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Jeffrey Cohen was right when he said it was ECW that did all the controversial things which caused all the PPV negotiation controversy. My problem is with someone trying to make news, instead or report news. I honestly think it’s very hypocritical for him, or anyone to go to a company and complain about the content of a program, and conveniently ignore some of the other things that go on.
Look at the WWF. We’ve had the Goldust homosexuality, gimmick, use of guns in an angle, and swearing over the last year or so. This from a promotion that can’t decide if it wants to be “hardcore†or have family entertainment. The point is there’s never been any outcry at the WWF when they want to do a PPV. No sheet writer with an ax to grind trying to “inform†a company about the controversies.
If you really want to carry this to it’s next level, let’s have someone in the media inform Request every time they want to air a violent or sexually explicit movie, or maybe go into UFC. Controversial content in these things, yet it can easily be found on TV.
Really, was the intent of this to try to inform, or was it to try to make news,
and conveniently screw up a promotion Keller and Mitchell don’t like? It’s
pretty obvious to me what the answer is.
Dave Whitaker
Danville, GA
Top Ten Things I’d Like To See In 1997
10. Chris Benoit breaks from Arn, Flair, and Mongo to start “The New Four
Horsemen†with Malenko, Jericho, and Guerrero. They take over WCW when most of
the older wrestlers realize that they can’t work anymore.
9. Steve Regal and Dallas Page jump to the WWF, where they get a top-of-the-card
push, rather than continuing to be “underrated heels†who are lost in the depth
of the WCW roster.
8. Announcers call more play by play, push less pay-per-view.
7. PG-13, Headbangers, and Furnas and LaFon get into competition for the WWF tag
titles.
6. Steve Austin wins the WWF Intercontinental title and feuds with Brian
Pillman. Both guys continue to play tweener roles.
5. ECW runs the long awaited angle with the WWF and it comes off successfully.
4. Shawn Michaels turns full fledged heel and feuds with Bret Hart over the WWF
title.
3. NWO guys lose a match.
2. The New York Knicks win the NBA Title (couldn’t resist).
1. Public Enemy return to ECW.
Harley York
King of New York
Kudos
Keep up the good work with the newsletter. Your Japanese TV reviews seem to make
it in print a week or two before the Observer. Also, keep sticking it to Keller
and Mitchell. If it makes you feel any better, I cancelled my subscription to
the Torch several months ago, and my friend that lives down the street lets me
read his old ones. I would not normally do something like this, except I find so
little of interest in the rag anymore, that I can’t pay for something that I
wouldn’t use 90% of the time.
Ken Knisely
Houston, TX
Lots of Stuff!
I recently picked up Mike Rogers’ tape of ECW Wintercon 1995. The Q & A session was amazing. If wrestling ever turns sour on Paul E., he could pursue a career as a stand up comic or “spoken word†artist. God, what a raconteur! The story about his promo with Sid had me in stitches. It was also fun to see who stayed “in character†and who didn’t.
For guys like Sandman and Styles, you get the feeling that the reason their characters work is because the so-called character is not too different from the way they are all the time. I’ve seen Sandman outside of the ring many times and he’s always friendly, accessible, and basically the same good-natured slob he is in the show. Sandman also seems to go out of his way to come out and greet the fans at almost very show. He did an in-store promo at Rock Fantasy in Middletown, NY last month and entertained the fans for hours with great, funny insider stories and comments. He also showed as much knowledge of, and professional attitude towards, the business as I’ve heard in any interview or commentary, insider/shoot or otherwise. When someone asked him if he was going to bleed/blade in the match that night, he replied “I’ll bleed before the match.†He did! The man’s crazy, but you gotta love him.
I think a big reason why ECW maintains such a loyal core of fans is because almost everyone who works in an on-camera role there is friendly and respectful toward the fans, instead of treating them like stupid “marks.†Even the ticket office seems to be getting their act together lately. This was a sore spot with me for a long time, as when I started going to ECW shows a year ago the it seemed like it was all they could do to get you your tickets at all. Sometimes they couldn’t even manage that. (I still haven’t gotten brave enough to try ordering tapes from them again.) Lately, though, they’ve been great. Well, maybe I think that because they hooked me up with front row seats for the last two Middletown shows. Look, Ma, I’m on TV!!
Sure, there are a few incidents with out-of-control fans, but that problem is hardly unique to ECW. If you doubt that, just look at the Piper/Hogan Starrcade match, where some lunatic fan interfered and screwed up the finish. I think you just hear about it more with ECW because they run in smaller buildings and brawl in the crowd, so the fans are closer to the action. Also some writers are always looking out for reasons to criticize ECW so they jump on reports of anything unusual or irregular. (Dave Meltzer, come on down!) If wacko fans don’t hassle WWF wrestlers as much, it’s probably because the wrestlers are always so damn far away! It’s an unfortunate truth that any public event will always bring a few nutjobs out of the woodwork.
To the ECW’s critics I say: read the T-shirt. It’s not for everybody. Just because two fans have different tastes doesn’t make one wrong. Opinions and personal tastes are not facts. I don’t knock the WWF and WWF fans for some of the stupid crap that goes on there. (Hell, everybody I know that works there says it’s a nice place to work.) Wrestling fans are a small enough minority without fighting amongst ourselves.
My mail just caught up with me so I finally got to read some of your coverage on the ECW PPV situation. Finally I get to hear something that sounds like the truth. Personally I think that Paul E. brought it on himself by trying to snow the sheet reporters about what he had/hadn’t told Request and by not dealing with some pretty serious problems regarding wrestler/wrestler and wrestler/fan incidents. Things like this serve to remind me that as much as I love Heyman as a booker (and I think he’s light years ahead of anyone else in this area), he still seems to have a lot to learn about the mechanics of running a company.
HOWEVER, I totally agree that THIS DOES NOT EXCUSE KELLER AND MITCHELL FOR THEIR
ACTIONS. These guys must have gone to the Geraldo Rivera School of Journalism. A
reporter should never be the subject of his own story. This is one of the first
things they teach you in journalism. Any freshman student who’s had Journalism
101 could tell you that. The other thing you don’t do is personally involve
yourself with a source. If you do, it destroys your objectivity and makes fair
reporting on matters involving that source impossible. I thought Wade Keller was
an college teacher. What the hell does he teach, Gym? I find all this very
upsetting because I’ve always loved reading the Torch and now it’s somewhat
ruined for me. It’s one thing if a guy chooses to stand on a ledge, and it’s
another thing if somebody else pushes him off that ledge. Bruce Mitchell and
Wade Keller pushed.
P.S. Who was that sheet editor I saw rampaging through the Wintercon 1995 tape?
Any ideas, Dave? Dave? [T. Chong: “Dave’s not here, man!!â€]
P.P.S. If Joey Styles is really from Stamford, how come I live here 10 years and
I’ve never seen the guy? This town’s not that big after 5 o'clock. Maybe he’s
hiding from Vince!
Adam Dolan
Stamford, CT
DS: Joey Styles really does live in Stamford. My guess is he is frequenting the
seedier areas of town that hold no attraction for you Adam. Joey is that kind of
guy you know. As for the tape, you put 20 inches of snow, lots of my friends
from out of town, a case of Molson Ice beer in my gut, and a video camera in my
hand and, well, you get things like that tape! Wade Keller is pretty young, like
in his early 20’s. As far as I know, all he does for a living is publish the
sheet.
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