMINED
Written by reader: Dr. Michael Lano (WReaLano)

I commented this on our syndicated radio show (Squared Circle on
CRN)
last night. Having known Vince Russo since his days back in 1991, I
have something germaine to say. First he was a longtime fan simply
giving financial support to the old Pro Wrestling Spotlight radio show
in New York during the steroid days, then he came into his creative own
faster than anyone after showing on-air support to WWF, then getting
the gig at the (WWF) magazine, then on from there.

More power to him-what an incredible rise to power for one of the most
powerful and creative guys in such a short period of time!
-Dr. Michael Lano, Pro Wrestling Photojournalism and Dentistry since
1966
===========================================
THE RUSSO/WCW RELATIONSHIP
Written by reader: Jared Spinelli (BCelticsFn)

I am writing to The Booking Sheet on the topic of Vince Russo and Ed
Ferrara
joining WCW as the main bookers for the company. While many internet
fans are
livid over the decision, I on the other hand, think that Russo and
Ferrera's move to WCW is the best thing to happen to us wrestling fans
in a long time.

I am a diehard WWF fan, surprisingly, but that is only because that was
the only good wrestling product around. I think that was because the
WWF had Russo and Ferrara, in my mind, two of the most intelligent
wrestling people of all time. With their switch to WCW, I can still
watch great television with the WWF, but now enjoy another company,
WCW, just as much.

Russo and Ferrera will make the changes that us wrestling fans wanted
WCW to make for years. Their product will improve greatly, and bring
back the excitement of
the Monday Night Rating Wars. This competitiveness will be the key
factor in
making the wrestling craze even bigger than it is now. I can't wait to
see Chris Benoit, Buff Bagwell, and Dean Malenko get the pushes they
deserve. I can't wait to watch WCW and actually be able to follow
storylines. I can't wait to not be able to choose the station on Monday
Night....USA or
TNT....oh what fun that will be.
-Jared Spinelli
The House of Wrestling Newsletter
===========================================
THE BIG SCHWAG ON THE UNDERTAKER
Written by reader: The Big Schwag (TastyBear)

The Big Schwag would have to agree with Steve Appy about The
Undertaker. Without The WWF bookers over the years matching him up
against great workers or fan favorites, his matches suck. He is very
limited in the moves he performs and The Big Schwag is not terribly
impressed with his vocal work on the mic.

Now on the Russo matter... WOW WOW WOW what a great deal for wrestling
fans. Finally The Big Schwag and the wrestling fans may be able to
turn on Nitro again and watch good angles and story plots. Russo will
trim the fat and make sure the right wrestlers and talent get the
proper push. This can only help wrestling. That's what the Big Schwag
thinks anyway.

Don't be surprised to see Norton in The WWF within the month if he has
been given a full release from WCW. I never liked the way they used
him anyway, he's too big a guy to not use. Thanks once again wrestling
fans for making the Schwag The most popular Wrestling Manager In The
Business Today...
===========================================
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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