March 10, 1997
- The final lineup for Wrestlemania 13 has been announced. The original plan of Ahmed Johnson vs. Faarooq singles match in a Chicago Street Fight match has been changed to a 6-man match with Johnson teaming up with the Legion of Doom going against the 3 main Nation of Domination members. And there has been talk of adding an AAA match to the show but if they do, it will likely end up on the pre-show (they didn't). The arena is almost sold out and it will probably be the biggest gate of the year but there's still a lack of momentum going into the show and Dave suspects the buyrate will probably be the lowest of any Wrestlemania ever. Shawn Michaels taking himself out of the picture at the worst time has really wrecked the momentum of the show and forced some plans to change.
- All Japan referee Joe Higuchi has announced his retirement at 68 years old. Dave says Higuchi is probably the most famous wrestling referee in the world, aside from Johnny "Red Shoes" Dugan, who was a legendary referee in the 60s-80s (in fact, current NJPW referee Red Shoes uses that gimmick in tribute to Johnny Dugan). Anyway, Joe Higuchi has been there from the start and even helped Giant Baba create AJPW in 1972 and his backstage duties went far beyond his referee job. Haguchi even worked as a wrestler in the 1950s for Rikidozan so he dates back pretty much to the earliest days of pro wrestling in Japan. When Higuchi announced his retirement, many in the crowd began to cry and even Giant Baba at ringside during the match was shedding tears.
- The biggest talk in wrestling and especially within UFC this week is about Ken Shamrock signing with WWF. While some have accused Shamrock of quitting MMA because he's ducking Mark Coleman or that he's injury prone, the fact is it's just an economic situation. Shamrock isn't getting any younger and had been eyeing a transition to pro wrestling in order to make as much money as he can while he still can. This is the same reason Shamrock chose WWF over NJPW. He has a much better chance of success in NJPW, but WWF simply offered more money. Dave talks about the challenges of getting Shamrock over to American audiences and says WWF will basically need to educate fans on submissions and treat Shamrock as the master of a more realistic, mat-based style of wrestling and that won't happen overnight. As for those within the business, a lot of people in WWF have told Dave that they think Shamrock should be pushed to the moon and made the champion immediately because of his legit credibility and think that his fame outside of wrestling will transition to stardom in wrestling. Dave disagrees, pointing out how NFL players like Lawrence Taylor and Steve McMichael have done pro wrestling (and who are much bigger mainstream stars than Shamrock) but it never really led to increased ratings or buyrates. And if NFL stars can't move the needle, a UFC guy isn't going to either. And in related news, NJPW is in a tough spot because everyone realizes they made a huge mistake by announcing the Shamrock vs. Hashimoto match before it was signed. Now they have a Tokyo Dome show scheduled next month without the advertised main event everyone wanted to see, and whatever they come up with to replace it will certainly seem second-rate by comparison.
- Ted Turner was expected to appear on Nitro to fire Eric Bischoff but at the last minute he decided he didn't want to do a wrestling angle and so they got Harvey Schiller, who runs TBS Sports, to do the angle instead. But by the second hour of the show, they already pretty much ignored the angle and were proceeding as usual. Bischoff still hopes to get Turner to appear on the show soon.
- Meanwhile, Raw featured the best match on TV from either company since the Monday night wars began, with British Bulldog beating Owen Hart to win the near European title. Dave gives it 4.5 stars and calls it one of the best matches of the year so far and if it had been held on PPV with a better crowd atmosphere, it would have been even better. The plan for the European title is for it to be treated as another secondary belt similar to the IC title and it will be defended regularly in the U.S. and on PPVs. It's the first new title WWF has created since the IC title in 1979.
- The ECW angle is expected to continue on Raw this week, which surprised even Paul Heyman because you'd think WWF would be focusing on promoting Wrestlemania rather than ECW right now. Many in WWF thought the ECW angle last week was a waste and aren't happy about it. Backstage, everyone was professional and even Jim Cornette grudgingly shook hands with Heyman. Bret Hart, who has long hated ECW, ripped on them in his Calgary Sun newspaper column, saying, "...to call ECW second rate isn't accurate because to me, it doesn't even rate. It is interesting ECW wants to be on Raw. ECW cult guru, Paul E. Dangerously (Paul Heyman) has brainwashed his followers into believing ECW is a rebel group that won't dilute the extreme nature of its style to conform to TV censors or arena administrators. While this philosophy has cultivated ECW's loyal following in their home area, it has kept them from expanding into other venues and limited them to poor TV time slots in only a few markets. It is not surprising Heyman is now trying to convince the cable companies his product is similar to WWF and WCW. What better way to show them that ECW has the WWF's stamp of approval than to be on Raw. The style of ECW matches on Raw was changed to make them acceptable to censors and fans. You'd think ECW followers would be outraged the ECW matches on Raw weren't hardcore. You'd think they'd turn on Paul E. for selling out everything he has been preaching to them. Instead, they all waved at the cameras."
- As for the rumors about WWF having a financial stake in ECW, Paul Heyman has flatly denied it. Many within the business don't believe it, but nobody has any proof. But with so much WWF airtime being devoted to the ECW PPV, it would be crazy if they didn't have some sort of financial interest in making sure it succeeds. Dave wonders what the end game is. Promotion vs. promotion angles almost always work but that doesn't seem to be the direction they're headed. An ECW vs. WWF feud would probably do big business for both of them in the short term. Long-term, who knows. ECW might not want to lay down for the WWF guys and fortunately for Paul Heyman, ECW is stable and strong enough right now that they don't need WWF so you'd probably run into a situation where neither company would want to come out on the losing end of an angle like that.
- Antonio Inoki is planning to hold another World Wrestling Peace Festival inter-promotional show in June in Mexico. The plan is for most of the matches to be made up of Japanese stars vs. Mexican stars so probably no WWF or WCW involvement.
- In AAA, they're doing an angle with the WWF wrestlers (fake-Razor, fake-Diesel, and Pierroth Jr.) where they're called the MWO (Mexican World Order). It's getting major heat because fake Razor and Diesel are pretending to be Mexican.
- Hayabusa is scheduled to work an upcoming All Japan show. Giant Baba announced that other FMW wrestlers may appear on AJPW shows in the future but no AJPW stars will be working FMW shows. Seems Baba thinks all that FMW-style garbage wrestling is beneath his guys.
- The most likely replacement for Ken Shamrock in the NJPW match against Shinya Hashimoto at the Tokyo Dome is Naoya Ogawa, who is a former 3-time judo world champion and just signed with NJPW this week. Ogawa was expected to debut at the Dome show but now it looks like he may debut in the main event (yup, that's what happened, and Ogawa/Hashimoto went on to become one of the most legendary feuds in NJPW history).
- Coincidentally, after just discussing all the various owners of NJPW last week, it came out this week that Rupert Murdoch has cut ties with TV- Asahi. So if WCW and Turner were interested in purchasing NJPW, that means the biggest roadblock (Murdoch's feud with Turner) is no longer in the way. But word is NJPW still doesn't have any interest in selling the company.
- In ECW, the Dudleys (Bubba Ray and D-Von) are getting a major push in order to solidify them as a top tag team. The plan is for them to face The Eliminators for the tag titles at the ECW PPV.
- The latest on the Billy Jack Haynes/Matt Borne radio show drama from last week is that Haynes has pretty much disappeared and stopped showing up to do his radio show. Word is Haynes is desperate for money and that's why he challenged Borne to a $10,000 shoot fight, because he hoped Borne would accept and he could win some quick money. Haynes has also talked to doing a tell-all book about the wrestling business in order to get some cash (this comes up again later in a few months but basically, Haynes apparently had a lot of gambling debts and owed some money to some bad people. Sounds like he was trying to come up with money to avoid getting his kneecaps broken so he went into hiding for awhile).
- Konnan was booked to work an indie show in California this week but was banged up in a car accident, so he sent Rey Mysterio to work the show instead. The problem was, the promoter wasn't sure if Mysterio was going to show up, so he booked some other local wrestlers to work the show instead. Mysterio ended up showing up late to the show, with only about 2 matches left, and the promoter decided not to use him. There was a bunch of drama over it backstage because they had the most spectacular wrestler in the world backstage ready to work their little podunk indie show and the promoter didn't want to use him. Someone also reportedly told Mysterio to pack his bags and go back to Mexico, which he took as a racist insult. In the end, Mysterio walked out and Konnan has said he will no longer let any of his Promo Azteca wrestlers work shows where that promoter is involved.
- Los Angeles Dodgers baseball player Hideo Nomo grew up as a wrestling fan in Japan. When asked his favorite American wrestlers he listed the Funks, Stan Hansen, Bruiser Brody, and Dusty Rhodes as his favorites, all of whom of course are big names in Japan, especially the Funks and Hansen.
- New York governor George Pataki signed the bill banning MMA in the state of New York this week.
- On Nitro, when Steve McMichael was hit in the head with a briefcase, he was legit busted open hardway. It was a wicked shot.
- It's expected that WCW will shoot some sort of angle with Dennis Rodman to get him involved in the Uncensored PPV.
- Chris Kanyon debuted at shows this week doing the Mortis gimmick, which is basically Glacier but weirder. He will be managed by former SMW manager Darryl Van Horn (aka Sinister Minister).
- More heat between EMLL and Promo Azteca over both of their relationships with WCW. Konnan and the PA guys were pissed that Bischoff negotiated a working agreement with EMLL, who they see as their rival. The EMLL guys were pissed because Scott Hall and Syxx wore Promo Azteca t-shirts on TV at the PPV and felt it was done as a shot against them. But for now, WCW has working deals with both of them.
- The latest issue of Playboy Nude Celebrities has several pages featuring Kimberly Page in various stages of nudity and Diamond Dallas Page is in some of the photos also (I'm at work right now so, umm, google is your friend).
- Hulk Hogan has 2 upcoming movies, one called Hardball and another called Ultimate Weapon (I can't find anything on Hardball, no idea what that ended up being, but here's the trailer for Ultimate Weapon).
- Marc Mero had knee surgery this week and will be out for 6-8 months.
- Joanie Lee, the bodybuilder woman who is working as Hunter Hearst Helmsley's valet will likely be going by the name "China."
- Brian Pillman has been hitting the ropes and working out in a ring for the first time since his car accident almost a year ago and is close to being ready to return.
- Former bodybuilder-turned-WWF-wrestler Achim Albrecht was interviewed in a magazine recently and said he was tired of the bodybuilding scene and wanted to become a wrestler. He mentioned it to Ed Connors (the guy who runs the Gold's Gym chain) and Connors put Albrecht in touch with Shane McMahon, who arranged for him to meet Vince, who pretty much hired him on the spot (gee, wonder why). Albrecht said he has had 3 surprise drug tests since joining WWF.