Between the Sheets #9 (September 15-21, 1993) (Featuring Keith Harris)

Posted September 22, 201510 yr

Kris & David are joined by Keith Harris (Cageside Seats) to discuss the week that was September 15-21, 1993 in pro wrestling around the world. We discuss Shawn Michaels quitting the WWF, Eddie Gilbert quitting ECW, WCW quitting the NWA and much much more. This show definitely won’t quit that’s for sure!!!!

Time stamps:
0:00:00 Intro
0:02:18 WWF
0:48:48 NJPW, FMW, JWP, Pancrase, & UWFI
1:02:07 AAA, EMLL, & UWA
1:40:21 ECW, GWF, SMW, USWA, & WWA
2:24:42 NWA(!) & WCW

http://placetobenation.com/between-the-sheets-9-september-15-21-1993/

September 22, 201510 yr

comment_5699828

I don't think "heel" and "babyface" were really insider terms in Japan at this point. You can hear NJPW commentators talking about "WCW Top Heel" in reference to Muto in the early 90s.

This is total speculation, but I think part of the reason Shooto didn't take off like Pancrase was because it wasn't marketed as pro wrestling. I don't think Sayama wanted anything to do with pro wrestling at that point.

September 22, 201510 yr

Author

comment_5699836

That is definitely true but the fact that they didn't have any breakout names for years hurt

September 22, 201510 yr

comment_5699837

Re: Bix's question about the uptick in Raw ratings: Raw's ratings spiked heavily in early '95 due to the Lawrence Taylor angle. LT was huge for TV ratings even though it didn't translate into PPV buys.

September 22, 201510 yr

comment_5699840

Re: Amusing Japanese pronunciation of "Big Bubba". They transliterated it as ビッグ・ブーバー (Biggu Buubaa), whereas the standard transliteration would be ビッグ・ババ (Biggu Baba). You can probably guess why they made that change.

September 22, 201510 yr

comment_5699894

Re: Bix's question about the uptick in Raw ratings: Raw's ratings spiked heavily in early '95 due to the Lawrence Taylor angle. LT was huge for TV ratings even though it didn't translate into PPV buys.

Raw was strong in the ratings pretty much from day one, usually being in the mid 2's to low 3's range, peaking on August 9th for a 3.4 rating for the Lex Luger vs. Yokozuna contract signing. The preemptions for the U.S. Open tennis tournament took the WWF a few weeks to recover from before getting back to normal levels. LT did boost Raw's ratings, but only to near record levels. Ratings actually peaked in the late spring of '95 with Bigelow vs. Diesel doing a record 3.9 rating on April 24th and Undertaker vs. Jeff Jarrett matching that rating on May 29th.