wrestling / Columns

The Custom Made News Report 02.03.08

February 3, 2008 | Posted by Ryan Byers

Welcome, one and all, to the Custom Made News Report. I have to admit that, for the last couple of weeks, the level of content here in the report has dropped off. However, I feel like I’m back in my normal form this weekend, and we’ve got plenty to discuss in all four of our regular categories: WWE, TNA, US Indies, and Foreign Wrestling. Let’s dive on in!

All the Stuff from Stamford

Lagana Beached

Roughly one week ago, word came out that Dave Lagana, a member of the WWE writing team for the last four years, had been let go by the company. Randle and Larry were all over this story when it initially broke, but, since that time, new details have come out abut exactly why this seemingly loyal employee was sent along his merry little way.


A mole, i.e. what David Lagana was accused of being.

According to Bryan Alvarez at F4WOnline.com, Lagan’s problems in the company go as far back as May of 2006. That month, at one of the creative team’s meetings, another person in the room claimed to have seen the screen of Lagana’s laptop computer. The screen displayed an e-mail from Lagana to a major wrestling website. Needless to say, this sort of communication is a big no-no backstage at WWE, and there may have been a connection between this incident and Lagana’s “demotion” from working on Smackdown to working on ECW, which happened a week after the May 2006 incident. Things continued to be rocky for Lagana, as he was suspected (though never proven) to be the source behind many of the WWE stories leaked to wrestling newsletters and websites, particularly information about the “viral” marketing campaign leading to Chris Jericho’s return and the plan to make Ken Kennedy in to Vince McMahon’s bastard son. Ultimately, Stephanie McMahon fed Lagana some false information on a few very specific issues to see if it would make its way on to the internet. When it did, the writer was cut.

My thoughts? Being an individual who writes for an internet wrestling website, I obviously enjoy it when news about future storylines and other backstage dirt leaks out of the WWE . . . and, if you’re reading this, I’d imagine that you do too. However, at the end of the day, there’s fairly reliable evidence that Lagana wasn’t playing by his employer’s rules and continued to do so after being given an opportunity to modify his behavior. That’s grounds for termination in just about every field I’ve heard of, so this isn’t an instance of WWE being “the bad guy” as they are so often painted in columns similar to this one. One of their employees was not following one of their rules, and, whether you agree with the rule or not, that’s a perfectly reasonable ground for termination.

Of course, one can still question the wisdom of WWE creative taking such a hardline approach to ensuring that future storylines are not leaked to fans. Frankly, I don’t think that these leaks are nearly as problematic as the WWE brass apparently does. Spoilers are not going to drive the company out of business. As a matter of fact, I would even argue that spoilers are not going to cost them a significant amount of money. The reality of the situation is that the people who seek out this information are, more often than not, the most hardcore fans of the promotion. They are the people who tune in to Monday Night Raw every week whether they like the show or not, and they are the people who gobble up every pay per view despite the fact that they know exactly what will happen. Similar phenomena exist in other corners of the entertainment industry. For example, if you look at websites like Ain’t It Cool News, you will see numerous posts by individuals swapping images, production details, and plot points from upcoming films. However, those people aren’t participating in these activities INSTEAD of watching the movies. As a matter of fact, you can rest assured that many of them are first in line to see Hollywood’s latest blockbusters. I’m not attempting to argue that WWE should embrace the internet and actively provide websites with details about upcoming angles, nor am I claiming that they should stop efforts to prevent this information from coming out. However, it is high time that they began to realize that potential cards for Wrestlemania appearing in a dirt sheet is not the end of the world.

A New Take on Benoit

Though I’m sure that many of us got tired of mainstream media stories about Chris Benoit and his family six months ago, a new television special about the tragic events of June 22 and June 23 will be debuting this coming Wednesday, February 6, at 9 PM EST on Canada’s CBC as part of their Fifth Estate program. The special will reportedly feature interviews with Bret Hart and Jake “The Snake” Roberts, as well as Chris Benoit’s father Michael.

Of course, we’ve already had plenty of opportunities to hear Bret Hart’s thoughts on this subject, and we’ve already had plenty of opportunities to hear Michael Benoit’s thoughts on this subject. So, why should wrestling fans bother to tune in to this show? I’ve got a good reason, and it ain’t Snake Roberts. According to Dave Meltzer over at the Wrestling Observer, the primary theory advanced by the special is that the concussions Chris Benoit suffered as a professional wrestler lead to the mental instability that caused him to murder his wife and child before taking his own life. I found that, in the wake of the murders, this particular theory was drastically underplayed in the American media, who instead rushed to spin the story in to one about the use of illicit steroids and other drugs.

In reality, I doubt that any one thing lead to the deaths of Nancy and Daniel Benoit, be it steroids, head injuries, or a history of domestic violence. It’s far more likely that these factors, combined with several others, lead to Chris Benoit “snapping.” However, the fact of the matter remains that the mainstream discussion of the story is still largely focused on the steroid angle, and I’m glad to see any piece that brings other theories to the forefront of public discourse, even if those pieces are similarly one-sided. If the only coverage that you have seen of this tragedy is something on the level of a Nancy Grace-esque show that attempted to blame the entire situation on “roid rage,” I would strongly suggest that you track down a copy of this special, not so the concussion theory can replace the steroid theory in your mind but rather so that you can consider how the two factors may have interacted. Also, if you are a Canadian reader and have an opportunity to catch the special, I would be interested in hearing any thoughts you have on its content.

The Word from Dixieland

TNA’s Highest Rating: Is There Really Cause to Celebrate?

The January 24 edition of TNA Impact was considered by some to be a milestone for the company. After all, it was one of the most watched editions of the show in history, drawing a 1.2 rating and 1.6 million viewers. This tied the 1.2 rating and the 1.6 million viewers that were garnered by the promotion for its January 17 show, which was also the first time that an episode of Impact outdrew an episode of WWE’s ECW on Sci-Fi program. Yet, now that more information has become available about the January 24 rating, I have to wonder whether it truly is the victory that it has been billed as.

Don’t get me wrong, a higher than average rating will always have some positive implications, most notably that it helps to raise the program’s average rating, which makes the show less prone to cancellation and allows the network to charge more for commercials sold during a particular episode. However, when the quarter hour ratings were released for this episode of the show, they read as follows:

Quarter #1: 1.3
Quarter #2: 1.1
Quarter #3: 1.1
Quarter #4: 1.1
Quarter #5: 1.1
Quarter #6: 1.1
Quarter #7: 1.1
Quarter #8: 1.0

This means that, for the vast majority of the episode, TNA was doing the same number that it always does, with the overall rating being helped by the fact that the first quarter was stronger than average and hurt by the fact that the last quarter was weaker than average. Granted, I am no professional, but this does not indicate to me that more fans than usual were interested in the TNA product on January 24. The numbers read more like they came from a show in which an unusually high number of people just happened to have their televisions tuned to SpikeTV between 9:00 PM and 9:15 PM EST on a particular evening, completely independent of the fact that Impact was the show airing on the network at that time. This could be caused by any number of factors, including a lead-in which had a higher than average audience, which would in turn result in more people than usual simply not switching off their television sets after watching said lead-in.

The other problem with the number is that what TNA presented in the first quarter hour was apparently NOT captivating enough to retain whatever additional eyeballs were on the station. (For the record, that segment consisted primarily of a Kevin Nash promo in addition to TNA’s regular opening ballyhoo.) Even more disheartening is the fact that the show’s main event, supposedly the most important part of the evening, LOST regular viewers. (For the record, that segment was AJ Styles and Travis Tomko defending their TNA Tag Team Titles against the Dudley Boys and the Murder City Machine Guns in a three-way dance.) To contrast, main events of WWE programs are typically the highest rated segment for any given show.

As previously stated, not ALL of this news is negative. When it comes time to bring on new advertisers, SpikeTV will be able to use the overall number to put a positive spin on the ratings that Impact does. However, the dropoff after the first segment and the dropoff leading in to the main event should be a wake-up call for TNA. They need to take steps to retain new viewers when those new viewers tune in, and they need to take steps to retain their loyal viewers throughout their program.

A New Beginning for the Raven

Earlier this week, rumors began to circulate that Raven had been released from TNA. However, this is not the case. Recently, PW Insider clarified that the former NWA and ECW Champion was still under contract to Total Nonstop Action . . . though TNA no longer plans to use him as a performer. If true, it would be the end of a Total Nonstop Action tenure that has lasted almost exactly five years. During this period, Raven became the first and only individual to hold championship gold in WWE, WCW, ECW, and TNA. (The Dudley Boys and Rhino held WCW Titles while in WWE, but Raven is the only man to accomplish the task while working for each of the four promotions.)

Though I have long been a fan of Raven’s character and was a particularly big supporter of the man from the Bowery during his World Championship Wrestling run, I cannot say that this is anything other than the right move. I have long accused the TNA Wrestling roster of being too large for its own good, as the company’s official website currently lists fifty-one different wrestlers, managers, and other personalities as being a part of the promotion. They have needed to trim some fat for quite a while, and, though his performances a decade ago were rather captivating, Raven has little left to offer as an in-ring performer. Over the past two years, we have all seen his body and his mobility slowly deteriorate to the point that he is no longer capable of providing fans with the intense brawls for which he was once renowned. It is time for a new generation of in-ring performers to shine, and hopefully Raven’s departure will be the beginning of a process which allows just such a transition to take place.

That is not to say, though, that Raven has nothing left to offer professional wrestling. He remains one of the best promos in the sport and still has a solid grasp on in-ring psychology. Hopefully he will find a role in wrestling in which he is able to put those skills to use for the entertainment of fans and the betterment of younger performers.

Random Video Interlude

Here’s an interesting video that I found while surfing around the ‘Tube. I’m not sure what the year is, and I’m not sure what promotion it comes from, but this match features powerhouse “Dr. Death” Steve Williams taking on a young man called Jimmy Snuka, Jr. For those of you not familiar with Snuka, Jr., he can currently be seen every Friday night on WWE Smackdown as Deuce, one half of the Greasers tag team.

To view videos that have appeared in previous editions of the Custom Made News Report, be sure to check out my new YouTube page.

Foreign Fanatics

Fergalicious

One of the primary focuses of this column has been tracking the careers of American wrestlers in their foreign endeavors, whether the trips are to Mexico, Japan, India, or various other countries. However, in the past week, the biggest foreign star to make a splash on the Japanese scene does not hail from the United States. He’s an Irishman.

“Prince” Fergal Devitt, a twenty-six year old native of Dublin and eight year veteran of professional wrestling has been touring with New Japan Pro Wrestling since 2006. On January 27 of this year, Devitt gained the largest victory of his career, as he and partner Minoru Tanaka defeated former Kaientai members TAKA Michinoku and Dick Togo to win New Japan’s IWGP Juniorheavyweight Tag Team Titles. Michinoku and Togo had held the championship for eight months, though, due to the fact that they are not regular members of the New Japan roster, the titles were rarely featured in their home promotion during that time. Devitt and Minoru’s victory, in addition to raising Fergal’s profile, will also bring those belts back in to the NJPW fold and hopefully result in their being defended more regularly on the company’s cards. In fact, the first defense for the new champions has already been scheduled, and it may quickly replace the title victory as the biggest match of Devitt’s career. On the February 17 New Japan pay per view, legendary junior heavyweights AKIRA and Jushin “Thunder” Liger will make a bid for the belts, providing stiff competition to the new titleholders right out of the gate.

A victory in this match could help establish Devitt as a mainstay on the Japanese wrestling landscape. Regardless of whether he wins, though, we’ll be seeing at least twelve more months of the Prince in New Japan. The new year not only brought him a new title but also a new contract, as Devitt and NJPW agreed to a fresh one year deal.

NWE Set to Reign in Spain (Mainly on the Plain)

It’s rare that we hit on the European wrestling scene in this column, but a major tour was recently announced featuring several American wrestlers and even a couple of names from Mexico and Japan.

The company behind the tour is Nu-Wrestling Evolution. The group was established in 2005 in Italy to take advantage of a huge wrestling boom in the country caused in large part by increased WWE television penetration and live touring in the boot-shaped land. The company’s shows are booked by none other than Solofa Fatu, the artist formerly known as Rikishi in WWE and Junior Fatu in TNA. Recently, NWE announced plans to expand beyond its typical Italian circuit, beginning with programs in Spain. In late December, the promotion scheduled appearances in Madrid on April 19 and Bilbao on April 20. Despite the fact that the card is still over two and a half months away, the Bilbao show is absolutely sold out, with only a handful of the cheapest tickets remaining for the Madrid show. This early success prompted NWE to schedule a second Spanish tour, featuring shows on June 13 in Gran Canaria , June 25 in Barcelona, and June 26 in Zaragoza.

So, what will Spanish fans be treated to on these shows? Oddly enough, the company has announced more names for the June shows than they have for the April shows. The only names that I could find officially advertised for Bilbao and Madrid are Booker T. and his wife Sharmell, who appear on the official poster for the tour. However, given that Rikishi books the shows and that the reigning NWE Champion is Romeo Roselli (formerly of “The Heartthrobs” in WWE), it’s safe to assume that those individuals will be on the cards along with a few folks from the branches of ‘Kish’s large Samoan family. Meanwhile, on the June shows, a plethora of talent with WWE and WCW television exposure has been announced. Booker T. will return to Europe for the second batch of shows, and, of course, Rikishi will be there. Also on board are Roselli, Sabu, Chris Masters, Juventud Guerrera, Ultimo Dragon, and Black Pearl, a Samoan wrestler trained by Afa. In the extremely slim chance that you’re reading this column and live in Spain or a nearby European country, I would advise you buy a ticket for one of these shows immediately. Yeah, you might have to sit through a Romeo Roselli match. However, you’ve also got the potential for a Juventud vs. Ultimo Dragon contest, and those two had some absolute barnburners in WCW. Information on attending the shows can be found on NWE’s website.

Indy-Sent Headlines

Epic Battle of the Larries Booked

One of my favorite acts on the independent circuit these days is “Sweet ‘n’ Sour” Larry Sweeney. Though many folks may only known Sweeney as a manager through his work with Ring of Honor, Sweet ‘n’ Sour is an accomplished independent wrestler in his own right. However, unlike many independent wrestlers, Sweeney’s M.O. doesn’t revolve around cribbing moves from luchadores or puroresu stars. Instead, his influences are decidedly more American in nature . . . and also decidedly more old school. Sweeney draws heavily on wrestling’s territorial days for inspiration, having traveled to the Pacific Northwest to train with “Playboy” Buddy Rose in addition to working matches against Southern legends like “Bullet” Bob Armstrong and “Dr. Death” Steve Williams. He even crossed paths with the Iron Sheik and took Sheiky baby to the limit in an arm wrestling challenge. It was recently announced that Sweeney will once again participate in a match that upholds some of pro wrestling’s fondest traditions . . . although this one has a bit of a different flavor to it.

On April 5 in Rochelle, New York, Larry Sweeney will take on retired professional boxer Larry Barnes (Record: 44-3-0 with 17 knockouts) in a boxer versus wrestler match. The concept of a mixed match between a boxer and a wrestler goes back at least as far as 1940, when retired boxing great Jack Dempsey went up against wrestler Cowboy Luttrell. The 1960’s saw their own version of the contest, with wrestler “Judo” Gene LeBell taking on Milo Savage, a boxer who, like Dempsey at the time of his match against Luttrell, was getting on in years and no longer a serious contender. And, of course, virtually everybody knows the story of the 1976 match that pitted Antonio Inoki against Mohammed Ali in Japan. Despite the fact that the Inoki/Ali match was seen as a disaster from a quality standpoint, the allure of the boxer versus wrestler match continued to tempt promoters from both sports, with serious discussions for a Hulk Hogan vs. Mike Tyson fight taking place during the height of Hogan’s popularity and Vince McMahon attempting to put together a battle between Lennox Lewis and Brock Lesnar in 2003. It’s interesting to note that, though the status of the Dempsey/Luttrell match remains a bit unclear, both LeBell/Savage and Inoki/Ali were legitimate fights, and the Hogan/Tyson and Lesnar/Lewis matches were also planned to be 100% unscripted.

Though I obviously have no way of confirming this, I would assume that Barnes vs. Sweeney will be a worked. I say this primarily because I am not aware of Sweeney having any legitimate fighting background, which one would think is a prerequisite for a pro wrestler looking to take on an unstaged match with a boxer. However, even if the fight isn’t entirely on the up and up, you can be guaranteed of one thing if Sweeney is involved: It’ll be entertaining. I have full faith in this man’s abilities to make this one of the most memorable boxer versus wrestler matches of all time. The show is being promoted by the New York State Wrestling Federation, and, sadly, I’m not aware of that company releasing DVD’s of their shows. Otherwise, I’d consider a home video featuring this unique contest to be a must-buy. But, if you are in the Rochelle, New York area, you can certainly go see the card live. Tickets are available through the official NYSWF website, and the show will also feature the Dudley Boys in action.

Essex’s Eden Eats It

We’ve got unfortunate injury news coming out of the United Kingdom, as one of that country’s brightest independent stars was recently sidelined. “Jezebel” Eden Black, a female competitor who has appeared for promotions such as Real Quality Wrestling, Irish Whip Wrestling, Ring of Honor, and SHIMMER, recently announced that a shoulder injury is going to put her on the shelf for several months. Though she expressed interest in still attending various professional wrestling shows during this time, it will almost certainly not be as a competitor. A specific return date for the Jezebel was not announced, though one would think that a several month hiatus makes the British lass questionable for the next set of SHIMMER DVD tapings, which will be held in Berwyn, Illinois on April 26. All of us here at 411 wish Eden a speedy and safe recovery, so that she might someday return to do more of this:

Following Up

Here are a couple of small updates to stories that I have discussed in previous editions of the report:

~ Earlier this week, I finally finished watching the Best of Raw DVD set that I spent three weeks previewing in this very column. If the preview didn’t make it clear enough, you MUST BUY THESE DISCS. Seriously. There are so many great moments from throughout wrestling history that I don’t know how you can pass on it and still call yourself a fan. The only complaint that I have is that a few of the featured angles are shown in video package form as opposed to the original, unaired segments being used. That’s a relatively minor gripe, though.

~ Last week, we noted that Low Ki has signed on to do a tour with New Japan Pro Wrestling. At the time, he was scheduled to compete only in tag team matches. However, just days ago, a huge singles bout was signed for Ki. On NJPW’s February 17 show, he will be facing the company’s reigning IWPG Junior Heavyweight Champion Wataru Inoue. Inoue’s title will not be on the line.

~ The CHIKARA King of Trios tournament that I covered earlier this month is not going to consist of sixteen teams as I originally stated. Apparently, there are going to be twenty-eight teams from around the world competing at the big event. I’ll have a full preview of the tournament in this very column as it draws closer. Until then, be sure to check out CHIKARAPro.com for the latest information on participating teams and how to get tickets for the KOT shows, which will be taking place on February 29, March 1, and March 2.

Feeding Back & Wrapping Up

It vanished last week due to time constraints, but the self-absorbed list of links is BACK this week:

~ First of all, some of you may have noticed that my recaps of the UWF on ESPN Classic have vanished. This is because, after only two and a half weeks of material aired, the show went in to reruns. (Before anybody gets smart, I realize that all of the shows were reruns. I mean episodes that had already been shown earlier this year.) However, if you missed any of the recaps, you can still check out the complete archive here.

~ With the UWF gone, I was able to step up and help out big boss Larry Csonka when we were short on writers covering this week’s episode of ECW. As such, the world got a special, one night only ECDub Crater.

~ Don’t worry, the original Crater was still around this week as well. Check out all of my thoughts on TNA Impact here.

~ After a lousy Impact and a boring episode of ECW, it’s nice to actually write about good wrestling for a change. That’s why I helped out Chris Lansdell when he wanted to review some Japanese women’s matches in The Way I C It.

~ I’m also back in the Movie Zone this week, where I seem to be perpetually reviewing the third season of television shows. First it was the third season of Medium, then it was the third season of Melrose Place, then it was the third season of Happy Days, and then it was the third season of Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C. Now it’s the third season of The Odd Couple.

And that’s a wrap for this week. I’ll be popping up on the site with all sorts of new material throughout the next seven days, so be sure to add yourself as one of my friends on MySpace to receive a bulletin notification every time that something new goes up.

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Ryan Byers

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