goodhelmet Posted June 17, 2005 Report Share Posted June 17, 2005 Lots of ECW stuff to cover. 8 of the 18 pages were committed to the PPV and the Hardcore Homecoming Show. PPV Star Ratings: Chris Jericho v. Lance Storm ***1/4 Super Crazy v. Tajiri v. Little Guido **1/2 Rey Mysterio v. Psychosis **1/2 Sabu v. Rhyno ***1/4 Chris Benoit v. Eddie Guerrero ***1/4 Mike Awesome v. Masato Tanaka ****1/4 Dudleys v. Dreamer & Sandman ***1/2 ---The company went into the show expecting between 150,000-200,000 buys. They budget regular "B" shows at 321,000 buys. Meltz thinks it will blow away all predictions but did not quote the 800,000 that was floating on the internet. ---ECW ranged between 40,000-99,000 on its PPV shows. ---The show did eventually sell-ou but 150 tickets were left on the day of the show and picked up at the last minute. ---Closed-circuit theatres in Canada reported Mania-like attendance and Meltz says this is as realistic of an indicator as you can get this early. ---RVD is taking credit for the idea and selling it to Vince McMahon. Within WWE creative, they think Heyman gave RVD the idea and how to sell it to Vince but who knows? ---Stephanie McMahon did not want Heyman associated with the show in any way but Vince was convinced that Heyman had to be involved and in charge of creative for the show. ---Heyman pushed for Joey Styles to do the show even as he was badmouthing it. Heyman actually thought Jim Ross would have done a better job but that it would not be authentic. Ross convinced Styles he show was not about Heyman. Styles ended up signing a 2-year contract for future ECW projects and mostly to do intros for 24/7 shows. If an ECW show does come out of it, Styles will most certainly be the voice. Meltz called Styles' performance one of the greatest announcing performances in wrestling history and one of the shows' biggest stars. Actually, Heyman was producing Styles and feeding him lines for most of the show on the headset. ---Heyman pursued Tanaka and Awesome (even though Awesome is washed-up and injured) thinking they could recapture the magic of previous bouts. ---Bischoff's original part in the show was supposed to be bringing in Awesomeas a mystery surprise since Awesome left ECW for WCW when he was the ECW champion. ---Meltzer predicts the DVD of One Night Stand will be one of the biggest in company history. (This isn't a surprise since the ECW DVD was a huge seller as well.) ---Meltzer makes a good point about making ECW its own show. WWE can't afford to let ECW be its "cool" company. Meltz said the show did for WWE what the NWo did for WCW... it made it uncool and it was apparent the next night on RAW. ---Meltz thinks putting ECW on SD! in an ECW v. JBL feud may spark the SD! show. ---JBL was drinking heavily before the show and all through the show (I hadn't heard this before). Meltz was under the impression that the unwritten rule is you get loaded after the show but you don't go in the ring loaded. ---Members of WWE prouction were heard ripping on ECW saying the fans were savages, the building was a dump and ripped on the ECW wrestlers. Meltz says the lack of understanding of the product extends from the bottom to the top. ---Quote from a WWE wrestler at the show, "You know certain powers that be will bury the shit out of it, but for me it was a very entertaining and definitive alternative to the HHH version of the WWE. It's almost boring to have to go back to work." ---Any mocking of the product from WWE wrestlers in the balcony was a work but all were in stunned silence, even though they were laughing at the crowd the entire night, when seeing the entire crowd sing Enter Sandman in unison when Sandman appeared. Kurt Angle was transfixed on the scene when the camera wasn't on him, studying everything going on. ---Meltz said one of the main negatives was not purchasing the authentic entrance themes and instead using WWE themes for most wrestlers. ---Compromises between Heyman and McMahon: -Heyman compromised on letting WWE theme music being played. -Heyman compromised on the allotment of time for WWE wrestlers promo time. -Vince allwoed the Tanaka-Awesome match to go as planned with the chair shots, breaking tables and big moves even though they were squeamish about the precedent it would set. -Vince allowed RVD to say what he wanted wih no script. -There was no physical confrontation between Bischoff and Heyman -The company wanted Austin in last but allwoed Tazz to do the final run-in. -Heyman was allowed to produce Styles' commentary instead of Vince. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goodhelmet Posted June 18, 2005 Author Report Share Posted June 18, 2005 I wanted to add this earlier but couldn't find it... An old story about RVD and HHH... ---Meltz: Van Dam disappeared at a RAW taping and HHH was looking for him. HHH found him , put his arm around him, and said "Where have you been?" He pulled HHH's arm off him, told him, "You know where I've been. I've been smoking dope while you were burying me behind my back." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest teke184 Posted June 18, 2005 Report Share Posted June 18, 2005 I wanted to add this earlier but couldn't find it... An old story about RVD and HHH... ---Meltz: Van Dam disappeared at a RAW taping and HHH was looking for him. HHH found him , put his arm around him, and said "Where have you been?" He pulled HHH's arm off him, told him, "You know where I've been. I've been smoking dope while you were burying me behind my back." More reasons to love RVD... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goodhelmet Posted June 18, 2005 Author Report Share Posted June 18, 2005 Hardcore Homecoming Notes: ---Meltz thinks it may be the most successful independent wrestling show in history. The show did $135,000 at the gate and $34,000 in merchandise. The gate was more than triple what ECW did in the arena and merchandise was double what ECW did for Barely Legal. ---Attendance was about 1,200 people ---Douglas told the wrestlers before the show that they were going to bonus everyone because of how successful the event was. ---Douglas and his backers had set aside $40,000 for advertising but tickets sold so quickly that they didn't spend a dime of it. However, alot of money was spent on production. ---Douglas told the wrestlers that his goal was for every fan who went to both this show and the WWE show would say his show was great and the WWE show sucked. (that didn't turn out too well) ---Two backstage panic situations happened. The first involved the athletic commission not allowing a barbed wire match, but after bending and taping the wire allowed it to happen. The other involved Mick Foley. Foley had secretly agreed to do the show even though he publicly denied it. He made a deal with Douglas that if word got out ahead of time, he would pull out. On the way to the show, Foley was stuck in a traffic jam. Since the show went long, he made it on to the show. ---Douglas' final point to the wrestlers was he didn't want anyone encouraging ECW chants for legal reasons. New Jack didn't listen and may have part of his promo edited out of the product even though it was said to be a highlight of the show. ---They wanted the show to stay around three hours but it ended up going four. ---Balls Mahoney held Douglas up for money the day of the show which is why he didn't appear on the show even when advertised. ---The show started with Tod Gordon, Joey Styles, and Don Callis all coming out crying. Joel Gertner followed and did his naughty limericks. Star Ratings by Scott Williams (?): Whipwreck & Chetti v. Diamond & Anderson ** Tracy Smothers v. Blue Meanie *1/2 Too Cold Scorpio v. Kid Kash *** Jerry Lynn v. Justin Credible **** (I highly doubt this) Raven v. Sandman ** Sabu v. Terry Funk v. Shane Douglas ***1/2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coffey Posted June 18, 2005 Report Share Posted June 18, 2005 Benoit/Guerrero was the shits. There's no way it was as good as Jericho/Storm. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goodhelmet Posted June 18, 2005 Author Report Share Posted June 18, 2005 Meltzer's star ratings have been in question for years but people still request them so I include them whenever possible. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goodhelmet Posted June 18, 2005 Author Report Share Posted June 18, 2005 Odds and Ends: Pro Wrestling NOAH: ---Tenryu v. Ogawa, Sasaki v. Kobashi and Misawa v. Kawada were all announced as no time limt matches so the feeling is that at least one of the matches will go long. ---Misawa said the entire infield and upper deck were sold out so he thinks that the 7/18 show will be the biggest show in Japan this year. New Japan: ---Rocky Romero dislocated his shoulder and will need to take two months off. This will cause the brackets of the Super Jr. Tourney to be screwed up. U.S stuff: ---Shark Boy (the wrestler) filed a lawsuit against Mirimax and Dimension Films because of the "The Advenures of Shark Boy and Lava Girl" movie. The wrestler, Dean Roll, trademarked the name in 2000. Meltz doesn't think he will win the lawsuit. ---Rob Feinstein is being sued again by James Papa. Papa produced the BadStreet USA album for Michael Hayes and wrote WCW theme songs for Cactus Jack, Sting, Rick Rude, the Steienrs, Ricky Steamboat, etc. Papa is suing because of Feinstein selling videos with his music being used as entrances. Pap is asking for $75,000. ---More Feinstein: His no-compete clause with Silkin ends soon and he wants to open up another promotion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest teke184 Posted June 18, 2005 Report Share Posted June 18, 2005 Between that lawsuit, the PRIDE lawsuit settlement, and the eventual WWF lawsuit that will happen when someone at Titan realizes that Rob's selling WCW, ECW, and WWF footage, Rob's going to be in the poorhouse for a LONG time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sek69 Posted June 18, 2005 Report Share Posted June 18, 2005 -Heyman compromised on letting WWE theme music being played. The only wrestlers who's themes were a vital part of his gimmick were Sandman and New Jack, and since there's no way New Jack was going to be on that card, all they really needed to get was Sandman's. Also, isn't kind of funny that Angle of all people would be transfixed on that when he's the only guy in WWE who's entrance has that type of crowd involvment (obviously not on the same level of course). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coffey Posted June 18, 2005 Report Share Posted June 18, 2005 Eh, I don't think it's so much that it was vital to their gimmick as much as this was an ECW show and the fans didn't want to hear the wrestlers WWE themes. Especially in the case of Jericho and Misterio. At least that's how I felt. Lance Storm & Tommy Dreamer, for example, had generic versions of the real songs that they came out to in ECW. I don't understand how they can have Thunderkiss '65 for the entire ECW dudes at the end but not El Phantasmo for Lance. It's the same artist! Tommy's Man in the Box rip-off reminded me of old WCW shows. Where everyone just had generic mainstream songs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sek69 Posted June 18, 2005 Report Share Posted June 18, 2005 Sandman's theme was definately vital to his gimmick, his pre-match ritual was almost longer than most of his matches, and the crowd singing along to Enter Sandman while he shotgunned beer to the music was one of the coolest ECW experiences. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loss Posted June 18, 2005 Report Share Posted June 18, 2005 ---Stephanie McMahon did not want Heyman ass. I don't understand what this sentence means. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coffey Posted June 18, 2005 Report Share Posted June 18, 2005 Sandman's theme was definately vital to his gimmick, his pre-match ritual was almost longer than most of his matches, and the crowd singing along to Enter Sandman while he shotgunned beer to the music was one of the coolest ECW experiences. You're misunderstanding me. I agree about Sandman and New Jack. It was vital. I disagree about everyone else. It wasn't vital but it was important not to be WWE. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coffey Posted June 18, 2005 Report Share Posted June 18, 2005 ---Stephanie McMahon did not want Heyman ass.I don't understand what this sentence means. Abbreviation for association. Steph didn't want Heyman associated with the show. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goodhelmet Posted June 18, 2005 Author Report Share Posted June 18, 2005 Right. I edited it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sek69 Posted June 18, 2005 Report Share Posted June 18, 2005 Whats the beef with Steph and Heyman? It seems she has an almost paranoid grudge against him. Did he shit in her gym bag or something? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Cam Chaos Posted June 18, 2005 Report Share Posted June 18, 2005 I don't understand how they can have Thunderkiss '65 for the entire ECW dudes at the end but not El Phantasmo for Lance. It's the same artist! They had to get slip in a trailer to convince Rob Zombie to let them use Thunderkiss 65, they'd have probably had to include 2 trailers and a Rob Zombie plug to get both songs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Cam Chaos Posted June 18, 2005 Report Share Posted June 18, 2005 Whats the beef with Steph and Heyman? It seems she has an almost paranoid grudge against him. Did he shit in her gym bag or something? I think it just comes down to Heyman going "that sucks, are you crazy?" to Steph at past SD booking meetings. While Heyman has the experience to undermine Steph he doesn't have the position in the company so it's probably rubbed her wrong someone involved in the wrestling business is trying to tell her what to do even though daddy gave her the job. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sek69 Posted June 18, 2005 Report Share Posted June 18, 2005 It's sad when you consider that WWE has under contract some of the best writing/booking talents of the last 20 years, yet they (the company) only listen to people named McMahon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Cam Chaos Posted June 18, 2005 Report Share Posted June 18, 2005 I want to know how long until Shane takes over. After HHH dies probably. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loss Posted June 19, 2005 Report Share Posted June 19, 2005 I want to know how long until Shane takes over. After HHH dies probably. Shane is not taking over. Stephanie is. The thinking in the company is that even if she's not the best writer they have now, she has to learn what she's doing at some point since she'll be the big creative force when Vince is gone, so it's a sacrifice worth making. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coffey Posted June 19, 2005 Report Share Posted June 19, 2005 They're wrong. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest jumpingbombangel Posted June 19, 2005 Report Share Posted June 19, 2005 Whats the beef with Steph and Heyman? It seems she has an almost paranoid grudge against him. Did he shit in her gym bag or something? Well, Stephanie just doesn't want Heyman ass, I guess. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JHawk Posted June 19, 2005 Report Share Posted June 19, 2005 Whats the beef with Steph and Heyman? It seems she has an almost paranoid grudge against him. Did he shit in her gym bag or something?Well, Stephanie just doesn't want Heyman ass, I guess. This just shows how fucking worthless Stephanie McMahon is. It's an ECW show. Why even have the damn thing if Heyman wasn't going to get to work with it? This is merely a case of her being worried that a show he didn't control would blow anything she's ever done away. And it did. Stephanie for head writer of Eastenders. Hard to fuck up that hideous British soap. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Flyboy Posted June 19, 2005 Report Share Posted June 19, 2005 I wanted to add this earlier but couldn't find it... An old story about RVD and HHH... ---Meltz: Van Dam disappeared at a RAW taping and HHH was looking for him. HHH found him , put his arm around him, and said "Where have you been?" He pulled HHH's arm off him, told him, "You know where I've been. I've been smoking dope while you were burying me behind my back." Oh God, that's so tremendous on so many levels. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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