Pre-Bischoff WCW Contracts

[jason1980s]

We know Bischoff had a tendency to sign guys (even lower tier guys) for long term, high dollar contracts and some may be barely used. You wouldn't see Mike Enos, John Nord, Barry Darsow etc for months and then they'd be on a B or C level show jobbing.


But pre-Bischoff WCW was very similar as well. You'd have guys like Ranger Ross, post-Doom Butch Reed, Junkyard Dog, Iron Sheik, Dick Murdoch, Tom Zenk and DDP off the top of my head who would be gone for months or even a year or more without doing PPVs or Clashes. I didn't watch totally regularly 1989-1991 but I don't recall those guys (and others as well) doing much at certain times. DDP was gone from like late 92 to early 94, Zenk was gone from mid 93 to early 94 (I know Bischoff era).

Reed was gone after the Doom split and showed up briefly late 92 or early 93. Ranger Ross seemed to be gone for a while, JYD was in and out every few months until mid 1993. I don't recall Murdoch doing anything big from Wrestle War 89 to returning in mid 91. It's been noted that Sheik was never let go and his contract rolled over so he barely did anything while being paid.

I guess I'm not really if these guys were always under contract or if they left and were brought back as needed. If they were under contract then I guess it's just the way people who were running WCW did so under Turner's ownership, Bischoff or no Bischoff.

[tafkaga]

One of the weirdest ones was Jimmy Garvin wrestling at SuperBrawl IV after he hadn't been around for what seemed like years.

[jason1980s]

Jan 3, 2023 21:25:07 GMT -5 tafkaga said:

One of the weirdest ones was Jimmy Garvin wrestling at SuperBrawl IV after he hadn't been around for what seemed like years.

Good one! And Michael Hayes at the same show had been gone for over a year as well, IIRC. The last I remember of him was the Slam Jam album doing a Freebird song. And then in early 1994 he had a feud with Johnny B. Badd over both being in the music business.

Who was booking these shows? Was it Sullivan?

Also, Johnny and a music feud reminds me of Honkytonk Man in late 1994. Bischoff, according to Honky brought him in with no contract-he wanted to be signed to a contract and Bischoff refused and wanted him to lose to Johnny. The night of a PPV all of a sudden Arn Anderson, who despite turning heel a few months ago was doing nothing but being an extra guy in the Stud Stable now all of a sudden was in a feud with Johnny, I think because Arn had once been TV champions years ago and wanted the belt again.

I doubt Bischoff was booking this crap, he would most likely be into Hogan and friends only.

At least with WWF, Vince consistently had guys in a spot PPV after PPV, TV show after TV show, house show after house show-the booking made sense.

[jason1980s]

During the Bischoff era I remember Ice Train disappearing from early 94 and until early 96, according to wikipedia he was under contract this whole time. He also disappeared again and became MI Smooth in the late 90s.
Teddy Long was another one who disappeared I think post Doom/Johnny B. Badd turn and then re-appeared in late 1993 managing Marcus Bagwell and Scorpio. He won a manager of the year award and then I think the team lost a match to Pretty Wonderful right after. After that team disbanned I don't remember him until 96 or so putting together a stable of lower card guys.

[tafkaga]

Were these guys under contract or just on call because Vince wasn't interested in them?

[The Blue Nova]

its funny you mentioned it cause even someone like Chris Cruise who was a announcer for the C shows was around till like spring of 1997 yet he would go months or years without being seen

[ThankGodForSidJustice]

Jan 3, 2023 9:45:54 GMT -5 jason1980s said:

We know Bischoff had a tendency to sign guys (even lower tier guys) for long term, high dollar contracts and some may be barely used. You wouldn't see Mike Enos, John Nord, Barry Darsow etc for months and then they'd be on a B or C level show jobbing.


But pre-Bischoff WCW was very similar as well. You'd have guys like Ranger Ross, post-Doom Butch Reed, Junkyard Dog, Iron Sheik, Dick Murdoch, Tom Zenk and DDP off the top of my head who would be gone for months or even a year or more without doing PPVs or Clashes. I didn't watch totally regularly 1989-1991 but I don't recall those guys (and others as well) doing much at certain times. DDP was gone from like late 92 to early 94, Zenk was gone from mid 93 to early 94 (I know Bischoff era).

Reed was gone after the Doom split and showed up briefly late 92 or early 93. Ranger Ross seemed to be gone for a while, JYD was in and out every few months until mid 1993. I don't recall Murdoch doing anything big from Wrestle War 89 to returning in mid 91. It's been noted that Sheik was never let go and his contract rolled over so he barely did anything while being paid.

I guess I'm not really if these guys were always under contract or if they left and were brought back as needed. If they were under contract then I guess it's just the way people who were running WCW did so under Turner's ownership, Bischoff or no Bischoff.

DDP was released around late 92-early 93. He suffered a bad shoulder injury and unfortunately for him this was during the time notorious tight wad Bill Watts was in charge and he wasn't going to want to pay a lower midcard guy to sit at home. Fortunately for DDP a few months later Watts was fired and replaced by his buddy Eric who brought him back after he was healed up from his injury.

Guys like JYD, Reed, and Murdoch just simply left and came back for cup of coffee runs. JYD in particular left and came back I think like three times. He debuted in late 1988 right after getting fired by WWF and was fired in May 1989 after no showing the Wrestlewar 1989 PPV likely because he didn't want to put over the Great Muta. He then came back the following year after Ole Anderson got the book. That run lasted about a year before he disappeared again summer 1991. Then came back again at Superbrawl II to help Ron Simmons against Cactus Jack and Abdullah the Butcher. Disappeared again in the summer and then came back again for a real short run in 1993 feuding with Dick Slater (another guy who tons of multiple short runs) before being gone for good. I after he came back in 90 he might have been under contract the whole time but I'm not sure.

Reed left after Doom split and he then subsequently put over Simmons. They brought him back the following year to be part of a stable with Jake Roberts, Cactus Jack, and the Barbarian. At this point Simmons was the World Champion so the idea was that him being Simmons former partner he knew all of his weakness and was passing it on to Cactus and Barbarian. However about a week after his surprise return at Clash XX he was fired by Watts after no showing a TV taping.

Murdoch actually stuck around through the rest of 1989 mainly just putting over heels like Muta. He disappeared towards the end of the year although I don't why. I'm certain he wasn't under contract the whole time. I did think the Hardliners run with Slater was odd. It seemed like they had big plans for them as they were put right into a program with the Steiners and were credited for injuring Scott's arm. However then they were just gone after a few months before Scott could even come back from his injury. They ended up going with the Enforcers (Arn and Zybyzko) instead which in fairness was a much better choice however still odd as it seemed like Murdoch and Slater were being set up as the big heel team.

Ranger Ross disappeared I think around early 1990. After that I think all of his appearances were just one shot deals as he was from Georgia which is where WCW was based and did a lot of shows so might have just been a deal where he was local and willing to work here and there so they would bring him if they needed a substitute or something. It was super random when he showed up for the Clash XV battle royal (which took place in Georgia) despite not being on TV for a year and a half at that point. I think he was likely filling in for "Young Pistol" Steve Armstrong who was advertised but didn't appear for some reason (likely injury) even though his partner in the Young Pistols Tracy Smothers was in it.

Zenk was one who was definitely under contract the entire time from when he first appeared (September 1989) to when he stopped appearing (Spring 1994). I think he was one guy who they signed to a big contract as they had high hopes for him due to being a good looking guy who had the archatype look of a superstar wrestler. Him not being around from mid 93 to early 94 I think was just simply a case of them not having anything for him and likely just putting him on the backburner until his contract was up. They did eventually bring him back to have him put over DDP funny enough. Then I think he jobs on TV for Simmons and Bunkhouse Buck before finally being gone.

["Playboy" Don Douglas]

I know some of them, like Iron Sheik, Bob Orton, and maybe a few others were brought in by George Scott during his brief tenure as booker because they had drawn money for him about a decade before.

[lildude8218]

Cornette said they stopped using Sheik and then forgot all about him so his contract rolled over for another year. He was making 6-figures at the time.

[jason1980s]

thankgodforsidjustice, trying to quote you but it comes up as jericholic.
You need to be a writer for Slam or historian for Dark Side.
Thanks for the education on those guys from the early 90s.

Dick Slater is a guy who came to mind with JYD, Murdoch and others from the time period but I had no clue he was in WCW in 93. Now I remember I think he lost a clash in June 93 to Ron Simmons before disappearing again.

[Mozenrath]

Jan 4, 2023 16:52:07 GMT -5 ThankGodForSidJustice said:

Jan 3, 2023 9:45:54 GMT -5 jason1980s said:

We know Bischoff had a tendency to sign guys (even lower tier guys) for long term, high dollar contracts and some may be barely used. You wouldn't see Mike Enos, John Nord, Barry Darsow etc for months and then they'd be on a B or C level show jobbing.


But pre-Bischoff WCW was very similar as well. You'd have guys like Ranger Ross, post-Doom Butch Reed, Junkyard Dog, Iron Sheik, Dick Murdoch, Tom Zenk and DDP off the top of my head who would be gone for months or even a year or more without doing PPVs or Clashes. I didn't watch totally regularly 1989-1991 but I don't recall those guys (and others as well) doing much at certain times. DDP was gone from like late 92 to early 94, Zenk was gone from mid 93 to early 94 (I know Bischoff era).

Reed was gone after the Doom split and showed up briefly late 92 or early 93. Ranger Ross seemed to be gone for a while, JYD was in and out every few months until mid 1993. I don't recall Murdoch doing anything big from Wrestle War 89 to returning in mid 91. It's been noted that Sheik was never let go and his contract rolled over so he barely did anything while being paid.

I guess I'm not really if these guys were always under contract or if they left and were brought back as needed. If they were under contract then I guess it's just the way people who were running WCW did so under Turner's ownership, Bischoff or no Bischoff.

DDP was released around late 92-early 93. He suffered a bad shoulder injury and unfortunately for him this was during the time notorious tight wad Bill Watts was in charge and he wasn't going to want to pay a lower midcard guy to sit at home. Fortunately for DDP a few months later Watts was fired and replaced by his buddy Eric who brought him back after he was healed up from his injury.

Guys like JYD, Reed, and Murdoch just simply left and came back for cup of coffee runs. JYD in particular left and came back I think like three times. He debuted in late 1988 right after getting fired by WWF and was fired in May 1989 after no showing the Wrestlewar 1989 PPV likely because he didn't want to put over the Great Muta. He then came back the following year after Ole Anderson got the book. That run lasted about a year before he disappeared again summer 1991. Then came back again at Superbrawl II to help Ron Simmons against Cactus Jack and Abdullah the Butcher. Disappeared again in the summer and then came back again for a real short run in 1993 feuding with Dick Slater (another guy who tons of multiple short runs) before being gone for good. I after he came back in 90 he might have been under contract the whole time but I'm not sure.

Reed left after Doom split and he then subsequently put over Simmons. They brought him back the following year to be part of a stable with Jake Roberts, Cactus Jack, and the Barbarian. At this point Simmons was the World Champion so the idea was that him being Simmons former partner he knew all of his weakness and was passing it on to Cactus and Barbarian. However about a week after his surprise return at Clash XX he was fired by Watts after no showing a TV taping.

Murdoch actually stuck around through the rest of 1989 mainly just putting over heels like Muta. He disappeared towards the end of the year although I don't why. I'm certain he wasn't under contract the whole time. I did think the Hardliners run with Slater was odd. It seemed like they had big plans for them as they were put right into a program with the Steiners and were credited for injuring Scott's arm. However then they were just gone after a few months before Scott could even come back from his injury. They ended up going with the Enforcers (Arn and Zybyzko) instead which in fairness was a much better choice however still odd as it seemed like Murdoch and Slater were being set up as the big heel team.

Ranger Ross disappeared I think around early 1990. After that I think all of his appearances were just one shot deals as he was from Georgia which is where WCW was based and did a lot of shows so might have just been a deal where he was local and willing to work here and there so they would bring him if they needed a substitute or something. It was super random when he showed up for the Clash XV battle royal (which took place in Georgia) despite not being on TV for a year and a half at that point. I think he was likely filling in for "Young Pistol" Steve Armstrong who was advertised but didn't appear for some reason (likely injury) even though his partner in the Young Pistols Tracy Smothers was in it.

Zenk was one who was definitely under contract the entire time from when he first appeared (September 1989) to when he stopped appearing (Spring 1994). I think he was one guy who they signed to a big contract as they had high hopes for him due to being a good looking guy who had the archatype look of a superstar wrestler. Him not being around from mid 93 to early 94 I think was just simply a case of them not having anything for him and likely just putting him on the backburner until his contract was up. They did eventually bring him back to have him put over DDP funny enough. Then I think he jobs on TV for Simmons and Bunkhouse Buck before finally being gone.

You're right about Zenk, he'd been given a good deal because he was good looking and could do some spots. It may have been Kip Frye who was responsible for that one, since I don't think it was Herd, and it definitely wouldn't have been Watts.

[ThankGodForSidJustice]

Jan 5, 2023 10:48:33 GMT -5 Mozenrath said:

Jan 4, 2023 16:52:07 GMT -5 ThankGodForSidJustice said:

DDP was released around late 92-early 93. He suffered a bad shoulder injury and unfortunately for him this was during the time notorious tight wad Bill Watts was in charge and he wasn't going to want to pay a lower midcard guy to sit at home. Fortunately for DDP a few months later Watts was fired and replaced by his buddy Eric who brought him back after he was healed up from his injury.

Guys like JYD, Reed, and Murdoch just simply left and came back for cup of coffee runs. JYD in particular left and came back I think like three times. He debuted in late 1988 right after getting fired by WWF and was fired in May 1989 after no showing the Wrestlewar 1989 PPV likely because he didn't want to put over the Great Muta. He then came back the following year after Ole Anderson got the book. That run lasted about a year before he disappeared again summer 1991. Then came back again at Superbrawl II to help Ron Simmons against Cactus Jack and Abdullah the Butcher. Disappeared again in the summer and then came back again for a real short run in 1993 feuding with Dick Slater (another guy who tons of multiple short runs) before being gone for good. I after he came back in 90 he might have been under contract the whole time but I'm not sure.

Reed left after Doom split and he then subsequently put over Simmons. They brought him back the following year to be part of a stable with Jake Roberts, Cactus Jack, and the Barbarian. At this point Simmons was the World Champion so the idea was that him being Simmons former partner he knew all of his weakness and was passing it on to Cactus and Barbarian. However about a week after his surprise return at Clash XX he was fired by Watts after no showing a TV taping.

Murdoch actually stuck around through the rest of 1989 mainly just putting over heels like Muta. He disappeared towards the end of the year although I don't why. I'm certain he wasn't under contract the whole time. I did think the Hardliners run with Slater was odd. It seemed like they had big plans for them as they were put right into a program with the Steiners and were credited for injuring Scott's arm. However then they were just gone after a few months before Scott could even come back from his injury. They ended up going with the Enforcers (Arn and Zybyzko) instead which in fairness was a much better choice however still odd as it seemed like Murdoch and Slater were being set up as the big heel team.

Ranger Ross disappeared I think around early 1990. After that I think all of his appearances were just one shot deals as he was from Georgia which is where WCW was based and did a lot of shows so might have just been a deal where he was local and willing to work here and there so they would bring him if they needed a substitute or something. It was super random when he showed up for the Clash XV battle royal (which took place in Georgia) despite not being on TV for a year and a half at that point. I think he was likely filling in for "Young Pistol" Steve Armstrong who was advertised but didn't appear for some reason (likely injury) even though his partner in the Young Pistols Tracy Smothers was in it.

Zenk was one who was definitely under contract the entire time from when he first appeared (September 1989) to when he stopped appearing (Spring 1994). I think he was one guy who they signed to a big contract as they had high hopes for him due to being a good looking guy who had the archatype look of a superstar wrestler. Him not being around from mid 93 to early 94 I think was just simply a case of them not having anything for him and likely just putting him on the backburner until his contract was up. They did eventually bring him back to have him put over DDP funny enough. Then I think he jobs on TV for Simmons and Bunkhouse Buck before finally being gone.

You're right about Zenk, he'd been given a good deal because he was good looking and could do some spots. It may have been Kip Frye who was responsible for that one, since I don't think it was Herd, and it definitely wouldn't have been Watts.

It was Herd who signed him. Kip Frye didn't become the head honcho until 1992 and it was very short lived as he replaced after about three or months by Watts. Ricky Steamboat had just left the company and apparently Herd actually thought Zenk could fill that void on the babyface side. Herd wasn't a wrestling guy and I think just looked at things from a marketability standpoint in that he wanted to be more like WWF. So with Zenk he probably saw a guy with a great look and who was athletic and thought he could just get inserted into that spot and it just doesn't work like that.

Interesting enough a few years later he signed Mick Foley to a pretty good deal. Foley being the antithesis of Zenk as far as being someone with a marketable superstar look. According to Foley he worked out his price and Herd signed him immediately saying he was worth it. So I guess maybe he got a little wiser about it over the couple of years he was in charge or maybe more people were advising him on stuff.

[jason1980s]

Other than Watts was there anyone in a high position in WCW that actually WAS involved in wrestling in some capacity?

[ThankGodForSidJustice]

Jan 5, 2023 10:42:36 GMT -5 jason1980s said:

thankgodforsidjustice, trying to quote you but it comes up as jericholic.
You need to be a writer for Slam or historian for Dark Side.
Thanks for the education on those guys from the early 90s.

Dick Slater is a guy who came to mind with JYD, Murdoch and others from the time period but I had no clue he was in WCW in 93. Now I remember I think he lost a clash in June 93 to Ron Simmons before disappearing again.

No problem. Glad I could help.

Slater was kind of the king of coming in for short runs and leaving super quick. It was almost a yearly thing with him. In 1989 they gave him a pretty good spot as part of Gary Hart's J-Tex Corporation with Muta and Terry Funk who were the main event heels at the time. He even main evented Clash VIII filling in for Funk and teaming with Muta against Sting and Flair. However he then left after like a month for some reason. Then he came back for the Hardliners run with Murdoch in 91 which only lasted about three months. Then they brought him back yet again in 92 where he was in a weird pseudo heel stable with Greg Valentine and Barbarian while actually being one half of the last US Tag Team Champions with the latter before those titles were deactivated. Then he disappeared again by years end before being brought back again briefly in 93 where he had the short feud with JYD and had that Clash match with Simmons where he was filling in for Orndorff. Then they brought him back in late 94 to replace the departed Terry Funk as Bunkhouse Buck's partner in the Studd Stable. He FINALLY stuck around a while for that run as he had about a two sting, staying pretty deep into 1996; teaming with Buck (who he actually briefly won the tag titles with) and later Mike Enos.

For whatever reason they just kept giving him chances and bringing him back even though he was well past his prime at that point and wasn't over in the slightest. I think Dusty always liked him and had a soft spot for him. That's the only reason I can think of.

[Sigma: Current SRW Champ!]

Jan 4, 2023 10:27:04 GMT -5 jason1980s said:

During the Bischoff era I remember Ice Train disappearing from early 94 and until early 96, according to wikipedia he was under contract this whole time. He also disappeared again and became MI Smooth in the late 90s.
Teddy Long was another one who disappeared I think post Doom/Johnny B. Badd turn and then re-appeared in late 1993 managing Marcus Bagwell and Scorpio. He won a manager of the year award and then I think the team lost a match to Pretty Wonderful right after. After that team disbanned I don't remember him until 96 or so putting together a stable of lower card guys.

If I remember correctly, Ice Train was released from his contract and went to Germany for Catch Wrestling Association and improved greatly over there. Hired back in early 96, had a feud with Scott Norton, teamed up with him, broke up after losing the feud with the Steiners, lost that feud to Norton who joined the NWO shortly after.