Wrestling Observer Flashback–05.06.91

Previously on the Flashback… http://blogofdoom.com/index.php/2016/12/12/wrestling-observer-flashback-04-29-91/

T-minus two months until WCW implodes.  Let’s find out how we get there!

– In the big story of the week, or at least one that could be a big story in the future, WCW and the WWF are again squabbling over exclusivity with the various arenas around the country.  Dave goes into a fairly lengthy history of the underhanded tactics used by the WWF to secure their place in the buildings they run (ie, making sure that WCW is unable to legally run shows during a certain amount of time before or after the WWF does), most recently when they pulled out of the Meadowlands completely as an extortion tactic. But then the arena called their bluff and gave the dates to WCW instead, who have been drawing smaller crowds with each show. The big legal case that prompted the lead story is that WCW’s booking officer, James Oshust, wrote threatening legal letters to the company that manages the arena in St. Louis over the refusal to book WCW shows there. In essence the WWF only has to book six shows a year, and with WCW locked out for 30 days before or after, there would be no way for WCW to run a show at that arena. In order to avoid legal headaches, they’ve been given a June date to shut them up, but no further ones as of yet. Dave describes this fight as a high school basketball coach having to mediate a dispute between a benchwarmer and a minor player, with both guys threatening to quit the team if they don’t their way, neither of which are really worth the hassle for him. If it was sports, both guys would just be allowed to quit, but in business things are a bit trickier.

– Basically St. Louis is the test case, and if it goes well Jim Herd wants to start challenging them building-by-building in different states.  Jim Herd actually gave a statement to the Observer, saying “If Vince can’t live with the free enterprise system, that’s tough.”  (Man, I like Jim Herd more the longer I do these things.  Dude had some big brass balls.)  Dave thinks the “war” will be determined by a few key factors:

1)  Will WCW actually sue?  It takes a lot of time and money (Much like the George Harrison song said…) and WCW isn’t a company known for patience and long-term thinking.  Plus if WCW threatens and a building doesn’t back down, then everyone will realize it’s a bluff and it’ll all be for nothing. 

2)   Will Vince actually pull out to make his point?  Again, if they threaten and then have their bluff called, it makes them look very weak not to follow through.  They could afford to do it with the Meadowlands because they already own New York, but St. Louis is trickier.

3)  How will WCW perform if they get into the buildings?  Using legal threats is not the optimal way to build initial relations with a new building, Dave notes. Plus if they fight to get in and then do the usual WCW bullshit with constant no-shows and rapidly declining gates, they’ll get kicked out for good and it’ll all be for nothing.  Dave thinks there’s no real way for Titan to “lose” this war, because even on the extremely unlikely chance that WCW actually draws in these buildings, Vince has just as many lawyers who can make legal threats to get back into the building again, and then we’re right back where we started. 

– The WWF ran their first SNME in a long time, taped 4/15 in Omaha.  It wasn’t bad, Dave thought.  (NBC strongly disagreed.) 

1.  Ultimate Warrior beat Sgt. Slaughter by DQ in 7:16 when Undertaker interfered.  Match was terrible, but the stuff with Undertaker afterwards was great.  -* 

2. Nasty Boys retained the tag titles over the Bushwackers in 6:46.  Nasties sold well at least.  *1/4

3.  Mr. Perfect won a battle royale in 12:55.  Better than most as far as these things go.  This was the Perfect & Michaels show all the way.  Perfect dumped Valentine to win.  **3/4 

4. Ted Dibiase and Bret Hart went to a double countout in 9:56.  Good action from start to finish, although the end was really flat.  ***1/2  (That Sherri-Dibiase dynamic was just so…wrong.  Just never worked at all.) 

5. The Mountie zapped Tito Santana in 4:27.  Mostly a TV squash.  **1/4 

– In other news, WCW is releasing a trading card set, called “The Stomp Collection”.  Highlights include Sid Vicious (out the door), Michael Wall Street (working for the other company), The Southern Boys (not called that in months) and Doom (no longer a tag team).  Rick Steiner’s motto is supposedly “It’s not my fault!” and Dave notes that this would more applicable to Jimmy Garvin.  (See, because Michael Hayes is terrible…) Also, the press release boasted the greatest history of the company ever, claiming that Ted Turner bought WCW years ago for “two coonskin caps and a workout tape”.  And Ric Flair’s feuds with “new blood” like One Man Gang has boosted ratings to record levels!  Also, they showed a picture of the Scott Steiner trading card, which was actually Tracy Smothers. 

(Two things here.  One:  http://www.ebay.ca/itm/1991-Impel-WCW-Wrestling-Trading-Cards-Lot-Of-44-Cards-/222344332959?hash=item33c4c1469f:g:SIsAAOSwFe5X1dek  And the second thing is that I ACTUALLY HAD ALL THESE.  Jesus, can you believe what I wasted my money on in Grade 11?  Although it’s good to know that had I actually saved my collection, I too could be asking a whole $7.00 US for them.) 

– Back to the real questions on everyone’s mind:  What’s up with Sid Vicious THIS week?  Well, Jim Herd is saying that he’ll be allowed to work as Sid Vicious in the WWF, and he’ll be free and clear as of May 20. He’ll do a job for El Gigante in a stretcher match in a match advertised and pushed on TV as a stretcher match, but there’s zero chance he’s going out on a stretcher.  Anyway, Herd is not going to impede Sid’s desire to start with the WWF sooner, because he’s apparently a pretty awesome guy.  Also, Dave clarifies that they can’t prevent him from being Sid Vicious because WCW didn’t come up with the name.  (This is why guys aren’t generally allowed to retain their old gimmicks in WWE when they sign.  The Dudley Boyz were a weird exception, because WWE didn’t invent that gimmick, but they DID purchase the rights to it when they got ECW’s intellectual properties in the bankruptcy proceedings, so it amounted to the same thing.)

– Dave notes that the inside scoop from Jim Herd comes from a WCW hotline segment that Herd agreed to do with Dave and Wade Keller where he openly discussed a bunch of topics with them.  (Stop making me respect you, Jim Herd!) 

– Randy Savage is still hanging around SWS through June, like the guy at the Christmas party who won’t take a hint and go home.

– Great Kabuki was deemed to be the source of the Kitao-Tenta issues and was punished by working as a curtain jerker for the whole tour. 

– Atsushi Onita had a 45 single released on 4/21.  More like escaped, Dave notes.

– Yeah, I know I’m gonna burn in hell, this is supposed to be news to me?  TELL ME SOMETHING I DON’T KNOW.

– The Memphis-Dallas synchronization lasted all of a week, as Jerry Lawler won the Texas title from Eric Embry in Dallas, but the title change won’t be recognized in Memphis because Lawler is “taking time off”. 

– Speaking of taking time off, Steve Austin will be leaving USWA and jumping to WCW any day now.  (Boy, that one ended up having giant ramifications on the sport that NO ONE saw coming.) 

– Gary Hart’s TWF is on the last legs after losing the Metroplex lease weeks ago.  They ran a show advertised as a TV taping at the Bronco Bowl, but couldn’t afford to bring cameras and had multiple no-shows.  They run out of TV footage this week, and with nothing taped it looks like they’re done.

– Tony Atlas won the IWCCW title from Vic Steamboat, but then quit the promotion, so they’re just ignoring the title change. 

– Bob Backlund might be interested in making a comeback with the UWF after all, but only if he feels like wrestling fans want him back.  (No wonder it took another 2 years for him to return.) 

– Wayne Bloom & Mike Enos passed their audition and will be getting  job with the WWF.

– In news that I know will delight at least one person, Dino Bravo has quit the WWF.  (Well, he’d be back in the summer, sadly.) 

– Rick Martel is missing all his dates, but Dave is completely unsure as to the reason.

– Expect Sid to get a big push right away.  “What a surprise, huh?”  notes Dave.

– The WWF toured New Zealand, but the shows didn’t draw and everyone went home with a mysterious illness four days early.  Dave thinks there’s something fishy going on with that one.

– As if the Steve Austin debut in WCW wasn’t momentous enough, Paul Neu also debuted at the TV tapings as the Rap Master, “TN News” and was said to have “gotten over phenomenally”.  Also at the tapings in one of those moments that would end up altering wrestling forever in ways no one foresaw, Scott Hall did a tryout in a totally new persona as “The Diamond Studd”, with his hair dyed black and slicked back, using a powerbomb variation of some sort that got over big. 

– Dave continues his detective work on the Freebird mystery, and has now determined that it won’t be either Angel of Death or Steve Austin. 

– Sid Vicious hit three home runs in his softball league on the same night he was no-showing a WCW house show in Battle Creek. 

– The 7/14 Bash PPV will likely feature Flair v. Luger as the main event.

– WCW actually had the honor of closing out the history of the Kiel Auditorium in St. Louis, running the final show ever at the building, and only drew 3200 people with a main event of Flair & Anderson v. Sting & Gigante. This was considered a complete disaster given all the advertising for the show and the history of the building.  (The building was demolished a few months later.  I feel like there’s a metaphor for WCW in general in there.) 

– The Desperados have already been retooled from Stan Hansen’s backup into a comedy heel jobber team consisting of Dutch Mantell, Black Bart and Deadeye Dick (Randy Colley). 

(For those who haven’t had the privilege:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G8K93t3wVRQ) 

– And finally, Alexandra York is doing an angle where she’s trying to seduce Dustin Rhodes into joining her team.  (Well, she was half-successful.)