The following is a reprint of the Torch Newsletter WCW Newswire from five years ago this week.

-Jason Powell, Torch assistant editor

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Torch Newsletter Archive
By Wade Keller, Torch editor
WCW Newswire
Originally published: Pro Wrestling Torch Weekly newsletter #496
Cover dated: May 30, 1998

JANIE ENGLE TO STAY WITH WCW
In a surprise twist to last week's cover story, WCW front office executive Janie Engle decided to remain with WCW after all thanks to what was described as a "mega-raise" that was too good to turn down and too high for the WWF to match. Engle's job description will change and she will report more to Harvey Schiller rather than just Eric Bischoff as in the past.

Engle is the half-sister of Terry Funk and Dory Funk Jr., fathered by Dory Funk Sr. Her relation was the subject of rumors in the past, but it wasn't until last week when Dory Jr. told the story on his website that it became open knowledge. In fact, it wasn't until a few years ago, according to Dory Jr. on his website, that Engle revealed her relation to her half-brothers Dory Jr. and Terry. A lot of people speculated last week that her jumping to Titan Sports had to do with Terry and Dory Jr. both working there, but other sources say that had almost nothing to do with her giving notice to WCW.

Regarding Engle's decision, Ross said the following on his WWF 900 line report: "It looked as if about a week ago that the WWF would hire WCW executive assistant Janie Engle, one of the finest young ladies to have ever worked in this business. Janie resigned from WCW and accepted a position with the WWF and then changed her mind and is going to stay with WCW. We at the WWF certainly wish her nothing but the very, very best. We understand the position that she is and that she has been put in, and certainly the door is always open for a fine human being like Janie Engle to work with us here in the WWF."

Engle would have joined Lynn Brent and Dennis Brent (wife and husband) as former WCW front office employees joining the WWF. Lynn worked in WCW's public relations department while Dennis a while ago worked for the WCW Magazine. Both recently went to work for the WWF.

FLAIR COUNTERSUES WCW
Ric Flair filed a countersuit against WCW on May 18 in Charlotte, N.C. seeking to get his WCW contract nullified by a judge which would free him to join the WWF, his top preference. It is believed that Flair is welcome back in WCW, but unless he agrees to return, the $2 million lawsuit against him won't be dropped.

GREAT AMERICAN BASH LINE-UP
The line-up for the June 14 Great American Bash PPV from Baltimore, Md. at Baltimore Arena is slated as follows: Roddy Piper & Randy Savage vs. Hulk Hogan & Bret Hart, Goldberg vs. Curt Hennig in a U.S. Title defense (Hennig's knee injury may not be healed by then, though), Dean Malenko vs. Chris Jericho for the Cruiserweight Title, Chavo Guerrero Jr. vs. Eddie Guerrero, Juventud Guerrera vs. Reese, and Chris Benoit vs. Booker T. Raven vs.

WCW SATURDAY NIGHT TAPINGS
May 19 in Portland, Maine at the Cumberland County Civic Center, WCW taped the May 23 and 30 editions of WCW Saturday Night. Juventud Guerrera & Ciclope & Super Calo beat Silver King & Dandy & Damien when Juventud pinned Silver King, Eddie Guerrero (w/Chavo Jr.) pinned Evan Courageous after a frog splash, Marty Jannetty beat Lenny Lane, Hugh Morrus (w/Jimmy Hart) pinned Barry Horowitz, Yuji Nagata (w/Sonny Onoo) pinned Ernest "Cat" Miller, Dean Malenko beat Chavo Guerrero Jr. (w/Eddie) via submission to retain the WCW Cruiserweight Title (Chris Jericho came out holding a "Conspiracy Victim" sign), Kidman (w/Lodi, Reese, Horace Boulder, Riggs, Sick Boy) pinned Sonny Blaze, Saturn pinned Tough Tom of Disorderly Conduct (w/Mean Mike) despite interference from Glacier, Bryan Adams (w/Vincent) pinned Villano IV, Chris Benoit pinned Booker T with a German suplex, Public Enemy beat Power Company after a table crash, Disco Inferno pinned Johnny Attitude, Roadblock pinned Frankie Lancaster after a screwed up finishing sequence, Jim Neidhart pinned Kendall Windham, Glacier fought Chris Adams to a no contest when Saturn interfered and attacked both, Fit Finlay pinned Renegade to retain the TV Title, Mike Enos beat Floyd Colburn via submission, Jim Duggan pinned Barry Darsow, The Giant beat Power Company when Giant pinned both men to retain both tag team titles, and Giant pinned Konnan after Vincent's interference. Fans were said to be upset with the poor quality of the matches and the low star-power since Goldberg, Kevin Nash, and Dallas Page were among the stars not present. The p.a. system also was terrible. Many signs were confiscated, including "Neutered World Order," "Where's the crapper, I have to take a Vince" and anything that was pro-WWF or had "sucks" or "ass" on it. [Jason Withee, Dave Fournier, Ed Simpson]

Other recent results: The results for the May 8 Selina, Ks. card were inadvertently not reported in Torch #494. The following are results: Bobby Eaton beat Steve Armstrong (crowd continued to chant "refund" due to the announcement a moment earlier that Goldberg and the Steiners wouldn't appear as advertised), Konnan beat Marty Jannetty via submission, Yuji Nagata beat Ernest Miller, Psicosis & La Parka beat Silver King & Juventud Guerrera when Psicosis pinned Silver King, Chris Jericho beat Disco Inferno, Sting & Lex Luger beat Scott Hall & Scott Norton (Sting got the biggest pop of the night). WCW sold out the arena within 15 minutes of tickets going on sale. The wrestlers seemed to dog it rather than work hard to make up for the no-shows and the fans seemed to notice as the overall event fell flat. Goldberg and red NWO shirts appeared to be the top two selling shirts that night.

WCW NOTEBOOK
At the May 18 Nitro in Providence, R.I., after the show went off the air, Hall and Nash did brawl in the ring. Sting cleared the ring of everyone else and Sting and Nash left together. The biggest pop came for Nash when he butted heads with Hall. The final dark match saw Roddy Piper & Randy Savage beat Bret Hart & Hulk Hogan when Piper put Hogan out with a sleeper. The event lasted less than two hours, which left some fans upset. Several fans were ejected for throwing things, including a rubber chicken, toilet paper roll, and soda bottles. One bottle hit Elizabeth while she was at ringside. Many signs were confiscated by security. Chants of "Free Ric Flair" could be heard often during the event. They return to Providence on Aug. 20 [Scott Ebbesen]...

The May 14 Thunder in Durham, N.C. drew 3,829 paid for $82,140. What's amazing is that it drew a 3.0 rating, about 80 percent of its usual audience despite recent preemptions and, most significantly, that it went head up against the final Seinfeld. With TBS's prime time average rating being in 1.6 range, to draw twice that number up against Seinfeld shows just how hot wrestling is and how valuable of a program it is to cable stations. The replay drew a 1.1 rating. In the dark match, Gorgeous George (Rob Kellum) pinned Evan Courageous...

The May 18 Nitro in Providence, R.I. drew a sellout of 9,770 for $277,555...

Other house show figures: May 12 in Springfield, Mo. drew 2,051 for $50,382, May 15 in Bangor, Maine drew 3,545 for $84,797, and May 16 in Amherst, Mass. drew 2,449 for $56,159...

Stevie Ray missed so much ring time due to hepatitis, but WCW wanted to give Booker T a singles push, anyway...

Mark Madden is in negotiations with WCW to be rehired and actually do daily updates on the WCW 900 line, which would mean again someone who was fired from WCW just a short time later would be offered a chance to return with a much better deal than before they were fired. In fact, the key to getting a raise and better position in WCW may be to resign or get fired...

Prince Iaukea had his knee scoped, but won't miss much ring time...

WCW's monthly Nitro-plus $4.95 PPVs are being hyped as a chance to see what goes on behind the scenes at Nitro during commercial breaks. Jay Hassmen, director of PPV for WCW, told MultiChannel News: "Our fans have always told us that they've always wondered what happens outside of the normally televised parts of the show. This will provide fans with an opportunity to go behind the scenes, where no other wrestling program has gone." Because the bulk of the show is available for free on TNT, cable PPV distributors have passed on the show because of great channel limitations compared to mini-dishes...

The Japanese press says that New Japan is interested in using Dennis Rodman, who is "over huge" in Japan as an American star. Bischoff is in discussions with New Japan about continuing the talent exchange agreement. New Japan, meanwhile, has dropped references to the NWO in their storylines after it was the centerpiece of their feuds a year ago...

Someone who has actually seen Goldberg's contract says his first year salary is $600,000, not $400,000 as previously reported, with the other years being $800,000 and $1 million. Not sure if there are one or two years at $800,000 in the middle, so his total contract may indeed be for $2.4 million as reported last week, but over three years instead of four, or it may be a four-year deal worth $3.2 million. Goldberg got such a good deal in part because he hired agent Barry Bloom to handle his negotiations. With more and more wrestlers hiring agents, with Bloom and Elliot Pollack having the market almost cornered, the days of wrestlers getting taken advantage of during negotiations may be coming to an end...

So far Goldberg has carried himself well enough that while there may be envy over his quick rise to stardom and huge money, it doesn't appear most wrestlers resent him for it and instead understand that he is an exception to the rule. ...

Hennig isn't expected to be ready for the Bash PPV. Whenever he is ready to wrestle, he will be booked in a program against Goldberg. WCW thinks Goldberg can learn a lot from working with a veteran such as Hennig...

Scott Hall checked himself into the Hazletine rehab center in Minnesota on Friday, May 22 and will be there for four weeks. Hall had not, despite rumors to the contrary, checked himself into any overnight rehab programs before last week. WCW taped several interviews with Hall that will air over the next month during his absence...

Lodi returned to TV at the May 21 Thunder, holding up signs that read, "Raven made Seinfeld quit" and "Lodi back, Thunder quality up." On Nitro, he held up a sign that read, "Too many ugly girls"...

Goldberg vs. Hennig headlines the June 13 house show in Pittsburgh, Pa. Undercard is Benoit vs. Booker, Jericho vs. Malenko, Kidman vs. Chavo Jr., High Voltage vs. Public Enemy, Marty Jannetty vs. Riggs, Chris Adams vs. Darsow, Lizmark Jr. & Super Calo vs. Los Villanos...

May 16 WCW Sat. drew a 2.2 rating...

ECW's Sabu and ref John "Pee Wee" Moore showed up at Nitro on May 21 in Cleveland. They were in town for an ECW show in Cleveland that weekend. They were not allowed backstage by WCW. Instead, Sabu sat inside his camper during the show. After the show Moore and Rob Destiny handed out 1,500 flyers advertising the ECW event. They were surrounded by ECW fans after Thunder ended. ECW drew a 1,500 for the event at the Masonic Auditorium. Before Thunder there were 900 tickets sold in advance, so the flyers probably helped walk up considerably...

Rey Misterio Jr. legally wasn't actually bound to remain with WCW for an "option year." That is what WCW told Rey Jr., but he actually chose not to go to the WWF since he didn't want to leave his social circle in WCW yet, especially Konnan who is like a big brother to him. The WWF was hoping to sign him since Bruce Prichard and Victor Quinones are heading up a WWF Latino division of Titan Sports with a new weekly show on Univision starting in September. Rey Jr. would have been a huge part of that weekly show...

Page is taking some ring time off to let nagging injuries heal. There is talk of programming him against Hogan when he returns in a few weeks...

The 900 line war of words between WCW and the WWF heated up during the short-lived Eric Bischoff-Vince McMahon "feud." Gene Okerlund talked about how Vince McMahon has lost all of his friends over the years. Ross came back by suggesting that certain Nitro Girls got their jobs for reasons other than their dancing skills...

If Nitro beats Raw before Ultimate Warrior's debut, there is talk WCW may put off his debut until late Summer. If Nitro stays behind Raw, he could debut as soon as June 8 in Auburn Hills, Mich...

Because of the Memorial Day holiday, ratings were delayed one day. If we receive them after going to press, but before addressing the issues, we'll include the ratings on the line above your name on your address label. Check pg. 12...

WCW fired back at ABC in a full page ad in the May 25 issue of Advertising Age, ironically quoting the Wall Street Journal, which wrote: "Pro wrestling is the most watched programming on basic cable...

The people who watch aren't who you think...

Wrestling does keep younger guys coming back for more...

By far it's the number one place to find them...

Advertisers are beginning to see that WCW is something they need to pay attention to." A chart showed WCW as the highest rated syndication package ahead of Home Improvement, X-Files, Seinfeld, and WWF�

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