ABBYY FineReader 11. 60 and 0. – Eddie Gilbert was found dead in his apartment in Puerto Rico on 2/18, at age 33. 96 By Scott Keith on 15th September 2023 Wrestling Observer Flashback – 12. – So things are getting mighty crowded on TBS, in what would turn out to be a giant turning point for the wrestling industry. – 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. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 11. 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. – Reportedly, World champion Mike Tyson has signed with the WWF to referee a match. 19. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 10. The main event. 14. 95, which is good but well below the 2. – The WWF is on hiatus for a bit after WM, so Dave apologizes in advance for the light news week. It’s the year end awards issue! Lots to argue about here, I’m sure. 93. A January 1966 issue of Vue magazine featuring Bill Hook and his octopus-wrestling adventures in Victoria, B. Wrestling Observer Historical Pieces. Public Enemy went to a double DQ with the Nasty Boys in 4:02. 94. According to Dave’s minions, there was confusion about. I know, I know, I’ll give you a minute to let it sink in. He says he was promised $2,500 and they only paid him $1,500. 96. But don’t be fooled by the Slow News, as two major promotions actually reach their finales this week, although we didn’t realize it at the time. – To the WWF, where Wrestlemania III passed 70,000 tickets sold, officially making it the largest crowd ever to witness a wrestling show in North America. She is currently signed to WWE, where she performs on the. It's great historical reading of the rise and fall of wrestling's biggest boom period. A wrestling fan creating original content for YouTube based on my love for pro-wrestling. – Dave gets a funny bit when he notes that ever since taking over as booker, Dundee has suddenly gained amazing recuperative powers in his matches. Rude/Vader tag match, the highest rating for any wrestling match on TV in more than a year. – In the top story, the UFC has decided to drop the superfight concept after the debacle that was Shamrock v. – Over in Japan, the first ever 24 hour wrestling and martial arts network, called “Fighting TV Samurai”, launched. 94. 28. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 08. – 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. Well, one week left until the WWF really goes off a cliff. The theory at the beginning was that the “universe” would increase exponentially as more homes got PPV, but now it’s apparent that there’s a set number of wrestling fans out there who will buy these things and adding more homes doesn’t mean automatically adding the same percentage of buys. 27. 07. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 05. 03. – Dave is kind of shocked at the response to Wrestlemania, in that it was not only one of the biggest responses to a show that he’s ever had, but also there was pretty much no consensus on the quality of the show, with a fairly even split between thumbs up /. – Also on the show, Scott Norton & Tony Halme won the IWGP tag titles from the Steiner Brothers in kind of a stinker. 15. 96 (Part Two) BUT WAIT THERE’S MORE! – ECW also held their biggest show ever, the 1996 November to Remember, which was an immediate sellout of 1500 people at the ECW Arena, and Dave even attended the show! – Steve Richards pinned David Morton Tyler Jericho in 9:25, as Stevie had his. Shinjiro Otani retained the UWA junior heavyweight title pinning El Samurai. 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. Wrestling Observer Flashback–02. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 03. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 09. Jim Herd has already killed the wrestling business, and now he’s working on killing the magic business. By Scott Keith on 9th September 2016. 96. 95 I love that the teaser for this one on the site is “Hotline sleaze award winner” because really it could be ANYTHING coming out of Mean Gene’s mouth. Ah, wrestling, where one guy can beat up another guy for real and flush his head. 96. 19. 18. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 01. ”. So in fact apparently there was a shitload of wrestling fans in Chicago that weekend ready to spend money, but advantage Verne on that night. 95. I feel like that can’t be a coincidence. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 11. 22. 16. 95. 20. – Vince McMahon is apparently planning to sue Sgt. They even flew in Steve DiSalvo as part of the ring crew to. Well, sort of. Wrestling Observer Flashback–05. 95. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 06. 90. – 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. The ratings were just too low and the costs were just. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 12. But goddamn is “Eyes of a Stranger. The New Foundation beat the Orient Express in 17:18. Badd quit WCW on 3/11 after a discussion with Eric Bischoff in the airport, and will be signing with the WWF for three years. By on 9th March 2017. 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. Internet Archive HTML5 Uploader 1. 06. 96. 95. These words open the issue this week, because Wrestlemania IV is in the books and, well, it was not pretty. 94. 29. It’s kind of hard to say what to expect around here as the show has been bouncing back and forth between focusing on the Intercontinental Title feud and then the World Title situation. We’ve gotta skip all of November due to more gaps, but at least I can now promise that everything from now on is 100% complete! And we didn’t miss Starrcade. -Pro Wrestling 1983-1987. 28. Instead, in the wake of a disappointing buyrate, the decision was made to concentrate on doing better tournaments. And now, for the first time I can remember, the UFC gets the lead story. 90. Big stuff in the news this week, and the start of the biggest shift in coverage in the history of the Observer. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 12. – 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. This group will likely merge in and out with SWS and make appearances on their shows, and will have the pro wrestling ga-ga that Fujiwara wanted to work into the UWF promotion originally. 93. Dave thinks that the competition will be mostly for the better, with faster-moving storylines and better wrestling on TV. 19. – Andre’s beginnings in the sport are something of a mystery. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 09. 23, because for every viewer gained on Nitro, there was a viewer lost on Saturdays and it kind of averaged out. 16. 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. – 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. Apparently Bret Hart’s negotiations with WCW were so potentially fruitful that someone else is wanting to give it a try. – Zulu was fired from World Class for refusing to do a job to Mike Von Erich. Ken Wayne found the body after. 11th January 2017 by Scott Keith. By Scott Keith on 10th July 2016. It’s time for SUMMERSLAM! But first, the WWF is messing with their PPV schedule again. – But first, speculation is still running rampant in the wake of Ole Anderson getting fired as booker. 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. 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. 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. – 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. Bobby Eaton pinned Terrence Taylor in 15:41 with the Alabama Jam. (My joke, not Dave’s) In freezing temperatures, Crockett had his showdown with Vince, featuring the debut of the NWA in Hamilton taking on Roddy Piper’s Canadian farewell in Toronto. – All Japan on 9/17 saw the debut of former Olympic wrestler Jun Akiyama, who was pinned by Kenta Kobashi in the semi-main of the show. 01. The WWF drew 16000 and Crockett drew 3000, so point to Vince on that one. 96. Man, so people REALLY did not like that In Your House show. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 07. This hold up comes on the heels of two other major stories: Hennig is supposed to be heading to WWF, meanwhile. 96 Remember how in last week’s issue, Kevin Nash had until the weekend to make up his mind about leaving…? – In the top story, Kevin Nash officially gave notice to the WWF that he’d be accepting an offer from WCW, via phone call to Vince McMahon on 3/5. Just for fun, here’s Dave’s Summer 1984 Rankings. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 03. The low buyrate is being. 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. By Scott Keith on 18th April 2022. The idea is to combine a bunch of small promotions into the Global Wrestling Federation, with offices in five different regions, including Jarrett now officially going back into Dallas to run the USWA there again. In fact, Dave thinks that people’s hatred of the dancing gimmick is overshadowing how much he’s improved as a worker. 5 to a 2. Wrestling Observer Flashback–03. 29. 5-11-1987. By Dave Meltzer Nov 21, 2023. He was the person credited with popularizing the superplex, although he didn’t invent it. wrestlingmagazinesmisc;. )This argument includes Wrestlemania V, which is widely believed to be the highest grossing wrestling show in HISTORY. 19. 09. – 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. 0-1. . – Inoki’s business-killing freakshow ended up drawing 11,000 people for somewhere between $800,000 – $1. By Scott Keith on 1st October 2017. (Clearly Wrestlemania had not become the thing it is today, because $429 barely gets you a nosebleed seat at this point. – Speaking of wanting to be in business with them, Jimmy Hart debuts in March as Greg Valentine’s manager, and King Kong Bundy debuts to have terrible matches with Hogan. So with the year in PPV finally caught up, let us venture back to the world of 1994 again, with rumors of Hulk Hogan. The biggest story of the week is actually buried way down. – In a story that seems small but kind of ended up heralding the end of an era in wrestling, the way. Time to welcome in 2021 with everyone’s favorite blog column! And to celebrate, I’m currently three drinks in with “Best Rock of 1988” on Spotify in the background, so hopefully I’ve got lots to snark on tonight. WWE News. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 08. 21. – The really big news coming out of the first head-to-head meeting of RAW and Nitro is that WCW immediately took the lead in the ratings war, with a 2. Pillman was playing subtle heel to start and got less subtle as the match went on. 3-28-1988. 30. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 02. The PPV showdown of 1987 is upon us! It’s Vince v. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 09. 86. The taped episode of RAW wasn’t particularly different than any other one they’ve. – 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. This week is one of them. Anyway, back to 1985 again… – The big news is that the war in St. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 10. 5-4-1987. Wrestling Observer Flashback–09. By Scott Keith on 22nd September 2023 Wrestling Observer Flashback – 12. 05. So don’t be disappointed at the lack of a review here. 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. Big John Tenta pinned Koji Kitao with an elbowdrop in 6:10. (Perhaps it’s time to revamp the show a bit?) – Famous San Francisco promoter Roy Shire passed away this week, after suffering a heart attack on 9/16 and dying 10 days later in the hospital. – Dave also got to see some tapes from Puerto Rico, which gives us the Observer debut of Invader #1, aka Stabby McMurderer. 1. Daprice did every issue for the 90's through 2001. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 10. 0. 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. But don’t be fooled by the Slow News, as two major promotions actually reach their finales this week, although we didn’t realize it at the time. -. – Lead story is the WWF planning a giant stadium show in Milwaukee, which ended up being called WrestleFest 88, to basically screw with Crockett’s plans to run a Bash show the night after. OK, let’s get back into these again. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 04. This issue only has the first 4 pages, so it’ll be a truncated recap, but all the good stuff is in those pages anyway. 22. Production quality was high, the wrestling quality not so much. 91. It’s like Wrestlemania, but for NEWS. – Antonio Inoki is trying to get into the boxer v. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 08. Wrestling Observer Flashback–02. 30th August 2017 by Scott Keith. Mr. 22. Identifier-ark. 06. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 11. – To Mexico, where it looks like EMLL is about to split. Wrestling Observer Flashback–03. Ted Dibiase & Virgil beat Dusty & Dustin Rhodes at 9:57. Curiosity over Kevin’s return is. By Scott Keith on 15th March 2021. 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. By Scott Keith on 22nd August 2022. Oh, Dave. – In Mid-South, we get the first Observer mention of young rookie Sean Michaels in Mid-South, as he pins Jack Victory. 95. – The Rougeaus are telling Montreal newspapers that they’re taking a one year sabbatical from wrestling before returning late in 1990. Wrestling Observer Flashback–08. . By Scott Keith on 18th October 2016. 2. The NWA Canadian Heavyweight Championship was the top singles title in Maple Leaf Wrestling from 1978 until 1984,. – It’s COLD WAR in Toronto. 3. 3-21-1988. 94. 96. (1) Ultimate Warrior & Legion of Doom & Texas Tornado (Kerry Von Erich) beat Team Demolition & Mr. 27. 10. 88. “Hey look, it’s Joe Weider” – Not sure what that refers to, but I’m sure we’ll find out. – 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. THANKSGIVING FLASHBACK - November 23, 1972. The. And NOW the main event! Hog Wild 96 and the introduction of the Observer Hall. Wrestling Observer Flashback–10. – In our top story, Roddy Piper made a surprise debut at the end of the Halloween Havoc show, doing what Dave describes as an “undisciplined dialogue” with Hollywood Hogan that actually ran past the expiration of their PPV time. 15. 1984 Dave would chime in with “but luckily WWF isn’t wrestling” or something equally snarky, but mellower 1986. 31. Ric Flair (“He’s slowed down a bit”) 2. Steve Jennum was put into the finals as a last-minute. He wears a buffalo head to the ring and everyone backstage was making fun of his gimmick. 21. – It’s sounding like Scott Steiner will work Halloween Havoc, but won’t be doing much. 96. 21. 26. – Vince then called the show, FURIOUS about the misleading edit (POT, KETTLE, BLACK) and questioning the credibility of Bruno, who clearly had an axe to grind, and Alex Marvez, who dared to question the WWF’s commitment to testing after announcing it five times and not delivering. – The new Stampede Wrestling has already taken all but one of the WWF’s TV clearances in Western Canada, so this doesn’t seem to be a winning venture for Vince. 20 to an average of 2. Dave has no idea how successful it’ll be. Wrestling Observer Flashback–08. 96 IT’S TIME. 96 Stop me if you’ve heard this one before… – After 15 years of being the world’s biggest babyface, Hulk Hogan turned heel in the main event of WCW’s Bash at the Beach PPV in an angle that Dave thinks will be “remembered for years”. 95. 22. 24. 95. By Scott Keith on 16th December 2017. But it probably bombed because it was clearly a throwaway show. Newsletter, Magazine, Wrestling, WWF, WCW, All Japan, New Japan. *1/4. Wrestling Observer Flashback–02. 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. 03. I was actually going to redo the Halloween Havoc 90 rant based on the full PPV version that I’ve never seen…but the Network only has the Turner Home Video version. Ric Flair pinned Butch Reed in 14:13 to earn a tag title shot at Starrcade. 92 By Scott Keith on 20th March 2017 Hey, it’s another month with missing issues, as Dave has this one and the August 10 one on the site, and then it skips to September. 96. (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. 1985 Wrestling Observer Yearbook. By Scott Keith on 1st January 2021. Main event is. 96. )3. 94. com archives, and any other sources I’ve checked, so we’re skipping ahead a week. Also, ROYAL RUMBLE. 2. Buyrate looks to be between 0. 28. Heyman is making. Warrior pinned Haku with the shoulderblock and splash in 4:48. – The biggest question coming out of Wrestlemania XII is the future of Bret Hart, as he’s expected to finish the tour of Germany and then go on a hiatus until the end of the summer. 96 Apparently it’s time for WCW to get rowdy. Oh, and WCW tried to make a mini-movie and it didn’t go very well. 95. Trying to power through this one before UFC 200. And now it’s time for the MONDAY NIGHT WARS. But this week, we’ve got Summerslam to attend to. The feeling is that running a show in the traditional Sunday timeslot where live shows draw will kill off the house shows. 90. By Scott Keith on 14th March 2019. Collection. – In the top story, the WWF held a press conference, which got more attention in Mexico, to announce that Royal Rumble 97 would be held in the Alamo Dome in San. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 11. Smackdown Date: May 12, 2016 Location: Wells Fargo Arena, Des Moines, Iowa Commentators: Mauro Ranallo, Byron Saxton, Jerry Lawler. Welcome to 1996 WCW, notes our teaser for this week. 19. By Scott Keith on 19th September 2016. He literally stole Verne’s TV slot out from under him (the AWA wasn’t even told by the station until the day the show was supposed to air!) and Verne’s big show at the Cow Palace in March as a complete debacle due to scheduling. Just like in the old days, it’s a NEWSFLASH to start the issue! Well, a results flash, actually, as the Tokyo Dome show came in too late for a proper review. 04. 6. 07. 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. – In the top story, the Justice Department dropped one of the charges against Titan Sports. Gene Anderson, founding member of the Minnesota Wrecking Crew tag team died. Wrestling Observer Flashback–11. Dave sarcastically notes that “it sure turned Brett Sawyer. 18. 22. ” notes Dave. 18. – The WWF announced that the Wrestling Classic did about 60,000 buys on PPV, which was 200,000 less than their announced projections. 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”. ”. 95. 16. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 11. Wrestling Observer Flashback–02. ***1/4Wrestling Observer Flashback–03. 95. – 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. This should be good. By Scott Keith on 18th April 2022. 96. Spoiler: Dave gives WarGames 3/4. They’re owned by Jody Hamilton (Nick Patrick’s dad) and they do about 200 people per show. The first wrestling move of the match came at 10:00, which was Hogan no-selling the powerbomb and making his comeback. 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. 19. For. 5. Perfect won a battle royale in 12:55. 92. – 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. – 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. Sid actually drew pretty big on the East coast, doing 11,000 at the Nassau Coliseum and 8000 in Philly. Newsletter, Magazine, Wrestling, WWF, WCW, All Japan, New Japan. 94. Although this one is dated after the Bash ‘90 PPV, the issue is written before. – Dave relates a brief history of World Championship Wrestling, and how TBS purchased the company in 1988 despite their crippling debt. Well this was all well and good, but wrestling magazines found out about it and started publishing stories and photos, and the NWA had to go into coverup mode. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 06. – In the top story, Sports Illustrated had a story on the WWF in March, and no one in mainstream media really gave a shit. Eaton did a scary kneedrop from the top rope to the ramp outside the ring for the highlight of the match. – In the Deep South, the main guys are Wrestling II and Tommy Rich, and they run out of Georgia. Tenta was pretty over during his one appearance, so EMLL is trying to get him back. 96. By Scott Keith on 3rd October 2019. He was at the other guys’ PPVs this year taking notes, as well as New Japan and All Japan’s major shows. 14. 01.