May 06, 2002
- Shad Gaspard went out as the absolute definition of what a father and hero should be. I know it doesn't ease the pain right now, but I hope in the future, that knowledge helps to bring some peace and comfort to his loved ones. What an awful, tragic, heartbreaking story this is. Rest in peace to Shad and best wishes to his family and friends.
- We start with a near 5,000-word obituary on Lou Thesz, which ends with Dave promising to "go into more depth" next week. Splendid. Anyway, Lou Thesz passed away at 86 following complications after open heart surgery a few weeks prior. Needless to say, Thesz was the biggest worldwide star in wrestling from the late-30s through the mid-60s. So here we go: he hated modern American wrestling, which he called "choreographed tumbling" and his only connection to the business was in Japan, where he still occasionally made appearances. Became youngest major world champion in wrestling history at age 21 in 1937, in the latter years of the Great Depression. His match with Rikidozan in 1957 remains to this day the highest rated wrestling match of all time and will never even come close to being surpassed. It did a massive 87.0 rating, meaning damn near every house in Japan was tuned in for it. Wrestled his last match in 1990, at age 74, against Masahiro Chono for NJPW. Legit tough guy. His match with Buddy Rogers for the NWA title directly led to the creation of the WWWF in 1963. Dave tells a ton of amazing stories about Thesz's career here. I know I joke about how long these obits are, but this really is a fantastic read about one of the most important figures in the history of wrestling. Speaking of...
- The WWF failed to acknowledge Thesz's death on TV the following night, which Dave thinks was utterly classless given how important Lou Thesz was to the industry. In fact, during Steve Austin's match, when he did the Thesz Press move, Jim Ross hesitated before calling the move and Dave seems pretty certain that they were specifically told not to acknowledge him. For what it's worth, Thesz has never exactly spoken highly of modern day wrestling or WWF (aside from telling anyone who would listen how much he loved Kurt Angle). But it wasn't all bad blood. Thesz worked a battle royal at a WWF show in the 80s and even made appearances in front of the crowd at WWF shows as recently as 1997. But WWF seemingly went out of their way to not mention the death of one of the most legendary and historically important wrestlers the business ever saw.
- Oh yeah, remember Wahoo McDaniel died last week and Dave promised to have more this week? Here we go. Look folks, I'm not recapping this. It's literally almost 10,000 words about the life and career of Wahoo McDaniel. I'm talking detailed life story, his entire football career, his wrestling career, a million different interesting stories and quotes from other people in the business (Dory Funk Jr., Jim Barnett, Nick Bockwinkel, Terry Funk, and more). It's an incredible piece of writing because Dave always shines in these historical obituary pieces. If you ever wanted to learn everything about Wahoo McDaniel, faaaar more than you'll find on his Wikipedia page or whatever, then this is the issue for you.
- And now we go in depth about the allegation that Josh Barnett failed a steroid test just after beating Randy Couture back in March for the UFC heavyweight title. Dave talks about the legalities and possible outcomes of this for Barnett and how the Nevada commission, in all their years of testing for boxing and kickboxing, have surprisingly never actually had a steroid test failure like this that they've had to punish, so there's no precedent for what to do here. Anyway, Dave covers all this stuff, talks about what UFC and the commission might do to Barnett, how he pretty much has to be stripped of the title if UFC wants to maintain any credibility, how this might affect Barnett and other UFC fighters who might jump to PRIDE if the UFC cracks down hard on steroid failures, etc. Even though the Nevada commission technically governs pro wrestling also, Nevada doesn't test WWF (because WWF would simply stop running shows there if they did). WWF hasn't tested people seriously in years. They did do a random steroid test for everybody in developmental recently, but nobody was suspended if they failed, they were just pulled aside and talked to about it.
- The 28-year relationship between NJPW and head booker Riki Choshu ended this week when Choshu resigned from the company. Choshu actually submitted his resignation almost a month ago, but both sides had agreed to keep it quiet until after the upcoming Tokyo Dome show. But word leaked out this week before the show, forcing NJPW to put out a statement announcing that Choshu will be leaving the company at the end of May and would be honored in a ceremony at the Tokyo Dome show, which is expected to be his final NJPW appearance. Dave can't put into words how big this is. Aside from Antonio Inoki himself, Riki Choshu was undoubtedly the most important person in the history of New Japan Pro Wrestling. Dave recaps his entire career, starting with his NJPW debut in 1974, the famous angle in the early 80s where he turned on Fujinami and Inoki, leading NJPW to the biggest financial success any wrestling promotion in history had ever had up to that time. Choshu's brief jump to AJPW in the 80s, his return in 87 and becoming booker in 1989. In fact, aside from Vince McMahon, Choshu is the 2nd most successful booker in wrestling history, with NJPW having drawn more than half of the top 40 largest crowds in the history of wrestling. NJPW was the biggest and strongest promotion in the world for most of the 1990s, under Choshu's booking. Then his retirement, return, and now this. Dave doesn't have all the details of why this happened yet or what Choshu's next move will be. Could start his own promotion or, even at age 50, jump to AJPW and probably have a hell of a run with fresh dream matches that would do big business. Time will tell.
- More MMA news, as the UFC lightweight title was vacated when champ Jens Pulver left over a contract dispute. Dave goes into the financial details of it and what Pulver wanted and why UFC is trying not to spend money until they get a TV deal so they can't afford to pay guys what other MMA companies can, etc. (the lightweight title stays vacant for the next 4 years. UFC tries to have a tournament to crown a new champion but the finals ends in a draw, so they just said "fuck it" and scrapped the whole division until 2006).
- Raw ratings for this week are in and they aren't good news for Hogan. The show itself drew the lowest rating since the NFL season ended months ago. And the Hogan/Undertaker angle with the overrun at the end of the show drew the lowest overrun rating in 4 years. Hogan's been back in WWF for a little less than 3 months and it's looking like this nostalgia run may already be running out of steam. Smackdown also did its lowest non-holiday rating in history this week, which is even worse news (the more things change...)
- Genichiro Tenryu beat Keiji Muto to win the vacant AJPW Triple Crown title that was held up after Toshiaki Kawada was injured last month. The match was nowhere near as good as the classic Muto/Tenryu match from last year, but was still good when you consider both men are practically elderly by wrestling standards and are physically thrashed.
- Kenta Kobashi is expected to return to full-time in-ring action in July after missing most of the last 2 years with knee injuries (yeah he finally comes back for real this time and goes on to have one hell of a late-career run over the next few years).
- After months of hype, the Giant Silva vs. Giant Singh match planned for the NJPW Tokyo Dome show this week won't be happening, after Singh suffered a fractured cheekbone that required surgery and will keep him out for 3 months (poor Great Khali). Chyna was originally scheduled to be the referee for that match, but she won't be doing that now. So this week, they had a press conference where Tiger Jeet Singh attacked Antonio Inoki and challenged him to a match, but Chyna made the save for Inoki ('oh this is getting sad," Dave writes) and she challenged Tiger to the match herself (this doesn't happen, she ends up refereeing a tag match instead).
- The Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Masahiro Chono match at the NJPW Tokyo Dome show will end up airing on TV after all, but it won't be part of the live broadcast. Misawa is contracted to Nippon TV but the show is airing on TV-Asahi going head-to-head with a major soccer game on Nippon. So they won't allow the Misawa match to air against their soccer game, but they have agreed to allow it to air during NJPW's usual weekly TV show a couple of days later.
- The latest Ring of Honor show again drew a sellout crowd in Philadelphia. The matches were again said to be spectacular, with Low-Ki vs. AJ Styles stealing the show. WWF Intercontinental champion Eddie Guerrero also worked the show, which was the final booking he had made prior to his return to WWF, and they allowed him to honor it. Eddie busted his ass and sold like crazy in the match, continuing to earn his reputation back and prove himself. Fans chanted "Thank you Eddie" at him after the match. After the bout, Eddie cut an emotional promo about his pending divorce and losing out in a custody hearing for his children. He talked about his personal issues and how his first brush with fame in the U.S. was in Philadelphia for ECW. None of this was scripted, it was Eddie going off the cuff and being honest and it brought many in the crowd to tears (I can't find video of the promo, but here's the post ROH made on their website after Eddie's death where they talk about it).
- Bret Hart wrote in his Calgary Sun column about his recent appearance on that Talking With The Dead show with the psychic that claims he can talk to dead people. Hart said he went in to the show open minded, feeling 50/50 on whether this guy was legit. Afterwards, Bret felt slightly more confident (55/45) that he was legit. Hart admitted that most of the stuff the guy said, he could have found out by researching, but regardless, Hart said his gut tells him the guy is legit and if he's not, he still did a good job of convincing him. Hart said he doesn't regret doing it. (Oh Bret, honey...)
- Mark and Jay Briscoe have quit CZW. It's kind of a technicality since they couldn't really wrestle for them anyway. CZW's shows mostly take place in Pennsylvania and you have to be 18 for the commission to legally allow you to wrestle. For awhile, both Briscoes were underage. So then they started wrestling under masks, but the commission wasn't stupid and figured that out too. So they've left the company. Jay is now working with Ring of Honor (since he recently turned 18) but Mark can't join him yet. But it's expected he will when he turns 18 as well (and the Briscoes have pretty much been there ever since).
- Quote, presented without context: "Ted Petty (Rocco Rock) was spotted on a Manhattan street selling mops."
- In regards to the new Jarrett family promotion, Jerry is said to be against bringing in Vince Russo, but Jeff is adamant that he wants Russo to be the new promotion's head writer.
- The Jarretts are also hoping to use Road Dogg, but he's on house arrest for the next 6 months, so it won't be until after that. They're also trying to avoid using a lot of old WCW names, mostly because those stars are expensive and the NWA Wildside indie workers will wrestle for cheap. But they're also complete unknowns to all but the most hardcore of fans, which is gonna make it hard to draw PPV buys even though many of them are very good workers.
- XWF's entire planned Texas tour this week got canceled at the last minute when the financial backer pulled out. The money they were supposed to pay them never materialized and they cut off contact with the promotion at literally the last moment. All of the talent showed up in Texas, only to find out that the entire tour (4 shows throughout the state) had been scrapped. Advertising for the shows had been minimal and even with Roddy Piper, Rena Mero, and Dusty Rhodes advertised, ticket sales were embarrassing (one show in Tyler, TX had only 50 tickets sold when it was canceled). The wrestlers hung around the first arena they were supposed to be at and signed autographs and whatnot for the fans who did show up, but that was it. The wrestlers were told they would all still be getting paid for the entire tour and their travel expenses, so no one was too terribly mad. But they haven't been paid as of yet, although XWF said checks will be sent out this week. But in the wrestling biz, you never know for sure until the money is in your hand. No word on whether XWF plans to take legal action against the backers who pulled out. The promotion has no other dates on the schedule (and that was it for XWF. No other shows ever happen and they quietly fold up shop soon after).
- Regarding Hogan winning the WWF title, Vince originally planned to keep the belt on Triple H up until the day of the show. It was debated strongly during the writers meeting, with Stephanie McMahon (not surprisingly) and Paul Heyman pushing to keep the belt on Triple H, while most everyone else argued to put it on Hogan and strike while the iron is hot. Ultimately, Vince decided to go with Hogan.
- WWF has taken out several new trademarks for "WW," "WWE," and "World Wrestling Entertainment" among others. They also recently registered the domain names for WWE.com and WorldWrestlingEntertainment.com (as well as .org and .net). Privately, within the company, everyone seems to recognize that they aren't going to win their final appeal with the World Wildlife Fund lawsuit and are going to be forced to change the company name, so they're preparing for it. They've also gotten the trademark on a new logo, which looks exactly like the current scratch logo, but with the F removed. Given all the "WWF" logos that have been plastered on turnbuckles, ring aprons, signs, etc. over the last 20 years, there's some question over how this will affect future video releases of old footage (answer: by annoyingly blurring everything out).
- In its second week in theaters, Scorpion King continues to reign at #1 in the box office. As of this writing, it has grossed $60.8 million. Big Money Miavia is gonna be a star, folks!
- Notes from Smackdown: Hogan got another huge reaction when he came out, which is weird because he didn't get near the reaction on Raw the same week (remember, Hogan is champ and champ gets to go on both shows). For what it's worth, the local newspaper reported that cheers for Hogan were being piped in through the speakers, which is the type of embarrassing shit WCW used to do with the Goldberg chants. Dave says he couldn't tell if that was true on TV or not. Also during the show, Chris Jericho himself and Vince McMahon both referred to Jericho as "Living Legend" so it looks like they're not taking Larry Zbyszko's lawsuit too seriously. Randy Orton made his debut and Dave thinks he looks way too much like a fresh-faced boy next door to get over as a babyface with this WWF audience. Dave predicts he'll get treated like Rock did during his first year or two, when crowds were literally chanting at him to die (indeed, Orton didn't really click until he turned heel). And finally, Jericho and Triple H had a really good match.
- Internally, it's recognized that Edge is the guy they want to get behind and push right now. For months now, Edge and RVD have been the glass ceiling guys that everyone is pushing the company to strap a rocket to. But RVD had a pretty lackluster PPV match with Eddie Guerrero and that soured a lot of people on pushing him as a top guy. On the other hand, Edge tore the house down with Kurt Angle and it opened a lot of eyes for people who see potential in Edge as a top singles guy some day.
- In regards to recent rumors that Juventud Guerrera is headed to WWF, that's not true, at least not right now. He's been calling WWF periodically, looking for work, and John Laurinaitis keeps giving him the ol' "Call us back in a month or two and we'll see what we have." But with plans to restart the cruiserweight division, Juvie would be one of the top guys they should want. That being said, WWF has been trying to make it a point not to sign people who have been openly battling their personal demons (Scott Hall double-standard notwithstanding) and Juvie hasn't exactly been on his best behavior in the last few years, so that works against him.
- Former WCW Nitro girl Sharmell Sulivan suffered a torn ACL training in OVW and will undergo surgery that will keep her out for 4-6 months (the injury pretty much convinces her to give up on the whole wrestling thing. She eventually returned as an interviewer and later as Booker T's valet. And she wrestled a handful of matches in later years, but for all intents and purposes, the ACL injury put an end to the idea of her being a wrestler).
- MTV's "The Osbournes" continues to be a monster hit and continues to be the only show on cable that is beating WWF's Raw in the ratings. It's happened for the 3rd week in a row and will probably continue to happen until the season is over. Prior to this show, Raw was almost always the highest rated cable show of the night.
- Kurt Angle recently filmed a PSA for the Get Tough on Angina campaign to raise awareness about the rare heart condition. It was supposed to air on Smackdown, but Vince nixed it at the last minute because he didn't want Angle, as a heel, being portrayed in a manner where he's doing something charitable and good. The commercial will still air during Raw since he's not on that show. Sure, why not? Vince actually didn't like the idea of Angle doing the commercial at all since Angle is one of the top heels in the company. Angle was chosen for the spot because more than a dozen members of his family have suffered from it and even Angle was thought to have it and flunked his first WWF medical test in 1998 because of it. But later tests showed he was okay.
- Speaking of Angle, the WWF has given him their blessing to take time off to train for the 2004 Olympics. They have even agreed to sponsor him and will continue to pay his minimum downside guarantee while he's off. Angle has said that his impromptu backstage match with Lesnar a few months ago made him feel competitive again, but it also made him realize he's not nearly the amateur wrestler he was back in 1996. Even though Lesnar outweighed Angle by about 80 pounds and even though Angle hasn't wrestled competitively like that in nearly 6 years, he still was able to beat him. But it wasn't easy. That same day, prior to the Angle vs. Lesnar matchup, both guys were having fun grappling with Big Show. Angle later said that if Big Show actually knew what he was doing, he'd be unstoppable because he's so big and strong. But he didn't know what he was doing and as a result, both Angle and Lesnar physically manhandled him on the ground. Anyway, Angle plans to make his 2004 Olympics decision before the end of this year, which would give him all of 2003 to train and get back to where he think he needs to be. But it will depend on how he's feeling physically. Angle said if he's still beat up with injuries by the end of the year, he won't do it because if he isn't 100%, he can't properly train and wouldn't have a chance of winning another gold medal (indeed, Angle's body continues to break down and the 2004 Olympics never happens).
- Jim Ross admitted that WWF has had talks with Ken Shamrock recently but who knows if it will amount to anything. UFC has made Shamrock a great offer to fight Tito Ortiz in September. Shamrock is fine with that money offer, but he wants a no-rematch clause in the contract. UFC is insisting on a rematch. Because if Shamrock beats Ortiz, it'll be seen as an upset and would turn Shamrock into the UFC's biggest star overnight. And if that happens, they don't want him jumping ship to PRIDE immediately after. UFC wants to make sure that if Shamrock wins, Ortiz will get a rematch. Shamrock is 38 years old and, in terms of long-term financial stability, WWF is probably the best option for him. Despite rumors to the contrary, Shamrock reportedly has no interest in joining the new Jarrett promotion (he literally wins the NWA title on TNA's very first show lol....but we'll get there).
- Jim Ross also noted that WWF has had discussions with NJPW about allowing WWF developmental talent to go work tours for them (don't think this ever amounts to anything).
- After being told to retire by his own doctors, DDP went to Dr. James Andrews in Birmingham for a second opinion....and they told him to retire also. DDP's spinal cord is said to be in such bad shape that one more bad bump could paralyze him. DDP is planning to see Dr. Youngblood in a few weeks (the same doctor that put Steve Austin's neck back together) and still hopes to return to the ring (nah, not really. Takes off the next few years and, aside from a scattering of matches over the years since, he pretty much retired as a full-time wrestler at this point).
- WWF held another training camp this week with a whole list of developmental and unsigned indie wrestlers. Among them: April Hunter from WCW, Bobby Rude, Josh Matthews from Tough Enough season 1, former WCW wrestler Horshu who Dave says has a good body and nothing else (later becomes Luther Reigns), Daffney from WCW, and Sylvain Grenier, among many others who's names nobody will recognize. During the session, the WWF agents strongly trashed the "indie shoot style" matches that have become popular on the indies, specifically noting the Low-Ki vs. American Dragon matches in Ring of Honor. The agents said that style is just as bad as backyard wrestling and that the idea is to make things look like they hurt, but not actually hurt. And I guess the ROH "strong style" is too tough and can lead to too many injuries. Dave says this stems from Spanky showing up to a recent WWF training camp covered in bruises from a recent ROH match with American Dragon. So they don't like that style of rasslin' in WWF.