The Custom Made News Report 09.09.07

Welcome, one and all, to the Custom Made News Report for the second weekend of September 2007. The big news in my life is that, starting next week, I no longer have to follow John Meehan, as his news report is moving to Fridays! Seriously, do you know how much pressure is involved in trying to not look second rate when that guy keeps knocking columns out of the ballpark Saturday after Saturday? I’ll be able to sleep much easier knowing that there’s a twenty-four hour buffer between us.

Victoria Torches the Torch

An unlikely war of words erupted this week between the Pro Wrestling Torch and WWE wrestler Victoria after the Torch ran the following:

A number of WWE sources reportedly expressed surprise over the fact that no WWE Divas have shown up on the Signature Pharmacy client list. While there is no evidence linking the women to that particular pharmacy (or any online pharmacy), sources, as reported by The Torch, say that some do use banned substances that can be purchased over the Internet.

The alleged drugs of choice for some of WWE’s Divas are Clenbuterol, an asthma drug similar to ephedrine (but stronger and longer lasting) that helps burn fat (it also has anti-catabolic properties), Cytomel, a synthetic version of the T3 thyroid hormone that burns fat very rapidly, and Anavar, a mild anabolic steroid that appeals to women based on its reputation of producing very minimal side effects (both masculine and general).

Victoria

Just a couple of days later, Victoria had this to say in a blog entry on her MySpace page:

I’m sick to my stomach about a couple of things, and I want to address them. First, I get some emails today asking me if I’m one of the WWE Divas that “a number of WWE sources” claim are using drugs. Where did that information come from? Where did that quote come from? Wrestling websites. So I want to address those wrestling websites…

And to any website that made that false claim that doesn’t either want to apologize, pony up your source, or put your money where your mouth is, I say this…I will never grant an interview with you. I will go out of my way to make sure that no other WWE talent ever grants an interview with you. And I will make it my mission that should any indepedent worker ever grant an interview with you, should they make it to the WWE, they will get the most brutal “welcome to the bigs” in the history of sports entertainment.

Though Victoria never mentions the Torch by name, it’s fairly obvious to what she is responding.

Generally, when two individuals are involved in a conflict like this, the immediate response of spectators is to pick one side and support it over the other. However, in this particular case, I feel that both parties have committed errors of judgment and could have dealt with this situation in a much more professional manner.

On one hand, I can see why Victoria would be angry. If somebody accused me of engaging in activity that is a.) potentially illegal and b.) could get me fired, I certainly would be infuriated with them and ready to lash out. However, Victoria seemingly takes this desire too far. First of all, given current events in the wrestling world, I don’t know that her MySpace blog was the best place to issue such a statement. For all I know, Victoria has never touched a drug – legal or otherwise – in her entire life. I have no evidence that would either support or detract from her claims. However, when I read a posting by a wrestler in this format, I am immediately reminded of other, similar postings by the likes of Ken Kennedy, Edge, and Gregory Helms, all of whom took to the internet to claim that they were clean . . . only to be proven liars in the wake of the recent Signature scandal. (Check out my column from last Friday to compare what some of these guys said on their blogs despite the fact that they were all receiving shipments from Signature Pharmacy in 2007.) Though Victoria could be the most honest person on the planet, her credibility is severely undercut by the recent actions of her coworkers, and all she is doing by using this format is opening herself up a backlash from more cynical commentators. The other mistake that she is making is going out of her way to speak for people other than herself. I’m sure that she has many friends among the current crop of WWE Divas, and I’m sure that she has a very good idea of what many of them are doing in order to achieve their looks. However, she crosses a line by implying that every woman in the company is clean, which is something that she cannot possibly know unless she has administered regular drug tests to all of them. This only sets her up to look rather bad if news does break about one of the WWE women using substances that are banned by either the wellness policy or by law.

Yet, as poor as Victoria’s decisions were, I have to chide the Torch a little bit more. It is true that reporters from every field (even those other than wrestling) regularly rely on unnamed sources, in large part because certain individuals wouldn’t be willing to volunteer information if they knew that it could have repercussions for their personal or professional lives. However, I really have to question whether this is the sort of story that should be reported in such vague terms with nothing more than “a number of WWE sources” being indicated as the origin point of the information. When you’re dealing with drug use on this level, it’s not something trivial like “Wrestler X’s contract expires in three months” or “Wrestler Y was originally scheduled to go over, but plans changed at the last minute.” What we’re dealing with here is a serious matter that could negatively impact people’s careers and result in criminal penalties. Making such severe accusations – even if they are about a class of twenty-some people as opposed to specific individuals – strikes me as the sort of behavior that would be engaged in by a tabloid as opposed to a legitimate news source, and it severely undermines the credibility of the publication. That’s a shame, because, alongside the Wrestling Observer, the Torch was one of the more reliable publications covering this industry.

Long story short: I don’t like how the Torch went about reporting this particular “story.” However, I don’t think that Victoria made the best choices when she decided to respond. Hopefully if the potential for any incidents like this one arises in the future, cooler heads will prevail.

The Cost of Wellness

There has been a lot of talk about the WWE’s wellness policy over the course of the last week and a half. Virtually everybody reading this column now knows that eleven wrestlers were recently suspended as a result of the policy and at least one was fired. However, does anybody know what it actually means to be suspended under the policy? The Wrestling Observer recently provided some insight when they took a look at the recent wellness suspension of Jeff Hardy, who was benched for thirty days by WWE heading in to Summerslam.

In order to understand exactly how much the suspension cost Mr. Hardy, one first needs a little bit of background about how pay in WWE is structured. Wrestlers have a minimum salary in their contract, which is often referred to as a “downside guarantee.” This is the amount of money that the wrestler is going to earn per year, even if the company can’t think of anything to do with them and they sit at home for twelve solid months. On top of that, the talent receive extra bonuses for appearing on pay per view events and on house shows. Obviously, Hardy didn’t earn any PPV or house show bonuses during the time that he was kept off the road. However, that’s not the only money that he was out. According to Meltzer, the suspension also involved WWE not paying out one month worth of Hardy’s downside guarantee. The total cost to the former Tag Team Champion when all of this was said and done? Roughly $100,000. Though Jeff is still able to live comfortably if he’s making this amount of money every other month of the year, that figure is a substantial amount of cash to virtually anybody on the planet, which goes to show that the wellness policy is a powerful tool when it is enforced properly.

The one question left unanswered by the Observer blurb, though, was whether Hardy will still receive merchandise royalties for the period during which he was suspended. WWE talent typically gets a cut of merchandise based on their character, and that could be a substantial sum for a guy like Jeff, whose gear always seems to be among the bestsellers on the WWE’s website.

One Major Announcement Revealed, Second Still Shaky

For the last several days, TNA has been promising that a “major announcement” will be made at tonight’s No Surrender pay per view, and the company has also been floating out rumors that they are in negotiations with a former World Heavyweight Champion. One of these “surprises” has already leaked out through the usual sources, while one remains unclear.

Virtually every major news source online – including PWInsider and the Observer – have confirmed that the announcement is most likely the addition of a second hour for TNA’s Impact program on SpikeTV beginning in October. This is something that the company has been pushing for literally since they first debuted on the network, so I’m sure that it is seen as a massive victory internally.

The identity of the former “World Champion” has not yet been revealed. Dave Meltzer reported on Saturday morning that the company was talking with three different candidates. He did not name those individuals, though he did note that Brock Lesnar is most likely not one of them, as the former Golden Gopher appears to be headed to the Ultimate Fighting Championship. It should also be noted that, in an unrelated report in a recent edition fo the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Meltzer stated that the company had sent out “feelers” to Scott Hall, though he did not mention Hall by name in the Saturday report. However, given the timing of their contact with the Bad Guy, it wouldn’t be surprising if he were one of the three names under consideration. (And, before anybody sends in an e-mail attempting to correct me, Hall is a former World Tag Team Champion, which is probably enough to fit TNA’s “World Champion” bill.)

My thoughts? Though the two hour announcement is great news for current Impact fans, I sincerely doubt that the increase in television time will do anything to improve the company’s business and will be surprised (albeit pleasantly) if their quality improves. Though TNA has spent years claiming that a second hour that will be the magic pill which cures all of their problems, sheer quantity of television has nothing to do with a company’s success. The quality of the television program produced is far more important, and quality programming is what TNA has been lacking . . . as I have had the privilege (?) of documenting every week for a little over a year. And, when I say that the show has been no good, that’s not just one man’s opinion. That’s a fact backed up by the promotion’s business indicators – namely stagnant television ratings and pay per view buyrates which are not enough to make the company profitable. If the company was really serious about producing good television and really had the capability to do it, it easily could have taken place when they only had one hour. Numerous successful promotions only had an hour of TV in the territorial days of wrestling, particularly Bill Watts’ Mid-South group, which holds up as great episodic television to this day. The original editions of Monday Night Raw and Nitro were only an hour long. The ECW product that gained so much critical acclaim in the 1990’s only had an hour of syndicated television prior to their deal with TNN surfacing. A good one hour free TV show that gets viewers to purchase pay per views and live event tickets IS a possibility, no matter what those in TNA management would like us to believe. The fact that they have yet to produce such a show speaks more to their competence than it does to the need for hour number two.

As far as the former World Champion is concerned, I have no clue why TNA continues to go after guys who were major stars in other promotions. They thought that they had scored major coups with Sting, Christian Cage, and Kurt Angle . . . but do you know what those men did for the company’s bottom line? Absolutely nothing. Pay per view buyrates and television ratings did not increase when Sting came in. They did not increase when Christian came in. Kurt Angle, the biggest star of the three, did result in one pay per view with roughly three times the viewership of the average TNA event. Yet, as soon as that show was done, PPV buys dropped right back to their prior levels and have remained there ever since. Television ratings did also increase by roughly one or two tenths of a point after his debut, though it is open for debate whether this jump was caused purely by Angle or whether the earlier timeslot the company received at around the same time was ultimately responsible. Regardless, guys like Christian, Sting, and Angle have done nothing but cost the company a good deal of money while doing virtually nothing to increase their revenue. If Angle, who was a major WWE star literally weeks before his TNA debut, can’t do anything to increase the company’s fortunes, I seriously doubt that any other current free agent will be able to do so. What they need to focus on is producing compelling wrestling television, not bringing in every “name” wrestler that they can think of.

TNA Inept Abroad and at Home

TNA has announced numerous foreign live events over the course of the last couple of weeks, including a big trip to Israel. (Which, believe it or not, was a huge overseas market for World Class Championship Wrestling way back when.) Running shows in foreign countries that lack their own “big league” wrestling is one of the better ideas that TNA has had recently, as the same strategy got WCW some big live gates in its dying days and has kept WWE house show business afloat in some of its darkest hours. What’s not smart, though, is going in to a foreign company with its own established wrestling scene and attempting to compete with their home promotions. A wrestling juggernaut the size of WWE can pull of power plays of that nature. TNA . . . probably not.

However, they’re going to give it a shot. According to F4WOnline.com, Jarrett and his pals are headed to Mexico in December. They’ll be running in Naucalpan on the fifteenth and in Monterrey on the sixteenth. The former show is the day before one of AAA’s biggest events of the year and will likely be held in the same building. AAA, for those not in the know, is the most popular promotion in Mexico these days and is booked in large part by former disgruntled TNA employee Konnan. (Who will most likely have made an in-ring return by December if he can stay healthy.) The AAA event is one of the promotion’s biggest shows of the year, and, quite frankly, I don’t know how TNA will be able to stack up against it. Though it is true that the two promotions are not working directly opposite one another, wrestling fans only have so much money, no matter what country they’re from. Even the biggest fans would have difficulty shelling out for two major live events within two days, and, when choosing between a one-shot by an outside group and one of the biggest shows of a home promotion, it seems like the latter would always rank higher on a spectator’s priority list. As such, TNA isn’t hurting anybody but themselves by running this close to the AAA show. I suppose we’ll see if I’m correct when December 17 rolls around.

AJPW Gaijin = GOWEN?!

Believe it or not, one-legged wonder Zach Gowen is back in the news. The twenty-four year old, whose left leg was removed due to a childhood bout with cancer, is headed to All Japan Pro Wrestling. AJPW head honcho Keiji Mutoh claimed that he was contacted by the Michigan native during a recent tour of the mainland United States and Puerto Rico, which has lead to the youngster getting on his first Japanese tour with one of the big three. Gowen will be on numerous shows during the company’s September tour, and in all of them he will be teaming with the legendary Mutoh and a rotating partner to face members of the heel Voodoo Murderers unit in six man tag team action.

Zach Gowen takes on the Road Dogg

Gowen broke in to wrestling in 2002 after being trained by little-known Michigan indy wrestler Truth Martini. Obviously, due to his missing leg, the newcomer was an immediate novelty hit on the independent scene, with he and Martini working against each other several times before Gowen was able to branch out and face other, less familiar opponents. After only one year in the business, Gowen was given a try-out with NWA-TNA, and his skills wowed those in attendance at the live event. This was supposed to have lead to a regular deal with TNA, but, after only two matches with the company, the World Wrestling Federation caught wind of Gowen and signed him to a contract. (After a hilarious incident in which Johnny Ace signed the wrong one-legged man, something that is still joked about to this day.) Gowen was immediately thrust in to the limelight, debuting in an angle involving Hulk Hogan, Vince McMahon and Roddy Piper and going on to be involved in storylines with Kurt Angle and Brock Lesnar. Unfortunately, the company seemed to have little for Gowen after his initial storyline had run its course. Though he did get a major victory in an undercard rivalry with Matt Hardy, the one-dimensional nature of Gowen’s character and rumored attitude problems in the locker room lead to his untimely release after less than one full year with the company. Upon departing WWE, Gowen returned to the independent circuit, working regularly for IWA Mid-South and Border City Wrestling. Aside from surprise one-time appearances in TNA and Ring of Honor, Gowen had completely fallen off the radar of most fans of mainstream United States wrestling. Now, if he performs well in All Japan, the master of the one-legged moonsault will be able to prove once and for all that he belongs in a major league wrestling promotion.

CMLL Only Thing in Wrestling Older than Flair

On September 28, CMLL, the oldest active wrestling promotion in the world, will be celebrating its seventy-fourth anniversary with a major show. CMLL’s birthday party is usually one of the single biggest events in the world of lucha libre, and, though they have had some disastrously small crowds at recent events, the card that was announced has the potential to deliver some scintillating in-ring action. Here is a quick rundown of what to expect:

~ Metalico, Stuka Jr., & Valiente vs. Euforia, Loco Max, & Nosferatu – From what I’ve heard, the company is very high on Nosferatu’s recent work, so he may be the one to watch here. Unfortunately, he doesn’t play up the vampire gimmick nearly as much as he could. Hopefully he jumps to Triple A, who would definitely allow him to suck people’s blood and turn in to a bat.

~ Dark Angel, Luna Magica, & Marcela vs. Amapola, Hiroka, & Princesa Sujei – CMLL may have the greatest women’s division of any predominantly male promotion in the world, and this should be a fine opportunity for the ladies to showcase what they can do. The cornerstone of the division has been Canadian Sara Stock, better known as Dark Angel to lucha fans. Stock, who will no doubt become more familiar to US fans when her SHIMMER debut is released on DVD later this year, takes on two of her biggest rivals in this contest. Amapola is a former tag partner of Stock’s, though the breakup of that team lead to a bitter feud in which Amapola was unmasked. But who unmasked the Dark Angel? That was none other than Princesa Sujei, who now stands poised to gain another major victory over the Canadian.

~ La Sombra, Ultimo Dragon, & Volador Jr. vs. Misterioso Jr., Texano Jr., & Virus – This is an interesting combination of wrestlers, as each team consists of two younger stars pairing up with a veteran. Virus and Ultimo Dragon, both of whom have been wrestling since the mid-1980’s, look to guide their Generation Y partners to victory. Sombra has been pegged by many in the company as being a future star (as was discussed here a couple of weeks back), and a victory on the a major show like this one could help solidify that status. It’s interesting to note that one of the accomplishments that put him on the map was a victory in 2007’s Gran Alternativa tournament, in which younger wrestler teams with an established star. In order to win this match, he will actually have to go through the winner of the 2006 Gran Alternativa, Misterioso.

~ Alex Koslov, Dos Caras Jr., & Sagrado vs. Ephesto, Sangre Azteca, & Toscano – This match features the current CMLL World Heavyweight Champion, Dos Caras, Jr. Those of you who don’t follow lucha regularly are probably trying to figure out what the World Champ is doing so low down on the card, but, quite frankly, belts like this have never meant as much in Mexico as they do in the US, so this is not an uncommon state of affairs. He teams with perpetual midcarder Sagrado and Russian immigrant Alex Koslov to take on a team of somewhat more established stars. Toscano (formerly Tarzan Boy), Ephesto (formerly Safari), and Sangre Azteca (formerly . . . umm . . . Sangre Azteca) look to maintain their status in what should be a fun match.

~ Marco Corleone, Negro Cassas, & Rey Bucanero vs. Averno, Mephisto, & Olimpico – Corleone, the former Mark Jindrak, has somehow managed to turn himself in to a rather big star south of the border, and here he charges in to the semi-main flanked by Casas, one of the true living legends of lucha libre, and Bucanero, CMLL’s current Lightheavyweight Champion. Across the ring from them is a team with a combined forty-five years of experience in the industry. This could actually turn in to one hell of a little wrestling contest, which is something that I never thought I’d say about a Mark Jindrak match when he was in the WWF.

~ HELL IN THE RING Cage Match – No, not Hell in the Cell, but Hell in the Ring. This features a ton of CMLL’s top stars, including Mistico, Perro Aguayo Jr., Lizmark Jr., Villano V, Dr. Wagner Jr., Ultimo Guerrero, Blue Panther, and Atlantis. All of the competitors will fight in the cage for seven minutes, after which they are allowed to escape. The last two guys in have a singles match, and the loser will give up either his mask or his hair. If something like this were to happen on top of an American show, I’d blast it as being too complicated and for not focusing on one heated rivalry. However, in Mexico, things like this actually work (and can be damn entertaining), so I won’t pass that same judgment. If anything, Lizmark seems to be the weak link in this one, so I wouldn’t be surprised if he was the individual condemned to lose his hood. With most of the other guys, such a loss should probably be reserved for a singles match.

CMLL’s anniversary show last year was a great time, and, even though their business has declined somewhat since that point, the in-ring here has the potential to be just as entertaining. If you’re for some reason going to be in Mexico City at the end of the month, check it out!

Here are a couple of small updates to stories that I have discussed in previous editions of the report:

~ There was talk a few weeks back that Mark Henry may be departing WWE. However, this week it was reported that he has in fact signed a new deal.

~ Last week I noted that Matt Sydal had an absolutely insane schedule mapped out that involved a lot of flying back and forth between BOLA and Dragon Gate. Well, he did get a victory on the 9/8 Dragon Gate show, pinning Lupin Matsutani in six man tag action. Afterwards, he announced that he would soon be departing for WWE.

~ Speaking of BOLA, it was won by Dragon Gate’s CIMA, who defeated El Generico and Roderick Strong in the finals. I’ve read several live reports, and they indicate the first two nights were good yet not spectacular, while the third night is probably the best show in the history of the tournament and may be one of the best indy shows ever. All three nights should be available on DVD through Highspots relatively soon.

And so ends another edition of the Custom Made News. As always, feel free to tell me what you liked, what you hated, and what you found to be mind numbingly boring so that I can tailor the report to the needs and wants of you, the reader. If everything goes according to plan, next week I’ll be bringing back my editorial segment, which generated a fair amount of discussion the last time that I pulled it out. (I think I may have been burned in effigy at a recent ROH show.) Until then, if you want more reading check out:

~ Ari and the Column of Honor. I don’t talk about ROH here because this guy is already doing such a good job of covering it on the weekends.

~ Brad Garoon, with a review of SHIMMER: Volume 9, one of the latest DVDs from my favorite indy group. (Expect to see a lot more on them soon in this column.) Fortunately Brad paid attention to the show instead of trying to figure out which one of the mongoloids opposite the hard camera was me.

~ The Impact Crater, my weekly take on TNA’s TV. Read it now, because this column could be on the endangered species list if the two hour version of Impact doesn’t do anything for me.

~ My MySpace, which does not contain any commentary about whether WWE Divas are doing drugs but does contain exclusive blog content and the opportunity to add me as a friend for notification of when I publish new articles.

With that, enjoy the rest of your weekend and order the TNA pay per view if you’re having trouble sleeping. Jimmy Rave is making his debut, and he’s a great cure for insomnia.