Dirt Sheets

[agentofenton]

NWA Mid Atlantic Championship Wrestling

 

The announcement about the upcoming Great American Bash tour has lead to a lot of excitement all around. A HUGE tour with a lot of names coming in, a lot of championship matches, especially for the World Heavyweight Champion. We understand that soon the challengers will be announced on World Championship Wrestling.

 

June 1 is a huge date in the world of the NWA. A lot of changes are coming. Some roster movement is expected as a part of this change. There is even rumors that the house show schedule could expect a change soon as well. There is some thought to run two separate tours around the territory as well as adding some new areas as well. Philadelphia, Baltimore and Jacksonville are new towns starting with the Great American Bash tour.

 

Rumors that some of the stadium shows will have two rings involved. There is talk of a two-ring battle royal being signed. Also some ideas being tossed around involving the 1985 Summer Games using the two rings concept for this year. Nothing is finalized, but the NWA wants plans finished soon so they can plan for set up and promotions of the shows.

 

Ted Turner was in touch with JCP recently about running more important shows in Atlanta. He really wants to see World Championship Wrestling brought in to Atlanta every week. The negotiations continue. MACW and the NWA likes to showcase their company in the variety of venues across the region. While that helps build the WTBS station, Turner likes to keep things close to him. We'll see how much he pushes for this change. Maybe with expanding the TV taping tours into more cities, he'll like the broader audience for WTBS.

[LowBlowPodcast]

WWF News

 

-No WWF House Show tour this week. Superstars had television tapings in Hershey PA on Tuesday before heading home for a couple of days and then they will be back in Philadelphia on the 1st for a big show headlined by Hulk Hogan vs King King Bundy in a Leather Strap Match.

 

-The Summer Showdown is beginning to really take shape for next week. The big matches of Hogan vs Race, The Machines vs Hernandez & Adams, and then Savage vs Bunny has been signed and released. The big showdown with Tito Santana and Greg Valentine is also a major contest. Other rumored matches include Dino Bravo vs Jake Roberts even without any build and then Bobby Fulton and the Killer Bees taking on Brutus Beefcake and the Hart Foundation. Hillbilly Jim is set to return to action against Ivan Koloff. Look for Rowdy Roddy Piper to be involved in some way as there is even talk of him being the special referee for a contest.

 

-Speaking of Rowdy Piper, he, like Andre the Giant has had some issues with Vince McMahon and the WWF and has asked for the opportunity to look for work elsewhere. Anyone interested in picking up Piper's services should contact the WWF offices immediately to see if they can pick up his contract.

[kevinmcfl]

In a rather strange twist, it has been reported that this week's television show will be the last one for USWA and the UWF on WTBS. Owner Cowboy Bill Watts has been annoyed by Ted Turner and the fact that he continued to push Mid-Atlantic Wrestling and the NWA on WTBS and give the UWF and the USWA lesser time slots.

 

Watts has been able to work out a deal with mega millionaire Edward Gaylord who owns KTVT Channel 11 from Dallas, Texas which one of only a hand full of superstations currently running in the United States. Its feed already reaches all homes in Texas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Louisiana, and Arkansas and is growing everyday. When Gaylord was asked what does KTVT stand for he simply replied "Television for Texans."

 

Some wrestling fans in the know have read into this quote and believes that Fritz VonErich now has the upper hand to win control of Battleground from Jerry Jarrett and keep the company centered in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex. When this was brought up to Gaylord he simply replied that he is a wrestling fan and that his superstation will soon by nation wide and just last year he bought and restored the Grand Old Opry in Nashville which he believes is Jarrett country and soon to be KTVT.

 

When asked what time slots he will give to wrestling he said that outside of Texas Ranger baseball games, wrestling will be his biggest push and they can have prime time when ever they like. When asked if there is also time for Continental Championship Wrestling in Florida and Alabama he said yes but it might be best if he works out some agreement with WTOG, the superstation in Florida that has began to air CCW.

 

The Prime Time Super Card from The Louisiana Superdome on July 3rd will be the first UWF show to air on KTVT.

[SirEdger]

NWA LUTTE INTERNATIONALE NEWS

 

-In a turn of events that won't do anything to ease the tension between the WWF & Lutte Internationale, Andre the Giant shocked the world by showing up in Charlotte, North Carolina and answering Terry Funk's open challenge and becoming the new NWA Canadian International Heavyweight Champion. From the informations that have been gathered, Andre's stint with Lutte is for a limited amount of dates with the territory but it's unclear now as for how long will he be around. Especially given how Andre will have to maneuver with Vince McMahon, even for his freelancing duties. The summer could be interesting to say the least.

 

-As for the rest of the card in Charlotte, every other title defended changed hands and many in the wrestling world might find those title changes quite surprising. First, The Midnight Rockers defeated Gino Brito & Rick Martel to become the new NWA Canadian International Tag Team Champions. While some might question how quick this title reign has come for them, those titles are perceived at the same level than the NWA US Tag Team Championship in Mid-Atlantic. Also, since the NWA World Tag Team Championship remain within Lutte Internationale for the time being, management felt like there would be less pressure on the Midnight Rockers to have a successful title reign and they'll be able to grow as performers with less scrutiny than if they would've taken the Rougeaus' titles for instance. In the meantime, Lutte officials are currently negotiating with Verne Gagne & the AWA to bring in Badd Company to work a series of matches with the new champions. The Midnight Rockers could also work a few shows in the AWA as well in the future.

 

-Also surprising was the Rougeaus dropping the titles to The Creatchman Family in Charlotte. Not that they dropped the titles but rather to whom in the Creatchman Family as many thought that The Great Samu & Prince Alofa Fatu would've received that reign but given the positive reactions the Botswana Beast & Lord Humongous have received, it was decided that they'd be receiving the titles. No word yet on how long their reign will last but it is a certainty that the titles will return to the Mid-Atlantic territory later this year.

 

-The reason why the Sensational Heavyweight Championship angle was brought back to TV recently was to introduce a new midcard title belt to the territory, the Quebec Heavyweight Championship, with Armand Rougeau being the inaugural champion upon beating Billy Robinson in Charlotte. The official presentation of the title will air on this week's NWA Lutte Internationale TV this Saturday morning.

 

-Several new faces made their debut with the territory recently. Mainly, the Guerrero brothers; Chavo, Hector & Mando. It had been a while since Frank Valois wanted to bring them to Lutte Internationale but contractual obligations elsewhere prevented this to happen. In fact, Chavo Guerrero will main event the Commerce, TX card of the Pre-Bash Tour on Saturday night as he'll face Gino Brito for the NWA Canadian International TV Championship. Another surprise debut was Crusher Blackwell, who was revealed as Rip Oliver's mystery partner in Charlotte against Steve Strong & The Spoiler. However, don't expect that relationship to last long because another name will pop up in relation to the Terry Taylor Sensationals' dismissal storyline.

 

-The response for Dino Bravo since he returned to the territory has been mainly positive, while there still is some tensions with some people in the locker room, given how he left the territory a few months ago. It is said though that Bravo is working hard to mend fences and rebuild bridges, which is definitely appreciated by Lutte management.

 

-Expect a joined SMW/Lutte event later in July during the Great American Bash Tour as several Lutte & SMW members will be touring in Mid-Atlantic during the month of July. Lutte had first planned an event at Jarry Park in July but instead chose to have Jim Crockett promote that event instead as part of the Great American Bash tour. All roster members are said to be available for that card.

 

-Finally, Super Strong Machine will be extending his stay in Lutte for the foreseeable future as Lutte management like the reactions he's been generating and he's also been a mentor to Strong Machine #2 & #3. This means that Sting is also extending his stint in Japan with the JWA but plans haven't changed for him when he returns to North America as he'll be headed to Smokey Mountain Wrestling.

 

-Speaking of SMW, Lutte Internationale has accepted Smokey Mountain Wrestling's request to send Bob Backlund work their Knoxville weekly Monday events. It's also possible that Backlund could work other SMW shows in their loop but negotiations are still early in that regard.

[LowBlowPodcast]

Do not read unless you have checked out the most recent WWF television posted today...

 

 

-At this point it is almost 100% that Roddy Piper will be back in the WWF to be Hulk Hogan's partner for SNME. It will be the complete turn around from the Nikita angle earlier in the month. Additionally, Hogan and Piper will be teaming up against the Koloffs for the foreseeable future until a big showdown between Hogan and Nikita.

-Expect Randy Savage's coronation to be a big deal on SNME.

-The WWF is expanding the mid-card in a big way this month and has made some big contract offers to talent to come in and build up. Case and point is Billy Jack Haynes... he will be pushed in a big way along with some other names coming up.

- There is talk of a 3rd or 4th man to join Gary Hart... there have been some names out there, one being Hercules Hernandez who is currently working under a mask as Super Invader. With the recent issues in the Heenan Family, he could join back with Heenan with the right storyline.

- The other side of that argument is that Bobby Heenan has all but retired from managing. Losing Race and Bundy was the last in a long line of ways for Heenan to move just to the booth and be utilized in that way.

-The WWF pushed the Mask vs Hair gimmick really quickly on television so as to move away from Gino Hernandez and Chris Adams. They both have dates in Japan and Mexico which have riled up both men. They are looking for a lighter schedule and being champions in three promotions wore them out.

 

[kevinmcfl]

UWF NEWS

 

The only thing we know for certain right now is that Fritz VonErich will not be running USWA Wrestling with Jerry Jarrett any longer. Jarrett made sure to burn all of those bridges immediately following Battleground as he traded the VonErich brothers away. You will have to wait until the end of the week to see where they will be headed.

 

That does not mean that Fritz is completely out of the UWF. Jerry Jarrett has decided to focus his programming to a location he knows better then Texas as he will be returning to his old stomping ground and running his old loop with a few key additions.

 

Monday: Louisville KY or Cincinnati, OH

Tuesday: Evansville, IN or Lexington, KY

Wednesday: Chattanooga or Jackson, TN

Thursday: Memphis or Nashville for the Big Weekly show

Friday: St. Louis, MO or Jonesboro, Ar,

Saturday: Memphis TV in the morning & Memphis or Nashville at night (alternating weeks)

 

Every city will run once every two weeks except for the two largest, Memphis and Nashville which will run weekly shows.

 

The major change here was that the Mid-South Coliseum show is being moved to either Saturday or Monday. This will allow the UWF champs to continue to visit the major CCW events each and every week. Jarrett also was able to secure venues in both Cincinnati and St. Louis in an attempt to grow the fan base.

 

It is unsure as of this time is Jarrett is going to keep the name of the show USWA Wrestling. He has already changed the name of the USWA Champion to the UWF United States Champion.

Jarrett has also received the okay from Cowboy Bill Watts to resurrect the UWF United States Tag Team Championship and a tournament to crown that champion is going on as we speak.

 

Cowboy Bill Watts has agreed to "simplify" his loop also to try and keep the wrestlers happy. He is going to return to is old familiar Mid-South loop.

 

 

SATURDAY: Morning TV in Shreveport, Night: Houston or New Orleans (alternating weeks)

MONDAY: Tulsa or OKC

TUESDAY: Baton Rouge or Lafayette

WEDNESDAY: Alexandria or Lake Charles

THURSDAY: Houston or New Orleans for the Weekly Big Show (opposite the Saturday schedule)

FRIDAY: Little Rock or Alexandria, LA

 

Cowboy Bill Watts still has hope of making the UWF a truly national wrestling promotion but he is going to try to do this by television. Right now, WTVT, is giving him as much programming time as he can handle. The station is designating Tuesdays as "Tuesday Night Titans" and is giving Watts 3 hours of time to fill. Watts is hoping to divide that among the 3 UWF "territories" but that is still to be determined. Watts is in search of catchy names for his shows and it is rumored that one will be Power Pro Wrestling. Jarrett is toying with bringing back TNT DYNAMITE which will stand for Titans N Tennessee but we will have to wait and see.

 

Watts liked the idea of what Jarrett did by putting his young son on the broadcast team and is thinking of doing the same with his son, Eric, who is said to be a whiz with making wrestling videos set to music.

 

The schedule will also allow for the sharing of talent between the 3 UWF promotions. Watts says you should never be surprised at who shows up and he can't wait to unveil the 3 people coming in now that the VonErichs left.

 

It is also rumored that Jimmy Snuka has asked out of his contract. He is unhappy with his booking as he believes that he is much higher on the food chain then just helping raise the status of the young Dingo Warrior. Watts says he is listening to all offers but as of now Snuka is still the property of the UWF.

[LowBlowPodcast]

I spoke to a drunk Vince McMahon tonight who was very high on the prospects of a mid card with billy Jack, brutus, Jake, and Manny Fernandez on the baby face side with bad news brown and monster inc filling out the heel side.

[kevinmcfl]

Even drunk, Vince has good ideas.

[gordi]

Some big news out of Japan, where reportedly the Babas have been meeting regularly with Managing Director Hisashi Shinma and Booker "gordi" to discuss making a major change to their booking philosophy.

 

Apparently, Shohei "Giant" Baba's original vision involved having three major titles (Heavyweight, Middleweight, and Tag Titles) which would each be defended about three times per month. The idea was to be able to produce "Big Event" type shows all over Japan, as opposed to Tokyo getting almost all of the big matches.

 

The feeling was that, with almost every big name Japanese wrestler operating under the same umbrella, and with big name gaijin stars from all over the wrestling world eager to earn a fat Japanese paycheck, it would be feasible to run multiple title defenses every month without burning through contenders too quickly. This feeling has not changed. However, some on the booking committee have expressed a concern that, for example, with Tenryu defending the JWA title so often, title defenses do not always feel "special."

 

Traditionally, Japanese singles champions tend to defend their titles about six times a year. Tenryu has already far exceeded that number, and he only won the belt back in April at the JWA Revival Debut show.

 

Baba remains adamant that he wants to put on at least three "Big Event" type shows per month for the JWA fans all over Japan (and that he wants even the biggest names to work on even the smallest house shows between those event cards).

 

One possible solution that has been put forward is to increase the number of titles in JWA, while reducing the number of defenses of each title per month. So, instead of having three titles that are defended three times per month, having perhaps five or six titles that are defended "only" once or twice per month. Also, rather than Tenryu defending his belt on almost every major card, the hope is that he could still provide a "Big Time" feel to events by tagging with other top names (like Jumbo and Baba) in matches on the upper card.

 

Rumour is that the winner of this month's JWA Tournament will be given a belt to defend. Top contenders for the rumored JWA Japanese Title include Choshu, Inoki, Jumbo, Maeda, Fujinami, and Fujiwara.

 

JWA's current belt-holders are JWA Champion Tenryu, Tag Champs Giant Baba & Andre the Giant, and Middleweight Champion Dos Caras.

 

There is also a JWA Middleweight Tag Championship, currently held by The Dynamic Duo of Chris Adams & Gino Hernandez. Reportedly, the belt was created at least in part to help build up the Dynamic Duo's "Best in the World" story line. However, with the possible change in JWA's booking practices and the depth of Middleweight and Jr. Heavyweight talent on JWA's roster, it might make sense for the company to make good use of these belts in the future, if any team from JWA can manage to get them back from the Dynamic Duo.

 

Finally, with Andre the Giant winning the NWA Canadian International Heavyweight Championship, and with possible story-lines being built around that this summer, it's likely that Andre and Baba will have to drop the Tag Straps soon. However, with almost all of JWA's big names involved in the Tournament, who will be available to take on The Giants?

[SirEdger]

A SHORT-LIVED REIGN FOR THE MIDNIGHT ROCKERS?

 

Following the surprise victory of the Midnight Rockers in Charlotte against Rick Martel & Gino Brito, many in the industry would've thought that the new NWA Canadian International Tag Team Champions would've taken this decision as a sign of trust & gratitude from the NWA Lutte Internationale management, especially how popular they have become in the territory in such a short span of time. However, trouble might already be brewing for the new champs. As many are probably aware, Shawn Michaels missed the first part of the July 5th doubleheader in British Columbia and Lutte management cited travel issues as Michaels was able to make it for the Duncan show later that night. However, there's more than meets the eye about the whole thing. Reports suggest that the champs might've been partying a little bit too hard and Michaels actually missed his flight to Vancouver, thus missing the Richmond show but he was able to make it in time for Duncan. As a result, Michaels jobbed to Steve Strong in Duncan.

 

Lutte management was fully aware of the party loving reputation that the Midnight Rockers have in the wrestling circle and they're hoping that this situation won't repeat itself too often. In the case it does, Frank Valois is already working on a contingency plan in which he's said to "be willing to find another tag team to drop the titles to, whether it's within the NWA or outside the NWA." We'll keep you updated should anything comes up.

[kevinmcfl]

There is no way Lutte or anyone else should deal with a teenager who thinks he is bigger then the whole company!! Follow the New England Patriots way where team comes first! Punish the Rockers severely.

[GeneJackson95]

Huge news for Continental Championship Wrestling

 

It's been kept a secret until now but 2 weeks before the UWF Battleground event, Fritz Von Erich bought in as a 50/50 partner in CCW with Ron Fuller. As part of the partnership, CCW will now run the Sportatorium in Dallas every other Sunday rotating with the big Sunday event in Florida. They will also run a handful of venues in Texas but will not tour the entire state although they will have the television coverage to do so because as a part of this partnership Fritz has gotten CCW televlsion on KTVT Channel 11, a Superstation out of Dallas which also airs the USWA tv show. Fritz will also be bringing his sons Kevin and MIke Von Erich along minus Kerry who just debuted in the WWF. Fritz and Ron Fuller are already working on putting together a Supercard to take place at the Orange Bowl in Orlando, Florida on August 4th entitled 'Beach Brawl' and will begin building towards the 'David Von Erich Memorial Parade of Champions' at Reunion Arena on September 22nd.

[dexstar]

News & Notes from Puerto Rico

 

- WWC is back up and running after a sporadic year or so with only spot shows. The weekly show seems to be the focus over live events, building to stadium shows every 4-6 weeks.

 

- Notable by their absence thus far are freelancing favorites Abdullah the Butcher and Bruiser Brody, but sources say they will be making their returns to the island in due time.

 

- WWC signed several Mexican stars to deals recently, they will be debuting shortly on the television program

 

- Veteran Bulldog Bob Brown is not slated to be included in many plans moving forward and management is open to moving him to another territory

 

- WWC is considering joining one of the supra-promotional groups operating in order to have access to more top tier talent, but any discussions are very much in the preliminary phase

 

- As for why the Deaton/Rhenigans team that was known as "The Roughnecks" became "The Rough Riders", there is no explanation

[LowBlowPodcast]

 

PRESS RELEASE

 

Join the WWF for All-American Wrestling starting on August 4, 1985! All-American will air on Sunday mornings at 9:00am ET with Superstars moving to the 11:00am ET time slot. Many markets will show both shows but there are still many that will carry one. With All-American, Superstars, and Wrestling Challenge... the WWF is cornering the major market with the utilization of the USA Network while some of the shows are also syndicated throughout the major markets of the country. With these shows and the addition of Saturday Night's Main Event on NBC and the Madison Square Garden shows on the MSG Network, the visibility of the WWF is bigger now more than ever. All-American is slated to be hosted by Gene Okerlund and Lord Alfred Hayes at this point. Gorilla Monsoon and Hillbilly Jim are also said to be involved in some of the post-production with announcing of the matches. The WWF currently has a job opening for an announcer and would like to fill this spot with someone with Lord Alfred Hayes. Expect the show to be very basic with lower tier talent and some interviews as it is a way to get the show established following the basic formula that the WWF has developed over the past couple of years with their programing.

[Jesse Ewiak]

RADICALLY RIGHTEOUS WRESTLING NEWS & NOTES

 

- According to reports, McLane originally wanted a woman focused promotion that'd appeal to all ages, but that was nixed due to a lack of talent available and an open casting call that went disastrously.

 

- As you'd expect, various wrestlers are going under the hood as the jobbers to put over the gimmicked wrestlers. According to some people at the tapings, who was under the hood was not at all consistent so some masked men lost or gained height every single week

 

- Despite the cheesy nature of the show, it's premiere did surprisingly strong ratings in it's largely late night slots across the US, doing in some cases up to a 7 share. Of course, this is less impressive than it looks considering in some case, it's largest competition was re-runs of third tier sitcoms and infomercials, but for a show with nearly no advertising, it's impressive. (OOC: IRL, GLOW was doing 10-12 shares in it's late night slot)

 

- The 1st 'season' will run 20 to 24 episodes based on the number of matches that were taped, including several battle royals and odd gimmick matches.

[rainmakerrtv]

Word out of the AWA locker room is that both Harley Race and Zambuie Express aren't long for the promotion. Word has it that the combined egos of Race and Nick Bockwinkel are too big to be in the ring together and the promoters are siding with Bockwinkel. Meanwhile, there are reports that Zambuie Express tried to take some liberties in their Independence Day match and Wahoo and Crusher shut that down right quick. This could bring a premature end to what seemed to be a promising start for the Zambuies.

[SirEdger]

BREAKING NEWS: ANDRE THE GIANT'S FINAL DATE WITH NWA LUTTE INTERNATIONALE KNOWN

 

Andre the Giant notified NWA Lutte Internationale promoter Frank Valois & the National Wrestling Alliance that due to his particular contractual situation with the WWF, he would no longer be able to fulfill any other commitment past August 11. So it's at this date that Andre will finish off his dates with Lutte Internationale and he has requested to wrestle Bob Backlund in his final bout with the territory. The NWA Canadian International Heavyweight Championship will be defended on this date if Andre is still the champion. Should Andre still be the champion after the August 11 event at CNE Coliseum in Toronto, he will vacate the championship and a new champion will be crowned 6 days later at Vague de Chaleur/Heatwave live from Centre Paul-Sauvé in Montreal in a one-night 8-men tournament.

 

More details will be released, should Lutte Internationale come to this situation.

[GeneJackson95]

UWF Continental Championship Wrestling News & Notes

 

• Word is that Dusty Rhodes has had a big hand in helping Bill Watts and Fritz Von Erich with the huge Beach Brawl event coming up at the Orange Bowl in Orlando, Florida. There's been a TON of local advertising and co-promotions with local businesses to hopefully fill stadium with fans. They are also heavily advertising the appearance of Andre the Giant, the Road Warriors, Bruno Sammartino, Rock & Roll Express and of course Dusty himself.

 

• It's also been leaked that CCW has struck a deal to have Adrian Adonis, Jumbo Tsuruta, Genichiro Tenyru, and Bam Bam Bigelow compete in the promotion until October while they are on hiatus from JWA in Japan.

 

• Some new faces are on their way into the promotion on August 1st and a few will be leaving as well. One is rumored to be a substantial name in the business who will be a big acquistion for CCW.

[kevinmcfl]

Big news coming out of the UWF central offices:

 

-The UWF is really excited to announce that they have added Central States Wrestling to its growing list of territories and hopes this will add to its fan base in middle America. El Dragon, good Luck and welcome to the game.

 

-The UWF would also like to announce that it has struck a deal with the Tennessee State Fair to host a 4 night extravaganza Nashville that coincided with this years State Fair in September. The UWF is going to share the stage with some of country musics biggest stars in an event titled CHAMPIONSHIP WEEK. The format is going to be:

 

DAY 1 and 2: MUSIC CITY BOWL

 

A 16 man tournament and an 8 team tag tournament that will include wrestlers from all 4 UWF territories. The final two singles and tag teams will move forward and compete in the next round for the Music City Belt.

 

DAY 3 & 4: BATTLE FOR THE BELTS

Each title except for the World Titles will be defended with the winners moving on

 

DAY 5 and 6: CLASH OF CHAMPIONS

A singles tournament and tag tournament for anyone who has a UWF title except the World Champions

 

DAY 7:

The winners from the Clash of Champions will face the World Champions.

 

The Tennessee State Fair is hoping this will become a yearly event that will, along with country music, give the fair another big draw.

[SirEdger]

BREAKING NEWS

 

For the month of August, Lutte Internationale is proudly partnering up with Le Cirque du Soleil to present co-branded events for a full day of fun for the whole family! In the afternoon, be ready to be wowed and amazed by the artists of Le Cirque du Soleil! And then, in the night, make the trip all the way to the arena for a jam-packed night of wrestling action! Who knows....you might even meet Le Cirque's newest attraction, our resident clown D'Artagnan!

 

Here are the dates you can catch us up all month long!

 

August 2nd - Ottawa, ON

August 3rd - Chauvin, AB

August 4th - Golden, BC

August 9th - Hespeler, ON

August 10th - Toronto, ON

August 11th - Toronto, ON

August 16th - Toronto, ON

August 17th - Montreal, QC

August 18th - Stoney Point ON

August 23rd - Vancouver, BC

August 24th - Fort St. John, BC

August 25th - Goodsoil, SK

August 30th - Calgary, AB

August 31st - Toronto, ON

September 1st - Bragg Creek, AB

 

Don't you dare miss it!

[El Dragon]

Some reports out of UWF Central States after there first TV taping.

 

Some people have been surprised by Central States presentation being so far off from what they have been known for. Marty Jones match was a lot more physical and fast paced then the average Central States match of years past. Apparently, Bob Geigel has been quoted as saying that he has come to recognize the style Central States has been most known for as being overly slow pace, and that wrestling is starting to evolve away from that. After going to see the WWF's show in St. Louis recently, and seeing how the live crowd reacted to it, he has said he views changing Central States image as "A matter of life or death for this territory"

 

Furthermore, the bigger shock to many was Central States use of so many talents from other countries. Apparently, Mr. Geigel has viewed the well a bit on the dry side on the US front, but thought there were plenty of interesting talents in Canada, Japan, Europe, and Mexico that could stand out if given a legitimate chance stateside. Even with "Black Dragon", Marty Jones, Ben Bassarab, Dave Taylor, and the Della Sorra brothers on the roster, it's considered likely they aren't done trying to import talent.

 

Another note of contention is JR Foley, who is well known and somewhat infamous in some circles for his use of a Nazi gimmick, and the shock of those who would recognize him being on TV. According to inside sources, Central States is high on Foley as a talent, but have been willing to say they view the full out gimmick Foley has gone for in the past as being "too hard a pill to swallow to there tv". So, while they apparently haven't been opposed to using some questionable methods down the line, they at least didn't want to make there UWF debut something that is more memorable for a short term shock as opposed to something for long term growth.

[LowBlowPodcast]

WWF News

-Have you ever thought you were on cloud nine and then had everything fall out from under you? That's what happened with Sean Micheals and Marty Jannetty this weekend. They worked for the WWF on the House Show loop and were at television tapings. They even had a match air on the inaugural episode of All-American Wrestling. Sources have confirmed that as the WWF was in Montreal and Toronto over the last weekend, the Midnight Rockers as they have been called, were spotted by some WWF talent and were recruited to come in. Not being under contract to the NWA or Lutte International, they decided to come down and from all account, they did a spectacular job in the ring and even made their Meadowlands debut in an eight-man tag. The problem came when the shows were over and they went out to party with the boys... all hell broke loose and the Rockers wound up showing up the Madison Square Garden the next day and before they could even enter... Pat Patterson was there to give them their walking papers. No word on what will happen with them now... but don't expect them to show up on WWF television for the foreseeable future.

[kevinmcfl]

There seems to be a lot of Lutte/WWF "stealing" of talent lately. The NWA offices should be watching this relationship closely! Is it true stealing? Maybe "sneaky" sharing to test the waters if Montreal is a better fit with Vince!

 

VERY INTERESTING!!!

[LowBlowPodcast]

With the WWF working Toronto and Montreal... anything could happen when the talent go out late at night.

[GeneJackson95]

UWF Continental Championship Wrestling News and Notes

 

- Beach Brawl is being considered a huge success, a huge crowd was on hand and so far the feedback has been extremely positive.

 

- The Bruno Sammartino turn is a huge deal and word is that it wasn't offiical it was happening right up until bell time. A newsletter commented last week there might be a turn coming and Bill Watts wanted to change the finish and not do the heel turn with Bruno, however Fritz Von Erich and Ron Fuller insisted it had to happen to help draw the return to the Orange Bowl in October, based on crowd response and the interest already being shown for the October rematch, the feeling is that Von Erich and Fuller were right.

 

- While Fritz is being praised for fighting to go through with the Bruno Sammartino heel turn, he's being taken to task for another recent decision that looks like is going to take place. It's well documented that Fritz was extremely upset with his son Kerry for choosing to go to the WWF instead of coming along to CCW. Fritz feels there needs to be three Von Erichs for six man tag team matches and such. Fritz decided they needed to recruit a "family member' and was pushing Ron Fuller to make Wendell Cooley a "Von Erich cousin". Fuller and Watts both fought it since Cooley is pretty well established in the territory. After didn't pan out, Fritz looked to guys who hadn't had much if any TV exposure and came across young Terry Brunk, who has competed a handful of times on house shows as 'Sabu' teaming with the Tonga Kid. Fritz has decided to introduce Terry Brunk to the CCW fans as 'Terry Von Erich'. Watt, Fuller, and everyone who has heard about it have tried to tell him this is a HORRIBLE idea but he's determined to do it and Terry Von Erich is set to debut on the next Sportatorium show in Dallas, Texas.

 

​

 

- Fans were excited to see the debut of The Fabulous Freebirds (Michael Hayes/Buddy Roberts) who will at least for the time being have Bam Bam Bigelow stepping into the Terry Gordy role. The Fabulous Ones who made their CCW debut on TV this week taking the Southern Tag Team titles from Eddie Gilbert and Tommy Rich have also caused quite a stir with the fans as well.

 

- While there is an influx of new faces coming including the legendary "Handsome" Harley Race and Adrian Adonis, there's been some shocking departures as well including Austin Idol, Shane Douglas, Mr. Wrestling 2, and "Superstar" Bill Dundee. Most fans were shocked when a "Loser leaves Town" match was signed between the Bullet and Kevin Sullivan....most fans assume that Sullivan will be back under a mask similar to Armstrong...but that is NOT the case. The feeling in the office is that the "Devil" gimmick with Sullivan and Humperdink's guys just didn't take this time around as it has in the past in Florida. Perhaps it just didn't click against the Armstrongs but the bookers decided to pull the plug and go another direction. Fallen Angel has already left for the AWA with Sullivan and Humperdink is being taken off TV for a few weeks (and perhaps for good) if not he will return with different wrestlers and they are currently trying to come up with something different for Killer Brooks, Mark Lewin (who will likely end up under a mask), and 'Dirty White Boy' Tony Anthony.

 

- The next big event for CCW will be the 'David Von Erich Parade of Champions' at Reunion Arena in Dallas, Texas on Sunday September 22nd. It's said they will try to get most of the UWF Champions on the card in hopes of the next big event in Texas taking place at the Cotton Bowl. In October, CCW will return to the Orange Bowl in Orlando for the 'UWF SuperBowl of Wrestling' featuring the Steel Cage Match: Bruno/David Sammartino vs. Dusty Rhodes/???? - It is rumored his partner could be Blackjack Mulligan or perhaps someone outside the territory.

 

- The VHS release of 'Beach Brawl' is looking to be sometime in December in time for Christmas.