May 17, 2004 Observer Newsletter: Hustle III review, death of Pepper Gomez

After Dream Stage Entertainment signed Mick Foley, Kevin Nash and Scott Hall for huge money, at the last minute, for their 5/8 Hustle III Japanese PPV show from the Yokohama Arena, a lot of questions are being asked about the group.

Besides the aforementioned three, they have Bill Goldberg under contract, and have been negotiating for Steve Austin. There were no hints on the show that they were close to a deal with Austin, and right now it appears Austin isn’t in a hurry to make any kind of a move in wrestling, let alone rush into a match, although he is interested in Japanese marketing opportunities.

Among the questions is, how does it make sense to spend a rumored $75,000 each for Hall & Nash, as well as another huge figure for Foley, who was offered more than he could possibly afford to turn down, even with a bad knee? More, how is this type of money justified when it is done at the last minute with virtually no time to advertise? Paid attendance for these shows has been very small and PPV numbers are insignificant. 

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