They spend most Monday nights clutching the channel changer. "If there's a bad match or the story lines drag," says Matt, a file clerk, "we flip."
This Monday, Oct. 19, the WWF is in the area, so they're here in person, at Long Island's Nassau Coliseum, Matt wearing a Seinfeld-inspired Yankees jersey ("Costanza 00") over a black New Age Outlaws T-shirt: "Oh, you didn't know?" "Well, your ass better call somebody."
For the Record
Los Angeles Times Sunday November 29, 1998 Home Edition Calendar Page 87 Calendar Desk 2 inches; 38 words Type of Material: Correction
Wrestling czar--A Nov. 15 Calendar article incorrectly reported the disposition of a New York case in which Vince McMahon, the head of the World Wrestling Federation, faced federal steroid conspiracy and possession charges. McMahon was acquitted on all counts in 1994.
Like legions of wrestling fans, they're fascinated by the competition outside the ring. They can tell you every wrestler Turner and Bischoff lured away from the WWF, and how the Atlanta outfit--as Turner vowed--did dominate ratings for more than a year. Their "Monday Nitro" went on the air minutes early to strike the first blow; then it added an hour--8 to 9--before "Raw" got started; and then it began running overtime, forcing McMahon to follow. The Minutaglio brothers predict "Raw" will go tonight to . . . 11:06.
They also know how McMahon made his comeback this year by going more risque, using silicone babes like Sable, Austin's middle finger and language--a lotta language--to titillate a younger male "demo."
"The other show's more for families," Mike says. "They'll say, 'I'll kick your butt!' or 'You stink!'
"In this one, it's 'I'll kick your ass!' or 'You suck!' "
As the turnstiles open, the arriving "Raw" fans put that word to use, waving $10 Styrofoam middle fingers amid chants that mock the competition. " 'Nitro' Sucks!" "Goldberg Sucks!"
The giant wrestling set is a multimedia marvel plunked down on the arena floor. Above the staging area to the side is an enormous screen to show the maneuvers in the ring, music video-like clips and the "action" backstage. When it's time to boogie, the wrestlers--the "heels" and "baby faces"strut out from under the screen, then down a ramp to the ring amid pyro displays, laser shows and blaring theme music.
Tonight, a trio of giants--the Live Oddities--dance down the ramp with a white hip-hop group, the Insane Clown Posse, before getting on with the body slams.
"They're signed for five episodes," Jim Byrne, a Titan Sports vice president, says of the music group. "I wouldn't be surprised if they re-up."
One wrestler, a pimp in feathered fedora, brings two gals down the ramp so he can taunt a clean-cut rival, "You ever been with a ho? " There's the luscious Val Venis, who gyrates to clips of a pneumatic drill, and a 7-foot drag queen, Goldust. Another wrestler carts a prop woman's head. "You see the whole panoply of human archetypes laid out," says Byrne.
