Wrestlings Fact or Fiction: No Mercy, Hogan/TNA, A.J. Styles title run
Submitted by Phantom Lord on Saturday, October 18, 2003 at 1:17 AM EST



Welcome back everyone to the show that never ends. It is most heat filled column on the entire wrestling Internet…Welcome to Wrestling’s Fact or Fiction. As always I am Phantom Lord and with as always is LOP’s man who calls it right down the middle…Da Ref. Filling in for Tito this week is a member of our message board who is quickly becoming one of the most respected posters on the board. Please welcome RickStallion. Here’s a short little intro on the man himself…

Yellow, everyone! Name's RickStallion, been a wrestling fan for well over ten years, and I've been a frequent poster and column writer at LOP Forums for a little over six months. This is my first time participating here on Fact Or Fiction and I'm pretty excited. Feel free to email me at OutOnPatroI@aol.com with any comments, disputes, whatever.

Well now that the introductions are over, on to the first question.

Fact or Fiction: Vince McMahon vs. Stephanie McMahon will draw the lowest recorded buyrate in WWF/E Pay Per View history

Phantom: As much as I think this pay per view will blow, I don’t think it will pull the lowest buyrate ever. For some unknown reason there still are enough people out there who regularly order ppv’s that will keep the buyrates for this one at about the same level they have been for last few months. I’m going to sat Fiction on this one, but it will be by a very slim margin. I sure hope the sanctions from the Maryland State Athletic Commission are worth this wankfest Vince.

RickStallion: As terrible as this match is going to be, I have to go with FICTION on this one. If I remember correctly, the lowest PPV buyrate in WWF/E history was a 0.33 back in 1995, a year that might have been even worse for the WWE than 2003 is right now. Vince vs. Stephanie is going to be absolutely dreadful, but I just don't think the show as a whole is going to be bad enough to draw the lowest buyrate ever. Don't be surprised if it draws the lowest buyrate of the year though.

Da Ref: While I think the public isn't all that interested, the match being the main reason for possibly the lowest buyrate ever is FICTION. If No Mercy
ends up with the lowest PPV buyrate in the history of the company, it'll be a major role for that but you also have to look at the rest of the card. The US Title Match was started over a bad burrito. The Hardy/Gowen angle was a
long time ago in WWE terms. Tajiri versus Mysterio has been mostly "He has my belt and I want it back", which is fine but they could've done more with it. Benoit versus A-Train hasn't been a barnburner and I have to ask what
happened with Benoit & Rhyno. (Rhyno screws Benoit out of the US Title and their blowoff match is on Smackdown?) The main event goes against what people said that the Brand Extension would do by repeating a match that was
done twice in a row last year with no one really reacting favorably to it then. Probably the only other match that has been developed well is Angle versus Cena. Why give $24.95 to a company that has spent most of its time
just plugging a match between two non-wrestlers?

Fact or Fiction: The limo stunt on RAW this past Monday will be the final nail in the career of Kane as a viable upper carder in the WWE

Da Ref: That's FICTION. The nail in the coffin does have to do with Shane McMahon, though. Since Kane's big push as a monster, he's left guys like
Steve Austin, Rosey, Hurricane, Rob Van Dam, and so many others laying. Yet, the only guy that has gotten some serious damage on Kane is Shane. Sure, Kane got the win in their last PPV match but it was after a missed move and
not because Kane was the better man. Then, Shane got his heat back while none of the other guys got theirs back. How do you make Kane look believable as a serious upper card guy when the most damage to Kane has been done by a guy that only wrestles part time?

Phantom: I’m going to say Fiction on this one. The wrestling fan in me says it isn’t that bad. Kane will kill Shane at the Survivor Series and they will set into motion the pay off match between The Undertaker and Kane at WM 20 that has been brewing since WM 14. I mean if Kane can survive being torched and being damn near killed in a limousine, then that tells me that Kane will get the upper hand on Shane O’Mac and he will be pushed finally as the unstoppable heel monster that he should of always been.

RickStallion: Tough one here, but I'm going with FICTION again. As much as I hate all this unrealistic stuff he's been involved in for the past few months, and as much credibility as his career has lost in MY eyes since he's been embarrassed by Shane O Mac every week, I'd say that as long as the crowds remain interested in what he's doing (and they have), he has a shot at being a great upper card talent on RAW. Every time Shane punks Kane out, I'm not thinking that Kane just got embarrassed, I'm thinking that Shane is gonna pay real bad when Kane comes back, and I don't think I'm alone on that one. Whether it'll happen or not is a different story, but Kane's career isn't dead just yet.

Fact or Fiction: Hulk Hogan signing with NWA-TNA will get them the much needed publicity and attention for them to finally land a prime time national cable deal so they can be a viable competitor to the WWE

RickStallion: Unfortunately, I'm going with FICTION again. It's hard for me to talk about this one, because I don't watch NWA-TNA, but I don't see Hulk Hogan being the man that can help any company break through at all right now. There will be some attention and some publicity for NWA-TNA, but the obvious fact is that Hulk Hogan isn't as big a name as he was five, ten, or fifteen years ago. Expect a rise in NWA-TNA buyrates, but again, I don't think it'll be enough.

Phantom: I’m going to say Fact on this one. By all accounts this has been the biggest story and angle of 2003. I have a feeling the pay off to this will be huge on that pay per view on November 30th. Hulk Hogan’s name alone commands attention from the general public. When you think of Pro wrestling, his face and image comes to mind. As much as I don’t want to see him win the NWA World Title since I think it would be a sacrilege, I believe that Hogan will get TNA the publicity needed to finally land them a prime time cable deal. I mean it’s not like Hogan has to ever wrestle again. He’s only doing this because he feels like it. If he can make some money and make Vince McMahon he needs him then that’s an added bonus.

Da Ref: If done right, which I believe it's been so far, I'll say FACT. Take a look at Hogan's run in 2002 with WWF/WWE. The fans popped like crazy for
him. At Wrestlemania 18, he was more popular than The Rock. The guy has been and still is the biggest name in wrestling. He can give NWA-TNA that big
name that they need to become a serious blip on the map. However, they need to get a serious deal together with Hogan. One night isn't going to do it.

Fact or Fiction: The decision to make Smackdown a more skit and comedy oriented show will backfire and will end up costing the WWE a lot of viewers

Da Ref: I'll go with FACT on that one. When Smackdown was the more popular show among fans, the reason was because it created a good balance between
the in-ring work of those on the show with the skits and comedy tying into the matches while RAW was going for just trying to be over the top with no
real rhyme or reason. By going with a formula that hasn't been all that successful for RAW, you turn your back on the fans that supported the show
in the past. Take a look at the last two episodes. There have been numerous reports of people walking out before the main event. It could be argued that maybe the (Un)Creative Team decided since they were going to go head to head
with the Yankees & Red Sox in the ALCS, why bother trying to really come up with anything if the fans are going to be watching one of the biggest
rivalries in baseball? Maybe so but they do have a PPV coming up and, as nutty as it may sound, maybe the fans would like to see the storylines developed.

Phantom: Oh this is a Fact and you know it. No matter how bad RAW was you could at least count on Smackdown giving you a couple good matches. Making Smackdown like RAW is probably the dumbest thing Vince has done since removing Paul Heyman as head writer of Smackdown. By all accounts the fans in attendance at Smackdown this week left the show confused as hell because it looked like it was thrown together before ShowTime. I’m all for sports entertainment, but not at the expense of talented wrestlers like Kurt Angle, Brock Lesnar, and Eddie Guerrero. But things aren’t so bad. I mean we have that Undertaker/Vince feud that will roll into the Survivor Series to look forward to.

RickStallion: That is definitely FACT. The reason Smackdown was my favorite wrestling show is because even with the occasional tasteless angle or ridiculous storyline, you were guaranteed at least three great matches every single week. Now, the tasteless angles and ridiculous storylines have gone from occasional to all the frickin time. Vince and Steph in an "I Quit" match, and Guerrero and Big Show with their toilet humor have just taken up too much airtime to have great matches. The show still blows RAW out of the water, but the Smackdown will continue to lose viewers at this rate.

Fact or Fiction: Scott Stiener’s heel turn is to late to make him anything more then a glorified mid carder on RAW

RickStallion: FACT. Not only is the heel turn too late, but it also doesn't make any sense. He suplexes Stacy Keibler for costing him the tag team titles, even after he pulled his partner's leg off of his opponent in the middle of a pinfall, and now we have Steiner being the slave of the man he's supposedly feuding with: Test. They're both heels, they're a team, AND they're enemies? And what do they do together, just treat Stacy Keibler like crap? I'm sorry, I don't care how many times Bischoff calls him "The Scott Steiner I know", it's too little too late.

Phantom: I’m going to say Fact on this one for one reason and one reason only. Vince will never let Scott Stiener be the Big Poppa Pump that he was in WCW. What we have is the watered down and broken down version of the Big Bad Booty Daddy. This whole thing with Test is just a slap in the face to the career of Scott Stiener. Sure he isn’t the same Scott Stiener he was 10 years ago, but given the chance he could be a viable heel on RAW. Being second fiddle to Test makes no sense and this heel turn will go no where in the long run and before you know it Scott will be a face again since WWE logic is if you don’t work as a heel then you’re a face and vice a versa.

Da Ref: I'll say FACT. It all comes down to one thing: Test. I realize his name is a dirty word in some areas of the internet but Dave Scherer gave what is truly the perfect nickname for Test. The "Black Hole of Charisma." Ever since he was put with Test as his normal tag team partner and then in the feud that just never would end followed by whatever partnership they have, it has become harder and harder to imagine Steiner as being a serious player. I remember when fans were crying out for Steiner to be a major player in WCW when he became Big Poppa Pump and how WCW did a really good job in making him a serious main eventer. Nowadays, he gets the pops from
the crowd but there aren't that many people who believe he should be a marquee name.

Fact or Fiction: A.J. Styles reign as NWA World Heavyweight Champion was tarnished by him never getting a clean win over Jeff Jarret and playing second fiddle to Vince Russo

Da Ref: I'll go with FICTION because of the inaccurate perception that NWA starts and ends with NWA-TNA. Styles has defended against a lot of different
guys on the Wednesday Night PPV's. However, he has also been defending the title at shows for other groups. Currently, he's in a feud for the NAWA Ring
Warriors group in Georgia against Ray Gordy, the son of the late Terry Gordy, over the NWA World Title that has been getting a lot of press. I said this on the forums that I think Styles has been the classic NWA World Champion in that he's been defending the belt just about everywhere and
showing that he does deserve a place in the lineage of that title.

Phantom: I’m going to say Fact on this one. I realize Styles is defending the NWA title all over the country, but TNA is what people are now going to look to when they think of him. A.J. for the most part is in the role of Chris Jericho when he was Undisputed Champion. I think Jarrett is going to win the title from A.J next week and Styles will be buried in the TNA midcard since the Jarrett/Hogan feud is going to kick into high gear. It’s a shame since A.J. Styles is the kind of star that the NWA could have built a company around as the best in the business.

RickStallion: Again, I don't watch NWA-TNA, so I can't say much about this one. All I can do is look at the question and assume (though I hate making assumptions) that yeah, it's FACT. The question alone reminds me of Chris Jericho's reign as WWE Undisputed Champion in early 2002, and if it's anything like that, I'll stick with FACT, but like I said, I can't really say for sure.

Fact or Fiction: Macho man's "rap" cd is secretly a WWE sponsored stunt in order to the plant seeds for a Hulk vs. Savage match at WMXX

Da Ref: I gotta go with FICTION. If it was, there would be more talk about the album than there's been. While Hogan's pal Bubba the Love Sponge has been talk a lot of smack about the album, Hogan has not given any
indications that he really cares what Savage is saying. Plus, there was talk about the album before this past Wrestlemania and I believe Savage made noise about it after WCW was bought, which means that they were just getting
through Wrestlemania 17 and were years away from even thinking about Wrestlemania 20.

RickStallion: FICTION, though the idea isn't as ridiculous as it seems at first. I wouldn't put it past the WWE to try something like this in an effort to build up hype for Wrestlemania XX, but even though we all know that Vince McMahon is shameless, even HE wouldn't want to be involved with something like this. It's just far too embarrassing. I'd definitely leave open the possibility that I could be wrong, but I'm sticking with FICTION right now.

Phantom: Hmm the Coast to Coast/Art Bell fan in me normally would be screaming conspiracy and say it’s clearly a fact, but until the WWE promotes Savage’s album or even pays him some sort of lip service I’m going to say Fiction on this one. Don’t get me wrong. I have a feeling The Macho Man will be at WrestleMania 20, but for some reason I can see him getting into a Rap war with John Cena. That would end up being a highly entertaining feud if done right.

Fact or Fiction: Considering the declining pay per view buyrates and slugging attendance at house shows, the WWE is making a huge mistake by not cashing in on the ECW, WCW, and AWA Video library’s they now have possession of

RickStallion: I really want to go with FACT, because I'm dying to get my hands on some old stuff, but I'll go with FICTION for this one. I don't know if any TV networks would be interested in this footage, and putting them out on VHS and DVD would cost too much for the WWE. The company is losing cash like crazy right now, and they can't even make good money on their more recent PPV releases. They're not at the point where they can worry about what to do with the WCW, ECW, and AWA video libraries. They need to get their own business together first. Unless they use the libraries to make more great DVDs like Shawn Michaels: From The Vault , and the upcoming Ric Flair set, they have no room here. FICTION.

Phantom: You better believe that’s a Fact. The Dudley Boyz are now 18 time World Tag Team Champions. Why not put out a video chronicling all 18 title wins along with a retrospective on the entire Dudley clan. Jerry Lawler has had feuds with some of the biggest legends in all of wrestling. Why not put out a “From the Vault” dvd for him. My point is with slugging house show ticket sales it would be a smart idea to cash in on the true fans who have been watching wrestling for a lot longer then the Attitude era. The Ric Flair DVD is a prime example of how to cash in on these videos. The WWE could actually stop having actually wrestling and strictly market and sell Best of DVD’s with all the video they have. It might not be such a bad back up plan if Vince vs. Stephanie is the best the creative team can muster up.

Da Ref: That's FACT. There's so much in those libraries that would sell. ECW still lives in the hearts of a lot of fans. Through all of the bad that there was in WCW, you have so much that was just mind-blowing. As for the AWA, take a look at some of the guys that have been a part of that group. Shawn Michaels, Hulk Hogan, Jerry Lawler, Curt Hennig, Scott Hall, Yokozuna, Bobby Heenan, Stan Hansen, and so many others. These guys have been big
names in the business. In my life, I have bought only one WWF video and that was Wrestlemania VII. I have bought DVD's for ECW, FMW, Ultimate Wrestling, and Wrestling Gold and not one WWF/E DVD. I am actually excited about the
upcoming Steel Cage and Ric Flair DVD's. Also, those libraries can help get over some of their current wrestlers. Could you imagine if they released a
Chris Benoit DVD with some of his matches from ECW & WCW against Al Snow, Sabu, Chris Jericho, Dean Malenko, Booker T, and others? How about one for Eddy Guerrero with his ECW series against Dean Malenko as well as the WCW matches against Rey Mysterio Jr. and Chris Jericho?

Retro Fact or Fiction: Rick Martel would of made a good upper card heel and eventual opponent for Hulk Hogan following his heel turn at Wrestlemania 5

RickStallion: These Retro questions are always tough because you can NEVER know for sure, but I'm picking FICTION for this one. Rick Martel had undeniable ring abilities, and decent charisma, but that just wasn't enough at the time. It sounds silly, but the only guys Hogan feuded with were either very scary big men, or smaller men with evil managers or some kind of crazy backstory. I just don't see how Martel would have fit into the whole thing, especially cause Bobby Heenan and Slick's stables were pretty much filled up. FICTION, unfortunately.

Da Ref: Hmmm. I'll just say that it could've been FACT. I'm not all too confident in that but Martel had a lot of the qualities that Vince wanted when it came to the "Model" gimmick. He was fairly big. The character was something that grabbed you. Martel worked the crowd with his....pardon the pun, arrogance. I guess he could've been sacrificed to Hogan down the road.

Phantom: I’m going to say Fiction on this one. As good as Martel was, in the WWF he was never more then a midcarder. With that in mind, an Intercontinental Title feud between him and Tito Santana would have been great going into the fall of 1989 and straight through to Wrestlemania 6. I think a feud with Hogan could have worked especially with The Model gimmick. But as we know, Vince had no interest then or now of promoting a man of Martel’s size in such a high angle role.

Retro Fact or Fiction: Had ECW been given promotion by Viacom and TNN, it would still be in business today and it would be a serious threat to the WWF/E and companies like NWA-TNA would have never been created

Da Ref: I have to say FICTION. TNN wasn't really a major player in the cable industry like TBS, TNT, or USA. The network was geared towards a certain
demographic with things like auto racing, hunting shows, and country music. However, there were other networks out there that had been following the same format before them. What TNN was offering was pretty close to what TBS
had been offering for years. Think about it. Can you really name any other show on TNN before ECW started airing? Now when I say name a show, I'm not talking about just a type of show. I'm talking about a particular show. TNN
was never really high on the list of priorities for Viacom. ECW going to TNN was just a step above a small indy wrestling group getting TV on Cable Access.

RickStallion: I'll go with FICTION again, though I don't want to. I loved ECW, but I just feel that the timing was completely off. ECW's downfall was due to a number of things, and the fact that TNN barely promoted the show was just adding to it. If ECW were still in business, and were still on TNN, I think they'd definitely be a serious threat to the WWE by now, but it just wouldn't have happened.

Phantom: I’m going to say Fact on this one. I am a firm believer that if you get the word out then people will pay attention. TNN might not been in the amount of homes as TBS or USA, But it’s still in enough to be a viable contender to them. If you cross promoted ECW on MTV and other Viacom owned networks, it would have probably pulled a 2 in the ratings by the time it was cancelled. Bare in mind with no promotion, ECW on TNN was getting between 0.8 and 1.3 and for cable on a Friday night that’s pretty damn good. It’s a shame ECW didn’t survive another year or so. ECW would have been perfect on FX as a lead in for The Shield.


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