On this day in history in ....

1983 - NWA World Champion Harley Race defeated Barry Windham via disqualification at a Championship Wrestling from Florida event in Miami.

1983 - Jim Crockett Promotions ran a TV Taping in Spartanburg, SC at the Memorial Auditorium, featuring the following results:
NWA U.S. Champion Greg Valentine defeated Brett Hart
Mid-Atlantic TV Champion the Great Kabuki & the Magic Dragon defeated John Bonello & Ric McCord
The Assassins defeated Mike Rotundo & Mike Davis
Bob Orton Jr. defeated Ben Alexander
Bugsy McGraw defeated Golden Boy Grey
The Assassins defeated Brett Hart & John Bonello
Mid-Atlantic TV Champion the Great Kabuki defeated Ric McCord
Roddy Piper defeated Masa Fuchi
Bob Orton Jr. defeated Golden Boy Grey
Ric Flair, Roddy Piper, & Jimmy Valiant vs. NWA U.S. Champion Greg Valentine, Dick Slater, & Mid-Atlantic TV Champion the Great Kabuki - no result known for dark match main event.

1984 - Championship Wrestling from Florida ran the West Palm Beach Auditorium, featuring the following results:
Breakdancer #1 defeated Shotgun Willie
Black Bart defeated Dennis Brown
The Dream defeated Breakdancer #2
The Saint defeated Joe Lightfoot
Hector & Chavo Guerrero defeated Mike Rotundo & Scott McGhee
Scott McGhee defeated Superstar Billy Graham
Dory Funk Jr. defeated Billy Jack
Kevin Sullivan & Ron Bass defeated Blackjack Mulligan & the One Man Gang
Dusty Rhodes defeated NWA World Champion Ric Flair via disqualification

1985 - A huge 16-match card was held in Aloha Stadium in Honolulu, Hawaii. Named "Polynesian Hot Summer Night", the show drew over 12,000 fans for a show featuring talent from the U.S. and Japan.

The show, promoted by the Maivia family, almost fell apart at the last minute when Jim Crockett didn't want his wrestlers on a show with Lars Anderson, due to past issues between the two). The issues were cooled off enough before show time that the event was able to take place.

Here are the results:
- NWA Junior Heavyweight Champion The Cobra defeated Superfly Tui.
- Seiji Sakaguchi defeated Matt Borne.
- Kengo Kimura & Tatsumi Fujinami defeated The Hoods.
- Jimmy Snuka defeated Iron Mike Sharpe.
- Manny Fernandez defeated Georgia National Champion Black Bart via disqualification.
- Mighty Milo vs. AWA Light Heavyweight Champion Steve Regal ended in a time limit draw.
- Debbie Combs defeated Fallen Angel (Woman) via disqualification.
- Farmer Boy Ipo & Leroy Brown defeated Joel & Verne Deaton.
- Little Kevin defeated Pancho Boy in a midget match.
- Richie Magnet defeated Gypsy Joe.
- Dusty Rhodes & Magnum TA defeated Nikita Koloff & Krusher Khruschev.
- Andre the Giant, Angelo Mosca & Steve Collins defeated King Kong Bundy, Mark Lewin & Kevin Sullivan via disqualification.
- Lars Anderson defeated Bad News Allen to win the Polynesian Heavyweight Title.
- Rocky & Ricky Johnson defeated The Dirty White Boys to win the Polynesian Tag Team Title.
- Antonio Inoki vs. Bruiser Brody ended in a double countout.
- NWA World Champion Ric Flair vs. Siva Afi ended in a double disqualification.

1985 - Jim Crockett Promotions ran Florence, SC with the following results:
Rising Sun #1 defeated Stoney Burke
Rising Sun #2 defeated Denny Brown
Superstar Billy Graham defeated Sam Houston
Jimmy Valiant defeated Paul Jones in a dog collar match
Ron Bass defeated Buddy Landell in a Texas Death Match
NWA World Tag Team Champions The Rock N' Roll Express defeated National Tag Team Champions Arn & Ole Anderson via disqualification

1985 - Jim Crockett Promotions also ran Macon, GA, headlined by The Midnight Express, Bobby Eaton & Dennis Condrey defeating Buzz & Brett Sawyer

1987 - Shane Douglas, substituting for Sting, who was attacked earlier in the show, defeated Eddie Gilbert to win the UWF Television Title in Morgan City, Louisiana.

1989 - The NWA ran two different events the same night:

Greensboro, NC at the Coliseum, featuringL

Star Blazer pinned Dutch Mantell
Norman pinned Zan Panzer
Tommy Rich defeated Buddy Landell
Big Van Vader pinned Tom Zenk
Mike Rotunda defeated the Iron Sheik
Tracy Smothers & Steve Armstrong defeated Michael Hayes & Jimmy Garvin
NWA World TV Champion Arn Anderson & Barry Windham defeated the Junkyard Dog & Paul Orndorff when Anderson pinned JYD after Windham hit JYD with a chair
NWA World Champion Sting pinned Ric Flair.

Pittsburgh, PA at the Palumbo Center:
NWA U.S. Tag Team Champions The Midnight Express, Bobby Eaton & Stan Lane defeated Brad Armstrong & David Sierra at 17:03 when Lane pinned Sierra
Bam Bam Bigelow pinned Wendell Cooley at 7:07
Mark Callous pinned Doug Furnas at 12:20
Rick & Scott Steiner defeated the Samoan Swat Team at 10:38 when Scott pinned Samoan Savage
NWA U.S. Champion Lex Luger fought Sid Vicious to a double count-out at 12:48
The Rock N' Roll Express, Ricky Morton & Robert Gibson defeated NWA World Tag Team Champions Doom in a non-title match at 19:56 when Gibson pinned Ron Simmons
El Gigante won a 14-man battle royal.

1991 - Tri-State Wrestling (in many ways the precursor to ECW) ran their "Summer Sizzler II" event in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania at Penn Hall. The show, which only drew about 550 fans, was headlined by a unique three falls match between Cactus Jack and Eddie Gilbert, in which each fall had a different stipulation. Because of that match, the show became a hot item amongst tape traders at the time.

Here are the results from the show:

- The Sandman defeated The Rockin' Rebel.
- Cactus Jack defeated Eddie Gilbert in a Falls Count Anywhere match.
- Luna Vachon defeated Madusa Micelli via disqualification.
- Eddie Gilbert defeated Cactus Jack in a stretcher match.
- Cry Baby Waldo defeated The Spoiler & Rick Perez.
- Buddy Landell vs. Austin Idol ended in a double DQ.
- The Fantastics (Tommy Rogers & Bobby Fulton) defeated Stan Lane & Jim Cornette.
- Larry Winters, DC Drake & Johnny Hotbody defeated JT Smith, Tony Stetson & CN Redd.
- Eddie Gilbert vs. Cactus Jack went to a double disqualification in a steel cage match, ending their three match series in a draw.

1991 - WCW ran Kansas City, MO at the Municipal Auditorium featuring the following results:

The Junkyard Dog pinned Black Bart
The Diamond Studd pinned Tom Zenk
WCW World TV Champion Steve Austin pinned Big Josh
WCW World Champion Lex Luger pinned Ron Simmons; the referee didn't notice that Simmons' foot was on the bottom rope during the cover
Dustin Rhodes & Robert Gibson defeated Terrance Taylor & Ricky Morton when Rhodes pinned Taylor
Barry Windham defeated the Yellow Dog (Brian Pillman)
Sting defeated Nikita Koloff via countout in a Texas Death Match (YES, countout)
El Gigante & Bobby Eaton defeated The Hardliners, Dick Murdoch & Dick Slater in a steel cage match


1996 - ECW ran their "The Doctor Is In" show at the ECW Arena in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, featuring the ECW debut of Steve "Dr. Death" Williams, and the debut of a new gimmick for Stevie Richards, The Blue Meanie, Super Nova & Don E. Allen, as the foursome showed up in KISS makeup, singing "Rock N' Roll All Nite" before being attacked by The Sandman. Here are the results of the show:

- Mikey Whipwreck defeated Devon Storm to retain the European Junior Heavyweight championship.
- Johnny Smith defeated Louie Spicolli.
- D-Von Dudley vs. Axl Rotten ended in a non contest when the other Dudleys attacked D-Von.
- Raven defeated Sandman to retain the ECW World Heavyweight Title. Steven Richards was supposed to be defending the title for Raven (who was dealing with a foot injury), but Raven got the pin anyway.
- 2 Cold Scorpio defeated Chris Jericho with a Shooting Star Press in Jericho's farewell appearance for ECW.
- ECW World Television Champion Shane Douglas defeated Pitbull #2 with two belly to belly suplexes.
- Taz & Brian Lee defeated Tommy Dreamer & the debuting Steve Williams when Lee chokeslammed Dreamer on a trash can. The event was named in Williams' honor.
- The Gangstas defeated The Eliminators, The Bruise Brothers and The Samoan Gangsta Party in a four way dance to win the ECW World Tag Team Title, starting the Gangsta's first reign as champions.
- Sabu defeated Rob Van Dam in a stretcher match, ending their ECW feud.

1997 - WCW ran Grand Rapids, MI at the Van Andel Arena featuring the following results:
Chris Benoit defeated the Barbarian
WCW Cruiserweight Champion Alex Wright defeated Chris Jericho
Eddie Guerrero defeated Dean Malenko
Rick & Scott Steiner defeated Harlem Heat
WCW U.S. Champion Jeff Jarrett defeated Ric Flair
Lex Luger & The Giant, & Diamond Dallas Page defeated Syxx & WCW World Tag Team Champions Scott Hall & Kevin Nash

1997- New Japan Pro Wrestling ran Tokyo, Japan at Sumo Hall featuring the following results:

Akitoshi Saito & Kuniaki Kobayashi defeated Koji Kanemoto & Shinjiro Ohtani at 15:45 when Saito pinned Kanemoto
Tatsuhito Takaiwa pinned El Samurai at 16:42
Jushin Liger pinned Kendo Kashin at 12:09
Buff Bagwell & Hiro Saito defeated Tatsutoshi Goto & Michiyoshi Ohara at 16:10 when Bagwell pinned Goto
Hiroyoshi Tenzan pinned Shinya Hashimoto at 14:01
Kensuke Sasaki pinned Scott Norton at 5:16
The Great Muta defeated Lord Steven Regal at 6:40
Akira Nogami, Kengo Kimura, & Tatsumi Fujinami defeated Satoshi Kojima, Manabu Nakanishi, & Junji Hirata at 12:57 when Nogami pinned Kojima
G-1 Climax Finals: Kensuke Sasaki pinned Hiroyoshi Tenzan at 8:09

1998 - The Monday Night Wars continued with Raw beating out Nitro. Raw, headlined by Steve Austin & Undertaker defeating The Rock & Owen Hart, Triple H defeating X-Pac, and Kane & Mankind defeating the New Age Outlaws, earned a 4.9 rating. Nitro did a 4.2 rating for a show headlined by Scott Hall & The Giant defeating Sting & Bret Hart, Rey Mysterio Jr. defeating Chris Jericho, and Curt Hennig defeating Konnan.

Nitro was held in Denver, CO at the Coliseum. The complete results of the broadcast:

Diamond Dallas Page defeated the Barbarian
Psychosis fought Tokyo Magnum to a no contest
Brian Adams defeated Jim Duggan
Eddie Guerrero pinned Juventud Guerrera at 4:07 with the frog splash after catching Guerrera in mid-air and hitting a shoulderbreaker; during the bout, it was announced Dean Malenko would be the guest referee for the Guerrera vs. WCW Cruiserweight Champion Chris Jericho match at Road Wild
Lizmark Jr. defeated Stevie Ray via count-out
Curt Hennig defeated Konnan
Rey Mysterio Jr. defeated WCW Cruiserweight Champion Chris Jericho in a non-title match.
WCW Tag Team Champions the Giant & Scott Hall defeated Sting & WCW U.S. Champion Bret Hart via disqualification
Dark match after the show: WCW World Champion Bill Goldberg defeated the Giant.

2002 - WWE ran Miami, Florida with a Raw live event at the American Airlines Arena. Joshua Rey filed the following live report:

World Wrestling Entertainment returned to Miami for its first show at the American Airlines Arena since the first RAW TV show of the millennium which saw Triple H defeat Big Show, marking the start of his 3rd (too many) WWF Championship reigns. Thankfully, Triple H was in New York City for an autograph signing today and not in the ring where he is the most overrated player in the game. Anyhow, with all of the recent RAW brand roster changes, one would expect a different looking card. Yet, SmackDown superstars Brock Lesnar, Chris Benoit and Eddie Guerrero all wrestled during the show which made for an interesting trifecta of RAW vs. SmackDown main events.

D'Lo Brown d. William Regal
A pretty good opener. D'Lo is way over in Miami because he lives in the area. His mannerisms are as good as ever and it is a shame that the WWE doesn't use him much. I was actually looking forward to this match because D'Lo and Regal's feud over the European title earlier this year was cut too short. Regal did his normal punch, kick, knee type offense. D'Lo fired back with a nice Scoop Slam into a sit-down Rock Bottom maneuver. Very impressive. Regal was reaching for the brass knuckles in his tights but took too long as D'Lo rolled him up for the victory.

Goldust d. Christopher Nowinski
Impressive match from both competitors. Goldust paid homage to a member of the audience who was dressed just like him. The guy dresses like that to every pro wrestling show in South Florida, WWE or not. Nowinski has his "Harvard Football" shirt stolen by Goldust who proceeded to wipe his ass with it. In my opinion, Nowinski is the most impressive talent to come out of Tough Enough. During this match, he was on top of every spot and move; he just looks like he knows what he's doing. Take note of that Maven. Anyhow, Nowinski hit his double underhook slam for a near fall but got caught up in Goldust's "Director's Cut" powerslam for the pin. After the match, Goldust gave a high-five to a fan about 5 rows back with a Goldust sign. Very classy!

Women's Championship match
Molly Holly d. Trish Stratus
Molly and Trish are always improving, as evident by this match. Trish hit her handstand-canrana while Molly ended up missing her "Molly-Go-Round" finisher. However, as Trish attempted the "Stratusfaction" bulldog Molly reversed it into a side suplex. She then pinned her for the 3 count with her feet on the ropes. Trish's puppies were mobile throughout the match! Woo-Hoo!

Hardy Boyz d. Raven & Justin Credible
Nice "ECW" chants for the pair of former ECW champions. A mix-up between Raven and Credible led to a Swantan Bomb from Jeff and a win for the more experienced tandem. Credible played the heel very nicely. He and Raven looked well as a team, applying several double team attacks. On the way to the back, Jeff Hardy actually signed a fan's program when asked. VERY classy! Most guys hightail it to the back without even paying the fans notice!

Intercontinental Championship match
Chris Benoit d. Rob Van Dam
Benoit worked on RVD's left shoulder throughout the match and Rob sold it brilliantly. Benoit used a Northern Lights Suplex while holding Rob's left arm behind him, great maneuver! RVD powered back and looked to have things under control after Rolling Thunder and a top rope Martial Arts kick. When he prepared to hit the 5 Star Frog Splash, Eddie Guerrero interfered and jumped on the apron. Van Dam hit a nice spin kick on Guerrero to silence Latino Heat but as the ref ordered Eddie out, Chris Benoit grabbed the Intercontinental Belt and leveled RVD with it. Benoit then applied the Crippler Crossface and Van Dam tapped out. A very good rematch from RAW!

Intermission
A guy wearing a Hardy Boyz jersey won a JVC "Tower of Power" system.

Steven Richards d. Shelton Benjamin
Benjamin is in phenomenal shape! He looked extremely fluid in the ring and was actually in control for the majority of the match. At one point, Benjamin had a kick attempt blocked but proceeded to nail a beautiful spinning heel kick with the other leg. Great move! Benjamin connected with a nice flying bodypress that Richards countered by falling over and, while grabbing the tights, pinned the newcomer. Shelton Benjamin shows a lot of talent and I hope he makes it big on RAW!

Hardcore Championship match
Bradshaw d. Tommy Dreamer then Tommy Dreamer d. Bradshaw
Prior to the start of the match, Bradshaw told Dreamer that he looked forward to seeing him after the show, with a Singapore cane up his ass. The two men brawled in and out of the ring with weapons including an ironing board, cow bell, Singapore cane, trash can, cookie sheet and a lot more. Bradshaw "hog tied" Dreamer quickly and hit a vicious Clothesline from Hell to win the Hardcore Title. Then, Justin Credible and Shawn Stasiak ran in with their own referees. Bradshaw was prepared to powerbomb Stasiak when Credible superkicked Bradshaw. Dreamer took advantage of the situation and hit a DDT on a falling Bradshaw and regained the Hardcore Title. After the match Bradshaw destroyed Credible and Stasiak. Dreamer and Bradshaw then saluted one another but Dreamer walked out the champion.

Bubba Ray Dudley d. Eddie Guerrero
Guerrero questioned whether Bubba had the balls to make this match an "Anything Goes" match. Bubba replied by saying that he didn't have the balls, he had the juevos! HUGE pop! Eddie actually worked on Bubba's shoulder much like Chris Benoit worked on Rob Van Dam's earlier in the evening. Bubba mounted a comeback to the cheers of the fans and placed a table in the ring. Chris Benoit made sure that his partner would be safe by interfering and applying the Crippler Crossface to Bubba. Guerrero was heading to the top rope when Rob Van Dam ran out and pushed him off. RVD then got payback on Chris Benoit by hitting a 5 Star Frog Splash on the IC champ. Right after RVD hit the frog splash, Eddie Guerrero hit his own Frog Splash on the prone RVD who was recovering from the impact of his own move. Nice sequence! Dudley then used the "Bubba Bomb" on Latino Heat, putting Guerrero through the table. 1-2-3! Bubba Ray Dudley won a very entertainin
Undertaker & Booker T d. Brock Lesnar & Big Show
I didn't expect much from these 4 but the match was actually very good. Lesnar acted as a coward early, avoiding confrontation with the Dead Man. Booker and Lesnar were wailing on each other with vicious looking punches. Each time Brock would hit a power move on Booker, the Big Show would look in amazement on the apron. In the end, Lesnar hit the F5 on the Undertaker. Big Show then tried to pin the Taker but he kicked out at 2. The Undertaker kicked out of the F5! Then, Big Show and the Undertaker were choking each other, struggling to apply their respected Choke Slams. Taker went on to poke Show in the eyes. Lesnar and Taker brawled to the outside, leaving Big Show and Booker T in the ring. After Undertaker dismissed Brock Lesnar, The Big Show lifted Booker T up for a Choke Slam. But Taker got back to the ring with a steel chair and leveled The Big Show on the back. He then smacked the chair into Show's gut which prompted the Show to
Notes: Before the show I hung out to try to meet the wrestlers. Molly Holly was very cool. She actually stood outside, among about 75 fans, and signed autographs and took pictures for about 20 minutes. She was very easy to talk to! I also took a picture with Shelton Benjamin and reunited with Rob Van Dam, my favorite wrestler and an awesome human being. For those of you wondering, these wrestlers arrived in the same rental car with one another:

Booker T & Nick Patrick
Bradshaw, Brock Lesnar & Shelton Benjamin
Chris Benoit & Eddie Guerrero
D'Lo Brown & Steven Richards
Matt & Jeff Hardy
Rob Van Dam & Shawn Stasiak

All the other wrestlers drove to the arena by themselves. Undertaker and The Big Show each had their own limousines. Shawn Michaels did not show up; HBK was advertised to make a "special appearance". Because SmackDown is being taped Sunday night, Eddie Guerrero, Chris Benoit and Brock Lesnar will not be appearing on the RAW brand house show in Pittsburgh. They are replaced on the card by Chris Jericho (vs. RVD) and the tag team champions Christian & Lance Storm (vs. Taker & Flair). 'Makes sense!

I thoroughly enjoyed tonight's show. It was a great house show. All the wrestlers gave it their all! Good job WWE!

2002 - WWE broadcast Confidential. John Keane filed the following TV report:

Recorded at the WWE TV Studios in Stamford, CT.

Your Host: Mean Gene Okerlund.

Gene welcomes us in, and presents us an overview of the WWF/WCW ‘Monday Night Wars’ of the mid and late ‘90’s. We dive right into tonight’s ‘Cover Story’-the decline and eventual fall of World Championship Wrestling. During the segment, we’ll be hearing inside information from current WWE stars that served a stint with the now-defunct promotion, namely Hulk Hogan, Chris Jericho, Booker T. and The Big Show (then known as The Giant). Also, we’ll get comments from the man largely responsible for building WCW into a legitimate competitor to the WWF, current Raw General Manager Eric Bischoff.

Booker and Eric point to the introduction of the n.W.o as the high water mark of WCW.

Chris opines that Eric started feeling that he was solely and completely responsible for the success of the angle.

Show feels the n.W.o. started off well, but eventually became a ‘cancer’. Booker agrees.

Eric admits he may have allowed the n.W.o., and his participation therein, to grow out of control. Show adds that Eric’s personal involvement in the angle served to distance him from many on the WCW roster, particularly the undercard workers. He points out Eric’s lack of ‘people skills’, going on to say his former boss at times acted like an ‘a**hole’. Chris concurs.

Hulk agrees that Eric paid a lot of attention to the top guys on the roster, but pretty much feels he simply wasn’t capable of being ‘there’ for everyone.

Eric points out the lack of infrastructure in WCW, and the subject turns to the chaos prevalent backstage. Show claims that plans for angles, etc., had the tendency of being changed within the space of 5 minutes. Eric admits a lot of planning was done on the fly, which was a nightmare for all concerned. Chris offers an example of the overall disorganized nature of the promotion: at one time he received a Fedex package from the company containing nothing.

Hulk feels the #1 problem in WCW was the guaranteed money contracts. Chris talks about his initial entrance to the company-he initially wanted to make $100,000 a year, but Eric’s generosity provided $165,000. He mentions being ecstatic at first, but quickly started questioning if he should have asked for even more.

Eric feels the issue of the big money contracts has been blown out of proportion. He reminds us that Ted Turner, then owner of WCW, had no problem opening up his checkbook. Hulk offers an example of the amounts of money then being thrown around-at points he was making triple the amount he made in his heyday with the WWF.

Eric points out the guarantee of money made signing with WCW a very attractive proposition, particularly to veteran talent. Show admits to being miserable at points, mainly due to seeing others on the roster making vastly more money when he himself was WCW Champion. Booker cuts to the heart of the matter-the guarantee of money led some on the WCW roster to stop caring about the overall product. He feels that some of the big-money guys pretty much ‘walked through’ their matches on the way to the nearest bar. Chris agrees and adds that the inflation of paychecks coincided with the growth of egos and a lack of respect for management, with things really turning sour in ’98. Eric finishes the segment by pointing to August of that year as the defining negative turning point for WCW. More on this later, we take a break.

Back, Gene presents us a ‘Before They Were Superstars’ segment on former Tag Team Champions Edge & Christian. In a nutshell, it’s a story of the 2 growing up in the same town, discovering wrestling on TV, busting their butts and going on to live the dream. Highlights: emulating pro wrestlers in their school days, Edge was dubbed the ‘Blond Bomber’ and Christian used the handle of ‘Sweet Daddy Freako’. Also, Christian admits to using his student loan to pay for his wrestling training. Break.

WWE Rewind: Booker T performs the Spinaroonie

When we return, Gene presents us a quick history of the above-mentioned 5-time WCW Champion. He mentions Booker’s 2-year stint in prison as a young adult. We go on to take a tour of Booker’s home in Atlanta. In a word-WOW. Highlights: The Book gets in a plug for Hungry Man Dinners and shows us a picture of himself with Muhammad Ali. Break.

Back, Gene opines that the real start of the downfall of WCW began at the WWF Survivor Series PPV of 1997. That show featured the legendary ‘Montreal Screwjob’ which saw Bret Hart’s last match in the Fed. Gene feels the person who really got screwed was Eric Bischoff.

The Hulkster offers clarification. After Montreal, Bret joined WCW for a huge amount of money. Though Hulk was happy for Bret, he questioned the rationale for paying the Hitman such a large amount due to his questionable drawing power. Eric states that he knew the subject of Bret’s salary would be a big problem in the WCW locker room when it became common knowledge.

Hulk admits he considered pushing for a raise. Show praises Bret’s business acumen, while Chris reminds us that upon Bret’s entrance to WCW, he was pretty much given ‘nothing to do’ for about 9 months. He feels WCW basically wasted their money on the Hitman by not using him in a prominent role.

Hulk and Booker point out the single biggest problem in WCW-the cash flow imbalance (too much going out, not enough coming in).

Eric moves us on to more recent events-the merging of WCW with AOL/Time Warner. He relates being present in a meeting with faceless executives-and being told how to run ‘his’ shows.

Hulk points out that these executives had no real knowledge of the wrestling business. Show rather bitterly states his feeling that the only person in the Turner organization that cared about WCW was Ted himself. Eric stresses his admiration for Ted, citing him as a superb entrepreneur and a risk-taker. However, the entrance of AOL/Time Warner saw the majority of Turner executives at Bischoff’s level changing from fellow entrepreneurs into mirror images of the corporate drones of the media conglomerate-this pretty much signaled the end of WCW being an enjoyable place to work.

Hulk feels the influence of the wrestling-ignorant executives was largely responsible for the demise of WCW. Booker opines that the higher-ups felt that they’d gone as far as they desired with the wrestling business and were simply ready to abandon it. Hulk concurs.

Eric states a lot of things happened that he never intended. Chris states things got really ugly in January of ’99, and that he started planning to leave the company upon the expiration of his contract 8 months later. Show describes his contract negotiations with Eric as ‘ugly’, example being his request for a raise being denied due to his lack of popularity. This persuaded him to leave the company on the expiration of his contract-Show feels no amount of money could have persuaded him to stay by that time.

We fast forward to the final days of World Championship Wrestling-AOL/Time Warner wanted to unload WCW, and Eric had a group of investors assembled to buy the company. Unfortunately, the buyout never took place-no explanation given here.

(Commentary: Eric’s financial backers pulled out upon the announcement that TNT and TBS would no longer carry wrestling programming.)

Eric expresses his disappointment with the failed buyout, but takes a slight measure of consolation in the fact WWF kept the company alive for a while as part of a storyline (The Invasion). Eric finishes up by expressing his pride in being a part of the legacy of World Championship Wrestling. Break.

Back, Gene presents us an update on Rhyno. The former ECW Champion has been out of action with a neck injury for 9 months. Though Rhyno feels his injury is pretty much simply due to regular in-ring action, he does make mention of a stinger suffered during a Hardcore match that took place at a house show. After putting off seeing a doctor for some time after, he finally went in for an MRI after being rendered unable to sleep or work out. A herniated disk was revealed, compounded by atrophy in his tricep due to his delayed seeking of medical attention.

After surgery, Rhyno was told he’d be out of action for a year. This announcement brought on a severe bout with depression that lasted 8 months. However, knowing that his convalescence is nearing its end seems to have revived his spirits. He was backstage at the Vengeance PPV, and made his return to WWE TV on the following nights Raw-GM Eric Bischoff seemed eager to sign Rhyno (who’s currently a free agent) to his roster. Rhyno told him he’d be in touch-To Be Continued…Break.

Next up, Al Snow models hockey jerseys. For some reason, he decides to wear as many as he can at once-he gets to 21 before nearly collapsing.

Gene finishes up by hyping the WWE ‘Global Warning’ tour of Australia and announcing next week we’ll be going in-depth with Rikishi. End of show.

Interesting show this week, but I have to question the signing of Bret Hart being cited as the primary reason for the demise of WCW-seems to me that company was throwing away money WAY before they signed the Hitman.