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Issue # 456
Date:
Sunday January 2nd, 2000 9:15 pm
The Wrestling Booking Sheet
WCW'S NEW COMMISSIONER
Reported by Chad Damiani at
http://www.WCW.com
Damiani has announced that
WCW will introduce
a new commissioner this
Monday night; the obvious
pick is Ric Flair.
Despite warnings that it may
be someone unexpected
in the post, Flair would be
the obvious pick; NITRO
will be in Greenville, SC,
the site of Flair's 8/98
emotional return to WCW
(still one of the greatest
moments in company history).
WCW.com released the
following statement regarding
the appointment:
"According to our sources,
the commissioner will
have absolute control over
every employee in the
company, including the
members of the nWo. Acting
as the law in WCW, this
official will have the
power to sign matches, dole
out punishment,
withhold titles and even fire
wrestlers without
question from the home
office."
Other names mentioned as
possibilities for the
role include Hulk Hogan,
Roddy Piper & Eric Bischoff.
On the 12/31 edition of WCW
LIVE, WCW official Bill
Banks promised that the fans
would be "happy when
they learn the identity of
the Commissioner" and he
specifically mentioned
Greenville as a factor.
If Flair is not the
Commissioner there are two
possibilities that would
work: Arn Anderson
(especially appointed in
Horseman country) or a
short-term appointment for
the injured Bill Goldberg.
If Flair is the one I would
hope that he will be
portrayed better than his
terrible reign during most
of 1999.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
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+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
A FACTOR IN ATTRACTING NEW
WCW FANS
Written by reader: Dani
Tahrawi (HBKxXxXx)
Once upon a time, at the end
of 1997, Vince McMahon
turned his rasslin' show into
a "Sports
Entertainment" program. Sure,
everybody knows that,
but before you get into
ratings, or why Vince Russo
is talking about 6 months for
improvement, everybody
needs to remember a few
things.
As soon as Vince McMahon
revamped his program and
introduced such personas as
Sunny, Sable, and
D-Generation X, something big
happened: McMahon
brought in NEW viewers, the
people that if asked
about wrestling would say
"yeah, Hulk Hogan is
like 100, right?"
Those people who then heard
about a "wrestling show
that has a lot of hot chicks
and stuff." What young
teenage male wouldn't want to
watch RAW IS WAR at
that time (and now)? What I'm
saying is that McMahon
attracted a NEW WAVE of
viewers with his sports
entertainment product. People
who if asked about WCW
would simply either say "I
don't watch it," or would
start talking about how
awesome the girls on RAW look.
How long did it take for
McMahon to bring in all those
new viewers? Hmmm, I would
say from the end of 97, to?
Well, the WWF didn't start
winning the ratings
consistently until August of
98! That's over 6 months!
Now, people need to
understand that those casual viewers
that McMahon attracted make
up the majority of the WWF
audience. So why don't they
switch the channel?
Because week in and week out
McMahon can deliver with
various "hoes" and groups
like D-Generation X. Since
1998 I'm 100% sure that I
haven't watched a single RAW
IS WAR with any one of my
parents. Am I pissed?
Absolutely not, business, is
business.
So for the past 2 years those
"casual viewers" that make
up the majority of the Monday
night audience haven't had
a reason to check out what
WCW is putting on. Nor did
they have a reason to check
what kind of show Eric
Bischoff put on when WCW was
still barely beating the
WWF in the ratings war.
Something else that the
"Internet geeks" need to
understand is that we make up
about 5% of the Monday
and Thursday night audience.
What difference are we
going to make? The trick is
attracting the viewers
that have been watching RAW
since it was totally
revamped and ENTIRELY NEW
viewers. I believe that if
the ratings war that took
place every Thursday just
involved the internet dorks,
the ratings would be
pretty much even; however,
that's not the case.
Keep in mind all the new fans
Vince McMahon attracted
all the way back in 97, fans
that didn't give a hoot
about wrestling or Vince
McMahon until RAW became the
raciest show on TV. From
personal experiences, I can
tell you that McMahon did
indeed attract fans that
didn't know the first thing
about wrestling.
In my school out of about 15
wrestling fans that I know
of, how many have the
internet? 15. How many of them
actually receive newsletters,
etc? 0. If I ask them
what they thought was better,
Nitro or RAW, they'll
simply say "Man WCW sucks,
it's a bunch of old geezers,
WWF rocks."
If I tell them WCW got Vince
McMahon's 2 top
storywriters that basically
made up Sports
Entertainment, they'll just
look at me with a confused
face, and continue talking
about RAW IS WAR. . .
In conclusion, I just want to
say that the "casual"
fans don't care about Vince
Russo, Eric Bischoff, or
Ted Turner. Vince Russo does
need ample time to get
WCW back into the ratings
because viewers just don't
come in overnight. Forget all
the crap about McMahon
"teaching Russo everything he
knows," and all that.
I'm 100% sure that of the
"casual fans" that have
stuck with the WWF since
their big turn in 97, at
least half of them would
switch the channels back and
forth on Mondays, and
Thursdays.
February 14th is a big night
because Nitro goes
unopposed. That is one way to
bring in "casual
viewers" or even new viewers.
Simple. Put on a
dirtier show than RAW IS WAR.
For the next few weeks,
or even months, I don't care
how good of a show Vince
Russo puts on; the key is not
getting Internet losers
like us to switch the
channel, it's about attracting
new viewers and past viewers
that haven't given a
damn about WCW for 2 years.
Forget the old fogies that
say "I like Nitro when it
was blah blah blah," it has
been proven: the majority
of wrestling audiences are
people under 27. . ."Get it?"
-Dani Tahrawi
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
THE RETURN OF HEROES
Written by reader: Jamie (JKASMULDER)
I am of a mind that the WWF
(for which I am a loyal
"mark") needs a "white-hat"
wrestler akin to the pre-
I-hate-the-US Bret Hart days.
You know, a wrestler
that is in the federation for
two reasons; respect
and the World Championship
Heavyweight Title. A
wrestler that is a true hero
without the tiresome and
somewhat preachy 80's style
Hulk Hogan type.
I bring this up in response
to everything I have been
reading of late, that the WWF
is lacking in heels.
That strikes me as funny
somewhat, because my
impression is that the WWF is
replete with heels.
Everyone cheats and no one
has much respect for the
title (with the possible
exception of Mankind on the
latter point).
However, they all desire the
title and they all do
whatever is necessary to get
it. It would be a great
counter to EVERYONE else in
the federation. I miss
Bret Hart for that reason. He
was that counter and
he added real spice to the
show in the manner I have
been discussing. In a way,
his role was usurped by
Shawn Michaels, who was being
pushed as a Bret Hart
style character in his
"boyhood" dream title reign.
But, if he was around now in
the WWF as the Bret Hart
I knew and loved, I think he
would be a phenomenon
(well, at least he would be
in the main event circle).
Now, don't get me wrong, I
love the WWF even without
my suggestions being taken to
heart (no pun intended),
but I really believe that the
return of Ken Shammrock
could easily bring, if the
WWF were of such a mind,
could bring the very type of
wrestler that I so crave.
Just a thought…
-Jamie
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
FIVE GOOD REASONS WHY BILL
BUSCH SHOULDN'T BE RUNNING WCW
Written by reader:
madspector
Five good reasons why Bill
Busch shouldn't be running WCW:
1. He's not a wrestling
person and it shows. No
professional wrestling
promotion has ever been
successful without someone
inside the profession at
the helm. This is critical
because a wrestling
minded president wouldn't
have made some of the
mistakes that Bill Busch has
made since the coup of
September in which his job
was virtually handed to
him. Some of those mistakes
are as follows:
2. Hiring Vince Russo and the
rest of his circus-
Plain and simple: Vince Russo
and Ed Ferrera are not
WCW, their styles doesn't fit
WCW or its core fans
and hiring them might not
have been the brainiest of
moves. Busch, like alot of
people, is under the
impression that what works in
the WWF should work in
WCW, in which case he might
want to check the address
on his pay check, it reads
World Championship
Wrestling and NOT Titan
Entertainment. Since he hasn't
a clue of what wrestling is
it was easy for him to be
lured into the fraudulent
Sports Entertainment myth,
hence the WWF/WCW hybrid that
used to be WCW.
3. Giving WAAAAAAAAY! too
much control to Vince and Ed.
Russo and Ferrara are the
BOOKERS, not the CEO not the
program mangers, not the
production managers and the
damn sure aren't the
President of the company. As the
bookers they should have some
role in these things but
the President of WCW should
be the only person in the
company with that type of
power. Bill Busch should be
calling the shots and taking
suggestions from each
division of WCW and not
completely turning the company
over to one division in
particular. But when you don't
know the craft that you have
been appointed in charge
of it's easy to give control
of it to someone else.
4. Giving away the third hour
of Nitro to the WWF- An
early candidate for "Ignorant
decision of the year"
honors is the move to
basically surrender the Monday
Night Wars to the
competition. This is a very bonehead
move in light of the fact
that WCW dominated the last
hour for 82 weeks and could
do so again with a
organized effort.
Another thing that makes this
a bad move is that in
giving up the last head to
head hour, casual fans, the
non-internet crowd (which is
the majority of wrestling
fans) might get the
impression that WCW has given up
and is retreating. It sends
out a message that WCW
doesn't have enough faith in
their product to put it
up against the WWF and if WCW
management doesn't have
the faith in their own show
why then should the fans
have any? Even less, why
should they watch?
WCW is at war, the ten
o'clock hour is 50% of the
battleground and you don't
give up that much of the
battleground unless you're
trying to lose. Vince and
Ed wanted to go head up with
Raw, but TNT didn't have
the programming to fill the
8:00 hour; once this was
the situation the President
of WCW should have turned
to Ed and Vince and said "we
tried...but we just can't
give up any more ground on
the WWF...we stay head to
head until TNT can find
something to put in that slot".
A real president would have
said this, someone who knew
the business would have said
this, but unfortunately
Bill Busch is none of the
above.
5. Lack of editorial and
creative input of the television
product. If WCW had a real
president that knew about
wrestling then things like
Norman Smiley being on TV in
a prominent role holding a
meaningless title when no one
cares about him or it in the
first place, or how about
the horrible long and drawn
out "block" matches?...or
Rhonda Singh even being on
WCW TV? These are things that
a true wrestling higher up
should be in control of.
Some of you might think that
I being to quick to judge
Bill Busch. In his defense
you will say that he has only
been in office since
September and that the company was
left in shambles by the
previous regime, which would be
a pretty weak point of
view...so I offer another way of
looking at it. Eric Bischoff
took a company that had
lost millions on an annual
basis, put it on the map and
turned it into a company that
made over $200 million in
revenue, yet after one bad
year in which most of the
promotions top talent was out
with injuries the vultures
couldn't wait to have his
job, why then should Bill Busch,
a man who has none of the
above mentioned accomplishments
be give any more time?
+++++++++++++++++++
Steve Appy responds:
I would agree with WCW on the
decision to scale NITRO
back to the 8:00-10:00 time
slot. Does it give the WWF a
clear shot at scoring 8.0
ratings very soon? Yes, and it
doesn't matter.
NITRO is not on a competitive
level with RAW and their
primary goal has to be
maximizing revenue (and interest)
in their own product, not in
fighting a losing war with
the WWF. WCW's television
will be that much more
compelling and won't be quite
as overexposed with the
8:00-10:00 timeslot, which is
much more important than
limiting the WWF's success.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
WRESTLING & THE CRITIQUES
Written by reader: Thomas
Guttenberg (tgutefunk)
I agree with Heather that
some of the "internet fans"
are taking things a little
too seriously. I've only
been getting these
newsletters for a few weeks but
some things have become
clear.
It is laughable to me that
the consensus in cyberspace
is that the Rock's phrases
are dead and overused yet
they are getting bigger
reactions from the crowd than
they ever have.
I think the main thing to
keep in mind is that not
every person watching
wrestling has been watching it
since they were knee-high to
a grasshopper. Not every
person watching wrestling
watches Raw and tapes Nitro
(or vice-versa). If the
average person thinks "hey, I
heard wrestling is pretty big
now, I think I'll check
it out" or "I haven't watched
wrestling since the
eighties, I wonder what's
going on," within a week or
two you know exactly who the
main players are and what
their gimmicks are (If the
show is written well, WWF
more so than WCW).
If the WWF seems repetitive
and slow right now it's
because they want every fan
to be caught up on the
story leading into the Royal
Rumble and Wrestlemania.
If it's true that Vince,
Shane, Undertaker, and Taz
are all coming out on RAW is
WAR tomorrow (Jan. 3),
don't expect more than one
story from each for about
a month. Remember about a
year ago how long it took
to establish that the
Undertaker was forming a Ministry
of Death? If the story
changes every week so much that
you can't remember who the
good guys are and who the bad
guys are (::cough
cough::....WCW) how can you expect to
have any fan loyalty?
People will keep criticizing
the WWF, and that is fine,
since pro wrestling is
supposed to have a dynamic
relationship with the fans.
Just be glad that it isn't
like just a few years ago,
before the ratings wars that
the show was the guy we've
heard of against some fool
using his real name, and the
other half was just promos
for the next PPV.
--Tom
"If you can't say anything
entertaining, don't say
anything at all" --Y2J to
Boss Man
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
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+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
THE STATE OF THE WWF
Written by reader:
Ina0325
I have to tell you as a
longtime WWF fan, I miss the
"old WWF". It is bad enough
that Shawn Michaels left,
now Stone Cold & The
Undertaker are injured, Vince is
on vacation and God only
knows where Shane went. I don't
know that I can handle one
more Monday night episode of
Raw with DX and HHH in
charge.
Please someone rewind us back
to the good old days. If
I have to watch one more
Monday Night Raw with things
the way they are then I may
have to switch to something
else- I did for the first
time last week, I watched WCW
and it wasn't too bad! WWF
may send some of its viewers
to other networks if it isn't
careful. This isn't a
threat, mind you, just
letting you know that HHH is not
who I want to see "Large and
In Charge" of the WWF.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
FANTASY BOOKING
(This obviously will not
actually occur and should be
treated as parody)
Written by reader: Jay S. (jsartell)
I for one would love to see a
WWF vs. All Japan PPV;
here is how "Revenge in the
Rising Sun" would go:
At the beginning of the event
Mick Foley announces
that he decided to leave the
WWF and join All Japan
and challenges Big Show for
the WWF title in the
second of 2 main events of
the evening as we get
under way…
Val Venis makes on open
challenge to anyone with the
"Rising Suns" big enough to
face the "Big Valboski"
.......half way through
Venis' interview, Vader
storms the ring and
Powerbombs Venis repeatedly
until the ring collapses into
a heap........
the crowd goes
insane................
Chris Jericho vs. Mossman
y2 Jericho faces Mossman and
loses when Chyna runs to
ringside and gets mauled by
All Japan's Women's
Champion Yumikahotta (not
affiliated with All Japan
itself). The beating is so
devastating that Chyna
requires more plastic surgery
than she has already
received while in the WWF.
Among the many injuries
she sustains are two deflated
silicone tits. While
Jericho is enjoying Chyna's
beating Mossman cradles
him for the pin. Jericho is
enraged and beats
Mossman viciously and leaves
the ring after a
Moonsault from the top.
New Age Outlaws vs.
Kawada/Kobashi
NOA appears and attempts to
do their ring introduction;
half way through it, Mick
Foley (who has come back as
Cactus jack) wielding a barb
wire baseball bat chases
them up the aisle and in to
the ring where they are
confronted by Kawada &
Kobashi. The match turns out
to be the shortest in All
Japan history because after
watching the Road Dogg get
tossed around the ring
like a wet noodle and dropped
on his head repeatedly,
Mr. Candy Ass runs from the
ring crying. Halfway up
the aisle he runs into Bart
Gunn, who gives him a
running Powerbomb on the
ramp, breaking his back and
retiring him from wrestling.
It is such a squash that
they have to add another
match to the card....in that
match...
X-Pac vs. Ogawa
X-Pac faces Ogawa; Ogawa
suplexes X-Pac so many times
that X-Pac can't even stand
to continue. Ogawa however
refuses to pin X-Pac;
officials from the WWF run to the
ring to have the match
stopped for X-Pac's safety.......
Godfather vs. Akiyama
The Godfather gets killed
(yes, I mean he dies in the
ring) after Akiyama gives him
the most devastating ass
kicking ever seen in Japan.
Akiyama does every move
ever invented in wrestling
and after a cradle Piledriver,
the Godfather flops like a
fish out of water and dies
while the ho's are all sold
to the Japaneese Yakuza
ringside.........
Acolytes vs. Johnny Ace/Bart
Gunn
In the only high spot of the
evening for the WWF the
Acolytes beat Johnny Ace &
Bart Gunn after a 45 minute
brawl when Farooq Powerslams
Gunn from the top rope to
the floor and Bradshaw throws
him in the ring for the
pin.
At this point the lights go
out and The Rock's music comes
On; when the lights come on,
The Rock is getting destroyed
on the ramp by Cactus Jack
and his barbed wire bat
"Smacko". Cactus smashes The
Rock in the back of the head
with "Smacko" and while he is
on the ramp bleeding, grabs
the mike and says "This is
what the Jack is cooking".
Cactus wraps barbed wire
around The Rocks head and hangs
him from the ramp; The Rock
falls to the fans below, who chant
"Cactoos...Cactoos"......
Triple H vs. Misawa (for the
Triple Crown)
In the first half of the main
event, Misawa completely
destroys that no-talent idiot
Triple H after dropping him
on his head and giving him a
lesson on taking bumps.
After his nose is broken in
15 places he is unable to
continue........
The Big Show vs. Cactus Jack
vs. The Rock
In the main event Cactus Jack
takes on The Big Show for
the WWF World Title; just
prior to the match up, officials
announce that it is now a
Triple Threat title match with
The Rock vs. Big Show vs.
Cactus. Cactus Jack arrives in
the ring and pummels the Big
Show and The Rock with a
barbed wire baseball bat.
After the two are rendered
unconscious Cactus Jack is
declared the WWF World Champion;
at this point the arena
erupts with the sound of broken
glass and Stone Cold's music
plays and he storms the ring
only to be crunched by Dr.
Death Steve Williams, who spears
him as he storms the ring.
He then gives Stone Cold a
DVD Driver, rendering him
unconscious; Cactus (wearing
the WWF gold and stepping on
Big Show's head) and the Doc
drink Stone Cold's beers as we
go off the air.
At the conclusion of the PPV,
appropriately titled "Revenge
In the Rising Sun", WWF
officials announce that they will
have to cancel all dates for
the next 30 days while the
wrestlers heel from the
numerous injuries sustained at the
hands of the All Japan
wrestlers.......
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
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===========================================
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
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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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