Straight Shooting
No Holding Back! This week I let loose on the entire wrestling world
January 27, 2000
By Fritz Capp
This issue I want to address a lot of things so I am just going to write off the top of my head. This may be a good thing or it may be a bad thing but here goes.
Word is that Chris Benoit, Dean Malenko, Eddie Guerrero and Perry Saturn have been issued their unconditional releases from the company and some people are saying that they are all headed to the WWF. This could be good or bad for them depending on what the WWF has in mind for them. The WWF lives on the ability of its workers to have great mic skills. The better the skills the further you go. The only one person who is being reported to be going to the WWF with any sort of mic skill is Eddie and those are suspect at best. These guys are wrestlers bottom line. I cannot see any of them at the current time being able to hold a crowd on a 10 minute in-ring mic tirade. Hopefully they will be able to get over this small detail as they are all too good in the ring to have this hold them back in the company.
We lost another wrestler to apparent drug overdosing. This time it was Bobby Duncum Jr. I have said it before and I will say it again, it is time to take charge of this situation. When we lost Louie Spicolli to this I did a column showing that it is relatively inexpensive to test for drugs. (Prescription and non-prescription) At $75.00 a test at the time of that article it is worth it for the people who are reaping the biggest portion of the wrestling phenomenon to try to help out the part that is actually making the money for them. It is no secret that drugs are used all the time by the boys in the locker room for various reasons. If someone says that they didn’t have a clue, they only think that you do not as they know. It is not hard to tell if someone is using or not. The signs are all there. Once again professional wrestling is going to come under the scrutiny and attacked by the mainstream media for having yet another drug related death in its ranks. If the promotions themselves aren’t going to do anything I am hoping that if anyone in the locker room knows of someone with a problem that they would try to help them. How many more do we have to lose before people realize there is a problem that has to be addressed ASAP.
WCW’s Nitro once again failed to make me enjoy it, though I try to each week. I keep hoping for that spark they almost had a while back but that seems to have fizzled. Let’s look at a few things:
(A) They should give up on Scott Hall. Hall just doesn’t seem to have it like he used to and doesn’t seem to care to want to get it back.
(B) Steiner and Nash walking around with all the women just makes me think about how unoriginal the promotion really is.
(C) Terry Funk while being someone who I totally respect really shouldn’t be in the ring anymore. It is obvious that he cannot even get around let alone wrestle. WCW should be tapping into the mind of Terry Funk not the body. Seeing him wrestle Demon on Thunder proves what I am saying. He looked bad. What is even worse is that after the buildup a few months ago and now finally getting the character in the ring Demon loses to a 55 year old man. Way to put the gimmick over guys. Look at all that money invested and thrown away.
(D) The David Flair contingent is about the most annoying thing going today especially that shrieking chick Daffney. I am sure she is a great person in real life, but when I see them coming out, I instantly turn the channel. (Which is quite a feat considering I usually watch Nitro on tape).
(E) Juventud’s horrible impression of the Rock is equally annoying. How about making it funny? What a concept huh?
(F) Three Count should be thrown out the window except that they do pretty good Hardy impersonations in the ring when wrestling. All in all the whole promotion needs to get it together.
The WWF is not without its shortcomings though.
(A) Am I the only one sick of the stupid Torri angle? Couldn’t they come up with something better for her to do than just freak out at over every guy like she was raped over the Christmas holiday by X-Pac? She is about as annoying as Daffney in my book. If you can’t use her get rid of her. Who cares how much money you paid for her implants. Count your losses and get on with something interesting.
(B) I don’t know what the WWF is doing but it looks like they are trying to kill the heat that the Acolytes have. Why I have no idea because I thought they should have had the belts awhile ago. They are big and can work (for big guys) and would be able to hold the belts. I don’t understand why they took the time to build them up and then not continue.
(C) Have you noticed that on this past RAW Road Dog could say "shiznit" but not "doggy style?" What is up with that? Even WCW gets away with more on the mic anymore. If your not going to allow it then don’t have it said. There are 15000-20000 in the arena but millions watching at home. From home it sounds so stupid to have what we heard for almost two years now being censored only to watch WCW and hear someone be called a "bitch" in ring on Nitro.
(D) Although I enjoyed "the show" at Rumble and laughed at Mae Young, I think it is time to put an end to it. I am sure that Mae and Moolah have made more money in one year from the WWF then they did their whole careers and I am happy for that fact but it is time to close this angle. I mean where else can it go? Moolah and Mae in a lesbian in-ring angle? I hope not.
The Parents Television Council (PTC) is at it once again by pleading with all of their members to once again contact the WWF’s sponsors trying to get them to pull their sponsorship and advertisements. This organization is akin to cancer as it just keeps growing and continues to be an annoyance. Also like cancer if allowed to spread it will eventually do major damage to the WWF in general and wrestling as a whole. If you think that they will just continue against the WWF without eventually going after the others you are mistaken. You can check out the Wrestling Fans Against Censorship webpage at http://pwbts.com/censor.html to see what you can do to help combat this infection in the wrestling world.
It is apparent that Nitro is not going to do any kind of numbers no matter who is booking the show. This is a no-brainer people. No matter who is booking the show, they still have the same tired personalities to work with. It doesn’t matter how you mix them up, it is still the same old thing. So much for long term contracts huh? Long term contracts seem to be hurting WCW at this time because the workers who have them don’t have to worry about work rate. All they have to worry about is collecting that paycheck each week. Needless to say that WCW should be looking into shorter contracts with less guarantees in future negotiations. This would put the "in" back into incentive to work if you know what I mean.
Did anyone else notice the moron holding the sign on this past Nitro that said, "Bring Back Owen?" What a complete and utter a-hole!
There is a letter that is being circulated around wrestling webmasters that is supposed to be an interview with recently deposed NWA promoter Dennis Coralluzo. In it the interview would have us believe that Dennis is on the verge of practically taking over the wrestling world with some new promotion he is going to run out of Delaware. Let me ask you this, "Has Dennis ever run a top rate promotion?" Hardly. The Dennis Coralluzo I know has been implicated in many money scandals and running shows at National Guard Armories that draw about 150 people. In fact, isn’t it money owed that got him thrown out of the NWA? Dennis is known to screw over friends at a moments notice if it would have a chance of putting him over. This letter/interview is actually a riot to read. In it, Dennis has suited bodyguards, he has 102 "potential" shows (the word potential really cracks me up), he is going to do a major press conference from "Denny’s Restaurant" hoping the Governor of Delaware and Senator Roth will be there. There will of course be major media coverage and he also finds the time to take shots at every promoter in the area while spitting food all over the person conducting the interview. Needless to say, while it is a funny read, it is also sad to think that Dennis has been reduced to making up stories to make himself feel and look good. Considering he is now out on the street for playing with his favorite flavor of "Rat of the Month" and no longer associated in any way with the NWA because of his utter and complete incompetence and stupidity (not that Howard Brody is any better but that is another column) all you can do is feel sorry for the man who didn’t realize the wrestling business cannot be run like it was in the 50's and 60's. Today’s wrestling promoters have to be business savvy and understand that you must pay your bills and keep enough money to actually be able to book the halls and pay the workers and your associates. You cannot just take the money made from shows to take care of personal needs or obligations. Maybe Dennis can rebound, maybe he will disappear into obscurity...but then again maybe he will come out with another press release from "Lindenwold, N.J...the hotbed of wrestling news" like this last one to make some of us have a good laugh. I want to thank Mark Coralluzo for writing that one up under his new pseudonym...your dad should be proud.
And with that I am outta here. Remember wrestling is nothing more than it appears to be.
Back To Straight Shooting Main Page
copyright © 1997 - 2000
Pro Wrestling's Between
The Sheets
Site Design by Fritz Capp
CGI work done by Paul Howe