June 14, 2004
- JBL caused an international incident and got himself fired from his CNBC job during WWE's overseas tour during a stop in Munich, Germany. During a match, he repeatedly did the Nazi goose-stepping march and the Heil Hitler salute on multiple occasions. These things are actually illegal in Germany, although it's randomly and rarely enforced, and it's likely JBL didn't know that and was carelessly attempting to get heel heat. No charges were filed and he left the country without incident, but it infuriated many fans in attendance. 3 days later, CNBC issued a statement saying they had terminated its relationship with JBL, calling the behavior "offensive, inappropriate, and not befitting anyone associated with our network." JBL's firing from CNBC received more news coverage than the actual incident that caused it, and WWE officials are said to be embarrassed by the whole thing. JBL made the decision to do it on his own, he wasn't instructed to, and apparently didn't run it by the agent for the match either (Dean Malenko, who is Jewish). WWE and JBL both posted separate apologies on WWE.com and word is JBL was reprimanded, though no word how. The apology was removed after CNBC fired him however, which makes one suspect that the apology may have just been a failed attempt to save JBL's other job. Within the company, it's said that Vince isn't upset at JBL at all and seems to be sympathetic to his situation (yeah Vince was famously pretty pissed that CNBC fired JBL over it and fully supported JBL's actions).
- Dave expects JBL to blame the internet for this. CNBC received a petition signed by more than 1000 fans after the Munich show, but the big thing was that multiple journalists (including Alex Marvez) reached out to CNBC and it's the journalists that JBL and WWE officials reportedly "blame" for getting JBL fired and it's all the usual people that hate "dirtsheets" in WWE who are sympathetic to JBL right now. JBL had just signed onto CNBC after having previously appeared multiple times for Fox News financial shows. He had done such a good job with those appearances that CNBC signed him exclusively to be a regular contributor. Dave notes that Triple H did something similar to this back in 1997 the last time they were in Germany and he got reprimanded at the time and Dave is befuddled that no one gave a heads up to the whole roster, "Hey no using Nazi stuff to get heat." This leads Dave to running down the long history of Nazi gimmicks in pro wrestling since the end of WWII and also bemoans WWE's frequent use of this stuff lately. He talks about a promo Flair did in Boston not too long ago that played on racial lines, the Kenzo Suzuki scrapped Hirohito gimmick, La Resistance doing anti-America stuff, the JBL anti-Mexican angle, the multiple instances of Triple H saying racist stuff to fans at house shows, and notes that OVW wrestler Mark Magnus is currently being groomed to come to the main roster soon as a Middle Eastern heel (indeed, that's our first mention of Muhammad Hassan a good 6 months before he actually debuts). Basically, Dave is a little tired of WWE playing on racial/xenophobic tropes right now (yeah, there was a LOT of this in the mid-2000s).
- The state of the wrestling business heading into the summer doesn't look positive. Prior to the Monday Night Wars, fans weren't conditioned to expect a weekly big budget show with pyro, elaborate stage sets, and 2 hours of competitive matches with top stars. And now that we've seen that for the past 9 years, fans have kinda seen it all. Every angle, every big star, every possible match....it's all been done repeatedly at this point. In the past, during down periods (early 90s for instance), it was clear that business was in a decline because the product sucked, and there was always a belief that if they simply had some hot angles or matchups, things would turn around. Not so much anymore. Raw has been consistently great for months now and new stars are beginning to get over, and it hasn't mattered. Numbers are still falling. TNA and UFC both have filthy rich backers, but neither is making a profit and TNA buying its way onto national TV is unlikely to turn things around, as interest in TNA from fans has seemingly never been lower. If Panda pulled funding today, TNA would be dead tomorrow and the weekly PPV model has been a huge failure that has cost them untold thousands of dollars for every taping (Dave expects them to move full time to Orlando soon and probably scrap the weekly PPV model now that they're doing TV). Dave runs through all the numbers on what TNA needs to do to break even and it's not gonna be easy.
- WWE is especially struggling on the Smackdown side of things. The Eddie Guerrero documentary that aired on UPN ended up doing the lowest rating for a WWE show in its 21 years of being on national TV. The Judgment Day PPV was the lowest PPV buyrate in nearly 8 years and chances are the next Smackdown PPV will do even lower. But Raw's not safe either, as a recent episode of Raw was the 2nd lowest rated of the past six years. The choice several years ago to slash the developmental budget is finally starting to hurt, as their only developmental territory is OVW and the last two years have seen bust-after-bust-after-bust come out of OVW, almost always because Vince insists on bringing up people too soon simply because they have the right "look" (Matt Morgan, Nathan Jones, Mark Jindrak, Orlando Jordan, Kevin Fertig, Sean O’Haire, Luther Reigns, Travis Tomko, Sylvan Grenier, etc). The only real stars under 30 that they currently have are Cena, Orton, Benjamin, Batista, and Mysterio and all of those (except Mysterio) were brought up from OVW a good 2 years ago. And even there, you have issues like the fact that Cena and Batista are still not very good in the ring and both are easily exposed if they're not working with better opponents. There seems to be no long-term strategic goal to WWE's current booking and star-making process. Just writing everything for the short-term and hoping something hits.
- TNA's first television taping for the new Fox Sports Net show is in the books! All things considered, Dave thinks it was a big success. The style of wrestling was different and unique, the 6-sided ring made it very different looking from WWE, and the overall production value was top notch. There were also no backstage vignettes and a clock keeping up with time limits and it looked like a much more sports-oriented product than WWE. The show was taped at an 850-seat soundstage at Universal Orlando and as of now, there's a 1-year commitment in place for that to remain the venue. They did a bunch of local promotion in Orlando beforehand, with Jeff Jarrett doing an angle with a morning radio show host that got some publicity. They packed the venue, half wrestling fans and half tourists who just wanted to get out of the sun for a couple hours at the theme park, but it was a lively crowd. Focus of the show was the X-Division, which was smart. The 6-sided ring seemed fine and no one had issues working in it. Most of the commercials were ads for TNA or other FSN programming, which shows TNA hasn't had much luck so far in selling advertising to outside buyers.
- FSN execs watched the show like a hawk, looking for anything they deemed inappropriate. You youngins can't fathom the mainstream reputation wrestling used to have as a tawdry smut show prior to WWE going PG in 2007. Anyway, they were happy with what they saw and had no complaints. As expected, Jeff Jarrett regained the NWA title the night prior on the weekly PPV show and came into the new TV show as the NWA champion, as expected. Mike Tenay did a good job of getting new wrestlers over. AJ Styles was pushed as the face of the X-Division, which has long been the plan, but TNA hopes to make the X-Division a real focal point of the company, and not an afterthought like WWE has always done with the cruiserweight guys. So all in all, solid debut. But the reality is that the station is still weak, the time slot is awful, and most wrestling fans still don't know the show exists and there was no buzz going in or after. So the mountain is still a steep one to climb.
- After 3 weeks dormant, WWC started back up this week with a show where they drew around 200 people. Followed by another show where they drew less than 100, and then the next show was canceled. IWA, meanwhile, drew 3,500 the week before.
- Kazuyuki Fujita returned to NJPW and defeated Hiroshi Tanahashi to capture the vacant IWGP title. Bob Sapp, after losing to Fujita at the recent K-1 show, vacated the belt and pulled out of NJPW bookings. Fujita did a worked version of the same finish of the Bob Sapp match, just raining down brutal kicks on Tanahashi that left him (kayfabe) unconscious. Fujita never actually lost the IWGP title 3 years ago, having vacated it due to injury and he entered this match wearing that original belt. After beating Tanahashi, he was given the new belt but he left it on the mat in the ring and kept the old belt instead, so they may be going back to it. The show drew a sellout crowd, most of whom bought tickets in advance expecting to see Sapp. This leads Dave down the road of discussing how trying to book a worked world title around shoot fighters is such a bad idea and all the ways it has backfired in recent years (Fujita vacating due to injury while training for K-1, Yuji Nagata's planned title reign getting canceled after Cro Cop destroyed him, Shinsuke Nakamura vacating the title immediately after winning it due to injuries suffered in K-1, Tadao Yasuda getting a title run he didn't really deserve just because he won his shoot fight when Nagata didn't, and now Sapp vacating. For the record, if plans hadn't changed, Sapp was scheduled to retain the title against Tanahashi, but alas.
- Bill Watts has responded to the comments Eric Bischoff made about him recently, saying that Bischoff destroyed pro wrestling on Turner networks. He claimed WCW was losing $8 million a year when he took over and that he had gotten losses down to under half-a-million before he was fired. Dave isn't sure how accurate those numbers are but recalls that he did get a look at the books back then and recalls seeing that between 89-91, WCW had lost over $18 million in those three years and that it was broken down to roughly $6 million lost each year. He didn't see the books for any years after that so he can't confirm, but the numbers do sound like they're in the right ballpark. Watts also claimed that Bischoff was almost fired by WCW in 1992, but that he saved his job (Bischoff was just a lowly announcer back then, and not a very good one). Watts also says he didn't get the same support that Bischoff got, claiming he wanted to run head-to-head against Vince back in 1992, but TBS wouldn't go for it. Dave notes that he has done some proofreading of the upcoming Bill Watts autobiography (ghostwritten by Observer reader Scott Williams) and he says it's gonna be very controversial when it's released.
- Hulk Hogan's daughter Brooke Hogan is making the media rounds as she tries to kick off her singing career. Her first single "Everything To Me" has gotten some radio play in Tampa and she's performed at Tampa Bay Lightning games where Hulk also appears and does his whole shirt ripping routine. MTV did a story noting that she was turned down by both Star Search and American Idol, despite her famous father. Hogan apparently made a comment claiming that Brooke was going to be a 10x bigger star than Britney Spears.
- Here's a quick story about Dale Gagner, who has some tenous claims to ownership of the AWA name and also sometimes uses the last name Gagne, even though he's not related even though he claims to be.....anyway, this dork is claiming he can broker a deal and that the United Arab Emirates are willing to pay $200,000 each to Hogan and Austin in order to put together a match between them for a show in UAE. Dave does not believe this bullshit for a second.
- Steve Austin is said to be second-guessing any plans of wrestling in Japan. He'd love to have the mainstream popularity and sponsorships that someone like Bob Sapp has but he also believes he only has a few more matches left and if he's gonna do them, he'd rather it be in WWE.
- Jerry Jarrett is out of the hospital and was already back at the Nashville TNA Wednesday PPV following his heart attack. However, he didn't travel to Orlando for the debut FSN taping. Regarding the heart attack, Jarrett initially didn't want to go to the hospital when it was happening. He felt bad, like he had something weighing on his chest, but was trying to continue working. Jimmy Hart and Bert Prentice basically forced him to go to the hospital and, in doing so, probably saved his life.
- At the FSN taping, Jonny Fairplay went over Jeff Jarrett's head and complained directly to Panda Energy owner Bob Carter about not being used. The problem is, Fairplay has been a nervous, fidgety mess the few times he's been on TV. He's just not good at this and TNA realized it quick. He also fucked up because the Carters are well aware that they aren't experts in wrestling, so they leave all the talent decisions to the Jarretts, so complaining to Bob Carter didn't help him at all.
- Ultimate Warrior went on his website and accused Jimmy Hart of lying when he implied that Warrior was looking to join TNA. He accused Hart of using his name to create buzz for "your soon to be failing, always failing, wrestling ventures."
- Regarding Jarrett regaining the NWA title prior to the FSN show debut, this is something Jarrett was apparently pretty insistent on. It's also said that an inordinate amount of time is spent in booking meetings discussing Jeff's angles. That being said, Dave agrees that Jarrett is the right guy to have the title right now as they start the new show. But long-term, he can't be the guy for TNA. He's fine with Jarrett as champ now, but they need to pick one babyface (either Chris Harris or AJ Styles, Dave says) and focus on them as the person getting the big push and need to have a lengthy program towards that guy dethroning Jarrett.
- Konnan had hopes of going to WWE but it's not happening because TNA won't release him. Konnan was backstage at a WWE show recently and both Eddie Guerrero and Rey Mysterio went to bat for him to bring him in. It was basically implied that if Konnan could get free of TNA, they'd hire him. So Konnan thought he could waltz back in, say his goodbyes to everyone last week, and that'd be it. But nope. Jarrett has decided not to release him from his contract and it's said to be kind of embarassing for Konnan since he was already one foot out the door and was already telling people he was gonna jump.
- Former WCW valet and Randy Savage's ex-girlfriend Gorgeos George (Stephanie Bellars) debuted at the end of the TNA Wednesday PPV, with Mike Tenay exclaiming, "We haven't seen her in years!" but never identifying her by name. It was supposed to be a big cliffhanger, but then was never acknowledged on the FSN show 2 days later. Pretty weak cliffhanger. Since WCW folded, she's been working as a stripper again (which is what she was doing before Savage hooked up with her) and is now married to a member of the band The Misfits.
- Here's the details on UFC's upcoming show on SpikeTV: it's going to be a reality show similar to WWE's "Tough Enough" format, in which 8 fighters live in a house and train for fights with people getting eliminated. Last two fight on PPV. Dave hates the concept but he also understands that reality TV is all the rage right now and this is what the networks wanted, so this is what UFC has to give them. Dave doesn't seem too optimistic about this show (lol it ends up putting MMA on the map in the United States and catapults UFC to becoming the #1 MMA promotion in the world. Can't get all your predictions right I guess.)
- Shawn Michaels' WWE contract technically expired this month but WWE had an option to renew for another year at the same pay (believed to be in the $750k range) and they obviously chose to do it. So Shawn is with WWE until at least June of 2005.
- RVD's contract is also up in a few weeks, but he's verbally agreed to a new deal. As of press time though, it hasn't been signed. But there's really nowhere else for a star of his level to go. Japan is struggling and the money isn't there for someone of his name value, plus it's a physically harder style in a foreign country. And while RVD could probably do like Raven and make good money on the indies and supplement it with a TNA gig, it wouldn't come close to his WWE earnings. And thus, WWE is basically the only real option if he, or any other upper midcard wrestler at his level, wants to continue making decent money in wrestling (which obviously puts WWE in a great negotiating position and thus why WWE's monopoly on wrestling for so long was so bad for everyone. Anyway, RVD of course re-signs to a 3-year deal and that keeps him in WWE until 2007. But he spends almost all of 2005 out of action with a knee injury.)
- Several WWE wrestlers did interviews with some magazine or something this week. Kurt Angle said he thinks he came back too soon from his 2 previous neck injuries but then said he's pushing to try and return by Summerslam this year. Eddie Guerrero talked about his drug and alcohol issues and noted that he still struggles with temptation every day. And Chris Benoit said that he hopes when he's gone, the story of his life and career will be that hard work always prevails and to stay positive. Not sure he stuck the landing on that one...
- More notes from Vince McMahon's latest appearance on Off The Record: Vince said he doesn't intend to put himself on TV anymore as a regular character (lol). He said Hogan was done as a wrestler except for maybe showing up for a nostalgia pop now and then and talked about wanting to induct him into the Hall of Fame next year. Dave's not sure Hogan will be interested in that, since going into the HOF pretty much means your career is over and Hogan is always still scheming for the next big payday or big angle he can get involved in. Unless they can turn a HOF induction into an angle where Hogan feuds with some young punk heel (he suggests Orton), then he doubts it'll happen (both of those end up happening in the next 2 years actually). Vince also confirmed that Hogan quit last time because he was upset about his Wrestlemania 19 payoff. He said the door is open for Goldberg to return. Due to Barry Bonds, steroids are a big topic right now and when asked, Vince said they don't test because they're an entertainment company, not a sport. In a funny bit, he was asked about Paul Heyman and Vince said, "He's clever." The host responded, "Really clever?" and Vince simply said, "Clever."
- Notes from 6/3 Smackdown: average show. Opening segment with Cena and Booker T was full of Vince McMahon's favorite poop humor and poop jokes that made everyone look stupid. Monthly bikini contest saw Sable get basically no reaction and she seemed like she didn't want to be there either (yeah, she's got about 2 months left of phoning it in, although really, what's anyone supposed to do in a bikini contest?). More teasing of Dudleyz vs. Undertaker feud and Dave really thinks a feud with them feels beneath Undertaker, but the Smackdown roster is so thin that this is the best they can do.
- Notes from 6/7 Raw: average show. Teasing a Benoit/Edge feud. Setup Kane as Benoit's next PPV challenger. Had Johnny Nitro lose a match to Eugene and be fired as a result, which probably means back to OVW. Eugene got the biggest pop of the show. Shawn Michaels vs. Randy Orton main event wasn't as good as you'd expect. Michaels bladed (whole lot of blading during these years, and even in the new post-Vince era, it's making a small comeback. Worth remembering the next time WWE cries about some other company's "barbaric self mutilation practices" like they're above it). Ended with Triple H and Michaels brawling in the crowd.
- Notes from next week's Smackdown tapings: Kenzo Suzuki debuted, with his wife as his manager, beating Scotty 2 Hotty and they didn't get over at all. Cena ran through a gauntlet of midcarders, as his push continues. Eddie Guerrero destroyed JBL's limo. And they continued the storyline of Paul Bearer being kidnapped. Meh.
- Christian has been out for several weeks with a back injury. He suffered a slipped disc in his lower back, causing pinched nerves and numbness in his right leg. The injury apparently occured on the superplex spot with Jericho in the cage match on the 5/10 Raw. He's expected to take a few months off to rehab it in attempt to avoid surgery that could keep him out for a year (yeah, he'll be back in August).
- Matt Hardy is also dealing with a left knee injury (believed to be torn ligaments) that keeps getting worse because he won't take time off. He's had a torn MCL on that knee in the past. Christian and Hardy have kinda been WWE's ironmen in recent years, with Hardy in particular working a grueling style while neither man has missed much time.
- Bobbi Billard, a former model who was recently cut from a WWE developmental deal in OVW, posted a rant about it on her website. She claimed she was never given a fair chance, got a serious neck injury early on, and was then released. She said WWE wanted her to sign something saying that she was leaving on her own to pursue other interests and in turn, they would give her a lump sum severance, but she refused to sign (WWE urging women to sign documents to cover the truth in exchange for money? Perish the thought!). She claimed she trained with OVW for 6 hours a day and then she and a couple of the other girls (Melina Perez notably) often stayed for extra hours to train more. She said WWE was trying to give everyone a crash course on learning wrestling to try and rush people to TV as soon as possible and as a result, people in OVW are getting hurt. She suffered a neck injury and was told by a male wrestler that he could hook her up with some pain pills and it would be better for her career to do that and work through the pain because she'd be viewed negatively if she took time off. Billard noted that she now is in need of neck surgery (indeed, she ends up getting full blown neck fusion surgery soon after this) from the injury she sustained. Billard also lashed out at Ivory, who accused her of wanting to take her spot and told her, in front of other OVW wrestlers, "Girls like you fuck your way to the top." Billard said she was humiliated and given that Ivory was working there in a trainers role, she felt it was especially out of line. Billard, who had no wrestling background, and was hired simply because WWE is looking for models instead of wrestlers, felt like she was basically hazed and bullied during her entire tenure in OVW.
- Heidenreich's dumb "Little Johnny" gimmick has been dropped and since they weren't doing anything else with him, he asked to be sent back to OVW so he could continue trying to improve.
- The Smackdown roster went overseas for a tour and it was....fine. Nowhere near the numbers the Raw roster drew last time though and the arenas in Germany in particular were less than half full. In Italy, Nunzio was by far the most over wrestler on the show and got a massive reaction in Milan.