March 30, 1992
- Mainstream media coverage of the WWF scandals has died down a little bit since last week. Geraldo Rivera's show and the Montel Williams show are both doing stories on the scandal soon, but those are small time compared to the previous news stories. The 20/20 piece is still scheduled to air soon as well. WWF is holding a "steroid symposium" this week for the media, with Dr. Mauro DiPasquale speaking, who is widely considered one of the leading experts in the world on anabolic steroids in sports. And hey, it's not like WWF would find a steroid expert and pay him to say a bunch of great things about WWF's steroid testing or anything, would they??? Nooooo......
- With less than a week to go before Wrestlemania 8, WWF's syndicated shows spent almost all their time doing PR damage control about the company, rather than hyping Wrestlemania. Meanwhile, ticket sales are somewhere between 27,000 and 32,000, with another 6,000 freebies given away. All told, Wrestlemania attendance will likely end up at around 45000-55000 after you factor in more freebie tickets (the final WWF-given attendance was around 62,000 but if you've been paying attention for the last 30 years, you know they always lie about those numbers.)
- WCW referee Nick Patrick is hospitalized with after a bad car accident. He suffered a broken leg, had to have pins put in his wrist, cracked ribs and numerous other injuries and he was pinned in the car for several hours before they got him out.
- Japanese organization Pro Wrestling Fujiwara (PWF) made their American debut in Miami that was surprisingly successful, drawing nearly 3,000 people.
- Regarding Tom Cole, the ring boy who settled out of court with WWF last week, he actually received $50K, not $70K as originally reported, and went back to work as a ring boy at WWF this week. Also, there's no truth to the rumors that Pat Patterson and Terry Garvin are now employed by the WBF.
- A spokesperson for the Larry King Live show stated that they had received a lot of calls asking when they would do a follow up show on pro wrestling. The spokesperson said that they are aware that Vince McMahon lied on the show, but they have to move on to other topics and will likely not be doing a follow-up.
- Jim Crockett wasn't technically fired from WCW, but has been sent home for being a "disruptive influence." He's still technically on the payroll but is not working.
- The Undertaker made his debut in Japan for SWS.
- WWF had a big weekend of house shows, including a record-setting gate of $90,000 in Memphis (topping the Memphis record of Flair vs. Lawler from 6 years ago). I only mention this because I went to this show and remember it vividly.
- Big Van Vader is expected to be getting a mega push soon (and indeed, he would be world champion within a few months).
- There's talk of doing a Missy Hyatt vs. Madusa feud, but it wouldn't be a wrestling match because Missy would probably die in the ring with Madusa (they ended up doing bikini contests).
- Tom Zenk's steroid possession case was settled last week, and he received probation and a fine. Speaking of steroids, WCW's steroid policy sounded good, but isn't working out so well, as there have been no noticeable changes in anyone's physiques.
- That's it. After everything hit the fan in the last issue, I know this one is kind of a let down.