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Frankie Williams

Radio WWF

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Back in 1993 Vince tinkered with have a couple ppv's broadcasted on "radio". The only ones I can recall were Summer Slam and the Survivor Series.

 

Anyone ever listen to them, if so, where and how was it?

 

I don't know why you put radio in quotation marks.

 

Basically, if I recall, it was a syndicated program that ran on radio stations throughout the country. I think it usually aired during weekends. I never heard it, because it didn't seem to be in my area. In pre-internet days, it was pretty hard to check up on this stuff. I remember them talking about airing matches and having discussion about WWF happenings when they would plug it on TV, though.

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Wasn't there an incident where Randy Savage decided to shoot on Hulk Hogan after Hogan officially left the WWF in 1993?

 

I believe so. I'm not sure exactly what he said but they mentioned in WWF Magazine (!) after that he had been "badmouthing Hulk Hogan on TV."

 

And, Royal Rumble '94 was also on the radio, as they switched commentators for the IRS/Razor Ramon match with McMahon/DiBiase moving to radio.

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Wasn't there an incident where Randy Savage decided to shoot on Hulk Hogan after Hogan officially left the WWF in 1993?

 

I remember the transcript of this was floating around RSPW back in the day. Could still probably be found with a search.

 

(Edit: Ah, I found it, here it is):

 

Jonathan Chau:

"It should be noted that it was pretty obvious the way Savage, Jim Ross and

Johnny Polo were interacting during the segment that all three knew what was

about to be said.

 

Savage's comments started with: "Have you ever heard the name Hulk Hogan?

The five time WWF champion. Hulk Hogan became at one time the biggest

superstar in the history of professional wrestling. I personally used to look

up to Hulk Hogan. But that was a big mistake. I really thought he was a

friend. But he's definately not. He's the worst prima donna I've ever met in

my life... Hulk Hogan's ego went so far out of control that Hulk Hogan

consummed Terry Bollea, which is his real name... Let's just say I've lost a

lot of respect for Hulk Hogan aka Terry Bollea, both as a man and as a human

being. That's an extreme understatement that I'm saying right there. A lot of

people out there might be thinking it is professional jealousy. But putting

professional jealousy aside, if there is any, which I'm not saying there is, I

lost respect for Hulk Hogan big time. Number one, when he completely lied on

Arsenio Hall, denying the use of anabolic steroids except for rehabilitation

for an injury."

 

At this point Ross asked Savage if he had ever used steroids. "Yes I have.

I used anabolic steroids and when I was on Arsenio Hall, I told the people I

did, when they were legal. But it's like putting poison in your body." Ross

asked Savage if he currently uses them. "No, I sure don't. Nobody does in the

WWF. But at the same time I was asked about it I told the truth. It was

prevalant at the time, not just in wrestling but in all sports, baseball,

basketball, football, you name it, it was there. It was in the gyms. It was

legal at the time. But at the same time, if Hulk Hogan is the guy he says that

he is, if he's leading the Hulkamaniacs down that tunnel where there's light

at the end of the tunnel, and he's showing them the way, hey, the children are

our future and if you're going to lie to them, if your lying to me, your lying

to everybody, brother because thats just not the way it's happening. I

remember being in the car with him the day before he went on Arsenio Hall in

St. Louis, Missouri and I begged him for three hours not to go on and do

that."

 

At this point Ross, attempting to act surprised by the last statement,

said, "You knew he was going to go on there and lie?" Savage responded,

"Exactly. I knew that he was going to do it and lie about using anabolic

steroids. I told him that he could be a leader among men if he would tell the

truth. But he was worried about the image of the character of Hulk Hogan aka

Terry Bollea. I said, 'brother, listen, we all make mistakes. Be honest. The

world is more forgiving then you think.' Steroids were legal then. But he

said, 'Not a chance.' He went on Arsenio Hall and lied big time. He hurt

himself. I'm not worried about him hurting himself. But he hurt all of the

WWF, because like I said before, he was a leader. He was a big-time, 5 time

WWF champion. When he talks, people listen... Yeah, but when he went on

Arsenio Hall and lied and then everything came down after that. You realize

that he hurt himself. That he cared about. But I guarantee you from

heart-to-heart right now, he couldn't care less about hurting any of us at

the WWF."

 

At this point Ross interjects, "Are you saying he's selfish?" Savage said,

"To the umpteenth degree. And I'm not perfect. No doubt about it. This guy is

really not even perfect, though he wants you to believe it."

 

Ross then brought up his celebrated marriage and divorce with Liz Huelette

(Elizabeth). Savage's comments were: "There was a time I fell in love. I got

engaged and got married, and it was to Elizabeth. Then it got to a point that

some of the kids out there can relate to. Maybe it happened to their mother

and father or uncle and aunt. Sometimes it just doesn't go forever. Elizabeth

and I were married, but we were having problems. It happens that at the time

Elizabeth and Hulk Hogan's wife were very, very, very best friends. And they

were running around together. I didn't think it was healthy for our

relationship, but whatever's whatever. A lot of people can have different

kinds of friends. But there was a time when I was wrestling on the road while

we were having problems and I would call home and Elizabeth wouldn't be there.

During a certain segment of time, I would just get another phone call. Being

the master of the phone that I am and I would have conversations with Hulk

Hogan. And he would give me swerves and curves, but never tell that Liz was

over there... She was either out with his wife Linda or hiding out at their

house. Later on, while I was wrestling on the road, basically when I would

call home and there was no answer for four days and Elizabeth was MIA, Missing

in action for four days, I was worried about my wife then, and I still am now.

I can't help that. Because in my heart I'll always love her. It's very hard to

let go. But you've got to let go. That's for people out there who have

situations like that. But no doubt about it, being honest, four days went by

and Liz called me and told me to get a lawyer because she wanted a divorce.

That was end of story right there."

 

Ross then asked Savage if he thought Hogan knew about the divorce and what

was going on at the time: Savage responded, "Like, Hogan and his wife were in

Miami filming that movie that bombed," at which point Ross asked him which one

that had bombed and Savage responded, "Mr. Nanny. He's a three time loser. He

starts out with No Holds Barred that did about $10 million. Then Suburban

Commando did less. Then he broke his own record for doing less then that with

Mr. Nanny. Not to say there's anything personal right here. It's kinda like

Crush. A Hulk Hogan situation. I was making calls and going comletely out of

my mind because I didn't know where she was and couldn't even talk to her

because she wanted the lawyers and all, but he gave me curves and swerves

again saying he didn't know where she was but said, 'Brother if I hear

anything, I'll let you know.' But in desperation I flew to Miami at the Jockey

Club where Hogan was staying and where they were filming the movie Mr. Nanny

and there I found Liz, shockingly (the word shockingly was used

sarcastically). Obviously by this time, only half shocked ye dig... Honesty

and friendship between Hulk Hogan aka Terry Bollea and the Macho Man Randy

Savage aka Randy Poffo, brother I'm out there in front of you. Hit me with

your best shot. The honsety and friendship wasn't there and possibly it was

never was. And right now, talking on Radio WWF, I would tell you it was never

there. I was fooled. I didn't know it and Liz didn't know it either. She

thought she had a best friend with Hulk Hogan's wife. But now we both know,.

Seperately of course, because we are legally divorced. Can you believe the

fact that Hulk Hogan's wife and Liz don't even talk now? So what kind of

friends do you think they were? It's almost like they got the job done. This

is a worst case scenario, broke us up, did what ever they had to do. They're

not even friends now. I think Liz realizes alot because as time goes by, you

know what I mean, and I wish the best for her. But a lot's changes and the

trust is broke... I've changed a lot in my life time.. A WWF match, if Hogan

didn't like what I said over the airwaves and wanted to do that in front of

the WWF in any arena near by or in a garage of his choice, that would be cool

for the Macho Man Randy Savage, because you can beat me, but not eat me. And I

don't think you could beat me."

 

A side note for ye... it should be noted that Randy Savage was the one

responsible for giving Hulk a black eye before Wrestle Mania... "

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That transcript is pretty amazing.

 

Didn't WCW do a PPV that was audio only or something?

 

I seem to remember them doing an online only audio PPV on their website, around '97 or so. I think it basically bombed and that idea was dropped.

 

And yes, that interview was pretty shocking for the time. I mean, when before had real names been referred to like that on any sort of WWF programming?

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I remember around like the 2000 Rumble they had some syndicated radio shows the night or day before plugging the show, with wrestler interviews and that kind of shit.

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That transcript is pretty amazing.

 

Didn't WCW do a PPV that was audio only or something?

Yeah I remember Jericho doing commentary. There was a cage match that I think Flair was in and Jericho claimed Flair did a moonsault off the top of the cage

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Good shit.

 

I was watching 'The Best of The Intercontinintal Championship' and JR and Gorilla Monsoon are up in a skybox doing Radio WWF during Raw, and they used the JR/Monsoon commentary for the match on the dvd.

 

 

 

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Didn't they do Heat on the radio only one time?

 

Yeah, I think it was in February '99. It wasn't radio per se, but rather the video feed cut out (I think it was a live broadcast) and Cole and whoever came back on a minute or two later with the Heat graphic on the screen and started saying it was a radio broadcast. I might not have it exactly right. Bizarre, though.

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WCW did their first-ever internet-only broadcast of a house show in Los Angeles, CA on June 28, 1997. It was titled "WCW Saturday Nitro". It was a moderate success in terms of stability, mainly because no one knew about it until the last second. This was used as a test-run to do more of these and charge for them in the future. Here are the results:

 

-- Juventud Guerrera, Damien, & Super Calo defeated Konnan, La Parka, & Villano IV

-- Ultimo Dragon defeated Psicosis

-- Eddie Guerrero defeated Dean Malenko

-- The Steiner Brothers defeated Masahiro Chono & Buff Bagwell

-- Syxx defeated Rey Mysterio Jr.

-- Chris Jericho defeated Syxx to win the WCW Cruiserweight Title

-- Roddy Piper defeated Ric Flair

-- Diamond Dallas Page defeated Randy Savage

-- Lex Luger & The Giant defeated Scott Hall & Kevin Nash by DQ

 

WCW then went all out for it's next one on January 31, 1998. It was called "Boston Brawl". It was a big show because it was in WWF territory and Hulk Hogan never worked house shows. The show also featured Bret Hart's second-ever WCW match. Hosted by Mark Madden and Chad "Deli Boy" Damiani, Boston Brawl was a total failure in every way. WCW's website did not have nearly enough capacity to host the show. The show had a $9.95 price tag, but the URL was not protected in anyway so it was quickly spread around the internet. The broadcast went down within minutes and the chat room also struggled as well. They re-routed the broadcast to another address that was given to people in the chat room that quickly went down as well. Also, WCW failed to deliver two advertised matches as Rick Martel was unable to compete due to a knee injury and Curt Hennig no-showed. Everybody that paid for the show were issued refunds.

 

The results:

-- Bill Goldberg defeated Sgt. Buddy Lee Parker

-- Chris Jericho defeated Dean Malenko

-- Booker T. defeated V.K. Wallstreet (subbing for Rick Martel)

-- Steve McMichael defeated Greg Valentine (subbing for Curt Hennig)

-- The Steiner Brothers defeated Raven & Perry Saturn

-- Chris Benoit defeated Eddie Guerrero

-- Bret Hart defeated Ric Flair

-- Diamond Dallas Page, Lex Luger, & Larry Zbyszko defeated Scott Hall, Kevin Nash, & Randy Savage

-- Sting defeated Hollywood Hogan in a cage match

 

WCW made three more attempts at a pay-per-listen event. The next one was on April 2, 1998 in Tampa, FL entitled "Malice at the Palace". The show also had a $9.95 price tag.

 

-- Jim Duggan & Bubba the Love Sponge defeated the Texas Hangmen

-- Juventud Guerrera & Kaz Hayashi defeated Psicosis & El Dandy

-- Bill Goldberg defeated Jerry Flynn

-- Ultimo Dragon defeated Chavo Guerrero, Jr.

-- Diamond Dallas Page & Chris Benoit defeated Raven & Perry Saturn in a no DQ match

-- Ric Flair defeated Curt Hennig

-- Bret Hart defeated Brian Adams

-- Sting defeated Hollywood Hogan in a cage match

 

WCW "Profiles in Pain" from Charleston, SC on May 2, 1998 for $9.95.

-- Ernest Miller defeated Yuji Nagata

-- The Barbarian defeated Bobby Eaton

-- Perry Saturn defeated Fit Finlay

-- High Voltage defeated Kidman & Sick Boy

-- Chris Benoit defeated Booker T. to win the WCW Television Title

-- The Giant defeated Kevin Nash by DQ

-- Diamond Dallas Page defeated Raven

 

The final one was "L.A. Melee" on July 10, 1998 once again in Los Angeles, CA. This show was only $4.95 due to the severely low buyrates of the previously two shows. Of course, WCW didn't stop to think that maybe people didn't want to pay $10 for a radio broadcast of matches like The Barbarian vs. Bobby Eaton or matches involving local radio DJs.

 

-- Booker T. defeated Fit Finlay

-- Eddie Guerrero defeated Chavo Guerrero, Jr.

-- Juventud Guerrera, Psicosis, & Ciclope defeated Damien, Villano IV, & Villano V

-- Ultimo Dragon defeated Dean Malenko by countout

-- Chris Jericho defeated Rey Mysterio, Jr. by DQ

-- Konnan defeated Vincent

-- Kevin Nash & Lex Luger defeated Bret Hart & The Giant by DQ

-- Bill Goldberg defeated Curt Hennig

-- Sting defeated Hollywood Hogan in a cage match

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Hell with the exception of the Profiles In Pain one, they all sound like borderline PPV worthy cards.

 

It's worth reiterating that WCW usually seemed to have terrible house shows. Every old house show report I've read, it seems like that at least three or four major guys are missing from the card. Heck they managed to bungle a potentially successful European tour by having The Mamalukes Vs The Harris Boys main event...

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Yeah, WCW didn't seem to hold their guys accountable for no showing...or maybe they were so seat of the pants that they would advertise guys without making sure they were booked for that date first.

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