June 28, 201015 yr comment_5452516 Here a question I always wanted to ask. Why were the Apter mags 4-6 months behind? Was it because there was only 2-3 people writing them or what?
June 28, 201015 yr Author comment_5452517 It has to be some kind of budget/staffing issue. Major magazines don't seem to have any problem with being more than a couple days behind.
June 29, 201015 yr comment_5452555 I know I was surprised when I found out all the mags were written by a handful of people. I figured the obvious heel columns were gimmicks, but it was somewhat of a shock to find out almost all of them were.
June 30, 201015 yr comment_5452590 I know I was surprised when I found out all the mags were written by a handful of people. I figured the obvious heel columns were gimmicks, but it was somewhat of a shock to find out almost all of them were. I thought there were only 2 regular columnists who were made up: Matt Brock and Liz Hunter. 2.5 if you count Dan Shocket, who was a real person but who may or may not have just had his name used by Bill Apter. Then you had the guys who were perpetually name-dropped like "WWF expert" Thomas Pillard and wrestling psychologist Sidney M. Basil. Heel columnist Eddie Ellner is definitely real. I'm pretty sure his replacement Brandi Mankiewicz is as well (even though she was supposedly Matt Brock's niece). Other people who were definitely real: Bill Apter, Dave Rosenbaum, Chris Bernucca, Stu Saks, Craig Peters, and Bob Smith. They seemed to have a full staff for one magazine, but they were putting out 6 or 7 a month even into the mid-'90s.
June 30, 201015 yr comment_5452603 I believe London Publishing also dealt with Ring, KO magazines and a few other boxing publications as well. The front office staff worked both ends.
July 31, 201114 yr comment_5478379 I guess selling password protected copies of his rant archives wasn't a financial success then.
August 1, 201114 yr Author comment_5478398 How much do I have to chip in to get a copy of Professional Wrestling Intellecutual?
August 8, 201114 yr comment_5479031 So Bruno has the greatest World Title reign of all time according to Keith. But then a commenter one up's him by saying that Misawa was booked as an equal to Kobashi/Kawada/Taue in AJPW.
August 8, 201114 yr comment_5479035 So Bruno has the greatest World Title reign of all time according to Keith. But then a commenter one up's him by saying that Misawa was booked as an equal to Kobashi/Kawada/Taue in AJPW. Link? John
August 8, 201114 yr comment_5479036 So Bruno has the greatest World Title reign of all time according to Keith. But then a commenter one up's him by saying that Misawa was booked as an equal to Kobashi/Kawada/Taue in AJPW. I'm not defending Keith but he is a WWE fan that dabbled in some WCW on the side. The Bruno stance would make sense for his worldview. Plus, a lot of people think that however incorrect it might be.
August 8, 201114 yr comment_5479039 http://www.rspwfaq.com/2011/08/07/greatest-reign-ever/ He wasn't watching WWF until at least 1984 if I remember correctly. So this is just going off of what he has heard.
August 8, 201114 yr comment_5479040 So Bruno has the greatest World Title reign of all time according to Keith. But then a commenter one up's him by saying that Misawa was booked as an equal to Kobashi/Kawada/Taue in AJPW. I'm not defending Keith but he is a WWE fan that dabbled in some WCW on the side. The Bruno stance would make sense for his worldview. Plus, a lot of people think that however incorrect it might be. I don't think that it's the wildest idea in the world, no? It depends on criteria.
August 8, 201114 yr comment_5479041 Nintendo Logic weighs in attempting to set them straight, but forgets that both Kawada and Kobashi beat Misawa long before '98 and '03 respectively. Kawada's first win over Misawa was in '95 and Kobashi's in '97
August 8, 201114 yr comment_5479042 Nintendo Logic weighs in attempting to set them straight, but forgets that both Kawada and Kobashi beat Misawa long before '98 and '03 respectively. Kawada's first win over Misawa was in '95 and Kobashi's in '97 Kawada pinned Misawa in big tags in 1995 and 1996. It's not the same as a singles win. He beat Misawa in a singles match in 1997... after sitting on his ass while Kobashi took Misawa to the wall in a 30:00 draw right before that. Not the same as a *real* singles win. Kawada did beat him at the Dome. He did take the belt from him again in 1/99, but from a *booking* standpoint that wasn't being booked "equal" to Misawa. The TC was jobbed to Kawada so that he could put over Vader so that Misawa could challenge for the TC at the Dome. In other words, Kawada was a bridge to get the TC onto Vader so that the bigger guy (Misawa) would have the shot at the Dome. Then later in the year Misawa cleaned Kawada's clock again... and took the win heading out of AJPW as well. Kawada was *never* booked as an equal to Misawa. He was always chasing. Even when given the optics of being on the same level, it was quickly corrected. Kobashi was never booked "equal" to Misawa until 2000, and even then it wasn't fully delivered: Misawa probably had another six months to a year to make it clear that Kobashi was the new Ace, and that Jun was Kenta's new rival for the top spot. He didn't get there until 2003 because of (i) that split form AJPW, and (ii) Kobashi getting hurt. If people want "equal booking", look to New Japan. All Japan under Baba wasn't that: he flat out wouldn't allow it as he wanted a clear Ace. Under Misawa, there simply wasn't the time: 1999 was largely booked to be consistent with Babaism, and 2000 saw his plans interupted by the split and needing to reset in a new promotion. John
August 8, 201114 yr comment_5479043 And Mike... don't read the above as a head drop. I know you're not saying that Misawa wasn't the clear Ace above Kawada and Kobashi. My note was more aimed at the original commentator who said "equal". John
August 8, 201114 yr comment_5479046 So Bruno has the greatest World Title reign of all time according to Keith. But then a commenter one up's him by saying that Misawa was booked as an equal to Kobashi/Kawada/Taue in AJPW. I'm not defending Keith but he is a WWE fan that dabbled in some WCW on the side. The Bruno stance would make sense for his worldview. Plus, a lot of people think that however incorrect it might be. I don't think that it's the wildest idea in the world, no? It depends on criteria. Yeah, I think you can make that argument based on his attendance figures, although Hogan's from 84-88 had maybe more significance due to the national expansion.
August 8, 201114 yr comment_5479048 So Bruno has the greatest World Title reign of all time according to Keith. But then a commenter one up's him by saying that Misawa was booked as an equal to Kobashi/Kawada/Taue in AJPW. I'm not defending Keith but he is a WWE fan that dabbled in some WCW on the side. The Bruno stance would make sense for his worldview. Plus, a lot of people think that however incorrect it might be. I don't think that it's the wildest idea in the world, no? It depends on criteria. I wasn't necessarily agreeing or disagreeing. Just that it makes sense for someone that is WWE centric to hold that opinion on Bruno. I tend to not think his was the greatest reign ever but I don't think it's a totally ridiculous view. Wasn't Backlund an overall bigger draw at MSG than Bruno?
August 8, 201114 yr comment_5479055 Nintendo Logic weighs in attempting to set them straight, but forgets that both Kawada and Kobashi beat Misawa long before '98 and '03 respectively. Kawada's first win over Misawa was in '95 and Kobashi's in '97 Here's what I wrote (emphasis added): Misawa was indisputably positioned as the ace of 90s All Japan. Kawada didn’t defeat Misawa in a singles match until 1998. Kobashi didn’t until 2003. It appears that the Kawada part isn't quite accurate, so my bad on that (but it is true that Kawada didn't pick up a TC win over Misawa until 1998). In any event, my larger point (Kawada and Kobashi, let alone Taue, were in no way positioned as anything close to Misawa's equals) still stands.
August 8, 201114 yr comment_5479056 Depends on how one defines great, but Hogan 1 is a pretty tough one to beat on impact. We talked about expansion a lot, to the point that we spun it off into a thread where Kris dropped a ton of results and there was some going over the amount of "population growth" they added to the old WWF territory by going national. John
August 8, 201114 yr comment_5479058 It appears that the Kawada part isn't quite accurate. Neither is the Kobashi part. Kobashi beat Misawa in singles matches in the 1997 and 2000 Champion Carnival Tournaments. You're right about Kawada not being on par with Misawa, but Kobashi was positioned that way in All Japan toward the end of Misawa's run there and in NOAH, before he went down with his knee problems.
August 8, 201114 yr comment_5479064 It appears that the Kawada part isn't quite accurate. Neither is the Kobashi part. Kobashi beat Misawa in singles matches in the 1997 and 2000 Champion Carnival Tournaments. You're right about Kawada not being on par with Misawa, but Kobashi was positioned that way in All Japan toward the end of Misawa's run there and in NOAH, before he went down with his knee problems. I had gotten 98 and 03 from a couple of different sources. I'm pretty disappointed to discover that there's inaccurate information on the Internet. Yes, Kobashi was positioned at roughly Misawa's level in 2000 and in NOAH. But in the 90s, Misawa was the clear #1.
Create an account or sign in to comment