August 22, 1988
- Not a lot of news this week, but a whole lot of rumors. Suffice to say, no official jumps have been made from NWA, though everyone including Ric Flair is rumored to be calling Vince looking to jump.
- The sale of the NWA to Turner Entertainment appears to be held up by NWA’s debt. Turner apparently wants the NWA to clear their outstanding debts before any sale happens. Another sign that the structure of the NWA will be changing under Turner, because there’s no way Turner will allow them to be as disorganized and mismanaged as they have been… oh.
- New Japan had a live prime-time special in Yokohama this past Monday, in which Fujinami and Inoki went to a 60 minute draw. Inoki had said prior to the match that he’d retire if Fujinami could beat him, Fujinami still hasn’t renewed his contract and has walked out twice in the past, and he’s pushing the envelope to become the major star in New Japan, so this match had a lot of interest due to the various factors behind the match. Many feel Inoki is a bigger draw, but he’s also 45, while Fujinami is 34. The draw appears to be a means of compromising - Fujinami keeps his title and position on the card, Inoki doesn’t get beat and still sticks around. Reportedly the match was excellent through the end, though only the first 25 minutes aired on tv because they hit their running time during the match.
- The third NWA Clash of the Champions is set for September 7, with Sting and Barry Whindham set for the U.S. title match. The other matches are also set, and no Ric Flair, no Lex Luger, no Road Warriors, no Jim Cornette and the Midnight Express. Flair and Luger might be involved in something, but don’t expect this to touch the first Clash.
- The courts in Puerto Rico have scheduled the arraignment of Invader #1 (fuck Invader #1) for September 8. He’s expected to plead not guilty by self defense with regard to the murder of Bruiser Brody.
- Two new cable sports networks are looking to get off the ground. Mizlou is gearing up to launch an all sports network in April, and they’re looking to heavily invest in boxing and pro wrestling. That’s going to become the Sports News Network, and it’s going to have its launch delayed to the end of the year, and in 1990 Mizlou will file for bankruptcy. Meanwhile, NBC is going to launch CNBC at some point, which will also feature a lot of sports, and they’re looking at putting an hour of pro wrestling on their weekend block. Obviously, this is some good news for the wrestling industry, but it’ll only pan out in a year or two, so it’s unclear what we might be looking at by that point and who might get those deals.
- Dave wants to call attention to a piece of work edited by Wade Keller. Dave got a copy this past week of the PRo Wrestling Torch Annual, and he can’t recommend it enough. He’s got color photos, interviews including one with the late Bruiser Brody, reprints of articles from Minneapolis channel 23’s Mick Karch, and more. Dave says it’s the best thing he’s read on wrestling in a long time.
- Ric Flair, Tully Blanchard, and Arn Anderson have all given indication to the NWA that they were leaving unless the NWA meets a specific demand, and the NWA called their bluff. If you watched the WTBS show this weekend, you know that they’re still there.
- In Memphis, the Stud Stable story to split off Brickhouse Brown from the group has been going on so long that when it finally happened, it didn’t get over. They had Robert Fuller get out of his wheelchair and give presents to all the members. Brown’s gift was a shower cap and cassette tape, and he threw it down in anger, which led to the group beating him up and Fuller whipping him with a belt. It didn’t help that the fans in Memphis just don’t like Brown, either, so this wasn’t going to get over anyway.
- Makhan Singh may be the next guy to leave Stampede. He’s been doing tv commercials in Calgary and just signed a deal to do commercials for an Edmonton furniture store for a year, and has apparently been quite the hit with them. I guess Dave thinks he might find himself taking on more paid gigs like that and leaving wrestling behind. Either that or the ads will get him noticed by a bigger promotion and he’ll head away from Stampede. I can't find the ads, unfortunately.
- Stampede’s still kayfabing the idea that Owen Hart is in Japan. You know, since the Blue Angel is wrestling in WWF and not Owen Hart. Also, Dave doesn’t know it, but by the time this issue comes out Owen’s new name in WWF will be the Blue Blazer.
- Windy City Wrestling drew $15,000 at the Chicago Ampitheatre on August 12. Bam Bam Bigelow won a 16-man battle royal, Abdullah the Butcher beat a guy named Frank Nelson, who subbed for Nord the Barbarian (Dave says they made the most honest announcement of a wrestler’s reason for not appearing in history when they said Nord was hospitalized with depression over the death of Bruiser Brody), and Dennis Condrey and Randy Rose (managed by Paul E. Dangerously) retained the Windy City tag belts. They’re going to have tv in Chicago and Minneapolis in a couple weeks, too.
- Central States drew a crowd of 48 in DeSoto, Kansas on August 6. Just to give a sense of where they’re at.
- Since Bruiser Brody’s murder, the only U.S.-based wrestlers still working in Puerto Rico are Bobby Jaggers, Dan Kroffatt, Ron Starr, and maybe the Batten twins and Tony Falk. The scuttlebutt is nobody has hard feelings about anyone who was there and stayed, since you gotta pay the bills and feed your family, but those who chose to go after the murder like the Battens, well, that’s another story. Also, Dave wants to address the letters that tell him Puerto Rico is a territory of the U.S. and not a foreign country, to which Dave replies that this is true, but in terms of wrestling culture, Puerto Rico is more foreign to the U.S. than Canada or Japan.
- An independent show in Medina, Ohio later this month will feature both Michael Hayes and Kevin Von Erich, as well as a match between Madusa and Moolah. That last match sounds riveting.
- Wade Keller has reported that Mel Saraceno will open up a new promotion in Oregon to compete with Don Owen. It’s going to be called the Oregon Wrestling Association and is set to start on August 13, with no involvement from Billy Jack Haynes, and will feature several of the guys left unemployed by Haynes’ promotion folding.
- By all appearances, All Japan is ready to give up on pushing Hiroshi Wajima as a big name. Wajima was a former yokozuna in the world of sumo and got a lot of publicity and drew ratings when he started for All Japan in 1986, but he never really caught on in skill or popularity to really make it.
- At New Japan’s July 29 Ariake Coliseum show, Antonio Inoki had a moment of silence for both Adrian Adonis and Bruiser Brody. It was the classy thing to do, and Dave gives Inoki some respect for doing it.
- Dave watched the last four weeks of Continental’s tv and thinks out of all televised wrestling it’s the one that will have you fast forwarding the least. That said, he thinks they might be overbooking - every segment has some angle, run-ins within three minutes of any match between guys you want to see wrestle, etc. Paul E. Dangerously is one of the best heels in the business and has layered his character so well he’s not a one-note villain, which is fantastic, but Dave’s less sold on most of the rest of the roster once you factor out Eddie Gilbert, Dangerously, and Austin Idol, but he is impressed that Pez Whatley has gotten over and proven to be a charismatic babyface. The promotion is looking to expand their schedule to two shows per night (except tv taping nights), and Dave hopes they do this carefully and don’t overextend themselves. Expanding like this has killed many a promotion before, after all.
- Watch: An episode of Continental Wrestling Federation
- The main WWF feuds going for the next month will be Savage vs. Andre, Hogan vs. DiBiase, Rude vs. Roberts, Honkytonk Man vs. Warrior, and Ron Bass vs. Beefcake. With Rude/Roberts, they’re hoping to get Cheryl in to valet Jake, and if they follow their original plan they’ll then bring in Rude’s sister as his second to get a feud between the women without involving Elizabeth.
- At the recent LA show for WWF on August 13, Owen Hart and Barry Horowitz had a near four star match, according to reports Dave got. Owen wound up being the most over guy on the card after Savage to the local crowd. Dave gets to watch this for next week and gives his own rating.
- More on Elizabeth and her wardrobe for Summerslam. The “word” has it that she’ll show up in a robe and strategically drop the robe to reveal a string bikini at some point in the main event to distract either Andre or Ventura and secure the win for the faces. Dave says they’re pushing this idea of her in the bikini too hard for him to buy it happening, however, and that it’s more likely something they hope will sell the show on ppv, which he has to say will probably succeed. Sometimes Dave outsmarts himself, because while it’s not going to be a bikini, this is more or less the basic outline of what will happen.
- As for the continuing rumors of Hogan vs. Tyson, suffice to say WWF will stoke that rumor as long as it’s profitable, but won’t ever actually follow through. Zero chance ever that Vince McMahon risks putting Hogan in a situation he can’t control, and zero chance of Tyson agreeing to a pre-planned finish. Dave figures if left to skill, the odds favor Tyson even if Hogan could theoretically get him on his back, simply because he has actual combat sports experience while Hogan doesn’t. So no sense risking destroying the Hulkamania myth for a chance at a big payday, especially if the destruction of Hulkamania could cut the knees out from under the WWF.
- u/rb_reigns apparently has a counterpart in the 80s in Klon Brody (maybe he’s rb’s father?). Klon writes in this week to laud Brody, thank Dave on behalf of all Brody’s fans and friends for the memorial newsletter, and generally kind of talk up how awesome Brody was in the same kind of way u/rb_reigns talks about Roman. Here’s a few sample paragraphs from the letter:
- His prime motivation must not have been money. When he got off that train in Japan he proved that. Anyone else in wrestling would have done exactly what was wanted and taken the money. Not Brody. Have gave up Japan and had to work small cards in Texas. His personal creed of right and wrong certainly led him down some strange paths. It boggled our minds but it must have made sense to him.
- The Total Package, Lex Luger, found out the truth about Brody one night in a cage in Lakeland, Florida as he begged to be let out of the cage. Brody taught him a lesson about being a wrestler.
- But rather than being maudlin about his death or angry about what caused it, we should strive to be a little more like him. In a world where everyone tries to conform and fit the mold, he truly did answer to the beat of a different drum. He was a true rugged individualist with a passion for life.
- Lots more letters about Brody, a couple on the subject of smart fans, and some letters about the NWA including one guy who thinks Dave feels contempt for Vince McMahon has been successful rather than the NWA. Basic gist of that last letter: Vince is successful where a more “pure” wrestling show isn’t and Dave’s salty about it and would like to see Vince fail, but Dave hasn’t figured out that the general public will gladly see a product as superior regardless of whether it is or not. He also writes that Dave unduly criticizes the NWA for failing to beat WWF. Anyway, Dave replies that he hasn’t been contemptuous of WWF’s success since they had Wrestlemania and proved their success wasn’t a fluke. What he does hold in contempt is the quality of their wrestling product, but he’s not seriously thought since 1985 that Crockett’s product would appeal to a national audience as much as WWF’s, which is designed for mass appeal. WWF knows how to play the media game, which is instrumental in their success, and Crockett has no clue there, but Dave thinks if they did know how to do it they could be very successful and profitable, even at number 2 behind WWF. Anyway, Dave wants to see NWA do well (and every promotion for that matter), but doesn’t think lying and giving false optimism about NWA’s chances is a good use of anybody’s time.
- Looks like the Penthouse article on the Von Erich family will hit newsstands on August 6. And it's gonna get delayed again until October, but here, read the thing already.
- Read: Born again Bashing by Irvin Muchnik
- Steve and Schaun Simpson have quit World Class.
- Dave saw a Sapporo newscast with coverage of the latest UWF show, and he’s never seen a newscast treat wrestling so seriously. Given their style, it’s impossible to treat it like a joke, and Dave says they’re easily the number one success story of the year. He may not be a fan of their style, but Dave respects the hell out of how hard they work (and working once a month does mean it’s easier to nearly kill yourself to make the match look good than if you work every night) and how talented the guys are. The style may bore many fans of wrestling who aren’t predisposed to their style, but you can’t argue with their success or their ability to sell themselves as legitimate.