August 19, 1991
- The big story is the conclusion of the first ever G1 Climax Tournament in New Japan, which was won by Masa Chono, who defeated Keiji Mutoh (Great Muta in America). It capped off one of the most successful weeks of business for any company in pro wrestling history, grossing $4 million on just four shows in a week and the shows were a massive critical success as well, so much so that New Japan has already scheduled another tournament for next year (and that tournament continues to this day. The match below is a classic, that Meltzer gave ****½).
- WATCH: Masa Chono vs. Keiji Mutoh - G1 Climax Finals
- Despite already being hyped on TV, Flair hasn't officially signed with WWF and legally can't until Sept. 1st, but it's just a formality at this point. Flair will most likely debut a week later at the television tapings in Canada. As already stated, this whole thing is a major blow to WCW and reinforces the idea that they are just a triple-A feeder system for WWF. It has been 6 weeks since WCW fired Flair and there are still strong "We want Flair!" chants at every WCW show.
- Flair vs. Hogan is obviously the big money match, as they are the two biggest names of the modern era in American wrestling. The question is whether WWF will drag it out until a potential Wrestlemania main event or not. It's possible the fan interest will peak long before then and they may need to blow the feud off in October or November (or, yanno, just never do it at all).
- WBF held a press conference last week to make 3 announcements: they confirmed the signing of Lou Ferrigno, announced that there would be steroid testing, and that the next (and final, as it turns out) WBF championships would take place in June 1992.
- Vince also recently had a meeting with both bodybuilders and wrestlers, instructing them to get off steroids immediately because the company can't afford another PR nightmare. He told them testing would begin in late August or early September, however, no policy or plan seems to have been written yet. Vince pointed to Pee Wee Herman as an example of how parents don't forgive when someone marketed to their children is publicly exposed. Meanwhile, WCW has confirmed that they will not be doing steroid testing for now.
- This isn't really noteworthy to anyone other than me, but in USWA news, Jerry Lawler beat Leatherface in a hair vs. mask match by throwing a fireball at him, which actually set Leatherface's clothes on fire. This was the last USWA show my dad took me to as a kid and I vividly remember that. Also, apparently Sabu lost in the opening match to Brian Christopher. Who knew?! I apparently saw Sabu wrestle in 1991 and didn't even know it until now.
- WATCH: Jerry Lawler fireball compilation (Leatherface one is at the end)
- Texas All-Pro Wrestling had a show in Houston. Most of the talent are all young and very green, but there were a few standouts. Dave mentions that two of those standouts were G.I. Bro and Super Collider. Fun fact: those guys would later change their names a few times and are now better known as the 5-time, 5-time, 5-time, 5-time, 5-time WCW champion Booker T and his brother and tag team partner Stevie Ray.
- Tito Santana will be starting as The Matador soon.
- WWF has been running skits with Jake Roberts teaching Ultimate Warrior not to fear death by burying him alive and things like that. It will probably end with Roberts turning heel. (The video below is peak-WWF corniness and also features Warrior legitimately kicking the shit out of live snakes, which I'm sure PETA would have loved).
- WATCH: Jake Roberts deceives Ultimate Warrior
- Remember Bobby Heenan passing out on a plane and getting caught with drugs awhile back? The case has been settled, with Heenan agreeing to attend a drug program in exchange for dropping the charges. Heenan will do community service, drug rehab and drug education services and if he completes them, all charges will be dropped.
- Barry Darsow is changing his identity from Demolition Smash into The Repo Man.
- Variety magazine did a 22-page piece on WWF in it's recent issue that makes the Sports Illustrated story from a couple months ago seem like this newsletter by comparison.
- Diamond Dallas Page is no longer managing the Diamond Studd and will instead only be doing color commentary with Eric Bischoff on WCW Pro.
- I usually ignore the letters section, but one letter here is really funny. A guy attended a TWA show in Philadelphia and wrote a long letter complaining about the whole thing. The promotion seems to have no rules, the fans are blood-thirsty lowlifes, etc. etc. Definitely sounds, ahem, extreme to me!