______________________________________________________________________ __ __ __ __ _ ____ | | | | | \ | | | |/ _ \ | | | | | \ | | | / \ | | |/\| | | \| | | | | | | | | |\ | | | | | | /\ | | | \ | |__| |_| |__/ \__| |__| \__| [ n a i d O ' s - W r e s t l i n g - N e w s ] Edition 309 March 22, 2001 "I get the news, so you don't have to." http://groups.yahoo.com/group/naidoswrestlingnews ______________________________________________________________________ [Official newsletter & complement to:] http://www.naidOsWorld.com To subscribe: naidoswrestlingnews-subscribe@yahoogroups.com To unsubscribe: naidoswrestlingnews-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com ______________________________________________________________________ [Table of contents] **Note from naidO **TOP NEWS STORY **Latest news from the WWF, WCW & ECW **[Article] WWF entering final stages of evaluating purchase of WCW **[Column] Vile Thoughts **Parting chair shot **Affiliates ______________________________________________________________________ [Note from naidO] Hello to those just joining. Tell your friends about the BEST newsletter around to subscribe today! **Click for the WCW THUNDER results: http://www.naidosworld.com/tvthunder.html - Welp, I listened to Vince on Howard Stern this morning and it's bloody likely that he's going to purchase WCW. I, think that is a horrible notion and hopefully someone can stop the WWFE from doing it. It would mean the end of competition in wrestling. I rather see WCW die with dignity. - naidO nWN Founder - http://www.geocities.com/naidosnews ______________________________________________________________________ [TOP NEWS STORY] **Vince McMahon appeared on Howard Stern's radio show this morning. Stern asked Vince if he was going to buy WCW. Vince responded by saying "In all likelihood, yes." Vince went on to say if he bought WCW, it would be kept as a separate company. To read the full report of the interview, click http://www.naidosworld.com/vince.html ______________________________________________________________________ [News from The WWF] **Steve Austin will be this week's guest on Byte This, which airs Friday at 4 p.m. EST on WWF.com. **Do you love Lita? You will after seeing the latest item up for sale on the ShopZone! http://www.wwfshopzone.com/product.asp? from=F&pf_id=88010&dept_id=4 **Spike reunites with brothers in shocking debut Spike Dudley's sudden and unexpected World Wrestling Federation debut Monday on RAW IS WAR put to rest two myths about sports entertainment in this day and age: that small guys can't make it and that secrets can't be kept. http://www.wwf.com/news/headlines/1043135 **Three friends reunite in an historic night for each Edge competed in two matches despite coming off a back injury. Rhyno, a close friend of the flamboyant tag team who a year ago was getting his feet wet in Extreme Championship Wrestling, made his Federation debut. And Edge and Christian became Federation Tag Team Champions for a record sixth time - all in one night. http://www.wwf.com/news/headlines/1043248 **Official Smackdown Preview: The tension between Stone Cold Steve Austin is growing by the hour, and this Thursday on SmackDown!, it could reach a fever pitch! Just 10 days before their showdown at WrestleMania X-Seven, Jim Ross will conduct a special sit-down, face-to-face interview the Rattlesnake and the Brahma Bull. What will happen when the two biggest superstars in the world meet face to face? Things could get explosive this Thursday! The Rock will also be in action on SmackDown!, when he meets Chris Benoit and Kurt Angle in a Handicap Match. In a blockbuster tag team war, Triple H and the Big Show will take on the Undertaker and Kane! Two six-man tags have been signed for the show: Steve Blackman, Grand Master Sexay and K-Kwik will take on X- Pac, Justin Credible and Albert; and Buh Buh Ray, D-Von and Spike Dudley will battle Edge, Christian and Rhyno! Plus, Raven will defend the Hardcore Championship against Chris Jericho, in a match made by Commissioner William Regal! It all goes down this Thursday on UPN, just 10 days before WrestleMania! Don't miss SmackDown! -- check your local listings for time and channel! **At first glance 'WrestleMania: The Official Insider's Story' looks impressive. Its colour photographs, graphics and listings are positively eye-catching. It sure is an attractive tome. Nevertheless, when one sits down and actually reads the content written by Basil V. Devito Jr. (XFL President and longtime WWF employee) and Joe Layden ('The Rock Says...'), we soon realize that the inflated book is all style and no substance. To continue the WrestleMania book review, click: http://www.canoe.ca/SlamWrestlingReviews/mar21_wrestlemaniabook- can.html (Cred: ) _______________ [News from WCW] **On March 20, former WCW World champion David Arquette made a surprise call in to the Morning X show on 99X (F.M. 99.7) in Atlanta Ga. The call was made mostly to hype his new movies but at one point he briefly mentioned being the former WCW Champion. Jimmy Baron, a DJ who has been known to work with WCW and has been in some of their commercials for collect calls advertisements said that it was a good thing that Arquette got in to WCW when he did because they ware about to close their doors. Arquette then responded that he had heard that they were shutting down until someone could turn the company around. He then went on about the WCW employees being good people. (Cred: pwtorch) _______________ [News from ECW] **Nothing. I may scrap this section soon. (Cred: ) __________________ [In other news...] **Want to buy WCW? http://cgi.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll? ViewItem&item=1125869905 **David Flair & Dan Factor won the NWA World tag team titles from Bad Attitude (Rick Michaels & David Young) at the NWA Wildside show in Athens, GA, last night. A rematch is scheduled for tonight in Toccoa, GA. **Jerry Lawler's appearance on Power Pro Wrestling TV this weekend provided a big boost to the ratings. The show did a 5.15, the highest rating for the show in around eighteen months, with Lawler's segment doing a 6.75. That's up from 2.50 the previous week. Memphis Championship Wrestling TV, which airs head-up with PPW on Channel 30 (the UPN affiliate in town), did a 0.96. (Cred: 1wrestling, jtr) ______________________________________________________________________ [Article] WWF entering final stages of evaluating purchase of WCW The WWF is in the midst of a full court press to purchase WCW, or at least elements of it, in anticipation of promoting WCW programs on TNN or another Viacom station starting as soon as April or May. The due diligence (behind the scenes evaluation of the assets and liabilities of WCW) process has entered serious stages this week between the WWF and AOL/Time Warner. A WWF spokesman confirmed in an Associated Press story today that negotiations have been ongoing. "We have opened that door and started holding discussions with AOL Time Warner about the possible purchase of the WCW brand," said WWF spokesman Jayson Bernstein, declining further comment. With Fusient dropping out of the game to purchase WCW yesterday after a meeting with Fox early this week proved unproductive, the WWF is the only candidate negotiating to purchase WCW at this time. Odds appears strongly in favor of a deal being completed within the next weeks, perhaps before WrestleMania. (Wade Keller) ______________________________________________________________________ [Column] Vile Thoughts - by The Vile An open letter to the decision makers at Turner Networks..... Dear Ladies and Gentlemen, This letter is in regard to your recent decision to discontinue World Championship Wrestling programming on your networks. While the decision is only yours to make, I do not feel that you realize the ramifications of just such a decision. In this day and age, without a television contract, WCW will cease to exist. Surely you have seen what happened to Extreme Championship Wrestling after TNN cut them from their schedule. I also do not feel that you understand the lineage that Georgia Championship Wrestling, The National Wrestling Alliance, and World Championship Wrestling have had with your stations. I'm going to give away my age a bit, but I remember when TBS was plain old WTBS in Atlanta. It was a lot like any other syndicated type station; a lot of old reruns, Atlanta Braves baseball, and Georgia Championship Wrestling, a small organization in the southeast that survived the scorched-earth tactics of Vince McMahon, owner of the WWF. Eventually, Georgia Championship Wrestling became the National Wrestling Alliance, highlighted by such stars as Ric Flair, Dusty Rhodes, and The Road Warriors. I started watching the show in 1986, and became enthralled with it. The intimate setting of the studio on Techwood Drive gave it tremendous fan appeal, unlike the WWF's taped shows which looked like they were in mammoth coliseums. The Saturday night shows were quality shows as well, having main event quality matches in addition to preliminary bouts and interviews. The studio still holds many memories for me: The introduction of the Four Horsemen-The original, and best of the supergroups. Dusty Rhodes' bat swinging incident with Tully Blanchard and Jim Crockett. Rick Rude and Manny fernandez calling out the Rock and Roll Express, and then beating them for the World Tag Team Titles. A young, raw talent by the name of Lex Luger making his debut in 1986, and becoming one of the NWA/WCW's biggest stars. Dusty Rhodes and Nikita Koloff combining to form "The Superpowers" long before Vince McMahon ever concocted "The Mega Powers". The Garvin brothers taking on then champion Ric Flair and US Champion Lex Luger in a classic tag match. Barry Windham screwing Lex Luger, joining the Horsemen, and forfeiting the Tag Titles. The Road Warriors attempting to blind Dusty Rhodes in 1988. Rick Steamboat stunning the world in 1989, returning to the NWA to challenge Ric Flair for the world title. I could go on much longer, but I think you get the point. Saturday night wrestling on TBS was the original of the big wrestling shows. It was Nitro or Raw before they were fashionable. Then along came the merger with the Universal Wrestling Federation, and the purchase of the all new World Championship Wrestling by mogul Ted Turner. It seemed with Turner leading the way, WCW wouldn't be considered second rate anymore. In addition to old favorites Flair, Rhodes, and the Warriors, Turner had new young lions like Luger, Sting, Windham, the Skyscrapers, and the Steiners to carry the banner. This led to new TBS programming such as a Sunday version of World Championship Wrestling, a new weekend show called the Main Event, a Friday night show called the Power Hour, and of course, the Clash of the Champions. Clash of Champions was meant to be a competitior to Wrestlemania at first, but the show became a monthly staple for six years. That is until the greed of WCW management led to a pay-per-view every month, eliminating the need for Clash of Champions. The appeal of the Clash was that it was a pay-per-view quality show for free. Now granted, there were some lean times when Rhodes left the company for the WWF. This was followed by defections at one time or another by Flair, the Road Warriors, Windham, Luger, and Steamboat. However, in 1994, Eric Bischoff revitalized WCW by bringing in Hulk Hogan. Hogan was the man that made wrestling mainstream; and he did the same for WCW. With many WWF superstars following Hogan's lead, Mr. Bischoff and Mr. Turner decided to take the war to Vince McMahon, and make a Monday night show-Nitro. Why was that show put on TNT, and not TBS? Could it have been to inject some life into a network that was struggling? TNT was known for nothing but movies, and bad NFL coverage. Was this your way of trying to regain lost market share? Conversely, the Saturday night show on TBS was gutted; it was no better than a taped WWF syndicated show. Meaningless matches, and reviews of what happened on what else, Nitro. Ratings were high for Nitro, and so was interest. So what did you do? You threw TBS a bone by creating "Thursday Thunder," which spelled the death of Saturday night wrestling. The problem was now you were producing two live shows per week. Doesn't that get a tad expensive? Of course it does. That's why Thunder became a taped show. That brings us to today. Mr. McMahon has regained the top spot in wrestling because he worked hard to regain fan interest, unlike the people heading up the WCW. They became spoiled on their success, and ran it until it died-literally. Now you have decided to jettison wrestling programming like used refuse. Sure the WCW is struggling, but no one turned their back on McMahon when he was struggling. Now he's stronger than ever. I find it very interesting that you claim you want to make your networks more "upscale." Just what does that mean? Normally when I hear the term "upscale", it's used to describe an adult entertainment establishment. Showing a bunch of bad reruns, and edited movies does not make your networks more "upscale." Wrestling brought your networks a lot of notariety, and a lot of ratings. But now we see your true colors; WCW basically served it's purpose: It got TNT over, and now, you're kicking it to the side of the road. My question to you is: when the Braves become a bad team again (And they will-it's all cyclical) and nobody watches them again, will you cancel all Atlanta Braves programming from your "upscale" network? In closing, I would like to thank you for destroying one of the last vestages of WTBS. The NWA/WCW will always hold a special place in my memories, and I can only hope that WCW will be sold, and broadcast on another network. Of course going up against such stellar "upscale" shows like Mama's Family, Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Matlock, and movies that are "edited for content," how can WCW compete? Sincerely, M.A. Belleville ______________________________________________________________________ [Parting Chair Shot] Remember, tell your friends about nWN - naidO's Wrestling News today! **Missed any TV Shows? Go to the following link to read the results: http://www.naidosworld.com/tvshows.html Also, be sure to check out the NEW internet home of nWN, http://www.geocities.com/naidosnews for all your archived stats, tv shows, wrestling links, terms and PPV's, and most of all PICTURES! - naidO nWN Founder ______________________________________________________________________ [Affiliates] **http://www.paywindah.com **http://green_mist.homestead.com **http://www.geocities.com/dsherelo **http://www.tommydreamer.net **http://www.stephaniebellars.com **http://www.PaulHeyman.Net - BECOME AN AFFILIATE OF nWN and make it your official newsletter!! Email naido@hotmail.com with your website's address for consideration. ______________________________________________________________________ [News gathering links] **1Wrestling/Dave Scherer/Bob Ryder @ http://www.1wrestling.com **Wrestling Observer/Dave Meltzer @ http://www.wrestlingobserver.com **The Law/Dan Lovranski @ http://www.liveaudiowrestling.com **UltimoWrestling/MrWolfson/CBrown @ http://www.ultimowrestling.com ______________________________________________________________________ [Ads] **ESW - The number one E-Fed on the face of the Earth! The ESW: Extremely Suicidal Wrestling! http://www.geeksoft.net/gin/gfed2/gfed.cgi?lid=1204 **Call The KLiQ Hotline For Daily Pro Wrestling News & Rumors. This call give you the most updated Pro Wrestling News that matters. This call is FREE and allways will be you can call from the US and Canada the # 1-888-561-4391 ! Give it a call. REMEBER it's 100% FREE YOU WILL NEVER BE CHARGED ______________________________________________________________________ [nWN Staff] Founder & Editor: naidO - naido@hotmail.com Columnist: Sam Jerry - SAMJERRY@aol.com Columnist: The Vile - vile316@yahoo.com Columnist: Ted Cabata - tcabata@roanoke.edu ______________________________________________________________________ [Disclaimer] naidO's Wrestling News was founded on April 30, 2000 and is owned and operated by naidO. He, nor this newsletter is in no way, shape, or form affiliated with World Wrestling Federation Entertainment, Turner Broadcasting's World Championship Wrestling, Extreme Championship Wrestling, or any other wrestling organization. Nor the people (staff members), wrestlers, or any other talent in the wrestling. News is gathered from various sources around the net, including newsgroups and are believed to be of public domain and truthful (uh huh). As long as proper credit is given it exempts nWN and it's staff. I (naidO) am just promoting their organization/website. nWN is not responsible for content on affiliate websites or where they may link to including mp3's, warez, kiddie porn and/or other unlawful content. This exempts myself & this newsletter (nWN) from all legal disputes. Anything taken from this newsletter requires written consent from naidO Copyright © 2000, 2001 naidO. All Rights Reserved