It’s almost ironic in the sickest of ways. From Owen Hart’s first few matches as a full-time pro wrestler in the spring of 1986, it seemed apparent he would achieve great fame and become a pivotal figure in the history of this industry. And he did, in a way nobody could have ever been morbid enough to guess.
Amidst rumors flying everywhere of the possible demise of the company and others who are talking that the company is a short period away from growing bigger than ever, the ECW Hardcore Heaven PPV came off like a show that was a bridge for the company to something new, but when it was over, there were still no answers over whether what is new is good news or bad news.
It is hardly a secret that ECW is plagued with financial problems. There are wrestlers owed large sums of money. Those close to Shane Douglas, whose departure from the company, while expected, came out day earlier than expected resulting in him no-showing the PPV, is rumored to be owed in excess of $80,000 (some reports have that figure at $100,000). The stories about the bounced checks are legion. There are some really strange stories about finances, including the often asked question of how the company met payroll and…
It’s hardly a surprise that the 5/10 edition of Raw, with Nitro pre-empted due to an NBA playoff double-header, would break all existing Monday night ratings marks. Still, when the numbers came out, nearly everyone had to be floored.
The final chapter in the career and life of Shohei Baba took place on the biggest show he ever main evented and the biggest show he ever promoted–some three months after his death.
The death of Rick Rude on 4/20 becomes the latest addition to a strange and macabre body count that is very close to becoming synonymous with the pro wrestling industry.
Rude passed away that evening of a heart attack after being rushed to the North Fulton Medical Center near his home in Alpharetta, GA, an Atlanta suburb, at the age of 40. Rude, who was working with WCW as an announcer for the Backstage Blast PPV airings of Nitro on DirecTV once per month after being removed from his role as childhood friend Curt Hennig’s on-camera manager, had been training for an in-ring comeback after his career presumably had ended after suffering a broken back in a May 1, 1994 match against Sting at the Fukuoka Dome.
This past week has seen Davey Boy Smith, going stir crazy in a Calgary Hospital, attempt to start battling back after the worst year in his life.
The health situations involving both Davey Boy Smith and Japanese woman wrestler Emiko Kado took turns for the worst this past week.
Both Davey Boy Smith and Japanese rookie woman wrestler Emiko Kado were both remaining in bad condition after an illness and in-ring injury respectively.
In what will likely prove to be the biggest revenue grossing pro wrestling event in history, Steve Austin regained the WWF title at Wrestlemania XV, a show far more notable for production and booking than for any of the wrestling.
The basic consensus seemed to be a mild thumbs up for the show, although the reaction to this one was all across the board as there were people who thought it was the best show in years and many who thought it was terrible. If a wrestling show is constituted by the quality of the matches from start-to-finish than this was a thumbs down show with only two good matches tops out of ten. If it’s based on surprises, booking and angles, it’s a thumbs up. If it’s based on crowd reaction to either and both, it wouldn’t be a thumbs up since only the main event had good heat and that’s with a super hype job going in. If it’s based on presenting well produced television, it would be the best wrestling PPV of the year.
The 3/30 ESPN “Outside the Lines” television show one hour piece on the pro wrestling industry has become something very much talked about within an industry that seemingly only sees reporting as black and white. Either pieces are favorable, or in most cases, they are considered negative. I suspect the ESPN piece will be fair and the best of its kind.