Wrestling Observer Rewinder

November 21, 1988

As we approach the end of 1988, we’re looking ahead to 1989 and it looks like we’re in for a new stage in the business. In the United States, it’s really going to be a 3 company industry, with WWF currently the top of the heap. That’s unlikely to change unless the industry is rocked by something major, and honestly it’s more likely that WWF screws something up with outside ventures than that the industry changes enough to make a difference. The next biggest is Turner’s Universal Wrestling Corporation, which has the challenge of turning the company into a financially stable unit before it can even begin hoping to try to take the top spot. Finally, Jerry Jarrett is the dark horse. He doesn’t have the financials, and his position is weaker than Bill Watts’ position going into 1987, but with World Class and Memphis and the likely merger of the two, he has tools at his disposal here. It’s unlikely he can compete seriously, but it’s hard not to root for an underdog.
This makes Dave think back to when he was first told to pay attention to Japan, about 7 years ago, because “you’ll see all the U.S. trends five to ten years before anyone else does.” So 7 years ago, Dave says he realized that it was going to come down to two or three, but most likely two, major players in the business in the U.S., and that television companies would be getting into the game and trying to run the show. And well, Vince turned wrestling from an arena show to a tv show, and Turner will certainly be revising the NWA to focus on tv. Back to Jarrett being the underdog, he has the biggest challenge ahead of him, because he doesn’t have anybody with a national following and getting people over as national-level celebrities is hard, but ultimately it’s on Jarrett to do that if there’s any chance a third promotion can break through to the same level as WWF/UWC. Otherwise, we might have to wait another 7 years or so and things will have to get extreme.
In non-wrestling news, They Live opened number one in the box office in its first week. That’s real good, but the real test is whether or not it holds its audience going into its second week - horror movies tend to have a steep drop off during the second week, and it if loses more than the usual 70%, then it has no legs and is going to be looked at as unsuccessful. More reviews have come out, with one saying the reviewer thought pro wrestlers were actors, until Piper’s performance proved that wasn’t true. Piper also appeared on Larry King this past week, and he’s apparently claiming to be 32 (a surprise to Dave, who met Piper when he was 20 back in 1979 and Piper’s athletic commission records at that time had him at 30 years old). He also claimed to have lost 65 lbs to get to a weight of 195 for the role. Doing a quick look, Wikipedia has Piper as just five years older than Dave, so it seems his records have been lying all over the place, and Piper would have been 34 at this point.
WWF’s first public claim is that the Sugar Ray Leonard fight this past Monday drew a 7.2 buyrate and 780,000 views. That would be an incredibly profitable show, and it’s also almost certainly total bullshit. WWF insisted that cable companies not release their own numbers, which means that it’s basically impossible to follow-up on this for real numbers. Later in the week, they started claiming the show did a $19.5 million gross, putting it ahead of Wrestlemania IV and its record of $18 million (and ignoring the Tyson/Spinks fight that actually holds the ppv record). Based on last-minute prices for the show, that would come out to 600,000 orders or so, so none of this makes sense or adds up. Anyway, WWF is claiming to be in the boxing business for good, most neutral cable companies are indicating that the show had no real last minute run on buys and was a failure, with three that Dave contacted saying it did worse than the Great American Bash.
The Soviet Union will be exporting pro wrestlers, as New Japan is shoving a bunch of money toward Moscow to bring in Russian Olympians. This has two primary purposes: the Soviets get to pay down their trade deficit with Japan by putting this money toward it and Inoki gets to have Russian Olympians to make New Japan seem legitimate compared to UWF. This deal has been in the works, apparently, since October. By summer, expect to see Russian Olympians against New Japan wrestlers, with Inoki trying to revive his legend by beating an Olympic gold medalist superheavyweight wrestler. “If you think about this, this story is so totally amazing that a government will sell out its athletes as a national resource in this manner.”
WWF ran a prime time special on USA on election night, billing it as live from France (it was actually taped in early October. The show draw a 3.6 national rating and was viewed in over 1.6 million homes. Given it aired on election night, it was against a presidential election. That said, competition was in a way a bit weaker, since all the major networks were running the same material, splitting the overall audience for network tv. According to USA network, all the cable networks were basically counterprogramming with hot movies, under the belief that the election coverage on network tv would make this a big night for cable. This rating wasn’t a big number compared to the Royal Rumble in January, but given this one wasn’t heavily promoted, not bad (though it also underperformed Crockett’s Clash of Champions specials, which had comparable publicity). In terms of content, the show was nothing much. Heenan and Monsoon did their bit, which is both predictable and amusing (at least, by the standards of the time - within 30 seconds in the video below Heenan cracks that since Robin runs to the ring like Ultimate Warrior, that must make her the “Ultimate Bimbo”), and the matches weren’t anything special. Production quality, particularly the sound mixing, wasn’t very good. They were actually in France, though, so that was interesting, since the fans reacted more strongly to the matches than to the personalities. Barry Horowitz got the most reaction after Randy Savage and Elizabeth. The only notable happening of this show is that Rockin’ Robin won the WWF Women’s title from Sherri Martel in a 2.5 star match that was the best of the night going by Dave’s ratings. Robin’s still basically a rookie, but Sherri carried her well, and the last five minutes in particular were quite good.
Watch: Rockin’ Robin vs. Sherri Martel
Lia Maivia (promoter), Larry Heineimi (secretary/treasurer/booker), and Ati So’o (vice president) of Polynesian Pacific Wrestling were arrested on extortion charges. According to the FBI, they threatened rival promoter John Wakayama, who was running a tour through Hawai’i from November 13-15 which had the Funks vs. Stan Hansen and Terry Gordy as headliners. They demanded that Wakayama pay $5,000 and use two wrestlers of their choice or they would harm Wakayama and his children, and these threats were made on audio and videotape. If convicted, they each face up to 20 years imprisonment. This is going to go to trial next year, and looking at a newspaper clipping from October 1989 and a referee identifying one of the tapes as being So’o threatening to orally rape Wakayama’s son if he doesn’t comply, I have a feeling this will be an interesting story about the Rock’s grandmother. Spoiler alert - they are found not guilty.
Read: Wrestler Ref identifies threatening caller
Meanwhile, Invader #1 (fuck Invader #1) was indicted on November 2 on charges related to the death of Bruiser Brody. First degree murder charges were dropped in favor of a simple manslaughter charge. While none of the witnesses in the dressing room were present at the hearing, two doctors who talked to Brody before operating on him provided their testimony, which was enough to get an indictment, with a scheduled trial date of July 3, 1989. Invader #1 and his attorney are claiming self defense and pushing for the trial to happen as soon as possible. Dave raises all the questions about the case. If it was self-defense, why did the murder weapon disappear? Why did none of the wrestlers present testify to that effect? Why are so many of the witnesses scared to testify or even come to the island, like Tony Atlas, who claims to have received death threats if he testified? If it’s not self defense, what’s the motive? Dave has been careful discussing WWC and Carlos Colón through this, since they seemed initially embarrassed by the situation, but the promotion has actively supported Invader #1 with air time and everything. If it was self-defense, then commend them for standing by an innocent man. But everybody being afraid to testify makes Dave think something hinky is up, and if so, then the promotion is up to some shady stuff.
FNN/Score aired a one-hour special on Bruiser Brody. The special was basically an infomercial for a video tape, with the bulk of the proceeds going to benefit Brody’s family. No background was given on why Brody was a legend, despite the title of the show being “A Tribute to a Wrestling Legend,” which does not help hook casual viewers. They also didn’t touch on how he died. So, you know, the two questions a viewer might have if they don’t know who Brody was just went unanswered. The whole thing was for the benefit of Brody’s family, so whatever shortcomings the special might have had, at least it wasn’t some cynical moneymaking ploy.
In a surprise, Akira Maeda did a clean job at UWF’s November 10 show, losing to Nobuhiko Takada. In UWF, along with pinfalls, submissions, and knockouts, a match can end once a wrestler has been knocked down five times. Maeda had taken Takada down four times, but Takada landed a knockout in his comeback. Look at Maeda - here’s a booker/promoter willing to put someone over clean, unlike certain others we might point out. It’s too early to tell if this was a good business move or not, but this does mean the main event for the December show will be Takada vs. Bob Backlund, while Maeda wrestles Norman Smiley. Ultimately, the question is, as UWF continues into 1989, whether the company can sustain their momentum and whether their success is linked to Maeda specifically or the popularity of their style. If Maeda alone is the draw, this loss could hurt the company. Alternately, if the style is the draw, this quite probably made Takada a new star.
Watch: Takada vs. Maeda, UWF November 10, 1988
The World Class office at the Sportatorium has closed and all business is being conducted from Jerry Jarrett’s office in Tennessee. Jarrett is keeping Eric Embry on as booker for World Class, and the office closing is a cost-cutting measure. Jarrett also debuted the new tv format for World Class and has instituted the following pay structure for local tapings: $15 if you’re a jobber who loses, exposure if you win, and the lowest wrestlers contracted to the company $30 guaranteed nightly. Expect World Class to have the same reputation as Memphis for payouts.
With Jerry Blackwell and Tommy Rich in Japan for the tag team tournament, Southern Championship Wrestling has gone on hiatus as of November 10. They’re scheduled to resume business on December 30 with a tv taping.
WWF sent AWA legal papers threatening to sue if they keep billing Don Giovanni as Chief Jay Strongbow. So they’re calling him Superchief Jay Strongbow.
Madusa retained the AWA Women’s title at the November 12 Vegas taping. Notable only because she gave notice earlier that night that her final date with AWA would be Superclash III.
The other big happening at the November 12 Vegas tapings for AWA involved Kerry Von Erich’s Las Vegas debut. He wrestled Col. DeBeers to a double countout that was apparently a botched finish. DeBeers was holding Kerry by his bad leg, and was supposed to keep him out for the double countout, letting go in time for Kerry to make it in just after the count finished. But DeBeers forgot to let go, and Kerry went in, and off came his foot, which caused Kerry to freak out because fans at ringside could tell that his foot was amputated. Most of the other wrestlers didn’t even know this, and Dave’s only aware of three people who knew. Kerry wound up putting his leg and the boot under the ring so he could put it back on without anybody seeing as he did so. Then they did a bit where Kerry challenged DeBeers to an immediate rematch, which DeBeers granted so long as the fans paid and he’d match them and they’d wrestle for the pot. Along with $20 from Rob Russen, the fans pitched in $130 (about 9 cents each), which DeBeers matched, and upon winning, Kerry declared he’d donate the money to charity.
Madusa gave her notice to the AWA due to contractual disputes. She wanted an increase in her guarantee (which appears to be around $250/week if I’m reading this right), for which she’s willing to give AWA 40% of her merchandising rights, since she’s currently trying to market merchandise including a record, a poster, and a cologne. AWA seems not terribly interested.
The British Bulldogs are definitely leaving the WWF after Survivor Series. Dynamite Kid is reportedly going to book for Stampede, and along with Davey Boy and JYD will be working full time for Stampede when not working in Japan.
[WWF] The Bushwhackers will be debuting soon. Dave has no idea who they’ll be, but guesses that Ron Garvin might be one. Little do you know, Dave, that the Sheepherders are going to have a fascinating chapter in their history.
WWF plans to come out with a perfume for women in 1989. I’m going to guess this is the early seeds of the model gimmick for Rick Martel.
New Japan’s first annual Japan Cup six-man tag tournament began on November 11. During the opening match of the tournament, Shinya Hashimoto, “who fancies himself on being a shooter” gave George Takano a shoot kick in the chest and the two almost got into it, and the crowd realized what was going on and got really hot for this. As a result, Hashimoto’s getting really popular among the kids for not showing respect to his elders.
New Japan North American expansion, 1988 edition: they’re looking to buy a territory in the U.S. to use as a farm system.
Keiichi Yamada is going to England starting December 17, teaming with Masaharu Funaki. Fujinami has also taken an interest in Funaki and has been working on getting him to change his style to rely less on koppo moves and more on wrestling moves. Funaki is looked at as a rising star, and so this also serves the purpose of getting Funaki on Fujinami’s side in the ongoing power struggle. Fujinami worries that if Funaki becomes a major star while relying too heavily on koppo, it’ll make koppo seem like a stronger wrestling style than wrestling, which he feels would be bad for Japan. The fight against Inokiism is underway.
All Japan Women did shows in Honolulu in late September, headlined by the Crush Girls. They drew near sellouts both nights, doing better than either Hogan or Flair have done, and drew the largest crowd in Hawai’i since the 1985 Aloha Stadium show which had Inoki vs. Brody, Flair vs. Siva Afi, and all the New Japan stars. And, in case you’re curious considering the extortion story above, Mrs. Maivia supplied a few local talents who appeared on the show.
JWP, the other joshi promotion, is going to start promoting mixed cards, which started October 28 when Atsushi Onita came out of the audience to attack referee El Gran Hamada. Onita retired in 1984 as a result of knee issues and was a protege of Terry Funk, and this is particularly surprising to see because the Babas supposedly considered Onita like a son to them, so for him to come back but not to All Japan is big. El Gran Hamada was a former middleweight champion in Mexico and feuded with the original Tiger Mask in the early 80s. Also expected to join up at Ryuma Go and Nuboyashi Sugawara.
All Japan will be running a tour in the U.S. in February. They’re planning to hit Kansas City, Dallas, Portland, and Memphis and do tv tapings from each. They’re also trying to get Ric Flair and Barry Windham in for early next year.
Jack Petrick of the UWC met with Giant Baba and talked about bringing Tenryu in for major shows in the U.S. Dave thinks that Tenryu would struggle to get over in the States and Tiger Mask II would be best suited, out of everyone in All Japan, to get over stateside.
One of the letters asks about why, on some Japanese shows, the wrestlers will chase down the fans or even reach into the crowd and hit some of the fans. Dave says chasing the fans is something of a custom over there. He recalls a Bruiser Brody/Abdullah the Butcher match he was present for where they chased fans all over, and the fans ran away while smiling the whole time. On the flip side, when Dump Matsumoto would chase fans, the girls she chased ran in legitimate fear. As for reaching into the audience, Dave says they do get away with shoving fans because the culture is less lawsuit-happy, but he’s never seen them hit fans.
Watch: It’s not Japan, but what’s life without a Brody/Abdullah crowd brawl?
Time once again for Dave’s award picks, with the note that the awards will be in the 1989 yearbook, which I don’t have so we won’t be seeing those. For Best Technical Wrestler, Dave thinks Owen Hart’s the best in North America, but lately he hasn’t been able to show it and so Japan sweeps the picks with Tatsumi Fujinami, Hiroshi Hase, and Akira Maeda in first through third places. For Best Brawler, Dave notes that Bruiser Brody traditionally won this award, but with Brody gone, the field is different. He picks Barry Windham, Ted DiBiase, and Ashura Hara for this one. The Best Flying Wrestler is an award with a number of contenders. Owen Hart and Chris Benoit are obvious US/Canada picks, while Keiichi Yamada and Tiger Mask II are up there as well. But Mexico is where high flying is at a whole other level, with the likes of Atlantis, Eddie Guerrero, and Lizmark. Dave winds up picking Atlantis, Hart, and Tiger Mask II. The Biggest Shock of the Year has to be the untimely deaths of Bruiser Brody and Adrian Adonis, more than any angle this year, particularly the fact that Brody was murdered by another wrestler. Most Disgusting Promotional Tactic has been dominated by World Class for the past three years, and while this is the last year they’ll be eligible (little does Dave know), they’re still a strong contender. WWF ignoring the death of Adrian Adonis is something Dave considers has to be up there, made worse by their refusal to cooperate with any media about covering his death. In fact, the only public comment they made following his death, and please note that WWF gave Adonis the gimmick, was published in a Toronto newspaper where a WWF spokesperson commented that Adonis was fired because WWF told him to drop the “gay rights activist” gimmick because the company was trying to appeal to families. For the first time, Promoter of the Year will be an award, and Dave thinks McMahon’s success has made him the unquestionable favorite, even if Giant Baba or Gary Juster might be better in terms of being class acts. Finally, Dave thinks Midnight Rider is the clear favorite for Worst Gimmick considering it flopped in every possible way.
Dave takes the time to plug a number of other publications, giving information on prices, who edits them, and how to get them. Among the publications are Masayuki Osada’s Japanese Wrestling Journal, Tom Burke’s Global Wrestling, Ron Lemieux’s Arena Report, Bill Kunkel’s Angle, Jammie Ward’s Squared Circle, Wade Keller’s Wrestling Torch, Steve Beverly’s Matwatch, and Greg Oliver’s Wrestling Report.
For the Universal Wrestling Corporation, it looks like things might have to get worse before they can get better. The new regime doesn’t take over until January, and Dusty Rhodes looks poised to continue being a key part of things. It also looks like Flair’s title reign is likely to end at Starrcade, which may or may not have a good outcome for the company. Morale in the company remains low, since there’s little clarity of direction for angles. Cornette’s Midnight Express, for instance, are hot babyfaces on tv, but still playing heel on house shows.
Bill Watts and Jim Crockett may have in fact reached a settlement, but there’s no confirmation.
The Pacific Coast Wrestling Federation which will operate in Oregon has postponed its start to December 3.
Len Denton and Sandy Barr are negotiating with British Columbian promoter Al Tomko to buy out his territory. He has the best tv deal in Canada despite doing abysmal live business, so the real coup would be the tv deal, if a new promotion could actually take advantage of that. Considering Vince McMahon couldn’t even get Tomko to give up that tv time, this seems like a hard deal to complete.
Jim Pennick, who promoted in Vancouver for over 30 years, died this past week.