June 06, 1994
- Bad news coming out of WCW Slamboree, the show only drew 2,700 paid fans (the rest were papered), which has to be considered disastrous for a major promotion PPV event in the most hardcore wrestling market in the country (Philadelphia).
- Latest word is that WCW is no longer planning to slow build to Flair vs. Hogan for Starrcade and instead will do the match immediately when Hogan wrestles his first match for WCW at the July PPV. So we'll know almost immediately whether or not the big money gamble to sign Hogan will actually pay off.
- Triplemania II-C is in the books and "ended with Jake Roberts looking like Uncle Fester from the Addams Family." Jake lost the hair-vs-hair match and was reportedly paid $20,000 for agreeing to have his head shaved (shit, I do it every other week for free). Dave was there and says the show was good but not great. He also talks about the differences in the culture. The Mexican wrestlers are treated like superstars throughout the country, but on the flip side, the arenas they work in all run down disasters that would shock American fans. For example, at this show, the dressing room had a dirt floor and the closest thing to a shower was a garden hose they all shared. As for the show, Rey Misterio Jr. was super over, Octagon had to back out of his match due to injuries suffered in a car accident last week, and Warlord accompanied Jake Roberts to the ring. Dave gets endless jokes in here at Warlord's expense ("the world's largest portable pharmacy," "Warlord is at least as bad a manager as he is a wrestler," etc.)
- Dave writes an obituary for Ray "Candyman" Candy, a popular midcard wrestler from the 70s and 80s who bounced around the territories. Dave recaps his life and career.
- Brian Lee debuted as "The Undertaker" at the latest TV tapings, managed by Ted Dibiase. Most fans saw right through it (and there were some loud "bullshit!" chants that will have to be edited out) but some fans seemed to buy it. The gimmick seems to be that the heel announcer will act like it's the real Undertaker, with the face announcer not believing it. Obviously, this will lead to the real Undertaker returning to confront him and lead to an Undertaker vs. Undertaker match at Summerslam. Dave has been told that the long-term plan is for Lee to eventually turn babyface, leading to the two Undertakers being together as a team.
- Dave finally got to see all the matches from the NJPW Super J Cup Tournament from back in April and he gives the final match between Wild Pegasus (Chris Benoit) and Great Sasuke the full 5-stars. So let's watch it again.
- The negotiations for an Atsushi Onita vs. Antonio Inoki match have already fallen through. Onita apparently wanted two matches, one of them being an electrified barbed wire match (which he would win). Inoki apparently wasn't having that, so that plan is dead in the water now.
- Eddie Gilbert walked out midway through USWA's TV taping last week because he was mad about some of the booking. Gilbert gets mad and quits on this company at least once a month, but always ends up coming back.
- ECW is getting Cactus Jack on loan from WCW for two dates, which will lead to a dream match of Sabu vs. Cactus Jack later this month.
- Correction on the ECW news from last week: the Bruise Brothers weren't actually fired, they were only reprimanded. And Joey Styles didn't quit over money, he quit because the ECW post-production sessions on Sunday nights routinely last all night long and it was killing him at his regular job on Monday mornings.
- Sabu tried to break a table after a match at an indie show. It took 5 moonsaults and finally a butt-drop off the top rope to break the table. Sabu's shins hit the table repeatedly on the moonsaults and were badly swollen. He also needs surgery on his broken hand, but he's not getting it and is working through it. Dave hopes Sabu makes a lot of money in this business in the next few years, because his style of wrestling isn't likely to lead to a long career.
- Dirty White Girl was DDT'd by Jake Roberts on a recent SMW show and did such a convincing job selling it that someone in the building called paramedics and when they got there, they were adamant about trying to take her in to be treated.
- AAA held a show in Las Vegas at the Aladdin Hotel arena and it was a disaster. For starters, they have no TV there so no one knows about this promotion in the city. It drew about 800 fans. Also, the arena ended up not being able to get a wrestling ring, so they had to use an old boxing ring with loose ropes and it was just a mess of a show.
- According to one of Dave's sources, the stipulations for Hulk Hogan's WCW contract are as follows: it's a 6-month deal (expiring at the end of 1994) with Hogan appearing on three Clashes and 3 PPVs, for $300,000 per show. In addition, Hogan receives 25% of any PPV revenue increase (based on current averages). He's going to work about a half-dozen U.S. house shows and one European tour and will receive 25% of the house each night. He receives 65% of all merchandising income (which Dave says is an astonishing figure since the arenas usually make a 30% cut and after you factor in the cost of producing the merch, WCW might actually lose money on all Hogan merch sold). All told, this guarantees Hogan $1.8 million and when you add in the percentages for everything, he'll probably make a lot more. As for WCW, in order for them to break even on this deal, the 3 PPVs Hogan works will have to average an .87 buyrate, which nobody in the industry believes is a possibility.
- Ric Flair taped a series of "secret" interviews in studio at the latest TV tapings. Literally, the doors were shut and guarded and almost no one was in the room except the people who needed to be, so no one knows what the secret promos were for (and unfortunately, this is never revealed in later issues so I have no idea what they were).
- Barry Windham reportedly blew out his knee again during the match with Flair at Slamboree, though Dave says many people are skeptical how true that is.
- Update on the Rick Rude/Ric Flair backstage argument. It had to do with the promo Rude was supposed to cut as he was being stripped of the title. Flair didn't like it because he thought it detracted from the planned Sting/Vader match and that it focused too much on Rude putting himself over when they don't have any future plans for him. Flair wanted Rude to say something else in his promo, Rude didn't like it, and walked out before the show.
- In an interview with Gene Okerlund, Hogan referred to Flair as an 11-time champion. Okerlund corrected him and said 12-time time champ. Dave says you can't blame Hogan for the mistake since WCW can't even seem to make up their mind on it from week-to-week "and really, does anyone at this point even care?" he wonders.
- Jerry Jarrett has moved back to TN from Stamford, CT. While he hasn't completely severed ties with the WWF yet, he's no longer part of the creative team. Word is Jarrett wants to start a company that would lease jobbers to the major promotions. That way, the jobbers would work for him and it would save the companies from any legal liability issues if another Chuck Austin-type injury happens again.
- Typhoon (Shockmaster) returned to WWF this week and will be feuding with Yokozuna.
- In the letters section, Jim Ross is now doing a thing where you send him a bunch of questions about the business and he'll record all his answers on a 20-minute cassette tape specifically for you and send it back. $15 for the first tape, $7.50 for any tapes after.