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Torch Today
EXCLUSIVE EXCERPTS: Highlights from latest edition of Pro Wrestling Torch Newsletter (Booker-TNA controversy, Bischoff Torch Talk, Dream Rosters, Hulkamania Tour, more!)
Oct 15, 2009 - 4:37:02 PM


The following are several excerpts of this week's PWTorch Newsletter #1111/1112 double-issue. If you've never seen a PWTorch Newsletter, this will give you an idea of how it goes above and beyond typical web content and why we've been a thriving business for more than two decades with thousands of subscribers worldwide!

EXCERPT OF PAGE 2 BUZZ WITH JASON POWELL, a weekly feature packed with news that's stolen by unscrupulous websites within hours. Get the full original version as a PWTorch VIP member:

"Booker T refused to put over Matt Morgan at the TNA television taping last week. The company had been in the midst of contract negotiations with Booker T leading up to the recent tour of Germany, but his behavior overseas and at the television tapings last week appears to have put an end to any serious discussions. Booker, who has been described as a cancer by numerous people within the company for several months, was a headache throughout the TNA tour of Germany. He was especially bad when he received the booking plans for the Impact tapings and found out that he was supposed to put over Matt Morgan clean. Booker threw a fit on the tour bus. He badmouthed the company repeatedly and stated that he could return to WWE at any time. Dixie Carter and Booker had a lengthy meet at the tapings last week and all indications were..."

Page 2 continues with more extensive details on Booker T, plus the Mick Foley controversy behind the scenes with the reshooting of his match after his proposed alternate finish bombed, talk of a multi-time marijuana test failure not being punished, and a lot more insider tidbits you'll find nowhere else (except sometimes stolen and not credited and distorted elsewhere on the web).

EXCERPT OF WADE KELLER'S "END NOTES"

Bruce Mitchell wrote a column for this special double-issue based on a response to a thread about my all-time dream roster in the PWTorch VIP Forum last month. Here's the list I created. As a qualifier, this was off the top of my head and didn't involve looking at a list of all great wrestlers in history. That said, there's not much I'd change about it looking at it six weeks later. I'll list the dream roster here and add comments not in the Forum post while adding a couple wrestlers (italicized). These are listed in random order.

HEAVYWEIGHTS

Jerry Blackwell: A great bump-taking "big man" who sold me tickets with his heel (and later, babyface) promos. A childhood favorite who sticks with me today as someone who proved that a promotion full of top guys with the same bodytype is selling short a lot of potential big drawing wrestlers with unconventional bodytypes that today wouldn't get past Triple H's bullying and snarky comments backstage.

Nick Bockwinkel w/Bobby Heenan: Again, my childhood coming into play here, but students of the industry's history wouldn't argue that this was among the top two or three heel wrestler/manager pairs in history. Bockwinkel's bump-taking and overall selling for babyface opponents was as good as it got in the industry. He'd draw today, and Ted DiBiase Jr. should aspire to have a career and style in the realm of not just his father, but also Nick.

Ric Flair: This is a given for just about any dream roster. The only reason to leave Flair off is if your promotion wouldn't feature promos, would feature only world class lightheavyweight style work, or was based around women or hardcore style.

Steve Austin: The hottest burning superstar in pro wrestling history.

EXCERPT OF FIVE-HOUR "TORCH TALK" WITH ERIC BISCHOFF, of which six pages was published in this week's PWTorch Newsletter:

Keller: Let's look at an isolated decision that didn't necessarily lead to the demise of WCW, but a lot of people point to it as leaving a lot of money on the table, which is the decision to put Hulk Hogan vs. Goldberg on Nitro on three days or four days notice in the Georgia Dome and book the match after most of the tickets had been sold before that match was announced. That was a match that might have set a pay-per-view record. And it never happened again...

Bischoff: And, by the way, and accomplish what? Taking that argument because people like to point at that as a big flaw, I left all this money on the table, an example of what was wrong with WCW. Big frickin' deal. Had we had done that, how would that have changed the outcome of where WCW is today?

Keller: Well, actually, I'm removing it from saying it would have changed the outcome. What I'm saying is isolated as a decision at that moment, how do you justify either then or now or both a one week ratings jump because the ratings went right down the following week. You did get a jump from Goldberg-Hogan, but they went right back down the following week where they had been on average the previous five, ten weeks.

Bischoff: I would say the justification is - and I don't remember exactly what my thinking was at the time, I'm kind of looking back and subjectively or objectively guessing now - a lot of the things I did that many people, including you were initially very critical of, giving away main events on free TV, pay-per-view quality matches on free TV, hot-shotting just for the sake of ratings - all of those things are the things that changed the industry to this day.

Keller: And a lot of them I actually complimented. A lot of them, like you say, sometimes your memory's not just there. I loved it. I thought calling out results ahead of time showed balls and an energy level and a determination that didn't violate any rules in my head. I thought it was fantastic. I was at the bar after Nitro at the Marriott watching you watch the replay and told you I thought it was a fantastic show. I think everybody was in agreement that that first Nitro was better than anyone anticipated. Your brashness as an announcer was heralded as giving Vince McMahon the kick in the ass that he needed to get his stale product going. I mean, there's no doubt, Eric, I criticized you for a lot of things. I doubted that Nitro would work and I certainly wasn't alone on that. You blew us all out of the water with that first Nitro. And you got a lot more credit, in fairness to you, from people you think are your top critics than you remember. I think you'd be surprised at how much credit you got at the time for a lot of the things that worked that were against the grain and against tradition.

Bischoff: All right. Correction is accepted and thank you. Really, thank you. But that's the same formula. The idea that we would pull a card like Hogan and Goldberg out of our back pocket spontaneously, throw it on free TV, when we knew we'd have the 40 or 50 thousand people, we knew that would give us the type of energy that people came to expect out of Nitro. It was a happening show. You didn't know what you were going to get.

BRUCE MITCHELL'S FEATURE COLUMN, which includes 22 of his dream rosters. Readers are challenged to figure out the theme of each roster, the answers to which are provided at the end of the column:

Dream Roster #1:
Hulk Hogan
Roddy Piper
Randy Savage
Earthquake
Typhoon
Paul Orndorff
Ric Flair
Brutus Beefcake
The Nasty Boys
Jimmy Hart
The Iron Sheik
Abdullah The Butcher
Nick Bockwinkle
Antonio Inoki
Bobby Heenan
Gene Okerlund
Andre the Giant
King Kong Bundy
Jesse Ventura
Rocky Balboa
The Million Dollar Man Ted DiBiase
Yokozuna
The Rock
Tony Atlas
Sgt. Slaughter
The Ultimate Warrior
The Renegade
Kamala
One Man Gang
Big Bubba Rogers

Dream Roster #2:
Loch Ness
Big Daddy Shirley Crabtree
Mighty Wilbur
Dusty Rhodes
Buddy Rose
Happy Humphrey
Haystacks Calhoun
The Great Antonio
One Man Gang
King Kong Bundy
Andre The Giant
Jerry Blackwell
John Tenta
Bill Kazmaier
Earthquake Ferris
Fred Ottman
George "Two Ton" Harris
Big Daddy
Big Daddy V
Rick Link
Billy McGuire
Benny McGuire
Man Mountain Mike
Mt. Fiji
Gorilla Monsoon
Abdullah The Butcher
Plowboy Frazier
Big Show
Kamala
George Cannon

Dream Roster #3:
Ric Flair
Rick Steamboat & Jay Youngblood
Blackjack Mulligan
Roddy Piper
Masked Superstar
Wahoo McDaniel
The Andersons
Jimmy Snuka
Johnny Valentine
Greg Valentine
Sgt Slaughter
Dick Slater
Harley Race
Paul Jones
Johnny Weaver
The Iron Sheik
Rip Hawk
Swede Hanson
The Bolos
John Studd
The Super Destroyer
Don Kernodle
Jack & Jerry Brisco
Nelson Royal
Ray Stevens
Baron Von Raschke
George Scott
Homer O'Dell
The Infernos
Tommy Young



EXCERPT OF WADE KELLER'S "END NOTES"

Bruce Mitchell wrote a column for this special double-issue based on a response to a thread about my all-time dream roster in the PWTorch VIP Forum last month. Here's the list I created. As a qualifier, this was off the top of my head and didn't involve looking at a list of all great wrestlers in history. That said, there's not much I'd change about it looking at it six weeks later. I'll list the dream roster here and add comments not in the Forum post while adding a couple wrestlers (italicized). These are listed in random order.

HEAVYWEIGHTS

Jerry Blackwell: A great bump-taking "big man" who sold me tickets with his heel (and later, babyface) promos. A childhood favorite who sticks with me today as someone who proved that a promotion full of top guys with the same bodytype is selling short a lot of potential big drawing wrestlers with unconventional bodytypes that today wouldn't get past Triple H's bullying and snarky comments backstage.

Nick Bockwinkel w/Bobby Heenan: Again, my childhood coming into play here, but students of the industry's history wouldn't argue that this was among the top two or three heel wrestler/manager pairs in history. Bockwinkel's bump-taking and overall selling for babyface opponents was as good as it got in the industry. He'd draw today, and Ted DiBiase Jr. should aspire to have a career and style in the realm of not just his father, but also Nick.

Ric Flair: This is a given for just about any dream roster. The only reason to leave Flair off is if your promotion wouldn't feature promos, would feature only world class lightheavyweight style work, or was based around women or hardcore style.

Steve Austin: The hottest burning superstar in pro wrestling history.

EXCERPT OF GREG PARKS' FEATURE COLUMN ON THE HULKAMANIA TOUR OF AUSTRALIA:

Next month, Hulk Hogan's "Hulkamania" tour will take hold in Australia, a country known to have many Hogan fans. The tour, currently scheduled for only a handful of dates, is dotted with recognizable names: Rikishi, The Nasty Boys, Brutus Beefcake, Eugene, Val Venis, Heidenreich, The Godfather, and, of course, Ric Flair. This is something Hogan has always threatened to put together when he's not using other companies for leverage in an attempt to get another paycheck from WWE.

Before putting this tour together, Hogan also had talks with TNA about coming in. The presence of Vince Russo on the creative team and TNA's unwillingness to let him go in favor of the short-term bump Hogan may give them probably led to Hogan pursuing other avenues.

Lord knows Hogan needs the money. He's getting over a bitter divorce with his longtime wife Linda that has cost him quite a bit of money, and it's likely that he has put a lot of money into getting his daughter into the music business, a financial risk that hasn't panned out. Hogan knows he can come back to wrestling and make some good money because, while one wonders what kind of ring shape he'd be in, he's still a name that will draw, likely, for the rest of his life. If WWE wasn't biting as far as having interest and TNA wasn't a real option, this was one of the only options he had left, especially if his Celebrity Championship Wrestling doesn't get picked up for a second season.

With only two national companies at this point, Hogan had a lot of prospective talent to choose from, name talent at that. Wrestlers know that Hogan will draw (well, except in Memphis) and a short tour like the Hulkamania one presents a relatively low risk, even for those, like The Godfather, who have left the business behind for the most part.

===

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Articles Grouped by Category
Torch Today
WWE RAW 11/16: Place Your Bets on tonight's Raw - Week 12 featuring Roddy Piper
WWE RAW 11/2: "Place your Bets" Scoreboard after Week 11 - Review the previous scores before tonight's Raw PYB contest
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WWE News
WWE News: What's on Smackdown tonight - Taker & Kane vs. Big Show & Jericho
WWE News: Jim Ross comments on possible WrestleMania 26 return, current WWE contract status
TORCH TALK DAILY with Eric Bischoff: In-depth look at why Vince McMahon is marketing the WWE product as PG family-friendly
TNA News
TNA News: Impact rating is in - how did post Turning Point episode fare?
TNA News: Details on Chris Sabin re-injuring his neck at this week's Impact tapings
TNA News: Detailed recap of Mick Foley's promo on Comedy Central's "Daily Show" last night (w/VIDEO)
ROH News
ROH News: ROH Title match signed for Final Battle; Air dates for McGuinness and Danielson's Farewell speeches
ROH News: Ring of Honor announces details on Austin Aries's next ROH Title defense
ROH News: Tonight is Bryan Danielson's final ROH match - details on tonight's special ROH TV episode (w/VIDEO)
Other News
PWG News: First round matches for tonight's Battle of Los Angeles tournament - Aries vs. Kendrick; Cabana, Shelley, Strong in action
Hogan News: Hulkamania Tour secures TV deal in Australia, Notes on Hogan & Flair arriving at the airport to begin the tour
Austin News: Steve Austin to appear in new season of NBC's "Chuck" show
PPV Reports
CALDWELL'S TNA TURNING POINT PPV REPORT 11/15: Ongoing "virtual time" coverage of A.J. Styles vs. Samoa Joe vs. Daniels
RADICAN'S DGUSA "Untouchable" PPV review - Doi vs. Danielson, Shingo vs. Richards
10/25 WWE Bragging Rights Results: KELLER'S detailed match-by-match PPV report - Cena vs. Orton Iron Man match
TV Reports
PARKS' WWE SMACKDOWN REPORT 11/20: Ongoing "virtual time" coverage of the show, including Jericho & Show vs. Undertaker & Kane
CALDWELL'S WWE SUPERSTARS TV REPORT 11/19: Complete coverage of Henry vs. Rhodes on WGN
PARKS' TNA IMPACT REPORT 11/19: Ongoing "virtual time" coverage of the post-Turning Point show
Arena Reports
11/14 TNA in Scranton, Pa.: Second Report - Styles vs. Joe vs. Daniels, Chris Sabin vs. Suicide, Amazing Red vs. Homicide
11/14 WWE in Dublin: The Undertaker very limited in the ring vs. C.M. Punk, Rey vs. Dolph, Very interesting John Morrison vs. Matt Hardy match, No Jericho
11/14 TNA in Scranton, Pa.: Home of "The Office" delivers Styles vs. Joe vs. Daniels and Amazing Red vs. Homicide PPV warm-up matches
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MMA News: Brock Lesnar health update - UFC president much more optimistic than this weekend
MMA News: Brock Lesnar released from the hospital tonight; Lesnar's UFC future in doubt
KELLER'S TAKE
KELLER BLOG: WrestleMania goes up to $55, all other PPVs $45 - let the pirate feed frenzy begin
KELLER BLOG: Dixie Carter asks wrestlers to step it up, but what does that mean? Shouldn't their goal to be winning matches and nothing else?
KELLER FLASHBACK: Review of Hulk Hogan's first autobiography - Hogan's political maneuvers evident in who he protects and buries
MITCHELL'S TAKE
MITCHELL FLASHBACK (Dec. 1994): C.M. Punk's character is the latest Vince McMahon creation responding to criticism of his WWE product
MOJO MITCHELL'S WWE RAW 11/16: Stream of Piper In The Back, Hornswoggle Stabbed in the Back, An MSG Look Back, Mr. McMahon Backs Out, Kofi Kingston Backs Randy Orton Up
MOJO MITCHELL'S RAW 11/2: Stream of My Fourth Grade Hero and The Mid-Card Kicks Main Event Ass
MCNEILL'S TAKE
The Night They Drove Ol' Dixie Down: McNEILL previews TNA Turning Point 2009!
McNEILL BLOG: The Big Questions About Hulk Hogan in TNA
Fight For Your Right to Bragging: McNEILL Previews WWE Bragging Rights!
CALDWELL'S TAKE
CALDWELL'S PPV/DVD REVIEW: Dragon Gate USA's "Open the Historic Gate" debut event - Review of whether following DGUSA is worth your time and money
CALDWELL'S TUESDAY CHAT w/GREG PARKS: Raw, Smackdown, TNA PPV discussion - MSG crowd, Survivor Series hype, Kofi breaks out, CSI:Miami vs. 30 Rock
CALDWELL'S BLOG: Hitting the hot topics - Raw tonight, Turning Point vs. Survivor Series, Jesse Ventura, Brock Lesnar, Shane McMahon
RADICAN'S TAKE
RADICAN: A list of things wresters and TNA fans can support for Dixie Carter
RADICAN'S SHIMMER Vol. 23 Review - Busic-Melissa, Kong-Martinez, MsChif-Deeb
RADICAN: Daddy's little girl V 2.0 debuts on Impact
The Specialists
UNDER THE MICROSCOPE - TNA Impact 11/19: Forgotten history between A.J. and Angle, TNA's new cameras, Pope gets referee assist, Numbers - The Rock a horrible tag champ
HITS & MISSES - TNA IMPACT 11/12: Review of last week's show before tonight's Impact - Wolfe-Angle build-up, Lethal loses to Niedhart
11/17 WWE ECW Hits & Misses: Intensity, Hurricane vs. Burchill, Regal & Punk vs. Christian & Truth
Guest Editorials
GUEST EDITORIAL: Disgruntled TNA fan says he's done with the promotion after today's Impact taping (Contains SPOILERS)
GUEST EDITORIAL: The ultimate irony - Hulk Hogan appears on TNA Impact and pre-taped TV sitcom promoting WWE on the same night
GUEST BOOK REVIEW: Hulk Hogan provides strong defense of his public image in new autobiography
Torch Feedback
ECW TV Reax #1: "C.M. Punk scoring the pin in the main event made Smackdown seem more important than ECW"
WWE Raw Reax #3: "While WWE delivered an above-quality show, they still haven't given viewers a reason to order Survivor Series"
WWE Raw Reax #2: "This was NOT one of the best Raws of 2009, but one of the worst..."
Ask the Editor
Ask the Editor: Wouldn't incorporating MMA-style holds into pro wrestling matches just be trying to be something it's not?
ASK THE EDITOR: Have the Michaels-Batista promos crossed a line with use of insider terms, references to "jobs"?
ASK THE EDITOR: Why do wrestlers in WWE refer to wrestling as "the business" and not "the sport"?
DVDs - VGames - Books
CALDWELL'S PPV/DVD REVIEW: Dragon Gate USA's "Open the Historic Gate" debut event - Review of whether following DGUSA is worth your time and money
RADICAN'S ROH DVD REVIEW SERIES: Death Before Dishonor VII: N2 - Storm-Hero, Ryan-Cabana
RADICAN'S SHIMMER Vol. 23 Review - Busic-Melissa, Kong-Martinez, MsChif-Deeb
Torch Flashbacks
PARKS'S WWE SMACKDOWN REPORT 1 YR. AGO (11-21-08): Final Survivor Series build-up to Undertaker vs. Big Show casket match, Jeff Hardy vs. Triple H, Morrison & Miz
KELLER'S WWE SURVIVOR SERIES PPV REPORT 10 YRS. AGO (11-14-99): Big Show vs. Triple H vs. The Rock, Edge & Christian & Hardys team, Chris Jericho vs. Chyna
KELLER'S WWF SURVIVOR SERIES PPV REPORT 15 YRS. AGO (11-23-94): Bret Hart vs. Bob Backlund, Undertaker vs. Yokozuna, Team Hall & Waltman vs. Team Michaels & Nash
VIP Exclusive Features
11/20 Wade Keller Hotline - Guest Bruce Mitchell: Survivor Series Match by Match Preview & Predictions (20 min.)
11/20 Bruce Mitchell Audio Show: Listener Questions - How Vince McMahon was perceived before he took over, Outlaw Promotions stories, Sting Flips off Bruce, Albano Craziness (45 min.)
PWTorch Newsletter #1117/1118 (31 pages!): Raw at MSG, TNA Victory Road PPV Roundtable, Mitchell on Russo-Hogan, Keller on Dixie Speech, more
Torch Trivia
TORCH TRIVIA 2/28: Which wrestler backed out of a WWA PPV in February 2002?
TORCH TRIVIA 2/27: Who said this quote about Hulk Hogan's athleticism 11 years ago?
TORCH TRIVIA 2/25: What said this quote about WWE's mid-1990s drug testing policy?
Torch Instant Polls
TNA IMPACT POLL: Who was the MVP of the 11/19 Impact if you saw the show?
ECW MVP POLL: Who was the MVP of the 11/17 ECW TV if you saw the show?
WWE RAW POLL: Who was the MVP of the 11/16 Raw if you saw the show?
PWTorch Free Podcast
11/4 Nostalgia Audio with Brian Hoops: Format change to the show, new guest host, upcoming shows
FREE FOR ALL: 10/27 Bruce Mitchell Audio Special: Hogan-Bischoff-TNA story from all angles including Monday Night War II possibilities (32 min.)
6/23 Nostalgia Audio with Brian Hoops: Former WCW rapmaster PN News joins Brian Hoops to preview upcoming Midwest shows (10 min.)
Annual Obituaries
SPECIALIST: List of Deceased Wrestlers for 1999 - Muchnick, Rick Rude, Owen Hart, Renegade...
SPECIALIST: List of Deceased Wrestlers for 2000 - Solie, Albright, Duncum, Tsuruta, Blue Demon, Al Costello
SPECIALIST: List of Deceased Wrestlers for 2001: Johnny Valentine, Terry Gordy, Chris Adams, Bertha Faye, Helen Hart