Flashback Friday: Inside Wrestling October 1988

This week we look back at an issue of Inside Wrestling that went to press on June 30, 1988 that sold for $1.95 in the U.S. and $2.50 in Canada. (I’ll also throw in bonus Wrestling Observer coverage from the same period.) Let’s go straight to the Ratings, where the NWA gets 6 in the Top 15, the WWF gets 4, and the AWA gets 3.

We begin with Sincerely Yours, the mailbag forum, where Greg from Los Angeles says he used to be a Four Horsemen fan, but their attack on street-clothed Lex Luger outside the James L. Knight Center (at Clash of the Champions 2) was just too much. “Wrestling is a sport of honor. The competition is meant to be contained within the confines of the ring.” Meanwhile, Jeff from Indianapolis says that everyone was saying Dusty Rhodes and the Midnight Rider were the same person, but Inside Wrestling’s August issue featuring a transcribed telephone conversation between the two proves they’re all wrong. “What more proof do you need that Dusty and the Rider are not one and the same?” Then there’s Nick from Miami who asks Ricky Steamboat to come back to the NWA. “Rick knows Ric Flair well, and I personally think Steamboat could take his title. (Yeah right, as if.) Larry from New Jersey says he recently attended an independent card, with a fourth row ticket costing $10, and saw Sgt. Slaughter, Johnny Rodz, Misty Blue, and Abdullah the Butcher. “I would strongly suggest that your readers check out the local promotions in their area.” And Candi from Waverly, Tennessee suggests fans check out the CWA. “Did you know that some of today’s top stars got their start in Memphis? I’m talking about guys like Hulk Hogan and the Rock ‘n’ Roll Express.” Candi says she has her eyes on one wrestler in particular. “I’m talking about none other than Jeff Jarrett. I’m no expert, but I’d say from his past accomplishments that he has the potential to become one of the greatest wrestlers today.” The next letter is from Jonathan from Madison, Wisconsin, who says Hawk of the Road Warriors is wrestling’s toughest, most sadistic and awesome wrestler today. And finally, Ken from Linden, New Jersey says it’s time to look past cartoon characters like Honky Tonk Man and Brutus Beefcake and look at real wrestlers like Greg Valentine and Don Muraco. “Both men have been in wrestling for almost 18 years each. Most of those years have been spent in a federation where youth and showmanship overshadow experience and true mat ability. Valentine has held the WWF tag team title as well as the Intercontinental belt; Muraco has won the I-C strap twice! And now, after countless numbers of feuds and many, many months as number-one contenders, these two are still wrestling at main-event caliber wherever you go. So, Vince, you can take your barbers, your snakes, and your birds. It’s the ‘Rocks’ and the ‘Hammers’ that bring realism to the word ‘superstar’!”

Next, Editor’s Notebook with Stu Saks, Editor-in-Chief, where Stu complains about wrestling companies being unwilling to book scientific wrestlers against other scientific wrestlers and rulebreakers against rulebreakers. “Ask federation officials about the policy, and they’ll deny that it exists. But all one has to do is look at a list of results for any given week and they can see it for themselves. What really bothers me is the thinking that goes behind the application of such a policy. What wrestling officials, in their infinite wisdom, are telling us is that we would not plunk down money to see a match unless the participants were of opposite wrestling philosophies. We all know that’s not true, so why not take a suggestion from an outsider? With Shawn Michaels and Marty Jannetty having taken their flying act to the WWF, how about making a match between the Midnight Rockers and the British Bulldogs? When you think about it, what does the WWF have to lose?” (Well, the Rockers, trying to establish themselves as fan favorites, would probably get booed, so there’s that.) “More than likely, the fans will thrill at the dazzling exhibition of wrestling virtuosity. Maybe even more dazzling than Matilda running after Bobby Heenan.”

Next, Behind the Dressing Room Door by David Rosenbaum, where Dave has just learned the WWF will be running an August 7th show in Greensboro headlined by Hogan vs. Andre. “For those who believe everything the WWF says, this will be the fourth time Andre and Hogan have met in one-on-one competition.” (Dave must not be aware that Hogan and Andre would wrestling in Milwaukee a few days beforehand at WrestleFest.) “The real importance of this match—and, in fact, the entire card—is the WWF has finally broken into the Greensboro Coliseum, forever the property of the NWA. This is a full-scale invasion, folks, and it shouldn’t be taken lightly. The NWA pushing the WWF out of the Nassau Coliseum for six months was big news, but they’d have to run a show in Madison Square Garden to match this. Crockett Promotions has held cards approximately once a month for the past 25 years in the 16,000-seat Coliseum.” Bailey Hobgood, the Coliseum’s public relations manager says the WWF has made inquiries over the years but the Coliseum had a good relationship with the NWA and didn’t want to encroach on that relationship. However, recently the WWF reached out again, and the Coliseum agreed to let them in so long as the shows weren’t within 10 days of an NWA show. Of note: for live events, a wrestling organization must pay $3,500 to the Coliseum for rent or give them 12 percent of the gate receipts after taxes, whichever is more. Bailey says, “If the WWF brings in more money than the NWA, it wouldn’t make business sense for the Coliseum management to stick with the NWA.” Whether the WWF can do that, however, is another question. Stu points out that the NWA has a number of top-rated programs in the market while the WWF only has two programs that air in the area. “But the WWF has increased its ability to draw in Greensboro with the acquisitions over the past year of former NWA stars The Powers of Pain, Terry Taylor, and Ted DiBiase. Fans in Greensboro are also familiar with Jake Roberts, Rick Rude, and Greg Valentine. The WWF and NWA have already gone head to head in Baltimore, New York, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, Chicago and Boston, but in each case the NWA did the invading. The WWF, however obviously hopes to push the NWA out of a potentially lucrative market. A new 20,000-seat arena is scheduled to open in Charlotte this fall and you know the WWF would like to run cards there. If they’re successful in Greensboro, there’s no reason they can’t be successful in Charlotte. The ‘Battle for Greensboro’ may be just heating up.” (The WWF’s August 7th Greensboro show, one of three WWF shows that night, bombed, drawing only 3,000 fans. With Savage, DiBiase, Bossman, the Rockers and others wrestling elsewhere, Greensboro was left with Hogan vs. Andre, the One Man Gang vs. D.J. Peterson, Terry Taylor vs. Scott Casey, Haku vs. JYD, The Powers of Pain vs. The Bolsheviks, Rick Rude vs. Jake Roberts, and Demolition vs. the British Bulldogs.)

Next up, On the Road with Craig Peters, where Craig says the world is changing. Bruce Springsteen’s marriage with Julianne Philips is falling apart, Ronald Reagan will soon give way to an administration led by George Bush or Michael Dukakis, and the NWA roster is almost unrecognizable from what it was three months ago. Warlord and Barbarian have gone to the WWF, Barry Windham is now a member of the Four Horsemen, and the Rock ‘n’ Roll Express have returned from the AWA. Yet through it all, J.J. Dillon has been a Rock of Gibraltar, a reliable manager who’s always there to guide the Horsemen with a steady hand. (Of course! What else would you expect? Did you think he was going to take an office job with the WWF or something?) Dillon has led his men to the top four NWA championships. Four men, four belts. There were those who said Luger leaving the Horsemen would ruin the group, but Dillon says it’s only made them stronger. “Our stability is based on wrestling excellence, competitive Horsemen attitude, and my own credentials for success,” Dillon says. “Luger couldn’t live up to those credentials, so he was gone. Windham matches those credentials, so he’s in.” Dillon also mentions that other managers spread themselves too thin, signing too many wrestlers and getting involved in too many matches. “It’s slow and steady that wins the race. That’s why Jim Cornette has been so successful over the years. He has one team, and while he’s made changes when changes needed to be made, his overall management philosophy has remained unchanged.” Dillon, however, says he’s different than Cornette. “Where Jim runs into trouble is with his volatile personality.” (Is this a shoot interview?) “You’ll notice that when Cornette becomes personally involved in a feud, his teams run into serious trouble. That’s where I draw the line. I make a concerted effort not to become personally involved. I have to look at the ledger and approach the sport as a series of daily business decisions. The successful investment banker on Wall Street doesn’t try to strike it rich quickly, he builds slow and steady, taking a percentage point profit here, and a percentage point there. While other get-rich-quick schemes are collapsing, the slow and steady man is quietly building a fortune.”

Next, Names Makin’ News with Bill Apter: The Powers of Pain, the Warlord and the Barbarian, have arrived in the WWF after leaving Paul Jones and the NWA. (More on this later in the issue.) Surprisingly, they were introduced by Tito Santana as fan favorites and have already wrestled Demolition in several non-title matches. In World Class, the tag team title has been held up following a match between the Von Erichs and Terry Taylor & Iceman Parsons that ended in a double-countout, which is being considered a double disqualification. According to World Class Wrestling Association bylaws, titles can change hands on disqualifications and a double DQ vacates the title. “I can’t believe they’re taking the titles from us on a double-countout,” says Kevin Von Erich. “How can you be disqualified when you’ve been counted out?” Ronnie Garvin has been acting strangely lately, showing up late for matches where he was supposed to team with his brother, Jimmy. Ronnie insists there’s no problem between the two. “I just botched some travel connections,” he says. (Foreshadowing!) Johnny Smith won the British Commonwealth title from former tag team partner Chris Benoit on June 24th in Calgary. Benoit was about (aboot?) to come off the ropes with an elbowsmash when Smith caught, suplexed, and pinned Benoit. Meanwhile, Jason the Terrible has resumed his vicious feud with Steve DiSalvo. The Continental area has scheduled a tournament on August 22 in Birmingham to determine a new champion. Also in Continental, Tom Prichard has chosen Bambi as his valet for his battles against Tony Anthony and Lady Mystic. In the Pacific Northwest, Al Madril and Steve Doll are feuding. Chris Adams won the Southern Championship Wrestling title on June 25 in Columbus, Georgia in a one-night tournament after defeating Buck Robley in the finals. Haku of the Islanders has been named the new King by Bobby Heenan after Harley Race was forced out of action due to abdominal surgery. Haku was crowned at a ceremony on June 21 in Glens Falls, New York. (Home of the next King!) Max Pain regained the CWA title from his former manager, Brickhouse Brown, on June 27 in Memphis. Brown was seconded for this match by Brother Ernest Angel, but the strategy backfired as the “spiritual leader” accidentally threw powder into Brown’s face, making him an easy pin victim for Pain. Brown and Angel got into a shoving match after the bout. On the same card, Scott Steiner and Billy Travis won the CWA tag team championship from Don Bass & Gary Young, and AWA champ Jerry Lawler battled to a double-countout with World Class champion Kerry Von Erich in a belt vs. belt match. (So does that mean the WCCW belt is now vacant? No? Okay, just checking. It’s not like we should be consistent, right?) Of note, Antonio Inoki was in attendance at the event, fueling rumors of an impending U.S. tour. Jimmy Jack Funk is now competing in the World Class area. Cousin Luke has entered the AWA. Terry Taylor signed with the WWF. And finally, Jos LeDuc is now in the WWF. (He can actually be seen at Haku’s coronation to the left next to Dino Bravo, but he’d be gone before the end of summer.)

Next, The Insider with Eddie Ellner, where Eddie starts up a new contest. He wants you to name the greatest moment in wrestling history. “Ask yourself: during what match did the earth tremble and the stars shift? After what match did fans file from the arena and mutter to each other, ‘Y’know, things are different now.’ I want the wrestling equivalent to the splitting of the atom. The Big Bang of Grappling. There are no rules to this contest. You may go back 100 years, 1,000 years, 100,000 years, before the invention of the turnbuckle, if you like. Everyone is eligible, even if your third cousin twice removed is an employee of Inside Wrestling. There are, however, a few guidelines. I would prefer that you attended or at least have seen films of the match you are going to enter. Of course, if you have strong feelings that the 1972 Bruno Sammartino vs. Pedro Morales WWF title match at Shea Stadium in New York was the greatest ever, but you were nary a twinkle in your parents’ eyes, I won’t hold it against you. And you won’t be penalized if it was decided that Nome, Alaska was the last decent place on earth to raise a family, and you’ve grown up on a steady diet of sea otters vs. polar bears. But I am the sole judge, jury, and executioner of all entries, the final and absolute arbiter of this contest. What I say goes. But I encourage devotees of Dusty Rhodes, Hulk Hogan, and the Rock ‘n’ Roll Express not to lose heart. Yes, it’s true I liken your favorites to a nest of swarming maggots, but if there’s no question in your mind that Rhodes’ defeat of Ric Flair or Hulk Hogan’s victory over Andre the Giant stand alone, I encourage you to include them. You’ll just have to convince me. Which brings me to my next point. The greatest match of all time needn’t involve a title change. It can describe a pivotal moment a talented youngster became a veteran, a subtle shift in a federation’s power, a deft managerial decision, or the sad decline of a champion. It can epitomize the brutal nature of the sport or highlight an important rule change. So what will it be? Wendi Richter’s defeat of the Fabulous Moolah? Who will it involve? Stan Hansen? Mr. T? Buddy Rogers? Vince McMahon? Little Beaver? Let’s have some fun. The winner will be announced in the January issue of Inside Wrestling.”

Next up, Liz Taylor is On Assignment and once again writing about Terry Taylor, who seems a bit crazy lately. “He imagined himself champion of the UWF months after that sad federation folded its chairs for good.” Liz says a while back she attended a press conference that Taylor stormed out of… because she was one of only two reporters to show up. Now the word is he’s signing with the WWF. When Liz tried to call him to find out more about this, he initially hung up on her before calling her back. “I guess you heard about the offer,” he said, unwilling to confirm if he was taking the deal. “Am I going? Maybe I am, maybe not. They sure offered me enough money. But I might tell ’em to take their money and shove it. Maybe I want a piece of Von Erich after all.”

Where Are They Now?

And where are they in 2022? Johnny Valiant, who went on to appear in Law & Order and The Sopranos, was struck and killed by a vehicle in 2018. He was 71. Roger Kirby continued to live in the Kansas City area where he died at the age of 79 in 2019. Tor Kamata died of heart disease in Saskatoon in 2007 at the age of 70. The 6’9 Tex McKenzie, who had some nature photos printed in National Geographic, died in 2001 at the age of 70 from an abdominal aortic aneurysm while on his boat in the waters off Vancouver Island.

Next, Capsule Profile looks at Jimmy Snuka…

We move on to News From the Wrestling Capitals with correspondence reports from fans…

Next, Matt Brock’s Plain Speaking, where Matt, reporting from Glens Falls, declares Demolition dead. “You heard it here first, so remember me in a couple months when Demolition is wrestling in preliminary matches and The Powers of Pain have the WWF tag belts strapped tightly around those massive frames of theirs.” With Rick Martel out with an injury, Tito Santana has had to wrestle Demolition with substitute tag team partners, but his greatest coup might have been bringing The Powers of Pain to the WWF. Matt says they’re superior to Demolition in every way, and nobody in the WWF, save for those who watch other federations, have ever seen anything like them. “Already every manager wants to sign them, but I don’t think these guys want or need one.” (Yeah, that’s why they hired a manager for Summerslam before ditching him and taking another manager at Survivor Series!) Matt adds, “The fans love them already, and they have all the tools to go as far as they want.”

Reporting from Tokyo, Matt saw the Road Warriors lose their All-Japan International tag team belts, which the had held since March of 1987, to Pacific Wrestling tag team champions Jumbo Tsuruta & Yoshiaki Yatsu at Budokan Hall. Matt wonders where the Road Warriors go from here, especially since the WWF already has a Road Warrior impersonation team in the form of Demolition and the Warriors’ archrivals in the NWA, the Powers of Pain, just left.

Onto Fort Worth, Texas, where Matt reports that Jerry Lawler came down and pinned World Class Texas champion Terry Taylor in a rare cross-federation match. Matt says Lawler has fought them all and beat them all, and he has tremendous respect for him. Now, Lawler’s got his sights set on Kerry Von Erich, and it appears they will meet in a series of title vs. title matches. (A series? But won’t the first one give all the gold to one guy?) Matt says both men claim to be World champions, but few people anywhere feel that World Class’s belt is worthy of world title consideration. Nonetheless, while the last four men to hold the AWA title—Lawler, Curt Hennig, Nick Bockwinkel, and Stan Hansen—are among the finest competitors the sport has ever seen, most of their challengers have been subpar, so the fact Lawler is willing to wrestle champions from elsewhere is great, and it would be nice if other champions followed this lead. “And if the AWA and World Class are really interested in deciding one world champion, they’re going to have to arrange to have a couple guys named Ric Flair and Randy Savage compete.” (Nah, they’ll just mention that Lawler and Von Erich have defeated Flair and Savage before.)

Lastly, Matt reports from Atlantic City. where he attended a boxing match held in the same building where Randy Savage won the undisputed WWF championship at WrestleMania IV. This particular bout pitted Mike Tyson, the 34-0 boxer who held the WBA, WBC, and IBF championships, against Michael Spinks, the 31-0 boxer recognized by The Ring and Boxing Illustrated magazines as the true lineal champion (winning that title after defeating Larry Holmes, who was 48-0 going into their fight). Predictions were mixed, with Muhammad Ali, Sugar Ray Leonard and various sports writers predicting Spinks would win while former champ Larry Holmes and some others predicted Tyson would win. The fight didn’t last long. In the first round, landing just eight punches before it was over, Tyson knocked Spinks out, winning in just 91 seconds. (And then Spinks retired.) Matt says the real story of the fight was the insane money it made on pay-per-view. and during his trip, he met up with some other beat writers covering the match where they all talked about pay-per-view being the future for boxing and wrestling. “No doubt about it, pay-per-view will make sports bigger and better. There’s going to be more money made and everybody will be fighting harder to get it. Ten years from now, I hope nobody forgets Vince McMahon, along with Jim Crockett and Ted Turner, made it all possible.”

Next, we learn about the departure of Warlord and Barbarian from the NWA. With Ivan Koloff, they were holders of the six-man championship and were signed to wrestle a number of scaffold matches against their arch-nemesis, the Road Warriors, throughout the summer. Then they just walked out of the NWA and sent their manager, Paul Jones, a telegram: “No way we’ll risk our careers on that scaffold. You don’t give a damn if we get hurt. We’ve taken orders from you long enough. We’ve decided to take a better offer in the WWF. May you rot in Hell forever.” Matt Brock reports that he was outside their dressing room a week before they quit and he heard them yelling. “They definitely were angry about the scaffold matches,” Matt says. “The big men didn’t want to risk life and limb falling from 25 feet in the air.” Warlord and Barbarian, who weigh in at a combined 655 pounds, may have a point. Scaffold matches, one of the most deadly ways ever devised to end feuds, seem better suited for lighter tag teams with better balance. “I’m generally considered to be a master at scaffold matches,” says Jim Cornette. “Smaller, more lithe competitors, such as myself, have an edge in these matches, and those two guys have a point. Could you imagine what would happen if one of those bruisers ever fell to the mat from 25 feet up? Ugh!” The disagreement with Jones over these matches was enough to send Warlord and Barbarian packing, and it also prompted a change in their attitudes. Their first appearance in the WWF saw them assisting Tito Santana in his war against Demolition. Jones, meanwhile, has rebounded with a 6’8 monster called The Russian Assassin, who will team with Koloff throughout the summer. But things in the Jones stable may never be the same. It was Jones who provided Warlord and Barbarian with the name The Powers of Pain. Nobody ever figured that the biggest pain would be suffered by Jones himself.

Next an article about Eddie Gilbert and Paul E. Dangerously. Gilbert’s usually not one for listening to others and being part of a stable, but in the case of Paul E. and the Dangerous Alliance, Gilbert made an exception. Why? “Money,” he says. In fact, it’s the only reason he wrestles. Love of the mat science? “A fancy way of beating people up,” he says. The thrill of competition? “I get plenty of thrills from Missy Hyatt,” he laughs. But his former tag team partner, Austin Idol, can’t believe Gilbert is willing to put up with Paul E’s crap. “Eddie won’t admit it, but he’s being overshadowed by Paul. Paul lured him in with big bucks, but he never had any intention of letting him share the power in the organization. That’s how he operates. He squeezes everything he can out of a man and then drop him like a hot potato. I can’t believe I ever trusted him.” Has Gilbert’s love of Dangerously’s money caused him to surrender control of his life? Welcome to “The Danger Zone,” Eddie.

Next, an article about The Four Horsemen. The magazine says kids like to play “King of the Mountain” where whoever occupies the top of a makeshift hill is the King. If someone knocks you off or you fall down through sheer clumsiness, you become just another challenger. There’s no ducking challengers, no easy way out. If only wrestling was that simple. As things stand now, a World champion has the potential to massively abuse his power to stay on top. And with each title-saving run-in by the Four Horsemen, Ric Flair’s NWA title is tarnished. Inside Wrestling says that while Flair has cheated in the past, before the Four Horsemen entered his life, he never…

• competed halfheartedly, securing the continuation of his title reign with well-timed run-ins.
• utilized others to protect him from his top challengers
• competed in an overabundance of tag team matches were his belt is not at stake.

But those factors play just a small part in explaining why Flair is not the competitor he once was. Being a champion means never running into a parking lot in street clothes to cripple a man who is scheduled to face you in the ring next week or next month. Being a champion means never allowing your manager to distract an opponent during a title match while you grab a chair to finish off your foe. To take Ric Flair from 1988 and compare him to Ric Flair of, say, 1984, is to see a shocking change of attitude, style, and demeanor. A look back at past articles proves this. In the Fall edition of Wrestling 84, an article stated, There is no man in the NWA able to complain about not getting a title shot.” The article goes on to detail Flair’s exhaustive schedule, with 20 title defenses a month being commonplace. Today, Flair dodges opponents like a duck in a shooting gallery. That’s because having titles is all the Horsemen care about. The integrity of their title reigns is low on their list of priorities. “When we go out to party,” Tully Blanchard often says, “we wear our title belts, not our won-lost records.” Go back a little further, to 1982, and an article in Inside Wrestling quotes a friend of Flair’s saying, “Most wrestlers live only for a title, Ric wants more. He wants to be the greatest, most complete wrestler who ever lived.” The same friend today says, “The Championship is forcing Ric into giving up many things he’d like to try. He resents the many demands the championship makes. They say he likes to party and be rowdy. The title doesn’t allow him to do that.” By surrounding himself with the Horsemen, Flair has found a way to reduce the number of demands the NWA title makes on him while following through with his desires to “party and be rowdy.” Flair has long been admired for his drive and his determination, but his fellow Horsemen have dragged him down in the eyes of the wrestling world. And those very men who are to blame for his decline, who no doubt couldn’t care less about his place in history, who reap bigger paychecks for the fact that their partner is NWA World champion, continue to laugh all the way to the bank.

Next an article about Brutus “the Barber” Beefcake, who is chasing the Honky Tonk Man for the Intercontinental title. Inside Wrestling questions whether Beefcake really cares about the title. Why? Because he only seems to talk about cutting hair. Does Brutus dream of wearing the gold or creating the perfect hairdo? Is clipping an opponent’s scalp his idea of a fine time, or would he rather win a championship belt? A study of Brutus the moonlighting barber suggests he may have inhaled too much hairspray. and the clipper-crazy grappler’s insistence on scalping his opponents threatens to compromise his championship career goals beyond repair.

Just three years ago, Beefcake was touted as a favorite to dethrone WWF champion Hulk Hogan. But where the lightning bolt on his trunks once represented cosmic potential, a hairdryer would now be a more appropriate symbol. Yet Beefcake’s ascendance as a fan favorite coincided directly with the adoption of his new persona. Fans like the barber. Ironically, as his stock as fan favorite rose, Beefcake’s value as a quality wrestler decreased. His skills dragged. It was as if each scalp sapped a bit of his own strength to the point where he became merely another sideshow attraction in the WWF circus. To be fair, the Honky Tonk Man doesn’t seem any more serious. Yet he shocked the world by defeating Rick Steamboat for the Intercontinental title in 1987 and could soon be the longest reigning IC champ of all-time. Meanwhile, he seems to be using Beefcake as a placeholder, a way to kill time while he’s waiting for contract negotiations between his people and Randy Savage’s people to begin so Honky can chase the WWF world title. That makes this the perfect opportunity for Beefcake to drop this barbering nonsense and reestablish his career and credibility. But despite such obvious motivation, Beefcake refuses to drop his frivolous hairstyling enterprise. In recent interviews, he remained determined to scalp Peggy Sue, Jimmy Hart, and anyone else even remotely affiliated with the Honky Tonk Man. No mention is made of match strategy. Little attention is paid to his opponent’s strengths and weaknesses. Beefcake remains blinded by the light reflecting off his scissors. He could be a champion. Instead, he’s a buffoon.

Next, AWA champion Jerry Lawler sits down in the Hotseat for an interview. Lawler is congratulated on the championship but reminded that in 1985, he said he’d retire if he couldn’t defeat Ric Flair for the NWA title. Lawler says, “That’s true. I said I would, but to this day I believe that I can still defeat Ric Flair. I got bogged down, and I decided that my hometown fans were more important than my personal gain.” Asked about the match where he defeated Hennig for the AWA title, Lawler says, “Believe it or not, I really thought the referee would stop the match because of a nasty cut I had over my right eye. Thankfully, he realized the importance of the situation. If Hennig had ripped my arms and my legs off, I still would have continued.” It’s then pointed out that Lawler now has contenders from the AWA, CWA, and World Class waiting to wrestle him for the championship. “Thank goodness for those frequent flyer bonuses! Actually, I have to say defending the title is a lot easier than winning it, but the way things have gone so far, I sure as hell never get bored! But I want the wrestling world to know I’ll go anywhere to defend my World title. You know the big mistake these federations make is that the champions get pigeonholed into facing the same challengers in the same arenas all the time. Well, thankfully the AWA isn’t that way anymore. They allow me to wrestle against anyone they deem a worthy contender, and I say bring ’em on. The variety of opponents keeps me sharp” The magazine then brings up Paula Lawler’s article in PWI claiming the title has made Jerry a monster. Jerry says, “Look at it this way. I’ve had severe burns on my face as the result of Eddie Gilbert burning me. Paula sees how it effects me and my attitude around the house, but she doesn’t realize I have to fight fire with fire. She worries about how this will affect me in the long run, but think of it this way: if I didn’t try to rid wrestling of these kinds of men, they’d rule the sport. I’d do anything to prevent that from happening even if it creates some tension at home. You know, they’ve been calling me the ‘King’ for a long time, but I never had the chance to prove it. Now that I’m World champion, my job is to defeat all contenders.”

Next, a preview and analysis of the main event at Summerslam 88. The magazine concedes they found out just before press time that Hogan & Savage, the Megapowers, would wrestle Andre & DiBiase, the Megabucks, on pay-per-view. Nonetheless, the editors want to weigh in. In fact, we start with the weigh-in: the tale of the tape. Hogan is 6’8, 302 pounds. Savage is 6’2, 245 pounds. That combines for 547 pounds of humanity. In the other corner, Andre is 7’5 and weighs 497, and DiBiase is 6’4 and weighs 247. That’s 744 pounds, a distinct advantage. But Savage and Hogan have more muscle, with neither DiBiase or Andre having much definition in their frames. Where the teams seem equal is that each possesses a brawler and a technician, which could make for an interesting matchups. Then there are the intangibles. Insiders say Ricky Steamboat lost his drive and desire to be a wrestler after his wife gave birth. Will the same thing happen to Hogan? Also, what about Elizabeth? Will she play a role? If she is in danger, this could distract the Megapowers. Another late-breaking bit of news: Jesse Ventura will be the referee. (The magazine finds this ridiculous after the Hebner situation.) Ventura will probably favor Andre and DiBiase. But can Andre and DiBiase’s drastically different styles mesh?

Overall Analysis: Broken down individually, Hogan has already shown he can beat Andre, but Hogan’s had a hard time against DiBiase. Savage has struggled against Andre but has recently defeated DiBiase several times. Nonetheless, tag team wrestling is entirely different, and only DiBiase a former Mid-South and UWF tag champ, has much experience at it. DiBiase, however, due to Andre’s limitations, might find himself on his own for much of the match while Savage and Hogan take advantage of frequent tags. The difference could be Ventura. If he officiates fairly, the Megapowers have a good chance at embarrassing their archrivals before a national audience. But if Ventura is biased and Andre is able to contribute, the Megabucks can gain a measure of revenge for the events at WrestleMania IV. Either way, it will be a war that will write a new page in wrestling history.

Next, Michael Hayes and Buddy Roberts manage to get into the backdoor of the magazine in this month’s One on One conversation.

Michael once again says his Freebird days are over, and he’s happy to have new friends. Buddy says Michael sounds like a Von Erich, and it makes him cry. Michael says that’s a compliment because the Von Erichs are good people, but Buddy responds that the only thing good about the Von Erichs is when they’re down on the mat getting beat up. Michael says to watch it. The Von Erichs are his friends, and he’s going to look after them. Buddy says, “The Von Erichs don’t have any friends. They use people until they’re finished with them, then they throw them away like yesterday’s garbage. You won’t be any different.”

And finally, a Blast from the Past…

And now, as promised, here’s bonus coverage from Wrestling Observer from early July:

– The lead story is the WWF planning a giant stadium show in Milwaukee to basically screw with Crockett’s plans to run a Bash show the night after. The main event will be Hulk Hogan v. Andre the Giant in a cage match, which is expected to be a dry run for a series of matches between the two throughout the fall.

– The Bash PPV comes up on 7/10, with feelings from some fans that a five match card isn’t enough and more are needed. Meltzer has it pegged as the biggest money non-WWF show in history, however, promotion for the show has been god-awful.

– So the other big question of the week: What is Owen Hart going to do? Probably jump to the WWF under a mask as a “C Team” performer. Dave doesn’t think his chances for advancement are good.

– Although the WWF has been crowing for months about the WrestleMania III buyrate, the Tyson vs. Spinks fight completely destroyed it, drawing a crazy 15 buyrate to gross $30 million.

– People continue to waffle in the Turner-Crockett buyout negotiations. David Crockett is still anti-sale, and now Ole Anderson is swooping in and trying to basically unionize a group of wrestlers for an opposition promotion if the sale goes through.

– On the Bash tour, Ivan Koloff and Russian Assassin (Dave Sheldon, Angel of Death) are subbing for the Powers of Pain and taking the big bump off the scaffold against the Road Warriors.

– Jerry Lawler v. Kerry Von Erich in title v. title matches are headlining in Memphis, but not boosting business to any degree. The finish is always a double count-out.

– After some initial backlash by the fans, a young, skinny Jeff Jarrett did an angle where his arm was broken by heels and he fought back against them valiantly, which has finally turned him babyface with the fans.

– Steve Blackman won some sort of TV title tournament in Stampede.

– Interestingly, the AWA and World Class are both booking Jerry Lawler for the same night coming up, with a Lawler-Von Erich match headlining one show for WCCW and a Lawler-Hennig match headlining one for the AWA. (That Hennig one would become a moot point soon anyway, but there was some real communication issues between the promotions going on there.)

– The Billy Jack Haynes opposition promotion in Oregon is dead, drawing 60 people to their last show.

– The hot rumor in Japan is that Antonio Inoki is also selling out to Ted Turner.

– Adrian Adonis did a job for Big Van Vader in Japan and was said to be bigger than Vader, “which shows you how well his diet is going.” It was a good match and apparently this Vader guy is almost as good as Big Bubba Rogers now.

– Back to the WWF, with Dave calling the recent Savage v. DiBiase cage match in MSG a ****1/2 classic. He also notes that Hogan will be coming back soon, but no one is in a hurry to get the title back on him and he probably shouldn’t win it back until Wrestlemania V. His feud to carry the summer will probably be with “Bubba Bossman.”

– GLOW is in pretty bad shape and looking for new money to film a second season.

– Tiger Mask II was accidentally unmasked as Mitsuhara Misawa by the Japanese media because he was married in a high-profile wedding and people pretty much figured out who he was.

– Apparently, the week before the Powers of Pain jumped to the WWF, the Road Warriors were giving interviews in Japan basically bragging about how much Vince was offering them and how they were keeping their options open. Now their options aren’t as open.

– And finally, Dave inserts a story just as he’s going to press about the death of Adrian Adonis and two other wrestlers in Newfoundland.

That’s all for this week! Next week, we’ll get coverage of the accident in Newfoundland, get Eddie Ellner’s take on Dino Bravo, and there’s a new number one in the overall ratings. And speaking of new, if you’re new here, be sure to leave a comment and check out the archive. Also, check out my website to see what books I’ve written!