WRESTLING GLOBE NEWSLETTER

EDITION NUMBER 5

19TH MARCH 2001

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IN THE WRESTLING GLOBE NEWSLETTER THIS WEEK

LATEST NEWS

THE CHOSEN COLUMN

JAP ATTACK

JERRY LAWLER CAREER PROFILE - PART ONE

T & A (Trivia and Answers)!

WRESTLING HUMOUR

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LATEST NEWS - by Matt Singh

Here's the latest news on the grap game - 

The biggest story in the company is the potential roster cuts, which should take place after Wrestlemania. Gangrel, The Big Boss Man, Tiger Ali Singh and Chaz are probable names to be released from their contracts. Rhino, Tajiri, and Jerry Lynn should all debut at, or after, Wrestlemania. There are rumours again that the company has expressed an interest in buying WCW. It appears as though Chris Benoit will now be pushed as a face, and will most likely be facing Kurt Angle at Wrestlemania, possibly in a submission match.

The biggest story of the week is of course WCW cancelling all of their television shows indefinitely. Starting on 27th March, WCW not produce Nitro, Thunder or any Pay Per Views for the foreseeable future and it now looks as though the Fusient deal is all but over. There are many people that believe WCW is dead and rightfully so, but don't be so sure until WCW actually announces it. If WCW does manage to get through it's current state, then there is a rumour that the company would like to reunite the New Age Outlaws, that is if Billy Gunn is released from his WWF contract, which at this point seems unlikely.

Frontier Wrestling Alliance of the UK will be touring a few hotels of Spain in the near future. Their wrestling school also opened on 18th March.

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THE CHOSEN COLUMN - by Nick Wright

Monopolies. No not the board game, which Scott Hall's terrible at (always getting in jail, sorry poor joke), but the definition of having over 25% of the market share within an economy, business wise. After recent developments involving both ECW, and WCW, WWF is practically in that position. Now many say WWF will likely gradually tone it down, and in essence produce a shoddy product under the basis, that well they can because there is no alternative. In a wrestling sense, there is no alternative, yet in a much bigger sense, people could just turn off wrestling completely. While its highly unlikely that devote wrestling fans, would, the casual audience, of which holds the biggest percentage if wrestling fans, could, and that could really bring wrestling down to earth.

Now surely, being a shrewd business man like, Vince McMahon, he knows that competition only brings out the best in you. Thus, its inevitable that at one point, be it in 3 months or 3 years, that somebody, somewhere will create a rival, yet there are many stumbling blocks. The likes of TNN, Fox, USA Network, and TBS, have all either had, or wanted wrestling on their networks, yet we now find that only TNN, will only have it on their networks, within the near future. This all asks the question, do they really want wrestling on their network?

Also the case is, who would front these new promotions, where would they get money from etc. Starting a wrestling company to rival WWF, is an incredibly tricky task, a task for which requires money, talent, exposure and most of all patience, and the question is, who has that in the business? Your answer: Vince McMahon, so the world awaits another Vince, and the world awaits a change in the way wrestling is today.

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"PEARLS OF WISDOM" - by Andrew Evans

"Crash is so short you can see his feet in his driver's license." - Jerry "The King" Lawler

WCW'S FUTURE - IT'S NOT SO BAD AT ALL

After the Greed PPV last night, WCW showed no signs of permanently shutting down in the next 2 weeks, as has been widely rumoured. AOL Time-Warner are definitely going to off-load WCW, and as it stands now, at the end of March, WCW will have no place on national TV, with TNT and TBS removing Nitro and Thunder from their schedule respectively. Names are being thrown around everywhere as to who will purchase and continue to run WCW, including Jerry Jarrett, Vince McMahon and the WWF, and some even say that Fusient still have a deal to buy the company, but are currently "working" the whole industry. The majority of evidence, and number of possibility routes show that WCW are most likely not to fold at all, but for the time being, carry on running.

If so, the new owners have to brainstorm a game plan for WCW's new era to be successful, and to be competitive nationally. Competition is healthy, and even if the WWF purchase WCW, they can create their own, and this could benefit them hugely. Think about it. Who doesn't want to see the best of WCW facing the best of the WWF? People have been talking about this kind of scenario for years, but until now, it has never been possible. Remember the dreams of Goldberg v Austin, or The Rock v Scott Steiner? Mix and match these top names however you want, because it sounds great anyway it's put. There are so many different and exciting angles for a WCW v WWF war, that this way of working would provide must see TV, which has been missing from wrestling for a long time.

WCW will need a makeover, a facelift, if you will. The new owners have got to throw everything they have at the initial start-up, and hype up the first event of the new era, which could "change the face of pro wrestling". Look at the XFL. The XFL was given huge advertising, but their planning was far from great. The first game pulled in about a 10 rating on the Nielsen's because people wanted to see what all the hype was about. Now, just a few weeks later, ratings have slumped to around the 2 mark. The XFL couldn't keep their viewers, and WCW could use this fact to help themselves by pro-acting and asking, "What did the XFL do wrong?", hopefully uncovering mistakes they have been, and could make in the future. Hype alone could catch the eye of networks such as Fox, who could offer WCW a much needed TV deal.

In WCW's latest stunt, they teased at "the new owners" showing up on last weeks Nitro, but of course, this never happened. Although this plan was in an attempt to gain viewers (which didn't work), it won't help them in the long run in the slightest. WCW need a long term plan and have to look at their marketing strategy. Defined, marketing strategy is, "A carefully evaluated plan for future marketing activity that balances company objectives, available resources and market opportunities." Applied to WCW, this firstly means that they need to set some realistic goals. It is all about what is achievable and not what is desirable. Of course, as WCW is now, they would like to be beating the WWF in the ratings in a month, but this is unlikely. Whoever is leading the new WCW charge should know that time is a key factor to eliminating all traces of the old WCW, and producing a completely new brand. Secondly, using available resources is something WCW have been extremely bad at in the past, as pushes for some talented wrestlers never come, and certain others have been wrongly pushed. What happened to Lance Storm's push? Why is Mike Awesome not performing his moves like he did in ECW? Should Kevin Nash really be in a wrestling ring anymore? Anyone with a good wrestling mind can sort out this problem, especially if it is a McMahon. Like the WWF have been doing for years, WCW need to realise who is marketable and push the guys with superstar potential. Hand upper titles to Mike Sanders, Sean O' Haire and Shane Helms, and slowly fade out people like Rick Steiner and Lex Luger. And the last part of WCW's re-marketing is...market opportunities. Simply enough, without WCW on the scene, the WWF would be all alone, so of course, the opportunity for direct competition is already set in place.

A lot of the above comes down to "if", but it could also come down to "when". WCW's future is uncertain, that's no secret, and as long as they can find someone willing to give the company a chance, with the right outlook, any turnaround is possible.

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JAP ATTACK - by Nick Wright

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JERRY LAWLER CAREER PROFILE PART ONE - by Martin Walton

Real Name = Jerry O'Neil Lawler

Legitimate Height = 5'10"

Current Age = 51

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Jerry Lawler grew up as a huge fan of wrestling, and as a kid in the 1960’s his hero’s were Jackie Fargo and The Blue Infernos (Gypsy Joe and Frank Martinez) who ruled Memphis rings throughout that time. After leaving high school in 1967, Lawler started with Memphis State University where he started an art course, but dropped out in 1969 to pursue other interests. In the same year, Lawler got a job as a radio DJ in West Memphis, Arkansas and this was the very place where Lawler got his start in the wrestling business, believe it or not. At the time, a local outlaw promotion were running shows in the West Memphis area and Lawler, being such a big fan of wrestling, was a regular spectator at the shows and proceeded to give them plugs on his daily radio show, a show which was popular in the area. In order to return the favour, the promoter of the group agreed to teach Lawler the basics of pro wrestling and in the summer of 1969, Lawler made his pro debut as a opening match jobber on one of the weekly cards in Memphis. Lawler’s weekly plugs for the small group caught the attention of local promoter Nick Gulas who ran the hugely successful Tennessee/Kentucky/Alabama circuit. Gulas contacted Lawler and offered him a spot with his promotion on the basis that Lawler would get Gulas' promotion some free publicity on his radio show. Lawler agreed to the deal and started working as a lowly jobber on the weekly Memphis show at the beginning of 1970. Although he had a very low position, Lawler impressed many people within the promotion and was subsequently sent to Billy Golden’s Alabama territory, based in Montgomery, for some seasoning in late 1970. It was in this promotion that Lawler received his first ever push and he quickly became the top heel in the area after only a few short months there. Lawler often tagged with his "brother", Steve Lawler (Steve Kyle), and remained the top heel throughout 1971 until Nick Gulas called him back to Memphis in 1972.

Upon his return to Memphis, Lawler was moved into a lower card, heel tag team with The Green Shadow (Jim White). The team were going nowhere in the territory until Lawler's former manager in Montgomery, Sam Bass, joined the team as their manager in the summer of 1972. The trio clicked together and started a move up the card, and in early 1973 they captured the Southern Tag Team Titles. Moving even further up the card, the trio of Lawler, White and Bass were pushed into a feud with The Fargo's (Jackie, Roughhouse and Sonny). For Lawler, this was a dream come true as he finally got to work with his boyhood hero. At this time, it was widely thought that Lawler was fast on his way to be becoming the top heel in the promotion. During the summer of 1973, Jim White left the promotion due to personal reasons and was replaced by journeyman Don Duffy, working as The Scorpion, but the team never clicked as previous and Lawler decided it was time for a change of scenery and left Gulas for a spot in the NWA Georgia territory in 1974, without long time manager Sam Bass.

Lawler often tagged with Art Nelson, and became the top heel in the Georgia promotion in early 1974, but he couldn't settle and returned to Memphis before the end of the year. Lawler soon settled back in, reuniting with Sam Bass, while also claiming to be the “King” of Memphis. 1974 was also the year that Lawler would win the Southern Heavyweight Title for the first time, after he defeated Tommy Gilbert. After coming out on top after a feud with Fargo, Lawler turned face in late 1974 as Sam Bass and partner Al Greene turned on him. This would be Lawler's first big face run. After settling the score with Bass and Greene, Lawler ventured off for a spell in the Florida territory in the summer of 1975. Upon his return to Memphis in the fall of 1975 as a heel once again, Lawler began his legendary feud with “Superstar” Bill Dundee which would last on and off for over 20 years.

Lawler's original feud with Bill Dundee would last throughout 1975 and 1976, and featured several memorable brawls between the two best southern style brawlers in the business at the time. In 1977, there was a major split between territory owners Nick Gulas and Jerry Jarrett, which resulted in the territory being split in half, with Jarrett taking Memphis, Evansville and Louisville and Gulas taking Birmingham, Nashville and Chattanooga. Realising that he had to make a choice, Lawler decided to stick with Jerry Jarrett following a short spell in retirement from wrestling in an attempt to start a music career. Lawler eventually ended up feuding with Bob Armstrong (the father of the Road Dogg) and Rocky Johnson (The Rock’s father), in 1977 over the Southern Title. Lawler turned face once again in 1978, and battled renowned mad men Jos LeDuc and Sonny King alongside fellow faces Bill Dundee and Johnny Valiant. His alliance with Johnny Valiant didn’t last long however as Valiant turned heel on Lawler during the summer, which resulted in Lawler squaring off against Valiant for the remainder of the year in matches that drew huge crowds throughout the regular cities that Jerry Jarrett ran.

Towards the end of 1978, a cocky young heel named Austin Idol entered the area and was immediately pushed into a feud with the top face, Jerry Lawler, by throwing a chemical substance into Lawler’s eyes which kept him out of action for around 2 months. Austin Idol teamed up with Wayne Farris (The Honky Tonk Man) to battle the team of Jerry Lawler and Bill Dundee throughout the spring and summer months, which also included the now legendary Tupelo concession stand brawl that included Larry Latham, who replaced a injured Austin Idol in the match. During the fall of 1979, Lawler turned heel once again and took on the youngster Jimmy Hart as his new manager. At the same time, Lawler often teamed with a certain blonde body builder known as Terry “The Hulk” Boulder, who would go on to be one of the biggest draws in the history of wrestling as Hulk Hogan. As 1979 came to a close, Lawler restarted his feud with Bill Dundee over the Southern Heavyweight Title which would last well into 1980. At the end of the 1970’s, Jerry Lawler had already held the Southern Heavyweight Title 13 times...

LOOK OUT FOR PART TWO NEXT WEEK!

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T & A (Trivia and Answers!) by Andrew Evans

1. The Hardy Boyz won their first WWF World Tag Team Championship by defeating whom?

2. Sexton Hardcastle was a former ring name used whom?

3. Stone Cold Steve Austin (Williams) was born Steve Anderson. True or False?

4. What is Stan Hansen's most famous finishing move?

5. Where was the first NWA Starrcade held, and in which year?

6. Who trained Frank Gotch?

7. Which legendary Japanese wrestler gave Hulk Hogan his basic wrestling training?

8. Konnan lost his mask in a match against whom?

9. Who is the only male to have won the WWF Women's World Title?

10. Who refereed the NWA World Heavyweight Title match at NWA Starrcade 1985 between Dusty Rhodes and Ric Flair?

ANSWERS ARE GIVEN AT THE END OF THE NEWSLETTER!

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WRESTLING HUMOUR - by Marc Lessard

As thousands of fans and WWF referee Teddy Long looks on, Saturn and Jericho tie up in the squared circle. They trade headlocks and bounce of the ropes a few times before Saturn takes Jericho down with a power-slam, followed by a sitting headlock…

Saturn: (with loose headlock applied) Hey, Chris…

Jericho: Yeah?

Saturn: That ain't too tight is it?

Jericho: Nah, that's fine.

Saturn: Well, you tell me if it's uncomfortable.

Jericho: Hey, I'll tell you. Don't worry.

Saturn: Ok…

Jericho: (scratches nose)

Saturn: Hey, Chris…

Jericho: Yeah?

Saturn: You ever taste human flesh?

Jericho: (shocked) What?

Saturn: Human flesh- ever tasted it?

Jericho: You mean cannibalism?

Saturn: Yeah.

Jericho: Of course not! I can't believe you even asked that! What's the matter with you?

Saturn: Hey, I was just curious…

Teddy: (moving down next to them to "check the hold") Hey guys, what's up?

Jericho: (Eyeing Saturn with concern) I'm not sure…

Saturn: Well Teddy, we was talking about something. Have you ever tasted human flesh?

Teddy: Nope- well wait… (thinks for a second) Nah, afraid not.

Jericho: (shocked) What the f---, Teddy!?! Why the hell did you even have to think about that?

Teddy: I dunno… I could have eaten it and just forgot about it over the years.

Jericho: Forgot about it?

Saturn: (to Teddy) But, if you did… you know… eat the flesh of the living… what do 'ya think it'd taste like?

Jericho: Who cares!?! That's the kind of thing every one is better off not-

Teddy: I bet it tastes like pork or chicken. Yeah.

Saturn: See; now that's odd because I would tend to guess beef or perhaps-

Jericho: OK! Lets move onto the next spot, ok?

Saturn: Yeah, ok.

(Saturn releases the hold and the two go through another series of moves- hip-throws, a head-scissors, and a spin kick by Jericho followed by an arm-bar.)

Jericho: (laying in a loose armbar) Well, the crowd seemed to like that.

Saturn: I think I was a little slow on the head-scissors though- sorry about that.

Jericho: No problem.

Teddy: (checking the hold) Now, back to the issue of eating human flesh-

Jericho: How bout a change of subject, all right? What do you guys think will get Best Picture this year at the Academy Awards?

Saturn: American Beauty.

Teddy: The Insider.

Jericho: Cool. I think American Beauty stands a good-

Saturn: Pork, then?

Teddy: Yeah, I'd say it'd taste like Pork- the other, other white meat. (laughs)

Jericho: Come on, guys! You're creeping me out big-time…

Teddy: Chris, I think you need to be a little more open-minded, here.

Jericho: What?

Saturn: Yeah, be cool.

Jericho: Perry, you're talking about frig'n cannibalism! That's completely sick sh--!

Teddy: (sighs) See, It's that kind of close-mindedness that really makes all those steps in personal freedom and civil rights seem so-

Jericho: You guys are nuts.

(Jericho rolls the arm-bar over in an attempted pin on Saturn, Saturn rolls out of it and Jericho lays in a side headlock.)

Saturn: (sniffs) Hey, Chris… (sniffs again) What cologne you wearing?

Jericho: Hu?

Saturn: (inhales deeply) Something smells good and it sure as Hell ain't me. What is that, Calvin Klein?

Jericho: (irritably) No.

Saturn: Boss?

Jericho: No.

Saturn: Nautica?

Jericho: Look, this is just-

Saturn: Drakkar? It's Drakkar, isn't it?

Jericho: NO! What the hell is the matter with you tonight?

Teddy: (hitting the mat again to check the hold) What's this about Drakkar?

Saturn: I think that's what Chris is wearing, but I ain't sure.

Jericho: Look, it's-

Teddy: (takes a whiff, and smiles) Man! I don't know if that's Drakkar or not but hot-DAMN, that smells good! Let me just have another sniff of your stink, Chris… (begins to move in closer)

Jericho: Come on, guys! Stop it! It's bad enough that you two have to talk about eating people. Then you have to start all… this! It's neither the time nor place for anything even slightly homoerotic like this.

Saturn: Woah! Slow down there, Chris. Ain't nobody talking about homoerotical stuff. I mean, we're all married men here who are very secure in their own heterosexuality.

Teddy: Yeah, Chris. Lighten up. Where's your spirit of male unity in a sport of men?

Saturn: I've been wrestling for close to ten years now and I swear… if two guys can't roll around together in tights and discuss men's fragrances without being perceived as gay, then… well, I'm not sure if that's a world I want to be a part of.

Teddy: Preach it, brother.

Jericho: (shamefully) You're right, guys… I was wrong to be so jumpy about this…

Saturn: It's ok, buddy. But in the future, try and be a little more open-minded about male bonding and cannibalism.

(A bag of popcorn and a beer can land in the ring)

Teddy: Damn! Looks like we lost track of time chatting- better break the rest hold before the crowd riots and they have to release the gas.

Saturn: The gas? What you talk'n about?

Jericho: Yeah, I've been with the company a year and I haven't heard about it yet.

Teddy: (laughs) Go on! You guys haven't heard about the gas yet?

Jericho: Nope. (Another beer can lands in the ring) What gas?

Teddy: Sh--, you don't think the crowed really gets that excited about the Godfather or the Rock without neuro-toxins being pumped into the arena?

Saturn: Hu?

Teddy: And on the other hand, how do you think Vince keeps the crowd from rioting when he books Mark Henry vs. Viscera? It's simple- mind numbing gas pumped through the air-vents.

Saturn: Oh… I guess that makes sense.

Jericho: Isn't that… you know… illegal?

Teddy: I dunno. Maybe. I know the stuff they use for the Rock's crowed reaction is pretty powerful stuff. Once, at a house show, they had the chemicals too strong and when the Rock gave his lines, the crowed erupted into a Roman orgy of sex and catchphrases… I'll tell 'ya… that was one hell of a mess to clean up after.

Jericho: (grimaces) Yuck…

Teddy: Damn straight! You know those giant foam fingers they sell? Well-

Jericho: (speedily interrupting) Teddy, there's… no need for details on that.

Teddy: (as another can lands in the ring and green gas begins to drift down from the ceiling) Well, we better move onto the next spot.

Saturn: I dunno, Teddy. He's got this side headlock on nice and tight and I'm start'n to like it. (Winks at Jericho)

Jericho: Cut that out!

Saturn: Kidding! Just kidding, Chris.

Brought to you from the good people at ScoopThis.com

WARNING: THIS IS PURELY HUMOROUS, MEANING, A WORK OF FICTION.

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TRIVIA ANSWERS by Andrew Evans

1. The Acolytes. 2. Edge. 3. False. 4. Western Lariat. 5. Greensboro, North Carolina - 1983. 6. Farmer Burns. 7. Hiro Matsuda. 8. Perro Aguayo. 9. Harvey Wippleman, as Harvina. 10. Joe Frazier.