April 19, 1993
- The New York Daily News published an in-depth 2-part article called "The Von Erichs: An American Tragedy." Among the more interesting notes in the story, it stated that Kerry had told friends he'd kill himself before he spent a day in jail and that he had also had lunch with his ex-wife hours before committing suicide and told her he would kill himself if she didn't get back together with him, although he had apparently said that to her on many occasions before. Overall, Dave thinks it was a good piece, but it also confused a lot of the kayfabe Von Erich mythology with fact and Dave says you pretty much can't trust anything Fritz or Kevin Von Erich say. The story repeated a lot of the usual false claims (David's death being from an intestinal problem, when everyone knows it was a drug overdose, for example. Or that Kerry was going to compete in the 1980 Olympics as a discus thrower, which was never even close to true, despite what the family promoted back in the 80s). There were also statements from Fritz saying he never wanted his children to follow him in the wrestling business, which is laughable considering he was actively pushing them all into it before they were even grown.
- Dave says that if NJPW can actually sell out the Fukuoka Dome show, it would be a huge deal because the venue holds anywhere between 70,000-80,000 people and a sellout would make it the largest wrestling crowd ever in Japan. And with ticket costs, a legit sellout would also make it the largest live gate in wrestling history. However, the city is 600 miles from Tokyo, which is NJPW's stronghold and it will be difficult (but not impossible) for them to draw that kind of a crowd outside of Tokyo.
- Wrestlemania did about a 2.1 buyrate which makes it the lowest of any previous WM, but that was expected so it didn't catch anyone off-guard. The good news is, the drop from last year to this year wasn't as bad as expected. And also, because of higher priced tickets and less freebies, it's possible that WWF made more ticket money off of WM9 than they did WM8, which had over 60,000 people.
- Eddie Gilbert is reportedly planning to move to Philadelphia to work with and book for ECW full-time.
- Don Muraco defeated Sandman to become ECW champion last week.
- Tully Blanchard has reached an agreement with WCW to come in at the upcoming Slamboree PPV and start working house shows again in June. It's believed he will reform his tag team with Arn Anderson as babyfaces. Blanchard has been working as a preacher since retiring in 1990 and had previously said he wouldn't return to wrestling and was critical of the business in interviews.
- Cactus Jack and Vader had a match that many are saying was the most brutal match in the U.S. in years. After the match, Jack was legitimately hospitalized, needing 24 stitches, suffered a broken nose, a dislocated jaw, and a concussion. Dave says don't be surprised if the match ends up being edited for TV. (Fun fact: on the Mick Foley's Greatest Hits & Misses DVD, Mick explains that WCW spent hours editing this match for TV to keep from showing any blood or anything. The full, unedited version was seen for the first time on that DVD. Here it is below):
- WATCH: Cactus Jack vs. Vader - full, unedited match from WCW Saturday Night
- An Atlanta newspaper published a story about the Turner organization potentially being bought out by or merging with Time Warner. Dave isn't sure how this would affect the wrestling operation if it was to happen (not for a few more years but yeah, you could say it affected the wrestling operation...)
- Rick Rude appeared on the Howard Stern show with Fred The Elephant Boy last week to promote a WCW show this week. Cactus Jack was originally booked but for some reason, it switched to Rude. Stern mostly ignored Rude and spent the entire time picking on Fred instead.
- LISTEN: Rick Rude on Howard Stern, Pt. 1 (parts 2 and 3 should play automatically after)
- On WCW TV this week, Jesse Ventura made the comment that, "There's nothing uglier than a fat man in a toga," which is an obvious shot at Jim Ross's WWF debut at Wrestlemania.
- Hot take from Dave: "Ever notice Maxx Payne looks like a giant-sized Terry Simms on a major acid attack?"
- In Branford, CT, irate wrestling fans stormed the office of the cable company because a computer malfunction prevented Wrestlemania from being shown in that city. Police had to be called because workers at the cable company felt threatened as the fans started pounding the windows and doors. The company ended up crediting back $21,000 to customers who ordered the show but couldn't watch it.
- The letters section is just page after page of people writing in to say how awful WM9 was and a lot of people especially upset about Hogan winning the title and Bret seemingly being cast aside. One person says the only thing that makes sense now is for Hogan/Hart to headline Summerslam and for Hogan to put over Bret but he knows that will never happen. Dave responds to the letter and once again defends the whole thing and says putting the belt back on Hogan is the right decision for business because Bret wasn't drawing.