Tag: Bob Sapp

May 22, 2006 Observer Newsletter: WWE & ECW, Bob Sapp

Posted on by Dave Meltzer

The gearing up for starting a third brand under the WWE banner, using the ECW name, has been the major behind the scenes news in the company, to the point that any and all booking ideas for both Raw and Smackdown past the early part of June are being labeled as tentative.

A lot of changes, almost all considered positive by those close to the situation, have taken place regarding roster and scheduling. While the TV situation hasn’t changed, in that they will still be taping every Tuesday night prior to Smackdown in the Velocity spot, many other favorable decisions have been made.

While there is still no official TV deal in place, it is now considered close to a lock there will be a TV deal in the U.S. and it won’t be simply an internet property domestically. Ironically, one of the reasons Shane McMahon pushed the idea on his father is because he wanted the idea of an internet exclusive brand, but now Vince sees the potential of this and knows it can’t achieve it without television. The feeling is that if it was just an internet property, Vince would lose his current enthusiasm for it very quickly.

Subscribers can read this issue here.

January 12, 2004 Observer Newsletter: Massive rating for K1 New Year’s show

Posted on by F4W Staff

“Unbelievable” was the word used by K-1 promoter Sadaharu Tanigawa when word got out that the peak rating for the Bob Sapp vs. Akebono match on 12/31 was a 43.0, and that the short match beat out the Red & White music festival.

It was only a four minute period when the K-1 show main event (which did a 42.5 overall for the match from 11 p.m. to 11:03 p.m.) beat what has been a Japanese tradition on New Year’s Eve, in its 54th year as one of the highest rated shows every year (which did a 35.2 rating head-to-head). It was a major headline throughout the Japanese media on 1/5 when Video Research reported the breakdown of the numbers in the most competitive television night in the history of this industry.

The Sapp vs. Akebono match, which drew nearly 54 million viewers, broke the record set in the 2002 K-1 Grand Prix of a 33.4 peak rating for the Ernesto Hoost vs. Jerome LeBanner championship match.

Current subscribers click here to continue reading.

November 17, 2003 Observer Newsletter: Bob Sapp vs. Akebono, death of Crash Holly

Posted on by Dave Meltzer

What will likely turn out to be the most heavily publicized non-boxing combat sports match of all-time will headline the biggest one-night promotional war in history.

The 11/6 announcement by K-1 of a New Year’s Eve match pitting Bob Sapp against legendary sumo Akebono (Chad Rowan) was the biggest press conference in company history. More than 17 television stations and 300 reporters attended the press conference where promoter Sadaharu Tanigawa announced the ultimate checkmate in a brewing New Year’s Eve war. The news was so big in Japan that three of Japan’s six networks (TBS, NTV and TV-Asahi) broke into regular programming to telecast the press conference live. It was carried in major newspapers throughout the U.S. and was the topic of conversation on numerous sports talk shows (many of which reported, including the London Times, Los Angeles Times and New York Post that Akebono’s opponent would be Mike Tyson; and the Los Angeles Times reported that K-1 was “so brutal that it is illegal just about everywhere”). 

Current subscribers click here to continue reading.

January 13, 2003 Observer Newsletter: Wrestler of the Year contenders, more

Posted on by Dave Meltzer

With the balloting now completed and the awards issue a week away, it’s time to take a list look at the Wrestler of the Year Award, renamed this year the Lou Thesz/Ric Flair award.

It’s a wide open field this year because, unlike most years, which have multiple strong candidates, this year has multiple candidates that come close, but nobody that would have won the award in any previous year.

Two years ago, when it was a four-man field (all of whom would have been good winners), we went back in a number of categories and tried to make comparisons. This year, the top candidates are Kurt Angle, Chris Benoit, Eddy Guerrero, HHH, Brock Lesnar, Keiji Muto, Yuji Nagata, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, Tito Ortiz, Rock, Bob Sapp, Yoshihiro Takayama, Genichiro Tenryu and Manami Toyota.  For purposes of comparisons, I’m going to first eliminate Benoit (no PPV main events, nor a strong draw, didn’t wrestle the entire year, and the only thing he has going for him is workrate and there are other candidates stronger), Guerrero (for the same reasons as Benoit, plus he was even lower on the totem poll then Benoit in WWE), HHH (a big star who was pushed, but probably overall did more harm than good), Ortiz (one match, no matter how well it did at the box office, does not win Wrestler of the Year, and there are a half dozen stronger shoot candidates this year) and Toyota (a great worker and Hall of Famer, but women’s wrestling just isn’t popular enough and she isn’t a big enough star, and that’s a major part of this award). 

Current subscribers click here to continue reading.

October 14, 2002 Observer Newsletter: WWE brand extension a flop, more

Posted on by F4W Staff

We are six months in, and the brand extension has been a major business failure.

I want to pretend it’s working. Almost everyone does. The brand extension means more talent is exposed on television and get time to develop angles. It lessens both the overexposure and the dominance of the top performers. In theory, it means more stars are made, there are more jobs, more shows, and it’s better for the future. We’re also seeing two different styles of television, which in theory should satisfy two different types of fans, thus expanding the wrestling audience.

The reality is that hasn’t happened. Maybe it still will given time, but six months in wrestling is a long experiment when the early results look like this. When the brand extension went into effect in March, the true main event television star level talent was Rock, Chris Jericho, HHH, Hulk Hogan, Steve Austin, Undertaker, Kane, Ric Flair, Vince McMahon and Kurt Angle.

Current subscribers click here to continue reading.