Dirt Sheets

[Boon]

East Knoxville - Wright/Thatcher

 

- The deal has been signed and Charlie Platt will be the new lead announcer for Smoky Mountain Wrestling weekly TV All Star Wrestling. Platt will continue with Continental as his home base and his main wage but will come across every Saturday morning to film TV in Knoxville.

 

- We expect the roster to settle down over the next couple of weeks. Like with most promotions setting out, talent comes in and out expecting to be in a set position but that doesn't always pan out. Going forward the top guys look to be Brian Adias, Ron Starr and Gama Singh with a supporting cast of Don Kernodle, The Flame with Don Bass and Roger Smith. Guys like Ken Pat Rose and Phil Hickerson will mainly be used on house show loop as enhancement talent for the TV guys not in programs.

 

- In probably the biggest news this week, "The King" Jerry Lawler has been brought in for selected dates. With Lawler being a free agent, he has struck a deal with Thatcher and Wright which will begin this week, it's believed he will be doing short skints every few months to pop the big Monday night shows in Knoxville (this is where the money is to be made on their loop), Lawler will be replaced by either Ken Lucas or Ken Timbs for the days he's not about. The expectations are Robert Gibson and Ricky Morton will sign a similar deal going forward. Les Thatcher and Ron Wright are going to push very hard for Lawler, Gibson and Morton to use Smoky Mountain as a base for when they aren't touring the country.

 

- While the roster has a lot of quality, mostly unknown outside of the territory, Thatcher and Wright feel there are missing some top tier level guys and may have to look for working relationships with some of the bigger territories to bring younger guys in to add that extra star power.

 

- WATE 6 out of Knoxville were very pleased with the first 2 weeks of TV, although they aren't overly keen on the name All Star Wrestling, back in the fall they tolled with the name Power Hour, which comes across a lot more modern and up to date. It'll be a work in progress over the next few weeks, but they will be trying several different ideas to the show feel different to the standard territory look.

 

- Captain Lou Albano has been brought in to manage the Wild Hoggs, the Hoggs will be a face team very much in the mold of the Moondogs face run, and Albano as a mouthpiece will get the act over.

 

- There is a feel in the promotion that although they were tag champs, the Battens aren't going to around too long. The feeling is they are being used to get Doug Vines and Jeff Sword under their gimmick as the Karachi Puraa's with leader Gama Singh, and then they will be done, this may change though, all depends on how Gama Singh can get the gimmick over.

[GeneJackson95]

Continental Championship Wrestling News

 

When David Woods bought into the former Southeastern Territory it was renamed Continental Championship Wrestling and television started being taped at the Boutwell Auditorium instead of the WTVY Studios in Dothan. Ron Fuller did not agree with this but went along with it....after several weeks it's now been decided the company will go back to it's old format....They will tape television in the studio in Dothan, then run the Boutwell Auditorium in Birmingam every Monday night, then other towns throughout the territory. Fuller has also announced that for now, CCW is pulling out of Knoxville and will allow Smoky Mountain to run that area while they focus on Alabama, North Mississippi, and Florida.

 

Due to a dispute over how they were being booked the Guerreros have walked out of CCW causing some booking changes for this week's cards. Rumor has that Woman will be bringing in Fred Ottman under a mask as 'Giant Olympia' soon to obviously feud with Mr. Olympia (Jerry Stubbs). Tag Team Champions "Mr. Electricity" Steve Regal and "Hollywood" John Tatum are said to be angry over some of their payoffs and may be looking to leave the territory soon which would shake up the "Platinum Club".

[LowBlowPodcast]

Big news out of the WWF post WrestleMania…

 

David Sammartino was said to have gotten into a very heated argument with Larry Z after their contest and both men were sent home. It is rumored that Bruno was the one who got into it with both men and this has caused a major falling out.

 

Kamala is said to be out of the territory now as he was extremely upset with his WrestleMania role and then pay.

 

Blackjack Mulligan and Scott Casey are looking for a change of scenery after the weekend’s event. Mulligan was not happy about doing the job to Ron Bass and wants to be featured more as a star but it just isn’t on the books right now in the WWF. Casey is looking to tag along with him not just as a partner but as his protégé.

 

The Guerreros, Hector, Mando, & Chavo are all set to come back into the WWF. There is talk of them doing a big feud with the tag team titles and Gino Hernandez/Chris Adams. There is also talk of Chavo being featured out of the three as a singles star but nothing has been decided.

 

A huge tag team tournament has been announced for the coming weeks and will feature the top 8 teams in the WWF in a round robin tournament. These are said to be taking place on Saturdays and Sundays and will culminate with the winner getting a big title shot against the champions.

 

Recent talks between the JWA and WWF have cultivated into a good working relationship, however, the WWF is still passive on hurting its home business to get a profit from sending individuals overseas. With big draws like the Bulldogs, Andre, and Hogan being the most wanted... the WWF could be looking to different schemes in order to get the most out of the relationship.

[Boon]

​East Tennessee - Wright/Thatcher - ​(News from the Wrestling Observer)

 

​- In another busy week for in's and out's in Smoky Mountain Wrestling.

• Talent out this week is the Batten Twins, who dropped the titles to Doug Vines and Jeff Sword, it's believed the Batten could make more money working in around St. Louis and Kansas on independent shows without the hassle of travelling to Tennessee each week, they are also holding out for Harley Race to put some of his Wrestlemania pay into re-opening the St Louis office.
• ​Smoky Mountain have set up a deal with Japanese promotion JWA and in a talent exchange rookie Akira Nogami comes in and Ron Wrights right hand man Phil Hickerson has gone over there. Although this seems odd, its more of a talent scouting opportunity for the East Tennessee office. Akira Nogami will be tagging along with Hiro Saito who will be managed by someone, but we don't know who as of yet.
• ​Last seen in Dallas as Lance Von Erich, blue chipper Ricky Vaughan has come in, this deal came about after Brian Adias (school friend of Kerry Von Erich) saw potential in from his time in Portland.
• ​Jerry Lawler and the Rock N Roll Express have signed deals through the summer, although the plan isn't to sign full time, its something both parties are interested in.
• ​The Mongolian Stomper has also signed a deal, it's unknown what his role will be.

​- ​With Jerry Lawler in the fold, he is pushing Les Thatcher and Ron Wright to consider running the Mid-South Coliseum, with Jerry Jarrett busy with the USWA, MSC is not always booked on Mondays, and Lawler feels if Smoky Mountain can get onto WMC-5 in Memphis then they could easily run the MSC with the likes of him and Rock N Roll Express. Thatcher and Wright aren't fully on board, reason being is that they know how big a draw those three guys are in Memphis, but without them on written contracts it could cause issues.

 

​- We brought you the story last week but its believed All Star Wrestling will change their name over to Power Hour before long, this is to try and market the show across the country, this is no way being down to run shows elsewhere, just a way to make a bit of extra cash. One station that has picked up the show is Spanish International, a channel in the New York City metropolitan area, this is a Spanish speaking channel, and the show has been put on at 2am on a Wednesday morning and is running 2 weeks behind, the show name is Toda La Estrella Lucha. We don't expect it to stay around for long, but for the time being its much easier for us to get footage due to the amount of tape traders in the New York area, not a bad idea to get more eyes on the company, by that I mean traders video taping everything and not a cult following of wrestling fans sitting up to 2am to watch some southern wrestling.

 

- ​Due to the talent pool being very dry at the moment Ron Wright and Les Thatcher have asked Mike Jackson to tour the UK for the next few weeks with Shirley Crabtree's Joint Promotions to see what talent is like over in the United Kingdom, two high on the list were David Taylor and Marty Jones. Shirley Crabtree also known as Big Daddy, the biggest draw in the UK is trying to get himself booked in the US, Crabtree a 600 pound man who mainly does tag matches where he tags in and gets the win, is very much over and would be crazy to leave. Mike Jackson has said to have taken a liking to David Taylor and thinks he could get over as a British Tough Guy.

 

[Boon]

Delete

[kevinmcfl]

UWF NEWS

 

The recent brand split has met with mixed reviews and once again many are putting the blame squarely on Fritz VonErich. He continues to work to push his boys and a Jerry Jarrett said, "He can't see the forest through the trees."

 

As Watts found out before, Jarrett is quickly coming to realize that Fritz quickly puts down angles that do not help his sons reach the top. This has caused many of the big names in the USWA not to want to travel to Dallas as they know they are just being used to put over the VonErichs. Those said to be most upset include Jerry Lawler, Tommy Rich and Eddie Gilbert.

 

It is rumored that Jarrett would like out of his deal with the USWA but nobody is sure what that means. There are a few options here. Memphis and Dallas could run small promotions and each still be part of the UWF but that would really cut their talent down a few notches. Memphis could leave Fritz all together and join forces with Watts. One could only imagine the matches out of that. Dusty vs Lawler or the Road Warriors vs the Rock n Roll Express could sell out arenas all over the South. Or maybe, just maybe, Jarrett will attempt a coup of some kind where he tries to secure all the power in the USWA. This sounds daring as it could mean he looses everything.

 

One thing to consider if he ever won that power struggle is what would happen to the VonErichs?

[SirEdger]

The backstory & backstage politics between Jerry Jarrett and Fritz Von Erich is really awesome.

[LowBlowPodcast]

[SirEdger]

NWA Lutte Internationale News

 

-Preparations are going around smoothly as we're inching closer to the date of the 2nd Annual Johnny Rougeau Memorial Cup from April 28 to April 30 at the Montreal Forum. The brackets are now set and fans should be in for some exciting first round matches. As for the predicted winner of the tournament, a few names have been tossed around but the general feeling is that the winner of the tournament could prove to be a huge surprise to the wrestling world when it's all said and done.

 

-As seen in the brackets, the only invited promotion that declined to take part in the tournament was CMLL in Mexico. CMLL had expressed its desire to separate themselves from the NWA earlier this year and this decision most certainly reflects that direction. While some officials within Lutte are questioning if WWF didn't get in the ear of CMLL (as a reminder, The Dynamic Duo are both WWF & Mexican National Tag Team Champions), no one wants to stir the pot any further and make the situation as more tense than it already is between both promotions.

 

-Speaking of which, one thing that didn't help the situation between both promotions was Jack Tunney securing the Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto to show Wrestlemania in closed circuit when Lutte Internationale was scheduled to run a show in that venue on the same day. With Tunney ousting Lutte out of the building, this left Frank Valois and other officials scrambling to find another venue in the area. Luckily for them, management from the CNE Coliseum easily accomodated Lutte and the event was moved in that venue. It's now impossible to say how long will Lutte be able to hold events at the Maple Leaf Gardens with Jack Tunney securing the promoting rights to WWF in Toronto but CNE Coliseum management made it clear that they could make their venue the permanent home for Lutte in Toronto should things come to that. Frank Valois is said to be "willing to fight tooth and nail" to ensure that WWF doesn't steal the Montreal Forum and oust them from the territory's biggest venue.

 

-Lutte is also looking to expand in Canada and hold shows west of Ontario in the near future, namely in the Prairies. It's said that with the partnership with Mid-Atlantic, and the Hart Brothers on their roster, Lutte could draw some interesting crowds there, knowing that the Hart Brothers could eventually show up at one of the shows. Lutte is already looking to hold a few shows occasionally in the Western part of Canada but the main reason could also be that with the numerous amounts of events that took place at the Centre Paul-Sauvé in Montreal recently, attendance numbers have seen a drop and many have expressed their concern to Frank Valois about saturation in the area, thus why they'd like to tour other parts of Canada more often. The one thing that won't change will be that every TV taping will still take place at the CHLT-TV studios in Sherbrooke, QC.

 

-Frank Valois has been monitoring Sting's excursion in Japan since March and he is said to be in constant communication with JWA officials. Valois is apparently very pleased with how things have been going for Sting and he has received some very high praises from JWA, thus why Valois accepted the request of JWA to extend Sting's trip in Japan until the end of June. Frank Valois is on the belief that the more travelling Sting does in the early stages, the more seasoned he'll be to take a big role on the roster when the time will come. And with Smokey Mountain Wrestling officially joining the National Wrestling Alliance, Sting will more than likely be headed to that territory to gain even more experience.

 

-Speaking of Smokey Mountain, Frank Valois hopes to be able to return the favor to Les Thatcher by giving some exposure to his top stars during the summer, namely Don Kernodle & the Karachi Puraas. He's expected to book one or two slots for Smokey Mountain on the August 16th & November 30th supercards with Mid-Atlantic.

 

-Finally, Samu is recovering very nicely from his sports hernia and will be back in action in early May. Officials are very happy with how he & The Great Kabuki have gelled together in the Creatchman Family. Expect Kabuki & Samu to be heavily featured as the crown jewels of the Creatchman Family in the future.

[GeneJackson95]

CCW News & Rumors

 

​​Word is that Ron Fuller brought in Blackjack Mulligan and Scott Casey to have them do "The Machines" gimmick to capitalize on the popularity of Wrestlemania but someone in the WWF office caught wind of this and threatened legal action if they wrestled in CCW as the Machines so Fuller sent Mulligan out of the territory as part of a soon to be announced trade.

 

The Grapplers (Len Denton and Tony Anthony) are on their way to the area, but word is that Tony Anthony will be wrestling without the mask as 'Dirty White Boy' Tony Anthony while Troy Graham will don the mask as Grappler 2 teaming with Denton.

 

As reported previously in the newsletter, big man Fred Ottman is set to debut soon..it was originally thought that Ottman would debut under a mask as 'Giant Olympia' to feud with Mr. Olympia but it's now being reconsidered because of the abundance of masked wrestlers currently on the CCW roster.

 

Fans are reacting well to the combination of Marty Jannetty and Shawn Michaels on recent house shows, it has been said that Ron Fuller is looking at putting a "Rock & Roll Express" type gimmick on them soon and running with them as a tag team.

 

The Platinum Club group appears to be done for now with Regal/Tatum leaving for seperate territories, it's unclear if Idol will go on his own or a new stable will be formed.

 

Bill Watts was said to be furious when he sent word to the booker at a recent CCW event that they wanted Mil Mascaras to drop the U.S. Jr title to Tom Prichard and Mil Mascaras replied "No Yob". Watts stripped him of the title and will put it up in a tournament...Prichard was livid as well and has asked Watts to be moved to either USWA or Mid South which appears to be happening soon. "Superstar" Bill Dundee will be stepping into Prichard's spot as the top junior heavyweight heel. It's also rumored that Watts booked Mascaras into a Southeastern title match with Hercules Hernandez who will likely be able to get Mascaras to "do the Yob" regardless.

 

There has been some friction with Ron Fuller and Bill Watts recently when Watts put pressure on Fuller to make Porkchop Cash the CCW Champion, Fuller said that would make no sense at this time considering how Cash has been booked recently, but cooler heads have prevailed and Watts was pleased with Mr. Olympia as champion.

 

Fuller also had a falling out recently with Wayne Ferris over some pay offs recently which resulted in HTM dropping the Alabama title sooner than planned to Wendell Cooley, Fuller is said to be looking to trade Honky Tonk Man to another territory as soon as possible for the right offer.

[LowBlowPodcast]

-The controversy over Toronto's Maple Leaf Gardens, the WWF, and Lutte International has risen to an explosive level. Some has suspected that Jack Tunney signed a backdoor deal with the WWF which will give him full promotional control over the WWF in Canada and also a possible on air role. The WWF has been at odds with Lutte for months since they split and joined the NWA and this is said to be a huge blow in favor of the WWF.

 

-Barring some of the issues from the previous story, Andre the Giant has stated that he is going to run independently and book himself for the foreseeable future. He has a handshake agreement with Vince McMahon but feels as though that agreement was voided when McMahon tried to kick Lutte out of Toronto and Montreal along with not letting Andre work the Johnny Rouge tournament. Andre has already said that he is going to go on his own and if the WWF isn't the best place for him, then he will find somewhere else to work.

 

​-The British Bulldogs have been vocal about their displeasure over the finish of the WrestleMania match in which they lost the tag team championships...there is talk that they have lobbied this into being booked strongly in the Tag Festival and will come out looking unstoppable and being the undisputed number one contenders for the tag team championship.

 

​- The WWF has sent some feelers out about bringing in some new names... especially in the Intercontinental Championship division.

 

-the Guardian Angel (Raymond Trayler) started with the company this week but is said to be very protected. He is going to be under a mask and asked to get into shape for his "unveiling" if you will down the line. The WWF has done this before with talent they see a future in. This is a way for him to pay his dues if you will and build up to being a main talent.

 

​-Mark your calendars for Saturday, May the 18th as the WWF will be on NBC for a special "Saturday Night's Main Event." This is going to be a 60-minute sprint with top stars being showcased. The WWF piloted a program back in February to great results and this is going to be the standard for the WWF and NBC if it goes well. With the feedback of WrestleMania being positive, the WWF is doing everything they can to get out there to the public. They signed a 5 show agreement with NBC to have Saturday Night Main Event shows on July 13th, August 31st, October 26th, and December 21st.

 

- The WWF is also looking to hold a big beginning of the summer show called WrestleFest. This may end up being a touring vent with huge shows in the big markets and the biggest show being headlined from Los Angeles. They may try to hold it in a stadium, but in order to have a big enough event they would need to have a very big headline contest.

[kevinmcfl]

UWF RUMORS

 

Gary Hart is just the latest to feel the wrath of Fritz VonErich. While the problems between Fritz and Jerry Jarrett are common knowledge, the issues between Fritz and the Playboy seem to be more behind the scenes. Gary Hart, who recently joined the announcing table, has served many roles for Fritz over the years from manager to head booker to promoter. Maybe it is his constant "hammering" of Fritz's sons on national TV that has put him in hot water.

 

Hart recently went out and signed Fatu and Tonga Kid who were booked as Jimmy Snuka's cousins and they seemed on the verge of a run at the 6 man titles. For no apparent reason, Fritz released them both. This left Hart with a stable of one... Jimmy Snuka. Fritz announced that Snuka suffered a calf injury and would be out about a month but many who have seen Superfly say he is just fine. Did Fritz just suspend him for 30 days to leave Hart'e house empty?

 

Hart, out of frustration and desperation, went out and placed the Dingo Warrior under his services as his lone wrestler. Hart is used to having a full stable of monsters but this seems a bit below Hart's pay grade to have his only wrestler be a rookie.

 

We will have to keep our eye on this and see if Hart adjusts his announcing style about the VonErich boys in the weeks to come!

[agentofenton]

Mid Atlantic Championship Wrestling News & Notes

 

The first big news coming out recently was the joining of Smokey Mountain Wrestling to the NWA. The word around the offices was that Lutte Internationale had a lot to do with the initial contact about inviting SMW into the NWA. After some discussions, the deal was finalized. Everyone within the NWA is very excited about what this will mean to each territory going forward.

 

Speaking of going forward, the Great American Bash tour returns this summer. Most of the dates are locked in. The tour has grown from last year. It has been confirmed that there will be at least a few stadium shows in this tour. JCP is really bringing out the big bucks to make this tour special. We have even heard that there are additional elements being added, but those close to the situation are keeping quiet for now. We expect an announcement on the tour dates soon. MACW officials in particular are hoping to get the dates and venues announced ASAP, so the ticket sales can start earlier than normal at the bigger venues.

 

Expect some major programs to begin to build to the Bash tours. 24 Karat will be heavily involved in that tour. All the major NWA championships will be defended on the tours as well. We have heard rumors that the NWA World Heavyweight Championship will be defended at EVERY Stadium show, so that will have a lot of pressure on Ric Flair to deliver. Rumor also has it that it will be against a different opponent at each show. We'll see how that develops.

 

It has been confirmed that with the deal set up for SMW to come into the NWA, David Crockett will be working on their TV, as he is only used for W.C.W. tapings and those are mid-week tapings most weeks. So he is available for SMW's Saturday shows. He is still working in JCP offices during the week, when he's not at the arena taping W.C.W. shows.

 

MACW has a Closed Circuit event scheduled for June 30th, but there is talk of cancelling that event, as it is more important to have the people come out to the big stadium shows in July. That show is scheduled for The Omni in Atlanta. The Omni show may become a televised house show on WTBS, Or it may also just become a VHS exclusive taping, as they have done in the past. MACW officials haven't made an announcement to the locker room on this yet. A decision is expected later this week.

[LowBlowPodcast]

WWF NEWS

-The WWF is expected to announce a new figurehead for the company as Bruno Sammartino has asked for his release. He felt as though he could still do something in the ring, but when David shit the bed at WrestleMania, all plans were squashed. Bruno is still trying to lobby for his son to get back with the company but it doesn't look like it will happen.

 

- The WWF Tag Festival is going well and is now in the home stretch. The big stories coming up in the next two weeks will be the Machines vs Harts, Bulldogs, and Russians. These were the top four teams to be highlighted throughout the festival, with the Fantastics getting a big rub as well. The WWF has been very happy with the results thus far and the coming weeks will show how well it is received by the fans.

 

-The WWF is looking to try and bring in some big monsters for Hulk Hogan to face over the summer months in spot shows. Hogan is currently in a program with Piper that will blow off in a couple of weeks in MSG and then it is expected for him to move to Harley Race. Nikita Koloff however has been getting some real steam and some would say that with the current issues with Russia and the US... now is the time to pull the trigger on this monster feud that could really move the WWF up a notch.

 

​- Look for the WWF to hold more competitive matches on their programming. They are looking to expand their markets to the "mid-east" and then into the "mid-west" in the coming months. By 1986, Vince McMahon and company hope to be running tours throughout Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Missouri, and then into Nebraska and Colorado. This would supplement week long tours in California and then Washington and Oregon. Texas looks to be a big area for the WWF with their current situation with Houston. If the WWF did try to expand, they would likely be met with some concerns about their draws. With a Von Erich or Dusty Rhodes, Texas seems to be a desert for the WWF with no hope. Some have said that not even Hulk Hogan could draw in Dallas due to the lack of television there currently. Andre is definitely a drawing card but all reports are showing that he may not even be with the WWF over this whole Lutte/Canada debacle.

[LowBlowPodcast]

The final matches for the last week of the WWF's Tag Team Festival go as follows....

 

TAG FESTIVAL

The Killer Bees vs The Faces of Fear w/ Bobby Heenan

The Fantastics vs The Guerreros

The British Bulldogs vs The Hart Foundation w/ Jimmy Hart

The Machines vs The Russians

 

With the results currently...

 

TAG FESTIVAL RESULTS

The Machines - 15 points

The Hart Foundation - 14 points

The Fantastics – 12 points

The Russians – 11 points

The British Bulldogs – 9 points

The Guerreros – 3 points

The Killer Bees – 3 points

The Faces of Fear – 0 points

 

It is really a three team ball game. The Machines are in the lead right not but they have got a very tough match up with the Russians coming up. Nikita Koloff has been on a tear recently and doesn't look to be stopping anytime soon. Plus, there is talk of Nikita and Hogan down the line so this could be the catapult he needs towards that.

 

On the other side you have got the Hart Foundation who just defeated the Machines (albeit a count out). That was the only defeat of the Machines thus far. Going into the final match, the Harts find themselves against known foes the British Bulldogs who will be a tough test.

 

The outside shot to win it all would be the Fantastics. The big story here would be a one match sudden death. The good and bad would be that the Fantastics have to beat the Guerreros via pitfall. If they do, and the Machines lose, they would face off THAT NIGHT, with the winner winning the festival. If the Machines were to lose to the Russians, you know it would be a tough match and what kind of shape would they be in for a sudden death contest?

 

The craziest of all would be the Machines losing, the Fantastics winning, and the Harts drawing with the Bulldogs. In this case, all three teams would have 15 points. There was talk of a three way match with these teams that could prove to be quite the spectacle.

 

The big question left is the Faces of Fear... will they walk away with a win? They face the Killer Bees who have not had the best showing but are still on the scoreboard. This one is going to be about respect and I think the Faces of Fear are going to beat it out of these guys.

 

The best part about all of this is that it is going to be televised from the Montreal Forum! The WWF has loaded the card with these four tag team matches and then a big six-man featuring Randy Savage, Tony Atlas, and Dino Bravo taking on Greg Valentine, Brutus Beefcake, and Jake Roberts. Also on the card will be a showcase match with Tito Santana taking on "King" Harley Race and then a WWF Championship match with Hulk Hogan taking on Big John Studd. Be sure to catch it all next week, in the forum and live in the local markets!

[agentofenton]

Mid Atlantic Championship Wrestling

 

The big news coming out of TV this week is the number of championships that have changed hands. This was just a call to get audiences aware that championships can change hands anywhere and anytime. The Mid Atlantic Heavyweight Championship has recently changed a couple of times recently, and the 6-Man title change was something planned for a few weeks when the Masters of Torture were brought in. Mr. Fuji and his crew are looking to get more of a push since he has gone into a full time position as a manager. Word around the locker room is that he will only step into the ring a few times this year, for special occasions.

 

Some negotiations have begun for the upcoming Great American Bash tour. The MACW office will release a press release shortly on the tour dates. They are just finalizing one or two more locations. It is speculated that the tour will be in at least a half dozen stadiums within the territory. This is a big step up from last year's tour. The NWA Board of Director's was in closed door meetings about this tour, so we expect something major to be announced regarding this tour soon. There is speculation that the Summer Games could return. It is almost certain that Lutte Internationale and Smokey Mountain Wrestling will have influences and talent on the tour as well.

 

Kamala is said to be returning to the region after a long tour elsewhere in the country. Mr. Fuji is on top of the list of managers to retain his services.

 

With Luna Vachon out with an injury, Madusa looks to be stepping into a mangers role, and it is very possible she was debut with "Hollywood" John Tatum at tomorrow night's World Wide Wrestling taping.

[kevinmcfl]

UWF RUMORS:

 

It seems that Jerry Jarrett is learning the hard way that Fritz VonErich is very hard to work with. It seems that Fritz is at it again and this time he is playing with the UWF Titles. Since the UWF Parade of Champions was in Dallas and was a memorial for David VonErich, both Jerry Jarrett and Cowboy Bill Watts allowed Fritz to determine which of his sons would leave Dallas with a title. Both Kevin and Kerry had title matches that evening; Kerry VonErich-Jimmy Garvin match while Kevin was in the 6 Man match between the Sheiks and Kevin VonErich, Stan Hansen and Blackjack Mulligan.

 

It seems that Fritz has some sort of misunderstanding and both his boys left with the belts. Watts was heard telling Jarrett an "I told ya so" but nobody has a real solution to the problem. USWA is a 50/50 split between VonErich and Jarrett. VonErich runs the Texas side of the promotion while Jarrett runs the Tennessee side. Watts also knows he can ill afford to lose the USWA and its roster is pretty stacked.

 

The easy solution would be to bring in a neutral promoter to run USWA but would that allow certain wrestlers to void their contracts? Many wrestlers are still loyal to VonErich while others are siding with Jarrett. It seems to be a Texas-Tennessee divide! One name that has come up is Paul Boesch. His Houston wrestling promotion has always used talent from both and he might be the neutral voice that is needed. The question is will it be a one time event to give power to either Fritz or Jarrett; a sort of BORDER WARS type thing. There is no way Boesch has time to run both Texas and Tennessee long term.

 

Do both VonErich and Jarrett trust Boesch enough to do this? What would Boesch want in return.

 

We will all have to wait and see but this could draw record crowds in the Sam Houston Coliseum!

 

Speaking of contracts.... what is the UWF to do now that their 6 Man World Title is now in the hands of a wrestler without a UWF contract... one Stan "The Lariat" Hansen.

[LowBlowPodcast]

-Report coming out of tonight's Montreal show from the WWF is that there was some legit heat between Dino Bravo and WWF officials. Bravo was not happy about Jack Tunney being announced as the President and the issues it has caused with his "connections" in Canada. No word on if he will be at the Toronto show tomorrow night.

 

- The WWF was happy with the results of the Tag Festival as they really put the Machines (who won), the Harts, and the Fantastics on notice with some big scores. Nikita Koloff is all but set to become the biggest heel in the company at this point. Then you have the Bulldogs, who already have a televised shot at the titles... could we see them take the gold and the Machines turn heel? That is what a lot of people are wanting to see, especially with Nikita primed for a singles run.

[SirEdger]

Lutte Internationale News

 

-The 2nd Annual Johnny Rougeau Memorial Cup is officially in the books and for a second year in a row, Rick Martel fell short of winning it, this year, losing in the finals to Austin Idol. Many insiders were seemingly surprised to see Idol winning the tournament but Continental's top heel generated a lot of buzz among the fans during the tournament thus, securing creative's decision to have him go over in the tournament. As for Rick Martel losing in the finals again, it's said to be a key factor to come into play in a future program for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship and Ric Flair later this year.

 

-Speaking of the NWA & Ric Flair, there's a lot of excitement surrounding the Great American Bash tour later in July, in which Lutte will take part along with Smokey Mountain Wrestling. Jarry Park was booked for July 7 while CNE Stadium in Toronto will close out the tour on July 31st. Rumor has it that Rick Martel will get the title shot on July 7 vs Ric Flair, effectively kicking off his program with Ric Flair that should last through the remainder of 1985. As for the July 31 show in Toronto, no word yet on who will challenge the NWA World Heavyweight Champion, whoever he may be but everyone in the NWA is working hard for this to be a major match in Toronto.

 

-As for the current NWA Canadian International Heavyweight Champion Terry Funk, there are no plans yet on who'll be the one to take the title away from him as officials are very satisfied with his run so far. However, given his current program in Mid-Atlantic with Magnum TA, Funk will focus a bit more of his time to build that rivalry, which should be a staple of the Great American Bash tour in July. Lutte also wants Terry Funk to defend the NWA Canadian International Heavyweight Championship in Japan for the Festival of Champions in June so they're currently negotiating with Jim Crockett & Funk himself to build an appropriate schedule. In the meantime, Lutte officials feel confident enough that with Rick Martel & The Rougeau Brothers headlining events throughout Eastern Canada, they won't suffer from Funk not defending the title in the territory as often as he previously did.

 

-We recently spoke about the plans of Lutte to expand in Western Canada. Frank Valois visited several venues in the past few weeks and has already seen interest from Medicine Hat, Calgary & Vancouver to hold events but right now, logistics issues are making it a bit difficult for Lutte to hold their first events in Western Canada. There might be an opening for a Calgary date in early June and that's where they hope to hold weekend loops in Western Canada. In the meantime, Lutte will return to the Maritimes for the first time in awhile as Halifax will host their first Lutte show there on May 18.

 

-Frank Valois is still working on doing some major moves to retool his roster for the summer as he wants it to be a memorable one for fans in the territory and throughout the NWA in its whole. One of those major moves will include the individual being put in the "NWA Special Enforcer" role in the territory. His identity should be revealed at the end of the month.

 

-Lutte recently worked their last event at Maple Leaf Gardens and will now move permanently to CNE Coliseum, due to WWF's agreement with Maple Leaf Gardens management. With the summer coming up, Lutte is expected to use Jarry Park for their big Montreal cards during the summer and resume holding events at the Forum during fall. Valois is keeping an eye on Jack Tunney's actions, in hope that he doesn't steal the Forum from them to make it WWF exclusive.

 

-Finally, devastating injury news as Bob Sweetan suffered a Displaced Olecrannon Fracture that will require major surgery and will take him out almost a full year. No word yet on how this will affect the state of The Sensationals but some might argue that with Bob Sweetan's reputation backstage, not a lot of people will miss him until 1986...

[Boon]

East Tennessee - Wright/Thatcher - ​(News from the Wrestling Observer)

​- Been very quiet on the Smoky Mountain front over the past month that maybe because they have been working on several different plans to take the promotion forward.

- In a move that seems very ambition, Smoky Mountain Wrestling will be running a show in Nashville Tennessee in the month of June, Monday 24th looks like the date. The idea first came about when Jerry Lawler and long time Memphis/Nashville stalwart Paul Morton went to Les Thatcher and Ron Wright with the idea of running a Monday night in Nashville, at the Nashville Fairgrounds. The plan will be to have Jerry Lawler on top with The Rock N Roll Express underneath both likely to be title matches. Wright and Thatcher are both aware that USWA/UWF run Memphis, but feel there is a market being missed with shows not being held weekly in that side of Tennessee. Let's see how it plans out.

- There are plans to introduce a secondary title in the promotion, although Wright and Thatcher are fond of the idea of having a Television Champion we believe there are going to go the way of a junior title. A few deals have been put in place to bring in some younger lighter wrestlers that can really move around the ring.

- Abdullah the Butcher and Hugo Savinovich have come in, Abdullah will probably only be around until the Nashville show, but Savinovich will probably be used to cycle in several top foreigns heel to go against Lawler, that is of course if Lawler stays around, at the moment he only has a deal until July 1st.

- The Rock N Roll Express will likely be done up after the Nashville show also, reason being, they are being used only for TV and Mondays, and Wright and Thatcher feel they along with Lawler have helped set up the territory and build several stars, but they need guys on the road all week and not just in Knoxville.

- Jerry Bryant, Lou Winston, The Wild Hoggs and Lou Albano all look like they are done with the territory, The Memphis Vice are headed north and the Hoggs, we havent heard yet, they never did click. Thatcher is looking are moving more guys on to bring in fresher faces.

[LowBlowPodcast]

-There is a lot of excitement surrounding tomorrow's Saturday Night's Main Event. While the show is being hyped as a Prime Time event, it will actually be taped around 5pm in the evening to air at 9pm Eastern. To keep too many fans from knowing what happened, the show will tape for around 90-minutes and then be followed up with regular matches that have been advertised to include a Hulk Hogan v Harley Race WWF Championship match as the headline. This would mean that the WWF would be working double time to get the event aired and if they needed re-shoots to do it in that time before getting it to broadcast that night.

 

- There is no word on who the other Machines will be joining Super and Strong... while we did see Hulk Machine, no word on the other two. Andre the Giant was heavily rumored but his relationship with the WWF is on such bad terms, he may end up staying in Japan for the duration of the tour.

[GeneJackson95]

CCW News and Rumors

 

​​​- Beginning in June- TV Tapings are being moved to every other Wednesday night at the Studio in Dothan, to help work around the other UWF taping schedules to make it easier to share certain talent.

 

- Look for a huge turnover in talent in June as there as several trades in the works that will move some major players out of CCW but also bring some major players in that should really help heat up the summer months and kick things into high gear.

 

- The summer shows will be part of the 'CCW Summer Heatwave Tour '85' that will run from June til August culminating with a huge supercard 'Beach Brawl' in Panama City, Florida on August 25th. Word has it that Bill Watts is looking to air this live in some of CCW's major markets and that Buddy Wayne and Ron Fuller are lobbying to put it on TBS since it will be a joint effort from the UWF.

 

- Rumors are floating around that Jimmy Valiant is not happy with the way Johnny Valiant was abruptly ousted from the company, nor the way he's been used thus far and may be looking to go elsewhere very soon. It's also said that despite being the current tag champs Bill/Scott Irwin are unhappy and may be looking for a change as well.

 

- According to our sources, The Midnight Rockers already have a start date with another promotion and are just biding their time til they can leave Alabama, thus the reason they appear randomly on cards and haven't had a sustainable push.

 

- A wrestler who was backstage at the May 16th TV Tapings said that Jerry Lawler was so angry about the angle they had him do on the first show they recorded that he walked out before the second set of tapings and told Ron Fuller that he will not be back.

[LowBlowPodcast]

-Early reports from SNME have been very good. The time slot helped but not having "Hulk Hogan" may have been a detriment. While the Hulk Machine was in full force and then he showed up later in the show, there were a lot of NBC executives who wanted a WWF Championship match.

 

- The next SNME is schedule for July and already has a major headline match with Nikita and Ivan Koloff taking on Hulk Hogan and Hillbilly Jim. Expect some individuals like Randy Savage to be more featured on that broadcast with the Intercontinental Championship.

 

- Speaking of Hogan and Nikita... the seeds were planted and the next night in Chicago Hogan faced Ivan with Nikita interfering. No word on if it will be on the circuit, but this is going to be the big feud headlining the summer and it is excepted to do monster numbers.

 

- The seeds for the Rowdy Piper turn have been planted with him being a Machine against the the Heenan Family. Heenan is without a doubt the number one heel now and it was easy fodder to move Piper against him... on the flip side... the subtle hints of a Randy Savage turn have really been heating up. If they do the double turn, it could provide some great matches for the summer and even the big feud that could be with Savage and Hogan down the line.

 

- Word has it that the British Bulldogs were irate after their encounter with Hernandez and Adams. The crescent kick from Adams on Davey Boy was a little stiff but made to look that way to help with the visual. When they came to the back it was a 2 on 1 against Adams with Dynamite throwing a punch before Hernandez got involved. It was Randy Savage of all people that settled things down along with the Hart Foundation. The Bulldogs lost to the Harts on Sunday night in an advertised match but the writing may be on the wall for them.

[LowBlowPodcast]

WWF NEWS

 

Is Vince McMahon really suing Andre the Giant for breach of contract?

- There is talk of this circulating right now within the wrestling industry. Andre was present at the Saturday Night's Main Event as the Giant Machine but left soon after. It is said that Hulk Hogan was the one trying to mediate between McMahon and the Giant. Vince feels as though he should have control over Andre's dates along with his business enterprises in Montreal. The recent allegations of tampering with regards to the Montreal Forum, Toronto Maple Leaf Gardens, and issues with Lutte International set this issue in a tailspin. Additionally, Andre the Giant is said to be making around 10-15 thousand a week in Japan for the tours which is a little more than he makes with the WWF as they don't use him consistently. This could be a major coup and something to keep a close eye on over the summer.

 

WWF is planning a big summer tour!

- The WWF looks to continue its loop of towns through the United States while adding in a city here and there. The WWF has three big shows over the next month to really kick things in gear for the summer. June the 9th is the Summer Showdown from Los Angeles, June 30th is the Royal Brawl from Chicago, and then July the 6th is Saturday Night's Main Event from Houston. These trios of shows should effectively end and begin new storylines for the summer while also setting into place the alignment of some of the top stars.

 

Stars changing hearts

-We saw the "turn" if you will of Roddy Piper on Saturday Night's Main Event. While not a full fledged babyface, he will be pitted against more heels down the line but could always switch his motives. Randy Savage has been very subtle about his attempts to become more of a heel and this could come full circle by the end of the summer and him being pitted against Hogan for a title for title series. Jake Roberts has also been getting a lot of cheers lately and the WWF has been working on a way to package him to become a top level babyface.

 

Some new faces

​-The WWF is looking to add some new workers to their crop while some of the others fade out. Expect Jack Lanza to finish up his run here over the next couple of weeks and become more of a worker backstage. His playing days are done but still has a good mind for the business. The British Bulldogs have all but given their slips to the WWF but still have contracted dates. No word on where they will end up. Mark and Jay Youngblood are not happy about being split up as a tag team and even though the storyline has legs, they may be looking for somewhere else to work in the future. There have been a lot of names circulating around to potentially bring into the WWF but the one I keep hearing is Sika. This could be a big get for the WWF as he is yet another Lutte International talent they have been able to sway. Afa and Sika have set up shop in the Pennsylvania area and have been courted but Sika may come in as a solo act. The Rock N Roll Express has also been toyed with. They are not as well known in the North but do have some name value and the WWF has thought about bringing them in to feud with the Harts due to the injury of Tommy Rogers.

[GeneJackson95]

UWF Continental Championship Wrestling News

 

- Big news coming out of CCW this week is that Bill Watts and Ron Fuller have decided that CCW is going to expand their promotion in Florida which currently has only been shows in Pensacola and Panama City. It's been decided that CCW will now do it's Television tapings every other Wednesday at the Sportatorium in Tampa, Florida instead of Dothan, they have secured television deals with numerous stations throughout the entire state of Florida which will double their viewership numbers. Hiro Matsuda has been hired to help run the CCW office out of Florida with Fuller focusing on the Alabama and MIssissippi end. They will continue to run Birmingham, Alabama every Monday night and will run a big show in Florida on Sunday nights. They will use a "B-crew" in some cases to continue to run the smaller towns in Mississippi and Alabama that they've currently been running and send the "A-crew" to the larger cities in all three states.

 

- As a part of this expansion, there will be a Florida Heavyweight Champion crowned soon and the Southeastern Tag Team titles will be reinstated as well....to have titles to be defended at all of the shows throughout the territory.

 

- Ron Fuller is hoping as part of this expansion and growth, CCW will be able to utilize other UWF talent on these cards in much the same way the NWA is sharing talent these days to help grow the UWF brand throughout the Southeast.

 

- Rocket City Rumble will be the first CCW event to be filmed for a VHS release that will be sold at live events and made available via mail order as well. Gordon Solie and Joe Pedicino will not be brought in for this event, the commentary will be added in post production at the studio in Tampa, although if this event proves to be profitable...this may change for future releases.