AS I SEE IT
Some months ago, Bruce Mitchell did his yearly "Quiz" in the Pro Wrestling Torch, letting him quiz readers on their grasp of recent wrestling events. It led me to thinking that I might give it a shot one of these weeks.
So I figured it was about time we did one here at PWBTS. This quiz will measure how much you've read our website and the columns on it over the last couple years or so....and a few items you might be aware of just from being the type of fan that reads this site. Cheating on this quiz by going back and reading some of the past AS I SEE IT and other PWBTS columns is both allowed and recommended.
By the way, if you read the Quiz, and think I'm being unfair to your favorite promotion, hang on and keep reading...this Quiz is an equal opportunity commentary.
So here comes the First Annual AS I SEE IT Wrestling Fans Quiz...
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1) When ECW employee Debbie Beaumont, in her conversation with Jerome
Young at the Stadium Holiday Inn bar on the afternoon of April 3;
referred to Paul Heyman as a "90 minute man", she was referring to the
amount of time that:
a) Paul Heyman enjoys a particular skill of Debbie Beaumont; the skill that got her the job she holds now.
b) An ECW check is good before it will bounce.
c) He can continue to tell the truth before telling a lie.
d) The Buena Vista deal could last after working with ECW at Hardcore Heaven.
e) All of the above.
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2) Eric Bischoff made a statement referring to the WWF's TV product,
criticizing the sexual content and violence; and stated that WCW's
product would be nothing at all like it. It would, in fact, be
"G-rated". How did Eric Bischoff prove this to North American TV
viewers?
a) By proposing an angle for the WCW Nitro and the Georgia Dome; where Bill Goldberg would be accused of raping Elizabeth Hewlette.
b) By showing children that drugs are bad, by allowing Scott Carl Rechsteiner to look like a Chernobyl-steroid-mutant-from hell on a weekly basis; including having him do a "roid rage" angle with Kim Falkenberg, which involved her being "thrown out of a car".
c) By glorifying street gangs by showing NWO members "tagging" opponents of other "organizations" with spray paint.
d) By having an angle where fitness model Torrie Wilson attempts to "seduce" David Flair.
e) All of the above.
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3) What was Eric Bischoff's reason for claiming on a PRODIGY chat that
took place just after the death of Louie Spicolli, that the use of
somas couldn't be tested for with WCW performers and office staff?
a) Because no effective test exists.
b) Because the cost would be prohibitive.
c) Because it would require admitting that there is a problem with the prescription muscle relaxer in his promotion.
d) Because he says so.
e) Both c and d.
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4) How did local independent promoter Ronn Hicks honor professional
wrestling legend Bobo Brazil this winter?
a) By promoting a memorial to the life and name of Bobo Brazil.
b) By establishing a Houston Harris scholarship in the name of the former wrestler at his alma mater.
c) By establishing a fund to help pay for tickets to wrestling shows for minority and other people who are unable to enjoy the business Brazil so loved.
d) By stiffing several local Philadelphia area workers and others on
airfare and payoffs the week of the show, when it appeared the event
in Indianapolis would draw less than a hundred people.
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5) How did Dave Scherer and Bob Ryder of 1wrestling.com show that
they would produce a higher quality product of tapes than rival
merchant and tape dealer Rob Feinstein?
a) Set up a 800 number where fans could order merchandise, tapes, and other items available on 1wrestling.com to allow for speedy delivery of quality products for the average wrestling fan.
b) Bought the available stock of Championship Wrestling from Florida masters, so as finally open up this treasure trove to fans all over the United States.
c) Contracted with the legendary Lou Thesz to sell a series of tapes, where the former NWA champion told a lifetime of wrestling stories to a generation that has never gotten to know his name.
d) Promoted and sold a tape where a former east coast-based wrestling
promoter slandered the wife of a rival webmaster to their own site.
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6) WCW staged a "heart attack angle" with Ric Flair late in 1998. How
did WCW show attention to detail to give the angle realism? Which of
the items below happened? Which didn't?
a) While being interviewed, Ric Flair began to talk about how he would rip out Eric's heart, then suddenly clutched his chest and fell down.
b) A trainer just happened to be at ringside as Ric fell down.
c) The angle was staged to happen JUST as Raw came on the air.
d) The ringside microphones were hot enough to show Arn Anderson to be seen talking to Gene Okerlund and asking "is this enough time?".
e) The ambulance Flair was loaded into had Alabama license plates... not Florida plates (where the show took place).
f) Flair was told by "paramedics" to sit up to lessen pain, oxygen was "administered", and aspirin was given to prevent clotting.
g) a, b, c, d, e happened. Not a damned one showed a bit of realism.
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7) In what may be an attempt to show that he has the "street"
attitude of his in-ring character, Kevin Nash is often said to talk
about the "Vanilla Midgets". What are the "Vanilla Midgets"?
a) A new rap group, favored by urban youth.
b) A bad tag team idea from Jim Herd that Herd proposed just after he came up with the "Hunchbacks".
c) A Saturday morning TV cartoon show that airs on the TV Land cable service.
d) Two of the top wrestlers in the planet, who have the misfortune to
work for WCW....two wrestlers who can outwork 50% of the WCW talent
roster combined... named Chris Benoit and Dean Malenko.
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8) WrestleMania XV occurred in Philadelphia recently. Given the
tremendous response of Philadelphians to the WWF over the years, and
the fact that the buyrate for wrestling PPVs in Philadelphia is three
times the national average....how did the WWF allow its fans to reach
out and meet the performers that they've seen on house shows; and on
TV with Monday Night RAW, Sunday Night Heat, and weekend Titan
programming?
a) They had a Fan Fest at the Philadelphia Convention Center at affordable prices, with merchandise available for purchase, from mid-morning to mid-afternoon, allowing fans (especially children) to meet these larger than life figures.
b) They had Internet chats with various WWF performers live from the Philadelphia area all throughout Wrestlemania weekend on WWF.com.
c) They had call-in shows, utilizing the old Live Wire format on their Saturday "Live Wire" program on USA Network.
d) They had a "WrestleMania Rage Party", where fans were charged $80
(after spending premium prices for WrestleMania tickets), were told
they couldn't bring cameras in (when no such prohibition had been
announced prior to ticket sales), and jammed in with 2,500 other
people to listen to musical acts that they largely didn't give a damn
about.
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9) World Championship Wrestling's flagship program, Monday NITRO, has
been losing in the ratings to the WWF's Monday Night RAW for many
consecutive weeks. How did WCW make changes to be more competitive
with the WWF and their flagship program?
a) They decided to have a series of best 2 out of 3 fall trios matches with the luchadors on their roster to allow them to perform in their element.
b) They decided to make changes in their booking committee; among which were adding Scott Levy, whose demonstrated success in semi-officially assisting Paul Heyman in ECW made him a valuable resource to WCW.
c) They phased down Terry Bollea to being a special attraction, and nothing else.
d) They put the WCW belt on Ric Flair one last time before retirement in a classic 35 minute match with Terry Bollea on a Thunder TV program from Charlotte, NC that set a record for the show's ratings... where the live crowd went wild in a prolonged ovation and gave Flair a curtain call... a just tribute for all his years of work with the company.
e) They changed their logo.
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10) In the grand tradition of April Fool's pranks, many websites
post non-factual "stories" that were obviously meant to be taken in
the spirit of the day...but also gave some real-life opinions by the
writer on certain "favorites" within the business.
However, some people don't read their calendars very well and take these stories as fact. Which April Fool's "stories" were posted this year online and taken seriously by large numbers of people?
a) That ECW was folding as a company, and that this ceasing of operations would be announced at the ECW CyberSlam Q&A session on April 3rd.
b) That the real reason that the WWF was winning the Monday night ratings war was that a computer "hacker" had gained entrance into the Neilsen computers and changed TV ratings results to favor the WWF over WCW.
c) That an ECW office employee, Paul Heyman, and a noted newsletter/ Internet writer (with the presence of a former wrestling promoter observing) were all arrested by police for performing an unnatural act with an animal resulting in the divorce of one of the parties concerned.
d) All of the above.
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The answers (for anyone who hasn't figured them out already) are:
1) e 2)e 3)e 4) d 5) d 6) g 7) d 8) d 9) e 10) d
The answer to question number 10 is bizarre enough to merit a special note to readers. I assure you that the reactions to all of the answers to question 10 above are NO joke whatsoever.
Two of these items were in PWBTS's April Fool's edition, one of which was lifted without credit by two writers of LordsofPain.Net, and printed with embellishments. The other was believed by several employees of a major independent promotion (perhaps hopefully). The other was put up by Bob Ryder of 1wrestling.com/WCW in the WCW chat room.
So I hope this "Quiz" was interesting for you...
Until next time....
If you have comments or questions, I can be reached by e-mail at bobmagee1@hotmail.com