WWE News. 96. – Zulu was fired from World Class for refusing to do a job to Mike Von Erich. No one tell Donald Trump. 23. history-of-wcw. 06. 16. 96. (My joke, not Dave’s) In freezing temperatures, Crockett had his showdown with Vince, featuring the debut of the NWA in Hamilton taking on Roddy Piper’s Canadian farewell in Toronto. And now it’s time for the issue that kicks off one of the biggest stories in the history of wrestling, although we didn’t. . Wrestling Observer Flashback–02. – Moving on, Joe Pedicino has purchased Jerry Jarrett’s syndicated TV network with the millions of dollars he’s got coming from Nigeria. as the big blue cage that quickly became synonymous with Titan was actually purchased and flown in from Stampede Wrestling, because the normal chain link cage was too hard for Hogan to climb. Also, the Rock & Wrestling Connection was all his idea and he had to convince Vince to play “Eye of the Tiger” as his entrance theme in 1984. The theory at the beginning was that the “universe” would increase exponentially as more homes got PPV, but now it’s apparent that there’s a set number of wrestling fans out there who will buy these things and adding more homes doesn’t mean automatically adding the same percentage of buys. 01. tesseract 5. (1) Ultimate Warrior & Legion of Doom & Texas Tornado (Kerry Von Erich) beat Team Demolition & Mr. 11. But it probably bombed because it was clearly a throwaway show. – In the top story, Titan Sports filed a lawsuit against World Championship Wrestling on 6/20, stemming from the invasion angle with Hall and Nash. I was actually going to redo the Halloween Havoc 90 rant based on the full PPV version that I’ve never seen…but the Network only has the Turner Home Video version. And here we had gone for almost two months without a death. 29. I just don’t think things are gonna work out for that promotion. The feeling is that running a show in the traditional Sunday timeslot where live shows draw will kill off the house shows. 96. 87. Back to the trenches after taking Friday off! And the big story this week is an abject lesson in John Lennon’s famous saying, “Life is what happens to you when you’re busy making other plans”. The government side says it’s for “tactical reasons”, while the WWF. Survivor Series!World Wrestling Federation presented a live pay-per-view event special live from Hartford, Conn. *. 2. Michaels worked his ass off, although it came out later that he was hungover and stoned at the time. We’ve gotta skip all of November due to more gaps, but at least I can now promise that everything from now on is 100% complete! And we didn’t miss Starrcade. At 4:00, Warrior splashed Demolition Axe. This got the most heat of the night from all the sumo fans, because they’re not hardcore wrestling fans and just knew Kitao as the “bad boy”, and thus booed the shit out of him and cheered everything Earthquake did. 23, because for every viewer gained on Nitro, there was a viewer lost on Saturdays and it kind of averaged out. Topics. – So, Dave says goodbye and announces that this is the final issue of the Observer. Earthquake John Tenta was scheduled to work a tour for EMLL in Mexico, but left after one show, claiming he was stiffed on his payoff. Pillman tried a crucifix and Wright reversed it for the pin. 96 (Part Two) – In the top story, “Sycle” Sid won the WWF title in the main event of the Survivor Series. So after Masa Chono won the NWA title tournament, Thesz did a press conference for UWFI where he agreed to award his old NWA World title belt to the winner of the UWFI World title match between Takada and Gary. The team (Gene and Ole Anderson) dominated tag team. Wrestling Observer Flashback–08. But don’t be fooled by the Slow News, as two major promotions actually reach their finales this week, although we didn’t realize it at the time. – The biggest question coming out of Wrestlemania XII is the future of Bret Hart, as he’s expected to finish the tour of Germany and then go on a hiatus until the end of the summer. It’s kind of hard to say what to expect around here as the show has been bouncing back and forth between focusing on the Intercontinental Title feud and then the World Title situation. But if you’re reading it in the archives in December, then MERRY CHRISTMAS! – Continuing on with the saga of Dynamite Kid’s messed up back, he was flown into Calgary for surgery after being paralyzed from the waist down. 96 Stop me if you’ve heard this one before… – After 15 years of being the world’s biggest babyface, Hulk Hogan turned heel in the main event of WCW’s Bash at the Beach PPV in an angle that Dave thinks will be “remembered for years”. 16. Everything is confusing and it’s all centering on the AWA. Dave also lists the match with the Rock N Roll Express v. 87. Apparently Bret Hart’s negotiations with WCW were so potentially fruitful that someone else is wanting to give it a try. ”) 3. 22. 08. – Reportedly, World champion Mike Tyson has signed with the WWF to referee a match. 5 to 2. – While the World title may not change hands, the US title certainly will, since post-Clash TV direction has Steamboat winning the title and suffering a shoulder injury in the process. Mike stuff and get into the main event: STARRCADE ‘84. The first wrestling move of the match came at 10:00, which was Hogan no-selling the powerbomb and making his comeback. – Jim Cornette Update: He turned down the WCW managing job because he’s opening up a new promotion with Sandy Scott and Tim Horner called “Smokey Mountain Wrestling”, starting on 10/30 in Greenville. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 08. By Scott Keith on 1st January 2021. 96. NEXT WEEK: The Monday Night War begins. Piper on top. I’ve noticed a sudden uptick in 1985-related questions on the Wrestling Observer radio show lately. – The top story of the week, and for a long time in general, was Ron Garvin winning the NWA World title from Ric Flair on 9/25 in their debut in Joe Louis Arena. Rants. 21. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 06. Oh, and WCW tried to make a mini-movie and it didn’t go very well. By Scott Keith on 9th November 2017. Also, ROYAL RUMBLE. And since “long term thinking” these days is “three. The Best of the Wrestling Observer-Greatest matches of the Observer years-15 most influential wrestlers of the past five. 30th August 2017 by Scott Keith. This should be good. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 11. Kayfabe Commentaries Releases Newest Installment of Their “Supercard” Series. At the latest WWF tapings, a guy named Mantaur debuted. 1. Severn. He was at the other guys’ PPVs this year taking notes, as well as New Japan and All Japan’s major shows. 96 Can I make it more than two weeks in a row? TUNE INTO NITRO TO FIND OUT! – In our top story this week, UFC presented the Ultimate Ultimate 2! Dave is really into this shit all of a sudden. Was shit real before? Well, it’s about to become real. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 08. Although this one is dated after the Bash ‘90 PPV, the issue is written before. Bruiser Brody (“Nobody gives an aura of violent realism. – And now, let’s talk about pay-per-view. On with the week that was and one of the most famous stories in wrestling history!– Oh, also, the weekend shows set new lows for cable wrestling ratings, and that includes the WWF shows. Well, that probably won’t happen again for a while. Tickets are 45,000 yen, which translates to $429, aka the most expensive wrestling tickets in history. 02. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 12. I know, I know, I’ll give you a minute to let it sink in. 07. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 09. *3/4. 14. 94. 95. – Two major World title changes since the last issue as well, with Vader winning the WCW World title back from Ron Simmons on 12/30 in Baltimore, and Great Muta beating Masa Chono to win the. ark:/13960/t2z39wg7w. The one in 1995, although you might also assume I was talking about the NXT one recently because that one wasn’t great either. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 08. 27. 27th May 2016 by Scott Keith. wrestlingmagazinesmisc;. So with the year in PPV finally caught up, let us venture back to the world of 1994 again, with rumors of Hulk Hogan. 95. 25. He literally stole Verne’s TV slot out from under him (the AWA wasn’t even told by the station until the day the show was supposed to air!) and Verne’s big show at the Cow Palace in March as a complete debacle due to scheduling. 29. 04. 05. 03. – The new Stampede Wrestling has already taken all but one of the WWF’s TV clearances in Western Canada, so this doesn’t seem to be a winning venture for Vince. 28. 95. For It’s Time. 1. 96. Louis Wrestling Club from running. 11. – In the top story, Sports Illustrated had a story on the WWF in March, and no one in mainstream media really gave a shit. 95. 96 September 9, 2023; Morning Daily News Update September 9, 2023; Mike Reviews WWE Capitol Punishment 2011 September 9, 2023; Question September 9, 2023; Jey Uso trade to Raw September 9, 2023; Weekend Wrestling! September 9, 2023Wrestling Observer Flashback–12. Buyrate looks to be between 0. – Anyway, moving on…. 4. By Scott Keith on 12th June 2016. 96. Wrestling Observer Flashback–12. Wrestling Observer Flashback–08. 1986 Wrestling Observer Yearbook. ) – The rumor mill continues to churn around the idea that Dusty Rhodes and his $300,000 / year salary will be cut at the end of the year. 96 Remember how in last week’s issue, Kevin Nash had until the weekend to make up his mind about leaving…? – In the top story, Kevin Nash officially gave notice to the WWF that he’d be accepting an offer from WCW, via phone call to Vince McMahon on 3/5. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 02. At one point, UWFI was one of the biggest success stories in wrestling, and in 1993, they drew 46,000 fans to a. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 06. 01. Wrestling Observer Flashback–02. 96. Day off from work today, so I’ve got some time to craft another Flashback! Your Spotify soundtrack for this one is Queensryche’s “Operation Mindcrime”, an album that it took me many years to get into, which is weird because I was a big fan of “Empire”. They of course had an immediate roster of excuses, mainly that it was scheduled on a night with really tough competition on TV. – Also, NBC is really sniffing around wrestling now like a dog in heat and they seem to desperately want to be in business with the WWF. 2022-03-05 07:34:36. But goddamn is “Eyes of a Stranger. Heyman is making. 87. com archives, and any other sources I’ve checked, so we’re skipping ahead a week. This is the incredible story about the people who brought Lucha Libre into America in the 1990s and the many challenges they faced! Hijo del Santo and Blue. Perfect won a battle royale in 12:55. Just for fun, here’s Dave’s Summer 1984 Rankings. It's great historical reading of the rise and fall of wrestling's biggest boom period. Lex Luger jumped out of the final mystery box to attack Sting, injuring the wrong leg (Instinct on Luger’s part due to all his lucha libre experience, Dave notes) but it was a pretty great angle. – Dave is kind of shocked at the response to Wrestlemania, in that it was not only one of the biggest responses to a show that he’s ever had, but also there was pretty much no consensus on the quality of the show, with a fairly even split between thumbs up /. This week is one of them. The WWF drew 16000 and Crockett drew 3000, so point to Vince on that one. Lots of people have claimed to have discovered him, for example. 95. ”This is horrible, Gorilla. 91. By Scott Keith on 18th April 2022. I must now face the eternal dilemma of sports fan who has lost their team in the playoffs: Do you cheer for the bastards that eliminated them because they earned it. 02. Wrestling Observer Flashback–02. -Pro Wrestling 1983-1987. )3. 28. Collection. 94. They’re exclusively running small towns on the far Northern island of Japan, and mostly using lucha libre guys, which the mainstream papers didn’t really get. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 08. Bobby Eaton pinned Chip the Firebreaker in 4:52 with a back suplex. Did you think that Best of ECW Volumes 1 and 2 was as EXTREME as the blog was getting this week? Then prepare yourself, because it’s time for WCW UNCENSORED!– The weirdest story of the week comes from Japan (shocking, I know) where Lou Thesz is making waves in the business again. 95. 3-28-1988. 94. Chip screwed up early, but it was decent by the end. – The big story this week is Dave’s preview of the Ultimate Ultimate 96!. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 07. 0 (Extended OCR) Ppi. Observer Flashbacks; Wrestling Observer Flashback–04. 95. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 10. Lesson the Fourth: Antonio Pena is the new innovator in wrestling and everyone should listen to him. – Latest figures are in, and WCW is looking like a 0. Current talk is a rematch with Shawn Michaels at Summerslam in a ladder. Davey Boy Smith (“Athletically the best in the business. 90. – As the date of his trail approached and the firestorm of publicity continued unabated, Barr managed to plea bargain down to first degree sexual abuse with 180 hours of community service and 2. 1984 Dave would chime in with “but luckily WWF isn’t wrestling” or something equally snarky, but mellower 1986. I know, I know, what a bombshell. Rants. Unfortunately, he was the furthest thing from an. Well, one week left until the WWF really goes off a cliff. 26. – In a story that seems small but kind of ended up heralding the end of an era in wrestling, the way. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 12. 3. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 08. 95. 95 Guys, I don’t think this UFC thing is gonna be around much longer if lawmakers have their way! – The debate over whether UFC and the other events like it should be banned has been raging in the press and the city of Denver has become a hotspot for the controversy. – Next up TV ratings, which went from an average of 2. 86. Wrestling Observer Flashback –04. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 12. Papa Shango ran in for the DQ, and Ultimate Warrior made the save, complete with entrance music. In fact, Dave thinks that people’s hatred of the dancing gimmick is overshadowing how much he’s improved as a worker. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 03. The grand plan for five days a week has been dropped and ESPN will air reruns of Pro Wrestling This Week instead. 30. 22. Wrestling Observer Flashback–06. 96. com & WrestlingObserver. Wrestlemania III was the best wrestling. 567. Sid actually drew pretty big on the East coast, doing 11,000 at the Nassau Coliseum and 8000 in Philly. – The WWF continues to insist that Summerslam sold 80,000 tickets in the first day, and also announced several new matches for the show: Tatanka v. You can view a sneak preview below. For. 1985 Wrestling Observer Yearbook. Jack Petrik would have to wage war against the WWF and spent lots of money to win, and it. There are moments when you can pinpoint exactly when a major promotion started to go completely off the rails. By Scott Keith on 24th February 2019. – Flair defended the World title on a pair of Mid-South shows in Oklahoma, but there’s no plans or indications of Watts joining the NWA. 31. The Twin Towers beat the Rockers at 8:02 when Akeem splashed and pinned Michaels. – Inoki’s business-killing freakshow ended up drawing 11,000 people for somewhere between $800,000 – $1. Owen won with a Rocket Launcher on Tanaka. Max Moon was eliminated quickly because his spaceship was double-parked. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 07. – All Japan on 9/17 saw the debut of former Olympic wrestler Jun Akiyama, who was pinned by Kenta Kobashi in the semi-main of the show. – Fall Brawl was great undercard wrestling, bad main event, and booking filled with more holes than Swiss Cheese. Wrestling Observer Flashback–09. Wrestling Observer Rewind ★ Dec. 95. ABBYY FineReader 11. 90. Newsletter, Magazine, Wrestling, WWF, WCW, All Japan, New Japan. By Scott Keith on 24th July 2019. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 01. While it seemingly wasn’t a major milestone in his life at that. 94 (Part 2) – In the only non-tournament match on the show, Cactus Jack & Mikey Whipwreck won the tag titles from the Public Enemy after Terry Funk missed his flight and couldn’t make the show. Bobby Eaton pinned Terrence Taylor in 15:41 with the Alabama Jam. By Scott Keith on 15th March 2021. Well it’s been two months. It's a recap of the old issues of Dave Meltzer's Wrestling Observer Newsletter. 27. Dave thinks that the competition will be mostly for the better, with faster-moving storylines and better wrestling on TV. 95. – It’s sounding like Scott Steiner will work Halloween Havoc, but won’t be doing much. 96. By Scott Keith on 3rd October 2019. – The WWF is on hiatus for a bit after WM, so Dave apologizes in advance for the light news week. According to Dave’s minions, there was confusion about. 96 IT’S TIME. – The first Saturday Night show is going to be taped on 10/3, and Dave expects to heavily feature the freakshow wedding of Uncle Elmer, which will likely be even worse than the Paul Vachon wedding. So I guess it’s a Wrestling Observer Flashback Flashback. 94. Wrestling Observer Flashback–04. – Interestingly, the WWF was shown to be popular with 18-25 year olds, with men twice as well represented as women. – So things are getting mighty crowded on TBS, in what would turn out to be a giant turning point for the wrestling industry. Credit Dave Meltzer, Wrestling Observer Newsletter. OK, 2005 posts are FINALLY complete, and I got to see Star Wars, so let’s get back to Observing. By Scott Keith on 1st October 2017. Dave is flabbergasted by how bad a show it was, wondering if this was a dream or a nightmare that he hasn’t woken up from. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 05. Production quality was high, the wrestling quality not so much. 5 to a 2. – On the bright side, Warrior v. 30, 1996 (Final Post for 1996) Going through old issues of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter and posting highlights in my own words. I guess I’ll just be typing one-handed. The previous record was 69,000 for the Big Event. By Scott Keith on 7th March 2017. *1/4. 18. as they did a matinee taping of the new Sunday edition of World Championship Wrestling in Atlanta, then did a show in Columbus GA, then finally. Owen Hart was the second-best star of the show after Flair. 18. NWA Canadian Heavyweight Championship. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 07. 2 million, making it the largest gate in pro wrestling history. – So UFC III was supposed to be another easy ride for Royce Gracie, but in fact the KING IS DEAD. – Both the WWF and Crockett are running Philly on 10/18, but there’s a law on the books that says no two wrestling promotions can run shows within 25 miles of each other, and the respective arenas are less than 25 miles away. Wrestling Observer Flashback–06. Identifier-ark. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 08. 93. 5 million as a startup amount and NOW got $480,000, and once they’ve blown through that, he’s done. 11. 94. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 09. This issue only has the first 4 pages, so it’ll be a truncated recap, but all the good stuff is in those pages anyway. – The Ole Anderson & Gordon Solie version of World Championship Wrestling returned to TBS on 8/13, so in fact we missed the entire Black Saturday era! – The Road Warriors won the AWA tag team titles from the Crusher & the Baron as Dave breathes a sigh of relief, and apparently this was booked very last minute because Vince. ) An industry shaking death in this issue, but. 95. 04. But I think it’s a pretty famous case of hotline sleaze related to Blackwell’s death. He was the person credited with popularizing the superplex, although he didn’t invent it. – Dave sums up the last PPV of 1996 as “solid but unspectacular”. (This is why. 96. – The top story is the apparent end of Pacific Northwest Wrestling, as the TV show was abruptly cancelled by the TV station after 38 years on the air. 10-21-1991. 95. The Vancouver version of the NWA Pacific Coast Heavyweight Championship was the major singles title in two National Wrestling Alliance-affiliated Vancouver territories. 94. 96. ” (Now there’s an understatement!) – Based on current trends and advertising, SuperBrawl is looking to do. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 02. Dave, however, cites the court case of Boy v. 4. 94. 90. Well this should do better than NWA Powerrr at least. Tenta was pretty over during his one appearance, so EMLL is trying to get him back. She is currently signed to WWE, where she performs on the. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 09. By Scott Keith on 10th July 2016. By Scott Keith on 22nd September 2023 Wrestling Observer Flashback – 12. 28. – Once again, it’s time for the most awesome feature in Observer Flashback history: – Our favorite whipping boy promotion, the UWF, debuted in New York with a TV taping, and surprisingly both Honky Tonk. Pillman was a little rusty but still got an excellent match out of Wright. 92. – The WWF announced that the Wrestling Classic did about 60,000 buys on PPV, which was 200,000 less than their announced projections. 14. GROUP #2: Nobuhiko Takada is forming the UWFi (Union of Pro Wrestling Force International) and they’ll also be running Korakuen Hall, in May, and. This was the one and only match in the whole tournament that actually showed why the division could. 13. 05. – Brad Armstrong will be coming back again, this time as the Candy Man, who throws candy to the kids as his gimmick. – Eddie Gilbert was found dead in his apartment in Puerto Rico on 2/18, at age 33. 18. 96. By on 9th March 2017. Wrestling Observer Flashback–10. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 12. It was basically just a backdrop for the Virgil babyface turn. 19 as I try to get as much done as possible in advance. By Scott Keith on 19th April 2016. The. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 11. Wrestling Observer Historical Pieces. Oh, Dave. – Hachiro Tanaka, the money guy behind SWS and WAR and a bunch of other groups, is reportedly tired of losing money in the wrestling business and wants out, according to the Takano brothers. After Stan Lane lost to the Patriot on the Global show, Cornette launched into a tirade about how it was a conspiracy against Stan, just like the cops conspired against his good friend. Spoiler: Dave gives WarGames 3/4. THE WAR IS ON. He was indicted on 11/12 on counts. Wrestling breakup and Cornette getting his face shoved in a birthday cake. 15. The 1997 Observer Rewind shall resume this on Aug. – And now, a turning point for the Observer, although we didn’t know it at the time, as Dave announces that he’s taken a job with the National, writing a wrestling column for the paper. He apparently gave WAR $1. 96. Addeddate. 96. 0-1. (Clearly Wrestlemania had not become the thing it is today, because $429 barely gets you a nosebleed seat at this point. 20. – In the top story, the WWF held a press conference, which got more attention in Mexico, to announce that Royal Rumble 97 would be held in the Alamo Dome in San. . The ratings were just too low and the costs were just. 96. Let’s take a break from being nostalgic for 1998 and be nostalgic for 1994 again for a bit! – It’s been quiet in the wrestling world leading up to Halloween Havoc, Dave notes. Despite the strained relationship, Florida still bills itself as NWA wrestling. 07. Identifier. 7th. – In the top story, the Justice Department dropped one of the charges against Titan Sports. 96. By Scott Keith on 1st June 2019. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 08. This is ridiculous on a lot of levels, most of which is actually against Zulu because he’s even worse than Mike Von Erich and in. – Dave notes that speaking of network TV, ABC was filming an episode of 20/20 at the MSG show, and one of the reporters asked Dr. Big stuff in the news this week, and the start of the biggest shift in coverage in the history of the Observer. By Scott Keith on 5th February 2016. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 12. Dave runs down the TV shows over the past month and it’s all classic stuff, like the Magnum TA-Mr. It’s like Wrestlemania, but for NEWS. – Dave feels that the team of Sting & Rick Steiner are improving so rapidly that they’ll be one of the best in the world by the summer. 88. – Over to Japan, where Nobuhiko Takada had announced plans to retire, at which point UWFI whiplashed and put out their own press release, noting that what Takada had MEANT TO SAY was that he was THINKING of retiring at age 35, which was two years away. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 08. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 02. Nasty Boys retained the tag titles over the Bushwackers in 6:46. He does 100 but we’ll just do the top 10 because otherwise I’d have to break this up into 5 parts instead of 2. 11-4-1991. 95. 96 (Part Two) – In the top story, “Sycle” Sid won the WWF title in the main event of the Survivor Series.