DbhuDbD7

1WRESTLING OBSERVER NEWSLETTER
2December 3, 1990
3
4CLASH OF THE CHAMPIONS: THANKSGIVING THUNDER
5Thumbs up: 46 (12.7 percent)
6Thumbs down: 291 (80.6 percent)
7In between: 24 (6.7 percent)
8
9BEST MATCH
10Ric Flair vs. Butch Reed 187
11Buddy Landel vs. Brian Pillman 16
12Freebirds vs. Southern Boys 1
13
14WORST MATCH
15Sid Vicious vs. Night Stalker 152
16DeKlerk-Kruger vs. Kahlua-Beast 10
17Tom Zenk vs. Brian Lee 1
18
19SURVIVOR SERIES  
20Thumbs up: 86 (45.3 percent)
21Thumbs down: 85 (44.7 percent)
22In Between: 19 (10.0 percent)
23
24BEST MATCH
25Million Dollar Team vs. Dream Team 22
26Vipers vs. Visionaries 11
27
28WORST MATCH
29Alliance vs. Mercenaries 23
30
31Based on phone calls, letters and fax messages to the Observer as of Monday, November 26th. Margin of error, 100 percent.
32
33~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
34
35It's been a week of changes, rumors and big shows. Most of the speculation continues concerning these items: 1) Dusty Rhodes as possible new NWA booker; 2) Joe Pedicino's proposed new wrestling promotion; and 3) The identity of the Black Scorpion at Starrcade.
36
37There is nothing confirmed on point one, only that the rumor if flying like crazy. Nobody is outright denying it and most of the wrestlers in the promotion seem to believe it as fact. It could simply be the rumor feeding on itself, and Terry Funk's name as booker continues to be mentioned as well but nearly everyone talks about Dusty Rhodes coming in as booker as if it is inevitable, and soon. Rhodes is still booked through the and of the year on WWF house shows and is scheduled mainly against Sgt. Slaughter (to put Sarge over of course) toward the end of his run. It's unlikely that Rhodes will walk out any sooner because of potential contract problems. Rhodes has a contract with the WWF but they were apparently willing to release him from it provided he worked through the end of the year at the houses and at the Royal Rumble PPV on January 19th.
38
39Most of the wrestlers seem to be excited over the change. The thought is that the promotion has hit rock bottom with Ole Anderson at the helm (but sometimes I think the booker takes too much blame although this last Clash was pretty much mind-boggling in too many ways). People want to remember the Dusty Rhodes that booked the NWA in 1985-86, who was a very successful booker. And even at his worst, in the latter stages of 1988 when Turner Broadcasting had to save the promotion from bankruptcy, the crowds were a lot larger than they are today. At the same time, the downward trend was started with Rhodes at the helm and the damage he did plagued the company for many months after he was gone, and the damage never really was lived down. The thought is that Rhodes will be a good booker so long as he himself isn't an active wrestler. Of course with his son naturally going to be brought in, that has to be almost as bad. Still, it is hard to believe the house show crowds could sink any lower than they have of late, and considering that this past week was Thanksgiving weekend, traditionally the best weekend of the year at the gate, some of the crowds are even more alarming.
40
41There is a lot that can be speculated upon about Joe Pedicino's planned entry to the wrestling major leagues. Many of the questions will be answered when he does his first television taping on 12/28 at the Bronco Bowl in Dallas. It's a major topic within the NWA dressing rooms, as it can be used either as leverage during the next contract negotiations or as an option for wrestlers who either won't have their contracts renewed or simply want to leave when the current contract runs out. The only names released thus far as to the wrestlers Pedicino has are Eddie Gilbert, Jeff Jarrett, Cactus Jack and possibly Chris Champion, plus Steve Williams and Terry Gordy in between Japan tours. While all are good in-ring performers, none, at least as present, have national marquee value. Pedicino himself admits the current television network, purchased from Jerry Jarrett at a price believed to be between $1 and $2 million, needs to be upgraded in most of the major markets, although it does give him a base to build from. Most likely they will open up with Terry Funk as world champion, but one figures that the promotion will build around a babyface that Funk will most likely groom. We can speculate on names, but virtually all of the WWF talent is under contract (there is talk of one or two joining Pedicino, but those names really don't fit the singles champion bill). The NWA's top names, Sting and Lex Luger, have many years left on their contract, as do Ric Flair and Arn Anderson. The Steiners contract expires early next year, but are being offered a reported (and keep in mind that any numbers like these have to be assumed are somewhat works) $950,000 apiece for three years ($300,000 for two years and $350,000 for 1993)--a figure they would almost certainly not turn down. Most of the other contracts will come due at some point this coming year, as will many of the WWF contracts. Then we face the catch-22 situation. To get any marquee value star, or even to create one and be able to keep him, it requires today a major guaranteed contract. But if he doesn't turn out to be a drawing card or flops in some other way, you are obligated to pay big money for someone who is of little value at the gate. That's one of the NWA's problems is that they got locked into so many big money guaranteed contracts because they knew that if anyone not under contract were to get over, that Titan would take them. Then, when the profit-loss board became embarrassing, they dumped the guaranteed contracts and began pushing certain people without contracts, and then guys like Mean Mark and The Nasty Boys jumped to Titan, so they are left with major holes and unresolved programs. If Pedicino doesn't offer contracts, he'll be in the position of having to almost start from scratch at every television taping, which doesn't allow the long-term building he'll need to be a force. If he does, he has to have long-term key plans or he'll be spending six-figures for someone and then not have a way to use their drawing power to recoup that money. The running three house shows per week along with a bi-weekly television taping sounds good on paper. As an idea, this should appeal to veteran wrestlers who want to see their families more often than the WWF or NWA grind allows. At the same time, veterans will be the last to jump quickly into something new that's a question mark if they have a solid position. The group isn't even planning on doing house shows until March, and plans on a PPV event in April from the Taj Mahal in Atlantic City in conjunction with LPWA. One wonders if working closely with a women's promotion that has virtually no appeal nowadays will be a help or a hindrance. Verne Gagne did it and it probably hurt his PPV. It appears Pedicino has the financial backing to be a force in this industry. But money alone hardly guarantees success. The list of people who were well-heeled financially that have failed in the wrestling business is a long one. Turner Broadcasting is a billion dollar company and really haven't even made significant headway. It is the best thing for wrestling, both from the standpoint of the wrestlers and the standpoint of the fans, that this group makes a go of it. It gives everyone more options and will make 1991 more interesting. Whether they can make it is something completely different. The odds, at least today, given the state of the business, are not in their favor. But there is enough money involved in this venture (reportedly $25 million) that can last enough time that if things are going on the right track, they can last through a business recession.
42
43The entire Starrcade card has been released, well, to a point. Prelim matches will feature Michael Wall Street (Mike Rotunda) vs. Terry Taylor, Bobby Eaton vs. Tom Zenk, Freebirds vs. Tommy Rich & Ricky Morton with Robert Gibson in their corner, Sid Vicious & Danny Spivey vs. Night Stinker & Big Cat, the tag team tournament and the three main events with Sting vs. Scorpion, Luger vs. Hansen and Arn Anderson & Barry Windham vs. Doom. Still no idea on the tournament field although the Steiners and Great Muta & Masa Saito have been announced and the Mexican team is pretty well finalized and a Russian team. One figures that the "African team" that won the elimination match at last Tuesday's Clash and the Soviet team, which leaves three spots. One of which is probably the New Zealand Militia, another is a Canadian team and some sort of European team. Conspicuous by his absence from this show is Ric Flair. I'm assuming that the angle that airs this Saturday on TBS where Teddy Long is Flair's chauffer for a day leads to a Flair "injury," which sets up Windham & Anderson going for revenge at Starrcade. Flair not being on the card, combined with Sting-Flair already announced as the main event on some cards in late December through mid-January leads Flair to be the prime candidate to be the Black Scorpion based totally on evidence out there without any inside info.
44
45The biggest news story of the week is the folding of the World Class Wrestling office in Dallas. With no television and little financial backing, this seemed to be inevitable from the start. The 11/23 show in Dallas was the end of the era of weekly Friday night matches at the Dallas Sportatorium and the end to yet another regional office, leaving really only three regularly running regional offices (Don Owen in Oregon, Chris Love in Kansas and Jerry Jarrett in Tennessee) in the United States. According to a front page story in Saturday's Dallas Times-Herald, the promotion, run by Kevin Von Erich, didn't make it with these causes blamed: 1) No television; 2) Problems from an out-of-state promoter (Jerry Jarrett) who the story said was being sued by Kevin and Kerry; 3) A rent raise at the Sportatorium. Building rent for years had been $1 per ticket, but in recent weeks, because the live attendance had dwindled down to around 200 each week, rent was changed to a flat $2,000 per show. This rent was more than the entire gate some weeks, aid there had apparently been a problem some weeks back with late rent and with rent coming due again, Von Erich couldn't continue. There was a lot of sadness when the announcement was made Friday night that this would be the final show, as the majority of the 270 fans (225 paid) in attendance were regulars since virtually no newcomers had been coming since the group has no television. This leaves Gary Hart's TWF, which runs weekly Saturday night cards in Dallas and guys like Tim Brooks and Chris Adams, who promote area spot shows, as the only active promoters in the area although there is talk that Jerry Jarrett will return and promote weekly (and he has television in the market) early next year.
46
47SURVIVOR SERIES  
48The WWF's annual Thanksgiving PPV show took place in Hartford, CT, not too far from the company's offices in Stamford. The show drew about 13,000 paid and $216,000 live (there were close to 16,000 in the building with freebies and about 2,000 shy of a sellout). On PPV the show did just slightly below what it did last year, doing roughly a three percent buy rate, which at a $22.50 list price means the show grossed in the $9 million range (of which, Titan's cut is about 40 percent). So, given the wrestling glut on free television and the general state of the business, the show has to be considered financially a success.
49
50I thought it was a good show. Not a great show. But a good show. There were two bad matches, two good matches and two average matches. Some people were unhappy because there were no new angles created and a lot of the eliminations were cheap since the company wanted to protect (ie, not have do jobs) its major attractions but still had to get rid of them because of the inevitable finale with Hulk Hogan and the Ultimate Warrior as the only two left. Those who were good workers showed their stuff. Most of the bad workers were kept out of the ring (notable exception Sgt. Slaughter) as much as possible. • Although last year's Survivors wasn't so hot, this is traditionally the best wrestling show of the year because the eight-man tag format gives everyone ample opportunity to do their spots and rest, and also hides the poor workers by letting them get in and out without doing much damage. The booking can be criticized because, after all, nothing much really happened. The totally predictable finish was the WWF's always send the fans home happy philosophy combined with the idea that they are pushing Hogan and Warrior as twin equals and at least trying to give the impression that Warrior is equal to Hogan since they need to keep him strong for the long run when Hogan isn't available. Titan shows have to be kept simple due to the nature of the audience, anyway. They were looking to accomplish three things. Put Hogan and Warrior over. Introduce Mark Calaway as The Undertaker (which came off well), and introduce the Gobbledy-Gooker (Hector Guerrero) as the thing out of the egg (which was a disaster). And they wanted to protect everyone, which does make the eliminations look cheap as they did in certain cases.
51
521. The Warriors (Ultimate Warrior & Legion of Doom & Kerry Von Erich) defeated The Perfect Team (Demolition & Mr. Perfect). Demolition was wearing face-paint so the idea of making them a masked team is out the window. With Bill Eadie leaving, there really was no purpose because the masks purpose were to allow for switches with the third guy, and now, there is no third guy. Eadie (Ax) looked like he'd rather be anywhere else, didn't even have his hair slicked back and Warrior splashed him at 3:21. At 7:37, the LOD and remaining two members of Demolition were all disqualified which elicited a lot of boos from the audience since it was a cheap way to get LOD out without having them do a job. This left Perfect with Warrior & Von Erich. Perfect stalled for more than 90 seconds before locking up, then after Von Erich missed a charge and his shoulder hit the post, Perfect used the perfect-plex in 10:59 for the pin. This left Warrior with Perfect with the obvious conclusion. Warrior kicked out of the Perfect Plex and a few more near falls, made the superman comeback and got the pin with a big splash in 14:19. Match was okay, but not nearly what it had potential to be. Nobody looked "on" with the exception of Perfect, who took his usual great bumps, but in some ways they were out of context with the action because his timing was way off in spots. Still, he was the whole match. **1/4
53
542. The Million Dollar Team (Ted DiBiase & The Undertaker & Greg Valentine & Honkeytonk Man) beat The Dream Team (Dusty Rhodes & Koko Ware & Bret Hart & Jim Neidhart). They introduced Calaway as The Undertaker, managed by Brother Love and did a great job getting him over the the new monster heel. He sold nothing for nobody and pulverized everyone in sight. He first pinned Ware at 1:43 with a tombstone piledriver, simply called a tombstone. Neidhart pinned Honkeytonk at 4:23 with a powerslam. DiBiase pinned Neidhart at 5:55 when Virgil distracted Neidhart, who turned around and was hit with a clothesline. Undertaker punched Rhodes off the top rope and pinned him at 8:31 in part one of Dusty's burial. Undertaker tossed Dusty from the ring, then when Rhodes went after Brother Love, Undertaker jumped out of the ring and basically kicked his carcass all the way to the dressing room. This got Undertaker counted out at 9:30, which was important. They had to get him out of there because they want to save his first "meeting" with Hogan and Warrior for a later date. Hart cradled Valentine in 10:02, leaving him with DiBiase. It was mentioned on television that Hart's older brother Dean had passed away the day before (he was 36, died of kidney failure). The next four minutes were far and away the highlight of the show with Hart and DiBiase putting on a clinic, including a great fake knee-injury spot by Hart leading to a near fall. It ended when DiBiase rolled with Hart's cross bodyblock for the pin in 13:59. ***1/2
55
563. The Visionaries (Rick Martel & The Warlord & Paul Roma & Hercules) beat The Vipers (Jake Roberts & Jimmy Snuka & Shawn Michaels & Marty Janetty). Story of the match is that Martel would never get in with Roberts unless Roberts was down. Match opened really hot due to the Rockers, who even worked good spots with Warlord. Is that guy huge or what? But he's so bad. Anyway, Janetty was pinned when Warlord caught him off the top rope with a powerslam in 5:17. Michaels continued to make the match top-notch with his moves and bumps and really everyone but Warlord and maybe Hercules got into it good here. Even Snuka, while he was in, was impressive. Martel pinned Snuka when Snuka hit a cross bodyblock but Martel kept rolling for the pin in 9:43. They spent the next few minutes getting heat on Michaels who was finally pinned by the combination superplex/splash off the top rope finisher of Hercules & Roma in 15:19. This left Roberts against all four. Stalled a bit, then got heat on Roberts. Roberts hit the DDT on Warlord and Martel went to spray him with the cologne but Roberts turned his head and pulled out Damien. Roberts chased Martel to the dressing room and was counted out in 18:06. Since Martel wasn't the legal man (Warlord was), all four of the heels survived to the final match. ***1/4 (very good work but the finish was lame)
57
584. The Hulkamaniacs (Hulk Hogan & Jim Duggan & Tugboat & Big Bossman) defeated The Natural Disasters (Earthquake & Dino Bravo & Haku & The Barbarian). Bossman pinned Haku in 3:15 with the Bossman slam. Jimmy Hart pulled the rope down and Duggan took a bump over the top rope. He then got his 2x4 and started using it on the heels for a DQ at 6:11. Hogan pinned Bravo with a small padkage in 7:59. Earthquake pinned Bossman (I was surprised to see Bossman do a clean job) after two elbow drops in 9:05. Tugboat, who hadn't tagged in once (probably wasn't allowed to) got a hot tag after the heels got about 90 seconds of heat on Hogan, and after just 40 seconds of pathetic brawling with Earthquake, both were counted out in 11:33. Tugboat is just awful. This left Hogan and Barbarian and Barbarian got the early edge, hit a clothesline off the top rope and Hogan made his superman comeback and got the pin with a legdrop in 14:50. ** (Action kept going most of the way. Nobody looked good but never boring and only pathetic for about 40 seconds. Hogan looked smaller because of the movie shooting and seemed to lack stamina more than usual)
59
605. The Alliance (Nikolai Volkoff & Tito Santana & Luke Williams & Butch Miller) defeated The Mercenaries (Sgt. Slaughter & Bore-us Zhukov & Pat Tanaka & Akio Sato). The two guys who are on their way out didn't last long. Santana pinned Zhukov with a flying forearm in :48. Miller pinned Sato (in his last match as he's becoming the WWF's office representative in Japan) in 1:47 after the running head-butt to the stomach. Santana pinned Tanaka with a flying forearm in 2:12. This left Slaughter alone with four faces. They really want to push Slaughter hard as a heel as obviously the top three heels at Wrestlemania will be Undertaker, Slaughter and either Earthquake or Roddy Piper (if he turns as expected). The rest of the match was bad. Slaughter pinned Volkoff with an elbow drop in 5:25. Slaughter pinned Williams after he got his knees up when Williams tried to splash him from the middle rope, then used a stomach-breaker 1 in 6:31. Slaughter pinned Miller with a clothesline in 6:55. Slaughter was left with Santana. After a ref bump, Santana does the flying forearm but no ref. General Adnon interferes and clubs Santana with the flag right in front of the second ref. Slaughter then puts Santana in a finishing hold and the ref stops the match and DQ's Slaughter, as they tried to tease Slaughter won the match with a submission in 10:37. *
61
62Then came the egg hatching. Herein lies the problem when you build something up so big. They almost needed something like Ric Flair or Sting in the egg to have not disappointed. What they got was a cheap costume, which really looked like more of a Jim Herd concoction, that was booed out of the building. The Gobbledy-Gooker which is supposed to be the new WWF mascot and a kids character ala Big Bird I guess, danced around and flipped around in the ring to barnyard music and danced with Gene Okerlund. It was made even more pathetic as Roddy Piper and Gorilla Monsoon tried to sell that the crowd "didn't know what to make of it at first but really love it" when the boos kept coming. Even within the promotion it is admitted that this thing was a flop. Talk already of going through with it through Christmas shows and letting it mercifully disappear, but somehow I think McMahon will just shove the thing down everyone's throats until it gets over. And it probably will given time. There is still something sad about a wrestler as talented as Guerrero earning a living playing this role.
63
646. The final Survivor match had everyone from the previous matches that weren't eliminated, leaving faces Hogan & Warrior & Santana vs. heels DiBiase & Martel & Hercules & Roma & Warlord. Anyone could have figured what was coming next. Tito would be eliminated and Hogan & Warrior would breeze through everyone else. Well, surprise, they let Tito pin Warlord in 29 seconds with a flying forearm. But DiBiase pinned Santana in 1:51 with the hotshot and you know what happened from there. They got a few minutes of heat on Hogan, finishing with the Power & Glory superplex and splash finish which Hogan got right up from and pinned Roma in 5:37 with a clothesline. Warrior tagged in at the six minute mark for a few hot moves but Hogan tagged back in just 40 seconds later. Hogan was in the midst of his finishing routine, doing the boot to the face when Martel walked out for the count out in 7:19. This made six DQ's and five count out eliminations on the night. Might as well have had Len Denton book this show. Hogan pinned DiBiase  with a legdrop in 8:38. Warrior pinned Hercules with a big splash in 9:08. Match was anti-climactic. Told the live crowd was filing out during the match. *1/4
65
66NO. 13 ISN'T A LUCKY NUMBER
67BS: "Sting. Sting. Watch me pull a rabbit out of my hat."
68Sting: "But that trick never works."
69BS: "Rustle up my sleeve, presto Wrong hat."
70
71No, wrong angle. If at first you do something completely stupid that doesn't work, then what do you do? Why, you do almost the exact same thing again. When you have a booker who longs for wrestling fans to believe in the product, hates what Vince McMahon has done to the believability factor, than does this ridiculous Scorpion angle that flopped except for one Clash rating, and puts on a show with a magic show with the Scorpion (supposedly a mysterious man) and in the closing credits lists the magician who played the Scorpion and credits thanking the people who delivered the leopard for the magic act, well there seems to be a small contradiction here.
72
73Yeah, the Clash was awful. In almost every way. Sure, the first two matches were good. The show was well produced. The live crowd was hot and enthusiastic. But aside from the first two matches and the main event, the wrestling ranged from bad to one match which reached levels so bad that our language has yet to invent a proper word to describe it. But the real purpose of the show was, besides delivering ratings, to pique interest in the Starrcade PPV. It did exactly the opposite. I know of several people who were planning on going to St. Louis (including some with front row tickets) who changed their plans after watching this Clash. Strategy backfired.
74
75One thing that wasn't wrong. The Jacksonville Coliseum was a great place for the show. The crowd looked big enough on television (about 5,000 in the building--live gate was $36,000 so paid around 3,000+ --building holds 8,000) and they were ready for a good show.
76
77The show drew a 4.2 rating and a 6.2 share. Basically, this was the second-lowest rating of the 13 Clashes thus far (only the June 1989 Clash headlined by Ricky Steamboat vs. Terry Funk--at a time when all TBS numbers were in the toilet for a variety of reasons did worse). However the rating share (percentage of homes watching television at the time tuned in to the show) was the lowest in the history of the Clash, and in fact, lower than many of the regular episodes of all three PBS shows have drawn. Don't have match-by-match numbers yet.
78
791. 1 Freebirds beat Southern Boys in 4:50 when Tracy Smothers came off the rope, but was tripped by Little Richard Marley, stumbled and Michael Hayes hit him with a DDT. This was originally going to be a six-man tag with Bobby Eaton and El Gigante as the respective partners. The real story is that Gigante missed his plane and arrived late, so they sent Eaton (who may be the best worker in the U.S. on a nightly basis) back to the dressing room. Still, this was a good opener as they kept things moving. Just before the finish Steve Armstrong dove over the top rope with a cross bodyblock on Jim Garvin, who was on the ramp. By the way, if Gigante had been there, the other team would have won. **1/2
80
812. Brian Pillman (subbing for The Juicer) pinned Buddy Landel in 5:52 with a flying bodypress. Rhetorical question. Why has Pillman been buried in prelims and not even booked on the Clashes and PPV shows for the past several months? He did a springboard clothesline out of the ring and a crossblock from the middle rope outside the ring as well as several other hot moves. This was Landel's best performance on a big show since he came back. ***1/2
82
833. Big Cat (Curtis Hughes) beat Brad Armstrong when the ref stopped the match at 4:31 when Armstrong was caught in the torture rack. They were pushing Cat's football background. Legitimately he was a Parade Magazine high school All-American who was considered a flop in college. Brad was good as usual. Cat has potential but he's nowhere near ready for what they are pushing him for. *
84
854. Tom Zenk pinned Brian Lee in 3:10 after a dropkick off the top rope. Decent paced but you could tell they had never worked together because of timing problems. Still, it was decent except for Zenk missing a flying bodypress off the top rope while Lee was still in Tallhassee or somewhere. *
86
875. Michael Wall Street (Mike Rotunda) pinned Star Blazer (Tim Horner) in 4:15 with the Wall Street crash (should be called Stock market crash), which is a Samoan suplex drop. No heat for the new gimmick but people need time to learn it. Considering that these are both good wrestlers, this match was a disappointment. *
88
896. Sgt. Kruger (Ray Apollo) and Col. DeKlerk (Ted Petty) won the African elimination match for the Pat O'Connor tag team tournament beating Kahlua (Larry Hamilton) and Bostwana Beast (Bill Tabby. Please explain why WCW is going through all the trouble of importing legit Mexicans, Japanese, Soviets, etc. when they ruined all anticipation and the entire concept with this match? It was obvious these men were not from Africa. And even if they were, nobody is going to care about newcomers unless they've been educated beforehand as to who they are. DeKlerk pinned Beast in 4:48 when Beast had him up for a slam and Kruger dropkicked DeKlerk's back, Beast fell down and was pinned. DeKlerk showed some decent moves but they didn't work together at all. -*1/4
90
917. Lex Luger pinned Motor City Mad Man (Mike Moore) in 2:34. Before the match during an interview, Luger decked Big Cat. Anyway, he tried to interfere in this match but it backfired and Mad Man was pinned although Mad Man took the bump well before the clothesline ever got there. Thankfully Luger's charisma and presence made the match seem not so atrocious. DUD
92
938. Nasty Boys beat Mark & Chris Youngblood via DQ in 4:49 when the Steiners ran in and the Nasty Boys ran off. Nothing happened. 3/4*
94
959. Sid Vicious pinned The Night Stinker in 3:30. Two weeks ago I saw a match between two guys, one of whom writes a newsletter and another of whom contributes to this, that, and other newsletters. And the match was real bad, too. But it was world's better than these two guys who are professional wrestlers. This was the worst match I've seen in years. Sid was supposed to make his babyface turn here but nothing was accomplished in this groanfest. Big Cat came down and screwed things up for the heel in the finish again. Sid had the Stalker's gimmick and seemed like he was waiting for rice to boil before he hit the guy with it. After seeing Ox's protege, I'm beginning to respect the ability of JFD. -****
96
9710. Rick & Scott Steiner kept the U.S. tag team title beating Magnum Force (jobbers The Ring Lords with a new name) in 1:57 when Scott used the Frankensteiner on one of them. Nasty Boys ran in and ran out after the match. Steiners looked great but this wasn't a match, it was a squash. * We were promised Sting and the Scorpion face-to-face in a cage with Paul E. Dangerously. What we got was a magician in a Black Scorpion costume running around doing carnival tricks, and not even pretending to lipsynch to Ole's voice so you'd think it was the Scorpion who had been doing the interviews. No cage. No face-to-face. He just turned a fan into a leopard. If magic had anything to do with wrestling than Harry Houdini would have drawn big money against Strangler Lewis and David Copperfield would have had a legendary feud with Ric Flair. As one person, who is a reader who has done some magic called and said, "Jim Herd has already killed the wrestling business, now he's working on killing the magic business."
98
9911. Ric Flair pinned Butch Reed in 14:13 to earn a tag team title shot. Now, figure this. Slick Ric offered Dancin' Teddy $500,000 just for one title shot which Teddy turned down, even though the two teams were booked in title matches every single night between then and Starrcade at every house show. And in the Starrcade ad, which ran prior to this match, it pretty much said Doom was going to wrestle Flair & Anderson (which isn't going to happen anyway, at least I don't think it will). So Teddy turns the match down and instead we have a bout where it's a title shot and Teddy being chauffer for Flair against Flair's boat and limo.
100
101The premise was screwed up. The show was screwed up. The coinflip made no sense. And this was a great match. A breath of fresh air which nearly saved the entire show. Great heat. Actual intensity. Flair juiced (hardway). Flair was seemingly the babyface although fans kind of cheered both guys. Each guy was saved from pins from his partner at ringside. Finish saw Reed have Flair pinned with a shoulderblock shortly after Reed had been thrown over the top rope, landing on Long and the ref. Simmons jumped in and clotheslined Flair and put Reed on top, but Anderson then ran in and hit Reed with a chair and Flair crawled on top and got the pin. ***3/4
102
103THE BLOW-AWAY DIET
104Usually any comedy by the WWF has to stretch to even reach toilet proportions. And 1-800-LAR-DASS does quality in that category, but the Playboy Buddy Rose diet skit ranks with the best skits Titan has done since Hulk Hogan and Gene Okerlund did a workout video for a 1985 match. Overall, the Friday night NBC special (no ratings available at press time) was one of the company's best shows in a long time. The wrestling, usually not a strong point, was top-notch. The comedy, sometimes good but usually forced past the point of being funny, was on the mark. And the Ultimate Warrior did two good interviews in the same hour.
105
1061. Ultimate Warrior beat Ted DiBiase via DO in 9:58. The NWA should have hired DiBiase as its magician. Technically speaking this was the best Warrior match I've seen (the Hogan match was more exciting because of the hype and build-up but this was technically a better match). Typical Hulk Hogan storyline. Warrior uses strength to early edge. Manager distracts face leading to the heat spot. The guy does the big move to no effect, superman comeback and time to go home. Warrior splashed DiBiase when Virgil interfered for the DO. Warrior had Virgil pressed when Randy Savage jumped in and beat on Warrior for a while before leaving. Warrior got to his feet to a big ovation after.***1/2 The Sgt. Slaughter-Nikolai Volkoff match never took place (thank God for small favors). Slaughter was beating on Volkoff with his stick when Jim Duggan made the save with a 2x4.
107
1082. Mr. Perfect beat Big Bossman via count out in 8:13. After watching Perfect on Thursday, I thought he was the most overrated wrestler in the business. After all, when has someone been touted as the best wrestler in the business who more often that not doesn't have a good match? Anyway, in this match, he looked like the best wrestler in the business. Finish saw Bossman kick out of the perfect plex. Bobby Heenan pulled down the top rope but Bossman reversed a whip and Perfect sailed over. Heenan slapped Bossman, who chased him to the dressing room and was counted out. Perfect was flawless in this match, taking his usual great bumps but also working it into having a great match. ***3/4
109
1103. Rick Martel beat Tito Santana with a boston crab in 6:49. Santana looked great. Martel was fine. Too bad Santana is relegated to glorified jobber role, because he has a lot of talent but he's just been around too long. ***
111
112This is the third issue of the current four-issue set so if you've got a (1) on your address label, your Observer subscription will expire next week. Renewal rates are $5 for each set of four issues, $10 for eight, $20 for 16, $30 for 24 through $50 for 40 issues within the United States and Canada. Weekly overseas airmail delivery subscriptions are $9 for each set of four issues through $90 for 40 issues. Subscription renewals, letters to the editor, match results, news items and 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 at 408-378-6562 after Noon Eastern time (9 a.m. pacific) daily.
113
114Mexico: Octagon won the Mexican national middleweight title on 11/20 in Mexico City beating Emilio Charles Jr. Highlights aired on TV this weekend and it looked to be a great match. . . Brazo de Oro beat Baby Face in a hair vs. hair match on 11/7. . . Lizmark & Atlantis had a double mask vs. mask match against The Animals (who I believe are from Canada) on 11/25 in Mexico City. . . 11/18 at El Toreo in Naucalpan saw Villano III retain the WWF lightheavyweight championship winning 2/3 falls from Blue Blazer (Owen Hart, in his last night in Mexico). Also The Samoan Swat Team & Canek won 2/3 falls from Dos Caras & Enrique Vera & Anibal, Kiss & Villano I & Villano V defeated The Killer (Andy Barrow) & El Signo & El Indomito and Halcon 78 & Villano IV & Fantasma beat Falcon & El Engendro & Dr. Wagner Jr. via DQ. . . The main event at El Toreo on 11/25 had the SST teaming with Kokina against Dos Caras & Canek & Villano III which almost certainly was to wind up with Caras and Canek splitting up to set up their singles main event on 12/2 (winner meeting Big Van Vader for the UWA world title on 12/9). . . 11/23 at Arena Mexico saw The Ninja Turtles win 2/3 falls from Coliseo 2000 & Super Raton & Super Muneco & Super Pinocchio (yes, with the long nose) in a battle of cartoon characters. &his match didn't air on television. Then Octagon & Javier "El Monarca" Cruz & Hurricane Ramirez Jr. won 2/3 from Hombre Bala & El Verdugo & Fuerza Guerrera. Match was pretty bad except for some comedy by Verdugo & Bala (who used to regularly work six-mans with Pirata Morgan as The Buccaneers) and good dives at the finish *1/4; Los Brazos returned from Japan and won 2/3 falls from Mando Guerrero & Super Astro & Anibal. Interesting since Los Brazos hold the trios championship for 6 the rival UWA which was acknowledged on TV. Match wasn't as good as it sounds. Some decent comedy by Brazos and Astro did his regular cute high spots. *1/4; El Satanico & Fabuloso Blondie & Pero Aguayo won 2/3 from Lizmark & Ringo Mendoza & Sangre Chicana when Blondie pinned Mendoza in the final fall with a power bomb. Mendoza and Blondie both juiced. Lots of good brawling here. ***1/4; Kamala & Pirata Morgan & Mascara Ano 2000 won two straight from Konan & Faraon & Tinieblas Jr. I can't begin to tell you how bad Kamala looked. He barely got in the ring and when he did, did nothing on offense which is ridiculous for a new heavily hyped "monster heel." All he did was sell for Konan's dropkicks. Morgan, with a bald head from last week's hair match won both falls, pinning Tinieblas in the first fall with a splash off the top and pinning Faraon in the second reversing a submission. *. . . 11/20 in Mexico City saw Atlantis retain his NWA world middleweight title going to a double pin with Satanico in the final fall.
115
116SWS: The group's only major show of the month drew 5,120 at the new 20,000 seat Hamamatsu Arena (and probably somewhat padded at that). The headline event was a tag team tournament. First round results saw Genichiro Tenryu & Koji Kitao (who will be pushed heavily as the top team here) beat Kendo Nagasaki & Goro Tsurumi while Shunji Takano & Naoki Sano beat Kabuki & Takashi Ishikawa. The finals saw Tenryu & Kitao when when Tenryu pinned Takano. Also George Takano pinned Yoshiaki Yatsu, Isao Takagi & Shinichi Nakano beat Samson Fuyuki & Masao Orihara, Fumi Niikura beat Kenichi Oya, Don Arakawa beat Akira Katayama and Nuboyashi Sugawara beat Katanaka. . . Next tour, which will be the first in combination with the WWF, is 12/6 through 12/8 and will have Ted DiBiase, Greg Valentine, Brooklyn Brawler and The Bushwhackers. It's going to be interesting to see how the Japanese fans react to the WWF wrestlers like Bushwhackers over the long haul.
117
118All Japan women: The Wrestlemarinpiad show on 11/14 drew a full house of 6,200 at the Yokohama Bunka Gym (largest crowd to watch women's wrestling probably anywhere since the retirement of Chigusa Nagayo last year). Main event, which was said to be an excellent match, saw Bull Nakano keep her world title beating Aja Kong in 21 minutes in the cage match. There was no ref in the cage (since the ref cost Nakano the match) and Nakano had vowed to retire if she didn't win. Finish saw Kyoko Inoue throw a chain over the top of the cage to Nakano who used it on Kong, who juiced heavily. Nakano also juiced as the two traded choking each other with a rope, using the dreaded oil cans, using a chain and using 2x4's among other objects. Kong also juiced from the shoulder. It ended with Nakano doing a legdrop off the top of the cage, then climbing out for the victory. In other matches on the show, Los Brazos retained the UWA world trios championship beating Gran Hamada & Yoshihiro Asai & Kendo, Bison Kimura & Madusa (who has turned heel and formed a tag team with Kimura) beat Yumiko Hotta & Mariko Yoshida, Akira Hokuta & Suzuka Minami kept the WWWA tag team titles beating Manami Toyota and a mystery partner who turned out to be heel Kyoko Inoue in a 2/3 fall match which went 23 minutes, Etsuko Mita & Mima Shimoda (The Sweethearts) won the Japanese tag team title from the Honey Wings, an eight woman elimination tag team match saw Hyper Cat (Yumi Ogura) & La Diabolica (from Mexico) & Vilsinee Sontitum (from Brazil) & Mayumi Yamamoto beat Noriyo Tateno & Xochi Hamada & Estelle Moreno & Takako Inoue while Bat Yoshinaga drew Kaoru Ito in the opener. . . After the show half the crew went to Thailand on a tour and the other half are touring in Japan. On 11/24 in Japan, Bull & Aja & Yoshinaga beat Honey Wings & Toyota, Hotta beat Mita and Takako Inoue beat Yoshida. On 11/22 somewhere in Thailand, Hokuto & Tateno beat Madusa & Kimura in the main event. . . JWP recently toured South Korea.
119
120All Japan: The tag team tournament is going strong with no real surprises or controvery. The standings after Thanksgiving night in Okayama saw: Danny Spivey & Stan Hansen (6), Kamala II & Abdullah the Butcher (2), Steve Williams & Terry Gordy (8), Butch Masters & Nitron (2), Giant Baba & Andre the Giant (10), Johnny Smith & Dynamite Kid (0), Jumbo Tsuruta & Akira Tauc (4), Johnny Ace & Kenta Kobashi (0), Mitsuharu Misawa & Toshiaki Kawada (5), Dick Slater & Joel Deaton (2), Doug Furnas & Ricky Santana (0), and I'm not sure how many points The Funks or Rusher Kimura & Mighty Inoue had. Tournament final is 12/7 at Budokan Hall. . . Tour opened before a full house of 2,100 at Korauken Hall in Tokyo with a non-tournament special match dedicated to Kazuharu Sonoda (who wrestled in the U.S. as Magic Dragon, died while in an airplane that went down on his honeymoon late in 1987) as Kobashi & Kawada beat Misawa & Tsuyoshi & Kikuchi (who returned after missing a few months from injuries suffered in that match against The Fantastics at Budokan Hall). Also Tsuruta & Taue beat Kimala II & Abdullah, Hansen & Spivey beat Funks when Hansen lariated Dory, Baba & Andre beat Slater & Deaton, Williams & Gordy beat Bulldogs, Masters & Nitron beat Masa Fuchi & Johnny Ace, Kimura & Inoue beat Haruka Eigen & Motoshi Okuma and Furnas & Santana beat Mitsuo Momota & Isamu Teranishi. . . 11/16 in Ueda before 2,500 saw Williams & Gordy beat Tsuruta & Taue, Hansen & Spivey beat Bulldogs, Funks beat Ace & Kobashi, Misawa & Kawada beat Kimala II & Abdullah, Baba & Andre & Kikuchi beat Eigen & Okuma & Fuchi, Masters & Nitron beat Slater & Deaton, Kimura & Inoue beat Furnas & Santana and Teranishi beat Yoshinari Ogawa. . . 11/20 in Nagoya before 4,450 saw Williams & Gordy beat Kimala II & Abdullah, Baba & Andre beat Tsuruta & Taue, Hansen & Spivey beat Ace & Kobashi, Misawa & Kawada beat Nitron & Masters, Slater & Deaton beat Furnas & Santana, Funks beat Bulldogs, Kimura & Inoue beat Okuma & Eigen. . . 11/22 in Okayama before 2,700 saw Tsuruta & Taue & Fuchi beat Misawa & Kawada & Kikuchi, Hansen & Spivey beat Abdullah & Kimala II, Williams & Gordy beat Masters & Nitron, Baba & Andre beat Bulldogs, Slater & Deaton beat Kimura & Inoue, Funks beat Ace & Kobashi and Furnas & Santana beat Okuma & Eigen. . . 11/21 in Osaka drew 4,500 as Tsuruta & Taue beat Hansen & Spivey, Misawa & Kawada beat Ace & Kobashi, Funks beat Nitron & Masters, Kimala & Abdullah beat Bulldogs, Furnas & Santana beat Momota & Teranishi, Kimura & Inoue beat Eigen & Okuma and Deaton & Slater beat Fuchi & Kikuchi. . . 11/24 in Minokomu saw Williams & Gordy beat Nitron & Masters, Tsuruta & Taue beat Bulldogs, Spivey & Hansen beat Furnas & Santana, Misawa & Kawada beat Kimura & Inoue, Abdullah & Kamala II beat Slater & Deaton, Baba & Andre & Momota beat Eigen & Okuma & Fuchi, Funks beat Ace & Kobashi and Teranishi drew Ogawa.
121
122Universal: This group finished its recent series before a sellout 2,200 at Korauken Hall in Tokyo on 11/16 as Yoshihiro Asai won an 18 man Royal Rumble style Battle Royal by pinning Gran Hamada with a german suplex in the finals. Also a ten woman elimination tag match (said to be super) saw Aja Kong & Bison Kimura & Xochi Hamada & Madusa & La Diabolica beat Honey Wings & Estelle Moreno & Manami Toyota & Mariko Yoshida when it came down to Kong against both Honey Wings and she pinned them both tc win it. Los Brazos beat Hamada & Blackman & Kendo, Asai & Kato Kung Lee beat Blue Panther & Black Power, Takeda & Kung Fu beat Sergio El Hermoso & El Bello Greco and Coolie SZ & Bulldog KT beat Masa Michinoku & Monkey Magic Wakita. . . 11/13 in Gunma drew a poor crowd of 1,500 (Hamada's home town) as Hamada beat Panther to keep the UWA world lightheavyweight title, Brazos beat Asai & Kendo & Blackman, Black Power & Sergio & Greco beat Kato Kung Lee & Kung Fu & Takeda and Aja Kong & Bison Kimura & Xochi Hamada beat Honey Wings & Estelle Moreno. . . 11/15 in Tokunami drew 580 as Hamada & Kendo & Lee beat Brazos via DQ, Asai & Blackman beat Panther & Power, Kung Fu & Takeda beat Sergio & Greco and Honey Wings beat Hamada & Kyoko Inoue.
123
124Other Japan notes: New Japan has a two hour prime time level special on 12/26 from the Hamamatsu Arena. The gimmick here will be five singles matches involving wrestling legends against rookies. The five "legends" will be Lou Thesz (at the age of 74), Nick Bockwinkel (56), Antonio Inoki (47), Hiro Matsuda (53) and Tiger Jeet Singh (46). . . They also announced the 12/13 line-up for Tokyo's Sumo Hall with Tatsumi Fujinami & Kengo Kimura vs. Riki Choshu & Osamu Kido as the main event, Hiroshi Base & Kensuke Sasaki defending the tag team title against Shiro Koshinaka & Takayuki Iizuka and Shinya Hashimoto vs. Demolition Ax (Bill Eadie). . . . For some reason, New Japan is booking weak main events trying to revive the legendary Choshu vs. Fujinami feud in the big buildings but these line-ups don't seem to be the calibre neccessary to fill 10,000 seat arenas. . 11/15 in Funabashi drew less than 1,000 for Pioneer saw Ryuma Go & Sciji Aoyagi beat Fujinami & Koshinaka, Jushin Rlger beat Super Seven (Masahiko Takasugi), Devil Masami & Itzuki Yamazaki beat Rumi Kazama & Shinobu Kandori and prelims. . . 11/17 New Japan TV drew a 5.4 rating, 11/11 All Japan a 6.4 and 11/18 All Japan a 3.4. . . The New Japan card at Budokan aired on television this past Saturday. (the one where Riger beat Pegasus Kid for jr. title and Hase & Sasaki beat Muto & Chono for the tag title). Texas: The final World Class show on 11/23 at the Dallas Sportatorium before 225 paid saw Iceman King Parsons pin Tom Jones, Dog of War beat Mike Davis via DQ, Chris Von Erich pinned Kevin Dillinger or actually beat Dillinger by pinning Percy Pringle whose interference backfired, Steve Simpson beat John Tatum in a lumberjack match when Dillinger threw Tatum a chain but Simpson caught the pass, California Stud & Gary Young beat Skip Young & Steve Dane and in the final match, Kevin Von Erich won the Texas title from Angel of Death... . The entire card was done strictly for comedy, no bumps or anything since it was announced before the show that this was it. . . The TWF on Thanksgiving night held a television taping at the Metroplex Arena before 750 fans as Stud & Steve Austin kept the tag team title beating the Simpson brothers (there was a five minute delay for a commercial which killed this entire match as it was being done in "live time" so they had to stall for commercial breaks), Terrence Garvin beat Angel of Death by pinning manager Abdul Farouk (Tom Renesto), John Tatum pinned Action Jackson, American Ninja (promoter Lee Campbell) beat Cowboy Tony in three minutes and the main event saw Al Perez keep his U.S. title going to a time limit draw with Matt Borne in a best of three fall totally scientific match. The wrestling itself was fine but no crowd enthusiasm for the match. Bill Mercer did the announcing and the commercials with the slogan "Texas wrestling is back with class." This card airs on television 11/27 and if the ratings are decent, they'll do another taping on 12/8 for another two hour special sometime around Christmas week. . . Perez was billed as world heavyweight champion starting this coming week as on the 12/1 show they are billing it as a world title match with Perez defending against Angel. Also Austin & Stud vs. Simpsons, Parsons vs. Garvin, Ninja vs. Tatum and Tony vs. Tim Tall Tree.
125
126Oregon: The 11/24 show in Portland saw John Rambo beat Brad Anderson via DQ, Steve Doll & Scott Norton beat The Grappler & The Equalizer via DQ so the heels keep the Northwest tag team titles, Bart Sawyer beat Al Madril so now Sawyer gets to take over The Fiesta Garden, Scotty the Body returned and beat Dirty White Boy (Bobby "Landlord" Blair) and Larry Oliver drew with Doug Masters. Next week has a rematch saw Madril vs. Sawyer and if Madril loses, he has to hand out 1,000 one dollar bills to 1,000 different kids which is funny because they don't even draw 1,000 kids to a show.
127
128USWA: The 11/19 show in Memphis drew just under 1,O55s Cody Michaels (who wrestled in the AWA as Tony DeNucci) drew with Lou Winston, Chris Champion beat Ali Hussein (George Weingeroff) via DQ, Danny Davis pinned Jeff Gaylord, The New Kids beat Sheik Fabbiano & Joey Maggs, Jamie Dundee beat Downtown Bruno in 10 seconds, Brickhouse Brown beat Tony Anthony so Brown gets Dirty White Girl for one week as his valet, Downtown Bruno won a managers Battle Royal to win the contract of Black Magic (who is probably the same guy who worked here as M.C. Jammer) however after the match, Magic slugged Bruno and left with Reggie B. Fine as his manager and the finale saw a no decision in a hospital elimination match as Eddie & Doug Gilbert & Magic wrestled Jerry Lawler & Jeff Jarrett & Bill Dundee. It came down to Jarrett and Magic and the Gilberts, who had already been eliminated, returned to attack Jarrett which brought Lawler & Dundee back. . . At television on Saturday, Maggs joined the Memphis Mafia and changed his name to Joseph Magliano (which is his real name). The Mafia consts of Magliano, Ken Wayne, Tony Anthony, Eddie & Doug Gilbert and Sam Lowe. Black Magic is Eddie Gilbert's bodyguard with no mention of Reggie B. Fine who won his contract or Bruno or anything like that. Eddie Gilbert beat Jamie Dundee to keep the Southern title on television. Doug Gilbert wrestled Danny Davis with everyone in the world interfering. Cody Michaels beat Ali Hussein when Tojo Yamamoto and Downtown Bruno interfered for the DQ. . . 11/24 in Jonesboro, AR saw Michaels & Jarrett win the USWA tag titles from Doug Gilbert & Anthony. . . Chris Champion did an interview and said he's taking the New Kids under his wing because they remind him of The New Breed (tag team Chris Champion & Sean Royal were in the NWA in 1987) and they had a six-man match on TV against Anthony & Wayne & Magliano which ended with half the world running in. . . 11/26 in Memphis has a 14 match card with Michaels vs. Magliano, Wayne defending the jr. heavyweight title against Davis, Champion vs. Doug Gilbert, Brown vs. King Cobra (now a heel), Jamie Dundee vs. Winston, Hussein vs. Jarrett, Gaylord vs. Dundee, Magic- vs. Lawler, Michaels vs. Anthony; New Kids vs. Wayne & Magliano, Dundee & Champion vs. New Live Crew (don't know who they are), Jarrett & Michaels vs. Anthony & Gilbert for the tag team title, Eddie Gilbert vs. Brown for the Southern title and if Eddie wins, he gets Sweet Georgia Brown for 30 days and Lawler & Jarrett & Dundee vs. Gilberts & Black Magic with falls counting anywhere in the building.
129
130Here and there: John Arezzi will be doing PR for Herb Abrams' UWF when it starts in the New York area shortly. . . AWA should be just about finished as the ESPN contract runs out in a few weeks. AWA hasn't actually run a show in several months. . . Steve Gator Wolf drew 650 on 11/14 in Springerville, AZ with himself and The Mercenaries (Billy Anderson & Louie Spicoli) on the show. . . The story on Dean Hart, an older brother of Bret and Owen Hart, is that he had been having kidney problems for a while. Apparently he was told by doctors to have daily dialysis treatment for four hours (7 a.m. to 11 a.m.) but was lax in taking care of it. Some days not showing up, many other days showing up for an hour or two rather than all four hours. He was found dead in the house on Wednesday by older brother Smith Hart. . . Joe Pedicino is talking of re-uniting the Crush Girls on his PPV show. . . I'll be taking phone calls on Thursday, 12/6 from 7 to 8 p.m. Pacific time (10 to 11 Eastern) on a Las Vegas based 900-370-2088 number. . . 11/23 in Tampa saw Hurricane Walker & The Terminator beat Mark Starr & Ron Slinker via DQ when Jimmy Backlund interfered, Steve Keirn pinned Don Harris when Walker hit Harris with a chain as manager Johnny G. Lyons was trying to interfere, Backlund beat Johnny Pavros, Powerhouse Parker beat Coconut Kid and Frankie Lancaster pinned Mike Debacco. . . Buck Robley is now running whatever remains of Five-Star Wrestling now that Grizzly Smith has pulled out and gone with the NWA. . . The 11/26 Newsweek had a quote from Jesse Ventura, listed simply as mayor of Brooklyn Park, MN and not as an ex wrestler or a football announcer talking about the U.S. in Iraq. For the record, he said the U.S. should pull out. . . With the Sportatorium wrestling folding, Bronko Lubich, who has been a wrestler, manager and referee dating back nearly 40 years, announced his retirement from the business Friday night. . . Abrams' UWF runs another TV taping on 12/6 in Reseda. . . Congrats to reader Jim Pietrowski whose daughter Stephanie was born a few weeks back. . . Nasty Ronnie (Ron Galetti) is promoting Sunshine Wrestling Alliance based out of Brandon, FL with Beef Wellington (who wrestles as Wellington Wilkins for the UWF in Japan), Bob Cook, Mike Awesome, Jumbo Barretta and Raul Meta (who originated the Frankensteiner move some 20 years ago in Mexico). . . The AWA on ESPN aired an early 1973 match between Ric Flair (then a rookie jobber) against Chris Taylor (the famous 440-pound ex-Olympic medalist). . . . CNWA still in operation in Western Canada running every Friday in Calgary but still not drawing many fans. . . 12/8 at the San Bernardino Arena will be a fund raiser for Rose Marie Sauceda (the 12-year-old girl who was confined to a closet for many years, it was a big deal on the news in these parts). Among those working the show are Billy Anderson, Bobby Bradley, Louie Spicoli, Larry Sampson and others.
131
132NWA: This group has a right to use the NWA name once again. Still talk they'll phase out the name at the end of this year, however. . . The 28 percent cutback across the board because of the entire Turner organization planning for the current recession is just for travel and business expenses but not for salaries so there is apparently no pressure on the group to cut down salaries for the wrestlers and office personnel. . . Nasty Boys gave notice the day of the Clash, which is why they ran away from the Steiners twice. I believe they finish on 12/9 but not exactly sure of the date. They'll be headed to the WWF to ultimately work a program with Legion of Doom. Jim Herd offered them each three-year guaranteed contracts for $156,000 per year and they turned it down. Its funny. The guys do have a unique charisma and are better workers than they were a year ago, but truthfully anyone working with the Steiners if the Steiners let them have..a match are going to "look like" great workers. I'm not sure the Nasty's would have been worth anywhere near that kind of money or been able to stay hot for three years. . . Don Glass is no longer booking the arena dates and was replaced by someone from within the TBS organization. Glass will stay with the company as an event coordinator. . . . The Jan. 30, 1990 Clash has been moved from Kemper Arena in Kansas City to Camp Lejeune, NC which is a smart move. No way they could have made a 17,000 seat building look good for a TV special, even with padding the house. . . The Juicer will apparently finish up on January 3rd, but that could change depending upon what the new booker decides. J.W. Storm is already history. . . Mike Rotunda's valet (Ms. Alexandra York) will only work television and Atlanta shows, not go on the road.' Rotunda was given notice that his contract won't be renewed when it expires. Talk is that if the Michael Wall Street thing gets over, they'll re-sign Rotunda, but if not, they'll let him stay but not on any guarantee. . . Scott Steiner injured his ankle severely on Thanksgiving night at the Omni. He had X-rays on Monday to find out if it is just a bad sprain or a break, but he may be out of action for a while. . . Assistant booker Ron West suffered a mild heart attack on Wednesday, the day after the Clash. West was still hospitalized as of Monday, but the good news, if there can be any good news from a heart attack, is that there was no scarring of the heart tissue so it wasn't a major attack. 11/22 afternoon show in Columbus, GA drew 500 as The Juicer pinned Barry Horowitz (lots of fans were chanting "rapist" at Juicer because the local newspaper reported on the story), Brian Pillman pinned Iron Sheik, Master Blasters beat Brad Armstrong & Tim Horner, Wall Street pinned Terry Taylor, Steiners beat Nasty Boys in a cage match, Doom beat Ric Flair & Arn Anderson when Reed pinned Anderson, Tommy Rich & Ricky Morton & El Gigante beat Michael Hayes & Bobby Eaton & Buddy Landel and Sting pinned Sid Vicious. . . 11/22 for the traditional Thanksgiving night show at the Omni drew 6,500 as Juicer pinned Horowitz, Pillman & Tom Zenk beat Master Blasters, Junkfood Dog pinned Moondog Rex, Rich & Morton & Gigante beat Freebirds & Eaton, Lex Luger pinned Big Cat, Steiners beat Nasty Boys in a cage match, Doom beat Flair & Anderson in an elimination tag match as Anderson and Reed were both counted out, leaving Flair with Simmons and Flair did the job while Sting pinned Vicious. . . Last week's TV ratings saw Power Hour on 11/17 fall back to a 1.5 rating, WCW that afternoon with Sting vs. Landel did a solid 2.8 while NWA Main Event the next day did a fair 2.5. WPIX ratings have grown every week, peaking with a 3.2 rating last weekend. . . . Correction from last issue where it stated that the Philadelphia cards are being moved from the Civic Center to the adjacent Pennsylvania Hall. The show in December will be at Pennsylvania Hall because the Civic Center was booked the night they wanted the card, but NWA will be back in 1991 at Civic Center. . . Gordon Solie was given the game ball from last Sunday's Kansas City Chiefs game as Steve DeBerg, who is friends with Solie, got the ball. . . 11/24 in Baltimore drew 2,800 as Norman pinned Buddy Landel, Horner pinned Doug Superior, Taylor pinned Motor City Mad Man, JFD pinned Sheik, Morton & Rich & Gigante beat Freebirds & Moondog Rex, Luger pinned Big Cat (Mad Man attacks him every night after the win), Rick Steiner beat Jerry Saggs in a cage match and Doom beat Flair & Anderson in a cage match when Reed pinned Flair in a bloody excellent match. . . 11/25 in Roanoke saw Norman pin Landel, Wall Street pin Brad Armstrong, Pillman pinned Bill Irwin, Southern Boys & Gigante beat State Patrol & Eaton, Rick Steiner beat Brian Nobbs in a cage match and Sting pinned Sid Vicious. . . Same crew drew just under 900 on 11/24 in Fayetteville, NC. . . 11/23 at the D.C. Armory drew 1,100 as Taylor pinned Landel, Norman pinned Golden Eagle, Big Cat beat Horner when the ref stopped the match (same finish as Clash), Morton & Rich & Gigante beat Freebirds & Rex, JFD pinned Mad Man, Luger pinned Sheik and Doom beat Flair & Anderson in a cage match. . . 11/25 at the Greensboro Coliseum drew a record crowd of 700 (smallest crowd ever for wrestling at the Coliseum--made even worse because it was done on traditionally the best weekend year-after-year for wrestling in the city) as Horner pinned Barry Horowitz *, Master Blasters beat Zenk & Alan Iron Eagle 1/2*, Taylor pinned Mad Man 1/2*, JFD pinned Sheik DUD, Rich & Morton beat Freebirds ** (only decent match on the card), Luger pinned Cat with Mad Man doing the post match run-in * and in a cage match, Simmons pinned Flair (Reed and Anderson both missed the show, one was ill and the other may have been as well) *. . . How do you like the "modernized" Ric Flair entrance music? A ZZ Top song from the 70s that the Von Erichs used as entrance music for years.
133
134
135WWF: Between the new opening of the Superstars show, a new WWF video that aired on TV to sell arena shows (with nothing but Ultimate Warrior footage) and the Friday night special (with Warrior the obvious star and no mention at all of Hulk Hogan) it seems they are doing everything to push the notion of Warrior as the top guy. Notice at Survivors that it was Warrior who made the final pinfall and that Warrior was the guy who came out last in the final match. . .  An angle was shot at television breaking up Rhythm & Blues with Jimmy Hart siding with Honkeytonk Man, so if/when they bring the two back on the road, they'll feud with one another and Valentine will be the babyface. . . Honkey is now doing color commentary on the cable MSG cards since his wrestling will be done during the middle of the month. . . Mr. Perfect regained the IC title from Kerry Von Erich at the 11/19 taping, but since that time Von Erich is pinning Perfect everywhere as the match won't air on television until 12/15 so the title change won't be acknowledged until then. . . Pat Tanaka's new Orient Express partner is called Kato and wears a mask, but it's really Paul Diamond. Tanaka & Diamond were a top notch team in Memphis and AWA, so it's an improvement and Diamond deserves a break. . . Jack Tunney made a TV announcement that from this point forward he'll only allow Demolition to have two members, which explains Bill Eadie's leaving. . . A weird match took place on 11/20 in Syracuse. Perfect (without the belt) wrestled Roddy Piper and pinned him clean in the middle with the Perfect-plex. I'm told the match will never air on television even though those in the building swear cameras were rolling. Maybe a test for Piper for down the road? Anyway, even weirder was that Piper shook Perfect's hand and congratulated him for the win which the crowd couldn't understand at all. That part was ad lib by Piper and it didn't work. . . . Sherri missed Survivor Series because she was hospitalized with pneumonia of the lung. . . . Some talk of Red Bastien returning as part of the front office. . . Ricky Steamboat was offered a spot (probably the one vacated by Dusty Rhodes) but they didn't want him to use the Ricky Steamboat name. He hadn't accepted as of the weekend. . . 11/21 in Utica saw Warlord pin Jimmy Snuka, Legion of Doom beat Demolition, Earthquake pinned Tugboat when Dino Bravo interfered, Orient Express (Tanaka & Diamond) beat Bushwhackers, Von Erich pinned Perfect, Rick Martel pinned Snuka and Piper won a Bunkhouse Battle Royal. . . 11/21 in Providence drew 4,500 as Haku pinned Koko Ware 3/4*, DiBiase pinned Rhodes **1/4, Bossman pinned Barbarian **, Slaughter & Adnon beat Volkoff & Duggan when Slaughter pinned Volkoff *1/4, Savage beat Warrior via count out in 7:48 **, Rockers beat Power & Glory via DQ **, Davey Boy Smith pinned Zhukov DUD and Hart Foundation beat Rhythm & Blues *1/2. . . There have been talks between Vince McMahon and Bruce Hart about opening Calgary up as a farm system for Titan and for Hart to train new wrestlers since the lack of new talent is one of the problems that has kept the gates down. . Story is that Rhodes will do jobs from this point forward until the end of December but he won't be humiliated. . . Expect Von Erich's role to be downgraded. He'll be a pushed face, but not one of the big three. . . 11/24 at Madison Square Garden drew 15,700 paid and $236,000 (largest non-PPV house gate in, months) as Smith pinned Rose *1/2, Tugboat. pinned Zhukov -* (Bravo scheduled but didn't work, probably because of a bum knee because he was there and interfered in the next match), Earthquake beat Hogan via count out when Bravo interfered 1/2*, Shane Douglas pinned Haku DUD, Von Erich pinned Perfect when they had a double pin finish off a back suplex and ref Roddy Piper raised Von Erich's hand *1/4 (match real bad but Piper hammed it up and stole it as ref), DiBiase & Virgil beat Dusty & Dustin when Dustin did the job *1/2, Slaughter pinned Duggan when Adnon hit Duggan with the flat -1/2, Hart pinned Barbarian 3/4* and Rockers beat Demolition via DQ * (disappointing). Back 12/28 with Hogan & Tugboat vs. Earthquake & Bravo, Piper vs. Perfect, DiBiase vs. Von Erich and Slaughter & Adnon vs. Rhodes & Duggan. . . 11/24 in Detroit at Joe Louis Arena drew 1,800 (horrible, even more so considering the weekend and the show came just a day after an NBC special which specifically groomed this main event) as Warlord pinned Snuka (terrible), Power & Glory beat Bushwhackers (decent), Bossman pinned Bobby Heenan in four minutes (okay), Warrior beat Savage via count out Li (Savage e just walked out which didn't go over well), Ware pinned Bart, Martel beat Roberts via DQ when Jake DDT'd everyone one in the dressing room (best match) and Saba Simba pinned Bob Bradley while Legion of Doom beat Orient Express (Tanaka & Diamond). . . 11/24 afternoon show at the Capital Centre drew 8,000 as Haku drew Douglas, Smith pinned Rose, Tugboat pinned Bravo, Hart pinned Barbarian, Slaughter pinned Duggan, DiBiase pinned Rhodes, Von Erich pinned Perfect with Piper as referee and Earthquake beat Hogan via count out. . . 11/23 at the Rosemont Horizon drew 11,000 as Simba pinned Tom Stone, Dustin Rhodes pinned Rose, Warlord pinned Snuka, Tugboat pinned Bravo, Bossman won a handicap match beating Heenan & Perfect, Earthquake beat Hogan via count out and Hogan was carried out on a stretcher after Quake gave him three splashes after the match and Von Erich DDQ Perfect. . . 11/25 in Toronto drew 10,800 (163K) as Bravo pinned Douglas, DiBiase pinned Rhodes, Hart pinned Barbarian, Tugboat pinned Shukov, Demolition beat Bushwhackers, Rockers beat Power & Glory via DQ, Von Erich pinned Perfect with Piper as referee and Earthquake beat Hogan via count out. . 11/17 in Peoria drew 1,500 as Douglas pinned Bart, Smith pinned Haku, Duggan beat Bravo, Hart Foundation beat Rhythm & Blues, Slaughter beat Volkoff, Road Warrior Hawk pinned Demolition Crush, Martel beat Roberts via DQ and Tugboat beat Earthquake via DQ.
136
137Finally: The Tulsa World ran two stories this past week regarding an incident regarding Sting and a fan at the 11/18 Tulsa show. Timothy Yost, 16, claims he was assaulted by Sting and two off-duty police officers at the show, a charge that have been denied by several witnesses. Yost claimed someone sitting behind him threw an object or spit at Sting as he was leaving the ring after his main event match with Sid Vicious. He said two officers then dragged him out and held him next to the dressing room and Sting came out and yelled at him. Yost claimed Sting hit him in the side of his face, knocking off his glasses and again on the other side, breaking his hearing aid, then was thrown against a wall. A police officer told investigators Yost had thrown a cup of liquor at Sting and that's why he was dragged out. The officer denied Sting ever hit Yost, but said words were exchanged. A fan who sat near Yost at the matches said Yost threw a cup of water at Sting and was kicked out. Ed Meyering, spokesman for the convention center said he talked with two officers whose stories were substantially different than Yost's but were basically the same story. Meyering said words were exchange e between Sting and Yost and Sting shoved him, "dis-lodging his glasses, but they didn't fall off." Meyering said the hearing aid wasn't even knocked out of his ear. Yost was no longer talking to reporters on advice from a lawyer when his claims were challenged. Barry Norman of WCW talked with Sting who said the kid threw a liquid in his face and he was leaving the ring and the police threw him out. Sting admitted yelling at the kid but said he didn't slap him. However Norman did find that Yost was admitted to a Tulsa hospital emergency room after the show but questions how he got his injuries. . . A lot is expected to happen in the next two weeks on the bodybuilding scene. McMahon's Bodybuilding Lifestyles is scheduled to hit the newsstands on 12/6. Insiders report the debut issue is "very disappointing." All of the rival magazines with the exception of those controlled by Weider have written articles about Titan's attempt to take over bodybuilding. Joe Weider, the power broker of bodybuilding right now who controls the leading magazines and his IFBB runs the major pro contests has said if anyone jumps to the WBF, "If they go, good luck to them. But there is no coming back." Of course, this is similar to pro wrestling in that every bridge burned can be "un-burned" so no coming back is probably more of a scare tactic than reality. Nevertheless, most of the leading bodybuilders are getting cold feet about jumping. Originally McMahon was thought of as their white knight to save them from Weider, but the image is starting to lose its luster. First off, the dollar figure in the contracts weren't as mind boggling as they were hoping for (but still they were guaranteed income, something that isn't the case now), but more importantly, the contest winnings were worked against the guarantee. For instance, if you were on a $100,000 guarantee and then during the year won $70,000 in the contests, you wouldn't make $170,000, you would make $100,000. In addition, you have to give McMahon all your marketing rights (like wrestlers) and there are bodybuilders who between contests and merchandising can earn $200,000 and up (not many, but the top ones can) and are their own boss. Contract also provides for 42 personal appearances and six contests, and top bodybuilders hate travel (for appearences) because it disrupts a delicate rhythm and it's impossible to peak for contests every two months (IFBB runs a few major ones, but the big guys pick and choose which ones to enter because you can't peak more than twice per year). The giving up merchandising rights and threats of Weider have become like a giant yellow caution sign because nobody knows that if McMahon doesn't pull this off and folds operations, if Weider really won't let them back, then they are persona non grata and won't be able to earn a living. The top guys, whether they like Weider or not, can make a good living. The only two names insiders say are with McMahon didn't even place at the Mr. Olympia this past year. . . The National will be doing a big feature on Jesse Ventura in the next few weeks.
138
139FLASH: Ole Anderson out as NWA booker as Tuesday. More on this next week.
140
141~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
142
143BOWDREN THE BOOKER
144By Jeff Bowdren
145
146The 12/1 TBS show opens with Jim Ross and Bill Watts opening the show with Arn Anderson and Austin Idol. Arn says that the biggest mystery in wrestling is the disappearence of Teddy Long. Ross says that Arn knows very well that Long underwent surgery just yesterday and is recuperating. "Really?" Arn asks. "What happened to him?" He and Idol start laughing hysterically. Watts says he finds it personally disgusting that these two men would try and injure a manager. Arn says that what personally disgusts him are washed-up wrestlers who use their political influence within a promotion to gee a job as an announcer. Ross diffuses potential hostility by asking Idol about his return to the NWA.
147
148"Hank Aaron...Dale Murphy...Deion Sanders... Dominique Wilkens. All of them, great names in the history of Atlanta sports. And not one of them could hold a candle to the Universal Hearthrob, Austin Idol. The greatest sports attraction in the history of Atlanta. And you ask why I've decided to return to the NWA. First of all, because I knew that the time was right to finally return a favor to Teddy Long. He's now felt the wrath of the Las Vegas leglock. Second, I'm looking around here and I see a lot of ugly, ugly men. You talk about Sting, Ric Flair, Ricky Steamboat, Ron Simmons, Lex Luger or some others and you are talking about some ugly men. The women who come to the arenas or watch on television and starved for the sight of a real man. That's why I'm here. After all, I'm the women's pet and the men's regret. An old woman's wish and a young woman's dream. Just look at this face. What woman wouldn't pay big money just to sit and look at this face!" Ross interrupts and asks Idol if he realizes what a can of worms he's opened up by attacking the manager of the world tag team champions. Arn says that they accomplished what they had set out to do. Doom's victory at the Clash was a total fluke. At this point, Reed and Simmons come to the podium. Reed said that the and Ron have just spent all day at the hospital watching Teddy go through hours of major surgery. Now he's looking at a few months of rehabilitation. "But before he weant under the knife, as he was being wheeled down the hall into surgery, he handed.me this." Butch pulls out a piece of paper. He told me that even though we pinned your shoulders at the Clash, that we will give you a rematch at Starrcade. Reason No. 1. So we can prove to everyone that the Clash wasn't a fluke and that we can pin your shoulders once again. Reason No. 2 is simple. The last thing Teddy Long said to me as the gurney was going through those double doors is he reached out and grabbed my arm, and looked at me square in the eye and said something to me that neither of us will forget. "Kick their asses." (Yeah, I know it'll probably get bleeped out and we won't be doing it again)
149
150 Butch hands a contract to Ross. "If either one of you have a gut in your body, you'll sign to face us at Starrcade. He and Ron leave the podium. Arn and Idol sign the contract.
151
152"These guys are dumber than I thought," Arn says. "It's pretty obvious that these two weren't in college on academic scholarships. Well, Teddy Long will be in the hospital the night of Starrcade. What are your million dollar bodies going to be able to do when they're powered by nothing but your ten cent brains? The hearthrob has the brains to go with his body. You two are like a pair of Corvettes, all gassed up and ready to go but without a driver. See you at Starrcade."
153
154Squash matches include Rotunda & Rick Steiner, Lex Luger and Scotty the Body. After Scotty's match, he's interviewed by Lance Russell. He talks about his win at the Clash and mentions that he was originally going to wrestle Scott Steiner but that Scott Steiner called up Bill Watts at the last minute and begged Bill Watts not to make him face "The Body." Lance says that "You know Scott Steiner was injured and that the doctor wouldn't let him wrestle. That's why he wasn't there." Scotty says, "We've all heard the excuses why that cross dressing transvestite didn't show up at the Clash." Suddenly Scott Steiner comes up the aisle. As Steiner jumps into the ring, Scotty hides behind Lance and says, "Watch him Lance, the man has 14 different personalities Lance apologizes to Steiner about Scotty's remarks. Steiner has a bandage around his shoulder and tells Lance not to apologize for Scotty. Steiner says how he's sit back for the last couple of weeks and listened to "Snotty the Body" ("That's Scotty," he screams) put me and my family down. But now, when you come out here and lie and tell these people I'm afraid to wrestle you, it's too much. I remember punks like you in high school and college. Rich guys who drove the fast cars and thought they were so hit. I used to get guys like you on the grass and stretch them and listen to them squeal just for fun. So I'll tell you what, smart guy. My shoulder is pretty messed up. I was told to take the rest of the year off. But I don't care. Put your money where your mouth is at Starrcade." Scotty looks hesitant. "I, I, I never said anything about wrestling you." "Wait a minute, you just one minute ago said how much you wished you could have wrestled him at the Clash," Lance reminds him. "Uh, yeah, well that was the Clash. That's something completely different. Besides, I wouldn't want to wrestle someone who is physically unable to defend themselves." At this point Steiner snatches Scotty and says, "Don't you ever worry about me defending myself." "Uh, uh, but are you sure your shoulder is okay," Scott says. "I'm gonna make you squeal, just like a pig." Scott shoves Scotty down and walks away.
155
156Before the television main event, a video is shown of the Armstrong/Horner vs. Morton/ Rogers situation. Interviews follow, with the announcement of the match at Starrcade. The entire card is run down again with the announcement that the entire card has been signed, sealed and will be delivered on PPV Dec. 16.
157
158The television main event if Flair & Steamboat vs. Midnight Express. Before the match starts, we show another video of the Flair-Steamboat matches from last year. The match goes 18 minutes. Windham & Landel come to ringside. Cornette hands the racquet to Landel and Cornette and Windham distract the ref. As Flair hits the ropes for a spot, Landel hits him across the back. At this point the New Kids hit the ring and an eight-man meelee ensues with the match ending without a decision.
159
160Ross announces next week's television main event has Lex Luger vs. Sid Vicious. Syndicated shows have NWA Pro with Rotunda & Rick Steiner beating Dutch Mantell & Randy Culley, World Wide has Anderson & Idol beating Southern Boys, PH has Scotty beating Zenk and ME has Armstrong & Horner (as heels) beating Youngbloods (relax, they're just being brought in to do a job on television). After the match, Tracy Smothers and Steve Armstrong come to the ring. Steve confronts Brad about what happened last week. Brad says that he's sorry that he and Tim lost the four-way team match. "No," Steve says. "I mean about attacking Ricky Morton and Tommy Rogers after the match." "I only did it because those two tried to injure you with that illegal double dropkick." "Injuries are part of the game as you know it," Steve responds, starting to raise his voice. "But I didn't expect you to sucker punch them. And I did figure that you would help me back to the dressing room. But I guess you were too busy trying to be a superstar, there. So you forgot that your brother blew out his ankle." "Shut up," Brad says. "It's time for you to start acting like a man, instead of a boy. Be a winner, not a loser, which is what you've been a lot lately." "Better a loser in the ring than being a loser, period." Brad slaps Steve and reminds him that he's the oldest brother and walks off. As he leaves, Steve says that the family is going to be really proud of Brad, sarcastically, for acting like an idiot on national television.
161
162*******************************************************************************
163
164THE READERS PAGES  
165S.C. Dacy, who it was listed in last week's issue was looking for Madusa Miceli Japanese videos from 1990, had the wrong fax number with the listing. The correct fax machine number if 213-654-3473. . . Mike Lyon of 8528 Storchwoods Dr #2-B, Savage, MD 20763 is looking for a VHS video of the movie "What's up Doc" the Bugs Bunny special on TNT on 11/18. He can exchange any PPV wrestling show from the past two years as a trade. . . Mae Young of 16139 Via Arriba, San Lorenzo, CA 94580 is selling a set of 12 8x10 photos of the pioneer of ladies wrestling for $14.95 plus $2.50 postage, a Ladies International Wrestling Association t-shirt for $11.95 plus $3 postage and a LIWA coffee mug for $5.95 plus $3 postage. . . . Vince DiPalma of 444 Mariners Way, Copiague, NY 11726 is looking for a video of the 11/9 Tom Robinson benefit show and of the 4/21 Tommy Dee Universal Wrestling Superstars taping from Huntington, NY and audio tapes of Happy Holiday's old wrestling radio show in New York from the early 70s. . . Clint Freeman of 196 E. 75th St., New York, NY 10021 has a video of Tenryu's SWS two hour television special along with UWF, New Japan and All Japan tapes for sale or trade. . . B.J. Connerton of 18 Lucas Ave., Newport, RI 02840 is looking for Japanese tapes from 1986-88. . . Ric Davies of 1220 14th St., Bay City, MI 48708 has an authentic Cobra mask autographed by George Takano for sale for $130. . . Alex Jurow of 1610 Neil Armstrong #111, Montebello, CA 90640 is looking for a video of the 20/20 story on pro wrestling from 1985. . . Jerry Grey of 6315 Jennings Rd., Orlando, FL 32818 has tapes of his SWF shows, some of which include The Funks, Bugsy McGraw and Wendi Richter for sale for $12 for a 90 minute tape. He is also looking for tapes from Oregon from 1985-86. . . David Mello of 2060 Wilkins Ave. #22, Napa, CA 94559 has looking for tapes of the Inoki and Baba anniversary shows from Japan. He'll trade anything from his collection for them. . . Don Joras of 7845 Greendale Ave., Burlington, WI 53105 is looking for a Halloween Havoc '90 video.
166
167CANADIAN POLITICS AND WRESTLING
168When you used the quote from Ontario premier David Peterson, where he referred to himself as the Ultimate Warrior, you left out a few other details. Peterson, who admits to being a wrestling fan, made the comment back in August during the provincial election. The surprise election, which he called for midway through his term (this would be the same as George Bush calling a federal election for, say January 15th), saw his standing in the polls dropping when he made his comparison to himself as Ultimate Warrior and his opponents as Demolition. A short time later Bob Rae, the leader of the socialist New Democratic Party, responded with something like, "last week he was the Ultimate Warrior, now he's the Ultimate Worrier. In September, the voters responded by handing Peterson one of the worst defeats in the history of Canadian politics. With Rae's NDP party winning a majority of seats in the Ontario legislature, with Peterson even losing his own seat in the legislature. To compare that with U.S. politics, think of Jesse Jackson running under the banner of something like a third party and winning that Jan. 15 election. While I could draw a comparison between Peterson calling a surprise election on the people and the WWF, I'll leave you to "think about it." While it is true at the last NWA show here in Toronto they did tell the fans to order the PPV show, at least they didn't tell us to tune into TBS every week for wrestling like they did at the first card. However, it is possible that even Bill Watts might be proud of Canada as we may start getting PPV. A group led by The Sports Network and Rogers Cable have applied to the Canadian Radio/Television Commission for permission to offer PPV. It is possible that the CRTC could rule in their favor as soon as 1991. Recently, approval of copyright fees paid by cable companies to programmers was given (though because the amounts could run to $50 million, the cable companies could appeal to the federal cabinet to try and reduce the amount). It is also possible that 1991 will finally see Superstations come to Canada. It is one thing for us marks to throw out this idea or that idea on what the NWA should do, however for Jeff Bowdren to plan things out in the detail that he has, he deserves all the credit he's been receiving for the series. Most weeks I find it the most interesting thing in the entire wrestling business. The best part is how he's managed to get the little things that each individual does and work it into the series.
169Charles Hodgkisson
170Toronto, Ontario
171
172THESZ LETTER
173Lou Thesz showed me a dimension that I didn't know he possesses. He has proven to be an intelligent person who knows how to put forth a well-written letter. Does what he claims and say have merit? Let me put him in perspective. He has been a professional wrestler since the late 1930s when Greco-Roman was the predominant form of wrestling. He transcended into the age of television making the transition into the catch-as-catch-can style. Finally, he is well acquainted with the Vince McMahon Jr. era of steroid bulked behemoths and captive employment with an overabundance of glitz thrown into the promotions. Finally, he has been very prominent outside and inside the ring for many, many years. Can you ask for better credentials? It was a pleasure reading what he had to say. He didn't make his thoughts appear as holy writ, he merely told it as it probably really was. Nice job, Lou. The Strangler would be proud.
174Howard Siegel
175Yonkers, New York
176
177THANKSGIVING SHOWS  
178The closer and closer we get to the end of the year, it seems that the major promotions both want to lock up certain awards. First, the worst major card of the year has to go to Clash 13. Nothing on either television or PPV was worse all year long. Plus, Sid Vicious vs. Night Stalker has to be the worst match of the year. Nothing could be more pitiful than two total stiffs working in a match that bad. If Andre the Giant had wrestled either of them, at least he would have made it a poor match. This was downright disgustingly pathetically horrible. Worst gimmick of the year has to go to the WWF's hatching of the Gobbledy Gooker. It was so stupid that I had to laugh. As for the show itself, a slight thumbs down. The first two matches were decent. Vipers vs. Visionaries was a good match because of the Rockers but the rest of the show was pretty bad.
179Evan Schlesinger
180Great Neck, New York
181
182Put me down for a solid thumbs down on Survivors but three of your readers who saw the show with me all gave it a thumbs up. That Gobbledy Gooker was the absolute worst thing I've ever seen in any form of entertainment. What an embarrassment What did you think of the Undertaker? The kids at the arena thought he looked sinister so I'm sure he'll get over.
183Dan Reilly
184Enfield, Connecticut
185
186ART BARR
187Neither Chris Champion nor Art Barr were ever convicted of rape. Unless they are, I respect their right to earn a living. Barr has served his community work and is just playing a character, just like Champion did as a turtle. The key is, they are simply playing characters. We should judge them only on their workrate, which is great in both cases. It remains to be seen what happens in Champion's case, but whatever he did, doesn't minimize my enjoyment of his ring talents or the character he plays. The bottom line, as defined by Vince McMahon is that the character someone plays has little or nothing to do with the person playing the role.
188Mike Lano
189San Francisco, California