Issue # 375
Date:
Saturday October 30th, 1999 1:00 pm
The Wrestling Booking Sheet
GOLDBERG OFFICIALLY BOOKED
FOR NEW JAPAN
Reported by Zach
Arnold at:
http://www.1wrestling.com
New
Japan Pro Wrestling has
officially announced that Bill Goldberg
will be working the
1/4/1999 Tokyo Egg Dome show.
New Japan announced
that they will
announce their booking intentions for Goldberg November
10th; several matches
are under discussion, with the two most frequent
suggestions involving
Goldberg vs. Chono or Goldberg & Mutoh vs. Chono
& Rick Steiner.
THURSDAY RATINGS FOR
10/28/1999
Reported by Bob Ryder
at:
http://www.1wrestling.com
WWF Smackdown: 4.8
WCW Thunder: 2.3
VADER WINS
ALL JAPAN TRIPLE CROWN
Reported by Zach
Arnold at:
http://www.1wrestling.com
Vader defeated
Mitsuharu Misawa in 12:12 to win The Triple Crown (All
Japan’s version of the
World Heavyweight Championship) in Budokan Hall
following a Powerbomb.
HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE
10/29/1999 ROSS REPORT
Reported at:
http://www.wwf.com
Ross revealed that the
WWF has no more TV commercial time to sell
during the 4th quarter
of 1999; Ross claimed that “One of the
best-known
action/adventure stars in the entire world may show up on
SmackDown! very soon”
(I have no idea who this is); Taz vignettes will
start soon after the
Survivor Series and he will debut in January; Bob
Holly has signed a
long-term contract and Steve Blackman is on the
verge of doing so;
Ross claims that “Lots of unemployed talent are
looking for work. Some
soon-to-be-former big stars are reportedly
shopping themselves
for ridiculous sums.” Randy Savage is the one man
who comes to mind.
Ross predicts that The Undertaker will return in
November or early
January; Kurt Angle will be making his TV debut over
the next few weeks;
Ross claims that “Internet reports that the Road
Dogg is presently
unhappy with WWF management are false. Previous
problems have been
resolved even though the old story has more sizzle
and seems to be more
newsworthy.”
DAVE MELTZER ON EYADA.COM
Most of you have heard
of Dave Meltzer & The Wrestling Observer, though
many of you have not
been exposed to The Observer (you don’t know what
your missing). Meltzer
is also doing a free daily internet radio show,
which can be found at:
http://www.eyada.com
The two hour show can
be heard live from
6:00 PM-8:00 PM on the East
Coast, and
3:00 PM-5:00 PM on the West
Coast. Meltzer & co-host Bryan
Alvarez discuss all of
the breaking news stories of the day, and have
had quite a variety of
featured guests (highlights include Chris
Benoit, Vince Russo,
Terry Funk , & Jim Cornette).
The previous days show
is available to listen to at any time; those of
you who really have a
deep interest in the inner-workings of wrestling
really do need to
check this out! Meltzer is generally considered the
top wrestling
journalist in the history of the business (not an
exaggeration, and
almost without argument), and you will benefit by
being exposed to his
knowledge of the business.
===========================================
Reader Response to
Straight Shooting
By Fritz Capp (afcpwbts)
I first want to thank
everyone who wrote me on the latest Straight
Shooting column so
far. The mail count has been enormous and the column
hasn't even been
online for 12 hours yet. I want to put some of these
online as everyone who
wrote has some additional great points:
======
Best article I’ve read
in a long long time. I hope some more people
feel the way I felt
after reading that. I love wrestling in general,
although WWF and ECW
fit my fancy a little more, I still like WCW. I
have gotten so sick of
everyone bashing everyone else. I also hate how
most reporters bash
certain wrestlers for not being good workers. What
the hell do they know.
I think to become a professional wrestler in the
big 3 you have to be a
damn good wrestler, so put that in your pipe and
smoke it!
Thanx
Jeff Reen
FC : Very good
point...unless you have laced up the boots yourself what
does anyone know about
workrate.
=======
Hi Fritz...
I just had to write
and tell you that your latest "Straight Shooting"
was excellent. My
friends and I have been wrestling fans for over 16
years and we have
never had a favorite promotion. We watch
ALL
wrestling because we
love WRESTLING! Of course we get frustrated when
any of the feds get
lazy or silly but that will never make us stop
watching. Basically,
I'm just trying to say that your article kicked
@xxxxcxxxcs and I
agree that people are way too critical and need to relax and
enjoy...
Thanks for
reading...BJay...
======
Just wanted to say I
read your Straight Shooting
10/29/99 edition and I
couldn’t agree with
you more. So many people are concerned with
ratings. I could shive
a git myself!!! I am personally a WCW fan. WWF
to me is just not my
style. I like the newer "edge WCW is taking, but
at the same time not
letting it go to the extremes on language.
Although that *BIG*
breasted chick on this past Nitro gave me good
wood... :)
I felt the same as you
concerning the promotions. No one should try to
copy the other simply
for ratings. QUALITY is the issue, not QUANTITY
(ratings). Although I
know ratings is the business of TV, for 25 years
I have followed it
(since I was 4) from the days of Flair's "7-time
reign" and Gordon
Solie on Georgia Championship wrestling on
Superstaion WTCG
(before Turner changed it to TBS), to todays wrestling
has been pure
FUN. Fun to watch...period.
I keep an eye on
ratings, but not to the point like some of these
reporters who make the
biggest damned deal about "RAW winning again" or
"WCW just cant cut it"
or "WCW loses (big surprise!) another ratings
decision". Give me
something I can USE!!!
I'm sure you and your
peers are aware of this, but Wrestling
promotions, mainly
WCW, have been taking note that the internet is
powerful. I hear stuff
all the time now on Nitro about this and that
which has been talked
about on the web.
Last Monday, Nash &
Hall were making a stink about making their
gestures at the top of
the hour so that the ratings wouldn’t drop. Now
Bagwell is "PO'ed" at
the "powers that be" about jobbing...something
which I am sure came
about thanks to a few web sites mentioning how he
hates jobbing. And
Schiavone really making notes about Russo and
Ferrara running the show,
which is a hot topic on many sites including
yours.
Sometimes I think you
guys influence the shows more than the bookers
do...Its the 90's
thing I guess... :)
Greg
FC : As far as the net
having an influence....I believe you hit the
nail on the head with
that one.
======
Fritz
I understand your
point about "can't we all just be wrestling fans" and
in the process
appreciate each federation for what they have to offer.
In your latest
editorial you likened these federations to two extremely
talented musicians.
The problem that comes
from that illustration is that's it's not very
accurate in terms of
what many wrestling fans enjoy watching. I like to
watch TV shows but I
don't like all TV shows just because I'm a TV fan.
I like movies but I
don't like all movies just because I'm a fan of
movies. I like pro
wrestling but I don't like all pro wrestling shows
or organizations, yet
I still consider myself a huge fan.
A good wrestling show
to me is like a really good movie with super
plot, interesting
characters, witty dialog and well thought-out
necessary action.
Sprinkle in humor in the right doses at the right
time and you have a
major motion picture event.
Shows that only have
"good wrestling" are as boring as movies that just
have "good car
chases." You said it yourself, there are only so many
interesting ways to
put on an actual wrestling match and they are (and
have been) done to
death. Personally I'm amazed that people consider
the recent Nitro
Hart/Benoit match a classic. I've seen it and
variations of it
hundreds of times over the last 30 years.
And maybe that's what
it really comes down to. I expect more out of
wrestling now than
when I was ten years old. When I first got a
VCR in
the late 70's I taped
every "good match" I could find on cable
television. No
interviews, no storylines, just matches.
I find most of those
old tapes unwatchable now, in much the same way
that I'd find a
highlight tape of action movie car chases unwatchable.
The mind goes numb
after awhile.
I now tape wrestling
shows in their entirety. I can put in a tape of
Raw from 2 or 3 years
ago and still enjoy it like an old movie
favorite. I try the
same thing with old and recent Nitros and I see a
grade B movie that has
some great car chases once in awhile.
And that's my main
point. I look at wrestling as a "whole." I can't
appreciate shows that
only get some parts right once in awhile. I
expect more out of the
TV shows and movies I watch too.
For me Raw is quite
frequently "The Hunt for Red October," while Nitro
is merely "Twister."
And I've only seen Twister once. I don't have much
free time; I really
hate wasting it on something called "wrestling"
just to prove I'm a
fan. That is for fanatics, and I hope never to be
one.
Taking your analogy a
bit further, Raw is a professional musician while
Nitro is still that
8th grader looking for a band to play in...My guess
is you wouldn't be
quite as interested in that eighth grader's first
"concert". In a few
years he may become the best in the world... and
that's when I will pay
attention.
Take care
Bradd
FC : I understand your
point but I would like to elaborate on the
Hart/Benoit match for
one second. I believe that the reason (in my
opinion anyway) that
the match is being called a classic is two fold.
One it was about the
best match wrestled in WCW for a long time but
more importantly it
was the meaning behind the match that made this
match so endearing to
the fans. On that night I believe I witnessed
Bret Hart come to
terms with his brother's passing. That is something
he had not been able
to do up to that point. This match was to honor
Owen, and it did one
hundred times over. I now see Bret with a
re-dedication to the
ring which is something that he hadn't had for a
few years now. Bret
will always miss his brother and wonder why, but on
that night in Kemper
Arena Bret got to say good-bye, and he had a
nation full of people
there saying good-bye with him.
======
Fritz,
That was without a
doubt the best wrestling article I have read this
year, This is a must
read article for anyone who calls themselves a
wrestling fan, Keep
giving us the straight shooting no matter who it
pisses off.
Mike
FC : Thanks for the
letter Mike and I plan to but at the same time I
plan to enjoy this
sport a whole lot more then I have lately...you
know...like I used to!
======
The following letter
was sent to Steve Appy about the SS column.
Steve was gracious
enough to forward it to me and I just have to post
it for everyone
because it let me know that there are people who feel
exactly the same way I
do.
---
Man, Fritz Capp missed
his calling, He should have been a preacher,
Cause all I could do
was shout
AMEN! After reading his
column, I'm
going to copy it and
show it to all my wrestling friends, Cause
everyone who calls
themselves a fan oughta read it.
---
FC : It is time that
everyone who is/was like myself to refind that ole
time religion we used
to know as pro wrestling and stop seeing all the
bad and start enjoying
all the good that is being presented to us each
week.
The WWF, WCW and ECW
workers give their best to entertain us. Not
everyone in wrestling
has the ability of Bret Hart or Chris Benoit, not
everyone in wrestling
has the mic skills of Steve Austin or the Rock
and not everyone in
the business can take bumps like Tommy Dreamer or
The Sandman but
everyone is unto himself a great worker for getting in
the ring in front of
the millions and millions of people watching and
giving their all to
perform. We OWE it to them to take them at face
value and not under
any preconceived notions of how they SHOULD be.
This is wrestling
pure, plain and simple and if we can get together and
show the promoters
that is what we want maybe we can collectively
change the promoters
view points so they too can get back to wrestling
instead of ratings,
something I believe we would all benefit from. In
plain English, it's
time we all "Get It"!
===========================================
MALENKO AS A ROLE
MODEL
Written by reader:
legacy
I personally have
loved to watch Dean Malenko in the ring since around
1996 as well. In fact
he is one of the reasons why I have began to
train for a future in
Professional Wrestling. I was being dogged by all
of my friends and
fellow trainees in a martial arts school. They kept
telling me that I was
too short, and that I could never make it.
I started listening to
the stats of certain wrestlers and then Dean
Malenko's stats came
across. 5'10" 210 lbs. Those were my exact stats.
Upon further research
I found that myself and Dean share the same
birthdate. August 4th.
I have always looked up to Dean's technical
prowess and his Iceman
status. How they are treating him now will only
increase his occult
following.
Legacy <--
Legacy -->
===========================================
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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