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.