Wrestling Observer Rewinder

September 11, 2000

The pro wrestling industry has never been in a more tumultuous state than it is now. WWF is on fire and looks to only be getting stronger with the new TV deal looming and the return of Steve Austin next month. But for everyone else, shit is looking bleak. WCW is in the midst of severe cutbacks and there's not a single sign that things are improving anytime soon. Nitro this week did away with the opening pyro and more than a dozen wrestlers ended up having to pay for their own hotel rooms. In the past, WCW paid for everyone's rooms but it turns out that was more of a perk that was never really stipulated in contracts. It was just something Bischoff had promised to do for people and he did. But with all the new cutbacks, WCW is no longer honoring any verbal commitments that Bischoff made in the past, so half the roster got stuck paying their own hotels this week (a lot of the top guys do have it written into their contracts). Also, a flood of WCW front office employees have been putting in transfer requests to other divisions of the Turner empire, in hopes that they can still have a job if WCW goes belly up. The uncertainty in the company has never been greater.
Speaking of Bischoff, he was in Atlanta for a meeting with Brad Siegel a few days ago, reportedly to discuss purchasing the company. Bischoff himself denied that was the case, but others close to the situation say it's been openly discussed. WCW has had talks with several companies in recent months about that topic, even though they've been denying it. Bischoff wants to be in charge of WCW without people above him to overrule him. Seigel has told people that the company is entertaining several offers but none of them are even remotely close when it comes to money. In the past, FOX has shown interest but that's only if they can have names like Hulk Hogan and Randy Savage involved. Of course, there's the issue with Hogan's current lawsuit against them, plus the idea of trying to start a company built around Hogan and Savage in the year 2001 is pretty obviously not the answer, but the suits at FOX don't understand that of course. There's always the possibility of an inter-promotional angle, which WCW has indicated many times that they want to do with ECW. But Paul Heyman has steadfastly refused the offer every time. Dave says if an ECW/WCW angle ever happens, it will be a sign that Heyman has exhausted every other possibility.
ECW, of course, has been down this road before. In 1999, they were probably only days or weeks away from folding before the TNN deal saved them. But the ratings never got close to what TNN expected and ECW, for their part, had a pretty stagnant product. Although to be fair, a large part of that was the mass exodus of ECW wrestlers jumping ship to WWF and WCW. But TNN certainly didn't do them any favors and a lot of ECW's complaints about how they were treated by the network are valid. It's hard to argue which company is in worse shape right now. If ECW gets this USA Network deal, they should be able to survive and maybe even thrive. But if they can't land a TV deal soon, then they're probably in even more danger than WCW.
Things are similar in Japan. Right now, NJPW and AJPW are doing an inter-promotional angle, which should do good business for both companies, but it's a desperation move by AJPW and they wouldn't be the first promotion to come crawling to NJPW for a lifeline only to end up worse off than before when the angle ends. AJPW still has no TV deal and lost 98% of their roster. NOAH is a hot ticket right now, but they're still new and un-established and they're going to have to create new stars because Misawa and Kobashi are too broken down to carry the company long-term. NJPW looks to be stable for the long-term but even they are suffering creatively from the most boring year they've had in a long time.
Speaking of the NJPW/AJPW angle, the first match between stars of the 2 companies drew a sellout crowd to Budokan Hall with Masahiro Chono vs. Masa Fuchi. The match had major heat and was described as one of those magical moments you never thought you'd see, even though Fuchi is 46 and past his prime and Chono is a broken down shell of what he used to be. Chono ended up winning, which sets up next month's Tokyo Dome show, which will likely have IWGP champion Kensuke Sasaki vs. AJPW's Toshiaki Kawada as the main event. Anyway, the Chono/Fuchi match made headlines throughout Japan and footage was shown on various TV shows (which is good for AJPW since they don't have their own show anymore). Dave talks about how both companies were formed in 1972. They worked together for one show in 1978, and then again for a few months in 1990, including a combined show with WWF. But after that fell apart, that was it until now. AJPW obviously needed this angle just to survive but Dave thinks NJPW needed it as well because business is down and the company is stagnant right now, so this is a much needed shot in the arm.
WATCH: Masahiro Chono vs. Masa Fuchi - NJPW vs. AJPW
Things I'm mostly skipping over this week: Dave recapping the latest PRIDE event because he actually saw it now. The Shamrock fight, Sakuraba beating Renzo Gracie, etc. There's also another big section about pro wrestlers/Olympic athletes, correcting some things from last week, giving more details, etc. Interesting stuff but not newsworthy.
Each month, Dave usually has a business rundown where he looks at numbers from the month and compares them to the previous year. I usually skip past it because it's boring statistics but just for shits and giggles, I decided to read it this week and wow. It's amazing to see how far WCW has fallen in only a year. So this is comparing WCW numbers from July 1999 to July 2000. Average attendance is down 55%. Average gate down 53%. Monday night ratings are down 25% (although Dave points out that it's not a fair comparison because Nitro switched from 3 hours to 2. So if you account for that, it's even worse and would actually be about a 31% drop). PPV buyrates down 45%. In July 99, they sold out around 17% of their house shows. In July 2000, they sold out exactly 0% of them. A lot can change in a year. And while I'm pointing it out, it's worth noting that Vince Russo was in charge for probably 75% of that year.
The Catch Wrestling Association promotion that operated in Austria and Germany is no more. Promoter Otto Wanz announced that he's closing up shop. The CWA was founded in 1973 and was once considered a major force in the business and many of the biggest names in wrestling worked there over the years when they worked in Europe.
Image Comics has released a new comic called "The Tenth Muse" and the main character is based on Rena Mero (Sable).
While talking about some indie show tournament happening in Florida, Dave mentions that Barry Windham was advertised but had to pull out because he works construction full time now and couldn't get off work.
Dave gives 4.25 stars to a recent Psicosis vs. Tajiri match on ECW TV and says it was one of the best U.S. matches of the year. It leads to a small tangent about how WCW misuses their talent and the whole Russo thing about saying American fans don't care about foreigners. But at this ECW show, with no build-up or storyline, these 2 foreigners tore the house down while the crowd went insane for it.
Since we're comparing the two companies, ticket sales for WCW's upcoming Fall Brawl PPV have sold approximately the same number of tickets as an ECW house show that is scheduled for the same building the week before.
Notes from Nitro: there was a bit when Russo was running away from Goldberg and he veered left and got away from him, which leads Dave to quip, "I guess that explains why Goldberg never lasted in the NFL." Jeremy Borash did commentary, sporting a bald head because apparently he lost a bet with Russo last week about one of the quarter hour ratings. Ric Flair will be returning to Nitro next week but it was only mentioned once, in an offhanded way, in a backstage segment and the announcers never followed up on it at all. Considering Flair is one of WCW's only consistent ratings draws and given how desperate WCW is for every fraction of a point they can get, they should have been milking his return next week for all its worth. But nope. The show closed with a "War Games" match, except it totally wasn't. It was the big triple cage gimmick with a bunch of ever changing rules.
All 3 companies, WWF, WCW, and ECW are reaching out and trying to put together a match featuring Sue Hawk and Kelly Wiglesworth from the show Survivor. (I never watched Survivor but evidently these 2 women were bitter enemies or some shit and the first season of that show was a MONSTER hit). Obviously, ECW doesn't have a chance but when the NY Post reported the story, they managed to get in a plug for ECW's PPV next month, which is probably all Heyman wanted out of it anyway. Dave says both ladies' 15 minutes of fame is ticking so if it's gonna happen, it should be soon (this never happens).
Notes from Thunder tapings: Kronik faced Lance Storm and Elix Skipper and sold nothing for them, and this is actually becoming a common occurrence with Kronik. It's pissing a lot of people off because they're gaining a reputation for it. Also, Leia Meow is now doing a dominatrix gimmick where the Jung Dragons have to lick her boots if they lose.
Regarding wrestlers being fined for being late, Kevin Nash has been fined twice (so much for him not being able to be fined). Rey Mysterio, Juventud Guerrera, and Konnan have also each been fined twice (they travel together) and Kidman fined once. Nash complained about it so much that he has since been given a 1-hour grace period (oh, that's nice). Nash complained about not having time to train and called Johnny Ace a stooge, claiming he was the one who came up with the plan to fine guys. Johnny Ace told him his info was bullshit and it wasn't him, so who knows. Either way, after the argument, Nash arrived late the next day to Thunder and was fined again.
There's been a major push to bring Scott Hall back (or, more realistically, Nash is pushing for it and no one else). Hall will be medically cleared to wrestle again in the next week or so following the neck surgery he had in February. While he's been out, his pay has been cut in half, to $16,000 per week. But when he returns, they'll have to go back to paying him $32,000 per week and the argument is why pay the guy that much if you're not gonna use him? Dave points out that Bagwell, Luger, Sid, and DDP are all sitting at home right now collecting big checks and not being used because Russo doesn't want them around, so that shouldn't matter. Brad Siegel is said to be 100% against ever bringing Hall back, for obvious reasons.
WCW management asked Tank Abbott to take singing lessons, I guess for this 3 Count angle he's involved with. Abbott decided, nah, fuck that and didn't do it. But apparently, he has a no-cut contract, so they can't really do anything about it.
Various WCW Notes: The Natural Born Thrillers nickname backstage among some of the wrestlers is "Gang Green." After all the recent releases, there are now less than 50 wrestlers signed to WCW contracts. Still hasn't made a dent in stemming the losses.
Vince Russo wanted to do an angle where Goldberg would drag him behind a truck in the desert, but Turner higher ups nixed the angle because it's too close to the racial hate crime murder of James Byrd Jr. awhile back. Russo was furious about the angle being shot down.
There was an altercation backstage at Nitro between Goldberg and Evan Karagis. It was apparently over some misunderstanding when Karagis went to shake his hand and Goldberg was cranky after having just flown in from England and it led to Goldberg grabbing Karagis by the shirt and ripping his necklace off in the process. Goldberg later apologized but Karagis wouldn't accept the apology (the best way to hear about this story is to hear ICP tell it because it's hilarious).
WATCH: ICP tells story of Goldberg/Evan Karagis incident
At the Thunder tapings, Russo wanted Bret Hart to cut a shoot promo and trash Vince McMahon, but Bret refused to say anything about McMahon, likely due to the ongoing Owen lawsuit. Speaking of Hart, he's getting more tests done later this month to determine if he'll ever be able to return to the ring.
Random note: on Nitro a couple of weeks ago, the "fan" who got involved in the Kronik vs. Harris Twins match was wrestler Chris Harris who is one of the rookies who has been signed recently and not really used in any way otherwise. (The debut of the legend, Braden Walker!)
Remember, like, 4 years ago when WWF filed a lawsuit against WCW over trademark infringement and a bunch of other shit, stemming from the debuts of Kevin Nash and Scott Hall? WWF argued that WCW had tried to mislead fans into thinking it was a WWF invasion and yada yada. WCW later filed a similar lawsuit against WWF a couple of years later. Anyway, both lawsuits were finally settled out of court sometime within in the last few weeks. There are now no more pending legal issues between WWF and WCW. (That's all Dave says about it right now. But this is actually a HUGE development. Part of the terms of this settlement was that WWF would have the right-of-first-refusal to bid on WCW assets if the company were to ever sell or go out of business. This little news item right here is arguably the start of the biggest story in pro wrestling history. It's what allowed WWF to swoop in and buy WCW six months later).
Notes from Raw: Steve Regal, Nick Dinsmore, and Rob Conway all worked dark matches and Regal in particular was so impressive that WWF wants to start him on the road and on TV as soon as possible (yup, he'd be on TV and winning the European title in less than a month). Foley slipped up and called Triple H the WWF champion (it's the Rock). Kane's pyro fucked up and didn't go off. Kane also accidentally dropped Benoit right on his head during their match which looked scary but Benoit was fine. Acolytes tossed Kaientai around like little kids again, leading Dave to say that being Japanese and being small is basically a double-whammy as far as ever being taken seriously in the WWF. Test decided, almost a year later, that he wanted revenge on Triple H for the whole Stephanie/wedding thing, so they randomly brought that back up this week and Triple H destroyed him (and Albert) and relegated them back to tag team jobber status. The RTC kidnapped Val Venis and Dave says he smells a Patty Hearst angle coming (yeah, pretty much). And Edge and Christian beat Undertaker and Rock in a tag team match, with Christian pinning Rock after they hit the conchairto on him. The crowd was super hot for this one and Dave appreciates the fact that Rock, at the level he's at, is still willing to help elevate new stars and put people over (yeah, Rock was always good and unselfish about that sort of thing).
WWF held a publicity stunt press conference and invited George W. Bush and Al Gore to debate each other on Smackdown, with Jesse Ventura as moderator. Linda McMahon, Mick Foley, Lita, Chyna, and Kurt Angle were present and it got a ton of press coverage, which was the whole point. Needless to say, it's not happening.
The DVD of Beyond The Mat was released this week and had bonus footage that wasn't in the original movie, including a scene with Mick Foley talking about being upset with The Rock for not coming to check on him and not seeming to be appreciative after their match at Rumble where Foley took all the chairshots.
Kurt Angle got his noggin' rocked again on Smackdown only 2 days after getting knocked loopy at Summerslam. Angle was facing Eddie Guerrero and got knocked out of it so much that he was foggy and forgetting spots and Guerrero had to walk him through it. There was a lot of criticism backstage within the company, saying Angle should never have gone back out to the ring at Summerslam after the first concussion. He spent the night in the hospital, then came to Raw the next night and, although he didn't work a match, he did take a bump out of the ring. And then he worked a match with Eddie on Smackdown, only to get concussed again. Dave knows the mentality in wrestling is to work through injuries, but he points out the current situation with Bret Hart as an example of why WWF should maybe start taking concussions seriously. There's a reason the NFL doesn't put players back in after a concussion and why boxing has lengthy mandatory suspensions after all knockouts (yeah, knowing what we know about concussions now, there's absolutely no way this shit would fly today).
You might remember, awhile back the World Wildlife Fund filed a lawsuit against the WWF over the use of those initials, claiming that the WWF had violated a 1994 agreement about how they could use those letters in marketing. Anyway, nothing has really changed in the lawsuit but for some reason this week, it picked up a lot of steam and was covered in the media quite a bit.
WWF has expressed some interest in Christopher Daniels, who was recently released by WCW (and to this day, the guy still hasn't made it there, despite how great he is).
Latest notes from OVW: a wrestler named Leviathan (real name: Dave Bautista) is getting a monster push and Dave says he has an amazing physical look. They did an angle where Big Show (remember, he's there) choke slammed Leviathan and he popped right back up, no selling it and speared Big Show. Brock Lesnar hasn't made it to TV yet but will soon. Shelton Benjamin is still green but is very athletic.
There's talk of bringing in Nora Greenwald (formerly Mona in WCW) as a member of the RTC, dressing very conservatively and basically being the opposite of all the other women (that role ends up going to Ivory, which is probably for the best. Molly Holly just seems too sweet in real life to convincingly pull off the icy bitch act).
Terri wearing an orange dress on Smackdown last week was a subtle rib on Tazz. Apparently, Tazz recently had words with Victoria The Ho (she was one of Godfather's hos at the time shrug) about her wearing an orange dress because that's his color, which led to a lot of people rolling their eyes at him about it. So they sent Terri out on TV in an orange dress. Tazz is apparently the brunt of everyone's jokes backstage these days for a lot of reasons. As Dave expected, WWF was never going to let him get over as a bad ass the way he did in ECW because of his size. There's been talk of trying to do the total opposite and give him a gimmick of a small guy who gets beat up all the time but never gives up and hopefully gets over as a babyface like that, by being the underdog who keeps coming back for more when he gets his ass beat every week.
John Madden was recently asked about the XFL and said he thinks it will succeed because it's got 2 smart guys (McMahon and Dick Ebersol) in charge and they have an NBC deal."Some people say, 'Who is going to watch it? Well, who watches wrestling? There are a heck of a lot of people who watch that, not that this is going to be wrestling. They're not going up against the NFL or college football. I think the thing not only has a chance, I think it has a real good chance," Madden said. Welp.