95. 04. 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. (1) Ultimate Warrior & Legion of Doom & Texas Tornado (Kerry Von Erich) beat Team Demolition & Mr. Louis Wrestling Club from running. 96. Ware on 12/14, as expected. – We’ll skip past the Mr. – 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. Papa Shango ran in for the DQ, and Ultimate Warrior made the save, complete with entrance music. 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. Steve Jennum was put into the finals as a last-minute. Wrestling Observer Flashback–11. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 06. Wrestlemania III was the best wrestling. 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 realize it at the time. So don’t be disappointed at the lack of a review here. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 08. Shinjiro Otani retained the UWA junior heavyweight title pinning El Samurai. tesseract 5. 24. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 01. 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. 07. 16. 95. – 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. Dave, however, cites the court case of Boy v. – 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. Main event is. 2 victory. Internet Archive HTML5 Uploader 1. ”This is horrible, Gorilla. Collection. The low buyrate is being. Warlord won a battle royale by tossing out Ricky Steamboat. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 08. history-of-wcw. By Scott Keith on 5th February 2016. 15. – The Wrestling Classic, scheduled to be the first ever nationally available PPV show, will feature a 16 man tournament, plus Hogan v. Wrestling Observer Flashback–09. Although this one is dated after the Bash ‘90 PPV, the issue is written before. – The Rougeaus are telling Montreal newspapers that they’re taking a one year sabbatical from wrestling before returning late in 1990. Wrestling Observer Historical Pieces. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 02. 07. *3/4. At the latest WWF tapings, a guy named Mantaur debuted. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 07. – 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. 1985 Wrestling Observer Yearbook. 18. 77, or about the same as Starrcade. 96 Can I make it more than. Dave thinks it was counterproductive to kill off the Rockers like that. For It’s Time. The 1997 Observer Rewind shall resume this on Aug. Well, that probably won’t happen again for a while. 03. Manuel Cruz (Jose Gonzalez) b Beauregarde;. 23. The ratings were just too low and the costs were just. Crockett! Dusty v. Sid actually drew pretty big on the East coast, doing 11,000 at the Nassau Coliseum and 8000 in Philly. This isn’t unique in itself, but if Idol. Marc Mero pinned Hunter Hearst Helmsley in 16:23. I’ve noticed a sudden uptick in 1985-related questions on the Wrestling Observer radio show lately. The WWF drew 16000 and Crockett drew 3000, so point to Vince on that one. It was basically just a backdrop for the Virgil babyface turn. Gene Anderson, founding member of the Minnesota Wrecking Crew tag team died. 96 IT’S TIME. Just like the Untouchables, if you sign two of ours to a guaranteed contract, we sign one of yours to a guaranteed contract! And his hot wife! – Johnny B. 28. 90. 94. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 01. 09. 6. The match died once Flair went out. Wrestling Observer Flashback–12. 89. Dave is pretty sure Gonzalez will draw as long as he’s never allowed to touch anyone ever. – 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. 96. 95. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 11. 88. 22. I’m giddy. 05. Bruiser Brody (“Nobody gives an aura of violent realism. No one tell Donald Trump. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 12. Wrestling Observer Flashback–02. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 04. It’s a patented Slow News Week as we head into Summerslam, but the issue is still 10 pages. 21,499 likes · 18,642 talking about this. 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. 16. 96. 1984 Dave would chime in with “but luckily WWF isn’t wrestling” or something equally snarky, but mellower 1986. 27. Just for fun, here’s Dave’s Summer 1984 Rankings. Kayfabe Commentaries Releases Newest Installment of Their “Supercard” Series. – 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. GROUP #2: Nobuhiko Takada is forming the UWFi (Union of Pro Wrestling Force International) and they’ll also be running Korakuen Hall, in May, and. – In an understatement, Dave notes that the babyface side in the WWF is in a state of disarray, what with Scott Hall about to jump to WCW in late May once all his contractual stuff ends. It's a recap of the old issues of Dave Meltzer's Wrestling Observer Newsletter. 21. 95. By Scott Keith on 27th October 2016. – Dave sums up the last PPV of 1996 as “solid but unspectacular”. Anyway, back to 1985 again… – The big news is that the war in St. – 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. The suit alleges unfair competition, trademark. – In Japan, SWS continues to alienate Japanese wrestling fans by booking WARLORD v. – So, Dave says goodbye and announces that this is the final issue of the Observer. 95. 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. 11-4-1991. 14. 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. They’re exclusively running small towns on the far Northern island of Japan, and mostly using lucha libre guys, which the mainstream papers didn’t really get. 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. A total brawl with great heat, although the DQ was called for no apparent reason. Wrestling Observer Flashback–07. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 08. Wrestling Observer Live: RAW report, War Games, Randy Orton, ratings and more By Bryan Alvarez Nov 21, 2023 DragonKingKarl Classic Wrestling Show: The history of. Owen Hart was the second-best star of the show after Flair. – Also on the show, Scott Norton & Tony Halme won the IWGP tag titles from the Steiner Brothers in kind of a stinker. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 12. 87. 96. Andre started in the sport at the age of 12, already 6’3”, and fell in with a. – 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. A wrestling fan creating original content for YouTube based on my love for pro-wrestling. -Pro Wrestling 1983-1987. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 03. 86. -The Mondo 19 most intriguing personalities of ‘86-30 key pro wrestling personalities of ‘86 with quick bios-Observer Awards, leading news stories of. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 09. – 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. 0 number predicted by. – Anyway, moving on. 03. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 03. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 12. 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. (Clearly Wrestlemania had not become the thing it is today, because $429 barely gets you a nosebleed seat at this point. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 03. Um, never mind. 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. By Scott Keith on 1st October 2017. So you picked a great time to start reading! – In the top story, Jerry Lawler was accused of being a very, very bad boy. – It’s COLD WAR in Toronto. Wrestling Flashback publishes wrestling list videos, top 10’s, the history of classic. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 05. By Scott Keith on 16th December 2017. Wolf, where. Wrestling Observer Flashback–09. 27. – 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. Lex Luger jumped out of the final mystery box to attack Sting, injuring the wrong leg (Instinct on Luger’s part due to all his lucha libre experience, Dave notes) but it was a pretty great angle. 86. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 10. It's great historical reading of the rise and fall of wrestling's biggest boom period. 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. Dave thinks that the WWF is turning into more of a circus of litigation than a wrestling company. 16. Back in the saddle with these again. Bobby Eaton pinned Chip the Firebreaker in 4:52 with a back suplex. 93. 96. 96. Terry Funk has retired. 94. -. 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. 96. 28. 95. Dave thinks that the competition will be mostly for the better, with faster-moving storylines and better wrestling on TV. Mid Atlantic Gateway and Wrestling Observer historical files. By Scott Keith on 15th March 2021. 95. So after Masa Chono won the NWA title tournament, Thesz did a press conference for UWFI where he agreed to award his old NWA World title belt to the winner of the UWFI World title match between Takada and Gary. Dodge Iowa. Also, the Rock & Wrestling Connection was all his idea and he had to convince Vince to play “Eye of the Tiger” as his entrance theme in 1984. Oh, and WCW tried to make a mini-movie and it didn’t go very well. And since “long term thinking” these days is “three. 10-21-1991. – 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. Wrestling Observer Flashback–02. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 09. Michaels worked his ass off, although it came out later that he was hungover and stoned at the time. Current talk is a rematch with Shawn Michaels at Summerslam in a ladder. Dave notes we. Trying to power through this one before UFC 200. Raw drew its best 18-49 number since the start of football season. Mike stuff and get into the main event: STARRCADE ‘84. 86. It's a recap of the old issues of Dave Meltzer's Wrestling Observer Newsletter. 95. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 01. By Scott Keith on 9th November 2017. By Scott Keith on 1st June 2019. 18. – Latest figures are in, and WCW is looking like a 0. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 11. Also, be sure to check out the SquaredCircle subreddit, where some dude is RIPPING OFF MY. Tickets are 45,000 yen, which translates to $429, aka the most expensive wrestling tickets in history. – In the top story, Sports Illustrated had a story on the WWF in March, and no one in mainstream media really gave a shit. – 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. It’s like Wrestlemania, but for NEWS. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 11. He’ll return for real on 11/20, but will be false advertised as appearing in tag team matches on the road against the Enforcers and subbed out when the show starts. 02. 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. 96. This hold up comes on the heels of two other major stories: Hennig is supposed to be heading to WWF, meanwhile. 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. Wrestling Observer Flashback–05. Obviously, doctors gave him some mumbo-jumbo diagnosis about “severe spinal disc and sciatic nerve damage”, and. The feeling is that running a show in the traditional Sunday timeslot where live shows draw will kill off the house shows. 0 (Extended OCR) Ppi. Wrestling Observer Flashback–04. 19. Rants. – 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. 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. Wrestling Observer Flashback–02. Curiosity over Kevin’s return is. 06. Dave sarcastically notes that “it sure turned Brett Sawyer. 06. 30, 1996 (Final Post for 1996) Going through old issues of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter and posting highlights in my own words. 19. Ric Flair (“He’s slowed down a bit”) 2. 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”. 22. 11. Newsletter, Magazine, Wrestling, WWF, WCW, All Japan, New Japan. (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. 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. – But first, speculation is still running rampant in the wake of Ole Anderson getting fired as booker. as they did a matinee taping of the new Sunday edition of World Championship Wrestling in Atlanta, then did a show in Columbus GA, then finally. Louis is finally over, and the WWF has won. 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. 23. 1. Also, ROYAL RUMBLE. – It’s sounding like Scott Steiner will work Halloween Havoc, but won’t be doing much. Winner of the 2016 Doomie Award for Favorite Blog Post!. I like how even the editors of the Observer site are scoring off Dave with the headline on this one. By Scott Keith on 24th July 2019. Production quality was high, the wrestling quality not so much. Rants. Wrestling Observer Flashback–06. So apparently the WrestleWar 92 issue (05/25/92) is missing from the F4WOnline. 14. Ah, wrestling, where one guy can beat up another guy for real and flush his head in the toilet for riding with his ex-girlfriend and people are just like “Eh,. 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. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 03. 1986 Wrestling Observer Yearbook. 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. 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. – Another quiet week in the world of wrestling, as we’re waiting for Starrcade and Superdome results. 3. – Dave’s opening salvo this week: “After its television show reached a new low in. Maybe if I skim over the Eddie Gilbert stuff it’ll get done easier. -. 11th January 2017 by Scott Keith. -. 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. 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. – Whereas most people had to stand around on the beach and had a lousy view of the ring, rest easy knowing that there was a set of bleachers reserved for employees of Slim Jim. Identifier-ark. 7. Pillman was playing subtle heel to start and got less subtle as the match went on. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 12. 88. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 11. Wrestling Observer Flashback–08. 94. 95. 31. Wrestling Observer Flashback–04. Public Enemy went to a double DQ with the Nasty Boys in 4:02. – Brad Armstrong will be coming back again, this time as the Candy Man, who throws candy to the kids as his gimmick. 25. 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. Piper on top. A January 1966 issue of Vue magazine featuring Bill Hook and his octopus-wrestling adventures in Victoria, B. *. 90. Bryan Alvarez and Mike Sempervive talk about the biggest news in wrestling! Wrestling Observer Live podcast on demand - Wrestling Observer Live is among the most popular wrestling shows in the world. Welcome to 1996 WCW, notes our teaser for this week. Rude/Vader tag match, the highest rating for any wrestling match on TV in more than a year. I know, I know, what a bombshell. By Scott Keith on 18th April 2022. 15th September 2023 by Scott Keith Rants Wrestling Observer Flashback – 12. – On the bright side, Warrior v. 2. – Jim Crockett’s promotion was down to 575 people on 12/3, with a main event of Kevin Von Erich & Chris Adams over Dick Murdoch & Black Bart. 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. Scanner. – In Mid-South, we get the first Observer mention of young rookie Sean Michaels in Mid-South, as he pins Jack Victory. 16. Ric Flair pinned Butch Reed in 14:13 to earn a tag title shot at Starrcade. 19. 20. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 08. 5 to 2. By Scott Keith on 14th March 2019. ) – The rumor mill continues to churn around the idea that Dusty Rhodes and his $300,000 / year salary will be cut at the end of the year. Wrestling Observer Flashback–05. Wrestling Observer Flashback–03. ABBYY FineReader 11. 96. ark:/13960/t2z39wg7w. 04. 27th May 2016 by Scott Keith. – 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. He says he was promised $2,500 and they only paid him $1,500. Nasties sold well at least. – Reportedly, World champion Mike Tyson has signed with the WWF to referee a match. 04. – 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. Tenryu as the main event of a show on 2/7. See if you can guess when we get to it. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 11. The Road Warriors beat the Midnight Express in a scaffold match in 3:00, which kind of ruins their videotape business, Dave thinks. 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. 3. The government side says it’s for “tactical reasons”, while the WWF. 14. 11. Well, sort of. – 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. By Scott Keith on 18th April 2022. 08. Wrestling Observer Flashback: 07. – 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. 22. 11. Couldn’t do this one last night, because Daredevil is a thing that exists. 94. Topics. This week is one of them. Hogan! Starrcade ‘87 v. 18. 13. 10-28-1991. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 08. 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. Wrestling Observer Flashback–10. – In the top story, the UFC has decided to drop the superfight concept after the debacle that was Shamrock v.