One thing I noticed from the WWE 3rd Quarter Report was the fact that the RAW numbers were listed in Cable Ratings form. HOWEVER, when measured in Network form, RAW's ratings look a lot lower ( link ). Notice how RAW is rated at a 3.0, when the Cable rating was a 3.7 that week? I found it odd that the 3rd quarter report made it look as though RAW had more viewership than Smackdown, which averages around a 3.3 every week, clearly higher than RAW. Who and what faction are trying to make it look as though RAW is the top rated WWE show? Could it be that the wrestlers on Smackdown are outdrawing the wrestlers on RAW, namely a guy by the name of HHH? It's rather odd for the WWE to present ratings data that way. Smackdown HAS more viewers, so why not give credit where it is due?
It's being reported that Bruno Sammartino, a multi-time former WWWF (it used to have 3 dubyas) champion, turned down the WWE's offer to appear on Wrestlemania 20's Hall of Fame Induction. I admire Sammartino. He's a man of his word and he's never gone back on his word against the WWE. Vince McMahon Jr. disgusted him, and he got out of the WWF in short time when he saw the business changing and the excessive steroids coming into play. I know this because I spoke with him on a local radio show a few years ago, asking him if the circumstances were right, would you ever return to the WWF? He said "no way", showing total dislike for Vince McMahon Jr. It's nice to see consistency... I wonder if Bret Hart will do the same?
BUT, with Bret Hart, he was screwed out of the WWE. When you're promised a finish of a match, it should be honored. Bret was with the company a long time, and he's put his body through hell to carry the company through some terrible times in the 1990's. The WWE got their first ratings boost off of his Survivor Series 1997 screwing, smearing Bret's name all over the company. Yes, it helped Vince McMahon's television character greatly and the controversy probably helped save the WWE from financial ruin at the time. But it WAS disrespectful at the time, along with other Hart insults throughout the years by the WWE. I do think Bret will show at Wrestlemania 20, just because he's never said goodbye to his fans, aside from the internet. I wouldn't hold it against him.
I wonder if the WWE will take care of its Hall of Famers, financially? Take Greg Valentine, who is reportedly invited to Wrestlemania 20. Valentine is hard on his luck, still wrestling independent shows despite a heavily broken down body. Maybe giving them the right to call themselves a Hall of Famer from the WWE may get them more money on independent shows?
I caught PARTS of Smackdown last night. I really liked the Chavo Guerrero vs. Eddie Guerrero match, albeit with predictable heel turn of Kurt Angle. Angle is a better heel, in my opinion, than a face. He seems to be taking the nasty route this time instead of the cornball route. Angle being a badass on a beatdown is much more believeable than Randy Orton on a heel beatdown. I'm seriously pumped for Angle vs. Guerrero at Wrestlemania, and if given the time, it could be an easy Match of the Year Candidate. EASILY! Looks like we'll be seeing Eddie/Rey vs. Chavo/Angle in the future, and that should be a spendid tag team match.
For the rest of the show... I just caught bits and pieces. There seemed to be more talking segments this week than wrestling. Then again, we are less than a month away from Wrestlemania. I guess John Cena and the Big Show are wrestling at Wrestlemania 20. BATHROOM BREAK!
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On to the Monday Night War DVD review.
This DVD is essentially 2 things. One, we get about an hour and a half documentary about the Monday Night War, featuring the likes of various road agents, wrestlers, Vince McMahon, Jim Ross, and Eric Bischoff, in addition to lots of footage from both in nice chronological order. Second, you get lots of bonus extras, ranging from segments, matches, or a few other small featurettes.
The Documentary section is just AWESOME and is easily one of the most well put together productions by the WWE. It gives a very fair shake to WCW and a lot of respect paid to Eric Bischoff. This features everything, from early days of the war (including Lex Luger's Nitro debut), to the Nitro tactics to fight the WWF, to the building of the NWO and great midcard, to the rise of Steve Austin/Rock and WWE attitude, to the rise of Vince McMahon's character, to the rise of Bill Goldberg, and discussions on WCW's downfall and final years. Lots of footage, matches, and great insight from those involved with the WWE and WCW. This is seriously something the WWE show offer to a Vh1, maybe a special night on TNN, or using it on A&E, History Channel, or TLC. In my opinion, it's THAT good.
A couple flaws in the documentary, of course, although it's mostly credible. Eric Bischoff was the man in charge in 1993. He seems to act as though he started with the company as the Vice President (or as he calls it, "producer") in 1994 when Hogan arrived. 1993 was when the Disney tapings truly started, and it nearly embarrassed the company at the time of the early days of the internet. There are other small minute things, but nothing I can remember off the top of my head.
The sound and video, by the way, are both very good. It's one of the louder WWE DVDs to hit my speakers, while the video quality appears to be really clear.
The Extras, I thought, were lacking namely in the matches. I like the Goldberg vs. Hogan choice, Benoit vs. Booker T is good too. However, I would have included the awesome technical masterpiece in honor of Owen Hart between Bret Hart and Chris Benoit for WCW, in addition to something off the wall, like a lucha match? The WWE choice of matches, in my opinion, were weak. Why can't we ever get Chris Benoit/Dean Malenko/Perry Saturn/X-Pac/Triple H vs. Mick Foley/Rock/Too Cool/Rikishi match on DVD? This would have been a PERFECT scenario for it, in the light of the Radicalz defecting from WCW. One of the Rock vs. Mick Foley matches would have been great, given that they were a big staple of the 1999 early shows.
LAST WORD: The documentary section is a MUST SEE for any wrestling fan out there. Damn it's good. The extras are still pretty good, although they could be better. If you were a fan of wrestling for the last 10 years, the documentary on the Monday Night Wars is well worth going out of your way to see. This DVD gets an [ A- ] (A Minus) and should have been a double disker for more extras, for sure.
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@That's all for today. Thanks a million for reading.