July 18, 1994
- The steroid trial continued this week. So far, media coverage has been minimal due to the pre-trial hearings in the O.J. Simpson case but Dave expects that to change next week when Hogan takes the stand. Dave himself will be traveling to New York soon to cover the end of the trial personally. So far, attendees at the trial have mostly been wrestling fans, who ooh'd and aah'd when they saw wrestlers and were seeking autographs. Vince McMahon has been wearing a neck brace, due to his recent disc surgery. So far, the distribution charges have barely been addressed and it seems the government is solely focused on pinning the conspiracy charge on McMahon but apparently, they haven't presented a very strong case. Dave recaps the details of the conspiracy charge and what the prosecution needs to do in order to get a conviction. Most courtroom observers have said that WWF's lawyers are eating the prosecution alive and that the prosecution has only managed to prove that steroids were a problem, but hasn't come close to proving the company or McMahon himself conspired to make wrestlers use the drugs. Wade Keller of the Pro Wrestling Torch has been there the whole time and said he believes WWF lawyer Jerry McDevitt's attempts to bully witnesses and discredit them haven't been well-received by the jury and may cost them.
- Dr. Zahorian testified for 2 days. The WWF spent most of that time attempting to prove that the government had coerced Zahorian to testify by promising him improved conditions in prison in exchange for saying what they wanted him to say. Zahorian testified that he started distributing drugs to WWF wrestlers from 1981-89. He would set up shop in a room at the arena and sell the wrestlers whatever drugs they wanted in brown paper bags. Zahorian testified that in 1988, Vince McMahon came to him and asked if he was selling steroids to his wrestlers. Zahorian told him yes, but said that if they didn't get the drugs from him, they'd just get them on the black market, so it was safer for the wrestlers to buy from him, an actual doctor. He told Vince that he would stop if he wanted him to, but Vince allegedly told him not to stop. After this, McMahon began buying steroids from Zahorian personally and would often have his secretary place orders and claims the orders were "for Mr. McMahon or Mr. Bollea."
- Dr. Zahorian was only at the shows in the first place because the state athletic commission required a doctor be in attendance. After the commission disbanded in 1989, Pat Patterson allegedly called up Zahorian and told him he could still come to the shows because the wrestlers still wanted to see him. Several months later, he had a missed call from Patterson and when he called back, Patterson asked him to call from a pay phone. Patterson then told him that they had learned Zahorian was being investigated and ordered him to destroy any and all evidence linking the doctor to the wrestlers. Instead of destroying them, Zahorian moved the records to his lawyer's office. He also testified that one of the shipments of steroids that he sent to Hogan during the filming of No Holds Barred were apparently meant for the actor Tiny Lister. At one point, McDevitt read off a list of names, trying to get Zahorian to say they didn't use steroids in order to prove you didn't need to use them in order to be a star in WWF. Names like King Kong Bundy and Nikolai Volkoff and Sgt. Slaughter.
- WCW Saturday Night and the Sunday show both did lower-than-normal TV ratings and two weeks before the Bash at the Beach PPV, early buys seem to be tracking at the usual rate of all other WCW PPVs, which has some in WCW quietly panicking. If this PPV does the same weak buyrate as all other WCW PPVs, it would be a financial disaster for the company given all the money they've spent on Hogan and advertising. And they still have the rest of the year and 2 other PPVs Hogan is scheduled to work, so if they can't do huge business for Hogan's first match, it's unlikely that it'll get any better the rest of the year. They've already called in all the favors they can for this one (Shaq and Mr. T appearing, Ted Turner doing the press conference, George Foreman promos, etc.). So basically, if this fails, it could prove devastating for WCW. All their eggs are in one basket on this one.
- WCW Saturday Night this past week aired live and featured a Flair vs. Sting main event where Sherri Martel ran in and then Hogan came in, only to get taken out by Flair until Mr. T made the save. Half the crowd was plants so WCW could ensure that the crowd "reacted right" (in other words, didn't boo Hogan again).
- WATCH: Sting vs. Ric Flair - WCW Saturday Night, 7-9-1994
- Antonio Inoki's retirement match at the Jan. 4, 1995 Tokyo Dome show is rumored to be against Hulk Hogan.
- Word is USWA tag team The Eliminators may be getting a shot with WWF soon, which Dave is surprised by because one of them ("the one who isn't Perry Saturn" because Dave still hasn't learned Kronus' name) has only been wrestling a few months and is still very green.
- Jim Cornette is pulling his hair out in SMW because all of his plans keep falling apart. After the previous Jake Roberts no-shows, they had to put the title back on Dirty White Boy earlier than planned. Then Chris Walker was supposed to come in to feud with DWB, but Walker no-showed. Then they had plans for Steve & Scott Armstrong to turn heel but now Steve Armstrong just signed on to work full-time in All Japan so that's out the window. After no-showing all the shows last week, Jake Roberts was given one more chance this week, but he no-showed again and is likely done in SMW.
- The Gangstas debuted in SMW, "doing a heavy black racist angle," to the point where they congratulated O.J. Simpson, saying, "Now there's 2 less to get rid of" and talked about "doing a Reginald Denny on those white boys." Dave says reaction was mixed to say the least and if any major promotion did this, they'd be apologizing and kicked off the air. After the tapings, the team needed police escort to get out of the arena. Cornette has been looking for a long time for black heels to push to his mostly white, "borderline KKK-like" audience so expect these guys to get a major heel push. Apparently the only reason it hadn't already happened is because Cornette couldn't find a black heel that would play the role.
- Jim Crockett's new promotion will hold its first taping next week. Joe Pedicino and Tully Blanchard will be doing commentary. Tommy Rich and Junkyard Dog are expected to be the top babyfaces, which doesn't sound promising. Ole Anderson's name keeps coming up as being involved in this, but he's still under WCW contract. Crockett reportedly wanted Shane Douglas to be involved, but the money ($150 per show) isn't enough to get him to come in.
- Dave has caught up on the last few weeks of ECW and says, "Boy do I miss Joey Styles as an announcer." Apparently the new guy sucks.
- Antonio Inoki will be facing Steven Regal at the August Clash of the Champions.
- Mike Tenay and Mark Madden will both be doing the 900 Hotline for WCW, alternating days.
- Due to the fear of a crackdown on violence on TV, WCW has directed that there will be no more bloody brawls, even on PPV. So no more blading. Dave isn't a fan of toning down the product, but understands that to survive in business in 1994, you can't ignore the outside world.
- No real updates on the death of Joey Marella. Apparently Harvey Wippleman was asleep in the car at the time the accident happened and didn't wake up until the accident was happening after Marella had fallen asleep at the wheel.
- At recent house shows, Bret and Owen Hart wrestled 1-hour iron man matches. One of them ended with the two tied at the end of 60 minutes, and Bret ended up winning in sudden death overtime. Apparently, back in 1975, Pat Patterson and Don Muraco had a similar iron man match, with a sudden death finish (and Patterson would, of course, re-use that idea when putting together the Bret/Shawn match 2 years later). Anyway, the matches apparently weren't anything special and as far as match-quality goes, the Bret/Owen feud has been a disappointment on house shows.
- WATCH: Bret Hart vs. Owen Hart - Iron Man Match (with overtime)
- WWF has had serious discussion about bringing in Chris Benoit as part of a babyface tag team, no word on who the partner would be.
- Disco Inferno regularly calls in to the WWF radio show hosted by Jim Ross and Johnny Polo.