– While the World title may not change hands, the US title certainly will, since post-Clash TV direction has Steamboat winning the title and suffering a shoulder injury in the process. – Michinoku Pro debuted on 3/16 to huge amounts of local publicity, since they’re the first attempt at a regional promotion in the country. Big John Tenta pinned Koji Kitao with an elbowdrop in 6:10. 16. 26. 90. – Vince McMahon is apparently planning to sue Sgt. This should be good. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 10. Wolf, where. 95. Ware on 12/14, as expected. But I think it’s a pretty famous case of hotline sleaze related to Blackwell’s death. 16. 96. For It’s Time. – And now, a turning point for the Observer, although we didn’t know it at the time, as Dave announces that he’s taken a job with the National, writing a wrestling column for the paper. Michaels worked his ass off, although it came out later that he was hungover and stoned at the time. Wrestling Observer Flashback–10. The main event saw Tito Santana beating Bob Orton for the newly created AWF title in a *3/4 match. Dave thinks it was counterproductive to kill off the Rockers like that. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 06. – Andre’s beginnings in the sport are something of a mystery. – But first, the lead story is the rapid descent of UWFI, as they have reached out in desperation to New Japan for a combined show at the Tokyo Dome on 10/9 and maybe more after that. 90. They’re owned by Jody Hamilton (Nick Patrick’s dad) and they do about 200 people per show. Wrestling Observer Flashback–03. Rude/Vader tag match, the highest rating for any wrestling match on TV in more than a year. Identifier-ark. 2. Pillman was playing subtle heel to start and got less subtle as the match went on. Also, be sure to check out the SquaredCircle subreddit, where some dude is RIPPING OFF MY. 10-21-1991. 05. – Also on the show, Scott Norton & Tony Halme won the IWGP tag titles from the Steiner Brothers in kind of a stinker. 95 (Part 1) So after Dave takes a week off, it’s a DOUBLE ISSUE featuring Wrestlemania XI, the show that drew so much money that Dave needed a second issue to contain it all!Wrestling Observer Flashback – 11. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 09. Mike stuff and get into the main event: STARRCADE ‘84. (Clearly Wrestlemania had not become the thing it is today, because $429 barely gets you a nosebleed seat at this point. – The Ole Anderson & Gordon Solie version of World Championship Wrestling returned to TBS on 8/13, so in fact we missed the entire Black Saturday era! – The Road Warriors won the AWA tag team titles from the Crusher & the Baron as Dave breathes a sigh of relief, and apparently this was booked very last minute because Vince. 5. – The Wrestling Classic, scheduled to be the first ever nationally available PPV show, will feature a 16 man tournament, plus Hogan v. And NOW the main event! Hog Wild 96 and the introduction of the Observer Hall. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 08. By Scott Keith on 20th September 2016. 96 By Scott Keith on 15th September 2023 Wrestling Observer Flashback – 12. 90. They of course had an immediate roster of excuses, mainly that it was scheduled on a night with really tough competition on TV. “Hey look, it’s Joe Weider” – Not sure what that refers to, but I’m sure we’ll find out. 19. 1985. 8 this week. I’m not. 05. 12. 60 and 0. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 07. Um, never mind. OK, 2005 posts are FINALLY complete, and I got to see Star Wars, so let’s get back to Observing. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 09. 48 buyrate (120,000 buys) for the Great American Bash in June, with WWF doing 0. By Scott Keith on 12th June 2016. Ric Flair (“He’s slowed down a bit”) 2. By Scott Keith on 7th March 2017. Dave is pretty sure Gonzalez will draw as long as he’s never allowed to touch anyone ever. Owen Hart was the second-best star of the show after Flair. – Buzz Sawyer agreed to work an indy date for Rob Russan in San Jose, and was supposed to provide the ring and some students from his wrestling school as underneath jobbers. Wrestling Observer Flashback–11. It’s like Wrestlemania, but for NEWS. When it comes to catching and wrestling a giant. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 09. Despite the strained relationship, Florida still bills itself as NWA wrestling. 95. It’s a patented Slow News Week as we head into Summerslam, but the issue is still 10 pages. 93. The Road Warriors beat the Midnight Express in a scaffold match in 3:00, which kind of ruins their videotape business, Dave thinks. 96 IT’S TIME. Wrestling Observer Rewind ★ Dec. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 06. The Vancouver version of the NWA Pacific Coast Heavyweight Championship was the major singles title in two National Wrestling Alliance-affiliated Vancouver territories. It’s the Observer issue so huge that Dave has to post it to the archives TWICE to make sure! So yeah, Flair got fired, let’s get back into it! – The Flair firing actually made the national news, with papers throughout the country picking up the story, with all coverage being sympathetic to Flair. Wrestling Observer Flashback–06. 22. 95 Guys, I don’t think this UFC thing is gonna be around much longer if lawmakers have their way! – The debate over whether UFC and the other events like it should be banned has been raging in the press and the city of Denver has become a hotspot for the controversy. Identifier. 20 to an average of 2. 10. 18. 90. 94 So it turns out that WCW’s record buyrate for Halloween Havoc wasn’t quite what they anticipated… – The buyrate for Havoc 94 currently sits at 0. Continue reading. Sid actually drew pretty big on the East coast, doing 11,000 at the Nassau Coliseum and 8000 in Philly. 0 (Extended OCR) Ppi. 95. 27. Guess it’s time for another one of these. This is ridiculous on a lot of levels, most of which is actually against Zulu because he’s even worse than Mike Von Erich and in. 94. tesseract 5. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 08. And now it’s time for the MONDAY NIGHT WARS. ***1/4Wrestling Observer Flashback–03. 17. 95. 19. Credit Dave Meltzer, Wrestling Observer Newsletter. 20. – Zulu was fired from World Class for refusing to do a job to Mike Von Erich. 14. 26, 1994 (Final Post for 1994) Going through old issues of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter and posting highlights in my own words. 96. The 2023 class of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame adds seven new members in a year where there were no blow away vote getters but a number. 02. 5. The team (Gene and Ole Anderson) dominated tag team. Dave also lists the match with the Rock N Roll Express v. 3. 20. A January 1966 issue of Vue magazine featuring Bill Hook and his octopus-wrestling adventures in Victoria, B. The 1997 Observer Rewind shall resume this on Aug. Dave, however, cites the court case of Boy v. 19. 96 And now it’s time for the issue that kicks off one of the biggest stories in the history of wrestling, although we didn’t. Well this should do better than NWA Powerrr at least. 10. 60 (150,000 buys) for King of the Ring. – The top story is the apparent end of Pacific Northwest Wrestling, as the TV show was abruptly cancelled by the TV station after 38 years on the air. Main event is. Day off from work today, so I’ve got some time to craft another Flashback! Your Spotify soundtrack for this one is Queensryche’s “Operation Mindcrime”, an album that it took me many years to get into, which is weird because I was a big fan of “Empire”. See if you can guess when we get to it. A wrestling fan creating original content for YouTube based on my love for pro-wrestling. So with the year in PPV finally caught up, let us venture back to the world of 1994 again, with rumors of Hulk Hogan. – Dan Severn won the Ultimate Ultimate on 12/16 in Denver after all the controversy over the show, beating Oleg Taktarov in the finals via unanimous decision. 7. 29. Dusty is certainly the top candidate, and that theory is bolstered by the house show results from the past week, which saw Dusty doing 90 second jobs to VIRGIL at every show. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 02. -. On May 2 they did an angle where the AWA World title was held up following a Bockwinkel/Hennig match where Hennig used a foreign object. Well it’s been two months. com archives, and any other sources I’ve checked, so we’re skipping ahead a week. – Kevin Sullivan is a road agent now and appears done with wrestling. Also, ROYAL RUMBLE. Obviously, doctors gave him some mumbo-jumbo diagnosis about “severe spinal disc and sciatic nerve damage”, and. By Scott Keith on 22nd September 2023 Wrestling Observer Flashback – 12. Earthquake John Tenta was scheduled to work a tour for EMLL in Mexico, but left after one show, claiming he was stiffed on his payoff. 19 as I try to get as much done as possible in advance. Eaton did a scary kneedrop from the top rope to the ramp outside the ring for the highlight of the match. – In the top story, the UFC has decided to drop the superfight concept after the debacle that was Shamrock v. 96 Can I make it more than two weeks in a row? TUNE INTO NITRO TO FIND OUT! – In our top story this week, UFC presented the Ultimate Ultimate 2! Dave is really into this shit all of a sudden. After Stan Lane lost to the Patriot on the Global show, Cornette launched into a tirade about how it was a conspiracy against Stan, just like the cops conspired against his good friend. It's great historical reading of the rise and fall of wrestling's biggest boom period. Wrestling Observer Historical Pieces. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 03. George Scott has been fired as booker and replaced by the duo of Gary Hart and David Manning, so things are at least booked better now. By Scott Keith on 24th July 2019. The grand plan for five days a week has been dropped and ESPN will air reruns of Pro Wrestling This Week instead. as the big blue cage that quickly became synonymous with Titan was actually purchased and flown in from Stampede Wrestling, because the normal chain link cage was too hard for Hogan to climb. 96. Piper on top. 1985 Wrestling Observer Yearbook. 25. 0-1. OK, let’s try this one more time. 96. Andre started in the sport at the age of 12, already 6’3”, and fell in with a. But it probably bombed because it was clearly a throwaway show. This is the incredible story about the people who brought Lucha Libre into America in the 1990s and the many challenges they faced! Hijo del Santo and Blue. Daprice did every issue for the 90's through 2001. It's a recap of the old issues of Dave Meltzer's Wrestling Observer Newsletter. By Scott Keith on 19th September 2016. By Scott Keith on 18th April 2022. Wrestling Observer Flashback–09. By Scott Keith on 1st October 2017. 08. Wrestling Observer Flashback–02. ”This is horrible, Gorilla. Hosted by Sean Oliver, he welcomes guest the Honky Tonk Man as he talks about SummerSlam ’88. 96 (Part Two) – In the top story, “Sycle” Sid won the WWF title in the main event of the Survivor Series. 01. Everything is confusing and it’s all centering on the AWA. – San Fran is the big head-to-head battle between the AWA and WWF, and Vince won that one handily thus far. 94. The feeling is that running a show in the traditional Sunday timeslot where live shows draw will kill off the house shows. 11. Ah, wrestling, where one guy can beat up another guy for real and flush his head. 6. 15. Addeddate. 95 (Carrying on! Another one written on or about 09. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 11. 96 (I’m putting this one in the can a few days earlier than publication so if there’s any pop culture references that age badly, blame me. 567. I must now face the eternal dilemma of sports fan who has lost their team in the playoffs: Do you cheer for the bastards that eliminated them because they earned it. Well, 1988, as much as I love and care about you, it’s time our relationship came to an end again, just like James and Natalie on Big Brother last night. Shawn Special Edition! Okey doke, so in the 1997 RAW rants thus far, we’ve alluded to the all the crazy stuff happening behind the scenes with Bret and Shawn, but what EXACTLY was that? Well, Dave was covering it extensively in the Observer at the time, so here’s a mini-Flashback covering the top. 88. 05. 05. – The WWF is reportedly considering adding a weekly Saturday PPV show, according to trade journal reports. 18. 07. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 08. – Dave calls it a very good show overall, and somehow by adding up all the people in Greensboro (16K give or take) plus all the closed circuit locations, comes up with a figure of 42,000 and thus declares it the #2 crowd in North American wrestling history. 95. 95. ” (Now there’s an understatement!) – Based on current trends and advertising, SuperBrawl is looking to do. Apparently Bret Hart’s negotiations with WCW were so potentially fruitful that someone else is wanting to give it a try. (This is why. -. – Paul Heyman was indefinitely suspended on 10/7 for reasons that are still unknown at press time (still unknown to this day, in fact!) and this is gonna mess up their plans big because the (don’t call it a ) booking committee wanted to switch him back from announcer to manager if they could strike a deal with Rick Rude. Wrestling Observer Flashback–04. Terry Funk has retired. 06. Wrestling Observer Flashback –04. – Mexico’s wrestling companies are gearing up for a full-scale strike of wrestlers and referees, with syndicate head Manny Guzman calling for job action over EMLL’s network TV deal. He was the person credited with popularizing the superplex, although he didn’t invent it. Just for fun, here’s Dave’s Summer 1984 Rankings. It’s a patented Slow News Week as we head into Summerslam, but the issue is still 10 pages. Dave notes we. 4. I know this year has been a slog, but we’re getting closer to September, when the magic happens! But first, WWF returns to your house! Whether you wanted them there or not. Wrestling Observer Flashback–05. She is currently signed to WWE, where she performs on the. 86. 96. Curiosity over Kevin’s return is. on November 22, 1990 – “Survivor Series ’90. He was at the other guys’ PPVs this year taking notes, as well as New Japan and All Japan’s major shows. – Reportedly, World champion Mike Tyson has signed with the WWF to referee a match. Guys, it sounds like the Diamond Studd will soon be appearing in WCW again! We’ll see how that goes for them. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 03. The PPV showdown of 1987 is upon us! It’s Vince v. 30th August 2017 by Scott Keith. Internet Archive HTML5 Uploader 1. But if you’re reading it in the archives in December, then MERRY CHRISTMAS! – Continuing on with the saga of Dynamite Kid’s messed up back, he was flown into Calgary for surgery after being paralyzed from the waist down. – Over to Japan, where Nobuhiko Takada had announced plans to retire, at which point UWFI whiplashed and put out their own press release, noting that what Takada had MEANT TO SAY was that he was THINKING of retiring at age 35, which was two years away. – Bam Bam Bigelow is trying to get into the WWF, but word from on high is that he’s “too inexperienced”. – The show drew 7000 with 4700 paid and a $94,000 house. – Dave proclaims that no promotion is any hotter here in 1996, with more mainstream popularity, than NJPW is. Scanner. – Jim Cornette Update: He turned down the WCW managing job because he’s opening up a new promotion with Sandy Scott and Tim Horner called “Smokey Mountain Wrestling”, starting on 10/30 in Greenville. 96. The main event. 22. Wrestling Observer Flashback–07. *1/4. – The top story of the week, and for a long time in general, was Ron Garvin winning the NWA World title from Ric Flair on 9/25 in their debut in Joe Louis Arena. This got the most heat of the night from all the sumo fans, because they’re not hardcore wrestling fans and just knew Kitao as the “bad boy”, and thus booed the shit out of him and cheered everything Earthquake did. 21. – Latest figures are in, and WCW is looking like a 0. – Chris was of course around wrestling dressing rooms his whole life, and idolized Kerry in junior high to the point where he’d dress and act like him. – Once again, it’s time for the most awesome feature in Observer Flashback history: – Our favorite whipping boy promotion, the UWF, debuted in New York with a TV taping, and surprisingly both Honky Tonk. – Eddie Gilbert was found dead in his apartment in Puerto Rico on 2/18, at age 33. 5 million as a startup amount and NOW got $480,000, and once they’ve blown through that, he’s done. Chelsea Anne Cardona (née: Green; born April 4, 1991) is a Canadian professional wrestler, stuntwoman, and model. Continue reading Rants. 19. – Both the WWF and Crockett are running Philly on 10/18, but there’s a law on the books that says no two wrestling promotions can run shows within 25 miles of each other, and the respective arenas are less than 25 miles away. Basically Vince sent his PR people to the magazine to produce what Phil Mushnick of the New York Post (no relation to Sam or Irv, Dave notes, although we’ll get to know Phil very well in later years) called a “six page. 95. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 08. In fact, Dave thinks that people’s hatred of the dancing gimmick is overshadowing how much he’s improved as a worker. The ratings were just too low and the costs were just. – In the top story of the week, and in fact one of the top stories in wrestling history, Ric Flair was fired from WCW effective immediately when negotiations fell through. 96 (Part Two) – In the top story, “Sycle” Sid won the WWF title in the main event of the Survivor Series. 95. *. It’s time for the CLASH OF CHAMPIONS, a flying elbow to the wrestling business that should have revived it! But first, a pretty major death to kick off the issue. – Dave watched the 12/19 All Japan show, and dished out another full monty, this one for Misawa & Kobashi winning the tag team tournament over Kawada & Taue in. And here we had gone for almost two months without a death. “Which is great for wrestling, I guess. Heyman is making. Despite running in the red for the past three years, both WCW and the WWF are confident that they’re going to be profitable in 1995 thanks to this new-fangled PPV market. 30. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 10. – Dave sums up the last PPV of 1996 as “solid but unspectacular”. 23. OK, let’s get back into these again. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 04. 22. ABBYY FineReader 11. 0 (Extended OCR) Ppi. 22. By Scott Keith on 19th March 2016. – There’s very little going on due to Christmas, but Jerry Lawler did regain the USWA title from Koko B. Daprice did every issue for the 90's through 2001. 2022-03-05 07:34:36. Wrestling Observer Flashback – Bret v. – Next up, Dave offers a preview of the next WCW PPV, Uncensored, which he sums up thusly: “On paper it looks like a weak show as none of the matches look to be sure bets to be good. 25. 14. Oh, Dave. – In the top story, Titan Sports filed a lawsuit against World Championship Wrestling on 6/20, stemming from the invasion angle with Hall and Nash. 04. Well, that probably won’t happen again for a while. No one tell Donald Trump. – Speaking of New Japan, they sold out 5 consecutive nights at Sumo Hall for the G1 Climax, ending with IWGP champion Keiji Muto becoming the first reigning champion to win the tournament, taking out Shinya Hashimoto in the finals. The match died once Flair went out. Dave thinks that the competition will be mostly for the better, with faster-moving storylines and better wrestling on TV. – Dave feels that the team of Sting & Rick Steiner are improving so rapidly that they’ll be one of the best in the world by the summer. 3. Let’s take a break from being nostalgic for 1998 and be nostalgic for 1994 again for a bit! – It’s been quiet in the wrestling world leading up to Halloween Havoc, Dave notes. 88. To the news!This is up for them, and Dave notes what a great night for wrestling that Thanksgiving really is, because even Central States almost drew money! Later, he corrects a previous title change, noting that Art Crews actually won the TV title from Gary Royal on 11/27 in Ft. OK, after yesterday’s super-abbreviated edition (well the one I wrote at least, Dave was still 100,000 words into it) we’re back with a full double issue this time to recap all the stateside news! Continue reading Rants. 94. So apparently the WrestleWar 92 issue (05/25/92) is missing from the F4WOnline. C. This week, a big name goes to the rival promotion in the thick of the Monday Night Wars! Call my hotline now to find out the answer! – Hiroshi Hase made a surprising jump from New Japan to All Japan this week, announcing on 9/29 that he’s starting with AJPW in January. 3-28-1988. Louis Wrestling Club from running. The New Foundation beat the Orient Express in 17:18. – Van Hammer won the arm wrestling tournament, beating Ron Simmons in the finals, which Dave interprets as continuing his newfound push. Wrestling Observer Flashback–02. Mr. 04. 27th May 2016 by Scott Keith. Oh, Dave. com~!Wrestling Observer Rewind • Dec. I’m still not 100% clear on how we got from “Jim Crockett attempts to run Florida into the ground” to “Jim Crockett buys Florida and uses it as a feeder system for his own promotion”, but I’m sure we’ll get there. By Scott Keith on 22nd September 2023 Wrestling Observer Flashback – 12. And now, Dave would like to talk about PPV. 15. 87. Wrestling Observer Flashback–03. 1. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 08. 4. But goddamn is “Eyes of a Stranger. WWE Raw draws strong ratings despite historic NFL competition. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 04. He apparently gave WAR $1. Trying to power through this one before UFC 200. 94. 06. Ocr. Was shit real before? Well, it’s about to become real. 27. Hogan! Starrcade ‘87 v. 27. – Also, NBC is really sniffing around wrestling now like a dog in heat and they seem to desperately want to be in business with the WWF. Couldn’t do this one last night, because Daredevil is a thing that exists. – The WWF is on hiatus for a bit after WM, so Dave apologizes in advance for the light news week. – Interestingly, the WWF was shown to be popular with 18-25 year olds, with men twice as well represented as women. 4. 96 You know, for someone so washed up and done as a top guy, Ric Flair sure keeps winning World titles, doesn’t he? – Let us take you back to 1989, as Ric Flair came off a big year with memorable matches against Rick Steamboat and Terry Funk, but the year was a failure for Turner. – Hachiro Tanaka, the money guy behind SWS and WAR and a bunch of other groups, is reportedly tired of losing money in the wrestling business and wants out, according to the Takano brothers. Welcome to 1996 WCW, notes our teaser for this week. 5 to 2. 04. FLASH REPORT FROM THE TOKYO DOME SHOW ON 1/4! 1. Brian Pillman pinned Badstreet with a flying bodypress in the light heavyweight tournament semi-final at 6:52. There’s a big main event at the Tokyo Dome! And it sure didn’t go down how anyone expected. I just don’t think things are gonna work out for that promotion. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 08. Back in the saddle with these again. On with the week that was and one of the most famous stories in wrestling history!– Oh, also, the weekend shows set new lows for cable wrestling ratings, and that includes the WWF shows. 6. And NOW the main event! Hog Wild 96 and the introduction of the Observer Hall of Fame awaits! This one took me a little bit longer to write than last night’s quickie, obviously. 5-11-1987. 96. – Flair defended the World title on a pair of Mid-South shows in Oklahoma, but there’s no plans or indications of Watts joining the NWA. 31. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 11. He says he was promised $2,500 and they only paid him $1,500. We’re almost there! One week left! – It’s almost time for the new fall season of wrestling, and it’s a big one. 11. Wrestling Observer Flashback–02. 86. 29. (Hey, much like Bill Gates famously said…) – Back to Murray Hodgson and his case against Pat Patterson, with Vince and Pat’s depositions delayed so they could do some more legal wrangling. The suit alleges unfair competition, trademark. 3-21-1988. – In our top story, Curt Hennig has apparently reached an agreement to jump from the WWF to WCW, as an active wrestler. . 24. I like how even the editors of the Observer site are scoring off Dave with the headline on this one. 94. 96 Apparently it’s time for WCW to get rowdy. 95.