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Post by Deleted on Feb 2, 2021 5:47:44 GMT -5
Mar 16, 87
"All the details as to what is going to happen have apparently not been decided, however Crockett is planning on running a satellite circuit in Florida. It will be similar to the failed experiment in Kansas City, however the quality of the local talent will be higher, plus I'm assuming the trips by Ric Flair and Dusty Rhodes will be more frequent. As mentioned last week, Kevin Sullivan will stick around as the top heel and be the day-to-day booker in the territory, although Dusty of course will have the final say on everything."
"Dusty was in Tampa for the TV tapings on the morning of 3/4 with lots of the Charlotte-based talent such as Mike Rotundo, Pez Whatley, Barry Windham, Brad Armstrong, Big Bubba Rogers (who will feud with Dusty in Florida and be managed in Florida by Sullivan), Lex Luger with J.J. Dillon, Bill Dundee, who will manage Konga the Barbarian and the Mod Squad, Jimmy Valiant, and Stan Lane, who is back as a babyface teaming with Scott Hall."
"With the exception of Dusty, Windham, Bubba and Luger, the rest of the names mentioned apparently will be fulltime regulars here with Armstrong, Rotundo, Hall and Valiant as the top local babyfaces and Sullivan, Mod Squad, Gantner, Konga and Dundee as the top heels. My expectation is that once every month or so they'll be bringing in Dusty, Road Warriors, Flair, etc. to augment the local crew."
"From what I understand, the deal is that Crockett will get a 10 percent booking fee off the top, and the remainder of the gate will be split between Crockett and the oId Florida group (Mike Graham, Hiro Matsuda, Duke Keomuka, etc.)"
"One humorous note about all the changes. A few weeks back when Stan Lane quit, they announced he was injured and his career was over. Now just a few weeks later, he’s back, good as new however Steve Keirn is now announced as being injured (he’s actually gone into the real estate business)"
"In Houston on 3/20, to combat Crockett's 3/21 show at the Summit, UWF is lowering all tickets $3"
"The reason Rude & Fernandez were seeded first, is because they just aren't over the way champions should be and they are being given a little help--you know why Dusty's team is seeded No. 2 and the Roadies, as defending champs probably should have even been higher for whatever that's worth"
"Lazartron (a masked babyface) won the jr. heavyweight title from Denny Brown at the 3/7 WTBS tapings in Atlanta. His identity has to be the worst-kept secret in the world, since it seems every fan at the TBS studio was chanting "Hector Guerrero" at him. Might as well have worn a sombrero over his martian outfit."
"2/27 in Pittsburgh drew a record $165,477.50 gate (17,521 fans of which 16,678 were paid)"
"3/4 in Birmingham drew just 750 (no local TV for past five weeks so nobody knew the line-up, plus no newspaper ads, just the TBS mention which doesn’t give a card)"
"To counter Watts' Omni card on 4/12, Crockett is booking a show in Marietta, Ga. the same night with Flair, Rhodes and the Road Warriors and all seats $5"
"The last night in town for most of the crew on 2/27 in Kansas City drew 500 as Bob Brown won the Central States title beating Bill Dundee in a loser leaves town match."
"Crockett not only pulled all the wrestlers out, but also took his ring, leaving Kansas City with an old 16x16 ring"
"Jim Crockett will start on television on Ch. 9 in Los Angeles within a few weeks in a strong Saturday a.m. time slot. Crockett is paying $8,000 per week for the slot, which means he's going to have to draw big crowds at the Forum and run shows at least every 3-4 weeks with all of his top stars."
"With Crockett buying Florida, whatever slim chance there was that the remaining groups could work together is down the tubes. Duke Keomuka, one of CWF's leading stockholders, was the one behind the talk, and now being in a subservient position to Crockett pretty well silences him. World Class won't cooperate with any other group, so that leaves Portland, Continental and Bob Geigel's Central States group, none of whom has any talent which would mean anything on a "fly-in" basis"
"In Pennsylvania (Eastern Pennsylvania, that is) we’ve seen worse, a commission which selectively enforces regulations so that WWF wrestlers, and particularly Hulk Hogan, are allowed to blade themselves at will, while NWA wrestlers face a six-month suspension for doing the same thing."
Mar 23, 87
"The complete line-up of teams for the NWA's tournament, the second annual Jim Crockett Sr. Memorial Cup, was announced this past week. An early suggestion for next year--unless there are plans to start attempting to work with other promotions (doubtful in the current climate)--cut the number of teams involved to 16 or even 12. Everyone I've talked with comments on all the obvious jobber teams involved and unlike last year, when this was a showcase for more major talent than any single show possibly in the history of pro wrestling, this year looks like a watered-down line-up."
"Ivan Koloff & Dick Murdoch won the U.S. tag team belts on 3/14 at the WTBS tapings in Atlanta from Barry Windham & Ron Garvin. The finish saw Garvin use his KO punch on Murdoch, Koloff and even Vladimir Petrov who tried to interfere, but wound up being hit by Bobby Eaton with a tennis racket and pinned. Finish was a typical Dusty-finish in which half the world interferes before the babyfaces go down. The match was pretty uneventful."
"The only eventful things from the weekend’s shows were Ole & Arn Anderson's interviews and Jim Cornette's interview with the dog biscuits."
"Both Ricky Morton and Mike Rotunda made snide remarks at Titan during their interviews which was fun. I think Manny Fernandez did as well, but I spend most of the time when he’s talking laughing on the floor. This guy talks faster than Roddy Piper, and doesn't make the slightest bit of sense. When he's done, you ask yourself, what was he trying to say"
"The 3/5 show in Memphis which was headlined by Rhodes vs. Dundee plus had most the "A" team feuds drew 2,500 which is probably enough to be profitable, but still had to be disappointing since Valiant, Dutch Mantell, Morton & Gibson, etc. are all very popular in Memphis"
"The only Florida talent being kept are the four we mentioned last week (Scott Hall, Kevin Sullivan, Ron Simmons and Gantner) plus the Southern Boys"
"Chris Champion & Sean Royal will be headed to Charlotte but the rest of the Florida crew (Badnews Allen, Kareem Muhammad, Jack Hart, Tombstone and Vic Steamboat) will apparently be cut loose"
"Kind of humorous on TV this week in building up the Sullivan-Badnews match, they replayed the incident where Humperdink cheated Allen out of his $25,000 bounty for running Luger out of town. The humorous part is that Luger appeared on the same TV show in which they were making the point Allen had run him out of town--now as a heel managed by J.J. Dillon"
"Adrian Street was scheduled for one last appearance in Florida on 3/15 (probably to win the "Dream Date" with Ed Gantner) but won't be back because Continental and Crockett aren’t on working terms"
"One stipulation also of Crockett running here--all wrestlers are now Crockett employees which means Hall and Sullivan have to give up all independent dates they'd previously agreed to"
"Pro Wrestling Canada and Moscamania are on the shelf. Like Richard Nixon, we don't have Angelo Mosca to kick around anymore. Mosca sent various TV stations a memo that he’s no longer involved, so the NWA has lost all its Canadian television and there will be no return dates in Ontario in the foreseeable future for the NWA"
"Lex Luger was officially made the Fourth Horseman which must come as a major surprise to everyone"
"Several in Florida are impressed with how much Luger has improved in the last six weeks, which shows what one can learn teaming with Tully Blanchard and wrestling Barry Windham every night. It's a shame Nikita Koloff hasn't picked as much up the last three years"
"The wrestler Manny Fernandez isn’t the same as the footballer. The Ragin' Bull was a hotshot high school football player at San Jose High School in my home town at the same time the other Manny Fernandez was playing in the Super Bowl."
"My only comment is that irregardless of my opinion on the looks of Misty Blue, the costume she wrestles in makes her fair game for the comments I made, plain and simple"
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Post by James Fabiano on Feb 2, 2021 16:55:24 GMT -5
"My only comment is that irregardless of my opinion on the looks of Misty Blue, the costume she wrestles in makes her fair game for the comments I made, plain and simple"
That made me like her EVEN MORE!!!!!!
(Funny story time....when I first saw Body Slam, I thought Tanya Roberts was Misty Blue)
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Post by Deleted on Feb 3, 2021 5:33:26 GMT -5
Apr 6, 87
"Apparently a deal was completed between Crockett and WPIX in New York for the Worldwide show. The deal would cost Crockett $6,800 per week. In fact, the inaugural showing, scheduled for last week, was even printed up in the New York guides. However, the deal fell apart, apparently because Crockett’s deal with Ted Turner gives Turner the right to nix any affiliates Crockett may get his syndicated shows on. Turner feels WPIX, as a satellite station is competition to his own WTBS. This keeps Crockett out of New York once again for the foreseeable future."
"Two weeks ago, Bill Watts went on the air on St. Louis television blasting Kiel Auditorium for keeping them out after having an agreed upon date, then going back on it. The management at Kiel had pretty well decided to rent to Titan, and Titan alone. What has happened in the past two weeks is that the folks at Kiel have slightly backed off their deal with Titan, and have instead put the exclusive rights to run shows at Kiel to a sealed bid proposal. They have requested that all promotions interested in running from 4/1/87 through 3/31/88 to send in bids which will be opened on 4/7."
"Apparently the city council put pressure on Kiel after hearing Watts’ comments. From what I gather, the UWF, which caused all this to happen, has instead decided to run at the Arena in St. Louis with a 4/20 date. Bob Geigel’s Central States group is expected to send in a proposal, but that’s a joke. So it’s between Titan and Crockett on which group guarantees the most money and agrees to book the most shows, etc. Titan certainly has the inside track because Crockett is a proven failure in St. Louis."
"Dick Murdoch gave Nikita Koloff a brainbuster on the arena floor when they taped TV on 3/24 so Nikita has a neck brace and Murdoch was suspended so he could tour Japan for a month"
"3/21 in Chicago drew a sellout 9,500 ($110,000) as Ric Flair went DDQ with Nikita in 35:00 (so-so match, last 10 minutes were good)"
"3/28 in Philadelphia drew 3,916 ($61,912)....Nikita-Dusty-Wahoo over the Russians-Murdoch in a bunkhouse match which saw Rhodes and Wahoo bleed (J.J. Bins was a no-show)"
"Lots of rumors around Dennis Condrey, he’s been missing all of his dates as of late"
"3/20 in Albuquerque drew 3,632 ($37,036)....Rhodes beat Bubba in a cage match which went 3:00 (dud--it was one of those let's get out of here to catch the plane to Vegas matches)"
"3/22 in Houston drew only 2,000"
"The 3/14 skit where Rotunda beat Gantner for the Florida belt was unique. As you may recall, they were doing a dream date with Big Ed contest (which originally Adrian Street was to win, but politics fouled that one up). Anyway, they did a mock "Dating Game" segment at the house show with Gantner asking questions to three girls. Rotunda was giving the answers to one of the girls, who naturally got picked. Gantner then got so mad he attacked Rotunda (our guess he is using the real spelling on his name because Vince may have trademarked his ring name Rotundo) and they brawled into the ring, where Mike got a pinfall in about 30 seconds. It was announced that since they were scheduled to wrestle anyway on the card, that the pinfall would count and Mike won the match and the title"
"They will be running an Eddie Graham Memorial Spectacular on 5/9 in St. Petersburg with Ric Flair, Dusty Rhodes and Dory Funk appearing....They are also trying, to talk Jack Brisco into appearing on the card which shows how times have changed--tho my guess is it would be impossible since Jerry Promotes Titan shows in Florida. Just a few years ago the NWA guys thought Jack Brisco was wrestling's answer to Benedict Arnold, but I guess in hindsight they realized he made the right move selling his Georgia wrestling stock to Vince McMahon which gave Titan their one-year run on WTBS"
"Dundee was celebrating the Mod Squad winning, the Florida tag belts when Bob Armstrong came out and shoved his face into the cake. There’s one rule in wrestling even Titan hasn't changed—whenever you see a cake on television, you know somebody's face is going into it"
"Manny Fernandez pinned Horner (sub for Ricky Morton) with his flying burrito in 11:00. Okay match, but kind of slow-paced. At one point, Roadie Hawk popped his head out of the dressing room and everybody turned around and nobody paid attention to the match."
"Eaton had his right hand heavily bandaged (someone slammed a dressing room door on it earlier in the week in Fayetteville)"
"Cornette got a ton of heat. Best part was when fans charged after him and were carted away by security, he waved bye-bye at them—this happened two or three times."
"Virtually the entire crowd here was males 16-30 whereas Titan draws a much broader-based crowd. Crowd was real rowdy and booed heavily the pretty-boy type babyfaces (basically Road Warrior fans) although the Flair match did steal the show"
"Return date for San Francisco is 4/23 and they announced Baron Von Raschke, Wahoo McDaniel, Konga the Barbarian, Ivan Koloff, Vladimir Petrov and Bob & Brad Armstrong for the show. Needless to say ticket sales didn’t explode nor did the fans pop with that announcement."
"I believe they have two jets (nicknamed the "Stardust Fleet" which apparently upset at least one wrestler quite a bit) that seat around nine people each and the remainder fly commercial airlines."
"I've never condoned the way wrestling has treated its women performers. At the same time, Misty Blue's ability in the ring, at least in comparison to women wrestlers Crockett could have booked (Debbie Combs, Despina Montaguas, Donna Day), let alone the type of women's matches I'm used to seeing, is embarrassing, which were the basis of my comments originally."
Apr 13, 87
"We might as well start things off with a bang. Jim Crockett has purchased Mid South Sports, Inc. (the Universal Wrestling Federation) from Bill Watts in a deal culminated during the middle of this past week. While the contracts haven't been signed as I’m writing this (but probably will be by the time you read this), the deal has been agreed upon and Crockett will take over as of May"
"Now more than ever, it leaves the fate of the pro wrestling business in just two sets of hands--those of Vince McMahon and Jim Crockett, whose companies combined will probably produce 90 to 95 percent of the income generated by pro wrestling in the United States for the remainder of this year. They will also control every big-name talent in the business with the exception of a small handful."
"From what I understand the UWF will remain on the surface, a separate entity in that it will have its own stable and run its own territory similar to Crockett’s Florida territory. The changes in personnel probably won't be as vast as they were in Florida (where all but six wrestlers were let go and replaced for the most part by the wrestlers Crockett pulled out of Kansas City). I'm told all the current UWF wrestlers will be offered the opportunity to stay."
"With the addition of the UWF talent roster, it means Crockett now has the deepest talent stable of any promotion on this continent. It's not the strongest stable because Hulk Hogan, all by himself, is worth more than any other 10 wrestlers these days as a marketing tool and drawing card."
"It also means Crockett has picked up a lot of key television outlets, which may actually be the most important part of the deal since UWF was syndicated in more than 100 markets. With TBS and the new affiliates, Crockett's television package is probably equal to or better than Titan and his talent roster is better in some ways (but far worse as far as being "over" to a national audience)."
"However, as the Wrestlemania show proved, Titan is so far ahead everyone else in terms of promotion that barring an unforeseen scandal, their status as No. 1 in wrestling is probably untouchable for several years."
"In another big story, as everyone saw on WTBS this weekend, Stan Lane has replaced Dennis Condrey and he & Bobby Eaton have now formed the New Midnight Express tag team, breaking up the duo which won the observer's tag team of the year award last year. The word I get about this one is Condrey was trying to get out of his contract, with several rumors about his joining Titan. Apparently he was either fired or quit giving Lane what some feel is one of the best jobs in wrestling, tag teaming with Bobby Eaton and being managed by Jim Cornette."
"This change-up comes on the heels of the Crockett Cup tag team tournament on 4/10 and 4/11 in Baltimore. It was announced on the Sunday WTBS show that Magnum T.A. would be at the card, which kind of makes Dusty Rhodes & Nikita Koloff heavy favorites to win the thing."
"I’m not even sure what's going to happen with the tournament as far as two of the teams—the Jayhawks (Dutch Mantell is booked in both Baltimore and Birmingham, Ala. for Continental that night) and the Fabs (Lane is now a Midnight Express)."
"The way I've got the tournament figured, the final four will be Dusty & Nikita beating Midnight and Rude & Fernandez beating the Armstrongs and Dusty & Nikita winning the whole thing. Keep in mind my predictions last year were way off."
"April looks to be an interesting month in Atlanta. With the UWF show on 4/12, Crockett booked Omni shows on 3/27 and 4/5 and a Marietta (suburb of Atlanta) show on 4/12 to burn the market out. At this point that looks kind of silly, since Crockett and UWF are no longer competitors. In addition, Continental Championship Wrestling (The Fullers promotion) will be running a show in Atlanta on 4/24 at a 4,000-seat building."
"At the 4/5 Omni card, the ring announcer kept insisting over and over again that "There will be no wrestling in Atlanta until May 1 (the next Crockett Omni date)." "
"In another cage match Dusty Rhodes & Nikita Koloff beat Ivan Koloff & Dick Murdoch in 11:00—three of those minutes were spent with Murdoch running around the ring with his trunks down to his knees"
"On an interview this week Sullivan joked that Rotunda (formerly Rotundo when working for Titan) doesn't even own the rights to his name. I'm not sure about this one, but my guess is Titan trademarked the Rotundo name and could have prevented him from using it, so he's going to Rotunda which is his real name."
"Since Crockett will be running a show in KC shortly (that makes four promotions working here since UWF and WWF were running regular shows tho with UWF/NWA buy-out, it's ridiculous to think UWF will continue running here if NWA also does) that means Ric Flair can no longer work here. Because of that, Geigel brought Nick Bockwinkel in as World champion on the 4/10 card for a match with Bob Brown."
"The Boston debut on 4/4 drew 11,000 fans and $142,000....The gate was exceptional considering Crockett's only area TV is on a weak UHF signal in Worcester which can't be picked up without cable in Boston proper."
"Crockett returns to California on 4/22 in Los Angeles and 4/23 in San Francisco. LA has Flair vs. Brad Armstrong (great match but will have no drawing power), Roadies-Wahoo vs. Paul Jones-Rude-Fernandez, Ron Garvin vs. Stan Lane taped fist, Jim Garvin vs. Eaton, Windham vs. Bubba. SF has Flair vs. Nikita, same 6-man, Midnight vs. Garvins and Windham vs. Bubba. Both shows will draw poorly"
"With the opening up of the Florida territory, this group has been doing its fair-share of false advertising certain talent, particularly Rotunda and Mod Squad. In several cities like Atlanta, Los Angeles, Boston, Chicago, etc. they were billed but no-showed because they worked Florida instead. Unfortunately, they continued to be advertised well after the Florida operation opened up"
"Crockett will run a show 4/30 in Birmingham with Flair vs. Dusty, Nikita vs. Tully, Bob Armstrong vs. Petrov, Brad vs. Konga, Morton-Gibson-Wahoo vs. Jones-Rude-Fernandez and Ole-Horner vs. Arn-Luger"
"Road Warriors did lots of new moves in Japan (including that finisher they used on TBS Saturday where foe is on Animal's shoulders and Hawk clotheslines him off top ropes)"
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Post by koreycaskets on Feb 3, 2021 18:29:20 GMT -5
Always cool to see my hometown mentioned 😁
11/23 in Kitchner, Ont. saw Angelo Mosca promote a show using some of Crockett's guys drawing 1,000-1,500 as Nikita Koloff pinned Wahoo McDaniel (Nikita's switch hasn't aired on the local TV which shows month old tapes)"
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Post by Deleted on Feb 4, 2021 6:31:24 GMT -5
Apr 20, 87
"The biggest news revolves around the repercussions of Jim Crockett buying Mid South Sports (the Universal Wrestling Federation) from Bill Watts in a deal that was apparently made legal on 4/9 for a reported $4 million (let's just say I don't believe that figure at all, although I have no way of knowing officially, my guess is the price was a lot lower). Actually several sources have reported that the real price was "a lot less than you would think." "
"Officially, Crockett bought the assets of Mid South Sports, which consist of more than a dozen wrestling rings and TV and arena contracts. The contracts with the wrestlers themselves were not purchased, and Crockett will attempt to make individual deals with the wrestlers (who will probably all be earning significantly more money with Crockett in charge)."
"Crockett will be moving the UWF headquarters to Dallas as of 5/1 and is sending Rob Garner, the head of his television department to Dallas which I guess would make it the headquarters for all JCP television productions"
"Crockett did not buy the debts of Mid South Sports, so all outstanding bills are Watts' responsibility"
"Talent will be supposedly traded back-and-forth between the two groups and to start it off, originally the Rock'n'Roll Express (Ricky Morton & Robert Gibson) were to head back to the UWF territory for a tour in May, although that may fall through depending on the severity of Morton's eye injury"
"Houston promoter Paul Boesch, who had been the front-man for the UWF for several years, has switched his allegiances to Titan Sports. Apparently Boesch wasn't privy to the information that the sale was being negotiated and miffed by the surprising end result, either contacted or was contacted by Titan this past week, and on the two-hour Ch. 39 television show that aired on 4/11, a tape of the Ricky Steamboat-Randy Savage match from Wrestlemania was aired with the plugs for a Sam Houston coliseum show on 5/15 headlined by Steamboat vs. Savage, Jim Duggan vs. Nikolai Volkoff and Tito Santana vs. Butch Reed"
"I can already see some major problems for this new Crockett/UWF promotion. With Jake Roberts, Grizzly Smith and Jim Duggan all working for Titan, it wouldn't surprise me to see at least a few key guys Titanbound. In addition, the UWF territory wasn't drawing well to begin with, and if they lost some of their main eventers, things could only get worse."
"What Crockett does now have, however, is a syndicated television network that is on par with Titan's and with television being the most important facet of the business, that is a key acquisition. This deal may be profitable for Crockett just through revenue derived through the ability to sell commercial spots on one of the most-viewed syndicated television around."
"Apparently Crockett had a meeting with the UWF office personnel and the wrestlers and basically said that anyone who wanted to stay was welcomed to stay."
"There are also the matter of the Japan commitments, not only by Terry Gordy but also by Steve Williams and Ted DiBiase, and as is obvious these days, Crockett doesn't like his wrestlers to have the heavy Japan commitments (nor does McMahon)."
"Now, onto Baltimore. Overall I felt the event was a ton of fun. While the matches on Friday weren't good as a whole (being nice), the atmosphere was exceptional which more than made up for it. The Saturday card was excellent. Attendance on Friday was about 9,300 and on Saturday was in excess of 13,000 (a few hundred or so shy of a sellout) and the two-day gate was $300,000. While definitely a success, I think there was some disappointment in the Crockett camp which expected sellouts both nights."
"Since Crockett didn't even run any shows in Florida on either 4/10 or 4/11, it wouldn’t have been difficult to have added the Southern Boys or the New Breed to the lineup and eliminated guys like Mike Graham & Nelson Royal, the Thunderfeet, Italian Stallion & Ricky Lee Jones, etc. that the fans didn't want to see."
"Todd Champion & Denny Brown downed the sentimental favorites, Bill & Randy Mulkey in 3:59. Without question, this was the single stupidest result of the tournament. The Mulkey's got a better reaction than any team in the tournament except the Roadies & Dusty/Nikita. In fact, there were more banners for them than Dusty/Nikita (tho Roadies were over the most by a large margin)....admittedly, physically the Mulkeys shouldn't have won this match, but Champion & Brown mean nothing and giving the guys one win would have popped the crowd big"
"Steve Keirn & George South went to a 20:00 draw with Mike Graham & Nelson Royal, eliminating both teams. The only time the crowd reacted to this was after it was over when it was announced both teams (and both were presumably babyfaces) were eliminated, which brought a big cheer"
"Baron was then mercifully put to sleep (actually pinned, the last sentence was more of something I’d feel best for wrestlingkind)"
"When Luger finally got in the place went wild--they were all cheering, I guess he's going to make a great babyface next year."
"Now this is going to sound like a snide remark, but it's not--Bob Armstrong was great standing in the corner. His facial expressions when Brad was in trouble really added a lot to the match."
"The crowd got into Nikita vs. Konga. Actually Nikita looked the smallest I've ever seen him and Konga was much larger, thicker and more muscular."
"The quarterfinals opened with Blanchard & Luger beating the Armstrongs in 16:42....I can't ever recall seeing an opening match on a card that was this good. ***3/4"
"The New Midnight Express downed the Road Warriors via DQ in 11:28....Animal got the racquet and clobbered everyone in sight with it—this was as solid as you could ever ask for. Anderson saw it and DQ'd the Warriors which shocked the you-know-what out of the crowd which all was sure the Roadies would win....**** I've never seen a show with the first two matches anything near the calibre of these two"
"Should be mentioned the commission here is very strict about blading--they weren't around on Friday but before the card word was out that there would be no use of the blade on this night--believe me, they didn't need to"
"Blanchard & Luger downed Baba & Takagi in 8:40. The fans cheered the heels here. Blanchard & Luger both tried hard to make the Japs look good. They failed miserably."
"Ric Flair retained the NWA title pinning Barry Windham in 26:01. I don't think you can ask for more from a match than this delivered....What makes this match even more impressive is that Windham was working on a badly sprained ankle (he had missed a week of dates and probably would have been out a few more days except this was such a big show) and Flair had a neck injury which could have kept him out as well, tho actually he didn't even miss one date....The only thing negative I can say is all the spots were predictable, which can be said of virtually every Flair match. *****"
"Let’s just say not everyone was thrilled with Dusty & Nikita winning. In their defense, it was going to be a babyface team that would win, and I think it probably will be just about every year (Jim Crockett's mother and Jimmy aren't going to present the Cup and a bogus $1 million check to heels, are they?) There were only two babyface teams really over, the other of whom was the Roadies. The Roadies already won last year, and frankly, the greatest heat of the entire show was when it was evident the Roadies were eliminated."
"Magnum was introduced to the crowd on Saturday and it was really something. He walked down with the cane and his bad arm in a sling and hugged Dusty and Nikita which was quite a moment.I've been real hard on these guys for their treatment of the Magnum situation from day one, but in this case I was impressed. It was mentioned Magnum would be there, but never harped on or anything like that. If they had wanted to, they could have done a Fritz Von Erich and said Magnum-this and Magnum-that and Magnum's first public appearance would have, without any question sold the building out. But they didn't"
"The "highlight" of the weekend away from the arena involved Konga the Barbarian. Apparently at 2 a.m. on Friday, Konga was upset that the bar was closing and punched a gigantic hole through the wall. There were two officers there and they got extremely nervous at this point and radio'd for help from "the biggest guys you can find." Anyway, Konga punched a hole through another wall on the sixth floor, there was blood in the elevator (presumably Konga's hand was bleeding at this point) but he came down to the lobby to find 15 officers. He was arrested and let out on bail shortly thereafter. While the police were arresting him, a fan comes up and asks him for an autograph (he signed)"
"The folks in Titan swear Condrey hasn't contacted them"
"The UWF Omni show drew 6,800 (largest crowd since Christmas in Atlanta)"
"Steiner & Sting won the tag belts over Adams & Taylor in 17:00 when Adams went to suplex Sting into the ring and Gilbert grabbed Adams foot and Sting fell on top for the pin. I'm told this was the best match in Atlanta in recent memory and that includes all the Flair bouts w/ Windham and Armstrong, etc. and Starrcade and the Bash and all the rest"
"In Greensboro, Randy & Bill Mulkey beat The New Breed (Chris Champion & Sean Royal) which got a great reaction (guess they hadn't decided to push Champion-Royal until a few days later)"
"The competition to the 4/12 UWF Atlanta show that same night in Marietta was limited to Armstrongs vs. Fernandez-Rude and Windham vs. Bad Vlad Petrov since they ran a big show the same time in Charlotte"
April 27, 87
"A few things have become apparent from the 4/18 Power Pro tapings in Fort Worth. Several of the Crockett ideas about television have been implemented. There are no longer ring introductions before the matches, which apparently pisses off the live fans (they'll get used to it, I guess). Jim Ross, who apparently is remaining as TV announcer, was stationed at ringside instead of at a podium in the back. Big Bubba Rogers was the lone newcomer, winning a handicap match. Judging from Jim Cornette's comments earlier in the day on WTBS, my assumption is that Bubba will now be managed by Scandor Akbar."
"The biggest news is that the UWF will be taking a short hiatus at the end of this month. The final house show on the books is 4/28 in Albuquerque, after which only TV tapings will be held. When Dusty thinks all the angles are where he wants them to be and all the men positioned where he wants them, then UWF will start running live shows once again. Speculation is that won’t be until sometime in June"
"Definitely gone by the end of this month are Buzz Sawyer (who I believe is already gone after making a short-lived return), Sam Houston, Nickla, Missy Hyatt (to Titan); Probably gone are One Man Gang (to Titan where he'll become Hulk Hogan's newest monster-sized challenger by the late summer), Savannah Jack, Bill Irwin; Houston is also Titan-bound to join brother Jake Roberts and father Grizzly Smith in the vast Titan stable"
"The status of The Freebirds and Sunshine is questionable. This hiatus from wrestling gives Michael Hayes some time to devote to his music, however we still don't know whether Crockett and Dusty want Hayes (problems in the past) or if Hayes wants to work full-time with them. Crockett certainly wants Terry Gordy, but with knee problems and Japan commitments, that could fall through"
"The two biggies that everyone has been asking about are Ted DiBiase and Steve Williams. Since DiBiase is in Japan, I don't think anyone knows what's on his mind. There is no doubt that both Titan and Crockett want him. Williams could benefit the most of this however, since he's on the verge of being one of the leading American wrestlers in Japan, plus is-coveted highly by both Titan and Crockett. The last I’d heard, he had made no commitments either way"
"Staying appear to be Eddie Gilbert (as Dusty's booking assistant most likely), Rick Steiner, Sting, Scandor Akbar, Angel Muhammad, Terry Taylor, Chavo Guerrero, Gary Young and Chris Adams."
"Crockett Cup drew $309,600 ($114,000 the first night, $195,000 the second night) which is actually real good tho many are disappointed with it. The gate on the second night was the largest so far this year for JCP"
"Actually UWF on 4/12 Atlanta Omni drew 8,500 and $72,000. The afternoon show in Columbus, GA drew about 1,000"
"A moving truck which contained everything Pez Whatley and family owned was stolen. Pez was moving from Charlotte to Tampa"
"From 11 a.m. to noon on Saturday's here in Bay Area we can choose from AWA on Ch. 20, NWA Pro on Ch. 26, Pro Wrestling this Week on Ch. 44, NWA Florida on Ch. 48 and UWF Power Pro on Ch. 40. If any of those five groups thinks they are getting any kind of an audience they are badly mistaken."
"FLASH: Big Bubba Rogers beat One Man Gang to win UWF title on 4/19 in Muskogee, Oklahoma!!!"
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Feyrhausen
Hank Scorpio
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Post by Feyrhausen on Feb 4, 2021 6:54:56 GMT -5
Apr 20, 87
"Crockett did not buy the debts of Mid South Sports, so all outstanding bills are Watts' responsibility"
I always heard the opposite. Or at least that the debt brought on by buying the UWF was part of Crocketts downfall. I guess it could have been debt just from buying the territory and moving headquarters to Dallas.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 5, 2021 6:13:43 GMT -5
May 4, 87"The UWF will be doing TV tapings on 5/2 and 5/3 (I know the 5/2 taping is in Fort Worth, not sure about 5/3) with Barry Windham, Ivan Koloff and Vladimir Petrov scheduled to appear. The UWF will then go dark until the next set of tapings on 5/16 and 5/17 and again go dark until another set of tapings two weeks later. I don't have a confirmed date for when they'll start up with daily shows although most indications are it'll be sometime in June." "As for the talent situation, it looks like Steve Williams will be staying in the UWF after all. He washeavily rumored to be Titan-bound. I'm not sure of the status of Ted DiBiase, who was in Japan when the sale took place, although he's scheduled for both the 5/2 and 5/3 cards. One Man Gang is definitely headed to Titan where he'll become Hulk Hogan's major challenger probably by late summer or early fall. Sam Houston is probably Titan-bound as well, as is Bruce Prichard, who did the interviews on the UWF television shows." "Konga has an incredible amount of unrealized potential, but for all his physical strength and agility, seems lost trying to work a match" "After about three minutes with Bubba in the ring staring down with Ronnie, the ref actually mistakenly counted out the Express who were both on the floor. He got 13 lashes with a wet noodle for that one, but the bell rang signifying the end. Thankfully the guys didn't listen and went another 13:00." "The whole match consisted of Flair chopping (pretty hard) and Nikita not selling and doing his most muscular pose. I'm not impressed—you can go into any gym in America and see a dozen guys more muscular than Nikita." "Things are stale in a big way. I realize that I, and many others, blame Crockett's rapidly dwindling crowds here to his poor local TV situation in both markets. There is merit to that, however, if they don't realize crowds are falling because the crowd isn't liking what they are seeing, then they are ignoring a message being sent loud-and-clear. Personally I'm a big fan Crockett's promotion and many of his wrestlers, however, they haven't produced here. The shows have not been good." "In three live shows in San Francisco, there has only been one match won by a heel (Manny Fernandez pinning Tim Horner last month). This week's show saw in six matches, only one finish. That double count out finish in the no DQ main event saw the fans leaving comment that they are no better than the AWA. In fact, believe it or not, in this market, the AWA is actually a lot stronger than NWA. They will certainly draw more than 1,700 this week at the Cow Palace, and if Crockett were to come back next month, no matter who he had on the card, he'd be lucky to equal this month’s crowd." "The only heels that got any real heat were Manny Fernandez and Jim Cornette and his guys. I realize Blanchard gets great heat in Charlotte, but in his first two shows here, he got pinned by Nikita and then practically squashed by the Roadies--he blew off whatever heat he had to the fans here. I was literally shocked at the lack of reaction to everything he did here, but talking with friends about how last month he got in no offensive moves against the Roadies, it was understandable." "I don't even want to get into Flair, but suffice to say that he could have drawn a good crowd by himself here in December, but now (after three matches of being pinned for three counts with screw-job endings and that Nikita travesty this week) he'd be lucky to draw 700 fans without the Road Warriors on the card." "While these comments all relate only to the San Francisco market (although most of them probably hold true for Los Angeles since crowds are dwindling there) Crockett better wake up and see this as an omen to come for his tour shows, as he isn't doing all that well in a lot of spots." "4/25 in Philadelphia drew 2,500" May 11, 87"5/1 at the Omni in Atlanta drew 3,200" "New Breed downed Jeff Sampson & Jeff Belk (horrible because the jobbers screwed up every move, Chris Champion was noticeably upset at their blowing every attempt at a spot)" "5/9 Charlotte is headlined by Ron Garvin in the cage with Jim Cornette because most of the big stars (Flair, Rhodes, Road Warriors, etc.) are in St. Petersburg for the Eddie Graham Memorial Card" "It appears Ted DiBiase has signed (last word I got is he was very close to signing) and in Tulsa he gave subtle hints of turning heel as well. When John Ayres (UWF commissioner) read off the new ratings, Steve Williams was the No. 1 contender for Bubba and DiBiase was No. 2, which DiBiase got upset at on TV and they hinted at having a DiBiase vs. Williams match upcoming to determine the No. 1 contender" "Several of the UWF guys like Sting & Rick Steiner, Adams, Taylor, Williams, etc. will be appearing on 5/24 in Chicago on the NWA card and on a few dates in Florida as well" "Fort Worth tapings drew 1,100 and were worse than horrible with nothing but 2:00 squash matches and lots of interviews, similar to a regular Crockett taping. Should come as no surprise since Jim Crockett, Dusty and J.J. Dillon were running the festivities" "Missed the match, but everyone told me Gang-Bubba was terrible." "Although Bubba has potential, the idea of him as a "World" champ is a joke, even moreso because he lost to every major Crockett babyface. It almost seems as if Dusty is determined to make the UWF title obviously subservient to the NWA belt by having a guy everyone in the NWA beat as UWF’s World champ" "With Continental unable to get Ric Flair anymore, they announced Nick Bockwinkel as World champion" "Recent shows in Tampa and Orlando without any of the Charlotte guys have drawn 400 and 100 respectively, although crowds are good when Flair or Dusty are around"
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Post by James Fabiano on Feb 5, 2021 11:18:23 GMT -5
Ah yes, Crockett and later WCW made WPIX their NYC home for a long time. Starting with the JCPUWF (we need a clever name, ala WWECW) which I think was on just before noon. GLOW I believe stayed on at noon, then RollerGames after that. I think the Crockett/WCW shows were always seen before 12 pm on Saturdays, actually. (I knew I saw them, then whatever was on later on PIX, or of course Superstars) Correct me if I'm wrong...hey I AM planning to write something about NYC television from that time period, so I need accuracy!
I forget about 1988, what was there. By 1989, I think, Worldwide was there.
Then when the company completely became WCW, there was also the New York version of Pro, with region-specific promos and such. JR and Paul E. liked to borderline shoot on this show as well. My favorite examples...
1) Acknowledging One Man Gang leaving WCW...then switching to kayfabe and saying P.N. News ran him out of town. 2) Wondering what would happen if Lex (then world champ) wrestled Hulk Hogan. 3) My favorite...and it should be put in the Weird Things thread too...Ric Flair's WWF run just started. Accordingly, Paul would break out in a Flair impersonation, shouting, "I Have my own belt! And I retired undefeated! WOOOOOO!"
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Post by horsemen4ever on Feb 5, 2021 20:50:27 GMT -5
Ah yes, Crockett and later WCW made WPIX their NYC home for a long time. Starting with the JCPUWF (we need a clever name, ala WWECW) which I think was on just before noon. GLOW I believe stayed on at noon, then RollerGames after that. I think the Crockett/WCW shows were always seen before 12 pm on Saturdays, actually. (I knew I saw them, then whatever was on later on PIX, or of course Superstars) Correct me if I'm wrong...hey I AM planning to write something about NYC television from that time period, so I need accuracy! I forget about 1988, what was there. By 1989, I think, Worldwide was there. Then when the company completely became WCW, there was also the New York version of Pro, with region-specific promos and such. JR and Paul E. liked to borderline shoot on this show as well. My favorite examples... 1) Acknowledging One Man Gang leaving WCW...then switching to kayfabe and saying P.N. News ran him out of town. 2) Wondering what would happen if Lex (then world champ) wrestled Hulk Hogan. 3) My favorite...and it should be put in the Weird Things thread too...Ric Flair's WWF run just started. Accordingly, Paul would break out in a Flair impersonation, shouting, "I Have my own belt! And I retired undefeated! WOOOOOO!" Well I do remember back than on Saturday mornings, WPIX aired Soul Train, I don't know where Crockett would fit?
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Post by Deleted on Feb 6, 2021 5:45:08 GMT -5
May 18, 87"Verne Gagne has reached separate agreements with all four remaining circuits that were remnants of the NWA that Jim Crockett basically destroyed to supply those territories (Continental, Pacific Northwest, CWA in Memphis/Nashville and Central States) with his World heavyweight and World tag team champions." "Biggest news of the past week is that The Freebirds have agreed to terms with Jim Crockett and will be staying here. With Ted DiBiase also agreeing to stay, it means Crockett actually did quite well for himself in keeping the main event UWF talent" "Akbar is only managing Big Bubba Rogers (who Steve Williams nearly referred to as Bubba Smith, and in fact called Bubba Jones on a recent interview—at least he wasn't like Jimmy Garvin and calling him Bubba Douglas)" "A few have remarked that the Eddie Gilbert-Sam Houston match on 4/28 in Albequerque (which lasted 47 minutes) was incredible" "After seeing Sting on an interview this week, I’m wondering why it took them so long to let him talk. After seeing Rick Steiner do an interview with him, I don't wonder the same thing." "While I agree that the Gang-Bubba match wasn't a World title caliber match nor do I like the idea of Bubba as champ, I thought for the two involved it was pretty good and I enjoyed it a lot more than I thought I would. Bubba has to be given credit. Even though he's basically an oversized rookie, his attitude is excellent and he's more willing to take great bumps than anyone of his size." "I don’t think DiBiase or Williams will get the NWA belt this year, but by 1988 I don't think it'll be a big deal as to who were originally Dusty's boys and who were Watts' boys originally." "Crockett deserves credit because all the UWF guys were free agents after the sale, and he signed all except One Man Gang (who is tailor made for Hogan and had been wanting to leave for his big chance for months) and Sam Houston (who probably would have eventually wound up with Titan sooner or later anyway because of his brother and father), of those that were getting a push. If Crockett was a pauper compared to McMahon, it obviously didn't come through in his recent contract negotiations with DiBiase, Williams, Gordy, etc. "FLASH: Just as I’m typing this comes word from a very reliable source that Ted DiBiase has backed out of signing with Crockett and will instead accept a very lucrative offer from Titan. That's about all I can report on that, other than the fact Titan will be running a card at the Omni in Atlanta in June with the probable main event of One Man Gang vs. Hulk Hogan" "The Cornette-Garvin cage match, with no real undercard (all the big names were in St. Pete for the Eddie Graham Memorial) still drew more than 9,000 fans ($74,000) in Charlotte. Other results saw Morton-Gibson beat Petrov-Murdoch, Nikita Koloff beat Lex Luger via DQ, Tully Blanchard downed Ole Anderson, Hectortron pinned Nelson Royal, Von Raschke beat Thunderfoot, New Breed beat Rocky King & Italian Stallion and Ivan Koloff downed Todd Champion" "Scott Hall left for Japan this past week in what was a last-minute excursion. He was brought in with the understanding he'd be Florida's answer to Hulk Hogan, but instead wound up filling out prelims (which is about as far as his ability will take him—I'd guess he'll be a bigger disappointment in Japan then even Billy Jack Haynes--not bigger than Nikita Koloff)" "The Eddie Graham Memorial card on 5/9 in St. Petersburg drew a sellout of just under 6,000" "Alabama officials and the Continental TV program are billing the Mod Squad, Bill Dundee and Whatley as coming (they are just among the many who wanted out at one point) although apparently the Mods have reconsidered and will be staying. Dundee is already gone, while Whatley still appears to be leaving" "NWA drew just 818 on 4/30 in Birmingham as Rhodes beat Flair via DQ, Nikita pinned Blanchard, Brad Armstrong pinned Konga, Ole-Horner beat Arn-Luger and Morton-Gibson-Bob Armstrong beat Rude-Jones-Fernandez. Continental averages 1,500—or double that—for TV tapings" May 25, 87"Ted DiBiase, considered by most experts as one of the five best pro wrestlers in the world, signed late last week with Titan in a major surprise. DiBiase had reached a handshake agreement just a few days earlier with Jim Crockett Promotions to remain with the UWF for a reported $250,000 guaranteed over the next year. The deal would have also allowed DiBiase to keep his lucrative Japan commitments so this was a big money deal, and by the magnitude of the contract alone, guaranteed DiBiase top star status with Crockett over the next year." "I do know that DiBiase wasn't offered a guaranteed contract by Titan, however for him to back out of such a lucrative deal, he must have been convinced he was going to be pushed as one of Titan's major attractions. About the only thing through the Titan grapevine I know about DiBiase is that he'll be used as a heel and he'll have a unique gimmick (maybe his unique gimmick will be that he'll have good matches)." "They are going to have a bunch more cage matches with Ron Garvin vs. Jim Cornette. Judging from the reaction I've heard on this over the weekend, they really blew that idea by not acknowledging anything happening in their Charlotte cage match. Cornette should have come out in a mummy outfit because he'd taken such a beating, but instead came out cockier than usual when the show started--and they did such a good job building up that first cage match" "Ole Anderson finished up his stint as a regular on 5/9, but will come back for one or two tag team matches with Dusty Rhodes as his partner" "The Freebirds return to Atlanta on 6/7 to face Flair-Tully Blanchard-Lex Luger in a six man tag" "5/8 in Baltimore drew 11,000 fans and $121,000" "Vladimir Petrov pinned Baron Von Raschke (you can imagine)" "Flair beat Jim Garvin in 15:00 via the over-the-top DQ which one ref misses and a second ref comes in and counts as Garvin pins Flair. Ending looked good, but Ric's got a lot of practice at it." "There are some real problems that will have to be addressed here. It's hard to imagine that Rhodes and Crockett could book and try to run three circuits all by themselves (although Eddie Gilbert and Mike Rotunda help book UWF and Florida respectively, Rhodes has the final authority) without eventually burning out. In addition, by fortifying the UWF with several NWA guys seemingly somewhat full-time (Windham, Bubba, Dick Murdoch, Brad Armstrong, Tim Horner, etc.) really thins out the NWA talent." "Several of the wrestlers who have worked here for years are jealous of the contract Steve Williams received (that's the biggest problem with the bidding wars and signing guys to big contracts--it makes the guys who aren't getting the big money upset—and makes guys who think they are as good as a guy getting the big money that's not getting it have a bad attitude)" "Ric Flair is scheduled to make a rare non-Crockett appearance on the 6/4 card in Kansas City" "Speaking of the Mulkeys, isn't it amazing they print up those nice-looking Mulkeymania T-shirts, give these guys a win on TV (which made them the third most popular team in the NWA behind the Super Powers & Road Warriors), then send them to Florida to be jobbers at the height of their popularity. Sometimes searching for logic is like looking for a needle in a haystack" "On 5/17, Brad Armstrong & Tim Horner downed Rick Steiner & Sting to win the UWF tag team belts" "The UWF's first card returning to Houston at the Summit will be on 6/20 headlined by Ric Flair vs. Michael Hayes, plus a tournament to determine the new Western States heavyweight champion." "I think you have to put heat on the heels at the arena shows in order to get the fans to return if you are bringing in the same crew time after time. I think the NWA missed that here, which is why crowds fell with each successive appearance. WWF doesn't need to for two reasons--they appeal to a crowd looking for entertainment, not drama--thus strong heat on the heels isn't necessary—plus they bring in a different crew each month."
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Post by James Fabiano on Feb 6, 2021 13:05:14 GMT -5
I hear Titan offered four times that much.
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Post by James Fabiano on Feb 6, 2021 13:07:03 GMT -5
Ah yes, Crockett and later WCW made WPIX their NYC home for a long time. Starting with the JCPUWF (we need a clever name, ala WWECW) which I think was on just before noon. GLOW I believe stayed on at noon, then RollerGames after that. I think the Crockett/WCW shows were always seen before 12 pm on Saturdays, actually. (I knew I saw them, then whatever was on later on PIX, or of course Superstars) Correct me if I'm wrong...hey I AM planning to write something about NYC television from that time period, so I need accuracy! I forget about 1988, what was there. By 1989, I think, Worldwide was there. Then when the company completely became WCW, there was also the New York version of Pro, with region-specific promos and such. JR and Paul E. liked to borderline shoot on this show as well. My favorite examples... 1) Acknowledging One Man Gang leaving WCW...then switching to kayfabe and saying P.N. News ran him out of town. 2) Wondering what would happen if Lex (then world champ) wrestled Hulk Hogan. 3) My favorite...and it should be put in the Weird Things thread too...Ric Flair's WWF run just started. Accordingly, Paul would break out in a Flair impersonation, shouting, "I Have my own belt! And I retired undefeated! WOOOOOO!" Well I do remember back than on Saturday mornings, WPIX aired Soul Train, I don't know where Crockett would fit? Like I said, I think they were on either 10 or 11 am, usually. I know it was a touch earlier than, say, Superstars. When GLOW and Rollergames were on, did Soul Train come on before or after 12 noon too?
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Feb 7, 2021 5:48:07 GMT -5
June 1, 87
"The tag title change where Brad Armstrong & Tim Horner beat Sting & Steiner took place on that card as well. The bout went about 20 minutes ending when Eddie Gilbert tried to hit Brad with his cowboy boot, but Brad moved and he hit Sting instead. Sting and Gilbert nearly got into it after the match (and after several other matches recently as well) before Steiner broke them up."
"Crockett canceled Ric Flair's booking in Kansas City on 6/4 so I suspect this group will severe its ties with the NWA officially shortly since they can't book the champion anymore"
"With Barry Windham and Brad Armstrong seemingly working full-time UWF, Flair's already thin list of contenders is getting even thinner"
"Ric Rude missed TV on 5/23 and then missed Chicago on 5/24 with no explanation so something may be up"
"Dark Journey is in as Tully Blanchard’s new valet (or secretary as they are saying on TV). Journey had talked with Titan, but they wanted her only if she'd be a wrestler. I suppose this black-white thing could outrage some folks, but to me, Tully is beyond stale (although I think he's one of the 10 best in the biz) and Journey lacks personality"
"Terry Gordy must be insane beyond belief to have done that Bam Bam Slam (powerslam off the middle ropes) on WTBS this past weekend as the knees take all the pressure on that fall, and Gordy's knee could end his career on any given night"
"Not sure of the logic in showing Armstrong & Horner as UWF tag champs on national TV before the title change airs on the UWF show. It totally kills everyone's suspense when they watch the title change on TV in the next week or two"
June 8, 87
"I get bored just thinking about this group"
"Titan also made a couple of major acquisitions this past week in Ric Rude and the Midnight Rockers, both of whom held World tag team titles with the NWA and AWA respectively. As mentioned last week, Rude disappeared prior to this past weekend with no reason given. Although I don't have it confirmed, I believe Rude will start for Titan at its TV tapings on 6/2 and 6/3 in Buffalo and Rochester. Vladimir Petrov subbed for Rude in a title match on 5/24 in Chicago, while at the TV tapings on 5/26, it was announced that Ivan Koloff would be taking Rude's place as Manny Fernandez' partner as NWA World tag team champions. Rude's disappearance was announced both at the tapings, and also this weekend on WTBS, as being due to an injury which sets them up to look bad if Rude start appearing for Titan on the tube within two weeks."
"The Sting turn happened quicker than I expected as they did the thing at the Little Rock tapings on 5/31. They opened the card with a match between Terry Taylor and Sting, which immediately made Sting a babyface. Eddie Gilbert was supposed to referee, but Sting wouldn't allow it. Bout was pretty good from my reports, ending when Gilbert came to ringside after a ref bump and gave Taylor his cowboy boot and he hit Sting with it and pinned him. After the match Sting went after Gilbert and started pounding on him until Taylor and Rick Steiner helped Gilbert out and Chris Adams made the save for Sting."
"Jim Crockett bought a new jet to transport the UWF guys, which will be based in Dallas"
"The 5/27 show in Oklahoma City which had that incredible line-up (Flair vs. Jim Garvin, Bubba vs. Windham, Rude-Fernandez vs. Road Warriors tho Rude wasn't there, Adams vs. Taylor, Nikita vs. Luger, Rock 'n' Roll vs Sting-Steiner) drew a $23,000 gate, which didn't impress me too much until I realized they had eight inches of rain and a tornado that night."
"Mike Rotunda's wife recently gave birth to a baby boy which makes Blackjack Mulligan a grandpa, since Mulligan's daughter in Rotunda's wife"
"They've been running down Ric Flair in Central States recently because Crockett pulled him out of his 6/4 booking here. They are saying Flair was afraid of Dave Peterson and that he picks his opponents and will only meet "fat people and Russians." "
"Dusty never misses a trick, as he’s now got Magnum T.A. with him to make sure he gets cheered, as how can anyone boo Magnum? That also makes Magnum prime angle material, and even Ray Charles could see an angle coming"
"5/30 in Philadelphia drew 5,500"
"With the exception of Cornette, the recent TV shows have been a cure for insomnia. I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I’m even tired of Flair’s interviews. He’s a little out of control—actually a lot out of control and what can he say about Dusty that hasn’t already been said?"
"I think DiBiase's decision to join Titan was purely economic. He probably felt he'd have the opportunity to earn more money there than with Crockett, even though Crockett did meet his asking price to stay."
June 15, 87
"Last week on television it was announced that Manny Fernandez would team up with Ivan Koloff as the new tag champs managed by Paul Jones and that Rude was "injured." Apparently Fernandez & Koloff were scheduled to drop the straps to Morton & Gibson on 5/30 in Florence, S.C., however Fernandez went AWOL. At the TV tapings on 6/2 in Spartanburg, it was announced that Morton & Gibson had beaten Rude & Fernandez (both of whom were apparently gone) to win the belts, and a match was aired in which the title changed hands. The bout aired looked familiar, since it was taped in Columbia, S.C. last winter and aired on Japanese TV in February. I believe it was a non-title match originally."
"The title change that everyone expected didn't take place. In Greensboro on 6/6, Tully Blanchard retained the NWA TV title in the supposed "$100,000" winner-take-all match with Dusty Rhodes. The finish, which I'm sure will be aired on TV this weekend, saw Rhodes have the advantage and Tully was pinned, or about to be pinned, when J.J. Dillon somehow stole the bag of money from Magnum T.A. (whenever they bring a bag of money out, you can be certain a heel will always try and steal it). Rhodes then jumped out to chase down Dillon and was counted out."
"My assumption is this Rhodes-Blanchard conflict over the TV title will continue through the American Bash tour in July with Rhodes eventually winning the title. The good thing is it avoids too many Flair-Rhodes matches, which I originally feared would dominate July."
"Last year's Bash was a mixed bag, with lots of outdoor shows, country music concerts and inflated ticket prices being blamed for a few major failures. I'll get the ticket price structure hopefully by press time and from the hints on TV, the only music will be provided by Michael Hayes and (yeech) Ricky Morton. Most shows will be indoors as well. Unlike last year, they are entering July with few fresh angles and lots of stale talent, however with the UWF purchase, they also have a lot more quality talent available to put on each card."
"This weekend on WTBS Jim Crockett announced the 7/4 Atlanta show would be headlined by a match which has never taken place before, billed as "The Match Beyond." It'll be announced this weekend."
"Speaking of Crockett, his Wrestling Network, which consists of a syndication package of his two shows (NWA Pro and Worldwide), the Florida shows (Southern Pro and CWF) and the UWF shows (UWF and Power Pro) debuted this past week in Electronic Media Magazine's syndicated TV ratings as the No. 11 network. The network blankets 77% of the country, as compared with Titan, ranked No. 3, which blankets 93% of the country."
"The UWF lost its 6/23 date in Albuquerque where they had been pushing a big card with Ric Flair vs. Barry Windham, Steve Williams vs. Dick Murdoch, Eddie Gilbert & Terry Taylor vs. Chavo Guerrero & Chris Adams, Brad Armstrong & Tim Horner vs. Rick Steiner & Sting, Bubba Rogers vs. Savannah Jack and Steve Cox vs. Black Bart. Apparently the commission wasn't notified, and instead approved a 6/16 Titan date and Titan did some behind-the-scenes maneuvering and UWF won't return until 7/31, supposedly by promising a Hulk Hogan appearance"
"It's obvious Sting has the charisma to be a top babyface. I'm afraid that without Sting, Steiner may stagnate, and in fact it seems he already has since the beginning of the year"
"The 6-man tag match saw Ric Flair-Tully Blanchard-Lex Luger beat The Freebirds in 17:25 of the most heated match in Atlanta in recent memory. As I was told, even in the few slow spots when Luger was in, the heat was sustained so it never lost its momentum. Flair pinned Buddy Roberts after J.J. Dillon hit him with his shoe. The crowd obviously came specifically to see this match as several thousand left after it was over"
"In what was billed as a no dq match, Rock 'n' Roll lost to Koloff & Petrov via DQ when the babyfaces got caught stealing the chain in a title match (Russians subbed for Rude & Fernandez most of the week)"
"Fernandez no-shows this past week were due to an illness in the family so presumably will be back soon"
"Even though things appear hot right now, unless they do a better job of exchanging and mixing talent, the current staleness will continue. The good crowds aren't a result of hot new angles, but a result of all the new faces coming in live. Now that most core cities will have seen them shortly, they'll have to do stuff with all the new talent to keep fans interested in coming back. With all the talent, the Bash cards should have strong enough line-ups to draw well."
"Fans in Atlanta have all the luck. Besides WTBS and the all-night Saturday block on WATL (which now includes Pro Wrestling this Week, both UWF shows, AWA, World Class, Memphis, Continental, Wild West (Mantell's group out of Dallas, which debuts in about a week on the tube here), Stampede Wrestling and even Carribean wrestling from San Juan, a rival station airs Deep South wrestling, and will also air Global Wrestling (the group on the stock exchange that we talked about last week). Titan's also on, and will promote a live show on 6/19 at the Omni with Hulk Hogan vs. Kimala"
"Did you see that new silly Horsemen emblem they show whenever Flair, Blanchard, Luger or Anderson do a match or interview?"
"Omni gate 6/7 was $63,000——about double the average"
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Post by Deleted on Feb 8, 2021 6:13:37 GMT -5
June 22, 87
"If you’re a Dusty Rhodes fan, you'll like this July tour because he's in virtually every main event in either cage or barbed wire matches against Blanchard. If you aren't, it might be wise not to pay close attention to Crockett Promotions for a while, because the Dream has put himself in the position where he's the main man everywhere."
"On this past Saturday's WTBS show, if you look back at a tape, you'll notice that every interview with every babyface or heel, except Jim Cornette, concentrated on Dusty Rhodes. It was amazing, it was almost like a caricature drawing of a Rhodes' TV show. Short matches and endless interviews, but all the interviews concerned Dusty's favorite subject, making himself the sympathetic center of attention."
"On the UWF shows, they've begun putting in those short Rhodes and Ric Flair video clips that virtually everyone is tired of"
"Last year's Bash tour was something of a disappointment for three major reasons. The prices were too high (tickets were $50 and $20 in most cities), several shows were held in huge football stadiums like the Liberty Bowl, Gator Bowl, Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati and Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia and Crockett simply didn't have the following in those cities to justify attempting an outdoor show; and thirdly, mixing pro wrestling with country music may be a great promotion in Charlotte, but it isn't in the rest of the country. Anyway, the Crocketts have to be given credit for not repeating these mistakes."
"If Rhodes and Blanchard, using Magnum's comeback, with all the hype involved in their last match, couldn't even sellout Greensboro, then what business does it have being the main event in Los Angeles and San Francisco, cities where Blanchard could walk down the most crowded street and go totally unrecognized?"
"6/11 in Cincinnati drew 1,500"
"JCP has a novel match for 7/4 at the Omni in Atlanta billed as "The Match Beyond."....Anyway, from what I've heard, the fans in Atlanta are kind of disappointed with this match as they were hoping for a new match-up, not a new gimmick match."
"I don't think the NWA necessarily needs a superman babyface as champion, but as a national promotion, it should have a winning babyface champion as its top attraction who has the charisma for national appeal."
June 29, 87
"Terry Taylor was seriously injured in an auto accident traveling to Thibadoux, Louisiana on 6/11. The actual story is that Taylor was riding in the back seat of the car, with Eddie Gilbert driving and Missy Hyatt also in the front and a car pulled out in front of them and Gilbert had to slam on the brakes. The impact of the stop was to severe that Taylor, who was wearing his seat belt, was literally cut in two by the belt around the abdomen. Gilbert and Hyatt, who were both wearing their belts and shoulder straps, were still flung forward and banged their heads into the windshield, but were just shaken up a bit. Apparently there is a good possibility that had they not been wearing their belts, anyone of the three might not have survived the wreck."
"The other accident involved the New Breed, Chris Champion & Sean Royal. I've got sketchy details on that. Both were in a serious accident about a day or two after Taylor while traveling in North Carolina. Originally it was thought after the accident that Champion (real name David Ashford-Smith) wouldn't be able to return to the ring for at least a year, while Royal would be out a minimum of two months. Apparently Champion made such progress the first few days that he may be back by the end of August. Apparently there was some sort of an impact which saw both men go through the windshield of the car and apparently there was a fire as well as both men were being treated for cuts, bruises and burns."
"The UWF is really hurting for quality main-line heels. The fact Black Bart went to the finals of the tournament shows that. Although it won't happen, Crockett should go after the Midnight Rockers and make them heels and feud them with both Brad Armstrong & Tim Horner (who with the Sting/Steiner split have no real contenders) and the Freebirds."
"Shane Douglas in two years may wind up being where Shawn Michaels is today (I don't mean unemployed, I mean Michaels' status as a star teeny-bopper type babyface who works good matches)."
"Black Bart pinned Sting in a first round match. Sting had Bart going and started pounding on Akbar. Bart got the branding iron and hit Sting in the throat and pinned him in 7:00. At the time the result seemed stupid since Sting had just turned and seemed mildly "over" whereas nobody cares about Bart. But it was necessary for the remainder of the tournament. Sting seems unfamiliar (understandably so) at working babyface style and hesitated too much."
"Steiner has awesome potential, but it seems his progress has stagnated in recent months, and without Sting, I can see him fading into prelims fast"
"When the R&R came out, the reaction was very disappointing, especially considering Houston was once their town. Only the girls reacted and the guys were quiet except for a few boos."
"Bubba will be an awesome babyface someday, but I hope they don't rush into it."
"Windham pinned Bart to win the tournament. At least 20% of the crowd left before this match started"
"Titan's return to the Omni in Atlanta on 6/19 drew 5,345 ($61,226—roughly same gate as Freebirds vs Horseman two weeks earlier)"
"Titan told the folks at the Tingley Coliseum that they'd bring in Hogan provided no other wrestling show was in town 30 days prior to the event and because of that, the Coliseum canceled Crockett's 6/23 card with Flair vs. Windham + UWF guys. I think I alluded to the commission being involved, which they weren't at all, except in trying to get Crockett's date reinstated....At the 6/16 Albuquerque card there were only 1,705 fans—yet when they announced Hulk Hogan to appear on 7/20, within 30 minutes, more than 2,000 tickets were purchased (Hulk's first appearance there)"
"The 7/10 Bash in Pittsburgh will be headlined by an eight man cage match (you know who vs. you know who)"
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Feyrhausen
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Post by Feyrhausen on Feb 8, 2021 9:53:53 GMT -5
June 22, 87
"Terry Taylor was seriously injured in an auto accident traveling to Thibadoux, Louisiana on 6/11. The actual story is that Taylor was riding in the back seat of the car, with Eddie Gilbert driving and Missy Hyatt also in the front and a car pulled out in front of them and Gilbert had to slam on the brakes. The impact of the stop was to severe that Taylor, who was wearing his seat belt, was literally cut in two by the belt around the abdomen. Gilbert and Hyatt, who were both wearing their belts and shoulder straps, were still flung forward and banged their heads into the windshield, but were just shaken up a bit. Apparently there is a good possibility that had they not been wearing their belts, anyone of the three might not have survived the wreck."
So I guess the misuse of literally did not start with the internet.
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Post by James Fabiano on Feb 8, 2021 10:44:50 GMT -5
Oh yes, I remember that. Briefly didn't they have a regal fanfare when the logo turned up?
Maybe he needs a change in profession?
Yeah just someone who's really, what's the word....rugged? What could go wrong?
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Post by Deleted on Feb 8, 2021 14:05:54 GMT -5
Oh yes, I remember that. Briefly didn't they have a regal fanfare when the logo turned up? I think it was only for the first week or two, I know the logo was around until Arn and Tully left
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Post by Deleted on Feb 9, 2021 6:03:43 GMT -5
July 6, 87
"From what I understand, Taylor's recent operation as a result of a 6/11 auto accident saw them remove six inches of his small intestine, four inches of his large intestine and his appendix. They put a number of staples in his stomach which left a nine-inch scar so he may return to action wearing an Olympic-style wrestling outfit. Taylor's name was announced for the 7/25 Bash in Philadelphia, which seems awfully quick, however wrestlers do have amazing recuperative powers."
"The New Breed (Chris Champion & Sean Royal) were injured on 6/13 driving from the TV studio in Atlanta for an evening match in Florence, S.C. It was raining and the car hydroplaned and both guys were thrown through the windshield and cut up badly. The car exploded rather quickly and it is said that had they worn their seat belts, they never would have gotten out alive. Royal suffered some major burns, particularly in the back of his head. Champion's arm was broken in two places and had to have pins placed in and he isn't expected back for three-to-six months."
"If you think there's any significance to a black chauffeur named Virgil you are right"
"Power Pro taping appeared totally lost but since that was the day of the auto accident which involved Gilbert (the booker), Taylor (the best heel) and Missy Hyatt (who was to co-host the show with Magnum T.A., some of it is understandable."
"I was also troubled by the references to Barry Windham as Western States champion on the show. Sure, Windham won the strap in the 6/20 tournament in Houston—however this show was taped on 6/11. It's great that this was all planned out but what if Windham was in a car accident, which unfortunately seems not to be nearly as remote a possibility among wrestlers as among others—or injured or who knows what else which might have kept him out of action on that night."
"It's been so long since I've said anything nice about this group, but the TV match with Ron & Jimmy Garvin vs. Ric Flair & Lex Luger on WTBS this past weekend was the best television match I've seen in a long time. Flair and Ron Garvin looked excellent in particular. Flair should be given some sort of a medal of honor for working so tight and taking so many chops to the chest that he actually starts to bleed."
"Flair vs. Jim Garvin cage match for the title on 7/11 in Greensboro in which if Flair wins, he gets Precious for one night. I hope they've got a creative angle worked up for this one"
"6/21 in Greensboro drew 4,500 (one of the smallest crowds there in a long time)"
"Ricky Morton & Robert Gibson beat Flair & Luger via DQ when Blanchard interfered. This was by far the best match on the card and surprisingly the crowd cheered every bit as much for the heels which shows the loss of Morton & Gibson's popularity"
"Can anyone explain the logic in Flair challenging for a tag team title? It was already made clear that nobody can hold two belts at once when Ron Garvin did and he had to give up the Mid Atlantic strap (which was then forgotten about) and how can Flair give up the World title?"
"The Southern Boys (Tracy Smothers & Steve Armstrong) walked out from here after all of a few weeks because of money squabbles. They are headed to Continental"
"Rock & Roll beat Midnight via DQ in a 2 of 3 fall match when Jim Cornette used the racquet in the decider—afterwards Cornette jumped on Morton and landed wrong and screwed up his ankle and had to be carted off"
"It appears that several of the Bashes will draw well and there doesn't appear to be the major flops on the horizon like last year, but still this place needs an injection of usage of its top-line talent. There was a lot of potential when you added the UWF guys, however with the exception of one Freebird appearance and the clip of Williams' "injury," nothing from the UWF has aired here"
July 13, 87
"From the early reports, it appears that July will be even more successful than many of us had expected as three of the first four shows drew large crowds and massive gates. The tour opened on 7/1 in Lakeland, FL before a $40,000 house, which was a lot less than expected but still impressive for a city of that size. The 7/2 show at the Capital Centre, which was the NWA’s debut at the main arena in the Washington D.C. area drew nearly 15,000 fans and $194,000. 7/3 in Richmond drew 8,500 fans which at $15 and $25 was a gate in the $125,000 range while the heavily-hyped 7/4 card at the Omni in Atlanta drew about 13,500 fans and a whopping $250,000 gate for "The Match Beyond." " "The "Match Beyond"—the much-hyped 10-man tornado match inside the cage went 26:00 before J.J. Dillon submitted as the Road Warriors were destroying him. I was told everyone but Lex Luger and Paul Ellering bled and most of them bled very badly. The match was fought tornado-style (all 10 in the ring at once) with excellent heat and while the match wasn't a match of the year candidate, it was great action most of the way through." "Greensboro Bash on 7/11 has Flair vs. Jim Garvin in a cage match and if Flair wins, he gets Precious for one night (I assume there will be an interesting video and angle worked from the latter stipulation although you would be surprised just how many people think Flair is going to lose)" "Richard Landrum, who was a TV announcer for Crockett up until around three years ago (before Tony Schiavone), was recently convicted of nine felonious counts and ordered to spend the next 90 years in prison (or until he's 130 years old) in a bizarre case which seems more like a made-for-TV movie rather than actual reality. Landrum was convicted of wire-tapping his estranged wife's phone calls, then putting a bomb in the car of one of the guys she was dating" "Rick Steiner's younger brother Scott Rexsteiner will start here in early August using the ring name Scott Sanders." "I believe that The Match Beyond was taped in its entirety and will appear on the Crockett Bash videocassette that will be released in the fall" "They are blaming Jim Cornette’s absence on television to the fact Robert Gibson put him in a leglock and tore up his knee. From what I understand, what actually happened was Cornette jumped up in the air to stomp Ricky Morton and when he landed, the leg simply gave out and there was major cartilage damage." "They are showing Freebird video clips on all the NWA/UWF programming. They looked nice the first time, although why complain, anything is better than those Flair and Rhodes clips they showed over-and-over again" "I certainly don't mean to come to Rhodes' defense but the job of a booker is to draw money for the company. When Rhodes joined up with Crockett several years back, JCP was probably no more successful than the AWA, the Von Erichs and at times even Mid South probably was doing some good business. As all these groups fell by the wayside, JCP survived and flourished at a time when it looked to many people that Titan Sports would soon control all of wrestling." "I don't think Rhodes is a genius and I think there are ways some of the talent can be used better at times, but he is a good booker —at least when it comes to the bottom line—the ticket window. In some ways I think JCP may be handicapped by Rhodes in going national, but at the same time, he's the guy who made the promotion so powerful it survived when the rest fell, and has the chance to go national." July 20, 87"I don't think it will surprise anyone to learn that Steve Williams captured the UWF World title from Big Bubba Rogers on 7/11 in Oklahoma City. What is a surprise is that the match lasted in the neighborhood of20 minutes, which must be an all-time record for Bubba. Most of the match saw Williams on the defensive and he bled, but finally made the comeback and picked up the 350-pound champion and ran around the ring with him before finishing him off with the Oklahoma Stampede." "Another Crockett title changed hands Saturday night in Greensboro as Lex Luger downed Nikita Koloff in the cage match to win the U.S. title. The finish I was given is that the referee took a bump; then J.J. Dillon threw in a chair over the cage and Luger got the chair and hit Nikita over the head with it. Luger put Nikita on the shoulders for the backbreaker (I just hope they practiced it, because with these two. . .) and when the ref got up, he saw Nikita "out cold" and awarded the bout to Luger." "The main event on the Greensboro card which drew 10,532 saw Flair pin Jim Garvin in the cage match for the World title using the fig. 4 after Garvin had injured his knee earlier. Ron Garvin beat Flair up after to set up Flair vs Ronnie summer reruns." "Dusty has to be congratulated for making July, which is traditionally not exactly the best month of the year for wrestling, into what will probably be the biggest money-making month of the year for JCP. 7/5 in Charleston, WV drew about 7,000 fans; the 7/6 show at the Forum in Los Angeles drew 5,800 (considering the TV situation down there, that isn't bad at all); 7/7 in San Francisco drew a reported full house of 6,600; 7/9 in Cincinnati drew 4,500 (with tickets $20 and $30, that's still a gate in the $90,000+ range); 7/10 in Pittsburgh drew 8,771 and $142,000" "2. Big Bubba Rogers beat Chris Adams via count out in 4:52. It wasn't clear whether this was a title match or not, but it is pretty ridiculous to have a so-called World champion in the second match on the card." "Road Warriors downed the Midnight Express in 9:12 when Hawk pinned Stan Lane after a doubleclothesline. This was supposed to be for the U.S. tag title but I guess the Roadies didn't want to win via DQ so it was instead made for the International tag team belts." "Nikita Koloff pinned Arn Anderson to retain the U.S. title after a sickle in 15:42. I cannot describe how bad this match was. Simply, in every way— execution, psychology of a title match, work-rate plus the fact it was the same finish used here for the fourth straight month (three-count with a foot on the ropes and match restarted, then an immediate finish) made it the worst main event calibre match I've seen live in recent memory. There was no heat at all and that's pretty bad considering how over Nikita is. A kid who sat behind me actually fell asleep. Lots of fights in the stands as these two sat in endless restholds. -*1/2" "The outlook for this week's Bashes are pretty good. Charlotte on the 18th should draw 20,000 and Chicago the next night should be an easy sellout. I'm told that Philadelphia on the 25th will sellout which would be a state-record $270,000 gate (tickets are $20 and $30) while the 31st at the Orange Bowl is expected to also do in excess of $200,000 (that sounds unreasonable to me, although I do know ringside seats are already sold out more than two weeks in advance)." "Some might interpret these huge gates in conjunction with relatively weak Titan gates in recent weeks as a sign the gap between No. 1 and No. 2 is closing up. Don't believe it. Titan has all sorts of fresh angles set for the fall and seems consciously laying low this summer" "Crockett's horizon shows nothing but the same matches and repeat endings with the same eight main eventers and heels always losing, yet being brought back for main events the next month" "Bugsy McGraw is headed in to team with Valiant, which pushes Hectortron (if you didn't know it, one of the things Hector learned when he became a martian was to become invisible whenever they did TV tapings) even lower down the totem pole" "Stan Lane has been using the scorpion deathlock on TV" "Somebody ought to tell Ricky Morton not to act so cocky on television as his popularity is falling like the 1929 stock market as it is and the people (mainly guys) who don't like him find that even more reason to dislike him" "There was a bloodbath in which Terry Gordy beat Black Bart and I'm told it was raining blood so hard that the fans at ringside probably needed an umbrella. It ended with 10 or 12 guys in the ring and most, if not all of this match was taped for television." "Jim Duggan is trying to return here but don't know how Crockett and Dusty think on the subject" "The reason Terry Taylor is denying he's hurt on TV is because they don't want fans to have sympathy for him, thus cheer his comeback" "Can you believe Dusty's line on Power Pro this week about Missy's ability to suck chrome off something or other? I used to say stuff like that too. Then I graduated 8th grade." "War Machine in the War Games at the Orange Bowl will be Bubba Rogers. I can't figure out why they just don't call him Bubba, since he's already over to the fans as someone who won't submit. Maybe they've got an angle planned out revolving around taking off the mask" "Baron Von Raschke quit the NWA which is no great loss" "As this Bash tour goes on, it appears that Terry Gordy’s knee is getting progressively worse. The guy is somewhat amazing. He limps to the ring with that big brace and somehow, when the bell rings, he moves just fine"
July 27, 87 "The success of Jim Crockett's Bash tour through July continues to top the news. The series continues to draw big gates just about everywhere it appears, topped off last night as I write this (7/18) at Charlotte Stadium where 21,000 (the largest crowd to witness pro wrestling since Wrestlemania I believe) saw a 12 match spectacular. The previous night, the Bash drew a sellout at the Scope in Norfolk, which translated into a $180,000 gate." "It appears the Florida circuit may be phased out. I'm told they will only run around 12 shows in August and September (run Thursday, Friday and Saturday each week) and if things don't turn-around, and there's no indication they will unless Dusty and company are on the shows, then the office may be phased out. Crockett will certainly run this territory, just no more weekly shows in cities and lots of the spot show towns will be phased out" "The key word was in Jim Garvin’s interview on WTBS when he said how Ric Flair is going to get a date "with a member of the Garvin family" " "I guess it was something they had to do to set up next week’s TV skit, but that Flair thing with the mannequin was certainly tasteless. I know, who wants heels with impeccable taste in the first place" "Lex Luger ought to spend a little more time pedaling a stationary bicycle or some other cardiovascular exercise because his heavy breathing act is pathetic. He’s come a long way as a wrestler these past six months but will never be able to even be a decent worker if he can’t go past the five minute mark without cramping up and breathing like he’s about to give birth" "7/12 in Baltimore drew a sellout 13,500 fans and $146,000" "The Flair vs. Animal match never took place in Chicago as Arn jumped Animal before the bout and eventually it was 4 on 1 as they used Animal’s spiked outfit to choke and bloody him up. I hope this was taped because I’m told it was a HOT angle which sets up War Games III on 8/16 in Chicago" "A six man elimination match saw Ric Flair & Lex Luger & Arn Anderson lose in the battle of out-of-control egos against the Road Warriors & Nikita Koloff. Imagine how you can have an elimination match where five of the six participants won’t do jobs? This is how. First fall saw Lex and Nikita both counted out of the ring leaving it 2-on-2. Then Hawk pins Arn after a clothesline, leaving Flair against both Roadies. So Hawk immediately tosses Flair over the top rope to get himself dq’d making it Flair vs. Animal. Since neither of them will do a job, it goes something like 30 seconds before Arn comes back to cause a DQ." "I figured it wouldn’t be long before Dusty responded to the WWF calling Mike Jones "Virgil" the valet. On TBS this weekend, Dusty was talking about Ron Simmons and said something like "he didn’t have to bleach his hair blonde to get a job" (in reference to Butch Reed) and said the NWA had real wrestlers and not guys on cups (in reference to Hulk Hogan’s latest commercialization thing)" "You will notice less localized interviews on all JCP shows. In fact, I believe localized interviews are in the process of being eliminated. I understand why, because it takes literally forever to do the things because of all the different cities they had to be shot for, and eliminating them isn't going to kill business or anything like that, but I think they important enough to be kept" "The NWA guys survived Sunday drawing 8,000 at $15 and $20 for an afternoon shot in Roanoke, then drew a sellout (days in advance) in Chicago that night of 10,300 and $138,000"
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Post by Deleted on Feb 10, 2021 4:32:39 GMT -5
Aug 3, 87
"Crockett's Bash shows continue to draw big gates. The announced gate for Greensboro on the 11th was $150,000 and Charlotte on the 18th was $175,000 (this figure would actually translate to around 16,000 tickets although every estimate I received on this crowd was between 20,000 and 24,000). The 7/20 show in Greenville drew about $70,000 which is an all-time record for the city, while 7/23 at Reunion Arena in Dallas also drew approximately $70,000."
"Konga the Barbarian pinned Jimmy Valiant in 8:00 of an average match. The fact the match was average means Konga deserves a heck of a lot of credit. Actually I'm going to quit calling him Konga because there isn't another Barbarian around to get him confused with"
"Titan is no longer pretending to ignore Crockett as competition and is beginning to compete publicly by sending Hulk Hogan to cities the same day or week as a Crockett show. On 8/16 Titan returns to Denver with the Hogan vs. Savage rematch with Mr. T as referee. The AWA (which will die a miserable death) is in 8/15 with the Russians vs. Wahoo McDaniel & D.J. Peterson on top, while UWF is in 8/17 with Ric Flair vs. Dusty Rhodes, Steve Williams (who is from nearby Lakewood) vs. Dick Murdoch, Road Warriors & Nikita vs. Blanchard & Anderson & Luger, Rock & Roll vs. Midnight, Windham vs. Bubba, Sting vs. Bart and Simmons vs. Steiner. It will be the first card ever for either NWA or UWF so it should draw well. Hogan-Savage after working an angle at the previous show should theoretically draw extremely well"
"Even though the NWA and WWF are pretty well competing in most major markets, it seems that both groups have decided to compete hot-and-heavy in Houston. The NWA had its Bash there on 7/24 and the WWF had a show the same night (with the Sherri Martel title victory) using Mr. T as the referee for the Randy Savage vs. Honkeytonk Man main event which ended with Mr. T disqualifying Honkeytonk. I don't have any gate figures although my guess the week before was the NWA would do better because they had a deeper line-up."
"Even though Jim Duggan is announced for upcoming WWF shows at the end of the month, he was definitely at the UWF taping in Alexandria, LA on 7/25 showing interest in returning."
"The highlight, or lowlight of the taping was Michael Hayes repeating Rhodes' remarks about Missy Hyatt. I can't understand them bleeping out the remarks Murdoch makes about Barry Switzer which are basically funny, and keeping in those trashy remarks which only reflect negatively on their babyfaces"
"While it is true that Ric Flair has been bothered by a pinched nerve in his neck which has caused his fingers and occasionally his arm to go numb, I'm not sure whether or not that was the reason his match with Road Warrior Animal in Chicago never took place. The injury has gotten progressively worse of late, however everyone in the NWA is injured in one form or another from this rugged July tour, but Flair wrestled that afternoon in Roanoke and wrestled the next day in Greenville, S.C"
"Since everyone has asked about "The Skit"—a few things were hilarious—J.J.'s post skit interview was funnier than the thing itself, except for J.J. asking Flair "Can I watch?" Flair was a riot because he was wearing a robe and bikini briefs but still wearing dress shoes. Aside from that it was just another angle to me and yet after all that and french-kissing a mannequin, the fans on WTBS were still chanting "Slick Ric." "
"Al Blake, or Vladimir Petrov, made the Twin Cities newspapers as there were some extensive reports on his trial this past week on drug trafficking charges. Blake, 29, was part of a group of six charged with eight counts of selling controlled substances in 1983-84. The case was just going to the jury as of my last report....It's times like these that Jim Crockett can be glad he's not Vince McMahon, because the idea of a Titan wrestler pretending to be a Russian, coming out as an American and being up on charges like that would bring down half of his organization with the resulting publicity. Since it was a Crockett wrestler, the news media didn't pick up on it outside Minneapolis."
"While it's certainly possible I'm too hard on Nikita and Luger, believe me, you would think I'm overly nice to both if you heard what many of the wrestlers say about their respective abilities. Actually I think Luger has improved a great deal this year. Nikita obviously has some good matches because I've seen them myself and get reports of them, nevertheless, if you check my reports which come from dozens and dozens of different fans from all over the country, on the vast majority of NWA shows, Nikita's match is rated as the worst or one of the worst on the card, and he generally has good opponents."
Aug 10, 87
"The Roadies last job was when they lost the AWA tag team belts to Jim Garvin & Steve Regal which was just under two years ago....The last time Ric Flair was pinned was last July in Greensboro against Dusty Rhodes, and before that he'd lost falls in tag matches although he no longer appears to do that."
"Speaking of Duggan, my feeling is it's a major mistake if Crockett doesn't give him a job immediately. Whatever negative press he's received has already blown over and he's got a large following in the UWF cities and has national notoriety in his abortive Titan campaign."
"The Great American Bash tour ended in a big way on 7/31 at the Orange Bowl. The crowd was announced at 17,251 (probable real crowd was in the 16,000 range) with tickets at $25, $20, $16.50 and $12 so it was certainly a record gate for South Florida."
"The finale was War Games II. The bout went 22:00 and ended when the Bubba Machine submitted. Fans were all chanting "Bubba, Bubba" and even the densest marks knew who it was."
"If you think some of the comments on TV have been borderline bad taste, then just imagine the comments they've had to edit out on recent shows"
"Dark Journey was fired with her last card being the Orange Bowl show. Part of it was business, but part was due to personality conflicts. The truth of the matter was she never got any kind of reaction here and this idea of getting heat on Tully for being with a black girl simply didn't work at all"
"I only have one word, no two words, to describe the amount of class Dusty Rhodes showed on his interview on Saturday's WTBS show. I wonder if we're going to wind up like late 1985 when Rhodes wouldn't even do interviews before a live crowd because so many fans were cheering for Ric Flair instead of him"
"NWA will be coming soon to Detroit (at Joe Louis Arena), Hartford and Providence and are negotiating for several other Northeast buildings as well"
Aug 17, 87
"In what could prove to be the sparks of one of the biggest stories of the year, the Road Warriors will be meeting with Vince McMahon Jr. this week. The Warriors, who apparently have at least talked with AWA booker Wahoo McDaniel as well about leaving the NWA, are reportedly going to ask for $1 million apiece from Titan which would make them the highest paid act in the history of pro wrestling if they were to get it in a one-year deal. The best speculation I've gotten is that Titan probably wouldn't agree to such lofty terms but perhaps a compromise could be met"
"One of the Warriors' friends, Al Blake, who wrestled as Vladmir Petrov in the NWA, was convicted on 7/30 of selling drugs, specifically cocaine and conspiring to sell drugs. In addition, Blake, 29, was convicted of operating a disorderly house as one of the owners of the Golden Karat, a massage parlor in Richfield, MN that closed last year after police made 13 prostitution arrests at the business. The cocaine case stemmed from Blake's stint as a bouncer at the Roaring 20's Night Club, which apparently had been used as a front for drug trafficking."
"Shane Douglas upset Eddie Gilbert to win the UWF TV title on 8/3 in Morgan City, LA. Originally Gilbert was going to defend the title against Sting but Gilbert clobbered Sting with a chair before the match took place. Actually the blow with the chair was pretty severe since a security officer jumped into the ring mistakenly and tried to wrestle the chair from Gilbert, and when pulling the chair away, Gilbert smashed it into Sting who needed 18 stitches. Gilbert then wrestled Douglas and it finished with a referee bump, then Sting ran in and clotheslined Gilbert leading to the upset"
"That Ron Garvin-Ric Flair altercation over the weekend on the syndicated show was one of the tightest things I've seen this side of Takada vs. Koshinaka in Japan. You'd really have to know your wrestling not to believe that these guys hadn’t lost their temper and were going at it for real. Just amazing"
"8/9 at the Omni in Atlanta drew 14,100"
"With Morton & Gibson gaining all these clean pinfalls over Tully & Arn, it seems a title change is likely in the near future"
"Dusty is now referring to himself as "The Living Legend" which shows after all these years humbleness has remained one of his virtues"
"Some political maneuverings going on in the Titan/Crockett battles. Titan has cut down on the number of shows it will run in Baltimore because the NWA is running monthly. When Joe Louis Arena in Detroit approved an NWA date for 9/25, Titan pulled out of the arena and will now run monthly cards at the Silverdome. Pittsburgh has been interesting as well. Crockett started with a bang there but the show on 8/8 drew very poorly (because most of the big stars were in Kansas City that night and Luger vs. Nikita was the headliner in Pittsburgh) and now Titan, which canceled all its summer shows, is trying to exert influence again to regain its former exclusive lease"
"All Japan announced officially that Ric Flair had his tour canceled by Jim Crockett"
Aug 24, 87
"Gordon Solie will no longer handle the Florida show over a dispute with the Crocketts in regards to money, and has been replaced as host of the show by Steve Keirn....To cut costs, instead of taping weekly, Crockett was going to hold one taping every other week with two shows taped, and because of that, Solie would only have to work 26 dates per year instead of 52, even though he would still be doing 52 television shows. Crockett wanted to pay Solie for 26 dates, while Solie wanted to be paid for 52 television shows and therein lies the problem. Solie had been the wrestling voice of Florida for 26 1/2 years."
"By far the hottest topic of conversation this past week revolves around the plans of the Road Warriors. The rumors are flying everywhere on what they will or won't be doing in the future and hopefully we'll be able to report on what is really going down in the next week or so. I do know they were scheduled to have a meeting with Vince McMahon this past Friday, and then meet with Jim Crockett on Saturday."
"Sting was to wrestle Rick Steiner, who was at the card but had a pulled muscle or something in his right leg which was swollen to ridiculous proportions (his thighs are gigantic enough as it is)"
"Armstrong & Horner beat Bubba & Bart via DQ in a non-title match. Fans wouldn't cheer for Armstrong & Horner—in fact the only one they got into was Bubba."
"Williams & Morton & Gibson beat Blanchard & Anderson & Luger in 17:00. Crowd was really weird, cheering for Williams against the Horseman and cheering the Horseman against Morton, vociferously I might add. They really couldn't decide who they wanted when Gibson was in."
"War Games III took place 8/16 in Chicago before an estimated 8,700 fans ($25, $20 and $15 ticket prices). Now I had been told earlier in the week that this card was a complete sellout—so the idea of 2,000 empty seats at the Pavilion is kind of surprising."
"With Paul Ellering injured (legit I suppose tho I don't know for sure), Ron Garvin became the fifth member of the babyface side which of course won in 19:38 when Animal got the Bubba Machine to submit with his spiked wristband to the eye. There must have been some time shading here since in theory, "The Match Beyond" doesn't even begin until the 21:00 mark. Six of the 10 guys juiced (Dusty the worst, also Flair, Blanchard, Anderson, Nikita and Animal) and all reports said it was basically a great match"
"The reason the TBS show over the weekend was so lined with jobbers was because Rock & Roll, Nikita, Luger, Anderson & Blanchard were all in California during the week"
"After hearing Jim Cornette on interviews these past few weeks, I'm taking back everything I've ever said about Jimmy Hart in Memphis being the best manager of all-time"
Aug 31, 87
"The Roadies had their meeting with Titan more than a week ago, then last weekend negotiated with Crockett. The Roadies haven't signed with either side but are committed to working for Crockett at least through October"
"An important factor is the fear by at least one member of the Roadie trio that if they signed with Titan, this would put them under Titan's control and Titan could change the Road Warriors into something that they may not want to be. There is also the chance that Titan could phase out Paul Ellering, who really adds nothing to the Roadies act to the public, and is simply their real-life business manager."
"By agreeing to work through October, it puts the Roadies in an even better bargaining position. The Starcade hype has to begin by then and with the Roadies making appearances throughout the JCP circuit, their absence for the Starcade card would be noticeable by all fans. Even more importantly, having the Roadies in a key match is essential for this year's Starcade if Chicago is chosen as the host city, and as of last word, Chicago appeared to be the likely choice"
"A lot of readers believe that if the Roadies were to have jumped to Titan, the NWA would have been finished. I strongly disagree with that. While it would hurt the NWA in some cities, particularly in the Midwest, the only act in the U.S. that could vastly change the balance of power is Hulk Hogan (who isn't going anywhere). Titan survived the loss of Roddy Piper (every summer), Jimmy Snuka, Sgt. Slaughter and others who were one-time hot commodities without really ever missing a beat and the NWA is more deep enough in talent to do the same."
"Even though it is Williams' home town, it was the Warriors who got the best reaction, followed by Williams and surprisingly Sting (who seems to be getting over great)"
"Terry Taylor wrestled Chris Adams on 8/15 in Westville, OK which drew a $13,000 gate with Jim Ross as referee. I think Westville is the original home town of Ross and he ended up DQing Taylor for tossing Adams over the top rope, then sucker punched Taylor who took a big bump. I guess it was okay if it was in the guys' home town, but as general principle it isn't a good idea for a lead heel to be taking bumps for the TV announcer."
"The 9/25 debut card at Joe Louis Arena in Detroit has something like seven title matches as it's Flair vs. Ron Garvin, Road Warriors & Dusty vs. Luger & Anderson & Blanchard, Williams vs. Bubba, Rock & Roll vs. Midnight, Windham vs. Steiner, Lightning Express vs. Whatley & Conway and Shane Douglas vs. Konga the Barbarian all in title matches plus Sting & Adams vs. Taylor & Gilbert, Nikita vs. Ivan, Michael Hayes vs. Terminator and Steve Cox vs. Gary Young for the rookie of the year trophy"
"There will be no wrestling in the NWA or UWF from 9/14 through 9/17 as all the contracted employees will he headed to the NWA convention in the Caribbean for a vacation"
"Crockett has decreed that no more footage from The Wrestling Network (NWA, UWF or Florida) can appear on Pro Wrestling this Week which is why you'll notice the stuff missing"
"The reason most of the big names weren't on this weekends' WTBS show was that it was taped on 8/17 when most of the crew was in Denver. TBS was funny only because the audience reacted to Taylor as a babyface and Sullivan as a heel, when in reality their roles were the opposite"
"Nikita beat Tully Blanchard on 8/19 in Fayetteville, NC to win the TV title. J.J. handed Tully an object but Nikita got it away and KO'd Tully to win the thing. I believe this will air on the syndicated package this upcoming weekend. It also frees Tully & Arn to win the tag title from Rock & Roll"
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Feb 11, 2021 6:49:44 GMT -5
Sept 7, 87
"After seeing several different types of Titan shows (a small-town spot show, a major TV taping and a heavily-hyped "greatest card in Houston wrestling" type supercard) within a week, and also with all the JCP shows I've seen the past few weeks, the two groups seem to be almost like night and day. I really don't believe the two are in as much competition for the same fans as many would believe. They attract a very different type of audience and their live shows are totally different both in product and atmosphere."
"When it comes to the product between the ropes—the matches themselves—there is no comparison between the groups. Now there are exceptions to what I'm saying, obviously Ted DiBiase is as good as any JCP wrestler technically, he doesn't miss moves, blow up; etc. At the same time, Bugsy McGraw or Jimmy Valiant are worse than all but the Outhouse Jacks and the Junkfood Dogs of the Titan world (and yes, those two are worse than Valiant). But by and large, the JCP wrestlers have more intense battles, miss much fewer moves, are more competent as workers and work a whole lot harder in the ring than their Titan counterparts."
"Aside from the matches themselves, Titan's advantages over JCP are so obvious that to borrow an overused cliche, Ray Charles could see them. The Titan shows, whether they be in a small town or a major city, come off to the fans as very professional, major league and organized. The crowd is different in that they are generally better behaved, and for the most part ignorant of the wrestling aspect anyway. For someone with only a slight bit of interest in wrestling, the Titan shows would be far more appealing and for an upbeat atmosphere, they are well above the competition."
"I don't know how much Titan spends per taping (I wouldn't be surprised at all if the figure exceeds $100,000) but it is so professionally done and first class that from the casual fans' eyes, its glitter, production values, well-timed entrances, distractions from the bad matches (with those interview insets), short matches so most attention is directed at the entrance, etc. makes it appear totally superior to its competition. That, along with better marketing explains why Titan is No. 1 by such a great deal."
"My conclusion to all this is in a market where neither group had an original territorial advantage (ie the Mid-Atlantic states, Georgia, etc.) that the only groups Crockett appeals to in a much greater number than Titan are people like us—the hardcore wrestling fans who want action—and the group of folks I don't have a name for—but that are into somewhat of sleazy entertainment."
"As one friend noted (who is a huge JCP fan—even moreso than I am and hates Titan), between the constant swearing, flipping off of fans (by the babyfaces more than the heels—the faces for JCP really get untracked by fans who cheer for heels which is a sizable percentage), overuse of the blade, space mountain references. Dusty Rhodes' entire routine and a girls match where the whole thing built up to Misty Blue ramming a flagpole up Mad Dog Debbie's crotch and you can see why this is not the type of thing I would let my kids attend."
"Misty Blue, that star of stage and screen, pinned Comrade Orca (probably a better name for her would be the One Woman Gang) with a cradle in 5:00. Mad Dog Debbie, Orca's manager, crotched Misty before the match with a pole and Orca threw her around like a rag doll. Both tried, but it was pretty bad. After the bout. Misty crotched Debbie with the poll."
"Dusty Rhodes beat Lex Lugar (on his robe it's spelled Lugar and I figure he knows best) via DQ in the U.S. title match. They announced Dusty at 265 and Lex at 268 which is a joke because Dusty has an easy 60 pounds on "The 60 second man" (or as one person joked about the Flair/Luger tag team—you could call it "The 61 minute men.") "
"A large contingent of fans were cheering Flair and Windham gave them the bird....The entire finishing sequence was exactly like Flair's win over Michael Hayes in the same building in June which looked really stupid and pissed several fans off"
"Iron Sheik was turned down in his bid to get a job here"
"Flair's chest is all beat up from these slapfests with Garvin and he frequently bleeds from the chest. Flair worked Houston on Saturday, then Charlotte and Atlanta on Sunday as did Dusty, Luger, Blanchard, etc. Against Windham, Barry never once touched Flair's chest trying to give it a night off"
"Biggest news from here is that the UWF TV show will debut on WPIX in New York at noon on Saturday's starting on 9/19. Because it will air in New York, the show is going to be revamped in that it will include all the big stars of JCP (Road Warriors, Dusty, Horseman, etc. including the UWF main guys like Williams, Gilbert, Taylor, Wiridham, etc.)"
"The Road Warriors & Michael Hayes have signed long-term contracts with JCP which is BIG news. The Roadies will now be pushed the way they should be and I think you'll see them used better and more regularly. Terry Gordy hasn't signed because be doesn’t want to give up his Japanese commitments."
"Thanksgiving may be one of the most interesting nights in the history of the business with Titan and Crockett apparently both having big plans. This is just my speculation, but I wouldn't be surprised to see the Andre-Hogan rematch that night to divert attention from Starcade. Crockett has the Pavilion in Chicago, the Superdome and Greensboro all booked for Thanksgiving."
Sept 14, 87
"November 27, 1987 looks to be one of the most interesting dates in the recent history of pro wrestling because both Titan Sports and Jim Crockett Promotions will be presenting major Thanksgiving events. Titan has officially announced plans for a card entitled "The Survivors' Series" which is will broadcast nationally on pay-per-view cable systems. The site and line-up has yet to be determined, but it's obviously at least in part, an attempt to combat JCP's annual Starcade promotion which takes place the same day. It's been widely rumored that JCP is going to attempt to broadcast Starcade through pay-per-view this Thanksgiving, the first time JCP has attempted such a venture."
"While I've heard no word that Titan is going to run an Andre-Hogan rematch, that would seem like a very likely possibility and a rematch of that big event could conceivably freeze out Crockett's attempt to get his Starcade card on PPV systems. Remember, if a cable company has a choice between broadcasting an Andre-Hogan rematch, coming off the biggest PPV event in history, or a JCP big show, which in the PPV industry is an unknown commodity, the choice will be easy and obvious."
"The other major story of the past week is that it appears the Florida wrestling office will be history by the end of this month. Only 10 dates have been booked in Florida for October, and it’s assumed that the Charlotte group will run those dates on their own, running regular monthly shows only in the major Florida cities. The demise of the Florida office has been heavily rumored for some time, since they local crew on its own hadn't been able to draw since the JCP take-over earlier this year."
"The moral of this story is obvious—fans aren't going to support a local group on a regular basis when outsiders (ie the Charlotte guys) come monthly and when Ric Flair, Dusty Rhodes, etc. are on the cards, the local guys who were the main eventers, become the prelim guys. The fans will instead wait for the monthly shows when the major stars come in. I hope this doesn't happen with the UWF area, because if the NWA guys are perceived and promoted as the bigger stars within the UWF territory, the fans won't support cards without the big stars on any kind of a regular basis"
"The UWF television program will start featuring most of the NWA big names weekly starting the show that airs on 9/19. I believe the format will be an in-studio set, and going to Videotapes of the different big names from various arenas, rather than a show all shot at one taping."
"Hyatt won't be doing color commentary on the Power Pro shows anymore as there was lots of bad blood between her and the Freebirds—most of the commentary you heard by her during the Birds matches was shoot, or at least the Birds took it as such and Hayes & Gordy each had at least one interview which had to be edited out of the show with their comeback remarks which weren't exactly in the best of taste"
"The Harts have actually been making noises about trying to set up a Ric Flair vs. Owen Hart match, but because of the realities of wrestling politics, I'd say that has almost no chance of coming off."
"It appears Thanksgiving is building up to a Ric Flair match with Ron Garvin where either Garvin wins the title or has to retire. They seemed to be building that up for the last Starcade as well, however with Magnum's accident and Nikita's subsequent turn and catching fire as a babyface, the plan was scrapped"
"Jim Barnett is definitely working here out of the Dallas office"
"They ran shows on 9/5 in both Philadelphia and Baltimore with Flair, Blanchard and Anderson appearing on both cards. The Philadelphia show drew 2,100"
"Baltimore on the other hand saw "stall until the Horseman arrive" night before 11,000 fans....a belt vs. belt match saw Lugar go to a double count out with Nikita Koloff in a best of three fall match which went 42 minutes. I'm told the latter match was one of the worst matches of the year because these just aren't the two guys to be doing 42 minutes....The main event, a six-man cage match with the Road Warriors & Dusty beating Flair & Arn & Tully when Animal pinned Tully didn't even start until after 11:30 p.m"
"Aside from a long-term contract with JCP, the reason Lugar won't be Hogan's replacement is because he's similar in being a muscular, tanned blonde. Once an act runs stale, the stupidest thing to do is to replace it with a copy of the stale act. If you check Titan's title history, every new champion was totally different than his predecessor. In Bruno, you had the Italian immigrant; Pedro was designed to draw the Spanish audience; then Bruno again; after years of ethnic champs they went with Backlund, the ultimate lilly-pure wasp; and from there it was Hogan, almost a 180 degree opposite of Backlund in every way. I expect Hogan's successor to be cut from a totally different mold than Hulk, which is why it won't be Lugar."
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