TotalExtremeWrestlingNews.com | August 2001 Archive

POSTED: AUGUST 1, 2001 WWF Parts Ways With Chyna! Grandmaster Sexay, D'Lo Brown & TAKA Michinoku Also Gone!

WWF released a short news article on their website announcing the departure of several talents, most notable of which is Chyna aka Joanie Laurer. Laurer is by many considered the most known female wrestler ever, but word is the relationship between the Playboy-centerfold and WWF had turned sour in recent months leading to her departure. Surprisingly, WWF seemed to drop some midcard names as well with Grandmaster Sexay, aka Brian Christopher, aka Brian Lawler being let go, as well as TAKA Michinoku & D'Lo Brown. Notably all talents contracts were allowed to expire and none were actually released. TAKA is reportedly heading back to Japan, while the futures of the others remain unknown. D'Lo Brown had not been on WWF television since January of this year when he and Lo Down were pulled from TV and sent to IWA Puerto Rico. D'Lo's Lo Down counterparts Chaz & Tiger Ali Singh were let go a month or so back when WWF reorganized its developmental territories, but D'Lo was reassigned to Heartland Wrestling Association. No word on why D'Lo was let go as he was well liked. Grandmaster Sexay, son of Jerry Lawler, was having some issues with substance abuse which may have led to him being let go, but nothing is confirmed.

POSTED: AUGUST 2, 2001 August 1 WCW Nitro Attendance & Viewership Report

The August 1 edition of WCW Nitro in Belton, Texas had a reported attendance of 4,951 in the Bell County Expo Center. Viewership was again steady with 590,326 viewers in the United States on FX with a combined 1,216,972 viewers worldwide.

POSTED: AUGUST 2, 2001 Dark Matches From August 1 Nitro

TEWNews.com fan Al Hardie Jr. was in attendance at Nitro and passed along the following dark matches that happened before the show was live on air:

Crowbar defeated Vinnie Valentino Norman Smiley & Willy Fraizer defeated Fish Bones, Prtimetime Players and the team of Kevin Northcutt & Redd Dogg Tommy Dreamer, Chris Chetti & Paul London defeated Mark Jindrak, Reno & Adam Pearce Billy Kidman defeated Kwee Wee

POSTED: AUGUST 3, 2001 WCW News & Rumors: Jazz Reportedly Signed, Talent tryouts, WCW Headquarters construction complete, WCW Saturday Night latest

Former ECW star Jazz has reportedly signed a contract with WCW. Nothing is official from both sides, but word is Jazz was backstage at Nitro and already filming pieces for vignettes. She lives in Texas and reportedly drove to the show on her own accord with her husband Redd Dogg who also worked for ECW. Redd Dogg reportedly received a tryout before Nitro, teaming with another local talent in Kevin Northcutt in a losing tag team effort. Vinnie Valentino was another local talent being given a look by WCW Officials in a losing effort to Crowbar. Word is all three guys performed well enough, with Redd Dogg seeming the most TV ready of the group. Speaking of new talents, rumors are swirling that WCW is interested in one more more of the talents that left WWF at the beggining of this month. Joanie Laurer is the largest name amongst the group. Some were surprised WWF let her go as she has such name value, but she has reportedly become difficult backstage and rumors of Triple H & Stephanie McMahon's romance have only fanned those flames. Grandmaster Sexay is the son of Jerry Lawler, and word is Lawler has already spoken to WCW about them possibly using his son. TAKA Michinoku has reportedly begun the process of moving back to Japan and is expected to eventually find a home with one of the larger promotions over there. He had been living in Puerto Rico the last many years and isn't interested in remaining in the US, so a long term deal with WCW seems unlikely. Construction at the WCW Headquarters in Charlotte, North Carolina is reportedly complete. WCW had acquired and moved into the old Carolina Transfer & Storage Building and had turned it into their corporate offices. They also acquired several properties behind the building on Calvert Street and have built a large building that houses the WCW Power Plant, facilities for production and a large warehouse that stores WCW equipment. The first floor of the main Carolina Transfer & Storage Building has had the majority of its footprint segregated for a commercial space that apparently is going to be home to the new WCW Museum & Fan Experience Center that Shane McMahon mentioned on Nitro a few weeks ago. WCW seems to be bringing back its Hall of Fame. Terry Funk was acknowledged as a Hall of Famer on Wednesdays Nitro, and WCW.com recently added a new Hall of Fame page that includes all the previous inductees. It seems they decided to divide the former inductees into separate wings that reflects their level of involvement with WCW with a main wing for WCW inductees and a Legacy Wing where individuals from the larger wrestling industry are honored. The new WCW Saturday Night show seems more like a lock with graphics and other things related to it already being designed. The show will reportedly be 1-hour and air on tape delay, with the show itself being taped before Nitro's on Wednesday nights. There have been some discussions of running the show as a studio show from a television studio in the same location every week as well. WCW is reportedly looking into hiring an extra referee and road agent as well as possibly a discussing a new commentary team as Jerry Lawler is not interested in adding to his workload. Some speculate Scott Hudson may be brought back to the company to call the show alongside Joey Styles.

POSTED: AUGUST 9, 2001 August 8 Nitro Ratings & Attendance: WCW Sells Out!

The August 8 edition of Nitro pulled in its usual consistent numbers with a general upward trend as WCW's rise slowly continues. The biggest news is WCW sold out the Black River Coliseum in Poplar Bluff, Missouri with 5,000 fans packed to the rafters. Viewership was a reported 630,283 viewers on FX in America with a total of 1,291,440 viewers when you add all international broadcasts.

POSTED: AUGUST 9, 2001 Dark Matches From Nitro On August 8

Before Nitro, WCW ran several dark matches as usual.

Chris Chetti defeated Reno Jazz defeated MsChif Johnny B. Badd defeated Paul London La Parka & Shark Boy defeated CW Anderson & Pete Gas, Norman Smiley & Willy Fraizer and Elix Skipper & Kid Romeo

POSTED: AUGUST 10, 2001 WCW News & Rumors: Jazz Works Nitro, Former WCW Talents TimeWarner Contracts Expire, More

Jazz worked a dark match before Nitro on Wednesday. She defeated local talent MsChif. Jazz reportedly signed a WCW contract several weeks ago as they are planning on utilizing her to build a Women's division. Several former WCW talents who had TimeWarner guaranteed contracts have had those deals expire. While the big names like Golderbg, Sting, Scott Steiner & Kevin Nash remain happily sitting at homes on longer term deals, collecting TimeWarner money. Word is talent like Dustin Rhodes & Big Vito among others have become available and have begun taking bookings. The WCW Women's Championship has been activated. After Stacy Keibler claimed the title on Nitro, her role was made official and the Women's title was added to WCW.com. Notably, the title is not new, but retains the old lineage of the original title, with Akira Hokouto and Devin Masami noted as former champions on WCW.com Several secret meetings were reported to have happened at WCW HQ in Charlotte. With the WCW Power Plant now connected to the HQ, it seems new talent are brought in to film vignettes in Charlotte for things like entrance videos, debut vignettes and match cards. Though there is no word on who was in Charlotte, sources indicate there is at least one if not more wrestlers of some name value coming into WCW on-top of the earlier reported Jazz.

POSTED: AUGUST 16, 2001 August 15, WCW Nitro: Tag Team Turmoil Attendance & Viewership

A bit of a down week for attendance for Nitro this week with 3,782 paid to see WCW live In Augusta, Maine. Viewership remained promising and consistent, showing the slow and steady growth WCW has had since its return, with 622,794 people watching live on FX in America with a total 1,271,207 viewing worldwide one accounting for international markets.

POSTED: AUGUST 16, 2001 Dark Matches for Nitro: Tag Team Turmoil

WCW ran a series of dark matches before the special Tag Team Turmoil edition of Nitro. Fittingly, they all also happened to be tag matches:

Jazz & Johnny Heartbreaker defeated Talia Madison & Brian Black Chris Chetti & Johnny B. Badd defeated Adam Pearce & Bob Evans Billy Kidman & Tommy Dreamer defeated Kwee Wee & Mark Jindrak

POSTED: AUGUST 17, 2001 WCW News & Rumors: New Mystery Signings, Locals Receive Tryouts At Nitro, WCW Saturday Night Latest

Heavy rumors out of Charlotte have new entrance music, merchandise, and production materials being created for Jazz, but also at least other wrestlers who have not been named. The obvious sign shows potentially Grandmaster Sexay aka Brain Lawler possibly being brought in as part of his father Jerry Lawler's program with Steve Corino, with some going further to predict Stacy Carter, Lawler's wife who was mentioned by Corino in a promo being the other talent, though TEWNews could not confirm either. Jazz's signing was an open secret, so much so WCW acknowledged the signing on WCW.com and a profile has already been created for her, though word is a debut could still be a while off. WCW knew they intended to use Jazz to test out female talent in dark matches so were very aware her signing would leak one way or another. Speaking of tryouts, Jazz was part of three local New England talents being looked at before Nitro. Talia Madison was the woman involved in a mix tag match that featured Jazz. Talia was noted as having the sex appeal and natural charisma for the national stage, but only has a month or two of actual wrestling experience, and that showed. Brian Black has the size the big companies want but appeared very green himself. Johnny Heartbreaker got the best reviews, with a good look and the most talent, but is likely needs more experience himself. All three talents presented themselves well and were open for critiques which means they likely will all get looks again one day. WCW's Saturday Night show continues to draw rumors. Early word was Joey Styles would call the action alongside a new color commentator as Jerry Lawler's contract is only for Nitro & PPVs. While that remains true, new rumors suggest WCW may bring in a brand new play-by-play man as well to allow Styles to focus on Nitro & PPVs himself and help establish a larger pool of announcers. Early word has Scott Hudson likely coming back after leaving the company in the last few weeks, though whether he becomes the play-by-play or color commentator of the new show is yet to be seen and will be determined by who WCW brings in in addition to him.

POSTED: AUGUST 18, 2001 WCW INVADES MADISON SQUARE GARDEN FOR CROWD CONTROL

In some forgotten news, WCW had booked Madison Square Garden for its August 26, 2001 pay-per-view, Crowd Control.

This is notable as it is not only WCW's debut at the "world's most famous arena" but MSG was for many decades the home to only Vince McMahon's WWF and the two share a long storied history. Word is MSG has an agreement where only "The McMahon Family" may promote shows at the arena, and Shane McMahon has used that wording to his advantage. WWF & Vince McMahon are apparently upset with MSG's decision, though what fallout may come if it is unknown.

Official Match Card: Crowd Control

Cage Match Main Event Shane McMahon vs. Diamond Dallas Page

WCW World Heavyweight Championship / Fatal 4-Way Match Lance Storm (c) vs. BG James vs. Curt Hennig vs. Kanyon

WCW United States Championship / Extreme Rules Match Rob Van Dam (c) vs. Buff Bagwell

WCW World Cruiserweight Championship / Ladder Match Chavo Guerrero Jr. (c) vs. Evan Karagias vs. Kaz Hayashi vs. Shane Helms vs. Shannon Moore vs. Yun Yang

WCW World Tag Team Championship Full Blooded Italians (c) vs. Misfits In Action

King vs. King Match Jerry "The King" Lawler vs. "The King of Old School" Steve Corino

Grudge Match Booker T vs. Mike Awesome

Will the Garden be the site of a Foundation takeover, or will Shane McMahon's gamble pay off? Stay tuned to TEW News for the latest updates as we head toward the biggest night in the "New" WCW's history.

POSTED: AUGUST 23, 2001 August 22 Nitro Attendance & Viewership

Nitro from Portland, Oregon saw a reported 4,352 people pay to take in the nights action, while 623,436 Americans tuned in on FX while a total of 1,294,421 people watched worldwide if you include all international markets. These numbers remain steady and consistent with what WCW has been doing, showing signs of small growth overall, but with ups and downs week-to-week. It's worth noting, WCW had Nitro at the Chiles Center back on June 27th. They had 3,579 people pay that night with 1,108,622 viewing worldwide, as an example of promising growth.

POSTED: AUGUST 23, 2001 Dark Matches Before Nitro on August 22

The standard fare of dark matches before Nitro took place this week. Interestingly it looks like no local talents were used with all matches featuring WCW employed wrestlers.

Norman Smiley & Willy Fraizer defeated Chris Chetti & Mark Jindrak Jason Jett defeated Kwee Wee Disqo & Mike Sanders defeated CW Anderson & Pete Gas, Fish Bones and Primetime Players Billy Kidman defeated Reno

POSTED: AUGUST 24, 2001 WCW News & Rumors: Chyna Signing, Crowd Control Finalized, More!

The former Chyna, Joanie Laurer reportedly signed with WCW a week or so before her debut. Word is WCW felt lucky WWF decided to let her go and feel she adds some additional mainstream name value the roster has been needing. Its unclear whether she will wrestle men or women mainly, though so far it seems like she's being focused towards the new women's division. WWF is said to be surprised WCW brought in the former Playboy Centerfold, with many in WWF thinking her backstage reputation and price tag would scare WCW away. Speaking of talents, WCW did not try out and local talent before Nitro as is usual. However, it is notable that the tag team of Norman Smiley & Willy Fraizer appears to be gaining some more steam, and Jason Jett, who has been off with several small nagging injuries made his return. Some have pegged Jett as a top prospect for WCW with creative plans for him being drawn up. Shop At Home Network fans may be familiar with Don West who hosts Sports Memorabilia on the network. Sources in the entertainment industry have claimed West will be joining WCW as a commentator in the next few weeks with no further details, and West has mentioned WCW a few times on his show recently. Most seem to think he will be part of the new WCW Saturday Night, possibly alongside a returning Scott Hudson. The WCW Crowd Control card is finalized and oddly features 8-matches. WCW has been running shorter PPV's that tend to have 6-matches on the card. It does not appear WCW is intending to run a longer show here, so some matches must be being kept short on time.

POSTED: AUGUST 27, 2001 WCW Crowd Control Reception & Finances: MSG Sold Out!

WCW Crowd Control is being heralded as a great success from within WCW and people around the wrestling industry both critically and financially. Shane McMahon and WCW marched right into his father's WWF's home turf and sold out Madison Square Garden with 20,789 paying fans passing through the MSG turnstiles. This is nothing short of a massive success for Shane, WCW and wrestling as a whole. Early buyrate numbers are equally strong with a reported 2,063,439 buys worldwide for the first time PPV.

POSTED: AUGUST 27, 2001 WCW in MSG: Dark Matches Before Crowd Control

Before Crowd Control, WCW ran the normal series of dark matches to give talents some much needed ringtime and warm up the crowd. The trivia question "Who was the first WCW wrestler to enter MSG?" The answer is the Primetime Players of Elix Skipper & Kid Romeo.

CW Anderson & Pete Gas defeated Elix Skipper & Kid Romeo Billy Kidman & Jason Jett defeated Adam Pearce & Reno Crowbar, Disqo, Kwee Wee & Mike Sanders defeated La Parka, Norman Smiley, Shark Boy & Willy Fraizer Tommy Dreamer defeated Mark Jindrak

POSTED: AUGUST 28, 2001 WCW News & Rumors: D'Lo Brown Debut, WCW Saturday Night News, New Staff Signed, WCW Opening Minor League Company

The mood around the WCW Offices in Charlotte is said to be great with the company performing well and above the internal projections when Shane McMahon took the promotion over. Not only did this past weekend mark the companies debut in Madison Square Garden, a show it sold out, and not only was Crowd Control a large financial and critical success, the internal feeling is the company is making stars of new talents and turning them into more household names. Early worry of the next generation of WCW was its lack of star power with most former WCW top names being unavailable for one reason or another. That worry seems like a distant memory. Speaking of WCW HQ, word is a small arena was built as part of the WWE HQ expansion onto Calvert St. with the intention of making it a homebase to a minor league company or developmental company for World Championship Wrestling. Located right next to the main WCW Power Plant facility that was built, the arena is equipped to record wrestling events for television and house a few hundred fans. This space is currently also still being used as part of the Power Plant training facility as there is a ring set up there. There were reports WCW was interested in partnering with or purchasing an already established company, but in recent weeks the view has shifted into creating a new child company from scratch. In what may be related news, WCW has signed Jody Hamilton, also known as The Assassin to a contract and he is slated to begin work as a road agent for the company. Hamilton, who is the father of WCW Senior Referee Nick Patrick, has history promoting wrestling in Georgia and was one of the leading architects of the original WCW Power Plant. Many expect Hamitlon to likely be shifted back to the new Power Plant and developmental company should one form to run the business side of things and possibly as the companies booker. Mickey Jay, a former WCW referee, was said to be down in Charlotte as he is preparing to start with WCW again shortly as a referee. Scott Hudson's profile page was also recently quietly moved from the alumni section of WCW.com back to the active section of broadcasters alongside Jerry Lawler & Joey Styles. The expansion of WCW's staff is a direct reaction to WCW Saturday Night returning imminently. While the name has not been finalized, a late night slot on FX on Saturday nights has been cleared out in August with no programming announced to fill the time, many have concluded with recent rumors this will be a new 1-hour slot for WCW. The expected announce team is the aforementioned Scott Hudson and Don West from the Shop at Home Network who has been a longtime wrestling fan. In other signing news, D'Lo Brown debut with the company at Crowd Control, aligning with Buff Bagwell to attack Rob Van Dam. D'Lo's name was mentioned by WWF a month or so ago when several talents contracts were allowed to expire in a cost saving move, including Chyna who debut with WCW on the Nitro before Crowd Control as Joanie Laurer. Insiders are reporting however, that D'Lo Brown was actually offered an extension by WWF, and only now has it become known that WCW had actually offered him a contract as well with D'Lo choosing Shane McMahon's WCW over WWF. Word is D'Lo sees himself more then just a lowercard tag team wrestlers and didn't think WWF saw him as anything better than that so decided to make the jump to WCW to bet on himself. This makes D'Lo one of the first talents in years to actively chose WCW over WWF which may be signs of the changing fortunes for the company.

POSTED: AUGUST 31, 2001 WCW Opens Developmental Territory: Atomic Championship Wrestling

WCW made a huge announcement today, revealing the new wrestling company Atomic Championship Wrestling. The company will serve as a feeder system or developmental territory for World Championship Wrestling. Its set to be based out of Charlotte, with WCW having built an arena specifically for it to hold weekly wrestling events as part of its Headquarters expansion that also included the new Power Plant as well as production offices and warehouse space. Originally, WCW has been seeking partners, similar to WWF with Ohio Valley Wrestling and Heartland Wrestling Association, but in recent weeks pivoted towards the idea of opening its own company that it would have complete control over. Insiders report the decision was finally made to open its own company after WCW had reached out to Jody Hamilton to come into WCW as a road agent. Hamilton had agreed to a deal but expressed interest in taking over the day-to-day operations of the Power Plant instead. The Power Plant was initially birthed out of Hamilton's own wrestling school many years ago, with Hamilton often credited as the founder. These conversations eventually turned to Hamilton also promoting events to help give WCW prospects more ring time, as Hamilton had experience promoting in Georgia in the 80's. The decision was also made to bring in Steve Keirn to also assist in running the company, and to add him as another full time trainer at the Power Plant alongside Ricky Santana and under Fit Finlay. Initial plans for the company is to run a weekly event out of the "Annex Arena" as its being called, and hopefully secure some sort of television deal to help recoup some of the cost of running a small territory. WCW quickly reached out to talents that were on their radar and put together a roster of talent that will be the basis of the new company. TEWNews has a breakdown of the entire roster below.

ACW ROSTER BREAKDOWN & SCOUTING REPORTS

Bane: Formerly worked as "Tattoo" in Memphis Championship Wrestling. The big man was snatched up by WCW and is said to have a great look and size, but very green and not great in the ring.
Bob Sapp: Former football guard who played 1-game in the NFL. Trained in NWA Wildside and was signed to a developmental contract by the old WCW at one point too. Big imposing presense. Still very green. Is viewed as the hottest prospect in the system due to his look and charisma.
Brent Albright: The former Vinnie Valentino had a dark match with WCW earlier this year. Was a somewhat notable name on the Oklahoma and Californian indy scenes. Okay size and skill, probably around the middle of the pack of the talent in ACW.
Chris Harris: Probably one of the more ready talents signed. Harris already has a handful of WCW matches under his belt from before Shane's ownership. Good size and skill but mic work is lacking.
Damaja: WCW snatched up a few talents that had been working in OVW looking to get WWF developmental deals, and Damaja was one of them. Damaja could probably be on TV now if they wanted. Good in the ring with good size and an ok look. Maybe a little generic from the charisma perspective.
David Flair: The guy with the most national TV exposure and name value on the roster, is likely exactly where he needs to be. Flair already has a known name, but his work has never really been there. Hopefully he can really use his time in ACW to learn and grow.
Doug Basham: The second of three OVW talents signed by WCW. Basham was weirdly in the top program in OVW and at the top of the OVW cards. Okay size, okay in the ring, okay on the mic. Basham is the perfect example of a good hand.
Hector Garza: Garza is a AAA luchador on the roster. Interestingly, he still seems to be appearing on AAA events in Mexico. He too had a cup of coffee in the old WCW and I'd say is already TV ready.
James Wolfe: Formerly known as James Storm, Wolfe is similar to Chris Harris in a lot of ways, and similarly has some WCW TV experience already. Wolfe & Harris have been placed in a tag team called "America's Most Wanted".
Jamie Knoble: Knoble's name is interestingly listed on the ACW roster, despite him being out injured with a torn quad. I suspect he will likely come back up through ACW once he's healthy to work off the ring rust, but thats still months away.
Johnny Swinger: Swinger is one of two former ECW wrestlers on the roster. Arguably the most complete and TV ready wrestler on the entire ACW roster. Good look and good in the ring, WCW is likely just waiting for the right spot for him on the main roster.
Ken Anderson: Kamikaze Ken was a Midwestern based indy worker. Okay skill and okay in the ring, most have pointed towards his microphone skills as being his most notable asset.
Orlando Jordan: Good look if somewhat generic worker who has a few years across the Midatlantic indy scene.
Roadkill: The other ECW wrestler signed up to ACW. He could be on WCW TV tomorrow and likely get over due to his unique gimmick, look, and moveset. I imagine his time in ACW may be short.
Rob Conway: The last of the talent WCW signed out of OVW. Probably the most complete of the group, he's a guy who could be on WCW TV anyday as well. Good in the ring with a good charisma to go along with it.
Robbie McAllister & Rory McAllister: Two brawling Scotsman who were trained in Canada by Waldo Von Erich. Not much is known about them besides they've been spending time on the Ontario indy scene and their Scotsman gimmick tends to get over with fans apparently.
Seven: Another talent from the now shuttered Memphis Championship Wrestling. Seven & Bane worked as a tag team briefly there and appear slated to do the same in ACW. Seven has an interesting look and is okay in the ring, but that's about it.
Shannon Moore: WCW wrote Moore off the main roster, apparently to allow a tighter focus on Evan Karagias. I imagine Moore will only be down in ACW a few months before coming back up.
Sonny Siaki: A muscular Samoan who had a cup of coffee win the old WCW. Has a great look and natural star power that gets him attention, his overall skills just need improving. I'd argue one of the hotter prospects in ACW.
Yun Yang: Like Moore was written off the main roster to give Kaz Hayashi a singles run. Yang is actually only 20-years old and debut with WCW when he was only 19. Has shown he has the potential to be a great in-ring worker and likely gets a bit of time to grow in ACW.

MANAGEMENT & BROADCAST:
Sinister Minister: The occult manager from ECW has signed a developmental deal as well, and is managing the team of Bane & Seven as "The New Church".
Brian Black: Signed to a developmental contract; currently slated to work as a Color Commentator.
Jeff Gorman: Sometimes wrestling journalist, sometimes wrestling announcer; working alongside Black.

WEEK-TO-WEEK (NON-CONTRACTED): Adam Flash, Ryan Wing, Alexis Laree & Persephone.

WCW also went out and signed a couple referees for the new company, Rudy Charles who is a young referee out of Indiana who has spent time with NWA Wildside, and John Cone, who is slightly older and best known for his time with Harley Race's World League Wrestling out of Missouri. Rudy Charles is heading up the ACW ring crew while John Cone is reportedly working in the office alongside Jody Hamilton and Steve Keirn.