Random Newsletter Stuff

[DeanColes1987]

"Yokozuna was asked to do a run-in in the Hall vs. Nash match in Las Vegas to attack Nash. He was offered $10,000 just for the run-in and turned it down because he said he was too busy. Hall called him up, he's now living in Las Vegas and training at a wrestling school there, and started yelling at him to get his butt down to the building but he didn't come" - Nov 9, 98 Observer

"Because of Diesel's huge push (which is on its way to becoming bigger over the next 12 months), he virtually squashed Fatu every night of the European tour. Diesel's character is not supposed to appear vulnerable to any but the top main event wrestlers." - Nov 29, 94 Torch

"The only reason Jimmy Valiant stuck around for as long as he did was because he was under contract and was waiting for the balloon payment on his contract and I guess he got tired of waiting." - July 11, 88 Observer

"As Blaze was being interviewed, Landel came out and offered him $500 for the SMW Title. He said that would give Blaze some time to to go out looking for the real father of his child." - March 25, 95 Torch

"5/29 in Greensboro was the first card there since the Crockett Cup, and before that of course was Clash of the Champions. Remember the Midnight vs. Fantastics finish? Remember the Road Warriors vs. Power of Pain finish in the cup? well, they ran the exact same finish again this month in a six man title match with the Powers of Pain & Uncle Ivan apparently losing, but instead winning via DQ over the Roadies & Sting. Once again, I'm told a lot of the crowd fell for it, but they were down to 4,000 fans this month." - June 6, 88 Observer

"Sting signed a new seven figure contract and no longer wants to work on Thursdays." - Sept 7, 98 Observer

"The World Wrestling Network pilot television taping scheduled for July 31 in Austin, Tex. at the Austin Auditorium was cancelled Saturday because the Austin Convention Center was booked instead by mistake." - July 12, 93 Torch

"What's the best way to build an audience for a new show? How about pre-empting the thing four weeks in a row after its debut? That's the deal with the NWA Main Event which aired on Saturday at 11 a.m. this week (and will for the next few weeks because of Atlanta Braves baseball and other TBS specials) so just about nobody saw it." - Apr 18, 88 Observer

"Eric Bischoff is now talking about hiring scriptwriters to help with storyline consistencies on WCW TV programs." - Aug 28, 99 Torch

"The gimmick match at Texas Stadium will be billed as something along the lines of 'The Triple Tower of Doom'....Dusty is furious, because apparently this was his idea for his big gimmick for the Bash and fall shows that he was going to unveil at the July PPV event and Michael Hayes has beat him to the punch." - Apr 25, 88 Observer

"Taylor, Banks, and Kelly were not happy that their TV scripts were changed considerably by Bruce Prichard before being submitted to Vince McMahon for final approval. They believed Prichard should have consulted them on some of the changes and believe some of the changes were made just for changes’ sake so he appeared to be a valuable part of the process." - Oct 23, 99 Torch

"The current plans, subject to change in the next panic attack, are for Goldberg to keep the title for the time being and not to do a quickie back to Hogan because of the feeling that Goldberg could be the man in the business, and to not screw it up as they did Sting (and truthfully, a lot of that problem wasn't just the way the Hogan feud was booked but because Sting himself had no fire in the ring when he returned). Hogan still had no problem doing the job the right way for Goldberg, but in return apparently got the promise of being, when the time is right, the person to end Goldberg's winning streak, although the present plans are for that to be a long time coming." - July 13, 98 Observer

"The best thing that can be said about Luger's work on the mic is that he finally stopped talking between the 'L' made by his thumb and forefinger. He has yet to do a single memorable interview - except the time he claimed he received the 'allocades' of the fans - and he must have done hundreds over the years." - July 4, 93 Torch, Bruce Mitchell Column

"DX did what was said to have been a hilarious skit where they dressed up as the Nation and made fun of all of them. If you think it was similar to NWO with the Horseman when you see it you're hallucinating because WWF would never copy WCW." - July 6, 98 Observer

"WCW didn’t tape enough wrestling footage for the June 17 Thunder so for the TV main event they aired the eight–man match that originally appeared on the June 14 Nitro." - June 26, 99 Torch

"For the 7/7 Bash in Raleigh, on the Worldwide show Tony Schiavone is plugging one lineup while on the NWA Pro show, Jim Ross plugs a completely different lineup. This has happened two weeks in a row so fans aren't sure if they are getting a War Games or an eight man cage match as the main event. The only match both cards agree on is Doc vs. Rotunda, which isn't exactly a major ticket seller." - July 4, 88 Observer

"Besides missing extensive time due to back surgery, Ray Traylor was so disenchanted with WCW that he stopped showing up for work and waited for his termination notice. As soon as he received it, he called the WWF." - Oct 17, 98 Torch

"As the 'inside story' goes, which may or may not have a degree of validity, Hogan and Bischoff had a business falling out when Bischoff decided to go with Hogan's enemy, Kevin Nash, as new booker, thus greatly diluting Hogan's political power....The straw that may have broken the camel's back is the current plan for Nash to beat Bill Goldberg for the WCW title at Starrcade, since Hogan agreed to put Goldberg over cleanly the right way for the title on 7/6 at the Georgia Dome as part of a deal where Goldberg's first loss would be to him, most likely at Starrcade....While there were tentative plans on the table for Nash to win the Battle Royal and then the title at Starrcade before any of this happened, there was also serious talk that the end result of this would be for Nash to re-join the black & white at that point and possibly even hand the belt to Hogan, and this was the first time it was made clear that wasn't happening....I've yet to speak to one person in the organization who believes this is anything but an angle, even though the office is trying to convince talent it's a shoot" - Nov 30, 98 Observer

[DeanColes1987]

JCP Sale part 1

"I'd be almost remiss in not commenting on the rumors swirling through the wrestling world that Ted Turner is buying the NWA....If such a deal is completed, Jim Crockett will still run the wrestling operation however the rest of the family wouldn't be involved as it would be their stock that Turner would buy out. There's been a ton of speculation, particularly about Dusty Rhodes, should this happen, but it's all premature." - May 23, 88 Observer

"A deal was proposed by the Crockett organization which would sell the majority of the company to Turner Entertainment. The deal is as of this writing before the Acquisitions Committee of the Turner company and the word on whether or not it is approved is expected within a week. The report I've got on the deal is that Turner would be buying out the stock of David, Frances and Jackie Crockett, but not the stock of Jim Crockett." - May 30, 88 Observer

"Things simply cannot continue to be run as they have been run for this group to stay solvent. That is no longer speculation. That is fact. Things must change. The other members of the Crockett family trying to sell their stock tells that story. There are wrestlers who are owed large sums of money. The promotion is really at the same crossroads in many cases as the old UWF was just a few months before it was sold to Crockett." - May 30, 88 Observer

"The TBS show this past Saturday spent an awful lot of time plugging the Omni show on 5/22, which was strange since usually they don't do such a hard sell for what on the surface appeared to be just another Omni card. For whatever reason, the press boxes, usually empty on wrestling nights, were filled this time. Speculation was that several VIP's were there trying to get a look at what it exactly is that they may be purchasing. The hard sell worked, since 7,300 fans turned out at the Omni, more than triple the crowd from last months card with a lineup that on paper wasn't any more attractive." - May 30, 88 Observer

"The wrestlers were due the baloon payments on their contracts on 5/1 and have yet to receive them and there are a lot of disgruntled guys around. Also the payments for the Sunday Main Event show (remember the main eventers were to split $7,500, middle match $2,500, etc.) haven't come in and the guys made their standard money for the show (something like $100)" - May 30, 88 Observer

"This story was on the front page of the Charlotte Observer this past Wednesday....My sources indicate it could be July before the deal is completed or dropped....The paper listed a $10 million price for the acquisition, although I've been told that figure is 'way off'....Another correction from last week is that the proposed deal would have Turner buying 100 percent of Crockett Promotions, including Jim Crockett's shares....In the Charlotte newspaper, Frances Crockett was quoted as denying that any negotiations were even taking place." - June 6, 88 Observer

"None of the contract balloon payments, due on 5/1, have been paid and I'm told there are about 10 wrestlers due sizable amounts of money, at least in the six figures." - June 6, 88 Observer

"The two sides are literally millions of dollars apart in the attempted buying and hoped-for-selling price, with the Crocketts wanting an eight figure deal to give up the company and TBS apparently not interested in paying that kind of money for the company." - June 27, 88 Observer

"The Turner side came back early this past week with a legitimate offer to the Crockett family to buy the company....Those within the Crockett organization seem to feel the deal should be finalized by the end of July" - July 4, 88 Observer

"During this past week there was a hang-up involving David and Frances Crockett, who were having reservations about a sale when it became apparent that Turner's company was interested in a serious offer, but that has been smoothed over and Jim Crockett has received approval from the rest of his family to negotiate the terms of the sale." - July 4, 88 Observer

"A lot has changed regarding the possible sale of the NWA to the Turner Broadcasting empire. I really don't want to get into details because I'm not totally clear of all of them, other than the JCP shareholders (basically the Crockett family) are not united in wanting to sell the company right now." - July 11, 88 Observer

"I'm not certain of who stands where other than Jim Crockett is behind the sale and David isn't, and Ole Anderson is trying to become a key player in this deal as well and is trying to sway the wrestler sinto breaking away and forming a new company (which could conceivably be headed by David Crockett provided Jim Crockett makes a deal with Turner) or actually maneuvering a deal with Turner himself, which, if Anderson could provide the wrestlers, in theory, then Turner wouldn't have to pay however many millions to the Crocketts to actually buy a company." - July 11, 88 Observer

"As far as a possible NWA sale to TBS, there really isn't anything new on that subject other than whatever business disagreements existed between the Crockett family have apparently been smoothed over and that David and Frances Crockett have once again allowed Jim the power to negotiate the deal." - July 25, 88 Observer

"One reason I've been hoping for a Turner buyout of the NWA is that he has experienced television pros, as opposed to the group Crockett employs....I'd have liked to have seen what Glenn Diamond of TBS could have done with this show. Or, dare I say, how the show would have been with Eddie Gilbert as producer." - July 25, 88 Observer, reader letter from Steve Beverly

"Jack Petrick of TBS was quoted in a Tokyo newspaper called 'Yoshitake' as saying that he will have jurisdiction over the new NWA after the buy out. He said TBS would set policy, he would enforce it, and the wrestling end of the business would be left in control of Jim Crockett and Dusty Rhodes. Petrick said the sale would be finalized within 60 days." - Aug 1, 88 Observer

"Things in the National Wrestling Alliance are at their shakiest point ever. The promotion hit a cash flow problem and was forced to take out one, or two, depending upon who you believe, large loans to the tune of a reported $300,000 in order to catch up on some bills, mainly to television stations and to meet payroll obligations. This money isn't being used to pay the balloon payments ont he contracts which were due in May, but have yet to be paid." - Aug 8, 88 Observer

"Several reliable reports indicate the money was borrowed from TBS, and was done so mainly to attempt to save the television network, which was about to fall apart due to late bills, and without television, the promotion would fall apart and advertising income would be out the window as well. The money paid will be considered a down payment if/when the actual agreement to sell the company to TBS goes down." - Aug 8, 88 Observer

"Supposedly another large loan was taken from a Charlotte bank for a similar amount of money, with a full month's worth of TV advertising revenue going directly to the bank in order to repay the loan." - Aug 8, 88 Observer

"All the wrestlers are free agents now, so they can jump to anyone without sitting out, since their contracts were violated by the balloon payments not being met." - Aug 8, 88 Observer

"TV ratings have plummeted in the past quarter. The TBS Saturday show, for years one of the top three cable shows on all of cable television, dropped to No. 11 this quarter, and for the first time ever, traield both of Titan's shows ont he USA network. TV viewership dropped 23 percent over the past three months alone, from a 3.5 national rating to a 2.7." - Aug 8, 88 Observer

"From all I've heard, the Midnights vs. Tully & Arn seems the hottest of all them even though you would think Flair vs. Luger should be with all the hype they've aimed at it. It seems most fans realize that if Luger is ever going to win the title, it isn't going to be until a major show and it won't happen in these upcoming matches." - Aug 15, 88 Observer

"The prospective sale of the NWA to Turner Entertainment is closer than ever. The hold up right now appears to be that Turner's group wants the NWA to clear its outstanding debts before an actual sale takes place." - Aug 22, 88 Observer

"There was a lot of worrying during the week about the status of Flair, Blanchard and Anderson since all indicated they were history unless a specific change was made, and Crockett basically called their bluff and as you saw on WTBS this weekend, Flair, Anderson and Blanchard aren't history." - Aug 22, 88 Observer

[sek69]

10 hours ago, DeanColes1987 said:

"There was a lot of worrying during the week about the status of Flair, Blanchard and Anderson since all indicated they were history unless a specific change was made, and Crockett basically called their bluff and as you saw on WTBS this weekend, Flair, Anderson and Balnchard aren't history." - Aug 22, 88 Observer

 

Funny thing is all three ended up putting in their notice, Flair only stayed because it was the key in TBS buying the company, and the specfic change they wanted (removing Dusty as booker) happened anyway. 

[DeanColes1987]

JCP Sale part 2

"Several of the wrestlers have had meetings scheduled with Jack Petrick of TBS, who if/when the sale goes through, will oversee the wrestling operations. Both Ric Flair and Dusty Rhodes had personal meetings with Ted Turner." - Aug 29, 88 Observer

"The Ric Flair-Lex Luger rematches are over in a big way. The cards in Norfolk, Richmond and Philadelphia over the past week were all just about sold out. I think the gimmick that the match in your city is the 'only rematch' between the two is part of the reason this is going over so well. I should also point out something about their ending in Baltimore. Whether I liked the ending or thought the execution of it was good, if the rematches draw, and these rematches are drawing, then it was a successful ending. Case closed on that one." - Aug 29, 88 Observer

"The NWA gate in Philadelphia last week was $128,000 for Flair vs. Luger, or more than double what Savage vs. DiBiase drew." - Sept 5, 88 Observer

"The TBS is getting frustrated that the deal hasn't been completed, because they want to run their own wrestling company and wanted it taken care of before starting the TNT network, which ultimately, wrestling will become a staple on." - Sept 12, 88 Observer

"If they start their own company and Crockett Promotions remains in existence, Crockett Promotions will almost certainly be without its most valuable promotional asset, the TBS time slots." - Sept 12, 88 Observer

"The TBS people have been contacted by others floating around the periphery of the business (Global Wrestling, Ole Anderson and probably others I don't know about) to simply start up a new promotion with the idea that all the talent can be had anyway and they don't have to pay the Crockett family millions. Of course, that also means starting a syndication network from scratch and it also means having to build up an audience from scratch, and even though many fans have given up on the NWA (as TV ratings clearly show), they still have a large and loyal audience of core fans. In addition dropping the Crockett program for a new show, unless that have at least half of the 'name' stars would result in a public outcry by the fans, just as the Turner people had to deal with in 84 when McMahon took over TBS in what appeared to fans as a sudden abrupt change (it had actually been brewing for months) " -Sept 12, 88 Observer

"Late status of the NWA sale which is right back to square one. TBS has made a deal that Jim Crockett wants to accept, however neither David nor Frances Crockett will accept the deal (because both will be out of the wrestling business should the deal be reached while Jim will be involved with the TBS group)" - Sept 12, 88 Observer

"Blanchard and Anderson had threatened to quit the NWA several times of late--at one point they and another wrestler (My Note: Not sure why Dave is so coy here since he outright named Flair in the 8/22 note posted above) gave word they were through unless Dusty Rhodes was replaced, however Crockett failed to replace Rhodes as booker but the wrestlers didn't follow through their threat to leave--until now." - Sept 19, 88 Observer

"Ironically the jump comes at the same time as the news that the sale of the NWA to Turner Entertainment is just a few steps from completion (I know you've heard that before, but this time....) Jim Crockett has already agreed to a deal, however his co-stockholders in Crockett Promotions, brother David and Sister Frances have not yet agreed to terms. The Turner side also wants the Crocketts to clear their several million dollars worth of outstanding debts before the sale is completed. Turner Entertainment will be purchasing the assets of the company, in particular, the contracts of the wrestlers (which may not be valid since Crockett reniged on the balloon payments) and the TV syndication package along with whatever tangible assets like rings, production equipment and arena contracts. TBS sources indicate the sale is expected to be finalized within two weeks." - Sept 19, 88 Observer

"Crockett lost his TV in San Jose (which serves the entire San Francisco/Oakland market) and Pittsburgh after this past weekend. Other syndication deals are in danger of being lost as well because Crockett is trying to settle his debts by paying 40¢ on the dollar, which doesn't bode well with many of his creditors." - Sept 19, 88 Observer

"The Flair vs. Luger rematch in Baltimore on 9/3 drew a $125,000 gate." - Sept 19, 88 Observer

"This is virtually a done deal, the only hold up from what I've been told is that Jim Crockett has to reach a compromise agreement with Bill Watts for the money still owed in the UWF sale of last April (reportedly in the $3 million range). Reportedly Crockett is tryign to settle his debts at between 40¢ and 60¢ on the dollar, so he'll be attempting to make a settlement in the $1.5 million range." - Sept 26, 88 Observer

"Crockett's offer to settle the outstanding debt (rumored to be in the $3 million rane) for less than $1 million didn't go down so well with Watts, who is not only trying to up the price, but also drop the 'no-compete' clause in his sale contract." - Oct 3, 88 Observer

"The wrestlers all received documents to sign that would transfer their contract responsibility from the Crocketts to TBS." - Oct 12, 88 Observer

"Officially the money will change hands for the purchase on 11/1 and Turner will take over control of the NWA the next day." - Oct 31, 88 Observer

"The deal is done. The ink has dried. The biggest soap opera of the year is over. The National Wrestling Alliance is now owned by Ted Turner." - Nov 7, 88 Observer

"TBS purchased the NWA in spite of all the outstanding debts. The largest creditor, Bill Watts, from the UWF purchase last April, has not agreed to a settlement, and there are several other large creditors and at least two lawsuits that have been filed of late regarding those debts." - Nov 7, 88 Observer

[...TG]

5 hours ago, DeanColes1987 said:

"The TBS is getting frustrated that the deal hasn't been completed, because they want to run their own wrestling company and wanted it taken care of before starting the TNT network, which ultimately, wrestling will become a staple on." - Sept 12, 88 Observer

Fascinating! There's an alternate universe out there where WCW outflanks WWF by having Nitro debut in 1988, not 1995.

[sek69]

All this time I thought the Frances being talked about was Jim Sr's widow, I didn't know there was a sister involved. I only ever heard of Jim Jr, David, and Jackie. 

[Rocco]

Was WCW ever on TNT until Nitro?  Feel like they were only on TBS unless i'm remembering wrong.  

[DeanColes1987]

1 hour ago, sek69 said:

All this time I thought the Frances being talked about was Jim Sr's widow, I didn't know there was a sister involved. I only ever heard of Jim Jr, David, and Jackie. 

Frances has a rep of being the brains of the Crockett children, the guy she married, John Ringley, was actually the designated successor to run the company after Jim Sr. died until he was discovered having an affair and Frances divorced him.

Edit: Found a photo album where Ringley's name is actually listed before Crockett

[DeanColes1987]

Flair vs. Rhodes and Crockett

 

"Jim Crockett will be in charge this coming month and attempt to run as cost-efficient a month as possible in an attempt to save his job." - Nov 7, 88 Observer

"There were major problems early in the week between Flair, Rhodes and Crockett which caused Flair to no show in one or two cities (this past Monday for sure, and maybe Tuesday, I'm not clear about that)....Flair came as close to quitting as he ever had and basically decided he was tired of the way he was being used as World champion and wanted real finishes and real opponents. When Flair came back, his scheduled main events against Luger in Little Rock, Jackson, MS and Baton Rouge were changed to tag matches (Flair/Perez vs. Luger/Nikita with Perez doing the job) because Flair refused to do the same finish he's been doing with Luger in all the arenas of late." - Nov 7, 88 Observer

"Flair also refused to work this month against Bam Bam Bigelow in title matches, so all those bouts scheduled have been changed to tag team matches with Flair/Windham vs. Dusty/Bigelow, which doubly makes Dusty mad because now Dusty doesn't get his singles matches against Windham, either. From all accounts Flair didn't want to 'put over' Bigelow because he didn't think it would be good for himself, the NWA title or the NWA itself for him to put over a guy who worked the middle of the cards and didn't get over in the WWF, plus Bigelow hadn't 'earned' the shot and there was fear Bigelow might leave in the middle of the program after making Flair look bad because of the way the finish would certainly be, nor was Bigelow the slightest bit over to NWA fans" - Nov 7, 88 Observer

"The new regime will start in January and the present plan is have Dusty Rhodes as a key part of it, although in theory his power will be reduced come the new year but he'll still be a powerful force and Ric Flair's title reign is in some jeopardy at Starrcade." - Nov 21, 88 Observer

"The top of the card which Dusty Rhodes came up with had Ric Flair vs. Rick Steiner for the NWA title on top, Road Warriors vs. Sting & Lex Luger and Barry Windham vs. Dusty for the U.S. title as feature matches. I have to tread carefully on this story, but this past Monday afternoon, Flair had a meeting at TBS and was informed of his match and of the finish. Flair stormed out of the meeting, missed the TBS TV tapings that night, and for a 24-hour period it was touch and go whether he'd finally go to Titan since he's been talking of late about the matches he could have with Randy Savage." - Nov 28, 88 Observer

"Jack Petrik of TBS has learned more about the wrestling business over the past seven days than most learn in a year and by Tuesday talked Flair into staying. At that point the main even was Flair vs. Luger with the two matches underneath uncertain, but that was the deal made between Petrik and Flair, with Rhodes not involved in the decision making." - Nov 28, 88 Observer

"Rhodes was furious, as you can imagine and he and Jim Crockett tried to explain to Petrik various reasons why the scenario he had would work (I can't go into details because it would give away a possible finish)  and tried to talk Petrik back into seeing things his way, and then failing, tried to talk him into switching the main event to Flair vs. ‘that Jap' (Genichiro Tenryu, who Flair himself wanted to wrestle despite the fact it would have no box office office impact because he wanted a great, stiff, realistic match and also wanted to get himself and the NWA title 'over' as the real World title in Japan and wanted to open up Japanese style more to U.S. fans)."- Nov 28, 88 Observer

"Later Crockett dispatched Jim Barnett to convince Flair to see things Dusty's way on Thursday, but the last word I have is that it will be Flair vs. Luger on top." - Nov 28, 88 Observer

"Dusty Rhodes missed all three major cards this weekend and it isn't clear to anyone as to why, whether the pressure of being accountable and not having 100 percent carte blanche when it comes to booking is taking its toll or whether it’s a protest for being overruled or whether it’s something else." - Nov 28, 88 Observer

"Since the wrestlers were ordered to move to Atlanta by 11/1, all air reservations were bought from the Atlanta airport. This meant those who hadn't relocated to Atlanta, like those who stayed in Charlotte (many of them did) would have to drive to Atlanta to catch their plane to wherever (something like a six-hour drive) and drive home from Atlanta. Some did the drive and others paid out of pocket to purchase their own plane tickets out of charlotte.... Some tickets come out of Dallas since many of the wrestlers still live there including Crockett, Dusty and J.J. Dillon, however those on the east coast's tickets are all out of Atlanta." - Nov 28, 88 Observer

"There was also a clause in the deal that gave Flair unprecedented power for a world champion and Rhodes and Crockett were upset Flair was given that type of power and Rhodes felt Flair went 'behind his back' in negotiating the contract and getting that certain power. In response Rhodes only booked Flair for five shows the entire month of December and attempted to get the title from him at Starrcade, but it appears the situation backfired on him." - Nov 28, 88 Observer

"Rhodes also planned to bring his son Dustin (18 years old) in along with Kendall Windham at the Texas Broncos tag team and give them a decent babyface push, and his timing in doing so couldn't have been worse." - Nov 28, 88 Observer

"The NWA wrestlers all received their balloon payment checks from Crockett this week, but only received 40¢ for each dollar owed. Best estimate is that one major NWA star will wind up out around $120,000" - Nov 28, 88 Observer

"After missing the entire weekend with what is now known as the 'Dusty flu,' we got the word that the Dream was in hot water. In fact, Jim Crockett was ordered to replace Dusty Rhodes as NWA booker.... You could imagine the shock among the wrestlers Tuesday night when the new booker walked in. Yes, it was the Midnight Rider, in public if you will." - Dec 5, 88 Observer

"Unfortunately the Dusty flu is a contagious disease and spread all around the NWA this past week and Battlestar week was marred by several no-shows once again, including wrestlers in key matches most every night." - Dec 5, 88 Observer

"They did the True Grit angle with Dusty on Thanksgiving afternoon and it aired on TBS Saturday....The angle was originally planned for the Clash but it was moved up because Dusty has to get himself tied into a major thing as fast as possible for job security reasons." - Dec 5, 88 Observer

"One Wednesday morning, Dusty Rhodes officially resigned as booker of the NWA. From all accounts this was a forced resignation ordered by the TBS hierarchy based on several episodes over the past few weeks. On Thursday, Jim Crockett was officially informed that he would no longer be running the day-to-day operations of the company starting January 1st." - Dec 12, 88 Observer

"As of press time the new booker in the NWA is Jim Crockett. This is expected to change in January....It looks to me if present plans continue, that the actual key brain and power in the committee will be Ric Flair." - Dec 12, 88 Observer

"Ironically, when TBS took over the company, Rhodes was in a stronger position to retain his job than most casual observers would believe. Much of Petrik's knowledge and understanding of the wrestling company was coming directly from Crockett, who of course was very high on Dusty as a booker." - Dec 12, 88 Observer

"The straw that broke the camel's back was the angle that aired on 11/26 with the Road Warriors putting a spike into Dusty's eye on TBS with heavy blood and close-ups....Apparently TBS had sent a directive to the NWA because of the blood during the Midnight Express vs. Midnight Express angle a few weeks earlier when Jim Cornette bled heavily after being hit with a telephone regarding blood on TBS and Rhodes blatantly defied the memo and ran his angle anyway." - Dec 12, 88 Observer

"Another question has to do with Rhodes' contract, which was so lucrative that it was out of the realm of economic feasibility (with the exception of Hulk Hogan, I don't believe that any wrestler was legitimately earning more money than Dusty, although Randy Savage and Ric Flair were probably in the same ballpark)" - Dec 12, 88 Observer

"Crockett is in the doghouse with some at TBS because his proposed Clash of the Champions line-up for 2/15 (Road Warriors & Tenryu vs. Ron Simmons & JFD & Steven Casey on top; Lane & Eaton vs. Perez & Zybszko, Gilbert vs. Stallion, Texas Broncos vs. Russian Assassins and one more match) was ruled totally unacceptable by TBS." - Dec 26, 88 Observer

"TBS is going to re-negotiate Rhodes' contract since he's no longer booker and I suppose his future depends upon how much they cut from his $585,000 annual contract because even if they cut it 20 percent, that's tons more money than he (or almost anyone else) will ever make in this business." - Jan 2, 89 Observer

"Latest on Dusty is same as before. His contract expires at the end of the month and it just depends on a lot of things. All sorts of rumor, the main one that he'll head back to Florida and work with Mike Graham, but don't believe anything yet." - Jan 16, 89 Observer

"The expected split between Dusty Rhodes and the NWA took place on Tuesday when Rhodes resigned and walked out on his remaining bookings. To the surprise of almost nobody Rhodes resurfaced in Florida and reportedly has bought 60 percent of the nearly-dormant Florida Championship Wrestling promotion.... Rhodes’ return to Florida was hardly a surprise as wrestlers in Florida has been buzzing about it for weeks and the FCW television show had been building up Rhodes' return since the beginning of the year. Ironically, from all accounts, the folks at TBS are disappointed at losing Rhodes." - Jan 23, 89 Observer

"Jim Crockett was fired earlier this week from World Championship Wrestling. Because we've been on the road, details of the firing aren't known at press time. Crockett, former owner of Jim Crockett Promotions that sold out to Turner Broadcasting in late 1988 and became WCW, apparently had philosophical differences with booker Dusty Rhodes and was bounced." - Mar 23, 92 Observer

"An update on Jim Crockett is that he wasn't technically fired but was simply sent back home to Texas for reputedly being a disruptive influence. I believe that means he's still on payroll but isn't involved in any of the major decision-making processes." - Mar 30, 92 Observer

[sek69]

I always got the impression Jim Crockett just sat around the TBS offices pouting after Dusty got run off, but I had no idea he lasted until 1992.

[DeanColes1987]

40 minutes ago, sek69 said:

I always got the impression Jim Crockett just sat around the TBS offices pouting after Dusty got run off, but I had no idea he lasted until 1992.

He was a VP in title, consultant, was a member of the many steering and booking committees and was the guy booking arenas for a while. He also supposedly played a big part in getting Rick Rude and Ricky Steamboat to come in toward the end of 1991.

On the famous WCW house show in Dallas where the fan tried to shoot Jake Roberts, Bill Watts sent word to the guys that Crockett wasn't to be allowed in the building unless he bought a ticket and banned him from going in the dressing room (even though he was technically still employed by TBS and was receiving a paycheck until his contract expired in November 93)

[DeanColes1987]

"Tammy Sytch of 170 Amboy Rd., Matawan, NJ 07747 is looking for any tapes of Chris Candido from IWCCW and FMW and for any American or Japanese magazines covering him." - Apr 20, 92 Observer

"In early September at a WCW Saturday Night taping, there was an angle that required Curt Hennig, Vincent, Scott Norton, and Brian Adams to hide under the ring for a couple of hours before doing a run–in. Hennig, known for his ribs, brought a bucket with him to the ring. In the bucket was a dry towel and a wet towel. After they were under the ring for a while, Hennig said he needed to relieve himself. He proceeded to squat over the bucket. Adams, who was in on the prank, shined a flashlight at Hennig at that point and threw a stink bomb onto the ground. Norton looked right at where the light was shining and threw up" - Oct 24, 98 Torch

"Murdoch was out fishing all week and told the Crocketts a while back he wasn't going to work this week but they booked him and advertised him in all the towns anyway." - Sept 19, 88 Observer

"Undertaker held a 'wrestlers only' meeting last week at the Raw event to address his growing concern that wrestlers have become too flippant or open about their use of drugs. He talked about how bad things were during the drug scandal years in the early ’90s and said some of the wrestlers who weren’t around at that time might not appreciate how such publicity can cripple a company. Apparently wrestlers have been joking around backstage in front of others (building staff, friends and family, reporters, etc.) about steroids, pills, and marijuana." - Oct 24, 98 Torch

"Williams was arraigned in U.S. District Court in Detroit on a charge of attempting to export cocaine. He had been detained by U.S. customs agents on Jan. 4 when they discovered various drugs in his clothing and luggage as he attempted to board a flight to Tokyo. What was found were three grams of cocaine, 22 grams of marijuana and two grams of Tsilocybin Mushrooms as we reported last week. Additionally, agents found assorted barbiturates in a black purse and when they checked his luggage, they found additional barbiturates and marijuana along with 241 steroid tablets and 28 milliliters of injectable steroids." - Sept 5, 88 Observer

"Before the match, Godfather offered the hos to Val and said 'they will toss your salad, pack your fudge, puff on your fatty and call you daddy.' ” - Nov 13, 99 Torch

"Bob Orton was arrested on his flight back from Taiwan to Detroit after allegedly getting drunk and belligerent on the plane. There was a huge story in the Detroit News as Orton was sitting beside a sports reporter who was coming back from the Olympics on the same flight." - Oct 24, 88 Observer

"Ventura blew cigar smoke into Vince McMahon’s backstage office at the Chicago Raw last week. McMahon is a big anti–smoking guy, but Ventura may have wanted to rib him with his new level of power now that he is governor." - Aug 21, 99 Torch

"McMahon played the typical xenophobic heel role, saying that the U.S. was going to invade and take over Great Britain and appoint a Pakistani to be Prime Minister." - Dec 14, 98 Observer

"The main event for the Apr. 13 WCW WorldWide was a match between Ric Flair and Randy Savage taped in Orlando, Fla. in February. At the time Savage was WCW Champion. Savage wore the WCW belt to the ring and held it in the air before the match. To make matters even less consistent with the current-day storylines, Brian Pillman ran in and attacked Savage after the match." - Apr 20, 96 Torch

"Nash pinned Wrath in 4:45 with the power bomb. It's absolutely amazing how huge Nash really is. As mentioned often, size in this business is an illusion and Wrath's gimmick as a huge monster was pretty well destroyed because of just how small he looks next to Nash." - Nov 30, 98 Observer

"Okerlund interviewed Pillman & Anderson after the match and they referred to the Horsemen several times. Actually, their first attempt at the interview was stopped for some reason. As an excuse to restart the interview, Okerlund scolded Anderson for swearing and restarted the interview. Arn, though, never swore." - Sept. 30, 95 Torch

"Wrath's contract expires in January and he's negotiating a new deal. He probably won't be doing the Gladiator movie he was up for because it would require 40 weeks of filming in Morocco" - Nov 30, 98 Observer

"Cobra then came out and told the fans to be quiet because he was going to hide under the ring. Immediately many fans yelled, 'He's under the ring!' " - Aug 26, 95 Torch

"Another gaffe was when Mike Rotunda killed Rick Steiner's pet fly Spike on the morning show, but Spike was still alive doing stupid animal tricks on the afternoon show (in reality, the afternoon show is taped before the morning show but they air in a different order)" - Nov 14, 88 Observer

"Russo recently signed a deal to be part of the creative staff of a future USA Network sitcom based on the behind the scenes world of pro wrestling" - Aug 14, 99 Torch

"It was proposed to do an angle where Elizabeth would be linked with Billy Kidman, but she turned it down. It was described as being a Mrs. Robinson angle. Either she didn't want to be the mother of one of his classmates or didn't want to be linked to a cruiserweight in an angle doomed to mid-card oblivion." - Dec 28, 98 Observer

[...TG]

6 hours ago, DeanColes1987 said:

170 Amboy Rd., Matawan, NJ 07747

For anyone as curious as I am, the house is no longer there. Or perhaps it was a fake address all along?

[sek69]

9 hours ago, DeanColes1987 said:

"Williams was arraigned in U.S. District Court in Detroit on a charge of attempting to export cocaine. He had been detained by U.S. customs agents on Jan. 4 when they discovered various drugs in his clothing and luggage as he attempted to board a flight to Tokyo. What was found were three grams of cocaine, 22 grams of marijuana and two grams of Tsilocybin Mushrooms as we reported last week. Additionally, agents found assorted barbiturates in a black purse and when they checked his luggage, they found additional barbiturates and marijuana along with 241 steroid tablets and 28 milliliters of injectable steroids." - Sept 5, 88 Observer

 

Williams even  being able to enter Japan again let alone work there speaks volumes on the power Baba was able to wield.  

[DeanColes1987]

The 1st drugs bust was when he was with Inoki, he was actually wrestling in Japan 3 days after being detained which is insane.

The 2nd and 3rd were the Baba ones

"Steve Williams, is the subject of much speculation after missing All Japan's second most important tour of the year, the Champion Carnival tour. It was first announced in Japan that Williams returned home because his son had a medical emergency, but as the week passed on, word got out that Williams was suspended and it was reported in the newspapers as such with reports varying that the suspension would be either six months or one year. Since much of the talk was that Williams would be gone for the tag team tournament in December, that would seem to indicate one year. All that is known of the situation is that Williams arrived on 3/20 at Narita Airport but returned home without leaving the airport." - Apr 10, 95 Observer

"Whatever rumors regarding Steve Williams at least at press time are premature, not to say something may not materialize at some point." - Apr 17, 95 Observer

"The next tour, which is the Carnival tour, starts on 3/22 and it was officially announced that Steve Williams would be returning as a regular on the tour and be involved in the tournament." - Mar 11, 96 Observer

"Williams was caught for at least a third time in his pro wrestling career coming through airports with drugs, in this case inspectors found undeclared pharmaceutical drugs inside luggage belonging to Williams and two traveling companions who are not involved in pro wrestling....Drugs seized included 80 boxes of Neo-Percodan, 17 boxes of Valium, 16 boxes of Halcion, 15 boxes of Tamegesic, 26 boxes of Darvon and eight boxes of Ritrovil....His rise, and for a short while his career, came to a halt after being banned from going to Japan in March of 1995 when he was caught at customs with a small amount of marijuana....The feeling is Baba had to pull major strings and it showed just how powerful Baba really was in getting Williams back in one year, since Paul McCartney for a similar offense wasn't allowed back in Japan for more than a decade." - Mar 24, 97 Observer

"The political power of Shohei Baba in Japan was made evident to everyone as he was able to get Steve Williams into Japan for the Champion Carnival tournament that began on 3/22." - Mar 31, 97 Observer

"Williams was very lucky on several accounts. The first is that he was allowed to post bond, the second is that with such a large amount of drugs allegedly found on him and the two people he was traveling with that he wasn't charged with intent to distribute and only with illegal possession without a prescription, the third is that the government didn't take his passport away from him and the fourth is the Japan let him back in the country, the latter of which showed Baba's considerable pull. As mentioned last week, Baba's power in Japan was shown by his ability to get Williams back in the country in one year when the biggest rock promoters in the world weren't able to get Paul McCartney back into Japan for decades for a similar offense." - Mar 31, 97 Observer

[DeanColes1987]

"Rod Price beat Sam Houston via DQ when Gary Hart shot the ref with a stun gun (I'm serious) and gave to to Price who used it on Houston. Hart then took the batteries out of the gun and put it in Houston's hand. The ref saw Houston with the gun and DQ'd him. Houston got mad and tried to shoot Hart but with no batteries, Hart just walked away. I can't believe I just typed that." - Aug 3, 92 Observer

"One of the great things about the New Work is that the marks will do much of the work for you. Witness the lengths many sites on the Internet went to convince anyone who would read that ECW’s inaugural TNN rating was actually a success....The 0.9 rating 'was almost twice' the Big Truck rerun or whatever was preceding the ECW show. Or 0.9 'was as good as Roller Jam.' Or my favorite rationalization was 0.9 is a 'good rating for TNN programming,' like the only ones allowed to watch ECW are your normal TNN viewers....But what is nauseating is seeing Internet marks scrambling as fast as they can to rationalize that rating (in fairness, it was embarrassing to see the wrestling net’s real 'power' to draw an audience) just in case they bump into Nova in a bar one night and want to brag to him about their site." - Sept. 11, 99 Torch, Bruce Mitchell

"Watts has now banned babyfaces and heels from flying in the same airplane which in some cases has made a tough travel schedule that much tougher with the faces and heels alternating weeks in having to take the early flights out of town (after wrestling the previous night). The reason given wasn't kayfabe as much as the fear that if everyone was on the same plane and it went down, there would be nobody left to wrestle. So now, the billion-to-one odds of that happening are doubled." - July 13, 92 Observer

"It's rumored that at the 2-5 Philly NWA card there were fans chanting 'Boring', 'NWA Sucks' and 'We Want Hogan', but the fans didn't pick up on it. The rumor going around is that you know who paid folks to chant those things." - Feb 85 Eastern Wrestling News

"Christopher Klucsaritis of 1324 Willow Oak Dr., Columbia, SC 29223 is looking for any info on wrestling schools or independent promotions in the Carolinas, Virginia and Georgia." - Sept 1, 92 Observer

"Sandman is on the cover of ECW’s CD that came out the same week he left the promotion." - Sept 19, 98 Torch

"Vince lost between 5-8 million dollars in 84. He has cut the payroll, he was close to losing Piper because Roddy hadn't been paid in 3 weeks. Rod talked to Georgia and Mid-Atlantic and Vince finally paid him and gave him a bonus." - Mat Results 1985 Yearbook

"Can somebody get Bobby Walker to drop his lawsuit so we don't have to watch Stevie Ray in main events." - Sept 28, 98 Observer

"And, god, was that Undertaker vs. Ken Shamrock match inane. Let’s see if I’ve got this straight: The Lord of Darkness uses all of His Powers of Evil to trade leglocks with the Ultimate Fighting Champion, who had chances to break his ankle, but never did it because, what did happen to his sister Ryan, anyway?" - May 1, 99 Torch, Bruce Mitchell

"Got a copy of the current WWF depth chart so if you're interested, here's how the office ranks the guys. Babyfaces: Hulk, Macho Man, Sid Justice, Piper, Bret Hart, Boss Man, Virgil, Jannetty, Tornado, Bulldog, El Matador, Valentine, Chavis, Walker. Heels: Flair, Undertaker, Snake, DiBiase, IRS, Mountie, Michaels, Repo Man, Berzerker, Skinner, Warlord, Kato, Hercules. Face tag teams: LOD, Slaughter & Duggan, New Foundation, Bushwhackers. Heel tag teams: Natural Disasters, Nasty Boys, Beverly Brothers." - Jan 10, 92 Observer

"Big Bubba Rogers has been repackaged into a biker gimmick in anticipation of the August pay-per-view." - May 11, 96 Torch

"Dustin Runnels, the 18 year old son of Dusty Rhodes, makes his pro wrestling debut this Tuesday for Mike Graham and Gordon Solie's Florida Championship Wrestling promotion under the name Dustin Rhodes....You have to give Dusty credit for not bringing his son into the big time right away, before he's ready and making a big deal out of him ala other sons of bookers and promoters who were pushed as main eventers from the start." - Sept 12, 88 Observer

"Imagine what the Bret Hart documentary would have been like if Mickey Jay was in the Earl Hebner spot. Bret Hart would still be the WWF Champ." - Mar 20, 99 Torch, Bruce Mitchell

"The explanation for the Severn turn was that Vince Russo had given McMahon a list of all the faces and all the heels on the roster (and by saying that it shows that every statement made in the press about WWF getting rid of the face/heel concept because it's outdated and passe is a crock by their own internal admissions) and as you could imagine, the list is heavily weighed on the heel side and they needed to get some heels onto the face side." - May 11, 98 Observer

"For WCW Saturday Night, Harlem Heat beat The American Males to win the tag titles. This was a retaping of their previous tag title change apparently because there were too many missed moves in the first match, although the same screwups surfaced in this match....The crowd acted confused because they had seen the Males lose the belts two weeks ago and heard nothing of Heat winning the belts again....Scotty Riggs of The American Males, real name Scott Antol, is working without a contract" - Oct 21, 95 Torch

"Our cable went out during this match so we missed most of it. Actually, the blank television screen was looking like it was going to be the best match on the card after the first four matches were over." - Jan 6, 92 Observer

"The first Hogan vs. Savage match won't take place until Halloween Havoc on October 27. Caesar's Palace and Slim Jim management were guaranteed the first WCW meeting of Hogan and Savage as part of the sponsorship of the event." - Apr 13, 96 Torch

"Bobby Walker wound up dropping his discrimination lawsuit against WCW. Apparently his lawyer refused to take the case on contingency (which means the lawyer is doing the case with no fee but gets a sizeable percentage of the reward at the end) and Walker wouldn't pay the fee. Teddy Long was helping Walker in his case, and when it fell apart, it meant Long's days in WCW were numbered. He has since joined WWF as a ref, and started appearing at the last taping although to this point they haven't acknowledged his name. WWF is considering breaking him off starting as a referee into being a character at some point" - Dec 28, 98 Observer

"Obviously Goldust will be used to get homophobic heat, but nothing offensive was said. Anyway, I think the guy's onto something. Razor Ramon certainly follows a gay archetype. You never see him around any women and he always seemed a little too interested in 1-2-3 Kid. I'm sure this angle will degenerate into the same old gay baiting that hasn't worked in years." - Dec 23, 95 Torch, Bruce Mitchell

"Ric Flair missed all three television tapings last week because one daughter had a piano recital during the week and another daughter graduated high school." - June 15, 92 Observer

"Kevin Sullivan beat Renegade....Hart wiped Renegade's facepaint off Renegade after the match, told him he was nothing, and said, 'You're not the Renegade, you're just plain ol' Rick' " - Nov 18, 95 Torch

"WCW received a cease and desist order from Titan Sports claiming the character Renegade was a trademark infringement on their own developed character of the Ultimate Warrior. While that's an open-and-shut case, the timing of it was curious since the same case could be made about Hunter Hearst Helmsley being nearly completely lifted from the WCW character of Lord Steven Regal just a few weeks later. Can you imagine if this actually went to court? Titan's attorneys would argue that they developed the intellectual character of a no-talent steroid freak who can't work a lick, paints his face, blows up in 30 seconds, runs around like he's spastic, shakes the ropes and does unintelligible interviews and by gosh, judge, they're copying our ideas and we want damages. The judge would probably rule in favor of Titan and say the damages are worth 50 cents. Next thing you know Vader and Bam Bam Bigelow will go to court against each other claiming they're stealing each others' fat man moves and gimmick." - May 15, 95 Observer

[DeanColes1987]

The Ten Commandments of Bill Watts in WCW

1. Use of the ring barricades and the ringpost is forbidden and will also be cause for an automatic disqualification
2. Wrestling outside the ring is discouraged
3. Absolutely no low blows. First offense is a $1,000 fine, second offense is a $2,500 fine and third offense is a $5,000 fine and will be considered a breach of contract. If a wrestler is hit low, he is to make every effort not to sell the move as a low blow
4. All wrestlers are due in the building one hour before the scheduled starting time of the show, with fines again being implemented for being late of $1,000 for a first offense, $2,500 for a second offense and $5,000 and a breach of contract for a third offense
5. Missing an event except in the case of the most severe injuries is considered a breach of contract. The only excusable exception to this rule is an act of God
6. Wrestlers who are injured and can't perform are still expected to make the town in order to show the fans that WCW will no longer be falsely advertising talent. The only exception would be a crippling injury which doesn't allow for traveling
7. Talking over the p.a. during the show is to be discouraged. Lewd hand gestures are prohibited, as is any cursing loud enough for the audience to hear
8. Fraternization (between heels and babyfaces) in public is not acceptable. This includes traveling together to and from the arena, to public appearances, restaurants and even to the gym. This also includes faces and heels socializing together in social situations and the gym
9. No guests are allowed in the dressing room, including family members, media, etc.
10. Each wrestler is allowed only two complimentary tickets to each show for friends and family. Any number of tickets above that number must be purchased at face value by the wrestler

[DeanColes1987]

"McMahon again falsely claimed in the article that his company gave Turner the best numbers he ever had when WWF was on his station in 1984-85 and claimed Ted demanded that he sell him some of his stock and later demanded to sell him a majority of the company and when McMahon turned him down, Turner had it in for him ever since. Bischoff countered, 'I meet with Ted Turner probably for about five minutes a year; that's Ted's involvement in WCW. But Vince likes to portray to the media that there is a big grudge match going on between him and Ted. I kind of think if Vince were to talk into Ted Turner's office, someone would have to remind Ted who Vince is.' " - Aug 31, 98 Observer

"WCW cancelled its traditional Omni card on Thanksgiving night, historically the biggest night of the year for wrestling. After the 600 they drew at the Omni last time, they need to regroup before returning." Oct 30, 93 Torch

"On WWF television that aired locally, think of all a fan had to comprehend. They made mention of either hyping or talking about five different Bret Hart title matches, a house show match with Rick Martel that the week before was with Mountie, a Prime Time match with Berzerker, a Superstars match with Virgil, a SNME match with Papa Shango and a PPV match with Michaels. Pushing the champion in so many different directions at once pretty much guarantees none of the individual directions are going to get over" - Nov 23, 92 Observer

"During his match on Nitro, Juventud Guererra performed the People’s Elbow on Mysterio. Juvi then looked into the camera and said, 'I know your role' which most people believe led to Rock taking a shot at him Juvi during his promo on Raw. People are also laughing at Juvi (who speaks broken English) for saying he and Psicosis are 'better than nobody' into the camera" - Oct 9, 99 Torch

"Godfather offered Regal the ho's. Two of them were constantly pulling their dresses up all the way and being over to show their g-string uncovered butts. The third was a little on the heavy side and the audience booed her. Godfather offered Regal all three, and he said he's from England but he's not Elton John and accepted. As he was leaving, Godfather said he didn't think he'd accept because he thought everyone from England were fags, which started an uninspired brawl. Godfather is a riot as long as we don't have to watch him wrestle." - Nov 23, 98 Observer

"During new WCW V.P. Bill Busch’s investigation into payroll expenses, sources say he discovered Hogan is on pace to make more money this year than WCW will. In fact, WCW may barely break even while Hogan will pocket $6–8 million." - Oct 16, 99 Torch

"Watts is attempting to get wrestlers off their guaranteed deals when they expire. I'm sure in some cases he'd like to do it sooner, but that seems to be awfully hard to do. Nobody is going to quit a job that pays $3,000 per week when the options elsewhere are to make nowhere close, even if it means being jobbed out on television. And the contract, even if you do quit, can easily preclude you from, if McMahon wants you, even going there. Don't believe it? Tell me what Lex Luger would be doing this Saturday night if he hadn't been injured. Do you think, with business the way it is, that McMahon doesn't want him on the road as the new superstar on top instead of Razor Ramon? Contracts aren't nearly as easy to break as some have been led to believe. It's also not the 1970s when a promoter, wanting someone to quit, simply jobbed them out, shorted them on pay, and the guy stormed out because he had about 25 different other territories he could go to." - Sept 7, 92 Observer

"J.J. Dillon headed a meeting on Dec. 6 to inform wrestlers they will be fined for being tardy to upcoming events. Sources say Total Package and Elizabeth had yet to arrive at the building when Dillon’s meeting took place." - Dec 11, 99 Torch

"The Fantastics were booed when they won, and no belts were presented as apparently someone forgot to bring them." - Dec 19, 88 Observer

"May 11 was WCW ring announcer Gary Capetta's final date with WCW. His contract expired and they couldn't reach agreement." - May 20, 95 Torch

"Austin and Earl Hebner celebrated drinking beer in the ring together (they must really feel they need to work on Hebner's image as I guess the scene in the movie has gotten under their skins because since the movie was finished, they've started linking Austin with Hebner at many of the house shows with the closing beer drinking scene)" - Nov 23, 98 Observer

"WCW cannot, because of TBS and TNT policy, mention on television the 'first blood' stipulations on the Uncensored main event. They can say it’s in a cage with a barbed wire ceiling and no door, but rather than say 'blood' on the air, they have told viewers to visit their website." - Mar 13, 99 Torch

"At that point a Blue Blazer came from the ceiling ala Sting, but 'had trouble' unhooking himself and ended up being hung a few feet above the ground as a sitting duck for Blackman to nail before being dragged back up. The whole deal was a spoof on the Sting angle." - Nov 23, 98 Observer"Dustin Rhodes & Arn Anderson beat Bunkhouse Buck & Amarillo Slim in 15:00. This was the best match on the show. It was hinted on TV that Slim would be Terry Funk, but it turned out to be Erik Watts wearing face paint." - July 29, 94 Torch

"Sable hit a low blow on Mero and power bombed him on the floor. A lot of men at home fantasize about being married to a wrestling babe. But it sucks. If it doesn't suck at home, it does suck in your storyline role." - Nov 23, 98 Observer

[sek69]

17 hours ago, DeanColes1987 said:

"During new WCW V.P. Bill Busch’s investigation into payroll expenses, sources say he discovered Hogan is on pace to make more money this year than WCW will. In fact, WCW may barely break even while Hogan will pocket $6–8 million." - Oct 16, 99 Torch

If you had to distill WCW's essence down to one sentence, I can't imagine a better one that this. 

[DeanColes1987]

"Chris Benoit, Dean Malenko, Chris Jericho and Eddie Guerrero all no longer want to work in the cruiserweight division feeling that label the way that division is portrayed dooms them from moving up, so they are all out of that title picture." - Sept 7, 98 Observer

"The July 26 Challenge taping in St. Louis baffled everyone as it drew 10,500 and $95,000. That's without local TV" - Aug 12, 95 Torch

"Alex Porteau beat Terry Simms in an I Quit match when Shawn Summers snuck up from behind Simms and yelled 'I Quit' and the ref assumed it was Simms and ended the match" - Aug 3, 92 Observer

"There is talk among wrestlers of a staging massive walk–out if WCW management insists they take part in the New Year’s Eve PPV." - Sept. 11, 99 Torch

"Jericho's dropping of the TV title to Konnan and not getting interview time despite being generally considered the most talented interview in the company over the past few months, and Guerrero's loss to Billy Kidman on the 11/30 Nitro shows were both directly resultant from neither having signed the new deals presented to them over the past few weeks. There were complaints of a double standard since WCW didn't do the same thing to Scott Steiner, who had also had talks with Titan, until he waited until less than two weeks before his contract expired before re-signing, although Steiner's intimidating presence backstage makes burying him almost feel like something potentially hazardous." - Dec 7, 98 Observer

"Flair then continued circling the ring, delivering trademark insults to the crowd. The look on Sting's face as he tried not to laugh was priceless. After Flair was finished, Sting took the mic and began to speak, but was seized by a sudden coughing fit. After he was done coughing, Sting said, 'I'm sorry, I must be allergic to assholes.' Another huge pop as Flair tries not to laugh, but failed." - Mar 9, 96 Torch

"The NWA managers won't be travelling to towns as much. Acutally some managers will travel all the time, and some part of the time. The good ones will be part of the time and the bad ones look like all of the time, which if it sounds like backwards logic, it is more like a positioning game before the ax falls" - Nov 21, 88 Observer

"The Giant stayed heel after a short babyface turn because the original reason to turn him babyface no longer existed. Hogan wanted Giant turned face so they could hang out together in public without raising eyebrows. Now that Giant doesn't hangout with Hogan much anymore, Giant might as well be a heel." - Apr 13, 96 Torch

"Debra distracted Goldust as he had Jarrett set up for Shattered Dreams, and since he was distracted, it proved he's heterosexual and therefore all those rednecks that hated him the last time he played face should know they can cheer him." - Nov 16, 98 Observer

"Okerlund said that Tenay had news regarding a top WWF executive departing the WWF and then said that a top WWF superstar was involved in a fight with a fan in a parking lot and came up on the short end of the stick....He made it sound as if Michaels lost a one on one fight." - Oct 21, 95 Torch

"Guerrero actually wanted Meng to be his bodyguard since they were looking for a bodyguard for Eddie role. Bischoff turned it down because he only wants Mexicans in the LWO" - Nov 9, 98 Observer

"Ross said, 'Don't be mistaken, Hunter is not a regal man,' in reference to Hunter copying Steve Regal's character." - Sept. 2, 95 Torch

"The shows advertised were to have Kevin Nash vs. Stevie Ray and Diamond Dallas Page vs. Bret Hart as the main events. Nash vs. Ray turned into the tag match with Konnan joining Nash and Ray joined by La Parka after Ray interfered in the Konnan vs. Parka match....The Page vs. Hart matches didn't take place, because it was decided to do an angle to give Page a few weeks off, and with no Page, they also gave Hart the weekend off when he asked since house shows are of such low priority to both the company, and due to that realization, to the stars as well. They were replaced by Booker T vs. Wrath." - Nov 9, 98 Observer

"Big Bubba Rogers beat Dave Sullivan in the opener. Dave came out with the rabbit. Not long after their initial hook-up, Bubba began scratching, seeming to indicate that Bubba is allergic to the rabbit (or maybe Dave). Dave got very little reaction during his entrance. The match wasn't much, but Bubba scratching himself while wrestling was said to be entertaining." - Aug 5, 95 Torch

"Most of the Mexican wrestlers missed the TV taping in Gainesville, GA on 10/6 because their individual contract discussions with J.J. Dillon (yes, that's really his role) took longer than expected and I guessnobody from WCW thought to call Arn Anderson at the building to tell him the guys would be late so he was blowing a fuse waiting for them to arrive." - Oct 19, 98 Observer

"Hogan is said to be responsible for putting a halt to the first batch of Raven’s skits and told Bischoff they were the worst things he’d ever seen on television." - Feb 27, 99 Torch

"Garza looked hesitant in his first U.S. match back from reconstructive knee surgery. Actually Garza is supposed to be out for another two months but WCW found out that he's already worked a few matches in Mexico and ordered him in." - Sept 14, 98 Observer

"Umm, let's see if I've got this straight. Owen Hart is nowhere to be found, so President Monsoon tells Jim Cornette to find another partner for Yokozuna. That WWF superstar will get a much coveted chance to win either the WWF World Title or the WWF Intercontinental Title in the Triple Threat Title match. Okay, makes sense so far. So, out of every superstar in the WWF, the first person Cornette begs to take the match is, of all people, Psycho Sid. Well, actually that was pretty funny. Then, even though he spent several weeks crying about his lost SummerSlam Intercontinental Title shot, and even though he didn't get a rematch after IYH2's match against Diesel, Sid turns down Cornette flat. So, for no discernible reason, does everyone else Cornette approaches. And no one else even bothers to ask Cornette if he will pick them for this once in a lifetime chance. Hey, it's one thing for the WWF Title not to be over at the house shows. It's another for the thing not to be over in the WWF's own storylines." - Sept. 30, 95 Torch, Bruce Mitchell Column

"Eddie is no longer a cruiserweight (which has nothing to do with weight, being a cruiserweight is based on whether or not you've complained to management yet about being called a cruiserweight)" - Nov 30, 98 Observer

[DeanColes1987]

Dave looking at the numbers for the Watts era of WCW in the Feb 22, 93 Observer

 

WATTS' RECORD VS. PREDECESSORS (JIM HERD & KIP FREY) (A comparison of the Bill
Watts era (June 1992 through February 1993 compared with the same months the previous year ie June
1991 through February 1992, mainly the Jim Herd era and the first two months of the Kip Frey era)
 

AVERAGE ATTENDANCE
Watts 1,594 (-2.7%)
Predecessors 1,638

AVERAGE HOUSE
Watts $14,158 (-27.2%)
Predecessors $19,444

SELLOUT PERCENTAGE
Watts 2.4
Predecessors 4.5

AVERAGE CABLE TELEVISION RATING
Watts 2.04 (-19.4%)
Predecessors 2.53

AVERAGE CLASH RATING
Watts 3.15 (-19.2%)
Predecessors 3.90

AVERAGE PPV BUY RATE
Watts 0.55 (-40.9%)
Predecessors 0.93

Overall measurable interest level decline during Watts era: 21.9%
 

[Beast]

That sucks because the end of the Watts era is solid TV, with lots of promising up and comers in (Scorpio, Benoit, RVD, SMW invasion) and some intriguing storylines. 

But I'm guessing he would have been gone even with an improvement because of the racism controversy so oh well.

[DeanColes1987]

"Dutch Mantell of 2928 High Rigger Dr., Nashville, TN is selling tapes of the public access television show he does with Reno Riggins for $15 per show." - Nov 30, 92 Observer

"Apparently the reason the WWF resists calling Flash Funk by the full name Too Cold Scorpio and instead calling him Scorpio is not to cause confusion with the Too Much tag team" - Sept 5, 98 Torch

"Fujiwara left Japan after the show to attend Bill Clinton's inaugural ball, which makes him probably the only pro wrestling personality invited." Jan 25, 93 Observer

"Chris Jericho was flown in for the May 27 Thunder, but he wasn’t used. Jericho was under the impression that he was invited so he could discuss his contract status with Eric Bischoff. Bischoff, however, didn’t attend the show. Management asked Jericho how he was recovering from his ankle injury. Jericho felt he was the butt of a management joke but played their bluff and didn’t show any signs of frustration." - June 6, 99 Torch

"Jesse Ventura was sent a memo from Watts reprimanding him for not being serious enough as an analyst." - Feb 15, 93 Observer

"Steve Williams pinned Italian Stallion in 15:17 with the Oklahoma Stampede. Unless this match was designed to 'kill' Williams, it failed." - Dec 19, 88 Observer

"Dallas Page is responsible for Van Hammer’s recent push. Management is pushing Hammer as 'the next Wrath' (whatever that means) although the real Wrath is still under contract while recuperating due to having knee surgery" - June 12, 99 Torch

"Roma said that in order to get a release from Titan Sports to keep his 'Glory' nickname that he had to sign a deal that said he would give Titan Sports no negative publicity although he termed his stay there 'six years of hell.' " - Mar 9, 92 Observer

"Before the matches began, Lord Steven Regal limped out to the ring in street clothes and announced he 'had a little slip in the bath' and would be unable to wrestle Rick Steamboat as scheduled. Local event coordinator Elliot Murnick then announced that Sir William (Dundee) would have to take Regal's place....Steven Regal was very effective at ringside attacking the Dragon - so effective that one fan took justice into his own hands, snuck up behind him, and swiped his umbrella. Regal yelled at the guy until a police officer got the umbrella and gave it back. " - Aug 21, 93 Torch

"Houston is bigger than either of the Rougeaus both in height and weight, but his rep is he's too skinny. Their rep isn't that they are skiny so they get a push." - Nov 28, 88 Observer

"A few weeks ago Lenny and Lodi were told they were going to get a run with the WCW tag titles, but have since been pulled from TV for being 'too gay.' " - Oct 9, 99 Torch

"Starting 10/1, WCW wrestlers will be assigned who they travel in cars from town-to-town with, four to a car, rather than being allowed to travel with their friends." - Sept 7, 92 Observer

"Also announced to the crowd on Friday was that Jackie Goldman had kidnapped Plowboy Wilbur's pig Freda. Goldman was supposed to run off with it after last Friday's match to establish the storyline better, but was too scared to go near the pig." - July 12, 93 Torch

"Bushwhackers beat Double Trouble (Val & Tony Puccio, formerly the Undertakers from IWCCW who are probably working some dates as a settlement since they originally had trademarked the Undertaker name)" - June 29, 92 Observer

"Insane Clown Posse had agreed to appear at the ECW PPV, but they pulled out of the agreement when they were told they would have to do a job to Tommy Dreamer & Raven. They apparently told ECW that WCW had promised one of them the Cruiserweight Title and unless Heyman agreed to let them win their first match in ECW, they would stay in WCW after all....Styles said ICP were planning to burn WCW by jumping to ECW without giving their notice. He buried them, saying there is no way Bill Busch would want one of his first moves to be signing ICP after they planned to 'humiliate WCW.' " - Sept. 25, 99 Torch

"Hogan did a stretcher job to try and put heat on the Hogan-Bossman main events. The next night in Fort Wayne they did almost the exact same angle, only in this one, instead of doing the stretcher job, Hogan makes a comeback." - Oct 24, 88 Observer

"Unlike Vampiro, Harlem Heat and Luger are known for being polite to anyone in management and telling friends they do it because they never know who will eventually end up in charge." - Oct 2, 99 Torch

"There was pretty much a disaster regarding the Fort Wayne, IN show on 6/4. First off, the promos one week ran the Savage-Flair card and undercard when it was supposed to be the Warrior-Shango crew. There were all sorts of confusion and mishaps regarding other publicity, and then when the card came, both Warrior and Kerry Von Erich no-showed for inexplicable reasons. In a display of fairness to the audience never seen before in recent wrestling history, the WWF is offering refunds to all of whom attended since they expected Warrior there and never made an announcement and offered refunds earlier in the night." - June 15, 92 Observer

"This weekend has been full of turmoil and disaster for the NWA. There have been several no shows each night, finishing off with a near record 12 no shows tonight in Chicago." - Nov 28, 88 Observer

"I just received the three issues of the Torch with my interview in it. I must tell you that not having kept up with the wrestling business these past several months, I was appalled at the obvious dismal state it’s in. I had no idea it was degenerating like it is....Also, let me emphasize that I did leave SMW because of money, but not because I wanted more. Rather, I left because I refused to accept a pay cut. Jim wanted to cut everyone’s pay $25 per night, including mine, and I disagreed. Having read Jim’s current pay rates in his rebuttal, I can see that not only did he invoke that $25 cut, but another one as well. When I was there, top talent made $150 per night; now it’s $100. I’m sorry to see that. These figures constitute the gross pay, not net. After taxes and expenses, the amount changes significantly....I hope this will change any misconceptions your readers and my friends at SMW may have had. Speaking of change, obviously some things do change dramatically. I remember on more than one occasion being told by Jim that he would quit the business before going to work for the WWF. Oh well…" - August 7, 93 Torch, Letter from Stan Lane

[sek69]

10 hours ago, DeanColes1987 said:

There were all sorts of confusion and mishaps regarding other publicity, and then when the card came, both Warrior and Kerry Von Erich no-showed for inexplicable reasons.

I bet I could make a pretty educated guess why both of them would no show. 

[DeanColes1987]

"A huge booking committee was put together. Officially on the committee are Watts, Dusty Rhodes, Greg Gagne, Bill Dundee, Jim Barnett, Keith Mitchell, Ole Anderson, Ross, Zbyszko, Sidello, Mike Graham, Bischoff and Hayes. In addition, it is expected that if the Ric Flair deal doesn't fall through, that Flair will be added to the committee. Sid Vicious was also promised a spot on the committee should he sign with the company." - Feb 15, 93 Observer

"Chris Jericho’s debut was originally supposed to include a verbal confrontation with Road Dogg, but WCW changed those plans. Musical performer Kid Rock, who was backstage at a Raw last month, was going to be involved in the angle on Monday, playing into Jericho’s rock music character. WCW, though, signed away Kid Rock, so the WWF completely rebooked Jericho’s debut. Without the celebrity power of Kid Rock, the WWF apparently felt a bigger name than Road Dogg was necessary for Jericho’s debut segment." - Aug 14, 99 Torch

"Jim Ross, whose official title had been Vice President in charge of television, took the biggest fall of anyone. Ross will be removed as a personality from all TBS shows effective March 1, and will no longer be part of the announcing team on Clashes and pay-per-views with his final major assignments being the 2/21 SuperBrawl III show from Asheville and the 3/7 PPV air date of the January 4 Tokyo Dome card." - Feb 15, 93 Observer

"Lou Albano was backstage at SummerSlam and tripped and fell onto his face and had to be revived" - Sept 12, 98 Torch

"Not one member of the Dallas Cowboys showed up for the Dallas Cowboys night on 11/20." - Nov 30, 92 Observer

"Sources within the cable industry are saying TNN expects a 3.0 rating from ECW from the start." - Aug 21, 99 Torch

"Funny Eddy Mansfield story. His Texas tour from last week saw him show up the day the bus to Dallas was supposed to leave and tell the guys there was an ice storm in Dallas and they have to cancel the tour. One of the guys went home and watched the weather channel and saw it was 54 degrees that day in Dallas." - Jan 25, 93 Observer

"A 'Blood Runs Cold' promo aired, presumably previewing the arrival of either Nash or Hall." - May 11, 96 Torch

"Shawn Summers beat Chaz Taylor via DQ when Chaz attacked Steve Dane at ringside who was eating muffins that a fan had brought for Chaz." - Aug 3, 92 Observer

"The woman who made allegations against Michaels was supposed to resemble Elizabeth." - May 18, 96 Torch

"Supposedly we can expect to see a noticeable product-mix change in the WWF starting with the television shows that aired this past weekend. On all the shows the commentators talked about stricter enforcement of existing rules as a new directive from Jack Tunney and talked of the appointment of Sgt. Slaughter as a rule enforcer/guest ref, etc. Actually on the Superstars show, Vince McMahon sounded almost, but not quite, like Bill Watts did his first week in with the emphasis on going back to wrestling and with Slaughter in almost the exact same role as Ole Anderson." - Oct 19, 92 Observer

"Doug said that Brian Lee used to be a USWA guy but he turned his back on the USWA and is now an SMW guy (ironic since SMW billed him in the exact opposite way at Fire on the Mountain the same day)" - Aug 19, 95 Torch

"McMahon apparently wanted Rock to actually bend over and kiss his ass on the 11/16 TV show but Rock refused to do it." - Dec 14, 98 Observer

"The entire Slim Jim Tournament had been pre-taped at Center Stage with the same finishes as the live matches from Charlotte that replaced them. Col. Parker must have used Star Trek technology to get from Charlotte to Center Stage, since he appeared in both locations and both appearances were portrayed as being live." June 3, 95 Torch

"Tupelo show was a mess as they were stalling for Giant to be released from prison. They had Silver King & Lizmark Jr. vs. Ciclope & Damian go 20:00, then Prince Iaukea vs. Lodi go an interminable 20:00 and then do a 30:00 intermission. Because there were so many no-shows already (Raven, Saturn, Alex Wright, Disco), they wound up having Ciclope come out again without his mask as Elvis Gonzalez (Elvis is from Tupelo of course) and job for Chris Adams. They didn't get Giant out in time to do the angle in the Luger-Wrath match to set up the tag, so Giant and Nash had to do a main event single with Nash winning." - Dec 14, 98 Observer

"Dec. 2 in Denver, Co., WCW ran a rare house show. They recently ran a Monday Nitro event in Denver and in order to fill the arena, they sent free passes to people in the area who had recently ordered wrestling pay-per-views. A problem arose when all seats were taken before all the passes were used. Fans were turned away at the door, so the local cable companies and WCW agreed to solve the problem by having WCW put on a separate house show so the fans who were turned away could use their free passes to see a WCW show." - Dec 9, 95 Torch

"Jim Ross saw his position fall even farther this past week as the decision was made to remove him from all television effective immediately. Ross' last television broadcast will be the Saturday Night show that airs this coming weekend. Ross was pulled from the announcing line-up for the 2/21 Asheville, NC SuperBrawl PPV and was also removed from consideration for hosting World Wide Wrestling and would be off television in all forms completely." Feb 22, 93 Observer