CRZ.net [slash] Wrestling [slash] Guests [slash] T

DON'T QUOTE ME ON THAT

"JERICHO IS THE FUCKING WWF CHAMPION! HELL YEAH!" -The Authority,

"Dusty Finishes suck - but WHO'S YOUR DADDY now, Mark Madden!? -Me

Where Have I Been? [AKA Plugs-O-Rama]: I'm the proud [choke] co-founder and webmaster of a email newsletter. Hold your applause and click at your own risk to visit our little creation. I have an ulterior motive - save [Slash] from the horror and shame of having published an Authority column. It'll sink us - it's true, it's true. [The preceding was brought to you by Sarcasm Inc, a subsidary of Irony, Ltd.]. On an entirely unrelated note, The Jobber Files, that epic series written by Matt King, is archived on NCW3 as well here!

How about that new WCW era? Well, fire up the quote-hunter, and let's go on the first-EVER [Slash]-only Don't Quote Me On That:

But damned if last night's Nitro wasn't one of the most entertaining two hours of wrestling television all year. But if the front page of Wrestleline is right, if Vince Russo and Eric Bischoff hit a "Home Run" with last night's Nitro, then I have to say to Vinne Roo and Uncle Eric, "Be sure you touch all four bases." -Dartmouth Dan Doomsday, The Device 4.12.2000

With their backs against the wall, ratings and buyrates plummeting into ECW range, Brad Siegal and the Powers That Be at WCW made the decision to give the hook to Bill Busch and Kevin Sullivan, and to turn the reigns over to the two men arguably responsible for the greatest creative periods to date in their respective wrestling organizations: Vince Russo's "Attitude" era, throwing the family friendly tag out the window, and Eric Bischoff, whose nWo would mean the first financially successful years for WCW ever in it's 7 year existance. April the 10th may be yet another day that goes down as a landmark in wrestling history, along with Memorial Day 1996 [Scott Hall invades Nitro], and May 24th, 1999 [the highest rated wrestling show EVER to date, the Owen Hart memorial show.]. All the titles were stripped - WCW as a whole was, to borrow a CRZism, "reset button-ed".

Kidman and Hogan's confrontation was outstanding. Kidman, in my mind, was showing a "I'm going to fight the bully" attitude: scared of what might happen, but determined to find out. Hogan played up his size (both literally and figuratively) against the tiny Kidman. And when Hogan finally pushed his button, Kidman responded with a thundering right hand. THAT KNOCKED HOGAN DOWN. Eventually, Hulk took over, but Kidman established that he can hurt Hogan. They should have some incredible matches. -Scott Rees, Rees Piece of Mind 4.16.00

The proverbial "glass ceiling" was smashed on this night -Kidman had a huge confrontation with Hogan, Vampiro turned on Sting, Shane Douglas was handed Ric Flair on a silver platter, and Jeff Jarrett was once again in prime position for the World Title. They accomplished what they wanted - change the world, or at least make a game attempt at it.

"This is a microcosm of my greater thought on the whole new WCW era: it's going to be confusing. All of us on the Web are solidly in the Kid's corner. All the marks are behind Hogan. It's like a weird parallel universe thing. " -Butch Rosser, Word From the Butchster 4.12.00

Bischoff and Russo had a new twist on things - the young'uns are the heels! Even under the banner of "being held down" for so long, the crowd was solidly behind the Millionaire's Club as the New Blood Order cost them victories, beat them down, and "took their spots." Brash, arrogant, and trash-talking New Blood are booed as Hogan gets enormous face heat for taking the fight to Billy Kidman.

"On the other hand, the whole angle is tailored for the Internet smart fan, and that isolates most of their audience. They have to build the feuds a bit more solid on television and lay off the insider references if this is really gonna work." -Michaelangelo, Good, Bad, and Ugly 4/10/00

The flaws are there as well. From Eric Bischoff taunting Sid with "Scissors" references, to the harsh "drawing flies" comments by Billy Kidman, to all the accusations made by Scott Steiner in his diatribe against Ric Flair, Nitro was laced with references that left you going, "Huh?" unless you were a smart. This product is apparently for us - so why are the people we cheer for and support the heels? It's no secret that the Internet has no love lost for Hogan, Bischoff, et al, so the Internet is not gonna sell this product when the scenario is exactly the opposite of what we want. What sells this product, then? What makes somebody say, "This makes me want to watch Nitro over Raw?"

"The WWF was sucking, hard. From the point of view of a wrestling fan (me) the whole Attitude era was a load of shit." -Marvellous Martin, "Spiralling"

I don't know if the new WCW has that hook yet, that intangible factor that makes you want to stay tuned to TNT - it's too early to tell. But the WCW of old [think 1996-1998 here] had one - it was called cruiserweight wrestling. Prior to 1999, if you were in the mood to watch wrestling, you watched TNT to see Rey, Juvi, Beniot, Jericho, Guerrero [Chavo Jr, and Eddy] ply their trade in 10 to 20 minute matches. This was yet another factor in the huge success of Nitro. WCW has ALWAYS sucked in sports entertainment: you can go as far back as 1993 and the midgets blowing up Sting's boat, you can visit 1996 and relive those awesome "Dungeon of Doom" mini-movies, or you can wrinkle your nose at Torrie & Nash's attempts to rip off "The Graduate" in early 1999 in that eye-friendly Black-N-White-Grain-O-Vision [thank you, John Petrie! :-)] while Nitro began at 9 EST [wink wink.]. No matter what direction they plan to go with Young vs Old, WCW has never even been in eyesight of the WWF's league when it comes to sports entertainment - so let's keep this in mind. Russo can't turn The Acyroynm into Scotty 2 Hottie, nor can he bottle some charisma and make Sid Viscous the WCW answer to HHH. What is the appeal? I don't know - but "RAW Lite" ain't the answer.

"The number of times I've seen someone say "Haha! Bischoff said 'scissors' to Sid! I can't believe it!" is honestly alarming. And it's not that people think there's actual shooting going on, they're just giddy that they understood the reference because now they can explain it to their buddies during a commercial and sound like an insider. Then they express their excitement about the "New Blood" finally getting a chance, somehow having been blinded to the fact that it's the old guys who are getting the top spot. When it's not the mid-90's and people pop for a freaking Lex Luger run-in, a buzzer should sound in your head to alert you that something's fishy. And I won't even get into the fact that Russo and Bischoff themselves aren't only the leaders of the main faction, they're the ones dishing out the most punishment." -Chris Jones, WCW Spring Stampede Recap

The general view of the Net was that this show was a "home run" [Wrestleline] and a new beginning for WCW. Where to now? The hotshot show has come and gone - the ship must keep moving forward. Judging by *this* week's Nitro, the pull-a-part between New and Old will continue to be the overlying story for now. Can Bisch and Roo do "McMahon booking, South Division" and keep it interesting enough to keep us watching? Or will they eventually step aside and let the wrestlers be the show again?

"I've been anxiously awaiting your views on Nitro this week. Mostly everyone is proclaiming a victory-even Mr. Tito, who actually gave it an A! CRZ & Hyatte seem to be the only cautious
people out there- I guess remembering Russo's previous attempt and all the hoopla. I didn't really watch it, just took a peek here and there. For the most part, their roster doesn't do anything for me. " -Sharon Austin, the author of Sharon's Edge

I'm looking forward to the new era - it's certainly provided for some interesting TV for right now, but file me in with the "very very cautiously optimistic" crowd - it takes time, a lot of time, to fully change any organization: it took two years and a total housecleaning to kickstart the WWF's attitude era, so now is not the time to pass judgement. The promise is there, but the omnious and ever-present politics remain in place: all those nasty old oppressors still occupy the top spots: yes, the glass ceiling has been broken - will anyone new move up to that top floor?

Or will they be cut by the glass shards?

Yep, you *can* quote me on that.

Mr. T

King of Vague References, Ham Radio Operator, Webmaster Extraordinare, Employee of the Year and the cooler, better looking co-founder of Rant Central

[slash] wrestling

Email the author
Visit Rant Central

Main BLAH	DON'T QUOTE ME ON THAT "JERICHO IS THE FUCKING WWF CHAMPION! HELL YEAH!" -The Authority, "Dusty Finishes suck - but WHO'S YOUR DADDY now, Mark Madden!? -Me Where Have I Been? [AKA Plugs-O-Rama]: I'm the proud [choke] co-founder and webmaster of a email newsletter. Hold your applause and click at your own risk to visit our little creation. I have an ulterior motive - save [Slash] from the horror and shame of having published an Authority column. It'll sink us - it's true, it's true. [The preceding was brought to you by Sarcasm Inc, a subsidary of Irony, Ltd.]. On an entirely unrelated note, The Jobber Files, that epic series written by Matt King, is archived on NCW3 as well here! How about that new WCW era? Well, fire up the quote-hunter, and let's go on the first-EVER [Slash]-only Don't Quote Me On That: But damned if last night's Nitro wasn't one of the most entertaining two hours of wrestling television all year. But if the front page of Wrestleline is right, if Vince Russo and Eric Bischoff hit a "Home Run" with last night's Nitro, then I have to say to Vinne Roo and Uncle Eric, "Be sure you touch all four bases." -Dartmouth Dan Doomsday, The Device 4.12.2000 With their backs against the wall, ratings and buyrates plummeting into ECW range, Brad Siegal and the Powers That Be at WCW made the decision to give the hook to Bill Busch and Kevin Sullivan, and to turn the reigns over to the two men arguably responsible for the greatest creative periods to date in their respective wrestling organizations: Vince Russo's "Attitude" era, throwing the family friendly tag out the window, and Eric Bischoff, whose nWo would mean the first financially successful years for WCW ever in it's 7 year existance. April the 10th may be yet another day that goes down as a landmark in wrestling history, along with Memorial Day 1996 [Scott Hall invades Nitro], and May 24th, 1999 [the highest rated wrestling show EVER to date, the Owen Hart memorial show.]. All the titles were stripped - WCW as a whole was, to borrow a CRZism, "reset button-ed". Kidman and Hogan's confrontation was outstanding. Kidman, in my mind, was showing a "I'm going to fight the bully" attitude: scared of what might happen, but determined to find out. Hogan played up his size (both literally and figuratively) against the tiny Kidman. And when Hogan finally pushed his button, Kidman responded with a thundering right hand. THAT KNOCKED HOGAN DOWN. Eventually, Hulk took over, but Kidman established that he can hurt Hogan. They should have some incredible matches. -Scott Rees, Rees Piece of Mind 4.16.00 The proverbial "glass ceiling" was smashed on this night -Kidman had a huge confrontation with Hogan, Vampiro turned on Sting, Shane Douglas was handed Ric Flair on a silver platter, and Jeff Jarrett was once again in prime position for the World Title. They accomplished what they wanted - change the world, or at least make a game attempt at it. "This is a microcosm of my greater thought on the whole new WCW era: it's going to be confusing. All of us on the Web are solidly in the Kid's corner. All the marks are behind Hogan. It's like a weird parallel universe thing. " -Butch Rosser, Word From the Butchster 4.12.00 Bischoff and Russo had a new twist on things - the young'uns are the heels! Even under the banner of "being held down" for so long, the crowd was solidly behind the Millionaire's Club as the New Blood Order cost them victories, beat them down, and "took their spots." Brash, arrogant, and trash-talking New Blood are booed as Hogan gets enormous face heat for taking the fight to Billy Kidman. "On the other hand, the whole angle is tailored for the Internet smart fan, and that isolates most of their audience. They have to build the feuds a bit more solid on television and lay off the insider references if this is really gonna work." -Michaelangelo, Good, Bad, and Ugly 4/10/00 The flaws are there as well. From Eric Bischoff taunting Sid with "Scissors" references, to the harsh "drawing flies" comments by Billy Kidman, to all the accusations made by Scott Steiner in his diatribe against Ric Flair, Nitro was laced with references that left you going, "Huh?" unless you were a smart. This product is apparently for us - so why are the people we cheer for and support the heels? It's no secret that the Internet has no love lost for Hogan, Bischoff, et al, so the Internet is not gonna sell this product when the scenario is exactly the opposite of what we want. What sells this product, then? What makes somebody say, "This makes me want to watch Nitro over Raw?" "The WWF was sucking, hard. From the point of view of a wrestling fan (me) the whole Attitude era was a load of shit." -Marvellous Martin, "Spiralling" I don't know if the new WCW has that hook yet, that intangible factor that makes you want to stay tuned to TNT - it's too early to tell. But the WCW of old [think 1996-1998 here] had one - it was called cruiserweight wrestling. Prior to 1999, if you were in the mood to watch wrestling, you watched TNT to see Rey, Juvi, Beniot, Jericho, Guerrero [Chavo Jr, and Eddy] ply their trade in 10 to 20 minute matches. This was yet another factor in the huge success of Nitro. WCW has ALWAYS sucked in sports entertainment: you can go as far back as 1993 and the midgets blowing up Sting's boat, you can visit 1996 and relive those awesome "Dungeon of Doom" mini-movies, or you can wrinkle your nose at Torrie & Nash's attempts to rip off "The Graduate" in early 1999 in that eye-friendly Black-N-White-Grain-O-Vision [thank you, John Petrie! :-)] while Nitro began at 9 EST [wink wink.]. No matter what direction they plan to go with Young vs Old, WCW has never even been in eyesight of the WWF's league when it comes to sports entertainment - so let's keep this in mind. Russo can't turn The Acyroynm into Scotty 2 Hottie, nor can he bottle some charisma and make Sid Viscous the WCW answer to HHH. What is the appeal? I don't know - but "RAW Lite" ain't the answer. "The number of times I've seen someone say "Haha! Bischoff said 'scissors' to Sid! I can't believe it!" is honestly alarming. And it's not that people think there's actual shooting going on, they're just giddy that they understood the reference because now they can explain it to their buddies during a commercial and sound like an insider. Then they express their excitement about the "New Blood" finally getting a chance, somehow having been blinded to the fact that it's the old guys who are getting the top spot. When it's not the mid-90's and people pop for a freaking Lex Luger run-in, a buzzer should sound in your head to alert you that something's fishy. And I won't even get into the fact that Russo and Bischoff themselves aren't only the leaders of the main faction, they're the ones dishing out the most punishment." -Chris Jones, WCW Spring Stampede Recap The general view of the Net was that this show was a "home run" [Wrestleline] and a new beginning for WCW. Where to now? The hotshot show has come and gone - the ship must keep moving forward. Judging by this week's Nitro, the pull-a-part between New and Old will continue to be the overlying story for now. Can Bisch and Roo do "McMahon booking, South Division" and keep it interesting enough to keep us watching? Or will they eventually step aside and let the wrestlers be the show again? "I've been anxiously awaiting your views on Nitro this week. Mostly everyone is proclaiming a victory-even Mr. Tito, who actually gave it an A! CRZ & Hyatte seem to be the only cautious people out there- I guess remembering Russo's previous attempt and all the hoopla. I didn't really watch it, just took a peek here and there. For the most part, their roster doesn't do anything for me. " -Sharon Austin, the author of Sharon's Edge I'm looking forward to the new era - it's certainly provided for some interesting TV for right now, but file me in with the "very very cautiously optimistic" crowd - it takes time, a lot of time, to fully change any organization: it took two years and a total housecleaning to kickstart the WWF's attitude era, so now is not the time to pass judgement. The promise is there, but the omnious and ever-present politics remain in place: all those nasty old oppressors still occupy the top spots: yes, the glass ceiling has been broken - will anyone new move up to that top floor? Or will they be cut by the glass shards? Yep, you can quote me on that. Mr. T King of Vague References, Ham Radio Operator, Webmaster Extraordinare, Employee of the Year and the cooler, better looking co-founder of Rant Central [slash] wrestling Email the author Visit Rant Central	BLAH
Main

BLAH

BLAH

Main