Wrestling Observer Flashback–08.21.89

It’s the coveted post-WM Observer Flashback, where I debut all sorts of wacky new characters and basically hit the reset button the day after the biggest show of the year! Look for run-ins from the Blog of Doom developmental crew at some point in this post!

– In the lead story, Dave attended a Superstars taping in Oakland and it was a pretty hot crowd. Hard-hitting journalism this week, I see. Notes from the taping:

1. Barry Windham is up to about 290 pounds on the “special Titan diet” and getting worse by the day in the ring.

2. Dusty Rhodes has now changed to gear that is covered with polka dots, which Dave finds perplexing because he read in a women’s magazine that dots are to be avoided if one is the slightest bit overweight. In fact, Dusty now bears a striking resemblance to Dump Matsumoto. Hey, didn’t I make that joke in a Coliseum video rant a while back?

3. Dave laments the gimmick where Warrior carries his fallen jobber to the back, noting that it’s bad enough that Warrior looks like he’s about to have a heart attack every time he wrestles without adding to his workload. Guess we know what to blame for his death, then.

4. The former Rocky Mountain Thunder, Ed Vargas, worked as a jobber for Jim Duggan, showing how far and fast his wrestling career fell.

5. At this point, they delayed the taping for several minutes while Tony Garea and his crew of stooges tracked down some fans who had the gall to sneak in a “NWA #1!” banner, and they wouldn’t restart the show until they found the vile perpetrators, kicked them out of the building, and then destroyed the banner. But the WWF is all about freedom of expression!

– Up in Stampede, Owen Hart continues to draw strong houses before he leaves for Japan again.

– Sumu Hara will be teaming up with another youngster named Kensuke Sasaki as a team for the promotion, and they look good. Kerry Brown, currently half of the tag champions with father Bulldog Bob Brown, is a frequent no-show and they’ll probably end up putting the titles on the new team.

– The “World Class” section officially changes to “USWA” this week, although the syndicated TV show still lists it as World Class.

– The TV show actually introduced Chris Adams’ wife Toni in a brief speaking role, which would in fact indirectly alter the entire course of wrestling history in a big way.

– Bam Bigelow is still not giving up this Mike Tyson dream, as his friends are all insisting that he has a signed contract, but no one in the boxing world has heard anything about it.

– Dave recaps the Japanese election, and apparently it was a squeaker for Inoki. He actually beat out an incumbent who was the minister of science & technology, but Dave notes that those qualifications are not as important as being the only man to beat Andre the Giant, Hulk Hogan, Lou Thesz AND Karl Gotch.

– In Vegas, a major video convention saw Coliseum Video and Turner Home Entertainment put booths right next to each other, and yet no brawl erupted between the PR guys. Disappointing.

– Dave gives results of an indy show in Halifax run by promoter Emile Dupree, who I’m assuming would be the father of future WWE washout Renee Dupree.

– Possibly returning to the NWA: Dick Slater (true), Brad Armstrong (true), Tom Zenk (true) and maybe Nikita Koloff (not yet) and Oliver Humperdink (not for a while).

– In a very important move that not many knew about, former World Class director Keith Mitchell was hired by the NWA to run their production, and that resulted in an immediate upgrade in visual quality.

– As noted, the WWF has officially announced the No Holds Barred PPV “event” for 12/27, featuring the Hogan v. Zeus match which will be taped far in advance in case Zeus blows it.

– The letters section features a lengthy discussion from Dave on wacky stuff with pushes and contracts, and here’s some highlights, most of which I’ve heard before but people will probably love this:

1. When Steamboat came into the NWA in January, he was told that he would win the title from Flair and drop it to Barry Windham in May. When George Scott got fired, the plan changed to Flair getting it back.

2. Butch Reed was given the blonde hair by Vince because he thought a black man with blonde hair would be the hottest heel act in the business.

3. Vince legitimately thought that Honky Tonk Man would be a big hit among the fans who listened to 50s and 60s oldies stations, and that he’d be a wildly popular babyface.

4. Vince was intending to push Curt Hennig as hard and fast as Ted Dibiase, but the Mr. Perfect gimmick didn’t work as well as the Million Dollar Man and he had to scale back the plans significantly.

5. While Turner has guaranteed yearly contracts ranging from $75,000 to $500,000, the WWF only “guarantees” $50 a night to work TV tapings and the rest is at the whim of Vince McMahon based on what he thinks is “fair”. He actually blundered with John Studd, paying him too much too fast, so that Studd had no incentive to stay when Vince decided to screw him over on pay later. But Dave has seen actual contracts of big-name guys in the WWF, and there’s absolutely no guarantees of money.

– And finally, your bon mot of the week comes from JJ Dillon, as a fan at the taping yelled at him “Who are you going to steal from the NWA next?” and he yelled back “Who’s left to get?” BURN.