August 02, 1999
- Vince McMahon appeared on TSN's Off The Record last week and lashed out at Bret Hart. It was the first of 3 episodes that will feature WWF, but Dave only saw the first episode at press time, so we'll get details on the following episodes in the next issue. Anyway, on this one, McMahon reportedly agreed beforehand to answer any and all questions regarding Owen Hart's death. It's worth noting that host Michael Landsberg has always been very pro-WWF, to the point that he has even had discussions with them about leaving TSN to work for them, but in this interview, Landsberg pulled no punches and challenged McMahon on every topic. McMahon defended his choice to continue the show after Owen had died, saying it was one of the most difficult situations but that they never even considered stopping the show because that's just how they do things. He said no disrespect was intended but Landsberg pointed out that most people, including most of the Hart family, did feel that it was disrespectful. When asked why the live audience was never told of Owen's death, Vince just said it didn't feel right to tell them and they were going to find out later anyway. Landsberg then asked Vince about his hour-long meeting with Bret Hart after Owen's funeral, which led Vince to lash out. He said Bret carried the entire conversation and only mentioned Owen once and implied that Bret didn't care about Owen and that Bret was only using Owen's death for revenge on Vince. "I couldn't believe what I was hearing, he said I ruined his marriage, I ruined his career, all he wanted to do was talk about himself. It was like looking into the eyes of a skeleton. He wasn't human. It was a very weird experience." To be fair to both parties, Dave says that before their meeting, Bret had been told by his lawyers not to discuss Owen's death with Vince. Dave says it's likely that Vince didn't know that, so he can see why it might have been weird for Vince to have had a conversation with Bret at Owen's funeral and yet Bret never talked about him. That being said, for Vince to use that private conversation to publicly trash Bret is pretty classless.
- When asked why McMahon and almost the entire roster went to Owen's funeral but nobody from the company went to Pillman's, Vince said it was a different situation and that Owen's wife asked for the wrestlers to attend (Dave says that implies that Melanie Pillman didn't want wrestlers to attend, which is false and he hints that she was actually hurt that no one from WWF showed up). When asked about paying for Owen's funeral, he said Martha wanted a lavish funeral for Owen (Hart family members have disputed this) and said WWF sent a blank check to the funeral home to cover it, but said Martha insisted on paying for "part" of it on advice from her lawyers. Vince also talked about the letter he sent to the Calgary Sun a few weeks back and says it was never meant to be published (Dave calls total bullshit on that one) and basically said that he knew he was going to appear to be the bad guy no matter what. He's the evil promoter. She's the poor sad widow. "She could be lying through her teeth but I'm not going to win regardless of the facts," Vince said. He said most of the bad publicity that he has gotten in the last few months has been because of Bret, blaming him for being in Martha's ear and said Bret has talked terribly about the WWF in interviews. He again trashed Bret for never talking about Owen in their conversation and said he took advantage of Martha being in a vulnerable emotional state and basically said Bret is leading the lawsuit against them. Dave says pretty much anyone who even halfway knows the Hart family knows that isn't true. The whole thing seemed designed to goad Bret into responding and hopefully make himself and his family look bad. Dave says this is nothing new for WWF. Any time they get into trouble, whether it's the steroid scandals or sex scandals of the past or this, WWF always has a habit of trying to spin the story and turn it into something else. In this case, Vince McMahon is taking the death of Owen Hart and his company's role in it, and is trying to spin it into a Bret vs. Vince story. Anyway, Bret said before the interview aired that he didn't plan to watch and no matter what Vince said, he wasn't going to comment.
- Also in the interview, Vince was asked about Jesse Ventura being involved with the WWF. When asked about the thought that Ventura was degrading the office of Governor by getting involved in the WWF, Vince defended his product by saying he's only giving the public what they want. Landsberg responded that, "Pornographers hide behind that. There have to be guidelines and there has to be some responsibility." When asked about Ventura's comments about unionizing wrestlers, Vince said that Ventura believed that at one time, but he doesn't anymore, saying Ventura had changed his mind. Dave says that changed mind was bought and paid for pretty recently because less than 6 weeks ago, Ventura was still very vocal that wrestlers needed to unionize. Funny how a big ol' bag of cash will change someone's mind. Vince was asked if he'd ever work with Hogan again and he said "Never say never." When asked what if Eric Bischoff called him up asking for a job, would he work with him? Vince didn't exactly say no, he just said it depends on what Bischoff could offer the WWF.
- The lawsuit filed by Sable against the WWF was officially settled out of court this week. Both sides agreed to keep the terms confidential and to not bad mouth each other in public. On WWF's website, they confirmed the settlement but said nothing else. Last week, before it was finalized, Vince McMahon was interviewed on Entertainment Tonight and implied that Sable wouldn't be getting any money in the settlement. During the same segment, Triple H, Chyna, Big Show and Ivory were brought on as well and they all knocked Sable as someone who got a big head and became a prima donna. Anyway, as for the settlement, Dave does know a few things. Marc Mero was given a full release and can go anywhere now. Meanwhile, the terms of Sable's contract remain the same: she can't work anywhere else in wrestling until her WWF contract expires in August 2001. WWF still owns the name Sable. And the Playboy money terms were settled, although Dave doesn't know the details (that issue of Playboy ended up using the name Sable, so I'm gonna assume WWF got their cut). All in all, sounds like they kinda wiped the floor with her in court. Prior to the settlement, Sable was being interviewed for the show Fox Files and at some point during the interview, Marc Mero got mad and snatched the cameraman's camera and took the tape out because he didn't like the questions being asked. They got footage of it happening and it was played up big in commercials before the interview aired (I can't find video of this sadly).
- The most famous heel in Lucha Libre history, Cavernario Galindo, passed away this week at age 75 from lung cancer. He was not only a major heel in the ring, but he gained a lot of fame as the lead heel in a bunch of El Santo's movies as well and was arguably one of the top 5 stars in Lucha Libre history. He was one of the pioneers of bloodbath matches, much like The Sheik was in his day, and was the person who popularized the technique of blading in Mexico and had a lot of memorable bloodbaths against Gory Guerrero.
- All of the wrestlers in AJPW were given raises recently, which was Misawa's way to thank them for staying loyal to him during the behind-the-scenes power struggle over the company after Giant Baba's death. Reportedly, at one point the power struggle got so bad that Misawa threatened to leave the company and take the roster with him and start a new promotion, and about 2/3 of the wrestlers were reportedly willing to walk with him. Dave says that if Misawa and 2/3 of the AJPW roster left to form their own company, they would likely have no trouble getting a TV deal and obviously, it would be devastating to AJPW (we're about a year away still but that ends up being exactly what happens).
- Things aren't all golden for Misawa though. For starters, he's been criticized for not really focusing on long-term booking and has already blown through big money title matches against Vader, Kobashi, and Kawada in quick succession. There's also an issue with Stan Hansen. Basically, Misawa has pretty much phased Hansen out and decided not to use him much anymore because he's old and not really any good in the ring these days. Not using Hansen is what allowed Misawa to free up enough money to give everyone raises (AJPW business is still down, so the money isn't coming from that). The issue here is that Hansen basically had a handshake agreement with Baba that he would have a job for life with AJPW, and a handshake deal with Baba has long been considered by most people to be more binding than an actual contract. But with Baba dead, Misawa doesn't appear to be sticking with that deal and is only wanting to use Hansen on special occasions.
- Dave offhandedly wonders why New Japan doesn't have a TV deal in the U.S. Obviously, there's a language barrier and NJPW on TV here in America would probably only draw a small, fringe audience of hardcore fans. But when you look at other sports channels here, you see things like Australian Rules football, obscure soccer games, and other fringe foreign sports. And they're all over smaller TV channels here. Considering how hot wrestling is these days, Dave thinks NJPW on TV would do decent enough ratings to make it worth it for a small American channel (it only took 15 years or so, but AXS finally made it happen).
- At the latest NJPW show, they had a battle royal which saw the in-ring debut of 19-year-old Katsuyori Shibata, who is a second-generation wrestler and the son of recently retired NJPW referee Katsuhisa Shibata.
- Kurt Angle won the Power Pro Wrestling world title this past week in Memphis. Power Pro crowds have been pretty lukewarm on Angle's 70s-style babyface character but they popped big for the title change.
- ECW caught a lot of heat this week for a tasteless promo that Joel Gertner cut about the recent death of John F. Kennedy Jr. (who died in a plane crash in the ocean a week or so before this). Gertner's promo included jokes about the size of JFK Jr.'s "cockpit" and joked that the plane crashed because he was having a mid-air threesome with the other 2 women on the plane. He also joked about Ted Kennedy's drinking and his 1969 Chappaquiddick incident (google it) and ended the promo by saying, if JFK Jr. could talk right now, he'd say "glub glub glub." The promo aired on most of the TV shows, though it was edited out of the NYC syndicated show. But when the heat came down, ECW pointed the blame at Gertner and tried to distance themselves from it. On the ECW website, they had a statement saying, "We here at ECWwrestling.com apologize to anyone who was offended by Joel's tasteless remarks on the TV show." Heyman later admitted to scripting this ahead of time, trying to get heel heat for Gertner and trying to get some publicity as they build towards the TNN show, but says he realized it may have crossed the line. Dave talks about all the wrestling fans who were so offended when Craig Kilborn joked about Owen Hart's death and says this is no different, except Kilborn only told one joke, whereas Gertner made repeated JFK Jr. jokes during a long 5-minute promo.
- Axl Rotten, Chris Candido, and Tammy Sytch all posted notes on their websites, talking about their drug issues and trying to get back into ECW's good graces. Axl Rotten was basically begging for his job back (I guess he was recently fired, I may have missed it) and said he fell off the wagon after his grandmother's death but saw getting fired as a wake-up call and thanked Heyman for alerting him to how bad his problem had gotten and vowed he was clean now. Candido and Sytch basically did the same thing, saying they're clean and hoping to come back to ECW soon also. Candido has been telling people Sytch is pregnant but Dave says it's hard to know whether that's true or not because at one point in WWF, she missed a show and later claimed she'd had a miscarriage, but when WWF asked for proof (hospital records, doctor's note, anything), she couldn't provide any evidence, which was one of the main reasons they fired her. Anyway, Candido and Sytch have been talking about enrolling in college and Heyman has since made that a condition of their return. He wants them to prove that they're enrolled in college and attempting to make something of their lives outside of wrestling before he'll bring them back.
- The woman who appeared with Danny Doring at the latest ECW PPV has been wrestling on the indies under the name Angelica. She has worked indie shows with the Hardy Boyz and has even trained with them and is reportedly a pretty good wrestler. She's making $100 per show with ECW but has to provide her own transportation and cover her own hotels. So basically, she's not making shit (once again, that would be Lita, paying her dues).
- Speaking of Konnan, he was arrested as he got off the plane in San Diego last week on felony charges of threatening a flight attendant during the flight. He was released the next morning on bond, Dave has no other details (I don't think this ever really comes back up again so I have no idea what becomes of this).
- There had been plans for Arn Anderson to return to the ring as part of a Four Horsemen angle but he was unable to get cleared by doctors so that has been scrapped and he will be remaining retired.
- Master P is already done with WCW. The wrestlers who were part of his group (Konnan, Mysterio, etc.) will form their own, new "jobber group." (That becomes the Filthy Animals)
- Ted Dibiase had a speaking deal at a church in Denver this week and was very critical of wrestling. He called the WWF "pure pornography" and said he can't believe parents would let their children watch it. He says he feels sorry for anyone who looks up to Steve Austin as their hero because he mocks a famous Biblical verse. He also talked about WCW and said it's not as bad. He said he still works for them backstage but he keeps seeing women in less and less clothing and feels they're drifting in the same direction as WWF and if it keeps happening, he may not work for them anymore.
- An indie wrestler named Shark Boy has been working for a couple of years and has developed somewhat of a cult-following, especially among fellow wrestlers who think he's just great. Anyway, he signed a developmental deal with WCW.
- Chris Jericho's last WCW match took place at a house show in Peoria, IL. Jericho teamed with Eddie Guerrero against Mysterio and Kidman and before the match, he said he'd leave WCW if he got pinned. Of course, he did. After the match, they all 4 hugged in the ring and Jericho was near-tears. Mysterio got the crowd to chant "Jericho" which led to him getting on the mic and saying he was overwhelmed by the response...........but then said Peoria still sucks. Classic Jericho.
- On TV this week, Buff Bagwell came out in black face and cut a promo imitating Ernest Miller, which some felt was racist (ya think?). Backstage, Miller was legitimately furious about it and it became a tense situation (these 2 end up getting into a backstage fight pretty soon).
- Hollywood Reporter magazine had a small story about an upcoming WCW movie in the works. It will star David Arquette. People who have read the script say it's awful. Rose McGowan plays a Nitro Girl-type character. Several WCW wrestlers will appear in the flick.
- There have been reports from San Antonio media outlets that Shawn Michaels was involved in a road rage incident where he allegedly pulled a gun on a motorist who cut him off (I have never heard this story and it's never mentioned again so who knows).
- The wrestling documentary, tentatively titled Hittin' The Mat, is scheduled to come out in October. It mostly focuses on Mick Foley, Jake Roberts, and Terry Funk. A few weeks back, they were filming footage at Mick Foley's house and they re-watched the match between him and Rock at Royal Rumble, with Mick seeing his children's reaction to it for the first time and he was said to be stunned by how much his kids were affected.
- Chris Jericho did a radio interview and was asked about his future plans in WWF. He denied rumors that he would be joining DX or that he would be revealed as the person behind GTV. When asked about being the Millennium Man that they've been doing a countdown for, he didn't deny it. Dave says that's because the countdown is indeed for Jericho. Also in the interview, when asked what he would do differently if he was booking WCW, Jericho said he would immediately do Benoit vs. Hogan for the title next week and make Benoit the champ because he's ready for it. He said he first began thinking aout leaving WCW last year when they scrapped his planned feud with Goldberg.
- Droz suffered a stinger in a match last week and missed a few shows (he suffers a more permanent stinger in a couple of months).
- Jesse Ventura is continuing to catch flak for being involved in wrestling again, and in interviews, they've been grilling him about how much money he's actually making and he's been getting very defensive about it.
- Debra McMichael confirmed in an online chat that she is dating Steve Austin.
- Tammy Sytch went on her website and claimed she'd been talking to Vince McMahon to give him information to help in the lawsuit against Sable. Jim Ross went on the WWF website and denied it, saying Sytch hasn't spoken to McMahon anytime recently about Sable or anything else and that she's lying.
- While he's been out recovering from knee surgery, Mick Foley has finished writing his autobiography and hopes to have it out before the end of the year. He's hoping for "Blood & Sweatsocks" to be the title.