March 01, 1993
- We start with a huge obituary for Kerry Von Erich, who committed suicide on Feb. 18th. At one time being rivaled only by Hulk Hogan as the most popular wrestler in the country, Von Erich had fallen quite a ways over the years. At the time of his death, he was unemployed, broke to the point of auctioning off his own prized wrestling possessions for money, addicted to drugs, and his marriage was crumbling. The day before his death, Von Erich was indicted on cocaine possession charges, which almost certainly would have led to his probation being revoked and him being sent to prison for several years.
- However, many of Von Erich's friends feel this wasn't a spontaneous decision and say that Kerry had been talking about suicide for awhile. In the days before his death, Von Erich contacted many of his friends for no reason, just to hug them or tell them he loved them. A month ago, Von Erich reportedly talked to his probation officer about suicide, saying he missed his brothers and just didn't feel like going on, and refused to seek counseling when the probation officer recommended it. He had reportedly told other friends that he would kill himself before going to prison and his father and wife both said he frequently talked about it, to the point that his wife hid all the guns in their house from him.
- On the afternoon of his death, Kerry went to his father Fritz's ranch and borrowed his father's Jeep, saying he needed to find a quiet spot to do some thinking. He also took a .44 Magnum handgun. Later, when Kerry didn't return, Fritz became worried, because he knew Kerry was supposed to pick his daughters up from school soon. Fritz went to search the property and found the Jeep empty, with Kerry dead on the ground nearby at the edge of the woods, having shot himself in the heart.
- From here, Dave recaps all the tragedies of the Von Erich family and leads into Kerry's life, from his successes (the biggest being winning the NWA title from Ric Flair) to his addictions and arrests, the accident that cost him his foot, the crumbling empire of WCCW and Kerry joining WWF before getting fired last year and states that Kerry's death pretty much closes the chapter on the Von Erich dynasty. The whole obituary is over 16 pages long and is a great read for those who have a subscription and want to go check it out in the archives.
- SuperBrawl is in the books and Dave says it was the best PPV since WrestleWar 91 and briefly recaps the whole thing. Most of the matches were great, Ric Flair's return got a huge ovation, and Vader had to be hospitalized after the show because he apparently bladed near his ear and cut an artery and was in serious pain. Dave also mentions that Vader "was the subject of a major death threat" that night and then doesn't mention it again. WTF Dave? I've already finished writing all of the 1993 issues and he never mentions it again. Anyway, even though it was a great show, the bad news is no one saw it because early estimates have it looking to be the lowest buyrate ever for a major promotion (WWF or WCW) PPV.
- WCW has announced a new PPV taking place in May called Slamboree that will focus on old-timers and induct several of them into a new WCW Hall of Fame. Bruno Sammartino, Terry Funk and Billy Graham have all turned down the invitation.
- Ultimate Warrior filed a $5 million lawsuit against the WWF this week. One of the more interesting pieces of evidence is a letter from McMahon sent to Warrior that promises Warrior that he would always be the highest paid wrestler in the company.
- WWF has announced a new, still-unnamed PPV for June (it ended up being King of the Ring). They also had another Saturday Night's Main Event special planned for next week, but Fox canceled it (no more SNME's took place until 2006).
- Hulk Hogan will apparently begin filming a television series immediately after Wrestlemania (Thunder In Paradise).
- Larry Zbyszko has quit the WCW booking committee.
- Sid Vicious had a meeting with Ole Anderson this week to try to close a deal for him to return to WCW.
- Entertainment Tonight is doing a story on the death of Kerry Von Erich that will air next week.
- With Bill Watts gone, some things have changed in WCW. For starters, the planned steroid test never took place because it was scheduled right around the time Watts left and it just never happened during all the focus on the transition. Also, the mats have returned around ringside. Erik Watts has been getting jobbed out pretty regularly since his father left. And finally, Jesse Ventura is allowed to be funny again on commentary. Watts had previously instructed Ventura to just focus on calling the matches and not provide "color" to his commentary.