July 22, 1991
- Regarding the plague of no-shows at events lately, WCW had a television taping in Florida and it was the biggest crowd they had drawn in months. Ric Flair, Barry Windham, and Lex Luger were all advertised to appear, but none of them did. Flair, for obvious reasons, Windham because he had been injured the night before, and Luger who they chose to keep off TV to protect the heel turn that will be taking place at Great American Bash (these TV tapings are scheduled to air after the Bash). Obviously, Windham's absence is understandable, but WCW knew well in advance that both Flair and Luger wouldn't be appearing, yet continued to advertise them. The next night, also in Florida, WWF has no-shows for Jim Duggan, Typhoon, and Hawk. Dave goes on to list several other recent incidents where WWF and, mostly, WCW continue to advertise top stars at shows where they knew far in advance that the wrestlers wouldn't be appearing. This is important because the state of Florida is considering regulating pro wrestling, which would mean mandatory drug testing before shows as well as not being able to illegally engage in false advertising. It's also killing house show business in certain cities, because fans are beginning to learn that often, the stars they want to see might not appear.
- WWF announced last week that they will now begin testing for steroids. Meanwhile, the media coverage continues to be a nightmare for the company and especially Hulk Hogan, who has become the public face and whipping boy of the steroid scandal. There was even an interview with Bruno Sammartino saying he "despises WWF for promoting muscle freaks on killer drugs to our kids" and having some harsh words for Hogan in particular. McMahon himself appeared on Prime Time Wrestling to announce the new testing policy.
- WATCH: Vince McMahon announces WWF steroid testing
- Speaking of, Hulk Hogan appeared on the Arsenio Hall Show and admitted to using steroids in the past but claims to have been off them for awhile now. More on that in the next issue...
- WCW seems to have avoided most of the steroid scrutiny for the time being. Most of the negative media attention they're getting is for firing the best wrestler in the world. Although making Lex Luger, an obvious steroid monster, their world champion is just about the worst move WCW can make in the face of all this controversy, but they still did it. That's WCW for you (man, seriously, Dave spends a lot of time in these recent issues just mercilessly ripping WCW incompetence. It's really similar to the way people rip on TNA now).
- Back to Vince, who held a press conference at the Trump Plaza Hotel. He admitted to taking steroids himself several years ago and volunteered to allow himself to be drug tested by anyone in the room, as long as they agreed to print the results in their newspapers. He then took questions. The first question was if WWF would change the way it decides to push wrestlers since steroid tests can be beaten. Vince responded that WWF doesn't push wrestlers based on size (loooooool) and that the audience decides who gets pushed based on charisma and personality (loooooooooooooooooool). Vince also denied that wrestling-based media outlets had been banned from the press conference (a lie, says Dave) and that he also doesn't know of any wrestlers who have suffered health problems due to steroid use (Superstar Billy Graham would beg to differ). Most of the questions, he dodged or deflected (would not say who would handle the testing, dodged a question about whether he has ever encouraged wrestlers to get bigger, and danced around whether the names of wrestlers who failed drug tests would be made public).
- Also, among many fun facts of the Bash, there was a scheduled Rick Steiner/Missy Hyatt vs. Arn Anderson/Paul E. Dangerously match scheduled. However, the Maryland state athletic commission doesn't allow male-on-female violence so they ran an angle before the match where Missy was kidnapped. Leave it to WCW to spend weeks advertising an intergender match in a state where it's legally forbidden. The commission also forbid any bloodshed. Also, Dustin Rhodes is being pushed waaaay beyond what he's ready for because his father is the booker. Everything people feared when Dusty was brought back to the company has come to pass and the state of WCW couldn't be worse right now.
- The Oz character is being done away with but word is WCW will keep Kevin Nash around and give him a new role.
- Mr. Perfect is out with a back injury and Jake Roberts is out again due to neck troubles, stemming from 4 years ago when Honky Tonk Man hit him with a non-gimmicked guitar (Fun fact: Jake later said this was what led him down the path of drugs and alcohol, to deal with the pain from the multiple surgeries this caused).
- WATCH: Honky Tonk Man hits Jake Roberts with a non-gimmicked guitar, severely injuring his neck
- Roddy Piper has retired as an active wrestler (sure he has) and is focusing on making movies, but he's staying on as an announcer for WWF.
- Over in GWF, the Lightning Kid (Sean Waltman) had a star-making performance in a lightheavyweight championship tournament. He was thought to be a jobber due to his look, but by the end of the night, he was the most over wrestler on the show and won the title.
- WATCH: Lightning Kid vs. Steve Simpson - semi-final match in 1991 GWF Lightheavyweight Title Tournament
- Johnny B. Badd is expected to turn babyface and the gay gimmick will be toned down.
- Dr. Jim Andrews said it will be another 4-6 months before Scott Steiner is ready to return from his torn bicep.
- WWF came to an agreement with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and now The Mountie will no longer appear at Canadian shows or on Canadian television. The character had been the subject of much controversy, with the RCMP saying that it paints them in a bad light.
- Sid Justice apparently already isn't thrilled about his WWF contract and has made some overtures to WCW about coming back, but all those problems have been settled and Sid is now officially signed with WWF.
- Lou Ferrigno has signed with WBF and will come out of retirement. Both sides had been in the biggest bidding war in bodybuilding history to get him. Ferrigno hasn't competed since the 1975 Mr. Olympia contest. This is a huge coup for McMahon and WBF and is hands down the biggest blow he has struck against the IFBB so far.
- Suburban Commando's release has been pushed back to October, and surely that decision doesn't have anything to do with what's going on in the news, nope, no way, no how...