August 12, 1991
- WWF recorded voice overs on shows mentioning Ric Flair's name and referring to him as the "world heavyweight champion." The initials NWA and WCW won't be used for obvious reasons, but this is still interesting because it's the first time WWF has acknowledged another promotion since 1984, when they purchased Georgia Championship Wrestling. Billing him as the other world champion obviously means he's being set up for a feud with Hulk Hogan. Also noteworthy is that they are talking about Flair on TV despite the deal not being finalized yet. For legal reasons, WWF can't even officially negotiate with Flair until his WCW contract expires on Sept. 1st, but Vince must be extremely confident that Flair is coming in if he's already recording promos. In the meantime, Bobby Heenan will appear as Flair's advocate, with Flair's world title belt.
- WCW made a last-ditch effort to get Flair back. Sources say WCW offered Flair the job as booker, but Flair turned them down. Obviously, if they're offering the job to Flair, it doesn't bode well for Dusty Rhodes, who has taken much of the criticism (alongside Jim Herd) for the disastrous state of WCW and losing their biggest star without even getting the world title off him first made it look even worse. But word is both men are probably safe at least until their contracts expire, especially Dusty because his is a guaranteed deal and WCW would have to pay his full contract even if they dump him.
- Verne and Greg Gagne visited WCW this week, reportedly looking for positions within the company or discussing some sort of TV syndication deal.
- Wrestling promoter Joel Goodhart in Philadelphia (TWA Wrestling) has been trying to drum up publicity for a Ric Flair vs. Terry Funk match at one of his indie shows, but as with the WWF situation, Flair can't negotiate with anyone until his WCW contract is up and it's hiiiiiighly unlikely Flair is planning to work Goodhart's show.
- Bill Watts' name is coming up a lot lately when it comes to the future of WCW. Watts recently did an interview where he pretty much bashed all the Turner execs and essentially said WCW sucks and they don't have the balls to bring him in because they know he's telling the truth and they don't want truth-tellers, they only want corporate ass-kissers. He was essentially calling Turner's bluff and saying he could save WCW but they don't have the balls to hire him. (And funny story: it fucking WORKED! Watts ended up taking over WCW in 1992. He then promptly tanked the company, but that's another story we'll get to later.)
- Speaking of Joel Goodhart's TWA, Cactus Jack and Eddie Gilbert had an absolutely insane 3-match series during one show. The first match was Falls Count Anywhere, the second a Stretcher Match, and the 3rd a Cage match and it may have been 3 of the best matches in America this year. Cactus Jack especially is just as bloody and hardcore as it gets. At one point, Cactus was crotched on top of the cage and then fell backwards (!!!) off the cage to the floor. Speaking of Cactus, he's coming in to WCW soon as a heel and will be part of a group of villains who will feud with Sting. Bam Bam Bigelow is also heading to WCW soon (nope).
- Lou Ferrigno has apparently signed with WBF, officially this time, and they will announce his signing at a press conference later this week. The signing was rumored to be anywhere from $700K to a million dollars. Also, Vince has denied that the outcome of the first WBF show was pre-determined, but no one's buying it. Vince's long-term plan is to give all his bodybuilders larger than life characters and personalities, just like his wrestlers, and put them on a TV show, though no one knows what the concept of the show might be.
- Controversy in Mexico surrounding EMLL wrestler Octagon. A major tabloid there had a cover story claiming Octagon made homosexual advances towards someone, which has greatly affected his popularity. Everyone, from Octagon himself to officials with EMLL have all issued denials.
- Tommy Rich was arrested in Georgia last week for marijuana possession.
- Jim Cornette sent a funeral wreath to Jim Herd at the WCW offices in Atlanta with a note about killing the promotion. Ha! That's actually pretty funny.
- WCW signed a deal with Marvel Comics to release a WCW comic series. And so they did.