Go to Dx Chat!!!!but First Read Da Rumors!!!
Operators are hopeful that the combination of Rodman and Malone will equal Wrestlemania's performance. Having lost an potential 350,000 to 600,000 buys because of the cancellation of the Holyfield-Akinwande fight (Akinwande tested positive for the hepatitis B virus), operators are frantically looking for a major PPV event to help pad lean 1998 revenues.
The article also stated that WCW will spend in excess of $500,000 on national - media advertising for the event and you should know by now that Travis Tritt will be performing a 30 minute show for the PPV.
To Bret's Fans,
Bret asked me to let his fans know about something that happened to him at the June 14 ppv. However, while I'm going to relay facts, views expressed are my own. I make a point of not using my position with Bret as a personal forum and I prefer to remain behind the scenes - but this time something so disturbing has happened that I want to talk with Bret's fans about it and see how you feel about it. Over the years Bret has taught me to develop a thick skin, to have a very high tollerance for the b.s. and backstabbing in and around this business, but this time I need to vent.
Please forgive a brief description of who I am. In this case I think it's important for you to be able to guage where this horrendous story is coming from. My name is Marcy and I've worked for Bret for many years. My responsibilities to him span out into a lot of different areas and I've had different titles over the years but as far as I'm concerned the most important title Bret has given me is when he tells people that I'm his close friend and that he trusts me with his life. I take the responsibility of living up to that compliment the most seriously of all and it's a position more important to me than any title or paycheck. Watching Bret's back in this business has not been easy - especially lately.
because Bret is sincerely interested in keeping the lines of communication open between himself and his fans. Each week we give Bret feedback from your email. Don't go giving me too much credit because we have a great staff of the most devoted and dedicated volunteers you've ever seen and basically I just "direct" things. I handle things that pertain to Bret being in touch with his fans - from HITMANclub to personal appearances to interviews . . . you get the idea. The down side is that means I also deal with the fans whose adulation has crossed the line to obsession. The stalkers. The psychos. Yes, unfortunately, Bret has been seriously inconvenienced and threatened. Those horror stories are for another time...or may be better left unsaid. For those "macho guys" out there who can't see what kind of a threat "some little crazed woman" (as I've heard it put) could be to Bret Hart, let me point out that if a 98 pound weakling pulls the trigger or wields the knife it's just as deadly as if a 300 pounder did it. The point is, there are sick people out there. I have to be constantly aware that the very word "fan" is short for "fanatic" and that is excatly what some fans become. I, myself, have been the target of some very ugly stories and threats -as I guess happens to anyone close to a celebrity.
I haven't lost sight of the fact that the great majority of Bret's fans are great people who it is my priveledge to meet somewhere along the way. If you see me somewhere, please introduce yourself! Enough about me.
Bret asked me to let his fans know about something that happened to him last Sunday at the Great American Bash ppv.
Shortly before the match where Bret teamed up with Hogan against Piper and Savage, Eric Bischoff and JJ Dillon came to Bret in the locker room. Hogan was there as well as two other wrestlers. They took Bret aside, looking very solomn, and told him that they were very sorry. That a call had come in from Bret's home ... that Bret's dad had passed away.
Bret's reaction was what you'd expect. Eric told Bret he didn't have to work the ppv, that he'd make arrangements to fly him home right away, "anything you need, Bret". Eric was the perfect gentlemen - which, by the way, is in stark contrast to the way Vince McMahon treated Bret when Bret's brother, Dean, passed away back in '91. Enough said.
JJ got Stu's phone number from Bret and called Stu's house. About 10 minutes later he returned to the locker room and told Bret and Eric that STU HART IS FINE. Needless to say, Bret was greatly relieved, but he was also very angry. Why would a nyone want to so viciously attack him on an emotional level? But worse than that, it wasn't just 'anyone'. I can't go into specific details here, because law enforcement is involved, but because of the way the call came in, what was said, etc... it was obvious that the call came from someone on the 'inside'. That's why Eric and JJ believed it. It was an intentional, personal attack on Bret - to make him grieve the death of his father - right before a ppv match. It is to Bischoff's credit that he told Bret he still didn't have to work the match. It is to Bret's credit that he worked.
Bret thought that by teling his fans about this it would give you an idea of the things that celebrities have to deal with sometimes, the price of fame, so to speak.
It's bad enough when stalkers come from the shadows. But when they
come from the inner circle - well, after Montreal, it's a wonder Bret hasn't
become paranoid. He often says, "keep the faith" and he has!
Bret and I were talking about how disheartening it is when fans cross the line. Throwing a glass bottle at the ring shows total disregard for Bret's (or any wrestler's) well being. Taking it to the next level and damaging personal property because a guy is a heel - - and then the stalkers. That's all from the outside. But this call came from the "inside". There was a time when people in and around this business watched each other's backs - instead of stabbing each other in the back.
We'd be interested in your comments on this. The crew at HITMANclub can put your comments together as feedback for Bret. Let Bret know how you feel about it.
Marcy Engelstein
The Undertaker has a severe ankle injury. Some are saying that the ankle is either broken, or there is a cracked bone in the ankle. It's probably not a broken ankle, but whatever the case, at some point, Taker is going to need surgery to fix it, but he is still scheduled to be at the PPV this Sunday.
Steve Austin has a staph infection in his elbow. Austin had a bad fever, but he wrestled at the house show in Houston on Friday night. He was hospitalized after the show and he has been in the hospital ever since. He may be released today, but he has been on an IV with an antibiotic trying to get the infection under control. It's highly unlikely that Austin will be anywhere near 100% at the KOTR, but he will be there. Because Austin and Taker would not have been able to compete this weekend, the WWF was forced to postpone the house shows in Oklahoma City on Saturday and Tulsa on Sunday. Those two events will probably be rescheduled in September and the WWF is planning on loading up those shows. The Tulsa event was already sold out, and the Oklahoma City show had a $100,000 advance.
Phinneas as mentioned before had a viral infection, and was hospitalized on Monday. He is back home now and he should be fine.
Owen Hart had to get seven staples in his head because of a serious chair shot at the television tapings, but he didn't miss any dates, and he should be OK to face X-Pac at the PPV.
Jose Estrada is out with a jammed neck, but he should be fine by the next set of television tapings.
Paul Bearer was really roughed up by the Undertaker. He sustained among other things an ankle injury, and he was taken off the road last week. He may be able to return for the Boston house show at the Fleet Center on Saturday night, or more likely the KOTR on Sunday. There's a very strong advance for the Fleet Center, and the show may sell out the arena, but if Taker or Austin can't wrestle, the show will be postponed.
Scott Hall is set to make his return to WCW TV tonight on Nitro. Apparently Hall will be doing a major pseudo-shoot interview where he will admit that he was in drug rehab in Minnesota. He may blame his personal problems for his faulty thinking in attacking his friend Kevin Nash. What it boils down to is that Hall will be in the Wolfpac.
Thats all the rumors this WEEK check this out Daily and Check out if theres anything New!!.
-Thunder was a sellout from Orlando with over 14,000 in attendance, but the show took a plunge in the ratings this week. I saw a good part of the show and it was one of their best efforts in weeks. It was aired on Wednesday this time around, but that's no excuse for the 2.7 average rating (2.2 for hour 1 and 3.1 for hour 2). Last weekend, WCW Saturday Night scored a 1.5 which is the lowest rating I've ever seen for that show. It was also the first time that BOTH LiveWire (1.6) and Superstars (1.7) beat SN in the ratings.
-The WWF is loading up the Foxboro stadium show on 8/8, which just happens to be on the same night as WCW's Road Wild. The main event will feature a Austin v. Undertaker v. Kane in a triple threat match for the World Title. There will also be a match with X-Pac and HHH facing Owen Hart and the Rock. That should be a good one. Sable will face Jacky and the owner of the New England Patriots will be the guest referee for the Austin v. McMahon arm wrestling match that will kick off ticket sales. The show is being co-promoted with the Patriots, and a lot of the football players will be on hand for the show. Tickets go on sale 7/1.
-Austin should also be at the Raw on Monday and the tapings on Tuesday. It's not likely that he will be wrestling, but I expect at least an interview. Steven Regal is scheduled to debut this Monday and there are rumblings that the WWF is planning some sort of surprise for the show ... but you know how those WWF surprises are.
-Karl Malone is supposed to be on Nitro this Monday. Dennis Rodman may be there too. Let's see if those rumors are true this time. I mentioned before that a newspaper story stated that Karl Malone is getting over $1 million for his services in WCW. Well, Dave Meltzer is reporting that Malone is getting CONSIDERABLY LESS than Rodman who is getting $750,000.
-It's not only WCW that is hoping that the Bash at the Beach PPV does well. In a recent Multichannel news article by R. Thomas Umstead (edited):
With the last-minute cancellation of the June 6 Evander Holyfield-Henry Akinwande fight, operators are hopeful that a fresh injection of celebrities will continue to boost the buy-rate and revenue performance of the already-successful wrestling events."We were able to create the good-guy/bad-guy scenario, with Malone and [Page] viewed as the working-class good guys, to create what is the ultimate heavyweight wrestling championship," Hassman [Jay Hassman, director of PPV for WCW] said. "It should bring a new level of buys to the wrestling genre."Operators and the wrestling outfits have increased buy-rates and revenues significantly over the past year by getting athletes from other sports to participate in PPV shows. Mike Tyson's appearance on TitanSports Inc.'s March 28 Wrestlemania XIV event pulled in more than 700,000 buys, and that event still stands as the most successful PPV program of the year.While the WCW event, which will retail at $29.95, marks Malone's first PPV appearance, Rodman has been down the pro-wrestling road before. Rodman appeared at last year's Bash at the Beach weeks after the Bulls beat the Jazz, also in six games. His appearance helped that show to draw more than 500,000 buys.
-The Nitro from the Georgia Dome will be the first one to air with TNT's split feed which goes into effect on July 1. That show has over 25,000 tickets sold with an advance of over $700,000.
-WCW will be dropping their nWo hotline.
-Ken Shamrock is the insider's favorite to with the KOTR.
-The injury situation in the WWF is looking a bit better. There's no doubt now that Austin and Undertaker will be able to compete. Both men are currently at home resting. It looks like the Undertaker will be working at almost 100% against Mankind in Hell in a Cell, but Taker will need to have to tape his ankle very tightly. Austin was released from the hospital on Monday, and he's at home resting as well. He will not be at a 100%, but he's said to be improving daily.
-In the First Blood match, obviously there are no pin falls, and there are no DQs or count-outs either -- basically anything goes. It's one of those stipulations that allows the face to lose the match without getting pinned, but I don't know if that's going to happen.
-Jose Estrada will be OK within a few days. There's no vertebrae damage which is good news. I watched the Edge v. Jose match last night, and I noticed how EASY it is to cause an injury.
-Owen Hart got the staples removed from the back of his head when he returned home to Calgary, and he will be ready for the PPV. Of course Owen will meet X-Pac in the seventh match booked for the show. I mentioned yesterday that the WWF may be adding another match to the PPV, so they can shorten the top two matches. Well that seems more likely than not now. In fact, the WWF may add TWO more matches to the card. The 8th match may be added later this week or as late as the day of the PPV.
-McMahon has until July 1 to put in his bid for the Minnesota Vikings. Bidding starts at $200 million, and the NFL requires the primary owner to own 30% of the team. So McMahon's minimum investment would be $60 million, if he wants to be the primary owner. A lot of people see this as a publicity stunt although the WWF hasn't actively sought publicity out of it.
-Jesse Ventura picked up on the Torch version of the story. Ventura discounted the report as a publicity stunt, and according to Keller, Ventura said that the Torch is just a dirt sheet that would print any rumor fed to it by the WWF, even if they were to say Vince McMahon is going to become the Ambassador to Moscow. Those two have a little feud going.
-I commented at the time that the Hogan/Hart v. Savage Piper match, in my memory, was the only horrible match that Bret Hart has been involved in for some time. Apparently the Hitman had an excuse. Here's a report from the his Fan Club:
-I heard that the person who made the call had enough knowledge of the Hart family to make the story sound believable. All of the other wrestlers in that main event were said to be very disturbed by the call.
-The 2/3 minutes that Raw ran over scored a 5.7 rating. The replay of Nitro scored a 1.3 rating.
-The WWF show scheduled for the Fleet Center on Saturday has been postponed to July 10, and if that doesn't give you some kind of indication how seriously injured the Undertaker and Steve Austin are, bear in mind that the WWF had already sold 7000 tickets with a $170,000 advance. Add to that, the main event for the show was an 8-man tag with Austin, Undertaker and LOD facing Helmsley, NAO and Kane (I thought DX were faces). In a match of this sort, it would have been very easy to protect the injured stars, but I guess the WWF thought it best to give them the week off to recuperate. As I mentioned before, both men will not even be close to 100% for the PPV. We all know what Mankind can do, so his match with Undertaker can still be a good. On the flip side, we all know what Kane can do, and I think it will take a strong effort by Austin to produce a decent match.
-The Oklahoma and Tulsa shows have been rescheduled to September 20.
-There's still a possibility, but not a strong one, that Austin and/or Undertaker may have miss the PPV. There are reports that the WWF may add another match to the card so the can shorten the top two matches.
-No idea why Hall wasn't on Nitro.
-Injuries galore on the WWF front ...
-Steve Regal is training at the WWF offices in Connecticut, and rumors of him debuting next week on Raw are probably true.
Ok this content is strictly this page.
here are some sources from where i got this info:
-Thanx to everyone on the Oren-kurtz head masters staff and of Big Orens Newsletters
-To Otter, CR, and Nate
-To Raj and his page thanx for some images.
-and to all the people in Wrestlemaniacs. especially MiCasa98.
Thanx to everyone I mentioned!!!
Go to "Omar's WWF Wrestling Home Page"
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