Ask 411 Wrestling: 09.06.06: Creative, CZW, Bob Orton Sr, more
Posted by Chris Clarke on 09.06.2006
Do you know the difference between a Booker, a Writer and a Road Agent? If not, you’d better get in here. If so, read this week’s Ask 411 Wrestling anyway!
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:
Alan the Scot writes about the vicious pedigree: The guy who took that vicious pedigree was apparently Stan Dupp,real name Marty Garner. I found it on the net but i also read somewhere that Dupp thought it was going to be a suplex type finisher! So HHH's original pedigree is still the one he uses. Apparently!!!
Nelson talks race: First of all, I'd like to share some info with you that is quite funny and
relates to your column in light of the recent Dusty Rhodes as a racist debate. In fact, I am pretty surprised that the IWC hasn't popped this story yet, but maybe I'm jsut blowing it out of proportion. Anyway, enough
rambling, here it goes.
Last Friday, I was driving out for Happy Hour and I turned on my Sirius Satelite Radio (plug). NFL radio was boring, and there was no good music on so natually I turned to Howard 100. When I found that it was a replay,
I turned the channel to Howard 101 and the Bubba the Love Sponge Show. Man am I glad I did. I never listen to Bubba, but I was fortunate enough to tune in on this day because the one and only Hulk Hogan called in and was in a word, crunked. He was spouting out all sorts of nonsense about Brooke and going to Jamaica. He stated that he had been pounding vodka so I know he was tipsy. He started speaking like Snoop Dogg, you know, adding "izz" to everything. In fact one quote was, "They can kiss my izzass, nizzuts, and bizzalls." Funny. Anyway, one of the guys advised Hulk that Jamaica was about to be hit by a hurricane and Hogan replied "Ni**a please!" (I need to censor for work purposes). They all started laughing and kept
egging him on to say it again and again at the top of his lungs. In the 5 minutes I was in the car, Hogan must have uttered the statement 12-15 times, even yelling it very loudly a few times.
Now I do not make the claim that Hulk Hogan is a racist, in fact he even said that Booker T is cool and doesn't care if Hogan jokes around like that. However, I thought it was very funny and would be some fun info to pass along.
Chris talks PatriotHey, good column, but your answer about The Patriot implied that he was just some big guy Vince grabbed off the street and stuck in a mask, which he most definitely was not. Del plied his craft throughout the '90s under the Patriot mask, through which he had a great feud with the Dark Patriot in the GWF (IMHO, the one doppleganger angle that was ever any good), and a forgettable run in WCW, where he tag-teamed with Marcus Bagwell as Stars and Stripes (then again, EVERYBODY tag-teamed with Marcus Bagwell in those days). Unfortunately, by the time Vince called him up, Del's various addictions were catching up to him, and thus his highest-profile work (with the WWE) was some of his worst.
Stu P talks Savage: Now, you've mentioned the Randy Savage – Stephanie McMahon rumour but what exactly is the basis for this? I've looked online for any accurate description of it but can't find it anywhere, so how can you prove to me that it's not bullshit? I know exactly how easy it is to spread internet rumours because I once convinced some dude in a WWF chat room (in the glory days of the AOL site) that the reason Randy Savage hated Hulk Hogan so much was because Savage was overly fond of gay bars, and kept bugging Hogan to go. One night he tried it on with the Hulkster who spurned him, and that was why they hated each other so much. I wish I was joking when I said someone actually believed me.
(Ed note: I never claimed it was true! I just stated the rumour. I do not believe that Madness popped Steph)
411's Stuart Carapola writes in about the Patriot: Hey Chris, just thought I'd throw out a correction from this week's Ask411. The Patriot may very well have had drug problems, but the reason he wound up out of the WWF was because he suffered an arm injury that pretty much took him out of the ring for good. There's some debate as to whether or not he actually sold the gimmick to Tom Brandi, but if he did it was after the career ending injury. I never heard it was a lack of drawing power (since he was never really put in a position to draw aside from the one match with Bret, which wasn't even the main event) or a lack of talent (which has certainly never been criteria for a top guy in the WWF/WWE).
(Ed note: While I believe they were shocked at how much he actually sucked, I admit my timeline was a bit off. Thanks Stu!)
Cranbo has some interesting stuff: "Adam asks: the first question is do you know where I can find older wrestling events from the 80's and early 90's, example older royal rumbles, summerslams, survivor series, starcades, clash of champions, etc?
According to the smartwrestlingfan.com Wrestling Review Show Podcast, which is availabl on iTunes for free and is awesome, the WWE will be releasing Royal Rumble & SummerSlam Anthologies as they did with Wrestlemania. SurSer Anthology will likely follow.
Jingus points out something important: The Hassan Martyr angle
"He was taken off of TV when UPN threatened to pull SmackDown and it was
because of the martyr angle but something you didn't mention was that that
particular episode of SmackDown aired on the same day as the London
Bombings. Had the bombings not happened and the martyr angle run anyway I
doubt that UPN would have put as much pressure on WWE."
Actually, it was even worse than that. The bombings happened early
Wednesday morning as I recall, not on the same day that Smackdown aired.
Ergo, the WWE had all the time in the world to edit the show and remove the
segment from the TV show, but for whatever reason they chose not to.
TIME FOR A SET OF QUESTIONS!
V.A. asks: I wanted to ask what is the difference between bookers and writers in WWE. In other words, what do bookers do that writers wouldn't do, and what do writers to, that bookers wouldn't do? Generaly, how do they differ? Or there is just Creative team, and this team does it all? Ask 411: In reality, there is no difference. Now – this doesn't mean that everyone does the same thing on a creative team, but the titles are totally interchangeable. Someone like Vince Russo would write, or book, who was facing who and what the finishes were (ie: who went over), but someone like Pat Patterson would handle setting out the match, and how exactly the finish would detail. Would you call Patterson a writer? Or a Booker? Maybe sometimes – but usually he's a "Road Agent". So typically, that's the real distinction to be made within the creative team – not the one you point out.
Brian F asks: This is not so much a question that will have a straight answer but more of your opinion. I guess I have lived under a rock for a while, and just today checked out some czw footage on youtube. I have been a fan of pro wrestling since I first came into this world (runs in the family). For a couple decades I have watched this sport, and was actually nearly sickened by what I saw a few moments ago. My question to you is, do you believe that wrestling overall has become too "Extreme". I mean weed whackers? Driving people from a roof to what looked like a parking lot a few dozen feet below? What do you believe motivates them? I am sure it cannot currently be big money? Thanks for any info you can provide to me on the appeal of this ultraviolent promotion.
P.S. I love the ask 411 column and I mean no disrespect to any of the talent of czw as they all seemed to have a hell of a lot of heart. Ask 411: It's nice of you to be respectful of the CZW crew, but I don't believe in holding back against people who do this sort of stuff. While I can respect the fact that CZW brought themselves somewhat back into normalcy by doing their angle with RoH, man those deathmatches they do are just RETARDED, don't you think?
Seriously – there is nothing balsy about doing the ultraviolent gimmick. It's a cop-out – 100% cheap heat. You only do ultraviolence because 1) you can't work or 2) you're an attention slut. Someone like Necro Butcher, who proved that he can actually work a half-normal match, does it because he loves the attention on himself. In reality – everyone is just laughing at how stupid he is. No one "respects" his ability to take a weed whacker shot, and still flip the camera the devil's horns. Only 14 year old kids mark out for that stuff (or their mental equivalent anyway) – and it's really a bad mark against the business.
Sure – there are lots of nasty people who do lots of bad stuff in wrestling – drugs, promiscuity, stealing money, bad promoters, you name it. I still believe, despite all of that, nothing hurts wrestling as a business more than ultraviolent shit like you describe. It has no place being associated with wrestling, because it really belongs in the realm of redneck "stick fights", internet "bum fights", and other LEGIT lowest common denominator B.S.
But please don't take my word for it – this is just MY opinion. I welcome you to check out CZW, their website is here, and make up your own minds.
Pete asks: Here's a question you may be able to answer. At the end of the Undertaker/Randy Orton feud there was a Hell in the Cell match where Cowboy Bob Orton interfered and 'Taker busted him open on the cage. Cowboy Bob disappeared immediately after that despite being over as Randy's manager and a useful storyline tool. Rumor was that Cowboy Bob had Hep C and it didn't come out until after he'd bleed all over 'Taker and Randy in the match. Any truth to that one?
ask 411: Oooooh – I was waiting for this one. As far as I've heard – it is 100% unconfirmed truth. What a cop out eh? I have heard this story bantied around on various internet sites, but have yet to see it reported on Meltz, Scher, or any other "big name" dudes. But – that doesn't mean they're not just being respectful of the situation and staying away from it. But – it makes you wonder when the fed starts suspending people for elevated liver enzymes (a potential sign of Hep C) out of sheer paranoia. Has Taker done colour since that match? If he hasn't – you have to wonder if it's totally true!! (by the way, I never got through Punjabi Prison, so he could have gigged there and I wouldn't know)
Mike asks: I remember in 1999/2000, Hogan returned to being Hulkamania and was wearing red and yellow. However, in his last match ever in WCW (v.s Jarrett w/ Russo), he was dressed as Hollywood Hogan. When did he turn back to Hollywood Hogan and was he a face or a heel?
ask 411: That was the infamous Bash "shoot" firing of Hogan (which was 100% total work by the way, even though everyone pretends its not), where Hogan supposedly used his creative control, fixed the match, got the belt, and Russo had a real match for the title later that night between Booker T and Jarrett. Hogan came down to the ring not as Hollywood, but in his street clothes. You had to figure the fix was on when he went along with that shit – don't you think?
Kevin asks: hey chris, im kevin.. listen i have a bone to pick with a certin site... you know ive been a wrestling fan my whole life ive been going on this site and another site.. wrestlezone.com... i notice a distinct difference between the both you guys dont post information about how john cena and his girlfriend went for a swim or how stephine had a c section or stuff like that... i really think they should let the wrestlers have more of a private life then posting useless stuff.. Its almost as bad as the paparazzi (might of mispelled that)... Anywho i just wanted to get that off
my chest because it seems like the people have nonthing better to do then to pry into other peoples lives because there lives are more intresting then the reporters.. reporting backstage stuff is one thing but this draws the line...
ask 411: The short answer? They make shit up. They enjoy thinking they are scooping the littlest thing from Meltz or Scher. Other than that? It's just 100% crap. Let the wars begin.
Stephen asks: Hey Stephen here. I've been wondering for the longest time, what happened with Chyna and the WWE? I mean I heard she was fired and all but what was the whole situation that went down. She's been in a downward spiral since then and doesn't seem like she can get a successful job anywhere. I mean she doesn't even use her real name Joanie Laurer anymore every time you see her it's this Chyna Doll stuff. What's up with that?
ask 411: Yeah, Chyna's a little rough, and that man-clit she has pretty much killed her ability to be a professional porn star. She's a drunk and maybe back on the pills. She's been on a bad bad way since she was released from the fed.
Here's the condensed version of her career. Joanie goes a roids, gets noticed in a gym by Hunter. Hunter brings her to Killer Kolawski's gym to get trained. WCW tries to sign her, but Vince gets her because she's boning Trips. She gets popular, but starts getting self conscious about her image. She gets her boobs. She gets her jaw fixed. She gets anorexia (my guess). She still has a man-clit. Trips finds more attractive bosses' daughter with access to future billions. Trips cheats on Joanie with Steph. Steph does not enjoy having Trips' ex around, so arranges to have her embarrassed and then fired for her "anticts", when she's really just a scorned woman. Chyna tries to keep working, but without Vince's machine behind her and Trips' influence, she flounders. She starts dating a drug addict (Xpac) and goes right down with him. She stars in a porn movie and takes it up the ass to pay the bills. The end.
Sad, really.
Chris asks: Also I know that Chris Masters is currently suspended, but what did he do?
Ask 411: He couldn't maintain his physique under the Wellness Program. No point in having a "Masterpiece" gimmick when you're deflating like a tire with a hole in it! He was a walking internal pharmacy.
Keith asks: Specifically, my question is about the Matt Hardy-Edge-Lita love triangle. How much exactly was this a shoot? If we are to assume that Edge and Lita did have an affair behind Matts back (which is true? or isn't it?) why would MATT be "released" or "fired"? Was Matt just taking time off after being heart-broken or is
this just an unanswerable part of wrestling storyline that we as fans are just supposed to ignore? Or, if not either of those two, was there an actual contract dispute (I seem to remember something about him negotiating with TNA)?
Also, MAtt I recall saying something about how the "comeback" of Hardy would be a 5 stage matter coming to a head of Matt getting his revenge, or the story being wrapped up. As far as I remember, this never happened? What was the original plan and why did they stray?
Ask 411: Did Lita smoke Edge pole? Yes. Was it behind Matt's back? Yes. How quickly did it go into work mode? Pretty fast. Everyone who has ever been involved in wrestling, even the IWC smarks, know that Lita is what the Native Americans call "Doe – with wide Canyon", so you have to wonder if Matt was really all that surprised. But everyone went into work mode very quickly, including Matt. Matt was released because he started getting uppity about the issue, and the fed cut the least profitable part of the triangle. This was totally typical company policy, which resulted in punishment for those who commit this kind of in-house stuff. An example of this was B.B. being fired for humping Bob Holly. Matt was negotiating with TNA, and nearly signed (in fact – there was a plan in place for a Hardy Boyz reunion show) but instead felt he could make more money and be a bigger player coming back for his feud with Edge.
I believe that Matt and Lita are now friends again – but clearly he and Edge will never be close (hence why they're on different brands). I actually liked the way the story line played out, as Matt I think will be an over enhancement talent forever now because of it . He still gets solid pops. Jeff coming back will only help his career.
george asks: what do u think is the worst gimmick to ruin a wrestler so no one took him seriously anymore afterwards. red rooster? the 7' guy after the oddities? dusty's yellow polka dots?
ask 411: That's a really good question – please IWC – write in your votes and I'll include them in next week's column. I think my vote could be for anyone who plays a gay gimmick on TV. That's just about everyone – Billy Gunn being the kind of exception, since he's sort of bouncing back. But overall – if you're gay on TV, you're gay forever. Wrestling fans are homophobes, for the most part!
X asks: I was wondering how come Franicine hasn't appear on ECW yet? She is on the ECW roster. Is Lance Storm coming back to ECW? ask 411: Francine hasn't been worked onto TV yet because I heard that Vince does not like what her uhm… body looks like right now. She's working hard from what I hear, but oftentimes when she's working ECW house shows, people are reported about her droopy butt. Too bad for her!
Oh, and Lance is not coming back. Offered a contract, but did not accept. He wants to remain mainly retired, and run his wrestling school.
THAT'S IT FOR THIS WEEK
**
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!
