July 22, 1996
- In 1986, WWF set an all-time attendance record for wrestling in Toronto for a show headlined by Hogan vs. Paul Orndorff. That show drew 69,300 fans. Now, 10 years later, they're returning with a house show called WWF X Press (the X to signify 10 years since the last show) to the same stadium next month. It's expected to be the WWF's biggest house show of the year and will be headlined by Shawn Michaels vs. Goldust in a ladder match for the title. It's a sold show (meaning WWF has already been paid for it) and will take place as part of the CNE Fair in Toronto so it's expected to draw another large crowd, though nowhere as big as the last show (Dave had the name wrong. It was called WWF Xperience. And it ended up drawing a little over 20,000 people which was still huge for 1996. There's a lot of confusion because, to this day, people think this was some sort of iPPV or something that was broadcast on the internet. But it wasn't. It was never broadcast anywhere. Just a big house show).
- AAA has been doing a more hardcore, ECW-like style recently and it's working in the short-term. But it's beginning to have diminishing returns, with fans leaving during the shows and the quality of matches declining. By the time the main events roll around, most of the real wrestling fans have left and all that remains are bloodthirsty crowds who throw stuff at the ring and are dangerously unruly, putting themselves and the wrestlers in danger. Dave talks about a show that was held in a bullfighting arena, with a dirt floor, so crowds were throwing rocks, pebbles, and cups of dirt at everybody.
- Once again, ECW drew the biggest crowd in its history to the ECW Arena for Heatwave 96, packing in nearly 1,600 fans into the tiny building, to the point where people could barely move. This was the show that had Raven handcuffed to a cage while Tommy Dreamer just destroyed him with a chairshot. Also of note, 911 returned to the promotion after leaving a few months ago because he refused to put over Taz. This time, he came in and choke slammed Taz, only to have Taz immediately no-sell it and choke him out. This was likely punishment for 911's refusal to put him over last time and probably the only way Heyman would agree to let him return (Hardcore TV episode 171 on the WWE Network for the Taz/911 stuff. Here's the chairshot):
- Bret and Owen Hart's 13-year-old nephew Matthew passed away this week after being hospitalized for 11 days with a streptococcus infection that ate away all his vital organs. WWF gave Davey Boy Smith and Owen Hart time off to go be with him and Bret Hart returned early from an anniversary weekend vacation with his wife to all be by the child's side. (Bonus fact: when Bret eventually returns to WWF later this year, in November I think, he cuts a promo where he talks about this kid).
- WCW was interested in bringing in AAA star La Parka, but they felt American fans wouldn't like his costume or his comedy act, so they decided against it. They did make him an offer to sign with WCW without the La Parka gimmick, but he turned them down (of course he ends up in WCW before the year is over, but can you imagine?! They thought we wouldn't like La Parka!).
- After Weekly Pro Wrestling magazine editor Tarzan Yamamoto stepped down a couple of weeks ago, he claimed he was doing so because wrestling journalism is dead. But the real story is that they had issues with New Japan and Yamamoto was pretty much forced out. Many people within the industry were happy about it because Yamamoto has a lot of enemies that were happy to see him lose his war with New Japan, but they're also wary because they feel it gives NJPW a dangerous amount of power to bully and control the media.
- There was a show in Japan called the Martial Arts Festival at Korakuen Hall that featured a UFC-style match between Koji Kitao vs. Glen Jacobs (Isaac Yankem from the WWF). Kitao won with a sleeper in 3:27. It was designed to look like a shoot but the match was clearly a work, designed to help Kitao get over since his rep has taken a beating after losing a couple of real shoot matches recently (can't find any video of this one).
- Ahmed Johnson was scheduled to work a USWA show, but he had to miss it because WWF needed him to stay an extra day in Connecticut to film an angle to explain Ultimate Warrior's absence where Sid is brought in to replace him, due to Warrior's suspension.
- Inside Edition was at the recent ECW Heatwave 96 show, filming a segment that will air later this year.
- On Nitro, Hulk Hogan made his first appearance since turning heel and cut a promo and was once again pelted by debris from the crowd. In his promo, he said that Randy Savage blamed him for his marriage to Elizabeth falling apart (which is true, he did) but Hogan says Savage simply couldn't rise to the occasion.
- At the latest WCW World Wide tapings at Disney, Chavo Guerrero Jr. debuted, teaming with his uncle Eddie and looked good. Billy Kidman also has been working the shows and Dave says he has a lot of potential.
- Still no sign of the Blood Runs Cold/Glacier character(s). They were scheduled to debut this month.
- Depositions have begun in the WWF/WCW lawsuit stemming from the debuts of Hall and Nash and WCW implying that they were part of a WWF invasion.
- Still no change on the status of Ultimate Warrior. The two sides have spoken but nothing has been agreed to. WWF wants Warrior to post a bond of $250,000 which they will keep if he no-shows another event and will return to him at the end of his contract. Warrior made a statement online saying, "If resolving my personal issues and protecting the way I chose to believe puts me in the WWF dog house as stated on the money-making 1-900 line, then so be it. Bow-wow and kiss my ass. Always believe."
- Lots of people in WWF are unhappy about the Ultimate Warrior situation because they feel like he has done this before, only to return and get pushed to the moon. They also say the same about Sid, with many of the wrestlers feeling it's unfair that these relatively untalented guys repeatedly burn the company and walk out or get fired, only to return and get pushed to the top ahead of all the other, better workers who stay out of trouble.
- Kevin Kelly debuted on WWF TV, doing commentary for the Superstars taping with Jim Ross.
- Speaking of Sid, he's been working very carefully because of the neck injury he suffered last year and is afraid to get hurt again or take bumps, which is why he's been doing so many quick 1-minute squashes.
- WWF sent Davey Boy Smith a new 5-year contract but he hasn't signed it yet. Vince McMahon is reportedly making an effort to lock in as many top guys as he can into 5-year deals because he doesn't want another Hall/Nash situation with people jumping to WCW.
- 1-2-3 Kid was given his release this week and is expected to join WCW soon as part of the NWO.
- Some guy writes in and just rips Dave a new asshole because he didn't agree with Dave's recent review of a Sabu/RVD match in ECW. It's a slow news week, so let's just read this guy's entire letter, shall we?
- I recently read your description of the first Sabu-Rob Van Dam match in ECW and all I can say is, what the hell is your problem? In my opinion, and that of just about everybody who saw it, the match was amazing and one of the three best matches in this country thus far this year.
- You said the match had only one element and went on to say there were tons of missed spots, no intensity and no believability. Is this really how you saw this match? This is one of the most asinine descriptions I've ever read and I feel that it embarrassed you as a writer, embarrassed your publication and embarrassed every one of your subscribers. The match I saw on TV was 20 minutes of amazing intensity with the crowd going crazy for every move and the guys selling every single move like they were dead. The intensity was unmatched by any match I've seen in this country for five years. Tons of missed spots? I saw one missed clothesline by Sabu, and it still grazed Van Dam's head. Other than that, the match was nearly flawless. They did hundreds of crazy spots and connected amazingly on every single one of them. What match were you watching? No believability? When I see them fighting on a table without it giving way but then I see Sabu fly through it, I believe that it really hurt. When I see them nailing each other with stiff kicks and punches, pulling out every move in their respective arsenal and nailing each other hard with chairs, it looks a lot more believable than anything else I can imagine.
- What are you expecting from a worked match to be believable? When I watch a worked match with Rey Misterio Jr. and Psicosis, I love every minute of it even though I realize that nothing they do would actually be possible in a shoot. That style of match is not believable on any level. But I love it and you love it. So why blast Sabu and Van Dam for not having believable, intense matches but praise Misterio Jr. and Psicosis?
- You also said they resembled the Sabu imitators that have no clue how to work a match. Your description totally lacked validity. I've seen El Puerto Ricano, Devon Storm and all the other Sabu imitators and none of them has ever worked a match the calibre of what Sabu and Van Dam did.
- Then you said the match looked as fake as a prelim match with green indie guys. Explain this ridiculous and stupid statement. They worked their asses off. They bent chairs. They broke tables. They dropped each other on their heads. They dropped each other on the floor. They did daredevil flips and leaps into the crowd and never stopped the entire match. They even mixed in some good solid mat wrestling, power moves and submission moves.
- Finally you said that the majority of the wrestlers in WWF and WCW would see this match and think it was terrible. What right would Shark have to watch this match and say it was awful? Or Duggan? Or Hogan? Or Meng? Or Yokozuna? Or Undertaker? None of these men have worked a decent match in the last ten years and some in their entire career. The talent roster of WWF and WCW would have no right criticizing this match because they all wish they could put on the kind of performance Sabu and Van Dam did. When has a crowd ever watched a match with Big Bubba and cared? So if he watched the match, saw the crowd chanting both men's name and the name of the promotion and say they aren't any better than me? That's bull.
- Lastly, I have a couple of comments for Steven Grant. He said that ECW is about as real as Bushwhackers matches. When I see Sandman and Pit Bull #2 take chair shots to the head that bend the chair without putting so much as a hand up, I believe it. When I see Sandman put welts on jobbers' backs with a cane, I really he is really destroying them because I can see the damage. In ECW, guys legitimately get metal chairs bent over their heads, get put through thick tables, bend metal guard rails with their bodies and have the most believable looking brawls I've ever seen when I see someone run to the ring with a garbage pail full of weapons and beat the hell out of whomever is in front of them. I've never seen wrestling as believable looking as ECW in this country. Why don't you ask Brian Lee to throw you off the upper stage or choke slam you through two tables, or ask Sabu to DDT you through a table and see if it's believable?
- ECW is the best wrestling I've ever seen in this country and I've been a fan for about 12 years. It amazes me how people try and downgrade the greatness of ECW just because they aren't as big as the two garbage wrestling promotions that I'm forced to watch every Monday night and forced to read about the next Monday. The next time you watch ECW TV, please remove your head from your ass before reviewing the matches and give a fair and unbiased opinion to the readers of your publication and try and regain your now lost credibility.
- Andrew Kessler
- Brooklyn, New York