August 08, 1988
- As far as the Bruiser Brody murder case goes, Invader #1 (fuck Invader #1) has given no explanation yet, and that’s led to a lot of speculation. Everyone wants an answer, and if anyone else knows, they’re not answering. The situation in Puerto Rico has deteriorated, as many wrestlers are boycotting the WWC. Some are worried they might get killed to, to which Dave says that to his knowledge there was no conspiracy and that after the Brody family, Invader’s family (for having him in the family), it’s WWC who have lost the most in the wake of things. Wrestlers have left them, they’ve been excoriated by the media, their image is perhaps irreparably damaged, they’ve lost two of their biggest draws, and fans in the area have been turned off from wrestling. Considering that, he finds it hard to imagine a credible conspiracy theory implicating WWC, considering just what the murder has cost them. And yet, if evidence were to emerge that shows there was a conspiracy, Dave thinks WWC should be shunned and boycotted as if they were South Africa. But running WWC out of business won’t bring Brody back. Dave does think this should make promotions rethink permitting weapons like guns and knives in the locker rooms, though.
- The NWA is experiencing significant cash-flow issues. They’ve had to take out one or two large loans in excess of $300,000 in order to pay tv stations and cover wrestler pay. And if you think those balloon payments for some of the top guys that were supposed to come due back in May would be covered by this, nah. Those payments still aren’t happening yet. Reportedly, the loans come from TBS and serve as a down payment should a purchase agreement be reached. They also took a similar-sized loan out from a Charlotte bank. At this point, Dave is comfortable calling it: Jim Crockett Promotions is dead in the water unless a sale is made or they have a miraculous sudden recovery. Such a recovery is not going to happen, and if they don’t sell to TBS, then TBS will take their loan back from the ppv money when that comes through, leaving the NWA to die.
- Remember how last week Dave got conflicting reports on the Great American Bash buyrate? Well, the 3.5%-4% touted by TBS is smoke and mirrors. The actual buyrate would appear to be around 2%, final numbers coming next week. Not a money loser, but marginally profitable at best. At this point Dave dissects the reasons the buyrate was so far below expectations: stale talent and uninteresting matches, fans turned off by Dusty finishes, and tv ratings for the NWA plummeting over the last quarter (the TBS Saturday show, usually in the top three cable shows, fell to number 11 this quarter and fell behind both WWF shows on USA). Dave talks a lot about numbers and I’m a literature person, so in direct language: all NWA programming is declining in viewership and they never had a chance to get a higher buyrate because their overall viewership is too low to support one. In summary, the Bash tour may temporarily increase house show numbers, but there’s nothing to suggest it’s driving tv numbers, proving that it’s ultimately a short-term solution incapable of addressing the long-term problem. Further analysis to come next week as the final numbers become apparent.
- **As far as TBS buying NWA goes, we’re coming to a point where timing is critical.**If key NWA figures leave the company before the sale goes through, then it’s going to be even harder to get things moving in a positive direction. And Dave thinks it’s very likely a number of big names will jump ship in the next few weeks. They’re all free agents, since their contracts have been voided by the lack of those balloon payments they were supposed to get in May. Dave identifies a few changes that need to happen. Reformat the tv, give three or four fresh faces major pushes. No more squashes and every guy getting an interview per show. Market the wrestlers, not “see the NWA.” Ric Flair’s role needs to change. Same with the Road Warriors.
- On July 7, Governor Robert Casey of Pennsylvania vetoed the bill to deregulate pro wrestling. Among the more significant of his objections to deregulation was that it would result in a revenue shortfall for the state athletic commission of $80,000.
- Dave makes a few corrections on the coverage of Brody from the past few weeks. He went to Iowa State, not the University of Iowa (which is a shame, I thought it was cool Big E and I went to the same school as him, but apparently we didn’t). Dave also corrects his birthday, his funeral day (Wednesday, not Tuesday), and a couple other minor items like his theme song in Japan.
- Atlanta station WATL’s wrestling block has been canceled effective the last week of August. Joe Pedecino has signed an agreement with channel 69, starting Labor Day, to bring a wrestling block to that channel.
- Is Paul Orndorff dead? No. Stop writing to Dave every week because you read it in some other magazine that Orndorff is dead, because he’s alive. He especially hasn’t died from getting hit with a bowling ball or from AIDS. Seriously, people.
- Watch: Paul Orndorff proves he’s alive as recently as 2019 with an interview about his career
- CWF did an angle on their July 18 tv tapings involving Willie B. Hert (Pez Whatley), his son, and Paul E. Dangerously. Willie brought out his son, Paul questioned his parentage, the kid punches Paul, Eddie Gilbert comes out and beats up the kid, bada bing, bada boom, we got a feud.
- Robert Gibson quit the NWA after getting paid only $1,100 for a week of Bash shows. As Dave understands it, going back was more Ricky Morton’s idea anyway. Morton may not be long for the company, though, if he wants the team to stay together.
- The Midnight Express is starting to get cheered and look to be positioned for a face turn. What that means for Cornette is anybody’s guess, because babyface managers are tricky to get right.
- The July 21 Great American Bash show in Cincinnati had a WarGames match that Dave prints 5 stars for. Again, wish it were clear that this was from whoever reported on the card for Dave and that he hasn’t seen it, because that’s probably the correct read here.
- All Japan is putting a rocket on Stan Hansen’s back and he’s leaving fans in chanting “Brody” every night. If you thought Hansen was over before, it’s nothing compared to how over he is now. On July 27 he beat Tenryu by countout to capture the PWF and United National titles, and two days later he and Terry Gordy beat Jumbo Tsuruta and Yoshiaki Yatsu to win All Japan’s annual World’s Strongest Tag Determination League tournament.
- Watch: Stan Hansen vs. Genichiro Tenryu, July 27, 1988
- Additionally, All Japan’s August 29 show in Budokan Hall is being rebuilt as a Bruiser Brody Memorial show. The main events will still be voted on by fans.
- Lots of foreign talent coming in for New Japan’s tour from the end of August to late September. Names include Vader, the Gaspar Brothers (Bob Orton Jr. and Karl Moffatt), Scott Hall, the Great Kokina (Yokozuna), and Black Tiger (an English wrestler).
- Riki Choshu pinned Inoki on July 21 during a six-man tag match after a lariat. And he did it again the next night in a singles match, which was so noteworthy it was the front page of the Nikkan Sports page the following morning.
- The magazines in Japan think it’s likely Akira Maeda will be wrestling Bob Backlund in December. They’re also predicting UWF will continue selling out every show they put on through the end of the year.
- The most recent tv ratings in Japan show an interesting picture. All Japan drew a 6.5 on July 17 for a Hansen & Gordy vs. Tsuruta and Wajima main event. New Japan topped them with a 7.2 on July 16 featuring Kengo Kimura vs. Riki Choshu. Top of the heap, though, are All Japan Women, who drew a 7.5 with the Crush Girls vs. Mitsuko Nishiwaki and Mika Suzuki.
- JWP did their Devil Masami vs. Shinobu Kandori match on July 14, and from what Dave can put together from photos, it looks like an incredible match. It was a 30 minute war which ended with both women bleeding a lot and Dave thinks it ended in a double disqualification. Close - draw by double count out in the ring as both women were spent and had lost too much blood to continue. Go out of your way to watch this, it’s an absolutely phenomenal match.
- Watch: Shinobu Kandori vs. Devil Masami
- Dave’s received two reports in the past week that the OWF has folded. More on that next week, but for now their July 8 show drew 65 in Gresham, Oregon, so that's not hard to believe.
- The July 25 Memphis show drew the biggest gate since Lawler won the AWA title and was headlined by a Lawler/Von Erich broadway with both the World Class and AWA belts on the line. See that? Isn’t it much easier to just do a time limit draw that’s a great match (everyone was raving about it) than to mess up the rules on title switches? Too bad it wasn’t televised.
- [Memphis] For the first time in modern wrestling history, a cake appeared in a wrestling angle and nobody’s face wound up covered with it. Bonus points if you can find this online.
- Also in Memphis they’re teasing a face turn for Brickhouse Brown, but he and Robert Fuller keep reconciling despite Fuller continually being racist to him. We’re talking having a party featuring the Stud Stable on the tv show and Fuller giving Brown a watermelon and making racist remarks.
- AWA’s big show in the Metrodome is either going to be on November 4 or 5. The Met Sports Center isn’t even sure.
- Curt Hennig started with WWF on Friday night and has been suspended for life from AWA.
- Former wrestler Larry Hamilton is running for sheriff of Buchanan County, Missouri.
- English wrestler and manager J.R. Foley, who worked mainly in western Canada in the 60s and 70s, died on July 24 of lung cancer. He was 50, and known for managing guys like Dynamite Kid, Badnews Allen, and the Honkytonk Man in Stampede.
- Bruiser Brody’s death has been hitting some more news outlets. This week’s The Sporting News had a story on his death. The Reporters, a show on the Fox network, will be airing a piece in the next few weeks, while Entertainment Tonight ran their Brody and Adonis stories on Monday and Tuesday (with both stories featuring a young Dave Meltzer). The reason for the increase in publicity about the murder compared to last week appears to be a column from the LA Times famed sportswriter Scott Ostler.
- Read: The Night the Fun Was Drained out of Pro Wrestling
- Iceman King Parsons was offered the opportunity to do a tour in South Africa, but turned it down. Considering South Africa is still under Apartheid and Parsons is a Black man, I don’t blame him one bit for not going to South Africa.
- ”Cactus Jack Foley, who is one of the top Northeastern independent workers, may show up in the Central States.”
- One of the letters this week is a poem called The Jobber. I’m printing it in full here because I love poetry, including bad poetry, and this needs to be shared (including original, as-printed spelling errors). I may go into what’s not working for me poetically here in the comments, but for now just read this amazing thing.
- I was at home with my wife watching TV,When the telephone rang and the call was for me,That very next night in Nashville, Tennessee,They wanted me to do a job on national TV.
- I’d make $65, the going rate for chumps,It was clearly understood that I’d be taking all the bumps,So I told their stooge that I would be there,He said “thanks very much,” but I knew he didn’t care.
- Got all of my gear and packed my bag,That ride the next day would be such a dragLeft my house at four so I wouldn't be late,Then started hauling ass up the interstate.
- Stopped at a store to hear, "which one are you?"Those idiot marks just didn't have a clueIf I was Hogan or Savage, they wouldn't have to ask,But I'm only a jobber, with a lowly wrestling task.
- Arrived at the building and walked to the stage door,And got cussed out by a rat, such a pitiful whore,As I headed to the heels dressing room,My ego felt shattered, for I faced certain doom.
- Strut into the room and forced a fake smile,"How ya been doing brother, haven't seen you in a while,"Found me a spot and started getting ready,I was sweating like hell but my nerves held steady.
- Up walked the booker to give me the finish,As I felt my pride so painfully diminish,He wanted us to do the "old Pearl Harbor,"The face would make the comeback, I'd end up the jobber.
- Then the bell rang, my match was up first,I was suddenly stricken with a bad case of thirst,"First match get out there," the bookers' voice did hiss,I was busy taking my third nervous piss.
- So I stomped tot he ring to the sound of jeers,Then out waltzed the baby to a round of rousing cheers,I'm a pretty tough dude who can kick some bass,Too bad I don't fit in with the front office brass.
- I'd take deca and D-Bol and some Winstrol V,If only the pencil would do something with me,My name was announced to the deafening boos,As I envied my opponent, cause he wasn't gonna lose.
- All wnet as planned, and well, "that was that,"My shoulders got pinned to the middle of the mat,TV matches are short, and this was no exception,I stormed back to the room feeling total dejection.
- Took a hot shower and washed off the seat,I'd be back on the road, they'd be taking a jet,Said bye to the boys and then to the booker,I had turned my trick like a 300 pound hooker.
- Oh how I wanted that booker to clobber,But had to keep my cool, I was only a jobber,Don't get me wrong, no apology was needed,I made the babyface look good, so I totally succeeded.
- Drve back down the interstate guzzling a beer,Would I always be a jobber, what an agonizing fear?But deep down I know all that really matters, you see,Is that I play my role well, and am very proud of me
- We’re starting to get letters about Brody now, and the first one is from one Johnny Black, who counted Brody as a friend. He talks about how Brody was unique in being a guy who had the promoters crawling to him instead of the other way around. And while he may have been hard to work with, he did everything to make sure the fans got their money’s worth. Black recalls seeing Brody stay behind after shows to take pictures and sign autographs for half an hour or more and how Brody didn’t understand why any wrestler wouldn’t take a few minutes for the fans. It’s an interesting insight into Brody’s philosophy: the promoters ultimately aren’t really the ones who pay the wrestlers. The fans are. Treat the fans well and you’ll always have a job. Another writer remarks about meeting Brody shortly after Mike Von Erich died and how much Brody hated WCCW’s exploitation of Mike’s death, and a third (a superfan in Greensboro who was almost a prototype for today’s front row regulars like Green Shirt Guy) reminisces about the first time he got to see Brody live and how, as Brody got ganged up on he called to Stan Hansen and said Brody needed his help. Hansen replied “Bruiser Brody doesn’t need any help” as Brody emerged at the top of the heap. A sad memory now.
- Dave reports the Joe Malenko “one-match tournament” win of the Global Jr. title on the July 23 tv taping again. Still confused about the one-match tournament concept, but at least we know why the title was vacant - the previous champ, Steve Collins, “couldn’t make weight.” Also, apparently the Malenkos were fired recently for reasons Dave doesn’t know yet.
- The card for WWF’s Summerslam looks like a dud to Dave. They’re clearly counting on Hogan/Savage vs. Andre/DiBiase with Ventura as referee being enough to pull in viewers. Demolition vs. the Hart Foundation for the tag titles should be okay, and they’ve got Honkytonk Man vs. Beefcake for the Intercontinental title and are billing it as the last time they’ll ever wrestle each other, so it looks like a Beefer title win is coming. WWF’s goal for the show is a 6% buyrate. Historically a hot headline and meh undercard outperforms a stacked undercard and weak main event, but for a national ppv, you really should want to stack the whole card, Dave thinks. Time to find out if WWF can successfully sell a big show off just one match.
- In addition to Curt Hennig being in WWF, Gene Okerlund has returned. Apparently this happens about every year or two where Gene and Vince get hot at each other and things blow up (Gene quit for a day at the Slammy awards, in one recent instance), but Gene comes back because the money is too good. His duties are being relaxed a bit, though, and he’s going to mainly do only major things like NBC specials and Summerslam updates, rather than doing interviews on the road or for the All-American Wrestling show.
- No Holds Barred will hit theaters in 1989, just after Wrestlemania V. Dave wonders if Hulk Hogan might possibly win the title at Wrestlemania right before the movie comes out (hmmm…). Obviously that would be ludicrous. He should win it three weeks after the movie comes out and has proven itself to be a total flop like David Arquette, greatest WCW champion of all time, did.
- Blackthorne Publishing will soon begin releasing quarterly WWF comics. Dave’s surprised it took them so long to do that. Don't worry, Dave. It'll take a bit more time, because this doesn't seem to go anywhere and the first regular WWF comic won't appear until 1991, at least as far as I can find with a quick search.