April 26, 1993
- WCW tried to run a show at Madison Square Garden (-ish. It was actually at the smaller 4,500 seat Paramount Theater, which Dave says is part of the MSG complex) this week. It was, by all accounts, a total disaster. For starters, Ric Flair's plane had engine trouble and he missed the show, which led to chants for Flair and refunds throughout the show. The show opened with Ron Simmons vs. Chris Benoit in a match that was actually going really good for the first 2 minutes and then was abruptly stopped and Dave doesn't know why. Someone in the back apparently gave the order to stop the match. Hopefully we get more info on that next week (we don't). After that all that, the crowd was pissed and mostly panned the rest of the show, booing everyone.
- According to several sources, Kevin Von Erich held up GWF promoter Grey Pierson for $1000 cash prior to the Kerry Von Erich memorial show. Pierson had agreed to reimburse transportation costs for any wrestlers who agreed to work the show, plus reimburse them for any bookings they might miss because of it. No other wrestlers took him up on the offer, all willing to come work the show out of their own pocket because it benefited Kerry's daughters. Everyone that is....except for Kerry's own brother Kevin, who told Pierson that he had a prior booking that night in Birmingham and needed to be reimbursed $1000 if he was going to miss the show to work the memorial show instead. According to what Dave can tell, Kevin was not actually booked anywhere that night and no promotions that Dave knows of had any shows scheduled for Birmingham that weekend, much less any with Kevin on the card. Wrestlers holding up promoters before a show for more money is a story as old as time, Dave says, but holding a promoter up for money before working your own brother's memorial show (that everyone else worked for free) sets a new low. Pierson gave in and paid Kevin the money, worrying that if Kevin didn't show up, neither would Fritz and the whole show would fall apart. Dave does note that Kevin is reportedly in Nigeria right now for some reason so nobody has heard his side of the story yet.
- The 4/12 episode of Raw was the highest rated televised wrestling show in almost 2 years and featured the much talked about Sensational Sherri/Luna Vachon angle where they ripped each other's clothes off.
- An indie show in Minneapolis this week got rave reviews, specifically for a match between Lightning Kid and Sabu that featured both men doing their usual crazy dives that most of the crowd hadn't seen before. Sabu especially blew people's minds because most Americans aren't familiar with his work.
- Plans for now seem to be building towards Hogan vs. Bret Hart at Summerslam, with Hogan presumably winning his rematch against Yokozuna at King of the Ring and Bret Hart likely winning the tournament. Hart cut a promo on Raw saying that he has 3 names on his hit list: Lex Luger, Yokozuna, and Hogan. If it happens, Dave says Hart winning is the only thing that makes sense. Hogan winning would destroy Bret, however Dave has been hearing talk that Hogan doesn't want to do a job for Bret (what!? Perish the thought!) and is reportedly politicking to get Brutus Beefcake elevated up to main event status.
- Randy Savage is back working shows for USWA. Sensational Sherri also came in and at one point, Sherri and Savage (both working as heels as opposed to the babyfaces they both are now on WWF TV) teamed up to attack Lawler.
- At the latest Smoky Mountain TV taping, a woman named Tammy Sytch debuted (using the kayfabe last name Fytch), claiming she had filed a lawsuit against the group for not having any female employees. Sytch talked about being a college student from Hillary Clinton's alma mater and said Hillary is her personal hero in order to get heat (timely!). Bonus fact: going to Google Videos and searching "Tammy Sytch debut" pulls up a, umm, different debut.
- Sid Vicious should be starting with WCW around June.
- Tully Blanchard hasn't agreed to terms with WCW after all. Tully wants an old-school style yearly contract deal, but WCW only wants to give him a $500-per-night deal.
- The Cactus/Vader match aired on WCW Saturday Night and was edited for TV so none of the blood was shown. Dave says it was beyond brutal and was the most realistic angle WCW has had in years. Despite all the legitimate injuries he suffered in the match (concussion, 24 stitches, dislocated jaw, broken nose), Cactus didn't miss a single booking after.
- In a really....interesting? Prescient? Confusing?....news bit, Dave simply says: "Remember this word--Scriptwriters." and then moves on to the next story. He tried to warn us!
- Dave then writes: "News Flash: This angle just in for Slamboree: As Tully Blanchard makes his return, he's attacked out of nowhere by Tiger Jeet Singh who chops his head off with his sword. Because of his belief in religion, Blanchard will survive the blow and start wrestling in June as The Headless Horseman." Somebody's feeling cheeky this week.
- Both Brutus Beefcake and Jimmy Hart have small roles in Hulk Hogan's upcoming Thunder In Paradise pilot.
- WWF has contacted several indie promoters and told them not to use the name Nailz when booking Kevin Wacholz, which is funny since WWF has never seemed to care about indie companies using the WWF-names of any other ex-employees.
- Sean Mooney will be leaving in a week or two when his contract expires.
- Dave gripes about Scott Steiner flexing his muscles in the new ICOPRO commercials, saying ICOPRO has as much to do with Scott's muscles as ice cream, mayo and beer have to do with Rick Rude's abs.