September 01, 1997
- Arn Anderson announced his retirement this week on Nitro due to neck injuries. Most people within WCW had assumed for months that Anderson was probably done after the major surgery he had earlier this year. Anderson received a monstrous ovation from the crowd while Flair struggled to hold back tears. Dave recaps Arn's career, talking about how he never really had the traditional wrestler look, especially for someone who's prime was in the 80s, but he managed to get over everywhere he went through charisma, ability, and hard work. Covers his career with the Four Horsemen, his short stint in WWF, the stabbing incident with Sid, etc. Dave says people in WCW have known for awhile that his in-ring career was over and have thrown out ideas such as making him an announcer or maybe the manager of the Four Horsemen, but WCW higher ups always nixed the ideas. Anderson has been working behind the scenes for the last few months helping with booking. And then Dave adds this little bit on the end of the story: "He (Anderson) wasn't supposed to steal the show on Nitro on 8/25. That was for today's glamour boys who are just toooo sweet. But unlike the glamour boys from ten years earlier in the same position, this time Arn Anderson won't be still around in a prominent role while they become "Whatever happened to?" trivia questions."
- With Raw pre-empted due to tennis, Nitro did its highest ratings ever, the largest audience to ever watch a wrestling show on cable. Dave explains all the numbers and how the ratings compare to other previous big shows in the 80s and how, with so many more people having cable TV now, the ratings numbers could seem misleading. For instance, the 1985 MTV show with Hogan vs. Piper did a 9.1 rating but far less people had cable back then and the rating is based on percentage of available homes and yada yada. So Nitro doing a 4.9 rating now still means that more people watched Nitro because more people have cable now than they did 12 years ago.
- The latest on Steve Austin's neck injury is he's expected to be out for at least 2 months. He suffered a bruised spine but also had lingering wear-and-tear neck issues anyway. The overall result is that he has nonstop tingling in his shoulders right now. The first doctor he saw told him to retire immediately or he risked paralysis. The most recent doctor basically told him to take 2 months off, do some rehab, and they'd reevaluate then. So for now, Austin is likely going to have to forfeit both the IC title and tag title belt he holds with Dude Love but as of press time, no decision has been made of how to do that. The plan appears to be wait a couple of weeks and see how Austin is progressing before they decide what to do. Austin was also scheduled to face Bret Hart for the WWF title at the One Night Only PPV in the UK later this month but that has been changed to Hart vs. Undertaker (speaking of, Taker was supposed to face Ahmed Johnson but that match was scrapped also due to Johnson's knee injury). Austin's injury has scared a lot of wrestlers in both WWF and WCW due to how the American style of wrestling seems to becoming harder hitting and faster paced. Injuries have skyrocketed in recent years and Austin's injury really spooked people because it was visually scary to watch and it happened on a high profile PPV to arguably the hottest wrestler in the business right now. And it was made even worse because Owen Hart is considered one of the safest workers to wrestle so if even he can make a mistake like that, anyone can.
- The future of All Japan Women's promotion is in question with rumors that the company is close to bankruptcy. AJW is the 3rd oldest promotion in the world (formed in 1968). Talent and office staff reportedly haven't been paid since March, which is why many of their top stars and office staff have quit recently. Also, the long-time headquarters of the promotion is now up for sale and the 4 brothers who own the company have all sold their houses and moved into small apartments to help keep the company going. It's believed the brothers' other outside business interests have cost them a lot of money and AJW has become a money-loser as the popularity has faded. Dave recaps the history of AJW, their boom years in the 80s and all that fun stuff. But all those big stars of the 80s have moved on and the stars of the early 90s are getting older and slowing down and there's just not any new talent coming along to replace them. As of 2 years ago, they were still doing strong business, but it's fallen off a cliff recently. At their show last week, top star Kyoko Inoue announced she was leaving the company after finishing up her commitments. No one was aware she was going to make the announcement and she also holds the title right now. So everyone was really upset about it. Dave also says it upset her longtime rival Manami Toyota. She says Inoue and Toyota have an in-and-out of the ring rivalry similar to Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels, where they genuinely don't get along in the ring or behind the scenes and are the two top stars of the promotion. Aja Kong wrestled her last match for AJW on the same show.
- Time to announce the newest inductees into this year's Observer Hall of Fame. Before doing so, Dave talks about the trouble with doing a Hall of Fame (people always throwing a fit because so-and-so hasn't been inducted yet) and then talks about the difficulties in deciding criteria. Do you count titles? Some of the greatest ever never held many titles. Others held hundreds of titles due to having the right political connections. Sometimes the best workers never really reached stardom, while others were awful but became superstars because they were in the right place at the right time or had the right friends. Some are nice guys, some are the worst con-men ever. Some might have been the best worker in the world 50 years ago but by today's standards, might not even be considered average. Point being, comparisons and specific criteria is hard because it's an evolving business and there are a million variables and all the stats are worked so how do you decide who's truly worthy? Anyway, the basic criteria for WON HOF induction: overall star power, being a great worker or top draw within their era, historical significance, etc. "The people on this list should be unquestioned superstars, not just major stars." These criteria are all pretty abstract and open for debate, of course. The only criteria not up for debate is that they are at least 35 years old or have been active as a pro wrestler for at least 15 years. And finally, the inductees are voted on by people within the industry (other wrestlers or notable names within the business), wrestling journalists and historians, and Dave himself, all voting by secret ballot.
- This year's inductees: Édouard Carpentier, Toshiaki Kawada, Jimmy Lennon, William Muldoon, Chigusa Nagayo, and El Hijo del Santo. Dave gives each one a quick career recap and explains who they are and why they are worthy. Wikipedia is your friend here.
- WCW's most recent Clash of the Champions is in the books and it may turn out to be the last. The future of the Clash of the Champions shows is unknown now that TBS is adding a new weekly WCW show on Thursday. If this does turn out to be the final Clash (it was), it will be remembered for having one of those unfortunately screwed up angles that only seems to happen at Clashes (ala Shockmaster). The show was supposed to end with Sting in the rafters with a trained buzzard that had a note attached to his foot saying that he wanted "Hogan's soul." When the lights went out, the buzzard was supposed to fly to the ring with the note. But evidently during flight, the note fell off and the buzzard just sat there on the ropes while the NWO guys tried not to laugh and tried to kill time since there were several minutes left and nothing to do but have a stare-down with this bird while looking around for the note. Dave says even if the angle had gone off as planned, it would have been stupid.
- Other notes from the Clash: It drew a somewhat disappointing crowd, but did a good rating. But in a world where we get 2 and sometimes 3 hour Nitros every week full of big angles, it wasn't anything special. Steve McMichael and Alex Wright won the US and TV titles respectively. Raven and Stevie Richards had a bad match that looked like amateurs backyard wrestling. Eddie Guerrero showed up looking more ripped than he ever has before and Dave heavily implies that Eddie is on steroids without actually saying it. And there were stupid skits the TBS' Dinner & A Movie hosts which ended with DDP giving one of them a diamond cutter.
- At a WWC show in Puerto Rico, the fans started throwing chairs in the ring during a barbed wire match. With the guys basically trapped in the ring, over 200 chairs were thrown before what little security there was finally managed to quell the disturbance before a riot broke out. No wrestlers were injured, but a 12-year-old kid was hit with a chair and busted open. After the next match, the fans started nearly rioting again and police were called and over 50 of them showed up to calm things down before the show continued. At another show the next night, some government officials showed up and confiscated $18,000 in ticket money because Carlos Colon apparently owed the government that much in back taxes.
- Despite Eric Bischoff trying to make peace, EMLL's Paco Alonso and Promo Azteca's Konnan continue to be at war. Alonso has been trying to get indie promoters to no longer book Promo Azteca stars on their shows, saying he won't let any of his talent to work shows where Promo Azteca stars are booked. Also, Konnan had a hearing last week over his repeated fights with fans, with them attempting to have Konnan deported (he's originally from Cuba) but he only got a $1,000 fine and gets to stay in Mexico. And in the midst of all this, AAA's Antonio Pena has quietly filed trademarks on the names, costumes, and gimmicks of Juventud Guerrera and Psicosis, claiming he owns them and trying to force both men to not be able to use their names and outfits elsewhere (WCW).
- More on the death last week of Japanese women's wrestler Plum Mariko, who died in the ring. It appears the injuries she suffered were before the match and didn't really have anything to do with the moves she took in that match. She had a fractured skull, brain hemorrhage, aneurysm, and was believed to be suffering from post-concussion syndrome all before she even went into the ring. She died the next day on the operating table.
- Nobuhiko Takada's match against Rickson Gracie is apparently back on and will take place in October. It's believed the show will probably bomb financially and the behind the scenes of getting this fight to happen is reportedly a total disorganized mess (and thus, Pride was born).
- This week's USWA show will be the last time it airs live on Saturday mornings in Memphis. They'll still tape the show on Saturday mornings, but it will be aired at midnight. Jerry Lawler cut a promo telling fans about the time change and blamed it on Bill Clinton and Al Gore, saying they're trying to tell people how to run their families and are pushing for more educational programming on Saturday mornings, so wrestling has to move to a late night time slot.
- Indie wrestler Jeep Swenson passed away this week from a massive heart attack at age 40. He wrestled a PPV match for WCW as part of the 3-level cage 8-vs-2 cage match of the Dungeon of Doom vs. Hogan and Savage at Uncensored 96. He was originally called The Final Solution before somebody informed WCW that it was probably a bad idea to use that name. He was then renamed the Ultimate Solution. He also had a role as Bane in the recently released Batman & Robin movie.
- ECW seems to be doing an ECW vs. WWF angle, but without any real input from WWF. Sabu and RVD had been beating guys and then draping a WWF banner over them. Paul Heyman cut promos trashing McMahon. Aldo Montoya showed up and said McMahon made him look like shit, then took his jockstrap mask off and threw it in the crowd. The fans chanted "You still suck" at him.
- New Jack did another crazy dive off the balcony at an ECW show and tried to land on his feet and ended up blowing out his knee.
- ECW tried to get Sid to appear at the Hardcore Heaven PPV but he turned them down due to his neck injuries. He had successful neck surgery right before the PPV and is still talking about suing WWF over his termination.
- Dave says Shane Douglas needs a new finisher. It's 1997 and nobody is buying a regular ol' belly-to-belly suplex as a legit finisher nowadays. YOU HEAR THAT, BAYLEY?!
- WCW has been doing an angle where Curt Hennig may or may not join the Four Horsemen. The idea all along has been for Hennig to eventually turn on Flair, and it was supposed to happen on Nitro a few weeks ago, then at the Clash this week, but both times, they scrapped it. Hennig is still expected to turn on Flair soon, but it's not known when (Fall Brawl. And I guess this part was written before Dave saw the Nitro where Hennig officially took Anderson's place in the group).
- Steven Regal was charged with a misdemeanor over the airplane incident a few weeks ago. It appears Regal urinated on a flight attendant, which is what led to the emergency landing in Anchorage where Regal, Scott Norton, and Marcus Bagwell were all kicked off the plane and Regal arrested. Word is Regal won't be deported but he may not be allowed to fly for a year, which would obviously hinder his job in WCW. So his status is still...wait for it...up in the air ("pardon the pun", Dad Dave adds).
- Rick Martel had an interview with WCW this week and at 41 is reportedly still in great shape. He wants to come in as a tag team with Winnipeg wrestler Don Callis, "a Howard Stern lookalike who does really good interviews."
- Meetings were held with WCW and Turner execs about the new Thursday show. Nothing was really decided but word is TBS made it clear that the show has to be as good as Nitro. They're paying big money for it and they don't want a second-rate throwaway show. Since he's being forced to do it, Eric Bischoff is pushing to make Nitro the NWO show and make Thursday a WCW show and make it seem like a promotional war between the two. Dave thinks that's a risky idea.
- WWF taped 2 weeks of Raw and 3 weeks of Shotgun all in one long 6-hour sitting and almost all the matches ended in cheap DQ finishes. Reports from people there said it was basically the worst shows ever.
- Ahmed Johnson was on a local sports talk show in Houston and ripped into Hogan ("a has been") and WCW's use of sports stars like Steve McMichael, Kevin Green, and Dennis Rodman, saying they were all no talents and shouldn't be in the ring. He said WCW has no dedication to the business and only got successful by stealing stars from WWF.