Ticket time: 7:30 EST

Set One (8:10 - 9:32ish): ENERGY (11 min) -> WOOOOOAAAAAH WEEKAPAUG (9 min), The Moma Dance (9 min) > Lengthwise (1 min) -> Maze (10 min), Petrichor (18 min), Things People Do (3 min) > Sample in a Jar (6 min) > Bathtub Gin (17 min)

Set Two (10:21-11:45): Soul Panet (12 min) -> Wider (5 min) -> UNDERMIND (7 MIN), The Final Hurrah (9 min) > Beneath a Sea of Stars Pt. 1 (17 min), Ghost (11 min) -> WEEKAPAUG GROOVE (1 min) -> Birds of a Feather (13 min), Waste (6 min) > Golgi Apparatus (7 min)

Encore (11:46 - 12:08): AAAAAAHAHHHAHHAHAHAHAHAHHAFOOOOOOOOOOAM (8 min), Contact (7 min), More (7 min)

Notes:

Energy was last played 8/4/13, 226 shows ago
I'm not nearly resourceful enough to find when the last standalone Weekapaug was so let's go with a while
But u/poopfacejohnson has informed me the last standalone Weekapaug was 12/2/03...wooooow
First Foam encore, last played 7/22/17, 79 shows ago

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I'm baaaaack! Who's ready for some hot, piping, northeast, casino Phish?! It's a pleasure to be joining you all again as your guide through the first show of one of the most hyped runs of the summer! Fun fact: Tonight marks Phish's first performance at the Mohegan Sun Arena which also just squeaks past St. Louis' Chaifetz Arena as the smallest venue of the tour with a capacity of 10,000.

Let's hear some opener calls for tonight! I'm gonna be going with the ever elusive ~~Colonel Forbin's Ascent~~ GLIDE to get the show kicked off.

I'm currently studying for an exam that I have tomorrow so I am going to be in and out of the thread until show time but I'm posting early again to encourage some friendly chatting, discussion, banter, jokes etc etc etc. I really enjoyed hearing everyone's favorite jams of the tour so far in my last thread so this time...let's hear your favorite show you've attended and why. My personal favorite that I have seen would have to be 7/28/17 AKA Double Chocolate night of the Baker's Dozen. This show contained EVERYTHING that I want at a Phish show...fun and wacky covers, YUGE jams, surprise bustouts and bizarre song placements. Also, it doesn't hurt that I've never heard anything louder than the crowd reaction to that Chalkdust Torture peak. Here's an awesome recording for you to check out for yourselves if you so desire, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WHNZ-oVygDc (said peak is at 23:00).

Checkins: Elkridge, MD, Mohegan Sun, On the Way to Wisconsin, Tampa, FL, Winooski, VT, Birmingham, AL, Foxwoods Casino, Louisville, KY, Savannah, GA, Middletown, CT, New Hampshire, Palo Alto, CA, Eugene, OR, Syracuse, NY, Nashville, TN, Los Angeles, CA, New Haven, CT, East Lyme, CT, Frisco, TX, Littleton, CO, Ocean City, NJ, North Myrtle Beach, SC, Denver, CO, Guilford, CT, Portland, OR, Bronx, NY, Boston, MA, Gaithersburg, MD, The Woods of Maine, Tokyo, Japan ~~(WINNER WINNER CHICKEN DINNER)~~, Pottstown, PA, Chicago, IL, Bend, OR, Nuevo Havo, CT, Seattle, WA, Franconia, NH, Boulder, CO, Canberra, Australia (WINNER WINNER CHICKEN DINNER), Denver, CO, Frederick, MD, Johnson City, TN, Fort Wayne, IN, Granville, OH, Hartford, CT, Indianapolis, IN, Brooklyn, NY, Columbus, OH, Richmond, VA, Hampton, VA, Tulsa, OK, Olney, MD

Favorite Attended Shows:
u/scarletfire72 - 7/28/17
u/amazen55 - 8/5/17
u/jopnk - 6/30/19
u/sdcasurf01 - 8/7-8/09
u/ADriedUpGoliath - 8/1/17
u/mocksong - 12/30/17
u/spautrievas - 7/24/99
u/TuckHolladay - 10/30/10
u/pm_me_your_miletime - 3/6/09 or 7/22/17
u/TeaAndAche - 8/7/15 (today at least)
u/Flash_Gordon - 6/30/19
u/Gam1019 - 12/7/97
u/BrinxJob - 7/25/17
u/colonelphorbins - Big Cypress
u/Jammin_CO - 11/16/96
u/runawayBrian - 7/11/00
u/ButYourChainsOk - 10/31/10
u/wharf_rat88 - 6/21/19
u/gratefulbend - 8/14/15 and Magnaball
u/TheAnt06 - 8/14/09
u/Buehler-buehler - 12/30/97
u/voxangelikus - 12/29/18
u/runawayjim_617 - 12/30/18
u/massofparticles - 10/20/13
u/mrsEminomily - 7/6/19
u/binary_burn - 12/30/18
u/00000000000 - 8/4/17
u/Poster_Nutsack - Big Cypress
u/Bryanmahindrew - 6/14/19
u/elsneech - 8/14/09
u/Dierin - 7/11/00
u/bmault - 4/3/98
u/idsimon - 8/3/18
u/Your_Latex_Salesman - 7/18/99
u/REOpeenwagon - 9/6/15
u/Hukijiwa - 7/5/13, 8/22/15, 7/22/18
u/eleventhjam1969 - 12/29/18
u/headyhwak - 8/31/18
u/vguy72 - 12/6/96
u/JazzOdyssey - 12/5/09
u/bill-ward-rose - 12/31/93
u/kemnitz - 10/26/18
u/lechatblanc233s - 10/29/13
u/uuuhhhh - 11/27/98
u/CaptainJackRyan (Clancy fan?) - 8/5/17
u/cmmn518redux - 9/14/00
u/howluckyarewe - 8/12/10
u/fuckoka_gumbo - 7/30/17
u/sshore61 - 8/7/15 or 6/30/19
u/gsurberRVA - 3/1/03
u/elliescomet - 6/9/94
u/DarwinFox - 6/26/19
u/winnsanity - 9/6/15
u/87ofHarts - 7/30/17
u/Cletus_Van_Dam - 12/30/16
u/diginfinity - 11/17/97 or 12/6/96
u/carinisnutbag - 12/31/92
u/Tabooter024 - 12/16/99
u/unclejohnssocks - 8/31/12
u/Space-Antelope - 12/31/17

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Commentary from the Couch:

I've already spoken with Vegas for the degenerates among us and I've been told the pre-show Hee-Haw o/u line is set at 3 after a measly showing of 2 Hee-Haws at Fenway 2. Live lines to come.
Just finished off way more food than anyone should eat from my favorite Chinese joint! What're y'all feasting on tonight?
Finishing up AHS Asylum before the show, first time seeing this. Man this show is faaaaacked up but so good

SET ONE COMMENTARY

Right out of left field with that call there Troy
Let's hope for a little yam in this one!
HOLY SHIT THIS ONE'S GONNA GO
This is absolutely looking like its gonna be one of those shows
Surprised this only the second Maze of the summer! I'm still hunting one with Lengthwise
That pinterest line makes me seriously consider taking a header off of a high ledge
Love Sample! Bit of a resurgence after being somewhat of a rarity the past couple of years
We're all in this together!
I love Fish's new trigger pad with the gong and triangle sooooo much
Oh fuck yeah let's get weird with this Gin dudes

SET TWO COMMENTARY

I'll be totally honest, I was at the debut of Soul Planet and absolutely despised this song at the time. That being said, it's grown on me more than any of the other new songs I think
Really cool beat Fish is playing there with the triplet on the hi-hat
Wider, Debut. Definitely digging this one so far. When they did that second transition in the Soul Planet jam I was wondering if they were moving to something composed but didn't recognize it. How lucky we are!
OH JESUS THAT WAS SMOOTH
Final Hurrah is another one that has really grown on me. The faceepluntintorokk sample has always driven me nuts cause I really enjoy the song portion but I think I can look past that going forward
Oh man this takes me right back to the lawn on that beautiful night in Camden. By far my favorite debut of the summer
You know how sometimes a song was just SCREAMING to be played...yeah now's one of those times
Loving the big Birds this summer!
Love to see some Rambo Big Red!!
Seems like the shows have been trending towards the longer side side this tour...me likey

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THE SEXY MAN-O-METER
[ ] Standing
[ ] Raging
[ ] Perspiring
[ ] Crushing a sandwich
[ ] Porno-clav action
[ ] Glasses off
[ ] Faceplanting into rokk
[ ] Still Waiting
[ ] All alone
[ ] Melting
[ ] Summoning demons
[ ] Scanning pinterest *barf*
[ ] Sexy Fender Rhodes action
[X] Sobbing
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DON'T BE A DICK AND ASK FOR STREAM LINKS IN THE COMMENTS WE ALL KNOW WHAT HAPPENS AT THIS POINT

Official Stream on Phish Radio: https://www.siriusxm.com/
Mixlrs won't be posted on here because, all together now, FUCK NUGS!!!
Be discrete when sharing mixlrs amongst yourselves

Let's have a great night folks!!!

Wealth Formula Episode 224: Multifamily Macroeconomics in the Twilight Zone

Catch the full episode: https://www.wealthformula.com/podcast/224-multifamily-macroeconomics-in-the-twilight-zone/
Buck: Welcome back to the show everyone. Today my guest on Wealth Formula Podcast, he's been on the show before. He's economist Ryan Davis. He actually joined us at one of our last Wealth Formula meetups. Of course, the last one we had was canceled but Ryan was at the one before that. He serves as a chief operating officer at Witten Advisors and provides fact-based research analysis and discussion to help clients like us formulate their apartment strategies and these insights and for investment decisions for multi-family development and buy/sell opportunities which as you can imagine we're all looking for some of this advice these days. Ryan has a PhD in economics from the University of Texas. Ryan, welcome back to Wealth Formula Podcast.
Ryan: Thank you. Glad to be back.
Buck: Yeah it's been like a pandemic ago when we last talked right? Listen, you know I want to kind of jump into the whole you know what the heck is going on, I mean the overall, if you would, you know kind of give me your overall assessment of the economy. I mean obviously we know these huge drops in GDP etc which were expected last quarter. How is this all affecting real estate asset prices especially you know apartments which is you know is our interest and something that you specialize in?
Ryan: Sure so yeah the great unknown is the pace of the recovery. So we had that big drop through April in terms of employment and then we got a bounce back in May and June and the hope was that it was going to be a V-shaped recovery. But then we saw virus cases ramp back up in the second half of June into the early part of July and the local economy started rolling back some of their openings and so with that, we've kind of stalled out recently. So we'll get the July numbers this Friday for overall payroll gains and that could I think the consensus is anywhere between one, one and a half million jobs it could be negative so who knows but it looks like the hope for a v-shaped recovery in the economy has kind of stalled out after the first two months of optimism. And so we think that going forward we won't see any the worst is behind us really and so we won't see you know the big losses that we experienced in March and early into April so kind of what we're calling for right now is for the national economy to continue to add jobs for the remainder of the year and then beginning next year a recovery should emerge and that would sustain demand for housing and ultimately apartments going forward. In the near term as far as multi-family goes we expect some pain through the end of this year and then into the early part of next year. In terms of pricing power, if we had to boil it down to one number it's rent growth so year over year effective rent growth we think that declines to eight percent rent cuts this year and into the early part of 2021. That varies considerably on a local market basis I think our worst-performing market is Metro New York City probably no surprise there but then also many of the other gateway markets such as Boston, LA, the Bay Area, etc. We expect rent declines to be lower than that eight percent across the board, however many of the inner west, Texas, southeastern market should outperform still see rent declines but not closer to five/six percent range at the depth and so we expect near-term pain but then as we get out into 2021 and afterward and the economy begins to add a lot of jobs we would expect rent growth to return to multi-family. And then what that means for pricing in terms of apartment assets for right now in the second quarter hardly any deals trade at hand so it's really tough to get a sense of where pricing is and with the deals that have traded though the cap rates have remained relatively stable which is a good sign. We've heard from some of our merchant builder clients where they had assets they had constructed and were going out to the market to sell in the early part of April they were saying 10 discounts in terms of the compared to pre corona levels but that has since come back in the last 45-60 days and maybe it's only one to two percent in terms of the haircut that they're seeing out there right now. And there's a just a ton of capital that wants to get back into multifamily at the same time there's hardly any distress out there right now so there's a lack of available to you know supply to buy and so everyone is just kind of in this standstill there's a big ass gap because buyers aren't willing to pay yesterday's prices for assets but sellers aren't willing to give any you know deep discounts right now and so it's kind of a standstill and we’ll see how all this plays out.
Buck: Yeah you know it's really interesting we're obviously you know through, you work with Western Wealth Capital, one of my partners and you know it's funny because we were kind of thinking well maybe there'll be some real buying opportunities but you know we've seen a little bit maybe just you know from buyers who are sellers who just are just wanting to get out while they're ahead maybe they made some money you know maybe they and at this point you know they're just thinking let's just cash out and maybe they're willing to take a little bit less but for the most part you know if you look across our own portfolio and it might be because it's largely again Texas and Arizona, etc that and maybe it's because it's mostly working-class B and you know high C class apartment but our portfolio you know the numbers are just as good as they've ever been in terms of you know occupancy in terms of even our we're still raising rents. And so when you look at that you're like well I mean how do you expect there to be any you know smoking deals out there if the sellers really aren't feeling any distress. So is there a difference you know when you look at something like a B and C class apartment scenario versus A right now or have you been able to break that down a little bit because I think the people I know who are in the A-class and new build are you know they're certainly feeling things a little bit more than we are.
Ryan: Yeah so what we've heard from some of our clients in terms of early on so may June in terms of rent collections class A's were actually from a nationwide perspective actually exceeded the class B and C product. Now we don't think that will continue going forward and the main reason is that new deliveries that are coming online they will compete with the existing top of the market product and so we think that it will be short-lived in terms of the top of the market outperformance and another part is due to just the nature of this downturn where low-wage sectors were hit extremely hard in April, got some bounce back in May and June but the leisure and hospitality sectors lower-paying positions those have been the most impacted so far. But going forward we don't think that this downturn would be any different than prior recessions in terms of the class A leading the way down in terms of jobs and occupancy and also rent growth or rent cuts in the near term. So class A’s will lead the market down but then as we get out into the later part of next year and into early 2022 then class A's would outperform the broader market. So yeah we think through the end of this year until early next that B's and C's will hold up relatively better but that's mainly a function of just the competition that it takes to get these new projects they will get leased up it's just a matter of the market-clearing price and so those have to compete those could be mostly with the top end of the spectrum and so we see big rent declines and concessions in the class A space going forward.
Buck: You know there's this thesis that's going around in the multi-family space and you know I've been sort of you know looking at it this way too for a while though I'm starting to you know feel like it's maybe not gonna happen is this idea that there's going to be a potentially before we really rebound and start heading up again that there’ll potentially be a you know big tsunami of defaults and things like that. Right now at least what I'm you know seeing and hearing about in terms of the lending markets and in terms of these properties, there really isn't much indication of that right now is there I mean what do you think?
Ryan: No at least not in the short term I mean again there's it goes back to my earlier comment there's been no distress really and so that is due mainly to the huge stimulus packages that have been passed those from a fiscal standpoint and a monetary standpoint which is it's crazy to think that GDP declined at an annualized rate by 32 however incomes soared and so that's all due to the stimulus that we saw and so that's helped prop up renters incomes and allow them to pay rent. Now going forward I think some of these the number of defaults I don't think there will be a tsunami, at least that's how we view it right now, ask me again in a week and it could change, but I think that the defaults will be very market specific and so those geographies that have been hit harder we'll see a larger number but many of the Texas markets, Phoenix, Denver, southeast high growth markets where you've got this short-term tailwind in terms of folks at the margin more and the trends that have been in place for years of folks moving from gateway markets into these inner markets will be kind of you know given a stairway shot really in the near term and so that would help to prop up multi-family fundamentals and so yeah if you're expecting a tsunami of defaults in any of those markets that I've mentioned again it kind of gets a little bit granular in terms of you know potentially Orlando might have some problems just with the amount of supply and then the you know low-wage in tourism industries being impacted more dramatically and that would lead to some weakness in Orlando but out outside of that maybe Houston you could argue you know somewhat but outside of those two and those those areas of the inner west Texas, southeast Florida should be but hold up you know relatively well and I would think that the main stress points will be out you know on the coast in California potentially portland we do think seattle holds up relatively well and then northeast in terms of you know New York and Boston as well so I think it's very locally market driven.
Buck: Yeah it's interesting you know we did we were a little worried about Houston too but our you know Houston portfolio is actually doing awesome it's not having any problems at all which is which was you know again, knock on wood that’s what it's been so far. Let me ask you another question you mentioned the pent-up demand of you know money on the sidelines waiting to get back in and you know and in many situations, they have to get back in right they're mandated to deploy capital and that sort of thing do you the one thought that I've had through this is you know multi-family and well multi-family in general has held up so well during this period of time does that potentially create a situation where you know the big money that's coming in starts looking at this even harder as potentially a little bit of a hedge or a little bit of safe haven. What what do you guys think is going to be the effect of that you know the relatively stable performance and then ultimately you know having all of this money on the sidelines,? Do you see paradoxical even further compression of cap rates over the next couple years? What's your thought on that?
Ryan: Yeah and so kind of pre-corona our forecast was for cap rates to continue to decline and you know taking a step back it was mainly driven by global factors with the aging populations across the globe that have built wealth up and all that investment needed to be placed somewhere. And so those trends were driving returns lower for longer and so those are the demographic that have not been affected by the pandemic. And so just from a global standpoint, we're expecting returns across all assets whether stocks bonds you know all classes of real estate whether it's multi or industrial retail office, etc those returns would continue to head lower. Now we've had the pandemic and we've seen multi-family and industrial hold up exceedingly well and who knows what to make of retail office and lodging just lots of pain and in those sectors and so if you need to be allocated to real estate then multifamily and industrial or where you want to be at least in the short term and especially if you're looking for consistency of returns and you know risk-adjusted on a risk-adjusted basis you know multi-industrial or have outperformed other asset classes and so really to get into the lodging office retail space probably more opportunistic mindset in terms of those assets may need to be repositioned etc and so I think a lot of that money that's out there is not looking to get there's a lot that's looking for that type of asset turnaround story but there's also a lot of money out there that needs the stability. And so that should continue to compress cap rates or put a really put a cap on that cap rates and so it would be no surprise if cap rates on an aggregate basis hold steady and maybe even decline despite a deterioration in short-term fundamentals and part of that is due to the long-term belief in apartments going forward and so yes there's a short-term dislocation where we expect some move-outs that you know this year actually there are a lot of move-outs that we expect and so there's going to be a lot of doubling up folks moving back in with their families but then there's going to be pent up demand as we as that recovery takes hold next year and that will be released and so we see leasing to be through the roof next year and then out into 2022. Then at the same time as that demand story improves in the short term we see starts decelerating dramatically so we've we're going from a 400,000 unit run rate to about 200,000 units by the early part of next year. And so new production is going to get cut in half now that we don't get any benefit of that immediately so we have to wait till later part of 2022 and 2023 before we see that slowdown and production really lift fundamentals and so I think everyone is seeing that yes there's some short-term disruption in the multi-family market right now, but the long-term drivers are there and if you have the capital to wait out this very painful period in the short term then there will be major benefits after that we should see after next year.
Buck: Now one of the things you said I think earlier is that the worst is behind us do you believe that's the case in terms of rent growth and you know rent cuts and that sort of thing right now?
Ryan: I think the worst is behind us in terms of the economy. I think that going forward we should continue to produce job gains on a monthly basis, though this next report could see some layoffs we'll see the consensus is one million one and a half. In terms of multi-family we do not think the worst is behind us we think that fundamentals will continue to deteriorate into the early part of next year we think that you know kind of right now in terms of year over year rent growth in the early part of this year let's call it three, three and a half percent we've since gone down to zero percent in the second quarter. So on a quarterly basis we've seen some dramatic rent cuts, again this is on a national basis and then as we move forward we see occupancy dropping by about three percentage points into the early part of next year, rent declines of about eight percent through the remainder of this year into the first quarter of next year and so no we do think that there will be some deterioration and fundamentals going forward. On the flip side of that might present some opportunities and so any assets that were purchased specially in your space in terms of if they were bought at the top of the market at the end of last year in the early part of this year and now that value-add story isn't there where you might not be able to get the rent bumps that you were expecting so some of those assets will have to be recapitalized and so that might present some opportunity as the year progresses but again like you said we haven't seen that materialized so far.
Buck: Yeah that's the tricky part right I mean it's sort of like I think when you're on the buy side here you're saying well I mean these prices that we're seeing right now you know with prolonged you know low-interest rates which we can pretty much guarantee at this point for a period of time and then the pent-up demand. It's sort of like okay well I mean this actually might be one of the better times to buy if you consider what could potentially happen in the next you know 18 to 24 months in terms of you know explosive growth. When you look at those indicators that you're you know that you're talking about that may lead to some of the more explosive growth metrics what markets come to mind the most for you?
Buck: Now one of the things you said I think earlier is that the worst is behind us do you believe that's the case in terms of rent growth and you know rent cuts and that sort of thing right now?
Ryan: Yeah so our general geographic areas that we like we like the southeast, parts of Florida, Texas and the inner west. We really like Atlanta, we like South Florida though there's a little more pain in the short term some of our clients are saying it kind of in terms of you know rent collections you know northeast but also yeah LA but then South Florida is outperforming those two areas but still lagging some of these other markets. So we like the Texas markets long term the interwebs you have Phoenix, Denver, Salt Lake as well. We like Seattle that's an outlier on the west coast but then the other markets whereas in the Bay Area we expect those you know rent growth numbers to average four, four and a half percent which stack up really well across the nation but for those markets that's a recession pretty much and so compared to what's normal and the cap rates you have to pay the rent growth numbers there kind of you know lackluster. So the midwest the markets they won't be hit as hard but still they don't get that explosive growth going forward and so we really like the inner West Texas, southeast of Florida markets and you know part of that has been driven being driven by the migration flows. So domestic migration numbers have really helped out all of these markets we've seen outflows from the northeast boston new york the bay area Southern California we've seen migration outflows from those markets into the you know inner west you know Las Vegas the inland Phoenix, Denver you know people moving from the coast into those markets and then you know also parts of texas as well but then in terms of the northeast the flows that are coming in to the Nashvilles the Charlottes, Raleighs, Atlanta, Florida markets we and then also Texas as well and so those trends have been accelerated at least in the short term, but it's important to remember that those have been going on for a decade at least even more and then other markets and so it's not anything new but at the margin that will support many of these other markets.
Buck: Yeah on the west coast I mean there's that flight to Arizona as well right from California. One of the things that you know is worth talking about is what effect this has had you know the pandemic and the recession on the lending market, with Fannie and Freddie and you know how that might be playing into any of the growth or lack of growth.
Ryan: Yeah I think on the financing side you know debt for stabilized assets it's there and it's cheap you may have to you know have higher reserves than you've had typically but for the most part it's there and so that's part of the appeal of buying assets right now with these record low interest rates. So I think for stabilized assets yeah it's there for new construction it is dried up considerably and this is a change in the last 30 to 60 days and so the fed does a survey each quarter of banks and their tightening of multi-family construction lending standards and that the latest report shows 70 percent of banks tighten their multi-family construction loans last quarter which we haven't seen those levels since 2008/2009. And so I think part of it's the lenders are trying to make sense of what they have in terms of all these other asset types in terms of real estate or retail, lodging, office loans, they're trying to you know spend a lot of time working those out and so then you add on the uncertainty in terms of the economic recovery etc, they've pretty much put a halt on new construction loans. And so that's been a big change here in the last two months call it. Then on the equity side I think returns have been increased but still available and interested but you know a lot of you know equity and especially focusing in on the new starts pipeline if all the deals that have been started are continuing and it's kind of a mixed bag from our clients in terms of are you seeing delays or actually some other clients that reported these they were able to speed up the timing in terms of getting able to get trucks into sites very easily and then also the construction workers that were on you know working on hotels motels those have come into the apartment sector and so that's provided more manpower in terms of getting these deals done. And so those that were under construction are continuing to proceed, those that were capitalized I think that but haven't begun those have been they haven't pulled out completely they just said let's press pause to see let's say can we get any break in construction costs over the next several months and so the equity and banks they're still willing to do it move forward on those deals that have been capitalized but are you know slow playing it. And then you get to the others where there's land sites and they hadn't been entitled and haven't been capitalized those deals we think have been shelved for right now and so it kind of where some opportunity could be is on the land side of you know potentially purchasing some land sites that might be teed up for development as we get further along in this recovery.
Buck: Again one of the things that you're saying though in terms of construction loans not being there again it helps us for those of us who have apartment portfolios already that are already there that that again goes to the issue of a simple supply and demand issue which we can benefit from if there's not a whole lot of new builds. You know this is a major driving variable in in apartment buildings nationally can you give us a little bit of the idea of you know just not being able to keep up with you know population growth in various parts of the country, can you give us a little bit of you know sort of a thousand-foot view on the perspective on how big of an issue that actually is?
Ryan: I don't know if it's that big of an issue you know on on the whole and I think that you know some of these higher growth markets in terms of where we've you know call it the Atlantas and North Carolina markets, Central North Florida, Texas, the inner west regions where we've seen large population growth statistics you know high growth markets but they're also they also tend to be the highest in terms of supply for housing and so it's more easy to build in those markets especially you know out as you get away from the know central cities etc and so where we've seen the the biggest barriers to supply are out on the coast and so we've seen you know job growth be pretty good in those markets but the supply hasn't kept up at all and so that's why you're seeing you know these big you know rent affordability you know problems in the coastal markets and so we think that supply not keeping up with the population dynamics is more of a coastal problem but then you know as you get into the markets that are more accepting of new development then you know we've seen housing supply increase at a rapid clip in many of these other markets I think you know Austin you know even through the June of this year permit activity for multi-family continued to set it reached big big levels and so I think year to date in Austin it's already pulled permits on almost 10,000 units already which is you know huge numbers. And so I do think that while these population growth numbers and some of these markets are you know off the charts especially compared to you know some of the coastal markets, that supply has been able to keep up there and so yeah you see pockets of where you know rent growth you know bumps up to you know five, six percent levels, it's especially that was the case in Phoenix and Las Vegas over the past two to three years where those markets were leading in terms of rent increases but they tend to you know be markets that you know will accept more new supply and so that will tend to even out over the long term.
Buck: How's Vegas doing out of curiosity because that one was just crushing it. It seemed it seemed a little dangerous you know it seemed like one of those markets where it's like wow is it real or is it one of those things that's just gonna go back to Vegas.
Ryan: Yeah exactly and yeah kind of thinking that you know before kind of goes back to your comment earlier about people moving from the coast to getting in their car and driving to the riverside and then Las Vegas and Phoenix and so it was benefiting from a real out-migration from expensive coastal California. That said that just the nature of this pandemic crushing leisure and hospitality and the conference circuit that the job losses in Las Vegas I think you know through April into May led the nation. We've seen some a bit of a bounce back there but really the question is you know how fast does the the conference you know a circuit come back, how fast are people willing to travel to casinos, I know they have already, but I think that pre-corona the growth was real and yeah absolutely now it's a little bit different you know market in terms of the cost and you don't want to go in there and if you're a developer you don't you know want to build a high-rise there and so your strategy is a little bit different but so far it's held up relatively well, all things considered, but still a lot of weakness that is materializing in Vegas.
Buck: Interesting stuff. Well listen I don't want to keep you all day long, Ryan, but it's been great talking to you. Where can we learn more about your work?
Ryan: Sure. Probably the easiest is wittenadvisors.com you can go there, all our contact information is there, feel free to reach out with a phone call or send me an email anytime and I'll be happy to give you more details on the services that we provide and how we add value to many clients that are in either owner, operators, developers, equity or lender clients.
Buck: Fantastic thanks again and we'd love to have you again you know in a few months to reassess where we are at.
Ryan: All right. Sounds good. Looking forward to it.
Buck: We'll be right back

Wrestling Observer Rewind ★ Sept. 25, 2000

Going through old issues of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter and posting highlights in my own words. For anyone interested, I highly recommend signing up for the actual site at f4wonline and checking out the full archives.
PREVIOUS YEARS ARCHIVE:
1991 • 1992 • 1993 • 1994 • 1995 • 1996 • 1997 • 1998 • 1999


1-3-2000	1-10-2000	1-17-2000	1-24-2000
1-31-2000	2-7-2000	2-14-2000	2-21-2000
2-28-2000	3-6-2000	3-13-2000	3-20-2000
3-27-2000	4-3-2000	4-10-2000	4-17-2000
4-24-2000	5-1-2000	5-8-2000	5-15-2000
5-22-2000	5-29-2000	6-5-2000	6-12-2000
6-19-2000	6-26-2000	7-3-2000	7-10-2000
7-17-2000	7-24-2000	7-31-2000	8-7-2000
8-14-2000	8-21-2000	8-28-2000	9-4-2000
9-11-2000	9-18-2000

The Delaware Supreme Court ruled against the USA Network in their appeal to prevent WWF from accepting the Viacom deal. The decision makes it official that WWF is moving to TNN next week and ends the 17-year WWF/USA relationship. The appeal process has been lingering for over a month and because of it, USA, Viacom, WWF and ECW were all pretty much paralyzed and waiting to see how things turn out. But now that it's all finalized, ECW's final TNN show will air on 9/22 and the first Raw on TNN will air on 9/25. It doesn't give Viacom much of an opportunity to promote the move. They had set aside $7 million to promote Raw's TNN debut but because of the lingering court proceedings, they kept having to delay it and now there's almost no time. On Raw's final show on USA, Jim Ross mentioned repeatedly that this was the last episode on the network and plugged the move to TNN (and hyping that Austin will be there live). But that's pretty much it so far. During the next few days, you can expect Viacom to bombard all media outlets with as much promotion as they can cram into the short amount of time, but it's going to be impossible to promote it as much as they'd hoped to. And considering they're moving from the #1 rated network to the #15 rated network, they need all the promotion they can get.
Needless to say, this all gives WCW a golden opportunity to put their best foot forward for Nitro on 9/25 and hopefully gain some much-needed ground (in case you're want spoilers for next week, Russo uses this opportunity to make himself the WCW champion). In the short run, Raw's ratings will almost certainly fall, but in the long-run, being with Viacom is going to be hugely beneficial to WWF. As for ECW, this opens the door for them to continue negotiations with USA. They desperately need a TV deal, on a strong network, and most importantly, they need outside financial support if they are going to survive. Having a TV deal is useless if you can't afford the production costs. As mentioned last week, ECW missed payroll and has had to cancel several house shows due to the financial crunch they're under.
Also this week, TNN announced that it's renaming itself The National Network (instead of The Nashville Network) and will be moving its base of operations from Nashville to New York. They're planning to debut a new logo and target their programming to a more diverse audience. Dave recaps the history of WWF on the USA Network, dating back to 1982 when they aired monthly WWF MSG shows. Then WWF got a weekly show called All-American Wrestling on the network in 1983, which then became Prime Time Wrestling and Tuesday Night Titans, the creation of Raw in 1993, the Monday night wars, and now to this.
There was a frightening moment at WCW's Fall Brawl PPV with Paul Orndorff suffering a stinger that left him motionless in the ring. The good news is that it was only temporary paralysis. He was treated and released from the hospital that same night. It was reminiscent of the injuries suffered by Droz and Buff Bagwell in recent years, but fortunately for Orndorff, it didn't end up being as bad. There was immediate suspicion that the whole thing was a work, which Dave thinks is a pretty sad reflection of WCW these days. When Orndorff went down, everyone else in the match basically panicked and continued working the match on the other side of the ring, taking bumps that kept jarring the ring, all while the EMTs and trainer were trying to tend to Orndorff. Finally, almost 2 minutes after he collapsed, referee Charles Robinson finally took charge and ordered the match stopped. The match was scheduled to go several more minutes and run-ins were scheduled, but it all got scrapped when Robinson ended it. The injury happened when Orndorff tried to piledrive Mark Jindrak but Jindrak didn't go up correctly for the move. Orndorff had to deadweight lift him and when he did so, his hamstring went out. He completed the piledriver but landed awkwardly, causing something with his neck and spine to jam up and that was it. Dave talks about Orndorff's health problems over the year, specifically his arm injury that caused his right arm to atrophy severely and never recover. He retired twice before due to health issues (87 and 94) only to return both times when he probably shouldn't have. (This was his final match for 17 years. But it looks like he came out of retirement last year and worked a 6-man tag match at an indie show in Canada. But otherwise, this Fall Brawl match was the end of the road for Orndorff).

WATCH: Paul Orndorff injury at Fall Brawl 2000

This whole thing brings up questions about Nitro this week, which has a match scheduled between Booker T and Vince Russo. Just a few weeks ago, Russo suffered a concussion during an angle and has been dealing with headaches and such ever since, and it's probably not a good idea for him to be in the ring. They could probably work around it, but Dave thinks it's bad enough to have untrained people in there doing moves anyway, much less ones who are already injured. Dave notes the recent example of Kurt Angle wrestling on Smackdown 2 days after getting severely concussed at Summerslam, which he never should have done and led to him getting another concussion because you're always more susceptible to further concussions during the period after suffering one. Russo has openly claimed to have had 3 concussions in the last year and has only worked about 6 matches. If that's true, he probably shouldn't be in there taking bumps again. But maybe they'll book something safe that doesn't require it. Either way, Dave is just concerned about the overall safety of all these guys.
Oh yeah, other notes from Fall Brawl: crowd was 8,600 although only about half of that (4,311) was paid, the rest were freebies. Dave notes all the excitement people in WCW had last week when the Nitro rating was higher than usual, and points out how it obviously didn't mean dick when it comes to ticket sales. TV ratings are nice but it's a vanity metric. The real numbers that matter are the ones that make money. Ticket sales and PPV buys. And, well, those are still horrible. There was a guy in the crowd facing the hard cam who was seen constantly throughout the show wearing a Destroyer mask. Destroyer was a famous wrestler back in 60s and 70s who wore a red and white mask. Anyway....turns out that was the real Destroyer (real name Dick Beyer), just sitting in the crowd at a WCW PPV at 70 years old, still doing his old gimmick. Kevin Nash cut a promo earlier on the pre-show claiming he was hungover from hanging out at the bar last night and essentially telegraphing that he was going to lose his match (he did). Right after the Orndorff match, Shane Douglas cut a pre-match promo saying Kidman would be joining Paul Orndorff at the hospital. Even his partner Torrie Wilson seemed to drop her TV smile and give him a "what an asshole" look for that one. The scaffold for the scaffold match was way wider than any other ones before and the area underneath was padded and safe, but Torrie still seemed legitimately terrified up there. After Madusa took a bump off the scaffold (which the crowd booed because it was clearly gimmicked for safety), the announcers also tried to compare her injuries to Orndorff's injury earlier in the night. Dave is just disgusted. Torrie never took a bump off the scaffold, which was the original plan but she refused, and good for her Dave says. It would have meant nothing for the match anyway. Negative 1 star. They did a segment with David Flair beating up a mailman in his yard and Dave says the whole segment was actually hilarious and more interestingly, it was all David Flair's idea. ICP did commentary on Vampiro's match again, which once again was funny. Mike Awesome came out with former child actor Gary Coleman. There's been a lot of news stories lately about Coleman working as a security guard for $6 an hour these days, so at least WCW probably didn't have to spend a lot to get him. Naturally, he got involved in the match and it was hilarious because he knew he was going to take a guitar shot from Jarrett. So he had a hat on with a towel folded up in it to cushion the blow. But during the chaos, his hat got knocked off. So just before the guitar shot, he picked up his hat, calmly put the towel back in, put it back on, and took the hit. Goldberg vs. Scott Steiner was a shockingly good match and Dave gives it 4.25 stars. And of course, Booker T won the title from Nash in the main event.

WATCH: Fall Brawl 2000 highlights

We get the usual long obituary for Professor Toru Tanaka, one of the biggest heels of the 60s and 70s, who died at age 70 in California. Dave recaps his career and of course, he was a Hawaiian who got booked as a typical salt throwing Japanese heel. Worked for WWWF feuding with Sammartino, won titles in all the territories, etc. He also tells an interesting story from 1977 when Pat Patterson returned to the San Francisco territory after being gone for 8 months and was supposed to face Mr. Fuji in a show that ended up drawing 12,000 people. But Fuji had a falling out with promoter Roy Shire and left the territory 2 weeks before the match. So Shire brought in Tanaka and put him under a mask and tried to pass him off as the real Fuji. The crowd didn't buy it and the media got ahold of the story and started claiming fraud and the athletic commission got involved. Shire nearly lost his promoter's license but he claimed he didn't know and thought it was the real Fuji under the mask. Tanaka and Shire were both fined but the commission seemed to buy the story (others backed it up to protect Shire) and let them off with just the fine. The real Fuji caught all the heat and was legitimately banned by the commission for life from wrestling in California, but that was overturned in 1984.
The current plan for AJPW's Triple Crown title is to hold a tournament soon, which is expected to be won by Toshiaki Kawada, who will then defend the title against NJPW champion Sasaki in a title vs. title match at the Jan. 4th Tokyo Dome show. And the plan from there is for Kawada to get the surprising win, since most people don't expect NJPW to book their champion to lose to AJPW's champion. But the way Riki Choshu (NJPW booker) sees it, AJPW is pretty much doomed and he's not too concerned about them as competition anymore, and he's well aware that this inter-promotional feud is the only thing keeping AJPW alive right now. But there's still money in an AJPW/NJPW feud and they want to prolong it, so Kawada will have to win. The idea is to keep Kawada strong because NJPW loves the gimmick of a strongly booked outsider coming in and shaking things up. In the past, that person has been Naoya Ogawa but Choshu is tired of the headache that comes with dealing with Antonio Inoki and Ogawa because Inoki is intent on making Ogawa an unbeatable superman and NJPW can never get him to put anyone over. Choshu is pretty much trying to do anything he can to get Inoki's influence as far away from the company as possible. So the idea is to keep Kawada strong and milk this angle for all it's worth.
New Jersey Governor Christine Todd Whitman officially signed into law the bill to regulate so-called "extreme wrestling." The bill bans children under 18 from attending extreme wrestling shows. It also adds an athletic commission tax to promotions running extreme shows, mandates an ambulance and 2 doctors must be on hand at every event, and even though it's a state law, the city officials where the show is to be held must specifically give permission for the event. This bill doesn't affect ECW, which was categorized as one of the 3 major companies which are exempt from the law. The bill is a not-so-subtle effort to drive Jersey All Pro Wrestling and Combat Zone Wrestling specifically out of the state, JAPW in particular. They're planning to still run shows but will be forced to get rid of bladejobs, no more light tubes or thumb tacks or barbed wire, etc. JAPW owner Frank Iadeavia has said they are considering legal action. But at this point, if they want to continue to run shows as they have, they're going to be forced to leave the state of New Jersey to do so.
Raw did well in the ratings again, facing stiff competition from the Olympics and Monday Night Football. But they had one segment that was a major bomb. Mick Foley came out, cutting a promo once again trying to get George W. Bush and Al Gore to appear on Smackdown for a debate. The segment was right before the main event and caused a full 700,000 homes to change the channel, which is an unheard of drop for a Raw episode. That led to the Rock/Undertaker main event that followed to be the lowest rated Raw main event of the year.
The Wrestling Observer Hotline has been officially killed off. 1-900 hotline numbers have been dying anyway and the numbers were down and Dave says more importantly, he needed to stop because he's so busy with the newsletter and the Eyada online radio show and wants to concentrate fully on those and the daily hotline stuff took up too much time.
Motoko Baba threatened a lawsuit against Nippon TV over their decision to drop AJPW and start airing NOAH instead, and due to the lawsuit, NOAH currently isn't airing on NTV, which is a major blow for the fledgling new company. In the meantime, Misawa has started negotiations with TV Tokyo, which is another one of the major networks in Japan.
Former WWF and ECW wrestler Nicole Bass made headlines after being arrested in New York after getting into an argument with someone on a street corner. It turned into a fight and when the police tried to break it up, she allegedly bit one of the cops. Bass was one of several people arrested.
Notes from OVW: Jim Ross did announcing on some of the shows there this week, because he was down there scouting talent. Shelton Benjamin is showing a lot of promise and Jim Cornette says Benjamin is progressing even faster than Kurt Angle and believes he's guaranteed to be a big star. Brock Lesnar still hasn't debuted on TV there yet but Bob Orton's son Randy Orton recently did. They're also strongly pushing Leviathan (real name Dave Bautista) and Jim Cornette predicts he will headline Wrestlemania within the next 5 years. (yup, exactly 5 years later in fact)
Ed Farhat, better known as The Sheik, is said to be in very grave condition. He's down to 150 pounds and can only communicate through blinking his eyes or lightly squeezing if you hold his hand (he ended up living another 2+ years after this. His Wikipedia page says he was working with a biographer and did extensive interviews before he died, with plans to have a book on his life released. But it says the interviews "provided a highly explosive look" into the business and as a result, the interviews and draft of the book were sealed at the time of his death and to this day it's never been released. Interesting. When I originally wrote this up a few months ago, I tweeted Dave about this and he responded saying he didn't know anything about it either. I'd love to find out more.)
The latest revival of Stampede Wrestling is in bad shape. They have no more shows scheduled and have only done 10 shows in the last few months. Their TV show has been airing old tapes rather than new episodes lately.
Ken Shamrock broke his silence on his recent PRIDE loss to Kazuyuki Fujita. Shamrock pretty much blamed himself and admitted he wasn't in proper shape to fight and said things happened which contributed to him not having time to train properly (he doesn't go into detail but I think Dave mentioned something in an earlier Observer but I can't find it right now. But I think Shamrock was going through some personal shit around this time. Something like a divorce or a custody battle or something. That doesn't get mentioned here, it's just something I vaguely remember reading awhile back, I might be wrong).
Nobuhiko Takada has announced he's going to face Igor Vovchanchyn at next month's PRIDE show and that if he doesn't win, he'll retire. Takada had a reputation as a shoot fighter from his years as the founder and star of UWFi, which was a worked shoot promotion. But then he started doing real shoots and it's been bad news ever since, including 2 high profile losses to Rickson Gracie. He's had a couple of wins, but they were worked matches. His real MMA fights have all been losses and Dave says the real fighters in PRIDE have pretty much no respect for Takada as an actual fighter. He doesn't like Takada's chances next month (indeed, Takada gets punched into submission in the 2nd round. But he still didn't retire).
Notes from Nitro: the building was mostly full, with not that many freebies. But only because it was a small arena that only holds about 5,000 people. It was also in Canada and the crowd was pretty much only there to see Lance Storm (who ended up jobbing to Jim Duggan in an undercard match) and Bret Hart (who wasn't there at all). They hated Goldberg with a passion, probably due to the Hart stuff, and booed him mercilessly.
On his personal website, Mark Madden apologized to Lou Thesz for his comment on Nitro last week where he joked that Lou Thesz beats up women. Madden said he was only joking and that he has a ton of respect for Thesz.
Pamela Paulshock apparently injured her ankle doing an angle on Thunder last week. Dave thinks it's bad enough when they have untrained wrestlers in there getting hurt, but now untrained ring announcers are getting hurt too.
WCW is pitching an angle for Vampiro to team with singer Billy Idol in a feud against Mike Awesome and David Cassidy, of Partridge Family fame (Never happened but.....yeah. That was a thing evidently).
Dave only has a couple of thoughts on this week's Thunder: he begs someone in WCW to PLEASE send Major Gunns to get acting lessons. He also wants someone to save Mike Awesome from a gimmick worse than the Red Rooster. And finally, I guess there's been a lot of commercials for the new Meet The Parents movie and Dave thinks it looks funny.
Various WCW notes: DDP is likely being brought back soon, though Kimberly won't be. Nitro Girl Spice was released. She was being groomed to co-host WCW's Saturday morning show, but then the show got canned and they didn't have anything else for her. And after being world champion for a couple of months, WCW has finally decided to start making some Booker T merch. Seems like a good idea to finally get around to. The Harris Twins taped segments for both the Maury Povich and Jenny Jones shows, no word on what they are or when they'll air. Goldberg will be on an episode of The Daily Show this week. Gene Okerlund is expected to be given a grumpy old man gimmick where he swears a lot.
Next month might be a surprisingly good month for WCW ticket wise. They have shows in Australia that are expected to do big numbers because Australia is so starved for wrestling that even WCW can do big business there. And they have a PPV in Las Vegas which will do good because the casinos are buying up a lot of tickets to give away.
Kevin Nash and Scott Steiner are reportedly being total team players right now, because there's concern that a regime change could come at any time (a lot of people are pushing for Johnny Ace to replace Vince Russo) and they're basically being on their best behavior until they see who their next new boss might be. The only person right now who's really stirring up shit is Goldberg, who is said to be openly pissed about pretty much everything and isn't shy about expressing it (yeah, even Goldberg has since admitted that he was frustrated and probably wasn't very pleasant to be around back then).
Scott Hall is expected to return to Nitro next week. Brad Siegel reportedly gave up on fighting with Nash about it and is willing to bring Hall back. Siegel and Hall spoke last week and Hall was basically told this is his last chance and if he fucks up one time, he's gone for good. Of course, Scott Steiner has been told that a dozen times in the past, so you know how that goes (Hall doesn't end up coming back. Not sure if it fell through or Dave got bad info or what, but it never happens).
They held a Miss WCW Pageant in Las Vegas last week with Carrot Top as one of the judges and of course there was a bikini contest. Nitro Girl Chae ended up winning over Torrie Wilson, Major Gunns, Baby, Chiquita, Midajah and Stacy Keibler. Pamela Paulshock was supposed to be in it but no-showed due to her ankle injury (there's some good catty drama coming out of this in the next week or two).
So the deal with Konnan is....pretty messed up, actually. He had tricep surgery a few months ago and has no business back in the ring yet. But WCW cut his paycheck in half so....he came back and he's wrestling. But here's the problem. The doctors still haven't given him a medical release yet because, well, they're doctors and he's still fucked up. They're like, "Dude...no." Anyway, because he doesn't have his medical release, WCW is still only giving him half his pay. But they're still allowing him to wrestle. He's hoping to get a medical release this week so he can start getting full checks again. Dave just thinks this whole policy is so screwed up on so many ways.
Disqo Inferno has been bringing out some plastic duck to the ring called the Disqo Duck. (I should stop for a second and explain something for the younger readers. R&B singer Sisqo had a HUGE hit called "Thong Song" around this time and WCW, in their infinite wisdom, capitalized by changing the spelling of Disco to Disqo.) Anyway, the duck is fucking stupid and apparently at Nitro this week, Konnan literally handcuffed himself to the duck backstage to try and keep Disqo Inferno from taking it out to the ring. Someone had to try to save him from himself.
Jeremy Borash will be doing announcing at this week's Thunder tapings. Dave says there's a lot of heat here because Borash is close to Vince Russo, so he's getting a lot of chances to do things like commentary even though he hasn't really earned it yet and hasn't shown any real aptitude for it. Dave says if Borash ends up replacing one of the main announcers on Nitro, there'll probably be a meltdown.
Steve Austin and Debra got married last week in Las Vegas (fun fact: same wedding chapel Triple H and a drugged out Stephanie McMahon got married in. Funner fact: also the same wedding chapel I got married in).
The plan for Sunday Night Heat, now that it's moving to MTV, is for it to be more of a humor and skit type show, with a lot of Tom Green-style humor (oh man, 2000 was such a weird time). They want to bring in musical guests and celebrities for it and will do a lot of the stuff from the WWF New York restaurant as well as at MTV's Times Square headquarters.
Notes from Raw: a lot of the show was built around trying to seemingly bury Kurt Angle, by turning him into a goofy heel character and implying that he's gay. They showed a lot of footage of him crying at the Olympics and had Triple H make fun of him and all that stuff. Dave thinks it's a pretty weird thing to do one week before the biggest match of Angle's career (he's got a No DQ match with Triple H at next week's PPV) and sure didn't do him any favors for people taking him seriously. Hugh Hefner was on to plug Chyna's upcoming Playboy appearance and Dave thinks it's nice that Playboy and WWF could come together again in the interest of making money after all the nasty legal issues they had with the Sable fallout. And finally, Steve Regal debuted.
Since we were talking about WCW's injury policy, Dave decides to let us know what WWF's policy is. A WWF wrestler that is out with an injury receives their downside guarantee. WWF contracts give you a guarantee (say, $300,000 per year for example) but you can make a lot more money on the road because everyone gets a cut of house show gates and PPV revenue and whatnot. So if you're injured and not on the road, you won't get all that extra money, but you still make the $300,000 guarantee. Of course, that leads to the same incentive for guys to sometimes come back before they're ready, because they're losing money by being at home, but from everyone who talks to Dave, there's not nearly as much pressure from the WWF to hurry up and come back as there is in WCW.
Various WWF notes: Big Boss Man will be out for a few weeks after having his knee scoped. Grand Master Sexay needed 14 stitches in his ear after getting legit cut from the belt shot on Raw. Tori should be back in Oct. or early November after shoulder surgery. Billy Gunn should be back in a few weeks. Road Dogg's wife had surgery for a collapsed lung so he's out tending to her. Davey Boy Smith was in a motorcycle accident last week and Dave says if you know how many times Smith has been in and out of the hospital this year, it would scare you to death.
Four different wrestling promotions have videos in the Billboard Top 20 charts....and none of them are WCW. Of course, WWF is all over the charts with their various releases taking up 12 of the 20 spots. ECW has videos at #5 and #7. XPW, which currently isn't running new shows and doesn't even have a building to run shows in right now, has videos at #12 and #19. And Insane Clown Posse's JCW promotion has a video at #13. All that, but no WCW.
Kurt Angle and Taka Michinoku worked a UPW show in California along with a few other WWF developmental signees who started out at the UPW school (I decided to look it up and see who else of note worked that show: Franie Kazarian, Simon Dean, Rocky Romero, Mike Knox, Vic Grimes, Christopher Daniels, Samoa Joe, and John Cena were all on the card. 2000/2001-era UPW had a ton of future stars come through the doors).
One of the XFL teams is already moving before it even starts. The San Jose Demons have now been renamed the San Francisco Demons and will be playing in San Fran after negotiations with Spartan Stadium in San Jose fell apart. Dave thinks it might be a bad move. San Jose is a wealthier community with a large population and their hockey and soccer franchises do huge business. San Francisco already has a major team in every sport and he doesn't know if a B-level football team is going to draw as well there as it would have in San Jose. He also notes that in the spring, the weather is a lot warmer in San Jose at night than it is in San Francisco, and California isn't exactly the type of place where people want to sit out in the cold weather at night and watch football games. This isn't Green Bay or Chicago where freezing to death for football is almost a tradition (the cities are, like, an hour apart so I can't imagine the weather is that much different? Although I guess San Francisco is right there on the bay so maybe wind? I dunno. Anyone from the area care to chime in?)
A New York newspaper reported that Vince McMahon tried to stop VH1 from airing an episode of "The List" because the show featured appearances by Kevin Nash, Booker T, Scott Steiner, Sting, and other WCW stars. VH1 is owned by Viacom, which now owns 3% of WWF's stock and McMahon decided to try to throw his weight around and get the episode canned. Didn't work and it actually was one of the highest rated episodes of the show ever. But he did succeed in getting VH1 to agree to not air reruns of that episode. A WWF spokesman responded to the story, saying, "It is highly unlikely that took place. It's not something we would do." But of course, you'll note that they didn't outright deny it and the idea that Vince McMahon wouldn't do something like that is laughable since he has a long history of doing exactly that sort of thing.
The Slam! Wrestling website wrote an article criticizing the WWF policy of not allowing wrestlers to do interviews with other websites without company approval because they see all other websites as competition to their own WWF.com site. The article noted they had an interview with Gerald Brisco awhile back and Brisco told them he could talk freely about his pre-WWF years but if it has to do with WWF, he'd have to clear it with the office. Jim Ross responded on his WWF website column, saying not a single interview request has come across their desk from any other wrestling websites. Dave talks about when the policy was put in place and says WWF told him he could still get anyone he wanted to interview on the Observer website, but he would need to go through the office first. Since that time, Dave says he's talked to wrestlers who agreed to appear, but when he tried to get it cleared by the office, it stalled and has been pending approval ever since with no answer sooooooo......
WWF is wanting Big Show to drop down to 400 pounds. At his heaviest in WCW he was 505 and currently weighs a legit 480.
Someone writes in with a conspiracy theory. He thinks Shane McMahon's death-defying fall from the TitanTron at Summerslam was done to prove a point given the upcoming Owen Hart wrongful death lawsuit, with the idea being that the WWF side can point to it as an example that, "See! Even Vince McMahon's son is sometimes asked to perform stunts like this and they're usually done safely." Dave responds, saying that normally he'd think that's reading too much into things. But the day after Summerslam, several people in WWF as well as a couple of legal experts he talked to all had basically the same theory and said they wouldn't be surprised if it gets brought up in the trial. But time will tell, Dave says.
Dave Lagana writes in, talking his experience working on "Friends" and talking about how most TV shows are written by writing teams and how stories are crafted in TV writing rooms and so on and so forth. Basically, it leads to the one big question every writer, booker, and performer should ask themselves: how will the audience react to the long-term story? Not how loud the momentary pop is or how much you were able to swerve the audience with a surprise that doesn't make any sense, etc. The point he's trying to make is that Vince Russo is doing literally everything wrong and he has no idea how to write television. He's also pretty fed up with Russo's constant everything-is-a-shoot booking, where they openly acknowledge scripts and bookers and shit in every segment. He's not the only one.
Lots of letters talking about what a total trainwreck WCW is. Russo isn't the only problem. From management to marketing, the ball is being dropped everywhere. None of the stories are coherent. Characters change gimmicks or go from face to heel from week-to-week with no explanation, fans have no idea what's happening. Wrestlers themselves are out of control backstage. Merchandising is dead. Basically, the ship is sinking and the worst part is that nobody seems to care. Everyone is just drilling more holes in the ship. Even when they luck into something that works, they always manage to fuck it up immediately. So there's all that. But also, a lot of piling on Russo from a lot of people who think he's killing the company.

MONDAY: Raw debuts on TNN, Steve Austin returns, ECW not yet cancelled on TNN after all, WWF Unforgiven fallout, and more...

Wrestling Observer Rewind ★ Nov. 10, 1997

Going through old issues of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter and posting highlights in my own words. For anyone interested, I highly recommend signing up for the actual site at f4wonline and checking out the full archives.
PREVIOUS YEARS ARCHIVE: 1991 • 1992 • 1993 • 1994 • 1995 • 1996


1-6-1997	1-13-1997	1-20-1997	1-27-1997
2-3-1997	2-10-1997	2-17-1997	2-24-1997
3-3-1997	3-10-1997	3-17-1997	3-24-1997
3-31-1997	4-7-1997	4-14-1997	4-21-1997
4-28-1997	5-5-1997	5-12-1997	5-19-1997
5-26-1997	6-2-1997	6-9-1997	6-16-1997
6-23-1997	6-30-1997	7-7-1997	7-14-1997
7-21-1997	7-28-1997	8-4-1997	8-11-1997
8-18-1997	8-25-1997	9-1-1997	9-8-1997
9-15-1997	9-22-1997	9-29-1997	10-6-1997
10-13-1997	10-20-1997	10-27-1997	11-3-1997

Bret Hart officially gave notice to WWF this week that he's leaving and has agreed to a 2-year deal with WCW. Hart has reportedly been unhappy with WWF's new, more crude direction and that, more than money, is reportedly why he chose to leave, but of course, money played a big part also. But Hart is reportedly so embarrassed by the current WWF direction that he doesn't even let his children watch the show and of course has been upset at having to deal with Shawn Michaels. Both Hart and WWF tried to keep the story under wraps until after Survivor Series but that's impossible these days. Once the story leaked, WWF released a statement admitting that they were giving Hart the opportunity to explore other options. On Nitro, Eric Bischoff teased that he would have a big announcement next week, which would be Hart coming to join the NWO (which would probably be turned into a storyline with him deciding if he's with WCW or NWO). For now, Bret is scheduled to work all his WWF booked events through the end of November and then one final PPV show in December. Hart and Bischoff have reportedly been negotiating for about 6 weeks, and very few people knew. They met in person 3 weeks ago and at that point, they were pretty sure Bret was coming to WCW but he didn't make the final decision until this weekend. During his WWF negotiations last year, Hart got Vince to agree to a clause in his 20-year contract that allows him to quit with 30 days notice and another clause that gives him creative control over his character during those final 30 days.
All that is known about Hart's WCW deal is that it's similar to the contract he turned down last year, although slightly less money because Hart insisted on working fewer dates (around 125-140 per year) due to a bad knee that never really healed last year and a wrist injury that he's long needed surgery on. It also has the same deals with Hart getting movie roles for Turner. Bret will likely be used to help prop up the new Thursday TBS show as well as help WCW grow in Canada. Dave recaps the last year, saying Bret quickly became unhappy in WWF after signing his new deal, and pretty much came up with his own angle for the double-turn with Steve Austin and with forming the Hart Foundation. He also has well-known heat with Shawn Michaels dating back to last year but got much more heated this year with Shawn's "Sunny days" comment followed by a legit backstage fight that led to Shawn walking out of the company. Neither man was punished for the fight and in fact, WWF basically begged Shawn to return. Eventually they agreed to co-exist and leave personal lives and families out of their promos, but Shawn then did an interview talking about Stu Hart. Shawn later apologized for that one, saying he got carried away in a promo. Shawn has been on a self-destructive path the last year and his immaturity and antics on TV are seemingly encouraged by Vince McMahon, which upset Bret. And the final straw appears to be Vince deciding that Bret will drop the title to Shawn at Survivor Series.
There's been speculation that Vince McMahon actually wants Bret to leave because he doesn't want to honor the 20-year contract that Bret has because he has buyer's remorse. McMahon fought hard to keep Bret from WCW last year and many think he was only thinking in the short-term when he made the deal. Long-term, it's a very expensive contract that doesn't make good economic sense for WWF which has led to people questioning whether or not Vince is actively trying to push Bret to leave. Asking him to drop the title to Shawn was sure to upset him and Vince knew it. Dave says no one knows exactly what will happen in Montreal at the PPV. Most people will expect Bret to drop the title, but they may try to swerve fans and do it at another time. But either way, Bret will have to drop the belt sometime very soon. As for guys like Owen Hart and Davey Boy Smith, they're both locked into 5 year contracts and it doesn't look like any of this will affect their status with the company.
And on a final note, just a few days ago, Bret Hart wrote a column in the Calgary Sun paper which is designed as a "letter" to Shawn Michaels that was meant to seem like a shoot in order to promote the Survivor Series match. But knowing what we know now, it takes on a whole new meaning (I'm sure Bret meant every word of this):

"Shawn Michaels, you are a disgrace to professional wrestling. It amazes me that there was a time I actually thought you'd be the guy who could come up behind me and carry the ball when my time comes to retire. Now when you're behind me, I have to make sure I don't bend over. I am a second generation wrestler. Like a lot of second generation wrestlers, I've paid my dues. The way you are degrading the business makes me sick and breaks my heart. That's not what Heartbreak Kid was supposed to mean. I told you, and Vince told you, to leave our families out of this. So you got on RAW and said that my father is dead. This time you're so far over the line that there's no coming back. Every so often, after you shoot off your mouth, you come to me backstage with a lame apology and a limp handshake. "Oh Bret, my mouth always gets me in trouble when I get goin' out there. You know I didn't mean nothin' by it."
Don't bother this time, I'm not buying it. I would not embarrass my father--who is not only very much alive but is still tougher today at 83 and more of a man than you will ever be--as you have embarrassed your father with your degenerate behavior. How humiliating for your poor mother to have to explain your lewd gestures to her friends. You don't respect anybody, do you? What does Jose Lothario think of how you've made pornography out of what he taught you? Shawn Michaels, you are nothing more than a whore for this business.
You called me a paper champion because it bothers you that my contract is worth more than you and the whole Degeneration X put together. You said I wrestle because I need the money, but you wrestle because this business needs you. You are a festering cancerous tumor in this business. After Wrestlemania XII, I went home for a while to give you the chance to become "the man" because as long as I'm around you'll never be "the man." You were so bad at being "the man" that the WWF and WCW had the biggest bidding war in wrestling history to get me to come back. You'd have the World championship belt. But you don't. What do you have, besides a big mouth and a bad attitude?
Shawn Michaels, you said that beating the Undertaker makes you an icon. Not taking anything away from 'Taker, but you weren't the first guy to beat him, you just did it too late. You said you're the only icon that can still go, not like the fossils. You're so beat up from taking completely overdone bumps like a Mexican jumping bean that you can't even work a full schedule like the older guys. You only wrestle about once a month and you're proud of that? Then people who think they know more about this business than they actually do, write about what a hard worker you are. Anyone can work hard once a month. You've barebacked your way to main event matches and they give you the best guys in the business to make you look good.
So you and your boyfriend, Hunter, think I'm too old. Hunter said he's bigger than me in more ways than one, and then you pointed at Hunter's crotch and said he could put an eye out with that thing. Thanks for admitting that you know what Hunter has in his pants. So how come I have four kids and all you two have is each other? I'm not the one shooting blanks. By the way, you both looked very comfortable eating bananas together on Raw. Lots of parents tell me they won't let their kids watch the shows anymore because of you and they don't watch either because you're such an asshole. People are shutting the show off because of you! It took so long to make wrestling into family entertainment. Thanks for setting the business back 50 years! You are the one who is confusing expansion and destruction, not me. You, Shawn, are the destruction of this business. You make me sick. You said you're the best sports entertainer in the world. Don't even think about saying you're a wrestler. What I do is an art form and what you do is...what do you do, anyway, cause it's not pro wrestling anymore?
You called the WWF world championship a "tin title" but you're only saying that because you don't have the belt. When you did have it, you treated it like garbage and then threw it away! So now you want to try to win the title at Survivor Series? You'd better reconsider that because when I get my hands on you it's going to make the beating I gave you in the locker room last June look like a warm up. After that little scuffle, you went running to Vince, complaining that the work conditions in the WWF are unsafe. The only thing unsafe about the working conditions in the WWF is you, Shawn. You've gotten in the ring so "pilled up" lately that you can't even talk straight on TV. You'd better shake the cob webs free before you get in the ring with me at SS. This business has been my mistress for my whole life and I love her. You are raping her and taking her dignity away. Don't count on my reputation for professionalism saving your ass at SS. You're the one who threw the rule book out the window. The 17 stitches you got at Hell in the Cell are nothing compared to what's coming at Misery in Montreal."

Ric Flair has also agreed to re-sign with WCW which is a win for them because WWF was very interested and Flair had strongly considered it for awhile. But he'll be staying with WCW.
The official cause of death for Brian Pillman has been released and the verdict is heart attack due to natural causes. Reportedly, after a month of tests, the coroner was stumped for a cause of the heart attack, although his heart did show an unusual amount of damage for someone his age. It could be hereditary or due to outside factors such as cocaine or steroids, both of which it's no secret that Pillman had used and abused during his career. Toxicology results didn't show any drugs in amounts that could have killed him. He had painkillers in his system but not at dangerous levels. No steroids or illegal drugs were found in his system, nor any alcohol. He had blood pressure medication in his system, which he didn't have a prescription for but again not at a dangerous amount. On a WCW internet radio show a couple of weeks ago, Gene Okerlund claimed to have an inside scoop with sources with the police in MN that cocaine was the cause of death, which got rumors going. But when toxicology showed no cocaine in his system, this naturally led to a ton of heat on Okerlund and upset a lot of people.
Gorilla Monsoon's condition improved over the weekend but he's still hospitalized and listed in serious condition. Monsoon was on a respirator and receiving kidney dialysis for most of the last week. Doctors are hoping to perform a bypass surgery on his heart soon, but it no longer looks as though he needs a transplant for now. Monsoon had been a top heel back in the day and was part owner of Capital Sports (parent company of the old WWWF) before selling his share of the company to Vince McMahon Jr. in 1982. Ever since then, he's remained with the company as an announcer, figurehead authority figure, and backstage office roles as well as giving time cues at TV tapings from the other side of the curtain.
NJPW "only" drew around 40,000 to their latest stadium show in the Fukuoka Dome, which is the smallest crowd ever for a NJPW stadium show. The number disappointed many, and it seems to be a reality check about the long-term future of NJPW, which has been the most successful promotion in the world for the last few years, but is starting to see the peak fading. Right now, they're being carried by the final retirement shows of Riki Choshu which are doing big business, but after he retires on Jan. 4th, NJPW doesn't really have anything exciting on the horizon for 1998, which has some in the company worried.
Two incidents with fans at wrestling shows made news this week and led to near riots. The first was at a Promo Azteca show in Tijuana. A bunch of wrestlers were in the ring having a big post-match brawl. Among them were Rey Misterio Jr., Psicosis, Konnan, and others when a fan hit the ring and did a dropkick on Misterio. Then another fan ran in and hit Mistero with a chair, but Misterio got the chair away from the fan. At this point, fans in the crowd all started throwing chairs at the ring and, sensing a riot about to break out, others in the crowd panicked and began running. All in all, it was a scary situation but nobody was hurt. For what it's worth, WCW doesn't want Misterio wrestling in Mexico anymore because they don't want him to get hurt, especially at a non-WCW show.
The other incident took place in (where else?)....ECW at a show in Plymouth, PA. This situation was different. According to several witnesses, a small group of fans showed up, all big tough looking guys, and they were there looking for trouble right from the beginning. They were harassing the wrestlers all night from the front row and during the first match, security came and told them to stop leaning over the rails and stop spitting at wrestlers, but the security guard was shouted down by the group. Why they weren't removed then and there, no one knows. The ECW wrestlers mostly tried to avoid wrestling near them. But then Axl Rotten, Balls Mahoney, John Kronus and (who else?) New Jack came to the ring for a match. And then trouble began. When Balls Mahoney got too close, 2 of the fans started punching him. Mahoney turned around and started throwing wild punches back and then the ECW locker room emptied as everyone ran out to join the brawl. "Reports are the Dudleys were going through the crowd like buzzsaws" and it took nearly 20 minutes to bring order back to the show. After it was over, several hundred fans were outside the building trying to escape the near-riot. Several fans were injured, although none seriously. 40 police officers, some in riot gear, and even a police dog showed up to the scene. The story made all the local news outlets. Balls Mahoney and New Jack were brought to the police station for questioning. The 2 fans who threw the initial punches were arrested and charged with assault, disorderly conduct, and harassment. New Jack surprisingly didn't do much during the fight because as soon as it started to break out, Paul Heyman ran out and pulled New Jack away from it because given the Mass Transit legal situation, Heyman didn't want him getting into more legal trouble that could reflect on the company.
Speaking of fans getting involved, WWF ran an angle on Raw with a "fan" getting into the ring who then started doing martial arts and kicking people's asses. He is former Stampede wrestler Steve Blackman and he's expected to officially debut in his first match at Survivor Series, replacing The Patriot on Team USA.

WATCH: Steve Blackman's WWF debut

Dave reviews a recent FMW show and says the show-stealer was Masato Tanaka vs. The Gladiator (Mike Awesome) and says usually they're both decent workers at best but they really clicked in this match. (Indeed they did. Those 2 had the best chemistry together and they went on to have legendary matches against each other in ECW and even revived the feud years later at the first WWECW One Night Stand PPV). Anyway, this FMW match even has their famous powerbomb-outside-the-ring spot at about the 18 minute mark.

WATCH: Masato Tanaka vs. The Gladiator (FMW)

The Dallas Sportatorium got a new lease on life after reports came out that it would be torn down. Enough die-hard wrestling fans who still attend the occasional indie show there made enough noise that they extended the lease on the building and it won't be torn down for now.
USWA is dead, but Jerry Lawler had a contract to run weekly shows at a casino in Mississippi, so he's continuing to run indie shows there each week so as to not to violate the contract. In Louisville, Ian Rotten's IWA is trying to take over the TV deal and arena dates that USWA had. And Bert Prentice's Music City Wrestling is trying to take over the Memphis and Nashville deals and they'll be running their first show in Memphis next week on the usual USWA date at the same building.
A few weeks ago, Billy Jack Haynes emerged from hiding (reportedly because he had some bad gambling debts and was kinda on the run) and tried to make amends with people he had screwed over. He admitted having a gambling problem but said it was all behind him now. He borrowed some money from a few people to get his life back in order.....but has instead disappeared again after borrowing the money.
The rap group Insane Clown Posse will be wrestling at a show called Stranglemania Live in Detroit next month. The show will also feature a women's thumbtack death match. (The video below is part one. Part 2, 3, 4, etc. should start automatically after you finish the previous one).

WATCH: Stranglemania Live 1997 - Pt. 1

ECW held a show in Stamford, CT on Halloween that sounds like it was a lot of fun. A lot of current ECW stars who used to work in WWF used their old WWF gimmicks since it was Halloween. Al Snow came out as Avatar, Justin Credible worked as Aldo Montoya, Jerry Lynn worked as Mr. J.L., Shane Douglas did his Dean Douglas gimmick and Chris Candido came out as Skip. Also on the show, Rob Van Dam dressed as Sabu. The BWO guys (Blue Meanie and Super Nova) wrestled as Big Daddy Fool and the Heartburn Kid, coming out to Shawn Michaels' music. Finally, Tommy Dreamer won a flag match and proclaimed Stamford as ECW country (no free video anywhere but apparently you can pay to watch it here on Highspots).

LINK: ECW Halloween Hell 97

Tickets for Sting vs. Hogan at Starrcade go on sale this week and it's almost certainly going to break every record in WCW history. The Halloween Havoc show last month did a big PPV buyrate also. Dave says a lot of people have talked about how terrible the Hogan/Piper "age in the cage" match was, and they're right, it was awful. But the job of the top stars is to sell tickets and when it comes to that, Hogan is still #1 in WCW, no matter how bad the match was. Even Hogan's new movie Assault on Devil's Island did a 4.2 rating, making it one of the most-watch made-for-TV movies ever on cable and they may be turning the movie into an ongoing TV series.
Dave thinks the political situation in WCW will be interesting in 1998. All of the top stars (Hogan, Sting, Flair, Piper, Savage, Hall, Nash, and soon, Bret Hart) will be under the same roof and all of them have or will have some measure of creative control in their contracts which is sure to lead to some problems. With WWF losing Bret Hart, that frees up a lot of money so don't be surprised to see some of those guys maybe looking to go back to WWF if things get too crowded at the top.
Raven cut a promo on Nitro and mentioned sitting next to a girl named Trisa Hayes in elementary school. That's an inside reference because Trisa Hayes is actually the real name of ECW's Beulah McGillicutty.
Perry Saturn won the TV title on Nitro, and because his knee is still not fully healed, he wrestled a totally different style, sorta similar to Taz with lots of suplexes and submissions. Taz got wind of this and was reportedly upset that Saturn was stealing his gimmick but Dave says they're different enough that he wouldn't really consider it the same.
WCW Injury Report: Bill Goldberg has a pulled groin and will miss a few shows. Syxx had an MRI on his neck and the results weren't good, as he had more damage than originally thought. He'll be out for awhile, no word how long. DDP had blood in his urine recently but didn't miss any matches. Marcus Bagwell will be out for a few weeks after having the meniscus in his knee removed. And even Kimberly Page knocked heads with another Nitro girl during a mistimed routine and was banged up.
Southern California indie wrestler Christopher Daniels is expected to get a WCW tryout soon.
WCW filed a lawsuit against WWF over them using the name Canadian Stampede for its PPV back in July because they claimed it was too similar to WCW's Spring Stampede PPV name. The case was settled out of court, but not for money. Part of the agreement is WWF wouldn't use the name Canadian Stampede in the future.
DDP raised about $1,000 for Brian Pillman's family through internet donations.
Steve Austin has been working 8-man tag matches on house shows and doing very little in the ring. Doctors are still giving him bad diagnosis but its hard for someone to stop and give up their career when they're at their peak like Austin is now (we're not even close to Austin's peak yet).
Doctors have told The Patriot he should retire due to his tricep tear because it seems to be a chronic problem. He's expected to get surgery and if he decides to return, it'll be in 3-6 months (he didn't return).

TOMORROW: The Montreal Screwjob.

Wrestling Observer Rewind ★ Dec. 9, 1996


1-2-1996	1-6-1996	1-15-1996	1-22-1996
1-29-1996	2-5-1996	2-12-1996	2-19-1996
2-26-1996	3-4-1996	3-11-1996	3-18-1996
3-25-1996	4-2-1996	4-8-1996	4-15-1996
4-22-1996	4-29-1996	5-6-1996	5-13-1996
5-20-1996	5-27-1996	6-3-1996	6-10-1996
6-17-1996	6-24-1996	7-1-1996	7-8-1996
7-15-1996	7-22-1996	7-29-1996	8-5-1996
8-14-1996	8-19-1996	8-26-1996	9-2-1996
9-9-1996	9-16-1996	9-23-1996	9-30-1996
10-7-1996	10-14-1996	10-21-1996	10-28-1996
11-4-1996	11-11-1996	11-18-1996	11-25-1996
12-2-1996

Fighting TV Samurai, the first ever 24-hour pro wrestling and martial arts TV network, debuted in Japan this week with a live show put together by Antonio Inoki. It's a premium channel that customers pay for as part of their satellite package. Only 3,000 homes had signed up for it by launch time which is disastrous for the new network, but Dave points out that ESPN and CNN lost millions of dollars for years before they really took off to where they are today. Whether Samurai has the financial backing to lose money like that for the first years is the big question. But they seem to be aware that it will be an uphill climb, as financial backers have been saying they expect it to be around 2005 or so before the channel starts to pay off. Among the content on the channel are old episodes of AJPW and NJPW, live events from WAR, Tokyo Pro, Big Japan, WCW's international shows, Promo Azteca, and some old golden age of American wrestling shows. Plus a weekly sports talk show hosted by Inoki, a SportsCenter-type nightly show covering all the wrestling news in Japan, and more. Plus they have the entire 300-episode run of Tiger Mask cartoons. Plus lots of karate, kickboxing, and martial arts events. They plan to have 8 hours of programming per day that will repeat 3x daily. The only notable note from the live Inoki show that aired at the debut is that Willie Williams indeed challenged Inoki to a match for the Jan. 4th Tokyo Dome show (as covered in the last issue) so that match will happen (turns out that channel still exists today, so they did indeed survive. I have no idea if it's still a wrestling/MMA channel or not though).
There's been a lot of random media coverage about pro wrestling this week. An article in TV Guide was critical of Milton Bradley and Nintendo for their sponsorship of Raw and Nitro. The article called both shows "the creepiest, most unnerving, least scientifically explainable, most downright bizarre (television) programming of all." The author wrote negatively about the Pillman/Austin gun angle and took some shots at Nitro as well. The article concluded by saying the 2 shows "supply the most sadistic, stomach-turning, gross, psychologically discombobulating programming on television today." The Feb. 97 issue of Muscle Mag has an article about bodybuilder Achim Albrecht and weightlifter Mark Henry joining the WWF and talks about others in that industry who have joined pro wrestling.
EMLL announced they will be doing a tour of Japan in February. They'll be only the 2nd foreign promotion to try and run a tour of Japan on its own (WWF did one in 1994 that flopped). Due to the El Hijo del Santo heel turn, EMLL is currently the hottest promotion in Mexico. AAA was left in shambles by all of its best workers jumping to Promo Azteca and they're surviving on big names from the past to carry them right now. As for Promo Azteca, they have great workers, but the few shows they've held so far have been lackluster.
Speaking of the Santo heel turn, the heat for it has been so insane that police have been having to keep fans from rushing the ring to attack him. In an interesting note, Santo is only working heel at the major arena in Mexico City right now, but is still working babyface at other shows throughout the country.
La Parka debuted for Promo Azteca and did an interview saying he left AAA because they didn't take care of the wrestlers as human beings and said he had to miss shows due to personal reasons and AAA didn't work with him on those issues. He said he didn't leave over money. Dave disagrees, saying the "personal reasons" he missed AAA shows was because he chose to work WCW shows on those dates instead because they paid more, so when it comes down to it, he definitely left over money.
Vampiro will no longer be going to Promo Azteca to team with Konnan, saying that he is afraid it will damage his reputation in Mexico after all the things Antonio Pena has said about him. Also, Vampiro is apparently mad at Konnan for getting tattoos on his arm because Vampiro feels that is copying his gimmick or something. Umm, sure.
Antonio Pena is using his WWF deal to try to get big stars to sign deals with AAA, promising them he can get them work in WWF if they join him. He's gone after El Hijo del Santo, Vampiro, and Lizmark, among others. The magazine Super Luchas, which Pena puts out, has listed almost every major name in AAA as working the Royal Rumble PPV.
Hiroshi Hase debuted in All Japan this week, cutting a promo. He said he'd always wanted to work in AJPW (having spent his entire career up until now in NJPW). He made no mention of New Japan and NJPW has never publicly acknowledged that he's left the company.
Sabu has been working in All Japan and to the surprise of many, he has been allowed to do all of his usual crazy table and chair spots. That style goes completely against the usually serious AJPW style and some of the other wrestlers have complained about it. But Giant Baba's opinion is basically that Sabu is a small, below average worker otherwise, so if you're going to use Sabu, you may as well let him do his gimmick because otherwise, what use is he?
Atsushi Onita cut a promo at an FMW show, saying that he had only told one lie in his life and that was that he would never wrestle again. He asked the fans to forgive him and asked if they had ever lied before too. It didn't work. The crowd booed him and chanted that he was a liar. Japan takes their retirement stipulations seriously and they're upset that Onita is going back on his word. Onita is scheduled to make his return to the ring next week after retiring over a year ago. The arena holds 4,000 and is already sold out.
Nude photos of Japanese women wrestlers Manami Toyota and Chikako Shiratori have been released in the past few days. No word if Brad Maddox or Xavier Woods was involved.
Last week's USWA show drew another record-low crowd, with some saying it was as low as 150 people. But this week's show was back up to around 600 with Jerry Lawler's first match back as a babyface. Memphis shows have been losing money for awhile but the Louisville and Nashville shows were carrying the company. But business in those cities is down now too. They're trying to start running more shows at the casinos in Tunica, MS since they get paid a guaranteed amount no matter the attendance. They're also considering moving the weekly Memphis shows back to Wednesday nights, so that Lawler can be there every week. Right now, most of the wrestlers in USWA are making the minimum $40 per show and work other jobs outside of wrestling to pay their bills.
There was more this week on the story of the 17-year-old kid who got bladed by New Jack at an ECW show last week. People there live were saying it was the most blood they'd ever seen in a wrestling match. It has become a major story since the kid was underage. After the incident, New Jack got on the mic and said he "didn't care if the motherfucker bled to death." Most people thought it was in character, but backstage, with no fans around, New Jack was said to be laughing about it which led a lot of people to saying he should be fired. New Jack was fired once before, for attacking another wrestler backstage, but Heyman eventually brought him back, saying that if he made one mistake, he'd be gone. A few weeks later, New Jack ended up going to jail for awhile, which seems like it should be the "one mistake" but Heyman didn't fire him. Then he had a fight with Brian Pillman, which also didn't lead to him being fired. A few weeks ago, New Jack got into a fight with a fan, but Heyman said the fan hit him first and called him the N-word, but others have disputed that and Heyman seems to have buried any footage of the incident. Point being, The Gangstas are one of ECW's most popular acts and Heyman has found a million excuses to avoid firing New Jack when he obviously has deserved it. As for this incident, there have been accusations that New Jack cut the kid that bad on purpose but Dave hasn't seen the video of it yet. Heyman says the kid told him he was 19 and that he was trained by Killer Kowalski (neither of which is true) but the kid's father says everyone knew he was 17. Also, the police nearly arrested the kid's father for child abuse later that night because they didn't believe a cut that deep could come from a wrestling match and thought the father had abused him. For now, the family has no plans to take any legal action and they actually seem to be enjoying their 15 minutes of fame.
Here's the only known footage of the Mass Transit Incident. It's shit quality but still pretty graphic, so....be warned. The cutting is at about 3:08.

WATCH: The Mass Transit Incident

ECW is planning to release Blue World Order t-shirts because the group has gotten over so big.
ECW is also planning to come out with those foam hand merch gimmicks that say EC F'n W on it and has a middle finger pointing up. Expect those to get confiscated at every WWF and WCW show that people will inevitably bring them to.
Big Dick Dudley is currently in jail for probation violation. No word why exactly.
Paul Heyman is looking at either March 2nd or March 30th as possible dates for the first ECW PPV. The 30th would be Easter Sunday but Dave doesn't think it will hurt the buyrate any for them to run a show on that date.
On Nitro, Chris Benoit and Steve Regal had an insanely stiff match against each other, which led to Regal getting busted open early in the match. The camera pulled away so as not to show the blood. So the entire match was only shown from one stationary camera a mile away from the ring.

WATCH: Chris Benoit vs. Steven Regal - WCW Nitro

Japanese wrestler Yuji Nagata is scheduled to work all of 1997 in WCW and Dave says he's an incredible worker, which means WCW won't push him at all.
Harlem Heat is reportedly negotiating with the WWF.
The WCW hotline talked about former ECW valet Kimona Wanalaya possibly coming in to WCW soon. They also mentioned Raven coming in, but Dave says that was a 100% work. He says Gene Okerlund needed a name to use because the lie about wrestlers jumping promotions usually does good business on the hotline and they needed a boost since the hotline numbers have been down lately. So he made up the story and someone suggested he use Raven (considering Raven would indeed be in WCW about 6 months later, I think Dave was probably wrong about this one).
Marcus Bagwell has a role in a movie called Day of the Warrior and apparently it's so bad that it makes Hogan's movies look like Masterpiece Theater. Bagwell plays "The Supreme Warrior" in a loin cloth and face paint and he has a fight scene with a Penthouse Pet who he headbutts in the breast and get knocked out by it. (Here's the movie. Enjoy. Heads up if you're watching at work though, lots of nudity throughout, even in the opening credits. And Bagwell basically looks like Tatanka. It's so laughably, terribly low-budget bad.)

WATCH: Day of the Warrior (full movie)

Eric Bischoff was interviewed in a South Carolina newspaper and talked about the time Vince McMahon interviewed him for an announcing job in 1990 and being told McMahon didn't remember him. "In June of 1990 I was down there for an interview and audition and talked to Vince for probably half an hour. If he doesn't remember it, perhaps he was engaged in some of his admitted chemical activity during that time. But I was there. He was there....The nonsense and perception of reality that Vince McMahon, a guy who has admitted using steroids to try to beef up what was otherwise a scrawny, frail little individual, I think when he wakes up in the morning, he looks in the mirror and still sees that 80-pound birdface punk that nobody wanted to play with, and he has to deal with that every day. And the way he's trying to deal with is trying to create this perception. And I just hope people are smart enough to see through this nonsense and deal with reality."
WWF is taping shows from London this week and told a story about Sid and Bret Hart having a brawl at the hotel after one of the shows, which is obviously playing off the real life story of the Sid/Arn Anderson brawl in England a couple of years ago.
When Ahmed Johnson returns, they plan to put him against Goldust so Ahmed can get a few wins under his belt. They're pretty much phasing out the Goldust character now (21 years later, Goldust is still killing it on Raw and no one has seen Ahmed Johnson since he played Suge Knight in an MC Hammer movie for VH1 16 years ago).
Achim Albrecht made his debut on the latest house show tour, using the name Brakus. He wrestled against Tom Prichard (his trainer) 3 nights in a row and reports are that he was absolutely huge. Prichard sold well for him but the crowd didn't get into it and he didn't seem to get over.
There's a good chance Mil Mascaras will be in the Royal Rumble match, because apparently this show is being held in 1972 instead of 1997. Dave says Mascaras was one of the biggest draws in the world at one point, especially in that San Antonio region. But by the 80s, he meant nothing there, and means even less now.

TOMORROW: UFC Ultimate Ultimate 2 fallout (it takes up a big chunk of the issue so I had to give it a paragraph), Royal Rumble news, tons of ECW happenings, and more...

The Story of VIP man

On New Years night, my fiancee (26f) and I (25m) were at a Casino with her parents. Her dad had accumulated enough points to become a VIP and he was nice enough to let us go into the VIP lounge/bar area to eat at the buffet. While we were at the buffet, eating some lobster and shit, my fiancee's dad tells us that while he was ordering our drinks at the bar a guy noticed him paying with cash and came over and swiped his own rewards card. Apparently, this guy was some sort of super VIP and whomever he swiped his card for they were able to get unlimited free drinks at this bar. He said he did this because he hates people paying for drinks when he can give out free ones. Super nice right? So we take the free drinks from her dad (top shelf stuff BTW) and we continue eating. A few minutes later, VIP man comes over and starts talking to us. He is a nice guy and good conversationalist. He goes back to the bar while my fiancee and I finish our meal. Her dad has left to continue gambling and we are still working on those same free drinks. VIP man comes back over to our table and starts asking why we haven't finished our drinks, and then hands us some Jagerbombs. He then invites us over to the bar where his wife and friends are. We oblige him and go get more free liquor.
Now, some more info on VIP man. He is in his 50s. Short. Stocky. And the outfit he had on was a nice white dress shirt, a bow-tie (not tied great), and basketball shorts. This, as he told us, was his uniform and everyone knew him for it. Multiple times throughout the night he tried to convince other people to go back to their rooms and put on shorts. "C'mon Gary! Go back up to your room and put on some shorts like Ol' VIP man!!", VIP man would say. This was a very pro-shorts person. Kinda weird right? But also, kinda cool because shorts are comfy and this guy obviously doesn't care about social norms or fashion. Anyways, so this guy proceeds to give us nice, top shelf liquor for free and fun conversation, much of which was about himself. We come to learn that he is some sort of super rich guy, not that surprising when you know that he has spent enough money at this casino this year (~$150,000) that he can give out access to free drinks to whom he wants at any time. I never found out how he became rich, but from what I gathered he was in the business of taking businesses to market and making a shitload of money on it. At one point he boasted that he made more money than he could ever spend. So this caught my attention. He boasted that last year he made 2 million dollars. At this point my fiancee and I were thinking we got really lucky to meet this guy and that it was a great networking opportunity. He was an eccentric millionaire who loves to give people stuff. Even better, it’s a blast talking to this guy. He talked about everything to us. Gave us his whole life story, VIP man did.
Now, it was all going great until it wasn't. His "wife" was with him at the bar. I put wife in quotations because he made a point of saying that they weren't actually married and never would be, which I didn't think much of at the time. So, VIP man's "wife" and my fiancee got to talking. Now, it was just me and VIP man. One on one. Mano y mano. And the first thing he said to me was "you wanna see something cool?" What he showed me was in fact, not cool. VIP man gets out his phone and starts to talk to me about something called Fantasy Fest. Which is not a name of a festival that I would attend, but I have no reason to think anything negative of it yet. VIP man finds the Fantasy Fest photo album on his phone and shows it to me. This was the point that it all turned south. On his phone was an assortment of nudity the likes of which are only seen in Florida and nursing homes. It was picture after picture of wrinkled skin, fake tans, and sagginess. Pictures of skin that the sun and gravity had won the war against long ago. But VIP man didn't seem to notice or mind that what he was showing me was trauma inducing. Fantasy Fest, as I was forced to learn, is a festival in Florida where people walk around the streets in next to nothing. That is my best description, I couldn't really find a theme in what he was showing me beyond that everyone was scantily clad. He was showing me these women and men walking around with barely anything on and he was commenting on how attractive all these people were.
Now, a little fact about me, I am not one to interject my opinion on someone I don't know well. Especially not if they are confident. But God I wish that I would've done it that night.
Unfortunately, these pictures were not only of other people, but also of VIP man. I will not assault you with the details of what I saw of VIP man. Other than that he had given up his signature shorts and bow tie get up for a less restricting, more breathable tutu.
And that is all I have to say about that.
Later, I had steered him away from talking about Fantasy Fest and my fiancee had rejoined our conversation. VIP man continues to tell stories of his perverseness. All of these were told to us in a very interesting and fun way. This VIP man is a great conversationalist. He was able to tell us stuff about himself that if told in any other way would've been horribly uncomfortable, but he was a good story teller and we were drunk. So we had a good time, even through all the gross crap. It is nearing midnight and VIP man learns that we are living in Nashville,TN and tells us that he will be visiting Nashville in February. He asks for my number so we can meet up when he is there. Now, at this point, I have really only had one negative interaction with VIP man surrounded by many other fun and interesting ones. So, I weigh the pros and cons and ultimately decide that he has more pros and give him my number. Now, my fiancee and I want to go back out to the floor and experience the new year celebration with everyone there. So, we tell him this and we say our goodbyes. As my fiancee and I are walking, I go to the bathroom while she stops to show security her ID.
When I come out of the bathroom, my fiancee lets me know that as VIP man was walking by her at the security desk he, without breaking stride, smacked her butt and was now nowhere to be found. She was obviously annoyed with this, but she was not angry. She took pity on the guy because she thought he was sort of pathetic. But, as you can imagine, I am not happy about what VIP man has done to her, especially since he waited until I wasn't around to do it. If I would've seen him again I don't know what I would've done, but I never saw VIP man again that night.
Fast forward to now. I receive a text from VIP man. He is confirming with me the dates that he will be in Nashville and he wants me to go out with him and his wife. My fiancee does not really care whether I go party with this guy or not.
Do you think I should go honky tonkin with this man and forget what he did to my fiancee? Should I ignore him and never speak to him again? Should I confront him and ask for restitution?

What's happening around town (Wed, Sep 25th - Tue, Oct 1st)

Oklahoma City's event list.

Ongoing

Art Show at DNA Galleries (Plaza District - Oklahoma City) Thru Sun, Oct 6th Start Time: 6:00pm
Fall Festival (Orr Family Farm Event Barn - Oklahoma City) Thru Sat, Nov 9th Celebrate all things autumn at the Fall Festival at Orr Family Farm in Oklahoma City. Go through the maze, ride on a…
Guthrie Haunts (4524 Riverside Cir - Guthrie) Thru Sat, Nov 9th Visit Guthrie Haunts for a terrifying Halloween experience that's full of scary fun. This haunted house is sure to…
Hicks and Booneshine (Noir Bistro & Bar - Oklahoma City) Thru Mon, Nov 25th Live talk show with Spencer Hicks and Kristy Boone.…
The Musical Swings (Bicentennial Park - Oklahoma City) Thru Sun, Oct 13th Make your own music at Bicentennial Park during The Musical Swings exhibit. This interactive public art installation in…
The Rocky Horror Picture Show (The Boom - Oklahoma City) Thru Thu, Oct 31st The Boom, a combination club and live entertainment venue in Oklahoma City, puts on a production of the Rocky Horror Picture…
Wizarding World of Tiger Safari (Tuttle) Thru Thu, Oct 31st Harry Potter fans old and young will love the Wizarding World of Tiger Safari in Tuttle. This unique attraction invites…

Wednesday, Sep 25th

🎓 2019 Flu Clinic (St. Mary Episcopal Church - Edmond) Start Time: 6:00pm • No Appointment Needed • Vaccines available: Flue Quad (4 strain), 65 + flu, pneumonia, Tdap, Hepatitis A/B, MMR, Shingles, and more • All vaccines are filed too existing insurance, so be sure to bring your insurance card. • Cash pricing available for uninsured. • Vitamin B-12 injections available for $15 due at time of service.…
🎡 The Adam Larson Quartet (University of Central Oklahoma - Edmond) Start Time: 7:00pm
🎡 Adam Larson Quartet (UCO Jazz Lab - Edmond) Start Time: 7:00pm On the cutting edge of modern jazz trends the UCO Jazz Festival is thrilled to host Saxophonist Adam Larson and his quartet. A regular at 55 Bar and Smalls in New York City, Adam Larson is defining what it means to be a modern jazz saxophonist.
🍴 Anthem Drown Night! (HiLo Club - Oklahoma City) Our local friends at Anthem Brewing Co. have some great beers! Every Wednesday night from 9pm to close enjoy $8 Drown Night! Their Power Pils will be flowing!
Avatar Country World Tour (Diamond Ballroom - Oklahoma City) Start Time: 8:00pm
Carrie Underwood in Concert (Chesapeake Energy Arena - Oklahoma City) Oklahoma's own Carrie Underwood is bringing her Cry Pretty Tour to the Chesapeake Energy Arena in Oklahoma City. Special…
😂 Coolzey (IA) / Jabee / Nymasis / Trip G / Alan Doyle @The Deli (The Deli - Norman) Start Time: 10:00pm @[226995237328592:274:Coolzey] out of Iowa hits Norman on his Fight The American Celebrity Machine tour. Coolzey brings Golden era hip-hop roots planted in black Iowa dirt and tempered by 90s alternative era rock influence yields a juxtaposition of the dark, horrific nature of life paired with a slapstick and comedic view of the world, allowing…
🍴 Dope Poetry Night (ICE Event Center - Oklahoma City) Start Time: 7:30pm Every Wednesday night at the Ice Event Center Sports Bar and Grill located at the heart of Oklahoma City! Sign ups begin at 7pm and show begins at 7:30pmish. Free Admission! Free vendor set up! Bar Restaurant
Home Free (Rose State College Hudiburg Chevrolet Center - Midwest City) Start Time: 7:00pm Home Free is heading out this fall on their Dive Bar Saints World Tour and coming to a city near you! They'll be at Hudiburg Chevrolet Center in Oklahoma, OK on September 25th, 2019. Mark yourself as attending on this event page if you're joining us. Tickets and VIP are on sale now. We hope to see ya there! Tickets are $24.50, $36.50, $46.50 &…
Literary Voices 2019 - an evening with Kristin Hannah (Oklahoma City Golf and Country Club - Oklahoma City) Start Time: 7:00pm Annual fundraising dinner to support the Metropolitan Library System of Oklahoma County.
National Cavalry Competition (Historic Fort Reno - El Reno) Thru Sat, Sep 28th The National Cavalry Competition at Historic Fort Reno is a wonderful opportunity for re-enactors, active and reserve…
Runaway June (Chesapeake Energy Arena - Oklahoma City) Start Time: 7:00pm
SINGO Wednesdays (Lower Bricktown - Oklahoma City) Start Time: 6:30pm Beat the midweek hump with the new bar game that everyone is talking about! SINGO is a new and exciting musical spin on the traditional game of Bingo. Instead of listening for a number, players are listening to their favorite music. Enjoy 1/2 price domestic drafts & discounted appetizers! Plus we will be giving prizes each night to the winners.…
🏃 Tai Chi and SAIL Classes Stay Active & Independent for Life: Wednesdays and Fridays (Edmond Senior Center - Edmond) Start Time: 1:30pm Come join us for these free exercise programs. Tai Chi class is one of the most effective exercises for the health of mind and body. SAIL (STAYING ACTIVE AND INDEPENDENT FOR LIFE) Sail is a fitness program for older adults, which can be done sitting or standing. Performing exercise that improves strength, balance and fitness is critical for…
Taste of Western (Oklahoma City) Taste of Western unites the restaurants that make Oklahoma City's Western Avenue district delectable as they…
🎓 Teachers ½ to eat, too! (The Melting Pot - Oklahoma City) Day 1 of 2 Start Time: 5:00pm Teachers and administrators can ring in the school year with a sweet deal. Every Sunday thru Thursday in September, a school ID will get teachers and administrators a half-priced Four Course Classic Experience. It’s our way of saying “thank you” for all you do!
😂 Triple Feature Week Oklahoma City!!! (Loony Bin Comedy Club - Oklahoma City) Thru Sat, Sep 28th
UCO Edmond Jazz Festival (University of Central Oklahoma - Edmond) Thru Sat, Sep 28th Come to the UCO Jazz Lab in Edmond for a music festival you won't want to miss. Presented by the UCO School of…

Thursday, Sep 26th

🎓 Brian Gorrell and Jazz Company (UCO Jazz Lab - Edmond) Start Time: 7:00pm Free concert/Jam Bring your horn and enjoy the music of Brian Gorrell and Friends. The band will kick off at 7pm and eventually open it up for guests to sit in. Brian W. Gorrell serves as Director of Jazz Studies for the nationally respected program at the University of Central Oklahoma Jazz Lab in Edmond, Oklahoma. A former member of the…
Chris Janson w/ Special Guest Wade Bowen (Lucky Star Casino - El Reno) Start Time: 7:00pm Headliner: Chris Janson Special Guest: Wade Bowen
♪ Dave Alvin And The Guilty Ones (The Blue Door - Oklahoma City) Start Time: 8:00pm
DCCC Annual Action 2019! (Del City Community Center - Del City) Start Time: 5:30pm Del City Chamber is hosting "A Night at the Ballpark" for their annual auction! Join the fun by purchasing your ticket today. It's sure to be a home-run!! Individual Ticket - $65 Silver Sponsor - $400 Gold Sponsor - $750
Hayes Carll in Concert (Tower Theatre Studio - Oklahoma City) Enjoy prolific country music singer Hayes Carll in concert at Oklahoma City's Tower Theatre. A roots-oriented…
🎨 Hispanic Heritage Month: Noche de Película y Arte (Norman Public Library - Norman) Start Time: 6:00pm ¡Únete con nosotros en la Biblioteca Purcell mientras vemos "Coco" y hacemos artesanías divertidas! Para todas las edades. Join us at the Purcell Library as we watch "Coco" and make some fun crafts! For all ages.
♪ Katie and Kelly Duo back again (Red Brick Bar - Norman) Start Time: 9:00pm Outlaw Country, Red-Dirt, Southern Rock and Blues
🏃 Koda CrossFit at Together Square (Myriad Botanical Gardens - Oklahoma City) Start Time: 5:45pm Thursdays 5:45-6:45pm September 5–November 21, 2019 $5 per person, pay upon arrival All levels Bring water Together Square is the perfect spot to discover the benefits of the incredible Koda Crossfit Workout. Join us Thursday evenings at 5:45pm beginning September 5 through November 21 for an hour of training. By performing a wide variety of…
National Cavalry Competition (Historic Fort Reno - El Reno) Thru Sat, Sep 28th The National Cavalry Competition at Historic Fort Reno is a wonderful opportunity for re-enactors, active and reserve…
🎭 The Red Velvet Cake War (Chickasha Community Theatre - Chickasha) Day 1 of 2 Start Time: 7:30pm Don't miss this hilarious show!!
Stuffed Animal Sleepover (Edmond Historical Society - Edmond) Start Time: 6:30pm Join us for the first ever stuffed animal sleepover at the Edmond Historical Society & Museum!! Your favorite stuffed animal can join us for a night of fun at the museum! Come join us in your pajamas on September 26th at 6:30 PM in your pajamas for a craft and a story time, and then after you leave, your animal will go on an adventure at the…
♪ Supersuckers "Evil Powers Tour" (89th Street Collective - Oklahoma City) Start Time: 7:30pm Supersuckers with support TBD This show is all ages. Tickets are $13 in advance at ticketstorm.com, charge by phone 18669661777, purchase hard copy tickets at any Uptown Grocery/Buy For Less location or Starship Records in Tulsa.
🎓 Teachers ½ to eat, too! (The Melting Pot - Oklahoma City) Day 2 of 2 Start Time: 5:00pm Teachers and administrators can ring in the school year with a sweet deal. Every Sunday thru Thursday in September, a school ID will get teachers and administrators a half-priced Four Course Classic Experience. It’s our way of saying “thank you” for all you do!
😂 Triple Feature Week Oklahoma City!!! (Loony Bin Comedy Club - Oklahoma City) Thru Sat, Sep 28th
UCO Edmond Jazz Festival (University of Central Oklahoma - Edmond) Thru Sat, Sep 28th Come to the UCO Jazz Lab in Edmond for a music festival you won't want to miss. Presented by the UCO School of…
Voice of the Heartland (The Sooner Theatre - Norman) Start Time: 7:00pm
Wine for the People: Iberian Exploration (Vast - Oklahoma City) Start Time: 5:30pm Iberian Exploration: Spain & Portugal From invasions to exploration, the history of this area is as diverse and intriguing as their food and wines. Gain a deeper understanding of the terrain, grape varieties grown, cuisine and lifestyle without leaving town. Once you have seen what they have to offer, we are sure one or both of these countries…

Friday, Sep 27th

😂 5th Annual Funniest Person In OKC - Sign Up Form (The Paramount OKC - Oklahoma City) Start Time: 8:00pm
The Barber of Seville (Civic Center Music Hall - Oklahoma City) Experience one of opera's most beloved performances at Civic Center Music Hall in Oklahoma City, as Painted Sky Opera…
CannaCon (Cox Convention Center - Oklahoma City) Start Time: 10:00am Following Oklahoma's legalization of medical cannabis, the business of legal cannabis is now in full swing in Oklahoma. CannaCon will provide an interactive gathering of like-minded professionals uniting leading pioneers and entrepreneurs with investors and experts discussing the latest industry developments.
🏆 Central OK: University of Central Oklahoma Women's Soccer vs Rogers State (Edmond) Start Time: 7:00pm University of Central Oklahoma Women's Soccer vs Rogers State https://www.bronchosports.com/calendar.aspx?id=6408
🎡 Day Out with Thomas (Oklahoma Railway Museum - Oklahoma City) Start Time: 1:10pm
🎡 Day Out with Thomas (Oklahoma Railway Museum - Oklahoma City) Start Time: 2:50pm
🎡 Day Out with Thomas (Oklahoma Railway Museum - Oklahoma City) Start Time: 4:30pm
Drowning Pool in Concert (Diamond Ballroom - Oklahoma City) Start Time: 7:00pm Metal down and head to Diamond Ballroom in Oklahoma City to witness an energetic night of heavy metal tunes as Drowning Pool…
Market on the Meadows (Shawnee) Day 1 of 2 Head to a beautiful country meadow for a fun weekend of shopping during Market on the Meadows. Located outdoors in Shawnee,…
Medicare & Social Security- Capitol Hill (Downtown - Edmond) Start Time: 10:00am Medicare & Social Security Informational meeting. Agency: Insurance Department, Oklahoma - OID Contact Phone
🎓 Museum of Osteology at Wildlife Expo 2019 (Lazy E Arena - Guthrie) Start Time: 8:00am Planning to attend the FREE Wildlife Expo at Lazy E Arena this year? Be sure to stop by our booth! We will have our touch tables available with REAL animal bones and furs from native Oklahoma animals. Be sure to enter our raffle for a FREE birthday party with up to 30 attendees at SKELETONS: Museum of Osteology (https://bit.ly/2jX77xb) Plus,…
National Cavalry Competition (Historic Fort Reno - El Reno) 1 day left The National Cavalry Competition at Historic Fort Reno is a wonderful opportunity for re-enactors, active and reserve…
🎭 Naturalist EP Release Show (89th Street Collective - Oklahoma City) Start Time: 6:30pm Join us for a very special night as we celebrate the release of our brand new EP "It Could Be Anywhere." Thank you so much for all of the love and support over the years. We can't wait to spend yet another night with all of you! This show is all ages. Tickets are $10. Lineup: Naturalist BadLand (FFO: Touche Amore, Birds in Row) ...and in the…
Newcastle Nightmare (Newcastle) Thru Sat, Oct 26th Newcastle Nightmare is a unique haunted attraction located south of Oklahoma City that chills and thrills guests who dare to…
🎭 OCU Eagles: 2019 Season Opener: The Music Man! (Oklahoma City University - Oklahoma City) Start Time: 8:00pm
🎭 The Red Velvet Cake War (Chickasha Community Theatre - Chickasha) Day 2 of 2 Start Time: 7:30pm Don't miss this hilarious show!!
😂 The Sorcerer And The Comedian 3 (The Paramount OKC - Oklahoma City) Start Time: 8:00pm
🏃 Tai Chi and SAIL Classes Stay Active & Independent for Life: Wednesdays and Fridays (Edmond Senior Center - Edmond) Start Time: 1:30pm Come join us for these free exercise programs. Tai Chi class is one of the most effective exercises for the health of mind and body. SAIL (STAYING ACTIVE AND INDEPENDENT FOR LIFE) Sail is a fitness program for older adults, which can be done sitting or standing. Performing exercise that improves strength, balance and fitness is critical for…
♪ Talk of the Town and The Sallee Quintet Live (Legacy Park - Norman) Start Time: 7:00pm Come out to Legacy Park 9/27 to hear some of the best jazz, big band, and golden era tunes around! Starting at 7 pm, The Sallee Quintet will be kicking things off with some classic jazz and swing tunes followed by big bands sound of the golden era with @[1325813540800951:274:Talk of The Town Orchestra] at 8 pm! See you there!
Tony DeSare (UCO Jazz Lab - Edmond) Start Time: 8:00pm See Rising Star Male Vocalist Tony DeSare live as he takes the UCO Jazz Lab stage in Edmond.…
😂 Triple Feature Week Oklahoma City!!! (Loony Bin Comedy Club - Oklahoma City) 1 day left
Trivia Night (Black Mesa Brewing Co - Norman) Start Time: 6:30pm
🎡 Ty England (Oklahoma Int'l Bluegrass Festival Festival Site - Guthrie) Start Time: 7:00pm Ty England will be performing live in Guthrie Oklahoma September 27, 2019 at the Oklahoma Born and Branded Festival. Paid Admission only. Ty England is an Oklahoma Native who is currently touring nationally. Opening band is The Cameron Newby Band. Oklahoma Native Cameron Newby is coming home from Nashville to perform for the Festival. No…
UCO Edmond Jazz Festival (University of Central Oklahoma - Edmond) 1 day left Come to the UCO Jazz Lab in Edmond for a music festival you won't want to miss. Presented by the UCO School of…
🍴 ZOObrew (Oklahoma City Zoo - Oklahoma City) Start Time: 7:00pm Good beer for a great cause! Taste flights from more than 40 breweries at ZOOfriends' 11th annual fundraiser hosted by the Oklahoma Zoological Society. An evening of live music, great food and wild prizes awaits – all in the heart of the park! Take in the tastes of the city while you enjoy exclusive after-hours access to the Oklahoma City…

Saturday, Sep 28th

🏃 45th Infantry Brigade Combat Team Fallen Heroes Half Marathon (Oklahoma City) On Saturday, the 28th of September 2018, the 45th IBCT will host its ninth annual event in recognition and remembrance of the eighteen brothers and one sister from its ranks who made the ultimate sacrifice since September 11, 2001.
The proceeds will be presented to the National Guard Association of OK and will be earmarked for the Fallen Hero…
Backwoods Country Music Show (The Centre Theatre - El Reno) Come to the historic Centre Theatre in downtown El Reno to experience the Backwoods Country Music Show. Featuring…
Oklahoma City Cancer Walk/Run (Myriad Botanical Gardens - Oklahoma City) Embark on a 5K run around the Myriad Botanical Gardens in downtown Oklahoma City, or walk the route for a slower-paced…
El Reno Carnegie Library FanFest (El Reno Library - El Reno) Head to the Carnegie Library in El Reno for a bookish festival that's sure to be fun for the whole family. Enjoy food…
Lovelytheband in Concert (Tower Theatre Studio - Oklahoma City) Catch indie-pop band Lovelytheband live as they take over the historic Tower Theatre in Oklahoma City. Best known for…
Market on the Meadows (Shawnee) Day 2 of 2 Head to a beautiful country meadow for a fun weekend of shopping during Market on the Meadows. Located outdoors in Shawnee,…
Mufflers on Main (Main Street - Blanchard) Head to Blanchard and take a stroll down memory lane with a classic car show in an old-fashioned setting. Mufflers on Main…
National Cavalry Competition (Historic Fort Reno - El Reno) Last Day The National Cavalry Competition at Historic Fort Reno is a wonderful opportunity for re-enactors, active and reserve…
Newcastle Nightmare (Newcastle) Thru Sat, Oct 26th Newcastle Nightmare is a unique haunted attraction located south of Oklahoma City that chills and thrills guests who dare to…
OKC Pagan Pride Day (Wiley Post Park - Oklahoma City) At the OKC Pagan Pride Day, everyone is welcome to come together for a day of food, fun and education at the Wiley Post Park…
Oklahoma Wildlife Expo (Lazy E Arena - Guthrie) Day 1 of 2 In September, Guthrie's Lazy E Arena will be transformed into Oklahoma's largest indoor and outdoor recreation…
Old Oak Farms Flea Market (Minco) Old Oak Farms Flea Market features fall fare in every variety. Gather in Minco and get into the Halloween spirit by browsing…
Old Volks Show (Wild Horse Park - Mustang) See Volkswagens from their earliest makes and models to their newest editions at the Old Volks Show in Oklahoma City.…
OU Sooners vs Texas Tech University Red Raiders (Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium - Norman) Get ready for some edge-of-your-seat action as the Oklahoma Sooners take on the Texas Tech University Red Raiders at…
Plaza District Festival (Plaza District - Oklahoma City) Start Time: 11:00am oin us for the 21st Annual Plaza District Festival! - Saturday, September 28th -
Prairie Moon Market Day (Wayne) Join the folks from Prairie Moon Primitives for a day at the farm featuring vendors with handmade crafts and amazing…
Red City Radio in Concert (89th Street Collective - Oklahoma City) Catch Oklahoma City-based band Red City Radio live as they make a stop at 89th Street to perform for the home crowd. Rock…
😂 Triple Feature Week Oklahoma City!!! (Loony Bin Comedy Club - Oklahoma City) Last Day
UCO Edmond Jazz Festival (University of Central Oklahoma - Edmond) Last Day Come to the UCO Jazz Lab in Edmond for a music festival you won't want to miss. Presented by the UCO School of…

Sunday, Sep 29th

Exit 107 Live Family Music Festival (Newcastle Casino - Newcastle) Newcastle Casino invites you to enjoy some family-friendly fun. At the annual free Exit 107 festival, guests can munch on…
FrightFest (Starlight Amphitheater @ Frontier City - Oklahoma City) Thru Thu, Oct 31st This Halloween season, visit Frontier City in Oklahoma City for a day of thrilling rides and fun activities for the whole…
Grape Stomp Festival (Canadian River Vineyard and Winery LLC - Lexington) The Canadian River Wine Festival invites all ages out to Slaughterville for a fun day at the winery. Enter the Lucille Ball…
Newcastle Nightmare (Newcastle) Thru Sat, Oct 26th Newcastle Nightmare is a unique haunted attraction located south of Oklahoma City that chills and thrills guests who dare to…
Oklahoma Derby Day (Remington Park - Oklahoma City) Celebrate the Oklahoma Derby in style at Remington Park Racetrack & Casino in Oklahoma City. In addition to the 10 stake…
Oklahoma Wildlife Expo (Lazy E Arena - Guthrie) Day 2 of 2 In September, Guthrie's Lazy E Arena will be transformed into Oklahoma's largest indoor and outdoor recreation…
Starset in Concert (Diamond Ballroom - Oklahoma City) Get ready for a fantastic rock and roll experience as Starset, Palisades, Hyde and A Brilliant Lie rock the Diamond Ballroom…

Monday, Sep 30th

Calexico and Iron & Wine in Concert (Tower Theatre Studio - Oklahoma City) Two indie folk groups join forces for a memorable night of music at Oklahoma City's Tower Theatre. Hear Calexico and…
FrightFest (Starlight Amphitheater @ Frontier City - Oklahoma City) Thru Thu, Oct 31st This Halloween season, visit Frontier City in Oklahoma City for a day of thrilling rides and fun activities for the whole…
Newcastle Nightmare (Newcastle) Thru Sat, Oct 26th Newcastle Nightmare is a unique haunted attraction located south of Oklahoma City that chills and thrills guests who dare to…

Tuesday, Oct 1st

FrightFest (Starlight Amphitheater @ Frontier City - Oklahoma City) Thru Thu, Oct 31st This Halloween season, visit Frontier City in Oklahoma City for a day of thrilling rides and fun activities for the whole…
Less than Jake & Bowling for Soup in Concert (Tower Theatre Studio - Oklahoma City) Enjoy some of your favorite 1990s and 2000s alt-rock hits as Less than Jake and Bowling for Soup share the stage at the…
Newcastle Nightmare (Newcastle) Thru Sat, Oct 26th Newcastle Nightmare is a unique haunted attraction located south of Oklahoma City that chills and thrills guests who dare to…

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[SETLIST THREAD] 07/09/19 Mohegan Sun Arena, Uncasville, CT