October 05, 1992
- Rick Steiner underwent surgery this week for a badly torn pectoralis major muscle. His pec was ripped from the sternum during an IWGP tag title match in Japan. Rick's contract with WCW expires in about 90 days, which is just about how long he's expected to be out for, which means there's a pretty good chance that Rick has wrestled his last match for WCW. Rick is lucky that they never accepted Watts' new contract offer, or else he wouldn't be getting paid while he's hurt and he would have had to pay for the surgery and rehab himself.
- Yet again, TV ratings for both companies hit all-time lows and the live attendance for wrestling in North America was at its lowest point in decades this week. Not a single show drew more than 3,000 people. American wrestling is in the midst of a Great Depression.
- Two major names in wrestling passed away this week. Roy Shire, a bigtime promoter in the 60s and 70s in the San Francisco area and Roy Heffernan, half of the famous Fabulous Kangaroos tag team of the 50s and 60s.
- At a New Japan show last week, Steve Austin faced Masa Chono. They did a spot where Austin reversed a tombstone piledriver but Chono's head was too low and it messed his neck up. Chono was injured and couldn't do much the rest of the match (turned out Chono was pretty badly injured). This is, of course, pretty famous and ironic, because it's the exact same move that Owen Hart used that broke Austin's neck a few years later.
- There's talk of doing Antonio Inoki vs. George Foreman in a wrestler vs. boxer match at the Jan. 4th Tokyo Dome show but Dave says there's no chance it'll happen. Inoki was also part of a Japanese peacekeeping group that went to Cambodia last week (remember, he's a member of the House of Councilors in Japan, which I believe is like being a Senator in America. Can you imagine if one of our senators was also a part-time WWE wrestler that still participated in matches and angles while he was governing?)
- The latest on Hogan/NJPW is that everything is agreed to other than the merchandising percentage cut that both sides get but once that's hammered out, Hogan should be heading to Japan. Also, about 8 weeks ago, Hogan reportedly suffered a serious neck injury somehow (not from wrestling) and he's lost a lot of muscle and tone because he can't work out.
- Gypsy Joe lost a loser-must-retire match last week in Japan's W*ING promotion, but just continued wrestling on every show of the tour anyway. Because wrestling.
- GWF lost their local Dallas television this week. Normally, that would be a disaster, but with Global shows only drawing 100 or less fans every week anyway, it probably won't make much difference.
- Kerry Von Erich's prescription forging sentencing has been delayed twice and he still hasn't been sentenced.
- Kendall Windham is now running a video-dating service.
- Paul Diamond, wearing the robot costume that was originally designed for Konnan, wrestled as "Maximillion Moon" at the latest WWF tapings. Maybe this name will finally stick.
- Samu & Fatu debuted as a team called The Headshrinkers
- The Undertaker is out of action with a broken collarbone.
- Lou Albano is in talks to come in as a babyface manager for The Nasty Boys, who are expected to turn face soon.
- The Hoosier Herpetological Society put together a letter writing campaign to keep Jake Roberts from using snakes as part of his act, saying that his act involved cruelty to animals. Hilariously, WWF responded to the campaign by assuring the group that Jake would no longer use snakes in his matches.
- Missy Hyatt had a brief soundbite on A Current Affair last week in a segment about Madonna, who Missy says is her idol.
- Cactus Jack was pretty much ordered to get back in the ring before he was ready because WCW is low on heels. So Jack is working with a badly torn groin muscle and shouldn't be wrestling at all, but such is life under Bill Watts.
- Speaking of Watts, 6 wrestlers (including Sting, Rick Rude, and Ron Simmons) were fined $1000 for "work not up to par." Now Watts is apparently fining guys for having bad matches. And the newest contracts WCW wrestlers are being asked to sign are even more ridiculous, Dave has learned. Upon signing, WCW owns the rights to the wrestler's ring name forever. WCW can require wrestlers to relocate because they want everyone to live in or around Atlanta. And the $1000-per-night deal isn't actually $1000. Only $750 is guaranteed. The other $250 is earned as a performance bonus. Basically, if Watts feels you did a good enough job, then you get the full $1000. Otherwise, only $750. And finally, it's specifically spelled out that in case of injury, even if it's a life-threatening injury suffered on the job, the wrestler signs away any legal rights forcing WCW to pay for medical bills or lost wages. Pretty much, you'd have to be insane or desperate to sign one of these deals, Dave says.