The Definitive WrestleMania List Of Lists

And we're baaack~! Since lists seem to go over pretty well, and it is that time of year where WrestleMania looms large, I've decided the tackle the history of the biggest show of the year and break down their pecking order. As always, all opinions are objective, but only mine is correct. Obviously there are lots of factors that go into a list like this. Match quality, build-up quality, historical significance, critical and artistic success or failure, as well as pesky outside influences like nostalgia, have all played key parts in the decision making. Rather than simply run the list, I've grouped them into grades and ranked them from there, from worst to first; makes for an easier list to digest, as well as putting a definitive stamp on it's true place in history. So without further adieu...

Grade F:

#29 - WrestleMania 9 (1993)
The F stands for "Fuck You, Bret Hart"


Funnily enough, the show that first hooked me to be a wrestling fan, but nevertheless, I am able to take the rose-tinted glasses off long enough to make a sound judgment on it. Roster depth was almost at an all time low here (see #28 for that), the matches and feuds seemed to lack tangible depth, and Yokozuna Vs. Bret Hart for the WWF Title was the weakest main event in Mania history on paper going in. But despite low expectations, this show was not to be denied, and successfully soared beneath them. Not only were a number of matches as captivating as watching flies fuck (looking at you Razor/Backlund, Taker/Gonzalez and Maniacs/Money Inc), but the booking was absolutely putrid.

In late 1992, Bret Hart was given the WWF Title because they needed a likeable guy to push as a new star, one that didn't reek of steroids and scandal. Bret was absolutely the guy for the job, and while growing pains were inevitable, he was the guy for the foreseeable future. In his first Mania as the top guy and the future of the company, he is beaten by Yokozuna and treated like a midcard geek as Hulk Hogan moonwalks his way to WWF Title number 5, beating Yoko in seconds in an impromptu match. To hell with the last six months of hard work attempting to move forward, Hulk is back. Time told the story - Hogan wasn't the answer to the WWF's problems, and was out of the company a few months later, while massive damage was done to Bret Hart, who, surprise surprise, turned out to be the future face of the company after all, only with a clipped wing thanks to this short-sighted fiasco. People today can easily relate by envisioning John Cena in the role of Hogan, and Punk or Bryan filling Bret Hart's shoes, only this was significantly worse because Hogan's time as difference maker on top was over in the WWF.

Michaels/Tatanka was a good opener, Steiner/Headshrinkers was fine, Crush/Doink was decent (personally dig heel Doink), and Perfect/Luger was underwhelming. But between the general feeling of mediocrity thoughout, a parade of cheap or non-finishes, and the Hogan atrocity, this is the worst. The Caeser's Palace setting is cool and I enjoyed the announcing team of JR, Heenan and Savage more than most, so props to them.

#28 - WrestleMania 11 (1995)
The F stands for "Football Player Beats Wrestler"

1995 is the all-time low point for the WWF. Diesel had just been crowned champion, and needed all the help in the world to be protected. Instead he was the top guy on possibly the weakest roster in company history, and didn't even main event Mania as champion. Instead, Lawrence Taylor, an NFL legend who was on the downside of the athletic career and reputation, was brought in for a good angle at the Royal Rumble with Bam Bam Bigelow, and a main event match here. Given the tenor of the times, the use of LT reeked of absolute desperation, and in a big indictment of the product, he was put over Bam Bam Bigelow in the main event. Instead of this being a great celebrity rub as we've seen in certain cases, this pretty much killed Bigelow's career, and he ended up out of the company by the end of the year. The match itself, and the intro by Salt N Pepa, was a hell of an effort, and LT does deserve to be commended for taking it seriously.

The other big celebrity involvement was Pamela Anderson, who led Diesel down to the ring for his title defense against Shawn Michaels in the best match on the show. Despite the Nash megapush, it was Shawn Michaels who earned the fans cheers, as it became apparent that this Diesel as top guy experiment was going to be a challenge. Unfortunately, the dynamic of 7 foot babyface versus cocky heel workhorse felt completely wrong, and didn't feel worthy of the main event. With these as the top two matches, this show was going to be tough, but the rest of the show blew. Undertaker beat King Kong Bundy in an abysmal match, during Taker's horrific period of working with every schlub brought into the company. As infuriating as Taker was in his worst periods, the guy does earn sympathy for the amount of shit he's been fed. Bret Hart Vs. Bob Backlund in an I Quit match was, in Bret's own words, his worst big show match ever, due to Backlund's awkward style and Roddy Piper howling like a retard the whole time.

My pick for the most useless tag team of all time, the Harris Brothers, opened the show as the Blu Brothers losing to Davey Boy Smith and Lex "How the mighty have fallen in one year" Luger in a nothing effort, Razor Ramon and Jeff Jarrett go to a pointless non-finish, and Yokozuna and Owen Hart beat the Smoking Gunns for the Tag Titles in a fairly pedestrian encounter. The undercard felt so shallow, and the lack of major league heels with heat in the company shone like a neon light on a dog's asshole, made worse by the results of this show. As a result, we would look forward to a year of Sid and Mabel main events.


#27 - WrestleMania 4 (1988)
The F stands for "Four Hours of Shit"

First of all, sixteen matches is way too Goddamn many. Especially since none of them are any good. I understand the tournament was a cool idea in theory, but this show feels like such a marathon to sit through, made worse by a crowd that seemed to treat it like I used to treat Geography at school - mild indifference, watching through dead eyes, with the occasional ball scratch to liven the experience. This was the crowning moment for Randy Savage as WWF Champion, and the beginning to the best one year angle in company history. Interestingly, Ted DiBiase was supposed to get the title here, but fate took things in a different direction thanks to, of all people, the Honky Tonk Man. Honky refused to drop the Intercontinental Title to Savage shortly before this show, and as a make good to prevent pissing of the guy who would be the anchor babyface through the summer (as Hogan was leaving to film No Holds Barred), Savage was given the WWF Title instead to do the same feud with DiBiase he was scheduled for anyway. Even more interesting is that the post-WrestleMania house show business with Savage on top was better than it had been for the three previous years with Hogan on top.

I won't break down match by match, because there are too many and there's very little to say. The matches were short but somehow still plodding, Steamboat got a raw deal on his way out the company, and the crowd seemed to give up when Hogan and Andre were both eliminated. Elsewhere, Demolition beat Strike Force to win the WWF Tag Titles in which the crowd the cheered the heels (you could tell which team was cooler from the entrance music alone), and Bret Hart started a babyface turn attacked Bad News Brown after being swerved in the show opening battle royal. Gorilla and Jesse on commentary were tremendous.

#26 - WrestleMania 2 (1986)
The F stands for "Fine, We'll Do Three"

In response to Jim Crockett doing Starrcade from two locations, ol' Vinnie Mac decided WrestleMania would take place in New York, Los Angeles and Chicago in an attempt to upstage, and came through with a strong candidate for worst Mania ever. Not only was this show littered with technical errors much like the entry #28 on the list, but most of the show is rank. There are two damn good matches with Dream Team Vs. Bulldogs and The Funks Vs. JYD/Santana (a forgotten gem), but King Kong Bundy pretty much sucked as a challenger for Hogan, and while I never witnessed it at the time (obviously), I never got the impression that he was all that hot a heel. Granted, that may be because his Mania appearance is sandwiched between white-hot Roddy Piper in 85 and the heel turn of Andre for 87 which did monster business.

1986 was a great year for the WWF, and the company was loaded with talent, but this show just looks like such filler. Mr. T and Roddy Piper had an ugly "boxing" match during which the crowd turned on Mr. T, whose star had plummeted since Mania 1, and the talented workers that would play a pivotal role the following year (Randy Savage, Ricky Steamboat and Adrian Adonis) were all stuck against opponents who dragged them down despite their best efforts.

The only other match of note was the Battle Royal, featuring NFL stars such as Refridgerator Perry and Bill Fralic, mixed in with the WWF guys, a pretty novel concept, and something I'm surprised hasn't been referenced lately since they're doing an Andre Memorial Battle Royal this year. Still, despite a couple of fun interactions with Perry, who looks like a real megastar with his flabby gut hanging out of his tanktop at one point, it was a vehicle to give a big win to Andre, who was reaching the end of his babyface run and would be very instrumental in next year's success. Also, the commentary on this show was fuck awful. Nothing more needs to be said about that.

#25 - WrestleMania (1985)
The F stands for "First Time Hogan was in the Match Of The Night"

I'm not sure what people will think of the designation of this show here, but fuck it. Historically speaking, this was the most important show the company ever did, and the final week of build up was so ridiculously good that it not only saved the company from losing their ass, but it gave them the platform from which the next few years of success would develop. Roddy Piper's performances in the run-up to this show were nothing short of phenomenal, a heel on a different level of anybody of the modern era. The involvement on Mr. T, the hottest television star in America with the A-Team dominating the airwaves and that the general public believed was a legit badass, and Cyndi Lauper bringing the MTV crowd, led to the show that was, to the mainstream, the biggest WrestleMania ever. Nothing since has come close to mainstream attention, and probably never will. So much of what made it work was novelty - the right thing, in the right place, with the right celebrities, with the right top heel, and the right top babyface, on the right platform at the right time.

With that said, from an artistic standpoint, this show sucks. That's not looking at things through modern eyes, it's just a fact. Anything of prominence on this show, from Andre and Studd in the bodyslam challenge to Wendi Richter (with Cyndi Lauper) versus Leilani Kai, was just not good, and the guys on the undercard were either in and out before anything could get going, or didn't have the goods. Easily the best match on the show in terms of crowd heat and performance is the main event, which featured a cameo from Muhammed Ali as special enforcer, as Hogan and Mr. T beat Piper and Paul Orndorff. Aside from the main event and what this show meant to wrestling, this has absolutely nothing else going for it.

Grade D:

#24 - WrestleMania 15 (1999)
The D stands for "Did You Know Vince Russo Is A Fucking Moron?"

On a different day, I could rank this way lower, and the only thing that saves it from an F Grade is the main event - Austin and Rock, both red-hot, the top two stars in the industry, in their first main event match, in front of a rowdy crowd, hitting a homerun. Kudos to them for saving this show from the absolute depths of history. I know people are fond of this time, but if you ever needed proof that Vince Russo couldn't pour piss out of a boot if the instructions were on the heel, it's this overbooked sack of shit. Shane/X-Pac is a good match, but its easily marred by Kane/HHH, Tori/Sable, Show/Mankind, and mediocre IC and Hardcore title matches which made no fucking sense because they switched, for some reason, the Outlaws from their respective matches right before Mania, which ruined the weeks and months of build-up for both. And lets not forget the worst Hell In A Cell match of all time with Undertaker/Bossman. Elsewhere, Butterbean obliterated Bart Gunn in seconds in a Brawl 4 All match, killing his career, and a makeshift team of Test and D'Lo Brown lost to Owen Hart and Jeff Jarrett in a WWF Tag Title match that nobody could possibly care about.

Big Show turned face, Chyna turned face then heel in the same night which turned heel Kane babyface by proxy (keeping track so far?), and HHH turned heel on X-Pac.

Thank God for Austin and Rock.

#23 - WrestleMania 6 (1990)
The D stands for "Disappointment"

Anybody who loves this show does so for purely nostalgic reasons. Fondly remembered for the ultra-rare face vs. face dynamic of Hulk Hogan Vs. The Ultimate Warrior, the rest of this show consists of every feature match falling way short of expectations, and every other match being a nothing of note glorified squash. Warrior won the WWF Title, and rightly so, in a match that was better than it had any right to be. Hogan had become pretty damn stale by this point, and Warrior was the way to go. But 1990 was not a good year for the WWF, as they'd pretty well stamped every heel they had as far below Hogan and Warrior, and the only fresh hot heel around was Earthquake, who was fed to Hogan instead of Warrior, a decision which ended up dooming the Warrior to an uninteresting title run that was considered a failure by the time it ended. Warrior was stuck in a retread feud with Rick Rude, and ended up swimming around with no real issue for most of his run. Reflection on this time period says Warrior flopped on top, but the company itself continued to treat Hogan as the top priority, and the fans could tell.

That aside, Jake Roberts Vs. Ted DiBiase was uninteresting, Roddy Piper Vs. Bad News Brown wasn't close to what was promoted as a wild brawl, and Dusty Rhodes/Sapphire Vs. Savage/Sherri was a total throwaway, memorable only for the sight of Elizabeth doing her best impression of Eddie Murphy's "white guy dancing" routine at the end. Oh, and Brutus Beefcake was rewarded for knob-slobbering Hulk Hogan by breaking Mr. Perfect's undefeated streak in an injustice that makes Maradona's Hand Of God acceptable by comparison. Beyond that, the card was a series of one-sided squashes that just about hold your attention. Had the promoted matches lived up to their potential, this would have scored way higher, just because the main event exceeded expectations, but instead its a painful show to watch.

#22 - WrestleMania 5 (1989)
The D stands for "Donald Trump's Audience Sucks Again"

For the second straight year, Mania was held at Trump Plaza, and much like Mania 4, the crowd really drags this down. Still, this did very well on Pay-Per-View thanks to a glorious storyline where the Mega Powers Exploded, with Randy Savage going heel on Hulk Hogan over Miss Elizabeth, the culmination of months of sideways glances and subtle build that was egged on by the great Jesse Ventura in his role of #1 Hogan Hater. It culminated in this match, another strong effort from Hogan, though you can unquestionably chalk most of it up to Randy Savage. A good match and the end to a fantastic angle.

And much like Mania 4, there were way too many matches. Fourteen of them, to be exact, none of which really had any well-built programs and very little that left any kind of impression, with the exception of Rick Rude's surprising victory over the Ultimate Warrior in a decent match, although the rematch at Summerslam 89 is miles ahead of it.

Matches with DiBiase/Beefcake, Duggan/Bad News and Jake/Andre all ended in countouts or DQs rendering them pointless. Rockers/Twin Towers was fun, and the Brain Busters/Strike Force was decent. Everything else doesn't deserve mentioning.Oh, and lets not forget Piper's Pit with Morton Downey. They tried. But it sucked a hairy beanbag.

#21 - WrestleMania 27 (2011)
The D stands for "Did The Miz Really Headline A Mania?"
  
The modern equivalent of the old WrestleMania's that just don't do a hell of a lot for anyone, Mania 27 is easily the worst of the "20s", and it's not necessarily that it's terrible, it is just staggeringly underwhelming. This did mark the return of The Rock as "host", and was actually a major success on PPV, but even that didn't really hit the spot, as Rock didn't have much of a presence on the show beyond opening with a promo and costing John Cena the title in the main event. Before that, Cena Vs. Miz was one of the most painfully lackluster main events in Mania history. The WWE went into overdrive here, giving Miz a fantastic music video and entrance, and his reactions following this show were that of a superstar. They were actually on their way to getting him over as a top guy. Then they took the title off him two months later and that was the end of that.

There is one great match on the show, as Undertaker Vs. Triple H tore the house down with a fantastic match. But after that, nothing else on this show is memorable in the slightest. The World Title goes on first (a massive pet peeve of mine) and just serves to get Edge/Del Rio out the way. The only other match of note was Jerry Lawler Vs. Michael Cole, in what should have been the blowoff to what was actually the best built up match on the entire card. Instead, they got too cute with this, the match was a disaster as it went too long and was way too competitive, and then they went with a fuck finish and gave Cole the win via reversed decision, in an effort to milk Heel Cole for two more months, which rendered Lawler's eventual victory unsatisfying.

Everything else was filler, including CM Punk Vs. Randy Orton, which sounds like it could be tremendous on paper. A negative trend in the later Manias is that, unlike the first 20 which all have a great deal of individual identity to them, the more recent ones tend to blend together due to the WWE's lack of evolution, and this show is the biggest victim of all.

#20 - WrestleMania 29 (2013)
The D stands for "Don't Take Once In A Lifetime Too Seriously"

It's hard to rank this one - it was definitely a disappointing show, as while Taker Vs. Punk was a hell of a match, the crowd didn't seem to really care that much about anything else. Triple H and Brock Lesnar was a program that was done solely to allow Hunter to get his win back after losing to Lesnar at Summerslam (and there is no justifiable reason for HHH to ever pin Lesnar on this run, just retarded), and nobody wanted to see that, and so the crowd sat on their hands for the entire match despite a good effort. Ditto the main event, the WWE Title match between The Rock and John Cena, which had a result people didn't care for, and after so much emotional investment in the first encounter the prior year (which did give them the result they wanted), a lot of fans seemed reserved and more than a little reluctant to support this one live.

Also, the commentary on this show is almost as bad as WrestleMania 2, which is inexcusable because at least that was bad because they had celebrities calling the show - this was Cole, JBL and King, and it seemed as if they had absolutely nothing to say. There are periods in the main event that were screaming for a Jim Ross calling the effort, the fight, the drama, and instead we had absolute dead air. This isn't fucking tennis, talk you assholes!

Again, the undercard was unmemorable, other than a diabolically bad Mark Henry/Ryback match.

#19 - WrestleMania 18 (2002)
The D stands for "Doesn't This Remind You Of Mania 6 In Almost Every Way?"

Not only was this held in the Skydome, but it is memorable only for one match, that involved Hulk Hogan stealing the scene in defeat. But unlike Mania 6, the show kept going after Hogan's match, which was regrettable, and the decision to put Triple H Vs. Chris Jericho on last was a bad call (interesting how both times babyface HHH has closed Mania, it sucked, huh?).

Hogan Vs. Rock was a very unique match, and it's not really something that will be able to be duplicated given the changes in the business since. I imagine that being there live for this was surreal, amazing experience, that the fans will remember forever. Watching at home, I was extremely confused. Not only did this piss away the nWo angle (that was botched from the start) once and for all, but it marked the first time in WWF history that nostalgia overruled the here and now. And that's not a good thing. The period of time between this show and King Of The Ring 2002 is nothing short of a disaster. Hogan gets the belt based on this. Taker gets the belt in a horrific match against Hogan. The company name changes, the brand split is executed terribly and Steve Austin quits the company. What sucks about all this is that they had an incredible roster during this time, but it sat there, wasted, when it should have been the focus.

And that's the story of the rest of this show. Kurt Angle, who at this point was probably the best worker in the company, was stuck with Kane. Steve Austin, who never really recovered from the heel turn, wrestled Scott Hall in a forgettable match. Edge and Booker T have a throwaway feud based on a shampoo commercial, and Rob Van Dam, who had main event potential based on his incredible popularity, was stuck in the opener against William Regal in a short match that cemented both in midcard purgatory.

The only other thing of value was a strong Undertaker/Ric Flair match, featuring the best run-in in WrestleMania history from Arn Anderson, who hits his finisher and then blades as well before the match ends.

#18 - WrestleMania 13 (1997)
The D stands for "Double Turn~!"

A lot of people would rank this one lower, and I couldn't really argue if you did. It did the lowest buyrate of any Mania ever, the main event is wretched, and roster depth is very nearly at 1995 levels. BUT...this does have what I believe is the best match in WWF history, and the match that was realistically the turning point of the company. There was a very obvious change in direction that started with this show thanks to Steve Austin catching fire as a babyface, and one year later, they went from getting slaughtered by WCW to mounting a comeback and taking over. Words won't do justice to the performance of Bret Hart, Steve Austin, Ken Shamrock, Vince McMahon, Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler in putting this masterpiece together. I'm sure everybody has their stories of personal experiences with wrestling, but I distinctly remember my family (parents were not fans, mind) watching this match multiple times and just being captivated by it. In terms of work, presentation, intensity, telling a story and making a star, I truly believe this is the most perfect match the WWF has ever produced.

The undercard isn't up to much - the four way tag is forgettable, HHH/Goldust is notable only for Chyna ragdolling Marlena, Owen/Davey Vs. Vader/Mankind is a throwaway, and that goshdarn good guy Rocky Maivia defending the IC Title against The Sultan is fairly embarrassing if you consider where both guys ended up. This time saw a lot of turmoil - the pressure of losing the ratings war to WCW was piling up, Shawn Michaels lost his smile, Vince went back to the big guys on top (which stunk), and the undercard was pretty weak. The only other thing worth a damn on the show is an enjoyable underrated street fight with The Nation Of Domination against LOD and Ahmed Johnson, which seems to have been lost to history.

The feel of this show is not good, it comes off like just another Pay-Per-View and the feuds going in were fairly quickly slapped together due to Shawn vacating the title. The built-in setting and aura of the show, that nowadays make great matches into classic matches, was absent. And that only makes the Austin/Bret encounter even more incredible.

Goddamn that was great.

Grade C:

#17 - WrestleMania 25 (2009)
The C stands for "Can Hunter Get Over In A Mania Main Event This Time?"

So we've bumped up the grade, going from bad to average. And the perfect candidate for the first C is a show that was quite literally the best and worst of the WWE at the same time. On one hand, you had a great TV build-up to Shawn Michaels Vs. Undertaker, playing off their history, leading to one of the best WrestleMania matches of all time. It is the match this show is remembered for, and rightly so, an absolute tour de force by everybody involved.

But the build-up to almost every other match on this show was complete shit. The Hardyz feuding over Matt burning down Jeff's house and killing his dog. The World Title match is a lame three way where Vickie Guerrero hits on Big Show while still with Edge, and John Cena is also there. Randy Orton was in the middle of a hot heel push, when Shane McMahon comes back and kicks his ass and ruins it. Then HHH breaks into his house. By the time Mania rolled around, the surefire grudge match with the psychotic heel and the pissed off husband looking for revenge was flat, and for the second time HHH wasn't able to follow an earlier match in his main event.

Money In The Bank was fun, the actual match featuring the Hardyz was pretty good, and Ricky Steamboat reminded us of just how great he was in a gauntlet match with Chris Jericho. I can't consider it a bad show, but the terrible booking beforehand ruined the main attractions, and neither title match was anything to write home about.

#16 - WrestleMania 12 (1996)
The C stands for "Can You Find A Better Example Of A One-Match Show?"

The Monday Night War had begun, and the WWF decided it was time to go in the direction of Shawn Michaels as the top babyface, as Bret Hart looked to head to the sidelines to rest up, get a new contract and see how the landscape shaped up. Obviously this show in hindsight is all about the Iron Man Match with Bret and Shawn, which is a really hard one to rank. Some people absolutely adore this match and call it the best ever, some say it was boring, views are fairly polarizing. I didn't like the 0-0 score heading into overtime myself, if they wanted built-in controversy, all they needed was for Bret to get the first fall, do the same overtime scenario, and Bret can say if it was normal match he'd have either beaten him, or gone to a draw.

The work in the match was pretty great, but the live crowd isn't completely with the match, and I can't say I consider this one of the top five matches in Mania history by any means. Both guys had better matches with others at the big event, and funnily enough I think the Iron Man stipulation handicapped this match more than helped it.

That aside, the rest of the show is fairly standard. Diesel/Undertaker is a big man match that exceeded expectations, Austin/Vega was decent, the opening six man got the job done, and Piper/Goldust was...well, unique.

Given the Hall Of Fame induction this year, I would be remiss if I didn't mention the second biggest thing on the show, the return of the Ultimate Warrior, who hilariously no-sold Triple H's Pedigree and pinned him in 90 seconds. Like the victim of most traumatic experiences, Hunter would overcompensate for the rest of his career, pinning most people in 90 seconds with the Pedigree.

#15 - WrestleMania 26 (2010)
The C stands for "Christ Retires"

The Shawn Michaels swan song, as he gets the absolute perfect goodbye, one that nobody else ever got to have, in going out on top. Headlining the biggest show of the year, Shawn Michaels and Undertaker wrestled in a rematch from the year before. Despite their best effort, this one is a notch below the previous year, in part because I think the audience deep down knew the result, and couldn't fully invest in the match the way they did at 25. But regardless, still an amazing performance, and the long term planning and build-up to this match was fantastic, with Taker's "Ain't No Grave" and Shawn's "Running Up That Hill" videos among the best the company has done in years.

As for the rest of this show, again we have the WWE mix of good and bad - John Cena and Batista completely overachieve with what was actually a hell of a match, and heel douche Batista was the most entertaining he ever was. But the other two top matches were absolute misfires. How they screwed up Bret Vs. Vince I'll never know. Terrible build and a worse match. And Edge Vs. Jericho absolutely didn't work, as the crowd, past the surprise return pop, didn't have any desire to cheer Edge just yet, and nobody cared. Not only that, but in his big climactic return, he lost.

The rest of the show was hit and miss - Punk Vs. Mysterio could have been a classic, but got criminally cut on time. Legacy was destroyed as a stable, and Rhodes and DiBiase firmly slotted in the midcard, as Randy Orton beat them both in a glorified handicap match, and Jack Swagger won Money In The Bank, a notion that seems fairly funny today. Both the quality of the match and the lustre of MITB had fallen by this point.

#14 - WrestleMania 7 (1991)
The C stands for "Can We Please Do Less Matches Next Year?"

This is a funny one. So, Vince thought exploiting the Gulf War would be a great idea, and created megaheel Iraqi Sympathiser Sgt. Slaughter to end Warrior's rocky-at-best title reign, and set him up for Hogan at Mania, basing the show around patriotism and "Stars And Stripes Forever". The big idea to hold the show in the LA Memorial Coliseum and break the Mania 3 attendance record fell apart when ticket sales for this angle, which drew a hell of a lot of negative press, were slower than glacial retreat. So they made up a story that they even try and pass off on the recent "True Story Of WrestleMania" DVD, that there was a security concern. Yes folks, Saddam Hussein was going to fire a rocket at Hulk Hogan. WWF bullshit aside, this show has some tremendous highs.

The best match on the show is by far and away Randy Savage Vs. Ultimate Warrior, and the post-match only further cements its place in history. Quite honestly, even though everybody considers this a classic, I still don't think it gets enough credit. I've seen it said elsewhere that Randy Savage was the original "Mr. WrestleMania", and when you look at his record it's pretty damn hard to argue that.

There are some other high points, as Hart Foundation Vs. Nasty Boys is better than I remembered, and Rockers Vs. Haku/Barbarian is probably the best match of Barbarian's career by far. But much like the previous Manias, there were a lot of one-sided squashes that go by like a flash. Mountie/Santana goes a minute, Tornado/Bravo is a nothing match of jakked-up guys who sadly wouldn't live to see Mania 9, Earthquake squashes the Human Intermission Greg Valentine, Demolition do a surprise job to Koji Kitao and Genichiro Tenryu, Bulldog beats Warlord in an entertaining enough little match, and LOD crush Power & Glory.

Again, it seems WWF didn't learn, and crammed 14 matches into this three hour slot, and there is more to discuss. Undertaker starts his historic streak by owning a washed-up Jimmy Snuka, Virgil beat Ted DiBiase by countout in a match only memorable for Roddy Piper throwing a crutch into a referee's balls by accident afterwards (and how awesome was the Virgil turn at the 91 Rumble, btw?), and Big Bossman and Mr. Perfect, which had potential to be great and started off pretty hot, ends up being a messy schmozz designed to have a returning babyface Andre The Giant endorse the Bossman. Not sure where I stand on the blindfold match with Jake and Martel - a lot of people tend to hate this far more than I do. For its place on the card, it was designed to be different and a little lighter, and hell, the crowd loved it.

Which brings me to the last point about this show - this is one of two Manias called by Gorilla Monsoon and Bobby Heenan, and Heenan was fantastic all throughout the show. Jesse Ventura was always great in his role at his specific time, but Bobby Heenan took it to a different level.

And on a sidenote, look at the physiques. Fuck.

#13 - WrestleMania 16 (2000)
The C stands for "Clusterriffic"

2000 is arguably the peak of the company's history with regards to the amount of pure talent they had. The Rock as mega babyface. HHH at his peak as a heel. The Radicalz had just arrived. Chris Jericho and Kurt Angle were in town. The Hardyz, Dudleyz and Edge & Christian were in place.

Yet in what was overall a pretty strong year for PPV in the WWF, this was one of the weakest shows, simply because the company was determined to get everybody on the show. The only one-on-one match on the whole card was a pointless Kat Vs. Terri encounter, and what's worse, the sure thing main event of The Rock Vs. Triple H that people wanted to see was removed in place of a Fatal 4 Way, adding a floundering Big Show and a retired five weeks prior Mick Foley, which not only watered down the match in terms of promotion, but tarnished Foley's retirement unnecessarily in the process. And since Show and Foley were eliminated fairly quickly, one can only assume they were so proud of their "A McMahon In Every Corner" idea, that they felt the need to force it on the main event, logistics be damned. And what was more stunning was that Triple H won when the McMahons all aligned and fucked over The Rock, the first heel to ever win the Mania Main Event. Amazing.

The standout match, easily, is the Triple Threat Tag Team Ladder Match, with a surprising-at-the-time result, and a breathtaking display that served to spotlight the three teams that extra notch into becoming real players. The Triple Threat Two Fall Match with Jericho, Angle and Benoit was actually pretty good, but fell short of expectations. I remember the California crowd seeming a little flat throughout much of the show as well, which didn't help matters.

There is nothing overly atrocious on the show that pulls down the good stuff to an average mark, its just that so much of it was just there.

Grade B:

#12 - WrestleMania 22 (2006)
The B stands for "BIG TIME~!"

A pretty damn fun show with a lot of high points. The company was somewhat fighting to find itself at the time on the John Cena situation - he was being booed quite a bit in the run-up, but they clearly wanted to stay the course. Cena was made to look pretty goofy in the build-up to this show in his match against HHH, but irrespective of that, the match itself ended up being white-hot and was a lot of fun.

The company was also experienced the painful aftermatch of the Eddie Guerrero death, appropriate to mention here as Rey Mysterio won his first World Title in a criminally short 9 minute match against Kurt Angle and Randy Orton, dedicating the win to Eddie. The booking was so stop-start on Mysterio the entire time, and Vince's fascination with using Eddie's death for heel heat almost soured the entire thing for Mysterio.

In addition, Edge had broken though, albeit temporarily, by winning and losing the WWE Title to John Cena two months before. But despite the fact that he was the hottest heel in the company (I sure didn't like him at the time), he was cast back down solely so that HHH could get his main event. On the bright side, he had an incredible Hardcore Match with Mick Foley that put him over strong and kept him relevant. The selflessness of Foley in these matches shouldn't be understated, this man was not just in it for himself when a lot of guys at his age and position have been (see Hogan, Summerslam 2005/2006).

The other two highlights were a strong Money In The Bank match won by Rob Van Dam, and Shawn Michaels beating Vince McMahon in a Street Fight, both of which lit up the vocal Chicago crowd. This was also the night when the DX reunion was first teased, whether intentionally or not, with both Shawn and Hunter firing off crotch chops in their respective matches.

On the downside, Undertaker had a below par casket match with Mark Henry, Torrie Wilson and Candice Michelle had a match that was there, and Carlito & Chris Masters open the show slowly against Big Show & Kane.

#11 - WrestleMania 28 (2012)
The B stands for "Because I Was There"

And in truth, that may skew this one slightly for me, but I think excluding it from the mighty Top Ten shows my true ability to be impartial. The build-up for the top two matches on this show was the best job the company has done for a long time, the "Once In A Lifetime" dream match of Rock Vs. Cena, with biting promos, fantastic video packages, and a full year to anticipate it. The rematch from Mania 27, the "End Of An Era" Hell in a Cell match with Taker Vs. HHH, and Shawn Michaels as the wild card as referee.

Rock Vs. Cena delivered with a match executed almost exactly as it should have been, right down to the Rock going over in a massive shock that lit up the crowd like nothing I've ever witnessed before. Critics that think John Cena should have won, believing he deserved it or that this result was an indictment of Cena's run are misguided in that belief, and hey, I'm the biggest proponent of forward thinking. But if you're going to do this match, with this promotion, in this location, its the only result you can do without pissing off the masses, because a Cena victory wasn't swaying anybody's opinion of him. Nothing is going to do that, it's been too long, and they've tried too much. And besides, while the show was already good heading in the finish of the main event, that decision MADE this show from a live perspective.

The Hell In A Cell match wasn't as good as the match a year earlier, but was still very good. CM Punk Vs. Chris Jericho was the other top match on the card, but to be perfectly honest I'd be lying if I didn't say I was disappointed by the build-up to this match. Two excellent talkers and storytellers, and whether it was its placement as third match from the top, restrictions or whatever, it didn't really hook people as expected. The match itself was damn good, though it took a while for the fans to stir since it was following Taker.

The elephant in the room here is that the first half of the show was complete filler, ruined by the 18 second burial of Daniel Bryan, losing his World Title in the opener with one move to Sheamus. Surprising, this didn't go over so well, and the crowd seethed to one another for about an hour, looking at Kane Vs. Randy Orton and Big Show Vs. Cody Rhodes like it was a dog taking a slow dump.

The atmospherics were tremendous, and what was promoted hard delivered to expectations...with one exception.

#10 - WrestleMania 24 (2008)
The B stands for "Boxing Beats Wrestling"

The show is memorable for two things - the use of Floyd "Money" Mayweather, and the retirement of Ric "No Money" Flair. And when judging how they used both, this Mania has to be considered a success. The unique promotion of Mayweather Vs. Big Show, the angle at No Way Out when Floyd busted open Big Show, is all very memorable and took a match that sounded like a bizarre freak show on paper and hooked a lot of casual fans with it. As a match, its very hard to rate. Obviously Mayweather wasn't losing, but this, once again, did Big Show no favours in his designed position as "next generation Andre". Though it didn't do quite the damage that the LT loss did to Bigelow mentioned earlier, when all was said and done, the company made a bunch of money, which is good, but they didn't have anything else to show for all this promotion and effort when it was over.

In addition, the Ric Flair retirement run, the Hall Of Fame induction, the "Leave The Memories Alone" video, and the interviews with Shawn Michaels, all culminated here, and while the match itself was very good, it was clear that Flair only had so much to give here, which is a shame, but damned if Shawn Michaels didn't do his very best to try and make this a classic.

I also want to mention how infuriating the booking of the WWE Title was here, as the absolutely perfect scenario was set up six months prior - Randy Orton punts Cena's father, then injures him and gets the title without beating Cena. Cena returns in a shocker at the Rumble, wins, and faces Orton at Mania in the big revenge match. But no. Once again, Triple H has to worm his way into a match he had no business being a part of, and waters it down significantly into what ended up as a forgettable three way. The show closer, Undertaker Vs. Edge, was anticipated for a couple of years by the hardcore fans, and while they blew the potential "streak Vs. streak" gimmick one year prior, this was a hot final match. I do cringe at the bump Edge takes from the top rope to the floor for no reason and little reaction.

There was also a very good Money In The Bank which seems to be a little underrated to me, CM Punk's first (and very surprising) victory on the big stage, and three unnotable filler matches underneath with Kane/Chavo, Batista/Umaga and Finlay/JBL.

Great promotion, great buyrate, and a good show.

#9 - WrestleMania 8 (1992)
The B stands for "Boy, These Guys Got A Lot Smaller In A Year"

A real tale of two shows in a lot of ways, and I feel nostalgia may have played a small part on this ranking, but this show is damn good. Randy Savage yet again steals the show at Mania by beating Ric Flair (with Mr. Perfect, a fantastic duo) in a match far better than people seem to remember. Not only that, but Flair's promos in the build-up to this show were top-notch ("She was mine before she was yours, Whoo!"), and with the post-match scene with Flair kissing Elizabeth and getting slapped, the backstage promos after the match by Savage and Flair were out of this world. Watch this match, kids. The crowd is molten-hot, and the pop for the finish is tremendous.

The other great match on the show is Bret Hart beating Roddy Piper, a match made more dramatic, like the previously mentioned match, with the use of blood, which was a rarity in WWF back then (and was unauthorised in both cases). The pre-match promo was fantastic, and the story in the ring was fantastic with the two family friends going tooth-and-nail, ending with Bret countering Piper's longtime finisher into a unique pinning combination, and an extremely rare clean pinfall loss for Piper. This match really did wonders for Bret, which would come in handy as he'd be WWF Champion within a year. These two classic matches make this show.

One of the biggest stories of this night, however, was that this should have been headlined by Ric Flair Vs. Hulk Hogan over who is the real World Champion, and the WWF unfortunately dropped the ball, in part by misreading the crowd, and in part by promising Sid Justice the main event of this show as a way to get him to jump. Broad changes were sweeping through the company as steroid and sex charges bombarded them, which led to a lot of the inflated physiques of WrestleMania 7 becoming a slowly decreasing trend. With a ton of bad publicity surrounding him, Hulk Hogan decided to so what he always does, bold-faced lie to the public, then fuck off for a while when it blows up in his face. With Hogan gone, back came the Warrior to close this show in a pleasent surprise after a fucking awful Sid Vs. Hogan debacle (Appropriate that two of the very worst Mania main events featured Sid). Nothing else on this show was standout, other than the Natural Disasters having a bloody awful match against Money Inc, and Jake Roberts sent packing from the WWF as Undertaker turns him into statistic #2.

#8 - WrestleMania 23 (2007)
The B stands for "Bald Asshole"

From a business standpoint, this was the biggest buyrate for a WrestleMania of all time, based on the "Battle Of The Billionares" (which also could have been what the B stood for, but mine was actually true) between Vince and Donald Trump. Its funny how the two guys who actually performed the match, Lashley and Umaga, ended up meaning nothing for the company in the long run. Folks, if you ever wonder why this did so well, watch the build for this on the Raw's leading up. It was almost inch perfect, apart from the horrible sketch that started the whole thing. The use of Steve Austin, Vince with his best performances in years, the megapush of Lashley, and one of the best stipulations of all time for public interest. On top of that, the match, while nothing classic in-ring, was a lot of fun.

In addition, Shawn Michaels and John Cena had a brilliant main event (which doesn't get its due), Batista and Undertaker blew away expectations with another excellent title match, and Money In The Bank was another key highlight, won by Mr. Kennedy, a guy who at one point had an incredible career trajectory ahead of him, which promptly fell apart. The real theme of this Mania, beyond the two great title matches that, depending on which way the wind blows, may or may not have had superior rematches within a month, is that the guys that were clearly handpicked to lead the company going forward, all crumbled into nothing.

As is a pattern with "The 20s", the undercard matches were neither here nor there, with some matches getting some decent build and others serving only to fill a spot on the card, which is perfectly fine, but doesn't stand out as spectactular either. Taker's streak was really picking up steam at this point, and a Batista victory would have been inexcusable.

Grade A:

#7 - WrestleMania 20 (2004)
The A stands for "Awkward Viewing Today"

In terms of advance promotion, people forget how tremendously well this show was marketed ahead of time. Not only was the heritage of the show, the number, the location (MSG) all a key part of this, but this was the debut of the logo hanging in the arena for almost a full year heading into the show. The company spent $5 million on bilboards, flyering and grassroots cross-promotion. Going in, this show had a massive advantage in that when the first second of this show hit the air, it already felt so very, very special.

Flash forward ten years, and not only is it depressing how lacklustre the promotion for 30 has been by comparison, but it is kind of hard to enjoy this show the way you did at the time, for the obvious reason that it was built around Chris Benoit winning the World Title for the first time in the main event. Some people may rate this show a lot higher, and there have been times when I felt that it should actually be ranked a little lower. Lesnar/Goldberg, which was a well-built match, ended up as a dud thanks to the crowd burying the entire thing due to the knowledge that both men were leaving. Undertaker's return was hyped extremely well and was a fantastic entrance, though the match with Kane that followed was crap. But the Triple Threat Match that headlined was possibly the best three way in company history, with Shawn Michaels especially putting in an amazing performance.

Kurt Angle and Eddie Guerrero had a very good match for the World Title, and Evolution Vs. Rock and Foley was wildly entertaining with a great finish and perfect performance of almost everybody in the match (I've heard that Foley was down on the fact he was tagging out while Orton was in the ring which he shouldn't have been doing, which is nitpicky but valid).

The major strength of the show was the warm fuzzy feeling when Guerrero and Benoit embraced mid-ring, kings of their world. Three and a half years later and the moment had gone from beautiful to tragic to tarnished forever.

Elsewhere on the show, John Cena is cheered as a babyface in New York on his rise to top, as he beats Big Show for the US Title, there's a fun Cruiserweight Open, 2 Four Way Tag Title Matches that didn't accomplish much, and your token throwaway Divas match.

#6 - WrestleMania 21 (2005)
The A stands for "Are You Talkin' To Me?"

As WrestleMania went Hollywood, it did so by marking a new era, crowning Batista and John Cena the top guys in the company with their respective World and WWE Title wins. Before anything else is said - I've taken my fair share of shots at Triple H throughout this thing, so I'll give credit where it is due: he made Batista. The slow babyface of turn of Batista was not only perfect paced and brilliantly executed, but Triple H put him over clean in the middle on the big show, then put him over again clean in Hell In A Cell. Contrast this to what Triple H did with Randy Orton, it's night and day. This PPV did the best domestic PPV number in years, and it's almost all down to the build to this match.

But ultimately, the two title matches weren't particular special on the show itself. Underneath, Edge won the original and best Money In The Bank Ladder Match, a bout loaded with fantatic talent (and Kane); Eddie Guerrero & Rey Mysterio opened things well, though admittedly short of expectations; Undertaker and Randy Orton was a hot battle between established guard and rising star (and at the time Orton not winning was quite the surprise); and in the best match on the show, Kurt Angle beat Shawn Michaels clean in the middle with the ankle lock in what is one of my personal favourite matches of all time. Seems a lot of people, while giving this massive credit, are reluctant to heap praise upon it as they have for other Mania matches, and I'm not really sure why. The pacing is phenomenal, the near falls are out of this world, and the finish is one of the most dramatic in the history of the show. Listen to the crowd, it's a masterclass in setting the groundwork, picking them up, settling them down, yo-yo-ing them near the end, building to a peak, and sustaining that intensity until the perfect moment. Right guy went over as well.

Fun cameos from Steve Austin, Hulk Hogan and Roddy Piper go over well, though I'd be remiss not to mention Big Show losing yet another intersport battle at Mania, this time to Akebono, a guy well known in his country for his contributions in sumo (and crossover work in MMA and Wrestling), but known by nobody anywhere else.

The top matches didn't deliver to the standard of the undercard, with John Cena's win particularly underwhelming. Much like 23, both title matches would be done again months later, and done much better.

#5 - WrestleMania 19 (2003)
The A stands for "A Broken Freakin' Neck"

WWE Champion Kurt Angle performs on this show, despite having a broken neck and having no business wrestling. Steve Austin performs on this show, despite a broken neck and a near heart attack the night before. Brock Lesnar almost kills himself blowing a Shooting Star Press that he'd done before a hundred times, and luckily avoids a broken neck himself. Despite all of this, this show is fantastic.

Unfortunately, it was one of the least purchased Manias of this time period, mainly because the top promoted match was, for some reason, Vince McMahon Vs. Hulk Hogan, in a match that on paper sounds like it could be intriguing, and in the ring was actually a damn good brawl, but it had no legs as a draw. Two old guys fighting over old shit. Steve Austin Vs. The Rock Part 3 didn't work quite so well as a draw as the prior two - this match has to go on top or nothing, and their status as part timers led to a difficult dynamic with heel Rock going over. But again, a very entertaining match.

Kurt Angle puts in one of the classic performances while injured in history, and paid for it by going into shock after the match, but ending aside, the match with Lesnar was a clinic, even if the crowd was burned out.

Michaels Vs. Jericho stole the show from an in-ring standpoint, in what was a very difficult show to steal. A lot of people strongly felt Jericho needed the win, and I don't disagree, but in the big picture Jericho had been stalled so much at this point that it made a negligable difference, and he got to leave with a good bit of heat for double-crossing Michaels on the embrace.

One of the best Manias ever with the amount of star power, entertaining or excellent matches, but does have the shocking decision to have Triple H bury Booker T for saying that "you people" aren't good enough to be champion, and then HHH wins and turns out to be right. Mysterio and Matt Hardy only going 6 minutes was a travesty - Mysterio was a genuine star at this time, and this was the peak of Matt Hardy as a singles star. Rob Van Dam being left off the show was bullshit. Taker has one of his least memorable Mania victories here, beat A-Train and Big Show in a nothing happening affair.

#4 - WrestleMania 14 (1998)
The A stands for "AUSTIN AND TYSON~! AUSTIN AND TYSON~!"

We're getting into the very best Manias ever here, and as a lot of the previous shows have had truly classic matches, something this show doesn't really have, I feel I have to almost justify this ones place here.

For build-up and for historical significance, there are almost none better than this show. This was the night that stamped WWF's return to ratings form, and cemented Steve Austin as the biggest star in the wrestling business. The angles leading into this show were fantastic - the 3:16 Machine was at full charge already, but when the Austin/Tyson pull-apart took place on Raw, a wild scene that I saw before it was broadcast on Sky because BBC News ran it the next morning as a lead story, it was very obvious that something special was taking place. Shawn Michaels was a great foil for Austin, but the Tyson element was magic. The segment where he "joined DX" on Raw was a phenomenal idea, and when the pictures of Tyson KOing Michaels made the back page of The Sun and The Mirror the following day, it was incomprehensible to a young wrestling fan like myself, who lived through the bad years and saw just how uncool the product seemed to the public such a short time before. Times were definitely changing.

That would be enough to place it high, but the six month build to the first Undertaker Vs. Kane match was great as well. The best monster introduction in company history, and the following six months of perfect booking, gave Kane a lifeline he has ridden to this very day. Even still, people fondly remember Kane of this era as being the best he ever was. Video evidence suggests otherwise, as this match really isn't spectacular, although Kane tombstoning Pete Rose was glorious.

Everything just came into place at this show. A rising superstar known now as The Rock, one year after shitting the bed at Mania 13, put in a stellar performance with Ken Shamrock, who was in his own right extremely over at this time. Booked with such charm, as the slow burn of Rock and Faarooq being at odds is paid off here, Shamrock finally beats The Rock for the IC Title, but the decision is reversed when he continues to kick his ass after the bell, and Rock, while being carried off on a stretcher, raises the title as he is announced the winner in an amazing display of personality unfathomable to those who saw his first IC Title run.

The Dumpster match with the Outlaws and Cactus/Funk is good, and the other standout from the undercard was, seemingly out of nowhere, Sable, who shot to stardom like a rocket (and ended up falling just as fast) based on her perfomance on this show, as her and real life husband Marc Mero beat Goldust and Luna in a match that not only got an ungodly amount of heat, but was significantly better than it had any right to be.

Were the matches "five star classics"? No, but the crowd was on fire, everything was done perfectly, and nothing else mattered. If you lived through this, you will understand what I mean when I say that this show changed the face of the WWF forever.

#3 - WrestleMania 10 (1994)
The A stands for "And The Fuck-Up Of Mania 9 Is Corrected"

This is the highest show on the list that had the least significance for the business, it was just an incredible show. Everybody knows why so I won't belabour the point. This was the first show I ever saw right as it happened, getting the tape the following day from a friend at school, and this may well be the show that made me a fan for life.

Shawn Michaels and Razor Ramon in the Ladder Match was out of this world, and I watched that match so many damn times. If you look at it with modern eyes, it probably doesn't hold up as spectacular as the TLCs, or are as whacky and creative as the Money In The Bank matches that have become "show me something new"-fests, but in that time, in that place, it was one of the best matches of all time.

And amazingly, its not the only all-time classic on the show, as the opening Bret Vs. Owen encounter is a Match Of The Decade contender in its own right. Another brilliant encounter, with the shocking ending of midcard heel Owen pinning top star Bret clean the night of his title shot, sets this card on a high enough pedestal, but the booking of the WWF Title is the cherry on the cake. Not only does Lex Luger, the guy who spent most of 1993 on the Lex Express being forced down people's throats as the new Hulk Hogan, get cast aside after he's shown up as second best at the Royal Rumble (after a tie-finish, fans vociferously cheered Bret over Lex), but Bret Hart went from losing clean to his brother in the opener, to winning the WWF Title in the main event (never understood what the hell the finish of this match was supposed to be), beating Yokozuna (one of the worst WWF champions ever, I don't care what anybody says) to win the title back that he never should have lost the year before. As all the babyface celebrate with Bret and lift him on their shoulders (including Lex Luger, whose face looks like he just caught somebody fucking his wife), Owen Hart, the heel that claims he's better than Bret and never gets the credit, that beat him to start the Pay-Per-View, stands disgusted in the aisle mouthing "What about me?" Fucking brilliant.

The rest of the show was what it was, nothing that stank the joint out or set the world afire either way, though Randy Savage does have his in-ring WWF farewell here beating Crush in a weird falls count anywhere/texas death match hybrid.

Grade A+:

#2 - WrestleMania 3 (1987)

There are clearly two WrestleManias that are a notch above the rest, and they, in both cases, they are the defintive shows of their respective boom periods. It's very hard to make a call on which one to put at the top of the mountain, and there are great cases for both.

The build-up to the top feuds on this show was exceptional. Blatant lying of Andre's record or not, Hogan and Andre was the ultimate mega-match of the time, with the involvement of Bobby Heenan and some incredible Piper's Pit segments setting this up perfectly. The Savage/Steamboat ring bell angle is one of the all-time best in execution, and in how much gravity it was given at the time. And don't sleep on Piper Vs. Adonis, which has a great series of skits in Piper's Pit & The Flower Shop.

When showtime came, in front of a packed 78,000 fans (WWF claimed 93,173 famously, it was the show's promoter Zane Bresloff who revealed it was a legit 78,000), WWF put on the perfect show for their audience at the time. Match quality wasn't the key factor in Hogan/Andre, the atmospherics and the spectacle was. For Savage and Steamboat, one of the best Mania matches ever, it was a match was for years was considered the gold standard, and will always be remembered as the first true classic in the history of the show.

Beyond the top three matches, rest of the card is fun, with the highlight being an nderrated Hart Foundation/Danny Davis Vs. Bulldogs/Tito six man. As a standalone PPV, with modern eyes there are Manias better, but for the time it was held in, with the historic slam and legdrop, the incredible IC Title match, the huge crowd and the incomparable feeling surrounding the show, this is almost the best of them all.

#1 - WrestleMania 17 (2001)

This is almost certainly not a surprise to most, and is probably the consensus best WrestleMania of all time, though it underwent a hell of a fight to get here for me.

The best domestic PPV number for a Mania ever was this show, headlined by Austin and Rock, two genuine megastars riding a massive wave of popularity, head-to-head in their best Mania match. However, while Mania 3 defined its era and had the perfect results top to bottom to help make it what it was, the closing scene of this show, with Austin turning heel and joining Vince McMahon, did a hell of a lot of damage to the promotion. The business was heading towards a downturn anyway, and this was the wrong move at the wrong time, and business plummeted immediately. Since I added in the other factors that made me rank the rest of the shows as I did, as opposed to simply standalone PPV quality, the external factors surrounding this one almost made me kick it from it's mighty perch.

But alas, its too damn good. Austin Vs. Rock was so anticipated, everybody will remember the amazing "My Way" music video forever, and the card itself is superb. The Main Event delivered, Triple H and Undertaker had a hell of a match, TLC 2 was an excellent and wild stuntshow, Kurt Angle and Chris Benoit had an excellent bout in their first ever PPV match, Shane McMahon and Vince had arguably the best non-wrestler match ever. The only thing remotely offensive on this show is Chyna's "offering", but she was canned two months later, so that worked out okay in the end.

This was the return to the stadium shows as well as a long hiatus, and this, more than any Mania I've ever seen, felt special from the second it began. If the Austin heel turn didn't persuade me to rank this lower, nothing could.

The 2013 Wrestling Year In Review

Well, it's all over. 2013 is in the books, and while it does feel like it was just yesterday when it began, it's time for a nostalgic look back, a fond reminiscence at all the major goings-on the world of wrestling. Get ready. All events below are completely accurate unless I discover otherwise tomorrow.

January

* John Cena wins the 2013 Royal Rumble, last eliminating Ric Flair, who has been in the ring continuously since 1992.

* The Rock ends CM Punk's 434 day WWE title reign with a simple elbow drop in tribute to "the late Sgt Slaughter" who did the same at the 1991 Royal Rumble. Michael Cole begins to correct Rock, but he'd already left to film "Pain and Gain".

* Chris Jericho surprisingly returns to WWE, outworking almost the entire company. Fans across the world prepare for what will surely be an exciting WrestleMania angle for Y2J.

* Fearing that the company is not making enough money, TNA drops its PPV schedule to four major events and 8 unpromoted throwaway monthly taped shows. Vince Russo commented that "They have no idea how to treat Pay-Per-View, bro".

February

* The Shield come off a huge victory over John Cena, Sheamus and Ryback, the three top babyfaces in the company, and are given the nickname "The Hounds Of Justice". Rumours of a Psycho Sid return and megapush dominate the internet.

* Jeff Hardy re-signs with TNA on the promise of a CD deal to be included, then regrets his decision when the CD deal turns out to be 3 for the price of 2 on Dixie Carter's Conway Twitty collection.

* The Rock defends his WWE Title in a rematch with CM Punk, then tells Jerry Lawler "This one is for the King. Rest in peace Jerry, your heart may have given out, but it was the size of New Orleans". Lawler went to remind Rock that he wasn't dead, but Rock was already gone promoting "G.I. Joe: Redemption."

* TNA announces that Impact Wrestling will be leaving Orlando and taping their television show on the road. Their first event was held on the M25 in London, drawing a packed crowd of four hipsters and a Winnebago.

* Jack Swagger embarrasses WWE by getting a DUI and getting busted for marijuana use. Rob Van Dam on his website announced his disgust at Swagger's inability to hold back on the pot use in the middle of his big push, saying the situation was "Heavy".

March

* CM Punk wins the right to face The Undertaker at WrestleMania by defeating Randy Orton, Sheamus and The Big Show in a Four Way game of Ker-Plunk.

* With momentum on his side, Chris Jericho jobs clean to Disco Inferno at WrestleMania.

* Quelling rumours that ego gets in the way of business, Triple H beats Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania in a Deafening Silence Match.

* Hell freezes over, and Bruno Sammartino is announced as the next inductee of the WWE Hall Of Fame, joining the likes of Koko B. Ware, Nikolai Volkoff and Drew Carey, after their initial pick, Al Snow's dog Pepper, didn't answer their phone calls.

* John Cena defeats The Rock to become WWE Champion. In the process, Rock tears his abductor muscle, suffers a hernia, draws over a million pay-per-view buys, stars in three more movies and is elected President of Kenya.

* Scott Hall gets clean. Amazingly, this one isn't made up.

April

* Top TNA brass win one over "those bastard smart marks who claim our show will always do a 1.1", by doing a 0.93 rating for their April 11th show.

* Run ragged across Hollywood, a worn and confused Rock begins promoting Iron Man 3, a film he didn't even appear in, single-handedly causing it to gross over a billion dollars.

* Bob Holly releases his autobiography, which is recalled to the publisher's following angry complaints that Bob just wrote "HOW DO YOU LIKE ME NOW?" in large letters on every page.

* Bully Ray wins the TNA Title by turning heel and joining Aces & Eights, multipling the closet homosexual biker demographic, who had not watched TNA since the days of Mortimer Plumtree, tenfold.

May

* TNA reforms the Main Event Mafia. They then break up without participating in a single main event.

* The former Michael McGillicutty earns a new lease on life, resurfacing with a new ring name, Wanalaya Perfectly, as a tribute to his father.

June

* News breaks of a conversation between Shawn Michaels and Vince McMahon concerning a wrestler Vince "doesn't see money in", that Shawn does. Rumours that the person is question was Daniel Bryan are quickly shot down by Shawn himself. In what I'm sure is completely unrelated news, Dolph Ziggler loses the World Title back to Alberto Del Rio and finds himself in a feud with Sean Mooney.

* Former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Quinton "Rampage" Jackson debuts in TNA, challenging Kurt Angle to a drag-race.

* Matt Striker was fired from WWE for being too shit for the Pay-Per-View YouTube Pre-Show.

* Ryback takes the Goldberg chants to heart, going the other direction and losing his 174th straight PPV match in a row.

July

* Brooke Hogan ruins the on-screen storyline where she is secretly married to Bully Ray by announcing her real-life engagement to Billy Ray Cyrus.

* WWE opens up its very own Performance Centre, but not before the company pays $300,000 to remove the words "Enhancing Drugs" from the middle of the building logo. Triple H's questionably enormous forehead declined comment.

* Destination X 2013 does the same number of Pay-Per-View buys as Destination X 2012, despite this years version not being available on Pay-Per-View.

* A curious poster on the "Reddit" message board draws a lot of attention when gambling money follows his lead in correctly predicting that Triple H and John Cena will always win.

* Kurt Angle announces he is going to rehab following his fourth DUI charge. Dixie Carter celebrates the news by sending him a champagne gift hamper.

August

* Ted DiBiase, leader of the "DiBiase Posse", quits WWE, stating he wishes to start his own web company. His new website, IloveDP.com, is a huge initial hit.

* Triple H turns heel on Daniel Bryan at Summerslam by saying at all his Ring Of Honor title defenses were only 4 out of 10.

* Cody Rhodes moustache was wished the best it its future endeavours after failing the WWE Wellness Policy.

* 11 year veteran and 10 time Champion Randy Orton is declared the future of the WWE on television.

* TNA fires Jesse Sorenson, who suffered a broken neck and temporary paralysis on their live PPV. Dixie Carter responds to accusations of being callous by confiscating his wheelchair and selling it on eBay to pay for a ride on the carousel at the Jefferson County Fair.

* Hulk Hogan is announced as being included in the WWE2K14 video game, where he plays the role of Dr. Robotnik.

* Brock Lesnar defeats CM Punk at Summerslam by eating him.

September

* TNA's massive financial losses continue, causing them to allow several contracts to lapse. "It's a shame this company can't realise they need to take care of the young guys", said Hulk Hogan and Eric Bischoff, laughing atop a pyramid of cash.

* AJ Styles is told to replicate CM Punk's "shoot promo" on Impact. Georgia native Styles misinterprets, firing a .38 Calibre at Mike Tenay and Taz on live TV. Tragically, they survived.

* Jim Ross is finally fired for being unable to carry a cherry in his buttcheeks through an assault course at the WWE2K14 Symposium.

* Dixie Carter turns heel on the September 20th episode of Impact, confusing the fans, since they've been hating everything that's come out of her mouth for the past seven years anyway.

* Vince McMahon disappears from television to undergo emergency surgery to remove his chin from Triple H's scrotum.

October

* Hulk Hogan and Eric Bischoff leave TNA when Hulk Hogan's contract expires and Eric Bischoff is kicked out of power. Elsewhere, Vince Russo suffers a broken ankle running to the telephone by tripping over his Thomas The Tank Engine playset.

* Triple H cuts a controversial promo on Raw, claiming that Daniel Bryan isn't a star, and that former World Champions RVD and Chris Jericho, and Hall of Famer Edge, weren't really stars either. People begin to question if this Hunter fellow might be more about himself than others.

* John Cena returns from a torn tricep in two months with remarkably large arms, to win World Title number 14. The possibility that Cena may break Ric Flair's record creates rumblings that the return of the Antichrist might be upon us.

* Dusty Rhodes appears on Raw cutting a promo vowing to be Triple H's "huckleberry all night long". Unimpressed with his unscripted and far superior to anything her team can come up with performance, Stephanie assigns Dusty to be HHH's dingleberry instead.

November

* After months of build, trials and tribulations, Big Show loses his big Survivor Series match for the WWE Title by crying at the news that his hero, Nigella Lawson, did cocaine.

* Kane returns to television with a new corporate image after being asked to join the GM All-Star Bowling team with Mike Adamle, Teddy Long, John Lauranitis, and the Anonymous GM Laptop.

* TNA does farewell angles for AJ Styles, who they can no longer afford. Rumours that the company is up for sale begin the circulate, with Rupert Murdoch reportedly putting in a serious bid of "Fuck Off".

December

* At the TLC Pay-Per-View, Vince McMahon's ultimate fantasy occurs before fans eyes, as John Cena and Randy Orton Unify in the middle of the ring.

* TNA Impact makes history by being the first television show in history to somehow do a rating in the minus figures, and cleverly fails to lock up Universal Studios, shrewdly forcing them to lose countless thousands of dollars by continuing to tape on the road in 2014.

* Out of nowhere, it is announced that Dave Batista will be returning the WWE for the Royal Rumble, with some theorizing his goal is to re-enact 2005 by blowing the finish of the match, causing HHH to hit the ring on a whim and tear one of his shaky quads on the ring apron and get him off television.

* Having waiting years since his last mega failure in the real business world, Vince McMahon decided it was time to piss away millions of dollars on a new project, preparing for the announcement the following year of the WWE Network, though analysts grow concerned when the only announced programs were the WBF Pay-Per-View and XFL Season One on demand.

March 30, 1992 Observer Newsletter: No buzz for 92 Mania, WWE steroid symposium, Donahue fallout, more

Wrestling Observer Newsletter PO Box 1228, Campbell, CA 95009-1228 March 30, 1992 Just days away from Wrestlemania, and where's the buzz?
With the biggest wrestling show of the year on the horizon (I mean Wrestlemania, not Geraldo Rivera or 20/20), the main news seems to still be in another direction. Mainstream media attention toward pro wrestling seems to have died down since our last press time save two articles in the New York Daily News. Where it goes from here is anyone's guess, or where it should go for that matter. A couple of minor talk shows, Geraldo Rivera's Now It Can Be Told and I believe the Montel Williams show will be doing follow-up pro wrestling scandal shows. Rivera's show is tentatively scheduled for early next week air date, probably on Tuesday. Williams is scheduled for a tentative Monday taping and will air a few days later. No word about 20/20 other than it was scheduled to run sometime in the next few weeks.
The WWF held (will be holding as of this writing) a steroid symposium for the media on 3/24 at the Plaza Hotel in New York with the main speaker being Dr. Mauro DiPasquale of Warkworth, Ontario, who is considered one of the leading experts in the Western Hemisphere on the subject of anabolic steroids in sports and author of Drug Use and Detection in Amateur Sports. In his update No. 4 of his book, DiPasquale wrote: "Many people feel that drug testing has stopped the use of drugs by athletes and thus has made competition fairer. Unfortunately, nothing could be farther from the truth. Our present knowledge in the fields of endocrinology, physiology, pharmacology, analytical chemistry and biotechnology, on which the validity of drug testing depends, is inadequate for dealing with the inventiveness of athletes who continue to use drugs, in spite of comprehensive drug testing programs." Update No. 3 said: "Anyone who feels that the use of drugs in sports can be eliminated is being naive. Because of our societal make-up, and the nature of the athlete, the elimination of drug use in sports is a theoretical impossibility. With this given, the whole purpose of drug testing must be reexamined. If drug use by athletes can't be stamped out, why test at all? After all, testing may only allow the more sophisticated and wealthier athletes to use more expensive undetectable drugs and masking agents, as well as allowing them (by means of frequent timed urine analyses) to cut a fine line as to when to go off those banned drugs which cannot be effectively masked. In the end, the best that drug control can hope to achieve is a decrease in drug use.
Those who argue that drug testing only forces the athlete to use drugs which are more dangerous (Editor's note: some steroid experts claim steroid testing forces athletes from switching from the less dangerous injectables to oral steroids which have a shorter detection time but are much harder on the kidneys and liver) are also being naive. Athletes will use whatever helps their performance. The more dangerous drugs, as well as the established ergogenic aids, would likely be used regardless of doping control." His writings seem to indicate a straight-forward approach to the subject although there are many who decry him for teaching athletes how to beat steroid tests.
WCW has a tentative card put together for the 5/17 PPV show from Jacksonville. As mentioned here previously, the main event is a 10-man War Games match with the Dangerous Alliance (Arn Anderson & Bobby Eaton & Rick Rude & Larry Zbyszko & Steve Austin) vs. Ricky Steamboat & Sting & Nikita Koloff & Barry Windham & Dustin Rhodes. The rest of the tentatively made-up show has, from the bottom to the top, Junkyard Dog vs. Cactus Jack, Johnny B. Badd vs. Chip the Firebreaker, Ron Simmons vs. Mr. Hughes, Marcus Bagwell vs. Scotty Flamingo (Scotty the Body), Terrence Taylor & Greg Valentine defending the U.S. tag team titles against The Freebirds, Van Hammer vs. J.T. Southern, Brian Pillman vs. Tom Zenk for the WCW lightheavyweight title and Rick & Scott Steiner vs. Tatsumi Fujinami & Takayuki Iizuka to determine the No. 1 contenders for the IWGP tag team titles. The underneath matches don't sound particularly thrilling on paper. There is already some question about these matches since Mr. Hughes and Van Hammer are out of action because they've "volunteered" for drug rehabilitation although it is hopeful they'll be back in time for the PPV show.
Just a quick comment based on the WWF syndicated shows that aired this weekend. If you think that Hulk Hogan's last WWF match really is Wrestlemania, think again. Both shows, almost in their entirety, were attempts to erase whatever p.r. damage was done by the various newspaper articles (the Los Angeles Times article ran probably in over 100 papers around the country over the past week, many this past Sunday) and People Magazine. They spent nearly an hour on both shows specifically for that purpose. With Wrestlemania just two weeks away, they must feel pretty confident he'll be back, maybe even for Summer Slam, to spend so much television time polishing up the image. There were enough subtle hints thrown to let me know they are saving the inevitable Ric Flair legdrop loss to Hogan because Bobby Heenan hinted it by saying it wasn't going to happen. Speaking of which, the Flair interviews for the match with Randy Savage have been vintage Flair. Wrestlemania for the live show in Indianapolis has topped $1 million in advance sales. Based upon whom one chooses to believe, the number of tickets sold as of the latter part of this past week were between 27,000 and 32,000 with another 6,000 or so freebies out. This means one can figure the paid winding up at between 35,000 and 45,000 and enough freebies to make it 45,000 to 55,000 in the building, which will look impressive on television. I was told by a local reporter in Indianapolis that it's well known in town how easy it is to get freebies and not to expect locals to buy tickets from this point forward because the freebies are so prevalent. However out-of-towners don't realize that so paid sales shouldn't stall even with the freebies available locally. The Hoosier Dome has ways to set the building up to be full with that crowd, although the 72,000 they talk about on television doesn't appear at this point to be approachable.
Special get well to World Championship Wrestling head referee Nick Patrick, who at press time is laid up on a hospital in Liberty, MO. Patrick was involved in an auto accident Sunday when his rent-a-car was rear-ended by a semi and the car was destroyed. Patrick's life was probably saved by the air bag in the car, since he was pinned in the car for several hours. He suffered a broken leg that's now in traction, had surgery to put pins in his wrist and suffered numerous other injuries including possible cracked ribs.
Pro Wrestling Fujiwara ran a surprisingly successful American debut card on 3/20 at the Knight Center in Miami, FL before a crowd estimated at 2,800. The show, promoted locally by Bart Vail, who works regularly for PWF in Japan, attracted mainly a karate audience rather than a pro wrestling audience and was billed more as a kick boxing exhibition than pro wrestling. The show was hyped as U.S. vs. Japanese with the Japanese treated as heavy heels by the crowd, although Yoshiaki Fujiwara was the only one who worked anything resembling a heel style. After three amateur matches, the professional bouts saw Jerry Flynn beat Kazuo Takahashi via the five knockdown rule in 11:02, Yusuke Fuke beat Berto Dieuseul (who works locally as Haiti Kid Berto) in 7:43 via a leglock submission, Masakatsu Funaki beat Mac Roesch with an armbar submission, Ken Shamrock (who got the best reaction on the card) beat Minoru Suzuki with an armbar submission in 21:06 and the main event saw Vail score the big upset over Fujiwara in 12:13 via count out after an enzuigiri and two head-butts and Fujiwara fell out of the ring which is a pretty cheap finish for UWF-style, in fact the first count out ending I've ever heard of. Vail was talking about promoting another PWF show in Miami or Tampa as soon as June. Legendary boxer Roberto Duran, who has a mixed match with Funaki on 4/19 in Tokyo, was at the show and weighed in at approximately 249 pounds, which considering his boxing fame was as a middleweight and he's less than a month from the match says a lot.
This past weekend in Studio City, CA was the annual Cauliflower Alley banquet for past-and-present wrestlers. Awards went to, among others, Woody Strode, a wrestler who later became an actor, Stanley Weston, the publisher of the Victory Series line of magazines (Apter-mags), Danny Hodge, who some consider one of the two or three greatest amateur wrestlers ever produced by the United States and pound-for-pound the legitimately strongest and toughest pro wrestler in history, lady midget wrestler Diamond Lil (Katie Glass), Penny Banner, one of the top women wrestlers of the late 1950s and early 1960s who later married Johnny Weaver, Donna Christantello (Moolah's long-time assistant and understudy), Debbie Combs, Belle Starr, Hard Boiled Haggerty, a former main eventer who later worked regularly in Hollywood, Ray Urbano, the original Great Kabooki, John James, Pepper Gomez, who still holds the attendance record at the San Francisco Cow Palace for a 1962 match with Ray Stevens, Maurice "Mad Dog" Vachon, a genuine pro wrestling legend for several decades and the absent Gene Kiniski. Lou Thesz, who was one of the organizers of the banquet, brought in Nobuhiko Takada from Japan.
I want to give a quick plug for the Pro Wrestling Torch newsletter here at P.O. Box 201844, Minneapolis, MN 55420 because the issue dated 3/19 is one of the best issues of any newsletter I've seen. If you're interested in a copy of the issue, entirely devoted to the various scandals involving the WWF, send $1.25 to that address. The issue has a complete transcript of the Larry King Live show and you get a very different impression reading the transcript of the show than just by watching it.
Tentative WCW schedule as far as the major shows for the remainder of the year for those of you who want to make reservations early, we've already reported on the Clash from Charleston and PPV shows from Mobile and Philadelphia during the summer. After that, there is a Clash scheduled for 9/2 in Greenville, SC; a PPV scheduled for 9/13 with a location to be announced (the Boulder, CO location was canceled), Halloween Havoc will be 10/31 from the UIC Pavilion in Chicago, a Clash will be held 11/18 from New Orleans and Starrcade (not sure of date but just after Christmas) will tentatively be from the Omni in Atlanta.
A few notes on the subject of Tom Cole, the former WWF ringboy who was the subject of so much attention the past few weeks. Cole apparently received $50,000 (we reported the figure as $70,000 because that is what one of the parties involved claimed to one reporter) for two years back pay from Titan and went back to work as a ringboy this past week. It was not a no-cut contract as reported here last week. Cole's attorney, Alan Fuchsburg, wrote a letter to the New York Post complaining about Phil Mushnick's story this past Wednesday and saying that he never said Titan Sports would make a public admission that the charges were true although Mushnick claims that both Fuchsburg and Lee Cole (Tom's older brother) told him Titan would make the admission. Titan's policy on this publicly thus far has been to not address the question of Cole's charges and to simply say he's now working for them. There is some controversy whether or not an interview Cole taped before the settlement for Now It Can Be Told will run when they do the segment next week. Speaking of a somewhat similar subject, while I can't say so for sure, I'm pretty sure the rumors that Pat Patterson and Terry Garvin are now employed by the WBF aren't true.
A spokesperson for the Larry King Live show on CNN said on Monday in response to numerous inquiries about when King would do a follow-up show on pro wrestling as he indicated he would at the end of the show last Friday, "We've gotten a lot of calls and we've become more and more aware that Vince McMahon said little of the truth but we have to move on to other things." Surprisingly, the Pro Wrestling Illustrated weekly newsletter did a straight-forward feature on the subject with many quotes from the King show and I'm told all the magazines in that family will cover the story as well, which is quite a breakthrough.
An update on Jim Crockett is that he wasn't technically fired but was simply sent back home to Texas for reputedly being a disruptive influence. I believe that means he's still on payroll but isn't involved in any of the major decision-making processes. An emergency meeting was held Monday to appoint someone to take over as head of booking arenas.
This is the third issue of the current four-issue set. If you've got a (1) on your address label it means that your Observer subscription will expire with next week's issue. Renewal rates remain $6 for four issues, $12 for eight, $24 for 16, $36 for 24, $48 for 32 up through $60 for 40 issues within the United States, Canada and Mexico. Rates for overseas airmail rates are $9 for each set of four issues through $90 for 40 issues for weekly airmail delivery. All subscription orders, letters to the editor, match results, news items and any other correspondence related to this newsletter should be sent to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, P.O. Box 1228, Campbell, CA 95009-1228.
A correction from a few weeks back, not in a quote reported here that was taken from a newspaper in Mexico City. When WWF spokesperson Steve Planamenta said that "Steroids are a bigger problem in the pro wrestling business, and that's scary," what he said he really said was that "Steroids are a bigger problem than the pro wrestling business, and that's scary."
EMLL The 3/13 show from Arena Mexico in Mexico City saw America & El Filoso (who does a moonsault from the top rope to the floor even better than Masao Orihara) & Love Machine (Art Barr) beating Blue Panther & La Fiera & Kung Fu in two straight falls when Panther was DQ'd in the second fall for giving Filoso a low blow. It appears they are building to a mask vs. mask match with Panther vs. Love Machine in a few weeks **. Second match saw The New Infernales (MS 1 & Pirata Morgan & El Satanico) winning two straight falls from Atlantis & Mascara Sagrada & Lizmark with Satanico pinning Lizmark with a power bomb in the second fall. After the match Satanico challenged Lizmark for Lizmark's NWA lightheavyweight title. *** Semi-final saw Canadian Vampire Casanova & Perro Aguayo & Conan beat Cien Caras & Pierroth Jr. & Sangre Chicana in a 2/3 fall match when Casanova pinned Caras to set him up as the No. 1 contender for Caras' CMLL world heavyweight title. **3/4 Main event saw Bestia Salvaje win a 2/3 fall hair vs. hair match from Kato Kung Lee in an upset with a splash off the top rope. Salvaje carried the match to make it decent **1/4.Masao Orihara & Takayuki Nakahara debuted on 3/7 in Mexico City as Iga and Koga teaming with Angel Azteca to beat Ponzona & Septiembre Negro Jr. & Hombre Bala.
They aired highlights of the 3/8 CMLL welterweight title match where America won the strap from Fuerza Guerrera and the interesting thing is the crowd at Arena Coliseo was less than 1,000. EMLL ran its major show that same day at Arena Mexico. Iga & Koga teamed with Ringo Mendoza to beat Sangre Chicana & El Egipcio & Kirilenko.
Weekly Gong in Japan reported Black Terry & Jose Luis Feliciano jumping to this group from UWA although they may be given new characters. Robin Hood from UWA is in as Atomo. Atomo is a brother of Los Brazos. They also reported that besides Negro Casas, who has been rumored to be coming forever, Ruben Garcia and Tinieblas Jr. & Sr. are said to be considering making the move and Shu El Guerrero is said to be likely to make the move as well.
Main event on 3/20 at Arena Mexico was Chicana vs. Aguayo.
UWA This week's major shows saw on 3/19 at La Arena Pista Revolucion in Mexico City saw Gran Hamada & Enrique Vera & Villano III vs. Fishman & Buffalo Allen & Killer plus Negro Casas & El Engendro vs. El Hijo Del Santo & El Coloso.3/19 in Toluca had Dos Caras & Fantasma vs. Canek & Baby Face.
Same night in Tulancingo had Los Villanos vs. The Death Missionaries (Negro Navarro & El Signo & Black Power II).
Yukihide Ueno from Japan's FMW is in as Kamikaze Ninja.
This week's television taping was 3/20 in Netzahualcoyotl with Canek & Vera vs. Villano III vs. Allen & Baby Face & Scorpio plus Hamada & Silver King & El Texano vs. Fishman & Casas & Dr. Wagner Jr.
A tag team from the United States called The Steel Warriors start 4/5.
They are trying to get Bam Bam Bigelow to return but no date finalized.
USWA A couple of title changes to report on here on 3/16 in Memphis. Jimmy Valiant beat Dr. Death to win the Southern title while Kimala regained the USWA title beating Koko Ware via count out. I believe the title change took place because Ware worked the previous night for the WWF in Memphis in a prelim match which I'm sure didn't sit well with the locals. The finish saw Friday (Buddy Wayne) hold Ware out of the ring for the count out.Catching up on the results from the past few weeks.
3/9 in Memphis drew about 1,300 and saw Tony Falk beat Ricky Hayes, Miss Texas beat Nurse Kratchett via DQ, Brian Christopher beat Tony Williams, Dr. Death beat Tom Prichard in a bed pan on a pole match, Eric Embry beat Pat Tanaka in an anything goes match and Jerry Lawler & Koko Ware & Kimala beat The Moondogs & Richard Lee via DQ when the Big Black Dog returned and interfered.
3/10 in Louisville saw Miss Texas beat Dirty White Girl, Christopher beat Hayes, Prichard beat Death via DQ, Embry beat Tanaka and Moondogs beat Lawler & Leatherface.
3/16 in Memphis drew 1,700 with Tanaka beating Falk, Christopher beat Mike Mitchell, Jimmy Valiant beat Dr. Death to win the Southern title, Tony Anthony pinned Embry, Moondogs beat Tanaka & Tom Prichard, Kimala beat Ware via count out and Lawler & Valiant & Prichard & Kimala DDQ Moondogs & Richard Lee & Black Dog.
They set up a feud with Valiant (who looks to weigh about 175) against Christopher with the Southern title against Texas title. Valiant kissed Christopher and said he knew Christopher ever since he was a little kid and used to change his diapers (Christopher of course being the son of Jerry Lawler) and then Valiant caught himself, realizing what he said since Lawler is adamant about fans not knowing about him being old enough to have a son in the ring and said that he changed the diapers of all the kids who grew up in Memphis. They shook hands and said they'd have a clean match and Christopher sucker-punched Handsome Jimmy.
King Cobra is back with a new manager, Aunt Gurtie, who brings out a rolling pin to counter Nurse Kratchett's bed pan.
Miss Jennifer appears to be gone.
3/23 in Memphis had Falk vs. Cat Garrett, Death vs. Cobra, Tony Anthony vs. Embry, Christopher vs. Valiant title vs. title, Kimala vs. Prichard for the USWA title and Lawler & Jeff Jarrett vs. Moondogs. The Moondogs have destroyed all the area jobbers in squash matches on TV the past several weeks and in the main event, they are bringing all the regular jobbers out and giving them chairs and they'll surround the ring as lumberjacks.
OREGON John Rambo & Col. DeBeers captured the Northwest tag team titles on 3/21 in Portland beating Steve Doll & The Grappler. Other results on the show saw Jesse Barr over Al Madril via DQ, Buddy Rose beat Mike Winner when Madril interfered, Don Harris beat Brickhouse Brown via a switch with brother Ron who actually pinned Brown and Bart Sawyer beat Ron Harris via DQ when Don Harris interfered and Brown made the save.3/14 in Portland saw C.W. Bergstrom beat Mike Miller via DQ, Don Harris beat Winner, Grappler beat Ron Harris, DeBeers & Rambo beat Brown & Bart Sawyer, Doll pinned Rose and Sawyer won an 11-man Battle Royal.
GLOBAL Things weren't looking good on 3/20 at the Dallas Sportatorium with attendance dropping to around 400 and less than 350 of that paid. Don't know air dates of the particular matches but bouts taped saw Steven Dane beat Todd Overbow, The California Connection (John Tatum & Rod Price) beat Brian Henning & Tony George, Bull Pain went to a double count out with Giant Warrior (Butch Masters aka Gigante Warrior in Mexico), Big Bertha Young (Gary Young in drag) & Bill Irwin beat Black Bart & Scandor Akbar when Young pinned Bart after kissing him on the lips. After the match Bart attacked and laid Young out with the branding iron. Eddie Gilbert & Terry Simms (formerly Terry Garvin) & James Beard beat Dark Patriot (Doug Gilbert) & The Viper (Mike "I Wanna Be Jake Roberts so bad that I'm not only stealing his look and his interview style but also his gimmick" Davis) & Bruce "I'm only stealing Roddy Piper's interview style but nothing else" Prichard. After this point, Bull Pain pinned George, Warrior beat Big Bad John via DQ in a bodyslam match when Prichard interfered. Barry Horowitz beat Eddie Gilbert via DQ in a match with Sam Esposito (Sam Lowe) as ref. Esposito came on with blackened eyes saying Gilbert did it to him the previous week and I believe he also stripped Gilbert of his TV title. Esposito said if Gilbert touches him then he'd suspend him, and then favored Horowitz the entire match. Finish saw Horowitz knock into Esposito, who blamed Gilbert and called for the DQ. After that, Irwin pinned Henning, Big Bad John pinned George, Horowitz pinned Overbow. Then, with Gary Young injured from the earlier match courtesy of Bart's branding iron, the tag title match was Tatum & Price defending against Simms & Scott Putski. Akbar's interference with a foreign object backfired and Tatum was pinned. This was far and away the best bout on the show. Simms & Putski had their hair at stake. I believe Price & Tatum will be turning babyface on Akbar soon.David Webb from Memphis took over as television announcer replacing Craig Johnson.
3/27 at the Sportatorium has Viper vs. Gary Young, Simms & Putski defending the GWF tag team titles against Tatum & Price, Bart defends the Brass Knux title against Irwin, Steven Dane vs. Tony Williams (from Memphis), Bruce Prichard vs. Beard and Dark Patriot vs. Gilbert in an I Quit match and if Gilbert loses, he must leave Dallas for one year.
ALL JAPAN The annual Champion Carnival tournament opened on 3/20 at Tokyo's Korakuen Hall before a sellout 2,100 fans on a weekend which saw four shows in that building all sell out. Opening night results with the main matches taped for the television show that aired on Sunday night saw Jumbo Tsuruta & Yoshinari Ogawa beat Tsuyoshi Kikuchi & Mitsuharu Misawa in 21:15 when Ogawa pinned Kikuchi which I believe is the first time Ogawa has scored the winning pinfall in a main event, Stan Hansen pinned Dan Kroffat, Toshiaki Kawada beat Kenta Kobashi in 20:47 via submission with the crossface, Terry Gordy pinned Kimala II, Masa Fuchi beat Doug Furnas, Danny Spivey & Johnny Ace beat Steve Williams & Master Blaster (Al Greene), Giant Baba & Akira Taue & Rusher Kimura beat Abdullah the Butcher & Joel Deaton & David Isley and Motoshi Okuma & Haruka Eigen beat Mitsuo Momota & Mighty Inoue.Abdullah is on the tour but was taken out of the tournament and will instead work in mainly tag team matches underneath against Baba. I guess he or they didn't want Abdullah to do all the necessary jobs that he'd have had to do along the way.
Isamu Teranishi is out with an injury while Billy Black canceled the tour at the last minute.
3/21 before a sellout 3,600 in Kiryu saw Hansen & Spivey & Ace beat Gordy & Williams & Blaster, Tsuruta pinned Furnas, Misawa pinned Kimala II, Kobashi pinned Kroffat, Ogawa pinned Isley, Kawada & Kikuchi beat Taue & Fuchi when Kikuchi pinned Fuchi, Abdullah pinned Deaton and Baba & Kimura beat Eigen & Okuma.
Back in Korakuen Hall on 3/22 before another sellout 2,100 saw Kobashi & Kawada beat Hansen & Ace when Kawada pinned Ace in 16:10, Williams made Spivey submit to the octopus, Tsuruta pinned Kikuchi, Gordy pinned Deaton, Misawa beat Blaster with the facelock submission in 1:26 (Misawa is working on broken fingers so they are keeping his matches short since they need to give him wins to make the tournament work), Taue pinned Ogawa, Furnas & Kroffat beat Inoue & Fuchi and Isley pinned Masao Inoue.
The major cards on the tour are the television tapings. They tape 3/27 with Tsuruta vs. Gordy, Misawa vs. Deaton, Hansen vs. Kobashi, Taue vs. Spivey, Kawada & Kikuchi vs. Kroffat & Furnas and Williams & Blaster vs. Abdullah & Kimala II. Taping on 3/31 has Tsuruta vs. Blaster, Ace vs. Gordy, Misawa vs. Kikuchi, Williams vs. Kroffat, Taue vs. Ogawa, Baba & Kobashi vs. Deaton & someone, Hansen & Spivey vs. Kimala II & Abdullah. Taping on 4/2 has Gordy vs. Fuchi, Misawa vs. Tsuruta, Hansen vs. Spivey, Kawada vs. Kroffat, Taue vs. Williams, Kobashi & Kikuchi vs. Abdullah & Kimala II. Taping 4/6 has Tsuruta vs. Fuchi, Misawa vs. Furnas, Hansen vs. Kawada, Spivey vs. Kobashi, Gordy & Williams vs. Ace & Deaton, Abdullah & Kimala II vs. Baba & Kikuchi. Taping on 4/14 has Tsuruta vs. Deaton, Misawa vs. Gordy, Hansen vs. Williams, Taue vs. Kroffat, Kobashi & Kikuchi vs. Ace & Spivey and Baba & Kimura vs. Abdullah & Kimala. The final taping will be the tournament championship on 4/17.
NEW JAPAN Finishing off the results of the last tour saw on 3/9 in Kyoto before a sellout 8,900 fans Black Cat pinned Hiroyoshi Yamamoto, Scorpio pinned Killer Bee (Brian Blair), Akira Nogami & Kengo Kimura beat Koji Kanemoto & Osamu Kido, Hiroshi Hase & Keiji Muto beat The Samoans (Kokina & Samu), Jushin Liger retained the IWGP junior heavyweight title beating Mad Bull Buster Rex with a Frankensteiner off the middle rope and after the match Samurai (Osamu Matsuda) challenged Liger to a title match, Super Strong Machine & Tatsutoshi Goto & Hiro Saito beat Riki Choshu & Samurai & Takayuki Iizuka when Machine pinned Iizuka who bled heavily, Bam Bam Bigelow & Big Van Vader retained the IWGP tag team titles beating Shinya Hashimoto & Masa Chono in 25:08 when Bigelow splashed Chono and Shiro Koshinaka & Kuniaki Kobayashi beat karate duo Akitoshi Saito & Masashi Aoyagi.3/10 in Tahara drew a sellout 1,620 as Cat pinned Scorpio, Koshinaka beat Masanobu Kurisu via DQ, Samurai & Iizuka beat Liger & Nogami, Kobayashi & Hashimoto beat Bee & Mad Bull Buster Spike, Samoans beat Hase & Chono when Kokina splashed Hase, and Choshu & Muto & Kimura beat Bigelow & Vader & Rex.
3/11 in Korakuen Hall before a sellout 2,000 fans for television taping saw Kobayashi pin Kurisu, Liger & Koshinaka beat Mad Bull Busters, Hiro Saito pinned Nogami, Norio Honaga pinned Samurai with a german suplex, Machine & Goto beat Iizuka & Hashimoto, Hase & Kimura beat Bigelow & Bee and Choshu & Chono & Muto beat Vader & Samoans when Muto pinned Samu with the moonsault in 15:38.
SWS Undertaker debuted in Japan (he'd been there a few years ago as Punisher Dice Morgan for New Japan) which was the highlight of the recently-completed tour.Bad news for this group is that there television show was canceled by the WOWOW channel with the final show airing on 3/26. So the Ric Flair vs. Tenryu match next month won't be televised in Japan. WOWOW is sticking with airing Akira Maeda's Rings promotion, which even though it has no-names to the wrestling fans besides Maeda, draws better television ratings.
New tour opened 3/14 in Aomori with the top matches having El Dandy from Mexico pin Ultimate Dragon (Yoshihiro Asai) in 10:15 with the Dandina which is Dragon's first job since joining SWS, Kenichi Oya & Shinichi Nakano & Tatsumi Kitahara beat Samson Fuyuki & Naoki Sano & Fumihiro Niikura, Kendo Nagasaki & The Berzerker beat Genichiro Tenryu & Takashi Ishikawa and The Natural Powers (Yoshiaki Yatsu & King Haku) beat George & Shunji Takano in 23:04.
Berzerker is getting a big push on the tour as a Bruiser Brody clone.
3/18 in Niigata drew a sellout 3,720 as Kitahara & Nakano beat Hiroshi Hatanaka & Niikura, Dragon & Sano beat Dandy & Goro Tsurumi, Hara pinned Oya, Hara pinned Apollo Sugawara, Nagasaki & Berzerker beat Tenryu & Fuyuki, The Undertaker debuted and pinned Ishikawa and Natural Powers beat Takano Brothers to keep the SWS tag team titles in 21:08 when Haku pinned Shunji Takano.
Final show was 3/22 at Tokyo's Korakuen Hall before a sellout 2,300 (Sunday Noon show with All Japan running the same building at 6:30 p.m.) as Yatsu pinned Hara with a german suplex, Undertaker pinned Haku with the tombstome piledriver, Tenryu & Fuyuki beat Kitahara & Nakano & Oya in a 2-on-3, Dragon pinned Dandy, Ishikawa & Sano beat Nagasaki & Tsurumi, Takanos beat Sugawara & Niikura and Arakawa pinned Hatanaka.
Hercules canceled the tour since I guess he's finished with WWF.
Chris Walker and The Beverly Brothers are coming for the April tour along with The Natural Disasters and Ric Flair.
UNIVERSAL Results from the recent Trios tournament tour saw on 3/9 in Fukuoka before 2,300 saw Nino (Masa Michinoku aka Ninja Sasuke in Mexico) pinned Sakigake Gantetsu, El Texano & Silver King & Dr. Wagner Jr. beat Lightning Kid & Jerry Lynn & Ricky Rocket (Ricky Rice), Kuaro Maeda beat Suzuka Minami in a womens match, Los Brazos beat Death Missionaries (El Signo & Negro Navarro & Powerslam Johnny aka Black Power II) and main event saw El Hijo Del Santo & Punish & Crush beat Dos Caras & Kendo & Gran Hamada when Santo made Kendo submit in 17:10. Interesting in the semi-main to see the UWA world trios champions do a clean job for an rival EMLL trio.3/10 in Osaka drew 1,800 as Nino pinned Gantetsu, Missionaries beat Lynn & Kid & Rocket, Maeda pinned Minami, Hamada & Caras & Kendo beat Wagner & Silver King & Texano and Los Brazos beat Santo & Punish & Crush.
3/11 in Nagoya drew 1,750 as Nino pinned Gantetsu, Santo & Punish & Crush beat Missionaries via DQ, Minami pinned Maeda, Texano & King & Wagner beat Los Brazos and Hamada & Caras & Kendo beat Lynn & Kid & Rocket.
3/12 at Tokyo Korakuen Hall drew 1,750 as Nino pinned Gantetsu, Missionaries beat Lynn & Kid & Rocket, Debbie Malenko pinned Maeda, and the semifinals of the trios tournament saw Santo & Punish & Crush beat King & Texano & Wagner in 20:12 when Santo made Wagner submit and Hamada & Caras & Kendo beat Los Brazos in 15:38 when Hamada pinned Brazo de Plata.
3/13 at Tokyo Korakuen Hall drew 1,850 as Nino pinned Gantetsu, Texano & King & Wagner beat Lynn & Kid & Rocket, Maeda pinned Malenko, Missionaries pinned Los Brazos to retain the UWA trios title in a 2/3 fall match and tournament championship match saw Hamada & Caras & Kendo beat Punish & Crush & Santo in two straight falls.
Series finale on 3/14 again at Korakuen Hall drew a sellout 2,250 as Maeda pinned Tomoko Watanabe, Brazos beat Signo & Navarro & Kendo, Masa Michinoku (as himself) pinned Powerslam Johnny, Punish & Crush & Gantetsu beat Kid & Lynn & Rocket and Hamada & Caras & santo beat Texano & King & Wagner.
Next show will be a special one night tour on 4/19 at Korakuen Hall. Matches announced thus far as UWA Intercontinental tag team titles with Punish & Crush defending against Hamada & Transformer (who I believe is Kendo with a new mask), Canelo Casas & Shu El Guerrero vs. Robin Hood & Ciclon Ramirez plus also appearing will be Misterioso, Volador, Oro and Plata.
OTHER JAPAN NOTES JWP, after closing down for re-financing, starts back in business on 4/3 in Tokyo's Korakuen Hall headlined by Dynamite Kansai & Hikari Fukuoka vs. Cutie Suzuki & Mayumi Ozaki and they'll be back 4/11 in the same building with Kansai vs. Plum Mariko in the main event.All Japan women drew a sellout 2,300 for a show this past Friday at Noon (3/20) as Toshiyo Yamada & Manami Toyota unified the UWA and WWWA womens tag team titles beating Aja Kong & Bison Kimura in a 2/3 fall match. In other results, Bull Nakano pinned Kyoko Inoue, Debbie Malenko & Sake Hasegawa kept the Japanese tag team titles beating Mima Shimoda & Mariko Yoshida who returned from Mexico, Akira Hokuto pinned Takako Inoue and Yumiko Hotta & Suzuka Minami beat Bat Yoshinaga & Tomoko Watanabe.
Next WING tour is 4/5 to 4/9 with Kimala, Kevin Sullivan, Mongolian Mauler, Glen Osborne and Super Invader.
FMW opened on 3/20 in Fukui before 2,407 fans as Amigo Ultra & Atsushi Onita & Tarzan Goto beat Genghis Khan & Horace Boulder & Big Titan in a Mexican street fight plus Sambo Asako beat Ricky Fuji. 3/21 in Mito drew 2,516 as Onita & Shooter beat Titan & Boulder in a street fight and 3/22 in Ueda drew 3,920 as Onita & Asako beat Boulder & Titan in a street fight.
JAPAN TELEVISION RUNDOWN 2/22 SWS: 1. Ultimate Dragon & Kato Kung Lee & Masao Orihara beat Blue Panther & Emilio Charles Jr. & Takayuki Nakahara in 25:00 when Dragon pinned Nakahara with a german suplex. It was slow early since they went so long and there were style problems since neither Nakahara nor Orihara can do a lucha style. But there was some entertaining stuff toward the end. **1/2; 2. George & Shunji Takano DDQ Ishikawa & Fuyuki. *1/4; 3. The Natural Powers (Yatsu & Haku) beat Davey Boy Smith & Marty Janetty in 13:45 when Haku pinned Janetty with a powerslam off a cross bodyblock. No heat at all so the bout was disappointing even though Janetty worked almost the entire match. *1/4; 4. Tenryu & Hara beat Kitahara & Nakano in 16:27 when Tenryu made Kitahara submit to a half crab. Very stiff work with good pacing. At times this was close to being a brutal match. They went to near falls at the end. This match pretty well took the card out of the toilet. ***1/4; 5. Yatsu & Haku became the first SWS tag team champions beating Tenryu & Hara in 10:46 when Haku pinned Hara after a Yatsu lariat. Borderline brutal again with the hard slaps and stiff clotheslines but not much in the way of wrestling moves. They even got a good amount of heat at the end which is hard since SWS crowds of mainly freebie businessmen usually don't react well outside of the hardcore crowds that attend in Tokyo. ***1/4
2/29 NEW JAPAN: 1. Bam Bam Bigelow & Tony Halme beat Masa Saito & Shinya Hashimoto in 11:23 when Bigelow pinned Saito with a splash off the ropes. Halme was pretty bad but Bigelow carried it since he was in most of the way and worked good against both men. **1/4; 2. Choshu & Chono won a non-title match against then-IWGP tag team champions Muto & Hase. Mainly matwork early. Muto did a perfect Frankensteiner on Chono. It turned into a hot match with lots of heat. Hase was clearly the star of the match. Finish saw Chono make Hase submit to the STF while Choshu had Muto caught in the scorpion in 16:18. ***1/2; 3. Akitoshi Saito beat Koshinaka in 11:46 via knockout in a karate vs. wrestling match. This match had tremendous heat early since they work it to look like it's a shoot. But the match went too long since Saito is limited in what he can really do. Koshinaka juiced. The ref looked like he was going to stop the match but then signalled for it to continue which got great heat. The wrestlers and karate guys around the ring brawled after the match. **1/2
3/1 ALL JAPAN: 1. Kawada beat Fuchi via submission with a crossface. Not as good as you'd expect from these two but a solid match. **; 2. Kikuchi pinned Ogawa with an inside cradle. Finish was really exciting ***1/4; 3. Misawa made Taue submit with a facelock. Solid work but not spectacular. ***; 4. Tsuruta pinned Kobashi with a back suplex. This wasn't as good as their match last year which was a match of the year, but it turned into a super match with Kobashi getting one near fall after another on Tsuruta and Tsuruta always kicking out. ****
3/7 NEW JAPAN: 1. Kantaro Hoshino & Kotetsu Yamamoto went to a time limit draw with Hiroyoshi Yamamoto & Black Cat in 10:00. Kotetsu Yamamoto is a retired wrestler who was Hoshino's tag partner in the late 1960s as The Yamaha Brothers. Yamamoto physically looked in good sharpe for his age. Not bad considering *1/4; 2. Bigelow & Vader won the IWGP tag team titles beating Muto & Hase in 24:18. It started off really good with Hase taking lots of punishment. But it went too long. Bigelow in particular got really tired and he was carrying the action during the midpoint so the match dragged. It got very exciting at the finish when Vader kicked out of a moonsault and Muto kicked out of two big splashes. Vader finally pinned Muto with a choke into a slam similar to Sid Justice's move. ***1/4; 3. Choshu & Kimura beat Antonio Inoki & Osamu Kido in 28:00 when Choshu pinned Kido with a lariat. For a main event on such a big show, absolutely nothing happened. This was so bad that even the charismatic Inoki couldn't get any heat working with Choshu after the first few minutes. It was way too long and nothing happened. Inoki got a false sense of how much he had left by working that Tokyo Dome match with Hase, who is one of the two or three best workers in the world. Crowd didn't even react to the finish. DUD
3/8 ALL JAPAN: 1. Hansen pinned Misawa to keep the triple crown. Started pretty slow with Misawa taking punishment during the first half of the match. Hansen did a DDT on the floor. Misawa made a comeback by diving through the ropes with a forearm and then doing a DDT of his won on the floor. It got pretty good from here with Misawa getting a few near falls before Hansen hit the lariat for the pin. ***; 2. Tsuruta & Taue won the PWF world tag team titles beating Gordy & Williams. Match went 30 minutes and was really good. Good pacing and nobody got tired. They went to all the near falls and it ended with Tsuruta pinning Williams with a back suplex. Only flaws were that at times Taue appeared green and that during the pinfall, Williams clearly lifted his shoulder up at two and the crowd didn't buy it immediately as a pin. After the match, however, in the realization that the title changed hands, the crowd went nuts for Tsuruta. ***3/4
HERE AND THERE Shane Douglas beat Johnny Valiant in the main event in New Castle, PA on 3/14.Ben Masters ran a show on 3/13 in Cordele, GA before 440 fans as Dennis Gale & Steve Lawler beat Botswana Beast (Kimala II in Japan) & R.D. Swain, Mike Golden & Mr. Atlanta (Tony Zane) beat The Patriot (Del Wilkes) & Paul Golden (Paul Miller), Night Stalker beat Sugar Ray Lloyd and Billy Black beat Greg Montes. Masters has a show 4/10 in Ashburn, GA headlined by Mr. Atlanta vs. Bob Armstrong plus Bugsy McGraw works underneath.
Smoky Mountain Wrestling will crown both singles and tag team champions on its first major show sometime in May in Knoxville, TN.
Eddie Mansfield's IWF drew 170 fans on 3/20 in Winter Haven, FL headlined by Blackjack Mulligan beating The Stomper (a local guy) via DQ. Dick Slater also appeared on the show.
3/22 in Agadilla, PR saw Rex King beat El Exotico, Randy Rhodes beat Rockin Rebel, Invader #1 beat Texas Hangman Killer, Cyclone Salvadorino & El Bronco #1 beat Doug Masters & Heartbreaker Apollo (Frankie Lancaster), Sasha beat La Tigresa, Fidel Sierra beat La Lei and Dick Murdoch beat Carlitos Colon in a cage match.
3/21 in Yumacao, PR saw Colon beat Murdoch in a barbed wire match, Invader #1 beat Hangmen Killer via count out, Sierra beat La Lei, Sasha beat La Tigresa in a chain match, Bronco #1 & Cyclone Salvadorino beat Apollo & Masters, Rhodes beat Rebel and King beat Mr. X.
IAW on 3/28 in Kenosha, WI has a Bunkhouse Battle Royal plus Jake "The Milkman" Milliman appears.
Jerry Monti ran Pacific Coast Championship Wrestling on 3/22 in Reseda, CA before 175 fans was Mando Guerrero & Samoan Cannibal beat The Mercenary (Billy Anderson & Metal Maniac in the main event plus Don Muraco beat Earthquake Ferris, Cheryl Rusa beat Hollywood via DQ, Coconut Willie beat Nasty Boy in a midget match and Monti beat Luscious Luke.
Rick Drasin's American Wrestling Federation drew 150 on 3/19 in Bakersfield, CA with Steve Strong, Mando Guerrero, The Equalizer (Rick Drasin under a hood) and others. With the exception of Guerrero, the bouts were pretty bad.
ICWA drew 200 on 3/8 at the Tampa Sportatorium as Bobby Blaze beat Rich Thomas, Tommy Starr beat Cody Wade via DQ, Referee Frankie Reyes & Jim Cooper beat Sonny T & manager Fabulous Fritzi, Chris Proctor beat Surgeon General (I believe this was Proctor's first match back since being stabbed in an out of the ring incident a few months back), Terminators beat Coconut Man & Rob Van Dam, Jerry Flynn beat Jumbo Baretta via DQ and Vern Henderson beat Black Panther to become the CWF International champion. Hercules was there and did an interview during intermission.
A group called Global Wrestling Federation (not affiliated with the Dallas GWF although the promoters were the original GWF backers) ran 3/3 in Spartanburg, SC as Mad Dog Joe beat Ricky Blue, Barry Horowitz pinned Jeff Gaylord, Billy Black beat South Carolina Inmate, Bambi beat Peggy Lee Leather, Scott Anthony beat Hector Guerrero, Night Stalker pinned Tommy Angel and Patriot (Del Wilkes) pinned Stan Lane managed by Jim Cornette and the finale saw Blue & Black & Guerrero & Angel & Bambi beat Anthony & Night Stalker & Joe & Inmate & Leather.
ICWA on 3/12 in Tampa drew 200 as Horace Boulder drew Sandy Beach, Robert Fuller beat Tex Sallinger, Mark Starr beat Coconut Man, Dean Malenko beat Jimmy Backlund via submission to become the ICWA lightheavyweight champion and Kevin Sullivan beat Kendall Windham in a stretcher match. . .The WWC's rival in Puerto Rico, the AWF has been running using Invader #4, Galan Mendoza, TNT, Hercules Ayala, Jose Luis Rivera, Tom Brandi, Hurricane Castillo Jr. and Ray Gonzales as the headliners. Castillo beat Rivera on 3/14 in Bayamon to win the singles title while Ayala & Invader #4 beat Solid Gold to win the tag team title on the same night.
Motor City Wrestling on 3/14 in Napoleon, OH drew 150 headlined by The Wild Bunch (Machine Gun Kelly & Sensational Al Snow) going to a no contest with The Nightmares. The group taped television on 3/17 as Wild Bunch beat Nightmares to earn a tag title shot with Kansas Outlaws which took place 3/21. Mickey Doyle holds their North American title and he pinned Mad Max Anthony.
Virginia Wrestling Association on 3/7 in Louisa, VA before 300 saw Heidi Lee Morgan beat Bambi, Cream Team (Dave Casanova & Rip Sawyer) beat Midnight Express (Stan Lane & Jeff Collett) in a VWA tag title match and Agent Orange keep the VWA title beating Gary Masters via DQ.
Steve Gatorwolf's AWF drew 650 fans on 3/12 in Safford, AZ headlined by Gatorwolf winning a 13 man Battle Royal. Five of the guys in the Royal weren't workers but just local tough guys. Sheik Abdullah Hussain (Lou Fabbiano) beat Gatorwolf in the main event to win the AWF title, Louie Spicolli beat Samoan Cannibal, Hussein beat Rip Savage and Electric Youth beat Prime Time Peters.
Congrats to Observer reader Robert Whitley Jr. for birth of his first son Brandon.
Buck Robley ran a few shows last week including a television taping in Louisiana using such names as Steve Pritchard, Bob Orton, Joey Maggs, Butch Reed, Ron Powers, Paul Orndorff, Robert Gibson, Jim Cornette and Terry Funk. The shows drew pretty well with a show at the St. Bernard Civic Center near New Orleans drawing close to 1,000.
3/22 saw WIN in Lehighton, PA with Cheetah Kid, J.T. Smith, Cream Team, Brick Bronsky and others. They have a show on 4/11 in Missleton, PA headlined by Bam Bam Bigelow vs. Honkytonk Man and another show on 5/2 in Tamagua, PA (near Allentown) headlined by Bob Backlund. The 4/11 show will air locally on PPV.
IWCCW taped television on 3/14 in Hamburg, PA and among those put over were Joe Savoldi, Brooklyn Brawler Steve Lombardi, Greg Valentine (whose deal with WCW allows him to work indies on dates he's not booked), Ray Odyssey and Tony Atlas among others.
WWF First post-Wrestlemania television tapings are 4/7 in Toledo and 4/8 in Kalamazoo. It appears the key post-WM marriages will be Ric Flair vs. Randy Savage, Undertaker vs. Sid Justice, Bret Hart vs. Shawn Michaels, Natural Disasters vs. Nasty Boys, Money Inc. (Ted DiBiase & IRS) vs. Jim Duggan & Sgt. Slaughter.House show business had another major weekend including what may have been an all-time record gate for Memphis on 3/14 of nearly $90,000. The largest Memphis gate I've ever heard of was $80,000 about six years ago for a Ric Flair vs. Jerry Lawler match. Results saw Blake Beverly beat Jim Powers, Koko Ware pinned Doug Somers, Owen Hart pinned Beau Beverly, Natural Disasters beat Duggan & Slaughter via DQ, Tatanka pinned Kato, Michaels pinned Tito Santana and Hulk Hogan & Roddy Piper beat Flair & Justice when Hogan pinned Flair.
3/20 at the Spectrum in Philadelphia drew 11,500 and approximately $170,000 as Jim Brunzell pinned Skinner, Tatanka beat Col. Mustafa, Disasters beat Duggan & Slaughter via DQ, IRS drew Santana, Michaels pinned Virgil, Hogan & Piper beat Flair & Justice when Hogan pinned Flair in a hot main event. Hogan was booed when he came out although the crowd cheered him big time in the heat of battle when he made the hot tag after Piper set the heat up.
3/22 in London, ONT saw Michaels beat Virgil, Tatonka beat Mustafa, Santana double count out IRS, Brunzell pinned Brooklyn Brawler, Rick Martel pinned J.W. Storm, Disasters beat Slaughter & Duggan via DQ and Ric Flair beat Roddy Piper in a cage match due to outside interference from Michaels.
3/22 in Toronto drew a disappointing 6,500 as Michaels beat Virgil, Brunzell pinned Skinner, Santana drew IRS, Martel pinned Storm, Disasters beat Duggan & Slaughter via DQ, Tatonka pinned Mustafa and Hogan & Piper beat Flair & Justice.
3/22 in Denver drew 6,000 as Chris Walker pinned Kato, Warlord double count out Crush (Bryan Adams), Bushwhackers & Bret Hart beat Mountie & Nasty Boys in the best match on the show when Hart beat Mountie, Repo Man pinned Del Wilkes, British Bulldog pinned Ted DiBiase (in his first match back since being out a few weeks with a back injury), Owen Hart & Jim Powers beat Beverly Brothers and Randy Savage beat Jake Roberts in a dud cage match.
Don't have a crowd figure but heard the advance was huge and they were expecting 15,000+ to Madison Square Garden on 3/23 with the results Tatanka pinned Mustafa, Santana drew IRS, Martel beat Storm, Bushwhackers & Hart beat Disasters & Mountie, Warlord pinned Brunzell, Michaels beat Virgil and Hogan & Piper beat Flair & Justice.
WCW The new look television shows begin for WCW for the new WCW Saturday Night on 4/4 with a format similar to Prime Time Wrestling. The first show of that format was taped this past week and let's just say that there is room for improvement. There's a lot of controversy over switching from the wrestling format to a talk format for a show that has an 18-year tradition and built-in audience with a wrestling format. The major angles will be switched to World Wide Wrestling with the new format with Jesse Ventura starting on 4/11. In this way they are basically copying the WWF where the major angles are run in syndication and the cable shows are more a talk-oriented format with lots of repeating the key issues.The syndicated World Wide show will generally be taped on Friday nights because it fits in better with Ventura's schedule.
The WCW show will have 2/3 fall main events and lots of out of the ring features and generally one major interview of up to five minutes in length per show.
Big Van Vader will be getting the megapush since he's headlining against Sting for the month of April.
Scott Steiner missed several shows this past weekend with the flu.
J.T. Southern debuted on television that aired this weekend wasn't impressive to say the most. Part of the problem was the Saturday television crowd was dead after the taping in the same building the night before where they had a several hour show and maybe two live matches and the rest openings, closings and interviews. With Van Hammer out, they are switching Southern to a program with The Freebirds.
Expect Paul E. Dangerously to sign a new deal when his contract expires at the end of the month.
Brian Pillman is out of action for a few more weeks with a back injury. He worked in Topeka against Brad Armstrong for the title for the 4/4 TBS show while injured.
Scotty Flamingo's wrestling debut should be the PPV show.
Some talk of building to a gimmick Missy vs. Madusa feud, but no wrestling involved for obvious reasons like the physical well being of the former.
Don Glass is now working in public relations.
3/19 in Cleveland drew 800 as Bobby Eaton pinned Mike Graham using the trunks, Terrence Taylor pinned Marcus Bagwell with his feet on the ropes, Cactus Jack pinned Johnny B. Badd, Vinnie Vegas & Big Van Vader DDQ Ron Simmons & Big Josh with Simmons getting injured early, Bagwell running in to team with Josh, and then Simmons running in with his head bandaged to throw the match out, Josh & Rick Steiner & Steamboat & Rhodes beat Arn Anderson & Larry Zbyszko & Steve Austin & Bobby Eaton & Paul E. Dangerously in an 8 1/2 man tag team match when Steamboat pinned Zbyszko and Sting pinned Rude with a roll-up in 19:50 to keep the WCW title.
Great Muta will be in from 5/4 to 5/13 mainly working as a face on top teaming with Sting against Vader & Rude. Lots of cage matches upcoming including shows with two cage matches. Steiners vs. Anderson & Eaton for the straps in several of the cage matches.
Not confirmed yet, but word is that Tom Zenk's steroid possession charge was settled last week with a guilty plea which resulted in probation and a fine.
Speaking of that issue, it's about time for phase two of voluntary compliance because according to all sources, if there has been a decrease in use in this company, nobody has noticed it yet. It has come to the point where those who are wanting to voluntarily comply start un-complying to keep up with the other un-compliers.
3/21 in Kansas City drew 4,800 as Taylor pinned Bagwell, Zenk pinned Badd, Vader pinned Brad Armstrong (real good), Simmons & Josh beat Vegas & Diamond Dallas Page, Cactus Jack pinned JYD, Rick Steiner & Josh & Steamboat & Rhodes beat Paul E. & Anderson & Eaton & Zbyszko & Austin in a great match and Sting pinned Rude in a great match. Most noteworthy event of the night was before the tag match with the crowd chanting "Paul E. sucks," Steamboat grabbed the house mic and said that the fans here seem to think you're about to jump to the WWF which got a huge laugh and apparently most of the crowd understood. Paul E. made a comeback talking about learning from a member of his family and the bout was filled with heat from that point on.
3/22 in St. Joseph, MO drew 1,950 as Badd pinned Bagwell, Taylor pinned Graham, Vader pinned Armstrong, Simmons & JYD beat Page & Vegas, Jack pinned Zenk, Rhodes pinned Zbyszko (Madusa took a bad bump on the floor and was limping afterwards), Sting & Steamboat & Rick Steiner & Simmons beat Paul. E. & Anderson & Eaton & Rude & Austin when Steamboat pinned Eaton.
3/14 in Charleston, SC saw Taylor beat P.N. News, Badd pinned Richard Morton, Josh & Simmons beat Vegas & Hughes, Steiners beat Austin & Eaton, Abdullah DDQ Cactus and Sting pinned Rude.
THE READERS PAGES Jeffrey Jones of 7948 Tower Bridge Dr., Pasadena, MD 21122 is looking for someone who can supply him with tapes of New Japan, SWS, FMW and raw footage of U.S. shows.
Western Ohio Wrestling of P.O. Box 750803, Dayton, OH 45475 is looking for show sponsors and investors.
Ric Tavares of 169 Shawmut Ave., New Bedford, MA 02740 is 1971 and 1972 issues of the original Wrestling Revue Magazine for sale and also 1960s and 1970s San Francisco Cow Palace programs including the Ray Stevens vs. Bruno Sammartino match.
Frank Shanley of P.O. Box 40616, Upper Hutt, New Zealand puts out the monthly International Wrestling News with news from around the globe for $5 per issue. It's one of the better newsletters around.
Steven Salati of 44 Grounds Rd., Albany, NY 12205 is looking for tapes of the Clash of the Champions and tapes of WCW and WWF cards in Japan.
Terrie Falkan of P.O. Box 26, Mantua, NJ 08051 is looking for tapes of AWA Wrestle Rock, SuperClashes and Twin Wars cards.
Rob Feinstein of 865 Green Ridge Circle, Langhorne, PA 19053 is selling a tape of Joel Goodhart's Autumn Armageddon show for $20 with Terry Funk vs. Kevin Sullivan, The Sheik vs. Abdullah the Butcher in a cage, Cactus Jack & Luna Vachon vs. Eddie Gilbert & Madusa Miceli and Owen Hart vs. Takayuki Iizuka.
Dave Prazak of 2278 Hidden Creek Ct., Lisle, IL 60532 would like to find out about any wrestling radio shows that can be picked up in Palm Springs, CA.
Bill Anderson of 4712 Silver Gate Dr., Grand Forks, ND 58203 is interested in trading wrestling videotapes.
Tim Sorkin of P.O. Box 5166, Evanston, IL 60204 has hundreds of videos for trade and will send a list with a SASE.
Steve Fischer of 3701 Estate Dr., Oxford, MI 48371 is interested in hearing from fans who attend weekly television tapings in Memphis and Atlanta.
Ronnie Crowder of 416 N. High St., Franklin, IN 42134 is looking for a copy of the Nugget magazine with Chris Adams and Jeannie Clark and is looking for copies of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter that cover the death of Gino Hernandez.
Brian Tramel of P.O. Box 3494, State University, AR 72467 is looking for a tape of SuperBrawl II and the LPWA PPV shows and can trade anything in his collection in return. Also, anyone wanting refunds on their subscription to the now-defunct Rasslin Riot newsletter should send him a SASE by 6/1.
Anthony Watson of 932 Longfellow, Detroit, MI 48202 is looking to buy tapes of any War Games from #3 on and Mid South-UWF tapes with Jake Roberts and Memphis tapes with the Road Warriors.
PHIL DONAHUE SHOW
As a long-time wrestling fan, I find the current controversies surrounding the WWF shocking. The depth of Vince McMahon's knowledge of Pat Patterson and Terry Garvin's actions is yet unproven. But on the Phil Donahue show he appeared nervous and was completely unconvincing. I can't help but think none of that would have happened if Hulk Hogan's ego hadn't prevented him from telling the truth on the Arsenio Hall show. While accusations of drug abuse and sex abuse would bring about a huge public outcry against almost any other major business organization, because this is pro wrestling, I wonder if anyone will care. Does the rest of the country feel like the audience member on Phil Donahue whom after hearing for one hour the level of corruption in the business said, "Isn't wrestling fake anyway?"
Ron Dittrich
Medford, Wisconsin
Your performance on Phil Donahue was excellent. You were fair, impartial and underplayed. I'd sum the show up with one line. Vince McMahon did a great job in lying about everything. My credibility scale: Meltzer 100 percent; McMahon 0 percent; Superstar 51 percent; Bruno 60 percent; Barry O 95 percent; Murray Hodgson 60 percent. The Bruiser Brody reference was a good indication how pro wrestlers just don't snitch. My favorite line was when you told Vince that steroids were illegal in Florida where Hogan was living all that time when Vince said they were legal.
Jim Thompson
Detroit News
I was very impressed with you on Phil Donahue for not taking sides. I only with the show could have gone on for another hour. I've never been a fan of Vince McMahon's, but after watching this show I have to side with him. All the incidents happened so long ago and when asked why these child abuse allegations weren't reported to the authorities by accusers who witnessed them, the response seemed to be that the guys needed a job. Since Billy Graham and Bruno Sammartino have been out of the wrestling business for quite some time, what took them so long to come forward? Also, maybe there was an ample supply of drugs going around the WWF dressing rooms, but each of these men has a mind of their own and if they chose to use the drugs, why do they blame Vince McMahon?
Amy Sczomak
Plymouth, Michigan
I was shocked to see Vince McMahon on the panel on the Phil Donahue show. I thought that all the wrestlers came off as very credible but that the audience thought it was watching a freak show and didn't care about the truth.
Jerry Blundo
Paramus, New Jersey
I have to admit that Vince McMahon came out looking like a liar on the Donahue show. All of his answers were "untrue" or "I don't recall." But on the other hand, why did Barry Orton wait 14 years to bring this subject up.
Name withheld by request
After seeing you on Phil Donahue, I can no longer be critical of any of your positions. Of all the people on the panel, you were the most credible and you showed a great deal of fairness toward Mr. McMahon, some of which he didn't deserve. Many of my friends who aren't wrestling fans saw the show. Some of them thought the whole thing was funny but many others were shocked by what they heard. I also saw Larry King Live. I was amazed at just how little background information both Larry King and Phil Donahue had on the subject. I got the feeling that both of them wanted the public to take the issue seriously but they themselves refused to do so in their lack of preparation. I have mixed emotions on the whole subject. I'm debating whether or not to boycott the WWF over this or to just blame the three men, Pat Patterson, Terry Garvin and Mel Phillips and now that they are out, take a life goes on attitude. I was outraged by McMahon's denials, but I'm equally disturbed by the jealousy and bitterness of Bruno Sammartino and Barry Orton. It's quite obvious from the evidence already gathered that the WWF is hardly spotless. But one must take into account the character of the accusers. Bruno Sammartino talked about an incident with Mel Phillips in Allentown but he didn't actually see it. Billy Graham said he saw Pat Patterson grab a boy's crotch but never told anyone about it. Why? Murray Hodgson said he was fired because he refused to sleep with Pat Patterson, but is it possible he really wasn't a very good announcer like McMahon said? The claims by Billy Jack Haynes in the last Observer were very disturbing, but is there a chance that McMahon didn't know the situation and wasn't to blame? I'm not trying to defend McMahon but I am giving him the benefit of the doubt. At this point it would be a lot better if McMahon stopped evading the issue and started telling the truth. Rumors and accusations can be a lot more damaging than the truth and McMahon is a sitting duck for accusers by not telling the truth. After watching this unfold, my sick feeling is that Vince McMahon still thinks life is one big work and that paying hush money whenever there is a problem will make all his problems go away. It's obvious by what has been exposed so far and what is surely yet to come that the truth is his biggest enemy yet.
Mitchell Ganden
Hamden, Connecticut
I'd like to commend you on what a good job you did on the Donahue show. You didn't take sides and answered all the questions fairly. My only wish, which is the same as many other fans, is that McMahon can publicly admit all the mistakes that were made and this whole ordeal can be put behind us.
Adam Hopkins
Levittown, New York
I saw the Donahue show and it didn't accomplish much because the show was disjoined. They should have done two programs, one dealing with the sexual abuse and another focusing on drug use. Based on the Donahue show and John Arezzi's radio show the previous night, I've lost a lot of sympathy for Billy Graham. He was a big-time steroid abuser even before Vince McMahon took over the WWF. I feel the same way about Bruno Sammartino. Barry Orton's charges aren't even that serious. There may be something to Tom Hankins claim. This letter isn't meant to say McMahon is either innocent or honest because his verbal confrontation with Murray Hodgson proved he wasn't as Vince avoided every question. You and John Arezzi appeared to be the only objective members of the panel. I just wish you had more time and spoke up more about the steroid problem.
Ian Goodwin
Brooklyn, New York
I just finished watching the Donahue show and wanted to say that everyone on the panel, including yourself, did a great job of informing the average viewer at home of all the allegations brought against the WWF. Everyone on the show sounded to me like they were telling the truth, even Vince McMahon. He had many strange facial expressions, but his statements had an honest tone about them. The only thing that disappointed me was Phil Donahue didn't give people enough time to go in-depth about certain allegations, particularly Superstar Billy Graham and Bruno Sammartino. I guess television time restricted it. I would have liked to see the panel with fewer people.
Robert Sears
Rio Rancho, New Mexico
You should have stuck it to Vince McMahon a little more on the Donahue show. It was so incredible how much the man lied. But that's his problem. Billy Graham, Bruno Sammartino, Billy Jack Haynes, Barry O, and John Arezzi are the real heroes of the wrestling business for having the guts to stand up to him.
Mike Leotis
Staten Island, New York
LARRY KING
I think both Vince McMahon and Bruno Sammartino have been deeply hurt by each other and bitterly hate each other. Both had some good points on the show but both men have skeletons in their closet. Vince McMahon made good points when he said that Bruno never forgave him for firing his son David and that he must feel guilty because his own son used steroids. He also made a good point when he said to Barry Orton, who was a complete waste of air time, "Are you writing a book?" But he lost points by saying Mel Phillips had never been an employee of the WWF. He also came off petty when he tried to belittle Sammartino personally. Bruno made strong points when he said Phillips is the regular ring announcer on the television show that pointing out the lie on the Arsenio Hall show. But he came off as a powder keg with so much frustration and hatred and he didn't know which way to go in a limited time period. As for Mark Madden's article in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, unless you were a wrestling fan, you'd say, "So what." Madden jumped around one controversy after another like a ping pong ball. No claims of Hogan using illegal drugs can be substantiated and he's never been convicted of using illegal drugs. As for the sex scandal, I have no doubt in the world that it is true. Did Murray Hodgson inform Vince McMahon what happened with Pat Patterson? When Hodgson was in Vince's office and Vince was firing him, did he say it was because he wouldn't go to bed with Pat Patterson or because he was terrible at his job? In the article, McMahon said, "We have very stringent, strict regulations (concerning) our employees. If sexual harassment occurs, we want the individual to come forward, so we can do something about it." So why didn't Hodgson tell Vince and let Vince do what is right for his company? I believe the whole situation was summed up best by a fan who attended the 2/28 WWF event with two young daughters. He said it doesn't bother him if Hogan is a steroid user. "The kids don't know it and they won't. They know him as Hulk Hogan, not who he is in real life. As long as the two are kept separate, it doesn't bother me at all." I happen to know that after the matches Hogan met a few handicapped children in the dressing room. I'm sure they were thrilled to meet Hulk Hogan and take pictures and get autographs. I don't think they care what Terry Bollea did after the matches. Just remember, every year Santa Claus makes a lot of money merchandising but you don't tell your kids Santa Claus isn't real. So Madden shouldn't tell anyone about Hulk Hogan, either.
Walter Kurelis
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
DM: A few points need to be made clear. I don't know how much more substantiation you need as far as Hogan's drug use at this point. Since Madden never wrote that Hogan should be put in jail and he's never even privately suggested that, the fact he hasn't been convicted by a jury of a crime is irrelevant. He was only seeking the truth and the available testimony is significant of everything Madden wrote in his article and there have been many things Madden didn't write about. In eight months, nobody has come forward and said Hogan didn't use steroids and many have come forward with specific instances and many others haven't wanted to come forward but have freely talked with me and others about other specific instances. You've got the drug dealer saying it in court, records of packages and several men who claim to have shot him up. I'm not sure what else you need. Hodgson claimed on television that he, or his attorney, I'm not quite clear, informed Vince McMahon in a meeting nine days after he was fired by John Fillipelli about his claim regarding Patterson. Lord Littlebrook said he wrote McMahon a letter a few years ago, and Tom Hankins tried to contact him. As for Hogan, he asked to come on so he could talk specifically about steroids, and then he said what he said. It was Hogan as Hogan who continued to tell the same story. It was Hogan as Hogan, not Bollea, who denied it as recently as a few weeks ago. Yes, he's done a ton of charity work. Yes, he deserves all the credit due him for that. But that isn't the issue here. Yes, he's exploited soldiers about to go to war to get a wrestling angle over. That also isn't the issue here. I don't know if he's a bad guy personally or not, but his response to this issue was a work.
I just watched Vince McMahon and Bruno Sammartino on Larry King Live and I'm torn in half. On one hand, I'm a big WWF wrestling fan. On the other, after hearing Vince make some of the statements he did, such as "None of my wrestlers are currently on steroids" (to which I laughed out loud as did Sammartino), I'm loathe to support the WWF or even watch their television programs. To make things worse, I'm stationed in the United Kingdom where the choices are the WWF, and all the PPV cards air here for free on cable, and one hour weekly of outdated WCW action. Additionally, I am, or was in some instances, a big fan of WWF wrestlers like Ric Flair, Curt Hennig, Bret and Owen Hart and others. I'm not a fan of having my intelligence constantly insulted, however. Needless to say, I'm not attending any of the UK Rampage Events but what can a wrestling fan do? The choice is to give up pro wrestling, since there's really only one choice, or continue to support Vince McMahon which means supporting his ways and ideals. No doubt I'll watch Wrestlemania. But I need to let off some steam. Writing this letter to Titan Sports would be as useful as sprinting into a brick wall. Thanks for providing a forum.
Christopher Settipani
England
I would really appreciate your comments regarding the lack of ethics in today's world from Vince McMahon to Clarence Thomas to Orrin Hatch to Alan Simpson to the democrats on the committee who did little more than sit on their hands.
Geoff Browner
Los Angeles, California
DM: Wrestling is a magnifying glass look at society itself. In a conflict situation, like the Clarence Thomas hearings, it seems that to those involved in the conflict, it wasn't so much as important to find out the truth as it was to use whatever ammunition to help your side win because of your specific political agenda.
HOGAN
I am a manager at a K-Mart here in North Carolina and we just finished packing up and shipping back the last of the Pee Wee Herman merchandise which was recalled due to his "incident." About ten days ago, I received notice to pull all Hulk Hogan merchandise from the sale floor on the soft line side and that there was a pending directive coming regarding the hard line side (toys, key chains). The largest item recalled with kids underwear and pajamas. Right now, with drug and sex abuse stories about the WWF, it wouldn't be wise to sell little boys underwear with his likeness in our stores.
Name withheld by request
I feel really sorry for Hulk Hogan. Terry Bollea is getting a bad rap. He's gone out of his way, with no cameras present to bring happiness to dying children and countless other deeds of charity. The Love Ride that takes place here in Southern California is just one of the many non-WWF charities he takes part in. You can't blame Hogan for any of this. You have to blame Vincent K. McMahon Jr. Terry Bollea was and is a great role model. When he falls, it'll be a truly sad day. He is only human and all humans make mistakes. But when Terry Bollea played Hulk Hogan, he never let the crowd down even though he wasn't the best worker. It was his private life, when he was out of character, that caused all his problems and I believe his personal life is nobody's business but his.
Robert Whitley
Lomita, California
DM: It wasn't his private life or when he was out of character that he made his mistake. It isn't the drugs. It's the dishonesty and outright hypocrisy given what his character portrays and he was in character and being Hulk Hogan and in front of millions of paper and not his private life that caused all this. Sorry, but if I had kids, a guy who gained fame from using steroids (which I don't blame him for personally because that's more a problem with the society than any individual but he should at least be man enough to admit it), used influence to avoid being part of a trial of his supplier, lied about it after it came out in sworn testimony during the trial, and then hid from the problem when person after person came forward is no role model I'd want them to have. Maybe I'm missing the boat. He's had eight months to rectify his mistake and wouldn't do it, even though dozens of newspapers and several television stations gave him the public forum to do so.
SEXUAL HARASSMENT
Other than those who work for the WWF, none of us really know for sure what's been going on in the locker rooms. However, I've heard enough very convincing evidence that could prove to be damaging to an organization that prides itself on calling itself "family entertainment." The fact that it has taken so long for these allegations to surface is not nearly as unusual as Mr. McMahon would have us believe. No doubt Barry Orton and others were terrified to come forward. While certainly the fear of losing their jobs was a factor in this, I think there's a lot more to it than that. If you study sexual harassment in general, you'll find that the victims are mortified following their experiences. No doubt they are embarrassed and afraid that no one will believe them. Often they just want to put the incident in the past and forget that it ever happened. And considering that at the time of the alleged incidents, some of these guys were teenagers, it would have been terribly unusual if they did have the courage to come forward. I don't know what role Vince McMahon plays in all of this. I find it very hard to believe he didn't know what was going on. At the very least, he had to have heard the rumors. I remember very vividly a few years ago during matches when Bobby Heenan and Gorilla Monsoon would often refer to certain wrestlers as graduates of the Pat Patterson and Terry Garvin school of self-defense and say that Pat and Terry are behind them 100 percent of the time or that their favorite move was the go-behind. These words are very incriminating used in that context. By using these particular phrases, Monsoon and Heenan indicated that they themselves knew that these guys have had to do certain things in order to protect themselves. If this was common enough knowledge that the announcers used it as an inside joke on television, it seems odd that the man in charge of the broadcast wasn't even in on the big "joke." In the end, the joke should be on Vince.
Michelle Johnson
Watertown, New York
Contrary to what Vince McMahon and most of the modern day business world think, there is absolutely no way to determine how much sexual harassment is adversely affecting your workplace. It is one of the most unreported "business abuses" that effect businesses is literally every industry. The reasons are twofold. Experiencing sexual harassment, or more appropriately perceiving the experience is such an embarrassing occurrence that is almost inevitably goes unreported. That doesn't necessarily imply that there is always fear of termination by reporting such an incident. It basically means that any incident pertaining to sex is generally considered a personal matter and that's pretty much where the issue ends in the minds of most people. If there's no official company policy, then employees will never know if what they are experiencing is officially sexual harassment. Unless the company distributes to all employees a policy on sexual harassment, which must include in specific what the company considers sexual harassment as well as what the company specifically will do to a proven offender, and consistently enforces this policy at every turn, only then will the company make a dent in this problem. I think I'll go ahead and submit by Match of the Year ballot nine months early for the Doug Furnas & Dan Kroffat vs. Toshiaki Kawada & Tsuyoshi Kikuchi match that aired on 2/23. There's no way any match will top this one in 1992, and that includes Jushin Liger vs. Brian Pillman. I've never seen such a perfect blend of flying, power moves, violence, ring psychology and matwork in one match. There's one part where Kroffat is chicken winging Kikuchi with such zeal that it just might beat out Paul E's phoning Jason Hervey as the most short-like moment ever broadcast on a wrestling television show. I've begin to notice more and more criticism of Global regarding its current dearth of talent. It wasn't that long ago when Eddie Gilbert was pulling the creative strings in the old Continental Wrestling Federation and doing all kids of wonderful things with a talent base that included Pez Whatley as a main eventer and something called Burrhead Jones. Readers were falling over themselves waving Eddie's flag and raving about every second of every television show. Well, in 1992, the talent base is even slimmer and the talent that GWF does have could at any moment bolt to another group. Yet Gilbert and Joe Pedicino still manage to pull rabbits out of hats at every turn will all kinds of unlikely people. The end result is a consistently entertaining wrestling show. There may be no Tsuruta vs. Misawa matches, although Kid vs. Lynn and Cactus vs. Gordy were memorable, but there is always something interesting going on. That's something not even All Japan can pull off. Of course, I'm horribly biased since I do the point-counterpoint segment on the show every week with Scott Hudson, but I'm not biased enough that I can't think logically and realize that it's a pretty damn good show. Last, I'd like to say that I enjoyed working with the former Craig Johnson considerably over the past year and I hope he doesn't keep himself away from the broadcast world for any extended period of time. I think he's one of the best around and I imagine it won't be too much longer before lots of others agree with me.
Steve Prazak
Atlanta, Georgia
WWF In your 2/24 issue, you stated that I looked terrible in a television taping match. If you take into consideration that the WWF only gave me two minutes notice before sending me out there, I don't think it was that bad. I wonder how good your newsletter would be if you only had two minutes to prepare before it went to press.
Lee Armstrong
Jacksonville, Florida
A few years ago, Titan Sports promoted a boxing card. How did they make out? Why haven't they done anymore?
Ray D'Ariano
White Plains, New York
DM: Titan purchased the pay-per-view rights to the Sugar Ray Leonard vs. Donny Lalonde boxing match a few years back. Most sources seem to think they lost tons of money on the deal, because they had to pay a reported $9 million PPV rights fee in order to outbid the established boxing promoters for the rights. Titan hasn't been involved with boxing since then, because compared with wrestling, boxing is a really sleazy business.
Of course one of the big items was Jesse Ventura returning to announcing with WCW. However, has anyone noticed that Bobby Heenan has elevated his performance since Ric flair came to the WWF? His work with Mr. Perfect on Prime Time Wrestling has been perfect. The new format suits them great. They even had my wife laughing last week which is no small feat.
David Frey
Marion, New York
Forget the economy. House shows and PPV buy rate are down because these walking chemistry projects can't wrestle. They do a great job getting the marks in the first time, but for sustained good attendance you need to present a quality live product and it simply isn't there. I've taken my son to WWF matches and they simply aren't worth the money and most people realize it.
Pete Sekilarac
Round Lake Beach, Illinois
If the main event at Wrestlemania was already decided then Vince McMahon using a 900 number for fans to vote their choice is nothing short of fraud. It is this type of new technology con game oriented toward children that will inevitably cause Vince's house of cards to collapse completely.
Paul Lindstrom
Tarrytown, New York
DM: I think everyone should realize that many businesses, and Titan Sports in particular is to make as much money as possible. Quite frankly, that's the primary goal of most businesses.
I guess I support the WWF, but I haven't spent a dime on PPV of WWF wrestling since Desert Storm. Vince McMahon made a mockery of the American people during that time period. I know it's just a show and all that, but he is the most tasteless man in the business today. I watch all pro wrestling I can, both good and bad, but if I ever decided to cut back on watching, it would be the WWF. I'm crazy about the duo of Bobby Heenan and Gorilla Monsoon.
Arthur Westbrook
Houston, Texas
I must disagree with your comments about Davey Boy Smith. Anyone who saw his matches at the UK Rampage will certainly agree that his ring entrance was the highlight of the entire show. In his match against The Barbarian at the Royal Albert Hall, he worked up a considerable sweat and even had a nose bleed. I had the impression that he really wanted to put on good matches for the British crowd. He has never disappointed me in the years I've been following him and I believe he does nothing to damage his image when he has a lazy match now and then. Some wrestlers spend their whole careers having bad matches. When was the last time Kerry Von Erich had a good match? When was the last time Jim Duggan broke a sweat? I also have a few questions. Is Davey Boy Smith a steroid user? In your Japan report you mentioned Johnny Smith. Is there any relation between he and Davey Boy Smith? How many of the top WWF wrestlers are not on steroids and who are they?
Alistair Potdevin
Osnabruek, West Germany
DM: Johnny Smith was brought to Calgary in the role of Davey Boy Smith's brother, but in reality they aren't related. I'd guess there are many WWF wrestlers who haven't taken steroids in the past few weeks, but if you mean have never used steroids during their career, I'd guess that percentage to be exceedingly low. As far as Davey Boy Smith goes, you are talking about a guy who is naturally about 185 pounds and now he's something like 270 pounds of dense muscle and neither Wheaties nor protein supplements do that.
RACISM
How come white promoters make all the black characters look stupid like Virgil having to kiss Ted DiBiase's toes. All the blacks in wrestling are tokens just like Clarence Thomas. None of your white faithful readers listed Doom for tag team of the year. How come no blacks are pushed the same was as Marcus Bagwell, as muscular nice-looking youngsters. WCW has always built up young white boys as if they were Gods and the white promoters keep pushing old and new stereotypes and haunt the minority's that watch. The only good-looking wrestlers according to the white promoters are white boys. The minorities are always portrayed as fifth-class people in the looks and brain departments. If you are open-minded you can understand these are the stereotypes that whites have placed minorities in for years. Mexican and Japanese wrestlers are much better technical wrestlers than American wrestlers but they can't get a fair shake with the white promoters either who keep pushing the blond hair, blue eyed wrestlers. How many times have you seen white promoters pick out a tall, dark-haired, muscular, good-looking black man and give him the kind of push they are giving Marcus Bagwell? There is no place for stupid stereotyping in the 90s. I feel you are scared or not aware of this subject.
Jason Jones
Chicago, Illinois
MORE ROIDS
I have no clue if Sid Justice or Lex Luger have ever taken any physique enhancing drugs or got their push solely because they used physique enhancing drugs. With the reliability of steroid testing somewhat in question, a different approach accepted by millions might be used. I suggest using the definitive litmus test. Have them go on Arsenio Hall with photos of their Little League baseball teams showing comparative heights and shoulder width.
Harry White
St. Louis, Missouri
AMERICAN GLADIATORS
Unfortunately, curiosity got the better of me so I went to see the American Gladiators and it was beneath pathetic. They try to present their program as legitimate sport. Live, well, imagine figuring you are going to see Brad Rheingans and instead seeing something beneath the intelligence level of TNT. The show was advertised for a 2:30 p.m. start but it started 30 minutes late. Here in Salt Lake City, Gladiators in the lead-in for WWF Superstars of Wrestling on the FOX affiliate. That's how I got started watching it. Obviously the local FOX station doesn't care about the impression they give to children because Gladiators and Superstars are basically a two-hour commercial for steroids. During one halt in the action, Gemini and Zap of the Gladiators warned kids in the crowd to avoid drugs and "Just say No." I guess steroids aren't drugs in their minds. Anyway, I found it hysterical. It was like watching Mike Tyson doing a speech for abused women. American Gladiators attracts even more of a kiddie crowd than Titan. The souvenir stands were kind of funny. $10 programs and there wasn't anything under the sun not being sold, except I didn't see any Gladiators steroids. The local challengers were picked specifically to be small as next to the steroided up Gladiators, they all looked like Steve Williams against Sky Low Low. Finally, false advertising isn't exclusive to pro wrestling. Part of the reason I decided to go was to see Ice. Well, guess who pulled a no-show?
Jack Thompson
Salt Lake City, Utah

April 6, 1992 Observer Newsletter: Final Mania build, UFC myth years earlier, new WCW pres, more media

Wrestling Observer Newsletter PO Box 1228, Campbell, CA 95009-1228 April 6, 1992 Wrestlemania is just days away. The biggest drawing card in the recent history of American pro wrestling may (but probably won't) make his final U.S. appearance on Sunday. But all the main news is in a different direction.
There were a lot of shake-ups Monday in the hierarchy of World Championship Wrestling. Bill Shaw, the head of personnel at Turner Broadcasting and a member of the Turner board has replaced Jack Petrik as President of the WCW and top overseer. Officially Petrik is said to be no longer in charge of the wrestling company because he'll be working full-time on a 24-hour cartoon cable channel that Turner is in the process of putting together. Shaw then appointed Bob Dew, who runs the Omni Arena and to be the executive overseer of the company, which would be the person Kip Frey reports to.
Expect more media stories on the variety of different scandals involving the WWF over the next few weeks. As of press time, it appeared that Geraldo Rivera's Now It Can Be Told show would be airing this coming Friday. Since that date has changed several times one can never be sure. There have been many maneuverings over the past week in regard to this story. The main one is that Tom Cole's attorney, Alan Fuchsburg, gained a restraining order against the show to air the interview they did with Cole prior to Cole returning to work full-time with the WWF. Apparently Cole and the show signed a contract that the interview would air after the filing of the lawsuit since Cole apparently promised the show that his filing would be days away and the show was scheduled to be several weeks away at the time of the contract signing. The CBS Evening News with Dan Rather had a four-and-a-half minute segment planned for Friday as well. The 20/20 piece, which at first was thought to have had potential devastating implications and now, after everything else has broken, surely will seem exceedingly mild, is scheduled to run sometime in April and we should have a date in next week's issue. Several other media sources have done preliminary work on the story ranging from the most unrespected to the most respected television news shows but those stories could be anywhere from weeks to months away if they are even followed up on. The Montel Williams show, which was considering a panel discussion type show similar to Donahue, decided against doing the show because they felt Donahue had already covered the subject.
The major breaking developments over the past week were three different column mentions by Phil Mushnick in the New York Post, on Wednesday, Friday and Monday respectively. In what appeared to have been a reaction ito the negative publicity in the Post, there was a full-page ad in the rival Sunday New York Daily News with the photo of a wrestler surrounded by handicapped children (I believe the wrestler was Jim Duggan) with a large headline saying, "THANKS WWF FOR 7 YEARS OF LOVE AND KINDNESS" attributed to Dominick Della Rocca K.M., Community Mayors of New York. The photo cutline stated, "Each year in New York, the World Wrestling Federation hosts a special benefit in conjunction with the Community Mayors of New York. Over 126,000 handicapped children have been entertained by top WWF Superstars at these events." This, in the business world, is known as calling in your markers. Again, rather than honestly face the issues, it's a form of gamesmanship. It also puts into new light a lot of the charitable work done by the WWF over the years. All this charitable work over the years, supposedly done without publicity purposes in mind, is now being used specifically to attempt to rebuild the company's sagging public image.
In addition, the company sponsored a symposium in New York on Tuesday on anabolic steroids with Dr. Mauro DiPasquale, the Canadian physician mentioned here the past several weeks. All the major media was invited (and contrary to what has been reported elsewhere, at least three members of the wrestling media, myself being one of them, were invited although the vast majority were neither invited nor alerted. I didn't attend, but did have two lengthy interviews with DiPasquale the next day). Thus far, the only mention, besides Mushnick's column, was a short in Wednesday's USA Today, which immediately came under heavy criticism for running the short when it had ignored all scandalous stories regarding the WWF up to this point. In addition, the short directly contradicted another story regarding doping drugs in the same sports section on the same day of the same newspaper.
The short item read: The World Wrestling Federation will try to put a body slam on steroid use by its wrestlers with what it billed Tuesday as a state-of-the-art drug program. "We will be the standard-bearer to all of sports, pro and amateur, to follow in terms of their type of procedures," WWF President Vince McMahon said of the nearly $1 million program scheduled to begin May 1. McMahon said tests last November showed nearly 50 percent of wrestlers used anabolic steroids. He says the number is down to 15 percent in testing done this month. The program's new director, Dr. Mauro DiPasquale, promised to erase all future use with his testing procedures. "The level of sophistication to beat this drug test is not there; I can't even beat the test," said DiPasquale, author of numerous books on drug use by athletes. "The WWF will be clean in May, beyond IOC (International Olympic Committee) standards." Wrestlers will face a six-week suspension without pay for a first offense, followed by three-month suspension. A third positive test would result in dismissal.
However, in the same sports section in a story entitled, "Experts: IOC not ready for blood testing" it referred to certain drugs such as EPO (a hormone used to increase red blood cells), HGH (Human Growth Hormone) and HCG (a drug, which isn't a steroid, derived from pregnant women's urine to stimulate the body's production of testosterone while on steroids) as having no tests in existence to detect those substances.
On Wednesday, Mushnick, who didn't attend, wrote: The twisted men of the World Wrestling Federation know no limits. With many of its stars (as well as owner, Vince McMahon) named in a federal trial last year as recipients of steroids, and with ex-WWFers coming out of the woodwork to tell of steroid abuse encouraged and rewarded by the WWF, and with the introduction of McMahon's made-for-TV World Bodybuilding Federation, McMahon, yesterday, conducted a steroid symposium for naive, unsuspecting and credibility-free members of the media. The press release/invite to the symposium contained all the spin-doctored baloney that those familiar with the WWF's practiced evils have come to expect. "The main presenter," read the release, "will be Dr. Mauro DiPasquale, one of the world's foremost experts on steroids. Last week's Village Voice identified the Canadian doctor as celebrated by steroid abusers throughout North America as an expert in beating drug tests. DiPasquale's periodicals read like tip sheets for steroid junkies. Indeed, their clear target readership is neither physicians nor legitimate steroid patients. Instead, they're aimed at athletes. In the same press release, the following question is asked: "What research is being done to show the therapeutic treatment of steroids in muscle degenerative diseases like multiple sclerosis?" Oh, so that's it--the WWF's steroid use was merely an experiment to aid in the research of muscle disease. What in the world does treatment of multiple sclerosis have to do with steroid abuse by pro wrestlers and bodybuilders? The answer is, not a thing--the same answer to the question, "How much of what the WWF says is true?" The WWF and WBF are desperate to maintain the outrageous physiques of their stars under a cloak of legitimacy. Just another McMahon con. And the targets of these cons, as usual, is America's TV-trained children and adolescents. Meanwhile, more highly damaging info on the WWF's ongoing drug and sex scandal is expected to be revealed early next week on Ch. 4's "Now It Can Be Told." McMahon, says producer Brooke Skulski, has been desperately trying to use legal maneuverings to prevent that show from airing."
On Friday, Mushnick came back with: Vince McMahon, whose scandal-soaked World Wrestling Federation will babysit a million or more American children this weekend, appeared two weeks ago on Larry King's CNN show to refute growing charges that the WWF is lousy with drug and sex abuse and sexual harassment. King asked McMahon the following: "You're saying there's no steroid use in the WWF?" Answered McMahon, "Yes, that's exactly what I'm saying." But 11 days later--this past Tuesday--at a symposium (public relations con) he held on steroid usage, McMahon said the WWF's initial tests showed "slightly less than 50 percent" of his wrestlers tested positive for steroids but that his latest testing showed "approximately 15 percent" of his wrestlers tested positive. If you're scoring at home, McMahon said two weeks ago on national TV that steroid use in the WWF was zero percent, but this week, said McMahon, those testing positive for steroids is at 15 percent. So the number was about 50 percent before McMahon's appearance on King, zero percent on the night he appeared with King, and now it's 15 percent. Think this guy has a little trouble with the truth? McMahon may think of himself as Pinocchio in a cartoon world, but he has a real-life problem. The problem goes by the name of McMahon, Vince. He's forever stuck with his outrageous lies because, if he ever decides to tell the truth--and it's doubtful he's capable--it's way too late.
Mushnick's final tidbit of the week on Monday said: Where there's fire, there's more fire. In July, well before Vince McMahon's WWF began to take big-time heat for allegations of sexual misconduct and rampant drug abuse, McMahon became the object of a lawsuit. That suit was filed by Jim Stuart, McMahon's long-time limo driver, bodyguard and confidant. Stuart's suit, among other things, alleges that he was fired "in retaliation for his refusal to maintain a posture of conscious avoidance regarding the illegal, immoral and unconscionable conduct he had witnessed." The suit, filed in Connecticut, is pending.
I don't have details of the symposium, but did talk at length with DiPasquale about steroids. DiPasquale, who has been known as one of the experts in North America at beating steroid tests, unveiled a series of theories to upgrade steroid testing. His theories included measuring many different levels in the body as a way to detect and determine if foreign substances are being ingested or injected. The concepts appear to be theoretical rather than proven and have not been used in drug testing by any other athletic organization. DiPasquale said that by May 1, all the wrestlers and bodybuilders working for Titan Sports had better be free of steroids, growth hormones, clenbuterol, cocaine, marijuana and other drugs or they would be caught and suspended. He said the only way for drug testing, which he has been opposed to for years, to work as legitimately "balancing the playing field" (ie allowing those who don't use steroids to not be penalized competitively for choosing that path) is to turn the place into a "gestapo state." He talked about testing with absolutely no warning at anytime, whether in the gym, in the restaurant, at the motel, at home, or at the arena (where all tests currently take place for wrestlers). Because some drugs have such a short life in the body (supposedly there is a new popular steroid, I believe from Greece, that has become popular with U.S. athletes training for the summer Olympics because it can only be detected for eight hours after usage), even the knowledge that testing can only be done at the arena, even if it can be done at any time, allows guys to time some use of steroids and slip through the cracks of the test. The WWF wrestlers received warning last week that marijuana is now on the banned substances list they can be suspended for, which I'm sure doesn't sit well for a lot of guys since many use the drug as a relaxing tool to help get to sleep with all the pain and discomfort from the physical abuse of the ring. DiPasquale said he was going to discuss with McMahon ways to ease the travel schedule for the wrestlers to allow them to maintain a decent physique without steroids and also sending them food on the road rather than having them eat restaurant food. He also talked of encouraging the wrestlers to avoid alcohol and pot because they serve to lower the testosterone level, which I'm sure is advice that most wrestlers will take to heart. DiPasquale said that while there are still some wrestlers obviously on steroids as the results from the last steroid test (he gave the figure at 15 percent who failed, the same figure McMahon released several weeks ago to myself and the Los Angeles Times and again used the figure at the symposium) showed and you can tell by looking at some of them, he claimed all the bodybuilders under contract were clean and have been for the past four weeks. That's a statement that everyone I've spoken with in strength training circles dismisses as an impossibility, including one person who told me point-blank he knew as a fact wasn't true in regard to one of the bodybuilders. He felt that none of the wrestlers would try to beat his test because he believed the wrestlers don't have the sophistication in regards to use of steroids. He also felt some of the bodybuilders would try to beat the test, and would fail and be suspended. He said that the pro bodybuilders have incredible sophistication in regard to steroid usage and their knowledge of steroids is better than. "99.9 percent of doctors."
DiPasquale is not anti-steroids, and in fact, said they were as safe as birth control pills (which are actually contraceptive steroids). That's a view that a lot of bodybuilders like to hear and embrace, which has made him a popular doctor in muscle circles and a regular columnist in Muscle Mag International. Virtually every doctor and even some steroid gurus I've spoken with disagree with that viewpoint. Some have said that the initial birth control pills were no safer than steroids, but that improvements have been made in birth control pills while steroid technology has stood still in comparison and there is no comparison in the safety of the two today. Even if DiPasquale is correct, he admits that in practical use they aren't as safe because women don't take 20 to 100 times the recommended daily dosage of birth control pills like many athletes do of steroids. He also believes heavy doses of steroids aren't needed for performance enhancement and that moderate doses lead to tremendous improvements in athletic prowess with minimal side effects, but that it would be impossible to legislate use of moderate doses without people using extreme doses to get more of an advantage, which would lead to health problems. He also emphatically stated the health problems of former athletes like Steve Courson, Lyle Alzado and Billy Graham were not steroid related and in fact, wouldn't entertain the notion even with Graham's 20 years of heavy use with little time cycling off. Indeed, he felt that there is a chance the onset of Graham's problems may have been delayed by his heavy use of steroids since steroids can help in the treatment of arthritis (yes, I know Graham doesn't have arthritis even though he has joint problems from avascular necrosis). When I challenged his claim that steroid testing balances the playing field when a company still encourages steroid use to get hired by its choice of recent new employees, DiPasquale said that when the guys got off steroids it evens everything out and said whatever gains in strength and size are made on steroids are lost when the person gets off steroids, something that has been proven in many studies not to be the case at all.
On the other hand, he also laughed at some of the claims regarding the current WWF testing procedure which McMahon has billed many times as unbeatable and the best test in all of sports. He said the current test is nothing but the same test the IOC uses. He said that it isn't a bad test, but has all the same flaws that he's pointed out for years in his publications. In theory, an athlete who fails the IOC test is then suspended for a lengthy period of time, dependant upon the strictness of the rules of the country's amateur sports governing body (generally two to four years). In wrestling, the theoretical suspensions are much shorter (six weeks for first offense). However, the problem to all this are all the contradictions once again that have come forward regarding the current testing enforcement.
Before the steroid testing began, McMahon said, at least to me, the first steroid test (which took place on 11/13 in New Haven) would be simply to see how widespread the problem is and there would be no penalties involved, however anyone failing the second test or any test thereafter would be penalized. On Entertainment Tonight on 11/18, which was taped after the first test, McMahon said that anyone, no matter how big a star they were, if they failed the test (which certainly appeared to mean the first test but perhaps his quote was taken out of context for the show and he meant subsequent tests) would be gone. Later, after 50 percent, by his own figures, failed the first test, he amended his previous statement that anyone whose levels of steroids didn't drop would be suspended. He definitely had meetings with at least several wrestlers, if not every wrestler, who failed the first test and told them that their levels had to decrease in subsequent testing and the wrestlers, at least a few of them, parroted the same line that the levels had to continue to drop even though three wrestlers told me in December that many of the guys were banding together for their right to continue to use steroids figuring McMahon couldn't suspend 20 or 40 guys at once. At the Royal Rumble, steroid use appeared to be pretty darn significant but a few weeks later there did seem to be a change in a lot of the wrestlers so either the guys backed down, or quit using certain drugs and thus couldn't maintain their physical peak and thus looked off. The problem is, according to DiPasquale, the technology isn't there to detect levels of steroids with any accuracy, only the fact that there are steroids. The only exception would be testosterone, which is judged by levels (which can easily be tampered with by shooting epitestosterone up to give a false level) in the current testing. However, it is impossible to get off testosterone and still have the levels constantly decrease, because several weeks after getting off testosterone, the body's own production kicks in and the level will shoot to limits that would test a positive in the test (known in the trade as either the "rebound" or "bounce-back" effect and is generally what catches the unsuspecting athletes who do fail drug tests even though they believe they've gotten off testosterone in more than enough time to clear their system). So anyone using a testosterone, which I suspect would have been most of the WWF wrestlers at some point, would, if they actually got off the drug, at some point if the tests were regular, (which they have been this year) gone through a bounce-back phase and thus their levels would increase and they'd be suspended. Since there has yet to be even one suspension for steroid policy violations in the WWF, none of this adds up.
What McMahon claimed he was looking for in the current test results is something his new doctor said our present technology can't even accurately detect for most steroids. For those that can, it leads to a false detection at some point. In fact, when discussing the current procedure, DiPasquale laughed repeatedly about the public statements about them being unbeatable and better tests than the NFL or IOC because they don't hold water. Actually, DiPasquale also said he wasn't familiar at all with the kind of testing the NFL does. McMahon used DiPasquale's theories on his never-been-done-before testing procedures and acted like they were being done at present when in fact, they won't be done until May and even then they are theoretical rather than proven. McMahon's defense for saying that even though his claim of 15 percent of the wrestlers failing the most recent test before the Larry King show and his claim that none of the wrestlers were on steroids on Larry King, which appears to be a contradiction, was because the 15 percent that failed were due to prior use of steroids causing a positive test result. This is possible because some steroids can be detected for six months. He later said that Dr. Anthony Daly (who heads up the current program) told him nobody had primary metabolites, which he claimed would denote current use but they had metabolites showing use in the past. DiPasquale said there was no way to determine how recent steroids used that show up in the test are, only that there were steroid metabolites found in the urine. He laughed at the statement that all of the 15 percent were due to prior usage.
So we've got yet another credibility problem. Everything failing the test was supposedly based on, and most claims of the veracity and unbeatable nature of the current tests have turned out to be untrue. And now, nearly five months after testing started and nearly nine months after the first announcement of steroid testing and McMahon going on the USA network talking about the WWF symbol assuring all our families of drug free sports entertainment, we find out, well, that somebody had called "Wolf" once again. But now, we've got a new doctor, a new expert, a new magic unbeatable test, and we're supposed to believe, even though no other sport has been able to devise an unbeatable test or even any kind of a test for certain drugs DiPasquale claims he can detect. And I'm not even trying to say that this doctor isn't the real deal nor this test isn't what he says it is, or that it is. But to take anything right now in regards to steroids and the WWF face value given the company's track record and, well, you know the saying, fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice.
Now, in McMahon's defense, if you look at the wrestlers, there is no doubt steroid use in the WWF has decreased since November. My feeling here is that the wrestlers themselves for the most part, who probably didn't have the technical knowledge of what the tests can and can't show, took what McMahon said at face value. They weaned themselves either off the drug since they were warned if they didn't they'd be suspended, at that does appear to be the case in some cases, or at least decreased the dosages because I believe most believed levels could be detected. I have to also believe many knew about testosterone bounce-back because it's not a secret in steroid periodicals about the effect and many wrestlers keep up on the latest drug literature. This means that if those wrestlers believed McMahon and were using testosterone, a drug of which levels can be detected, it meant they would decrease their doses but always stay on the low dose because going completely off would at some point trigger the increase in the levels which would mean a suspension. Given that as the case, McMahon's statement on Larry King is even more ludicrous than it sounded at face value. But you can say there was some positive out of the program if it caused wrestlers to decrease their steroid doses to what would have to be tabbed as safer amounts. Given the prior out-of-control state of the organization and the business itself in some circles, it is an improvement even if deception was involved in creating the improvement. That's the same defense used back a decade ago when the U.S. Olympic committee used to use the sink testing method (collecting urine samples from the athletes and say they were being tested for steroids, then pouring all the samples down the sink) and claimed it was successful because since the athletes didn't know the samples were being poured down the sink, it encouraged them to give up or decrease steroid use. Inevitably, when nobody tests positive, the athletes (and they generally know who is on and who is off) figure there is some sort of con going on. The result is a lack of trust and respect for the governing body and/or authority figure for perpetuating a hoax and never trusting them again, but I guess in this case, nothing much is lost in that regard.
Remember the independent agency McMahon said he was going to hire to investigate all these sexual harassment allegations. Well, it's been two weeks since he went on Larry King and Phil Donahue and in that period, nobody who came forward with accusations has been contacted by the independent agency McMahon talked about on television. One would think the first people the agency, it there was a legit investigation, would try and contact would be Barry Orton, Tom Hankins and Murray Hodgson, but, no dice.
Lex Luger made his first television appearance on WWF Superstars of Wrestling on Saturday plugging both Wrestlemania and the debut of WBF Bodystars on Saturday morning on the USA network. Luger, whose wrestling contract with WCW doesn't expire until the end of March in 1993. Kip Frey was furious during the middle of the week when he learned of this and told Mike Tenay of the Wrestling Insiders radio show: "I think it's the worst thing Lex Luger could do. It's very sad but I have no more emotional attachment to Lex. I hope he gets Vince McMahon for a lot of money. The WWF are being slimeballs. The spirit of the contract wouldn't allow this to happen but there'a a loophole in the language. So what. I have no problem with Lex Luger in the WBF. If they want to be jerks about this, we just don't want to get tied up legally. As long as he doesn't wrestle or commentate on wrestling it's okay."
The hottest rumor leading up to Sunday's Wrestlemania is that the Ultimate Warrior would be returning to the WWF. Obviously the rumor picked up a lot of momentum when the WWF aired the Hogan vs. Warrior match which Warrior won from Wrestlemania VI on its USA network special on Sunday night. Since longstanding WWF policy is to ignore the existence of any character that is no longer with the company, airing that match seemed out of place. Anyway, I can't either confirm or deny this one. Mania had reportedly 43,000 tickets out and 32,000 paid as of our last reports. The USA special was an amazing piece of work with definite attempts to turn all the negative media publicity and work it subtlety into the Flair-Savage angle and even more indirectly into commentary and Hogan's final interview (which was one of the best babyface interviews I've ever seen), in which he said he'll make a decision when he leaves the ring whether or not it's his last match. Hogan's movie for post-WM is a go, although there is a lot of talk that this will be his final starring role unless this movie does box office. Anyway, expect Mania to be a hot show because it almost has to be considering the company is somewhat under the gun now and will be even more in a few weeks.
The future of John Arezzi's Pro Wrestling Spotlight radio show in New York may be in danger. Arezzi's financial backer, Vince Russo, had a split with Arezzi after meeting with Vince McMahon on Tuesday and Russo wanted Arezzi to lay off criticism of the WWF. Arezzi's show has gained cult popularity because he called things as he sincerely saw them and he wasn't seeing things as so positive in regards to the WWF of late. Arezzi was on the show Sunday and said he was going to be starting his own newsletter (as opposed to the newsletter Russo did with him), that the show would be getting a new name since Russo incorporated and owns the name. Both Russo and Arezzi are vying for control of the wrestling hour on WEVD. Arezzi signed a personal deal with the station for the show, which costs $1,000 per week for the air time. However, the future is uncertain with his main sponsor backing out.
Pet Peeve No. 166: All the newspaper stories that credit Vince McMahon taking wrestling out of smoky halls into major arenas. Even writers who have been fans before 1983 and should know better are writing this as if it's the gospel. Most of your major new arenas in the big cities, where the WWF generally runs, ban smoking. Ten years ago, very few arenas banned smoking. In most but not all major cities, the major arena in town housed the local wrestling promotion before Vince McMahon took the WWF nationwide. That is the only reason you sniff less smoke at wrestling matches today. I haven't sniffed any smoke at the last few WCW shows I've attended and they've been in empty buildings in cities where years back you could have expected full buildings and perhaps a smoky smell because those arenas had yet to ban smoking. The lack of smoke in the arenas has to do with a change in our society against smoking in enclosed public places and absolutely nothing to do with Vince McMahon. Wrestling attendance was much higher during the territorial days than it was even at the peak of the WWF's popularity. It's one thing for new fans to not realize this because so much that isn't the case has been said so often the perception has become accepted as fact, but it's another when long-time fans forget that they used to attend shows before packed houses on a weekly basis a decade ago and nobody packs houses today even though live shows are much fewer and far in between. While the wrestling business does draws more gross revenue due to inflation and opening up so many new revenue streams like merchandising and 900 numbers, much of which McMahon deserves credit for implementing, this wasn't a dying business before 1984. It was a thriving business in many parts of the country. Some changes have been for the better and a lot may have been for the worst. These things aren't black and white, just like the cleaner air in your local wrestling arena really doesn't denote anything whatsoever about wrestling's popularity or even a change in demographics.
Quick update on the situation with Van Hammer and Mr. Hughes from last week. Hughes didn't check into a drug rehabilitation center as reported last week, but is an outpatient and is undergoing therapy for a problem that isn't only a drug problem according to what Kip Frey stated this past week. Hughes is making some, but not all of his dates on the road at this point. Hammer has checked into a psychiatric facility for personal problems and thus will be off the road until released. Kerry Von Erich was arrested last Tuesday when Dallas police discovered he wasn't attending his drug rehabilitation after being charged with three felony counts of trying to redeem falsified prescription drugs. A warrant for his arrest was sent out and Von Erich turned himself in and spent two hours in jail before being released on $7,500 bond. Von Erich said that he had already completed a drug rehabilitation program in California. He spent most of his two hours in prison signing autographs for the other prisoners. This story, which was reported on two television stations in Dallas, also said that Von Erich would return to the WWF at Wrestlemania.
Billy Graham underwent a second hip operation last Wednesday in Southern California to replace the artificial hip that was put in about five years ago. This operation has nothing to do with steroid damage. Shortly after surgery, Graham suffered a partially collapsed lung and lost a lot of blood during the operation and post-operation period. Since he refused a transfusion, he was expected to remain in the hospital until his body could replenish its own blood which should be Wednesday.
Former pro wrestler Corsica Jean, 71, was shot and killed in a robbery at 3:30 a.m. this past Friday night at the bar he owned in Tampa. He was found by his wife at 6 a.m. Saturday. The Tampa police have an ongoing investigation and had no suspects as of Monday. Corsica Jean formed a tag team with Corsica Joe in the 1960s across the Southern circuits.
This is the final issue of the current four-issue set. If you've got a (1) on your address label it means that your Observer subscription expires with this issue. Renewal rates remain $6 for four issues, $12 for eight, $24 for 16, $36 for 24, $48 for 32 up through $60 for 40 issues within the United States, Canada and Mexico. Rates for overseas weekly airmail subscriptions are $9 for each set of four issues through $90 for 40 issues. All subscription renewals, letters to the editor, results from arena shows, news items and all other correspondence can be sent to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, P.O. Box 1228, Campbell, CA 95009-1228.
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1991 OBSERVER AWARDS MOST DISGUSTING PROMOTIONAL TACTIC
1.WWF EXPLOITS PERSIAN GULF WAR319
2.WCW fires Ric Flair24
3.WWF snake bite angle20
4.Hogan lies on Arsenio19
5.Hogan billed as immortal14
Honorable Mention: Savage & Elizabeth wedding 10, Slaughter turns back babyface 10
PREVIOUS WINNERS
1981 - Usage of "The Monster" and saying he was built in a laboratory in Transylvania by LeBelle promotions
1982 - Bob Backlund as WWF champion
1983 - Pretending Eddie Gilbert had re-injured his neck in an angle after he suffered a legit broken neck in an auto accident by WWF
1984 - Blackjack Mulligan faking heart attack in Florida by CWF
1985 - Usage of Mike Von Erich's near fatal illness to sell Cotton Bowl tickets by World Class
1986 - Equating an angle of Chris Adams' blindness with the death of Gino Hernandez by World Class
1987 - World Class handling of Mike Von Erich's death
1988 -Fritz Von Erich's fake heart attack by World Class
1989 - Jose Gonzales' babyface push
1990 -Atsushi Onita's stabbing angle with Jose Gonzales in Puerto Rico
BEST COLOR COMMENTATOR
1.PAUL E. DANGEROUSLY128
2.Bobby Heenan103
3.Roddy Piper78
4.Scott Anthony71
5.Randy Savage68
Honorable Mention: Scott Hudson 47, Jim Cornette 24, Freebirds 8
PREVIOUS WINNERS]
1986 -Michael Hayes
1987 -Jesse Ventura
1988 -Jesse Ventura
1989 -Jesse Ventura
1990 -Jesse Ventura
READERS' FAVORITE WRESTLER
1.RIC FLAIR142
2.Jushin Liger114
3.Cactus Jack54
4.Hiroshi Hase41
5.Jumbo Tsuruta24
Honorable Mention: Randy Savage 21, Bull Nakano 20, Terry Gordy 18, Toshiaki Kawada 14, Akira Hokuto 13, Chris Benoit 13, Kenta Kobashi 13, Negro Casas 12, Roddy Piper 12, Scott Steiner 11, Rick Steiner 10, Sid Justice 10, Owen Hart 9, Manami Toyota 9, Hulk Hogan 9, Shawn Michaels 8, Tsuyoshi Kikuchi 8, Mr. Perfect 8, Legion of Doom 8, Keiji Muto 8
PREVIOUS WINNERS
1984 -Ric Flair
1985 -Ric Flair
1986 -Ric Flair
1987 -Ric Flair
1988 -Ric Flair
1989 -Ric Flair
1990 -Ric Flair
READERS' MOST HATED WRESTLER
1.HULK HOGAN133
2.Van Hammer56
3.Jose Gonzales35
4.Jim Duggan34
Andre the Giant34
Honorable Mention: Dustin Rhodes 26, P.N. News 25, Sid Justice 21, El Gigante 19, Sgt. Slaughter 13, Ultimate Warrior 13, Toshiaki Kawada 12, Lex Luger 10, Col. Mustafa 8, Earthquake 8
PREVIOUS WINNERS
1984 -Ivan Putski
1985 -Hulk Hogan
1986 -Hulk Hogan
1987 -Dusty Rhodes
1988 -Dusty Rhodes
1989 -Ultimate Warrior
1990 -Ultimate Warrior
WORST WRESTLER
1.ANDRE THE GIANT76
2.El Gigante50
3.Oz47
4.Bill Kazmaier42
5.Sid Justice 31
Honorable Mention: Junkyard Dog 30, Col. Mustafa 18, P.N. News 17, Ultimate Warrior 17, Todd Champion 17, Warlord 16, Jim Duggan 14, Tiger Jeet Singh 12, Typhoon 11, The Berzerker 10
PREVIOUS WINNERS
1984 -Ivan Putski
1985 -Uncle Elmer (Stan Frazier)
1986 -Mike Von Erich
1987 -Junkyard Dog
1988 -Ultimate Warrior
1989 -Andre the Giant
1990 -Junkyard Dog
WORST TAG TEAM
1.GIANT BABA & ANDRE THE GIANT216
2.Bushwhackers129
3.Patriots106
4.Natural Disasters63
5.Freebirds8
Undertakers8
PREVIOUS WINNERS
1984 -The Crusher & Baron Von Raschke
1985 -Uncle Elmer & Cousin Junior
1986 -Junkyard Dog & George Steele
1987 -Jimmy Valiant & Bugsy McGraw
1988 - Bolsheviks (Nikolai Volkoff & Boris Zhukov)
1989 -Powers of Pain (Warlord & Barbarian)
1990 -Giant Baba & Andre the Giant
EMLL The 3/20 show at Arena Mexico in Mexico City saw Los Metalicos (Bronce & Oro & Plata) beat Felino & Comando Ruso & Ponzona in 2/3 falls ending with a series of spectacular dives at the end and everyone shaking hands to a big ovation **1/4, Love Machine (Art Barr) & El Hijo del Solitario & El Hijo de Lizmark beat La Fiera & Jerry Estrada & Blue Panther in two straight falls. Panther was pinned for both falls, in the second clean by Machine. I believe the mask vs. mask match between the two, which probably will result in Barr being unmasked, will take place on television in two weeks. **3/4, Los Brazos went to a double count out with Canadian Vampire Casanova & Conan & Rayo de Jalisco Jr. **1/2 and in a singles grudge match, Perro Aguayo won 2/3 falls from Sangre Chicana in 18:35. In this match, heel ref El Gato Montini was so partial to Chicana and kept letting La Fiera interfere so blatantly that the commission kicked him out of the match in mid-stream. Roberto Rangel refereed the third fall with Aguayo gaining a clean pin. ***.The Friday night crowds at Arena Mexico are averaging about 12,000 per week of late.
A Hispanic weekly magazine reported that Conan was retiring to pursue an acting and singing career. Don't buy that one for a second. Last I'd heard Conan was going to WWF after Wrestlemania but it's been such a long time since I've heard it that it may have fallen through.
A movie out called "La Revancha" starring Atlantis and Octagon is doing very well at the box office.
Atlantis did a rare job in the main event on 3/10 at Arena Coliseo in Mexico City in the third fall teaming with Blue Demon Jr. & Lizmark to lose to Javier Cruz & Felino & Pierroth Jr. Cruz made Atlantis submit to set up an NWA middleweight title match down the line.
Octagon beat Bestia Negra in a mask vs. hair match on 3/11 in Mexico City. After the match, Negra tried to run away before getting his hair cut but promoter Raul Reyes caught up with him, punched him and cut his hair which got a big reaction from the fans. Some old-time fans may remember Reyes as a wrestler in the early 1970s in California for both Mike LeBelle and Roy Shire.
Pierroth Jr. won the CMLL world lightheavyweight title from Estrada in a battle of heels on 3/19 in Cuernavaca.
Pierroth gained a second title on 3/22 at Arena Mexico teaming with Masakre & Jaque Mate as The Untouchables to win the CMLL world trios title from The New Infernales (Pirata Morgan & Satanico & MS 1). Semifinal on that card had Atlantis & Octagon & Black Magic (Norman Smiley) beat Panther & Fiera & Emilio Charles Jr. when Love Machine interfered in the third fall and caused Panther to be pinned. They did an American style angle on television where Panther was doing an interview and Machine attacked him, although watching the angle with Panther doing the calm interview made Machine look like the heel but it wasn't supposed to be that way. Fans still cheered Machine on television this weekend against Panther.
Expect Ultimate Dragon (Yoshihiro Asai) to win the NWA world lightheavyweight title from Lizmark in April while both are on an SWS tour.
Ciclon Ramirez beat Daila Negra on 3/21 in Mexico City in a mask vs. mask match while Blue Panther beat El Filoso to keep the CMLL world middleweight title on the same show.
3/21 in Xochimilko saw Canadian Vampire Casanova beat Bestia Negra II in a hair vs. hair match.
Apollo Dantes also won a hair vs. hair match from Cachorro Mendoza in Guadalajara.
Octagon defended the Mexican Middleweight title against Bestia Salvaje on 3/26 in Cuernavaca.
Chavo Guerrero is back working for this group.
This coming weekend's Galavision show has Aguayo & Conan & Vampire vs. Chicana & Fiera & Cien Caras on top, Panther & Salvaje & Satanico vs. Love Machine & Atlantis & Octagon, Salomon Grundy & Dragon & Dandy vs. Los Brazos and prelims.
They are building to a hair vs. hair match with Javier Cruz vs. Apollo Dantes at Arena Mexico on a non-televised Sunday show.
Probably the wrestler with the most respect among his peers of all the guys in this group is Fuerza Guerrera according to one source. The other boys respect him as the supreme worker in the group and for his ability to make his opponent look great I'm told similar to the way WWF wrestlers respect Curt Hennig and the way Ric Flair is respected as well.
UWA 3/22 at El Toreo in Naucalpan saw Gigante Warrior & Buffalo Allen & Bull Pain (same Rick Gantner as in the U.S.) beat Canek & Fantasma & Enrique Vera via DQ. Fantasma subbed for Dos Caras in the main event when Caras missed the show because the wrestlers' union meeting went overtime. Also Negro Casas & Fishman & The Killer beat El Hijo Del Santo & Sambra Negra & Gran Hamada in straight falls when Negra accidentally was hit by Santo and he gave Santo a low blow and Santo was pinned in the second fall. Negra was unmasked by Santo last December in Monterrey so they'll feud once again. Also Fantasma & Solar I & El Coloso beat Rambo & Dr. Wagner Jr. & Baby Face, Kahos & El Engendro & El Indomito beat Transformer (Kendo in Japan) & Celestial & El Sicodelico and Shu El Guerrero & Lobo Rubio & El Hijo Del Diablo beat Lasser & Kendo Starr & Magnetico.3/29 at El Toreo in Naucalpan saw Vera & Tinieblas Jr. & Sr. beat Casas & Fishman & Pegasus Kid. In the third fall, Vera moved so Pegasus Kid dropkicked Fishman who was pinned. Casas & Fishman then turned on Pegasus Kid (who is a natural babyface anyway) and left him laying. Also The Head Hunters (from Puerto Rico who work with WING in Japan) teamed with Sombra Negra to beat Villanos IV & V & Santo when Negra pinned Santo clean after Santo missed a head-butt off the top rope. Negra challenged Santo after the match to a UWA world welterweight title match while Santo responded and issued a mask vs. hair challenge. Also in a battle of heels, The Death Missionaries (El Signo & Negro Navarro & Black Power II) beat Bull Pain & Gigante Warrior & Killer via DQ when Killer gave Signo a low blow, Fantasma & Solar I beat Kahos I & El Engendro and Katana & Halcon 78 beat Angel Mortal & El Falcon.
Friday's television taping in Netzahualcoyotl was headlined by Rambo & Pain & Warrior vs. Dos Caras & Villano III & Vera and Los Villanos vs. Death Missionaries.
Dos Caras & Canek joined forces for a rare tag team against Pain & Warrior on 3/27 in Tlalnepantla.
Pegasus Kid (Chris Benoit) defends his WWF lightheavyweight title against Villano IV on 4/3 in Netzahualcoyotl while Signo defends the UWA lightheavyweight title against Villano V on the same card.
ALL JAPAN No big news except the continuation of the Champion Carnival tour.3/29 in Nagano drew a sellout 2,800 as Jumbo Tsuruta & Akira Taue & Masa Fuchi beat Toshiaki Kawada & Mitsuharu Misawa & Tsuyoshi Kikuchi when Tsuruta pinned Kikuchi with a back suplex in 29:57, Stan Hansen & Johnny Ace beat Master Blaster (Al Greene) & Terry Gordy when Ace made Blaster submit, Steve Williams went to a 30:00 draw with Kenta Kobashi in a super match, Dan Kroffat pinned David Isley, Danny Spivey & Doug Furnas beat Kimala II & Abdullah the Butcher, Giant Baba & Rusher Kimura beat Motoshi Okuma & Haruka Eigen.
Joel Deaton is out of action with an injury.
3/28 in Fukui drew a sellout 3,800 as Misawa & Kobashi beat Tsuruta & Fuchi when Kobashi pinned Fuchi in 24:18, Hansen & Ace & Furnas beat Gordy & Williams & Blaster, Kawada made Spivey submit with the dragon sleeper in 12:16, Kroffat pinned Ogawa, Taue pinned Isley, Kimala II beat Kikuchi, Abdullah pinned Mighty Inoue and Baba & Kimura beat Eigen & Okuma.
3/26 in Matsuzaka drew 1,500 as Misawa & Kobashi beat Hansen & Deaton, Kawada & Kikuchi beat Taue & Fuchi in 23:07, Tsuruta pinned Ace, Gordy pinned Blaster, Spivey pinned Ogawa, Abdullah & Kimala II beat Williams & Isley, Kroffat & Furnas beat Mighty Inoue & Masao Inoue and Baba & Kimura beat Eigen & Okuma.
Television on 3/22 taping opening night of the tour drew a 5.4 VR rating a 3.8 Neilsen. While I haven't seen it yet, the Kobashi vs. Kawada match on that television show is said to be the best match thus far of 1992.
Next tour starts 5/16.
Spivey was brought back after a series of phone calls back-and-forth when it appeared he was done for good, but by doing the submission for Kawada, he's not held in as high a standing as before and I believe this one tour is a trial and he may or may not be back in the future.
NEW JAPAN Group is down right now until the junior heavyweight tour starts with the round-robin tournament with Jushin Liger, El Samurai (Osamu Matsuda), Negro Casas, Eddie Guerrero, Pegasus Kid, Flying Scorpio (from Denver), Norio Honaga, David Finlay (England) and Koji Kanemoto.Opening night is 4/16 with Riki Choshu & Keiji Muto & Shinya Hashimoto vs. Scott Norton & Tony Halme & Badnews Allen, Masa Chono vs. Super Strong Machine, Akira Nogami & Takayuki Iizuka vs. Hiro Saito & Tatsutoshi Goto, Liger vs. Samurai, Casas vs. Guerrero, Pegasus Kid vs. Scorpio and Kanemoto vs. Honaga.
Liger's major tournament matches will be 4/19 against Guerrero, 4/23 against Pegasus Kid and 4/29 against Casas.
Tournament final will be the main event on 4/30 at Tokyo Sumo Hall. Also on the show will be Kuniaki Kobayashi vs. Akitoshi Saito in a wrestler vs. karate match, Muto & Chono vs. Big Van Vader & Bam Bam Bigelow in a non-title match, Choshu & Hashimoto vs. Norton & Halme and Machine & Goto & Hiro Saito vs. Hiroshi Hase & Nogami & Iizuka.
Tour ends on 5/1 at the Chiba Park Arena with Choshu vs. Norton for the IWGP world heavyweight title and Greatest 18 Club belts, Vader & Bigelow defend IWGP tag titles against Muto & Hase, Koshinaka vs. Masashi Aoyagi in a wrestler vs. karate match, Hashimoto vs. Halme and Liger & Pegasus Kid team up for the first time in years against Samurai & Negro Casas.
Masa Saito is out of action with an infected pancreas. The doctors wanted to perform surgery but Saito was afraid that at his age (48) it would spell the end of his career if he had to take a year off. Latest word is he'll be back hopefully by June or July, about the same time Kensuke Sasaki is expected to return.
No contracts have been signed in regard to Hulk Hogan's proposed deal to work here although New Japan wants him to debut on the 1/4 Tokyo Dome show which would be interesting politically since he'd be on a card loaded with WCW wrestlers and in theory would be put on PPV in the United States through WCW. The Los Angeles Times story on Hogan was reprinted in several mainstream Japanese newspapers and I believe Hogan lost a commercial deal over the revelations regarding steroids and cocaine. Both major weekly wrestling magazines had major stories with Weekly Pro Wrestling being extremely sympathetic to Hogan and portraying him as a scapegoat while Weekly Gong covered it right down the middle, which is exactly the opposite of how I'd have expected it.
The 3/21 television show headlined by Samoans & Vader vs. Choshu & Chono & Muto drew an 8.7 rating.
OTHER JAPAN NOTES SWS and PWF both have major shows in mid-April with the SWS show headlined by Ric Flair vs. Genichiro Tenryu for the WWF title and PWF headlined by a mixed boxer vs. wrestler match with Masakatsu Funaki vs. Roberto Duran. Interesting that as of about one week ago, with both shows being promoted equally, that the Duran-Funaki match was outselling Flair-Tenryu by nearly a 10-to-1 margin.Flair vs. Tenryu will probably take place both on 4/17 and 4/18 with the first being a non-title and the second being for the title.
UWFI has a major show on 5/8 at the 17,000 seat Yokohama Arena and they are going to declare their first champion with Nobuhiko Takada vs. Gary Allbright as the elimination match. The big news is that Koji Kitao, the ex-sumo Grand Champion will debut for this group against Kazuo Yamazaki. Kitao is said to have signed an incredible contract through Hachiro Tanaka, who is now aligned with this group as well supposedly. Kitao's contract is said to be for $75,000 per match with a clause that he never has to do a job. It's one thing to sign Hulk Hogan to a deal like this with Tokyo Dome cards being able to be promoted, but how Kitao is worthy of a deal like this is totally beyond my comprehension. Also Kiyoshi Tamura faces a lightheavyweight boxer from the United States and in an exhibition match, Billy Robinson faces Nick Bockwinkel with Lou Thesz as referee.
Leon Spinks captured the WWA world martial arts title beating Tarzan Goto on 3/25 in Tokyo's Korakuen Hall before a sellout 2,100 fans with a second round knockout. Also on the show, Eriko Tsuchiya became the WWA womens' champion beating Miwa Sato, plus Genghis Khan & Horace Boulder & Big Titan beat Atsushi Onita & Sambo Asako & Amigo Ultra, Dr. Looser (from Calgary doing an insane asylum gimmick) beat Ricky Fuji.
Looser won the AWA lightheavyweight title from Katsuji Ueda on 3/23 in Soka before 3,825 fans. Onita & Goto beat Boulder & Titan.
3/26 in Ichihara drew a sellout 3,032 as Spinks & Titan beat Onita & Asako with Onita juicing like crazy for Spinks, Luther & Boulder over Shooter & Goto and Fuji no contest Ultra.
3/28 in Toda drew a sellout 3,408 as Onita & Asako beat Boulder & Titan in a street fight and Spinks & Looser beat Fuji & Goto.
3/29 in Tsuchiura drew a sellout 1,896 for an outdoor show in a rainstorm as Onita & Goto & Ultra beat Boulder & Titan & Khan and Spinks KO'd Mr. Gannosuke.
FMW building to a big show on 5/24 at the 12,000 seat Ariake Coliseum with Spinks defending the title against Onita.
Tenryu will go to Wrestlemania.
Rings had a show on 3/26 at the Tokyo Gym and drew a sellout 8,500 for what apparently was an all-shoot card with Masaake Satake going to a draw with Maurice Smith in the main event. Akira Maeda had what was called an exhibition five minutes with Koichiro Kimura rather than a shoot match.
All Japan women announced the top five matches at Wrestlemarinpiad on 4/25 which will be Bull Nakano vs. Aja Kong for the WWWA womens title, Bison Kimura defends the Pacific title against Toshiyo Yamada, Kyoko Inoue defends the IWA title against Manami Toyota (the five star match on the show) and Debbie Malenko & Sake Hasegawa defend the Japanese tag team titles against Takako Inoue & Mariko Yoshida.
Akira Hokuto and Etsuko Mita are now in Japan for EMLL.
.PWF has a mixed match with Yoshiaki Fujiwara vs. Don Nakaya Neilsen (an ex-kick boxing star who had classic mixed matches many years ago against Akira Maeda, Fujiwara and Keiichi Yamada for New Japan) on 5/15 in Osaka.
WING starts 4/5 at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo with a barbed wire death match with Mitsuteru Tokuda & Yukihiro Kanemura vs. Mr. Pogo & Super Invader, Kevin Sullivan vs. Kimala plus Tugboat Taylor and Mongolian Mauler appear on the tour.
USWA 3/23 in Memphis saw Cat Garrett pin Tony Falk, King Cobra beat Dr. Death, Tony Anthony DDQ Eric Embry in a double juice pull-apart brawl, Kimala pinned Tom Prichard to keep the USWA title, Brian Christopher beat Jimmy Valiant by using a chain to win the Southern title in a title vs. title match (they seem to have now forgotten about the Texas title, which is just as well, since they don't promote in Texas) and Jerry Lawler & Jeff Jarrett beat The Moondogs via DQ. In the main event, the jobbers from television all worked as lumberjacks and had chairs but Moondogs beat up all the jobbers anyway.3/24 in Louisville saw Prichard beat Falk, Christopher beat Garrett, Valiant beat Death, Anthony beat Embry via DQ, Moondogs & Big Black Dog beat Lawler & Valiant & Jarrett.
3/28 in Jonesboro, AR saw Falk beat Garrett, Embry beat Anthony, Prichard beat Falk, Freezer Thompson beat Richard Lee via DQ, Christopher beat Valiant via DQ and Moondogs DDQ Lawler & Jarrett in a cage match.
Business is still pretty good all things considered.
Dr. Death and Nurse Kratchett I believe are history. Not sure of this, but believe Death was Kenny Kendall from Florida and Kratchett was Connie Cook.
A new valet in town in named Lauren Davenport and she's replaced Miss Jennifer. She came out and said she was introducing, after a lengthy talent search, the man of the 90s. No, it wasn't Murray Hodgson, it was Tony Falk. Anyway she alternates between kissing Falk and slapping him.
On television, Eddie Marlin announced that the opponents for the Moondogs called up and when they found out who they were wrestling, said they didn't want to come and Marlin said that's the first time he's ever heard of something like this. Moondogs got mad and said they wanted to beat someone up. The next match on television had Christopher defending the Southern title against Garrett and the Moondogs attacked Garrett and beat him up until Lawler & Jarrett made the save.
3/30 in Memphis has Cat Garrett vs. Don Bass, Ricky Hayes vs. Big Black Dog, Falk vs. Prichard, Anthony vs. Embry in an anything goes match, Christopher vs. Valiant for the Southern title, Kimala vs. Koko Ware for the USWA title (Ware will almost surely regain the title since Kimala is leaving for Japan) and Moondogs & Richard Lee vs. Lawler & Jarrett & mystery partner.
Lawler was on WMC radio in Memphis for two hours this past Thursday night talking about the People Magazine article on Hulk Hogan. Lawler, on his Sunday morning television show said he'd be talking about it and showed the magazine on the air. He said he'd tell the truth about Hogan on the radio. I don't know exactly what he said but the tone of it was that the article was correct and he really put down Hogan and the WWF and tried to make a point that USWA wrestling has absolutely nothing to do with the WWF and wanted to disassociate themselves from anything the WWF has done.
GLOBAL They held the first non-television taping house show on 3/27 in Dallas which drew about 500 fans as Gary Young (soon to be turning heel) drew with Steven Dane, The Viper (Mike Davis) pinned New Kid Tony (Tony Williams), Bruce Prichard pinned referee James Beard after hitting him with a loaded glove given to him by the Dark Patriot, Bill Irwin won the GWF Brass Knux title from Black Bart in a first blood match when Scandor Akbar's attempt to throw powder at Irwin caught Bart instead and then Irwin punched Bart who bled, Terry Simms & Scott Putski kept the GWF tag team titles beating John Tatum & Rod Price when Steven Dane tried to interfere after a ref bump but Simms gave him a bulldog headlock and pinned him and in the main event, Eddie Gilbert won the North American title from his brother the Dark Patriot via submission with the figure four leglock. The stipulations were that if Gilbert lost, he'd have to leave the GWF for one year, which may as well be forever. Both juiced since there was no television cameras.4/3 at the Sportatorium will have a 15 man elimination tag team match with the final survivor becoming the GWF television champion, which is now held up, Gilbert defends the North American title against Dark Patriot with Gilbert's hair and the belt up against the mask, Irwin defends with Brass Knux title against Bart with a double pole with a horseshoe and branding iron on top of the respective poles, Barry Horowitz defends the GWF lightheavyweight title against Danny Davis and Bruce Prichard vs. James Beard in a boxing match.
HERE AND THERE Billy Jack Haynes had segments on the ABC and CBS local news broadcasts in Portland calling for a boycott of the WWF and also aired on the local Evening Magazine show and AM Northwest.Tatsumi Fujinami is going to Europe to work for Otto Wanz, as is Stan Hansen, Bob Orton and Dory Funk in July.
Larry Sharpe's long-time lawsuit with Bam Bam Bigelow over a breach of contract was settled this past week after a week-long court case. Sharpe testified for six-and-a-half hours on Tuesday, Bigelow for four-and-a-half hours on Wednesday and the jury ruled in favor of Bigelow. Sharpe was suing saying Bigelow breached his contract where Sharpe agreed to train him for free in exchange for a percentage of Bigelow's earnings for the first few years of his career. Bigelow broke away and went on his own and Sharpe was suing for his percentage.
Jim Cornette's Smoky Mountain Wrestling is running their first big show on 5/22 in Knoxville which will have an eight-man tournament to determine the first singles champion and the finals of the tag team tournament. The singles tournament tentatively has Brian Lee, Paul Orndorff, Tony Anthony, Robert Gibson, Jimmy Golden, Tim Horner, Scott Armstrong and Buddy Landel.
Universal Championship Wrestling debuts 5/1 in Nashua, NH using Killer Kowalski students.
Motor City Wrestling had a double-shot on 3/21 with an afternoon shopping mall show in Lima, OH as The Wild Bunch beat The Nightmares in 47 minutes and an evening show before 750 at the Civic Center as Wild bunch beat Kansas Outlaws to win the ICW U.S. tag team titles. Next show in Lima, OH will be 4/17 with Wild Bunch vs. Nightmares.
Eastern Championship Wrestling on 3/24 at the Sports Bar in Philadelphia included J.T. Smith & D.C. Drake beating Larry Winters & Johnny Hot Body in what was said to have been a super match with Drake turning heel on Smith and they left Smith, three refs, the ring announcer, a female ring attendant and a fan laying in the ring when the carnage was over, Glen Osborne threw fire to beat Jimmy Janetty and Ivan Koloff beat Tony Stetson in a chain match. Jimmy Snuka appears on 4/25 and 4/26 for this group.
.The Sheik and Abdullah Farouk Jr. have taken Pro America Championship Wrestling promoter Tom Cusati to court for monies for an independent show they appeared on. .. Sunflower State Wrestling has shows 4/6 in McPherson, KS and 4/12 in Hoisington, KS. Ron MacFarlane, who worked for Geigel years back, is the booker for this group.
Chief Jay Eagle (Jerry Bragg) ran a show on 3/21 in Inman, SC before a sellout 350 fans as he and Wahoo McDaniel beat The Hollywood Blonds in the main event. One of the guys who works for this group, Mike Somani, who has done jobs on Atlanta TV, still wrestles despite suffering from multiple sclerosis.
IWF on 4/4 in Tampa and Golden Nugget Flea Market has Blackjack Mulligan vs. The Possessor (Ned Brady) plus Kendall Windham vs. The Stomper underneath.
Female boxer Chris Christopher, who worked a tour using the boxer gimmick for FMW, recently competed against the American Gladiators at a show this 3/27 at Chicago Stadium.
West Coast Wrestling Association starts back up on 5/10 in Fresno at the Holiday Inn Centre Plaza.
Jalisco Promotions drew 125 on 3/29 in Los Angeles as Crazy Boy & Gory Chavez beat Piloto Suicida & Apache in a fantastic main event. Carlos Mata ran a show that afternoon in Rialto with many of the same boys drawing 75. 4/5 at the All Nations Center in Los Angeles had a blindfold Battle Royal.
A Lucha style show on 3/28 in Santa Ana sold out to the tune of about 450 fans with Triton & Alfil Negro DDQ Gory Chavez & Cesar Sando Jr. in a great match. Next show is 4/11 with Suicida vs. Crazy Boy on top.
Jake Milliman beat Conan the Dark Rider on 3/28 in Kenosha, WI for the IWA before a reported 1,550 fans.
Big D Pro Wrestling drew 170 fans on 3/29 in Dallas using Steven Dane beating Terry Daniels, Iceman King Parsons & Action Jackson beat John Tatum & Rod Price. Jackson collapsed as a shoot with breathing problems and needed to be rushed to the hospital. Billy Travis beat Kenny the Stinger in the main event. 4/5 has Price vs. Daniels, Jimmy James & Miss Judy & Eric Fontaine vs. Ray Evans & C.J. & Awesome King, Parsons vs. Tatum and Travis vs. Stinger with the title on a pole. Coming soon to this group are Steve Simpson, Jeff Gaylord, Bull Pain and Giant Warrior.
3/28 in Caguas, PR saw Ron Garvin beat Invader #1 via DQ. Finish saw Texas Hangman Killer interfere and Carlitos Colon make the save. The ref, who was bumped when Killer ran in, only saw Colon so he DQ'd Invader. Invader was furious because he blamed Colon for losing his shot at the Universal title and it was later announced Garvin would defend against Colon shortly. Expect the Colon vs. Invader feud to begin after that match. Other results saw Heartbreaker Adonis pin Rex King, El Exotico beat El Corsario, Rockin Rebel beat Randy Rhodes, Colon beat Killer, Miguelito Perez & El Bronco #1 drew Ron Starr & Doug Masters and La Ley & Sasha beat Fidel Sierra & La Tigresa in a mixed match.
Killer Kowalski ran a show on 3/27 in Bellingham, ME and drew 1,500 fans with Mike Sharpe and Honkytonk Man as the top draws.
WWF Jake Roberts and Roddy Piper both missed a few main events shots over the weekend and were replaced by Sid Justice and Undertaker respectively during the mid-week dates.First WWF show at the Meadowlands will be 7/10. I don't believe they'll be back in Madison Square Garden until August but will be running regularly at the Nassau Coliseum which seems to be the easiest arena to draw in. The 3/23 MSG show with Flair & Justice vs. Hogan & Piper only drew around 9,000 fans which had to be a major disappointment since that match has generally done very well everywhere else.
3/28 in Sacramento drew 8,600 and $107,000 and Chris Walker pinned Kato *1/2, Owen Hart & Koko Ware beat Beverly Brothers **1/4, Crush pinned Berzerker DUD, Natural Disasters beat Jim Duggan & Sgt. Slaughter via DQ when Duggan was caught using the 2x4 DUD (Natural Disasters don't even attempt to play faces during these matches), Repo Man pinned Jim Powers DUD, British Bulldog pinned Ted DiBiase *3/4 and Hogan & Piper beat Justice & Flair when Hogan pinned Flair with a clothesline ***.
Piper was on a Sacramento radio station Monday night to plug Mania and the DJ asked him about steroids and he said he tried them a few years ago but stopped when he found out they could kill you. The person listening said he was more honest than you'd expect throughout the interview but the way he gave that answer made him no more honest than Hogan since Zahorian's testimony at the trial made it pretty clear Piper used steroids from him regularly for many years.
TV ratings saw Prime Time on 3/23 get a 2.8 rating and All-American on 3/22 get a 2.2. Prime Time on 3/16 did a 2.4 while All-American on 3/15 did a 2.1.
3/29 at the Palace in Auburn Hills, MI drew 6,000 as Repo Man pinned Powers 1/4*, Owen Hart & Ware beat Beverly Brothers *1/2 (Ware worked most of the match), Crush pinned Berzerker 3/4*, Natural Disasters beat Slaughter & Duggan via DQ -**, Walker pinned Kato *, Bulldog pinned DiBiase DUD and Hogan & Savage beat Justice & Flair via DQ when Harvey Whippleman hit Hogan with the bag. **1/2 .
3/27 in Montreal saw Rick Martel beat J.W. Storm, Tatonka pinned Col. Mustafa, Warlord pinned Jim Brunzell, Bushwhackers & Bret Hart beat Nasty Boys & Jacques Rougeau (banned from using Mountie name in Canada), Shawn Michaels pinned Virgil, IRS drew Tito Santana and Justice (sub for Jake) beat Savage in a cage match.
3/25 in Seattle drew 7,000 as Walker beat Kato, Crush pinned Berzerker, Repo Man pinned Powers, Bulldog pinned DiBiase, Disasters beat Duggan & Slaughter via DQ, Owen Hart & Ware beat Beverly Brothers and Savage pinned Roberts in a cage match.
3/27 in Albuquerque drew 5,000 as Walker pinned Kato *, Crush pinned Berzerker *, Disasters beat Slaughter & Duggan via DQ DUD, Repo Man pinned Powers *, Bulldog pinned DiBiase **, Owen Hart & Ware beat Beverly Brothers ** and Undertaker (subbing for Piper) beat Flair in a cage match. DiBiase interfered freely giving Flair the urn but Undertaker would come back from the dead. Finally Undertaker laid out both Flair and DiBiase with the urn and walked out of the cage to win. They left with the title belt since it was never announced as non-title and the fans left thinking it was a title change. **1/2.
3/28 in Los Angeles drew 7,000 and $105,000 as Walker pinned Kato **1/2, Owen Hart & Ware beat Beverly Brothers **1/4, Undertaker pinned Berzerker *3/4, Natural Disasters beat Slaughter & Duggan DUD, Repo Man pinned Powers 3/4*, Bulldog pinned DiBiase 1/4* and Hogan & Piper beat Flair & Justice ***1/4.
3/26 in Winnipeg saw Brunzell pin Mustafa -**, Martel pinned Storm *1/2, Michaels pinned Santana ***1/2, Bushwhackers & Bret Hart beat Rougeau & Nasty Boys **1/4, IRS pinned Virgil with a briefcase to the nose **, Tatonka pinned Warlord *1/2 and after a 25 minute intermission, Savage beat Justice in a 4:00 cage match via DQ when Justice used a chair DUD.
WCW Expect the NWA world tag team tournament finals to come down to an eight-team tournament at the Bash in Philadelphia on 7/12. The NWA world heavyweight title tournament will probably take place from 8/7 to 8/12 in Japan.Highlights from the TV taping on 3/20 in Topeka before more than 5,000 fans (I'm sure it was heavily padded) for World Wide tapings with Tony Schiavone and Jesse Ventura that start airing this coming weekend. Brian Pillman (working with a bad back, still out of action in house shows) beat Brad Armstrong to keep the lightheavyweight title in a good action match, Freebirds beat Cactus Jack & Diamond Dallas Page, Barry Windham & Dustin Rhodes beat Vegas & Page, Arn Anderson & Bobby Eaton kept the tag titles beating Ron Simmons & Big Josh when Anderson hit Josh with the phone, J.T. Southern beat Chip the Firebreaker, Big Van Vader pinned Marcus Bagwell with four splashes off the top rope until Sting made the save, Terrence Taylor pinned Tom Zenk due to outside interference from Greg Valentine, Rick Steiner pinned Eaton with a belly-to-belly in a great match, Zenk pinned Page, Freebirds beat Taylor & Valentine via DQ for an over-the-top-rope call, Rick Rude beat Steamboat via DQ when Steamboat used a chair and Sting pinned Steve Austin to keep the WCW title.
Television taping 3/25 in Gainesville before a sellout 2,000 (no padding whatsoever) as in top matches, Anderson pinned Brad Armstrong ***, Vegas pinned Todd Champion DUD, Steiners beat Page & Richard Morton *1/2, Cactus Jack double count out Junkfood Dog DUD, Freebirds beat Eaton & Zbyszko with Larry doing the job DUD, Austin & Rude & Anderson beat Zenk & Armstrong & Bagwell *1/2, Windham & Simmons beat Cactus & Zbyszko in a dark match, During a Scotty Flamingo squash, J.T. Southern came out so they'll probably have them form a tag team and program them with Freebirds (With his new perm, Flamingo looks literally spooky, at least to me), Nikita Koloff beat Steve Armstrong, Taylor & Valentine beat Armstrong & JYD, Vader & Rude beat Patriots and Steiners beat Eaton & Anderson via DQ in a dark match when Madusa did a run-in. The Steiners had a squash with Tony Mella & Greg Sawyer and there were major screw-ups during the match and you know what happens when there are major screw-ups during a Steiners match so this won't air and they did a re-take later in the show. Mella didn't go up right for a backdrop so Rick threw him over the top rope and he landed on his head. Sawyer came off the ropes too slow twice which screwed up both attempts at Frankensteiners.
Viewers Choice is now saying SuperBrawl did a 1.0 buy rate.
Television ratings saw on 3/21 WCW did a 2.8 and Power Hour a 2.1 (which is really strong for that time slot). Main Event on 3/22 also did a 2.8. Previous week saw Main Event do a 2.7, WCW a 2.5 and Power Hour a 2.0.
3/28 in Worcester, MA drew 3,500 as Mike Graham pinned Morton *1/2, Vader pinned Bagwell *, Johnny B. Badd beat Cactus Jack via count out **, Taylor pinned Page (who played face) *1/4, Windham & JYD beat Austin & Zbyszko in a bunkhouse match billed as an elimination tag but wasn't ***, Simmons pinned Vegas -**, Steiners beat Anderson & Eaton via DQ ***1/4 and Sting pinned Rude in 19:06 to retain the title **1/2.
Rhodes missed with weekend with a disc problem in his back. Last I'd heard is he's expected back in about ten days.
Both Rude and Dangerously have reached verbal agreements for new contracts, I believe both two-years in duration although I don't think either contract has actually been signed yet.
The 3/29 show at the Baltimore Arena drew 3,800 paid and $32,000 but with all the two-for-ones and freebies and discounts, etc. there were in excess of 7,000 fans in the building.
Mike Weber, who worked PR for the WWF in the mid-1980s before going to work for Donald Trump, is headed here to head the PR department in a few weeks.
3/27 in Chicago drew 2,300 as Morton pinned Graham, Vader pinned Bagwell, Taylor pinned Page, Simmons & Josh beat Vegas & Mr. Hughes, Windham & JYD beat Austin & Zbyszko via DQ when Cactus Jack interfered (best match on the card), Cactus pinned Badd, Steiners beat Anderson & Eaton via DQ and Sting pinned Rude to keep the title.
There has been a lot of local publicity regarding KFAN's decision to drop Jesse Ventura from doing the Minnesota Vikings broadcasts for next season. Several reasons were given, one of which was that he was announcing wrestling. Ventura is trying to make a move to television and get on the broadcast team for the televised NFL games on TNT or college games.
THE READERS PAGES Jason Shepard puts out a newsletter called Wrestling Weekly at 1110 Vine St., Wisconsin Dells, WI 53965 for $6 for four issues.
Joseph Gianninoto of 472 Gramatan Ave., Mount Vernon, NY 10552 has tapes to trade from everywhere.
Boyce Johansen of 5424 W. 69th AVe., Arvada, CO 80003 puts out the newsletter Wrestle Gram for $1.50 per issue and has a merchandise catalog.
Larry Doyle of 13610 Ankerton St., North Whittier, CA 90601 is looking for a regular supplier of UWA Lucha Libre tapes and also the 3/16 Donahue show and the National Geographic Explorer segment on Lucha Libre.
Keith Livesay of Route 19 Box 250, Johnson City, TN 37601 is interested in getting tapes of Ladies Major League Wrestling.
Anthony Gambino of 85 Quincy Ave., Kearny, NJ 07032 is looking for a tape of the 3/16 Donahue show.
Joe Stein of 2010 S. 11th St., Sheboygan, WI 53081 is looking for a tape of the 3/16 Donahue show.
Wade Keller of P.O. Box 201844, Minneapolis, MN 55420 besides putting out Pro Wrestling Torch newsletter is also selling Best of Pro Wrestling Focus audio tapes for $5. The latest tape includes interviews with Mark Madden, Bruce Mitchell, Jesse Ventura, myself, Eric Krol, Freddie Fargo, Lightning Kid, Jim Cornette and Eddie Gilbert.
Joe Gillespie of 1169 Foxchase Dr., San Jose, CA 95123 is looking for Japanese tapes aside from those of All and New Japan, particularly PWF tapes of Wayne Shamrock.
Alex Marvez of P.O. Box 12795, Gainesville, FL 32607 will send a free issue of Three Count to anyone who sends him a SASE.
John Arezzi of 136 N. Carll Ave., West Babylon, NY 11702 will send four free issues of his new pro wrestling newsletter to anyone who requests them.
Evan Ginzburg of P.O. Box 471, Flushing, NY 11354 put out a 48-page "Wrestling then and Now" booklet for $7 ($10 overseas).
Ted Field Jr. of 2 Grace Dr., Nashua, NH 03062 has tapes of the Larry King and Phil Donahue shows and others available for trade and has a tape list for $5. He's looking for audio and videotapes of AC/DC and Kix concerts.
S.L. Batts of 1135 Patterson St., Petersburg, VA 23803 is looking for tapes of Mid Atlantic Wrestling with Johnny Valentine, Super Destroyer, Rip Hawk, Johnny Weaver and Wahoo McDaniel.
Jeff Neal of 102 Offutt Ave., Somerset, KY 42501 is looking for FMW tapes with Kevin Sullivan, The Sheik and Sabu.
Oliver Copp of Niedermayser Str. 74, W-8300 Landshut, Germany is looking for a regular supplier of New Japan tapes and also SuperBrawl and Starrcade and can trade PAL tapes of WWF, WCW and the European Wrestling Federation in exchange.
PRO WRESTLING MINDSET
If and when the current scandal-ridden furor in pro wrestling eventually dies down, and the steroid doctors and sex therapists have had their say, there remains yet another kind of doctor who should be asked to shed some light on the entire industry. That's the good old-fashioned shrink. The wrestling world and its "closed" community have succeeded in breeding a culture, complete with a correlating psychological mindset, that is at best unique and at worst, highly dysfunctional. Listening to Vince McMahon's recent media appearances finds him sounding more like one of his employees explaining the "legitimate" need for a Texas Death return match (ie "It's the only way to really, truly settle this thing once and for all")...and believing it. Somewhere, the line between reality and fantasy (read that dealing with every single aspect of life itself as a total and ongoing work) has blurred for these people. And worse yet, they don't seem to even know that this is the case. Pathological? Yes. A sign of mental illness? Possibly. A psychiatrist's dream? To be sure. It's a sad state of affairs. And it's really the only way for a rational person to rationalize how real-life tragedies like murder, child abuse and sexual harassment can be compromised in the name of "protecting the business." Perhaps we shouldn't be angry with any of these people. Maybe we should just pity them. Nevertheless, it would probably be worthwhile for a qualified psychiatrist to do a thorough work-up of the wrestling business and the typical pro wrestler's mentality. Whether or not it would yield anything productive for society as a whole is debateable. At the very least, however, it would be extremely revealing, maybe even enlightening, for someone, somewhere.
Jeff Siegel
Evanston, Illinois
DONAHUE
I saw the Donahue show and have mixed feelings about it. You really have to watch it in two ways. As a wrestling fan and as a non-wrestling fan. As a non-fan, it made Billy Graham and Bruno Sammartino into being bad guys because they let children by molested and didn't go to the police. I thought Murray Hodgson sounded very intelligent.
Bryan Alston
Tyndall Air Force Base, Florida
Just finished watching Donahue and I think Vince McMahon handled himself well considering everyone but yourself was out there to hang him. Let me also say that the only person on the panel I believed was Barry Orton. He had the most to lose because he could still return to active wrestling. Everyone else had their own gripes with Vince McMahon so I had to take everything with a grain, or maybe a pound, of salt. Everyone knows the hatred Bruno Sammartino has for Vince and why didn't he come out sooner. He hasn't been in wrestling for four years. Billy Graham is just sour grapes over his problems. He's been out of the business for years also. Why didn't he come forward sooner? Why did he only talk about steroids and other drugs? By the way, did Bo Jackson's hip injury come from steroid abuse or from a nasty hit? Couldn't Graham's injury have been caused by taking a bad bump? From what I've seen and heard of Murray Hodgson, he was let go because he stunk at the job. If, as he said, he has a lawyer on this, wouldn't a wrongful dismissal suit be filed by now? As for that jobber, who really cares about him? For the guy to want to do nothing but jobs and not get hired, he must have been pretty bad.
Name withheld by request
DM: While I'm not going to take issue with your opinion here, there are some facts that need addressing. First off, Sammartino has spoken out in regards to all of this for years. It's just that he never had a national forum until the past two weeks. In fact, despite what Vince McMahon would lead you to believe, what he's saying now had nothing to do with changing his tune after leaving the WWF or his son being fired. I can tell you that personally. I spoke with Sammartino exactly once prior to the past two weeks. It was in 1987 or 1988 and his views on everything were no different at that time than they are now. He talked freely about steroids and other drugs in wrestling and his feelings on them which are consistent to his feelings now. While he didn't tell me about homosexual harassment, he did speak about the subject to friends of his for many years. Graham came forward in 1990 after he had his ankle operation, or as soon as he claims he was told by his doctor that steroids had caused his joints to degenerate. I'm not a doctor, but I can tell you that in the sports underground many have said that the major injuries to both Bo Jackson and Brian Bosworth (avascular necrosis of the hip and shoulders respectively) were joint degeneration caused by steroids. Some doctors will concur and others will disagree. I can't even tell you for sure if Jackson ever used steroids although Bosworth obviously was a heavy user. In Bosworth's case, it is generally considered by most football experts that steroids were the reason his career was cut so short. In Jackson's case, nothing has been publicly ever acknowledged. In Graham's case, while there are wrestlers who have had hip replacements from years of bumps, the destruction of his hips and both ankles included shutdown of blood to the joints because of dead bones, which I don't know can be attributed to bumps. Graham's physician, Dr. Lawrence Dorr, who is a world-renowned physician said there is no question Graham's injuries came from steroids and in fact has used Graham's physical condition and X-rays in lectures throughout the world on side effects of steroids. Hodgson has already filed a wrongful termination suit against the WWF. His lawyer informed McMahon of the charge just a few weeks after termination according to what he said on the show. Since I've yet to see the WBF tape, I can't say if he was horrible or not but from his performance on Donahue, he made the claim he couldn't make the transition from radio to television look ridiculous. As for Tom Hankins, it's been gone over before but the only reason he came forward was because McMahon called Barry Orton a liar and he felt that his own personal experience told him Orton was the one telling the truth. As time has gone on, based on changing of original stories, it has become more apparent Orton was the one telling the truth. His problem has been that many in the mainstream media didn't fully comprehend his story and misinterpreted it.
What has happened to pro wrestling? After all these years of firmly defending it, do I now admit what a dirty, sleazy business it is? What I admit--there are those within this business who simply don't care about anyone. From the beginning, I've always been for the betterment of pro wrestling and have always supported the wrestlers. Believe me, I have witnessed much and know how dirty some of my friends have been treated. I saw this from the early days. Life as a pro wrestler isn't easy. Steroids are everywhere. Drugs are all over and it will stay that way because it's big business. Sexual abuse and sexual harassment, whether involving males or females, is wrong. When underage kids are involved, it's not only wrong but it's sick and those responsible should be put behind bars. For those of us who have followed pro wrestling since the golden days, the current national publicity cuts deep. If you follow the media, sexual harassment scandals seem to be everywhere. Unfortunately, many in the general public appear to laugh it off because it's only pro wrestling. But when corporate sponsors start pulling their advertising, which is possible, we may witness the downfall of a promotion. Vince McMahon was his own time bomb. But those who will suffer are the wrestlers. There are so few places where they can work now. Wrestling will never die and it's always gone in cycles, but this time the stakes are a lot higher. To Barry Orton, I'm proud of you.
Diane Devine
Denver, Colorado
Enjoyed seeing you on Donahue after being tipped off about the show in the Miami Herald wrestling column by Alex Marvez. As the only non-worker on the panel, I would have preferred for Donahue to allow you more time to expound on all the information, issues and allegations discussed. What about Bruno Sammartino's claim that Vince McMahon Sr. blackballed him in the past? Isn't any criticism of Vince McMahon Sr. unusual when all the former greats like Buddy Rogers say only good things about him even though they do nothing but lambast Junior? Who is the wrestler who chose to give in to Patterson and Garvin's lustful intentions and received an undeserved push? Am I wrong to believe that such harassment went on with Vince McMahon's likely knowledge and participation?
Fred Levick
Miami, Florida
DM: Sammartino claimed Vince Sr. blackballed him very early in his career and he had to go to Canada to find work because the major U.S. promoters wouldn't book him. Criticism of any wrestling promoter is hardly unusual. In the 70s, Vince Sr. had more than his share of criticism from wrestlers although certainly nothing on the level of Vince Jr. nor on the level of guys like Nick Gulas or Mike LeBelle. As for a wrestler who may have given in to anything or McMahon's knowledge, there is nothing I can add to or comment about that hasn't already been printed here that would be anything but speculation and rumors. At this point, that isn't fair to anybody.
I saw the Donahue telecast this week. All I can say is that I hope there can be some type of major reform in the wrestling game. I hope that justice prevails at the end.
Russ Yow
Asheboro, North Carolina
LARRY KING
After seeing a tape of Vince McMahon on the Larry King show, I truly believe Richard Nixon would have been proud of him. You have to give him credit. He was besieged on all sides yet he didn't even flinch. Next to John Gotti, he was the most unshakable defendant since Claus Von Bulow. I really believe that Joe Public doesn't care one way or the other about steroid abuse or sex scandals because this is pro wrestling. Other than Larry King, how much mainstream media has even mentioned this story? I'm not sure the public would care if it was the NFL either. I'm afraid we are in a society ruled by Al Davis' credo of, "Just win, baby."
Mike Lanzalotti
Williamston, New Jersey
SEX SCANDAL
A few thoughts on the WWF sex scandal. How can Vince McMahon even believe that anyone will buy that he didn't have any knowledge of what Pat Patterson and Terry Garvin were apparently doing. A control freak like McMahon had to know what his underlings were doing. You've also got to wonder about the common sense of a man who, with the organization racked by a sex scandal runs a program like Ric Flair vs. Randy Savage based not on the championship belt but on sex, or at least the alleged sexual improprieties of the challenger's wife.
Mike Nunno
Garfield, New Jersey

April 13, 1992 Observer Newsletter: Good, bad, ugly at Mania 92, Warrior back, scandals update, more

Wrestling Observer Newsletter PO Box 1228, Campbell, CA 95009-1228 April 13, 1992 WRESTLEMANIA VIII
Thumbs up 160 (44.0 percent)
Thumbs down 118 (32.5 percent)
In the middle 85 (23.4 percent)
BEST MATCH POLL
Ric Flair vs. Randy Savage 231
Roddy Piper vs. Bret Hart 52
WORST MATCH POLL
Ted DiBiase & IRS vs. Natural Disasters 103
Hulk Hogan vs. Sid Justice 91
Owen Hart vs. Skinner 44
8 man tag match 25
Tatonka vs. Rick Martel 21
Based on phone calls and fax messages to the Observer as of Monday afternoon. Margin of error: 100 percent.
Since Wrestlemania is the biggest show of the year in this country, we might as well start here. The show drew a crowd reported by the WWF as 62,167 to the Hoosier Dome in Indianapolis. It was heavily papered although no word on how heavily. The live gate was right around $1.25 million. They must have scaled down a lot of tickets at the end because I believe they'll announce 54,000 paid, and they had topped the $1 million mark before they had sold 30,000 tickets which, if true, would mean an average of $10 per ticket sold in the final few weeks. It would be the fourth largest live gate for pro wrestling ever in North America (a full house was originally scaled at $2.5 million as compared with the $3.45 million for the Toronto Wrestlemania with the same basic-sized crowd). It was nowhere near, dollar-wise, what the big stadium shows in Japan have done. But on this continent, it trails only Wrestlemania VI (Hogan vs. Warrior from Toronto), Wrestlemania V (Hogan vs. Savage from Trump Plaza) and Wrestlemania III (Hogan vs. Andre from Pontiac, MI). Paid attendance probably hovered around the fourth highest ever in North America although obviously the show came nowhere close to the 72,000 paid that had been talked about for several months. The crowd, while relatively quiet for most of the matches, looked impressive enough on camera with few enough empty seats in the place to give the impression that aspect of the show was a big success. Very preliminary figures indicate a substantial drop from last year's Wrestlemania on PPV which had to be a major disappointment. The buy rate estimates early are ranging from a 2.6 ($14.1 million) down to a 2.1 ($11.3 million). The drop from last year, which itself was a disappointment considering it was a big drop from the previous year blamed on the War angle touching the wrong kind of a nerve with casual buyers, is being blamed on the recession.
A. In the dark match, The Bushwhackers beat The Beverly Brothers in approximately 10:00. While it wasn't a good match, it turned out to be better than half of the matches that did take place. *
1. Shawn Michaels pinned Tito Santana in 10:38. While not a bad match by any means, it was disappointing considering the talent level involved. Michaels stalled early and spent most of the rest of the match on the mat with a side headlock put on him. Michaels got the advantage tossing Santana over the top rope and kept up for three minutes. Santana (the only man except for Hogan to be in every Wrestlemania) hit several flying forearms in a comeback with Michaels going to the floor. Michaels basically did a Curt Hennig-imitation in the last minute of the match with the wild bumps. Finish saw Santana try to bodyslam Michaels in from the apron, Michaels held onto the ropes and fell on him for the pin. **
Next up was an interview with Legion of Doom and new and old manager Paul Ellering. The interview was way too long and it didn't seem like many people knew who Ellering was. LOD didn't seem to have a definite program or purpose for the interview other than to debut Ellering and make it clear they've returned.
2. Undertaker pinned Jake Roberts in 6:39. Considering this was probably the third most anticipated match on the show, it was real bad. Undertaker sold nothing early and did his choking. Roberts hit the DDT twice but both times Undertaker popped back up. Finish saw Roberts go after Paul Bearer on the floor, Undertaker got out of the ring and gave Roberts the tombstone piledriver on the floor and threw him into the ring to be pinned. 3/4*
3. Bret Hart pinned Roddy Piper to regain the Intercontinental title in 13:50. Really good. They did an excellent job of getting their personalities over without turning either one. Hart bled a lot, which may have been accidental. But it did add a lot of drama to the match. The match build well before the ref bump. Piper clotheslined Hart to the floor and gave him a good shot to the ring steps. Piper then brought the ring bell to the ring and paused forever deciding whether or not to hit Hart but eventually didn't, keeping him a strong babyface in the eventual defeat. Piper then put on the sleeper, Hart kicked off the turnbuckle on fell backward onto Piper for the pin. ***1/2
Next up was an interview with Lex Luger. I believe the interview was actually done that morning in Indianapolis and spliced into the show rather than done via split-screen from Atlanta as it was purported as being. Luger is the key in bridging the wrestling audience to become a bodybuilding audience. More on the bodybuilding later but by 1993 Luger will become either the most over or the second most over person working for Titan Sports with his dual role in both promotions.
4. Virgil & Big Bossman & Jim Duggan & Sgt. Slaughter beat Nasty Boys & Repo Man & Mountie in 6:31. Ray Combs of Family Feud did the ring announcing (since Titan is sending a team of heel wrestlers to oppose babyface bodybuilders on Family Feud very shortly). He was kind of annoying, but the ring announcing was still the best part of the match. Finish saw the heels get the noseguard off Virgil, Nobbs held Virgil while Saggs went to hit him with the noseguard, Virgil moved, Saggs hit Nobbs and Virgil pinned him. The match wasn't good, but nobody expected it to be, but at least it wasn't painful to watch. 1/4*
5. Randy Savage pinned Ric Flair in 18:02 to win the WWF championship. This was expected to be the match of the show and it lived up to it. The purported centerfold photo of Elizabeth that Titan was using as a lure to get last minute buys never materialized. Savage attacked Flair early with Mr. Perfect saving Flair from the early beating. Flair took all his bumps for the first two minutes before backdropping Savage over the top rope and Savage taking the bump like a Mexican wrestler. Flair kept the advantage for the next several minutes. The only negative about the work were that a lot of Savage's clotheslines looked real bad and Flair sold them like they weren't. Savage came off the top rope to the floor with a double sledge and Flair juiced after hitting his head on the guard rail. Savage suplexed him on the floor. Savage then hit the elbow off the top rope but Mr. Perfect interfered right in front of the ref and pulled Savage off. Then came the ref bump. Perfect gave Flair a foreign object and he hit Savage but Savage kicked out (I'll bet 90 percent of the people watching thought that was going to be the real finish). Perfect then attacked Savage's knee and Elizabeth came to ringside with Shane McMahon, Dave Hebner, Rene Goulet, Jay Strongbow and J.J. Dillon (that's who they told me it was, I've watched the tape three times and still don't believe it since it looked like a taller Jim Barnett) blocking the view of all those nice folks who paid $125 for ringside during the hottest part of the best match on the show to act like they didn't want here there. Flair got the figure four on, Savage reversed it. In the ensuing melee, Savage schoolboyed Flair using the tights and got the pin. Flair kissed Elizabeth, who started slapping him, after the match. Savage jumped on Flair and Perfect jumped on Savage and the gang in suits all jumped on everyone and got jumped on and everyone was jumping on everyone. Doesn't this sound like "Now It Can Be Told" all over again? Well, at least this time, J.J. did get to watch. ****1/4
At this point, there was no way this card could have been a thumbs down. But it might as well have ended here because the best thing on the show after this point was either the intermission or the British Bulldog vs. Berzerker match that didn't take place because they were running late on time.
6. Tatonka pinned Rick Martel in 4:33 with a cross bodyblock. The ring entrance with all the Indians dancing was longer than the match, and it didn't get over either. Martel carried him and it wasn't bad. *1/4
7. Natural Disasters beat Money Inc. (Ted DiBiase & IRS) via count out in 8:37 so Money Inc. keeps the WWF tag team titles. Oh, was this bad. Disasters aren't over as faces one lick and work so badly that the crowd didn't have a lick of interest in the match. Typhoon was far worse than usual, which is a mouthful. Typhoon splashed IRS and Jimmy Hart pulled him out of the ring and they walked back to the dressing room for the count out loss. The fans in the building, who no matter how many times they see this, have always in the past popped for the COR thinking the title changed hands, didn't care one iota. Horrible match and an even worse finish. -**
8. Owen Hart pinned Skinner in 1:09 with a reverse rolling cradle. Hart looks ridiculous in that ring outfit. Best move of the match was Hart's ring entrance. DUD
9. Hulk Hogan beat Sid Justice via DQ in 12:29. You know Hogan is really something special when he can be in a match, like this one or the one with Andre, which is totally devoid of anything, and still just by his charisma get interest in the match. Not that this wasn't horrible because it had to be one of the three worst main event matches in PPV history. After an opening flurry, there was a two minute stall, a test of strength that never ended, an interminable nerve hold and the first wrestling move of the match came at 10:30 which was a side slam followed by a power bomb that Hogan kicked out of and made the Superman comeback. Hogan had perhaps the worst looking foot-to-the-face he's done in a long time, followed by the bodyslam and legdrop, Justice kicked out and the ref called for an immediate DQ because Harvey Whippleman got in the ring. Papa Shango did the run-in to lead to the return of a slimmed-down Ultimate Warrior who made the save, in gear, complete with entrance music and all. -**
Overall I'd give the show a thumbs in the middle. On a ten match, show, we had one match that didn't even take place (which almost nobody complained about which tells you how much people were looking forward to that match), six bad matches, one decent match and two very good-to-excellent matches. That sounds almost like it should be a thumbs down and when I think about the show logically it should be, but it wasn't bad. It was an impressive production and the big crowd makes a difference in making you think this is a special event. For those who enjoyed the show specifically because of the juice, consider yourself "fortunate." It didn't represent a change in policy by the WWF. It was a combination of an accident and miscommunication and don't expect it to happen again because McMahon doesn't believe in the juice. They had a post-match media press conference with Savage and Warrior (supposedly Hogan refused to attend) with mainly puff questions considering most of the news of late. Savage did admit to steroid use in the past but said he was glad to be off it because it gave him PMS. Nobody broached the subject with Warrior, who unlike Savage, did the interview totally out of character. He talked about being a chiropractic student before being a wrestler, said his name was Jim Hellwig and that when he goes home, he puts the Warrior costume away.
Warrior is back full-time (and yes, it is the same Ultimate Warrior as before) and there is a long-term plan for him. Jake Roberts quit before the show, which explains the burial in the second match. He left for what apparently were non-business related reasons and at least gave the impression that he'd be back before the end of the summer.
Another point needs to be made and that is that this was the closest thing ever to a steroid-free pay-per-view pro wrestling show from any company. Everyone (well, I'm told there were two exceptions) looked to be off the stuff (as compared with the last PPV when more than half of the guys looked to be on). Right now the onus is there to stay that way and on WCW to follow suit.
The post-Wrestlemania cards consist of one show being comprised largely of Savage-Flair return title matches with the top two underneath matches being Undertaker vs. Papa Shango (these guys may work together better than it sounds on paper since they are good friends in real life) and Money Inc. vs. Natural Disasters. The top three matches on the other show will be Warrior vs. Justice, Bret Hart vs. Michaels and Legion of Doom vs. Beverly Brothers. Some of the underneath early summer marriages to round out the shows will be Tatonka vs. Col. Mustafa, Virgil vs. Berzerker, Kerry Von Erich vs. Skinner, Chris Walker vs. Bob Bradley, Sgt. Slaughter vs. Mountie, Repo Man vs. Bulldog, Santana vs. Martel, Owen Hart vs. Jim Powers, Bossman vs. Convict (to kick in a few months down the line, not right away) and Nasty Boys vs. Kato & Crush.
And now it's time for--the rest of the story.
Friday's "Now It Can Be Told" feature on the WWF and its sex scandal was far and away the most brutal major media feature on the subject thus far. While the show's overall accuracy and journalistic standards were actually better than every show that has covered the subject, there are two factors that will lead to this being not particularly damaging by itself. First off, the show is only in a limited number of markets. Second, the show's reputation isn't the best and is considered tabloid fare even when serious news is broached.
The show brought forth two new names in the WWF sex scandal, both former referees, Michael Clark and Rita Chatterton who refereed in 1985-86 as Rita Marie. Chatterton's story painted a horrible portrait of Vince McMahon, claiming McMahon promised her the world and talked of a cover on Time Magazine and a $500,000 income in exchange for sexual favors. Chatterton spoke of an encounter in McMahon's limousine on July 16, 1986 in which she claimed in a tearful television interview that McMahon physically forced sexual intercourse on her. Chatterton claimed by refusing to acquiesce to McMahon's desires that her bookings as a referee ceased. She said the reason it took her nearly six years to come forward was because her parents weren't in the best of health and didn't want to put them through what assuredly would be a stressful legal fight since her name would be run through the mud. Both of her parents have now passed away, her father passing away just a few weeks ago and the combination of that and everyone else coming forward is why she claims she came forward with these charges. She admits to telling others in the wrestling business about them back in 1986. One of the people she told, one of the industry's biggest names, told us Friday night about a conversation with Chatterton right after the alleged incident which corroborates some but contradicts other aspects of the story. The statute of limitations has expired in this case both as far as a legal or a civil tort for the alleged act is concerned, however her attorney, Robert Wolf of New York, is pursuing litigation on the case based on his ability to prove this wasn't an isolated incident but a constant pattern within the company. Chatterton passed a lie detector test about two weeks ago in regards to the story she told on "Now" according to Wolf. Her story was fully corroborated on the record by Joe Stuart, who was the driver of the limo, on Monday. Stuart, who has a lawsuit against McMahon and in the complaint alleges immoral and illegal acts having taken place in McMahon's limousines, said he was driving the limo the night the alleged incident took place. Vince McMahon and the WWF refused to respond to appear on the "Now" show to address the charges the show brought out and have been unable to be reached for comment since the show aired due to Wrestlemania.
Clark, who appeared on the show along with Murray Hodgson, Bruno Sammartino and Barry Orton, told a story about how he claimed he was let go as a referee by the WWF after refusing a homosexual advance from Terry Garvin. "The WWF is just filth, lies and cheaters. They'll step on anyone's toes to get what they want." Clark, who worked for the WWF for three-and-a-half years, claimed that Garvin asked him if he could perform oral sex on him. In exchange, Garvin said he'd get him booked as a referee throughout Canada, get him a green card so he could work in the United States and also give him $500. Clark said that when he refused, his career with the WWF was over. Clark claimed there was a crew of referees and ringboys who were doing sexual favors for management, headed by Garvin and Pat Patterson that were known as "The Cream Team." Clark called Mel Phillips the sickest of the three. Garvin and Patterson resigned in the wake of the scandal and Phillips was suspended shortly thereafter. Another ex-WWF wrestler confirmed "The Cream Team" name and said it first started as a joke, a take-off on "The Dream Team," the tag team of Greg Valentine & Brutus Beefcake who were WWF tag team champions when the moniker came out, but soon everyone realized it was something that wasn't funny. Clark, who came off as extremely believable in the piece, said that he knew of a few wrestlers who got their jobs through sexual favors.
The show also made it seem quite clear that McMahon was aware of all of this. Hodgson spoke of his meeting with McMahon (which occurred after he was fired) when he said he brought up the exchange with Patterson at the Worcester Centrum and McMahon brushed him off. "He felt I was some little peon who was just going to get kicked under the rug because they didn't do what Vince McMahon wanted them to do." Clark followed saying that he was warned about Patterson and Garvin the very first day he was in the wrestling business and said that everyone in the wrestling business knew about them so there was no way McMahon couldn't have.
The show was banned, because of a court injunction, from airing the interview with Tom Cole, the ringboy who is back working with the WWF after settling his grievance a few weeks ago. However, they quoted from Cole's affidavit as part of the injunction banning the interview: "The interviews contain graphic description of sexual abuse I received between the ages of 13 and 19, most between 13 and 16 and has left me emotionally scarred."
The program was meant to be a go-for-the-jugular investigation and it clearly was exactly that. However, with such an abundance of material on the subject, the report was hurt credibility-wise in a few parts because of the use of speculative charges, particularly the insinuation during the show that Patterson and Garvin were still working for the company. Both Sammartino and Hodgson said basically that if they were to guess, they believed both were still working for the WWF. While I can't dispute that point, it was speculation of the type that neither knew about and really didn't need to be part of the piece. The show also gave the ridiculous $1.7 billion figure for WWF's gross annual revenue and that it takes in more money than the NFL and said Vince McMahon single-handedly took wrestling from smoke-filled rooms to family rooms. In addition, Barry Orton's story was edited to make it seem like the story of Garvin hitting on him was something recent when it was actually in 1978 and before either Orton or Garvin were working for the WWF. While Orton's story is valid, in fairness, it needs to be put in its proper context.
Hodgson, a former disc jockey based out of Detroit who was hired to do Events Centers and World Bodybuilding Federation events (basically take over Sean Mooney's duties) after a year-long talent search by the WWF, has claimed many times he was fired for not doing sexual favors for Pat Patterson and has a lawsuit against Titan out in this regard. McMahon claimed Hodgson was fired because he couldn't make the transition from radio to television. But if Hodgson hasn't proved anything else thus far, he has proven the ridiculousness of that statement, although that doesn't necessarily confirm the Patterson incident as the reason for the termination. He displayed exceptional television presence and camera savvy, even beyond that of McMahon, on Donahue, and followed it up with an even stronger presence on this show. Hodgson, who was used as the focal point tying together most of the charges, even talked of allegations of animals being abused and killed and the steroid use to contradict the WWF's self-proclaimed family entertainment image. The latter two charges were never delved into for the remainder of the program.
Even with its minor flaws, the piece was world's better than the piece the CBS Evening News with Dan Rather aired that same day. The CBS piece ran down some of the major charges and basically rehashed stories that have been reported elsewhere. It was basically a case of lazy journalism with little investigating and just going with a few surface stories. The investigation was light-hearted, but still very damaging, concentrating on the charge that midget wrestler Karate Kid was blackballed for not acquiescing to a homosexual advance and the Hulk Hogan steroid connection. There were also major and unforgivable factual errors, such as that there hadn't been one arrest nor lawsuit filed related to any of these charges to make them seem unsubstantial. In fact there have been numerous drug arrests of WWF wrestlers including a fairly high profile drug trial of the company most well-known pusher. In addition, two wrestlers had been busted for drugs just in the previous nine weeks. There have also been three lawsuits filed related to the topics talked about, and most unforgivably, two of the lawsuits were filed by Hodgson and Superstar Billy Graham, both of whom appeared in the piece. It also stated that Wrestlemania was going to sellout, when it was no secret within the industry that the show was being heavily papered because the advance didn't indicate they could come close to filling the building. Pro wrestling itself took its lumps in the piece, being called a "hideous combination of side show, acrobatics and good guy vs. evil." Even though all of these charges, with the exception of the steroids which cuts across wrestling and many other sports, were limited to the WWF, the piece never differentiated between the WWF and the rest of wrestling and the whole industry was indicted to a high-brow audience. But no matter how serious the charge, the story was always kept tongue-in-cheek. Hogan came off the worst of anyone, with the narration saying that what Hogan preaches is apparently not what he practiced. This was followed by David Shults saying Hogan took steroids like he drank water and mentioned injecting him hundreds of times. Hogan, as with every article on the subject, refused to be interviewed to respond to the piece. McMahon appeared, however, and called all the allegations absurd and tried to call it a conspiracy. What was absurd was for CBS, even with the time restraints of a four-and-a-half minute piece (that ended the newscast and was plugged throughout the day Thursday and throughout the newscast Friday) for CBS to air a blanket statement regarding so many different charges. Clearly the evidence is more than overwhelming concerning the drug charges. There is an awful lot of corroboration that sex abuse and harassment in some form had taken place. How prevalent it was is the question. Although Titan hasn't publicly admitted to it, from all accounts the Tom Cole story appears to have a lot of validity. To pardon the pun, the jury is out on a few of the other cases. All these charges have to be taken individually, not collectively. It wouldn't surprise me at all to find out that some stories may lack credibility, but we've now had 11 or 12 different people come forward (four or five who admitted abuse as ringboys, three wrestlers regarding harassment, one announcer and two referees and another who claims to have witnessed at least one of the encounters. CBS did echo what it called the crescendo of opinions that Congress ought to investigate the industry, but again, in a tongue-in-cheek manor. While airing so many charges on such a widely-viewed and so-called credible news program was quite damaging to the entire industry as a whole (more sponsors are now steering clear of wrestling in general because of the bad publicity, unfortunate because there are many innocent parties being victimized because this piece painted the entire industry with one brush when most of these charges related to just one company in the industry). However, in many ways the segment tried to trivialize them by downplaying their importance because the fans couldn't care less. I somehow think that if the NFL or NHL had a similar situation, and their stadiums stayed full (which they would), that the CBS Evening News wouldn't do the story tongue-in-cheek and trivialize it because live attendance won't suffer.
Many years ago in this area there was a college basketball superstar, Quintin Dailey of USF, who was eventually convicted of raping a co-ed, and many in the university conspired to cover the story up. This was well-known on campus but hidden from the news media for months, but the basketball games still drew packed houses and the enthusiasm for Daily never waned. Even after it went public, the attendance and enthusiasm stayed high, although the cover-up did turn out to be such an embarrassment to the school that the basketball program was dropped for a few years over it. I don't recall one media story about the incident even bringing up that Daily was never booed during games (or that in fact, fans would bring banners to the game denouncing his accuser), that fans didn't stop coming to games or that enthusiasm never waned. Nor did the local or national media, when the story broke, use any of those facts as an excuse to not cover the story.
The Allentown Morning-Call also had a major story on Friday about the allegations made by Sammartino and Graham on Donahue and King involving the alleged incident involving Mel Phillips talked about on both shows. The WWF never responded to this story as well. Graham said he was awaiting a match at the Agricultural Hall, where the WWF taped its television shows at the time, when two security guards escorted the employee (Phillips) into the dressing room. "I was sitting practically two feet from (Vince McMahon Sr. and Jr.) when security guards brought him (Phillips) in," Graham said. "I saw the guards hand Phillips over to the McMahons. The guards told the McMahons about the situation in the parking lot and the McMahons said, `We'll take care of it.' The security guards left and Phillips made his exit in an opposite direction." Graham also said in the story, "I assumed that the McMahons would take control of the situation and either fire Phillips or suspend him. I felt it wasn't necessary for me personally to be involved with a police report. I didn't discover him. I didn't see the act. I wasn't involved. It wasn't up to me. I just assumed that the WWF would take the proper steps to see that it never happened again. Graham said he saw Phillips at the next taping and it was like nothing had happened. There is a flaw in this story. Graham said it happened in either 1982 or 1983, while Sammartino pegged it as between 1978 and 1981 although he admitted he could be wrong about the date. However, by 1982, Sammartino was no longer a part of the WWF (he returned in late 1984).
RODDY PIPER REFUTES SCANDAL CHARGES A transcription of Roddy Piper's comments regarding the negative publicity the WWF has suffered on KSAC radio in Sacramento on 3/30:
Ted Green (host): I want to talk to you about all the controversy that seems to be dropping on the head of Vince McMahon and the World Wrestling Federation, what is going on with charges of steroids with Hulk Hogan, and sexual abuse. What in the world is happening to your sport?
RP: This is the way I feel about that, Ted. You know there are all these allegations against McMahon as a steroid thing, well first of all, I was part of the steroid thing. Let me tell you folks, let me clear it up, yes I did it. When did I do it? With a doctor when it was legal. Why did I do it? To improve myself. Is it good? No, kids you'll die if you do it but you've got to try it. Some people can't seem to let that thing go. I don't know why. Ted, let me ask you something. If I was to give you this cup of coffee and the doctor said it was okay and it would make you the best sports announcer in town, would you drink it?
TG: Roddy, I hate coffee.
RP: You hate coffee, but would you drink it if it made you $1 million bucks?
TG: Would I be better than Al Michaels?
RP: You already are better than Al Michaels.
TG: I'll take it with sweet'n'low.
RP: Of course you would.
TG: But wait a second, coffee's not the same thing as steroids. Come on.
RP: No it's not the same thing but I'll tell you, you need to drink your little cup of coffee to get up in the morning and whatever your doing. What I'm saying is with the steroid thing they're talking about something that happened a year-and-a-half ago that was legal under a doctor's care. How much are you guys going to beat this into the ground?
TG: I just want to ask you some straight questions like how many of you guys take steroids? What percentage of the wrestlers do it?
RP: Nobody's taking steroids now. We're being tested, the last eight days probably two times. Two times every eight days, nine days, it's a surprise test all the time so nobody's taking steroids now. The ones that were taking it, they got whatever they were at when they had the first test, as long as they keep coming down they're okay, if not, they're fired. It's simple. We found out steroids kill you. Don't take them. It's finished. You don't need them to be a great wrestler.
TG: Roddy, what about the charges of sexual abuse in the World Wrestling Federation. This stuff is going out on Donahue, Oprah, Geraldo.
RP: Brother, I know what you're saying. Donahue, right? Had all these accusations. On the panel, there was Vince McMahon, then there was Superstar Billy Graham who used to break legs for the mob, Barry Orton who is an ex-con and Billy Jack Haynes I believe was there who is an ex-con and some guy who said he phoned McMahon in 1985 and there was a guy on there who had a pretty good demeanor who said he was an announcer, right. He got flown in four times and the people kind of popped for him. Remember that? And then Vince said something like let's bring up some of the past and Donahue said, No, no, no, we're talking about this issue. You know what that past was?
TG: What's that, Roddy?
RP: That guy's gay.
TG: You're kidding.
RP: That brings a whole new light to it doesn't it, Ted? Not only that, Vince never auditioned this guy. He left it to Bruce Prichard and then once Vince saw him, he said, "He's lousy, get him out of here." And that's the truth. But the public just wants to hammer on us. But you know what, I've been in seven fights in seven days and they're all sold out.
So another one's credibility totally bites the dust. Almost every point Piper made here has turned out to be false, some of which could have been honest mistakes, and a few of which were outright lies. Steroids were not legal in many cases when wrestlers were using them. Possession didn't become a federal crime until early 1991, but use in wrestling didn't drop one iota when that law changed. While Piper did get his steroids from a doctor (Zahorian), in the trial he admitted Zahorian offered him no medical advise on them. In addition, Piper admitted in the Zahorian trial having steroid packages mailed to him in California in 1990 where possession of steroids was very much illegal as it was by 1988 in 13 states including Florida, where many of the WWF's biggest stars lived and received steroid packages from Zahorian. It's a major pet peeve when wrestlers claim they never knew about the side effects when they used steroids because the side effects were well known in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Every bodybuilder I knew in the late 70s knew about the potential side effects. That "We didn't know they were dangerous when we used them" stuff is crap. Everyone knew. The guys in the 60s that used all knew about the bodybuilders and powerlifters with kidney and liver problems and bad steroid reactions. They just didn't choose to accept them or listen because the results were so addictive. And now we've got an even more ridiculous extreme by saying if you use them they'll kill you. Donahue was almost as bad saying that he doesn't blame anyone for using steroids before we knew the horrible things they did. We knew 95 percent of the side effects from steroids that we know now twenty years ago and while they can be horrible with either bad luck or major abuse, as a general rule, horrible isn't the applicable word and saying they'll kill you is even less responsible than saying "We didn't know." Piper's claim that the wrestlers are tested for steroids twice every eight or nine days and he'd been tested twice in the previous nine days was also false. According to Dr. Anthony Daly, who heads the WWF's steroid testing program, there have been five WWF steroid tests since the first one on November 13, 1991. They are spread four-to-six weeks apart. He said the most recent test he has results from was in late February, and in that test, 20 of the group's 50+ wrestlers were tested. According to Graham, he was never a leg breaker for the mob. Haynes, who wasn't even on the show, did spend time in jail although it was about 15 years ago. So did Orton, which is no secret, so those statements were true. When Hodgson was reached on Monday shortly after filming the Geraldo Rivera talk show that airs this coming Thursday, he appeared shocked at the statement he was gay. He said he almost wished he was, just to throw McMahon's cries of of homophobia back in his face. Even if it were true, it has no relevance nor does it put anything in any kind of a different light. In addition, it was McMahon, not Prichard, who auditioned him (and also negotiated with him and signed him to a two-year deal). He was hired and worked for the company (using the television name Mark Jennings) well after Prichard was fired. Oh yeah, and in Roddy's previous seven house show matches, not one of the arenas was sold out.
Graham's lawsuit against the WWF, Titan Sports, Dr. George Zahorian and seven drug companies that manufactured anabolic steroids was filed nearly two weeks ago in Philadelphia. All parties have twenty days to respond in writing. I expect Titan to take an aggressive stance in this case. Graham returned home from the hospital on Monday after some pretty serious complications ensued following an operation to replace his first replacement hip two weeks ago. Graham suffered a minor collapsed lung and major blood loss in the surgery's aftermath. The worst came Wednesday when the new artificial hip became detached, which it was first feared would require yet another operation which . Luckily, the doctors were able to get the artificial hip back into position without surgery.
New York Post columnist Phil Mushnick, who has broken many of the stories relating to this scandal and wrote a go-for-the-jugular editorial on McMahon a few weeks back, was blasted in the Charleston Post-Courier by WWF spokesperson Steve Planamenta in typical Titan tradition of trying to deflect damaging issues and turn them into personality conflicts to be able to claim personal vendettas. Planamenta claimed that Tom Cole was manipulated and coerced and used by media members for their own purposes. He also said, in regard to the blistering Mushnick column, "The article was bad to the point of being good. I think people have finally come to realize what Phil Mushnick's agenda is. It's a personal attack against Vince McMahon. He's made no bones about the fact that he hates Vince McMahon--for no particular reason. He's never had the guts to meet with Vince McMahon. John Filipelli, who's one of our executive television producers, has known Phil for years. John was a producer at NBC, and Mushnick had told John long before he had written anything about us that Vince was an evil person and should burn in hell. I think he just doesn't like what we do, maybe resents Vince's success and resents that no matter what he writes about us, nobody seems to give a crap.
Mushnick responded to the comments in a follow-up story in the same newspaper saying, "John Fillipelli is an old friend, and clearly this has done more than strain our relationship. It's virtually destroyed it. This story has grown far beyond my relationship with John Fillipelli. John called me shortly after I started writing about the steroid trial about how the media had abandoned such a big story. John said, `Just between us, Vince is a good guy; lay off of him.' I told him that anyone who says that trial had nothing to do with the WWF should go straight to hell. And he basically agreed with me. He said that I didn't even know the half of it. But at that point I was just starting to. I didn't hear another word about it until Vince McMahon got on the Larry King show and said, `Phil Mushnick despises me so much that he told John Fillipelli I should go to hell.' He made it sound as if that was on the sex charges. That was clearly long before the sex charges. Why would John Fillipelli call me to explain Vince McMahon to me before I ever wrote anything? And if I hadn't met him personally, why would I have a personal vendetta against him? I've spoken with him. I wouldn't give him two minutes of my tie now. There's nothing he says that I believe." The same story quotes an insider close to the story as saying: "Tom Cole called Phil Mushnick last July. He called him every day for months. Phil Mushnick didn't find him. He called Phil last July after Phil did a steroid story and he thought there might be a guy willing to go head-to-head with the WWF. He called him almost every day for months and wanted Phil to write that story. It wasn't until they got two other kids to come forward that Phil agreed. Phil wanted an exclusive, but he was still beaten for the story. Whatever Tom Cole said about being manipulated by the media, my feeling is that if Tom Cole wanted his job back, he manipulated the media. If you're not looking for media attention, you don't call a reporter almost every day for eight months and you don't go to the New York Post."
This is going to get a lot uglier before it gets better. I don't think any story can or will be more brutal than the "Now" piece, although a similar story on a more respected news program or major publication revealing the same information would be far more damaging. Those who think this story will now fade to black as it has run its course are being premature, although I certainly wish it would. Besides, at this point, the media is the least serious concern of the WWF now. What will be the end result of all this? Only a fool would make a prediction at this point.
As for WCW, the big news is the change in hierarchy as reported last week. According to Executive Vice President Kip Frey, the change should mean almost nothing in terms of company structure. Frey is still the man in charge of day-to-day operations. Jack Petrik's role with the company is basically gone, and in his place will be Bill Shaw as the department head and Bob Dhue as the man Frey reports to.
Titan introduced its bodybuilding television show "WBF Body Stars" this past Saturday on the USA network while WCW introduced its new format for World Championship Wrestling later that same day. The WBF show, a half-hour show, which airs at 11 a.m., is a vehicle to get the bodybuilders over as celebrities and good guys. The show emanates from the gym on the second floor at Titan Towers, hosted by Vince McMahon and a female bodybuilder who I believe is the younger sister of Cory Everson (and if she isn't, could easily pass for it). In the background there are dozens of others pumping away, and the hosts introduce segments that range from training and nutritional advice to babyface personal appearance work of the WBF stars (usually with a WWF wrestler since the bodybuilders themselves aren't celebrities yet on their own outside of the muscle gyms) with bumper clips to propagate what a fitness lifestyle brings showing the guys jet-skiing and the like to give you the impression they are living out a fantasy lifestyle. The first show spent several minutes talking about the WBF drug testing program and how it's better than the Olympics because the second word in the general public's mind when they think of competitive bodybuilders is steroids (the first word generally is "gross"). Overall, the show was very impressive. As expected, graphics and production are first-rate and the show is quick enough paced that it doesn't get old. The weaknesses are there is still too much posing, because after 90 seconds, all the flexing looks the same to an unaided eye. In addition, none of the bodybuilders project much in the way of personality on television. An interview by Tom Platz, the bodybuilding legend who pretty much occupies the role (corporately, this isn't meant as a joke here) Pat Patterson used to with the wrestlers with Gary Strydom was particularly flat. Based on the first episode, this show will turn out to be a tremendous personal vehicle for McMahon, whose facial expressions and loud grunting when he's doing his pumping steal most scenes, and Lex Luger, whose heel persona amidst 13 bland babyfaces will get over tremendously. The show certainly comes across a lot better than those Joe Weider commercials that coincidentally started the same weekend all over the WCW broadcasts.
The new WCW format, which has been compared to a take-off on the WWF's Prime Time Wrestling show, was also a pleasant surprise given the reaction by those who saw the first taping live. Jim Ross hosts the show with a different guest host each week (the next three weeks will have Kip Frey, Dusty Rhodes and Bill Fralic of the Atlanta Falcons), many of whom will be non-wrestling personalities. It was good to start with Jesse Ventura because he was a key in the first show coming off so well. It'll be interesting how the show comes across when more of the bugs are worked out, but also when Ross has to work off of weaker television personalities. The show opened with a ***3/4 match between a very-much injured Brian Pillman and Brad Armstrong. They did a lengthy segment with Ron Simmons, with a package of both football and personality clips that was extremely effective. Simmons came out in a suit and tie and clearly this shows a total directional difference by WCW as compared with WWF as it, at least in this case, tried to portray the wrestler as a serious athlete as opposed to a cartoon character. Simmons stressed kids staying in school and staying off drugs (I still cringe when most wrestlers talk about drugs) and his interview couldn't even be categorized as a promo. The rest of the show consisted of matches, including a two-of-three fall main event between mid-card guys which is an attempt to get 20 minute matches on television with natural commercial breaks. My personal feeling on this is with the right talent, long (long being 20 minutes for television, 30 minutes plus on PPV) can be an excellent change of pace and will be etched in ones' memory much better than the average quickie match. But they really work better as a change of pace as opposed to a weekly thing. Long matches with mid-card wrestlers of average or less than average ability (like The Freebirds on next week's show, for instance) have the potential to be death.
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EMLL 3/27 at Arena Mexico in Mexico City saw Black Magic (Norman Smiley) & Blue Demon Jr. & El Hijo del Solitario win 2/3 falls from Ponzona & El Espectro Jr. & Universo 2000 when Solitario pinned Universo *3/4; Salomon Grundy & Ultimate Dragon (Yoshihiro Asai) & Dandy beat Los Brazos in 15:35 in a match where Dragon and Brazo de Plata looked great **1/2; El Satanico & Bestia Salvaje & Blue Panther beat Octagon & Love Machine (Art "Juicer" Barr) & Atlantis in two straight falls when Salvaje pinned Atlantis in two straight with a lariat off the top rope in the first fall and a power bomb in the second fall. This match was to set up Atlantis defending the NWA world middleweight title against Salvaje, but Salvaje was injured four days later in Mexico City, blowing out his ankle, so that potential four-star match had to be changed. ***1/4; Main event saw Sangre Chicana & La Fiera & Cien Caras beat Conan & Canadian Vampire Casanova & Perro Aguayo. The faces lost the first fall, and actually pinned Chicana to win the second but heel ref El Gato Montini disqualified the face team for not stopping beating on Chicana after the pinfall. **3/4. After the match, Vampire threw Montini over the top rope which I believe will be the excuse to suspend Vampire since he's going back home for a few months.Octagon beat Bestia Salvaje on 3/26 in Cuernavaca to keep the Mexican middleweight title.
This Sunday's television show (taped 4/3 in Mexico City) has a mask vs. mask match with Blue Panther vs. Love Machine and the NWA world middleweight title match with Atlantis vs. La Fiera. This will be the final television taping until the 5/24 taping at Arena Mexico as they move back to the 5,500 seat Arena Coliseo the following week which means weaker shows generally. Also on the card, Cien Caras & Mascara Ano 2000 & Universo 2000 vs. Aguayo & Conan & Rayo de Jalisco Jr. in what is being billed as Conan's retirement match, The Untouchables (Pierroth Jr. & Masakre & Jacque Mate, the CMLL trios champions) in a non-title match against Octagon & Mascara Sagrada & Apollo Dantes.
Satanico regained the NWA lightheavyweight title from Lizmark on 4/5 at Arena Mexico in Mexico City. This adds to Satanico's record of holding the most different individual singles championships in the history of Lucha Libre. This result was a shocker since Lizmark was seemingly a sure bet to drop the strap to Ultimate Dragon on 4/18 in Tokyo. In the main event on the same card, Apollo Dantes won a hair vs. hair match from Javier Cruz.
Blue Panther kept the CMLL middleweight title beating El Filoso last week in Mexico City and Ciclon Ramirez won a mask vs. mask match from Dahlia Negra, who turned out to be Esmiliano Quioga, formerly known as El Suriano.
UWA Andre the Giant makes his first trip to Mexico in many years on 4/18 and 4/19. Bam Bam Bigelow also returns on 4/12.4/5 at El Toreo in Naucalpan was headlined by El Hijo Del Santo retaining his UWA welterweight title beating Sombra Negra (Juan Salazar). Apparently this was a weak main event on a weak card. Also, Fishman & The Head Hunters from Puerto Rico beat Pegasus Kid (Chris Benoit in his first week as a babyface here) & Gran Hamada & Villano III when Fishman pinned Kid to set up either a hair vs. mask match or a WWF lightheavyweight title match between the two of them. The other top match on the card saw UWA trios champions The Death Missionaries (Negro Navarro & El Signo & Black Power II) lose a non-title match to Silver King & El Texano & Villano IV.
Pegasus Kid retained the WWF lightheavyweight title on 4/3 in Netzahualcoyotl against Villano IV.
Pegasus Kid still worked as a heel Saturday night in Cuernavaca teaming with Head Hunters against Silver King & Villano III & Hamada.
ALL JAPAN No major news although the Champion Carnival tour continues to pack the houses. Last Sunday's television show headlined by the Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Terry Gordy match drew a disappointing 3.9/2.2 rating (three previous weeks drew 5.7/5.2, 4.6/3.5 and 5.4/3.8 ratings).Top matches at the 3/27 taping in Wakayama saw Tsuruta and Gordy battle to a 30:00 draw, Stan Hansen pinned Kenta Kobashi with the lariat, Danny Spivey pinned Akira Taue with the DDT and Giant Baba & Rusher Kimura & Mitsuharu Misawa beat The Wild Bunch (Masa Fuchi & Motoshi Okuma & Haruka Eigen).
4/1 in Sanjyo drew a sellout 3,250 as Tsuruta & Taue & Fuchi beat Misawa & Kawada & Kikuchi when Taue pinned Kikuchi with the arm bomber in 22:31, Hansen & Johnny Ace beat Abdullah the Butcher & Kimala II, Gordy pinned Doug Furnas, Steve Williams pinned Yoshinari Ogawa, Spivey pinned Master Blaster (Al Greene), Kobashi pinned David Isley, Dan Kroffat pinned Mighty Inoue and Baba & Kimura beat Okuma & Eigen.
Joel Deaton returned home to the United States because of his injury this tour.
Major show on 4/2 at the Yokohama Bunka Gym before a sellout 4,900 fans (this airs this coming Sunday on television) saw Tsuruta go to a 30:00 draw with Misawa, Hansen pinned Spivey, Kawada pinned Kroffat, Gordy pinned Fuchi, Williams pinned Taue, Abdullah & Kimala II beat Kobashi & Kikuchi, Ace & Blaster beat Furnas & Isley and Baba & Kimura beat Okuma & Eigen.
3/30 in Nagaoka drew a sellout 3,800 as Misawa & Kawada & Kobashi beat Tsuruta & Taue & Ogawa when Kawada beat Ogawa with the dragon sleeper in 23:20, Hansen & Spivey beat Kroffat & Furnas, Gordy pinned Kikuchi, Williams pinned Isley, Fuchi beat Kimala II, Ace pinned Blaster, Abdullah beat Mighty Inoue and Baba & Kimura beat Eigen & Okuma.
4/3 in Choshi drew a poor crowd of 1,800 as Misawa & Kawada beat Tsuruta & Fuchi in 14:36 with the facelock by Misawa on Fuchi, Williams & Gordy beat Hansen & Blaster, Abdullah pinned Taue, Kobashi pinned Ogawa, Ace beat Kimala II, Spivey pinned Isley in 1:20, Furnas & Kroffat beat Kikuchi & Mitsuo Momota and Baba & Kimura beat Okuma & Eigen.
4/4 in Fuji drew 3,900 as Williams & Gordy & Blaster beat Misawa & Kawada & Kikuchi when Gordy pinned Kikuchi with a power bomb in 17:21, Tsuruta beat Kimala II, Hansen pinned Taue, Kobashi pinned Isley, Abdullah pinned Ogawa, Ace & Spivey beat Kroffat & Furnas, Baba & Kimura & Momota beat Okuma & Eigen & Fuchi in 25:10 of a comedy match.
3/31 in Toyama drew a sellout 4,300 for a television taping (which aired this past Sunday night) as Hansen & Spivey beat Abdullah & Kimala II, Taue pinned Kawada in an upset in 17:03 with the golden arm bomber, Misawa pinned Kikuchi with a Tiger driver, Tsuruta beat Blaster with the sleeper, Gordy pinned Ace with the power bomb, Williams pinned Kroffat with the Oklahoma Stampede, Furnas & Isley beat Ogawa & Mighty Inoue and Baba & Kimura & Kikuchi beat Eigen & Okuma & Fuchi.
OTHER JAPAN NOTES In New Japan, the Blond Outlaws group (Super Strong Machine & Norio Honaga & Hiro Saito & Tatsutoshi Goto) have changed their name to The Raging Staff.Complete PWF show for 4/19 at the Tokyo Coliseum has Masakatsu Funaki vs. boxing legend Roberto Duran, Minoru Suzuki vs. Wayne Shamrock, Yoshiaki Fujiwara vs. Jerry Flynn, Bart Vail vs. Kilauea and prelims.
Akira Maeda is headed to Bulgaria to bring in new athlete from that country to compete in Rings.
SWS cards upcoming are 4/16 in Minami-Ashigara headlined by The Natural Powers (King Haku & Yoshiaki Yatsu) defending their SWS tag team titles against George & Shunji Takano.
4/17 in Yokohama has The Natural Powers defending the belts against The Natural Disasters (Earthquake & Typhoon), Naoki Sano vs. Chavo Guerrero for the SWS junior heavyweight title and Ric Flair vs. Genichiro Tenryu in what is being billed as "The Battle of Kings." 4/18 at the Tokyo Coliseum has an SWS tag team title match with the match to be announced depending upon the results of the two previous nights, Ultimate Dragon vs. Lizmark in what was being billed as an NWA lightheavyweight title match but obviously that won't be the case since Lizmark lost the title Sunday in Mexico City, Sano vs. Guerrero for the SWS jr. title and Flair vs. Tenryu in Battle of Kings II. The Japanese were pretty much tipped off about a week ago since the Flair-Tenryu match which was being billed as a WWF title match was announced as a non-title match instead one week ago.
UWFI is close to getting a television contract with a Tokyo station. Their 5/8 card at the Hamamatsu Arena was announced as Nobuhiko Takada vs. Gary Allbright to determine the first UWFI World Martial Arts champion. The semi-main event has Kiyoshi Tamura vs. boxer Matthew Saad Muhammad from Philadelphia. Saad-Muhammad, 37, who is many years past his prime, is still active as a pro wrestler after debuting professionally back in 1974 and has a 39-16-3 record for 29 knockouts. During his prime, he was considered one of the most exciting boxers of all-time and held the WBC world lightheavyweight championship from April 22, 1979 when he beat Marvin Johnson until August 7, 1982 when he lost to Dwight Braxton. Koji Kitao debuts in this style vs. Kazuo Yamazaki and in an exhibition match, Billy Robinson vs. Nick Bockwinkel with Lou Thesz as referee.
Universal promotions has its next show on 4/19 at Tokyo's Korakuen Hall headlined by UWA Intercontinental tag team title match with Punish & Crush (Akiyoshi & Takayama in Mexico) defending against Gran Hamada & Transformer (better known in Japan as Kendo), Robin Hood & Oro vs. Canelo Casas & Shu El Guerrero, Masa Michinoku & Sakigake Gantetsu vs. Lightning Kid & Dynamic Lynn (Jerry Lynn) and an All Japan women's match.
FMW next tour begins 5/2 with a no rope barbed wire death match in Hiroshima with Atsushi Onita vs. The Sheik. 5/3 is an outdoor show in Osaka with a no rope street fight barbed wire match with Onita & Tarzan Goto vs. Sheik & Sabu, and 5/7 in Toyota has a match for the FMW Wold Martial Arts tag team title with Onita & Goto vs. Big Titan & Centurion (who I believe is Tim Patterson from California).
Rings drew a sellout 5,480 in Hiroshima on 4/3 with the major upset main event as Volk Han made Akira Maeda submit with the kneelock in 17:28, so Maeda felt it was time to create a new star. The other top matches saw Masaki Saatake knock out Herman Renting and Willie Williams knock out Mitsuya Nagai.
The new JWP promotions had its inaugural show on 4/3 at Tokyo's Korakuen Hall before a sellout 2,010 fans with Mayumi Ozaki & Cutie Suzuki beating Dynamite Kansai & Hikari Fukuoka in the main event and Devil Masami pinning Harley Saito in the semifinal.
All Japan women on 4/5 in Yacchio drew 1,850 as Bull Nakano pinned Mariko Yoshida and Aja Kong & Bison Kimura beat Toshiyo Yamada & Manami Toyota in a non-title match.
4/3 in Yaita drew 1,100 as Suzuka Minami pinned Kyoko Inoue and Yamada & Toyota beat Nakano & Bat Yoshinaga.
USWA 3/30 in Memphis saw Don Bass draw with Cat Garrett, Big Black Dog pinned Ricky Hayes, Tom Prichard beat Tony Falk, Eric Embry beat Tony Anthony in an anything goes match, Brian Christopher beat Jimmy Valiant to keep the Southern title, Kimala beat Koko Ware via DQ to keep the USWA title and Moondog Spot & Big Black Dog & Richard Lee beat Jerry Lawler & Jeff Jarrett & Leatherface in the main event.3/31 in Louisville saw Falk beat Hayes, Prichard beat Carolina Crusher, Christopher beat Garrett, Embry DDQ Anthony and Lawler & Jarrett DDQ Spot & Black Dog.
4/4 in Nashville saw Star Riders beat Garrett & Hayes, Prichard beat Falk, Embry beat Anthony, Christopher beat Garrett, Lawler & Jarrett beat Moondog Spot & Big Black Dog and Lawler & Jarrett won a Redman Rumble tag team Battle Royal under Royal Rumble rules.
Moondog Spike (Bill Smithson) quit the promotion last week and a new Moondog debuted on television Saturday. I'm not sure who the new Moondog is other than readers have speculated the names of Gene Lewis or J.R. Hogg.
Eric Embry is no longer booking, with hose chores being handled mainly by Jerry Jarrett with help from Lawler and Jeff Jarrett.
New to the promotion are The Birds (Action Jackson & King Parsons), who celebrated their first night in by missing the shot in Nashville, and The Star Riders, a heel tag team from Florida, one member of whom is Rick Rider. The Star Riders looked really bad in their television debut as each man stumbled and fell off the top rope trying to do finishing moves.
Lawler threw fire at Richard Lee again Monday night in Memphis. Lee claimed Spike was gone because his brain was swollen from all the blows to the head by Lawler & Jarrett and he's in the hospital and Lawler said it's a lie because Spike doesn't have a brain. Lawler & Jarrett then got Lee in the ring and tore off his clothes until Spot and the new Moondog ran in with boards and garbage cans and took care of them until Eddie Marlin threatened to fire them.
New manager Lauren Davenport screamed at Tony Falk during his interview saying he was terrible and he's letting her down because he's losing all of his matches. She told Falk, who she continually slaps around, that if he doesn't get better, he's gone.
4/6 in Memphis was headlined by a Redman Rumble, which was a Tag Team Battle Royal under Royal Rumble rules and if one member of the team is eliminated, the other is also eliminated. Teams announced for the show were Lawler & Jarrett, Moondogs, Star Riders, Embry & Falk, Prichard & Hayes, Garrett & Anthony, Birds, Brian Christopher & Dr. Death (who is back after a one week absence). Also Prichard vs. Death, Miss Texas & Dirty White Girl vs. Nurse Kratchett & Lauren Davenport, Star Riders vs. Garrett & Hayes, Birds vs. Embry & Falk, Christopher vs. Anthony for the Southern title and Moondogs vs. Lawler & Jarrett for the USWA tag team titles.
Kimala is gone for a few weeks for a tour of Japan.
Moondogs also dominated the television show. During a Christopher vs. Prichard match for the Southern title on TV, Moondogs jumped in and beat up Prichard with Christopher jumping out of the ring to avoid the attack. Next TV match was Embry vs. Anthony and Moondogs beat up Anthony with Embry in the ring laughing about it and then the Moondogs beat up Embry as well. Lawler & Jarrett made the save with boards and a broom. It appears to be the beginning of an Embry turn.
GLOBAL 4/3 at the Dallas Sportatorium drew 500 fans as for a 4/21 ESPN air date Terry Simms & Gary Young & Scott Putski beat John Tatum & Rod Price & Steven Dane when Putski pinned Tatum. After the match Boni Blackstone interviewed Simms & Putski with Young standing there and complaining that since he was injured and replaced in the tag team match where Simms & Putski won the GWF tag team titles last week, that Simms (the replacement) they should give him "his belt." This led to Young grabbing Putski's belt and throwing it on the floor and running away with it, turning heel. Then Bruce Forcz beat Sam Houston & Chaz by DQ, Danny Davis pinned Barry Horowitz to win the GWF lightheavyweight title, Eddie Gilbert pinned Dark Patriot in a North American title vs. mask match when Gilbert ducked when Bruce Prichard went to hit him with his belt and hit DP instead and he was pinned. Prichard took the mask off DP and revealed--another mask and they got out of the ring before revealing him as Doug Gilbert. Then in a 15 man Battle Royal for syndication that won't appear on ESPN to determine the GWF television title that was stripped from Eddie Gilbert a few weeks back, Houston pinned Simms as the final two men in what was the best match on the show. Also for syndication, Danny Davis pinned The Viper (Mike Davis), Simms & Putski beat Brute Forcz, James Beard knocked out Prichard in the second round of a boxing match. Horowitz then attacked Beard. Gilbert tried to make the save but was attacked by Dark Patriot until a large man in street clothes with a mask made the save. Gilbert pulled the mask off the guy to reveal Dave Sheldon (formerly Angel of Death who is back after another major knee operation). Final match on the card saw Bill Irwin beat Big Bad John (subbing for Black Bart) in a double pole match. Horowitz climbed the pole and got a horseshoe and threw it to John, however Irwin ducked the blow and schoolboyed him for the win.Bart moved to Florida because he got a new regular job but had said he's appear to put Irwin over for the final night but no-showed.
Tatum & Price turned babyface when Scandor Akbar went to sell their contracts to Prichard. When Tatum & Price acted like they wanted to part of Prichard, Dark Patriot & Dane attacked them and left them laying in a pool of blood. Several other heels joined in on the attack so the fans knew Tatum & Price had made the turn.
4/10 has Dane vs. Todd Overbow, Young vs. Putski, Irwin vs. Bull Pain for the Brass Knux title, Dark Patriot & Big Bad John vs. Gilbert & Angel of Death, Simms vs. Viper, Beard vs. Prichard with Irwin as ref with the loser being the first man stripped of his clothes. This card won't be taped for television.
HERE AND THERE: Dennis Coraluzzo and Larry Sharpe ran a show 3/27 in Pikesville, MD before 300 fans with Lords of Darkness beating Cream Team, Spider over Chris Candito managed by Jim Cornette via DQ, Joe Daniels beat A.C. Golden (formerly Golden Phoenix), Nikolai Volkoff beat Kimala via DQ and Road Block beat Thor. 3/28 in Clementon, NJ drew 700 as Golden drew Victor Rivera Jr., Candito (managed by Cornette) beat Chris Evans (managed by Dr. Mark Curtis) in what was said to have been a great match, Volkoff beat Mike Sharpe via DQ, Kimala pinned Road Block and main event Spider and promoter Coraluzzo go to a no decision with female manager Amy Lee & Daniels when Spider getting knocked out and Coraluzzo taking a pounding from the heels until Jim Cornette made the save.A benefit show at Duluth High School in Duluth, GA drew 300 on 4/1 headlined by Bambi (it was her high school) beating Judy Martin plus Ron Garvin beat Al Navarro (an early 1970s wrestler for Ann Gunkel), The Patriot (Del Wilkes), Pez Whatley and Ken Timbs also appeared.
Carlitos Colon beat Ron Garvin on 4/4 in Caguas to win the Universal title.
Steve Doll & Grappler beat John Rambo & Col. DeBeers in a cage match on 4/4 in Portland to win the Northwest tag team titles. Other results saw Mike Miller beat Jesse Barr, Don Harris beat C.W. Bergstrom, Mike Winner beat Northwest champ Ron Harris in a non-title match, Sandy Barr beat Al Madril and Bart Sawyer beat Buddy Rose in a match where if Sawyer lost, he had to eat a butter finger candy bar and if Rose lost, he had to eat spinach, the single food he hated the most. Rose ate the spinach and then threw up in the ring. Watching Buddy Rose throw up sounds like tremendous entertainment to me, too.
Ron Harris won the Northwest title from Doll un 3/24 in Vancouver, WA.
A group called MAWA is promoting weekly in Mesquite, TX and on 4/1 they drew 340 fans to see Rod Price & Awesome Kong managed by Armond Hussein beat The Stomper & Action Jackson via DQ.
Gary Sturdevant's Big D Pro Wrestling, booked by Chris Love, runs every Sunday night at a converted Roller Rink in Dallas and on 4/5, main event saw Eric Fontaine & Jimmy James & Miss Judy (promoter's wife) beat Awesome Kong & Ray Evans & C.J. (not the one from Memphis). 4/12 has Chaz vs. Shawn Stevens (formerly Kenny the Stinger), Bull Pain vs. Tug Taylor, The Blackbirds (King Parsons & Action Jackson vs. The Fat Boys (who spent something like a week in Memphis), Dane vs. Terry Daniels and Fontaine & James vs. Kong & Evans. Sam Houston & Baby Doll are booked for the 4/18 show in Kaufman, TX but don't take that to mean a reconciliation.
North Georgia Wrestling run by Sam Kent, Steve Lawler and Danny Dees had a TV taping before a turnaway crowd of 100 in Alpharetta, GA on 4/11. Mike Curevich is the Georgia champion and Festus is TV champion. Lawler turned babyface when manager Diana Helmsley turned on him sending the Convicts into the cage to beat up on Festus and Lawler who had a cage match. This will air on Ch. 69's wrestling block as part of Pro Wrestling this Week with Scott Hudson and Steven DeTruth as announcers.
ACW is running three shows over the next week on 4/10 in Moulton, AL, 4/11 in Oneonta, AL and 4/16 in Priceville, AL with Bob Armstrong, Wendell Cooley and Robert Gibson as the biggest names.
Sadistic Steve Strong (Steve DiSalvo), TNT, Hurricane Castillo Jr., Hercules Ayala, Invader #4, Misty Blue, Monster Ripper, Sonny Beach, Jeff Tigershack (Jeff Gaylord), Manny Fernandez, Chiqui Starr, Ray Gonzales, Tom Brandi, Super Medico #4, Galan Mendoza and Jose Luis Rivera are working for the AWF in Puerto Rico.
Steve Gatorwolf's AWF had two title changes with Gatorwolf losing his AWF title to Star Man (Billy Anderson) on 4/5 in Tuba City, AZ and regaining it 4/7 in Kanab, UT.
El Hijo Del Santo & El Hijo Del Solitario beat Mando Guerrero & El Espanto Jr. in the main event on 3/20 in Tijuana before 1,500 fans. Also Super Muneco & Rey Misterio & American Eagle (Danny Davis) beat The Mercenaries (Billy Anderson & Tim Patterson & Louis Spicolli) via DQ.
5/17 in Barre, VT for promoter Cliff Bartz has Barbarian vs. Demolition Ax (Bill Eadie), Hercules vs. Marty Janetty plus Dino Bravo.
Atlantic Coast Wrestling drew 60 on 3/14 in Lincolnton, NC with Jeff Rudd winning Atlantic Coast title beating Foster Hughes and Mike Maverick & Bart Cranford winning IWF tag team titles from The Beck Brothers. 3/21 in Newton, NC before 130 saw Rudd beat Hughes and Maverick & Cranford beat Bobby Bolt & Flash.
Larry Sharpe's court fight for breach of contract with Soul Talker (now Papa Shango) was thrown out of court this past week which makes him 0-for-2 in the legal department.
4/24 in Newington, CT has Koko Ware vs. Mike Sharpe plus D.C. Drake & Larry Winters vs. Jules Strongbow & Cousin Luke.
4/10 in Plainfield, CT has Hercules vs. Ken Patera, Bam Bam Bigelow vs. Samu the Samoan plus Afa the Samoan works and Ox Baker will manage.
Congrats to Observer reader Brian Smith of New London, CT on his proposed marriage next week to Joyce Andy.
Add Manny Fernandez, Chris Adams and Brian Blair to the list of those now working for Buck Robley in Louisiana which include Greg Valentine (between WCW dates), Tim Horner, Bob Orton, Ron "Prime Time" Powers, Paul Orndorff, Eli the Eliminator, Robert Gibson & Bob Holly (as the Rock & Roll Express), Buddy Landel and Ken Massey.
WWF Randy Savage appeared with Regis & Kathy Lee on the Wednesday before Wrestlemania.Hulk Hogan bought a new $2.3 million home in Tampa over the past two weeks to end the rumor of him leaving for Hawaii which also makes the Japan gig less likely and staying with the WWF pretty darn likely (particularly with that finish).
The USA network special with the Tribute to Hogan did a 3.6 rating on Sunday night and a 3.3 for the replay on Monday night which I'd have to tab, at least for Sunday, as disappointing since they aired the Hogan-Warrior match for the first time on television and hyped the Hogan retirement and Liz interview so much. All-American the Sunday prior to Mania did a 2.8, which is much better than it had been doing.
The movie Rough Stuff which Hogan stars in is scheduled for a January release.
3/26 in Salt Lake City drew 2,000 as Chris Walker pinned Kato 1/2*, Crush pinned Berzerker 1/2*, Natural Disasters beat Jim Duggan & Sgt. Slaughter via DQ **1/2, Repo Man pinned Jim Powers DUD, British Bulldog pinned Ted DiBiase (negative many stars), Owen Hart & Koko Ware beat Beverly Brothers * and Roddy Piper beat Ric Flair in a cage match **.
For those who keep track of real names, Chris Walker's real name is Glynn Coon.
WCW Tentative for the June PPV show from Mobile, AL will include a bikini contest with Madusa vs. Missy (I'm not making this up), Sting vs. Cactus Jack with falls counting anywhere on the Gulf Coast, Ricky Steamboat vs. Rick Rude in some kind of a stipulation match and Rick & Scott Steiner vs. Steve Williams & Terry Gordy.The NWA World tag team title tournament will start on the June Clash in Charleston, SC with eight first-round matches and 16 teams. There will be about a half-dozen non-WCW teams entered. The final eight teams will go to the Bash on 7/12 in Baltimore with the quarterfinals, semifinals and finals taking place that night. An educated guess says that a climactic Sting vs. Big Van Vader match will headline that PPV show and Brian Pillman vs. Scotty Flamingo will be on the card as well.
Pillman's back injury appears to be worse than originally thought and he's still not back in action although Dustin Rhodes returned over the weekend.
Only two matches were taped 4/1 in Center Stage, both 2/3 fall matches for airing the next two weeks on WCW with Freebirds beat Terrence Taylor & Greg Valentine in a non-title match in a sleeper of a match (as in which fall will you fall asleep during) and Nikita Koloff over Larry Zbyszko in two straight falls of a match said to be a lot better than it sounds on paper.
3/31 at the Meadowlands from all accounts was an excellent house show drawing 4,500 paid as Richard Morton pinned Mike Graham **1/2, Terrence Taylor pinned Diamond Dallas Page **, Ron Simmons & Big Josh beat Vinnie Vegas & Mr. Hughes **1/2, Cactus Jack beat Johnny B. Badd via count out **, Barry Windham & JYD beat Larry Zbyszko & Steve Austin in a superb bunkhouse tag team match ****, Big Van Vader pinned Marcus Bagwell *1/2, Steiners beat Arn Anderson & Bobby Eaton via DQ *** and Sting pinned Rick Rude to keep the WCW title in 19:00 ****.
Kip Frey is negotiating with MTV for a tie-in similar to the 1984/85 MTV/WWF tie-in.
That K. Allen Frey vs. Dallas Page angle has got to go.
4/5 in Jacksonville drew 4,100 (3,300 paid) as Valentine & Taylor beat Bagwell & Zenk **, Badd pinned Tracy Smothers *, Cactus Jack pinned JYD 1/2*, Nikita Koloff pinned Page DUD, Rhodes & Windham beat Zbyszko & Austin **1/2, Rude beat Steamboat via DQ when the Dangerous Alliance ran in ***, Anderson & Eaton double count out with Steiners ***1/4 and Sting pinned Vader in a match which surprised everyone as to how good it was ***1/2.
4/3 in Washington, DC saw Badd pin Smothers, Valentine & Taylor beat Zenk & Bagwell, Koloff pinned Page, JYD beat Cactus, Windham & Rhodes beat Austin & Zbyszko, Steiners beat Anderson & Eaton via DQ when Austin interfered, Rude beat Steamboat via DQ and Sting pinned Vader.
3/26 in Terre Haute, IN saw Morton beat Graham, Vader pinned Bagwell, Simmons & Josh beat Vader & Hughes, Windham & JYD beat Austin & Zbyszko, Taylor pinned Page, Badd beat Cactus Jack via count out, Steiners beat Anderson & Eaton via DQ when Madusa interfered and Sting pinned Rude.
WCW Main Event on 3/29 drew a 2.9 rating, WCW on 3/28 did a 2.5 and Power Hour that morning did a 1.9.
4/2 in Norfolk drew 2,800 as Badd pinned Smothers, JYD beat Cactus, Valentine & Taylor beat Zenk & Bagwell, Koloff pinned Page, Steiners beat Anderson & Eaton via DQ, Windham & Rhodes beat Austin & Zbyszko, Rude beat Steamboat via DQ and Sting pinned Vader.
WCW has six "B" shows booked in small Georgia and Alabama towns in the month of May to give the younger wrestlers more ring time.
Steve Armstrong is apparently history over a contract dispute. No word on El Gigante, but nobody mentions his name anymore. In fact, I'm not even sure anyone remembers his name.
4/6 in Macon, GA for TV taping drew 3,000 (2,000 paid). Apparently they did an angle already where Ricky Steamboat kissed Madusa because they did interviews referring to the incident. Rhodes beat Eaton via DQ in a **1/2 match when Austin did a run-in and Windham made the save. Hold that thought and you can book four hours of television. Taylor & Valentine beat P.N. News & Johnny Rich. Bagwell beat J.T. Southern via DQ for an over-the-top-rope and then Scotty Flamingo ran in and Tom Zenk made the save. Rhodes & Windham beat Austin & Eaton when Rhodes pinned Eaton with the bulldog **3/4. In a dark match, Steiners beat Anderson & Eaton via DQ ***. Back to the formula, Zenk beat Flamingo and Southern ran in and Bagwell made the save. JYD & Josh beat Page & Jack. Scotty did an interview talking about Pillman's title. Nikita beat Anderson via DQ when Eaton interfered and Rhodes & Windham made the save. Flamingo pinned Chip the Firebreaker in a good match, Vader debuted the scorpion deathlock and wouldn't release it and all the jobbers came in and they couldn't get him off the jobber until Sting came in and Vader destroyed Sting as well and put him in the scorpion until Rhodes, Windham & Nikita made the save. Bagwell & Zenk beat Flamingo & Southern with Flamingo doing the job, Sting pinned Vader **1/4 in the dark match main event.
THE READERS PAGES Jeff Ng of 937 Kenyon Ave., San Leandro, CA 94577 is looking to get a tape of the Larry King and Phil Donahue shows covering wrestling.
Ian Goodwin of 466 Prospect Ave., Brooklyn, NY 11215 is looking for a tape of SuperBrawl II and audio tapes of old Howard Stern shows.
Richard Martin of 1507 Dunmore St., Roanoke, VA 24015 is looking for a video of the Donahue and Larry King shows.
Ricky Van Vactor of 2925 3rd Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90018 is looking for a tape of Adrian Street's Shake Wrestle and Roll cassette tape.
Jeff Xuereb of 75 Vincent Av., St. Albans, Melbourne, Victoria 3021 Australia is looking for WWF magazines before 1986 and for WWF videotapes.
Anthony Scala of P.O. Box 549, Brooklyn, NY 11222 is looking for WWF Hasbro action figures of Andre the Giant and Hulk Hogan with a Hulk Rules shirt.
William Haynes of 2935 Dethman Ridge Rd., Hood River, OR 97031 has two wrestling rings for sale.
Stuart Dinkes of 13913 Dressler Ave., Garfield Heights, OH 44125 is looking for 1970s videotapes of WWF, IWA, Big Time Wrestling, All-Star Wrestling, Canadian Championship Wrestling and Japanese wrestling.
Jeff Cohen of 50 Shelley Ln., Great Neck, NY 11023 puts out the newsletter Fantasy Federation for $1 per issue and also has LPWA and the WCW Japan PPV shows for trade.
Anthony Watson of 932 Longfellow, Detroit, MI 48202 wants to purchase back issues of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, particularly the issue dealing with the death of Bruiser Brody.
PAT PATTERSON
It was about 25 years ago when I became a wrestling fan, living in San Jose at the time. The local promotion was the Roy Shire group out of San Francisco. My favorite wrestlers quickly became Ray Stevens and Pat Patterson. Whether they feuded with one another or teamed together as either faces or heels, I thought they were the greatest. They were my idols and have remained so for the past 25 years. I'm not a hardcore fan. The recent allegations surrounding Patterson, his lifestyle and performance on the job came as a terrible shock to me. I don't hold Patterson's lifestyle against him. If that's the lifestyle he chooses to live then that is his right. However, having people fired for not having sex with him is totally inexcusable. I have nothing but contempt for the man now. Perhaps I'm being overly judgmental but I'm stick and tired of hard-working people getting the shaft from people like that. I remember a few years ago when you wrote in the Observer that there were certain things about wrestling that if they ever came out might turn a lot of wrestling fans off. Now I understand what you were saying and you were right. This thing has really soured me on the wrestling business. I realize this kind of thing goes on elsewhere and those in pro wrestling have the same faults as everyone else. Still, I can't help but feel anger toward a man who was my hero for 25 years. At least with Hulk Hogan, he only hurt himself by taking steroids. Patterson hurt those around him.
Tim Snyder
Hollister, California
DM: In fairness to Patterson, what we have thus far are only allegations. If I was in his shoes, I'd like to think I'd have stood up to accusers if they were lying and hoped for the truth to come out. At the same time, the actions of the organization and of Patterson resigning or being forced to resign or whatever the real deal is, before his name ever made national press does seem suspicious no matter how the WWF has attempted to spin the story. But my feeling is that Hogan has both hurt and also helped a lot more people psychologically than Patterson. If Patterson did damage a few careers and psyches along the way, the numbers pale by comparison with the number of kids who wound up getting into steroids because of the televised glorification of people like Hogan and The Ultimate Warrior and Superstar Billy Graham a decade earlier for that matter. Hogan has been a positive influence on many others, but the most positive influence has still been in his and Vince McMahon's bank account. In fairness, you can't put much personal blame on Hogan, Warrior, Graham or anyone else for that because they were just tools of the promoter who would have put another guy similar looking in the same spot if those specific individuals weren't around. And they pale in comparison to Arnold Schwarzeneggar and Sly Stallone in the same vain.
In my lifetime, I have had four public figures that were heroes to me. Three of those were wrestlers: Ric Flair, Ray Stevens and Pat Patterson. The revelations that have come out in the past few weeks about Patterson have made me feel mostly sad. I'm not talking about his sexual preference. To me, this is irrelevant. I'm talking about the way he apparently exploited individuals for his own personal satisfaction. I first became a wrestling fan in 1969 at the age of nine years old. The lead heel at the time in this area was Patterson. He was incredibly effective and I truly and genuinely hated him. He was in the main event at the first live show I attended in 1971 (he teamed ironically enough with Billy Graham on that show) and I booed him like crazy. In 1972, they turned him babyface. Over the next several years, nobody was a bigger Patterson fan than I was. In my mind, it is no coincidence that Roy Shire's promotion began to go downhill when Patterson left in the mid-70s. The night I graduated college I saw him wrestle at the Cow Palace for the first time in many years on an AWA card. I cheered him like I was still a little kid. He was still a hero to me, even then. This is why it killed me when in the mid-1980s, Patterson became a jobber in the WWF. Apparently he did this to prove his loyalty to Vince McMahon in order to get an executive position in the organization. I later rationalized it may have been worth it. He did become one of the most powerful and influential people in wrestling. How could one of the people I have looked up to in life become what he became and do what he did? Perhaps most importantly, I have wondered whether the Pat Patterson I admired so much as a kid was merely a false image of a real person, who was, to say the least, not worthy of my respect. Was my youthful hero worship based on a lie and both false and irrelevant. This is something I've been surprisingly reflecting upon a lot over the past few weeks. The answer I came up with, which may not be satisfactory, but it's one I can live with, is that there were, in fact, two different Pat Pattersons. The Pat Patterson of the 1980s, the jobber, the one who allegedly took advantage of his power for his own satisfaction, is not the Pat Patterson I worshipped. No matter what he did later in his life, I will always remember and respect the wrestler who thrilled me so much as a kid and the person whom I looked up to so much. Nothing can take that away from me.
Jon Karesh
Foster City, California
HULK HOGAN
It was eight years ago when the WWF first came to Minnesota that we, as fans, first heard the rumors that Vince McMahon himself has never heard. Donahue was an excellent show with you in the hot seat between McMahon and Superstar. When I spoke with Jim Crockett, I mentioned to him that if he ever saw Ted Turner he should buy Hulk Hogan's contract for Jane Fonda's belated wedding present. He laughed and said at this time that wouldn't be such a good idea. About Hogan, at the last card, halfway through the match he gave me a thumbs up. After the match and Hogan did his posing, he jumped out of the ring and gave me a big hug and said, "Blitz, how the hell are you?" I told him I'd see him at the Marriott after the show and he said, "Right on, brother." At about 1 a.m., Hogan, Roddy Piper, Brutus Beefcake and Kevin Kelly were walking through the halls and I started talking with Hulk. I asked him if this was his final round and he told me, "I just don't know yet, Blitz. I just don't know." He seemed to be very uncertain about his future. This was not at all like the Hulk Hogan character that I've known for the past 11 years. After he hugged me, I told my friends that he's leaving. I really think he's going to Japan. But when the ball of string gets undone, the guy that needs to be unraveled is Vince McMahon.
Steve Blitz
St. Paul, Minnesota
With all the controversy that surrounds the WWF, it is difficult to predict the future of Hulk Hogan. It seems that everyone is out to bury Hogan for his statements on the Arsenio Hall show. In my opinion, those comments were chosen by his employer and not Hogan's own choice. I don't know what Hogan was thinking when he decided to say what he did, but I'm sure most other wrestlers would have done the same thing in that situation. I'm not condoning what Hogan did. My point is that he is the main reason pro wrestling excelled in the 1980s. He brought the national spotlight on it and all that anyone says is that he didn't tell the truth on Arsenio Hall. When Hogan finally leaves the WWF, I, for one, will miss seeing him. No other wrestler can enter an arena and get a crowd to explode better than he can. The WWF blew it as a long-time successor. The Ultimate Warrior was just about as popular as Hogan but they handled him the wrong way. They made a big mistake in letting him go.
Anthony Scala
Brooklyn, New York
About my comments on Hulk Hogan and your reply, I do now agree with your point of view. I guess I just felt sorry for Hogan because if it wasn't for Hogan I wouldn't be a wrestling fan today.
Robert Whitley Jr.
Lomita, California
WRESTLING SCANDALS
Having viewed both the Larry King and Phil Donahue programs, I feel that 30 minutes or one hour is not sufficient time to cover the subject. However, your appearance on Donahue helped the show stay focused and calm.
Karen Blicker
Hicksville, New York The long-term effects of the steroids, drugs and sex scandals are the best thing for the wrestling business. The business could use a spring cleaning. We'd all rather see our favorite wrestlers healthier and living longer even if they're 30 pounds lighter. However, let's keep this in perspective. The reason this story is getting so much mainstream attention is not because of it being upsetting or shocking. It's simply because it's an eye-catching tabloid-type story that is getting its 15 minutes. In a year, maybe even in a few months, it will be old news and most people won't give a damn because the majority of the world thinks pro wrestling is a joke and everyone knows it's a work. These revelations won't destroy wrestling. I do volunteer work at Covenant House in New York and the scandal from a few years ago has blown over there and there is no comparison between that and the wrestling scandals. I think it's extremely unfair that Hulk Hogan has been the scapegoat for all of this. This should haves and could haves will be discussed by true wrestling fans from now on. Hindsight says coming clean might have been the best thing, but the bottom line is this is a business built on lying and Hulk Hogan is really Terry Bollea and not immortal. He's doing the best thing by taking off until this blows over, and it will, and making a big comeback in a year or two. Last, let's remember that wrestlers live for the spotlight. David Shults has been nothing more than a memory for years but is now being sought by radio, television and the mainstream press. He's gotten more notoriety than when he was a wrestling star. If the allegations are true, and they appear to be true, Shults and Billy Graham have a lot to gain and nothing to lose. Before all this, how big a seller would a book by Shults be? With all the focus, Shults, Graham and Barry Orton have received, it's a sure bet that other wrestlers are going to come out of the woodwork with true and false stories to get a piece of the pie.
Joe Borzotta
Hoboken, New Jersey
DM: There may be no pie to get a piece of because publishers believe wrestling fans can't read so it'll be exceedingly difficult for Shults or anyone else to get a deal for a book the type he and/or Orton are trying to write.
At some point, you stepped out of the objective realm of reporting and into the news as a participant. I think you should go back to reporting. Almost every other month you seem to open up with a scoop detrimental to the WWF. Don't you realize what will happen to you and all the other pro wrestling reporters when, and this is a long way off, the WWF drops back to the level of country fair matches? There would be less of a market for your work. By shrieking with delight every time you uncover another WWF story, your are lessening the impact and focus on the real problems in pro wrestling--steroid abuse and the message the wrestlers are giving to the young fans. You cannot continually promise a 20/20 expose and then not have it come off. You cannot cite tabloid reports as news coverage. You can't even write that Legion of Doom are gone and the next week say they're coming back. It destroys your credibility. Even the WCW boss, Kip Frey, told the Indianapolis Star that his organization is only closing in on the seven-to-one deficit in market share. What Vince McMahon has done is bridge the gap between the suburban venues and the mainstream consciousness by offering a delightful form of escapism. Nobody ever held a gun to Superstar Billy Graham or the rest of the washed-up guys like Bruno Sammartino and told them they had to be a pro wrestler. They did what they did to themselves. Please stop apologizing for them and start covering wrestling again.
Mike Siroky
South Bend Tribune
The "Now it can be told" piece on the WWF was the single most damaging piece of video evidence that I've ever seen on the WWF. Each story that comes out seems to be worse than the one before. This may be the beginning of what will finally put Vince McMahon over the edge. I think this is an organization that from top to bottom needs to be cleaned out.
Name withheld by request
SEXUAL HARASSMENT
Your response to Mark Cassel's letter seems to equate unwanted sexual encounters between WWF executives and underage male employees to sexual encounters between pro wrestlers and women under 18. There are some major differences. First, the relationship between an employer and an employee is inherently coercive since the employee is dependant upon the employer for a paycheck. This puts some constraints upon a person's ability to say no. A refusal may cause the person to lose a job of a promotion. It is difficult to see how an employee could have a sexual relationship with an employer that wasn't abusive unless the employee freely consented. However, since underage females are rarely employees of wrestlers, it is difficult for me to see the encounter as coercive. This is especially true when the female has not only freely consented but actually sought out the encounter. This may be stupid, dangerous and even illegal, but it may not be abusive, depending on the age. Clearly, a 17-year-old is not the same as a 13-year-old.
Betsy Anderson

Brighton, Massachusetts

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May 6, 1991 Observer Newsletter: WWE vs. WCW building battle, WCW trading cards, SNME, more

Wrestling Observer Newsletter PO Box 1228, Campbell, CA 95009-1228
May 6, 1991
What could wind up being one of the biggest stories of the year, or wind up being a non-story, is the end result of the current "poker game" of sorts going on between World Championship Wrestling, Titan Sports and, several municipally-owned buildings and the nation's largest building management company.
This story could end in any one of a number of ways, but ultimately it's final result will either solidify WCW as a minor league promotion with no hopes of being competition to the WWF, or a loss to the WWF in that its attempts at keeping WCW out of buildings will be ultimately broken.
When WCW was purchased by Turner Broadcasting two-and-a-half years ago, it was seemingly inevitable that this battle was in the cards. But this battle can only be fought once. The timing is all-important, and while it is a battle that WCW needed to eventually fight, one questions if this is the opportune time to start.
This is both a market-by-market battle, but also in many ways a national battle because the management of the various arenas will be looking at the initial results and the initial results will probably cause the "herd (no relation to Jim) mentality" prevalent in that industry to bend to whichever side successfully exerted the most pressure in the previous battles.
Exclusive access to buildings has been a part of pro wrestling since long before this current promotional war. Dating back to the early 1960s, rivals of Vince McMahon Sr. had unsuccessfully attempted to book shows in Madison Square Garden. In the mid-1970s, when Eddie Einhorn formed the outlaw IWA as competition to the NWA (which at the time had a working affiliation with both the WWF and AWA) using Mil Mascaras as his top drawing card, he found himself unable to book shows in the traditional wrestling buildings, and ended up running in secondary arenas and eventually the group went out of business.
In the early part of this wrestling war which began in 1984 with many different promotions involved and has now wound down to two big offices, one of which is a lot bigger than the other, the WWF had a hard time initially booking key arenas because the successful regional promotion (and despite how some have tried to rewrite wrestling history years later, back in 1983-84, most of the regional groups were extremely successful) had longstanding success and relations with the management of the buildings in their region. Initially in cities that had strong regional offices, the WWF was forced into the secondary buildings or even had trouble getting into markets. As the WWF achieved more prominence and gained a track record as being able to draw, those barriers one-by-one fell down like dominos and in many cases, it was the formerly successful regional promotion that was even kicked out of buildings. At the same time, in various attempts by the NWA and later Pro Wrestling USA (initially a consortium of the different major promotions remaining and later Jim Crockett and Verne Gagne) to book Madison Square Garden in New York and other key Northeastern buildings like the Spectrum, Capital Centre and Boston Garden were always rebuffed.
There is some question whether exclusivity of this nature is actually legal, but nobody has gone to court to test it. Eventually WCW was either going to have to test the legality of these exclusives, or be doomed to forever holding shows in secondary buildings in the major markets.
According to several different lawyers, the most likely result if these cases went to court is that in a privately-owned building, particularly in a market that has a secondary facility, there is a good chance that exclusivity wouldn't be construed as restraint of trade. There are cases, although none having to do with wrestling, that are similar and if the promoter have a facility in the market adequate for the event, the locking out of the specific facility, being that it is a private facility and has the right to make its own decisions, doesn't constitute a restraint of trade. In a publicly-owned building, particularly one that has open dates, the question is more debateable and certainly if the complaining by the party left out in the cold is loud enough, the municipality will have a hard time defending its position in that a building technically supported by taxpayers has open dates and a prospective client with a track record of paying its bills is interested in that open date, but isn't allowed in because of an ultimatum from another client booking the same basic entertainment form (remember, there are plenty of buildings around the country that have no interest in booking pro wrestling).
In a publicly-owned building that is the only building in the market, trying to lock a competitor out of the building, thus out of the market, seemingly is cut-and-dried restraint of trade. The only defense buildings would have is if they were booked so solid there was simply no room on their schedule (a rarity today as most buildings are empty more often than they were designed to be) or if the promoter has a track record of not paying its bills. WCW doesn't have a great track record in drawing fans, but it has a great track record when it comes to paying bills.
There are several examples, a few in the past and a few that are current, that apply to this situation. Several years back, when Jim Crockett Promotions began expanding into new markets at the same time Titan was running booming house show business, Titan established a policy that was not a secret and written about in various journals of pulling out of facilities that opened themselves up to competing wrestling promotions. While this locked Crockett out of many buildings, it also caused Titan to run a limited amount of dates and even pull out of a few arenas (The Baltimore Arena comes to mind) that booked Crockett shows. In January, Titan threatened to pull out of the Meadowlands in East Rutherford, N.J. if it continued to give WCW future dates, which in effect, would basically lock WCW out of the biggest market in the country because WWF had an exclusive at Madison Square Garden and the Nassau Coliseum had no interest in WCW as a client after its 1988 run in the facility. The building called Titan's bluff and in this case, Titan pulled out of the building and WCW was given eight dates in 1991 in the building. Some see this as a strategic withdrawal, because the WCW events are averaging about 5,400 paid attendance thus far on this run and each show has drawn less money than the previous one. The WWF had averaged nearly 9,000 the previous year in the same building. In some buildings (Pittsburgh Civic Arena and Capital Centre), while the circumstances leading up to Titan's leaving the building and WCW getting dates weren't the same, the end result was that the buildings were unhappy with WCW's performance, eventually went back to Titan, and WCW was back in its original position. In addition, there was already concern within the Titan offices that trying to run three facilities on a regular basis in the New York market was too many to begin with.
As has been rumored for some time, the big test market here is St. Louis, which in wrestling in many ways has a lot more significance than just being the No. 18 market in the country. Old-style wrestling, particularly '70s style, had a rich heritage and within the profession, St. Louis was at one point considered the wrestling capital of the United States. This past Saturday night was the final wrestling card at Kiel Auditorium (in fact, the final event of any kind) which is scheduled to be taken down in May. A new Kiel Center is set for construction, but won't be ready until 1994 at the earliest. This leaves the St. Louis market with one building, the Arena, municipally owned, and operated by Spectacor Management out of Philadelphia. The Arena has an exclusive with the WWF. Spectacor, which originally began as the building management company of the Spectrum and grew to being the largest building management company in the country has a long-standing relationship with the WWF. Several years ago, when Crockett was doing big business in Richmond, Va., when Spectacor got the management contract, they attempted to kick Crockett out of the building (Crockett threatened a lawsuit and the building backed down at the time). Eventually WWF pulled out of the Richmond Coliseum if it would allow WCW in. When WCW crowds diminished, the Coliseum asked WWF to return. While I don't believe WCW is technically locked out of the building, the company has found it very difficult to get dates. St. Louis is also Jim Herd's home city, which adds the "personal ego" on both sides of the fence to this battle. Don't think for a second the idea that Titan can lock Jim Herd's company out of Jim Herd's home city isn't a factor, because it is. And don't think St. Louis being Jim Herd's home city is a factor in it becoming the first test case.
What happened is James Oshust, who handles scheduling and booking buildings for WCW, wrote letters threatening legal action against the Arena and Spectacor if WCW wasn't allowed in the building. The Arena wasn't the only building Oshust apparently wrote to. Jim Herd said that WCW has targeted 25 municipally-owned buildings that the company has threatened legal action against should they be blocked from appearing. The Arena relented, gave WCW a June 14 date, but refused to give them a second Great American Bash date citing it was giving the WWF four weeks both before and after its events grace period. In other words, WWF, has the primary tenant, could basically lock up the building with six strategically booked dates per year, at least in theory, although in fact the Arena might still give WCW two or three dates per year (less than WCW would want) strictly to avoid legal headaches. Sources inside wrestling and also in St. Louis indicate that the WWF has threatened to pull out of the Arena is they rent to WCW. The threat has even included pulling out of other Spectacor buildings if WCW is allowed in the Arena. Herd, on his part, has said that if WCW is locked out of the arena, aside from the possibility of legal action, that he'd consider pulling out of Spectacor buildings as well. One has to realize that when it comes to major arenas, pro wrestling is not exactly the world's highest priority. WCW is not exactly doing booming business, and while WWF can do business in arenas, in major markets it has nowhere near the arena drawing power of legitimate sports or mainline music and entertainment acts. To Spectacor and some of these arenas, it probably wouldn't be a bad analogy to describe this mess as a high school basketball coach having a fight between a sixth man, who gets some playing time but isn't really a big factor overall in the team, and a bench warmer who almost never plays, and both threatening to quit if the other isn't kicked off the team. In sports, the coach would probably just cut both of them to rid himself of the headache, but in arena business, and in the business-world, decisions have to be made more politically.
One of the buildings in the Oakland Coliseum Arena, a 15,500-seat county-owned facility in the Bay Area. The Bay Area is different from St. Louis in that there are many adequate facilities, including the Cow Palace (14,700 seats for wrestling) in San Francisco, two 6,000 seat buildings (Kaiser Convention Center in Oakland and San Francisco Civic) a 4,500 seat building (SUREC Arena in San Jose) and a 2,700 seat arena (San Jose Civic), all of which will book pro wrestling. Titan runs ten shows a year in the market, alternating between the Coliseum and the Cow Palace. WCW's rare appearances have been in either the Kaiser Center or Civic, both considered minor league buildings and less familiarity as far as directions and the like to out-of-towners. However, WCW managed to book the Oakland Coliseum Arena on July 27 for a Great American Bash date. While Titan has yet to officially cancel any Oakland Coliseum Arena dates, those close to this situation here admit the idea of pulling out of Oakland has been talked about and privately hope it's only a bluff. Although the size of the crowds in this market are more dependent upon whether Hulk Hogan is on the card or not, rather than which building, the Coliseum is the most desirable building.
If Herd and WCW have their way, there are approximately two-dozen other markets where this same game is about to be played in. The end result of these battles will no doubt determine the fate in privately owned buildings as well due to the so-called "herd mentality" in the building industry.
"If Vince (McMahon) can't live with the free enterprise system, that's tough," said Herd. "His mistake is that he might have been able to break all the regional promotions, but there is no way he can break Turner Broadcasting. It's inconceivable for him to even think he can. But apparently he doesn't understand that."
While nobody from Titan can talk on the record to the Observer for obvious reasons, one source said, "This is a war and they'd better realize that when it's over, we're going to win."
Words notwithstanding, this is certainly a major battle and it's even more a poker game. Everyone is talking big, but here are the real key factors.
*Will WCW sue. It's very easy to write a threatening letter. It's altogether different to file a lawsuit. A lawsuit is a headache, costs lots of money, and if it actually goes to trial rather than being settled out of court, will take forever since the result can be appealed. However, the first building that doesn't back down to WCW's threat, and if WCW doesn't sue, everyone will know the threat is empty and the situation will quickly return to the status quo
*Will Titan Sports really pull out of buildings. Since right now, the building game is limited to the Meadowlands, St. Louis and Oakland, it's easy for Titan to pull out and present an image to the buildings as not backing down on its position. St. Louis is the only market where they'd have a tough time running shows, since the other two have other buildings they can go to. However if this situation plays out in another two-dozen cities, pulling out of that many buildings becomes a very serious concern. If they don't back up the threat to pull out, then the rest of the building industry will see it as an empty threat. At that point even the privately owned buildings may start renting to WCW even if they had previous exclusives with Titan, because they'll see threatened pull-outs in response as an empty threat.
*How will WCW perform once it gets into these new buildings. This may be the most important factor of all. WCW is getting into buildings by threatening legal action. That isn't the way to bring about initially pleasant building relations. If WCW can make money for the facilities with its shows, the initial problems will quickly disappear because the name of the game is money. But WCW's timing in its moves has to be impeccable. This game can only be played once and if WCW is in the wrestling business for the long haul, the game does have to be played. If WCW can get into these buildings, and screws up in some ways (and if it doesn't draw and the arenas see Titan on the outside with the power to draw, they will be looking for mistakes) such as no-shows (a constant WCW problem) or what they determine to be bad promoting, they'll lose the building and the building will have a past history as a defense in case this game is played in the future. WCW literally has to be able to draw at least adequate crowds in buildings like the Meadowlands, St. Louis and Oakland or whatever gains they've made of late will be quickly lost. That means they have to be able to get their shows in those buildings over to the fans as being something special, something WCW hasn't been nearly as good as Titan Sports at being able to do. I do know that the advertising budget for the first St. Louis show has been heavily increased, but the reality of wrestling is that advertising on television and radio is basically wasting money unless the angles, personalities and matches being presented interest the viewer of the syndicated television show. The market can be bombarded with ads, but if it isn't backed up by a strong card, it's a waste of money. I'm certain Titan considers pulling out of any of these buildings as nothing more than strategic and temporary retreats, with the idea that over the long haul, WCW won't draw (and recent history indicates that doesn't seem to be incorrect analysis) and they'll be asked back on their terms. But there is the small risk. What if WCW draws? It seems unlikely, but if WCW makes a big move right now in terms of a talent raid (which Herd insists isn't going to happen) and gets the ball rolling, Titan's strategy may backfire, although that is a longshot. Indeed, within Titan there are those who believe pulling out is the wrong strategy if only because Titan's presence in those buildings head-to-head will theoretically hurt WCW's live crowds in comparison to WCW having the building all to itself. If WCW's crowds dwindle to where the building can economically justify not renting to them, and the faster they do, the better off Titan is, and Titan's presence in the building will speed that up, then Titan wins. And when they win, they also maintain good relations with the buildings. If Titan pulls out on the buildings that rent to WCW (and aside from ethical considerations, no building wants to get sued in the first place when it can avoid it, let alone get sued with the strong possibility of losing that suit), there relationship with the buildings will never be the same even if they win. Also, by not pulling out, there is virtually no possibility of Titan really "losing" (as in losing the major buildings over the long haul) because even if WCW can outdraw Titan, which really isn't going to happen but let's just say things change and it does, it's doubtful any of these buildings will lock Titan out because Titan can just as easily play the threatening game. The only way Titan can "lose," is if pulls out of these buildings as it threatens. Ironically, the decision seems to be leaning in that direction.
The WWF ran its first Saturday Night Main Event in many months over the weekend, taped from 4/15 in Omaha. Overall, this wasn't a bad show and the key element of the show (getting Undertaker over as invincible) was perfectly executed. Anyway, here was the rundown:
1. Ultimate Warrior defeated Sgt. Slaughter via DQ in 7:16 when Undertaker interfered. The post-match stuff was great but the match itself was terrible on both men's parts. Slaughter takes good bumps but that's about it, and his offense is as slow and weak looking as ever. Warrior doesn't know how to sell a hold, and since Slaughter had a bear hug on for minutes, it hurt the match a lot. Warrior made his superman comeback but then paused when Undertaker came out of the coffin that Paul Bearer brought to the ring. Slaughter and the rest of the heels, including Undertaker, jumped Warrior for the DQ. Hulk Hogan ran in for the save and hit Undertaker with the title belt, which he didn't sell. Hogan then ran off Slaughter, General Adnan and Col. Mustafa leaving Warrior and Undertaker in the ring. Undertaker didn't sell clotheslines and shoulder blocks but did sell something (which was jump-cut so it never aired on television) before leaving. The match was negative stars but the angle will get Undertaker over even more. -*
2. Nasty Boys kept WWF tag team title beating Bushwhackers in 6:46. Nasty's at least sold the garbage (and that's what Bushwhackers' offense is) well. Bushwhackers look so bad with their unique ability to make every single thing they do look mistimed. After trading near falls, Nobbs pinned Butch Miller using the ropes for leverage. *1/4
3. Mr. Perfect won a 20 man Battle Royal at 12:55. As Battle Royals go, this was better than most. Most of the guys just stood around and tried not to do anything, but Shawn Michaels and Perfect were so spectacular they made up for everyone else. Marty Janetty threw out Paul Roma in 1:30. Warlord eliminated British Bulldog at 4:29. Hogan threw out both Pat Tanaka and Jimmy Snuka at 4:55. Earthquake dumped Jake Roberts in 5:15. At that point Jake got out Lucifer and they called a time out in the Battle Royal, which seems to be a first. Then it became the Titanic--everyone trying to jump out at once. Hogan dumped Warlord at 7:07, Hercules dumped Kerry Von Erich in 7:21, Earthquake throwing out Jim Duggan in 7:33, Hogan throwing out Earthquake in 7:43, Tugboat threw out both Hogan and Kato in 8:04 (it didn't seem that a Hogan-Tugboat feud is imminent, although it does appear to be something to "look forward" to maybe a year down the road), Michaels dumped Tugboat in 9:18, Michaels and Perfect did some great action with one another before Michaels did the Flair flip and Perfect knocked him off the apron at 10:09. Perfect dropkicked Barbarian and with Valentine's help, he went out at 11:22. This left Perfect and Valentine. Curt took great bumps for Valentine and they ended up going over the top rope together but Perfect somehow didn't hit the floor and got back in the ring to win. **3/4
4. Ted DiBiase went to a double count out with Bret Hart in 9:56. If Ted really is the Million Dollar Man, you'd think he could afford a better make-up job for his manager. This was a very good match from bell-to-bell with Hart gaining lots of near falls and DiBiase doing almost a 1986 Flair match. When Sherri interfered, Roddy Piper came down and chased Sherri away with a broom. Roddy put the broom between his legs and chased Sherri. Luckily I don't have a dirty mind so I have no idea what that was supposed to symbolize. At that point both guys just jumped out of the ring long enough for the double count out and that was it. The actual finish looked bad, as if the angle was over and nobody thought of what to do next so let's just jump out of the ring and end it. But that was the only thing wrong with the match. ***1/2
5. The Mountie pinned Tito Santana in 4:27. Even though it was really just a TV squash, Santana made it a decent match for a short match. Santana hit Mountie with the flying forearm and Jimmy Hart tried to interfere. Santana hit Hart with the flying forearm but Mountie got the cattle prod and zapped Tito for the pin. **1/4
I got a press packet from Impel Marketing announcing its release of WCW trading cards, which hit the stores on Monday. Called the "Stomp Collection," the set consists of 162 individual cards and will be sold in packs of 12. The card collection includes Sid Vicious, who is all but gone, "Mr. Wall Street," who hasn't been around in months, The Southern Boys, who don't use that name anymore and Doom, which is no longer a tag team. Aside from that, everything else is okay as far as the characters portrayed. I got a comp set of five cards, a Flair, Steiners, Missy Hyatt, Sting and Luger. On the back, each card has some background. Ric Flair's "motto" was said to be "I'm the latest and the greatest." Considering Flair's interviews are generally one motto after another, it's impressive that they used something that nobody can ever remember him saying. Rick Steiner's motto was, "It's not my fault," which would be applicable if it was on Jimmy Garvin's card. The trade journal "Monthly Card Mart" ran a story on the collection in its April issue. Long-time fans will be well informed to know that according to the story, "The WCW was a regional wrestling association of little importance until just a few years ago. Then cable TV mogul Ted Turner acquired the WCW from the Crockett family (reportedly for two coonskin caps and a workout tape) and the rest is broadcasting history. A shrewd strategy of holding Onito the best original WCW performer (Ric Flair) while bringing in new blood (One Man Gang) has paid off in booming cable TV ratings. the WCW has begun to rival the more established WWF in viewing popularity and now merchandising." The story was equipped with two photos of cards, a Sting card and a Scott Steiner card. The only problem with the Scott Steiner card is that while the photo on the back in B&W was Scott Steiner, the photo in color on the front is of Tracy Smothers. The WCW press release says WCW reaches 21.2 million people weekly on television (the week of March 31 the total viewing audience of all WCW shows in syndication and cable combined was 12.4 million and that includes many people counted two or three if they watch more than one show) and that the WCW network ranks fifth in total households, second in teenagers, second in men 18-49, third in 12-34 and third in 18-49 among all syndicated networks.
Here's the latest on Sid Vicious. According to Jim Herd, Vicious will be using the Sid Vicious name in the WWF and will be released from his WCW contract on May 20. Vicious is scheduled to work the PPV show and do the job for El Gigante. The match is being advertised as a stretcher match (and all the television preceding the show has been taped advertising a stretcher match). Vicious probably will do the job for Gigante. But many people would be surprised to see him do a stretcher job. Anyway, even though he is under contract with WCW until September 5, which means WCW can hold up his Titan starting date until that point, he's being released and will probably start with Titan at the following television taping. Herd said that legally, the rights to use and market a name correlate with the date the individual is under contract. If a wrestler is given a name by WCW (such as Big Josh), WCW has the right to prevent Matt Borne from going to the WWF and using the name. On the other hand, if the wrestler comes to WCW with the name, like Sid Vicious did, who used the name in Tennessee first, then WCW can't prevent him from taking the name elsewhere. In other words, if a wrestler is scheduled to go to work for the WWF or WCW with a gimmicked name, it would behoove the person to spend a few weeks working independent dates before starting with the new company. That way, if things don't work out, the wrestler can take the name with him either on independents or to a rival major.
This is the final issue of the current four-issue set. From this point forward, all Observers will be laser-printed like this one. If you've got a (1) on your address label it means your Observer subscription expires with this issue. Renewal rates remain $6 for each set of four issues, $12 for eight, $24 for 16, $36 for 24 up through $60 for 40 issues within the United States and Canada. Rates for the rest of the world are $9 for each set of four issues through $90 for 40 issues. We've still got plenty of copies remaining of the 110-page Wrestling Observer Yearbook, priced at $12 for subscribers in the U.S. and Canada and $14 for non-subscribers and $18 for subscribers in other countries and $20 for non-subscribers. All newsletters, yearbooks, letters to the editor, match results, news items and any other correspondence can be sent to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, P.0. Box 1228, Campbell, CA 95009-1228.
I should mention before going on that this past Saturday night, myself, Wade Keller and Steve Beverly were on with Jim Herd on the WCW 900 hot line. We discussed several topics but I don't think any great revelations came out of it. You have to give Herd credit for agreeing to the format and being about as open as one could expect given the audience that was listening. Of course first and foremost the idea was put on to draw phone callers to the 900 line.
MEXICO 4/21 at El Toreo in Naucalpan saw Hurricane Castillo & Miguelito Perez & El Gigante Guerrero (Butch Masters) defeat Canek & Dos Caras & Villano III in the main event in two straight falls. The first fall ended with Canek being pinned after being triple-teamed by the heels, and in the second fall, Guerrero pinned Canek after a low blow. This was said to be a fair match. Also El Hijo Del Santo & El Texano & Enrique Vera beat Fishman & Baby Face & Dr. Wagner Jr. via DQ when Fishman gave Texano a low blow in the third fall (lots of heat but not very good), Samurai & Takayama & Akiyoshi defeated El Zar & El Indomito & Black Power (good match), The Ninja Turtles beat Super Raton & Super Pinochio & Halcon Negro & Valente Fernandez and Shu El Guerrero & Los Mohicanos beat Corsario Negro & Gran Apache & Dragon Chino II. 4/22 in Puebla saw Canek & Caras & Villano III vs. Gigante Guerrero & Perez & Castillo plus Killer & Blue Panther & Fishman vs. Silver King & Texano & Wagner and Akiyoshi & Takayama & Samurai vs. El Signo & Black Power & Baby Face.
4/19 at El Toreo saw Los Brazos defeat Villanos I-III-IV when III was counted out in the third fall after juicing.
4/22 in Guanajuato saw Lasser defeat El Hijo De Black Shadow to keep the UWA world lightweight title.
UWA on 4/26 at El Toreo had Brazos vs. Villano III & Tinielbas Jr. & Sr., Silver King & Texano & Gran Hamada vs. Fishman & Killer & Rambo and Ninja Turtles vs. Jose Luis Feliciano & Shu El Guerrero & Black Terry & Kahos.
Same night in Nezahualcoytol (just outside Mexico City) had Caras & Vea & Canek vs. Perez & Castillos & Gigante Guerrero, The Japanese trio vs. Face & Signo & Power.
EMLL had a show in Naucalpan (same city at El Toreo) with Kato Kung Lee & Pirata Morgan & Javier Cruz vs. Javier Llanes & Ulysses & Gran Sheik which was the same night as they ran Arena Coliseo in Mexico City.
Tarantula Cosmica won the annual rookies tournament on 4/21 in Mexico City. The 4/26 Arena Coliseo show wasn't taped for Galavision and instead they aired a show taped a few days earlier at La Arena Pista Revolucion, a 2,500 seat building in Mexico City. The show had about 2,100 fans, all grade school children and mainly girls and the heat was the best I've seen in Mexico City in a long time. Results saw Oro & Plata (two rookies, not to be confused with Brazo de Oro & Brazo de Plata) beat El Simbolo & Halcon Negro **1/2, Talisman & Aguila Solitaria & Pantera II beat Ponzona & El Enjambe & Marabunto *1/2, in a midget match, Octagoncito & Mascarita Sagrada & Aguilita Solitaria beat Espectrito & Jerrito Estrada & Pequeno Cobarde via count out after several dives out of the ring, including Octagoncito doing a cross body block off the top rope out of the ring (remember, these are midgets doing this stuff) ***1/4 and Super Astro & Rayo de Jalisco Jr. & Mascara Sagrada beat Dandy & Emilio Charles Jr. & Sultan Gargola **1/2. Even though Dandy was on the heel side, he basically worked like a face.
The main event on 4/26 at Arena Coliseo saw Cien Caras have his first match back since being injured last October when a fan threw a metal peso and it hit him in the eye. Caras teamed with brother Mascara Ano 2000 & Satanico to beat Konnan El Barbaro & Lizmark & Octagon via DQ when Konnan unmasked Mascara Ano 2000.
The EMLL withdrew from helping with the second annual El Toreo cup on 5/1 and has been restructured from being a singles tournament to being a tag team tournament with the following teams: Perro Aguayo & El Indomito, El Brazo & Hamada, Silver King & Baby Face, Killer & Vera, Shu El Guerrero & Samurai, Akiyoshi & Feliciano, Gigante Guerrero & Brazo de Plata, Signo & Texano, Chavo Guerrero & El Engendro, Fishman & Villano III, Black Terry & Takayama and Brazo de Oro & Santo. This must have been a blind draw tournament because most of the teams consist of faces teaming with heels. Texano & Signo were a tag team for years before Signo went baby face and started teaming with Silver King.
Satanico defeated Mano Negra to keep the NWA light heavyweight title on 4/25 in Cuernavaca.
Mil Mascaras worked on 4/25 in Mexico City.
4/25 in Mexico City saw Caras & Villano III & Hamada vs. Canek & Blue Panther & Fishman and Texano & Silver King & Solar vs. Face & Rambo & Wagner. Interesting that Canek and Caras are teaming together against the trio from Puerto Rico but still feuding when the Puerto Ricans are in another building.
4/25 in Toluca has Perez & Castillo & Giant Guerrero vs. Los Brazos and Japanese vs. Signo & Negro Navarro & Black Power.
NEW JAPAN The current tour and junior heavyweight tournament ends on 4/30 and apparently the final match will be Negro Casas vs. Jushin Liger. 4/26 in Hida drew 1,950 as David Finley pinned Too Cold Scorpio, Norio Honaga pinned Casas, Hiro Saito & Tatsutoshi Goto & Super Strong Machine beat Hiroshi Hase & Kensuke Sasaki & Kuniaki Kobayashi, Riki Choshu & Masa Chono beat Owen Hart & Scott Norton when Choshu lariated Hart and the main event saw Tatsumi Fujinami & Keiji Muto & Liger beat Wild Samoan Samu & Kokina & Pegasus Kid when Muto pinned Kid.
4/25 in Ida drew 1,500 as Hart pinned Scorpio, Honaga pinned Finlay, Samoans & Norton beat Osamu Kido & Kengo Kimura & Choshu, Pegasus Kid & Casas beat Liger & Takayuki Iizuka when Kid pinned Iizuka, Kobayashi & Hase & Sasaki beat Fujinami & Black Cat & Shiro Koshinaka and Machine & Goto beat Muto & Chono via DQ.
4/23 in Okinawa drew a sellout 2,540 as Fujinami & Muto & Chono beat Machine & Goto & Norton when Fujinami used the dragon sleeper on Goto, Choshu & Hase & Sasaki beat Kid & Samoans when Choshu pinned Kid, Casas pinned Hart, Hiro Saito pinned Kobayashi, Kido beat Iizuka and Liger & Koshinaka beat Finlay & Honaga.
Tour opening night on 4/15 at Korakuen Hall before 2,000 saw Hart & Scorpio beat Black Cat & Casas, Pegasus Kid pinned Honaga, Kobayashi & Seiji Aoyagi beat Iizuka & Koshinaka, Saito pinned Masanobu Kurisu, Hase & Sasaki beat Kido & Kimura, Muto & Chono beat Machine & Goto, Liger pinned Finlay and Norton & Samoans beat Choshu & Fujinami & Masa Saito when Kokina pinned Saito with a big splash.
SWS This group is running a couple of tours headlined by Randy Savage. The only WWF wrestlers brought in from 5/21 through 5/25 will be Savage and Jim Neidhart. The following major tour will have a big show on 6/7 at Tokyo Sumo Hall, 6/10 in Nagoya and 6/11 in Osaka with Savage, The Rockers, Power & Glory and Tugboat. . . 4/25 at Korauken Hall drew a packed house of 2,000 as Genichiro Tenryu & Takashi Ishikawa beat Demolition, George Takano pinned Tito Santana, Naoki Sano & Shinichi Nakano beat Samson Fuyuki & Tatsumi Kitahara, Goro Tsurumi beat Shunji Takano via DQ, Kendo Nagasaki pinned Fumihiro Niikura, Don Arakawa pinned Tiger Katayama and Kabuki & Masao Orihara beat Apollo Sugawara & Kenichi Ooya. Kabuki worked the opener on the card and in low matches on other cards as a punishment for his getting the Koji Kitao problem started because of his personal dislike for Kitao.
4/23 in Joetsu drew 2,769 as Tenryu & George Takano beat Demolition, Santana & Sano beat Rochester Road Block & Kitahara, Shunji Takano beat Nagasaki via DQ when Wakamatsu interfered, Fuyuki & Ishikawa beat Nakano & Kabuki with Kabuki doing the job for Fuyuki as punishment and Masaharu Funaki beat Fumihiro Niikura.
4/24 in Niigata drew a full house of 3,950 as Tenryu pinned Santana, Demolition beat Takano brothers, Ishikawa & Nakano beat Fuyuki & Kitahara, Nagasaki pinned Road Block, Sano beat Niikura, Minoru Suzuki beat Katayama and Sugawara pinned Arakawa.
OTHER JAPAN NOTES Nobuhiko Takada's UWFI had a press conference on Friday to announce the debut card in two weeks. Both Yoshiaki Fujiwara (PWF head man) and Seiji Sakaguchi (New Japan vice president) sent flowers to the press ceremony, which had several famous sumo wrestlers including a Grand Champion in attendance. Naoki Sano was also at the party and challenged Takada to a match in the future. This makes it appear that SWS is going to have a loose affiliation with Takada's group as well. Atsushi Onita had a 45 RPM single released on 4/21. Probably escaped.
All Japan's Champion Carnival tour that ended on 4/20 ran 23 cards. Of those shows, 12 drew standing room crowds and seven others had packed houses.
FMW opened a tour on 4/27 in Yamato before 2,950 as Mr. Pogo & The Gladiator (Mike Awesome) & Wizard II won a street fight from Onita & Tarzan Goto & Sambo Asako.
All Japan Women drew 2,500 on 4/27 in Tachikawa as Monster Ripper beat Manami Toyota with a power bomb and Bull Nakano & Kyoko Inoue & Bat Yoshinaga beat Aja Kong & Bison Kimura & Mika Takahashi in 2/3 falls.
JWP on 4/27 drew 1,111 as Rumi Kazama & Miss A & Harley Saito beat Plum Mariko & Itsuki Yamazaki & Shinobu Kandori.
Pink Cadillac, billed at 6-4 1/2 and 275 pounds, is getting over good with JWP squashing the little prelim girls (most of the JWP girls are very small) in three minutes or less every night.
All Japan on 4/25 in Niigata saw Miori Kamiya & Takahashi & Kong & Kimura beat Mima Shimoda & Toshiyo Yamada & Yumiko Hotta & Akira Hokuto, Monster Ripper pinned Kyoko Inoue, Nakano & Yoshinaga beat Toyota & Suzuka Minami, Esther & Cynthia Moreno & Mariko Yoshida beat Sake Hasegawa & Etsuko Mita & Takako Inoue and Debbie Malenko beat Ito.
Cynthia Russo (Little Mo from LPWA) and Cutie Suzuki are working as a mid-card tag team for JWP called "Cutie combo." .
4/22 in Tichigi saw Monster Ripper beat Hokuto and a strange tag match saw Nakano & Inoue team with Cynthia Moreno beating Toyota & Minami & Esther Moreno, so the sisters wrestled against one another.
PWF announced a card on 5/15 in Tokyo with Funaki vs. Jumbo Barretta, Naoki Sano (once again showing ties with SWS) vs. Wayne Shamrock (Vince Tirelli), Fujiwara vs. Wellington Wilkins Jr.
JWP drew a full house of 2,010 on 4/26 at Korakuen Hall saw Yamazaki & A beat Devil Masami & Rumi Kazama plus Saito & Kandori beat Eagle Sawai & Mayumi Ozaki via DQ.
OREGON The tag team title will be decided this coming Saturday night between The Bruise Brothers (Ron & Don Harris) vs. The Southern Rockers (Rex King & Steve Doll). First round matches were held on 4/27 in Portland with the Bruise Brothers beating Rip & Larry Oliver and Rockers beating Dirty White Boy (Bobby Blair) & The Grappler. The latter was a really bad match because Blair, who has worked very few matches, isn't ready yet. Also on the show, Mike Winner drew with Bart Sawyer, The Equalizer beat Doug Masters via DQ when Masters hit Equalizer with a garbage can, Jimmy Jack Funk pinned Al Madril and Terri Power beat Judy Martin via DQ. Masters came to the Sports Arena on 4/20 in a limo and is trying to be a Ric Flair copy.
USWA Jerry Lawler won the Texas title in the title vs. title match with Eric Embry on 4/26 at the Dallas Sportatorium. This title change probably won't be recognized in Memphis because Lawler is supposed to be taking a vacation there because of neck injuries. Before the Lawler-Embry match, Lawler told the fans in Texas that he's working the match against doctor's orders because of his neck injury which is I guess because some fans in Tennessee may see the match in syndication or on ESPN. Danny Davis won the USWA light heavyweight title on 4/23 from El Grande Pistolero (Gypsy Joe) in Louisville. This change will be recognized throughout both circuits because three nights later in Dallas, they announced to the crowd Davis had won the light heavyweight title from Pistolero.
4/26 in Dallas drew 583 as Terry Garvin beat Pistolero via DQ for over-the-top rope, Sweet Georgia Brown beat Sweet Sherri to win the USWA Texas women's title, Texas Hangmen beat Bill Dundee & Danny Davis when Dundee was pinned after J.C. Ice Baby (Jamie Dundee) gave one of the Hangmen a gimmick to put in his mask and use on Dundee, Jeff Jarrett & Robert Fuller beat Steve Austin & Tom Prichard via DQ when Austin hit ref Tony Falk with a chair, Gary Young beat Boogie Man via DQ when Embry interfered, Lawler pinned Embry in a match with the USWA title up against the Texas title. The match was in a cage. After the obligatory ref bump, Tojo Yamamoto gave Embry a chain which he used on Lawler and covered him but no ref. Jarrett then came out and punched Tojo and grabbed his briefcase. Embry climbed to the top of the cage as did Jarrett, holding the briefcase and Jarrett hit Embry with it and he fell back into the ring and Lawler pinned him. The finale was a Thunderdome match where Austin & Embry & Hangmen & Pistolero beat Davis & Dundee & Fuller & Young & Jarrett in a match where the heels managed to handcuff all the faces and were allowed to continue to beat on them until everyone on the face team juiced.
4/23 in Louisville saw Davis beat Pistolero for the title, Ice Baby beat Night Train Jackson, Dundee & Steve Keirn beat Hangmen in a non-title match, Jarrett & Fuller beat Prichard & Austin and Eddie Gilbert DDQ Embry.
4/22 in Memphis drew 1,500 as Davis pin Jackson, Pistolero beat Brian Christopher, Ice Baby pinned Uptown Bruno in a match with Ice Baby's hair against Bruno's $1,000 with Bill Dundee as ref when one Hangman distracted Dundee and the other Hangman interfered, Hangmen no contest with Keirn & Dundee for the tag titles, Fuller & Jarrett beat Prichard & Austin, Embry beat Gilbert in a chain match when Embry blew Kabuki mist into Gilbert's eyes and Fuller & Keirn & Jarrett & Dundee went to a no contest with Ajustin & Prichard & Hangmen.
Austin is leaving for WCW shortly.
Several other guys were fired as the group is trying to cut costs. The departed include Bruno and Jackson, while Keirn went back home to Florida after finishing his three-week run.
Keirn was "injured" on TV on 4/27 when he had a singles match against Austin and the Hangmen jumped in and they gave him a double stuff pile driver on the floor.
Hangmen then had a television match against Davis & Gilbert in which both falls ended with a ton of faces and heels both interfering to push the 10-man Texas Brawl anything goes street fight match on 4/29. . . 4/29 in Memphis has Gilbert & Dundee & Davis & Fuller & Jarrett vs. Hangmen & Austin & Prichard & Embry plus the undercard has Davis vs. Hangman Psycho, Dundee vs. Hangman Killer, Fuller vs. Prichard (both men are vowing to bring in loaded boots after Prichard put a gimmick on his boot to bloody up Fuller on television), Jarrett vs. Austin for the Southern title and Embry vs. Gilbert in a Texas Death match with two referees.
The first USWA spot show in Texas in many months took place on 4/27 in Ennis, TX and drew less than 100 fans.
On the Dallas TV show, J.C. Ice Baby acknowledged that Bill Dundee was his father, but it was something that slipped out rather than planned. It's never been said in Dallas about the relation between the two. Later in the show, when Dundee did an interview, he never even brought up the subject and it appears it was just a situation of someone getting confused when they are wrestling with two different story-lines per week.
Dundee & Davis did say that the reason Ice Baby hadn't been around was because they had gotten him suspended from the USWA these past few weeks.
5/3 in Dallas is a Cinco de Mayo celebration (Cinco de Mayo, or May 5, in Mexican independence day) with all seats $5 with Austin & Prichard vs. Fuller & Jarrett in a street fight, Jarrett vs. Embry for the Southern title with both men being allowed to bring one weapon of their choice into the ring and they flip a coin and the winners' weapon is put on a pole and whomever can get it off the pole can use it, Pistolero vs. Terry Daniels (remember Private Terry Daniels from the WWF in 1984?), Young & Garvin vs. Embry & Boogie Man, Dundee & Davis vs. Hangmen in a double chain match and three Lucha Libre matches including a six-man tag in which the winning team is to get "14,000 pesos" but none of the Luchadores are famous, in fact one is Chico Torres.
HERE AND THERE Sad to report the news of the death of 500-pound independent wrestler Bialo the Giant. Bialo, 31, whose real name was Alan Bialor, but was known by the wrestlers as "Herbie," was found dead in his apartment this past Tuesday. Doctors after examining him said he died the previous Sunday of a massive heart attack. Bialo mainly worked small shows in the New York and Long Island area, mainly shows promoted by the late Mark Tendler. . Gary Hart's Texas Wrestling Federation looks to be in really bad shape. His card on 4/28 at the Bronco Bowl in Dallas, which was supposed to be a television taping, saw no TV cameras present. Nor were headliners Abdullah the Butcher, Terry Gordy nor Kevin Von Erich there which upset the crowd greatly because Dallas is one of the few cities where fans aren't used to multiple no-shows. A promotion source said the crowd was 455, but live sources say it was closer to 200. TWF then canceled its dates the next two Sunday's at the Bronco Bowl and have only one card scheduled in the future, on 5/3 in Colorado City, TX. The group, which actually has the second best television ratings (behind the WWF on KTVT) in the market, is now out of television product so one wonders the future of the TV show next week, or if they'll start doing reruns. Basically every match advertised didn't take place. Tony Atlas won the IWCCW title from Vic Steamboat on 4/19 in South China, ME, however Atlas then quit the promotion so the idea now is that the match never took place and Steamboat is still the champion. Also on the same card the Georgia Gorillas beat the Madison brothers to win the tag team title.
The episode of "Quantum Leap" which features Terry Funk playing a role as a world champion wrestler will air on Wednesday, 5/8. The show contains a wrestling match with Funk. . Jim Cornette is booking the television shows for LPWA leading up to a proposed 9/29 PPV show. I don't know how the wrestling will be on these shows, but the angles will probably be the best ones in wrestling this summer.
I must have finally made the big time because I got my name in the current issue of "Flex" magazine. Joe Weider's mag had a story about Joe's bodybuilding promotional war with Vince McMahon (about as one sided as one would expect coming from a house organ publication) and couldn't resist using notes from The National regarding Vince moving Wrestlemania because of lack of ticket sales and the ratings of the last prime time main event. McMahon's new Bodybuilding Lifestyles mag that just came out is the first one without any negative mentions (or any mentions at all) of Weider and his IFBB.
Bob Backlund is now considering working for Herb Abrams' PPV show in June, but he's apparently only interested if he has the feeling that the wrestling fans want to see him make a comeback.
Jerry Monti has a show on 7/10 at the Vallejo County Fair with Don Muraco vs. Honkytonk Man plus Moondog Morretti, Buddy Rose, Manny Fernandez and a women's tag match plus he's going to use Pepper Gomez as a special referee and Kenji Shibuya as the timekeeper.
4/26 in North Massapequa, NY (Long Island) saw Jose Luis Rivera pin Barry Horowitz **, Mike Sharpe beat The Zapper *, Power Twins beat Conquistadores **, Lanny Poffo DDQ Boris Zhukov DUD, Paul Orndorff pinned Bob Orton ** (a lot of heat but both guys worked lackluster) and Cactus Jack pinned Sonny Beach due to outside help from Orton in a match where they brawled all over the gym ***1/2. After the match Cactus Jack gave John Arezzi (the ring announcer) the elbow drop off the apron and Arezzi did a stretcher job. Arezzi, who hosts a radio wrestling show, was once a WWF jobber back in the 1970s.
Doug Vines beat Wendell Cooley to win the All-Star wrestling title on 4/27 in Knoxville.
Chris Adams, Kevin Von Erich, Gary Young, Billy Travis, Bobby Perez and Manny Villalobos worked a card on 4/24 in Allen, TX under the World Class Wrestling logo.
Great Gama, Bulldog Bob Brown, Kerry Brown, Johnny Smith, Randy Thatcher, Mike Lozanski, Ron Ritchie and Les Thornton are working the weekly CNWA shows in Calgary.
Super Medico #3 won the Caribbean title from Scott Hall on 4/20 in Agadilla, Puerto Rico and on the same night, Ricky Santana regained the held up WWC jr. title beating Mr. Pogo.
Stan Lane & Jeff Collett managed by Jim Cornette won the Virginia Wrestling Association tag team titles from the Cream Team on 4/19 in Richmond, VA. They also did a live Louisville Slugger with Cornette signing bodyguard The Intimidator (said to be 7-feet tall) and Collette away from Rusty "The Fox" Thomas. Cornette and Thomas wound up arguing and Cornette called her a slut and she slugged him but Collette attacked Thomas. Also working the show was Curtis Thompson. Told the main event was an excellent match. Nicky "Air" Hawks holds the singles title. Cornette & Lane will be working for VWA on 5/10 and 5/11 in the Richmond area.
Midwest Championship Wrestling on 3/23 at Azteca Hall in Detroit drew 140 as The Sheik (Ed Farhat) beat Mickey Doyle via DQ in a double juice match (Doyle bladed both his forehead and stomach). Long-time Pro Wrestling Illustrated photographer Brad McFarlin worked as manager Handsome Johnny Bradford on the show.
Peach State Wrestling drew 362 on 4/5 in Cordele, GA with Bobby & Jackie Fulton beating Stan Lane & Tommy Rogers, Ronnie P. Gossett beat Dirty White Boy Jimmy Powell in a loser leaves town match, Mike Golden beat Billy Black via DQ, Buddy Landel pinned Joey Maggs and Jim Cornette did a live Louisville Slugger. They have another show on 5/10 in Cordele with Scotty the Body, Candi Divine, Bobby & Jackie Fulton, Landel, The Trooper and more.
Suncoast Pro Wrestling has a taping on 5/3 in Manatee, FL headlined by Tommy Rogers & Dean Malenko vs. Masked Superstar & Nasty Ned Brady.
Rick Rude, Honkytonk Man and Brian Blair appear 4/26 in Greely, CO, 4/27 in Colby, KS and 4/28 in Pueblo, CO. WCW should consider trying to get Rude in particular.
For those wishing to send birthday cards to Vic Christy, who turns 84 next week, you can send them to 13907 Oxnard St #33, Van Nuys, CA 91401.
Jim Cornette made some unflattering remarks about Jim Herd on this past Saturday night on Channel 69 in Atlanta.
WWF
Not a lot going on in the ring since half the crew is in the United Kingdom right now doing those shows that sold out months ago. Wayne Bloom & Mike Enos are both booked for the next set of TV tapings and I'm told they past their audition and will be getting a job.
TV is this coming week in Green Bay and Rockford.
Dino Bravo has quit the WWF temporarily and will work independents, but most expect him back in the WWF by the winter.
Rick Martel has been missing all his dates of late and I'm told he isn't injured and will be back but nothing as to what the situation is.
Prime Time Wrestling did a 3.2 rating on 4/23 while All-American did a 3.1 on 4/21. Prime Time at this point seems to be doing better than the old format was doing. A-A is about a half-point above its normal rating.
For the February rating sweeps, the WWF Superstars of Wrestling show averaged a 2.9 nationally, Wrestling Challenge did a 2.1, WCW Pro Wrestling a 1.9 and World Wide Wrestling a 1.6.
4/26 in Providence drew 6,000 as Bushwhackers beat Power & Glory *, Col. Mustafa pinned Jim Duggan DUD, Big Bossman pinned The Mountie **1/4, Ultimate Warrior beat Undertaker via DQ when Undertaker used the urn **1/2 (Warrior cheered by about 80 percent of the crowd), Bret Hart beat Mr. Perfect via count out ***1/4, IRS pinned Tugboat 1/2* and Legion of Doom beat Nasty Boys via count out ***. Back next time with Hogan & Duggan vs. Slaughter & Mustafa.
4/28 in Orlando drew 6,700 as Bushwhackers beat Power & Glory -*, Duggan pinned Mustafa -**, Bossman pinned Mountie *, Legion of Doom beat Nasty Boys via count out **1/4, Hart beat Perfect via count out ***1/4, IRS pinned Tugboat -*** and Slaughter beat Hogan via DQ *.
4/22 in Montreal saw Koko Ware pin Black Demon, Hart pinned The Barbarian, Earthquake beat Jake Roberts via DQ, Tugboat pinned Brooklyn Brawler, LOD beat Nasty Boys via count out, Davey Boy Smith pinned The Berserker, Duggan pinned Mustafa and Warrior beat Undertaker via DQ.
Expect Vicious to get a big push right away. What a surprise, huh? . . . 4/18 in Normal, IL drew 1,500 as IRS pinned Jimmy Snuka, The Dragon (Ricky Steamboat) pinned Haku, Rockers beat Orient Express (very good match), Earthquake beat Roberts via DQ, LOD beat Nasty Boys via count out, Ted DiBiase pinned Virgil and Slaughter pinned Duggan in a Boot Camp match (terrible).
4/19 in New Haven drew 3,900 as Dragon pinned Haku, Berserker pinned Tugboat after Fuji threw salt, Earthquake beat Roberts via DQ, Rockers beat Orient Express, DiBiase pinned Virgil, LOD beat Nasty Boys via count out and Slaughter pinned Duggan in a boot camp match. The work was said to be terrible but there was a lot of mayhem around the ring.
4/14 in Moline, IL drew a sellout 5,381 as Power & Glory beat Bushwackers -**, Kerry Von Erich pinned Demolition Smash DUD, Duggan pinned Mustafa -*****, Warrior beat Undertaker via DQ ****1/2, Berserker pinned Ware DUD, Earthquake beat Roberts via DQ -*, Perfect pinned Davey Boy Smith *1/2 and Rockers beat Orient Express **.
The "Thunder Down Under" tour of New Zealand didn't go as well as expected as a mysterious illness to Bushwhacker Butch Miller (Bushwhackers were the main draws of the tour) led to him going home, along with all the WWF wrestlers, four days before the tour was scheduled to end. Sounds like there's more to this story than that. 3/31 in Hamilton saw Siva Afi beat Mad Dog of Baghdad (Rocky Iaukea), Jim Powers pinned The Genius (Lanny Poffo), Don Muraco beat Angel of Death (Dave Sheldon) via DQ, Ware pinned Brawler and Bushwhackers beat Nasty Boys via DQ. . .4/3 in Wanganu saw Powers pin Genius, Muraco pin Mad Dog, Ware pin Brawler, Afi pin Angel and Bushwhackers beat Nasty Boys via DQ.
4/4 in Hastings had the same results as the previous night.
WCW
Steve Austin, with valet Veronica Lane (Robin Smith), will be starting here shortly. Paul Neu debuted at the TV tapings on 4/29 in Center Stage (his first air date will be 5/11) and was said to have gotten over phenomenally as T.N. News, The Rap Master doing a three minute long rap routine. He also pinned Doug Gilbert with a big splash off the middle rope.
Also at the taping, but in a dark try-out match, was The Diamond Stud (Scott Hall with slicked back hair and an earring) managed by Diamond Dallas Page. He worked like Scott Hall, although he did a nice version of the power bomb as the finisher which got a good reaction.
For those of you who taped the shows last weekend, there were two legit injuries on television. On World Wide in the Steiners vs. State Patrol match, Buddy Lee Parker (Dwayne Bruce) suffered a neck injury on a double-team move near the end of the match. On WCW during the Barry Windham vs. Brian Pillman match (which I thought was a four-star match), in the first lock-up, when Pillman slaps Windham across the ear, that was where Windham suffered the broken eardrum. The atmosphere for that match was the best I've seen for any WCW television match in a long time, even before the place was pelted with debris when Anderson did the run-in and attacked Pillman. While all these outside interferfence DQ finishes on television get repetitive, that finish was the perfect finish to that match because it truly stirred the emotions of everyone rather than the typical everyone looking to the back before the run-in takes place reaction.
On Sunday, the TV main event had Pillman-Sting-Gigante beat Flair-Windham-Anderson when Pillman pinned Anderson, but 7:00 seemed not to do the match justice considering who was involved.
Part of the reason the atmosphere seemed so good on television this past weekend is they moved the tapings away from the Atlanta-Gainesville-Marietta area so they had fans that weren't burned out by multiple tapings, plus it was a nearly packed house in Columbus, GA and they didn't use that annoying dull roar crowd sweetening device which in reality had been crowd souring.
The SuperBrawl control center segments are something that has been needed for all the PPV shows and the TV ads have improved as well. However they still need longer interviews so the guys can get their issues over and explain them to the audience. I tried to watch all the shows this past weekend from the perspective of someone that doesn't follow the group that closely and the only match at SuperBrawl I had any interest in seeing when the weekend was over was Pillman-Windham. While Sid and Gigante may have some appeal because of the size, neither of them did any interviews and did anything to make one think they need to see the match. And you've got a main event where one of the combatants is basically an unknown, and they've done nothing to make him any better known. Really if they had planned on using Fujinami on a PPV, they should have aired Fujinami matches fairly often on TBS for the past few months so at least people would know who he is. Maybe they'll do that with Muta (old American tapes) or Hase & Sasaki before the Clash. Sounds unlikely to me, also.
The third Freebird is definitely not either Angel of Death or Steve Austin.
4/24 in Battle Creek drew 900 as Pillman pinned Master Blaster (Kevin Nash) 1/2*, Brad Armstrong pinned Rip Rogers *1/4, Dustin Rhodes pinned Buddy Lee Parker 3/4*, Big Josh pinned El Cubano 1/2*, Lex Luger DDQ Nikita Koloff **1/2, Rick & Scott Steiner beat Larry Zbyszko & Dutch Mantell *, Ron Simmons pinned Butch Reed in 4:34 when Teddy Long accidentally screwed Reed DUD and El Gigante & Sting beat Ric Flair & Arn Anderson when Sting pinned Anderson **. . .That same night, Sid Vicious hit three home runs in his softball league.
Windham, Vicious and Big Van Vader all missed the "A" team tour this week. Still don't know when Windham will be able to fly. Vader returns on 5/3.
4/25 in Panama City drew 900 as Sam Houston pinned Moondog Rex, Black Bart pinned Ranger Ross, Angel of Death pinned Joey Maggs, JFD & Tommy Rich beat Royal Family, Ricky Morton pinned Terrence Taylor and Young Pistols beat Freebirds.
Expect the 7/14 PPV show from Baltimore to shape up as something like this: Flair vs. Luger, Steiners & Missy Hyatt vs. Windham & Anderson & Dangerously in a cage match, Sting vs. Nikita Koloff, El Gigante vs. One Man Gang and either Bobby Eaton, Dustin Rhodes or a retired wrestler named Rhodes against Mr. Hughes.
Tom Zenk re-injured his bicep at the last Omni card. It was diagnosed as torn fibers in the belly of the bicep and he'll be out for four weeks.
WCW on 4/20 headlined by Dustin Rhodes & Ricky Morton vs. Taylor & Larry Zbyszko drew a 2.7 rating--which is actually better than the previous two weeks shows which had the first Vicious-Gigante meeting and a Flair vs. Pillman match respectively. Main Event of 4/21 did a 2.6 with Gigante & Pillman vs. Windham & Anderson.
The final event ever at Kiel Auditorium in St. Louis on 4/27 drew 3,200 and $36,000 as Armstrong pinned Rogers, Rhodes pinned Parker, Pillman pinned Cubano, Steiners beat Stan Hansen & Master Blaster, Luger double count out with Nikita Koloff, Simmons pinned Reed and Sting & Gigante beat Flair & Anderson. Even though that crowd is about what one would expect, or maybe even larger, given the card, it was a disaster because there was a ton of publicity surrounding the final card at Kiel and this should have drawn a big gate and they should have brought back the former champs and big draws like Thesz, Bruiser, Dory Funk, Race, etc. plus brought back Sam Muchnick to bid farewell to the building.
Ric Flair vs. Rick Steiner headlining the "A" team shows this coming week.
They will be filming a set of videos for the Desperados over the next week or so. The Desperados will be a comedy heel team of Mantell, Dead Eye Dick (Randy Culley formerly Moondog Rex) and Black Bart and be programmed on "B" team shows against Rich & Morton & JFD for the six-man belts.
4/28 in Columbia, SC drew 300 as Morton & Rich & JFD beat Black Bart & Royal Family, Pistols beat Freebirds via DQ, One Man Gang pinned Houston, Angel of Death pinned Maggs, Houston beat James Earl Wright and Ranger Ross pinned Moondog Rex.
4/28 in Chicago drew 2,700 paid and $37,000 as Armstrong pinned Jonnie Stewart **, Josh pinned Mantell *, Rhodes pinned Parker ***1/2, Eaton pinned Taylor when Rhodes interfered and lariated Taylor *1/2, Simmons pinned Reed *1/2, Steiners beat Hansen & Mr. X (Kevin Nash) **, Luger DDQ Koloff **1/2 and in a cage match, Sting & Gigante beat Flair & Anderson **.
Aside from the debut of Paul Neu, not much spectacular at the TV taping 4/29 at Center Stage. On the 5/11 TBS show has Taylor & Anderson vs. Pillman & Gigante which ends up with both Windham and Eaton interfering for the DDQ in 6:00 of good action. On 5/18, Alexandra York offers Rhodes a contract again and invites him to her hotel room the day of the PPV to further discuss the offer. Some bouts taped, probably for Main Event saw Taylor pin Morton and Steve Armstrong pin Michael Hayes.
Tim Horner is still out of action with a neck injury.
Jim Herd on the 900 line said that the No. 1 priority of the company is to deliver TV ratings on TBS. The change in name from NWA to WCW was strictly on the advice of lawyers who decided it was the best way to avoid a lawsuit from an ex-NWA promoter.
WCW started this past Saturday on KCAL (Ch. 9 in Los Angeles) at 10 a.m. Saturday. This gives the company strong VHF television in both the San Francisco and Los Angeles market and access to the No. 1 building in each market which would put the group in good shape here if they were able to do something to shed that Triple-A image.

May 18, 1991 Observer Newsletter: Major WWE tour success, giant upset, last SNME, ratings for 91

Wrestling Observer Newsletter PO Box 1228, Campbell, CA 95009-1228
May 18, 1991
The World Wrestling Federation returned this past week from probably its most successful overseas tour in history, a nine-event "WWF Rampage" tour of the United Kingdom. The first eight events of the tour were sold out back in January, and a second date was added last Sunday in Manchester, England (a matinee show to go along with previously sold out evening show in the same building) at the G-Mex which also sold out. According to several readers who have taken vacations in England over the past year, the WWF, which is on the Sky Channel in Europe, is more popular in that country than it is in its home country.
There is very little new in regards to the "building wars" that we talked about in last week's issue. The only concrete news is that the WWF canceled its next date and all future dates at the Arena in St. Louis because the building booked a WCW card on June 14. The word in this area is that the WWF considered pulling out of the Oakland Coliseum Arena because that building gave WCW a July 27 date, but as of the end of the week, the WWF hadn't pulled out of the building and the word I have is the June date at the Coliseum definitely won't be pulled. The WWF has booked a show at the Cow Palace in San Francisco on July 26, coincidentally, of course. The word around Atlanta is that the WWF is attempting to book eight to ten dates over the next 12 months at the Omni and will make a play to be the prime wrestling tenant in the building. While it seemingly would be impossible to lock WCW out of the Omni, if both groups ran the same amount of dates and the WWF was able to outdraw WCW (which, up until the past few months would have been impossible but now it's a definite possibility) in its home town, it could get first priority on dates in Atlanta, which has a strong history of drawing big wrestling crowds on holidays. As prime tenant, it would get the first shot at those holiday dates. There has also been talk of WWF pulling out of one or two other arenas, although I haven't been able to confirm any, because those buildings are now booking WCW events.
While this whole situation was gone into in great detail last week, there are a few things that probably need to be addressed. First off, the type of building exclusivity that Titan Sports enjoys in many major facilities is not a monopoly type arrangement limited to pro wrestling. Most real sports franchises have been able to keep secondary league or minor league franchises in the same sport out of their buildings. In the days of the competing leagues in hockey, basketball and football, there were many cases where the established team worked as keeping upstart competition out of its "home" facility and in many cases, out of the market completely. Some buildings have similar deals with entertainment promoters as well. However, just because something has been done in the past and is common business in the industry doesn't make it technically either the correct legal or moral position.
My own thoughts on this matter are that WCW is picking the wrong time to get into this fight. If TBS really has a long-term commitment to wrestling, then the company should be working to change the mistakes that have plagued them over the years instead of continuing to repeat the same errors over-and-over again. If the company does have a long-term commitment, they have to make the big step of making the legal threats to municipally-owned buildings and St. Louis is a unique case because it's really a one-building market. However, there is no question in my mind that most buildings caught in the cross-fire of this game will side with the company that will enable the building to make the most money. Clearly, with the possible exception of Atlanta and maybe a few other smaller Southeastern markets, that would be the WWF in virtually every other major market in the country. Over the long haul, getting into a building is not a step in the right direction. Staying in the building is.
I'm sure the WWF has its reasons for threatening, and in at least a few cases (Meadowlands, St. Louis Arena) actually pulling out of buildings because they book WCW events. However, in both those cases, while the company may try and claim that they are doing so to avoid confusion in the marketplace or because they believe somehow the presence of a competitor will hurt their own box office, the fact is, the real reason is to maintain (in the case of New York) or gain (St. Louis) a monopoly on the arena wrestling business in that market. Indeed, any threat to pull out of a building, in reality, is an attempt to take the decision as far as business competition away from the consumers (who, ironically, at the present time will pick their product in most cases anyway).
From arena management standpoint, the situation is somewhat different. An argument can be made that in buildings which book both groups, the actual profit from running wrestling shows is less than in an arena that only books one group. I don't know if that can be proven and nobody has ever attempted to give me facts to back that up, but that has been theorized many times. If that is the case, does a private building have the right to do what is best for its own building? Yes. But if it's the only building in a market, and thus it would in essence be keeping out a competition wrestling promotion that has no track record of being late on bills, then is it right? It's more questionable, but the truth is, WCW isn't going after those facilities in this battle. It is going after municipally-owned buildings. In this market, going into the Oakland Coliseum Arena has its pro's and con's to begin with. First off, it is the major league indoor facility in the Bay Area. Whatever status a company gains by running major league facilities is gained in this market by running the Coliseum instead of the 6,000 seat Kaiser Center which is a few miles away. However, the rent at Kaiser is no doubt a lot cheaper and it's pretty much inconceivable at the present time that WCW could sell out a 6,000 seat building in this market. Thus, the profit on the individual show would be greater out of the Coliseum. My own thought is the Coliseum management, if it didn't want WCW, could tell the company in its own defense that when they prove they can pack the smaller building, then they'll give them dates. Nevertheless, the Coliseum booked WCW.
One of the biggest upsets in recent pro wrestling history took place this past Tuesday night at Tokyo's Sumo Hall when Norio Honaga, a long-time preliminary wrestler, captured the IWGP junior heavyweight title by winning the tournament that was going on the previous two weeks. Originally Jushin Liger was going to defend the title against the tournament winner at Sumo Hall, but instead Liger vacated the title and the top two finishers in the tournament would decide the vacant title on Tuesday. Well, as the round-robin tournament worked out, four wrestlers (Liger, Honaga, Pegasus Kid and Negro Casas) tied with 4-2 records. At Sumo Hall, Honaga, who originally figured to be the doormat of the tournament, pinned Pegasus Kid while Liger pinned Casas. This set up the unique finale, with the junior heavyweight title match being the final match on the card and billed as the card's main event for the first time in recent memory and ending with the upset with Honaga pinning Liger in 22 minutes using Jaguar Yokota's version of the german suplex to win. The upset victory got one of the biggest pops in recent memory on a New Japan big show. The reason for this apparently strange booking decision by Riki Choshu (New Japan booker) appears to be two-fold. First, Choshu, with results like this and other "surprise" finishes on television, is attempting to educate fans into believing that on any given night, any wrestler can beat any other wrestler. This gives a booker so many more options and so much more longevity, plus makes every near fall mean something if the fan himself truly can't figure out for certain which man will win. It's the opposite in All Japan, which generally has better quality main events on its cards now, however, generally one can figure out almost for certain several wrestlers who aren't going to do the job and usually the guy who will and even for who and with what hold. Secondly, among the boys, this gives the booker a lot of personal popularity. As one person close to that business remarked to me, Honaga, who has been a doormat most of his career, will always remember the night he was in the main event, won the title and got the biggest pop of his career and he'll always thank Choshu for it. If every prelim guys gets one big chance, they'll probably be more loyal to Choshu as a booker and thus his longevity is more secure from both sides. The wrestlers are thankful because anyone can get a break. The booker has more options in putting together major shows because fans believe that basically anyone given the opportunity has a shot at winning.
Last week's NBC Saturday Night Main Event drew a 7.7 rating and a 19 share. In that time slot, the rating is a whole lot better than the February prime time main event which did a 6.7/12, but it also shows the WWF is no longer as hot an item on NBC as it once was. NBC gave the WWF two SNME's this past season, both of which drew ratings slightly lower than what Saturday Night Live averaged in the same time slot. Over the previous five years, SNME's came more frequently (generally five per year) and usually outdrew, sometimes by a sizable margin, Saturday Night Live. In addition, both prime time specials were flops in the ratings. There was also talk that the network tried to change the card somewhat because the originally scheduled line-up didn't include the Ultimate Warrior vs. Sgt. Slaughter match. Still, from the WWF standpoint, the company should do whatever it can to maintain the SNME specials (judging from the ratings, it'll be hard pressed to get another prime time special) because the SNME gives the company the largest possible viewing audience to get over its major angles since its viewing audience is between double and triple that of WWF Superstars of Wrestling and nearly five times larger than that of Prime Time Wrestling.
Got some cumulative ratings from the first quarter of 1991 (January through March) on cable television which shows the WWF and WCW in a dead heat. While the WWF does much better on syndication for several reasons (more emphasis put on syndication whereas WCW puts its major emphasis on cable; also because it has better clearances particularly in the largest markets and also because the group is more popular) they are neck-and-neck in cable ratings. Both the Saturday WCW show and All-American Wrestling averaged 2.6 ratings over the first three months while Prime Time Wrestling in the old format and the Sunday WCW Main Event each did a 2.8. Since TBS reaches more homes than USA network, that means that WCW actually had a slight edge in overall viewership over the first few months. Interesting to note that during the same period last year, the Saturday WCW show averaged a 3.3 while the Sunday show averaged a 3.1, so it's a noticeable drop over the past year. The WWF shows dropped as well over the same period from last year, but not as significantly because WCW, then NWA, was clearly winning in cable ratings at this point last year.
I'll be appearing on Ron Barr's Sports Byline USA show, a nationally-syndicated radio phone-in show on Monday, May 20th (the day after the SuperBrawl PPV show) from 9 to 10 p.m. Pacific time. I hope to have listings in next week's Observer of the stations on which the show is broadcast.
This is the first issue of the current four-issue set. If you've got a (1) on your current address label it means that your Observer subscription will expire in three more weeks. Renewal rates remain $6 for four issues, $12 for eight, $24 for 16, $32 for 24 up through $60 for 40 issues within the United States and Canada. Rates for overseas weekly airmail subscriptions are $9 for each set of four issues through $90 for 40 issues. There are still plenty of copies of the 1990 yearbook available for $12 for subscribers in the United States and Canada ($14 for non-subscribers) or $18 for overseas subscribers ($20 for overseas non-subscribers). The book is 110-pages with feature stories on Mildred Burke, Jushin Liger, Ric Flair, Luna Vachon plus a rundown of the news and all major title changes of 1990, the annual Wrestling Observer awards and a directory of all active wrestlers with real names, heights, weights, age, years pro, etc. All newsletter or yearbook orders along with letters to the editor, results of live matches, news items or any other correspondence should be sent to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, P.O. Box 1228, Campbell, CA 95009-1228.
Fax messages can be sent to the Observer seven days a week at 408-378-6562. Please don't send fax messages before noon Eastern time.
MEXICO Several title changes to report on over the past week. Mascara Sagrada & Octagon & Atlantis won the Mexican national trios championship beating The Thundercats (Leono, El Tigro and Pantro) on 4/29 at Arena Coliseo in Mexico City, winning the match in two straight falls.
Lizmark regained the NWA world light-heavyweight title beating El Satanico on 5/1 in Acapulco.
The vacant Mexican national womens championship was won by Neftaly in a tournament on 5/1 in Calaya.
59-year-old Rayo de Jalisco Sr. (Max Linares), whose son Rayo Jr. is one of the more popular wrestlers in Mexico right now came out of retirement to team with his son and Konnan El Barbaro on 5/1. According to Ovaciones (Mexico City sports newspaper), the trio lost in two straight falls to the "Dynamite Brothers" (Cien Caras & Mascara Ano 2000 & Universo 2000). In the first fall, Rayo Sr. was counted out of the ring to lose the fall and was taken to the hospital where it said he was diagnosed as having an irregular heartbeat. The faces went with a 3-on-2 disadvantage in the second fall and lost it as well. Don't know if this is a Fritz Von Erich fake heart attack angle or what.
El Gigante Guerrero (Butch Masters) is getting the super heel push and had a shot at Canek's UWA world heavyweight title this past Sunday at El Toreo. Not only did Guerrero again pin Canek in the deciding fall of a six-man tag the previous Sunday at El Toreo, but he teamed with Brazo de Plata to win the 12-team El Toreo cup blind draw tag team tournament. They are billing Guerrero as the tallest wrestler ever to appear in Mexico at 7-foot-5 and 375 pounds. When Andre the Giant used to appear in Mexico (Andre had a few title shots at Canek in the early 80s including a 1984 match where Andre did a clean job for Canek), he was billed at 7-foot-4. Guerrero appears in Japan a Butch Masters of the Land of the Giants tag team and appeared to be a legit 6-foot-8 1/2 or so, roughly the same height as Baba and Andre.
5/1 at El Toreo in Naucalpan for the El Toreo Cup saw Los Matematicos beat El Hijo del Diablo & Los Mohicanos in the opening six-man tag. In the tournament first round, Baby Face (heel) & Silver King (face) defeated Brazo de Oro (heel) & El Hijo Del Santo (face) via DQ when Face grabbed his crotch as the ref was turned around and claimed Oro hit him with a low blow (which never happened) and the ref called for a DQ; El Gigante Guerrero & Brazo de Plata (both heels although the Brazos are really tweeners that work against faces) beat El Indomito (heel) and Perro Aguayo (face here, although he's a heel in EMLL) via DQ, El Brazo (heel) & Gran Hamada (face) beat Black Terry (heel) & Takayama (face), Enrique Vera (face) & The Killer (heel) defeated El Texano (face) & El Signo (heel--although Signo & Texano were tag partners for nearly ten years before Texano turned), Fishman (heel) & Villano III (face) defeated Samurai (face) & Shu El Guerrero (heel) and El Engendro (heel) & Chavo Guerrero beat Jose Luis Feliciano (heel) & Akiyoshi (face). The quarterfinals saw Gigante Guerrero & Plata beat Face & King in a match that ended up with all four wrestlers fighting amongst one another with no regard as to who their partner was, Vera & Killer beat Hamada & Brazo and Villano III & Fishman beat Engendro & Chavo Guerrero (said to be a very good match). Plata & Gigante Guerrero got a bye into the final so the semifinal match saw Vera & Killer beat Villano III & Fishman in a good match ending when Villano III had his mask ripped up badly and he kept trying to hide his face and wound up getting pinned. The finale saw Gigante Guerrero & Plata win two of three falls. Killer's manager Andy Barrow interfered to cause Killer & Vera to win the first fall. Guerrero & Plata (who were the baby-faces and worked as faces in this match even though of the four, Vera was the only true face) came back to win the second and third falls when Guerrero pinning Killer with a power-slam in the final fall at the same time Plata pinned Vera with a splash off the top rope.
4/28 at El Toreo had Miguelito Perez & Hurricane Castillo & Gigante Guerrero beat Canek & Dos Caras & Villano III when Guerrero pinned Canek clean with a power-slam to set up the UWA world title match (fair match), Rambo & Dr. Wagner Jr. & Fishman beat Tinieblas & Tinieblas Jr. & El Texano via DQ (good), Villanos I-IV-V beat Baby Face & Black Power & El Indomito, Ninja Turtles beat Zeus & El Zar & El Bello Greco & Kahos and Valente Fernandez & Halcon 78 beat Rey Cobra & El Migra.
4/29 in Pueblo had Caras & Vera & Aguayo vs. Gigante Guerrero & Blue Panther & Fishman, Kahos & Black Power & Engendro vs. Tinieblas Jr & Sr & Texano and Akiyoshi & Takayama & Silver King vs. Feliciano & Shu El Guerrero & Black Terry.
EMLL same night in Morelos had Super Astro & Angel Azteca vs. Gran Markus Jr. & Angel Blanco Jr. on top.
5/3 at El Toreo had Wagner & Fishman & Killer vs. Tinieblas Jr & Sr & Hamada on top.
5/3 at Arena Neza had Negro Navarro & Gigante Guerrero vs. Caras & Vera.
Ricky Boy, the young wrestler who appeared at the WCW PPV show in Phoenix in the dark match, got his name and playboy gimmick by watching the WWF on television and copying Rick Rude.
Mil Mascaras is going to tour Guatemala for the first time since 1976 when he won a 30-man tournament to win that country's version of the world heavyweight title before 42,000 fans at a soccer stadium.
Fuerza Guerrera kept his NWA welterweight title beating Huracan Sevilla in 4/29 in Mexico City.
Blue Blazer (Owen Hart) and Pegasus Kid (Chris Benoit) started back for the UWA on this past Sunday's show at El Toreo. Pegasus Kid holds the WWF light-heavyweight title and will defend against Villano V, III and Perro Aguayo.
EMLL returns to the 17,500-seat Arena Mexico on 5/24 so the Galavision shows should pick up with bigger names at that point.
The Mexican midgets leave for Puerto Rico for their second tour of that country starting this coming Friday night.
Atlantis beat Sevilla on 5/1 in Mexico City to keep his NWA middleweight title.
EMLL on 5/3 at Arena Coliseo in Mexico City saw Sangre Fria & Chicano Power Jr. win two straight falls from Tauro Jr. & Thunder 3/4*, midgets Misteriocito & Octagoncito & Justicierito won 2/3 falls from MS 1/2 & Pequeno Cobarde & Jerrito Estrada ***, Los Brazos won 2/3 from Super Astro & Popitekus & Dandy **1/2 (not a great match but the ending of the second fall was spectacular with five consecutive dives out of the ring including Popitekus, at 300 pounds, doing a dive through the ropes and Brazo de Plata doing a cross-body block off the top rope outside the ring and splattering the other five standing there waiting to catch him), Lizmark & Sagrada & Jalisco Jr. won two straight from Markus Jr. & Pierroth Jr. & Mongolian Mauler *1/4 and the finale saw Mascara Ano 2000 win straight falls from Konnan. Mascara won the first fall in 2:28 and Konnan was DQ'd in the second fall for both kicking Ano 2000 low and also ripping up his mask in just 1:17. Konnan was wearing a wig since he's building up for a hair vs. hair match or a hair vs. mask match somewhere down the line and his real hair is so short, but he was having a hard time keeping it on and kept adjusting it. 1/2*
NEW JAPAN Not a lot of news this week because in Japan this past week is known as Golden Week, which is a week-long business holiday so the only company that ran shows during the week was FMW. New Japan finished its tour on 4/30 at Sumo Hall in Tokyo before a crowd announced as a sellout 11,500 (realistic crowd was slightly less than that because there were empty seats in the upper deck) for a card designed to benefit former Japanese pro wrestling star Toyonobori who is broke and very ill. Honaga pinned Liger in the main event to win the vacant IWGP junior heavyweight title, also Riki Choshu & Tatsumi Fujinami beat Hiroshi Hase & Kensuke Sasaki in 20 minutes when Fujinami made Hase submit with a figure-four leg lock (this is not a coincidence that Fujinami used Ric Flair's finisher on the last big show before he goes to the United States), Scott Norton pinned Keiji Muto in nine minutes with a power-slam in a pretty bad match, Liger pinned Negro Casas (disappointing because Liger was saving everything for the main event and Casas didn't do a lot either), Honaga pinned Pegasus Kid, Tony Halme (doing a boxing gimmick) knocked out Seiji Aoyagi (karate) in the third round of a mixed match, Masa Saito & Masa Chono beat Kokina & Samu, Hiro Saito & Tatsutoshi Goto & Super Strong Machine beat Shiro Koshinaka & Kuniaki Kobayashi & Takayuki Iizuka and Osamu Kido pinned Kengo Kimura in the opener.
New Japan announced its next big Tokyo show for 5/25 at NK Hall with Fujinami defending the IWGP title against Chono, Choshu vs. Muto, Hase & Sasaki vs. Big Van Vader & Bam Bam Bigelow and on 5/31 in Osaka for Fujinami's 20th year anniversary card they've finalized the Steiner brothers defending the IWGP tag team titles against Hase & Sasaki as the main event plus Vader vs. Halme.
4/27 results saw Hase & Sasaki beat Kokina & Samu, Fujinami & Kido beat Chono & Kobayashi, Owen Hart pinned David Finlay and Pegasus Kid pinned Jushin Liger. 4/28 saw Liger pin Owen Hart with a top rope DDT (Hart was legitimately injured with this move and had to miss the Sumo Hall card), Pegasus Kid pinned Casas, Hase & Sasaki beat Machine & Hiro Saito and Chono pinned Kido.
Special show on 5/6 at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo drew a full house of 2,000 with Hase pinning Liger on top plus Chono beat Kobyashi with the STF and Muto pinned Iizuka.
Iizuka is going to England to form a tag team with Akira Nogami.
It's interesting to note that New Japan has Budokan Hall booked on 6/12, which is the same night at the Clash from Knoxville, so they'll have to do a big show without Muto, Hase and Sasaki most likely. Actually there is some talk that Hase will team with Chono in Knoxville against the Steiners because Sasaki has working visa problems.
Shinya Hashimoto returned from Red China where his knee was given acupuncture treatment because it really is so bad. Hashimoto was also in Minnesota and there were magazine shots of him giving a note to Jesse Ventura from Antonio Inoki with the idea being Inoki wants to open up a political relationship with Ventura. Kind of ridiculous. But Hashimoto may be in Tampa to see SuperBrawl, and Masa Saito & Riki Choshu will both be going to Tampa for the show.
OTHER JAPAN NEWS The other big show of this past week was on Monday night (4/29) at the Ota Ward Gym in Tokyo for All Japan women, which was both a taping for television and home video before 2,200 fans (not really that great a crowd since eight days earlier they drew basically the same sized crowd at Korakuen Hall). The main event saw Bull Nakano keep her world womens title pinning Monster Ripper in 14:48 with the somersault leg drop off the top rope, plus Aja Kong & Bison Kimura kept their WWWA tag team titles beating Esther Moreno & Manami Toyota, Akira Hokuto won the All-Pacific title from Suzuka Minami in 21 minutes with a new maneuver called the Northern Lights power bomb which is basically what it sounds like, Takako Inoue won the Japanese womens title pinning Kyoko Inoue, Bat Yoshinaga kept the martial arts title beating Kim Torisu, Toshiyo Yamada & Mariko Yoshida & Sake Hasegawa beat Debbie Malenko & Cynthia Moreno & Yumiko Hotta and Mika Takahashi & Miori Kamiya beat Mima Shimoda & Etsuko Mita. Esther & Cynthia Moreno won the Japanese tag team titles beating Mita & Shimoda on 4/21 at Korakuen Hall. This is the first sister tag team to ever hold tag team titles in Japan.
Pink Cadillac from Florida continues to get a big push from JWP.
The next two weeks will be very interesting because all three versions of the formerly red-hot UWF promotion have cards. Nobuhiko Takada's UWFI debuts on Friday night in Korakuen Hall and all 2,000 tickets were sold out within 15 minutes of them going on sale weeks ago. Akira Maeda's "Rings" debuts the next night at the 17,000-seat Yokohama Arena. I've heard tickets are selling for this show, but as of a few days ago, there were still ringside tickets remaining so this isn't the "hot" ticket Maeda once was. In addition, the PWF (Pro Wrestling Fujiwara-group) runs Korakuen Hall on 5/16.
Gong Magazine ran a poll of its readers on the most popular Mexican wrestlers among Japanese fans. Mil Mascaras, who was a huge draw here in the 70s remained as the most popular with Dos Caras (Mil's brother who frequently came to Japan as Mil's tag team partner) in second place followed by Octagon, Atlantis, Canek, Canelo Casas, Kendo, Angel Azteca, Sangre Chicana, Cien Caras, Negro Casas, Lizmark, Stuka, Pirata Morgan, El Matematico, Mascara Ano 2000, Super Astro, Kato Kung Lee, Aguila Solitaria and Universo 2000.
FMW opened on 4/27 with Mr. Pogo & The Gladiator (Mike Awesome) & El Profe beating Sambo Asako & Tarzan Goto & Atsushi Onita when Gladiator pinned Asako after a power bomb onto a chair. Before the card the heels jumped and beat up Onita in the parking lot and Pogo bribed the referee before the match started with photographers shooting the scene. They have a wrestler here from Tampa known as Horace Boulder, who is said to be Hulk Hogan's cousin and Boulder is winning his matches with both the axe bomber (lariat, which was Hogan's winning move in Japan in the early 80s) and the leg drop.
The SWS 4/23 show at Korakuen Hall headlined by Tenryu & George Takano vs. Demolition aired on WOWOW (Japan's version of HBO) this past Saturday night. . . The Steiners win over Hase & Sasaki from the Dome aired on Saturday afternoon.
Dave Wagner, who formerly worked in the AWA about five years ago with Rick Renslow as The Alaskans, plus J.T. Southern will appear for Takada's UWFI. There is some concern in Japan that the Americans being brought in will ruin the UWF "image" since they obviously won't have a clue as to how to work that style. In fact, of the three Takada is bringing in (the other is Tom "Beef" Burton), they really haven't even worked much in the United States in recent years. Southern has been touring with a rock band as a drummer called "Wolf" (with the band that appeared on the WCW Clash last year in Corpus Christi). Apparently SWS sent Naoki Sano to the press conference to challenge Takada because if Takada's group doesn't make it, and it appears the financing behind it is weak, then SWS wants to bring in Takada, Yamazaki and the other UWF wrestlers since in pro style, Takada has the potential to be as talented as any wrestler in Japan.
There have been allegations that at the SWS show at Korakuen, that the company actually hired fans to pack the building, start chants and create heat since the shows have had little heat compared with the other groups in Japan.
On 5/6 in Osaka at the FMW card, a fan was killed but since it just happened, don't have details other than he was trying to climb something and fell down, but that this will probably become something of a big deal in the news over the next two or three days. Onita beat Pogo in the main event of, get this, a barbed wire match with mines planted outside the ring so if anyone goes out of the ring, a "mine" explodes" on them. Gregory Berichev beat Tarzan Goto to keep the FMW world martial arts title and Ultraman beat Pandita. 5/2 in Osaka drew 1,543 as Goto & Onita beat Profe & Pogo in a street fight and Gladiator & Boulder beat Shooter & Berichev while on 5/3 in Osaka drew 1,783 as Gladiator & Pogo beat Asako & Onita in a street fight, Goto pinned Boulder.
JWP on 5/3 in Nagano drew 1,418 as Pink Cadillac beat Osawa and Plum Mariko & Shinobu Kandori & Miss A beat Devil Masami & Rumi Kazama & Miki Handa in the main event.
JAPANESE TELEVISION RUNDOWN: 4/7 ALL JAPAN WOMEN 1. Manami Toyota & Etsuko Mita & Debbie Malenko beat Takako Inoue & Suzuka Minami & Mariko Yoshida in 12:51 when Toyota pinned Yoshida by grabbing a double wrist lock and then taking her over in a german suplex. The match started out just so-so, although Toyota was great and carried the match most of the way through. The finish took forever (how do they remember all those spots?) with one near fall after another. ***1/2; 2. Bull Nakano pinned Mika Takahashi in 12:31 with a leg drop off the top rope. Mainly Bull destroyed Mika, who sold it great, all the way through. Bull sold almost nothing until the finish when she gave Mika a short comeback. **; 3. Aja Kong & Bison Kimura kept the tag team titles beating Akira Hokuto & Yumiko Hotta in 2/3 falls. Hokuto was covered in blood from almost the beginning but made a comeback and pinned Bison to win the first fall in 6:40. In the second fall Hokuto did the somersault off the top rope outside the ring that Liger did to Nogami at the Tokyo Dome. Bison pinned Hotta with a german suplex in 2:21 to even things up. Third fall had all the near falls. Bison even did a dive through the ropes while Aja did a cross-body block off the top rope outside the ring. Basically turned into the typical great match but the heat wasn't as great since this card wasn't in Tokyo. Kong wound up pinning Hokuto with a power bomb off the middle rope. You should give Hokuto either credit for guts or a lack of brains for taking the move, since Hokuto several years back suffered a broken neck and was nearly paralyzed from a tombstone pile driver off the top rope. ***3/4.
4/14 ALL JAPAN
1. Jumbo Tsuruta pinned Toshiaki Kawada in 17:13 with two back suplexes. Started out slow and was kind of similar to a Ric Flair style deliberate early match. They picked things up at 12:00 and it was hot until the finish with a lot of crowd heat. Actually the place was going nuts when Kawada got near falls on Jumbo. ***1/2; 2. Stan Hansen pinned Mitsuharu Misawa in 17:20. Misawa's bad knees really showed but this was still a hard and stiff match without any spectacular moves but both guys really worked stiff with each other. Some of the spots were even messed up but it really didn't hurt the match. Hansen did the lariat and Misawa kicked out to a huge pop. Hansen went for another one, Misawa dodged it and took Hansen down with a crucifix but Hansen kind of back-splashed Misawa as he went down. Both guys' shoulders were down but Hansen just beat the count and Misawa didn't. ***1/4
4/20 NEW JAPAN
1. Jushin Liger pinned Akira Nogami from the Tokyo Dome ***1/2; Before the second match they showed a couple of angles. Early in the card, Masanobu Kurisu was DQ'd against Hiro Saito for kicking him low and beating on him. Later Saito, Machine, Goto and Norio Honaga all jumped Kurisu with a four-on-one and destroyed him and left him bloody. Kurisu was said to be "injured" and missed the rest of the tour; 2. Keiji Muto & Masa Chono beat Super Strong Machine & Tatsutoshi Goto. Heels dominated this fast-paced match but Chono got the submission on Goto with the STF. ***1/4; 3. Liger pinned David Finlay in 11 minutes with a DDT off the top rope. Finlay kicked out of a lot of hot moves. He moved well but didn't do anything spectacular. ***1/4; 4. Scott Norton & Kokina & Samu beat Riki Choshu & Tatsumi Fujinami & Masa Saito in 9:17 when Norton gave Saito a lariat and Kokina pinned him with a big splash. It was better than decent, but nothing special. **1/2
USWA 5/3 in Dallas drew 918 fans with all seats at $5 for the Cinco De Mayo card. The only title change during the week took place on this card as Eric Embry won the Southern title from Jeff Jarrett in a bloodbath when Tom Prichard hit Jarrett with Tojo Yamamoto's briefcase and Embry pinned him. Don't know if they're going to acknowledge this title change in Memphis or not, however they've yet to announce in Memphis that Jerry Lawler beat Embry the previous Friday in Dallas to win the Texas title, partially because Lawler is still "supposed" to be injured in Memphis. The USWA Dallas show airs in Memphis in syndication with Lawler on this past Saturday (even though his last week in Dallas he acknowledged his injury and that he'd be out of action for a month). Also at the Sportatorium, Embry & The Boogie Man beat Gary Young & Terry Garvin when Embry pinned Garvin with his feet on the ropes, Private Terry Daniels pinned El Grande Pistolero, Bill Dundee & Danny Davis beat Texas Hangmen in a non-title double chain match, Jarrett & Robert Fuller beat Steve Austin & Tom Prichard when Jeff pinned Austin after hitting him with Tojo's briefcase, El Gran Maya pinned El Jimines, El Grande Colosso pinned Mascara Del Fuego and Tony Torres won a five-man Battle Royal involving the previous four named wrestlers and himself. The only matches that got any heat were the Jarrett-Fuller tag match and the Embry-Jarrett singles match. 5/10 in Dallas will be headlined by a 12-man Texas Roundup (Royal Rumble rules Battle Royal), Young vs. Pistolero, Tony Falk vs. J.C. Ice Baby, Karate Kid vs. Little Tokyo in a midget match, Davis vs. Gran Colosso for the USWA lightheavyweight title, Dundee vs. Boogie Man and Jarrett & Fuller vs. Prichard & Embry.
4/29 in Memphis drew 700 as Davis drew Hangman Psycho, Dundee pinned Hangman Killer, Fuller DDQ Prichard, Jarrett pinned Austin, Embry DDQ Eddie Gilbert in a chain match and Gilbert was "injured" after the match when all the heels jumped him so the Thunderdome match ended up being 5-on-4 with the heels (Embry-Austin-Prichard-Hangmen) beating the faces (Jarrett-Fuller-Davis-Dundee).
Jarrett was in an auto accident Sunday afternoon which could have ended up a lot worse than it did. Jarrett was going through Jackson, TN. Another guy, whose car was out of control, apparently because the brakes failed, spun across the divider and ended up in a head-on with Jarrett's car. Even though Jeff's car wound up banged up to where it looked like an accordion and also both cars burst into flames, Jeff managed to get out of his car through the window before the car burst into flames. He was treated for three hours in the hospital before he was released. There were seven others, none of the rest wrestlers, who were also treated from the wreck.
5/6 in Memphis had a Texas Brawl in a cage with the same 10 wrestlers who were scheduled to go at it the previous week. Also Steve Keirn vs. Eric Embry in a Lights Out match, Embry vs. Eddie Gilbert (yes, both Embry and also Keirn are working three times on this show) in a match where both men will where gloves with barbed wire on them, Jarrett & Fuller vs. Prichard & Hangman Psycho, Keirn vs. Austin, Dundee vs. Hangman Killer and if Bill wins, he gets five minutes with J.C. Ice (his son) but if Killer wins, J.C. gets five minutes with Bill with Bill's hands tied behind his back and the opener has Karate Kid vs. Little Tokyo.
4/20 in Nashville drew 500 as Pistolero pinned Davis *, Ice Baby pinned Night Train Jackson **, Keirn & Dundee beat Hangmen **3/4, Jarrett & Fuller beat Prichard & Austin in 20 minutes when Jarrett hit Austin with Tojo's briefcase ***1/2, Embry beat Gilbert via DQ in a great brawl ***.
Former area wrestlers Chris Champion, Tom Burton and Terry Adonis are working small-time cards in Northern Tennessee and Kentucky for Dale Mann. Adonis does a Khan from Mongolia gimmick.
AWA The first AWA cards in something like ten months took place this past week. On 5/2 in Bemiji, MN before 450 fans, Buck Zumhofe pinned Johnny Love, Karate Kid pinned Little Tokyo (best match on the card), Ricky Rice pinned Jamie Magnum, Larry Cameron DDQ Tommy Jammer and the main event saw Wahoo McDaniel & Baron Von Raschke beat Wayne Bloom & Mike Enos. 5/3 in Bloomington, MN at a high school before 650 fans saw Zumhofe pin Love 1/4*, Frank Anderson pinned Randy Thornton ** (both guys making their pro debut and both showed a ton of potential. Anderson was a silver medalist in wrestling representing Sweden at the last Olympic games and is being trained by Brad Rheingans for a big push in Japan while Thornton was a former pro football player), Cameron pinned Jammer 1/2*, Karate Kid pinned Little Tokyo **1/2, Steve Olsonoski pinned Rice *1/2 and Greg Gagne & Wahoo McDaniel beat Enos & Bloom **. Before the match started, Verne Gagne, 65, punched Bloom who sold the punch for several minutes. Wahoo bled.
HERE AND THERE George Michael Sports Machine on NBC-TV recently aired some clips of Jushin Liger.Madusa Miceli sang the national anthem during a U.S. vs. Japan rugby game held in Minnesota.
The Pit Bulldogs are headed to New Japan in July.
Tony Anthony and Doug Gilbert have left Puerto Rico. Both are expected back to work for the USWA, although Gilbert did some WCW television jobs this past week.
The two guys who got rave reviews in Arizona on their pro debuts (Jason Peters from San Jose and David Hannah from Los Angeles) two weeks back that I mentioned were trained in Slammer's Gym were trained by Louie Spicoli and Billy Anderson. The two no longer train wrestlers at Slammer's because of heat with owner Verne Langdon.
Scotty the Body was in a car accident (car rolled) over the weekend but should be back in action before you read this.
I'd like to do a listing over the next few weeks of all the wrestling radio shows in the United States so if you've got a show and want it to be listed, please contact me and I'll list the details.
The independent show put on by Nasty Ronnie at the Sulphur Springs Harbor Club in Tampa on 5/18 (day before the PPV) will have Jerry Flynn vs. Buddy Landel, Nasty Ned vs. Raul Mata and Jeff James vs. Denny Brown. The Black Hearts won't be on the show as I listed a few weeks back.
5/3 in Palmetto, FL for a Suncoast Pro Wrestling TV taping before 350 was headlined by Tommy Rogers & Dean Malenko managed by Boris Malenko beating Nasty Ned & The Masked Superstar managed by Penelope Paradise.
There was an altercation on Sunday at Joel Goodhart's bowl-a-thon and luncheon with Eddie Gilbert and Missy Hyatt. Missy was upset about a photographer selling 8x10's and 16x20 photos of her without her permission and complained to Goodhart and it apparently wound up with the two yelling and cursing at each other before Missy announced to the audience that she was gone. She also wasn't too happy that Goodhart was still advertising Terry Funk for the 5/18 show in Philadelphia when Funk wasn't going to be there because of his back injury.
Goodhart ran a show on 5/4 at Newark High School drawing 300. The top three advertised matches were Bam Bam Bigelow vs. Buddy Landel, The Sheik vs. Abdullah the Butcher and Eddie Gilbert vs. Funk. Funk missed the show because of his injury and Sheik missed it and worked a show in Euclid, OH instead so it wound up as Abby DDQ Bigelow and Landel vs. Gilbert.
Afa the Samoan ran a show on 5/3 in Newington, Ct before 550 as Mario Mancini beat Vance Veron *1/2, Midgets Little Louie pinned Tiger Jackson *, Ray Apollo pinned Tahitian Savage (Afa's son) **, Ken Patera pinned Samu (Samu was tremendous) ***, Yukon Jack pinned Mike Sharpe *, Afa & Sika beat Bounty Hunters *, Nikolai Volkoff pinned Boris Zhukov DUD.
Imagine Inc. of Pittsburgh is coming out with Wrestling Legends trading cards. All cards are autographed including names like Bruno Sammartino, Buddy Rogers, Billy Graham, Killer Kowalski, Lou Albano, Ivan Koloff, Dom DeNucci, Lou Thesz. For info write Imagine, Inc. PO Box 9674 Department W, Pittsburgh PA 15226.
Central Wrestling Federation has a show on 7/4 at Patrick Air Force Base in Cocoa Beach, FL with Abdullah Farouk Jr., Nasty Ned, Tim "Powerhouse" Parker, Rick Ryder, Bill Mulkey and Tommy Wright.
Pro Wrestling America on 5/13 in Ropers Night Club in Fridley, MN has Jerry Lynn vs. Lightning Kid which is a match people are raving about that see it.
Paul Jones has retired once again as an active wrestler.
Thomas Reeder promoted three shows last week, 4/26 in Greely, CO drew 1,300, 4/27 in Colby, KS drew 1,000 and 4/28 in Pueblo, CO drew 750 with Honkytonk Man, Jim Brunzell, Rick Rude and Brian Blair. Paul Orndorff was advertised but worked New York shows instead and had cancelled but they continued to advertise him anyway although Brunzell was brought in as a sub and Honky claimed to have injured Orndorff as the cover-story. Shirley Black also missed the show as advertised although the promoter told her the cards had been canceled.
Apparently the reason Terry Gordy missed the Dallas Bronco Bowl show from Gary Hart's group last weekend is that he was never once contacted about doing the date but was advertised anyway.
Afa the Samoan had a show on 5/2 in Kutztown University Gym with Rude vs. Bigelow, Volkoff vs. Zhukov, Yukon Jack vs. Samu plus also Afa, Sika, Ken Patera and Mike Sharpe.
Windy City Wrestling on 4/27 in Warren, IL drew 625 as Dream Warriors beat Untouchables for Windy City tag team titles.
Death Row won a Battle Royal plus Rusty Brooks, Blaze Bigelow, Soulman Alex G, Steve Collins and Tyree Pride worked on 4/27 in Coral Springs, FL.
Midwest All Pro Wrestling on 5/4 in Gaylord, MI was headlined by Mickey Doyle keeping his North American title beating Machine Gun Mike Kelly before 462 fans.
5/3 in Brentwood, Pa before 182 saw The Sheik go to a double juice double disqualification with Dominic DeNucci. Are you sure that card was held during this century? .
5/4 in Euclid, OH saw Mike Sharpe pin Rip Rogers, Psycho Mike beat The Sheik via DQ when Sheik threw fire and beat up the ref until Jerry Lawler made the save, Madusa Miceli went to a draw with Rockin Robin in a match with Euclid mayor David Lynch as referee, Jerry Lawler beat Kimala via DQ when Sheik interfered and Stan Lane & The Trooper beat Mike Enos & Wayne Bloom in 22:27 when Trooper pinned Enos. Jim Cornette and Dr. Mark Curtis (Brian Hildebrand) were managers.
WWF If you ever begrudge the amount of money any of these men earn, consider this. Over the past two weeks, The Rockers, Sherri Martel, The Orient Express, Ted DiBiase, Roddy Piper, Jake Roberts and Earthquake worked nine shows in nine days in the United Kingdom, ending the tour on the 2nd. On the 3rd they worked a show at the Omni in Atlanta, then flew to Los Angeles for a show the next night, then were on to St. Louis, followed by television tapings in Rockford and Green Bay. If you've ever watched a television taping, you know how tiring they can be. Think about flying all over the world and back, between jet lag and time zone changes, having to perform athletically every night, and then working television tapings and working 14 straight days. Television tapings are more than just going in and doing your two minute squash, the real tiring part is doing interviews. For the headliners, and the names mentioned above all basically fit into that category, there are countless interviews and TV day easy stretches into a 12 to 14 hour work day. Titan moved into its new $9 million offices on Monday in Stamford, CT. The offices include a Gold's Gym and a health food restaurant.
Some of the results from the UK tour included opening night on 4/24 in London saw David Taylor & Tony St. Clair & Steve Regal (not the one from Indiana) beat Johnny South & Chic Cullen & Drew McDonald, Brooklyn Brawler pinned Steve Casey, Jim Neidhart pinned Warlord, Greg Valentine pinned Haku, Jimmy Snuka pinned The Barbarian, Rockers beat Orient Express, Earthquake beat Jake Roberts via DQ, Ted DiBiase beat Kerry Von Erich via count out, Davey Boy Smith (who was a headliner or in the semifinal just about every show because he's a native) pinned The Berserker and Hulk Hogan pinned Sgt. Slaughter.
I should mention that Andre the Giant worked the tour as well, chasing a manager away from ringside, generally Mr. Fuji, every night.
Dynamite Kid was also at one or two of the shows as a second for Davey Boy Smith.
4/25 in Glasgow, Scotland saw Snuka pinned Brawler, Von Erich beat Warlord via DQ, Roberts pinned Berserker, Rockers beat Orients, Neidhart pinned Haku, Smith beat Earthquake via count out, Barbarian pinned Valentine and Piper pinned DiBiase.
4/27 in Dublin, Ireland saw Warlord pinned Snuka, Neidhart pinned Barbarian, Roberts pinned Berserker, Rockers beat Orients, Valentine beat Brawler with the figure four, Von Erich pinned Haku, Piper beat Earthquake via count out and Smith pinned DiBiase.
4/28 in Manchester, England was a double shot. The afternoon show saw Snuka pin Brawler, Neidhart over Haku, Barbarian pinned Valentine, Von Erich beat Warlord via DQ, Rockers beat Orients due to outside help from Andre the Giant, Roberts pinned Berserker, Smith beat Earthquake via count out and Piper pinned DiBiase. The p.m. show saw Danny Collins & David Taylor & St. Clair beat Skull Murphy & Johnny South & Chic Cullen, Valentine pinned Haku, Neidhart pinned Barbarian, Orients beat Snuka & Koko Ware, Berserker pinned Tito Santana (who flew in to England straight after one week in Japan), Rockers beat Demolition (same as Santana), Roberts pinned Warlord, Smith pinned DiBiase and Piper beat Earthquake via count out.
Caught a tape of the last Madison Square Garden show. Best match on the show was Hogan vs. Slaughter, which was a solid *** match. Slaughter looked good, which is incredible considering just how bad he looked on NBC. Hogan juiced like crazy but it was clearly Slaughter who made the match. Second best was Piper-DiBiase **3/4 but most of that was for Sherri Martel. They really don't do a wrestling match, they just do set-ups to allow Piper to work sight gags with Sherri (kissing her, pulling off her dress, etc.). In the six-man with Rockers & Virgil vs. Orients & Fuji, Fuji wasn't nearly as bad as I expected considering his age, but Virgil was worse. As for the announcing, just picture having to listen to nearly three hours of Jim Neidhart.
Rick Martel has definitely quit, although he's expected back at some point.
The 5/4 card in Los Angeles at the Sports Arena drew 15,000 fans and $193,000 for an Ultimate Warrior vs. Undertaker headliner. That gate is way off the normal charts for several reasons. I believe it's the largest house ever in Los Angeles without Hulk Hogan (that may not be correct but I can't recall one bigger, certainly it's the largest non-Hogan house in years). Also, the tradition is that after Wrestlemania, the city usually doesn't draw again for at least four to six months. Detroit has never really fully come back and that was four years ago and really, neither has Toronto. Yet this was the largest house since Wrestlemania anywhere, and without Hogan and in the same city. I believe the actual paid attendance was probably more than WM since WM had so many comps. Although Warrior-Undertaker isn't drawing houses anywhere close to this anywhere else, it is doing solid to very good "B" show business which says the world for Undertaker since Warrior hasn't been that kind of a draw with anyone else. Actually Hogan-Slaughter is only doing average to slightly above average "A" show business but can't recall any sellouts yet in a big building. The real business will come with Hogan-Undertaker. My gut feeling is it won't be saved for Wrestlemania but instead run at a PPV and then at house shows for six months ala Hogan-Earthquake last year . . Superstars TV taping on 5/6 in Rockford, IL drew a sellout 11,500 (not sure ratio of paid vs. comp but they did turn people away at the door). Kevin Kelly and Del Wilkes had try-outs. No Enos & Bloom or any other newcomers. Dark matches saw LOD beat Nasty Boys via count out **1/4, Bossman pinned Mountie *, DiBiase pinned Virgil when Sherri distracted him 1/2*, Warrior beat Undertaker via count out * and Hogan pinned Slaughter with the legdrop *. Only "competitive" match taped saw Slaughter beat Tugboat by using Adnan's helmet behind the refs back -**. Only angle saw Andre the Giant interviewed by Mean Gene. Andre rejected all the heel managers but Jimmy Hart came out and claimed he had a contract. Earthquake very lightly clipped Andre from behind which was supposed to be an angle. Told the angle, and Andre in particular, were really awful.
TV ratings were down this past weekend, with All-American Wrestling on 4/28 drawing a 2.7 rating and Prime Time on 4/30 doing a 2.5 (down nearly a full point from the previous week).
5/5 in St. Louis drew 4,800 and $62,000 as Col. Mustafa pinned Tugboat in 90 seconds, IRS pinned Jim Brunzell, Rockers beat Orients (best match on the show), Big Bossman pinned Mountie, Legion of Doom beat Nasty Boys via count out, Earthquake beat Roberts via DQ when Roberts pulls out Lucifer, DiBiase beat Piper (all Sherri) and Warrior beat Undertaker via DQ (average match).
5/3 at the Omni in Atlanta drew 4,800 and $54,000 as Tugboat pinned Mustafa, IRS pinned Brunzell, Rockers beat Orients, Legion of Doom beat Nasty Boys via count out, Bossman pinned Mountie, Earthquake beat Roberts via DQ, DiBiase beat Piper and Slaughter beat Hogan via DQ.
The two-hour "History of Wrestlemania" PPV show aired on Sunday.
Upcoming on syndication this weekend will be Piper vs. Martel on Superstars and LOD vs. Orients on Challenge and the following week will be Warrior vs. Smash on Superstars and Bret Hart vs. Warlord on Challenge.
4/29 in West Palm Beach drew a sellout 5,500 as Mustafa beat Johnny Ace DUD, IRS pinned Tugboat 1/2*, Marty Janetty pinned Kato ***1/2, DiBiase pinned Virgil ***, Bossman pinned Mountie ***, LOD beat Nasties by count out *1/2 and Slaughter beat Hogan via DQ *1/2.
4/27 in Rochester, NY drew 7,100 as Bushwhackers beat Power & Glory (terrible), IRS pinned Rotunda (terrible), Duggan pinned Mustafa (terrible), Warrior beat Undertaker via DQ **1/2, Hart beat Mr. Perfect via count out (good work but slow paced), Bossman pinned Mountie and LOD beat Nasty Boys via count out.
WCW The big question on the upcoming PPV show was whether or not Sid Vicious will show up and do a job (or even a stretcher job) for El Gigante. But after watching the TV, I'm not sure that anyone really cares since Gigante is so obviously being programmed with One Man Gang (which nobody will care about either but is probably the best of a series of bad alternatives, but the focus of Gigante is off Vicious, as it should be since the guy is all but gone). But anyway, the betting odds are it's a major longshot Vicious will do the stretcher job. I consider the odds about 25 percent that he'll show up and do a clean job and they'll forget about the stretcher stips. The odds are about 40 percent that he'll show up, but he may show up and never get in the ring. So I'd say the odds are about 60 percent the match will be Gigante vs. Gang. Certainly they are doing everything possible to prepare people for that in the commentary with the continuing mention that Vicious may not even show up.
Ricky Morton started a heel turn at the TV tapings on 4/30 in Gainesville, GA before 1,200 fans. During a Terrence Taylor & Arn Anderson vs. Morton & Dustin Rhodes match, Barry Windham came out and Morton walked out of the ring with Windham leaving Rhodes in their by himself. Of course being down 2-on-1, Dustin didn't do the job but instead lost via DQ when Bobby Eaton made the save.
Also at the same taping, after Windham won a squash, out of nowhere came a guy dressed in a chicken suit (Pillman) who jumped into the ring and cleaned up on Windham and pinned him clean in the middle with a flying body press. In other bouts, Ron Simmons beat Gang via DQ when Kevin Sullivan interfered and Teddy Long threw powder in Simmons' eyes, Taylor & Anderson beat Tommy Rich & Big Josh when Arn pinned Rich after a DDT on the computer. Dark match saw Sting & Pillman & Gigante beat Flair & Windham & Anderson when Sting pinned Anderson in a great match that went 20 minutes.
On the Ross Report this weekend, Ross said that Anderson and Morton are being recruited by Ms. York. In other words, they'll both be with Taylor in the York Foundation and I believe Zbyszko won't.
Big Van Vader nearly quit in mid-week after a contract impasse with Jim Herd, but it was straightened out and he was back on the road and working with Stan Hansen by the weekend.
5/2 in Greensboro drew 950 paid and $11,000 as Sam Houston pinned Joe Cruze 1/4*, One Man Gang pinned Joey Maggs DUD, Big Josh pinned Jacko Victory 1/2*, Steiners beat Arn Anderson & Danny Spivey when Arn did the job and the two did a mild break-up after **1/2, Young Pistols & Rhodes beat Freebirds & Dr. X (Kevin Nash) when Rhodes pinned Nash **, Eaton pinned Taylor with his feet on the ropes ***1/2, Lex Luger beat Nikita Koloff via count out in a no DQ match (The fans were just thrilled with that finish) **3/4, and Sting & Gigante beat Flair & Windham when Sting pinned Flair ***. Univision (rival of Galavision) taped highlights of this card for network television in Mexico.
Spivey & Angel of Death are going to form a tag team managed by Teddy Long to feud with the Steiners. WCW has a major problem in that they don't have any team "believable" to feud with the Steiners, and even though Spivey & Angel are both big guys, they aren't the answer to the problem.
The third Freebird, a masked man called Fantasia apparently will be Brad Armstrong.
This past week the wrestlers called a meeting and basically demanded more time off because they seem to be working 28 or 29 dates per month which is wearing everyone out which leads to more no-shows. Apparently the June schedule is being re-worked with guys getting some time off, although during the Bash tour, everyone has seven straight weeks and the stars will be working just about every night but the guys will get a week off after the Bash.
The Meadowlands card has been moved from 7/4 to 7/3. Most of the Bash dates are pretty much being kept in the strictest of confidence because WCW is afraid WWF will reschedule and run the same market if the dates get out, which is also probably true at the present time. Besides the Oakland show, the PPV on 7/14 in Baltimore, about the only other dates I know of are 8/15 at the St. Paul Civic Center and 8/25 at the Omni.
5/3 in Norfolk drew 2,700 as Master Blaster (Nash) beat Kip Alee, Morton & Rich & JFD beat Maggs & Cruze & Buddy Lee Parker, Josh pinned El Cubano (David Sierra), Simmons beat Gang via DQ, Taylor pinned Eaton (best match on card), Luger DDQ Koloff and Sting & Gigante beat Flair & Spivey.
Jim Ross' radio talk show on WSB in Atlanta (750 AM) definitely starts on 6/2.
Veronica Lane started cutting interviews last week and Steve Austin should be in at either this week or next week's television tapings.
P.N. News (Paul Neu) as a 403-pound rapper got over huge all three nights of television so expect him to get a big push.
WCW is sponsoring a "Meet the Fans" at the Marriott West Shore Champion Sports Bar in Tampa with Young Pistols, Ricky Morton, Paul E. Dangerously, Missy Hyatt, Jim Ross and Jason Hervey.
WCW Main Event was taped on 5/1 in Greenville, SC. For airing this Sunday will be Brad Armstrong vs. Hayes, Flair vs. Houston and Taylor vs. Morton. Show is pre-empted on the day of the PPV in order to make sure to hurt any last second impulse buys (TBS in its infinite wisdom of timing is running a golf tournament and pre-empting wrestling the day of the PPV), the 26th has Rhodes & Eaton vs. Taylor & Anderson with Ricky Morton and Curtis Hughes in the respective corners and Morton leaves and double-crosses Rhodes again but he still pins Taylor and on 6/9 it'll be Pillman & Eaton vs. Flair & Anderson which is a potentially hot match to build to the Clash.
5/5 in Raleigh drew 1,000 as Houston pinned Cubano *1/2, Josh pinned Parker 1/2*, Pillman pinned Dutch Mantell *1/2, Rhodes pinned Black Bart **, Pistols beat Hayes & Master Blaster *3/4 (Jimmy Garvin was injured in a match against the Steiners earlier in the week), Vader beat Hansen via DQ 1/2* (they just didn't do anything), Taylor pinned Eaton due to outside interference from Hughes **1/2 and Sting & Gigante beat Windham & Anderson when Gigante pinned Anderson ***.
TV ratings last weekend saw WCW's two-hour main event on 4/28 draw a 2.7 rating (headliner was Flair-Windham-Anderson vs. Pillman-Sting-Gigante) while WCW on 4/27 headlined by Windham vs. Pillman drew a very weak 2.3 rating and Power Hour that morning did a 1.5.
5/5 in Roanoke drew 1,100 as Maggs pin X, JFD & Morton beat Royal Family, Spivey pinned Rich, Simmons beat Gang via DQ, Scott Steiner pinned Angel of Death and Rick Steiner beat Flair via an over the top rope DQ.
5/3 in Charlottesville, VA drew 1,200 as Rip Morgan drew Houston, Victory pinned Maggs, Rhodes pinned Parker, Pillman pinned Mike Graham, Pistols beat Hayes & Victory, Scott Steiner beat Flair via DQ when Anderson inteferered and in a bonus match (because of all the no-shows) the Steiners beat Flair & Anderson when Scott pinned Arn.
5/4 in Charleston, WV drew 2,200 as Houston pinned Parker, Master Blaster pinned Ranger Ross, Simmons pinned Bart, Eaton beat Taylor via DQ, Vader beat Hansen via DQ, Gigante beat Flair via DQ (how would you like to see three finishes in a row like that?) and Pillman & Sting beat One Man Gang & Angel of Death.
The Steiners/Luger-Sting video was the work of a new employee hired to do videos. He's also doing a Desperados video that should air this coming week or next week. It was a pretty hot video which is something different for television and with all that TV, they need some changes of pace. The control center is an improvement again because of the change in pace.
Best wrestling of the weekend was on World Wide with Pillman & Eaton over Windham & Anderson when Eaton pinned Anderson in three minutes (they put about as much action into three minutes, but there is an obvious question as to if you're putting four guys of this calibre on television, why make it so short) and Morton pinned Taylor in 5:06 after Taylor used the ropes for the pin, Rhodes told the ref, Rhodes then decked Taylor and Morton got him from behind for the pin. It was also a great match while it lasted.
BOWDREN THE BOOKER We pick up the 4/27 television show with Stan Hansen and Ron Simmons going to a wild DDQ when the ref loses control of the match. Up close and personal has an interview with Steve Armstrong who discusses Brad Watts' change in attitude, name and the affect it has had on his family. Next up is a Luger interview, but before Lex starts talking, they have a taped interview with Sting who says that the world title is on the back burner because he's focused on one priority and that's getting Luger back. Luger laughs and says Sting is old news and he has no intention of wasting his time wrestling Sting. Rick Steiner comes to ringside and says that Sting doesn't need his help but he tells Lex that he's turning into a real jerk. Luger tells Rick he has no problem with him, but he doesn't like Steiner coming on television and making a statement like that. Steiner says he's not trying to start an argument, but that Luger's behavior is "stupid." Luger laughs and says, "Thanks for contributing your well-known and vast intellect to this discussion, but I never asked you for your opinion." Steiner starts to respond and Luger slaps him in the face. "Who cares what you think," Luger says. Steiner responds with a short clothesline and walks off, leaving Luger on his butt. Toward the end of the show more matches are announced for the 5/12 PPV, the world lightheavyweight title has champ Thunder Riger defending against Negro Casas and Ross says this is a rematch from a match recently held between the two in Japan. Ross said that next week on television, we'll see that match. Also Scotty the Body is signed against Mike Rotunda. At this point Ross calls in Dory Funk who announces they've added Lex Luger vs. Rick Steiner to the card and asks him who will face the Great Muta in the main event for the world title. He reminds Funk of Sting's comment that he's putting the title on the back burner and wants a match with Luger. Before he can answer, Barry Windham and Coach Budro come up to demand the title shot. Barry says that based on his victory over Sting, he deserves the shot. Ross goes to Landel, "I suppose you have something to add, but first, what's this Coach Budro bit all about." "Certificed by the YWCA, brother. Those girls said I was the best mud wrestling coach they ever had. But now, Coach Landel is following in the footsteps of the great Vince Lombardi and going to coach my man to greatness. Do I have to do this? No. I could go to Beverly Hills and be a gigolo, I could go to Hollywood and hang out with Alyssa Milano, I could go to Palm Beach and party with my friends The Kennedy's, I could shoot hoops with Dominique, but I've committed myself to training Barry Windham to be world champion and brother, if there's one thing that everyone knows about Buddy Landel, is that he's reliable!" Suddenly out come Bill Watts and Terry Taylor. Watts says that he respects Windham and his position, but says that Taylor had the world champion pinned at Wrestle War and that it's high time he gets his title match. After they leave, Funk says the decision on who gets the title match will be made next week.
In syndication, we've put together Dutch Mantell & Rip Rogers as a losing tag team and called them The Odd Couple. During World Wide, Scotty the Body tells everyone that the International Win a Dream Date with Brian Pillman contest is going great, but he reminds everyone that deaf mutes only are eligible and that the winner needs to be able to read sign language so she and Brian can carry on conversations.
When the 5/4 show opens, Ross announces that early in the program Funk will be out to announce who gets the world title match. He also announces Scott Steiner vs. Arn Anderson for the U.S. title. Up Close and Personal is with Jim Cornette, doing an interview at Denny's. They talk about the PPV match against Hase & Sasaki for the IWGP tag team titles. Cornette said that he doesn't like his guys to have to wrestle Hase & Sasaki again because he's heard that they eat raw fish and to him that means they're basically cannibalistic. They show a tape of the Thunder Riger vs. Negro Casas match to build up the rematch on the PPV.
Funk comes out, joined by Watts, Taylor, Landel and Windham. Paul E. says that the world has been waiting all week for the announcement of who gets the title shot in St. Pete. Funk says the NWA board has closely examined both Windham and Taylor's claim to be No. 1 contenders and other claims as well, and our decision is the man who gets the title shot will be...Sting! Everyone starts screaming at once how the NWA is biased as they go to a break.
Later in the show Ross and Paul E. are joined by Sting who is congratulated on his title shot at the PPV. Sting says that you have to focus on one goal at a time and his goal right now is to teach Lex Luger a lesson. He demands a match with Luger at the PPV. "I won't wrestle the Great Muta. Yes, I'd like another crack at the world title. I want it so bad I can taste it, but first things first and the first thing is Lex Luger. The only way I'll wrestle in St. Pete is against Lex Luger and if the NWA doesn't like it, they can shove it! At this point Funk comes out and tells Sting that the decision has been made and the match has been signed for him against Muta for the title at the PPV. Sting says that "I think I've made my position clear. I want Luger or nobody." Funk says Luger has already been signed to a match and he steadfastly refused to sign a match with Sting and he feels Sting is making a big mistake because world title matches don't come along very often and he should focus on winning the title, because then Lex Luger will be forced to deal with him as champion. Sting says he's made his position clear and he doesn't care what anyone thinks and tells Funk that unless he makes the match with Luger, he won't be wrestling in St. Pete. Everyone is shocked and Funk says the NWA is at a loss. Luger already has a match and.....then Windham & Landel run out. The credits start rolling with Landel saying, "BW, BW, if Sting isn't going to take the title shot, it's got to go to BW. He's earned it, brother." Funk looks at Sting, "I only want Luger, I've made my decision." Funk says that Windham was the alternate choice and that he's getting the title shot.
The 5/11 show opens with them pushing the PPV heavy. Ross also announces that this is the week that Bill Watts' Mexican sensation will debut and also debuting is a new tag team called The Northern Lights from Point Barrow, Alaska, who have signed an open contract for the PPV and will wrestle Brad Watts & Tim Horner. Also they'll air a Windham & Landel workout video for their match with Muta. He also says that Terry Funk was injured in a match in Japan and that during the week Ric Flair & Ricky Steamboat were informed of this and they've said they've got a third man picked to join them at the PPV but say his identity will be kept a secret until match time. After Brad Watts & Tim Horner win a squash, Watts comes out and says it's time to debut his Mexican sensation. Bill talks about how everyone is familiar with the legendary Mil Mascaras and how he's bringing into the UWF his first cousin, "Moondog Mascaras." At that point a masked man comes out and the camera zooms in showing a toothless smile. Ross says there's something about this situation and this guy that seems familiar but he can't put his finger on it. Ross says that something tells him that this guy isn't even from Mexico but Watts tells him it's nonsense because Mil Mascaras is Mexican right? Ross agrees. So his cousin must be Mexican, right? The masked man goes into the ring and starts pounding on the jobber, who grabs a headlock, and somehow the mask comes off right away revealing Cactus Jack. Ross is outraged about the fraud and said he new all along that Watts is such a bigot he'd never let anyone from a foreign country join his group. After the match during another interview, Watts starts talking about Moondog Mascaras and Ross interrupts and tells him that everyone knows it's Cactus Jack. "His real name is Moondog Mascaras," Watts said. "When he first started wrestling, he didn't want to capitalize on his famous family name. He wanted to earn his reputation on his own, like a man, and even pretended to be an American." Ross responds, "Yes, and I'm sure Mr. and Mrs. Mascaras thought long and hard about naming their son Moondog. "I realize you don't know anything about foreign culture, but I'll have you know that in Mexico, Moondog is an old and very respected first name. It means, `the burritos are burning,'" as Watts and Cactus start laughing hysterically. Cactus then goes, "Buenos Dios Caballero Bill." Watts goes, "See, I told you he was a Mexican." They go to a break but before they do, Ross asks Watts to stay for the next match to see the debut of Alaska's Pride and Joy, the Northern Lights.
Two masked men come out as Watts is joined by Brad & Tim, who are scouting their mysterious opponents. The Lights start doing some hot moves and Bill starts going, "You guys think you pulled out some ringers, well, my son and his best friend can beat any ringers you guys bring in." After a few more moves Brad goes, "Dad! It's the damn Canadians. They're back! I thought we had that all taken care of." Bill goes nuts. "Ross, it's those Canadians. They're banned from the United States!" At that point the Northern Lights score a win and they go to a commercial.
THE READERS PAGES Kenneth Pulvidente of 4 Edan Ct., Amityville, NY 11701 is looking for AWA action figures of Boris Zhukov, Nord the Barbarian, Adnan Al-Kaissey and Carlitos Colon and is also looking for a regular supplier of tapes from Portland and Puerto Rico.
Mike Rogers of 2740 SE Lewellyn, Troutdale, OR 97060 puts out the monthly Ring Around the Northwest newsletter for 50 cents per issue and also has computerized results from many areas from the past. Send him a SASE for more info.
John Hoven of 859 W. Arrow Highway, San Dimas, CA 91773 is looking for a tape of the 3/21 and 3/30 Tokyo Dome shows and the 4/1 Kobe show.
Terry Dart of 21 Upper Ave., London, ONT N6H 2L5 Canada is looking to buy a copy of BrunoSammartino's autobiography, the "Rumble by the River" videotape and The Best of Bruiser Brody videotape.
Paul Partyka of 6226 S. Meade, Chicago, IL 60638 is looking for a tape of the movie "Caged Men," tapes of Bruiser Brody in Puerto Rico and board games with past/present wrestlers.
Joe Pomar of 64 Gibson, Buffalo, NY 14206 is looking for a copy of WrestleWar '91 and will trade anything in his collection for it.
Vincent Bonanno of P.O. Box 191, Canal Street Station, New York, NY 10013 wants to buy or trade for copies of the Superstar Pro Wrestling game deluxe edition and Supersets 86 and 87.
Bill Jacobs of 461 Maple St. #C, Manchester, NH 03104 is looking for tapes of Mexican and Japanese wrestling and also tapes of the Masked Superstar and Bob Backlund's title defenses.
Roland Nadeau of 305-383-1564 is looking to get a hold of Paul Spiegel for information on his wrestling convention.
William Perkins of 130 South Ave., Marietta, GA 30060 has an original 1949 movie poster of "Alias the Champ" with Gorgeous George for sale in mint condition.
Bobby Yates of 1971-D Lakeview Rd., Asheboro, NC 27203 is looking for a tape of the January 5, 1991 All Japan womens show in Tokyo and a copy of the movie "Heavy Metal.".
Owen Byrne of 646 Drumgoole Rd. East, Staten Island, NY 10312 is looking to buy tapes of any Japanese or Mexican promotions, tapes of Big Van Vader in Germany and tapes of Madusa Miceli kick boxing matches.
SID VICIOUS
I've been a big NWA fan for the past six years and have attended 14 live shows and purchased 22 T-shirts over the past year. Only seven of those shows were in my home state. I was at the Meadowlands on 4/4 and without Sid Vicious there, I don't think there would have been more than 4,000 people. He was by far the most popular wrestler on the card. It took WCW many months to build up this heel as a monster and he's more over than anyone in the promotion. His leaving will help the WWF a ton and make WCW seem to be a Double-A team instead of the Triple-A team that they were. Without Sid, they've lost me as a fan and the other people I bring to the shows. The WWF is becoming more appetizing to me since I know their top stars aren't going to leave.
Norm Connors
Little Falls, New Jersey
The defection of Sid Vicious is yet another indication that WCW is a regional feeder system for the WWF. Talent and presentation aside, the WWF is unsurpassed in marketing technique. The prestige and exposure that only the WWF can offer has recently been a greater deciding factor in the defection of many wrestlers than guaranteed money. I'm not a fan of Vince McMahon, but aside from a few ill-advised decisions of late, he is the most successful promoter. He understands wrestling in his own devious way and completely understands the product that he has personally bastardized. As long as WCW continues to push so many good-ol-boys, cowboys, southern boys, hillbillies and simple-minded mountain men, they will always be perceived as a southern regional promotion. WCW is limiting its audience and sure they must realize this. As time goes by, it is becoming obvious Dusty Rhodes is the wrong man for the job if WCW wishes to shake its regional image. WCW should learn a lesson from CNN and most southern news broadcasts. No accents. Regardless of what the WWF does, WCW has to look within to solve its problems.
Vic Stanley
Lafayette, Indiana
WCW really tried to bury Sid Vicious on the TSN Power Hour on 4/24. During the Brian Pillman vs. Arn Anderson match, announcers Jim Ross and Paul E. Dangerously continually referred to Pillman beating Sid Vicious in the Meadowlands and also in the Omni. Good thing this Canadian show doesn't reach New York or Atlanta, or there might be a whole bunch of confused fans who didn't see anything like that happen.
Jeff Zinger
Woodstock, Ontario
Just a few thoughts on Sid Vicious, Japan wrestling, WCW and domestic attitudes on wrestling. Will the loss of Sid Vicious hurt WCW in the long run? Only in the perception of modern wrestling fans that judge the quality of wrestlers on their bodies and not on wrestling. Has anyone answered how Japan can support so many organizations that contain either realistic wrestling or wrestling based on athleticism while the United States actually supports no similar entities. Maybe it's because there are no similar organizations in the United States that either present realistic-looking wrestling (like the UWF groups in Japan) or wrestling based on athletic ability. Has any organization in the recent past tried either of these formats? The WCW hierarchy is completely unaware of its audience and there is room for a more realistic brand of wrestling in the United States. The best WCW can do is be a cheap No. 2 in kiddy wrestling.
Rich Davis
Rochester, Michigan
In the 4/22 issue, you wrote "It (the loss of Sid Vicious) hurts because fans will see it as another example (like the Road Warriors, Mean Mark and Nasty Boys) of WCW as the Triple-A feeder system to the WWF." However, if you look at the situation from the perspective of a true casual mark, you will see that exactly the opposite is true. Mark Calaway's biggest claim to fame in WCW was losing to Lex Luger at the 1990 Bash. Then he comes into the WWF and does an angle destroying the promotion's No. 2 wrestler. The Nasty Boys never could even win the WCW U.S. tag team titles, yet when they joined the WWF they almost immediately won its world tag team titles. To the casual fan, the message is that these men couldn't make it to the top in WCW yet were easily able to reach the top in the WWF. This shows the casual fan that the competition is tougher in WCW than in the WWF. Of course, Terry Taylor and Arn Anderson are doing better in WCW than in the WWF, so I guess it's an equal trade.
Sam Nord
Walnut Creek, California
BUDDY LANDEL
In reference to the Buddy Landel firing, I was at the club in the hotel when the incident happened. Buddy was definitely wound up but basically harmless. It started at 2 a.m. when the club closed. Everyone was heading out to the hotel lobby when a girl that was in the club started screaming that none of the wrestlers were paying any attention to her. She appeared to be drunk and was babbling. Words went back and forth between the girl and Buddy. To the credit of Ricky Morton, Sid Vicious, Dutch Mantell and Butch Reed, they jumped in between the two to break things up. They took Buddy out of the hotel, where they were staying. The girl followed and hit Buddy with one of her shoes. That's when Buddy blew his nose on her. Arguments in bars happen all the time and that incident was nothing worth being fired over. In regards to Joel Goodhart's show, The Sheik did blade more than one prelim wrestler. At least four or five were bladed by him. Goodhart does try a bit too hard to come off like a big-time promoter, but his five big shows over the past 18 months have been enjoyable live and worth the trip to Philadelphia.
Andrew Herion
Baltimore, Maryland
RANDY SAVAGE
It's no wonder that Randy Savage had a poor match against George Takano. After all, it was one of his first matches back since he came out of retirement.
Rich Goldberg
Wheeling, Illinois
WRESTLEMANIA
I thought Wrestlemania wasn't too bad but I think you and everyone else overrated the Ultimate Warrior vs. Randy Savage match. The finish of the match was disgraceful. The after-match with Elizabeth was great but it took too long to develop. The Rockers really showed how good they were by carrying Haku & Barbarian to a good match. Hogan and Slaughter was just an average match wrestled in very slow motion. I watched six matches of Jushin Riger and I definitely think you and your so-called experts highly overrate him. First off, he doesn't do much basic wrestling. Okay, he does great high spots, but most of the time he hurts himself or his opponent which is why he isn't as great as you say. Maybe you should get some wrestlers to help with your next yearbook.
Ken Dunlop
Sydney, Australia
WCW
The last card in Harrisonburg, VA sold out at 6:45 p.m. and had people standing on each end of the gym and I'll bet they had to turn away close to 1,000 fans. The last time they had a crowd like this here was with Blackjack Mulligan vs. John Studd and Jimmy Snuka vs. Tim Woods as the double main event.
A few people were disappointed with the no-shows (Sting, Sid Vicious and Barry Windham) but then again, almost everyone I talked with never believed that everyone would show up to begin with. That's what killed this town and the entire Mid-Atlantic region were the constant no-shows. By finally giving this area a loaded card, this is where they really needed to show they were going to give the people everyone they had billed to appear. Right before the Road Warriors went to the WWF, they had them here and only drew about 500 fans. WCW was disappointed with the turnout, but all they would have had to have done was talk to the few fans who did come to find out why they weren't drawing. Of those who came, most figured the Road Warriors weren't going to be there anyway.
Steve Stogdale
Staunton, Virginia
I must congratulate Ric Flair on a tremendous performance in his match against Tatsumi Fujinami. Fujinami, due to injuries, is just a shadow of his former self and Flair literally carried him to a very enjoyable match.
Garry Cooper
Sydney, Australia
Dusty Rhodes was the booker for the NWA for almost five years (early 1984 through December 1988). During these five years we saw:
*Ric Flair as world champion, but he only won about one match a year. At every house show we saw over and over them give us every possible indication that the title had just changed hands and then always took it back.
*Putting one clique of guys at the top for each face and heel side and never let anyone else break into that clique.
*Have every heel paired with a manager and have as many heels managers as possible.
*Throw on each big card so many different title matches and stipulation matches that nobody can keep up with them. If possible, do this at house shows as well.
*Lots of no-shows on cards.
*Bringing in new people not because they are fresh talent but guys who have drawn money in the distant past.
*Increased blood and violence
*Whenever possible, avoid clean wins by anyone
Do you think we'll see any of this in 1991?
Steve Sims
Chicago, Illinois
I can't for the life of me understand why Scott Steiner's potential as a singles wrestler has been devalued so much due to just one bad match. He is one of the few WCW wrestlers with genuine ability to be world heavyweight champion. Even though Sting isn't the wrestler or the worker that Steiner is, he was given the strap. But the point is, he had been given experience in singles matches and singles title matches before being given the world title. Steiner should have worked programs challenging for the U.S. title so he was ready for a singles world title match. The other problem is replacing Ric Flair. It appears without Flair as champion that it will leave a large hole on the cards, not because of Flair per se, but because he was the one athlete they had who could always be relied on for a good main event. Certainly people will appreciate how great Flair was when he's no longer around.
Mark Scurry
Melbourne, Australia
Hardcore fans might enjoy matches like Ric Flair vs. Bobby Eaton, this looks like recycled stuff. WCW might please 1985-87 wrestling fans, but Vince McMahon will continue to laugh to the bank. What 14-year-old will care about Flair vs. Eaton when Undertaker vs. Ultimate Warrior looms? This discrepancy between the two groups will continue, even with Dusty Rhodes as booker.
Ken Mihalik
Monesson, Pennsylvania
NO TALENT ACTORS?
I take offense at Eric Krol's statements in the 4/15 Observer about roidbody no-talents in acting, namely Jean-Claude Van Damme and Jeff Speakman. If he knew anything about these two men or had seen any of their interviews he would know that they are both very health conscious and are almost religious in taking care of themselves. They would never subject their bodies to steroids. As for being no-talent, granted, they are not Olivier, but both of them are entertaining actors and both are serious at improving their acting ability. Speakman studied acting for six years. I don't know about Stallone. As for Arnold, although he undoubtedly used steroids when he was competing as a bodybuilder, I'm sure his roid days are long past.
Karen Shehorn
North Hollywood, California
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
After watching the Black Hearts on tape from the Calgary Stampede promotion and for All Japan in February, I was wondering if they were the same team? I've only been subscribing since May 1990 so I don't know the details.
Hiroyuki Kodaira
Tokyo, Japan
DM: The original Black Hearts team in Calgary was Tom Nash and Dave Heath, who are the team in All Japan. However, Heath left Calgary after only a week or two and Nash teamed with two or three other wrestlers later as The Black Hearts.
WRESTLING OBSERVER NEWSLETTER May 12 1991First Class Mail
POST OFFICE BOX 1228U.S.Postage Paid
CAMPBELL, CA 95009-1228Permit No. 5634
San Jose, CA 

May 20, 1991 Observer Newsletter: SI on wrestling, Herb Abrams horrible idea, Superbrawl preview

Wrestling Observer Newsletter PO Box 1228, Campbell, CA 95009-1228
May 20, 1991
A few years ago, a friend of mine was one of the head guys in a company, which has no relation to wrestling. The Wall Street Journal did a story on this company, and credited them with something like $300 million in product sales over the previous year. The legitimate figure was less than $30 million. That's still a lot of sales, but a far cry from what the company claimed and one of the most respected business publications in the country reported.
I'm bringing this story up only as a preface to lessons to be learned by the coverage of pro wrestling in mainstream publications. I don't think it's rare for major companies to exaggerate, or lie--it's really the same thing--about income generated. In this industry, we report on exaggerated figures being claimed by the major companies, and reported as fact in respected newspapers and magazines, seemingly on a weekly basis.
There has been a lot written, and a lot more commented on, concerning Sports Illustrated's story on Vince McMahon back in March. Just this morning in the New York Post, columnist Phil Mushnick (no relation to Sam Muchnick, or Irv Muchnick, whose story in the current issue of Spy Magazine prompted a brief discussion of steroid usage in wrestling in his column) called it a "puff piece." That's the same term many others mainstream writers I've spoken with, including Frank Deford, used. Wade Keller called it a free six-page press release and did a major editorial concerning the article in his Pro Wrestling Torch. But probably the most apt description I've read concerning the story was by Bruce Mitchell, also in the Torch, who called it a great lesson of where pro wrestling stands with the mass media. Basically, nowhere.
Not so surprisingly, the reaction Sports Illustrated got to the story was somewhat different. Writer Bill Johnson left for South Africa on another assignment right after the story was published, and got basically no feedback at all on the story. He didn't even know if Vince McMahon or Steve Plenamenta (head of public relations for Titan Sports) even liked the story (they did), although he imagined that they did.
SI printed one letter, in an issue two weeks ago, responding to the McMahon story. The letter took the viewpoint that with the limited amount of coverage the magazine has given the sport of amateur wrestling, that they shouldn't have given that much space to a story on "fake" pro wrestling. No letters were printed commenting on the content of the story itself.
According to Martin Crawford of SI, the story generated an "above average" amount of mail for a story of that size. A typical story would have been expected to get about 20 to 30 letters. This one got between 50 and 75. About 70 percent of the response to the story was negative. But in reality, little of the response was about the story. Most of the comments, according to Crawford, fell into two categories. Either the writer felt that since pro wrestling isn't a sport, the story shouldn't have been printed in the first place; or the minority viewpoint came from people who said they were pro wrestling fans, and were happy to read a story on pro wrestling. Crawford didn't seem to recall any letters regarding the actual content or slant of the Johnson article. Crawford himself agreed with the majority of the letter writers. Since pro wrestling isn't a sport, he couldn't see why the magazine devoted space to it, particularly when there are so many interesting sports stories around waiting to be written. Indeed, he used the same comparison with amateur wrestling, which had two pages of coverage in the same issue of SI that the McMahon piece ran. He felt there were far more interesting stories in the world of amateur wrestling than there were in the world of pro wrestling.
Johnson's story, and the response to it, was, as Mitchell wrote, a lesson as to where pro wrestling stands to the general public. I'm not sure that nowhere is the correct place, but certainly nowhere important. To the general public, pro wrestling is still dismissed as respectable sport or respectable entertainment because of the predetermined endings. Whether the stereotype fits or not today, or ever did fit, its fans are still viewed as being on the low end of the food chain. It's never looked into in depth because few people have enough respect for it as an industry to spend the time looking. That keeps many of the good points of the business well hidden, but it also lets the business get away with a lot of things that normal entertainment would be held accountable for.
Another lesson in journalism came out this week in "Spy Magazine," in the cover story called "Pimping Iron." The story, by Irv Muchnick, was about the bodybuilding promotional war involving Vince McMahon and the Weider brothers, which had many references to pro wrestling involved. I can give a different slant on this story, only because I read the original manuscript and then saw the edited version that appeared in the magazine. The Spy story is interesting, well-written, and compared with stories on wrestling or bodybuilding in the mainstream press, was pretty much on the ball.
The original story was a lot funnier, but it also made several important points, which were the real strength of the piece. It criticized the hypocrisy with which bodybuilders are portrayed as bastions of health, when their physiques are the result of dedicated training to be sure, but also by pumping large amounts of harmful chemicals into their systems. He made an analogy of bodybuilders being models of health to those who inject silicon into their breasts being spokespeople for production of mother's milk. McMahon was portrayed as tacitly, a steroid pusher, who ignores there is an issue in the first place. The Weider position was presented as being actually more contradictory, in that they publicly decry steroid abuse, speak of bodybuilding as a healthy pastime, yet glorify as their champions men whose abuse of the drug, in combination with hard training and good genetics, brought them their fame. McMahon's strength in producing television was noted in comparison to the Weider's reliance on their traditional bodybuilding magazines to get the talent over. That's probably one of the most important points in analyzing what will happen. An even more important point, as it relates to actual bodybuilding competitions, is that while there is inherent political problems with any type of competition that is judged, while Weider may have influence on his contests (and just recently in one of the muscle mags there was a story on Mike Mentzer, a big-name pro of a decade ago who quit competing because flat-out he claimed the Mr. Olympia contest was fixed--and he's hardly the first to make that allegation), the way McMahon runs his other business indicates his contests will be far more heavily controlled--a term better known as fixed in the sports world.
Most of the real key points in the original story aren't in the piece. Indeed, the Weiders come across in the piece as being anti-steroid usage while McMahon comes off as pro-steroid usage. The reality is, both are the same. One is contradictory. The other doesn't acknowledge it's existence. The original piece basically paints the Weiders as a Verne Gagne waiting to happen--to fall prey to the guy who is going to change the rules of the game while they still play under the old rules. The older guys trying to maintain credibility in a pseudo-sport which has no credibility to anyone but themselves in their own warped way and a small number of hardcores in the first place, fighting against a guy who is going to make a mockery out of whatever credibility the hardcores clung onto. At the same time, McMahon hasn't been successful in his outside of wrestling marketing ventures. Indeed, all analysis as to how this marketing war will play out and colorful and humorous background stories about it were taken out.
All indications are that Herb Abrams is going through with his plans for a 6/9 pay-per-view wrestling show. Since Abrams UWF has no television except for its show on the cable Sports Channel, he seems to be setting up a production which will make Verne Gagne's SuperClash card of 1988 look like a big success. At least the Gagne PPV show had hype from ESPN, and through decent-sized syndicated networks of both the AWA and USWA, and even so, it doesn't appear that anybody made any money off the show. Abrams was scheduled to announce the top matches at a press conference today in Florida. The card, which is to be held at the 3,500-seat Manatee Civic Center in Palmetto, FL, called "Brawl at the Beach," will be headlined by Steve Williams vs. Bam Bam Bigelow in what is being billed as the finals of the Sports Channel UWF television title tournament. The co-feature, which is at least intriguing in a perverse way, has the return of Bob Backlund, making his first U.S. appearance in more than five years, facing Ivan Koloff. The two shot two angles this past Friday night at the UWF's television tapings at the Pennsylvania Hotel in New York. Other matches expected to be announced are Rockin Robin vs. Candi Divine for the newly-created UWF women's title, The Power Twins vs. Steve Ray and a mystery partner (possibly to create a UWF tag team title) plus names like The Black Hearts, Terry Gordy, Brian Blair, Boris Zhukov, Paul Orndorff, Col. DeBeers and others. Gordy and Williams will be finishing their Japan tour on 6/8 and having to fly straight in to make the card. Tickets for the live show are $50, $25 and $10, which means one has to figure the live show will have to be heavily padded or it'll be held in an empty arena.
This Saturday is the WCW SuperBrawl '91 PPV show from St. Petersburg's Bayfront Center Arena. The last time I checked, the advance for the show was between 2,500 and 3,000 tickets, or slightly less than the WWF's advance for the night before in Tampa, although the WCW show has higher ticket prices so the advance in dollars was ahead. Still, this hardly indicates tremendous interest for the card, even though the company has made improvements in the way it sold this show with the control center segments on the various shows. If the show doesn't do well on PPV, it should be a lesson learned that PPV shows sell on the basis of the main event. Every major PPV that did big business for both companies was because the main event had a strong emotional interest from the public. This card's match with the most emotional interest is Barry Windham vs. Brian Pillman, a mid-card match which may wind up being the best bout on the card as well. Ric Flair vs. Tatsumi Fujinami would have been a hard sell under the best of circumstances, because the company only had a few months to get a newcomer over to the point people would buy him as a PPV main eventer. Well, they didn't even try. Showing the controversy from Japan is hardly sufficient. Fujinami, under the best of circumstances, would have needed lots of television exposure to get over. As it was, he didn't have any. I can't figure out why they just didn't do the rematch in Japan where people would at least care about it and maybe it would sell a few tickets. In this case, they are sacrificing a PPV in order to improve relations with Japan, but in reality, they are doing nothing for Japan either. As for Sting & Lex Luger vs. The Steiners, my impression is the match had more interest when it was first announced than it does now that it is a few days away. I can recall at Starrcade '89 all the curiosity regarding the Steiners vs. Road Warriors, which has more of an emotional appeal anyway. Yet, when they got in the ring, the match had very little heat (even though it was technically a good match), and it was on a card that promised to be a super wrestling show which did poorly on PPV and drew a weaker house in Atlanta's Omni than the regular house shows at the time had been drawing. Granted that WCW has a problem inherent with the Steiners in that nobody believes that anybody can beat them so it's been virtually impossible for them to put a tag team against them that would get anyone to care about the match. It doesn't help to have no good heel tag teams. It's hard to say whether this will be a good show or not. Most of the matches, at least on paper, look to be acceptable. A few have the potential to be great, and at least one or two of those should live up to that potential. But there are also a lot of questions to be answered. It sure seems like there is too much planned for the show to fit into the two hour, 47 minutes that they've got without making everything look like it's being rushed. Between the bears that will be in Big Josh's corner, the monkey's coming for Oz and the whole Oz thing, this could come off as more of a circus than anything WCW has done to date. The problem with WCW is it comes off looking the most second rate whenever it tries to imitate Titan Sports, and parts of this show seems to not only imitate, but go a step beyond.
Speaking of the SuperBrawl, don't forget our big show poll. Fax messages can be sent after the show to 408-378-6562 and we'll also take phone messages after the show.
For those of you who want to make early plans to travel and see WWF big shows, Summer Slam will take place 8/26 at Madison Square Garden. I'm not sure about Survivor Series, but the Royal Rumble will be from the Knickerbocker Arena in Albany, NY and Wrestlemania from the Hoosier Dome in Indianapolis.
This is the second issue of the current four-issue set. If you've got a (1) of your current address label it means your Observer subscription will expire in two more weeks. Renewal rates remain $6 for each set of four issues, $12 for eight, $24 for 16, $36 for 24 up through $60 for 40 issues within the United States and Canada. Rates for weekly overseas airmail delivery outside the U.S. or Canada are $9 for each set of four issues through $90 for 40 issues. There are still plenty of copies remaining of the latest Observer yearbook. The rate for U.S. subscribers is $12 with a $14 rate for non-subscribers. Overseas, it is $18 for subscribers and $20 for non-subscribers. Subscribers can order as many copies of the book as they wish at the $12 price. All subscriptions, book orders, letters to the editor, match and show rundowns, news items and any other correspondence can be sent to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, P.O. Box 1228, Campbell, CA 95009-1228.
MEXICO The EMLL is probably going to do a tournament to create their own world heavyweight champion. Since the EMLL has always claimed affiliation to the NWA, it has recognized the NWA champ as its heavyweight world champion, even though the NWA champ hasn't appeared in Mexico probably since the days of Lou Thesz. However, with no NWA in existence, it was probably long overdue, especially since rival UWA has claimed its own world heavyweight champion for the past 15 years. The title tournament is scheduled for June, and the favorites are Rayo de Jalisco Jr., Konnan El Barbaro, Cien Caras, Darryl Karolet (Nitron from Japan), Mongolian Mauler (Pete Flowers) and Fabuloso Blondie (Ken Timbs). It'll be called the CMLL (Council of Lucha Libre) world heavyweight title. Eventually this will lead to creating CMLL champions in other weight divisions and setting up "unification" matches with the CMLL champs in the weight divisions with the NWA champs in the various weight divisions. Since EMLL is planning the biggest card in the history of Mexico for September, perhaps those matches will take place at that time. The deal reported on last week involving Rayo de Jaslisco Sr. in Guadalajara where he was hospitalized during his coming out of retirement main event was just an angle to re-start the feud between Rayo Jr. and Cien Caras. Rayo Sr. was described to me as, in his day, one of the most charismatic wrestlers in Mexico and in Guadalajara, which I believe was his home town, he was over bigger than even El Santo. Rayo Jr. and Caras set the record house for Mexico City last September but since Caras has been injured for so many months, the feud has been forgotten. Caras, who missed several months with the eye injury and thus almost become a babyface when it came to popularity because of the sympathy, needed something to re-heat him as a heel once again and also to set up a feud with Rayo again.
UWA on 5/5 at El Toreo in Naucalpan saw Canek keep his UWA title beating El Gigante Guerrero (Butch Masters) via DQ in the third fall due to outside interference of the Blue Blazer (Owen Hart). Blazer jumped off the top rope to help Guerrero administer a stuff piledriver during the third fall. This ending surprised fans since Guerrero had wrestled the match as a tecnico (babyface) and Blazer worked earlier in the card as a tecnico. Also on the show, Enrique Vera & Silver King & Fantasma beat Black Power & El Indomito & Negro Casas in a match that was a brawl most of the way, Blue Blazer & Villano III & Villano V beat Pegasus Kid (Chris Benoit) & El Signo & Rambo in a match highlighted by Villano V and Pegasus Kid continuing to go after each other's masks to set up a singles match down the line between the two of them for Kid's WWF lightheavyweight title, Dos Caras & Tinieblas & Tinieblas Jr. beat Fishman & The Killer & Dr. Wagner Jr. via DQ (good match), Kato Kung Lee II (making his debut in Mexico City) & El Celestial beat El Zar & Angel de la Muerte and the opener saw Mohicans I & II & El Hijo Del Diablo beat Los Matematicos I-II-IV.
5/6 in Puebla was headlined by Tinieblas Sr. & Jr. & Blazer vs. Killer & Canek & Pegasus Kid, Los Brazos vs. Vera & Dos Caras & Villano III, Silver King & Texano & Fantasma vs. Signo & Black Power & Negro Navarro.
5/9 in Mexico City had Blazer & Gran Hamada & Villano III vs. Canek & Signo & Pegasus Kid, Kato Kung Lee II & Fantasma & Celestial vs. Black Power & Blue Panther & Negro Casas.
Same night in Toluca had Dos Caras & Tinieblas Jr. & Sr vs. Rambo & Fishman & Wagner and the Japanese trio of Akiyoshi & Takayama & Samurai (New Japan prelim wrestler Osamu Matsuda) vs. Baby Face & Scorpio & Scorpio Jr.
5/8 in Zitacuaro has Aguila Solitaria & Ciclon Ramirez & Pantera II defending the state of Mexico trios championship against Ulysses & Jacque Mate & Sultan Gargola.
Same night in Cuernavaca headlined by Mascara Sagrada vs. Pierroth Jr. and Octagon & Dandy & Eddie Guerrero vs. Jerry Estrada & Satanico & Fuerza Guerrera while in San Juan Pantitlan in Mexico City was headlined by Atlantis & Ringo Mendoza vs. Universo 2000 & Mascara Ano 2000.
Same night in Los Reyes had Konnan & Pirata Morgan & Angel Azteca vs. El Egipicio & MS1 & Canadian Vampire.
5/10 at El Toreo was headlined by Pegasus Kid & Fishman & Canek vs. Blazer & Villano III & Hamada.
Lizmark vs. Cien Caras headlines 5/11 in Acapulco.
The Killer will be putting up his mask against the hair of Vera on down the line, but first they are meeting for Vera's UWA lightheavyweight title on 5/15.
Negro Casas defends the UWA world middleweight title on 5/14 in Pachuca against Jose Luis Feliciano in a battle of heels.
A Haitian wrestler is coming in to feud with Kimala, but don't know who he is.
UWA on 5/10 in Neza had Dos Caras & Tinieblas Jr. & Sr. vs. Signo & Black Power & Navarro.
Los Brazos worked 5/10 for EMLL against Octagon & Ringo Mendoza & Konnan.
There was a story on Blue Blazer in the 5/9 Mexico City newspaper where he talked about his "heel turn" at the 5/5 El Toreo card. Blazer said that he was a tecnico, not a rudo but he is a professional and even if he doesn't like who he teams with, he'll try to do the best he can to win. He was also asked to compare wrestling in the different parts of the world since he's a world traveler and he said: "Japan is the best and toughest wrestling, but Mexico has the fastest wrestling and the style is the most difficult to master. North America is filled with big, slow wrestlers who are strong but not necessarily very good.
5/10 at Arena Coliseo in Mexico City saw Vulcano & Tony Arce win two straight falls from El Felino (younger brother of Negro Casas) & Justiciero **3/4 (Vulcano & Arce make a pretty good tag team), Kato Kung Lee & Azteca & Volador beat El Supremo & Herodes & Kung Fu in 2/3 falls *, Chavo & Eddie Guerrero & Dandy won two straight falls from Fuerza Guerrera & Mongolian Mauler & Canadian Vampire when in the second fall, Vampire and Mauler started fighting amongst themselves and each was caught from behind for pins by the faces *3/4 and the main event saw Universo 2000 & Mascara Ano 2000 & Cien Caras win 2/3 falls from Atlantis & Jalisco Jr. & Lizmark when Lizmark submitted in the third fall.
JAPAN The big news this week was the debut of Nobuhiko Takada and Akira Maeda's new promotions. Takada's group debuted before a sellout 2,300 fans at Korakuen Hall on 5/10, with all tickets sold out in something like 15 minutes the first day they went on sale. The group, called UWF International or UWFI for short, is the closest thing to the old UWF which had a two-year run as the hottest promotion in the world before fizzling out as shooting stars are wanton to do because of problems between Maeda and office boss Shinji Jin. The show wasn't really very good, but what remains of the legion of UWF fans were there and felt good about being there. Takada grabbed the house mic before the show and said the group was the only one left "with the feeling of the UWF" which got a big pop. The card itself consisted of three matches, a prelim match between Masato Kakihara and Kiyoshi Tamura, won by Tamura. Then came a "doubles" match (tag team) with Shigeo Miyato & Yoji Anjyo beating Kazuo Yamazaki & Tatsuo Nakano with the surprise finish of Yamazaki doing the job when he was knocked out by a series of kicks from both guys in 23 minutes. This was different from the old UWF, which didn't have any tag matches. The rule were that a guy couldn't tag out while in a submission hold unless he got to the ropes or was able to break the hold. It was different since Yamazaki is really the group's second biggest name and he did the job. The main event saw Takada beat Tom Burton (who worked as a Dirty White Boy in Memphis some months back) with a boston crab in 10:46. The match was disappointing to most because Burton really had no idea of the style and Takada was giving him lots of openings and trying to carry him for ten minutes but the fans saw it as Takada could unload on him and beat him at anytime. At the 10 minute call, Takada seemingly proved them right because he got a quick win at that point. After the match in the press conference Takada apologized and said "my opponent was poor." They also confused fans by instituting new rules. On the scoreboard, each man starts the match with 15 points. You lose three points every time you go to the ropes to break a hold, and lose one point every time you get suplexed. The match can end with a pinfall (which almost will never happen), a submission (usual finish), knockout, five knockdowns or if a man's point total goes down to zero. When the press asked Takada after the show what his goal a year from now was, he said honestly, "I'm only thinking about one card at a time." In the sense that they drew the full house so easily, the card was a financial success. But the truth is, it has been so long since there has been a "real" UWF show in Tokyo, which was the home base of the UWF, that the first house was easy. Whether this group, with only eight wrestlers and access to only no-name Americans can book shows that will draw over the long haul or be able to draw outside of Tokyo is another story. The next show is 6/6 at Korakuen Hall with Takada vs. J.T. Southern on top. Two interesting notes were that Koji Kitao sent flowers to Takada's opening show, which gets an interesting rumor going, although he'd certainly be out of place. Even more interesting was the front page news in one of the newspapers this past week that this group is trying to put together a Takada vs. George Foreman match for the Tokyo Dome in January, but you can imagine how astronomical the odds would be of being able to pull that one off.
Speaking of Kitao, I got a chance to see the 4/1 "Wrestle Dream in Kobe" SWS-WWF show so I saw the match with Earthquake John Tenta. Anyway, aside from it being just about the worst match of the year (negative four stars), it did appear that it was Tenta who "started it." The first genuine shoot move was Tenta going behind Kitao and taking him down hard amateur style (Tenta was the teenage world superheavyweight champion back in the early 80s), but almost like a football lineman just throwing down a back. Tenta was riding Kitao, who got to the ropes. Kitao then got out of the ring and kicked over the press table and got a real po'd look in his eyes. When they got back in the ring, it seemed the communication was gone but Kitao put his hands up as to do a test of strength as if they were working. When they locked up, Kitao quickly tried to move for the Fujiwara armbar but Tenta just got out of the way. Don't know if Kitao was doing the move for shoot or not, but Tenta clearly wasn't going to try and find out. At that point, the match was over as both guys just glared at each other. Neither guy would make a move. It seemed as if, since every fan knew the match had gotten out of control, neither guy could back down but both were very happy that the other wasn't quick to make a move. They just stood there and glared for like four minutes and neither guy had a way out of it other than get in a real fight which neither seemed to really want to do even though they had to give the impression to the other that they did, so finally Kitao kicked the ref real hard for the DQ. The TV version of the match cut immediately, but at that point Kitao grabbed the house mic and made his comments about Tenta being fake and wrestling being fake. I was told it was funny to see how fast people stormed the ring and tried to get the mic away from him. Anyway, apparently Kitao's version that Tenta came after him first under the provocation from Kabuki has some substance. . . That was a really sad show, by the way. With the exception of Bret Hart vs. George Takano **3/4, nothing was better than **1/4. The real disappointment was Tenryu-Savage. Savage looked bad but Tenryu looked a lot worse. I don't know if it was a bad night or if a lot of us didn't realize just how valuable Sherri Martel has been to Savage over the past year because he didn't look like a good wrestler. Savage also tried to break the bump on the power bomb (since he probably had never taken one before) finisher and the crowd erupted in laughter. It was said Tenryu's performance was so bad because of all the problems underneath, but Tenryu has really looked bad of late a lot of nights. Hogan-Yatsu was interesting if only because Hogan tried to wrestle the entire match on the mat and did one take-down and ride on Yatsu after another. The match was dull since Hogan's mat wrestling isn't entertaining, but it was different and unlike the other Americans that worked SWS shows, Hogan at least tried to change his style. It seemed to hurt his feelings that the crowd took the match as comedy even though Hogan tried to wrestle seriously. Hogan didn't take any bumps except for one powerslam from Yatsu and basically took the entire match and made it one-sided.
Maeda's "Rings" promotion debuted 5/11 at the Yokohama Arena before 11,000 fans. The crowd was impressive because there were very few freebies (by Maeda's own decision) and it was really Maeda alone as the drawing card. Maeda's main event against kick boxer/bodybuilder Dick Leon-Fry from the Netherlands turned out to be Maeda's best match in a long time. The matches were all worked, although the crowd seemed to be convinced otherwise and popped big when Maeda pulled out the win after giving Fry a lot of the match. The other matches involved Dutch guys trained by Chris Dolman (sambo) and Wilhelm Ruska (judo); however, the fans weaned on the UWF noticed the guys did judo and sambo submissions and not the Karl Gotch-UWF style submissions that the fans were used to. Dolman worked against many time world champion powerlifter Bill Kazmaeir, in a match said to be awful. Dolman won by submission in the fifth round. Maeda is also plagued by a front office that includes nobody that has ever worked previously within the pro wrestling business.
The other big show of the week was 5/6 in Osaka for an outdoor FMW show with the Atsushi Onita vs. Mr. Pogo match with the outside of the ring set up like an army mine field. The mines went off four times during the match with explosions and naturally the bout was a juicefest with Onita winning. The show also drew 7,783 fans so it was a huge success. The funny thing is the success may be the killer for Onita. Onita's popularity is because of his image that he's a poor guy in a group with nothing but garbage wrestlers but they work so hard just to keep the company alive. However FMW has turned into a successful group this past year and Onita hasn't been able to hide that he and the company are successful. It is well known that Onita got a $25,000 signing bonus from the company that is going to market Onita laser discs and there were nine cameras and WWF-like production equipment at the Osaka card. Onita still has some gimmicks left to introduce, including a scaffold match later this year. At the same time, Onita came to the building dressed like Ric Flair in a new Mercedes Benz which contradicts his image as a guy struggling for his next dime. Onita also ran a new angle after the show with Pogo. The angle was that Victor Quinones, one of the owners of the World Wrestling Council (since the WWC promotion is easy to be hated in Japan to begin with because of the death of Bruiser Brody, although it isn't tied in as strongly as if Jose Gonzales was coming in) comes in on tour as the managers of all the heels. The angle is that since Pogo lost to Onita, Quinones got him fired from his regular job with the WWC in Puerto Rico so he is now begging Onita to allow him to join his side and feud with Quinones' Puerto Rican wrestlers starting the next tour as his revenge against the company that fired him.
The Universal promotion has a tour 6/5 to 6/13. 6/5 at Korakuen Hall has Kendo & Yoshihiro Asai vs. Pirata Morgan & Bestia Salvaje, Rambo & Dr. Wagner Jr. & Cuchillo vs. Gran Hamada & Pero Aguayo & Marlin and Los Brazos vs. Blackman & Blackman II & Super Dolphin. 6/7 at Korakuen has Brazo de Oro & Brazo de Plata defending the UWA tag titles against Hamada & Aguayo, Asai & Blackmans I-II vs. Morgan & Rambo & Salvaje. 6/12 in Osaka has Marlin & Dolphin & Asai vs. Rambo & Wagner & Cuchillo, Hamada & Aguayo vs. Morgan & Salvaje and Brazos vs. Blackman I-II & Kendo.
According to Japanese Wrestling Journal, the recent All Japan show at Budokan Hall was the card of the year thus far. JWJ also said that the SWS/WWF show at the Tokyo Dome drew just under 20,000 paid and 30,000 freebies for a total of 50,000 in the building. The card was said to be acceptable, but apparently when the announcement of the crowd was made at 64,618, there was a chant around the building of the Japanese equivalent of "fake number." .
SWS on 5/21 in Ashikaga has Genichiro Tenryu & Takashi Ishikawa vs. Ishin Riki & Yoshiaki Yatsu, George Takano & Shinichi Nakano vs. Randy Savage & Rochester Road Block (who is living in Japan and training full-time with this group) and Naoki Sano vs. Jim Neidhart. 5/22 in Soka has Yatsu & Haku vs. Ishikawa & Tenryu and the Takano brothers vs. Savage & Neidhart and Sano vs. Kabuki. 5/23 at Korakuen Hall has Haku & Savage vs. Tenryu & George Takano, Yatsu & Nagasaki vs. Neidhart & Road Block and Sano vs. Samson Fuyuki.
All Japan announced its line-up for the 5/17 series opener at Korakuen Hall with Terry Gordy & Steve Williams headlining against Kenta Kobashi & Toshiaki Kawada, Jumbo Tsuruta & Masa Fuchi vs. Mitsuharu Misawa & Tsuyoshi Kikuchi, Abdullah the Butcher & Kimala & Kimala II vs. Akira Taue & Mighty Inoue & Yoshinari Ogawa and Dan Kroffat & Doug Furnas vs. Joel Deaton & Randy Rose for the Asian tag team titles.
Big show on tour is 6/1 at Budokan Hall with Giant Baba returning in a six-man tag team match teaming with Rusher Kimura & Fuchi against Abdullah the Butcher & Kimala & Kimala II, Kroffat & Furnas defend against Kikuchi & Kobashi, Misawa vs. Gordy, Kawada vs. Williams and Stan Hansen & Danny Spivey defend their world tag team titles against Tsuruta & Taue. With the exception of Misawa vs. Gordy, which is a new match-up with a hard to predict finish, this hardly sounds like a show worthy of Budokan Hall.
New Japan from 6/20 to 7/4 will have Scott Norton, The Canadian Giant (the guy Joe Pedicino brought to the NATPE convention, said to be 29 years old, 7-feet tall and 425 pounds), Badnews Brown, Demolition Ax, Pegasus Kid and Brad Rheingans.
Norio Honaga defends his junior title against Pegasus Kid on 5/25 at Tokyo Bay NK Hall.
Top matches have been announced for the Fujinami 20th anniversary show on 5/31 at Osaka Castle Hall. Main event has Fujinami defending the IWGP title against Masa Chono, Steiner brothers vs. Hiroshi Hase & Kensuke Sasaki for the IWGP tag team title, Norio Honaga vs. Jushin Liger for the IWGP jr. title, Keiji Muto & Riki Choshu vs. TNT & Bam Bam Bigelow, Big Van Vader vs. Tony Halme in a wrestler vs. boxer match and Shinya Hashimoto vs. Randy Thornton (billed as pro wrestler vs. football player as Thornton is being billed as having played from 1987-90 in the NFL with the Broncos and Giants). In addition, Steve Keirn is being flown in as a guest. Keirn had three relatively famous title vs. title matches with Fujinami in 1980 when Keirn was NWA junior heavyweight champion and Fujinami was WWF junior heavyweight champion and apparently they're going to air one of those matches on the big screen at the show and then Keirn will appear live in the ring.
The Liger vs. Hase match on 5/6 went 28 minutes and was said to be a fantastic match.
Speaking of Liger, he's going to tour Mexico to get himself more familiar with Lucha Libre style and also to see if he can find himself some new opponents.
FMW from 5/15 to 5/30 has Jimmy Backlund, The Gladiator (Mike Awesome), Horace Boulder, Super Medico (Jose Estrada), Gregory Berichev and others. Big show is 5/29 in Tokyo with Berichev defending his FMW world martial arts title against Onita, Goto & The Shooter vs. Boulder & Gladiator, Megumi Kudo defending her WWA women's title against Delta Dawn and Backlund defending his AWA lightheavyweight title against Ricky Fuji.
Next big All Japan women's show is 5/26 at Korakuen Hall with Bull Nakano & Bat Yoshinaga vs. Akira Hokuto & Sake Hasegawa (getting her first chance at a main event), Yumiko Hotta vs. Toshiyo Yamada, Aja Kong vs. Manami Toyota, Bison Kimura & Mika Takahashi & Miori Kamiya vs. Suzuka Minami & Cynthia Moreno & Takako Inoue and Kyoko Inoue & Debbie Malenko vs. Esther Moreno & Mariko Yoshida.
5/10 in Hiroshima saw Cynthia & Esther Moreno keep their Japanese tag team titles beating Yoshida & Mayumi Yamamoto, Nakano & Yoshinaga & Tomoko Watanabe beat Kong & Kimura & Takahashi, Toyota pinned Kamiya and Malenko pinned Kaoru Ito. 5/11 in Yamaguchi drew 2,400 as Minami pinned Hotta and Hokuto & Toyota beat Yoshinaga & Nakano.
JWP on 5/10 in Kasunaga saw Miss A & Harley Saito & Cutie Suzuki beat Devil Masami & Itsuki Yamazaki & Miki Handa, Shinobu Kandori & Rumi Kazama beat Eagle Sawai & Koganei and Mayumi Ozaki beat Mami Kitamura. 5/11 in Matsuda drew 1,250 as Yamazaki & Kazama & Plum Mariko beat Saito & A & Handa and Sawai & Ozaki beat Kitamura & Masami.
Joe & Dean Malenko canceled this tour with All Japan.
JAPANESE TV RUNDOWN ALL JAPAN, 4/21 1. Fuchi kept the PWF jr. title beating Kikuchi with a half boston crab submission. Kikuchi took his normal great punishment and made the match with his selling. He made a comeback and did a german suplex, but his "bad knee" gave out and Fuchi put him in the submission for the finish. ***1/4; 2. Misawa & Kawada beat Taue & Ogawa in a hot fast-paced match. Ogawa is a lot smaller than the other three so there's something of a credibility problem, but they all work well enough that there isn't much of one. They had a lot of exciting near falls with one after the other ending with Misawa pinning Ogawa with a double-arm suplex into a power bomb called the Tiger-Driver. ***3/4; 3. Tsuruta pinned Hansen to win the Champion Carnival tournament. If I never see another match between these two, I'll be happy, but I have to say this was a very good match. Just a hard, stiff fight with both guys selling the right way to make it seem that the blows were hurting each other. Hansen nearly got the pin with the lariat but Jumbo got his foot on the rope. Jumbo later got a pin with a high knee to the face, which didn't look like a finishing move and the crowd was kind of stunned that Hansen was pinned with the move. ***1/2
NEW JAPAN, 4/27
1. Negro Casas pinned Liger in less than seven minutes. Casas worked stiff and strong and carried this to a very good match, even though there is a style clash between the two. Really Liger didn't do a lot here, although he did do a dive over the top rope with a mid-air flip outside the ring. Casas did two unique moves. The first was climbing to the top rope while holding a chair, then leaping off outside the ring onto Liger and crashing the chair on his head. He then jumped into the ring and did a dive through the ropes but Liger picked up the chair and Casas dove headfirst into the chair. Casas pinned Liger pouncing on him when Liger tried a monkey flip. ***3/4; 2. El Gigante beat Curtis Hughes from the Tokyo Dome *; 3. Fujinami & Shiro Koshinaka beat Super Strong Machine & Hiro Saito when Fujinami pinned Saito after the enzuigiri. A fast paced good match but they also missed some spots. Fujinami needs to retire his dropkick, which was once the best in the business but now is close to being the worst. He can barely get off the ground now. ***1/4; 4. Norton & Kokina & Samu beat Choshu & Muto & Chono in a fast-paced good match. Kokina works well for his size but needs to tag in and out because he doesn't have a lot of stamina. I think the guys goes a legit 490 pounds and can do some things at that size that are amazing. Muto and Norton tried to work some hot spots to set up their 4/30 match and Norton even juiced after Muto posted him. Norton wound up pinning Choshu with a powerslam. *** Note: The All Japan television show that aired on 4/28 (Misawa vs. Tsuruta from Budokan) drew a 6.3 rating from 12:30 to 1:30 a.m. on Sunday night/Monday morning which is probably close to a 70 share of the audience in that time period.
New Japan drew 5.0 ratings on both 4/27 and 5/4 while All Japan on 5/5 drew a 4.6 with Hansen & Spivey vs. Gordy & Williams.
USWA The title change from two weeks back where Jerry Lawler beat Eric Embry for the Texas title has been overruled since the win was gained with outside interference so Embry holds both the Texas and the Southern titles. They are recognizing Embry's win over Jeff Jarrett on 5/3 in Dallas in both Texas and Tennessee, although in Tennessee they said the match took place on 5/10 in Dallas. What did take place on 5/10 in Dallas before 391 fans saw Danny Davis beat El Gran Colosso to keep the lightheavyweight title, Chaz the Wild thing (son of Tug Taylor, a prelim wrestler out of Houston who drove the women crazy) beat Dr. Foo (a Killer Brooks trainee), Little Tokyo pinned Karate Kid when Tojo Yamamoto threw salt in Karate Kid's eyes, Bill Dundee pinned Boogie Man, Terry Daniels pinned Dog of War, Gary Young pinned El Grande Pistolero, Jeff Jarrett & Robert Fuller beat Embry & Tom Prichard via DQ in a major bloodbath which ended when the heels handcuffed Jarrett to the ring ropes and pulled out a plastic bag and tried to suffocate Fuller. In this case, they went all the way as they left Fuller laying there and Gary Young had to administer CPR to bring him back to life. The main event was a Texas Roundup Battle Royal (similar to Royal Rumble rules) with Dundee throwing out Pistolero & Dog of War to win. The revived Fuller managed to work the Battle Royal but he, Jarrett, Embry and Prichard all brawled out of the Battle Royal and into the dressing room.
Prichard had one of the best lines on TV here in a while when he was talking about the midget Little Tokyo. Prichard said he remembered that he held the world midgets title for a long time and he remembered when he won the title from Bill Dundee.
Gary Hart's promotion has officially folded and its television show in Texas has been replaced by the LPWA.
The 5/3 show, which drew 918 fans at $5 per head, got some of the local wrestlers upset because most of the payoffs were in the $40 range. At least one wrestler (Terry Garvin), quit over his payoff.
They did a spot show on 5/11 in Magnolia, TX before 100 fans as Prichard beat Jarrett when Boogie Man interfered but in the main event Jarrett & Davis & Colosso beat Prichard & Boogie Man & Black Angel (Tony Falk under a hood). Downtown Bruno worked as the referee on the show.
5/17 in Dallas has Sweet Georgia Brown vs. Madeline Collins for the Texas women's title, Davis & Karate Kid vs. Tojo & Little Tokyo (this will be the first mixed match in which the regular wrestlers and the midget wrestlers are the same size), Texas Hangmen defend the USWA tag titles against Daniels & Young, Dundee vs. Boogie Man and in a tornado match, Jarrett & Fuller vs. Embry & Prichard.
5/6 in Memphis drew 700 as Little Tokyo beat Karate Kid when Tojo threw salt, Dundee beat Hangman Killer to earn five minutes with his son J.C. Ice Baby and Dundee was beating on him for three minutes when Ice Baby ran off for the count out, Steve Keirn pinned Jeff Gaylord, Fuller & Davis beat Hangman Psycho & Prichard but after the match both Hangmen hung Fuller over the top rope, Eddie Gilbert beat Embry via DQ in a match where both men wore gloves with barbed wire on them when Tony Anthony interfered and attacked Gilbert (which at least should guarantee one good match per show), Keirn beat Embry via DQ in a Lights Out match and Keirn & Fuller & Dundee & Davis beat Embry & Prichard & Hangmen.
5/13 in Memphis has Karate Kid & Davis vs. Tojo & Tokyo, Gilbert vs. Anthony, Uptown Bruno vs. Miss Texas (Sweet Georgia Brown), Keirn vs. Prichard with no DQ and no time limit, Hangmen defend against Jarrett & Fuller, Embry defends the Southern title against Dundee. Bruno-Texas, Keirn-Prichard, Hangmen vs. Jarrett & Fuller and Embry-Dundee are all loser leaves the USWA for 30 days. The guess from here is that Bruno will lose, since Georgia Brown has just started as Embry's valet, Keirn will lose, Hangmen will lose and somehow Dundee will lose but turn heel and get to stay.
Dundee said he had a long talk during the week with his son and would have a major announcement on television on 5/19. He's also changed his wardrobe to give one the impression he's about to turn.
Embry claimed on television that he's retired Jerry Lawler. He then went on about their being five legends in the Memphis area, Jackie Fargo, who he claims to have run out, Jerry Jarrett, who is retired, Tojo, who is his manager, Lawler, who he claims to have ran out, and now he's going to finish things off by finishing up Dundee.
On television on 5/12, Gilbert & Ben Jordan & Karate Kid beat Hangmen & Little Tokyo when Anthony interfered for the DQ.
They ran two angles involving Bruno and Georgia Brown. In the first one, Bruno said he was going to show Georgia Brown how they treat women where he comes from, and instead of punching her, he kissed her (think about that one for a while). Later in the show Brown threw Bruno over a desk and hit him with the ring bell.
HERE AND THERE Dennis Coraluzzo has shows on 5/25 in Summerdale, NJ at 2 p.m. and another show at 8 p.m. in Florence, NJ. Appearing in Summerdale is Scotty the Body, Cactus Jack, Nikolai Volkoff, Bob Orton and Chris Candito. Florence has Scotty vs. Cactus and Volkoff vs. Orton. ESPN is putting pressure of Max Andrews about the quality of the USWA shows. Apparently there is a clause after 26 weeks, which would be in July, which gives ESPN the right to terminate the contract and some are afraid that is what is going to happen.
A correction from last week's issue, Bill Anderson still trains wrestlers at Slammer's Gym. Louie Spicoli no longer does because of heat between Spicoli and Verne Langdon.
Former WWF prelim wrestler Frankie Williams passed away last week from lung cancer.
Herb Abrams taped three hours of television (he was scheduled to do five hours but the building insisted he be out by 11 p.m. and only three shows were done at the time) on 5/10 at the Pennsylvania (formerly Penta) Hotel in New York. The building was packed but it was mainly freebies were about 450 paid. The biggest story actually occurred before the show. Apparently Cactus Jack, Paul Orndorff and Bam Bam Bigelow all had informed Abrams before the show that they were already booked that night for Joel Goodhart in Philadelphia and Abrams said he was starting the show at 7 p.m. and would put them on early so they could make their Philly date. The show didn't start until nearly 8 and Orndorff and Jack both left and had words with Abrams and right now their future with UWF is in some doubt. Bigelow stayed and worked early in the card against Terry Gordy and went 1:10 to a double DQ. Also they held "semifinals" of the UWF television tournament. Steve Williams beat Steve Ray in a match that was worked as a shoot and became more and more a shoot as it went on and it wound up with Williams throwing Ray into the ringside steps and busting up his face. Ray was so upset he took a swing at Abrams in the ring. The other semi was supposed to be Bigelow vs. Cactus but Cactus was en route to Philly and they announced Cactus no-showed and gave it to Bigelow on a forfeit. Bob Backlund came out with a belt that he said was given to him by some kids and Ivan Koloff attacked him and busted up the belt. Later in the show Backlund did a run-in on Koloff. Backlund was cheered, which is a change from when Backlund last worked in the area. Among others there were Col. DeBeers with new manager Mr. Black, Bob Orton, Power Twins, Nikolai Volkoff, Don Muraco, Jim Brunzell and Brian Blair (billed as a tag team called The Bees) and Joshua Ben Gurion, billed as the Israeli champion, who wrestled about 12 years back in Southern California and also for some Northeastern indies under the name David the Jewish Giant. Abrams has a show on 6/7 in Ft. Lauderdale with Blair vs. Boris Zhukov, Bigelow vs. Johnny Ace, Black Hearts vs. Rico Fredrico & The Linx (Brady Boone), Orndorff vs. DeBeers, Rockin Robin vs. Penelope Paradise, Luna Vachon vs. Allison Royal and Power Twins vs. Ray & mystery partner.
The Bruise Brothers (Ron & Don Harris) won the Northwest tag team titles winning a tournament final on 5/4 in Portland over The Southern Rockers (Rex King & Steve Doll). King was "injured" and has already left the area and they are going to give Doll a new partner as the Rockers.
5/11 in St. Petersburg drew 400 for a show which included Denny Brown beating Angelo Poffo and Lanny Poffo beating Tommy Stone.
Apparently Rick Rude got a release from his WWF contract which allows him to work anywhere except WCW, which is the same deal McMahon used with Tim Horner and Terry Taylor. Can't understand why, if that's the case, Jim Herd is going to allow Sid Vicious out of his contract before September. And I'm not sure that a release like that would actually hold up in court anyway.
Joel Goodhart's show on 5/11 in Philadelphia saw J.T. Smith beat The Sandman, Larry Winters beat Jimmy Janetty, Johnny Hot Body & C.N. Redd beat the Pit Bulldogs, D.C. Drake managed by Woman beat Tony Stetson in a dog collar match, David Sammartino beat Cactus Jack, Paul Orndorff beat Honkytonk Man and Bam Bam Bigelow DDQ Abdullah the Butcher.
Goodhart's 5/4 show in Newark, DE drew 300 as Bigelow DDQ Abdullah, Eddie Gilbert pinned Buddy Landel, Drake beat J.T. Smith via DQ to keep his TSWA title and 5/11 in North East, MD drew 600 as Bigelow DDQ Abdullah, Cactus Jack pinned David Sammartino, Honkytonk Man pinned Orndorff and Drake beat Smith via DQ.
Did you know that Babe Ruth in the 40s did some stints as a special guest wrestling ref? .
Rick Rude pinned Bobby Fulton on a show on 5/4 in Findlay, OH.
The 1991 Laides International Wrestling Association convention will be held 6/13 through 6/16 at the Aladdin Hotel in Las Vegas. The event will include several famous women wrestlers of the past competing again including Fabulous Moolah, Mae Weston, June Byers, Gladys "Killem" Gilliam, Johnny Mae Young, Donna Christantello, Betty Clarke and Kitty Adams on 6/14. They are also going to bring in Sherri Martel as an honored guest. They'll also have an awards dinner on 6/15. For more info, contact Bette Clark at 602-820-1891.
Tom Rumsby ran a show on 4/27 in Toms River, NJ with Cheetah Kid beating Mike Kaluha, Cactus Jack beat Motor City Mad Man, Jim Powers DDQ Mondo Kleen, Chris Candito beat Jimmy Shoulders and Mike Sharpe pinned Ivan Koloff to become the WWCA champion.
Mike Sharpe has opened a wrestling school in Bricktown, NJ.
Grizzly Boone ran a show on 5/4 drawing 1,000 to Fort Mill, SC which included himself and Nelson Royal.
WWF Some talk that Steve Keirn will be headed in under the ring name "The Gator." Not confirmed from this end. Del Wilkes (The Trooper) was said to have looked pretty impressive in his on 5/6 in Rockford and has a good shot of making it. Rockford show officially did a $97,000 house, which is about 8,000 paid and 1,500 freebies for a turnaway house. Green Bay on 5/7 for the Wrestling Challenge tapings also sold out.
Tito Santana will be coming back with a new name and gimmick.
TV ratings this weekend saw All-American do a 2.8 and Prime Time a 2.7, both of which are solid numbers at this point in time.
5/10 at the Cow Palace in San Francisco drew 7,300 as The Dragon pinned Haku *3/4, Ted DiBiase pinned Virgil thanks to help from Sherri *3/4, The Mountie pinned Big Bossman using his gimmick *, Sgt. Slaughter beat Hulk Hogan via DQ **, The Berserker pinned Tugboat -**1/2, IRS pinned Jimmy Snuka -* and Legion of Doom beat Nasty Boys via count out **1/4. The place really emptied out after Hogan's match went on before intermission. The crowd would have been a little higher except the TV in this market the week before the show was pre-empted due to baseball, and WWF only has one Bay Area time slot.
Paul Orndorff is wanting to come in as manager of Sid Vicious.
5/11 in Detroit at Joe Louis Arena drew 5,000 as Kerry Von Erich pinned Kato **, Jim Duggan pinned Hercules DUD, Von Erich won a Battle Royal to get a title shot at Mr. Perfect **1/4, British Bulldog pinned Barbarian *1/2, Perfect beat Von Erich via count out ***, Col. Mustafa pinned Koko Ware DUD and Ultimate Warrior beat Undertaker in a body bag match. Match has Undertaker pound on Warrior for four minutes until Warrior makes the superman comeback and finishes Undertaker with two big splashes after the shoulderblocks. He then puts Undertaker in the body bag for the win. After the match Paul Bearer throws dirt in Warrior's eyes, then pours dirt over the bag which magically revives Undertaker, who gets out of the bag and attacks Warrior and leaves him laying with the tombstone piledriver **.
Pat Tanaka missed shots over the weekend so he's apparently injured again.
5/10 at the Nassau Coliseum drew a nearly full house as Duggan pinned Kato, Bulldog pinned Barbarian, Hercules beat Ware, Bret Hart pinned Paul Roma, Von Erich won Battle Royal, Perfect beat Von Erich via count out and Warrior beat Undertaker via DQ.
5/2 in London, England at Wembley Stadium drew a sellout 11,000 as David Taylor & Tony St. Clair & Danny Collins beat Drew McDonald & Chic Cullen & Johnny South, Ware pinned Brooklyn Brawler, Duggan pinned Barbarian, Bulldog beat Perfect via count out, Power & Glory beat Bushwhackers, Berserker pinned Santana, Hart Foundation beat Demolition, Greg Valentine pinned Haku and Warrior pinned Undertaker.
5/9 in Louisville saw Von Erich double count out with Warlord, Earthquake beat Jake Roberts via DQ, Berserker pinned Tugboat, Slaughter pinned Duggan, Power & Glory beat Bushwhackers, IRS pinned Snuka and Bossman pinned Mountie.
Sid Vicious should be starting at the house shows in July.
WCW Lots of newcomers at the television taping on 5/13 in Fayetteville, NC before a 4,800 fans. Although the regular house shows have been drawing poorly, the tapings are now being padded enough to where every house will look big and going to new towns for TV means they're acting lively enough that they've done away with that horrible soundtrack. The taping was for World Championship Wrestling on 5/25, 6/1 and 6/8. They had a new interview segment called "Bull Drop Inn" with Dusty Rhodes and Jason Hervey, which replaced the Danger Zones. Dusty may not get TV ratings up, and he may not get house show attendance up, but one thing is certain, he will get Dusty Rhodes over. By the end of the 6/8 taping, Rhodes should be just about the most over babyface in the promotion. On 5/25, The Diamond Stud makes his television debut and looks a little better than Scott Hall. Dallas Page finds him a valet from the audience. The first Bull Drop Inn had P.N. News on it and he and Dusty ended up dancing and rapping together. During Barry Windham's squash, a guy in a rat costume is watching the match at ringside. TV main has Terrence Taylor & One Man Gang vs. Dustin Rhodes & Ricky Morton. Morton walks out on Rhodes and the crowd was chanting "We Want Dusty." The match never had an ending, as Rhodes moved and Gang squashed Taylor and Mr. Hughes jumped in. On 6/1, Mr. Hughes "debuts" as a wrestler wearing a shirt, tie and sunglasses ala Big Bubba Rogers. During Windham's squash, a rat came out but this time his mask came off, revealing Brian Pillman. Johnny B. Badd (Mark Merro, a muscular jobber) debuts doing a gay act and managed by Teddy Long. Steve Austin debuted as Stunning Steve managed by Vivacious Veronica. Big Josh beat Taylor via DQ when Hughes interfered and Dustin made the save. Black Blood (Billy Jack Haynes under a mask) debuted, billed from France, but he talked perfect English when he yelled at the camera, using a fist drop as his finisher. Sting and Nikita Koloff had a brawl in the crowd. 6/8 saw Eaton beat Anderson via DQ in what was billed as a TV title match when Flair interfered ***, during a Danger Zone, Paul E. and Hervey got into it and Hervey said his Uncle Dusty would take care of it and Paul E. did the sell job, and a tag match saw Windham & Gang vs. Pillman & Rhodes ending when a rat came to ringside and distracted Windham so Pillman could pin him, but after the match Windham beat up Pillman and left him laying. Dark matches saw Luger DDQ Nikita **1/2 which was move-for-move the exact same match with the same finish they did the last time they were in Fayetteville and Flair beat Eaton via DQ when Bobby hit the ref for no reason. ****. El Gigante missed the taping with the flu.
On TV this weekend during the SuperBrawl control center, they had Gordon Solie plus that on the PPV, a Diamond Mine segment would air with Page interviewing Sting & Luger, then Page's interview talked about his segment with Sid Vicious. Either Page totally screwed up, and in editing, nobody caught it (which is a possibility), or the segment has been changed, in which case I expect Vicious to show up, them run some sort of an angle during the segment, and have Gigante wrestle Gang instead of Vicious. Latest word is that Vicious is still expected to be there.
Big Van Vader nearly quit again this week over a contract impasse with Jim Herd, but they seem to have worked things out. Seemed to being very qualified, because there have been several contracts that seemed to have been worked out here and somehow things come up. The hold-up wasn't money, but Herd wanting Vader to sign a four-year world wide merchandising rights contract while Vader only wanted to sign for one year and giving up merchandising rights only in the United States. The verbal compromise agreement was for U.S. rights for 18 months.
The 5/14 television taping in Winston-Salem was canceled because the advance a week out was 70 tickets in a 10,000+ building.
5/8 in Birmingham drew 500 as Vader pinned Black Bart, Eaton pinned Taylor (best match on card), Josh pinned Rip Morgan, Young Pistols beat Michael Hayes & Jacko Victory, Rhodes beat Angel of Death, Pillman pinned Anderson, Sting & Gigante beat Stan Hansen & Danny Spivey via DQ when Hansen choked Gigante with the bullrope for the DQ and Steiners beat Flair & Windham.
Jim Garvin is out of action with a pinched nerve in his neck but should be back by this weekend.
TV ratings last weekend were the lowest in many years, in fact, it may have been the lowest rated wrestling weekend in the history of TBS as WCW did a 2.0 rating and Main Event (Josh vs. Anderson headline match) did a 1.8 while Power Hour did a 1.4.
5/11 in Chattanooga drew 3,000 as Flair & Windham beat Sting & Pillman in a four-star cage match when Windham pinned Pillman, who juiced really bad, plus Gigante beat Gang via DQ when Windham interfered, Kevin Sullivan threw powder in Gigante's eyes and Sting & Pillman made the save and Vader beat Hansen via DQ.
Hiroshi Hase & Kensuke Sasaki will be coming in September and staying for one year. The real reason behind this is because Hase & Sasaki are being groomed by New Japan to make a comeback in late 1992 as guys who are top of the card guys, but also so Hase can make contacts in the United States, learn the American ways, etc. because Hase is going to wind up as one of the most influential office workers in New Japan and basically be Riki Choshu's right-hand man and handle much of the dealing and contacts with foreign talent.
Apparently they will announce the formation of a junior heavyweight division at the 6/12 Clash.
The Paul E./Missy Hyatt angle on TV last week looked good in that Missy did look like she was really beating up on Paul E. But I can't understand with Missy going to work as a face on all those Bash dates that she still plays heel during her TV intros. Granted, Paul E. is going to be the heel in this situation anyway but Missy is playing heel on television but babyface for her television angle.
5/12 in Dayton drew 1,000 as Sam Houston beat Ron Cumberlidge, Brad Armstrong pinned Black Scorpion, JFD & Tommy Rich beat Royal Family, Eaton pinned Taylor, Rich & Josh beat Spivey & Angel of Death and Sting beat Ric Flair via DQ.
5/10 in Cincinnati drew 1,400 as Armstrong & Cumberlidge beat Royal Family, Houston & Josh beat Michael Hayes & Mike Graham, Rhodes beat Angel of Death, Rick Steiner pinned Spivey, Eaton pinned Taylor when Rhodes interfered and Scott Steiner beat Flair via DQ.
5/6 television taping in Johnson City, TN before 5,000 included Eaton beating Anderson via DQ when Flair attacked Eaton with his shoe, Morton worked as a heel with York, Taylor and Hughes and ringside and York gave Morton a computer program to use, Gang & Windham & Koloff & Flair went to a no contest with P.N. News & Pillman & Gigante & Rich. It was supposed to be Sting but Nikita juiced him before the match and News replaced him . Sting ended up running in and attacking Koloff for the DDQ. Good match. Scott Steiner pinned Hayes with a Frankensteiner, Rhodes pinned Doug Gilbert and in a dark match, Sting & Gigante beat Flair & Windham when Gigante pinned Windham and Flair juiced badly. Flair & Windham tried like crazy to get the crowd to cheer for the faces but it was still 60 percent pro heel.
WCW Main Event taping on 5/1 in Greenville, SC before 4,300 as Sting & Luger beat Royal Family, Flair pinned Sam Houston, Sting & Gigante beat Flair & Windham (dark), Eaton beat Taylor via DQ when Anderson interfered and Rhodes made the save, Eaton & Rhodes beat Taylor & Anderson, York offered Morton a contract during a Danger Zone and he said he'd consider it, Simmons pinned Angel of Death and Flair & Anderson DDQ Eaton & Pillman plus squashes.
BOWDREN THE BOOKER We pick up on the 5/11 PPV show after the debut of the Northern Lights. Buddy Landel and Barry Windham come out for an interview to show Windham's workout tape of him training for his title match with Muta. Buddy said that after a meeting with his close personal friend, Ted Turner, he's considering releasing the tape for sale since Jane Fonda made a fortune on workout videos and so can Barry and me. Ross comes back with the line asking if Landel is working out on the tape, because a tape of Landel working out would be valuable. Landel says the only tape of value is the one of his ultimate victory over Ric Flair. Besides, why should we let anyone in on our training secrets? Windham interjects, "The only person who needs to worry about how he's training is the great Muta because after tomorrow night, he's going to have first-hand knowledge of the kind of shape I'm in." At this point, Bill Watts and Terry Taylor come out and all four shake hands. Watts says that he just wants Landel and Windham to know that even though Terry Taylor deserved the title shot, they harbor no bad feelings and wish Windham good luck. Bill then asks Landel if he can speak privately with him. Landel, Taylor and Watts leave the interview area together, leaving Windham with Ross.
Windham says that all he's ever asked for or wanted was a chance, and now that he's got the chance, he isn't going to blow it. Jim Cornette comes out for an interview later and says that everyone knows those masked geeks The Northern Lights are those worthless Canadians Owen Hart & Chris Benoit. Cornette says that felons like that are already banned from working in this country and that the NWA is going to be in a lot of trouble when his lawyers are done.
The 5/12 PPV show has Tony Schiavone and Dutch Mantell calling the action, with Russell and The Freebirds handling dressing room interviews and Ross and Paul E. as hosts. The show opens with the Northern Lights vs. Brad Watts & Tim Horner for the U.S. tag team titles. This should be a fast-paced hot opener. Before the match, Lance is interviewing Bill Watts who says he hates being in St. Petersburg because most of the city is over 65 and is sucking our country dry with that god-forsaken Social Security that the democrats forced on us. But tonight we'll see my son and Tim Horner unmask those two and put a quick end to this charade. the match goes 13 minutes and ends with one of the masked men in with Horner, who is holding a full nelson. The masked guys tags his partner but Horner doesn't see it. Horner turns the guy toward Brad who comes off the top rope with a dropkick but the masked guy breaks free and Horner gets hit with the dropkick and goes down. Now the legal masked man comes off the top rope with a cross bodyblock on Horner for the fall and the belts. The Lights, billed as the Pride of Point Barrow, Alaska, are the new champs and leave the ring. Meanwhile in the ring, father and son start blaming a stunned Horner, who is apologetic. Bill keeps yelling at him for costing the family the titles. He then tells Brad to yell at Tim. Brad hesitates for a minute, acts like he isn't going to, then slaps Horner in the face. Horner starts shoving Brad when Bill pulls off one of his cowboy boots and hits Horner with it from behind. Brad then grabs the boot and comes off the top rope with it and Horner gets juice. During the match Schiavone keeps trying to call Brad "Armstrong," but Mantell insists that Watts showed him the paper work and his last name is "Watts."
Second match has Scotty the Body pinning Mike Rotunda, who we let go after this match. Just a short clean win. As Scotty leaves the ring, he tells Mantell that since he barely broke a sweat, he wants to come back and help them call a match later in the show. Schiavone says, "absolutely not," but Mantell assures him, "You're welcome to be my personal guest. If anyone gives you a hassle, tell them you cleared it with the Dutchman."
Next is Stan Hansen going to a double count out with Ron Simmons in 8:00. Then Thunder Riger keeps the lightheavyweight title beating Negro Casas in 14:00. Then Lex Luger vs. Rick Steiner goes 10:00. Sting comes to ringside at the finish. The finish has Luger getting Steiner up for the torture rack but Sting grabs Luger's leg with the ref out of position and Luger trips with Steiner on top for the pin.
Next is Midnight Express vs. Hase & Sasaki for the IWGP tag team titles. Match goes 20:00. At the 18 minute mark, down to the ring come the Northern Lights. Cornette starts going crazy and complains to the ref. The ref then informs the masked team that they have no right to be in the ring area and sends them back to the dressing room. One of the masked men then produces out of his trunks, two tickets and they sit in two vacant seats in the front row. Lane is kicking as Hase and stops to do his dance. There is a close-up of Lane's face, who has a cocky look.
Suddenly Lane freaks out. He points to the crowd and we see the Northern Lights in the crowd with a woman in between them. As Lane freaks, he points it out to Cornette, and he looks, but there's nobody in the seat between the two masked men. By this point Hase has recovered and hits the Northern Light suplex for the win and regaining the titles. As Hase & Sasaki leave the ring, the masked men congratulate them . The camera zooms back to the ring with Lane saying, "that was her, Jimmy," and Jimmy saying that he looked, but nobody was there.
Next is Scott Steiner vs. Arn Anderson for the U.S. title. Scott hits a belly-to-belly and has Anderson pinned, but Anderson gets his leg on the ropes at the count of two. The ref doesn't see it and counts to three anyway. Steiner gets up like he's won, but the ref sees the leg on the ropes and orders the match restarted. Scott doesn't immediately understand what's going on, and as he turns around, Arn hits the DDT and gets the pin and the title.
Then comes DiBiase & Williams & Gordy vs. Flair & Steamboat. Before the match starts, Schiavone & Mantell are joined by Scotty the Body, who brings out his gym bag. He talks about how easy his win over Mike Rotunda was and how he's crippled Brian Pillman. Dutch says that thing with Pillman was the funniest thing he's ever seen. Tony asks Scotty what's with the gym bag. Scotty says he's got a late flight after the show to Cincinnati. He says that Marge Schott, the owner of the Reds, asked him to be her guest in her personal box and asked him to throw out the first pitch at tomorrow's game since he wiped out Brian Pillman, who had personally set back Cincinnati's image by 100 years by claiming to be from there.
The heels come out first and Watts grabs the mic and says that since Terry Funk is a Quitter, his team will face Flair & Steamboat 3-on-2 and starts laughing. Out comes Flair & Steamboat by themselves. Flair grabs the mic and says that it isn't going to be 3-on-2, because he and Steamboat decided on a partner. One guy begged us for a chance. We told him he was a little banged up but he insisted that he's 100 percent fine and we weren't about to argue. He then points to Scotty at ringside. "Hey, you, you'd better check somebody's pulse that you think is dead." Then Pillman's music plays and he comes walking slowly down the aisle wearing a neck brace. Scotty is almost having a seizure at ringside. "They told me he'd never wrestle again!" Watts grabs the mic as Pillman gets in the ring. "This is the best you can do. A crippled guy who can't even talk." Pillman grabs the mic from Watts and says in a weak voice, "I'm not hear to talk," and decks Watts and things break down immediately. Pillman is hot early but as the match progresses, the heels start destroying him. Gordy rips the neck brace off him and he and Williams to running clotheselines into the corner on him. DiBiase tags in and clotheselines Pillman over the top rope. At this point, Gordy & Williams and Flair & Steamboat are going at it on the floor. Scotty stands up and reaches into his gym bag. Schiavone asks what's going on and Mantell tells him to worry about the match he's supposed to be calling because obviously Scotty is stretching because he's got a cramp. Scotty pulls out a Coal Miners Glove and tosses it to DiBiase. DiBiase hits Pillman, who bleeds. Pillman is laid out with his neck exposed and DiBiase goes to the top rope and makes a motion to the crowd he's going to use the glove on the throat. Schiavone screams that this blow will certainly end Pillman's career. Just then Flair jumps into the ring with a chair and hits DiBiase as he comes off the top rope. Both DiBiase and Pillman are down and out. The ref starts counting both men out but at the count of nine, Pillman gets him arm over DiBiase's chest and gets the three count. Williams and Gordy and Flair and Steamboat brawl to the back while Watts motions for his son to come out and the two carry DiBiase out of the ring. Scott then attacks a still stunned Pillman, opens his bag and pulls out scissors and gets a few chunks of hair before Flair and Steamboat make it back to chase him off.
The final match is Muta vs. Windham for the title. Landel grabs the mic and tells everyone that history is going to be made because my man BW is going to wipe up the mat with that face-painted goof. But just in case, I've got me an insurance policy. Barry turns to him like he doesn't know about this, and Buddy assures him, "Don't worry, it's all under control." At 15 minutes, down the aisle comes Terry Taylor in a suit and he goes to ringside and says he's scouting Muta because it's just a matter of time before he gets a title shot. Finish has Landel distract the ref, Taylor pull off his shoe while Windham is beating on Muta in the corner. As the ref holds back Windham, Taylor hits Muta with his shoe and Muta goes down. Windham then hits the superplex and gets the pin but before he signals for the bell, he sees the shoe lying in the ring. Windham jumps up and down like he's won the title. The ref tells Windham he's re-starting the match as he and Landel are high-fiving. Muta gets up, dropkicks Landel out of the ring, whips Barry into the corner, hits the handpsring elbow and follows it with a moonsault for the pin. Taylor then hits the ring immediately and attacks Muta. He whips Muta into the rope but Muta reverses it and as Taylor comes back, Muta blows the mist in his eyes. Muta gets his hand raised and blows the mist in the air one more time for a final crowd pop as they go to the back.
Ross and Dangerously are closing the show when Cornette shows up. "We lost our IWGP belts to a bunch of Japs who were helped by a bunch of Canadians. It's an international conspiracy. I don't know whether to complain to the NWA or to NATO." Ross asks Cornette what was it that freaked Stan Lane out at the end of the match. "It's none of your business, Mr. National Enquirer," and he walks off. Ross reminds everyone of the Clash on 6/12 from El Paso, Texas.
THE READERS PAGES Betsy Sherman of 183 Kent St. #4, Brookline, MA 02146 is researching comedian Andy Kaufman and seeks articles and video clips pertaining to his wrestling activities, particularly involving Jerry Lawler. She has WWF and WCW tapes to trade.
Ricky Short of Route 2 Box 297, Gretna, VA 24557 is looking for anyone who can supply him with WCW World Wide Wrestling tapes from this past April on and also looking for any independent tapes from Florida.
Jerry Grey of 6315 Jennings Rd., Orlando, FL 32818 is selling tapes of his Florida independent shows (SWF) for $12. He also has Galavision Lucha Libre tapes.
Michael O'Brien of 13 Blanche Ave., New Windsor, NY 12553 is interested in getting tapes of Galavision Lucha Libre, All Japan women, JWP, FMW, Puerto Rico, SWS and SAPW. He can in exchange trades tapes of Joel Goodhart and WFAN wrestling radio shows plus tapes from Memphis, Portland, Dallas, Five-Star, All Japan, New Japan, LPWA, UWF (Abrams), UWF (Maeda), Madison Square Garden house shows and Goodhart house shows.
George Rojas of 223 W Kelso, Inglewood, CA 90301 is looking for the 4/2 and 4/16 editions of Prime Time Wrestling.
Ric Davies of 1220 14th, Bay City, MI 48708 has UWF, Japan, WCW, WWF, USWA, SAPW, Portland and Galavision Lucha Libre tapes for trade.
Ted Malash of 3 Hubbard Rd. #1C, Wilton, CT 06897 is looking to buy tapes of the SWS Tokyo Dome show and the complete WCW Tokyo Dome show.
Gary Howerter of P.O. Box 642, Emmaus, PA 18049 has wrestling talk show tapes. Send an SASE for his list.
Mitch Nakagawa of 544 S. 6th St. #2, San Jose, CA 95112 is looking for tapes of any matches involving Satoru Sayama, both with and without the mask. He can trade anything from his collection of Japanese tapes 1989-present in exchange.
JOEL GOODHART
I read with interest comments written on Joel Goodhart as I live in the Philadelphia area. First, I think it should be said that Goodhart has done some very positive things for wrestling in this area. He, along with Carmella Panfil, started the Rasslin Radio show and finally gave fans an outlet for real wrestling news and comments and helped publicize independent circuits. Joel kept up the good work after Camella left, but then started his own Tri-State Wrestling Alliance. This of course, isn't bad, but as was pointed out, his radio show has become a one-hour commercial for his promotion. Certainly he has the right to do this since he's paying for the time, but he continues to pretend that he's covering pro wrestling in general and this isn't the case.
To use the 4/20 show as an example, after throwing out a topic, "What match would draw the kind of numbers that boxing can do on pay-per-view," we got the news: 1) Sid Vicious is leaving WCW; 2) The TWA top ten; 3) Results of the TWA tag team tournament; 4) Other TWA news. With the exception of the Sid Vicious item, not one non-TWA topic was discussed unless it was initiated by the callers. There is nothing wrong with this but Goodhart should state that this is a TWA show.
What is worse is that Joel also tries to put himself over in this role of heel promoter. On the show, somebody asked about the WWF card in Japan and he simply said, "Who cares?" and hung up on them. Another caller asked about Bobby Heenan's arrest and he said, "Why discuss it?" and hung up the phone. Then, after knocking the guy who does the show in New York as always being wrong, he agreed with a caller that we would be seeing a lot more of the team of Tenryu and Kitao, which has to be news to Tenryu.
What is distressing is that anyone who doesn't agree with Joel is a "jerk" or "an idiot" and he went so far as to challenge one guy to call him back and he'd meet him in person to straighten him out.
I've been to his shows and if you like chair shots and juice, you will like his cards. A lot of people here do, which is why he's had some success. His cards at the Civic Center are very successful considering what WCW draws, but I understand that outside of Philadelphia, his crowd aren't so great. In a way his shows are as bad as WWF shows in that every match is basically the same violent style. But the WWF has had great success with cartoon matches and Joel may have the right idea but just running heavy violence. I personally would like to see more balanced shows and have them back off a little on the juice, but since he's the only independent promoter around who can draw 1,500 fans, who is to say that he's wrong. I do believe, however, that he's drawing from a very limited group of fans and he's not going to make it outside of Philadelphia unless he tones down the juice a little bit. I'm sure when Joel reads this, I'll be a jerk, an idiot and he'll want to straighten me out as well but I've followed this sport for 25 years and I'm afraid he's using short-term success to set up long-term failure, which is something that seems to be distressingly common in this business.
I also have to comment on Wrestlemania. Several letters started out with "if you lowered your expectations to start with, it was pretty good." If you pay $30 for a pay-per-view event, why should you also have to lower your expectations to start with? I saw nothing better than 2 1/2 stars. Hogan-Slaughter was awful with no build-up to the finish. Warrior was awful. Savage was okay but it was the usual hi-jinks of Sherri Martel that filled in the non-action. Besides Rockers, Hart Foundation and Nasty Boys, nobody else looked good and nobody looked great. Hercules and Koji Kitao appeared to be brain-dead.
Paul Verlander
Gloucester, New Jersey
I hope this letter will be informative as I have worked for Joel Goodhart. There are three different personas one must consider when talking about him: 1) Radio show host; 2) Wrestling promoter; 3) Wrestling school proprietor.
Let's start with point one. Mr. Gioia was right that Joel shamelessly pushes his cards on his radio show. During a typical broadcast, he will give his phone number out 30 to 40 times to promote himself, his fan club and his cards. He pays for this time and can do with it what he wants. But what is aggravating is how he constantly talks about all his inside sources when I know he gets his information from the Observer and Matwatch, then hypocritically denies that he uses them as a source. His most famous target of criticism is Vince McMahon and the WWF. It's funny to listen to him knock the fake WWF and their fake wrestlers, but as soon as one becomes independent, he can't wait to book them.
Now, Joel, the promoter. Granted, he deserves credit for putting as many, if not more people in buildings than the NWA does here. But he never talks about his last three shows at the end of 1990 in West Chester, PA, Mount Holly, NJ and Trenton, NJ where the sponsoring organizations lost money because his shows drew less than 200 people. I've also worked for other promoters in this area, such as Dennis Coraluzzo, Larry Sharpe, Rob Russen and Afa the Samoan. I, as well as the other boys would rather work for Coraluzzo and Sharpe because they treat you like a person first. Goodhart brags that he ran the WWA, NWF, IWA and TWWF ouit of business. Granted, he is one of the better payoff men around, but he still is a pompous ass.
What people don't know is that Goodhart told me as well as some of the other boys who work for him that the only reason he got involved with the Tom Robinson benefit show was to make an ass out of Coraluzzo. He almost pulled it off. He wanted to kill all the heat before the big matches by having his wrestlers brawl outside the ring, use the blade, crotch shots and chairs. If it wasn't for Caraluzzo threatening to shoot some people in the locker room, he might have pulled it off. When the show was a success, Goodhart tried to grab all the credit. If Jim Cornette didn't call Goodhart's show for three straight weeks to help his friend, who knows if Joel would have ever even plugged the show.
Name withheld by request
There's been a lot written about Philadelphia promoter Joel Goodhart and his TWA promotion in the last few weeks. I have to take issue with some of the comments made by David Gioia in the 4/1 edition. I don't know Goodhart, but have attended several TWA events and I've yet to be disappointed. Goodhart has created a successful promotion by bringing in the best independent wrestlers available (Funk, Lawler, Bigelow, Abdullah, Gilbert, Cactus Jack, Orndorff) along with developing promising young stars of his own like J.T. Smith. Goodhart also has a local radio show which consists mainly of listener calls, some wrestling news and an occasional interview and plugs for his shows. I don't particularly care for his radio show, but it is very naive to believe that Goodhart isn't going to use air time he pays for himself to promote his events. His bias against Titan Sports is obvious, and his stance that Titan Sports is fake and his and other promotions like WCW are real is absurd. However, it's unwarranted for Mr. Gioia to say that because of this Goodhart comes off as dishonest and self-serving as Vince McMahon. As a promoter, he's been honest to his fans. He doesn't advertise talent that he knows won't be there nor does he claim his promotion is national or world-wide in scope. His champion is referred to as Tri-State champion. In the event a wrestler is unable to fulfill a commitment, like when Terry Taylor signed with WCW, he has told the fans honestly and found a replacement. Regardless of his radio show, if he continues to put on excellent wrestling shows, I'll keep attending.
William McMichael
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
I'd like to agree and disagree with some of the things David Gioia had to say about Joel Goodhart. Saying Goodhart has become a force in pro wrestling was an overstatement.
I may not like Goodhart, but I do enjoy his wrestling cards, although I can't see him lasting long-term for the following reasons:
*Even though wrestling is self-regulated in Pennsylvania, a promoter can lose his license for blading, although this is unlikely since the wrestler has to complain and if he does, he's the one that will end up being punished by loss of paydays.
*The brawling out of the ring is an invitation for a law suit from a fan, especially at bar shows where wrestlers go through crowds that have been drinking.
Several years ago when I started listening to Carmella Panfil and Joel on the radio, the show was lively, informative and fun. Now, the only information we receive is about what I call Joel, Inc.
Call the show and agree with him and you can practically co-host the show by phone. However, dare to disagree and you are off the air before the listeners even know that you called.
Personally I think he should change the name of his radio show to "I love Joel." I wonder how stupid he thinks his audience is. He knocks the WWF to death and beyond. He continues to use his famous line that they are "fake by their own admission" (referring to testimony given by Linda McMahon in regards to a failed attempt at deregulation in New Jersey). But if the WWF lets somebody go or they decide to leave, like Greg Valentine or Honkytonk Man, guess who is the first to try to have them on one of his shows.
Are we to believe that he calls them into the back of the locker room and says to them, I know you worked matches for Vince, but now for me, it'll be a shoot and may the best man win. Remember, he insists that his wrestling is real.
Pete Miskofky
Mickleton, New Jersey
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS Is Genichiro Tenryu the same wrestler who teamed up with Mr. Fuji in the Mid-Atlantic area around 1980? When Jimmy Snuka turned on Lou Albano years ago, Albano was also managing someone named Mighty Joe Thunder. He had to be the worst wrestler I had ever seen. Whatever happened to him? Was he supposed to be part of an angle or was he a mistake that McMahon made?
Dan Petronio
Rochester, New York
DM: Tenryu and Fuji were a tag team in the Mid-Atlantic area early in Tenryu's career. I believe Mighty Joe Thunder was a wrestler from the 50s making a comeback, but after two TV tapings where he looked worse than awful, he was dropped, but he was originally brought in to work a program with Andre the Giant.
Why did Dr. Dave Hebner continue to give the Anabolic Warrior CPR after the Warrior moved his arms and coughed, which meant that he was able to breath? If Earthquake really squashed Damien, how come no blood soaked through the bag? Was Vince McMahon jealous when he saw the Sid Vicious vs. Night Stalker match that he decided that he could do better and that's why he booked the Col. Mustafa vs. Jim Duggan feud?
Russell Cress
Union, New Jersey
I saw on television where the Warlord got 19 reps on the bench press with 500 pounds. Were their any false plates? What kind of weight on the bench do others like the Road Warriors, the British Bulldog, Lex Luger, The Barbarian, Bam Bam Bigelow, Doug Furnas and Sid Vicious use? I'm talking authentic weights as they all look like they work out on a daily basis and appear to be juiced.
Name withheld by request
DM: Warlord is one of the strongest bench pressers in the wrestling business and while I didn't see that particular episode of Prime Time, all prior weightlifting demonstrations I've seen wrestlers do dating back to the Billy Graham-Ken Patera weightlifting contests in the early 70s to Dino Bravo's 700 pound bench press to John Studd and others were with gimmicked weights, or in the case of the Road Warriors-Powers of Pain angle a few years back in the NWA, with real weights but they exaggerated how much weight was on the bars. I've been told Warlord can do in the high 500's on the bench and can do reps with 500 (reps meaning five to eight, not 19 and there is a huge difference). I haven't seen any of these guys do workouts but you hear things in gossip but things like how much guys can bench are often exaggerated even when the guys aren't wrestlers, and when you throw in that wrestlers live to "work people," it makes any kind of figure one hasn't seem for themselves have to be taken with a grain of salt. Having said that, I've been told Road Warrior Animal can do around 560 to 570 (although when he was a competitive powerlifter in the early 80s before he was a wrestler I believe his competition best was around 425), Hawk about 470, Luger around 450, Barbarian in the mid-500s, Bigelow I've got no idea, Furnas has done a 600 in competition which means "in the gym" (without using strict form) he could probably push up around 630 and I've got no idea what Vicious can do, but doubt it's in the league with the guys mentioned above.
ARENA EXCLUSIVITY
As a wrestling fan, I'm getting tired of being told there is only one wrestling promotion that I'll be allowed to watch live. To make matters worse, that one promotion I'm allowed to watch doesn't even like wrestling.
Harry White
St. Louis, Missouri
WWF
In regards to the recent hardcore angles in the WWF, I don't know if it's desperation or a desire to toughen up the product somewhat since in the past the WWF has been accused of being a big kiddie show. Personally I loved the Undertaker-Warrior angle, but then again I keep snapping turtles and giant predatory catfish for pets so I'm a self-admitted sick hound. As for Mark Calaway, being involved with the Star Trek fandom somewhat I can tell you one of the most popular set of characters on the show are a group called the Borg. They're a race of hulking Cyborgs with no individual consciousness and no matter what you do to them, they never sell it. They scare the hell out of everyone and are an enormous success. Here in Ontario, you can show a man being burned, shoved into a coffin, pummeled until he's bloody or being symbolically sodomized (remember Adrian Adonis shoving flowers into the mouth of opponents?), women can be beaten up by male wrestlers but God help you if you show an animal in distress.
Norman McEvoy
Hamilton, Ontario

May 27, 1991 Observer Newsletter: Superbrawl 1991, WWE baseball stadium show, bad ratings, NBC/WWE

Wrestling Observer Newsletter PO Box 1228, Campbell, CA 95009-1228
May 27, 1991
SUPERBRAWL '91
Thumbs up:157 (61.6 percent)
Thumbs down:72 (28.2 percent)
In the middle:26 (10.2 percent)
BEST MATCH POLL
Sting & Luger vs. Steiners217
Flair vs. Fujinami14
WORST MATCH POLL
El Gigante vs. Sid Vicious77
Oz vs. Tim Parker62
Big Josh vs. Black Bart16
SUPERBRAWL RUNDOWN - May 19 - St. Petersburg Bayfront Center Arena 1. Mighty Thor pinned El Cubano (David Sierra) in the dark match opener.
2. The Freebirds won the vacant U.S. tag team titles beating the Young Pistols in 10:21. The crowd started out hot for the match and the show because the local crowd saw the show as more important than your basic house show. Early in the show Brad Armstrong came to ringside to counter the outside interference of Big Daddy Dink and the ref threw both of them out of the ringside area. It was a pretty hot match with the teams working out new high spots early and them setting up normal Pistols high spots which the Birds would move away from. They started getting the heat on Tracy Smothers at five minutes when Jim Garvin pulled down the ropes and he took the backward bump over. Smothers took an incredible bump when Hayes whipped him into Garvin outside the ring, who was standing in front of the guard rail, and Garvin backdropped Smothers over the guard rail. He later took another guard rail shot on his back. The crowd seemed pro-Birds, which Hayes was encouraging. The Pistols work so hard and come off on television as so likeable, but people just don't seem to like them. Smothers made the hot tag at 7:45 and the Pistols each missed an attempt at simultaneous dropkicks off the top rope. But then they made a comeback when Smothers did a flying bodypress on to both of them, then a double clothesline sending both over the top rope. While on the floor, Armstrong did a flying cross bodyblock off the top rope outside the ring onto both Birds and the two did the Georgia jawjacker (which I'm sure isn't called that anymore but it's the move where Armstrong holds the foe in the air and Smothers comes off the top with an elbow drive to the chin) on Hayes. Then came ref bump No. 1, which brought out Fantasia, who I assume is Brad Armstrong but don't know for sure, dressed like the Gobbledy-Gooker who gave both Pistols DDT's off the middle rope and Hayes pinned Smothers to win the titles. This was a great opener live. ***1/2
2. Danny Spivey pinned Ricky Morton in 3:11 with a power bomb. Basic big-man little man match with Spivey dominating and Morton doing his fearless comebacks but Spivey coming back with power moves to stop him. It was all fast-paced action while it was going on, but too short (what can you expect with 12 matches and several skits in a 2:47 time). I don't know if Spivey really needed to just stand on Morton for the pin. Morton is turning so it's like he's a new character, but he's not a jobber and I can't see the purpose in humiliating him when he's already doing the clean job. The crowd was pro-Spivey here. *1/4
3. Nikita Koloff pinned Tommy Rich in 4:07 with the Russian sickle. For what it was, it was okay. *
Then came the introduction of Johnny B. Badd (Mark Merro) with manager Teddy Long, doing a gay act dressed up like a white Little Richard with a bodybuilder physique. Since I was there live, we really couldn't hear what was being said. Some people seemed intrigued by the new character, but the reaction live was negative (it's supposed to be, he's a heel, but a lot of the reaction wasn't booing the character as much as people screaming that if they wanted to see the WWF they'd have gone the night before). I want to at least watch him wrestle and hear him do an interview or two before making any comments.
5. Dustin Rhodes pinned Terrence Taylor in 8:05. Taylor and York's intro came complete with a board of directors from the York Foundation (a few local wrestlers who are recognizable as TBS jobbers). After a few early flurries, Taylor went outside to check with Ms. York's computer. I think it said, "You don't have a prayer in this match unless they change bookers." Later, when the two screwed up a spot, Taylor went out and checked the computer again. I think this time it said, "If you mess up one more high spot with the bookers' son, you'll be wearing your hair like a rooster again." The rest of the match was just fine. Finish saw Rhodes hit the bulldog but York distracted the ref. Taylor then jumped Rhodes from behind as he was trying to get the ref back into action. Taylor held Rhodes and Mr. Hughes pulled out a black glove but naturally Rhodes ducked and Taylor got hit and pinned. After the bout Taylor and Hughes had a brief argument. **
6. Big Josh pinned Black Bart in 3:45 with the butt-drop. Bart replaced Larry Zbyszko who had a legit knee injury. Nothing was announced to the crowd live and people were more upset about Zbyszko not being there than I would have imagined. Josh came out with two bears who walked on their hind legs. Nobody cared a lick about either guy or the match. DUD Then came a Danger Zone with Paul E. interviewing Stan Hansen. The mic went out twice but Paul E. ad-libbed pretty good within the character. John Stanley mainly challenged Dusty Rhodes.
7. Oz (Kevin Nash) pinned Tim Parker in 27 seconds with the Al Perez alley-copter move. Live, the Oz entrance was one of the more embarrassing moments I've had in this lifetime when it came to rationalizing being a wrestling fan. The reaction was a combination of stunned amazement and brutal obscenity-laced vehemence. The smoke was sulphur-based and the building smelled pretty bad for the remainder of the show. The Oz thing wasn't as bad as I thought it would be because it was really just an elaborate ring introduction rather than a several minute skit. But the people really hated it, maybe even more than they should have. There was a definite kind of reaction from the live crowd. It was fairly pro-heel most of the way and they didn't get into anything that was WWF-like, and with WCW trying to copy WWF more and more, it is going to turn off the hardcore base even if the actual action level of the matches is good. -*** (negative two for the intro and the match, negative one more for the smell)
8. Barry Windham pinned Brian Pillman with the superplex in 6:08 in a taped fist match. Give Dusty credit for this. The Oz skit really was a turn-off live and the show was in the toilet at that point. This match, which was almost guaranteed to be good, took the show right out of the toilet and I guess all the way to the sink (they were still in the bathroom until the tag team title match). Windham juiced in the first minute. Windham was on the top rope and Pillman dropkicked him off and Windham took a great bump on the floor. Pillman came off the top rope outside the ring with a punch and then posted Windham, who juiced. Windham was also bleeding from the arm, although it may have been blood dripping from his head that looked like an arm cut. Finish saw Pillman on the top rope but Windham gave him a low blow, then pulled him off with the superplex for the pin and left him laying. This was a great match, while it lasted, but definitely too short for these two. ***1/4
9. El Gigante pinned Sid Vicious in what was billed as a stretcher match in 2:11. Vicious showed up and did his job. Over the last week the word was that if Vicious didn't show up, that WCW wasn't going to release him from his contract until it expired (September 5). Believe it or not, the folks at Titan were pretty adamant about Vicious showing up as well even though it would mean their star attraction would probably do a clean job. Still, WCW planned Gigante vs. One Man Gang in the format sheets. I think many of us had a false sense of how far Gigante had progressed by seeing him so often of late in with Flair and Windham. It was like watching two blind men trying to wrestle one another. As soon as the pin took place, Vicious got up like nothing had happened and walked off while Gang and Kevin Sullivan attacked Gigante and hit him with the stretcher before Gigante recovered and they ran off. While people were mad because it was supposed to be a stretcher match, everything about this match was a bad situation. But after watching the match, Sid vs. El wouldn't have meant nearly as much as I thought at the houses afterward because it was evident within seconds that the "tension" of this match of giants was gone within 30 seconds when it was evident they were clueless as to how to pull it off. -*
10. Ron Simmons pinned Butch Reed in a cage match in 9:25. Teddy Long was put in a cage above the ring. Simmons bled in 35 seconds. Reed mainly beat on Simmons the entire match. The match was mainly deliberate brawling and not bad as far as action, but people just aren't into this feud. Finish saw Long throw a chain into the ring, Reed tried to use it but Simmons blocked it and then hit a spinebuster on Reed for the pin. **1/2
11. Rick & Scott Steiner beat Sting & Lex Luger to keep the WCW tag team titles in 11:08. They showed the video before the match began. I was really surprised about a lot of things in this match. First, of course, is just how good it really turned out to be. But also, the amount of heat generated in a battle of babyfaces. The heat was super. Far and away the most of the show, and considering this was a total Japanese style match (high spot, high spot with the guys selling the moves, but then getting up, no heel vs. face drama) it says something about how the crowds are changing and what they really want. I expected it to be like the Road Warriors-Steiners match at Starrcade in 1989, trading good moves but the crowd not popping big. Sting was the MVP of the show and it was the best he's looked since coming back from the knee injury. All four guys obviously put a lot into the match both in the ring, and also in putting it together. The Steiners were cheered slightly more throughout the match, but it didn't seem like anyone booed anyone. It opened with Lex and Rick trading spots. Rick took some nice bumps early. Sting did a running dive over the top rope onto Rick, who was on the floor. And on and on it went, with one hot move after another, fans popping for every near fall, basically exactly like a hot Japan match. Near the end, Sting even reversed a tombstone piledriver on Scott. Although he did nothing to hurt the match, Luger's bag of tricks wasn't nearly as full as the other three. Then came the obligatory ref bump. Nikita Koloff ran to the ring to hit Luger with a chain but Luger somehow stepped out of the way and Nikita hit Sting, who juiced and was pinned by Scott. When Sting got up he ran to the dressing room and attacked Nikita and they brawled outside the building. The finish accomplished its purpose in that they need to move Sting and Nikita into a feud right away, but it was also a cheap non-finish that took a lot away from what was one of the best matches of the year. ****1/2
12. Bobby Eaton pinned Arn Anderson in 11:10 to win the WCW TV title. These two had the unfortunate task of trying to follow the last match. The match before the main event on most PPV's has been a death spot because fans have seen so many hot matches and by this time want to see the main event. So they put, what on paper should have been the best match on the show here to alleviate that problem. And what happens? They have to follow a match of the year. So it was hard to get the crowd into it, but the work itself was solid all the way. Eaton has dropped a lot of weight, mainly because he's been training for conditioning like crazy for his June 12 match with Flair. Mainly Anderson worked on Eaton's left knee. The match didn't have much heat, but the finish was excellent with Eaton kicking out of the spinebuster, making a comeback and signalling like he was going to do the legdrop off the top for the finish. At this point Windham came out to interfere, but Pillman was on his heels and chased him away. Eaton then did the legdrop and got the pin. The crowd popped like crazy since they were expecting the screw-job and got the clean pin instead. What a concept. I guess when you rarely give clean pins in the top matches, it does make the clean pin seem like something special. ***1/4
13. Ric Flair pinned Tatsumi Fujinami in 18:36 to retain the WCW title in a rare battle of world champions. Live, this was a lot better match than in Tokyo. Some have told me on top they didn't think it was that good, but live it was just a stiff, excellent, well-paced match, up until the finish. Flair was really alive for this one and sold Fujinami's submissions so well that the match had surprising heat. Flair was the crowd favorite, but Fujinami's reaction wasn't too bad and he did awe the crowd with the bow and arrow move which kind of got everyone into thinking he was something special. Flair bled after being run into the guard rail. They did miss the bridging spot. The finish saw ref Massao Hattori get bumped and immediately Flair got Fujinami from behind with a cradle using the trunks and Bill Alphonso jumped in and counted the fall. Everyone was mad about the finish, which was the designed reaction. The idea was they wanted to make everyone mad at Flair leaving the ring. Since Flair was going to be the crowd favorite since they really didn't even try to get Fujinami over, they needed a finish that would make everyone mad. At least that's the psychological theory. The problem is, and the continuing years-long trend of diminishing house show crowds should bear this out, is that today's fans don't get mad at the heel for the screw-job finish, they get mad at the promotion, which is a fine way to end a pay-per-view card. ***3/4
Overall I'd give the show a thumbs up, because the good matches were enough to carry the show for me. I don't think it was a show that helps WCW as far as building to anything that will draw money or interest, so evaluating it in that way wouldn't be as positive. But five very good matches out of 12, and they were five of the top seven, is enough for me, especially when one is a match of the year candidate. I wouldn't rate this show anywhere near Phoenix, and I'd rate it below Tokyo for wrestling mainly because there was nothing embarrassing about the Tokyo show and there were several things here that made me ashamed to be a wrestling fan. The only genuinely bad matches were Vicious-Gigante and Josh-Bart, and the latter was bad mainly because nobody cared about it more than poor work by either guy. Oz-Parker was over before it started, but surely was a negative to the show. There was also a Missy Hyatt "in the dressing room" skit again. Granted, you shouldn't take these things seriously since it was all comedy, and at least live, people did laugh. I had a different reaction because I read the Lisa Olson story in this week's Sports Illustrated (and this skit, and the one in Phoenix, were meant as parodies of the Olson incident in the Patriots locker room last season). It was funny seeing Hansen run out in the polka-dotted boxer shorts, and the character Hyatt plays is a bimbo trying to get her thrills by being in the guys' locker room, but it also glorifies, in simplistic (and dated) terms, the "Archie Bunker" viewpoint of what Olson did. The WWF handled the same situation with a whole lot more class. I'm still trying to figure out why they continue to push Hyatt as a heel (and she was booed like crazy the first time she was introduced and fans cheered like crazy when heel Hansen spanked her) when in her television feud with Dangerously, she's a babyface.
The show drew a paid attendance of 4,887 and a gate of $76,000 at the Bayfront Center Arena in St. Petersburg. It appeared to me the live crowd was close to 6,000 in a building set up for 6,500. The WWF show the previous night at the Sun Dome in Tampa, headlined by Ultimate Warrior vs. Undertaker, drew 5,100 in the building and $56,000. The paid attendance at both shows was almost identical although the WCW show charged higher ticket prices, thus drew the bigger gate. The show probably would have been a sellout (and the crowd looked more than respectable live and even better on television) except, suddenly, just 90 minutes before the card started, there was practically a monsoon outside. I really don't think WWF running that live show the day before hurt the attendance nearly as much as that rain dance Jay Strongbow must have done before getting out of town. Often times when promoters blame weather for a bad crowd, it's an excuse so they don't have to admit they put on a card nobody wanted to see. But in this case, if I hadn't had tickets in advance, in that weather, I'd have ordered the PPV because you wouldn't have wanted to drive in that downpour. The advance was $64,000 as of Saturday morning, so that basically tells you there was no walk-up. Very preliminary figures indicate a buy rate of one percent, which should come as no surprise.
While no official announcement has been made, the WWF is expected to announce within the next week or so its first major outdoor baseball stadium extravaganza in three years for July 14 at Busch Stadium in St. Louis. The card, which will be taped for a Coliseum videotape that will be released later in the summer, was originally planned as a form of retaliation against the St. Louis Arena for allowing WCW to book shows in the building. Because of that, Titan pulled out of the Arena, which, in a one arena town, appeared to take them out of the market completely. But it appears now that the strategy is to produce a blow-out show for the summer and draw 20,000 fans while WCW draws 2,000 at the Arena, which should end up with WWF back in the Arena on its own terms, which would mean as the only major wrestling promotion in the market. The top matches on the card are tentatively scheduled to be Hulk Hogan vs. Sgt. Slaughter with Randy Savage as referee (which will later be held as part of their program in other markets) and Ultimate Warrior vs. The Undertaker in a loser must get carried from the ring in a coffin match. While it originally appeared to be something less than coincidental that WWF would plan its biggest summer house show of the year on the same night as the WCW PPV card (Great American Bash in Baltimore), the reality is the St. Louis show will only be publicized regionally and neither show should adversely effect the other and the fact they fall on the same date is probably coincidental. The first WCW at the Arena in St. Louis is June 14, with Gigante & Pillman vs. Flair & Windham in a cage match as the main event, plus Great Muta & Hansen vs. Sting & P.N. News, Simmons vs. Gang, Steiners vs. Hiroshi Hase & Masa Chono, Morton vs. Anderson, Eaton vs. Spivey, Rhodes vs. Bart and Steve Austin vs. Sam Houston, which at least appears to be far too weak of a line-up to put in a city where the company has put itself in the position where they must make a strong impression in a hurry. Since the WWF has pulled out of St. Louis, the Arena, which originally only agreed to give WCW one date, has now agreed to give them an 8/2 date for the Bash tour and another date in September.
The Bash tour was announced officially at the last PPV with the following dates: 7/3 at the Meadowlands (headlined by a War Games with Flair & Gang & Koloff & Windham vs. Sting & Luger & Gigante & someone else); 7/4 in Wildwood, NJ; 7/5 in Philadelphia; 7/6 in Norfolk; 7/7 in Richmond, VA; 7/8 in Columbus, GA; 7/9 in Tallahassee; 7/11 in Columbia, SC; 7/12 in Charleston, SC; 7/13 in Greenville, SC; 7/14 in Baltimore; 7/15 in Salisbury, MD; 7/16 in Farmland, IN; 7/17 in Dayton; 7/18 in Cleveland; 7/19 in Charleston, WV; 7/20 in Cincinatti; 7/21 in Knoxville; 7/22 in Nashville; 7/23 at the Forum in Los Angeles; 7/24 at San Diego Golden Hall (a 3,300 seat building); 7/25 in San Bernardino; 7/26 in Oakland; 7/27 in Phoenix; 7/28 in El Paso; 7/29 in San Antonio; 7/30 in Corpus Christi; 7/31 in New Orleans; 8/1 in Springfield, MO; 8/2 in St. Louis; 8/3 in Kansas City; 8/4 in Topeka; 8/5 in St. Joseph; 8/6 in Sioux City; 8/8 in Myrtle Beach, SC; 8/9 in Charlotte; 8/10 in Greensboro; 8/11 in Roanoke; 8/12 in Gainesville, GA; 8/13 in Augusta, GA; 8/14 in LaCrosse, WI; 8/15 in St. Paul; 8/16 in Green Bay; 8/17 in Chicago; 8/18 in Milwaukee; 8/19 in Battle Creek; 8/20 in Saginaw; 8/21 in Miami; 8/22 in Ft. Pierce, FL; 8/23 in St. Petersburg; 8/24 in Jacksonville and 8/25 at the Omni in Atlanta. A few notes about the California dates. The San Diego date is one day after the WWF show at the Sports Arena and WCW doesn't even have TV in the San Diego market although its new Los Angeles station reaches San Diego on cable and also reaches San Bernardino (which also has no local show). In other words, the three Southern California shows will all be promoted off one show, which will either dilute the Los Angeles gate if they try and promote three shows at once or if they concentrate on LA, will spell disaster in the other two cities. The Oakland date is the same day the WWF will be at the Cow Palace in San Francisco with Hulk Hogan, and while this hasn't been officially announced, they'll probably run the same main event as in Busch Stadium for the SF show. Ironically, in these instances, the San Diego booking was either coincidence (since WWF had its date booked earlier) based on not knowing the WWF's dates (known as stupidity also in some circles), or an attempt at running head-to-head the day after (which anyone will tell you is the least advantageous time). As far as Oakland is concerned, the show was moved from 7/27 to 7/26, with knowledge that 7/26 was the WWF's Cow Palace date.
The weekend of 5/11 to 5/14 may have been the lowest rated weekend for cable television ratings in the U.S. since we entered the cable age. The WWF's ratings hit a skid, with All-American drawing a 2.3 (not all that much lower than it's been averaging of late) and Prime Time a 2.2 (the lowest since the new format and exceedingly low even for the old format). WCW's ratings were even worse, with Main Event getting a 2.1 and WCW getting a 1.7. The latter rating was disastrous, especially when the Power Hour that airs at 9 a.m. Eastern (6 a.m. Pacific) drew a 1.8 on the same day. It was the second straight week of disastrous numbers on TBS. While individual weekly ratings really don't seem to be very indicative of anything because of all the variables that go into television ratings (including the weather during this time of the year), trends are important and this trend is alarming since the promotion's main purpose is to draw television ratings on TBS. A directive was sent out within the company that in order to improve ratings, both on TBS and in syndication, less emphasis will be placed on hyping the PPV shows and more on hyping upcoming matches that will appear on television.
While no official announcement has been made, it has been reported elsewhere and rumored widely within wrestling that when the new season begins in September, the WWF will no longer be on NBC. I do know that the WWF has already negotiated elsewhere for putting together occasional television specials, and elsewhere is not one of the four networks. The six-year NBC run apparently was felled by the poor ratings of the February Prime-Time special (right after the negative publicity surrounding the Sgt. Slaughter title win and Hogan base tour) and that the SNME shows drew lower ratings for the first time ever than Saturday Night Live both times it appeared this season. Titan's biggest backers are also out of power. Brandon Tartikoff, who headed NBC, is now gone to Paramount, while Dick Ebersol, who was the real force in getting WWF on NBC to begin with, lost most of his power in the plunge of the Today Show's ratings. While saying the loss of the show is disastrous is putting too much emphasis on it, but it is certainly a blow, and a significant one. The NBC specials drew the largest viewing audience, particularly among the mainstream fans. Indeed the erosion of the ratings this season seemed to indicate an erosion in mainstream fans, since they didn't coincide with a similar erosion in the ratings of the weekly shows on cable and in syndication. This kind of mainstream audience doesn't really support pro wrestling on a weekly basis, but it probably makes the difference between a three buy rate and a six for a Wrestlemania and is the audience that makes WWF events seem significant in the real world.
Because of my last-minute trip to Florida for the PPV show, my appearance on Sports Byline USA was rescheduled to May 29 at 9 p.m. Pacific time (midnight Eastern time). The phone-in show airs on the following stations: Alabama: Mobile (WABB), Birmingham (WERC), Tuscaloose (WNPT), Alexander City (WDLK); Arkansas: Little Rock (KPAL); Arizona: Phoenix (KAMJ); California: San Francisco (KSFO), San Diego (XTRA), Sacramento (KSMJ), Los Angeles (KWNK), Riverside (KMEN), Bakersfield (KERN), Palm Springs (KDES), Eureka (KINS), Redding (KQMS), Modesto (KOOK), Yreka (KSYC), San Luis Obispo (KKAL); Colorado: Denver (KDEN); Connecticut: Hartford (WNTY); District of Columbia: Washington (WWRC); Florida: Tampa (WFNS), Boca Raton (WSBR), Sarasota (WQSA), Gainesville (WQHL), Daytona Beach (WSBB); Georgia: Atlanta (WCNN); Indiana: South Bend (WKAM); Louisiana: New Orleans (WSLA), Baton Rouge (WIBR); Massachussetts: Boston (WEEI); Providence (WSAR); Minnesota: Duluth (WATW); Missouri: St. Louis (KGLD); North Carolina: Asheville (WSKY); North Dakota: Fargo (KQDJ), Grand Forks (KNOX); Nevada: Reno (KPLY); Las Vegas (KROL); New York: Buffalo (WGR), Syracuse (WAUB), Rochester (WACK); Oklahoma: Oklahoma City (WWLS), Tulsa (KXTD); Oregon: Portland (KFXX), Portland (KKGR), Portland (KUIK), Corvallis (KFLY); Pennsylvania: Pittsburgh (WIXZ), Williamsport (WWPA), York (WHVR); South Carolina: Columbia (WKRM); Texas: Houston (KSEV); Utah: Salt Lake City (KMGR); Washington: Seattle (KJR), Anacortes (KLKI), Tri Cities (KTCR); West Virginia: Bluefield (WJLS). It's also carried on the Armed Forces radio network, by the Australian broadcasting company and in Auckland, New Zealand on Station 1ZB. For those of you wishing to discuss anything regarding pro wrestling, you can call between 9 and 10 p.m. Pacific time at 800-927-PLAY.
Sometime pro wrestler Steve Schumann, who has wrestled under many names including Lance Idol, Steve Winters and Ray Evans over the past 12 years, suffered a heart attack after matches held Friday night in Clear Lake, CA promoted by Jerry Monti. Schumann, 32, was listed in critical condition as of Monday in an area hospital. He had wrestled that night under the name of Steve Golden, billed as Pacific Coast champion, and had a bloodbath with Jim Gorman. He bled so badly that he was taken to the hospital after the matches and then passed out from the heart attack and had to be revived. Schumann is somewhat known locally for something that took place about two years ago when he promoted a card in San Jose using the Rock & Roll Express and Sgt. Slaughter among others. The show didn't draw, and Schumann apparently worked a suicide attempt when the boys came for their payoffs, was taken to the hospital, and then suddenly vanished from the hospital without a trace.
Herb Abrams announced the complete line-up for his UWF pay-per-view show on 6/9 at the Manatee Civic Center in Palmetto, FL. At the press conference, Abrams called the WWF and WCW "a bunch of carbon copy cartoon promotions" and called Flair and Hogan "paper champions." When asked by a reporter about the purse for the Steve Williams vs. Bam Bam Bigelow main event, Abrams said, "You could safely assume the winner will make in excess of $1 million in the next year." Too bad he didn't say that money would be earned playing Monopoly. Besides the Bigelow-Williams main event and Bob Backlund vs. Ivan Koloff, other matches announced were Don Muraco vs. Terry Gordy in a street fight, Paul Orndorff (who is trying to get back with WWF as a manager of Sid Vicious) vs. Col. DeBeers in a strap match, Brian Blair & Jim Brunzell vs. The Power Twins managed by John Tolos, Steve Ray & Sonny Beach vs. Cactus Jack & Bob Orton with Tolos hung in a cage above the ring, Rockin Robin vs. Candi Divine for the newly created UWF womens title and The Black Hearts vs. Tony Atlas & Larry Cameron.
This is the third issue of the current four issue set. That means if you've got a (1) on your address label, your Observer subscription will expire next week. Renewal rates remain $6 for each set of four issues within the United States and Canada, which means $12 for eight, $24 for 16, $36 for 24 up through $60 for 40 issues. Overseas weekly airmail rates are $9 for each set of four issues up through $90 for 40 issues. Copies of the latest Observer yearbook, 110-pages with feature stories, stats and awards, are available for subscribers at $12 and non-subscribers at $14 within the U.S. and Canada and for overseas subscribers at $18 and for $20 for non-subscribers overseas. There are plenty of yearbooks remaining and subscribers can order as many copies as they with at the subscribers price. Both subscriptions and yearbook orders along with match results, letters to the editor and any other news items or correspondence should be sent to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, P.O. Box 1228, Campbell, CA 95009-1228. Fax messages can be sent to the Observer after Noon Eastern time (9 a.m. Pacific) on a daily basis at 408-378-6562.
EMLL This group formally announced plans to create a world heavyweight champion as reported here last week. The press conference was held this past Wednesday in Mexico City and it was announced there will be a 12 wrestler tournament which will start with the first round on 5/24 when the EMLL goes back to Arena Mexico. The tournament will run on three consecutive Friday nights, which means the matches will air the following Sunday in the United States on Galavision. They announced eight wrestlers thus far for the tournament, Konnan El Barbaro (who is scheduled to begin shortly with the WWF), Black Magic (Norman Smiley), Rayo de Jalisco Jr., Mascara Ano 2000, Universo 2000, Mongolian Mauler, Canadian Vampire and Brazo de Plata. Four more names will be added to the list, most likely including one American (Darryl Karolet, who worked in the NWA last year as bodyguard Nitron). Headed to this group at the end of the month besides those named are Fabuloso Blondy (Ken Timbs), Septiembre Negro, Salomon Grundy, Astro Boy, El Guerrero Samurai and a new tag team called The Northern Invaders plus the Mexico City debut of El Hijo Del Solitario, whose father was one of the biggest names in Mexico during the 60s and 70s.
5/17 at Arena Coliseo in Mexico City saw Ponzona & Tony Arce & Vulcano winning two of three falls from Ciclon Ramirez & Aguila Solitaria & Pantera II **1/2, Kato Kung Lee & Dandy & Super Astro beat Kung Fu & Fuerza Guerrera & Jerry Estrada in two of three falls **, Lizmark & Pirata Morgan & Rayo de Jalisco Jr. beat Perro Aguayo & Cien Caras & Ulysses in two of three falls when Lizmark pinned Aguayo to capture the third fall *1/2; and the main event saw Mexican trios champions Octagon & Mascara Sagrada & Atlantis keep their titles beating Los Brazos in 2/3 falls when Octagon made El Brazo submit in the third fall. A substantial amount of fans were rooting for the Brazos, who play kind of a subtle heel role but are generally popular but in almost every match work against faces. **.
Pierroth Jr. was attacked by some fans on Tuesday night and will be out of action for a few weeks. Several wrestlers in recent months have been injured in fan attacks.
On 5/16, the EMLL: ran shows in Cuernavaca (Morgan & Jalisco & Sagrada vs. Mongol & Vampire & Pierroth); Mexico City (Javier Cruz & Mano Negra & Eddie Guerrero vs. MS 1 & Gran Markus Jr. & Angel Blanco Jr; Sahugan (Dandy & Atlantis vs. Satanico & Estrada; and Apizaco (Octagon & Ringo Mendoza vs. Fuerza Guerrera & Emilio Charles Jr.
5/12 in Mexico City at La Arena Pista Revolucion saw Octagon & Dandy & Misterioso beat Arce & Vulcano & El Egipicio, Zuleyma kept her UWA womens title beating Maria Del Angel, Jerrito Estrada & Piratita Morgan & Espectrito won a midget match from Aguilita Solitaria & Mascarita Sagrada & Misteriocito.
UWA Villano III defeated El Signo in two of three falls to win the UWA lightheavyweight title on 5/16 at La Arena Pista Revolucion in Mexico City. 5/12 at El Toreo in Naucalpan saw Blue Blazer (Owen Hart) & Dos Caras & Enrique Vera win two out of three falls from Canek & The Killer & Fishman. During the second fall, Canek came off the top rope with a crossbody block but Blazer rolled with it and got the pin but while being pinned, Canek pulled off Blazer's mask. After the match was over, Canek challenged Blazer to a mask vs. mask match and Blazer challenged Canek for the UWA title. Also El Texano & Villano IV & V went to a no contest with Pegasus Kid & Baby Face & El Engendro when Villano V and Pegasus removed each others masks simultaneously in the third fall, Silver King & El Cestial & Fantasma beat Black Terry & Shu El Guerrero & Jose Luis Feliciano 2/3 falls, The Ninja Turtles beat Laser & La Flecha & Robin Hood & El Vagabundo and Los Matematicos beat Ricky Boy & Urquides & Lobo Rubio.
5/13 in Puebla saw Dos Caras & Villano IV & Blazer headlining against Canek & Fishman & Pegasus Kid plus Los Brazos vs. Baby Face & Killer & Negro Navarro, Akiyoshi & Takayama & Samurai vs. Engendro & Scorpio & Scorpio Jr.
5/16 in Toluca had Blazer & Caras vs. Canek & Pegasus plus Hamada & Akiyoshi & Takayama vs. Baby Face & Scorpio & Scorpio Jr.
5/15 at El Cortijo Bullring in Mexico City saw Enrique Vera beat The Killer to keep his UWA junior heavyweight title.
5/14 in Pachuca saw Negro Casas beat Jose Luis Feliciano to keep his UWA world middleweight title.
Jushin Liger worked here from 5/9 to 5/19 but apparently didn't work the major buildings in Mexico City against Casas, Blazer or Pegasus Kid.
5/19 at El Toreo in Naucalpan saw Canek beat Blazer in a two out of three fall mask vs. mask match forcing Blazer to unmask as Owen Hart, Pegasus Kid kept his WWF lightheavyweight title beating Villano V in a match that went more than 40 minutes and was said to be the best match in Mexico City thus far in 1991 by Ovaciones newspaper. Pegasus won the third fall with a superplex off the top rope followed by a dropkick off the top rope. Also Kokina & Blue Panther & Navarro beat Villano I & IV & Aguayo, Samoan Savage & Fatu & Navarro beat Baby Face & Scorpio & Scorpio Jr., Super Raton & Super Pinochio & Fantasma beat Negro Casas & El Hijo del Diablo & Angel de la Muerte via DQ and Los Mohicanos beat Marlin & Gran Apache.
5/20 in Puebla had Kokina & Fatu & Samoan Savage vs. Canek & Villano I & IV, Hamada & Tinieblas Jr. & Sr. vs. Blue Panther & Face & Dr. Wagner Jr.
JAPAN A pretty light news week this time around. All Japan opened its new tour on 5/17 at Tokyo's Korakuen Hall before a packed house of 2,100 fans at Mitsuharu Misawa & Tsuyoshi Kikuchi upset Jumbo Tsuruta & Masa Fuchi in the main event when Misawa pinned Fuchi in 29:42, Terry Gordy & Steve Williams beat Toshiaki Kawada & Kenta Kobashi in 21:58 when Gordy pinned Kawada, Abdullah the Butcher & Kimala & Kimala II (Botswana Beast) beat Yoshinari Ogawa & Mighty Inoue & Akira Taue, Dan Kroffat & Doug Furnas retained their Asian tag team titles beating Randy Rose & Mike Golden and The State Patrol beat Richard Slinger & Joel Deaton. The top two matches were said to be very good and the fans like the State Patrol because they worked fast-paced and did a lot of good double-team moves.
5/18 in Niigata drew a sellout 3,300 as Tsuruta & Taue & Fuchi beat Misawa & Kawada & Kikuchi in 27:53, Williams pinned Kobashi, Abdullah & Kimala I beat Rose & Deaton, Kroffat & Furnas beat Gordy & Slinger, Kimala II beat Golden and State Patrol beat Ogawa & Isamu Teranishi.
The fans were pretty funny at Korakuen Hall because they do a chant where half the building chants "Kimala" and the other half chants "Two" over-and-over again.
SWS president Hachiro Tanaka announced that he would soon be turning over the presidency of the company to Genichiro Tenryu, so SWS would be run by a wrestler like the other major groups in Japan are. Everyone expects Tenryu to make some major changes to promote better wrestling matches.
PWF ran on 5/16 in Korakuen Hall drawing a full house of 2,250 as Masaharu Funaki beat Jumbo Barretta in the main event in 9:40 with an armlock, Naoki Sano beat Wayne Shamrock (Vince Tirelli) in 26:15 plus Yoshiaki Fujiwara beat Wellington Wilkins Jr. and Bart Vail and Minoru Suzuki won over newcomers making their pro debuts. PWF announced its next show for 7/26 at Tokyo Bay NK Hall, a 7,000 seat building which means they need a strong line-up.
FMW opened its new tour on 5/15 in Omiya before 2,710 fans. The main event saw Super Medico (Jose Estrada) & The Gladiator (Mike Awesome) beat Sambo Asako & Atsushi Onita. If you recall, they did an angle where Victor Quinones "fired" Mr. Pogo from the WWC after he lost the match to Onita in Osaka and Pogo then begged Onita to "hire" him since he would be "out of work" since he couldn't wrestle in Puerto Rico which turned Pogo babyface. But on the first night of Pogo being on the babyface side, he spit fire out of his mouth into Onita's eyes and re-started their feud.
The feud continued the next night in Yonegawa, but not during the card. After the card was over, Onita went to Pogo's hotel and jumped him in the lobby which got all sorts of attention to heat up the feud. That night, before 2,015 fans, Gladiator & Horace Boulder (who apparently really is Hulk Hogan's nephew) beat Onita & Ricky Fuji in a street fight and Asako no contest Medico when Pogo interfered and attacked Asako.
5/17 in Hachinohe drew a sellout 3,852 as Boulder & Gladiator beat Onita & Jimmy Backlund when Boulder used the ax bomber (Hogan's original finishing hold in Japan in the early 80s) on Backlund.
5/18 in Ishinomaki saw Pogo & Gladiator & Boulder beat Goto & Asako & Fuji before 1,651 fans and Soviets Gogoshivili & Berichev beat Onita & Backlund.
5/21 in Negano saw the Soviets beat Onita & Asako, Boulder beat Fuji in a chain match, and Gladiator beat Fuji in a chain match.
All Japan women drew 1,100 on 5/18 in Kumamoto as Akira Hokuto beat Mima Shimoda and Aja Kong & Bison Kimura & Mika Takahashi beat Sake Hasegawa & Yumiko Hotta & Manami Toyota and 1,550 on 5/16 in Mayazaki as Hotta went to a 30 minute draw with Toshiyo Yamada and Bat Yoshinaga & Bull Nakano beat Suzuka Minami & Hokuto.
The six-man tag team match from Tokyo on 4/20, which went 52 minutes, aired on 5/12 and drew a 5.0 rating which is phenomenal for the 12:30 to 1:30 a.m. Sunday night slot. All Japan's ratings have picked up significantly of late.
Upcoming TV tapes are 5/20 (Kawada & Kikuchi vs. Kroffat & Furnas, Gordy & Williams vs. Misawa & Kobashi, Tsuruta & Taue & Fuchi vs. Abdullah & Kimala I & II), 5/24 (Slinger & Kikuchi vs. Taue & Fuchi, Kroffat & Furnas vs. Kimalas, Tsuruta vs. Kobashi, Misawa & Kawada vs. Gordy & Williams).
Gypsy Joe, who most recently worked in USWA as El Grande Pistolero, is headed to the FMW.
JAPAN TELEVISION RUNDOWN 4/28, All Japan
1. Kobashi pinned Kroffat with a new move which starts off as a double-arm suplex and then is dropped into a DDT. This match had one good move after another with near falls. Several of the moves were unique and looked to be the finish. Kroffat doesn't yet look to be in 100 percent shape, but he was in good enough shape to work super with Kobashi. ****; 2. Tsuruta pinned Misawa in 24 minutes to keep the triple crown. This started slow, but everything they did had heat. Of course midway through it turned into a great match with all the hot moves and near falls and tons of heat. Misawa didn't do his as many flying moves, probably because of his bad knee, so this match wasn't as great as their two matches last year at Budokan. But it was still a great big show main event, ending when Tsuruta used three back suplexes in a row to get the pin. ****
5/4, New Japan
1. Jushin Liger pinned Owen Hart in the junior heavyweight tournament. Hart started out doing one great move after another. They went down to the mat to exchange submission holds before picking things up once again with one great spot and move followed by a near fall after another. This match was about as great as one would expect from these two. Hart actually dwarfs Liger since he appears to have him by a good 40 pounds now. Hart went to the top to do a moonsault and Liger got up, jumped to the middle rope and stuck his head under Hart's legs, and dropped him backward with Hart taking an incredible bump. Finish saw the DDT off the top rope by Liger, but this DDT looked lethal and, in fact, Hart was injured with the move. ****1/2; 2. Steiners beat Hiroshi Hase & Kensuke Sasaki from the Tokyo Dome ****1/2; 3. Riki Choshu & Tatsumi Fujinami & Keiji Muto beat Scott Norton & Samu & Kokina via count out. This match was surprisingly good and had lots of heat. The match was fast-paced from bell-to-bell with everyone working hard, although Samu really carried things for his team even though the focus was on Muto and Norton. All kinds of hot moves. Kokina went up for a slam by Choshu. Samu pulled off the turnbuckle pad and Norton rammed Muto's head into it and he juiced at eight minutes. Norton also dropped Muto groin first on the guard rail outside the ring. Norton juiced as well. It wound up with Norton counted out of the ring. This match was similar to the Road Warriors vs. Tenryu & Hogan match from the Tokyo Dome in that it was a bloody match ending similarly, although this was really the much better of the two. ****
All Japan, 5/5
1. Taue beat Kawada via count out from Budokan. the crowd was really hot for this match. Taue is not a smooth worker in that his moves don't look pretty at all. He's really not anywhere as good as the guys he works with, but this match was worked smart and everything made sense and got a great reaction. A lot of great moves including a power bomb on the floor by Taue. Kawada made a comeback and tried a power bomb on the floor but Taue reversed it and clotheslined Kawada on the floor and he "hit his head" and was "knocked out" and counted out of the ring and he went out on a stretcher. ***3/4; 2. Hansen & Spivey beat Gordy & Williams to win the PWF world tag team titles. Both teams worked stiff with each other. Bout went more than 20 minutes, with a lot of the time spent with Gordy & Williams trading off getting heat on Hansen. Spivey made the hot tag and power bombed both for near falls. The finish was creative and worked perfectly. Spivey was getting pounded on by Williams and made the hot tag to Hansen, but the ref didn't see it. Williams continued pounding on Spivey but Hansen continued to break up every near fall and whenever he tried to tell the ref he tagged, Gordy tackled him and they'd go out of the ring. This continued for several minutes with Gordy continually rolling out of the ring with Hansen when he tried to enter the ring. A second ref came out finally and told Joe Higuchi about the tag just as Williams was in the middle of stampeding Spivey for the finish. As Williams got up, Hansen lariated him and got the pin. The last few minutes were really exciting. ****1/4.
USWA Jeff Jarrett & Robert Fuller beat The Texas Hangmen on 5/13 in Memphis to win the USWA tag titles. Also Bill Dundee won the Southern title the same night beating Eric Embry. Both matches were billed as losers leave the USWA. . 5/17 at the Dallas Sportatorium drew 230 fans as Tom Prichard pinned Mascara del Fuego, Jeff Jarrett pinned El Grande Pistolero, Tojo Yamamoto (63 years old) & Little Tokyo beat Danny Davis & Karate Kid, Bill Dundee beat Boogie Man, Robert Fuller & Jeff Jarrett beat Eric Embry & Tom Prichard in a tornado match but after the match The Texas Hangmen attacked Jarrett & Fuller, Sweet Georgia Brown pinned Madeline Collins, Karate Kid pinned Little Tokyo but after the match Embry & Prichard beat up the midget until Fuller & Jarrett made the save and the finale saw Gary Young & Terry Daniels beat Hangmen via DQ when J.C. Ice Baby interfered. 5/24 has Eddie Gilbert & Dundee vs. Tony Anthony & Boogie Man, Dundee vs. Embry in a cage match, Fuller & Jarrett vs. Prichard & Embry in a cage match (that's right, Embry is in two cage matches on this show), Sweet Georgia Brown vs. Sweet Sherri and El Grande Pistolero vs. Hurricane Walker from Florida.
Only news I've got this week from Memphis is the results of the 5/13 card that drew about 730 fans as Little Tokyo & Tojo beat Davis & Karate Kid, Eddie Gilbert no contest Anthony, Sweet Georgia Brown beat Uptown Bruno in a loser leaves town match, Prichard beat Steve Keirn in a loser leaves town match, Jarrett & Fuller beat Hangmen in a loser leaves town match to win the tag team titles and Bill Dundee beat Embry to win the Southern title in a loser leaves town match.
Don't even know how they had a card on 5/20 in Memphis if Embry wasn't around, because of late he's been in at least two or three main events per show.
Danny Davis is on his way out.
A correction from last week in the angle involving Uptown Bruno and Sweet Georgia Brown. Bruno never kissed Brown, just gave her a light hug.
ASSORTED NOTES Bam Bam Bigelow will appear in an upcoming issue of Candid Camera. Originally the Candid Camera people came to WCW to use one of their wrestlers, but ran into all kinds of problems because WCW had no tape of the wrestler they offered the Candid Camera people (The Diamond Stud), so they went to Abrams instead who gave them Bigelow and gave them access to tape of Bigelow as well. Joel Goodhart's latest big show at Pennsylvania Hall in Philadelphia on 5/18 drew 1,253 fans and a $22,311 gate. Don't have complete details on the show but do know that Paul Orndorff beat Rick Rude in the main event, I believe via a count out. Also Jerry Lawler kept his USWA title beating Honkytonk Man via a reversed decision when Honky got the pin using a gimmick but Dory Funk Jr. ran out and told the ref about it and he reversed the call. Also Al Perez & Buddy Landel beat The Fabulous Ones (Stan Lane & Steve Keirn) managed by Jim Cornette with virtually the same ending. Lane used the tennis racquet on Landel but someone told the ref who reversed the decision. Perez was supposed to do the job and refused and may not be working here in the future. The best match on the show was said to be a barbed wire match with Cactus Jack vs. Eddie Gilbert. Both guys juiced heavy and Cactus ended up hung in the barbed wire and the match was stopped and ruled no contest. Cactus' fiance came down to ringside to check on him since they had problems getting him unhooked from the barbed wire. D.C. Drake beat J.T. Smith to keep the Tri-States title as well. Supposedly nobody could follow that match and the card was lackluster from that point on. No-shows were Austin Idol (replaced by Landel), Terry Funk (legitimately injured but Goodhart got Dory to replace him, however Dory's scheduled opponent Dick Murdoch blew off the date after missing his plane) and Jeff Jarrett and Eric Embry, whose match against each other obviously didn't take place because they were working that night in Nashville. Goodhart's next big show is 8/3 at Pennsylvania Hall with The Sheik vs. Abdullah the Butcher in a cage match and Gilbert vs. Cactus in a two of three fall match. The first fall will be a first blood match. The second fall will be a death match and the third fall will be a cage match.
Abrams has scheduled a TV taping for 7/13 in Philadelphia and is said to be coming back to running shows in Southern California in August. There is even talk he'll be running a full schedule, or at least a more regular schedule of house shows.
The latest word on Joe Pedicino is that he's starting something in June although the alleged $25 million doesn't seem to have materialized.
SWS is trying hard to get Yoshihiro Asai to jump from Universal, however is Asai jumps, he'll have problems working in Mexico.
Irv Muchnick was on Roy Firestone's Sportslook show on ESPN Wednesday night.
The National will be doing a story on me, of all people, sometime shortly.
Georgia All-Star did television tapings on 5/12 in Lawrenceville, GA before 150 fans. Adam Steele is in as a heel, and he's Fabian's younger brother (the wrestler Fabian, not the rock star from the 50s). They started a feud with Fabian against Scotty the Body. Fabian & Chris Walker won the GAS tag team titles from the PYT's. It was a strange set of circumstances. First off, the champs were "supposed" to wind up being Walker & Curtis Thompson, but Thompson had an appendectomy and will be out of action for a few months. Then at the taping, one of the PYT's no-showed the card and the other refused to do a job on television, so Scott Hudson came on television and said the title had changed with Fabian & Walker winning before a packed house at the Edward Farhat High School Gym in Douglasville, GA (GAS TV goes nowhere near Douglasville).
Billy Black turned babyface saving Joel Deaton from a double-team attack from Steve Lawler & Big Bully Busich. Scotty beat Fabian when a guy named Van Hammer, a 6-6 newcomer who looks almost exactly like Sid Vicious with Lex Luger's body, showed up and tripped Fabian. If someone really looks like Sid Vicious with Lex Luger's body and is 6-6, although they'd need is the Ultimate Warrior's stamina and El Gigante's ring knowledge to be a force in this business.
Useless trivia department. Spyros Arion, whose name was blank in the yearbook, was really named Andreas Lambraskis and his wife was Miss Greece in 1961.
Windy City Wrestling drew 2,000 fans on 5/18 at the Amphitheater in Chicago (GA tickets were $2). They had title matches billed in all sorts of weight classes including women's and even midget titles, although the midget title match was canceled when the midgets no-showed the card. Russian Brute and Steve Regal worked the undercard. Ron Powers beat Frank Melson to win the Windy City title and the main event saw Ken Patera beat Lanny Poffo via DQ for interference from Angelo Poffo. The Patera-Poffo match was said to be the worst match on the 15-match card, which says a lot since most of the guys on the show had worked very few matches. Finale saw tag champs The Untouchables no contest with Mad Maxx (Eli the Eliminator) & Super Maxx (promoter Sam Decero) in the best match of the show with all kinds of out of the ring brawling.
Wendi Richter comes out of retirement to face Madusa Miceli on 6/8 in Krefeld, Germany.
European promoter Sven Hansen is bringing Mike Shaw (Norman) in.
New England Wrestling Federation ran 5/11 in Burlington, VT with Demolition Ax beating Rick Rude via DQ in the main event. The Canadian Giant who is going to New Japan in late June (I believe his real name is Gary Rollins) worked this show billed as Paul Bunyan, the new giant in pro wrestling, 7-5, 450.
Frank Dusek has come out of retirement to work some matches for South Atlantic Pro Wrestling.
Greg Price's Carolina Championship Wrestling on 5/10 in Monroe, NC with Chris Chavis DDQ Nazi Storm Trooper on top. Storm Trooper will be getting a WCW tryout soon.
Brody Chase promoted on 5/3 in Bath, SC before 160 fans as Chase DDQ Abdullah the Butcher in a bloodbath, Fabian beat Billy Black and Bambi beat Peggy Lee Leather.
7/4 in Monroe, NC has Bobby & Jackie Fulton vs. Stan Lane & Jim Cornette.
Jerry Monti ran 5/17 in Clear Lake, CA before 450 fans as Steve Golden vs. Jim Gorman was stopped when both men were too badly cut to continue in the bout where Golden suffered the heart attack afterwards. Buddy Rose & Buddy Wayne won the Pacific Coast tag team titles beating Jerry Monti & Dancing Rick Thompson. The next night at the Colusa County Fairgrounds before 350 saw Luscious Luke billed as Pacific Coast champ and he and Gorman's bout ended when both were too badly cut to continue (this was one of Roy Shire's favorite finishes in the 60s and 70s and Monti did almost all his wrestling under Shire), Rose & Wayne won the tag team titles again from Monti & Thompson and Gorman won a Battle Royal. The highlight of both shows was Cheryl Russo, just back from Japan, who worked as The Lightning Bolt in Clear Lake and as Little Mo (her LPWA name) in Colusa, using the Frankensteiner as her finishing hold and having three-star matches.
Currently working in Calgary are Jason Anderson, Randy Thatcher, Jeff Wheeler, Les Thornton, Johnny Smith, Gama Singh, Kerry Brown, Ron Ritchie and Bulldog Bob Brown.
NOTES FROM FLORIDA We had quite an interesting time in Florida over the weekend. Besides getting to hang out with readers and writers for other newsletters, there was a Wrestling Fan Convention on Saturday afternoon which ended up with an impromptu shouting/insult match with Paul E. Dangerously against the tag team of Missy Hyatt and Jason Hervey. The insult match was funny at times, and not so funny at others. The tag team did pretty well for themselves getting some decent jabs in, but Dangerously's quick wit seemed by most accounts to win him a solid decision. Although it was obvious Hervey was "working," both Hyatt and Dangerously came across like they really meant some of what they said. Later that afternoon we did a cable access Pro Wrestling Weekly TV show. In a one hour period on a cable access station in Tampa they had interviews with Jerry Brisco (WWF promoter in the Southeast), myself and other newsletter writers like Bruce Mitchell, Jeff Bowdren, Scott Hudson (who also does GAS television now) and Ron Lemieux and Jim Ross and Paul E. Dangerously of WCW. Brisco's show was taped earlier in the week and he was more honest than one would expect from a Titan guest (we counted just 28 lies in 30 minutes, which really isn't that many). Brisco looks like he hasn't aged more than five years since 1973. The callers grilled him, however, asking him just about everything Titan probably wishes never to acknowledge. He acknowledged WCW and never knocked them. He talked freely about his career in the NWA and his brother being world heavyweight champion and he and his brother holding the NWA tag team titles. One caller asked about Titan scheduling the show the day before the WCW PPV and Brisco first said that they book their dates three years in advance at the Sun Dome, but when the caller persisted and brought up Titan being in the same market in Chicago and Phoenix and stretching the Phoenix show out until nearly 11:30 the night before, Brisco relented and said it was just business. Another caller talked about not acknowledging the other group and Brisco compared it to two banks not acknowledging each other, but then said that the wrestling groups do take it to a ridiculous level and said it does insult fans when a champion from one group comes into the other and they act like he's a new wrestler nobody has ever seen before. The steroid question even came up (most of the lying took place here) and Brisco said the WWF tests all its wrestlers for cocaine, alcohol, marijuana and steroids and if they are shown taking any of the drugs they're out for six weeks and the second time they're fired. He then said that he knows for a fact that Hulk Hogan hasn't used steroids in years and tried to insinuate that Ultimate Warrior hasn't used them in the last year.
I ended up getting talked out of attending the WWF show that night at the Sun Dome and instead attended an indie at the Sulphur Springs Harbor Club, an outdoor set-up adjacent to a bar/restaurant. I won't say the wrestling was as good as the WWF show, although one match may have been better than anything Titan presented that night. But it probably was more fun. There were about 300 fans in attendance, one of which was Eddy Mansfield, formerly the most hated man in the wrestling business because of his appearance on 20/20 in 1985, but after leaving the profession, he's now starting a promotion in Florida and a wrestling school. The best match on the show was TBS jobber Nasty Ned Brady, who is actually a very good worker when he's given the chance, against Raul Mata, who California fans will remember as the young Mexican sensation of the early 1970s who used to feud with Black Gordman & the Great Goliath. Mata moved to Florida years later, and since there was no demand for Mexican stars, ended up as a jobber. I haven't seen the guy wrestle live since I was very young and was surprised to see that he was only about 5-5. But he and Ned brawled all over with hard chair shots and really good in-ring action. A *** match which, in its own way, was more enjoyable to watch than all but the top two matches at the next night's SuperBrawl (make no mistake about it, Anderson vs. Eaton and Southern Boys vs. Freebirds were far better matches, but in their context, they didn't seem as good). I guess that's why people sometimes think that their local independents are better workers that the big circuit top workers because the standard of everything else is so much lower. For example, a lot of the guys on this show literally couldn't do anything good. A few could do a few things good but not an entire match. In that context, a complete wrestler like Brady or Mata looks like Ricky Steamboat. Mata won with the Mata rola, which he still did in his early 40s, which is a primitive version of the Frankensteiner. The Frankensteiner has the guy doing it standing still and jumping up as the foe comes off the ropes. With Mata, Brady was standing still and Mata ran toward him and jumped up and did the move. When he first did the move in Northern California in the early 70s, we thought it was the hottest wrestling move we'd ever seen. Probably the person with the most potential we saw was lady wrestler Pink Cadillac, who just returned from a Japan tour with JWP where she made a big splash. She is by no means a great worker, but has natural aggressiveness and billed at 6-6, 291 (she was a legit 6-3 I'd estimate and her weight probably was every bit of 275) with the Pink Dump Matsumoto haircut, will no doubt make it big in Japan. There was a match with Denny Brown vs. Playboy Jeff James, each of whom had a Nurse Goodbody in their corner (valets in nurse outfits with way too short skirts and obviously little underwear underneath). Brown looked in terrible condition, however. James projects a good attitude and started off hot but the match last something as it progressed. Lou Perez wrestled Bob Cook, the latter of whom is a solid journeyman worker but looks like an ordinary man instead of a juiced up bodybuilder as are in vogue today. Buddy Landel no-showed the main event (worked for Goodhart in Philly instead, but apparently never called to let these guys know) and Jerry "Lightning Foot" Flynn wrestled Mr. Everything (TBS jobber David Johnson). Flynn has genuine ability and looks to be 6-4 with great kicking ability but doesn't have the juice look. Everything was managed by promoter Nasty Ronnie Gaetti, a rock musician with the Nasty Savage band. Flynn gave him a karate kick which moved his jaw a few inches and then Ronnie took a Bobby Heenan bump over the top rope. Saving the most bizarre for last, they had a Battle Royal with Man Mountain Brody, who is about 5-8, and looks every bit of the 550 pounds they bill him at. He looks more like the McGuire twins and for his size, fatter than Haystacks Calhoun ever did. He won, and even took two bumps in the process when Pink Cadillac ran in and screamed some "f" words at him. Then she said, "I don't think you've got as big balls as I have clit," (and some people thought I wouldn't print that classy quote here--which, by the way, is a line she stole from Luna Vachon) and they locked up in a collar and elbow tie-up. Then she simply walked out of the ring. I'm still trying to figure out what that was supposed to accomplish.
Sunday morning we wound up in Larry Malenko's gym, watching some guys train in pro style and others train in UWF style. They train with a series of exercises that we were never taught in phys ed classes, push-ups that work a lot more than just chest and arms, but also stretch your entire upper body, different styles of squats, etc. Malenko believes in stretching and stamina as the key to wrestling, which certainly would be the case if it was a real sport. Lots of knocks on guys with big muscles but don't know how to wrestle or lack stamina, but guess whose photos were on the wall? Hulk and Warrior among others. Malenko really believes in the UWF style, though, as he seemed to have more fun teaching the guys how to do UWF then do high-flying pro high spots.
WWF Last week's card at the Nassau Coliseum headlined by Warrior vs. Undertaker drew nearly 14,000 paid and a gate in excess of $200,000 which makes it the largest house show gate (besides Wrestlemania) in North America in several months. Business this past weekend was just ordinary, however.
Television will be taped this coming week in Arizona.
Steve Keirn is definitely coming in as The Gator Man.
WWF will tour England again in October.
5/3 in Miami drew 5,000 as Bret Hart pinned The Barbarian, Col. Mustafa pinned Koko Ware, Big Bossman pinned The Mountie, Ted DiBiase pinned Virgil, The Dragon pinned Haku, Mr. Perfect drew with Davey Boy Smith, Legion of Doom beat Nasty Boys via count out and Ultimate Warrior beat The Undertaker via DQ.
The TV show "Hard Copy" is working on doing a story on Ultimate Warrior similar to the one in "The Globe" last week where it said Jim Hellwig used to be a homosexual prostitute before his wrestling days. The only WWF reaction I heard to the story was just to try and ignore it and hope it goes away, which is probably the best reaction. Thus far there haven't been any reports of Warrior getting negative reactions at the house shows, even though the Globe story has been the talk inside the wrestling business.
5/19 in Pittsburgh saw IRS pin Jimmy Snuka, Duggan over Mustafa, Dragon pin Brooklyn Brawler, Warrior beat Undertaker via DQ, Legion of Doom beat Nasty Boys via count out, Hart pinned Barbarian, Earthquake beat Jake Roberts via DQ and Perfect drew with Smith.
5/19 in Milwaukee saw Greg Valentine pin Demolition Smash, Berserker pinned Tugboat, Rockers beat Orient Express, Bushwhackers beat Power & Glory, Kerry Von Erich double count out with Warlord, Bossman pinned Mountie, DiBiase beat Roddy Piper via ref stopping the match and Hulk Hogan pinned Sgt. Slaughter.
5/18 in Tampa drew 5,100 as Dragon pinned Haku, Perfect drew Smith, Mountie pinned Bossman, DiBiase beat Piper via ref stopping the match, Power & Glory beat Bushwhackers, Berserker pinned Tugboat, Rockers beat Orient Express and Warrior beat Undertaker via DQ.
5/17 in Houston saw IRS over Snuka, Dragon beat Haku, Hart beat Barbarian, Duggan pinned Mustafa, Mountie pinned Bossman, Legion of Doom beat Nasty Boys via COR and Warrior beat Undertaker via DQ.
WCW Upcoming big shows are set for a September Clash in Tulsa, Halloween Havoc is most likely going to be in Chicago, the November Clash from Indianapolis and Starrcade from Norfolk. 5/12 in Charlotte drew 1,000 as Joey Maggs pinned Tommy Angel, Big Van Vader pinned Joe Cruze, Ricky Morton pinned Chuck Coates, Brian Pillman pinned The Master Blaster, Young Pistols beat Dutch Mantell & Black Bart, Lex Luger beat Nikita Koloff via count out in a no Dq match, El Gigante beat One Man Gang via DQ when Kevin Sullivan interfered and Barry & Arn attacked Gigante, Sullivan threw powder at Gigante, but Gigante got out of the way and Gang 747'd Sullivan and Steiners beat Windham & Anderson.
Masa Chono is definitely coming in as Hiroshi Hase's partner against the Steiners on the November Clash.
The Steiners will probably drop the IWGP tag belts back to Hase & Kensuke Sasaki on 5/31 in Osaka. There are two schools of thought on this one. First, since they aren't going to be around enough to defend the belts, they might as well lose them to a team that can defend them. At the same time, the Steiners gave genuine superstar potential in Japan and it probably should be cultivated and having them lose in only their second match is probably a little bit quick.
Jason Hervey may work a Danger Zone at the 6/12 Clash to build heat for the eventual Dangerously/Hyatt angle that will run during the Bash tour.
Syndicated ratings for the first two weeks of the May sweeps were deemed as disastrous.
It is said, and I don't have this confirmed, that Mark Merro, who does the Johnny B. Badd gay act, once KO'd Razor Ruddock when both were amateur boxers.
Larry Zbyszko and Tim Horner both missed the PPV for legit reasons. Horner's neck is still in bad shape after Angel of Death didn't protect him on a piledriver a few weeks back, while Zbyszko has a bad knee. Tom Zenk, who wasn't supposed to wrestle on the PPV, was at the card and did some hosting duties.
Flair-Luger at the 7/14 Bash will be a no Dq cage match.
There is talk of Dick Murdoch & Dick Slater being brought in as a heel tag team under hoods. I guess they could call them "The Dicks," okay, screw that thought.
The Japan PPV show appears to have done around an 0.6 or 0.7 buy rate. The company was expecting an 0.5.
5/17 in Jacksonville drew 2,100 as Jack Victory pinned David Johnson, JFD pinned Bart, Tommy Rich pinned Cubano, Big Josh double count out with Danny Spivey, Arn Anderson pinned Mike Graham, Gigante beat Gang via DQ, Bobby Eaton pinned Terry Taylor and Brian Pillman & Sting beat Flair & Windham in an excellent cage match when Pillman pinned Windham.
5/16 in Richmond drew 402 as Sam Houston pinned Rip Morgan, Brad Armstrong pinned Maggs, Tracy Smothers pinned Dr. X, Stan Hansen pinned Morton, Ron Simmons beat Butch Reed via DQ, Rick Steiner & Ranger Ross beat Angel of Death & Michael Hayes and Luger DDQ Koloff. If you recall, the WWF pulled out of Richmond over the Spectacor arena fight, and Spectacor must feel great seeing this kind of WCW crowd.
5/18 in Daytona Beach drew 1,300 as Anderson pinned Tim Parker, JFD pinned Cubano, Rhodes pinned Bart, Josh double count out with Spivey, Luger DDQ Koloff, Simmons pinned Reed, Gigante beat Gang via DQ, Eaton pinned Taylor and Sting & Pillman beat Flair & Windham when Pillman pinned Windham in a cage match.
5/16 in Ft. Pierce drew 1,200 as Spivey beat Josh via count out, Victory pinned Johnson, JFD pinned Cubano, Rhodes pinned Bart, Gigante beat Gang via DQ, Anderson pinned Rich, Eaton beat Taylor via DQ and Sting & Pillman beat Flair & Windham.
5/15 in Johnstown, PA drew 1,500 as Morton pinned X, Rich pinned Maggs, Smothers pinned Bart, Luger DDQ Koloff, Rick Steiner pinned Spivey, Gigante beat Gang via DQ and Sting & Pillman beat Flair & Anderson when Sting pinned Anderson.
INTERVIEW WITH TERRY FUNK There isn't much needed in an introduction of Terry Funk. Suffice to say he'll go down in history as one of the greatest workers to ever lace up boots. This interview was conducted by John Arezzi on his "Pro Wrestling Spotlight" radio show that airs Sunday's on WGBB radio (1240 AM) on Long Island. The interview took place on the May 5 show. Funk suffered a back injury in early April while touring Japan that at least threatens to end his 26-year wrestling career. But he seems to have found good luck in the acting field, appearing on May 8 as a villain wrestler (a role he has some experience in) in the TV show "Quantum Leap." He also has a recurring role in a TV series called "Tequila and Boner" where he'll play a police officer that is set to debut on NBC in the fall.
Arezzi: We understand you were injured in Japan. Can you explain what really happened when you were over there. I know it was in a tag match with Dan Kroffat and Doug Furnas.
Funk: That's exactly right. I took a slam from Kroffat, who is a fine athlete. I've taken a lot worse slams and I've been thrown out of the ring from a lot higher and landed a lot harder, I guess it just wasn't my night. The disc between one of the vertebras went and it was extremely painful. I continued on for about four more days and we were wrestling Kroffat and Furnas once again and one of them backdropped me on the floor and that was it. I couldn't go on any longer. The pain was almost unbearable. I feel for anybody who has a bad back or has had the same injury because it's extremely painful. I've always thought a (blown out) knee was bad. I've had bad knees, bad elbows, a vertebrae messed up in my neck, actually a fractured neck and a broken sacrum (tailbone) but this was the worst.
Arezzi: Was this the most serious injury you've suffered in your career?
Funk: I wouldn't say the most serious but it was extremely painful. You reach the point where you say to yourself that if this is going to happen again, I don't want it to. That's the point I'm at now. If the back comes back and feels alright, if I'm broke, if everything works out, yes I might wrestle again but if it doesn't, I don't want to risk something that serious having an effect on the rest of my life. I want to enjoy the things I want to in life and I certainly don't want to get some kind of a permanent injury to my back. I don't want to say I'll never wrestle because I love the sport too much. Maybe I'm just not admitting it to myself. But I don't want to say never. I'd like to wrestle more but if it is going to have an effect on the rest of my life, well, I certainly don't want to do that.
Arezzi: There are a lot of fans throughout this area who may even be shedding a tear....
Funk: I don't want anybody shedding any tears. I'm not that bad. I'm walking around just fine. I just don't want to have a hurt back the rest of my life.
Arezzi: The way the wrestling business is and has become, there are only a handful of wrestlers who can excite a crowd the way you can, who can anger a crowd they way you do when you want to and who can perform the way you do in the wrestling ring. There are not too many Terry Funks in this wrestling business and it would be a sad thing if you don't ever enter the wrestling ring again because you're one of the legends of the wrestling business. Since your return, you've been up there for the Wrestler of the Year award, you've had great matches with Ric Flair that excited people. Even if you career is halted temporarily it's sad because there aren't that many guys out there like you.
Funk: I really appreciate you saying that. When you wrestle against people like Flair and Steamboat, it's pretty hard to have a bad match.
Arezzi: You were scheduled to take on Dick Murdoch for Joel Goodhart on May 18th and I would have to assume that match will be postponed. Is it a definite?
Funk: It is a definite. I put in a call to Joel yesterday but I haven't talked to him as of yet. I tried to hold off to see if it was going to be better but it doesn't seem to be coming around that much. I didn't want to wait until the last minute. He'll probably find a guys who is just as wild and crazy as I am.
Arezzi: I'm sure he'll find a replacement for you. Hopefully you can return to work for Tri-State and other wrestling promoters around the country.
Funk: I love the independents because I think they're of utmost necessity in the profession today because there is such a lack of places to develop talent. That's why I think people like Joel, Dennis (Coraluzzo) are so important. I think in the future you'll find guys on top who have developed and come from there (Philadelphia). The closest thing you'll find in this country today to the Japanese fans are the independent fans in that area. They're appreciative of good, hard wrestling but they don't mind watching young talent develop. That's very similar to Japan. They ought to take pride in that. Being truthful, some of them aren't going to make it, but some of them will, a few that make it out of there would have never had the opportunity if it wasn't for them.
Arezzi: One guy from this area who has been tearing up the wrestling rings both here and the States and in Japan is Cactus Jack.
Funk: I wrestled against Cactus and Gary Lejambre (Texas Terminator Hoss). They were a very good team in Japan. Both did very well. Cactus is farther along than Gary. I think he's about to take off because he's a great piece of talent. One thing he has is a tremendous love for the profession and he's never going to quit. That's why he's going to do so well. He's just done a great job. But where would he be if it wasn't for the independents? Could he have made a living in the sport of wrestling? He couldn't have until he got this opportunity (in Japan).
Arezzi: He comes from the old school and you are certainly an idol of his.
Caller: If you do decide to retire, do you think you'll manage somebody like Cactus Jack?
Funk: Honestly, I have no desire to manage at all. When it's time for me to go, I'd like to bow out and go. My brother, I used to ask him when he was going to retire and he'd say he's never going to retire. He'd like to finish wrestling, than referee. He just loves being in the ring, but that doesn't mean nightly either. But I'd like to bow out and go.
Caller: Do you think you'll ever replace Dusty Rhodes as booker because I don't think he's going to be in for too long. I think his first two big shows were terrible.
Funk: A lot of things would have to change. It's a very difficult thing to be the booker in that area because you have so much television to produce. I wouldn't necessarily blame anything on Dusty or anyone else. It's just a matter of the system they have and the system they have is TBS. They want television product. If they only had three pay-per-views, or possibly even one, I see that as the ultimate way to do the largest amount of dollars. You need to have occasional pay-per-views because when you produce so many, it's hard to have quality. You eventually lose, which is what's happening to them. They've diluted their own product.
Caller: Where do you think the WCW and WWF will end up in the next two years?
Funk: I think those two organizations will progress based on what happens in the profession. As much as everyone thinks they have plans, what actually makes them make decisions is the amount of money they make at the box office. It'll be less-and-less pay-per-views and less house shows because of the numbers. The shows that remain will have a larger viewing audience. You'll see bigger business on the big shows, but fewer shows.
Caller: Do you see someone like Herb Abrams making a splash in pay-per-view or do you see the USWA doing pay-per-views?
Funk: I honestly believe there's room for one more promotion on a national basis. I think if one evolved, it would be wonderful. I think the time is right for a new organization. The one way they could succeed at that is get a national television show but only do one show a week. It could be astronomical the amount of dollars they could produce. As far as independents are concerned, they could do well if they're well promoted and well-run. Fly-by-night promoters will have a great deal of difficulty. A guy like (Larry) Sharpe who knows the business, knows how to promote and is willing to work hard will do business. But working hard is very important for an independent promoter, and knowing how to promote a town and how to get the publicity out but to just think that `I've got these wrestlers here,' won't do it.
Arezzi: I was watching some old videos and the particular promotion was Bill Watts' UWF. It was my first opportunity to ever see them. I thought what they were doing was just phenomenal. Did you ever get involved with that group?
Funk: Absolutely. Bill had a great teacher in Eddie Graham. Eddie Graham was a wonderful booker and a very knowledgeable man about wrestling. Eddie taught Bill a lot. I'm not saying this to further my family but my father taught Eddie Graham. Bill was terrific. The thing he did was put on very competitive, athletic wrestling matches and he had a great type of commentary that was very serious commentary. There weren't a lot of one-liners. He stuck to the matches and what was going on in the ring. He was very concerned with getting his fans focused into each match.
Arezzi: It was fantastic watching those tapes.
Funk: It was his commentary. That was the most important thing to Bill. This day and age, times have changed, the commentators have to promote so many different shows and so many different pay-per-views that they don't think as much about what's going on in the ring and promote the match itself. What caused that, and I'm sure Bill liked it that way, but they had to do it that way at the time because of the FCC ruling that you couldn't talk about live cards and make the program a commercial for live cards. Now you can say anything you want to about anything forever.
Arezzi: I know just watching about a dozen matches I was able to follow the story lines and it was like I was totally involved with the UWF wrestling. I was like in a time warp. I just wish there was another promotion that got you so into it so quickly.
Funk: It was very easy to produce matches of interest then. You didn't have to produce seven television shows a week. You could put your best guys against your best guys because you had one hour of television and in that one hour you could focus your entire creative energy and booking process for that one particular hour. That's what needed now. Not five hours or four hours. But they look at it today that there's so much money to be made in syndication. At least they think there is. But the really big money would be made by focusing everything into one hour and producing the very best hour on television and getting it aired throughout the country. That's why Japan is so successful. They produce one hour of TV a week.
Caller: When you were filming the movie "Paradise Alley," what was your body weight?
Funk: I was 276 pounds, which is the most I've ever weighed.
Caller: How did you lose all the weight? Was it aerobic training?
Funk: Lots and lots of working out over a long period of time. It doesn't take place over night. I wish it did. My weight goes up and down all the time. I love to go up. That's the fun part. Losing weight is very difficult. You have to be dedicated. You just have to watch what you eat. It's not that much of a problem. I do work out very hard every day. The main thing I do is to change what I eat. I do love to eat great food. I love all the things that make you fat from the gravy to the potatoes to the red meat but I've got good discipline and can switch it right around and stay with the light stuff. It's really a lot smarter because I'm not going to be the biggest man in the world and I'm not going to be the strongest, but I realize that. What I want to do is live a long time. And I want to enjoy my life. I want to get a plug in. I'm going to be doing a new TV series with Don Bellasario. He did "Quantum Leap." He hired me back to do the other series. The series is bought and picked up. I'm playing a cop. I like the idea of it and I hope it works out well.
Caller: One of the most enjoyable things to me is the color commentator. I really enjoy Jesse the Body and also Bobby Heenan and I rate you up there with those two. I think that's one of the things that can really make a television show. Do you think this could be something for you in the future?
Funk: Possibly. I appreciate you putting me up there with Jesse. Bobby is good but I don't think he's on the level with Jesse. Jesse's on a level all his own. There is something totally misunderstood when they say color commentator for a wrestling show. Color commentary for football--one man describes the play, the other between plays puts color to it. It's very simply understood. I think wrestling should be two guys commentating and I don't think there should be a definite role for the two like football. You have to be able to do both. The person who understands that is Jesse. If moves are taking place, he can describe the moves, talk about the match, keep up with the match and still do color. I think both commentators have to have that ability. I think I had a nice crutch when I did commentary with Chris Cruise. He was very capable and had a quick mind.
Arezzi: I thought you were a great combination because you worked so well off of each other. Funk: That's another thing. I put Jesse on a level by himself. But you have to give the devil his due. Vince was there with him. Both of them together jelled. They had the flow. It's almost like dancing and knowing the next person's step.
Arezzi: What do you think of the combination of Ross and Dangerously? Funk: I haven't seen them recently. I'm sure they're very good. I know Ross is a very good commentator. I think Paul has tremendous potential in the field.
Arezzi: He's come a long way in the last year.
Funk: Things have to be spontaneous. You have to be prepared, but you have to be very spontaneous as well. I think if Ross would just flow, Jesse and Vince were promoting things it has to come naturally, you can't force things. Paul and Jim have a good possibility to reach that level. I'm not saying they're there. Both have the potential to be a great team. Paul has the most potential of anyone. Arezzi: I think Ross was more spontaneous on the old (UWF) broadcast, but he's certainly one of the top men if not the top man in the business.
Caller: I got a chance finally to see some Japanese wrestling. The WCW did a pay-per-view show and we saw it in the New York area. It's my first chance to see it. I was really puzzled by the crowd reaction. I was wondering as a wrestler how you react to their crowds? Funk: I've been over there for so long so I understand it very well. Some of the wrestlers who haven't been there so much don't really understand the Japanese mind. They certainly don't want or like people walking around the ring, looking at the fans, waving to them. They want to see great wrestling. In Japan, when you give them great wrestling, they show their appreciation. The fans in Philadelphia are very much the same. So are your hardcore fans and your independent fans. They're very much like a Japanese fan. I think you're finding more and more fans getting that way across the country and are there right now. But the numbers keep increasing. I think that is what will eventually change the sport to being a lot more physical and a lot more wrestling. Not less entertaining, in fact, more entertaining because the most entertaining thing is good wrestling. As the American fan progresses, they'll progress to being a Japanese-type fan. Once they learn more about wrestling and become more familiar with it and becoming more knowledgeable about it and the individuals they'll react and understand which individuals are the ones busting their tails in the ring.
Caller: I have to ask a question about Jimmy Jack Funk. We all know it's Jesse Barr. Why do you let him use the famous Funk name?
Funk: I was in the WWF at the time. I can't blame Vince McMahon for doing what he did. I left the WWF and my brother was still there so he wanted to bring in another Funk, so he brought in Jimmy Jack Funk. If he wants to call somebody Abe Lincoln, the original Abe Lincoln can't do a darn thing about it and that's the situation it is. I think Jesse Barr has a lot of ability and he can use whatever names he wants to in this profession and I'm not going to try and stop him. If it was Vince McMahon, he might try to stop him but I'm not going to stop anyone from calling themselves anything they want to. If some young guy wants to call themself Uncle Funk or Cousin Funk or Nephew Funk, I'd consider it a compliment that he thought that much of myself to use the name.
Caller: My question is about West Texas State University. A lot of wrestlers in your era started out from there. Was there any connection with a promoter with the university.
Funk: The connection was at the time wrestling was very highly respected in the Amarillo area. My father was promoting, I was wrestling, my brother was wrestling, we drew sellouts every week and the guys at West Texas would see it and some wanted to be a part of it. It was a rare breed of wrestler that came out of there with a different kind of style and craziness at that time. I think part of it was the kind of athlete that was being recruited by a coach there named Joe Kerbel. He was a terrific coach, wild and crazy, but I truly believe he, Frank Kush and Bear Bryant were the toughest coaches in the country. You had to love the sport and you had to be halfway nuts to play for him. He was that physical in his practices and he wanted that much from you. Out of that group came people like Bobby Duncum, myself, my brother, Bruiser Brody, Dusty. Believe me, Dusty was a great athlete at that time, Stan Hansen, we were all Kerbel boys. The next generation were guys who were watching people like myself and the people I just mentioned including Manny Fernandez, Tito Santana, Ted DiBiase, Tully Blanchard. Our business lost a lot when we lost Tully Blanchard out of the wrestling business.
Caller: Is Bobby Duncum still wrestling?
Funk: Bobby's not. His two boys play ball for the University of Texas. He seems to be doing very well ever since his kids started playing ball. I don't know how they did it, but maybe that recruiting got very profitable for Bobby.
Caller: I used to watch the old UWF on U-68 and it was the best.
Arezzi: I with those days were going on right now.
Caller: What ever happened to Bill Watts?
Funk: Bill's back in Oklahoma. He had an airplane business. Bill has always done very well for himself. Bill's a guy who needs to be back in the wrestling business and I really think he will be. He has too much knowledge. Now you talk about a genius and a guy who knows what's he's doing, there's a guy who does. He was filling up the Superdome before anyone else was promoting at that level. He was setting bigger records than even Vince McMahon Sr. was in New York. He has a lot of talent and I think he'll be back in the business in a year or two for sure.
Caller: I was watching a tape of wrestling from Japan which included some of your matches and also a wrestler named Jushin Riger. Have you ever wrestled him and what is your assessment of him.
Funk: I've never wrestled him because there are two different organizations over there. It's like the old NFL and AFL. Very seldom do guys cross over. Riger is a very valuable piece of talent for the other organization. I think he's phenomenal, just excellent. It's terrific to get a smaller guy like that into the profession. They are just as popular. Sometimes they are even more entertaining because of the amount of moves they can do and their quickness than the heavier guys. I think there should be a lighter weight division and a heavier weight division in the United States. To fulfill what every fan wants out of professional wrestling it's necessary to give them both.
WRESTLING OBSERVER NEWSLETTER May 27, 1991First Class Mail
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