Guest TSMAdmin Report post Posted October 2, 2002 WWE Confidential September 14, 2002 As you all know, this is the most syndicated Confidential review on the internet, as it appears on three different websites. I was about to add a fourth to that list, but this fourth site DOES NOT allow cursing, so sadly, I had to turn them down. Highest Rating: 1.5 (May 25, 2002) Lowest Rating : 0.5 (June 29, 2002- Rerun of May 22, 2002 @ 8:00PM) Last Week's Rating: 0.7 This week on Confidential: The History of the World Heavyweight Title and Vince McMahon’s reactions to both HLA and the same-sex wedding. Majority of this review includes myself summarizing what a few people said, so these are not their exact words. Gene already pisses me off by tracking the World Heavyweight Title back to George Hackensmidt. It’s a different title altogether you jackass. Eric Bischoff: The title starts in the NWA. Well, that’s more truthful than what Mean Gene said. JR drops a few names like Buddy Rogers, Gene Kiniski, and Harley Race. Ric Flair: The belt that was used from 1966-1986 was owned by the NWA. Whoever won that version of the title would have to put a $25,000 deposit down on the belt. That added even more prestige to the title. Vince Sr. used to actually sit on the NWA Board of Directors, even though he separated from the company and became their competition. The reason for this was that Vince Sr. had a great mind for the business. What I want to know is whether or not McMahon sabotaged the NWA while on the Board. Eric Bischoff: Once Ted Turner bought the NWA, it’s title became the WCW Title. The Big Show, Diamond Dallas Page and Booker T all talk about winning the title. DDP, “When you win the World Heavyweight Title, you really are the best at what you do.” ::coughDavidArquettecough:: Flair and the Big Show talk about how the Champ has to carry the company. Segment 1: 1/1 Vince McMahon: TV has to reflect what is going on in society. There is no subject we can’t touch in one way or another. VKM on HLA: Those who say it was reprehensible might be right on the money. It was designed to be reprehensible, to be “shock TV”, to get attention. Hopefully we touch people in a positive or negative way. I have mixed emotions. It was fun until the brutality (Island Boyz). Then it was a bit much. It wasn’t gay bashing though. Just like Moolah and Mae wasn’t considered geriatric bashing. The Island Boyz are nothing more than equal opportunity offenders. People don’t view us for what we are. We are a soap opera, as well as reality TV and a comedy. All TV shows do controversial things and so will we. Hopefully we never fall over the edge of controversy. Thus far, I agree with everything Vince said. The next segment with him is a little more interesting. Segment 2: 2/2 VKM on the Wedding: We need to be contemporary. We should have gay wrestlers. There are gay men and women in the real world, so why not the WWE? There already are. Why don’t we have the same rights as other TV shows? I’m pleased with how Billy and Chuck have been accepted by our audience. Props to the writers, Billy and Chuck, and the audience, which is actually a very sophisticated audience, seeing how there were no FAGGOT chants. The audience appreciated Billy and Chuck for their entertainment value. Matt Laurer talks with Billy and Chuck. Billy claims that they never made fun of homosexuals during the storyline. Both men tell Matt that they are straight. Billy says that they did this wedding for the “season premiere” of SmackDown!. Whatever the hell that means. Now for the infamous Gravy Boat, courtesy of GLADD. VKM- The critics can pick apart whatever they want, as long as they remember to correctly identify the WWE. This angle is no different than Queer as Folk or Bravo’s Gay Weddings TV show. We aren’t the first to do it. This publicity was effective and because of the audience that we have obtained in the last several decades, no one can call us desperate. Not every program is shocking or risqué because then it would become the norm. People in TV think that we have different standards than the rest. I don’t give a damn what anyone thinks, as long as our audience is happy. Please. Vince, you want to make the core audience happy? Get rid of all this HLA and wedding bullshit. Why not put WRESTLING on a WRESTLING show? Obviously the soap opera era is no longer successful, so go back to what brought you to the game, WRESTLING. Segment 3: 3/3 Some clips of Dusty Rhodes, Ric Flair, DDP, Sting, and Hulk Hogan winning the NWA/WCW Title are shown. A few of the other ex-champs, as well as Flair and Bischoff, comment on the different Champions. A few of the more interesting comments: Eric Bischoff on Goldberg: It would have been nice if he had more experience. Big Show on Goldberg: He made money, saved money, and is set for life. Eric Bischoff on DDP: I’m friends with DDP. I just wanted this so much for him and for it all to work out. Ric Flair on DDP: He believed that he was good enough to be there and sometimes that’s all that matters. Eric Bischoff on Sting: He wasn’t committed 100%. It always seemed like he was holding something back. Ric Flair on Sting: Too bad he never worked for Vince McMahon. He would have been a star in the WWF. Ric Flair on Hulk Hogan: Hulk Hogan is the man, which we all found out at WrestleMania X-8. Segment 4: 4/4 Now for a little feature on Chriss Angel, the guy who was submerged under water for 24 hours. After those 24 hours he had to escape from 9lbs. of restraints. Chriss was upside down for the first hour. After that he flipped over. If he didn’t keep moving, his body would cramp up. He had a severe headache for the entire time. After a while, the water got murky from the salt on Chriss’ skin and pieces of his dead skin shedding off his body. With three hours left, he lost his vision. Ewwwww, his skin looks DISGUSTING. Then he got out and that’s the end of it. I thought this segment would SUCK, but it was pretty good. Segment 5: 5/5 Torrie tours England after promoting the upcoming Rebellion PPV. Blah. Next Week: Kurt Angle takes us through his 1996 Olympic training. Segment 6: 5/6 Great show this week. Possibly the best ever. I’m also surprised that the WCW/World Title was treated with so much prestige. Vince didn’t seem like a complete idiot, which is always a plus. Be sure to check out my ECW tape review if you haven’t already. I’m stealing a little trick from Dr. Tom. In the hopes of cutting done on the INSANE amount of viruses that are sent to me, I will be placing an X in front of my e-mail address. Therefore, be sure to delete BOTH X’s before sending me an e-mail. 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