May 08, 1995
- All verifiable pro wrestling attendance records were shattered this weekend after 2 shows put on by Antonio Inoki, NJPW, and the North Korean government drew a total of 340,000 people. The first show drew a reported 150,000, while the show the following night drew 165,000 although the North Korean government has since claimed the number was 190,000 but, yanno how that goes with them. Both shows were broadcast live on TV throughout North Korea. The previous record was of course, Andre vs. Hogan at Wrestlemania 3 (which WWF claimed was 93,000 but the real number was more like 78,000) so this is basically double that. Antonio Inoki beat Ric Flair in the main event, in a spot that was originally offered to Hulk Hogan, but he turned it down for a bunch of reasons that basically amounted to not wanting to do a job to Inoki. Flair was the only WCW wrestler to work the show, but WCW is still expected to later air it as a PPV here in America and will of course take credit for the record setting attendance. Road Warrior Hawk, The Steiners, Chris Benoit, and 2 Cold Scorpio also worked the shows. Muhammad Ali was also there and was ringside both nights. Word is Inoki and North Korea want to work to put together another event like this next year. The show got worldwide media coverage through outlets like Reuters, CNN, and others. All foreigners were accompanied by state guides while they were there and many of the wrestlers have since said it was a negative experience, despite the record setting crowds. (I can't find the full show online, and it's one of the few WCW produced PPVs that isn't on the Network. But here's the Flair/Inoki match and here's a really good, must-read oral history article about the event from those who were there).
- 1-2-3 Kid suffered a broken neck at the latest WWF tapings and his career may be in jeopardy. The exact injury is a cracked cervical vertebrae. Kid saw one doctor who told him his career is over, but a second doctor was more optimistic. Latest word is that he'll probably miss 2-3 months and return to the ring (yup, he only missed 2 months).
- New Japan's Fukuoma Dome show took place this week and as expected after WCW spoiled the result last week, Great Muta won the IWGP title and will defend it against Paul Orndorff at Slamboree. Nothing else really of note.
- Dave attended an AAA show in Mexico which featured the debut of Perro Aguayo Jr. who was in the crowd and was attacked by Juventud Guerrera after a match. This should lead to Aguayo Jr.'s in-ring debut soon. (Not-so-fun fact: this match also featured Rey Mysterio who, of course, was sadly involved in Aguayo Jr.'s last match in 2015.)
- Wide World of Sports aired their segment (produced by Sports Illustrated) on wrestling this week. It was a segment called "Requiem for the Heavyweights" (I can't find any video of it) and as expected, tried to tie steroids to the deaths of Art Barr, Eddie Gilbert, and Big John Studd. It was mostly the usual stuff that everyone already knows. WCW was reportedly relieved because they expected the story to be a lot worse and they're terrified of anyone taking a close look at the steroid and drug situation in their company.
- It was announced that Hayabusa will fill in as Atsushi Onita's final opponent in his retirement match. They set up an angle about how Hayabusa had long been Onita's protege but has no experience wrestling in death matches like this. So he challenged Onita saying that he wants to learn from the best or something like that. Hayabusa is filling in for Tarzan Goto, who quit FMW last week and was supposed to face Onita in his retirement match. It's believed Goto and the others who quit FMW at the same time will go work for the competition (IWA).
- WCW planned to send Paul Wight down to USWA but for some reason, that didn't happen. Dave doesn't entirely clarify why, but it sounds like WCW didn't quite have Big Show signed to a contract yet and were afraid to let him go to USWA because they didn't want WWF to see him and steal him away (because you know Vince would have signed him the second he laid eyes on him).
- Shane Douglas is continuing to wear WWF shirts while in ECW, and it's clearly an angle now. But the negotiations are still ongoing, but Dave says Douglas will at least stick around through the end of the school year because he's still a history teacher during the week and isn't going to quit his teaching job this close to the end of the school year. But he's likely headed to WWF sooner than later.
- Jim Neidhart debuted in ECW this week, losing matches to both Marty Jannetty and Ron Simmons.
- Steve Austin left a WCW taping a few weeks back, claiming his daughter was sick, but some thought it was because he didn't want to put over Sting. Dave has confirmed that Austin's daughter was legitimately very sick and was hospitalized for several days.
- WCW injury report: Brian Pillman has a concussion. Steve Regal suffered nerve damage in one of his arms in Japan and it was said to be scary at the time. No word on how he is now.
- WCW plans to turn Randy Savage heel sometime early next year (nope).
- WCW has dropped plans for a cruiserweight division once again, presumably because Sabu wants no part of it.
- Hulk Hogan is opening up a Pastamania restaurant at the Mall of America in Minneapolis and is trying to turn it into a franchise. He is negotiating for leases in Baltimore and Philadelphia, with plans to open 5 more locations this year and another 25 in 1996, and hope to sell Hulk Hogan Pasta and sauces in supermarkets. "Now there's a product that sounds like a winner," Dave says, the sarcasm dripping from the page.
- Monday Night Raw set an all-time ratings record this week, doing a 3.9 rating for the show, headlined by a Diesel vs. Bam Bam Bigelow match.
- Razor Ramon faced Jeff Jarrett in a dark match with Jarrett's manager The Roadie hanging above the ring in a cage at the Raw taping. After the match, they put Jarrett in the cage with Roadie and then, as a rib, left both guys hanging up there for the next few matches.
- Missy Hyatt was looking to get an announcing job with WWF but was turned down.
- Nailz has maybe reached an out-of-court settlement with WWF, stemming from the incident in 1992 when Nailz attacked Vince McMahon and then both sides sued each other. The agreement basically comes down to both sides dropping their cases and no money exchanging hands, but allowing Nailz to use that name when wrestling elsewhere. Nailz's attorneys agreed to the settlement but Nailz reportedly didn't and wanted to keep the lawsuit going, but since the attorneys agreed to it, WWF is trying to get a judge to enforce it. A hearing is scheduled this week to determine how that goes (I assume it went okay, Dave never mentions it again).
- In his weekly Calgary Sun newspaper column, Bret Hart wrote about the retirement of Joe Montana and managed to get some digs in on Ric Flair and Bob Backlund, writing: "I was sad to see the end of the career of one of the truly great players of this or any other era--perhaps the best there is, the best there was or the best there ever will be. At the same time, I was happy to see Montana go out on his terms--at the top of his game, not crippled or dismembered, with class and no regrets. I hope I'm able to go out the same way and not outstay my welcome like Bob Backlund, Ric Flair and others who, sadly, have besmirched their once-shining reputations, by hanging around long after they should have."
- A newspaper in Bam Bam Bigelow's hometown did a story on him the day of Wrestlemania, talking about Bigelow's life story, noting that he never graduated high school and has a lengthy rap sheet including arrests for burglaries, aggravated assault, drug possession, sexual assault, criminal restraint, robbery and attempted kidnapping. Dave says the aggravated assault charge stems from a motorcycle gang fight that Bigelow claimed was in self-defense. The sexual assault charge was from a 1985 incident with a prostitute and Bigelow says it was just a fight about payment terms.
- A lot of letters about the Sabu/ECW situation, with most people seeming to be on Sabu's side. One letter in particular says that Paul Heyman and Tod Gordon have a lot of nerve to talk about integrity and honesty after the way they screwed over the NWA last year. A lot of people also criticizing the ECW fans for chanting "fuck Sabu" after everything he'd done for the company. Dave comes to ECW's defense and notes that Heyman had no choice but to fire Sabu because not only did Sabu double-book himself and know about it well in advance, but he still lied and told Heyman that he would make the ECW show when he knew he wasn't going to. Basically, if Sabu had told Heyman in advance that he wasn't going to work the show, it might have gone differently, but Heyman didn't find out until he called Sabu and got an answering machine message saying that he had already left for Japan. He says whether or not Heyman burying Sabu was uncalled for or not is debatable, but he had to fire him because it would set a dangerous precedent for the rest of the locker room if he had allowed that to go unpunished.