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TORCH FLASHBACK: Top Five Stories from WWE, WCW, ECW ten years ago: Rock-Hunter, Michaels ECW link, Heyman looking for ECW TV deal, Russo-Goldberg creative differences
Jul 31, 2010 - 10:13:49 PM
In a new feature highlighting the vast library of past editions of the PWTorch Newsletter covering some of the biggest stories of the last 20 years, we're presenting the Top Five Stories in WWE (WWF), WCW, and ECW from ten years ago.
The following are news items from Torch Newsletter #613 cover-dated July 29, 2000. Look out for items on wrestlers still in the news today, Triple H and The Rock's battle for top dog status in WWE at the time, The Undertaker dealing with nagging injuries, WCW's creative battles between Vince Russo and Bill Goldberg, the reputation being earned in WCW by WWE's current VP of Talent Relations, Paul Heyman trying to negotiate a new TV deal for ECW, Shawn Michaels linked to ECW, and more.
At the time, WWE was the clear industry leader in pro wrestling, WCW was nine months away from being sold to WWE, and ECW was three months away from losing a national TV timeslot on TNN while less than a year away from bankruptcy.
-- Torch VIP Membership: Find out how to access the entire Torch Newsletter Archive for more details on these and other stories leading up to the end of WCW and ECW.
WWE
(1) Big Show arrived back in the WWF looking good physically, but there are questions about his cardio conditioning at this point. Big Show didn't endear himself to management when he dozed off during a production meeting... He tried to earn brownie points by going to the meeting, but did more damage than good by nodding off.
(2) While The Rock dresses among other wrestlers, Triple H often has his own dressing room and spends a lot of time in Vince McMahon's office at arenas. It gives Rock an image of more of a Wrestler's Wrestler and Triple H a rep as a bit of a Brown-Noser. Triple H, though, spends a number of hours per week in production meetings working on storylines other than his own, whereas that is not Rock's area of interest.
(3) Although Chris Benoit may be happy with his push, friends say Dean Malenko, Eddie Guerrero, and Perry Saturn have all had second thoughts about joining the WWF. ... Malenko is happy that he got to work for McMahon at least once in his career, but he has had moments where he questioned the wisdom of not waiting out the WCW situation, but he couldn't have known how quickly Kevin Sullivan would be ousted from power.
(4) Insiders say The Undertaker is conscious that he has some catching up to do for his character to be on par with Triple H, Rock, and even Chris Jericho and Kurt Angle at this point. That challenge combined with his nagging injuries has slowed his initial momentum.
(5) While Edge and Christian are equals backstage when interacting with other wrestlers and management, Matt Hardy tends to be the backstage leader while Jeff Hardy is more laid back. There was some criticism of Matt for trying to do what turned out to be botched spots with Prince Albert early in their PPV match (at Fully Loaded 2000).
***
WCW
(1) Goldberg complained about booking plans Vince Russo made for Nitro this week. As a result, the two butted heads for most of the afternoon, before finally agreeing to a compromise for Goldberg's matches with Booker T. Goldberg quizzed Russo on how his short-term plans at Nitro fit into longterm plans, and apparently he didn't like the answer Russo gave. Goldberg is telling his confidants that he just wants to be part of a cohesive plan with goals and vision rather than just being thrown into hotshot matches to pop TV ratings that aren't part of a larger scheme.
(2) Fox TV announced its fall line-up and there were no holes available for pro wrestling. The general feeling within WCW right now is that either Bischoff is laying low before returning to WCW this fall for a major invasion angle, or (Time Warner programming executive) Brad Siegel sent Bischoff home so Russo could work, unimpeded, for around three months. If Russo fails, Siegel will call Bischoff in to head up a new creative committee.
(3) Johnny Ace (current WWE VP of Talent Relations John Laurinaitis) is being praised for coming up with creative finishes, but is being criticized for not remaining open to change. At last week's Thunder, sources say Kronic told Ace they didn't know if they would be able to safely execute the Dooms Day Device finisher. Ace shrugged off their concerns and insisted they use it. Kronic did as they were told and ended up injuring Disco Inferno in the process.
(4) The house show in Toledo drew a total of 759 fans, about a third less than ECW drew last time they ran the same building. WCW officials are attributing the low attendance to the show being booked less than 50 miles away from where Thunder was the night before.
(5) The line-up for WCW's "New Blood Rising" pay-per-view has been announced: Booker T vs. Jeff Jarrett for the WCW Title, Kevin Nash vs. Scott Steiner vs. Goldberg in a three-way #1 contender's match, Lance Storm vs. Mike Awesome for the U.S. Title, Kronic defending the WCW Tag Titles in a four corners tag match, Shane Douglas vs. Billy Kidman, Sting vs. Demon, and Miss Hancock vs. Major Gunns.
***
ECW
(1) Although he lives in the area, it's doubtful that Shawn Michaels will appear on either of this week's shows in Texas. While Michaels may attend the Houston show to visit friends, he probably won't appear in front of the live crowd since there haven't been any recent talks between ECW and WWF officials regarding him.
(2) Industry sources say USA Network is still interested in ECW programming. The network is said to have ruled out airing the show during a prime time weeknight time slot, but is interested in airing ECW in a late afternoon/early evening timeslot on Saturdays. Sources say that part of Paul Heyman's sales pitch was comparing his youthful roster to that of WCW's. Other sources say that the network told Heyman they are only interested in airing a show with visually appealing talent and strong production qualities.
(3) Sources say Heyman spent all but one day in Los Angeles last week, presumably searching for a TV deal. Those who know say that he spent his only day in New York producing the TNN show. In Heyman's absence, last week's syndicated show was produced by Tommy Dreamer and Heyman's cameramen/editors, Ron Buffone and Charlie Brussezze. Heyman faxed the group a very specific production sheet which laid his plans for the show.
(4) Those who know say that Fox Sports Network, ESPN2, and E! remain interested in acquiring ECW programming. The word on E! is that they want the show, but ECW officials don't believe they have enough money to upgrade production and give the show proper advertising. There is also talk that Heyman is only interested in striking a deal with a network that is willing to pump money into the company.
(5) Smashing Pumpkins front man Billy Corgan appeared at the TV taping and took part in an angle. Corgan's appearance will air on this Friday's "ECW on TNN" show. Corgan, whom one ECW insider described as "the biggest ECW fan ever," and say he has been interested in working with ECW since attending last year's "Anarchy Rulz" pay-per-view. (Corgan has worked with TNA in recent years.)
•New for September 2010 - the Torch Today "Daily News at a Glance"... If you've got 25 seconds, we've boiled the news of the day down to 250 words. Check it out every day at 5 p.m. ET or bookmark the listing. Appointment reading for the wrestling fan who doesn't want to miss anything, but doesn't have much time.
