August 13, 2001
- The numbers are in on the Invasion PPV and it looks to have done a 1.6 buyrate, or around 750,000 buys. If those numbers hold up, it makes Invasion the 4th biggest selling PPV in wrestling history, only trailing the previous 3 Wrestlemanias. Dave credits part of the success to the inter-promotional angle but also thinks a big part of it is the return of the "old" Steve Austin. The heel Austin has been a flop, but the build up to Invasion saw Austin get back to his old bad ass ways. Of course, they turned him heel again at the PPV so who knows if this success will hold up, but Dave says that no matter what the movie executives think of Rock, it's clear that Austin still is, and always has been, the bigger PPV draw. Anyway, the success of the PPV seems to have led to Vince re-reversing plans. If you recall, business has been plummeting in recent months which led to them to scrap plans for a stand-alone WCW brand and TV show. But with this PPV success, apparently discussions are back on about moving forward with that plan. There's no solid timetable, but tentatively by February, they're hoping to have the company split into 2 brands, doing separate PPVs, TV shows, and house shows. But of course, just as quickly as things turned around, they can fall back down again just as quickly so don't be surprised if all these plans get scrapped again. Raw ratings were down slightly this week and the return of Rock hasn't really boosted house show numbers so one big PPV success doesn't necessarily mean they're out of trouble yet. Dave thinks they have to create new stars and now, while business is hot, is the time to do it. Kurt Angle is getting a mega push right now and Dave mentions that, barring injury or bad booking, Angle has potential to become the greatest all-around performer in the history of wrestling at the rate he has been excelling.
- Hall of Fame voting has passed and the HOF issue of the Observer will be next week. So now that the deadline has passed, Dave lists the candidates and gives his thoughts on who should or shouldn't get in. Remember, these are just Dave's personal opinions and votes, it's not the actual inductees. That'll be next week.
- Arn Anderson - great worker, great interview, but never a top guy or a strong draw. Dave doesn't see it.
- Gene & Ole Anderson - longest reigning NWA tag champions ever but they never really left the Carolinas/Georgia territory and were never big outside there. Nah.
- Bob Backlund - 2nd most sellouts of MSG behind Bruno Sammartino. 5+ year reign as WWF champion. Never really accomplished much before or after that big title run, aside from a brief hot streak in the early 90s. But for those 2 things alone, he's got Dave's vote.
- Chris Benoit - An easy yes for Dave. One of the greatest in-ring wrestlers ever, has worked and been a star all over the world and even if he never becomes a world champion headliner, just on the sheer basis of being one of the best performers of all time is enough for Dave.
- Cien Caras - headliner in Mexico for 25 years and was a consistently good draw, but Dave thinks there's stronger candidates on the ballot.
- Carlos Colon - an all-time legend in Puerto Rico and was a huge draw there. Dave strongly considered him but ultimately decided no. He also admits that Colon's connection to Bruiser Brody's murder is a shadow that will always hang over him and it feels to me like that's why Dave didn't vote for him.
- Fabulous Freebirds - most of the votes came in before Terry Gordy's death, so Dave doesn't expect them to get in on a sympathy vote. But Dave voted for them last year and did again this year. They were a revolutionary tag team, top stars everywhere they went, and helped turned Junkyard Dog and Kerry Von Erich into local legends in their territories. Easy yes from Dave.
- Gran Hamada - great worker, plenty of longevity, but never really a true top superstar at any point in his career. Dave votes no.
- Volk Han - Dave says this is an easy yes for him but also says the guy will never make it. One of the top stars in RINGS before it was a real shoot promotion, great worker, longevity, great draw, etc. But it was all during his time in a company no one really watched back then and Dave doesn't think he'll ever get the votes.
- Owen Hart - never a top draw, but a great worker. Was a star in Mexico, Japan, and Europe as well. But even though his death was one of the biggest stories ever in the history of wrestling, Dave just thinks there's too many stronger candidates. Reluctantly did not vote for him.
- Hiroshi Hase - easy yes. Top star in Japan, great worker, longevity, and translated his wrestling fame into a successful political career. He was also Riki Choshu's right hand man in helping to build NJPW to its huge success in the 90s.
- Aja Kong - great worker, definitely belongs in, but everyone has a limited number of picks. Dave feels Bull Nakano should go in first so he voted for her over Kong.
- Lizmark - belongs in, but once again, it's a numbers game and other people belong a little bit more. If Dave had another vote to give, he'd use it on Lizmark, but alas...
- Wahoo McDaniel - Dave voted for him. Longevity, headliner everywhere, respected by his peers, etc.
- Shawn Michaels - every year, this is the most controversial candidate. One of the greatest performers in the history of wrestling, but also the single least-respected by most of his peers, due to his well-known reputation. Dave figured Shawn would get in easily this year, but then he came back, got pilled up, and screwed up yet another planned storyline for himself (he was supposed to get involved in the Triple H/Undertaker match at Wrestlemania, but he showed up to Raw a couple weeks prior high as a kite and got sent home). Dave says that was enough to make him consider not voting for him. But ultimately, Shawn is one of the best ever and Dave still has to vote for him, begrudgingly.
- Gorilla Monsoon - famous name, but no way. Bad announcer, not a good wrestler, and never a huge star. He's a legendary name in the business for all his backstage contributions, but as far as a HOF level talent, nah.
- Fabulous Moolah - same as Monsoon for Dave. Famous name and for decades, she personified women's wrestling. But those were decades when women's wrestling was all but meaningless. Moolah isn't even in the same league as most other women as far as in-ring ability and was never a draw, because women's wrestling wasn't a draw. Hard pass from Dave.
- Pedro Morales - Dave breaks down his accomplishments, pros and cons, but....doesn't really say whether it's a yes or no.
- Dick Murdoch - borderline candidate, and Dave was tempted but nah.
- Bull Nakano - easy pick. Great worker, champion everywhere, top star for AJW, on and on.
- Rock & Roll Express - great workers, got over everywhere, but were never headliners and Dave thinks others are a bit ahead.
- Seiji Sakaguchi - #2 star of NJPW behind Inoki back in the early days, was president of the company, and helped NJPW get the TV-Asahi network deal they still have 30 years later. So there's an argument for him, but Dave seems unsure.
- El Satanico - Longevity, and at 52 years old, he's still a great worker and currently part of the hottest feud in Mexico. Easy pick for Dave.
- Jimmy Snuka - Dave voted for him in the past, but as time passes, people forget how revolutionary he was before drugs destroyed him. But in the early 80s, HUGE star. But then he burned out and hung around for a decade after living off his name value and it hurt his legacy a lot.
- Wilbur Snyder - biggest name from the 60s that isn't already in. Respected but Dave puts others ahead.
- Undertaker - has to go in. Too big a star not to. Never a great worker, but headliner for 10 years, multiple big money feuds, one of the best gimmicks ever in wrestling....easy yes.
- Villano III - deserves serious consideration, but others belong in first.
- Eric Bischoff - no way. "A promoter in the Hall of Fame needs not to have put his company out of business so quickly, no matter how much at one point he turned the industry around."
- Jesse Ventura - changed the game as an announcer. Basically popularized the heel commentator. As a wrestler, not a chance. As an announcer, Dave says sure, although Lawler and Heenan were better at the heel commentator gimmick. As a "name", Ventura is a bigger celebrity than almost anyone. Dave didn't vote for him, but he still believes Ventura is a legit candidate.
- I'm so glad this is the last year of the Rewinds so I never have to type all that shit out again.
- NJPW's G-1 Climax is in the books and the tournament was won by Yuji Nagata. Dave breaks down all the results and who beat who and yada yada. AJPW Triple Crown champion Keiji Muto lost to both Nagata and Kojima, which is interesting because Giant Baba would have never allowed the AJPW champ to lose twice in a tournament to wrestlers from another promotion. Then again, he also wouldn't have put the title on a NJPW wrestler, so obviously, the business has changed a lot in recent years.
- The bankruptcy situation surrounding ECW is on hold for now until October, at which point the court will decide on Acclaim's attempts to take over ECW's assets. Paul Heyman appeared before the court last week to answer questions from both the trustee and the creditors ECW owes money to. Acclaim is trying to foreclose on ECW and both Heyman and WWF contested that. Their argument is that Acclaim was a partial owner of ECW, not a creditor. As such, they argue that the money Acclaim gave ECW wasn't a loan, but was in fact funding for the company to keep it alive (because a dead ECW would render Acclaim's video game deal worthless). Thus, since they're not a creditor, WWF and Heyman argue that they shouldn't be able to foreclose on ECW and take over its assets. In 1999, when Acclaim gave ECW the money, ECW was $3.1 million in debt and on the verge of folding. The Acclaim money saved them. During the fiscal year of 2000, the ECW Hardcore Revolution game grossed around $17 million for Acclaim, so needless to say, Acclaim had a very strong interest in keeping ECW alive. ECW should have received $425,000 in royalties from that game which they never received because it was held back based on their failure to repay Acclaim what they had given them. That's why Heyman argued that they only owed Acclaim $1 million rather than $1.5 million. This whole thing gets stupid confusing and we're not even close to done...
- Heyman provided the court with lots of financial books and records, which is why the decision regarding ECW has been postponed until October, to give the lawyers time to look over all the records. WWF is still going under the opinion that ECW abandoned the trademarks for its name and assets before filing for bankruptcy, since they haven't promoted any shows since January and didn't file bankruptcy until April and the trademarks weren't listed as an asset in the filing. In court last week, Heyman agreed with that statement, saying that he had abandoned the trademarks before filing. Dave points out that WWF and Acclaim already don't have a good relationship. In fact, WWF has an outstanding lawsuit against Acclaim still pending for $460,000 over some issues stemming back to when Acclaim used to make WWF's video games. This week, WWF offered $737,500 for the ECW assets, although they would only have to pay $150,000 of that because the other $587,500 is actually money ECW owes WWF, and they would simply be giving up their right to recoup that money. That offer was turned down, at which point WWF increased the offer by another $100K. That's the point Acclaim decided to make their claim to the ECW property and here we are. In another note, Pioneer, which is the company that owned the videotape rights to ECW, was also at the hearing and argued that they want to continue owning the rights to sell ECW videos and DVDs. Pioneer's contract with ECW is valid through 2004 and even after ECW folded, they continued to have strong sales of ECW releases. So they want to continue selling whatever they can until 2004.
- Women's wrestler Rhonda Singh passed away this week at age 40 of an apparent suicide. To American fans, she was probably best known as her comedic Bertha Faye role in early 90s WWF, but she was a bigger star in Japan and Mexico. Dave compares her career to Terry Gordy, died at the same age, careers flamed out young, both used the powerbomb as a finisher, both were bigger stars in Japan, both started their careers young and achieved major success as teenagers, etc. She grew up in Calgary, went to school with Bret and Owen Hart, but didn't train with the family like everyone else. Trained under Mildred Burke, and due to her size, Singh became an instant star in women's wrestling. She immediately was recruited by All Japan Women and became a huge foreign star there despite being green as grass. Won the top women's title in the world at age 18, huge star in Japan, then to Mexico, and finally to WWF to feud with Alundra Blayze and Bull Nakano, but then Nakano got fired from WWF after she got busted with cocaine and they turned Singh into a full-blown comedy character and named her Bertha Faye before the WWF women's division fizzled out entirely. Then she had a brief run in WCW in 1999 where Vince Russo booked her to be the punchline of a bunch of fat jokes. But then Turner standards and practices forbid Russo from using the word "fat" to describe her and Russo threw a fit and using it as an example of why he wasn't able to save WCW, as if being able to call Rhonda Singh "fat" on TV would have somehow been the magic bullet needed to turn the WCW ship around. And anyway, that's that (to this day her cause of death is still disputed, with some claiming it was a medical issue, but a lot of people who knew her claim it was suicide. We'll never know for sure).
- Fresh off winning his political election, Atsushi Onita is attending an upcoming Zero-One show and they're teasing that it will lead to Onita facing off against Hiroshi Hase in one of Onita's famous exploding ring matches. "To determine who exactly is the most hardcore Senator, I suppose," Dave quips.
- This Main Event Wrestling promotion that is talking about filling ECW's shoes is already falling apart. They have a show scheduled this week at the old ECW Arena but they never promoted it or anything, they just hoped internet word of mouth would attract fans. They also didn't sell tickets anywhere, they're only available at the door. But now, with just days before the event, they realize the show has no buzz and in a panic, they announced it will be a free show, with hopes of filling the building that way. Joey Styles was said to be coming in as the announcer but Styles has denied ever agreeing to that. Buff Bagwell agreed to work the show and in doing so, he apparently forfeits his WWF severance package (90 days salary, which is about 50K). Curt Hennig and Terry Taylor had previously agreed to be involved, but they're upset about a lot of decisions being made. Long story short, there's a lot of doubt that this thing will ever get off the ground. The promoter, John Collins, has a previous prison record and has been claiming to have a bunch of big names signed, when he most certainly doesn't. Everybody is already comparing him to Herb Abrams, saying he's just another carny snake promoter they don't trust (yeah this goes nowhere).
- Various notes: Matrats is changing its name to Next Generation Wrestling. The Hogan/Universal deal is still in limbo and apparently won't proceed until Hogan settles his lawsuit with Time Warner and Vince Russo. Goldberg is confirmed to be playing in the upcoming flag football game in the final event at Denver's Mile High Stadium before it's torn down. The game will feature a bunch of former NFL stars and Goldberg's inclusion raised some eyebrows since he was barely a fringe player in the NFL and is primarily only famous as a wrestler. Jake Roberts pled guilty to a hit and run in Girard, OH and was given a year of probation and ordered to go to rehab.
- For the first time, Dave mentions the Wrestling Vixxxens porn site with Missy Hyatt and Tammy Sytch. There was a video shoot this week with RF Video and those ladies that apparently went out of control. One of the videographers quit because things were such a mess and Chris Candido apparently flew into a rage over something and got so wild that the police were called.
- Next week's Smackdown will feature new graphics and a new set
- Notes from Raw: the streak of good shows has ended. This show sucked. Stephanie McMahon came out and there's something a little new about her lately, and Chris Jericho ridiculed her for it (this is a bit of a recurring theme with those two). Dave thinks they're doing a decent job of making Booker T stand out from the rest of the WCW pack and trying to make a star of him, but the comedy skits with him throughout the show were awful and made him look like a geek compared to Rock, who he's fighting at Summerslam. And Dave says that Kurt Angle is the best worker in North America right now.
- Dave notes that Goldberg, along with his brother and several of their friends, somehow scored free front row tickets to an upcoming WWF house show. They all argued about whether Goldberg should go or not. They all wanted to, figuring it would be fun to just go just like any other fan in the crowd and it would be a huge scene with fans chanting for him and whatnot. But smarter heads prevailed and Goldberg realized it wouldn't be a good idea to go and derail the WWF show and upstage the whole event by being there. Because in a couple of years, when his WCW deal expires, he still may want to go there and doesn't want to burn any bridges. Plus, as mentioned, Time Warner would love to find any reason to accuse Goldberg of breaching his huge contract that they're still paying for. And attending a WWF show, even as a fan, might be enough to get them to start looking for a loophole.
- Jim Ross met with Rey Mysterio and Juventud Guerrera this week. The meeting was apparently supposed to be Mysterio, because WWF scheduled that one, which means they're likely planning to hire him. Guerrera I guess just tagged along? Anyway, everyone in WWF recognizes Guerrera's talent, but the drug arrest in Australia last year is still the big thing holding him back from being signed.
- Test needed 7 stitches after a hardway kick from RVD last week. Dave says RVD is clearly getting over big with the crowds and that's good, but he's also seeming to get a bit of a reputation for hurting people so the jury is still out on him in WWF.
- Paul Heyman will make his acting debut in the movie Rollerball, which comes out next year. And contrary to popular urban legend, Heyman filmed his scenes in summer 2001, after he was in WWF. Not while ECW was still alive, as rumors have gone.