Wrestling Observer News (March 1986)

[Bruiser Chong 0]

All WO notes from March 1986 will be housed in this thread. I’ll periodically update with notes from later newsletters.

 

3.3.86

 

Top Stories

 

- Rick Rood is the new world champion in WCCW. The title had been the American title, but the promotion decided to upgrade it to a World title to further distance themselves from the NWA. Fritz had complained about Crockett being difficult to deal with when it came to booking dates with Flair, in addition that he allegedly wouldn’t wrestle a Von Erich. An added excuse for the change is that the promotion promotes all over the world, even though Meltz points out that two days in Boston and one week in Israel doesn’t exactly constitute all over the world. Meltz says to expect Rood to drop the strap to Kerry Von Erich at the Texas Stadium show in May.

 

- Hype for Wrestlemania II is going into overdrive. The show’s theme will be “Wrestlemania II: What the world is coming to see.” Hogan vs. Bundy will main event in LA, while a $100,000 battle royal will be the main attraction in Chicago. Refrigerator Perry won’t be one of the participants. The show will be on PPV and Meltz adds that if anyone wants to tape it for him, he’d be willing to trade some real pro wrestling for a copy.

 

- MTV will be airing a special on 3.1 (The Slammies) which will go head-to-head with the end of Crockett’s TBS show. The MTV show will include musical performances by JYD, Hillbilly Jim, and Roddy Piper. Because of the bizarre nature of its hype, Meltz wants to avoid making predictions on the state of wrestling in 1986 or how well this will go over until the next issue.

 

- Titan contacted Mr. Ueda (president of the World’s Women Wrestling Association) asking for the Crush Girls at Wrestlemania. Meltz hopes they get them because with them plus the Dream Team/Bulldogs and Santana/ Savage bouts, the card is much better on paper than the original Wrestlemania. He wonders what, after fans get a glimpse of the Japanese girls, will happen to Moolah, who he believes will be put out to pasture.

 

- Talks about the second Battle of the Belts show, which is better than any SNME or Crockett’s recent special. Calls the Flair/Windham main event “one of the best matches anyone will ever see.” It went 42 minutes with virtually nothing but all-out action. Meltz gives it a rare five-star rating.

 

WWF

 

Ventura got the Schwarzeneggar flick (Predator) without any help from the office. Vince was so mad about that he wanted Jesse to pull out and Ventura was almost fired over it when he refused. Meltz knows of one other wrestler in a similar situation, who got a gig without any help from the office and he may also wind up in hot water.

 

Mid-South

 

- Meltz didn’t like the 2.8 and 2.15 TV shows, the first shows he’s thought were below average for the promotion in more than six months.

 

- Highlights of the show that aired 2.22 included Dibiase and Steve Williams beating Murdoch and Superstar via DQ when Bill Eadie interfered and a time limit draw between Stan Lane/Steve Keirn against the RNR Express.

 

- New acts, Korchenko, Tarus Bulba, Sheepherders, and Koko Ware, are all looking bad according to people who’ve seen the tapes. Meltz has seen all but Korchenko and they all bored him. He doesn’t think you can get over geek acts in a circuit where fans are so used to genuine athletes. He likes Koko, but outside of his ending dropkick, he’s dull. He takes a jab at him coming out to music and dancing while the crowd just sits there and eats popcorn. Sheepherders come across as sane in comparison to Buzz Sawyer, not to mention they don’t know any moves, unlike Sawyer.

 

- Meltz didn’t like the six-man tag that saw Duggan teaming with Dibiase and Williams. Duggan wasn’t around when they became babyfaces and without them making some saves for each other, their teaming doesn’t make sense.

 

- Oliver Humperdink was done away with when Eddie Gilbert instructed Bulba, who’d been managed by Humperdink, to attack him. Metlz thinks Gilbert will be a first-rate manager.

 

- Terry Taylor challenged Jake Roberts and Dick Slater for their respective belts. Jake’s leaving for Titan in the next 10 days, so it’s suspected that Taylor will win the medal from him before then.

 

Crockett

 

- Even though two instances of Ron Garvin KO’ing Flair, Meltz doesn’t think more than 20 percent of the fans think he’s got a legit shot of beating Flair. Probably even less now that they’ve seen the new belt with Flair’s name on it. Meltz points out that the belt says “Rick Flair.”

 

- Tully Blanchard was to appear in court for shoving a 17-year-old girl in the stands in 1981, but the case was settled out of court.

[Cheech Tremendous 0]

It's sort of sad to see Meltz trying to come to grips with the changing landscape of wrestling in the mid 80s. You can see that he hates Vince's vision for the WWF and much to his dismay, it was getting over and drawing big money.

[Black Lushus 0]

they were originally planning Santana/Savage for WM 2? So instead we get George Steele...good grief...

[Bruiser Chong 0]

It was originally speculated that there would be a Savage/Hogan main event; possibly a lumberjack match. Had that been the case, Wrestlemania 2 may not have gone down as one of the most forgettable of the franchise. Let's not forget that Steamboat was originally slated to wrestle Bret Hart, too. They really dropped the ball on the sequel. As you'll see when I eventually post news bits from Mania's fallout, this show was a HUGE financial catastrophe.

[Jingus 0]

If they'd managed to do Savage/Santana and Hart/Steamboat instead of the crap they went with, given Roberts and Piper decent matches instead of a jobber and a non-wrestler respectively, and somehow put together those Bruno vs. Ventura and Crush Gals vs. Whoever matches, we might not still be talking about how WMIII was the first true modern Wrestlemania.

[strummer 0]

It's sort of sad to see Meltz trying to come to grips with the changing landscape of wrestling in the mid 80s. You can see that he hates Vince's vision for the WWF and much to his dismay, it was getting over and drawing big money.

 

Seconded

 

- Hype for Wrestlemania II is going into overdrive. The show’s theme will be “Wrestlemania II: What the world is coming to see.” Hogan vs. Bundy will main event in LA, while a $100,000 battle royal will be the main attraction in Chicago. Refrigerator Perry won’t be one of the participants. The show will be on PPV and Meltz adds that if anyone wants to tape it for him, he’d be willing to trade some real pro wrestling for a copy.

 

Ouch.

[Guest JohnFTW]

Bruiser, excellent stuff. Thanks for posting it.

[Bruiser Chong 0]

3.17.86

 

Either I don’t have the 3.10 issue or it’s merely been misplaced. We’ll just skip ahead for now.

 

Top Stories

 

- William Perry is “definitely in” for the Wrestlemania battle royal. He’ll reportedly net $150,000 for his participation and probably be winning it. The figure is what he’s been promised, not necessarily what he’ll make, though. All the main eventers from the original Wrestlemania, with the possible exception of Hogan, received less than expected and were upset about it. Roddy Piper and Mr. T even did some shopping around with other promoters after.

 

The Crush Girls will appear on the Los Angeles portion of the card. Ringside tickets at all three arenas are $100, but they drop to $30 starting with the sixth row. Meltz is certain the show will do better than the first, mainly because it’s running from three of the biggest markets in the country, which assures tons of media coverage. Secondly, Perry’s involved and is as hot an item as Mr. T was last year. Despite seeing an out-of-shape actor, (in Hogan and more specifically, Mr. T), the public at large saw two fearsome fighters with reasons to get revenge on easily-hated heels. Newer audiences hadn’t seen Hogan carted off before. The angle was weakly done and Mean Gene’s attempts at comedy hurt it. The success of the first Wrestlemania almost ensures the success of this one, as Meltz points to the Super Bowl participants not affecting people watching the game.

 

- The NWA and AWA ran a combined show on 2.24. In the main, Ric Flair beat Magnum T.A. in what many people called “the best bout ever in New York.” Meltz points out that isn’t as great a compliment as it sounds. Bruiser Brody will be appearing at their next joint show.

 

- Says the announcers, even Jesse Ventura, were overbearing for the 3.1 SNME. The matches were “shit, but that’s expected.” Calls the Bulldogs vs. Dream Team match the closest thing to a great match he’s seen in the WWF in 18 months. Hogan looks out of shape, even though his tan creates the impression of physical fitness. Says both Hogan and Don Muraco looked terrible in their match. Orton looked good in his boxing match with Mr. T and doesn’t blame T for blowing up, since it’s easy to do if you aren’t a legit fighter. Adds “you’d think they’d let him visit the WWF pharmacy before having him unveil his relatively small and flat physique.” Points the comedy was kept to a minimum, which is probably a result of strong January ratings boosting McMahon’s confidence about future network specials and thus, doesn’t need to cater to those in power who want more comedy.

 

- The Von Erich family was on a talk show in Dallas on 2.23. When asked about his hepatitis, Mike said people had told him they’d read in the papers he had it, but he didn’t know anything about it. Fritz then cut in and told Mike he did have it, but it was only a “mild case.” Kerry Von Erich said there’s “little, if any drug usage” in pro wrestling and they were greatly shocked to hear Gino Hernandez died from a coke overdose. Host pointed out that no Von Erich is ever in the Top 10 wrestlers in the world ratings, which Kevin responded to with, “If you’ll notice the top five guys are big, overweight guys and I’d love to get them in the ring.” Fritz, outraged, added that Kevin would beat them all in five minutes. The five wrestlers in question include Ric Flair, Ted Dibiase, Tatsumi Fujinami, Dynamite Kid, and Bobby Eaton.

 

AWA

 

- Vern has changed the team name for Marty Janetty and Sean Michaels from The American Express to The Midnight Rockers. “Have to make sure everyone knows you have no originality,” says Meltz.

 

Mid-South

 

- Jake Roberts lost the North American title to Dick Slater after winning it 24 hours before.

 

- Expects Terry Taylor to win either the NA title or TV title soon.

 

Crockett

 

- Seem to be grooming Ricky Morton as a new foe for Flair. Matches should be great and sell well, but few will believe Morton has a shot at beating Flair.

 

- Jim Garvin and Precious are in, certainly to feud with Dusty Rhodes and Baby Doll.

 

- Suspects Tully Blanchard will be National champ before anyone reads this.

 

- With Jim Garvin in, most expect Miss Atlanta Lively to return as his second, only to turn on him revealing a heel Ron Garvin. They’ve pushed Ron so hard that if they do it, he should get over great as a heel.

[DrVenkman PhD 0]

Old School Meltzer is harsh but funny.

[Cheech Tremendous 0]

- The Von Erich family was on a talk show in Dallas on 2.23. When asked about his hepatitis, Mike said people had told him they’d read in the papers he had it, but he didn’t know anything about it. Fritz then cut in and told Mike he did have it, but it was only a “mild case.” Kerry Von Erich said there’s “little, if any drug usage” in pro wrestling and they were greatly shocked to hear Gino Hernandez died from a coke overdose.

 

Sigh... the more things change, the more they stay the same.

[DrVenkman PhD 0]

Yeah I thought that was an interesting / timely little blurb.

 

The "WWF Pharmacy" line was pretty funny too as well as The Rockers being called "American Express.

[King Cucaracha 0]

The angle was weakly done and Mean Gene’s attempts at comedy hurt it.

 

What is this referring to? I can't remember anything from the Hogan/Bundy build-up from what I've seen, but I haven't seen the entire segment just the vid package from Mania.

[cabbageboy 0]

I never totally got the booking of WM 2. I can see not wanting to do Hogan/Savage on the show, since Savage was still fairly new and nobody would have bought him winning or having a chance. But they couldn't have kept the IC belt on Santana and had him drop it to Savage on that major show? I'm not sure about Bret/Steamboat as early as 86 though. Bret jobbing to Steamboat probably wouldn't have meant a whole lot at that point.

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

I never totally got the booking of WM 2. I can see not wanting to do Hogan/Savage on the show, since Savage was still fairly new and nobody would have bought him winning or having a chance. But they couldn't have kept the IC belt on Santana and had him drop it to Savage on that major show? I'm not sure about Bret/Steamboat as early as 86 though. Bret jobbing to Steamboat probably wouldn't have meant a whole lot at that point.

In fairness, the Steele/Elizabeth stuff is one of those angles that is ingrained in a wrestling fan from that era. What really hurt Wrestlemania II, IMO, was bringing back Mr. T. It kept Piper from matching up against someone from a hotter angle (Piper/Orndorff could have been a good match), and it produced one of the worst matches in wrestling history. Also, they could have matched Muraco/Steamboat instead of putting both in less hot programs.

 

Here's something I've wondered. Did Moolah shoot on Velvet McIntyre to get the pin that fast? Not that she wasn't supposed to win, but that she did it at that point in the match. In the History of Wrestlemania I-XIV program, Moolah gives a sort of sly smile talking about that match.

[MillenniumMan831 0]

It did seem odd that the 1st two matches of the Chicago portion of WM2 went approx two minutes each. Granted, the ring intros for the battle royal ate up a lot of time that most likely took away from the opening matches.

 

Lovin these retro Observers Bruiser!

[slabinskia 0]

Considering the rumored matches going into wm2, here is the card I would've put together.

 

NY

 

1. Orndorff vs Bob Orton

2. Bruno vs Ventura

3. Savage vs Santana IC belt

4. Piper vs Mr T

 

Chicago

 

1. Hart Foundation vs Killer Bees

2. Jake Roberts vs George Welles

3. Battle Royal

4. Buldogs vs Dream Team

 

LA

 

1. Crush Girls vs ?

2. Steamboat vs Muraco

3. JYD vs Terry Funk

4. Hogan vs Bundy

[AntiLeaf33 0]

I'm curious, when there wasn't a match happening in one of the arenas did they have any "dark matches" or did the crowd have to watch the screens and wait their turn to see a match?

[cabbageboy 0]

The Steele/Savage angle worked better with Steele in a supporting role, such as his involvement with Steamboat. They could have done that angle after WM and thus freed up Savage to have a decent match with someone else.

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

I think it was a live show/closed circuit deal. Here's another query. Was the three arena show an attempt to upstage the two arena Starrcade?

[Cheech Tremendous 0]

I think it was a live show/closed circuit deal. Here's another query. Was the three arena show an attempt to upstage the two arena Starrcade?

 

 

Yes.

[Bruiser Chong 0]

As you'll see when I get the chance to post the next newsletter, there's a legit reason why Bruno/Ventura didn't happen.

[Vern Gagne 0]

Did it have something to do with David Sammartino?

[Jingus 0]

I think that's when they found all those blood clots in Jesse's lungs that forced him to retire.

[Richard 0]

I hope you post more of these soon.

[Bruiser Chong 0]

I started a new job two weeks ago and haven't had much free time, but I don't work again until Tuesday, so I should have at least one more up before tomorrow night.