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Enigma

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  1. TNA Notes from the 2/23 Observer

    in TNA Wrestling

    Posted

    InDemand had a listing for the “Bound For Glory” PPV on 4/4/04 and lists Randy Savage and Chynna (new spelling) as the big stars on the show, which speaks volumes about its own belief in its own stars. It is now official that there won’t be a PPV on that date and there is no new date scheduled. This makes the third date they’ve proposed to the cable industry for a major show that they’ve cancelled on, which has to be doing wonders for company credibility. There was concern a few weeks back when they realized it was two days after what was expected to be a strong UFC show, but there’s always going to be something going on. The rumors are that virtually all the stars they were considering using were not coming together. Savage’s people, as noted last week, were claiming he had no deal. Nash started watching the show, because he was wanting to familiarize himself with the product before coming in, and felt most everything about it except Mike Tenay were minor league. Roddy Piper was on Chet Coppock’s radio show on 2/15/04 and never once mentioned TNA, but made multiple references to working for ROH. He was not as negative on WWE as you’d think, and seemed to be hinting about wanting to do Mania.

     

    Joanie Laurer is also out of the picture, but I’m not sure the two are related. The company decided on 2/17/04 not to use her on 2/18/04 due to late demands from her side and the decision that since the plan was for a long term program, that they didn’t trust she’d be around long enough. Laurer made it clear in negotiations that she’s not interested in doing anything physical, and didn’t like the idea of feuding with Trinity, which was proposed to her, as their way to make Trinity a star. Things were falling apart all weekend. Laurer is also back together with Sean Waltman, which may surprise a lot of people but I can’t say it was that surprising, since even when things were their worst between them and their problems were making headlines a few months back, Waltman had talked about being back with her.

     

    In addition, Fort Campbell officially turned down the 4/4/04 show. Bill Behrens was running around trying to find them a new building, and we have heard the Georgia Mountain Center in Gainesville, GA, was contacted about possibly housing the show.

     

    It’s funny, because over the past week, I saw two cable commercials for the Wednesday shows. One was a promo by Hulk Hogan, which at this point by still running it (and they ran during the preview show as late as this past week), they are misleading people into thinking Hogan is still with them. The other was a commercial for the Wednesday shows saying TNA is the only place to see Sting, implying Sting is wrestling on the shows every Wednesday. It’s really sad. Plus, the worst part is that anyone who buys a show based on those commercials is going to be mad, even if the show is good, because they’ll think they’ve been swerved and have a bad taste in their mouths.

     

    The plan for a TNA vs. IWA deal on the next taped show look to be dead because IWA signed an exclusive deal with a New York investment firm to promote them in the U.S.

     

    Jeff Jarrett has been in the middle of some controversy regarding independent bookings. The first stems from the 1/25/04 Ocala, FL match against Dory Funk. Funk made the deal through Bob Ryder, who he has worked with as a writer on Ryder’s web site for years. The two had an arrangement where Funk would write columns on the site in exchange for Ryder’s 1Wrestling.com site promoting Funk’s wrestling school and promotion. Funk and Ryder reached a deal for Jarrett to defend the NWA Title against Funk for $2,000. Jarrett’s wife was due to deliver that week and wasn’t that hot about leaving her for an independent booking. The Funk side claimed they believed that TNA would promote the event on its web site, television show, and PPVs. I believe there were some mentions on the web site in some of the columns that Jarrett would be going there. There was no mention on the TV or PPV shows ahead of time. There was a plan to air footage of the Jarrett/Funk match in highlight form on the PPV on 1/28/04, however there were problems from the TNA side with the footage they shot. They had asked for footage from the Funks, who taped the show, for 2/4/04, but never got a tape. Funk was said to have wanted a 30-minute match when he got there. Jarrett wanted to go home at 13:00, but they compromised at 18:00 when, as booked, Adam Windsor turned heel on Funk and cost him the title. However, the show only drew 190 fans and $1,800, not even enough to pay Jarrett, let alone the rest of the workers on the card. Funk stopped payment on the check to Jarrett claiming his side didn’t promote the show enough, as well as stopped payment of a check to Ryder for about $550 in travel expenses. Jerry Jarrett, who has a business relationship with Funk dating back 30 years or more, claimed it wasn’t a TNA business deal but a business deal between Ryder, Jeff, and Funk, when asked about the lack of promotion on their end. This led to Ryder dropping Funk from his web site after his bank called about the check, and apparently dropping Funk from some sort of a trading card deal he’d put together with former wrestling legends. The other was from a 2/14/04 show in Anderson, SC where Jarrett was billed as the top star at a Universal Championship Wrestling TV taping. Jarrett wasn’t there, however those close to him say it wasn’t a no-show, but that they had never agreed on a price for the show so no deal had been made.

     

    Regarding Don Callis leaving the promotion, as noted last week, Callis got a job in international trade and the offer was too strong to justify turning it down. Callis had decided in 2001 (I think he and maybe Jim Mitchell were the only ones who learned a lesson that year) that he wanted to make sure he was never dependent upon wrestling for his living, so he went back to school and got an MBA. Callis offered to put over Erik Watts on the way out, but Jarrett nixed it, because they had already booked the idea of Vince Russo shocking everyone as the babyface DOA, and Callis losing would ruin the planned storyline.

     

    Spanky and Kanyon have both been talked with, but WWE is forcing both to wait out the 90-day non-compete time period in their contracts before they can start here. WWE allows guys to do independents and international shows, so really it is only TNA affected by the non-compete.

     

    Jonny Fairplay did get a brief mention of TNA during the CBS Early Show on 2/12/04. Fairplay mainly cut a promo on Rupert from Survivor. While Rupert has not agreed to anything, nor negotiated anything, Fairplay has told the company he thinks he can get a match with Rupert. It couldn’t be for several months as Rupert isn’t allowed to do any TV until Survivor All-Stars is over.

     

    Teddy Hart and Harry Smith are headed in on 2/25/04.

     

    CREDIT: Dave Meltzer & the Wrestling Observer Newsletter

  2. WWE Notes from the 2/23 Observer

    in The WWE Folder

    Posted

    The booking for WrestleMania is starting to come together with a couple of strong RAW programs in recent weeks. The 2/16/04 show was strong in setting up fans wanting Mick Foley to have a partner since he continually is getting the beat-down from Evolution. At first I thought there could have been better usage of The Rock. Between Foley’s work in laying the program out and Randy Orton becoming a superstar in front of our eyes, this program seems to be gaining a lot of steam.

     

    There are a lot of different theories on booking, and the Shawn Michaels pinning of Chris Benoit on RAW, after distraction from HHH, has been questioned. There is a general booking philosophy that if somebody is about to win a world title, you beat them once or twice before winning, to set up immediate challengers when they get the belt. However, that rule doesn’t always work out. If you have a weak challenger, and by weak, I mean someone who isn’t long-term established as a main eventer and championship caliber, that doesn’t work, because losses to top guys more emphasize that they aren’t at that level. Not that this was the turning point, but a big mistake in late 2001, was when they were going to have Chris Jericho be the surprise winner of the Undisputed WWF Title tournament, a few days before, Steve Austin pinned him clean with the Stunner in a TV match. Instead, what it did was establish that Jericho was the weak link in the four-man tournament. Even though Jericho beat Austin and Rock on the same night, and beat Rock and Austin second times on the following PPVs, a lot of people never saw him as a champion (how he was portrayed once winning didn’t help matters). With Eddie Guerrero, before winning the title, on SmackDown!, he pinned Brock Lesnar in a tag match. I thought that was necessary because I think a lot of fans really didn’t think of Guerrero as someone in the league with Lesnar, since he had never had a high profile title challenge, or even a PPV main event, and people had seen him on a national basis since 1995. By beating Lesnar (which probably should have been done a few weeks earlier and pushed every week after that point), it at least left people with the visual that he was in Lesnar’s league and it was a real title challenge. Of course, in the long run, that made no sense, because his pin was never referred to once on the PPV, while Tazz was put in the role of trying to say Guerrero had no chance to make it seem like a bigger upset when he won. The only problem was, they had already seen him win three days earlier. This comes from one set of people writing one story, and another set trying to have the announcers tell the opposite story.

     

    With Benoit again, a challenger who has only had one singles PPV main event in his WWF/E career, and that was way back in 2000, he wasn’t in the position that, say HHH, would be in a few weeks before challenging for a title he was going to win. The loss certainly makes it expected Benoit will win the title at Mania (then again, Booker T. for a time was going to win the title from HHH at Mania last year and we saw how that ended up). If it is a Ladder Match, which hasn’t been announced, it leaves things open-ended, as he’ll climb a ladder, but not pin or make either guy quit. Really, just through traditional booking, the SmackDown! side has months worth of PPVs coming off this. Benoit can win at Mania, and then go into Edmonton as champion. Because it’s Canada, where it is very easy for Michaels to be a heel because the people naturally hate him anyway, Benoit vs. Michaels is easy to set up by Michaels’ win this past week. In Edmonton, the perfect finish is Benoit winning with the Sharpshooter. With Edge switching over to RAW, and Edge having to make an impact right away to get him up and running, he should beat HHH on the same show. That makes sense since HHH is a long-established headliner, who can still get a title shot as the former champion. Since we all know HHH is getting the belt back sooner than later, when that happens, he’s at least made Edge ready to theoretically headline, possibly at SummerSlam in Toronto.

     

    A Japanese publication, but the rumor does make sense based on the angle where Bill Goldberg accidentally speared Austin, listed Austin as the referee in Goldberg vs. Lesnar.

     

    CREDIT: Dave Meltzer & the Wrestling Observer Newsletter

  3. Brock Lesnar Getting Heat For Big Ego

    in The WWE Folder

    Posted

    Brock Lesnar is getting massive heat backstage from other wrestlers regarding his recent purchase of a $400,000 plane to make his travel schedule easier and more convenient. Lesnar did get WWE management's approval on the plane, but many wrestlers are upset because Lesnar has "individualized" himself from the other talent. One wrestler asked "Who the fuck is he to buy a plane?"

     

    Another problem is that wrestlers are starting to question how Lesnar can afford a $400,000 plane. Due to poor house show gates, mid and under-card wrestlers have been getting low payoffs, which has people wondering how the guy headlining the shows (Lesnar) can make enough to buy a plane.

     

    Lesnar has always had a bad reputation backstage, mainly for getting an ego so fast at such a young age, but the plane situation has made things much worse.

     

    Despite the heat, Lesnar remains one of Vince McMahon's favorite wrestlers and has five years left on his WWE contract.

     

    CREDIT: Pro Wrestling Torch Newsletter

  5. What was the moment of truth?

    in The WWE Folder

    Posted

    Jericho was given the ball and sadly proved that he couldn't carry the main event at any PPV. He simply isn't a main event draw.

    Pardon me, but he had a pretty damn great WWF Title match with The Rock at Royal Rumble 2002. His match at No Way Out against Steve Austin wasn't that great, but Austin later admitted himself that he wasn't into the match because he knew of the ending (the nWo run-in) so he felt like putting no effort forth. And we all know what happened against Triple H at WrestleMania 18.

     

    Jericho was set up to fail because: 1) They never gave him any clean victories (he had to cheat to beat MAVEN, think about that), 2) They never gave him any credible beat downs that established him as a feared Champion, and 3) They often put him in positions where he was clearly pinned after a ref bump.

     

    I think we all know wHHHo was behind all this anyways, so it's not like it should shock anyone. Hunter's had a bounty on Jericho's career since August 9th, 1999. Was Jericho given the ball? Yes. But HHH and the WWF (hey, they're the ones who let HHH run wild) soaked that ball in butter.

  7. One S.L.O.P.P.Y. Lita

    in The WWE Folder

    Posted

    Whenever I think of Lita, I always remember a RAW in March 2002 right before WM18. It was The Hardy Boys vs. Billy & Chuck. Lita got on the ring apron and went to do a 'rana on Rico and completely missed. Both her legs were on Rico's shoulder and Rico just said, "Eh, fuck it," and did a pity somersault sell. :lol:

  12. Guerrero Family History

    in The WWE Folder

    Posted

    Regarding which is the better wrestling family, I don't think it's fair to say either is better. Wrestling-wise, I think they are equally as awesome.

     

    However, if you are talking about which is the better all-around FAMILY, when it comes to family unity and longevity, the Guerreros have it all over the Harts.

  13. Don't Worry About Eddy

    in The WWE Folder

    Posted

    I can say this:

     

    I always go to Hooters to watch the pay-per-views. There was a huge crowd there for Royal Rumble. I had to park at the Burger King across the street. I wasn't expecting that many people to show up for No Way Out because: 1) it's not a Big 4 PPV and 2) it wasn't really promoted that well. But I'll be damned if that crowd there wasn't LARGER than it was for Royal Rumble. My friends and I were shocked. Folks, it looks like Eddie is indeed proving his worth.

     

    Smackdown's rating is going to be very interesting.

  14. Booker T to Smackdown!

    in The WWE Folder

    Posted

    Say he does get moved to Smackdown. So what? Hate to see it guys, but Booker isn't very good. Oh sure, you can say he's over. But isn't that mostly because of his spinaroonie? Isn't that over on a Rikishi and Scotty level? I really don't think I could take him seriously in a world title situation with his current character. I didn't last year at WM, why would I now?

    Well, they moved Big Show to SD under pretty much the same circumstances (no cred, jobbing left & right, no direction on Raw), and it turned out pretty good for him.

     

    It could work, provided the WWE *wants* to build up Booker, which I highly doubt.

    When Big Show jumped and immediately challenged Lesnar for the title, I was thinking, "Wasn't this the same guy who a month ago was getting pinned by Jeff Hardy and getting brutalized by Tommy Dreamer with a chair?"

  17. The Rock to return March 1st?

    in The WWE Folder

    Posted

    The promos for the March 1st Raw at the Gwinnett Center are airing in the greater Atlanta market. At the end of the promo the narrator poses the question, "Is this the night The Rock returns to Raw?" Should prove to be an interesting show.

     

    Credit: PWInsider

     

    And remember, the reports about two weeks ago were that they were building local advertising for the March 2nd Smackdown in Savannah, GA completely around Eddie Guerrero, and he ended up winning the WWE Title. WWE tends to leak out storyline info so that they can go on and get local advertising done, so there's about a 99% chance that this is when Rock will return.

  20. Ok Im not getting this....

    in The WWE Folder

    Posted

    What made it even more pathetic was that J.R. was selling it as the most brutal thing Foley had ever endured in his career. As if punches, kicks, and stomps were so much more devastating than getting his ear ripped off or Vader's powerbomb on the concrete or all those explosion barbed wire fire matches in Japan.

  24. WWF/E February Pay-Per-View History

    in The WWE Folder

    Posted

    WWF In Your House

    February 18th, 1996

    Louisville, Kentucky @ The Louisville Gardens

    Attendance: 5,500

    Buy Rate: 0.77

     

    Dark Matches:

    -- Ahmed Johnson defeated Issac Yankem

    -- The Godwinns (Henry & Phineas Godwinn) defeated The Body Donnas (Skip & Zip)

    -- The Undertaker defeated Intercontinental Champion Goldust by countout

     

    Free For All Match:

    -- Jake Roberts defeated Tatanka

     

    Pay-Per-View Matches:

    -- Razor Ramon defeated The 1-2-3 Kid in a Crybaby Match

    -- Hunter Hearst Helmsley defeated Duke Droese

    -- Yokozuna defeated The British Bulldog by DQ

    -- Shawn Michaels defeated Owen Hart

    -- WWF Champion Bret Hart defeated Diesel in a Steel Cage Match

    ==============

    WWF In Your House - "Final Four"

    February 16th, 1997

    Chattanooga, Tennessee @ The UTC Arena

    Attendance: 6,399

    Buy Rate: 0.5

     

    Free For All Match:

    -- The Godwinns (Henry & Phineas Godwinn) defeated The Headbangers (Mosh & Thrasher)

     

    Pay-Per-View Matches:

    -- Marc Mero defeated Leif Cassidy

    -- The Nation of Domination (Faarooq, Crush, & Savio Vega) defeated Goldust, Bart Gunn, & Flash Funk

    -- Intercontinental Champion Rocky Maivia defeated Hunter Hearst Helmsley

    -- Doug Furnas & Phil LaFon defeated Tag Team Champions Owen Hart & The British Bulldog by DQ

    -- Bret Hart defeated The Undertaker, Vader, and Stone Cold Steve Austin in a 4-Way Elimination Match to win the vacant WWF Championship

    ==============

    WWF In Your House - "No Way Out Of Texas"

    February 15th, 1998

    Houston, Texas @ The Compaq Center

    Attendance: 16,110

    Buy Rate: 0.52

     

    -- The Headbangers (Mosh & Thrasher) defeated Goldust & Marc Mero

    -- Light-Heavyweight Champion TAKA Michinoku defeated Pantera

    -- The Godwinns (Henry & Phineas Godwinn) defeated The Quebecers (Jacques & Pierre)

    -- Bradshaw defeated NWA North American Champion Jeff Jarrett by DQ

    -- Ken Shamrock, Ahmed Johnson, & D.O.A. (Chainz, Skull, & 8-Ball) defeated The Nation of Domination (Faarooq, The Rock, D'Lo Brown, Kama Mustafa, & Mark Henry)

    -- Kane defeated Vader

    -- Stone Cold Steve Austin, Owen Hart, Cactus Jack, & Terry Funk defeated Triple H, The New Age Outlaws (The Road Dogg & Billy Gunn), & Savio Vega in a No DQ match

    ==============

    WWF In Your House - "St. Valentine's Day Massacre"

    February 14th, 1999

    Memphis, Tenneesee @ The Pyramid

    Attendance: 19,028

    Buy Rate: 1.21

     

    Sunday Night Heat Matches:

    -- Too Much (Brian Christopher & Scott Taylor) defeated The Hardy Boys (Matt & Jeff Hardy)

    -- Viscera defeated Test

    -- Billy Gunn fought Tiger Ali Singh to a no-contest

     

    Pay-Per-View Matches:

    -- Goldust defeated The Blue Meanie

    -- Bob Holly defeated Al Snow to win the vacant Hardcore Championship

    -- The Big Bossman defeated Mideon

    -- Tag Champs Owen Hart & Jeff Jarrett defeated Mark Henry & D'Lo Brown

    -- Val Venis defeated Ken Shamrock to win the Intercontinental Title. Billy Gunn was the special guest referee

    -- Kane & Chyna defeated Triple H & X-Pac

    -- WWF Champion Mankind fought The Rock to a no-contest in a Last Man Standing match

    -- Stone Cold Steve Austin defeated Vince McMahon in a Steel Cage Match

    ==============

    WWF No Way Out 2000

    February 27th, 2000

    Hartford, Connecticut @ The Hartford Civic Center

    Attendance: 15,000

    Buy Rate: 1.2

     

    -- European Champion Kurt Angle defeated Chris Jericho to win the Intercontinental Title

    -- The Dudley Boys (Bubba Ray & D-Von Dudley) defeated The New Age Outlaws (The Road Dogg & Billy Gunn) to win the Tag Team Titles

    -- Mark Henry defeated Viscera

    -- Edge & Christian defeated The Hardy Boys (Matt & Jeff Hardy)

    -- Tazz defeated The Big Bossman by DQ

    -- X-Pac defeated Kane in a No Holds Barred match

    -- Rikishi & Too Cool (Grand Master Sexay & Scotty 2 Hotty) defeated The Radicals (Chris Benoit, Dean Malenko, & Perry Saturn)

    -- The Big Show defeated The Rock

    -- WWF Champion Triple H defeated Cactus Jack in a Hell In A Cell match

    ==============

    WWF No Way Out 2001

    February 25th, 2001

    Las Vegas, Nevada @ The Thomas & Mack Center

    Attendance: 15,223

    Buy Rate: 1.6

     

    Sunday Night Heat Match:

    -- Rikishi defeated Matt Hardy by DQ

     

    Pay-Per-View Matches:

    -- The Big Show defeated Raven to win the Hardcore Title

    -- Intercontinental Champion Chris Jericho defeated Chris Benoit, Eddie Guerrero, and X-Pac in a Fatal 4-Way

    -- Stephanie McMahon-Helmsley defeated Trish Stratus

    -- Triple H defeated Stone Cold Steve Austin in a 3 Stages Of Hell Match

    -- Steven Richards defeated Jerry Lawler

    -- Tag Team Champions The Dudley Boys (Bubba Ray & D-Von Dudley) defeated Edge & Christian and The Undertaker & Kane in a 3-Way Table Match

    -- The Rock defeated Kurt Angle to win the WWF Title

    ==============

    WWF No Way Out 2002

    February 17th, 2002

    Milwaukee, Wisconsin @ The Bradley Center

    Attendance: 15,235

    Buy Rate: 1.33

     

    Sunday Night Heat Match:

    -- European Champion Diamond Dallas Page defeated The Big Bossman by DQ

     

    Pay-Per-View Matches:

    -- The APA (Faarooq & Bradshaw) defeated Lance Storm & Christian, Scotty 2 Hotty & Albert, The Hardy Boys (Matt & Jeff Hardy), The Dudley Boys (Bubba Ray & D-Von Dudley), and Billy & Chuck in Tag Team Turmoil

    -- Rob Van Dam defeated Goldust

    -- Tag Team Champions Tazz & Spike Dudley defeated Booker T. & Test

    -- Intercontinental Champion William Regal defeated Edge in a Brass Knuckles On A Pole match

    -- The Rock defeated The Undertaker

    -- Kurt Angle defeated Triple H. Stephanie McMahon was the special guest referee

    -- WWF Champion Chris Jericho defeated Stone Cold Steve Austin

    ==============

    WWE No Way Out 2003

    February 23rd, 2003

    Montreal, Quebec, Canada @ The Bell Centre

    Attendance: 16,125

    Buy Rate: 0.95

     

    Sunday Night Heat Match:

    -- Rey Mysterio defeated Jamie Noble

     

    Pay-Per-View Matches:

    -- Chris Jericho defeated Jeff Hardy

    -- RAW Tag Team Champions William Regal & Lance Storm defeated Rob Van Dam & Kane

    -- Matt Hardy defeated Billy Kidman to win the Cruiserweight Title

    -- The Undertaker defeated The Big Show

    -- Brock Lesnar & Chris Benoit defeated Kurt Angle & Team Angle (Shelton Benjamin & Charlie Haas)

    -- RAW Champion Triple H defeated Scott Steiner

    -- Stone Cold Steve Austin defeated Eric Bischoff

    -- The Rock defeated Hulk Hogan

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