October 16, 1995
- Posting a bit early today because I won't be around at the usual time to post. Sorry if I throw off anyone's poop schedule. Eat more fiber and stay regular. I recommend Raisin Bran (the one with cranberries since they don't make Raisin Bran Extra with the yogurt clusters anymore, because Kellogs are a bunch of fucking assholes! It was amazing!! It had cranberries and yogurt clusters!! and almond slices, which I could take or leave, but whatever. WHY DID YOU DISCONTINUE IT YOU PIECES OF SHIT??? HUH!? ANSWER ME, YOU SONS OF BITCHES!)
- ..........
- Shit, sorry. I got a little off track...
- The joint NJPW/UWFI show at the Tokyo Dome last week set an all-time record gate for pro wrestling of more than $6 million, although some people say $6.5 million. But the rule in wrestling is "when in doubt, go with the lower amount." Dave then pats himself on the back for that rhyme and says "Hey, you probably can be a world renowned defense attorney and get murderers off coming up with rhymes like that." (remember, this is about a week after O.J. Simpson was acquitted and "if it doesn't fit, you must acquit" became a thing). Anyway, the show drew 67,000 paid which is the largest crowd ever for any indoor event in Tokyo, not just wrestling. And it was the biggest wrestling crowd ever in Japan and is the 5th largest crowd for a wrestling event ever in the world. It also set an all-time record for merch sold ($2 million). So yeah...pretty successful show.
- Keiji Muto retained the IWGP title against UWFI star Nobuhiko Takada in the main event in a shocker. UWFI has been on the verge of collapse and this working agreement with NJPW is their attempt to revive the company. For both promotions, it made sense for Takada to win the IWGP title in order to stretch the feud into next year. In fact, the NJPW side won almost all the matches on the card and it's clear that New Japan seemingly has no interest in helping to keep UWFI alive, even if it could make them more money in the long run. UWFI was basically buried on this show, with even UWFI's submission specialists losing by submission, which basically kills their gimmicks (this sounds like how WWE bought WCW, and then brought everybody and buried them. Bad blood trumped making money).
- Ultimate Warrior had made a deal to be co-owner of the NWC promotion in Las Vegas but then it all went wrong. They were going to relaunch the promotion under the name Warrior Promotions. The day before the first show, Warrior was supposed to arrive in Vegas and do radio interviews, but 15 minutes before, he cancelled and didn't show. He eventually arrived in Vegas half a day later than scheduled, checked into his hotel, and then blocked his phone so no one could get through. He finally surfaced the next morning at a meeting with others involved and requested the $6,000 sponsorship checks for the show, saying he would cash the checks and pay the arena and the athletic commission what they were owed. Warrior then no-showed another interview and no-showed an autograph signing, where 300 people were already in line waiting. Warrior then checked out of his hotel and that's the last anyone saw of him. The show went on as scheduled without Warrior there. At the event, the other co-owner and promoter and Jim Neidhart got on the mic and buried Warrior, telling the fans Neidhart had run him out of town and that's why he wasn't at the show as advertised.
- New Jack was involved in another incident at an ECW show this week. During a match with the Dudley Brothers, New Jack and Dances With Dudley got a little heated and began stiffing each other. After the match, New Jack went to the back first. As Dudley was coming through, New Jack was waiting behind the curtain and used a nightstick and hit him in the back of the head. Dudley didn't go down but his head was badly split open and needed a dozen stitches. Dudley tackled New Jack and a big fight broke out, with New Jack standing with his partner Mustafa and basically challenging the entire locker room to fight him and telling people that he's sneaky and there's no telling what he'll do to them. Taz got in New Jack's face, and in a normal situation, Taz has a reputation as a legit tough guy, but Taz is currently out with a seriously injured neck and definitely shouldn't be fighting, and they were separated. New Jack (who Dave says "has developed quite a track record in his short career") later apologized to everyone for what happened, but most of the ECW locker room wants him gone. Paul Heyman said he didn't want to screw up the show the next night because The Gangstas were in the main event, so New Jack hasn't been fired, at least not yet.
- Speaking of that main event, it's the show where Public Enemy and The Gangstas were supposed to have an actual street fight outside the arena, with the ring set up outside and everything. But the city wouldn't let them because they didn't have the necessary permits and there were complaints from people in the neighborhood about that match being advertised. So at the show, Heyman had to explain the situation and tell the fans that the match couldn't happen as advertised. Before the match, New Jack cut a promo saying WWF is afraid of them because they're run by a racist (making it clear he was referring to Bill Watts and not Vince), trashed WCW, and then went in on Jim Cornette by calling him a bunch of vulgar names. Dave says that, since the Gangstas might be getting fired from ECW any day now, it probably wasn't the best idea to burn bridges with every other promotion that might have ever considered giving him a regular job.
- Blue Panther and Fuerza Guerrera officially announced their new promotion, using the name PROMELL and announced many of the wrestlers who will be joining them. AAA was able to convince their biggest stars not to jump ship, although many considered it because everyone is upset about money lately.
- At the ECW show, Konnan wrestled Dudley Dudley, and the match was so bad that the crowd chanted "You both suck!" After the match, Konnan got on the mic and said that next time he comes to Philly, Paul Heyman better give him someone that knows how to wrestle. This got some heat backstage because most of those guys are friends with Dudley.
- Speaking of Dudleys, they introduced yet another Dudley this week. This one goes by the name Bubba Ray Dudley.
- Cactus Jack "did another of those best interviews in the history of pro wrestling" on the 10/3 episode of ECW (can't find it on YouTube but it's on the WWE Network on that episode and yup. It's incredible. If you've never watched Foley's promos during this time, you owe it to yourself to watch them. 20 years later and they still hold up as some of the best promos ever).
- Several checks to ECW wrestlers bounced this week. Paul Heyman said his car was broken into and his briefcase, which had his checkbook, was stolen and he had to close the account. Heyman has since contacted everyone and sent out new checks.
- Steve Austin has a meeting scheduled with Vince McMahon about possibly coming to WWF. He's also meeting with All Japan. If he ends up going to All Japan, he'll likely continue to work in ECW as well and will surely become their world champion as soon as he's healthy. If not, it's almost a certainty that he'll go to WWF because they'll pay more money and they're in need of heels that can work.
- Dave talks about the 10/9 episode of Nitro and just shits all over the booking and takes extra time to talk about the ridiculous promo Hogan cut. Hogan was booed out of the building but ignored it and talked about "the promoter in New York who's ego is bigger than the entire business" and a bunch of other wacky stuff.
- No change in Vader's situation. He's still suspended but not fired. WCW may be planning to bring him back in the future or possibly they're just trying to keep him away from WWF for as long as they can. Vader is saying his shoulder is badly injured and he needs surgery, which WCW would be on the hook for. For now, he is working as a volunteer assistant coach for the Colorado Buffaloes college football team.
- Al Snow will be coming in to WWF as a babyface and reportedly has a good gimmick lined up (not so much).
- Bill Watts has instituted a policy where guys on the big shows won't know the finish of their matches until the day of the show, so that word can't leak out. Dave calls it totally behind-the-times thinking and says not knowing the finish keeps guys from being able to better plan their matches in advance.
- At a WWF house show, they introduced a guy named Mark Henry, who is a weightlifter with Olympic aspirations. WWF is sponsoring him and brought him out to wave at the crowd. If he does well in the Olympics, don't be surprised if WWF brings him in and tries to make him a wrestler.
- Undertaker has been working with a foot injury and can barely walk, but he's working through it.
- There won't be a Fan Fest at this year's Wrestlemania. They got rid of it this year as a cost-cutting measure.