Ask 411 Wrestling 08.09.06: Blading, Ratings, Wrestling Kings, More!
Posted by Chris Clarke on 08.09.2006
Some people wanted to talk Screwjob this week - but I avoided the temptation. Instead, we're talking booking, ratings, gates, and TWO questions on wrestling taboo: payoffs and blading! All that and more in this week's Ask 411 Wrestling!
Hey yo.
Time for another wonderful edition of Ask 411. Thank you all for your questions, as I've got a bunch in the que and am always looking for more. Keep on sending them in please, and don't ever hesitate to write in corrections!
Errata:
Mr. Braun talks Honky!: Not to beat a dead horse with this topic (and I know you have to take my word with a grain of salt, considering I'm just a nobody e-mailing you), but I talked to Honky about the Summerslam 88 situation. According to him, the Ultimate Warrior never demanded the title in a squash match. Vince approached Honky shortly before the event and said, "I think this [dropping the title] can get him [Warrior] over," and Honky agreed. Vince asked Honky how the match should go, and Honky said, "Short and sweet," to cover the Warrior's lack of wrestling skill. (Ed Note: It's Honky, man. That's enough to know that his version is his version.)
Mark has more info about the Mountie: Lycanthrokeith asked about the Mountie's 48 hour Title reign. For the longest time I always heard it was Bret's legit flu, but more recently I've heard that Bret was in the midst of contract negotations and they wanted to get the belt off of him so that there wouldn't be any complications if he didn't resign.
Jeff explains the straight-edge lifestyle: Just read a brief explanation of straightedge in your column and wanted to clear a few things up. Having been into DC hardcore for 15 years and straightedge for about that long as well, the guy who wrote in is kinda off.
1. SXE was originally no drugs, no drinks, no cigs, no sex as declared in "Straightedge" by Minor Threat. "Don't drink, don't smoke, don't fuck... I got the straightedge.
1b. The SXE community has since changed that to mean no casual sex outside
of a relationship which only CM Punk can talk about.
2. There is a discipline called Hardline which is vegan/SXE which is means no alcohol, smoking, drugs, caffeine, white sugar, processed food, sex with birth control (sex is for procreation...), and no processed food.
3. Minor Threat was not a SXE band but the singer, Ian MacKaye, was which is why the lyrics are about it. This does not mean that they were cheating since those who were SXE did not partake.
4. SXE was not started by Minor Threat either, it was started by Henry Rollins while he sang for his first band SOA (State of Alarm) but really, who remembers them.
Robin adds a few things: Just a little information on the Hart/Mountie title change. While it was reported as being at a house show, this was not 'phantom switch'. As clips were shown before the Piper/Mountie match at the Royal Rumble, at least on the VHS version, showing The Mountie winning the title, continuing to attack Bret, and Piper coming in to defend him.
Also there were reports at SLAM! Wrestling last a few days ago the Zach Gowen has become a teacher now.
Good olde boy Peter Kent pops in: A reader asked you about the WWE Legends contracts. The Honky Tonk Man went off on this stuff a while back on his website. According to him, you get $10,000 and sign off everything - your likeness, whatever rights you have, whatever. It's probably there on his site, if it's still around.
And as far as the question about CZW guys signing with the WWE, that fan should probably know that Vince isn't too keen on wrestlers who are under 6'2" and 250 lbs. Something tells me if Chris Hero starts taking steroids, then he'll be in the WWE. And I think Claudio Castagnoli is a LOCK if he keeps bulking up and maintains his profile. And if Vince really is a Bruiser Brody fan, then maybe Necro Butcher has an outside shot if he continues to rise in popularity in the indies. I doubt it, though. Ruckus has been improving so much, he might be a great addition to the cruiserweights too. (Ed Note: I highly doubt anyone who is scarred up at this point has a shot, as Vince likes to have one guy per gimmick ie: Sabu. I'm sure not about some of the other guys, as I've not seen them enough to legit comment)
Manu points out an obvious oversight: Venis and Godfather were a team also known as "Right To Censor" as well as Steven Richards and Ivory. (Ed Note: And Bull Buchanan! HA! I'm back in the saddle)
TIME FOR A SET OF QUESTIONS!
Arnold asksNow my question as far as attendence for events go what are the 5 largest in wrestling history and were there buyrates as strong.
Ask 411 Buyrates are always hard to translate, because different countries use different systems, and the ratings scales change over time. So that part I'm going to skip but safe to say a good crowd won't be drawn if the program sucks, therefore a good buyrate is a good guess.
As far as attendance, the #1 is definitely the joint WCW/NJPW show in Pyongyang, North Korea in 1995. The main event was Ric Flair vs. Antonio Inoki. While attendance may have been mandatory, it still qualifies in my opinion. Way over 100K people were there.
Other big gates are:
75K @ Wembley Stadium in England for Summerslam 92
78K for Mania 3 (Vince claims 93,
65K for Manias in Toronto
So there are a few big ones. There are lots of gates in Japan which are up there in number as well, so I invite the populace to do the research for those and write them in. I'm just not familiar enough with their history to try to figure out where they are!
Amazing now to think about how ECW draws 800 to shows, and Vince can't fill all his PPV arenas!!
Brad G writesI was just wondering what the guys and gals from the first season of Tough Enough are up to now? I read about Maven hosting some show, and that Josh Matthews is still interviewing for WWE and Nowinski's got that concussion dealy, but what about everyone else?
Ask 411 As far as I can find out:
Taylor is still involved in wrestling on the Indies, and has been rumoured to be dating Brian Kendrick
Nidia has done some touring of Japan, and at last word is still working on the Indies. Nidia's site
Maven was rumoured to have been looking for work again with the Fed recently, after his appearance on the Surreal Life 6 reality show.
Chris Nowinski is still employed by the WWE in a public relations capacity. His wrestling career was short lived, due to post-concussion syndrome. Check out Royal Rumble 2002 to see the spot that ended his career.
As far as the rest no luck finding them!
Mich asks: With McMahon burying the hatchet with Bret long enough to induct him into the Hall of Fame. what are the chances the Warrior, Randy Savage and the Demolition can get in? Also, with the induction of tag teams now, is it possible for someone to be inducted twice like if the Hart Foudation were inducted later on, Bret would be in twice.
ask 411: I think the chances of Warrior being inducted at this point are just about zero. The two sides seem to be constantly in litigation, and therefore I doubt that Vince would even want him associated with their product. Besides, if you induct Warrior, you open up a lot of other inductees like Sid and Luger guys who may have had Mania main events. Are they deserved to be in there? Maybe but I'm not sure you want to go down that route.
Savage I think is going to happen no matter what Vince will put out a Savage DVD and induct him even if he's too crazy to show up and get his payday. I don't think Randy will be too picky after a while, and he'll come in to get his pay.
Demolition I'm not sure is worthy either. They really were just Road Warrior rip offs, so Hawk and Animal definitely have to go in first. It wouldn't shock me to see them put in Anvil, with Bret doing the induction speech. That may also hold true when they induct Owen (which they will).
Michael asks: Has Lita's neck injury ended her in ring career for good or will she wrestle again? or has she lost her nerve to do what she use to do since she nearly re-injured herself when wrestling Trish and she dove onto Trish who was outside the ring on the floor and Lita's head hit the floor and her head was
snapped back pretty hard? I always thought Lita was one of the better lady wrestlers ever.
ask 411: You would be the only one. I always thought that Lita was reckless and not good for more than a spot or two. Can she show up in a match and do something exciting? Absolutely. Could she work a 5 minute match without missing multiple spots? Not usually. She's not a complete wrestler. Add to the fact that her risky moves mean that she's now extremely limited in what she can give and take, I would safely say that her wrestling career is all but over. She is a great manager though, with some legit heat. Those boobs will keep her paid. Isn't it ironic that I post this comment this week, and yet Lita worked on RAW? I swear - they're out to get ME!
Stephen asks: What is the going rate for an indy wrestler? How much does a top star like Raven get vs. a legend like Jimmy Snuka ect.
ask 411: This is probably one of the most taboo questions I've ever been asked. I worked for a short time as a body-guard gimmick on the Ontario Indies, and did some local promoting as well as part of a team. We never paid anyone (the local stars) not doing a hardcore match more than $25 CANADIAN. (this was in 1999-2003, so the Canadian Dollar was sitting around .65-.70 American, it's now .90) If someone did a hardcore match, we'd negotiate something more, maybe upwards of $100, but for that we wanted gore. As far as an Indy star went, we'd pay transit, hotel and a match fee in some cases. Snuka would work for $300+trans, so would Honky and a few others. New Jack isn't a lot more than that. Some guys like Kanyon, Mikey Whipwreck and Corina just come, work, and stay at people's houses in order to make themselves affordable to promoters. So in reality, if you add in plane ticket and hotel, any Indy star will cost you $800-$1000. Top stars would probably get $1000 just for their match in some cases. Raven might get that much. I remember when RVD was doing Indy shots for a bit, he was asking $2500 per.
Mike asks: Would Smackdown have better ratings if it were a live show? I for one do read all the spoilers you guys put out and only watch if you say there was a great match other than that I keep up with what's going on via the spoilers and watch what else is on TV or go out.
Do the ratings take into account how many people Tivo or DVR the shows?
ask 411: I think the spoilers keep people watching, to be honest. Who is watching still who isn't a smark? I know I wouldn't tune in unless I know something worthwhile is going to happen.
As far as TIVO and such I am not familiar with the technology but from what I've heard that they are still trying to figure out how to figure that into the ratings (not to mention figuring out how to get people to stop fast-forwarding the commercials!)
Andrew asks: I have a quick question for you, when did it become popular for people to say "Whooo" in honor of Ric Flair anytime any wrestler threw a knife edge chop?
ask 411: The first people I know who did it were ECW fans, with Joey Styles quipping such things as "is it seniors night here in the Arena?" Someone else may have started it, but that's where I first saw it.
Man who else thinks that the Foley-Flair feud should have been moved to ECW TV as soon as RVD got suspended? That would have got that show on-track!
Randall asks: 1. From Harley Race to Haku to Mabel to Booker T and all those in between, why is Vince McMahon so obsessed with having a "King" in the WWE? I don't mind Jerry Lawler's gimmick a single bit, but does an active wrestler really need the fake crown, velvet cape and plastic scepter just to get over? I think it's an embarassment to the wrestler if anything. If a guy can't get over on his own credentials, too bad. I'm not gonna cheer (or boo) any harder just because he wears a crown!
2. Lillian Garcia may be a great singer, but she's a terrible ring announcer, especially when it comes to Canadian wrestlers. She NEVER gets the city and province right, saying just "Toronto Canada", or "Winnipeg Canada", etc., yet she still manages to keep her job. If, for argument's sake, during the next Umaga match, she announced him as "THE GUY WHO USED TO BE JAMAL FROM 3-MINUTE WARNING", do you think she would be fired? She wouldn't be lying! With the vast number of attractive ladies working in the WWE and auditioning for the diva search, surely they can come up with an announce girl with at least one-tenth of The Fink's abilities!
ask 411: First, the King gimmick.
I think you may be the only one who doesn't like that gimmick. I personally love it. It's a classic heel someone so arrogant, so full of themselves, that they ACTUALLY WEAR THE FULL OLD-SCHOOL CAPE AND CROWN and pretend to have a court. It's meant to make you pissed off and laugh at how pathetic they are. That's HEAT man. Don't you want Booker to get his comeuppance now? I know I do! Vince wants the King, because it works pure and simple.
As far as Lillian goes she's only reading what is provided to her. I know that Finkel sometimes would say "From Toronto, Ontario, Canada " but oftentimes they would skip over that. It's totally by design and that's what Vince wants. Hell most of the time they change where the Canadians are from as to keep them from getting heel heat! Like Benoit "now hailing from Atlanta, GA" he's an Edmonton boy! While Jericho was born in NY, he considers Winnipeg his hometown. Gail Kim was announced from Korea, but she's from my hometown of Toronto. Lilian doesn't get fired for this, because she's doing her job! If she started going off the script? You'd better believe she'd be fired. And it's not fair to compare anyone to Finkie he's beyond the man.
b>John asks: Does Ric Flair blade? It seems like he never wrestles a match without bleeding a gusher and I'm not sure if this is because of a lifetime of damage done to his forehead from blading throughout his career or if he just always takes a blade into a match. This is probably a silly question but a part of me feels like he should have developed plenty of scar tissue that wouldn't bleed easily considering all the downtime he's had over the past decade or so but another part says that's wrong and he's just paying the consequences for a long career of drawing blood. Which is it?
ask 411: I don't think Flair HAS to blade anymore he could slap that pink puddy on his forehead and start bleeding. In fact he did just that at the final Nitro! But Ric still does carve away when he's in his matches. You just hit the same spot and it goes you might have to press harder, but you'd better believe he'll keep bleeding! Since when did Ric NOT hit a gusher?? Others in this category would be Dusty, Lawler, Muta, New Jack, Corino and Abdullah the Butcher. Funker and Foley might be able to do it too.
Rik asks: Q. The Final Four in 1998. It came about due to Shawn Michaels dropping the title due to him "losing" his smile. Previously Gorilla Monsoon made the Final Four match to determine the Number One contender at Wrestlemania due to Austin "winning" the Rumble, despite having been eliminated out of the view of the referees. It was named the Final Four because Austin, Hart, Vader and Taker were the last four men in the Royal Rumble. The stipulation of the belt being on the line in the match instead was only added after HBK dropped the title.
My question is this: Why was Diesel not involved in this match? The last four men in the Rumble were Austin, Hart, DIESEL and either Undertaker or Vader (they were both eliminated at the same time by Austin). Any ideas? Could it be something to do with Sid too? It's been bugging me for a while and I can't think of the answer. Cheers.
ask 411: Simple question the final four were Austin and the three people HE eliminated from the match illegally. Austin snuck back in the ring, dumped Vader and Taker. Bret then dumped the Fake Diesel, followed by Austin dumping Bret. Diesel was the only one of the last 5 who was legit eliminated via Bret. Besides who wanted Kane as fake Diesel in main event anyway???
THAT'S IT FOR THIS WEEK
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Every week, I will answer a number of questions (schedule permitting) regarding professional wrestling. It can be on any topic new, old, national, international, whatever. You can even ask me IWC questions if you so desire, I will do my best to hunt down the answers. The column will also be filled with humour, commentary, and occasional ranting. It also may not be P.C. so be forewarned!
This column will be appearing every Wednesday afternoon. I will not hesitate to open up questions to the audience if I am stumped, and I will provide "errata" warnings if I'm proven to have been smokin' da pipe.
All questions and responses should be directed to cjc739@mail.usask.ca. I would be happy to hear from you on any topic at all.
And I guess that's it for now no gimmicks, no silly lists of rules just send me some darn email. This is about the free-exchange of information nothing more, nothing less. Let's just have some freakin' fun and actually publish this column with some sort of consistency. To do that I NEED YOUR HELP! SEND IN YOUR QUESTIONS!
