Smackdown preview, Guerrero update, Christian conf. call, and more Submitted by William Martinez on Thursday, October 18, 2001 at 5:56 PM EST
Here is a preview of tonight's Smackdown:
> The Hardy Boyz & Lita vs. The Hurricane, Lance Storm & Mighty Molly > Maven vs. Tazz > D-Von Dudley vs. Tajiri > The Undertaker & Kane vs. Test & Booker T > The Rock & Chris Jericho vs. Raven & Justin Credible > Kurt Angle vs. Rob Van Dam
Edge will be the special guest on this weekend's WWF Excess.
Credit: WWF.com
Here are notes from a conference call Christian held with the media today:
> Christian does not want to compare him turning on Edge to Shawn Michaels turning on Marty Janetty or Owen Hart turning on Bret Hart due to the fact that he feels their breakup is different.
> Christian feels that both he and Edge and qualities that will get them over in singles competition once their feud comes to an end.
> Despite being an adjustment, Christian is happy with the turn. He described it as challenging after wrestling as a tag team for three years.
> Christian feels that his entrance is different and that it is hard to be different from the rest of the guys these days.
> Christian isn't really thinking about his ladder match at No Mercy because he knows what to expect, unlike his first ladder match. He tries not to psyche himself out by thinking about it.
> He doesn't think it was too soon for him to join the Alliance since there aren't very many established stars in the faction. He feels he will bring something different to it since fans are familiar with him.
> Christian is always on the lookout for cool things to add to his outfits like his hats and glasses.
> Christian realizes the risk of permanent injury in the ladder match. The falls are scary and you have to be aware of where you are, where the ladder is and where your opponent is.
> Christian said that he thought his heel turn turned out great and because it was in Toronto, it was more emotional. He was at a loss of words describing what it felt like.
> He feels that going from something that you knows works well to something new is risky but he is easing into his new role and didn't want to risk getting stale by doing the same thing.
> Christian is looking forward to getting in the ring with people like The Rock, Chris Benoit and Chris Jericho as a singles competitor.
> He likes working in "big man vs. small man" matches but enjoys a variety of opponent since it keeps things fresh.
> Christian feels that Paul Heyman is very creative and helped him after his heel turn. Heyman is very hands on to anyone that needs help.
> A german suplex caused Edge's eye injury since Christian's weight landed on his face. In their initial match, a chair landing on his face caused him to get busted open.
> Christian always tries to equal the last ladder match he had. That is his goal for Sunday and it is different because there are only two competitors.
> On the subject of the loss of WCW programming as competition, Christian feels like there wasn't any competition in the final years so he never looked at it that way. He feels that bringing in WCW to the WWF has added new elements to the shows.
> He doesn't force himself to think as a heel but rather what he thinks works. Says that Edge and Christian were their actual personalities just raised a little bit.
> The two almost split before their first tag team title reign but he is glad they didn't because no one would have cared back then. By staying together, they became new characters.
> Christian feels that it is better to have too much talent in a promotion than not enough. He feels that he is fortunate to have his spot with the WWF while others have to work for TV time.
> He has not been asked to take a pay cut.
> Christian enjoys going to the gym, going to movies, playing hockey and hanging out at home when he isn't wrestling.
> Christian would like to do movies or television if the opportunity showed itself. He has enjoyed the commercials he has done.
> He thinks the angle from Raw has gotten him over as a heel.
> Christian feels that there are still a lot of good tag teams and that the art of tag team wrestling isn't lost yet.
> Christian said that life on the road isn't different now that he is married because he was with his wife before he started in the WWF.
> He doesn't worry that ladder matches may shorten his career.
> He hopes that the ladder match on Sunday does for his career what the ladder match at No Mercy '99 did for him, Edge and the Hardyz.
> Christian enjoyed working with the Hardyz and Lita and loved the backstage vignettes they did about them on TV.
> The hardest part of training is dieting properly.
> Christian feels that a push of the cruiserweight division would be great but he feels that he can stay a heavyweight at his size and wants to stay there. He doesn't want to be labeled as just a cruiserwight but would not turn down working in the division.
> He feels that Rob Van Dam has great charisma and is laid back.
> He doesn't worry about other people's WWF status, just his own.
> WWF.com asked if he and Edge feuded in Stampede Wrestling. Christian told them that they were never in Stampede Wrestling.
The next series of WWF trading cards being produced by Fleer will be "The Ultimate Diva Collection" which will feature the WWF divas in their own set of cards. The set, which will be available in December, will include random inserts of cards such as "Ring Accessories" which will feature swatches of diva clothing and "Diva Ink" which will include real autographs from the divas.
Eddy Guerrero is now at HWA and will remain there until the end of November, at the very least, to get his timing back and get back in shape.
Jeff Jarrett's AOL Time Warner contract expired at midnight last night and he is now a free agent. He will be competing for the WWA's Australian tour.
Reportedly, Rob Van Dam's recent mis-cue and potato shots have rubbed The Undertaker and Steve Austin the wrong way.
DirecTV, WWF spat nixes pay-per-view event By John Dempsey
NEW YORK (Variety) - Wrestling fans who also own a DirecTV satellite receiver will have to scramble Sunday night to find the World Wrestling Federation's ``No Mercy'' pay-per-view event.
``No Mercy'' won't be available on DirecTV because the satellite distributor and the WWF could not agree on a contract after sporadic negotiations that began 10 months ago when the previous deal expired.
Stu Snyder, president and chief operating officer of WWF Entertainment, said he's encouraging DirecTV customers to re-evaluate their options if they want to see PPV wrestling, meaning they should cancel their DirecTV subscriptions and sign up with EchoStar's Dish Network or switch to cable.
Breck Wheeler, media analyst for Legg Mason Wood Walker, said one reason DirecTV hasn't worked out a WWF deal is the uncertainty over who its next owner will be.
News Corp. and EchoStar have submitted serious bids for DirecTV, possibly causing the company to hold off on doing high-visibility programming deals like one for WWF monthly PPV events.
The impasse between DirecTV and the WWF boils down to a conflict over revenue splitting.
``We've offered the WWF more than any other pay-per-view platform,'' including In Demand, EchoStar and TVN, DirecTV senior VP of program acquisitions Michael Thornton said.
But WWF's Snyder said DirecTV has delivered an unacceptable offer that is lower than its previous contract with the WWF. He argues that the WWF deserves generous splits because over the last few years it has become the driver of pay-per-view events, responsible for 67.5% of total PPV revenue in 2000 and an additional 65% during the second quarter of 2001.
Many cable operators plan to promote the absence of the Sunday ``No Mercy'' event on DirecTV by doing radio and newspaper ads with offers of free installation to people who become cable subscribers.
``This is a real opportunity for us,'' said Jerry McKenna, head of programming for Cable One, a top 10 multisystem cable operator.
But McKenna said he's also convinced that if DirecTV starts losing subscribers because it lacks WWF monthly events, it will quickly rush back to the bargaining table.
By Dirty Doug Bloom.10/11/01 Radio Show Welcome to my review of Chairshots the radio show starring Brent Fusaro and Rod Siciliano. The show airs on 88.1 FM WBLQ in Westerly, Rhode Island on Thursday nights from 6-7:30 PM. This is only a review of the show; the whole show can be heard on www.chairshots.com with use of Real Player. This week's guests are Former ECW Star and Current ACW Champion- Chris Hamrick and WWF Superstar- K-Kwick.
Chris Hamrick
- Chris Hamrick is in the studio with Rod and Brent.
- Chris said he will be wrestling for Assault Championship Wrestling on Friday October 19 at the Meriden Independent Club in Meriden, CT and it will be a benefit show for the firefighters and their families from the World Trade Center Tragedy.
- Hamrick said he will be wrestling in Alaska next weekend, the 20th and 21st.
- Chris said he loves working for Assault because Jason brings in the top-notch talent and the fans are great.
- Hamrick said the bump he does through the ropes doesn't hurt when he does it because of the adrenaline, but he feels it the next day.
- Chris said he was cool with whatever ECW asked him to do, but he would rather be a wrestler than a manager.
- Hamrick said he started wrestling in North Carolina at age 9 when his dad brought him into a ring and then at age 16 he was on a tour in Oklahoma.
- Chris said he has been wrestling for 16 years and has survived because he has adapted to what the smart fans want today.
- Hamrick said it's better that the fans are smarter today because it keeps the wrestlers on their toes.
- Chris said the fans in the North are smarter than the fans down South.
- Hamrick said some Indy wrestlers down South have never wrestled in front of a smart audience. He said they think they are over because they got a pop, however if they went up North he feels they would die out there.
- Chris said that Ricky Morton was very influential to he and Kid Kash getting into wrestling.
- Hamrick said he has never really trained anyone but he has worked with some guys in Plainfield.
- Chris said that he started his ECW career working with Chilly Willy.
- Hamrick said that the next show after his tryout Chilly Willy asked to work with him.
- Chris said he loved working with Chilly and that he was a great guy.
- Hamrick said when he goes out to Alaska it is going to be he and Julio Dinero vs. The Road Warriors. Hamrick also said he loves working with Julio.
- Chris talked about a show in North Carolina he did last week for Extreme Wrestling Live in which he wrestled in a three way with Julio Dinero and Kid Kash and he and Julio kept fighting each other and leaving Kash off to the side.
- Hamrick said that in ECW everybody loved working with Rob Van Dam and he didn't have a reputation for cutting people open. Hamrick said he only wrestled him once and it was RVD's third match in the business.
- Chris said that working for Smokey Mountain Wrestling was great and they had a great locker room.
- Hamrick said his Confederate Currency gimmick was Joey Styles idea and he liked it because it made him money.
- Chris said that if you get hurt in the wrestling business, you are on your own. Chris said he doesn't really worry about it and in the 16 years he has been wrestling he has never broken anything.
- Hamrick talked about the injury to Reckless Youth and how it was the other guys' fault.
- Chris said he protects himself in the ring and he doesn't trust anybody who he hasn't worked or seen work before.
- Hamrick said that Backyard Wrestling is stupid. He said that some of the things that these kids attempt are idiotic because it isn't wrestling and they are going to get hurt.
- Chris said that these guys should go to a wrestling school and learn to wrestle without the hardware first.
- Hamrick said that the show in Meriden on Friday would be at 7:30 PM.
- Chris talks about how great Debonair Cruz(ACW) is and how he thinks he'll make it big someday.
- Hamrick said that Ron Zombie(ACW) is good but he is not his style because he is more hardcore than he likes.
- Chris said that if promoters want him to work hardcore it would cost them more.
- Hamrick talks about the Hippie Freak Nic Richards(ACW) and Fred Curry Jr.(ACW).
- Chris said that it does not sit well with him that a guy like Maven gets into the WWF before some of these Indy guys.
- Hamrick said that EZ Money is talented as a wrestler, but as a human he sucks.
- Chris promotes the ACW show in Meriden, CT on Friday the 19th again. Chris also says that Assault puts on one of the best shows around.
- Hamrick thanks Rod and Brent for having him in the studio and then signs off.
K-Kwick
- K-Kwick said that he is waiting for the call from the WWF, but it looks like he might be headed towards the Indy's.
- K-Kwick said that he got into the WWF with a lot of hard work.
- K-Kwick said the vocal aspect of his character is his own and not provided by the WWF and he said he might be working on an album.
- K-Kwick talks about the funny times he had in the three years he was on the road with Chris Hamrick.
- K-Kwick said that he was into Boxing, Dancing and Gymnastics before the WWF.
- K-Kwick talks about when he used to tag with Hamrick on the Indy's as Rock and Rap. Chris joked that he used to tell the promoters that he was Rap.
- K-Kwick said that in a way it hurt him that he came in with Road Dogg and then he got fired, but he still gets a lot of people backstage telling him that he deserves more air time.
- K-Kwick said that he hangs out with X-Pac, Jeff Hardy, Albert, Tazz and more in the WWF.
- K-Kwick said that when the WWF bought WCW there was a lot of apprehension about who was going to make the cut, but most people just try to go out there and do their thing.
- K-Kwick said that a lot of people are worried right now as to whether they are going to be cut or not because the WWF only lets you know so much.
- K-Kwick said that Vince McMahon is straight business.
- K-Kwick said that when he first got signed he met with Jim Ross and Ross said that he had seen him work and that he had a promising future in the WWF.
- K-Kwick said that he came up with the whole "Get Rowdy" song.
- K-Kwick said that Road Dogg's music style is kind of Kid Rock-ish, but he has his own Road Dogg style.
- K-Kwick said that he would love to wrestle with the Road Dogg on the Indy's when he gets going.
- K-Kwick said that if anybody is interested in booking him, they could book him through hiflyinghamrick@aol.com.
- K-Kwick thanks Rod and Brent for having him on and then signs off.
- Rod and Brent wrap up another great show and then sign off.
- GOD BLESS AMERICA!!!!
- For www.chairshots.com this is Dirty Doug Bloom signing off.
