Straight Shooting
by : Fritz Capp
September 10, 1999
A lot has happened this past week to be sure. But I am afraid I have to start this week's column on a sad note. Brian Hildebrand passed away this week due to cancer. While I only got to meet Brian in person one time I have to say that it will always stay with me. Here was a man who was literally in the business for many many years but yet did not have one touch of ego in him. That is very rare in this sport to say the least. There have been many people writing their thoughts the past couple of days, each one sharing moments that they spent with Brian. This is a testament to how many people he touched. My condolences once again go out to Brian's family and friends in their time of grief and loss.
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While on the subject of Brian it is being said that one Travis Beaven, who is the technical contact for the soon to be launched WrestlingObserver.net website is attacking people for writing their feelings on Brian. Most notable are his attacks on the 1wrestling.com crew. While it is no secret that I do not get along with these guys what I saw on the 1wrestling.com site was a tribute to a fallen comrade. Dave Scherer had 7 pages (I believe it was 7) that had absolutely no news at all, just letters from everyone who had been touched by this gentle soul of a man. It was a very moving read to say the least. What Beaven is saying is that "The Internet mourning is very much a status symbol, and not anything based in true feelings... other than the feeling to get over with the fans by appearing sensitive. The death of someone in wrestling has been common this year... and as a result it's become a very... refined process. I find that fact... deeply troubling." That was a quote from Beaven. Now what I find troubling is someone is going out of their way to attract "cheap heat" in time of a tragedy. Brian Hildebrand knew many people and was liked or loved by all. I do not know one person in or out of the business that knew Brian who didn't think that he was something special. If this is the kind of person that Dave Meltzer has to run his site I can guarantee that I am one who will not be visiting it when it comes online. I have no time nor patience for morons like this, and I hope none of you reading this does either.
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Well, it finally happened. Eric Bischoff has been relieved of his duties in WCW. From what I see everyone is full of hope that WCW can now be booked properly. Don't get your hopes up too high too fast though. While Bischoff may have let the inmates run the asylum the inmates are now used to that and it will take a strong hand to put everyone back in check. By a strong hand I mean that Bill Busch, who is now serving as acting Executive Vice President of WCW, will have to take control of the current situation immediately and tell these guys that game time is over and it's time to get back to work because it is going to take a lot of hard work and ingenuity to bring them back to the precipice of greatness that WCW once held. Only time will tell I guess.
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It is no secret by now that the news story that Benoit and Malenko refused to job to each other and that is why Sid did a run-in and ruined a great match was a bogus story. Also most of you by now have read what I posted around the Internet as to the truth behind the posting. For those of you who did not get to read that let me give you the short version. One of the Internet's most respected reporters caught up with the guys at a local watering hole after that particular Nitro show. It was there that he started telling the guys that he wrote for a wrestling website which is akin to painting a bulls eye on your back at target practice. The reason that is like that is that most of the guys do not like the Internet. To be honest it hurts the business. Anyway one of WCW's jokesters decided that this guy was acting like a big enough mark that he was going to give him some "exclusive" news and he did just that. Well this reporter went back to his "casa" (which is Mexican/Spanish for house/home) and posted this news which was the Benoit/Malenko story which again was totally false. This shows that anyone can be worked once. This was also proven a few weeks back when almost every name reporter fell prey to a prank by posting news they received in e-mail without checking it out first. Believe me, there are less names on the "did not get caught" list then there are on the "got caught list." Anyway I told a few people that I would name the person who had this person running back to his "casa" with this bogus news. Well Glen......no wait a minute...the majority of you wouldn't know him by his real name...so let's just say this and still keep it a bit of a mystery...or at least not make this too easy....his gimmick is named after the dance craze that swept the nation during the 70's and he is quite conceivably one of the better workers currently in WCW. The one thing that really makes me wonder about this reporter is that if he is so "in the know" how could he not realize that this was utter bull. Chris Benoit and Dean Malenko are students of the sport and have always held a high regard to what they are supposed to do. I find it hard to believe that anyone would think that they would just "refuse" to "do a job" that they were required to do. Obviously once again the people who are supposed to be so "smart" really do not have a clue.
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With the changing of the guard so to speak in WCW what does this mean for the $1,000,000.00 contest that they were promoting this past Nitro. While it is true that the WWF did this also a few years ago to up a pay-per-views buyrate I have to think that this was another attempt by Eric Bischoff to try another quick fix. What baffled me was why didn't they start the contest during the show that they had the chance of having the most viewers considering that the WWF was pre-empted? Wouldn't that have had more impact and created more viewer ship by having the contest already underway when they went back to going head to head with the WWF?
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Hopefully this will also mean the end to Lenny Lane's gay gimmick. It is disgusting to say the least. And now WCW is also adding a Liberace type character? Are they going after the alternative viewer ship considering they cannot keep the true wrestling fan tuned in? I am sorry people, but this has never been a gimmick that I liked. What I find amusing is that one so-called reporter/columnist said that this was the best thing to happen to Lenny. That is like saying that the Red Rooster gimmick was the best thing to happen to Terry Taylor. It will take Lenny a long time to shake this character if it continues on for much longer. How many of you will see Dustin Runnels and still see the Goldust gimmick in the back of your mind?
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Vincent as a redneck? I'm not even going to touch that one! Way to easy and controversial.
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Did anyone else notice that Tony Schiavone called WCW "sports entertainment" on this past Nitro? I though Ted Turner got into the "rasslin" business?
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I didn't like it in WCW and I have to say I am not real crazy about it in the WWF either. I will admit when I used to go to ECW and Dreamer would piledrive Francine and her breasts came out of her top I kinda enjoyed that. Guess I'm as sick as everyone else huh? Anyway what the hell is going on with all these promotions allowing all the women to be trashed and smacked around by guys. Jarrett is killing these women. The small difference between WCW and the WWF is the WWF is having Jarrett take out women who are trained to take bumps. But that doesn't change the heart of the angle. And what the hell was Moolah thinking when she agreed to take that guitar shot to the head? I mean, Jackie can wrestle with the best of them but Moolah is 583 years old and has no business what-so-ever taking bumps like that anymore.
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The following is from Matt McCormick of PWBTS :
As many of you know, I've been working on a PWBTS Chatroom, that can be connected to via IRC or java chat. And now...I'mmmmmm DONE! :-) Anyhow, the PWBTS Chatroom is now available to IRC users at the following server:
irc.webmaster.com
#PWBTS
By this weekend, we will have the chat link up to connect via your web browser. WE WANT YOUR IDEAS! Send me what you would like to see in this chatroom. What events you would like to see. Special chats. Anything! Just email me at the link above and voice your opinion. {We promise to not stay online 24/7 to keep someone on a sh*tlist, nor have a #PWBTSLive room that will ruin the server.}
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UltimateTV is having a poll to see what people are likely to watch on Thursday nights. To have your vote added to the mix go to http://www.ultimatetv.com/interact/poll/
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Dr. Death Steve Williams is once again in trouble with the law, only this time he is now labeled a deadbeat dad. (God I hate that term, I mean how come we never hear about all the deadbeat moms in the world which there are many)Reuters is reporting that Williams has failed to pay $64,000 in child support on a 1995 Oklahoma court order which said he should pay a lump sum of $18,000 and monthly payments of $811 to support a child he fathered with a California woman.
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The WWF is getting ready to go the next step and go public. According to various news sources they plan to sell 66.7 million shares outstanding after the stock sale, including the 10 million Class A shares and 56.7 million Class B shares. At $15 a share, the company's initial market capitalization would be $1 billion. That estimate assumes the Class B shares have a value equal to Class A stock offered to new investors, though Class B shares have 10 times the voting power. This arrangement will let third-generation wrestling promoter Vincent McMahon and his wife, Linda McMahon, who own all of the Class B shares, maintain 98.3 percent of World Wrestling's voting rights even though the company is selling 15 percent of its equity to the public. The initial public offering, saying it plans to sell 10 million Class A shares for $14 to $16 each.
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The WCW Hotline is reporting that WCW management is not looking for Ric Flair to return to the ring. Flair has 17 months left on his contract, and WCW reportedly wants Flair to be a "goodwill ambassador" during that time period. What a waste!
I could go on and on but I'm outta here for now. Remember wrestling is nothing more than 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