The Custom Made News Report 01.20.08

Welcome, one and all, to the Custom Made News Report. We’re just one week away from the Royal Rumble, which begins the road to Wrestlemania and the busiest time of year for those of us here at 411. However, the news is already starting to pile up, so let’s see if we can’t get through it quickly.

PPV Preview: WWE Royal Rumble (Part 1)

(Due to the sheer size of the Royal Rumble match, there will be two installments of the Custom Made News Report’s preview of this pay per view. This week, the single matches booked for the show will be covered. Next week, the Rumble match itself will be covered.)

WWE Royal Rumble

– This will be the twenty-first WWE Royal Rumble event.
– This will be the twentieth WWE Royal Rumble event to be broadcast on pay per view.
– The first WWE Royal Rumble event was broadcast on the USA Network.
– This year, there will be two title matches on the Royal Rumble.
– There have been forty-eight previous title defenses in Royal Rumble history.
– The championship that has changed hands most frequently at the Royal Rumble is the Intercontinental Title, which has been exchanged six times in eleven defenses.
– The Intercontinental Title is not currently scheduled to be defended at the 2008 Royal Rumble.
– The Royal Rumble has the distinction of being the only WWE pay per view on which the company’s now-defunct Women’s Tag Team Titles were defended.
– There have been twenty-five prior instances in which a wrestler has competed in both the Rumble match and a non-Rumble match during the same card.
– The first man to do this was Roddy Piper in the 1992 Royal Rumble.
– None of the men currently scheduled for non-Rumble matches are also scheduled to participate in this year’s Rumble.

Chris Jericho vs. John “Bradshaw” Layfield

– Chris Jericho has not wrestled on a Royal Rumble pay per view since 2005.
– John Layfield has not wrestled on a Royal Rumble pay per view since 2006.
– This is the first time that Chris Jericho will be wrestling in a non-Rumble match at this show which is also not for a title.
– Chris Jericho’s Royal Rumble record is 3-0.
– John Layfield’s Royal Rumble record is 1-2.

Montel Vontavious Porter vs. Ric Flair

– Porter comes in to this match as the reigning WWE United States Champion, though his title will not be on the line.
– The WWE United States Championship has never been defended at the Royal Rumble.
– This will be Porter’s first Royal Rumble appearance in a non-Rumble match.
– Ric Flair’s Royal Rumble record is 2-0.
– Of course, one of the highlights of Flair’s career is winning the WWF Title in the 1992 Royal Rumble match, in which he wrestled for over an hour.

Rey Misterio, Jr. vs. Edge (c) for the WWE Smackdown Title

– This will be the fifth time that the WWE Smackdown Title has been defended at the Royal Rumble.
– The WWE Smackdown Title has NEVER changed hands at the Royal Rumble.
– Rey Misterio’s Royal Rumble record is 1-0.
– Rey’s one and only victory at the Royal Rumble in a non-Rumble match was a title contest.
– Edge’s Royal Rumble record is 1-3.
– All three of Edge’s losses at the Royal Rumble have come in title matches.
– However, Edge did manage to eliminate Rey Misterio from the 2005 Royal Rumble match.

Jeff Hardy vs. Randy Orton (c) for the WWE Raw Title

– This will be the seventeenth time that the WWE Raw Title has been defended at the Royal Rumble.
– The WWE Raw Title has changed hands five times at the Royal Rumble.
– Jeff Hardy’s Royal Rumble record is 2-0.
– However, Jeff Hardy has never had a singles match at a Royal Rumble pay per view.
– Randy Orton’s Royal Rumble record is 0-1.
– Orton’s one non-Rumble match loss at this pay per view was in a title match.

Who Signed J.R.?

The WWE signed J.R., of course! According to a statement circulated by Jim Ross himself, the venerable announcer has come to terms with his current employer on a new deal that will see him remain with the promotion through 2010. Of course, no other details about Ross’ new contract have been released, though one would assume that the fifty-six year old Oklahoman will spend most if not all of this time as the lead announcer for Monday Night Raw, a seat that he has occupied for many years.

There has been a lot of talk this past week about “Big Show” Paul Wight inking a new deal with WWE, but, quite frankly, I consider Ross resigning to be far more important to the future of the company. That’s not to take anything away from Wight, who I feel is a consistent performer and can bring a lot to a wrestling show when booked properly. Yet, despite the fact that he can make significant contributions to a well-stocked roster, Wight is not a guy who has a track record of consistently spiking television ratings, pay per view buyrates, merchandise sales, or any of numerous other WWE business indicators. Of course, Jim Ross has also not done these things in the way that a piece of in-ring talent would. However, Ross is the individual responsible for taking the most important angles on wrestling television and making them seem significant. He is more capable than any other man of using the English language to turn wrestlers in to superstars and superstars in to legends. During the hiatuses that he has taken from World Wrestling Entertainment, there has been a decided lack of both credibility and emotion within the product, which can be directly traced to the absence of Ross’ trademark calls. Simply put, WWE without Jim Ross in many ways is not WWE at all. Though there will come a time that he is forced in to retirement, the company would be wise to make sure that it does everything in its power to keep Ross on board for as long as possible.

It is also interesting to note that, the same week that Ross put pen to paper on this deal, Vince McMahon decided to take a lighthearted jab at the man in the black hat through WWE.com. According to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Ross, who recently celebrated a birthday, was listed on the site as having turned 63 despite the fact that he actually turned 56. This was reportedly the doing of Vince McMahon (age 62), who apparently enjoys joshing J.R. about his age.

This video is rather brief, and it’s not all that action packed. However, it does make for an interesting historical note. It’s a clip of none other than Amy “Lita” Dumas sitting ringside during a lucha libre television show promoted by CMLL in 1998. Enjoy.

To view videos that have appeared in previous editions of the Custom Made News Report, be sure to check out my new YouTube page.

Ratings War . . . Won?

Several members of the TNA front office are likely doing a happy dance this week, as Figure Four Weekly is reporting that Thursday marked the first time that the viewership for an episode of TNA Impact eclipsed the viewership for an episode of ECW on Sci-Fi. Though both shows wound up with 1.2 cable ratings, 1.6 million people tuned in to TNA, whereas ECW had a lower number of total viewers. (It is possible for shows with identical ratings to be viewed by different amounts of people because cable ratings reflect not a straight number of viewers but rather the percentage of individuals with access to a particular network who are actually watching it.) It should also be noted that 1.6 million viewers is a record high for TNA, barely eking past the company’s average audience. Though there’s no way of knowing with certainty what caused the jump in viewers, my guess would be that the Global Impact which aired after TNA’s regular show contributed to the growth. Individuals who do not make a habit out of watching TNA may have tuned in specifically to see Global Impact and caught part of the second hour of the normal Impact broadcast. Another potential contributing factor is the strength of this week’s Impact main event, Christian vs. AJ Styles vs. Samoa Joe. From a pure “workrate” perspective, this match on paper had the potential to be as good as any in Impact history. This potential, combined with the fact that the match was promoted a week in advance and the fact that it was Christian’s first opportunity to get his hands on new rival Styles, may also have enticed additional viewers to tune in.

Of course, the question to ask at this point is, “What does Impact’s victory over ECW mean?” The answer, quite frankly, is nothing. Though it may be a bit of a morale booster for members of TNA’s staff and locker room, the company does not get a bonus for outdrawing a WWE-produced show, nor are these additional viewers guaranteed to provide TNA with much-needed revenue. Having one episode of a television show which attracts an unusually high number of viewers means nothing for the long term. TNA should carefully study quarter-hour ratings and fan reaction to this episode of Impact to determine what exactly caused the spike and then use that information to replicate the episode’s success. Furthermore, the promotion should redouble its efforts to make sure that any retained viewers care about the company’s storylines and wrestlers enough to buy either live event tickets or pay per view cards. That is what will make TNA a successful wrestling company, not their primary television program being viewed slightly more than WWE’s tertiary television program.

TNA/New Japan Relationship Continues

Speaking of the Global Impact special, the show, which featured highlights of TNA wrestlers working on a New Japan Pro Wrestling card, drew an 0.76 rating with 950,000 total viewers. It remains to be seen whether TNA and SpikeTV consider such a rating to be a success, but the critical response to the show online has been overwhelmingly positive. Regardless of whether TNA and Spike are happy with the special’s drawing power, it looks like the relationship between the American promotion and NJPW is set to continue throughout the early part of 2008.

As previously reported in this very column, Kurt Angle shot an angle at the end of New Japan’s January 4 card in which he challenged reigning IWGP Champion Shinsuke Nakamura to a match which would unify Nakamura’s legitimate IWGP Title with Angle’s fake IWGP Title. That contest was quickly signed for NJPW’s February 17 show in Tokyo. We can now confirm that Angle will not be the only piece of TNA talent on that particular card. Travis Tomko, who is as much an NJPW regular as he is a TNA regular, will be teaming up with partner Giant Bernard to defend the IWGP Tag Team Titles against Togi Makabe and Toru Yano. The bigger news is that AJ Styles will be making his return to Japan to wrestle former IWGP Champion Hiroshi Tanahashi in a singles match. American fans may recall that Tanahashi visited the United States in January of 2006, wrestling Styles in a singles match on TNA’s Final Resolution pay per view. AJ won that contest when interference by “Prince of Punk” Shannon Moore allowed him to pick up the victory in just over ten minutes. Many people were expecting that match to be a clash of styles (no pun intended), but it went far better than anticipated. One would imagine that Tanahashi will get his win back in the Japanese version of the bout, particularly after Styles was allowed to pin NJPW wrestler Minoru on the January 4 card.

Furthermore, New Japan wrestlers are headed to TNA this week. The American company is taping television shows on January 21 and January 22. According to the WON, both IWGP Champion Shinsuke Nakamura and junior heavyweight wrestler Tiger Mask are being sent to the shows. However, it is not clear whether the two men will actually be wrestling matches as part of the tapings or whether they will just be there as observers. Jeff Jarrett is reportedly very interested in bringing both men in to work for the company, but TNA has in the past had opportunities to utilize foreign talent, only to leave them on the sidelines. For example, All Japan wrestler Kohei Suwama was in the United States last year during several TNA cards, but the only use that Jarrett and company made of him was allowing the guy to stand in the background of a Steiner Brothers promo while Scott made a passing reference to the fact that he had Suwama had an upcoming match as a team in AJPW. Tiger Mask, though, has made previous in-ring appearances for TNA, wrestling on the promotion’s “Sacrifice” pay per view in 2007 and on the television tapings that immediately followed it. It should certainly be interesting to see whether Tiger and Nakamura are allowed to set foot in the six sided ring this week and who their opponents will be in the event that they are booked for matches.

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

~ A couple of weeks ago I previewed Dragon Gate’s WrestleJAM shows, which traditionally feature a large number of foreign independent wrestlers. I’m glad to note that several of these wrestlers did very well for themselves. Ring of Honor star Austin Aries and PWG standout Human Tornado both managed get the pinfall in six man tag team matches on the tour, while British indy sensation PAC not only won in six man action but also pulled out the victory in a big battle royale held on the first WrestleJAM show. Less successful was the Spanish Announce Team of Joel and Jose Maximo, who lost in several matches, including their shot at DG’s Open the Twin Gate tag team titles.

~ The following results came in for the UWA Hardcore show that we previewed in last week’s column: Don Paysan def. Johnny Gargano, Arik Cannon def. Ricky Reyes, The Flatliners def. The Ring Crew Express, Lionel Knight def. Josh Abercrombie, Hiromi Horiguchi def. Lionel Knight to retain the UWA Lightheavyweight Title, Delirious def. Tyler Black, Cheech & Cloudy def. Joker & Sabian, and Petey Williams def. Josh Prohibition by disqualification. More information on the UWA can be found here.

In the reader feedback department, we have this note from Milton in regards to last week’s column:

I read your article and noticed a reference to one of our local wrestlers who has been in Japan recently, “The Widowmaker” Angel Williams. Just to give you a little info on him, Angel wrestles for Impact Zone Wrestling in Oklahoma and has also competed in Tom Jones’ Mid-South Wrestling Alliance. He was involved in an invasion angle last year as a part of Team MSWA against an IZW invasion. He returned not too long ago to confront IZW owner John Zorthos and he also broke Zorthos’s tag-team partner’s hand. I had heard about him going to Japan, that’s why I knew exactly who you were talking about. It’s always good to see one of our guys get some publicity because I think that our indy scene here in Oklahoma is a secret to a lot of people. I’ve been going to indy show here for about a year and a half and love it. I went to WCCW and Mid-South shows here back in the day. Anyway, thanks for the article, and if you’re ever in OKC, check us out.

Well, I personally live nowhere near Oklahoma. However, if anybody reading this column is in the area and wants to catch an IZW show, I suggest taking a look at the upcoming dates listed on their website. It’s your support of indy wrestling that gives the next generation of mainstream superstars an avenue in which to cut their teeth.

And, before I send you all on your merry little ways, here is the now traditional list of links for your additional reading pleasure:

~ ESPN Classic continues to air footage of Herb Abrams’ UWF, and I continue to recap it. Check out my reports for the shows that were broadcast on 1/15, 1/17, 1/18, and 1/19.

~ You may have noticed that 1/16 was missing from the above list. That’s because I was unable to catch the show and handed over recapping duties to MMA Zone contributor Randy Harrison. His recap is here.

~ Also, be sure to check out Randy’s regular work through his 411 author profile.

~ In addition to the UWF, I also handled my regular duties reviewing TNA. Read The Impact Crater for all of the gory details.

~ Oh, and did I mention that there was an extra hour of TNA this week? Fortunately, it was one of the best shows they’ve ever produced. More thoughts are available in the Global Impact Crater.

~ Global Impact wasn’t the only special feature that took place this week, though. 411 also began inducting the 2008 class in to its Wrestling Hall of Fame. Yours truly had the honor of inducting former NWA Champion Dory Funk, Jr..

And that’s a wrap. I know that this edition of the report was a little bit shorter than average, but that’s what happens when commitments in the real world conflict with your duties as a volunteer internet wrestling columnist. I’m already working on several stories for next week and hope to have the column back up to its normal depth of coverage. So you know exactly when that piece goes up, be sure to add me as a friend on MySpace, where I send out bulletin notifications every time I publish new content on 411.