Straight Shooting
by : Fritz Capp
August 28, 1999
Well I have to say it...for the first time in a long long long time I sat down with an open mind looking forward to seeing what Paul Heyman's ECW had to offer up for it's first national broadcast. I must say that even though it was more an introductory for the people who never had the pleasure of seeing ECW before, it was still not half bad. I loved the opening intro for the show. It was the most professional piece I have ever seen ECW do. The match with Rob Van Dam vs. Jerry Lynn, while being a little drawn out and maybe had a few to many hype blurbs through it, did give the people a taste of the extreme style of wrestling that ECW does offer. I still cannot believe they have that damn whistle blowing throughout the match but I am sure Fonzie serves some purpose although I am hard pressed to figure out what that could possibly be. The one thing I have to say is TAZ has improved so much on the mic since the last time I saw him do a promo. Remember now, it has been over 2 years since I last watched ECW, except for the one Hardcore Heaven PPV I believe it was which was Sandman's last one. So while many of you have seen Taz's improvement I didn't so it was refreshing to see. All in all to honestly rate a show you have to see a couple shows but I have to be honest, I can't wait until the next one.
I may be censored for this one but it involves some of the more supposedly prolific Internet journalists on the Internet, well actually one of the so called journalists anyway. Now while I am not taking a direct shot at him I have to wonder why people give so much credit to Mark Madden. Here is a man who is supposedly a journalist for a legitimate newspaper, does a radio show, the WCW hotline and is a frequent guest on WCW Live! and also on their Internet PPV broadcasts. So why is it that he cannot actually give a straight story? Here is a perfect case in point on why even the so-called wrestling know-it-alls really do not have a clue.
Earlier this week Mark Madden broke onto the WCW LIVE! Program with news that Eric Bischoff had a closed door meeting with the workers and basically laid down the law to everyone telling them that if they did not like it in WCW to leave and they would be given their release. Raven walked out. Ok, no problem there. A great piece of news correct? Now let's go the next day on Mark's own site:
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Posted by markmadden at 8/25/99 11:08:23 AM
just a brief note from old double-m. I am overwhelmed by the traffic the site has gotten so far. thanks for your participation. by way of a more tangible thank you, here's some information: nobody is going anywhere. raven, kidman, konnan and rey jr. all asked for their releases. all four were granted, but only to go to ecw. it looks like all four will stay. frankly, I think kidman and rey jr. would be making a mistake going to wwf anyway, because they've never known how to use small guys who were basically just pure workers. raven and wcw management have already worked out their problems anyway, I believe. look for guest columns by dave meltzer and don "cyrus the virus" callis by the end of the week.
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Here is another scoop by Madden which was reported all over the Internet. Here Madden states that Raven has worked out his differences with the company and is staying correct? Or is that what he is saying? Here is Madden's posted reply to something I posted on the board.
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Posted by markmadden at 8/25/99 5:38:05 PM
just to clarify. when I said raven and wcw worked out their differences, I meant that he will likely be staying. you just know paul heyman is trying to get him to jump to ecw, though. bischoff would let raven do that, and raven would give ecw the franchise player it lacks (no matter what they think about RVD and taz).
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Now am I missing something here? I know that the post read that Raven and WCW had WORKED OUT their differences. Didn't he say that as a thank you here is a scoop that you would not find anywhere else on the Internet, "NO ONE IS GOING ANYWHERE? What is this now...some wavering on his news report? But it gets even better:
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Posted by markmadden at 8/26/99 4:19:36 PM
it's official: finally, raven has returned to extreme! raven has officially been released by wcw and will appear at tonight's ecw tv taping in queens. he is expected to sign a one-year contract with ecw.
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Hmmm...first he was leaving..then he was definitely staying...then he most likely will stay...that is unless Paul Heyman gets him to jump...then it's official...Raven is in ECW. Now I know a lot of Internet reporters who would have their gonads ripped from their body and put on display for all to see if they reported in this fashion. In fact many have just for that type of sloppy journalism. Why is it ok for Madden who supposedly really has the inside track? Because the truth is Madden doesn't know a damn thing that isn't told him by a WCW official. But still the point is that although Madden really doesn't know a damn thing he is still treated like he is something special when he doesn't know anything more than most of you do and this last bit of reporting by him proves that beyond a shadow of a doubt. So the next time you want to trash an Internet reporter just because he may have gotten a story wrong in some way or something he predicted didn't turn out quite like he said it would, just remember that the so-called insiders do not have any more of a clue then anyone else does...unless their respective promotion lets them in on it.
And with that I'm outta here. Remember wrestling is nothing more than what it appears to be.
Fritz Capp is the editor of Pro Wrestling's Between The Sheets - for comments or opposing viewpoints please e-mail to Fritz Capp