You know what I want to do first? I want to compare Jaromir Jagr, who was traded from my favorite hockey team, the Pittsburgh Penguins, to the Washington Capitals, and the 9th Wonder of the World, Chyna, who won't be seeing a new WWF contract anytime soon. Reports are saying that the WWF locker room is extremely happy that Chyna is no longer around, since she was acting like a total bitch ever since she did her Playboy shoot. If you look at Jagr, his head was swelling up to the fact that he was asking to be traded in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Since Jagr was a crybaby for most of the playoffs, it caused him to not play like normal and for teams to attack Mario Lemieux more often, hence no chance at getting into the Cup. Now that Jagr was traded away, I'm sure the Penguin locker room will be very pleasant to be in, for now.
Of course, at least Jagr has a job playing for the Washington Capitals. Chyna wasn't traded, but she just wasn't picked up by her team (or federation) again. Oh darn. While Jagr will improve the Capitals's offense, Chyna will be playing a secondary role in a B-movie to show on late nights for USA. Now that's a big difference.
I'm probably not making any sense right now, so on to the PDC.
Bill Goldberg's contract is around $2 to $4 million per year, and I believe it runs out sometime in 2003. So for the WWF to wait until 2003, they will be gaining a 36 or 37 year old wrestler. Since Bill Goldberg will be used to making that much money, he'll gladly ask for it once his free money from Time Warner runs out. Oh my God, the WWF won't be getting Goldberg at all? Possibly, and it would be wrong to not get the #3 guy in terms of nationally known in the media, thanks to his commercials, some movie roles, and for his former football career. Only the Rock and Steve Austin are more well known in the general media than Bill Goldberg. That's the truth. You don't see Triple H making movies or having the national appeal of Bill Goldberg, and the same goes for the Undertaker, Kane, Chris Jericho, Booker T, DDP, and even Kurt Angle.
But why can't the WWF buy out his contract? If the WWF is a rich company, which they are by all means, they shouldn't even think twice about picking up this great asset. Hell, they threw about $40 million or so at a shitty football league and are feeling no damages, so why not pick up a guy who will make an impact in professional wrestling. Maybe the Vince McMahon of 1998 would have taken the chance, but certainly not the one of today.
What do I mean about the 1998 stuff? If you've read Wrestlemania: The Official Insider's Story, you'll know what I'm talking about. During Wrestlemania 14, there were discussions about bringing in Mike Tyson for an appearance at the Pay Per View, which was going to cost the WWF around $4 to $5 Million for just a one time deal!!!!! That's insane, as it's much cheaper than having Bill Goldberg generating dollars EVERY WEEK. Back then, too, the WWF didn't exactly have big funds to manage, either, for the years 1996 and 1997 saw the WWF on the hinges of possibly folding!
But in this book, Basil V. Devito Jr., the main author of the book, addressed the Mike Tyson situation to Vince McMahon. Devito told Vince, and I quote: "Look at it this way: Without Tyson, we still do for or five thousand Pay Per View buys, and make money. With Mike, we're probably going to lose money at seven hundred thousand buys." Yes, this was a great concern, back then, because the WWF needed something big to save them from losing lots of money in the long run. In response to Devito, Vince McMahon said the following and I quote: "Don't you understand? I'd rather lose money at eight hundred thousand buys than to make money on four thousand Pay Per View buys. That's how we grow in the business."
Ok, so doing a one time thing with Mike Tyson is how you grow in the business. With Goldberg, and at a cheaper price and more than one appearance, then maybe he would help the WWF grow "in the business". Like I said above, Goldberg is still a big name in the wrestling business, and if he were to show up on a WWF show, wrestling fans would definitely tune in again. Tickets would sell because fans would be dying to get a taste of a possible Steve Austin vs. Bill Goldberg match. Fans would love to see Triple H vs. Bill Goldberg because of once real life heat between the two. Finally, who wouldn't want to see Rock vs. Bill Goldberg, the battle of two movie makers and former football stars with actual talent in the wrestling ring? I'm sure I would, and I guarantee that the Pay Per View buys would jump to the levels desired of the Mike Tyson deal, but EVERY MONTH!
But Vince McMahon 2001 doesn't see it that way, and he's made Bill Goldberg off limits for right now. Instead, he's praying that a WCW angle with SOME popular WCW wrestlers will be as big as a WCW faction with Bill Goldberg. Yeah right. Booker T and Diamond Dallas Page are pretty well known WCW wrestlers, but you don't hear WWF crowds chanting their names when they aren't even featured in a match. The WWF constantly makes cautious climax changing moves to make sure that the crowd doesn't chant Goldberg, to which there are times where they can't control it, like Buff Bagwell vs. Booker T.
However, Vince has lost the idea of how to "grow in the business". His new idea on growing in the business is to keep putting himself and his family over, at the cost of the wrestlers. Ratings were dropping, houseshow attendance has now become a joke, and having WWF merchandise isn't as cool as it used to be. So why not take the chance? Vince will be due to lose more money as the year goes on, anyway, so why not spend it now to possibly gain success? Why not take that chance??
And what about Bill Goldberg in the WWF locker room? Many reports have suggested that he's not exactly the nicest to be around, or to work with at times. Well, just slap a breach of contract lawsuit on Bill Goldberg for not abiding by the terms stated in his contract. WCW never had the balls to do that to anyone, with the exception of Ric Flair, which Eric Bischoff only did out of real life hatred for the man. Just don't take Goldberg's shit, just like the WWF didn't take Buff Bagwell's attitude, last week, by firing him on the spot.
But the 1998 phrase says it all, and it shoves the words right into Vince McMahon's mouth. An investment of Bill Goldberg could be an ingredient that would very well save the sagging wrestling industry. If he doesn't pan out, it's only about $3 or $4 million lost, which sounds a lot to me and you, but to a company that risks losing money due to the changing trends in wrestling or the short attention spans of some wrestling fans, it's damn well worth it. It's mighty ridiculous to take a risk on a guy for one appearance and for more money, but to not take an appearance for a guy wrestling for you every week and for slightly less money. You can do the math, Vince.
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@That's it for today. Monday Night Hype tomorrow, and a Heat review (doubtful) if I can strap myself to a chair and painfully watch that crap. Mtv is such a garbage channel, with the exception of Jackass and Tough Enough. See you tomorrow!
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