Observers from 1990

[Guest EdwardKnoxII]

On one of the delphi wrestling forums a guy posted a bunch of old Observers he has from 1990 and they are a interesting read seeing what the plans were at the time and then seeing what did go down. So, I decided to post some of them here. Tell me what you think.

 

 

January 8, 1990

Titan Sports is battling with PPV syndicators Request TV and Viewers Choice. The plot thickens due to antics on the Titan PPV event this past Wednesday night. Titan is acknowleding that there are problems, since on the No Holds Barred PPV show, during Hulk Hogan's interview, Gene Okerlund read a "telegram" which stated that several cable companies wouldn't be carrying Royal Rumble. Several times during the match and also throughout the weekend syndicated shows, the announcers kept urging fans to call and write your cable company. They even went so far as to have Jesse Ventura talk about how he fought to defend this country and how it's unAmerican for the cable companies to not allow people the freedom to buy the PPV of their choice.

 

A few thoughts on this issue. There is the obvious hypocrisy of Titan using the term unconstitutional to begin with when it has tried to control the environment at its house shows and the flow of information regarding pro wrestling, not to mention trying to keep competition off television, off PPV, and out of major buildings. It's simply a business issue. Titan feels it doesn't need Viewers Choice and Request to syndicate the PPVs and whatever help they may be isn't worth the percentage of PPV revenue (10%) they derive from the events.

 

The 12/27 PPV was a showing of the movie No Holds Barred plus a taped cage match with Hulk Hogan & Brutus Beefcake vs. Zeus & Randy Savage. Considering who was involved, the cage match was said to be good, mainly because Savage had Terry Funk's working boots on that night, so to speak. The one thought I came out of this was that since they did finish Zeus off for good with this match, it would have done more money as a singles, but the reason it was made a tag and Savage put in was to make it watchable.

 

Next on the agenda is the Wrestlemania ancitipation. Most everyone, with Zeus out of the picture, is talking about Hogan vs. Anabolic Warrior [JS: this is Warrior's name in the early years because Dave is sassy] as headliner. The other matchup there is talk about is Hogan vs. Roddy Piper, with Piper being taken off of Prime Time Wrestling after the Christmas show to go heel with him with Bobby Heenan. But the Warrior thing looks most likely.

 

An interesting WWF about-face occurred this past week regarding its policy on title switches. The tag title change with Andre & Haku beating Demolition (taped 12/13) aired on television over this past weekend. The interesting thing was that when Titan came back from Christmas break on 12/26, Andre & Haku wore the belts and were announced as champions at all the house shows prior to the change airing on television. The reason for this change in policy was due to inside company reaction to an article in the Detroit newspaper reporting on Tully Blanchard & Arn Anderson dropping the straps to Demolition but a few weeks later were still "defending" them. The policy has been changed to keep more people than usual from making fun of them.

 

Lots of Hulk Hogan news and rumors. The trial in the lawsuit by comedian Richard Belzer was to start on 1/2 in New York. Belzer is suing Hogan for $5 million stemming from an incident that occurred just a few days prior to the first Wrestlemania. The lawsuit was settled out of court just as it was about to go to trial. Terms were not released but it was a very healthy settlement for Belzer. Bottom line is that McMahon didn't want the press scrutinizing Hogan closely, which is what would've happened had they gone to trial.

 

It was reported on a Washington DC television station two weeks back that Hogan would retire from wrestling and work for Disney (which has been one of those underground rumors with no substantiation for several weeks now) after the Feb. 23 NBC special. I expect Hogan retirement rumors to spread until the day he retires. Disney has been interested in Hogan as a character in movies ever snce success with kids in "No Holds Barred."

 

Pro wrestlers Kendall Windham and his father Robert Windham (Blackjack Mulligan) were arrested on Dec. 26 on charges of trying to pass counterfeit $20 bills. Barry Windham posted bail for them. Windham (Widow Maker) no-showed all his WWF dates this past week once again, but is still being billed for every night, including the Royal Rumble.

 

Mr. Perfect and Hulk Hogan are headlining the A-shows, said to be great one man shows by Hennig with one unique bump after another. Rick Rude and Roddy Piper are headlining the B-shows and getting good reviews. But little else over * and several in the negatives.

 

Akio Sato & Pat Tanaka are headed to WWF as a Japanese heel team. NWA wanted Tanaka to join Muta & Dragon Master & Buzz Sawyer, but WWF got him first. Nobody believes the WWF was interested in Tanaka for any reason other than to make NWA miserable.

 

Rock & Roll Express and Mean Mark Calloway debuted for NWA at a TV taping. Calloway will probably become the newest member of the Skyscrapers as he was teaming with Danny Spivey and accompanied by Teddy Long. Arn Anderson won the TV title from the Great Muta at the card in a ***1/2 match.

 

Jorge Gonzalez, the 7'6 Argentinian basketball player will be introduced at the Clash in February and debut on the 2/25 PPV in Greensboro. Flair will defend against Sting at that show, but no idea what is going to happen since Jim Herd wants the belt to go to Luger.

 

Missy Hyatt wasn't in Gainesville doing commentary and she's not going to be on NWA Main Event either. The official company line is that they are waiting for her speech teacher to give them the okay once she loses all trace of a southern accent.

 

Cactus Jack Manson was back in action at the TV tapings after his auto accident and he's looking good with that elbow out of the ring move, which just begs for hip surgery down the road.

[Guest EdwardKnoxII]

January 15, 1990

It's a virtual lock that the main event for Wrestlemania VI on April 1st from the Sky Dome in Toronto will be Hulk Hogan vs. the Anabolic Warrior. I suspect that a small angle will be shot at the Royal Rumble.

 

It's most likely that the end result would be a Warrior heel turn. WWF booking is generally patterned and predictable, and this seems to be following the same patern of turns of Pual Orndorff, Andre the Giant, and Randy Savage, all of which drew millions of dollars at the box office. Warrior is different from the others because he rivals Hogan in popularity. While not in his league as a drawing card, he's actually more popular with children. A turn would work, but it's in Titan's best interest in the long run to keep Warrior as a "superman" face. A heel turn would cut into his drawing power a great deal, and Titan doesn't have anyone besides Hogan and Warrior (and to a lesser extent, Piper) who is actually a draw at the houses.

 

If Warrior doesn't turn, the other option is to throw them both in as faces and have them get back together after the match. This is what McMahon's father did in 1972 with the Pedro Morales vs. Bruno Sammartino match. Most face vs. face title matches are disappointments at the gate, although I expect Wrestlemania to draw no matter what. Almost inevitably, the crowd does pick a favorite, and generally they cheer for the challenger or younger guy, Warrior in both cases. Letting the fans choose how to react is totally against the mind-control philosophy of the WWF.

 

There was a gag order placed on the settlement in the Hogan case with Richard Belzer but the rumor mill is saying the settlement was in the $250,000 range. The original case stemmed from an incident on Belzer's now-defunct talk show in 1985 when he had Hogan and Mr. T on as guests. Belzer tried to do some comedy at their expense, then asked Hogan to demonstrate a hold on him. Hogan did a front facelock and squeezed too hard, and Belzer collapsed onto the floor, hitting face-first and getting a nine-inch head wound and concussion. Although Belzer was grinning ear to ear in post-settlement TV shots, one newspaper described his lawyer's reaction as a kid who had been told a day before Christmas that he wasn't going to get any presents.

 

Big Boss Man turned babyface at the taping on 1/2 in Birmingham. Jake Roberts stole the Million Dollar Belt from Ted DiBiase and put it in the back with his snake. DiBiase paid Slick to have him get it for him and Slick told Bossman to get the belt. Bossman got the belt, but instead of presenting it to DiBiase, he gave it back to Roberts and did a number on DiBiase and Slick.

 

Many people are assuming that Sid Vicious will be Titan-bound when his contract is up.

 

Cactus Jack Manson's bumps get more insane by the week.

 

Sting officially became the fourth Horsemen at the TBS tapings on 1/3, although that isn't going to last for long.

 

The Arsenio Hall folks have been trying, with no success, to get NWA wrestlers on. First they went through TBS and had no luck. Then they tried to contact WCW directly and were flatly turned down. Why were they turned down? Because Hall had booked WWF wrestlers to appear on his show. Hall said that he actually likes the NWA better because, of all things, superior wrestling.

[Guest EdwardKnoxII]

January 22, 1990

This past Thursday, Titan Sports signed a seven-year contract with Viewers Choice to syndicate all its PPV events through the end of 1996. The move was made ten days before the Royal Rumble.

 

Titan, which had been insisting Barry Windham was coming back, has acknowledged that he's history.

 

Do you realize Cactus Jack Manson has 140 stitches on different parts of his body and is still taking bumps like he is? He is one crazy individual.

 

There are those in the NWA who want Kerry Von Erich in but now it seems to be a dead issue.

[Guest EdwardKnoxII]

February 1, 1990

Titan Sports has signed world heavyweight boxing champion Mike Tyson to referee the Hulk Hogan vs. Randy Savage match on the 2/23 NBC Special. Titan choosing to use him on the TV special instead of Wrestlemania has opened up speculation about a Hogan vs. Tyson PPV match, but Tyson probably won't be part of the show. The idea is to use Tyson to have the largest possible audience watching them shoot the Hogan/Warrior Mania angle. Still, the prospective gross revenue of a Hogan vs. Tyson match is astronomical. Of course, the only finish they would ever do is for the run-in of several heels who are great bumptakers (Hennig, DiBiase, and Savage) and have the two guys team together to run them off.

 

ROYAL RUMBLE '90

Thumbs up 49%

Thumbs down 32%

Middle 19%

 

1. Bushwackers beat Rougeaus. 1/4*

2. Brutus Beefcake DDQ The Genius. *

3. Ron Garvin beat Greg Valentine. They should have called it a Sudden Death match instead of a submission match, because as soon as the thing started, the crowd died. **

4. Jim Duggan beat Big Bossman by DQ. With the exception of Andre, a crippled man who should've long since retired, Duggan is the worst guy in the WWF. Bossman took a few good bumps but it's been many months since I've seen something this bad. -**1/4

5. Hulk Hogan won the Royal Rumble. Annoyed that Bret Hart didn't do anything at all during his time in, and that Shawn Michaels, probably the most exciting worker in the fed, only worked 15 seconds. ***

 

Better than average live show. Howard Finkel is the best ring announcer I've ever seen.

 

It appears Hogan and Warrior will both go into Wrestlemania as faces.

 

Jesse Ventura is doing an ABC pilot where he works as a wrestler who also works as an undercover police officer.

 

The NWA booking committee has been trimmed down to Jim Ross, Kevin Sullivan, Ric Flair, Terry Funk, and Jim Cornette. Ole Anderson is out and Jim Herd and Jim Barnett aren't taking as active a role in things.

[Guest EdwardKnoxII]

February 5, 1990

Saturday night, at the All Japan card in Tokyo's Korauken Hall, Vince McMahon and Giant Baba shook hands in the middle of the ring and made the announcement that the 4/13 card at the Tokyo Dome would be a combination show co-promoted by All Japan, New Japan, and the WWF. The two traditional-style wrestling promotions working together combined with the first appearance in Japan in several years of top WWF talent (and Japanese debuts of both Ultimate Warrior and Randy Savage) is almost certain to draw a $3 million gate.

 

There are a lot of unique twists and things to ponder about this announcement. This is the first time in years that the WWF has cooperated with existing promotions on a live show. All Japan and New Japan working together for a show (which hadn't happened since 1979) would be a bombshell in and of itself, except that the Ric Flair pullout of the main event at next week's Tokyo Dome show forced New Japan president Seiki Sakguchi to cut a favorable deal with All Japan head Baba. There is speculation of a main event like Hogan vs. Tenryu or Hogan & Inoki vs. Tenryu & Hansen, but I'm betting Titan will insist on Hogan vs. Savage or something like that.

 

WWF aired the latest Sautrday Night Main Event on 1/27. There were two truly fantastic performances on the card by Mr. Perfect and Randy Savage. Savage carried Duggan to a ***1/2 match, while Hennig looked amazing doing a one-man show in a ***1/2 tag match with the Genius against Hulk Hogan & Ultimate Warrior. Rick Rude tried to carry Dusty Rhodes, but Dusty has actually regressed noticeably in the WWF. He's not only obese now, but old, broken down, and obese.

 

Cactus Jack Manson's bumps are so far out of this world that one wonders how his career will ever last much longer before he's in traction for a lifetime.

[Guest EdwardKnoxII]

February 12, 1990

WWF had its official press conference to announce Wrestlemania on the morning of 2/5 in Toronto. The main event will be Hulk Hogan vs. Ultimate Warrior for the WWF title. It will be presented as a face vs. face confrontation, even though both did heelish interviews on television and Warrior acted like a major heel to reporters at the press conference on Monday (though some say that is what his real personality is). It'll be interesting, because it makes sense for a lot of reasons to do a title change. However, it would have made sense at last year's Wrestlemania to do anything but the finish they did considering how hot Savage was as a heel. It's already proven that Hogan can draw big without the title. Warrior with the title can draw better than Warrior with the IC title. In addition, Warrior works a full schedule, while Hulk generally works a very limited schedule. Getting the title from Hogan to Warrior is the best way to create your Hulk Hogan of the 90s (and doesn't the thought of Warrior in that spot make you cringe?). At the same time, I wouldn't be surprised to see a legdrop and 1-2-3 either.

 

Tully Blanchard should be debuting for the NWA at the Clash of the Champions. If he's not there, the chances of him returning to the NWA would be pretty slim. Blanchard has had several meetings with Jim Herd over the past week, although early meetings saw the two sides far apart on contract terms. If he signs, it ends the long saga of Blanchard giving his notice to Titan to join the NWA. Blanchard was fired by Titan for testing positive in a drug test after giving his notice, then not hired by the NWA in late November 89 as promised because the organization feared a public relations problem if word had gotten out.

 

Former NWA champion and arguably the most popular of all the native Canadian wrestlers, Whipper Billy Watson, passed away at the age of 74.

 

Jerry Lawler did one of the most amazing interviews of the year for the USWA. He came out in a doctor's outfit with a surgical mask on and called himself Dr. Lawler. He claimed he had two urine samples, one for Kerry Von Erich and one for Jeff Jarrett, and was going to test both for steroids. He said if this instrument beeped then the wrestler was using steroids, and both times it beeped. Lawler went on a tirade about steroids, saying that everyone in the business has forgotten about wrestling and now all they care about is muscle, so everyone is on steroids. He said Jarrett would be 110 pounds without steroids and said they mess with your brain, you can tell by listening to Von Erich do an interview. Lawler's shoot heel interviews are mazing because almost everything he says during them are true.

 

WWF has local regional promoters such as Jack Tunney in Ontario, Gerald Brisco in the souteast, Zane Bresloff in the southwest and west coast, Stu Hart in Alberta, Larry Matysik in St. Louis, and a whole bunch of others.

 

The NWA front office wants Ole Anderson out of the ring.

 

Sid Vicious re-signed for another year, so that should quell any rumors of him going to WWF at least until the summer of 1991.

[Guest EdwardKnoxII]

February 19, 1990

At Tuesday's Clash of the Champions, Sting suffered a serious knee injury that will keep him out of action for at least a few months. The injury occured less than three weeks before the NWA's PPV show on 2/25 in which Sting was in the main event challening Ric Flair for the NWA title, where he likely would have won. The injury puts the NWA in a major panic with a PPV show coming and no main event. Plus, the inner turmoil within the company between the wrestlers, bookers, and management has grown to a point where management is basically pointing the finger at Flair for every problem and they wanted the belt off of him in the worst way. With the Horsemen heel turn on Sting, as of Tuesday, the company's leading singles babyface is Norman the Lunatic. The PPV card has been changed to Flair vs. Lex Luger as the top match.

 

The Horsemen turn was brilliantly executed, but this was not the time to do it. It represents the NWA's biggest problem -- lack of long-range planning. I'm not against the idea of a Ric Flair turn, but before doing it, they needed to have developed at least two more top singles babyfaces. Now the next step, the Flair vs. Luger match, rather than turn Luger face, they'd be better served to create a new superstar babyface, and since Ricky Steamboat isn't coming back (contract dispute), the choices are Brian Pillman and the Steiners. I'd wave the magic wand on Scott and make him the guy.

 

Titan Sports is also in a panic this week since Mike Tyson was KO'd Saturday night by unheraled Buster Douglas. Vince McMahon made the decision that Tyson would still be used on the NBC special, but it is assumed that Tyson wouldn't want to participate in a wrestling show in just few weeks. Tyson is under contract to work the date, but it probably won't be known until mid-week whether or not he'll honor his contract.

 

We reported last week to expect Tully Blanchard to debut at the Clash. Blanchard was in the dressing room waiting to go on. Basically, a contract dispute took place since Blanchard had yet to sign, and he won't be coming in. After Ric Flair had finally convinced management to let him bring Blanchard in for the Clash, the two sides were far apart on money to the point that it was figured no deal would be reached. The Great Muta quit after the Clash as well.

 

Vince McMahon is planning on getting into the bodybuilding world. Supposedly McMahon is going to start up a magazine and try to give Joe Weider a run for his money. Vince has generally been successful within wrestling, but his outside ventures (boxing, perfume, movies) haven't been quite so profitable.

 

I was wishing for a Hart Foundation/Rockers match at Wrestlemania 6 but no go.

 

Pegasus Kid, a blond-haired North American, got over tremendously working a Tiger Mask-style at the joint All Japan/New Japan show in the Tokyo Dome. No word on who he is but I have a feeling he may be Chris Benoit.

[Guest EdwardKnoxII]

February 26, 1990

Mike Tyson pulled out of the NBC special. WWF signed James "Buster" Douglas to take his place as referee. He was signed for $100,000, the same amount Tyson would've earned. There was some apprehension about bringing in Douglas because of the size comparisons. Since Titan has built its promotion around larger than life stars, Titan hasn't allowed Hogan to be seen with any tall athletes because he's purpoted to be 6'8 when he's really three inches shorter. That's why Tyson was so great; since he's 5'9 with a reputation as a monster, the wrestlers in the ring would have looked so much larger than him.

 

Sting underwent major knee surgery, which will leave the NWA for months without the wrestler they had built the babyface side around. Dr. Jim Andrews recommended Sting stay out of action until at least the middle of August, but Sting has told other wrestlers that he expects to be back ahead of schedule, perhaps even returning at the July PPV.

 

Great Muta quit after the Clash of Champions. Those in the NWA are claiming that Muta was too gratly influenced by Gary Hart, who was fired last December. Hart had continually told Muta that the American public would never cheer a Japanese babyface, so whenever the booking committee came up with ideas to turn Muta (and there were ideas since day one when he was getting cheered), he nixed them. After Starrcade where he was buried, Muta's attitude grew worse.

 

Midnight Express and Jim Cornette were given termination notices, which doesn't mean they're being let go, but that the company wants to sign them to cheaper contracts. Others say they want to break up the act completely. There was a major problem last year when those in power wanted to keep Cornette but not the team, but Cornette insisted the three stay together.

 

Lineup for the 4/13 AJPW/NJPW/WWF card at the Tokyo Dome. Hulk Hogan vs. Terry Gordy, Genichiro Tenryu vs. Randy Savage, Giant Baba & Andre the Giant vs. Demolition, Ultimate Warrior vs. Ted DiBiase, Jumbo Tsuruta & Yoshiaki Yatsu vs. Curt Hennig & Rick Martel, Masa Saito & Shinya Hashimoto vs. Jimmy Snuka & Tito Santana, Tiger Mask vs. Bret Hart, Masa Chono vs. Jake Roberts.

 

Big news at the Titan tapings was that the Rockers showed up all black and blue. Apparently two nights earlier, the two got into a major league fistfight (looking at their faces, it appeared Marty did a major number on Shawn). WWF sent them home and they won't be on television for a month. The two don't want to work as tag team partners anymore and Vince McMahon has asked MArty to turn heel but it's all up in the air right now.

 

Warrior's interviews have always been bad, but now he's talking for five minutes at a time, making no sense, and the interview gets repeatedly shown every show.

 

Paul Roma & Hercules formed a team called the tag team of the 90s. Can't wait for the decade to end to see if that turns out to be the case.

 

Roddy Piper and Jesse Ventura will do an ABC pilot where they play a tag team of wrestlers who are undercover cops.

 

Titan expects to break the all-time attendance and gate records at Wrestlemania VII at the Los Angeles Coliseum.

 

Jake Roberts' snake Damien has been suspended, since he bit Jake twice recently. They are putting a rubber hose in the bag now.

 

NWA did an angle where the Horsemen warned Lex Luger not to acept the title match. Luger came back and clotheslined all three Horsemen when they asked if he had an answer, turning babyface.

 

Ric Flair had a ****1/2 match with Brian Pillman on TBS. The next day they showed another ****+ match with Flair & Arn Anderson beating Rock & Roll Express.

 

NWA was trying to sign Buster Douglas as a guest ref but WWF got him.

 

There are many major problems with the NWA right now. There are too many people in charge, some of whom don't know a thing about wrestling, and there is always a constant battle to get anything done.

[Guest EdwardKnoxII]

March 5, 1990

Ric Flair resigned as chairman of the NWA booking committee, ending a nearly seven month reign which saw a major upswing int elevision ratings, major intercompany divisiveness, and major stress on Flair himself. Flair's resignation came at a time when pressure on him from inside forces was growing. Ironically, Flair resigned just after the company received the ratings for the weekend, which saw both the Sturday and Sunday shows break all-time viewerships records for regular (i.e. non-Clash or Royal Rumble) cable wrestling programming.

 

Right now the NWA's booking will still be done by a committee. Jim Herd will be the chairman, Jim Barnett vice chairman, and the remaining members are Kevin Sullivan, Terry Funk, Jim Ross, and Jim Cornette. There has been speculation that Eddie Gilbert may be back on the committee soon.

 

While a few short weeks ago, there were those in the company talking about moving Flair down from the top spot, current circumstances dictate Flair's position as champion or top contender as safe, because the NWA's biggest money match is Ric Flair vs. Sting, which may be even held off until Starrcade. Right now, it'll be Flair vs. Lex Luger as the top match on every card for another six months.

 

As it turned out, even if Mike Tyson hadn't pulled out last week, he wouldn't have been doing the WWF NBC special anyway because of the death of his sister a few days before the show. Buster Douglas probably performed better than Tyson would have in the same situation anyway, as Titan had no problems in getting him to put Hulk Hogan over huge in his interviews. As for the Hogan vs. Savage match itself, Savage put on a good performance but I'd consider this a bad performance by Hogan at a regular hosue show, let alone a network show. **1/2

 

The often-criticized workrate of the wrestlers on house shows was no better than normal. Curt Hennig took three impressive bumps. Ted DiBiase looked decent. The really poor workers were poor. And the rest didn't do anything to embarrass themselves but none of it was good either.

 

WRESTLEWAR 90

Thumbs up 49%

Thumbs down 44.3%

Middle 6.7%

 

Were two excellent matches, one with a screwjob finish, enough to carry a card?

 

1. Buzz Sawyer & Kevin Sullivan (replacing Great Muta) defeated the Dynamic Dudes. **1/4

 

2. Norman pinned Cactus Jack Manson. *1/2

 

3. Rock & Roll Express beat Midnight Express. It was obvious all four wrestlers and Jim Cornette, with their spots in jeopardy, set out to steal the show here. Eaton, Lane, and Cornette's contracts have not been renewed and Rock & Rolls haven't been offered contracts yet. ****1/4

 

4. Road Warriors beat Mean Mark Callas & A Masked Mystery Man (Mike Enos). Danny Spivey was announced as being injured. It's unlikely he'll be allowed back, since he never called to let anyone know before all the dates he missed. Callas is leaving for Japan now, but will return as a singles wrestler with some talk that he'll be managed by Jim Cornette. Skyscrapers are finished. Nitron was asked to team with Callas here but the sides couldn't come to terms. *1/4

 

5. Tom Zenk & Brian Pillman bet the Freebirds in 24:30, which was about 25 minutes too long. 1/2*

 

6. Rick & Scott Steienr beat the Anderson now-brothers. How many different relations have they claimed for Ole and Arn over the years? **1/4

 

7. Ric Flair beat Lex Luger via countout. I wouldn't call it a classic on the level of Flair vs. Steamboat, but it was a near-classic. This time, the turn even worked in Greensboro. If you recall, back in 1985 when Flair did his big turn before Starrcade, the Carolina crowds stayed with him almost as much as Dusty Rhodes. ****1/2

 

While nobody complained about the match itself, the finish was heavily criticized. It was a definite screwjob, and on a big show, those leave a bad taste. Given the fact that the title couldn't change and Flair wasn't going to pin Luger, because either result would've killed rematches at the houses, the only options were the screwjob or 60 minute draw. With Luger's repertoire as a face, it would've been hard for Flair to go the 60 without spending the first 30 minutes building, which is tough for today's fans. Two points were gotten across with the screwjob, that Luger can beat Flair and that the Horsemen are mean for going after crippled Sting. Remember in 1988 that everyone, myself included, criticized the blood finish of the Flair-Luger Baltimore match, but the finish set up the NWA's best house show run of the year. Still, a screwjob is reminiscent of the Dusty days and the tactics that killed so many of the NWA's best cities.

 

For reasons I can't even begin to figure out, Luger doesn't want the title right now. Perhaps he knows that if he gets it now, he'd get the rep for being on top as champion and not being able to draw. The position he's in now is safer because Flair takes the heat. My own feeling is, I don't know how they ar going to keep things interesting for 26 weeks of this program, but you can't give the payoff in the first match.

 

Jim Herd was hosting a press conference at CNN Center and said he was trying to negotiate the rights to use names of famous movie characters that Ted Turner owns and introduce them as wrestling characters. An example he gave was that if they could find a 6'5 275-pound man with one leg, they could bring him in as Long John Silver. He also wondered if Rhett Butler could pin Ric Flair.

 

Yes, there is such a wrestler as Barry Windham after all. Windham, who disappeared off the face of the wrestling Earth, resurfaced Wednesday night at the opening of All Japan's latest tout.

 

Hulk Hogan's line of vitamins will be coming out shortly.

 

Roddy Piper & Jesse Ventura's TV pilot will be shot during March so Piper is being taken off most of his March dates with Badnews Brown.

 

No word on any new faces headed into NWA but the name Scotty the Body Levy has been bandied around.

 

Zenk and Pillman are the two candidates being considered for the fourth Horseman spot with Flair, Arn, and Ole. Flair wants Pillman.

 

The Readers Page

================

A few years from now, when Cactus Jack Manson is living in some trailer park in the southwest with plastic for bones addicted to painkillers, please comp him a lifetime subscription.

 

George Maranville

Lexington, KY

[Guest EdwardKnoxII]

March 12, 1990

We've got some bad news and some bad news as it pertains to the NWA. First, the bad news. The injury list and departure list have both grown. Arn Anderson, Shane Douglas, Stan Lane, Eddie Gilbert, and Ricky Morton will all be missing substantial amounts of time, the most being 11 weeks for Anderson stemming from a herniated disc in the WrestleWar match with the Steiners. Dan Spivey was fired and Mark Callas will be in Japan until April.

 

Resigning as booker may have been the best thing for Ric Flair, but it wasn't the best thing for the company. Flair has been replaced by Jim Herd and Jim Barnett, and this is a situation that has disaster written all over it. Neither have any experience in booking. Herd's knowledge of wrestling is very much limited according to his friends. When it comes to running the actual wrestling aspects of a pro wrestling business, it takes someone who understands both what pro wrestling really is and how it draws. Herd has no background whatsoever in any of that. Barnett has more than three decades of experience in the wrestling business, but in recent years, the way Barnett has been looked at within the business has changed from being the genius who created a thriving territory in Australia in the late 60s to the person whose departure from the WWF is spoken of as the single best thing to happen to that company as far as front office morale goes.

 

The reign of Flair as booker (and later as a booker in name only since every decision had to pass through so many channels) has been a controversial one. One of Flair's first attempted steps was to raid talent from the WWF. Part of this may have been because he felt the NWA had to do so to prove to the general punlic that it wasn't second-rate, as it is generally perceived. Still, from the names he was talking with, it was obvious his prime concern was improving the quality of the product. He was interested in Tully & Arn, Bret Hart, Ted DiBiase, Curt Hennig, all of whom would have added another quality match to the show each night. Management balked. We have seen a pattern in recent months when it comes to NWA talent. While the WWF manages to keep its talent under contract when it runs out, the NWA has, in the past few months, lost Ricky Steamboat, Steve Williams, Great Muta, Dan Spivey, Terry Gordy, and passed on signing Blanchard and Bret Hart when they were ready to make a deal.

 

Former WWF champion Superstar Billy Graham has been all over the news in southern California. Graham, 46, contacted KNBC for a story about his medical problems stemming from use of steroids. Graham claimed the bones in his hip and ankles have almost completely disintegrated. Graham said that 90% of pro wrestlers take steroids. The joke going around the Titan locker room is that they randomly test for cocaine, but if you didn't test positive for steroids, you'd get fined.

 

There's this guy named Lightning Kid from Minnesota working indies who is apparently incredibly great.

[Guest EdwardKnoxII]

March 19, 1990

When Superstar Billy Graham and Bruno Sammartino claimed Thursday on Entertainment Tonight that 90% of pro wrestlers have used steroids, it awoke a lot of the public to an image we've spoken about many times i these paes. But the shocking part of the story was seeing Graham himself. Little more than a decade ago, Graham looked like the most powerful force in the wrestling world. Today, he's 46 years old but looks at least 20 years older than that. The body of a former discus, bodybuilding, and pro wrestling champion is now that of an aged cripple. He'll never be able to walk normally again. Graham claims the disintegration of his joints is a new side effect that doctors didn't know about steroids.

 

During the 1980s, the use of steroids within wrestling skyrocketed due to the ability of a few larger-than-life steroid monsters, with limited ability and experience, to get over as some of the biggest money earners in the profession. In order to keep pace and be able to look "credible" standing next to these men, it forced even the most skillful of competitors to use the drugs in order to maintain their position.

 

With the World Wrestling Federation, which is sometimes nicknamed "The Steroid Farm," becoming the pre-eminent force in the business, the trend accelerated. Vince McMahon, a bodybuilder himself, built his promotion around the musclemen. With the combination of muscular size being a requirement, with very few exceptions, for not only stardom but for work, and the insane travel schedule (which means most meals are eaten in restaurants, which is a killer to someone on a bodybuilding diet, plus a limited amount of time for working out, and none on double shots), you have the potential for a major problem.

 

It's really hard to know what the long-term effects will be. Graham, who started using steroids in the mid-1960s, was one of the pioneers as far as massive dosages over a prolonged period of time. It is likely that steroid usage is a Russian roulette type of deal, perhaps like smoking but more severe. Maybe less. I could go into horror stories, about wrestlers whose wives have had birth-defective children (attributed as a side effect of prolonged steroid usage); a wrestler who really didn't want to use the stuff while his wife was pregnant because during fits of roid rage he had punched her, but at the same time there was pressure coming from on top that he was getting too small; a wrestler who had a family history of heart problems and whose doctor told him absolutely never to touch the stuff, but without it he was making 1/3 of what he's making on it today.

 

The WWF is ignoring this issue, hoping that it will disappear quickly (and for now, it probably will). They breathed a heavy sigh of relief because Graham didn't finger anyone in particular as a user besides himself. While his 90% figure implicates nearly everyone in the business, having him say that he saw, or worse, injected, one of the leading superstars would be devastating public relations, whose prime audience is kids. When the most powerful promoter with the most visibility pushes a certain trend of what a wrestling superstar should look like, and it's the easiest trend to sell to the public anyway, that becomes the standard. If, for example, the NWA were to actually get an unbeatable steroid test (as they can easily be beaten), the physiques would be less impressive than the guys on the WWF show. If WWF were to address the problem, much of its appeal, with its He-Man cartoon characters, would be lost.

 

To the best of my knowledge, McMahon has never blatantly told anyone to get on the juice to get a push. It's probably the same as the college football coach he tells a running back that if he gains 25 pounds, he'll have a shot at starting next season. There have been wrestlers told if they got bigger, they'd do more with them. Ironically, Graham himself used to infuriate me when he had his short run as a WWF commentator. He treated physiques as the be-all end-all, like when Terry Taylor debuted and he said that this guy will never make it unless he gains 20 pounds. And not too long after, Taylor did gain about 20 pounds, but in his case, it didn't get him much.

 

********

 

There is some talk of Ric Flair vs. Lex Luger in a hair vs. hair match to headline the 5/19 PPV.

 

Ricky Steamboat has officially filed suit against the NWA for using his name in advertising for the Halloween Havoc 89 video tape.

 

Celebs for Wrestlemania are Robert Goulet and Rona Barrett. Goulet because they wanted a Canadian and he came cheaper than Anne Murray.

[Guest EdwardKnoxII]

March 26, 1990

Tony Schiavone will be returning to the NWA as a producer and television announcer after Wrestlemania. Schiavone agreed to a deal with Jim Herd to return as producer of syndicated television (the position held by Terry Funk) and as host of World Wide Wrestling. Schiavone had worked for Jim Crockett Promotions from 1983-89 before leaving for Titan. Schiavone originally got into wrestling broadcasting to augment his income from announcing for the Charlotte Orioles minor league baseball team (also owned by the Crockett family). Shortly after the Crockett sale to Turner, Schiavone, who hosted World Championship Wrestling on TBS for nearly four years, was replaced by Jim Ross, which, combined with a better money offer from Titan, led him to make the move.

 

The injury to Arn Anderson appears worse than orginally thought. Anderson suffered a herniated disc against the Steiners and was expected to return in 2-3 months, but now surgery is a possibility, which could keep him out of action for a year. In fact, there is some fear that he won't be able to return at all.

 

Next Sunday is Wrestlemania. Even though there are 14 matches, this is truthfully a one-match show. Virtually everyone seems to expect that Hulk Hogan will win. Just the fact that everyone in Titan protested so loudly about the last NWA PPV's non-finish leads me to believe they are doing a real finish as opposed to Earthquake and Bravo run in to get run off by the two faces side by side and pose to no decision. It could very well be the legdrop finish, but I can't come up with one sound business reason to do that. Obviously this will be no mat classic, but I also don't think it'll be the worst match of the year. They should have plenty of practice going over what needs to be done and have the best script writers around covering for their respective weaknesses. They'll build up to a few big spots, spend a lot of time working power spots, maybe throw in a surprise midway through, and then build to a finish.

 

Paul Diamond will be headed in after Wrestlemania. Perhaps he'll be a tag team partner of Pat Tanaka. Akio Sato has been missing most of his dates, but that is because he's in Japan helping with the Tokyo Dome show since he's the intermediary between Vince McMahon and Giant Baba.

 

Red Rooster will be gone when his contract expires if not sooner.

 

Hillbilly Jim and Frenchie Martin had one of the worst matches in history in Springfield.

 

I'd never try and say that WWF doesn't have good wrestlers. Some of them are very talented, and Hennig, Savage, DiBiase, and the Rockers are as good as just about anyone anywhere. The WWF is the best organization at promoting and selling pro wrestling and I don't know of many people who don't give them there due as that. But having the best talent and either holding back that talent or putting them on a schedule so grueling that they are physically unable to display it on all but a few major occassions really makes the quality of that talent somewhat useless.

 

It appears right now that the NWA and the Midnight Express are going to part ways when their contract expires in May. The two sides have hit an impasse in contract negotiations and there has been not so private talk that the company doesn't want to lose Cornette but isn't willing to keep the act together. This really is a contract problem that occurred at about this time last year. For reasons that have never been fully explained to me, management wanted to break up the trio last year. As it turned out, the Midnights and Cornette actually left, but right before they were scheduled to go, George Scott was dumped as booker and replaced by a committee who felt Cornette was needed and kept them together. However, there were bruised egos over this and the Express was stuck at the bottom of the shows despite having the best or second best match on every show. Anyway, the basic gist is that somebody wants to break them up, and it if means losing Cornette, which nobody wants, then so be it.

 

Paul E. Dangerously had a tryout with the WWF last week so he'll wind up as an announcer and not a manager with one of the big two groups shortly. Jim Herd is against bringing him back because of his lawsuit against the NWA, but it would be dropped if he were brought back.

 

They were going to have a Scott Steiner vs. Ole Anderson "I Quit" match to end Ole's career, but that may not take place anymore.

 

There is a method to Jim Herd's madness about bringing in Long John Silver that nobody seems to realize. He's the perfect contender for Ric Flair's title, you see, because Long John would be immune to the effects of the figure-four leglock.

 

NWA will open negotiations with Scotty the Body Levy, Kevin & Kerry Von Erich, and Owen Hart in upcoming weeks. I can understand taking the chance on Kerry but see no reason whatsoever to hire Kevin. Actually, Kerry would make a great Long John Silver.

[Guest EdwardKnoxII]

Sadly, the awards and voting in 90 and 91 came in the "Observer Yearbook" which I don't have. Runner-up in parentheses. I'll throw in the awards history for completeness sake.

Wrestler of the Year: Ric Flair (runner-up Akira Maeda)

80 Harley Race

81-86 Ric Flair

87 Riki Choshu

88 Akira Maeda

 

Most Outstanding Wrestler: Ric Flair

86-87 Ric Flair

88 Tatsumi Fujinami

 

Best Babyface: Hulk Hogan

80 Dusty Rhodes

81 Tommy Rich

82-88 Hulk Hogan

 

Best Heel: Terry Funk

80 Larry Zbyszko

81 Don Muraco

82 Buzz Sawyer

83 Michael Hayes

84-85 Roddy Piper

86 Michael Hayes

87-88 Ted DiBiase

 

Best Feud: Ric Flair vs. Terry Funk (Ric Flair vs. Ricky Steamboat)

80 Bruno Sammartino vs. Larry Zbyszko

81 Andre the Giant vs. Killer Khan

82 Ted DiBiase vs. Junkyard Dog

83-84 Freebirds vs. Von Erichs

85 Ted DiBiase vs. Jim Duggan

86 Hulk Hogan vs. Paul Orndorff

87 Jerry Lawler vs. Austin Idol & Tommy Rich

88 Midnight Express vs. Fantastics

 

Best Tag Team: The Rockers (Arn Anderson & Tully Blanchard)

80 Terry Gordy & Buddy Roberts

81 Terry Gordy & Jimmy Snuka

82 Stan Hansen & Ole Anderson

83 Ricky Steamboat & Jay Youngblood

84 Road Warriors

85 Dynamite Kid & Davey Boy Smith

86 Bobby Eaton & Dennis Condrey

87-88 Bobby Eaton & Stan Lane

 

Most Improved: Lex Luger

80 Larry Zbyszko

81 Adrian Adonis

82 Jim Duggan

83 Curt Hennig

84 The Cobra (George Takano)

85 Steve Williams

86 Rick Steiner

87 Big Bubba Rogers

88 Sting

 

Most Obnoxious: Dusty Rhodes

81 Gene LeBelle

82 David Crockett

83-86 Vince McMahon

87 David Crockett

88 Dusty Rhodes

 

Best on Interviews: Terry Funk

81 Lou Albano and Roddy Piper (tied)

82-83 Roddy Piper

84 Jimmy Hart

85-88 Jim Cornette

 

Best Technical Wrestler: Jushin Liger

80 Bob Backlund

81 Ted DiBiase

82-83 Tiger Mask (Satoru Sayama)

84 Dynamite Kid and Masa Saito (tied)

85-86 Tatsumi Fujinami

87 Nobuhiko Takada

88 Tatsumi Fujinami

 

Best Brawler (Bruiser Brody Memorial Award): Terry Funk

80-84 Bruiser Brody

85 Stan Hansen

86 Terry Gordy

87-88 Bruiser Brody

 

Best Flying Wrestler: Jushin Liger

81 Jimmy Snuka

82-83 Tiger Mask (Sayama)

84 Dynamite Kid

85-86 Tiger Mask (Mitsuharu Misawa)

87-88 Owen Hart

 

Most Overrated (Overpushed): Ultimate Warrior

80 Mr. Wrestling II

81-82 Pedro Morales

83 Bob Backlund

84 John Studd

85-86 Hulk Hogan

87-88 Dusty Rhodes

 

Most Underrated (Underpushed): Dan Kroffat

80 Iron Sheik

81 Buzz Sawyer

82 Adrian Adonis

83 Dynamite Kid

84 Brian Blair

85-86 Bobby Eaton

87 Brad Armstrong

88 Tiger Mask (Misawa)

 

Best Promotion: Japan UWF (All Japan)

83 Jim Crockett Promotions

84 New Japan

85 All Japan

86 Mid South

87-88 New Japan

 

Best TV Show: All Japan (WCW Saturday Night)

83-84 New Japan

85 Mid South Wrestling

86 UWF (Mid South Wrestling)

87 CWA 90 minute Memphis show

88 New Japan

 

Match of the Year: Ricky Steamboat vs. Ric Flair 4/2 New Orleans (Ricky Steamboat vs. Ric Flair 5/7 Chicago)

80 Bob Backlund vs. Ken Patera, New York

81 Pat Patterson vs. Sgt. Slaughter, 4/21 New York

82 Tiger Mask (Sayama) vs. Dynamite Kid 8/5 Tokyo

83 Ric Flair vs. Harley Race 11/24 Greensboro

84 Freebirds vs. Von Erichs 7/4 Fort Worth

85 Tiger Mask (Misawa) vs. Kuniaki Kobayashi 6/12 Tokyo

86 Ric Flair vs. Barry Windham 2/14 Orlando

87 Ricky Steamboat vs. Randy Savage 3/29 Pontiac

88 Ric Flair vs. Sting 3/27 Greensboro

 

Best Major Show: NWA Great American Bash (NWA WrestleWar)

Worst Major Show: WWF Wrestlemania V

 

Rookie of the Year: Dustin Rhodes (Wayne Bloom)

80 Barry Windham

81 Brad Armstrong and Brad Rheingans (tied)

82 Steve Williams

83 Road Warriors

84 Tom Zenk and Keiichi Yamada (Jushin Liger) (tied)

85 Jack Victory

86 Bam Bam Bigelow

87 Brian Pillman

88 Gary Albright

 

Best Manager: Jim Cornette

83-84 Jimmy Hart

85-88 Jim Cornette

 

Best Television Announcer: Jim Ross

81-83 Gordon Solie

84-87 Lance Russell

88 Jim Ross

 

Worst Television Announcer: Ed Whalen

84 Angelo Mosca

85 Gorilla Monsoon

86-88 David Crockett

 

Best Wrestling Maneuver: Scott Steiner frankensteiner

81 Jimmy Snuka superfly splash

82 Super Destroyer (Scott Irwin) superplex

83 Jimmy Snuka superfly splash

84 Davey Boy Smith/Dynamite Kid power clean/dropkick off the top rope

85 Tiger Mask (Misawa) tope with mid-air flip

86 Chavo Guerrero moonsault

87-88 Keiichi Yamada (Liger) shooting star press

 

Most Disgusting Promotional Tactic: Jose Gonzalez pushed as babyface by WWC

81 LeBelle Promotions usage of the Monster saying he was built in a laboratory

82 Bob Backlund as WWF champion

83 WWF pretending Eddie Gilbert had rebroken his neck

84 Blackjack Mulligan faking heart attack by Championship Wrestling from Florida

85 Mike Von Erich's near-fatal illness used to sell tickets by World Class

86 Chris Adams' blindness equated with Gino Hernandez's death by World Class

87 handling of Mike Von Erich's death by World Class

88 Fritz Von Erich's fake heart attack by World Class

 

Readers Personal Favorite Wrestler: Ric Flair

84-88 Ric Flair

 

Readers Personal Least Favorite Wrestler: Ultimate Warrior

84 Ivan Putski

85-86 Hulk Hogan

87-88 Dusty Rhodes

 

Worst Wrestler: Andre the Giant

84 Ivan Putski

85 Uncle Elmer

86 Mike Von Erich

87 Junkyard Dog

88 Ultimate Warrior

 

Worst Tag Team: Warlord & Barbarian

84 Crusher & Baron Von Raschke

85 Uncle Elmer & Cousin Junior

86 Junkyard Dog & George Steele

87 Jimmy Valiant & Buggsy McGraw

88 Nikolai Volkoff & Boris Zhukov

 

Worst Manager: Mr. Fuji

84-88 Mr. Fuji

 

Worst Match: Andre the Giant vs. Ultimate Warrior 10/31 Topeka

84 Fabulous Moolah vs. Wendi Richter 7/23 New York

85 Fred Blassie vs. Lou Albano New York

86 Roddy Piper vs. Mr. T 4/2 New York

87 Hulk Hogan vs. Andre the Giant 3/29 Pontiac

88 Hiroshi Wajima vs. Tom Magee 4/21 Kawasaki

 

Worst Feud: Andre the Giant vs. Ultimate Warrior

84 Andre the Giant vs. John Studd

85 Sgt. Slaughter vs. Boris Zhukov

86 Machines (Andre & Bill Eadie) vs. King Kong Buddy & John Studd

87 George Steele vs. Danny Davis

88 Midnight Rider (Dusty Rhodes) vs. Tully Blanchard

 

Worst on Interviews: Ultimate Warrior

84 Jimmy Snuka

85 Thunderbolt Patterson

86 Mike Von Erich

87 Bugsy McGraw

88 Steve Williams

 

Worst Promotion: AWA

86 AWA

87 World Class

88 AWA

 

Best Promoter: Akira Maeda (Vince McMahon)

88 Vince McMahon

 

Best Booker: Giant Baba (Len Denton)

86 Dusty Rhodes

87 Vince McMahon

88 Eddie Gilbert

 

Best Gimmick: Jushin Liger

86 Adrian Street

87 Million Dollar Man

88 Rick Steiner Varsity Club

 

Worst Gimmick: Ding Dongs

86-87 Adorable Adrian Adonis

88 Midnight Rider Dusty Rhodes

 

Most Embarrassing Wrestler: Andre the Giant

86 Adrian Adonis

87-88 George Steele

[Guest the 1inch punch]

Seriously, this was really cool to read

[Guest DrainYou42]

Any more?

[Guest EdwardKnoxII]

That's all for now.

[Guest alkeiper]

I concur. That was an incredibly fun read.

[Guest Mik at Cornell]

I love all the stuff about Cactus Jack Manson, and some kid impressing the Japanese crowd...goes by the name of Wild Pegasus.

[Guest ToddRoyal]

Some really fun stuff here...

 

Cactus Jack Manson's bumps are so far out of this world that one wonders how his career will ever last much longer before he's in traction for a lifetime

Cactus Jack Manson's bumps get more insane by the week.

Do you realize Cactus Jack Manson has 140 stitches on different parts of his body and is still taking bumps like he is? He is one crazy individual.

A few years from now, when Cactus Jack Manson is living in some trailer park in the southwest with plastic for bones addicted to painkillers, please comp him a lifetime subscription.

 

And this was YEARS before KOTDM, HITC and th multiple bumps that made Foley king.

 

Vince McMahon is planning on getting into the bodybuilding world. Supposedly McMahon is going to start up a magazine and try to give Joe Weider a run for his money. Vince has generally been successful within wrestling, but his outside ventures (boxing, perfume, movies) haven't been quite so profitable.

 

Well that worked out well...

 

Pegasus Kid, a blond-haired North American, got over tremendously working a Tiger Mask-style at the joint All Japan/New Japan show in the Tokyo Dome. No word on who he is but I have a feeling he may be Chris Benoit

 

Its amazing how the real talents shine through obscurity...

 

There's this guy named Lightning Kid from Minnesota working indies who is apparently incredibly great.

 

...And sometimes it would be better they stayed obscure. Also, how old was Waltman then? He had to be like 16.

 

The two don't want to work as tag team partners anymore and Vince McMahon has asked MArty to turn heel but it's all up in the air right now

 

Good thing plans change...

 

Thanks for the info.

[Guest C-Bacon]

Wow. Great read, especially weird hearing smark terminology back at a time when i was a 6 or 7 year old hulkamaniac

[cawthon777 0]

I have a ton of old PWI Weeklies which were similar to this but more kayfabe. What else did the Observer include other than the little news bits?

[Guest Choken One]

I really dug this shit...

 

Break out some more if ya can...

[Guest natholy]

Great work mate, what a brilliant read..

 

thanks

 

regards nate holynski

[Guest Fook_Hing_Ho]

Wow. This is quite the read.

[Guest jericho585]

What is the URL for the delphi wrestling forum?

[Guest HartFan86]

I never knew that about Tyson. That's pretty cool shit.

[Guest tpww7]

Not Observers, but a bunch of old news...

 

 

Herb's Wrestling Tidbits

[Guest Bruiser Chong]

That's another good read, as I found that site last year and went through the entire archives in a couple of hours because I was so interested. These Observers were very interesting on many fronts, for reasons already mentioned.

[Guest El Gigante]

Great stuff. I liked it alot.

[Guest jericho585]

That's another good read, as I found that site last year

 

What's the site's URL?