The Wrestling Observer Yearbook '97: The Last Time WWF Was Number Two

by Dave Meltzer

  Instead, Kerr faced alternate Dwane Cason, a natural light heavyweight wrestler who had to eat his way up to 205-210 pounds just to be a heavyweight, and Kerr won the third NHB tournament (two UFC’s and another in Brazil) of his career with very little competition. Beneteau’s decision was weird since he’s probably done amateur wrestling for around 15 years and in that period must have done countless tournaments. I doubt if he’d ever withdrawn from a tournament without being injured simply because his opponent had an easier draw. While some gave him points for honesty, in not making up an injury as a reason to withdraw, the truth nowadays in UFC always gets out because they do extensive post-fight medical examinations and if there is no legitimate injury, the word would get out anyway so lying would be of no benefit.

  In many ways, this pointed out the big problem nowadays with doing tournaments. Tournaments, which put the UFC on the map in its early days, may be passe now because the expected climactic matches for some reason, whether they be injuries or upsets, never take place no matter how tournaments are “stacked.” In addition, it is hard to get good quality fighters willing to risk their reputation in a tough tournament, so often easy matches are given in the first round, which defeats the very purpose of having a four-man tournament.

  Even though the expected Kerr vs. Barreto battle of undefeated top-ten ranked fighters didn’t occur in the tournament and Kerr breezed through, the show was considered by virtually everyone as one of the best UFC’s in a long time with the upsets, several evenly matched fights, and a competitive championship match with a weird finish.

  Abbott, who officially got the word on Tuesday afternoon (although he had gone on a television show in Los Angeles on Monday night when the word was out there was a very good chance Dan Severn was out and he talked about the match with Smith), managed to tag Smith with his trademark hard punch and mount and pound him and did at one point have him in very legitimate trouble. However, like Mark Coleman before him, as the minutes went on, even though Abbott had Smith in the top position, it was Smith who was scoring more, generally elbows to the top of Abbott’s head. Smith, who is by no means a submission expert, but has been training with Frank Shamrock on-and-off for a few years, tried a few arm submissions but Abbott was strong enough to get out of them.

  However, when ref John McCarthy stood them up due to lack of action with Abbott simply laying on Smith, it was evident that Abbott was done. He really didn’t even want to come out of his corner, but was convinced to do so, took two hard whipping leg kicks, the second of which was quite brutal and told McCarthy that he had enough. While the leg kicks were brutal (Ken Shamrock, who has fought both of them, has told people that Smith’s leg kicks are a lot stronger than the more flashy looking leg kicks of Bas Rutten) and he was totally out of gas, the simply quitting at that point did a number on his aura that he’d managed to manufacture about his toughness and fighting ability.

  It was the first time anyone in a UFC had ever quit a fight based simply on leg kicks, and in many ways it was a logical decision in that he had nothing left and staying out there was only going to result in a lot of punishment. However, his manufactured image was such that a Tank Abbott wouldn’t quit a fight.

  So after all UFC shows, the question is now, what happens next. The most important factor again is that there has been no movement from the cable industry, even though rule changes have been put in place largely to satisfy the people who have made UFC a sacrificial lamb. The show was available in around 15 million or so homes. For whatever reason, even though the line-up was more attractive and they were coming off a good show, based on our limited areas of response, we don’t have an impression the show did as well on buys as the previous one.

  The reality is, until there is movement from cable, the short-term future of UFC is in jeopardy. Based on so many organizations world wide and fighters who have built up names (largely through UFC), NHB will continue in some form, although political realities in the U.S. seem to make it so Japan and Brazil may be the prime sites and not North America.

  The plan is for the 12/21 show in Japan to be the biggest show of the year, because the idea is they’ll have a big live gate to play with in Japan, with two tournaments and two or three superfights. The plan originally was to hold off Mark Coleman vs. Vitor Belfort for that show, but we know that happened there. So then the dream match became Smith vs. Belfort, and that isn’t going to happen either. Belfort vs. Kerr would make a great semifinal to a Smith vs. Couture main event, however putting Belfort against such a tough opponent, who at this point would be favored against him, would put him at risk of suffering a second straight devastating loss and I’m sure there’s the theory now to rebuild Belfort’s image if possible rather than throw him in their with one of the biggest lions in the NHB jungle.

  Quite frankly, even with how impressive Couture came out of this show, there are a lot of questions about the marketability of that match both on American PPV and in Japan. It’s also going to be quite a difficult match for Smith, whose 4-0 record in NHB and world championships in both EFC and UFC on paper make him undisputedly the No. 1 star in the sport, but the reality is his unbeaten record has been built on three wins against stronger men that ran out of gas and one win against an overmatched opponent.

  There had been serious talk of Kevin Jackson vs. Frank Shamrock to crown an under-200 world champion, although with Shamrock having an 11/29 match in Japan against Ensen Inoue on the Shooto Vale Tudo card in Tokyo, there is now the feeling that using the Shamrock-Inoue winner (Inoue, the world heavyweight champion in shooto, was also considered as a potential foe for Jackson) may be a risk due to an injury just a few weeks before the fight, and the name Murillo Bustamante (who defeated former UFC under-200 tournament champ Jerry Bohlander recently in Brazil) has surfaced as another possible foe for Jackson.

  For Japan, names like Frank Shamrock, Kimo, Dan Severn, Bas Rutten and perhaps still Abbott would mean something, particularly as foreign draws against a top name from Japan, as they have already established their names in Japan, and because the early UFC shows did very well in Japanese video stores and received far more publicity both in pro wrestling and martial arts magazines, but the recent shows where guys like Couture have made their names haven’t been nearly as well publicized.

  But without question, due to the somewhat unpredictable nature of what happens when top guys square off due to various ways styles match up, it appears now than building a match for months, like is done in boxing and pro wrestling, may not be feasible. Coleman vs. Belfort and Smith vs. Belfort were both circumvented by upsets as well as injuries. Smith vs. Severn didn’t even wind up taking place.

  The other lesson that is becoming painfully obvious is that when it comes to the top level of competition, steroids, the big controversial subject, haven’t appeared to have been a positive because they work against the stamina of the fighter and it doesn’t matter how fast, or strong, or skilled someone is, when they’re out of gas, they’re done. We’ve seen it before and we saw it again.

  Because of the various cable outlets not carrying the event, this show was also broadcast on the Internet for $20. As a test market without a lot of publicity, it drew about 1,000 orders. If the Internet can be viable as a distributor of the shows in the long run, it may mean survival of UFC even without a turnaround within the cable industry. But there is no guarantee of enough people willing to spend money to buy the signal through their computer or how long it’ll take before such technology becomes viable to the masses.

  33 – The Battle for Mexico

  FEBRUARY 10

  In Mexico, it was announced that Antonio Pena is now the President of WWF Latino. This is kind of their own oneupmanship between Pena and Konnan, since Konnan had been having discussions with Eric Bischoff about starting an American television show called WCW Latino which he’d book and run. Pena really ran down not only Eric Bischoff, but also Kevin and Nancy Sullivan in the local press. He said Bischoff was just a second-rate television announ
cer who didn’t know anything about pro wrestling, but because of his budget is able to buy talent and doesn’t use it right. He called Kevin an old man who has no business wrestling and is only on television because he’s the booker, and said that Nancy was a no-talent who is only in wrestling because she’s the wife of the booker.

  FEBRUARY 10

  The WWF aired a Perro Aguayo Jr. vs. Abismo Negro match on Superstars. Match wasn’t bad and Jim Ross and Jim Cornette as announcers did a better job with these guys than the WCW crew does after six months of having the guys on every week. However, the fans were leaving for the concession stands in droves right in front of the camera.

  FEBRUARY 24

  AAA will be running the first major show of 1997 in Mexico on 2/21 in Ciudad Madero in which the tentative plan is for Vince McMahon and Bruce Prichard to attend representing the WWF to start what is expected to wind up with more WWF talent working AAA shows, in particular the upcoming TripleManias, and the potential of doing a second AAA PPV show in the United States this year in conjunction with the WWF.

  The show, entitled “El Rey de Reyes,” will be based around what is known in Mexico as “Relevos Tijuanes” matches which is basically the same four corners match as the Final Four match on the recent WWF PPV. There will be four different four corners matches with the four winners meeting in a championship Final Four match, the winner being crowned “The King of Kings” of AAA. That wrestler will then in March or April face a WWF representative, which may be Bret Hart but that isn’t a definite, on AAA’s final major show which would lead into the AAA vs. WWF feud at the TripleManias.

  MARCH 3

  Francisco “Paco” Alonso, the President of Empresa Mexicana de Lucha Libre (EMLL), the oldest wrestling promotion in the world, was at SuperBrawl in San Francisco and put together some sort of a deal with Bischoff and Onoo. This meeting had been planned for several weeks as when Alonso was in Japan a few weeks back for the EMLL tour, he spoke of having a meeting planned in San Francisco to start a business relationship with WCW.

  This gives WCW access to any wrestlers of its choosing from two of the three major wrestling offices in Mexico. With EMLL and Promo Azteca both working together at times but also being business rivals (since Promo Azteca recently raided Lizmark Jr. from EMLL and Black Warrior is expected as well and there is a longstanding bitterness from the past between Alonso and Konnan), it brings up yet another set of political implications and how, if at all, this will affect the current Konnan/Promo Azteca deal which had formerly been their exclusive booker of Mexican talent.

  Konnan had used his connections with WCW, which pays wrestlers quite a bit more than they can earn in Mexico, as a way to lure several wrestlers to join with him in going to upstart Promo Azteca from either AAA or EMLL. With Alonso having the same connections, it makes using that connection no longer as effective a chip in Konnan’s favor in trying to bring new talent in.

  It’s unknown at press time what EMLL wrestlers would be coming to WCW (aside from Ultimo Dragon, who recently returned to EMLL and was already a WCW regular) or when, but I’d suspect people like Mr. Niebla, Felino, Rey Bucanero, Negro Casas, El Hijo del Santo and Silver King will be in WCW before long.

  MARCH 10

  WCW has made a talent trading agreement with EMLL as reported here last week. This was not without some trepidation from the Promo Azteca contingent. Apparently both EMLL and Azteca considered they were being slapped in the face over last weekend because of the other being around. The Azteca guys were mad because Bischoff was openly negotiating with their rival promoter in Mexico, Paco Alonso, right in front of everyone, similar to if when Bischoff went to New Japan next month if New Japan also invited and signed a deal at the same time with Vince McMahon.

  Alonso felt he was being slapped in the face because Kevin Nash & Scott Hall wore Azteca t-shirts on the PPV, as if they were rubbing the rival company in his face. Bischoff assured the Azteca wrestlers that none of them would lose their jobs if a deal was made with EMLL. Alonso then went home from San Francisco and immediately went to the press talking about signing the talent exchange deal with WCW which Azteca was again mad about because it made them come off as second rate as if they had somehow screwed up their deal. No word on who from EMLL or when this deal will get off the ground.

  MARCH 24

  The war heated up once again with Antonio Pena filing lawsuits this past week against Konnan, Rey Misterio Jr., Psicosis and Juventud Guerrera for breach of contract for leaving AAA for Promo Azteca and WCW. The lawsuit not only calls for dissolvement of the group’s connection with Azteca, but also with WCW.

  When Pena made the deal with Vince McMahon, Eric Bischoff immediately put the pressure on to make sure all the Mexican talent in WCW was signed to WCW contracts. WCW received a legal letter from AAA saying those contracts should be voided since most of the wrestlers who had signed them already had existing deals with AAA. WWF may be involved in this since one would figure if AAA were to win the suit and control the bookings of these wrestlers, they may be forced to work for WWF, although all of that happening seems at this point to be a remote possibility.

  The same group has counter-sued Pena asking for back union dues that they are supposed to receive upon leaving the company and for moneys owed to them for appearing on television and merchandising that they have yet to receive.

  Pena had previously filed a suit against La Parka several weeks back to try and keep Parka from using the name (Pena is using two wrestlers with similar costumes, La Calaca and La Parka Jr., neither of whom is getting over because they are bad copies). There are several other lawsuits out there, but a lawsuit from a ways back involving the former AAA minis (Mascarita Sagrada, Octagoncito, Jerrito Estrada, etc.) should be coming to court in about two weeks and a lot of people see the result of that suit as a barometer for future suits in that whichever side wins will be favored in the future.

  APRIL 14

  Antonio Pena has filed suit against WCW claiming that the Mexican wrestlers they signed to contracts were done so illegally since they were all under contract originally to him. As mentioned before, one of the bargaining chips Pena used in starting a deal with WWF was that all the Mexicans in WCW that were doing so well in the ratings he had under contract so he could send to WWF. Who knows how this will end up being sorted out. The funny thing about the suit is that the wrestlers Pena claimed under contract that WCW had used included several people WCW had never used, but shockingly didn’t include in the suit, Misterio Jr., who is the wrestler that no doubt WWF wanted the most of all.

  MAY 26

  Antonio Pena lost a lawsuit in Mexico regarding breach of contract where he claimed the rights to La Parka, Super Calo, Juventud Guerrera and Psicosis because he had them under contract and then they signed WCW contracts. Pena and Parka are still in a legal fight over who owns the rights to the La Parka name.

  MAY 26

  The biggest news appears to be the jump of Hector Garza from AAA to Promo Azteca. Garza, who began a heel turn with AAA, which apparently was something he didn’t want to do, was in Asheville, NC on 5/19 for Nitro (he didn’t work the show but was at the show) which pretty much signifies a jump to this office. Garza had jumped from EMLL to AAA largely due to the promises he was given that by jumping he would end up with a WWF contract. When that didn’t materialize, he jumped here since it came with a WCW contract offer.

  JUNE 16

  Paco Alonso has had recent talks with both WWF and WCW regarding a talent hook-up. Alonso knows he needs to make a deal because his wrestlers are leaving for Promo Azteca because it’s the connection to getting WCW contracts. For WCW, making the deal with Alonso will cut down on Konnan’s internal power over the Mexicans in the company and more importantly, largely eliminate WWF from getting major Mexican talent, because it’s readily acknowledged that nobody can deal with the disorganization of AAA. Bischoff has talked with Alonso about ideas for promoting Mexico and even South America, and doing two or three Lucha Libre PPV shows pe
r year that would air both in the U.S. and Mexico since Televisa and Turner Broadcasting are beginning a programming relationship having nothing to do with pro wrestling.

  JUNE 23

  EMLL promoter Paco Alonso had no idea that Silver King was in WCW this past week. What happened was that Ciclope was supposed to work the TV on 6/9 and 6/11, but he was stopped at the border as he didn’t have the correct paperwork. Since EMLL had a tour in Monterrey, which is a Northern Mexico city, they desperately searched for someone to take his place and they talked Silver King into coming with the idea that if he came in, he could get a WCW contract.

  However, since Eric Bischoff is trying to work out an agreement with Alonso, so he would have another ally in Mexico for obvious reasons and also to freeze Titan out of the Mexican market since that’s the country which right now is producing the best good new talent, what may end up happening is that Silver King will have to stay with EMLL rather than join Promo Azteca as was the original agreement, since Bischoff doesn’t want Konnan stealing Alonso’s talent while they are negotiating a deal.

  It’s still too early to tell how this will all end up. Bischoff was at a company meeting this past week and said that WCW would be doing two or three Lucha Libre PPV shows per year and that he would be traveling to Mexico sometime next week to try and finalize the deal with Alonso and Televisa.

  There are a lot of political ramifications in Mexico regarding this. Bischoff has either gotten signed or gotten the agreements from all the key Lucha Libre wrestlers in WCW for WCW to own their worldwide rights. Initially WCW only had their rights for the United States and I believe Japanese markets and they dealt for themselves in Mexico. The problems were that since WCW never gets its booking done far ahead of time, and Mexico always does things at the last minute, that guys would get booked in Mexico for dates and then WCW would want them on the same dates.