Wrestling Observer Flashback–06.10.91

Fence Contractor Elkhart, IN

Previously on the Flashback… https://blogofdoom.com/index.php/2016/12/18/wrestling-observer-flashback-06-03-91/

OK, now we’ve got some stuff going on, with two of the biggest stories in HISTORY about to break.

But first, Sid…

– Sid Vicious made his WWF debut at the TV tapings in Arizona, but the bigger news is that Bobby Heenan has decided to step down from his managerial position and give way to the future of managers: Coach John Tolos. Basically after 25 years in the role, both Bobby and Vince thought that it was time for a change. The “Bomber Brothers” have already been turned into “The Beverly Brothers”, managed by Tolos and doing a “gay act billed from Beverly Hills”. (I literally do not have any recollection of this whatsoever, which is weird because I have every other bit of minutia from this era seared into my brain. I only remember Genius + Beverlies and Coach + Perfect.) Coach will also be managing Mr. Perfect, while Haku & Barbarian are pretty much going to be doing their own thing now.

– Sid did run-ins on both tapings to a HUGE reaction both times, answering an open challenge from the Mountie the first time and then beating up Earthquake on the Challenge tapings. The place went wild for both. The working name is “Sid Justice”, but that could change. Dave thinks this giant babyface reaction and plans for him to be the next Hulk Hogan pretty much ends that plans for a Hogan-Sid match at Wrestlemania. Although, Dave notes, the chances of another Hulk Hogan in this generation are pretty slim. (Just ask Kevin Nash. Or Lex Luger.)

– Also, Tugboat finally turned heel, turning on the Bushwackers and emerging later in the tapings as Earthquake’s new partner Typhoon, which Dave assumes will mean they’ll be a tag team called The Natural Disasters. (Shouldn’t they have been “Team Quake-Boat” or something like that? Isn’t that how all successful tag teams are named and marketed?) Anyway, it’s a very appropriate name because they’ll be programmed against Jake Roberts & Andre the Giant, which will be a natural disaster.

– The WWF also announced the big stadium show from St. Louis, which will be called “Wrestlefest ‘91” and it’ll be taped for a Coliseum Video release a month later. (Really? Because I’m pretty sure it was never released if so.) Main event will be Hogan v. Slaughter with Savage as referee, plus Warrior v. Undertaker in a casket match (kind of like the “body bag match”, Dave notes, but with a more expensive prop). The plan was to bring in a bunch of legends to help boost ticket sales, but Lou Thesz, Jack Brisco and Harley Race all turned down the offer.

– Surprisingly, WCW actually reacted in a manner that shows some amount of common sense, and has stepped up the card they’re doing in St. Louis on 6/14, which will now feature Dick the Bruiser as a guest ref, plus Harley Race a guest ref for the main event. They’re also trying to get Bruno to come in and work an angle with Larry Zbyszko at the Meadowlands to boost business there. To date, Bruno has turned down the offers.

– Jim Ross went into business for himself on the New York version of their syndicated show, hyping up a 7/3 Wargames match at the Meadowlands by calling the “cage matches you may have seen in other promotions” derogatory names, like “sissy matches where the object is to run away”, unlike the WCW version where it’s a “real man’s cage match”. Color commentator Paul Heyman just kind of ignored the talk, but Ross hammered the point throughout the show.

– Jim Ross also debuted a radio talk show on WBS in Atlanta with Paul as his co-host, and it was a kind of smart-leaning call-in show that actually had some pretty hard-hitting callers while Ross & Heyman tried to toe the company line. One guy brought up a laundry list of people who defected from WCW to the WWF in the past year, and Ross danced around that one, plus callers asked about Black Blood being Billy Jack Haynes and Big Josh being Matt Bourne, and Ross pretty much just lied and said he didn’t know. Another caller asked about the secret New Zealand title switch between Flair and Race in 1984 and Ross lied about that one as well. Really though, Dave notes, there’s not much else you could have done in the situation. (Sadly, no reports of “Bruce from Connecticut” calling in with gag questions.)

– Since we haven’t yet talked about how much Herb Abrams sucks this week, let’s discuss the impeding disaster that is “Beach Brawl” coming up on the weekend. It had no chance of success to begin with, and will undoubtedly be one of the least-viewed wrestling PPVs in history. Not only does Sports Channel America not have enough homes to sell a PPV properly, but the cable companies that DO carry the channel aren’t carrying the PPV, and vice-versa, so there’s very little chance of anyone who watches the TV show actually buying this thing. In fact, many of the cable companies outright refused to carry it because there’s just too much wrestling to begin with. Not to mention the company that’s distributing the show was asking cable companies to guarantee a buyrate for the show in order to have the honor of carrying it, and that didn’t go over well. The live advance is pretty much non-existent at this point, which shouldn’t be a shock because the TV channel DOESN’T EVEN AIR in Palmetto.

– In something that might become an issue later, the IRS (not Mike Rotunda, notes Dave) is going to be stepping up enforcement of the rules governing the term “independent contractor”, and Dave notes that wrestlers work for someone else and don’t have control of their own schedule, so filing taxes under that category is kind of a misnomer. (And yet, 25 years later…)

– Superbrawl looks to have done a 1.0 buyrate, or 140,000 buys, which is down significantly from the last few shows, but really not that bad when you consider how bad the build was and how fair into the toilet the rest of the numbers are. Dave thinks this shows that there are literally 140,000 fans who will buy ANYTHING. Dave thinks that maybe they should experiment with doing two shows six weeks apart and see that how that does. (Or do like WWE and run SIXTEEN damn PPVs a year and then wonder why everyone’s so bored with their product.)

– The future of the pro graps on ESPN is seriously in doubt at this point, as the network has been editing the USWA shows down severely to eliminate man-on-woman violence or any blood whatsoever. Joe Pedicino is trying really hard to get that slot when the deal expires on 7/1, but there’s a lot of things that have to happen first. (Like finding money?)

– Despite what Dave called a “weak line-up” last week, All Japan did another record crowd at Budokan this week, featuring Misawa beating Terry Gordy and the return of Giant Baba after breaking his leg.

– Norio Honaga managed to retain the IWGP Junior title against Jushin Liger at the big Fujinami 20th anniversary show, and Dave thinks it’s getting a bit ridiculous now. (To put it in perspective, it would be like James Ellsworth winning the World title from AJ Styles on their first Smackdown meeting a couple of months ago and then continuing to win cleanly in all the rematches.)

– Still more controversy for SWS, as it’s looking like Gong Magazine is completely in the pocket of the company, as they exaggerate the attendance for the shows and play along with the company storyline of Tenryu being incredibly over. The magazine is rapidly losing credibility with the Japanese public over it.

– Nothing much going on in Memphis. Jerry Lawler got into an argument with Miss Texas (Jackie) on TV and she slapped him, so he slapped her back and got a big pop for it. His return will probably perk up the crowd a little bit, but Dave remembers the days when he’s take a month off for an injury and draw 11,000 people.

– Lou Thesz is working on a new autobiography, and recently gave an interview where he talked about the concept of “working” dating back to the Roman Gladiator system. His theory is that since a lot of Gladiators were friends, but they were supposed to fight to the death, they would work out secret methods to hurt each other without killing. (Must have been tricky calling spots.)

– Dave thinks it actually dates back to the first time Eve faked an orgasm in the Garden of Eden.

– Dave continues working blue, noting that there’s nude pictures of Sherri Martel in the new issue of Celebrity Sleuth magazine, along with Queen Kong and Magnificent Mimi. (Queen Kong?!)

– Getting tryouts at the WWF TV tapings were Scott Putski, Sweet Brown Sugar, and Sir Charles (who was WCW jobber Mark Kyle). (Weird, I always assumed that Sir Charles was another name for Charles Wright. But then I never actually saw the guy.)

– Mr. Perfect missed a bunch of bookings this week with a back injury. (That would be a bit more notable later on.)

– Since Sid is a babyface, the main event for Wrestlemania looks to be Hogan v. Warrior, with Warrior turning heel to set it up. If he turns, he’ll be the #1 heel instead of the #4 babyface, so that’s better for him. Plus Dave is pretty sure that Hogan is going to get that win back on Warrior before he “retires”.

– Charles Austin, the guy who had his neck broken by the Rockers, is suing both the Rockers and Titan for assault and battery, negligence and misrepresentation.

– To WCW, where the Freebird trio won the 6-man titles from JYD & Tommy Rich when Morton no-showed. Also, Steve Austin debuted new manager Jeannie Clark because Veronica was a complete bomb, and he won the TV title from Bobby Eaton in what was pretty close to his debut. Brian Pillman showed up as the Yellow Dog, which Dave thinks might be a spoiler for the loser-leaves-town match at the Clash. And Ricky Morton is now Richard Morton as a heel.

– There’s no interest in Bruce Pritchard at the moment.

– WCW STRUCK BACK at the WWF by airing the Luger squash of Sid Vicious from last year’s Clash on all the syndicated shows this weekend.

– The junior heavyweight division has already been scrapped, so Dave thinks they’ll just find another animal costume to put Pillman into instead.

– And finally, Dave did some digging on Mark Mero, and it turns out he’s got a very impressive athletic background, but the Razor Ruddock story might be a work. (Try not to shit yourself with surprise.)