December 29, 1997
- This is it for 1997. I'm taking a 2-week break to recharge and hopefully finish up the 1998 issues. I'll be back to posting them on Nov. 6th and it will be every Mon/Wed/Fri instead of 5-days a week. Thanks for reading! Fuck Roman.
- Dave has a lot more info on the near riots that took place at WWF house shows in Memphis and Little Rock, along with the fans ruining the angle at the end of last week's Nitro. He also talks about how this seems to be a growing trend that has been festering in WWF, WCW and of course, ECW for awhile now. The wrestling business right now is hotter than its been in years due to the new direction the industry has taken but it's attracting a more unruly fanbase instead of the average parent taking his kids to a show crowd. With top stars like Austin, Michaels, Hall and Nash getting over by defying authority, it seems to have carried over to crowds. Dave recognizes that crowds are out of control but he says there's things the promotions can do to stop it. Don't encourage fans jumping the barricade by making angles of it (which both WWF and WCW have done recently), go to commercial or cut away when fans throw things so as to not glorify it on TV, threaten to stop the show if fans start getting out of hand, don't have wrestlers encourage the behavior (looking at you, Shawn), and so on and so forth.
- At the Little Rock show, the problems started early. Legendary wrestler Danny Hodge was there to receive an award (no reason, WWF just felt like honoring him that night and he was available) and Shawn Michaels talked the agents into letting him present the award, despite being the most hated heel in the company. They went out to the ring and Shawn became target practice for the crowd (with Hodge standing next to him), and it was a total embarrassment for the company. Later in the show, when DX came out, they all got pelted with stuff to the point Chyna was hurt and HHH got hit in the eye with something, which led to Shawn calling off the match and DX going backstage and refusing to come back out. It eventually led to a riot inside and outside the building with police using tear gas to quell it. Fans also surrounded a car with Flash Funk and Kama in it and began pounding on the car. Funk and Kama got out, ready to fight but some other wrestlers broke it up and everybody got back in their cars and left. Shawn, HHH and Chyna needed a police escort to get out of the parking lot. All total, police arrested 13 people on various charges. As for Memphis, WWF blamed the incident on fans not being searched when entering the building, and a lot of people were able to sneak in alcohol in glass bottles, which they later threw at the ring.
- UFC's Japan show took place, without the Ken Shamrock vs. Nobuhiko Takada match they had hoped for. Dave recaps the drama and controversy surrounding the show in exhaustive detail, allegations and suspicions of some of the fights being worked, and details all the issues UFC is facing as a company right now. Not Wrestling TL;DR: things look bad for UFC.
- The idea of the NWO getting their own show on either Monday or Thursday is now in danger. Last week on Nitro, the NWO "took over" Nitro, tearing down all the WCW set, putting up NWO banners and had new graphics, new lighting, etc. The result: ratings dropped like a rock and WWF came dangerously close to ending WCW's winning streak. Fans switched over to Raw in droves the moment Nitro became the NWO show and they never switched back. Between that and the utter failure of the NWO Souled Out PPV this year, it's causing a lot of second guessing about the idea of giving the NWO their own show.
- Dave gives 5 stars to the AJPW tag tournament finals between Toshiaki Kawada & Akira Taue vs. Mitsuharu Misawa & Jun Akiyama and says it's the usual Match of the Year quality match that AJPW seems to have every December that misses the cut-off date for the 1997 voting and usually ends up forgotten by the time voting rolls around next year.
- ECW and FMW in Japan have formed somewhat of an alliance and will be sending each others' wrestlers to work shows. Paul Heyman was particularly impressed with Masato Tanaka, who Dave says is one of the most underrated wrestlers in the biz right now. Heyman and Onita are also discussing plans to get one of Onita's famous exploding ring barbed wire matches to happen in the U.S., but Heyman doesn't think he'll be able to do it on PPV given all the concerns the PPV providers have with ECW's content already. But he's hoping to try to put together an outdoor show in August to do it, but it won't air on PPV.
- Rap group Insane Clown Posse drew 1,000 people to a wrestling show called Stranglemania Live in Detroit, featuring ICP in the main event against a group called The Chicken Boys. There were also some death matches featuring tables, thumbtacks, glass, barbed wire, light bulbs, etc. featuring Ian Rotten and Mad Man Pondo, among others. (Here's Part 1, the other 3 parts should autoplay after you finish the previous one. It looks like it was filmed with a calculator but yanno).
- Stevie Richards is scheduled to have surgery this week to remove 2 damaged vertebrae in his neck. The surgery will likely leave him with limited mobility and its rumored that this may be a career-ending surgery.
- During Nitro, they did a segment where Eric Bischoff kept giving Hogan gifts. The show ended with Hogan getting a gift and Bischoff saying he didn't give him that one. Bret Hart then came out and Hogan opened the gift and it was a mold of Hogan's head, which he sold like hell while Hart laughed, implying that Bret had sent the gift. Yeah, this is a pretty classic LOLWCW clip.
- Marcus Bagwell's latest movie Return To Savage Beach "escaped from the producers" and was released this week and is said to be just as bad as the previous ones.
- Hulk Hogan attended an annual event with George Steinbrenner in Tampa, where they read "T'was The Night Before Christmas" to a crowd of around 3,000 children. At the event, Hogan also had this to say to the crowd: "When you see us on TV--I shouldn't admit this, but it's fake. Off TV, we're all really good guys. We treat other people the way we want to be treated. All year round, 24 hours a day, you have to be nice. If you're a bad guy like Hollywood Hogan, you always lose. If you're a good guy, you always win."
- Bret Hart got the nickname "Hitman" and the sunglasses and ring outfit looks trademarked back in 1992 so he's free to use all of that in WCW.
- Scott Hall and Kevin Nash have both signed new 4 year extensions, which will keep them in WCW until the beginning of 2003. I can't wait to see what WCW is up to then!
- Turns out there was more to Jacquelyn's WCW departure than letting her contract run out. She was apparently released because she refused to do an angle where she would be attacked from behind and knocked out backstage by Elizabeth. There was a lot of heat on her for refusing to do it.
- On Nitro commentary, Rick Rude went on and on about being mad at Sting for breaking his neck in Japan and that was mostly a shoot. After the injury, Rude sued WCW and blamed Sting for it, claiming he was negligent and careless. Sting had to give a deposition in the lawsuit that also upset Rude. The lawsuit has been settled, which is why Rude is back with WCW, but there's still a lot of bad blood between him and Sting.
- Ted Dibiase is reportedly considering making a comeback. He's been out of action for a few years since suffering a neck injury in Japan and he collected a big Lloyd's of London insuance policy after signing off saying he'd never be able to wrestle again. So if he returns to the ring, he'd be required to pay back $462,000 to the insurance company. But word is he's still considering it if WCW will pay him enough to make it worth it (never happened).
- WWF seems resigned to the fact that Davey Boy Smith is leaving for WCW but they're still trying to get him (or WCW) to buy his way out of the contract to release him. The belief is that he won't be happy if he stays with WWF so they don't want to stand in his way but they also don't want to give up a contract that still has 4 years left on it. They're trying to get $150,000 to let him out of the deal and either way it's expected to be settled this week (not sure why Owen was never given the same chance. I guess because he wasn't injured in the backstage fight and WWF didn't want to open themselves up to a lawsuit with Davey Boy).
- Fun trivia fact: wondering who came up with the name "Degeneration X?" That would be none other than Phil Mushnick, who has used it repeatedly in articles while shaking his fist at clouds. So WWF took the name and gave it to Shawn Michaels, who is now using it for his group. Mushnick is said to be none too pleased.
- WWF has signed a few new names: Mr. Aguila, Sean Morley, and Shawn Stasiak (better known later as Essa Rios, Val Venis, and....Shawn Stasiak. Or Meat, I guess). Sean Morley in particular is said to have a lot of potential and had been negotiating with both companies. At one point, Eric Bischoff told him that he would match or beat any offer WWF made to him, but for whatever reason, he chose to sign with WWF anyway.
- Crush has been released and is expected to head to WCW. Meanwhile, his fellow DOA members Skull and Eight Ball signed new contracts and will be sticking around in WWF.
- Shawn Michaels will be appearing on several episodes of the TV game show Pictionary in the next few months. (No video I can find, but here's a pic)
- Rocky Maivia is now being called simply The Rock.
- Dave says Jim Cornette has been doing a great job on commentary when he's been on the air and says, "He's got the knack for being able to semi-shoot and talk inside without at the same time ignoring storylines that he needs to get over and he's not a mark for himself or thinks he's above the business which are all failings of other announcers." Do with that quote what you will.
- A Canadian magazine ran a story on the Vince McMahon/Bret Hart situation and had quotes from McMahon. Vince claimed he was still dealing with blurred vision from Bret's punch and said that it could be permanent. He also was quoted saying, "I feel hurt at a personal level. Bret and I were friends for a long time and I never thought he would do what he did. It seems like his Hitman character became the same as Bret Hart. But for God's sake, this is entertainment, not real life." He also claimed that he told Bret 3 weeks before Montreal that he was losing the belt to Shawn and that it was the agreed-upon plan all along. Dave says that's only half true. Yes, Vince did tell Bret he was losing in Montreal back in October. But between then and Survivor Series, the plan changed about a dozen times and Vince went back and forth, agreeing to all sorts of different scenarios at different times. And at no point did Bret actually agreed to lose the title to Shawn in Montreal, so for Vince to claim otherwise is disingenuous at best.
- Some guy writes in on his thoughts about ECW. He thinks Al Snow will be a major star and could be the next Steve Austin. Taz has no charisma and sucks on the mic and he will never draw money. Someone else writes in saying all this new edgy content WWF is doing is awful and he will no longer watch that second-rate promotion. He also says Jim Ross and Joey Styles should win 1st and 2nd place for Worst Announcer in the Observer awards. And of course, more of Bret Hart deserved it, Vince McMahon is the worst, etc.