Wrestling Observer Flashback–01.08.91

Previously in the Flashback… tow truck Elkhart, IN

Whoops, wrong link. What I meant was… http://blogofdoom.com/index.php/2016/11/19/wrestling-observer-flashback-12-24-90/

Welcome to 1991, as Dave returns after a two week holiday break! And also welcome to the strangeness of recapping these off the Observer site, with only one big column of text and a normal font size. What a world!

– Dusty Rhodes wrapped up his contract with the WWF on 12/30, although he still has one night of humiliation left at the Royal Rumble before he leaves. The feeling is that he might even be able to start booking WCW before then, if Vince is feeling charitable. Dave thinks that, yes, it’s a longshot that Dusty can come in and draw money as the booker, but really he’s the only one available who has experience on a national level, aside from Bill Watts. And Bill’s not coming in as long as he’s answering to Jim Herd, so Big Dust might be the only shot they’ve got. And hey, TBS has already shown how impatient they are with a booker who doesn’t get results, so at worst they’ll just fire him if he can’t turn it around. (And of course it wasn’t just Dusty who ended up on the chopping block after a year!)

– The sale of Jerry Jarrett’s USWA to Joe Pedicino and his mysterious Nigerian backers appears to be down the toilet. The deal was supposed to close on 12/27, but that didn’t happen. In fact, Joe was unable to produce any of the money he claimed that he had, and then there were OTHER problems on top of that. Jarrett wanted to retain control of the ESPN timeslot that he was inheriting from the AWA, but Joe wanted everything in the deal. Also, Joe balked because Jarrett’s contract didn’t have any kind of no-compete option in it, so theoretically Jarrett would give up ownership of the USWA, and could go back to Memphis tomorrow and start the “USWF” or whatever and then immediately buy back his timeslot on ESPN right from under Pedicino under terms of the deal.

– That being said, the 12/28 “GWF” taping did take place in Dallas, but it was Jarrett’s crew and it was run as a USWA show to tape for the ESPN timeslot.

– If the deal to buy the USWA falls through, Joe is still said to be committed to starting a new promotion and getting TV time in some form. However, no one knows what’s going on right now.

– Jerry Jarrett had been planning to run regular USWA shows in Dallas again, but immediately changed his mind when he scheduled a TV taping on 12/29 and only 148 people showed up. So as of now they’re just using footage from the long taping on 12/28 to fill TV shows. (So yeah, those shows are actually available on the WWE Network as the “Best of the USWA” 90 minute specials under the GWF section) Overall Dave wonders what the hell is the point in warring over Dallas anyway, when they’re drawing 1400 people at best to the Sportatorium? Where’s the money?

– The 1/30 Clash of the Champions show will take place from the Atrium, which is the lower level of the CNN Center Mall. It should be a unique atmosphere to say the least. (What’s with WCW and running big shows in malls? Also, that ended up not happening and the show was moved to Gainesville, GA.)

– Andre will not be working the Rumble, which we knew, but Dave nearly had a heart attack when they actually announced on TV that it was due to a leg injury and that he wouldn’t be there! This is an unprecedented streak of honesty for Titan Sports, who would normally just ignore it and continue advertising him anyway. However, take heart, because Honky Tonk Man quit the promotion and walked out on 12/28, and they’re still advertising him for the next MSG show. And yes, it was a money dispute.

– Lou Thesz did indeed come out of retirement and put over Masa Chono’s STF finisher in a short match on the last New Japan show, and looked good doing so. For his age. (I remember PWI Weekly going NUTS over this story.) Tony Halme continued his mega-push on the show, beating Hashimoto by third round KO in a boxer v. wrestler match.

– The combined WWF/SWS shows in December thus far have not been a rousing success, to say the least. The shows average about 3000 people or less, and the shows were heavily papered at that.

– Dave continues his investigation of Black Magic in Memphis, as apparently he used to work there without a mask as The Big O. (So from here I found out that, according to the experts on kayfabememories.com, Big O was the younger brother of TD Steele and he used to team with Jeff Gaylord. So there we go, mystery mostly solved. Basically he was nobody.)

– NBC has decided to give the WWF a prime time Main Event special on 2/1 after all, apparently because they got wind of the FOX deal and decided to assert their dominance. (Holy shitballs what a horrible trainwreck THAT show ended up being. Just a complete embarrassment on every level.)

– Percy Pringle starts with the WWF on 1/6, reportedly thanks to Rick Rude. Current rumor is that Rude will return soon as a babyface and be managed by Pringle.

– More on Charles Austin, as he suffered a broken back that required six hours of surgery to relieve pressure on the spinal cord.

– The UWF is taping again in New York in January, with a main event tag match of (get this): Nikolai Volkoff & Nikita Koloff v. Boris Zhukov & Ivan Koloff. Should be a classic, Dave notes.

– The GWF’s first taping has now been moved to 1/22 in Louisville. (Yeah, keep hoping, Joe.)

– The Savoldis are now claiming to be partners with Kevin Von Erich, and their promotions will merge from ICW and WCCW into IWCCW. (And yes, this is really a thing that happened.)

– To WCW, where the Steiners have a contract due in about two months and still haven’t signed new deals. The main holdup is that they don’t want to include the usual clause where an injured wrestler collects their giant salary for months while sitting on the sidelines, which is exactly what happened with Sting and Sid last year. (And then guess what happens to Scott Steiner just a couple of months into the year!)

– Interestingly, the Saturday show (taped before Starrcade) had a mention of how Doom were the former tag champions and were chasing the belts. In fact they had TONS of mentions originally when the plan was for the Horsemen to get them, but then they went back and scrubbed them all from the shows after the last-minute booking change at Starrcade. But they managed to miss one!

– Art Barr is done with WCW, and Dave thinks he’ll have a rough time getting work anywhere because he can’t go back to Portland and none of the national companies will want to touch him. (Maybe he should make a run for the border?)

– Sadly, El Gigante did return after Christmas and is back to stinking up the house shows again.

– Current plan is to not show the Japan Supershow as a PPV or TV special, and just to do clips. Dave thinks this is MADNESS.

– Owen Hart is DEFINITELY not coming in now. We’ll see if it changes again next week.

– The Michael Wallstreet character is getting a shocking amount of mainstream press attention, specifically from Forbes magazine, for obvious reasons. (At that point we all should have guessed what would happen next to the guy working WITHOUT A FUCKING CONTRACT who was getting mainstream attention!)

– This guy gets it.

– And finally, Because WCW: Zenk was hyped as having a 45 match win streak on the commentary for his title loss to Arn Anderson on TV this week. Of course, at Starrcade the number was 35…and he was pinned in the opener. (Hey, maybe he won another 45 matches in the weeks between that show and this one!)