Post by Baker on Sept 30, 2021 1:18:05 GMT
Wrestling Knowledge Organization
Presents
Wrestling Reviews And Previews
4/3/98
NWA Part One
Presents
Wrestling Reviews And Previews
4/3/98
NWA Part One
Those of you who watched Raw this week, and that's everybody reading this because it's 1998 and WWF is on fire, would have noticed the massive influx of NWA talent. Dick Togo, Men's Teioh, and Shoichi Funaki of Kaientai DX debuted by attacking Taka Michinoku while Sean "Val Venis" Morley also debuted in an amusing vignette. NWA Champion Dan Severn debuted at the taping as well in a segment which will air on next week's episode of Raw. Adam "Sexton Hardcastle" Copeland wrestled a dark match and is currently filming a series of vignettes for his new character rumored to be named Edge. You can read more about these wrestlers and their debuts in the WWF section of the W.R.A.P.
Out of all these defections NWA:KOTI owner Baker is said to be most upset about losing Severn. Not necessarily because Baker was a huge Severn fan. In fact, I've heard he was rather low on "The Beast." But because his goal from day one was to ultimately control the NWA Championship, and he needed Severn to achieve that goal. Rumor has it Baker lobbied hard for Severn to lose the title to Terry Funk on the promotion's very first show only to have it fall through late in the game when Funk resigned with WWF. Baker then allegedly pushed equally hard for Lord Steven Regal to take the strap at their most recent show only to once again have it fall through at the eleventh hour when WWF signed Severn and demanded he remain NWA Champion in a last ditch attempt to bolster Jim Cornette's failing NWA Invasion angle.
Baker's reputation took back to back hits this week. Up to now Baker has portrayed himself as an "aww shucks" babyface owner who just really, really likes professional wrestling. Basically Vince McMahon's old WWF character. But, if true, these alleged machinations surrounding the NWA Championship would prove him to be just as shady as any other promoter.
Furthermore, there were already whispers about Baker secretly being in bed with WWF. Those whispers have only intensified this week with six of his wrestlers defecting to WWF at the same time. That is awfully fishy. Most everybody knows WWF has been looking for a promotion to partner with as a developmental fed to help them develop young wrestlers ever since USWA closed down last year. Might NWA: KOTI already secretly be that promotion? If so, that would certainly do irreparable damage to the "independent spirit" Baker has cultivated around his young, upstart promotion. When contacted, Baker wrote it off as a simple talent raid. No different than what ECW has endured over the past few years.
Yet another change may be in the works. Up to now NWA has low key presented themselves as the anti-ECW by being a PG promotion light on blood and guts. Yet they booked a WAR GAMES main event for their next show, and we all know a War Games without blood and guts is a rare thing indeed...
Baker is allegedly looking to cut back on expensive big name talent that fails to deliver in the ring. Rumor has it Sid Vicious and Ahmed Johnson will be used sparingly as part time special attractions from here on out for that very reason. There are also no immediate plans to bring back Lord Steven Regal on account of him being far less of a draw than Sid, or even Ahmed. All three men flopped at the last show, with the Sid/Ahmed debacle being a contender for the worst match in the promotion's short history, while an audible was called to end the match early when the crowd turned on Regal/Severn- a match allegedly booked to go for a one hour time limit draw after outside parties put the kibosh on the original plan of Regal winning the title.
Baker's gamble to make selling tapes the main source of his promotion's revenue is allegedly paying off. For starters, Baker made the wise decision to sell tapes directly rather than go through a third party as ECW has. Furthermore, with wrestling's popularity at an all time high, Baker claims he needs "less than 1%" of the 10 million+ fans who watch Raw and Nitro every Monday night to buy a tape in order for his shows to turn a profit. To that end, he has launched an all out ad blitz shilling his promotion's wares during the commercials of every single WWF & WCW show. A wise move indeed to take advantage of the low ad rates for wrestling programs. For you see, despite being the highest rated shows on cable, the ad rates for wrestling shows are much lower than that for similarly rated programs due to wrestling not attracting "the right kind of people" according to your hoity toity Madison Avenue types. Madison Avenue's loss has become Baker's gain...
NWA: KOTI has also started airing in syndication on that Philly channel which played all the wrestling in the late 90s-early 2000s. If this were, say, 85-96 Baker's ultimate goal would be to have his program syndicated across the US, but with the market for syndicated wrestling (and other similar shows) bottoming out in 95-96 that is not a priority. Instead, Baker is looking to air a pay per view "sometime in the next year."
But enough about the boring business end of things. Let's get back to what we all care most about- the wrestling. NWA has already taken steps to fill the void caused by the six WWF defectors by booking two Do Or Die 6 Man Tag Tryout Matches and debuting longtime veteran of the independent scene Cueball Carmichael. Let's talk about it...
One Do Or Die 6 Man Tag Tryout Match will feature the Second City Sinners of Christopher Daniels/Kevin Quinn/Steve Boz against Ace Steel/Danny Dominion/Jimi V. Five of the six are based out of the Chicago area with Jimi V as the odd man out. V is an undersized high flyer based in Michigan who has been called the Upper Midwest version of Reckless Youth. And wouldn't you know it? V recently wrestled Reckless in a critically acclaimed match for another promotion which is how he earned this NWA tryout match. Steel & Dominion are a regular tag team who run a training school together. Daniels is basically where Al Snow was 4 years ago in that he's considered "the best kept secret in professional wrestling" by people in the know. Quinn has wrestled in Puerto Rico and toured Mexico with the famed CMLL promotion. Boz is a frequent tag partner of both men in Chicago's Windy City Wrestling.
The other Do Or Die 6 Man Tag Tryout Match features Ian Rotten/Shark Boy/Adam Pearce against Suicide Kid/American Kickboxer/Tarek The Great. All six wrestlers compete in Rotten's ECW-inspired IWA: Mid-South promotion based in Kentucky. Ian is of course a former ECW wrestler who had a famous feud three years ago with his "brother" Axl. Word on the street is Baker had little interest in Ian, but Rotten strong armed himself onto this show by refusing to let "his wrestlers" compete unless he too was booked. Baker eventually caved due to thinking Ian still might have some drawing power in the Greater Philly area because of his ECW history. Ian is said to be very excited about this match because wants to prove he is "more than just a mindless brawler. For my fellow Michinoku Pro fans out there, Shark Boy is said to be an American version of Super Delfin. Pearce is widely considered the best teenage wrestler in the business and already had an NWA appearance when he became the youngest man to ever challenge for the NWA Championship in a loss to Dan Severn. Kid, Kickboxer, and Tarek have teamed and feuded extensively as the top three Cruiserweights in Ian's promotion.
Cueball Carmichael has hitherto served as the manager of The Bald and the Beautiful. NWA ran a backstage angle available only on tape at their last show where Carmichael berated his charges Jimmy Cicero & Julio Sanchez after yet another loss and decided it was "time to show them how it's done" by agreeing to step in the ring for the first time in his NWA career for a 6 Man Tag Match against Handsome Beef & Reno Riggins. Unfortunately, word on the street is Carmichael's in ring abilities are a far cry from his all time great ring name.
Out of all these defections NWA:KOTI owner Baker is said to be most upset about losing Severn. Not necessarily because Baker was a huge Severn fan. In fact, I've heard he was rather low on "The Beast." But because his goal from day one was to ultimately control the NWA Championship, and he needed Severn to achieve that goal. Rumor has it Baker lobbied hard for Severn to lose the title to Terry Funk on the promotion's very first show only to have it fall through late in the game when Funk resigned with WWF. Baker then allegedly pushed equally hard for Lord Steven Regal to take the strap at their most recent show only to once again have it fall through at the eleventh hour when WWF signed Severn and demanded he remain NWA Champion in a last ditch attempt to bolster Jim Cornette's failing NWA Invasion angle.
Baker's reputation took back to back hits this week. Up to now Baker has portrayed himself as an "aww shucks" babyface owner who just really, really likes professional wrestling. Basically Vince McMahon's old WWF character. But, if true, these alleged machinations surrounding the NWA Championship would prove him to be just as shady as any other promoter.
Furthermore, there were already whispers about Baker secretly being in bed with WWF. Those whispers have only intensified this week with six of his wrestlers defecting to WWF at the same time. That is awfully fishy. Most everybody knows WWF has been looking for a promotion to partner with as a developmental fed to help them develop young wrestlers ever since USWA closed down last year. Might NWA: KOTI already secretly be that promotion? If so, that would certainly do irreparable damage to the "independent spirit" Baker has cultivated around his young, upstart promotion. When contacted, Baker wrote it off as a simple talent raid. No different than what ECW has endured over the past few years.
Yet another change may be in the works. Up to now NWA has low key presented themselves as the anti-ECW by being a PG promotion light on blood and guts. Yet they booked a WAR GAMES main event for their next show, and we all know a War Games without blood and guts is a rare thing indeed...
Baker is allegedly looking to cut back on expensive big name talent that fails to deliver in the ring. Rumor has it Sid Vicious and Ahmed Johnson will be used sparingly as part time special attractions from here on out for that very reason. There are also no immediate plans to bring back Lord Steven Regal on account of him being far less of a draw than Sid, or even Ahmed. All three men flopped at the last show, with the Sid/Ahmed debacle being a contender for the worst match in the promotion's short history, while an audible was called to end the match early when the crowd turned on Regal/Severn- a match allegedly booked to go for a one hour time limit draw after outside parties put the kibosh on the original plan of Regal winning the title.
Baker's gamble to make selling tapes the main source of his promotion's revenue is allegedly paying off. For starters, Baker made the wise decision to sell tapes directly rather than go through a third party as ECW has. Furthermore, with wrestling's popularity at an all time high, Baker claims he needs "less than 1%" of the 10 million+ fans who watch Raw and Nitro every Monday night to buy a tape in order for his shows to turn a profit. To that end, he has launched an all out ad blitz shilling his promotion's wares during the commercials of every single WWF & WCW show. A wise move indeed to take advantage of the low ad rates for wrestling programs. For you see, despite being the highest rated shows on cable, the ad rates for wrestling shows are much lower than that for similarly rated programs due to wrestling not attracting "the right kind of people" according to your hoity toity Madison Avenue types. Madison Avenue's loss has become Baker's gain...
NWA: KOTI has also started airing in syndication on that Philly channel which played all the wrestling in the late 90s-early 2000s. If this were, say, 85-96 Baker's ultimate goal would be to have his program syndicated across the US, but with the market for syndicated wrestling (and other similar shows) bottoming out in 95-96 that is not a priority. Instead, Baker is looking to air a pay per view "sometime in the next year."
But enough about the boring business end of things. Let's get back to what we all care most about- the wrestling. NWA has already taken steps to fill the void caused by the six WWF defectors by booking two Do Or Die 6 Man Tag Tryout Matches and debuting longtime veteran of the independent scene Cueball Carmichael. Let's talk about it...
One Do Or Die 6 Man Tag Tryout Match will feature the Second City Sinners of Christopher Daniels/Kevin Quinn/Steve Boz against Ace Steel/Danny Dominion/Jimi V. Five of the six are based out of the Chicago area with Jimi V as the odd man out. V is an undersized high flyer based in Michigan who has been called the Upper Midwest version of Reckless Youth. And wouldn't you know it? V recently wrestled Reckless in a critically acclaimed match for another promotion which is how he earned this NWA tryout match. Steel & Dominion are a regular tag team who run a training school together. Daniels is basically where Al Snow was 4 years ago in that he's considered "the best kept secret in professional wrestling" by people in the know. Quinn has wrestled in Puerto Rico and toured Mexico with the famed CMLL promotion. Boz is a frequent tag partner of both men in Chicago's Windy City Wrestling.
The other Do Or Die 6 Man Tag Tryout Match features Ian Rotten/Shark Boy/Adam Pearce against Suicide Kid/American Kickboxer/Tarek The Great. All six wrestlers compete in Rotten's ECW-inspired IWA: Mid-South promotion based in Kentucky. Ian is of course a former ECW wrestler who had a famous feud three years ago with his "brother" Axl. Word on the street is Baker had little interest in Ian, but Rotten strong armed himself onto this show by refusing to let "his wrestlers" compete unless he too was booked. Baker eventually caved due to thinking Ian still might have some drawing power in the Greater Philly area because of his ECW history. Ian is said to be very excited about this match because wants to prove he is "more than just a mindless brawler. For my fellow Michinoku Pro fans out there, Shark Boy is said to be an American version of Super Delfin. Pearce is widely considered the best teenage wrestler in the business and already had an NWA appearance when he became the youngest man to ever challenge for the NWA Championship in a loss to Dan Severn. Kid, Kickboxer, and Tarek have teamed and feuded extensively as the top three Cruiserweights in Ian's promotion.
Cueball Carmichael has hitherto served as the manager of The Bald and the Beautiful. NWA ran a backstage angle available only on tape at their last show where Carmichael berated his charges Jimmy Cicero & Julio Sanchez after yet another loss and decided it was "time to show them how it's done" by agreeing to step in the ring for the first time in his NWA career for a 6 Man Tag Match against Handsome Beef & Reno Riggins. Unfortunately, word on the street is Carmichael's in ring abilities are a far cry from his all time great ring name.