October 25, 2004 Observer Newsletter: WWE Taboo Tuesday review, UFC 50 changes, more
When Taboo Tuesday was first announced, I was skeptical, as it reminded me of a conversation many years ago with Houston promoter Paul Boesch. He said that you have to be in control of your storylines, not in those exact words. He said at one point, he did a gimmick in his program where he asked fans to vote for the match they most wanted to see. At the end of the night, the votes were clear, the fans wanted a match they could never see the way the business was at the time, where the area’s top two babyfaces (forgive me but I don’t know who they were at the time) would face each other in a singles match. He thought since the fans spoke, he should deliver the match and since they wanted it the most, it would draw great. The match bombed, and a lesson was learned. This was an era where most promoters (and there were exceptions) had learned that if you put the two most over babyfaces against each other, the box office was usually disappointing, which explained why 98% of the main events in that era were face vs. heel.
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Dave Meltzer is the founder and lead writer on the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, the weekly constant when it comes to news and reviews in pro wrestling and mixed martial arts for more than 40 years. Dave also co-hosts Wrestling Observer Radio with Bryan Alvarez and had had bylines for The National, Yahoo Sports, MMA Fighting and others.