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F4W~!#274 - APPEALS COURT RULES: WWF TO VIACOM - SEPTEMBER 25, 2000
BY OBSERVER STAFF | STAFF@WRESTLINGOBSERVER.COM | @WONF4W
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F4W~!#274 - Appeals court rules: WWF to Viacom - September 25, 2000

F4W~!#274 - Appeals court rules: WWF to Viacom - September 25, 2000



        The Delaware Appellate Court this past Monday finally ruled unanimously against the USA Network in their appeal, opening the door to an immediate move to Viacom by the World Wrestling Federation.  Beginning this weekend, WWF New York — formerly Sunday Night Heat — will begin airing on MTV, and Live Wire, Superstars and Raw will begin airing on TNN.

        The panel’s decision had to be unanimous, so the month-long hold-up was clearly the result of one of the three judges believing USA had a strong enough case to possibly warrant an overturned original decision.  After weeks of research, the final judge finally sided with the other two and agreed that the appeal should be struck down.  If USA were to file a second appeal, it would go to a panel of five judges, but since three have already voted in favor of Viacom there is actually no point in doing so.

        The five-year agreement with Viacom will result in TNN basing it’s network around the highly-rated WWF programming, with a complete network overhaul expected within weeks.  Viacom issued a press release the day after the decision went down, noting that TNN would become “The National Network” and debut a new logo within the next couple of weeks.  The network will begin promoting a more general, mainstream image and move away from the country bumpkin theme they’ve had since their inception.  Herb Scannell, of the highly-rated Nickelodeon Network, will replace David Hall as head of TNN and report directly to Tom Freston, chairman of MTV.  The corporate offices will also be moving from Nashville to New York.

        Things came to a head last Friday when lawyers for USA and Viacom met to discuss possible scenarios should a ruling not come down prior to the 25th.  WWF was contractually obligated to jump to TNN on that date, whether the Appellate Court decision had come in or not.  So theoretically, Raw could have jumped to TNN on the 25th, a ruling in favor of USA could have come in on the 26th, and Raw would have had to jump back to USA on October 2nd.  Obviously, that would be a lose-lose situation for everyone involved, so talks began in regards to keeping WWF on USA indefinitely while they waited for the appeal verdict to come in.

        Viacom, in its agreement with the WWF, had set aside an $8 million advertising budget with which to promote the jump.  Obviously, all sides were leery of promoting a jump that might not end up taking place.  The only mention that was made by Viacom was on the TNN and MTV websites.  MTV began promoting WWF New York two weeks ago.  The plan for that show is to air it live from the WWF Cafe in New York City, and feature segments with celebrity guests spliced in between wrestling matches taped at Smackdown.  The TNN website issued a press release last week headlined:  “TNN to Telecast Three Top-Rated World Wrestling Federation Entertainment Series”.  Yes, I understand that sentence makes no sense, but I didn’t write it.  The release listed Raw, Superstars and LiveWire as the shows making the jump.  It noted they would air in the same timeslots, but listed no start dates.

        When the ruling came down, the decision was immediately made to move all programming to Viacom on the dates originally proposed, despite the obvious lack of promotion the WWF would receive.  The decision was made to spend as much of the $8 million as possible prior to the 25th in a last-ditch effort to get the word out.  The WWF had Jerry Lawler and Jim Ross announce the jump on the September 18th Raw.

        With Raw jumping to a new Network on the 25th with less than optimum promotion, that opens the door for Nitro to gain some ground in a Monday night ratings war they’ve lost for almost two years straight.  WCW plans on pulling out all the stops for the show next week, which is what they usually do in these situations.  However, Nitro was given two unopposed weeks earlier this month and put on at least one very well-received show, but this week they were already back down to the 2.8 they’d been drawing pretty regularly prior to the pre-emptions.  Plus, Nitro will not be unopposed next week — Raw will still air at 9:00 PM, just on a new network.  Any hardcore WWF fan who really wants to find it will just have to flip through the channels.  There is a mistaken belief that USA is available in far more homes than TNN, but the truth is that TNN is available in about 76 million homes and USA in about 77 million.  Plus, when you look back at the debut of Smackdown, the show did very well for itself the first week in despite airing on the very poorly-rated UPN network.  To make a long story short, the WWF won’t be too hard to find, and if someone put a gun to my head I’d predict a 4.3 for Raw and a 3.1 for Nitro.  I would also guess that within a month, Raw will be back up to around a 5.5 or 6.0 rating.

        The ruling also opens up the door for the long-expected announcement of a deal between USA and ECW.  While nobody has said anything publicly as of press time, the feeling was that a deal would be announced for a late-night weekend timeslot for ECW on USA sometime in the next two weeks.

        The WWF’s deal with Viacom already shook up the wrestling industry by resulting in the cancellation of ECW’s national television show on TNN.  But the actual WWF jump from USA to Viacom will have even more far-reaching implications for all three major companies.  It will be intriguing to see where things stand a week, a month, and a year down the road.

Special Feature

Orndorff suffers injury at Fall Brawl

        The most serious injury at a pay-per-view featuring a Goldberg vs. Steiner confrontation and a scaffold match involving the untrained Torrie Wilson ended up being to Paul Orndorff, who suffered a severe stinger in his neck executing a simple piledriver.

        Orndorff suffered the injury during the Natural Born Thrillers vs. Filthy Animals elimination match at the PPV this past Sunday.  Orndorff, who is in tremendous physical condition despite being 52 years old, attempted to piledrive Mark Jindrak, but their timing was off.  Orndorff compensated by trying to muscle Jindrak into the air, at which point he felt a shooting pain in his neck and went limp.  He laid on the mat as everyone else, freaking out and unsure of what to do, kept wrestling for another minute and a half.  Finally, referee Charles Robinson just stopped the match and ruled it a no-contest.  Orndorff told the medical personnel that he had no feeling in his arms and didn’t want to get up and risk causing himself further damage.  He was strapped to a backboard and finally stretchered out to a standing ovation.  The announcers, who have been fooled time and time again by various worked shoots, clearly didn’t believe this was real and acted terribly nonchalant about it.  They were not the only ones, as many wrestlers backstage were initially sure it was a sick work as well.  It definitely was not.  Orndorff was taken to the hospital where he later regained feeling in his arms.  Doctors performed a CAT scan which came out negative.  The feeling was that he would have no long-term damage, and he was released Monday morning.

        Orndorff retired in 1994 after undergoing neck surgery, and despite looking fantastic, clearly was in no shape to return to active competition.  The feeling Monday morning was that WCW was going to turn this into an angle, but since they put little emphasis on it the next evening on Nitro, that idea may have been dropped.

        This pay-per-view was far stronger than almost anyone expected going in, with lots of decent to good wrestling throughout.

1.  Elix Skipper d. Kiwi to retain the Cruiserweight Title.  These guys were told the Monday before the show that they’d have twenty minutes to do the match, but it got cut down to eleven by the time the show rolled around.  They worked really hard and did some cool stuff, including a Dragon suplex by Skipper.  There were still spots where they looked pretty green.  Skipper did a high Asai moonsault midway through and took out both Kiwi and the cameraman.  Thrillers came to ringside to watch.  Sanders ran in and attacked Kiwi behind the referee’s back, but it didn’t lead to the finish.  Skipper finally got the win with his finisher, which looked botched as usual.  A good opener.  **3/4

        The announcers were introduced.  The caption under Madden’s name read:  “TV’s best looking big man.”

2.  Corporal Cajun & Lt. Loco & AWOL beat Three Count.  Three Count came out before the match to do their singing and dancing routine.  Wall, who was billed as “A-Wall” came out to a disturbingly large ovation.  Lots of missed spots early.  They did a train wreck spot near the finish and AWOL bumped off the apron through a table.  Match ended with some hot nearfalls, and Cajun finally pinned Shane with the fireman’s carry into a Michinoku Driver for the pinfall.  This turned into a pretty good match by the finish.  **1/2

        Backstage, some kid asked Nash for his autograph.  Nash said it would cost the kid some money.  The kid said he had $1.50.  Nash sluffed him off and walked away.  The kid responded by beaming from ear to ear.

3.  Harris Twins beat Kronic in a chain match.  Kronic came down before the match and asked for it to be contested under first blood rules, which means “We don’t have to do a job rules” in carny.  Call me Kreskin, but as I predicted weeks ago there was no chain wrestling in this match.  During the match, Tony said:  “Look at the hatred!”  I looked around the room, and he was right, there was hatred everywhere.  Both teams did a whole bunch of nothing and nobody cared.  What a shocker.  Ref took a bump, and of course one of the Harris’ immediately got busted open.  After a few minutes, Adams got busted open.  Referee woke up, saw Adams bleeding, and called for the bell.  Pretty much the same finish as every other first blood match in recent memory.  Match was as horrible as you’d expect.  Kronic beat up the referee afterwards.  1/4*

        MIA cut a promo.  Rection said he was dedicating this next match to his friend and mentor, Hacksaw Jim Duggan.

4.  Lance Storm beat Captain Rection to retain the Canadian Title.  Storm cut a promo and ran everyone down.  He actually managed to get through the whole National Anthem before Duggan and Rection came out.  Duggan acted as outside enforcer.  Also, like an idiot.  Rection killed Storm forever and got a ton of nearfalls.  Then, in the middle of what had been a good match, Storm whipped out the worst Dragon Screw leg whip in the recorded history of pro-wrestling.  Rection responded by MURDERING him with a German suplex.  Rection went up top for the moonsault, but as expected, his friend and mentor Hacksaw Jim Duggan turned on him and nailed him with the 2x4.  Storm put on the half crab and got the win.  After the match, Duggan ripped off his shirt revealing his fat body.  Well, that and a Canadian Maple Leaf T-shirt.  Duggan killed MIA with 2x4 shots when they tried to make the save.  **3/4

5.  Natural Born Thrillers NC Rey Misterio Jr. & Juventud Guerrera & Disco Inferno & Paul Orndorff & Tygress & Big Vito & Konnan.  This was scheduled to be an elimination match with Mike Sanders pinning Tygress in the end.  Unfortunately, Orndorff suffered his injury so they stopped the match and continued it the next day on Nitro.  Since word got out that Sanders was supposed to pin Tygress, they changed the Nitro finish so Tygress pinned him.  If Sanders didn’t hate the Internet before, he probably does now.  Shawn O’Hare pinned Konnan quickly, since Konnan is still injured (torn tricep).  Disco accidentally hit Konnan with a Stunner, which led to the pin.  Johnny the Bull, who broke his pelvis and ass doing a top rope legdrop to the floor on Nitro, decided it would be a good idea to do another top rope legdrop in his first match back.  What an idiot.  Reno pinned Disco and Big Vito.  Juvie then KILLED Reno with a Michinoku Driver for the pin.  Jindrak and O’Hare did their outside-in super hiptoss to poor Juvie, then O’Hare pinned him with the senton bomb.  Orndorff pinned Johnny with the piledriver, and then got injured trying to hit Jindrak with it.  This was going pretty well until the accident, but I can’t give it a rating due to the early stoppage.

        Shane Douglas and Torrie Wilson cut a promo.  Douglas said Kidman was going to be joining Orndorff at the hospital.  That’s classy.  Believe me, there were a lot of people upset about that line.  Even Torrie momentarily broke character and looked appalled.  Douglas said he promised a refund if Kidman and Madusa didn’t fall off the scaffold.  Crowd cheered at the thought of a refund.

6.  Shane Douglas & Torrie Wilson beat Kidman & Madusa in a scaffold match.  The scaffold was about six feet wide and probably a good fifteen feet in the air.  It was set up over the stage instead of the ring.  Torrie looked absolutely scared out of her mind.  Douglas and Kidman did some scary wrestling on the scaffold.  Kidman even took a backdrop at one point.  Madusa tried to climb down the side but Douglas went after her.  Shane kicked her in the head and she fell about eight feet onto this huge foam pad covered with a black tarp.  It looked about as safe as can be, and trust me, I’m not going to complain about it.  Torrie gave Kidman a low blow, then Douglas tossed him off the scaffold.  Kidman bumped onto what appeared to be another big, soft mattress.  Tony screamed:  “There was no give to that stage!”  You would have had to have seen this to realize how ridiculous that comment was.  Douglas then helped a petrified Torrie climb down to safety.  This was horrible, scary, pointless, and, frankly, quite depressing.  Nobody needs to get hurt, so the safety precautions were important, but the audience wasn’t into seeing them take bumps onto a stage so obviously gimmicked.  I totally don’t understand the point of this one at all.  -*

        Clips aired of Mike Tenay interviewing David Flair at his house.  David was running all over acting mentally unstable.  Tenay wanted to know what it was like to have Stacy leave him at the alter.  Gee, I wonder?  He wanted to know who David thought the father was.  David said maybe Reid.  I was sad he said this, because I was going to write a story suggesting that.  Oh well.  Tenay said he asked Ric, and Ric didn’t deny it.  Suddenly, David screamed:  “He’s here, the father!”  He ran outside and attacked the mailman.  He threw him down and started to apply the figure four, at which point the mailman screamed:  “No, not that!” like David regularly put the figure four on him.  David then ran off into the neighborhood, apparently to do some jogging.  “I think my leg’s broken!” the mailman said.  Tenay called for help.  This was SO hokey.

        ICP came out to do funny commentary.

7.  Sting beat Muta and Vampiro in a three-way.  This was EXACTLY what you’d expect.  Muta and Vamp teamed up immediately and spent most of the match beating up Sting.  Eventually, they turned on each other and got into a fight.  ICP ran in to try to calm everyone down.  Sting grabbed a bat and hit everyone.  It was just as exciting on TV as it sounds reading it here.  Sting pinned Muta.  Vamp and ICP then beat on Muta after the match.  Sting made the save, but looked less than thrilled to be doing so.  1/2*

        Mike Awesome arrived in his Partridge Family bus.  Pamela was there to interview him.  Mike hit on her, but she said they were just friends.  It’s funny, because on half the shows Pamela says she’s just friends with Mike, but on the other half she’s walking to the bus with him like they’re a couple.  Maybe there are two Pamelas.  That would make as much sense as what happened next, which was Gary Coleman getting out of the bus.  I’m not making this up.  They did a horrible skit.  During the show the announcers said something about Coleman being an advice columnist on some Internet site.  They must have meant he frequently visits an advice columnist on the Internet, because the former story can’t possibly be true.

8.  Mike Awesome beat Jeff Jarrett in a bunkhouse match.  Jeff came out and got some crazy cheap heat, making fun of the Buffalo Bills.  All the Bills were sitting in the front row.  Awesome came out minus Gary Coleman.  He must have been signing autographs in the back.  Actually, he was probably getting autographs.  Jarrett and Awesome hit each other with stuff.  Awesome went for his super Awesome bomb off the top rope through a table, but Jarrett was too big a pussy to take it.  So he turned it into a backdrop and Awesome almost killed himself.  Jarrett took a bump into a table covered with fake barbed wire.  Awesome went for the big splash but missed.  Suddenly, all the Bills jumped the guardrail and surrounded the ring.  Security did not bother to take them away.  One of the generic Bills punched Jarrett, who walked into a SUPER PHATASS Awesome sit-out powerbomb.  Jarrett kicked out, which sucked, because the crowd was going crazy thinking it was the finish.  Awesome went for a second one, but Jarrett mule-kicked him.  Jarrett grabbed the guitar.  Even though the ring was surrounded by angry Bills, none of them went to grab the guitar.  Instead, the diminutive Gary Coleman had to run down, climb into the ring, and hit Jarrett with multiple low blows.  Coleman got WAY too excited and started jumping up and down on the ropes.  His hat fell off, and a towel fell out.  Oops.  He put the towel back into the hat, then put the hat back on his head.  It’s a good thing he put that towel back in there, because Jarrett immediately hit him with a guitar shot.  As the referee tended to Coleman, Sting ran down, gave Jarrett a death drop, and ran off into the night.  Awesome climbed on top and got the pin.  Good match.  ***1/4

9.  Scott Steiner beat Goldberg in a no-DQ match.  This was just as frightening as I expected it to be going in.  They pummeled each other with scariness.  Steiner actually hit a Diamond Cutter at one point and the announcers brought up Dallas Page.  That’s it, he’s coming back for sure.  Steiner came off the top, but Goldberg caught him and powerslammed him.  Goldberg started holding his bad arm.  Midajah came out with a bat, but didn’t do much.  Goldberg went headfirst into the steps and started bleeding hardway from the top of his head.  Steiner gave him an overhead belly-to-belly and Goldberg landed right on his head.  Steiner grabbed a pipe, but Goldberg speared him.  Russo then hit the ring and killed Goldberg with bat shots.  Steiner set up a table and powerslammed Goldberg through it.  He put on the Recliner, but Goldberg got the ropes.  Steiner took him up top.  Goldberg tried to fight back, but Midajah and Russo both hit him with their bats.  Steiner then dropped him right on his head again with an overhead belly-to-belly superplex.  I thought for sure somebody was going to die at this point.  Steiner put on the Recliner again, but Goldberg made the ropes.  Goldberg went for the spear, but Russo cut him off.  Goldberg grabbed him by the throat.  Steiner snuck up behind him and nailed him in the belly and head with the pipe.  He put on the Recliner for a third time.  Goldberg was pretty much a bloody mass of depravity, so the referee stopped the match.  One hell of a scary spectacle.  ***3/4

10.  Booker T beat Kevin Nash in a cage match to win the WCW World Title.  Nash started off with his usual ghetto offense, and actually tried a surfboard submission about two minutes in.  I was surprised to see him do this move, since it required the use of both of his hands, which meant he was unable to adjust his hair.  For those of you wondering, yes, we counted, and he adjusted his hair on twenty separate occasions in this match.  Nash removed a corner pad, but of course he ended up running into it himself.  Booker went for the axe kick, but Nash cut him off and chokeslammed him.  Nash actually gigged and started bleeding.  Really.  Nash went for a powerbomb, but Booker grabbed the cage to escape.  He hit a missile dropkick for a nearfall.  Nash hit the big boot and pulled his singlet straps down.  He went for the powerbomb. but Booker slipped out, hit the uranage, and got the clean-as-a-sheet pinfall.  Almost a miracle.  I was so proud of everyone when this match was over.  First, I was proud of Russo for booking a cage match that didn’t include fifty run-ins or the guys breaking out.  Second, I was proud of Nash for working harder than usual, bleeding, and doing a clean job in the end.  ***



WWF Top Stories

Daniels, Henderson get tryouts

        Christopher Daniels and Mike Henderson were given what amounted to WWF try-out matches at the Universal Pro Wrestling show in Santa Ana, CA last Wednesday.  Henderson beat Taka Michinoku in what was said to be an excellent match.  Afterwards, Taka gave Henderson the Michinoku Driver and laid him out.  Kurt Angle beat Daniels with the OIympic Slam in what was also said to be a very good match.  One observer said the Michinoku vs. Henderson match was probably the best on the show, although Daniels vs. Angle was a better technical match and had a good finish, with Angle trying for the Olympic Slam several times and finally hitting it in the end.  No yet on whether either have been offered developmental deals.

Gunn, Debra, X-Pac top driver candidates

        As of this past weekend, the top three candidates for the driver of the car that ran over Steve Austin were Billy Gunn (who is returning soon from rotator cuff surgery), Debra (Austin’s real-life wife) and X-Pac (Hunter Hearst Helmsely’s real-life friend).  I think any of those three would be a major let-down.  WWF is hesitant to give the spot to Gunn, who has been out since WrestleMania, feeling he might not deserve to be put into a top spot versus Austin at this time.  I would agree with that.  Why Austin would agree to have an on-air feud with his real-life wife is totally beyond me, since the divorce rate in wrestling among couples feuding on TV is pretty disturbing.  I think X-Pac is a good worker, but I don’t think he’s anywhere near the level he would need to be to face off against Austin as one of the top heels in the company.  He does have friends in high places, however, so there’s a chance he may end up with the spot.

Heavy competition hurts ratings

        Ratings for Raw and Nitro were down this week due to competition from football, the Olympics, and a Survivor rerun.  Raw did a 5.7 off hourly numbers of 5.5 and 5.9.  Nitro did a 2.8 — which, I would like to add, is exactly what I predicted last week — off hourly numbers of 3.2 and 2.3.  Nitro peaked at a 3.5 from 8:45 to 9:00 for the David Flair interview with Mike Tenay, and David’s confrontation with MI Smooth.  People think I’m joking when I note that David Flair draws ratings, but the truth is that he does.  Only God knows why.  Some say Ric Flair is God.  Raw went from a 6.1 to a 5.2 when Mick Foley came out and asked George W. Bush and Al Gore to accept the Smackdown challenge.  Fans were violently opposed to that for some reason.  Raw’s overrun with Rock vs. Undertaker only did a 5.9, the lowest overrun number of the year for the company.  Other numbers saw Smackdown do a 4.9, Thunder do a 2.6 and ECW on TNN do an 0.8.

WWF Tidbits

Jim Ross reported in his Ross Report that Steve Austin and Debra were married in a small ceremony in Las Vegas on September 13th.  He also noted that Kat and Jerry Lawler would also be marrying soon.  Didn’t we report that several months ago and Lawler denied it?  Ross also reported that Davey Boy Smith had been involved in a motorcycle accident last week and was hospitalized in Calgary.

  Viacom announced last week that they have no plans to cancel the UPN Network yet, and even went as far as to claim the network could be profitable within two years.

  The guy who played Hugh Heffner’s bodyguard on Smackdown was a UPW wrestler who works as Stephan and does a gimmick similar to Kevin Nash’s old Diesel character.

  In regards to Shawn Michaels’ comments concerning a possible final match on the TWA website last week, he did note in a shoot interview with RF Video that he liked to screw around with the Internet fans every now and then, because “it keeps your name out there”.

  Kurt Angle was back on the road this weekend.

WCW Top Stories

Bischoff:  No Mandalay Sports

        Eric Bischoff swore to Mike Mooneyham of the Charleston Post-Courier that his meeting in Atlanta two weeks ago had nothing to do with Mandalay Sports.  Of course, that doesn’t necessarily mean it had nothing to do with buying WCW.  While Bischoff is still denying that he’s trying to buy the company, sources say he’s been trying to do so since April with numerous different potential investors, only one of which is Mandalay.  Apparently, Time Warner wants a lot more than Bischoff is offering.  Bischoff, through intermediaries, has placed phone calls to several people in wrestling asking them what they believe a fair price for the company would be.  We learned just before going to press that Bischoff told close friends Tuesday that Mandalay Bay was expected to make a really big offer “sooner than later” and that there was a better than 50% chance that the ownership of WCW would change hands.



Flair, Russo the father?

        There was talk several weeks ago that Ric Flair would end up being the father of Miss Hancock’s baby, but the betting line backstage now is that it will end up being Vince Russo.  Flair made a rare snafu during his Thunder interview when he said he’d heard “last week” that people were saying he was the father, even though Hancock had only revealed that David wasn’t the father two days earlier on Nitro.  Most people backstage last week figured Russo was going to end up booking himself as the father, mostly as a way to remain an important part of the company, and also to keep his feud with Ric Flair strong.  Russo, unlike many of the previous bookers, understands Flair’s ratings power and wants to keep him a focal point of the company.

Russo puts himself in Nassau title match

        The finish of the Nitro show Monday saw Vince Russo, all 170 pounds of him, pin Scott Steiner to win a shot at Booker T next Monday at the Nassau Coliseum.  Since Raw will be jumping to TNN — giving Nitro a great opportunity to pick up confused WWF fans — the word was that Russo would book a pay-per-view quality Nitro.  Why Russo would end this past week’s Nitro giving viewers the impression that he was going to get a title shot next week was the subject of much debate Tuesday.  Because of his multiple concussions, my guess is that he won’t be in that match and Scott Steiner will end up pinning Booker T and winning the belt.  If that’s the case, it seems to me that it would have been better to end this past week’s Nitro promoting that match for Nassau.  More than a few people suggested the Russo’s ego is so big that he felt putting himself in a World title match in New York would sell tickets and boost ratings.  I guess we’ll see if it ends up meaning anything for ratings, but ticket sales for Nassau this past Tuesday after the match was announced were said to be less than you could even imagine, well below 100.

WCW Tidbits

The rumor backstage Monday was that Scott Hall had received permission to return from Brad Siegel and would show up at the Nitro in Nassau this Monday.

  Chae won the Miss Halloween Havoc contest at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas over the weekend.  Other competitors included Chiquita, Baby, Torrie Wilson, Midajah, Major Gunns and Miss Hancock.  They announced that Pamela Paulshock was not there due to an ankle injury she suffered on Thunder.  That was apparently part of some sort of angle, since she didn’t really get hurt on Thunder.  They did segments where the girls came out in street clothes, then bikinis.  They had a question and answer session, then asked each girl about their most embarrassing TV moments.  In regards to Chae, I would like to note that, like X-Pac, it’s nice to have friends in high places.  Anyway, the girls also talked about training at the Power Plant, and noted that Madusa beats them all up regularly.  That’s nice.  Another reason to hate Madusa.  Apparently the contest went over very well, which is why they’re doing the Miss Nitro swimsuit contest at Nitro.

  Ric Flair expects to be cleared to wrestle by November.

  The plan is for Halloween Havoc to be built strongly around Sting.

  The original plan was for Jeff Jarrett to drag the handcuffed Goldberg behind the Partridge Family bus on Nitro last week.  At some point before the show actually aired, it got changed to having Goldberg break the grill off the bus just as Nitro ended.  So what happened on TV was exactly what was supposed to happen.  Unfortunately, a lot of people backstage didn’t hear that the plans had changed, so many thought Goldberg had gone into business for himself by breaking free.

  Goldberg appears on Conan O’Brien’s show September 25th.

  Melissa Bellin, the artist formerly known as Spice, announced on her new website that she had left WCW.  That’s too bad because she sure was cute.

ECW Tidbits

Joel Gertner vs. Cyrus has been added to the ECW PPV.  Let me see if I can go out on a limb and book this one.  It’s first.  It’s short.  Gertner wins.  Cyrus and company beat the stuff out of him afterwards.  Gertner gets stretchered out and Cyrus ends up doing commentary for the rest of the show.

Television Reviews

WWF Smackdown (9/14/00)

        Quick Review:  One of the funniest Smackdown shows in a long time with some very good wrestling thrown in.  Tazz may have stolen the show with his comical behavior at ringside.

  Summary:  Mick Foley came out and talked about the PPV.  He said he had a plan to keep everyone from touching each other before Judgement Day.  Before he could announce what his plan was, Rock came out.  “Finally, the Rock has come back to Phoenix,” he said.  Yes, finally.  After all, he hadn’t been in that building since they taped the Raw show there the night before.  Rock took about five minutes to say virtually nothing.  Undertaker came out and said he wanted the WWF Title.  Benoit came out.  Cole called him a loose cannon.  OK, it’s been like four years and I finally have to ask — what in the hell is a “loose cannon”?  What part of a cannon can become loose?  The cannonball?  Can the cannonball shoot out of a loose cannon even if the fuse is not lit?  What does that mean?  Perhaps any of our readers who are well-versed in Civil War history can write in and explain this to me.  Anyway, Benoit wanted to know why the PPV was a four-way even though he pinned Undertaker on Raw.  That’s a good question.  Kane came out and proceeded to growl to absolutely no reaction.  Kurt Angle then came out.  He said Hunter had attacked Stephanie on Raw, and that he’d done it on purpose.  Hunter came out and went after Angle, but Foley kept them apart.  Foley said to ensure that nobody beat their opponent up before the PPV, he was going to make everyone who hated each other team up later.  He signed Hunter & Angle vs. T&A, Undertaker & Rock vs. Dudleys and Benoit & Kane vs. Acolytes.  Poor Benoit.  Foley said if anyone attacked their partner or refused to cooperate with them, they’d lose their match at Unforgiven.  This segment was only about 13 minutes long, but it seemed like 13 hours.  Kane and Benoit attacked Rock afterwards.  Undertaker wanted to just desert him, but ended up running in to make the save.  After Undertaker ran off Benoit, Kane KILLED Rock with a hella chokeslam.

  Acolytes beat Benoit & Kane.  Benoit put the Crossface on Faarooq to absolutely no reaction.  If even one person in the WWF is surprised by this, that person is an idiot.  Fans don’t react because nobody ever taps out to the Crossface, even people like Faarooq.  Benoit ended up walking out on Kane.  Lawler said this was not breaking Foley’s rule.  It’s not?  I would consider that not cooperating.  Acolytes won with a double pin on Kane.  Kane lumbered after Benoit.

  Hunter told Foley that he didn’t want to team with Angle, but Foley didn’t care.

  Clips aired of Eddy Guerrero going to the Playboy Mansion.  He tried to get in to talk to Hugh Heffner, but the guards stopped him.  Eddy told them he didn’t want the issue to come out with the nude pictures of Chyna, and of course mentioned the September 25th release date.  Vince McMahon is so smart.  Eddy ended up creating a scene and was kicked off the property.

  Back at the Arena, Chyna freaked out at the footage and left.

  RTC cut a very long promo.  Val Venis said he had been a bad man, but was now going to fight the good fight.  Fans inexplicably chanted “SAVE THE HO’S!”  RTC beat Too Cool & Rikishi when Val pinned Scotty with the screwdriver (back suplex into a powerbomb).  Match had absolutely awesome heat.  Eddy ran down for some reason during the match and sprayed Rikishi with mace.  Poor Eddy.

  T&A beat HHH & Angle.  Hunter got a good pop coming out, but Angle was booed like crazy.  Stephanie came down midway through and got attacked by Trish.  Angle went to check on her, which enraged Hunter.  Hunter grabbed him by the hair and was about to punch him when Test snuck up from behind and hit Hunter with a full-nelson slam for the pin.  That was a shocker.

  Tazz met with Mick Foley backstage and said he wanted his release.  Foley said he liked Tazz and was going to give him a match at the PPV with Lawler instead.  Tazz said he didn’t want that because somebody was just going to run in.  Foley said he’d rule that neither Tazz nor Lawler could touch each other until the show.  Even though that didn’t guarantee someone wouldn’t run in during the match, Tazz said this was cool with him.

  Edge & Christian came out and did a skit with “the Hardyz of the future”.  Two very old guys, one in a blonde wig and one in a black one, came out acting like Matt and Jeff.  I thought for sure it was the Rock & Roll Express.  An old Lita came out next.  This was actually really funny.  Foley then came out and said the Edge & Christian vs. Hardyz match at the PPV would now be inside a cage.  The real Hardyz and Lita then ran out and attacked the bad guys.

  Steve Blackman d. Saturn to retain the Hardcore Title.  Tazz came out and sat down in the front row right behind Lawler and Michael Cole.  He had a sign that said “TAZZ” and kept throwing popcorn at Lawler.  He kept harassing them during the hardcore match.  At one point, Saturn hit a Northern Lights Suplex and Tazz, in the background, screamed at the top of his lungs:  “NORTHERN LIGHTS SUPLEX, MICHAEL COLE, NORTHERN LIGHTS SUPLEX!”  OK, that was the funniest thing ever.  After the match, security came out and took Tazz away, which was too bad, because he was AWESOME here.

  Edge & Christian & X-Pac beat Hardyz & Chris Jericho when — guess — X-Pac pinned Jeff Hardy.  What a shocker.  X-Pac sure is good, but COME ON NOW.  Match was great.

  They aired clips of four young fans giving their view on why George W. Bush and Al Gore should debate on Smackdown.  They were so unintentionally funny, and I would not want even one of these four to decide in any way the future of this nation.

  Dudleys d. Rock & Undertaker in a tables match when Dudleys gave Taker the 3D through a table.  I have to say, not only is Undertaker working his aging ass off lately, but he has now done two jobs in a row on TV.  Never have I been so proud of the old Undertaker.  After the match, Undertaker chokeslammed Rock through a table to a surprisingly big pop.

Raw is War (9/18/00)

        Quick Review:  A decent show with a good main event.  It was very surreal listening to Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler plugging Raw’s move to TNN next week.

 Summary:  The final Raw on USA opened with Jim Ross announcing they were leaving USA.  That’s a fine cup of tea.

  Stephanie came out and talked about how she’d married Hunter last November, which ironically was the same month Kurt Angle debuted in the WWF.  She asked Foley to come out and cancel the Hunter vs. Angle PPV match.  She said if he didn’t cancel it, she would be sad.  That was really her reason.  Angle came down and said the match HAD to take place because Stephanie would be even more sad if he didn’t teach HHH a lesson.  You know, if Dean Douglas’ catch phrase had been “I am going to TEACH YOU A LESSON”, he might not have been such a flop.  Angle showed footage of Hunter supposedly being a bad husband.  Clips aired of various incidents with Chyna, Trish, etc., and also various shots of Hunter accidentally hitting Steph.  Hunter came out to a big pop and calmly walked down to the ring.  He insinuated Kurt was gay by saying Stephanie was really, really hot, but Kurt only wanted to be her friend.  HHH said he had some footage of his own.  It was from the 1996 Olympics, and included shots of Angle in compromising positions with other wrestlers, and also him crying on the awards stand.  Angle looked genuinely embarrassed and actually turned red, which I don’t think I’ve ever seen him do.  Foley came out and said he had great respect for Angle.  Then he asked Hunter to show the footage of him crying again.  They made Angle look like the biggest geek here.  Foley said the match at the PPV was going to take place no matter what, then signed Hunter & Angle & Steph vs. T&A & Trish for later.

  RTC beat Dudleys when Stevie hit Bubba with a superkick behind the referee’s back.  In a rare snafu, the cameras totally missed it.  Acolytes ran down to make the save after the match.

  Rock came down and showed footage of Undertaker putting him through a table at Smackdown.  He offered Taker a title shot later.  Undertaker came out and gave Rock a browbeating en route to accepting the match.  Foley came out and signed the match for later.  Benoit then hit the ring and said he wanted the shot, which of course resulted in Kane coming out and saying the same thing.  Foley said Rock vs. Undertaker was non-title without actually saying the words “non-title”, which confused many fans.  Foley also signed Kane vs. Benoit for later.

  Comments aired from Hugh Heffner, who said Chyna’s Playboy issue was coming out no matter what.  Hef appeared to be wearing his most expensive bathrobe, and probably his most expensive tissue boxes on his feet as well.

  Eddy apologized to Chyna for going crazy and trying to invade the Playboy Mansion the week before.  Strangely, she accepted his apology.  Suddenly, Eddy said he felt sick.  She offered to get him something to drink.  I thought for sure she was going to poison him.

  Kane beat Benoit via DQ when Benoit hit him with the ring bell.  Benoit hit him with a diving headbutt after the match, but Kane did his part in destroying the credibility of that move by immediately sitting up.  Benoit left.  For some reason, these two really don’t work well together.

  HHH and Steph talked about their upcoming match.  Angle walked in and got into a comical argument with Hunter.  Angle said:  “And Hunter, try to go a week without ‘accidentally’ hitting your wife.”  Hunter grinned and said:  “OK, try to go a match without hitting on me, OK?”  Crowd actually started laughing like on a sitcom.

  HHH & Angle & Stephanie beat T&A & Trish.  Hunter gave Test a Pedigree, then put Steph on top for the pin.  Afterwards, Angle and Steph celebrated and he gave her this huge hug.  Hunter got pissed and speared Angle.  Referees had to break up the pounding.  I was a little disturbed watching his match because it looked like Angle smashed his head on the mat on about five different moves.

  Eddy said he was really sick and asked if Chyna would wrestle Rikishi.  She said OK.

  Tazz came down, yelled at Lillian, and took over her duties as ring announcer.  Chyna came out for the match with Rikishi.  As they were about to start, Eddy limped down covered in a blanket.  Chyna thought it was so cute for some reason.  Rikishi jumped Eddy and beat him up, but Chyna made the save.  Suddenly, Eddy jumped up, completely healthy, and sprayed Rikishi with mace.  Chyna went to help the blinded Rikishi afterwards, but he gave her a Samoan Drop and a middle rope vertical splash.  Eddy refused to go help, but did console her after Rikishi left.  So Rikishi beat Chyna by DQ.

  A promo aired with the returning Steven William Regal.  He is not officially a man’s man anymore.  Regal had a table set up in the ring and said he was going to teach the rubes some etiquette.  They booed like mad and screamed profanities, which is not good etiquette.  Regal looked great.  Chris Jericho interrupted the lesson and came down to the ring.  He destroyed the table and was about to go after Regal when X-Pac jumped him from behind and stomped a mudhole in him.  I am Steve Regal’s biggest fan in the UNIVERSE.

  Edge & Christian beat Too Cool when Christian hit Grandmaster in the head with one of the Tag belts and pinned him.  Match was OK.

  Foley came out and said Al Gore and George W. Bush had not accepted the Smackdown challenge.  He asked them to reconsider.  Even though Foley was only out there for about two minutes, this segment appeared to have quite a detrimental effect on the ratings.

  Benoit came out to do commentary for the main event.  Undertaker beat Rock in a non-title match.  After a ref bump, Undertaker had Rock pinned with a DDT.  Later, Rock had him pinned with the People’s Elbow, but the ref was still out.  Undertaker than hit the chokeslam and the referee came back to life, but Rock kicked out.  Finally, Undertaker hit the press powerbomb for the clean pin.  A pretty good little TV match and the finish was great.  After the match Kane and Benoit went after Undertaker, but Rock made the save.  As soon as they cleared the ring of the bad guys, Rock hit Undertaker with a uranage and left him laying.  What a poor sport.  And that, folks, was the end of the last Raw on USA.

WCW Wednesday Thunder (9/14/00)

        Quick Review:  Not the worst Thunder ever, but a quite horrible effort on the part of WCW.  There was a total of about three minutes of wrestling in the first 70 minutes of the show.

  Summary:  Miss Jones arrived and was immediately kidnapped by Jeff Jarrett.

  David Flair was shown walking around backstage asking people if they were the father of Miss Hancock’s baby.

  Kevin Nash, Scott Steiner and Jeff Jarrett dragged Miss Jones down to the ring.  Nash called the people “stupid” in a pedestrian attempt to get heat.  They hyped up the PPV.  Jarrett threatened to hit Jones with a guitar, for God knows what reason.  Booker and Shat made the save by waiting for their music to play, then walking slowly down the aisle.  Everyone yelled at each other.  Shat signed himself and Booker against Steiner and Nash in the main event with the winner getting the WCW Title.  He also signed Jarrett vs. Sting for later.  Jarrett got mad, and gave David Penzer a guitar shot.  What a crazy guy.

  Disco told the Animals backstage that he’d signed them to a match with Kronic and the Harris Twins.  He said their belts were not on the line.  Rey and Juvie still weren’t happy.

  Pamela came out to do ring intros.  Instead of having a match, they cut to backstage again.  Mike Awesome arrived in his Partridge Family Express.  He was pissed that “they” had broken the grill on Monday.  Apparently, Goldberg is now multiple men.

  Apparently, poor Pamela was still standing in the ring in front of all those people with absolutely nothing to do yet.

  Gene interviewed that Animals backstage.  Disco signed himself and Konnan to a match with Jindrak and O’Hare.  Konnan said no way, Cranberry, his tricep was still messed up.  So Disco asked Rey and Juvie, who also said no.  Rey told him to ask Gene.  Disco asked Gene.  Gene said:  “Blow it out your ass, I play golf!”  That may have gotten the biggest pop on the show.  Disco finally dragged Tygress away.

  A WAY too long Natural Born Thrillers promo occurred, in which they introduced the very not over Johnny the Bull.

  Mark Jindrak & Shawn O’Hare beat Disco Inferno & Tygress in a HORRENDOUS match.  Disco deserted her to “get help”.  Jindrak took a voluntary bronco buster, then powerbombed Tygress to death.  O’Hare hit the senton on her and got the pin.  After the match, Thrillers attacked the Animals.

  Sting asked Booker for a title shot the night after the PPV.

  Mike Awesome came out for the latest edition of Lava Lamp Lounge.  He interviewed Major Gunns, who performed some hideous acting.  Awesome offered to give her a massage.  Elix Skipper and Lance Storm ran in.  Awesome killed Skipper.  MIA then came out on the ramp and asked for a match with Storm.  Nobody seemed to care that Mike Awesome was still bebopping around.  Storm said he and Skipper would face Rection and Hacksaw Jim Duggan, who is retired.  Rection said OK, and they left.  Jeff Jarrett then ran out of nowhere and gave Awesome the stroke.  Jarrett promised to debut Slap Nuts Theatre next week.

  Set your VCRs for that one.

  MIA talked to Duggan.  Duggan said he was retired.  Well, what is he doing at the show then?  Rection said Storm had called Duggan “old”, which resulted in Duggan agreeing to come out of retirement.

  Nash and Steiner, in one of the only funny things on the show, charged some fan sixty bucks to take a picture with his kid.  The guy said he’d take the picture on the count of three.  Just when he hit three, Steiner flexed his bicep and his entire arm obscured the kid’s head.  That was awesome.

  Torrie and Shane Douglas came out.  Douglas guaranteed either Kidman or Madusa would fall off the scaffold.  He said if they didn’t, he’d refund everyone’s money.  Kidman & Madusa NC Torrie & Douglas when Kidman just chased Torrie into the stands.  Douglas went after them.  Torrie ended up slipping and almost falling off a balcony.  She just hung there, holding on for dear life, until they brought her to safety.  Yeah, that was good.  Now I want to buy the PPV even less than before.  The sad thing was that she did this dangerous stunt to almost complete indifference from the crowd.

  Tenay interviewed Ric Flair.  Tenay got lippy again and finally asked if Flair was the father of Hancock’s baby.  Flair got pissed, said that kind of thinking was “bullshit”, and walked out.  Flair is so great.

  David went up to Fit Finley backstage and asked if he was the father.  Finley threatened to kick his ass.  David was smart enough to immediately walk away.

  Jarrett and Sting came out and got into an argument.  They agreed that the winner of their best of three falls match would get the title shot at whomever was Champion following Fall Brawl.  Sting beat Jarrett two falls to one to become number one contender.  Jarrett won the first fall with the Stroke.  Sting won the second with a sunset flip.  Really, that’s true.  During the third fall, referee took a bump.  Sting put on the Scorpion.  Jarrett tapped out, then fell unconscious.  Sting called for the bell and announced that he had won.  Match was pretty good, although the finish was a bit goofy.

  Kronic beat Harris Twins and Rey & Juvie in a non-title three-way.  Rey and Juvie pretty much just stayed out of the way, which was smart.  Match was atrocious.

  David came down to the ring and called out Stacy.  She came out looking forlorn.  David wanted to know who the father was.  She refused to even look at him.  Arn Anderson then came out.  David asked if he was the father, and Arn yelled at him.  Arn basically said women were a dime a dozen and told David to forget about her.  So David left.  Well that makes no sense.

  Duggan was shown laid out under an American flag backstage.

  Elix Skipper & Lance Storm beat Captain Rection.  Canadians pretty much killed Rection.  Storm put him in the half-crab.  Hacksaw limped out to make the save, but was too late.  Rection tapped out for the finish.  After the match, Duggan hyped up the PPV in what ended up being maybe the best promo on the show.

  Nash & Steiner NC Booker T & Shat when Goldberg ran in and killed Steiner dead with a spear and a jackhammer.  Since there was no finish, Nash retained the title.  Crowd popped big for Goldberg’s run-in.

WCW Monday Nitro (9/18/00)

        Quick Review:  This show seemed to have better focus than many recent Nitros, but still wasn’t anything out of the ordinary.  I absolutely couldn’t believe the booking of the main event.

  Summary:  Nitro opened with Tony explaining the situation with Paul Orndorff.  He said Orndorff was OK, had a CAT scan which came out negative, and left the hospital earlier in the day under his own power.

  Rey Misterio Jr. & Tygress beat Jindrak & O’Hare & Chuck Palumbo & Mike Sanders.  They basically just restarted the match from the night before exactly where they left off.  Rey and Tygress eliminated Jindrak and O’Hare with a double pin.  Suddenly, Stasiak, who was doing commentary, just got into the ring.  Who needs logic anyway?  Tygress pinned Stasiak after Kiwi inexplicably ran out and KO’d him with a chair.  Palumbo pinned Rey.  Tygress than rolled up Palumbo and pinned him.  Palumbo needs to double up on that leg press machine since he was unable to propel the 120-pound Tygress into the air after she rolled him up.  Rey then gave Sanders a dropkick and Tygress pinned him.  Wow.

  Vince Russo came out to Goldberg’s theme.  He read a prepared statement which he claimed was from Goldberg, saying Goldberg had quit the promotion.  Fans chanted “RUSSO!”  Steiner came out.  He was angry.  He said he’d killed Goldberg just as he’d promised.  There were LOUD “Goldberg sucks!” chants, which was particularly funny because they came immediately after Tony said nobody in the building believed the statement was really from Goldberg.  Steiner said his next stop was the World Championship, and everyone popped huge.  He guaranteed he’d win the belt on Nitro next week in Nassau.  Jeff Jarrett came out and said he was the one who deserved a title shot.  Russo separated them and said he was the boss and would decide who got the title shot.  Nash came out.  Crowd chanted “We want Hall!”  Nash said he wanted a title shot too.  Russo said he would make a tag match for later with the winner getting the shot on Nitro next week.  He said Jarrett and Steiner would team up.  Everyone wanted to know who Nash’s partner was.  Russo announced it would be himself.  Who would have ever thought?.

    Douglas & Torrie beat Paisley & Kiwi.  Douglas killed Kiwi and was about to pin him when Paisley said she wanted Torrie.  Douglas dragged Kiwi over so he could make the tag.  Then, instead of tagging in Torrie, Douglas hit Paisley with the Franchiser and pinned her.

  Nash and Russo discussed a plan of action.  Nash drew some strategy on the chalkboard, then connected all the dots to spell out “BITE ME”.  Russo didn’t like that strategy.

  Booker and Sting did an interview hyping up their match later, and ended up getting into a fight.

  Disco challenged Shat to a match.  The stipulations were that if Disco won, he got to be Commissioner for a day, but if Shat won, the Animals got stripped of the Tag belts.

  Shat pinned Disco in seconds.  Best Shat match ever.  Animals ran down and chased Disco threw the crowd.  Disco ended up hopping into the Disco Mobile and zooming off.

  MI Smooth came out and said he had some information for David about the father of Miss Hancock’s baby.  David came out looking depraved.  Smooth said he had a videotape that he’d give to David if the price was right.  David paid him off, took the tape, then hit Smooth with a crowbar.  At least Smooth got to keep the money.

  Backstage, Russo told Steiner and Jarrett to calm down.  He asked them what they thought of Kronic.  Both guys said they sucked.  I love how they’re making an angle out of the fact that Kronic sucks.  Russo told them they’d talk after the Booker vs. Sting match.

  After commercial, Russo met with Mike Sanders.  He gave him an audio tape and told him to deliver it to Kronic, but warned Sanders not to tell them who it was from.

  Booker T d. Sting via DQ when Jarrett ran in.  Heavy boos for that one.  Steiner ran in and attacked Booker as well.  It ended up with Jarrett putting the figure four on Sting and Steiner putting Booker in the Recliner.

  Sanders gave the tape to Brian Clarke.

  Shat signed Jarrett & Nash vs. Kronic for later.

  Team Canada came down and introduced Jim Duggan as their newest member.  Duggan came out with a shaved face and short crewcut.  I didn’t think it was possible to make Jim Duggan look weirder than he did before, but they managed to do it.  They played the Canadian National Anthem, but MIA interrupted it.  Duggan & Storm & Skipper beat Loco & Cajun & Rection in a match with really good heat when Duggan pinned Rection.  They focus was almost solely on Duggan, who was mass over.  At least Team Canada got a win in Canada for once.

  Mike Awesome arrived in his bus with Gary Coleman.  We never saw Coleman again.

  Kronic came out for the match with Jarrett and Steiner.  Nash and the Thrillers came out instead.  Kronic basically killed them all one at a time.  Finally, Jarrett and Steiner snuck in from the crowd, hit Kronic with bats, and got the pin.  Depressing to see Kronic protected like this.

  Awesome went back to his bus for something and found it had been graffiti’d by Vamp and ICP.

  Russo asked Sting to be his partner for later.  Sting reluctantly agreed, just so he could try and win a title shot.

  Mike Awesome beat Vampiro in a hardcore match.  Vamp’s new ring outfit rules.  Finish saw Awesome give Vamp the Awesome bomb over the top rope down through a table to the floor.  This was a pretty good match.  Awesome sure is great, and sure does have a crappy gimmick.

  Outside, David destroyed the videotape and ran off into the night.

  Steiner & Jarrett beat Sting & Booker T when Vince Russo pinned Scott Steiner.  Get ready, because this may take awhile to explain.  First, Sting came out with Booker, who last time I checked was not Vince Russo.  Then, Nash, who said he wanted a title shot, just watched from the ramp and didn’t bother getting in the ring, or complaining that he wasn’t involved.  Both Midajah and Miss Jones got involved, and don’t even ask me to try to explain that one.  Then, Kronic came out and attacked Jarrett.  Steiner put Booker in the Recliner, but Russo limped unheroically down to the ring.  Steiner attacked him.  Booker then hit Steiner with a bat and put Russo on top for the pin.  So Russo gets the title shot next week on the big Nassau Coliseum show.  What a fucking huge ego.

ECW on Television (9/15/00)

        Quick Review:  A good deal of this show consisted of clips from last week’s show.  While it wasn’t horrible, by the time it was over I was wishing they’d just aired last week’s show instead.

Summary:  Clips aired from last week’s show.

  Yoshihiro Tajiri & Mikey Whipwreck beat EZ Money & Chris Hamrick.  Match was actually kind of boring, but picked up quite a bit by the end.  Still, nothing to write home about.

  More clips aired from last week.

  An interview aired from New York with Tajiri, Whipwreck and the Minister.  They basically threatened to kill FBI.

  Francine and Justin Credible came out for Justin’s match with Steve Corino.  Crowd spent as much time chanting “SHE’S A CRACK WHORE” as ECW usually allocates for commercial breaks during this show.  Francine read some fax which said Jack Victory must be banned from ringside.  I can’t believe it.  They got my fax.  Jack left.  Corino then said Credible and Francine had walked right into his trap.  He called out the returning Dawn Marie.  What a trap.  Maybe Corino meant to say they walked into his tramp.  This all took forever.  Justin Credible beat Steve Corino to retain the ECW Title.  People had been talking about this match like it was one of the best of the year or something.  It was good, but not great.  Credible got the win with a tombstone onto a steel chair.  Show ended with them plugging PPV ticket on-sale dates.

Etcetera

As many of you might have noticed, we’ve made several changes to the newsletter over the last few months.  I think each change has made Figure Four a little bit easier to read.  My goal is to make the information you’re looking for easier than ever to find.  My new idea is to have one Cover Story and one Special Feature every week.  On weeks where there is a pay-per-view, that will be the Special Feature, and on non-PPV weeks (which will become fewer and fewer beginning next year) we’ll have something fun, like a news parody or a story about one of my matches.  My goal is to constantly remind all of you that wrestling should not be taken too seriously.  The results are dead and gone.  Every major story will have a headline so you can quickly scan through your newsletter and see what the big news is.  Match results will be printed in bold type in the TV reports so you can quickly see who beat who.  We’ll also quickly recap every show at the beginning of each report in case you’re not a fan of a particular promotion, but want to know what the shows have been like in general.  Feel free to contact me with any further suggestions or comments about the new format.

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  Don’t forget the newest Super Chico tape is now available featuring eleven of my recent indy matches around the Northwest. The one hour and 35 minute tape is recorded in SP mode for superior playback and available for $25, which includes Priority Mail delivery to anywhere in the world.

 For all you hooligans out there, I also write a monthly wrestling column for Penthouse Magazine.  Now you really can read it just for the articles.

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