Hektik

Or that they own WCW's history, which accounts for the main portion of NWA's history. They can do ANYTHING they want with it...hence the Flair DVD, or any video packages that date back to NWA and WCW. WCW's history goes back to the Mid-Atlantic and Georgia territories. Harley Race spent most of his career in the Central States territory of the NWA. McMahon does not own that video library. Again, nothing against Harley Race but I might have put Ricky Steamboat in front of him because he had more of a career in WWE and JCP. But I would also prefer that the WWE change the name to the Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame and make an actual museum, since they are the only major wrestling promotion in the United States.

What is even better about this is that the buyrate is reflective of the Eddy/Brock match. That is the one match that most people paid to see. The majority of the card was barely good enough for Velocity but Eddy and Lesnar saved the show. No Way Out was a show that did not have any supposed "Mega Stars." There was no Undertaker or McMahons on the show like other Smackdown PPVs. Armageddon did have supposed "Mega Stars" like HHH, Goldberg, and Shawn Michaels and NWO still beat it. This is good because now even casual wrestling fans are showing signs that they are ready to see new faces at the top. In early February I said that NWO had to beat Armageddon and I am very pleased that it did.

Excerpts from the 3/1 Wrestling Observer Newsletter There was nothing said to the wrestlers this week about the 4/4 show being cancelled, but company sources have confirmed that as accurate. TNA sources say that the 4/4 date was told to wrestlers at a meeting, but was never supposed to be released in company publicity. However, InDemand put it up on its site. When Johnny Fairplay was ripping on Joannie Laurer endlessly on the 2/18 show, it sounded like they were shooting an angle, but instead they did an extended burial. There was even a suggestion to embarass her by playing a tape of one of her phone conversations during one of the shows, but that wouldn't serve much of a purpose. The next taped show is 3/10. With the IWA deal falling through, they are having AAA defend the America's Cup against Team Canada. They'd better have a hot main event as well, because two teams of guys who aren't regulars isn't going to do well. Also, the Canadians would have have never worked with Luchadores before, sothis is far from a sure thing. The situation with Juventud Guerrera is in question. He will over the next two weeks be attempting to come in, but TNA never did his visa paperwork. They wanted him coming in saying he was a tourist and not doing buisness. But he's been red flagged at the border so they are supposed to be looking for him. He got in the last few times, but every time is a risk. The 2/18 show appeared to have heavy Russo influence, with two tag teams breaking up, and a heavy Dutch Mantell influence with post-match brawls after virtually every match. If anything, Jeff Jarrett was pushed harder than ever. They had advertised Bill Apter handing out awards at the show from his Total Wrestling magazine for AMW as tag team of the year and TNA as most innovative promotion of the year (no jokes please), but it didn't air. Alex Marvez had an interesting article on Sonjay Dutt. Dutt, real name Retesh Bhalla, is a 21 year old student at George Mason University, scheduled to graduate next semester with a degree in communications. While he was born in Washington DC, he has legit Indian heritage,and grew up speaking two indian languages before learning English in school. He said his goal is WWE, but recognizes that his size, that is a longshot.

I like the idea of puritan Kurt because of the recent morality push in American society. One thing I would do is to build on Kurt's heel turn last week. They need to take a mid 90's Bob Backlund approach. Build up that Kurt snaped and that is why he brutally beat Eddie. Have it so that Kurt does promos of morality and values like he was doing on Smackdown but at certain times he will snap. Reinforce this by having Kurt wrestle Rey Mysterio. Towards the end of the match Kurt will snap and destroy Rey in the ring. The Smackdown before Wrestlemania, have an in ring confrontation between Kurt and Eddie. After Eddie cuts a promo enraging Kurt, he will once again snap after hearing the fans chant Eddy. Kurt will then take out Eddie leaving him in the middle of the ring again. Leading up to wrestlemania you have two sides of Kurt Angle. A moral family values Kurt and a demented Kurt that is damn near unstoppable.

I read he will wrestle at the 3/13 ROH show. I am not sure but I think that is his first match back.

I have seen Psicosis wrestle a couple of times in Tijuana and saw him do a dark match when the WWE was in San Diego. He looked good but I agree he is not what he used to be. As for Juvi, I do not think he is under contract with TNA so he could. I would prefer Juvi but I know he probably won't and it really is his fault. If he could have just done what Jim Ross told him to do, he would be in the WWE right know.

HBK. I'd STILL rather have that feud. I understand from reading this thread that you want Angle to have the perfect feud but let me point one thing out Eddie Guerrero > Shawn Michaels He is a better wrestler than Shawn. Kurt Angle will have a much better match with Eddie Guerrero. A match between Angle and Shawn will be match to see who no sells each other the most. The match between Guerrero/Angle will be a better and will be on of the main events at Wrestlemania.

I have a really bad feeling that we will see a returning Jeff Hardy added to the match as a surprise entry. You just know he would win the title too. My idea would be to bring in the original Psicosis or Juventud Guerrera.

After Wrestlemania they should do a 10 man "blockbuster" trade between the 2 shows. The purpose of my trade would be to help Smackdown. To Raw: Edge, Bob Holly, Billy Gunn, Bradshaw, and Ron Simmons To Smackdown: Chris Jericho - He is a wrestler who can be put in the main event or be in the #2 feud on the show. He someone that Smackdown needs. Rob Van Dam - He is not someone that I like but people will pop for him and adds immediate star power to Smackdown. Rob Conway - Some people might think he is an odd choice but I think he is a great future superstar. Smackdown seems to be better at creating new superstars. He has just as good of a "look" as Randy Orton and is better wrestler. Lance Storm - He is not a wrestler that I like but I think the WWE propaganda machine can make the marks believe he is just as good of a "technical wrestler" as Chris Benoit. I have already heard some marks say it so it shouldn't be to hard. He would be able to get a fresh start on Smackdown and add to a lacking mid card. Hurricane - Put him in the cruiserweight division to add another star to it. You can even call up Nova and put them in a tag team division. Sign Shark Boy and you have another faction to face the FBI and the Kyo Dai. The best way to do this is the way someone else on this forum suggested. Have a mock press conference with Vince, Heyman, Bischoff, and the 10 wrestlers.

I have a feeling that when this list comes out it will piss me off. A lot of the list is going to be based on what is going to happen at Mania. If the the triple threat is made into a ladder match than the Michaels/Hall match will be put somewhere in the top 3 possibly #2. It should be on the list but not top 3, but it probably will and Flair will ramble on about how Michaels took the torch from him. If Bret Hart agrees to do WMXX than his matches with Owen and Austin will be high (his match with Austin should be #1). If he does not do Mania than the WWE will bury him like they always do, because according to the WWE it was Shawn Michaels who carried the WWE on his back in the mid 90s, not Bret Hart. I also expect there to be some odd choices. I can already see the WWE putting Angle/Lesnar on the list.

:: NJPW INOKI DOJO ANNOUNCES TOUKON 2 :: NJPW INOKI DOJO has announced that a pro wrestling event TOUKON 2 will be held on Saturday, March 6th, 2004 at The Hollywood Athletic Club in Hollywood, CA. It will be their second pro wrestling event in the U.S., after a successful first TOUKON in Santa Monica, CA (June 21, 2003) which incorporated traditional pro wrestling with modern club music and visual effects of DJ/VJ for the first time. INOKI DOJO official states that TOUKON 2 will have a similar atmosphere in a larger scale at a legendary club in the heart of Hollywood. March 6th, 2004 Saturday 8:45 - 11pm (Door opens at 8pm) The Hollywood Athletic Club 6525 Sunset Boulevard Hollywood, California 90028 Parking available MUST BE OVER 21, PROPER ATIRE REQUIRED First time ever in the 32 years of NJPW history, the IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Championship will take place in the U.S. Champion HEAT accepted American Dragon's challenge, and NJPW executives, Uwai and Simon Inoki, made this special match into a IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Championship for the U.S. fans. 3.6 2004 will not only be a NJPW 32nd year tribute anniversary show but a night that will start a new universal step towards presenting IWGP belt to the world. The card so far... IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Championship HEAT vs American Dragon Exhibition Match Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Ken Shamrock NOSAWA and MASADA vs. Bobby Quance and Aaron Aguilera (Hardkore Kidd) Havana Pitbulls (Ricky Reyes and Rocky Romero) vs. Tommy and X Jose vs. Iceman This is definatly a show that I would drive up for. They will probably add some more matches with other Inoki Dojo wrestlers. It should be a good show with some stiff action.

From The Wrestling Observer Newsletter Michaels suffered a torn ACL. either in his Raw match a few weeks back with Orton, or in his singles match with Flair in Hiroshima. He's working through it because he's in a major Mania program The company is doing a $5 million ad campaign for Wrestlemania, between TV ads, print ads, a 4 paged ad section in both the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue and the Entertainment Weekly Oscars issue, plus pizza box ads, billboards and taxis. To make up $5 million, they would have to do 220,000 extra buys. If you figure with no outside ad campaign they'd do 550,000 minimum, to make it worthwhile they'd have to get it up to 770,000. In he WWE lawsuit against 37 Canadian bars for illegaly airing PPV events, ther is belief that the total damages could come to more than $1 million. Damages will be calculated by a combination of $1,500 for every illegal showing of a PPV by a bar, plus a rate to be determined later. Ther is nothing new on Bret Hart and Wrestlemania. It appears unlikely anything will happen on it. Linda Miles got even more heat on her this past week. The feeling is that she does not take wrestling seriosly enough. Unlike most on the roster, she didn't grow up a fan. On 2/7 in Regina, she was supposed to train, but, not her fault, it took forever to get through customs and they barely got enough people there in time to start the show. She promised to come in the next day for a session with the Bashams, Hass & Benjamin. They all came, for her benefit, but she no showed. Out of 124 shows on prime time network television, Smackdown in No. 121, ahead of only the dying Rock Me Baby, the nearly dead Mullets, and UPN Night at the Movies. The upside is that the cost of the show is far less than just about any show on television, so it is profitable even though it's 3.4 rating delivers ad rates of a show that would do well below a 2.0 Matt Morgan is going to be given hands on training from Tom Pritchard from this point forward. Morgan is very well liked by just about everyone, but the reality is he was not ready when he was brought up, which has oftenbeen a broken record when it comes to big guys. The World Wildlife Fund has sold the rights to the wwf.com web site name to a group calling themselves Web Wrestling Forum, which is a pro wrestling news group. Granted, Vince asked for problems when he agreed not to market the WWF initials outside of North America and then did so. But if the fund believed the web site was such a major issue in market confussion, it wouldn't have sold the domain name to a pro wrestling group.

From The Observer: The World Wildlife Fund has sold the rights to the wwf.com web site name to a group calling themselves Web Wrestling Forum, which is a pro wrestling news group. Granted, Vince asked for problems when he agreed not to market the WWF initials outside of North America and then did so. But if the fund believed the web site was such a major issue in market confussion, it wouldn't have sold the domain name to a pro wrestling group. www.wwf.com

An excerpt from The Wrestling Observer Newsletter A lot of history came together, as a member of one of pro wrestlings most famous families broke a life long size barrier to international superstardom in what is the countries oldest major wrestling arena, and among the business all time most historical buildings. A few years ago, even though he was as talented as any wrestler in the business. Eddy Guerrero would have been about the last anyone would think would ever win a WWE heavyweight championship. Quite frankly, he wouldn’t have ever been considered as a possible main eventer due to his size, the same tag line that has been said literally since he was 19 years old wrestling in Juarez. And even with his new found popularity, Guerrero had never even headlined a PPV show until 2/14, the night he captured the WWE championship from Brock Lesnar at the Cow Palace. The win capped 50 years since the first time a Guerrero had challenged for a world heavyweight title, when Eddys father, Salvador “Gori” Guerrero challenged Lou Thesz at Arena Mexico in 1954. The Guerreros have a rich family history in wrestling, dating back some 67 or so years. Eddie’s father is generally considered one of the ten biggest stars in the history of Lucha Libre. He got his name from being one of the pioneers of bloody matches and his heel tag team with El Santo, Los Parejas Atomicos (The Atomic Pair) is the most famous ever in that country. Eventually the two split up and started feuding. While Guerrero was of Hispanic descent, he was actually born in Kearney, AZ in 1921, and wrestled main events well into his 50s. During his career he held the world title in the welterweight, middleweight, and light heavyweight divisions. In the early 60s he settled in El Paso as NWA World Light Heavyweight Champion (a title stripped from him in Mexico when he didn’t return), became the local promoter for Dory Funk Sr’s operation, and raised 4 sons, all of which became top notch wrestlers. Although only 185 pounds in his prime, Guerrero and Blue Demon were renowned as the two great shooters of their time period. An innovator, Guerrero invented many moves inside the ring, the most famous being the camel clutch and an inverted surfboard like move called the Gori special. With the possible exception of Perro Aguayo, Gori Guerrero would be considered by most as the greatest non masked wrestler in the history of Lucha Libre. His son, Salvador Guerrero Jr, began wrestling as Chavo Guerrero in 1973 in El Paso. He wrestled at 118 and 126 pounds at the University of Texas at El Paso, and was considered to small to be a star. In 1975, when Guerrero won the Americas title from Ernie Ladd, who was more than a foot taller and 120 pounds heavier, it was considered a joke, that they must be attempting to kill the territory. However, Chavo Guerrero vs Roddy Piper was the feud that made both mens careers as well known national superstars. Chavo drew numerous big crowds in Los Angeles when challenging Terry Funk and Harley Race for the NWA World Heavyweight title. Chavo became so popular that soon, brother Mando and Hector, as well as patriarch Gori, were the headline act in southern California. The 3 brothers had a lot in common. All were good wrestlers, as their father taught them that fads come and go in the business, but if you are a great wrestler, you’ll always be able to at least find work. But all were also small in a time when the heavyweight division ruled, and were also noted, at least in the case of Chavo and Mando, for having hot tempers, and were also fearless, and there were plenty of stories of them challenging people much larger than them to real fights. Even after retirement, Chavo nearly got into it with Vader at a post show party after a WCW PPV event in Los Angeles. Some considered Chavo his own worst enemy. He went in and out of the mainstream during the 80s and aside from Japan, was never that big of a star. All ended up very bitter about not garnering the long term superstardom that their abilities probably deserved, and it seemed the same fate was destined for the youngest brother. Edouardo Guerrero was much younger than his brothers, and only 3 years older than Chavo’s son, Salvador Guerrero III (Chavo Jr). He was a good high school wrestler in El Paso, and wrestled in college in New Mexico, before starting his career in Juarez. Because of his name, he was picked on by the bigger wrestlers, but quickly earned his stripes and as early as 1987, the word came out of Mexico that he was going to be the most talented member of the family. But he’d never make it in the US or Japan because of his size. In 1989, Terry Funk brought Eddy Guerrero to World Championship Wrestling as a squash opponent for a TV match. Guerrero did a plancha, at the time almost unheard of in the US, and he and Funk had one of the greatest squash matches of the era. A performance like that normally would have gotten someone a job. The feeling by everyone was that he was super talented, but far too small for US wrestling, and despite everyone raving about the match, was only used 1 more time by the company. He got a break under a hood as the original Mascara Magica in EMLL, the name because he was magic in the ring. At the same time, New Japan was looking for a new opponent for Jushin Liger, and Guerreros name was suggested. It was quickly rejected. They knew all about him. Great worker, but was only 175 pounds. Yes, he was considered too small to work with Liger in the junior heavyweight division. Guerrero started making his name in Mexico in 1992. He caused a lot of controversy when he unmasked on his own, as opposed to losing the mask in the ring, a 1st in Mexican wrestling. He said he was the son of Gori Guerrero and shouldn’t go under an assumed name. He soon jumped to AAA, where he got his first main event push as a tag team with El Hijo del Santo. The two were put together as Los Nuevos Parejas Atomicos, as the sons of Mexicos most famous team. But the plan from the start was to turn him heel on Santo, like his father. At about the same time, another second-generation wrestler, Art Barr, was working under a mask as babyface Love Machine. An elaborate few weeks of angles saw Barr unmask, doing a double turn with Blue Panther in what was every bit as good as the more famous Bret Hart-Steve Austin double turn 5 years later at Wrestlemania. Love Machine and Guerrero became Los Gringo Locos, and whatever Guerrero lacked in charisma was made up for in spades by Barr. The 2 were tag team of the year in 1994, but it was a little known fact that dating back to 1992, Brian Pillman studied them and a lot of the 1993 Pillman & Steve Austin tag team in WCW, that years best team, came from spending hours at the WCW power plant studying their moves and mannerisms. New Japan by 1992 also changed its tune on Guerrero, not only bringing him in as a rival for Liger, but a year later, giving him the Black Tiger name, copied from Tiger Mask’s original top rival a decade earlier. When WWF officials watched 1994 “When Worlds Collide” PPV from Los Angeles, headlined by Santo & Octagon beating Barr & Guerrero in a double mask vs double hair match that was considered among the best tag matches ever at the time, they were so impressed that the lone wrestler they offered a spot to on the show was Louie Spicolli, who had juiced himself up to around 270 pounds. Guerreros career in Mexico ended quickly. Art Barr, 28, died just 2 weeks after what he and Guerrero both had called their greatest match from taking a bad combination of drugs and alcohol. Mexico’s economy crashed, and the peso was devalued to the point that Antonio Pena could no longer afford to pay big money in dollars to foreign talent. Guerrero wrestled mainly in Japan. With no money in Mexico, he started with ECW, where he became an immediate star with matches against 2 Cold Scorpio, Dean Malenko and others. The ECW success broke the US size barrier issue, and when he, Benoit, and Malenko moved to WCW in 1995, he was a solid cruiserweight star. While he could work with anyone, he was considered too small for a headline spot, although he did win the cruiserweight and US titles. Guerrero has said it is a daily battle for him, plus has suffered from regular battles with depression. Wrestling lore has it that his issues dated back to an auto accident on December 31, 1998, when he was thrown from his car and as he wasn’t wearing his seatbelt, and nearly died. He didn’t want to lose his spot so he rushed back to the ring months before his body could withstand the punishment. In actuality it only made worse his existing problems. After jumping to the WWE in January 2000 with Malenko, Benoit, and Saturn, the problems got so bad that he was getting a bad reputation, but his work in the ring was, while fallen from his peak due to drug problems, still better than most. Finally, when he passed out in the dressing room one night in Minneapolis, he was sent to rehab. Just days after being released, he went out to drink, crashed his car, and the company really had no choice at the time but to fire him, even though he was well liked. He hit rock bottom, and his wife divorced him. However when he returned to wrestling, both in indies and Japan, the word was very different from other so called reform substance abusers who publicly claimed to be clean, but were anything but. In 2002, Guerrero was rehired and cleaned up, and his wrestling returned to his previous levels. He started with Raw, but Paul Heyman, who gave him his first US mainstream break in ECW and was a fan of his dating back to Japan, maneuvered he and Chris Benoit to Smackdown when he was head writer for the show. Guerrero was made a superstar really by the fans last year, and it wasn’t planned, nor did anyone see it coming. He was teaming with nephew Chavo Jr., and Chavo Jr. tore his biceps. This put him in a tag team with Tajiri, to feud with Haas & Benjamin one the WWE tag titles. The “lie, cheat, & steal” gimmick, with some promotional vignettes that were more than borderline racist, seemed to add a layer of character to his great wrestling. But it was his heel turn on Tajiri for messing with his ride, which in a sense backfired, as fans started cheering Guerrero like a cult superstar, and eventually the company caught on and turned him back face, and he came across as a genuine superstar for the first time. Suddenly, he became business. It first showed up in television ratings with his surprising spike in the ratings for segments not expected to do well. At first it was certain markets, like Dallas, Houston, and Los Angeles. But soon they were national. The Lesnar/Guerrero match drew a sellout crowd to the Cow Palace, which is likely the oldest legendary major building in the US that still houses pro wrestling. The paid attendance was about 9,000 with a record $450,000 house, shattering the old record of $310,974 set on February 22, 1998, for the SuperBrawl PPV headlined by Hulk Hogan vs Sting. Guerrero is easily the smallest what I’d call major league World Heavyweight Champion in modern wrestling. While some can point to joke champions like David Arquette, or Mickey Whipwreck in ECW, as far as major league world champion, at 5’7 and 210 pounds, the guy once to small to be a viable junior heavyweight in Japan, or to even get work as a WCW jobber, may just be the best drawing full time performer in the country. Nobody of his size had ever been considered as a main eventer, let alone world champion. This is part of the February 23, 2004 issue of the wrestling observer. This is really one of the first indepth look at the Guerrero family that I have ever seen. I remember on a Smackdown thread a while back that someone said Hart Family > Guerrero Family. It was right after Kurt said the Guerrero family was the greatest family in wrestling history. I have always thought that the Guerrero family was on the same level, maybe even greater, than the Hart family. So I posted this article because it shows that they were/are innovators and ahead of their time in Pro wrestling.

Yes, it says as of late last year Smackdown was averaging $34,333 for a 30 second ad, which makes it 121 out of 124 shows.

I believe Ken Shamrock suffered a torn ACL last year. He could not compete in MMA fights but could still do pro wrestling matches. You will eventualy have to go in for surgery. I would guess Michaels is working through it because once he goes in for surgery he will not be coming back to pro wrestling. He probably wants one last big Wrestlemania main event pay day and then retire.

I think the crowd will be on the side of Benoit. I have a good feeling that the New York crowd will turn on Michaels just like they did at the Survivor Series 96.

The WM XIX issue of Raw magazine last year had Hart/Austin at #1.

What is wrong with Team Angle having 4 members. I remember last year I wanted Team Angle (plus 4th member w/ amaetuer backround) to feud with a stable that consisted of Chris Benoit, Nick Dinsmore, Jaime Noble, and Bryan "American Dragon" Danielson (who they would have had to sign). Of course that was just the smark side of me that selfishly wanted to see it and I know many people would say it does not appeal to the mass audience.

There is really only two matches that are going to be in contention for #1 on that list Hogan/Andre and Hart/Austin. I would go with Hart/Austin as #1. 1. Hart/Austin 2. Hogan/Andre 3. Austin/Rock-WM 17 4. Steamboat/Savage 5. Hart/Hart 6. Michaels/Hall 7. Flair/Savage 8. ? random HHH match 9. ? a TLC match 10. ? Angle/Lesnar I am not sure what the WWE will pick for the last 3 spots. Knowing them one will involve HHH, TLC, and Angle/Lesnar. The list I made is more of what I think the WWE will pick and not what I would pick.

Triple H has been giving every indication that he's not planning to be involved with Benoit after WrestleMania 20. Instead, Triple H has been pushing for Edge to move to Raw so that the two can have a program together after Edge returns from neck surgery which should be soon after WMXX. Source: PWTorch Now I think this is something that we have heard before but it brings up an interesting question. What about Smackdown? When Edge comes back he will more than likely be pushed to the main event while he is still hot. Why must the WWE continue to show favoritism towards Raw. It seems every week the WWE puts all their best ideas on Raw, while it seems like they put Smackdown together in 10 minutes. I thought the point of brand extension was to make both Raw and Smackdown A shows. But now it seems to have gone back to Raw being the A show and Smackdown being the B show

I will always consider the WWE title the true World Heavyweight Championship.

The only thing that has me worried about this PPV is that this is the first Smackdown only PPV that does not involve Vince or Steph. In the past a poor buyrate could be blamed on Vince and Steph for being the most heavily promoted. This time the buyrate will actualy reflect the WWE title match which in turn will reflect Eddie. Lets face it, this was a poorly promoted PPV done in a very short time. Vince could very well put the blame on Eddie for a low buyrate. That is why this PPV MUST get more buys than Armageddon. Armageddon got 215,000 buys, this PPV must get at least 216,000 buys. This is a time for all smart marks to get involved. Buy this PPV and show Vince that we want Eddie to stay in the main event. What do you have to lose? Misterio/Chavo will be a great match and Eddie/Brock will be a top contender for MOTY.

Wrestlemania 11: First Time, Last Time, Only Time

I like the idea of a new actor to play Bond. It is a way to keep the franchise fresh. I have also never had a problem with them doing something different with a Bond film. It is the reason I like license To Kill. Some people hate it because it is not the standard Bond movie but that is the same reason liked it. I would guess the top contenders for the new Bond are still Ewan McGregor and Clive Owen.