September 30, 2002
- We open with the death of Ted Petty, better known as Flyboy Rocco Rock of legendary ECW tag team Public Enemy. Petty passed away at age 49 of a massive heart attack while traveling to work a show in Philadelphia. He was riding with his girlfriend and told her he was having trouble breathing. She asked if he was having a heart attack and he never responded again and pretty much died at that moment. She called 911 and paramedics told her they would meet her at the next toll booth (she was driving) but when she got there and paramedics arrived, he was already dead. He had complained of chest pains for about a week prior, but never went to a doctor about it. Petty was known to keep himself in good shape and despite the gimmick, he didn't have a big reputation as a partier or drug abuser and it looks to have just been possibly an undiagnosed heart issue rather than anything scandalous. Dave recaps the history of Petty, his rise through the independents, forming Public Enemy, where they were huge stars in ECW and a major reason for their that company's rise in 1994-95. They also had brief runs in WCW and WWF that didn't work out great. This obituary has quotes from Gabe Sapolsky, Lance Storm, Mick Foley, and others. Dave notes that Petty was known to have saved his money well over the years, especially the big WCW money they made, and he only wrestled for fun these days, not because he needed to.
- The other big swerve of the show was Stephanie McMahon being forced to participate in some Hot Lesbian Action in front of the crowd because Billy & Chuck lost to Jamal and Rosey. Needless to say, that didn't happen and the crowd was furious but, like, did they really expect Stephanie to get naked and start munching some box in front of the crowd? That's a really crude way of putting that, sorry. But yeah. WWE's thinking was that, since babyface Stephanie turned the tables on heel Bischoff, the fans would accept it. But that was a pretty obviously flawed theory and clearly not understanding their audience of horny dudes.
- Other notes from the PPV: Benoit vs. Angle was the clear highlight, the best technical match in WWE in ages. Then there's Triple H/RVD, and Dave says a lot of people in the company are accusing Triple H of working the match in a way to purposely expose RVD's weaknesses. Triple H has apparently spoken out against RVD in creative meetings recently some felt this was Triple H's way of putting the brakes on that push. The way the match ended sets RVD up for a feud with Ric Flair now, meaning no rematch with Triple H, and that leaves Kane as the only halfway credible challenger for his title. Lance Storm took a scary bump off the top rope during the opening match and was shaken up for a moment but ended up being fine. Dave jokes that Ric Flair came out to Bob Sapp's entrance music (Sapp has been copying Flair's entrance for his MMA fights in Japan. Aren't jokes better when they're explained?!). The announcers spent half the match talking about how Flair isn't the wrestler he once was and how you can't beat father time. How does saying that help anyone? Some idiot in the crowd had a sign that said "Guerrero moed my lawn" and Dave mocks them for misspelling it. Dave gives Benoit/Angle 4.5 stars and calls it a MOTY candidate. The Stephanie/HLA segment took place ending with lesbian Rikishi giving Bischoff a stinkface. Lesnar/Taker was a good match until the finish killed the whole damn PPV.
- WWE confirmed what's been known for months, officially announcing Seattle's Safeco Field as the home for Wrestlemania 19. They had a big press conference with all the top stars except Rock and Hogan, and they all cut short promos and teased potential matches and angles. They also had a press conference and the only notable things were Vince being asked about the downturn in business, which is said was temporary and wrestling is cyclical and how things will be hotter than ever when Wrestlemania comes.
- Mitsuharu Misawa became the first ever 2-time GHC heavyweight champion, winning NOAH's top title in what was said to be one of the best matches of the year. His opponent, Yoshihiro Takayama, suffered serious injuries from the bout and word is he'll likely be out of action the rest of the year. The show, which only had 2 weeks of promotion, sold out Budokan Hall and out-drew AJPW's recent shows in the same building that featured Goldberg. Takayama (who is kinda like a Japanese Mick Foley and has built a career on being able to take ungodly punishment) suffered a broken nose, dislocated AC joint, torn ligaments in his shoulder, broken right eye socket, and more. Takayama was basically trying to re-create his brutal MMA fight with Don Frye and so he told Misawa to beat the shit out of him and, well....he did. Harley Race was there and congratulated Misawa after the victory in the ring. Anyway, on this same show, Kenta Kobashi wrestled his first singles match in almost 2 years, and looked great. There's word he may be back in the title picture soon, which no one ever expected to happen again after all the knee surgeries.
- Tons of new details on the story of Brian Ong, who died at the All Pro Wrestling school in California last year and the story just came out. Well, it came out big, being picked up by all the major California news outlets and Dateline NBC is looking to do a story on it as well. Ong died back in May of 2001 when he was training with Giant Singh (Great Khali) and a spinebuster spot went awry. According to the police report, Ong was told the trainer he was dizzy and then started vomiting. 911 was called but when they arrived, Ong was unconscious. As they started to take him to the hospital, they noticed he no longer had a pulse and rushed him to the hospital while doing CPR, but he died en route. Police spoke to everyone there, including Singh who was said to be very upset about what happened and in his limited English, told them he didn't mean to hurt Ong. The report says Singh was so shook up and emotional that he couldn't even remember his own birthday. Regarding what happened, the story that pretty much everyone told is that Ong basically took the move wrong and didn't tuck his chin, which caused his head to hit the mat before his back. When he got up, he was disoriented and not responding to people and then began vomiting and passed out. Anyway, this all happened back in 2001 and was kept quiet until the family filed the lawsuit and the story got out. Lots of people knew Ong had died, but very few knew that it happened in wrestling practice. In fact, several wrestlers had heard that Ong died in a car accident. Singh has since been signed by NJPW and has been working there since last year.
- Former WWE star Brian "Road Dogg" James did an interview this week talking about the drug issues that cost him his WWE career. James said he's had drug issues since high school and the only time he's been clean since then was when he was in the military. When he got out and got into wrestling, his addictions got worse and never stopped. By the time he was fired from WWE, he was separated from his wife and has spent much of the last year and a half living in a halfway house, in and out of rehab. He talked about being proud of what he accomplished in WWE with DX but also said he's not proud of being high through most of it and teaching kids around the world to yell, "Suck it!" He said since joining a Christian-based rehab 6 months ago, he's become a more religious person. Said he didn't have a problem with any specific drug in WWE, but the fact that he was making big money and was famous, he lived a rock & roll lifestyle and his problem was with all the drugs. He said WWE tried to help him and intervened several times and he doesn't blame them for firing him. But he also says he doesn't think WWE realized how bad his problems were. After they fired him, he went to jail for a DUI, and he was already on probation for a domestic violence charge. He violated parole again by failing a drug test and spent a month on house arrest. When he got out, he got another DUI and spent another 3 weeks in jail before going to rehab. So that's what he's been up to the last couple years.
- The Nicole Bass $120 million sexual harassment lawsuit from way back when is still a thing and it went to trial this week. Bass and Vince McMahon himself both testified. Bass claims she was sexually harassed by WWE agent Steve Lombardi (Brooklyn Brawler) on an overseas flight to London in 1999. "He grabbed my boobs," Bass testified while crying on the stand. "He crushed me into the galley wall and pressed up with his whole body grinding against me." She testified that she tried to knee him to get him off her, but missed, so she then slapped him and pushed him back into his seat. Lombardi was in the courtroom and the New York Post claims he was smirking during her testimony. WWE lawyer Jerry McDevitt's counter argument is that Bass was a lousy wrestler who is making up the story because she was upset about being fired. WWE denied any knowledge of the incident and said Bass never reported it and no one else on the plane has confirmed seeing it. McMahon testified that he believes Bass is making up the story. "You're just trying to throw dirt against the wall, trying to make something stick," Vince said directly to Bass during his testimony. In her lawsuit, Bass also claimed Shawn Michaels simulated a sex act when standing behind her, that male WWE employees often went into women's locker rooms, and that during an angle where she was supposed to get hit with a guitar by Jeff Jarrett, they used a real guitar instead of a gimmicked one, causing her to be injured. Bass testified that company masseuse François Petit came into her dressing room uninvited and saw her in the shower. She also claimed Triple H and Billy Gunn once came into the women's locker room with no warning to check out the local strippers that were going to be portraying Godfather's ho's that night. So that was the first day of the trial, it's still ongoing at press time.
- IWA wrestler Chicky Starr has left the promotion and is jumping ship to WWC, the latest shot fired in the war between the 2 Puerto Rican promotions. Starr had been unhappy with the booking in IWA and tried to rally the wrestlers against Savio Vega (head booker) to complain about it. In response, Vega booked a match with Starr and a partner against another team and the loser would have to leave the promotion for 90 days. Starr knew about the match and the angle, but he didn't know the finish until he arrived to the arena. When he found out he was losing and Vega intended on enforcing the stipulation (meaning no work for Starr for the next 3 months), he walked out on the company, called up Carlos Colon, and struck a deal. Starr left WWC back in 2000 and Colon had made it clear he would not take back anyone who had walked out on him. But WWC is desperate right now and others convinced Colon it was necessary for business, so he took Starr back.
- Motoko Baba officially announced her farewell from AJPW to fans at the recent shows. Ms. Baba is the only person remaining in the company who has been there from the start in 1972. She said she will no longer have any duties or involvement with the company and starting next week, it will become an all-new promotion under Keiji Muto's leadership. Tokyo Sports newspaper ran a story, with a quote from Antonio Inoki who predicted Muto would run AJPW out of business in 6 months. Dave jokes that Inoki didn't make a prediction on how long it's going to take himself to run NJPW out of business. Because he damn sure seems to be trying. When asked, Muto shrugged off the insult and wouldn't even say Inoki's name.
- Dave reviews the latest NJPW episode of TV and says it was among the worst shows ever. The tag team main event was the worst match Dave can remember NJPW ever putting on last. Chyna was there cutting terrible promos to build for the match nobody wants to see with her vs. Masahiro Chono. She also cut a promo on Hiroshi Tanahashi saying he doesn't know how to wrestle, which is the funniest goddamn thing I've ever typed in these Rewinds. They showed the moonsault that Tenzan nearly killed himself on and it was brutal. Dave says he doesn't understand how he didn't break his neck. All in all, NJPW sucks right now and Dave ain't here for it.
- All Japan Women is bringing in a woman billed as Amazing Kong for some shows. They're promoting her as the female version of Bob Sapp, since they're both large and black and she'll probably be booked to be dominant like Sapp is. So....yeah. In case you're wondering, yes, this is Awesome Kong very early in her career.
- ROH's latest show featured a ladder match with Michael Shane vs. Paul London that had fans chanting "match of the year!" when it was over. Low-Ki also lost the ROH title to Xavier (RIP) which many fans were questioning. But the goal from the beginning was always to have a strong first champion with hopes that Xavier would then be solidified as a top guy by beating him. So that's the goal. The show also featured a tournament to crown ROH tag team champions, won by Christopher Daniels & Donovan Morgan. The show did get some criticism for running too long and had too many matches, but overall good show. Oh, it also featured a promo by 2 new debuting wrestlers by the names of CM Punk and Colt Cabana, who apparently showed up to the arena (not booked, they had worked a 3PW show earlier in the day across town) and worked out a deal on the spot to get booked on this show. They'll make their in-ring debuts for ROH in November.
- America's Most Wanted aired their story on the Messiah thumb chopping incident. They interviewed Messiah and some other indie wrestlers and showed a bunch of deathmatch clips and whatnot. Nothing much more to it that hasn't already been covered here. The case remains unsolved officially, but we all know what's up and the story heavily implies the same thing. The story on America's Most Wanted pretty much painted it as wrestling being an unseemly business and dirty things happen.
- TNA's getting a new influx of money soon but no details have been released. All Dave knows is that it's said to be from a huge international company, and word is the money is enough to keep the promotion running for several years. Of course, this is pro wrestling and Dave hears that shit from people all the time so until a deal is signed, take it all with a grain of salt. Negotiations are still going but within the company, it's thought to be a done deal. Dave is curious what the power structure is going to be and who's going to be fully in charge of TNA when this is all said and done. Historically, people who try to run wrestling companies without any wrestling knowledge don't fair well.
- Notes from TNA weekly PPV: Jeff Jarrett and Brian Christopher totally blew off the angle they've been building for weeks, no match, just a misunderstanding and now everyone's moving on to new programs. Former Road Dogg debuted as BG James who came out in a mask and revealed himself, to zero reaction and cut a promo about he and Jarrett walking out of WWF together in 1995, which no one remembers. Saved by the Bell star Dustin Diamond faced Tiny the Timekeeper in a worked boxing match angle that was terrible. CM Punk made another debut, this time in TNA, teaming with Ace Steele in a three-way tag match. There was a tag team battle royal style match with confusing rules that made no goddamn sense. Buff Bagwell was brought back, since they have new money coming in. And X-Pac, going by the name Syxx-Pac, made his debut with Scott Hall. But overall, pretty awful show.
- Steve Austin is scheduled to go to trial on Oct. 9 on the misdemeanor domestic violence charges he's facing after the incident with Debra a couple months back. Most cases of this type are settled out of court before they go to trial so it probably won't get that far. Austin did his first public interview this week and said he's undecided about returning to wrestling but right now, the divorce with Debra is off and they are trying to work things out. Dave says WWE wants Austin back, but it's largely dependent on him getting his personal life in order first and then really, it's a matter of whether he even wants to come back.
- Notes from Raw: they made a new rule for the brand split, no more jumping back and forth. Now wrestlers can only switch brands if a trade is worked out between Bischoff and Stephanie. This was done because Bischoff's character is going to be the heel GM who mistreats all the talent and they wanted to close the loophole because otherwise, why wouldn't everyone just quit and go to Smackdown if they could? At least WWE in 2002 was still trying to tell halfway logical stories, as opposed to 2020. Big Show vs. Jeff Hardy was awful, with Big Show looking terrible "and Jeff is just another story." The Pete Rose/Kane commercial for No Mercy is great. Randy Orton was apparently the first "trade" as he has been moved to Raw and was pushed hard as a babyface. So hard, in fact, that Dave suspects they're intentionally trying to give him The Rock debut treatment, where they put him over so much that the fans turn on him and then he can be a hated heel. Dave actually likes the idea. Speaking of Orton, there's been talk of forming a new Four Horsemen group soon, with Triple H and Ric Flair leading it, along with Randy Orton and someone else still to be determined (still 4 months away from it happening, but this is obviously the first mention of what becomes Evolution).
- Juventud Guerrera got a tryout at the latest Smackdown tapings in a dark match. He was specifically told before the match to slow it down and limit his high spots. So of course, he went out to the ring and went 100MPH and did probably twice as much stuff as they wanted him to do. Didn't win him any brownie points (yeah, seems like that was a bad idea because he doesn't get signed and instead goes to TNA. Eventually makes it to WWE in 2005 and Vince has him riding a goddamn lawnmower to the ring which is one of the less-talked about racist things WWE has done over the years).
- Notes from Smackdown: Lesnar beat Cena in a total squash match (won't be the last time) and Dave thinks Cena can't get anymore buried right now so it doesn't matter. Until they turn him heel and repackage him, he's dead in the water (sure enough, Cena was thought to be on the verge of getting released around this time, until the heel white rapper gimmick revived his career and the rest is history). That's pretty much the only thing worth noting.
- Goldust did an interview this week and was asked if he thought there would ever be a gay babyface character in WWE and he said no, feeling like the fans won't accept it. That was sadly true for far too many years and even now in 2020, it's still an issue. Look at all the shit Sonny Kiss was catching a few weeks back when he was scheduled to challenge Cody for the TNT title, for example.
- WWE has signed a couple new developmental wrestlers and will be sending them to OVW. The first is Sylven Grenier, a Montreal wrestler that Pat Patterson knows. The other is Orlando Jordan, who's been wrestling in Maryland independents. Dave says he's heard a lot of good things about Jordan in particular and from what Dave has seen of him, he definitely has potential.
- Dave has heard from a lot of sources that there's concern about Jeff Hardy. Those close to him feel Jeff doesn't care about wrestling anymore and is completely burned out. He's been late to numerous shows in the last few weeks and was fined multiple times for it and didn't even show up to the recent PPV until midway through the show. Needless to say, there's some people in the locker room who are a little upset about it. Basically, if Jeff doesn't want to be here, why does WWE keep pushing him so hard ahead of guys who work hard and want that spot? But hey, Jeff Hardy still gets a superstar reaction, so there's your answer (yeah, Jeff really needed rehab and time away at this point. He'll get it soon enough).
- WWE has hired a new ring announcer named Justin Roberts, who has been doing announcing on the indies for awhile. He was brought in for Smackdown because the normal ring announcer, Tony Chimmel, was on vacation. Roberts did a good enough job that they hired him to be a full time employee.
- Shawn Michaels did a WWE.com interview and said he wasn't hurting too bad after his match at Summerslam, at first. But about a week later, the pain kicked in. However, he did say he thinks he still has one more match left in him. Dave figures that'll probably be at Wrestlemania (turns out he still had about 500 matches left in him).
- On the new Hulk Hogan DVD, they show a match from 1979 with Hogan vs. Ted Dibiase at MSG and it's billed as Hogan's first WWF match ever. It was indeed Hogan's first match in Madison Square Garden, but it was not his first WWF match ever. He had been doing TV squash matches in WWF for at least a month prior to that match. Don't ever try to slip an incorrect fact past Meltzer.
- Dave says that Jim Cornette apparently loved the letter that Larry Matysik sent in to the Observer last week. In fact, he loved it so much that he made everyone in OVW read it to learn about the psychology of booking.
- Porn star Kendra Jade was at WWE's latest PPV and she's apparently trying to get into wrestling. Some fans reported that people recognized her and some parents and even kids took photos with her.
- The current plans for Smackdown is to build the show around 3 teams: Edge/Mysterio, Chavo/Eddie, and Benoit/Angle. Dave thinks that sounds pretty incredible (indeed it was. And so the Smackdown Six was born).