December 2, 2002 Observer Newsletter: UFC 40, WWE has money losing quarter

When watching the build-up the two days before and during the UFC show on 11/22 for the Ken Shamrock vs. Tito Ortiz match, it was like something you’ve always known was thrown right in your face.

You saw all the WWE’s problems when you had another organization doing a great job of building a match that you just had to see. In every aspect of business that WWF used to be the dominant force, where nobody could touch them on, they were outdone by an inexperienced organization with a relatively small office staff. Granted, timing is everything. They had a match that people have been wanting to see since March 5, 1999, with the scene played a zillion times in clips where Shamrock climbed on the cage and yelled at a cocky Ortiz, who had just put on a shirt that read “Gay Mezger is my bitch,” after a win over Ken’s fighter Guy Mezger, and flipped off Ken’s corner. John McCarthy had to pull Ortiz away, or there probably would have been an unscheduled match nearly four years ago.

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