The Wrestling Booking Sheet online newsletter

Issue # 394

Date: Thursday November 11th, 1999 8:10 am

The Wrestling Booking Sheet

BIZARRE SAVAGE/HAWK CONFRONTATION
Reported by Al Isaacs at: http://www.scoopswrestling.com
Road Warrior Hawk went on the Bubba Love radio show and described a
weird situation that recently occurred between himself & Randy Savage.
The report from Scoops is below in quotations, and my own remarks
follow:

"Road Warrior Hawk stopped by the BUBBA THE LOVE SPONGE show to discuss
a little impromptu match he allegedly had backstage at a Kid Rock
concert with Randy Savage. Apparently these two haven't seen eye to eye
in the past, but Hawk was willing to forgive and forget and offered his
hand as a goodwill gesture. Not only did the Macho Man not shake, he
offered his own hand in the form of a fist and sucker punched the
former tag champ. Hawk said that he was cool with the altercation,
which was quickly broken up, but he's not so cool with Gorgeous George
and her sister attacking Hawk's wife! The fight he was willing to
settle outside, but the deal with his wife who was, for lack of a
better non-wrestling term, busted open...that'll be settled in court."

I'm sure that there is more to this story than meets the eye, and Randy
Savage may have a different side as well. It certainly doesn't paint a
flattering picture of Savage, a man who has rattled off several
incoherent interviews,
no-showed multiple events, and accidentally injured several opponents
over the past year.

BILL GOLDBERG'S NJPW TOKYO DOME OPPONENT ANNOUNCED
Reported by Dave Meltzer at: http://www.Eyada.com
Bill Goldberg's opponent at the 1/4/2000 Tokyo Egg Dome will be Rick
Steiner; WCW apparently is "afraid" to book Goldberg against one of the
NJPW regulars. Whether it's fear of the unknown (after all, WCW & New
Japan have only had a relationship for almost nine years) or fear of
someone shooting on Goldberg (something I can't see either Mutoh or
Chono doing) is unclear. The end result is that New Japan is left with
a match that will generate little interest in their marquee event.

UPDATED SURVIVOR SERIES CARD
Reported by Al Isaacs at: http://www.scoopswrestling.com
The updated (for now) Survivor Series PPV card for Sunday:

Stone Cold Steve Austin vs. The Rock vs. Triple H
(w/Vince McMahon as special guest referee)

Intercontinental Title Match: Chris Jericho vs. Chyna

Tag Team Titles: Mankind/Al Snow vs. The New Age Outlaws

Grudge Match: X-Pac vs. Kane

Kurt Angle vs. Sean Stasiak

Eight Man Elimination Match
The Hollys/Too Much vs. Edge/Christian/The Hardys

Eight Man Elimination Match
Prince Albert/Big Bossman/Viscera/Mideon vs.
Big Show/Taka Michinoku/Sho Funaki/Blue Meanie

Eight Man Elimination Match
Val Venis/Mark Henry/Gangrel/Steve Blackman vs. The British
Bulldog/Mean Street Posse

Eight Man Elimination Match
The Godfather/D'Lo Brown/The Headbangers vs.
The Acolytes/Dudley Boyz

One Fall - Sudden Death Match
Ivory/Jacqueline/Luna/Terri vs.
Tori/Debra/Fabulous Moolah/Mae Young
===========================================
DX/STEPHANIE MESSAGES
Written by reader: Tahzeeb Raouf (Tahzeeb.Raouf)

See, now I don't have as much problem with the Big Show-death angle as
I do have with the rape angle. Be honest, just for one second, wouldn't
it be a little worrying to you if your 9 year-old was going round
telling you and your missus to suck-it every-time he had a tantrum, and
then thinking it was cool what 3 of DX did to Stephanie. And you know
how kids love to emulate infamous scenes.

I'll never forget the number of times in "drama" at school (Junior
school, around 7yrs old), we used to do the Obi Wan Kenobi vs. Darth
Vader skit from Star Wars. And when we got too old of it, I'll never
forget cracking up watching two of the youngsters in the mosque one
day, doing the Hogan-Warrior scene, from a confrontation they had
before the match, where they did this criss-cross and double
clothesline. I remember the kids doing it, and immediately recognizing
what they were copying, hilarious!

Anyway, how many kids now think it's hilarious to kidnap some woman and
"pretend" to rape her. For that matter, how many kids now think it's
cool to tell all their friends that their dad is dead?

Doesn't it bother you just a wee bit?
Later,
Tahzeeb Raouf
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Tahzeeb,
Yes it does bother me. If I was a parent I would not allow my child to
watch wrestling at all; the messages are confusing enough that even
adults often can't sort them out.

Is it the WWF"s fault if a nine year old runs around yelling "Suck IT!"
(often not really knowing what it means)? I'm personally torn on the
question, especially since a lack of parental guidance does deserve
some of the liability. Censorship would be a cure worse than the
problem; it would be nice to see the WWF (and now WCW) regulate their
own product before Congress (or the FCC) decide to do it for them.
===========================================
INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY
Written by reader: Tim Wan (TWAN)

In regards to Russo bringing the same characters he created in the WWF
to WCW…

Steve is quite correct. Angles written by WWF writers are more than
likely WWF property. When writers are hired as employees, and fix their
ideas in a tangible manner (such as a script, or even just notes), the
works created in the scope of the employment are considered works for
hire.

For example, if a writer for "Friends" writes a script based on a
character, the character does not belong to them. The writer of
"Friends" does not own a copyright on the "Monica Gellar." In fact, the
writer does not even own the rights to the script that they have
written. They wouldn't even have the rights to the character if they
invented the character for the show. Similarly, I would doubt that
Vince McMahon's legal team would allow his bookers to work without
employee contracts.

As such, if Vince Russo were to create the Undertaker, and write-up the
angle, Vince Russo cannot use it anywhere else. The only instance where
a writer who works for a corporation, would own a character they have
written, is if the writer originated the character before they began
the employment. If Vince Russo, before he began working at WWF, came up
with a character, and then brought it to the WWF, and didn't sign the
rights over to the WWF, then, and ONLY then, can Vince Russo use his
ideas elsewhere.
- Tim Wan, intellectual property attorney-to-be
===========================================
RUSSO vs. RUSSO'S LEGACY
Written by reader: James Greene (JRGNYR)

Personally, I see Russo leaving the WWF as both a good and a bad thing.
It's not up to the WWF to move in a direction it sees fit. From my
point of view, I'd rather see the WWF revert back to some more
wrestling action, all the while keeping the storylines as an integral
part of their product.

To think that people watch wrestling for the angles and the angles only
(as some people seem to think) is outrageous. Recently John C. and Matt
Spence wrote a 5 part series on the Rise of the WWF. One of its main
points was that the WWF of 1997 utilized a near perfect formula:
intense wrestling with captivating storylines. The key is one has to
remain original with the storylines in order for it to work. I
wouldn't mind seeing some more 20-30 minute matches on RAW, because
nowadays that's becoming a novelty.

There are guys like Edge, Christian, Too Cool, Hardy Boyz, the Dudleyz,
Austin, Rock, Jericho, X Pac, and a few others who can wrestle, and if
you put them with interesting storylines, then you can make it work.
Frankly, I think that having an outrageous storyline and only pepper in
3 or 4 minute matches is counterproductive. I'd rather see two guys go
at it for 20 minutes and result in a DQ than just a 4 minute squash.

Russo, as the creative control behind WCW, is going to turn them into
what the WWF is/was during the last 18 months. I think the two should
switch. The WWF already has the larger fan base. They're going to
lose some to WCW because of Russo and Ferrera nonetheless. They should
take a step backwards and really think about what their federation
could do better. The WWF has the wrestling talent; they simply have to
use it.

I think that's why ECW is probably better than both of the Big 2. They
can combine storylines that are believable with pure wrestling that
garners the appreciation of the crowd. Hopefully ECW can rise to the
top and show the Big 2 a little bit about wrestling.
-James Greene
===========================================
FANTASY BOOKING (This will not be happening)
Written by reader: ABog316

Survivor Series
Kane pins X-Pac cleanly and gains the victory in their big match-up.

Afterwards, the rest of DX runs in and proceeds to completely destroy
Kane. They beat him unconscious and even cover him with gas. Before
lighting the match, though, they decide to rip off his mask and show
his face to the world.

That's when the arena lights go off and those familiar blue spotlights
appear. The Undertaker comes through the ring (dropping from the
ceiling would've been better, but that's a big no-no now) and clears DX
from the ring, thus reuniting the brothers once again and making the
two huge fan favorites.
===========================================
AL SNOW & HEAD
Written By reader: ViperV2

Head. What's the first thing that comes to mind when that word is
uttered? It depends on how old you are. To a child, say, anywhere from
6 to 10, possibly older, it's Al Snow's mannequin head (assuming they
watch the WWF). I mean,
come on now. Does a child really know the adult definition of head?
No, of course not -- unless someone has TOLD them.

This issue with Head is nonsense -- both the story about why it was
banned, and the supposed 'real reason' of why it should have been
banned in the first place. Grow up, people -- an average eight year old
doesn't know what oral sex is.
-RVC
===========================================
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

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