landy1987

Ok here it is, Meltzer's WM3 review from the 4/6/87 Observer: To say anything but Sunday's WrestleMania show was the most impressive all-around wrestling production in history would be to deny the obvious. Everything about the show, from the hype, to the trappings, to the production of the live event itself exceeded anything we've ever seen from the business. The sellout of the Silverdome was proof of all that. I'm not going to go into attendance and money figures here because I should have a pretty complete estimate in next week's issue, but it certainly was--by a wide margin--the biggest grossing wrestling event in history, and it's a standard that will be very hard for Titan to top next year. Just a few random thoughts before running down the card itself; from the standpoint of the wrestling itself, the show was pretty good. Some were left on a bad note by the main event, which, in truth, was even worse than I expected. Even though the Andre-Hogan match was the draw, it was well known ahead of time it would be a stinker, and it succeeded in that regard. It was also easy to predict that Randy Savage and Ricky Steamboat would put on one heck of a show. Putting the Andre match on maybe in the 10th slot, and saving Piper and Savage for the final two positions would have sent the fans home on a happy note. Watching the show myself, I though it was entertaining (except for Savage, the best performer on the show may have been Jesse Ventura) but the main even left me on a sour note. 1. Rick Martel & Tom Zenk downed Bob Orton & Don Muraco in 5:38 when Martel pinned Muraco with a crossbody block as Muraco fell over Zenk. The heels always seemed a step or two too slow, and seemed to be holding the babyfaces back. But this match was all action and a good opener. My impression is Martel-Zenk have already started falling into the middle-of-the-card tag team category and if they don't give them the belts soon, they'll lose valuable momentum (it doesn't look like the title change is coming up that quickly, either). **1/2 2. Billy Jack Haynes went to a double count out with Hercules Hernandez in 7:49. The match started off at a good pace for four minutes. Hernandez really looks unhealthy and got a little tired at that point. They started working the full-nelson, which was heated as the key part of their feud. Both got it on before they fell outside the ring and Haynes kept it on while both were counted out. After the match, as Haynes was occupied by Bobby Heenan, Hercules jumped him with the chain and Haynes got some pretty good juice. Good match, but Hernandez is looking kind of stiff. **3/4 3. Hillbilly Jim & midgets Haiti Kid & Little Beaver downed King Kong Bundy & midgets Lord Littlebrook & Little Tokyo via disqualification in 4:21. Bundy bodyslammed and elbow dropped Beaver for the DQ, then the heel midgets also turned on Bundy. For what it was, it wasn't that bad. Neither of the big guys can wrestle, and two of the midgets or already eligible for social security (that's no exaggeration folks, they are in the Moolah age group). * (Only for the comedy) 4. Harley Race pinned Junkyard Dog (or Junkfood as Meltzer always calls him) in 3:22 with a belly-to-belly suplex when JYD was distracted by Bobby Heenan. Bye-bye Doggie. Fabulous Moolah replaced British pop star Samantha Fox in presenting the crown to the winner. Race took a few great bumps. Give him credit for doing the best possible with absolutely the second worst wrestler in the business. JYD has always been a bad wrestler but he is just a physical waste nowadays--totally unsalvageable. Whatever stars Race might deserve, the performance of JYD was enough to erase them. JYD hit Race with a chair afterward and stole Harley's robe. * 5. Greg Valentine & Brutus Beefcake downed Jacques & Raymond Rougeau. Dino Bravo looks terrible with bleached blond hair. Match only went 4:04. Beefcake accidentally hit Valentine, and then the Rougeaus did a fine maneuver where Ray held Greg while Jacques came off the top ropes with a Thesz press. As Ray covered Greg, Bravo interfered and kneedropped Ray and put Greg on top. Afterwards the heels walked out leaving Beefcake alone in the ring. Pretty much everything that happened was expected, but it looked weaker than I expected it to look. *1/2 6. Roddy Piper downed Adrian Adonis in the hair vs. hair match in 6:55. While short, this was very entertaining. Piper deserves a lot of credit for putting on a good show as less than two weeks before match-time, he electrocuted himself while touring the West Coast (I believe he touched a live wire in a hotel room while coming out of a shower). If Adonis isn't the greatest looking wrestler in history, he's surely in the top four or five, but he can still perform. They opened by trading whipping each other with Piper's belt. Jimmy Hart took a few tremendous falls. So did Adonis. The finish saw Hart trip Piper, then spray him with that blinding chemical composite known as the hideous H2O. Adonis put on the sleeper and was almost out when Amorphous Adrian let him go and turned his back on him. Brutus Beefcake (what a surprise) then revived Piper who put Adonis out with the sleeper and then Beefcake cut some of Adonis' hair. Word has it Adonis will return with a Brian Bosworth style hairdo in April. They brought some nice props (hedge trimmers) into the ring, but the hair shaver they used didn't work too well. ***1/2 7. Danny Davis & Bret Hart & Jim Neidhart downed Dynamite Kid & Davey Boy Smith & Tito Santana. It's very sad watching a guy who in his prime was as good a worker as this decade has seen reduced to being a virtual cripple, and even sadder a chemically-stuffed cripple. The heels really took it easy on Dynamite, which hurt the match since he was in for four minutes. After that it turned into a good match with Hart and Smith in particular looking sharp, though neither had any lengthy periods in. Davis wound up pinning Smith after hitting him with a megaphone, but not until after Smith had done some nice moves. Davis wasn't in much, but he seemed out of his league working with a super-talent like Smith. **3/4. Match lasted 8:51 8. Butch Reed pinned Koko B Ware in 3:29 by reversing a crossbody block into a pin. Koko showed nothing and Reed looked terrible. Match itself was a dud although the post-match stuff where Santana ripped up Slick's clothes was okay. I'm just saddened to see what injuries have done to these former super-talents. Bluntly, Reed stinks. 1/2* (Only for the post-match antics) 9. Ricky Steamboat pinned Randy Savage in 14:35 to win the Intercontinental title. It's been almost one year (a Savage vs. Santana MSG match last April) since I've seen a WWF match of the caliber of this one. In fact, this match was better than any match on Crockett's Starrcade show last Thanksgiving. Only criticism, which isn't of the match at all, but of Steamboat's interview which started things off silly. Tons of near falls on both sides, some exceptional spots and the match built up in excitement from the beginning. When he's on, Savage is one incredible talent--the equal of anyone in this business besides Flair. After a referee bump, Savage got a false finish pin using his elbow drop. When he went for a second one, George Steele pushed him off the top rope. Steamboat quickly cradled Savage to capture the title. Savage had the advantage the majority of the match. Both guys did an excellent job in making it so that even though Savage lost, he lost none of his steam because he appeared stronger throughout the match. ****1/2 10. Honkytonk Man pinned Jake Roberts in 7:02 with a poorly executed cradle from behind when Jake went after Jimmy Hart. Finish was messed up, and it appeared Alice Cooper kind of screwed up in the post-match antics. Jake was real good here and carried the way. Honkytonk is fun, but once the bell rings he ceases to be much. **1/2 11. Iron Sheik & Nikolai Volkoff downed B Brian Blair & Jim Brunzell via DQ in 5:45. Jim Duggan chased Volkoff early when he started singing with his 2X4. Finish saw Sheik have Brunzell in the camel clutch when Duggan ran in and hit Sheik with the 2X4 and do one of those xenophobic speeches. Duggan has been put in a tough position as he'll be in the key headline position this spring. Post-WM never draws well, and Duggan's foe is Sheik, whose drawing power burned out more than a year ago. It's going to be awfully easy for Duggan to not look good. Volkoff has nothing left, but Sheik did a few moves. Action was fine, although by this point in the show, nobody cared about it. *1/2 12. Hulk Hogan pinned Andre the Giant with a legdrop after a bodyslam in 12:00. This wasn't the worst match I ever saw, but it threatened to be at times. Hulk proved all his critics right--in that he simply can't carry a match. Andre was even worse than I expected. Now, I always heard that Gorilla Monsoon was a math teacher. Didn't he ever teach his son Joey (ref Joe Marella) how to count past nine because they were outside the ring for 90 seconds at one point and Marella never counted to 10. Everything done except the first non-slam and the final slam was poor. And little was done. -**** (that's negative four stars -- I'll have nightmares about this one--Andre just standing there not moving for minutes on end, nearly falling asleep while holding Hulk in a four minute bearhug). But who can complain--in one day this match did more business than every Buddy Rogers vs. Johnny Valentine, Pat Patterson vs. Ray Stevens, Lou Thesz vs. Karl Gotch, Ricky Steamboat vs. Ric Flair and Jack Brisco vs. Terry Funk match combined. And that's something to think about. Strictly from the wrestling standpoint, as big shows go, this doesn't rank near the top. Last year's WrestleMania, while not nearly as successful financially and in many ways a worse promotion (overuse of pseudo-celebrities, terrible commentary, usage of non-wrestlers in the ring) actually provided more good matches. The Bulldogs match with Valentine-Beefcake was almost as good as this shows Savage vs. Steamboat highlight. However the Funks match with Junkyard Dog & Santana was better than Piper-Adonis and Steamboat-Hernandez was also better than most anything else on the show. It really can't touch the Starrcade shows for action, except for possibly the '84 show. As for Texas Stadium's original show in 1984 with the Flair-Kerry Von Erich title change, while this show did not have the emotion, as a production it was infinitely better and the wrestling was much better as well.

Seen as though we've got a lot of WM3 discussion going on here, I'm currently typing up Meltzer's WM3 review to post here before I do anymore notes from earlier Observers

Here's the next set of notes: 2/9/87: News from the TV tapings on 1/26 and 1/27 for shows that will play the weekends of Feb. 7-14-21 with several major angles shot - in the big one, Bret Hart & Jim Neidhart won the tag straps from Dynamite Kid & Davey Boy Smith on the first hour of the Tampa taping. Dynamite, who has been in traction for the past month, was flown down and literally had to be carried, piggy-back, to the ring (I believe the camera started filming with Kid & Smith already at the ring). I believe he was knocked off the apron at the start and never got back up. Hey ended up pinning Davey Boy after the bearhug clothesline finisher although ref Danny Davis missed several of Smith's pin attempts while tending to Dynamite on the floor. Obviously Hart & Neidhart are just interim champs because Titan is going to put their eggs in the Rick Martel & Tom Zenk basket toward the end of March--maybe sooner. The Danny Davis heel referee skit came to its climatic end during that same taping. A ref was in the ring during a Tito Santana squash match. Davis then came out and tried to interject himself and WWF figurehead president Jack Tunney comes out and winds up firing Davis as an official. Later in the taping, I believe in the third hour, Hart & Neidhart are defending against the Islanders, when before the match; Jimmy Hart introduces Davis, in wrestling trunks, as the newest member of the Hart Foundation. Davis then gets involved in the outcome, pushing Tonga Kid (Tama) off the top ropes ala the Col. DeBeers-Jimmy Snuka angle and he crashed to the floor and lost the match. The Piper's Pits all revolved around building heat for the Andre the Giant-Hulk Hogan match at "Restholdmania III”. It's all official right now, Andre is a heel, advised by Heenan, and Hogan wound up accepting his challenge for the title match after an incident where Hogan bleeds. Probably the most significant news from the Titan side, however, is that after WrestleMania, Hulk Hogan will be working very few dates the remainder of the year. Seems Titan is coming out with a Hulk Hogan movie and the filming will leave his royal highness with very little time for wrestling. The fact they are doing a movie about this self-constructed legend should hopefully end all rumors of his dropping the strap this year. With Hogan on the shelf, for, the most part, Titan is going to have to put more emphasis on its other babyfaces, which means Jim Duggan is coming along at exactly the right time. Roddy Piper hasn't worked out (don't think for a moment that he's really going to retire); Ricky Steamboat is actually drawing very well right now against Randy Savage, but that's more because of the angle and obviously the Martel-Zenk dup is headed for a major push, but none are the big kick-ass types. Duggan has the type of character that can get over, although nobody is about to be able to draw the kind of crowds Hogan has been drawing. Speaking of Hogan, the Gold Bond Ice Cream Company, which does Oreo cookies and Eskimo Pies, will be coming out with a Hulk Hogan Superstar of Wrestling Bar in late March. Neidhart was indicted in the airline incident this past Thursday. He'll probably have to stand trial shortly after WrestleMania unless his plea bargains. Unless there is some sort of guarantee that Neidhart won't serve any time, you can be certain Hart & Neidhart will drop the straps to Martel & Zenk before the case comes up, which may mean they can't wait for the big show. So, about two months out, here is what WrestleMania appears to be boiling down to: Andre vs. Hogan, Savage vs. Steamboat, JYD vs. Race, Piper vs. Adonis, Hernandez vs. Haynes and Duggan vs. Kamala. Rumors still abound about Vince McMahon actually wrestling, but I won't believe it until it's confirmed. A Minneapolis TV station reported this past week that McMahon would wrestle Jesse Ventura on the big show… I believe a tag match will be either Martel-Zenk winning from the Hart Foundation--or something to the effect of the Bulldogs or Martel-Zenk teaming with Santana against Hart-Neidhart-Danny Davis. As mentioned here last week, the entire card will be held live at the Silverdome in Pontiac, Michigan, where Titan is hoping to set a North American attendance record (they've got 85,000 seats to fill). I'm not sure if they can draw more than 70,000 to break the record set in Toronto, although I'm certain they'll smash the Toronto gate record of $800,000 U.S. More news from the TV tapings--Barry Darsow (Krusher Krushchev) was in at the Florida tapings teaming with Bill Eadie (Masked Superstar) as the Demolition tag team, so apparently Randy Culley will go back to being a Moondoggie… The next tapings are 2/16 and 2/17 in New England. 2/17 is in Springfield, Mass. And I have no idea where the second one is. The following tapes will be 3/10 and 3/11 in Ohio--one of the tapes is in Columbus. The 1/19 show at MSG drew a whopping $265,440 gate for the Hogan-Kamala match…The New York State Athletic Commission has joined the Ontario SPCA in banning Jake Roberts' snake from the act… I'm still certain Jake will be turning babyface, just don't know how soon it will happen. He's working against heels as much as babyfaces these days anyway… 2/1 in Toronto drew 10,000 as Ricky Steamboat & George Steele downed Randy Savage & Honkytonk Man in the main event when Steamboat pinned Savage after a leap off the ropes… On 2/15 in Toronto, head-to-head with the NWA debut in Hamilton, they've got Piper's supposed final match ever in Toronto against Adonis, plus Steamboat vs. Savage, JYD vs. Race, Hart Foundation defends against Blair-Brunzell and prelims… I've come to the conclusion the reason Piper's matches aren't drawing has more to do with Piper's foes. Don Muraco and Bob Orton had no heat, and people simply don't want to see Adonis. Even the Hogan-Adonis matches drew relatively poor crowds, and if Hulk can't draw sellouts with someone, that same person surely can't draw anything headlining against the likes of Piper or Steamboat… 1/23 in San Francisco drew 7,500 ($95,000) where Savage beat Steamboat via DQ in 10:00, Jake Roberts double count-out Paul Orndorff in a very bad match, and Martel-Zenk beat Valentine-Beefcake in what was described as the worst final match on a Bay Area card since the now legendary Sgt. Slaughter-John Nord fiasco last year… 1/31 in St. Louis drew 6,271 ($56,000) which is pretty impressive since the Flair-Windham match the night before drew less than 2,000. Results saw Roberts beat Piper via count out when Adonis interfered, Steamboat DDQ Savage when Piper and Adonis both interfered, Martel-Zenk beat Valentine-beefcake in a good match; Santana drew Orndorff over 20:00 in a very good match plus prelims. Next show is 2/28 with the same 6 man elimination tag as in MSG plus Bundy vs. Kamala, Duggan vs. Sharpe, Haynes vs. Hernandez and Orton vs. Slater… Duggan debuts at the next TV tapings and will feud with Kamala and get a heavy push… Titan's advance for the 2/14 show at the Philadelphia Spectrum (Hogan vs. Kamala and Savage vs. Steamboat) passed $100,000 this weekend Crockett's advance for 2/21 in the same city is $36,000 as of this weekend… On Twin Cities TV when Hogan was welcoming his buddy Rheingans to the WWF, Hulk said something to the effect that Brad now no longer has to waste his time beating up wimps and that he (Hulk) had to run Brad's face in the mat to get his head on straight… Savage and Steamboat drew a $48,000 gate in Augusta, GA on 1/19 which is pretty impressive since that's a lot more than Crockett has been averaging at the Omni.

Here's the notes from the 2/2/87 issue (I don't have 1/19 and there was no issue 1/26 so there's more info in this issue - all credit to Dave Meltzer and the WO newsletter for all the info I've been typing up) 2/2/87: Jim Neidhart was arrested for allegedly slugging a stewardess on a Tampa to Pittsburgh flight on 1/15 and faces a hearing on 1/29. It was alleged that the wrestler punched a flight attendant 4 or 5 times on the arm when she demanded payment for the 2 beers she had served him. Neidhart missed his match on 1/15 in Struthers, Ohio but wrestled the next night in Pittsburgh after being freed on $10,000 unsecured bond. Neidhart is being charged with a felony and faces up to 20 years in prison and a $10,000 fine if convicted. The biggest news of this week is that apparently WrestleMania III will take place in one location--the Pontiac Silverdome in suburban Detroit. Apparently there are so many problems inherent in trying to run a card from three sites like last year, however it was the three live gates at last year's WrestleMania, which totaled $1.1 million that saved the show from being more of a holocaust than it was. However, the Silverdome holds a potential 85,000 fans for wrestling, which if filled to the brim, would mean a one-site gate in excess of $2 million. The site itself makes sense for several reasons--first off, many of the angles will be shot in Detroit on 2/21 at the SNME taping; second, Titan's hottest area for wrestling is Ontario--just across the border from Detroit, and with a Sunday afternoon card, people can come from a 250 mile radius and still make it hope before 9:30 p.m.; and third, behind held on the U.S. side of the border allows them to charge U.S. dollars for ticket prices, and enables Titan to avoid Canadian taxes, that $1.2 million gate for the Exhibition Stadium show in Toronto last August netted only $650,000 when crossing the border. Speaking of that Detroit NBC taping, scheduled for a 3/7 air date, the show will be headlined by a 20 man battle royal featuring both Hulk Hogan and Andre the Giant. It doesn't take a brain surgeon to figure this one out--the closest thing Hulk will do to a job would be to get thrown over the top, so I presume Andre and Hogan will be the final two and Andre will pearl-harbor Hulk to win the thing. Also on the card will be Randy Savage vs. George Steele with the winner to get Elizabeth (they are running that same match throughout the circus in February), Jake Roberts vs. King Kong Bundy, Ricky Steamboat vs. Iron Sheik, Bret Hart & Jim Neidhart vs. Mike Rotundo & Danny Spivey and Kamala vs. Corporal Kirchner. I'm told they are advertising this card heavy-duty in an attempt to sell out Joe Louis Arena, which holds in the 20,000 range, and I'm also told the card is a sure-fire sell out. In what could either be a big hype job, or a big story, but I'd bet on the former, Roddy Piper was quoted in the Toronto Sun on 1/24 as saying he will retire from wrestling after his match with Adrian Adonis at WrestleMania. It's a few months early for Piper's annual summer holdout, but at the same time, if Piper's trying to use leverage in getting more money, he's no longer hot enough to get away with it. Perhaps he realizes that and really will retire. He has been saying, ever since he was 25 that he’d retire at 35 but tons of wrestlers say that and never do. Perhaps it's just to build up the live gate for the 2/15 Toronto card, since the NWA is debuting that same night in nearby Hamilton with Ric Flair, and Titan has to rely on Piper vs. Adonis--which has proven to be a weak draw, on top. The 2/15 match is being heavily hyped as Piper's final live appearance in Toronto (one of the many Canadian towns he grew up in) before his retirement. Anyway, it looks like WM3 will go something like this: Andre vs. Hogan for the title (this one is for sure); Savage vs. Steamboat for the IC title (this one is also for sure; my guess is it will be in a cage); Hart Foundation vs. Martel & Zenk for the tag team title (this is planned like this, but a lot of variables--specifically how Neidhart does in court this week--may effect the decision to give Hart-Neidhart tag belts in the first place); Piper vs. Adonis (Roddy's last match supposedly); Billy Jack Haynes vs. Hercules Hernandez (possibly a chain match); Junkyard Dog vs. Harley Race and Butch Reed vs. Tito Santana. Danny Davis will fit in somewhere as he's been hyped too heavily over the past few months not to have a key role. I've heard, but haven't had it confirmed, that they will announce Davis' referees contract expires April 1 or something, so this would be his final match as a ref. According to the Cassandra report of 11/8, which rated all syndicated shows in the U.S, the highest rated wrestling show is WWF Superstars of Wrestling, with a 3.8 rating and a 13 share in 119 markets. That's 56th among all syndicated shows… The 8.5 or 9.9 or whatever national ratings that Titan is claiming in its press releases, which rank its shows among the top three in syndication, is actually the combination of ratings of all its shows in the different markets, which can be 3-6 shows per market. The recent NBC show indicates that the number of wrestling fans haven't dropped; it's simply TV over saturation which is grinding down the ratings of the individual shows... At the NATPE convention in New Orleans over the weekend - Titan was there with a wrestling ring, and several matches with Scott McGhee, J.J. Funk, the Gladiator (Ricky Hunter), Paul Roma, Terry Gibbs and Jerry Allen (Jerry Oski) participating. Gene Okerlund and Bobby Heenan were doing fall-by-fall over the loudspeaker during the matches, and I believe got on Entertainment Tonight as well. Hogan-Kamala continues to go great guns everywhere. Their 1/3 match in Oakland drew 15,534 fans and $179,128. The crowd was the largest to see pro wrestling in Northern California in 12 years while the gate is an all-time record high… 1/24 in Los Angeles drew a sell out 16,000 for the same match with a bloody Hogan winning via DQ… The movie "Bodyslam" with Roddy Piper and Tonga Kid in major roles is scheduled for a March release… 1/19 MSG drew its third consecutive full house (all three with Hogan on the card) with Hogan beating Kamala in a 7:00 marathon; after the match, Andre (who of course didn't wrestle on the card) suddenly shows up and grabs the title belt from ringside and he and Hulk have a stare down before he throws the belt at Hulk... They surely won't continue that sell out streak on 2/23 with a 6 man elimination tag match (Steamboat-JYD-Piper vs. Adonis-Savage-Race) on top, plus Jake the Snake vs. Bundy and Reed vs. Santana… As I write this they are doing TV tapes tomorrow night in Tampa (1/26) and the following night in St. Petersburg (actually Ft. Myers). The Florida office has a show in Tampa on 1/27 headlined by Kevin Sullivan vs. Bad News Allen, and considering Titan has Hogan vs. Kamala both nights, Florida will be lucky to draw 200 people. Jim Duggan will debut as a strong babyface type character. The hot rumor is that Dynamite Kid was to fly down for the taping and stand in the corner while Davey Boy Smith loses the tag title to Hart & Neidhart. However Neidhart's legal status makes that questionable… Titan has a tour of Australia coming in a few weeks and Andre will start wrestling there (since he hasn't worked in six months and is terribly out of shape). Owen Hart will also be on the tour, but under another name (the tour actually ended up being canceled at the last minute). 1/24 in Detroit drew 8,000 as Savage beat Steamboat via DQ and Smith-Roddy Piper beat Hart-Neidhart with Danny Davis as referee… 1/18 in Miami drew 5,267 as Hogan beat Kamala, Ware beat Orndorff via DQ and Martel-Zenk beat Valentine-Beefcake… 1/19 in Lincoln, NE before 4,332 had Santana beat Reed in a terrible cage match… 1/11 in Nashville drew 4,460 as Iron Sheik won a Bunkhouse battle royal, and Piper pinned Adonis… 1/17 in Rochester drew 5,200 for a Bunkhouse won by Hernandez (although Mulligan was supposed to win, the ring announcer did a royal screw up)… 1/16 in Pittsburgh drew 8,012 and $72, 942.50 for Savage-Steamboat… 1.17 in Greenburg, PA drew 1,200 as Islanders DDQ Raymond Rougeau-Sivi Afi, Bravo and Slater went to a 20:00 draw which lasted 11:45 (Johnny Valiant told the ref to cheat on the time because he had a girl waiting for him) and Haynes pinned Hernandez. Tom Magee and Outhouse Jack worked the undercard. Outhouse was described to me as someone who will be as popular as JYD or Hillbilly Jim, with about the same ability… According to Advertising Age of what's "in" and "out" for 1987, Hulk Hogan is "out".

Why are you looking on there then?

1/12/87: The latest on the Dynamite Kid is that he's been released from the hospital and will remain at home in Calgary, in traction for about five more weeks. Although, as we've mentioned before, doctors have advised him to give up pro-wrestling, we expect him back in action around mid-February. At the same time, Titan has decided to take the dishonest approach, plugging (and plugging had I might add) title defenses for the British Bulldogs throughout North America this month… Anyway, as the folks in Titan joke, the fans will be getting two-thirds of the Bulldogs throughout this month (Davey Boy Smith & Matilda). I wonder if Matilda is getting $5,000 per week, then, if she's an equally important part of the act. What is scary is that someone mentioned if they used Junkyard Dog as a replacement for Dynamite, that Matilda would actually be able to do the second best high spots on the team as well. The only speculation I've heard is they may bring in Johnny Smith from Calgary to team with Davey Boy while Dynamite is recuperating. Titan ran its most recent SNME on 1/3 (taped 12/14 in Hartford, CT). The show pretty well left me cold, although there is no denying how impressive technically the thing is. Randy Savage did a tremendous job carrying George Steele (that bump he took over the ropes onto the ring steps was incredible). Adrian Adonis, for a 330-pounder, still can do some impressive things in the ring, although the 3-minute match showed his endurance isn't impressive. I really felt sorry for Paul Orndorff, because every time he threw a punch, I could see just how devastating his nerve damage is. Roddy Piper's timing looked really off, while Blackjack Mulligan is completely out of shape. Words can't describe how ridiculous Harley Race has become and how bad his match with Junkyard Dog was. By the way, as folks in the TV industry have told me, what looked like amazing timing (with the "tie" getting to the bottom between Hogan and Orndorff in the cage match) was simply a matter of editing tricks… My guess is the "tie" gives them an out, just in case Andre the Giant's physical condition isn't good enough for him to work against Hulk Hogan at WrestleMania III (or "Restholdmania III" as Meltzer puts it). By the way, while they do now have an out (holding up the title because of the tie, then running them again for the held up belt at the big show), its about 97% certain it's going to be Andre and Hogan. Crockett has a 1/10 card in Philadelphia with a $117,500 advance (as of 1/3)--or about 6,100 tickets sold and will probably sellout at the Civic Center. Surprisingly, Titan, with Ricky Steamboat vs. Randy Savage, will also do well as they've sold 7,000 advance for the same night at the Philadelphia Spectrum ($75,000). As you can see, the first-run Steamboat-Savage matches look like they'll do good business while Hulk Hogan vs. Kamala continues to pack them in for 5-6 minute bouts. The TV tapings take place 1/5 in the Meadowlands which has been as heavily promoted as any card in the New York area since WrestleMania in quest of a good crowd (last show there, headlined by Hogan vs. Savage, drew less than 8,000). The 1/6 tapings in Hershey, PA will sell out mainly because they added a Hogan vs. Hercules Hernandez match to the original Steamboat-Savage main event… The word is that Ken Patera (who is I'm told looking in great condition) will join Titan around March… Scott McGhee is back working full-time while Jack Kruger (former Sheik Abdullah in the Central States) and Stoney Burke are also getting full-time jobber work… 12/29 at the Nassau Coliseum drew 7,000 as Iron Sheik double count out Dick Slater, Roddy Piper DDQ Adrian Adonis (excellent match), and Blackjack mulligan won the bunkhouse battle royal (he gets to win everyone of them--by the way I'm told the bunkhouses are awful)… 1/1 in Long Beach drew 2,500 as Randy Savage beat Jake Roberts in a cage match, while 1/2 in Santa Barbara drew 1,500 as Santana pinned Harley Race…The 12/26 MSG show did sell out, however there were about 2,100 free tickets given out… 12/30 in Providence had Hogan beat Jake Roberts via count-out after Hogan threw powder in Jake's eyes… 12/30 in Columbus before a sell out of 8,000 ($73,000) saw Mulligan win the bunkhouse, Piper pin Adonis and tons of worthless prelims… I was mistaken last week when I said Steamboat-Savage headline 12/25 in Detroit. They did wrestle 12/26 in Lansing going to the same finish before 2,500… Bruno Sammartino did make at least one match with Randy Savage, on 12/30 in Baltimore which drew 8,000 fans and $93,000 The only other Sammartino-Savage match I had heard about was 1/3 in Boston, and I'm not sure whether they replaced Bruno with Steamboat or not, but probably not as Bruno was always a big draw in Boston… Jesse Ventura has been filming a second movie with Arnold Schwarzenegger in Hollywood called "Running Man." The first, "Predator," will be out later this year… Sammartino did wrestle 1/3 in Boston losing via count-out to Savage on a card with a Bunkhouse battle royal... Titan canceled 12/29 in Kansas City (Steamboat-Savage) due to a poor advance. I don't have the next two issues so the next one will be 2/2/87, which is the first announcement of the Silverdome location

Here's 1/5/87, and that's all for today, I'll try and do some more tomorrow: 1/5/87: In updating the biggest story of the past few weeks, Titan is using those reprehensible Gagne-like tactics by billing Dynamite Kid to appear in arenas throughout the country starting this week. Nice business practices, guys. The last word I've got on Dynamite is that he'll be in traction, recovering from disc surgery, through about 2/10. Being the crazy and dangerously determined individual he is, Dynamite is talking about returning to the ring right around 2/11 or so. His determination to return to action faster than Joe Montana is such that Titan's plans for holding a tag team tournament have been scrapped. They're going to wait for Dynamite to return, unless the doctors chain him to his hospital bed through March, when WrestleMania comes around. Speaking of WrestleMania, last week we reported the main event would be Andre the Giant against Hulk Hogan. It probably will be, however Andre's physical condition makes that something less than a certainty. It seems Andre's bad back has been causing so many problems that there is concern he'll never be able to make a comeback. Andre hasn't wrestled since leaving for England to make that movie about 4 months ago, leaving a rotten Machine angle in his wake. His scheduled return, in Japan, had to be scrapped because of the back problems, more than anything else. In fact, it was reported in Japan, Andre's back was so bad his career in Japan is history. It is said Andre needs to wear a back brace at all times, just to move around. Andre has been pulled from all bookings for another month, and if he can't return by mid-February to shoot the turn heel and jump Hogan angle, an alternate main event will have to be considered. I'm going to be surprised if they can pull WM off this year, and without an Andre-Hogan match, I can't think of a main event strong enough to carry the load. Thus far the Ricky Steamboat-Randy Savage grudge matches seems to be doing well, but not exceptional. The first match in Detroit on 12/25 drew 8,500 and on 12/27 in St. Louis drew 4,000. The matches themselves are wild and out of control brawls (as out of control as anything can be here) which apparently are to set up return bouts. While the first matches will probably draw decent everywhere (keep in mind, Christmas inflates crowds so these may not be a proper indication), it's still very questionable if they can keep it up for a series of three bouts in the major cities and still have heat left for the climatic match at WrestleMania… Hulk Hogan and Kamala headline to a $249,000 gate on 12/26 at MSG (about 2,000 shy of a sellout) in a wild but short brawl ending with Kamala DQ'd for the Wizard Iaukea's interference and Hulk taking a pounding with everyone including Vince McMahon involved in breaking up the post-match brawl. 1/19 at MSG will have Hulk vs. Kamala in a No DQ match which will set up a February cage match… 12/27 in St. Louis drew a $37,000 gate as Steamboat beat Savage via count out in 8:00 of a brawl which contained no wrestling moves at all but they fought all over the arena, Billy Jack Haynes pinned Don Muraco, the Fabulous Moolah beat Leilani Kai (after seeing Leilani in Japan, that is simply pitiful), Jake Roberts pinned Koko B. Ware in a great match with no heat and Honkytonk Man beat Junkyard Dog via blood in one of the worst matches of the year. JYD tapped Honky with a chair and had a very small cut on his head and the ref stopped it and awarded it to Honky via blood… 1/31 they return with Savage vs. Steamboat, Roberts vs. Roddy Piper and Martel-Zenk vs. Valentine-Beefcake… 12/28 in Toronto drew a legit sellout of 18,000 as the Hulk-Kamala no DQ battle (keep this description in mind for future no DQ matches around the horn) ended when Hulk threw powder in Kamala's eyes and jumped out of the ring and started beating up Curtis (the Wizard) and Steve Lombardi (Kimchee) (Curtis sliced and diced his forehead--something he's obviously not shy about) and getting counted out of the ring, also Bret Hart-Jim Neidhart beat the Rougeau Brothers, Mulligan pinned Volkoff in five seconds and a bunch of prelims. 1/11 has the Hogan-Kamala cage match, British Bulldogs vs. Hart Foundation for the tag team belts (right), Scott McGhee returns against Dino Bravo, Honkytonk vs. Steele, Bundy vs. Jake the Snake and Muraco vs. Ware. Hogan and Kamala also drew 15,000 fans on 12/27 in Chicago--slightly more than Crockett drew two weeks ago for his Bunkhouse Stampede. Roddy Piper missed his main event on 12/4 in Fresno against Randy Savage and was also a no-show for a scheduled court appearance that same day in connection with his high-speed chase with police and subsequent car accident. I guess the string Titan pulled to let Roddy back in town weren't important enough… Apparently Paul Orndorff's shoulder problems are more serious than we are being let on to believe. Orndorff's nerve endings in the shoulder are dead and he's been told by doctors to quit wrestling, but he'll continue although he's had to miss several bookings because of it… Then night after Dynamite Kid's back went out he was scheduled for a show in Milwaukee. Guess who teamed with Davey Boy Smith on 12/14. The one--the only--the Crusher. What makes this kind of funny is Crusher's son Larry Lisowski is the AWA promoter in Milwaukee.

How and when did Randy Savage join the nWo in 1997? And if it was on a Nitro does anyone have the exact date? Thanks

I'm pretty sure the match was a dark match, as I know they did that finish on house shows a lot but I don't ever remember seeing that match ever airing on TV. To this day I don't know why Luger-Hart wasn't the KOTR final in 1993. That match never aired on TV - it was on the Bret Hitman Hart - His Greatest Matches Coliseum Video. And I just watched a match today from the 4/8/93 Paris, France show (it was released on video in France and shown on TV there) and on there is a match between Luger and Mr. Perfect and get this - Perfect pins Luger! What happened was Luger did a back suplex into a bridge but Perfect lifted his shoulder up so Luger's shoulders were down for the full 3 count. (Cawthon's site doesn't list this yet - its listed there as Perfect winning on a reverse decision which is wrong so I'll make sure he changes it later)

Is there a documentary section to the DVD or is it just a bunch of matches. As if there is a documentary, they might go over all the other title changes that have happened and other important matches for the title

Full details of the McMahon DVD have been released today by BBFC (who classify DVDs in Europe) - there's some interesting extras. The full list is on this link http://www.bbfc.co.uk/website/Classified.n...88?OpenDocument

Just looking on Silvervision.co.uk and they have Vengeance as a 2-disc set with a lot of extras, I don't know if the U.S version is the same but I would guess so: http://www.silvervision.co.uk/product.asp?pf_id=WWE1141

Edited post as videos were removed

Ultimate Warrior vs. Rick Rude in Milan, Italy (4/10/89) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=txlUj-kQe5g

I'm still waiting for Mr. Fuji to be inducted

Yes... I took those screenshots

And where else have you heard her woof before to know its the same? And another thing why of all people would they get Linda to do this segment, when they could get practically anybody else to do it?

Huh? Explain please. During the initial Million Dollar Man push, DiBiase made a fan bark like a dog on the interview platform that aired on SS/Challenge. That fan was Linda McMahon. Ok they have Linda barking like a dog and then you have Vince making Trish bark like a dog. I really don't want to know what goes on in their bedroom. I've mentioned this else where but I really don't think its Linda...

I dont think he brought the urn, did he?

I think when Crush first came in, they were still faces, then on a Brother Love segment one time the attacked the Hart Foundation, who were wanting to know when they were going to get their Tag Title match. Remember, it was announced during WMVI that they had challenged the winners of the Demolition/Colossal Connection match

Well they obviously thought a lot of Busick, he lost to the Brooklyn Brawler on TV (sure it was by DQ or count-out, but he still LOST to the Brooklyn Brawler)

Silvervision now have it on their website with the front cover. If only they had used a polka dots pic of Dusty, then this set would sell a lot more copies...

Demento was actually around for quite a while, debuting in 10/92 at the TV taping where Bret won the title, and then was still around until September 93, jobbing to likes of Razor Ramon or Men on a Mission in tag matches

I'm not starting a new thread so I'll post this in here: From Meltzer's update: Is this good or bad?

I don't think there is any