ANGCkB38

1
2MARCH 12, 2001 WRESTLING OBSERVER NEWSLETTER: FUTURE OF WCW AND ECWW
3BY OBSERVER STAFF | STAFF@WRESTLINGOBSERVER.COM | @WONF4W
4TWITTERFACEBOOKGOOGLE+
5Wrestling Observer Newsletter
6
7PO Box 1228, Campbell, CA 95009-1228 ISSN1083-9593 March 12, 2001
8
9We are clearly in a transitional period for pro wrestling in the United States, and a dangerous transition at that.
10
11The big stories of the first few months of 2001 were the chickens coming home to roost of the huge money losses of 2000--the official folding and impending bankruptcy of ECW, which may be announced before you read this but even if it hasn't been is an inevitability, and the sale of WCW, which may not be exactly smooth sailing but is still expected to go through. Even if the sale goes through before you read this (and it appears it will be at the earliest a week or so later), it leaves a world of question marks for its future. And like while following the fortunes of ECW and WCW last year, the questions, like for virtually the last year, really aren't about now. They are about one year from now and where this business is headed if and when it stabilizes.
12
13Whether or not the WCW sale goes through and if so, when, the company is in for a major uphill battle. In some ways, when one looks at attendance figures and television ratings, the company isn't in any worse shape than it was in 1993, before the signing of Hulk Hogan started the ball moving and the popularity of Nitro, the Flair-Savage feud and eventually the NWO and hotter overall product spearheaded the major turnaround. In money losses, obviously things are far worse because of the increased salary structure and huge increases in costs of what would be considered competitive television production. But the point is, the company came from depths of averaging less than 1,000 paid attendance per show over the course of a full year and ratings lower than they are getting today, to the levels it reached in 1998 where it was a hugely profitable company with a similar salary structure as it now has. Creation of a superstar who clicks, and some hot angles, and there is a chance because they have the key ingredient in television exposure. That is far easier said than done. The battle plan of the 1994-96 turnaround of WCW can't work today. There are no marquee players out there a few years past their prime that WWF is letting go while they still have fresh match-ups on the table like Hogan did with Flair, Vader, Piper, Savage, Luger and Sting, or players that can be raided by offering more money because they aren't tied up long term. There are no undiscovered superstars revolutionizing the in-ring products in Japan and Mexico that can be brought in and make the competition product look slow and boring by comparison. The competition is no longer presenting a slow and boring product so doesn't have that weakness to exploit. In 1996, the WCW roster had guys in their mid-30s entering what should be their prime earning years in the business and a group of legends who may have been past their prime, but still had numerous fresh money drawing matches that people wanted to see. Today the roster is filled with guys in their early and mid-40s, past any sorts of primes and inexperienced guys who are years away from the name recognition and star power level people WCW had on their roster in 1994-96 had, with no possible marquee match-ups that anyone today cares about. There is not the focus on the company or enthusiasm among company fans to create an environment where a Bill Goldberg can sneak in and become a cult phenomenon. And the ratings are no longer such, nor is Ted Turner strong enough in power, that one can safely say, as was considered a given even one year ago, that TBS will always have pro wrestling as one of its prime vehicles.
14
15Paul Heyman's starting with the WWF this week as a television announcer, and probable signing of a long-term deal is not just about the inevitable folding of ECW, it is another decision that few have talked about. If Heyman believed TBS would always want a wrestling show, based on the fact the station and its predecessor having been airing hours of wrestling every week dating back nearly 30 years, he would be better served not going to WWF, as opposed to it being his only viable option. He could sit tight and be the guy on the sidelines who could make a difference. Whether he could or not is immaterial, it's a great position to be in because his legend will live on, even if ECW's financial failure may or may not warrant such a feeling. If this current regime doesn't make it, and certainly the betting odds are good enough to play the hunch it won't, if TBS were to be looking for wrestling in one year or whenever in some form if wrestling ratings remained above competitive levels (which they are for the first time ever in danger of actually falling below), he'd be there with as a guy from the outside who can provide a fresh alternative product. While a new version of ECW starting in one year would probably not make money, as compared with the losses TBS suffered on WCW over the past 18 months, the losses would be a drop in the bucket. But with the AOL merger, it doesn't appear the company has any interest in funding a losing company, although some losses can be justified as programming costs if the show were to deliver a competitive prime time or weekend rating. For wrestling to make it, it needs strong television and a good outlet, which TBS still will be in one year barring an unforeseen collapse of an entire network. Going with the WWF, which would likely include signing a no competition agreement for several years, says Heyman's inevitable feeling by making what he thought to be his only possible decision is that if this regime doesn't make it, the era of wrestling on TBS is likely over, and that no strong start ups will be around that he can be part of at any time in the foreseeable future. No matter what one thinks of Heyman, that's a very depressing final decision for the business if it is made, maybe most depressing, because it probably is the right one.
16
17And where does that leave the genre. If you go back 18 months ago, which would be October of 1999, I would have figured someone with good business knowledge and a competent person running the wrestling product of WCW could keep costs under control and turn it around with the young talent on board. ECW was just starting on TNN. I wasn't nearly as positive of their chances, because they had to deal with the moment of truth, where smoke and mirrors could no longer hide reality. And 0.9 turned out to be the reality, which wasn't enough of an audience for whatever reason, to turn the company into a profitable one and save itself from the losses built up in prior years, and in fact, sped up the decline in hindsight with the company losing $2.5 million in the year it had the most exposure it ever had.
18
19Most of that WCW talent I'm speaking of is gone. The other things didn't happen. The hole is so much deeper that it will take a brilliant wrestling strategist with a lot of patience and a long-term plan to turn this around. Even then, there are no guarantees that outside forces, whether they be economic, or business decisions by television stations that don't share the patience, may ruin that plan. In a business where everyone looks at ratings week-to-week it's almost impossible for anyone to have patience as those with patience or building for two years from today usually find themselves out of power because they haven't made moves fast enough because their superiors and the fans barely give people two months, let alone the needed one to two years.
20
21As mentioned when Vince McMahon nearly bought WCW last year, one company is bad for wrestling on so many levels. The talent will get stale with no place to learn, and don't kid yourself, performing in Memphis and OVW before 100-200 fans a few nights a week helps, but there is a transition needed between that level and being a star on the big-time stage. There is no negotiating leverage for talent and politics as it pertains to who becomes a star become more powerful than ever with a lack of alternatives. The indie groups that garner the most attention work a style that does little to prepare its guys for a real job in the industry. The jobs will be scarce and they'll all be with one owner, giving him almost absolute power over the entire industry. Japan has less interest in using Americans than ever before. Mexico doesn't have the economy to support using Americans to any real degree. So many of today's top stars came from that Europe, Mexico, Japan travelling mode for many years, and those training grounds also don't exist.
22
23Most likely, the next big thing will be something altogether different. Copying WWF is never going to make it unless Steve Austin or Rock walk out and you use both of them, because one won't be enough most likely to rebuild a brand, a mistake that McMahon probably won't make even though he's done so in the past with a large percentage of the big stars he ever had which caused his short period where he wasn't the king of the American industry. But even if McMahon were to think he was untouchable and have a showdown with a few superstars for whatever reason, the wrestlers themselves today would likely back down. There is not an alternative offering more money to you or, except for Rock, a legitimate movie career waiting, while you risk screwing up your career going into uncertain waters.
24
25Paul Heyman sort of popularized something different. Then Kevin Sullivan and Bischoff first in WCW, and McMahon and Vince Russo later in WWF, copied, and rode to success, until it burned itself out. Hardcore wrestling is no longer cutting edge. It's yesterday's news. There are kids doing it in their backyards across the country and indie workers doing it everywhere and all have one thing in common. Almost nobody cares except for the moment. People may pop for a table breaking, but nobody goes home from a show after seeing a table break with that feeling in their stomach that they have to come back to see the story advanced or a match set up that is what drives repeat business. And Heyman hardly invented hardcore, he just took something, done elsewhere (FMW style using smaller workers to provide more acrobatic moves which is where Sabu learned of the table breaking spots he popularized on U.S. indie shows) and which was successful elsewhere (Onita and Terry Funk drew 41,000 fans to Kawasaki Stadium long before anyone took ECW seriously), modified it for his tastes and his audience, created a few terms, and all those things and people everyone said couldn't get over were being copied and many of them got over.
26
27But the brilliant ideas overseas that can be transplanted here aren't there anymore. Junior heavyweights? That's yesterday's news. People have seen them, and for a variety of reasons, stemming from everything from lack of understanding how to do it to jealousy of what they can do, it's been killed. Can it be rebuilt? Sure, with smart ideas and patience, but it won't draw numbers any time soon as evidenced on Nitro quarter hours, and in today's environment with the stress level, slow builds usually aren't happening. Interpromotional stuff? That's all the rage in Japan this week, but that requires cooperation between groups. Celebrities? Been done. The right one at the right time with the right scenario can work to give a wrestler a rub, but done too often, or a bad one, will mean nothing, and may hurt. Don't think for a second Jay Leno didn't hurt Hogan's drawing power in the long run. Nobody will even consider that David Arquette as world champion wasn't among the bonehead moves of the century. Worked shoots? Once you've seen real shoots, people can see through them and attempts to do them over the past year have been outright pathetic. There isn't even one company in Japan, where fans understand shoots, that can survive on worked shoots, although in the right circumstance it can be used sparingly very effectively to draw big time money and heat with a promotion that understands and concepts and educates the audience by peaking something for a specific show, neither of which any American companies have figured out how to do yet. Japan also still has the "we know it's a work but at times it's a shoot" mind set among its fans, something American fans today don't have, and you need that "it could be a shoot" in the back of your head to believe the interpromotional and worked shoot aspect of a program. But that can't be the backbone of the company. Real shoots? Not on a pro wrestling card. Brawl-for-all was a disaster and the injury rate would be too high, plus certain pro wrestlers who are very entertaining don't need to be exposed to anyone that they aren't very tough. As we've seen in Japan, careers can be made in shoots, or worked shoots, when carefully manipulated or when luck is on your side. But careers just as often can be destroyed.
28
29A pure shoot show? In Japan, the biggest events of the year now to wrestling fans are the Pride shows. In the last two weeks, more people than at any point since probably 1995, have seriously suggested an opinion that I think is very possible. With weekly television--which is the key and has been talked about for the first time in the history of the company and may be closer than a lot of people think--a UFC like promotion, or UFC itself since it does have the financial backing to get things done now--and a great promotion behind it as well as clearance on PPV--can become the No. 2 promotion in the sports entertainment genre behind WWF. No. 2 may also mean nothing if it isn't done correctly, or it's No. 2 based on attrition because nobody else exists on a national level. If WCW goes down, every indie in existence will claim to be No. 2, just like with ECW going down, everyone will proclaim being No. 3. It's a number that at this point means nothing. After all, today, WCW is No. 2, and from a financial standpoint, all that means is the ability to burn lots of money weekly and garner a lot of attention in doing so. With the current economic climate, combined with a younger audience that more and more has turned away from sports, as mentioned last week, that won't be easy. On the other hand, in a country as large as this one with a century long history of pro wrestling, one would think there would be enough interest in a decently run alternative product.
30
31But decent won't be good enough today. The TV has to be strong. The star power making mechanism has to be stronger yet. The people in charge need a long-term plan--a week from Monday isn't long-term, and the patience and foresight to modify when needed and the finances to last it out, but not to abandon the battle plan if it's viable while tweaking things as needed each week. See WXO or Urban Wrestling as examples of groups that actually bought their way on television with decent clearances in major markets, but never made an impact immediately, and didn't have the money to sustain themselves long enough to where in hindsight one questions what they were even thinking when they started.
32
33Ultimately, going the washed up wrestler route is death. Forget about Heroes of Wrestling or iGeneration's show quality, because it wouldn't have mattered if they had great shows, they didn't draw. Neither group could even get nostalgia buys for a one-time show featuring a lot of people who were big stars not all that many years ago, let alone sustain a promotion. A WWF copy with less money is death. A start-up probably needs to spend several months running live shows and start with regional television in small markets getting ready for a national debut, and to avoid the XFL/RollerJam mistake, of rolling out the product with all kinds of publicity, then finding it you aren't ready, and have the masses give up in case before you actually hit a groove. Nevertheless, history does show that pro wrestling in the United States has a rich and long tradition dating back more than a century, and there are no danger signs regarding the future of the WWF and it's doubtful, once they exorcise themselves of the XFL Demons, that outside pressure will cause them to take the foolhardy path that destroyed WCW. The sad part is, there are many other countries that could say the same thing that are without any localized wrestling to speak of at any significant level today.
34
35The departure of Jerry Lawler, who has worked as a color commentator and sometimes wrestler for the WWF dating back to 1993, in the wake of the firing of his wife Stacy Carter before the Smackdown show on 2/27 in Tucson, AZ, was a strange story with people trying to see through hidden meanings.
36
37Most of the post-event theories centered on the idea that Vince McMahon must have known that by firing Carter, 30, he would have known Lawler would quit, and with that knowledge, and with Carter as a minor player in the grand scheme of things, the "all-seeing all-knowing" Vince McMahon who never makes a wrong decision and/or Jim Ross actually wanted to get rid of Lawler for whatever reason and manipulated the entire scenario since they had already decided on Paul Heyman for the spot. While Lawler himself has expressed the belief that may be true in hindsight, and McMahon's ability to manipulate things can't be overlooked, it still leaves the unanswered question as to why, in a marketplace with so few good announcers, why one would want to break-up what is almost universally believed to be the best announcing team in the game?
38
39Lawler, 51, who was among the most outspoken critics of McMahon while being part-owner of the Memphis territory in the 80s and early 90s, shockingly signed with the company on a day that was referred to in wrestling as the day hell froze over.
40
41On the surface, the explanation seems to be that Carter had turned into something of a disciplinary problem, and after her problems with creative at the No Way Out PPV, several people complained to McMahon the next day at Raw, who ordered Ross to fire her before a Smackdown show where she was actually booked to be a focal part of the ongoing RTC angle, which Lawler himself had written.
42
43Ross told Lawler at about 5 p.m., before the show that McMahon had made the decision to drop the angle and was going to release Carter. Ross said that McMahon and the writers believed Carter was hard to work with and didn't have a good attitude and McMahon decided if that was the situation with a little bit of television exposure, it's best to nip the angle in the bud because the end result of the angle was designed to make Carter into a much bigger star. Ross told Lawler that McMahon had told him that at 2:30 p.m. that afternoon, after everyone had gone through what would be on the Smackdown show in a meeting that ended at 2 p.m., which had four RTC segments scheduled which Carter was scheduled to be a focal point of. After the meeting, Carter and Trish Stratus went to the gym to train and Lawler had gone to a local mall before returning. Where the situation is also interesting is that McMahon had, due to Ross' overloaded schedule with the XFL announcing duties being added, agreed to give Ross Tuesdays off to return to Connecticut early and work another day each week on his office duties as VP of Talent Relations. But Ross was there on a Tuesday, and ended up filling in for Lawler, who walked out a few hours before showtime. According to a statement by Lawler on his website, many of the details of which we've been able to corroborate as being consistent with other versions of the story, Ross told him he was the man delivering the unpleasant message and asked if he wanted him or Lawler to tell Carter. Lawler said he responded by saying, "I'll tell her, while we're on our why to Memphis!" Ross asked what he meant by that and Lawler claimed he said, "this is bullshit, JR, there's no problem with Stacy's attitude, I know that...but if you guys want her gone, then I'm gone, too." Ross asked Lawler to reconsider and Lawler said he asked Ross what he would do if the shoe was on the other foot and he worked in a company that fired Jan (Ross' wife) for no reason, "Would you stay?" Ross responded, "probably not." Lawler said he came back with, "Well, I'm not either, and you know me well enough to know that I would react this way, and so does Vince, so I can only figure you guys want me to leave as well!"
44
45Lawler, who was under contract to the WWF for two more years (there was a story in Pro Wrestling Torch about Lawler working without a contract because the contract offered hadn't been signed, and thus would be free to appear on Nitro this week, but Lawler stated that there was a new contract and extension that he had been given that he had yet to sign, but that was immaterial because his existing contract had some time left). Lawler claimed McMahon told him he would give him a full release before he left. Many in wrestling were speculating whether McMahon would in fact, allow him in the release to go to WCW, which is the obvious destination point, or just give him a conditional release where he could work anywhere he wanted except WCW. While nobody has publicly stated that Lawler and Eric Bischoff have talked, logic tells you that some form of communication has been broached, even if it was through intermediaries. His son Brian (Grandmaster Sexay) is staying with the company and there are no plans for Lawler's leaving WWF to have any affect on the WWF's developmental process with Memphis Championship Wrestling and Power Pro Wrestling, both of which Lawler played a hand in, although Lawler had no ownership interest on paper in either group.
46
47Lawler said he first went to Kevin Dunn, who is the head of television production and his immediate superior, and could tell he knew by the look on his face that Dunn knew, but the decision was out of his hands. He said that he and Carter then went to McMahon's office. He said Carter asked McMahon what she had done wrong to get fired, and McMahon said, "Well, I'm really not aware of all of it, it's more a talent relations issue (which would be Ross' department." Lawler said he told McMahon that Ross had told him that the writers said there was a problem with his wife's attitude and if that was the case, shouldn't someone have told him or her about it before it got to this level. McMahon said, "Someone should have." When Lawler said that nobody did, Lawler said McMahon said, "that's bad then." Lawler said at that point he told McMahon "I think it's bad that she's being let go without being told that and so I'm leaving with her...you had to know I would leave with her, Vince." Vince responded saying, "I hope you wouldn't," and then finished by saying, "Well, King, I want to thank you for all you've done for us here and all the hard work you've put in for the WWF. You've gone above and beyond the call of duty here and I think you," and then McMahon shook Lawler's hand. After nearly eight years, the actual conversation was said to have taken less time than it would take to read it on paper.
48
49Lawler had pushed for an angle to get his wife back in a prominent television role after Joanie Lauer had nixed Lawler's previous idea for his wife, of doing an affair with Kat and Eddy Guerrero after the Chyna break-up, an angle that was started on television and abruptly dropped. Lawler came to the writers with the current angle, which would have her start the "Right to Nudity" to build up to the recent PPV match that Lawler would lose, forcing her against her will to join "Right to Censor." As the angle would continue, each male member of "Right to Censor" in storyline form would weaken and succumb to her advances and sleep with her until it came down to the climactic scene to expose Steven Richards as the ultimate hypocrite. Lawler had presented the idea to creative, with a mixed response, so he went above their heads to McMahon, who agreed to do the angle.
50
51Some within the WWF have said it was an accumulation of things that took place over the last two weeks that led to Carter's firing and even before any of this there had been rumblings from the Memphis side for years about Carter being featured prominently on television both during periods where Lawler was part-owner and after he no longer held ownership interest. There was unhappiness from the WWF side with both Lawler and Carter at the PPV because it took more time and more negotiations for the company to get the scenario and finish that they wanted out of the short Lawler vs. Richards match in Las Vegas than any other match on the show, including having to set up a three-fall HHH vs. Steve Austin match that went nearly 40 minutes. While the actual scenario of the major points of where the angle was going, written by Lawler, was never an issue, there were aspects of how it was going to get done and what would be happening on that show in particular, that were, including reportedly Lawler wanting to lose via DQ, since for the angle to run its course there was never any question Richards' hand was going up in the match since that was Lawler's idea as well, instead of pinfall saying he wanted to protect himself for his home Memphis market. Some felt Lawler and Carter were making suggestions so they would look good in the match but it wasn't what the company wanted for the good of the match, such as the finish idea. During all this, it was alleged that Carter yelled at office employee Rich Posner, which Carter denied and said she later went to Posner when the story got out and asked him if the two had a problem and if she ever yelled at him and Posner reportedly said he knew nothing about such a story.
52
53As of late in the week, Lawler had not talked with McMahon again, but did have a brief conversation with Ross on 2/28 where Ross expressed his feeling that he considered his departure akin to the break-up of Abbott & Costello, a famous comedy duo of another generation. Lawler expressed the feeling that you never say never in wrestling about coming back, but seemed to indicate it was a long shot. Ross also expressed the thought his returning was possibility in a Dallas Morning News article but felt it wouldn't happen for a period of time.
54
55Lawler then went on the offensive, posting a lengthy story about the situation on his web site including urging fans to send e-mails to the various WWF creative team members about the situation. They all quickly, upon the deluge of negative e-mail, changed their e-mail account addresses. Lawler later in the week encouraged fans to chant his name and bring signs regarding he and Kat to the Raw tapings in Washington, DC as well as gave regular mail addresses and phone numbers at the Titan offices to complain about Kat's firing. Security at the MCI Center on 3/5 was ordered to remove all signs referencing Lawler and Kat, and there were fewer of the typical long camera shots during that show where such a sign would sneak into view. There were several "We Want Jerry" chants audible during the show.
56
57There are those in wrestling, because this involves Lawler and McMahon and pro wrestling, that believe this is all an angle. If Lawler makes a triumphant return at Mania, then clearly, it would likely be. If Lawler shows up on WCW TV, clearly it isn't, and until that time, there is no real way to say with certainty anything.
58
59Raw on 3/5 at a sold out D.C. Armory was a very good in-ring show marred by a controversial angle with Trish Status and featured the debut of Heyman in the Lawler role. Heyman brought up Lawler and said that he justifiably walked out over his wife being fired, which was probably his way to attempt to deflect what he feared would be heat from being in the heat-seeking role as Lawler's replacement. He was no Lawler, but that's also an unfair standard to judge him by in his first week. He did fine. No major problems. Seemed a little off the first part of the show but eventually got into the groove working with Ross. Of course, the mention of Kat and Lawler would lend one to think it could be an angle if only because generally (and there are exceptions, such as Jarrett's walking out a few years ago, Hart-McMahon) they don't acknowledge people leaving let alone portray them in actually a positive light, particularly since Lawler's actions publicly give the impression of playing hardball p.r. wise. The whole RTC angle they were doing was dropped and what happened on Smackdown with Venis was never acknowledged even when RTC was on the show. HHH & Stephanie came out first. HHH didn't acknowledge last week's storyline of him being injured in beating Austin and missing TV because of it (isn't he the greatest or what?) and instead said he just took a well deserved few days off. Not even a bandage on his head. He did play up his win over Austin as he should have. Certainly teased getting into the Mania main event and challenged Austin right there. Austin came out and he didn't back down. Angle came in to set up a two-on-one on Austin which drew super heat until Rock saved, to set up a tag match. Angle was mat at Regal for it being a tag as he wanted a title match with Rock. Next match was supposed to be Too Cool vs. Credible & X-Pac. Angle instead attacked Too Cool, smashing GMS' head into the ring steps before using the ankle lock to "break" Scotty's ankle (legitimately he has a neck problem and will be out six weeks). They've pretty well finally turned the corner on Angle as a heel that is to be taken seriously on top. Scotty did a stretcher job. They showed Radicalz having dissension backstage arguing over who would get a title shot at Jericho. Saturn wanted it and was mad he didn't get it. Malenko tried to be peacemaker. Guerrero offered it to Benoit as the group leader and as the guy who got them all into the WWF. Benoit them offered it to Guerrero. Jericho beat Guerrero with Benoit at ringside saying almost nothing on commentary. Very good match including both guys doing Eddy's father's legendary Gori especial on each other. Finish saw both laid out and Benoit climbed the top for a diving head-butt, but went for Guerrero, allowing Jericho to score the pin. Benoit walked past the rest of the Radicalz, apparently quitting the group. They may be doing a four-way with Radicalz at Mania or Benoit vs. Guerrero which we should hope for. Ivory beat Lita when Jeff ran across the barricades to hit Venis, who moved, and instead hit Lita. Ivory pinned her in the ring with a neckbreaker. Lita did some hot moves including a plancha, but in other ways the match was pretty bad. Teasing Matt and Lita both mat at Jeff. Seem to be building toward Matt vs. Jeff at Mania and Dudleys vs. E&C which means the tag title may be a quickie. They could always do Matt vs. Jeff with the winner getting both belts and the other match to determine the top contenders, and then what Matt or Jeff win after a grueling match, they pick their brother as their partner so you get the long singles match at Mania without actually breaking the team up. Undertaker & Kane beat Rikishi & Haku when Undertaker choke slammed Haku. Match was pretty bad with no heat. To make matters worse, if this by chance is an ending of the program, it means Undertaker & Kane will have to work with someone else at Mania and take a prospective good match down a notch. Next was the Vince-Trish deal. Trish came out like she was going to stand up to Vince, but when he showed up, she begged him for forgiveness. This was actually the same angle Randy Savage did on Nitro with Mona when they had a chance to make Mona a big-time face but instead it wasn't about Mona, it was all about Savage getting over as a heel. This is different, because to the WWF audience, the more heelish Vince got, the cooler he was because he represented their revenge on every pretty girl who in some form spurned them in their lives and they lived through Vince is making her humiliate herself. Not only that, but see her undress at the same time. I will say that I was very glad I was warned about this segment ahead of time because if anyone was in the room with me when it took place, it would have been terribly embarrassing on so many levels to be a wrestling fan. Vince told her to get on all fours and bark, which she did. He told her to take her clothes off, which she did, leaving her in her underwear. He told her to take her top off, and she teased she would before Vince said the fans didn't deserve to see it, put his coat on her and led her away. Stephanie later ordered the subservient Stratus to leave the building and get coffee for her. It's a take-off on an old wrestling angle where the heels make life hell for a face because they've got something on them, the longer the better, until the face finally rebels. Of course, this angle may also not be about Stratus at all, in which case, she'll never get her revenge, and that wouldn't be a surprise either. I saw it as grooming fans to buy Playboy's with her next by teasing something but making you have to pay to see it. McMahon closed by saying people who work for the government are only one step up from prostitution. Did someone clue him in on another investigation? Hardys beat Dudleys in a good match to win the belts in 5:34. Hardys did the screwed up spots early to tease dissension. Very fast paced good match. Christian hit D-Von with a chair to the back and Matt pinned him after a twist of fate. Snow was campaigning for commissioner with midgets, singing "High Ho," out of Disney. He went to Vince's office and Vince got mad and booked him against Show. Seems they are going to do a Snow vs. Regal program for the commissionership. Debra showed up quitting as Assistant commissioner because it's no fun. They did a series of vignettes with her, ending with Vince appointing her Rock's manager to set her up against her husband at Mania. Vince appointing her as manager of Rock doesn't seem to make sense but I guess it was the only way to do it without turning her heel right away by going with Rock against her husband. Show beat Snow in the hardcore title match. Snow set up a row of chairs and Show press-slammed and dropped him on them, then gave him a final cut for the win. Used a lot of weapons but stayed in the ring more so Show wouldn't have to run around backstage and get tired. Main saw Rock & Austin over HHH & Angle with Debra managing Rock. Really hot match with great heat. A bunch of hot near falls. Very fast paced. Ending saw Austin use the stunner on Angle, but Debra had the ref distracted while Austin went for the pin. Rock then covered Angle, stealing Austin's pin as the ref turned around. Very nice slow build for the inevitable explosion between the two. May have been Heyman influence because this is how he did Van Dam and Sabu stealing each others' glory
60
61WWF the Music Vol. 5 opened this week at No. 2 on the Billboard charts having sold 176,953 units. It's a tremendous debut, but there are music industry analysts who note the debut is weaker than some of the past projects, feeling the product has peaked, and that a huge tactical mistake was made in releasing the Rock song "Pie" in that it's awful and will hurt him in the long run
62
63XFL Vice President of Ad Sales Bob Riordan resigned on 2/28 to take a job with the College Television Network owned by CTN Media Group in ad sales. Riordan took the job as WWF started delivering free ads as make-goods due to the disappointing ratings as well as having to lower its ad prices
64
65In advertising for the 3/6 house show in Wilkes-Barre, the name of Raven's manager was listed as "Tori.
66
67Whatever heat there was among a lot of the wrestlers on Tazz at one point is pretty well gone and most like the fact that on Heat, he gets over the wrestling and whenever Michael Cole drifts away, he brings him back
68
69Don Frye was backstage at the show asking about work. They told him to finish his New Japan commitments and talk to them again at that time
70
71Rusty Tillman was very negative about the hyping of a feud with he and Jesse Ventura in an attempt to stop the ratings slide of the XFL. "They're trying to manufacture something, and I'm not going to do it," Tillman said in an article in the Newark Star-Ledger. "I've said all along, if it's like the WWF, people are not going to like it. I'm not going to do it their way. That's not me. I didn't want to turn around and have an (insult) contest on the field. My wife and children are watching. I'm not going to do it, because I think it cheapens the game." Tillman was totally uncooperative on the 3/3 NBC game in working the feud, which made Ventura's attempts to keep it going actually quite pathetic. It must really be sad for all those people who made Ventura their political hero so find out Mr. Tells it like it is is just a paid shill doing pro wrestling angles on TV while holding the office of Governor of Minnesota. They added Mike Adamle in the booth for football analysis and when you heard the plays called in the huddle, he actually told what the plays were going to be ahead of time. The two notes this week are that Mike Keller stated the league is looking at for next season signing younger players as long as they are at least 19 years old provided they are not in college due to academic reasons. That is bound to be controversial, but it shouldn't be. If the player is good enough to play and isn't playing in college, there is no reason he shouldn't be fair game. Quite frankly, even if he is playing in college, if he can make more money going pro early, it should be his decision. This was a big deal years ago in basketball and one can debate whether it's been good or bad for the sport and it's probably been bad overall for college basketball, but what is fair economically isn't necessarily something to protect college sports. Baseball players have always been signed right out of high school, as have hockey players, so why is it wrong to do so for basketball or football players, other than in the case of football, college sports are a great minor league they simply don't want to hurt because it creates future stars for them and they don't have to subsidize it like baseball has to do. There is a value of a college education, but we all know that in the case of big money sports in college in particular, the college sports programs are so far beyond hypocritical when it comes for a legitimate education for players that people should at least have the option to make a decision about their own lives as opposed to waiting until their college class graduates and going pro. Granted, left up to their own devices, many will come out early and in many cases it will be a wrong decision, but in other cases for a superlative athlete, it'll be a right decision, and we all make good and bad decisions in life as it pertains to work or school at that age and athletes should have the same option everyone else has. If there are media complaints if they enact this policy, just let me know if a second-rate newspaper gives a job to a brilliant writer even though his college class has yet to graduate if they will make a similar fuss. On the other hand, the big promotion for next week is that, in their own words, hyped throughout the show using their own words as a desperate attempt to deliver ratings, that next week they are going to have cameras in the cheerleaders locker rooms. I'm sure the idea is to do this because for the most part the media has started to ignore the league, and they are hoping that negative press, like in the first week (but clearly not in the second week, which kills the theory that bad press is good press) will boost numbers. They'll get some bad press on it, and it may slightly boost numbers (I could be wrong about that because in the days that have followed that announcement, remarkably little has been written mainstream about that subject because XFL isn't considered a subject worth taking seriously except to point out the ratings by most major city newspapers), but they'll be disappointed with just how little the ratings will move is my prediction. And by the week after, because they won't be able to deliver on what is being teased, the long-term turn-off factor will be even greater and the numbers will drop, although I don't know how much. Three weeks ago, the belief was that a test pattern on NBC in prime time would draw a 3.0 rating. Two weeks ago that was lowered to 2.5. In the dying days of the bodybuilding deal, McMahon switched from guys bodybuilding show to a T&A fitness show (not unlike many of the sports networks do in the mornings), but that didn't move ratings either and eventually that was the last straw and it died. Wonder if all the Mushnick haters will note that he called this one before almost anyone else and what he said to Drew Pearson when Pearson on "The Last Word" said all that stuff was done before the season to get attention but once the season started it would be all about football and they wouldn't be doing that stuff anymore? I can understand why wrestling fans don't like Mushnick but when it comes to predicting McMahon's actions over the past ten years, I've met nobody who has called them ahead of time anywhere near as well. I don't think it's sad McMahon is doing this, and in fact, is predictable and expected as he's not going down without a fight and without exhausting every possible gimmick. But I think it's so sad that NBC sports is so desperate to allow this hype, no matter what ends up being delivered or not delivered, because no matter whether it works for a week or not, the XFL was going to go down as a bad business decision and as Dick Ebersol's Edsel. But for the most part, that's all it was until now. Now it really is a black eye for NBC and NBC Sports that it won't be able to wash away if and when this thing quietly disappears
72
73Linda McMahon, speaking on 3/5 at the Bears Stearns and Co. media investment conference in Boca Raton, FL, made some hints regarding the long-term of XFL, saying they are committed through the end of the first season but would take a look at it on a week-by-week basis. Her statements created some headlines indicating the company was thinking of sacking the league, which she denied the next day. She acknowledged the ratings decline and blamed it on weak games, but said critics are too harsh too early, saying it takes time to build a brand, player awareness and create stars. She said the company has launched audience research to find out why so many viewers no longer watch and said, "I think we have to evaluate the viability of the product in the marketplace." She said later that the company was committed to the XFL but was just looking to see what the consumer's appetite is for the product and evaluate from that how they proceed. She claimed licensing and merchandise figures are on pace with the business plan and tickets sold are ahead of schedule but the ratings need improvement
74
75Between that statement, the reality of the ratings and subsequent advertising give-backs and the way the product was both promoted and not promoted on Raw this week (the ad for the NBC game never even voiced over the teams or tried to "make stars" but instead just hit the cheerleader angle) made me think the long-term build has been abandoned and is very reminiscent of the last-ditch effort to save the WBF Body Stars TV show by focusing away from bodybuilding and to T&A
76
77A black eye for the league was on its own web site when doing a Q&A about whether you are interested in cameras going into the cheerleaders locker room, 62% voted no
78
79XFL is now offering major discounts on ads as well as make-goods. In one of the trade papers they were talking about the XFL doing a 3.9 among Men 18-49 and thus being strong in the demo group, beating out everything the weekend before last in that group except the Winston Cup. What is misleading about that is they are adding the ratings of three games to get that 3.9 and comparing them with single games or single events in other sports. If every NBA game in every local and national market was added together for a week or even every NHL game, its 18-34 males would destroy that of XFL, but NBA and other sports don't do it and that's where manipulated figures can look confusing. It's not unfair as far as advertisers go because if you buy an NBA game, you buy one game, but XFL sells in package, so your ad appears on all three games so it can claim from an ad standpoint those numbers it is delivering. XFL is also charge less than half of what major sports charge for similar ad audience making it a bargain, but that's also because it can't charge even half of NBA rates because advertisers won't pay NBA numbers. As mentioned here before, the prime source of ratings is for advertisers, but for all the comparisons of NBA vs. Nitro on TNT when it comes to ratings, in the real world, it doesn't matter (which is why tennis and Dog shows were pre-empting Raw on USA all those years) because advertisers will pay tons more for NBA than Nitro no matter how much Nitro beats them in ratings. As far as what this means for the WWF in dollars and cents, here's some estimates. XFL figured to lose $60 million this season before the ratings shortfall, which would be a $30 million loss for WWF. That was based on a projection of selling $60 million in television advertising. As it turned out, they sold closer to $40 million. If one figures the ratings stay roughly at last week's level for the rest of the season (and the ten percent overall drop from that level this week says that estimate is being probably too generous), and estimated the championship game at a 4.5, which may also be very generous, when the season is over, they will deliver about 53 percent of the audience they promised advertisers. They can make up about 19 percent of the shortfall with make-good ads between now and the rest of the season, which would leave them 30 percent short of what advertisers were promised, which would mean they would have to refund approximately $12 million more at the end of the season, leaving them $32 million short of their projected budget. So that would add $32 million to the loss column meaning this project will actually lose considerably more money than WCW did last year, and that's provided ratings don't continue to decline from the current level. It would make both the WWF and NBC losing about $46 million each this year on the project provided all other numbers come in at budget, which one would suspect also won't be the case. With WWF's profit margin this year on wrestling probably falling between $80 million to $100 million on the wrestling side, they can absorb those losses and still be a very profitable company and it shouldn't mean the wrestlers should feel any sting in their pocket books, at least theoretically, unless wrestling numbers themselves drop later this year
80
81One of the more embarrassing moments in TV sports history took place with the cameras in the locker room and somebody was taking a leak and Ross had to utter the line "that's somebody going to the bathroom." That's been made fun of everywhere
82
83Ventura largely put his foot in his mouth last week at the National Press Club meeting when talking about the XFL. He was first asked about why he has so much disdain for the media, and he called the media "jackyls" (he didn't mean Don Callis), that they have no accountability and only want to report negative stories and care too much about people's personal lives and try and create stories. The very next question said that doesn't he feel like a hypocrite with that answer in light of his constant bashing of Tillman. Ventura said that doesn't count because what he is doing with Tillman is only entertainment and he has great respect for Tillman. Then he was asked why the XFL isn't succeeding and he blamed the media, saying "Give yourselves a hand, you are the reason the XFL is not succeeding
84
85The constant negative criticism by you guys is the reason the league is not succeeding." He claimed nobody from the XFL ever said they were going to have a better product in any way than the NFL (what about Vince on the 50-yard line screaming, "Where's my football" and the constant anti-NFL knocks on the air, many of which Ventura himself made). Then Ventura ripped on the NFLPA because Keith Elias was cut for salary cup purposes, but was willing to play for less than the league minimum to stay in the NFL, but the NFLPA wouldn't allow him because it would violate the collective bargaining agreement and Ventura said the XFL would succeed because players like Elias care more about the game than the money
86
87They changed the bump-and-run rule to the same rule the NFL has in attempt to increase the passing game because the scores have been lower than they want. Rule changes happen in all sports but I've never heard of them constantly changing during a season
88
89Jesse Ventura blamed the media for the XFL's ratings failures, although admitted the league was overhyped. He said about the media, "They got embarrassed again. They thought this was going to be football players hitting each other over the heads with chairs. They thought it was going to be wrestling on the football field. Then, when they found out it wasn't...they had to attack it and say it's not as good as the NFL--it's second rate-football," he said in an AP story. They should have asked him if it was the media's fault, why is the public turning off in droves? He gave a less than ringing endorsement when asked about the future, saying, "I don't know, we'll give it our best shot.
90
91TSN in Canada edited the Stratus angle off the show
92
93Some Ross Report notes for the week. Really put over the PPV, and it's deserved praise. Scotty 2 Hotty has a ruptured disc in his neck and will be out for about six weeks so that explains the Raw angle. He did work a house show as part of a three-way over the weekend. Grandmaster Sexay will be working (and jobbing) mostly in singles during the interim. Billy Gunn missed Smackdown last week due to a family illness. Edge & Christian were taken off the weekend house shows because of Edge's low back injury. Said Mark Henry is down to 322 pounds. K-Kwik will be out three weeks with a broken rib. Noted WWF would be helping OVW for a June show at the Louisville Gardens and helping MCW with an April show in Jonesboro. Defended the XFL ratings by saying they drew a better rating than every sporting event last week besides the Daytona 500. Unfortunately, those ratings are hard to defend. The NBC game did do a better rating than most sporting events last week but it was the only sporting event held in prime time on a network. He's comparing shows in Saturday and Sunday afternoon time slots where the viewing audience is way down with a prime time network show. If you compare the XFL's Sunday afternoon show on TNN or even its prime time show on UPN, it didn't do as well as most of the events it was compared to. As it turns out, add another show, Game Three of the 2000 Stanley Cup, which did a 2.3, to the list of shows that last week's XFL games beat out in the history of 50 years of prime time television. I think the number is three. Gangrel is cleared to return, but will be working IWA in Puerto Rico first. Said Rhino's intro may be held back until after Mania. Talked about John Layfield (Bradshaw) being interested in writing a book (could be a financial book as he's very good at the stock market, although I have a feeling he hasn't done nearly as well the past few months with all the WWF stock in his portfolio) and also mentioned his own plans to write a book
94
95The 3/1 Smackdown show was pretty good again this week. My opinion is that most weeks, Smackdown is the best wrestling show in the U.S., which is becoming less and less of a competitive thing. The wrestling was generally pretty strong and Angle is being portrayed as more and more of a serious main event heel which adds to the depth and made up for HHH missing the show. They are doing a great job of the slow tease for Rock vs. Austin so it peaks properly rather than rushing the stuff out there
96
97Angle will be inducted into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame in Stillwater, OK on 6/2 at the 25th annual awards banquet. Angle won the NCAA heavyweight title twice at Clarion University in 1990 and 1992 and compiled a 116-10-2 record as a heavyweight in college before going on to win the 1995 World championship at 220 pounds and the 1996 Olympic gold medal. Also being inducted is Kenny Monday (who was actually a much bigger star in the amateur wrestling world), who participated in MMA in a couple of matches including a win over John Lewis and a quick submission loss in a no striking match to Matt Hume on PPV, who was 1984 NCAA champ, 1988 Olympic gold medalist, 1989 world champion, 1992 silver medalist and finished sixth in 1996. Tom Brands, who also won an Olympic gold medal in 1996 and was a three-time NCAA champion, is being inducted with them
98
99Some OVW notes. Leviathan, who Jim Cornette has predicted will be in the Wrestlemania main event within a few years, isn't on TV as they are doing a suspension gimmick. Real name Dave Bauttista, he's probably about 6-6 with great physical proportions and ripped to shreds and they're trying to teach him to work a Kane-like monster role although he's not as big as Kane. When he did his match with Kane in Louisville, what was scary about it is they've gotten him over in OVW as a monster, and how much bigger Kane was. I don't think he could play a monster in the WWF because of all the huge guys they've got there as he's really not much taller than Billy Gunn but he's got a much freakier physique. With his ridiculously small waist and huge upper body, he actually reminds me physique wise of a very young Tony Atlas, but several inches taller and with stronger legs. He's been out of action for the past few weeks with a torn ankle ligament but should be back shortly. Brock Lesnar is showing improvements but he and Sheldon Benjamin, who Jim Ross talks about so much in his Ross Report, are still far from ready for prime time. Benjamin is the closest thing to a sure thing to make it while I have a good feeling, if he can develop some charisma, about Randy Orton because his work is improving rapidly and he's got a good look. Russ McCullough cut his hair and now looks nothing like Nash. While it's good he doesn't look like Nash, it's bad because he just looks like another tall bouncer. There has been talk of moving him to IWA in Puerto Rico. It's funny because most of the guys in the territory are actually better workers than Mark Henry, who unlike Show, looks like he's really lost a ton of weight. There is talk at some point, maybe in a year, of introducing Lesnar & Benjamin and perhaps Eric Angle if he makes it, as a group with Angle. Although this may not be the time for it out of trying not to hurt UPW, it's probably time for John Cena to be moved here because he's got the look and charisma but needs to be in the ring before a crowd four nights per week. They also should every week send a veteran they can spare to work in the ring with a different person every night, aside from helping morale because it makes it more of a link to the WWF seeing a live WWF body there more often, but because as good as the coaching is they are getting, they are still all working with each other (although Flash is actually a darn good worker and has ten years in, just no lengthy stays in any top level promotions) and to improve rapidly you have to work with people who are more experienced than you are, which is also one of the secrets of Angle's quick improvement is look who he's worked with over the past year 200 times. Probably, when it comes to look, attitude and work, the closest one that under normal circumstances they'd be interested in is Rico Constantino, who is now doing a heel gimmick as something of a cross between Rick Martel (who he's always compared with since they have a similar look) and Angle. Problem is, Constantino is almost the same age as Martel and would be the oldest guy on the WWF active roster except for maybe Faarooq, Malenko, Haku and maybe Godfather
100
101OVW has 4/4 booked at the Louisville Gardens. No show is announced but they are looking at getting one or two WWF wrestlers to that card. It's not a big deal show like Christmas Chaos, but they are looking for a huge show with a lot of WWF names in late June, and may even move to a larger building than the Gardens
102
103Although he is not considered a candidate for the job, nor does he want the job, Cornette would probably be the best of the available candidates for the Lawler position. His call is the Benoit vs. Nick Dinsmore match at the Christmas Chaos show was the best match call I've seen outside of Jim Ross on his best days in recent memory. Very old school Bill Wattsish storytelling, but he made the match seem so important that even I was mad in the right way as opposed to the wrong way (and boy is there a difference) when they did a run-in DQ finish after a long very good match
104
105In the head-to-head hour on 2/26, Raw had 1,358,000 teenage viewers to 85,000 for Nitro, or a 94-6 percent margin. Nitro did win one demographic group that night, Women between the ages of 50 and 54 although WWF now kills WCW in its former Women 55+ stronghold
106
107Some interesting WWF stock news. Viacom has been unloading stock ever since it bought in. Thus far, they've sold 133,000 shares, or about six percent of their inventory, for a total of $2,467,680 or an average sale price of $18.55, which means they made a $738,150 profit on the transactions. Viacom, when it got the WWF television deal, bought 2,307,692 shares for its $30 million investment (incorrectly reported in many places as Viacon spending $100 million to get the WWF television deal because that made for better copy and a stronger rallying point for ECW followers about how TNN is paying $100 million to WWF and screwing us). WWF allowed them to buy what amounted to three percent of the company at $13 a share at a time when the stock itself was publicly trading at around $17 so Viacom got itself a good deal on the stock to make the purchase. NBC got a similar sweet stock deal when it signed on as part of the XFL, but NBC has yet to unload any of its stock, which at this point is fairly even as the stock at last word was slightly above $13. Of WWF Executives, Andrew Whitaker (Senior VP of International TV) sold a lot when the stock hit $22 and made a real profit of $275,000 while Kevin Dunn has made $175,000 profit on unloading his stock high at the right time
108
109In Memphis Championship Wrestling this past week, Pete Gas beat PPW and MCW unified champ Steve Bradley to win the title at the 3/3 TV show and immediately was put into a program with Joey Abs, which makes me think Bradley will be starting with the big team soon
110
111Ivory vs. Chyna for the title and probable title switch is something of a lock for Mania and they'll probably bring Chyna back in a few weeks to set that up
112
113If they are going to do an ECW invasion angle, and there is good and bad in doing so, it definitely wasn't the plan a week ago as they asked Rhino to come up with a new ring name. The good is that it's an issue for the undercard guys to build heat and promotion vs. promotion done correctly always works in the short-term.The bad is that whomever is on Team ECW will never be portrayed as a threat to the top guys, so the angle will more be a bone thrown than something pushed to draw money and programs like that aren't given the focus to come close to their potential. But there are a ton of guys in WWF like Raven, Billy Gunn, Albert, six of the top ten and ten of the top 20 listings. The highest was No. 3 which was the Armageddon PPV with Rock at No. 4, Jericho at No. 6, Divas at No. 7, Best Matches of 2000 at No. 8 and Survivor Series at No. 10. Michael Jordan and Tony Hawk placed 1-2. Non-WWF tapes in the top 20 are the debut of King of the Cage, which is the UFC-like promotion based in San Jacinto, CA, debuting at No. 15, ECW at No. 17 and No. 19 and FMW tapes at No. 18 and No. 20
114
115Raw last week drew 350,000 viewers in the UK and Smackdown drew 200,000. No Way Out drew 150,000 which is a huge number considering it started at 1 a.m. Blackman, Crash Holly, basically the hardcore division guys, who have no real program. The question is how many ECW guys that they don't already have would WWF even want
116
117Dick Butkus replaced Lawler on the NBC back-up game on Saturday night, Birmingham at San Francisco. Originally that was going to be the main NBC game before they decided to keep
118
119covering New York to try and build ratings around the wrestling angle
120
121WWF had its weakest showing in several years on this week on the Rec Sports video charts, but still had Superstars drew 40,000 and Nitro going against Raw drew 80,000
122
123. Smackdown tapings 2/27 in Tucson, AZ drew a sellout 6,907 paying $255,570. 3/3 house show in Springfield, MA for the company's only trip to the city for the year drew 7,191 paying $202,849. Split crews on 3/4 in Wilkes-Barre, PA drew 6,693 paying $225,070 and Hershey, PA drew 7,349 paying $263,055. We don't have the Raw figures for this issue but will have them next week nor do we have a merchandise breakdown from the arena events for the week. In Springfield, with WWF champ Rock, HHH, Undertaker and Austin as well as Guerrero and Benoit all having the night off, they went with Jericho over Angle in an IC title match as the main event. At the house shows, they are teasing both Goodfather going back to Godfather as well as a Buchanan turn, as after beating APA, the APA was whipping Richards and the rest of RTC just walked off and didn't save him. Dreamer was backstage at the Springfield show. On 3/4, they did split shows in Hershey and Wilkes-Barre but Austin, Rock and Undertaker all had the nights off, leading to very weak shows when it came to the usual depth. Wilkes-Barre had the Jericho over Angle IC title match as the main event. Hershey had Kane & Dudleys over HHH & Rikishi & Haku on top and Benoit over X-Pac as the show-closer. That match started as Benoit vs. Credible as X-Pac was announced as being late arriving, and then a few minutes into the match, X-Pac ran in to take over the match. In Wilkes-Barre, where Raven vs. Crash Holly was advertised, they announced Crash wasn't there due to weather problems, but he was actually booked in Hershey, and Rhino subbed.