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LATEST PWTORCH NEWSLETTER
#1023 - May 3, 2008
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PWTORCH INSTANT POLL
VIP Exclusive Features
PWTorch Newsletter #1016: WrestleMania 24 Previews, New Page 2 Buzz with Powell, Mitchell on AWA
Mar 21, 2008 - 4:23:45 PM
Pro Wrestling Torch, a weekly 12-16 page print newsletter delivered via traditional postal mail, has been published since 1987.
This week's 16-page Torch Newsletter (#1016) has just been posted online for VIP members and was mailed to print-edition subscribers today.
This issue begins with a Cover Story looking at the pros and cons of WrestleMania 24 breaking last year's buyrate record, plus a Keller BBL editorial on several things WWE could have started doing a year ago to almost assure a record buyrate this year. Also along the WrestleMania theme, Pat McNeill presents a menu of how to enjoy WrestleMania weekend from home... Sean Radican's feature column looks at why change was inevitable for ROH... Wade Keller's second BBL editorial of the week features a walk through the ROH PPV in real time from the perspective of a target wrestling fan that ROH is trying to attract and addict... Bruce Mitchell's column presents a step by step guide to enjoying the AWA flashbacks on ESPN... Plus Radican's latest ROH DVD review, James Caldwell's WWE live event report, The Raw Page, The Smackdown/ECW Page, and The TNA Impact Page featuring Keller's newsletter-exclusive big picture newspaper-style analysis of the programs, and in-depth WWE Newswire, ROH Newswire, ETC. Newswire, and TNA Newswire...
Torch VIP members can access the newsletter contents right now. Just click here .
Complete access to at least the previous six editions of the Pro Wrestling Torch Newsletter are available online right now for VIP members. Sign up today and it's like getting six bonus Torch Newsletters right away!
If you aren't a Torch VIP subscriber, you can find out how to subscribe (and get free VIP membership which includes access to our ad-free VIP website with tons of exclusive features and VIP Email Express service throughout the week). Just click here: Torch VIP Info
P.S. If you subscribe today, you will also gain instant access to dozens of Torch Talk installments with many major names ("There are interviews, and then there are Torch Talks"), dozens of Bruce Mitchell articles (widely regarded as pro wrestling's best and most historically relevant columnist for the last 15 years), dozens of Wade Keller feature editorials, dozens of Torch Newsletter back issues from the '90s, the James Caldwell Library, Pat McNeill Library, Jason Powell Library, dozens of WWF PPVs from the '90s covered in detail Torch-style, hundreds of the latest of audio updates, full access to months of VIP Email Express articles, the ROH Special Section with detailed reviews of dozens of ROH events and other special articles and interviews, and a key into the perhaps the best online message board anywhere including interaction with Torch staffers and writers throughout the week.
For more BREAKING NEWS on WWE, TNA, ROH
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VIP Exclusive Features
Latest Articles by Category
Mitchell Audio Show, pt. 2: History of the Midnight Express, Ashley, Nick Hogan, Adamle, Shameless Hulk (74 min.)
Mitchell Audio Show, pt. 1: WrestleMania Buyrate, WWE Stock Perspective, TNA Sacrifice PPV Preview (46 min.)
The Real Deal with Pat McNeill (Audio): Listener Mail on Claudio, Hunter, Vince, ROH criticisms, News (34 min.)
2003 Torch Newsletter Series: WrestleMania Preview, Mitchell on Booker T Lynching, Hardyz Book, KOTR History
2003 Torch Newsletter Series: Angle Neck Update, Goldberg-WWE Split, Flair-Bischoff Backstage Confrontation
2003 Torch Newsletter Series: Angle to wrestle despite terrible condition of neck, racism as tool for bookers
2003 Torch Newsletter Series: The World Comes to An End! The latest WWE expansion disaster
PWTorch Newsletter #1024: WM24 Tops One Million, Mitchell's Ideas for McMahon, McNeill on Vacating Russo
5/5 WWF Raw Audio Analysis: Caldwell & Parks start with hate, then seek to understand, then hate again (50 min.)
C&R Audio Update: Latest Impact and Smackdown episodes discussed in-depth, Sacrifice preview (69 min.)
Mitchell Audio Show, pt. 2: Listener questions on Piper, Hennig, Territories, Jobber Pay, The Clique, DeBeers (72 min.)
Radican Audio Update with Derek Burgan: Raw Finish, Gilbert Calls Out Storm, Regal, Retired Wrestlers (70 min.)
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PWTORCH'S UPCOMING KEY DATES
Articles Grouped by Category
Torch Today
TORCH NEWS TICKER 5/10: Smackdown ratings, Nick Hogan top five search, Kennedy tries to explain suspension, WWE stock analysis
TORCH NEWS TICKER 5/4: WWE Results Wanted, Latest on Ashley, Hogan wrestling show, Khali everywhere in India
FEATURE ALERT: PWTorch Wrestling Schedule Updated Through SummerSlam
WWE News
Ratings News: ECW ratings are in for the 100th Episode, and it's newsworthy
Ratings News: Raw rating ties the lowest first-week-of-May rating of last 12 years
WWE News: WWE reports first quarter earnings with $31 million generated from WrestleMania 24
TNA News
TNA Impact Ratings: Ouch! Lowest rating in a long time for stacked show (w/Keller Reax)
TNA Impact Ratings: The pattern continues, biggest ratings drop for big main event tag (w/Keller Reax)
TNA Impact Ratings: Ratings for Samoa Joe vs. Kurt Angle rematch are in (w/Keller Reax)
ROH News
4/19 ROH in Chicago Ridge, Ill.: Nigel vs. Steen, Machine Guns vs. Briscoes, Dempsey vs. Delirious, Age of Fall vs. Vulture Squad
4/18 ROH in Detroit, Mich.: Jigsaw vs. Joey Matthews, Necro vs. Delirious, Albright & Hero vs. Evans & Ruckus
4/12 ROH in Edison, N.J.: Briscoes vs. Richards & Romero for ROh Tag Titles, Nigel vs. Steen
Other News
Torch Indy Weekend Preview: ROH debuts in Va., J.Lynn, Jake Roberts, Dr. Death, Jarrett, F1rst show in MN
Nick Hogan News: Tomorrow is big day for Nick as he enters a plea, update on his intent
Torch Indy Weekend Report: New IWA champ, Samoa Joe, ref Patera, Jacobs, women's shows
PPV Reports
CALDWELL'S TNA SACRIFICE PPV REPORT 5/11: Ongoing "virtual time" coverage of live PPV
KELLER'S WWE BACKLASH PPV REPORT 4/27: Ongoing "virtual time" coverage of live PPV event
CALDWELL'S WWE BACKLASH REPORT 4/27: Ongoing "virtual time" coverage of PPV
TV Reports
5/9 WWE SMACKDOWN: Parks's Ongoing "Real-Time" Coverage of the show, including what happens with the World Title
KELLER'S TNA IMPACT REPORT 5/8: Joe & Nash vs. Steiner & Angle, Several Stips Established in Final Sacrifice PPV Hype
5/8 Impact Review by Wilkenfeld: Competant buildup towards all 10 matches at Sacrifice + 34 entrances!
Arena Reports
5/2 WWE Raw in Montreal: Triple H vs. Orton in a cage, Jericho vs. Snitsky, Regal vs. Crazy
4/22 WWE in Greensboro: Detailed complete report from SD taping, ECW taping, Dark Matches
4/22 WWE in Greensboro: Mitchell's Smackdown taping report including what Mike Adamle brought to the ring
MMA / UFC Coverage
MMA UPDATES: Fedor a free agent - who cares? MMA a racist sports? Nine ways for EliteXC to be success?
UFC and MMA News: Big twist in next Ultimate Fighter casting, new Liddell opponent, new podcast
UFC 82 COVERAGE: Check out the redesigned MMATorch.com tonight for live fight coverage, plus Brock Lesnar's opponent named during PPV
KELLER'S TAKE
KELLER: McMahon Returns for That? Nothing Funnier than a DUI! Let Me Shift So You Can Hit Me!
A KELLER SHORT: Should Mr. Kennedy be a babyface; coffee shop eavesdropping
A KELLER SHORT: A look ahead to tonight's Raw - Random thoughts on Triple H, King of Ring, JBL, Vince, Kennedy, Michaels
MITCHELL'S TAKE
MITCHELL: WWE, Bush, Barack, Hillrod, and Big John McCain
A MITCHELL SHORT: Samoa Joe's Contract and TNA's Big Title Match
MITCHELL: "Nature Boy" Ric Flair - The Echoes
MCNEILL'S TAKE
Cross The Line: McNEILL previews TNA Sacrifice!
VIP - MCNEILL FACTOR: Stripped: Russo's rich history of vacating titles (#1024)
McNEILL's "Who's Hot, Who's Not" for Week of 5/6: Orton, Coachman, Ashley, MachineGuns
CALDWELL'S TAKE
CORNER CUBE FRIDAY 5/9 - The significance of June 24 - WWE and Benoit
CORNER CUBE WEDNESDAY 5/7 - WWE recognizes problem with ECW, Travel schedule not getting lighter
CORNER CUBE TUESDAY 5/6 - Quick hits on WWE Financials: WM buys below expectations, International biz, Kids effect
RADICAN'S TAKE
Rapid-fire booking with Raven - Nash & Hall in ECW instead of WCW
RADICAN: FIP hits the reset button - Strong-Stevens tears down the house
RADICAN: Trapped inside the beast - Sullivan books WCW
The Specialists
TNA Sacrifice Preview by Wilkenfeld: 39 wrestlers, and no signs of any clunkers
5/9 WWE Smackdown Hits & Misses: MVP vs. Finlay, Morrison vs. Batista, Edge Wins
5/8 TNA Impact Hits & Misses: LAX, Nash, DX, Main Event
Guest Editorials
EDITORIAL: Why Raw helped the characters of Regal, Kennedy, and Orton, but fell just short for ECW wrestlers
EDITORIAL: Space-Time Continuum Spoiler Alert: Scott Steiner Solves for Pi. Off-air Notes From a Fictional, Future Impact!
EDITORIAL: Could new King of the Ring William Regal become WWE's breakout star in 2008?
Torch Feedback
ECW Reax #1: "The quality of ECW is taking a horrendous nosedive and WWE seems oblivious."
WWE Raw Reax #3: "Imagine watching your favorite sitcom and every time something meaningful is about to happen, it blacks out."
WWE Raw Reax #2: "I kept hoping that Triple H wouldn't bury an entire roster, but guess what..."
Ask the Editor
ASK THE EDITOR: Have the Michaels-Batista promos crossed a line with use of insider terms, references to "jobs"?
ASK THE EDITOR: Why do wrestlers in WWE refer to wrestling as "the business" and not "the sport"?
ASK THE EDITOR: Why didn't Curt Hennig get a run with the WWE World Title?
DVDs - VGames - Books
Rapid-fire booking with Raven - Nash & Hall in ECW instead of WCW
RADICAN: FIP hits the reset button - Strong-Stevens tears down the house
RADICAN'S DVD REVIEW: TNA Turning Point 2007
Torch Flashbacks
KELLER'S WWE SMACKDOWN REPORT 5 YRS. AGO: Vince McMahon on Piper's Pit, Kendrick calls out Cena, Rhino, Benoit, Guerreros
KELLER'S TNA REPORT 5 YRS. AGO (4-30-08): West calls it "most anticipated night in TNA history."
KELLER: Compare today's WWE Smackdown roster to Torch annual Smackdown roster rankings from Fall of 2006
VIP Exclusive Features
Mitchell Audio Show, pt. 2: History of the Midnight Express, Ashley, Nick Hogan, Adamle, Shameless Hulk (74 min.)
Mitchell Audio Show, pt. 1: WrestleMania Buyrate, WWE Stock Perspective, TNA Sacrifice PPV Preview (46 min.)
The Real Deal with Pat McNeill (Audio): Listener Mail on Claudio, Hunter, Vince, ROH criticisms, News (34 min.)
Torch Trivia
Torch Trivia: How much do you know about power abusers?
Torch Trivia: How much do you know about wrestling's technical difficulties?
Torch Trivia: How much do you know about prior Kings Of The Ring?
Torch Instant Polls
POLL: What's your opinion of the controversial non-airing of the finish of the Raw main event on Apr. 28?
POLL: If you saw the Apr. 28 WWE Raw, pick the MVP of the program
POLL: If you didn't see the event, why? If you did, pick the best match and score it
PWTorch Free Podcast
NEW PWTORCH FREE PODCAST: Excerpt of post WWE Backlash PPV Roundtables with Keller, Mitchell, McNeill (13 min.)
New Free PWTorch Podcast: First new free audio show in months now available to all (40 min.)
PWTorch Free Podcast: Excerpt of "The Audio Experience" with Jeremy, Dusty, Eric (23 min.)
Annual Obituaries
SPECIALIST: List of Deceased Wrestlers for 1999 - Muchnick, Rick Rude, Owen Hart, Renegade...
SPECIALIST: List of Deceased Wrestlers for 2000 - Solie, Albright, Duncum, Tsuruta, Blue Demon, Al Costello
SPECIALIST: List of Deceased Wrestlers for 2001: Johnny Valentine, Terry Gordy, Chris Adams, Bertha Faye, Helen Hart