May 16, 1994
- Atsushi Onita's exploding barbed wire cage match with Genichiro Tenryu for FMW last week drew a legit crowd of 52,000, with thousands more being turned away and grossing more than $2 million, being only the 14th show in wrestling history to top the $2 million mark. It's further proof that Onita has to be considered one of the top drawing stars in the history of wrestling. As for Tenryu, it was the 5th show he's headlined that has drawn more than 50,000 people, tying him with Hulk Hogan for the record. Onita had promised to retire if he lost the match. He indeed lost the match, so it remains to be seen how long his "retirement" lasts. They were already backtracking on it after the match, saying Onita only said he would "consider" retiring. There are rumors that Onita is considering running for the Japanese Senate, ala Antonio Inoki. Assuming Onita doesn't retire, it could affect his popularity and drawing power, since stipulations like this are expected to be honored in Japan and the fans aren't fond of being misled. Terry Funk retired there in 1983 and when he came back, his popularity was never the same because fans felt like he broke his word.
- At a pre-trial hearing in the WWF steroid case, the prosecution stated that there is another grand jury investigation looking into the WWF for other matters. What that investigation might be about, Dave doesn't know. During the hearing, it was also alleged that, in 1989, the WWF conspired to inform Dr. Zahorian that he was under investigation and that they asked him to destroy any records of his dealings with WWF wrestlers. The government reportedly has a copy of a memo from Linda McMahon to Pat Patterson, asking Patterson to give Zahorian the heads up, but because Linda McMahon has a legal background, the WWF claims Linda was acting as an attorney and that the memo should be covered under attorney-client privilege and not entered into evidence.
- Major media outlets like ESPN and CBS are reportedly working on stories about the trial. All the bad publicity hits WWF took in 1991 and 92 led to a 40% drop in WWF attendance from then to now, all-time record low TV ratings, and more that the industry as a whole has yet to recover from. Dave is pretty sure WWF will survive this case, even if there is a conviction, but it might not survive in its current form or with its current leadership. Between the Chuck Austin lawsuit, the steroid trial, bad publicity and other legal issues, the landscape of the WWF may change drastically in the coming years. However, if there is an acquittal, the damage will be far less serious.
- Barry Windham's status as Ric Flair's surprise opponent at Slamboree is still up in the air. Windham has yet to give WCW proof that a doctor has cleared him to return to action after his major knee surgery last year. WCW has been hyping a "6'7, 300 pound, blond haired former world champion" and there's a shortage of those out there if Windham can't do it. WCW isn't going to waste Hogan's first match as a surprise opponent with no promotion and there has been absolutely no consideration of bringing back Sid Vicious. So for now, the leading candidate appears to be Terry Funk, who doesn't fit the bill at all, but, yanno. WCW.
- Hogan/WCW is pretty much a done deal now. WWF informed WCW last week that they won't be matching their offer. It's believed Hogan will make an appearance at Clash of the Champions in June and his first match being at the Bash PPV in July. Hogan's expected to work very few house shows and there's a lot of grumbling among the wrestlers about Hogan's deal, since he'll be making far more money than everyone else and will surely be the main focus of the company, will almost certainly be the world champion, and yet he will essentially be part-time. It's a short-term deal and Dave thinks the odds of it ever being a long-term deal aren't good since Hogan has so many other commitments outside of wrestling. The biggest upside to the deal is that Hogan's presence may help WCW get more TV deals and put other business deals in place that will last after Hogan is gone. The plan is for Hogan to help launch WCW as a whole to the next level. Dave is skeptical.
- Eddie Gilbert finished in 6th place (out of 8) in his run for City Clerk in Henderson County, TN. Gilbert got 458 votes, or 6.5% total.
- Sabu suffered serious enough injuries in Japan last week that he had to pull out of scheduled indie shows here in America. He still appeared, but didn't wrestle and both of his hands were in casts. He's expected to work next week's ECW shows however.
- There have been many rumors through the years about Fabulous Moolah's real age. Dave got his hands on a newspaper article from 1958 that lists Moolah's age at the time as 32. That information came from an arrest warrant so it's a legit source, Dave says. That would make her either 67 or 68 today.
- AAA now has a midget referee to officiate the midget matches. He wears suspenders.
- Jerry Estrada's 3-month suspension for unprofessional conduct during the hair-vs-hair match at Triplemania 2 will apparently be lifted early. Also, I must have missed this in the last issue, but Estrada apparently came to the ring with a cougar at that show.
- Rick Rude is reportedly suffering neck and back issues. No word on the severity (pretty severe, as it turns out). Jerry Sags of the Nasty Boys also has a shoulder injury.
- Dusty Rhodes appeared on an episode of the TV show Burke's Law this week and was said to be pretty good.
- WWF's tour of Japan started this week and on the surface, it appears to already be a flop. Despite tons of publicity, the crowd seemed limited to just hardcore fans. The first show drew an estimated 4,000 people to a 17,000 capacity arena, which is the lowest crowd turnout that building has ever had for wrestling. In fact, it had never sold less than 8,000 before. It was pretty much the same story at all the other shows, with arenas that Japanese promotions routinely sell out only being 1/3 full for WWF shows. Shawn Michaels no-showed the tour and is being replaced by Rick Martel. Undertaker had his first matches since floating up into heaven at the Royal Rumble and was by far the most popular wrestler on the tour. Randy Savage tried playing heel in his matches against Bret Hart but the crowd cheered him more than Hart anyway. Most of the wrestlers tried working "Japanese-style" but it just didn't go over well.
- There are rumors that Jim Neidhart, Papa Shango, and SMW's Brian Lee will all be heading to WWF soon. Neidhart is reportedly in line for a major heel push (Shango would eventually come back in 1995 as Kama and Brian Lee, well....we'll get there soon).
- It does indeed appear that Luna Vachon is suspended, which is why she's working TV but no house shows (as per company policy). Dave doesn't know why.
- In the letters section, Joey Styles writes in! In one of last month's issues, Dave referred to the Nasty Boys vs. Maxx Payne/Cactus Jack matches as the sickest, most brutal brawl he's ever seen. Joey says that's only because Dave has yet to pay a visit to Philadelphia to see an ECW show. Joey says that match was tame compared to the matches he calls for ECW and describes some of the recent ECW matches. He ends the letter by inviting Dave or any other readers to come see an ECW show, but then says, "However, if you are the type of person who cried at the end of Bambi, forget it. Our fans cheered the hunter that shot his mother." Dave responds to the letter, saying that he usually doesn't print self-promotional letters like this, but the Bambi line was one of the best of the year, so he just had to print it.