January 20, 1992
- It's finally time for some the 1991 year end award results! Dave spreads these out over multiple issues for the next few months. Let's get into it!
- And....that's it for this week. More results in later issues.
- The most blistering steroid story yet was published in the New York Post last week by Phil Mushnick (that dude has been crusading against wrestling for damn near 30 years now). He strongly criticizes WWF, Hulk Hogan, and Vince McMahon and covers in detail the statements Billy Graham and Dave Schultz made. The biggest story however is that Graham reveals that the FBI is investigating Vince McMahon. Graham claims the FBI asked him to let them tap his phone and then have him call Vince to gather information. He also said the FBI believes McMahon may be connected to the Mafia and says, "If anything happens to me or any member of my family, I want the FBI to start their investigation with Vince McMahon and the WWF." David Schultz says he received several threatening phone calls after the Inside Edition story aired and that if anyone from the WWF wants him, they know where to find him and then talks about how he always carries a gun. Dave of course, can't confirm that the FBI is investigating Vince and also says he doesn't believe Vince is connected with the Mafia.
- Hulk Hogan is turning into the scapegoat of this whole thing and Dave thinks it's too early to tell what the fallout will ultimately be. More importantly, what does it mean for the future? Despite now testing for steroids, it's obvious that most of the roster is still getting around it. The company reportedly just did its 2nd round of steroid tests, and according to their rules, people who fail this test are now eligible to be suspended. But Dave hasn't heard about anyone being suspended yet. Many wrestlers feel like WWF won't actually suspend them and Dave tends to agree because he doesn't think the company could survive if they actually had to suspend everyone who was juicing because it would be almost the entire roster. Business-wise, Vince is kind of in a bad spot and if the media pressure gets worse, he'll have to do something drastic.
- Over in Japan, the JWP promotion announced it was folding, though a couple of the wrestlers are looking into financing a new promotion using the JWP women's wrestlers (and so they did and it's still alive today).
- At the upcoming WCW Clash of the Champions, there will be a surprise debut by somebody. We'll get there next week (or tomorrow, in 2016 time).
- Antonio Inoki is negotiating with James "Buster" Douglas for a wrestler vs. boxer match for the Tokyo Dome possibly as early as March (didn't end up happening).
- Former World Class ring announcer Ralph Pulley passed away this week and one of his pall bearers was Paul Bearer (Percy Pringle).
- GWF is attempting to build a wrestling museum at the Dallas Sportatorium.
- Don Owen's Portland Wrestling is still running shows, but without television to promote them, attendance is dropping drastically and they won't be able to survive like this for long. Also, Don Owen has listed the Portland Sports Arena for sale.
- 20/20's steroid story is expected to run in late February or March.
- In a local newspaper interview, Bob Backlund said that he wants people to know that he never sold out to the steroid culture in WWF. He said he felt snubbed by the WWF locker room near the end of his run because he refused to change his look or participate in the steroid and drug culture there and that it makes him uneasy that Hogan is portrayed as a role model.
- The Nasty Boys are both expected to be a little longer than expected due to that whole stabbing thing from last week. (I decided to do some research of this on my own, just out of curiosity. Couldn't find any info on 2 of the guys, but the third one....whew boy. Chad Rains was one of the three attackers. 10 years after the Nasty Boys incident, in 2002, Rains was shot and killed by police while he was trying to murder a 15-month old baby by slashing her throat. So yeah, fuck that guy.)
- Bret Hart came out at the latest TV tapings without the Intercontinental title, so expect him to lose that at Royal Rumble (not quite) since these tapings will air after Rumble. Tatanka and Papa Shango are also debuting on TV at the next tapings and Konnan worked a dark match as The Latin Fury.
- In WWF, expect Sid Justice to turn heel sometime soon.
- In WCW, Barry Windham will be turning heel after Lex Luger leaves.
- Jushin Liger is expected to make frequent appearances in WCW this year and will be facing Brian Pillman at SuperBrawl (which if you haven't seen that match before, it's a classic. But we'll get there...)
- Jason Hervey appeared on Lifestyles of the Rich & Famous. Missy Hyatt was shown with him and was introduced as "a sports commentator out of Atlanta" with no mention of wrestling.