News i find very interesting

[Guest bps "The Truth" 21]

From Meltzer and the observer:

 

 

Internally within the WWF, the New world Order has been talked about as a major flop due to the lack of higher ratings since their debut.

 

The Rock now has tenative plans to take a few months off this summer, again, to film a movie. If you remember last year, the Rock took time off from a few weeks after Wrestlemania until just before Summerslam Pay Per View to film the "Scorpion King". This puts a wrench in the split plans, as one show was supposed to focus on the Rock while the other on Stone Cold Steve Austin. The movie that the Rock will be filming will be sort of an action-comedy.

 

Several WWF wrestlers have been asked to take paycuts recently, thanks in part to economic conditions today and since the WWF isn't profitable as it used to be when carrying a large amount of wrestlers. It's also felt that since there's no strong competition, the downside guarantees won't be as guaranteed as before.

 

All wrestlers are subject to the new paycuts, from the former Alliance members who have yet to return to television, to the wrestlers whose contracts are due soon, and to even some of the television performers.

 

It's said that 40 wrestlers fall under the category of getting a paycut from the WWF.

 

Roughly, about $25,000 will be cut from each wrestler in the category. For some, like those who make $100,000, it's losing 25% of their salary and forcing them to greatly change their lifestyle.

 

Some wrestlers have been offered 3 separate options. One, they could receive a buyout on their contract. Two, they could be sent to Puerto Rico for a long while (the WWF has a good working relationship with one fed there). OR finally, they could agree to new terms on a contract.

 

There are some wrestlers who will receive a paycut of some kind that have been asking about the new start-up federations for any possible work (like the XWF or WWA, for example). However, it's said that any alternatives for any federation in the United States is risky business. For example, it's been reported that both the XWF and WWA regularly promises guaranteed contracts or high paying contracts, but neither has come through for wrestlers.

 

The final question is what to do with wrestlers who have a contract coming up. Among those, one of the biggest names with a contract due is Chris Jericho. (I believe he signed in late summer, maybe around August, of 1999, which was reportedly a 3 year deal.) Some who are clearly bigger stars now than when they signed a contract, like Jericho, you could argue that they deserve a raise. However, if a Jericho receives no raise, it will show that a star like Jericho won't have any leverage against a monopolistic management, which is what the WWF is without any competition in the marketplace.

[Guest notJames]

Wow, I guess the $2.6 million (give or take) price tag for the nWo wasn't such a smart investment after all. I can just hear the financial meeting before that sale went down...

 

Vince: Let's see... we've got X amount of dollars to spend from last year, but ratings are slipping. Do we a) spend the benjamins on a lot of up-and-comers and mold them into credible superstars, thereby ensuring a fresh landscape for this monolopy I've created for years to come, or b) bring in three proven ratings killers/workrate black holes/backstage politickers in the hopes of catching lightning twice in the same bottle?

 

Vince's Yes-Men: Well, err...

 

Vince: You're right! Get Hogan and the boys on the horn and write up those contracts! This is the best idea I've had since Steph TV!

 

Vince's Yes-Men: Absolutely, boss...

 

Poor Tajiri. You'll probably be the first to go.

[Guest Choken One]

You know What Think?  Flair's silently making his own company, he has the money and I bet he will slowly convince others to join him once his contract runs out or he request a realese based on "Loss of Desire" or "Personal Reasons" and wait about 6 months, Call up Ricky Steamboat and Jerry Jarrett and Dusty Rhodes and Arn Anderson and they will create "NCW" North Carolina Wrestlng and pick the "Tajris" and "Storms" of WWF and make the smarks happy.

[Guest converge241]

Reading that on monday gave me a bad feeling. How do you really with a straight face explain a pay cut to some of the guys busting their asses without just coming right out and saying "I dont want to dip into my cut (Vince)".

Some people might point out that "so and so" is a bigger star and if a wrestler asked to take a paycut could be more like "so and so" and be a big star, they could make more. Which is all stuff out of the hands of 80% of the staff im guessing, maybe 90%. Most of them have no say over when or how they are pushed. Im sure a Hurricane or someone would be thrilled to hear something like "well, youre just not over as much with the crowd since we made you look like a complete non-factor in almost all of your matches, so you have to take a 25,000 paycut"

They have no choice over it due to the monopoly. Sure it's a lot money compared to what some of us schlubs make (and fringe benefits im sure) but they are taking a smaller cut of a pie when , theoretically, that pie isnt getting smaller yet. What are they going to do? Work for Jarrett? Tour Australia? Sit on their hands like those poor bastards in XWF waiting for a TV deal from FX/USA/Ted Turner/PAX/much music/the food channel or whoever the #### that "deals are imminent with".

Geez some of us bitch a lot about the product.

Imagine what some of our favorite performers are bitching about right now?

[Guest bps "The Truth" 21]

I think it is almost safe to say that the cancer is invading the locker room.

 

Say it with me...

 

WCW.

[Guest RickyB]

BPS, don't blame Hogan, Hall and Nash.  Hogan didn't come in and say "He deserves a pay cut, oh - him too.", neither did Nash or Hall.

 

Vince is the one that screwed himself out of the biggest money making angle of all time - WCW Vs WWF.  By not putting them over on shows, not taking away the replays of Raw or Smackdown - or taking Heat, Jakked or Metal and putting WCW shows in their place.  By not bringing in WCW names like Hogan over a year ago or by putting Page over in shows.

 

If Vince had used WCW probably then they wouldn't be in this mess right now.

 

Everything Hogan has done for the WWF has been positive - Austin is the jerk right now.  Fire him.

[Guest dreamer420]

I agree RickyB.  Vince really dropped the ball on the WWF vs. WCW.  The Invasion PPV was a huge success but WCW was made to look like the WWF bitch during the storyline.  No one from WCW was put over and the only real successes from the Alliance were guys that were not a part of WCW to begin with.

[Guest bps "The Truth" 21]

When did I blame anyone?

 

I cut and pasted.

 

The WCW comment was in respect to the high priced top talent and the failure to build the lower guys.

 

What exactly did I say this time?

[Guest RickyB]

Maybe I jumped to conclusions but I thought when you said "I think it is almost safe to say that the cancer is invading the locker room." you were refering to the comments that you made about Nash, Hogan & Hall being Locker Room cancers.

[Guest Tony149]

It would be interesting to see what Jericho does when his contract comes up. I could see Vince asking him to take a cut. Guys will either do it, take a chance and leave, or get black-balled.

[Guest bps "The Truth" 21]

Everyone knows that I only blame HHH for things.

 

Hogan's overness right now is one of the few bright spots I see in the WWF right now.

 

I was complaining about the fact that a guy like Jericho won't get as good of a raise...when a guy like Nash gets paid more to work less dates...and only use the mic most of the time.

 

That's WCW mentality all the way.

[Guest RickyB]

I think we might see some guys taking a chance with WWA, XWF or maybe event the rumoured turner fed.  If you think about it this is what Vince did in the early/mid 90's after the steroid scandles and people took a chance with WCW.

[Guest RickyB]

Everyone knows that I only blame HHH for things.

 

Sorry, my bad

 

Hogan's overness right now is one of the few bright spots I see in the WWF right now.

 

Who are you and what have you done with BPS???

 

Man, this is a real 360 turn from the guy I remember saying that Hogan would destroy the WWF.

 

I was complaining about the fact that a guy like Jericho won't get as good of a raise...when a guy like Nash gets paid more to work less dates...and only use the mic most of the time.

 

I agree.  I've always been a fan of Jericho, but they really only signed Nash to stop the WWA getting him.  That was proven by the fact that they didn't have anything to do with him at Wrestlemania.

 

That's WCW mentality all the way.

 

Yeah, I guess.

 

The WWF are learning what WCW learned in 1998 - you can have a roster as big as you like but if you don't know how to use them then they aren't much use.

[Guest bps "The Truth" 21]

It's really a shame that Heyman didn't have enough money to outlast WCW's demise.

 

There are so many guys he could have gotten...and with only the WWF...he would have had an easier time getting a tv deal than a startup company.

 

I know there are alot of ECW haters out there...but they were more than just hardcore garbage...sometimes.

[Guest bps "The Truth" 21]

I did think that Hogan would destroy the WWF...by keeping everyone else off of tv.

 

The split takes care of that for the most part...and Hogan's tv time has been just about the best thing the WWF has had in the last few weeks.

 

SO I admit to being wrong about the Hogan thing.

 

And from what I hear he has been a nice guy backstage...socializing and complimenting even the lowest guys on the roster.

 

I was happy to see him get such a great moment at Mania, and again on Raw.

 

And I hope it keeps up...for business at least.

 

I've also been impressed with Hall...and think that a program with a motivated worker would do wonders to get him over as a good in ring performer.

 

Nash I have no use for.  He may be trying...but it just isn't good enough.

 

Same for HHH at this moment.

 

Although HHH, unlike Nash, will rebound into a better performer sooner or later.

 

Until then...I hate him.

[Guest saturnmark4life]

the gayme is the shittiest face ever, nash is worse than big show, hall is dull and drunk and hogan will be over forever, even if he has shitty matches as always. The invasion was a bad idea, the nwo might be a lot worse. And saturn isn't on tv. Which is the greatest crime of all.

[Guest Kinetic]

I think we might see some guys taking a chance with WWA, XWF or maybe event the rumoured turner fed.  If you think about it this is what Vince did in the early/mid 90's after the steroid scandles and people took a chance with WCW.

The WWA and the XWF aren't owned by Ted Turner, though.  There's no chance of any of these guys making the sort of money they're making in the WWF, even after a pay cut, anywhere else in America.

[Guest RickyB]

I did think that Hogan would destroy the WWF...by keeping everyone else off of tv.

 

The split takes care of that for the most part...and Hogan's tv time has been just about the best thing the WWF has had in the last few weeks.

 

I think the split is a good thing for Hogan because people get sick of him very quickly (look at his last few WCW runs).

 

SO I admit to being wrong about the Hogan thing.

 

Wooo!  Does that also mean that you are admitting that i was right?

 

And from what I hear he has been a nice guy backstage...socializing and complimenting even the lowest guys on the roster.

 

Actually he was very often known for doing that in WCW at times.  According to Billy Silverman he walked past the referees locker room with someone at Nitro one time and pointed at the referees and said "These are the hardest working guys in the business.", while in the WWF guys like Austin and Bradshaw use the referees to buy them beer and carry crates of it to Raw shows.

 

Nash I have no use for.  He may be trying...but it just isn't good enough.

 

Same for HHH at this moment.

 

Although HHH, unlike Nash, will rebound into a better performer sooner or later.

 

I'm not so sure about HHH.  Like with Hogan his muscles have made him into a very limited Wrestler, he can't do some of the moves he used to do because of his body mass.  One reason why Rock did really well with Hogan at Wrestlemania is because his body mass isn't so big he could keep the match going at a faster pace even if Hogan couldn't.  I think that were stuck with the current Tripple H until someone tells him that steroids mess with your balls (maybe Steph sleeping with Tripple H could do some good for once).

[Guest Human Fly]

What if Jericho decided that he didn't want the smaller contract. (I'd be shocked, but for the sake of argument). What if he then went to the WWA. With Jericho, Jarrett, Eddy G., Jerry Lynn they would have the beginnings of a good roster there. Who knows.

[Guest dreamer420]

Then what happens when the WWA folds, probably sooner than later?

[Guest teke184]

WWA may not fold if Ted Turner does what people expect of him and buy out a cheap federation.  Since Turner still has Goldberg, Shane Douglas, and a few others under contract, he could immediately bring some heavy firepower to a WWF competitor.

[Guest dreamer420]

Can he make Goldberg wrestle in the WWA if he buys it?

[Guest Tony149]

I don't think Goldberg would be able to wrestle for any promotion Turner or AOL Time Warner owns because he gots some weird contract that states his contract isn't transferable. Which is why when Vince brought WCW, he would of had to boughten out Goldberg's contract.

[Guest Zero_Cool]

Well, I would like to see another big fed come into play...Turner could pull it off...maybe...

 

Goldberg is done.  He is just going to sit on his ass and collect paychecks...the American dream.

[Guest dreamer420]

I'm sure Goldberg's contract would be for World Championship Wrestling only as well.

[Guest Tony149]

After thinking about it some more...I think if AOL Time Warner bought a wrestling company (doubtful) they could probably use Goldberg, as he's under contract to them, and because AOL Time Warner opened up some wrestling fed (By name only) to replace WCW, so they could finish whatever WCW business was left.

[Guest goodhelmet]

I personally don't want to see Goldberg. A new Goldberg will be created in the next few weeks if Brock Lesnar shows an ounce of talent. On with the new, down with the old.

[Guest teke184]

I never said I WANTED to see Goldberg.  I personally could give less than a rat's @ss about him or Steiner now that we've got Lesnar, but you just KNOW that there are hundreds of thousands of marks who'd buy a $hitty PPV to see Goldberg's first match since WCW: Sin.

[Guest Hogan Made Wrestling]

If there are hundreds of thousands of people that will pay just to see Goldberg, why weren't any of them paying for WCW PPVs over the last 2 years? WCW ran their big Steiner-Goldberg "money" match and it drew a 0.15 buyrate.

[Guest goodhelmet]

Exactly!

 

But in all fairness, NOBODY in WCW was drawing buyrates in WCW's last couple of years. Not Booker, Jarrett, Hogan, Nash, Sid, Benoit, Bret...NOBODY! WCW was the poorest excuse of a company ever seen in wrestling.