Wrestling Observer Rewinder

February 26, 2001

WCW's shutdown plans seem to have changed again and now they may not do the temporary shutdown angle after all. A big part of it seems to be due to last week's Nitro rating, which tied the show's all-time record low. And with the WWF struggling so much with the XFL and with Vince McMahon's focus so divided right now, there's a feeling in WCW that they can't afford to take weeks off, shut down the company, and sideline all their top stars. They feel that WWF is vulnerable right now. Dave thinks the WWF is the least of WCW's problems. Plus, with all the advertising dollars tied up in it, and sponsors already upset about the low ratings, the TBS and TNT execs aren't excited about the idea of shutting down the company right now and further rocking that boat. If they don't do a shutdown, it's believed the big angle to reboot the company will take place at the March PPV or the Nitro after. There would be no April PPV and they would spend the following 7 weeks building up to a major PPV in May, which would be the official launch of the new WCW. Sting and Booker T should be healthy and ready to go by then. Goldberg won't be able to wrestle until probably May or so after his recent shoulder surgery, but he'll appear on TV. And Hogan will likely return as well.
There's pros and cons of a shutdown. It would allow WCW to totally revamp the product, with a new set, new graphics, and maybe even bring in some new talent and start over with a clean slate. Plus, at this point, WCW actually loses money on every TV taping because production costs are more than the shows bring in, so taking a few weeks off would actually save them money. Dave mentions that, contrary to popular opinion, the big money contracts aren't the main reason for WCW's losses. Even if every single wrestler in WCW had worked for free last year, they still would have lost more than $20 million. But of course, the negatives, aside from the lost advertising costs and all that fun stuff, is the out-of-sight-out-of-mind factor. Several weeks off TV might just serve to make fans lose interest and give up on them completely. Just look at ECW right now.
XFL 3rd week numbers saw another 27% drop from the already horrible Week 2 ratings. Both games on NBC and UPN were in dead last place for both networks ratings. Not only was last week's huge XFL ratings drop bad news, but the worse news comes in examining the demographics. Advertisers and NBC got behind this project because everyone believed that Vince McMahon has the golden touch when it comes to attracting the male 12-24 demographic. But that audience has plummeted more than 70% in the last 2 weeks and right now, the XFL's strongest demographic is males over the age of 49. Needless to say, not the crowd they were hoping to attract. Dave crunches the numbers for all these ratings, advertising numbers, demographics, etc. for the games on NBC, UPN, and TNN and there's just no silver linings to be found anywhere. After only three weeks in, this XFL experiment is looking to be a staggering flop of monumental proportions.
WWF released their latest financial reports. For the fiscal year of 2000, WWF earned more than $36 million in profits, the third year in a row they've done monster numbers. The numbers would have been even higher, but the losses from XFL are already piling up. But still....$36 mil ain't nothing to sneeze at. Just to put that in perspective, even at the peak of 1980s Hulkamania, WWF never had a year where they profited more than $6 million. And until the recent boom years of the Monday Night Wars, no company in wrestling history had ever profited more than $9 million (fun fact: that previous $9 million record was set in 1982, when NJPW made that much money, but a lot of that ended up being squandered by Inoki who embezzled a bunch of it to pay off a bunch of debt from his failed business ventures in Brazil and it turned into a huge scandal). Needless to say, the last couple of years have been good to the WWF (Vince would blow his brains out if they "only" profited $36 million these days).
As part of the financial release, WWF also put out a survey that is meant to erase the stigma that wrestling fans are broke rednecks with no disposable income. That has long been the perception that advertisers have and because of that, despite how successful WWF is, sponsors don't want to pay big money to advertise on Raw or Smackdown. According to the survey, the average income of a WWF-watching household is 16% above the national average (Dave notes that a different, independent survey coincidentally released this week completely contradicts that, showing that Smackdown in particular skews heavily toward lower earning minority households). The WWF study claimed that 62% of adults watching their shows are professional, white collar workers and that 30% have four-year degrees, which is above the national average. This is an obvious attempt to get rid of the trailer trash stigma that wrestling fans have been hearing for decades. There's several other things, the percentage of people who watch all the shows, demographics and whatnot, and Dave pokes a lot of holes in this. A lot of it is either extremely misleading or outright provably false. But it's one of those things where most people other than Dave aren't going to care enough to dig into the dirty details in order to see all the ways WWF lies about this stuff.
Lance Storm wrote an interesting column on his website this week and Dave just decides to paste it in full without commentary. So I'll do the same.
"I'm going on a bit of a tirade this week. I keep hearing how people in ECW are offended about WCW asking them to do a tryout match, and because of this may not be taking the tryout. I'm going to give you my take on this story. I will likely offend a few of my former co-workers, but so be it. I've always spoken my mind and I've even spoken with a few of them and told them as much to their face.
Take the tryout match! ECW has no shows booked and you are not currently getting paid. Now is not the time to think you are a wrestling superstar, whose work should be world-renowned. Let's be honest. ECW isn't even on TV anymore and our man in charge, was in Japan when ECW was on TNN.
We also need to consider what succeeding in ECW really means. Paul has managed to get people over that no one else ever could. Paul has a talent for finding something in people and capitalizing on it. He is a bit of a genius in this regard. ECW also has a rep for being far more lax as far as locker room and personal conduct than any other company. Look at the track record of some past ECW acquisitions by WCW, Public Enemy, Sandman and Chris & Tammy, to name just a few. None of these acquisitions turned out as WCW had hoped for, all for different reasons.
The question everyone is likely asking now is, would I have done a tryout match when I first joined WCW? The truth is, likely not. But things were different then. ECW had a full schedule of shows, a national TV show, and my pretty decent paycheck was fed-ex'd to my house every two weeks without fail. At the time I didn't need WCW, and I could afford to wait until they really wanted me. That isn't the case anymore.
The point that a lot of people are missing is that it's just business. WCW wants to see what everyone has to offer so they can spend their money accordingly, and everyone should take the opportunity to see what they might be offered. Letting someone know you've been offended by turning down a tryout is career suicide at this point. Vince McMahon is a very, very, smart businessman. If he's the only buyer at an auction, he isn't going to be throwing out high bids. If ECW folds, which unfortunately it looks like it might, everyone working there is up for auction and there are really only two bidders.
Is being asked to prove your worth more offensive than being out right offered less than your worth? If you don't do business the right way, that's what's going to happen. This business isn't about what you're worth as it is about what leverage you have to get it. Don't let an ego eliminate the only leverage you have. No matter what you've done in this business, you are only as good as the position you currently hold."[/quote]
(It should be noted that in recent weeks, Dave wrote about Tajiri being offended at WCW asking him to work a tryout match, feeling like he's already more than proven his worth in ECW. But by the time Lance Storm wrote this, Tajiri had already agreed to a WWF deal, so I wonder if it's meant for him. I'm sure he'd answer if someone wanted to go tweet him and ask. I'm too lazy).
Rey Mysterio has been working shows in Mexico recently, with WCW's blessing. Last week was against Psicosis and El Hijo del Santo, which sold out the arena in Tijuana with more than 6,000 people. Dave thinks it's gotta be frustrating for Mysterio to go to Mexico every week, be treated as a top star, and work in front of hot, sold out crowds, only to return to the U.S. every Monday to wrestle in mostly-empty arenas as a near-jobber for WCW.
Scott Hall will be working the upcoming NJPW tour as the newest member of Masahiro Chono's Team 2000 group. "Good luck to them," Dave says. Actually, NJPW might be better for Hall than anywhere else in wrestling. The company has a far more structured environment than WCW and the lazy, "fuck it, let's just party all the time" attitude that everyone in WCW has isn't the same in NJPW and the peer pressure to go out after shows and get fucked up won't be the same. Also, Hall is said to have a huge respect for NJPW and its history and has made it clear he wants to take this tour seriously. Dave hopes he can stay clean and out of trouble (he actually does. Scott Hall is damn near a saint during his time in NJPW and doesn't get into trouble at all. But every time he returns to the U.S., he ends up getting a DUI or getting arrested or in some kind of drama. Japan was probably the best place for him at this point).
Missy Hyatt has a book coming out, called the First Lady of Wrestling.
Roddy Piper is suing WCW for $1.4 million, claiming he still had 34 TV appearances and 6 PPV matches left on his contract when they released him.
Indie promotions UPW and APW in California have an inter-promotional feud going. At APW's recent show, a van showed up carrying several UPW wrestlers (Prototype John Cena and Samoa Joe among them) and challenged some APW guys and ended up working a match. Word is Prototype got over with the fans immediately. Seems like that kid's got something special. During the same show, Christopher Daniels turned heel on APW and said he was siding with UPW.
CZW is attempting to take over the television time slots in the Philadelphia/New Jersey area that ECW previously held.
Remember Warlord? Way back in 1997, he was arrested for possession of steroids with intent to sell. Well, the whole thing was finally settled and Warlord recently spent 3 weeks in jail for the charge.
Super Crazy has recently moved from Philadelphia down to San Juan, because he's planning to work regularly for IWA in Puerto Rico. Negotiations with WCW seem to have died off and WWF isn't interested.
Nitro this week was just another throwaway show from a company still limping along. Nothing really noteworthy except the fact that the announcers talked about the recent death of Dale Earnhardt and they gave their Earnhardt tribute more time and emotion than pretty much all the wrestling deaths over the last 20 years have received combined. Know your audience I guess. But otherwise, nothing else of note. (Only 5 more Nitros left...)
Steve Corino hasn't signed with WCW yet but is expected to do so soon. He did a radio interview and said he didn't know if ECW will have a PPV next month or not but said if they do, he's 99% sure he won't be on it. But he said he wishes ECW the best.
Update on the WCW/racial discrimination lawsuit. The suit is basically against Time Warner for hiring Vince Russo and against Russo for discrimination, using the infamous interview he did about not liking Mexican and Japanese wrestlers. Russo made those statements and then, shortly after being hired by WCW, he got rid of most of the foreign talent. A former WCW referee is a key witness in the suit, with claims that he heard Arn Anderson, Terry Taylor, and Paul Orndorff, among others, make racist comments. Sonny Onoo's lawyer also brought up an incident in the past of Ric Flair using racial slurs at black fans at a house show in order to get heat. As for the people in the lawsuit, it's more than a dozen former wrestlers and managers.
ECW stars Kid Kash, EZ Money, and Sinister Minister were backstage at SuperBrawl, looking for work. Kash and Money are expected to get tryouts, but Minister doesn't have much of a chance. He was a manager in WCW a few years ago and Bischoff didn't like him then. Since leaving, Minister has said some less than flattering things about Bischoff publicly and, well, that probably wasn't wise now that he needs a job and Bischoff is the one hiring. Anyway, the next day, Blue Meanie and Jasmine St. Clair attended Nitro for the same reasons. No word on Meanie, but Dave doesn't think Jasmine has a shot. For starters, WCW has already gotten rid of almost all their women, so they're clearly not in the market to hire more. And her background as a hardcore porn star probably won't help.
Did I say WCW has gotten rid of almost all their women? I meant to say all. Stacy Keibler is still under contract but she's only paid per appearance and they are no longer planning to use her. Ms. Jones and Midajah were taken off TV due to their "injuries" (some Nitro angle) and there are no plans to bring them back (Midajah and Stacy both eventually come back and both appear on the final WCW Nitro).
Random WCW notes: Dustin Rhodes wore a black singlet on the Feb. 12th Nitro and afterwards, Bischoff ordered him to never wear it again (yeah it looks pretty amateur hour on him). Ed Ferrara is still writing the TV shows, but Eric Bischoff and Johnny Ace are pretty much overseeing the direction of everything. There's talk of assigning a specific booker to the cruiserweight division to focus on their storylines so they don't end up as an afterthought by the main bookers who spend all their time worrying about the top stars.
Paul Heyman still hasn't agreed to join the WWF, but it's believed within the company that it's just a matter of time. He has a standing offer to come aboard as a writer. Heyman is still desperately scrambling to save ECW. He has lots of offers on the table, but he wants one that is viable long-term. All of the offers he has right now would get the company back on TV, but wouldn't cover all the production costs and debt they have. Heyman doesn't want to prolong the inevitable and add more debt on top of what he already has by taking a deal that only helps in the short-term. Dave says this is similar to the situation Jim Cornette faced when Smoky Mountain Wrestling went under. He had offers that would have kept them alive temporarily, but weren't good long-term deals. At this point, nobody is even talking about ECW running their scheduled PPV in March.
Rhino debuted in WWF in a dark match before the Smackdown tapings and got a big reaction and a lot of ECW chants.
The company has signed John Heidenreich, a former football player who played in NFL Europe who's said to be huge and ripped.
Several indie wrestlers who have sent in tapes and have experience working matches are being brought in for the Tough Enough tryouts next week. So it doesn't look like they're going to just hire an average joe off the street and give him a contract, there's going to be some actual wrestlers in there (very little, actually).
Brock Lesnar and Shelton Benjamin won the OVW tag team titles in Louisville last week, while Randy Orton won the OVW hardcore title. Orton had been used as a jobber up until recently but he's showing a lot of improvement, so they're beginning to push him more.
WATCH: Randy Orton wins the OVW Hardcore Championship
It appears Mick Foley won't be coming out of retirement for Wrestlemania after all. There's been discussion of Vince vs. Foley but reportedly Foley doesn't want to do it because he hasn't started training for a comeback and is still physically broken down and just doesn't want to put his body through it anymore.
In this week's Ross Report on WWF.com, Jim Ross said roster cuts are forthcoming. Needless to say, a lot of the on-the-bubble guys are pretty nervous about that. Dave expects a lot of developmental guys to get dropped.
Lawyers Weekly magazine, which is apparently a thing that exists, ran a lengthy story about the Owen Hart lawsuit settlement, saying it was one of the largest settlements in history for a wrongful death suit. The lawyers for both sides were quoted and the WWF said they still plan to file a lawsuit against the company that manufactured the snap shackle that opened up and allowed Owen to fall. During the investigation during the lawsuit, it was discovered that the same snap shackle, which was designed for use in yacht racing, had been involved in accidents in other countries when being used for stunts. Apparently the company that manufactured them was aware and had ordered the device discontinued. The word was out in Europe (where the company is based) but not in the U.S. So when the stunt coordinator bought the snap shackle, he had no knowledge that it was no longer being sold in Europe for that very reason. The WWF's lawyer claims Owen had rehearsed the entrance earlier in the day and had assured people he was comfortable with it. Dave says he's spoken to one witness who talked with Owen just minutes before he died who strongly disputes that and says Owen was openly uncomfortable with it and nervous about it (Dave doesn't say who that is, but I think it's come out in years since that Harley Race was the guy who had that conversation with Owen).
For the month of October, WWF averaged more than $400,000 per house show, which is the first time ever for that kind of business. It's even more impressive because Rock barely worked house shows this month. Many of the shows were headlined by Austin/Undertaker/Kane vs. Triple H/Rikishi/Haku. Dave thinks it's interesting how much things can change in a month. In January, Haku was an undercard guy on a $500-per-night deal in WCW. This month, he's working main events with the biggest stars in the business on shows that are setting all-time gate records.
A ton of letters this week. When did Dave stop printing these, I wonder? Anyway, this letter starts out with the guy saying, "read this letter again in six months. I guarantee my predictions will be correct." Ooooh! I haven't even read past that yet, but I'm intrigued. He trashes WCW and expresses doubt that Bischoff can save them. He says cruiserweights in WCW will continue to only be used as opening match nobodies. They'll continue to get no mic time or storylines, the announcers will still talk over them, Hogan will return and the glass ceiling will go back to where it was, Bischoff will hog up all the camera time, and all the same egos that got WCW into this mess will continue to be ruining the company 6 months from now. Ha! You lose dude! NONE of that happened in WCW 6 months later!
Lots of letters about the XFL, and everyone is already calling the time of death. Other letters with complaints about the McMahon family soap opera drama taking up so much time on TV. A LOT of complaints from people about Nitro where the heels did a mock "funeral" for Kevin Nash's career after he lost the loser-leaves-town match at SuperBrawl. Since Dale Earndhart had just died the day before and so many of WCW's fans are southern, there were apparently a ton of people who felt it was in poor taste.