I heard that Billy Gunn will need a remix of his current theme song soon. It'll be called "I've Got It All (Except A Spot On
The WWF Roster)".
You know today's drill... I have ratings analysis and Shouts!, but I also have 2 big Video reviews! The first one is the best of Nitro tape called "WCW Mayhem", and the next is the Jesse the Body Ventura video. Tomorrow, I plan on reviewing "Sid the Millennium Man" and "Best of Uncensored" to actually have material for another WCW Day. Should I just rename the day WCWWF day?
Who knows? But what I do know is that I have a lot of column to discuss, so let's get on to it!
Combined Head to Head: 7.0
Wow, Nitro totally shot up and even stole some ratings from RAW last night. Thanks to the intrigue of the WWF buyout, Nitro was able to break the 3.0 during the first hour for the first time in a long, long time. The second hour, especially, hopped up the most. That's good proof that the WWF can provide a good rub for WCW.
RAW's second hour didn't do squat considering what happened during the interview. That's very scary considering that Wrestlemania is this Sunday. Last year's RAW at this time scored a massive 6.6 rating, as you can see above. The scary thing is that the hype for this year's Wrestlemania is much better prepared than last year's. I guess the interest in a Rock, Triple H, and Steve Austin pushed WWF isn't as strong as the McMahons everywhere pushed WWF of last year.
Since the ratings are low, the WWF would be STUPID to not include any WCW wrestlers on their shows now. They better include some on Wrestlemania, because after last night, I'm sure a nice chunk of WCW fans could tune in to watch Wrestlemania this Sunday. It's vital of the WWF to grab those fans with something. Plus, the ratings are down anyway, so why not spark them with some early WCW cross-promotion.
Of course, that's rushing things, which the WWF doesn't want to do, but the TNN WCW show will have 2 long months before it debuts. You might as well get the word out by having the WCW personalities screw with the WWF shows for a while. At least that's what I think.
I heard that Billy Gunn will need a remix of his current theme song soon. It'll be called "I've Got It All (Except A Spot On
The WWF Roster)".
Why weren't Vince Russo and David Arquette in the "Night of Champions" promo.
Austin wasted so much more beer than normal tonight. Wait, I know why, because it was Busch NA (non alcohol)!
The last WCW broadcast was in a beer hall. Where was Scott Hall?
I think it's time for Vince to cut Shane's allowance. (pertaining to Shane buying WCW)
If the Hardy's break up, will there be all kind of reunion rumors running wild on the internet?
Who would of thought the first WWF-WCW match-up would be Shane vs. Vince?
If Stephanie McMahon shows up in Philadelphia next week and says "Daddy, I BOUGHT ECW" All hell will break loose!
Now that we get to see cross-promotional matches between WCW and WWF, does this mean we finally get to see David Arquette vs. Drew Carey?
Primetime and Kid Romeo got a new team name; they are now called Team Song Sampler.
Perhaps Taka and Funaki were running production at Nitro during Shane McMahon's in ring announcement?
Instead of Jim Ross and Paul Heyman bashing the media for not covering the XFL, why don't they bash the "fans" for not watching it!
Amazing ... three championship belts with ONE finishing move (see Rock Bottom/Bookend)
Credit for the Insanity: Dennis Martinez, Down Boy, Furd Turgeson, Jeff Wilen, CMB, Dr. Krueges, Michael Sweeney, Ebtek Dude, Southpaw67, Betsy Sherley, Super M, and PC Rock.
Please wait until next Tuesday to send in Shouts! for next week. Thanks.
This is a Best of Nitro video. Why the WCW marketing guys named everything and its mother "Mayhem" is unknown to me, although it is a good name. Just overdone.
For this video, you could argue that it's too centered around Hulk Hogan. Well, from the time Nitro started until the summer of 1998, Nitro was all about Hogan. One of Bischoff's reasons for making Nitro was to showcase Hulk Hogan, and when the NWO was running wild, Hogan was the largest part of that. So it's very understandable.
Mayhem has a few matches shown which aren't found anywhere else from the early days of Nitro, besides the "Best of Nitro" TNT specials that were going around. We start off with the first Nitro ever, ignoring the Pillman vs. Liger opening bout, where Hulk Hogan is shown defeating the Big Bossman or whatever gimmick he was in WCW at the time. They didn't show the shocking Lex Luger WCW return, which baffled me. Argh!!!
But what they did show is the famous Sting vs. Hulk Hogan match from a 1995 Nitro. If you remember, Hogan had doubts about his WCW pals, thinking that anybody could join the evil Dungeon of Doom. Hogan blamed Sting for possibly joining, since he was friends with Luger, and challenged him to a match. Most of the classic match is shown, with Sting getting the louder pops during the match. Sting would eventually slap the Scorpion Death Lock on Hogan, where the Hulkster was immediately screaming to Randy Savage: "he's gonna break it, Macho". That's my favorite Nitro memory. Hogan didn't job in the match, since it had a stupid Dungeon of Doom run in for NO REASON WHATSOEVER!
Ahem. Sting's loyalty to Hogan, then, allowed the 2 to tag up against Flair/Anderson for some classic Nitro tag matches. I did enjoy the Hulk Hogan vs. Arn Anderson match, where Double A got the great screwjob victory. I still wonder why Hogan let Arn pin him, as I recall Arn defeated Hogan two Nitros in a row back then. Oh well.
We now start the NWO sexual experience. I think they should have shown more about the origins, but instead, they focused more on the Hogan parts, like his interviews, segments, or screwjob matches. It eventually led to the Hulk Hogan vs. Lex Luger Nitro match, where Luger got the big title victory. The real story is that Lex Luger just signed a new contract with WCW, which included a guaranteed World Title during some time of the contract. Well, Luger was pushed to the top and a week after he re-signed with WCW, he won the title. A week later, he lost it right back to Hogan. So much for that clause. I'll give Luger his due though... he was very over at this point. Too bad this momentum was shot down in one week.
Lots of NWO like matches, which are decent reminders of what everyone was hooked on back then. I think they show the humiliating Hogan vs. Savage match, where Hogan won the World Title and never gave it up until Goldberg beat him in July of 1998. I attribute this ignorance of WCW to helping the WWF get a good start in their dethroning of WCW as the top federation. The incredible Bill Goldberg vs. Hulk Hogan Nitro match for the World Title was shown, which was the final time Nitro had the best ratings in the Monday Night War. The match was scheduled to be a dark match I believe, and it was rushed because WCW saw the ratings slipping. Still, it's a great moment in WCW. Too bad the surrounding product totally sucked by then to carry any momentum whatsoever.
LAST WORD: This is a decent recap video of, what, 3 or 4 years of Nitro, but one could argue that it had too much Hulk Hogan. But some of the highlights are classic, and it's pretty much recommended for some memories of what Nitro was.
Anyway, I recommend this video to EVERYONE! This is truly one of the classic videos I've seen by the WWF since it's a great collection of Jesse Ventura in the WWF. It's mainly focused on his early wrestling career in the WWF, with some stuff about his WWF announcing. The wrestling stuff is total classic though.
My gosh, Ventura sure was a great and charismatic heel back in the day. He had the look of an evil heel, and he had incredible mic skills to piss off his opponents. Sure, he was a great WWF announcer, but damn, Ventura sure could cut a promo back then. The show a great deal of his speeches from when he was a wrestler, and a lot of his poses during the match. It's a shame that an injury scared him away from lasting longer in the WWF, because with the boom just around the corner back in the mid 1980s, Ventura could have been a HUGE player. Instead, he became a HUGE announcer and a big movie star. I don't blame him, though, for quitting wrestling when he was hurt.
The video didn't really focus on certain feuds or anything, just the overall career of Ventura as a wrestler. But just about all of his matches, back then, were just hilarious and entertaining to watch. He was a great showman back in his day. They then went to his announcing, and his call during the Uncle Elmer wedding had me in tears! Especially when Uncle Elmer and his bride to be kissed, and Ventura said something about that it looked like two carp going for bait in the Mississippi River, or something like that.
LAST WORD: Recommended, Recommended, Recommended! Easy
TOMORROW: Reviews of "Sid the Millennium Man" and "Best of WCW Uncensored".
Make sure you check out the latest CLICK HERE to listen to the latest show, coming out later today, discussing news and spoilers. Keep in mind that the Audio Show is giving away a Wrestlemania care package, which you could win by listening to the show and answering Wrestlemania Trivia. Also Note that former WCW and ECW star, Scotty Anton, will be a guest on the show sometime in April. I'll keep you posted.
LoP T-Shirts: NEW STUFF IN STOCK! Mouse Pads, Sweat Shirts, Coffee Mugs, more T-Shirts, Baby Doll shirts, and more! Also, you can now order via Credit Card!
Backyard BBQ: The Best in Backyard Wrestling!
@That's all for today. I shall be back, tomorrow, with MORE PDC than you can handle. Well, I say that everyday, but I'll have a column up, at least, for you to check out.
PHAT PHARM: It's Fantastic!
Take Care, and Thanks for Reading.
The XFL on NBC scored a 1.8 in the ratings, which is up 0.2 from last week's disaster. This game tied the 3rd worst Prime Time telecast in the 3 Major Network's history. (Tied with the Christmas Eve "Alice in Wonderland" on NBC, and above the showing of "Time Cop" on ABC during the 4th of July and last week's XFL game) [Credit: Yahoo!]
The NY Times has an article about how the XFL is doing better than NHL Hockey, Golf, and Skiing. What they don't point out is that each of those were on during the day, and that the XFL is a Prime Time show.
Also on the NY Times article, it said that NBC will make a final decision regarding the next season of the XFL at the end of April. If ratings continue to plummet, which they will most likely do, then it could be the end for the league, or too much reliance on UPN to broadcast games.
XFL president Basil DeVito made a statement yesterday, saying that the XFL will indeed survive without NBC, if they pull out. Click Here to read the article.
No UPN or TNN ratings out there yet, and if I see them, I'll gladly report them tomorrow.