20 Years Ago - WON 02/08/88

[Loss]

WWF/NWA WAR

-- "The biggest news story in this business in probably the last few decades is the pro wrestling war and Vince McMahon's rise to prominence. The wrestling war, which began in November 1983 when Titan Sports signed Hulk Hogan and Gene Okerlund away from the AWA, is for all real purposes, over. No, the business competition is still there between Titan and the other promotions, particularly JCP. And the two groups will continue to attempt to play little mind games with each other. But whether or not JCP can make a small recovery, or even a full recovery from its recent troubles, and even pop big houses again, the gap between Titan and Crockett is only going to expand."

 

-- Dave says it's a busy news week, but he feels the biggest news story of the week hasn't gotten much attention. The WWF announced plans for several pay-per-views: Wrestlemania IV on March 27, an unnamed PPV on August 29, "Survivor Series II" on November 24 and "Royal Rumble II" on January 15, 1989. "On the surface it sounds harmless enough, but its effect on JCP is enormous." Crockett planned originally to do the Crockett Cup on PPV in early April, one of the Great American Bash shows in July, and was going to have Starrcade on November 24. But the WWF has a 60 days before and 21 days after clause in their PPV contracts. Survivor Series was a big success and Wrestlemania IV is expected to break Wrestlemania III's record and be the biggest grossing event in the history of PPV, and the WWF's monopoly prevents Crockett from effectively breaking into the market.

 

-- "The long-term impact of PPV is such that eventually, like boxing, it will turn the live gate into an insignificant part of the overall business." (My note: Wow! He called that one.) He says it's not an unreasonable prediction to say that Wrestlemania IV will be a bigger money than any other promotion will likely make in the entire 1988 calendar year. He doesn't expect the NWA to die as a result, but says the competition aspect means nothing now.

 

-- Crockett plans on countering this by moving several of its big shows to prime time specials on TBS, and has plans of having four prime-time specials this year. And unlike the previous year's Superbouts on the Superstation, which was a huge flop, these will be major cards either shown live or only slightly delayed.

 

WWF

-- The Royal Rumble drew an 8.2 rating and a 12 share, airing in 3.2 million homes. About twice as many people watched the show as would watch TBS when Georgia Championship Wrestling was hot a few years prior. The Rumble was the highest-rated show in the history of the USA Network, and the repeat drew a strong 4.8 rating in the Prime Time Wrestling spot on Monday nights when they normally average a 2.9 in that time slot. The repeat showing was probably the #2-rated show on cable television during last week.

 

-- Wrestlemania IV has already sold out Trump Plaza in Atlantic City. 14,000 seats went on sale at prices of $150, $100, $50 and $25 and all but a few thousand were gone by the end of the first day. Because of the ticket prices, this show may actually pull a higher gate than Wrestlemania III at the Pontiac Silverdome, which had a $1.6 million gate with lower ticket prices. When you add in the fees Vince is likely charging the casino to do the show, it could exceed $1 million easily. Trump Plaza is promoting it hard and using it as a way to bring families into casinos. (My note: Ha!) A concert from Gloria Estefan and the Miami Sound Machine will be taking place adjacent to the convention center ballroom, and the WWF estimate is that the show will be available in 9 million homes. "If it gets over as good as last year's, and there is no reason to believe it won't do as good or better, then you are talking about $15 million plus on PPV alone, not to mention $1 million live and probably $4-5 million on closed-circuit locations."

 

-- The Saturday World Championship Wrestling ratings were way down in the fourth quarter of 1987. It had been the second highest rated program on cable TV and fell to No. 8 with an average 2.9 rating. WWF All American Wrestling was actually doing better ratings at this point, averaging a 3.1 and coming in at 7th place. Prime Time Wrestling fell from No. 3 to No. 10 with a 2.9 average, and the Sunday show on TBS fell from No. 10 to No. 20 with a 2.4 rating. The AWA show on ESPN has fallen completely out of the top 20. Some of the decline is attributed to "people-meters", which is a new method of measuring ratings. Shows that appeal to women tend to do better than normal, so it was expected the switch would cause a delcline. Most wrestling shows dropped 10% in the fourth quarter, but it may not mean anything significant. The Saturday TBS show started picking up toward the end of the year, and they're continuing in that direction lately by doing more arena tapings.

 

-- Jake Roberts is on the cover of this month's Ellery Queen mystery magazine, and Muscular Development magazine has a story on Jesse Ventura, which Dave says is excellent but is more about his life and training philosophies.

 

-- The British Bulldogs had no-showed a few times. Dynamite Kid has been missing several dates over the past week. "One of them" collapsed at the airport and the other went to the hospital with him, but no word on if it's anything major or not.

 

-- Billy Jack Haynes, who has missed pretty much all of his bookings lately, is in bad health, to a point where most think his wrestling career is about to end.

 

-- Bam Bam Bigelow has undergone arthroscopic knee surgery and there is no word on when he'll be back. Dave says wrestlers have been telling him for a long time that Bigelow working like he does at his size was eventually going to catch up to him.

 

-- There were so many no-shows on a recent Cow Palace show, which drew 8,000 and a $93,000 gate, that the athletic commission ordered the WWF to offer refunds to anyone who wanted them by the end of the second match. This was just a few days after the California state assembly voted 60-7 to reclassify pro wrestling as entertainment instead of sport, but the bill had not yet passed the state Senate. Wrestlers will no longer need a license to work in California, which was a joke anyway, as Dave got a listing of everyone not long ago who was licensed in California, and Hulk Hogan and Ricky Steamboat were nowhere to be found.

 

-- Something happened recently at a house show where a wrestler (Dave didn't say who) who wasn't supposed to be able to speak English was stalling outside the ring for most of a match. A fan shouted, "Get in the ring you lazy bum" and the wrestler responded, "What do you think this is, the NWA?"

 

-- The Royal Rumble show in Hamilton actually drew 16,200 fans, but around 10,000 of the tickets were tie-ins giving a free ticket to a hockey game. Live reports haven't been good regarding the show.

 

-- 01/25 at MSG drew a 19,750 sellout and a $236,000 house headlined by Hulk Hogan & Bam Bam Bigelow vs Ted DiBiase & Virgil. The 02/22 card is expected to be headlined by DiBiase vs Bigelow. 01/30 in Baltimore drew 5,500 headlined by Honky Tonk Man & Greg Valentine vs Randy Savage & Brutus Beefcake. 01/15 in Los Angeles drew 10,000+ headlined by Randy Savage vs Honky Tonk Man in a cage match. 01/21 in Winnipeg drew 2,500 headlined by Randy Savage vs Honky Tonk Man. 01/22 in Rochester, NY, drew 3,500 headlined by a Bunkhouse Battle Royal won by Don Muraco. 01/19 in Calgary drew a sellout 8,500 headlined by Randy Savage vs Honky Tonk Man.

 

-- The 01/26 Hershey, PA TV taping drew a sellout 9,000. Standout matches were a really good Rude/Steamboat match taped for Superstars, and the main event, which was Hogan & Bigelow vs DiBiase & Andre. Because this will air after the NBC special, the commentary was not done live for this taping, and will instead be done in studio later in the week.

 

-- The WWF will decide on exactly which finish they're going with in Hogan/Andre as soon as they know the shooting schedule of No Holds Barred. If he's available on weekends, he will be champion over summer. If he won't be available at all for several months, expect DiBiase to get the title.

 

NWA

-- Figures aren't in yet for the Bunkhouse Stampede, but even if it was profitable, the reaction was so overwhelmingly negative that no good could have come from it. Preliminary figures have a buyrate of 4.0, which if true, proves that JCP could be profitable on pay-per-view. Dave considers this somewhat encouraging, just because the line-up was weak and it wasn't really a hot show. Dave says the announcers deserve tons of credit for doing such a great job with the last-minute hard sell, as PPV and closed circuit is typically 90% of last minute sales.

 

-- The Rock & Roll Express were fired. In Cincinnati, they were asked to do a clean job in a 12-minute match against Ivan Koloff & Warlord. They were pissed about it, because they had been a big attraction for the NWA for years, and Ivan had become a prelim guy. Instead, they ended up doing the job in seconds when Morton basically just laid down. Dusty wasn't at the show, but got word after the Rock & Rolls had flown to New York for the Bunkhouse Stampede, and then fired them. There are rumors of them going to the WWF, but most people think Vince will never give them a chance because of their size. They were also asked to do an angle where the Sheepherders would shave Ricky Morton's head bald and refused. A Charlotte newspaper reported that the Rock & Roll Express had left, and the NWA received quite a few calls about it. It appears they'll be working for Jerry Blackwell's group in Georgia now, at least until they can land somewhere full time, which Dave doesn't think will be easy. "I supposed Vince could always bring in Ricky Morton to do lead vocals on Wrestling Album III for his classic 'Boogie Woogie Dance Hall'".

 

-- Michael Hayes was fired "due to an incident in the middle of last week." Ron Garvin will take his place in tag matches against Jimmy Garvin, and Sting will get a bigger push and take his place in title matches on house shows against Ric Flair. It's expected that Hayes will end up back in WCCW, although he wants to go to the WWF.

 

-- Steve Williams ended up spending an extra week in Japan and missed the Bunkhouse Stampede. He had a dispute with Crockett over whether income from Japanese tours is part of his NWA annual salary. Dave says as best as he can tell, Doc has disconnected his phone line and they are not talking, although they hope he'll come back. They are no longer mentioning his name on TV, so they're not counting on it.

 

-- The general feeling is that all the firings are because Crockett is having money problems, not because wrestlers are having disciplinary problems. With Hayes, Dave is now hearing that he and Crockett agreed to come to terms on his contract a long time ago (two years at $150,000 per year) but Crockett never actually signed it. Hayes pressured him to sign it, because he wasn't making money, and he ended up getting fired for missing Cincinnati on 01/23. Had Hayes signed the contract, Crockett would have been required to promote his album on TV in exchange for a cut of the sales.

 

-- They are showing life at the gate. The bench press contest in Greensboro on 01/30 drew 10,000+, and they did actually use legit weights, with all four doing 460 lbs with no problem. Paul Ellering then grabbed the house mic and said to cut the garbage and increase to 600 lbs. Animal was to go first, and they threw chalk in his eyes and did a really hardcore attack angle. He juiced and was carried out on a stretcher and was taken to the hospital.

 

-- Barry Windham and Lex Luger are being pushed as a tag team and Flair is going to continue feuding with Sting.

 

-- The actual gate for the Bunkhouse Stampede was $60,000 which means paid attendance was around 5,000, which is pretty bad for that market, especially since their first show there did a $150,000 gate.

 

-- Clarification from last week: "The line Road Warrior Hawk has been spouting off isn't Neo Nazi Zoom Dweebies, but 'Neo Maxi Zoom Dweebies."

 

-- "Eddie Gilbert is still working here, but it appears they are trying to keep that a secret."

 

-- JCP has started doing local promos to hype house shows again, which Dave thinks is a step in the right direction.

 

-- The Mighty Wilbur will be back in March (My note: !)

 

-- Everyone who lives in Dallas has been asked to move to Charlotte, but Dusty Rhodes, JJ Dillon and Jim Crockett are still expected to be moving during summer. They are expected to keep two offices open -- one in Charlotte where talent mostly lives, and one in Dallas for TV production.

 

-- Tiger Conway Jr & Shaska Whatley will team in the Crockett Cup.

 

-- Mike Rotunda won the TV title on 01/26 in Raleigh, from Nikita Koloff. Dave says the Varsity Club angle has been fun, but he doesn't think Rotunda will get over with the title. He gave Rick Steiner the Florida title, which Dave found interesting, since Dusty had just done a promo on TV about how this is the NWA and you don't buy belts in the NWA.

 

-- 01/29 in Pittsburgh drew 6,500 headlined by Ric Flair vs Sting. 01/23 in Philadelphia drew 7,214 paid and a $103,416 gate. 01/14 in Fisherville, VA drew 1,200 and a $10,000 gate. 01/28 in Harrisburg, PA drew a sellout of 1,000 and a $10,000 gate headlined by Barry Windham & Ron Garvin vs The Sheepherders. The Rock & Roll Express no-showed. There were signs on the door announcing they wouldn't be there, and when the ring announcer said it, the crowd cheered.

 

-- The past week's World Wide Wrestling aired two sets of commentary at the same time overlapping each other, so the show was all jibberish.

 

-- They are setting up Dusty Rhodes vs Larry Zbyskzo US title matches. Baby Doll is blackmailing Dusty with secret photos to get a title match on her terms.

 

-- Misty Blue is in to be part of some house show matches in 8-man tags featuring Jim Cornette.

 

-- Dick Murdoch is leaving for Japan again, which saddens Dave because he was one of the few non-stale, entertaining guys they had anymore.

 

-- They did an angle recently where it was Ric Flair Night in Raleigh, NC. Sting beat up JJ Dillon after a Horsemen celebration over Ric Flair winning Wrestler of the Year. On the same show, Barry Windham subbed for Hayes and lost to Flair, and Lex Luger & Ricky Santana beat Arn Anderson & Tully Blanchard.

 

AWA

-- Kelly Kiniski has been fired, and they have pretty much no heels left.

 

-- Tom Zenk is signed to face Billy Robinson on the 02/04 show at the Minneapolis Auditorium, the last show at the arena before it is torn down, and Dave is surprised by that match, because independent promotions won't use Robinson because of his rep of shooting, and that he could easily show Zenk up/

 

-- Baron Von Raschke and the Nasty Boys are now full-time. Steve DiSalvo is splitting time between the AWA and Calgary.

 

-- Adrian Adonis suffered a broken ankle during the Minot, ND, TV tapings. There was a hole in the ring and Adonis stepped into it during an Irish whip spot. This also caused him to miss his scheduled New Japan tour, and he's not expected back for at least two months.

 

-- Kevin Kelly and Sheik Adnan Al-Kaissey got into a fight while taping a promo that started as a work before tempers started flaring and they were really fighting. Kaissey was beaten to a pulp.

 

-- An AWA album will be coming out soon, featuring Greg Gagne, Baron Von Raschke, Wahoo McDaniel, Jerry Blackwell, Tommy Rich, Dick Slater, Jerry Lawler, Jeff Jarrett, the Midnight Rockers and Tom Zenk. The album is being recorded in Atlanta. Blackwell, Rich and Slater were there because the Gagnes helped them get an insurance break for their new promotion. Lawler and Jarrett were there because there is planned to be more talent swapping between both territories in the future. In fact, Curt Hennig is scheduled to work a heavy schedule for CWA because the AWA is no longer running a full schedule.

 

STAMPEDE

-- 01/22 in Calgary drew 1,300, which is slightly below their average as of late, but still really strong considering the WWF's recent sellout in Calgary just three days before this show. The main event was Makhan Singh & Rip Rogers vs Jason the Moffat & Chris Benoit. The finish was Rogers putting Benoit in a Boston crab-like hold and the ref calling for the bell right away. (My note: Whaa?)

 

-- The pregnant woman Bad News Allen hit while brawling in the crowd recently suffered a concussion. He was fined $200.

 

MEMPHIS

-- Terry Taylor is already gone, and headed to World Class.

 

-- Billy Travis is out with an injury from Darryl Peterson landing on him wrong.

 

-- They are billing Peterson as a Larry Sharpe protege that has come to get revenge on Lawler for how Lawler made Bigelow turn on Sharpe. They did an angle on TV where Peterson tossed Lawler over the table, which looked so bad that the studio audience booed it.

 

CONTINENTAL

-- The mink coat tournament drew 8,000 fans on 01/23. (My note: 8,000 fans for Continental??) The tournament final saw Bob Armstrong beat Tony Anthony to win the coat. Dave is amazed by the crowd size. It's the biggest crowd any non-NWA/WWF promotion has drawn in about 8 months in North America, and it happened on a card without Doug Furnas, who Dave credited for the recent big crowds in Knoxville. Knoxville is a huge town for them right now, but the Alabama towns just aren't drawing. Birmingham crowds are usually around 350, and Montgomery crowds are around 150.

 

-- Hector Guerrero, the Rock & Roll RPM's, the Mongolian Stomper, Ron Wright and Buddy Landell are coming in.

 

-- Ron Fuller will take over Knoxville effective 02/14 and it will be called USA Championship Wrestling. They are promoting Terry Gordy on the show.

 

-- Dave still needs a tape supplier.

 

WCCW

-- WCCW recently drew only 80 people to a house show in Houston headlined by Kevin & Kerry Von Erich, The Fantastics & Chris Adams vs Buddy Roberts, Angel of Death, The Real Thing, John Tatum & Jack Victory in a Thunderdome match. 80 people!

 

-- Crowds in Dallas have picked up to 2,500 for the Thunderdome matches, but remain at 300 in Fort Worth.

 

-- Terry Gordy is getting his knee scoped in the coming week.

 

 

NJPW

-- Antonio Inoki has announced a late July show called "Martial Arts Olympic" at the 55,000-seat Tokyo Dome. Dave is unsure of the prices, but they have charged as much as $220 US ringside for big shows in the previous two years and sold out those shows in major indoor arenas. Inoki's matches with Leon Spinks and Masa Saito both drew gates of over $700,000, and if Inoki vs Futuhaguro (Koji Kitao) happens, it is expected to double that. The 01/29 Tokyo Sports listed Leon Spinks, Michael Spinks, Larry Holmes, Andre the Giant, Hulk Hogan, Chris Dolman and Don Nakaya Neilsen as possible opponents. Dave thinks Futuhaguro is probably the best bet, because they have no chance with Michael Spinks or Holmes, and Inoki has already beaten Andre, Hogan and Leon Spinks. There's also that getting Hogan to job to Inoki at this stage would be impossible.

 

-- Inoki recently toured Italy, and headlined a show on 01/24 at the Palasport in Rome that drew 8,000 fans in a 15,000-seat basketball arena paying $16 and $30. Inoki was the big draw and got a huge reaction beating Bad News Allen in the main event. On the undercard, Shane Douglas won a 6-man battle royal and had a singles match he won against Mike Kalhua. Inoki received a $10,000 guarantee for working two dates in Italy. These were the first Western-style matches in Italy since October, when the WWF drew a crowd of 9,000 in Milan.

 

-- 01/22 drew 2,160. 01/27 drew 3,570 headlined by Antonio Inoki, Kengo Kimura & Shiro Koshinaka vs Buzz Sawyer, Bob Orton & Tony St. Clair.

 

-- The 01/11 TV show drew a 7.1 rating headlined by Antonio Inoki & Nobuhiko Takada vs Owen Hart & Steve Williams. The 01/18 TV show drew an 8.2 rating headlined by Antonio Inoki & Nobuhiko Takada vs Masa Saito & Big Van Vader. The 01/25 TV show drew a 7.2 rating with a Riki Choshu, Masa Saito & Hiroshi Hase vs Steve Williams, Buzz Sawyer & Owen Hart main event.

 

-- Owen Hart vs Nobuhiko Takada was a supposed strong standout on the 01/13 Takamatsu card. Owen is doing lots of jobs, but he's showing really well in popularity polls in the Japanese magazines.

 

-- Finals to the juniors tournament are 02/07 in Sapporo. Masakatsu Funaki is currently in 1st place with 36 points. (My note: I tried to type this all out but Dave confused the hell out of me.)

 

AJPW

-- Genichiro Tenryu took a clean sweep of the major awards in Japan. He was named MVP of Japanese wrestling by Tokyo Sports, and received similar awards from Gong Magazine and Weekly Pro Wrestling. He nudged out Riki Choshu in Gong's popularity poll, and Choshu had been on top for several years.

 

-- 01/27 drew 3,100 headlined by Jumbo Tsuruta, Kabuki & Masa Fuchi vs Genichiro Tenryu, Ashura Hara & Samson Fuyuki. Buddy Landell was not on the show, but Dave is unsure the reason.

 

-- They are hyping a huge show for 03/09 in an 8,000-seat arena in Yokohama to be headlined by Genichiro Tenryu vs Stan Hansen in a double title match with Tenryu putting up the United National title against Hansen's PWF belt, which Dave says will no doubt end in a countout. The show will also have Jumbo Tsuruta vs Tiger Mask.

 

-- Baba is in the US negotiating with the Funks and David Manning about getting AJPW to air in the United States. Baba wants to send Gordy, Hansen, Brody, Abdullah, Snuka and some of his other top stars to help weaker territories fight Vince and Crockett.

 

-- Toshiaki Kawada and Ricky Fuyuki are being billed as "The Foot Loose" and are a hot preliminary-level tag team.

 

JOSHI

-- 02/25 in Kawasaki is being hyped pretty huge and will be headlined by Dump Matsumoto & Yukari Omori (who will be retiring that night) against the Crush GIrls.

 

-- TV ratings leveled off to a 6.2 on 01/10 and a 9.2 on 01/24.

 

-- AJW held their rookie auditions on 01/17 in Tokyo. 1,500 girls showed up and seven were picked, based on how well they did at weightlifting, dexterity drills, speed and calistenics. "I think this is one of two reasons it's ridiculous to even compare the Japanese women with any U.S. promotion. First off, only the top 1/2 of a percent in terms of athletic ability even get chosen to be trained in the first place, and then they train them like spartans from the age of 15-17 and by the time they are around 22, if they've even survived, they are better workers than virtually all the men. Then they are done away with at the age of 26, so nobody stars on past their time."

 

PUERTO RICO

-- Keiji Muto is currently working as a manager for Mr. Pogo & Kendo Nagasaki (My note: Whaaa?)

 

READER LETTERS

-- Jeff Goldberg in Hatboro, PA, insists that Mike Lanzalotti's letter saying he messed up the finish to a recent Flair match in Philly was out of place, as Flair congratulated him afterwards on a job well done. He says most of the time, wrestlers screw up finishes, not the referee.

 

-- Chris Ranucci in Brooklyn, NY, hated the Bunkhouse Stampede. Crockett created ill will by not allowing any press who wanted in except Bill Apter and George Napolitano. He says Crockett is dumb and doesn't realize the mark mags are on his side and want to help him beat Vince McMahon, and he's alienating crowds everywhere.

 

-- Greg Roman in Ventor, NJ, was upset that Crockett announced that his cable company would be airing the Bunkhouse Stampede, despite them not even being open that day and having no intentions of doing so.

 

-- Bob Saydlowski Jr in Pittsfield, MA, thinks Antonio Inoki is as bad as Dusty Rhodes, and is also upset that Vince was not using real 2:00 time intervals for the Royal Rumble, calling it "cheating".

 

-- Harry White in St. Louis says Crockett has been advertising $3.00 tickets, but then when you show up, all the $3 tickets are sold out and they try to get you to buy $9 tickets. Most people turn around and go home.

 

-- Jeff Bowdren in Planation, FL, says Bret Hart deserves a bigger push, upset that he did jobs for Paul "I Wrestle Like I'm In A Coma" Roma and Jim "Wipe That Smile Off My Face If You Don't Like It" Powers. Even the marks can see that he has lots of ability.

 

-- Pat Crocker in Edwards Air Force Base, CA wants to share his dream card: El Hijo del Santo vs Negro Casas, the Crush Girls & Jumping Bomb Angels vs Dump Matsumoto, Condor Saito, Drill Nakamae & Sherri Martel, Owen Hart vs Kuniaki Kobayashi, Bad Company vs Lightning Express, Riki Choshu vs Tatsumi Fujinami, Midnight Express vs Rock & Roll Express, Bruiser Brody vs Terry Gordy, Akira Maeda & Nobuhiko Takada vs Kazuo Yamazaki & Yoshiaki Fujiwara, Steve Williams vs Dick Murdoch but only in Japan and Ric Flair vs Ted DiBiase.

 

-- Steve Hesske in Bowling Green, OH doesn't see what all the fuss is about regarding Japanese wrestling and thinks the wrestling is better in the US. He also thinks Vince McMahon's "Stand Back" performance at the Slammys was amazing and more people should be talking about it. (My note: Does this guy post at DVDVR now?)

 

-- Carl France in Englewood, Ontario, thinks Matilda's disappearance is to cover for her tour of Japan.

 

-- Diane Devine in Springfield, MO, thinks Ric Flair's interviews have become too raunchy and offensive, and that he talks about sex too much.

 

-- R.E. Valuck in Binghampton, NY, thinks Memphis wrestling is the best wrestling in the world, have Jerry Lawler, and have the best announcer in wrestling.

[khawk20]

-- An AWA album will be coming out soon, featuring Greg Gagne, Baron Von Raschke, Wahoo McDaniel, Jerry Blackwell, Tommy Rich, Dick Slater, Jerry Lawler, Jeff Jarrett, the Midnight Rockers and Tom Zenk. The album is being recorded in Atlanta.

 

Someone please tell me that this actually got released.

[JHawk]

I was following the AWA at the time and I don't remember the album.

 

If it did get released, I want a link to an ebay auction.

[khawk20]

I was following the AWA at the time and I don't remember the album.

 

If it did get released, I want a link to an ebay auction.

No shit, me too.

 

I don't even remember hearing about this. I guess it was a natural progression after the critical success of "the Wrestlerock Rumble".

[Guest robgomm]

These are really interesting to read. I really want to watch some Continental from 1988, particularly from when Eddie Gilbert arrives.

[Strummer]

Something happened recently at a house show where a wrestler (Dave didn't say who) who wasn't supposed to be able to speak English was stalling outside the ring for most of a match. A fan shouted, "Get in the ring you lazy bum" and the wrestler responded, "What do you think this is, the NWA?"

Any idea on who this could have been?

 

Volkoff? Zukov? Sika? Killer Khan?

[Guest Rob Naylor]

Clarification from last week: "The line Road Warrior Hawk has been spouting off isn't Neo Nazi Zoom Dweebies, but 'Neo Maxi Zoom Dweebies."

I love ALL of these WON 80's recaps (do you have any 1987 issues!?), but THIS line made me laugh a whole lot. I totally remember Hawk debuting that lovely term (which was from the Breakfast Club right?), and the idea that Dave thought he said "Neo Nazi" is hilarious.

[KrisZ]

Continental was drawing huge houses in Knoxville at that time thanks to Doug Furnas & Buddy Landell.

[khawk20]

(do you have any 1987 issues!?)

I can do one from 1987 if it's cool with Loss.

[Guest Rob Naylor]

(do you have any 1987 issues!?)

I can do one from 1987 if it's cool with Loss.

 

Awesome, my favorite wrestler, Manny Fernandez, had a better more newsworthy year in 87 and I always wondered what Meltzer's take on the "Greatest wrestler to lace boots" was....

[Bix]

(do you have any 1987 issues!?)

I can do one from 1987 if it's cool with Loss.

 

Awesome, my favorite wrestler, Manny Fernandez, had a better more newsworthy year in 87 and I always wondered what Meltzer's take on the "Greatest wrestler to lace boots" was....

 

Since you mention Manny, I have to mention this...

 

A tape of a weekend of TBS & Memphis from '85 that I was converting had an awesome clip that we MUST find the full version of. At the beginning of the TBS Saturday morning show, they showed a clip of a Manny-Barbarian singles match from one of the syndicated shows (!!! already but I'm not done yet) as they often did. The clip freezes (again, as they often did) while Manny is airborne in the middle of a perfect Mike Awesome-style heavyweight tope over the top rope! It looked amazing and we need to track the match down.

[Guest Rob Naylor]

(do you have any 1987 issues!?)

I can do one from 1987 if it's cool with Loss.

 

Awesome, my favorite wrestler, Manny Fernandez, had a better more newsworthy year in 87 and I always wondered what Meltzer's take on the "Greatest wrestler to lace boots" was....

 

Since you mention Manny, I have to mention this...

 

A tape of a weekend of TBS & Memphis from '85 that I was converting had an awesome clip that we MUST find the full version of. At the beginning of the TBS Saturday morning show, they showed a clip of a Manny-Barbarian singles match from one of the syndicated shows (!!! already but I'm not done yet) as they often did. The clip freezes (again, as they often did) while Manny is airborne in the middle of a perfect Mike Awesome-style heavyweight tope over the top rope! It looked amazing and we need to track the match down.

 

 

Oh dude... I swear, we can do it.... it's our SECOND Holy Grail... as look, there IS a Von Erich comic book, it WASN'T ole Robby Naylor's shroom exploits of 96 causing a hallucination! I can't believe "lil von Erich" really exists.

 

As it is... yeah man, Barbarian vs. Manny Fernandez is like.... the greatest thing ever. Until people comb through Mike Graham's FCW tapes and find Manny vs. Harley....

[Bix]

Not just, Barbarian vs Manny, Barbarian vs Manny with Manny doing a Mike Awesome style tope.

 

I will try to hunt it down (and maybe Barbarian vs Morton from the same period).

[Guest Rob Naylor]

Not just, Barbarian vs Manny, Barbarian vs Manny with Manny doing a Mike Awesome style tope.

 

I will try to hunt it down (and maybe Barbarian vs Morton from the same period).

Yeah man, I've seen Manny opposite Barbarian in a six man with Superstar Graham, and Abby vs. I think Manny, Sam Houston and maybe Buzz Tyler from the 85 Bash and the meager 1:00 or so of Barbarian vs. Manny is some of my favorite wrestling ever. Manny was just so fuckin athletic and agile and both he and Barbarian were just so hard hitting. And Sam Houston was an awesome wimpy in that match too.

[khawk20]

I wrote up the 3/23/87 Observer which I will post shortly. A few Manny tidbits in there.

[RCS1988]

Any tryout matches at the 1/26/88 Superstars taping in Hershey? Obviously Ray Traylor never debuted at the taping.