December 9, 1999

ALEX MARVEZ'S WEEKLY LOOK AT PROFESSIONAL WRESTLING
By ALEX MARVEZ
Scripps Howard News Service

Amid one of the biggest real-life controversies in World Wrestling Federation history, the promotion has decided to stick with the same sexually oriented themes that helped generate its current mainstream popularity.

The evening-gown match on Sunday's Armageddon pay-per-view show is the type of angle that prompted such major companies as Coca Cola, AT&T, Wendy's, and the Army and Air Force to pull their WWF sponsorship. Four female performers — Barbara Bush (the busty wrestler, not George Bush's wife), Ivory, Jacqueline and Miss Kitty — will compete in a bout where the object is to strip your opponent to her undergarments.

Or so we hope. Miss Kitty (Jerry Lawler's real-life girlfriend Stacey Carter) revealed on this week's Monday Night Raw that she doesn't wear underwear.

Is this appropriate material for the children who will attend Sunday's show or watch on television?

“Parents need to be there, either at their kid's side or telling them this is a funny, Vaudeville type of act,” said Ivory, whose real name is Lisa Moretti. “When you go see a magic trick, the first thing you ask is, `How do they do that.' That's what I hope the kids are saying when they leave the matches.

“Beyond that, I have to sign off the responsibility and put it into the hands of the parents about what kids should be seeing. I definitely stand by the phrase that, 'I'm an entertainer and not a role model.' “

In the wake of the content hullabaloo, the WWF has toned down its weekly Smackdown telecasts on UPN. But the material on the USA Network's Monday Night Raw — the top-rated cable television show — and pay-per-views remains as racy as ever.

Moretti began her wrestling career with a promotion presenting a milder version of the WWF's current style. An ex-University of Southern California journalism major and cheerleader for the Los Angeles Express of the defunct United States Football League, Moretti's debut came in the mid-1980s with G.L.O.W. (the Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling).

By the early 1990s, Moretti left the business and worked full time as a sales instructor for Revlon and at stunt shows at Universal Studios in Hollywood. Moretti signed a two-year contract with the WWF in February and was given the women's title after Rena “Sable” Mero quit the promotion.

Moretti said she hopes the WWF women's division can evolve into something more than a chance to show extra skin.

“We're looking for the right combination where the women go in and do a little more than just cat fight,” Moretti said. “It can be a wrestling match that knocks the socks off of an audience.

“The thing we need to create, we're on the cusp of doing. Hopefully, management will let us play in the water a little bit.”

Actually, maybe it's best if the WWF doesn't take that suggestion literally.

In other Armageddon news, WWF owner Vince McMahon battles Triple H in the main event. If McMahon wins, Triple H has to annul his “marriage” to Stephanie McMahon. If Triple H wins, he gets a WWF title shot against The Big Show.

The bout could go either way, as the current plan is for Triple H to defeat Show for the title and defend against The Rock in April at Wrestlemania XVI. The WWF could spice things up by having Stephanie turn on her father and join Degeneration X.

In any case, let's just hope the main event comes off as advertised. Entering last month's Survivor Series, the WWF billed Steve Austin in the main event knowing well in advance that he wouldn't be able to perform because of spine and neck injuries. The fans who paid $29.95 for that pay-per-view were treated to Austin getting run over by a car backstage in a “Whodunit” storyline that has gone nowhere.

TURN THE PAGE — Preorders of Positively Page — the autobiography of Diamond Dallas Page — are being taken at Page's Web site (www.ddpbang.com) and (877) 337-2264. Cost is $24.95 plus shipping and handling. The book's release is slated for January.

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

Q: Where is Dusty Rhodes? — Rich Barg, Pembroke Pines, Fla.

A: Recently fired from his front office job in World Championship Wrestling, Rhodes has surfaced in Extreme Championship Wrestling (his debut should air on this weekend's telecast on The Nashville Network).

Rhodes, a major star in Florida during the 1970s and '80s, is expected to wrestle as a tag-team partner of Tommy Dreamer and may even revive his long-running feud against Terry Funk. There also is talk of getting Rhodes involved in an angle with Magnum T.A. (Terry Allen) and Steve Corino.

(More of Alex Marvez's wrestling writing can be found at www.wrestlingobserver.com. Wrestling questions can be addressed to Alex Marvez c/o the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, 200 E. Las Olas Blvd., Fort Lauderdale, Fla. 33301, or e-mailed to amarvez@sun-sentinel.com. Please include your full name and city of residence. Because of volume, no phone calls will be accepted and letters will not receive a written reply.)

(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service.)