Wrestling Dirtsheet thread

[Seth82]

found a buncha cool recaps of various wrestling dirt sheets from back in the day and thought I might post them here

I like to read what was going on in the various territories at the time

this first is from around 23 yrs ago on September 5th 1988

and it's Dave Meltzer's Wrestling Observer

WWF
-- Most reports outside of wrestling are saying the WWF paid $8-$9 million for PPV rights to the Sugar Ray Leonard/Donnie Lalonde fight on 11/7, but some are saying they paid as much as $15 million. Wrestling sources tell Dave it was closer to $5 million. Even if the fight bombs, which is expected, this may be a wise investment on the WWF's part, because the WWF has no involvement in closed circuit promotion of the show, and it's much easier to profit from PPV than closed circuit because the local promoters take a bigger cut of closed circuit gates.

-- Randy Savage's title defenses aren't drawing nearly as well as they were. The Andre matches are doing okay, but the DiBiase series appears to have run its course. A Montreal match against Dino Bravo, however, drew over a $300,000 gate. Savage/Andre only drew 3,000 seats in the new 17,000 seat arena in Miami despite tons of local publicity.

-- Superstars taping on 8/23 in Providence drew a sellout 13,800 fans. To get around the issue of Summerslam having not yet happened, Warrior came out at the beginning of the show and beat Honky Tonk Man to win the IC title. They then referred to HTM as former champ throughout the taping, and Warrior as the champ. At the end of the taping, Jack Tunney came out and said Warrior's win was null and void since the match was not scheduled, so the belt would be returned to HTM. Also at the taping, Rick Rude wore tights with Cheryl Roberts' face on his crotch, which brought Jake out to rip them off of him, leaving Rude in his underwear. Other highlights: The Rougeaus announced Jimmy Hart as their manager. Owen Hart debuted as "The Blue Lazor", but they screwed up in Philadelphia calling him "The Blue Blazer", which made Dave laugh because Owen Hart is not a sports coat. He got a great reaction for his moonsault press finisher, but not much reaction for anything else. Terry Taylor and Curt Hennig also worked the taping, but Owen got the best reaction of the three. They set up a feud with Dino Bravo and Jim Duggan, which Dave says shows Duggan's big push is over.

-- Challenge taping on 8/24 in Hartford drew 16,000 repeating the Warrior/HTM scenario from the Superstars taping.

-- 8/22 in Utica, NY drew 3,400 fans in a match where I guess the main event was Duggan vs DiBiase, but it wasn't last. 8/26 in Calgary and 8/27 in Edmonton both drew 13,500 fans headlined by Duggan vs Andre. 8/27 in Philadelphia drew 4,418 and a $56,562 gate, the second smallest crowd for a Spectrum show ever, with the show closed by Rick Rude vs Jake Roberts with fans leaving in the middle of the match. Savage and DiBiase also wrestled each other in the middle of the show in an excellent match. Flair vs Luger, which is on fire in the NWA, drew a $128,000 gate in Philly by comparison.

-- Dave says the Brutus Beefcake/Ron Bass injury angle was neat, in that they immediately cut to Sean Mooney who said it was so violent they couldn't show it.

-- One Man Gang and Greg Valentine are still around, despite rumors to the contrary. Oliver Humperdink is getting a weekly check, but his managing days seem to be over.

-- The Jumping Bomb Angels are expected back in the WWF in January.

NWA
-- On 9/5, Dave reported that there was new news on the sale. The sale was actually closer to happening a week ago than now. Everyone is vying for power with the new owners after the sale takes place. It is assumed Dusty Rhodes will remain the booker, but he will also be held far more accountable than he is now. The rumor mill is going crazy and will continue until something happens with the sale.

-- Regarding the news item on Steve Williams, he was arrested on January 4 for attempting to smuggle cocaine, marijuana, mushrooms, barbiturates, and both oral and injectable steroids to Tokyo. He was released on an unsecured $25,000 bond, which means he has to show up for court cases or he must pay the full amount. His Japan tour scheduled to start 10/7 will likely be cancelled, as Doc is not currently allowed to leave the U.S. Because this is a first offense, odds are good he will not have to serve time.

-- Ron Garvin has quit, and Dave hates the way they handled it. They said on TBS that Dusty Rhodes beat him up so bad he put him out of wrestling, which would be fine if he was touring Japan or retiring, but he's going to be on ESPN working for the AWA within a month. He says it made Dusty look like a fool, especially considering Garvin is going to be working spot shows in the Carolinas and will be just fine.

-- Kendall Windham is leaving for WCCW, and no one has a clue why.

-- Flair vs Luger continues to draw big numbers at house shows. 8/26 at the Omni drew 13,700 and a gate of over $100,000. 8/27 in Charlotte drew 16,000.

-- They ran an angle recently where Arn and Tully beat up Bobby Eaton in the dressing room to try to fully turn the MX babyface.

AWA
-- Nothing definite on the PPV show, but they have relinquished the 12/26 date. They want to run a show on election night in Chicago, but every arena has turned them down. Jerry Jarrett is telling wrestlers it is his show and he'll book who he wants, while Verne Gagne is telling wrestlers the opposite. Lawler will likely win both belts, and drop one later back to Kerry at a WCCW show.

WCCW
-- WCCW, the AWA, and CWA are planning on co-promoting a 10/30 show at The Omni in Atlanta, which Dave says spells disaster because even Hogan can't draw in Atlanta, but maybe Michael Hayes can still draw there on a one-time basis.

-- Keiji Muto is in as Super Ninja, and Dave points out no ninjas have gotten over since Kabuki a long, long time prior and Kendo Nagasaki in his early days in Florida, yet every Japanese wrestler who comes in is billed as a ninja.

MEMPHIS
-- 8/22 in Memphis drew a $15,000 gate headlined by Tommy Rich beating Jerry Lawler by DQ after Lawler decked referee Jerry Calhoun. Cactus Jack wrestled in the show opener against Ray Odyssey, and the show also had a comedy match with Downtown Bruno vs Jamie Dundee, and the best match on the show was a ***1/2 match with Robert Fuller & Jimmy Golden going to a double disqualification against Bill Dundee & Jeff Jarrett. The wrestlers brawled all over the building until the locker room emptied. The crowd was up a few hundred from the 8/15 Lawler vs Kerry double title match.

-- They are heavily promoting a 9/19 show called Renegade Mayhem that will feature all the AWA names, Kerry & Kevin Von Erich, Michael Hayes, and they are stating "NWA wrestlers" Robert Gibson and Ron Garvin will be there as well.

-- 8/27 TV had a Jarrett/Dundee vs Cactus/Young match where Bruno tried to jump off the top rope and hit Dundee with his loaded boot. However, Jamie Dundee came in and took the blow himself and was carted out. Dundee did a great interview about this and later dove over a table at Robert Fuller when he was doing an interview, in an attempt to heat up their feud. This was way too much like the angle in Continental with Pez Whatley's son, but Dave credits them for at least copying good angles when they could be copying the AWA.

CONTINENTAL
-- The Road To Birmingham tournament on 10/3 will feature 10 wrestlers: Bam Bam Bigelow, Tommy Rich, The Bullet, Dirty White Boy, Tom Pritchard, Eddie Gilbert, Bob Orton, Chris Adams, Willie B. Hurt, and Terry Gordy. (My note: This is a pretty awesome line-up.) The original plan was for Lawler to face Bigelow, but Lawler will not be working here anymore. He cancelled all of his dates, so now Memphis and Continental are at war again.

-- Doug Furnas, Johnny Rich, Davey Rich, and Nelson Royal all debuted on FNN/Score. Brian Pillman, JT Southern, and Tim Horner are all headed in as well. Pillman starts 10/1.

-- The final USA Pro show drew close to 4,000 in Knoxville. The first Continental show in Knoxville will be on 9/23.

-- Jerry Stubbs turned heel and will be feuding with Austin Idol starting on 9/3 in Dothan. A few weeks back in a battle royal in Pensacola, Idol had been taken out with ether in a match with Gilbert, but came back for the battle royal and somehow won in the first ring while Stubbs won in the other ring. Idol grabbed the house mic and suggested they not fight and just split the money. Stubbs wanted to fight for it and was cleaning Idol's clock, but Idol lucked out and won anyway. Then on 8/27, it was announced Idol would get a world title shot, which brought Stubbs out to do an interview complaining about how Idol gets everything. Idol responded by saying he didn't want getting the title shot to ruin their friendship, so Stubbs could have the shot himself. Later on the show, during a six-man tag where Idol was teaming with Bullet & Willie B. Hurt against Gilbert, Dutch Mantel, and Paul E. Dangerously, the ref was knocked out and Stubbs came in to referee. In the finish, Idol decked Dangerously, Gilbert posted Hurt and then took out a chain to hit Idol, who ducked and hit him for the pin. Stubbs wouldn't count though, instead taking the chain, decking Idol with it, and putting Gilbert on top for the pin. On 8/28, they brought Idol and Stubbs out to resolve their problems, but Stubbs decked him again.

-- "Nelson Royal looked out of place in this territory with its emphasis on younger wrestlers and exaggerated personalities. Royal's subtle heel, which he does well, doesn't seem strong enough with all the characters running around."

SOUTHERN PRO
-- 8/21 at Henderson's Arena in Atlanta drew 115 fans headlined by Mr. Wrestling II vs Moondog Spot (Larry Latham) for the Southern title. Dave says Moondog won the title from Chris Adams, but he's unsure a match actually took place to change the title. Dave also praised Ken Timbs for his work against Scott Armstrong on the undercard, saying he just got back from Mexico and did a great job getting the crowd riled up.

-- Dave is unsure who the tag champions are, but lasts he remembers, it's Tommy Rich & Ted Oates. Oates quit the group, so they held a fictional tournament won by Rich and Steve Pritchard.

-- Rival Deep South held a tournament on 8/28 in Marietta to crown a new champion, which is expected to be Randy Rose. Headed in are Dale Veasey, who Dave calls a good worker, and Tony Zane, who is billed as Mr. Atlanta and is feuding with The Assassin. Neither group is doing very well at the gate.

-- Buck Robley left as booker after a falling out with Jerry Blackwell, so Blackwell and Tommy Rich are handling the booking.

STAMPEDE
-- The usual Saturday show did not take place on 8/27, as the WWF was running Edmonton for the first time possibly ever that night, and drew 13,500 fans headliend by Andre vs Duggan. So, Stampede ran their show on 8/25 in Calgary, where they drew 1,200 fans on the strength of Steve DiSalvo's turn.

-- Makhan Singh is making noise about going to South Africa, where he has previously wrestled as Big Ben Sharp.

PUERTO RICO
-- They ran an angle where Carlos Colon was named Wrestler of the Year at a banquet, but Hercules Ayala stood up ahead of time thinking it was going to be him. Colon then thanked his wife, and Ayala attacked her and beat her up to a point she juiced. WWC suspended him and stripped him of the title, but Colon insisted he be reinstated, and they are scheduled to meet in a fire death match, an idea Dave expects to be copied in the U.S. (My note: Unbelievable he reported the Colon angle without comment.)

-- Buddy Landell won the Carribean title from TNT on 8/13 at Bayamon Stadium.

ALL JAPAN
-- The new series started on 8/20 in Tokyo. Dave says Johnny Ace has potential to be a big star in both the U.S. and Japan. He says he looked great in his highspots, but is still weak on transitions, but he actually looked better than Tom Zenk, who has bulked up a lot. Dave suspects they're being groomed for the tag tournament, and Zenk's dropkicks still look great. He is also unsure what happened with Takano, who looked like he would be a star a couple of years back and is not.

-- Stan Hansen broke down and cried after being Tenryu for the PWF title and the fans started chanting Brody's name. "In Japan, this has turned into almost an Elvis Presley type thing as the magazines are still filled with Brody photos four weeks after his death and on Baba's show they mention his name dozens of times each hour."

NEW JAPAN
-- The new series started on 8/26 at Korauken Hall. They are pushing a big show on 9/5 in Osaka with Vader vs Bigelow and Choshu/Saito vs Fujinami/Koshinaka.

-- New Japan announced they are bringing in Paul Orndorff, John Studd, and King Kong Bundy, although Orndorff said he does not miss wrestling at all and has no intentions to ever return. Dave says Orndorff is doing really well for a guy who has died 200 times over the past three months.

-- Dave finally saw the entire Fujinami/Inoki 60-minute draw and said it would have been a great way for Inoki to go out. He says it wasn't match of the year, but will win in Japan because they always pick long matches that are classics. Dave acknowledges that there was tons of time killing, but also gives Inoki credit for his effort at his age going so long, especially because he was "literally dying for the last 10 minutes". Dave loved the post-match with Choshu putting Inoki on his shoulders and Koshinaka doing the same for Fujinami, and said it almost felt like a passing of the torch, and New Japan making a statement that Fujinami is their new #1 guy.

-- Dave loved the Don Nakaya Neilsen vs Yoshiaki Fujiwara match from Ariake Coliseum. "Neilsen will make one great worker if he decides to become a pro wrestler, even though he doesn't have the body for it (he's got the lean boxer physique rather than the lifter/thick physique)." Dave thinks Fujiwara should have gone over because wrestling should be portrayed as superior to kick boxing.

-- Dave says Keiji Muto works like Bret Hart but is quicker and more agile, but has the same hard style. He says Chono is fine, but is overshadowed by Muto, and Hashimoto seems more preoccupied with pretending to be a shooter than being a good wrestler. "There is a lot of danger in Maeda's popularity because it is the antithesis of what pro wrestling should be and encourages gaining a reputation through cheap-shots, which ruins the business in the long run."

OTHER
-- Chigusa Nagayo wants to tour the United States in October and is willing to work for any promotion that will have her. She will probably work the 10/15 Cottonbowl show for WCCW. Dave says the only problem is that Leilani Kai is the only U.S. wrestler that could work with her, and she may be free, as the WWF has phased out all women wrestlers except Sherri Martel and Rockin' Robin. Nagayo wants to work against Susan Starr or Rhonda Singh.

-- Nord the Barbarian filed for bankruptcy. He may have to return to wrestling, which he doesn't want to do.

-- A Current Affair is moving forward with a Brody story, but Barbara Goodish refused to be interviewed by them.

AWARDS
-- Wrestler of the Year: Dave thinks Maeda has to win, but also walks through the cases for Randy Savage, Ric Flair, Ted DiBiase, Eddie Gilbert, Owen Hart, and Tatsumi Fujinami.

-- Most Overrated: Dave mentions Dusty Rhodes, Kevin Von Erich, Lex Luger, Brutus Beefcake, Honky Tonk Man, Nikita Koloff, and Ultimate Warrior for this category.

-- Strongest Wrestler: Steve Williams.

-- Most Embarrassing Wrestler: Dusty Rhodes, Ultimate Warrior, and George Steele take this category for Dave. If he watched the AWA, he might say Madusa Miceli.

[YoungFlyFlashy]

I can dig it, props.

[Kane Knight]

Blue Blazer. I can see that guy going places.

[Gertner]

Blue Blazer. I can see that guy going places.

I see him hitting his peak around 2006

[Aguakate]

This is what interests me the most:


AWARDS
-- Wrestler of the Year: Dave thinks Maeda has to win, but also walks through the cases for Randy Savage, Ric Flair, Ted DiBiase, Eddie Gilbert, Owen Hart, and Tatsumi Fujinami.

-- Most Overrated: Dave mentions Dusty Rhodes, Kevin Von Erich, Lex Luger, Brutus Beefcake, Honky Tonk Man, Nikita Koloff, and Ultimate Warrior for this category.

-- Strongest Wrestler: Steve Williams.

-- Most Embarrassing Wrestler: Dusty Rhodes, Ultimate Warrior, and George Steele take this category for Dave. If he watched the AWA, he might say Madusa Miceli.


Owen Hart being considered "Wrestler of the Year" in 1988...alongside Randy Savage and Ric Flair...wow. Where was Bret Hart? LOL

Ultimate Warrior being considered both "Most Overrated" and "Most Embarrassing Wrestler"! That's what's up.

[Seth82]

alright this one is the August 29th edition of Dave Meltzer's Wrestling Observer

DAVE DEFENDS HIMSELF
-- Dave received a very impassioned letter from someone tired of him insulting Jim Wilson and Eddie Mansfield on the letters pages. The first chunk of the newsletter is devoted to answering the criticisms instead of reporting any news. The gist of the letter:

* Your facts are wrong about their careers
* You are wrong to write off their complaints because they never became stars
* They deserve credit for coming clean about wrestling in a public forum and trying to start a union
* Dave spends more time encouraging fans to contact TV stations than labor unions who could actually reform the business
* "The routine reports on crowd size, monetary gates, PPV clearance rates and estimated gross revenues is distributed among the guys whose matches you rate with asterisks. Older and ailing wrestlers are snidely criticized without explaining the reasons for their condition, the absente pensions, and medical insurance. Wrestler mobility is noted, but not 'the power of the pencil.' Green wrestlers and jobbers are continually insulted without explaining why talented athletes are in no hurry to get into wrestling. The superficial fascination with wrestlers' real names, height, weight, and hometown is laughably distant from their daily reality of being 'paid with pussy.'"
* Dave failed to criticize the wrestling business for its role in the deaths of Bruiser Brody and Adrian Adonis
* "The perception of readers that the Observer has a reputation inside The Business as a pernicious kayfabe sheet is a heretofore unexposed work. In fact, The Business (my note: that's how he keeps writing it) likes you. You tell some secrets, but hide the real ones."

Dave's response, highlights:

* "While the formation of a union, in theory, is a good idea, I have talked to very few wrestlers who even entertain the notion that it has even a slim chance of being successful."
* "There are abuses in the wrestling business, to be sure. This idea of a pro wrestler as an independent contractor as the business tries to portray is a joke, and one which abuses the wrestler. The idea that when a wrestler suffers an on-the-job injury, that in most cases not only does the wrestler have to pay the bill himself (and there are plenty of exceptions to this, but it also often is the case) but also in more cases than not, suffers from lost wages until he can return to the ring. Because of that, in almost all cases, the return is premature, and the injury often never fully heals, and the wrestler is unable to perform at peak efficiency because of it. While wrestlers with the major offices do receive air-faire to the city they are performing in, they have to pay their own hotel, rent-a-car or taxi to get to the arena, and all other expenses of living on the road, which often cuts what on the surface appears to be a healthy paycheck down to nothing. The performance and travel schedule is often nothing short of brutal. I can recall instances of NWA wrestlers, in particular, wrestling in cards in two cities on the same night and often, back in '86 when they were doing TV's on Saturday morning and then double-shots on Saturdays, working three shows in one day and maybe five shows in a weekend. The WWF a few months back was nearly destroying its wrestlers with those five-show weekends, which saw one or two wrestlers literally collapse in airports from exhaustion, and another suffer a heart attack."
* "The pressure, stronger now than ever, to have an unnatural physique, had made steroid use and abuse, particularly in the WWF, almost a necessity to have any chance at success. Yet these same steroids are blamed for at least one heart attack, one stroke, and another wrestler whose heart deteriorated so badly from such abuses that it was feared until recently that he would have to undergo a heart transplant. The wrestling business is far, far from perfect. Nor is any other business. The previous paragraph could have the word 'WWF' taken out and inserted the sports of bodybuilding, powerlifting, several track and field events and to a lesser extent, pro football linemen, and the same would be true, and none of those sports are any closer to changing that truism than pro wrestling."
* "Agreed, it is a sad and indefensible state that pro wrestlers don't have any kind of medical insurance to cover on-the-job injuries, and that they often don't receive pay while recovering from those same injuries. As for pension plans, while again in theory that sounds good, in reality, this is not a stable enough business. We've had two promotions fold in the past few weeks alone. With the exception of Titan Sports, how many U.S. offices actually are operating in the black right now? The answer is two, maybe three. I'm going to go back to pro soccer and make a point. The soccer players unionized and of course it helped them, at least in the short run. The owners claimed that the unionization helped put the outdoor game virtually out of business in this country (a faulty claim, the game would have gone down the tubes because of public apathy, union or not). But whatever pension plans may be negotiated are lost when the business folds up. And as we've seen by wrestling contracts, it is better to get the money up-front and set it aside yourself, because these balloon and deferred payments have a way of never coming to fruition."
* Using any term (e.g. "The Business") collectively about a group of individuals, whether they be people in the wrestling business, "smart fans" (who for some reason seem to be getting criticized in many other newsletters for reasons I can't fully understand), Republicans or any other group generally leads to unfair assumptions. All "smart fans" (whatever that connotates and I'm still not sure) don't think alike. I don't know of any two that think exactly alike, and I certainly don't speak for all of them. Yet many people seem to think that whatever I state constitutes the viewpoint of all 'smart fans.'"
* "In the same way, the wrestling business has no unity of purpose, whatsoever. It is not a monopoly, in fact it is competitive, even if the competition is terribly one-sided in this country. Promoters don't get together and blacklist wrestlers and the term blacklisting is highly overused. Wilson can talk about being blacklisted, and I won't argue the point that several promoters were contacted and told not to use him. However, there has never been a singular unity of purpose among those who run wrestling companies."
* Brody got away with things like changing finish mid-match and refusing to do jobs because he was marketable and an attraction. If he wanted to play by the rules, he could have gone to the WWF and worked on top. Even in the NWA, where there is personal heat with Dusty, had Brody agreed to do business Dusty's way, he could have come in. It isn't fair that he got chances guys like Mansfield and Wilson didn't, but that's the reality of pro wrestling. Not just the wrestling business, but life.
* Brody wasn't regarded as a renegade because he had a bad attitude. In fact, he was one of the smartest wrestlers around and most wrestlers would classify Brody as a genuine, friendly guy, unless it was a promoter who had to do business with him.
* While you could blame the WWF for making sure Adonis wouldn't be taken seriously on top again because of the gimmick, in truth, Adonis was responsible for his downfall. He was self-destructive and McMahon gave him several chances. He could have even worked Japan for a few years until the image of him as an obese drag queen faded.
* "The Business" has no viewpoint of the Observer. Some love it, some hate it. Most of the major power brokers hate it, but even that isn't unanimous. Publicly, most wrestlers hate it, and privately, the reactions are more mixed.
* "The realities of professional wrestling are that it is a business, and in theory, the bottom line should be that it be a profitable business, although the reality in many cases is it is a business run by those in power often times for personal ego gain as much as profit. Wrestlers and promoters have similar goals, raising fan interest and increasing the revenue generated by the promotion so both promoter and wrestler, at least in theory, will benefit. They are also put in an adversarial position. Every dollar spent for talent is a dollar less of profit margin ... One thing unfortunate about wrestling is that it is a business often built on false hopes, false promises and false dreams. Wrestlers constantly have the carrot of success, whether it be a hot new angle "we are planning for you in October", promise of a title belt or any kind of a major push, placed in front of their eyes, and oftentimes that never comes to fruition. But wrestling is not unique in this way."
* "I want to make one last personal comment before getting into the news. I do not make any claims as to being anything but a reporter who tries to do as accurate and honest a job as possible in covering a business in which accomplishing those goals is impossible. Other people are welcomed to label me a mark who doesn't know what he's talking about, an expert, or anything in between. The audience the Observer is aimed at is that of hardcore fan, whether you want to label him a smart mark or a smart fan of whatever labels can be given, and also secondarily as a trade journal of sorts for the business, not that the business itself wants it, but a large percentage of the readership is within the business and they are a lot more interested in gate figures than results of matches. Now that all of this has been covered, I don't plan on getting into it again for a few more years."

WWF
-- The WWF will co-promote the Sugar Ray Leonard boxing PPV on November 7. This is their first venture into boxing, and their PPV experience gave them the edge over both Viacom and HBO.

-- They continue to hype Summerslam. The latest rumor is that Brother Love's guest will be Jessica Hahn. MSG is sold out and they've opened up the Felt Forum for closed circuit, which is almost sold out as well.

-- 8/7 in Toronto drew 8,500 fans headlined by Savage vs DiBiase in a cage. 8/15 in Omaha drew 5,248 fans headlined by Andre vs Duggan.

-- Dave had a chance to see the Owen Hart/Barry Horowitz match everyone is talking about and would give it ***. He said both guys sold well for each other and Hart did some spectacular moves, but the match was in "ssssslllllloooowwww motion".

NWA
-- The sale is coming down to the wire. The deal is not yet complete, but Ted Turner made an unofficial deadline for getting things wrapped up. TBS sources told Dave papers could be signed as early as Monday, but there are still minor hold-ups. Wrestlers have started meeting with Jack Petrik, who will oversee wrestling operations when the sale goes through. Both Ric Flair and Dusty Rhodes had personal meetings with Ted Turner. Major changes in the television product will take place in the first 3-4 months. Dave says they need some type of strategy to get over in Los Angeles and New York as strong as they are in the Southeast in order to be a national promotion.

-- Steve Williams was arraigned in federal court in Detroit on charges of attempting to transport cocaine, marijuana, and mushrooms to Japan. Dave says this would have been far more heavily covered if Doc worked for the WWF. Contrary to rumors, Doc is still very much with the NWA.

-- Flair/Luger is drawing HUGE on house shows, with near sellouts in Norfolk, Richmond, and Philadelphia. The reason this seems to be working is that that they are advertising that the only rematch will take place in "your" town. Dave says regardless of his thoughts on the finish at the Bash, and that Luger needed to bleed a lot more, if they're drawing numbers like this, it was a success, period. Any thoughts that they pissed off fans too much with that finish should be dismissed by looking at the gates they're drawing for this feud now.

-- Ron Garvin and Tim Horner are no longer around. Garvin quit/was fired over a misunderstanding at a house show and is AWA-bound. The AWA is planning on running tons of shows in the Carolinas with Garvin, Wahoo McDaniel, Manny Fernandez and Robert Gibson. Horner was supposed to do a job for The Masked Maniac (Italian Stallion under a hood, but Lyle Alzado's alias on Learning The Ropes). They were shooting the match to be used on the TV show.

-- 8/12 in Norfolk drew 9,500 fans and a $98,900 gate headlined by Flair vs Luger. Luger won by DQ when JJ interfered. After the match, Luger had Flair pinned and Ricky Morton counted his shoulders to the mat, which led to Luger and Morton getting destroyed by the Horsemen to close the show. 8/19 in Richmond drew 10,500 fans headlined by Flair vs Luger. 8/20 in Philly drew 11,000 fans headlined by Flair vs Luger.

-- Ron Simmons is back in, taking Tim Horner's spot.

-- Jack Victory will be Russian Assassin #2.

-- Brad Armstrong will replace Tim Horner at Clash III in the TV title match against Mike Rotunda.

-- They shot an angle with Barry Windham attacking Sting recently and making him juice with the claw in order to start their feud.

-- Dave Sheldon (Angel of Death) is learning Russian to be more believable in the Russian Assassin gimmick.

AWA
-- 8/20 in Las Vegas drew 1,250 fans, their largest crowd in a long time, which Dave uses to poke fun at Curt Hennig's drawing power. (He had also noted in a recent WON that Hennig was having bad matches on WWF house shows and wasn't getting much crowd response.) Jimmy Snuka no-showed, but wasn't advertised, making Jimmy Valiant the only "official" no-show. Highlights of the show included Wahoo vs Manny in a double juice match, Lawler defending the AWA title against Tijo Khan, and Chavo/Mando/Hector vs Bad Company/DeBeers in a *** match, which included DDP taking a great bump over the top rope.

-- Col. DeBeers is now managed by Diamond Dallas Page and gets lots of heat.

-- Verne Gagne is telling everyone in Las Vegas that the NWA is about to fold and that he's going to get their entire roster except Flair, Dusty, and Tully.

-- The scheduled PPV has been pushed back to 12/26, which is when the NWA also has a PPV planned, but Dave thinks it's just an oversight and that they'll reschedule.

WCCW
-- 8/12 at the Sportatorium drew 750 fans.

-- Kendo Nagasaki and Keiji Muto are headed in after Fritz Von Erich met with Seiji Sakaguchi. Fritz keeps accidentally calling him Seiji Inoki. Sakaguchi really wants to get Muto work in the US, as Muto is his protege.

-- 8/17 in Lawton, OK drew 800 fans. 8/19 in Dallas drew 1,000.

-- There are rumors of Tama coming in as a third member of the SST, but Dave calls that wishful speculation.

-- Rumors of Ken Mantell running a new group in Texas to rival WCCW.

MEMPHIS
-- Cactus Jack is on his way in and Dave said he looked okay from his debut.

-- Billy Joe Travis is out of action. He got married and is honeymooning.

-- Bill Dundee is back as a babyface with his son Jamie. Jamie is scheduled to feud with Downtown Bruno.

-- Brickhouse Brown is doing babyface promos specifically asking black fans to support him. Dave says they seem obsessed with mentioning that he's black every time he's on TV for some reason.

CONTINENTAL
-- The TV tapings on 8/14 in Montgomery drew a sellout 2,700 fans, 2,200 paid, "and the 2,700 was a sellout."

-- Paul E. had a line in a TV promo where recently when Ron West threatened to suspend him, and he responded by saying he would just come back as the Midnight Rider. Joe Pedicino then said, "It wouldn't surprise me to see Eddie Gilbert do something as low class as come back as the Midnight Rider."

PUERTO RICO
-- Crowds are down, but not as much as had been feared.

ALL JAPAN
-- The lineup for the Brody memorial on 8/29 has been announced and it's nothing special. The headlining match is Jumbo & Yatsu vs Tenryu & Hara. Tickets were selling very well for this show, which will include a memorial service for Brody. They also flew in his widow and son for the show. There was talk of drawing a sellout at Budokan, which hasn't happened for wrestling since a combined AJ/NJ show nearly 10 years earlier.

UWF
-- The 8/13 card was a huge success. All 12,000 tickets were sold months back in six hours and thousands of others were turned away the first day tickets went on sale. Factoring in closed circuits, they had an $800,000 gate, a number only matched by the biggest WWF and NWA shows.

OTHER
-- Jim Carlisle, the TV announcer for Fred Ward's Georgia NWA promotions, passed away at the age of 49. Carlisle pre-dated tape trading, so his name is really only known to those in the Georgia area around Columbus and Macon.

-- Mike Sharpe Sr., father of Mike Sharpe in the WWF, passed away from a heart attack at the age of 67. Sharpe was a leading attraction on the west coast with his brother Ben during the 1950s, and was well known in Japan. He main evented the first major wrestling card ever held in Japan in 1954.

-- Corporal Kirchner was sentenced to 180 days in prison for non-payment of child support (over $7,000). He was also ordered to go into rehab for drug and alcohol addiction.

-- Shinya Hashimoto wants to work Memphis, and Masa Chono wants to work Continental.

-- A Current Affair is doing a segment on Brody's death and interviewed Lou Thesz and Bruno Sammartino for it.

-- Dave is having a video party on 8/27. Contact him for details.


gotta love the fact that old senile Verne Gagne thought NWA was actually gonna fold and he'd wind up with most of the talent

by 1988 AWA was a fucking mess and in 2 yrs they themselves would go belly up

[YoungFlyFlashy]

Hey Seth anything from 1995 - 1998?

[Seth82]

nah man but this one is Wade Keller's Torch Newsletter from March 25th 2000

Headline story:
- Wade calls Barry Blaustein and Beyond the Mat "a mark and The Movie lacks central Theme." but overall likes the documentary. He felt it was too contrived and didn't have a critical eye for his "subjects" often enough. He brings up the Koko B Ware part and the Roland Alexander part but didn't bash Terry Funk like he did those two. He also thought they didn't focus a lot on the Droz injury and didn't even mention the Owen death once according to Wade's review.

Co Headline:
- Mick Foley is going to return at Wrestlemania after "retiring" at No way out losing to HHH in Hell in a Cell. Wade doesn't seem to know what to think but predicts that WWF will get a higher buyrate now that Foley is there.

WWF Newswire:
- The WWF is going to leave USA and move to TNN thanks to Chris-Craft selling it's 50% of UPN to Viacom. Rumor has it that USA might be intrested in ECW now that WWF is leaving.
- Despite putting the planned Wrestlemania Main event(Show vs HHH vs Rock) on Raw, the rating only dropped 0.1 from last week. The final rating was a 6.2 with a 7.3 overrun rating.
- Beyond the Mat had a overall figure of $950,000 from 298 runs over the weekend. A box office source said it was "decent" and the Screen Average was $3,188.
- The March 18th SNL with the Rock was the highest rated SNL of the season. It got a 8.2 Rating with about 20 million viewers as the Estimate.

WWF Notebook:
- Out of everyone in MCW(Memphis Championship Wrestling), It looks like K Krush(Ron Killings) was going to be the most likely to be called up. They like his Musical background and look. WWF wasn't going to call up anyone from MCW before 6 months to prove itself but that might change. Reckless Youth might be called up for the Light Heavyweight Division.(My note:Whatever happened with that anyways?) Jerry Lawler isn't very intrested in MCW except for his segments with the Kat. Tom Pritchard attends every taping as an agent. He doesn't have any control but gives advice to the leaders.
- HHH and Chyna have ended there Off screen romance. The breakup has been in the works for months and lead to the breakup on screen.
- HHH is getting a lot of praise as a Heel because he's not acting like the "cool heel" throwing out one liners for babyface pops.
- For Last week's Ross Report on WWF.com, Jim Ross said that he like Paul E's fire in ECW and on WCW he said "What does it tell you when Sunday Night Heat is beating Nitro in the ratings?"
- Terri Runnels told Cody Monk of the Dallas Morning News that she wanted to do the Bump off the top rope on Raw. She said she trusted Buh Buh and was stiff the next day but knows he was too.
- Raw was the top rated show in the UK with 390,000 Viewrs compared to Thunder's 160,000 and Nitro's 140,000.

On the Road:
-March 18th in Cedar Falls Iowa drew 10,780 paid making about $313,870($78632 in Merch.) The card was headlined by Kane beating X Pac. Also on the card was Edge beat Prince Albert, Crash beat Christian, Dudleys beat the Hardy's, Rikishi beat Bossman, Jacqueline beat Lita, Too Cool beat Headbangers, Angle beat Benoit and Jericho when Angle pinned Jericho after a belt shot.
-March 19th in Moline Ill had the same card with Tazz beating Gangrel being the new match. They drew 9,497 paid for $260,318(68,771 Merch)

WCW Newswire:
-Brad Siegel wants to make changes to the WCW Front Office. Wade questions who he would replace them with? Jerry Jarrett interviewed for a position underneath Bill Busch. Rumor has it that Siegel was going to name him as WCW VP and reassign Busch. Jarrett shot down that rumor. Bischoff was rumored for a meeting but Bill Goldberg stopped that.
-Bill Goldberg is unhappy with WCW's Creative direction but likes Bill Busch. He doesn't want to work under Bischoff and hates that his return has been pushed back to May. He was scheduled to come back for the April PPV.
-Bill Busch almost resigned as WCW VP but Goldberg's visit on Tuesday put a new spark under him. Changes were rumored after the estimate for Uncesnored were under 100,000 buys. Busch might stick around for a couple months.
-There is a power stuggle between Hulk HOgan and Bill Goldberg. Head booker Kevin Sullivan is Siding with Hulk Hogan. A lot of people think WCW won't survive unless Hogan is out.

WCW Notebook:
- Main matches for Spring Stampede are Sid vs Hogan for the WCW title and Flair/Luger vs Sting/Vampiro.
- Ernest Miller is upset at Busch that he didn't give him the raise Bischoff promised him. Busch said he won't give anyone a raise. Miller brought this up because Perry Saturn got a raise after Busch was hired.
- Stevie Ray had his contract cut 2/3 several months ago.
- Bret Hart is saying his Career is over thanks to the concussion he got in a match with Bill Goldberg
- Bill Busch was not at the PPV because he was dealing with Goldberg. JJ Dillion was trying to keep things calm while Gary Juster was going crazy backstage.
- WCW wanted to Run Goldberg vs Steiner but Busch doesn't trust Steiner after steiner undermined his authority. Busch wanted to suspend Steiner but Siegel override him.
- Scott Hall is supposed to return any week now

ECW Notebook:
- ECW's 900 number updated the fans on the condition of New Jack after his fall. ECW was debating about running a Corino/Jack match that was taped before the PPV to air after the PPV.
- Lance Storm is not very popular among the wrestlers according to a source. They say he's a kiss up and a know it all. Friends say it's his dry personality.
- TNN's Friday night lineup has dropped 35% in the ratings and ECW has dropped 20% this past week. That is blamed on the St. Patrick's day weekend.
- Simon Diamond pulled some muscles in his back. It's blamed on a series of bumps over the past couple weeks. New Jack got Surgery and is out for four weeks.
- Tommy Dreamer was backstage at raw because he was taping a episode of Early Edition.

ECW on the road:
- March 17th in Worcester Mass 1,600 paid:
- The Prodigy Tom Marquez beat Chilly Willy, Little Guido beat Kid Kash, Raven beat Mikey Whipwreck. CW Anders and Beautiful Billie Whiles beat Doring/Roadkill, Balls Mahoney beat Vic Grimes, Credible/Storm beat Nova/Chetti to retain the tag titles, Mike Awesome beat Angel, Tajiri beat Tommy Dreamer, Super Crazy beat Rhino.

March 18th Salem N.H 2350 paid sellout
- Chetti/Nova beat Whipwreck Prodigy, Guido beat Kash, Doring/Roadkill/Dusty beat Anderson/Willes/Watts, Crazy beat Tajiri for the Tv title, Rhino beat Balls, Dreamer beat Grimes, Impact Players beat Raven/Awesome for the tag titles.

ECW on TNN from Asbury Park NJ
- Impact Players beat Chettie/Nova
- Sandman beat Angel
- Corino beat New Jack in 6:00
- Awesome beat Tanaka in 2:00

[Seth82]

here's the August 22nd 1988 edition of Wrestling Observer

WWF
-- The main feuds in fall are going to be Rick Rude vs Jake Roberts and Randy Savage vs Andre the Giant, along with Hogan vs DiBiase. Rude is supposed to be getting his "sister" in his corner, as they really want to do a "girls" feud without involving Elizabeth, who they want to remain untouched. Brutus Beefcake vs Ron Bass is also expected to be a big feud, and Dave doesn't understand why Bass is getting such a big push when they have so many great workers under contract.

-- Iron Sheik has been fired again for the same reasons as always. Dave says it's so sad to see what he has become, considering that he started in wrestling as a spartan athlete of sorts.

-- Savage vs Andre is drawing well. They did 10,500 paid in Oakland ($125,000 gate) and a $140,000 gate in Oakland. "Those figures are phenomenal when you consider all the competing sports events in both cities (Giants and Dodgers had a series in LA which was televised in the Bay Area which has lots of interest, plus the NFL opened up its exhibition games, and Crockett was in and did business in both cities the previous week, although in reality major league baseball, the NFL and Jim Crockett Promotions all draw from a very different audience than does the WWF."

-- Owen Hart stole the show on 8/13 in L.A. in a near-**** match against Barry Horowitz and was the most over guy on the show aside from Randy Savage.

-- The WWF is purposely planting stories of Liz in a bikini at Summerslam to sell PPV buys. The rumor that they're spreading themselves is that Liz will wear a robe, take it off at a key moment, and it will lead to a heel distraction and babyface win.

-- The WWF is also trying to encourage the Hogan/Tyson rumors because of the publicity potential. Dave says Vince is smart enough to never put Hogan in a situation where he doesn't have complete control, and that he doubts Tyson would agree to a worked finish. Dave says if Tyson KO'd Hogan, the WWF would go crumbling down and one payday isn't worth that.

-- 8/4 in Altoona, PA drew 3,000 fans. 8/5 in Springfield, MA drew 2,700 fans.


NWA
-- "This has been a great week for rumors, but a lousy week for news. At this point, I don't take rumors of wrestlers jumping very seriously, it's kind of, when they're there, they're there type of thing. And nobody has officially jumped from the NWA despite the rumors that every single wrestler from Ric Flair to the Italian Stallion is going to and that Vince McMahon and Pat Patterson's phone lines were buzzing all week (just remember an inquiring phone call and a change in jobs are two very different things). At this point, nothing major has happened, but nothing would be surprising either."

-- The sale of the NWA to Turner is close to happening. The hold-up right now is that Turner wants Crockett to clear his outstanding debt first. There are expected to be major organizational changes after the sale because something has to change, but no one knows what those changes are going to be.

-- The next Clash special is scheduled for 9/7 and will be headlined by Barry Windham vs Sting for the U.S. title. Dave expects an Ivan Koloff babyface turn in the chain match with Ricky Morton. "So once again, they are doing their big television special without Ric Flair, Lex Luger, the Road Warriors, or Jim Cornette on the bill. Actually I'm pretty sure Flair and Luger will be there in some fashion, but equally sure they won't approach (nor are they trying to approach) the first Clash in Greensboro."

-- The Bash ended on 8/7 in Kansas City before 6,800 fans on a pretty hot card. The main event was a six-man cage match with Dusty/Murdoch/Luger vs Flair/Tully/Windham.

-- Lots of worry about the status of Flair, Arn, and Tully. They have all said they're gone unless "a specific change is made" (My note: Hmmm, I wonder what that could be), and Crockett called their bluff.

-- 8/12 in Norfolk did a $90,000 house, and a TV taping in macon did around $20,000. They are off for a few days and are returning with cards this weekend in Raleigh, Richmond, and Philly.

-- Dusty wants to bring in some new faces. There are rumors of wrestlers being let go, but there are no notable names that are absent on cards booked through the end of September. They still want Karl Moffatt (Jason the Terrible in Stampede/Barry Gasper in New Japan), but probably won't get him, as Moffatt likes his Japanese commitments. He was going to be Russian Assassin #2 and team with Dave Sheldon.

AWA
-- The ESPN show is maintaining a 1.8 national rating in the late Saturday night time slot, which makes it the second highest rated show on the station. This is impressive considering the lack of respect ESPN gives the show.

-- Jimmy Snuka and Col. DeBeers are coming in to restart their feud, which will be on the November show if it happens.

WCCW
-- Steve & Shaun Simpson captured the Texas tag titles from John Tatum & Jack Victory in late July in Temple, TX. (Later in the issue, Dave reports that they have quit.) The Texas title also changed hands on 8/5 with Iceman Parsons becoming the new champion. Kevin was the champion, but was injured, so Kerry defended on his behalf, since WCCW by-laws state allow a champion to pick a replacement for a title defense if needed. Dave has heard that Kevin's injury is both real and an angle, so he's not sure which is true, but the explanation at the arena was great. They said Kevin stepped on glass and had stitches in his feet and couldn't wrestle, and everyone believed it since Kevin doesn't wear shoes. Dave points out that Kevin never does jobs, and something like this always happens when he needs to drop a belt. The Samoan Swat Team also capture the tag titles from Kerry & Kevin on 8/12 in Dallas. Dave says Buddy Roberts is really great at their manager.

-- The Brody memorial on 7/29 drew 3,400 in Dallas. The best match on the card was said to be Michael Hayes & Steve Cox vs Samoan Swat Team.

-- 7/30 in Shreveport drew 2,000 fans.

-- About three dozen wrestling fans came in for a convention and saw the 7/29 and 7/30 shows. Another convention is set for next year in Denver, and Dave would also like to remind everyone of the UAWF convention from Oct 7 - Oct 11 in Memphis.

-- Savannah Jack has his heart problem fixed and wants to come in. It was thought he would need a heart transplant at one time, but he had a major recovery when he gave up steroids.

-- Fritz Von Erich is back in the office and they are becoming more of a family-run territory again.

-- The Penthouse article on the Von Erichs goes on the newsstands on 8/6.

MEMPHIS
-- 8/7 in Jackson, TN drew 2,300. 8/8 in Memphis drew a $20,000 for the restart of the Lawler/Idol feud. They had a ***3/4 match and Lawler gave a piledriver to ref Jerry Calhoun, which Dave calls a fine way to treat a brother-in-law and softball teammate.

-- Brickhouse Brown finally turned on the 8/13 TV. Robert Fuller came out in a wheelchair and said he had presents fro all of the Stud Stable. He gave Gary Young a robe, Bruno a rolex watch, and Sylvia a ring. He gave Brown a shower cap and cassette tape. Brown got mad and threw the stuff down, so the Stable held him down while Fuller whipped him with a belt. Dave says the angle didn't get over at all because fans just don't like Brown and the teases were dragged out too long. They tried to rectify this by pairing Brown with Jeff Jarrett and Bill Dundee, who both offered to team up with him.

-- Max Pain is back at home in Utah and won't be wrestling anywhere. Akio Sato and Tojo Yammamoto are also gone. Big Bubba (not Ray Traylor) is on his way back in after the Oregon group folded. The Mongolian Stomper is in and will be teaming with Jimmy Golden while Fuller is out of action.

-- 8/15 had Lawler vs Kerry in their fourth double title meeting, this time with a 90-minute time limit. Dave says they've gone overboard, because they can only book so many double title matches with no title change.

-- Lawler vs Idol drew a $10,000 gate on 8/9 in Louisville, the largest gate in that city in a long time. They wanted to do Lawler/Kerry vs Idol/Rich, but Idol refused to be a heel. While he's the heel in the Lawler feud, he's approaching it like he's got a grudge with Lawler, but isn't really a heel.

STAMPEDE
-- Lots of talent departures and a thinned down roster. Jerry Morrow was injured on 8/6 in Camrose and will be out of action for a few more weeks. Brian Pillman finished up on 8/13 and is going to Continental.

-- Makhan Singh may be on his way out. He has done three TV commercials to air in Calgary and has signed a one-year deal with a furniture store in Edmonton. Singh is apparently very funny in these commercials and is doing a character similar to Jacko in the Energizer battery commercials. He holds the North American title and will feud with Jason the Terrible, who just returned, but both will be leaving shortly for Japan. After Jason leaves, they are turning Steve DiSalvo, but Dave can't see him as a face, because he's so good as an arrogant and condescending heel. The last time they turned him face to feud with Badnews Allen, he was turned back quickly. Singh recently wore a Wayne Gretzky Oilers jersey into the ring for a match, and the Gretzky trade is the biggest news story in modern history in Edmonton.

-- 8/13 in Edmonton drew 320 fans.

-- Jason is nowhere near as over as he was in winter when he was the reason they were selling out.

-- They are pretending Owen Hart is still working Japan "defending the world title" to fans, since technically, Owen isn't with the WWF, the Blue Angel is. Although, Owen has wrestled in several cities without the mask using his real name.

OREGON
-- Scott Peterson beat The Grappler (Len Denton) in 10 seconds on 8/5 in Eugene, ending a nine-month reign as Northwest champion.

-- A tournament for the TV title will be held on 8/16 in Portland. Dave Sierra was the last champion but left for Japan.

-- There is interest in bringing in Ric Flair and the Road Warriors for a major card in Portland.

-- According to the Torch, Mel Saraceno will be opening up a new promotion called the OWA that will compete with Don Owen. Billy Jack Haynes will not be affiliated in any way. The scheduled start is 8/13 and will have Rip Oliver and Mike Miller as co-bookers and top stars, plus Brian Adams, Joey Jackson, Moondog Moretti, Lex Luther, Cocoa Samoa, and Tiger Chung Lee.

WINDY CITY
-- They returned to the International Ampitheatre in Chicago on 8/12 and drew a $15,000 house, headlined by Bam Bam Bigelow winning a battle royal.

CONTINENTAL
-- 7/29 in Columbus, MS drew 1,021 fans.

-- Dave just watched four weeks of TV, and said there is less fast-forwarding with Continental than any other group, but he thinks they run too many angles and do too many run-ins. He said Eddie Gilbert and Paul E. Dangerously attacking Pez Whatley's son was the best thing he has seen in a long time. Dave calls Paul E. the best heel in wrestling, and says you can hate him for a variety of reasons, and he's not a one-dimensional heel at all. Dave also says they've gone about as far as they can with beating up civilians, and adds that Gilbert and Ken Wayne are both great workers who are great at their roles, and Danny Davis is really good as well. Austin Idol's babyface promos are great, and Paul E. obviously picked up a lot from Idol if you watch him do local promos. Tom Pritchard and Tony Anthony are great workers, but both seem stuck in their feud, and the only interesting thing about it is Missy Hyatt's role. The matches are great from what Dave hears, but the feud needs something to freshen it up. The rest of the group Dave isn't as sold on, but says Pez Whatley is a surprisingly good and charismatic babyface.

-- There is talk of making Smothers, Armstrong, Pillman, and Shane Douglas into some type of fab four.

-- They want to expand into Knoxville and Chattanooga, plus Louisiana and Mississippi, but Dave hopes they proceed with caution, because trying to expand too quickly has done in a lot of territories.

NEW JAPAN
-- NJPW had a live prime-time wrestling special taped from Yokohama before a sellout 6,070 fans. In the main event, Tatsumi Fujinami and Antonio Inoki went to a 60-minute draw. The match had a ton of interest because of behind-the-scenes politics. Inoki announced that if Fujinami beat him, he would retire from pro wrestling. Fujinami has not renewed his contract and has walked out twice recently, and he is trying to force NJ's hand to be the top star. Although Fujinami is regarded as the best worker in the company, Inoki is considered the bigger draw, but Fujinami is really forcing the issue to get his way. Fujinami is really tired of patiently waiting for Inoki to retire so he can be top star, and his fear is that Inoki's retirement may never happen. The draw was booked to appease Fujinami, who in his mind is still the top star because he has the title, and also, Inoki wasn't beaten, so he is still around. Only the first 25 minutes or so of the match aired, "... and you know how the first 25 minutes of most 60 minute matches are." Dave says the heat was actually tremendous even when they were exchanging holds on the mat, and the match was never boring at any point. "My guess is that overall it was an excellent match, and my one live report indicated that this was excellent for the entire 60 minutes."

-- Also, on the card, Bam Bam Bigelow returned and went to a double countout with Vader. The crowd was strongly on Vader's side early on, but Bigelow gained momentum as the match progressed, and won the fans over. Dave calls this a good big man match with some really good high spots, but the brawling wasn't that great. **3/4 ... "Actually, whenever I see Vader against anyone besides Fujinami, I realize just how good Fujinami is to carry the guy to good-to-great matches." Also, Shiro Koshinaka pinned Kuniaki Kobayashi in a **** match, and Choshu & Saito beat Manny Fernandez & Buzz Sawyer in the show opener. "I don't know the TV ratings for this special, but assume they won't be all that good because it appears New Japan simply no longer has the following to draw large TV ratings."

-- There is a tour scheduled starting 10/7 with Bam Bam Bigelow, Steve Williams, Owen Hart, and Biff Wellington all tentative. It will be interesting to see if Doc or Owen come, since neither the NWA nor the WWF allow their wrestlers to work Japan.

-- In a class act, the 7/29 show had a moment of silence for both Adrian Adonis and Bruiser Brody.

AJPW
-- Baba is ready to give up on Hiroshi Wajima as a big name. The novelty has worn off.

-- The best TV match of the past month was Footloose vs Shunji Takano & Shinichi Nakano at ****+. "The Foot Loose are as good as any team in wrestling at making their foes look good and deserve more television exposure because their matches are always in the four star range against Japanese foes."


OTHER
-- The arraignment for Jose Gonzales is scheduled for September 8. Gonzales is expected to plead not guilty and claim self defense.

-- There are two cable sports networks trying to get into the cable TV game. Mizzlou is launching an all sports network in April 1989. The network will mainly be betting odds and results, but they want a lot of boxing and pro wrestling, which Dave says in theory would give TV to a smaller promotion. NBC is debuting a cable station called CNBC, which is looking for a one-hour pro wrestling show for the weekends. No date has been set for when CNBC will debut.

-- Dave praises Wade Keller's Torch annual, and provides details on how to get it. It has lots of content from both Meltzer and Keller, drawings from Mr. Mike, interviews with Tom Zenk and Bruiser Brody. It's $7.50 and Dave says it's the best thing he's read on wrestling in a long time. (My note: It's amazing that Wade was doing all of this at 16 years old.)

-- Central States drew 48 fans on 8/6 in DeSoto, KS. Carolina Championship Wrestling drew 100 fans on 8/6 in Roanoke. Bob Raskin's USWA drew 2,516 fans on 8/4 in Bloomington, IL with mostly people from Dick the Bruiser's crew, along with Sgt. Slaughter and Misty Blue.

-- The only U.S. wrestlers left in Puerto Rico are Bobby Jaggers, Dan Kroffat, Ron Starr, the Batten Twins, and Tony Falk. The rest left. "The wrestling grapevine indicates that there are no hard feelings towar the guys that were there and stayed, being that everyone understands you have to make money to feed your family. However in the case of the Battens, who left a U.S. promotion to go to Puerto Rico, they may have to stay there until this all blows over because there may be some hard feelings because of them going there. By the way several have written noting to me that Puerto Rico is not a foreign country, but a territory of the U.S. While that is certainly legally the case, this is a wrestling newsletter and in the wrestling world, Puerto Rico is a lot more of a foreign country than Canada or Japan."

-- Ron Fuller's final USA Pro card will be on 8/19 in Knoxville. Dave lists the card, which includes Jamie Dundee in a midget match.

-- Eddie Sharkey is promoting wrestling in Minnesota using Larry Cameron and Tommy Ferrera as his top stars, along with Sheik Adnan El-Kaissey.

-- A group called MCW Sports drew 2,423 at the county fair in Northwood, IA, using Rufus Jones, Roger Kirby, Sandy Partlow, Terry Hart, and Billy Howard. They also drew 1,650 in Harlan, IA using the same crew and Porkchop Cash.

-- Michael Hayes and Kevin Von Erich are being advertised for an independent show in Medina, OH, which will also feature a Madusa Miceli vs Fabulous Moolah match.

-- Larry Hamilton (Missouri Mauler) failed in his third attempt to win the Buchanan County sheriff election.

-- Dave is impressed with how the Japanese media is covering the UWF so seriously. He says he's not a fan of the style, which he calls "amateur wrestling mixed in with karate", but the guys do work hard, and it's amazing that they draw like they do with no TV, and that the UWF is wrestling's #1 success story of the year. They are the only promotion in the world whose audience believes they are real at this point.

[Seth82]

here's the August 15th 1988 edition of Wrestling Observer

WWF
-- At press time, Dave was still waiting on details of the card, but the WWF show on 7/31 at Milwaukee County Stadium drew the largest crowd for a pro wrestling show since Wrestlemania III with the same main event. The crowd was announced at 35,000, but Dave is being told somewhere between 27,000 and 30,000, with a gate between $350,000 and $400,000 for a 15-match card headlined by Hogan vs Andre. Dave makes the point that the lineup for the card would have worked better for Summerslam, which seems like a weak show. Hennig vs Taylor was supposedly the best match on the show. Hogan was down about 20 pounds from his wrestling weight, as he had just finished filming No Holds Barred. The next night, the NWA ran a show which drew 3,800 ans and a $50,000 gate, which Dave says is an impressive house considering this show was the day before.

-- No Holds Barred is apparently not as bad as you'd think, with Hogan doing a pretty decent job of playing himself, much better than the "Goldie Locks and the Bears" pilot. (My note: What is this?) The movie is scheduled to have a May release and was supposed to have a $15 million budget and went way over. Dave thinks it will do better in home rental than in the movie theater.

-- Lots of speculation over who Brother Love will be interviewing at Summerslam. It is being billed as someone who has never been in the WWF before, which limits it to Owen Hart, Terry Taylor and Curt Hennig. Dave predicts Curt Hennig because whoever it is will get a big push and he seems in a better position to be pushed than the other two. Dave acknowledges Hennig has been in the WWF before, but anything before 1984 doesn't count. Dave says based on TV tapings, there will not be an IC title change, even though he thought otherwise, as they seemed to be building toward Honky Tonk Man/Ultimate Warrior at TV tapings. "Just when you think you've seen wrestling matches as bad as they can be, the WWF springs a new feud on you like this."

-- Dave says Summerslam should be called "How Little Can You Give The Fans On A Major PPV Event And Still Draw An Audience?" (My note: That's a little long.) They are doing a good job hyping the main event, teasing all sorts of subtleties, from Hogan teasing a heel turn calling Liz his manager (which will never happen in a billion years), Jesse will double cross either the faces or heels, and now they are hyping that Elizabeth will wear a string bikini.

-- Superstars was taped on 8/3 in Wheeling, WV before a sellout 7,200 fans. John Ziegler, the guy who is credited with developing anabolic steroids for usage by weightlifters, worked as a jobber at the TV taping.

-- The WWF's venture into Greensboro was a flop, much to the surprise of everyone, drawing only 3,670 fans for a show headlined by Hogan vs Andre.

-- Hulk Hogan wants a shoot match with Mike Tyson at Wrestlemania V and thinks he can win

NWA
-- The Bash did a 2.2 buyrate and was in 190,000 homes (My note: That's a surprisingly high number, considering WWE shows don't do much higher than that these days.) While the show grossed $3 million, the take home will be between $300,000 and $500,000, which is a disappointment. There is another PPV scheduled for December, but it apparently will not be Starrcade, although things can change.

-- "I don't think there was anything wrong with the way the NWA folks promoted the show on their television, and I also don't think there should be any second-guessing of the line-up itself, as whatever changes wouldn't have made any real difference in the buy rate. The problem is, as with an major NWA event, is that there is no outside media publicity. So there is nobody but the NWA folks on TV reinforcing to a fan that this is really an important event, which is one of Titan's biggest advantages in producing a PPV event. The other problem is that with TV ratings nosediving for the NWA the way they have, all the great hype was missed by a lot of potential customers and with no outside media hype, a lot of people who may have been mildly curious enough to buy the thing, but weren't curious enough to tune into their often-boring TV shows, may not have even known about the show, or wasn't getting the hype for the show to convince them to buy at the last minute."

-- Dave went to two Bash shows -- one in Las Vegas on 8/4 and one in Oakland on 8/6. Both shows were good, but Vegas was considerably better. The biggest difference between the two shows was not the workrate, but the crowd. The Las Vegas crowd was only about 3,200 in the Thomas & Mack Center, but they reacted to everything and the heat was strong. Oakland drew around 6,000, just barely shy of a sellout in a bad part of town, which Dave would call a minor miracle. Dave counted 1 in 20 women at the Vegas show (My note: Why would he do such a thing?) and said Sting and the Road Warriors were very over. The crowd was very similar to a WWF crowd in that the big spots got a huge reaction, but there was also a lot of silence. There were almost no kids, which was no surprise since TV airs so late in that market. Highlights were MX & Cornette vs Fans in a ****1/2 bunkhouse match and the main event of Dusty/Luger vs Flair/Windham was ***. In Oakland, the Fantastics were booed hard and the match was still ***1/2, but the crowd reaction to the babyfaces hurt it. The War Games was ****. Dave says Flair is not at his best in matches like this, that he's much better in straight wrestling matches, and Luger threw a terrible dropkick, but the match was still great thanks to Hawk, Arn and Tully.

-- The Bash tour ended on 8/7 and there are no shows at all until the next TV taping. There are major shows coming at the end of the month at the Omni and Charlotte Coliseum. Flair vs Luger, Windham vs Sting, Garvin vs Dusty, MX vs Horsemen, and Road Warriors vs Varsity Club is expected to headline the upcoming run of house shows. MX vs Horsemen is the hottest feud right now, although Flair/Luger should be given all the hype. Fans seem to realize if Luger is ever going to win the title, it's not going to take place on a house show.

-- The Fantastics were going to turn heel and feud with the Rock & Roll Express until Gibson left, which Dave says is a shame, because that would give the NWA a really deep line-up for their next house show run.

-- 7/30 at the Capital Centre drew 10,000 and a $157,000 gate headlined by a **** Tower of Doom match of Horsemen/Sullivan vs Rhodes/Luger/Sting/Road Warriors. 8/2 in Sioux City, IA drew 1,784 fans and a $30,000 gate Flair/Arn/Tully vs Sting/Doc/Nikita.

-- In a "WCW Before WCW" story: 8/3 in Seattle drew a sellout of 7,500 fans sold out days in advance. They turned away 2,500 at the gate. They intended to book the 16,000-seat arena but booked the wrong arena because the names were so similar (Seattle Center Arena, Seattle Center Coliseum). The gate was still $110,000. The show was headlined by an 8-man cage match, and was said to be a great match, even with Don Owen's crew filling out the undercard. Crockett used Owen's guys to show he was working with them and not against them.

-- 8/5 in Los Angeles drew 4,700 fans and a $78,000 gate headlined by a ****1/2 War Games match.

-- Ivan Koloff and Paul Jones are about to split. There is talk of bringing in Jason the Terrible from Stampede as the Russian Assassin. "Do you realize that if/when Ted Turner buys the thing that they may actually give Nikita another push?"

-- The TBS show had a skeleton crew because half the roster missed the show, so they ran jobber matches on TV, which Dave thought made for great TV because you didn't know what would happen. He said Jim Ross and Tony Schiavone did a great job getting over the matches.

-- An Observer reader complained about not getting to meet any wrestlers except Brad Armstrong and Jimmy Garvin at the recent Detroit show where fans were very upset, and Gary Juster provided free tickets and made arrangements for him to meet all the wrestlers on the next show.

-- "WCW Before WCW", Part 2: Only 30-40 fans showed up for the pre-match party with every major babyface on the roster where fans were given a chance to meet them in person. The NWA didn't advertise this in advance. "I was originally going to attend the thing, but was hungry and went out to dinner with friends instead." During the meet and greet, they aired the Adrian Adonis piece on Entertainment Tonight where Dave Meltzer was interviewed. A few of the babyfaces started freaking out, and Dave says had he showed up, someone would be reporting on another reporter getting stiff clotheslines in a dressing room.

-- Morale is way up because wrestlers are starting to get their back pay.

WCCW
-- There are rumors that Ken Mantell has walked out, leaving Kevin Von Erich and Doris Adkisson in charge. "I don't need to tell anyone what happened the last time Kevin was in charge. Dave has heard nothing about why this happened, as Mantell had a lot of money invested in WCCW and business has slowly been improving all year. The only thing Dave has heard is problems with the Von Erichs. Most expect him back in a couple of weeks, as part of his deal is that he can't run Wild West in competition.

-- Terry Gordy is back and will feud with Kamala.

-- Eric Embry is on vacation and will be back in a few weeks.

-- 8/2 in Lubbock drew 825 fans headlined by Kerry vs Iceman. The Brody memorial show on 7/29 drew a near-sellout 3,400 fans.

AWA
-- Bam Bam Bigelow, Eddie Gilbert and Paul E. Dangerously are all negotiating, which would likely mean Gilbert would win the title. They would only need to work TV anyway since the AWA doesn't tour, and no way are Gilbert and Paul E. leaving Continental since they run the place.

MEMPHIS
-- Lawler vs Landell drew 6,000 at MSC on 8/1. Bigelow/Jarrett vs Fuller/Golden co-headlined the show.

-- "You can often tell what's going to happen here by watching CWF a few weeks earlier."

-- Dave thinks they're dragging out Brickhouse Brown's babyface turn too long.

-- Ringside ticket prices on spot shows are going from $5 to $9, which hasn't hurt the gates at all.

CONTINENTAL
-- They are building up a feud between Eddie Gilbert and Missy Hyatt, even acknowledging their marriage on television. It started with Alan Martin, in a "playboy nerd" gimmick, kissing Missy. Announcer Charlie Platt was interviewing Gilbert and told the crowd he is married to Missy and the crowd was pretty stunned, except for those who read the Apter mags. Platt asked Gilbert what he was going to do about it and Gilbert said nothing. Later in the show, Gilbert and Hyatt had a domestic squabble. Paul E. later told Missy Gilbert is upset because she's too nice to the idiot fans and is in Tom Prichard's corner instead of his.

-- They have added TV in Biloxi, MS, and Monroe, LA, and will start running these towns soon. They want to also expand into Tallahassee, FL, and Little Rock, AR.

-- Two recent fan near-riots in Dothan, AL. A fan pulled out a gun and 8 fans ended up being arrested in a melee.

STAMPEDE
-- Brian Pillman has a tricep injury and is doing no flying moves.

BRODY
-- Jose Gonzales' arraignment will take place on 8/8. There are rumors that Gonzales will be tried in Raleigh, NC (My note: What??) but Brody's family knows nothing about this. Both Texas Monthly and Rolling Stone are expected to do features on Brody. Irv Muchnick will write the Texas Monthly piece, and Scott Ostler will write the Rolling Stone piece. Ostler has been voted California's best sportswriter for several years. Ostler is interested in writing a book about Brody, and there is talk of doing a movie. (My note: ...) Because of the nature of the crime and why it happened, more information will come out about this that may expose the business. Dave expects the focus to be more on his life than his death, although his death can't be ignored. Dave says anyone who wants to send well wishes to the Goodish family can send them to him, and he'll pass them along. Brody wouldn't want flowers, and Brody worked with the Patrician Movement, a charity focused on helping teens overcome drug and alcohol addiction.

OTHER
-- Billy Jack Haynes' Oregon Wrestling Federation closed on 7/17. Haynes is claiming they will restart in September, but most people say that will not be the case. They will probably not make it even if they do since it flopped so badly the first time. Haynes will probably not end up back with Owen, but Mike Miller and Rip Oliver will probably try. Rip Oliver was fired by Don Owen a few weeks back, and Mike Miller insulted Don Owen in a local newspaper, which probably closes the door for him.

-- Ron Fuller's USA Pro is leaving Knoxville. They have been drawing poorly since starting in February and will be closing up on 8/20, with Continental taking over their TV slots and running live events in Knoxville and Chattanooga. No word on what will happen to the wrestlers, but Dundee and the RPMs are expected to head to Memphis. Doug Furnas and Scott Armstrong will probably go to Continental, and Memphis is interested in Wendell Cooley. However, Cooley walked out on Continental when Eddie Gilbert was booking, so Gilbert probably doesn't want him. Terry Gordy only worked a few dates for them, and no word on what happens to The Bullet, Moondog Spot, Todd Morton, Mongolian Stomper, or Johnny & Davey Rich.

[Seth82]

here's the August 8th 1988 edition of Dave Meltzer's Wrestling Observer

BRUISER BRODY
-- Dave says no explanation has been provided for his murder, and if anyone other than Jose Gonzales knows anything, they aren't talking. Wrestlers are starting to talk of boycotting Puerto Rico, either out of fear, or out of respect to Brody. "I'm not here to make any suggestions to anyone about how to run their business, but a few things need to be said. To the best of my knowledge, there is no evidence that there was any kind of conspiracy in this death. If you examine the situation, any conspiracy theory doesn't make the slightest bit of sense. I didn't want to get into this, but I'm pretty much forced to now. With the exception of the family and friends of Bruiser Brody, and I guess the family and friends of Jose Gonzales as well, nobody has suffered more from this recent tragedy than the Capital Sports promotion. They have been raked over the coals in the media. They have lost several wrestlers. They have had their image tainted terribly in their country. Fans have been turned off to wrestling in that area. And they have lost two of their biggest drawing cards. Now, please explain any conspiracy theories. If any evidence comes up to the contrary, then I think this group should become the wrestling equivalent of South Africa and be boycotted, but that doesn't seem to be the case. What the promotion is guilty of, if anything, is simply bad judgment in how it handled the night of the stabbing and the next night, particularly in allowing Gonzales to work. But it is pretty well established that there was no indication that Brody wasn't going to make it on Saturday night. Still, allowing Gonzales to work did raise a lot of questions. Let's face it they were under an incredible amount of stress, as many of us were, and plenty of us, myself included, were guilty of some bad judgment in the days after Brody's death. Running Carlos Colon out of business isn't going to bring Bruiser Brody back. Perhaps, if anything, this death should make the promotions realize that allowing things like knives and guns in a locker room is insane policy. This is not terribly unusual in a few U.S. promotions right now, and there is no reason for it, and this death should serve as a warning to promotions to ban dangerous weapons from their locker rooms I'm not telling anyone to go to Puerto Rico or not to go, but what I am saying is, if a guy does go there, let him make his own decision and don't pressure him not to by invoking the name of Bruiser Brody."

WWF
-- "First off, the line-up for the Summer Slam PPV show from 8/29 at Madison Square Garden is pretty much a dud." Dave says they are really counting on the main event to carry the show. Also, Demolition vs Hart Foundation and HTM vs Beefcake is being billed as the last time they will ever wrestle, which makes Dave smell a title change. There is also going to be a Brother Love show with a wrestler who has never appeared in MSG before. (My note: There were very strong rumors at this point in time that it would be Ric Flair jumping ship.) The WWF wants a 6.0 buyrate. Dave says it has been proven that a show with a strong main event and a weak undercard draws better than a show with bunch of good matches and no real clear main event, but that a national PPV show should be stronger top to bottom than this card.

-- Curt Hennig started as a heel.

-- Gene Okerlund is back. He and Vince apparently have huge blowups about twice a year. This year, Gene quit after the Slammys and came back the next day. His contract is too lucrative to stay away too long, but Vince wants to tone down his role to just doing PPV updates and NBC. No more on-the-road interviews, and no more hosting All American Wrestling.

-- 7/25 in MSG drew 11,500 fans headlined by Andre/Duggan in a lumberjack match with tons of heat. 7/16 at Capital Centre drew 9,000 fans headlined by Savage/Beefcake vs DiBiase/HTM.

-- 7/23 in Philly drew 9,115 fans and $116,035 headlined by Savage vs DiBiase. 7/23 in Nashville drew 10,000 headlined by Andre vs Duggan.

-- Prime Time Wrestling was the number four show on cable for the previous quarter, with a 3.0 rating in 1,328,000 homes. All American is #9.

-- No Holds Barred is scheduled for a May release. "Could it be that Hogan will win the title just before the movie's release?"

-- 7/26 in Lubbock, TX drew 350 headlined by Tito Santana vs Ron Bass. 7/16 in Santa Paula, CA drew 648 fans headlined by Ken Patera vs Hercules. 7/17 in Hershey, PA drew 3,500 fans headlined by Savage/Beefcake vs HTM/DiBiase. 7/22 in New Haven, CT drew 6,000 headlined by Andre vs Duggan in a lumberjack match. 7/22 in Las Cruces, NM drew 1,002 headlined by Santana vs Bass.

NWA
-- Things are at their shakiest point ever in the NWA. There is a major cash flow problem and they had to take out one (or two, depending on the source) loans of over $300,000 to pay some overdue bills. Balloon payments on contracts were due in May, and have not yet been paid, and none of this money will be used for that. Sources say TBS floated the loan(s), because they were about to start losing television in markets. The money will be considered a down payment if/when a TBS sell takes place. They also borrowed money from a Charlotte bank, putting up an entire month's ad revenue as collateral. "Unless this promotion suddenly hits a home run in the bottom of the ninth, they are history unless a sale is made." Dave says there is no evidence a turnaround is coming.

-- Dave says the originally reported Bash buyrate is an example of "McMath". Originally reported as 3.5-4.0, the buyrate was closer to 2.0. The show was not a money loser, but it is not enough profit to save the company, and not nearly as much as they were hoping for. Dave talks about why the buyrate was lower than expected, and says the top reason has to be that the talent is so stale, and that the matches didn't really capture the public's attention like Crockett thought they would. Dave thinks they have also cried wolf too many times with bogus finishes at house shows. But the bigger reason, Dave thinks, is that TV ratings have plummeted in the last quarter. The Saturday evening TBS show has dropped to #11 on cable, when it used to always be in the top three, and for the first time ever, they are behind the WWF's television ratings on the USA network. TV viewership dropped 23% in three months. (My note: !) "No matter how good a job the promotion does in selling the event on television, they are not going to convince those who aren't watching the show in the first place that the PPV is something they should see." Dave has heard arguments that low TV ratings are due to good weather and people not being home, but Dave says this argument doesn't hold water, because All American Wrestling on USA has been unaffected, and it airs Sunday at noon. Dave says TV ratings are the most reliable barometer of fan interest. Houses may not draw because of bad local economy or a variety of factors outside of a promoter's control. But even if you do great angles and live shows, it makes no difference if fans aren't watching TV. The Bash is doing well, as expected, but if TV ratings haven't gone up, it's just hot-shotting. Dave says later in the issue that Main Event is #18 on cable. Clash II was the fourth highest rated cable show of the quarter, trailing three NBA playoffs games on TBS.

-- Dave says several key NWA players may leave before the sale is completed, which would make it far harder to start the ball rolling back in a positive direction. He expects several main event regulars to start leaving in the next few weeks. Every NWA wrestler is now a free agent because their contracts have been violated, so anyone can jump anytime they want. The WWF's plan is to wait for wrestlers to come to them, because they may be economically forced to jump, which gives the WWF the advantage in negotiations over the wrestlers. Many wrestlers are talking about working Japan regularly, but Dave says it's tough to get over at a level in Japan where you can just work tours and not need any other dates. "A few guys have done it and maybe a few more guys could do it, but not too many can, and it doesn't seem to be a viable alternative for more than two or three of the NWA guys."

-- "A few things are necessary, but I don't expect them to take place. First, wrestlers have to be pushed by their marketability today not their marketability in 1986. An influx of three or four talented guys given a major push is needed badly. The television shows have to be completely reformatted. This business of 90 second squashes and trying to get every key guy to do one interview per show has been a failure. The idea of trying to sell a package deal to fans at live shows of "see the NWA" rather than pushing hard a few certain stars has not worked either. You need two or three guys who are pushed heads and shoulders above the rest, not 15 main eventers all of whom get the same general push. Ric Flair desperately needs a new role, as do the Road Warriors, and I'm not certain they are the right people to build around anymore."

-- Robert Gibson quit this past week after getting paid $1,100 for a week's worth of Bashes. Gibson never wanted to come back in the first place, but Ricky Morton really wanted to return. Morton is still around, but is going to have to decide soon if he wants to stay in the NWA or keep the team together.

-- 7/18 in Columbus, GA drew 4,200, the largest crowd in three years, for a 5 1/2 hour card which included a TV taping and a David Allan Coe concert. All the TV matches were squashes, but the highlight was the Midnight Express/Horsemen confrontation. The MX are going babyface and are starting to get cheered in several cities already. Dave says Jim Cornette is in a tough spot because babyface managers wear out their welcome awfully fast. Non-squash matches on the card were Sting vs Mike Rotunda in a ***1/2 match, Fantastics vs MX & Cornette in a **** bunkhouse match, Dusty/Nikita/Doc vs Flair/Windham/Tully in a double countout, and Road Warriors vs Ivan Koloff & Russian Assassin in a scaffold match. It took a half hour to put up the scaffold for what was an 8 minute match.

-- 7/21 in Cincinnati drew 4,000 headlined by a ***** War Games match with Sting/Luger/LOD/Nikita vs Horsemen & JJ.

-- 7/17 in Charleston, WV drew 6,500 headlined by Sting/Luger/Nikita/Doc vs Horsemen in a cage. Cornette missed the show due to problems with plane connections, so Stan Lane told the audience he was in Louisville getting an outstanding citizen plaque.

-- 7/23 in Philly drew 7,520 and a $167,800 gate headlined by War Games.

-- 7/22 in St. Louis drew 6,000 and an $81,000 gate headlined by Dustin/Nikita/Luger/Doc vs Horsemen in a cage.

-- 7/28 in Daytona Beach drew 5,500 headlined by War Games and Luger/Windham in a Texas Death match. It was said the guys were starting to show fatigue from all the long matches at this show.

-- 7/31 in Detroit drew 7,000 fans to see The Sheik. The main event was Dusty/Sheik vs Murdoch/Sullivan going four minutes and everyone bleeding at the very beginning of the match. Dusty pinned Sullivan for the win. After it was over, Sheik turned on Dusty by going after him with some type of object, but Murdoch turned babyface and saved Dusty. "So we've got the return of the Texas Outlaws in Dusty's never ending search of a gimmick that will get him over as the top babyface in somebody's eyes other than his own." This show charged $50 for ringside tickets that would allow you to meet the wrestlers. Only Brad Armstrong and Jimmy Garvin showed up, which left 150 very angry fans.

-- There are cards scheduled for 9/30 in Winnipeg and 10/1 in Brandon, Manitoba.

-- Learning The Ropes has been cleared in 22 of the top 25 markets and is scheduled for a 9/26 start. It will be shown on 77 stations, which is impressive for syndication.

-- 7/30 at Capital Centre drew 8,500 headlined by a Horsemen/JJ/Sullivan vs Road Warriors/Ellering/Dusty/Sting/Luger Tower of Doom. 7/29 in Houston drew around 6,000 headlined by an 8-man cage match.

MEMPHIS
-- 7/25 in Memphis drew a $20,000 gate headlined by Lawler vs Kerry Von Erich in a **** 60-minute draw.

-- They keep hinting at turning Brickhouse Brown, as Robert Fuller will make racist comments then apologize. There was a Stud Stable party on TV and Fuller gave Brown a watermelon. "They also had a cake and for the first time in the modern history of pro wrestling, a cake appeared on TV and never made it into anybody's face."

-- 8/1 has Lawler defending the AWA title against Buddy Landell

AWA
-- Curt Hennig has been "suspended for life". He actually started with the WWF.

-- Jimmy Valiant is headed in.

-- They are claiming the Rock & Roll Express will be back. They are also planning for a show at the 55,000-seat Metrodome on 11/4 or 11/5 with ZZ Top doing a concert, which Dave says not to believe until you see.

CONTINENTAL
-- Willie B. Hurt had his 14-year old son come out for an interview. Paul E. Dangerously came out and started questioning his parenthood and the kid punched him. Eddie Gilbert then came out and attacked the kid to start a Gilbert/Hurt feud. (My note: I am stunned that this didn't cause more controversy. Is this on tape?)

-- Bob Orton is coming in for a few dates.

-- Bam Bam Bigelow is coming in for a few dates, and is expected to challenge Lawler for the AWA title in the main event of the Road to Birmingham show, which will also have a Ken Wayne vs Danny Davis hair vs hair match.

-- The past week had a few sellout crowds and was the most successful week since Eddie Gilbert started booking.

USA PRO
-- Buddy Landell and Hector Guerrero are gone from this group.

-- 7/17 was a TV taping in Knoxville. In the first hour, they announced Terry Gordy is reinstated. The RPMs came out with a cake to celebrate one year as tag champs, which Dave thought was hilarious since USA Pro started in February. The Rich cousins came out and you can guess the rest. There was also a $1,000 vs the mask match with Dundee vs The Bullet. Bullet had Dundee in the sleeper but Gumby hit Bullet with a bag of silver dollars. The ref noticed the silver dollars in the ring and awarded the match to Bullet. They announced that Dundee was fined $10,000. Later in the taping, Dundee was badmouthing Bullet in an interview. Bullet went after Dundee and Gumby, but Dundee got Bullet from behind and painted his back yellow. There was also a 45-minute draw between the RPMs and Rich cousins, and Lawler vs Wendell Cooley, with Lawler stalling and using foreign objects and playing total heel, yet still being cheered.

CENTRAL STATES
-- The final co-promoted with WCCW card was 7/16 in Kansas City. They actually charged $50 for ringside seats on a show where Lawler, Kamala, Embry, Jeff Jarrett, the Simpsons, Steve Cox, and Jeff Gaylord all no-showed. They advertised a Lawler-Kerry match they knew would never take place since Lawler was booked in Las Vegas that night all along. The top matches were Kerry Von Erich vs Mike George, and Michael Hayes vs Buddy Roberts in a DUD cage match.

-- Vince Apollo vs Mike George will be the big feud when they restart, since DJ Peterson left for the WWF. Peterson was already going to leave for Stampede anyway, then the WWF showed interest.

-- "Cactus Jack Foley, who is one of the top Northeastern independent workers, may show up in the Central States."

OREGON
-- Billy Jack Haynes' startup appears to have folded. THey drew 65 in Gresham on 7/8.

-- A new team is headed in called The Beach Boys.

SOUTHERN PRO
-- 7/31 in Marietta drew 450 fans headlined by Tommy, Johnny & Davey Rich vs The RPMs & Bill Dundee in what was called a phenomenal match and Buck Robley & Larry Latham vs Bob Armstrong & Mr. Wrestling II.

ALL JAPAN
-- Stan Hansen is getting the megapush. He leads fans every night in a Brody chant, which has gotten him way over.

-- The 8/29 Budokan Hall show is now being billed as the Brody Memorial.

-- The next series is from 8/20 to 9/9 and has Abdullah, Tom Zenk, Jimmy Snuka, Jerry Oates, Johnny Ace, Rocky Iaukea, and a newcomer called The V.

NEW JAPAN
-- 7/29 at Ariake Coliseum in Tokyo drew 5,000 fans for an outdoor show where it rained all day, headlined by Inoki vs Vader, with Vader submitting to Inoki's armbar. Inoki will now face Fujinami on 8/8 in Yokohama.

-- The next series is from 8/26 to 9/22 with Vader, Bob Orton, Karl Moffatt, Scott Hall, Ron Starr, Great Kokina, Luis Mariscal, and Black Tiger.

-- 7/15 saw a series open with a sellout 2,050 at Korauken Hall.

-- Inoki returned before a sellout 2,760 in Nagano on 7/16. The shocker of his return was that on 7/21, Choshu scored a clean pin over him. This was such a big deal that it took the entire front page of Nikkon Sports the next day. Dave says the match was really good with both guys looking much better than normal. Inoki was out to prove he isn't washed up and did a German suplex on Choshu.

-- "From recent tapes, I'd rate Fujinami No. 2 in the world behind Owen Hart. The guy is just fantastic in carrying Vader and selling for him. He also makes Choshu look fantastic as well. The Hart-Koshinaka title change was a match of the year candidate as well."

OTHER
-- Pennsylvania Gov. Robert Casey vetoed a House bill to deregulate pro wrestling. His veto message: "While the bill does continue certain limited restrictions on wrestling promoters and contestants, the activity would become largely de-regulated. I note that this fact is contrary to the recommendations of the Legislative Budget and Finance Committee auditors in their review of the Athletic Commission under the Sunset Law of 1981. The audit report found that 'continued state regulation of professional wrestling appears necessary to protect the safety and welfare of both participants and members of the audience.' Information compiled by the Department of State indicates that approximately 30 other states currently regulate wrestling and several others plan to begin regulation in the future ... Finally, I must object to the reduction of the gross receipts tax on wrestling exhibitions in the absence of some additional source of revenue to support the other duties of the Athletic Commission which would remain after deregulation of professional wrestling. The Department of State has undertaken a long overdue program to reform the Commission's operations. This includes substantial improvements in the training of the Commission's regional personnel and various other steps to improve the safety of events held under the Commission's jurisdiction. House Bill 1729 would result in a revenue shortfall of approximately $80,000 this fiscal year, seriously inhibiting the Department and the Commission in their efforts at reform."

-- The Saturday night TV wrestling block on WATL Ch. 36 in Atlanta has been dropped. Joe Pedicino is moving the block to Ch. 69 starting Labor Day Weekend and will have wrestling from 8pm to 3am every Saturday night. (My note: Interesting how weekend wrestling is now a thing of the past.) The block will include WCCW, Pro Wrestling This Week, CWA, Southern, CWF, "Learning The Ropes", USA, Carribean, and the new FLAIR women's wrestling group. Pedicino signed a one year contract and has 100% creative control of the wrestling block.

-- "Paul Orndorff is still alive. No matter how many denials get printed in the wrestling magazines and bulletins, I still average at least a half-dozen letters weekly telling me that Orndorff died from any one of a half dozen different causes ranging from getting hit with a bowling ball to AIDS."

-- Maeda's opponent for the 8/13 UWF show is Gerard Gordeau, a karate fighter from Holland. Japanese magazines are hinting that Maeda will wrestle Bob Backlund in December. The UWF is expected to sell out every single show for the remainder of the year.

-- Larry Hamilton, brother of Jody Hamilton (The Assassin) is running for Buchanan County sheriff in Missouri as a Democrat.

-- John Foley, better known as manager J.R. Foley, died of lung cancer on 7/24 in Calgary.

-- Iceman Parsons was asked to tour South Africa and turned it down.

-- Johnny Ace showed up for FCW.

-- 7/14 JWP match between Devil Masami and Shinobu Kandori went nearly 33 minutes and both bled. Dave said from the photos of the match, it looked great.

LETTERS PAGE
The Jobber
I was at home with my wife watching TV,
When the telephone rang and the call was for me.
That very next night in Nashville, Tennessee
They wanted me to do a job on national TV.

I'd make $65, the going rate for chumps,
It was clearly understood that I'd be taking all the bumps,
So I told their stooge that I would be there,
He said "thanks very much," but I knew he didn't care.

Got all of my gear and packed my bag,
That ride the next day would be such a drag,
Left my house at four so I wouldn't be late,
Then started hauling ass up the interstate.

Stopped at a store to hear, "which one are you?"
Those idiot marks just didn't have a clue,
If I was Hogan or Savage, they wouldn't have to ask,
But I'm only a jobber, with a lowly wrestling task.

Arrived at the building and walked to the stage door,
And got cussed out by a rat, such a pitiful whore,
As I headed to the heels dressing room,
My ego felt shattered, for a faced certain doom.

Strut into the room and forced a fake smile,
"How ya been doing brother, haven't seen you in a while,"
Found me a spot and started getting ready
I was sweating like hell but my nerves held steady.

Up walked the booker to give me the finish,
As I felt my pride so painfully diminish,
He wanted us to do the "old Pearl Harbor,"
The face would make the comeback, I'd end up the jobber.

Then the bell rang, my match was up first,
I was suddenly stricken with a bad case of thirst,
"First match get out there," the bookers' voice did hiss
I was busy taking my third nervous piss.

So I stomped to the ring to the sound of jeers,
Then out waltzed the baby to a round of rousing cheers,
I'm a pretty tough dude who can kick some bass,
Too bad I don't fit in with the front office brass.

I'd take decs and D-Bol and some Winstrol V,
If only the pencil would do something with me,
My name was announced to the deafening boos,
As I envied my opponent, cause he wasn't gonna lose.

All went as planned, and well, "that was that,"
My shoulders got pinned in the middle of the mat,
TV matches are short, and this was no exception,
I stormed back to the room feeling total dejection.

Took a hot shower and washed off the seat,
I'd be back on the road, they'd be taking a jet,
Said bye to the boys and then to the booker,
I had turned my trick like a 300 pound hooker.

Oh how I wanted that booker to clobber,
But had to keep my cool, I was only a jobber,
Don't get me wrong, no apology was needed,
I made the babyface look good, so I totally succeeded.

Drove back down the interstate guzzling a beer,
Would I always be a jobber, what an agonizing fear?
But deep down I know all that really matters, you see,
Is that I play my role well, and am very proud of me.

[#BROKEN Hasney]

I had World of Sport, an old 80's UK wrestling show on in the background a few years back and it was dull. Really slow wrestling, big guys just working the slowest matches ever. Then Owen Hart came on and flew about the ring and took some huge bumps from whoever he was facing. After a brief glimpse of him and who he was around in that time period, I'm not shocked by all the praise he was getting.

[St. Jimmy]

I wish Wrestling Observe/Figure Four Online would do a completely seperate show each week for just Wrestling. Having to speed through podcasts to get to Wrestling stuff is annoying, Meltzer goes ON and ON about MMA.

[Seth82]

Here's the August 1st edition of Wrestling Observer

Most of this issue is an in-depth Bruiser Brody bio

WWF
-- The WWF is negotiating to sign DJ Peterson and Curt Hennig. Curt Hennig is at a disadvantage and is already in the doghouse, for having twice agreed to terms and then backing out.

-- Hercules and Ultimate Warrior got in trouble for their brawling as part of an angle at a recent TV taping, because they ended up damaging a lot of TV monitors, and Hercules needed 76 stitches on his right arm for hitting a table.

-- 7/23 in Nashville drew a sellout 10,000 crowd headlined by Andre vs Duggan.

NWA
-- The Great American Bash drew 350,000-400,000 buys, making the profit about $5.5-$6 million, about what was expected. (My note: Interesting that an NWA show in 1988, when the company was in freefall, gets a PPV number that WWE would do handstands for on a typical B-show.) All of the cable companies have already agreed to carry Starrcade in December, which means that clearance shouldn't be as a big of a challenge for that show as it was for the Bash. After Wrestlemania III, IV, and Survivor Series, this was the most successful PPV in wrestling history up until that time. Most of the buyrates came, not surprisingly, from the Carolinas and the Southeast, where the show drew more than Wrestlemania IV. It did really poorly in the Los Angeles and New York markets, which are the key media markets.

-- Jack Petrik told a Tokyo newspaper he would run the NWA after the Turner buyout. TBS would set policy, he would enforce it, and Crockett and Dusty would handle the wrestling side of it all. This was the first published report to confirm that TBS was trying to buy the company.

-- 7/23 in Philly drew a $167,800 gate for War Games. By comparison, the WWF ran the same night and drew around a $116,035 gate. Dave has heard conflicting reports on the WWF's gate though, with some saying it was even less, in the $77,000 range.

-- Consensus on the Bash shows: the War Games matches are as good as any live matches you'll ever see, Fantastics-Midnights is great, and the rest of the card is terrible.

AWA
-- Verne Gagne is planning Wrestlerock III to air on PPV. The show will be in the 55,000-seat Metrodome in Bloomington, MN, and will have ZZ Top in concert. The show was originally going to happen on election night, but it was changed to two days earlier. Supposedly, wrestlers from five promotions will appear on the show, but the only confirmed match Dave knows about is Madusa Miceli vs Magnificent Mimi.

OTHER
-- When Bob Geigel restarts Central States, Tommy Gilbert will be booker. Geigel is no longer working with World Class because travel costs of sending wrestlers to their shows were putting him in debt. Mike George, Vince Apollo, Solomon Grundy, Billy Travis and Mike Stone will work for the group.

-- Kerry Brown was fired by Stampede. Shows are now being headlined by Makhan Singh vs Steve Blackman. Dave says Blackman isn't bad for his experience level, but is also obviously not ready for the spot he's in.

-- Dick Slater has heat for working WWC in Puerto Rico, with lots of wrestlers wanting an unofficial boycott of Puerto Rico because of Brody's death.

-- Jerry Lawler, Bam Bam Bigelow, Bob Orton, and Curt Hennig will be headed to Continental when they do their CWF title tournament.

-- Dean Malenko has quit wrestling to work at the front counter for an airline.

-- Brother Ernest Angel has completely disappeared, and no one knows where he is.

-- Brickhouse Brown will be turned babyface in Memphis soon to feud with Robert Fuller. Dave says Fuller's heel act is really good, but he's overexposed from doing too many interviews per show. However, because of a thin talent pool, there isn't really anything that can be done about that.

[Seth82]

Here's September 26th 1988 issue of Wrestling Observer

WWF
-- Long Island is dropping the MSG network, as they are starting their own sports channel and wanted to make MSG a premium station, while MSG was demanding to be on basic cable. They couldn't reach an agreement, so the MSG network is gone. Most think this will increase attendance, because there is no option for fans to stay home and watch shows on TV anymore.

-- Syndication ratings on 8/14 indicated a 8.5 national rating, the lowest level Dave has seen, but jumped back up to a strong 11.0 the week of 8/21.

-- Terry Taylor is now managed by Bobby Heenan with a nickname of "The Little Red Rooster". He will be doing comedy and filling Hercules' old spot as Heenan's jobber. "With Taylor as a rooster and Owen Hart dressed up like a chicken, what is next? I'm expecting Arn Anderson to show up dressed like a hen. And we can call this the World Poultry Federation."

-- Hercules is now a babyface and will turn with Ted DiBiase, which Dave says alone will probably make Hercules a candidate for Most Improved Wrestler. The angle is that DiBiase is going to buy a slave. Heenan sells him, but Hercules rebels and gets jumped. Later on the taping, Randy Savage sided with Hercules. They are moving away from the Savage/DiBiase feud, as Savage will start working Andre and Bad News Brown on house shows.

-- Jake Roberts missed several dates due to the death of his stepfather but is now back in action.

-- 9/9 in Cincinnati drew 6,000 fans headlined by Savage vs Andre.

-- Hogan vs Andre headlines at The Omni on 10/23.

-- They are coming out with a new quarterly magazine spotlighting one wrestler. The first will be Randy Savage.

-- Curt Hennig and Owen Hart are both due for big pushes. In a Toronto newspaper, there was a huge picture of Blue Blazer, with Owen Hart in the caption underneath, which Dave says makes this wrestling's worst kept secret. "I don't expect he'll be getting a super-push, but the guy with chicken feathers against the rooster does sound like a natural match-up, and the potential is there for awesome matches." Hennig will be billed as Mr. Perfect and will have several weeks of video clips, getting a similar push to Ted DiBiase, before he ever wrestles on TV.

-- No word on Arn and Tully and how they'll be used, but everyone thinks Arn has great potential as a singles star. Dave thinks they'll probably be a team, that even at half speed will have good matches with the Hart Foundation and British Bulldogs.

-- 9/15 in Norwalk, CT drew 783 headlined by Rockers vs Conquistadores. Last week, the WWF had a spot show in Maryland that drew 64 fans, 50 of which were comped tickets.

-- 9/10 in Boston drew 8,500 headlined by Hogan vs DiBiase in a great match. 9/9 in Springfield, MA drew 3,600 headlined by a Hogan/DiBiase **** match.

-- Dave is going to do something he vowed to never do, attend a show on 9/19 at Cow Palace headlined by Savage vs Andre. "The details may be GORY, however."

NWA
-- Papers haven't been signed, but the sale is pretty much a done deal. What is holding it up at this point is Crockett trying to reach a deal with Bill Watts for the $3 million he still owes him from the UWF buyout. He wants to settle for $1.5 million. The agreement will be signed as soon as the lawyers translate their agreements into a contract and Crockett settles his debt with Watts, expected for around the end of the month.

-- Crockett has also been having serious talks with Fritz Von Erich, but no one knows what about. If they reach a working agreement, Superclash III is in jeopardy because Kerry Von Erich is headlining.

-- "A lot has been written and even more has been talked about regarding the financial state of the NWA. The key point that has to be made is this, if the NWA, under the Turner regime, continues to do business in the manner which it did over the past year or two, then this is a case of good money being sent after bad money. While it is a valid argument that some of JCP's problems stemmed from its purchase of the UWF and trying to hold together a syndicated network which hasn't yet proven to be profitable, to blame all the problems on the UWF purchase, would be to ignore facts such as declining house show revenue for most of the past year and more importantly, declining TV ratings. While the July Bashes and the first Flair-Luger matches popped good houses in many cities, the TV ratings during the corresponding period didn't pop along with it, so the house show gains were a short-term false high. The problems with the booking have been stated, and overstated, and they are still there. The problems with the television format have been addressed already. Probably the No. 1 black mark against Jim Crockett as head of this organization is very simply, his inability to react when all signs called for needed changes, or his obliviousness to those obvious signs. Crockett has a five-year deal with the Turner organization, but he'll be behind Petrick in the chain of command and it's too early to tell how much actual influence he'll wield, but early signs indicate he'll be a key figure in decision making. I have serious fears that company will simply follow the same path, and the end result of that path is the same financial picture which resulted in getting millions of dollars into debt over the past year. Nobody can state, for certain, that a change to any new philosophy will be a winner. The only thing we can state is that the same philosophy has already proven to be a loser. I know that a lot of readers, and I include myself in this category, enjoy the NWA, at least on its good days. But I've enjoyed lots of things that were not financially viable, and no longer exist, so those of you who disagree that changes should be made aren't looking at the big picture here. If the company isn't financially viable, it will cease to exist, and if it wasn't for Turner seeing financial advantages as far as TV ad revenue and PPV potential, the promotion would probably cease to exist by the end of this year.

Having said all that, I'm convinced there is enormous potential in this new company if things are run correctly. Run correctly means pay attention to the fans, which if nothing else, was the old company's weakness. We had babyfaces that the fans didn't like; heels that the fans cheered; declining TV ratings with no change in format; and constant screw job endings which led to declining house show gates, yet to this day, these same endings persist on virtually every major house show. We had all champions being heels, yet never winning any matches. We had babyfaces who never lost, but they never really won, either. We had the same old tired cast constantly rehashed.

To Rhodes' credit as booker, I truly believe he did a great job of rehashing the same old tired cast, but the situation called for new mainline stars. But for whatever reason, it was a situation he refused to address. The UWF sale could, and should, have created the most profitable year in JCP's history and made the fall of 1987 the quarter in which JCP 'took off.' Instead, virtually all the company's problems can be traced to that quarter. The key advice for the new company is to admit that mistakes were made, and not to repeat them.

Every politician will tell you that he's for better education and reduced crime. We will all agree that the TV syndication network has to be improved, particularly in the key markets like New York, Los Angeles, and San Francisco, which are necessary for national media exposure. Ironically, these are the markets that the JCP product is 'over' the least in, as the recent PPV card plainly showed.

I'm calling for an overhaul, in many ways, with how wrestling has been run. This business has been run a certain way for reasons mainly having to do with that's how it was run before. One long-time wrestler turned promoter who is a friend of mine that was cursing how seedy a business this is behind-the-scenes stated why wrestling is in the shape it's in best. Most of the people who head wrestling companies, at least until the McMahon regime, were people who worked in the business. They did things the way they were taught, not because they were the best ways, but because that's how it was done. Let's say a wrestler becomes a booker or promoter. When he was a worker, he was screwed around, stiffed on payoffs, lied to, had the carrot dangled in front of him, etc. So when he becomes the booker or promoter, this is the business that was taught to him, and becomes the one doing the dangling, lying, etc. because that's how the business operates. I hope the TV business doesn't operate in the same way, because wrestling has the potential to be as much fun a business on the inside as it appears to be to the fans who enjoy the product so much.

I've got suggestions on a number of topics that I'll get into here:

Employee relations: Pro wrestling is physically demanding entertainment. Because of this, it is simply unfair that wrestlers don't get company-provided medical insurance. The business also requires travel, and since it is the company, and not the individual, that is in control of the schedule, certain road expenses should be provided. For contracted employees, they should receive transportation costs to get to the site of their work. They should also get hotel expenses, as they are not independent contractors who make their own schedules. It should be a decent hotel, which the company should be able to get a nice group rate in. If a star, like a Ric Flair, wants to stay at the Hemsley Palace, he also should be allowed to, provided he makes up the difference in room rates (for the individual superstar, and there are just a few of these, they may have the leverage to negotiate certain perks just as in other forms of entertainment, but I'd use this as a general standard). Cab far or rent-a-cars to the arena should also be paid for by the promotion. Wrestlers should also be paid a weekly salary, or a per-match salary, irregardless of the gates during the week. Balloon payment contracts are a farce, as are deferred payment contracts. While retirement benefits sound nice on the surface, it isn't a viable plan. By its nature, wrestling has little job security and that really can't change, second, who is to say that a promotion around today will be around when it comes time to pay these retirement benefits. Contracts which don't guarantee a certain income leads to possible exploitation of the wrestler. Now one thing has to be stated, the amount of money paid out, whether it be in straight payoffs, or salary plus road expenses plus insurance premiums, still has to enable the company to function profitably. The company has to decide a so-called fair price to pay the employee and the employee has to use whatever leverage he can, which in most cases isn't much, to try and make the price 'fairer'. What should happen is that during one of those hot weeks when the gates are booming, the wrestlers under this plan simply won't make the kind of money as they had in the past. But during the bad weeks, they'll at least know how much the check will be and if they have any concept of how to manage their money, won't fall behind on house or car payments due to injuries or bad houses (which are basically out of their control), just as is the case with virtually every other business. Wrestlers also, if they manage their money correctly, won't lose money going on the road. It is really a sad story to hear about wrestlers, and many big-name stars, even with Titan, can fall into this category, that go on the road for a few weeks at a time away from their family, and the check that comes back is less than they had to spend just to eat and make the shots each night.

Television: A wrestling television show shouldn't be a self-contained episode, but rather a piece in a soap-opera like puzzle. There should be a reason to make you watch each week and when the show ends, it should end with a teaser that makes you anticipate the next episode. The current NWA format shows virtually no imagination or planning for the future. There is no tease for the next week, or on TBS, even a tease for the Sunday show. You can't give away your house show main events because you can give away less and still draw good TV ratings than you can give away at house shows and draw good gates. But when you give away nothing on television and ratings go down, the people who aren't watching are very unlikely to become potential customers. Format squashes have to be done to get over things like winning holds, but the squashes can be lengthened so they appear to be 'contests' rather than squashes and so the winner appears to have actually worked for victory. When the jobber shows no offense, it not only makes the calibre of your product look weak, but negates much of the effect of the victory to the star. Anybody can beat up someone who doesn't fight back and beating somebody that bad in 30 seconds over-and-over is bad television and in the long-run can't help get the winner over much, either. Decent matches, where the result is in question, should occur at least once per hour. There should be occasional surprises to make the fan think he can't always predict everything. Angles should be spread around to all programs. Right now, we can reasonably be assured that on the TBS morning show and Sunday show that we will never see an angle shot, or even continued or climaxed. The two-hour Saturday show needs personality features, wrestling videos and other innovative things besides endless squash-interview routine which gets old after 40 minutes. The syndicated shows should have story-lines and feuds among middle-of-the-card guys which carry-over week after week. NWA Main Event can be used to showcase match-ups which could provide good action, but wouldn't be the type that draw at the arenas. Occasional face vs. face matches or heel vs. heel matches with imaginative finishes mixed in with building up title contenders can be the format. If someone has a world title match that month, they should be on NWA Main Event and gain clean wins, using his big move, on middle-names that mean something. Show the fans on television that the guy is on a roll and have him beat people that mean something. If ratings are up, pat yourself on the back. If ratings are down, it's time to run a hot angle to get interest back. Since the current all-squash plus interview format started, ratings on both TBS and the syndicated package have consistently declined. Instead of paying attention to the warning signals, the formats have remained the same and needless damage to the group's popularity has resulted.

Merchandising: I don't know who thought up the Four Horsemen vitamin idea, but there should be enough checks and balances to stop obvious bombs from making their way to the public. Titan aims its wrestling at children, and merchandises for children. It's harder to merchandise for adults, and the NWA's prime audience is the male 18-30 demographic group. How about a Lex Luger and Sting home workout video? A video tracing Ric Flair's career over the past 10 years? A two-hour video of legendary NWA matches? Posters, T-shirts and photos should be more readily available to those who don't attend house shows, and the wrestlers should virtually always be wearing or carrying their gimmick merchandise when they do an interview to get the gimmick over. A professional magazine, written intelligently, should be a money-maker once it gets established. Pulling the plug after an issue or two shows no commitment and hurts the company in the long run.

Booking: Anyone can sit back and write a dozen new scenarios, some of which would work and some of which wouldn't work and until they are tried, nobody knows for sure. Titan has bombs, too. Nobody comes close to 100% on angles. The head booker probably shouldn't wrestle because we've seen the danger that causes. They should, however, be very receptive to all ideas from the wrestlers and wrestlers should be encouraged to help put together their own programs, provided these programs are going in the same general direction as the booker has planned. Don't fight the fans. If the fans like someone, even though you encourage the fans not to, than take advantage of the charisma of the wrestler. If a wrestler is getting over without a push (case in point, Sting), don't hold them back simply because another guy who isn't getting over as well was in your original plans. Recognize when an act is stale and do something about it. Everyone knows the Road Warriors are stale and it isn't entirely Rhodes' fault, but it is his fault to allow them to get as stale as they have gotten. The loss of Blanchard & Anderson should be used to your advantage. After the shows already booked through the early part of October are done, put Midnight Express vs. Flair & Windham and have them vow to eliminate the entire horseman clan. Have the Warriors attack Sting, who is the only wrestler popular enough to make a Road Warrior turn effective, and a Warriors vs. Sting & Luger feud for the short term could cause a spark. Any turn of Flair should be postponed for a while. There have been too many turns already, however the Roadie turn seems to be a necessity so they quit floundering in prelims plus killer heels are desperately needed. Create a legitimate junior heavyweight division. The idea that jr. heavies don't draw money has been reinforced by pushing glorified jobbers like Nelson Royal and Denny Brown as World champions of that division for years. To get the division 'over', you will need an outstanding and charismatic wrestler to be the focal point, and a charismatic opponent to help him get over. Don't allow the top jr. heavies to be jobbers for the heavies, in fact, they should hold their own and when they have to lose, do it in such a way where they've got the guy on the road and on the verge of losing type of a story. While a World champion vs. junior champion match (which the heavyweight champ would win after a bitter struggle) might not sellout a house show, or be appropriate for a PPV megacard, it would make one great prime-time special main event which can go 25-30 minutes and get both wrestlers over. Scout the talent in the smaller groups and make changes when necessary. Sometime soon, change the NWA champion, and my suggestion is to give it to Sting and let him run with it and find a killer heel (Vader? Bigelow? Hansen?) for a short run while at the same time grooming Flair/Windham for subsequent bouts. Do you realize for all real purposes, Flair will have been champion for seven years by the time you read this? Yes, he is the greatest of this era, and maybe any era, but that is too long. Give Sting the opportunity to see just how far he can go with the right push. And don't forget, Flair has always been tremendous in the role of the totally obsessed challenger. The only reason it didn't draw last year is because they made a horrendous pick as champion. Don't repeat finishes in the same arena. If I had my way, there wouldn't be a referee bump for another six months. It's been done so often it's become a cliche. And don't think all those screw job endings in the Carolinas haven't had an effect on the gate. They won't affect the cities you run less frequently because the endings aren't repeated enough for fans to get wise and turned off by them, but I look at those ref bump/false finish endings at just about every Greensboro card and see how drastically the gates have declined and can't help but feel there is a correlation. Encourage fans to think. If they spend any kind of time thinking about the product, it becomes easy to hook them and they become the most consistent and loyal customers."

-- Talk of Chigusa Nagayo coming in to work spots shows against Misty Blue.

-- Ricky Morton is gone again, headed to Japan.

-- Steve Beverly reports that the Clash did about $500,000 in ad revenue and $400,000 should have been TBS profit. Crockett is receiving very little, if any, rights fees.

-- 9/16 in Richmond drew 6,500 headlined by Flair vs Luger.

-- The Midnights/Horsemen title change when Arn and Tully were leaving was supposed to be 2/3 falls, but was switched to one fall because one of the participants was in no condition to perform. Still, the match was ****.

-- NWA's national syndication rating is a 6.4 for 8/14, and a 5.8 for 8/21.

-- Karl Kunnert plead guilty of defrauding the U.S. Marine Corps, promising to promote a show featuring Lex Luger, Ric Flair, Nikita Koloff (and Jimmy Valiant??) without ever contacting Crockett. He will be sentenced in federal court later in the year.

SUPERCLASH III
-- A PPV is being prepared for 12/13 at the UIC Pavillion in Chicago. The official announcement should take place this weekend or next. The show will include wrestlers from the AWA, CWA, World Class, Southern, and David McLane's POWW. The main event will be Kerry Von Erich vs Jerry Lawler "for the 1428th time in a unification match." Verne Gagne will be the lead promoter.

-- "The odds are greatly against this one being a success, for a number of reasons. First off, none of these smaller groups have any wrestlers who are 'over' to the national audience. There are a few with the potential to be 'over', but not the exposure. And even though the combined wrestling networks of all these groups may be nearly as large as the JCP network, these groups are also all perceived by the general fan as 'minor league' and in general are on weak UHF stations in most markets except the home area for CWA and World Class. The date itself is a problem. If a Tuesday night isn't a tough enough problem, the date is sandwiched between Vince McMahon's PPV show on Thanksgiving and Crockett's PPV show on 12/26. I question how many cable systems will even be willing to clear a third wrestling show within a five week period."

-- The theory is that because every group will be promoting the show heavily, the viewer will be hit with hype in so many directions that they will view the show as a major event. But Dave points out that even with help from a larger syndicated network than all of these combined, plus TBS promotion, the Great American Bash was only marginally profitable. Dave says the market is on the verge of saturation, if the recent buyrates for both NWA and WWF shows are any indication. The novelty is gone.

-- The first combined taping for ESPN was on 9/17 in Nashville before 6,000 fans and will air on 10/1, 10/8, and 10/15. There were no cross-promotion matches except Lawler vs Kerry, and they seem to have learned their lesson from 1984 when local headliners were used as jobbers for national talent and it killed the local guys. Highlights included a ***1/2 match with Michael Hayes & Steve Cox vs Samoan Swat Team and Lawler vs Kerry in a **** match, and Jarrett/Dundee/Valiant vs Fuller/Golden/Rich in a ***1/2 match.

WCCW
-- Jimmy Jack Funk & John Tatum lost the Texas tag titles in a unification match against the Samoan Swat Team on 9/12 in Fort Worth. The Samoans then dropped the belts on 9/16 in Dallas to Michael Hayes and Steve Cox, in a match where Hayes said he would refund everyone's money if they lost. Buddy Roberts said in the buildup that Hayes' ex-wife took all his money and he didn't have money to refund anyone.

MEMPHIS
-- Phil Hickerson is out of action with a dislocated hip.

SOUTHERN
-- Tommy Rich's heel turn has picked up business a little. 9/18 in Marietta drew 550. Jerry Lawler, Eric Embry, and Kerry Von Erich are also coming in. "Can you believe it? It really does appear these smaller groups are starting to work together."

FLORIDA
-- Dustin Rhodes made his wrestling debut on 9/13 in Tampa, pinning Bob Cook.

STAMPEDE
-- Steve DiSalvo vs Makhan Singh is headlining most shows. DiSalvo turned babyface after Ed Whalen kept pushing for it. This is the end of Singh on color commentary, which Dave says is sad because he was tremendous. "I've finally figured out in a nutshell why Whelan is so hard to digest. While there are several announcers, Gordon Solie and Lance Russell come to mind, who within their area, are far more well-known than the wrestlers they are announcing, both Solie and Russell at least put over the wrestlers as the stars of the program. Whelan puts himself over as the star of the show and the wrestling and the wrestlers as needless background. Whelan is better known in the area than any of the wrestlers, but he should put the wrestlers over as the stars, which he doesn't do."

-- Sky Low Low came out of retirement for a few weeks when Coconut Willie sprained his ankle and Stu Hart needed a replacement.

-- "Newcomer [Lance] Idol is one of the better workers on the circuit, patterning himself after Ray Stevens. They've gotten carried away with his build-up, as on interviews, Idol claims wins over Randy Savage, Ric Flair, Ted DiBiase and Brutus Beefcake (remember those tests in school? Pick which name doesn't belong in that list). His work is good but he tends to overact and exaggerate movements, as his interview claiming wins over those guys would indicate."

-- "The most impressive guy left here is Benoit, who is a Brad Armstrong-calibre worker but using more of an old Dynamite Kid style."

ALL JAPAN
-- 9/9 in Chiba before 2,750 fans ended the latest series, headlined by Jumbo Tsuruta vs Abdullah the Butcher.

-- The Road Warriors may be working some dates soon, and Sting is being announced as making his debut from 10/15 to 10/28, but there is considerable question over whether that's going to happen. "Sting is one of the few foreign wrestlers who has received good press before his debut from all three weeklies (who often bad-mouth wrestlers the other magazine praises) and Baba is looking at making him a Hansen-calibre superstar but no doubt he's under considerable pressure from the Crocketts not to leave at such a critical point, yet if he doesn't leave, Baba may consider him to be like Steve Williams, who Inoki wanted to push to the top but canceled so many tours due to U.S. pressure that it was felt he wasn't reliable enough to be pushed all the way to the top and he lost his spot to Big Van Vader."

-- Baba is also negotiating with Nord the Barbarian. Dave says Nord could get over huge right now as Brody's protege and it would take a year before anyone realized he couldn't wrestle.

NEW JAPAN
-- Hisashi Shinma recently told the crowd that Antonio Inoki was retiring from wrestling in Japan. Inoki said he was planning a U.S. tour where he would wrestle stars like Hulk Hogan. The real story is that Inoki is vying to get his spot back. He and Shinma are sitting back hoping Choshu and Fujinami fail miserably so that New Japan comes groveling back to Inoki to take the top spot. Ratings are still below what they should be, and they are aware of this, trying to build a strong syndicated network with local TV stations.

UWF
-- Maeda will be missing the 9/24 show, which will be a big test for this group. The main event will be Takada vs Yamazaki. If it draws, the style is what is selling tickets. If it doesn't, it's Maeda that is selling tickets.

OTHER
-- Joe Pedicino's wrestling package is doing well in Georgia, beating out TBS each week. He has aired some tapes of FLAIR in Houston, the women's group, which apparently splices in WCCW and AWA crowd shots after big spots.

-- New York Daily News is considering a wrestling column. Dave is told Vince will hate it.

[Seth82]

Here's the October 3rd 1988 edition of Dave Meltzer's Wrestling Observer

WWF
-- For the week ending 8/28, WWF's syndicated network drew a 9.6 rating in 258 markets covering 97% of the country.

-- Tully Blanchard and Arn Anderson debut at the next TV tapings as The Brainbusters and will be managed by Bobby Heenan. They will face the Rockers and British Bulldogs in their arena debuts toward the end of October. They are mostly working arenas where the NWA is strongest. They are expected to get a big push, only because the WWF wants Ric Flair, and burying them would make it harder to get Flair.

-- One Man Gang is now known as "Akeem" and will be a white wrestler pretending to be black. Dave says this is not the first time this has been done, as Kevin Sullivan pretended to be Kareem Muhammad's cousin last year in Florida.

-- Harley Race is booked against DJ Peterson on some spot shows in California.

-- 9/24 at the Spectrum drew 3,952, their lowest crowd of all time, headlined by a Savage/DiBiase cage match. 9/23 in Cape Girardeau, MO drew 1,200 fans headlined by Duggan vs DiBiase. 9/12 in Peoria, IL drew 2,411 headlined by Duggan (subbing for Jake) vs Rude. 9/19 at the Cow Palace drew 6,000 headlined by Savage vs Andre. 9/17 in Los Angeles drew 12,500 headlined by Savage vs Andre. 9/18 in San Diego drew 5,000 headlined by Savage vs Andre. 9/2 in Canton, OH drew 500 headlined by Rockers vs Conquistadores. 9/3 in Kitanning, PA drew 369 fans and a $2,1000 gate headlined by Rockers vs Conquistadores. 9/18 in White Plains, NY drew 500 fans headlined by Rockers vs Conquistadores. 9/17 at the Capital Centre drew 7,500 fans headlined by Hogan vs DiBiase. 9/19 in Entfield, CT drew 350 fans headlined by Rockers vs Conquistadores. 9/19 in New Haven, CT drew 6,200 fans headlined by Hogan vs Big Boss Man.

-- "Hennig's Mr. Perfect character will be introduced on TV with clips of him being perfect at all sports (ie bowling and doing all strikes, horseshoes with all ringers, baseball with all home runs)."

-- Roddy Piper's movie "They Live" was originally planned to debut on 10/29, but has been pushed back to 11/4 to avoid competing with any new Halloween-themed movies.

-- Ted DiBiase was on Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous, which Dave was told was hilarious. DiBiase gave his dog champagne and caviar and wouldn't let Robin Leach have any.

NWA
-- Negotiations between Jim Crockett and Fritz Von Erich broke off. Crockett wanted a deal where he would take over the WCCW TV network, take over the promotion, and keep the Von Erichs and a couple of others. Fritz was looking for a simple talent exchange, likely so he could do more Flair vs Kerry Von Erich matches in Dallas.

-- Crockett is still attempting to settle his outstanding debts before selling. "He's trying to settle at 40 cents on the dollar according to two different creditors. His largest creditor is Bill Watts, from the purchase of the old Universal Wrestling Federation last spring. Apparently Crockett's offer to settle the outstanding debt (rumored to be in the $3 million range) for less than $1 million didn't go over so well with Watts, who is not only trying to up the price, but also drop the 'no-compete' clause in his sale contract." TBS sources tell Dave they expect the sale to be finalized by the end of the week, but Dave doesn't think they can clear the debt in time.

-- Expect minor changes in TV format and some major roster additions by the end of the year, with major, fullscale changes coming in early 1989.

-- Bam Bam Bigelow will debut on the 9/27 TV tapings as a babyface and be managed by Oliver Humperdink. While it didn't work in Titan and Dave says it does seem like a more natural heel act, Bigelow is coming in as a babyface because the Road Warriors are about to turn heel. Dave doesn't understand why they're bringing him in now instead of waiting, since he'll have a Japan tour a week later and will be gone for a month. The idea is that Humperdink can do promos while he's gone to keep his momentum going.

-- 9/18 in Roanoke drew 3,200 headlined by Flair vs Luger with another two-referee finish with a Tommy Young/Teddy Long argument, which fans have stopped popping for because they've figured out what is about to happen. 9/3 in Baltimore drew 11,000 and a $125,000 gate headlined by Flair vs Luger. 9/25 at the Omni drew 6,700 fans headlined by Flair vs Luger.

-- There will be a U.S. tag team title tournament held on TV. This will be a weekly thing for November sweeps.

-- Clash II was the highest rated show on cable during its week.

-- Brad Armstrong has missed several shows, although it has yet to be confirmed that he's headed to Continental.

-- For the week ending 8/28, the NWA's network drew a 6.1 in 159 markets covering 91% of the country.

-- Jobber Agent Steele is Brad Anderson, son of Gene Anderson.

SUPERCLASH III
-- The show will be headlined by a "must be a winner" title unification match between Jerry Lawler and Kerry Von Erich. There will also be a "Beverly Hills Lingerie match" between POWW girls, where the object is to tear off clothing. " ... that's fine for the Playboy channel but I'm not sure it's appropriate for the general audience, then again, I suppose there isn't much general audience interest in this show either ..." Other matches include Sgt. Slaughter vs Col. DeBeers, Ron Garvin vs Greg Gagne, and Wahoo McDaniel vs Manny Fernandez in a strap match.

-- The hope is that the show can be cleared in three million homes, which Dave says will have hurdles because the NWA has a show on 12/26 and the WWF has one on Thanksgiving.

-- Dave expects Continental to try to join the show since Eddie Gilbert is no longer booking, as David Woods and Gilbert disagreed on whether or not to participate in this show.

-- The plan is for this group to run a second show in February between the Royal Rumble and Wrestlemania. Dave sees oversaturation coming between the WWF PPVs, NWA's hopes to expand PPVs in 1989, and this group running more PPVs, which could result in "as many as 10 or 11 PPV shows next year."

WCCW
-- "We had one of those 'only in Texas' title changes this past Friday night at the Dallas Sportatorium. The Jerry Lawler-Kerry Von Erich title match ended with a double disqualification, and they emphasized before the match that it was to be held under World Class rules and it was announced in Dallas that because a title can change via DQ in World Class, that both wrestlers' lost their titles and both belts would be vacant pending a Texas Death Match (Falls don't count, No DQ, no time limit, no stopping for blood, match continues until one man can't answer the bell, you can use anything you want to bring into the ring except a gun or knife) at the Cotton Bowl on 10/15. However, the next morning at the TV studio in Memphis, Lawler appeared with the AWA title safely around his waist and promoting a title defense against Ron Garvin on 9/30." The show drew 3,500 fans on 9/24 at the Sportatorium, with Lawler apparently carrying Kerry to a ***+ match and working as a total heel.

-- John Tatum is gone.

-- Kevin Von Erich is tentatively scheduled to return for the Cotton Bowl show, but it isn't definite. He is having lots of problems from his concussions and the resulting headaches. A doctor told Kevin he should stop wrestling. His brain is jarred, and he is susceptible to more concussions. They are saying Kamala gave Kevin the concussion in a match in Cleveland, which is useless since Kamala is gone. "From all reports, if Kevin suffered a concussion in Cleveland, it wasn't in the ring."

-- Kerry Von Erich is officially in charge of the company, but Frank Dusek and Skandor Akbar handle the office work and Percy Pringle does publicity.

-- There is a Miss World Class beauty pageant coming up.

-- The plan is to start giving away Ft. Worth tickets, since the shows are sponsored anyway, to build up excitement for television. The matches have been good, but they are only drawing 200 fans in an 8,000 seat arena, so they seem dead from lack of heat. They are also going to give out freebies to kids and non-profit groups so there is crowd enthusiasm that carries over to TV.

-- Michael Hayes is in Nigeria.

-- They lost TV in San Antonio, which has been their most consistent drawing city.

MEMPHIS
-- The combined tapings in Louisville and Memphis drew disappointing numbers: between 2,000 and 3,500 for Louisville, and only about 5,000 in Memphis, despite all the big names on the card.

-- Dave is comparing the Frank Dusek/Eddie Marlin shoving match and Hayes/Cox vs Jarrett/Dundee confrontation to New Japan vs IWE, which drew huge in 1981-1982 with Inoki vs Rusher Kimura.

-- Hector Guerrero is now working as a full-time gymnastic instructor for kids in Maryville, Tennessee.

-- Cactus Jack is now carrying a whip. They did an angle where Brown said that since Fuller still owned his contract he didn't have any money. He brought out his aunt who said she has been having to support him and started crying, which was great. Sylvia then came out - also crying - and said they've give him back the contract until the Stud Stable jumped Brown and choked him with the whip. The other heels held the dressing room door shut so nobody could make the save for a few minutes.

-- "Todd Morton, the Ricky Morton look-alike and wrestle-alike debuted this past Saturday and he looks like a top candidate for rookie of the year."

CONTINENTAL
-- There has been a "bitter falling out" in Continental, which has led to the departure of booker Eddie Gilbert, along with several other wrestlers. There were business disagreements that escalated out of control, and there was a "full-scale explosion" on Thursday. Dave expects this to put Continental back in the category of minor independent promotion. There were differences between Gilbert and David Woods. Woods felt Continental couldn't afford to expand to new areas and bring in name talent, which Gilbert was trying to do. They also felt they weren't ready for the Road to Birmingham on 10/3. The promotion started second guessing booking decisions and felt that Eddie Gilbert and Paul E. Dangerously focused too much on themselves. In addition, localized promos were getting mixed up or failed to arrive at the city in time for airing because they weren't being mailed for overnight delivery. They were just being sent first class mail. The final straw was when paychecks were given on Tuesday when paychecks were issued. Gilbert has been in charge of payroll, and Woods scaled back the payoffs Gilbert has issued, especially of those who are Gilbert's closest friends. Woods was also against Gilbert returning as a babyface, and was questioning the severity of his injuries. "Really, just about everything that there could be a dispute about, there was. There had been disenchantment because the crowds had been down the past two weeks, although that isn't unusual for this time of the year. Even Gilbert's detractors within the promotion admitted he was both a creative wrestler and great booker, but were leery of his attempts to expand too fast and certain personality conflicts had gotten out of control."

-- Because of this, the status of Road to Birmingham is up on the air. Gilbert, Bam Bam Bigelow, Bob Orton, and Chris Adams are definitely not coming in now (in Bigelow's case because he signed with the NWA, not because he's in the middle of this). Terry Gordy may still be on, but Continental may not be willing to fly in outside talent anymore. Nightmare Freddy, D.I. Bob Carter, The Samoans and Shane Douglas are all gone. Austin Idol and a few others are question marks.

-- The new booker will be Bob Armstrong, with the full crew cut to 14 wrestlers: Armstrong, Tracey Smothers, Steve Armstrong, Scott Armstrong, Willie B. Hurt, Lord Humongous, Danny Davis, Jerry Stubbs, Ken Wayne, Mongolian Stomper, Tony Anthony, Alan Martin, and two more heels. Dave expects Humongous to get a major push, as Gilbert not featuring him as the #1 wrestler in the promotion was another source of dispute.

-- Missy Hyatt will not be working TV anymore, and neither will Joe Pedicino. Brad Armstrong will probably come back in, and Dave expects Continental to be dropped by FNN as a result of all of this.

-- 9/23 in Knoxville drew 2,500 and a $20,000 gate.

-- Tom Pritchard was going to win the tournament, but probably won't now.

-- Eddie Gilbert had been wrestling in the earlier part of the week, and is currently working weekend shows in Puerto Rico.

STAMPEDE
-- 9/10 in Edmonton drew 700 fans. 9/17 drew 800 fans.

-- Dave is told the Chris Benoit & Lance Idol vs Cuban Commandos (Cuban Assassin & Jerry Morrow) matches are regularly around ****, including one that recently aired in full on television.

-- Makhan Singh was suspended for his attack on Ed Whalen so he would be free to tour South Africa. The Great Gama is also there, and Wellington starts for Inoki on 10/7.

-- Biff Wellington has a hair match against Johnny Smith before leaving for New Japan, much like Davey Boy Smith and Dynamite Kid used to lose hair matches so they could work New Japan tours bald.

-- Buddy Lane and Rip Rogers are coming in mid October.

U.S. INDEPENDENTS
-- Ric Flair only drew an average crowd on 9/20 in Portland, where he wrestled Top Gun (Dave Sierra) and was DQ'd for throwing him over the top rope.

-- "Lou Thesz was on Goerge Michael's local TV sportscast in Washington D.C. this past week and the two discussed whether or not Lou, who is now 72, could beat Hulk Hogan today. Michael gave you the impression he felt Thesz could have a few years ago but at 72 was pushing it, but Thesz came off confidently saying he'd win with little trouble since Hogan doesn't know how to wrestle. Just a few years back (1985) when Brody and Inoki were feuding in Japan, they had a photo shoot of Thesz training Brody for the match with Inoki teaching him wrestling holds. Anyway, at that point, Thesz was so quick with his moves that Brody probably couldn't have beaten him in an actual wrestling match so as silly as this sounds on the surface, ya never know. Thesz did compliment Randy Savage, calling him a great athlete and a good wrestler. About a week earlier, there was an article on Sam Muchnick's 83rd birthday in one of the St. Louis papers and Muchnick also said that he felt that today, Thesz could beat Hogan. The article only had one graph about wrestling, basically talking about the decline of the NWA and saying some negative things about what pro wrestling has turned into."

ALL JAPAN
-- Sting backed off of doing an All Japan tour after NWA pressure to cancel, because they told him they can't afford to lose him in October. His debut has been postponed to January.

-- "I had a chance to see the Tenryu-Hara vs. Tsuruta-Yatsu tag matches from 8/29 in Tokyo and 8/30 in Osaka. Both matches went about 30 minutes and were in the four-star range. The first bout started slow but had all the excellent near falls in the final few minutes, but also some missed moves, but the heat was tremendous. Finish saw Tenryu reverse a small package and pin Jumbo. The second night they actually had a superior match pacing-wise and really if it wasn't for the weak finish would have been 4 1/2 stars. Finish saw Jumbo give Tenryu three back suplexes and every time Hara would break up the fall. Then he did it again and this time just simply got the pin and Tenryu was laid out. The crowd was surprised because it was an out of the ordinary ending and the fall came with no heat build-up but it was still a great match."

-- Dan Spivey and Johnny Ace will team up in mid-November for the tag tournament.

NEW JAPAN
-- 9/12 in Fukuoka drew a near sellout 4,880 fans headlined by a 10-man elimination match of Choshu/H. Saito/Super Strong Machine/Kobayashi/M. Saito vs Fujinami/Kimura/Fujiwara/Koshinaka/Yamada.

-- 9/17 in Nagato drew a sellout 1,570 fans headlined by Choshu/Strong Machine/Kobayashi vs Fujinami/Koshinaka/Takano.

-- 9/15 in Kokuto drew a sellout 1,720 fans headlined by Fujinami/Kimura/Takano vs Starr/Hall/Vader and Choshu/Saito vs Kokina/Bigelow.

LETTERS QUOTES
"If two 'real' wrestlers are ready to leave the top of the promotion and their best feud, both in the ring and in gate potential, that they've ever had as a team, in exchange for a pass into the land of corporate wrestling decisions, that says more about the state of Jim Crockett Promotions than any wild rumors. The fact that JCP survived and thrived while every other major promotion crumbled in the face of Vince McMahon was something I took personal pride in. JCP is the home team that I grew up with. I've had a lot of fun both watching them on the tube and at the live shows. I don't care how much money and marketing expertise the WWF has, their product is heavy-handed, too predictable, condescending to their audience and boring. If the Crockett family acts now and takes the TBS offer, a tradition of 50 years standing may not go down needlessly. If not, I'd like to thank the family for all the years of fun and for bringing me what was the greatest show on Earth. The family ultimately has the right to destroy their business for no reason besides the preservation of Dusty Rhodes, just as they have the right to sell it for several million dollars and watch it survive into the next century. Just as I know Arn & Tully will be misused in the WWF, I have to admit that they made the right career choice. My fervent wish is they make a boatload of money in New York. It is nothing less than what they deserve. When Ric Flair goes, so do I as a wrestling fan." - Bruce Mitchell

"You've now reached the point where you have almost no analytical credibility with me when it comes to the WWF. I'm not saying you have a personal hard-on and it effects your judgment, only that you can no longer evaluate all wrestling by the same criteria. Has it occurred to you that the direction the WWF is going is imply not to your taste? I spoke to an awful lot of people after Summerslam. I mean real people, not guys who stay up to 3 a.m. to call you on some sportstalk radio show or Observer readers, just mainstream people who enjoy wrestling. While nobody was confusing Summerslam with Wrestlemania III, they were also sophisticated enough to realize that this was the summer show and was deliberately low-key so as not to destroy the specialness of Wrestlemania but that it was tons better than any other MSG show this year. If you want to throw in the 25-30 folks on the computer wrestling board I frequent who are very hardcore fans, several of whom subscribe to the Observer, the general impression was pretty much favorable. Nobody was going crazy as they did for the first Clash or Wrestlemania IV (Yes, your fabled failure drew mostly excellent notices online) but people were happy, especially with the Hart Foundation-Demolition match. How can you give that 1 1/2 stars when in the same issue you rate a Phil Hickerson vs. Jeff Jarrett match with 3 1/2 stars? All I'm saying is that you don't like the current WWF style of matches and too many of your readers simply like what you like and don't like what you don't like. Maybe I'm wrong, but I'd think about it. I'd also look more at what a promotion is attempting to do and how well they succeed. It was my impression that Summerslam was supposed to be, basically, the year's best MSG show, and it was. I doubt many viewers were all that turned off and suspect most enjoyed it well enough that they'll buy the next WWF PPV show. When Wrestlemania V rolls around, it will still seem like a more important event and it will cost more and people will pay it unless the promotion turns them off. That is more important than how well they draw in Philadelphia the next month. Your comment that, ipso fact, the ridiculous Flair-Luger blood angle on the PPV Bash was a success because live gates were up immediately was the most naive thing I've ever read by you. Don't you think infuriating the PPV audience was more significant than live audience, a totally different and relatively microscopic portion of the potentially vast PPV audience. The NWA's biggest problem is they never take the long view. Like children, they live in the eternal here and now. People are turned out of the blue (Windham, Luger, Murdoch, Garvin) with no build up because they need heat at some shows. They good good notices on Clash and think they've won the wrestling war. They draw a few good live gates and suddenly Dusty and Jimbo are convinced they've been right all along and should continue to run the organization even after Turner spends good money on it. You can't criticize a cowboy movie because it doesn't have ray guns. The WWF style tends toward fewer holds with much more set-up for each. Criticizing it for not equalling the workrate of some other promotion is besides the point. Workrate is all well and good, but smart fans put too much emphasis on it. Five moves aren't necessarily better than one well-executed and well set-up move." -- Bill Kunkel, Woodhaven, NY

[Seth82]

two days late but here's the 10-13-88 edition of Dave Meltzer's Wrestling Observer

WWF
-- NBC will televise three prime time wrestling specials during the season instead of just one, as had been previously reported. NBC has also agreed to broadcast the Slammys in prime time. Forbes had a story on this over the past week which seemed to be a mix of fact and fiction, as they also reported $80 million in ticket sales in the past 12 months when $40-$50 million is closer to reality. The WWF's cash flow is about $19 million, and the company would be worth about $100 million on the open market. Ad rates are about half of what a normal sitcom or game show with those ratings would sell for, which shows that advertisers just don't consider wrestling a good television buy, even though McMahon has changed the audience. Some sponsors will always be interested because of the sheer number of viewers, but they will spend more money per viewer on almost anything else.

-- The British Bulldogs are headlining the upcoming European tour. Randy Savage will work a few dates as well.

-- Arn Anderson & Tully Blanchard start at the TV tapings in Toledo.

-- The Survivor Series PPV will only have four matches.

-- 9/29 at MSG drew 13,500 headlined by Honky Tonk Man vs Ultimate Warrior and Randy Savage vs Andre the Giant. 9/30 in Denver drew 6,500 and $75,000 headlined by the same matches. 9/29 in Miami drew 7,500 headlined by Hogan vs Boss Man. 9/18 in Toronto drew 8,000 headlined by Roberts vs Rude.

-- Summerslam drew a $355,345 gate at MSG and an additional $63,376 at the Felt Forum. The combined gate is the third largest ever in the New York area. The record remains $541,730 for Bruno vs Zbyszko at Shea Stadium. Second place is Wrestlemania I at $502,000, which just barely nudges Flair vs Kerry Von Erich at Texas Stadium for the overall #5 spot of top live gates in US wrestling history. Wrestlemania III still has the record, drawing a $1,599,000 gate at the Silverdome.

-- "There was some legit backstage heat between the Bulldogs and Rougeaus stemming from an incident where Jacques Rougeau shaved the head of one of the Bulldogs' friends (a ring attendant in one of the cities who suffers from downs syndrome), which, ironically, is one of the Bulldogs' favorite hobbies (ask Outhouse Jack and Joey Marella) and it evolved into a fistfight with Dynamite either cleaning Raymond's clock, or both at once, depending on the version of the story you believe."

-- The C & D show crew will be cut back because the shows aren't drawing, and the A & B gates are down right now also. "Titan doesn't have any match which can pop a crowd at present (they are still in far better shape than the NWA which doesn't have any match which can pop a big crowd either since Flair-Luger is starting to fizzle down). Really, they desperately need to get a heel on fire and it looks like Curt Hennig will be the beneficiary, but I don't think they are even thinking about Hennig vs. Hogan, and it'll be six months before Hennig meets Savage so I think we're in for a slow period. Hogan has not drawn anything near what was expected of him since his return (part of it can be blamed on his opponents -- DiBiase was destroyed at Summer Scam far more than they realized; Brown and Haku are not main eventers and Bubba Bossman is too much like One Man Gang plus no angle has been done to get heat on their series; however in years past, Hogan always drew with foes good or bad."

-- Live gates are a bigger portion of income than Dave had been led to believe. Wrestlers had always told Dave the live gates were gravy, and merchandising was where the money was, but according to the Forbes article, the WWF only receives about 3% of the $150 million annual gross in WWF-licensed products, or about $4.5 million annually. "Figure $40 million in live gates, $12 million more in souvenir sales at live gates, $7 million as their cut of two major PPV shows, plus live gates of those shows, $5.5 million on PPV for Wrestlemania (Titan's cut of an estimated $13 million), $1.5 million on the live house, $3 million on closed circuit and $1.5 million on videos/souvenirs of WM plus all sorts of other sources like TV ad revenue, magazine, etc. It's still a very healthy business, since it has about 166 front office employees and maybe 80 wrestlers (front office employees average $27,000 per annum.)"

-- Hogan's debut in Tallahassee against Ted DiBiase only drew 3,200 fans, but they were expecting to draw 12,000 fans.

NWA
-- Rumors of Lex Luger and Ric Flair both leaving are false. Luger was still in the NWA as recently as the last house show and he has made threats and wants some type of show of good faith from the new organization, but he's still around. The rumors that Flair is already on WWF booking sheets are also false.

-- The NWA was NOT sold to TBS the previous Friday, which is what everyone said would be THE date. Dave heard the deal was that Turner would only purchase 65% of the company, with an option to buy the remaining 35%, but has yet to confirm this. The wrestlers did all receive documents to sign at the last TV taping to transfer responsibility for their contracts from JCP to TBS. TBS has stated no contracts will be renegotiated until May 1, and after the purchase, only very small changes will be made through the end of the year. However, they will be making drastic changes in the first four months of 1989.

-- Turner wants to sign key WWF wrestlers before the end of the year. They are looking at Bam Bam Bigelow, Ricky Steamboat, One Man Gang and Greg Valentine. Bigelow and Steamboat have already left, and Dave thinks OMG and Valentine would be of little value. Dave is told Bigelow's TV taping debut "was something between a bomb and a major disappointment." There is significant interest in Ricky Steamboat, and they really want Flair vs Steamboat to headline Starrcade. This is far from being finalized, as Steamboat doesn't really have much desire to return to wrestling. OMG is out since he's about to get a big push as Akeem, and Dave thinks it would be a major mistake to offer Valentine a key spot. "My own feeling is there are several guys out there who can be signed for a lot less money that would be more effective in the spot, and if they wanted to get someone from Titan, they should at least try and get someone like Bret Hart or Jake Roberts who has some charisma and isn't burned out like Valentine is and could be effective as a drawing card." They are also trying to get Eddie Gilbert back in, but Dave isn't sure if they're interested in Paul E. Dangerously, although he says it would be a mistake not to be interested.

-- Dave saw the NWA show in Chicago on 10/2. The crowd was between 5,000 and 5,500 fans and about a $65,000 gate. Rundown:

Ron Simmons vs Rip Morgan: Better than you'd expect. *1/2
Mike Rotunda vs Italian Stallion **1/4
Midnight Express vs Dick Murdoch & Dusty Rhodes in a 30-minute draw: Best match on the card, and Dave has no idea how they pulled it off. Eaton took some insane Terry Funk-style bumps. "Dusty hit a gusher on this one, to the point of it being genuinely disgusting (the cut, not Dusty in general). They kept pounding on the cut which made things even worse. It was an all action brawl from this point on and both very good and very heated with Murdoch not going (sic) any clowning." ***1/2
Fantastics vs Sheepherders: Their typical good brawl. ***1/4
Ivan & Nikita Koloff vs Russian Assassins: **1/4
Sting vs Barry Windham: Great heat during entrances, okay during the match. Good match, but too many low blows. ***1/4
Ric Flair vs Lex Luger: They are back to doing Dusty finishes in all their main events, which is killing the momentum this feud had going at the gate. ***1/4

WCCW
-- Rumors that Jerry Jarrett has bought 30 percent of WCCW are wrong. He has been in and out of Dallas and has been negotiating. Ken Mantell currently owns 30 percent and would probably be willing to sell his share. Dave thinks Jerry Jarrett is too smart to buy into the group unless he has 51 percent and full decision-making power, and most feel he is trying to do just that now.

-- WCCW is being replaced by the AWA on ESPN.

-- They have gotten out of the problems they were facing from the city of Dallas over the condition of the Sportatorium. The city will overlook the fire hazard problems as long as World Class agrees not to prepare any food on the premises. They can only sell pre-packaged food. Previously, Dallas gave WCCW until the end of the month to spend $40,000 fixing the building or they would quarantine it.

CONTINENTAL
-- Dave attended the Road to Birmingham show. His thoughts on the show? Since you asked:

Opening battle royal: *1/4
Bob Armstrong vs Tony Anthony: A 41 second match which Dave says had a really hot pace. 1/4*
Tom Pritchard vs Kokina: DUD
Dutch Mantell vs Mr. Wrestling II: 10-minute draw which lasted 8:22. II got no reaction. Dutch was the heel, but got mostly cheers. "II had one fan, noticeable because it really was only one." *
Terry Gordy vs Austin Idol: Best match of the tournament. **1/2
Jerry Stubbs vs Tim Horner: DUD
Tony Anthony vs Dutch Mantell; **1/4
Austin Idol vs Terry Gordy: -1/2*
Tom Pritchard vs Jerry Stubbs: **
Ken Wayne vs Danny Davis Hair vs Hair: **3/4

-- Brad Armstrong is starting for CWF soon. Bob Armstrong is now booking.

-- FNN is still airing the show.

NEW JAPAN
-- 9/18 in Mitsugi drew a sellout 1,340 fans. 9/19 in Toyooka drew a sellout 2,300 fans. 9/20 in Oyabe drew a sellout 2,880 mainly to see Hiroshi Hase return from his knee injury in his hometown. 9/21 in Inuyama drew a sellout 1,760 fans.

-- "I got to see the 5 vs. 5 match from 9/12 in Fukuoka and it was a solid four-stars but no match of the year. Yamada and fantastic, but he was the second guy out. Also got to see the Chigusa vs. Asuka match which was four stars plus, but I don't think they'll be having the kind of matches they used to because with the UWF popularity in Japan, submission holds are more in vogue than spectacular flying stuff. This was worked great with the most legitimate looking worked shoulder separation act I've ever seen. They did set a new world record for most streamers ever thrown before a match."

UWF
-- The latest show on 9/24 in Fukuoka drew a sellout 4,000 fans headlined by Akira Maeda vs Kazuo Yamazaki.

MISCELLANEOUS
-- "By the way, the latest issue of UWF magazine had a list of the 'toughest shooters' in the U.S. and listed the British Bulldogs, Steve Williams, Brad Rheingans, Bob Backlund, Rick Steiner, Buzz Sawyer, Mike Rotunda, Badnews Brown, Iron Sheik, David Schultz, and the Malenko brothers in no particular order for those of you who have fascination with that aspect of wrestling."

-- "I realize that many long-time fans like the look of a TV studio show. It evokes memories of the good old days when all the shows were shot in studios. But nostalgia isn't what it used to be. Today, all wrestling shows must be compared with Titan's TV product and the comparison, when limited to production values, is very much unfavorable. Despite the fact the in-ring product of the NWA is far superior, the casual fan usually can't identify these differences. What they do see on Titan are 10000 fans in a brightly lit arena having the time of their lives. it is loud, though sometimes canned, the fans response to the faces and heels are all properly orchestrated to avoid embarrassment to the promotion and has a major league look." -- Chris Zavisa on the letters page

-- "I'm sitting here watching NWA Worldwide Wrestling and they've played that 'Catch the Pinfalls' video four times. Wouldn't 'Catch the screwjobs' be more appropriate?" -- John McAdam on the letters page

[Seth82]

here's the October 24th 1988 edition of Dave Meltzer's Wrestling Observer

WWF
-- Dave doesn't expect much business from the Survivor Series PPV, since they're repeating the same team format from the year before and also says it looks like 1989 will be oversaturation for PPV since the WWF is adding an event, Turner plans to do four shows, and the AWA/WCCW/CWA group plans to do a follow-up in February.

-- "They Live" with Roddy Piper is about to open, and Dave says success here pretty much guarantees that Piper's wrestling career is over. To compare budgets, this has a $3 million, but "No Holds Barred" has a $19 million budget.

-- 10/16 in Providence drew a disappointing 6,700 fans for the "Lord of the Rings" tournament.

-- The Bulldogs and Rougeaus had ANOTHER fight, as Raymond sucker punched Dynamite Kid with a roll of coins. Dave expects Vince to intervene soon and for some guys to be history.

-- 10/5 TV taping in Toledo drew 9,500 fans. Brother Love (who Vince loves and thinks has gotten over well) interviewed Hogan and Slick sprayed something in his eyes. Then Boss Man attacked him and handcuffed him to the guard rail and Hogan did a stretcher job. 10/15 in Tacoma drew 10,300 fans and a $119,000 gate. 10/10 in Edmonton drew 15,000 fans.

-- The WWF is reaching out to athletic commissions to see if they can use blood capsules in towns where blading is banned. They feel like the reason business is down is that their heels have no heat, so they want to build up their heels, and feel like they need to do some angles with juice to get things going.

-- Hulk Hogan is coming out with a book on how to get big without using steroids. "I'm sure some of you will find that humorous."

NWA
-- Two stories going around about the NWA sale: The first is that it's done and that Turner will take over on November 1. The other is that the signing will take place this week. Terms are agreed to, but the hold up remains that JCP's creditors are unhappy about accepting 40 cents on the dollar, and Turner still wants all of the debt cleared first.

-- The Road Warriors turned heel on 10/7 in Richmond, VA. Even though it's in the can, the philosophy is to heavily tease it before it airs on TV so they can build suspense and hopefully increase TV ratings. The Road Warriors are also still on booking sheets as babyfaces through the end of the month, so they don't want the turn to air until they have fulfilled their babyface dates. The story was that the Road Warriors were facing the Varsity Club and were on the defense the whole time, then Sting tagged in and cleaned house pretty much by himself. The Roadies responded by beating him up, and Sting took a bump (a pretty awesome one, I should add) from the Doomsday Device and did a stretcher job. Luger came in neutrally to check on him, and the Road Warriors beat him up too. This was teased on TBS by just saying there was an "event" and they are "trying" to speak with the Road Warriors and Dusty Rhodes about it. Road Warriors vs Dusty Rhodes & Bam Bam Bigelow was at this point scheduled for Starrcade. Dave says the turn didn't get the heat you'd think, but probably because the crowd was really small, and there wasn't much build or story involved in the turn. Dave says if Road Warriors vs Sting & Luger doesn't draw, they are pretty much done because what else can you do with them after that?

-- The syndicated NWA ratings actually beat WWF's syndicated ratings recently, drawing a 7.8 rating on 150 stations, compared to the WWF drawing a 7.5 rating on 249 stations. Each ratings point represents about 890,000 homes. The reason for the increase was Clash III was figured into the rating. The WWF has had a drop in viewership lately, and seems to recognize it as a problem.

-- They were hinting at a big star coming in on TV, which was Steamboat, but they have stopped hinting. They still want Flair vs Steamboat for Starrcade, but the deal is said to have fallen apart. Steamboat was offered a lot of money to just do one show, then discuss doing more after that.

-- Eddie Gilbert is back in as a prelim babyface and will team with Jimmy Garvin when he returns.

-- Abdullah the Butcher is expected in to feud with Bam Bam Bigelow.

-- Greg Valentine's name is being thrown around as a potential new Horsemen, but Dave thinks Valentine is just trying to leverage a deal with Titan. Dave still says he thinks it would be a big mistake to give him that spot.

-- Paul E. Dangerously, Dennis Condrey, and Randy Rose are expected to debut in about two weeks. Dave thinks Condrey isn't the type that gets over now, and Randy Rose will be in over his head in the major leagues, but the feud will work because of Jim Cornette and Paul E. Dangerously.

-- John Studd, Bob Orton, and Tommy Rich are all rumored to be heading in after the buyout.

-- "I'm all for changing the TV shows from self-contained episodes to a soap opera type format but this bit where on the a.m. show they promised showing the tape of the Warrior angle, then hinting through two hours on the p.m. show about it and then said they won't be showing it at all until next week is not a positive step. That only serves to turn off the audience, just as leaving the matches in progress at the end of the show does. If TV ratings were going up, I'd stay quiet about these things figuring those in charge no what they are doing, but ratings have consistently gone down on every Crockett TV show over the last year-and-a-half ever since the 30 second squash/90 second interview format started."

-- 10/4 in Macon, GA drew 2,900 fans for a TV taping. 10/9 in Greensboro drew 4,000 fans and a $35,000 gate. 10/15 in Philadelphia drew 4,418 fans and a $61,087 gate. 10/16 in Baltimore drew 6,000 fans and a $64,000 gate. 9/30 in Winnipeg drew 4,000 fans. 10/1 in Brandon, Manitoba drew 1,000 fans.

-- Rick Steiner has been filling in for Lex Luger on house shows. Luger has NOT jumped to the WWF, but he has conjunctivitis, so they want him to sit out until it heals, so Flair and Tommy Young don't catch it.

-- Dave says Rick Steiner is the hottest guy in the company and it's time to do the turn, and he hopes they put him in main event feuds after doing the turn, but it doesn't appear they will.

STAMPEDE
-- Chris Benoit & Lance Idol won the tag titles, but they are already teasing a breakup angle.

-- Gary Albright is in and is athletic and agile, but very green. Dave says he reminds him a lot of Steve Williams at the same stage.

-- Johnny Smith and Biff Wellington had a ****+ match on TV recently. Dave says Wellington reminds him of Bret Hart in terms of wrestling ability, but he doesn't have Bret's charisma.

CONTINENTAL
-- Masa Chono is in under a mask as a heel.

-- Crowds have gone way down.

WCCW
-- Jerry Jarrett has purchased 30% of World Class and Eric Embry will be running the office. Dave suspects that just like with Ken Mantell, this will end with the Von Erichs back in power. There is some doubt that this story is true, as Jerry Jarrett is known for presenting himself as being broke to the wrestlers and talking about how business is down. Dave says in theory, Jarrett could turn around the company if given the book, because his track record is really positive.

MEMPHIS
-- Interesting show on 10/17 at Mid South Coliseum, headlined by Lawler defending against Tatsumi Fujinami. Chigusa Nagayo will also be facing Candi Devine on the undercard. The crowd is expected to be small, but this is a huge deal in Japan, as Fujinami and Nagayo, the top two stars in Japan, will be working the same show. They tried to get Fujinami over on TV by showing a clip of him pinning Jimmy Snuka and Lance Russell saying he is considered bar none the best wrestler in Japan. Lawler also did an interview saying he had never seen Fujinami and didn't know his style, and wasn't sure he'd be able to hold on to the title, because he wouldn't have time to prepare.

-- Downtown Bruno did an adoption angle with Phil Hickerson and is now calling him "Daddy Phil" on TV, while Phil refers to Bruno as his son.

-- Sid Vicious is in and has joined the Stud Stable. They are building toward a split from the group and babyface turn.

OREGON
-- Tatsumi Fujinami won the PNW title from The Grappler on 10/15. Dave is surprised that they billed him as the world champion since Flair was just in billed as the world champion a few weeks prior. The angle was that Grappler said he would relinquish his title if he couldn't beat Fujinami, and they ended up wrestling to a 30-minute draw. The match was said to be really good, and by the end of it, Fujinami was as over as anyone in the territory by the end of it due to his selling and facial expressions. There were no highspots, it was entirely mat exchanges, but the crowd got really into it. The show drew about 800 fans, compared to about 1,100 for Flair, and neither match was taped for television.

-- Moondog Moretti will be booking a rival group called Pacific Coast Wrestling Association starting 10/22, using Canadian wrestlers like Timothy Flowers, and local wrestlers like Rip Oliver and Mike Miller. They are adamant about not using Billy Jack Haynes.

-- Art Barr is out of action following knee surgery.

-- There were problems with the Flair show in Portland, as the athletic commission wanted him to do a physical before letting him wrestle. Flair tried to get out of it by producing a report from a physician, but it didn't have a drug test included, which is an Oregon requirement. So they had to take him to a local hospital to do a drug test. He passed the drug test, but it caused a show delay, and Flair was in a terrible mood until the match started, then he was fine.

PUERTO RICO
-- The arraignment for Jose Gonzales was postponed because key witness Tony Atlas failed to show up at the hearing. Legally, Atlas is required to attend the hearing on 11/2 and can be extradited to Puerto Rico if needed since this is a murder case. Atlas has told other wrestlers he has received death threats if he testifies against Gonzales, but he is the key witness, as he witnessed the stabbing.

ALL JAPAN
-- Dave thinks the lineup for this year's Real World Tag League is the weakest in the entire history of the tournament.

-- Doug Furnas is getting over well with his high flying moves.

-- Jumbo Tsuruta will wrestle Stan Hansen this week, with the winner facing Tenryu on 10/28 in Yokohama.

-- The Rock & Roll Express were just added to the latest tour.

-- Two weeks of TV were pre-empted because Emperor Hirohito was in critical condition and they were doing round-the-clock reports.

NEW JAPAN
-- Instead of the traditional tag tournament, New Japan, citing their success with 5 x 5 matches at the gate in the last year, wants to do a six-man elimination tournament.

-- Antonio Inoki is going to return in the next series. Fujinami, due to his U.S. and Germany tours, will miss the entire tour. The opening night drew 8,600 fans in Taiwan, in a 13,000-seat, where Dave is told they would have drawn more, but the tickets were expensive. Inoki is deeply in debt, as he lost $10 million in experimental Brazilian cattle feeding. This money loss is what caused him to underpay talent in 1982-1983 during the boom, and one of the things that led to Choshu jumping to All Japan. He made a business trip to Australia on 8/15, and when he returned to Japan, they asked him to return for the next series. However, on 8/22, he started talking to Shinma and decided to play hardball. On 8/26, he had a meeting with Choshu, Sakaguchi, Fujinami, and Saito, and said he would only come back if he was reinstated as the top star of the company. He also refused to do commentary on the same show. He then left for the U.S. to meet with Vince McMahon and Jack Petrick, but nothing came of the meeting, although Inoki and Hiroshi Hase attended a show at the Meadowlands. There are three factions in New Japan at war right now: Inoki supporters, Fujinami supporters, and Choshu supporters, although Choshu is not as adamant about being the top star and is considered the "swing vote". Anyway, by 9/19, Inoki was in charge again, and told the locker room, "I am the President of New Japan. If someone disobeys my orders, the wrestler will be fired." Fujinami got pissed and left, which is why he is touring the U.S. and Germany. He may not come back, even though he holds the IWGP title, which would be a huge loss, as he is second in popularity only to Maeda in the country.

[Seth82]

the December 26th 1988 edition of Wrestling Observer

WWF
-- The WWF runs its first show at Charlotte Coliseum on 1/8 headlined by Hogan vs Boss Man.

-- 12/4 in Hamilton, Ontario drew 11,000 headlined by Hogan vs Boss Man. 12/10 in Kansas City drew 7,000 for their first show in nearly a year, headlined by Hogan vs Boss Man. 12/16 in Denver drew 4,500 headlined by Hogan vs Boss Man. 12/17 in Philadelphia drew 5,723 headlined by Savage vs Haku.

-- Owen is returning on 12/26, but will not be close to 100 percent.

-- "Warrior and Jimmy Hart had a harrowing experience on 12/5, as they were on their way from a South Florida show up to Daytona Beach. Hart stopped at a convenience store and an escaped convict pulled a gun on him. Ironically, Warrior showed up a moment later, not knowing the guy had a gun, and got out of his car and asked if there was any trouble. Supposedly (and these are the kind of stories that can get exaggerated greatly), the felon told Hart he was going to shoot his big friend and pointed the gun at him, but saw that Warrior had left the keys in his car so the guy took off in his car. I've heard two versions of what happened next -- one was the convict flipped the car 16 miles down the road and was killed; the other that the police took off after him, he flipped the car, and was killed trying to escape the police."

NWA
-- Clash IV averaged a 4.5 rating, 6.8 share and 2.17 million homes. This was the first time a Clash didn't consistently build throughout the show, but they were also in direct competition with first-run programming on the major networks for the first time ever.

-- 12/10 on TBS drew a 3.1 rating and Main Event was back up to a 2.5.

-- Negotiations with Tenryu have fallen through.

-- Windham and Gilbert went nearly 30 minutes in a match taped 12/12. They taped a show on 12/15 in Raleigh that had the Original Midnight Express and Fantastics going 42 to 52 minutes in a 2/3 falls match.

-- The NWA is going toward longer matches on TV and more clean pinfalls by heels on house shows.

-- 12/16 in Winston-Salem drew 3,000 headlined by Sting/Luger/Dusty vs Road Warriors/Windham.

-- Dusty's future is a big question mark. He's in through Starrcade, but expected to leave shortly after. He has talked to Vince, but those in the WWF say no way will a deal be reached. There are rumors that he and Bill Watts will open a new promotion, or that he will take a lot of the NWA guys and open a new territory in Florida.

-- Crockett is working hard to ensure that Starrcade is a well-organized show and is laid out in advance.

-- Big changes to the booking team are expected when Herd officially comes in on 1/3. There are rumors of pretty much everyone being booker.

SUPERCLASH
-- "Well, the AWA and Superclash III are history, probably in more ways than one. I suppose it was a noble attempt to try and keep up the facade that they are major league, and it wasn't the worst pay-per-view event of the year, but they were attempting something totally out of their league. The matches themselves ranged from very bad to very good, the production values were terrible, camera work fairly bad, crowd heat non-existent except for the main event, none of the matches, save the main event, had an aura of being anything special or the card being anything special, and the announcing -- well, just plain the worst."

-- Paid attendance was just under 1,700 fans with a $26,000 gate. They gave away nearly 3,000 freebies, but a lot of them didn't show up. Early reports indicate a 0.8 buyrate, which would be the lowest of any wrestling PPV in history.

-- The rundown:

* Chavo/Mando/Hector vs Cactus/RPMs: The Guerreros got over well with the crowd, and Cactus took a backdrop on the concrete. Finish was awesome, but work in the match was average. **1/2

* Embry vs Jarrett: Both guys were booed during introductions, even though they are both babyfaces on TV, but that was a pattern throughout the night. Verne stated there was no love lost between the two, not realizing they are tag team partners. Jarrett took a crazy bump off of an Embry clothesline that did wake the crowd up. "My feeling is Jeff is just too 'pretty' for his own good, especially since this was a largely male crowd.' Both guys did as much as they could, but needed more time to tell a story and deliver a match. **1/4

* Jimmy Valiant vs Wayne Bloom: Bloom showed enough in 24 seconds to be thankful it didn't go any longer. DUD

* Iceman vs Brickhouse Brown: Mainly stalling between decent spots early on, but the little work they did was stiff and looked good until the finish. *1/2

* Richter & Top Guns vs Badd Company & Madusa: Horrible match, although Tanaka took great bumps, but he couldn't carry everyone else in the match. Lots of aimless action. 1/2*, only for Tanaka's bumps

* Greg Gagne vs Ron Garvin: Dave gives credit to Garvin for showing up and fulfilling a date he committed to doing, even though Vince probably wanted him to bail. He also put Greg over, although not by pinfall, which is understandable. They worked stiff with hard chops but the crowd didn't respond. Garvin was supposed to be heel, but was cheered as the babyface. "There is nothing left in this business for Greg, and that's not a comment on his work, just a comment on how he is perceived by the fans and the reality of the situation which won't change. Eras change and Greg's out of place in today's mat world, as, unfortunately, were several former heavy hitters in this business who appeared on this card." * for the effort and stiffness, but DUD for crowd reaction

* Beverly Hills Lingerie Battle Royal: The largely male crowd did get into the match waiting for clothes to be torn off, but Dave thinks they overreached on this match in a way that cost them ticket sales. Dave says if there is a market for POWW and David McLane can keep it alive, good for him, but it " ... was being presented as pro wrestling here, and it was a huge blight on the wrestling profession." David McLane comes across as the Jim Bakker of wrestling.

* Sgt. Slaughter vs Col. DeBeers: Dave calls Slaughter "a 320-pound relic of the wrestling boom". "Lee Marshall voice booms and says how the crowd is chanting (sic), 'USA, USA' and in the background we hear no noise except for one woman who screams from ringside, 'Slaughter, you suck.'" "At five minutes, Sheik Adnan-El Kaissey ran in and Slaughter put the cobra on him. Then came the Iron Sheik. I was waiting for Hans Schmidt, Kurt Von Hess and Mr. Moto to run in so Verne could jump out of the broadcast booth and run them all off. Can't they develop an original angle with guys they can build up into meaning something?"

* Hayes/Cox vs SST: Timing between the four is excellent, as they have worked together quite a bit. Second best match of the night. **3/4

* Wahoo McDaniel vs Manny Fernandez: Manny tried, but Wahoo's days are done and no one cares about him. 1/2*

* Jerry Lawler vs Kerry Von Erich: They used the same finish as Flair/Luger in Baltimore, but pulled it off much better here. Both Kerry and Lawler were told that they were winning this match and Kerry nearly refused to work the show when he found out he had been double-crossed. Dave is unsure if this was the original finish, or a last-minute compromise to keep Kerry happy. Fans were there for this match and Kerry in particular, although some fans cheered Lawler over him. Lawler played heel in the match. We were told both guys have beaten Flair, Hogan and Savage, which sets Dave off on correcting the record. There wasn't a single wrestling move in the match, but it had tremendous heat. ***3/4

* Rock & Rolls vs Fuller/Golden: No heat, and a mostly empty building. *

-- "I enjoyed this show more than the Bunkhouse Stampede, Wrestlemania or Summerslam, but some of it was because of the campy and disorganized nature of the show."

-- There is a new belt being made for Lawler. Jarrett wants there to be one title, but Verne still wants the AWA title to be separate.

JARRETT
-- Crowds are still small here. 12/12 drew 1,400 for Lawler vs Kamala while Savage vs Rude for the WWF drew 2,800 on 12/16 at Mid South Coliseum. Because ticket prices are so low, they lowered prices to $5, $3, and $1 for the 12/19 show.

-- On the 12/17 TV, Lawler came out to say he was taking a few weeks off to celebrate his title win, but Dutch Mantel ended up goading him into a match on 12/19 by spitting tobacco in his face.

-- Terry Garvin of Beauty & The Beast asked Tracy Smothers to join their group so they could go out to dinner together. Smothers refused so they attacked him and put make-up on him.

-- Jimmy Garvin has no future dates. The rumor is that he's out of wrestling now, working in the roofing business in Charlotte with his mother.

OREGON
-- 12/10 in Portland drew 2,000 for Top Gun vs Buddy Rose in a hair vs hair match where Rose was shaved bald.

-- They are running a combined show with the NWA on 1/12 headlined by Flair vs Sting.

-- They are doing a gimmick where heels refuse to wrestle after the time limit expires as an excuse to raise ticket prices.

STAMPEDE
-- Outside teams will be coming in to feud with the Bulldogs since local fans don't seem to see anyone in the territory at their level. There is talk of bringing in the Funks in February.

ALL JAPAN
-- Stan Hansen and Terry Gordy won the tag tournament, beating Tenryu & Kawada in the final. Dave will have more details next week.

-- Baba is promoting shows in the U.S. on 2/2 in Kansas City, 2/3 in Calgary, 2/4 in Portland and possibly a show in Las Vegas.

-- TV ratings are consistent with the 11/27 show drawing a 7.8 and the 12/4 show drawing a 7.4.

NEW JAPAN
-- The tournament championship on 12/7 in Osaka drew 5,740 fans in the 7,000 seat Furitsu Gym.

-- Inoki, Hashimoto, Saito, Choshu, Hase and Inoki's brother-in-law left for the Soviet Union immediately after the tour to coach the Soviet wrestlers on the pro style. They will be there until 1/4, when they have a show they are all working in Tokyo.

-- 12/9 drew a sellout 2,200 fans to see Fujinami vs Kerry in a unification match.

UWF
-- 12/22 in Osaka has already sold out for Backlund vs Takada. Thousands of fans stood in line overnight. Takada and Maeda did a good PR gesture, bringing the fans waiting coffee and juice, having conversations, signing autographs, etc.

-- The biggest test of the UWF's popularity comes on 1/16 when they try to sell out the 16,000-seat Budokan Hall with Maeda vs Backlund. There is concern that Backlund isn't a strong enough opponent for Maeda to headline that show.

-- Terry Funk is interested in a match against Maeda, but there have been no negotiations to make the match as of yet.

OTHER
-- Larry Moquin, a major star in Quebec from the late 1940s to the late 1960s, died of cancer on 12/12 at 65 years old. Moquin, Eduardo Carpentier and the Rougeaus were the leading babyfaces in Quebec during a few major boom periods.

[Schlomey]

my favorite one that I actually read was where they said that Michael Hayes would outdraw Hogan in Atlanta..... hahhahahahhahahah

[Seth82]

here's the February 8th 1988 edition of The Wrestling Observer

WWF/NWA WAR
-- "The biggest news story in this business in probably the last few decades is the pro wrestling war and Vince McMahon's rise to prominence. The wrestling war, which began in November 1983 when Titan Sports signed Hulk Hogan and Gene Okerlund away from the AWA, is for all real purposes, over. No, the business competition is still there between Titan and the other promotions, particularly JCP. And the two groups will continue to attempt to play little mind games with each other. But whether or not JCP can make a small recovery, or even a full recovery from its recent troubles, and even pop big houses again, the gap between Titan and Crockett is only going to expand."

-- Dave says it's a busy news week, but he feels the biggest news story of the week hasn't gotten much attention. The WWF announced plans for several pay-per-views: Wrestlemania IV on March 27, an unnamed PPV on August 29, "Survivor Series II" on November 24 and "Royal Rumble II" on January 15, 1989. "On the surface it sounds harmless enough, but its effect on JCP is enormous." Crockett planned originally to do the Crockett Cup on PPV in early April, one of the Great American Bash shows in July, and was going to have Starrcade on November 24. But the WWF has a 60 days before and 21 days after clause in their PPV contracts. Survivor Series was a big success and Wrestlemania IV is expected to break Wrestlemania III's record and be the biggest grossing event in the history of PPV, and the WWF's monopoly prevents Crockett from effectively breaking into the market.

-- "The long-term impact of PPV is such that eventually, like boxing, it will turn the live gate into an insignificant part of the overall business." (My note: Wow! He called that one.) He says it's not an unreasonable prediction to say that Wrestlemania IV will be a bigger money than any other promotion will likely make in the entire 1988 calendar year. He doesn't expect the NWA to die as a result, but says the competition aspect means nothing now.

-- Crockett plans on countering this by moving several of its big shows to prime time specials on TBS, and has plans of having four prime-time specials this year. And unlike the previous year's Superbouts on the Superstation, which was a huge flop, these will be major cards either shown live or only slightly delayed.

WWF
-- The Royal Rumble drew an 8.2 rating and a 12 share, airing in 3.2 million homes. About twice as many people watched the show as would watch TBS when Georgia Championship Wrestling was hot a few years prior. The Rumble was the highest-rated show in the history of the USA Network, and the repeat drew a strong 4.8 rating in the Prime Time Wrestling spot on Monday nights when they normally average a 2.9 in that time slot. The repeat showing was probably the #2-rated show on cable television during last week.

-- Wrestlemania IV has already sold out Trump Plaza in Atlantic City. 14,000 seats went on sale at prices of $150, $100, $50 and $25 and all but a few thousand were gone by the end of the first day. Because of the ticket prices, this show may actually pull a higher gate than Wrestlemania III at the Pontiac Silverdome, which had a $1.6 million gate with lower ticket prices. When you add in the fees Vince is likely charging the casino to do the show, it could exceed $1 million easily. Trump Plaza is promoting it hard and using it as a way to bring families into casinos. (My note: Ha!) A concert from Gloria Estefan and the Miami Sound Machine will be taking place adjacent to the convention center ballroom, and the WWF estimate is that the show will be available in 9 million homes. "If it gets over as good as last year's, and there is no reason to believe it won't do as good or better, then you are talking about $15 million plus on PPV alone, not to mention $1 million live and probably $4-5 million on closed-circuit locations."

-- The Saturday World Championship Wrestling ratings were way down in the fourth quarter of 1987. It had been the second highest rated program on cable TV and fell to No. 8 with an average 2.9 rating. WWF All American Wrestling was actually doing better ratings at this point, averaging a 3.1 and coming in at 7th place. Prime Time Wrestling fell from No. 3 to No. 10 with a 2.9 average, and the Sunday show on TBS fell from No. 10 to No. 20 with a 2.4 rating. The AWA show on ESPN has fallen completely out of the top 20. Some of the decline is attributed to "people-meters", which is a new method of measuring ratings. Shows that appeal to women tend to do better than normal, so it was expected the switch would cause a delcline. Most wrestling shows dropped 10% in the fourth quarter, but it may not mean anything significant. The Saturday TBS show started picking up toward the end of the year, and they're continuing in that direction lately by doing more arena tapings.

-- Jake Roberts is on the cover of this month's Ellery Queen mystery magazine, and Muscular Development magazine has a story on Jesse Ventura, which Dave says is excellent but is more about his life and training philosophies.

-- The British Bulldogs had no-showed a few times. Dynamite Kid has been missing several dates over the past week. "One of them" collapsed at the airport and the other went to the hospital with him, but no word on if it's anything major or not.

-- Billy Jack Haynes, who has missed pretty much all of his bookings lately, is in bad health, to a point where most think his wrestling career is about to end.

-- Bam Bam Bigelow has undergone arthroscopic knee surgery and there is no word on when he'll be back. Dave says wrestlers have been telling him for a long time that Bigelow working like he does at his size was eventually going to catch up to him.

-- There were so many no-shows on a recent Cow Palace show, which drew 8,000 and a $93,000 gate, that the athletic commission ordered the WWF to offer refunds to anyone who wanted them by the end of the second match. This was just a few days after the California state assembly voted 60-7 to reclassify pro wrestling as entertainment instead of sport, but the bill had not yet passed the state Senate. Wrestlers will no longer need a license to work in California, which was a joke anyway, as Dave got a listing of everyone not long ago who was licensed in California, and Hulk Hogan and Ricky Steamboat were nowhere to be found.

-- Something happened recently at a house show where a wrestler (Dave didn't say who) who wasn't supposed to be able to speak English was stalling outside the ring for most of a match. A fan shouted, "Get in the ring you lazy bum" and the wrestler responded, "What do you think this is, the NWA?"

-- The Royal Rumble show in Hamilton actually drew 16,200 fans, but around 10,000 of the tickets were tie-ins giving a free ticket to a hockey game. Live reports haven't been good regarding the show.

-- 01/25 at MSG drew a 19,750 sellout and a $236,000 house headlined by Hulk Hogan & Bam Bam Bigelow vs Ted DiBiase & Virgil. The 02/22 card is expected to be headlined by DiBiase vs Bigelow. 01/30 in Baltimore drew 5,500 headlined by Honky Tonk Man & Greg Valentine vs Randy Savage & Brutus Beefcake. 01/15 in Los Angeles drew 10,000+ headlined by Randy Savage vs Honky Tonk Man in a cage match. 01/21 in Winnipeg drew 2,500 headlined by Randy Savage vs Honky Tonk Man. 01/22 in Rochester, NY, drew 3,500 headlined by a Bunkhouse Battle Royal won by Don Muraco. 01/19 in Calgary drew a sellout 8,500 headlined by Randy Savage vs Honky Tonk Man.

-- The 01/26 Hershey, PA TV taping drew a sellout 9,000. Standout matches were a really good Rude/Steamboat match taped for Superstars, and the main event, which was Hogan & Bigelow vs DiBiase & Andre. Because this will air after the NBC special, the commentary was not done live for this taping, and will instead be done in studio later in the week.

-- The WWF will decide on exactly which finish they're going with in Hogan/Andre as soon as they know the shooting schedule of No Holds Barred. If he's available on weekends, he will be champion over summer. If he won't be available at all for several months, expect DiBiase to get the title.

NWA
-- Figures aren't in yet for the Bunkhouse Stampede, but even if it was profitable, the reaction was so overwhelmingly negative that no good could have come from it. Preliminary figures have a buyrate of 4.0, which if true, proves that JCP could be profitable on pay-per-view. Dave considers this somewhat encouraging, just because the line-up was weak and it wasn't really a hot show. Dave says the announcers deserve tons of credit for doing such a great job with the last-minute hard sell, as PPV and closed circuit is typically 90% of last minute sales.

-- The Rock & Roll Express were fired. In Cincinnati, they were asked to do a clean job in a 12-minute match against Ivan Koloff & Warlord. They were pissed about it, because they had been a big attraction for the NWA for years, and Ivan had become a prelim guy. Instead, they ended up doing the job in seconds when Morton basically just laid down. Dusty wasn't at the show, but got word after the Rock & Rolls had flown to New York for the Bunkhouse Stampede, and then fired them. There are rumors of them going to the WWF, but most people think Vince will never give them a chance because of their size. They were also asked to do an angle where the Sheepherders would shave Ricky Morton's head bald and refused. A Charlotte newspaper reported that the Rock & Roll Express had left, and the NWA received quite a few calls about it. It appears they'll be working for Jerry Blackwell's group in Georgia now, at least until they can land somewhere full time, which Dave doesn't think will be easy. "I supposed Vince could always bring in Ricky Morton to do lead vocals on Wrestling Album III for his classic 'Boogie Woogie Dance Hall'".

-- Michael Hayes was fired "due to an incident in the middle of last week." Ron Garvin will take his place in tag matches against Jimmy Garvin, and Sting will get a bigger push and take his place in title matches on house shows against Ric Flair. It's expected that Hayes will end up back in WCCW, although he wants to go to the WWF.

-- Steve Williams ended up spending an extra week in Japan and missed the Bunkhouse Stampede. He had a dispute with Crockett over whether income from Japanese tours is part of his NWA annual salary. Dave says as best as he can tell, Doc has disconnected his phone line and they are not talking, although they hope he'll come back. They are no longer mentioning his name on TV, so they're not counting on it.

-- The general feeling is that all the firings are because Crockett is having money problems, not because wrestlers are having disciplinary problems. With Hayes, Dave is now hearing that he and Crockett agreed to come to terms on his contract a long time ago (two years at $150,000 per year) but Crockett never actually signed it. Hayes pressured him to sign it, because he wasn't making money, and he ended up getting fired for missing Cincinnati on 01/23. Had Hayes signed the contract, Crockett would have been required to promote his album on TV in exchange for a cut of the sales.

-- They are showing life at the gate. The bench press contest in Greensboro on 01/30 drew 10,000+, and they did actually use legit weights, with all four doing 460 lbs with no problem. Paul Ellering then grabbed the house mic and said to cut the garbage and increase to 600 lbs. Animal was to go first, and they threw chalk in his eyes and did a really hardcore attack angle. He juiced and was carried out on a stretcher and was taken to the hospital.

-- Barry Windham and Lex Luger are being pushed as a tag team and Flair is going to continue feuding with Sting.

-- The actual gate for the Bunkhouse Stampede was $60,000 which means paid attendance was around 5,000, which is pretty bad for that market, especially since their first show there did a $150,000 gate.

-- Clarification from last week: "The line Road Warrior Hawk has been spouting off isn't Neo Nazi Zoom Dweebies, but 'Neo Maxi Zoom Dweebies."

-- "Eddie Gilbert is still working here, but it appears they are trying to keep that a secret."

-- JCP has started doing local promos to hype house shows again, which Dave thinks is a step in the right direction.

-- The Mighty Wilbur will be back in March

-- Everyone who lives in Dallas has been asked to move to Charlotte, but Dusty Rhodes, JJ Dillon and Jim Crockett are still expected to be moving during summer. They are expected to keep two offices open -- one in Charlotte where talent mostly lives, and one in Dallas for TV production.

-- Tiger Conway Jr & Shaska Whatley will team in the Crockett Cup.

-- Mike Rotunda won the TV title on 01/26 in Raleigh, from Nikita Koloff. Dave says the Varsity Club angle has been fun, but he doesn't think Rotunda will get over with the title. He gave Rick Steiner the Florida title, which Dave found interesting, since Dusty had just done a promo on TV about how this is the NWA and you don't buy belts in the NWA.

-- 01/29 in Pittsburgh drew 6,500 headlined by Ric Flair vs Sting. 01/23 in Philadelphia drew 7,214 paid and a $103,416 gate. 01/14 in Fisherville, VA drew 1,200 and a $10,000 gate. 01/28 in Harrisburg, PA drew a sellout of 1,000 and a $10,000 gate headlined by Barry Windham & Ron Garvin vs The Sheepherders. The Rock & Roll Express no-showed. There were signs on the door announcing they wouldn't be there, and when the ring announcer said it, the crowd cheered.

-- The past week's World Wide Wrestling aired two sets of commentary at the same time overlapping each other, so the show was all jibberish.

-- They are setting up Dusty Rhodes vs Larry Zbyskzo US title matches. Baby Doll is blackmailing Dusty with secret photos to get a title match on her terms.

-- Misty Blue is in to be part of some house show matches in 8-man tags featuring Jim Cornette.

-- Dick Murdoch is leaving for Japan again, which saddens Dave because he was one of the few non-stale, entertaining guys they had anymore.

-- They did an angle recently where it was Ric Flair Night in Raleigh, NC. Sting beat up JJ Dillon after a Horsemen celebration over Ric Flair winning Wrestler of the Year. On the same show, Barry Windham subbed for Hayes and lost to Flair, and Lex Luger & Ricky Santana beat Arn Anderson & Tully Blanchard.

AWA
-- Kelly Kiniski has been fired, and they have pretty much no heels left.

-- Tom Zenk is signed to face Billy Robinson on the 02/04 show at the Minneapolis Auditorium, the last show at the arena before it is torn down, and Dave is surprised by that match, because independent promotions won't use Robinson because of his rep of shooting, and that he could easily show Zenk up/

-- Baron Von Raschke and the Nasty Boys are now full-time. Steve DiSalvo is splitting time between the AWA and Calgary.

-- Adrian Adonis suffered a broken ankle during the Minot, ND, TV tapings. There was a hole in the ring and Adonis stepped into it during an Irish whip spot. This also caused him to miss his scheduled New Japan tour, and he's not expected back for at least two months.

-- Kevin Kelly and Sheik Adnan Al-Kaissey got into a fight while taping a promo that started as a work before tempers started flaring and they were really fighting. Kaissey was beaten to a pulp.

-- An AWA album will be coming out soon, featuring Greg Gagne, Baron Von Raschke, Wahoo McDaniel, Jerry Blackwell, Tommy Rich, Dick Slater, Jerry Lawler, Jeff Jarrett, the Midnight Rockers and Tom Zenk. The album is being recorded in Atlanta. Blackwell, Rich and Slater were there because the Gagnes helped them get an insurance break for their new promotion. Lawler and Jarrett were there because there is planned to be more talent swapping between both territories in the future. In fact, Curt Hennig is scheduled to work a heavy schedule for CWA because the AWA is no longer running a full schedule.

STAMPEDE
-- 01/22 in Calgary drew 1,300, which is slightly below their average as of late, but still really strong considering the WWF's recent sellout in Calgary just three days before this show. The main event was Makhan Singh & Rip Rogers vs Jason the Moffat & Chris Benoit. The finish was Rogers putting Benoit in a Boston crab-like hold and the ref calling for the bell right away.

-- The pregnant woman Bad News Allen hit while brawling in the crowd recently suffered a concussion. He was fined $200.

MEMPHIS
-- Terry Taylor is already gone, and headed to World Class.

-- Billy Travis is out with an injury from Darryl Peterson landing on him wrong.

-- They are billing Peterson as a Larry Sharpe protege that has come to get revenge on Lawler for how Lawler made Bigelow turn on Sharpe. They did an angle on TV where Peterson tossed Lawler over the table, which looked so bad that the studio audience booed it.

CONTINENTAL
-- The mink coat tournament drew 8,000 fans on 01/23.
The tournament final saw Bob Armstrong beat Tony Anthony to win the coat. Dave is amazed by the crowd size. It's the biggest crowd any non-NWA/WWF promotion has drawn in about 8 months in North America, and it happened on a card without Doug Furnas, who Dave credited for the recent big crowds in Knoxville. Knoxville is a huge town for them right now, but the Alabama towns just aren't drawing. Birmingham crowds are usually around 350, and Montgomery crowds are around 150.

-- Hector Guerrero, the Rock & Roll RPM's, the Mongolian Stomper, Ron Wright and Buddy Landell are coming in.

-- Ron Fuller will take over Knoxville effective 02/14 and it will be called USA Championship Wrestling. They are promoting Terry Gordy on the show.

-- Dave still needs a tape supplier.

WCCW
-- WCCW recently drew only 80 people to a house show in Houston headlined by Kevin & Kerry Von Erich, The Fantastics & Chris Adams vs Buddy Roberts, Angel of Death, The Real Thing, John Tatum & Jack Victory in a Thunderdome match. 80 people!

-- Crowds in Dallas have picked up to 2,500 for the Thunderdome matches, but remain at 300 in Fort Worth.

-- Terry Gordy is getting his knee scoped in the coming week.


NJPW
-- Antonio Inoki has announced a late July show called "Martial Arts Olympic" at the 55,000-seat Tokyo Dome. Dave is unsure of the prices, but they have charged as much as $220 US ringside for big shows in the previous two years and sold out those shows in major indoor arenas. Inoki's matches with Leon Spinks and Masa Saito both drew gates of over $700,000, and if Inoki vs Futuhaguro (Koji Kitao) happens, it is expected to double that. The 01/29 Tokyo Sports listed Leon Spinks, Michael Spinks, Larry Holmes, Andre the Giant, Hulk Hogan, Chris Dolman and Don Nakaya Neilsen as possible opponents. Dave thinks Futuhaguro is probably the best bet, because they have no chance with Michael Spinks or Holmes, and Inoki has already beaten Andre, Hogan and Leon Spinks. There's also that getting Hogan to job to Inoki at this stage would be impossible.

-- Inoki recently toured Italy, and headlined a show on 01/24 at the Palasport in Rome that drew 8,000 fans in a 15,000-seat basketball arena paying $16 and $30. Inoki was the big draw and got a huge reaction beating Bad News Allen in the main event. On the undercard, Shane Douglas won a 6-man battle royal and had a singles match he won against Mike Kalhua. Inoki received a $10,000 guarantee for working two dates in Italy. These were the first Western-style matches in Italy since October, when the WWF drew a crowd of 9,000 in Milan.

-- 01/22 drew 2,160. 01/27 drew 3,570 headlined by Antonio Inoki, Kengo Kimura & Shiro Koshinaka vs Buzz Sawyer, Bob Orton & Tony St. Clair.

-- The 01/11 TV show drew a 7.1 rating headlined by Antonio Inoki & Nobuhiko Takada vs Owen Hart & Steve Williams. The 01/18 TV show drew an 8.2 rating headlined by Antonio Inoki & Nobuhiko Takada vs Masa Saito & Big Van Vader. The 01/25 TV show drew a 7.2 rating with a Riki Choshu, Masa Saito & Hiroshi Hase vs Steve Williams, Buzz Sawyer & Owen Hart main event.

-- Owen Hart vs Nobuhiko Takada was a supposed strong standout on the 01/13 Takamatsu card. Owen is doing lots of jobs, but he's showing really well in popularity polls in the Japanese magazines.

-- Finals to the juniors tournament are 02/07 in Sapporo. Masakatsu Funaki is currently in 1st place with 36 points.

AJPW
-- Genichiro Tenryu took a clean sweep of the major awards in Japan. He was named MVP of Japanese wrestling by Tokyo Sports, and received similar awards from Gong Magazine and Weekly Pro Wrestling. He nudged out Riki Choshu in Gong's popularity poll, and Choshu had been on top for several years.

-- 01/27 drew 3,100 headlined by Jumbo Tsuruta, Kabuki & Masa Fuchi vs Genichiro Tenryu, Ashura Hara & Samson Fuyuki. Buddy Landell was not on the show, but Dave is unsure the reason.

-- They are hyping a huge show for 03/09 in an 8,000-seat arena in Yokohama to be headlined by Genichiro Tenryu vs Stan Hansen in a double title match with Tenryu putting up the United National title against Hansen's PWF belt, which Dave says will no doubt end in a countout. The show will also have Jumbo Tsuruta vs Tiger Mask.

-- Baba is in the US negotiating with the Funks and David Manning about getting AJPW to air in the United States. Baba wants to send Gordy, Hansen, Brody, Abdullah, Snuka and some of his other top stars to help weaker territories fight Vince and Crockett.

-- Toshiaki Kawada and Ricky Fuyuki are being billed as "The Foot Loose" and are a hot preliminary-level tag team.

JOSHI
-- 02/25 in Kawasaki is being hyped pretty huge and will be headlined by Dump Matsumoto & Yukari Omori (who will be retiring that night) against the Crush GIrls.

-- TV ratings leveled off to a 6.2 on 01/10 and a 9.2 on 01/24.

-- AJW held their rookie auditions on 01/17 in Tokyo. 1,500 girls showed up and seven were picked, based on how well they did at weightlifting, dexterity drills, speed and calistenics. "I think this is one of two reasons it's ridiculous to even compare the Japanese women with any U.S. promotion. First off, only the top 1/2 of a percent in terms of athletic ability even get chosen to be trained in the first place, and then they train them like spartans from the age of 15-17 and by the time they are around 22, if they've even survived, they are better workers than virtually all the men. Then they are done away with at the age of 26, so nobody stars on past their time."

PUERTO RICO
-- Keiji Muto is currently working as a manager for Mr. Pogo & Kendo Nagasaki

READER LETTERS
-- Jeff Goldberg in Hatboro, PA, insists that Mike Lanzalotti's letter saying he messed up the finish to a recent Flair match in Philly was out of place, as Flair congratulated him afterwards on a job well done. He says most of the time, wrestlers screw up finishes, not the referee.

-- Chris Ranucci in Brooklyn, NY, hated the Bunkhouse Stampede. Crockett created ill will by not allowing any press who wanted in except Bill Apter and George Napolitano. He says Crockett is dumb and doesn't realize the mark mags are on his side and want to help him beat Vince McMahon, and he's alienating crowds everywhere.

-- Greg Roman in Ventor, NJ, was upset that Crockett announced that his cable company would be airing the Bunkhouse Stampede, despite them not even being open that day and having no intentions of doing so.

-- Bob Saydlowski Jr in Pittsfield, MA, thinks Antonio Inoki is as bad as Dusty Rhodes, and is also upset that Vince was not using real 2:00 time intervals for the Royal Rumble, calling it "cheating".

-- Harry White in St. Louis says Crockett has been advertising $3.00 tickets, but then when you show up, all the $3 tickets are sold out and they try to get you to buy $9 tickets. Most people turn around and go home.

-- Jeff Bowdren in Planation, FL, says Bret Hart deserves a bigger push, upset that he did jobs for Paul "I Wrestle Like I'm In A Coma" Roma and Jim "Wipe That Smile Off My Face If You Don't Like It" Powers. Even the marks can see that he has lots of ability.

-- Pat Crocker in Edwards Air Force Base, CA wants to share his dream card: El Hijo del Santo vs Negro Casas, the Crush Girls & Jumping Bomb Angels vs Dump Matsumoto, Condor Saito, Drill Nakamae & Sherri Martel, Owen Hart vs Kuniaki Kobayashi, Bad Company vs Lightning Express, Riki Choshu vs Tatsumi Fujinami, Midnight Express vs Rock & Roll Express, Bruiser Brody vs Terry Gordy, Akira Maeda & Nobuhiko Takada vs Kazuo Yamazaki & Yoshiaki Fujiwara, Steve Williams vs Dick Murdoch but only in Japan and Ric Flair vs Ted DiBiase.

-- Steve Hesske in Bowling Green, OH doesn't see what all the fuss is about regarding Japanese wrestling and thinks the wrestling is better in the US. He also thinks Vince McMahon's "Stand Back" performance at the Slammys was amazing and more people should be talking about it.

-- Carl France in Englewood, Ontario, thinks Matilda's disappearance is to cover for her tour of Japan.

-- Diane Devine in Springfield, MO, thinks Ric Flair's interviews have become too raunchy and offensive, and that he talks about sex too much.

-- R.E. Valuck in Binghampton, NY, thinks Memphis wrestling is the best wrestling in the world, have Jerry Lawler, and have the best announcer in wrestling.

[Seth82]

here is the February 1st 1988 edition from the week prior

WWF
-- The Royal Rumble: Dave says it wasn't really better or worse than the Bunkhouse Stampede. Dave says the production values for the show were a step down from normal simply because they couldn't post-produce and add in crowd noise and reactions. He says there were too many replays on the show and it looked like it may have dragged a lot for anyone who attended live, although he admits he has yet to speak to anyone who was there live for the Hamilton show. The show happened before a sellout crowd of 18,000.

Ricky Steamboat downed Rick Rude via DQ in 17:00: Dave feels this should have been better if the plan was to set up a feud. Rude showed very little. Lack of heat for the first 15:00, considering both guys are headliners. Lots of resting and stalling, although the nearfalls toward the end got good heat. Rude pulled the ref in front of him when Steamboat tried to do the flying bodypress. Rude then put Steamboat in the backbreaker and the ref called for the bell. Rude thought he won, but had been DQ'd. **

The Jumping Bomb Angels captured the WWF women's tag team title from the Glamour Girls winning two of three falls: Judy Martin pinned Itsuki Yamazaki at the first fall in 7:00 with the Devil Masami suplex. Second fall saw Yamazaki pin Martin with a sunset flip in 3:00. Finish saw Noriyo Tateno pin Martin after both girls hit her simultaneously with dropkicks off the top ropes in 5:00. Good match, but not great at all. "Tateno doesn't even look like the same girl who came to the U.S. about 10 weeks ago. Actually both the Japanese girls were missing moves and appeared physically to look out of shape. All the Japanese girls (well, except for Dump Matsumoto of course) are noted for their incredible fitness level, but Tateno looks like she's been training with Buddy Rose as of late." ***

The Royal Rumble lasted 33:00 before Jim Duggan ducked a One Man Gang charge and Gang flew over the top leaving Hacksaw as the winner: Much better than anticipated and at least as good as the Bunkhouse Stampede. The camera work was great, and it was fun to watch. Dave says he loves watching guys run to the ring, because you can see who does real training, as opposed to weightlighting and needlepoint, by seeing how they run. He also felt you could tell by the order of entry how the promotion feels about the workrate of everyone involved. Bret Hart and Tito Santana were the best and opened the match, and Jake Roberts, Harley Race and Sam Houston were also in early, with "Anabolic Warrior", "Junkfood Dog", Ron Bass and Hillbilly Jim coming in late. "Gang, who most respect as a good worker for a slob, was in next to last." Junkfood was last, and got thrown out in 90 seconds. Dave wishes the faces and heels would have fought among themselves, but that can be excused for the WWF. "Dusty's thing was supposed to be $500,000 winner-take-all and Dusty and Animal on interviews talked about 'no friends' and the like yet they were constantly helping each other out. I know, who cares." ***1/2

The Islanders downed "the Barbie Dolls" in two straight falls: Both falls went around 7:00. "I actually saw a submission hold that worked on 'pushed' guys in the U.S. when Haku made Roma submit to a half Boston crab. I got so confused I went out for Oriental food afterwards. The Islanders are a good team because they carried this match from start-to-finish and it was basically good action." **1/2

The show also had the Hogan/Andre contract signing, which was well done, and Andre's back is said to be feeling better these days. "Every time I watch Hogan I marvel at the fact that people really eat him up." Dave thinks Vince could get Lee Harvey Oswald over as a babyface, although he couldn't do it for Mr. T or the Honky Tonk Man. He loves the Honky Tonk Man and Peggy Sue. Dino Bravo also attempted to set a world bench press record. The whole idea was that Bravo's bogus 715 pounds is tons more than Crockett's monsters will be doing on 01/30 if they plan on using legit weights, which was the plan at one time. Now, they almost have to gimmick it, because Warlord is the only guy who might have a shot at doing 600 lbs legit.

-- According to the newspapers, Wrestlemania IV will be in Atlantic City, NJ, from the 16,000-seat Convention Center. Dave says he was surprised by this because he had heard that Vince was close to finishing a deal for Mania in Las Vegas for either the UNLV gym or Caesar's Palace. The plan is for the show to not be pushed all the heavily as a closed-circuit event, and more as a PPV event, but because so many people still aren't able to get PPV, he thinks the closed-circuit turnout will still be strong. Tickets will go on sale on 01/30. The best 2,000 seats will be freebies given to casino high-rollers.

-- The Get Well Matilda write-in is the WWF's way of building up a mailing list for its merchandise catalog

-- Dave gives Vince HUGE credit for this: Survivor Series had no chance of selling out, but Vince wanted the PPV audience to see a full house. So he gave thousands of tickets to Kiwanis clubs and Lions clubs to give to kids, and got lots of goodwill in the town fo rthe gesture.

-- "Coliseum Video is coming out with a Best of George Steel tape and also WWF's Most Embarrassing Moments. Are you sure that isn't the same tape?"

-- Dave says everyone is asking him to predict the finish of Hogan/Andre so here's his guess, because he doesn't know the finish: "DiBiase will interfere and Andre will pin Hogan on 2/5; however, Jack Tunney will prove he can't be bought and hold the title up so Ted doesn't get the title, and order a rematch in a cage at WM4 so Ted can't interfere (and also so Andre can lose without doing a job). Hulk will win on a fluke, and they'll run Hulk vs Andre over the summer in your local cities after the Hulk gets back from playing Hulk Hogan in the movies."

-- They are back to trying to run a schedule of C team shows

-- 1/17 at the Meadowlands drew 7,500 headlined by Randy Savage vs Honky Tonk Man; 1/18 in Hartford drew 7,500 headlined by Randy Savage vs Honky Tonk Man in a cage; 1/23 at the Capital Centre drew 8,000 headlined by a Bunkhouse Stampede won by Don Muraco

-- There was this quote about Hogan in Detroit News: "He's nicer than Kirk Gibson, but not by much." Gibson has the rep of being a total asshole dealing with fans, especially kids.

-- Billy Jack Haynes has missed several matches due to health problems. He has an irregular heartbeat which is under control with medication, but he hasn't been consistently taking his medication.

-- Dave expects a big week of TV with sweeps coming up

NWA
-- The Bunkhouse Stampede: Dave says the card was about what you would have expected, and he says he's gotten a lot of negative feedback from people who were in attendance. He says as a pay-per-view production it was better than Starrcade, although the opening match was completely inexcusable and they should have explained all the wrestlers not appearing. Dave says they hyped Sting vs Mike Rotunda on TBS up to a half hour before the show started, and then just didn't do the match. Also, the show was advertised to start at 7:00, the tickets stated the show started at 8:00, and the show actually started at 6:35, so if you arrived at 8:00, you missed most of the show, and it was over by 9:00. Fans were chanting "Refund, refund" during the live show, and the crowd booed when Dusty Rhodes won the Bunkhouse Stampede. He still thinks the show could have worked with the right undercard, or at least some other changes to the show. There were also quite a few complaints about the camera work, specifically that they missed too much action. It's estimated that less than 7,000 fans were there.

Dark match was Sting & Jimmy Garvin vs The Sheepherders, which was called "decent".

Nikita Koloff went to a 20:00 draw with Bobby Eaton to retain the NWA TV title: "To say Nikita did nothing would be giving him more of a compliment than he deserves." Eaton took a few great bumps, but mostly held onto the hammerlock until the last 30 seconds or so when they had a slugfest. Stan Lane showed up after the match and they doubleteamed Nikita for a few seconds. Calls the match a candidate for worst match of the year, at -**.

Larry Zbyszko pinned Barry Windham in 19:16 to win the Western States title: The match was built around Zbyszko working on Barry's "injured knee" from the TBS match with Tully Blanchard that aired over the weekend, and the last 10 minutes were excellent. Dave says Windham is fantastic at selling with his glassy-eyed routine. It was a good finish. ***1/2

Road Warrior Hawk beat Ric Flair via DQ in 21:39 with Flair retaining the NWA World title: Hawk did little early since this was going to be the longest singles match of his career. The heat really built when Flair was on the attack and Hawk sold his knee injury very well. Dave says while Flair's routine was predictable in some ways, there were some differences compared to his usual matches against muscle guys. He'd call it an excellent match outside the finish. There was a ref bump and then Flair was posted and juiced, and Hawk gave him a great superplex. The ref was knocked out for nearly 3 minutes and as Hawk had Flair pinned, JJ Dillon hit him with a chair and he didn't sell. Then Flair hit Hawk with the chair and Hawk kicked out before two, which Dave says was a mess up on Hawk's timing. Hawk then no-selled a Flair suplex, and Flair hit Hawk with a chair again, which the ref saw this time. ***3/4, which Dave would have given **** or more without the weak climax.

Dusty Rhodes won the Bunkhouse Stampede finals in 26:21: Lots of blood, and it was as good as it could be. Brutal and bloody, and delivered on what was promised. Ivan Koloff was excellent and was the first guy out at 16:42, Animal and Warlord went together at 18:00, Arn/Tully/Luger went at 22:36, which left Dusty with the Barbarian. Dave says he's not a Luger fan, but Luger should have won this, and the fans started losing interest once he was eliminated. ***

-- Dave says he's tired of repeating the same points over and over about the NWA's problems, although he admits that to their credit, they are fairly responsive to fans and he expects a major improvement in television in February with sweeps coming up. Dave also thinks the announcing is much better, and that at Starrcade, Jim Ross overstated every match too much, trying to get all of them over as a classic, and he didn't do that so much here.

-- The plan is to start showing the finishes of matches the following week if they go off the air before the match ends.

-- All the no-shows aren't exclusive to the Bunkhouse Stampede. They had a horrible card in Los Angeles on 01/21 with eight wrestlers not showing up. Most of the no-shows were due to wrestlers being pulled because of the costs of flights. Dave says all the no-shows can't always be blamed on the promotion, but fans do deserve explanation when someone isn't there who is advertised to be there.

-- The lack of correlation with start times on shows is also not exclusive to Bunkhouse Stampede. There was a show in St. Louis on 01/17 that started more than an hour late because the wrestlers were late coming from Charleston, WV.

-- Dave says it wasn't a good week for them, because they hurt themselves in both New York and Los Angeles. He does think changes are coming, but they may be coming too slowly.

-- TV ratings are up and the shows have gotten better.

-- A key difference between the NWA and the WWF is that for WWF shows, fans come to see the stars, and for NWA shows, fans come to see the action. Dave says the NWA has great wrestlers, but the schedule is killing them, and doing cross-country double shots on weekends and making for bad cards. He says they need new talent in the worst way. In recent weeks, they lost Terry Taylor simply because they had a vendetta against him for leaving in 1985 and decided to take it out on him now. They lost Bubba Rogers, who had a great gimmick and had become good in the ring. The Rock & Roll Express quit because they were unhappy about their push, although Dave thinks they've been on borrowed time for the last 9 months or so. The odds of Steve Williams returning are "less than 50/50 for reasons that anyone who has followed the plight of the UWF can understand." Sean Royal has also quit, and Chris Champion, Brad Armstrong and Eddie Gilbert have disappeared. There are other wrestlers who also want to get out.

-- Dave really thinks Ric Flair should be turned babyface, because he's the top heel and is more popular than anyone in the promotion despite being a great heel. But he says it can't be done right now because of the Luger turn and that they don't have another heel anywhere near capable of carrying the top spot. He also thinks Dusty Rhodes should turn heel and feud with the Road Warriors, but knows that will never happen. The treatment of Flair is an old issue, but he doesn't know when they'll realize the reason they can't draw with Flair as heel champ anymore is because they've killed his credibility.

-- Dave says he can't call himself a WWF fan, he does watch their TV show and has worlds of respect for what they've done in improving the business. He thinks they're only going to get better over the next two years, and deserve to be congratulated for being such a success. But he still insists the NWA's problems have nothing to do with the WWF's success, at least for the most part. He says yes, the WWF doesn't help by counterprogramming their PPVs and locking them out of major arenas around the country, and they do put paranoia about losing wrestlers in the NWA, which does lead to Dusty pushing himself more because he knows Vince won't steal him.

-- Regarding Dusty, Dave says he knows that it's hard to step down from the spotlight, because Willie Mays, Hank Aaron, Mickey Mantel, Muhammad Ali, Johnny Unitas and Antonio Inoki also couldn't do it. Dave says what happened to Larry Holmes on Friday night is an example of something that any sports or pop culture figure has to face at some point. He says because wrestling is a work, Father Time isn't brutal in the same ways, but in some ways it can be even more cruel because fans turnover so much faster than in sports, and "yesterday's legend, especially a regional one --- well, I'm going to stop here because I'm writing once again what I didn't want to get into this week."

-- The Crockett Cup will take place in April. The site will be announced in a few weeks. Dave says while it sounds markish to suggest it, Crockett really needs to establish a working relationship with a few other territories for this tournament, because their talent roster is so thin, especially now compared to the same time frame the year before.

-- Correction to previous story -- Starrcade did a 3.3 buyrate (20,000 of 600,000 potential homes), not a 6.6 buyrate. It was reported that the Bunkhouse Stampede cleared 6 million shows, but Dave doesn't buy that. He doesn't think the show did anywhere near a 3.0 buyrate, although the last minute hype was pretty good.

-- 1/17 in St. Louis drew 5,900 and a $50,000 gate headlined by Ric Flair vs Michael Hayes in a cage match; 1/14 in Norfolk, VA drew 4,000 headlined by Ric Flair vs Dusty Rhodes in a cage match; 1/20 in Honolulu, HI drew a near sellout 7,200 headlined by Ric Flair vs Nikita Koloff; 1/21 in Los Angeles drew 3,000 headlined by Ric Flair vs Michael Hayes; 1/23 in Cincinnati, OH drew 3,000 headlined by Ric Flair vs Sting

-- Michael Hayes has quit and is expected to return to World Class

-- "There are personal reasons why Nikita's matches have been so bad as of late as his head isn't into them. He may be taking a sabbatical shortly. Please don't jump to the conclusion this is drug related, in fact it's nothing he has any control over"

-- If Steve Williams doesn't return, the UWF title will be forgotten and no unification match will take place

-- Dave says he saw the the Windham/Blanchard match mentioned last week and really liked it, but it was obvious based on crowd reaction that fans didn't. He wants to talk more next week about the value of doing 30-minute matches that "tell a story" for today's audience.

-- 2/6 in Charlotte headlined by Luger & Windham vs Flair & Arn is being advertised as the first time Flair and Luger have ever opposed each other anyway. Dave says he's not surprised they forgot Luger's Florida days, but just four days earlier, on 2/2 in Miami, they have Flair & Blanchard vs Dusty & Luger as the main event.

-- Rick Steiner will be back shortly as part of Kevin Sullivan's Varsity Club

-- The NWA will return to Houston in March

-- Road Warrior Hawk's interviews have been killer lately. He had a neo-Nazi line in a recent promo, but was just quoting The Breakfast Club. He also had this zinger: "The difference between me and you, Ric Flair, is that if we had a bet for $1,000 and I lost, I wouldn't pay it."

MEMPHIS
-- To clarify what was reported the week before, The Gilberts coming in are Doug and Tommy, and Eddie is still with JCP.

-- The 1/18 Hennig vs Lawler match saw Larry Hennig come to the ring with Curt. Before the match, Curt said that if he beat Lawler (Lawler's $10,000 ring was at stake against the AWA title), he would give his dad the ring as a present. The finish saw Larry give Lawler the axe before Curt pinned him. However, when Larry was given the ring, Lawler stole it back from him.

-- 1/27 will have Lawler & Dundee vs The Rockers, who are calling Lawler and Dundee "The Over The Hill Gang" on TV.

-- 1/23 in Jonesboro, AR, was said to have a great main event, Lawler vs Terry Taylor at ***1/2 with tons of strong nearfalls.

-- Prelim wrestler Jerry Bryant was recently diagnosed with Lou Gehrig's disease at 37 years old.

SOUTHERN CHAMPIONSHIP WRESTLING
-- The latest taping on 01/24 drew 630 fans for Bruiser Brody.

-- Austin Idol tried to hold them up for more money recently, which is why he's suspended in the storyline.

-- The lighting at the first taping was pretty bad, and the sound at the second taping was pretty bad, but Dave is told they've worked these problems out now and fans are really enjoying the shows.

-- When Condrey and Rose were AWA tag champs, they were scheduled to do a show, but Condrey didn't appear. Comrade Busich subbed for him, so Paul E. Dangerously grabbed the mic and said "Ladies and Gentelemen, Ravishing Randy and Comrade Busich, the substitute Original Midnight Express."

GLOBAL
-- This group deserves high marks for taking a terrible live show on 1/22 in Davie, FL, and sweetening it so much with strong post-production that it aired as a polished and flashy TV a few days later. It was a crowd of 550, half of which were kids who were admitted for free, so they drew a $2,000 gate. It started 30 minutes late, there were long delays between matches, and the ring mic didn't work, so the fans didn't know the wrestlers' names.

-- Dave says the group doesn't have much talent, but they are great at putting together a TV show, equal to WCCW and superior to the NWA and AWA.

CONTINENTAL
-- Ranger Ross showed up on 1/11 billed as the Alabama champion. He beat Moondog Spot in a fictitious match. He already appears to be gone, though.

-- On TV, they had a bench press contest between Lord Humongous and Doug Furnas. They used gimmicked weights, and Humongous did 645 lbs. Furnas then did the same amount twice before Humongous pushed the bar down on his chest and injured his ribs. Their matches are pathetic.

-- 1/18 in Birmingham drew 500.

-- They are bringing in a wrestling bear for the 1/25 card, which Dave thinks is desperation.

-- Charlie Platt is co-announcing with Gordon Solie, which is an addition for the better

-- Dave needs a new tape supplier for Continental

AWA
-- Paul E. Dangerously may be coming back as the manager of Curt Hennig

WCCW
-- The Hood is Jeff Gaylord

-- The Fantastics vs John Tatum & Jack Victory matches have been really good. Overall, TV has been strong lately, although still not as good as Stampede or the WWF.

STAMPEDE
-- Shows continue to draw near sellouts. 1/9 in Edmonton drew 1,200 in a 1,300-seat building. Standout matches from the show were a Garfield Portz vs Brian Pillman bloodbath at ***3/4; Chris Benoit vs Great Gama at **** and Jason the Terrible vs Makhan Singh at ***. 1/15 in Calgary drew 1,500. 1/23 in Edmonton drew 1,250. Ratings by Trent Walters.

-- Bad News Allen was out of action this week because he was on tour with Antonio Inoki in Italy for some cards run by Dominic Denucci. He's scheduled for WWF TV tapings in the coming week, but is scheduled to be back in Stampede for 1/29 and 1/30 cards. He will continue working weekends until he goes full time with the WWF.

-- Dave says "Rip Rogers' queer act has been done too many times in this territory to make it and his work is below par"

-- Jason is now an honorary member of Bad Company (Brian Pillman & Bruce Hart), which Dave thinks is hilarious because he's wearing two masks, the white outpatient uniform, a bandana around his head, and a black laeather jacket.

-- Bad News and Jason were both fined for brawling outside the ring and injuring fans.

-- Leo Burke will be in during early February, and Owen Hart returns in the middle of the month

-- Keichi Yamada is scheduled to be back in March or April

CENTRAL STATES
-- Mike George won the WWA World Title tournament before a crowd of 800 fans in Kansas City on 01/23. The tag titles are still held up. 1/15 in St. Joseph drew 608 fans.

PUERTO RICO
-- Keiji Muto is headed in.

NJPW
-- Konga the Barbarian will be on the next tour, which could be weird if Crockett shoots a big angle at the weight lifting challenge on 01/30 and Barbarian has to leave 3 weeks later.

-- Tatsumi Fujinami & Kengo Kimura won the IWGP tag titles from Yoshiaki Fujiwara and Kazuo Yamazaki on 01/18 in Tokuyama. Originally, they were going to defend against Choshu & Super Strong Machine, but Choshu injured his knee earlier in the week and had to miss the match. Choshu has really bad luck, because he was probably supposed to win.

-- 1/11 TV was headlined by Inoki & Takada vs Williams & Hart, which was excellent. Choshu vs Sawyer was also good, but Choshu seemed uninterested.

-- Wrestling has been awesome lately, but crowds have been lower than ever: 2,100 on 1/5, 1,620 on 1/6, 1,430 on 1/7, 1,760 on 1/9, 1,430 on 1/10, which shows how much the 12/27 show killed business. The 12/27 TV show drew a great 11.0 rating, but the following week, they were in the 8.0 range again.

-- Dave still can't believe they've phased Choshu down so much. He lost steam from the Maeda incident and the whole 12/27 fiasco, which hurt everyone.

-- Vader has been given the biggest TV push of any foreigner in recent memory, including Hansen and Brody, but still gets no heat.

-- The Owen Hart/Hiroshi Hase match on 01/04 was ***1/2, but still disappointing. Several of Hase's amateur wrestling friends were there and Owen also has a great amateur background, so they wrestled on the mat freestyle for six or seven minutes. Even though it turned into a good match, and Hase's Northern Lights suplex is the best move in wrestling, Owen showed his lack of experience after not recovering from missed moves. Meltzer predicts Hase will win Best Technical Wrestler next year once more people see him.

-- Steve Williams was scheduled to leave on 01/20 so he could work the Bunkhouse Stampede, but he sent word that he wasn't coming back and plans to work exclusively in Japan. He was unhappy about his contract with Crockett, and he realizes he can make a good income only working 16 weeks a year in Japan. Still, it wouldn't surprise anyone to see him go to the WWF, since he's close to Duggan and DiBiase.

-- Good news for Inoki. They're moving TV to Fuji TV on Saturday afternoons, which isn't a great timeslot, but is much better than the one they would have had otherwise.

-- Rumors abound that Inoki will face Koji Kitao at the Tokyo Dome in a mixed match in April. If it takes place, it would draw a huge crowd. Kitao denies the story, but Dave is told the match would easily draw a $1 million gate if it happened.

AJPW
-- The next series will be from 02/20 to 03/11 and will include Stan Hansen, Terry Gordy, Joel Deaton, Joe & Dean Malenko and Rocky Iaukea Jr.

-- There will be a big "Martial Arts Olympic" show on 4/2 at the Sumo Hall in memory of Ikki Kajiwara, the creator of the Tiger Mask comic strip and cartoon. The show will have wrestling from both AJPW and JWP, boxing and shoot boxing.

-- Nippon announced that when baseball season starts, they're moving All Japan TV to 10:30-11:30pm on Sundays. Baba always loses his Saturday night primetime slot when baseball begins, but is usually moved to Saturday afternoons.

-- Baba recently turned 50 and stated he has no plans to retire.

-- Buddy Landell is looking good on tour, but not getting pushed. He even went to a draw with rookie Akira Taue. Dave is unsure about Taue's future although Baba is high on him.

-- Dave finally saw the Hennig/Tiger Mask match. It wasn't horrible, but there was no heat and little action, and the AWA title is pretty much dead as a touring title now.

JOSHI
-- Yukari Omori's retirement ceremony will happen on 02/15. She had already announced that if she couldn't beat Chigusa Nagayo on 01/15 that she would retire.

-- Due to all the retirements, Pairatu Kuma and Drill Driver will be the new masked top heel team, while Bull Nakano will replace Dump Matsumoto as the top heel. Yumiko Hotta and Mitsuko Nishiwaki will be pushed as a new tag team.

OTHER
-- Thanks to Justice B. Hill of Detroit News for writing nice things about the Observer in the 1/17 issue

-- A reader told Dave he was being offensive by using the term "abortion" to describe a bad match. Dave said this is an industry term, but there are other industry terms that are offensive to minorities that he doesn't use, so he'll stop using it going forward.

[Droford]

The Get Well Matilda write-in is the WWF's way of building up a mailing list for its merchandise catalog

lol..thats low

[James Steele]

Question: Who the hell buys dirtsheets anymore? Do they all just make their money off their website's ad revenue or what? Do they still do paper newsletters nowadays?

[#1-norm-fan]

This reminds me of that topic a few years ago with recaps of the shitty things going on in the latter years of WCW. That was a fun read.

[Sting Fan]

Are these archived somewhere?

I would love to read through the Monday night wars era ones.

[Seth82]

Question: Who the hell buys dirtsheets anymore? Do they all just make their money off their website's ad revenue or what? Do they still do paper newsletters nowadays?

from what I have heard yes they still sell the old paper newsletters

Dave Meltzer still publishes his the old way IIRC

[Swiss Ultimate]

Dave's response, highlights:

* "While the formation of a union, in theory, is a good idea, I have talked to very few wrestlers who even entertain the notion that it has even a slim chance of being successful."
* "There are abuses in the wrestling business, to be sure. This idea of a pro wrestler as an independent contractor as the business tries to portray is a joke, and one which abuses the wrestler. The idea that when a wrestler suffers an on-the-job injury, that in most cases not only does the wrestler have to pay the bill himself (and there are plenty of exceptions to this, but it also often is the case) but also in more cases than not, suffers from lost wages until he can return to the ring. Because of that, in almost all cases, the return is premature, and the injury often never fully heals, and the wrestler is unable to perform at peak efficiency because of it. While wrestlers with the major offices do receive air-faire to the city they are performing in, they have to pay their own hotel, rent-a-car or taxi to get to the arena, and all other expenses of living on the road, which often cuts what on the surface appears to be a healthy paycheck down to nothing. The performance and travel schedule is often nothing short of brutal. I can recall instances of NWA wrestlers, in particular, wrestling in cards in two cities on the same night and often, back in '86 when they were doing TV's on Saturday morning and then double-shots on Saturdays, working three shows in one day and maybe five shows in a weekend. The WWF a few months back was nearly destroying its wrestlers with those five-show weekends, which saw one or two wrestlers literally collapse in airports from exhaustion, and another suffer a heart attack."
* "The pressure, stronger now than ever, to have an unnatural physique, had made steroid use and abuse, particularly in the WWF, almost a necessity to have any chance at success. Yet these same steroids are blamed for at least one heart attack, one stroke, and another wrestler whose heart deteriorated so badly from such abuses that it was feared until recently that he would have to undergo a heart transplant. The wrestling business is far, far from perfect. Nor is any other business. The previous paragraph could have the word 'WWF' taken out and inserted the sports of bodybuilding, powerlifting, several track and field events and to a lesser extent, pro football linemen, and the same would be true, and none of those sports are any closer to changing that truism than pro wrestling."
* "Agreed, it is a sad and indefensible state that pro wrestlers don't have any kind of medical insurance to cover on-the-job injuries, and that they often don't receive pay while recovering from those same injuries. As for pension plans, while again in theory that sounds good, in reality, this is not a stable enough business. We've had two promotions fold in the past few weeks alone. With the exception of Titan Sports, how many U.S. offices actually are operating in the black right now? The answer is two, maybe three. I'm going to go back to pro soccer and make a point. The soccer players unionized and of course it helped them, at least in the short run. The owners claimed that the unionization helped put the outdoor game virtually out of business in this country (a faulty claim, the game would have gone down the tubes because of public apathy, union or not). But whatever pension plans may be negotiated are lost when the business folds up. And as we've seen by wrestling contracts, it is better to get the money up-front and set it aside yourself, because these balloon and deferred payments have a way of never coming to fruition."
* Using any term (e.g. "The Business") collectively about a group of individuals, whether they be people in the wrestling business, "smart fans" (who for some reason seem to be getting criticized in many other newsletters for reasons I can't fully understand), Republicans or any other group generally leads to unfair assumptions. All "smart fans" (whatever that connotates and I'm still not sure) don't think alike. I don't know of any two that think exactly alike, and I certainly don't speak for all of them. Yet many people seem to think that whatever I state constitutes the viewpoint of all 'smart fans.'"
* "In the same way, the wrestling business has no unity of purpose, whatsoever. It is not a monopoly, in fact it is competitive, even if the competition is terribly one-sided in this country. Promoters don't get together and blacklist wrestlers and the term blacklisting is highly overused. Wilson can talk about being blacklisted, and I won't argue the point that several promoters were contacted and told not to use him. However, there has never been a singular unity of purpose among those who run wrestling companies."
* Brody got away with things like changing finish mid-match and refusing to do jobs because he was marketable and an attraction. If he wanted to play by the rules, he could have gone to the WWF and worked on top. Even in the NWA, where there is personal heat with Dusty, had Brody agreed to do business Dusty's way, he could have come in. It isn't fair that he got chances guys like Mansfield and Wilson didn't, but that's the reality of pro wrestling. Not just the wrestling business, but life.
* Brody wasn't regarded as a renegade because he had a bad attitude. In fact, he was one of the smartest wrestlers around and most wrestlers would classify Brody as a genuine, friendly guy, unless it was a promoter who had to do business with him.
* While you could blame the WWF for making sure Adonis wouldn't be taken seriously on top again because of the gimmick, in truth, Adonis was responsible for his downfall. He was self-destructive and McMahon gave him several chances. He could have even worked Japan for a few years until the image of him as an obese drag queen faded.
* "The Business" has no viewpoint of the Observer. Some love it, some hate it. Most of the major power brokers hate it, but even that isn't unanimous. Publicly, most wrestlers hate it, and privately, the reactions are more mixed.
* "The realities of professional wrestling are that it is a business, and in theory, the bottom line should be that it be a profitable business, although the reality in many cases is it is a business run by those in power often times for personal ego gain as much as profit. Wrestlers and promoters have similar goals, raising fan interest and increasing the revenue generated by the promotion so both promoter and wrestler, at least in theory, will benefit. They are also put in an adversarial position. Every dollar spent for talent is a dollar less of profit margin ... One thing unfortunate about wrestling is that it is a business often built on false hopes, false promises and false dreams. Wrestlers constantly have the carrot of success, whether it be a hot new angle "we are planning for you in October", promise of a title belt or any kind of a major push, placed in front of their eyes, and oftentimes that never comes to fruition. But wrestling is not unique in this way."
* "I want to make one last personal comment before getting into the news. I do not make any claims as to being anything but a reporter who tries to do as accurate and honest a job as possible in covering a business in which accomplishing those goals is impossible. Other people are welcomed to label me a mark who doesn't know what he's talking about, an expert, or anything in between. The audience the Observer is aimed at is that of hardcore fan, whether you want to label him a smart mark or a smart fan of whatever labels can be given, and also secondarily as a trade journal of sorts for the business, not that the business itself wants it, but a large percentage of the readership is within the business and they are a lot more interested in gate figures than results of matches. Now that all of this has been covered, I don't plan on getting into it again for a few more years."

Wow.

[MoFo]

Cool thread Seth, keep posting this shit.

Didnt know WWE promoted a SRL fight, wtf...

[Seth82]

well this is quite long

it is from a dirtsheet called Matwatch 1991 Annual: The Final Chapter

Matwatch Man of the Year: Cactus Jack
- In 1989, soon after Jim Ross became chairman of WCW's booking committee, he told Steve Beverly "We could take someone like Cactus Jack and build him into the kind of character that you don't have to put a belt on for him to be a star. He's made in the mold of (Bruiser) Brody."
- Ole Anderson hated the big bump that Cactus took in his match with Mil Mascaras, sayng that Foley was "exposing the business."
- When he came back to WCW for his 2nd run in 1991, he started without a contract while still working for the GWF and various east coast indie groups. In July, he was on 3 first-run TV shows from 3 separate promotions in the same weekend: GWF Major League Wrestling, WCW's self-titled Saturday night show, and Universal Independent Wrestling in the Baltimore area.
- The Cactus-Abdullah feud was the first time since the Brody feud that the newsletter fans at large seemed to enjoy Abby.

Timeline '91
January 7-13
- Olu Oleyami's Kongi Sports and Entertainment resumes talks to buy the USWA while Eddie Gilbert quits as USWA booker
January 14-20:
- Gulf War begins on 1/16, Sgt. Slaughter wins WWF title on 1/19
- IWCCW financial backer Howard rapp threatens to sue stations carrying USWA's TV show, claiming that Kevin & Kerry Von Erich (who were licensing the WCCW trademarks to the Savoldis) still owned the slots personally
January 21-27:
- Joe Pedicino tries to sell the GWF TV shows at NATPE
- Jesse Ventura agrees to host The Grudge Match with Tim Brando & Lyle Alzado, but the latter 2 pulled out
- Dusty Rhodes returns to WCW as booker and color commentator for Clash & PPV shows
- Nick Gulas dies in Nashville at the age of 76.
January 28-31:
- TBS moves Clash XIV from CNN Center to Gainsville, GA after security threats during the Gulf War
- Mike Rotunda quits WCW due to only being offered a 6 month contract extension
- Mike Graham hired by WCW as a road agent
- ABC airs the pilot for Tag Team starring Jesse Ventura & Roddy Piper
February 1-10:
- WWF moves Wrestlemania due to a poor advance and "bomb threats."
- Clash XIV draws 2nd lowest Clash rating (3.9) and lowest combined rating w/ the replay (5.6) to date.
February 18-24:
- The Freebirds lose the WCW tag titles to the Steiner Bros. at a TV taping before winning them from Doom.
- Jim Herd agrees to a forum with Steve Beverly, Dave Meltzer, & Wade Keller on 4/27
February 25-28:
- Bob Costas drops out of Wrestlemania
- E! and Atlanta's WXIA TV falsely report that Missy Hyatt and Jason Hervey were engaged.
- A Nashville newspaper quotes Ron Fuller as saying "Five years from now, there will be only one wrestling group in America and they won't be doing very well."
March 4-10:
- WCW fires Buddy Landel for allegedly for shooting mucus from his nose onto a fan.
- Jerry Jarrett moves Memphis house shows from the Mid-South Coliseum to the Pipkin Building over a dispute w/ MSC officials.
- Roseanne & Tom Arnold drop out of Wrestlemania.
- Owen Hart debuts in WCW
- WCW Power Hour sets its record Saturday morning rating with a 2.3 in 1.29 million homes
- Jerry Lawler to The Commercial Appeal newspaper in Memphis on newsletters: "I deny everything that's in them."
- Sid Vicious asks for $350,000 to re-sign w/ WCW.
- The Iron Sheik returns to the WWF as Col. Mustafa
- Eddie Mansfield to revive indie promotion in Florida
- Jim Herd says WCW talnt coordinators think Owen Hart is "too stoic" in so far in his matches for the company.
- Michael Wallstreet (Rotunda) profiled on Inside Edition
March 18-24:
- Vince McMahon gets a positive six page profile in Sports Illustrated
March 25-31:
- Buyrate of 2.8% for Wrestlemania VII is the worst outing to date for WM.
- Paul Heyman signs a new one year contract with WCW while Ron Simmons signs for another two years.
- Owen Hart leaves WCW
- The Jerry Lawler Show airs its 400th episode
- Jim Ross is close to a deal for a weekly talk show on WSB-AM in Atlanta.
- Herb Abrams announces that he's trying to put together a Buddy Rogers vs Bruno Sammartino match for his first UWF PPV. Neither wrestler was aware of this.

more to come

[Seth82]

Timeline continued...

April 1-7
- Sid Vicious agrees to a contract where he would be paid $500,000 and get the world title during the Great American Bash tour.
- WWF publicly inflates the Wrestlemania VII buyrate to a 6.1 w/ 820,000 buys.
- Paul E. Dangerously & Diamond Dallas Page appear on MTV's Dial Mania Battle
- AJPW's TV show moved to 1:30 AM.
- Former Tennessee & Alabama star Len Rossi to Matwatch: "What little (wrestling) I watch has little art or science. I think what they've done is get in a position where they can't top themselves."
April 8-14:
- Sid Vicious doesn't sign contract, tells Jim Herd he's going to the WWF after getting a huge push at the previous night's TV tapings
- Every WWF & WCW cable show drops sharply in the ratings.
April 15-21:
- Jerry Lawler takes 4-6 weeks off to rest muscle spasms in his neck.
- Johnny Ace breaks his elbow in a match with Cactus Jack in AJPW [My note: Cactus never came back because of Motoko Baba, infatuated with Ace, blaming the injury on him.]
April 22-28:
- Jim Herd announces on WCW's hotline that Sid Vicious will be given an early release from his contract the night after Superbrawl, as well as claiming that Dusty Rhodes will return to in-ring wrestling.
- Jim Cornette rejects an offer to return to WCW as a color commentator, blasts the company on Joe Pedicino's Saturday night wrestling block on WVEU TV.
- Dino Bravo quits the WWF.
April 29-May 5:
- Steve Austin signs with WCW, will have a new valet named Veronica
- WWF Prime Time Wrestling & WCW Main Event tie for #1 in the 1st quarter cable ratings, World Championship Wrestling (Saturday) falls to a 2.6 from a 3.2 the same quarter in 1990.
- Jeff Jarrett & Frank Morrell barely escape injury after a firey car accident.
- Rick Martel leaves the WWF
- Steve Keirn goes to the WWF
- Brad Armstrong initially refuses the Freebird Fantasia/Badstreet gimmick before changing his mind
- WCW to get slot on Texas superstation KTVT (former home of WCCW's Saturday night show from Ft. Worth) in September.
- South Atlantic Pro Wrestling stops tapng TV.
- Van Earl Wright of CNN Sports [now the American Gladiators PBP announcer] joins WCW to voiceover the upcoming event promos.
- Scotty the Body was in a car accident on 5/4.
May 6-12:
- Supermarket tabloid Globe "links The Ultimate Warrior (Jim Hellwig) to homosexuals" and alleges that he has appeared in pornographic films.
- Ted Turner says WCW is having "encouraging success" on PPV.
- NBC cancels Saturday Night's Main Event after the February prime time special drew a 6.8 w/ an 11 share and the latest SNME drew a 7.2.
- After their barbed wire match at a TWA show in Philadelphia, Cactus Jack collapses (stemming from his entanglement by the throat in the wire) and Gilbert has to be treated for a strained neck.
- Cable wrestling ratings drop to a 2 year low with World Championship Wrestling falling to a 1.7, below the Power Hour for the first time.
May 20-26:
- Bruce Prichard fired as a producer by the WWF.
- On ESPN, Irv Muchnick describes Hulk Hogan as someone "who has big muscles and almost no talent" and says that the Ultimate Warrior "has no talent and probably couldn't do this interview for 30 seconds without blowing up."
- Master Blaster & Tex Salenger try to suffocate Robert Fuller with a plastic bag on USWA TV.
- WCW was pissed at some "hardcore insider fans" at Superbrawl, mainly "smart" comments shouted at ringside and an obscene gesture on camera after a Missy Hyatt segment.
- UWF Beach Brawl will only be available to 155 of the country on PPV.
- ESPN strongly warns Max Andrews about the large amount of blood and man on woman violence booked by Eric Embry on their USWA shows.
May 27-June 2:
- Various older wrestlers refuse to appear at a WWF "Legends" show in St. Louis.
- Gordon Solie is dropped as co-host of Worldwide.
- Road Warrior Hawk is out for 7 weeks after herniated disc surgery.

[Seth82]

More timeline:

June 3-9:
- Jim Herd removes Dusty Rhodes from his commentary role on the big shows.
- "Veteran insider fan" Bruce Grummert & the Zajicek twis are kicked out of a WWF show due to wearing T-shirts and shouting insults at Col. Mustafa & Jim Duggan.
- UWF Beach Brawl is estimated to have purchased by 780 homes.
- Eddie Mansfield's IWF gets TV on the Sunshine Network.
June 10-16:
- Clash XV draws a disappointing 3.9 rating and 6.7 share. The Flair-Eaton main event didn't gain a substantial amount of viewers, as it drew a 4.3 with a 7 share.
- Max Andrews drops the USWA and gets the syndication deal for the GWF.
- Dusty wants Flair to step down as an active wrestler after the Bash tour so he can become Jim Ross's color commentator.
- Vivacious Veronica is gone after 2 weeks, replaced by Jeannie Clark [Throwing a monkey wrench into GWF booking plans as she was one of the original choices for "The Boss."
- WCW(SN) drops to a 1.6, Power Hour to a 1.3.
June 17-13
- Jim Herd surprised insiders with comments amounting to "PERSONAL CHOICE!!!!!!!" when asked about the Zahorian trial involving current WCW wrestler Dan Spivey.
- Bill Watts passed on an offer to be figurehead commissioner for the GWF

June 24-30:
- An inside source tells Matwatch that the Flair-Luger match scheduled for the Great American Bash PPV on July 14 will not take place.
July 1-7:
- The Flair shit goes down here, nothing here that's not common knowledge.
- The first 2 GWF tapings draw 1,200 and 1,500 to the Global Dome/Sportatorium.
- The LPWA postpones TV tapings due to monetary issues.
- Dave Meltzer goes over the steroid scandal in Sports Illustrated's Scorecard.
July 8-14:
- Buddy Landel fired from the GWF for no-showing the July 12 TV taping.
- Hulk Hogan makes THAT appearance on The Arsenio Hall Show, prefaces statements with the word "basically" 22 times.
July 15-21:
- Jim Herd announces that he's closing the open dialogue w/ newsletters becaue "I'm tired of being beaten up all the time" and denies that he asked Ric Flair to take a large pay cut during negotiations.
- Under an assumed name, John Arezzi goes to Vince McMahon's news conference about his drug testing program and asks why more of the "wrestling media" was not invited.
- Jim Ross suffers a kidney stone attack, misses a WCW TV taping for the first time ever.
July 22-28:
- Prime Time Wrestling is the highest rated cable show of the 2nd quarter w/ a 2.6, followed by All-American Wrestling with a 2.5. World Championship Wrestling drops to a record low 2.2.
- A "Georgia Red Clay Mudbath Match" is dropped from the September 5 Clash of the Champions.
- WCW agrees to a 2 year, 44 show deal w/ Center Stage Theatre after the GWF tries to get the venue for its TV tapings.
July 29-August 4:
- Eddie Gilbert decides against going back to WCW when he finds out that he'll be a babyface.
- Stories circulate that WCW is talking with Bill Watts, Ole Anderson, and the Gagnes.
- WWF TV tapings spoil Summerslam title changes.
- Jim Cornette & Stan Lane send a $200 black wreath to WCW offices. The enclosed card read "Our deepest sympathies on the death of your promotion."
- Dennis Brent announces on WCW's hotline that they will begin testing for steroids. Jim Herd denies it.
August 5-11:
- Herb Abrams threatens to sue the GWF over use of the "Wet 'n' Wild" team name that he claims to have "copyrighted."
- WCW announces that it will move its syndicated show in the NY market from WPIX to WCBS on September 21.
- Tommy Rich is arrested for marijuana posession in LaGrange, GA.
- Jim Herd throws a fit at Alex Marvez for reporting that he's about to be fired.
- Vince McMahon invites wrestling newsletter editors & radio talk show hosts to Titan Towers for a meeting on Augest 22.
- Jerry Jarrett works out a deal with the Mid-South Coliseum and resumes weekly shows there.
August 12-18:
- A bunch of shit hits the fan, as Matwatch quotes Jim Herd "suggesting Ric Flair was untruthful." Dennis Guthrie (Flair's lawyer) threatens a lawsuit against Matwatch. Beverly stands by the quote but explains that it wasn't his intention to knock Flair. Herd claims that the quote was off the record and never speaks to Beverly again.
- Nikita Koloff quits WCW over $ issues.
- Bob Caudle takes over as host of South Atlantic Pro Wrestling.
- WMC moves USWA Championship wrestling from its traditional 11 AM slot to 10 AM.
- Paul E. Dangerously challenges Howard Stern to a debate.
- Kevin Sullivan is fired from WCW effective August 31.
- Steve Beverly announces that Matwatch will fold efffective January 27, 1992.
August 19-26:
- The Genius (Lanny Poffo) replaces Coach (John Tolos) as manager of The Beverly Brothers.
- A memo announces the long-awaited (sort of) debut of The Hunchbacks at Halloween Havoc, but it doesn't happen.
- Herb Abrams cancels a UWF TV taping as reports circulate that the promotion is almost done.
- The 2nd 2 weeks of GWF shows on ESPN draw a 1.1 rating, the highest daytime wrestling number ever on ESPN.
- Vivian Vachon dies in a car accident.

[Seth82]

September 3-8:
- GWF on ESPN rating rises to 1.2 for the 3rd 2 weeks.
- ESPN rejects Verne Gagne's attempt to get the AWA back on the network.
- ESPN asks the GWF for 46 first-run shows in the 4th quarter of 1991, but Pedicino says that it will be too expensive to produce without being paid for it.
- September 5 Clash draws a 3.7, lowest rating in the history of the specials. The show peaked at a 4.3 for the Luger-Simmons contract signing.
- Ric Flair signs his WWF contract, with his first match vs Hulk Hogan scheduled to be October 25 in Oakland.
September 9-15:
- Mexican wrestlers and referees strike over a reported deal for EMLL TV to air in prime time.
- The Florida House of Representatives schedules a hearing for October 8 to discuss regulating pro wrestling.
- Jim Herd is elected president of the NWA as part of the manuvering to get the big gold belt back from Ric Flair.
September 16-22:
- Jim Crockett returns to day to day work in WCW.
- Florida hearings postponed to November 5.
- Matwatch begins 8 part story on the 50th anniversary of pro wrestling on TV
- Tom Zenk arrested on September 19 in Clayton County, GA for simple battery and posession of both marijuana and steroids.
- WCW fires One Man Gang when he refuses to job to P.N. News.
- Billy Black & Joel Deaton are fired from Georgia All-Star Wrestling & the GWF when they ask for $500 per show.
September 23-29:
- Tom Zenk is released from jail after posting $36,000 bond.
- Vince McMahon leaks plans for the back to back PPV experiment with Survivor Series & This Tuesday in Texas.
- Bam Bam Bigelow appears on Candid Camera.
- Freezer Thompson gets a push in the USWA after being a TV job guy forever.
- Tor Berg gets financing to at least keep the LPWA alive for another TV taping.
September 30-October 6:
- The WWF fires 26 workers due to budgetary concerns.
- WCW hires Madusa to be a wrestler & manager.
- Prime Time Wrestling wins the quarterly cable rankings again with a 2.7, down from a 3.0 in 1990.
- Canada announces its first PPV will be Survivor Series
- The Lucha Libre strike is close to a resolution.
October 7-13:
- Paul Heyman is suspended from WCW by Jim Herd on October 7 for "philosophical differences, pending review." Both sides claim that it's not a publicity stunt.
- Eddie Gilbert calls John Arezzi's Pro Wrestling Spotlight radio show and demands that WCW replace Jim Herd with Jack Petrik, or else the company will die. Gilbert then cancels his planned USWA title win from Jerry Lawler while blaming Herd, Lawler, Jerry Jarrett, & Jim Ross for Heyman's suspension as part of scapegoating over the WCW/USWA co-promotion idea (which was to include a joint TV taping in Memphis featuring a Lawler-Luger unification match) being dropped
- Steve Planamenta, the WWF's head of PR, appears on The Larry Katz Show.
- Kerry Von Erich hospitalized near his home.
- Florida independent wrestler Chris Proctor is stabbed
October 14-20:
- Jerry Jarrett responds to Eddie Gilbert: "That's his opinion and he's entitled to it...Eddie Gilbert's accounts of the facts in this matter are inaccurate. In fact, there is a great disparity between his radio interview and reality."
- Jim Herd will not respond or clear Jim Ross to make his own response.
- "A 'dump Herd' campagin begins on two wrestling computer bulletin boards."
- A court date of November 7 is set in the Flair-NWA dispute over the big gold belt.
- Sid Justice is on the shelf indefinitely after tearing his bicep.
- Jim Cornette states that he has no desire to go to WCW or the WWF in an interview on the Cable Radio Network.
- Buddy Rogers quelches rumors that he was to appear for Abrams' UWF, noting that he's never spoken to Abrams.
- WCW drops color commentators.
October 21-27:
- Paul Heyman (after a news conference for the New York media at the China Club on October 25) agrees to return to WCW as Rick Rude's manager to start the Dangerous Alliance.
- Barry Windham breaks his wrist in 4 places at the October 22 WCW TV taping
- Ricky Steamboat quits the WWF after 8 months with no push and refusing to do jobs in openers.
- Sid Justice has surgery on his bicep.
- Brad Armstrong's Arachnaman gimmick debuts.
- Ric Flair tapes his first angle with Hulk Hogan, where the Undertaker attacks Hogan with the urn.
- Flair says that he's willing to give up the big gold belt for $50,200.
October 28-November 3:
- ESPN renews the GWF for the entirety of 1992.
- The Handsome Stranger leaves the GWF for WCW. (my note: HS is Buff Bagwell)
- With ratings falling, Vince McMahon repackages Prime Time Wrestling, switching from the comedy-heavy show with a live audience to a McLaughlin Group parody.
- Jushin "Liger" signs with WCW to work Christmas week.
- Bobby Eaton, Arn Anderson, Larry Zbyszko, and Steve Austin join the Dangerous Alliance.
- Ric Flair vs Roddy Piper draws only 6,000 to Madison Square Garden.
November 4-10:
- Prime Time Wrestling drops to a record low rating of 1.9 with a 2.7 share.
- Ed Gantner's mother testifies during the Florida hearings about his deterioration and death stemming from steroid abuse.
- Curt Hennig replaces Bobby Heenan as Ric Flair's ringside manager when Jim Cornette rejects an offer for the job.
- WWF's decoy main event for This Tuesday in Texas is Hulk Hogan vs Ric Flair.

[Seth82]

this one is from Figure 4 Weekly

February 7, 2000

Chris Benoit, Dean Malenko, Eddy Guerrero and Perry Saturn all debuted on the January 31st WWF Raw is War show as “the Radicals”, invited guests of Mick Foley. What actually happened on Raw is covered in the television report later. We will talk about the backstory here.

To make a long story short, Vince McMahon actually thought that in this day and age you could keep a secret from wrestling fans.

In the week leading up to their appearance on Raw, the WWF planted several false stories to throw people off track. There were stories of the meetings with the WWF not going well. There were stories about how the WWF had offered them disappointing contracts. There were stories about how Eddy Guerrero was probably going to Japan and Dean Malenko was thinking about maybe even retiring.

Jim Ross announced in his online report last Thursday that no deal had been signed with the four. Ross said he was going to be traveling down to Texas to interview Steve Austin that weekend, which would rule out them signing contracts during that period.

As it turned out, all of this was a work. Sources indicate that Saturn, Guerrero and Malenko all signed for an estimated $250,000 downside guarantee with Benoit getting $400,000. They definitely were not low-balled as the rumors claimed last week, and in fact Rock’s downside is only $400,000 as well. Of course, with merchandise and bonuses, Rock is on track to make over $3 million this year, so these downsides are really just worst-case scenarios for everyone involved.

As far as their attempts to keep this a secret are concerned, WWF’s first mistake was to announce on its website last Thursday that they were negotiating with the four. While there is a possibility that the WWF would make a statement like this just to satisfy curiosity, the fact is that it’s also very unlikely WWF would mention an individual’s name on their website unless that person was signed, sealed and delivered.

Anyone checking out our website Sunday night knew that all four were likely to appear on Raw Monday night. Although the plan was to keep this invasion angle somewhat of a secret, the WWF itself ended up announcing on its website Monday afternoon that all four guys had been seen in Pittsburgh that afternoon.

While everything went well on Raw, Guerrero ended up getting off to a very bad start in his first WWF match. We learned just before going to press that Guerrero had dislocated his elbow during a tag team match at the Smackdown tapings Tuesday night. The plan for the show was to do a best-of-three series between the Radicals and DX. If Radicals won the series, they’d be rewarded with WWF contracts. The plan was for X-Pac to beat Dean Malenko, Saturn & Eddy Guerrero to beat the New Age Outlaws, and Hunter Hearst Helmsely to beat Chris Benoit. That way, the “outsiders” storyline could continue with the Radicals looking for other ways to get a contract. At the show, Malenko beat X-Pac as planned. Unfortunately, during the tag match, Eddy went for a frog splash and his elbow popped out in what was said to be a gruesome display. He immediately laid down for the unscheduled pin, making the series 2-0 in favor of DX and totally ruining all the plans and heat for the Hunter vs. Benoit match. There was no word at press time as to how the situation would be handled on the show.

Guerrero, who was several weeks away from getting medical clearance to wrestle, went to the doctor Tuesday night to get the elbow treated. He is expected out of action at least two months, and possibly quite a bit longer depending on whether the X-Rays show any serious damage. He is still expected to play a major role on TV while he recovers.

Ratings

Raw scored another huge number this week, kicking Nitro’s ass in the process.

Raw scored a 6.64 rating off hourly numbers of 6.12 and 7.03. Nitro scored a 2.81 off hourly numbers of 3.31 and 2.30. Head-to-head, Raw killed Nitro 6.12 to 2.30. Nitro didn’t break a 3.0 in any of it’s second-hour quarters.

Smackdown last week drew a record-high 5.64 rating (5.61 and 5.70). The number is strong, but some of that had to be attributed to Bill Clinton’s State of the Union Address airing on almost every other network channel and giving the WWF very little competition. Thunder on Wednesday drew a 2.51 rating off hourly numbers of 2.50 and 2.53. At least Thunder didn’t plummet in the second hour this week.

ECW on TNN drew a 1.02 rating, down just a little bit.

Sunday Night Heat drew a 1.93, which is actually pretty strong going up against the SuperBowl.

Halftime Heat, which broke the 6.0 mark last year, drew a 5.0 this time around hyping up some mid-card matches and an exclusive interview with Steve Austin. This number is actually tremendous, since the movie that aired on the USA Network immediately following Heat drew a 0.0 rating and a 0.0 share. I am not making these ratings up. So WCW should be happy with the shitty numbers they’ve been getting recently.

Internet Quote of the Week

“Why are so many fans at WCW Saturday Night masquerading as empty seats?”

Special Thanks

I would like to thank the following individuals for their help in putting Figure Four Weekly together: Gladys Gibson, Carlos and Valerie Alvarez, Dave Meltzer, Craig Proper, Brent Kremen, Mike Rodgers, Tadashi Tanaka, Natina Schulz, Koji Yamamoto, Peter Stein, Mike Lorefice, Carlos Loera, John Courville, Brian Schenk, Bruce Mitchell, Mike Mooneyham, Bob Barnett, Georgiann Makropolous, Rory Hughes, Steve Singer, Jack Johnson, Craig Foster Jr., Brian Giese, Joel Walker, David Pordy.

WWF News and Notes

• The Steve Austin interview on Heat was pretty similar to the one he gave on WWF Radio a few weeks ago. Austin wore a big neckbrace and took it off at one point to show his scar. He looked to be in quite a bit of pain and was nowhere near as articulate as he usually is. Jim Ross tried hard to ask serious questions and make this look like a credible interview, even though they showed footage of Austin’s stuntman getting hit by a car immediately before the interview started. They acknowledged for the first time on WWF TV that Austin and Debra were engaged to be married. Austin was asked when he would be back, and he said “three to four months”. It was weird, because he said it like he really meant it, but at the same time he said it in the tone of voice you’d use if you were trying to convince yourself of something. Injuries can heal quickly, but I’m not so sure I believe he’ll really be back that soon.

• Ken Shamrock announced at a press conference during the PRIDE 9 show that he had signed a two-match deal with the company for an estimated $750,000. Shamrock said that he was going to fight one match and then decide whether or not it would be in his best interests to fight another. WWF, who renewed their two-year option on Shamrock’s contract last year, gave him his official release and said they’d help promote his fights. DSE, the group behind the PRIDE events, is hoping to get the Shamrock fights on US pay-per-view later this year, although that’s far from a done deal. If the fights do manage to get aired in the US, Shamrock would be taking a big risk as his marketability in the WWF is pretty much based solely on the gimmick of him being the World’s Most Dangerous Man. Should he fight and lose on US pay-per-view, it might hurt his chances of returning to the WWF next year, which was the plan all along.

• I know this will come as a shock to many, but those were not Mae Young’s breasts that you thought you saw on pay-per-view last week. I know, I didn’t believe the story when I heard it either, especially when I found out Jim Byrne of the WWF was the one making the claim. Byrne told the AP and the New York Post that the puppies we thought we saw were actually the work of a Hollywood make-up artist who fitted Mae with a chest-shaped prosthesis backstage before the show. Apparently, Vince came up with the idea after watching the movie “Something About Mary”. The other fishy thing was that Byrne’s claim came about shortly after Madison Square Garden officials called down fire and brimstone on the WWF for the stunt. Garden officials claimed they knew nothing about the stunt and were going under the assumption that Mae was really topless. They promised an investigation, which I would assume will go absolutely nowhere. Byrne, in the same article in which he claimed the breasts were fake, went on to justify the WWF’s nude display by pointing out that a huge “X” had been placed over the breasts and that the show had been rated TV-14 “N” with the “N” standing for “Nudity”. I asked for responses on our website and found that the majority of viewers thought the breasts were fake, although some were 100% certain that they were real. The Post and AP articles even had a quote from George Neopolitano, who was shooting photos at ringside, and he said he thought the breasts were real at first and is still not sure what it was he saw. I cannot bring myself to go back and watch the tape, but for what it’s worth we have talked to a couple of WWF performers who have confirmed that Mae Young’s breasts at the PPV were about as real as the breasts of all the other women in that contest except for Miss Kitty. In other words, they really were fake.

• Undertaker is giving Shane Douglas a run for his money as the Most Fragile Man in Wrestling after suffering a torn pectoral muscle while working out last week. Undertaker had surgery shortly thereafter and is expected out of action an additional four to five months.

• Judging from the way they’ve been doing the angle with Rock and Show, I assume that Rock’s feet were really supposed to touch the floor in the Royal Rumble, but for some reason they didn’t. On the other hand, Show did promise video footage on Smackdown, so they might just be dragging this angle out. Show vs. Rock is scheduled to be the main event of this month’s PPV, probably with the stipulation being that the winner gets the WWF Title shot at WrestleMania.

• I can’t believe they passed up the opportunity to do a hair vs. hair match with Show. There would be no storyline reason for it whatsoever, but at least he’d have an excuse for sporting that very unflattering ‘do.

• People Magazine had a short blurb last week about Steve Austin’s neck surgery.

• The rumored big announcement from the WWF Cafe is that Vince will be purchasing an NFL team. What horrible news. Now there will be even more ammunition for the guys in wrestling who think the NFL is worked.

• Taka Michinoku will be out about a month with a dislocated shoulder suffered at the Royal Rumble. He didn’t really break his cheekbone, although the WWF is claiming that he did since he landed right on his face taking the bump. Taka actually apologized to Vince after he got hurt since he felt bad that he wasn’t able to do the rest of the run-ins he was scheduled for.

• There was some talk last week of recreating the WWF Light Heavyweight Division and giving it a serious shot this time around. At one point, the idea of putting Dean Malenko in charge of the booking was batted around. I’m not sure of the status this week, but Vince sure seemed serious about it the first time around, and it’s no secret what ended up happening there.

• Newsweek had a cover story on the WWF this week, entitled “Why America Is Hooked On Pro Wrestling”. It was pretty good despite a few factual errors. There were also the expected funny lines, such as Baron Von Rashke claiming Vince McMahon had taken wrestling back “to where we started”. For the most part, the WWF is about as far from where wrestling started as it could possibly be, but on the other hand, incidents like what happened in Montreal justify Rashke’s claim. The article talked about how wrestlers didn’t make a lot of money in the old days, but then Vince told a story about how he got hooked on wrestling when he used to drive around with Jerry Graham “in a 1959 blood red Cadillac convertible, lighting a cigar with a one-hundred dollar bill, not stopping at stoplights”. The article claimed that McMahon testified that wrestling was fake so that state athletic commissions would drop PPV taxes, and the revelation that wrestling wasn’t real brought about a huge boom in popularity that culminated with 93,000 people showing up at WrestleMania III. The problem with this cute little story, besides the fact that 93,000 people didn’t show up at WrestleMania (it was probably about 78,000), is that Vince testified before the New Jersey State Athletic Commission in 1989, which was over two years AFTER WrestleMania III, plus, despite his testimony, New Jersey didn’t drop the tax until the 1997 SummerSlam in New Jersey. There were three other sidebar articles. The first was about Newsweek reporter John Leland’s four-day training session at Larry Sharpe’s Monster Factory. Leland only lasted three days. The funniest line in the entire magazine was this jewel of coaching by Sharpe after Leland took a bump into the turnbuckle: “That was better, Newsweek. It still sucked, but it wasn’t ridiculous.” There was another article on whether wrestling was bad for kids, the gist of the article being that kids under eight shouldn’t be exposed to it because they are too young to differentiate between fantasy and reality. The final sidebar was about Bob Mould’s new career as part of WCW. Overall, some good positive publicity for wrestling.

• All that great publicity succeeded in lowering the WWFE stock 3/16 to close at 15 and 1/4.

• I saw all the WWF Super Bowl commercials, and thought they were pretty dumb for the most part. The funniest thing was something that very few people caught. During the beauty contest commercial, the woman who won was named “Miss Congeniality”, which was the name Amy Dumas, who should debut on WWF TV at any time, used while in ECW. Congeniality was billed from Connecticut, home of the WWF, and she beat out the contestant from Georgia, home of WCW. That damn evil Vince, master of the subliminal messages.

• Jim Ross in his online report heavily plugged Shawn Michaels’ wrestling school down in Texas, although Ross made no mention of Michaels returning to TV anytime soon. Speaking of Shawn, I finally saw the Fake Hayabusa vs. “H” match that he ref’d for FMW last year. Michaels got a pretty big pop from the crowd, although it was actually one of the announcers who marked out the most. It was funny hearing the Japanese commentators saying “HBK” and “Heartbreak Kid”. Michaels and Fake Hayabusa argued throughout the match leading to a spot where Fake hit him in the stomach with a folding chair. Michaels responded by KILLING Fake dead with a dope superkick and then giving violent crotch chops over his fallen body and screaming “Suck on this!” Crowd went hoss for that. Michaels looked pretty skinny and obviously didn’t take any bumps, but he was moving around like he was just fine and in no pain whatsoever. Boy, do I ever miss watching Michaels work.

• The Cleveland Plains Dealer had an article about how tons of fans flooded the ticket windows to demand refunds after it was announced that Rock and Chris Jericho weren’t going to be there. So many people showed up that the ticket people had to hand out slips of paper and promise that they’d call everyone back with refund information later. The newspaper did not list exactly how many people asked for their money back, but independent sources peg the number at around 2,000.

WWF On Television

WWF Smackdown (January 27 — Taped January 25): Al Snow beat Billy Gunn—DQ when Billy used Blackman’s kendo stick on both of them. The stipulations for this match were that Head Cheese would get a Tag Title shot on Raw if Snow won... Hunter and Stephanie decided to try to break up the friendship of Rock and Rikishi by signing them to a match in the main event. Pig Show then walked into the room. He said he had photographic proof that Rock’s feet touched the ground during the Rumble. He showed Hunter and Steph some photos that us rubes at home didn’t get to see. Hunter said the pictures were kind of fuzzy and that he needed an eyewitness. Show said he’d go find one... They showed a clip of Foley backstage smiling into the camera. Michael Cole then said that they were waiting for Foley to arrive at the building... Cactus Jack came down to the ring and talked about the Rumble match for awhile. He called out Hunter. Stephanie came out instead. She said Hunter had already beaten Jack at his own game, so their was no point in him coming out. Jack said Helmsely and Steph would never produce children because Hunter had no balls. She slapped him hard. Cactus then CHEWED HER OUT and dared her to slap him again. She got scared and backed up the ramp. Cactus said if Hunter wasn’t coming out, he was going to pack his bags and go home. Some boos for that. Hunter didn’t come out, so Jack went home... Bob Holly tried to convince Crash to get back together with him. Crash said no. Bob said he was going to take out Viscera then... Edge and Christian promised to beat up the Dudleys for Terri. Cole noted that Terri had miraculously broken no bones... Edge & Christian d. Dudleys. After the match, the Dudleys destroyed the good guys. Bubba ended up powerbombing Christian over the top rope through Edge and a table. Edge’s mouth got busted up legit on this bump. I never thought I’d say this, but the Dudleys RULE lately... Kane went into Hunter’s dressing room and said he wanted X-Pac. Hunter said X-Pac wasn’t in the building, but told Kane that he could have him on Raw. Steph then added that Kane had to beat Pig Show first... Viscera d. Bob Holly after seemingly crushing his skull with a fallaway slam. Both Hollys then destroyed Viscera, meaning the cousins are back together after a whole one day apart... Show went into HHH’s office for the sole purpose of getting his photos back. I don’t know why I found this so funny... Kane NC Show when DX ran in. Of course, X-Pac was among them. DX destroyed Kane forever and then tied him to a ringpost. X-Pac then grabbed Tori and forced Kane to listen to a lewd “X-Pac and Tori Christmas Story”. X-Pac must have said some really naughty things because there was a ton of editing here. Tori then walked up to X-Pac and slipped him some nappy tongue. IT WAS A SWERVE ALL ALONG! Believe it or not, a lot of people actually never saw this one coming... Kane was shown leaving the Arena in a despondent state. He did not utter his trademarked Polar Bear Roar, which was sad... Godfather & D-Lo NC Too Cool when both teams just decided to dance instead of fight. This was the biggest pop in the history of wrestling for a no-contest. Suddenly, Mae Young and Mark Henry came out. Mae announced that she was pregnant. They have GOT to be trying to unload Mark Henry... Posse made fun of Tazz backstage for being too short. Oh my God, Tazz has been killed already. First, they acknowledge his lack of size, then they put him in the ring with the Mean Street Posse. At least Tazz won after choking out Pete Gas. After the match, however, they killed him off further by having Kurt Angle run down and choke him out. Wait until you read what they did to Tazz on the house shows... Edge d. Gangrel in a hardcore match. This was pretty bad... Chris Jericho d. Crash Holly in a very good little match to retain the IC Title. Chyna held up Jericho’s hand after the match. This is getting more and more creepy by the week... Rock NC Rikishi Phatu in the main event when Show and DX ran in. They BADLY botched up a Rock Bottom spot and had to try it again. Amazingly, the WWF didn’t bother to edit the first screwed-up one off TV. Rikishi sprained his ankle legit and was off TV the next week. DX and Show destroyed both guys after the match. Too Cool tried to make the save but they were punked too. A few good matches and a couple good angles, but overall a bit boring.

Raw is War (January 31 — Live): The New Age Outlaws came down to the ring and cut their promo. Backstage, Al Snow tried to come up with a name for himself and Steve Blackman. Blackman hated all of them. How about Snow Black? Or Blackhead? Anyway, during the Snow & Blackman vs. Acolytes match, Benoit, Malenko, Saturn and Eddy all walked into the arena and sat down in the front row. All four have definitely signed WWF contracts, because they’re already showing up late to TV Tapings. The fans were stunned. Road Dogg ended up taking a bump at their feet, and after exchanging words he punched Benoit. Why in the hell would anyone in their right mind ever do that? Benoit and the other three totally kicked Dogg’s ass. All four hit the ring and destroyed the Outlaws. Eddy hit a frog splash on Billy after Saturn hit him with an exploder. Billy can put that in his Baby Book that he took his first real suplex on January 31, 2000. Benoit then hit Road Dogg with a diving headbutt after Malenko suplexed him. Crowd went totally HIZZOSS for all of this. The four, whom Ross called the “Radicals”, headed up the ramp afterwards... Backstage, Foley revealed that he had invited the four to Raw, and said they were going to go have some fun... Kurt Angle came out and mocked Rock’s catch-phrase. Angle said he was going to beat up Rock later, and reminded fans that he’d already beaten him once already. Some really good heat for Angle... Backstage, Hunter told DX that they would have to deal with the Radicals on their own. Giant suddenly walked in with an absurd new haircut. There really wasn’t anything wrong with the haircut, but every single person in the whole world that called us thought Giant looked like a total goof with it. Show said he had the witness that he promised on Smackdown, and introduced Jim Dotsan. Dotsan said yes, Rock’s feet had touched the floor first at the Rumble. Hunter said he needed video proof, and Wide said he’d bring it to Thunder. OK, if Show had video proof all along, WHY WAS HE WASTING HIS TIME WITH BAD PHOTOS AND GOOFY WITNESSES?... Christian d. D-Von Dudley—DQ when Edge helped out. Dudleys attacked Edge and Christian after the match but the Hardyz made the save. Jeff hit a HUGE senton bomb off the top rope to the floor through Bubba and a table. More great carnage from these six guys... Radicals were shown chatting with the babyfaces backstage. The Mean Street Posse came up and warned the Radicals not to mess with them. Obviously, the Posse has never watched Nitro. The Radicals destroyed them. Benoit absolutely PUMMELED Pete Gas in Raw’s Greatest Moment Ever... Show squashed Too Cool in a handicap match. So much for their push. Rock then appeared on the TitanTron and made fun of Show’s new hairdo. “Go back to Supercuts and get your five dollars back, jabronie!” Rock screamed. Rock was much funnier this evening than he’s been lately... Rock faced Kurt Angle. Angle tried to leave at one point but Tazz tossed him back into the ring. Rock then hit the uranage and the People’s Elbow. One, two, THREE. Kurt Angle got pinned in his own damn hometown. Someone must have mistaken him for Ric Flair. After the match, Tazz accidentally clotheslined Rock and then chased after Tazz. Tazz must never give chase to anyone ever again... Backstage, the Posse paid off the Acolytes to protect them... Chyna came out with a pyro bazooka. Insert numerous jokes here. X-Pac d. Chris Jericho in a non-title match. Lots of good stuff. Tori hit Jericho with the IC Title leading to the finish... Dudleys went up to the Acolytes backstage and said they wanted protection as well. Acolytes said OK, then decided to go into the protection business. Dudleys said they’d write a check and Faarooq said it had better not bounce... Speaking of bounce, all the women came out to be “lumberjills” for Miss Kitty’s Snow Bunny Title Defense. That sounds like a Christmas program. There was a little swimming pool filled with snow that Kitty was going to wrestle in. Kitty wore the cutest little bunny outfit. My heart flutters when I see Kitty, who is blonde again. Kitty’s opponent was “Harvina”, who ended up being Harvey Whippleman in disguise. Harvey won after Jackie hit Kitty. So yes, Harvey Whippleman is the new WWF Women’s Champion. This was atrocious... Backstage, Cactus took the Radicals to Hunter’s office to get contracts. Hunter told them that this was his show. Benoit said all they wanted was an opportunity. Hunter said he’d think about it... Hollys d. Viscera in a handicap match. This was one of the worst matches I have ever seen and it seemed like it went on for five or six hours. It was actually five minutes. I have decided that if a doctor ever tells me I have six months left to live, I will just watch this match repeatedly. My GOD was it ever horrible... Bubba Ray d. Matt Hardy—DQ when Matt used a chair. I was still recovering from the Viscera match so I can’t tell you much about this. Afterwards, Acolytes ran out to protect the Dudleys. Acolytes put Matt on a double stacked table and then threw the steps into the ring. Bubba stood on top of them and then powerbombed Jeff through Matt and both tables. More fun carnage... Backstage, Hunter told the Radicals that they were not ready for the WWF. He kicked them out of the Arena. Cactus told Hunter that he’d made a big mistake... Hunter came out for his match against Kane. No Kane. Hunter grabbed the mic and ran down Kane like crazy. Ross noted that it was not like Kane to be tardy. Hunter said if Kane didn’t come out, he was going to go back and get him. Cactus ended up coming out instead. He said he was pissed that Hunter had thrown his guests out of the building. Cactus ran down to the ring and they brawled. Hunter tried to run away but the Radicals attacked him and stomped a mudhole in his ass. I actually giggled like a little girl when I saw Benoit chop the living shit out of Hunter. Show went off the air with the Radicals celebrating with Cactus. A good show overall.

WWF On Tour

Dayton, OH (January 29): Godfather & D-Lo Brown d. Headbangers, Christian d. Billy Gunn in what I would have to say is a pretty surprising finish, Val Venis d. Al Snow, Kurt Angle d. Tazz, Hunter Hearst Helmsely d. Test, Steve Blackman d. Gangrel, Dudleys d. Hardyz, Scotty Too Hotty d. Crash Holly, Kane & Bradshaw d. Pig Show & X-Pac in the main event.

Cleveland, OH (January 30 — Matinee Show): This was billed as a pre-Superbowl party. Fans were festive until they were told that Rock, Chris Jericho, Rikishi Phatu, Big Bossman, Luna Vachon and Road Dogg all weren’t going to be there for one reason or another. Apparently, fans thought that if they chanted “ROCKY!” repeatedly throughout the show that Rock would magically show up in the building. Didn’t happen. Because Rock was gone, they had a battle royal with the winner getting a shot at HHH and the WWF Title later. Kane won to a pretty big pop. Kane ended up beating Hunter via DQ when Paul Wide and DX all ran in. Kane fought back, hit Hunter with two tombstones, and left. After the match, Hunter got on the mic and told fans not to worry, because he was OK and still the WWF Champion. I feel better now. Other results saw Too Cool NC Godfather & D-Lo and Headbangers in a three-way. Headbangers were eliminated first and then Too Cool and the Pimps decided to dance instead of fight. Christopher’s pants fell down while he was dancing and Too Cool ran away embarrassed. Jerry Lawler d. Gangrel, Kurt Angle pinned Tazz. Sucks to be Tazz. After the match, Tazz tried to apply a katahajime but Angle fought free with kicks. Things are not looking good for Tazz at this point. Val Venis d. Prince Albert, Test & Bradshaw d. Billy Gunn & Pig Show, Kane d. X-Pac, Dudleys d. Hardyz.

WCW News and Notes

• WCW announced on Nitro that Hulk Hogan would appear on the Thursday Thunder show to address comments made by Lex Luger. At this point, it appears everything that has been said about the soured relationship between Hogan and WCW is a complete work. The plan still seems to be for a Hogan vs. Luger match at the PPV. Over the weekend, rumors had been going around backstage that WCW was still going to book Hogan on pay-per-views, because he still had several more left on his contract, but not book him on TV because he commanded something like $25,000 per appearance. Of course, this would be a total bonehead move because Hogan’s PPV cut is 25%, which means that they’d be sacrificing more money by saving that $25,000 appearance fee than they would using him on TV to try to pop a bigger buyrate. There have been a lot of really weird rumors circulating backstage for about three weeks now.

• The latest on the turmoil backstage in WCW is that Terry Taylor is politicking for a new booking committee with himself at the head and Vince Russo, Ed Ferrara and Bill Banks helping with the writing. JJ Dillon, Kevin Sullivan and Gary Juster would have no part of this new committee. This would certainly be a more family-friendly committee with most of the guys backstage, and I still have yet to figure out why they didn’t offer Terry Taylor the job in the first place after Russo was demoted. Taylor once noted that when he was fired from WCW a few years back, Nitro’s 83-week winning streak ended and they never beat Raw again. Of course, that’s just a coincidence since Raw had been building an audience for several months prior to that point. But it is no coincidence that as soon as Taylor left, so did a lot of the logic in the WCW storylines. Taylor has a good mind for wrestling and would have been the perfect editor for Russo in WCW. Conspiracy theorists would claim this is the exact reason Taylor wasn’t given Russo’s position originally — because someone is trying to destroy WCW from within. But that’s just a wild fantasy, right?

• Get a load of this. House show main events this week were Kevin Nash vs. Ric Flair. Nash came out before the match and said that, as Commissioner, he had some rulings to make. He said the Figure Four would be banned during his match with Flair. I guess he didn’t like all the jokes I’ve been making about him in the newsletter. During the match, the referee took a bump — well, duh — and Flair got the pin. When the referee didn’t wake up, Flair decided to apply the banned Figure Four. The referee then came to, saw Flair using the banned hold, and disqualified him. NUCLEAR heat for that, and it wasn’t the “I can’t wait for WCW to come back so Flair can get his revenge on Kevin Nash” heat, it was “I will absolutely never ever come to a WCW show again as long as I live” heat. If I wasn’t so straight-laced, I’d think someone was trying to totally kill off house show business and destroy the company from within in the process.

• Speaking of Kevin Nash, he “broke his ankle” this weekend and will be unable to wrestle for awhile. I know this sounds too incredible to be true. There is definitely someone with psychic abilities in WCW, perhaps Kreskin. Remember the story about the person who predicted Nash would suffer a concussion at Nitro, and amazingly Nash did, after being hit with a rubber crowbar? Well, someone predicted last week that Nash was probably going to get “injured” again because he hated working house shows so much. Amazingly, Nash stepped out of his rental car Sunday, slipped on some ice, and broke his ankle. I have a fantastic idea. Put this psychic person to work on the WWF. This person could foresee WWF angles a week in advance, and then WCW could put them on TV and their ratings would go up. Some of you may think I’m kidding, but it’s a better idea than anything WCW has come up with in the last several months. Anyway, Nash went to see Dr. James Andrews on Monday and the rumor in the locker room was that he’d undergone surgery, although we can’t confirm that. It’s especially suspect since many of his closest friends in the company also thought there was a good chance Nash was working everyone just so he wouldn’t have to go on the upcoming tour of Germany, which he was complaining about all last week. Nash is expected out of action for the rest of his life, although he may be back in the ring in about six weeks.

• Still no word on the status of Konnan and Shane Douglas. The chances of either guy going to the WWF are down to about zero at press time. Douglas has expressed interest in talking to Busch about being brought back into the company’s good graces. The feeling in the locker room seems to be that Douglas will be brought back long before Konnan will. On the other hand, Konnan has been used as a scapegoat so many times in the past that nobody really buys that he’ll be off TV for any real length of time. Konnan also signed his original deal under the Eric Bischoff regime, which means there is no 90-day review clause where WCW could release him. In other words, whether he’s on TV or not, he’ll be making his estimated $11,500 per week until his deal expires, which is believed to be December of this year.

• There was talk over the weekend of doing a lumberjack match on Nitro with Sid facing Nash for the WCW Title. I believe there were only going to be four lumberjacks, two of which would be Creative Control and the other two of which would be Bagwell and Page. DDP and Buff would fight to the back leaving Sid alone with Nash and the Harris Twins. Somehow, Sid would end up retaining the belt at the end. Obviously, those plans had to be scrapped after Nash broke his ankle.

• I don’t know why I found this story so funny, but there are sexual morality clauses written into the WCW contracts.

• Speaking of sexual morality, porn star Jasmin St. Claire is not currently negotiating with WCW, although she did send them a videotape of her work in XPW.

• Mark Madden was called Monday afternoon to fill in for Bobby Heenan, who had a bad case of strep throat. Management was said to be pleased with how he did, so I guess we may be seeing him a bit more regularly from now on.

• Buff Bagwell missed TV this past week after his neck started acting up again. He’s expected back by the time most of you read this.

• WCW was very impressed with Chris Daniels, who received a try-out match with Mike Henderson prior to the Thunder tapings this past Tuesday night. I saw these two work a match at a Tom Reeder 1-800 Collect show up here in Seattle a few years back, and it ranks as probably the second best match I’ve ever seen live. WCW was talking last week as if they were going to offer Daniels a deal. No word at press time on Henderson.

• Remember the story last week about how WCW’s quarter hour jumped from a 2.7 to a 3.9 when Bagwell and Page had their main event on Nitro? Well, WCW decided the best thing to do with the only feud that has meant a thing in the ratings recently was to kill it off as quickly as possible. Page was called last Thursday and told that he would have one more brawl with Buff Bagwell on the January 31st Nitro, and then the following night on Thunder they’d end up best friends and tag team partners. On Monday prior to Nitro, Page presented Ferrara and Banks with a new storyline that would carry their feud over until at least the first Nitro after SuperBrawl. Page’s plan ended up being OK’d, which means if nothing changes the feud will continue for at least a couple more weeks.

• Bert Prentice signed a deal with WCW on Thursday to become one of their new developmental territories. WCW will begin sending talent on February 11th. WWF had sent Prentice paperwork as well, but he opted to go with WCW. WCW DESPERATELY needs to start up some developmental territories to send their younger guys and Power Plant trainees to. Throwing the guys on WCW Saturday Night before they’re ready for TV, even though nobody actually watches that show, is not the right way to get them experience.

• David Flair recently moved to Atlanta so he could spend more time at the Power Plant. Insider sources tell us that if Flair had not agreed to move, WCW was willing to move the entire Power Plant facility up to his neighborhood to ensure that he attended classes.


• Bill Busch is said to be absolutely clueless about the wrestling industry, contrary to rumors that were going around when he was first promoted to Vice President.

• The gist of Bret Hart’s column this week was that he’s totally bored sitting at home doing nothing, but is not going to risk going back anytime soon because he feels that recurring concussions are the real reason boxers like Muhammed Ali developed brain damage and Parkinson’s disease later in life. Bret seemed happier than usual just sitting home and drawing.

• Perry Saturn had an interesting interview on the LAW radio show last week. He said that Kevin Sullivan once told himself, Benoit and Malenko that they had never drawn a dime for anyone in this business and never would, and that they were costing WCW too much money. Write that one down, kids. Saturn also claimed that Sullivan nixed the plan to put Torrie with the Revolution at the PPV. Saturn uttered the immortal line “Shane screwed Shane”, which was funny because that was the EXACT line I had used when joking with someone the day before about how far up the creek Douglas currently was. Saturn said that Shane had wanted to think things over whereas the other four just wanted to get the hell out of WCW, which is what led to their eventual split. Saturn said Douglas left a “vulgar” message on his answering machine claiming that Benoit and the group “screwed” him. Saturn said he was no longer talking to Douglas.

• Dallas Page has been talking with Barnes & Noble and Borders Bookstores about getting “Positively Page” on shelves as early as this March.

WCW On Television

Thursday Thunder (January 26 — Taped January 25): This show opened with a video package detailing Sid’s troubles in WCW lately and his victory over Kevin Nash for the WCW Title... Gene Okerlund came out to interview Sid, and actually called the WCW Title the “crown jewel of sports”. Tenay asked viewers if they had recovered yet from Sid’s title win. I may never recover. Sid came down and cut one of the most incomprehensible promos of his career — which is really saying something — the gist of which was that he was the Champion. Nash and the NWO came out. Nash showed the footage from Nitro of Sid getting counted out of the ring during a commercial break for pinning “the wrong Harris Twin”. Nash said that Sid didn’t get past the twins, and thus should not have gotten an opportunity to face Nash for the belt. Nash decided to add that Sid had also used the banned powerbomb on the twins as well. Too bad that move hadn’t been banned until after Sid had wrestled the twins. Anyway, Nash proclaimed himself new WCW Champion. Sid relinquished the belt to a frightened Dave Penzer. Nash then signed himself vs. Sid and the Harris Twin That Sid Didn’t Beat in a cage match for the main event of Thunder with the World Title on the line. The stipulations were that the powerbomb was banned and Sid had to pin Nash to win the belt back. Talk about killing off whatever credibility that belt had left... Gene interviewed Maestro. Maestro’s gimmick should be that he’s hopelessly out-of-date and stuck in the ‘80s. Maestro claimed his performances would sell out for “many millennium”... NWO started gambling backstage, since they had nothing better to do... If the NWO never has to wrestle, why do they always go to the TV tapings?... Maestro d. Norman Smiley. Smiley came down to the ring with some Showgirls. For some reason, this enraged Maestro. Norman and the Showgirls ALL did the Lewd Dance, which was pretty funny. Maestro attacked Norman in the ring, which was twice as funny because the girls just kept right on dancing. Maestro and Norman brawled backstage. Suddenly, Norman looked up and saw the Demon — who has returned — and was so scared that he fainted and was pinned. I am absolutely not making this finish up. Demon was so scary and so vicious that he went on to lose to Terry Funk shortly thereafter to a Kiwi Roll. I swear I’m not making any of this show up. This match was HIDEOUS, and the announcers were playing it up like this was a huge win for Funk... The Artist Formerly Known as Prince Iaukea d. Kid Romeo in a Jobber Title Tournament match... Wayne Newton showed up at the NWO casino... Vampiro d. Kidman with a top rope Michinoku Driver. This was really weird. Kidman got almost no offense in whatsoever and was just squashed dead. So much for his big push. This match was a million times better than the one they had on Nitro... The cops showed up at the NWO Casino and said they wanted to investigate some illegal gambling. Nash told them to hold on for a moment. He disappeared and returned with Wayne Newton, whom the cops arrested. And no, the cops never did investigate the illegal gambling, they just took Wayne to the pokey... Buff Bagwell d. Lex Luger—DQ when Liz hit Buff with a bat. Luger took the Nonsensical Bump of the Week off an elbow in the corner... Three-Count came out and danced. Vito, Johnny and Disco interrupted them. It turned into a tag match which the Mamalukes won. Not bad and everyone worked hard. After the match, Mamalukes sang “New York, New York”. David, Daphne and Crowbar then ran in and attacked them. Since Three-Count’s green dots were still on the canvas, David, Daphne and Crowbar decided to do a dance number for the fans. Man, was this ever the weirdest thing... Arn and Terry Funk went looking for someone backstage... Booker T d. Jerry Flynn with a sidewalk slam. Not much of note here... Shat came down to the ring and made fun of the fans. Then he danced. Shat then walked away and they went to commercial. To think they flew Miller in just for that... Gene interviewed Kimberly. She said she was still friends with “Marcus” and that he and Page got along just fine. In carny that means: “Page and Marcus hate each other and will fight soon”... Finley told Knobs to stay backstage during his hardcore match with Bam Bam Bigelow. Finley put a wrench in his back pocket. Knobs said he wanted a hug. Finley obliged, and Knobs grabbed his ass. Actually, what really happened was Knobs pickpocketed the wrench out of Finley’s trousers and Fit didn’t seem to notice this. During his match, Finley went to grab the wrench but couldn’t find it. Bigelow then killed him with an Asbury Park Driver for the pin. Fit got up and noticed Knobs cackling on the TurnerTron. Of course, there is absolutely no logical reason why Knobs would turn on Finley, which means this angle must continue... Sid d. Kevin Nash & The Mysterious Harris in a cage match. Just terrible. Sid made Nash submit to the Crippler Crossface for the finish. This was the second worst submission move I’ve ever seen, behind only the Figure Four Hulk Hogan once tried to apply to Arn Anderson on Nitro. For some reason they proclaimed Sid a two-time WCW Champion, even though in the storyline he hadn’t won the Title from Nash the first time, which would mean he is only a one-time Champion. To make matters even more confusing, Chris Benoit is no longer recognized by WCW as a former Champion on their website. I feel so damn sorry for all of you people trying to keep title histories. What a comedy show this turned out to be.

WCW Monday Nitro (January 31 — Live): Show opened with a highlight reel of Sid winning the title on Thunder. There were no highlights... NWO was shown on the phone. It was funny, because they never actually acknowledged what happened to Nash or why he wasn’t at the show. Hall did say into the phone: “I told you to be careful!”, but only people who knew he broke his ankle would have had the slightest clue what Hall was talking about. Another example of WCW booking for the Internet. Anyway, Jarrett said Nash had named him Deputy Commissioner and that he was going to run the show while Kevin was gone... Mark Madden replaced Bobby Heenan on commentary... Jarrett came down to the ring with the NWO and some more fitness women. Jarrett signed himself vs. Sid for the WCW Title at SuperBrawl. He also signed himself and the Harris Twins vs. Sid and two mystery partners for the Nitro main event. I guess the Harris Twins are part of the NWO now. So much for having no jobbers in the group... Terry Funk went looking for Ric Flair backstage. Arn sort of blew Funk off... Lash Laroux d. Evan Karagias in a Jobberweight Title Tournament match. Lash’s new finisher is the “Whiplash 2000”, which is set up like a Stunner but turned into a side-Russian legsweep. I guess that would be a front-Russian legsweep... NWO did some stuff backstage... Gene interviewed David Flair and Crowbar in the back. Mamalukes attacked them and Gene ran for his life. Their match started immediately. Mamalukes ended up winning after Vito put Crowbar through a table. This was an ECW-style brawl and not particularly good... Knobs offered Jarrett some money to book Fit Finley vs. Lex Luger. Jarrett promised that Luger and Finley would be in the same ring later. It has still never been revealed why Knobs hates Finley all of a sudden... Booker headed down to the ring for his match with Big T. Suddenly, his music just stopped. I thought for sure this was a production error. Turned out to be part of an angle. J. Biggs came out with Stevie and Big T and said that Booker had been illegally using the New Harlem Heat’s music. Biggs said the music was copyrighted and Booker could never use it again. Biggs said that the flames on Booker’s tights were copyrighted too, so he’d have to get new gear. I wonder if this applies to Bam Bam Bigelow as well? Biggs then said — and I am absolutely not making this up — that the letter “T” had been copyrighted by the New Harlem Heat as well, so Booker could no longer use it as part of his own name, which in real-life is “Booker T. Huffman”. This was the most absurd thing I have ever heard on a Nitro show, and that’s taking into account over 250 shows. So if you are reading this, and your middle name is “T”, you are breaking the law because that letter is copyrighted by the New Harlem Heat. There are also some Sesame Street episodes that can never air again. And someone better call Mr. T. Biggs sent Stevie and Big T to the back. Midnight then came out and tossed Biggs into the ring. Booker beat him up. New Harlem Heat then ran out and punked Booker. There was some good heat for much of this segment. Fans also chanted “BOOKER T”, collectively uttering the banned letter “T”, so expect a class-action lawsuit to be filed by the New Harlem Heat soon... Three-Count attacked Norman backstage... Jarrett told Finley that he was going to referee Knobs vs. Luger... Norman locked himself in Demon’s casket to hide from Three-Count... Kidman d. Wall. Vampiro helped. Kidman went to confront Vamp after the match but WCW quickly cut away... Gene interviewed Ric Flair. Flair got a great reaction. Flair tried his absolute damndest to get booed, but the fans just kept cheering him louder and louder. Flair called himself the greatest of all time and even went as far as to proclaim himself God. Fans cheered more. The problem with Flair is that, at 50, nobody wants to boo him anymore. Plus, most fans actually believe he really is the greatest of all time, so that psychology is not going to work for him anymore if he wants to turn heel. Flair called out Funk, who was supposed to be the babyface but got booed wildly. Funk called Flair a “banana-nosed bastard”. Flair called Funk a “chicken farmer”, to which Funk angrily replied: “Chicken farmer my ass!” Believe me, this was a million times better on TV than it sounds on paper. They finally got into a fight and security broke it up. This was the greatest Nitro moment in months and months... Jarrett decided to have Flair and Funk be Sid’s mystery partners since they hated each other... Lenny and Lodi said that they were sick of their stupid gimmicks and gave their Standards and Practices costumes to Miss Hancock, who is part of their gimmick. Someone please explain that one to me... Luger NC Knobs. Finley and Liz both attacked Knobs. Absolutely horrendous... Norman came out of Demon’s coffin wearing his PISS Warrior outfit... After commercial, Demon was shown backstage telling the police that someone had jacked his outfit. Demon sounded like the biggest pussy in the world here, which I’m pretty sure was the point... Norman d. Shane Helms in an OK match. Afterwards, the cops ran out to arrest Norman, but he resisted arrest and ran away. No shots were fired. The cops seemed content to just let that pussy Demon run after him... Page and Kimberly were shown backstage. The Mamalukes walked by. Vito pinched Kimberly’s ass, but blamed it on Disco. Page attacked Disco leading to their match. Page won clean with the Diamond Cutter. During the match, Tony said that Kimberly had been “goosed”, which may be the first maneuver that Tony has ever successfully identified... Jarrett & Harris Twins beat Sid & Terry Funk & Ric Flair. Flair never came out until the very end, at which point he attacked Funk. Finish saw Jarrett pin Sid after hitting him with a guitar. Match was pretty bad, but it was a decent set-up for their PPV match. The Flair vs. Funk stuff saved this show.

WCW On Tour

Nashville, TN (January 28): Disco Inferno d. Maestro, Wall d. Dustin Rhodes & Berlyn in a three-way, Kidman d. Vampiro. This was billed as a number-one contender’s match for the US Title with the winner getting a title shot “later”. “Later” ended up not being on this show. Meng pinned Lex Luger, Mamalukes d. David Flair & Crowbar & Harris Twins in a three-way, Kevin Nash d. Ric Flair—DQ. Main event was said to be simply horrible. Flair got what was described as a decent reaction at best. The Arena was said to look virtually empty with the floor seats barely filled to capacity.

Johnson City, TN (January 29): Disco Inferno d. Maestro, Wall d. Berlyn & Dustin Rhodes, Kidman d. Vampiro in a number-one contender’s match for the US Title, Knobs d. Crowbar, Meng pinned Lex Luger, Mamalukes d. Harris Twins & David Flair & Crowbar in a three-way, Kevin Nash d. Ric Flair—DQ.

ECW News and Notes
• Rob Van Dam broke his fibula (a bone) doing a baseball slide dropkick during his match with Rhino in Orlando, FL. Van Dam, despite being in quite a bit of pain, managed to finish the match, although fans in attendance knew something was wrong. He was put in a hard cast over the weekend and probably won’t be able to wrestle again for at least six weeks. Because of the injury, Heyman has pulled him off the Living Dangerously pay-per-view, which will air from Danbury, CT on March 11.

• Lance Storm had to have his head stapled together after taking a hard chairshot in Orlando.

• ECW will be bringing in Gedo and Jado to challenge for the ECW Tag Team Titles at the March 4th show.

ECW On Television

ECW on TNN (January 28 — Taped): Show opened with clips of Raven bitching to Francine backstage. Tommy walked in and got into an argument with Raven, who refused to go to the ring for their match because he was depressed. Francine finally talked Tommy into leaving Raven alone... Cyrus, in studio, cut the tape off during Joel Gertner’s opening spiel. Cyrus said there were five guys in ECW who were about to ask for their releases if Gertner got to keep his announcing job. Funny. Cyrus demanded the production guy play something different... They aired clips of the segment on last week’s show where Awesome and Sabu jumped Rob Van Dam. Enjoy this build-up, kids, because the chase is always more fun than the capture... Awesome cut a promo with Jeff Jones backstage. He said he was going to beat up Spike Dudley. Awesome said the word “ass” in this interview about the same number of times as Godfather says the word “man” in his. When Awesome cuts a promo he reminds me of a cross between Sid and Don Lapre... Speaking of Don Lapre, when I was younger I actually bought his Making Money package. I am proud to report that I made no money whatsoever with it. But I did learn that the only way to make money quick is to sell the secret of making money quick to poor people... Yoshihiro Tajiri d. Little Guido in a pretty good match with a brainbuster. There were about three commercial breaks in this match alone. Guido kept teasing his armbar submission, but this isn’t Japan so almost nobody in the crowd took it seriously... Rob Van Dam cut a promo backstage that I thought had to be at least two hours long, until I realized that it had not been interrupted by any commercial breaks. I still can’t figure out if Rob’s promos are supposed to be funny... Rhino & Steve Corino d. Tommy Dreamer & Josh Wilcox. Wilcox did almost literally nothing until the very end when he turned on Dreamer and hit him with a chair. Rhino then gave Tommy a piledriver and Corino got the pinfall. After the match, Wilcox told the fans that they sucked and Corino ran down Dusty Rhodes. Of course, Dusty boompaloomped down to the ring and cleaned house. He hit Wilcox with an elbow smash and Wilcox did the trademarked Sid Vicious Fall Like An Oak Only More Stiff Bump. Dusty then killed him with a polka-dot elbow. Dusty may be bigger and older than ever, but he can still drop a DOPE elbow... Mike Awesome d. Spike Dudley in another good match. Spike didn’t go through a thousand tables this time, but he did take a severe beating nonetheless. They had a weird editing moment near the finish. Awesome hit a Generic Splash off the top and the referee counted two. Suddenly, there was a very obvious cut and the next thing you know, Joey Styles is telling us that Spike kicked out. I guess he must not have kicked out the first time. Anyway, Awesome then leaned a table vertically in the corner and powerbombed Spike through it for the pin. That poor Spike is not long for this world in terms of walking in an upright position. After the match, Awesome powerbombed the referee and then called out Rob Van Dam. RVD came out, but Sabu jumped him. Everyone brawled as the show went off the air. Pretty good show, although not as good as some previous efforts.

ECW On Tour

St. Petersburg, FL (January 27): This show opened with a ten-bell salute for Bobby Duncum Jr. Mike Whipwreck d. CW Anderson, Kid Cash & Nova & Chris Chetti d. Simon Diamond & Dupps in a six-man, Bubba the Love Sponge d. Bill Alfonso. That Bubba sure gets around, wrestling for WWF, WCW and ECW whenever the shows are in town. Balls Mahoney & New Jack d. Angle & Vic Grimes, Tommy Dreamer d. Lance Storm, Sabu d. Spike Dudley, Mike Awesome d. Masato Tanaka.

Ft. Lauderdale, FL (January 28 — TNN Tapings): This show opened with a ten-bell salute for Duncum Jr. as well. Nova & Chris Chetti & Kid Cash d. Simon Diamond & New Dangerous Alliance, Danny Doring & Roadkill d. Dupp Brothers, Little Guido d. Super Crazy & Yoshihiro Tajiri in a three-way. During the TNN opening, Rob Van Dam and Mike Awesome got into another big pull-apart brawl. Jeff Jones justified his paycheck for once by eating a Van Daminator. Raven d. Eric Watts, Vic Grimes & Angel d. Balls Mahoney & New Jack, Mike Awesome d. Masato Tanaka, Dusty Rhodes & Tommy Dreamer d. Steve Corino & Rhino when Dusty pinned Corino with a phat elbow, Rob Van Dam d. Mikey Whipwreck to retain the ECW TV Title.

Orlando, FL (January 29): Super Crazy & Prodigy d. Dupps, Masato Tanaka d. Simon Diamond, Nova & Chris Chetti & Kid Cash d. Danny Doring & Roadkill & Mikey Whipwreck, Tommy Dreamer d. Yoshihiro Tajiri, Mike Awesome KILLED Little Guido, Sabu d. CW Anderson, Balls Mahoney & New Jack d. Baldies. Highlight of this match was New Jack diving off a pier right next to a “No Diving Off Pier” sign. What a lawbreaker. Rob Van Dam d. Rhino and broke his ankle in the process. This show took place at the Zuma Beach Club and was said to be a damn fun show.

[Seth82]

here is the February 15th 1988 edition of Wrestling Observer

WWF
-- Dave just raves and raves about the finish to the Hogan/Andre match on NBC, saying that he hopes whoever came up with that finish got a nice bonus in their paycheck. He's so impressed because he says it's like they thought of everything -- they found a way to get the belt off of Hogan to do a job, Andre wasn't hurt, Wrestlemania was set up, and the nature of the angle was so shocking that it didn't set off a fan riot, which was at one point a concern about taking the belt off of Hogan.

-- In the Bay area, radio stations were reporting the title change up to a week before it even happened. The San Jose Mercury ran a story about it the day before. This was out because the WWF had already sent advertising agencies information on Wrestlemania IV, with the slogan "Hogan tries to regain his title." Dave is shocked, but no one in the WWF was even concerned about it, because all the publicity in giving away the finish, and people anticipating a title change, only helped the ratings and buzz for the show. He says that's a clear difference between the WWF and NWA, as Dusty would have gone crazy about a finish leaking like that.

-- Trivia: Jerry Monti, the most famous jobber in the San Francisco territory, made the opening credits as the victim of the Honky Tonk Man's Shake Rattle & Roll neckbreaker.

-- Dave says production wise, the show wasn't as good as most WWF shows just because they were doing it live. Randy Savage's pre-match interview was a mess, because the mic wasn't on, and HTM's music was being played too loud.

-- The show started with Randy Savage vs Honky Tonk Man, and Dave says HTM and Peggy Sue (Sherri Martel) deserve credit for always putting on such a huge show in the pre-match, but that HTM turns it off when the bell rings. He says Savage carried him and it was bad, but watchable. He says Savage was limited by the framework of the match because there were several spots where he had to be laid out selling for long periods of time so HTM could attempt to serenade Elizabeth. The cameras missed a key interference spot from Jimmy Hart. The finish was Savage running HTM's shoulder into the ringpost before winning by countout. Post-match, Savage was hit with the megaphone. Honky was about to hit Savage with the guitar and Liz jumped in the way to save the day. He was about to hit her, but Savage saved the day and the post-match saw him open the ropes for Liz and carry her on his shoulder. Dave says ** for the whole thing. He thinks it was only a *1/4 match, but the post-match boosted it.

-- Regarding Hogan/Andre, Dave says Andre looks to have lost a lot of weight since Thanksgiving. He also says he's a great heel with great facial expressions, but has no business wrestling in his current physical condition. He took no bumps, because he would have had to get up again. Hogan did the Ric Flair bump of getting slammed off the top turnbuckle, which shocked Dave, because it's a pretty big bump anyway, but especially for Hogan. At one point, Andre tried to kick Hogan, but his other foot couldn't support him, and he fell. All he could really do from there was choke. Dave says he was admittedly surprised at the crowd doing more mugging than watching the match also. Hogan did his comeback and the legdrop, but Virgil distracted the ref, so there was no count. Andre then got up and did a botched suplex, the ref counted to three even with Hogan kicking out, and at 9:05, Andre was the new champion. Andre was just about to give "The World Tag Team Championship" (he screwed up the name of the belt twice) to DiBiase, but then referee Dave Hebner shows up. Dave had just left the NWA a few days earlier. Vince and Jesse were stunned and wondering how there could be two Dave Hebners, and the crowd was completely shocked. The heel Dave Hebner then beat up the real Dave Hebner and threw him out of the ring. He then turned around and realized Hogan was waiting for him, and Hogan picked up up and threw him outside the ring. DiBiase and Virgil were supposed to catch him, but Hogan was wrapped up in the moment and threw the heel Dave Hebner (Earl) too far, way past DiBiase and Virgil. Hogan did a post-match interview saying that DiBiase paid someone to have plastic surgery to look exactly like Dave Hebner to steal the title.

-- The show drew a 16.1 rating and a 26 share, which makes it the most widely watched wrestling match in the history of the United States. Dave says he'll go into more details about the rating next week, but it was an improvement over the bomb "Rags To Riches" that is normally in that time slot. The network was hopeful for top 5 or top 10 for the week, but no such luck. "They aren't going to get a weekly series although I'm sure they'll get another prime time special. I expected much better numbers as well, but I guess there aren't as many potential wrestling fans in the U.S. as I thought there were."

-- The syndicated TV aired the next day, and they covered for the taping difference by saying WWF President Jack Tunney had forbidden any discussion from the announcers of what happened the night before, which Dave thought was clever. Jesse Ventura would try to talk about it and they would bleep out everything he said. Jesse then did a spoof on the Dan Rather CBS walkout, started yelling about censorship, and left.

-- Dave can't believe how well everything worked, and now thinks calling Wrestlemania IV a $25 million show may be conservative.

-- The next day, the WWF ran two house shows -- one in Boston and one in Philadelphia.

-- The rumor is that it will be announced in syndication that the title is being held up. Dave goes crazy with speculation about possible scenarios that is too confusing to type.

-- Dynamite Kid collapsed in the San Francisco airport last Saturday. At least one radio station reported that he had a heart attack, which is what Dave was told initially as well. In reality, it was a stress-related seizure. He was hospitalized, but as of press time had already returned to the ring.

-- Bam Bam Bigelow had also already returned to the ring.

-- Trivia: About 14 months prior in Denver, rookie Owen James teamed with SD Jones, but lost to the Hart Foundation. "Owen James is of course Owen Hart, who wrestled against his brother that night. Even then he outshined everyone with Titan, which is probably why he hasn't been back."

-- Says the 01/25 MSG main event of Hogan & Bigelow vs DiBiase & Virgil was very good, and that DiBiase is the perfect opponent for Hogan in terms of working, and knows how to get the most out of him. Dave would give it ***1/4.

-- Dave was wrong about WM IV tickets in Atlantic City. As of 2/8, there were only 5,000 tickets sold and about 4,000 remaining. They are giving away 8,800 tickets, not 2,000, and the place will seat 17,800 when full. Dave expects a sellout within a week.

-- The WWF is now claiming that Wrestlemania III grossed $20.4 million, not $17.1 million as Dave had written in the yearbook. Dave thinks this year, worst case, they'd gross $23.5 million, but most likely $25 million.

-- 2/6 in Boston drew 15,534 sellout and $190,000 headlined by Hogan & Bigelow vs Andre & DiBiase. 2/6 in Philadelphia drew 13,112 and $163,608 headlined by Hogan & Bigelow vs Andre & DiBiase.

NWA
-- Correction to previous Bunkhouse Stampede figures: the show drew an $80,000 gate and 6,200 paid.

-- Ted Turner is now trying to help the NWA fix their PPV woes caused by the WWF blocking almost all of their planned shows for the year. "As we've noted, the future of this business on a major league level is definitely not in house shows, but in PPV and outside merchandising and with McMahon blocking Crockett from PPV, then no matter what else may happen or how much Crockett can turn things around, he won't be able to compete on a major league basis." Turner wants to help get the Great American Bash on PPV, but plans for the Crockett Cup and Starrcade have been canned. After the Bash, they don't have another PPV scheduled until January of '89 with the Bunkhouse final. "I guess the big difference between these guys and McMahon is that at least McMahon learns from his mistakes."

-- As of the previous week, JCP is averaging a 6.5 national rating in syndication and is the #12 spot, while Titan is at #3 with an average 10.6 national rating in syndication.

-- The Sporting News ran a clip a few weeks back about Lyle Alzado's "Learning The Ropes" sitcom where he plays a single dad who supplements his job as a school teacher by being a masked wrestler called The Maniac. Steve Williams doubled for Alzado in the early pilots filmed just before Christmas. When Williams was wrestling Flair, he injured his knee landing wrong on a leap frog from the top rope. He came back obviously injured for a match with Tully Blanchard. Tully was supposed to hit him on the back with a chair, but instead hit him in the head and he started juicing. He then had to patch his head up for a match with Arn Anderson, but his knee blew out. Arn also doubled for Alzado, teaming with Lex Luger against the Road Warriors. Anderson fell from the ring and jammed his shoulder on a TV camera.

-- "Am I imagining things or has Sting totally surpassed Lex Luger and Barry Windham as the top young babyface? I was afraid Luger would lose his 'steam' like Nikita Koloff did, but believe me, in my wildest dreams I didn't think he'd lose it by early February. I figured at worse he'd be a hot headliner at least through the early summer before slipping into Nikita-level nothing stratosphere. Luger is already one of the boys and stuck in a tag team feud with Windham against Tully Blanchard & Arn Anderson ... Even though Sting certainly needs work on interviews, he's got an amazing rapport with the audience and can do some amazing things in the ring and I truly believe he's the kind of a guy who in about a year someone could actually build a promotion around. His work is good already and great in spots and his charisma beats both Luger and Barry Windham by a substantial margin."

-- Ole Anderson is back on a semi-regular basis to replace the departing Nikita Koloff, who will be gone for 6-8 weeks.

-- Buddy Landell tried to get work, but they wouldn't give him the time of day. He didn't even last for his Japanese tour, disappearing after two weeks. He is scheduled to start back with Continental in early march.

-- The Rock & Roll Express are telling everyone they're starting with the WWF in June, which Dave is skeptical about and are just working independents until then. JCP is still getting lots of calls about them leaving, with the official line being, "They aren't gone, they're just renegotiating."

-- Michael Hayes still really wants to go to the WWF, but is headed to WCCW.

-- Steve Williams is just going to work Japan, although Dave recommends he try to get a part-time gig with WCCW just to stay in shape.

-- Dave thinks in spite of the cloud of impeding doom surrounding the NWA lately, they seem to be getting on the right track with booking. He loved the Road Warriors angle and thinks it will draw (not sellouts, but good, respectable houses). Dave now thinks the weights were gimmicked, though. The plan is for the Road Warriors to have ladder matches with the Powers of Pain on house shows with $50,000 at the top of the ladder.

-- Eddie Gilbert was offered a spot in the Varsity Club and turned it down

-- Dave now wants to talk about the Barry Windham/Tully Blanchard match: "Now I liked the match. I can get into the concept of working on a body part with the guy selling the injury, etc. Both guys know how to work that style, the smashing of the chair on Windham's knee looked legit and Windham did his usual great job of selling the wounded limb. Lots of readers enjoyed the match as well. Now I'm not going to comment on the ending because that's not the issue here. The issue is, Tully had Barry in the figure four at the 22:00 mark, after working on the leg for 12 minutes, and the crowd was chanting 'boring' and there was no heat. Technically, from the wrestling I grew up with, it was a good match, but the fans weren't buying it. I hope everyone takes notice of this because if it continues to happen, long matches may become as prevalent as Dusty's muscular definition. I can recall in Houston this past year I saw a Flair vs. Windham match, which wound up going about 30 minutes and was every bit of a four-star match. They did their usual slow start for 7 minutes before turning up the heat, but in those 7 minutes, several hundred fans went home. So what in my eyes (and in the eyes of the ringsiders who were 'into' the match totally) was a great match obviously was not a great match in the eyes of the bleacher folks who were leaving during the main event. The idea that these slow-builders may not appeal to today's fans is a concept I'd rather not address, but I've seen too many examples of fans being unable to retain interest in long matches. The point being, with the idea of slow-building and telling a story with the matches may not be viable concepts to today's fans. I'd like to hear others opinions on this."

AWA
-- The final card at the Minneapolis Auditorium happened on 02/04 before a low turnout of 1,700 fans. They were hyping it as Nostalgia Night, and the WWF countered by running "Mad Dog Vachon Night" in the same market the following week, and even ended up bringing in old AWA stars for their show like The Crusher, Nick Bockwinkel and Blackjack Lanza. Verne had Red Bastien, Killer Kowalski, Carl Eller (never wrestled, but was a member of the Minnesota Vikings Purple People Eaters front four in the early 70s), Butch Levy, Leo Nomellini, Hard Boiled Haggerty, Dick the Bruiser (who wrestled), Billy Robinson and perennial jobber Kenny "Sodbuster" Jay, who actually got the biggest pop. Verne Gagne and Stanley Blackburn were in attendance as well. Dave says Zenk/Robinson stood out in the wrong way, because Zenk is the only potential contender they have for Hennig, and a 50-year old guy took him to a 20-minute draw. He also controlled the entire match, which was in slow motion and Zenk had no opportunity to do anything to get himself over. The AWA now doesn't have a venue lined out for the Twin Cities.

-- Adrian Adonis is out until March at the earliest. The match where he broke his ankle was a match against Ricky Rice that did air on TV.

-- Kelly Kiniski quit. He was unhappy with his $170 weekly check and went back to Canada.

-- Nord the Barbarian quit. He's hugely over in the AWA because of his car commercials, but Verne never wanted to push him because he didn't think he could last.

-- Still no word on the future of Paul E. Dangerously.

MEMPHIS
-- Scott Hall is gone, and no one knows where he is.

-- Pat Tanaka and Paul Diamond are scheduled to come in as a babyface tag team for a few weeks.

-- Bill Dundee finally turned heel. There was a battle royal with the winner getting a shot at the CWA title on the 2/6 TV show. It came down to Jeff Jarrett and Bill Dundee. Dundee tossed Jarrett over the top rope, but Jarrett held on and flipped himself back in the ring. Dundee was strutting, and Jarrett hit him from behind with two dropkicks that sent him over the top rope. Later in the show, Lawler defended against Jarrett, and after a ref bump, Dundee came in and hit Jarrett and Lawler very hard with a chair.

-- Brother Earnest Angel is in managing a team called the Choir Boys and is doing a televangelist gimmick. They are getting nasty phone calls from religious groups. The angle is intended to spoof Jim & Tammy Faye Baker, which Angel saying he's on a mission to create "Wrestling Village USA". Angel "saved the soul" of Darryl Peterson (Max Payne) on TV.

WCCW
-- Ken Mantell really wants to put together a Ric Flair vs Kerry Von Erich match for May.

CONTINENTAL
-- 01/29 in Columbus, MS, drew 1,708. Crowds in Montgomery, AL have been less than 150 per week.

SOUTHERN CHAMPIONSHIP WRESTLING
-- The promotion is getting hot in Atlanta, drawing a turnaway crowd of 620 fans in Marietta, mainly due to Ricky Morton.

-- Abdullah the Butcher, Robert Gibson, Bruiser Brody and Dick Slater are scheduled for the 02/21 taping, with a likely Brody vs Slater main event

-- Dave says he saw the January TV and it's a pretty lively and fun to watch indy show, and has better caliber wrestling than most indies

-- There is talk of Dennis Condrey coming in

-- There's a major war going on with other Georgia independents. On a recent Deep South Wrestling show, they made fun of Joe Pedicino and Bonnie Blackstone. They did a skit with a guy in an easy chair pretending to be Pedicino, but getting stuck in his chair and needing help to get out. Blackstone was parodied as a total bimbo. Southern countered by showing a clip of The Invader vs The Assassin, with Pedicino saying, "This is the Puerto Rican Assassin because there is nobody named The Assassin in the United States that can wrestle," a dig at Jody Hamilton, the group's headliner.

-- On a show they did in Atlanta, Michael Hayes said, regarding the NWA, "It may be the major league, but their checks are minor league."

STAMPEDE
-- Garfield Portz suffered a stroke late last week at the age of 30 years old, collapsing while pumping gas. The original prognosis wasn't good, but he began to take a turn for the better. At first, there was fear that he would be paralyzed for life. It's too early to tell.

-- 01/29 in Calgary drew 1,300. The 02/05 show drew a near sellout, but there were lots of fans who arrived late because of the NBC special the WWF was airing. That show was the last for Bad News. He didn't do any jobs on the way out because Vince wouldn't let him.

-- Dave thinks Rip Rogers has turned out to be great and has surprised everyone by that because no one expected it.

-- Stampede really wants to do a Ric Flair vs Owen Hart NWA World title match in Spring, but JCP doesn't seem into it.

NEW JAPAN
-- TV tapings on 02/01 in Saitama drew 3,150 headlined by Tatsumi Fujinami & Kengo Kimura vs Buzz Sawyer & Owen Hart.

-- Bob Orton is having a great tour, and had a standout match against Riki Choshu.

-- The juniors series ended on 02/07 in Sapporo with a Hase vs Koshinaka match. Hiroshi Hase is getting the big push, but the most over wrestlers are still Nobuhiko Takada and Kazuo Yamazaki.

-- Owen Hart returns in May, which should kill any rumors of him being WWF-bound.

-- "New Japan wrestler Naoki Sano, a prelim guy who is working in Mexico under the name Masked Bushido, which in Spanish means Samurai Spirit, won the UWA International Lightweight title from Astro De Oro while at the same time without his mask, Sano, Hirokazu Hata & Asai hold the Mexican 6-man tag title.

-- Antonio Inoki proved to be very over in Italy. His shows drew 12,125 on 1/23 in Milan and 13,854 on 1/24 in Rome.

-- Sambo champion Chris Dolman may have a match with Inoki over summer.

ALL JAPAN
-- No wrestling until late February

-- Dave thinks he reported the Asian tag titles change last week incorrectly, and will get it cleared up.

PUERTO RICO
-- WWC in San Juan had a big show at a baseball stadium headlined by Carlos Colon vs Iron Sheik that drew 25,000 fans

MEXICO
-- "A brief rundown on the scene here. There are literally dozens of promotions in the country and wrestling draws huge crowds, although the gates aren't high by U.S. standards because of the weak peso so there are very few Americans working here and I don't believe there are any working here on a regular basis. Tickets generally range from $1.50 to $3 in U.S. money and even the main eventers earn something like $25 to $30 on cards which draw several thousand fans."

-- MS-1 & Masakurae were recently named Mexico's Tag Team of the Year

-- "Top drawing cards in Mexico include Perro Aguayo, Super Halcon, Super Muneco, the Japanese trio and of course veterans like Mil Mascaras, Dos Caras and El Canek."

-- "Negro Casas, who some think is the best worker in the world, has resurfaced working out of Tijuana."

-- One of the top heels is a Honky Tonk Man ripoff named Beautiful Elvis

-- In the Mexico City metro arena alone, there are five cards every Wednesday, seven cards every Friday, and ten shows every Sunday, and still, shows in Mexico City draw in excess of 15,000 fans. Tijuana has two shows per week drawing 5,000-6,000 per show.

OTHER
-- An indy billed as Georgia Championship Wrestling has a 2/11 show booked in Albany headlined by Dale Veasy vs Scott Armstrong. Also on the card is Brickhouse Brown vs Hector Guerrero, Jerry Oates vs Ken Timbs and The MOD Squad vs The Children of Doom and Tom Prichard vs Ken Dillinger. They are using WWF graphics in their TV ad which is airing on several local stations. Crockett has a show in Albany on 2/9.

-- Chavo Guerrero is now working in catering and is said to be retired.

-- World Organization Wrestling ran a show on 01/22 in Philadelphia, MS drawing 150, headlined by Jerry Stubbs vs Bob Holly. Elsewhere on the card was Bob Sweetan vs Paul Diamond, and also a really strong 15:00 Pat Tanaka vs Davey Haskins match, where Pat Tanaka took such a strong bump off of a backdrop that he broke the ring.

-- Former pro wrestler Robert Michael Doggendorf (Mike Doggendorf in Angelo Poffo's ICW) was arrested for beating his wife although the charges were lowered from a felony to misdemeanor. He works as a director of custody at the Fayette County Jail in Lexington, KY.

-- Roddy Piper is doing great in Hollywood. He should never have to wrestle again unless he wants to, and he's in really high demand.

DAVE'S RANKINGS
1. Owen Hart
2. Nobuhiko Takada
3. Ric Flair
4. Ted DiBiase
5. Masa Saito
6. Tatsumi Fujinami
7. Dick Murdoch
8. Barry Windham
9. Bruiser Brody
10. Curt Hennig
11. Bret Hart
12. Keichi Yamada
13. Terry Gordy
14. Rick Martel
15. Tiger Mask
16. Tully Blanchard
17. Bobby Eaton
18. Hiroshi Hase
19. Buzz Sawyer
20. Terry Taylor
21. Randy Savage
22. Brad Armstrong
23. Genichiro Tenryu
24. Shiro Koshinaka
25. Kazuo Yamazaki
26. Riki Choshu
27. Eddie Gilbert
28. Yoshiaki Yatsu
29. Ricky Steamboat
30. Yoshiaki Fujiwara

TAG TEAMS
1. Bobby Eaton & Stan Lane
2. Rick Martel & Tito Santana
3. Tully Blanchard & Arn Anderson
4. Tatsumi Fujinami & Kengo Kimura
5. Riki Choshu & Masa Saito
6. The Islanders
7. Stan Hansen & Terry Gordy
8. Yoshiaki Fujiwara & Kazuo Yamazaki
9. Road Warriors
10. Genichiro Tenryu & Ashura Hara
11. Jumbo Tsuruta & Yoshiaki Yatsu
12. Tiger Mask & Shinichi Nakano
13. The Fantastics
14. Brad Armstrong & Tim Horner
15. Bruce Hart & Brian Pillman
16. Rock & Roll Express
17. Midnight Rockers
18. Super Strong Machine & Hiro Saito
19. Hart Foundation
20. Toshiaki Kawada & Samson Fuyuki

WOMEN
1. Chigusa Nagayo
2. Lioness Asuka
3. Bull Nakano
4. Yukari Omori
5. Condor Saito
6. Yumiko Hotta
7. Itsuki Yamazaki
8. Kazue Nagahori
9. Noriyo Tateno
10. Leilani Kai
11. Mitsuko Nishiwaki
12. Dump Matsumoto
13. Rumi Kazama
14. Estelle Molina
15. Mika Komatsu
16. Lola Gonzales
17. Yumi Oguar
18. Drill Nakamae
19. Sherri Martel
20. Debbie Combs

[Seth82]

Here is the February 17th 1986 edition of The Wrestling Observer

*Biggest news is the death of Gino Hernandez. Gino was 29 and is the ninth active wrestler to die in the last two years, an astonishing number given there are only about 300 active wrestlers in the business.

*Dave corrects himself from last issue where he claimed that the AWA tag titles changed hands in a non-match that was said on TV as taking place in Albuquerque. The match actually did take place and Hall/Henning beat Garvin/Regal in a good 58 minute match. The change took place because Regal decided to walk out. Rumors also flying that Garvin is leaving for Crockett to give Baby Doll another valet to feud with.

*Wrestlemania II will take place 4/7 instead of 3/31 as originally planned. WWF had booked too many buildings around the country for 3/31 and didn't want to have to eat the deposits. Plus they didn't want to compete w/ the NCAA B-ball championship game. Dave speculates the main event could be Hogan/Savage lumberjack match.

*MTV will air the Slammys near the end of April.

*A second woman's promotion will start in Japan. The current women's group discourages the women from continuing with wrestling past the age of 25. Dave says the Japanese women put on the best matches of any promotion in the world.

*Dave gets letters wondering why ESPN renewed its contract w/ the AWA instead of picking up Mid-South. Dave says to not be surprised because station managers looking at wrestling already assume it's phony and stupid. Vince's material fits the mold of real-life cartoon characters and a circus atmosphere. The AWA is almost cartoon-like in an unintentional way and station managers think that's what people want. Mid-South draws huge ratings, but those are dismissed because it's in deep south markets like Oklahoma and New Orleans. Also, Mid-South caters to actual wrestling fans and is a fairly serious wrestling show. ESPN Sports Center commentators wouldn't be able to make fun of it like they do w/ the AWA.

AWA
*Brody will be coming back. Blackwell convinced Verne to bring him back. Greg Gagne wanted Brody to post a 25,000 appearance bond, but that's not happening. Blackwell realizes that age and weight have caught up w/ him and that Brody is one of the few guys that can work around that.

*Blackjack Lanza left for a WWF road agent position. Lanza was a great organizer so now the AWA is in organizational disarray. Wally Karbo rumored to be leaving for WWF too.

*Hansen is already a disappointment as a champion that can draw. Dave says it will stay that way as long as his only opponent is Slaughter. Problem is the AWA has no faces that are over. David Sammartino is scheduled for several matches w/ Hansen which will bomb.

*Sean Michaels is on his way in, but won't get pushed. Dave says he has great potential but is too green.

World Class
*Dave doesn't want to speculate on the effects Gino's death will have on the promotion.

*Crowds are up a bit because the Freebirds are back in. The Freebirds/Von Erich feud is good, but nowhere near '83/84 good. Lance Von Erich tries but is still horrible.

Texas All-Star
*Kimala refuses to work more than one or two minute matches (I love Kimala!)

Crockett Country
*Roadies/Russians feud is beginning to fizzle, but a couple of TV appearances by the Roadies could help it out. Dave thinks the Roadies are an attraction that people want to see a few times every now and then instead of on a regular basis. He thinks Crockett should book them like WWF books Hogan, sporadically so as to make their appearance seem like a really huge deal.

*Dave says someone needs to tell Flair that the Space Mountain schtick is getting old.

*Dave gives some results, all of which have Flair losing or getting some cheap win. Dave cracks wise about how he loves the way they "continually put Flair over."

Update on Gino Hernandez
*It was reported that Gino's death was due to a liver ailment and that a gun was found near his body. The gun hadn't been fired. Police in Dallas received "tons" of calls saying that Chirs Adams killed him. Apparently, Adams mentioned that he'd kill Gino in a promo.

*Dave says there's more to the Gino story, which he won't report anything until next issue when more details come in.

WWF
*Dave wouldn't be surprised if the Bulldogs win the tag titles at Wrestlemania II.

*The WWF album reached a disappointing No. 84 on the Billboard charts and is on its way down.

*Hogan was on the Love Boat last week.

*WWF returns to Richomnd on 2/9. Their first show in Crockett Country sold out and this one should too.

*Rumors that Dino Bravo will be returning to Canada to run the Montreal office.

Mid-South
*Mid-South TV is now on satellite.

*Dave isn't used to Dibiase/Williams as faces because they were such great heels.

*Chavo Guerrero is on thin-ice w/ the Houston office. It all stems from a "painted yellow" match where he threw paint in the audience and refused his post-match painted interview.

Other stuff
*Dave says that because he's always writing negative things, he should commend Rob Richsteiner and Steve Williams for rescuing two men from a burning vehicle about a month back. Dave also says he regrets not putting Williams in the top three of his most improved list for 1985.

Superstars on the Superstation
*Dave gives the show a B. He says their attempt to have celebrities flopped because Willie Nelson was the only real celebrity. At least Vince has real celebrities. The pacing and production was also far below what Vince does. Much like Vince's early shows were, this show dragged in places.

*Dave hated the Dusty/Tully match but liked the Flair/Garvin match. He says Garvin is just good enough to not ruin Flair's matches. Either that or Flair is just that good. He says they made a mistake by not having a Flair interview after the match.

Back to the News
*A passage in Howard Cossell's book highlights how Vince wanted Cossell to call WWF shows. Cossell refused and Vince cussed him out and acted like an asshole.

*Dave watched a Hogan/Savage match from MSG and says it's no wonder Hogan is so much more over than Flair. All Flair does is take bumps while Hogan at least gets to look strong. Dave also is amazed that Flair was able to have such a great match w/ Nikita at the Bash in '85.

*Barry Windham looks great on his current Japan tour. It's hard to believe he's the same guy that was in the WWF.

*WWF will do a Slammy's special on 3/1. This will be the night the big angles for Wrestlemania are shot. Not sure if it will air on NBC or MTV. William Perry rumored to be wrestling.

*Dave summarizes a proposed Flair-Race angle in KC that he hopes they will change becaue he gave it away.

*Jake Roberts on his way to WWF.

*Wally Karbo agreed to go to WWF, but changed his mind last minute.

*At a recent AWA St. Paul show, Hennig/Hall beat the Irwins. Hall went into his trunks for a foreign object and his blade fell out. Bill Irwin walloped him w/ his boot and Hall picked up the blade and cut himself. Dave says Hall is improving, but he's never seen anyone screw up so many finishes.

*Rumors of 4/20 show at the 60,000 seat Metrodome w/ Crockett.

*Verne lost his TV time in Winnipeg to WWF.

[Seth82]

Here is the February 24th 1986 edition of Wrestling Observer

Lead Story: The coroner’s report on the death of Gino Hernandez is out, and the verdict is that it was an “Acute cocaine overdose”. Dave discusses the negative impact that it would have on the business if, say, Kerry Von Erich or Hulk Hogan were to end up involved in a drug scandal. He does add to this that the average wrestling fan probably knows that most of their favourites are “high as a kite” while working anyways. The sponsorship, cartoons, and merchandising would all be hit hard and the current “Boom” period would likely end. He notes that Gino’s death got medium-profile news coverage in the Dallas area.

--Wrestlemania 2 speculation and notes: Dave points to William Perry being quoted in the Chicago Sun Times as saying he would never appear in any wrestling show. He doesn’t know much about the upcoming event but does review what little he does know, including naming the three locations for the event, the Budny-Hogan LA Main event, the Piper-Mr. T Boxing Main event, and the proposed “$100,000 Open Battleroyal” for wrestlers, athletes, and other celebrities in Chicago. He notes that Lyle Alzado and Mark Gasinteau were to be involved in that one, and Perry was supposed to be in but seems to have backed out unless it was an angle. Other matches he had heard of being signed included Bruno Sammartino vs. Jesse Ventura from the New York location, Savage vs. Santana, and the Bulldogs vs. The Dream Team which would be a title change. He confirmed the card as “definitely happening on 4/7.”

--3/1 NBC WWF TV show recap. Other than reviewing the matches and angles done to setup Mania, he includes mention of Mr. T getting fired recently from the A-Team show for being to obnoxious for his fellow actors to handle, and T blowing up badly during round 1 of his boxing match with Orton. He also noted that angles making sense in the WWF these days wasn’t necessary and pointed to Heenan managing Muraco during his Hogan match as evidence of this. He based his expectance of the Bulldogs winning the titles at WM II on the fact that they lost the NBC match with Valentine and Beefcake controversially.


HAWAII: Poly Pro drew 1200 in Honolulu, and 189 in Los Angeles. Dave is amazed that their group is trying to run without TV in LA as Crockett and McMahon are there. He notes the airline costs alone from Hawaii to LA for the wrestlers (he quotes $14,000 in airfare for that junket) make shows like that impossible to be profitable on any level. Notes from a coinciding San Jose card itself are weird, as I guess Dave didn’t see most of it, but he did say he would go again if the Japanese (Fujinami/Kimura) and Lawler returned. PowerTeamUSA was mentioned and noted as “ so very green and stiff, it’s unbelievable”. Nobody knew who the babyfaces were so the crowd booed all of them. Snuka was described as typical (2:00 of action, then total slow-down). He said the girls battleroyal was fun. Lawler vs. Lars Anderson was decent because Lawler worked at letting the fans know he was the heel, and had to work hard because Lars couldn’t/can’t do anything in the ring. “Wolfe” (my note--I assume Buddy but I could be wrong, he isn’t named) came out and interfered for Lawler, and Snuka made the save for Lars and they had a good post-match brawl.
Dave recaps the Poly bouts from the LA card which are similar. He notes Kimura and Fujinami were wasted against Tim Patterson and Budda Khan and that Lars-Lawler wasn’t nearly as good as the San Jose bout. The girls from San Jose did not work as there was no money to pay them.

WWF in Oakland on 2/26 drew 7,700 and Dave says it wasn’t terrible, which I assume is high praise of a WWF product for him. He notes that Rene Goulet did the Flair corner-flip and ran into a punch in his match against Pedro Morales, and Dave didn’t think anyone else in wrestling could do that move. Oh, and Sivi Afi stinks.

JAPAN: I’m missing a page here so bear with this…Takada beat Yamada in 12:57 with a German Suplex….Tokyo series finale drew 11,190 (Sell-out) for Inoki beating Fujiwara with a sleeper “to kill a potentially great feud”, Koshinaka upsetting The Cobra for the first IWGP JR title, Kerry beating Fujinami by DQ and Kevin beating Kimura by DQ…He notes dollar devaluation in Japan is likely seeing Baba and Inoki making 25% more profit on their current shows than the shows they ran the previous year….Dave notes that the Japanese girls are still headed into MSG on 3/16/86 (my note—currently this card is on 24/7) but Nagayo would miss it due to a knee injury.

CROCKETT: Tijiho Khan debuts and was trained by Eddie Sharkey, described as a “230 pounder with an average steroid body who can’t put together a match”…Crockett was going into St. Louis on 3/2 with all their own people, not using Geigel’s Cetnral States crew on the undercard this time…Talks about the Midnight Rider-Harley Race Loser Leaves Town match that might now be shelved and says it wasn’t going to happen on 3/2 anyway because Harley was in Japan...Jim Garvin coming in.

MEMPHIS: Drew around 1800 on 2/9 flying in Terry Taylor and Austin Idol for the show. This is a jump in attendance from previous weeks...Randy Culley in as the Assassin…speculated with the low attendance that Lawler’s return would be pushed up from the original 6-month timeline but no idea how they would get around the stips that saw him leave. He backpedaled on a previous claim that Lawler and Jarrett had a falling out of some sort.

AWA: 2/9 St. Paul drew 2,784….reviews the 2/21 TV taped in Oshkosh on 1/31 where Brody brawls with Greg Gagne and Blackwell alternately and together in the ring…notes that Brody was given 7 arena dates but only committed to appearing at 1, 4/20 at the Metrodome, “currently scheduled as Blackwell/Gagne vs. Brody/Kaissie in the cage—the AWA wanted a singles match but Brody flatly refused to given them the ending they wanted—a clean pinfall—so they made it a tag instead. I do know that Brody, and probably Blackwell, wanted Verne in the tag match, not Greg, because it would heighten the interest in the match much more…”


LETTERS PAGE: Norm Dooley talks about how people seem to have the idea that areas like Memphis and Portland are so much bigger than they actually are, and how Watt’s promotion should be considered fourth in relation to those smaller outfits and “the Big 3” (Gagne, Crockett and McMahon ). He advocates that the smaller groups should just sell out and noted that current stars like Flair and Terry Funk would be retired in ten years but guys like Tojo Yamamoto and Rufus Jones would still be wrestling.

[Seth82]

here's the 2/22/88 edition of Wrestling Observer

WWF
-- "As most of you already know, the biggest story of the week concerns the WWF holding a tournament for the vacated WWF title as the headline attraction at Wrestlemania IV on 3/27 eminating (sic) from Atlantic City. The announcement was made on the syndicated package over this past weekend, and from what I'm told, the entire card will be released publicly by next week. Besides the 14-man tournament, the early scuttlebutt I hear is that there will be four other matches. One will be a Bunkhouse Battle Royal, which will allow another two dozen or so wrestlers to share in the big payday, while I expect two tag team matches (British Bulldogs vs. Islanders and Strike Force vs. Demolition) and an Intercontinental title defense by Honkeytonk Man (with Brutus Beefcake seeming to be the leading contender--they'll need to shoot an angle this week to get that one 'over'.)"

-- The first round has been announced as Roberts vs Rude, Muraco vs Bravo, Steamboat vs Valentine, Reed vs Savage, Bigelow vs Gang and DiBiase vs Duggan, with Hogan vs Andre getting an automatic bye to the second round. "The brackets pretty well should tell the obvious story. There are only two possible winners, Hulk Hogan or Ted DiBiase. The bottom line is that down the road, Hulk Hogan is going to be champion once again." Dave says if Hogan's upcoming movie filming, which begins in April, won't allow him time to wrestle over summer, or if he wants to take off since his first child is due in April, then it makes no sense if he's not going to be around to defend the belt. Also, if Hogan isn't going to win the tournament, the winner has to be a heel so that person can drop the belt back to Hogan. Dave says it's obvious based on bracketing that DiBiase will make it to the finals, either to lose to Hogan or beat Muraco. Dave then goes into really, really detailed predictions on the show. The most interesting prediction is that he thinks Savage and Steamboat will be rematched and go to a draw to create a bye for DiBiase into the finals.

-- The NBC special earned a 15.1 rating and a 25 share, and was the 31st highest rated show of the week, which is an average number, but is probably a disappointment to both the WWF and NBC, because they thought it would crack the top 10. It did still win its time slot and the rating was better than the 11.6 average they have been getting from Rags To Riches.

-- Dick Ebersol was quoted in the LA Times and USA Today, saying that they weren't interested in doing weekly shows because it would hurt live gates. The truth is, however, that they won't get the chance to turn down a slot, because the feeling now is that the WWF couldn't post competitive numbers in prime time. Dave says he was surprised at the rating. He was interested in it because it would show how "over" wrestling is to the general public. He says this proved that the match with the most hype and mainstream appeal can only get mediocre mainstream attention. It also showed that wrestling fans are extremely loyal and will watch no matter how inconvenient. This match on SNME Dave thinks would have gotten a 12 rating, so they picked up very few extra viewers. Dave says the WWF can still make money off of their core audience, but it does put the value of Hulk Hogan in perspective. "To a cult audience, which numbers in the millions, he is over bigger than any wrestling star has ever been in the country. But he is not a 'mainstream' star capable of making it in prime time on the networks on anything more than a one or two shot a year basis. He's not nearly as over as Antonio Inoki was in his heyday, let alone a Larry Holmes (whose title defenses always cracked the top 10 against bums like Tex Cobb when put on free TV). "Time Magazine isn't going to be banging on Titan's door this month proclaiming another wrestling resurgence. The networks aren't going to stumble onto Jim Crockett's group because nobody is looking at wrestling as a hot item, both of which could have happened had the show cracked the top five." Dave also says that even though Vince McMahon is the most successful money-making wrestling promoter in history, there isn't as much mainstream interest as there was in New Japan's 1982-1985 heyday. "And Hogan's TV ratings power, while again more than any wrestler of the modern era, probably isn't as strong as Chigusa Nagayo's right now. One may view the comparisons with Japan as ridiculous because of the differences in culture, but the truth is, if anything, the U.S. is the country more TV oriented. My main point out of all this is a conversation I had with a Titan employee a few months back when we got to the subject of the style of wrestling (fast food vs. hardcore) and if it was the style of wrestling which made Titan No. 1, if it was the fact it was the best run promotion that made it No. 1, or if it was the fact that they spent the most money that made them No. 1. The conclusion we came to is that it was something we couldn't answer. No promotion offering traditional wrestling has ever had the front office professionals in the hundreds behind the company, a $250,000 budget for TV taping to make them look so major league in comparison with opposition, etc. Unless opposition was equal to Titan in every way except that they had a different wrestling product (more action-oriented) and Titan was still No. 1, then we'd really know the answer."

-- The WWF is running a TV taping in Winston-Salem, NC on 3/9, which Dave thinks is peculiar since it's about 20 miles outside of Greensboro. "As you can see, Titan smells blood and is going right for the jugular."

-- The next SNME is scheduled for 3/12, and will be taped on 3/7 from Nashville.

-- "Probably the most bizarre story revolves around last Friday's NBC special. Apparently an Intercontinental title change was in the script and the match was supposed to be shorter as well, however Honkeytonk Man vetoed the script and there was lots of backstage commotion about it, but the bottom line was, he held out and refused to do the job and he's still champion today. If you wonder why they just didn't have Randy beat him anyway which is something that gets threatened from time-to-time especially in the old days of wrestling, is simply because Honkey must have realized that there was no chance whatsoever McMahon would take any chances on a bad situation occurring on live television and the last thing he ever wants is real violence. That probably explains why Honkeytonk Man, as IC champ, isn't in the tournament."

-- Billy Jack Haynes asked Vince McMahon for help to start a new promotion in Oregon and run opposition to Don Owen, but Vince turned him down. The public story is that Haynes quit because of health reasons, but it appears the real story is that he wanted a bigger push and thought Brady Boone should also get a bigger push.

-- Jesse Ventura will be doing heel commentary for some New York Yankees games for local pay-TV consumption.

-- Bam Bam Bigelow didn't have arthroscopic surgery. He's postponing until after Wrestlemania, when the WWF will take a one-month break. Speaking of Bigelow, a drug possession charge in Freehold, NJ, was dismissed when the evidence was ruled inadmissible because it was illegally obtained. The officers found a small bag of marijuana under the seat of his car and he was charged with a misdemeanor, but it was ruled the officers did not have probable cause to conduct the search. Bigelow waved to the officer, and the overzealous officer responded by pulling him over for no reason. Even though a misdemeanor, if convicted, this would have been bad for him, because he is on three years probation from a 1986 conviction after pleading guilty to threatening to kill a prostitute. Had he been convicted, he would have served a five-year prison sentence.

-- 02/04 in Muskegon, WI, drew 2,500 headlined by Islanders vs British Bulldogs. 02/07 in Toronto in front of a "small crowd" was headlined by Ricky Steamboat, Hacksaw Duggan & Randy Savage vs Hart Foundation & Honky Tonk Man. 02/08 in Los Angeles drew 3,000 headlined by Ted DiBiase vs Bam Bam Bigelow in a match reported as **** by reader Pat Hoed. 02/13 in Bloomington, MN, drew 7,000 headlined by Hogan & Bigelow vs DiBiase & Andre with Mad Dog Vachon in the babyface corner. 02/14 at the Silverdome drew 12,000 headlined by Hogan & Bigelow vs DiBiase & Andre.

-- Someone in the WWF told Dave the JYD/Reed match taped for Wrestling Challenge was a worst match of the year candidate.

-- Gene Okerlund's son Todd is on the U.S. Ice Hockey Team in the Olympics.

-- Ted DiBiase interview printed in the Chicago Sun Times on 1/15: "Because I am so versatile, the UWF used me as a utility man. I didn't get the push I deserved or the respect I deserved. I had to show a big Oklahoma football player like Steve Williams the ropes as his tag team partner, show him how to work in the ring and how to do an interview, and then the UWF tried to promote Williams over me." He also said Giant Baba's handshake is better than a signed contract from any other promoter in the wrestling business. He also said, "After the NWA bought out the UWF, I didn't want to work for Jim Crockett. He has his favorites and they get paid well and they get taken care of. But if you're not in the clique, you starve." He was very complimentary of Vince McMahon, saying "he has taken wrestling out of the closet and put it right into the entertainment mainstream."

-- On the live satellite feed of the Royal Rumble, you could hear Vince McMahon yelling "Stop looking like a fucking stone and show some interest in the matches" at Howard Finkel. Vince also didn't know the names of the Jumping Bomb Angels. He asked for someone to tell him the names, and then said, "Wow, I butchered the shit out of those names."

NWA
-- Paul Boesch is on the NWA Board of Directors. He is the only non-promoter ever on the board. It's more of a figurehead position, and they will use him for his name value in Houston. Boesch has no financial interest in the Houston shows, although he will be helping out.

-- The original plan for the Crockett Cup was to use two sites -- Greenville, SC on 4/9 and finals on 4/10 in Greensboro -- but TV ads seem to contradict this. Dave says they really need to work with New Japan, Stampede and World Class, but there are too many egos stopping that from happening.

-- Dennis Condrey wants to come in as a babyface and feud with Bobby Eaton and Stan Lane.

-- "Did you catch the balding blonde haired jobber named Randy Hogan who got destroyed on TBS this weekend? Kind of childish."

-- Shane Douglas has returned. He is using the sleeperhold as a finisher and getting a mild push. Tony Schiavone calls him the 1986 Rookie of the Year, while Jim Ross calls him the 1987 Rookie of the Year.

-- Road Warrior Animal's eye injury is legit and he'll be out for a few weeks. He broke his orbital bone and was nearly blinded in one eye. He was being billed as returning, which is why Dave thought it was a work, but it appears to be legit. Dave says the crowds haven't really been that much different, so the angle doesn't appear to have been effective. The injury actually happened on 1/29, the day before the angle,

-- "I can't emphasize enough just how quickly Lex Luger fizzled out as a babyface. Sometimes you look at something and make a snap judgment just by the looks of things without examining in detail. Luger is that way. You look at him and everyone tells everyone else just how over he is and how he's the future of wrestling and all that. The bottom line is, as good as his physique is, good physiques are a dime a dozen these days as is blond hair. His looks are nothing special. Still, he could be a big star and will be a star of some magnitude however his rapport with the audience just isn't there. It wasn't there in Florida (remember, Florida literally died with Luger as top babyface in 1986) and it still isn't there. Even though Sting needs lots of work on interviews and he may not be as muscularly defined as Luger, Sting has the rapport and has totally passed Luger by. It becomes more obvious each show as the audience reacts to everything Sting does, while seemingly acts ho-hummy when Luger and Windham talk. Sting has more of the cool GQ look of today but I've got the feeling in their infinite wisdom, the NWA will keep all three at the same level (thus inevitably ensuring none get over to the point they'll make a difference). I don't totally blame Luger for the crowd reaction because they wasted no time making him one of the boys when they should have at least given him a few months as king of all the babyfaces before ruining the impact of his turn by making him a tag team wrestler."

-- 2/2 in Miami only drew 1,900 fans headlined by Luger & Dusty vs Flair & Tully. 2/9 in Albany, GA drew 400 fans headlined by Sting & Barry Windham vs Midnight Express. "TV, newspaper and radio ads up until the day of the show continued to bill Rock & Roll and Michael Hayes for this card, but what the heck, Titan is still billing Billy Jack Haynes for future dates as well as he's been gone for basically just as long." 2/11 in Baltimore drew a $103,000 gate headlined by Flair & Tully vs Luger & Ron Garvin. 2/13 in Philadelphia drew 6,000 for a TV taping. 2/14 in Chicago drew 5,000 fans headlined by Flair vs Sting. Dave says they really killed Chicago with that Starrcade finish with the Road Warriors and have not been able to rebound. 2/11 in Raleigh, NC, drew 1,200 fans headlined by Flair & Tully vs Luger & Windham. 2/14 evening in Atlanta drew 13,000 fans headlined by Ric Flair vs Sting, and Luger & Ole vs Arn & Tully in a cage.

AWA
-- ESPN signed a new two-year contract with the AWA and the contract calls for exclusivity, so World Class will no longer be on ESPN.

-- "The big news as far as the AWA goes is that they are 'restructing the company.' I'm not sure what that exactly means, other than after the card this coming Sunday in Las Vegas, the AWA will be closing down for about a month and will re-open in late March with a new outlook on life. I believe Verne Gagne will be doing the booking once again as it seems he's tired of people making decisions that are costing him money and he'd instead like to make those same decisions." Only Curt Hennig will be paid during this time off, so he's expected to be sent to other territories and the Midnight Rockers will probably work full time in Memphis. As for the rest of the crew, Dave suspects they will either have to go elsewhere where they can make money, or take day jobs to make ends meet.

-- Stanley Blackburn is getting all the heat for the 2/4 cage match with Curt Hennig vs Greg Gagne. Greg won the match and was presented with the title, but Blackburn wouldn't allow it because the match was in a cage, and the title can't be defended in a cage.

-- They will be using Williams Arena at the University of Minnesota as the new home base. Dave worries that their alcohol ban will hurt attendance.

-- Paul E. Dangerously is set to return on 2/22 in Las Vegas to manage Pat Tanaka and Paul Diamond, who will feud with Michaels and Jannetty.

WCCW
-- 2/12 in Dallas drew 3,800 fans headlined by Al Perez vs Terry Taylor. On the show, there was also a Terry Gordy & Buddy Roberts vs Kevin & Kerry Von Erich match. There was a lot of interference. Chris Adams and Terry Taylor ended up brawling at ringside, and Taylor was doing lots of floor piledrivers to do a major injury angle, and Adams ended up getting his hand broken and may have to have a pin inserted.

-- Michael Hayes is back as a babyface. They're building up a 3/5 concert at the Sportatorium which will probably lead to a big angle.

-- Ken Mantell wants to re-open Wild West. He wants to feud two promotions but Dave doesn't see the logic in it, because there are already too many wrestling promotions.

-- The last Houston show only drew 42 fans, not 80 fans as previously reported.

-- Steve Williams told the Japanese press he's coming in.

MEMPHIS
-- FNN announced on Tuesday that they will be airing CWA wrestling on a weekly basis starting in April. Dave thinks the time slot is 9PM Eastern and 6PM Pacific, but isn't completely sure.

-- Bill Dundee is leaving for the new Knoxville promotion, "... and Manny Fernandez has disappeared into the same thin air which engulfed Scott Hall, Tijo Khan and several others."

-- Maxx Payne won the CWA title from Jerry Lawler in Memphis on 2/8 before less than 1,500 fans. That was also Dundee's first match as a heel, against Jeff Jarrett, which shows how little impact the heel turn had. 2/15 is expected to draw better with Dundee vs Jarrett once again, Midnight Rockers vs Rock & Roll Express and Lawler vs Tommy Rich in a grudge match.

-- Tommy Rich did a total babyface interview on TV to build to his match with Lawler, saying he was wrong for teaming with Austin Idol and Paul E. Dangerously, but that he still hated Lawler. The two have major heat which is what caused Rich to leave when he was red hot the previous year. They expect half the crowd to support Rich, based on Rich trying to appeal to fans who hate Jerry Lawler to come out and support him in his promo. "I'm told that even though Memphis simply can't draw a lick without Lawler, that there are a large group of fans who don't like Lawler since he's always on top week after week and familiarity at that level often breeds contempt."

-- Brother Earnest Angel has completely changed his gimmick because of the bad feedback and phone calls to the studio. He now manages Gary Young and Maxx Payne. He had toned his act completely down and sort of apologized for his previous behavior on TV.

-- Coming in are the Rock & Roll Express, Tommy Rich, Samoans Samu & Kokina (Yokozuna)

CONTINENTAL
-- This was the last week of the territory as one circuit. The 2/12 show in Knoxville drew 7,000 headlined by Doug Furnas vs Lord Humongous in a stretcher match.

-- Knoxville is expected to get Johnny Rich, Davey Rich, Bill Dundee, Hector Guerrero, Ron Fuller, Austin Idol, Doug Furnas, the Rock & Roll RPMs, Lord Humongous, Buddy Landell, the Stomper, the Armstrongs and Tracy Smothers. Robert Fuller, Jimmy Golden, Dutch Mantell, Tom Pritchard, Jonathan Boyd, Wendell Cooley, Tony Anthony, Frankie Lancaster and Danny Davis will stay with Continental.

OREGON
-- A Frank Bonema Memorial Show is planned for 2/16 in Portland, to be headlined by babyface Curt Hennig defending the AWA title against The Grappler.

-- The Moondogs never showed up. It was announced on TV that they had been suspended by the NWA.

-- Chris Colt was fired and is headed to England.

-- 01/31 in Tumwater, MA only drew 40 fans.

CENTRAL STATES
-- The title was held up after a match between DJ Peterson (being billed as Dave Peterson) and the Cuban Assassin. Dave is unsure when the rematch will take place. The tag titles are also held up for a tournament on 2/26 in St. Joseph.

-- Kansas City will begin running weekly cards again starting on 3/31.

-- 02/05 in St. Joseph drew 442 fans. 02/14 in Kansas City drew less than 150 fans.

-- Local wrestler Steve Estes, 37, pleaded guilty to holding up a Mexican restaurant in October. He was charged with a Class A felony, but it was reduced in exchange for his plea. He could be in prison for between 5-15 years.

STAMPEDE
-- The 2/5 card in Calgary features what Dave was told was the best Stampede match in ages, as Bruce Hart & Brian Pillman defended the International tag titles against Great Gama & Jerry Morrow.

-- Les Thornton will be running opposition in Calgary starting in Spring.

ALL JAPAN
-- Takashi Ishikawa & Mighty Inoue regained the Asian tag belts from Kawada & Fuyuki on 1/29 in Tokyo before 1,860 fans at Korauken Hall.

NEW JAPAN
-- 1/30 in Ishinomaki drew 1,890 fans. 2/1 in Soka drew 3,150 fans headlined by Inoki & Sakaguchi vs Saito & Vader. 2/4 in Osaka drew a sellout 6,820 fans headlined by Riki Choshu vs Antonio Inoki. Inoki won clean, and Dave thinks Choshu is going to be hurt by that one. 2/5 in Tokyo drew a sellout 2,000 fans. 2/7 in Sapporo drew a sellout 6,120 fans headlined by Vader vs Inoki. On this show, Shiro Koshinaka also won the juniors tournament.

-- "Choshu has been wrestling pretty bad of late, like he just doesn't want to be in the ring anymore."

-- "[Buzz] Sawyer stole the spotlight from [Owen] Hart in some tag matches. He would start barking and howling and playing to the crowd while Hart was doing his fancy moves, which detracted from Hart's moves and took the crowd's attention away from Hart."

-- They will be touring Brazil in late March and are also sending wrestlers to help fill out Crockett's March show in Honolulu.

-- Most of the shows when Inoki was gone sold out, which means Vader's huge push is catching on.

-- Steve Williams did an interview that he was tired of touring all over the U.S. and wants to spend more time at home with his wife. He also said the NWA broke promises they made to him when they did the takeover. He says he was promised a big unification match with Ric Flair that never happened, and they also stopped billing him as the UWF champion. "I don't go back to NWA Crockett promotions anymore. I'd like to wrestle for promotions which set a high value on ability. New Japan is good because they use Vader, Buzz Sawyer, Bob Orton and Owen Hart who can do hard wrestling."

JOSHI
-- There is a Japanese movie coming out called "The Crazy Family" where the daughter is 13 years old and spends all of her time singing and lifting weights because she wants to be like Chigusa Nagayo.

-- Crowds have been good lately. Because of high ticket prices, they're doing gates of over $100,000 on a regular basis.

PUERTO RICO
-- The 01/30 show at the Roberto Clemente Coliseum in San Juan drew a 32,000-fan sellout, headlined by Carlos Colon vs Iron Sheik with heel manager Chicky Starr suspended in a cage above the ring. It was Sheik's last match before going back to the WWF. The buildup had Sheik burying Colon with the Iranian flag to set up the card.

-- Dan Kroffat is in and Dave says he looks ridiculous with dyed blond hair.

OTHER
-- Tempo Cable Network made a tentative deal with Angelo Savoldi's ICW.

-- Mad Dog Vachon is suing the Iowa City Hospital for several million dollars. They cared for him after a hit and run accident, but Vachon is claiming his leg would not need to be amputated had they properly treated him.

-- Florida has dropped legislation to introduce an athletic commission after pleading from Duke Keomuka and Jerry Brisco.

-- Mando Guerrero is training women in Southern California for a new startup group called the American Women's Wrestling Federation (AWWF).

-- Bruiser Brody is promoting his own show on 3/4 in St. Louis. Sam Muchnick is lending his name to it because he felt "used" by Crockett when they showed him on WTBS recently, and implied a connection that doesn't exist at all.

-- Tony Atlas placed third in the American Powerlifting Federation's World Bench Press championships with a 550 lb lift at 275 lbs.

-- Wrestlers who have done the most foreign tours:

Abdullah the Butcher 43
Stan Hansen 43
Tiger Jeet Singh 43
Dick Murdoch 40
Dory Funk Jr. 34
Terry Funk 33
Harley Race 31
Bad News Allen 28
Bruiser Brody 27
Andre the Giant 27
Billy Robinson 25
The Destroyer 22
Mil Mascaras 20
Hulk Hogan 20
Masked Superstar 20
Bobo Brazil 15
Lou Thesz 15
Ted DiBiase 14
Nick Bockwinkel 14
King Curtis Iaukea 14
Jimmy Snuka 13
Terry Gordy 12
Dynamite Kid 12
Ric Flair 12
Dusty Rhodes 12
The Sheik 12
Pete Roberts 11
Dick Slater 11
Marc Rocco 11
Killer Karl Kox 11
Killer Tim Brooks 10
Adrian Adonis 10
Dos Caras 10
El Canek 10
Tony St. Clair 10

[Seth82]

here's the 2/22/88 edition of Wrestling Observer

WWF
-- "As most of you already know, the biggest story of the week concerns the WWF holding a tournament for the vacated WWF title as the headline attraction at Wrestlemania IV on 3/27 eminating (sic) from Atlantic City. The announcement was made on the syndicated package over this past weekend, and from what I'm told, the entire card will be released publicly by next week. Besides the 14-man tournament, the early scuttlebutt I hear is that there will be four other matches. One will be a Bunkhouse Battle Royal, which will allow another two dozen or so wrestlers to share in the big payday, while I expect two tag team matches (British Bulldogs vs. Islanders and Strike Force vs. Demolition) and an Intercontinental title defense by Honkeytonk Man (with Brutus Beefcake seeming to be the leading contender--they'll need to shoot an angle this week to get that one 'over'.)"

-- The first round has been announced as Roberts vs Rude, Muraco vs Bravo, Steamboat vs Valentine, Reed vs Savage, Bigelow vs Gang and DiBiase vs Duggan, with Hogan vs Andre getting an automatic bye to the second round. "The brackets pretty well should tell the obvious story. There are only two possible winners, Hulk Hogan or Ted DiBiase. The bottom line is that down the road, Hulk Hogan is going to be champion once again." Dave says if Hogan's upcoming movie filming, which begins in April, won't allow him time to wrestle over summer, or if he wants to take off since his first child is due in April, then it makes no sense if he's not going to be around to defend the belt. Also, if Hogan isn't going to win the tournament, the winner has to be a heel so that person can drop the belt back to Hogan. Dave says it's obvious based on bracketing that DiBiase will make it to the finals, either to lose to Hogan or beat Muraco. Dave then goes into really, really detailed predictions on the show. The most interesting prediction is that he thinks Savage and Steamboat will be rematched and go to a draw to create a bye for DiBiase into the finals.

-- The NBC special earned a 15.1 rating and a 25 share, and was the 31st highest rated show of the week, which is an average number, but is probably a disappointment to both the WWF and NBC, because they thought it would crack the top 10. It did still win its time slot and the rating was better than the 11.6 average they have been getting from Rags To Riches.

-- Dick Ebersol was quoted in the LA Times and USA Today, saying that they weren't interested in doing weekly shows because it would hurt live gates. The truth is, however, that they won't get the chance to turn down a slot, because the feeling now is that the WWF couldn't post competitive numbers in prime time. Dave says he was surprised at the rating. He was interested in it because it would show how "over" wrestling is to the general public. He says this proved that the match with the most hype and mainstream appeal can only get mediocre mainstream attention. It also showed that wrestling fans are extremely loyal and will watch no matter how inconvenient. This match on SNME Dave thinks would have gotten a 12 rating, so they picked up very few extra viewers. Dave says the WWF can still make money off of their core audience, but it does put the value of Hulk Hogan in perspective. "To a cult audience, which numbers in the millions, he is over bigger than any wrestling star has ever been in the country. But he is not a 'mainstream' star capable of making it in prime time on the networks on anything more than a one or two shot a year basis. He's not nearly as over as Antonio Inoki was in his heyday, let alone a Larry Holmes (whose title defenses always cracked the top 10 against bums like Tex Cobb when put on free TV). "Time Magazine isn't going to be banging on Titan's door this month proclaiming another wrestling resurgence. The networks aren't going to stumble onto Jim Crockett's group because nobody is looking at wrestling as a hot item, both of which could have happened had the show cracked the top five." Dave also says that even though Vince McMahon is the most successful money-making wrestling promoter in history, there isn't as much mainstream interest as there was in New Japan's 1982-1985 heyday. "And Hogan's TV ratings power, while again more than any wrestler of the modern era, probably isn't as strong as Chigusa Nagayo's right now. One may view the comparisons with Japan as ridiculous because of the differences in culture, but the truth is, if anything, the U.S. is the country more TV oriented. My main point out of all this is a conversation I had with a Titan employee a few months back when we got to the subject of the style of wrestling (fast food vs. hardcore) and if it was the style of wrestling which made Titan No. 1, if it was the fact it was the best run promotion that made it No. 1, or if it was the fact that they spent the most money that made them No. 1. The conclusion we came to is that it was something we couldn't answer. No promotion offering traditional wrestling has ever had the front office professionals in the hundreds behind the company, a $250,000 budget for TV taping to make them look so major league in comparison with opposition, etc. Unless opposition was equal to Titan in every way except that they had a different wrestling product (more action-oriented) and Titan was still No. 1, then we'd really know the answer."

-- The WWF is running a TV taping in Winston-Salem, NC on 3/9, which Dave thinks is peculiar since it's about 20 miles outside of Greensboro. "As you can see, Titan smells blood and is going right for the jugular."

-- The next SNME is scheduled for 3/12, and will be taped on 3/7 from Nashville.

-- "Probably the most bizarre story revolves around last Friday's NBC special. Apparently an Intercontinental title change was in the script and the match was supposed to be shorter as well, however Honkeytonk Man vetoed the script and there was lots of backstage commotion about it, but the bottom line was, he held out and refused to do the job and he's still champion today. If you wonder why they just didn't have Randy beat him anyway which is something that gets threatened from time-to-time especially in the old days of wrestling, is simply because Honkey must have realized that there was no chance whatsoever McMahon would take any chances on a bad situation occurring on live television and the last thing he ever wants is real violence. That probably explains why Honkeytonk Man, as IC champ, isn't in the tournament."

-- Billy Jack Haynes asked Vince McMahon for help to start a new promotion in Oregon and run opposition to Don Owen, but Vince turned him down. The public story is that Haynes quit because of health reasons, but it appears the real story is that he wanted a bigger push and thought Brady Boone should also get a bigger push.

-- Jesse Ventura will be doing heel commentary for some New York Yankees games for local pay-TV consumption.

-- Bam Bam Bigelow didn't have arthroscopic surgery. He's postponing until after Wrestlemania, when the WWF will take a one-month break. Speaking of Bigelow, a drug possession charge in Freehold, NJ, was dismissed when the evidence was ruled inadmissible because it was illegally obtained. The officers found a small bag of marijuana under the seat of his car and he was charged with a misdemeanor, but it was ruled the officers did not have probable cause to conduct the search. Bigelow waved to the officer, and the overzealous officer responded by pulling him over for no reason. Even though a misdemeanor, if convicted, this would have been bad for him, because he is on three years probation from a 1986 conviction after pleading guilty to threatening to kill a prostitute. Had he been convicted, he would have served a five-year prison sentence.

-- 02/04 in Muskegon, WI, drew 2,500 headlined by Islanders vs British Bulldogs. 02/07 in Toronto in front of a "small crowd" was headlined by Ricky Steamboat, Hacksaw Duggan & Randy Savage vs Hart Foundation & Honky Tonk Man. 02/08 in Los Angeles drew 3,000 headlined by Ted DiBiase vs Bam Bam Bigelow in a match reported as **** by reader Pat Hoed. 02/13 in Bloomington, MN, drew 7,000 headlined by Hogan & Bigelow vs DiBiase & Andre with Mad Dog Vachon in the babyface corner. 02/14 at the Silverdome drew 12,000 headlined by Hogan & Bigelow vs DiBiase & Andre.

-- Someone in the WWF told Dave the JYD/Reed match taped for Wrestling Challenge was a worst match of the year candidate.

-- Gene Okerlund's son Todd is on the U.S. Ice Hockey Team in the Olympics.

-- Ted DiBiase interview printed in the Chicago Sun Times on 1/15: "Because I am so versatile, the UWF used me as a utility man. I didn't get the push I deserved or the respect I deserved. I had to show a big Oklahoma football player like Steve Williams the ropes as his tag team partner, show him how to work in the ring and how to do an interview, and then the UWF tried to promote Williams over me." He also said Giant Baba's handshake is better than a signed contract from any other promoter in the wrestling business. He also said, "After the NWA bought out the UWF, I didn't want to work for Jim Crockett. He has his favorites and they get paid well and they get taken care of. But if you're not in the clique, you starve." He was very complimentary of Vince McMahon, saying "he has taken wrestling out of the closet and put it right into the entertainment mainstream."

-- On the live satellite feed of the Royal Rumble, you could hear Vince McMahon yelling "Stop looking like a fucking stone and show some interest in the matches" at Howard Finkel. Vince also didn't know the names of the Jumping Bomb Angels. He asked for someone to tell him the names, and then said, "Wow, I butchered the shit out of those names."

NWA
-- Paul Boesch is on the NWA Board of Directors. He is the only non-promoter ever on the board. It's more of a figurehead position, and they will use him for his name value in Houston. Boesch has no financial interest in the Houston shows, although he will be helping out.

-- The original plan for the Crockett Cup was to use two sites -- Greenville, SC on 4/9 and finals on 4/10 in Greensboro -- but TV ads seem to contradict this. Dave says they really need to work with New Japan, Stampede and World Class, but there are too many egos stopping that from happening.

-- Dennis Condrey wants to come in as a babyface and feud with Bobby Eaton and Stan Lane.

-- "Did you catch the balding blonde haired jobber named Randy Hogan who got destroyed on TBS this weekend? Kind of childish."

-- Shane Douglas has returned. He is using the sleeperhold as a finisher and getting a mild push. Tony Schiavone calls him the 1986 Rookie of the Year, while Jim Ross calls him the 1987 Rookie of the Year.

-- Road Warrior Animal's eye injury is legit and he'll be out for a few weeks. He broke his orbital bone and was nearly blinded in one eye. He was being billed as returning, which is why Dave thought it was a work, but it appears to be legit. Dave says the crowds haven't really been that much different, so the angle doesn't appear to have been effective. The injury actually happened on 1/29, the day before the angle,

-- "I can't emphasize enough just how quickly Lex Luger fizzled out as a babyface. Sometimes you look at something and make a snap judgment just by the looks of things without examining in detail. Luger is that way. You look at him and everyone tells everyone else just how over he is and how he's the future of wrestling and all that. The bottom line is, as good as his physique is, good physiques are a dime a dozen these days as is blond hair. His looks are nothing special. Still, he could be a big star and will be a star of some magnitude however his rapport with the audience just isn't there. It wasn't there in Florida (remember, Florida literally died with Luger as top babyface in 1986) and it still isn't there. Even though Sting needs lots of work on interviews and he may not be as muscularly defined as Luger, Sting has the rapport and has totally passed Luger by. It becomes more obvious each show as the audience reacts to everything Sting does, while seemingly acts ho-hummy when Luger and Windham talk. Sting has more of the cool GQ look of today but I've got the feeling in their infinite wisdom, the NWA will keep all three at the same level (thus inevitably ensuring none get over to the point they'll make a difference). I don't totally blame Luger for the crowd reaction because they wasted no time making him one of the boys when they should have at least given him a few months as king of all the babyfaces before ruining the impact of his turn by making him a tag team wrestler."

-- 2/2 in Miami only drew 1,900 fans headlined by Luger & Dusty vs Flair & Tully. 2/9 in Albany, GA drew 400 fans headlined by Sting & Barry Windham vs Midnight Express. "TV, newspaper and radio ads up until the day of the show continued to bill Rock & Roll and Michael Hayes for this card, but what the heck, Titan is still billing Billy Jack Haynes for future dates as well as he's been gone for basically just as long." 2/11 in Baltimore drew a $103,000 gate headlined by Flair & Tully vs Luger & Ron Garvin. 2/13 in Philadelphia drew 6,000 for a TV taping. 2/14 in Chicago drew 5,000 fans headlined by Flair vs Sting. Dave says they really killed Chicago with that Starrcade finish with the Road Warriors and have not been able to rebound. 2/11 in Raleigh, NC, drew 1,200 fans headlined by Flair & Tully vs Luger & Windham. 2/14 evening in Atlanta drew 13,000 fans headlined by Ric Flair vs Sting, and Luger & Ole vs Arn & Tully in a cage.

AWA
-- ESPN signed a new two-year contract with the AWA and the contract calls for exclusivity, so World Class will no longer be on ESPN.

-- "The big news as far as the AWA goes is that they are 'restructing the company.' I'm not sure what that exactly means, other than after the card this coming Sunday in Las Vegas, the AWA will be closing down for about a month and will re-open in late March with a new outlook on life. I believe Verne Gagne will be doing the booking once again as it seems he's tired of people making decisions that are costing him money and he'd instead like to make those same decisions." Only Curt Hennig will be paid during this time off, so he's expected to be sent to other territories and the Midnight Rockers will probably work full time in Memphis. As for the rest of the crew, Dave suspects they will either have to go elsewhere where they can make money, or take day jobs to make ends meet.

-- Stanley Blackburn is getting all the heat for the 2/4 cage match with Curt Hennig vs Greg Gagne. Greg won the match and was presented with the title, but Blackburn wouldn't allow it because the match was in a cage, and the title can't be defended in a cage.

-- They will be using Williams Arena at the University of Minnesota as the new home base. Dave worries that their alcohol ban will hurt attendance.

-- Paul E. Dangerously is set to return on 2/22 in Las Vegas to manage Pat Tanaka and Paul Diamond, who will feud with Michaels and Jannetty.

WCCW
-- 2/12 in Dallas drew 3,800 fans headlined by Al Perez vs Terry Taylor. On the show, there was also a Terry Gordy & Buddy Roberts vs Kevin & Kerry Von Erich match. There was a lot of interference. Chris Adams and Terry Taylor ended up brawling at ringside, and Taylor was doing lots of floor piledrivers to do a major injury angle, and Adams ended up getting his hand broken and may have to have a pin inserted.

-- Michael Hayes is back as a babyface. They're building up a 3/5 concert at the Sportatorium which will probably lead to a big angle.

-- Ken Mantell wants to re-open Wild West. He wants to feud two promotions but Dave doesn't see the logic in it, because there are already too many wrestling promotions.

-- The last Houston show only drew 42 fans, not 80 fans as previously reported.

-- Steve Williams told the Japanese press he's coming in.

MEMPHIS
-- FNN announced on Tuesday that they will be airing CWA wrestling on a weekly basis starting in April. Dave thinks the time slot is 9PM Eastern and 6PM Pacific, but isn't completely sure.

-- Bill Dundee is leaving for the new Knoxville promotion, "... and Manny Fernandez has disappeared into the same thin air which engulfed Scott Hall, Tijo Khan and several others."

-- Maxx Payne won the CWA title from Jerry Lawler in Memphis on 2/8 before less than 1,500 fans. That was also Dundee's first match as a heel, against Jeff Jarrett, which shows how little impact the heel turn had. 2/15 is expected to draw better with Dundee vs Jarrett once again, Midnight Rockers vs Rock & Roll Express and Lawler vs Tommy Rich in a grudge match.

-- Tommy Rich did a total babyface interview on TV to build to his match with Lawler, saying he was wrong for teaming with Austin Idol and Paul E. Dangerously, but that he still hated Lawler. The two have major heat which is what caused Rich to leave when he was red hot the previous year. They expect half the crowd to support Rich, based on Rich trying to appeal to fans who hate Jerry Lawler to come out and support him in his promo. "I'm told that even though Memphis simply can't draw a lick without Lawler, that there are a large group of fans who don't like Lawler since he's always on top week after week and familiarity at that level often breeds contempt."

-- Brother Earnest Angel has completely changed his gimmick because of the bad feedback and phone calls to the studio. He now manages Gary Young and Maxx Payne. He had toned his act completely down and sort of apologized for his previous behavior on TV.

-- Coming in are the Rock & Roll Express, Tommy Rich, Samoans Samu & Kokina (Yokozuna)

CONTINENTAL
-- This was the last week of the territory as one circuit. The 2/12 show in Knoxville drew 7,000 headlined by Doug Furnas vs Lord Humongous in a stretcher match.

-- Knoxville is expected to get Johnny Rich, Davey Rich, Bill Dundee, Hector Guerrero, Ron Fuller, Austin Idol, Doug Furnas, the Rock & Roll RPMs, Lord Humongous, Buddy Landell, the Stomper, the Armstrongs and Tracy Smothers. Robert Fuller, Jimmy Golden, Dutch Mantell, Tom Pritchard, Jonathan Boyd, Wendell Cooley, Tony Anthony, Frankie Lancaster and Danny Davis will stay with Continental.

OREGON
-- A Frank Bonema Memorial Show is planned for 2/16 in Portland, to be headlined by babyface Curt Hennig defending the AWA title against The Grappler.

-- The Moondogs never showed up. It was announced on TV that they had been suspended by the NWA.

-- Chris Colt was fired and is headed to England.

-- 01/31 in Tumwater, MA only drew 40 fans.

CENTRAL STATES
-- The title was held up after a match between DJ Peterson (being billed as Dave Peterson) and the Cuban Assassin. Dave is unsure when the rematch will take place. The tag titles are also held up for a tournament on 2/26 in St. Joseph.

-- Kansas City will begin running weekly cards again starting on 3/31.

-- 02/05 in St. Joseph drew 442 fans. 02/14 in Kansas City drew less than 150 fans.

-- Local wrestler Steve Estes, 37, pleaded guilty to holding up a Mexican restaurant in October. He was charged with a Class A felony, but it was reduced in exchange for his plea. He could be in prison for between 5-15 years.

STAMPEDE
-- The 2/5 card in Calgary features what Dave was told was the best Stampede match in ages, as Bruce Hart & Brian Pillman defended the International tag titles against Great Gama & Jerry Morrow.

-- Les Thornton will be running opposition in Calgary starting in Spring.

ALL JAPAN
-- Takashi Ishikawa & Mighty Inoue regained the Asian tag belts from Kawada & Fuyuki on 1/29 in Tokyo before 1,860 fans at Korauken Hall.

NEW JAPAN
-- 1/30 in Ishinomaki drew 1,890 fans. 2/1 in Soka drew 3,150 fans headlined by Inoki & Sakaguchi vs Saito & Vader. 2/4 in Osaka drew a sellout 6,820 fans headlined by Riki Choshu vs Antonio Inoki. Inoki won clean, and Dave thinks Choshu is going to be hurt by that one. 2/5 in Tokyo drew a sellout 2,000 fans. 2/7 in Sapporo drew a sellout 6,120 fans headlined by Vader vs Inoki. On this show, Shiro Koshinaka also won the juniors tournament.

-- "Choshu has been wrestling pretty bad of late, like he just doesn't want to be in the ring anymore."

-- "[Buzz] Sawyer stole the spotlight from [Owen] Hart in some tag matches. He would start barking and howling and playing to the crowd while Hart was doing his fancy moves, which detracted from Hart's moves and took the crowd's attention away from Hart."

-- They will be touring Brazil in late March and are also sending wrestlers to help fill out Crockett's March show in Honolulu.

-- Most of the shows when Inoki was gone sold out, which means Vader's huge push is catching on.

-- Steve Williams did an interview that he was tired of touring all over the U.S. and wants to spend more time at home with his wife. He also said the NWA broke promises they made to him when they did the takeover. He says he was promised a big unification match with Ric Flair that never happened, and they also stopped billing him as the UWF champion. "I don't go back to NWA Crockett promotions anymore. I'd like to wrestle for promotions which set a high value on ability. New Japan is good because they use Vader, Buzz Sawyer, Bob Orton and Owen Hart who can do hard wrestling."

JOSHI
-- There is a Japanese movie coming out called "The Crazy Family" where the daughter is 13 years old and spends all of her time singing and lifting weights because she wants to be like Chigusa Nagayo.

-- Crowds have been good lately. Because of high ticket prices, they're doing gates of over $100,000 on a regular basis.

PUERTO RICO
-- The 01/30 show at the Roberto Clemente Coliseum in San Juan drew a 32,000-fan sellout, headlined by Carlos Colon vs Iron Sheik with heel manager Chicky Starr suspended in a cage above the ring. It was Sheik's last match before going back to the WWF. The buildup had Sheik burying Colon with the Iranian flag to set up the card.

-- Dan Kroffat is in and Dave says he looks ridiculous with dyed blond hair.

OTHER
-- Tempo Cable Network made a tentative deal with Angelo Savoldi's ICW.

-- Mad Dog Vachon is suing the Iowa City Hospital for several million dollars. They cared for him after a hit and run accident, but Vachon is claiming his leg would not need to be amputated had they properly treated him.

-- Florida has dropped legislation to introduce an athletic commission after pleading from Duke Keomuka and Jerry Brisco.

-- Mando Guerrero is training women in Southern California for a new startup group called the American Women's Wrestling Federation (AWWF).

-- Bruiser Brody is promoting his own show on 3/4 in St. Louis. Sam Muchnick is lending his name to it because he felt "used" by Crockett when they showed him on WTBS recently, and implied a connection that doesn't exist at all.

-- Tony Atlas placed third in the American Powerlifting Federation's World Bench Press championships with a 550 lb lift at 275 lbs.

-- Wrestlers who have done the most foreign tours:

Abdullah the Butcher 43
Stan Hansen 43
Tiger Jeet Singh 43
Dick Murdoch 40
Dory Funk Jr. 34
Terry Funk 33
Harley Race 31
Bad News Allen 28
Bruiser Brody 27
Andre the Giant 27
Billy Robinson 25
The Destroyer 22
Mil Mascaras 20
Hulk Hogan 20
Masked Superstar 20
Bobo Brazil 15
Lou Thesz 15
Ted DiBiase 14
Nick Bockwinkel 14
King Curtis Iaukea 14
Jimmy Snuka 13
Terry Gordy 12
Dynamite Kid 12
Ric Flair 12
Dusty Rhodes 12
The Sheik 12
Pete Roberts 11
Dick Slater 11
Marc Rocco 11
Killer Karl Kox 11
Killer Tim Brooks 10
Adrian Adonis 10
Dos Caras 10
El Canek 10
Tony St. Clair 10

[CSL]

*A passage in Howard Cossell's book highlights how Vince wanted Cossell to call WWF shows. Cossell refused and Vince cussed him out and acted like an asshole.

lol

"The brackets pretty well should tell the obvious story. There are only two possible winners, Hulk Hogan or Ted DiBiase.

good one Dave

also pretty shocking that the date for Mania 2 hadn't even been confirmed some 2 months before the show

[#BROKEN Hasney]

• David Flair recently moved to Atlanta so he could spend more time at the Power Plant. Insider sources tell us that if Flair had not agreed to move, WCW was willing to move the entire Power Plant facility up to his neighborhood to ensure that he attended classes.

Brilliant. There were so desperate for him to be a success.

[Gertner]

- Jim Cornette & Stan Lane send a $200 black wreath to WCW offices. The enclosed card read "Our deepest sympathies on the death of your promotion."

lol amazing

[Gertner]

I friggen love these.

Anyways, you'll see Dave Meltzer rip on Herb Abrams alot. His promotion was a disaster. Well Herb Abrams got really pissed at Meltzer bashing his promotion. So..................

<iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/7QKidS_9O6U" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

[Gertner]

-- Verne Gagne is telling everyone in Las Vegas that the NWA is about to fold and that he's going to get their entire roster except Flair, Dusty, and Tully.

God love ya Verne. Seth, where are you finding these?

[Seth82]

Here's the March 4th 1985 Edition of Wrestling Observer


Cover
*Steamboat press-slamming Flair with the headline “The End of an Era.”

Pulling No Punches
*Dave comments on the 20/20 piece involving Eddy Mansfield and Jim Wilson. Also, John Stossell getting slapped around by David Schults.

*Mansfield demonstrated how wrestlers “fake it,” even blading himself. Dave doesn’t think it will negatively affect the business at all. Dave says Mansfield didn’t lose his job for going to the media, but because he often no-showed bookings.

*Apparently, Wilson claims he was kicked out of wrestling for refusing to do homosexual favors for a promoter. Dave says he wasn’t kicked out for this, but because he’s a horrible worker who refused to do jobs.

*Dave was contacted by Stossell a few days before the piece ran. He wasn’t impressed by Stossell because he only knew what Wilson, Mansfield and Hulk Hogan had told him. He didn’t do any other research.

*Dave thinks that if someone went up to 50 journalists and told each of them repeatedly that their profession was phony, one of the journalists would eventually smack you around like Schults did with Stossell.

*Dave says in many ways journalism is more fake than wrestling because reporters have to report on things they know nothing about (as a journalist myself, Dave has a good point here).

*Dave says the only part of the 20/20 piece that was sloppy instead of shallow was when McMahon was not challenged when he said he has never done anything to keep other promotions out of buildings. Overall, Dave was entertained by the report but not really informed.

Mr. Mike’s Mondo Wrestling
*Mike is upset that the AWA doesn’t know how to use its talent pool. Brody is also gone and Mike didn’t think he was ever really used right.

*Slaughter’s reception at the 1/13 St. Paul show was so-so. The show drew a disappointing 11,000.

*John Nord debuted and Mike sees big things for him if he’s able to talk.

*Mike commends the marketing skills of McMahon for the Hogan-Piper MTV match. He says wrestling is close to being a genuine fad and it will be cool to like.

*Mike says Vince struggles to convince people in local markets that his product is good. However, he convinces the “important people,” the TV and advertising execs, that his product is good because it’s popular in New York.

*The 2/1 Pro Wrestling USA tapings were held in St. Paul. Mike said they were ok with the highlight being a Terry Funk appearance.

*Mike thought the 20/20 piece was good fun and will help the wrestling business grow as a fad.

*Mike is disturbed by the fan reaction to Garvin’s valet, Precious. People have taken it beyond fun and it’s now a little disturbing (Precious got attacked by a fan and needed 18 stitches a few weeks back).

Newspaper Reprints
*There’s a story and obit piece about Eddie Graham’s suicide.

*There’s a puff-piece about McMahon from some trade magazine.

*There’s a piece from the Tulsa World about Mid-South and its use of wrestlers in country music videos.

Inside Japan Wrestling
*Business is way up for All Japan, way down for New Japan. New Japan sold out wherever it went in ’83 and ’84 but can’t draw 3,000 per night in ’85.

*Several All Japan wresters have started wrestling a faster pace to keep up w/ Choshu’s style.

*Tsuruta and Choshu met several times in tag matches, but they didn’t go over real well. Tsuruta is feuding w/ Yatsu instead.

*All Japan TV show will move to prime time once baseball season ends. This will severely damage Inoki, but Inoki still holds a prime time slot on Friday night.

*Road Warriors and Ellering will be in from 3/8-3/14 and will get $10,000 apiece.

*Rumors that the AWA offered to send talent to New Japan for $120,000 per year. The company is paying WWF $500,000 in ’85 for talent.

*Rumors that Inoki is planning a bout between himself and Larry Holmes in either Tokyo or Los Angeles.

*Super Tiger now appearing w/out a mask in UWF.

*UWF’s president is out of jail on bail, but the company’s future still looks bleak.
Letters from Readers
*One letter saying that Florida wrestling isn’t so bad. The usual WWF bashing. One anonymous writer talking about how WWF is finally getting things right and are selling out arenas throughout the country.

WWF
*Dave says the WWF is riding the crest of a wave that is the biggest in wrestling in more than a decade. Crowds are way up, except in areas like Dallas or St. Paul

*The wave will lead to a closed-circuit MSG card headlined by Hogan-T/Piper-Orndorff.

*Dave praised the MTV special leading up to the Hogan/Piper MSG bout. He said it went off w/out a hitch and the celebrity tie-ins made it feel that you’re with the “in” crowd by watching wrestling.

*He says Piper proved that he is the most valuable commodity in wrestling right now and summarized the Hogan/Piper match and ensuing angle w/ Mr. T.

*Dave says Hogan has become an awful wrestler. He used to be just OK, now he’s terrible. He says Hogan comes across well to first-time viewers, but he’s not sure how many first-timers are watching WWF compared to actual wrestling fans.

*Dave says McMahon needs to capitalize on the Mr. T angle and try to turn all the non-wrestling fans that will be interested in the angle into wrestling fans. Dave doesn’t think Mr. T being involved in wrestling will negatively impact the business long term.

*Jimmy Hart and Jim Neidhart due in 2/12. King Kong Bundy coming in March. Rumors that Steamboat is also coming in March. Gone are Schults, Mulligan, Briscos, Adonis and Murdoch. Schults was fired for trying to jump Mr. T. He was fined $3,000 for beating up Stossell.

*Bret Hart, who Dave says was once good, is being wasted in the WWF.

*Highlights how the WWF is going into the home video business. Also highlights other WWF merchandise coming out, including Hulk Hogan dolls. Dave wonders if the dolls will have spots to insert needles.

*Latest WWF TV ratings are up slightly.

Northeast Opposition
*2/5 Philly show by Crocketts drew 3,770. Fan reports say it was good, but TV stations reported it the lowest attended card in a long time. Flair/Slaughter will headline 2/28.

*Crockett should be taking over most northern cities run by Ole soon.

Northwest
*Billy Haynes returned 2/2.

Southwest
*Buck Robley is now booking and Eric Embry has apparently bought the ownership of the company from Joe Blanchard.

World Class
*Von Erichs were on Los Angeles TV to announce they would run live shows there in the future.

*Dave thinks Chris Adams is the best heel in the country right now.

Mid-South
*Best matches on this circuit involve Dibiase/Duggan.

*Speculating that Kimala may be turned face.

*2/15 in Houston drew 5,600. Watts ran Houston again six days later, one day before the WWF came in for a show.

*Mid-South’s TV show won its time slot in 15 of 23 slots around the circuit, including up against college football in some cases.

*Duggan has done some recent music videos with country singers. Dave says Mid-South is going all out w/ the videos, which he doesn’t mind if it doesn’t get in the way of wrestling. He thinks it eventually will, however.

AWA
*Rumors that the AWA may soon give up on Martel as a champ that can draw. Dave isn’t sure who else to give the title to, however. Slaughter doesn’t need a belt, Bockwinkle is still good but fans perceive him as too old and Masked Superstar doesn’t really fit.

*Fans are getting worn out on Slaughter because he’s being pushed as the second coming.

*Drew 5,300 on 1/30 in San Fran, about triple what they had been drawing. Baron/Hennigs def. Roadies/Ellering when Baron pinned Ellering. Fans cheered the Roadies until they started to run away from the Baron’s claw. Fans started throwing plastic cups at the Roadies, which they caught, stuck down the crotch of their trunks, and threw back at the fans. They did the same thing in Puerto Rico, only w/ rocks.

*Main reason the Fabs left was because they were sick of the Roadies no-selling.

*Chicago and Salt Lake each drew 9,000.

Memphis
*A snowstorm forced some shows to recently be cancelled.

*Rumors that Lawler will soon win NWA title from Flair.

Florida
*Word is that the territory will be reorganized w/ Mike Graham giving control to Dusty.

*Percy Pringle in the area as a manager.

*Dave says the Freebirds are the only good thing going in this territory.

Georgia
*Several new workers in from Abdulla the Butcher’s training school.

*T-Bolt Patterson’s suit against the NWA was recently settled out of court. T-Bolt got $50,000 from Barnett and Crockett will pay him $2,000 per week to wrestle. T-Bolt signed to no longer stand w/ Mansfield and Wilson in their lawsuits.

Mid-Atlantic
*Magnum TA getting a big push.

*Speculation that Steamboat left because Dusty wanted to turn him heel.

Update
*AWA on 2/20 in San Fran was awful and drew 1,981.

*NWA on 2/20 in Pittsburgh drew 750 and was also terrible.

*WWF sold out Indianapolis, but only drew about 800 in Oklahoma.

*Rumors that two groups may start running Calgary, one led by Cuban Assasin and one as a Stampede revival. Bad News Allan and Bruce Hart are battling over who will book the Stampede group. Brett, Davey Boy and Dynamite won’t work unless Bruce books.

*Lawler making arrangements to bring in Dynamite and Davey Boy.

*Steamboat definitely scheduled for 3/5 WWF taping in Poughkeepsie.

*Orndorff has dropped weight for his series w/ Hogan. They want to have Hogan do several power moves so it helps if Orndorff is lighter.

*Dave thinks it would be “interesting” if Piper and T “go against the grain” at Wrestlemania.

*Expect to see a falling out between Inoki/McMahon soon.

[Autobahn]

I'm still stuck on the revelation that they were not Mae Youngs breasts at Royal Rumble 2000. Why go to that effort?

Might need to sleep on this one.

[James Steele]

I'm still stuck on the revelation that they were not Mae Youngs breasts at Royal Rumble 2000. Why go to that effort?

Might need to sleep on this one.

To get all the controversy while still covering your ass by saying "LOL NOT HER TITS! #attitude"

[Jordan]

Yo Seth isn't it kinda "wrong" to post Dave's articles he makes people pay for? (like me and I guess you too)

[Juan]

Yo Seth isn't it kinda "wrong" to post Dave's articles he makes people pay for? (like me and I guess you too)

lol

[Seth82]

lol dude these articles are from the 80's

I doubt Meltzer even knows about it

besides I got them from another site

[Gertner]

WRESTLING OBSERVER: 2.:24:1986

- William Perry was quoted as saying he would “absolutely not� agree to appear on any wrestling show.

- Wrestlemania will take place in three locations. The main event for the NY arena is Mr. T vs. Roddy Piper in a boxing match; the LA main will be Hogan vs. Bundy for the title; the main in Chicago was originally scheduled to be a $100,000 winner-take-all battle royal with wrestlers and celebrities. Perry was supposed to be the main hook, but doesn’t look like he’ll be there now. Meltz speculates it may have been Perry messing with Vince to show that he can’t be bought by wrestling promoters.

Other unconfirmed matches include Bruno vs. Ventura, Savage vs. Santana, and Bulldogs vs. Dream Team (with a title change expected).

- SNME for 3/1 was taped on 2/15 in Phoenix. Featured was Hogan vs. Muraco, Mr. T vs. Orton is a boxing match and Bulldogs vs. Dream Team for the titles. Muraco was managed by Heenan for some reason. Bundy interfered and gave Hogan five splashes after the match. Piper and Orton wound up double-teaming the œcretinous man with the Mohawk. Meltz notes T was recently fired from A-Team for being too obnoxious for the actors to handle. The KO in the match came in the second round because T was blown up midway through the first one (which lasted two minutes).

- Savage beat Santana for the IC title on 2/8 in Boston, but since it won’t air until 2/22, Santana will continue to defend the belt until then.

- Jake the Snake is in as a villain and brings a snake to ringside, that he lets slither over his fallen opponents.

- Other newcomers include Dory Funk (who did a run-in during a JYD/Terry Funk match), Trapper John (a guy who will make us all wish for more Uncle Elmer) and Alexis Smirnoff (useless since the injury to Volkoff wasn’t as serious as first thought).

- WWF made front-page news in Northern California over an incident where the police were called about a disturbance near the arena in Fresno. As soon as the cops showed, Piper, Orton, and Muraco split. Piper had punched someone at the restaurant. The cops chased their car in a 100-MPH race around Fresno, resulting with the heels crashing. They then fled on foot and lost the police.

Later that evening, the cops got a call of another disturbance, this time, at the Holiday Inn. They got there to find Orton on the roof nude and Piper in the lobby causing a ruckus. They shot Orton twice with a taser gun, which didnt work since he was loaded. Once they calmed down, they were arrested and spent the night in jail. No charges were brought.

- Jesse Ventura got his wish: he'll be a secondary lead in an upcoming Schwarzeneggar movi

[Gertner]

WRESTLING OBSERVER NEWSLETTER
DECEMBER 30, 1985

Dave starts by reminding everyone that this is the final issue of the current four-issue set, so it's almost time to renew. He says the response to the poll has been great and that the deadline is on 1/6, so people should have their answers in the mail by 12/30. Dave opts to not run down the categories here, since they've run in the past three issues.

Dave asks anyone who has a tape of the Martel/Hansen Comisky Park match to contact him to arrange a trade. ESPN keeps bouncing around Verne's time slot due to College Basketball (and also to purposely damage his ratings) so he doesn't see it very often, "and once in a blue moon, they even show something I'm interested in seeing."

The big news for this issue is that Bruiser Brody and Jimmy Snuka were fired from New Japan. They no-showed the final match of the IWGP Tag League on 12/12. Everyone assumes it was because they were supposed to lose, but Dave isn't 100% sure that's the case. The real reason was over money. Brody was supposed to make $14,000-$16,000 a week, but the houses were pretty bad since there wasn't much talent, and it was the annual tournament. Plus, Brody helped broker the deal between Inoki and Fritz and was supposed to get a hefty commission payment, but only got about 1/10 of what was promised to him. There were also problems between Brody and Inoki on the tour, stemming from the fact that neither wanted to put the other one over.

Brody wrestled Sakaguchi on 12/11, with the plan being that Brody would injure him. Dave thinks it was either to prevent Inoki and Sakaguchi from wrestling in the finals, so Inoki wouldn't have to lose, or to give them an excuse to lose and help Inoki save face. With the tension already building up between Brody and NJPW, things got out of hand and Brody hurt him really bad. Brody and Snuka demaded that their money be sent to their hotel that night before they'd go to the next show. They money never came, and they left the hotel and went back Stateside. Dave thinks that it was stupid on their part, more for Snuka than Brody, because in wrestling you often have to make demands to get what's promised to you. Dave thinks Inoki got cocky with his outlook for 1986, with the UWF boys were back in NJPW, and he didn't think he had to put up with Brody any longer.

Dave says it's ironic that Brody is considered the #1 wrestler in the world over in Japan, and between this and his walking out on Baba, he may never work in Japan again, unless it's for Vince McMahon. Satoru Sayama may also never wrestle again in Japan for different reasons, which Dave plans on getting to later.

The 12/12 card was to feature Brody and Snuka facing the winners of Inoki/Sakaguchi vs. Fujinami/Kimura to decide the tournament. Dave suspects that, if they'd shown up, the battle between the Japanese teams wouldn't have happened due to Sakaguchi's injuries. In the end, the two Japanese teams wrestled to decide the tournament and "in one of the few smart moves they've done in a while" Fujinami pinned Inoki to win the tournament for his team. The fact that Inoki was pinned for the first time in eight years, by his understudy, was enough to make everyone forget about Brody and Snuka.

All Japan also decided their tag team tournament on 12/12 at Budokan Hall in Tokyo, Stan Hansen and Ted DiBiase went to a thirty-minute draw with Chosyu and Yatsu, and because they were the top point getters Hansen and DiBiase were awarded the tournament. Dave is sure the action was outstanding, but reports from Japan said the tournament was disappointing due to the lack of finishes. While Hansen and DiBiase were in first place with seven points, there were four teams tied for second. Other matches that night were Tsuruta and Tenryu going to a draw with the Funks, and Harley Race and Jesse Barr going to a DCOR with the Bulldogs.

The lawsuit between Jim Crockett and Titan Sports has been settled and both companies will be booking shows in the Richmond Coliseum in 1986. But there are several other arenas that Crockett wants to get into that McMahon has an exclusive (and possible illegal) hold on, namely the Spectrum in Philly. The WWF runs Richmond on 1/8 with Hogan/Studd, Steamboat/Muraco, Bulldogs/Hart Foundation, and Savage and Funk also on the show. Crockett's next show on 12/27 with Flair/Rhodes, Tully/Magnum, Fernandez/Abby, and Rock and Rolls vs. Andersons. Crockett is trying to get a show in Richmond on 1/7. The lawsuit may also address Vince's practice of paying stations to take other shows off the air, like Vince has done with Crockett's TV.

In more Brody news, he showed up on 12/14 in San Antonio for Texas All Star wrestling and turned heel, saving Gary Hart from the babyface One Man Gang. Brody claimed Hart signed him to a $1 Million contract. Brody is going to be a regular there and will be the first test to see if this group can get out of the state they're currently in, drawing $4,000 gates in San Antonio. The first big test is 1/1 when Brody teams with Tim Brooks and Austin Idol to take on Gang, Big Terrible Bubba, and Wahoo. Dave says the date is stupid, since they have a show on 12/26 featuring the Von Erichs vs. Freebirds. Gary Hart is apparently handling all of Brody's bookings, which is why he's got a date in the AWA in Winnepeg (the only city Verne doesn't control).

In other surprising news, David Sammartino has joined the AWA. Dave figured he was done when he injured his leg (out of the ring), and was being booked to lose to Ron Shaw in the WWF. Dave thinks Verne is stupid enough to push David, just to run a David/Larry Zybyszko feud. Dave wonders if Verne learned nothing from the flop that Sgt Slaughter was, or if Verne doesn't even realize that Slaughter flopped.

The WWF ran Charlotte on 12/16, the Rick McGraw benefit show. They drew 2,400 fans, but the mood wasn't very good. They were chanting "Fake" during Hogan vs. Bundy. The only match to have any real heat was Steamboat vs. Piper, and the crowd was mostly pro Piper. They even sent out Andre for the show, so Dave thinks that the show has to be considered a failure and Titan may be doomed in trying to run Crockett Country. There was a lot of local media for the show, and it was Hogan's first time in Charlotte.

Basil DeVito claimed 60,000 homes for the Wrestling Classic PPV, which is about what Dave expected. Although the WWF was forecasting 250,000 homes for the show. Dave has also been given a figure of 43,000, there's been no work on the next PPV venture. Dave has heard it's been planned for January and coming from Bloomington, MN. DeVito said the show didn't meet projections because they were competing with Network TV during sweeps period. Dave wonders why they didn't figure that out ahead of time and schedule during a differnet time. He thinks PPV could do huge business, if it was a big show of WrestleMania or Starrcade like proportions. Dave says that expecting a 12.5 buyrate is unrealistic because the WWF has never gotten a 12.5 TV rating and now they want people to pay $12 for the show.

A few notes about the recent independent show in California featuring the Pakistani wrestlers. The show was cancelled when the promoter left the country. They had a show booked at the Olympic Auditorium that sold 72 tickets. The Americans showed up to wrestle and the Pakistanti's had already left. Eddie Mansfield wasn't there and will probably never wrestle again, for fear that if he gets in the ring, he's fair game, "probably the truth."

Dave attended the Polynesian Pro Wrestling show in San Jose, it was completely disorganized, but Dave enjoyed it. It was a chance to see wrestlers he'd never seen before (and would never want to see). The show drew 1,400 (compared with the 350 the WWF normally draws in San Jose), so the gate was healthy. But Dave figures they had to lose money, since they flew in everyone from Hawaii. Dave is told that it's Lars Anderson having fun with Mrs. Miavia's money. Dave is told that they've got bookings into the middle of next year, but will never survive that long. The only thing that drew the crowd was a Battle Royal, which is always a huge draw in the area.

Sam Anoai won a battle royal featuring all wrestlers on the card, save the Johnsons, Lars, Roop, Sullivan, and Badnews Allen. Chief Jay Strongbow (not Joe Scarpa) beat Don Stevenson. Fujinami and Kimura beat Joel and Dave Deaton. Sivi Afi and The Russian Exterminator (a former WWF stiff with a shaved head) went to a DCOR, and were both in the dressing room before the ref finished the count. Ricky and Rocky Johnson went to DCOR with Sullivan and Bob Roop to retain their tag titles. Rocky bladed 10 minutes in and it took one kick to the chest to open up a head wound. Ricky's dropkicks missed by almost three Ric Flair nose lengths (my note: LOL) but were still being sold. "You can say what you want about Sullivan gimmick, but his work is the shits." Midget Chilly Bo Diddy beat Midget Little Kevin, Dave missed most of it. Anoaro Atisanoe beat Leroy Brown. Budda Kahn got in the ring and waited for ten minutes for someone to quit partying and come wrestle, finally Sam Anoai came out and beat him in 90 seconds. Farmer Boy Ipo beat Pistol Pete. Power Team USA beat the Patterson Bros (Tim Patterson and Billy Anderson, who was Billy Patterson because Lars wouldn't let anyone else use the name Anderson). Lars Anderson DCOR with Badnews Allen, they beat each other senseless for about two minutes "Then Lars died and Allen had to revive him."

The only real excitement was hoping some stupid fan would get in the ring during the match. A fan did get in during the Fujinami match, but Fujinami protected him, not being familiar with American customs. No shows were Afa, Jerry Lawler, and Mike Graham. Dave has heard that this was supposed to be a united front between Crockett, Lars, and Inoki to take CA back from Vince, but now he's not so sure. The night before they drew $32,000 with Inoki/Andre vs. The Deatons, Fujinami/Kimura vs. Pogo/Nagasaki, Lawler vs. Wrestling II, and lots of other matches, 44 wrestlers total. The shows were taped for the Polynesian Pro Wrestling show on the Financial News Network.


WWF:

The recent California tour drew 6,000 in San Francisco on 12/12 and 9,100 in LA the next night. They headlined with Andre/Hillbilly Jim vs. Studd/Bundy, and a bunch of no shows. Savage vs. Santana was underneath on both shows and was said to be average. Dave isn't sure when they'll be back, but says interest is waning, but a big Hogan or Piper match will probably spark interest. Vince's new power lifter, Ted Arcidi is legitimately the strongest man in the world. He holds the record for the bench press at 704. Dave says nobody else in the business could come close to that. Road Warrior Animal claims a lift of 530, but Dave says he couldn't do it under meet conditions. Dave is sure he's awful, but thinks he can be entertaining if he learns the tricks of the trade soon enough. The Bulldogs are booked all over the loop, the same dates as their Japanese tour, which makes Dave wonder if they'll be forced to make a choice soon. Titan has signed Big John Harris, as another Hillbilly, but Dave says he's so uncoordinated that he couldn't do a ho-down. "The Wrestling Album" is a top seller in NYC, and they expect a shortage of Roddy Piper dolls during the Christmas season. LJN has reported $20 Million in gross on the WWF dolls, which Dave says is an amazing total.

The Wrestling Album is up to 107 on the national charts. "The Slammys" which has been getting a lot of talk lately, is going to be a spoof award show on MTV. The last SNME special got a 3.8 rating, much lower than the last two specials. The 11/9 Saturday Night Live, which many expected to bomb, got a 9.5, and the 11/16 got an 8.8. The SNME taped this past Thursday is the last one they're under contract for, and it not a sure thing they'll be renewed. Zane Bresloff, a local rock promoter, is now in charge of promoting in the Midwest. Piper and Bruno drew about 7,000 to the Meadowlands for a DCOR, Dave has seen several of Bruno's comeback matches and says it's only moderately painful because he wasn't a fan of Bruno when he was young. Dave disagrees with everyone who says he's better than Hogan because Bruno is too limited by age and injuries, but Dave would rather watch him than Hogan.

WWF returns to MSG 12/28, with the NWA/AWA Meadowlands show the next night. Crowds in Montreal are way down since they took over from Bravo's group. Bravo's group runs a show 12/22 with Bravo, Martel, Jim Garvin, and the Rougeaus. 1/15 in Montreal is scheduled as Hogan vs. Bravo, which is strange because Bravo is a huge local favorite. The Rougeaus were orginally going up to the WWF, but wanted a $7,000 guarantee (which they made from the local group) and were mad that the first show they main evented drew a $200,000 + gate and they only got $2,500 apeice. WWF is danger of losing their TV in San Francisco, Vince had been paying $5,000 a week (which is what he paid to bump Verne) and now wants to do a more traditional barter deal. The GM is very upset since the WWF is doing $100,000 + gates thanks to the advertising on his station and wants Vince to stand by his word. Crockett, Verne, and Fritz are all ready to take the time slot from him. Ted Turner actually called the GM on behalf of Crockett, so he's definitely involved with the promotion. The recent show in Portland only drew about 1,500 but they're drawing 7,000 opposite Don Owen in Seattle while Owen draws under 1,000. Crowds in Cincinnati are down to under 1,500 after the WWF drew more than 10,000 for Hogan vs. Piper a few months back.


Crockett Promotions:

The wrestlers are all off from 12/15 to 12/24, except the few who have to work the 12/21 show in San Juan, PR. They ran double TV tapings to get them through the 12/28-29 TV air dates. The entire Greensboro card was taped for World Wide Wrestling, so there should be some good matches on TV over the next few weeks. Billy Jack Haynes quit, no showing all over the loop, because he was paid less than the Andersons and Wahoo for Starrcade. He'll probably go to FL or back to Portland. Robert Gibson is out with a back injury. Crockett is raising his prices for 1986. Most of the wrestlers made between $10,000 and $15,000 for Starrcade, with Flair and Dusty getting a lot more. Morton also got more, for falling (actually jumping) from the top of the cage. Flair, Magnum, Eaton, Landell, and Cornette have all bought expensive sports cars since Thanksgiving. Terry Taylor has given notice and is headed to Mid South. Taylor realized that as long as Dusty was booking, and Magnum was around, he'd be stuck in the lower card. Flair and Ronnie Garvin are wrestling on this weeks WTBS show.

Starrcade actually drew 14,000 fans, 1,000 shy of a sellout. The 1/1 show in St Louis has been moved to 2PM, featuring Flair vs. Race, Magnum vs. Tully, Dusty and the Road Warriors vs. The Andersons and Ivan Koloff, Jimmy Valiant vs. Mr Pogo, The Batten Twins vs. Saito and Abby, Crews vs. Higgins, and Tarzan Goto vs. Brett Sawyer. There was an angle planned for Baby Doll to leave Tully (who doesn't have a title) for Buddy Landell (who does have a title), but Buddy showed up too late to the taping and it was scrapped. Buddy is expected to get a big push in '86. 12/13 in Richmond drew 4,000, with prices raised due to a Bunkhouse Stampede, Krushchev beat Whatley, Koloffs drew Morton and Fernandez 30:00, Tully beat Ron Bass by count out, Dusty/Magnum beat Flair/Arn when Dusty pinned Arn, and Dusty won the Bunkhouse Stampede. Dusty wins every Bunkhouse Stampede, usually pinning Arn or Ole to do so. Dave thinks Bunkhouse Stampedes are a good idea, but is told that it's no different than any other battle royal, only that a few guys use their belts.

Crowds are down, which is expected after a huge show like Starrcade, but Road Warriors vs Koloffs is drawing, Bunkhouse Stampedes are drawing, and Flair is around a lot more since he has nowhere else to go. Dave puts out a request for someone to contact him if they have a tape of Starrcade, but says he may just get it himself. Dave also thinks that Crockett may be pricing themselves out of the market with their plans for 1986, cheapest seat in most houses will be $10. Although they're running a show in Charlotte which will have the whole house priced at $3 for Flair/Tully vs. Dusty/Magnum and the Rock and Rolls vs. Andersons. Dave doesn't like the idea of pairing up the teams, because even though Morton and Gibson are great babyfaces and Arn and Ole are great heels, they work very different styles. The best tag team in the world, the Midnight Express, is still being buried. 12/29 at the Meadowlands has Flair vs. Dusty, Martel vs. Hansen, Roadies and Billy Jack vs. Russians (Billy Jack won't be there), Magnum vs. Tully, Landell vs. Taylor, Rock and Rolls vs. Irwins, and Colon vs. Abby. There is also a women's match and a midget match. Dave is told Debbie Combs will be winning the AWA Girls Title, and that they have a lot of momentum heading into '86. Angelo Mosca will be fronting them for Ontario in '86.


World Class:

Freebirds vs. Von Erichs has started back up, with the Freebirds not booked on 12/9 and showing up in Ft Worth to attack Kevin, Kerry, and Brian Adias. Kevin and Kerry are wrestling twice on 12/25 at Reunion. First teaming with Adias to take on the Freebirds, and then teaming up to challenge Gino and Chris for the American Tag Titles. "Do you realize that in one night they'll have two of the most overdone bouts in history?" The Freebirds vs. Von Erichs six man tags won't be anywhere near as good as the last run of them, because Lance is so bad. "Even with Mike, the 6-man bouts were all great, but Lance is one of the worst wrestlers I've ever seen." Dave also saw the recent Thanksgiving show and the only decent match was Rude vs. Parsons, and decent was all it was. The cage match between Gino/Chris and Kevin/Kerry wasn't the worst cage match Dave has ever seen, but it was the worst involving four guys who supposedly can work. Chris is still decent, but was great at this time last year, Kerry is below average and was also great last year, and Kevin and Gino are both useless. Also on 12/25 is Inoki vs. Steve Williams, Brody vs OMG in a chain match, Fujinami vs. Bob Sweetan, Tatum/Missy vs. Casey/Sunshine, and some other matches. Kevin and Kerry are going to be masked as "The Cosmic Cowboys" against Gino and Chris, and then be themselves against the Freebirds. Dave is told Gino and Chris are breaking up the next month, so they can bore everyone in singles matches. Dave expects the Freebirds to win the six man titles and then give the Von Erichs an excuse to cut Adias loose and team with Lance. Lance is getting over great as the new heartthrob. Jack Victory won the TV Title from Dave Peterson on 12/9, Peterson won it from John Tatum on 12/2 in an elimination match. The title was vacated when Parsons missed the 12/2 show after Rude piledrove him on the floor on Thanksgiving. Sunshine has been ripping her clothes each week with Missy. "Someone should tell her about the Grapefruit 45 plan."


Texas All Star:

Bruiser Brody is in as a heel, and there' s not much going on. The TV show is bad, even by the standards that the group has set. The American Force are a cheap imitation Rock and Roll Express, Bubba is horrible, and even Gary Hart has gone downhill as a manager. They have a plain looking girl in shorts as a referee, and a running a feud between valets because everyone there saw Precious vs. Sunshine in 1983, and this is tawdry by comparison. It's the Midnight Cowgirl (sister of Dave Peterson, who wrestles as Dave Patterson) and Fantasy "The trampy heel who gives good interviews." The gist is that Dave's brother Jimmy was engaged to Fantasy but was paralyzed in a car accident, and Fantasy is subtly hinting at what part of him was effected. She dumped Jimmy for Mike Golden, and the family is there for revenge. Al Madril is now the U.S. Champion after Chavo Guerrero left, Killer Tim Brooks is assisting Gary Hart with the booking. Brooks wanted Chavo to put him over, and Chavo walked instead. Jeff Gaylord, a huge USFL Player debuted a few weeks back. He's obviously green, but he's at least as good as Tom Magee, if you take away Magee's leaping and agility. Gaylord is super strong and looks the part. "Can you imagine the misfortune of first playing for the San Antonio Gunslingers and then working for Texas All Star Wrestling?"


Memphis:

Jerry Lawler and Austin Idol won the Southern Tag Titles from Bill Dundee and Dutch Mantell on 12/9 in Memphis. Dave isn't sure who the Southern Champion is right now. Lawler beat Bill Dundee in a match with Lawler's wife's hair at stake, but it wasn't clear if Dundee's title was at stake. A few years ago Dundee wrestled Lawler when Lawler was a heel and Dundee's wife's hair was at stake, and she was shaved bald. Eddie Marlin was the ref of the tag titles match, and he's feuding with Dundee, since Dundee keeps beating him up.

Rick Casey is getting a small push, the Fantastics are beating the Sheepherders every week, last week they made the Sheepherders say the Pledge of Allegiance. The Fabs may be on the way out, they're feuding with the Heavenly Bodies (Tom Prichard and Pat Rose, managed by Sherri Martel). Prichard and Rose are an OK team, but they don't come off well as heels. The Freedom Fighters turned heel, they were making fun of fat Phil Hickerson, and Hickerson beat on Jim Hellwig until Steve Borden made the save. "The sight of these two super-stiffs beating on Hickerson was hard to take." They're both huge guys, much bigger than the Road Warriors and Koloffs, but they're the least menacing looking team out there. They look harmless as models and when they try to beat on other people, super slowly and stiff, it looks even worse. They've been compared to Nikita when he started out, but Nikita was 1,000 times better. Lance Von Erich is a lot better than them. They beat Hickerson and Koko Ware on 12/9 and then lost to Lawler and Idol on 12/16 and may already be gone.

Tom Renesto and Tom Branch are gone, and Lawler beat Tony Falk in a match where the loser was diapered. Dave saw the 11/18 Flair vs. Koko match and it was really good. The six man bunkhouse match, Dusty/Magnum/Lawler vs. Tully/Andersons was OK, it was only six minutes long, but Lawler was working hard. Tully was OK, but everyone else considered it a night off. "Dusty considers every night a night off."


More Notes From Dallas:

Missing Link is turning face because he has a crush on Sunshine. On 12/2 in Ft Worth Missy held Sunshine so Tatum could hit her, and Link grabbed Tatum's arm. On 12/3 Sunshine got KO'd and Link beat up Tatum and Kabuki and carried her to the parking lot, the same thing with Duggan and his girlfriend in Mid South. "I hate reruns, even more so when the tapes play in most of the same markets." Leroy Brown and Kareem Muhammed will reunite as elephants in San Antonio. Kamala is on his way in.


Central States:

Brett Sawyer won the Central States Title from Marty Janetty on 12/5 in KC before a crowd of 250. 12/12 drew 500 with Sawyer beating Jannetty in another babyface match. Dave hears Jannetty is leaving, but doesn't know where he's headed. Sawyer may also be leaving. Bulldog Bob Brown beat Rocky Johnson via blood, and also beat Mike George. It was supposed to be Johnson vs. Kamala, but Kamala no showed the third of his last four bookings in the area. Brody wrestles Brown on 12/26.


Florida:

Barry Windham won the Southern Title from Lex Luger on 12/8. Dave says Luger looks just liike Hogan, with long blonde hair. He's about as good as Hogan was at this stage of his career (a month into it). Joe Savoldi is in, and Dave Sierra is there working as Cuban Assassin, he worked there earlier in the year as The Saint. Gordon Solie isn't happy about Savoldi being in because he worked for Savoldi's brother in the Northeast, feels like he was screwed over and has since sued them.


Calgary:

Badnews Allen is back, he returned a few weeks earlier during match between the Bulldogs and Ron Starr and Wayne Ferris, he helped the Bulldogs when Kerry Brown interfered for the heels. Allen is feuding with Brown. The crowds are pretty bad, except when the Bulldogs are booked. Magee has potential, but has to learn how to wrestle first. He's 6'4, weights 265, with a tiny waist and giant back. He looks like a taller Kerry Von Erich. He's a better athlete than Kerry and does great flips, but he can't wrestle. Dave isn't sure if Takato, Strong Machine, and Saito are still there, but Saito was being buried. He's better than anyone else who regularly appears on the circuit but isn't allowed to show it. Starr and Ferris are International Tag Team Champions, Smith is North American Champion, and Kid is World Middleweight Champion while Bruce Hart is Commonweath Middleweight Champion. Kid is up to 225, so Dave thinks it's ridiculous to bill him as a junior heavyweight.


Japanese Girls:

The 12/12 match between Devil Masami and Jaguar Yakota was cancelled because Jag injured her ankle. A match between Devil and Dump Matsumoto was held in front of 4,500 fans, which Devil won in 19:17. Chigusa Nagayo is also out with a bad ankle, so Lioness Asuka teamed with Miki Komatsu. Jumbo Horri retired because she's getting married. Speaking of women's wrestling, Wendi Richter hasn't been seen since she lost to Moolah and is said to have left the business. The story is that her and Hugo are having a child, but it's not confirmed yet.


New Japan:

The next series starts 1/3 with Mad Max (Lord Humongous), Jim Duggan, Roger Smith, Mike Miller, Tony St. Clair, Black Tiger, Johnny Mantell, and Scorpio from Mexico. Kevin Von Erich is in from 1/26 to 2/6, with Kerry being on the last two shows. They will crown an IWGP Jr. Champion on 2/6 in a tournament featuring Cobra, Shiro Koshinaka, Don Arakawa, Keichi Yamada, Black Tiger, St Clair, Scorpio, Kazuo Yamazaki, and Nobuhiko Takada. The tourny should be good, although not as good as the one two years ago. Many of the NJPW wrestlers getting their first big push don't like the UWF boys being back. Their push will probably be stalled, while they remailed loyal. Satoru Sayama wants no part of wrestling and even published a good called Kay-Fabe. "If you know what that means, you'll know he burned his last bridge about ever returning to pro wrestling." Sayama explained everything about wrestling and says he'd only work for a promotion that features shooting.


Alabama:

A war has broke out between a Nick Gulas led group, with Austin Idol as the main star, against the Fuller/Armstrong group. They're using old Savoldi Northeast tapes, with Solie as the announcer, because Solie is the NWA announcer. Gordon went on TV, said they were using old tapes, and cut the group down for trying to confuse the fans. Then he said that Austin Idol's real name was Mike McCord (It's actually Dennis McCord, but he used to wrestle as Mike McCord). Jerry Stubbs is back as Mr Olypia, but only works sparingingly due to his health. Solie suggests that Idol is afraid of Adrian Street (who he was supposed to start a program with before he left for the Gulas group). Supposedly lots of other talent will be sent to the Gulas group by the NWA. The WWF drew about 800 in Birmingham on 12/8.

Robert Soto beat the Flame for the Continental Title on 12/2. the Flame was unmasked by the Bullet on 12/9, and they had a mask vs. mask match on 12/16. If Bullet is unmasked and it's Bob Armstrong (who lost a loser leaves town match a while back) he's suspended for life. Scott and Steve Armstrong are back. Johnny and Davey Rich beat the Nightmares on 11/28, on 12/2 they had a rematch where the losers get their hair died pink and the Richs won again. The Richs won a death match by DQ, and on 12/25 they have a double hair match. The main event on 12/9 was Brad Armstrong and the Bullet beating Robert Fuller and Boomer Lynch. The Nightmares are still tag champions and Street is the Southeast Champ.


AWA:

Not much to report here. 12/25 in St Paul has Martel vs. Hansen, Bockwinkel vs. Zybyszko, and Blackwell/Hennig/Hall vs. Zhukov/Nord/Stomper. "Here's a brain buster, who is the worst of the three heels?" Zhukov is probaby the best of them. Nord has potential, but was a huge flop in Japan. Tom Magee will be the same in January, they have no business in the ring with Riki Chosyu. Dave hasn't seen the fed in months, and is told the Bockwinkel/Zybyszko thing makes no sense, although it gives Nick's character some life.


Mid South:

Dave finally saw the DiBiase face turn angle and it was the best thing he's seen in wrestling since the Freebirds got back together. He's sure Doc and Ted will be over huge as babyfaces. The entire show, aired 11/23, was one of the best TV shows Dave's ever seen. The Fabs and Lawler will be in on 12/27 in Houston, with the Fabs working Chavo and Hector Guerrero and Lawler wrestling Masked Superstar. Also, Duggan vs. Sawyer in a Dog Collar match, Doc vs. Taylor and prelims. There will probably be another show the same night with Gilbert and the Nightmare vs. The Bruise Brothers, DiBiase vs. Murdoch, and Slater vs. Reed.

[Gertner]

WRESTLING OBSERVER NEWSLETTER APRIL 15, 1985

Cover: Bruiser Brody invades New Japan and confronts Inoki

Editors notes:

"Yes folks, the Wrestling Observer will be no more after this issue." Before explaining why he's calling it quits, Dave thanks everyone who has helped him make the Observer the best wrestling publication in the world. Over the last year the number of subscribers jumped from 200 to 800, and things like bookkeeping and preparing mailings lists have become a second full time job. The actual writing of the Observer has been nothing but fun for Dave, but the negatives like bookkeeping and Dave's general lack of enthusiasm for the product have turned it into a task, instead of a joy.

The other reason why he's finishing up with the Observer is that Dave got a new job as an associate editor of a soccer magazine and now he's going to have to learn as much about soccer as he knows about wrestling. Dave is still going to follow wrestling and he'll be tape trading, he's recently moved and gotten a new phone number and asks to not be called on Tuesdays unless something major happens. To fulfill subscription commitments Dave will put out short newsletters every few weeks, two for each remaining issue of a subscription. Dave also plans to help out Bob Closson, and others who do similar newsletters, as time allows. Dave also hopes to contribute columns to Bob's newsletter. He hopes that Bob and Mr. Mike can work together because he'd hate for Mike's column to no longer exist.

"I've neglected in all of the above to mention the current state of wrestling as part of my decision." The WWF is so bad that it makes it hard for Dave to even enjoy the good promotions. After watching WrestleMania, even Mid South and Japan don't have Dave very excited.

Dave also says that he will be at the WFIA convention in Memphis and hopes to meet a lot of fans. He also got a program from Jim Ross (not the announcer) for the WFIA convention in Kansas City that looked very professional.

"Of course the biggest story since our last issue has been Titan Sports' Wrestlemania Extravaganza" which Dave credits as being the first wrestling show in his lifetime to have strong interest amongst non wrestling fans. Credit must given to the greatest hype job, not just in wrestling, but in anything since World War II (or at least presidential elections). WrestleMania was huge success filling up huge arenas all over the country, there were a few cases where the satellite feed didn't pick up, resulting in genuine riots. Dave says the important thing with all the hoopla is the effect that it has on the advertisers. The only tool of ratings is to determine ad rates, although Dave notes that the skyrocketing TV ratings of the WWF are as mythical as Hogan's wrestling ability. But Dave doesn't think that the advertisers realize that. Dave predicts that it'll last for a year because after things cool down and ratings start dropping the advertisers are going to be leaving too.

NBC will be running the first Saturday special on 5/11 at 11:30 EST. Dave hears that the format is going to be three main event quality matches (WWF quality main event matches, not to be confused with professional wrestling) interspersed with comedy. If it's anything like the MTV special then it'll be a hit and become a regular thing. If it's like All American Wrestling, then probably not.

The next few pages are dedicated to newspaper articles about the WWF, WrestleMania, and the John Stossel 20/20 piece.

Special Bonus Page:

"Because this issue is so late, more news has broken out." 4/13 in Los Angeles drew $115,000. Wells beat Goulet, Muraco beat Putski, JYD and Orndorff had a double countout, Steamboat over Jack Armstrong (Steamboat has no credibility amongst the fans in L.A.), Valentine over Santana, Bulldogs over Barry Orton and Matt Bourne, Bundy over Hansen (my note: I assume Swede Hansen), and Hogan over Piper by DQ. Dutch Mantell, Eddie Gilbert, and a masked man known as "The Nightmare" are all on Mid South TV, and the Nightmare isn't Ken Wayne or Danny Davis. Mid South TV is moving next month from the Irish McNeil boys club to the Shreveport Auditorium for an arena setting. Steve Casey is coming to WCCW to feud with Chris Adams, Chris Adams and Gino Hernandez are now "The Dynamic Duo." The Texas Stadium main event is no longer Flair vs. Kevin Von Erich, it's now a 12 man tag with the Freebirds and Von Erichs against Kamala, Gang, Gino, Chris, Flair, and Williams fought over two rings. "Not only does the winning team split all the money in a Monopoly set, but the man who scores the winning fall gets a Lincoln Continental." This actually intrigues Dave with the idea of Kerry having it won and Hayes not allowing him to score the pin. The Freebirds area headed into the AWA. Also on the card are Midnights vs. Fantastics, Gordy vs Kamala, Kerry vs. Gang, and probably Hayes and Roberts vs Chris and Gino. Kabuki is headed in and will be managed by Sunshine. The Von Erichs are also doing commercials and, unlike Paul Orndorff, are themsleves and not nameless faceless individuals. A local rock station had a poll for most popular wrestler and surprisingly enough Chris Adams is winning. Ordorff earned $7,500 for his commercial while his agent, Titan Sports, got $42,500 "Still, if he hadn't joined Titan he would have never had the shot at the $7,500 would he?" Dave had a chance to see two women's matches from Japan, The Crush Gals vs. Devil Masami and Jaguar Yokota, and they were the two best women's matches he'd seen, but not the two best matches he'd seen. Watching them is amazing because they have such good body control. One wouldn't get that idea watching women's matches in the U.S. but Hulk Hogan's style is closer to Dynamite Kid's than Wendi Richter's is to Jaguar Yokota.

More newspaper clips about Stossel/Schultz, and also about Terry Funk getting into acting.

Inside Japanese Wrestling:

All Japan has been cooperating with the Japan Pro Wrestling group to help Baba keep his advantage over Inoki. The Road Warriors made their Japanese debut in All Japan resulting in huge sellouts, while New Japan drew small crowds in most cities. "On 3/21, the savior arrived in Tokyo's Korakuen Hall." Brusier Brody appeared in New Japan to confront Inoki, who was in the ring waiting for his opponent, Hacksaw Higgins. Brody wore a suit with red tie, and a bouquet of flowers in one hand and his chain in the other. Fans began imitating his barking, and they started going nuts when he swung the chain. Brody extended his hand and Inoki wouldn't shake it. This all played the next night on TV and Brody vs. Inoki was announced for Sumo Hall.

Dave thinks stealing Brody was great revenge on Baba, for raiding Chosyu and his guys, as well as the Bulldogs. Brody was scheduled to work the next All Japan tour, but it was cancelled. Baba is going to be suing Brody since Brody had a valid contact with Baba. Dave points out that a lot of the guys Baba stole had valid contracts with Inoki, so he doesn't think Baba has any right to try to enforce the contract with Brody.

Since his jump there have been many reports as to why he did so. Sakaguchi's announcement was that Brody was another wrestler sent to them by Vince McMahon, and that it was the WWF, not NJPW, who lured Brody away from the NWA and AJPW. The real reason was over money (my note: no surprise there). Brody was making less than Hansen, which he was fine with, but made up his mind when he found out that the Road Warriors were getting $10,000 per week. Baba could have upped Brody's pay, but wasn't willing to since Brody had screwed over so many of Baba's fellow NWA promoters.

Brody's last All Japan tour was full of issues, he missed the cards on March 6th and 7th with a fever and then when he wrestled Chosyu on the 9th and wouldn't sell for him or allow Chosyu to put him in any of his holds. In an interview, Brody said Chosyu was too small to be any match for him. On the final card of the tour, 3/14, Brody teamed with Rusher Kimura and Goro Tsurumi against Baba, Jumbo Tsuruta, and Genichiro Tenryu. Tenryu tried to whip him into the ropes and Brody wouldn't go along, then he grabbed his chain and just left ringside, even while the match was still going on. Many didn't think this would air on TV, but it did. Brody recently did the same thing in the AWA.

Brody is usually very popular in Japan amongst reporters because he's calm and intelligent outside the ring, and uses easy English for them. But the last week, Brody was very rude to them. Brody held a press conference on 3/22 and apologized for himself. When asked why he needs the chain, he answered that he doesn't use it in matches, but swinging it around psyches him up for his matches.

Inoki signing Brody is like hitting a Home Run in the ninth inning. NJPW attendance is at its worst since 1972 when NJPW was formed. The new booker, Tokyo Joe brought in names like Higgins and King Kong Bundy, but they failed to draw. Baba isn't too worried about losing Brody, because Stan Hansen, Terry Funk, and the Road Warriors are bigger drawing cards. Dave says there is some truth to that, but that there's also sour grapes. Many consider Brody to be best in the world, who could even have a good match with Andre. NJPW fans are looking forward to Brody vs. Andre, like they were four years ago for Andre vs. Hansen. Inoki is great at making foes look impressive, so Brody will become the biggest box office star in New Japan. Brody will be making $14,000 per week and working 16 weeks per year, and got a big signing bonus.

Many are wondering who Inoki will steal next, or what Baba will do to even the odds. Many think Baba will lure Hogan or Andre from the WWF. There is talk that Inoki will try to get more All Japan wrestlers. Others think that Hansen, Dynamite, and Davey Boy Smith will go to New Japan. Ric Flair negotiated with Inoki when they both in Hawaii back in February. Some feel that, with the help of McMahon, that only Baba's real friends like Harley Race and the Funks will stick with All Japan.

Besides foreign stars, there is also talk of Japanese talent jumping to New Japan. Since Chosyu joined up, there are too many wrestlers on the AJPW roster. Shiro Koshinaka, currently in Mexico, recently left All Japan. He's unaffiliated right now, but it seems likely he'll go to New Japan, which has Baba very angry. There is also rumors that Yoshiaki Yatsu will be going back to Inoki, but Yatsu denies it. Gran Hamada also wants to go back with Inoki, first he left to go to the UWF and then went to Baba. Hamada is very unpopular with wrestlers, so many are against him joining. Hamada was too eager to outshine the new Tiger Mask in January, and made him look bad. NJPW is also eager to get King Tonga, who usually works for Baba, and has been working in the AWA and in Montreal lately.

The Road Warriors had a very successful debut in Japan. Channel 12 was showing their TV matches, which were against preliminary talent, on TV to build them up, so they were already very popular. They arrived at the airport on 3/7 and were greeted by many reporters and photographers, many of which were working for non-sports publications including a first-rate weekly news magazine. The magazines were filled with pictures of them, and they were huge draws in all the cities, even though they weren't impressive in the ring.

On 3/9, they challenged Tsuruta and Tenryu for the International Tag Titles and exposed their lack of experience. They had to follow Kuniaki Kobayashi vs. Tiger Mask and then Brody and Killer Tim Brooks against Chosyu and Yatsu, and Brody was upset at being billed under the Road Warriors so he refused to sell for Chosyu. Chosyu pinned Brooks to win the match, but all the fans saw Chosyu as being no match for big American wrestlers like Brody. Then it came time for the Roadies match, Tsuruta and Tenryu weren't as receptive to the big pre match attack, so the Roadies looked weak. Hawk pinned Tenryu with a lariat to win the first fall, but the timing was off on it. The second fall was a double pin where Jumbo raised his shoulder while Hawk didn't, to even the score. Paul Ellering protested the call and one of the Roadies hit the referee, which caused a DQ. Total time of all three falls was 9:00. This caused the fans to get upset, but Baba took every measure to prevent a riot, which kept Inoki out of Sumo Hall until recently.

The Roadies were better in other cities, although their matches were usually three to five minutes. They had a good 5:30 match against Chosyu and Killer Khan for the AWA Tag Titles. The gates were huge for the Roadies, with the 3/9 show making $280,000. The Roadies come back 5/31 to 6/13 and will surely be in the end of the year tag tournament.

Chosyu challenges Flair for the NWA Title on 4/23, and a press conference was called to announce it, but it was cancelled at the last minute. Chosyu didn't want to feud with Flair while he's still feuding with Tenryu. He's also not interested in winning any American Titles and objected to Baba's plans for him to wrestle the top American wrestlers all year. But, Chosyu was persuaded to take the Flair match. Dave thinks it's because Chosyu believes he'll be ineffective against Americans.

It was previously reported that Baba's cards will be shown in prime time, but Weekly Pro Magazine denies this. Weekly Pro have an editorial bias against Baba because Gong Magazine is very close to Baba and they often get the "scoops" as well as Gong's editor being the color man on All Japan's TV show.

Japan Pro Wrestling has a one week series from 5/10 to 5/16 featuring Hansen, Kid, Smith, and Canadian Lewis. Chosyu wrestles Hansen on 5/16 with Baba as the referee. The last time Japan Pro was in Osaka they drew 12,000 for Chosyu vs. Tenryu. Hansen, Kid, and Smith will remain in Japan and work Baba's series from 5/17 to 6/13 along with Terry Gordy, Tiger Jeet Singh, and Mario Milano. Baba is probably going to give Gordy a huge push.

During the last New Japan series David Schultz slapped a popular TV announcer. But it was just a plot to take attention away from the Road Warriors debut. It didn't anywhere near the media attention that Schultz slapping Stossel got.

The UWF crew went to Guam to train. They recently got a new sponsor, so they won't be going bankrupt. Their tough style means they only run six shows over the next three week tour. They'll be bringing in Coswell Martin, Omar Atlas, Ray Steel, and Dalibar Singh. The next series is from 5/18 to 5/31 and will have Pete Roberts, Joe Malenko (his brother Dean worked the last UWF series), Larry Hamilton, and Europeans Tom Tyron and Michael Schneider.

Akira Maeda hit a newspaper reporter who wrote negative things about the UWF Style. Maeda recently yelled at a fan, who was booing at a UWF show, to go see another company if he wanted to see fake wrestling.

WWF:

"The big news, of course, is the WrestleMania Extravaganza which everyone has seen or read enough about. Tickets sales were slow in CA and the Northeast until the last week. Between the hard sell on TV, press conferences, and the Richard Belzer incident and Saturday Night Live show. Dave is surprised more of the country wasn't as hot for the show as they were in CA. The show was shown in 138 arenas and the gate was something like $4 Million, which Dave Translates into 400,000 fans in all. There were originally 200 locations, but 60 wound up being canned, including Kansas City, Amarillo, Ft Worth, Omaha, Las Vegas, and Richmond because advances were less than 100. A lot of the places that were sellouts were actually under capacity because they were circular buildings and seats had to be removed because they'd be behind the screen, or at an angle where the screen couldn't be seen. The LA Sports arena holds 17,000 but sold out with only 7,500. The show mostly went off well, but there were a few issues. In Pittsburgh, the show never came off because of transmission troubles. There were heavy refunds in Baltimore, Dallas, and San Francisco. Dave believes the show was a success, but even if they only broke even, the WWF opened a lot of doors as far as spreading their myth about yuppie acceptance and getting big advertising dollars.

Quickie results: Tito Santana beat the Executioner (Buddy Rose) with the figure four **1/2. King Kong Budy beat SD Jones in "nine seconds" (actually about 25) but the WWF wanted to invent a new record for quickest pinfall. Dave gives it a DUD, it'd have been worse if it went longer. Ricky Steamboat beat Matt Bourne ***1/4. David Sammartino DDQ Brutus Beefcake "considering the participants it really wasn't that bad" ** Sheik and Volkoff beat Windham and Rotundo to win the WWF Tag Titles ***. JYD over Valentine by countout, Valentine pinned Dog but then Santana told the ref he had his feet on the ropes and the ref restarted it and Valentine got counted out 1/2* Andre beat Studd in a body slam match -**. The feud isn't over and probably won't be over until death do them part. Wendi Richter over Lelani Kai to win the Women's Title with a messed up finish where Richter was supposed to roll through a flying body press, but Wendi didn't reverse it and Kai had to do it herself *. Hogan and Mr. T over Piper and Orndorff when Hogan pinned Orndorff when Orton hit him with the cast when Hulk moved. Orndorff is turning babyface. Dave is impressed that T got himself in shape and didn't embarrass himself. It helped that Orton and Snuka were also involved when T was in the ring, to detract attention. It was a horrible match, but an exciting one. No rating,because Dave doesn't consider it a match.

The show was better than Dave expected, and it was good entertainment for those who've never seen wrestling before. It's unfair to discuss things like workrate since the bulk of fans were brought in solely by hype, and WWF assumes that wrestling fans will accept anything wrestling anyway. Dave says that people can speculate on long term effects of that kind of thinking and how long it will take those new fans to give up on wrestling. But, it'll be a year before anyone can do anything but speculate.

The WWF runs two shows in Los Angeles on 4/13, headlined by Hogan vs. Piper in the Sports Arena and Snuka vs. Orton at the Anaheim Convention center, along with a tag titles rematch. The WWF is off of WTBS, Turned kicked Vince off the station, but then Vince sold the rights of the time slot to Crockett for $1 million. Dave credits Vince for making such a shrewd deal, because after one month he wouldn't have had the time to deal away.

Davey Boy and Dynamite worked some WWF shows as the British Bulldogs, against prelim opponents and have gotten over better than Dave expected. They're headed back to Japan though, and Dave thinks it'll be interesting to see how long they can work for both the WWF and AJPW.

Despite the rumors about Brody, there has been no talk between the WWF and Brody. Dave expects negotiations, but says nothing is imminent.

Dave will be keeping an eye on crowds for the near future. Crowds in March were way down due to WrestleMania hype and bad lineups. Philadelphia only drew 8,000 for Bruno and his son against Orndorff and Heenan. Bloomington,MN was down to 5,500 for Hogan vs. Ventura. Cleveland went from 17,000 in Feb to 2,000 in March. Los Angeles and Oakland both drew a little more than 4,000, but like crowds say it was more like 3,500 and 2,700. MSG on 3/17 drew 18,700. WrestleMania pay offs were 20,000 for Orndorff (far below what he was promised), T got $100,000 and Dave is sure Hogan and Piper were in between, reportedly Piper got $75,000. Orndorff is somewhat unhappy about this.

All Japan:

The big news is Brody's departure, which had already been covered, Brody left while being half of the tag champions along with Stan Hansen.

The new tour started on 3/29 with only three foreigners working the series opener in Korakuen Hall. Two of them, Hansen and Ron Bass, beat Tsuruta and Takashi Ishikawa, "when guess who used guess which move to guess who? Hansen lariated Ishikawa." That was one of three of the top matches to have a lariat finish. Chosyu also beat Bulldog Bob Brown, and Rusher Kimura and Go Tsurumi beat Baba and Great Kojika. The other top match was Khan and Yatsu beating Tenryu and Motoshi Okuma.

Ted Dibiase arrived on 4/5, Dick Slater two days later, and Ric Flair arrives on 4/19.

Tsuruta and Tenryu retaining the International Tag Titles against Hansen and Bass on 4/3. Other title matches scheduled are Tenryu vs. Khan, Baba vs. Hansen, and Tsuruta vs. Slater. Flair defends vs. Chosyu on 4/23 and Tsuruta on 4/24. The All Asia Tag Titles are decided on 4/12. They've been vacant since Ashura Hara's retirement.

"Speaking of Hara, he showed up on 4/3" while his former tag partner, Ishikawa, was getting slaughtered by Chosyu. Dave says he'll be a nice addition to the feud, since he's a quality wrestler (My note: I thought Dave just said he'd retired!).

Harley Race injured his knee during the March tour and went home on crutches. Chavo Guerrero was working prelims, despite the fact that there were plenty of good opponents for him. He had a DCOR with Kobayashi, and then get pinned by Might Inoue in a jr. title match. Dave thinks that he should have won the title and then lost it to Kobayashi, who would then feud with Tiger Mask for it.

Results of the Road Warriors matches: beat Kahn and Hamaguchi on 3/8, the DQ loss on 3/9 to Tenryu and Tsuruta, over Baba and Ishikawa on 3/10, over Kahn and Kurusu on 3/12, over Tenryu/Ishikawa on 3/13, and DCOR Chosyu/Khan on 3/14.

Universal Wrestling Federation:

Not much that wasn't covered already. Fujiwara beat Maeda at Korakuen Hall on 3/2, on the same card, Satoru Sayama beat Marty Jones. The final night of the tour was headlined by Kazuo Yamazaki and Osamu Kido beating Sayama and Mach Hayato.

New Japan Pro Wrestling:

The 4/18 Sumo Hall event with Brody vs. Inoki is already sold out. They also sold out their 3/21 card because Brody was announced. The last series drew very poorly "which is what happens when you try to main event with Larry "Hacksaw" Higgins and David Schultz." Sakaguchi is trying to make a deal with Jerry Lawler to help with booking.

The new tour started on 3/29 with Adonis and Murdoch beating Inoki and Sakaguchi, Billy Jack Haynes beat Shuji Takano, The Strong Machines beat Fujinami and Kimura by DQ, Mike Miller and David Taylor beat Kantaro Hoshino and Anoaro Antisano, The Masked Gestapo (Rip Oliver) beat Tatsutoshi Goto, and Hiro Saito beat Kim Sung Ho of Korea.

4/5 will have Inoki vs. Murdoch, Fujinami vs. Adonis, and Haynes vs. Sakaguchi.

The next tour is IWGP #3, which is the biggest tour of the year. It goes from 5/10 to 6/13. It's expected to be Inoki vs. Hogan on 6/13, and given their history together everyone is advised to get tickets early and wear protective clothing. But they'll probably do a DCOR and not risk anyone's safety.

The IWGP Tournament features Sakaguchi, Fujinami, Kimura, Andre, Bundy, Murdoch, Adonis, Masked Superstar, Mike Sharpe, El Canek, Ron Miller, and one more name that hasn't been given yet, although Dave suspects Brody. They're scheduled for all five weeks, and Dave thinks that the addition of Bundy and Andre should help the WWF cards. Jimmy Snuka will also be in the first week. It's a round robin tournament, so everyone wrestles everyone else. It's 5 points for a pin or submission, 4 for a COR, 3 for DQ, 2.5 for draw, and 0 for any sort of loss. Hogan is only in the last week, Snuka for the first week, and Backlund for the second week.

Bouts already announced are Inoki/Fujinami vs. Andre/Snuka on 5/10, Fujinami vs. Snuka on 5/13, Inoki/Fujinami vs. Backlund/Sharpe, Andre vs. Bundy, and Hiro Saito vs. Cobra on 5/18.

The TV results from the last series saw Inoki beat Higgins on 3/1 by DQ when Shultz interfered, Fujinami and Kimura beat Pat and Mike Kelly, Shultz beat Takano, and the three Machines were DQ'd against Sakaguchi, Antisano, and Hoshino. Shultz beat Inoki by DQ on 3/8 when Inoki wouldn't release an armbar, which Inoki said was revenge for Shultz slapping the TV reporter. Fujinami and Kimura beat Bad News Allen and Leroy Brown, Machines 1 and 2 beat Saito and Ueda. On 3/15 Inoki beat Schultz when Higgins interfered, Fujinami DCOR Higgins, and Machines beat Saito and Ueda when Ueda walked out on Saito. 3/21 was Inoki beating Higgins, Fujinami and Takano beat the Machines, Saito beat Ueda, and Kimura over Schultz, and Sakaguchi and Kimura over Badnews and Brown (My note: Kimura worked twice?). The best matches of the series were the two matches between Saito and Steve Wright.

Southwest:

Scott Casey has left for World Class, Bob Sweetan has been fired. The only people left are Buck Robely (the booker), Rick Casey, Pat Rose, Al Madril, Rick Gibson, The Maoris, and Paul Kelly. Casey is improving and Rose is the best wrestler on the circuit. They recently drew a sellout of more than 2,000 in Ohio, which is a lot more than they draw in Texas. Perro Aguyo was recently in, and Manny Villalobos is headed for Mexico.

"The scoop on the Eric Embry/Joe Blanchard deal wasn't that Eric couldn't come up with the purchase price to buy this group. What happened is that Eric used his brain and decided it wasn't a wise investment."

World Class:

Dave goes over the Texas Stadium card, which he'd already given a rundown of earlier in the issue. Dave says the show won't draw anywhere near the 32,000 that it did last year, but figures they'll announce it at 30,000.

The American Tag Titles are held up after Cornette interfered in the Midnights vs. Fantastics match on 3/8. Tommy Rogers has injured his shoulder, which has postponed further matches to decide the champions. On 3/25 Kevin Von Erich teamed with Fulton against the Midnights in a 2/3 falls match without a clear cut winner.

Sunshine is managing Hercules Hernandez, who is working high on the card with all the top heels (Kamala, Gang, Gino, Chris, and Rip Oliver) "The Giant" Jim Harris (no relation to Kamala) is working as a manager as an antagonist to Cornette. He's billed at 7'7 but is more like 7'2, but still taller than Andre.

The Freebirds will be back on a regular basis, they're doing a series of loser leave town matches in Florida. Williams is looking good and will be a strong heel if he can improve his interviews, especially in Northern Texas where being an Oklahoma Sooner won't endear him to the fans.

Oliver smashed Mike Von Erich's hand before their 3/25 TV Title match and was suspended so that he could go to Japan, and has been stripped of the title. Scot Casey beat Condrey for the held up title on 4/1. Casey is mainly there to watch out for Harris "who some believe will be the next Andre. Others are saying he's going to be the next Plowboy Frasier. Neither appeals to me."

A new comer arrived on 4/8 as Sunshine's mystery man who will oppose Adams in Fort Worth. This circuit has some of the best action anywhere. Adams is a great heel and the Fantastics have become a great team, especially Rogers. Dave doesn't always care for the product, but he still loves watching them perform at levels he didn't think they could.

Mid South:

"I'm sure you've all seen this group's show on WTBS" and if the phone calls and feedback that Dave has heard are any indication then they have the best TV show in the country. The 2/13 TV tapings featured two great matches between the Rock and Roll Express and Chavo and Hector Guerrero. The 2/27 tapings saw Terry Taylor retain the TV Title over Tim Horner in the first hour and Jake Roberts in the second, both matches were very good. Other highlights were Buddy Landell losing to Kerry Von Erich and then later Brad Armstrong, also Brad and Terry Daniels beat Dibiase and Williams. Also, Kerry and Jim Duggan over Gino and Hercules Hernandez when Duggan hit Herc with a loaded glove.

3/30 in the Superdome drew 9,500 and near $100,000 gate. The main event was Duggan beating DiBiase in a loser leave town tuxedo street fight cage coal miner's glove match. The Barbarian beat Butch Reed in a ghetto street fight. The Rock and Roll Express beat the Road Warriors, Freebirds (Gordy and Roberts), and Dirty White Boys. Von Erich beat Adams by DQ, Taylor beat Kamala by DQ, and Williams beat King Parsons.

Dibiase is back in May, and Randy Culley and Eddie Gilbert are on their way in, with Dutch Mantell expected to come in too. They've been building up Kerry as the top challenger to Flair (but they don't call it the world title, just the NWA Title). Dave expects Flair vs. Kerry for the 6/1 Superdome show.

There are conflicting reports about their future on WTBS. Dave heard they have one year contract. But Bill Taffe of Sports Illustrated said they'll be gone in a few weeks. His source was Vince McMahon.

AWA:

Not much new here either. Their Meadowlands card on 4/19 isn't very appealing to Dave. Slaughter vs. Kamala in a Ugandan Death Match, and Rick Martel defends against King Tonga. The Roadies defend against the Hennigs, Jim Garvin vs. Baron Von Raschke, Gagne/Brunzell/Tonga Kid vs. Freebirds (My note: wasn't this shown in Highlander?), Dusty vs. Kendo Nagasaki, Zybyszko vs. Backlund, and the Samoans vs. Jerry Olski and Steve O. "I've got seven good reasons in eight matches to not care about this card."

They drew 7,000 in New Haven with Martel over Garvin, Kid over Zybyszko, Slaughter over Kamala by DQ, Samoans DDQ Youngbloods, Kid winning battle royal, and Backlund over Nagasaki.

3/31 in Chicago drew 9,600 opposite WrestleMania. Steve Regal beat Buck Zumhofe, Backlund over Zybyszko DQ, Gagne/Brunzell over Saito/Nagasaki, Garvin over Baron, Martel over Bockwinkel, and Roadies over Hennigs for the tag titles. Dave says he was told it was the best live show in Chicago in five months. They return to MN and Chicago later in the month with 3-on-2 cage matches (Blackwell/Slaughter vs. Tonga/Superstar/Sheik).

3/24 in St Paul only drew 5,500 with Slaughter and Blackwell vs. Superstar/Saito/Tonga. "Verne Gagne risked his sweater getting involved in Greg's match with Bockwinkel earlier in the show." (My note: huh?). 3/4 in Vancouver drew 2,000, Martel pinned Garvin, Roadies over Saito and Moose Morowski, and Blackwell over Superstar. 3/8 in Winnepeg had Gagne/Brunzell over Saito/Bockwinkel with the winners facing the Roadies on 3/28. Dave saw a match from Las Vegas, Bockwinkel/Saito vs. Roadies where only one person sold a move. Bockwinkel. Saito played the Roadies' game.

St Louis:

3/29 drew 4,500 with Kerry beating Flair by DQ in 29:00. It was a good match, but the fans were burned out from WrestleMania hype. Harley and Brody were both no shows. Brody had already cancelled three weks before. There has been a falling out between Race and Geigel involving Harley's wife's ideas concerning Rock and Wrestling. Dave says they were ludicrous but won't give details. Harley was replaced by Super Destroyer and Brody by Dick the Bruiser. Bruiser wore street clothes and worked all of five minutes doing a DDQ with Wahoo.

Next show is 4/19 with Bruiser/Wahoo in a cage, Race vs. Reed, and a poor undercard. The WWF runs the next night with Piper vs. Snuka, Andre vs. Studd/Heenan, and a tag title rematch. NWA will draw another poor crowd and make Race and/or Geigel reconsider selling their stock in this group.

Memphis:

Tux Newman now manages all the heels, so there is no more Eddie Gilbert's army, Tommy Hart (a Jimmy Hart lookalike), or Playboy Frasier.

3/25 was main evented by Lawler vs. Savage with Savage getting DQ'd when Newman hit Lawler with his cane. Savage gave Lalwer a piledriver afterwards and he was carted out in an ambulance and hasn't been seen since. Savage is the #1 heel in the country right now. Newman has been great too, he says he's there to fufill Andy Kaufman's wish on his deathbed of destroying Lawler. He says Lawler's piledriver to Andy caused the cancer to spread throughout his body. Crowds are still down though.

Newman brought in Sweet Daddy Siki who praised Lawler, shook his hand, and has been a babyface ever since. Jimmy Valiant has left. The PYT's are feuding with Tim Ashley and Steve Constance. Their matches have been good, which shows improvement in the latter team because they're so green.

Montreal:

They held two big shows on 2/11 in Montreal and 2/12 in Quebec City, which both drew between ten and eleven thousand, which shows that McMahon hasn't conquered this area yet, even with using local favorite Edurado Carpentier. 2/11 saw Dino Bravo win the International Title from King Tonga, The Road Warriors beat Jos Leduc and Gino Brito, and Rick Martel beat Sailor Moondog White to retain the AWA Title. 2/12 had Martel DDQ Tonga for the AWA Title, Roadies over Rougeaus, and Bravo over Richard Charland, who subbed for the no show Ric Flair.

Florida:

Blackjack Mulligan is back, so it probably won't be long before Windham and Rotundo join him. Mike Graham and Michael Hayes have had loser leave town matches in Tampa and Miami Beach. The Freebirds are the only heels in the area who bring fans into buildings. The Youngbloods were leaving for Memphis, but they're the tag champions right now, with no challengers on the horizon.

3/23 in St Petersburg saw Bugsy McGraw (who Dave says is even worse than he used to be) lose by DQ to Jesse Barr, Flair was DQ'd against Brian Blair, and Bugsy and Hector Guerrero won a tag team battle royal.

3/26 in Tampa had a sellout of 4,000 with Flair over Wahoo by using the ropes, Gordy over Graham in a lumberjack match, Hayes DCOR Bugsy, Barr over Guerrero, Youngbloods over The Assassin/Missing Link, and Mike Golden over Jack Hart.

Hart has a lot of heat right now, he's a prelim guy with a perfect record, and on TV they announce his record at 0-44 and subsequently add to it. He goes on TV every week and says he's going to win before he has every match. It works great, thanks to Hart.

Mid Atlantic:

Lots of title changes at the 3/16 show in Greensboro. Buzz Tyler won the Mid Atlantic Title from Ron Bass, Dusty won the TV Title in cage from Tully Blanchard. In other matches Slaughter/Kernodle/Magnum beat the Koloffs and Krushchev by DQ, and Flair beat Wahoo in a strap match.

The Koloffs won the NWA Tag Titles from Dusty and Manny Fernandez on 3/18, and Magnum won the U.S. Title from Wahoo a few days later in a cage.

Their big news is getting a WTBS timeslot on 4/6. They're on Saturday mornings at 9:35, Saturday nights at 6:05, and Sundays at 5:35. They've also taken over Ole's Georgia office, although Ole is still in charge of running Ohio "which doesn't bode well for Ohio I guess."

Ole turned heel on Thunderbolt Patterson on the first afternoon TV show. Dave says it actually come off really well, both Arn and Gene Anderson are figured into the angle and Ole still cuts a great promo. Dave expects a lot of the old Georgia regulars to hang around for now.

Buddy Landell is still doing his Flair impression and Dave hopes it'll lead to a program with them. The most heat from this group was when Dusty slapped Baby Doll.

They're still having trouble drawing in the Northeast, Pittsburgh drew 800 for Tully vs. Dusty, the show in Altoona drew only about 200. Rumor has it that Ted Turner will get involved in the promotion, but Dave isn't sure what effect that may have on the wrestling

[Gertner]

4/25/1988

WWF
-- The WWF will be returning from the Wrestlemania break, doing several TV tapings just prior to the weekend.

-- Major housecleaning is expected in May and June. Hillbilly Jim was expected to be among them, but likely won't be, since he's working some openers against Jim Neidhart.

-- Expect Brutus Beefcake to be IC champ soon. The WWF has already sent out publicity with Honky as a challenger. Dave says it could be a misprint, but he doubts it. Dave suspects a title change on the 4/30 SNME.

-- "The WWF magazine is scheduling a piece where they reveal Earl Hebner as Dave's twin brother which is a surprise because it seemed like they had pretended the angle never took place. Next month's issue is also scheduled to give the results of the August pay-per-view. Just kidding there."

-- There is talk of another huge outdoor show in Toronto over summer. Last time they promoted there, they drew 69,300 fans for Hogan vs Orndorff. Dave thinks they could pop another big house for Hogan vs Andre, because Ontario is pretty much the only place where Wrestlemania drew big crowds everywhere for closed circuit.

-- Bam Bam Bigelow should be back for the TV tapings.

-- The WWF has sent letters of warning to everyone that incidents like the David Sammartino one won't be tolerated and will result in immediate dismissal. David Sammartino was set to face the Iron Sheik in several independent shows in New York, but the commission suspended him. Linda McMahon even wrote him a very nasty personal letter. "It's an admirable policy not to tolerate wrestler attacking fans, but where were they all these years when similar incidents went on? Randy Savage went into the stands in Fresno and according to newspaper reports, the guy he tried to hit ducked and he KO'd a 14-year old girl, and there is talk of a suit being filed here in San Francisco when a Titan wrestler knocked down a security guard (the Savage incident was several years ago I don't mean to give you the idea it was something recent, although the incident in SF was in February) so even though they are giving the impression of cracking down, this policy smells of every bit as much a double-standard as Titan's drug policy (which the wrestlers joke, you get a suspension if they find any cocaine in your system, and you get a suspension if they don't find any steroids in your system) which seems more of a public relations move than a move based on addressing any real problems."

NWA
-- The Crockett Cup is set for Friday, 4/22, at the 5,000 seat Greenville Memorial Auditorium, and for Saturday, 4/23, at the 15,600-seat Greensboro Coliseum. Dave says this is the least hyped and least talked about tournament they've done so far. The first two rounds will take place in Greenville (about 14 matches). There will also be a Jimmy Garvin vs Kevin Sullivan Blindfold match. The second night will have the quarterfinals, semifinals, and finals, along with a "Midlife Rider" vs JJ Dillon Bullrope match and Ric Flair vs Nikita "The Incredible Shrinking Man" Koloff for the NWA title. Dave still doesn't know every team in the tournament. Dave says Luger and Windham and the Road Warriors are probably the co-favorites, with the Fantastics as longshots, and everyone else with zero chance.

-- The NWA is in danger of losing the Nassau Coliseum. Nassau wants to go back to the WWF, which pulled out when they started booking Crockett shows. The proposed 6/24 show is in jeopardy. If they are kicked out, they plan on running the Westchester County Center. It will be more accessible to New York fans than Nassau Coliseum, but won't draw well because it is considered a minor league arena.

-- The annual Boston Gardens show on 4/15 drew just 5,000 fans and a $62,000 gate, headlined by an 8-man cage match of Lex Luger, Sting, Barry Windham & Dusty Rhodes vs Ric Flair, Arn Anderson, Tully Blanchard & Ivan Koloff in what John McAdam called a *** match. The Midnight Express went to a 30-minute draw on the undercard in a **** match as well. When the card ended, the scoreboard said, "We hope you enjoyed tonight's WWF event!"

-- The top match on NWA Main Event was Arn Anderson & Tully Blanchard vs Barry Windham & Steve Williams in what was called a *** match. Barry carried things for his side, as Doc just isn't impressing right now.

-- Early favorites to win the vacated US title on 5/13 in Houston are Al Perez or Tully Blanchard. Dave says they seem to be ready to push Perez, but that Tully always ends up with a belt.

-- "In case any of you missed any of the Crockett shows this past weekend, you missed absolutely nothing. The TV is back to its Fall '87 depths with nothing but commentary and interviews talking about nothing but the Midlife Rider and his alter ego, Dusty Rhodes. Considering it is a week before one of the promotions biggest events of the year (Crockett Cup), you would think that would be the priority, but it was barely acknowledged, with no first round pairings (of course, I'm sure if they listed the first round it would scare people away from Greenville), no listing of teams, basically a throwaway announcement of the Flair vs Nikita NWA title match (which is a throwaway event since nobody in the world believes Nikita has a chance) and one of the most pathetic looking skits I've ever seen involving JJ and Jim Crockett. I'll give JJ credit for saving it about as good as possible but a tree shows more personality than Jim Crockett."

-- Dave says considering they're putting all of their effort solely behind the Midnight Rider, they better hope Dusty can draw with it, but that four months of it seems really trying. "It appears whatever momentum may have been gained from 3/27 is just about completely down the tubes. I truly believe part of the success of the show was due to Dusty playing a minor role in comparison with the younger babyfaces (Sting, Windham, Luger, and the Fantastics). I'm not trying to say Dusty should retire like a lot of people have been saying, but he shouldn't be the top star. His role should be similar to the way they used Jimmy Valiant for so many years. Valiant had a following and probably sold tickets, and he was used low or middle of cards in short, bloody matches against guys managed by Paul Jones but never was put in with the top calibre heels (well, he had a short feud with Tully but that was probably punishment for Tully not having mentioned Dusty's name enough on interviews).

-- Last week's show in Philadelphia drew 6,512 paid and $96,412. Considering Baltimore did more than $100,000 the same night, it's pretty impressive.

WCCW
-- The David and Mike Von Erich Memorial Parade of Champions takes place on 5/8 at Texas Stadium. There's a Texas Roundup match (a different name for the Royal Rumble), Kerry Von Erich vs Iceman Parsons for the title, Bill Irwin vs Angel of Death, and "a gimmick match which has never been held before which I'm not exactly clear on".

-- The gimmick match will be billed as something like a "Triple Tower of Doom", which will be three rings, put on top of one another with a cage around the top two rings, and a fireman's pole which allows wrestlers to slide down into the other rings if they want to. Dusty Rhodes is furious, because he wanted to use this same idea for the Bash, but Michael Hayes beat him to the punch.

AWA
-- 4/16 TV taping in Las Vegas drew 2,000 fans, and they did nothing to capitalize on the hot Midnight Rockers vs Bad Company feud. Diamond Dallas Page (still called "Dallas Diamond Page") debuted on the TV taping managing Diamond and Tanaka, and did all right, but he's 6'4" and thus towers over nearly everyone in the promotion, but especially Tanaka, who he manages. Page is the first ever manager to have a valet at ringside with him. The Rock & Roll Express debuted on the taping and got a tremendous reaction, facing the Nasty Boys in a surprisingly good match where Jerry Sags accidentally hit his nose and mouth on a chair and bled pretty badly, causing him to miss his other scheduled matches at that taping.

-- The Rock & Roll Express did interviews talking about facing Japanese tag teams, and Riki Choshu and Masa Saito are scheduled to appear on the 5/14 taping, but Dave doesn't think they'll have a match. Dave later says for sure it won't happen because of the conflicting All Japan series at that time, which the Rock & Rolls will be part of.

-- Rod Trongard actually said on TV the previous weekend that Wahoo McDaniel could run the 100 in less than ten seconds. "Rod is absolutely the worst announcer in the business, including Marc Lowrance."

-- Magnificent Mimi has been introduced as a new rival for Madusa Miceli. Dave is told Mimi is "of GLOW calibre, but then again, Madusa isn't all that much better."

-- Jerry Lawler is scheduled to come in and face Hennig at the 5/14 taping.

-- Mando Guerrero had three squashes on the taping, where it appears he may be pushed hard, and his new lucha offense was said to have gotten over strong. "By the way, I'm told Chavo Guerrero is teaming with his younger brother Eddy Guerrero (who is said to be really hot) in Mexico right now."

-- Rocky Mountain Thunder was pushed pretty hard again. He nearly killed a jobber at the last taping. He was trained by Toru Tanaka in Los Angeles. Greg Boyd was supposed to get the gimmick, but didn't show up, and the graphics had already been printed up, so they decided to let this guy use the gimmick at the last taping. He also wrestled as The Armored Saint for California independents.

-- Robert Gibson is said to have gained a lot of weight since leaving the NWA.

-- The AWA is using the Rock & Rolls to run shows in the Carolinas, where they will wrestle Diamond and Tanaka.

MEMPHIS
-- The CWA is gearing toward the big show on 5/9 at the Mid South Coliseum, headlined by Jerry Lawler challenging Curt Hennig for the AWA World title. "It's pretty rare for Memphis to start pushing a card several weeks in advance, especially since they are continuing to run live shows each Monday." A few stipulations have been added to build up the title match. If Lawler doesn't win the title, he's going to retire from wrestling. They also have a 900 number where fans can vote for the referee between Jackie Fargo and Larry Hennig. It's also Jerry Lawler Night at the Coliseum, and prices have been raised to $25.00 for ringside tickets. Ringside ticket holders get to attend a post-match party for Jerry Lawler. They are trying to top the current record for a Mid South Coliseum gate (Flair vs Lawler holds it, doing a $80,000 house in 1985).

-- 4/11 in Memphis drew 3,500 fans headlined by Jerry Lawler vs Dory Funk Jr in what was called a pretty good match. 4/16 in Jonesboro, AR drew 350 fans headlined by Jeff Jarrett & Billy Travis vs Max Pain & Gary Young in a **** Texas Death match.

-- Ron Fuller and Gordon Solie were backstage at TV tapings on 04/18. Solie has been flown in weekly to do voiceovers of Memphis matches for the new TV show that will have matches from promoters Mike Graham, Steve Keirn, and Jerry Jarrett.

-- The Jerry Lawler Show will either be syndicated nationally or picked up by a cable station, but they are working on getting exposure for the show.

-- Robert Fuller is headed in for at least one show in the upcoming weeks.

-- Jeff Jarrett is now the Arkansas state champion (My note: The what?), having won a tournament final on 03/19 in Jonesboro, AR after defeating Gary Young

-- On the 4/16 TV show, Ken Wayne and Jeff Jarrett were talking about their junior title match on Monday. Both are babyfaces. They argued a little bit and Wayne gave Jarrett a glass of water and made a sarcastic comment about him not being able to talk and Jarrett threw the water in his face and slapped him. Later in the show, they were teaming in a six-man with Billy Travis and they won the match, but had words after Jarrett "accidentally" dropkicked Wayne during the match. "Jarrett has a real problem here in his role as the hearthrob babyface for the little girls. He's got lots of heat with fans and it really isn't his fault, it's just that he's less than 200 pounds, it's well known his father and grandfather run the promotion, and the marketing of the Jarrett poster made the guy fans hate him similar to Crockett's attempt at marketing Ricky Morton as a rock star led to the guy fans booing Morton almost universally and ruined the Rock & Roll Express' drawing power in the long run (although inevitably the results would have been the same anyway). Most of the wrestling fans are male, and even though they are easily manipulated, male fans, especially in their early 20s and teenagers, which make up the bulk of the wrestling audience nowadays, don't want to cheer for a 'skinny' guy, especially a 'skinny' guy marketed as a sex symbol to girls."

WCCW
-- Correction: Chris Adams didn't get a broken cheekbone. He returned to wrestling a few days after his injury and is wrestling wearing a baseball catcher's mask. He was injured when Mike George caught him with a dropkick in the face that broke his nose on 4/7 in Kansas City. They are saying Terry Taylor paid "another wrestler in another territory" to injure Adams.

-- On 4/8 in Dallas, Angel of Death & Iceman King Parsons tried to cut Michael Hayes' hair. Then on 4/10 in Fort Worth, they tried to use the famous Freebird hair removal cream on Hayes. "Hayes was furious because as the story goes, only three people, Hayes, Roberts, and Gordy, are supposed to know the secret formula of the Freebird cream and Hayes is made they gave the formula to an outsider to use on him."

-- Terry Taylor missed some shows because he had his bad knee scoped.

-- 4/15 in Dallas drew 700 fans for Kevin & Kerry Von Erich vs Terry Gordy & Buddy Roberts. 4/10 in Fort Worth drew about 550 fans.

-- Fabulous Lance is being billed everywhere, but has yet to arrive. It is believed he is still in South Africa, wrestling using the name Lance Von Erich.

-- Correction: It was Black Bart and Buddy Roberts putting flashlights in fans' eyes during the blackout in the Kerry/Iceman title change. "I'm sorry, but even though it was a creative ending, the idea of Iceman as a world champion is stupid. A title means something only if the fans believe it has value, which is why most titles in wrestling today are worthless. A world title only means something if a World class wrestler has it, and this title has already meant nothing for most of its existence, but for a title to be won in that manner and held by a prelim wrestler, even though it may put heat on certain things because fans are pissed about the change, simply doesn't help sell tickets. In a group like this, selling tickets and building up the calibre of wrestling should be the goal, not a bunch of hot-shotting creative gimmicks to take the place of mediocre wrestling. It just isn't working."

USA PRO
-- Ron Fuller is running the promotion. The top star is Buddy Landell, who Dave calls one of the best heels in the entire business. "Landel's talents are no secret but I'm still amazed at just how good a worker and how well he displays arrogance on interviews. He makes Doug Furnas look so good that I can see why people think Furnas has potential, although the more I see of Furnas, the less I'm impressed. He's a great athlete, but just doesn't seem to have the workings or interviews down at all. Landell is using a loaded forearm brace as his finishing move. He gets a lot of cheers, even though he's a heel."

-- Cousin Junior is a babyface who wants to dance with kids at ringside. On the TV show, no kids wanted to dance with him, and he struggled to even get fans to shake his hand. "Pretty embarrassing."

-- "Jobber Ron Sexton is a real talent and he even made a match with Junior look decent."

-- Ron Wright is managing the Mongolian Stomper and Moondog Spot. "He's an old wrestler who has a unique gimmick of claiming he's got a heart problem like Fred Sanford and complains when people boo him that he may only have a few days left and when he's accused of interfering brings up his bad heart as a excuse all the time. Aside from the gimmick, he's weak on interviews, but seems to get great heat." (My note: PLEASE, someone, rip off this gimmick.)

-- Terry Gordy is in and doesn't seem to know if he's a face or heel, but since heel Hector Guerrero is challenging him, he's likely a babyface.

STAMPEDE
-- Crowds continue to be at near capacity, although Dave suspects they will lose interest when Owen Hart tours Japan in mid-May, after which he'll go to the WWF in June. The speculation is that he'll team with Bret and they'll be the WWF's hottest babyface tag team.

-- 4/8 in Calgary drew a near sellout 1,600. 4/2 in Edmonton drew 1,100 and a $9,800 house.

-- TSN is now running shows only three weeks behind. When they first started, they were 11 weeks behind, but they have slowly caught up.

-- Steve DiSalvo will be returning from South Africa on the 4/15 show and will resume his feud with Jason The Terrible, who is leaving for Japan in May. Great Gama has also left for South Africa.

-- Stampede is headlining with 8 and 10-man elimination style cage matches pretty much everywhere and the matches are typically going close to an hour.

AJPW
-- "Yoshiaki Yatsu, broken leg and all, wrestled Bruiser Brody in the main event on 4/4 in Nagoya in the match to determine who goes into the unification match with Genichiro Tenryu on 4/15 in Osaka." Yatsu took a heavy injection of painkillers which were supposed to last an hour at 7:30 that night. However, the undercard ended up going longer than expected, and the match didn't start until 8:54, when the painkillers were wearing off. Still, he went 15:04 against Brody before losing via countout, before 7,200 fans. Yatsu is now sidelined again.

-- 4/5 in Ihara drew 1,900 fans.

-- In May, All Japan will unify the PWF World tag team titles, the International tag team title, and the Asian tag team title in a tournament. In for the tournament will be the Rock & Roll Express, Jumbo & Yatsu, and Abdullah the Butcher & Tiger Jeet Singh.

NJPW
-- There was a special Fan Appreciation card on 4/10 in Osaka before 2,452 fans with a bunch of gimmick matches.

-- The new series started on 4/11 in Tokyo before 1,950 fans at Korauken Hall. It was also the first TV taping for the new non-prime time television show which now airs on Saturday afternoons.

UWF
-- The formation of the UWF was announced at a press conference on 4/8 in Tokyo. The president of the promotion is Shiji Jin. Maeda said they have learned from past mistakes and claims that they will only be able to hold one show per month because of the physical style. The first card will be 5/12 at Korauken Hall, with all tickets for $40.00, probably headlined by Akira Maeda vs Nobuhiko Takada. There will be no foreign wrestlers on the first show, but there will be on the second show on 6/11 in Sapporo, booked by Karl Gotch and Masami Soronaka from Florida.

JOSHI
-- The Jumping Bomb Angels are scheduled to return to the WWF in May. Until then, they'll feud with the Glamour Girls in AJW.

OTHER
-- Dave says FNN received many letters asking them to air New Japan, and hope to begin negotiations with New Japan shortly. Dave says a lot of specifics have to be worked out, such as commentary and cost, but there's a decent chance of it happening.

-- Recent WON reader polls showed the following: readers were against the state athletic commission being involved in pro wrestling 55% to 45%. The overwhelming majority felt blood should be used on occasion at 67%. A smaller portion, 20%, felt blood should be used very frequently, even several times per show. The New Japan style was voted the readers favorite style, getting 53% of the vote. The only other style to get more than 15% was Mid South style, which got 16%. Current NWA, CWA, and Stampede all received 7 to 10%. Many people who said New Japan said it was specifically because of their junior heavyweights.

[Gertner]

5/16/1988

WWF
-- Things are quiet from a news point of view, but crowds have been extremely impressive lately. Dave thinks because they're drawing so well right now, the schedule will have tons more dates added and managers will probably be back to work on house shows in no time.

-- The August PPV has been moved up to 8/28 and will take place at Madison Square Garden.

-- 4/29 in Utica, NY, drew 5,084 headlined by Andre vs Duggan. 4/30 at the Cow Palace drew 11,104 fans and $140,000, the second-largest gate in the history of the building headlined by Ted DiBiase vs Randy Savage. 5/7 in Boston drew 12,000 headlined by Honky Tonk Man vs Brutus Beefcake and Andre the Giant vs Hacksaw Duggan. On 5/1, Randy Savage vs Ted DiBiase drew a $168,000 gate.

-- Randy Savage is now being billed as the "undisputed WWF champion". The word heavyweight will no longer be used when talking about the title.

-- The WWF is working on several non-wrestling syndicated specials like the Slammys.

-- "The other day a few of us were joking about what would be the worst possible match of this generation -- and the best thing we came up with was the Anabolic Warrior against Andre. Then I find out a few weeks back they actually had that match in Switzerland on a European tour. What did the Swiss ever do to Vince McMahon?"

NWA
-- "The Midlife Rider has ridden off for the final time, after just a two week stay in the NWA, thus ending one of the quickest about-face angles in pro wrestling history. Four or five weeks of television, a baseball bat angle and the punching of Magnum T.A. were all flushed down the commode last weekend when the decision was made to pull the plug on the gimmick because it wasn't working. The official announcement on WTBS this past weekend was the (sic) Paul Boesch went to the NWA board and somehow convinced them to reinstate Dusty. With all the panic decision-making going on in the NWA, with angles changing so fast one TV show contradicts the next, things must be worse off than they appeared to be a few weeks ago. Of course, it is May, and the key contracts are due their balloon payment and let's just say I expect more of the same over the next few weeks."

-- Dave says the angle not working was a mild surprise to him, but that more than that, giving up that angle in just two weeks had to be hard on Dusty's ego. They have already set up a Barry Windham/Dusty Rhodes feud at a TV taping, but Dave doesn't understand, because the natural feud in TV buildup is Windham vs Luger. "It's hard to predict what's going to happen next with the NWA when those in charge don't seem to have any idea from one TV show to the next."

-- The next Clash of the Champions, billed as "Miami Mayhem", will take place on 6/8 at the Knight Center in Miami. Dave thinks based on the mood of the promotion and the disarray they're in, this show won't be as hot as the first one was. There's a belief they gave away too much at the first show and that's why they're hurting now, "... a view I both agree and disagree with. They did give a lot, but also failed to take advantage of a lot that they could have done. For instance, the barbed wire match was the blow-off of a feud, only they didn't know it. The heels got beat, quick and swift, and there was no point to any rematches with the two teams, but instead the two teams are still being booked with each other and the feud continues. The Flair-Sting rematches everywhere at least needed no time limit and no DQ stips to be meaningful, as just seeing another match between the two of them meant nothing when you've already seen everything they can do with each other for 45 minutes -- now the only lure is a definitive finish of the feud, but the inability to mix in new talent at the top makes them avoid blow-offs. My own opinion is the company had tremendous momentum coming off the first Clash, and retained it until they spent two hours on the Midlife Rider on TBS week after week and pushed everyone else back." Dave says they are afraid to put on a hot show, which becomes even more apparent when looking at the lineup for the next Clash. Dave has no idea why they're doing a show without Ric Flair, Lex Luger, or the Road Warriors.

-- Ted Turner is working on a new station called TNT with lots of MGM movies and sporting events. Dave expects to see wrestling there eventually. (My note: He was right.) They are waiting on the network to clear 30 million homes. He is actually trying some type of package deal with the Great American Bash PPV as a lure to get cable companies to sign up for TNT. Turner and Crockett are under fire with cable companies right now for running the Clash. The feeling is that they ruined Wrestlemania and cost the cable companies big money.

-- The NWA realizes the Great American Bash pay-per-view is pretty much do or die, considering the state they're in.

-- On TV, there was zero reaction to Jim Ross announcing Dusty's reinstatement. One woman in the audience finally cheered and was eventually drowned out by boos.

-- The gate for night two of the Crockett Cup was $115,000 and 6,200 paid. The combined gate for both nights was about the same as souvenir sales for Wrestlemania at Trump Plaza.

-- 5/5 in Johnstown, PA drew 680 fans headlined by Sting vs Larry Zbyszko. The same night in Raleigh, they drew 1,900 for a TV taping even doing Flair/Tully/Windham vs Luger/Dusty/Nikita as a main event. Windham bloodied up Dusty with his new clawhold in that match to set up their feud. 5/6 in Pittsburgh drew 3,800 fans headlined by Flair vs Doc in a disappointing match. Fans turned on Doc and sided with Flair, despite Flair's best efforts. 5/7 in Baltimore drew 5,500 fans headlined by Flair vs Sting with Barry Windham running interference. 5/8 in Roanoke drew 3,000 fans headlined by Flair vs Sting in a *** cage match. 4/24 in Charleston, WV drew 2,500 fans headlined by Luger & Sting vs Arn & Tully in a cage match. 4/30 in Laurinburg, NC drew 620 fans.

-- When the new Coliseum opens in Charlotte in August or September, the WWF will get the first two shows, forcing JCP to run all of their shows at the Charlotte Park Center, which has a maximum 2,500 seat capacity. The WWF has been trying to get into Charlotte and hasn't been able to for the same reasons JCP can't get into Madison Square Garden. But the owner of the new Charlotte Coliseum does not have the same ties to Crockett as the previous owners, and they're willing to give the WWF a chance.

-- Cable TV ratings for the first quarter of 1988 have the Saturday night show at a 3.5 rating, making it the fourth highest rated show on cable. It's higher than both Prime Time Wrestling (#9) and All American Wrestling (#12). NWA Main Event was in the #18 spot.

-- "Did you all catch that party that the Midnight Express threw on WTBS? What an original idea. At least that's what I thought the first 100 times i've seen cakes on a wrestling TV show and every single time it went into either a heel's face or the TV announcer's face. Even though it was the most predictable thing I've ever seen, it was still entertaining, especially the banter between Lane and Cornette about where are the girls and carbonated beverages being fuel for athletes in training."

-- Rumors are starting to fly that Crockett is trying to make a deal with Ted Turner, but as best as Dave can tell, no actual deal has been reached.

WCCW
-- 5/1 in San Antonio drew 700 fans and $4,200.

-- The 5/8 Texas Stadium show drew 7,000 fans headlined by Kerry Von Erich regaining the title from Iceman Parsons. Other standouts were a Michael Hayes/Terry Gordy match where they repeated the finish from the old Alabama days where Gordy came to Hayes' rescue after the match, turning him babyface, and Terry Taylor vs Chris Adams in a match Dave gave ****

-- Ken Mantell has reached out to every single territory except the NWA and WWF, offering to do tie-in promotions and provide talent for their cards. Mantell is looking for ways to get dates for the wrestlers since they are not running a full schedule, but Dave says they only have one or two names that would matter anywhere else. Dave says Gordy, Hayes, Taylor, and Adams got involved with a local hero, that might work, but just taking Taylor vs Adams as a feud around the horn isn't going to do anything except offer a decent match. "Talent sharing can only help these other groups if the talent can shoot an angle on TV and work a series of shows, rather than just fly in for one date, unless it's something like Hayes in Atlanta or Gordy maybe on an independent card against a guy like Brody or Abdullah the Butcher."

MEMPHIS
-- The 5/2 card in Memphis drew a $15,000, more than double what they did the week before, headlined by Jerry Lawler vs Eddie Gilbert with Missy Hyatt's hair at stake. The finish saw Paul E. Dangerously show up and get decked by Lawler. Before that, Missy tried distracting Lawler but it didn't work. After all this, Kenny Dee, who was managing Lawler to keep Missy from interfering, ended up turning on Lawler by throwing powder in his eyes, leading to a Gilbert win. After the match, Dangerously hands Missy money, who uses it to pay Kenny Dee, who will be the new heel manager. There was said to be very little reaction to the World Class guys, and fans left after Lawler/Gilbert while Kerry/Iceman was still going on in the ring. Dave still doesn't understand the logic behind putting Iceman on and billing him as world champ the week before the Hennig match.

-- The 5/9 show will have tickets raised to $25, $10, $7, and $5 for the Hennig vs Lawler title match with Jackie Fargo as referee, Bill Dundee vs Eddie Gilbert, Jeff Jarrett vs Robert Fuller, Mike Graham & Steve Keirn vs Max Pain & Gary Young, the Cuban Choir Boys vs Ron & Don Harris, Bad Company vs Tom Brandi & Billy Travis, Doug & Tommy Gilbert vs Mark Starr & Scott Steiner, and Brickhouse Brown vs Kenny Wayne.

-- 5/9 has been declared Jerry Lawler Day in Memphis by mayor Dick Hackett.

-- "On TV if you recall they were telling fans to vote with a 900 number ($1 per phone call) on who will referee, either Fargo or Larry Hennig. All along Lawler kept saying on TV that Hennig was leading the voting and they kept saying how all the fans in Minnesota were voting for Hennig as referee and they needed the fans in Memphis to vote. When the show started at 11 a.m. (remember the show is still done live in Memphis) they went to the voting headquarters and said the voting would close at noon and that Hennig was still in the lead, but it was close, to get fans to keep calling the 900 number (so they could get money from the phone company, I guess to pay Curt enough to keep him happy). At 11:45 they did another segment with the same story. Then at noon Lawler shows up and tells the fans he has some bad news, acting real somber, and then said, 'Bad news for Curt Hennig that is,' and the place popped and they announced Fargo would referee. Anyway, this 900 number thing is a real novel way to make money."

-- Brother Ernest Angel is still around and the Harris Brothers said he was in the hospital with a dreaded disease.

-- Late news that Jerry Lawler won the AWA title before 9,500 fans on 5/9. The match was 21:12, described as "not great", and the crowd reaction was amazing.

OREGON
-- Roddy Piper showed up at Don Owen's card in Portland on 04/30 and helped nearly sellout the Sports Arena. His appearance was to help Owen in his local promotional war with Billy Jack Haynes, debuting on 5/7 in Oregon City. Haynes' TV starts on 5/14 and they plan to televise matches that are taped the previous Saturday. Haynes insists the week delay has nothing to do with Piper appearing for Owen, and says it's because of late arrival of his ring lights. Piper was announced in advance, but his role was made unclear. He showed up and did an interview but never made it to the ring. Mike Golden came up to him and told him to scram. Piper was very passive in a subtle booking attempt to put over Golden. Gordon brought out a contract for the 5/7 show. Piper refused to do a match, saying he's lost too much weight and is no longer a fighter. Golden responded by spitting on him, and continued taunting him until they got into it. When it was over, Piper wasn't seen the rest of the night. No official announcement of a Piper/Golden match has been made, but that seems to be what the fans are expecting.

CENTRAL STATES
-- 4/28 in Kansas City drew 375 fans, much more than average. 4/29 in St. Joseph drew 349, the lowest crowd ever in that city.

-- Eddie Gilbert and Missy Hyatt cancelled their scheduled appearances on the KC show, and Todd Morton no-showed. "Rufus Jones missed both dates although I haven't heard that anybody missed him."

-- "The funniest thing I've seen in a while was the Kansas City program for the 4/28 show. It talked about The Freebirds coming and said they are managed by Michael Hayes and had quotes from manager Hayes. They also had a picture of Hayes in the program, which was taken from their original Georgia Days as heels (1980). Geigel does his own programs, and it's nice to see how up to date he is on the current wrestling scene, especially with the group he's supposed to be working so closely with."

WINDY CITY WRESTLING
-- "This group made a remarkable showing on 4/30 for the return of pro wrestling to the International Ampitheater in Chicago, drawing a $40,000 house, which is by far, the largest house I've heard of for an independent promotion." Paid attendance was 4,000+.

-- They are scheduled to have a 30 minute show on Channel 60 in Chicago before long.

-- The WWF took notice of the big gate and plans to run shows in the Ampitheater, feeling they can get a different crowd here than they do at the Horizon, and they can continue to run both shows.

STAMPEDE
-- Owen Hart's year-plus reign as North American champion ended on 5/6 when he dropped the title to Makhan Singh.

-- Owen's last match before New Japan's next tour is on 5/14, which may be his last match in Stampede. "There is no word new on that situation. Hart agreed to go to Titan as a masked wrestler (either a Tiger Mask gimmick or a Mighty Mouse gimmick) but is having second thoughts. Apparently there is a personal goal of having the greatest match of the year with Ric Flair, still, although politics still seem to make this impossible."

-- Jerry Lawler wants to come in and wrestle Owen Hart, but there is the political issue of Stu's connections to the WWF.

-- Both Bret Hart and Davey Boy Smith are pushing really hard for Owen to come into the WWF.

-- Steve Blackman, a WWF jobber, is headed in to team with Brick Bronsky.

-- Chris Benoit will be gone for the July New Japan tour.

-- Suni War Cloud is out of action with an injury.

-- Jonathan Holiday's playboy gimmick has been completely dropped, and his push has been stopped. He used to work as a TBS jobber named Dexter Wescott.

-- Expect Makhan Singh vs Steve DiSalvo to be the feud on top while Owen Hart and Jason are in New Japan.

ALL JAPAN
-- Mitsuharu Misawa will be getting married in a major ceremony over summer.

NEW JAPAN
-- 4/27 in Osaka drew 5,000 fans headlined by Vader vs Fujinami. 4/26 in Shimonoseki drew 2,490. 4/23 in Okinawa drew 1,780. 4/24 in Kumamoto drew 1,660.

-- Since Inoki is out with a broken foot, Fujinami is making a play for the top spot, but Dave thinks that may just be angle. He isn't certain. Inoki is going to miss the IWGP tournament.

-- Manny Fernandez is looking good in New Japan.

JOSHI
-- 4/24 in Tokyo saw JWP draw 1,800 fans headlined by Harley Saito & Miss A vs Witch Warrior & Eagle Sawai.

-- "5/15 in Tokyo has a triple headliner show with the Crush Girls wrestling the Jumping Bomb Angels on top, then Mika Suzuki wrestles Kaoru Maeda for the jr. championship (this refers to an age group, not a weight) and Erika Shishido & Nobuko Kimura defend the Japanese tag team title against Manami Toyota & Toshiyo Yamada, the latter of whom are the two leading grass of the class of '87 rookies from this promotion and are getting their first shot at stardom. Shishido, 17 years old, who began in late 1986 is half black and half Japanese and is highly thought of as a future major heel and tag team partner of Bull Nakano. In fact, she also appeared in the movie 'Tokyo Pop' in a brief scene."

OTHER
-- Former NFL star Steve Courson is set to make his pro wrestling debut on a Dominic Denucci-promoted indy show in Pennsylvania over the weekend. He has had almost no training and is being rushed into the ring with the hopes they can draw off of his football name. Courson was an admitted heavy steroid user in the NFL, and his career was cut short due to health problems. He was cut about two seasons ago (at the time of this writing) from the Tampa Bay Bucs. He's also coming out with an anti-steroids book.

-- In a strange occurrence, every single pro wrestling show in syndication has dropped out of the top 15. "The actual story here is that the idea of adding cumulative network rating, as McMahon's WWF network (a combination of five shows), Crockett's Wrestling Network (four shows) and the All-Star Wrestling Network (at least half a dozen shows) has apparently been done away with by those who figured out the ratings. As has been mentioned here many times, it was unfair in favor of the wrestling shows for the companies to add up ratings of three and four shows together, and claim to be one of the top three or four syndicated shows on television, and ahead of something like Oprah Winfrey for example, which runs one show and gets a nine rating as opposed to Titan, which runs five shows, which added up together, get maybe a 10 rating. In reality, even Titan's Superstars show, which is certainly the most watched wrestling show in syndicated, doesn't come close to the top 15 in syndicated programming by itself." Dave doesn't think the story is a big deal, but says it will be harder to track TV ratings from week to week. Dave's sources in the TV industry think this is a major blow to pro wrestling, and one that will hurt Crockett far more than Vince, as Vince sold almost all of his complete inventory of ads for 1988. Wrestling will no longer seem quite as hot to advertisers as it would have a few weeks back, when two of the top eight shows were wrestling. Replacing wrestling has been shows like Love Connection, Star Search, and Hollywood Squares. "Even though a wrestling network package can still offer the same number of viewers to an advertiser, the fact is, the advertisers look at those ratings to determine what is hot, and wrestling no longer appears. And those big trade ads that Titan and Crockett buy in the trade pubs can no longer, as part of the ads, list either one as one of the highest rated networks in syndication. Basically what has happened is that the statistical con loophole that wrestling companies have been using has now been closed. It's back to when the wrestling promotions are going to have to chase down advertisers, rather than vice versa, and the difference in who is doing the chasing makes all the difference in the world in business."

-- A new promotion with women's wrestling is supposed to begin taping at Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas. Wendy Richter and Misty Blue are supposed to be there, Gordon Solie is planned to announce, and they supposedly have a lot of TV already lined up.

-- Continental is expected to be on FNN soon. The deal with New Japan has stalled because they couldn't come to a financial agreement. FNN also wants a national call-in pro wrestling talk show on their network. They are also being sued by the WWF for doing a "Hulkamania" package.

-- Larry Sharpe has sued Bam Bam Bigelow for breach of contract.

-- Steve DiSalvo was on a flight recently with a guy threatening to kill everyone on the plane. The flight attendant asked for his help, and he tackled the guy to the ground in a front facelock, and detained him until they reached their destination.

-- WCW announcer Scott Hudson actually wrote to Dave on the letters page to bash Dusty Rhodes.

[Seth82]

Here's the March 1984 recap

during this time Dave Meltzer was just doing monthly Observers

March 1984 Observer Recap

-On the Cover (yes, there was a cover): An “In Memoriam” picture of David Von Erich.

TOP STORY: David’s death recap. This was reported straight up as acute enteritis. The shock of this in both Japan and Texas was reflected on, with Dave noting it was not known how this would affect business in WCCW in the immediate future. Dave also mentions that David was the strongest contender to win the World heavyweight title at that time. There is also a rundown of David’s career highlights and his pro debut is noted as being June 28th, 1977, going to a draw with John Studd.

Notable quote: “He (David) had a flu-type condition for six weeks, but in our business if you can walk, you go out there. David was in no condition to wrestle. I feel very guilty about it. I’m very upset about it.”—Fritz Von Erich

OTHER LATE NOTES(included here in the front of the newsletter with the DVE news because the David piece was actually added after this issue was put to bed): Tito Santana should be IC Champ by the time this publication gets to it’s readers…Dynamite Kid over The Cobra in the tourney finals of the WWF Jr. heavy tournament in Japan. Davey Boy 3rd, Kuniaki Kobayashi 4th…1st WWF show in St. Louis drew 13,000 at the Kiel and 2500 on closed circuit to see John Studd win a Battleroyal where he eliminated Hogan and Andre together as they were fighting each other in a corner. The card was taped as the WWF wanted to emulate the way WCCW did their TV (big matches, classy production) and so it could air in markets the WWF was breaking into for the first time, like Chicago and Columbus…Bob Geigel ran a show in St. Louis the week before and drew 10,700 (my note--!!!)…..Bruiser and Crusher to team again in Chicago (my note—went to a double DQ vs. Stan Hansen and Nick Bockwinkel on March 4th)..

PULLING NO PUNCHES: Dave addresses the biggest, most talked about story in pro wrestling: the change/metamorphosis of Pro Wrestling itself.
-notes Vince going head to head with Geigel/Verne/Harley in St. Louis
-Vince possibly opening a third promotion in Japan as early as April
-Lists many wrestlers rumoured to be leaving their current area and and notes the devastating effect that going to the WWF would have on their home promotion. Wrestlers rumoured included Orton, Valentine, Butch Reed and Brody
-notes Sayama was supposed to return to MSG on 3/25 billed as “The Tiger” and how the plan was for him to be the WWF’s top draw overseas
-every major promoter except Eddie Graham was forming a NATO-type of alliance with one or more other promoters to help fight off WWF invasion. Even Baba and Inoki were planning a joint card for the middle of the year to counteract any potential McMahon forays into Japan
-Dave correctly noted that despite the thunder of the WWF, it remained to be seen if Vince could actually drive any other established promotions into the ground. He does note that the WWF would probably have a good shot at taking down the AWA due to the familiarity of the workers to the area (Schultz, Hogan, Okerlund, etc.), but that WCCW and Memphis would probably not have to worry right away
-Dave says he is not against what Vince is doing in principle because it would benefit everyone from the wrestlers to the fans paying to get in. The only ones not benefiting would be the promoters. He is against what McMahon is doing for many other reasons, though:
a) Vince isn’t playing a game based on who runs the best shows or has the best talent/booking, he’s banking on “political power plays” to aid his takeover bids. He notes how Eddie Einhorn never got a fair chance to run on the East Coast due to Vince Sr. blocking him out of all the arenas. Same thing happened in 1982 to a lesser extent to Bruno Sammartino’s IWF promotion
Vince was learning as he went with a gaffe in St. Louis when he tried to block out Geigel et al from having a tv outlet—he screwed up but is taking notes…
-Ole Anderson is splicing together clips from past shows putting current WWF stars like Iron Sheik, Tito and Piper in a bad light on their TV. Ole even dug up Lawler vs. Hogan footage to show that Hogan wasn’t so great. Ole would be noting at the end of the clips stuff like “well, Pat Rose beat Tito Santana here…” which Dave thinks would actually piss off the fans even more due to their being treated like idiots (i.e., nobody would believe Pat Rose ever beat Tito at any stage of his career)
-notes Ole and Verne Gagne set to work together and wishes Verne luck.
-Final Notes about McMahon: Working with him is no bargain (see George Cannon, Inoki and Altoona promoter gene Dargen), and Vince was heading for trouble trying to keep a room full of Superstars happy. Hogan’s contract was already apparently being pointed at by others and was becoming a sore spot.
Dave said he would use this column every month to track the latest on McMahon’s takeover bids in various areas.


DAVE'S PERSONAL WORSTS OF 1983:
Worst Wrestler: Ox Baker (honorable mention: the Crusher and Adrian Street (but notes Street is at least entertaining)
Worst Babyface: Tommy Rich.
Worst Feud: wants to pick Rich and Sawyer but his poll naming it third best feud makes that impossible…doesn’t seem to actually name one.
Worst Tag Team: Bob Brown and Buzz Tyler (apologies to The Strongbow Brothers and the Zambuie Express)
Worst Finishing Hold: Crusher’s Bolo Punch. Honorable mention: Bob Backlund’s Chicken Wing, despite Dave noting that it was basically a legit hold.
Least Agile: Plowboy Frazier
Worst Brawler: Jimmy Valiant
Weakest Wrestler: Baba and Mike Von Erich
Worst on Interviews: too many to pick just one but notes Bellomo, Backlund, Strongbow and Putski among others
Worst Circuit: Florida, “not because of the talent or the gimmicks, but how that promotion pretends that there is credibility around their horrible stunts.”
Worst Run Circuit: Ole’s Georgia with Southwest not far behind
Worst TV Show: Sheiks’ Big Time Wrestling. If only considering “larger’ promotions then Geigel’s Wrestling at the Chase shows wins
Worst Match Dave Saw All Year: Angelo Mosca Jr. (in his second week) vs. Ox Baker
Worst Announcer: Dave McClane from Bruiser’s Indiana promotion
Worst Manager: Don Carson, honorable mention to Skandor Akbar and Paul Ellering

Did you know that Dave gave his phone number in this issue in case any of his readers wanted to phone him?

He’s also shilling a three tape “Best of 1983” set. Each tape is 4 hours long and has most of the major bouts of the year on them.


Next is a reprint of a newspaper article on Lord Athol Layton. The paper it is from is not noted. It’s the actual article added into the newsletter.

An Article by Joe Soucheray is next, detailing a Minneapolis group called the USA Professional Wrestling Group that had a card scheduled for Minneapolis which was cancelled due to interference by unnamed parties. It is whispered that it’s Verne and Wally Karbo’s doing, but Karbo is interviewed about it and denies it and the columnist doesn’t believe they would bother given that the talent they were trying too bring in was lightweight (Amazing Zulu, Bruno Sammartino Jr) and the AWA had nothing to fear from such a fledgling group.

Next is another Article, this one from John Sherman. It details Hulk Hogan being upset with Verne and Wally for advertising him on the Christmas St. Paul card, knowing full well he had terminated his service to the AWA a full four weeks earlier. Hogan goes on to claim his problems stem from the fact that the powers-that-be screwed him out of the AWA title three separate times...and a whole bunch more kayfabe hyperbole about one champion, unification, and whatnot. The point of this article seems to be that Hogan wanted to come back to the Twin Cities with the WWF belt in tow. The article did a good job of making the AWA look poor and heightening anticipation for Hogan returning to the area as a champion in the future (which finally happened in June of 1984).

Both of these articles are noted on the next page as being from Twin Cities papers.

LETTERS: Mick Karch has a letter in about a previous Vince McMahon article and AWA implications. Mike Rosen writes a friggin NOVEL about the AWA and the idea of a fight with the WWF in the near future next.

March 1984 Observer Recap, Continued

Month-By-Month Best Bouts Dave saw in 1983

Jan 17, Memphis: Jerry Lawler and Koko Ware vs. Wild Sabu and Bobby Eaton
-brawl included Lawler slamming Eaton on the press table, Sabu being slammed onto Eaton on that table, the table breaking, and that table being thrown onto Jimmy Hart
-Ware hits perfect missile dropkick from the top rope on Sabu and Ware landing standing after a double backdrop to hit a double dropkick on the heels, one leg hitting each of them
-Ware and Lawler executing 4 piledrivers on Sabu and Eaton
-Lawler catching Hart, choking him and decking referee Jerry Calhoun when he tried to break it up for the DQ

Feb 18, Dallas: Freebirds vs. Von Erichs
-first 6-man meeting between the two teams, non-title, and it was a lumberjack match although the lumberjacks had little to do as the action stayed mostly in the ring
-12 minutes of back and forth brawling, ending with Kevin knocking Gordy back while he tried to piledrive david and David scoring the pin
-Dave notes that this was undoubtably the first of many sellouts this feud would garner in Texas rings

Mar 4, Tokyo: Khan/Saito/Chosu vs. Kimura/Hamaguchi/Teranishi
-ten minute bout with several sensational moves including Teranishi hitting a top rope dropkick and Hamaguchi’s blockbuster suplex
-endind was “incredible� as Hamaguchi was trapped in the heels corner and took a suplex from Chosu, a Khan back suplex right on his head, a Saito front suplex, a vertical suplex from Chosu, a Chosu/Saito stuff piledriver, and topped off by a Khan kneedrop off the top rope into a Scorpion leglock by Chosu. Kimura seeing the end near tore the top rope off the turnbuckle and used it to choke Chosu who was on the opposite side of the ring. Kimura team was DQed as a result.

April 23, Tokyo: Dynamite Kid vs. Tiger Mask
-tons of action in the first three minutes and eventually ended in a double countout after a dive saw both men trapped on the other side of the guardrail and unable to get back into the ring. The crowd chanted “encore� so loud that they decided to go at it again.
-Dynamite hit “the most sensational diving headbutt I’ve ever seenâ€�
-Ende dup being a battle of suplexs and piledrivers until Kid broke a beer bottle on the ringpost and brought it into the ring, where he proceeded to headbutt the referee. The Ref refused to DQ him and they kept battling. Tiger hit s suplex and piledriver on the floor, and somehow Dynamite got up and piledrove Tiger, at which point both men collapsed and were counted out of the ring.

May 9, Memphis: Moondogs vs. Stan Lane and Jackie Fargo
-four minute bout that saw Fargo and lane use everything not nailed down as a weapon and Keirn coming to the ring with a 2 x 4 to brain the Moondogs until the bout was just stopped (I assume a N/C).


June 2, Tokyo: Hulk Hogan vs. Antonio Inoki
-notes that although there was 20 minutes of solid action, the ending and aftermath were what made the bout memorable.
-recaps Hogan no-selling an inziguri but selling a poorly hit dropkick, and then the lariat on the apron to Inoki that ended up KOing him outside the ring.
-the bout was ruled a draw by the ref but another referee/official came into the ring and discussed how bad a draw verdict would look. After ten minutes the decision was changed to a win for Hogan and with it the IWGP Championship. It was later revealed that Inoki had a concussion and was subsequently out for several months

July 23, Landover: Jimmy Snuka vs. Don Muraco
-19,000 fan sell-out with no undercard of note at all
-peak of their feud and probably one of their best bouts of all.
-Muraco switched a vertical suplex in mid-air to a facebuster
-Don bled freely as Snuka pounded on him
-ending was Muraco pulling the ref in between him and a Snuka splash attempt and the ref DQing both wrestlers

Aug 4, Tokyo: Riki Chosu vs. Tatsumi Fujinami
-Fast paces scientific feud spotlighting Fujinami using Chosu’s best holds against him like the Scorpion Deathlock
-Fujinami also hit a superplex
-Fujinami hie Chosu with a back suplex on the floor and an Enziguri and then jumped back in the ring for a countout win to regain the International Title

Sept 5, Fort Worth: Von Erichs vs. Freebirds-typical 6-man between the two (read: highly entertaining) with Hayes getting a pin on Kerry for a shocking victory

Oct 17 New York: Don Muraco vs. Jimmy Snuka
-notes bout wasn’t the greatest but the tension in the arena and the ending were incredible
-noted that the sellout crowd (lists attendance at 26,300—felt forum overrun, I assume?) was shocked by the ending (Muraco getting out after a Snuka headbutt) as they had never seen a heel win a cage match before
-dive from Snuka onto Muraco was incredible

Nov 24, Greensboro: Harley Race vs. Ric Flair
-said that the bout could never have lived up to it’s hype but surprisingly, it did
-ending was messed up because Race never reacted well and Flair’s dive was poorly executed but those were minor blemishes on a classic match.
(my note—surprised that no commentary was given on how piss-poor Kiniski’s refereeing was in this bout).

Dec 8, Tokyo: Chosu/Yatsu/Hamaguchi vs. Fujinami/Kimura/Maeda-Dave never thought he would see a better match than the march 6-man bout, but he did here
-bout was suplex city�
-Fujinami was the best wrestler in the match
-ending was a double countout when the teams hit the floor for the third time in the match

WRESTLING NOTEBOOK
WWF
-Hogan’s title win recapped (26,300 attendance noted again..overflow to Felt Forum noted) with the unbelievable heat in such a short bout noted. 180 degree turn from the Sheik-Backlund bout the month previous
-biggest run on tickets and scalpers had a field day after Backlund was replaced in the title match with Hogan
-2/20 card has Hogan-Orndorff on top and Tito vs. Muraco which would either see Tito win the title or end his hopes, and Atlas/Johnson/Puski vs. Slaughter/Chung Lee/Fuji (Dave notes that this would likely see Slaughter get pearl harboured by the heels to set up his face turn)
Crowds good in core markets, noting 15,700 for Sheik-Santana title match in Philly on 1/21, 1/28 LA Battleroyal selling out the Olympic at 11,104
-Ohio was not successful so far—Cinci and Dayton only drawing 1000-1500, roughly the same as the competing Ole Anderson promotion
-notes disappointment with the Kiel TV show although Adonis and Murdoch are tremendous in their squashes. First Kiel card upcoming on 2/10
-Detroit was drawing 2000-2500. Vince brought in Cannon, Cannon gave up his TV time to him, and Cannon should really have known better…lol…
-Mangon Managoff (Jerry Graham Jr.) was brought in as the heel manager for the St. Louis tapings but was let go after Piper was signed.
-Bob Backlund’s status is a mystery. He was pulled from many major shows due to the shoulder injury but wrestled at several others. Speculates Bob might be gone from the WWF or out of the business completely in the next while and noted that Arnold Skaaland was out of the WWF as part of Vince’s centralization of power plan�.
-WWF surprisingly pulled out of San Fran and San Jose, noted as a surprise because of how bad the AWA was doing. TV would be on in Sacramento in the spring
-other expansion plans include Indianapolis very soon and everyone was assuming the AWA was just around the corner at this point
-Greg Valentine would be coming in and this was seen as a huge blow to the Carolinas. Brian Blair had debuted in December but hurt his hand and would re-debut shortly once it was healed up
-Slaughter vs. Sheik were set to feud. Slaughter already receiving about 75% cheers against his face challengers in the arena and 90% on TV
-Piper would have a segment replacing a vapid Victory Corner
-Hindsight tells Dave that Sheik as interim champ was a tremendous mistake and it should have been Muraco. Sheik-Backlund rematches did not draw well and he asks if this was really the fans being sick of Backlund more than anything else
-Dave was disappointed that Hogan got the belt so quickly and notes there were rumours of a Hogan-Andre match at Shea that summer happening, with Andre getting jealous of Hogan as the scenario that would create that match-up

ALL-JAPAN
-12/12 Tag Tourney finals (Hansen/Brody vs.Tsuruta/Tenryu) best bout he saw in the tourney
-Flair vs. Kabuki was good if you consider that Kabuki was in it
-Mil Mascaras received poor reports from his tour of Japan and might not be back
-Lizmark being brought in as World Middleweight Champion to be their new Mexican superstar
-Baba/Dory vs. Tsuruta/Tenryu 45 minute draw on 11/29 in Sapporo was surprisingly good
-Terry Funk would likely wrestle a series in 1984 if he indeed did come out of retirement
-January tour included Steve Olsonowski, Kelly Kiniski, Gypsy Joe, Michael Hayes, Terry Gordy, Lizmark, and others. Tour did well but Hayes/Gordy vs. Baba/Tsuruta for the tag titles could not sell out Korakuen Hall (a relatively small venue). Freebirds controlled almost the whole match but a bloody Hayes was counted out at the 17:14 mark
-Most reports on the Freebirds quite good in their debut as a team in Japan
-Feb-March series had David Von Erich, Brody, Irwins (as Super Destroyers), Smirnoff, Chavo Guerrero, Jerry Morrow, and Koko Ware. Bockwinkel to be in 2/23-2/29.
-DVE appearance is to further expose him before his title victory, which Dave hopes doesn’t happen

NEW JAPAN
-Hishashi Shimna now managing Sayama, notable because it was Shimna’s tyranny that Sayama said caused him to retire.
Sayama was the source of all the news stories about New Japan for the past several months (behind the scenes stuff), it was his source of income (getting paid for the stories he leaked out) and his Martial Arts school
-notable stories traced to Sayama include Fujinami being named as the primary force in getting Inoki out, then Fujinami betraying Sayama and retaining Inoki’s favor. Almost every wrestler was furious over Sayama being a leak to the press and that was why he couldn’t go back.
Inoki and Sakaguchi regaining power left Shimna on the outside and his looking to hook up with Vince McMahon was seen as a revenge type of ploy (as noted earlier that Vince wanted to go to Japan quickly in early 1984)
-Dave figures despite having access to guys like Hogan, Andre, Superstar and Adonis, Shimna would need one of the Japanese heavyweight superstars to come over to ultimately be successful.
-Baba and Inoki to co-promote card in August. Baba hates Shimna.
-Adonis and Murdoch were better than Dave thought they were
-Andre was generally poor in his last tour here with the exception of a couple of bouts
-other wrestlers in were Dusty Rhodes, Abdullah, Bad News Allen.
_Inoki vs. Dusty was reported on as bad matchmaking. Bad News broke it up before the fans fell asleep
-Chosu/Hamaguchi scored their biggest win beating Inoki/Fujinami in under 7 minutes
-coming in March were Murdoch, Adonis, Stomper, Grappler, Duncum, Sammy the Samoan and Jim Neidhart. Coming in April would be Masked Superstar, Don Muraco, Elijah Akeem and Kareem Muhammad, Hercules Ayala, Bruce hart, and Mike Sharpe.

WEST GERMANY
-promoter Nicolai Selenkowitsch ran a 41 day tour from 11/10 to 12/20 that drew nearly 100,000 fans
Otto Wanz pinned John Studd on the final night to retain the CWA title in front of 9400.
-Klaus Wallas declared the tourney winner

SOUTHWEST-a few bright spots including a few dates that Brody came in and drew 3500 in Temple, Texas and 4700 in San Antonio on 1/28. Both were for bouts against Voodoo Malumba (Big Red Reese). The San Antonio crowd was the biggest in 14 months.
-other bouts from 1/28 included Dick Murdoch and Manny Fernandez over Sheepherders by countout in a match so bloody that when Butch Miller had to legit go the hospital after the bout they thought he had been in a car wreck upon his arrival there. Embry/Timbs won by DQ over Morton and Gibson, Al Perez over Killer Brooks by DQ and Adrian Street over Scott Casey via DQ
-the SA crowd is even more impressive when you consider that WCCW came in the very next night and drew 13,000.
-all Sheepherders bouts are absolute gorefests and Manny Fernandez’s bouts are just as bad blood-wise
-thinks Southwest group’s wrestlers work harder than WCCW ‘s guys on spot shows. Notes Embry/Timbs vs. Mexican Connection (Replamago Leon and Buddy Moreno) bouts as being really good.
-Gino Hernandez fired again for missing several bookings
-Southwest sent a four bout tour to the East Coast. They drw 800 in Fall River, Mass, and 200 in Providence. Some WWF promoters screwed by Vince Jr. were part of the venture to bring in the Southwest guys.

March 1984 Observer Recap, continued

WORLD CLASS
-JYD in Ft. Worth on 1/30
-Star Wars card at Tarant County Convention Center drew an announced crowd of 15,000. The building holds 12,000 and there was probably an honest 13,000 there. Main event was Adams/Sunshine over Garvin/Precious in the cage, with Adams regaining the American title in that bout. Also Flair went ten minutes with Mike Von Erich with Mike almost having Flair out with the sleeper at the end. From this Flair is to defend against David Von Erich—David gets to pick the ref and any stipulations he chooses to include. This bout is set for April.
-As an aside, notes Flair and Harley set for a ten day tour of New Zealand, Malaysia and other areas from 3/19 through 3/28 with title matches every night. Thus the DVE-Flair hype won’t begin until after Flair returns from that tour.
-Freebirds vs. Von Erichs was another Main event at Star Wars. Angle was that Kevin got beat up in the dressing room before the bout by the Birds. “Anyway, the 170-pound Superman who was to beat up on the World Champ later that night subbed for his big brother.” The ending was Kevin coming out and going berserk on the Birds, causing the Von Erichs to lose by DQ and thus allowing the Freebirds to legally return to Texas rings.
-also on the card, Super Destroyers beat Parsons and Adidas in a clean cut best of three falls bout/ Parsons ended up with Akbar for five minutes after the bout but the effects of a superplex during the previous bout allowed Akbar to have control for 4 minutes and change. The final minute saw Parsons get in a few blows while Akbar ran. JYD downed Kamala when Missing Link interfered for the DQ. JYD moved and Link headbutted Kamala and they started to go at it.
-basically the same card sold out the Freeman Coliseum in San Antonio the previous night with the one difference being Flair vs. Kevin in the Main event
-2/3 in Dallas drew an overflow crowd with Flair pinning Adams, David winning the UN title from Michael Hayes, David beating Gordy by DQ, Mike beating Buddy Roberts, Pero Aguayo beating Fishman and some other prelims. IT was the second largest crowd ever in the Sportatorium
-SD 1 won the TV title from Adias on 1/9. Adias didn’t win a single match between Christmas and that title loss and this included a pinfall loss to Ken Mantell.
-Rick Rood came in on 1/6 for the sole purpose of studying Jimmy Garvin so he could imitate him in Memphis
-Kamala vs. Kerry is about the worst thing going in WCCW right now as Kerry slams him every night and Akbar refuses to pay him the $10,000
-Kamala and Link scored an upset in Dallas on 1/13 over Kevin and Kerry. Kevin and Kerry won a rematch by DQ two weeks later

MID SOUTH
- Magnum TA and Wrestling II won the tag titles on 12/25 from Reed and Neidhart. Reed and Neidhart split a few days later in a tag match with Neidhart becoming the babyface.
-II and TA will feud with Condrey and Eaton and will lose the belts to them. TA and II may also split up. Cornette had his team tar and feather II on a tv taping to get things going
-Watts established a connection to Memphis because he was paranoid of a McMahon invasion. Lawler, Terry Taylor, Koko Ware and Carl Fergie had all made appearances. Dundee is booking the circuit but not wrestling on it
-1/20 loser leaves town 6-man with Duggan/Santana/JYD vs. Reed/Darsow/Volkoff saw Duggan lose. He is now in Florida
-Oklahoma City is the best drawing city on the circuit right now with three straight 5000+ crowds. The headliner was the Garvin-Adams feud on those shows.
-Darsow as a Russian sympathizer has come a long way and Dave regrets that he didn’t get better recognition in the previous year’s rookie of the year voting
-Watts came out on TV and admitted he was the president of Mid South. Dick The Bruiser and Jerry Jarrett were in as visitors to TV tapings
“One last note: Lots of people say bad things about the USFL. I will never do such a thing. The reason is that any organization that keeps Steve Williams out of pro wrestling is fine with me…I wish Dr. Death the best of luck in his tryout with the Denver Gold, or at least enough luck to make the team.”

AWA-Harley Race in as a regular managed by Heenan. He would act as Nick’s policeman and eventually turn and feud with him. Notes Race apparently looks good in the AWA but says that considering the rest of the roster that isn’t surprising
-Larry Zbyszko and Bruno Sammartino Jr are expected to come in by late march
-1/15 in St. Paul was a disaster in some ways according to Dave, who then notes that “disaster” drew 11,000 people. “Considering it was the return of the Crusher, well, they will miss Hulk Hogan.”
-recaps Lanza coming down during the Mulligan/Bockwinkel brawl vs. Vachon/Crusher and convincing Mulligan to abandon his partner and reunite the Blackjacks. Crusher hit “a six decade old Bolo” for the win after that.
-other bouts saw Lanza beat Heenan in a Bunkhouse match, Saito/Ventura beat Robinson/Rheingans, Brunzell pinned Superstar Graham, and Steve Regal beat Buck Zumhofe but didn’t get the Jr. Title because he didn’t make weight.
-also notes it was supposed to be Greg Gagne vs. Sheik Kaissie but Kaissie came out and claimed a broken leg. Blackwell and Patera attacked Greg and Crusher got run into a ringpost when he tried to make the save, so “daddy Verne” made the save. “The answer to the next question is yes”, says Dave.
-notes that Ken Resnick’s ring announcing was met with “We want Mean Gene” chants, and that Gagne and Brunzel were both booed, presumably because of their connection to Verne who of course had just lost Gene and Hulk Hogan. Verne saving the day was not well received and apparently Jesse Ventura got lots of cheers.
-notes that 2/26 would have Raschke/Brunzell vs. Saito/Ventura, Regal vs. Zumhofe and Lanza vs. Race. “Should be a thrill a minute”…(my note: Wow, Dave really hated the AWA even though it seems pretty clear by how he writes this that he didn’t see much or any of it regularly. The Blackjack reunion I know was absolutely a killer moment and the fans ate it up. Nothing strange about it, just a very cool angle, especially with the hated Bockwinkel taking a terrible beating after Mulligan left.)
-1/3 in San Fran was a complete disaster drawing 1,000 for Bockwinkel-Rheingans and Vachon/Crusher vs. Saito/Ventura where Raschke interfered out of the crowd
-Annual Christmas skit saw Ventura and Saito break boards over Raschke’s head (sending Raschke to Charlotte) and “Greggie” saving the day

CENTRAL STATES
-Blanchard won Central States title on 1/26 in KC beating Buzz Tyler
-the promotions revolving door policy made things messy was Bobby Fulton left with the TV title so Buck Robley booked himself to win the tourney for the title in Des Moines.
-1/13 in KC saw Les Thornton regain his Jr. Title beating Ron Ritchie and Bob Brown/Buzz Tyler/King Cobra over Blanchard/Kirby/Luke Graham
-1/19 saw Robley/Brody lose to the Grapplers via DQ
-1/26 saw Flair in to retain his title over Harley Race in Race’s first rematch since losing the title back to Flair in Greensboro. Also Kamala vs. Brody for the fourth time was a no DQ bout that ended up with Brody, Kamala, Friday, and Robley all brawling back to the dressing room for a No Contest. Dave heard it was very bloody
-Youngbloods supposed to be in on 2/2
-“Even stranger is the booking of Tommy Rogers. Now the Rogers Wrestling here is not the third Sawyer brother who wrestles in Georgia.
Nevertheless TV announcer Rick Stewart bills him from Atlanta and says things like “I can’t believe how much he’s changes since Alabama.” The guy he saw in Alabama is the guy now in Georgia. “He’s bulked up and trimmed down and changed his looks completely”. How can one bulk up and trim down at the same time?”
-Dave eliminates Stewart from Announcer of the Year consideration…
-thinks that Tiger Mask, aka Ken Wayne, is the best guy on the circuit.

March 1984 Observer recap, continued

ST. LOUIS WRESTLING CLUB
-22-man battleroyal on 2/3 at Kiel was won by Barry Windham. He “won” $35,000 and a title shot against Ric Flair on 2/17 in a bout that would no doubt be excellent.
-“The Chrome Dome Connection” was bringing in talent from several areas for the 2/17 card. Bouts included Race defending the Missouri title against Wahoo McDaniel, Dusty Rhodes vs. Luke Graham (“honestly folks, if you’re in a promotional war, why put a match like this on?”), Patera and Blackwell vs. Ritchie and Robley, Dick Slater vs. King Cobra, Mulligan vs. Bob Brown and the Grapplers vs. Mark and Jay Youngblood.
-drew 9,372 for the 2/3 card, with three hours of TV helping that out
-The 1/11 card was accurately reported previously as being a sellout (11,000+). Main event for that card was Flair-Brody.
-On the AWA show that is broadcast into that market, Nick Bockwinkel has been interviewed and is asking for a title vs. title match against Flair later that year.

-Dave lists reasons why it would be better for Flair to win a title vs. title match against Bockwinkel: The bouts would be better as Nick had gotten boring, and there were AWA cities (St. Paul, Chicago) that drew more than 10,000 which would benefit from seeing Flair regularly. Dave says the AWA has no real contenders but Flair vs. Brunzell or Gagne would at least be different. Dave also expects any title vs. title match would need to have a conclusive finish as the St. Louis crowd was not used to double countouts.
- Dave also figured that this would be where the WWF would possibly slip up in the St. Louis market: lack of conclusive finishes in main events.
-ultimately Dave does not think this will happen because Gagne would have to admit his title was second best to the NWA title, at least to himself.

CWA/JARRETT PROMOTIONS
-crowds were up since the low of 2500 on 12/19 (Lawler/Idol W DQ Savage/Leduc)
-12/26 show (Lawler pinned Idol with Jimmy Hart’s help to earn a shot at Bockwinkel, Kiern W loser leaves town for a year match with Dundee) drew 6,450
-Jimmy Hart’s family had a major housecleaning happen with The A Team, Moondogs, Dennis Condrey, The grapplers and more all gone. New in were the Zambuie Express and King Konga. They were under the charge of JJ Dillon.
-Hart kept begging Lawler to help him run JJ Dillon and his family out of the area. Lawler kept refusing. Later Sabu (A Hart wrestler) was beating Lawler badly until Hart tripped Sabu and allowed Lawler to get the pin. Hart then claimed that Lawler owed him one.
-Dave expected King Konga to win the Southern title before that issue reached it’s subscribers
-Zambuies won the tag title by forefeit over the Fabulous Ones. The Fabs did not show up apparently because of the weather being treacherous. Dave heard that this was probably a legit excuse and the Zambuies would not hold the belt for long because they were booked for Japan soon
-Bockwinkel in for matches vs. Lawler. 1/1 saw Lawler win by DQ, and 1/9 is the $500 per-punch match with two refs (Paul Morton and Austin Idol). Stanley Blackburn in attendance so Lawler winning the title and having the decision reversed was not a surprise.
-Bock-Lawler drew 7800 in Memphis on 1/1, 5600 on 1/9 in Memphis, 4900 on 1/10 in Louisville and 4000 on 1/23 in Louisville (The Louisville bouts had similar endings to the two Memphis bouts.
-Rick Rood in doing a Jimmy Garvin impression complete with valet
-1/3 Louisville drew it’s largest gate in history (and about 6,000 fans) to see the Fabs vs. the debuting Road Warriors. Bout was a double DQ. LOD won on 1/4 in Evansville by Dq and had a double DQ against Lawler and Idol on 1/5 in Lexington. Lawler taking a beating in the LOD matches for most of those bouts
-1/7 Louisville saw Roadies back for a Lumberjack match with the Fabs (LOD counted out) before 4200. LOD was scheduled to be Memphis regulars after their Georgia commitments were done
-Idol defending his title against Leduc, Sabu, and Savage
-Mantel feuding with Savage as well
-Patera and Blackwell in on 1/16 and beat Morton and Gibson in an AWA tag title match
-Fabs won Loser Leaves Town bouts over Moondogs throughout the circuit
-1/23 in Louisville saw the Fabulous Ones beat the Rock and Roll Express in a scientific match. Fabs were cheered heavily but R and R’s were not booed, just cheered less.

SOUTHEAST
-Flair pinned bob Armstrong on Jan 2 in Birmingham. Armstrong left for Georgia after that and was seriously injured in either a car accident or a bar brawl.
-Charlie Cook beat Jerry Stubbs for the State title on 1/9
-Leduc lost a Loser Leaves Town match to Robert Fuller so he went back to Memphis
-1/23 saw Jacques Rougeau beat Super O in a hair vs. mask match. O turned out to be Arn Anderson/Marty Lunde.
-also David Morgan beat Franklin Hayes (“billed as Michaels brother and really may be as he was so bad in Memphis that he was let go after one week”)
-tag belts haven’t been mentioned since Ron Starr, who holds the titles with Wayne Farris, disappeared from the circuit a few months ago

CALGARY
-“If anyone lives up to his nickname it’s Bad News Allen Coage.” Dave then lists some of his exploits:
* punching a fan while brawling with Davey Boy Smith outside the ring, knocking over a pregnant woman who had to be taken to the hospital, and failing to report for his pre-match physical. All this happened on the same night in Edmonton and Coage is suspended from wrestling there as a result.
*Breaking the collarbone of Jeff Gouldie (Archi’s son) apparently legitimately “Because it was brutal enough to where the Calgary Boxing and Wrestling Commission banned wrestling from TV and long-time announcer Ed Whalen quit over the brutality.”
*The following weekat a suburban Calgary show, Coage caused a riot with 4,000 fans that cau sed the show to have to be ended early
*Coage had been suspended several months earlier. He was gone from the area after losing the NA title on 12/23 to The Stomper.
*Coage’s actions also caused the Commission to have Stu Hart post a $10,000 bond insuring no more fighting outside of the ring
*Coage bloodied up Inoki on a 12/19 card in Vancouver where Inoki was fighting Kerry Brown. Brown was DQ’ed for this. The bout was shown in Japan. Several Japanese wrestlers appeared on that card including Nobuhiko Takada going to a draw with Hiroyuki Saito, Two Rivers (actually Japanese matman Junji Hirata, and Dave has no idea how they sold him as a native) pinning Cuban Assassin, and The Cobra and Tatsumi Fujinami going to a double countout with Davey Boy Smith and Bret Hart.

TORONTO
-Area is getting reputation for being heavy on the “no-shows” lately. Recent example was the 1/8 Piper-Buzz Sawyer Dog collar match turned into Piper vs. Kurt Von Hess Dog Collar match when Buzz didn’t show up. Piper beat Hess easily and without drama
-on 1/8 Slaughter lost to Mosca Sr by countout in a Canadian title match (Slaughter is Champion). Mistake on TV on 1/7 as the 1/22 promos were shown and the cage match on that card between Mosca and Slaughter was advertised “so Sgt. Can’t run”. This of course was the day before the 1/8 countout between the two…
-Piper set to wrestle Don Kernodle which could be interesting for a variety of reasons, if it comes off (my note—Not sure what the deal is with this item. Anyone?)

MONTREAL
12/12 in Montreal saw Brito/Parisi win the tag titles from Lefebvre and Pat Patterson
12/26 in Montreal saw Bravo pin Bockwinkel (non title), Andre beat Mulligan, Leo Burke kept his NA title with a DQ win over Abdullah the Butcher, and Parisi/Brito beat Lefebvre/Frenchy Martin
12/28 in Quebec City saw Bravo win a battleroyal for another crack at Bockwinkel and Andre beat Mulligan
-There might be problems between promoter Frank Valois and the Mcmahons due to Bockwinkel being in with the AWA title.
-January cards were featuring Bravo vs. Martel in scientific matches with Bravo winning

Observer March 1984 Recap (Conclusion)

MARITIME PROVINCES

-promoter Al Zink’s International Wrestling promotion is returning in May after a 6 month absence with five confirmed shows a week and one “spot” show. There will be 10-14 wrestlers employed on a regular basis and Zinck expects to pay some of them 1200-2800 dollars per week to work there.
-wrestlers appearing during the season will include Andre the Giant, Cyclone Negro, JJ Dillon, Dory Funk, Blackjack Mulligan, Ric Flair, Harley Race, Dusty Rhodes, Kevin Sullivan, Barry Windham and Jake Roberts. Zinck will be affiliated with the NWA and plans to negotiate a world title match for the area.
-TV is being negotiated with the local ATV and a station out of Bangor, Maine
-Emil Dupre’s Atlantic promotion will also run cards for the summer. The Cormiers (Leo Burke, Rudy Kay and Tery Kay) will appear for Dupre.
-Zinck is working closely with Florida for his venture and will try to bringin wrestlers from Puerto Rico, Georgia and the Carolinas in an effort to invade McMahon-land. There is at least one card planned for Maine already.

FLORIDA
-Dusty Rhodes announced he would retire unless Kevin Sullivan’s suspension from Florida is lifted.
-Sullivan has brought in Kharma (Gene Lewis from Dallas where he played The Mongol). He is billed as having been so deranged that he was given a lobotomy but Sullivan got ahold of him and rebuilt his thought process. “Don’t you love it?” opines Dave
-Kendo Nagasaki won the state title over Mike Rotondo on 1/22 in Orlando. Rotondo and Mike Davis won the tag belts on 1/11 when Yellow Dog stole Ron Bass’s saddle and Bass and One Man Gang chased him to get it back. They were counted out and the titles changed.
-2/8 in Miami had Bass vs. Yellow Dog with the saddle suspended above the ring
-Flair was in for three dates. He went 60:00 with Rotondo on 1/15 in Orlando, was DQed against Dusty on 1/21 in St. Augustine and was DQed against Dusty again on 1/21 in Sarasota.
-New in the area was Billy Jack as a face and getting well-received with a good push, and Jim Duggan as a villain.
-Kharma dressed as The Midnight rider on 1/14 and caused Dusty to lose the first Dusty-Sullivan match. Then on 1/24 in Tampa Rhodes wrestled Kharma and if he won he would get Sullivan in the ring for 5 minutes, but SUlivan interfered and Rhodes lost again.
-On the local TV show there was a story about Hogan winning the WWF title. Dave found this strange as almost every promotion was trying to ignore the win and not give Hogan any positive publicity.
-Barry Windham is being noted as doing well in the “All-Asian Tournament”. Meanwhile Yellow Dog is beating Bass in bunkhouse and dog collar matches and slamming One Man Gang, all the while being it is being speculated by the announcers that Dog is Robert Fuller.
-Black Bart not getting much of a build. Hector Guerrero working prelims but he is a hard worker and is wrestling very good
-The son of Tony Charles, Anthony Charles, is almost a twin of Scott Armstrong.

WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP WRESTLING
-Ups and downs at the gate for this promotion. They drew 14,000 in Cleveland for a tag team tournament (Briscos beat Pez Whatley and Dusty Rhodes in the finals, with the Briscos wrestling in their Mid-Atlantic “Scientific Heels” role). The Briscos then appeared on TV the next morning as straight-up good guys.
-tag title confusion: The Sawyers beat the Road Warriors for the title on 1/27 in Cleveland. Sawyers missed TV the next day and the Warriors were announced as being champs again. Later in the show the Warriors were interviewed and said they were looking for the Sawyers to try and regain the belts. On 2/4 TV the Warriors appeared with the belts and it was announced that Buzz Sawyer was injured. Bret Sawyer and Tommy Rogers both appeared on TV and vowed revenge for their brother, which was strange because the TV had not acknowledged that Buzz and Bret were brothers yet.
-Buzz may have disappeared to join the WWF (likely according to Dave), in which case Ole announcing him as injured was “incredibly stupid”.
-Ole was almost out of money and it was reported that Jim Barnett, a McMahon ally, would be moving in.
-Despite all the WCW blunders, the WWF having local TV and Ole having to rely on cable for his TV, WCW still outdraws the WWF in most Ohio and West Virginia cities.
-12/25 in Atlanta (DiBiase vs. Rich, Rich retiring if he lost, Ellering vs.Sawyer Hair vs. hair) only drew 2500 to the Omni. Dave thinks that it drew so poorly because people are wise to Ole’s promotional tactics in retirement bouts or that people just didn’t care if Rich was gone or not. He expected this card to draw 10,000 given the rich tradition of Omni Christmas cards doing well at the gate.
-1/15 Omni drew 4500 which is better than anything since Thanksgiving. Dave says that it being the first card in Atlanta in forever without Tommy Rich probably brought the fans out.
Results were Tommy Rogers winning the Jr title from Les Thornton but Thornton got the title back next day because his foot was on the ropes. Live crowd thought it was a title change. Ron Garvin drew Pez Whatley (now not turning heel), Jake Roberts retained TV belt going to a double Countout with Jerry Lawler, Jerry Brisco/Bugsy McGraw/Brett Sawyer beat The Road Warriors/Killer Karl Krupp when Krupp was pinned. After the bout, The Road Warriors cleared the ring until Stan Hansen, not booked on the card, came in and clobbered the LOD with a 2 x 4. Johnny Rich pinned Ted Dibiase when Mr. R interfered and in the finale Buzz Sawyer and Jos Leduc went to a bloody double DQ in a four minute match.
-Dave is betting that the 2/5 Omni card drew less than 2000. Results were Garvin beating Bundy by forfeit (Garvin gets TV title match on 2/11 as a result), Mr. R beat the Spoiler, Roberts over Jerry Brisco to retain TV belt, Pez Whatley/Sweet Brown Sugar beat Road Warriors by DQ, and Dibiase retained Georgia title by beating Jack Brisco.
-wrestlers on TV but not at the Omni in the last month included Hansen, Jay Youngblood (looking really fatigued), Wahoo McDaniel, Jimmy Valiant, Ric Flair and Brad Armstrong. Dave is impressed with how much Brad has improved.
-Bob Armstrong was set to appear with Brad but is in the hospital. The promotion claimed Dibiase injured Bob but Dave believes the injuries were legit (given his speculation in the Southeast section combined with no buildup or angle around the injury happening). Bob received several broken bones in his face which also makes Dave believe he came out on the wrong side of a real fight.
-The Spoiler looks slow, which is understandable according to Dave because he has been wrestling “since before I was alive and has to be in his mid/late 40’s”. He was involved in a bad skit on 2/4 where he put the Claw on Greg Kosloff, billed as a protégé of Ole’s.
-Bundy turned good guy on that 2/4 show when Paul Ellering was making fat guy jokes about Bundy and Ellering did not realize that the comments were going out on air as he said them. Bundy jumped Ellering and The Road Warriors jumped on Bundy. Bundy looked very bad in the brawl. It is expected Bundy would replace Buzz against the LOD for the departing Buzz.
-others shown on tape on their TV include Dick Slater, Greg Gagne (apparently because of Ole’s supposed alliance with Verne), and Magnum TA (“which shows Ole doesn’t know something very important”)
-Dave thinks the Briscos looked good in their appearances and Sweet Brown Sugar looks out of shape since being out with an eye injury.
-Ole using an “interesting’ promotional tactic for Baltimore on 2/16. It’s billed as “Fan Appreciation night” and fans are encouraged to bring their cameras. This is a shot at the WWF as they had banned cameras at their shows for several months already. The lineup which Dave thinks won’t draw includes DiBiase vs. Mr. R, Road Warriors/Ellering vs. Hansen/Bundy/Brett Sawyer, and Bruno Jr. vs. Zbyszko before both leave for the Midwest.

MID ATLANTIC
-Dick Slater beat Greg Valentine for the US title on 12/22. End saw Orton interfere, Valentine go after him and get back suplexed for the pin. It was a 30 minute match and Dave said the action was really good. Valentine is still wrestling as a good guy.
-Slater pinned Ric Flair at TV on 1/20 when Orton held Flairs legs. Slater was given the belt even though it was announced as a non-title match before the bout began. The belt ended up getting taken away due to Orton’s interference. Slater is claming he is the uncrowned champ and to give credence to this he is beating Flair cleanly in several non-title matches around the area including 2/5 in Greenville with a Russian Leg Sweep in a pretty clean match.
-Slater gave the Mid Atlantic title to Ivan Koloff who was then upended by Angelo Mosca Jr on 1/26. Mosca Jr. has improved “but is still very bad”.
-TV title is still held up after Charlie Brown disappeared and Jimmy Valiant came back.
-TV title tourney started with Mark Youngblood beating Barry Orton (both are pretty good according to Dave). Michael Samuel Houston (Jake’s brother) is also in town.
-Bob Orton Jr. and Don Kernodle, who Dave thinks are the second best team in the US, are set to battle the Youngbloods after beating Valentine and Dory Funk and Angelo Mosca Sr and Wahoo McDaniel.
-Jay Youngblood legit sprained his ankle which would keep him on crutches for two weeks minimum
-Rick Steamboat wrestled several farewell matches, beating Ivan Koloff around the horn. The last one that Dave knew of was 1/22 in Roanoke. His Greensboro farewell, which most of his fans assumed was his real last bout, drew 6800.
-Ernie Ladd is winning most of the bouts in his feud with Angelo Mosca Sr. Dave has heard the bouts are pretty bad
-another feud is Jimmy Valiant/Dusty Rhodes/Dory Funk/Baron Von Raschke vs. The Assassins/Paul Jones with Raschke getting a pretty good response.
-Brody and Hansen were in Greensboro on 2/5 for a rare US appearance and apparently faced Dory Funk and Terry Gibbs
-Tully Blanchard in and winning a few prelims
-Kabuki is back
-shocker to Dave is the Grapplers (Len Denton and Tony Anthony) are appearing here without their maska and losing to the likes of Johnny Weaver and Vinnie Valentino
-Big news is this promotion teaming with Puerto Rico and Atlanta to run TV in New York on Spanish channel 41 and they are announcing that they are on their way to the Big Apple. Dave thinks the TV is weak because the interviews are given in English and then translated to Spanish which loses a lot of steam. Still, Dave thinks that they could not make a dent in the market yet still draw decently enough to make it a worthwhile venture.

OTHER LATE NOTES
-Killer Khan beat Stomper for NA title in Calgary on 1/30
-John Quinn and Ron Starr now working for Stampede as well
-12/26 MSG will be re-broadcast on USA Network in March
-Bruiser’s Indianapolis group drew two sellouts (3100) for Bruiser and Brody vs. tag champs Jerry Valiant and Abdullah the Great. Brody no-showed both dates although Dave was told he was really expected to be there. Bruiser teamed with Jeff Van Kamp instead to win the tag titles
-Mid South Correction: the three Oklahoma City cards featuring Garvin, Adams and their valets drew in the 8-10,000 range and the12,000 at the 1/29 show was the largest crowd ever to see wrestling in the state of Oklahoma.
-Reed and Neidhart’s split after they lost the Mid South tag titles on 12/25 occurred in the dressing room and the two were facing each other in football helmet matches now
-Kerry in at the last Mid South TV tapes. Terry Taylor getting big reception there for his bouts
-Hogan billed in Vegas on Jan 4 against Billy Robinson. Show drew 6,000. Hogan was replaced by Jesse Ventura
-1/24 in Vegas drew 8900 even without Hogan billed at all for Bockwinkel over Rheingans, Lanza over Heenan in a Bunkhouse match
-1/14 in Boston drew 14,800 (just under a sellout) for a Battleroyal won by Slaughter and Backlund over Iron Shiek by DQ
-2/18 in Philly not a cage bout between Hogan and Superstar. Also Snuka/Andre vs. Muraco/Slaughter
-JYD set to feud with Darsow in Mid South. Darsow to Siberia if he loses
-Sheepherders, Bobby Jaggers and Manny Fernandez all arrested on 2/1 during a match on the East Coast due to the match getting so out of hand that chairs. Tables and garbage cans were thrown into the crowd. All pleaded innocent to the charges
-Bass and Bart won US tag titles from Davis and Rotondo on 2/6 in West Palm Beach
-Geigel had a show set for Kemper Arena in KC featuring Road Warriors, Kamala, Brody, McDaniel, Flair, JYD, and more
-Matt Borne returned to the Northwest joining Oliver’s Clan to replace departing Dynamite Kid
-Borne then turned good by helping the good guys (Curt Hennig and Pat McGee) retain their tag titles over Oliver and The Assassin in a rematch. Heels then beat up Borne with a cowbell to set up Oliver vs. Borne on 1/28. Borne beat Oliver with a chair for the win in only a few minutes. Brett Sawyer returning in March and Piper set to return in May
-Curt Hennig won annual Salem battleroyal and one-night tournament
-Kid either returning to Portland or going to Calgary after Japan trip
-Ed Wiskoski bought a ranch and is semi-retired. Dave hears he is gaining weight and moving slower
-coming in for WCCW were Lars Anderson, Kelly Kiniski, JYD and Jim Neidhart
-Parsons over SD I for Texas TV title on 2/6 in Fort Worth
-Mid South newcomers due to Dundee’s booking include Rock and Roll Express, Masao Ito, and Buddy Landell
-Volkoff headed to Atlanta
-DiBiase vs. Mr. R in mask vs. National title on 2/18 in what will certainly end up being a title change

FINAL PAGE
There is a picture of Carlos Colon escaping a cage against NWA World Champion Ric Flair on 12/18 in San Juan in a bout to determine the Undisputed World Title. Colon won but the NWA did not recognize the change because they don’t allow “first out of the cage” as an option for a win in NWA title matches contested in a cage.

That’s all for the March 1984 Observer.

[Seth82]

this is the May 23rd 1988 edition of Wrestling Observer

WWF
-- The WWF took out a full page ad in Electronic Media magazine, the trade publication for the TV industry, with the ad entitled "What A.C. Neilsen isn't tell you." The idea is that they're trying to stop some of the damage caused by Neilsen closing their loophole that skewed in wrestling's favor. The WWF has already sold most of its ads for the whole year, and they're really worried about what's going to happen now. The ad also said they were in the top five eery week since the syndication ratings debuted two weeks prior, which only Jeopardy and Wheel of Fortune could claim. Dave says that's only a slight lie, because there was one week where they were #6.

-- "Hulk Hogan's wife Linda gave birth to a 10 pound, one ounce baby girl named Brooke on 5/5. It was the couple's first child."

-- Ricky Steamboat has retired, but Dave doubts it's permanent. He wants to spend more time with his son and look after his gym in Charlotte. "Just to let you know the type of people the Steamboats are, guess what I got in the mail last week. That's right, a couple of Steamboat gym T-shirts."

-- 5/8 in Binghamton, NY drew 3,500 fans headlined by Brutus Beefcake vs Honky Tonk Man. 5/12 in Erie, PA drew 1,000 fans headlined by Demolition vs Strike Force. 5/15 in Chicago drew 8,500 fans headlined by Randy Savage vs Ted DiBiase.

-- It's pretty much a lock that Owen Hart is coming in in July and will be called The Cheetah Kid, although the name could change. At this point, Hart will only reconsider if Inoki makes him a huge offer to work New Japan full time, and that's not happening realistically.

-- Wrestlers are now working 10 days on, 3 days off.

-- Four of the top 10 sports videos are Wrestlemanias.

-- There was a front page sports story in a St. Louis newspaper about Randy Savage's minor league baseball career. Fred Blassie is also doing local radio work in St. Louis to hype upcoming WWF shows.

NWA
-- Barry Windham captured the U.S. title on 5/13 in Houston in a tournament before 4,800 fans, which drew a $54,000 gate. Larry Zbyszko was dropped from the tournament because the line-up was made before the Windham turn, and they had to avoid having a heel versus heel match in the tournament. The show was headlined by Flair vs Sting in a cage match which Dave says was subpar.

-- Paul Boesch's "Houston Wrestling" show will be restarting in June. It will include footage from NWA syndicated shows, local interviews for just Houston conducted by Boesch, and tapes of house show matches from Houston in the same format of the old UWF Houston show. Because of this, the NWA plans to start running Houston regularly. World Class actually has plans of running shows in Houston also.

-- "I'd almost be remiss in not commenting on the rumors swirling through the wrestling world that Ted Turner is going to buy the NWA. All I know is no deal has been completed but the rumors are flying everywhere about what may or may not happen. If such a deal is completed, Jim Crockett will still run the wrestling operation however the rest of the family wouldn't be as involved as it would be their stock that Turner would buy out. There's been a ton of speculation, particularly about Dusty Rhodes, should this happen, but it's all premature."

-- 5/11 in Miami drew 2,943 fans headlined by Ric Flair vs Steve Williams. 5/12 in Tallahassee drew 5,500 fans for a TBS taping which include Kevin Sullivan kidnapping Precious. 5/14 in Chicago drew 2,800 fans headlined by Flair vs Sting with three judges at ringside, which Dave thinks they botched so bad at the Clash that it probably hurt the gate.

-- The Rock & Roll Express want to return. There's a decent shot it will happen, but Dave thinks if they do come in, they should turn heel and feud with The Fantastics.

MEMPHIS
-- Jerry Lawler is the new AWA champ. Dave says the word he got from those who attended the show was that it was one of the best overall live shows of the year, that it couldn't compete with the workrate of the Clash but was a better overall show. Crowd was estimated at between 9,000 and 10,000, but the $45,500 announced gate indicates less people than that. The title win was a major news item in Memphis. It was carried on the front page of the sports section the following day, and it was a lead news item on every single local news program in the market. The mayor of Memphis was at the event, and there was tons of local coverage. Word Dave gets is that the match itself was good, but not great, and that the best match on the show was Paul Diamond and Pat Tanaka over Billy Travis and Tom Brandi.

-- Jerry Lawler vs Bill Dundee headlines the 5/16 show as a babyface match. "They should call Dundee the human ping-pong ball as many times as he's bounced over the fence between heel and babyface here."

-- Phil Hickerson is expected to return to wrestling over summer and team with Don Bass.

-- Gary Young is asking girls to send in photos so he can pick a valet. To explain Missy Hyatt no longer being in his corner, he just said they had differences of opinion. Missy is not set for any future dates.

-- Brother Ernest Angel has been running into outside the ring problems and is no longer around. Brickhouse Brown is now the lead heel manager.

-- On TV, they announced the only way Hennig would get a rematch with Lawler is if he wins the CWA title. Hennig will be doing shows here managed by Brickhouse Brown.

-- The NWA has made a play for Nashville, and have a 6/23 show headlined by Barry Windham vs Lex Luger. They also took one of his key TV spots in Nashville.

-- Lawler got the title because Jarrett Promotions agreed to pay Curt Hennig's weekly guarantee of $1,500 as long as Lawler was champion. Verne Gagne is not responsible for Hennig's guarantee right now, and Hennig will be working more Memphis dates.

AWA
-- "I survived an AWA ESPN taping. Just barely. There is no question in my mind that the AWA is the worst promotion of any significant proportion after viewing 'The Night of Wrestling Hell', the 5/14 taping at the Showboat Training Center before 750 fans. A whole group of us decided to go at the last minute, I guess mainly to see Riki Choshu's first U.S. wrestling appearance in nearly six years. Actually Choshu's appearance was just an excuse to write off his honeymoon in Las Vegas, and he wrestled with about as much effort as you'd expect of someone on his honeymoon. And he was still better than just about everyone on the card." Dave goes on to say four of the five advertised matches didn't take place, and there were six no-shows. The absence of Michaels and Jannetty was key, because they're the only draws the AWA currently has in Las Vegas, but they quit once again unhappy about a contract offer made to them by Verne Gagne.

-- The Nasty Boys have been fired.

-- Dave complains about the AWA billing Choshu as "Shoshi", and calling Curt Hennig (Curt Henig). They also misspelled Marty Jannetty and Madusa Miceli. Dave expected Verne would misspell Choshu, but thought he was spell it as "Cho Shoe" ...

-- "The AWA jobber corps is pitiful for the most part, but it's always been that way, but now the winner corps is as bad as the jobber corps. Well, at least we got to see first-hand why the AWA is truly the major league of professional wrestling and why ESPN is the total sports network. This wasn't the worst card I've ever seen (though certainly the worst card I've ever travelled to see, but I was expecting that), but it was the worst collection of wrestlers I've ever seen gathered in one place (with notable exceptions like Curt Hennig, Bad Company, the Japanese, Jerry Lawler, the Guerreros, and Dennis Stamp)."

-- "I will say one thing positive about Miceli, she has a lot of charisma and gets a lot of reaction from almost everything she does, even though most of the time she doesn't have a clue as to what she is doing. At least she's got potential to be a great valet, but keep her out of the ring unless absolutely necessary."

--"Andre and the Anabolic Warrior are like Flair and Owen Hart compared to -- Handsome Harry, a transient from Los Angeles and Iron Man Miller, a 280-pound musclehead (Mark Miller is his real name, he started out with Sting and Dingo a few years back and has progressed to the point he's almost as far behind Dingo as Dingo is behind Sting)."

WCCW
-- Reports on the 5/8 show at Texas Stadium weren't good. What was supposed to be the biggest show of the year drew a subpar gate, at $53,500 and 6,000 paid. They were hoping to build some momentum with a big crowd to see Terry Gordy turn babyface, and also put on a hot show that would sell well marketed as a VHS tape, but the show didn't achieve its goals. "If anything, it shows that World Class is in even more dire straits than previously indicated. In my mind, even more telling, is that the most recent Saturday Night's Main Event, which drew one of its lowest numbers of the season (but still a great rating for the time slot) actually beat out the World Class show head-to-head in the Dallas market gathering a 6.3 to World Class' 3.6 on 4/30. This marks the first time than (sic) an SNME has ever outrated the World Class show on Saturday Night (where World Class in its peak was drawing a 12 rating weekly), and it was more because of the fall of interest in World Class than due to any increase in interest in Titan's product."

-- Central States is expected to merge with World Class, but the official word is that it's just temporary. However, WCCW is supposed to be doing TV tapings out of Kansas City. Masa Chono turned babyface on their 5/5 card.

-- Masa Chono and the Samoan Swat Team are headed in soon.

OREGON
-- Billy Jack Haynes' outlaw promotion (Washington Wrestling Federation!) ran its debut card on 5/7 in front of 2,000 fans, a surprisingly high number, especially with no local TV to promote. Dave has heard the show was awful. The facility was very nice, and Dave is told it attracted a higher class audience than you usually get at a Don Owen show, similar to a WWF show. There were problems with long delays between matches -- only 44 minutes of wrestling in a three-hour show. There were no music entrances, which really bummed out the crowd. At one point, someone came into the ring to apologize that things weren't going smoothly and requested that fans be patient and give them time to improve. Chavo Guerrero was said to be the only first-rate wrestler on the show, and he was stuck doing a job for J.T. Southern, including one spot where he pretty much superplexed himself.

CONTINENTAL
-- Robert Fuller no-showed his loser leaves town series against Dutch Mantell, so he's out for now. Dutch is leaving for Puerto Rico soon, and Dave isn't sure if he'll be back.

-- Steve Armstrong is out recording an album. (???) In the meantime, Tracy Smothers is teaming with Shane Douglas.

-- Austin Idol is coming in as a babyface. Randy Rose and Dennis Condrey are also expected in.

-- Paul E. Dangerously is doing an angle offering $10,000 to anyone who can beat Eddie Gilbert.

STAMPEDE
-- 5/6 in Calgary drew 650 fans. 5/14 in Edmonton drew 800 fans.

-- They are setting up a Chris Benoit/Johnny Smith feud over the Commonwealth title.

-- The WWF is headed to Calgary on 7/1 with DiBiase vs Savage, Demolition vs Bulldogs, and Bret Hart vs Bad News Brown. Dave expects it will draw big.

-- Biff Wellington is out with an elbow injury.

-- People are really worried about the future of Stampede if Owen leaves, but Dave says they always do fine when he does New Japan tours. Dave says he was not an exceptoinal draw even though he was over huge with the live crowd, which Dave attributes to them taking him for granted.

NEW JAPAN
-- New Japan held their first card at the Ariake Coliseum, an outdoor tennis stadium, on 5/7. The main event was changed twice. It was originally Vader vs Inoki, but Inoki broke his foot and they changed to Vader vs Choshu. Fujinami made some demands, so the main event was changed to Fujinami vs Vader. More confusion was caused when a rainstorm hit Tokyo on 5/7 and the card was canceled and rescheduled for the following day, but they still drew a sellout 10,250 and Fujinami captured the title with a DQ win in 16:02. Other key matches were Hiroshi Hase beating Shiro Koshinaka to keep the IWGP junior title in 18:10, and Don Nakaya Neilsen scoring a KO win over Keichi Yamada in a mixed match, the first time a wrestler has lost one of these since Shinma started the gimmick 15 years prior. Dave has heard the mixed match was outstanding, and that Neilsen deserves tons of credit, because he had probably the best mixed match of all time against Akira Maeda in 1986. The rumor is that Neilsen will eventually become a pro wrestler, he has a great aptitude for wrestling. Dave thinks this is to build to another mixed match in August where he will do a job to someone like Inoki, Fujinami, Choshu or Kengo Kimura. The gate was $400,000, which put it second only to Wrestlemania IV for a live gate this year. The show wasn't taped for television.

-- A recent Tokyo newspaper showed Antonio Inoki as the 9th highest paid athlete in Japan.

-- Futuhaguro, the sumo wrestler, was recently spotted at Larry Sharpe's Monster Factory. He is leaning toward getting into wrestling, which people in Japan think would be the biggest thing since Rikidozan. The problem is that he has a big head and is a lazy trainer, which means his transition may not be smooth. Also, he wants huge money to start, more than Jumbo, Tenryu, or Choshu make, and the top stars have already said they would quit if he made more than them, and that's his asking price. Dave suggests bringing him in for 10 weeks a year and paying him $10,000 a week. He'd still get his asking price and the top stars in either company wouldn't feel insulted.

-- 5/3 in Tsuruga drew 2,020 fans. 5/5 in Ogaki drew 3,710 fans, a sellout. 5/6 in Hamakita drew 1,560 fans.

MEXICO
-- "I got a tape of some of the best matches from Mexico City over the past six months and try as I do, I just can't get into the wrestling there. Some of the guys are really talented fliers, particularly Atlantis who does things Owen Hart couldn't even dream of doing, but they work so different from U.S. and Japanese style that it makes almost off (sic) of them appear to be bad workers. Still, I saw a 6-man from mid-March with Pirata Morgan & El Verdugo & Hombre Bala (The Buccaneers) against Atlantis & La Azteca & Ringo Mendoza which was four stars plus in anyone's book. I'm told the best workers are Morgan and Negro Casas (who I still haven't seen). La Fiera, who I thought was fantastic when he wrestled in Japan in 1984, seems pretty crippled up. These guys take enormous physical risks in their flying style, but the crowds seem like thousands of cardboard cut-outs of fans because unless guys do move so out of this world they are suicidal, the crowd doesn't react to anything. You really can't tell faces from heels by the crowd, although you can by watching the way it's done. The youngest Guerrero brother, Eddie, is pretty impressive. He does the best arm drags I've ever seen and a great dropkick off the top rope. I guess the best way to describe the wrestling and the wrestlers is either it's really good, or it's awful with little in between."

OTHER
-- Interesting letter from Bruce Mitchell talking about the role of smart fans.

-- Dave is selling Missy Hyatt swimsuit posters for some reason.

[itsmeJD]

Brooke was a big ass baby.

[CSL]

somebody e-mailed me a .pdf of the 1983 Wrestling Observer Yearbook/Annual Review this morning that I've only just checked out, pretty interesting reading things from a "smark mark" p.o.v from nearly 30 years ago. Can't copy and paste it because it's a .pdf but I know there's a few people here that might be interested so if you send me or post your e-mail address, I'll forward it to you

[Seth82]

somebody e-mailed me a .pdf of the 1983 Wrestling Observer Yearbook/Annual Review this morning that I've only just checked out, pretty interesting reading things from a "smark mark" p.o.v from nearly 30 years ago. Can't copy and paste it because it's a .pdf but I know there's a few people here that might be interested so if you send me or post your e-mail address, I'll forward it to you

I'd be interested in it

I'll shoot ya my email in a minute.

[Seth82]

Meltzer's Wrestling Observer from 7-11-88

WWF
-- The 7/31 show at the 55,000-seat Milwaukee County Stadium will be headlined by Hogan vs Andre in a cage. Dave thinks they're doing this match as a dry run for a possible house show series in the fall, which if it happens, will probably be the biggest money house show program they've done since Hogan/Orndorff.

-- Owen Hart is starting with the WWF. He will be under a mask as a C Team performer. He will probably debut on 7/13 in Lacrosse, WI, at the same taping as Terry Taylor. Dave also suspects Hogan will appear at either that taping or 7/14 in Cedar Rapids, IA. Regarding Owen's WWF run, Dave says the following: "There are a couple of ways at looking at this. First, it is simply impossible for Hart to have the calibre of matches with Titan that he did on his most recent Japan tour against the likes of Koshinaka, Hase and Yamada. The opponents aren't good enough, and he wouldn't be allowed to do the moves. Still, if marketed correctly, and Titan generally does a good job in this regard (and certainly a better job than any other promotion), a flying wrestler with the right gimmick, the right kind of push, and the right opponent can be a major thing for Titan. They don't have anyone like him. Jimmy Snuka was only 5-10 and was one of the three or four hottest babyfaces of the last decade in the Northeast simply for one move. Satoru Sayama, who weighed 60 pounds less than Hart, was one of the two or three biggest names in this entire business in the early part of the decade. At the same time, Sayama never would have been as big a star as he was if he didn't have the Dynamite Kid, Bret Hart, Black Tiger, Kobayashi and others of nearly the same size and of good calibre to feud with. Still, with all the big guys in Titan, Hart is a comparative midget (though in talent, the midgets are the big guys in most cases) and if the size difference is accentuated by putting him in with the wrong foe and having him sell size and fake strength moves, it will be very easy for Titan fans to simply see him as 'too small'."

-- All of the WWF's pay-per-view records were shattered by the Mike Tyson vs Michael Spinks boxing match drawing a 15 percent national PPV buy rate. It grossed $30 million in the PPV market. Dave says it will never happen, but Hogan vs Tyson on pay-per-view would draw more than Mike Tyson against any boxer, simply because there is little mystery to Tyson matches until a new contender is groomed. While Hogan is seen as a fake, his size might make people think he has a chance.

-- No Holds Barred finishes taping on 7/30, so 7/31 will be Hogan's first match back. Dave doesn't see anyone in a hurry to put the belt back on him, and there is no reason to if he can draw without it, at least until Wrestlemania.

-- "The Ted DiBiase vs. Randy Savage cage match from the last MSG show was the best match at MSG in years -- the last ****1/2 bout at the Garden I can recall was the Sgt. Slaughter vs. Iron Sheik boot camp match in the summer of 1984. This match wasn't quite up to that level, but was the best WWF match I've seen at least since the Savage vs. Steamboat match at the Silverdome. I'm not a big fan of WWF cage matches and they spent too much time trying to escape (and four times with Savage about to get out, Virgil punched him back in), however you can't deny that both guys went all out for 12 minutes climbing up and down, taking bumps and working at a pace about 10 times normal for WWF main eventers. You know, some of the matches these two have had of late have been so good that people are talking like the WWF is going to get back to traditional wrestling, whatever that may be since the style of wrestling in the 70s was difference in each circuit and they go nationwide. But people fail to watch the prelim matches on these MSG cards, which are awful from top-to-bottom, or forget that Titan's top matches besides Savage vs. DiBiase are Andre vs. Duggan and Honkeytonk vs. Beefcake, two of the poorest match-ups for wrestling and action of this decade."

-- Except for the cage match with Andre, Hogan's next series of matches will be with mid-level heels like Haku and Bad News Brown. His big feud in fall will probably be with Big Boss Man. Dave thought Boss Man was doing well until he saw a horrible match he had with Scott Casey.

-- 6/24 in Providence drew 3,000 headlined by Roberts/Duggan vs Rude/Andre. 6/25 in Baltimore drew 7,000 for Savage vs DiBiase on top. 6/19 in Elizabeth, NJ drew 1,157 and a $12,600 gate headlined by Honkeytonk Man vs. Brutus Beefcake. 7/1 in Calgary drew 12,500 and $160,000 Canadian headlined by Savage vs DiBiase in a *** match.

-- USA is planning a three-hour special on 07/18.

-- WWF has booked a second date in Greensboro on 10/28. They debut at the Greensboro Coliseum on 8/7 with Andre vs. Hogan on top.

-- The latest in the neverending Vince/Bruno Sammartino feud is that announcers have been instructed going forward to always call Superstar Billy Graham "The Living Legend".

NWA
-- The Great American Bash is on 07/10 and would have occurred by the time WON readers received this issue. Dave anticipates it being the biggest money non-WWF show in history and probably fourth of all time when it comes to dollars grossed for the show. "While the NWA has done a very good job of hyping this show, they've still got a long ways to go before they are polished at putting together a megashow. First off, this Price For Freedom tag is goofy, although that's such a minor point it probably wasn't worth bringing up. The fact they've never really announced the 10 participants in the triple tower and really have never simply gone over the card from top-to-bottom isn't a minor point. My own feeling is that even though I expect this to be a good show, and Clash of the Champions I proved that five matches are enough for a hot show provided they are hot matches, my own feeling is that fans do often look to quantity and want to see a 'complete' card for these specials and I think an eight match show with three hours to get it in would satisfy people that they are seeing 'all the stars' and since the NWA needs more time per match than a WWF show would because of the difference in product, I'd hate to see a repeat of Starrcade where it was evident that they were rushing the Flair match because they were coming against the clock."

-- Dave also points out that in the local cable guides, there is almost always a full page ads with photos and a full card rundown before a WWF PPV. For the Bash, he had to "scour" the guide to find a small ad on Page 30. All it said was "Each year, the National Wrestling Alliance streaks across the country holding grudge matches, settling old rivalries and initiating new ones. This year, you're invited to watch as the Bash presents for the first time ever the triple-cage 'Tower of Doom' matching Ric Flair and Lex Luger." On page 164, there was another paragraph that said this: "Gill Cable presents The Great American Bash from Baltimore on Sunday July 10 at 4:00 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. See Ric Flair, Lex Luger, The Midnight Rider, Tully Blanchard, 'Gorgeous' Jimmy Garvin and Precious, The Midnight Express, and other top stars from the NWA." Dave's response? "Jeez, we've known the line-up for months, and the NWA pretty well had planned a Flair vs. Luger main event for the Bash PPV dating back to January so couldn't we have some sort of hype for the match itself, something like the Old Master vs. Young Lion confrontation pitting the greatest wrestler of all-time against the man many expect to take his place (so much for truth in advertising, but let's face it, if Andre vs. Hogan can be the match of the century, Luger can be billed as a future wrestling great). Instead we get no mention of the title, and in fact, in one ad we get the two main matches confused and for those who don't know better, they actually won't be seeing what is advertised. The second ad lists seven names, one of whom (Midnight Rider) has long since rode into the sunset and the other names mean nothing except in the context of a great match situation. Seeing Tully Blanchard or Midnight Express or Garvin & Precious or even Ric Flair is not going to make anyone think twice about shelling out money. You've got to have specific matches. Besides, if you are just listing names, to the general public, while most NWA wrestlers are not particularly well-known (and in fact, aside from Hogan, no wrestlers have what I'd call cross-over popularity to the non-fan audience), Crockett's best-known guys are Flair and the Road Warriors, who weren't mentioned in either ad, and in fact, it's never been made all that clear except for those who listen attentively to the NWA interviews that the Warriors are even on this card."

-- There was speculation that since the Tyson PPV only went 91 seconds and cost $15.00 that people might not be willing to turn around and spend additional money on the NWA show. Dave calls whatever damage might happen "extremely minimal".

-- The Bash series is drawing well so far, as expected, but no $250,000 gates like in years past. The tour opened 6/26 in Orlando drawing 6,000 fans and an $87,000 gate, a record in Orlando. 6/27 in Greenville, SC drew 4,700 fans -- just shy of capacity. 6/28 in Columbia, SC, drew a turnaway house, 7/1 in Norfolk drew a $100,000 gate, 7/2 at the Charlotte baseball stadium drew 10,000 fans and a $98,000 gate, way down from previous Bash shows in Charlotte which have done over 20,000. 7/3 in Amarillo drew a near sellout of more than 6,000 fans. Baltimore is expected to do a live gate of $180,000.

-- "A lot has changed in the past week regarding the possible sale of the NWA to the Turner broadcasting empire. I really don't want to get into details because I'm not totally clear of all of them, other than the JCP stockholders (basically the Crockett family) are not united in wanting to sell the company right now. I'm not certain of who stands where other than Jim Crockett is behind the sale and David isn't, and Ole Anderson is trying to become a key player in this deal as well and is trying to sway the wrestlers into breaking away and either forming a new company (which could conceivably be headed by David Crockett provided Jim Crockett makes a deal with Turner) or actually manuevering a deal with Turner himself, which if Anderson could provide the wrestlers, in theory, then Turner wouldn't have to pay however many millions to the Crocketts to actually buy a company. Of course none of this takes into account that any new company would have to start from scratch when it comes to putting together a national syndication network so it could promote, and this network would have to be started at a time when TV programmers are no longer hot on wrestling not to mention all the disadvantages when it comes to booking the major arenas and building up an audience during these times when the wrestling economy is far from its healthiest point. It is expected that several more major breakthroughs will be taking place before this month is out in what inevitably will wind up being the most important news story in pro wrestling this year."

-- PPV clearances for the Bash is 10 million homes, roughly the same as Wrestlemania IV. Dave anticipates the Bash getting about half the number of PPV buys as WM IV.

-- There is unhappiness among the crew since word was given that payoffs for the Baltimore Bash won't be given until October 1.

-- George Michael Sports Machine is doing a lengthy piece on Ric Flair.

-- The Road Warriors in Weekly Pro Wrestling magazine in Japan: "That's right. We're going to work for the WWF. But we can't say when for sure. New York wants the Road Warriors really bad. It's not that we don't like their style. We don't give a damn about what they do in the ring or how they promote the card. The bottom line is what they can offer. Sure we can't come back to Japan, we won't go to the WWF. Nobody can tell us what to do. Nobody and we can nobody can boss us around. Right now, we are under contract with the NWA. This is the official commitment and we are not about to break it. Then again, anything is a gamble to a certain degree. You have to leave all your options open." (My note: This is really bizarre ...) The interview was done before the Powers of Pain jumped.

-- 7/4 in Dallas at Reunion Arena drew 5,000 fans headlined by Ric Flair & Barry Windham vs Lex Luger & Dusty Rhodes. WCCW drew 3,000 at the Sportatorium on the same night at $5.00 per ticket. 7/1 in Norfolk, VA drew 9,000 fans headlined by Luger/Sting/Road Warriors vs Flair/Windham/Arn/JJ in a cage match described as excellent.

-- Crockett had been plugging for weeks that tickets for the Seattle Bash show on 8/3 would go on sale on 7/5. Tons of fans showed up to buy tickets and there were none available. In fact, the date had not even been approved by the commission and no wrestlers had applied for licenses.

WCCW
-- 7/1 at the Sportatorium drew 1,100 fans headlined by Kevin & Kerry Von Erich vs Terry Taylor & Iceman Parsons.

-- The Von Erich story is definitely set for the October issue of Penthouse. The Dallas Times Herald had a preview the previous Wednesday.

-- Since WCCW started appearing in Kansas City, crowds have improved to between 350 and 500 per show.

-- "Seems the thought that Ken Mantell wasn't going to run the promotion to preserve the Von Erich legacy has gone out the window. Kevin holds the Texas title, Kerry the World title, Kevin & Kerry hold the tag titles, and Kevin, Kerry & Hayes hold the six-man belts."

MEMPHIS
-- The CWA title changed hands on 6/27 in Memphis when Max Pain beat Brickhouse Brown in a cage match. Pain lost the title on 7/3 to Phil Hickerson. Scott Steiner & Billy Travis regained the Southern tag titles on 6/27 from Don Bass & Gary Young, also in a cage match.

-- 6/27, with the two title changes and Lawler vs Kerry Von Erich on top, drew 4,000 fans. The Lawler/Kerry match went 10 minutes before Robert Fuller & Jimmy Golden interfered and attacked Lawler. Kerry helped fight them off, but then said he didn't come all the way from Texas to end the match like that, so they re-started the match and it went 12 more minutes, and finally ended with a double countout finish. The match aired on FNN, was said to be really good, and both juiced. Antonio Inoki was in the crowd watching the match.

-- "Jeff Jarrett is over a tremendous amount now as a face, which is an unbelievable difference from his pre-broken arm days when lots of fans were booing him. The thing they did the week before on TV with his father was a really good and very effective skit."

-- 7/3 drew an impressive 5,000 fans mainly to see Jimmy Valiant return. "Valiant has always been a big drawing card in Memphis on a short-term basis and will be around for about a month I'm told, but I guess this means he's finally through with Crockett, which has seemed inevitable for a long time. Actually the only reason Valiant stuck around for as long as he did was because he was under contract and was waiting for the balloon payment on his contract and I guess he got tired of waiting."

OREGON
-- Billy Jack Haynes' group appears to be on its last legs. Many shows have been canceled and several wrestlers have left. They held a card on 6/24 in Gresham, OR, that drew 60 fans. Coco Samoa is a referee.

WINDY CITY
-- Windy City has announced a card for 7/9 in Rockford with a tag team battle royal and Steve Regal vs Eddie Gilbert.

-- They have signed an exclusive deal with the Ampitheatre and will be running shows there every six weeks. Paul E. Dangerously, who is doing booking, will manage Condrey, Rose, Gilbert and Col. DeBeers.

CONTINENTAL
-- Lawler vs. Idol on 7/2 in Dothan, AL, drew a $10,000 gate and "... had a very unique twist. Before the match started (and I understand this match was taped for television), Paul E. Dangerously showed up with an 'injunction' which stated that he could be at ringside for this match because of supposed terms in his previous contract with Austin Idol that if Idol ever got a World title match than Dangerously would be his manager. However Dangerously basically was working on behalf of Lawler in this match, although Lawler was acting like he didn't want him around either. The finish saw Idol catch Lawler in the figure four leglock when Dangerously pulled the referee out of the ring and Ko'd him with his phone. Eddie Gilbert then interfered and threw fire in Idol's face although the fire actually missed. Earlier in the show, Lawler had a non-title match against Ken Wayne and Gilbert tried to throw fire at Lawler once again, however Lawler ducked and the fire went into the eyes of referee John Keaton."

STAMPEDE
-- 6/24 in Calgary drew just 350 fans, which is the lowest crowd for a double TV taping in a really long time. This was the last Calgary card until 7/22, so they had to get more matches in so they could air TV. They also filmed a supplementary card on 6/22 in Red Deer, put together at the last minute.

-- Jason The Terrible is coming back to feud with Steve DiSalvo.

-- Brian Pillman is announced for the 7/9 card in Edmonton, which is good for Stampede because they had lost Owen Hart and Jason The Terrible. Pillman was sidelined with a tricep injury.

-- The group is touring British Columbia and drawing decent.

-- Mika Komatsu and Yumi Ogura are in for three weeks, but won't be seen on television because they are in during the time TV isn't being taped.

-- Kerry Brown has been turned face because of the lack of babyfaces, and is being geared to feud with Makhan Singh.

-- Steve Blackman was awarded the TV title in a tournament to crown a first champion that took place on 6/17 and 6/24.

NEW JAPAN
-- Tokyo Sports reported a rumor that Antonio Inoki will be selling New Japan to Ted Turner to be part of an international NWA. "I certainly don't think there is anything to this story, but the funny thing is, it would make sense for someone to own a promotion in Japan and the U.S. because he could arrange injuries and tours for stale talent back and forth and fans wouldn't have a chance to see the departed wrestlers on another promotions' TV. Actually, there are numerous advantages to this, but it won't happen."

-- "I guess Inoki's trying to start rumors of his own. There is still talk of Inoki vs. Hulk Hogan on 8/8 in Yokohama but again I think they are just stirring up ink, since it is virtually impossible that this match will take place."

-- Tatsumi Fujinami is receiving a big push. He pinned Riki Choshu on 6/24 in Osaka to regain the held up IWGP title and handed Big Van Vader his first pinfall loss on 6/26 in Nagoya.

-- Shiro Koshinaka captured the IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Title on 6/24 in Osaka, pinning Owen Hart. Owen is scheduled to come back in October, but that probably won't happen since he's with the WWF now.

-- The highest crowd of the last series was 10,760 paid in Nagoya for Vader vs Fujinami on 06/26.

-- 6/22 in Omiya drew 2,110 fans. 6/19 TV taping at Korauken Hall drew 2,250 fans. 6/24 in Osaka drew 6,088. 6/23 in Yokohama drew 3,940.

-- Riki Choshu vs Yoshiaki Fujiwara at the last TV taping was a match Dave called "interesting". Choshu got the clean win, which wasn't surprising since Fujiwara is UWF bound when his contract expires. But the crowd was solidly behind Fujiwara and reacted huge to the submission holds, to a point where it made it obvious this was the match that sold out Korauken Hall. "Choshu was forced to wrestle and he's actually very good with the matwork when he's forced to actually do the stuff. While some would find the matwork boring, since it was moving matwork and the two are both solid and quick with their trading moves and sold for each other realistically, I thought it was a good match. However, when Choshu gained the pinfall with the lariat, the place went totally silent because the fans who were there 'believed' that Choshu couldn't legitimately beat Fujiwara and thus the pinfall was for the political reasons we spoke of earlier and the good match became a sham in their eyes."

-- "Adrian Adonis weighs more than Vader, which tells you how his diet is going, however he sold all the size and power moves and took excellent bumps, especially when you consider he looked to be in the 325 pound range. Vader has improved a lot and is probably a better all-around worker than Big Bubba Rogers at this point although he still has to be carried."

-- Hiroshi Hase should be back in by the end of the month. He suffered broken ribs in a match with Keichi Yamada in early June.

-- Bob Backlund was interviewed in a Japanese magazine and left his options open for returning to wrestling. He said he won't go to the NWA because he can't make the same level of money as the top guys. New Japan and the UWF both really want him to come in.

ALL JAPAN
-- All the magazines in Japan have been articles and photos on Mitsuharu Misawa out of the mask. His identity has become public knowledge because of his recent wedding.

-- Shinichi Nakano, Shunji Takano, Tiger Mask, Akira Taue, and Isao Takagi have formed their own group in All Japan to feud with Tenryu's Revolution group.

JOSHI
-- 6/26 at Korauken Hall saw Bull Nakano earn a shot at Chigusa Nagayo's World title before a sellout 1,800 fans.

-- JWP is building up a match on 7/14 between Devil Masami and Shinobu Kandori. Masami has gained 40 pounds since she retired, "... and has the biggest thighs on any wrestler, male or female, that I think I've ever seen including Doug Furnas."

-- Yumiko Hotta and Mitsuko Nishiwaki are being groomed to be the next big tag team for AJW, and have been nicknamed The Fire Jets.

OTHER
-- Scott Hall is wrestling in Austria.

LAST MINUTE NEWS FLASH
-- "Just as we were going to press we received the tragic news about the death of pro wrestlers Adrian Adonis, David McKigney and Pat Kelly in what was described as a gruesome van wreck in New Foundland on the night of 7/4. According to Canadian wire service reports, the three wrestlers along with Mike Kelly, another wrestler, were traveling in a mini-van en route to a match in Lewisporte, New Foundland (an island on Canada's Eastern coast) when the van crashed and went into a brook. Pat Kelly, whose real name was Victor Arko and McKigney, best known as The Bearman or Canadian Wildman, were pronounced dead at the scene while Adonis died hours later in a hospital in Gander, NF, about 60 miles from the scene of the accident. Mike Kelly, real name William Arko, was at last report listed in serious but stable condition in the Gander hospital. Adonis, 34, was one of the most talented wrestlers in the world in the early part of the decade and had been a tag team champion in the AWA (with Jesse Ventura) and WWF (with Dick Murdoch) and had just started back this past month in Japan where he had been a major star before his recent WWF stint. McKigney, who was the main character in the recently-published book 'Drawing Heat' by Jim Freedman, was a long-time promoter and wrestler mainly in the northern reaches of Ontario, Canada. He was known in the 60s as The Bearman because he trained several wrestling bears. The book 'Drawing Heat' brought out that McKigney had lived a tragic life, with the most publicized part of his life occurring many years back when one of the bears he trained escaped and killed his wife and ripped him up pretty good as well. We will have a lot more details on this next week as they become available."

[Seth82]

better get them while you can fellas

someone has posted a ton of old wrestling dirtsheets/newsletters on Google Docs in PDF Format

https://docs.google.com/folder/d/0Bwz_9MY5fi58ZGIxYjlmYzgtMTJhYy00YzBhLTg0NGQtNDFiODgxNGUwNWIw/edit?pli=1

[James Steele]

Wow, according to this newsletter: WWF wanted Tyson to either wrestle Mark Mero at WM14 or referee Mero vs Butterbean at WM 14. :lol: I see dirtsheets haven't changed much in 15 years. Imagine how different that whole WM build would have been if they wasted Mike Tyson on fucking Marc Mero.

https://docs.google.com/viewer?pid=explorer&srcid=0Bwz_9MY5fi58YmMxNDZiZmMtYzVmNi00Yzk2LTg2OTItMWVjYjIzMTIwZTRk&docid=d04ab22ee603f5d4e0f20f534770538e|a531cac603e036b78a02c8e1aa3a4d3e&chan=EAAAAMixN7ImFrYlMtQthVDxAOciRBAXReo/1/aClWvsTHtX&a=v&rel=zip;z2;pw+insider+24.pdf

[Kapoutman]

Psycho Sid in DX? That would have been weird.

[Seth82]

from Meltzer's Observer

8-22-88

WWF
-- The main feuds in fall are going to be Rick Rude vs Jake Roberts and Randy Savage vs Andre the Giant, along with Hogan vs DiBiase. Rude is supposed to be getting his "sister" in his corner, as they really want to do a "girls" feud without involving Elizabeth, who they want to remain untouched. Brutus Beefcake vs Ron Bass is also expected to be a big feud, and Dave doesn't understand why Bass is getting such a big push when they have so many great workers under contract.

-- Iron Sheik has been fired again for the same reasons as always. Dave says it's so sad to see what he has become, considering that he started in wrestling as a spartan athlete of sorts.

-- Savage vs Andre is drawing well. They did 10,500 paid in Oakland ($125,000 gate) and a $140,000 gate in Oakland. "Those figures are phenomenal when you consider all the competing sports events in both cities (Giants and Dodgers had a series in LA which was televised in the Bay Area which has lots of interest, plus the NFL opened up its exhibition games, and Crockett was in and did business in both cities the previous week, although in reality major league baseball, the NFL and Jim Crockett Promotions all draw from a very different audience than does the WWF."

-- Owen Hart stole the show on 8/13 in L.A. in a near-**** match against Barry Horowitz and was the most over guy on the show aside from Randy Savage.

-- The WWF is purposely planting stories of Liz in a bikini at Summerslam to sell PPV buys. The rumor that they're spreading themselves is that Liz will wear a robe, take it off at a key moment, and it will lead to a heel distraction and babyface win.

-- The WWF is also trying to encourage the Hogan/Tyson rumors because of the publicity potential. Dave says Vince is smart enough to never put Hogan in a situation where he doesn't have complete control, and that he doubts Tyson would agree to a worked finish. Dave says if Tyson KO'd Hogan, the WWF would go crumbling down and one payday isn't worth that.

-- 8/4 in Altoona, PA drew 3,000 fans. 8/5 in Springfield, MA drew 2,700 fans.


NWA
-- "This has been a great week for rumors, but a lousy week for news. At this point, I don't take rumors of wrestlers jumping very seriously, it's kind of, when they're there, they're there type of thing. And nobody has officially jumped from the NWA despite the rumors that every single wrestler from Ric Flair to the Italian Stallion is going to and that Vince McMahon and Pat Patterson's phone lines were buzzing all week (just remember an inquiring phone call and a change in jobs are two very different things). At this point, nothing major has happened, but nothing would be surprising either."

-- The sale of the NWA to Turner is close to happening. The hold-up right now is that Turner wants Crockett to clear his outstanding debt first. There are expected to be major organizational changes after the sale because something has to change, but no one knows what those changes are going to be.

-- The next Clash special is scheduled for 9/7 and will be headlined by Barry Windham vs Sting for the U.S. title. Dave expects an Ivan Koloff babyface turn in the chain match with Ricky Morton. "So once again, they are doing their big television special without Ric Flair, Lex Luger, the Road Warriors, or Jim Cornette on the bill. Actually I'm pretty sure Flair and Luger will be there in some fashion, but equally sure they won't approach (nor are they trying to approach) the first Clash in Greensboro."

-- The Bash ended on 8/7 in Kansas City before 6,800 fans on a pretty hot card. The main event was a six-man cage match with Dusty/Murdoch/Luger vs Flair/Tully/Windham.

-- Lots of worry about the status of Flair, Arn, and Tully. They have all said they're gone unless "a specific change is made" (My note: Hmmm, I wonder what that could be), and Crockett called their bluff.

-- 8/12 in Norfolk did a $90,000 house, and a TV taping in macon did around $20,000. They are off for a few days and are returning with cards this weekend in Raleigh, Richmond, and Philly.

-- Dusty wants to bring in some new faces. There are rumors of wrestlers being let go, but there are no notable names that are absent on cards booked through the end of September. They still want Karl Moffatt (Jason the Terrible in Stampede/Barry Gasper in New Japan), but probably won't get him, as Moffatt likes his Japanese commitments. He was going to be Russian Assassin #2 and team with Dave Sheldon.

AWA
-- The ESPN show is maintaining a 1.8 national rating in the late Saturday night time slot, which makes it the second highest rated show on the station. This is impressive considering the lack of respect ESPN gives the show.

-- Jimmy Snuka and Col. DeBeers are coming in to restart their feud, which will be on the November show if it happens.

WCCW
-- Steve & Shaun Simpson captured the Texas tag titles from John Tatum & Jack Victory in late July in Temple, TX. (Later in the issue, Dave reports that they have quit.) The Texas title also changed hands on 8/5 with Iceman Parsons becoming the new champion. Kevin was the champion, but was injured, so Kerry defended on his behalf, since WCCW by-laws state allow a champion to pick a replacement for a title defense if needed. Dave has heard that Kevin's injury is both real and an angle, so he's not sure which is true, but the explanation at the arena was great. They said Kevin stepped on glass and had stitches in his feet and couldn't wrestle, and everyone believed it since Kevin doesn't wear shoes. Dave points out that Kevin never does jobs, and something like this always happens when he needs to drop a belt. The Samoan Swat Team also capture the tag titles from Kerry & Kevin on 8/12 in Dallas. Dave says Buddy Roberts is really great at their manager.

-- The Brody memorial on 7/29 drew 3,400 in Dallas. The best match on the card was said to be Michael Hayes & Steve Cox vs Samoan Swat Team.

-- 7/30 in Shreveport drew 2,000 fans.

-- About three dozen wrestling fans came in for a convention and saw the 7/29 and 7/30 shows. Another convention is set for next year in Denver, and Dave would also like to remind everyone of the UAWF convention from Oct 7 - Oct 11 in Memphis.

-- Savannah Jack has his heart problem fixed and wants to come in. It was thought he would need a heart transplant at one time, but he had a major recovery when he gave up steroids.

-- Fritz Von Erich is back in the office and they are becoming more of a family-run territory again.

-- The Penthouse article on the Von Erichs goes on the newsstands on 8/6.

MEMPHIS
-- 8/7 in Jackson, TN drew 2,300. 8/8 in Memphis drew a $20,000 for the restart of the Lawler/Idol feud. They had a ***3/4 match and Lawler gave a piledriver to ref Jerry Calhoun, which Dave calls a fine way to treat a brother-in-law and softball teammate.

-- Brickhouse Brown finally turned on the 8/13 TV. Robert Fuller came out in a wheelchair and said he had presents fro all of the Stud Stable. He gave Gary Young a robe, Bruno a rolex watch, and Sylvia a ring. He gave Brown a shower cap and cassette tape. Brown got mad and threw the stuff down, so the Stable held him down while Fuller whipped him with a belt. Dave says the angle didn't get over at all because fans just don't like Brown and the teases were dragged out too long. They tried to rectify this by pairing Brown with Jeff Jarrett and Bill Dundee, who both offered to team up with him.

-- Max Pain is back at home in Utah and won't be wrestling anywhere. Akio Sato and Tojo Yammamoto are also gone. Big Bubba (not Ray Traylor) is on his way back in after the Oregon group folded. The Mongolian Stomper is in and will be teaming with Jimmy Golden while Fuller is out of action.

-- 8/15 had Lawler vs Kerry in their fourth double title meeting, this time with a 90-minute time limit. Dave says they've gone overboard, because they can only book so many double title matches with no title change.

-- Lawler vs Idol drew a $10,000 gate on 8/9 in Louisville, the largest gate in that city in a long time. They wanted to do Lawler/Kerry vs Idol/Rich, but Idol refused to be a heel. While he's the heel in the Lawler feud, he's approaching it like he's got a grudge with Lawler, but isn't really a heel.

STAMPEDE
-- Lots of talent departures and a thinned down roster. Jerry Morrow was injured on 8/6 in Camrose and will be out of action for a few more weeks. Brian Pillman finished up on 8/13 and is going to Continental.

-- Makhan Singh may be on his way out. He has done three TV commercials to air in Calgary and has signed a one-year deal with a furniture store in Edmonton. Singh is apparently very funny in these commercials and is doing a character similar to Jacko in the Energizer battery commercials. He holds the North American title and will feud with Jason the Terrible, who just returned, but both will be leaving shortly for Japan. After Jason leaves, they are turning Steve DiSalvo, but Dave can't see him as a face, because he's so good as an arrogant and condescending heel. The last time they turned him face to feud with Badnews Allen, he was turned back quickly. Singh recently wore a Wayne Gretzky Oilers jersey into the ring for a match, and the Gretzky trade is the biggest news story in modern history in Edmonton.

-- 8/13 in Edmonton drew 320 fans.

-- Jason is nowhere near as over as he was in winter when he was the reason they were selling out.

-- They are pretending Owen Hart is still working Japan "defending the world title" to fans, since technically, Owen isn't with the WWF, the Blue Angel is. Although, Owen has wrestled in several cities without the mask using his real name.

OREGON
-- Scott Peterson beat The Grappler (Len Denton) in 10 seconds on 8/5 in Eugene, ending a nine-month reign as Northwest champion.

-- A tournament for the TV title will be held on 8/16 in Portland. Dave Sierra was the last champion but left for Japan.

-- There is interest in bringing in Ric Flair and the Road Warriors for a major card in Portland.

-- According to the Torch, Mel Saraceno will be opening up a new promotion called the OWA that will compete with Don Owen. Billy Jack Haynes will not be affiliated in any way. The scheduled start is 8/13 and will have Rip Oliver and Mike Miller as co-bookers and top stars, plus Brian Adams, Joey Jackson, Moondog Moretti, Lex Luther, Cocoa Samoa, and Tiger Chung Lee.

WINDY CITY
-- They returned to the International Ampitheatre in Chicago on 8/12 and drew a $15,000 house, headlined by Bam Bam Bigelow winning a battle royal.

CONTINENTAL
-- 7/29 in Columbus, MS drew 1,021 fans.

-- Dave just watched four weeks of TV, and said there is less fast-forwarding with Continental than any other group, but he thinks they run too many angles and do too many run-ins. He said Eddie Gilbert and Paul E. Dangerously attacking Pez Whatley's son was the best thing he has seen in a long time. Dave calls Paul E. the best heel in wrestling, and says you can hate him for a variety of reasons, and he's not a one-dimensional heel at all. Dave also says they've gone about as far as they can with beating up civilians, and adds that Gilbert and Ken Wayne are both great workers who are great at their roles, and Danny Davis is really good as well. Austin Idol's babyface promos are great, and Paul E. obviously picked up a lot from Idol if you watch him do local promos. Tom Pritchard and Tony Anthony are great workers, but both seem stuck in their feud, and the only interesting thing about it is Missy Hyatt's role. The matches are great from what Dave hears, but the feud needs something to freshen it up. The rest of the group Dave isn't as sold on, but says Pez Whatley is a surprisingly good and charismatic babyface.

-- There is talk of making Smothers, Armstrong, Pillman, and Shane Douglas into some type of fab four.

-- They want to expand into Knoxville and Chattanooga, plus Louisiana and Mississippi, but Dave hopes they proceed with caution, because trying to expand too quickly has done in a lot of territories.

NEW JAPAN
-- NJPW had a live prime-time wrestling special taped from Yokohama before a sellout 6,070 fans. In the main event, Tatsumi Fujinami and Antonio Inoki went to a 60-minute draw. The match had a ton of interest because of behind-the-scenes politics. Inoki announced that if Fujinami beat him, he would retire from pro wrestling. Fujinami has not renewed his contract and has walked out twice recently, and he is trying to force NJ's hand to be the top star. Although Fujinami is regarded as the best worker in the company, Inoki is considered the bigger draw, but Fujinami is really forcing the issue to get his way. Fujinami is really tired of patiently waiting for Inoki to retire so he can be top star, and his fear is that Inoki's retirement may never happen. The draw was booked to appease Fujinami, who in his mind is still the top star because he has the title, and also, Inoki wasn't beaten, so he is still around. Only the first 25 minutes or so of the match aired, "... and you know how the first 25 minutes of most 60 minute matches are." Dave says the heat was actually tremendous even when they were exchanging holds on the mat, and the match was never boring at any point. "My guess is that overall it was an excellent match, and my one live report indicated that this was excellent for the entire 60 minutes."

-- Also, on the card, Bam Bam Bigelow returned and went to a double countout with Vader. The crowd was strongly on Vader's side early on, but Bigelow gained momentum as the match progressed, and won the fans over. Dave calls this a good big man match with some really good high spots, but the brawling wasn't that great. **3/4 ... "Actually, whenever I see Vader against anyone besides Fujinami, I realize just how good Fujinami is to carry the guy to good-to-great matches." Also, Shiro Koshinaka pinned Kuniaki Kobayashi in a **** match, and Choshu & Saito beat Manny Fernandez & Buzz Sawyer in the show opener. "I don't know the TV ratings for this special, but assume they won't be all that good because it appears New Japan simply no longer has the following to draw large TV ratings."

-- There is a tour scheduled starting 10/7 with Bam Bam Bigelow, Steve Williams, Owen Hart, and Biff Wellington all tentative. It will be interesting to see if Doc or Owen come, since neither the NWA nor the WWF allow their wrestlers to work Japan.

-- In a class act, the 7/29 show had a moment of silence for both Adrian Adonis and Bruiser Brody.

AJPW
-- Baba is ready to give up on Hiroshi Wajima as a big name. The novelty has worn off.

-- The best TV match of the past month was Footloose vs Shunji Takano & Shinichi Nakano at ****+. "The Foot Loose are as good as any team in wrestling at making their foes look good and deserve more television exposure because their matches are always in the four star range against Japanese foes."


OTHER
-- The arraignment for Jose Gonzales is scheduled for September 8. Gonzales is expected to plead not guilty and claim self defense.

-- There are two cable sports networks trying to get into the cable TV game. Mizzlou is launching an all sports network in April 1989. The network will mainly be betting odds and results, but they want a lot of boxing and pro wrestling, which Dave says in theory would give TV to a smaller promotion. NBC is debuting a cable station called CNBC, which is looking for a one-hour pro wrestling show for the weekends. No date has been set for when CNBC will debut.

-- Dave praises Wade Keller's Torch annual, and provides details on how to get it. It has lots of content from both Meltzer and Keller, drawings from Mr. Mike, interviews with Tom Zenk and Bruiser Brody. It's $7.50 and Dave says it's the best thing he's read on wrestling in a long time.

-- Central States drew 48 fans on 8/6 in DeSoto, KS. Carolina Championship Wrestling drew 100 fans on 8/6 in Roanoke. Bob Raskin's USWA drew 2,516 fans on 8/4 in Bloomington, IL with mostly people from Dick the Bruiser's crew, along with Sgt. Slaughter and Misty Blue.

-- The only U.S. wrestlers left in Puerto Rico are Bobby Jaggers, Dan Kroffat, Ron Starr, the Batten Twins, and Tony Falk. The rest left. "The wrestling grapevine indicates that there are no hard feelings towar the guys that were there and stayed, being that everyone understands you have to make money to feed your family. However in the case of the Battens, who left a U.S. promotion to go to Puerto Rico, they may have to stay there until this all blows over because there may be some hard feelings because of them going there. By the way several have written noting to me that Puerto Rico is not a foreign country, but a territory of the U.S. While that is certainly legally the case, this is a wrestling newsletter and in the wrestling world, Puerto Rico is a lot more of a foreign country than Canada or Japan."

-- Ron Fuller's final USA Pro card will be on 8/19 in Knoxville. Dave lists the card, which includes Jamie Dundee in a midget match.

-- Eddie Sharkey is promoting wrestling in Minnesota using Larry Cameron and Tommy Ferrera as his top stars, along with Sheik Adnan El-Kaissey.

-- A group called MCW Sports drew 2,423 at the county fair in Northwood, IA, using Rufus Jones, Roger Kirby, Sandy Partlow, Terry Hart, and Billy Howard. They also drew 1,650 in Harlan, IA using the same crew and Porkchop Cash.

-- Michael Hayes and Kevin Von Erich are being advertised for an independent show in Medina, OH, which will also feature a Madusa Miceli vs Fabulous Moolah match.

-- Larry Hamilton (Missouri Mauler) failed in his third attempt to win the Buchanan County sheriff election.

-- Dave is impressed with how the Japanese media is covering the UWF so seriously. He says he's not a fan of the style, which he calls "amateur wrestling mixed in with karate", but the guys do work hard, and it's amazing that they draw like they do with no TV, and that the UWF is wrestling's #1 success story of the year. They are the only promotion in the world whose audience believes they are real at this point.

[ooTin]

I see him hitting his peak around 2006
the peak of his dome on a turnbuckle

[Seth82]

from 10-3-88 edition of Wrestling Observer

WWF
-- For the week ending 8/28, WWF's syndicated network drew a 9.6 rating in 258 markets covering 97% of the country.

-- Tully Blanchard and Arn Anderson debut at the next TV tapings as The Brainbusters and will be managed by Bobby Heenan. They will face the Rockers and British Bulldogs in their arena debuts toward the end of October. They are mostly working arenas where the NWA is strongest. They are expected to get a big push, only because the WWF wants Ric Flair, and burying them would make it harder to get Flair.

-- One Man Gang is now known as "Akeem" and will be a white wrestler pretending to be black. Dave says this is not the first time this has been done, as Kevin Sullivan pretended to be Kareem Muhammad's cousin last year in Florida.

-- Harley Race is booked against DJ Peterson on some spot shows in California.

-- 9/24 at the Spectrum drew 3,952, their lowest crowd of all time, headlined by a Savage/DiBiase cage match. 9/23 in Cape Girardeau, MO drew 1,200 fans headlined by Duggan vs DiBiase. 9/12 in Peoria, IL drew 2,411 headlined by Duggan (subbing for Jake) vs Rude. 9/19 at the Cow Palace drew 6,000 headlined by Savage vs Andre. 9/17 in Los Angeles drew 12,500 headlined by Savage vs Andre. 9/18 in San Diego drew 5,000 headlined by Savage vs Andre. 9/2 in Canton, OH drew 500 headlined by Rockers vs Conquistadores. 9/3 in Kitanning, PA drew 369 fans and a $2,1000 gate headlined by Rockers vs Conquistadores. 9/18 in White Plains, NY drew 500 fans headlined by Rockers vs Conquistadores. 9/17 at the Capital Centre drew 7,500 fans headlined by Hogan vs DiBiase. 9/19 in Entfield, CT drew 350 fans headlined by Rockers vs Conquistadores. 9/19 in New Haven, CT drew 6,200 fans headlined by Hogan vs Big Boss Man.

-- "Hennig's Mr. Perfect character will be introduced on TV with clips of him being perfect at all sports (ie bowling and doing all strikes, horseshoes with all ringers, baseball with all home runs)."

-- Roddy Piper's movie "They Live" was originally planned to debut on 10/29, but has been pushed back to 11/4 to avoid competing with any new Halloween-themed movies.

-- Ted DiBiase was on Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous, which Dave was told was hilarious. (My note: It was!) DiBiase gave his dog champagne and caviar and wouldn't let Robin Leach have any.

NWA
-- Negotiations between Jim Crockett and Fritz Von Erich broke off. Crockett wanted a deal where he would take over the WCCW TV network, take over the promotion, and keep the Von Erichs and a couple of others. Fritz was looking for a simple talent exchange, likely so he could do more Flair vs Kerry Von Erich matches in Dallas.

-- Crockett is still attempting to settle his outstanding debts before selling. "He's trying to settle at 40 cents on the dollar according to two different creditors. His largest creditor is Bill Watts, from the purchase of the old Universal Wrestling Federation last spring. Apparently Crockett's offer to settle the outstanding debt (rumored to be in the $3 million range) for less than $1 million didn't go over so well with Watts, who is not only trying to up the price, but also drop the 'no-compete' clause in his sale contract." TBS sources tell Dave they expect the sale to be finalized by the end of the week, but Dave doesn't think they can clear the debt in time.

-- Expect minor changes in TV format and some major roster additions by the end of the year, with major, fullscale changes coming in early 1989.

-- Bam Bam Bigelow will debut on the 9/27 TV tapings as a babyface and be managed by Oliver Humperdink. While it didn't work in Titan and Dave says it does seem like a more natural heel act, Bigelow is coming in as a babyface because the Road Warriors are about to turn heel. Dave doesn't understand why they're bringing him in now instead of waiting, since he'll have a Japan tour a week later and will be gone for a month. The idea is that Humperdink can do promos while he's gone to keep his momentum going.

-- 9/18 in Roanoke drew 3,200 headlined by Flair vs Luger with another two-referee finish with a Tommy Young/Teddy Long argument, which fans have stopped popping for because they've figured out what is about to happen. 9/3 in Baltimore drew 11,000 and a $125,000 gate headlined by Flair vs Luger. 9/25 at the Omni drew 6,700 fans headlined by Flair vs Luger.

-- There will be a U.S. tag team title tournament held on TV. This will be a weekly thing for November sweeps.

-- Clash II was the highest rated show on cable during its week.

-- Brad Armstrong has missed several shows, although it has yet to be confirmed that he's headed to Continental.

-- For the week ending 8/28, the NWA's network drew a 6.1 in 159 markets covering 91% of the country.

-- Jobber Agent Steele is Brad Anderson, son of Gene Anderson.

SUPERCLASH III
-- The show will be headlined by a "must be a winner" title unification match between Jerry Lawler and Kerry Von Erich. There will also be a "Beverly Hills Lingerie match" between POWW girls, where the object is to tear off clothing. " ... that's fine for the Playboy channel but I'm not sure it's appropriate for the general audience, then again, I suppose there isn't much general audience interest in this show either ..." Other matches include Sgt. Slaughter vs Col. DeBeers, Ron Garvin vs Greg Gagne, and Wahoo McDaniel vs Manny Fernandez in a strap match.

-- The hope is that the show can be cleared in three million homes, which Dave says will have hurdles because the NWA has a show on 12/26 and the WWF has one on Thanksgiving.

-- Dave expects Continental to try to join the show since Eddie Gilbert is no longer booking, as David Woods and Gilbert disagreed on whether or not to participate in this show.

-- The plan is for this group to run a second show in February between the Royal Rumble and Wrestlemania. Dave sees oversaturation coming between the WWF PPVs, NWA's hopes to expand PPVs in 1989, and this group running more PPVs, which could result in "as many as 10 or 11 PPV shows next year."

WCCW
-- "We had one of those 'only in Texas' title changes this past Friday night at the Dallas Sportatorium. The Jerry Lawler-Kerry Von Erich title match ended with a double disqualification, and they emphasized before the match that it was to be held under World Class rules and it was announced in Dallas that because a title can change via DQ in World Class, that both wrestlers' lost their titles and both belts would be vacant pending a Texas Death Match (Falls don't count, No DQ, no time limit, no stopping for blood, match continues until one man can't answer the bell, you can use anything you want to bring into the ring except a gun or knife) at the Cotton Bowl on 10/15. However, the next morning at the TV studio in Memphis, Lawler appeared with the AWA title safely around his waist and promoting a title defense against Ron Garvin on 9/30." The show drew 3,500 fans on 9/24 at the Sportatorium, with Lawler apparently carrying Kerry to a ***+ match and working as a total heel.

-- John Tatum is gone.

-- Kevin Von Erich is tentatively scheduled to return for the Cotton Bowl show, but it isn't definite. He is having lots of problems from his concussions and the resulting headaches. A doctor told Kevin he should stop wrestling. His brain is jarred, and he is susceptible to more concussions. They are saying Kamala gave Kevin the concussion in a match in Cleveland, which is useless since Kamala is gone. "From all reports, if Kevin suffered a concussion in Cleveland, it wasn't in the ring."

-- Kerry Von Erich is officially in charge of the company, but Frank Dusek and Skandor Akbar handle the office work and Percy Pringle does publicity.

-- There is a Miss World Class beauty pageant coming up. (My note: Texas pageant hair in the 1980s in pro wrestling should be a sight to behold. Please tell me there is footage.)

-- The plan is to start giving away Ft. Worth tickets, since the shows are sponsored anyway, to build up excitement for television. The matches have been good, but they are only drawing 200 fans in an 8,000 seat arena, so they seem dead from lack of heat. They are also going to give out freebies to kids and non-profit groups so there is crowd enthusiasm that carries over to TV. (My note: This is an unusually progressive response to low ticket sales for pro wrestling, especially Fritz.)

-- Michael Hayes is in Nigeria.

-- They lost TV in San Antonio, which has been their most consistent drawing city.

MEMPHIS
-- The combined tapings in Louisville and Memphis drew disappointing numbers: between 2,000 and 3,500 for Louisville, and only about 5,000 in Memphis, despite all the big names on the card.

-- Dave is comparing the Frank Dusek/Eddie Marlin shoving match and Hayes/Cox vs Jarrett/Dundee confrontation to New Japan vs IWE, which drew huge in 1981-1982 with Inoki vs Rusher Kimura.

-- Hector Guerrero is now working as a full-time gymnastic instructor for kids in Maryville, Tennessee.

-- Cactus Jack is now carrying a whip. They did an angle where Brown said that since Fuller still owned his contract he didn't have any money. He brought out his aunt who said she has been having to support him and started crying, which was great. Sylvia then came out - also crying - and said they've give him back the contract until the Stud Stable jumped Brown and choked him with the whip. The other heels held the dressing room door shut so nobody could make the save for a few minutes.

-- "Todd Morton, the Ricky Morton look-alike and wrestle-alike debuted this past Saturday and he looks like a top candidate for rookie of the year."

CONTINENTAL
-- There has been a "bitter falling out" in Continental, which has led to the departure of booker Eddie Gilbert, along with several other wrestlers. There were business disagreements that escalated out of control, and there was a "full-scale explosion" on Thursday. Dave expects this to put Continental back in the category of minor independent promotion. There were differences between Gilbert and David Woods. Woods felt Continental couldn't afford to expand to new areas and bring in name talent, which Gilbert was trying to do. They also felt they weren't ready for the Road to Birmingham on 10/3. The promotion started second guessing booking decisions and felt that Eddie Gilbert and Paul E. Dangerously focused too much on themselves. In addition, localized promos were getting mixed up or failed to arrive at the city in time for airing because they weren't being mailed for overnight delivery. They were just being sent first class mail. The final straw was when paychecks were given on Tuesday when paychecks were issued. Gilbert has been in charge of payroll, and Woods scaled back the payoffs Gilbert has issued, especially of those who are Gilbert's closest friends. Woods was also against Gilbert returning as a babyface, and was questioning the severity of his injuries. "Really, just about everything that there could be a dispute about, there was. There had been disenchantment because the crowds had been down the past two weeks, although that isn't unusual for this time of the year. Even Gilbert's detractors within the promotion admitted he was both a creative wrestler and great booker, but were leery of his attempts to expand too fast and certain personality conflicts had gotten out of control."

-- Because of this, the status of Road to Birmingham is up on the air. Gilbert, Bam Bam Bigelow, Bob Orton, and Chris Adams are definitely not coming in now (in Bigelow's case because he signed with the NWA, not because he's in the middle of this). Terry Gordy may still be on, but Continental may not be willing to fly in outside talent anymore. Nightmare Freddy, D.I. Bob Carter, The Samoans and Shane Douglas are all gone. Austin Idol and a few others are question marks.

-- The new booker will be Bob Armstrong, with the full crew cut to 14 wrestlers: Armstrong, Tracey Smothers, Steve Armstrong, Scott Armstrong, Willie B. Hurt, Lord Humongous, Danny Davis, Jerry Stubbs, Ken Wayne, Mongolian Stomper, Tony Anthony, Alan Martin, and two more heels. Dave expects Humongous to get a major push, as Gilbert not featuring him as the #1 wrestler in the promotion was another source of dispute.

-- Missy Hyatt will not be working TV anymore, and neither will Joe Pedicino. Brad Armstrong will probably come back in, and Dave expects Continental to be dropped by FNN as a result of all of this.

-- 9/23 in Knoxville drew 2,500 and a $20,000 gate.

-- Tom Pritchard was going to win the tournament, but probably won't now.

-- Eddie Gilbert had been wrestling in the earlier part of the week, and is currently working weekend shows in Puerto Rico.

STAMPEDE
-- 9/10 in Edmonton drew 700 fans. 9/17 drew 800 fans.

-- Dave is told the Chris Benoit & Lance Idol vs Cuban Commandos (Cuban Assassin & Jerry Morrow) matches are regularly around ****, including one that recently aired in full on television.

-- Makhan Singh was suspended for his attack on Ed Whalen so he would be free to tour South Africa. The Great Gama is also there, and Wellington starts for Inoki on 10/7.

-- Biff Wellington has a hair match against Johnny Smith before leaving for New Japan, much like Davey Boy Smith and Dynamite Kid used to lose hair matches so they could work New Japan tours bald.

-- Buddy Lane and Rip Rogers are coming in mid October.

U.S. INDEPENDENTS
-- Ric Flair only drew an average crowd on 9/20 in Portland, where he wrestled Top Gun (Dave Sierra) and was DQ'd for throwing him over the top rope.

-- "Lou Thesz was on Goerge Michael's local TV sportscast in Washington D.C. this past week and the two discussed whether or not Lou, who is now 72, could beat Hulk Hogan today. Michael gave you the impression he felt Thesz could have a few years ago but at 72 was pushing it, but Thesz came off confidently saying he'd win with little trouble since Hogan doesn't know how to wrestle. Just a few years back (1985) when Brody and Inoki were feuding in Japan, they had a photo shoot of Thesz training Brody for the match with Inoki teaching him wrestling holds. Anyway, at that point, Thesz was so quick with his moves that Brody probably couldn't have beaten him in an actual wrestling match so as silly as this sounds on the surface, ya never know. Thesz did compliment Randy Savage, calling him a great athlete and a good wrestler. About a week earlier, there was an article on Sam Muchnick's 83rd birthday in one of the St. Louis papers and Muchnick also said that he felt that today, Thesz could beat Hogan. The article only had one graph about wrestling, basically talking about the decline of the NWA and saying some negative things about what pro wrestling has turned into."

ALL JAPAN
-- Sting backed off of doing an All Japan tour after NWA pressure to cancel, because they told him they can't afford to lose him in October. His debut has been postponed to January.

-- "I had a chance to see the Tenryu-Hara vs. Tsuruta-Yatsu tag matches from 8/29 in Tokyo and 8/30 in Osaka. Both matches went about 30 minutes and were in the four-star range. The first bout started slow but had all the excellent near falls in the final few minutes, but also some missed moves, but the heat was tremendous. Finish saw Tenryu reverse a small package and pin Jumbo. The second night they actually had a superior match pacing-wise and really if it wasn't for the weak finish would have been 4 1/2 stars. Finish saw Jumbo give Tenryu three back suplexes and every time Hara would break up the fall. Then he did it again and this time just simply got the pin and Tenryu was laid out. The crowd was surprised because it was an out of the ordinary ending and the fall came with no heat build-up but it was still a great match."

-- Dan Spivey and Johnny Ace will team up in mid-November for the tag tournament.

NEW JAPAN
-- 9/12 in Fukuoka drew a near sellout 4,880 fans headlined by a 10-man elimination match of Choshu/H. Saito/Super Strong Machine/Kobayashi/M. Saito vs Fujinami/Kimura/Fujiwara/Koshinaka/Yamada.

-- 9/17 in Nagato drew a sellout 1,570 fans headlined by Choshu/Strong Machine/Kobayashi vs Fujinami/Koshinaka/Takano.

-- 9/15 in Kokuto drew a sellout 1,720 fans headlined by Fujinami/Kimura/Takano vs Starr/Hall/Vader and Choshu/Saito vs Kokina/Bigelow.

LETTERS QUOTES
"If two 'real' wrestlers are ready to leave the top of the promotion and their best feud, both in the ring and in gate potential, that they've ever had as a team, in exchange for a pass into the land of corporate wrestling decisions, that says more about the state of Jim Crockett Promotions than any wild rumors. The fact that JCP survived and thrived while every other major promotion crumbled in the face of Vince McMahon was something I took personal pride in. JCP is the home team that I grew up with. I've had a lot of fun both watching them on the tube and at the live shows. I don't care how much money and marketing expertise the WWF has, their product is heavy-handed, too predictable, condescending to their audience and boring. If the Crockett family acts now and takes the TBS offer, a tradition of 50 years standing may not go down needlessly. If not, I'd like to thank the family for all the years of fun and for bringing me what was the greatest show on Earth. The family ultimately has the right to destroy their business for no reason besides the preservation of Dusty Rhodes, just as they have the right to sell it for several million dollars and watch it survive into the next century. Just as I know Arn & Tully will be misused in the WWF, I have to admit that they made the right career choice. My fervent wish is they make a boatload of money in New York. It is nothing less than what they deserve. When Ric Flair goes, so do I as a wrestling fan." - Bruce Mitchell

"You've now reached the point where you have almost no analytical credibility with me when it comes to the WWF. I'm not saying you have a personal hard-on and it effects your judgment, only that you can no longer evaluate all wrestling by the same criteria. Has it occurred to you that the direction the WWF is going is imply not to your taste? I spoke to an awful lot of people after Summerslam. I mean real people, not guys who stay up to 3 a.m. to call you on some sportstalk radio show or Observer readers, just mainstream people who enjoy wrestling. While nobody was confusing Summerslam with Wrestlemania III, they were also sophisticated enough to realize that this was the summer show and was deliberately low-key so as not to destroy the specialness of Wrestlemania but that it was tons better than any other MSG show this year. If you want to throw in the 25-30 folks on the computer wrestling board I frequent who are very hardcore fans, several of whom subscribe to the Observer, the general impression was pretty much favorable. Nobody was going crazy as they did for the first Clash or Wrestlemania IV (Yes, your fabled failure drew mostly excellent notices online) but people were happy, especially with the Hart Foundation-Demolition match. How can you give that 1 1/2 stars when in the same issue you rate a Phil Hickerson vs. Jeff Jarrett match with 3 1/2 stars? All I'm saying is that you don't like the current WWF style of matches and too many of your readers simply like what you like and don't like what you don't like. Maybe I'm wrong, but I'd think about it. I'd also look more at what a promotion is attempting to do and how well they succeed. It was my impression that Summerslam was supposed to be, basically, the year's best MSG show, and it was. I doubt many viewers were all that turned off and suspect most enjoyed it well enough that they'll buy the next WWF PPV show. When Wrestlemania V rolls around, it will still seem like a more important event and it will cost more and people will pay it unless the promotion turns them off. That is more important than how well they draw in Philadelphia the next month. Your comment that, ipso fact, the ridiculous Flair-Luger blood angle on the PPV Bash was a success because live gates were up immediately was the most naive thing I've ever read by you. Don't you think infuriating the PPV audience was more significant than live audience, a totally different and relatively microscopic portion of the potentially vast PPV audience. The NWA's biggest problem is they never take the long view. Like children, they live in the eternal here and now. People are turned out of the blue (Windham, Luger, Murdoch, Garvin) with no build up because they need heat at some shows. They good good notices on Clash and think they've won the wrestling war. They draw a few good live gates and suddenly Dusty and Jimbo are convinced they've been right all along and should continue to run the organization even after Turner spends good money on it. You can't criticize a cowboy movie because it doesn't have ray guns. The WWF style tends toward fewer holds with much more set-up for each. Criticizing it for not equalling the workrate of some other promotion is besides the point. Workrate is all well and good, but smart fans put too much emphasis on it. Five moves aren't necessarily better than one well-executed and well set-up move." -- Bill Kunkel, Woodhaven, NY

[James Steele]

"You've now reached the point where you have almost no analytical credibility with me when it comes to the WWF. I'm not saying you have a personal hard-on and it effects your judgment, only that you can no longer evaluate all wrestling by the same criteria. Has it occurred to you that the direction the WWF is going is imply not to your taste? I spoke to an awful lot of people after Summerslam. I mean real people, not guys who stay up to 3 a.m. to call you on some sportstalk radio show or Observer readers, just mainstream people who enjoy wrestling. While nobody was confusing Summerslam with Wrestlemania III, they were also sophisticated enough to realize that this was the summer show and was deliberately low-key so as not to destroy the specialness of Wrestlemania but that it was tons better than any other MSG show this year. If you want to throw in the 25-30 folks on the computer wrestling board I frequent who are very hardcore fans, several of whom subscribe to the Observer, the general impression was pretty much favorable. Nobody was going crazy as they did for the first Clash or Wrestlemania IV (Yes, your fabled failure drew mostly excellent notices online) but people were happy, especially with the Hart Foundation-Demolition match. How can you give that 1 1/2 stars when in the same issue you rate a Phil Hickerson vs. Jeff Jarrett match with 3 1/2 stars? All I'm saying is that you don't like the current WWF style of matches and too many of your readers simply like what you like and don't like what you don't like. Maybe I'm wrong, but I'd think about it. I'd also look more at what a promotion is attempting to do and how well they succeed. It was my impression that Summerslam was supposed to be, basically, the year's best MSG show, and it was. I doubt many viewers were all that turned off and suspect most enjoyed it well enough that they'll buy the next WWF PPV show. When Wrestlemania V rolls around, it will still seem like a more important event and it will cost more and people will pay it unless the promotion turns them off. That is more important than how well they draw in Philadelphia the next month. Your comment that, ipso fact, the ridiculous Flair-Luger blood angle on the PPV Bash was a success because live gates were up immediately was the most naive thing I've ever read by you. Don't you think infuriating the PPV audience was more significant than live audience, a totally different and relatively microscopic portion of the potentially vast PPV audience. The NWA's biggest problem is they never take the long view. Like children, they live in the eternal here and now. People are turned out of the blue (Windham, Luger, Murdoch, Garvin) with no build up because they need heat at some shows. They good good notices on Clash and think they've won the wrestling war. They draw a few good live gates and suddenly Dusty and Jimbo are convinced they've been right all along and should continue to run the organization even after Turner spends good money on it. You can't criticize a cowboy movie because it doesn't have ray guns. The WWF style tends toward fewer holds with much more set-up for each. Criticizing it for not equalling the workrate of some other promotion is besides the point. Workrate is all well and good, but smart fans put too much emphasis on it. Five moves aren't necessarily better than one well-executed and well set-up move." -- Bill Kunkel, Woodhaven, NY

Holy shit, that is brilliant and still quite relevant.

[#1-norm-fan]

"computer wrestling board"?

In 1988???

Crazy

[St. Jimmy]

Holy shit, that is brilliant and still quite relevant.

No, it's actually not. Your bias is absurd.

[James Steele]

No, it's actually not. Your bias is absurd.

Nope. I'm betting self-righteous asshats like you were just as annoying 24 years ago as you are today.

[St. Jimmy]

Yes, clearly someone with a bias fighting with a well respected journalist is clearly right.

Meltzer's newsletters at the time didn't have a strictly anti-WWF bias, in fact he didn't particular have a bias at all; he analyzed and gave all wrestling a review as if it was good or bad.

You want to read someone who'll agree with everything you say, go read Apter's scag-rag; all he does is jerk off anyone who'll talk to him.

[James Steele]

Apter's mags were fucking kayfabe, dumbass.

[James Steele]

You don't think there is a bias against the "WWE style" when ROH had more 5-star matches in 1-2 years than WWE had in 20 years? Not to mention all the fucking Japanese matches that got 5 stars. WWE's best matches are a combination of in-ring performance, build-up through storyline/promos/etc., and the "aura" of the wrestlers and/or the event itself.

[James Steele]

World Wrestling Federation/Entertainment

* 3/20/94 Shawn Michaels vs. Razor Ramon (Ladder Match, WrestleMania X)
WWF Intercontinental Championship
* 8/29/94 Bret Hart vs. Owen Hart (Cage Match, SummerSlam 1994) WWF
Championship
* 3/23/97 Bret Hart vs. Steve Austin (Submission Match, WrestleMania
13)
* 10/5/97 Shawn Michaels vs. Undertaker (Hell in a Cell Match, In Your
House: Bad Blood) WWF Championship
* 7/17/11 John Cena vs. CM Punk (Money in the Bank) WWE Championship

Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA)

* 9/11/05 AJ Styles vs. Samoa Joe vs. Christopher Daniels (TNA
Unbreakable 2005)

Ring of Honor

* 10/16/04 Samoa Joe vs. CM Punk (ROH Joe vs Punk 2)
* 10/1/05 Samoa Joe vs. Kenta Kobashi (ROH Joe vs Kobashi)
* 3/31/06 Dragon Kid & Genki Horiguchi & Ryo Saito vs. CIMA & Naruki
Doi & Masato Yoshino (ROH Supercard Of Honor)
* 3/31/12 Davey Richards vs. Michael Elgin (ROH Showdown in the Sun Day 2)

I also think it is laughable TNA only has 1 "5-star match". They are "sports entertainment" too and so they get the shaft some too. Punk/Cena was a great match, but it wasn't a 5-star technical masterpiece. Hell, Michaels/Taker from 97 isn't even the best Hell in a Cell match of all time.

[James Steele]

http://starratingslist.blogspot.com/2009/09/wrestling-observer-5-star-ratings-list.html

JCP/Territories/World Championship Wrestling

* 4/19/86 Sheepherders vs. Fantastics (Bobby Fulton/Tommy Rogers)
* 4/11/87 Ric Flair vs. Barry Windham
* 2/20/89 Ricky Steamboat vs. Ric Flair (NWA Chi-Town Rumble)
* 4/2/89 Ricky Steamboat vs. Ric Flair (2/3 falls, NWA Clash of the
Champions VI: Ragin' Cajun)
* 5/7/89 Ric Flair vs. Ricky Steamboat (NWA WrestleWar '89: Music City
Showdown)
* 11/15/89 Ric Flair vs. Terry Funk ("I Quit" Match, NWA Clash of the
Champions IX: New York Knockout)
* 2/24/91 Ric Flair, Larry Zbyszko, Barry Windham, & Sid Vicious vs.
Sting, Brian Pillman, Rick Steiner, & Scott Steiner (WarGames Match, WCW
WrestleWar 1991)
* 5/17/92 Sting, Nikita Koloff, Ricky Steamboat, Barry Windham, &
Dustin Rhodes vs. Rick Rude, Steve Austin, Arn Anderson, Bobby Eaton, &
Larry Zbyszko (WarGames Match, WCW WrestleWar 1992)

World Wrestling Federation/Entertainment

* 3/20/94 Shawn Michaels vs. Razor Ramon (Ladder Match, WrestleMania X)
WWF Intercontinental Championship
* 8/29/94 Bret Hart vs. Owen Hart (Cage Match, SummerSlam 1994) WWF
Championship
* 3/23/97 Bret Hart vs. Steve Austin (Submission Match, WrestleMania
13)
* 10/5/97 Shawn Michaels vs. Undertaker (Hell in a Cell Match, In Your
House: Bad Blood) WWF Championship
* 7/17/11 John Cena vs. CM Punk (Money in the Bank) WWE Championship

Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA)

* 9/11/05 AJ Styles vs. Samoa Joe vs. Christopher Daniels (TNA
Unbreakable 2005)

Ring of Honor

* 10/16/04 Samoa Joe vs. CM Punk (ROH Joe vs Punk 2)
* 10/1/05 Samoa Joe vs. Kenta Kobashi (ROH Joe vs Kobashi)
* 3/31/06 Dragon Kid & Genki Horiguchi & Ryo Saito vs. CIMA & Naruki
Doi & Masato Yoshino (ROH Supercard Of Honor)
* 3/31/12 Davey Richards vs. Michael Elgin (ROH Showdown in the Sun Day 2)

Pro Wrestling NOAH

* 3/1/03 Kenta Kobashi vs. Mitsuharu Misawa
* 7/10/04 Kenta Kobashi vs. Jun Akiyama

All Japan Pro Wrestling

* 12/08/84 Stan Hansen & Bruiser Brody vs. Dory Funk & Terry Funk
* 03/09/85 Tiger Mask II vs. Kuniaki Kobayashi
* 06/06/89 Jumbo Tsuruta vs Genichiro Tenryu
* 06/08/90 Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Jumbo Tsuruta
* 10/19/90 Jumbo Tsuruta & Akira Taue & Masanobu Fuchi vs. Mitsuharu
Misawa & Toshiaki Kawada & Kenta Kobashi
* 05/22/92 Jumbo Tsuruta & Masanobu Fuchi & Akira Taue vs. Mitsuharu
Misawa & Kenta Kobashi & Toshiaki Kawada
* 05/25/92 Dan Kroffat & Doug Furnas vs. Kenta Kobashi & Tsuyoshi
Kikuchi
* 04/14/93 Toshiaki Kawada vs. Kenta Kobashi
* 07/02/93 Toshiaki Kawada & Akira Taue & Yoshinari Ogawa vs. Mitsuharu
Misawa & Kenta Kobashi & Jun Akiyama
* 07/29/93 Stan Hansen vs. Kenta Kobashi
* 08/31/93 Steve Williams vs. Kenta Kobashi
* 12/03/93 Toshiaki Kawada & Akira Taue vs. Mitsuharu Misawa & Kenta
Kobashi
* 02/13/94 Mitsuharu Misawa, Kenta Kobashi, & Giant Baba vs. Masanobu
Fuchi, Toshiaki Kawada, & Akira Taue
* 05/21/94 Mitsuharu Misawa & Kenta Kobashi vs. Toshiaki Kawada & Akira
Taue
* 06/03/94 Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Toshiaki Kawada
* 01/19/95 Kenta Kobashi vs. Toshiaki Kawada
* 01/24/95 Mitsuharu Misawa & Kenta Kobashi vs. Toshiaki Kawada & Akira
Taue
* 03/04/95 Mitsuharu Misawa & Kenta Kobashi vs. Steve Williams & Johnny
Ace
* 04/15/95 Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Akira Taue
* 06/09/95 Mitsuharu Misawa & Kenta Kobashi vs. Toshiaki Kawada & Akira
Taue
* 05/23/96 Mitsuharu Misawa & Jun Akiyama vs. Toshiaki Kawada & Akira
Taue
* 06/07/96 Mitsuharu Misawa & Jun Akiyama vs. Steve Williams & Johnny
Ace
* 12/06/96 Toshiaki Kawada & Akira Taue vs. Mitsuharu Misawa & Jun
Akiyama
* 06/06/97 Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Toshiaki Kawada
* 10/31/98 Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Kenta Kobashi
* 6/11/99 Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Kenta Kobashi
* 10/23/99 Kenta Kobashi & Jun Akiyama vs. Mitsuharu Misawa & Yoshinari
Ogawa
* 04/20/91 Mitsuharu Misawa & Toshiaki Kawada & Kenta Kobashi vs. Jumbo
Tsuruta & Akira Taue & Masanobu Fuchi
* 07/05/92 Masanobu Fuchi & Yoshinari Ogawa vs. Kenta Kobashi &
Tsuyoshi Kikuchi
* 06/30/95 Mitsuharu Misawa & Kenta Kobashi & Satoru Asako vs. Toshiaki
Kawada & Akira Taue & Tamon Honda
* 12/05/97 Toshiaki Kawada & Akira Taue vs. Mitsuharu Misawa & Jun
Akiyama

New Japan Pro Wrestling

* 04/23/83 Tiger Mask I vs. The Dynamite Kid for the NWA Junior
Heavyweight Title
* 04/16/94 "Wild Pegasus" Chris Benoit vs. Great Sasuke (Super J Cup
'94)
* 07/08/94 Jushin Liger vs. Great Sasuke
* 06/05/97 El Samurai vs. Koji Kanemoto (Best of the Super Jr. IV)

Asistencia Asesorà a y Administración

* 11/06/94 Los Gringos Locos vs. El Hijo del Santo & Octagon AAA When
Worlds Collide; (hair vs. masks)

All Japan Women's Pro-Wrestling

* 08/15/92 Manami Toyota vs. Toshiyo Yamada
* 04/02/93 Akira Hokuto vs. Shinobu Kandori
* 04/02/93 Kyoko Inoue & Takako Inoue vs. Cutie Suzuki & Mayumi Ozaki
* 04/11/93 Dynamite Kansai & Mayumi Ozaki vs. Manami Toyota & Toshiyo
Yamada
* 12/06/93 Manami Toyota & Toshiyo Yamada vs. Dynamite Kansai & Mayumi
Ozaki
* 08/24/94 Manami Toyota vs. Kyoko Inoue
* 11/20/94 Aja Kong vs. Manami Toyota

Universal Wrestling Federation

* 12/05/84 Kazuo Yamazaki vs. Nobuhiko Takada

Japan Women's Pro Wrestling

* 07/31/93 Dynami Kansai & Cutie Suzuki & Mayumi Ozaki & Hikari Fukuoka
vs. Aja Kong & Sakie Hasegawa & Kyoko Inoue & Takako Inoue

[St. Jimmy]

You disagree with everyone about what good wrestling is, that's fine. You're on your own island and god-bless you over there. You're absolutely entitled to your opinion. If you wanted to you could even write your own magazine and rank matches based on a non-star system. If you wanted to give Ryback vs. Three Jobbers two out of three Stetson's, or tell us about how Santino is a dark horse for WWE Champion then I'm sure someone on the internet will listen.

Hell, Rajah still exists.

[St. Jimmy]

Any promotion that had Misawa would have that many matches listed as five star.

Misawa was the greatest wrestler that ever lived.

[James Steele]

Hell, even NWA/JCP/WCW got screwed. He clearly has a bias against the North American/"Sports Entertainment" style of wrestling and this has somehow turned into a religion for shitheads like you who balk at anything that isn't full of flips or full of stiff as fuck head drops and strikes. Even when he does give a major North American promotion a 5 star rating, it seems like he pulled out of his ass because of the names involved moreso than the actual content of the match (barring the Flair matches 89 and some others).

[James Steele]

Whoa, are you seriously acting like Dave Meltzer's opinion is fucking gospel in pro wrestling?

[St. Jimmy]

I think you're making a point to attack something you don't like/understand, but okay. Every WWE/WWF match on the list deserves to be there. There are tons of four and half, quarter, 3/4th star WWE matches that just didn't have that little extra push to be a five star match. Those are mentioned in the letters and there is justification as to why they weren't.

[James Steele]

That is like fucking saying every slapdick sports columnist or writer who appears on ESPN or writes for a major newspaper or magazine is never wrong and their words/opinions are canon too.

[James Steele]

I think you're making a point to attack something you don't like/understand, but okay. Every WWE/WWF match on the list deserves to be there. There are tons of four and half, quarter, 3/4th star WWE matches that just didn't have that little extra push to be a five star match. Those are mentioned in the letters and there is justification as to why they weren't.

It is fucking opinion. Just because he had the only major dirtsheet in fucking in the 80s doesn't make him automatically correct and the be-all end-all.

[Seth82]

"computer wrestling board"?

In 1988???

Crazy

back then there actually was an early form of message boards.

[St. Jimmy]

For the most part I agree with Dave's assessments; his outlook on WWE overall is a bit bleak now because he's obsessed with MMA, but he still knows a good match when he sees it. From all the matches I've seen (which is about the same as him) we agree on what a five star match is.

[St. Jimmy]

Okada vs. Tanahashi is one of those matches that will eventually be a five star match, just needs something special.

[James Steele]

For the most part I agree with Dave's assessments; his outlook on WWE overall is a bit bleak now because he's obsessed with MMA, but he still knows a good match when he sees it. From all the matches I've seen (which is about the same as him) we agree on what a five star match is.

That's great, but that doesn't make you or his opinion fucking holy and inherently more true/correct/important than others.

[St. Jimmy]

That's great, but that doesn't make you or his opinion fucking holy and inherently more true/correct/important than others.

You can see if that way if you'd like, but if you're going to ask someone on the record about wrestling for something news related or for something you're publishing the go-to guy is Meltzer. He's the name for professional wrestling journalism.

[James Steele]

4/5/09 Undertaker vs. Shawn Michaels ****3/4
3/28/10 Undertaker vs. Shawn Michaels (No Countout, No DQ) ****3/4

Please tell me, what the fuck did the HBK/Taker match at WrestleMania 25 need to get that EXTRA 1/4 STAR!?!?!?

[James Steele]

You can see if that way if you'd like, but if you're going to ask someone on the record about wrestling for something news related or for something you're publishing the go-to guy is Meltzer. He's the name for professional wrestling journalism.

Journalism is a stretch. It is usually nothing but gossip, rumors, and opinion.

[James Steele]

2/25/01 Triple H vs. Steve Austin (2/3 falls � Straight wrestling, Street Fight, Cage) ****3/4

4/1/01 Steve Austin vs. Rock (No DQ) ****1/2

Please tell me what was missing from those matches that Punk/Cena had?

[St. Jimmy]

Personally the amount of false finishes in those matches dragged it down. The drama was there, the wrestling was there, the psychology was there, but the timing was just off, the match at 26 was better, but just didn't have the same feel that 25 did. They're both great in different ways. If you could combine them it would be perfect.

Go back and watch the match from 97 they had, the pace and the amount of brutality in that match is what made it so perfect. Plus it had that fantastic ending where Shawn, who was dead, got the pin on taker.

[James Steele]

1/23/00 Triple H vs. Cactus Jack (Street Fight) ****1/2

2/27/00 Triple H vs. Cactus Jack (Hell in the Cell) ****1/2

8/25/02 Shawn Michaels vs. Triple H (Street Fight) ****1/4

Please tell me what these matches were missing that a fucking Larry Zybysko WarGames match had?

[St. Jimmy]

Punk vs Cena was all about the presentation, the drama was real; Punk brought out the best in Cena in the ring, especially on this night. The amount of finishes was right, the pace was good as it was in step with building the drama, and the ending was fucking spectacular. No one had any idea what was going to happen, the match was probably the best WWE/WWF match in history as far as Drama and Psychology.

[James Steele]

Personally the amount of false finishes in those matches dragged it down. The drama was there, the wrestling was there, the psychology was there, but the timing was just off, the match at 26 was better, but just didn't have the same feel that 25 did. They're both great in different ways. If you could combine them it would be perfect.

Go back and watch the match from 97 they had, the pace and the amount of brutality in that match is what made it so perfect. Plus it had that fantastic ending where Shawn, who was dead, got the pin on taker.

:lol: Wow. The corny Kane debut ("That's gotta be...THAT'S GOTTA BE KANE!" *RIP DOOR OFF*) and cheap win for HBK didn't hurt the debut of the Hell in a Cell match which was meant to keep HBK from getting a cheap victory thanks to interference had the perfect blend of everything that the WrestleMania matches did not?

[James Steele]

As pretentious as your opinions sound, I can live with them because your opinions aren't heralded as fucking gospel unlike the "journalist".

[St. Jimmy]

HBK was the heel in 1997, that win was fucking amazing. That crowd was pissed at that ending and kept them wanting more. Too bad that led into Montreal, but hey...

[James Steele]

Punk vs Cena was all about the presentation, the drama was real; Punk brought out the best in Cena in the ring, especially on this night. The amount of finishes was right, the pace was good as it was in step with building the drama, and the ending was fucking spectacular. No one had any idea what was going to happen, the match was probably the best WWE/WWF match in history as far as Drama and Psychology.

I can see where you are coming from, but that is a stretch. You didn't think the McMahon interference and Cena decking Ace and stopping the "screwjob" only to get GTS'd didn't kind of kill it? The match itself wasn't that fucking amazing. The crowd was awesome, but not enough to bump it over how many ever fucking matches over the past 14 years Meltzer felt were just 1/4 star short of PERFECTION.

[James Steele]

HBK was the heel in 1997, that win was fucking amazing. That crowd was pissed at that ending and kept them wanting more. Too bad that led into Montreal, but hey...

Is that the 1/4 they were missing? Would the shocker of HBK ending The Streak have given it that final precious 1/4 star to forever cement its status among 24 Misawa matches?

[James Steele]

Wait, I know...I know...it was the camerman bump wasn't it? 5-star matches don't have epic fuck ups, even if it gets a jaded smark like me to believe for a split second that The Streak will end via countout.

[St. Jimmy]

I thought the McMahon/Ace part was great because it showed the rest of the world what Chicago knew: John Cena is his own worst enemy. John Cena always has to go against the grain. John Cena cost himself the WWE title against the biggest heel in the company on his last night because of his pride.

[St. Jimmy]

Streak Matches are hard to rank as five stars because they're predictable. Y'all know Taker ain't gonna lose.

[James Steele]

4/1/01 Kurt Angle vs. Chris Benoit ****1/4

1/19/03 Kurt Angle vs. Chris Benoit ****3/4

What were these missing? Not enough flips? Not "realistic enough"? Did he retroactively downgrade them due to "character issues"/"murderers can't have 5 star matches"?

My whole point is this: other than the fact Meltzer was the only one with enough time, money, and loneliness to do this shit first, what makes him the match ranking aficionado especially when he does such bizarre rankings like the ones I've mentioned. How can you watch HBK/Taker from WM25 (especially if you watched it live) and at the end of it go...eh...it was missing something...MINUS 1/4 STAR!

[James Steele]

Especially when Japanese matches make up over half of the list and half of those are Misawa matches.

[St. Jimmy]

It's about retrospective analysis. Comparing what it is to what it could've been by looking at other instances of what a five star match is. Both Taker/HBK matches weren't as good as the 97 one. They were better in different ways and worse in others. There was no heat in those matches, it was just two faces fighting for pride. It lacked classic wrestling build and didn't deliver the emotion it needed as such.

[St. Jimmy]

Misawa was that good.

[James Steele]

It seems obvious to me by looking at the list and his match rankings for several WWE matches, that he has a clear bias against the North American/"sports entertainment" style.

[James Steele]

It's about retrospective analysis. Comparing what it is to what it could've been by looking at other instances of what a five star match is. Both Taker/HBK matches weren't as good as the 97 one. They were better in different ways and worse in others. There was no heat in those matches, it was just two faces fighting for pride. It lacked classic wrestling build and didn't deliver the emotion it needed as such.

Jesus fucking Christ.

[St. Jimmy]

I'm not comfortable in assuming that. There's lots of other Puro matches that could be on that list that aren't. The only company I feel got pretty shafted was WCW; WCW had so many "could've been" five star matches.

I feel the ROH list is dead on, no more no less.

[James Steele]

So, babyface vs babyface matches are incapable of being 5 stars? Matches that don't rely on heat for reaction, but rather the conflict of the fans' love of 2 wrestlers and their awe-inspiring legacies against each other is no good? I'm just even going to justify the statement that HBK/Taker didn't have enough emotion with a smartass rhetorical question.

[St. Jimmy]

Triple H vs. Taker build was better, it had that "MOTHERFUCKER I WILL KILL YOU" feel. The matches sadly didn't deliver on the wrestling side, much more on the brutality and drama side.

[James Steele]

I'm not comfortable in assuming that. There's lots of other Puro matches that could be on that list that aren't. The only company I feel got pretty shafted was WCW; WCW had so many "could've been" five star matches.

I feel the ROH list is dead on, no more no less.

Those ROH matches had the babyface vs heel dynamic, the epic heat, the raw emotion, and the heart-stopping action that HBK/Taker lacked? Get the fuck out of here. If he is comparing all matches to previous 5-star matches to determine rankings, then there should probably never be another 5 star match. FFS, each match is its own story and its own moment frozen in time. You can't arbitrarily compare it to a match from a decade ago when both characters, actual people, the promotion, etc. were in an entirely different place.

[James Steele]

Triple H vs. Taker build was better, it had that "MOTHERFUCKER I WILL KILL YOU" feel. The matches sadly didn't deliver on the wrestling side, much more on the brutality and drama side.

How the fuck can you expect a match built as "The End of an Era - The Final Battle" or "The Last Outlaw vs The Warrior King" to be a technical masterpiece? It'd be retarded and not make sense. Wrestling isn't paint by numbers or a fucking cake recipe.

[James Steele]

What Triple H and Undertaker did deserves just as much respect as a Benoit/Angle match. Despite what Meltzer might have you believe, Triple H and Undertaker did WRESTLE. They had a hell of a WRESTLING MATCH. It didn't need 20 variations of suplexes or 30 minutes of counter-for-counter exchanges to be a great wrestling match.

[James Steele]

4/3/11 Triple H vs. Undertaker (No Holds Barred) ****1/2

4/1/12 Undertaker vs. Triple H (Hell in a Cell) ****3/4

Would Triple H's "Inverted Indian Deathlock" given them that extra 1/2 and 1/4 star?

[James Steele]

I believe the answer is YES.

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[James Steele]

Fuck, if only HHH had done that and then Undertaker escape with a 720 Corkscrew Quadriceps Suplex with a look of anguish on his face. That would have been the DRAMA. The REALISM. THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN 4 1/2 and IMMORTATLITY.

[James Steele]

2/19/12 John Cena vs. Kane (Ambulance Match) ***

4/1/12 CM Punk vs. Chris Jericho ***3/4

4/29/12 CM Punk vs. Chris Jericho (Chicago Street Fight) ***1/2

4/29/12 John Cena vs. Brock Lesnar (Extreme Rules) ****1/2


...so Punk/Jericho's matches were only slightly better than the Kane/Cena Ambulance match and soundly inferior to the Brock/Cena match?

[James Steele]

9/17/06 Shawn Michaels/Triple H vs. Vince McMahon/Shane McMahon/Big Show (Hell in a Cell) ***1/4

Punk/Jericho was equal or only slightly better than the match where DX shoved Vince up Big Show's ass?

[James Steele]

It's about retrospective analysis. Comparing what it is to what it could've been by looking at other instances of what a five star match is.

I assume this applies to all matches.

[Seth82]

the 10-12-88 edition of The Wrestling Observer

WWF
-- NBC will televise three prime time wrestling specials during the season instead of just one, as had been previously reported. NBC has also agreed to broadcast the Slammys in prime time. Forbes had a story on this over the past week which seemed to be a mix of fact and fiction (I'll say), as they also reported $80 million in ticket sales in the past 12 months when $40-$50 million is closer to reality. The WWF's cash flow is about $19 million, and the company would be worth about $100 million on the open market. Ad rates are about half of what a normal sitcom or game show with those ratings would sell for, which shows that advertisers just don't consider wrestling a good television buy, even though McMahon has changed the audience. Some sponsors will always be interested because of the sheer number of viewers, but they will spend more money per viewer on almost anything else.

-- The British Bulldogs are headlining the upcoming European tour. Randy Savage will work a few dates as well.

-- Arn Anderson & Tully Blanchard start at the TV tapings in Toledo.

-- The Survivor Series PPV will only have four matches.

-- 9/29 at MSG drew 13,500 headlined by Honky Tonk Man vs Ultimate Warrior and Randy Savage vs Andre the Giant. 9/30 in Denver drew 6,500 and $75,000 headlined by the same matches. 9/29 in Miami drew 7,500 headlined by Hogan vs Boss Man. 9/18 in Toronto drew 8,000 headlined by Roberts vs Rude.

-- Summerslam drew a $355,345 gate at MSG and an additional $63,376 at the Felt Forum. The combined gate is the third largest ever in the New York area. The record remains $541,730 for Bruno vs Zbyszko at Shea Stadium. Second place is Wrestlemania I at $502,000, which just barely nudges Flair vs Kerry Von Erich at Texas Stadium for the overall #5 spot of top live gates in US wrestling history. Wrestlemania III still has the record, drawing a $1,599,000 gate at the Silverdome.

-- "There was some legit backstage heat between the Bulldogs and Rougeaus stemming from an incident where Jacques Rougeau shaved the head of one of the Bulldogs' friends (a ring attendant in one of the cities who suffers from downs syndrome), which, ironically, is one of the Bulldogs' favorite hobbies (ask Outhouse Jack and Joey Marella) and it evolved into a fistfight with Dynamite either cleaning Raymond's clock, or both at once, depending on the version of the story you believe."

-- The C & D show crew will be cut back because the shows aren't drawing, and the A & B gates are down right now also. "Titan doesn't have any match which can pop a crowd at present (they are still in far better shape than the NWA which doesn't have any match which can pop a big crowd either since Flair-Luger is starting to fizzle down). Really, they desperately need to get a heel on fire and it looks like Curt Hennig will be the beneficiary, but I don't think they are even thinking about Hennig vs. Hogan, and it'll be six months before Hennig meets Savage so I think we're in for a slow period. Hogan has not drawn anything near what was expected of him since his return (part of it can be blamed on his opponents -- DiBiase was destroyed at Summer Scam far more than they realized; Brown and Haku are not main eventers and Bubba Bossman is too much like One Man Gang plus no angle has been done to get heat on their series; however in years past, Hogan always drew with foes good or bad."

-- Live gates are a bigger portion of income than Dave had been led to believe. Wrestlers had always told Dave the live gates were gravy, and merchandising was where the money was, but according to the Forbes article, the WWF only receives about 3% of the $150 million annual gross in WWF-licensed products, or about $4.5 million annually. "Figure $40 million in live gates, $12 million more in souvenir sales at live gates, $7 million as their cut of two major PPV shows, plus live gates of those shows, $5.5 million on PPV for Wrestlemania (Titan's cut of an estimated $13 million), $1.5 million on the live house, $3 million on closed circuit and $1.5 million on videos/souvenirs of WM plus all sorts of other sources like TV ad revenue, magazine, etc. It's still a very healthy business, since it has about 166 front office employees and maybe 80 wrestlers (front office employees average $27,000 per annum.)"

-- Hogan's debut in Tallahassee against Ted DiBiase only drew 3,200 fans, but they were expecting to draw 12,000 fans.

NWA
-- Rumors of Lex Luger and Ric Flair both leaving are false. Luger was still in the NWA as recently as the last house show and he has made threats and wants some type of show of good faith from the new organization, but he's still around. The rumors that Flair is already on WWF booking sheets are also false.

-- The NWA was NOT sold to TBS the previous Friday, which is what everyone said would be THE date. Dave heard the deal was that Turner would only purchase 65% of the company, with an option to buy the remaining 35%, but has yet to confirm this. The wrestlers did all receive documents to sign at the last TV taping to transfer responsibility for their contracts from JCP to TBS. TBS has stated no contracts will be renegotiated until May 1, and after the purchase, only very small changes will be made through the end of the year. However, they will be making drastic changes in the first four months of 1989.

-- Turner wants to sign key WWF wrestlers before the end of the year. They are looking at Bam Bam Bigelow, Ricky Steamboat, One Man Gang and Greg Valentine. Bigelow and Steamboat have already left, and Dave thinks OMG and Valentine would be of little value. Dave is told Bigelow's TV taping debut "was something between a bomb and a major disappointment." There is significant interest in Ricky Steamboat, and they really want Flair vs Steamboat to headline Starrcade. This is far from being finalized, as Steamboat doesn't really have much desire to return to wrestling. OMG is out since he's about to get a big push as Akeem, and Dave thinks it would be a major mistake to offer Valentine a key spot. "My own feeling is there are several guys out there who can be signed for a lot less money that would be more effective in the spot, and if they wanted to get someone from Titan, they should at least try and get someone like Bret Hart or Jake Roberts who has some charisma and isn't burned out like Valentine is and could be effective as a drawing card." They are also trying to get Eddie Gilbert back in, but Dave isn't sure if they're interested in Paul E. Dangerously, although he says it would be a mistake not to be interested.

-- Dave saw the NWA show in Chicago on 10/2. The crowd was between 5,000 and 5,500 fans and about a $65,000 gate. Rundown:

Ron Simmons vs Rip Morgan: Better than you'd expect. *1/2
Mike Rotunda vs Italian Stallion **1/4
Midnight Express vs Dick Murdoch & Dusty Rhodes in a 30-minute draw: Best match on the card, and Dave has no idea how they pulled it off. Eaton took some insane Terry Funk-style bumps. "Dusty hit a gusher on this one, to the point of it being genuinely disgusting (the cut, not Dusty in general). They kept pounding on the cut which made things even worse. It was an all action brawl from this point on and both very good and very heated with Murdoch not going (sic) any clowning." ***1/2
Fantastics vs Sheepherders: Their typical good brawl. ***1/4
Ivan & Nikita Koloff vs Russian Assassins: **1/4
Sting vs Barry Windham: Great heat during entrances, okay during the match. Good match, but too many low blows. ***1/4
Ric Flair vs Lex Luger: They are back to doing Dusty finishes in all their main events, which is killing the momentum this feud had going at the gate. ***1/4

WCCW
-- Rumors that Jerry Jarrett has bought 30 percent of WCCW are wrong. He has been in and out of Dallas and has been negotiating. Ken Mantell currently owns 30 percent and would probably be willing to sell his share. Dave thinks Jerry Jarrett is too smart to buy into the group unless he has 51 percent and full decision-making power, and most feel he is trying to do just that now.

-- WCCW is being replaced by the AWA on ESPN.

-- They have gotten out of the problems they were facing from the city of Dallas over the condition of the Sportatorium. The city will overlook the fire hazard problems as long as World Class agrees not to prepare any food on the premises. They can only sell pre-packaged food. Previously, Dallas gave WCCW until the end of the month to spend $40,000 fixing the building or they would quarantine it.

CONTINENTAL
-- Dave attended the Road to Birmingham show. His thoughts on the show? Since you asked:

Opening battle royal: *1/4
Bob Armstrong vs Tony Anthony: A 41 second match which Dave says had a really hot pace. 1/4*
Tom Pritchard vs Kokina: DUD
Dutch Mantell vs Mr. Wrestling II: 10-minute draw which lasted 8:22. II got no reaction. Dutch was the heel, but got mostly cheers. "II had one fan, noticeable because it really was only one." *
Terry Gordy vs Austin Idol: Best match of the tournament. **1/2
Jerry Stubbs vs Tim Horner: DUD
Tony Anthony vs Dutch Mantell; **1/4
Austin Idol vs Terry Gordy: -1/2*
Tom Pritchard vs Jerry Stubbs: **
Ken Wayne vs Danny Davis Hair vs Hair: **3/4

-- Brad Armstrong is starting for CWF soon. Bob Armstrong is now booking.

-- FNN is still airing the show.

NEW JAPAN
-- 9/18 in Mitsugi drew a sellout 1,340 fans. 9/19 in Toyooka drew a sellout 2,300 fans. 9/20 in Oyabe drew a sellout 2,880 mainly to see Hiroshi Hase return from his knee injury in his hometown. 9/21 in Inuyama drew a sellout 1,760 fans.

-- "I got to see the 5 vs. 5 match from 9/12 in Fukuoka and it was a solid four-stars but no match of the year. Yamada and fantastic, but he was the second guy out. Also got to see the Chigusa vs. Asuka match which was four stars plus, but I don't think they'll be having the kind of matches they used to because with the UWF popularity in Japan, submission holds are more in vogue than spectacular flying stuff. This was worked great with the most legitimate looking worked shoulder separation act I've ever seen. They did set a new world record for most streamers ever thrown before a match."

UWF
-- The latest show on 9/24 in Fukuoka drew a sellout 4,000 fans headlined by Akira Maeda vs Kazuo Yamazaki.

MISCELLANEOUS
-- "By the way, the latest issue of UWF magazine had a list of the 'toughest shooters' in the U.S. and listed the British Bulldogs, Steve Williams, Brad Rheingans, Bob Backlund, Rick Steiner, Buzz Sawyer, Mike Rotunda, Badnews Brown, Iron Sheik, David Schultz, and the Malenko brothers in no particular order for those of you who have fascination with that aspect of wrestling."

-- "I realize that many long-time fans like the look of a TV studio show. It evokes memories of the good old days when all the shows were shot in studios. But nostalgia isn't what it used to be. Today, all wrestling shows must be compared with Titan's TV product and the comparison, when limited to production values, is very much unfavorable. Despite the fact the in-ring product of the NWA is far superior, the casual fan usually can't identify these differences. What they do see on Titan are 10000 fans in a brightly lit arena having the time of their lives. it is loud, though sometimes canned, the fans response to the faces and heels are all properly orchestrated to avoid embarrassment to the promotion and has a major league look." -- Chris Zavisa on the letters page

-- "I'm sitting here watching NWA Worldwide Wrestling and they've played that 'Catch the Pinfalls' video four times. Wouldn't 'Catch the screwjobs' be more appropriate?" -- John McAdam on the letters page

[SantosGomez]

Here's the October 3rd 1988 edition of Dave Meltzer's Wrestling Observer

WWF
-- For the week ending 8/28, WWF's syndicated network drew a 9.6 rating in 258 markets covering 97% of the country.

-- Tully Blanchard and Arn Anderson debut at the next TV tapings as The Brainbusters and will be managed by Bobby Heenan. They will face the Rockers and British Bulldogs in their arena debuts toward the end of October. They are mostly working arenas where the NWA is strongest. They are expected to get a big push, only because the WWF wants Ric Flair, and burying them would make it harder to get Flair.

-- One Man Gang is now known as "Akeem" and will be a white wrestler pretending to be black. Dave says this is not the first time this has been done, as Kevin Sullivan pretended to be Kareem Muhammad's cousin last year in Florida.

-- Harley Race is booked against DJ Peterson on some spot shows in California.

-- 9/24 at the Spectrum drew 3,952, their lowest crowd of all time, headlined by a Savage/DiBiase cage match. 9/23 in Cape Girardeau, MO drew 1,200 fans headlined by Duggan vs DiBiase. 9/12 in Peoria, IL drew 2,411 headlined by Duggan (subbing for Jake) vs Rude. 9/19 at the Cow Palace drew 6,000 headlined by Savage vs Andre. 9/17 in Los Angeles drew 12,500 headlined by Savage vs Andre. 9/18 in San Diego drew 5,000 headlined by Savage vs Andre. 9/2 in Canton, OH drew 500 headlined by Rockers vs Conquistadores. 9/3 in Kitanning, PA drew 369 fans and a $2,1000 gate headlined by Rockers vs Conquistadores. 9/18 in White Plains, NY drew 500 fans headlined by Rockers vs Conquistadores. 9/17 at the Capital Centre drew 7,500 fans headlined by Hogan vs DiBiase. 9/19 in Entfield, CT drew 350 fans headlined by Rockers vs Conquistadores. 9/19 in New Haven, CT drew 6,200 fans headlined by Hogan vs Big Boss Man.

-- "Hennig's Mr. Perfect character will be introduced on TV with clips of him being perfect at all sports (ie bowling and doing all strikes, horseshoes with all ringers, baseball with all home runs)."

-- Roddy Piper's movie "They Live" was originally planned to debut on 10/29, but has been pushed back to 11/4 to avoid competing with any new Halloween-themed movies.

-- Ted DiBiase was on Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous, which Dave was told was hilarious. DiBiase gave his dog champagne and caviar and wouldn't let Robin Leach have any.

NWA
-- Negotiations between Jim Crockett and Fritz Von Erich broke off. Crockett wanted a deal where he would take over the WCCW TV network, take over the promotion, and keep the Von Erichs and a couple of others. Fritz was looking for a simple talent exchange, likely so he could do more Flair vs Kerry Von Erich matches in Dallas.

-- Crockett is still attempting to settle his outstanding debts before selling. "He's trying to settle at 40 cents on the dollar according to two different creditors. His largest creditor is Bill Watts, from the purchase of the old Universal Wrestling Federation last spring. Apparently Crockett's offer to settle the outstanding debt (rumored to be in the $3 million range) for less than $1 million didn't go over so well with Watts, who is not only trying to up the price, but also drop the 'no-compete' clause in his sale contract." TBS sources tell Dave they expect the sale to be finalized by the end of the week, but Dave doesn't think they can clear the debt in time.

-- Expect minor changes in TV format and some major roster additions by the end of the year, with major, fullscale changes coming in early 1989.

-- Bam Bam Bigelow will debut on the 9/27 TV tapings as a babyface and be managed by Oliver Humperdink. While it didn't work in Titan and Dave says it does seem like a more natural heel act, Bigelow is coming in as a babyface because the Road Warriors are about to turn heel. Dave doesn't understand why they're bringing him in now instead of waiting, since he'll have a Japan tour a week later and will be gone for a month. The idea is that Humperdink can do promos while he's gone to keep his momentum going.

-- 9/18 in Roanoke drew 3,200 headlined by Flair vs Luger with another two-referee finish with a Tommy Young/Teddy Long argument, which fans have stopped popping for because they've figured out what is about to happen. 9/3 in Baltimore drew 11,000 and a $125,000 gate headlined by Flair vs Luger. 9/25 at the Omni drew 6,700 fans headlined by Flair vs Luger.

-- There will be a U.S. tag team title tournament held on TV. This will be a weekly thing for November sweeps.

-- Clash II was the highest rated show on cable during its week.

-- Brad Armstrong has missed several shows, although it has yet to be confirmed that he's headed to Continental.

-- For the week ending 8/28, the NWA's network drew a 6.1 in 159 markets covering 91% of the country.

-- Jobber Agent Steele is Brad Anderson, son of Gene Anderson.

SUPERCLASH III
-- The show will be headlined by a "must be a winner" title unification match between Jerry Lawler and Kerry Von Erich. There will also be a "Beverly Hills lingerie (http://www.robustbuy.com/womens-clothes-lingerie-sets-c-1083_1085_1088.html) match" between POWW girls, where the object is to tear off clothing. " ... that's fine for the Playboy channel but I'm not sure it's appropriate for the general audience, then again, I suppose there isn't much general audience interest in this show either ..." Other matches include Sgt. Slaughter vs Col. DeBeers, Ron Garvin vs Greg Gagne, and Wahoo McDaniel vs Manny Fernandez in a strap match.

-- The hope is that the show can be cleared in three million homes, which Dave says will have hurdles because the NWA has a show on 12/26 and the WWF has one on Thanksgiving.

-- Dave expects Continental to try to join the show since Eddie Gilbert is no longer booking, as David Woods and Gilbert disagreed on whether or not to participate in this show.

-- The plan is for this group to run a second show in February between the Royal Rumble and Wrestlemania. Dave sees oversaturation coming between the WWF PPVs, NWA's hopes to expand PPVs in 1989, and this group running more PPVs, which could result in "as many as 10 or 11 PPV shows next year."

WCCW
-- "We had one of those 'only in Texas' title changes this past Friday night at the Dallas Sportatorium. The Jerry Lawler-Kerry Von Erich title match ended with a double disqualification, and they emphasized before the match that it was to be held under World Class rules and it was announced in Dallas that because a title can change via DQ in World Class, that both wrestlers' lost their titles and both belts would be vacant pending a Texas Death Match (Falls don't count, No DQ, no time limit, no stopping for blood, match continues until one man can't answer the bell, you can use anything you want to bring into the ring except a gun or knife) at the Cotton Bowl on 10/15. However, the next morning at the TV studio in Memphis, Lawler appeared with the AWA title safely around his waist and promoting a title defense against Ron Garvin on 9/30." The show drew 3,500 fans on 9/24 at the Sportatorium, with Lawler apparently carrying Kerry to a ***+ match and working as a total heel.

-- John Tatum is gone.

-- Kevin Von Erich is tentatively scheduled to return for the Cotton Bowl show, but it isn't definite. He is having lots of problems from his concussions and the resulting headaches. A doctor told Kevin he should stop wrestling. His brain is jarred, and he is susceptible to more concussions. They are saying Kamala gave Kevin the concussion in a match in Cleveland, which is useless since Kamala is gone. "From all reports, if Kevin suffered a concussion in Cleveland, it wasn't in the ring."

-- Kerry Von Erich is officially in charge of the company, but Frank Dusek and Skandor Akbar handle the office work and Percy Pringle does publicity.

-- There is a Miss World Class beauty pageant coming up.

-- The plan is to start giving away Ft. Worth tickets, since the shows are sponsored anyway, to build up excitement for television. The matches have been good, but they are only drawing 200 fans in an 8,000 seat arena, so they seem dead from lack of heat. They are also going to give out freebies to kids and non-profit groups so there is crowd enthusiasm that carries over to TV.

-- Michael Hayes is in Nigeria.

-- They lost TV in San Antonio, which has been their most consistent drawing city.

MEMPHIS
-- The combined tapings in Louisville and Memphis drew disappointing numbers: between 2,000 and 3,500 for Louisville, and only about 5,000 in Memphis, despite all the big names on the card.

-- Dave is comparing the Frank Dusek/Eddie Marlin shoving match and Hayes/Cox vs Jarrett/Dundee confrontation to New Japan vs IWE, which drew huge in 1981-1982 with Inoki vs Rusher Kimura.

-- Hector Guerrero is now working as a full-time gymnastic instructor for kids in Maryville, Tennessee.

-- Cactus Jack is now carrying a whip. They did an angle where Brown said that since Fuller still owned his contract he didn't have any money. He brought out his aunt who said she has been having to support him and started crying, which was great. Sylvia then came out - also crying - and said they've give him back the contract until the Stud Stable jumped Brown and choked him with the whip. The other heels held the dressing room door shut so nobody could make the save for a few minutes.

-- "Todd Morton, the Ricky Morton look-alike and wrestle-alike debuted this past Saturday and he looks like a top candidate for rookie of the year."

CONTINENTAL
-- There has been a "bitter falling out" in Continental, which has led to the departure of booker Eddie Gilbert, along with several other wrestlers. There were business disagreements that escalated out of control, and there was a "full-scale explosion" on Thursday. Dave expects this to put Continental back in the category of minor independent promotion. There were differences between Gilbert and David Woods. Woods felt Continental couldn't afford to expand to new areas and bring in name talent, which Gilbert was trying to do. They also felt they weren't ready for the Road to Birmingham on 10/3. The promotion started second guessing booking decisions and felt that Eddie Gilbert and Paul E. Dangerously focused too much on themselves. In addition, localized promos were getting mixed up or failed to arrive at the city in time for airing because they weren't being mailed for overnight delivery. They were just being sent first class mail. The final straw was when paychecks were given on Tuesday when paychecks were issued. Gilbert has been in charge of payroll, and Woods scaled back the payoffs Gilbert has issued, especially of those who are Gilbert's closest friends. Woods was also against Gilbert returning as a babyface, and was questioning the severity of his injuries. "Really, just about everything that there could be a dispute about, there was. There had been disenchantment because the crowds had been down the past two weeks, although that isn't unusual for this time of the year. Even Gilbert's detractors within the promotion admitted he was both a creative wrestler and great booker, but were leery of his attempts to expand too fast and certain personality conflicts had gotten out of control."

-- Because of this, the status of Road to Birmingham is up on the air. Gilbert, Bam Bam Bigelow, Bob Orton, and Chris Adams are definitely not coming in now (in Bigelow's case because he signed with the NWA, not because he's in the middle of this). Terry Gordy may still be on, but Continental may not be willing to fly in outside talent anymore. Nightmare Freddy, D.I. Bob Carter, The Samoans and Shane Douglas are all gone. Austin Idol and a few others are question marks.

-- The new booker will be Bob Armstrong, with the full crew cut to 14 wrestlers: Armstrong, Tracey Smothers, Steve Armstrong, Scott Armstrong, Willie B. Hurt, Lord Humongous, Danny Davis, Jerry Stubbs, Ken Wayne, Mongolian Stomper, Tony Anthony, Alan Martin, and two more heels. Dave expects Humongous to get a major push, as Gilbert not featuring him as the #1 wrestler in the promotion was another source of dispute.

-- Missy Hyatt will not be working TV anymore, and neither will Joe Pedicino. Brad Armstrong will probably come back in, and Dave expects Continental to be dropped by FNN as a result of all of this.

-- 9/23 in Knoxville drew 2,500 and a $20,000 gate.

-- Tom Pritchard was going to win the tournament, but probably won't now.

-- Eddie Gilbert had been wrestling in the earlier part of the week, and is currently working weekend shows in Puerto Rico.

STAMPEDE
-- 9/10 in Edmonton drew 700 fans. 9/17 drew 800 fans.

-- Dave is told the Chris Benoit & Lance Idol vs Cuban Commandos (Cuban Assassin & Jerry Morrow) matches are regularly around ****, including one that recently aired in full on television.

-- Makhan Singh was suspended for his attack on Ed Whalen so he would be free to tour South Africa. The Great Gama is also there, and Wellington starts for Inoki on 10/7.

-- Biff Wellington has a hair match against Johnny Smith before leaving for New Japan, much like Davey Boy Smith and Dynamite Kid used to lose hair matches so they could work New Japan tours bald.

-- Buddy Lane and Rip Rogers are coming in mid October.

U.S. INDEPENDENTS
-- Ric Flair only drew an average crowd on 9/20 in Portland, where he wrestled Top Gun (Dave Sierra) and was DQ'd for throwing him over the top rope.

-- "Lou Thesz was on Goerge Michael's local TV sportscast in Washington D.C. this past week and the two discussed whether or not Lou, who is now 72, could beat Hulk Hogan today. Michael gave you the impression he felt Thesz could have a few years ago but at 72 was pushing it, but Thesz came off confidently saying he'd win with little trouble since Hogan doesn't know how to wrestle. Just a few years back (1985) when Brody and Inoki were feuding in Japan, they had a photo shoot of Thesz training Brody for the match with Inoki teaching him wrestling holds. Anyway, at that point, Thesz was so quick with his moves that Brody probably couldn't have beaten him in an actual wrestling match so as silly as this sounds on the surface, ya never know. Thesz did compliment Randy Savage, calling him a great athlete and a good wrestler. About a week earlier, there was an article on Sam Muchnick's 83rd birthday in one of the St. Louis papers and Muchnick also said that he felt that today, Thesz could beat Hogan. The article only had one graph about wrestling, basically talking about the decline of the NWA and saying some negative things about what pro wrestling has turned into."

ALL JAPAN
-- Sting backed off of doing an All Japan tour after NWA pressure to cancel, because they told him they can't afford to lose him in October. His debut has been postponed to January.

-- "I had a chance to see the Tenryu-Hara vs. Tsuruta-Yatsu tag matches from 8/29 in Tokyo and 8/30 in Osaka. Both matches went about 30 minutes and were in the four-star range. The first bout started slow but had all the excellent near falls in the final few minutes, but also some missed moves, but the heat was tremendous. Finish saw Tenryu reverse a small package and pin Jumbo. The second night they actually had a superior match pacing-wise and really if it wasn't for the weak finish would have been 4 1/2 stars. Finish saw Jumbo give Tenryu three back suplexes and every time Hara would break up the fall. Then he did it again and this time just simply got the pin and Tenryu was laid out. The crowd was surprised because it was an out of the ordinary ending and the fall came with no heat build-up but it was still a great match."

-- Dan Spivey and Johnny Ace will team up in mid-November for the tag tournament.

NEW JAPAN
-- 9/12 in Fukuoka drew a near sellout 4,880 fans headlined by a 10-man elimination match of Choshu/H. Saito/Super Strong Machine/Kobayashi/M. Saito vs Fujinami/Kimura/Fujiwara/Koshinaka/Yamada.

-- 9/17 in Nagato drew a sellout 1,570 fans headlined by Choshu/Strong Machine/Kobayashi vs Fujinami/Koshinaka/Takano.

-- 9/15 in Kokuto drew a sellout 1,720 fans headlined by Fujinami/Kimura/Takano vs Starr/Hall/Vader and Choshu/Saito vs Kokina/Bigelow.

LETTERS QUOTES
"If two 'real' wrestlers are ready to leave the top of the promotion and their best feud, both in the ring and in gate potential, that they've ever had as a team, in exchange for a pass into the land of corporate wrestling decisions, that says more about the state of Jim Crockett Promotions than any wild rumors. The fact that JCP survived and thrived while every other major promotion crumbled in the face of Vince McMahon was something I took personal pride in. JCP is the home team that I grew up with. I've had a lot of fun both watching them on the tube and at the live shows. I don't care how much money and marketing expertise the WWF has, their product is heavy-handed, too predictable, condescending to their audience and boring. If the Crockett family acts now and takes the TBS offer, a tradition of 50 years standing may not go down needlessly. If not, I'd like to thank the family for all the years of fun and for bringing me what was the greatest show on Earth. The family ultimately has the right to destroy their business for no reason besides the preservation of Dusty Rhodes, just as they have the right to sell it for several million dollars and watch it survive into the next century. Just as I know Arn & Tully will be misused in the WWF, I have to admit that they made the right career choice. My fervent wish is they make a boatload of money in New York. It is nothing less than what they deserve. When Ric Flair goes, so do I as a wrestling fan." - Bruce Mitchell

"You've now reached the point where you have almost no analytical credibility with me when it comes to the WWF. I'm not saying you have a personal hard-on and it effects your judgment, only that you can no longer evaluate all wrestling by the same criteria. Has it occurred to you that the direction the WWF is going is imply not to your taste? I spoke to an awful lot of people after Summerslam. I mean real people, not guys who stay up to 3 a.m. to call you on some sportstalk radio show or Observer readers, just mainstream people who enjoy wrestling. While nobody was confusing Summerslam with Wrestlemania III, they were also sophisticated enough to realize that this was the summer show and was deliberately low-key so as not to destroy the specialness of Wrestlemania but that it was tons better than any other MSG show this year. If you want to throw in the 25-30 folks on the computer wrestling board I frequent who are very hardcore fans, several of whom subscribe to the Observer, the general impression was pretty much favorable. Nobody was going crazy as they did for the first Clash or Wrestlemania IV (Yes, your fabled failure drew mostly excellent notices online) but people were happy, especially with the Hart Foundation-Demolition match. How can you give that 1 1/2 stars when in the same issue you rate a Phil Hickerson vs. Jeff Jarrett match with 3 1/2 stars? All I'm saying is that you don't like the current WWF style of matches and too many of your readers simply like what you like and don't like what you don't like. Maybe I'm wrong, but I'd think about it. I'd also look more at what a promotion is attempting to do and how well they succeed. It was my impression that Summerslam was supposed to be, basically, the year's best MSG show, and it was. I doubt many viewers were all that turned off and suspect most enjoyed it well enough that they'll buy the next WWF PPV show. When Wrestlemania V rolls around, it will still seem like a more important event and it will cost more and people will pay it unless the promotion turns them off. That is more important than how well they draw in Philadelphia the next month. Your comment that, ipso fact, the ridiculous Flair-Luger blood angle on the PPV Bash was a success because live gates were up immediately was the most naive thing I've ever read by you. Don't you think infuriating the PPV audience was more significant than live audience, a totally different and relatively microscopic portion of the potentially vast PPV audience. The NWA's biggest problem is they never take the long view. Like children, they live in the eternal here and now. People are turned out of the blue (Windham, Luger, Murdoch, Garvin) with no build up because they need heat at some shows. They good good notices on Clash and think they've won the wrestling war. They draw a few good live gates and suddenly Dusty and Jimbo are convinced they've been right all along and should continue to run the organization even after Turner spends good money on it. You can't criticize a cowboy movie because it doesn't have ray guns. The WWF style tends toward fewer holds with much more set-up for each. Criticizing it for not equalling the workrate of some other promotion is besides the point. Workrate is all well and good, but smart fans put too much emphasis on it. Five moves aren't necessarily better than one well-executed and well set-up move." -- Bill Kunkel, Woodhaven, NY


Thanks for sharing these wonderful reviews. Can you tell which next wrestling event in coming up in month of May? Waiting for some reply

[Seth82]

Thanks for sharing these wonderful reviews. Can you tell which next wrestling event in coming up in month of May? Waiting for some reply

here's the May 9th 1988 edition

WWF
-- The WWF ran its last SNME of the season on 4/30, which was taped 4/22 in Springfield, MA. Savage is very much the star of the WWF right now, and Dave observed that the name Hulk Hogan was never even mentioned during the show. Dave also thinks it's amazing the difference in match quality on top between Hogan and Savage. Dave also noted that Duggan was really trying against Hercules, as was Hercules, but Duggan has fallen hard. Savage vs Gang was an okay match, but Savage was moving great and doing some awesome stuff in the ring. DiBiase sold big for all of Muraco's offense, but Muraco didn't do much. Bulldogs vs Demolition was terrible as they seemed to be on different pages. Rude vs Ware was the only match where both guys are about equally talented and it was pretty good, with neither guy really carrying the other.

-- The WWF is cost cutting by no longer having managers travel to house shows, only TV tapings. They may make an exception for Liz since she's such a key part of Savage's act. They have also cut back greatly on dates. A year ago, they were running 20-25 shows per week, now they are doing 10-12 shows per week. This is probably good in the short term, because Dave keeps hearing that the live shows are much better lately, although Dave credits the Savage/DiBiase feud and Bret/Bad News for most of that.

-- 4/24 at the Capital Centre drew 4,500 fans headlined by Savage vs DiBiase. 4/25 in MSG drew 17,000 headlined by Savage vs DiBiase.

-- Harley Race will be out of action for several months. He had 18 inches of his intestine removed after a ruptured intestine and at one point was on the critical list.

-- Bubba Rogers will debut with a prison guard gimmick and feud with Hulk Hogan this coming fall.

-- Owen Hart is still undecided about coming in.

-- Ricky Steamboat has quit, but Dave doesn't know more than that yet.

NWA
-- JCP has pretty much given up any claim to the New York market, as Nassau Coliseum officials have given in to the WWF's ultimatum. Crockett ran four shows there. The first show in late November was a major success, but that was expected. The second card was the Bunkhouse Stampede, which was a disaster, although the gate was still more than Titan was averaging, so they were okay. However, the ill will from the lack of organization behind the show resulted in a poor gate for the third show, which drew $48,000, about what the WWF would average on non-Hogan shows. The 6/24 date has been lost, and they have also lost their time slot on WPIX in New York, so they are now without local television in New York and Los Angeles, which they sorely need. Dave thinks the loss of television may have actually been a deliberate decision by Crockett, because they were paying upwards of $6,000 per week for their time, but that it's really going to hurt ad revenue and potential exposure.

-- The Fantastics captured the US tag team titles from the Midnight Express on 4/26 in Chattanooga in a match that went more than 40 minutes. Jim Cornette was on TV saying he was planning a party because he expected his close personal friend Jim Crockett to return the belts to him. Dave expects Cornette to not get the belts back, and get a face full of cake.

-- Ric Flair missed several dates over the last weekend, and there are several stories floating around. In one, he had a severe fever, and the other, he had a staph infection. Refunds were offered in the cities he missed.

-- 4/29 in Miami drew 4,000 headlined by Ric Flair vs Sting. 4/30 in Detroit drew 4,000 headlined by Ric Flair vs Sting in a ***1/2 match where they totally broke formula and did all highspots.

-- The next Clash is expected to be on 6/15 from the Knight Center in Miami. The Great American Bash PPV is on 7/10 in Baltimore.

-- Dave says the NWA should be happy that WCCW is doing the Triple Tower of Doom first, so they can see any bugs in the gimmick. It was the idea of Kevin Sullivan, not Dusty Rhodes.

-- "I finally saw the Barry Windham turn and it was tremendous. Every, and in every, I mean 100% of the phone calls I received this week on the turn, agreed that it was a great turn. Some didn't like Dusty getting involved since it really was a Windham vs. Luger issue, but I didn't mind as much because Rhodes has been a significant part of Windham's career almost from its onset back around 1979 in Florida, so it made sense for him to get involved when Windham turned. I can see the point of those who thought he was stealing the spotlight once again."

-- The 1988 Bash tour will be from 6/26 to 8/7, and will include 40 or 41 shows all over the country. Many shows will have War Games. Only two of the shows will be outdoors -- one at Tampa Stadium, and the other will be at Charlotte baseball stadium on 7/2. They also have a show booked at Reunion Arena in Dallas on 7/3. The wrestlers will be working six weeks without a day off, so they'll be given a one week vacation after the tour. They have to do TV on those days as well, and there will be plenty of double shots due to TBS tapings. After that, the plan is to rotate all wrestlers on a three weeks on, one week off schedule.

-- The NWA took WCCW's TV in Jackson, MS "... and celebrated by sending a tape that aired this past weekend totally void of any commentary."

-- They are plugging the US title tournament in Houston on 5/13 pretty hard. Barry Windham or Lex Luger is considered the favorite. They are also saying the Midnight Rider will wrestle, and be accompanied to the ring by Dusty Rhodes. Dave suspects they'll put Adrian Adonis or Joe Pedicino in the outfit, or maybe stuff both members of the Rock & Roll Express in the outfit, since they want back in so badly.

-- "That NWA Main Event show (which is back on Sundays on WTBS) sure isn't turning out as many of us had hoped. This past Sunday's show still had poor lighting, and truthfully, lackluster matches. Originally the main event was announced as Barry Windham & Luger against Flair & Arn Anderson, but with the Windham turn, it was changed to Luger & Sting as announced on TV. With Flair being ill, it became Arn vs. Luger in a single, which was okay because of Arn, but Luger's weaknesses were all too evident once again." Dave says he ran to the ring and was breathing heavy five minutes in, but it got better at the end when Windham ran in for the DQ, but wasn't much better than most of the SNME matches which aired the night before. "This is what they wanted to be their showcase show, with showcase production and showcase matches and they are falling way short in both categories."

-- They are cutting back to one show per night, which means several wrestlers are likely to be cut.

WCCW
-- WCCW has finally announced a lineup for the Texas Stadium show on 5/8. Michael Hayes and Ken Mantell are really trying to downplay the fact that it's called the David and Mike Von Erich Memorial Parade of Champions. They kept the name to appease Fritz, but realize it's in bad taste. The main event will be a pair of matches inside the Triple Tower of Doom. There will be three rings, built one on top fo the other, with a fireman's pole going through the center of the rings allowing wrestlers to climb up or down. Wrestlers can also switch levels by climbing up the cage itself. They will also hold an 18-man Texas Roundup (the WWF has now trademarked the term "Royal Rumble", so they can't use it) inside the three rings. The idea is that the winner is the first wrestler who gets to the top of the third ring, then from there climbs up the cage to the top and grabs the envelope which contains money and five prizes to fans whose names the wrestler will pick out, including a brand new motorcycle and a trip to Las Vegas. Also on the show is Michael Hayes vs Terry Gordy in a Badstreet match, Iceman Parsons vs Kerry Von Erich, Kevin Von Erich & Bruiser Brody vs Buddy Roberts and a partner, Chris Adams vs Terry Taylor in a No DQ match, the Simpsons against Tatum and Victory to unify the Wild West and Texas tag team titles, Bill Irwin vs Black Bart, Eric Embry vs Steve Casey, Mike George vs Jeff Raitz and Missing Link & Jason Sterling vs Angel of Death & Vince Apollo.

-- 4/24 in Fort Worth drew 500 fans.

-- Skandor Akbar made an offer to Terry Taylor to manage him.

-- Fans are heavily cheering Terry Gordy in interviews, even though they do boo him when he's against Hayes.

-- WCCW is negotiation to have its syndication package be part of the All Star Wrestling TV network ad package.

MEMPHIS
-- Curt Hennig vs Jerry Lawler will be the most talked about show of 5/7, with Lawler announcing that if he doesn't win the title, he will retire from wrestling. Eddie Gilbert, Bill Dundee, Pat Tanaka, and Paul Diamond will be brought in for the undercard. The match itself will not air on the FNN show, but will instead be released quickly as a videotape by Independent Media Marketing based in New Jersey.

-- They are announcing that Larry Hennig is ahead of Jackie Fargo in referee voting on the 900 line in an attempt to drive up calls.

-- Robert Fuller recently lost a match to Jerry Lawler where the stipulation was that Missy Hyatt would have to be Lawler's maid for a day if Fuller lost. They aired the segment on TV this weekend, which Dave says was better than the UWF version with Dark Journey, but nowhere near Jimmy Garvin and Sunshine as David Von Erich's valet for a day in WCCW in '83.

-- They are now calling Gary Young an adopted member of the Gilbert family. Tommy Gilbert called him his new adopted son, and in Young's first interview, he said, "I'll be watching Missy's behind all the time ... um, I mean her back." This reminds Dave of a joke on Blackwell's Southern Championship Wrestling. Paul E. Dangerously co-hosts the show with Rhubarb Jones. They have this ongoing joke where Paul E. always messes up his name and Rhubarb corrects him. Finally, Paul E. says, "How come whenever I call you Rubhard, you say it's Rhubarb, but when Missy Hyatt calls you Rhubarb, you tell her it's Rub Hard?"

-- Curt Hennig did a promo where he said he's the only world champion because Ric Flair and Randy Savage only wrestle in one promotion and he goes everywhere.

CONTINENTAL
-- FNN is negotiating with Continental and Dave thinks there's a strong possibility they'll be on FNN eventually.

-- "Speaking of Continental, the angle with Tom Prichard and Dirty White Boy Tony Anthony was one of the best I've seen in a long time. Part of the reason is that Gordon Solie gave his best performance in several years."

OREGON
-- On 5/7, Don Owen and Billy Jack Haynes will be running competing shows. Haynes' roster includes himself, Ray Candy, Big Bubba/Fred Ottman from Memphis, Rip Oliver, Mike Miller, Tom Magee, Tiger Chung Lee, Brian Adams, Cpl. Kirchner, Cocoa Samoa, Steven Gator Wolf, Joey Jackson, Kevin Kelly, JT Southern, Chavo Guerrero, and Dewey Forte. Haynes is planning on paying decent guarantees at $600-$800 a week, but his crew is unimpressive. Dave thinks it will be a bitter battle just because Oregon and Washington just don't have enough fans to support two local promotions running full time, much less occasional big shows from the WWF and the NWA, which has a stop in Seattle during the Great American Bash tour.

STAMPEDE
-- Crowds are falling, due to a combination of standard summer fall-off, and many local fans feel the shows are less family friendly because of all the blood.

-- Jonathan Holiday is now a heel referee.

-- Les Thornton is planning on running opposition in Alberta in May.

AJPW
-- The most recent series ended on 4/22 in Kanagawa before 3,100 fans at the Kawasaki City Gym, in which Genichiro Tenryu & Ashura Hara retained the PWF tag titles by beating Bruiser Brody and Tommy Rich. Rich subbed for Jimmy Snuka who suffered three legit broken ribs the night before when John Tenta accidentally crushed him.

-- 4/21 in Tokyo drew 1,850.

-- The Road Warriors will appear on 6/9 and 6/10. The 6/10 show is in Budokan Hall.

NJPW
-- Antonio Inoki is out of action with a broken foot, which will hurt them at the box office, since they've already lost Nobuhiko Takada and Kazuo Yamazaki to the UWF, and houses are down in general anyway. The 5/7 show will now be headlined by Choshu vs Vader, and Dave says it will be interested to see what type of drawing power Choshu has left.

OTHER
-- Joe Pedicino and WATL-TV in Atlanta are putting together a wrestling marathon for 6/17 and 6/18, which will be about 30 consecutive hours of wrestling, 6 1/2 of which will be live, in studio. It will start at 9PM on 6/17 and go non-stop until 3AM on 6/19. They will also show Henry Winkler's "The One and Only", in which Winkler plays a wrestler, a movie Dave calls his favorite wrestling movie. In addition, they'll play the movie "Mad Bull", and do a History of Pro Wrestling In Atlanta segment. It's being used to raise money for the Atlanta police force to purchase bullet proof vests, and wrestlers from several promotions are scheduled to appear. Dave has even been told two WWF wrestlers will be there.

-- Big John Studd has sent a country music demo to several record companies. "He's trying to b.s. about his fame as a pro wrestler which would sell all these records. One person in the industry told me he wrestles better than he sings. I'm not sure he realized what he was saying (actually, I'm sure he did). At any rate, don't buy it if there are any cats living near your neighborhood if it is ever released."

-- The Sheik is putting together a TV show which is on satellite for some called Big Time Wrestling, a combination of clips from Pro Wrestling This Week and old Sheik footage from the 70s.

-- In the letters page, a reader felt Dave wasn't being a good journalist because he mixed his fact and opinion together too much, and he needed to keep them separate. He also accused him of being biased against the WWF and toward the NWA, and said he thinks he sometimes pretends to have opinions that he can't possibly believe. Dave's response? Since you asked ...

"You are right about one thing. I was insulted by this letter. I wasn't insulted because you didn't agree with my opinions regarding the 3/27 shows, because anyone who agrees with all of my opinions is obviously letting me do their thinking for them. No two people are fans of this business for the exact same reasons and there has never been a major wrestling show that everyone disliked or everyone liked. Ironically, in the five-year history of this publication, Clash of the Champions came closest to being universally enjoyed. When I said Crockett kicked McMahon's ass I made it quite clear that it was in terms of presenting the better show and not making the most money. Every newsletter I've seen, more than 90 percent of the readers who responded to the poll, almost everyone that called in on the three phone-in talk shows I did the week after the show, and of more than 100 letters I had responding to my comments in the 4/4 issue, only 11 disagreed with that assessment. But even if the percentages were on the other side, this newsletter's popularity is in part because the readers know that whatever opinion I give is my honest opinion on a subject. Read back to the issue after Thanksgiving and you'll see how afraid I am to criticize the Crockett promotion, whether it be wrestlers, the booker, the front office organization or the announcers. Read my comments on Survivor Series. Where is the anti-McMahon bias you are talking about? Re-read the issue after Wrestlemania III--I said it was the greatest wrestling production of all-time. I was basically complimentary of the NBC special, which I received tons of flack over, which is fine. There is not one promoter in this business, not Fritz Von Erich, Ken Mantell, Jim Crockett, Dusty Rhodes, Vince McMahon, Pat Patterson, Verne Gagne, or even Baba and Inoki that doesn't believe I'm biased against their promotion in comparison to the others. There are mistakes, probably in each and every issue. I don't feel good about that, but the nature of this business makes that impossible to avoid. My opinions are often wrong, but they're often right. But I've never, not once given a less than honest opinion of anything in this business to protect anyone. Only once have I withheld a portion of a news story that I felt was major enough to report (I reported the actual story, but left out names of wrestlers I have no connection with -- because the climate at that time would have necessitated being fired because the media at large certainly would have picked up on one of those stars being suspended for cocaine abuse that shortly after the Duggan-Sheik incident -- most readers know the wrestler I'm referring to, and the incident). Because they are in charge of the most visible promotions, Vince McMahon, Jim Crockett, and Dusty Rhodes become open to the most criticism, and I would bet of the three, I've been the most critical of Rhodes, not McMahon. Also, the majority of readers live in either the New York City area, or either the San Francisco or Chicago areas. I could be wrong, but I believe the majority to be WWF fans, but even if that's not the case, on both Thanksgiving and Jan. 24, while I didn't take a poll, the majority of readers felt the WWF show was better on those days. That wasn't the case on March 27th. I admit to being biased toward the Crockett style of working matches compared to the WWF style, although neither is my favorite nor is either of them my least favorite. I'm also biased in favor of the way Titan handles its publicity, its organization, the way it rotates its talent and the overall professional looking atmosphere of its TV product in comparison to Crockett."