f4w fonts stephanie planet apes pinning rock

 D-Von Dudley beat Rock to win the WCW World Heavyweight Title.  BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!!!  Wow, that was a good one.  Back to reality. (bold, hyper, underline)

  Rock beat Dudleys in a tables match to retain the WCW Title. (bold)  First match with even a semblance of heat throughout.  Unfortunately, it was only a semblance.  D-Von did the most absurd elbow ever at one point.  When it rains, it pours.  Dudleys kept saving each other from going through tables.  Nick Patrick took a bump.  Just when I thought I couldn’t like this match any less, Shane hit the ring and put Rock through a table.  Charles Robinson ran down and grabbed the WCW belt, apparently to actually award it to D-Von.  Before any of you suggest that I’m actually on the booking committee, let me just say that this is something I would have suggested as a joke, then immediately said:  “If you actually do this, I will quit.”  Mike Ciota ran down, punched Robinson out, and grabbed the belt.  Rock then made his comeback and put Bubba through a table with the uranage.  Welcome back Vince Russo.

~~~~~

F4W~!#326 - Wrestling world mourns 9/11 tragedy - September 24, 2001
2001-09-24
F4W~!#326 - Wrestling world mourns 9/11 tragedy - September 24, 2001

F4W~!#325 - Hottest feud in Mexico to climax soon - September 17, 2001
2001-09-17
F4W~!#325 - Hottest feud in Mexico to climax soon - September 17, 2001

F4W~!#324 - ECW bankruptcy judge orders depositions - September 10, 2001
2001-09-10
F4W~!#324 - ECW bankruptcy judge orders depositions - September 10, 2001

F4W~!#323 - WWFE first quarter business down - September 3, 2001
2001-09-03
F4W~!#323 - WWFE first quarter business down - September 3, 2001

first lines all bold, hyper, underlined

~~~

WWF announces SkyDome WrestleMania (bold, underline)

        As expected, the World Wrestling Federation announced during a pep rally Monday in Toronto’s Nathan Phillips Square that “WrestleMania X8” would air live from the Toronto SkyDome on March 17th, 2002.  They also announced the annual Axxess Fan Festival would take place March 14th, 15th and 16th, although an exact location was not announced. (fatter font)

        This will be the second WrestleMania from the SkyDome, the first being WrestleMania VI on April 1, 1990, which was headlined by Ultimate Warrior beating Hulk Hogan for the WWF Title.  Tickets for this year’s event go on sale November 3rd.

        This actually turned into a pretty significant political story in the local press, as Mayor Mel Lastman touted it as a huge victory despite the fact that:

        A.  He had almost nothing to do with it, and

        B.  Nobody seemed to consider it a huge victory except Toronto wrestling fans and Mel.

        The local press ripped him apart, claiming this was his attempt to save face after spending a large amount of time in a failed bid to bring the 2008 Olympics to the city.

        The Toronto Star, in an article headlined “WrestleMania will help city hit new lows”, wrote:  “Some consolation prize. Instead of celebrating international amateur sports, we’re stuck with amateur-hour theatrics that even promoters refer to as entertainment, not sport.”

(everything above, less fat)

~~~

September 17, 2001

Jasmine St. Claire, who is billed as appearing at several upcoming MECW shows, shot photos for Playboy’s upcoming Book of Lingerie, which will be released in the spring of 2002.

  The IWA Mid-South website reported that Necro Butcher had left the company.  Reports that the Lexington Clipper-Herald had to stop its press run Tuesday in order to issue a special edition detailing the news are inaccurate.

  Hulk Hogan was on Bubba the Love Sponge’s radio show last week and talked about the Universal deal.  He said the deal was not completely dead yet, but unless someone stepped forward with some support, it wasn’t going to happen anytime soon.  He claimed Universal wanted $3 million and thirteen shows.  Hogan said he only wanted to do one special to start out in order to test the waters.  This is actually huge breaking news.  Not the story itself, but rather the fact that this might be the first time that Hogan ever told a true story on the Bubba the Love Sponge radio show.

  Battle Dome ran an all-women’s competition last week to crown its first Women’s Champion.  Winner ended up being Caryn Mauer, who trained with UPW in California and was briefly under WWF contract.  She appeared on TV for exactly one skit as Stephanie’s personal trainer, Muffy, before the WWF realized that Stephanie having a personal trainer meant that she was fat, which of course was an unacceptable thing to be promoting.


~~~
September 24, 2001

(bold) Christian beat Tajiri via DQ.  This was day three of the CHRISTIAN NEEDS A NEW ENTRANCE NOW watch.  Tajiri kicked Christian right in the face at one point and busted open his lip.  Looked awesome though.  Lamest finish ever.  Tajiri blew the mist and accidentally hit the ref for the DQ.  Crowd didn’t even bother to boo.  Christian was about to give Tajiri the double chairshot when Edge ran in through the crowd and made the save.  Poor Christian took a beating in this segment.  As Tajiri was watching up the ramp, Rhyno ran out and GORE! GORE! GORED! him into concussionitis.  Tajiri’s head CRACKED on the stage and it looked highly uncomfortable.

(bold)  Stephanie & Test beat Rock in a handicap match.  Rock hit the uranage on Test, but ref Nick Patrick was distracted.  Rock yelled at Patrick, who shoved him.  So Rock gave him the uranage.  Booker T and Shane hit ringside.  They distracted Rock, allowing Test to hit the KICK OF FEAR.  Booker hit the axe kick and Shane hit the flying elbow.  Finally, Booker hit the uranage and put Steph on top.  I’ll quit wrestling, I swear.  Patrick came in and counted the pinfall.  That’s it, I retire.

(bold)  Kurt Angle & Chris Jericho beat RVD & Steve Austin.  OK, nobody ever really retires in wrestling, but I promise you, this is the closest I ever came.  Angle got the hot tag but the ref took a bump.  Angle put Austin in the ankle lock but RVD broke it up.  Jericho put Van Dam in the Lion Tamer, but Austin hit him with the ring bell.  Austin went to hit Angle with it, but the ref took it away.  Angle rolled him up but Austin kicked out.  Austin went for the Stunner, but Austin turned it into the Olympic Slam for the clean pin.  Good finish to a good match.

~~~~September 10, 2001

(bold) Steph came out for her weekly droning segment.  She called out Austin.  She said his surprise was a brand new truck.  You have NEVER heard an announcement that received less of a reaction.  Crowd cared so little about this that they didn’t even bother to boo.  Debra spent precious moments of my existence explaining the different features of this truck.  This is how bad this segment was:  the crowd, which moments ago had responded in a violently negative fashion to Steph’s mention of the United States, started chanting for Kurt Angle, the American Hero.  Austin and Steph went backstage to take a ride in the truck.  Of course, Angle ended up attacking Austin and abducting both him and the truck.

  Hurricane Helms & Ivory beat Matt Hardy & Lita.  Crowd hated Matt Hardy and loved Helms, chanting “HURRICANE!” loudly.  Well, he is a super hero.  Saturn ran down near the finish.  Helms shoved Matt into Saturn, then pinned him with the Final Cut.  Crowd counted along with the pinfall and popped big for Hurricane’s win.  What a unique crowd.

  Angle arrived at a bridge.  Austin was blindfolded with his arms and legs chained up.  Angle dragged him over towards the edge as if he was about to throw him off.  Austin said he was very sorry for what he’d done and told Angle to think about what he was doing.  Angle thought for a minute, then said Austin was right.  This bridge wasn’t high enough.  So he shoved Austin back into the truck and drove off again.  This was a great segment.

(bold)  Edge beat Lance Storm to retain the IC Title.  Storm worked over the leg and appeared to be going for a Dragon screw, but Edge rolled him up for the surprise pin.  A good match while it lasted.  Storm kept working on the leg after the match until Christian ran down with a chair to make the save.  They hugged afterwards, but a few seconds later, after all these years and after all the times the WWF was about to do it but changed their minds, Christian finally turned on him, killing him with a chairshot.  Well, I’ll admit, this was actually kind of sad.  More loud “CHRISTIAN!” chants.  Christian put Edge’s head on a chair, then gave him another chairshot.  Crowd was into this, although probably not the way the WWF expected.

 (bold) Chris Jericho & Jeff Hardy beat Rob Van Dam & Rhyno.  Tons of heat for this match.  Jeff hit the senton on Van Dam early, but he “hurt himself” on the move and couldn’t make the cover.  Jericho got the hot tag and ran wild, hitting all his spots.  Jeff did the scariest Air Juvie ever, and God bless Rhyno for being there to catch him.  RVD went for a German but Jericho turned it into a roll-up for the clean pin.  Wow, another good finish.  This is the greatest show ever.

  Kurt dragged Austin onto a “200-foot” bridge.  Too bad there wasn’t a ladder available, because then Angle could have tossed him from 220 feet.  Austin was apologizing profusely, saying he’d go scuba diving for Angle’s medals if that’s what he wanted.  Angle said he was going to throw him into the water, but wanted him to think about it for a few minutes first.  He told Austin to consider begging or crying.  After commercial, they cut to a shot of Debra in mid-ring.  Crowd wanted puppies.  Debra cried and pleaded for Austin’s life.  She didn’t want Angle to throw him over the “200-foot cliff”.  Crowd seemed appalled by her acting.  “Kurt, he’s the love of my life!  He’s my husband!”  Back at the bridge, Angle demanded Austin apologize to him.  Austin kept apologizing profusely, but Angle told him to shut up because he was pathetic.  Angle told him to cry.  Austin did the phoniest crying ever.  Angle said he wanted one thing more than his medals, and that was a return match for the WWF Title.  Austin agreed immediately.  Angle said he wanted the match in Pittsburgh, PA, his hometown.  Crowd booed Angle’s hometown.  Austin demanded Angle set him free now.  Angle said Austin was still going into the water.  He shoved him backwards into a little kiddie pool.  Austin was shown flopping around like a fish and screaming profanities as the show ended.  If this segment had been done by anyone else in this business, it would probably have been horrible, but these two guys are so entertaining that it turned out awesome.  This was a really great Raw, and the crowd really helped.

~~~
August 27, 2001

Page cut a creepy promo about how he was going to do stuff with Sara in front of Undertaker.  He meant in the ring, but it was still alarming.

  Booker met with Regal and said he wanted a rematch against Rock tonight.  Regal said he was a bit late.  So Booker challenged Tajiri.

  Tajiri beat Booker via DQ.  Booker, in his street clothes, squashed Tajiri forever, then shoved down the referee for the finish.  Who is writing this stuff?.

  Sara beat Dallas Page.  I swear to God. Undertaker beat the hell out of Page, including giving him a chokeslam on the floor.  Then he threw him in the ring and Sara pinned him.  I thought Vince Russo was in Australia?.

  Alliance all came out to have a party for Steve Austin.   Heyman cut a stirring promo saying there hadn’t been a man like Austin “since Biblical times”.  Austin came out and they gave him gifts.  Hurricane gave Austin his Green Lantern T-shirt.  Crowd applauded politely.  Kanyon gave Austin a “WHO BETTER THAN AUSTIN?” T-shirt.  Debra gave Austin cookies.  Heyman then presented a video tribute to Austin.  Heyman said they paid for the montage with their own money.  I wonder if they paid to have all the middle fingers digitized.  Steph called all the Alliance members into the ring.  She said they had a special song to sing to Austin.  Steph demanded Lillian get into the ring and sing “Wind Beneath Our Ring.”  Steph wasn’t happy, so she opted to sign the song herself.  It ended up with the entire Alliance singing the song together.  I couldn’t decide whether this was the most perversely entertaining or the most horrific thing I have ever seen on a wrestling television show.  Austin cut a promo about how proud he was of everyone.  He said he was so happy to see everyone wearing WCW, ECW and Stone Cold T-shirts.  Then he noticed one person wasn’t — Tazz.  Austin started burying him again and demanded he take the shirt off.  By the grace of God, Angle’s music finally interrupted the promo.  Angle suddenly drove down the aisle in A MILK TRUCK.  He started to throw milk at everyone in the ring.  Then he grabbed a hose and sprayed milk at them.  Everyone took bumps.  Angle then toasted himself and downed some milk.  “Kurt Angle is the Olympic Dairy Man!” Ross screamed.  “Milk-a-Mania has run wild on Raw!”  OK, that was the worst EVER.

~~~~~~~

F4W~!#322 - Rock wins WCW Title from Booker at SummerSlam - August 27, 2001

F4W~!#322 - Rock wins WCW Title from Booker at SummerSlam - August 27, 2001



        Rock, in his first PPV match back since WrestleMania, won the WCW Heavyweight Title from Booker T in the final bout of the SummerSlam PPV on August 19th.

        Because Kurt Angle was scheduled to beat Steve Austin via screw-job DQ in their WWF Title match, the decision was made to put Rock vs. Booker on last in order to send the crowd home happy.  The downside to this decision was that Angle and Austin put on such a tremendous performance that there was no way Booker and Rock were able to follow it.

        In regards to the placement of the top two matches, I would like to address some complaints we received in e-mail from people who were appalled that the WCW Title match was put on last and that the belt was perhaps portrayed as being more important than the WWF belt.  As Rock himself would say:  “It doesn’t matter.”  The reason the WCW Title match went on last was because the good guy was going to win.  But even if Angle had been scheduled to win the WWF Title, it probably still would have been best to put the WCW match on last.  The fact of the matter is that the World Wrestling Federation owns both the WWF Title and the WCW Title.  The wrestling war is over.  Neither belt is more important than the other.  They both need to be portrayed as crown jewels so that they can draw money for the company.  Although wrestling is fake and title belts are nothing but props, a study of PPV buyrates over the last few years shows that the WWF belt is worth millions of dollars in PPV revenue.  The goal is to make the WCW belt equally as valuable, and in order to do that the company needs to put strong emphasis on it and not make it look to be a lesser title.  Rock’s victory has brought some legitimacy to that belt, and the fact that it was the focal point of the final match on the show is anything but a negative.

        Overall the show was very strong with only one really bad match.

(bold) 1.  Edge beat Lance Storm to win the WWF Intercontinental Title.  They cut to backstage before the match where Christian was having a PPV party with the B-Team.  There were about twenty guys back there.  I’ll bet he charged them all five bucks each and kept the profit.  Ross was really on his game, astutely noting that the challenger had to beat the Champion in order to win the belt.  Crowd got behind Edge and popped big for his comeback and nearfalls.  Storm went for a springboard, but Edge powerslammed him off the ropes.  Storm rolled through into a half crab, but Christian distracted the ref.  He went to spear Storm, but Storm moved and he took out Edge.  Storm superkicked Christian to the outside.  Edge then dodged another superkick and hit the implant DDT for the pinfall.  A good match and Storm was awesome.  Edge and Christian celebrated and hugged afterwards.  ***1/4

        Cole interviewed Test.  He wanted to know why Test left the WWF.  Well, duh.  Same reason Cole was always chosen last at stick ball.  Nobody wanted him.

        Lillian Garcia interviewed Chris Jericho.  She was looking particularly cute this evening.  Lillian, if you’re reading, I noticed your new hair-do.  It looks nice.  Jericho said some stuff about whatever.

(bold) 2.  Dudleys & Test beat APA & Spike.  Typical six-man match.  Of course, young Spike was cut off and brutalized.  D-Von missed a headbutt and Spike got the hot tag.  Bradshaw, the big hoss, went hoss.  In the melee, Test threw Spike over the top rope through a table outside.  Bradshaw then took out Test with a Clothesline from HELL.  Test was deceased, but the ref was distracted.  Shane then ran in and hit Bradshaw with a chairshot, allowing Test to cover him for the pin.  Two matches, two run-ins.  **1/2

        Shawn Stasiak met with Debra backstage.  He said maybe his problem was his pink tights.  Debra, being the grizzled veteran of the wrestling business that she is, advised him instead to just go kick some ass.  So throughout the show, he kept screwing up at various ass-kicking tasks.

(bold) 3.  X-Pac beat Tajiri to win the WWF Light Heavyweight Title.  This was billed as title vs. title, which pretty much nobody cared about.  Well, except X-Pac.  Some good mat wrestling early.  Tajiri hit his Asai moonsault and the crowd chanted “ECW!”, which is funny when you think about it.  Tajiri KILLED HIM with a baseball slide dropkick in the corner.  It was brutal beyond belief.  Sometimes, as a wrestler, I watch certain moves that I’ve never performed and try to figure out in my brain how to do them without killing my opponent.  I can’t for the life of me figure that one out.  I think you just really kick him.  Some awesome nearfalls including Tajiri planting him with a German.  X-Pac hit a big tope con hilo to the outside.  He hit the X-Factor in the ring, but Tajiri kicked out.  Albert then hit ringside.  Tajiri sprayed him with the red mist, but turned around into an X-Factor for the pin.  Three matches, three run-ins.  Still a good match, though.  ***1/4

        Saturn cut a promo at WWF New York.  He had a milk carton with Moppy on the side of it.  Absurd.

(bold) 4.  Chris Jericho beat Rhyno.  Jericho went for a dive off the post early, but Rhyno gored him into extinction in mid-air.  Loud “HOLY SHIT!” chants.  I believe Jericho suffered a head injury here, and it might have been a minor concussion.  I say “might” because people said it was, but then he wrestled the next night on TV, and I can’t for the life of me believe that the WWF would put a guy with a minor concussion back into the ring the following evening.  Steph slapped Jericho really hard.  Rhyno applied a body scissors.  Remember last time Rhyno applied a body scissors, and I wrote that maybe he could use the airplane spin next?  Well, Rhyno did the airplane spin next.  Here’s a test:  Maybe Rhyno can do the step-over toe hold next time.  Jericho slipped on the ropes but still whipped out a quebrada, almost killing himself in the process.  He went up top but slipped again and fell right on his face.  Jim Ross in his online report claimed a pin was loose and the ropes collapsed.  Anyway, crowd felt so bad for him at this point that they didn’t even boo or chant “YOU FUCKED UP!”, which was something they looked completely prepared to do.  Jericho finally hit a middle rope dropkick and the fans cheered.  Steph distracted him with her spirit.  He kissed her.  He missed a lionsault on Rhyno but hit a second one.  Rhyno kicked out.  Rhyno went for the gore, but hit the post.  Jericho then put on the Lion Tamer for the tapout.  Steph cried and stormed to the back after the match.  Aside from the slip-ups, a good match.  ***

        Ross went on a big spiel about how this was the last PPV ever on DirecTV.  Made it sound about as final as possible.  They should do an angle on the next show where Christian is backstage having a PPV party with the B-Team, except they’re watching a blank screen because all Christian has his DirecTV.

(bold) 5.  Rob Van Dam beat Jeff Hardy in a ladder match to regain the WWF Hardcore Title.  Loud “RVD!” chants throughout the match.  RVD’s mat wrestling has improved to the point where I would now classify it as third-match-on-the-card Lucha.  It’s going to take him awhile to get past that one, and no, he will never be compared to Rayo de Jalisco Jr.  Jeff hit a twisting Asai moonsault and whacked his leg on the announcer’s table.   Then he missed a dive and hit his chin on the dasher boards.  This match broke down into the traditional RVD PPV match, which is spot after crazy spot with little rhyme or reason.  And he’d been on such a streak of good matches since coming to the WWF.  Van Dam did various flippy-dos that impressed the easily-impressed masses.  They were totally killing each other about halfway through.  Jeff climbed the ladder but RVD took him out with a flying kick.  Van Dam then climbed, but Jeff tipped the ladder over with a dropkick.  Van Dam fell right on top of him.  Jeff missed a senton and then Van Dam missed a frog splash.  Ross kept talking about how this was the first ever “hardcore ladder match”.  Well what were all the others?  Van Dam suplexed Jeff off the ladder, then Jeff powerbombed him off.  Crowd was going crazy for this.  Finish was totally botched.  Jeff grabbed the belt but Van Dam tipped over the ladder, so Jeff was left suspended in mid-air.  RVD was supposed to give him a flying dropkick and knock him to his doom like a pinata, but he missed and fell on his ass.  Jeff then dropped and landed in a heap.  He looked incredibly pissed.  Jeff climbed up again and Van Dam tipped the ladder over.  Jeff tried to make it dramatic by catching his foot on the ropes, but all he did was almost dramatically end his own career.  Van Dam then climbed up and got the belt for the win.  Thank God nobody was injured bad here.  Ross made a comment about how we might have seen our last ladder match.  At this point, I hope so, at least for a very long time.

***1/4

        Shane had a present for Booker.  It was a pair of bookends made out of the table that Booker gave Rock the uranage through on Smackdown.  How thoughtful.  Booker was so happy that he dedicated the match to Shane.  This was very touching.

(bold) 6.  Undertaker & Kane killed Dallas Page & Kanyon to win the WWF Tag Team Titles.  Kanyon took a bump off the top of the cage within ten seconds.  Undertaker and Kane destroyed them, selling virtually nothing.  Crowd was dead silent within about a minute.  WWF has totally dug themselves into a hole, because Undertaker and Kane are booked as being so dominant that the fans don’t see anyone as a threat to them, thus nobody cares about their matches.  How do you get heat or sympathy on two babyfaces that never sell?  Especially ugly ones.  Undertaker told Kane to let Kanyon escape.  Kanyon ran for his life, deserting Page.  Undertaker and Kane then killed the poor guy dead.  An utter, utter burial.  If I never see another Kane and Undertaker match, I swear to you I won’t shed a single tear.  DUD

(bold) 7.  Steve Austin beat Kurt Angle to retain the WWF Title.  Ross was awesome in this match.  They started brawling in the aisle.  Crowd chanted “USA!”  Angle went for the ankle lock early but Austin got the ropes.  Austin hit three vertical suplexes for a nearfall.  Angle made a comeback with seven rolling Germans.  He went for the Olympic slam but got a thumb to the eye.  Austin hit a HUGE top rope superplex.  He hit the Stunner, pretty much out of nowhere, but Angle kicked out.  Austin hit a second Stunner, and Angle ended up outside the ring.  Austin threw him into the post countless times and Angle gigged.  Austin threw him into the ring and made a cover, but Angle kicked out.  So Austin took him outside and started posting him again.  Angle, with his bad tailbone, took a suplex on the cement.  The dude is tough.  Angle fought back, dragged Austin into the ring, and put on the ankle lock.  Austin made the ropes.  Angle killed him with a belly-to-belly and a back suplex on the floor.  Inside the ring, he hit the moonsault, but Austin kicked out.  Austin applied the Million Dollar Dream, but Angle ran up the ropes and pushed off into a pinning position.  Just like Bret Hart vs. Austin at Survivor Series.  Austin kicked out this time.  Austin hit a third Stunner, but Angle kicked out.  Austin went for another, but Angle hit the slam.  Kickout.  Austin got pissed and punched out the ref.  You could hear the air go out of the crowd in anticipation of the screwjob.  Angle hit a DDT.  Second ref ran down but Austin kicked out.  Austin gave the ref a Stunner.  Another ref ran down but Austin punched him out too.  Angle then hit the slam again.  Nick Patrick ran down and was about to count, but turned and signalled for the bell instead.  He said Austin was DQ’d for beating up too many referees.  Angle was pissed about being “screwed out of the title” (even though Austin should have been DQ’d for punching out so many refs), so he beat up Patrick and put him in the ankle lock.  Horrible finish to an otherwise awesome match.  I think the idea was to not hurt Angle but keep the belt on Austin.  My feeling is that if Angle had put up an awesome fight, kicked out of all those Stunners, but finally got caught in the end and beaten, he’d have still come out of it strong as hell, and maybe even stronger.  Remember, Austin turned the corner to superstardom in his WrestleMania match with Bret Hart, and that was a match Austin lost.  Finish took this down a notch, but otherwise it was fantastic.  ****1/2

(bold) 8.  Rock beat Booker T to win the WCW Title.  Match started fast and the crowd was hot.  Rock whipped out a la majistral cradle at one point.  I guess the place he was staying at in Hollywood had Galavision.  They brawled in the crowd forever.  Apparently, the 10-second countout rule has been extended to ten minutes for main events.  Booker dominated him for a long time.  Rock put on the Sharpshooter and then made his big comeback.  Shane hit the ring and distracted him, allowing Booker to flatten him with a superkick.  Rock tried to make another comeback, but Shane hit him with the WCW belt.  So APA came out.  Yes, APA.  In the main event.  Faarooq chased Shane around the ring, but Shane unfortunately ran right into a Bradshaw CLOTHESLINE FROM THE NINTH CIRCLE OF HELL.  I thought they were just going to bury him right there.  Booker hit the uranage but Rock kicked out.  Rock fought back and hit the People’s Elbow, but Shane, who was dead, managed to run into the ring and break up the count.  So Rock hit him with a uranage on the floor.  OK, I’m officially sick of Shane.  Rock got back into the ring, but Booker hit him with the axe kick.  After teasing it the whole match, Booker finally performed the spinerooni, and the crowd popped huge and took flash photos.  Well, it was cool.  Rock kipped up, and when Booker turned around, Rock hit him with the uranage for the clean pin.  A good finish to a good match.  ***1/2

In House Notes (bold, underline)

     (Some small, some large text)   I would like to thank the following individuals for their help this week in putting Figure Four Weekly together:  Gladys Gibson, Dave Meltzer, Zach Arnold, Alex Marvez, Robert Bihari, Manuel Gonzalez, Bob Barnett, Evan Ginzburg, Shawn Garrett, Jared Kaye, Tadashi Tanaka, Jason Martin, Mike Lano, Brian Nosanchuk, Harry Simon, Ryan Briggs, Jeff Marek, Jason Martin, Paul Bradbrook, Ryan Dunch, Mike Daniels, Gary Propane, Chris Hodgson.

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WWF (bold, underline)

~~~~

F4W~!#327 - Angle beats Austin for WWF Title - October 1, 2001

F4W~!#327 - Angle beats Austin for WWF Title - October 1, 2001



        Kurt Angle beat Steve Austin at the Unforgiven PPV on September 23rd in his hometown of Pittsburgh, PA to win his second WWF Championship.  The good news was that the wrestling was very good with only one obvious exception.  The bad news was that the crowd was painfully uncooperative all night long for pretty much everything except Angle himself.  It was so bad that I felt it hurt the PPV significantly.  Had the show taken place before a more lively and receptive audience, it probably would have been among the better shows of the year.

        In a surprise, despite the fact that the two sides didn’t come to an agreement, the PPV ended up airing on DirecTV after all.  WWF, which announced to the fans during the SummerSlam show that they were watching the final PPV ever on DirecTV, issued a press release September 20th which read in part:  “World Wrestling Federation Entertainment said today that ‘Unforgiven,’ it’s Pay-Per-View event on Sunday, September 23, will be available on DirecTV.  ‘We are continuing our negotiations with DirecTV, and, at this time, both parties believe it is appropriate, and in the best interests of their mutual viewers, to offer the Unforgiven Pay-Per-View on DirecTV,’ said Stuart Snyder, President and COO of WWFE.”  To make a long story short, both sides weren’t in the mood to give up a few million dollars each, so they came to this temporary agreement.

        The show opened with Jennifer Holliday, a two-time Grammy winner, singing the National Anthem.  A lot of fans wrote in saying they wished Lillian Garcia had done it again, but Holliday did one awesome job.

        Jim Ross and Paul Heyman did commentary.  Ross noted early that seven titles were going to be defended on the show.  Talk about overkill.  They really need to unify some titles fast.  They can always split them up six months down the road when they branch off into two companies, but having so many belts right now just makes each individual one worthless.

(bold) 1.  Dudleys beat Hardyz and Hurricane & Lance Storm and Big Show & Spike Dudley in a four-team elimination match to retain the WWF Tag Titles.  Whoever decided to put Spike and Show together as a team must be fired immediately, even if it was Vince.  Everyone killed Spike for awhile until Show made the hot tag.  Ross said:  “Show wants the tag as bad as he wants a double cheeseburger.”  OH~!  Everyone did dives to the outside and then Show tossed Spike onto the pile.  Suddenly, Show looked at the top rope and started to climb.  “No,” I pleaded to anybody who would listen, which was nobody.  Thankfully, the Dudleys put a stop to a stunt that would surely have gone awry.  Show gave the Dudleys a double clothesline, then pinned Storm with a chokeslam.  That was just wrong.  I don’t know where Show went after this, but he was never seen again.  Matt pinned Spike with a Twist of Fate.  So it came down to the Dudleys vs. the Hardyz, and they did their usual match, just with far more missed spots.  Matt hit a moonsault off the post to both Dudleys on the floor.  They killed Jeff forever until he got the hot tag to Matt, who missed more spots.  Not sure what was going on here.  Dudleys hit the 3D on Matt and Jeff came off the top with a senton to break up the pin.  Timing was way off.  Bubba then hit the full-nelson ass-buster on Matt and D-Von covered him for the win.  Pretty good, but it fell apart a bit at the end.  **3/4

        Steph met with RVD and offered him her services.  They were flirting again.  She offered him anything, she repeated, anything.  He said he was RVD, the whole damn show, and he didn’t need any help.  But, he said, if she could help him find a dressing room big enough for his ego, that would be cool.  This was really his request.  She said he could just take the biggest room in the building.

        Cole interviewed Kurt Angle’s family, all of whom were sitting ringside.  His mom Jackie said she thought he’d win the belt.  His brother Dave made some equally insightful statements.  Actually, Steve looked like a young Stu Hart, which cannot be a coincidence.

(bold) 2.  Saturn beat Raven.  Raven was wearing a kilt for some reason.  Absolutely no heat whatsoever.  Announcer’s talked about the old Flock angle from WCW.  Saturn got the win with his fisherman neckbreaker.  These two worked their asses off, but they were the only two in the whole building who cared, which was sad.  **

(bold) 3.  Christian beat Edge to win the WWF Intercontinental Title.  This was day four of the CHRISTIAN NEEDS A NEW ENTRANCE NOW watch.  You didn’t think I’d keep track, did you?  That song just reeks of horrendosity.  They brawled up the ramp and Christian took a slingshot into the set.  Back in the ring, Christian called his brother a “son-of-a-bitch”.  I hope their mother wasn’t watching.  The crowd, which had fallen asleep sometime during the opener, still hadn’t woken up yet.  Edge started bleeding hardway from the eye.  Looked nasty and he needed three stitches after the show.  Edge finally made his big comeback and nobody cared, not even the teenage girls.  They did this goofy spot where Edge took a bump outside, crawled under the ring, came out the other side, and surprised Christian with a top rope high cross.  I’ll bet someone thought that would be a clever idea.  Christian grabbed some chairs for his double chairshot spot, but Edge swept his legs and Christian bonked himself on the head.  He busted himself open under the nose and also needed stitches afterwards.  Edge grabbed a chair and was going to do the spot himself, but the ref took it away from him.  Christian then gave him a low-blow with the second chair for the pin.  WHOO-HOO~!  Just when I was about to throw a party, they played Christian’s damn music again.  Good match aside from the lack of heat.  Crowd reactions were really hurting the show at this point.  ***

(bold) 4.  Undertaker & Kane beat Kronic to retain the WCW Tag Titles.  This is going to sound almost impossible to believe, but this match was atrocious.  They did some stuff to each other.  Some horrible stuff.  Undertaker and Crush botched a spot big-time in mid-ring.  Adams responded by putting Undertaker in the longest chinlock ever.  Highlight of the match was a fan in the front row who was doing a whole bunch of old-school 80s dances.  Kane made a comical hot tag and ran wild.  Undertaker pinned Clarke with the chokeslam.  This was a Loser Leaves WWF match, right?  Stevie Richards, who has black hair now, got in the ring and was chokeslammed for his troubles.  I hope everyone who was involved with bringing Kronic into the WWF is ashamed of themselves.  DUD

        Tazz met with Booker T and Shane McMahon.  He said it was going to be really horrible if the two of them couldn’t beat the Rock.  They told him to hit the bricks.

        Steph went looking for RVD.  She found his dressing room, and instead of going in, she started talking to the door.  She told the door that tomorrow was her birthday, and Van Dam beating Jericho would be an awesome present.  She said Rob was a great guy, and if he accomplished the task, she’d make sure his time in the Alliance was very pleasurable.  They kept playing up the word “pleasurable.”  Basically, Jericho ended up confronting her and wishing her a sarcastic happy birthday.

(bold) 5.  Rob Van Dam beat Chris Jericho to retain the Hardcore Title.  They did mat wrestling first as RVD does in all his matches.  Crowd chanted “RVD!” loudly.  They totally botched the old Malenko/Guerrero rolling cradles spot.  They botched it so badly, in fact, that the crowd began vigorously chanting “RVD!” louder than ever.  Jericho missed a Silver King dive to the outside and Van Dam hit him with a pescado.  RVD tried his spinning legdrop off the apron but crashed into the dasher boards.  Looked quite uncomfortable.  Jericho got a ladder and they exchanged vertical suplexes on it.  I thought they weren’t doing ladders anymore for the time being.  Crowd started to chant “Y2J!”  RVD avoided the Lionsault and hit a spinkick.  Jericho’s eye was busted open by this point and he needed two stitches after the show.  RVD missed the frog splash.  Jericho set the ladder up and put Van Dam in a weird submission up top.  Jericho missed another dive to the outside.  RVD went for a tope, but Jericho hit him in the noggin with a chair, a la his ladder match with Benoit.  RVD hit a kick in the ring and made the cover, but Jericho turned it into an armbar.  About five fans in the audience understood that one.  Jericho started hitting Van Dam with repeated chairshots.  Steph ran down and distracted him, allowing RVD to hit the Van Daminator and the frog splash for the pinfall.  Ross called it a five-star match.  Unfortunately, at least in this publication, five-star effort does not equal five-star match.  Still pretty damn good, though.  ***1/2

        Shane met with Booker again.  He said they had to bring the WCW Title back home to the Alliance.  He said it didn’t matter if he won it himself or if Booker did.  Yes, it does matter.

(bold) 6.  Rock beat Booker T & Shane McMahon to retain the WCW Title.  Nick Patrick required one of the bad guys to be on the apron at all times.  I believe this was fought under Lucha rules, because the other guy was allowed to come in if his partner rolled to the outside.  Ross admitted it would be appalling if Shane won the WCW Title.  Booker tried to pin Rock with a snap mare.  Rock kicked out.  Booker performed the spinerooni to a big pop, but Rock immediately rolled him up for a nearfall.  Rock sold pretty much the entire match.  Booker cleared off the Spanish announce table and Shane threatened an elbow off the post onto Rock, but he was thwarted.  Thank goodness.  I was just thinking.  For tradition’s sake, I believe the Spanish announcers should wear masks.  Maybe have a midget there too.  Anyway, Shane accidentally hit Booker with the WCW belt.  By the way, the Rock’s name is on the WCW Title now.  At least they kept that tradition alive.  Shane missed Rock with a belt shot, but Rock took the bump anyway.  Shane missed a flying elbow and Rock made his big comeback.  Shane cut him off and went for the People’s Elbow, but Rock kipped up and gave him the uranage.  Rock went for the Elbow on Booker, but Test ran down and beat him up.  Patrick didn’t call for the bell, since he was heel ref today.  Test killed Rock with the KICK OF PAIN outside.  Bradshaw ran down to make the save and chased Test backstage.  Patrick threw Rock in the ring and Shane made the cover.  Ref Mike Ciota ran down and pulled Shane out of the ring at two.  Patrick and Ciota got into a brawl.  Rock then hit Booker with the uranage and Earl Hebner ran down to count the pinfall.  ***

        Regal met with Tajiri and said he was thinking of banning everyone from ringside for his match with Rhyno.  Tajiri and Torrie pleaded to allow her to come to ringside.  I pleaded too.  Finally, Regal said OK.

(bold) 7.  Rhyno beat Tajiri to win the WCW US Title.  Technically a really good match, but still no heat.  Rhyno told the silent crowd to shut up at one point, and they obliged.  Rhyno chased Torrie around ringside.  She got in the ring, but “twisted her ankle”.  Rhyno tried to gore her, but Tajiri saved her life by WAILING Rhyno right in the gosh damn face with a kick.  Tajiri tried the tarantula, but Rhyno was too heavy.  Rhyno then hit an exploder and a gore for the clean pin.  Too short to be really great.  **3/4

(bold) 8.  Kurt Angle beat Steve Austin to win the WWF Title.  Angle got a huge reaction as the hometown hero coming out.  He attacked Austin on the ramp and beat the s’ out of him forever.  Loud “ANGLE!” chants.  Angle hit the Lou Thesz press to a big pop.  He hit a big superplex, but sold his own neck.  Austin put on a sleeper fairly early, but Angle broke free with a jawjacker.  Austin grabbed his belt and tried to leave, but was thwarted.  Angle threw him off the ramp and kept beating on him.  Some really stiff chops and forearms.  They brawled back to ringside and Austin pulled back the mats revealing the cement.  Austin jumped into the ring momentarily to break the count, which was good, because Hebner was up to about 965 by this point.  Austin went for a piledriver on the cement, but Angle backdropped his way free.  Angle then tried the same spot and he got backdropped.  Angle took a BRUTAL bump on the cement.  Austin suplexed him stomach-first on the Spanish announce table three times.  Austin broke the count again, this time at about 745.  Austin flipped off one of Angle’s family members, and she went crazy and violently gave him the bird.  Angle hit the rolling German suplexes in the ring.  Loud “USA!” chants.  Angle hit the Stunner, but Austin kicked out.  Crowd started to die about midway through, but still got into the comebacks a bit.  Angle went for the Olympic Slam, but Austin got out and hit a modified (read “screwed up”) Slam of his own.  Angle kicked out.  Austin, after a long, dramatic struggle, finally hit the piledriver, which the audience reacted to.  Angle kicked out to a big pop.  Austin went for the Stunner, but Angle grabbed his foot on the kick and put on the ankle lock.  Austin, who had one hand under the bottom rope, tapped out.  Crowd went crazy for Angle regaining the title in his hometown.  Angle’s family, and perhaps some fans too, hit the ring and put him on their shoulders.  The WWF locker room emptied and everyone came out to congratulate him, including Rock, who shook his hand.  A pretty cool scene to end a good show.  ****

UFC suffers unfortunate losses (bold, underline)

        It was a hell of a week for UFC, and not in a good way.

        Vitor Belfort, 23, who was scheduled to face Tito Ortiz for the UFC Light Heavyweight Title in the main event, was forced to pull out after suffering a lacerated triceps while training.  Apparently, they were working out in the dojo, and Belfort somehow put his arm through a glass window.  The injury required thirty stitches and he will not be able to resume training for at least seven weeks.  As of press time, the plan was for him to still appear at the show and cut a promo.

        Belfort will be replaced by Vladimir Matyushenko, who was originally scheduled to fight Kevin Randleman.  This is actually a pretty long and detailed story.  Basically, when Belfort got injured, UFC immediately contacted Frank Shamrock, who refused to do the show on such short notice unless Ortiz agreed to fight in the 185-pound weight class.  The company then contacted Ken Shamrock, offering him $180,000 to do the fight.  His asking price was $500,000, and needless to say the negotiations ended there.  We should also note that Shamrock would never have been able to drop enough weight to fight as a light heavyweight, so if he’d agreed to take the match, it would have been a non-title bout.  Matyushenko was approached and offered $40,000 for the fight, and an additional $40,000 for the win, but he initially turned it down.  Randleman agreed to take the fight, I believe under the same terms, but then suffered a wrist injury in training and was removed from the card.  Matyushenko, who beat Yuki Kondo via unanimous decision at the last show, finally signed to take the fight.

        In other bad news, this time in terms of scheduling, the Felix Trinidad vs. Bernard Hopkins boxing PPV, which was originally set to air September 15th but was pre-empted due to the terrorist attack, was rescheduled for this weekend, which will likely hurt the buyrate of the UFC show.  UFC President Dana White, in an interview on the Full Contact Fighter website, said they needed 100,000 buys to break even.  On the bright side, this will be the first show of the new era available on basic cable PPV, which means their universe has expanded from 5-7 million homes (through satellite) to over 40 million.

        The show airs this Friday, September 28th, on PPV.  We’ll have a full report in next week’s issue.

Coleman taps at PRIDE 16 show  (bold, underline)

        PRIDE 16 took place Sunday, September 24th from Osaka Castle Hall before an announced 14,907 fans.  No huge upsets on the show as far as results are concerned, but a few of the finishes — including Mark Coleman tapping for the first time in his career and Daijiro Matsui being finished — were surprising.  Both Igor Vovchanchin and Brad Kohler pulled out at the last minute due to injuries.  Vovchanchin suffered an elbow injury during training and Kohler hurt his ankle.

        In a pleasant surprise, parent company Dream Stage Entertainment announced at a press conference Saturday that they would be donating a portion of the proceeds to the American Red Cross relief effort fund.  Most of the fighters also agreed to donate $500 from their paychecks as well.

(bold) 1.  Gary Goodridge beat Yoshiaki Yatsu in 3:05.  Yatsu is a very old pro-wrestler and Goodridge beat the f’ out of him in their last fight at PRIDE 11.  Yatsu, despite being totally out of his league, was able to take a beating, so most fans enjoyed it.  Same story this time, except Yatsu didn’t last nearly as long.  Goodridge put on a front guillotine and Yatsu’s corner mercifully threw in the towel.

(bold) 2.  Assuerio Silva DEMOLISHED Yoshihisa Yamamoto in 11 seconds.  Yamamoto is another pro-wrestler.  Should have stayed that way.

(bold) 3.  Murillo “Ninja” Rua beat Daijiro Matsui in 51 seconds of the third round.  Matsui, another pro-wrestler, always takes horrendous beatings in his fights, but nobody has ever been able to stop him.  I guess there is a first time for everything.  Ninja waylayed him with a kick and Matsui went down into the ropes.  Ninja then began stomping violently on his head, so the referee stopped the fight.

(bold) 4.  Ricardo Arona beat Guy Mezger via split decision.  Said to be a fairly even first round.  Mezger dominated the second, but then got tired at the very end of the third and Arona, formerly of RINGS, laid waste to him.  Judges scored it 2-1 in Arona’s favor.

(bold) 5.  Semmy Schiltt beat Akira Shoji in 8:19 of the first round.  Schiltt, a former King of Pancrase, punched him out.  Pancrase doesn’t allow closed fists to the face, so Shoji was likely surprised by this turn of events once he woke up.

(bold) 6.  Don Frye beat Gilbert Yvel in 7:27 via DQ.  Former UFC mainstay Frye, at 36, hasn’t had a legit fight in years and has been working New Japan shows regularly up until just over a week ago.  He was said to look his age.  The belief by most fans going in was that he could take the fight if it went to the ground, and Yvel apparently had that same idea as well.  Frye kept trying to take him down and Yvel responded by grabbing the ropes, which is against the rules.  After doing it three times, he was disqualified.  I believe there might have been an eye-gouge in there as well.  Yvel apparently threw a pretty big fit after the match until Frye finally offered him a rematch down the road.

(bold) 7.  Antonio Nogueira beat Mark Coleman in 6:10.  Noguiera is considered the best heavyweight in the world in terms of submissions, and Coleman, who had never been submitted before, was considered the top-ranked heavyweight fighter overall.  Coleman had been suffering from flu-like symptoms for the past several days, and it got so bad that he actually missed the rules meeting on Saturday.  Nogueira pounded on him standing, then when it went to the mat he clamped on an armbar and got the submission victory.

        We’ll have a more detailed report in a few weeks after we watch the tape.

Jim Ross conference call highlights (bold, underline)

        The WWF and TNN presented a media conference call with Jim Ross this past Thursday afternoon.  Ross answered questions for about an hour.

        Any word on the meeting with Jerry Lawler?  Ross said Jerry was at TV Tuesday in Memphis and Ross invited him to join them because he thought it would be good for him and all the guys to see each other.  That’s all it was.  It was more social than anything else, and they didn’t talk contracts, a return date or anything like that.  How much time and thought went into last week’s Smackdown going live?  Ross said they thought about it from Tuesday morning up until the announcement was made.  At the time of the terrorist attack, they didn’t know if more things were going to happen.  As the day wore on, it became clear that they were being encouraged as a country to get back to business as best they could, so they made the decision to go ahead with the event live.  Late Wednesday afternoon the show was put together and the decision was made to allow the talents to express themselves in any manner they chose.  Were there any tributes that got cut?  Ross said he wasn’t sure.  He said he also didn’t know how many wrestlers chose to do it and how many chose not to.  He said it seemed the room they used to film the tributes was busy all day long.  He said it was possible that a few promo got cut.  It was optional, and some guys were so emotional that they felt they couldn’t say anything.  He said if a tribute didn’t air Thursday, it might have aired on Excess.  In other words, Ross doesn’t watch Excess.

  (smaller font)      Some guy asked for information on whether or not Angle was going to win the belt at the PPV.  Yeah, like Ross was going to answer that question you jackass.  Ross said it was a delicate situation.  He said you have to weigh the fact that a national tragedy just occurred, they were in Kurt’s hometown, etc.  He said some people will think it’s his time, while others will say no, it’s more compelling if he keeps chasing it.  Ross said all those issues are being weighed heavily and that it might end up being an 11th hour decision (it was).  On rising stars, Ross said they’re really happy with Test (who, by the way, wins the WCW Tag Titles from Undertaker & Kane with partner Booker T on Smackdown this week).  Ross said Hurricane is looking good.  “Stasiak, big-time work in progress,” he said.  Well, that’s for sure.  He said RVD is obviously a rising superstar and they need to get Kanyon back on track.  Ross said he didn’t see them bringing any developmental guys up soon, although there might be one or two exceptions by the end of the year.  Someone wanted an update on Ken Shamrock and Rey Misterio Jr.  Ross said he had a casual phone conversation with Shamrock, who has lots of MMA projects currently ongoing.  Ross said it was more a conversation where Shamrock let him know that at some point he might want to come back on a limited schedule.  Ross said the door is open and Shamrock is going to call back when he gets more free time.  Rey is making a lot of money from his Time Warner contract, so Ross told him to get all the money he could, then talk to them in the early part of 2002 when the deal expires.  Ross also mentioned Juvie, saying they just didn’t have a place for him right now.  I’m not going to mention anything about them having a place for Stasiak.  No obligations were made or asked for from any of them.

        What can the WWF do to make the Alliance more of a threat to the WWF, instead of a bunch of morons?  No, I did not ask this question.  Ross didn’t agree that they were all inept cronies.  He mentioned Booker T, RVD, Test and Kanyon.  He said he liked the conflicts within the Alliance.  I personally think it’s just too early for that sort of thing.  Is there still going to be a split?  Ross said that is still the ultimate goal down the road.

    (smaller font)     What kind of changes has the WWF made in regards to travel and security for fans coming in and out of the arenas?  Ross said all the facilities that are doing ticketed events for anything are developing new security measures.  WWF is more in charge of the backstage area, and they’re tightening that up so less guys are just milling around.  Arenas are more in charge of arena security.  Any other fundraising ideas in regards to the tragedy?  They’ve been considering several different ideas.  They’re going to do something from a cash basis, but he wasn’t sure what that was or how it’s going to be handled.  “There will be something done of significance,” he explained.  Someone wanted to know about Shawn Michaels.  You know, is he coming back?  This is like a horrible running joke that has not been funny for months.  No plans for Michaels at this time, Ross said.  Nothing new on Brian Christopher either.  He was just visiting last week.  Are they thinking about possible long-term storylines for the split?  And once it happens, are they going to stay WWF-style or are they going to consider giving the new brand its own distinct fingerprints?  Ross said he didn’t know, but he has a feeling the differences will largely be more in terms of production.  Any talk of opening up a relationship with a company like All Japan?  Ross said they’ve had talks about the Japan thing and the problem is getting decisions made from Japan.  Ross said it’s frustrating at times to get decisions made because the power structure over there always seems to change.  He said they have no problem whatsoever with opening up a relationship, but its challenging to get answers and to get things worked out from a pure communication standpoint.  What about Heat?  Have they thought of tweaking it?  Ross said they’ve got ideas about it and they’ve discussed it, but in a nutshell, they’re just so overworked that they haven’t had time to get anything done yet.  They realize they need to make the show better.  They just haven’t been able to do it yet.               Someone then called and buried Dave Meltzer for asking five questions in a row, despite the fact that they were the five most intelligent questions of the call.  This person in question, who used the fake name “Phantom”, then asked if Ross ever saw Bagwell coming back.  Not at this time, Ross said.  Is everyone in the locker room happy?  Ross said of course not, they’re human, just like everyone else.  He said things are much better, but like in any business, you’re never going to have a time when everyone loves each other.  Phantom then asked a third question, which would be his fifth or sixth question of the day since this was a follow-up call.  What happened with Billy Silverman?  Ross said he wasn’t sure what Billy’s problem was.  He didn’t come to work Monday, he didn’t call and he didn’t answer his phone.  They all got really worried.  Later, they found out that he’d gone home, upset over some rib that he felt he didn’t deserve.  Ross said ribs happen and you have to get used to it.  Any other unannounced signings?  No, Ross said.  Any idea where the WWF is heading with the women’s division?  No, Ross said.  Good thing Dave stopped asking questions, or we might not have had time to explore the plight of the WWF women’s division.  What’s the update on Eddy Guerrero?  Ross said he is doing well and getting better, but there is no return date yet.  He might be ready to return sometime in the next few weeks, but he’ll probably head to OVW or HWA first to get his timing and such back.

In House Notes (bold, underline)

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WWF (bold, underline)

You will never believe this in a million years, but it’s true.  WWF discovered that Kronic sucked, and they’re already through with the company.  I believe they were given the option of going to a developmental territory to hone their skills, but they turned it down.  It’s a good thing, too, because I can only imagine Jim Cornette’s reaction if the WWF called him and said Brian Adams was heading in.  Looking back — and I know this statement is going to make some people mad but I don’t care — all I can do today is sit here and laugh and laugh and laugh and laugh at the stupidity of the WWF.  Seriously, who was sitting backstage and said:  “Hey, I’ve got this great idea, let’s bring in KRONIK!”  I wonder if it was the same person who said:  “I’ve got a great idea for a theme song for Christian!” and “I came up with some great new ring gear for Spike Dudley!”  I don’t want to sound like a know-it-all, but you know how much I would have charged for advice on whether to bring in Kronic?  Nothing.  Not one dime.  Maybe I’d have requested a comp ticket to a show that didn’t put me so far up in the cheap seats that I could touch the ceiling of the Tacoma Dome, but other than that, I’d have done it for free.

  WWF stock was downgraded again last week by Credit Suisse First Boston.  Analyst Laura Martin, citing the September 11th terrorist attack, said numerous media stocks, including the WWF and Viacom, would likely fall another 25-35% in the next several months.  She cited many factors, including a slow advertising market and less discretionary income, and said most entertainment companies usually underperform by two to three times during tough economic periods.  WWF stock has been undervalued pretty much since day one.  They closed Friday at $11.09, down 58 cents.

  WWF held their annual shareholders meeting in New York last week.  No major news.  All eight Board of Directors members were re-elected, including Vince, Linda, Lowell P. Weicker Jr., David Kenin, Joseph Perkins, Stuart Snyder, August Ligouri and Michael Solomon.  Yes, as shocking as this sounds, Vince and Linda were both re-elected.