September 20, 1993
- This issue is actually supposed to be Sept. 20th, however, for whatever reason, the header on it says Sept. 29th and to this day, it's still posted on f4wonline as a Sept. 29th issue. But going by the stories that are in this issue and the weekly pattern in which these come out, I'm certain this issue was supposed to be released on the 20th and Dave put it out 9 days late or something. The Sept. 27th issue has more up-to-date news than this "Sept. 29th" issue does. So we're just going to label this one as Sept. 20 and ignore the header and assume Dave fucked up.
- A few newspaper stories have come out this week that allege that investigators with the US Justice Dept. may have shared secret information regarding the WWF investigation with an NBC News reporter. The key item of the story is apparently a videotape of former WWF announcer Mel Phillips horse-playing around with some ringboys that is part of the ongoing investigation and isn't supposed to be available to anyone outside of the grand jury. I think. This shit is all confusing. NBC is working on a story about the WWF scandals for its show called NOW, hosted by Tom Brokaw and Katie Curic. As of now, whatever story NBC is working on is still expected to air, though no word if it will include the footage. And the Justice Department's investigation is still ongoing and WWF officials are apparently very concerned over what might ultimately come out of this investigation (they were right to be concerned).
- The NWA is still trying to get WCW to stop using the big gold belt and to stop referring to it as the NWA championship. They also want Rick Rude (now the champion) to drop the belt to a wrestler of their choosing at an NWA show, but that isn't going to happen.
- Speaking of the NWA, Smoky Mountain Wrestling's application to join the organization was tabled because Cornette is currently managing Yokozuna in the WWF. They feel that NWA promoters should only recognize the NWA champion as the world champion, and Cornette working with the WWF and being the manager of the current WWF champion is a conflict of that. If/when he stops working with WWF, it is likely that SMW's application would then be accepted, but not until then.
- ECW owner Tod Gordon and booker Eddie Gilbert have reportedly cut ties. Word is the split is amicable, and Gilbert is expected to return to Tennessee and possibly get involved in state politics. Meanwhile, Tod Gordon is negotiating with WWN (the promotion Paul Heyman is booking for and that Jim Crockett is involved in) about working with them. But for now, Paul Heyman is stepping in to help book ECW after Gilbert's departure.
- Dave and everyone else in the wrestling industry are still stunned at the massive success of AAA's recent shows in California and how they pretty much changed the landscape of the business within one weekend. They've already scheduled another show in November in Los Angeles. There's a good chance that TripleMania II (in April) will take place at either the LA Sports Arena or possibly even outdoors at the Los Angeles Coliseum (the original site of WM7 before it was moved due to low ticket sales). Assuming the group can continue to draw monster crowds in California until then, that is. Meanwhile, the International Wrestling Conference, an American organization that co-promotes AAA shows in the United States, wants more American wrestlers to be involved on the shows, but history has shown that Hispanic audiences won't pay to see Americans in top positions and attendance always drops at Mexican shows when Americans are heavily pushed.
- Meanwhile, EMLL is still fighting for American TV coverage on Galavision, but AAA continues to bully them out of that also.
- Due to the court case with New Japan, WCW will now only refer to Vader as "Vader." The Big Van part of his name is no more because a court ruled that New Japan owns the rights to the full name.
- On to the usual Aug. 93 vs. Aug. 92 business comparisons. For the first time in over a year, WWF saw average attendance increase this month but that's only because they cut the number of shows in half (by dropping the B-shows) and stacked the remaining shows with all the top stars. TV ratings are also doing okay, but PPV buyrates are still in the toilet. So overall, things look better but it's not translating to more money yet. As for WCW, TV ratings are up slightly, but Rome is still burning. Meanwhile, All Japan's TV ratings have been plummeting and there's major concern about it. And finally, New Japan had an incredible month.
- Talks have resumed between AAA, EMLL, and UWA to promote joint shows in Mexico. EMLL and UWA already work together so much that they might as well be the same promotion, so getting AAA to the table is the big roadblock, especially considering all the hard feelings left in the wake of AAA's rapid rise to success.
- Giant Gonzales is reportedly fed up with wrestling and wants to return home to Argentina but they're trying to get him to stay. Speaking of, he's scheduled to appear in an episode of Baywatch this season. The episode is called "Pelican Man" and the episode will also have a song called "Pelican Man" written by Jimmy Hart (this video is amazing and the song playing in the video is the one Hart wrote).
- A new character in USWA debuted named The Spellbinder, doing a magician gimmick. Dave incorrectly says that the guy playing it is Del Wilkes, better known as The Patriot, but he's wrong. It was actually a guy named Harry Del Rios. Anyway, Dave says this guy is likely testing out a gimmick that he will be using in WWF soon. Well, not "soon" but he did debut in WWF almost 2 years later, doing the same gimmick and using the name Phantasio.
- GWF will no longer be handing out 100,000+ free passes per week for their shows around town in Dallas. Also, the promotion told all their wrestlers that they can no longer work shows for any other promotion within a 75-mile radius of Dallas, but no one is taking that seriously.
- Hulk Hogan is going to be in a music video with a group called Green Jelly coming out next month. Hogan also has his own rock band, featuring Hogan, Hillbilly Jim, Fred Ottman (Shockmaster) and Jimmy Hart and he's negotiating for them to perform at Disney World in Orlando. Wat?
- George "The Animal" Steele filmed some scenes in Los Angeles for a movie that's being made about the life of Ed Wood, a famous filmmaker in the 60s and 70s. That movie is great by the way, if you've never seen it.
- Last week, AAA sources told Dave that Hulk Hogan had contacted the company about coming in, but they weren't interested. This week, Hogan's people are claiming that never happened and his schedule is too busy for wrestling these days even if he wanted to.
- Konnan still can't get cleared by the commission in Mexico City to return to wrestling there because they take wrestling stipulations seriously. And since Konnan lost a "loser must retire" match, they won't allow Konnan to wrestle. They also won't allow Jake Roberts to wrestle there because he interfered in the match, causing Konnan to lose. Usually in this situation, somebody would pay off the head of the commission and things would be overturned. But apparently, the man in charge is already a multi-millionaire and doesn't need their money, so they can't buy him off. Latest plan is for AAA to legitimately go to court and try to show footage of the match and show that Konnan lost due to interference and get the stipulation overturned. Dave just thinks this whole thing is bizarre and says can you imagine this happening in America?
- Lots of debate in WCW over the plan to make Dustin Rhodes the next world champion (by eventually unifying the WCW and NWA titles). Dustin is well-liked in the locker room and everyone agrees he is a good worker, but few people really see him as a top star that should be the world champion.
- Gene Okerlund actually won't be coming in to WCW immediately after all. WWF will enforce a non-compete clause in his contract so it will be a couple of months before he shows up for WCW.
- It took the ring crew almost 40 minutes to set up the steel cage at a WWF house show in Springfield, MA for the Bret Hart/Yokozuna main event, which left the fans irritated.