January 25, 1993
- Ric Flair still hasn't signed a contract with WCW but it's a formality at this point. WWF made some great booking decisions in the way they are handling Flair leaving. On the latest episode of the new Monday Night Raw show (taped on Jan. 18th, but not airing until the 25th), Flair lost a Loser Leaves Town match to Mr. Perfect in an excellent match that even saw Perfect do a bladejob. This immediately establishes Raw as the major TV show where big angles happen which will make it a must-watch for WWF fans. Furthermore, to the casual fan, it won't look like WCW stole Flair away. Instead, it looks like Flair lost his job and had no choice to go back to the second-rate company he came from. Flair was a professional and delivered a great match and put over Perfect clean as a sheet on his way out.
- WATCH: Ric Flair vs. Mr. Perfect - Loser Leaves WWF Match
- Paul E. Dangerously (Paul Heyman) was officially fired by WCW this week in a letter faxed to him by Bill Watts. The letter claims WCW investigated Heyman's expense reports and found that he had falsified some information in them, claiming he had stayed at a Ramada Hotel in Atlanta 39 times during a 4 month period, while WCW claims he lied in order to be reimbursed for money he never spent. Dave has conducted his own investigation and while he can't confirm how many times Heyman was there, he knows that Heyman did indeed stay at that hotel on a regular basis, but given that sometimes wrestlers use fake names when checking in and sometimes the guys pay cash and don't always have receipts, it's hard to verify exactly how often and when Heyman stayed there.
- Heyman's contract was said to be in excess of $200,000 per year, which is far more than Bill Watts would ever pay a manager and it's no secret that Paul Heyman's role in the company had been greatly reduced since Watts took over and it's been sort of an open secret that Watts was trying to find a way to justify getting rid of him. Heyman has released his own statement regarding the issue:
- "They made that allegation (of falsified expense reports). It is 100 percent untrue. It is false, and it is a lie. The only discrepancy at all on my expense reports is the fact that for several years, several members of the organization have stayed at a particular motel in Atlanta, never got receipts, and that was the maximum amount the company would pay us to stay at the motel anyway. They asked for further documentation, and I got from the hotel itself a letter acknowledging I had been there on the dates in question, and all of a sudden even that is not good enough for WCW. This has been a witch hunt for five months because I refused to renegotiate a contract I signed with that company because I refused to take less pay when I had already committed myself for two years under an agreement. I had no problem renegotiating this deal on April 1, 1994, when this contract expires. It would have been stupid to renegotiate a contract that had already been signed by both parties in good faith. In my contract, there is a buyout clause in which they have to buy me out at a certain price even if there is just cause, which there isn't. They have to pay me six months severance (in excess of $100,000) up front. In an attempt to get me to lie down like a dog so that I don't chase after even that, this company is holding the threat of criminal prosecution to make me go away. I am going to seek all legal recourse, not only to enforce the stipulations and provisions of my contract, but for damages to my professional standing and reputation for this blatant attempt to blackmail me and ruin my career because I wouldn't buckle under Bill Watts' pressure. We're going to litigate."
- Spoiler: Heyman litigated the fuck out of WCW and walked away with a pretty penny.
- Speaking of legal wrangling, Rick Rude has gotten his lawyers involved because WCW is refusing to pay him while he's injured. Bill Watts told Rude to file workman's comp, which would only pay him a fraction of his normal salary while he's at home hurt. Rude feels he's entitled to his regular salary. So the lawyers are hashing that out. Meanwhile, Rude is still refusing to return the U.S. title belt to WCW until the situation is settled.
- Word is ESPN will be replacing GWF on their network next month with a sports trivia game show.
- The recent Clash of the Champions was the 2nd lowest rated Clash of all time.
- AAA will be holding a 1-year anniversary show in Mexico City at a 45,000 seat arena, which will be their biggest show to date. Recent shows in smaller arenas (8,000-10,000 seats) have been sell outs with fans being turned away at the doors.
- EMLL and UWA are continuing to work together, hoping the cross-promotional shows will help with their weak attendance. So far, it's not really working.
- Davey Boy Smith was expected to debut with All Japan this week, but the deal fell through. Smith wanted more money and AJPW felt that he's not as good a wrestler as he used to be and wasn't worth the extra money, so he's gone and might end up working for rival promotion UWFI.
- Members of the band Guns N' Roses attended an All Japan show at Korakuen Hall and were cheering Steve Williams and Terry Gordy, since they're the ones who got the band free tickets.
- Japanese wrestler Yoshiaki Fujiwara flew to America to attend Bill Clinton's inauguration ceremony.
- Remember a few weeks back in USWA when they were doing an angle claiming that Miss Texas (Jacqueline) used to be a man named Bubba? Well the heel who is doing it (Bert Prentice) brought Dusty Rhodes' former manager Sapphire out and asked her if she used to be married to a man named Bubba. Sapphire said that yes, she had. Then Miss Texas came out and Sapphire freaked out saying, "I wasn't married to no woman, I'm not gay!" and they both started beating up Prentice.
- WATCH: Sapphire appears in USWA (full episode, Sapphire segment at the beginning)
- Also in USWA, there's a guy wrestling there under the name Master of Terror. His real name is Ken Raper. There's nothing newsworthy about him, that's just a really unfortunate name.
- In Smoky Mountain Wrestling, Paul Orndorff did a promo claiming he's the reason Hulk Hogan retired and then insulting the town, saying all the women in that city walk on 4 legs. Later on, Bob Armstrong said Tom Prichard has been using a loaded boot. Armstrong said, "I'm keeping my eyes on his feet at all times," to which, shit you not, Jim Cornette responded, "Who does he think he is, Mel Phillips?"
- New promotion Rocky Mountain Wrestling in Calgary has been drawing about 90-100 fans per show. Lance Storm and Chris Jericho are the top stars working there.
- Cactus Jack has been over huge as a babyface at recent WCW house shows. Also, Steamboat/Shane Douglas vs. Pillman/Austin matches have been getting rave reviews and overall, house show business the last week or so has been stronger than usual for the company.
- Diamond Dallas Page is out of action with a torn rotator cuff. There's been rumors of Page going to work in Smoky Mountain Wrestling soon but no confirmation (never happened and the injury kept DDP out of wrestling for pretty much all of 93).
- Jim Ross is reporting on his 900 hotline that Davey Boy Smith should be signed with WCW within the week. He's expected to debut next month, but WWF is trying to throw a wrench in that by claiming they own the names "British Bulldog" and "Davey Boy Smith" (the latter of which was literally his birth name, even the Boy part, so....wtf?)
- Bill Watts sent a 5-page letter to all WCW talent last week, scolding them for missing flights and shows, arriving late, etc. He also went his usual rant against guaranteed contracts being the cause of all the problems in the business. Dave saw the letter and pretty much dismisses it as more cranky ol' Bill Watts.
- Razor Ramon blew out his knee last week and missed most of the shows. He's still scheduled to face Bret Hart for the WWF title at Royal Rumble and is planning to work the match, even though he really shouldn't. But with a PPV main event at stake, Dave says even if Ramon's leg was amputated, Vince would probably just slap a prosthesis on him and send him out there anyway.
- Undertaker missed recent house shows because his father had a stroke, so he went home for that (am I the only one who's never really thought about Undertaker having actual real parents?)
- WWF lost their TV deals in Omaha and Salt Lake City, so don't expect anymore live shows in those cities.
- In an interview while promoting Mr. Nanny, Hulk Hogan was asked if he wanted to return to wrestling. He responded, "I don't just want to go wrestle. I want to win the belt back. I want to be the champion. They've got a guy named Bret "The Hitman" Hart who's champion now. I could beat him with my eyes closed. He couldn't even lace my boots up."
- All tickets are $12 for the Monday Night Raw tapings, although it isn't that hard to get freebies for the show (can you imagine that now?)