August 30, 1993
- The wrestling industry started showing signs of recovery during the last couple of weeks, after 15 months of constant decline. WCW's Clash of the Champions did a 3.8 rating, which is the largest rating for any pro wrestling show in America this year and the highest rated Clash since 1991. WCW Saturday Night did its best rating since March of this year. Meanwhile, WWF drew its largest house show crowd of the year in Anaheim. SMW drew its largest crowd and gate ever this week. USWA drew its biggest gate since 1988 this week. And finally, the upcoming AAA show in Los Angeles is on par to be one of the five largest gates in the US this year, with upwards of $75,000 in tickets already sold.
- Terry Gordy, on a trip to Japan, passed out before his arrival at the Japanese airport and was hospitalized. As of press time, Dave doesn't have much information other than the situation is apparently serious and Gordy is still hospitalized. (Turns out Gordy overdosed on pain meds, went into a coma, nearly died, and suffered permanent brain damage. He eventually returned to the ring but was never the same again).
- Gene Okerlund seems to be severing ties with the WWF after 10 years. He will finish up at Summerslam and then start with WCW in September. He will be doing interview segments on TV and hosting WCW's 900 hotline. Apparently, Bobby Heenan was involved in the negotiations as well, with the 2 of them planning to jump to WCW as a package deal, but Heenan backed out before the negotiations got serious. Okerlund was reportedly unhappy with the new deal WWF offered, which included him having to move to Connecticut. His WCW deal is reportedly $250,000 per year, plus 35% of the 900 hotline revenue (in case you ever wondered why Gene plugged it so hard all the time, there ya go).
- "Vince McMahon got to live out his fantasy of being a heel" in Memphis this week, Dave says. McMahon was in the corner of USWA heel-referee Paul Neighbors who was facing Jerry Lawler. McMahon came out with Pat Patterson and cut an anti-southerner promo and trash talked Memphis. McMahon then kept interfering in the match and used Patterson for protection. Patterson and Lawler ended up getting into it, with he and Vince teaming up on Lawler. Vince was said to be great, but Dave says it's no surprise because everyone has known all along that Vince is an all-time great worker. Many think that this may lead to Vince working his first match ever, against Lawler in the coming weeks. On the same show, Lex Luger pinned Yokozuna in a practice run for Summerslam. Match was said to be awful.
- Konnan has yet to return to the ring in Mexico because the boxing and wrestling commission there actually enforces pre-match stipulations to make sure they're followed up on. Since Konnan lost a loser-must-retire match at Triplemania, they won't let him wrestle unless common sense prevails or, more likely, someone pays them off. Dave says can you imagine if promoters in the U.S. were legally required to actually stick to their kayfabed stipulations?
- Eddie Guerrero and Love Machine (Art Barr) debuted as a heel tag team this week in AAA, wearing matching "USA" gear to get heat.
- John Tenta (Earthquake) will be making his debut in EMLL within the next few weeks.
- Dave gives 5-stars (first one I've seen in awhile, but I may have missed some) to JWP vs. All Japan Women's "Iron Team" match that went 60 minutes and featured 8 women. I can't find video :(
- Ultimate Warrior is booked to work a tour in South Africa in November. He's booked for 12 dates at a reported $174,500. If this doesn't fall through (Warrior's indie deals are kinda notorious for it), he'll end up earning over $300,000 in wrestling this year working the indies, which would make him one of the highest paid guys in the business despite rarely working. "Not bad hours if you can get them," Dave says.
- Hulk Hogan's movie Mr. Nanny has been pushed back again, this time until some time in October.
- Brian Pillman's ankle injury should keep him out of action for a little over a month.
- The upcoming WCW show at the Alamo Dome has been cancelled after only 400 tickets were sold 5 days before the show. The stadium holds 65,000. WCW was unhappy because the show was paid for in advance and WCW was going to make $50,000 for the event no matter what the attendance, but the local promoter cancelled the whole thing.
- Steve Keirn reportedly has a deal with WCW to come in as Skinner, although that hasn't been confirmed (nah).
- Mark Madden is still poking at WCW and Ole Anderson, demanding his $10,000 for accepting Ole's challenge to fight him, only for Ole to end up backing down. WCW's lawyer sent Madden a letter saying that Ole's challenge wasn't given to a specific group and thus wasn't valid. Madden responded by saying that Ole challenged all "rag writers" which is a pretty specific term for guys like Madden (or Dave, for that mater). Madden has continued goading Anderson in his Pro Wrestling Torch and newspaper writings. This is so ridiculous and hilarious.
- Dave says if you go back and watch the Shockmaster's "amazing entrance" at the Clash, turn up the volume and you'll hear all the other guys (Flair, Sting, Davey Boy, etc.) make comments like "Oh god" and "he fell on his arse!" (I think somebody dropped an F-bomb also).
- In 1994, all WCW television will be taped well in advance at Disney studios in Orlando, with massive tapings booked for every other month.
- In entertainment news, Burt Reynolds and Loni Anderson are getting divorced after it was revealed that Reynolds had an affair with a cocktail waitress named Pam Seals. Well, The Star tabloid has reported that Seals used to date Barry Windham and despite The Star not being known for accuracy, it turns out that part is actually true. So Burt Reynolds and Barry Windham are Eskimo brothers.
- Former WCW executive VP Jim Herd was interviewed by the Justice Dept. in relation to the federal investigation against WWF and Vince McMahon. Herd was questioned mostly about Tully Blanchard's departure from WWF in 1989 and Herd declining to re-hire Tully. If you recall, Herd offered Anderson and Blanchard (known as the Brainbusters in WWF) big money deals to return to WCW. Both men gave notice to WWF and were planning to leave and Blanchard was reportedly trying to talk other WWF wrestlers into jumping ship with them. At this point, WWF drug tested Blanchard, found he had cocaine in his system and suspended him until his deal expired. WCW then chose not to re-hire Blanchard, feeling it would be back PR to hire someone that WWF had gotten rid of for drugs. Dave says the investigation has been going for a year and a half now and he expects the hammer to drop around October (indeed it did. Dave knows his shit).
- Undertaker missed all shows this week due to an injury from paying softball (either leg or ribs, Dave has heard both). Let Undertaker playing softball sink into your head.
- Everybody in the letters section writes in to collectively laugh at Shockmaster.