The Wrestling Booking Sheet online newsletter

Issue # 409

Date: Tuesday November 23rd, 1999 5:43 pm

The Wrestling Booking Sheet

RATINGS FOR MONDAY, 11/22/1999
Reported by Dave Scherer at: http://www.1wrestling.com
RAW NITRO
Composite: 5.5 3.4
1st Hour: n/a 3.7
2nd Hour: 5.5 3.2
3rd Hour: 5.5 3.4
RAW lost a substantial .08 of a rating point, while WCW rebounded up
.03 of a rating point. While the 11/15 RAW rating may have been
artificially high due to The Survivor Series, this decline will likely
alarm WWF officials (and increase the pressure Steve Austin is
receiving to return to television).
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
WEEKEND RATINGS
Reported by Dave Scherer at: http://www.1wrestling.com
ECW on TNN (11/19) 0.9
WWF Live Wire (11/20) 1.5
WCW Saturday Night (11/20) 1.5
WWF Superstars (11/21) 1.4
WWF Heat (11/21) 3.7
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
IN DEFENSE OF RUSSO & FERRARA
Written by reader: Brad Smoley (bsmoley)
In response to: "NITRO": Russo and Ferrara haven't turned the ratings
around overnight. Personally I think the only people who were
expecting them to were the people that were really hoping that they
wouldn't so that they could point their biased little fingers and go:
"See, see! Ferrara
And Russo didn't do a thing for the WWF and they won't for WCW, it was
really McMahon all along, see!"

That remains to be seen.

It took WWF TV months, and months, and months to even catch up to Nitro
in the ratings a few years ago when they were putting on fresh and
exciting shows while WCW was mired in constantly repetitive, not to
mention downright boring, "storylines". WWF was putting on the superior
show but WCW was on top. It happens.

Is it happening now? Is Nitro putting on the better show while Raw is
reaping ratings rewards? In a word, no. Being a fan of WCW as I am,
and wanting them to do well, I can honestly say that no, the show is
not better. It is plagued with production problems and a talent roster
not yet used to the "Crash TV" format that Vince and Ed created in the
WWF (it's impossible to "rip off" yourself, by the way). The show has a
long way to go. I am however willing to give them the benefit of the
doubt, to give them a chance to prove themselves before I condemn the
hiring of the new regime as being a bad move on the part of WCW.

That's the way it works in the real world. You don't hire someone on
November 1st and expect them to be "employee-of-the-month" by December.
You expect that they try their best to help your business fulfill it's
potential. That's what Russo and Ferrara were hired to do. That's what
they're trying to do.

With that said, I have to address this whole "ego feeding" idea that's
popped up lately about the boys from "up North". Their names are Ed
Ferrara & Vince Russo and nobody knows or cares but the people on the
internet. That's right, just "us". Almost nobody but our close nit
community of
"smarks" and "insiders" know who these guys really are. That's right,
just "us". Sure WCW has mentioned their names once or twice. Sure WCW
has mentioned that they came from some other promotion somewhere in the
area of
New York. Do you think anybody was paying enough attention to care but
"us"?

We care about who these guys are because we knew who they were ahead of
time. Other people only care if the people making the television shows
give them a reason to. All that most people are going to know is that
there are these "Powers That Be" in the back, running the show now that
Bischoff is gone. They slid into power after Sting "gave up the
presidency", and I doubt lots of "us" bothered to look at it from that
perspective. Sometimes we get too concerned about the inside angle to
look at the on-air one.

If Russo & Ferrara are trying to hog the spotlight for themselves, why
would they refer to themselves only as the "Powers That Be". If you
want a lesson in non-wrestler spotlight hogging look at Bischoff and
McMahon. Those two are masters of it. If the "Powers That Be" wanted
viewers to know who they really were they'd call themselves "Vince &
Ed" or something. It's only an "ego trip" when you get recognition, and
they aren't showcasing "Vince & Ed" out there.

Which brings me to the parody of J.R. I originally defended the
"Oklahoma" skit but now, honestly, I just want it to go away. I found
it entertaining at first, but it stopped being entertaining when it
stopped being fresh, and for me that was at the PPV. Whether or not it
was offensive is still a matter of personal opinion. The point however,
is that we're being subjected to the character "Oklahoma" not Ed
Ferrara, there's a difference.

The new WCW creative team is simply trying to get people to notice WCW
again -- to get people talking, the people on-line and more
importantly, the people off-line. They'll do it by taking cheap shots
and causing controversy. If that's the only way to get people to notice
a show that has the potential to be more entertaining than the show
that's on top, then so be it.

Hell, it worked for the WWF.
-Brad
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
WRESTLING EXPRESS
Written by reader: dxdog
The recent spate of wrestling controversy proves that nothing much is
happening at the minute. Right now there is so little news, and so
little development that everyone has taken to over-analyzing every
angle and every skit in every promotion.

The major talking points are The Big Show -Bossman cancer angle, the
possible retirement of Steve Austin, the "WWF's mediocrity", and, of
course, Ed Ferrara's parody of Jim Ross on dubba-c-dubba Nitro.

First of all, lest I be called insensitive, I've known people who've
died of cancer, friends and family. It's an awful illness. I've seen my
fair share of death, and I've seen the shocking effects of cancer. The
WWF storyline is just that - a storyline. It may have been in poor
taste, but it's also been entertaining. It's no different than recent
WWF soap opera storylines. Unlike most, though, it has had a pay-off.

Personally, I don't understand why everyone is up in arms. No one
objects to the racist angles in WCW, and few complain about the mass
stereotyping perpetrated by both
federations. Yet now, because someone took exception to this angle,
the bandwagon-jumpers follow suit.

Internet wrestling opinion is like that. It's 90% cloned, 10% original.
Many people are swayed by the views of the big sites. Truth is, most of
the guys working for the big sites are shills. They have different
agendas - usually to discredit the promotions they don't, and never
will, work for. Their veiled agendas don't sway me, nor should they
affect you, either. It's only propaganda.

The retirement of Steve Austin does seem to hold some validity, though.
For a while now, Austin has been wrestling under-par. Virtually
everyone has used his performances, and his alleged vetoing of matches,
as a reason to take shots at him. Suddenly, everything Austin has done
for the sport is brushed aside. The " Stone-Cold " momentum is casually
ignored, and those spreading propaganda cite him as egotistical, and
difficult to work with. How would they know? Few of those spreading the
rumors have even met him, much less worked with him.

No matter what you do in your life, no matter how nice you are to
people, there are always going to be people who have a poor opinion of
you. That's human nature, and a universal fact. If Austin has to hang
up the tights it'll be a sad day for wrestling. His accomplishments and
contribution in and to professional wrestling should never be
forgotten. Austin is entitled to an ego, and entitled to veto ideas.
After all, at least he's earned his position.

This decade, the WWF has lost three of its finest wrestlers – Shawn
Michaels, Bret Hart and now ( possibly ) Austin. That has left the
roster depleted. The significant lack of talent in depth did show at "
Survivor Series ". It wasn't a bad PPV, per se, but it wasn't
particularly memorable, either. It seemed very random, but wrestling
was at last given a proper chance to shine.

And it did. Chyna - Jericho was a fine match, and Too Cool and The
Hardy Boyz showed themselves to be excellent tag teams. Too Cool should
have a great future in the WWF - fingers crossed. Of course, Jericho
stole the show, proving the lying, attention-seeking " reporters " that
rumors of WWF unease with him are just that. I'm sure it's easy to
concoct rumors, but those who do it need to realize the effects of
their lies.

The WWF isn't perfect at the moment. Much about the product is
mediocre, and there are some bad decisions being made. If you've read
my recent columns, you'll know some of the problems I've had with WWF
decisions as of late. That said, the WWF as it stands currently, is A
LOT better than when Russo was at the helm..

Russo. The man is severely lacking in talent. I've said it before, and
I'll say it again. He's one of wrestling's biggest flukes. Anyone with
a brain could do a better job than Russo. How he managed to convince
WCW that he was the remedy to their problems is beyond me. He clearly
isn't.

Crash TV won't work for WCW. There's only one Vince that propelled the
WWF to the top - Vince Mc Mahon. Russo was just a right place, right
time kind of guy. The WWF was booming, so Russo's contribution looked
a lot more significant than it actually was. Peel back the layers, look
past the hype, and you'll see some of the most inane booking in
wrestling history. The WWF could have had a two-hour Rock interview on
Raw, and it still would have drawn higher ratings than Nitro. That's a
fact.

What Russo does is not genius. Granted, some of the skits he wrote in
the WWF were entertaining, but much of their success could be owed to
the talent saying the lines. I'm judging Russo on his contributions to
the product, so I'm not about to take personal shots at him.
Backstabbing his former employers, and betraying trust, does not
exactly paint a picture of a wonderful human being, though.

Russo's latest project has been parodying personalities, past and
present, from the WWF. The Outsiders' parody of Vince was harmless,
humorous, and no worse than previous parodies in the WWF. Why Russo
would do it to a man he considers a friend must be questioned, however.

Jim Ross is the latest victim of Russo's writing, and most people are
very upset by this. I'm sure Jim Ross was jarred by the portrayal, and
betrayal, but being so experienced he must have a thick skin. The guy
has been in wrestling for many years, and knows all the tricks of the
trade. In the past he's taken shots at WCW. WCW have taken shots at
him. Eric Bischoff tried to parody him, and again, everyone found it
tasteless. Onscreen, Jim Ross comes across as a very nice,
down-to-earth guy. Since that's all I've really got to go on, it would
be unfair to expand. He's a respected figure, and few people have a
serious problem with him. Fans know him as possibly (I don't want to
offend Joey Styles fans) the best play-by-play man currently in the
sport.

Whether his affability is just a gimmick is hard to say. Jeff Jarrett
was recently extremely critical of Ross, but then, Jarrett isn't
exactly shy when taking shots at his former employers, often distancing
himself from blame. Russo is clearly trying to goad the WWF into
retaliating. It's a simple ploy: offend the WWF until they respond, and
draw more attention to us. The WWF doesn't need to respond. If they
did, it would possibly drive curious fans to WCW. That's something they
can do without.

Russo is using the cheapest tactics to get a reaction, and when he
doesn't, and when his influence hasn't been a positive influence to
WCW, and the management, loyal as ever, decide to release him and his
lackeys, Russo will realize one thing: He's severed his ties with the
WWF.

And Jim Ross, as canny as he is, will realize one thing: Russo's career
is over.

That's a wrap for this week. Reach me by email.
DXdog (dxdog)
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
ADVERTISEMENT
Southern States Wrestling presents "Season's Beatings 99"
Sat. Nov. 27th, 8PM, Kingsport,TN, National Guard Armory

****** MAIN EVENT TURKEY RUMBLE ******
The Family: Beau James, K C Thunder, and Steve Flynn
vs. Death and Destruction and P.J. Sharp
*** TOP 10 SERIES ***
Ricky Harrison vs. Heinrich Franz Keller
*** SSW TITLE ***
Warmachine w/ PJ Sharp vs.Iron Cross
Plus 3 more matches

*** TV TAPING ***
Thurs. Dec. 2nd, Carver Park Rec Building, Johnson City, TN
**** Main Event- SSW TAG Titles ****
Death and Destruction vs. Rock n Roll
*** Appalachian Title ***
Chuck Jones w/The Duke of New York vs. "Handsome" Beau James

SSW on TV
Due to time and schedule, Eddie Fantastic's segment has been pushed
back a few weeks, but make sure you watch Sunday Nov. 28th at 2pM on
UPN 30 WAPK

Ratings
Champion- The Warmachine
1.Iron Cross
2.Chuck Jones (Appalachian Title)
3.Ricky Harrison
4.Jimmy Valiant
5.Heinrich Franz Keller
6.Steve Flynn
7.Frank Parker
8.Beau James
9.Mike Cooper
10.Rich Mansfeild

Tag Team Champions- Death & Destruction
1. Steve Flynn and Bam Bam Christian
2.Memphis Body Guards
3.Joe Fillers and Slammin Sam
4.Ricky Harrison and Jimmy Valiant
5. The Cooper Brothers

Upcoming Events
(All dates and line ups subject to change)
Sat. Nov. 27th, Nat'l Guard, Kingsport, TN
Thur. Dec. 2nd, Carver Rec., Johnson City, TN
Fri. Dec. 10th, Civic Center, Appalachia,VA
Sat. Dec. 11th, High School, Hurley,VA
Sat. Dec. 25th, Nat'l Guard, Kingsport,TN
Sat. Jan. 8th, Auditorium, Kingsport,TN
Sat. Jan. 15th, Carnes Gym, Big Stone Gap,VA

http://surf.to/ssw
http://surf.to/kingofkingsport
===========================================
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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