Newsletter recaps

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wrestling_Obs...wsletter_awards Very interesting read, but I have to wonder where Meltzer came up with some of the descriptions he uses. Aside from the one in the topic description, he calls Shockmaster a "spaceman" (yes probably the original intent, but after the Great Fall of Ottman, not so much), "New" Goldust (1997...is this the family man GD or TAFKAG?) is a "rundown movie star critic" (again the original intent, but I didn't know him for acting like Roger Ebert or anything...and I am surprised Meltzer didn't call Black Reign a "schizophrenic rundown movie star critic"), and Rock was a "jock comedian" (Okaaaaaaaay...). Also, what…

With 2009 about to start, 20 years ago will be 1989. Which would you prefer -- that I just continue the timeline I'm on now and start with the next WON, or start with the first WON of 1989 after the new year and just keep filling in the blanks of '88 as I get a chance?

WWF -- "A new heel manager is headed in called Brother Love or something like that, patterned after Brother Ernest Angel. I've got a feeling I know who this masked manager is but will wait until he actually arrives." (My note: Interesting. I suspect he thought it was Jim Cornette based on a note later in this issue.) Dave later in the issue says it's Bruce Prichard, and he doesn't think he'll be managing, but rather just doing an interview segment. -- Rick Martel is going to be taking time off to help his wife recover from surgery. -- Dave raved about the 5/27 Savage vs DiBiase match from MSG, saying DiBiase is singlehandedly trying to change the workrate in the …

Yes. Really.

WWF -- There was a 5/31 TV taping of Wrestling Challenge in Fresno, and there were some small concerns about the crowd size. The day of the event they only had 3,000 tickets sold, but on the day of the show, they sold 4,000 more tickets, which Dave calls a pretty incredible walk-up, and they ended up filling 7,000 seats of a 10,904 capacity arena. Superstars was taped on 6/1 in Oakland before 12,120 fans in a 15,891 seat building. The paid attendance was closer to 9,000 and the gate was $110,000. "This was my first chance to see a taping since they were in San Francisco last August and this show was a lot better than the SF show, which wasn't hard. Really, the atmosphere…

WWF -- Electronic Media Magazine had an article about pro wrestling, and Randy Savage and Elizabeth were on the cover. Dave says it was a standard WWF press release with exaggerated numbers, and a few quotes mixed in from Jim Crockett. "The funniest part of the story was where it said that top wrestlers can earn $10 million a year. Not on this planet they can't. I would be surprised if any wrestler besides Hulk Hogan has ever earned anything approaching $1 million in any calendar year." The magazine also had an ad for Jim Crockett's Learning The Ropes sitcom, which Dave has heard is pretty bad. -- 5/27 in MSG before 16,000 was headlined by Savage vs Dibiase. 5/28 in …

WWF -- The WWF is trying hard to make Randy Savage and Elizabeth their new media darlings with Hogan out and it just isn't working. They tried to get TV stations to do things with them and have been sending them out for interviews. In the first interview, Elizabeth was called an airhead. All other interviews were cancelled at that point. "From what I'm told by those who know her, even though Liz is absolutely nothing like she is portrayed and certainly she is no great actress, calling her an airhead is an unfair charge." (My note: This is one of my favorite stories so far ...) -- Big Bubba Rogers debuted as the Big Boss Man, with a crewcut and shaved moustache. He st…

I want to get done with 1988 by the end of the year so I can start with 1989 in January, so better get crackin'! WWF -- The WWF took out a full page ad in Electronic Media magazine, the trade publication for the TV industry, with the ad entitled "What A.C. Neilsen isn't tell you." The idea is that they're trying to stop some of the damage caused by Neilsen closing their loophole that skewed in wrestling's favor. The WWF has already sold most of its ads for the whole year, and they're really worried about what's going to happen now. The ad also said they were in the top five eery week since the syndication ratings debuted two weeks prior, which only Jeopardy and Wheel…

WWF -- Things are quiet from a news point of view, but crowds have been extremely impressive lately. Dave thinks because they're drawing so well right now, the schedule will have tons more dates added and managers will probably be back to work on house shows in no time. -- The August PPV has been moved up to 8/28 and will take place at Madison Square Garden. -- 4/29 in Utica, NY, drew 5,084 headlined by Andre vs Duggan. 4/30 at the Cow Palace drew 11,104 fans and $140,000, the second-largest gate in the history of the building headlined by Ted DiBiase vs Randy Savage. 5/7 in Boston drew 12,000 headlined by Honky Tonk Man vs Brutus Beefcake and Andre the Giant vs …

WWF -- The WWF returned to sellout crowds: 4/21 in New Haven drew 12,000 and 4/22 in Springfield, MA drew 9,000. -- Brutus Beefcake vs Honky Tonk Man was advertised for SNME, and the program listed it, but Honky Tonk Man didn't wrestle the match. He did appear on three weeks' worth of TV tapings with the belt, so he won't be losing it anytime soon. -- Everyone expected to be cut is still around. -- Hulk Hogan is still not booked on any shows through the end of May. -- Harley Race was hospitalized and had a foot of his intestine removed. -- There was recently a Savage/Andre dark match where every time Savage was in peril, the fans chanted "We Want Hog…

Note: There is a transcript of the Bruno radio interview mentioned a few weeks back in this issue, along with Dave's thoughts on it, which is a fun read and covers a variety of topics, but there's no way I'm going through all of that. I have my limits. WWF -- The WWF ran its last SNME of the season on 4/30, which was taped 4/22 in Springfield, MA. Savage is very much the star of the WWF right now, and Dave observed that the name Hulk Hogan was never even mentioned during the show. Dave also thinks it's amazing the difference in match quality on top between Hogan and Savage. Dave also noted that Duggan was really trying against Hercules, as was Hercules, but Duggan h…

SUPER SUNDAY -- "'What goes around comes around' -- I'm not sure what wise man first coined this phrase, but he's a whole lot wiser this week." -- Dave felt March 27 would go down as the most important day of the year for pro wrestling. Both the WWF and the NWA presented big shows with tons of hype, intrigue, sabotage, media manipulation, and careful planning. The lesson learned was that if wrestlign doesn't fit into the equation, all the careful planning in the world doesn't really matter. -- In the largest response the WON has ever received for a poll, 94.7% (507 readers) preferred the Clash of the Champions to Wrestlemania. 3.8% (20 readers) preferred Wrestlem…

TALK ABOUT THE TWO BIG SHOWS ON 3/27 -- "'This is horrible, Gorilla.' It sure was. I saw it and I still don't believe it. Was it a dream? Was it a nightmare? All I know is in every sense of the word, it was a bomb." -- Dave on Wrestlemania IV -- Dave doesn't understand why the show was such a failure, as Wrestlemania III was probably the greatest overall wrestling production of all time. He says from a wrestling point of view, it couldn't compare to Starrcade '85 or Starrcade '86, but it was still an entertaining show, despite a terrible main event. He says the main event still did its job of satisfying fans who paid to see a slam and a pin and got both. "At this tim…

Over on Crazy Max an accurate list of 5 star matches in the 80's (as rated by Dave) is being worked on but 1985 is the year we can't verify since I don't have any issues other than the 1984 yearbook (1/10/85 issue). Anyone who has the set and is willing to go through and extract any matches Dave rated 5 stars it would be most helpful. There are only 20 issues to go through for '85. No real rush but any help would be appreciated. One match that has been listed but isn't verified is: Tiger Mask II vs. Kuniaki Kobayashi (All Japan 3/9/85) Although their 6/12/85 match won that years MOTY. Other possibilities I'm thinking: Devil Masami v. Chigusa Nagayo (…

I figured since Loss and Khawk are so good at the WON recaps, I would do one with the Torch. In 1999 my mother got me a subscription to the Torch. I think I got it through one of the Apter mag which I use to buy all the time. I know Keller is loved around here. If this isn't allowed you can delete it. I'm not going word for word, just paraphrasing 3/25/00: Headline story: - Wade calls Barry Blaustein and Beyond the Mat "a mark and The Movie lacks central Theme." but overall likes the documentary. He felt it was too contrived and didn't have a critical eye for his "subjects" often enough. He brings up the Koko B Ware part and the Roland Alexander part but didn'…

Wrestling Observer Recap: March 23rd, 1987 TOP STORY: Tag team tournaments are front and center in this issue. -The WWF ran the “First Annual Frank Tunney Memorial Tag Team Tournament on 3/15 in Toronto. Dave comments that Titan’s re-writing of the wrestling history books continued with the WWF claiming that Tunney brought over tag team wrestling to North America from Australia. -The Toronto card drew a sellout of 18,000. Results: Killer Bees beat Kamala and Sika in a comedy bout (Kamala pretending he didn’t understand tag wrestling), Martel/Zenk over Spivey/Jerry Allen, Bundy and Orndorff over Muraco/Orton (crowd cheered neither team), Demolition over Britis…

In the spirit of what Loss has been doing, I thought I would put one up in the same general time frame as his recaps but a few years earlier. The issue wasn't complete but I tried my best with what was there. I'll try to do more pre-88 ones occasionally if the interest is there and if I can manage the time. Observer Recap—February 24th, 1986 Page 1 Lead Story: The coroner’s report on the death of Gino Hernandez is out, and the verdict is that it was an “Acute cocaine overdose”. Dave discusses the negative impact that it would have on the business if, say, Kerry Von Erich or Hulk Hogan were to end up involved in a drug scandal. He does add to this that the …

WWF -- Opening line in this WON read "February 5, 1988 -- Is it the end of the beginning or is it the beginning of the end? This prime time network stuff is tricky business." Dave said that the suggestion that the show will not be a success is ridiculous. Dave said Titan's syndicated package is in overdrive, and we can expect to see Hogan and Andre all over the talk show circuit over the next few weeks. Dave says Hogan/Andre may end up as the most watched wrestling match in the history of not just the US, but also the world when it's all said and done, and will crack the top 25 in the overall weekly ratings, and maybe even the top 15. But where it's tricky is that if it'…