Guest BoboBrazil Posted September 20, 2002 Report Posted September 20, 2002 Greetings from under the black 200X Resistol hat from your resident Oklahoma Sooners football fan who is packing his bags for another West Coast jaunt for Unforgiven in Los Angeles, Anaheim's RAW, and a quick stopover in Seattle Tuesday morning before returning to New York City for an appearance in a trial, of all things. When you toss in house-show bookings, administrative work in the talent relations department, interdepartmental meetings and attempting to write for our upcoming cookbook, things are never dull around here, so I certainly know how those fruit merchants must feel on a busy day! In any event, I would not trade the privilege of being in World Wrestling Entertainment for anything, as the good days always outnumber the bad, and I truly believe that challenges make us all stronger. (Please excuse me while I put my soapbox away ...) Random thoughts, personal opinion and some basically useless information... RAW had its moments on Monday night and seemed to me to be an improved broadcast overall. We are certainly rebuilding on the company's flagship show, as we are in the overall company in general, but through long-term planning and hard work, will no doubt get back to where we all want to be. There were certainly some bright spots Monday night and it is incumbent upon us to continue to attempt to elevate new talents to the main-event level, creating new rivalries and issues. But this is certainly not going to be an overnight thing. Talent development is more often than not a slow-building process and the timelines normally are dictated by creative direction, the talent's execution of the plan and a little luck. That said, this process usually is not as quick as most viewers and the participants themselves want. Going live every week is a unique thing. When the product is perceived to be good, live is cutting edge and unpredictable. When there are issues in execution, creative, production, etc., being live does no one any favors. But live we are and live we will stay -- which I personally like, by the way -- under the microscope for all to see. I like working "without a net" and feel from my own experiences over many years that when a few new stars are developed and meaningful personal issues are cultivated, we will freshen up the product greatly and be back to consistently producing very solid television on WWE's longest-running primetime broadcast. But, again, I stress to all involved that there are no quick fixes and there are no fixes whatsoever without long-term planning. The RAW rating will definitely begin to improve, but until it does, no one is standing on a ledge or feeling sorry for themselves. That's my story and I'm sticking to it; of course, "sources say" or the "talk in the locker room" type stories perhaps would disagree because it makes better copy. The SmackDown! program has a different creative philosophy, in my view, than the RAW program. With that said, the show seems to be a little more straightforward and often times a little easier to follow for our viewers, or at least that's what my friends tell me. I can't disagree with them regarding most broadcasts. Being able to eliminate so-so content via editing also helps the look and feel of SmackDown!, which is by no means a knock on the show whatsoever. That's simply just the way it is. The distribution of talent on the two rosters also had an influence on the two broadcasts, as this is a talent-driven business and always has been. Many of the SmackDown! talents have meshed very well together, while some on the RAW roster are still in the building or rebuilding stage and have yet to find their niche with one another. Again, it all takes time, hard work and patience. My years, seemingly, of promoting the cruiserweights in this space have been a very good thing for SmackDown!, and our talent relations department is actively looking for more talented performers in this weight category to add to this already excellent roster. Bottom line, as someone I know used to say quite often, is that we are largely in a rebuilding mode from a creative standpoint, but I feel the good news is that we have the young talent available to us to get it done. Once several new talents are built, over time, the correct way, WWE has a golden opportunity to be hotter than we have ever been. It has to be a total team effort for us to win, and nothing else should be tolerated by anyone who draws a paycheck from WWE. The one thing that I admire and appreciate from our talent roster is that no matter the circumstances, they all seem to work very hard and give 100 percent effort in every outing. Even with live-event crowds at less than capacity, our Superstars never lay on their backsides and always attempt to give our fans their money's worth. We may sometimes miss our mark creatively at these live events, but that is not a talent problem. Many of us can well remember attending shows or reading about them where talents gave little or no effort, if they even showed up at all (the old WCW), for smaller crowds who paid their hard-earned money to attend the live event. Our talent and agents are to be commended for their professionalism in this regard. Quite frankly, I would not trade this talent roster for any that I have worked with in my 25-plus years in the business. Our live events this Saturday, in Fresno and San Jose, Calif., both start at 4 p.m. local time, and then it is on to Los Angeles for all involved. Ah, the life of a WWE Superstar. So glamorous ... right! I wish WWE Confidential had a better timeslot as this Mean Gene Okerlund-hosted vehicle is one of my favorite shows on all of television. By the way, don't forget to check out a Mean Gene's Burgers if you get the opportunity in your travels. Unforgiven looks to be this close to a sellout this Sunday in L.A., while tickets are still available for Monday's RAW in Anaheim and Tuesday's SmackDown! in San Diego. If you are attending any of these events live, get there early as there will be a variety of WWE Superstars making appearance outside the respective arenas a few hours prior to show time. By the way, there is a chance that Rey Mysterio will face Chavo Guerrero on MTV's HEAT Sunday night prior to Unforgiven, which is another strong reason to not miss HEAT live (in the Eastern and Central time zones) from L.A. Sunday night. This match has not been confirmed as I write this; however, I understand it is being seriously discussed. Both Rey and Chavo are simply awesome performers; I'm sure all will agree. Unforgiven has a strong SmackDown! flavor for the Pay-Per-View, as the contests with the most significant builds all come from that brand. Undertaker vs. Brock Lesnar, Kurt Angle vs. Chris Benoit, and Edge vs. Eddie Guerrero have all had significant buildups over the past several weeks. RAW's primary contribution of Triple H vs. Rob Van Dam has had a short build as "the Game" has only been champion for about three weeks, while the Ric Flair vs. Chris Jericho match, even though it is a "return" from SummerSlam, seems to have had a stutter-step or two in its progress over the last few weeks. Trish Stratus vs. Molly Holly has been added to the show, which I feel is a good thing and will no doubt add some sex appeal and uniqueness to the presentation. I am anxious to see how Jamal & Rosey perform under the gun against Billy & Chuck, and I look forward to seeing how the eight-man tag produces at Unforgiven. Tough Enough 3 is about to wrap up for another season, and from what I hear, John "Big" Gaburick and his crew have done another outstanding job. It has been said that the male contestants are stronger than the female contestants this year, but you will be able to see for yourself soon on MTV. Big, Tazz and Michael Cole were all spotted together at the Penn State-Nebraska game last Saturday night in State College, Pa. Kevin Nash will be in Little Rock, Ark., live on Saturday, Sept. 28 to launch the on sale of tickets for our October Pay-Per-View, No Mercy, which will emanate for the first time from the ALLTEL Arena. Little Rock was one of the weekly stops I used to make in the old territory days and I vividly remember refereeing a 60-minute draw in the early 1970s between NWA Champion Jack Brisco and his fellow Oklahoman and former NCAA Champion Danny Hodge. What an amazing experience! Lita will be doing a live on-sale promotion in Jackson, Tenn., on Sept. 28, as well. Booker T will soon be taping a Confidential feature with Philadelphia Eagles linebacker and WWE fan Levon Kirkland. Nothing too new on the injury front, which is about as good news as we can get these days. Normal bumps and bruises, as this ain't ballet, but many of the talents are working through their discomfort. Chris Nowinski will be getting surgery on his jaw in a few days and will be sidelined for four to six weeks. Agent Dave Hebner, who had knee replacement surgery, has had some complications and will see Dr. Jim Andrews next week for an evaluation. Dr. Andrews did not do the original surgery but will attempt to determine what the problem is with Dave's knee. Kanyon seems to be about a month away from being able to resume his in-ring work and will most likely be assigned to OVW for a month or so to knock off the ring rust and allow creative more time to prepare for Chris' return. Maven seems to be about three weeks away from returning and continues to do therapy and rehab for his ankle. Maven, too, will probably spend time in OVW before returning full time to WWE. Sean O'Haire is out four more weeks with an abdominal tear. Rhyno's expected to return to action in late November or early December if all goes well with his injured neck. Jazz seems to be a month or so away from returning from ACL surgery. The talent relations staff who have read Jerry "the King" Lawler's upcoming book are raving about it. There are still some rewrites to be done, but from what I can see at this time, this is going to be a fun read. Speaking of fun reads, don't forget to check out my dear friend Bobby "the Brain" Heenan's book, available now just about everywhere. Bobby's sense of humor and ability to tell stories are amazing. His career is full of unique experiences all serious wrestling fans will enjoy. When I first came to WWE, Bobby and the late Gorilla Monsoon took me under their wing and treated me like family, while some others in the company did not want to give me the time of day. Ohio Valley Wrestling's new facility will be up and running in about a week after the landlord makes a few changes to satisfy the zoning board, etc., of the City of Louisville. This was largely a miscommunication between the owner of the facility and the city fathers with OVW caught in the middle of a minor political mess. All is being worked out to everyone's satisfaction and it will be business as usual down in OVW very soon. Don't forget to checkout OVWrestling.com to keep up with what is going on with our stars of tomorrow and to order videotapes of their weekly TV show. We have extended contracts to Nikita Fink, who has trained with Les Thatcher; Sylvian Grenier, a French-Canadian from Montreal trained by Rocky Johnson; and Orlando Jordan, also trained by Rocky Johnson. All three talents will be reporting to OVW in the next few weeks to resume their training. My Sooners are off this week as they prepare to return to action on Sept. 28 versus South Florida in a game that will not be a blowout. Of course, all of us Oklahoma football fans are counting the days until Oct. 12 and the annual Red River Shootout in Dallas' Cotton Bowl vs. the talent-heavy Texas Longhorns, which I will be on the sidelines for. That's OK for us fans to do, but it can be the old kiss of death for the players. One game at a time is how it works. Much like one good TV broadcast at a time is how it works in the sports-entertainment business. And that starts again Sunday in Los Angeles. Take care. J.R. (BOOMER SOONER!) wwe.com Same old crap, a different week. How many weeks in a row has he said new talent being elevated is a slow process and it takes time? It has to have been atleast 10. It is pretty obvious they aren't doing anything about it though.
Guest oldschoolwrestling Posted September 20, 2002 Report Posted September 20, 2002 so I certainly know how those fruit merchants must feel on a busy day! Is a fruit merchant the same as a BUTT burglar?
Guest Spaceman Spiff Posted September 20, 2002 Report Posted September 20, 2002 Chris Nowinski will be getting surgery on his jaw in a few days and will be sidelined for four to six weeks. Anybody know what happened to Chris? Kanyon seems to be about a month away from being able to resume his in-ring work and will most likely be assigned to OVW for a month or so to knock off the ring rust and allow creative more time to prepare for Chris' return. ::waits anxiously:: I hope they push him when he gets back Maven seems to be about three weeks away from returning and continues to do therapy and rehab for his ankle. Maven, too, will probably spend time in OVW before returning full time to WWE. Anybody miss Maven? I know *I* haven't...
Guest FeArHaVoC Posted September 20, 2002 Report Posted September 20, 2002 <Chris Nowinski will be getting surgery on his jaw in a few days and will be sidelined for four to six weeks.> Didn't that bastard Bradshaw do that to him? F'N idiot. Awesome, Heenan has a book out! Anyone get it yet? Every week they seem to bring in some new "talent" down in OVW, but just a month or so ago, JR said they had to release all the others because of "Finical reasons."
Guest deadbeater Posted September 20, 2002 Report Posted September 20, 2002 Wow Regal or Molly must have slapped Nowinski REAL hard.
Guest The Czech Republic Posted September 21, 2002 Report Posted September 21, 2002 Nowinski's injured? NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Guest deadbeater Posted September 21, 2002 Report Posted September 21, 2002 Yeah I know, Nowinski played a great heel, as he put the Rude in Rudo.
Guest Brian Posted September 21, 2002 Report Posted September 21, 2002 Nowinski's not even close to being a good rudo yet. His ringwork and maneurisms are nothing compared to an Art Barr or Eddie Guerrero.
Guest The Electrifyer Posted September 21, 2002 Report Posted September 21, 2002 He's got time to develop, it hasn't been his first full year yet and he's one of my Raw favourites.
Guest The Mighty Damaramu Posted September 21, 2002 Report Posted September 21, 2002 How'd that bastard get OU/Texas tickets!? I go to school at freakin OU and I don't have tickets! Oh yeah.....he's got connections and money and all that stuff I don't.
Guest saturnmark4life Posted September 21, 2002 Report Posted September 21, 2002 I LOVE NOWINSKI~! good job it's not that long w/o him.
Guest The Czech Republic Posted September 22, 2002 Report Posted September 22, 2002 Maybe he can just wear a hockey mask to protect his face. And the rest of a hockey uniform, because you need to accessorize.
Guest Red Hot Thumbtack In The Eye Posted September 22, 2002 Report Posted September 22, 2002 The SmackDown! program has a different creative philosophy, in my view, than the RAW program. With that said, the show seems to be a little more straightforward and often times a little easier to follow for our viewers, or at least that's what my friends tell me I know I've been having a fucking hard time following all the HLA stuff...
Guest MarvinisaLunatic Posted September 22, 2002 Report Posted September 22, 2002 Nowinski is supposedly out as of 9/20, but I read that he worked a house show in Fresno yesterday.
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