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The singing wasn't bad, actually, and I liked the part where Michael sank the half-court shot in an empty Omni. But I didn't particularly care for JR acting like a groupie, even if he and Michael are friends outside the ring. Would Jim Nantz or Al Michaels go clubbing with Rob Gronkowski? I could understand him introducing the Birds like Tony did, but not hanging out with them in this way. Hayes was the only Bird out of all of them who ever really cared about the music part of the deal. I'm not sure if any of the others could sing a note, and Buddy Jack in particular would have made a horrible rock singer. Sadly, Southern country rock was out by this time, so there was no way for them to look good at all, either musically or in the ring. Realistically, it was time for them to call it a career (or careers, to be technical).

Where was Spotty? Was Larry sick or hurt? It wouldn't surprise me, given the brutal beating the Dogs must be taking as this match goes around the loop. Lee takes some tremendous shots, including the avalanche he eats for the winning pin. As I said a couple of threads back, his physical courage is enormous, particularly for someone still so new in the business. At two different points in the clip we saw, they tease a possible Embry turn on Jeff, including one time when Eric actually hits Jeff in the head with a trash can. I'm glad they didn't go that way, as it would have been one of the biggest letdowns in Memphis wrestling history. As a few people have said above me, Embry looks right at home in this feud. It's a shame that this is the only match where he's really a big part of it. So Spotty was the one who threw the acid, huh? Wow. The sales job by Lawler, Jeff, and Embry goes above and beyond. Whatever that really was (maybe hot sauce with dry ice to cause the steam?) it had to legitimately sting Embry's eyes if it even hit a little. This is worse than Martel and Jake with the Arrogance, because I'm pretty sure that was just water with scent possibly added. I can't imagine any red, steaming substance that can't cause damage if it lands anywhere close to the eyes, and we know the steam is real because we see it. Loss is right; this is true hardcore, and I don't think Heyman ever stole this angle, though he probably used something close to it. Sorry, but even as a mark it would be tough for me to buy the "if we stopped booking the Dogs, they'd call us cowards all over the country" routine Eddie's trying to sell in his interview. First of all, no other organization would allow them to mention the USWA, Lawler, or Jeff. Second, how is that your problem? One of your best hands was just blinded by these animals. Are you going to take the chance that Lawler or Jeff or some poor innocent young guy gets the same treatment or worse? They should have just used the lawsuit part and let it go at that; everyone in 1992 understands that the threat of lawsuits, even from despicable people like Lee, can cripple any company. Nice tie-in by Lawler to his already legendary feud with Terry Funk. Jeff isn't as good during this promo as he would be later in the show. "Either Lawler and I stay, or you guys leave town." It's okay, Jeff. We knew what you meant. I liked Lawler's admission that getting rid of the Dogs would take longer than he and Jeff first thought. Say what you will about these monsters, they're as tough a team as Memphis has ever seen. I can't wait to see where this feud goes from here!

I actually thought that Jeff was a tad more effective than Lawler here because he spoke from the heart about a real-life issue that his dad overcame. He stumbled a little here and there, but that's to be expected when you talk about an emotional issue like your father potentially going blind. Lawler was typically terrific, though, and he really stressed the importance of him and Jeff finally getting the Dogs and Lee in a cage where they can't run or take the action all over the MSC. I have no idea who Charlie Trapper really is, but Lawler made me want to see him, which is an accomplishment considering that the promo we saw earlier wasn't exactly earth-shattering. I just hope we have what they showed of the match on the set. It really feels like we're heading for a turning point in this feud, and it's about time, since the faces have been getting their rear ends handed to them by the Dogs almost unabated since November.

I heard so much about how great this was that I had to check it out even before I saw the actual blinding angle. All I have to say is, is this the real Eric Embry? It's almost like he's never been a heel before in Memphis, the way he talks about how he never dreamed that Lee and the Dogs would try to blind someone. Turn or no turn, I find this laughable coming from him after all he's tried to do to every USWA babyface on both sides of the promotion over the last two years. Granted, he's never tried to blind anyone, but he sure as hell has tried to cripple almost everyone from Jerry Lawler to Jeff Jarrett to Eddie Marlin. Don't get me wrong, Embry delivers his speech beautifully, but they asked him to lay it on about ten layers too thick. I like babyface Embry; innocent, pure, never-dreamed-anyone-could-be-hurt in-this-business Embry I can do without. I'd buy this type of promo more from Jeff or some other career babyface.

This was more about Brian getting his comeuppance than Dr. Tom winning the title. Besides, Dr. Tom only has to appear one more time to drop the belt. Knoxville to Memphis isn't exactly a cross-country journey. At any rate, I'm not sure how I feel about Eddie trying to take the chain away from Brian. It just seems like too much physical involvement from a referee, though of course it pales in comparison to Eddie knocking Brian cold with whatever that was in his hand. It will be interesting to see where Brian goes from here; does he regain the belt from Dr. Tom the following week, does he feud with Eddie by proxy (and who would the proxy be?) or both? This feud was destined to be way underrated due to it happening at the same time as the Dogs-Lawler/Jeff feud, but it's consistently delivered good action in the stuff we've seen, and Brian has shown that he'll be a force to be reckoned with in Memphis for some time to come.

There are two things we can guess about this: 1) It didn't last long, as I don't see the names "Moondog Hunter" or "Charlie Trapper" anywhere on the match list for this set. 2) This has to be a repackaged jobber; if it was someone we were supposed to know, it would have come out by now. This almost sounds like it could be someone Dutch would know. But if they'd wanted to go that way, they could have just brought Dutch himself in for a one-shot. Corny would have let him go; hell, his own guy (Dr. Tom) was still the Southern champion. Did this guy (Trapper) even make it to the MSC? As it stands, this was an amusing little segment, but nothing more.

Mike called this a bait-and-switch, but I actually thought this was fairly realistic. As obnoxious as he is, Brian had a point; he didn't sign to defend the belt twice in one day, so the second match should be non-title. Of course, Eddie Marlin could have ruled that this should have been a continuation of the original match that was stopped when the Dogs interfered, but then what would they have done for a Southern title match at the MSC? It shows how much they thought of Brian that he's allowed to be in the promotion's number two feud (such as it is) at such a young age, and he's shown in what we've seen that he's ready for it. He even gets to push Eddie around, which not even his dad did very often. It's a shame that Dr. Tom would be full-time in SMW within a few weeks, as he would have been a perfect opponent for Brian to learn from during a long-term program. I thought Dr. Tom's promo was a bit too heelish, although I understand that he was supposed to be upset by the Dogs' attack and contemptuous of Brian as an opponent. Maybe he got carried away a bit and forgot which side of Tennessee he was on.

Finally, someone embraces the Moondog rules and gets the upper hand with them, as Embry finds a sack of flour and blinds not only the Dogs and Lee, but half of the studio audience. That's the kind of thing that someone should have done weeks ago, but I'll take it when I can get it. Embry is at his psychotic best here, and Lawler and Jeff are finally sick enough of the Dogs and their lunacy that they agree to team with the self-styled "lowest of the low". I can accept the pairing on this basis; they're not even teasing an actual turn for Embry yet. This is just Lawler and Jeff turning to the biggest snake in the grass they know to get rid of someone they hate even more. Dave makes a point of saying how uncomfortable he is with the idea, and they really get over the stip that if Embry turns on Lawler and Jeff, he's out of the USWA for good. So we have half the fans expecting the Dogs to finally take a whoopin' and the other half expecting Embry to turn on Lawler and Jeff, which would force Embry out of town once and or all and possibly open the door for someone like Idol, Dundee, or even Jackie Fargo to come to the faces' aid. A brilliant piece of promoting. By the way, since I've found out that "Moondog rules" are part of the angle, my opinion on this feud has changed. Now I see why most of you like it the way you do, as the faces are trapped, having to fight for their lives every time they step into the ring against the Dogs with the officials helpless to do much about it except try to limit the postmatch attacks as best they can. I still think having them run in on every match on a given show is overkill, and I still wish they'd decide to work regular matches on TV and save the hardcore stuff for the arenas, but those are relatively minor quibbles. On the other hand, Richard Lee has still regressed noticeably, and Corey's still annoying as hell. If he hasn't figured out by now that Lee and the Dogs aren't leaving ringside in a given situation just because he thinks they're goofy and stupid, then there's no hope for him.

Okay, that explains a lot and changes my perspective a bit. Thanks as always, Pete!

They've beaten this into the ground since the Dogs got here, Pete. It's beyond ridiculous now. This looked like a pretty good match before the run-in, and Brian has really impressed me. He may look and talk like his dad, but he has his own style, and he looks very good for someone as young as he is. Dr. Tom is his usual thoroughly professional self, and he's every bit as effective here as he is as part of the Bodies in SMW. Nice to see Jackie, and she's looking good. I'm surprised Embry didn't call on Dr. Tom to team with him one more time to prove to Lawler and Jeff that his intentions are good. I guess they didn't want to involve Tom in the feud any more than necessary since he was also in SMW. How was Brian spared a beating? If you're the Dogs and you're out to attack every wrestler in the building, shouldn't he be on the list? I would have laughed my guts out if they'd attacked him and Lee had said, "We're givin' him the whoopin' his daddy shoulda long ago!"

Serious question: Were all of these Dogs-Lawler/Jeff matches no-DQ, or did the refs decide not to even bother to enforce the weapons rules? How Lawler could work an anti-hardcore angle with ECW after doing some of this stuff is absolutely beyond me. Why shouldn't Lee interfere? It's not like any of the other rules are being followed. Can the Dogs even work a non-weapons tag match? My guess would be no, based on their physiques. Embry's promo would have been better if he hadn't screamed it at the top of his lungs, but he has a point: Who else can Lawler and Jeff get for an equal fight, since there are now three Dogs? Fuller's gone, Idol barely showed up, Anthony's on the way out, and Dundee's either injured or retired. Even Dutch is in the booth over in Knoxville. They literally have no one else to team with and they know it. I like Lawler not just accepting right away, since Embry's more than capable of hatching a plot with Lee to turn on him and Jeff and cripple them both, but we all know he'll accept eventually. It's just a question of time. How close are we to a Jackie Fargo sighting? He's the only stop Papa hasn't pulled out yet in this feud short of returning to the ring himself.

How Embry wasn't bleeding a gusher after at least seven garbage can shots to the head plus a board broken over his head I have no idea. This may be the most brutal beating the Dogs have administered yet. Did anyone else catch a few fans rooting for the Dogs to pound the hell out of Embry? That's how hated Eric is right now in Memphis, and how they're going to do a credible face turn on him in less than six months is something I'm honestly looking forward to seeing. Not only are the Dogs' run-ins repetitive, but so is everything else about how then angle is presented. It's always Corey saying, "Richard, get your guys outta here!" followed by Eddie Marlin coming out and cutting the cameras off in a vain effort to stop the Dogs. At least now we're getting physical contact between Lee and Eddie, which is something different. I guess we're not to the point yet where Eddie wants to put himself into a match, but it's probably coming soon. As for Corey, does he really think Lee's going to listen to him after all these weeks? He's just plain annoying, even if what he says is right. Memo to Richard: It's possible to have an identifiable Southern accent, speak loudly, and still be clearly understood. I get that he's new to the business and nervous, but he was much better in his first week or two than he is now. So this was Cujo with Spotty? What the hell happened to Splat?

Great local promo for an upcoming Beckley card. Not much of substance can be said in a minute fifteen, but it's an opportunity to hear Dr. Tom talk as a Body. I never minded the Piper imitation; he naturally sounds a bit like Rod, so why not take advantage of it to try and make some money? It got a bit out of control down in Texas, but I think Papa Jarrett wanted it that way so he could have something close to classic 1984 Piper in the booth. Once Tom's time as a commentator was over, the "Piperness" in his voice came back to its natural level. These Fantastics were the Fulton brothers; where was Tommy Rogers, and did Corny try to bring him in at any point? Why exactly do Corny and Stan legitimately hate Beckley, West Virginia? I have a feeling that I've heard the story, but I've heard so many of Corny's stories about why he hates certain towns and people that they all run together.

I laughed at the idea of Stan claiming sexual harassment on behalf of himself and Dr. Tom. You passed that stage a while ago, boys. Still, it was a good choice by Corny to let him deliver that part of the promo, as it sounds more serious coming from him than from a known bull artist like Corny. I hope they let Dr. Tom talk next time; he's the second-best promo of the three of them, although not by nearly as much as I thought before I saw Stan here. I loved the look on Bob's face when Stan mentioned sexual harassment: "Oh, no, what are they getting us into now?" Davis was decent in the insert, but I could have done without Maggs, although he did sell his neck well. Joey was a lot more interesting during the minute and a half he spent as Eddie Gilbert's protégé in Memphis back in 1990.

Nice story about the Star Riders, Pete. I wonder if they ever worked again anywhere. I'm honestly trying to see the excitement most of you are in segments like these, but I'm not. As I've said before, maybe if the Dogs had just started out with normal heel work (eye gouges, punches, and the like) and then progressed to weapons, I'd feel more involved. As it is, it's like watching ECW every week; I enjoy parts of it in the moment, and it's a fine spectacle, but outside of one or two guys what happens doesn't stick with me, and I'm thinking about other things I could be watching instead. As for individual performers, Lawler's pretty much carrying the angle all by himself now; Lee has regressed to the worst kind of stereotypical Southern wrasslin' manager, and he's being completely outclassed by the King on the mic, which spells disaster if you have to work with him. In this case, Lawler's out there telling Lee that he's right; he and Jeff have no qualms about injuring Spike, and are looking to do the same to him and Spotty. Does Lee threaten other Moondogs (especially considering that he actually has one waiting)? Call Lawler a monster who murdered Andy Kaufman? Trash Jeff as his father's son and the fair-haired boy of this lousy stinkin' hellhole of a promotion? He does no such things; his one and only response is "I want Eddie Marlin out here right now!" It doesn't come off as heel whining, but rather as being in over his head verbally and having no idea what else to say. I'll give him this, though: it takes a ton of guts to agree to be burned by Lawler twice. The brawl was fine, and Lee being stripped ends up being important because of the reign of terror it sets off. I would have preferred not to have them start making up Moondogs out of thin air, but they really didn't have a choice since Spike quit. Nice to see Dr. Tom. In an alternate universe, we get an early SMW crossover match between the Bodies and the Dogs, with Corny and his racquet offsetting Lee. I get the idea that going to break and thus cutting off the video is supposed to stop the heels from committing mayhem, but it still looks dumb when the last image we see is of one of the Dogs choking the life out of Jeff.

I can't often say that Paul blows away his competition on the mic, but he sure does here. Scott and Hector are about as bland and lifeless as any two babyfaces who ever lived, while Paul hasn't done this well on the stick since his original 1984 WWF heel run. He's an angry man, and rightfully so. First, his piledriver is banned, and second, he's only a wild card in the SMW title tournament. He gets madder and madder as the segment goes on, and finally Hector challenges him to a match. There are a couple of things that would have made this segment go down a bit smoother. 1) Bob could have pointed out that they're taping these shows in the state of Tennessee, where the piledriver is banned by the athletic commission, not only by Bullet Bob, and that Paul ought to know this, since he spent time in Memphis. I could just see him going even more nuts than he had already, screaming that Bullet Bob and the Tennessee State Athletic Commission were in cahoots against him. Second, when Bob pointed out that Paul hadn't wrestled for very long in SMW, Paul could have replied that nobody has; the damn promotion just started a month ago. That would have only added to Paul's persecution complex; how is it that he gets singled out for not appearing in SMW long enough to earn a tournament spot when he wouldn't have had time to build a track record there in the first place? Anyway, we get to the match, and there's not a whole lot to it. Both men look decent, but they've each had much better days. As almost everyone else has said, the best part comes after the bout, when Paul piledrives no less than four guys, including Hector twice, with the second one being on a chair. No other promotion Paul's ever been in has gone to these lengths to establish the driver as a killer move, and I wonder how Bullet Bob squared all this with the athletic commission. The only thing missing was Paul piledriving one of the jobbers on the concrete floor. It's hard to say that he's the top heel in SMW right now; that slot's always going to belong to Corny. But he's undoubtedly the most physically fearsome heel on the roster right now, and it's going to take more than Tim Horner or Brian Lee to provide suitable opposition for him. I liked how Paul made a special point of demanding to be called "Mr. Wonderful" exclusively, and I also liked that Bob didn't automatically comply. One is a case of excellent heel work; the other would have been a case of SMW trying to blatantly copy one of the WWF's most asinine conventions. Dutch is a hoot claiming that Paul gets no respect, just like him. I also loved him trying to give odds on the match like a Vegas bookmaker. He's closing in on Heenan for the title of funniest color commentator in the business. Speaking of Heenan, Paul's translation of "Arriba!" couldn't have come from anyone else. It's clear that their time on the road together rubbed off on him. (I guess Corny could have given it to him too, but it sounds more like one of Bobby's lines in my head.) It was nice of Bob and Dutch to acknowledge (and in Dutch's case, critique) Mark Curtis's first appearance as an SMW referee.

Thanks for the info, Bix. The home market Bix refers to, in case anyone's curious, is New York, where the show aired on WNBC.

We begin this segment with a guy asking for a percentage of how many wrestlers in the WWF are homosexuals. Phil cuts him off with an exasperated "Nobody knows that!" He then asks the guy to report back to him once he finds out how many homosexuals are in his neighborhood. Bravo, sir. Over the credit roll, a woman asks, "Isn't wrestling fixed anyway?" Phil answers that who wins and loses is a creative decision of the booker (though he doesn't use that term); this show is about possible crimes being committed. In what should be a fitting final question, a man wants to know: Even if what everyone says about their careers possibly being over if they blow the whistle on sexual abuse of minors is true, are those careers worth sacrificing the well-being of young children? Bruno answers that they're not, and we close on one last ovation. As is usually the case with daytime TV, nothing is settled, and at times the yelling gets to be a bit too much. But I learned some things I didn't know, particularly about the demise of the midgets, and Phil didn't ramp up the sensationalism to unbearable levels like some of today's hosts would have. In the light of future events, it's really hard to say that anyone in the actual firing line (that is, everyone but Dave and Arezzi) came out of this looking good, but that would be almost impossible under the circumstances. The sad thing is, Vince has never bothered to repeat his performance here when faced with major national interviews again, instead preferring to hide behind his Mr. McMahon heel character (as in his interview with Bob Costas) and thus cement his reputation as a liar, a heartless conman, and a borderline lunatic. It's too bad, really; a little more public remorse in the light of events such as Owen Hart's death may have saved the business from plunging quite so far into the pop culture abyss as it has today (with the notable exception of The Rock). Thanks for reading, and now let's get back to actual wrestling!

We come back from break to a caller (I always wondered how they were able to have calls when the show was pretaped) asking Vince why Garvin and Patterson resigned, why Vince accepted their resignations, and if it's true that Mel Phillips was suspended instead of fired. Vince acknowledges the information, but doesn't answer any of the questions. Another lady gets up to say that if anyone involved had any knowledge of child abuse, they should have come forward. Phil agrees, so do I, and so should anyone else with a conscience. Barry rather heatedly defends himself by saying that his career is over because he spoke out, and then everybody talks over everybody else again. Superstar wanders into the fray, reiterating his point that Hogan's lies constitute child abuse, which of course has nothing to do with the question at hand. Bruno then says that some of the incidents were reported, but the McMahons chose to do nothing. A young man gets up and says that it's a shame that everyone on the panel except Dave is choosing to accuse Vince. He brings up Barry's criminal past and David Sammartino's firing, which draws a laugh from Bruno. Bruno blows him off by saying that he'll understand when he grows up. He looked plenty grown up to me, Bruno. Phil's not too anxious to head down these roads anyway, so we move on. (Yes, I noticed the Lex Luger shirt. I wonder where the guy got it.) The last lady to be called on before the break clearly isn't a fan; she wonders why people get into wrestling in the first place; it's tacky, sleazy, and not a pure art form. Phil brings up the money and the fact that people love it, but that's not enough to convince her. Phil brings on a caller, only to cut him off for a break before he can say a word. Nobody on the panel looks good in this segment; they're all too busy trying to defend themselves and their actions. I expected better from Bruno in particular, but I don't think Phil would have let him talk about David's firing, so maybe it's better that that question was just ignored. The rest of the questions either couldn't be answered, presumably for legal reasons (Vince being asked about Garvin. Patterson, and Philips) or ran into a kayfabe stone wall (though it's hard to blame Barry, since wrestling's probably the only thing he's ever wanted to do, and now his career's over). Everyone involved seems ready to call this a draw and move on to the next hot subject. I think we only have one more segment, which I'll get to in my next post.

We begin the next segment with a few seconds of Savage wrestling (I think) The Barbarian. it's recent, as he's wearing a shirt. Phil references a People article on Hogan, and that segues into him asking Superstar if he introduced young wrestlers to steroids. He answers that Hogan came to him in Florida in 1977 and inquired about them. Phil interrupts and says that he doesn't want to send him to jail for that; he seems to want to take extra caution with guys making charges in order to avoid the show being sued. He talks over Superstar for a few moments, and I can't tell what either guy is saying. The next thing I can hear clearly is Superstar saying that he freely gave Hogan the information, and that he's injected Hogan at least a half dozen times. I can't dispute that, exactly, but their paths have crossed so seldom over the years that I suspect he's exaggerating at least. David Shultz has injected him over two hundred times, which is a little more plausible since they were friends in the AWA and a package deal when Hogan first went to the WWF in 1984. According to Superstar, Hogan was so clueless about steroid use for the first year he took them that he injected himself every day instead of cycling. Phil's so hot to interrupt that all I can make out is something about Hogan's income. Superstar then accuses Hogan of child abuse through his lies about steroids and cocaine use. The words are a little harsh, maybe, but the idea's fundamentally true. All through this, they cut back and forth to Vince rolling his eyes in disgust. The audience gives Superstar one of the biggest hands of the show. Arezzi then asks Vince if he was devastated when Hogan made his admission on Arsenio, and Vince denies it until Dave calls him out on it. Vince smirks uncomfortably as the audience applauds again. Vince and Dave talk over each other a bit, with Dave saying that Hogan's admission to three instances of steroid use isn't the whole truth. Vince then reminds everyone that steroids were legal back when Superstar first started using them. Dave starts to rebut that by saying that they weren't legal in Florida, but Phil interrupts again, saying that he doesn't want to "string up" anyone who took steroids when they were legal. To borrow Phil's own phrase, if you ask me Phil got bored with this show once the subject turned from gay sex, which is titillating and right down daytime TV's alley, to steroid use, which is really a subject better suited to sports discussion panels. The Q&A then begins with a young lady asking what percentage of wrestlers in the WWF are currently performing sexual favors to keep their jobs. Barry says he can't say, since Garvin and Patterson, the two main culprits, are gone. The same young lady then asks for a percentage while Barry was employed, Barry can't speak to that either, and we go to break in the middle of his answer. As I said above, the steam went out of this show for the most part once the subject turned from sex to steroids. Phil's scared to death of Hogan and others possibly suing the show (especially since Shults was pulled at the last minute per Vince's demand) so he's trying to stop everyone from saying too much, and Superstar, who's not exactly Mr. Credibility, is the only one really talking now. Maybe this should have been a two-part show: steroids one day, sex the next, although getting Vince to appear for both would have been damn near impossible. If I had to bet, I'd say that most of the audience questions will have to do with the sex scandal, which is not only meatier, but has a lot less of a moral gray area attached. More to come!

We begin the next segment with a few short clips, one of Liz standing in the ring crying after Savage won the tournament at Mania IV and two brief clips of the Mania 2 battle royal: John Studd eliminating Refrigerator Perry and Andre eliminating Bret Hart to win it. What the point was of using stuff this old featuring four guys who aren't even with the WWF at this time I can't begin to guess. Besides, I believe that the footage came courtesy of Larry King Live, so Phil's researchers couldn't even be bothered to dig up clips of their own. Great job, gentlemen. Way to take your subject matter seriously! Over the footage, Phil notes that many wrestling fans are children, which is always good to know. I thought we were headed for Q&A, but apparently not. Phil asks Dave if he's impressed with Vince's willingness to come forward, Dave says he's glad, because no one else with the possible exception of the accusers knows for sure if there's a problem. Dave then says he believes Barry's story and that he's pretty good at talking to wrestlers and separating fact from fiction. He adds that Barry's taken and passed a polygraph. Barry then tells his second story of the show, this one about being alone in a car with Terry Garvin on a drive from Amarillo to Albuquerque during which Garvin asked to perform oral sex on him at least every forty to fifty miles. Orton kept refusing as politely as he could, Vince and Phil both interrupt before he can finish (they must be legitimately short on time), and Phil asks if he wants to destroy Vince for what Garvin did to him. Barry says no, he just wants the sexual harassment laws to be respected, and that he knows he's out of the business for good because he's outed executives and bookers who are more important to the business than he is. Bruno agrees, and tells the story of how Senior blackballed him back in 1961 for taking dates with his opposition, which Phil objects to, probably because he wants to get to the Q&A. Bruno finishes by saying that there's no union for wrestlers and that if you cross the promoters, you're dead. Phil then plays Perry Mason with Vince, asking if the money in the business was so good that he looked the other way when these charges were brought to him. Vince says no, asking why he would risk all that money to cover it up. He had no clue what was going on. He then makes the point that the stories Barry's telling happened fourteen years before (and in another territory to boot). They could very well have happened just as Barry described, but all Vince can do now is make sure that things like that don't happen again. Another masterful job by Vince of painting himself as the concerned CEO who only wants to get at the truth and defend his company and livelihood against those who want to bring him down (which is almost everyone else on the panel). Phil ends the segment by telling Vince that if the problems within the WWF aren't fixed, he won't be able to give tickets away, and Vince agrees. The major takeaway from this part for me is how Vince continues to rule the day against all odds. Everyone on that panel wants to trap him in a lie, then hand him his head. But he makes that impossible by playing the sympathetic boss about as well as he ever would. This probably isn't making much of an impression on the audience, but it's certainly doing a lot to present Barry, Superstar, and Bruno as lunatics with such a big ax to grind that they're bringing up allegations and situations from as far back as thirty-one years prior. He may have made mistakes, but surely he can't be as evil as these poor misguided souls say he is, can he? We've got about twelve minutes left, so Q&A almost has to be next. More to come!

Now on to Bruno. We don't get to hear any applause he might have gotten as he came out; he's actually been sitting there since Superstar first appeared at least. Phil asks him if he's impressed with Vince acknowledging that there are problems in the WWF, and Bruno responds that the people who are applauding Vince for being so caring (like who?) don't really know him at all. He then tells the story of having to make a swing through Arizona and New Mexico in 1987 to replace a wrestler suspended for drugs (I've heard this before, and it's Jake Roberts, although Bruno doesn't identify him here) and being so afraid of driving with a wrestler who may have drugs in his car that he went to Vince, who arranged for Chief Jay Strongbow to be his driver. Smart move; could you imagine the headlines on the East Coast if Bruno was pulled over in a car that was busted for pot or heroin? So many people of all ages still believe in him and love him in cities like New York, Boston, and Pittsburgh, even though he hasn't been near a wrestling ring in close to thirty years. I should know; I'm one of them. Phil then asks why these charges are just coming to light, and Dave responds that there's never been a forum for them before. According to him, wrestling is just like elementary school; nothing's worse than a snitch. That may be the most apt comparison I've ever heard concerning the business. He then talks briefly about Brody's murder and how no one wanted to go to the cops. Phil replies that this like another scandal involving the New York Mets concerning charges brought by a woman (I don't remember this), and that no one, least of all an audience of his, is surprised by the idea of drug use among wrestlers. Arezzi then tells about two midget wrestlers (Karate Kid and Lord Littlebrook). Patterson made advances toward Karate, which scared him to the point of tears, and Littlebrook went to Patterson and told him to leave Karate alone, especially because he wasn't gay. According to Arezzi, the midgets were only used one more time before their contract was revoked. Phil spends the rest of the segment recapping the program so far and priming his audience for the question-and answer period that should be up next. This segment was too rushed for its own good; I hadn't heard why the midgets were canned, but there wasn't much ground covered other than that. Bruno only got a minute or two, and he and Vince didn't interact at all, which was disappointing. I guess once Phil realized that he wasn't getting any tearful confessions out of anybody, he decided to wrap things up. I don't anticipate many probing questions from the audience, most of whom likely dismiss the whole scandal as sleazy people doing sleazy things to other sleazy people and are content to leave it at that. More to come!

Now for the steroids discussion. Phil introduces Dave, who laughs off Phil's description of the Observer as the New York Times of wrestling, and Arezzi. Dave claims that one of the reasons stuff like sex scandals and steroids is allowed to go on is because the mainstream media, who could really use their power to bring such things to light, choose to ignore wrestling. Phil's been harping on that point for the whole show. Arezzi says that it was only when steroids became involved that the media began to pay attention. It all goes back to the Zahorian trial, after which Vince held a press conference to which the regular wrestling media wasn't invited. Arezzi alerted Phil Muchnick, which led to other people coming forward about more allegations of various types. Talk about media manipulation backfiring! Superstar's out next, and gets quite an ovation for someone who hasn't been on TV as a wrestler in almost five years. Phil jokes about having to punch him in the mouth before the show because he was disobeying orders, which gets a bit of a nervous laugh. For someone known as a paragon of sensitivity, that was a bit of a low blow considering Superstar's condition. Superstar claims that he's seen ring boys (ages 13-20) being sexually harassed, Thirteen? Maybe if they were Andre's size at that age. Patterson supposedly grabbed one of the ring boys by their crotch as he was working one night in New Haven, and Superstar also saw Mel Phillips performing oral sex on a ten-year old one night in Allentown during his Kung Fu run in '82. He complained to both Senior and Vinnie and was told that they would handle it. Vince looks pained, and again I can't blame him; now Senior, who by all accounts was as close to a gentleman promoter as there was in wrestling, is being dragged into this mess from the grave. Vince denies everything, and Phil points out that not only is there no proof of any of this, but that Superstar never claimed to see any of the illegal acts that he's alleging. What happened to the ring boy in New Haven, then? Superstar brushes that off and goes on to talk about Zahorian. He claims that Vince was right there in the room while Zahorian sold his drugs, and that wouldn't surprise me, really. According to Superstar, if Vince condones the drug use, he automatically condones the sexual abuse (or "homosexuality", in Superstar's words) as well. Superstar's taking a bigger leap here than he ever did in the ring Vince says that if he'd seen sexual abuse going on, he'd call the authorities. I sure as hell hope so. Superstar then brings up Rick McGraw and how Zahorian sold him barbiturates that were found in his blood when he died. One scandal at a time, brother. Phil tries to reign him in, but Superstar plows right on, talking about his three "hardcore drug" overdoses and how his wife Valerie would have murdered both Zahorian and Vince if she'd had a gun. Phil says that he must have been a real "crank" when he was on the drugs, which had to have affected his personality. After a few more seconds of Superstar's ranting, Phil flat-out asks him if he could have been successful without steroids, and he says no. If Donahue's producers had set out deliberately to make Vince a hero and a martyr, they couldn't have come up with a better cast for him to play off of. Neither Hodgson nor Superstar come off well at all, and Vince looks and sounds every inch the concerned CEO who just wants the truth about the allegations that are destroying his company. So far, no one has laid a glove on Vince, and it's hard to imagine Bruno doing so either. It's to the point where I'm wondering if the producers had to set things up this way so Vince would agree to come on the show at all. More to come!

I was going to do a great big long post on this, but I barely got six minutes into the show before I accidentally wiped it out. So I'm going to do general impressions from what I've already seen and pick it up play-by-play wise at about seven minutes in. (No, I'm not interested enough to rewatch from the beginning with twenty-three other discs of actual wrestling to watch.) We haven't seen Vince yet except for two closeups, but I can tell he's simply thrilled to be there listening to these allegations. Phil's starting with the gay sex stuff in an effort to have a bigger hook for his audience, which may be smart television but is liable to turn those more interested in the athletic aspect of the scandals off. The crowd in general is the typical non-fan crowd who would just as soon laugh this whole thing off and get into something important, like lesbians who are asking for paternity tests on their newborn babies. I've never heard of Murray Hodgson in my life, and apparently he was only with the WWF a month, so his commentary must have been overdubbed when he was fired. Based on his looks and such, I'm guessing he might have been a replacement for Sean Mooney (Events Center, Coliseum Video, etc.) He refuses to say much of substance, even though this is the best forum he's ever likely to have to air his beefs. The best we get from him is that one of the WWF's vice presidents "threatened his job security." Barry Orton details his own problems with Terry Garvin, who apparently resigned from the WWF a few weeks before the show was taped. I'm a bit suspicious that he had to go all the way back to 1978 to provide a story, but he seems to be carrying himself well overall. He's already corrected Phil by saying that one of the vice presidents who resigned did not ask to sleep with him. Apparently the veeps who have resigned at this point are Garvin and Patterson. I guess Pat got his job back once the heat was off. Tom Hanklns tells of his refusal to sleep with Patterson while the WWF was in Los Angeles for a card in '85. In retaliation, Patterson had him physically ejected from the dressing room at the next LA card. He says he's there to back up Barry, which is a classy gesture on his part. "Pontiac Superdome"? Come on, Phil, have your people do a little research. I guess he's not a football fan, because even non-wrestling fans who follow football know where the Lions used to play. "The PGA should pray for this kind ($1.7 billion a year) of revenue." So should every non-NFL sporting enterprise in North America, even in 2016. Now we hear from Vince, who claims that he always took these allegations seriously, and is here today in an effort to not only give his accusers their day in court, but perhaps to learn something that might aid his investigators in in their "independent" investigation. Orton and Hankins don't really go for the jugular, but Hodgson channels Perry Mason, trying to pin Vince down as to whether he believes sexual harassment goes on in the WWF. Vince admits that it's a possibility, just like it is everywhere else, which is more than I ever expected him to admit to outside of a courtroom. Vince gets a laugh when he tells Hankins that he doesn't remember his 1985 phone calls about the Los Angeles incident. Not to defend Vince too much, but does anyone remember specific phone calls they received seven years ago that weren't dire emergencies? Vince asserts that he fired Hodgson purely on the basis of poor performance. Hodgson goes into detail about the hiring process, which according to him lasted over a year and included four or five separate interviews. Amazingly, he uses his own supposed incompetence to defend himself, saying that Vince, on top of everything else, simply isn't a good judge of talent. He also claims that he was hired to be the main face and voice of the WWF. Was Vince planning to spend more time in the office? Could Hodgson have been a possible replacement for Gino. who was starting to fade quite a bit around this time frame? As I said above, he looks and sounds more like a possible replacement for Sean Mooney in the Events Center and on Coliseum Video. Hodgson gets a huge hand when he brings up a letter from Vince to his landlord describing his secure employment and what an overall positive he is for the company. Of course, I don't think we'll see the letter during the show, but I could definitely see Vince doing something like that, then turning around and firing the guy he wrote the letter about, especially if, as he claims, he could fire that person almost at will. Vince then brings up the fact that Hodgson waited six months after he was fired to sue Patterson, which calls into question his true motivation. He also alleges that Hodgson tried to shake him down for $160,000 in exchange for his not going on the show, which Hodgson angrily denies. Hodgson then states that his attorneys informed Vince of their case in September of '91, which he claims was three (later six) weeks after he was fired, and that Vince kept trying to buy his silence. We then get into the details of his firing, which I suspect precipitated most of this. Hodgson claims that Vince lied about his job status on Larry King Live, claiming that he never worked for the WBF. Ah, so that's what he was really hired for. Hodgson claims that the producer who fired him felt so badly about having to do it that he offered to let Hodgson stay with his family. Vince uses that as a way to promote the goodness of everyone at Titan Sports not named Garvin or Patterson. Phil then interrupts to recap Hogan's appearance on The Arsenio Hall Show (during which he admitted to limited steroid use for medical purposes) and set up the steroid portion of the program, which I'll get to in another post. Hodgson is the main figure in this portion of the show, and I'm not quite sure what his deal is. He mixes up his facts, we're not even sure which branch of Titan he was working for, and if Vince is right about even a little of what he claimed, this is a witch hunt using some very serious allegations as its foundation. Amazingly, Vince is the sympathetic character so far, although that could certainly change once the topic switches to steroids. More to come!

Considering the hot beginning this one had, we got quite the war of attrition here, with each man trying to wear the other down or make him submit. Kawada was put over as hugely as possible in a losing effort, as by my count he kicked out of no less than four Golden Arm Bombers before the fifth finally put him away. I enjoyed the battles we got over submission holds such as the sleeper and the abdominal stretch. These two guys have each other well-scouted after so many encounters as part of the Misawa/Jumbo situation, and it shows here. This puts a capper on a huge month for Taue following his and Jumbo's win over the MVC for the All-Japan tag titles. Taue may still be behind guys like Misawa and Jumbo, but big wins like this are closing the gap by leaps and bounds. The question is, can he keep the momentum going as '92 rolls on?