December 27, 1993
- This is it for 1993. I'm taking a couple of weeks off so I can get far enough ahead to keep it going and will resume after Thanksgiving. See you all on the 28th. Thanks for reading, I'm really glad so many of you seem to enjoy it.
- Ted Turner held a meeting this week, addressing WCW wrestlers and front office staff. It was mostly a pep rally, with Turner vowing that the entire Turner empire is still backing WCW and saying that, other than CNN, every aspect of Turner Home Entertainment would be involved in cross-promotion with the company. Turner vowed that as long as he is around, WCW will never go out of business and hyped everyone up, saying that 1994 will be the year they finally overtake WWF. Dave says Turner execs have made similar statements during the 5 years they've owned the company but this is the first time Turner himself has ever addressed the company.
- Dave basically gives his thoughts on 1993 in the industry. It's the year where the status-quo pretty much remained the same, after business bottomed out in 1992. Both companies have seen slight ratings increases in the last few months but those improved ratings are still well below what both were averaging just 2 years ago and aren't cause for celebration. House show business is down (especially WCW's, which is doing scary attendance numbers). And while the number of homes with access to PPV has increased, the number of PPV buys have been steadily decreasing. They've increased the number of PPVs, which has increased overall revenue, but results in lower buyrates overall.
- Japan is basically the opposite, with NJPW, AJPW and multiple other promotions all doing huge numbers that would have been unimaginable just a few years ago. New Japan in particular easily had the best year of any promotion in the world, drawing huge crowds to tons of major shows. In such a small country, the fact that so many promotions (NJPW, AJPW, FMW, W*ING, UWFI, All Japan Women, PWFG, Pancrase, and more) have been able to operate successfully and sell out arenas and sometimes stadiums is crazy. However, even though there's been a lot of success with those promotions, there are signs suggesting that the bubble may be about to burst.
- Mexico had an up-and-down year and is ending the year on a down note. EMLL has been canceled by Televisa effective immediately, leaving the world's oldest promotion without any major television exposure. EMLL has been on the ropes for much of the year, and the loss of television will hurt, but most people feel like the promotion will probably be around forever. Meanwhile, AAA has been quite successful, but attendance started to falter midway through the year.
- Sid Vicious was in at WCW offices last week and was apparently told by high-ranking officials that they want him back as soon as possible, but claimed that there's too much heat with the other wrestlers who don't want him there anymore. But Sid was given the impression that he will be brought back when everyone cools down.
- No confirmation, but it's pretty much a certainty that Bobby Heenan is heading for WCW next month and Jesse Ventura is likely on his way out after failing to reach a new deal with the company.
- More details on the firing of Davey Boy Smith from WCW: Smith had negotiated a per-match deal with Bill Watts a few months back. Smith was under the impression that, on days he wasn't booked with WCW, he would be free to work indie shows (which is indeed what Watts was telling guys when he was there). Smith was also supposed to receive more money for European shows since he is the biggest draw there. When Smith got his payoff for the recent European tour, it was for the same amount he would have made in the U.S. Naturally, Smith was upset and told WCW he wouldn't be working house shows until he got what he was due for the European tours. Smith then filmed an angle on TV that set up a title match between he and Rick Rude and then told WCW that he was quitting until they sorted out the problem. This led to WCW "firing" Smith and burying him on TV and then bringing in Big Boss Man. Gene Okerlund also buried Smith on the WCW Hotline this week.
- WCW was also upset that Smith worked an indie show for Jim Neidhart last week and demanded 60% of his pay from that show, but Smith believes he had the right to work the show based on his deal with Watts, while WCW essentially says that since Watts is gone, any agreements he had that aren't specifically in writing don't count anymore. WCW also refused to allow Smith to work a New Japan tour, saying they needed him because he was a big part of their plans for the Battle Bowl PPV. Smith ended up not doing anything even remotely important on that PPV (he teamed with Booker T and lost a 7 minute match against Hawk and Rip Rogers. Smith spent 5 of those 7 minutes standing on the apron. Dave says "a trained chimpanzee could have done the same job Smith was required to do at Battle Bowl") and therefore missed out on a big payday he could have had in Japan. Latest word is Smith plans to go work for the local promotions in England now.
- CWA in Germany ran their biggest show of the year. An 18 year old kid named Alex Wright opened the show and reportedly has a lot of potential. (Das Wunderkind!) Papa Shango, Terry Funk, Jushin Liger, Stan Hansen, Barbarian, David (Fit) Finlay and more also worked the show.
- Business comparisons again. WWF ratings, live gate, and attendance are up slightly from last year. Meanwhile, WCW live gate and attendance are both down a staggering 69% from the same time last year.
- Earthquake John Tenta was scheduled to work a tour for EMLL in Mexico, but left after one show, claiming he was stiffed on his payoff. He says he was promised $2,500 and they only paid him $1,500. Tenta was pretty over during his one appearance, so EMLL is trying to get him back.
- There are already plans for an Ultimate Fighting Championship 2 PPV. Ken Shamrock and Royce Gracie will be brought back and they are planning to upgrade the rest of the fighters with more accomplished taekwondo and karate guys.
- Jake Roberts and Sherri Martel are still working as the top heels in AAA right now and Sherri is actually getting over huge since the female valet thing has never really been done in Mexico before.
- Eddie Guerrero suffered a groin and hamstring injury while working in Japan and will be out for awhile.
- Madusa, wrestling under the new name Alundra Blayze, debuted and captured the newly reinstated WWF women's title on Raw by defeating Heide Lee Morgan (I can't find the match on YouTube, but here's a promo for it).
- WWF newcomer Bob Holly is going to be doing a race car gimmick using the name Sparky Plugg. Holly has bounced around the industry for 7 years and has quit the business a couple of times but keeps coming back. Dave says he reminds him of 1980ish Bobby Eaton. Jim Cornette originally wanted Holly in SMW and wanted to give him a big push, but Holly didn't want to quit his regular job to do it.
- WWF did a benefit for the Salvation Army where fans could pay $75 for a dinner with the wrestlers and get autographs. Undertaker, Bret Hart, Savage, Luger and all the other big names were there, though there were complaints from fans that several of the wrestlers acted like they wanted to be anywhere else but there.
- Capt. Lou Albano appeared on Raw for the last couple of weeks and has lost a tremendous amount of weight from when he was last in the company years ago.
- There has been some talk of Undertaker winning the title from Yokozuna at Royal Rumble and going on to face Luger in the main event of Wrestlemania 10, which would somehow lead to Yokozuna turning babyface.
- The Flair/Vader match at Starrcade has the best build of anything WCW has done in years. Combined with what will likely be a great match and a hot crowd in Charlotte, the main event looks like it will be a show-stealer. But the rest of the card looks abysmal (yeah, the rest of the show was shit, but Flair/Vader did indeed end up being legendarily great). They've also filmed promos with mainstream sports stars like Charles Barkley hyping the match (and openly acknowledged Flair's 2 years in WWF in the video).
- Terry Funk is openly campaigning for a job as booker for WCW.
- Curt Hennig visited WCW this week, discussing possibly coming in.
- WCW is planning to introduce a new European championship next year, "as if they don't have enough titles," Dave says (Don't believe this ever happened).
- Shockmaster recently did an interview saying that a new guy is coming in named Super Shockmaster. Dave ponders, "I wonder what relative of Dusty's needs work?" (it actually ended up being Fred Ottman again, playing both characters and was portrayed as Shockmaster's nephew. WCW, folks.)
- Dan Severn writes in and thanks Dave for the coverage he's given him over the years and then essentially just drops his resume in the letter. Gives his amateur wrestling background, all the awards he's won, all the combat sports he's trained in, big shows he's worked, etc. Fun fact: Dan Severn was apparently in the movie Rudy? This is actually a pretty decent idea to get your name out there that I'm surprised I don't see more wrestlers doing in these old issues. Promoters all over the world read the Observer, this probably led to Severn getting some bookings.
- Another guy writes in and tells a story of attending an autograph session with Bob Backlund and says Backlund was amazing. He took time to learn all the kids names, wrote personalized messages on each autograph, and was just super friendly and went above and beyond for all the kids in line and basically says Backlund is the nicest and most genuine good guy wrestler he's ever met.
- See you in a couple weeks!