Torch Newsletter Notes

[Guest Brian]

I got my newsletter via e-mail becasue it didn't arrive so everyone benefits this week:

 

WWE

 

 

*Bob Holly is taking time off as the effects of a head injury

suffered in a Smackdown match against Brock Lesnar has gotten worse.

During the Sept. 10 match in Minneapolis, Brock dropped Holly on his

head during a botched powerbomb attempt. Holly was knocked out

briefly, and the ref bent over to check on him, but Holly ended up

signalling that he was able to continue the match. He continued to

wrestle after that, but began to show signs of post-concussion

syndrome. He also has been suffering from other head and neck pain

and possible neurological problems, and as a result has been taken

off the road until he is further evaluated. "He just hasn't looked

like himself lately," says one colleague. "But Bob is the type to

ignore pain and work through an injury as long as he can."

 

The Brock vs. Holly match has been the subject of quite a bit of

locker room talk since the incident where he landed on his head

wasn't an accident. Brock seemed to "give up" on lifting Holly during

the move, or else Holly seemed to be "sandbagging" Brock during the

lift, not cooperating in an attempt to make Brock look "weak." Either

way, it resulted in what could be a long-term serious injury for

Holly. Holly is WWE management's "go-to guy" when they want to

initiate a new wrestler into the ranks and test his threshold for

pain. Holly is respected by management and fellow wrestlers for being

tough himself, and also tough on new wrestlers, but knowing exactly

how far is too far to take such initiations. He lays in the chops and

gets rough with the young wrestlers, but doesn't do anything to cause

injury. Young wrestlers are evaluated (all of this is off record and

not part of any open, formal process, of course) on how they react to

the treatment.

 

Holly has denied to others that he had any intent to make Brock look

bad, but other wrestlers who watched the match believe that Holly was

attempting to teach Brock a lesson. "Bob seemed to be trying to send

Brock a message that it takes two to tango, and without the help of

his opponents, he wouldn't look nearly as good," says one wrestler.

There doesn't seem to be a feeling that Brock intentionally hurt

Holly, but instead the feeling is he just didn't know how to react,

and thus when he let go of Holly, he did so out of confusion more

than spite.

 

*The is growing frustration among mid-card and lower-card WWE

wrestlers. The feeling is that Vince McMahon has handed way too much

power over to Undertaker and Triple H. There are mid-card wrestlers

who now count the number of segments Triple H and Taker wrestler

appears in on each show as a running joke. The reason Triple H has

power is pretty obvious-he's Stephanie McMahon's boyfriend, he's

delivered in main events for years (thanks to a great series of

opponents such as Mick Foley, Steve Austin, and Rock), and he's one

of the few wrestlers left with a main event track record. However,

mid-carders continue to hear that Triple H is persuading the writing

team to cool pushes of anyone who gets hoot, the latest being Rob Van

Dam, whose push is now expected to decrease in coming weeks and

months due to Triple H's influence.

 

Undertaker, meanwhile, is in power because Vince McMahon trusts him

and feels loyalty toward him. After all, when almost every one of his

top stars bolted to WCW when the big money offers came, Taker didn't.

What McMahon may not realize is that Taker, according to informed

sources close to the situation, did contact WCW looking to see what

kind of offer was awaiting him shortly after Kevin Nash and Scott

Hall gave their notice. Negotiations didn't get serious only because

Eric Bischoff told a third-party intermediary that he wouldn't know

what to do with Mark Calloway without the Undertaker gimmick.

Bischoff felt the gimmick was too vital to his overall popularity and

recognition among mainstream fans to be worth a big money offer if he

couldn't bring the name and gimmick appearance with him.

Nevertheless, Taker continues to get his way with McMahon.

 

The tide has turned sharply against both Triple H and Taker in recent

months. The last straw for even those holding out respect for both

Taker and Triple H was the speech they gave to wrestlers in the ring

telling them that they needed to work harder in order to help turn

WWE business around. That speech is still talked about today among

the rest of the wrestlers as one of the most pompous exercises

they've ever experienced from a "fellow wrestler." Taker's stature as

a "locker room leader" had greatly evaporated over the past year as

it appeared he was taking more liberties to protect himself at the

expense of the betterment of the company, but the final straw for him

in the eyes of many was how he handled the Unforgiven main event

finish with Brock Lesnar. Sources say Taker's reaction to the

proposed finish where he lose to Brock was short and sweet: "I'm not

feeling it," he purportedly said when presented with the finish.

That's about all it took for the finish to be reworked. Pat Patterson

was the agent in charge of the match, and he originally proposed

Taker lose via controversial pinfall, then attack Brock afterward and

bloody him, and eventually throw him through the glass set at the

entrance stage to justify the rematch the next month. "Like others

before them," says one veteran colleague, "their attitude is simple:

Take what you can now and let the next generation pick up the pieces."

 

*WWE officially announced Safeco Field in Seattle, Wash. as the home

of WrestleMania XIX. The company made the announcement at a press

conference at Seattle's Experience Music Project. Vince McMahon,

Stephanie McMahon, Eric Bischoff, Triple H, Undertaker, and Kurt

Angle were among the WWE personnel who spoke at the press conference.

McMahon joked that WWE wouldn't close the retractable roof at Safeco,

"We're going to blow it off," he said. The setup at Safeco is still

being determined. The most likely plan was detailed in the Seattle

Post-Intelligencer, which reported: The ring will likely be at second

base, with a plastic protective layer over the grass and seats

filling the rest of the field. Organizers hope seating will be close

to 55,000; the ballpark seats 46,000 for baseball." The article also

notes that while Major League Baseball's 2003 schedule has yet to be

released, the timing of WrestleMania likely means the team will open

on the road for the seventh time in their 26 year history. The press

conference ended rather abruptly just seconds after a local reporter

asked Vince McMahon a question about steroid testing.

 

*Lita took what many perceived as shots against the Raw writing team

during a WWE.com interview. When asked whether she prefers Raw or

Smackdown, Lita chose the Thursday night show. "I think Smackdown is

definitely better-definitely better, by far. And I don't think it's

the talent on the show. It's hard to say what it is, it's just my

opinion." When asked whether the women's division needs more

wrestlers, Lita took another shot against the writers. "No," she

answered. "Not that they don't need more, but they don't use the ones

they have efficiently. I feel the same way about the guys. It's not

that they need to find more people to wrestle, it's that they need to

efficiently use the talent that they have. And I don't feel as though

they are being utilized."

 

*The trade media continues to look at wrestling as a "fading fad on a

downcycle." A page three headline in Multichannel News last week

stated: "Ratings down, wrestling tests limits." The article covered

the Hot Lesbian Action angle, noting that TNN's wrestling series has

lost steam and is now "pushing the envelope with some salacious

content" in an attempt to pop ratings. It stated that third quarter

2002 ratings were down 11 percent from third quarter 2001 ratings.

"When we're doing something that might seem salacious or over the

top, it is with the goal of creating a character, or clearly

communicating what that character was about," WWE spokeswoman Julie

Hoffman said. She denied that the HLA or gay wedding angles were in

response to declining ratings. Instead, she cited WWE's favorite word

lately, cyclical, to excuse the downtrend in business.

 

*Notebook: WrestleMania XIX tickets are scheduled to go on sale on

Jan. 11 through Ticketmaster and the WWE website. Prices for the

event have yet to be announcedŠ The Seattle Times also covered the

WrestleMania press conference in its Sept. 25 issue by finding humor

in Safeco's conservative reputation. "The same ballpark that once

banned 'Yankees suck' t-shirts and was criticized by one fan for not

being allowed to be obnoxious in his pricey seats is holding

wrestling's most famed event," wrote reporter Jayda EvansŠ At the

press conference, Kurt Angle remained in character and mocked the

Seattle fans who attended. "So, this is Seattle," Angle quipped.

"Wow, what a dump! I don't know why we'd put WrestleMania in Seattle.

Besides Kurt Cobain and Frasier (NBC sitcom), no one outside this

rain forest knows who you are"Š The WWE website featured a shot of

Jacqueline's breast hanging out of her top for several hours. The

shot was taken while Jacqueline was dancing on the stage during Union

Underground's performance on Raw. The WWE website eventually pulled

the photo from the websiteŠ Ultimo Dragon was backstage at the

Unforgiven and the following night's Raw. He continues to tell

friends that he is considering a full time comeback to the ring. He

wrestled once already in early September in JapanŠ Tough Enough 1

winner Maven is expected to return to action at the end of the month.

He had a setback in his recovery when it was discovered that the

first two doctors missed the fact that he actually had two breaks in

his injured ankle along with a ligament tear. He should ideally have

surgery, which would put him out of action for eight months, but

instead is opting for rehab which should get him back to near 100

percentŠ Rey Mysterio's 6-1-9 move is named after his California home

town's area codeŠ

 

OVW observers say that none of the developmental territory's current

wrestlers is good enough to make a major impact on WWE. Doug Basham

is considered to be the best wrestler of the bunch, but his size and

look will likely prevent him from being a major player.

Second-generation wrestler Rene Dupre is considered to the be the

most likely to become a major star for WWE, but because he is only 18

years-old he is considered a long-term project. WWE is high on

Dupre's ability and feel he will improve a lot once he works with

better opponents. His facial expressions are said to be strong,

although he needs work on the micŠ More than one source is surprised

that WWE is not letting John Cena show off what many have labeled as

"excellent mic skills"Š Jeff Hardy was late arriving at the PPV last

week. He didn't get there until the PPV already started, six hours

later than he was supposed to. It was the second time in a week he

was late to a WWE eventŠ Rosey and Jamal have quickly earned

reputations for not protecting their opponents. The situation became

a big topic of discussion after Loony Lane took a stiff kick from one

of them during the initial HLA angle. Jamal's indy scene reputation

for being immature and less than passionate for the business have

followed him to WWEŠ Besides the events listed in the right column on

pg. 3, WWE also ran house shows in Bossier City, La. on Sept. 29 and

Monroe, La. on Sept. 30, but no correspondence reports were filedŠ

Sept. 21-22 ratings: Velocity-0.7, Confidential-0.7, Heat-0.8-all bad

numbers, especially the 0.8 for the pre-PPV edition of HeatŠ For the

week ending Sept. 22, Raw's two hours finished no. 8 and no. 11 in

the overall cable rankingsŠ Terry Taylor has been hired by WWE on a

trial basis to work behind the scenes as an agent. Taylor has worked

for both WCW and WWE before as an agentŠ There is talk of Smackdown

featuring a tag team tournament to determine its own tag team

championsŠ Kevin Nash announced on his website that he is targeting

the Royal Rumble PPV in January as his return. He says it would

create the best storyline opportunity to make his return at the

Rumble and be vying for a slot in the WrestleMania main event by

winning the Rumble. He said he would love to work with Triple H or

Shawn Michaels in some capacity at WM, but also would love to work

with RockŠ Faarooq returned to action this weekend after taking

personal time off to be with his wifeŠ

 

Wrestlers who talk to contestants during Tough Enough 3 filming

included Ric Flair, Shawn Michaels, Tommy Dreamer, Chris Benoit,

Lance Storm, and Rey Mysterio Jr.Š One Tough Enough 3 contestant

bluffed her way onto the show, claiming to have long dreamed of

becoming a WWE superstar, but later admits that wasn't the case

(presumably she lied just to get on TV). In any case, it prompted

producer John "Big" Gaburik to lose his temper for the first time in

three seasons of the series because she cost someone else more

deserving a chance at their real dreamŠ The Tough Enough 3 house

where the contestants live is in mountains overlooking Kelsey

Grammer's house. Grammer had successfully booted MTV out of his

neighborhood when the original home for the students was scheduled to

be on "his" street. Everyone says the house is the nicest of any

house for any MTV reality series in historyŠ About 200 indy wrestlers

sent in tapes to be contestants on Tough Enough 3. There were about

6,000 tapes sent in overall. No word on whether any of them made the

final 13, but at least one did make the list of 25 semi-finalists.

The one hour premier of Tough Enough on Oct. 17 will feature

highlights of the three regional tryouts featuring between 80 and 100

potential contestants, and then focus on a week-long grueling

elimination process featuring the 25 semi-finalists, of whom 12 were

cut at the endŠ There is apparently a jaw-dropping shocker at the end

of Tough Enough 3. Like last season, the two winners have not been

determined yet. The final three, four, or five students (no one is

saying how many made it to the end) will be at a live special at The

World in New York where the winner will be announced. One element

added to this year's live finale is that viewers will be allowed to

attempt to influence the judges by voting on-line for the two who

they think deserve the WWE contractsŠ All indications are that Jim

Ross was right when he wrote in his Ross Report that the male

contestants were stronger this year than the female contestants, the

opposite of last season where two women won the contracts and the two

male finalists didn't (and later were vocal in their protests).

Everyone is indicating that this year's crop of finalists includes

some potential starsŠ Besides the house, the training center, and

regular workouts in the mountains, the students later in Tough Enough

3 are also given drama classes to help their character development

and interview skills. A local improv actor runs the seminarsŠ Bill

DeMott (a/k/a Hugh Morrus) is getting rave reviews for his

participation as a trainer this season. He apparently was tougher on

the students than either Tazz or Bob Holly during the first two

seasons, but also very effective at teaching. Ivory was also an

assistant trainer to Al Snow againŠ The contestants this season are

said to be very interesting people, as interested as Daryll and Hawk

but without the baggage. They played practical jokes on each other

during the trainingŠ The Tough Enough 3 trip this year was to Iceland

where Snow chipped one of his front teeth (no word on how)Š Snow has

asked to take several weeks off from WWE action following the

conclusion of the taping of Tough Enough 3 in order to take a

breather and tend to some personal business at homeŠ

 

NWA-TNA

 

*Correction: The news item in TORCH #723 mistakenly indicated that

JSE would have to wait another three months before they could get out

of their deal with InDemand with minimal penalty. The deal actually

gives JSE a window near the end of every month to make such a move.

JSE allowed the Sept. 27 date to pass, meaning InDemand will list

them in the company's December schedule. If JSE were to decide to

pull out of the deal before the InDemand's deadline for the January

schedule, the company would still have to run through the end of the

year to get out of the deal with minimal penalty. The company could

technically terminate the deal at any time, but would face higher

financial penalties if they didn't deliver events that InDemand

already has scheduledŠ

 

*Phase Three, the company that designed the JSE and NWA-TNA logos,

filed a lawsuit against Jarrett Sports Entertainment, InDemand, and

DirecTV last week in the Davidson County Tennessee. The suit alleges

that the Jarretts have yet to pay the company for its services.

Sources say the Jarretts are claiming that Jay Hassman, whom they

have filed a lawsuit against, authorized the design work without

permission of the Jarretts. Phase Three is the same company that WCW

used to design its pay-per-view promotional material. Sources believe

InDemand will be able to remove itself from the lawsuit due to its

contract with JSE with indemnifies them from lawsuits directed at

JSE. It is not known whether DirecTV's contract with InDemand has a

similar clauseŠ

 

*Notebook: The Jarretts lawsuit against Hassman was moved to Federal

Court when the Jarretts declined to protest the defendant's motion to

move the hearingŠ Cable industry analysts estimate that TNA

pay-per-views are drawing between 20,000 and 25,000 buys at bestŠ A

false rumor that the Jarretts sold the company to a Texas-based

electrical company briefly made the rounds last weekŠ TNA sources

whisper that Brian James was never in a minor car wreck a couple

weeks back like he claimed, but instead just used that as an excuse

to get out of working an indy show without having the "no show"

blemish his rep on the indy sceneŠ

 

ETC.

 

*In his book, "Bobby the Brian," Bobby Heenan ripped on his Nitro

replacement, Mark Madden. "They replaced me with Mark Madden, a

loudmouth slob from Pittsburgh who liked hockey. He shouldn't have

been in that job. But Terry TaylorŠ couldn't wait to hire Madden

because they were both huge Internet fans." Heenan was replaced as

color commentator on Nitro mostly because he had been showing up for

work in no condition to perform due to his heavy drinking, a habit he

never acknowledged in his book, but something that is very well known

in wrestling circle. Madden, meanwhile, is working with ESPN 1250

radio in Pittsburgh hosting a drive time sports talk show from 3-7

p.m. His show is the second highest rated show in the market in the

male demographic.

 

*Notebook: Main Event Promotions. Sept. 28, 2002. Canton, Ohio. A.J.

Styles defeated Shane Sensation, New Jack defeated Brain Damage, Mr.

Insanity defeated Sabu, Brian Christopher defeated Shasta, Dusty

Rhodes & Road Warriors defeated Jerry Lawler & Pumper & SpellbinderŠ

[Guest Brian]

BACKTRACK: TORCH TEN YEARS AGO

 

Excerpts of Pro Wrestling Torch #193, cover-dated September 24, 1992Š

 

*WCW promoted an event Sept. 13, 1992 in Charleston, W.Va. at the

CIvic Center in front of an est. 1,500. Gary Graham filed the

following reportŠ

 

(1) Dustin Rhodes pinned Tom Zenk with a bulldog in 5:51. Funny

seeing Rhodes in the opener. Zenk played subtle heel throughout, even

though he still got more cheers than Rhodes, it seemed. Of course,

they shook hands and hugged after it was over. Pretty good opener.

**1/2

 

(2) Erik Watts pinned Mike Graham in 4:25. The less said about this,

the better. neg. 1/2*

 

(3) Jake Roberts defeated Van Hammer after a DDT at 6:32. After

seeing the previous match, Van Hammer looked like Flair. Hammer seems

to have improved his workrate recently and as hard as Jake tried, he

still could not get most of the fans against him. **

 

(4) Rick & Scott Steiner beat Greg Valentine & Dick Slater in 9:40.

After getting pounded on throughout most of the match, Scott made the

hot tag to Rick and he finally Steinerlined Valentine for the pin.

Scott sold good, but Rick was once again lazy. **

 

(5) Brad Armstrong pinned Brian Pillman in 9:06. All Pillman needs

during his heel act is a mirror and Sensational Sherri and he'd be

Shawn Michaels's twin. Other than a few stall jobs by Pillman, this

was the best match of the card. Armstrong sold his knee well and won

with the Russian leg sweep. ***1/2

 

(6) Barbarian pinned Barry Windham with help from the injured Cactus

Jack when Jack held onto the ropes to prevent Barbarian from being

cradled and Barbarian fell on top for the pin. Barry tried hard to

make this good and succeeded as it was a really good match with some

good near falls until the cheap ending came. **1/2

 

(7) Ricky Steamboat pinned Steve Austin in 12:50 with a bodypress off

the top rope. Early in the match, Austin splashed Steamboat off the

top rope while Paul E. Dangerously was distracting the referee.

Steamboat powered out and when Dangerously again got on the apron,

the referee pulled him back and then Steamboat did his top rope move

to end it. Austin is definitely the future of wrestling. ***

 

(8) Steve Williams & Terry Gordy beat Arn Anderson & Bobby Eaton in

13:40 when Williams stampeded Eaton. Michael Hayes was great at

ringside. It brought back the old days seeing Hayes and Gordy beating

each other up. With Anderson and Gordy brawling out of the ring,

Williams called it a night for Eaton. The fans didn't know for whom

to cheer. Pretty good match. **1/2

 

(9) Rick Rude pinned Nikita Koloff in a lumberjack match in 10:21.

All of the lumberjacks had leather belts with them and guess who got

to be a lumberjack? The immortal Erik Watts himself. Of course, he

got some shots in on Rude, but nobody seemed to care. Rude carried

Koloff to a pretty good match, selling throughout since Koloff was

doing the job. Finally the end came while all of the lumberjacks

brawled around ringside and with the referee's back turned, Jack

nailed Koloff with an object and Rude used the Rude Awakening. **

 

Other Notes: The same night as the WCW house show detailed above,

Bret Hart beat Papa Shango in a WWF main event in Johnstown, Pa.

Also, Razor Ramon (Scott Hall) beat Randy SavageŠ Mark Madden's TORCH

column criticized the WWF for rehiring Pat Patterson after highly

publicized allegations of sexual improprieties forced his

resignation. "Most of you crucify Patterson for his lifestyle, not

for specific incidents in his life," Madden wrote. "If you really

believe Pat Patterson should not be employed by the WWF because of

the allegations of sexual misconduct made towards him, realize this:

eh was never convicted. If you think he should not be employed

because he's gay, realize this: you have a lot of problems, maybe

more than Pat Patterson does"Š

 

***

 

MATCH BY MATCH PPV ANALYSIS by Wade Keller

 

NWA-TNA PPV #14

SEPTEMBER 25, 2002

NASHVILLE, TENN. AT THE FAIRGROUNDS

 

Mike Tenay and Don West opened the show by hyping the "standing room

only crowd at the TNA Asylum." They cut backstage to a brawl between

Jerry Lynn and Sonny Siaki. Lynn was getting back at Siaki for

costing him his match against Ron Killings last week.

 

(1) Sonny Siaki pinned Amazing Red at 7:18. Mortimer Plumbtree was

shown taking notes in the entrance area. Sometimes sloppy, but mostly

good. Jorge Estrada came out and said he wanted his Elvis suit back.

Lots of light shown during several Red kicks. (**)

 

Ron Killings attacked Amazing Red backstage, then ranted to

Goldylocks that he was upset that the X Division was stealing his

thunder.

 

(2) James Storm & Chris Harris beat Brian Lee & Ron Harris in a

tables match to retain the NWA-TNA Tag Team Titles at 6:38. The heels

attacked James & Chris afterward. Head of security Don Harris

restored order and stared down his brother Ron. (**)

 

The TNA Girls danced as upcoming NWA indy events were plugged at the

bottom of the screen. Mike Tenay also verbally plugged upcoming

events.

 

Goldy attempted to interview Bruce in the parking lot but was

interrupted by an old lady, ticket taker "Sarah Lee," who claimed he

stole her parking spot. She slapped Bruce. "I'm Miss TNA. Get out of

my face," Bruce responded.

 

Ron Killings came out playing a definite heel role, giving the crowd

the "up yours" arm signal. He said fans are skeptical of his claims

of racism, but he said he had examples. He said Rick Steamboat was

missing ever since he gave him his title shot. He said no merchandise

has been created for him. He said Ken Shamrock had his own dressing

room as NWA Champ, but he doesn't. B.G. James (Road Dogg) came out

and they argued about who carried whom when they teamed briefly in

the WWF. They exchanged some punches.

 

Goldy interviewed Brian Lawler backstage who was acting overly

protective of his girlfriend April. As usual, he screamed so loud and

close to the mic that the sound overmodulated.

 

(3) A.J. Styles beat Low Ki in a two out of three falls match to earn

an X Title shot at 11:04. Low Ki won fall one. Styles falls two and

three. (***1/2)

 

Backstage Goldy interviewed Jeff Jarrett. He listed James, Hall, and

Syxx-Pac as opponents he will beat on his way to his deserved title

shot.

 

(4) Scott Hall & Syxx-Pac beat Elix Skipper & Brian Lawler (w/April)

when Pac pinned Skipper at 9:00. X-Pac turned a top rop dive into an

X Factor. Solid tag match. Jarrett attacked Hall and X-Pac. Don

Harris, head of security, restored order. (**3/4)

 

Goldylocks interviewed Styles about his X Title shot next week.

Styles continued his cocky heelish persona that is still raw.

 

In the ring, Bruce ripped on women and Mike Tenay's wife.

 

(5) Jorge Estrada beat David "Kid" Kash at 6:09. High energy action.

Siaki came out afterward and mocked Estrada over the house mic,

calling him "Buckwheat." Siaki showed footage of him burning his

Elvis ring outfit. Siaki looked devastated at the carnage. (**3/4)

 

(6) Jerry Lynn beat Ron "The Truth" Killings at 9:06 to retain the X

Title in a lumberjack match. Truth's NWA Title was not on the line.

Not as good as last week's match. Kash and Styles interfered. Good

action overall, but lacked something. (***)

 

Don West ranted about next week's show.

 

(7) B.G. James beat Jeff Jarrett by DQ at 9:07. This was billed as

the main event of the night. Elix interfered. Lawler came out next

and held James as Jarrett charged, but James moved. James then scored

a quick two count on Jarrett. Jarrett came back with a chairshot on

James as the ref was talking to Lawler and Elix. James came back with

a pump handle slam. Lawler and Elix attacked James again, so X-Pac

and Hall ran out to make the save. Truth hit Hall, Syxx, and James

with his title belt. A good, professional match. (**3/4)

 

***

 

TORCH STAFF REVIEWS

 

Pat McNeill, columnist (5.5): Due to the economics involved, TNA has

to be scored on a different scale. There's no way that this show was

as good as Unforgiven, even though it gets a higher score. But it

costs less than one-third as much, so TNA has that going for it.

 

This was a pretty uneventful show. The only thing that was really

horrible was the stuff involving TNA Bruce. But there also wasn't

anything that stood out as being great. It would be okay if this were

a two-hour television show, but this is pay-per-view, and

pay-per-view needs to be a little bit better than this.

 

Once again, it's the amateur hour touches that make TNA so special.

The show opened with a director's cue going out over the air, we got

to see glimpses of Jeremy Borash firing up the crowd, and the "live"

backstage promos were blatantly pretaped, to the point where you

could hear Jeremy Borash's pre-show rundown during Brian Lawler's

bit. The video packages would be more impressive if someone knew how

to do sound mixing.

 

The good stuff saw A.J. Styles and Low-Ki do their two out of three

falls match, and Jerry Lynn's lumberjack match with Ron Killings.

Everything else sort of fell in the "okay" category. Styles isn't a

great interview guy, but his promo was a blessed relief from the "I

don't get no respect" promos that Russo has everyone else in the

company doing. I didn't mind Brian James vs. Jeff Jarrett, but it was

the same heel beatdown finish we saw some weeks back with Jarrett

against Scott Hall. Still, it was a definite improvement over the

previous week.

 

Jason Powell, assistant editor (6.0): For viewers who were hoping see

a straight up wrestling event, this was probably a great show (minus

the always lame Bruce segment). But the downside of the

straight-ahead approach is that there is nothing innovative enough

about the product to entice the average fan at home to spend $10 per

week to see something that is done better and for free every week on

Smackdown.

 

The X Division is about as close as TNA comes to having a hot

concept. However, the division's booking is rather bland and

predictable, and is outright failing to produce new stars beyond the

initial big three-Jerry Lynn, A.J. Styles, and Low-Ki. More often

than not, those three wrestlers deliver good to great matches, but

everyone in the division would benefit if Kid Kash, Red, and

Christopher Daniels were established as equal players. As enjoyable

as past Lynn vs. Styles matches have been, I actually had to ask

myself if TNA was offering a repeat episode next week when their

ladder match was announced.

 

It's great that TNA added some much needed star power in the form of

Scott Hall, Syxx-Pac, and B.G. James, but they continue to spread the

stars too thin by placing them in matches with other name talent.

Even if the match has never taken place before, there is nothing

fresh about the inevitable Jarrett & Lawler & Ron Killings vs. Hall &

Syxx & James match. TNA would be better off trying to fill the entire

card with name wrestlers against X Division and other young

wrestlers. Just once, it would be nice to see a card look something

like this: Killings vs. James, Kash vs. Jarrett, Styles vs. Hall,

Lynn vs. Syxx-Pac, Storm & Harris vs. The Elvises, Red vs. Low-Ki.

 

Notes: The Ron Killings experiment was fun while it lasted, but he

just isn't cutting it as NWA Champion. His mic work is always top

notch, but he's not good enough to carry his end of a main event

match. Besides, his character is better off without the title since

that gives him something to cry conspiracy overŠ Mike Awesome would

be a perfect fit for TNA. Although Awesome is limited in the ring,

Paul Heyman showed that he can be a valuable talent if booked wisely

and with the right opponentsŠ Chris Harris & James Storm are starting

to grow on me, especially since Harris abandoned that silly cigarette

gimmickŠ April is no Elizabeth, and Brian Lawler sure as hell isn't

Randy SavageŠ Raise your hand if you would pay $10 to see a

one-night, eight-man X Division tournamentŠ

 

Wade Keller, editor (6.0): Billing Jeff Jarrett vs. Brian James as

the "main event" was such a slap at the X Division and NWA Title.

What made Jarrett-James a main event other than Jarrett being the son

of the owner? James was a mid-carder in the WWF, not a headliner, so

making him (an out-of-shape version of him, no less) an instant main

eventer really was self-demeaning for TNA. Jarrett is a ring general

and showed by carrying James to a solid match, but for him to get

over, he needs to appear to be scratching and clawing his way to main

events, not getting them handed to him based on the notion that the

Jarrett-James feud dates back to a long-forgotten "Double J" rivalry.

I understand their desire to end each show with an "exciting

clusterf---" with a bunch of stars, but perhaps the match would have

been better billed a "special attraction" or else create some other

excuse for it getting billed ahead of the singles match between the

two top singles champions in the promotion.

 

Ron Killings isn't "there" yet. Killings has benefited from working

with Lynn, I'm sure. Now it's time for him to benefit from working

with Jarrett and Sean Waltman, too. He should lose the belt to one of

those two and fight for several months to get back to the top. He

just looks like he's not quite able to carry the ball as the top guy

right now, and keeping him in main events is going to hurt him since

expectations for a champ are so high.

 

Killings's interview was strong. I don't mind the racism angle. He

isn't doing it a stereotypical way. He is presenting an argument that

is very real to a lot of people. Just because so many promoters have

done insensitive and simple-minded racist gimmicks in the past

doesn't mean every racism reference is just as lame. This has some

legs. I do think Killings would be better off as a strong babyface,

but I have a feeling they're setting him up as a heel to feud with a

babyface Waltman.

 

I think they've found a good role for Brian Lawler, playing a

backwards girlfriend-coveting imbecile, a takeoff on the Randy

Savage-Liz relationship from the late-'80sŠ Don West had one of his

better performances to date. Mike Tenay continues to shine in his

roleŠ James's mic work was really strong this weekŠ

 

***

 

ON TOPIC with Jason Powell

 

September was an embarrassing month for pro wrestling

 

September was the most embarrassing month the wrestling business has

been through in recent memory. At a time when the business was in

dire need of some good press, the mainstream media had a field day

covering WWE's gay wedding, the sickening assault on Messiah, and the

freak show antics of the Nicole Bass trial. Worse yet, whenever WWE

was mentioned in the media, talk of the company's declining

television ratings and lack of public interest in the product was

always discussed.

 

The hosts of ESPN's popular "Pardon the Interruption" predicted doom

and gloom for WWE. Scott Seomin of GLAAD didn't want to admit it, but

other gay and lesbian activists groups were quick to point out that

WWE took him and other vocal supporters of the wedding for a ride.

Perhaps most disappointing of all for WWE was that despite all of the

media attention manufactured by the angle, ratings for that episode

of Smackdown increased less than a half a point compared to the week

before, which would have happened anyway since the previous week

Smackdown was preempted in New York.

 

While wrestling fans may be used to mainstream media mocking, the

business failed to produce much that even die-hard fans could latch

onto while trying to defend their pastime. Late August's SummerSlam

gave fans a reason to be optimistic that WWE would finally get back

on track in September. With Monday Night Football returning on Sept.

9 for another season, wrestling fans expected WWE to be on top of its

game due to the ratings competition. Unfortunately, the company

crushed those expectations by delivering one of the worst months of

Raw in history.

 

Was there anything good that came out of the month of September? Did

anything happen in the wrestling business to give fans a reason to

believe that October will be any better? Let's find out in the form

of the September HitlistŠ

 

September Hits

 

n NWA-TNA adds star-power: Although the TNA debuts of Sean Waltman

and Brian (B.G.) James, and returns of Scott Hall and Buff Bagwell

did little to improve the product initially, there is reason to

believe that at least two of those additions will help over the long

haul. Waltman's mind for the business was respected enough in WWE

that he was among the few wrestlers who was allowed to contribute his

ideas at the weekly production meetings. Before you start making

jokes about his input not doing much to help, know that his

contributions decreased once he ran into political problems with

several WWE writers. Waltman's peers respect not only his in-ring

abilities, but also his mind for the business. Likewise, Scott Hall

is considered by many to be the brains behind the Outsiders and NWO.

No, not the tired retread WWE version, but the original that helped

WCW become the number one company in the wrestling business for two

years. If the Jarretts are smart, they will invite Waltman and Hall

to submit booking ideas-not just for their own characters, but for

the rest of the company as well. And for those who fear that Waltman

and Hall would use their power to hold back younger wrestlers, think

again. Shawn Michaels, Triple H, and Kevin Nash earned the Clique

that reputation. Waltman may have been difficult to work with during

his final months in WWE, but he was engaged in a bitter political war

with the company's writing staff at the time. He's done hundreds of

jobs throughout his career, and served as the job boy for Hall & Nash

during the early NWO days. Meanwhile, Hall has a reputation for being

almost too eager to create new stars by putting them over at his

expense. In fact, it was Hall who put over Waltman's unknown 1-2-3

Kid character while Jerry Jarrett was heading up WWF booking during

the early days of Monday Night Raw. Waltman and Hall may be outspoken

and rub some the wrong way, but those traits may be just what the TNA

production meetings need.

 

n Smackdown: UPN's prime-time Thursday show continued to be the best

wrestling show available. Paul Heyman has clearly been responsible

for the show's focus on wrestling, and even the McMahons managed to

come through with the big Eric Bischoff swerve at the gay wedding. If

Raw were as consistently entertaining as Smackdown, WWE would be

rebounding in no time.

 

n Best Matches of the Month: As the majority of wrestling's TV

writers struggled through another month, several wrestlers managed to

overcome flawed booking with great matches. The best of the month

came from the Smackdown division. Kurt Angle vs. Chris Benoit stole

the show at Unforgiven, and Edge vs. Eddie Guerrero was the best free

TV match of the month. TNA's X Division failed to produce the great

matches that it has become known for, but this week's Jerry Lynn vs.

A.J. Styles ladder match should get things back on track.

 

n Announcers: Smackdown's Michael Cole and Tazz were the best team in

the month September. Sadly, Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler had little to

work with on Raw, and Lawler's over-sexed antics throughout HLA were

downright embarrassing. TNA's team of Mike Tenay and Don West

improved last month. Tenay has been fantastic throughout his TNA run,

but West was much more tolerable after Ed Ferrara left the booth.

While I would still prefer to hear a more traditional color

commentator, West is getting better and will continue to improve as

his limited knowledge of the business expands.

 

n Brian James: Okay, so the guy is out of shape, his gimmick is

tired, and his new name ranks somewhere between Marcus Alexander

Bagwell and Mr. J.L. in terms of worst wrestling names. Still, it's

refreshing to see someone so up front in discussing their problems

with substance abuse. In a revealing interview on the TNA website,

James referred to himself as a drug addict. And instead of

proclaiming himself drug-free for life, he admitted that each day

will be a struggle to stay clean. It's easy for critics to be cynical

when it comes to those who battle substance issues because the deck

is stacked against the abusers. But rather than mock or ridicule

James, Shawn Michaels, others athletes, and every day people, I

salute them for making the effort to clean up their lives.

 

September Misses

 

n Raw is Bad: At the same time that Smackdown has become the "must

see" show for wrestling fans, Raw has become an abomination. It is a

predictable show that relies on desperate stunts such as HLA to get

by. The booking is erratic and anything but cohesive, and the show

hit one creative low after another throughout the month of September.

Some insist that Raw's biggest problem is Vince McMahon, because he

has more creative influence on the show. Others say Brian Gewirtz is

to blame because he writes television that appeals Vince McMahon's

sense of humor rather than the actual WWE audience. Others believe

the show's problems stem from Triple H exercising his political

influence. I believe there is some truth in every one of those

theories.

 

One theory I do not subscribe to is that the Raw roster is too weak

to compete with Smackdown. Man for man, the Smackdown roster may have

more talent, but it's not so lopsided that Raw can't compete. The

real problem is that the Raw writers aren't utilizing the wrestlers

they have. Wrestling has taken a backseat to Vince McMahon and Brian

Gewirtz's corny senses of humor. As was the case throughout his WCW

career, Booker T is a mid-card comedy act when he should be main

eventing. Rob Van Dam's main event push came a few months too late.

Kane was neutered because someone on the writing team (Gewirtz?) was

a nerd in high school and believes others geeks will turn out in

droves to watch a deflated Freak Hero who tries to relate to them by

saying "Freaks are cool!" Triple H gets too much air-time, and there

isn't another heel on the show who is allowed to get heat for more

than a week or two. Eric Bischoff's push was derailed so that Daddy's

Little Girl didn't look bad. Chris Jericho has been abused and

missused to the point that it would take six months to repair the

damage. Need I go on?

 

The good news is that Monday's Raw (7.5 rating) was a major

improvement over the month's previous four episodes. The show would

have rated higher had it not been for WWE's decision to push Kane so

hard. Unless Kane drops the Intercontinental Title soon, he will

challenge for one WWE title while Undertaker challenges for the

other. The problem is that fans have no reason to believe that

Undertaker will win his match, and they know that even if Kane were

to win, it's only a matter of time before Triple H regains it.

 

n Undertaker vs. Brock Lesnar finish: Although I didn't mind the

non-finish to their Unforgiven main event, the mass reaction has been

overwhelmingly negative, which means the match must be labeled a

major miss. With a rematch scheduled to headline "No Mercy," WWE must

come up with a strong undercard if it hopes to win back the fans that

were so turned off by last month's finish. In other words, the

"Unforgiven" strategy of waiting until a few days before the

pay-per-view to announce a series of meaningless undercard matches

will not work.

[Guest Brian]

THIS WEEK with Wade Keller

 

Comparing the Bret Hart Swerve to Steve Austin Walkout

 

n WWE just won't let it die. They once again replayed their feature

on Confidential pushing WWE's one-sided view of Steve Austin's

walking out on WWE earlier this year. Are they trying to discourage

anyone else from ever walking out on them for fear of such a "burial"

on TV? Are they, in some bizarro world way, attempting to get Austin

to return? I had thought of those theories before. However, perhaps

more than any other potential motivation, I believe this is the key:

Vince McMahon has been attempting to create another Bret Hart

Survivor Series controversy.

 

McMahon fondly remembers the fallout from the Bret Hart controversy.

Hart left, and shortly thereafter Raw took the lead over Nitro in the

Monday Night War. Why? In part because the Survivor Series

controversy created controversy paved the way for the evolution of

Vince McMahon into a heel on-air character. I have no idea where

McMahon might think the Steve Austin controversy could take him, but

I could see McMahon attempting to come up with some way to turn a

negative into a positive. Perhaps down the line he will manufacture a

situation where another top wrestler "walks out" and gets buried by

fellow wrestlers, only this time to eventually return to get revenge

on McMahon for all the bad things he said about him. Or when Austin

returns (source close to Austin say McMahon shouldn't be holding his

breath on that one), he can turn the burial into a major angle.

 

I have defended Austin for walking out on WWE, yet I was vocal in

criticism of Bret Hart for how he handled himself in his final days

in the WWF. I even defended Vince McMahon's actions against Bret

Hart. Is there a difference? Can both of those stances be part of a

consistent philosophy? Sure they can.

 

Bret Hart refused to do a job under the circumstances as dictated by

his boss Vince McMahon. Bret was on his way out of the WWF, having

already accepted a deal with WCW. He wasn't asked to do anything

unreasonable-just do a job to the no. 1 contender on a PPV (the

setting for most major title changes) before heading to the

competition for a raise. Bret refused, citing a lame excuse that he

didn't want to lose in his home country to his behind-the-scene

bitter rival, Shawn Michaels. Bret, though, otherwise had been

treated fairly by the WWF. He hadn't been buried. He was allowed to

remain WWF Champion even after he had decided to accept Vince

McMahon's urgings to seek a better deal with WCW because he said he

couldn't afford his contract any longer.

 

Steve Austin walked out on the WWF because he didn't like what his

boss asked him to do. What's the difference? There are several. For

one, Austin was asked, on short notice (less than 24 hours notice),

to do a job to a rookie wrestler whom he had never wrestled before.

He was asked to job not as part of a bigger program, but as a

stepping stone for this wrestler to move on to bigger matches against

The Rock, Triple H, and Undertaker. Austin, at the time he was

ordered to job to Brock, was not planning on leaving the WWF anytime

soon. His refusal to job to Brock wasn't based on an irrational

aversion to avoid doing a job in his home country. He refused because

at worst he thought political games were being played and at best he

was a pawn being used to cover for a disorganized booking committee

unable to plan further ahead than 24 hours. Austin also had been

unhappy with the direction of the WWF and especially how his

character had been handled in recent months. He felt there was a

track record, and paranoid or not, he truly felt that Triple H was

behind the systematic undercutting of his character's standing in the

company. Why let one wrestler, due to who he is dating, damage your

long-term value when you've worked so hard to build and protect it

over the years?

 

A lot of people have argued that Austin shouldn't get away with

refusing to obey his bosses orders because no one in the "real world"

could get away with that. For one, Austin didn't get away with it.

Hey, he isn't getting any PPV checks. He isn't getting any house show

checks. At best, he is getting his downside guarantee, and only

because WWE doesn't want him to become a free agent. At worse, he

isn't getting paid at all due to the suspension of his contract.

Either way, he is suffering financially as a result of his decision.

 

Also, Austin refusing to do what his boss told him to do is different

for him than an average worker in a more common job. When Austin does

something his boss asks of him that hurts his image and marketability

(and doing a job to Brock with no proper build-up or planned

follow-up would hurt him), he suffers in the long run. His value on

the market decreases because his value is based on public perception.

A janitor who refuses to clean his bosses dentures carries the same

skill set to his next job. A college professor who quits because he

refuses to stop teaching a controversial subject carries the same

skillset to his next job. If Austin jobbed to Brock, that would

damage his value to the next promotion he might work for. Did Austin

overestimate how much damage it would do? Perhaps. But there is

principle involved.

 

Bret was leaving the WWF and it just made sense that he would drop

the title on his final PPV. Austin wasn't going anywhere, but it was

wholly unreasonable to feature a mega-dream match such as Austin vs.

Brock on such short notice.

 

In the Bret Hart situation, Vince McMahon did what he felt he had to

do. He used his power-which in the given situation was greater than

Bret's-to get his way. Nobody was hurt. If anything, it gave WCW a

controversy to capitalize on that would not have existed has Vince

agreed to let Bret drop the title at a later time under less

controversial circumstances.

 

Don't think that Austin doesn't remember, though, what Vince did in

that situation. Austin realizes that when push comes to shove, Vince

has the power to make him look good or make him look bad. Austin

decided to step away before Vince could utilize that power over him.

Austin knew, based on the Bret Swerve, that once you get on Vince's

bad side, once you're perceived as working against him, once you're

seen as being part of the problem instead of part of the solution,

once you challenge his authority, he is willing to do whatever is

necessary to reestablish his authority. Austin walked out before that

could happen to him.

 

n Random Thoughts: If Triple H and Undertaker were sent home until a

month after WrestleMania, WWE would be a better place. It would give

everyone in the locker room a chance to feel free to do their best

without upsetting the delicate self-preservation sensibilities of

Triple H and Taker, and it would force the WWE creative team to give

legitimate main event pushes to other wrestlers. Then, when Triple H

and Taker returned, there would likely be more fresh marketable

matches waiting for them than would otherwise exist if they were to

stick around. It will never happen because the perception by Vince

McMahon is that he couldn't possibly absorb the blow resulting from

the loss of his two remaining top veteran stars. That's what he

probably felt when Bret Hart left and Shawn Michaels retired, but all

it did was create slots for Steve Austin, The Rock, Mick Foley, and

Triple H as top stars over the course of the next yearŠ The Edge vs.

Eddie Guerrero match on Smackdown was an excellent match, but

probably four stars at best and not a true match-of-the-year

candidate. It began slowly with good, yet not spectacular mat work,

and ended with a dramatic finishing sequence. Still, the entire match

just didn't quite have the ebb and flow of a match of the year. It

was choppy with a solid but unspectacular beginning, and then a

stunt-filled finishŠ Putting Chuck & Billy in a bikini judging

contest just two weeks after they proclaimed they weren't really gay

seems to be a bit of overkill. We get it, they like women! Do we have

to suffer through this overcompensation for the next year? Would

they have been judging the contest had they not been pretending to be

gay for so long?Š I would have never predicted that WWE would promote

Rey Mysterio as a single star among the top heavyweights now that

they've got the cruiserweight division established. Mysterio has

begun working cruiserweight title matches at house shows, but WWE

still portrays him as one of the "big boys" (or at least someone who

can play with the "big boys") on TV. It says two things: They think

very high of Mysterio and they still perceive the cruiserweight

division as a lower-card division. Hopefully in the long run Mysterio

will end up in the cruiserweight division, but because of his stellar

showing in the heavyweight division, holding his own respectably with

Kurt Angle among others, that he will bring unprecedented respect to

the cruiserweight division. It is in the cruiserweight division

wrestling others his size and style where Mysterio will have the best

chance to shineŠ

 

***

 

MCNEILL FACTOR with Pat McNeill

 

TNA storylines lack logic; WWE isn't utilizing TV resources

 

 

n It's The Same Old Story: By the time you read this, the fifteenth

NWA-TNA pay-per-view will be in the books. The TNA crew may have

already won a million dollars from another set of hopeful investors,

but the company's weekly pay-per-view program is somehow still less

than the sum of its parts.

 

For a moment, let's gloss over the giant ice cream headache that we

all get when we hear about Jerry Jarrett's latest business plan for J

Sports and Entertainment. You see, syndicated television shows can't

make any money, and we can't afford a national television show. We

can do a weekly pay-per-view and just keep the revenues, but we can't

get any revenue because nobody's buying the pay-per-views, because

nobody knows the pay-per-views are even on the air, so we need to pay

for the syndicated television show that doesn't make any money to

promote the pay-per-views, which haven't made any money. Got it?

 

But TNA has another big problem. They're supposed to be an

alternative to WWE television, but their booking and storylines isn't

better than what we get on Monday and Thursday nights. TNA just has a

different set of flaws holding it back. For an example, let's take

this week's show. For the first time ever, the company's three

biggest brand name stars, Scott Hall, Sean Waltman, and Brian James,

are teaming together in a six-man tag. All three of these guys can

perform well enough to put together a decent match,. Their opponents,

Jeff Jarrett, Elix Skipper, and Brian Lawler, have been able to

perform at a big league level before. TNA's fans should have been

chomping at the bit to see this match, but they weren't.

 

Why not? Well, on last week's show, we saw the Wolfpack win handily

over Lawler and Skipper, and Brian James dominated Jarrett until

Jarrett had some outside interference to help him. Fans already know

that the three fan favorites should dominate the sneaky heels this

week.

 

We won't know the buyrate number for a long time (or maybe not ever),

but there was a bump in interest for TNA a couple of weeks ago, when

the promotion returned after a three-week hiatus. With Sean Waltman

coming in, Scott Hall's return, and the unveiling of The Bullet as

Brian James, TNA had some talent that people remembered from the WWF.

The company had also been obtaining more pay-per-view and satellite

clearances, giving many new fans the opportunity to check them out.

 

There were several reasons that viewers were disappointed in that

show, but one of them had to do with the way that Hall, Waltman, and

James were booked. They were thrown into the tag team "Gauntlet for

the Gold" battle royal, along with a number of other wrestlers. Some

of those performers were, to put it tactfully, not ready for prime

time. A battle royal, even a Royal Rumble type match, isn't the best

showcase for a performer's talent. The elimination of the three

former WWF stars by some lesser lights didn't help. Instead of

"giving the rub" to fresh wrestlers, it somehow felt as if

D-Generation Wolfpack was being dragged down to the NWA-TNA level.

That probably turned off some prospective repeat customers.

 

Last week's show-ending angle, involving Hall, Waltman, and James,

was a variation on a classic theme. Yes, the villains left the

babyfaces lying, but that was due to the timely intervention of NWA

World Champion Ron "The Truth" Killings. The Truth is actually an

ideal choice to lead this upstart promotion. He is a former WWF

wrestler, but his run didn't last long enough to stand out in the

minds of WWF fans. Unlike many former "big-league" players, Killings

reinvented himself and freshened up his persona. He is young,

talented, and undeniably charismatic, and it's not hard to see why he

was chosen for this spot.

 

It doesn't take a genius to figure out ways for the company to

sustain interest in Killings' title reign, especially in a company

that is devoted to episodic wrestling television. You have three

well-known former national talents in Hall, Waltman, and James. Jerry

Jarrett, as an old-time promoter, is familiar with the old saw about

the chase being more fun than the catch. You could have Killings line

up against the three biggest names in the company, and have him

somehow escape with the belt. This could continue for months, until

somebody finally beats him for the coveted strap. Right?

 

Wrong. Outside of his title win over Ken Shamrock, Killings has been

kept away from the former WWF draws. He defeated Monte Brown, but

other than that he has been locked in a fruitless tag title storyline

as Jeff Jarrett's partner, is coming off of a series with X-Division

champion Jerry Lynn, and was about to face Lo-Ki. Remember that, as

of last week, Lo-Ki was supposed to be at the bottom of the

X-Division rankings. The NWA World Champion is mixed up with the

subset of wrestlers who have been feuding over the X-Division title

for the past three months. Does that make sense?

 

There's still a place for weekly wrestling television in this

country, but NWA-TNA won't get there until they start putting

together shows with more logical sense than what we're seeing from

WWE.

 

n Same Old Song and Dance: Rumor has it that Viacom is upset with the

crummy ratings for WWE's secondary shows, Velocity and Sunday Night

Heat. If Viacom isn't disappointed in World Wrestling Entertainment,

they should be. During Vince Russo's run as head of the creative

team, the WWF was drawing about four times the rating they're drawing

now. But those were the days before Smackdown.

 

It used to be that Heat was the setup show for Raw, which was on the

following night. Then Smackdown and Raw set each other up. Now,

Smackdown and Raw are separate, so WWE fans have to go to the company

website on Monday afternoon to find out what's coming up on Raw. That

might be great for the hit counts, and it might boost some egos in

the New Media Department, but it is a lousy way to do business.

 

There are startup companies who would kill for an hour of prime time

on MTV. WWE has it, but over the last three years, they have managed

to convince fans that Heat is an unimportant show. Why can't WWE use

Heat to set up Raw, like it used to? Why not use a few minutes on Raw

to set up the main event for Sunday Night Heat, and then use Heat to

tell fans what they're going to see Monday night on Raw?

 

The real answer is that WWE storyline are now done on the fly to the

point that the creative staff doesn't know what's going to be on Raw

until the afternoon of the show. The thought of setting something up

for television a week in advance is probably too much to bear. Plus

you would have the live fans who have already seen Heat sitting

through the buildup for the match that has already played out. And,

if WWE had to structure something a week in advance, they wouldn't be

as ready to make major changes if a wrestler gets injured, phones in

from the local emergency room, or takes his ball and goes home.

 

Frankly, none of those are valid excuses. If WWE can't come up with

anything better for Heat than a no-storyline feud between D-Lo Brown

and Raven, maybe they should just give the timeslot back to MTV for

another hour of Celebrity Deathmatch. Ditto with Velocity. They're

technically in primetime, and Velocity should play off of what's

going on during Smackdown, with fresh angles that get Smackdown

viewers to tune in and vice versa. Instead, they're just throwing

preliminary matches out there. Maybe TNN could use their hour back to

put on more Slamball.

 

WWE also needs to do something with Confidential. It's hard to

believe that the company has to show its pretaped segments multiple

times. It is especially hard to fathom the need for multiple reruns

given the size of their tape library and their access to WCW's

library. Even if Confidential showed nothing but classic matches and

interviews with Gene Okerlund talking around them, it would be better

than sitting through "Stone Cold screwed Stone Cold" for the third

time, which is what aired last Saturday night on TNN.

 

Even WCW, in the days when things were getting really bad, used to

have the good sense to promote its other shows during Nitro. This is

a company that should spend every day fighting to bring casual fans

back into the fold. WWE needs to convince its viewers that they

shouldn't be missing a moment of its first-run programming.

Squandering the Velocity, Heat, and Confidential timeslots is a huge

waste of their available resources, and it will come back to haunt

Vince McMahon when it's time for WWE to renegotiate its television

deals.

 

You can write to Pat McNeill with thoughts on this week's "McNeill

Factor" at [email protected]. You can also read McNeill several

times per week at PWTorch.com.

[Guest Brian]

COVER STORY: Tough Enough 3's most dramatic moments won't air on television

 

By Wade Keller, Torch editor

 

The most dramatic moments taped during Tough Enough 3 will not air on

television. One of the contestants, about three weeks into the show,

had what doctors have since determined was a psychotic breakdown. She

(her first name is Lisa) was left alone at the house while the rest

of the contestants went out for a night on the town. While alone, she

began literally bouncing off the walls of the house. She ended up

working her way into the MTV control room and then onto the roof of

the house where she threatened to jump. MTV producers called Tough

Enough producer John "Big" Gaburik and told him he was needed at the

house, where he and others talked her down from the roof.

 

She was hospitalized against her will for two or three days, and in

order to protect her from herself, put in a straight jacket during

part of her stay. When she was released, her parents came to pick her

up (they live in New Mexico and had to fly in). She attacked her

parents at the airport, denying she knew who they were, and ended up

running through the terminal and breaking the window of a rental car.

A wing of LAX airport was briefly shut down until she was found. She

was hospitalized again, but eventually checked herself out since

doctors declared her no longer a threat to herself or others.

 

She then called Tough Enough officials letting them know she was

"okay now" and ready to return to the show. She was told firmly that

she had been taken off the show due to her actions. She didn't seem

to understand.

 

The other contestants, meanwhile, were not told of what happened.

They were gone, and the plans of the MTV and WWE officials was to not

release information about the situation. They wanted to protect her

privacy and not scare the remaining contestants. The contestants were

told at the time that she left the show while they were gone because

"it just wasn't for her." However, protecting her privacy became

impossible due to subsequent actions on her part.

 

Since being booted off Tough Enough, she has made several

attempts-most of which have been successful-at passing herself off as

a Tough Enough contestants or an assistant of some sort to Al Snow

and Big. Several weeks ago she presented herself as a Tough Enough

student at the Ohio Valley Wrestling developmental training center.

She talked her way into working out with other students, claiming she

was sent there by Snow and Big for more training and to learn how the

developmental system operates.

 

Her actions last week in California, though, prompted WWE personnel

to inform WWE wrestlers and security of her situation and to warn

them not to associate with her in any way. She had been had been

hanging out with some wrestlers after matches having convinced them

that she was part of the Tough Enough crew. She talked her way

backstage at the Sept. 21 San Jose house show and even helped with

pyro for wrestlers' ring entrances. Once source says a story is going

around that at one point she even had a conversation with Vince

McMahon. No alarms went off with McMahon because she was so

convincing in her presentation even to him. She presented herself in

such a way that she didn't come across as a mark or a rookie, but

instead somebody who acted like she belonged, and thus people

believed her. Now her picture has been circulated to WWE security so

they know not to let her talk herself into any unauthorized areas.

 

She had no history of any mental illness, according to two WWE

sources familiar with the situation. WWE and MTV put contestants

through a thorough evaluation process-much more thorough than the

first two seasons (perhaps in response to Hawk's breakdown during

season two). Doctors have told MTV and WWE officials that it is

relatively common for a woman in her 20s under great stress or duress

to suffer such a psychotic breakdown. She didn't show any warning

signs of being at risk of such a breakdown. She apparently came

across as a little "odd" to some of her fellow contestants in the

first few weeks, but nothing that caused concern. She hadn't been

doing either especially well or especially poorly in her early

training sessions with the show.

 

MTV still has no plans to air the footage or draw attention to the

circumstances surrounding her departure. She likely won't be heavily

featured in the footage of the early weeks of training, either.

 

***

 

TOP FIVE STORIES OF THE WEEK

 

By Wade Keller, Torch editor

 

1. Sports Illustrated says end of pro wrestling may be near

 

In a short article in the "Scorecard" section of the current Sports

Illustrated, Vince McMahon defended wrestling despite declining

numbers. Stated the article: "Nothing lasts forever, of course, but

is this how it ends-not with a 21st-century heir to Gorgeous George,

but with a fake gay commitment ceremony and two women wrestlers

(where have you gone, O Fabulous Moolah?) kissing in mid-ring while

an announcer gushes about 'hot lesbian action?'" McMahon said pro

wrestling's end is not near. "We're woven into the fabric of

Americana," he said. "We're not going anywhere." He also questioned

why SI, a sports magazine, was interested in writing about an

entertainment program. SI cited that top stars Rock and Steve Austin

are gone and that ratings are down, PPV buys are down 11 percent, and

stock has dropped from $24.12 in October 1999 to $8.81 last week.

 

4. Hogan says he is not under contract to WWE

 

In a radio interview with the Tampa-based "Bubba the Love Sponge"

radio show on Monday morning, Hulk Hogan said he may not return to

WWE. He said he was working on a "handshake agreement" with Vince

McMahon and has already fulfilled the number of dates he agreed to

work. Hogan said it is "ridiculous" to categorize his current absence

from WWE programs as him sitting out with a contract dispute because

he has no contract. He said he is sitting at home because WWE has

nothing for him to do and he hasn't heard from anyone with WWE in

weeks. He said there are no plans, tentative or otherwise, for him to

return at WrestleMania. Hogan did not explain that he had a dispute

with McMahon over what his payoff would be if he travelled to

Australia for WWE's Global Warming Tour, nor did he explain that his

sore back virtually forced him off WWE's full-time road schedule.

 

3. Smackdown survives Survivor, CSI, Friends, Scrubs

 

With increased competition from NBC's season premiers of Friends,

Scrubs, and Will & Grace, and with the return of CSI and Survivor

with first-run shows, the Sept. 26 Smackdown scored a 3.6 Nielsen

Media Research rating, up 0.1 from the previous week. Friends drew a

20.3 rating, CSI's premier drew an 18.2 rating, and Survivor drew a

12.3 rating. Although it was touted as a big victory in some circles,

in reality so many more people are drawn to TV sets on big TV nights

(as the Raw-Nitro war proved every Monday night), that competition

sometimes helps ratings because so many more people are watching TV

(the same reason fast food restaurants do better when they are

surrounded by other restaurants rather than alone on a corner with no

other restaurants nearby). For instance, two years ago, the last

three Smackdowns in August drew ratings of 4.7, 4.3, and 5.0 The

first two Smackdown's in September drew ratings of 4.9 and 4.7, about

the same as in August. This year, the 3.6 and 3.5 rating the last two

weeks are about the same as the previous several weeks, which drew

ratings of 3.4, 3.6 (wedding angle), and 3.2 (preempted in New York).

The much maligned Raw drew a 3.6 rating on Sept. 23, up from the 3.4

it drew the previous two weeks, despite head-to-head competition from

the season premier of the mega-popular "Everybody Loves Raymond." The

Sept. 26 Smackdown finished third in network ratings in several key

demographic categories, including total viewers 12-34, adults 18-34,

men 12-34, men 18-49, and total teens. The quarter Smackdown ratings

grew steadily beginning at a 2.9, then growing to a 3.4, 3.5, 3.6,

3.8, dropping once to a 3.6 (several commercials in that segment),

and growing again to 3.9, and ending at 3.9.

 

4. Bass brought to tears by WWE attorney, Mero testifies

 

Rena Mero testified via videotape on Sept. 26 at the Nicole Bass-WWE

trial. She claimed that Vince McMahon violated his contractual

promise to her by asking her to take part in "degrading storylines."

She said she was uncomfortable when asked to partake in a lesbian

angle or to bare her breasts on TV. Bass, meanwhile, admitted on the

stand that she joked on the Howard Stern radio show that she was

going to sue WWE and that she helped flight attendants pass out

chocolates and schmoozed with other female wrestlers after she

alleges she was harassed by Steve Lombardi on an international

flight. Bass was driven to tears on Sept. 24 as WWE attorney Jerry

McDevitt grilled her on inconsistencies in her testimony. McDevitt

wanted to show the jury a tape of "good wrestlers" and then footage

of Bass to contrast her skill level versus those who he says were

good enough to keep their jobs. The judge allowed Bass footage to

air, but not footage of other "good wrestlers."

 

5. X-Champ Lynn pins NWA Champ Killings at PPV

 

In a battle between NWA-TNA's two divisional champions, the X

Division Champ Jerry Lynn scored a pinfall over NWA World Hvt. Champ

Ron Killings on the Sept. 25 NWA-TNA PPV. The X Title was on the

line. The previous week, Killings had scored the victory over Lynn

when he was defending his title. By having each title on the line

over the course of two weeks, both belts were treated as being of

equal prestige.

 

***

 

FOR THE RECORD: QUICK TV SUMMARIES

 

9/26 WWE SMACKDOWN (on UPN)

 

Taped Sept. 24 in San Diego, CalifŠ (1) Rikishi beat Chavo GuerreroŠ

Billy & Chuck judged a bikini contest between Torrie Wilson and

Nidia. After Torrie won, Jamie Noble and Tajiri came out and set up

an impromptu matchŠ (2) Billy & Chuck (w/Torrie Wilson) beat Jamie

Noble & TajiriŠ Backstage, Funaki asked Brock Lesnar if he would give

Undertaker a rematch. Lesnar said he'd answer the question in the

ring. Once in the ring, Lesnar beat up Funaki while Paul Heyman

cheered alongŠ Backstage, Dawn Marie sarcastically congratulated

Torrie for winning the bikini contestŠ [2nd Hour] (3) Edge beat Eddie

Guerrero in a no DQ match. A fantastic match that ended when Edge hit

an Implant DDT from the top of a ladder. The crowd cheered both

wrestlers after the match, and the announcers pointed out that Eddie

saluted them backŠ Backstage, Lesnar overheard Matt Hardy bragging to

Shannon Moore that his success had nothing to do with LesnarŠ

Highlights aired of the WrestleMania XIX press conferenceŠ (4)

Undertaker beat Matt Hardy with the Last Ride. Afterward, Lesnar ran

out and attacked Taker with the WWE Title belt, which left Taker

lying bloodyŠ (5) Rey Mysterio beat Chris Benoit and Kurt Angle in a

three-way. In the end, Mysterio pinned Benoit with a springboard

cradle huracanranaŠ A great showŠ

 

 

9/28 WWE VELOCITY (on TNN)

 

(1) Crash Holly beat Billy KidmanŠ (2) Shannon Moore beat Doug

BashamŠ (3) John Cena beat Reverend D-VonŠ

 

 

9/29 WWE HEAT (on MTV)

 

(1) D-Lo Brown beat Shawn StasiakŠ (2) Johnny Stamboli beat Justin

CredibleŠ (3) Spike Dudley beat RavenŠ

 

9/30 WWE RAW (on TNN)

 

Live from Houston, TexŠ [1st Hour] Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler hostedŠ

Eric Bischoff and Lita were already in the ring. Bischoff said there

was no need to check out Monday Night Football. He then gave away the

finish of the game, revealing it was pretaped. Wait, that's not what

happened. He just said that Triple H would be defending the title

later. Bischoff then called Lita a bitch for saying Smackdown was the

better show and said she is worthless with a broken neck. Jeff Hardy

ran out to protect Lita, but Rosie & Jamal fed him his shoes. Booker

and Goldust made the saveŠ (1) Jamal & Rose beat Booker T & GoldustŠ

Coach interviewed Jamal & Rosie and Rico backstageŠ William Regal

told Lance Storm & Christian to quit their bickering and concentrate

on the upcoming matchŠ Chris Jericho called Terri an assclown.

Hurricane, disguised as mild-mannered Gregory, joined the interview.

Jericho went off on him. Kane interrupted. Terri got flirty with Kane

and kissed himŠ (2) Randy orton beat Lance Storm with a pull of

tightsŠ (3) Randy Orton beat Christian. Not as good a the Storm

matchŠ Bischoff chewed out Jeff for interfering in his Lita segment.

Flair entered the scene and Bischoff demanded "results." Flair

promised to deliverŠ An RVD video package airedŠ (4) Jeff Hardy beat

Big Show via countoutŠ Triple H pinned Bubba Ray Dudley to retain the

WWE Title. Bubba looked goodŠ (6) Trish beat Victoria via DQ to

retain the Women's TitleŠ Bischoff announced next week for Raw in

Vegas every match will have a special stipulation. He spun a wheel

which included HLA and Kiss My AssŠ Regal couldn't believe Storm and

Christian both lost to OrtonŠ Coach visited Triple H's locker room

where several women were presentŠ (7) Rob Van Dam & Tommy Dreamer

beat William Regal & Test. Storm and Christian attacked RVD and

Dreamer afterwardŠ Kane beat Chris Jericho to capture the IC Title.

Flair interfered on Jericho's behalf during the match. Kane won with

a chokeslam to earn a shot at Triple H's title at No MercyŠ A much

improved effort this week compared to the last fewŠ [Mallory Mahling]

 

***

 

FOR THE RECORD: QUICK MAJOR RESULTS FROM THE LAST WEEK

 

WWE 9/28 in West Palm Beach, Fla. [R]

 

*Rico beat Spike Dudley, Randy Orton beat Test, D-Lo Brown & Johnny

Stamboli & Mark Jindrak beat Raven & Steven Richards & Justin

Credible, Kane & Hurricane beat The Un-Americans, Rob Van Dam beat

Ric Flair, Trish Stratus & Jacqueline beat Molly Holly & Victoria,

Big Show beat Tommy Dreamer, Rosey & Jamal beat Booker T & Goldust,

Triple H beat Bubba Ray Dudley. [Omar Oquendo, Aubrey Craun]

 

WWE 9/29 in Beaumont, Tex. [R]

 

*D-Lo Brown & Johnny Stamboli & Mark Jindrak beat Raven & Justin

Credible & Steven Richards, Randy Orton beat Test, Big Show beat

Tommy Dreamer, Rosey & Jamal beat Goldust & Spike Dudley, Rob Van Dam

beat Ric Flair, Trish Stratus & Jacqueline beat Molly Holly &

Victoria, Kane & Hurricane beat Lance Storm & Christian to retain the

WWE Tag Titles, Chris Jericho beat Booker T to retain the WWE

Intercontinental Title, Triple H beat Bubba Ray Dudley when Ric Flair

interfered to retain the World Hvt. Title.

 

WWE 9/23 in Santa Barbara, Calif.

 

*Reverend D-Von beat Sho Funaki, Billy & Chuck beat Big Valbowski &

Doug Basham, Matt Hardy beat John Cena, Billy Kidman & Torrie Wilson

beat Jamie Noble & Nidia, Brock Lesnar beat Edge when Eddie Guerrero

interfered to retain the WWE Title, Batista beat Bull Buchanan,

Rikishi beat Kurt Angle in a kiss my ass match, Shannon Moore beat

Tajiri, Rey Mysterio & Crash Holly beat Chris Benoit & Chavo Guerrero.

 

WWE 9/30 in Monroe, La.

 

*Chavo Guerrero beat Shannon Moore, Kidman beat Crash and Funaki in a

three-way, Albert & Bull Buchanan & Shelton Benjamin beat John Cena &

Batista & Doug Basham, Edge beat Kurt Angle, Jamie Noble (w/Nidia)

beat Rey Mysterio to retain the WWE Cruiserweight Title, Torrie

Wilson beat Dawn Marie, Billy & Chuck beat Rev. D-Von & Faarooq,

Rikishi beat Matt Hardy, Brock Lesnar beat Chris Benoit to retain the

WWE Hvt. Title.

 

NWS 9/28 in Sayerville, N.J.

 

*Mike Kruel beat Slayer and Icon and Tommy Force and Great Blazini

and Tony Flow and Arcadia and Brian Sexton to win a crazy eights

match, Mike Kruel beat Dave Webb to win the NWS Jr. Hvt. Title, TNT

fought Heavy Metal Maniac to a DDQ, Patriot beat Kevin Knight

(w/Roman), Slyk Wagner Brown & April Hunter beat Julio Dinero & Miss

Kara, Roman beat Frank "The Addiction" Kuhl, Disco Inferno beat Simon

Diamond after Malice attacked both men.

 

IWC 9/28 in West Patterson, N.J.

 

*Quiet Storm beat Troy Lords, Dennis Gregory beat J-Ru, Dennis

Gregory beat T-Rantula, Mike Peterson beat Ace Steele, Matt Vandal

beat Brian O, Colt Cabana beat Ikuto Hidaka, Devil Bhudakhan beat

Trevor Lowe, Sexual Harassment beat Josh Prohibition & M.D. 20,

Christopher Daniels beat C.M. Punk in an iron man match.

 

MLW 9/26 in New York, N.Y.

 

*Super Crazy beat Fuego Guerrero (a/k/a Amazing Red), LaParka beat

Shocker, Christopher Daniels & Dick Togo & Ikuto Hidaka beat The

Maximo Brothers & Quiet STorm, C.W. Anderson beat Devon Storm, Steve

Corino beat Sandman and Vampiro in a three-way, Taiyo Kea beat Sabu,

Satoshi Kojima beat Jerry Lynn to win the MLW Title. The "Crazy

Cabbie" of Howard Stern fame serves as the promotion's commissioner.

Also on the show, Joel Gertner introduced Steve "Dr. Death" Williams

& P.J. Friedman as his new tag team.

[Guest Brian]

TORCH TALK with Sean Waltman

 

"Nobody knew what the hell they were doing going into it"

 

The following is part one of a multi-part "Torch Talk" with Sean

Waltman, a/k/a X-Pac. The interview was conducted on Sept. 30, 2002.

 

Wade Keller: What happened with you and WWE over the past couple of

months? My understanding is it boils down to you and WWE reaching a

mutual decision to part ways.

 

Sean Waltman: Yeah, I think that's probably a safe way of putting it.

It's almost like any other kind of relationship. No matter how much

you like each other, if you clash on so many things that the

negatives start outweighing the positives, regardless of how much you

like them or the other person, you have to break it off or end the

relationship. It goes back longer than a couple of months, Wade. This

has been going on for, God, since the end of the DX thing.

 

Keller: How much time was left on your contract?

 

Waltman: Probably about nine months, maybe ten.

 

Keller: As it worked out, are you losing out on quite a bit of money

or was there a settlement where it was reasonable given that you

don't have to work the last nine months?

 

Waltman: It was justŠ Well, first of all, it really has nothing to do

with money. Let's put it this way, there's like a confidentiality

clause in the release agreement, so I'm going out on a limb a little

bit. But I don't really give a sh--. If they want to sue me over what

I'm going to say, then f---in' feel free because it's the truth. They

took care of me. I didn't get bought out of my contract to where I

was paid the whole thing and they told me I could go or "Feel free to

do what you want and here's all of your money." It was nothing like

that, but they gave me a good amount of money just so I had some

income coming in a little bit until I was able to get some income

coming in from other sources.

 

Keller: If the incident with you at the airport had not happened at

all, would you still be there today? I'm not saying things would be

great, I'm not saying you'd be happy or they'd be happy, but might

you still be there today if that had not happened?

 

Waltman: No.

 

Keller: Okay, so it wasn't just that, but did that contribute to

speeding things up?

 

Waltman: Well, they could say it contributed, but I'll have to

disagree with that and here's why. You've alluded to it and

everybodyŠ not everybody but quite a few people already know the

story anyhow. I was totally up front about everything that happened.

I talked to VinceŠ I woke up in the hospital and was like, "What the

f--- am I doing here?" I had no idea if I was in Philly already or

what happened. As soon as I realized what the deal was, it was in

Edina, Minnesota at Fairview Southdale Hospital which is only like

ten minutes from the airport, the first thing I was thinking about

was not making up a story to cover up my ass because I don't care.

I'm not ashamed of what happened at all, Wade. I had a bad reaction

toŠ I took a couple of somas before I was going to get on the

airplane. If anybody has ever had a broken neck or severe disc

problemsŠ even without that, anybody who has ever had to travel on an

airplane knows that it's not the most comfortable thing in the world.

 

The first thing I did was call the office and tell them exactly what

happened and that I was getting to the airport and that I would be

there. I had just gotten to the airport and I got a phone call from

Vince and he was legitimately concerned and asking what was going on.

And I was in the main event that night, so business-wise he was very

concerned as well and I don't blame him. I assured him and told him I

was fine. I told him exactly what happened. I said: "I'll be there,

Vince. I'll be there in plenty of time," and I was. I was there in

plenty of time. Other f---ers are way more late than that on a

regular basis, including me. I've been way later than that without

any instances ever having happened at all. I showed up and was fine.

Obviously I was fine enough to carry the first three-quarters of that

f---in' match if anybody cares to go back and look at it.

 

The match was chaos. Nobody knew what the hell they were doing going

into it. Michael Hayes was supposed to be the agent in charge of the

match and he did absolutely f---ing zero to help organize that thing.

We don't really need an agent to organize a match in the first place,

but that's just how things have turned out. That's what that place

has turned into. So, when you think that that's how it's going to

work and then you don't get thatŠ In Michael's defense, and everybody

knows about the heat between Michael Hayes and I, but the guy does

work hard and puts a lot into what he does and he was spread thin

that night. He had a couple of more matches than he should have had

to deal with. It was a ten-man tagŠ It was just a major clusterf---.

And when Kevin (Nash) came in and there were guys lying all over the

ring and he's gotta dodge the referee and try to run across the ring

to do his sh-- and steps on somebody and blows his quad, there goes

one of Vince's top storylines. No matter how f---ed up the storyline

had been prior to that, he was still trying to make it go. And he did

put a lot of eggs in that NWO basket still, Kevin's first match back

and everything. After that, that was it. That was what really did it,

Wade.

 

Keller: Do you think Vince believed you when you told him that you

had a bad reaction to a couple of somas, because in all honesty,

Sean, that sounds like the classic line thatŠ I don't want to name

names, but you know there are people out there with problems who

still have problems and that would have been their story. Did you

know going through Vince's head that, "Oh, man, this sounds like the

cliched answer for drug addicts or someone who's up partying all the

time"?

 

Waltman: Of course, of course. You know what, though, your average

drug addict wouldn't even have said that. It would have been some

other excuse altogether.

 

Keller: Yeah, that's a good point (laughs).

 

Waltman: And I'm not your average drug addict, I'm just a drug addict

or whatever (laughs). I totally understand what you're saying, Wade.

The point I was trying to make is that if that was their major

concern was for my health, then I would not have been in that ring

that night. Yes or no?

 

Keller: No, I would hope not.

 

Waltman: I know that you're the one doing the questions here, so I

shouldn't be asking you butŠ

 

 

Keller: And don't let it happen again (laughs).

 

Waltman: I won't, I promise (laughs). But does it make any sense?

 

Keller: Well, maybe they were willing to risk your life as long as

Kevin Nash was part of a money-making angle and as soon as he got

injured they weren't willing to risk your life anymore.

 

Waltman: Maybe that's the case.

 

Keller: Here's my question, though. Do you think Vince believed you

when you told him, "I had a bad reaction to a couple of somas," or do

you think he thoughtŠ

 

Waltman: Sure, I think he believed me. He knows I'm not a bullsh--er.

I've told him straight up the truth when I knew it was going to get

me in hot water.

 

Keller: Going into that night, had you as admittedly a former drug

addict who is susceptible for the rest of your life and you've said

that you need to be aware of that for the rest of your life, had you

been taking pain pills regularly before that for any length of time?

 

Waltman: I'm trying to think of how long, but at a certain point

several months back I started taking pain killers again. I'm just

being totally honest. At first I was totally ashamed. I had a

decision to make. And this might sound like a cop-out or something

that a drug addict might sayŠ Wade, I went f---in' six or seven

years, however long it was, without a drink of alcohol or without

taking any pain medication. And I went through a lot of pain in that

time while wrestling, too. Part of that time was at a time when I

broke my neck for a second time and had to have surgery and all of

that. I've been out (of the ring) a couple of times in the last

couple of years and I lost a tremendous amount of money being out. It

was a decision that I had to make as to whether, "Okay, I'm going to

take more time off, or I'm going to have to take something to get

through some times." In my opinion, and you can ask anybody around

me, I never got out of hand with it again.

 

Keller: When you started taking pain pills again, were you tempted to

and did you ever take it to get high, or was it purely a prescribed

dose with your tolerance down to get through the work week?

 

Waltman: Yeah, that was exactly how it was. Yes. Just to get through

the work week.

 

Keller: The reason I ask that is did WWE have any reason to suspect

that this is a sign of Sean slipping again? Because there is

obviously at least one other person in WWE right now who is showing

tremendous signs of distress and you would think that WWE would be

very conscious of that with you given your past. Did you give them

any reason, other than that one bad reaction at the airport, to think

that something more was wrong with you?

 

Waltman: I could probably think of one other thing that happened. I

had still been out andŠ You remember I came back after WrestleMania

and did the thing with (Hulk) Hogan and hit him over the head with a

chair and joined the NWO again? Well, during the WrestleMania

fan-fest and all of that crap, I overslept. I had been out all night.

I had my wife in Toronto and we had been out partying the night

before and didn't get in until really late and I overslept and slept

through it. One of the office people that I've known for years, and

she's a great lady, actually had the hotel people come in and barge

into my room. That part was bullsh--. My wife and I were lying in bed

and I was out cold. It was just a really crazy moment. Other than

that, no. There were no other times.

 

Keller: You must have had a pretty good track record for them to

barge into your hotel room because you no-showed an appearance?

 

Waltman: Yeah, I never missed anything. I've been late countless

numbers of time, but you can ask anybodyŠ

 

Keller: You learned from the best.

 

Waltman: Yes, I did.

 

Keller: You learned from Bret Hart and Curt Hennig about that.

 

Waltman: Uh huh, exactly. Yeah, I did ride with Bret for a long time

and Bret was never on time (laughs). But that was an understanding.

Apparently they were willing to live with that when it came to Bret.

My reputation as far as making shows is impeccable. I've chartered

airplanes, Wade, and chartered private flights to make shows where I

didn't even make half of the amount of money that it cost me to get

there just so I wouldn't miss the show. And they know that.

 

Keller: Did you ever find out what caused you to pass out at the

airport? I assume that concerned you.

 

Waltman: Yes, it was exactly what I thought. That was their best

guess. They took a toxicology on my blood and all of that, and

nothing showed up, not even somas, nothing. No alcohol, nothing. Only

because I told them what I took, that was the conclusion that the

doctors came to. A lot of it might have had to do with the amount of

stress that I had been going through in my life recently, which is a

whole other issue altogether.

 

Keller: Did outside of work issues and stress also contribute to you

wanting to get out of the contractual obligations that you had with

WWE? Did that make you more likely to be agreeable to settling your

contract early?

 

Waltman: Yes, that was part of it. Actually, how do I put this? It

wouldn't have been part of it had I been happy at work because at

least at one timeŠ I've had drama in my personal life nonstop for a

decade. There have been good times and bad times, but people who know

me and the sh-- that I've been through, some don't believe it and

other people are just amazed that I'm even alive and not in a nut

house somewhere. At least I had my wrestling. That made me happy. And

for whatever reason, they made it miserable for me there. And you

know what? I was a pain in the ass to them, too.

 

Keller: Did you leave in a way that you think you are on good terms

with Vince McMahon to the point that under different circumstances at

a different time you'll probably be back in WWE or at least consider

going back there?

 

Waltman: I didn't leave on any worse terms than I left the first

time. Here's the thing, when all of this started going down, I had so

much turmoil in my personal life, Wade, that the last thing I wanted

to do was to dicker back and forth with them on this sh--. Wrestling

has been my life since I was ten years old. At the same time, other

things are more important, on the personal level. Dealing with that

just made it impossible for me to deal with them on these issues, so

I just had my attorney handle it, my representation. They don't like

to deal with people like that anyhow, so if anything, I could see

that being a problem.

 

Keller: But if they understand that to whatever degree they

understand the details, they know that you were going through

personal issues and might be able to understand why you wouldn't want

to deal with the details?

 

Waltman: I hope so, because there are a number of people there who I

really love. On a personal level, Vince McMahon has been very, very

good to me. And Jim Ross, I've always had a very good relationship

with him. We've had it out a couple of times, but very little.

 

Keller: For as long as you've worked with him, there have only been a

couple of times when it's been tense.

 

Waltman: Yeah.

 

 

Keller: This might sound like a silly question, but did the idea that

NWA-TNA was out there encourage you whatsoever to get out of the WWE

situation, knowing that there was this national outlet where you

could work part-time and be creative and make a little money?

 

Waltman: Of course. And I could be a professional wrestler, not a

sports entertainer, although I don't see the difference. One person

calls it something different because he doesn't want to be labeled a

wrestling promoter.

 

Keller: What did you think of the concept of NWA-TNA before it even

launchedŠ The idea of selling pay-per-views based on word of mouth

and various other advertising methods, but no television. Did you

look at that and go, "That's gonna last a couple of weeks," or did

you think, "Hey, this has potential"?

 

Waltman: Well, when I heard what the business plan was, and I heard a

lot of people at the time being pessimistic and a lot of people who

are so-called experts on all of this stuff doom it from the start as

if it had no chance to survive. I totally disagreed. I thought it was

a very cutting edge business plan. It wasn't like trying to take a

template that was already made and trying to follow that template. I

thought it was a very, very, very, very smart idea. I was kind of

bummed out that I didn't come up with it myself. It's a good idea,

Wade. You don't have the cost of producing television. You don't have

to deal with the networks. You don't need to mainstream the casual

fans. There are enough wrestling fans that are starving for what they

love and aren't getting that anymore. As long as they know it's out

there, there's enough to support that. I think that's true right now.

If they hadn't have run into the problems they did, they'd be a lot

further along than they are now, and I truly believe that. I wouldn't

be there right now otherwise. Well, I would because Jeff Jarrett is a

good friend of mine, but I have faith in it, too.

 

Keller: How many of their pay-per-views did you see before you went there?

 

Waltman: A couple, not all of them.

 

Keller: What did you think of the product? What did you think were

the strengths and weaknesses of what you saw?

 

Waltman: I agree with a lot that's been written about it as far as it

not being consistent. One week it will be all focussed on just

matches and none of the backstage stuff. Then the next week there

will be too much ha-ha and too much bullsh-- like the Dupps and all

of that. But you have some talent there that is incredible. There's

talent there, Wade, and I'm not afraid to admit it, who can do sh--

that I could never do. I thank God that I have one thing over those

people and that's my brain. When they catch up to me in that regard,

then it's time for me to hang up my boots. But that day hasn't come

yet. They have a pretty decent mix of guys who are known and with

potential. There are still things that I don't like about the show.

I'd like to be involved more in the production aspect of it and

writing and that type of thing. Hopefully we'll get there at some

point.

 

Keller: At the time we are talking, you've been to two shows now.

What was your impression from being backstage in terms of how it was

produced compared to Raw and Nitro? Jerry Jarrett has been at Raws

before. He's been backstage at many important Raws, and obviously

Vince Russo has been backstage at both Raws and Nitros. Did you get a

sense of, hey, on a lower budget they do a pretty good job of running

this, or did it look as chaotic as WCW at its worst, or somewhere in

the middle?

 

Waltman: The first time I came in, I'll have to be honest with you

and say that it was pretty chaotic. I think a lot of that has to do

with the fact that even though Jerry and Russo were there in the WWF,

I can't think of too many other guys there who had been. So they have

nothing to go by. They have nothing to compare it to, so a number of

people probably didn't even realize that that was the case. But the

second week I went was a lot more organized. I think it will get

better. I think they just need to simplify the product a little more.

 

Keller: What do you mean by simplify?

 

Waltman: Alright, for instance, I thought the Gauntlet for the Gold

for the tag team (titles) was too complicated. If I don't understand

it, how in the f--- are the people going to understand it? But who am

I to come in right off the bat and say, "Oh, this is wrong," when

they busted their asses trying to come up with the show?

 

Keller: Is it true that Scott Hall came back because of you, just

because he thought it might be fun and that he probably wouldn't be

there if it wasn't for you?

 

Waltman: I think that's safe to say. He's one of my best friends

ever. People can say anything they want about ScottŠ

 

 

Keller: And they do.

 

Waltman: People say a lot of things about Scott Hall, everybody does.

Tons of that stuff is true, and he'll say the same thing. He made his

bed and he's accepted having to sleep in it.

 

Keller: How is he doing?

 

Waltman: He's stable. I don't want to get into full detail on his

personal lifeŠ

 

 

Keller: Of course, but to cut to the chase, you're not worried about

him right now?

 

Waltman: No, I'm not worried about him dying any time soon, let's put

it that way.

 

Keller: And at a time, you were?

 

Waltman: You're f---in' right I was.

 

Keller: And that's enough said. You know what he's doing, and he's

made that much of an improvement.

 

Waltman: Yes.

 

Keller: You've known the Jarretts for a long time. Do you get the

impression from any of your dealings with them or seeing them that

this TNA project has turned into a living nightmare for them? Or are

their spirits up and they just see everything that's happened as an

exciting on-going challenge?

 

Waltman: Would both be a fair enough answer?

 

 

Keller: Sure. What gives you those indications?

 

Waltman: Well, when you have all that on the line, Wade, not somebody

else's f---ing money, but your own money into something like this,

and then these problems come along like they've had to deal with

latelyŠ I think it was probably a pretty touch and go situation there

for a while. God, anybody would be stressed. I don't know howŠ And

you've got Jeff running around and trying to keep things in order and

telling everybody what to do, and having to have a match? I mean,

God. I just can't imagine. Well, yes I can because I've had plenty of

pressure on myself too, but the situation is different. But my God, I

think at the same time that they have a lot of joy in trying to

produce a good product. They don't always get on base. They don't

always hit a home run, but they f---in' go down swinging. They don't

let the ball just go past them.

 

Keller: Do you think they knew what they were in for, or do you get

the feeling that there's almost an element of shell-shock over

everything that's gone on?

 

Waltman: I don't think theyŠ How could anybody know what they were in

for if the allegations that have been made are true? How could

anybody know what they were in for? Provided the stuff is all true,

I'm just shocked that that happened.

 

Keller: Without being specific in any way, in your own way, do you

think you know enough about the situation to know that yes, those

allegations are probably true? Or do you just really not know enough

to even comment?

 

Waltman: (Pause) That's a goodŠ I don't know how to answer that. I

probably know more than just about anybody else.

 

Keller: You've been brought up to speed?

 

Waltman: Yes. My gut tells me that that sh-- is true. If that's wrong

for me to say that, then f---in' sue me. Get in line. It wouldn't be

the first time that I've been sued. I believe it, I totally believe

it. There is no reason in hell why they couldn't have had some kind

of commercial on the preview channel because they were getting ready

to launch right around the time of the Mike Tyson (versus Lennox

Lewis) fight. They were told that the promotion would start kicking

in after that because everything was geared toward the Tyson fight.

Well, that's bullsh--. Everything else has to stop because of the

Tyson fight? I don't buy it.

 

Keller: Does the Jay Hassman, Jason Hervey, Eric Bischoff connection

seem like just aŠ

 

Waltman: That's way too f---in' fishy for me, way too fishy. And you

know, I don't hold any grudge against Eric Bischoff, believe it or

not. A lot of people might think I do, but anybody in that company

will tell you that I was recommending he be brought in for storyline

purposes long before anybody else ever f--in' brought his name up. I

thought it was (A) a good idea, (B) I thought the guy had paid the

price for some of the bad things he'd done. And he's admitted many,

many times in public that what he did to me was was a huge mistake.

And for me not to be able to forgive that would be bad of me as a

person. But that's a whole other story. But this here is just tooŠ

Come on, it can't just all be a coincidence. What I know of it, it's

just too much. We'll have to see what happens when more of the

details come out. I have a feeling that people are going to be

surprised at what does come out.

 

Keller: Why do you think so far the cable industry media has just

looked at this as just a back page, little paragraph, laughable story

that isn't worth taking seriously despite the level of allegations

being thrown around out there?

 

Waltman: Well, I honestly don't even know. I couldn't even begin to

guess why the cable industry has treated it like that, because it's

in their own best interest for this thing to survive, unless they're

waiting for it to take a sh-- so that they can come in and buy it for

a penny on the dollar and Bogart it for themselves and make all of

the money. Other than that, I don't understand why. I don't know a

ton about the cable industry and the pay-per-view business, but I

know more than most because I've had to make a lot of my money that

way. I'm not one of the guys who just takes the money and doesn't

care about how or why things happen. It's a mystery to me, Wade, it

really is.

 

Keller: Do you sense at this point that TNA is going to be around for

six months or a year, or is there still some trepidation that the

plug could be pulled any week?

 

Waltman: No, it's going to be around.

 

Keller: With or without new financial backing?

 

Waltman: It's going to be around. I met the new people, the new

financiers, the new money people. They are a hundred percent enthused

and behind this thing, and they are really, really, really cool

people. They see people like myself and different people who have

faith in this thing, and I think it really helps them as far as being

able to believe in it themselves. And you know what? These are sharp

people. They wouldn't have the money they have if they weren't. And

they wouldn't be putting the money into this thing if they didn't

think this was a sound business plan.

 

Keller: Are they fully aware of the lawsuits and the counter-lawsuits

that's all involved in this also?

 

Waltman: Of course they are, yes.

 

Keller: And that doesn't scare them away?

 

Waltman: Obviously not.

 

Keller: Okay, let's switch to something a little more wrestling

oriented than behind the scenes business. Who stands out in your eyes

as a potential star and pay-per-view drawing card that is currently

on the TNA roster? Granted, you might miss a name or two, so no one

has to feel bad, but who are the main people that come to mind right

now as wrestlers to build around?

 

Waltman: Well, the one obvious guy is Ron Killings. It doesn't take a

genius to figure that out. Why he's not in the WWF anymore is a whole

other story. And I don't even want to go off on that because, you

know, that whole thing is a bunch of bullsh--. How can you keep some

of the guys who they've kept and then get rid of a guy like Ron?

 

Keller: Why did they? Did they think he was too small or too inexperienced orŠ

 

Waltman: Nope, no, none of that. In my opinion, I think part of it

was that he didn't want to give up the rights to his music. I think

that might have had something to do with it. I'm sorry to say, and I

feel bad about this, but I think another part was that he was friends

with Brian James and me. I feel bad about that. Actually, I kind of

warned him a little bit. I don't know, he's an obvious standout. He's

got some work to do as far as being a well-rounded wrestler, but he

has so many things going for him that it's not even funny. He's great

on the stick, he's a phenomenal athlete, I think he has a perfect

look. He's not all jacked up.

 

Keller: He looks like a running back without the pads.

 

Waltman: Yes.

 

Keller: He doesn't look like a bodybuilder and he doesn't look like

an offensive lineman either, just big and fat, he has a marketable

look.

 

Waltman: Yeah, he looks great. And you know what else, the main thing

or one of the main things, is that he's a wonderful person. You can't

say a bad thing about the guy. I challenge you to find one person

that's run into him that can say a bad thing about him. There's one

guy. I really like Low-Ki, all of those guys who are in the X

Division. A.J. (Styles) is great, phenomenal. The stuff they do is

beyond belief. I think those guys need some work as far as being able

to know when to do some of that stuff they do and know when not to.

But if that's the worst thing you can say about those guys, then I

think they are doing pretty good. Jerry Lynn has been sh-- on by this

business for, hell, as long as I've been around. I don't know if him

being sh-- on is the right term to use, but how he still has any

motivation left after the bad experiences he's had is beyond me, and

it's just a testament to the guy's heart. And he still goes out there

and is one of the top five guys in wrestling, at least, as far as

in-ring performance goes. And you can get around some of the things

that they talked about as far as personality or whatever. You don't

f---in' use that as a negative, just find a way to capitalize on his

personality. He's a good guy, so don't f---in' hold it against him.

 

We're just getting started. Part two next week.

 

Keller: Jim Ross has Bell's Palsy, can't smile, has a Southern

accent, isn't the attractive-type face that Vince McMahon wants on

his programs, and he has been a very important part and one of the

MVPs at times of the successful period of the WWF.

 

Waltman: Yes, exactly. There's a guy right there, who a lot of people

can say what they want about, but he works harder than anybody in

that company. And he doesn't get nearly the reward that he should for

the amount of work that he does. I know all of the responsibilities

that he has. If I told you, you wouldn't believe it. I'm sure you

know.

 

Keller: He's an example of someone who had enough strength in a

couple of areas as an on-air person and Jerry Lynn obviously has

strengths where the negatives could overcome.

 

Waltman: Sorry he's not like one of the beautiful people, so to

speak. What are you going to have, everybody is a perfect ten on your

show? That's not reality, man.

 

Keller: Does the crew of people you talked aboutŠ ECW always had the

mentality that they were a bunch of misfits and rejects and people

who were fighting for an opportunity. That's kind of what defined how

good the promotion was when it was really good, and it was really

good a lot of the time. Did you sense a similar attitude back there

that, "We're a bunch of misfits who are out to prove the

establishment wrong?"

 

Waltman: Not so much as what you're talking about with the ECW guys,

but in a certain sense, yes. Not that they are misfits, but that they

are being overlooked. They are wanting their opportunity, that's all

they're asking for, any of these guys. And some of them aren't going

to make it. Some of them aren't nearly as good as they think they are.

 

Keller: Like who?

 

Waltman: I don't reallyŠ

 

Keller: I don't really expect you to answer that. That would be unfair.

 

Waltman: If I could think of someone as an example off the top of my

head, I would tell youŠ

[Guest Mulatto Heat]

And when Kevin (Nash) came in and there were guys lying all over the ring and he's gotta dodge the referee and try to run across the ring to do his sh-- and steps on somebody and blows his quad

 

There was ONE person lying on the ring, and that was after he SOLD A MOVE from Nash. Using the referee as an excuse is pathetic. SHUT THE FUCK UP, WALTMAN!

[Guest snowfan]

And when Kevin (Nash) came in and there were guys lying all over the ring and he's gotta dodge the referee and try to run across the ring

to do his sh-- and steps on somebody and blows his quad

 

There was ONE person lying on the ring, and that was after he SOLD A MOVE from Nash. Using the referee as an excuse is pathetic. SHUT THE FUCK UP, WALTMAN!

Gee Sean would you like me to send you a nice .avi of the match with nifty theme music....

 

It is not the Ref's fault your buddy can't walk....

[Guest subliminal_animal]

How many pages is each paper edition of the Torch? And is that the whole newsletter?

[Guest bps "The Truth" 21]

Thanks for putting that up.

 

That's a ton of stuff right there.

 

Of course...this is what stood out to me:

 

". However,

mid-carders continue to hear that Triple H is persuading the writing

team to cool pushes of anyone who gets hoot, the latest being Rob Van

Dam, whose push is now expected to decrease in coming weeks and

months due to Triple H's influence."

 

 

FUCK HHH! PUSH RVD! FUCK HHH! PUSH RVD!

[Guest Repo Man jr]

Thanks! I've never read a news letter before. The Hunter killing RVD stuff is very depressing.

[Guest Brian]

It didn't come in the mail so they sent in via e-mail. Never had that problem before, but they corrected it quick. X-Pac's interview, between the lines, is actually pretty good.

[Zetterberg is God 0]

Thanks for this. I wanted to read the Waltman interview. Hopefully you'll post part 2 when it's availible

[Guest Sassquatch]

"Sources say Taker's reaction to the proposed finish where he lose to Brock was short and sweet: "I'm not feeling it," he purportedly said when presented with the finish."

 

- Torch

 

 

The Taker quote above is a keeper.

[Guest Brian]

BUMP

[Guest snowfan]

"Sources say Taker's reaction to the proposed finish where he lose to Brock was short and sweet: "I'm not feeling it," he purportedly said when presented with the finish."

 

- Torch

 

 

The Taker quote above is a keeper.

I've been using it with every HGH or UT hold down since I saw it....

[Guest cabbageboy]

First off, RVD's push decreasing isn't really going to happen I don't think. It's very simple: there is no one else. Sure, they could push Booker I guess but we all realize he'd be squashed. The Kane thing is causing such a backlash already that they're going to be forced to drop it. Jericho is not an option. Therefore we have RVD. Sorry HHH, but you're gonna have to job to him eventually.

[Guest Brian]

Ric Flair and HBK. He can make it until WrestleMania I'm guessing.

[Guest cabbageboy]

"Ric Flair and HBK. He can make it until WrestleMania I'm guessing."

 

First off, I cannot possibly imagine HHH/Shawn being for a title. Therefore, HHH is going to have to job it to someone in order to face Shawn (likely at WM). HHH and Flair is a dreadful idea that won't draw shit. Therefore at some point RVD is gonna have to get back into the title scene.

[Guest Brian]

I can't either since the feud means so much more than a title and I think Shawn needs to win his last match, and Flair/HHH doesn't need to draw. If they want to, it probably can.

[Guest TheHulkster]

I think Booker T should probably get the title before RVD. Right now is the right time to put the belt on Booker T. RVD is more of an investment in the future and, barring serious injury. should be one of the members of next wave of main event stars. Booker isn't getting any younger, so 3-5 years down the road, he's probably not going to be able to perform at that main event level like he can now. He's the right guy for the spot in my opinion anyway.

[Guest bps "The Truth" 21]

Booker T performs well now?

 

Alright...

 

Hulkster gets my Booker T question then:

 

When is the last *** Booker T match?

 

If you say Benoit in the best of 7 series...that was 4 years ago and you prove my point.

[Guest Brian]

Didn't him and Steiner supposedly have a *** affair?

 

Booker's a decent worker who has some minor problem with his work that needs to be harnessed in order for him to have good matches.

[Guest TheHulkster]

Booker T performs well now?

 

Alright...

 

Hulkster gets my Booker T question then:

 

When is the last *** Booker T match?

 

If you say Benoit in the best of 7 series...that was 4 years ago and you prove my point.

Ironically enough, I would have to say Booker T Vs RVD from the first Raw of the split. Having great matches and selling tickets are 2 different things. Right now they have to strike while the iron is hot before it fizzles out in regards to Booker T. Van Dam will be around for a while.

[Guest cabbageboy]

Ah yes, selling tickets. Booker has just done SOOOO much of that. For a testament to Book's drawing power lemme relate a house show a went to in 2000. A WCW show with Jarrett/Booker headlining for the title. There were maybe 2000 people in Freedom Hall, which holds about 19,000.

 

Booker has Amish Roadkill heat, he gets a pop and does his amusing little spinarooni, but doesn't wrestle at a high enough level and isn't taken seriously enough to be a main eventer. I've got news, he's not THAT much older than RVD. It's not like RVD is some 25 year old punk kid, the guy is in his 30s now and is ready for the big push.

[Guest TheHulkster]

Who is selling tickets these days? They need new main eventers and new main event matches right now. Booker hasn't really been put into much of a position to work at that level during his WWF/E tenure. He's over, he's got a unique look and charisma, he's a good worker. I don't see any reason why he shouldn't at least be given an opprotunity. I'm not saying Van Dam shouldn't be a main eventer, just that they should use Booker T while they still have him and try to make some money. He has said that he wants to retire soon, so they don't have much time to build him up to that level where he can be a world champion and the fans will accept it. Thats why I think they should do it now. It will produce fresh matches in the main event, which is something that WWE really needs right now.

[Guest Mulatto Heat]

Ah yes, selling tickets. Booker has just done SOOOO much of that. For a testament to Book's drawing power lemme relate a house show a went to in 2000. A WCW show with Jarrett/Booker headlining for the title. There were maybe 2000 people in Freedom Hall, which holds about 19,000.

2000? That's pretty much how many people are going to any given house show these days.

[Guest bps "The Truth" 21]

To be fair to RVD in the who's selling tickets argument...

 

1. He main evented the old B shows with guys like Raven and Tazz last year...and their business was fine.

 

2. People walked out of Bubba matches and they must have feared the same thing with KAne...so they had no choice but to put RVD back in the last match on house shows to keep people from leaving.

 

As opposed to most wrestlers where we can just guess...I think there is more evidence that people will pay and stay to see RVD.

[Guest Army Eye]

Booker T performs well now?

 

Alright...

 

Hulkster gets my Booker T question then:

 

When is the last *** Booker T match?

Probably the matches he had with Kurt Angle for the WCW title during the invasion.

 

Yes he is an overrated worker right now.

[Guest Banky]

If Booker wasn't getting so old, I'd easily push him over RVD. Rob Van Dam is alright, but his matches are so repetitive that they are boring. Also, his absolutly atrocious acting skills eliminates him from being "the man". RVD has a lot of trouble carrying worse workers than him, and it was only until he fought Eddie Guerrero at Backlash and Judgment Day that he started depending on anything that resembled actual wrestling. He is entertaining, he is over, but he needs to become a better rounded total package before he gets any major push.

[Guest bps "The Truth" 21]

I agree that RVD is poor wrestler and even worse actor...

 

however...

 

He still has better matches against dead weight like Taker than pretty much everyone else.

 

For whatever reason...RVD can have good matches with great workers and terrible ones...it's the ones in between he has a problem with.