====================================================================== ====================================================================== ____ ___ ____ ___ ____ / /\/ /\/ /\ / \ / /\ __ ___ / / / / / / / / \ / / / / \/ \ / / / / / / / / \/ / / / \ / \/ / / / / / / / / /\ /\ / / / / / / /\ / / / / / / / / /\ \/ / / / / /\ / / / / / / / / / /\ / / / / / \ / / /____/ /___/ / /___/ / \_____/ / /___/ / /__/ / \____\/\___\/ \___\/ \____\/ \___\/ \__\/ n a i d O ' s W r e s t l i n g N e w s Edition// 357 Date// May 11, 2001 Motto// "Continuing to get the news so you don't have to." Website// http://www.geocities.com/naidosnews Subscribe// naidoswrestlingnews-subscribe@yahoogroups.com Unsubscribe// naidoswrestlingnews-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com ====================================================================== Table of Contents//=================================================== naidO's daily note TOP HEADLINE Latest news & notes from the WWF, WCW & the rest of pro-wrestling Article// If You Think You Know WWFE... Think Again Comment// Vile Thoughts Remember... Affiliates ====================================================================== naidO's daily note//================================================== Hello to you and to those just joining. Tell your friends about the BEST newsletter around to subscribe today. Enjoy this latest edition of nWN! -Click for the SMACKDOWN results: http://www.naidosworld.com/tvsmackdown.html -Well, The XFL is no more, and I don't need to tell you who's a tad upset about it...I will anyway - The Vile. It's a sad, sad day in Vile-ville. Personally, I, including everyone involved since the beginning would be VERY surprised if we saw a second season. Alas, it wasn't meant to be. Thanks for reading. naidO// ====================================================================== TOP HEADLINE//======================================================== WWFE and NBC to discontinue XFL World Wrestling Federation Entertainment, Inc. in conjunction with its joint venture partner, NBC, announced Thursday that it will discontinue its professional football league, the XFL. The decision was made after determining that the additional investment required to further develop the XFL was not commensurate with the potential return and the risk inherent in pursuing the venture. "While we believe that it is an extraordinary accomplishment to have created a new professional football league in what amounts to less than a year's time, we feel that it is in the best interests of our shareholders and our partners to discontinue the XFL," said Vince McMahon, WWFE Chairman. "I would personally like to thank the employees of the XFL and WWFE, the XFL fans, our partner NBC and especially Dick Ebersol and his team for their perseverance, support and enthusiasm that did not waiver throughout the season. We are all proud of the creative innovations that we introduced in the production of the game as well as in the rule changes that were implemented to increase the excitement and enjoyment of the game and provide a fan-friendly brand of football." Dick Ebersol, Chairman, NBC Sports and Olympics, commented, "Launching a new football league in such a short period of time was a daunting and exciting challenge, but we gave it our best shot in what clearly is a difficult and challenging sports marketplace. I especially want to salute our partners at the WWF, the fans, players and coaches who created a fun and entertaining XFL in- stadium experience." WWFE will report the operations and related costs of discontinuance of the XFL as discontinued operations in its fourth quarter results for the period ended April 30, 2001. The company anticipates that its share of the after-tax cash losses will be approximately $35 million. Source// XFL.com ====================================================================== News from the WWF//=================================================== -This week's Smackdown scored a 4.8 overnight rating, with a 7 share. The show peaked between 9-9:30 p.m., scoring a 5.4. The most interesting thing to note is instead of finishing fourth in the network race as usual, UPN finished fifth, just ahead of last place WB. Smackdown was beat out by FOX's blockbuster "Surprise Wedding 2..." -Tickets for the WWF's next UK pay-per-view, Rebellion, went on sale today and sold out 18,000 tickets in 80 minutes. The event will air live from the MEN Arena in Manchester on November 3 -1wrestling.com reports Perry Saturn had to be sent home following a particularly brutal match he was involved in. Saturn wrestled Mike Bell in a Jakked match before RAW this Monday and reportedly worked very stiff. Bell botched a move later in the match, prompting Saturn to just beat up Bell badly. Saturn was sent home and there is no update as to what is status is currently. -Holly hits the Speedway tonight Fans of the World Wrestling Federation and stock-car racing in the Virginia area will get a double treat tonight, when Hardcore Holly hits the Southampton Motor Speedway in Southampton, Va.! Click to read a WWF article on Hardcore Holly, http://www.wwf.com/news/headlines/1054519 -For The Game, a marathon Triple H may be tired, but there's a reason for that. He's been busy making hay. Click to read a WWF article on Triple H, http://www.wwf.com/news/headlines/1050117 -Mick Foley will be on Byte This! today at 4PM Eastern on WWF.com -The only reason why WWF officials decided to keep HHH out of Raw this week is that they wanted to try something different. HHH has been constantly appearing on WWF main shows, except for the time when he was out in an angle where Steve Austin dropped his car down from 30 feet. -Paul Heyman subbed for Tazz this week on Smackdown because Tazz was at home dealing with a family emergency. -The Associated Press reported yesterday that TN Media, a New York Ad buying agency, found out in a recently completed study that Smackdown is at the bottom of television shows where average income of the audience is concerned. The report said that the average income for Smackdown viewers is in the $30,000 to $40,000 a year range. In contrast, "The West Wing" on NBC has viewers that earn over $70,000 yearly. It would stand to reason that Smackdown would skew lower when it's taken into account that many of Smackdown's viewers are under 18 and don't have jobs. Source// wwf.com, 1wrestling, ultimo, rfvideo ====================================================================== News from WCW//======================================================= -The latest rumor is that the WWF isn't ineterested in Crowbar (Devon Storm), Konnan or Disco Inferno. Crowbar, who has already appeared for a house show, doesn't seem to have pleased the WWF officials. -The WWF is willing to purchase Rey Mysterio Jr.'s contract, on a condition that he will have to work cheap. Source// UltimoWrestling ====================================================================== News from the rest of pro-wrestling//================================= -Billboard Video Sales - Recreational Sports Top 10 Positions /Issue Date:May 19, 2001 1 WWF: Divas In Hedonism, 2 WWF: Best Of Raw-Vol. 2, 3 WWF: No Way Out , 4 Michael Jordan To The Max, 5 WWF: Royal Rumble , 6 Tony Hawk: Skateboarding Trick Tips-Vol. 1 , 7 WWF: Divas-Post Cards From The Caribbean , 8 WWF: Hardcore , 9 ECW: Barely Legal , 10 WWF: The Rock: The People's Champ -A potential new wrestling company led by Hulk Hogan plans to continue discussions with Universal Studios next week about a possible working relationship. A source involved in the Hogan group says the reports that group has talked to the USA Network are not true. "We're not that far in the process yet. We're talking to Universal and trying to make something happen with them, and we'll be talking to them again next week," the source said. Source// Bilboard.com, 1wrestling ====================================================================== Article//============================================================= If You Think You Know WWFE... Think Again STAMFORD, Conn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 10, 2001--World Wrestling Federation Entertainment, Inc. (NYSE: WWF) announced it is undertaking a campaign to encourage potential advertising and marketing partners to "Think Again" about the company's global World Wrestling Federation brand. While, over the past four years, World Wrestling Federation Entertainment has grown from 15 advertisers to more than 150 partners today - an increase of more than 1000%; the company is looking to aggressively add new advertising partners in the coming year. The announcement was made yesterday at the company's first ever advertiser Upfront, in which it unveiled its portfolio of more than 750 hours of original programming for the 2001-2002 television season. The Upfront was held in front of more than 500 media executives at WWF New York, the company's site-based entertainment complex in Times Square. WWFE's "Think Again" initiative began last week with a series of trade advertising based on the results of an ongoing research project being undertaken to more clearly define World Wrestling Federation television viewers and their loyal connection to the brand and other well respected consumer brands. Applied Research & Consulting, one of the foremost media and entertainment research companies in the world, conduct an analysis of the World Wrestling Federation brand, its viewers, and the connection between the two. The results show that World Wrestling Federation viewers are at or above the national average in several key demographic and behavioral indicators, including: income, employment status, education, asset ownership, and adoption of new communications media. Additionally, a key finding was that the majority of World Wrestling Federation viewers tend to watch the programming on an interpersonal level spanning different generations and genders.(1) "Our research shows that the World Wrestling Federation unquestionably delivers a vast multi-generational audience. Essentially, the country is watching together. Further, our fans are a broad cross-section of America - they're doctors, lawyers, stockbrokers, paralegals and construction workers, who are highly committed to the brand - something we believe that the advertising community has not fully recognized," said Stuart Snyder, President and Chief Operating Officer of World Wrestling Federation Entertainment, Inc. "While we've consistently delivered the coveted 12-34 demographic to our advertisers, we believe that our research findings will motivate advertisers looking to reach a broad spectrum of demographics to 'Think Again' about the World Wrestling Federation brand as an effective advertising and marketing tool for their products." Applied Research & Consulting LLC is a primary research firm of over thirty professionals based in NY, Washington D.C., and Amsterdam, offering analysis and strategic insights for business and government based on an in-depth understanding of attitudes, behavior, and the contexts in which decision-making takes place. Founded in 1995, ARC has built an international portfolio of clients in a variety of sectors, including MTV, Nickelodeon, AT&T, Pharmacia, Nissan, and the World Bank. World Wrestling Federation Entertainment, Inc. is an integrated media and entertainment company headquartered in Stamford, Conn., with sales offices in New York City, Chicago and Toronto. Additional information on the company can be found at wwf.com and wwfecorpbiz.com. (1) Data collected from 4,300 completed random-digit-dialed telephone surveys of respondents between the ages of 12 and 54. The surveys were conducted between 11/25/00 and 3/28/01 by Applied Research & Consulting LLC. Average margin of error is approximately 2.5%. Source// Yahoo! News ====================================================================== Comment//============================================================= Vile Thoughts - By The Vile "Hello once again, and welcome to this edition of The Sports Reporters, where only the elite of sports snobs gather to instruct you, the brainless sports fan on what to watch in the world of sports. I'm your host Dick Schapp, and I don't recognize anything in sports if it happened after 1946. Joining me today are Mike Lupica, of the NY Times, who's head is so far up his ass, he can tell you what he had fox lunch six weeks ago. Bill Conlan of the Philadelphia Post, who's so fat that he makes David Wells look like Calista Flockhart. And Mitch Albom of the Detroit Free Press, who will never marry, because he'll never find someone who loves him as much as he does. Gentlemen, welcome to The Sports Reporters. We were greatly excited by the news this week that WWF owner Vince McMahon finally shut down his sham of a football league, the XFL." Lupica "Sham is absolutely correct Dick. The NY/NJ Hitmen? Please. Who in their right mind would try to compete with the New York Giants? Sure, they got skunked in the Super Bowl to the worst team to ever claim the title, but this is the NFL. There is no substitute!!!" Conlan "The XFL was an attrocity. To think, players allowed to express themselves. What kind of a world do we live in where people can say whatever they want, and celebrate achievement. You would certainly never see that kind of exhibitionism in the NFL. And pay for performance? Is this McMahon some kind of communist?" Albom "I don't know about a communist, but he certainly is a pornographer. Cheerleaders that are appealing to males? Outlandish. You certainly wouldn't see anything like that in Detroit. Fottball is the only thing that counts. That's why the team has 15 year old baton twirlers for entertainment. Unless you're Kevin Spacey or Mark Chmura, you won't find them appealing. And charging less than $50.00 for a ticket? What kind of insanity is that? WC Ford II has been able to get 80,000 suckers..er.. fans to cough up $50.00 a seat for quite a while now, and he fields a junior college team. No wonder he is one of the NFL's most beloved owners." Schapp "You gentlemen make great points. How dare Vince McMahon think he can usurp the athletes we have put on a pedestal, insanely overpaid, and covered up their legal snafus. These men are heroes, legends, all. From Ty Cobb to Pete Rose to Denny McClain to Ray Lewis to Rae Carruth to Darryl Strawberry. These are heroes that kids want to emulate. Not men like Tommy Maddox, Jon Avery and Mike Panasiuk." Albom "Did McMahon really think we were going to stand by and let him succeed? I mean, how stupid is he?" Lupica "Mitch, you are so right. The football could have been world class, but because it was run by a guy that runs wrestling, no one, and I mean no one would ever give him a fair shake. I never even watched one of his 'games.'" Conlan "There are so many other worthy sports for us to concentrate on. Sports like The National Thugball Association, Major League Soccer, The Women's National Thugball Association, The World Championships of Poker, Magic 'The Gathering', Lumberjack Games, the X-Games, and let us not forget, the finals of the National Spelling Bee. No wonder Dick Ebersol lost interest. And with the Olympics coming up, you know the world's biggest park and rec league, there was no room for a fraud sport like the XFL." Schapp "I want to send out a word of thanks to Jim Rome on our competing network of Fox. It was nice to see that we could band together, and smite our common opponent. Your scathing commentaries swayed the opinions of Vince's big target market: the brainless 18-34 segment that might have been willing to give it a chance, but their idol, "The Pimp in the Box" told them not to. I'm also proud of my network, ESPN for giving it less coverage than the annual mouse races in Ottumwa, Iowa. We wouldn't put the scores on the ticker, but we made sure the announcement of the end of the XFL was in big, bold letters. And now gentlemen, your parting shots." Lupica "McMahon, I'll give you credit for one thing. You tried to start your own league, and you got a whole year out of it. Isiah Thomas couldn't even do that with the CBA. But remember, you will always lose when you challenge 'the establishment'." Conlan "The XFL was an unmitigated disaster. It went against all the things we hold dear, like gouging fans and overpaying for potential. Vince McMahon had no idea how to run this league." Albom: "Vince, stick to wrestling. Sports fans are too intelligent for the brainless drivel that you put on TV each week. Sure, it outdraws many sporting events, but NBC put you in your place. On Saturday nights, where you'd lose even to the Olsen twins. Ha-Ha." Schapp "The XFL got one year, which was more than it deserved. We in the media did our part. we ridiculed, we cheap shotted, and then when things looked like they might turn around, we ignored. You see, don't go screwing with the 'establishment'. We make the rules around here. We decide what the brainless, pinheaded sports fans watch and don't watch. You think Tagliabue is running things? Or Selig? Or Stern? Or Bettman-Now there's a laugh. It's us. We make you, or we break you. Kiss up to us enough, and we'll make you a success. Get on our wrong side, and we'll bury you. Just ask Vince McMahon. Join us next week for another informative edition of The Sports Reporters. I'm Dick Schapp." ====================================================================== Remember...=========================================================== -Remember that if you've missed any TV Shows, PPV's or more? Go to the following links to read the results. Raw// http://www.naidosworld.com/tvraw.html Smackdown// http://www.naidosworld.com/tvsmackdown.html PPV's// http://www.naidosworld.com/currentppv.html Ratings// http://www.naidosworld.com/tvratings.html ByteThis// http://www.naidosworld.com/bytethis.html ====================================================================== 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// Make nWN your official newsletter!! Email naido@hotmail.com with your website's address for consideration ====================================================================== News gathering links//================================================ -1Wrestling/Dave Scherer @ http://www.1wrestling.com -Wrestling Observer/Dave Meltzer @ http://www.wrestlingobserver.com -The Law @ http://www.liveaudiowrestling.com -UltimoWrestling/Mr. Wolfson etc. @ http://www.ultimowrestling.com -SLAM! Wrestling @ http://www.canoe.ca/SlamWrestling ====================================================================== Ads//================================================================= -ESW * The number one E-Fed on the face of the Earth! The ESW: Extremely Suicidal Wrestling! http://www.geocities.com/the_esw -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 Columnist: ~*Laine*~ - LoveRock333@webtv.net Columnist: Leno - jm51509@AOL.com ====================================================================== 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. Copyright © 2000, 2001 - naidO - All Rights Reserved ====================================================================== ======================================================================