WWF Observer notes

[landy1987 0]

I typed these up and put them on another board, so I may as well post them here as well, some of the early WM3 notes from Meltzer are quite interesting:

 

9/22/86:

 

I guess the top story revolves around the NBC-TV tapings the WWF had last night (9/13) at the Richfield Coliseum in suburban Cleveland. Really, however, nothing much happened at the show, which will air as a "Saturday Night's Main Event" on 10/4 (originally it was to air on 9/20, but NBC, for reasons having nothing to do with pro wrestling, moved it back two weeks). The bouts that were taped for NBC-TV saw Kamala pin Lanny Poffo, Ricky Steamboat pinned Jake Roberts in what was billed as a "Snake Pit Match," but as we've mentioned before, is just a regular match. By the way, I was told the match was excellent so I'm anxious to see it, because I've seen about a dozen of their matches, some of which have been good, but have yet to see what all the fuss is about; The Hulk Hogan-Paul Orndorff match wound up as a DQ on Orndorff when Adrian Adonis interfered, and then Roddy Piper, who as part of the angle I presume, was said to have a knee injury, came to the ring with a crutch, and chased the heels away with the crutch. Told the match was decent; Hercules Hernandez pinned Cousin Luke; Roddy Piper pinned Iron Sheik in about 1:00 and in the finale, Dynamite Kid & Davey Boy Smith kept the tag belts winning 2 of 3 falls from Brutus Beefcake & Greg Valentine. Greg and Dynamite split the falls with Smith pinning Beefcake to win the thing. I was told it was a pretty good match, with Dynamite and Greg in the ring the vast majority of the way. The building was legit sellout of about 21,000, although with radio give-aways, the paid was slightly less. Still, it's an excellent crowd as Hogan and Orndorff are drawing everywhere, for the most part. In the matches not taped for NBC-V, Koko B Ware (who they are completely missing the boat on) pinned Mr. X; The Killer Bees downed Jimmy Jack Funk & Jose Luis Rivera (Blair pinned Jimmy Jack--which tells you how much future Jesse Barr has with Titan) and Dick Slater pinned Steve Lombardi.

 

Some unhappiness among the wrestlers when the checks came for the week in which they did all the big business - the week of the big Toronto show, which included sellouts for Hogan-Orndorff at the Capital Centre, Hartford, Providence, Chicago, St. Louis plus a near sellout of MSG… Payoffs in Toronto, for a gate that was well over $1 million, started at $700 Canadian money (which, after 15% Canadian tax off the top and a 30% devaluation nets out to about $400). I don't know all the payoffs, but do know the Funks and Killer Bees got $1,500 Canadian (nets out to around $850), Harley Race & Pedro Morales got $2,000 Canadian and the guys in the six man tag team (Machines-Albano vs Bundy-Studd-Heenan) got $7,000 (nets $3,700)… One of the main reasons the crowd was so large was that the sponsor Molson Breweries spent $200,000 on advertising… They returned to Toronto last Sunday (9/7) and drew a very disappointing crowd of 13,000 (they expected an easy sellout, but simply came back too soon after the big show) despite the hottest main event they could possibly have… some match notes -- Davey Boy Smith pinned John K-9 (subbed for Dory Funk who has left the Fed) with a tombstone piledriver--a move he and Dynamite were famous for but weren't allowed to use because its similar, but much more impressive than the finisher Don Muraco uses... Dynamite Kid pinned Jimmy Jack Funk. This was a sick one, as apparently DK was ill or ate too late because he threw up all over Jesse (a liquid type of vomit as opposed to a solid type) and they quickly went to the finish… Hulk Hogan-Roddy Piper downed Adrian Adonis-Paul Orndorff via DQ. It was expected this match would sellout Maple Leaf Gardens with ease. Finish saw Hogan choking Orndorff and Jimmy Hart get the heels DQ'd for hitting Hulk with a chair. Heat was incredible. The heels came out first. Piper then came out by himself to a standing ovation. He was already fighting both heels before they cued the music and Hulk came out. It was a non-stop brawl at this point. After Hart hit Hogan with a chair, Hulk punched Hart and the chair went flying--right to Piper who cleaned house on the heels with it. Piper was still swinging and swung at Hulk, and then stopped at the last second, and walked out of the ring without any sort of handshake or embrace, leaving hulk alone to pose at the end… Next Toronto is 9/28 with Savage vs. Steele, American Express vs. Sheik-Volkoff and Studd-Bundy vs. the Machines (without Andre, who is gone).. As Noted earlier Dory Funk has left the WWF. It was said he left because he was mad about his Toronto pay, although I think he was probably going to leave anyway since he had some dates in Puerto Rico and Japan already booked starting in just a few weeks… Andre the Giant is also gone until around Christmas, as he's in England working on a movie. I expect Super Machine (Bill Eadie-Masked Superstar) to leave for Japan shortly after Halloween… TV Tapings will be held Tuesday in Baltimore and Wednesday in Salisbury, MD with Hogan vs. Orndorff headliners which should insure big crowds in both cities. The Piper-Adonis getting together angle will be shot in Baltimore on the first hour of the taping during their Battle of the Bands type deal… Although the Hogan-Orndorff angle is going big-time almost everywhere, it pretty well died this past week in the Mid South. They drew about 2,700 in New Orleans with that, and about 3,000 in Houston--actually those are good crowds, but considering this is the hottest thing WWF has ever had, its shows they've got little potential to actually do well there. On 10/4 they are coming to Jackson, MS with Hogan on top and should easily sellout, however, since it's their first time in and they haven't burned out the audience by unveiling their much weaker in comparison, live show.. Jake Roberts isn't allowed to use his snake gimmick in Toronto because the society for the prevention of cruelty to animals has come down on it in Ontario… Ricky Steamboat's new lizard is a giant alligator after the last one walked out… 9/6 in Boston drew a crowd announced at 9,100 in the newspaper, which probably means one a lot smaller… I expect Butch Reed to be in for this weeks tapings, fresh with bleached blond hair… 9/5 in Pittsburgh drew a $58,000 gate (about 5,500 or so).. They will be holding tag team Battle Royals in October in several cities, with all of their interchangeable teams plus the champs... Rules are when one member of the team is thrown out; both of them are eliminated… Ernie Ladd has been fired as the third member of the Monsoon trio of announcers after the first set with Monsoon-Valiant-Ladd was ruled a disaster. While I agree Ladd wasn't that good, shouldn't the geniuses have been able to figure out beforehand the trio was a disaster. Why do they keep Monsoon? Well, Crockett keeps his brother so it all evens out… TNT is in serious dangers of being canceled by the USA Network due to poor ratings. That's the real reason Vince gave up hosting the show, because he wanted it to go under with Gene at the helm… The Incident on location at "Randy Savage's home" which aired on the syndie show (I was told it was as funny as the old Memphis skits) was actually taped at the home of an executive from another company. Coliseum will be releasing a Randy Savage tape shortly. Expect some future matches down the line (early '87) with Savage vs. Piper and Hogan vs. Jake the Snake.

 

12/1/86:

 

The biggest thing from Titan is the Randy Savage-Ricky Steamboat angle which came off better than expected. The match itself between the two was fast paced and all-action. I thought it was a great match, but then I put on a Japan tape right after and realized it was only a great U.S. match if you get my drift. I have problems with them proclaiming that Steamboat almost died and they had to drill a hole in his throat for him to breathe, and felt sorry for Bruno Sammartino because you had to fell for how much it pained him having to go through with that skit. The most significant thing about this is all the hype, until Steamboat comes back to the arenas in mid-January, is it builds up a Sammartino vs. Savage feud. The matches probably won't be that bad either, because Bruno may be old, but nobody can accuse him of not being a hard worker. Savage is certainly talented enough to pick up the rest of the slack when it comes to Bumps and the things Bruno can no longer do, However, for all the talk of being an international promotion and doing things for a world-wide audience, this angle is being shot specifically for a few cities (New York, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and Boston) where Bruno's name still means something. The thing won't even play anywhere else. At this time of the year, those cities shouldn't need a hot-shot angle to draw (and there are some now who even doubt Bruno can turn things around). Obviously, Titan is very concerned about its base. In the remainder of the country, Savage will work against Jake Roberts and Billy Jack Haynes, both of which are matches which will not draw…

 

I didn't hear much about the TV tapes earlier this week other than Adrian Adonis returned and they shot an angle with him and Piper which probably will air on the NBC show as well (spliced in during the editing)… Roddy Piper, Jesse Ventura and Paul Orndorff appear together in a Campbell's Chunky Soup commercial which will air in Canada. The commercial shows Ventura at ringside doing commentary while Piper wrestles Orndorff in the ring… Did you notice the medics putting Steamboat on the stretcher in the TV angle? I did. They were Dr. Pat Patterson (dark hair now) and Dr. Jay Strongbow… The 11/24 MSG card still isn't assured a sellout as they have 7,000 tickets unsold two days before the event. Hulk Hogan is appearing three times this month in New York (12/1 in Nassau, 11/24 at MSG and later at the Meadowlands against Randy Savage). I thought they learned in 1984 what happens when Hogan gets used too often, but then again, they might as well do that, because nothing else seems to work… Kamala is squashing George Steele around the horn to set up Hogan vs. Kamala matches after the Orndorff thing has run its course… Do you realize right now the two heels in wrestling who are put in the position to get the most heat are Danny Davis and Missy Hyatt? Amazing… Funniest skit if you're smart, this Honkytonk thing with the votes is funny. Do you realize they taped all three interviews (the one asking for votes, the one talking about the votes coming in and the one with the results of the voting) on 10/28 in Binghamton. In other words, they gave the results of the voting (and the "670,000" votes) before they’d even received one vote. I hope are presidential elections aren't worked like that… Both Jacques Rougeau and Danny Spivey are back in action after injuries… It's still four months away, but some guesses at Wrestlemania line-up are 1) Steamboat vs. Savage (virtually a definite unless one gets a legit injury); 2) Hogan vs. Orndorff--they have to work some sort of angle where Danny Davis screws Hulk--now I don't believe for a second Hulk will let himself lose the title, the best we can hope for is Hulk to graciously allow the belt to be held up; 3) Vince & Bruno vs. Davis & Jesse (I've been hearing this rumor since the summer and completely dismissed it at first, but every week on TV this nightmare is coming closer to reality); 4) Piper & Mr. T vs. Adonis & Orton (Mr. T needs work).

 

12/22/86:

 

The saddest news of this week comes from here, as Dynamite Kid suffered what was reported as a fractured spine in a match last night (12/13) in Hamilton, Ontario. Dynamite suffered the injury at some point in a tag team match against Don Muraco and Bob Orton, but continued the match. As he left the ring, he suddenly collapsed. Muraco and Orton started pounding his brains out with chairs, not realizing what had happened. He spent the night in a Hamilton hospital, but was transferred to a hospital in Calgary. It's too early to determine the long-term effects of this injury and how soon, or if he can return to the ring.

 

The hottest rumor, hinted at on the weekend syndicated show, is perhaps that Andre the Giant will eventually turn heel. I can see the appeal of an eventual Andre vs. Hulk Hogan WrestleMania match, and future Andre vs. babyface John Studd clashes. If it's going to happen, it'll be one of those long-running soap opera scenarios that'll climax in about eight weeks… Speaking of WrestleMania, it takes place 3/29 and I think it's going to be quite difficult for it to be financially successful. Titan is planning on touring Japan in April, but it's questionable whether they can draw without any Oriental stars. Actually, aside from Hulk Hogan and possibly Ricky Steamboat or Randy Savage, Titan has nobody of interest in Japan. Savage has never been there so there's curiosity, and Hogan was a big star there before making the big impact here. The rest of the Titan guys like Piper, Orton, Orndorff, etc. never got over in Japan. Adonis did, but today's Adonis would be a negative drawing factor (he'd keep people home). WrestleMania was originally to take place in New York, Los Angeles and Toronto; however Harold Ballard, owner of Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto, wanted too big a cut so it'll either be in two sites, or they'll have to find a new third one… Ricky Steamboat and John Studd spent this past week doing public relations work in Toronto. Steamboat did kay-fabe the public, never speaking to anyone and had a bandage around his throat. Studd was being as friendly as one could possibly be… The 11/29 SNME draw an overnight rating of 9.7 and a 27 share. Generally when the final numbers come in, they drop about a point, so it's still a really good rating. The Detroit broadcast drew an incredible 18.6 rating…Gerry Brisco will wrestle on a few Bunkhouse Stampede's (Bunkhouse Battle Royals) in Florida... Paul Orndorff misses several matches over the past week with a pinched nerve in his neck, but he's already back in action… 12/6 in San Francisco drew a surprising 9,500 (surprising because SF is the only city where Piper can outdraw Hogan--Hulk's last two SF appearances drew 8,000 each)

 

12/29/86:

 

The biggest story of this past week has been concerning the condition of the Dynamite Kid. As we reported last week, Dynamite collapsed due to a severe back injury during a match in Hamilton, ONT on 12/13. The injury left Dynamite paralyzed from the waist down during the early part of this past week, although he has regained some feeling and movement on his right side. Dynamite was flown this past Sunday to his hometown of Calgary and on Friday (12/19) underwent disc surgery. According to hospital officials, Dynamite had severe spinal disc and sciatic nerve damage. Doctors have told him that he shouldn't return to wrestling, but our expectations are that he will return. It will, however, be several months before he'll have any possibility of returning.

 

The injury actually occurred during a tag team title match where he and partner Davey Boy Smith were facing Don Muraco and Bob Orton. Dynamite and Orton were criss-crossing and Muraco stuck his knee, from the apron, in Kid's back. Kid immediately collapsed and the three suddenly had to go into an impromptu finish, where Mr. Fuji tries hitting Smith with his cane and instead hits Orton and Smith gets the pin. Muraco and Orton then pound on Dynamite with chairs afterwards, to set up the "cover story…"

 

Because of the TV taping schedule, Dynamite's injury won't be acknowledged until the weekend of 1/17. The SNME, which airs on 1/3 and was taped the night after the injury, may or may not acknowledge it. I'm not sure how it'll be played, being they have just worked a possible career ending injury gimmick to Ricky Steamboat, and even though this one is legit, coming on the heels of the last one (which nobody believed), nobody will take it seriously either… Plans are being made right now to hold a tournament to determine new champs, and talk being the way it is these days, I'd put Rick Martel and Tom Zenk as the favorites.

 

The latest on WrestleMania III is the show will emanate from two U.S. locations one of which will be the Los Angeles Sports Arena. The other will be in New York--most likely the Nassau Coliseum. Show starts at 4 p.m. Eastern time and 1 p.m. Pacific (first time the show will actually air live in all time zones) on Sunday, March 29. There has been some talk of a third location--London, England--but the logistics of trying something like that seem to make that unlikely. The main event will be Hulk Hogan defending the WWF title against new-heel Andre the Giant, who will be managed by Bobby Heenan. There will probably be some sort of a climatic change between Randy Savage and Ricky Steamboat, possibly ending with a title change. Perhaps they'll either hold or complete the tag team title tournament at this show. Roddy Piper vs. Adrian Adonis and Harley Race vs. Junkyard Dog are possible matches as well, although both will need heavy-duty stipulations to get "over." Actually Race-Dog won't get over no matter what. John Studd will return by then, probably as a babyface, so perhaps a meeting with King Kong Bundy? Or Kamala? It's probably futile to speculate because I'm sure they haven't decided on much aside from the two top matches and a possible gimmick match (hopefully nothing will be as bad as involving football players or Mr. T--but to get the thing over to the mass media, celebrities are needed)…

 

For the most part, Titan's popularity at this point is well below what it was at the same time last year. The only thing that hasn't faded is the drawing power of Hulk Hogan, and in Andre the Giant as a heel, you have the single-best possible opponent for him--on the surface. The question is--do people care about Andre? Also, do fans realize this has the possibility of being the worst "big" main event of all-time, given Andre's lack of stamina and mobility is such that it makes Hogan look like Ricky Steamboat in comparison…

 

When the new year begins, or shortly thereafter, Titan will begin running four shows nightly. Expect about a dozen or so mid-level types to be brought in to help fill out the cards. Names pretty well confirmed as being on the way--just waiting for a start date--include Scott Hall, Brad Rheingans, Ron Bass, Tom Magee and Steve DiSalvo…

 

Titan's guys are off with the exception of running two matches on 12/20 in Philadelphia after the 76ers game (Don Muraco vs. George Steele and Koko B. Ware vs. Hercules Hernandez)… Ricky Steamboat returns this week and will be replacing Andre the Giant in several cities in matches with Randy Savage. My assumption is this was planned from the start, as I'd originally heard Steamboat would return right after Christmas, not a reaction to weak advances on Andre vs. Savage shows… I don't know if I’ve brought this up before or not, but the Titan P.R. department claims pro wrestling was invented by Jess McMahon (Vince's grandfather) in the 1920s. Just thought some of you wrestling historians out there would get a kick out of a new piece of info you can add to your history books… The next TV tapes will be 1/5 at the Meadowlands and 1/6 in Hershey, PA. In Hershey they are gambling, as Hulk Hogan is getting the night off which is a first in their current taping format. They've always used the lure of Hulk coming to a middle-sized town as the draw for the tapings. Andre vs. Savage is on top, though I assume it'll be Steamboat vs. Savage that takes place.

 

 

I'll move onto 1987 later if you guys want...

[The Decemberists 0]

Awesome stuff man, thanks a lot.

[Guest JoeMelba]

yeah, this is really cool. i've always been interested in dirt from a time when i didn't even know there was dirt to be had (i was only 7 in 86). thanks for posting and i look forward to 87 notes.

 

joe

[DrVenkman PhD 0]

Excellent read, well done sir. Vince and Bruno vs Ventura and Davis rumoured for Mania 3? Now THAT would have been something...

[Guest Frank_Nabbit]

Hell yes

[Bruce Blank 0]

That would have been REALLY odd with Vince only being an announcer on TV - there was stories of Vince wanting to wrestle but his dad said no wasn't there?

[landy1987 0]

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.

[Jericholic82 0]

the neat thing is that it sounds the same as current insider news, I mean the writing style hasnt changed at all.

 

this would have been weird to read in 86, but cool since not many people saw it

 

so, when did Vince decide to go with the silverdome for mania?

[DrVenkman PhD 0]

the neat thing is that it sounds the same as current insider news, I mean the writing style hasnt changed at all.

 

Change "Dynamite Kid" to "Kurt Angle" and you have a modern WON story right there.

[snuffbox 0]

This shows how important Andre putting Hogan over at WM3 really was.

[pochorenella 0]

Awesome reading. Thanks, dude.

[bob_barron 0]

Thank you for posting this

[BUTT 0]

"Speaking of WrestleMania, it takes place 3/29 and I think it's going to be quite difficult for it to be financially successful."

 

This calls for an LOL.

[Guest DRH 502]

the Titan P.R. department claims pro wrestling was invented by Jess McMahon (Vince's grandfather) in the 1920s

 

Rich.

[Masked Man of Mystery 0]

So...I'm guessing Andre switched from trunks to the singlet so he could have a back brace on under it?

[strummer 0]

Good call Dave on WM 3 not being financially successful. And nice to see Dave has always hated Gorilla Monsoon

[Guest Kobe24KGold]

"Speaking of WrestleMania, it takes place 3/29 and I think it's going to be quite difficult for it to be financially successful."

 

This calls for an LOL.

 

 

WrestleMania 3, headlined by Hogan vs. Orndorff, which was the plan for most of the way, would've been a disappointment.

[landy1987 0]

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

[Bruce Blank 0]

This is really cool, getting an insight into the classic years and maybe seeing a few things in a different perspective - I really hope you keep this up cause it's a great read.

[Vanhalen 0]

ukff sucks, dont put those notes on there

[landy1987 0]

ukff sucks, dont put those notes on there

 

Why are you looking on there then?

[DrVenkman PhD 0]

Dave seemed like quite the cynical young man with his Restholdmania comment. I like it.

[DMann2003 0]

Considering the rampant steroid abuse going on during the 80's, and painkillers, it seems odd that Dave seemed completely indifferent to the issue, not mentioning any of this abuse as a cause for Dynamite's condition. Even Meltzer turned a blind eye to this stuff, and don't tell me he didn't know cause if anyone knew it was this guy.

[Guest JoeMelba]

once again, thank you, thank you, thank you!

 

joe

[DMann2003 0]

Thanks very much for the posts btw, I wish there was a database of old Observers, Meltzer could start a subscription database and I'd join it.

[Hunter's Torn Quad 0]

Good call Dave on WM 3 not being financially successful. And nice to see Dave has always hated Gorilla Monsoon

It was by no means a guarantee that WM 3 was going to be financial success. Same with WM 1.

 

And, contrary to what you keep saying elsewhere, Dave does not hate Monsoon. He disliked his commentary style, but that was it. It was not, and never was, personal.

 

Straight from Dave:

 

He won worst announcer numerous years in polls that I never even voted in. It was a pretty consensus opinion within the industry of his announcing at the time. Whomever you grow up on you think is the best. People who had already grown up and seen many different announcers didn't think highly of him as an announcer. As a person, he was always nice to me so I've got nothing bad to say about him.

[Frankie Williams 0]

Great read. I never knew that Mania 3 was once again considered to take place in multiple venues.

 

Thanks alot!!

[strummer 0]

Good call Dave on WM 3 not being financially successful. And nice to see Dave has always hated Gorilla Monsoon

It was by no means a guarantee that WM 3 was going to be financial success. Same with WM 1.

 

And, contrary to what you keep saying elsewhere, Dave does not hate Monsoon. He disliked his commentary style, but that was it. It was not, and never was, personal.

 

Straight from Dave:

 

He won worst announcer numerous years in polls that I never even voted in. It was a pretty consensus opinion within the industry of his announcing at the time. Whomever you grow up on you think is the best. People who had already grown up and seen many different announcers didn't think highly of him as an announcer. As a person, he was always nice to me so I've got nothing bad to say about him.

 

I did jump to conclusions about Dave hating Monsoon at NMB but it just seems he NEVER lets an opportunity go by to say how bad he was. I mean he was talking about shows over 20 years ago and he still can't let it go. It just seems he goes out of his way to criticize him when Monsoon really isn't even the main subject.

[Timmy8271 0]

Good stuff man. I'm thinking about brining out my PW Torch's from 98-2000 for wcw.

[JimmyHendricks 0]

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…

 

"Hogan's legs are BENT, Orndorff's are STRAIGHT!"

 

Seriously though, this is awesome. I can remember reading some newsgroup posting from 1991 about The Undertaker, and being amazed at how Smarky it was. It's one thing to read about these events in the past tense, but as they are happening is awesome. Keep them coming, I definitely appreciate it.

 

And I second the idea for Meltzer to have a subscription based database of all these old Observers. Even if it was 100% text based, I'd definitely pay for it.