![]() ![]() Dave even names the hospital and room number because the family is encouraging get well cards. Wrestling legend Bobo Brazil is in critical condition after suffering a stroke a few weeks ago. Jim Ross went on the WWF hotline and strongly denied that they had spoken with Hogan and said that it was likely just Hogan trying to fuel rumors in order to help his negotiations with WCW. Regardless, rumors of Hogan going to WWF got so strong that a few mainstream newspapers started reporting it. It's known that Hogan was shopping his TV series around to different networks, including USA Network, but USA didn't seem interested. Considering WWF still has a contract tampering lawsuit against WCW pending, they're obviously going to deny that they ever spoke with Hogan even if they did. For their part, WWF denied that they even had negotiations with Hogan but a source Dave spoke to says there might have been a little bit of truth to the rumor. But rumors had been going wild all week that Hogan was heading to WWF. It's believed (but not confirmed) that Hogan signed a new WCW contract this week, allegedly with a huge raise over his previous one. The contract situation with Hulk Hogan has gotten interesting. It's been the usual stuff, calling WWF a cesspool of drugs, Vince McMahon's a smut peddler, it all glorifies violence, Tyson is a criminal and disgrace to sports, yada yada yada. This whole thing gives the media 4 easy targets to hate: Tyson, Don King, Vince McMahon, and pro wrestling. The negative media publicity has already started, but that was expected. Shawn) to end with Austin pinning Shawn and Tyson KOing Helmsley to send the crowd home happy. Dave expects the WM main event (Austin vs. It looks like Tyson will be booked as a babyface. But there's other things to consider, like the mainstream media coverage WWF will get out of this, plus sure-to-be higher ratings for Raw. WCW's recent Starrcade, which was the biggest money PPV in the last 6 years, only did $6.5 million so WWF will need to be in that range for the money they're paying Tyson to be worth it. It's believed WWF is paying him somewhere in the $4 million dollar range, and it will take a very creative storyline for him to be worth that much money on PPV. The plan is likely for him to be a referee/outside enforcer for the main event. He will appear on most, but not all episodes of Raw during that time. Mike Tyson is expected to become a regular character on WWF TV starting at the Rumble and going through until Wrestlemania. Worst Gimmick: New Goldust (normal Goldust was fine but the S&M version in 1997 was just too much I guess) Promoter of the Year: Riki Choshu (3rd year in a row) Worst on Interviews: Ahmed Johnson (2nd year in a row)īest Booker: Paul Heyman (4th year in a row) Worst Manager: Sonny Oono (there is no Best Manager category this year) Worst Tag Team: The Godwinns (2nd year in a row) Reader's Least Favorite Wrestler: Hulk Hogan (4th year in a row) Reader's Personal Favorite Wrestler: Chris Benoit Most Disgusting Promotional Tactic: Vince McMahon interviewing Brian Pillman's wife after his death (in fact, WWF has the all top 5 spots on this one) Worst Major Wrestling Card: WCW/NWO Souled Outīest Wrestling Maneuver: DDP's Diamond Cutter Steve Austin - WrestleMania 13 (with Steve Austin commentary)īest Television Announcer: Mike Tenay (puts an end to Joey Styles' 3-year streak)īest Major Wrestling Card: WWF Calgary Stampede Most Underrated: Flash Funk (just barely beating out Chris Benoit by 4 votes)īest Weekly Television Show: NJPW (breaking ECW's 3 year streak and in fact, ECW fell to 4th place this year) Most Overrated: Hulk Hogan (4th year in a row) Also, this is the 3rd year in a row for Rey) (more than 3x more votes than the 2nd place winner, Taka Michinoku. Also, 2nd year in a row for him)īest Technical Wrestler: Dean Malenko (2nd year in a row)īruiser Brody Memorial Award (Best Brawler): Mankind (7th year in a row for Foley)īest Flying Wrestler: Rey Misterio Jr. Most Improved: Tatsuhito Takaiwa (2nd place goes to Rocky Maivia)īest on Interviews: Steve Austin (by a landslide. Misawa also won it in 95 with Kobashi so 3 in a row for him) Tag Team of the Year: Mitsuharu Misawa & Jun Akiyama (2nd year in a row for them. ![]() Most Outstanding Wrestler: Mitsuhara Misawaīest Box Office Draw: Hulk Hogan (this replaces the old Best Heel/Face awards)įeud of the Year: Steve Austin vs. It's the awards issue and Dave runs down all the winners for 1997, as voted on by readers of the Observer. For anyone interested, I highly recommend signing up for the actual site at f4wonline and checking out the full archives. Going through old issues of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter and posting highlights in my own words. ![]()
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