Brian Pillman pinned Badstreet with a flying bodypress in the light heavyweight tournament semi-final at 6:52. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 12. 95. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 05. THE WAR IS ON. – San Fran is the big head-to-head battle between the AWA and WWF, and Vince won that one handily thus far. These words open the issue this week, because Wrestlemania IV is in the books and, well, it was not pretty. By Scott Keith on 24th February 2019. 1. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 09. DUD – Ric Flair still hasn’t officially signed with the WWF, but it’s a formality at this point. 22. Wrestling Observer Flashback –04. He wears a buffalo head to the ring and everyone backstage was making fun of his gimmick. C. Wolf, where. 08. 90. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 12. 29. Welcome to 1996 WCW, notes our teaser for this week. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 08. Jerry Lawler in a cage match where the loser gets his head shaved. Wish me luck! – The top story is Dave being confused by a unique gimmick match in Memphis, with Austin Idol v. 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. 96. 11. 07. – Zulu was fired from World Class for refusing to do a job to Mike Von Erich. Despite the strained relationship, Florida still bills itself as NWA wrestling. 95. – 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. 1. Andre started in the sport at the age of 12, already 6’3”, and fell in with a. The government side says it’s for “tactical reasons”, while the WWF. Nasties sold well at least. 96 (Part Two) – In the top story, “Sycle” Sid won the WWF title in the main event of the Survivor Series. – 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. Dodge Iowa. Instead, in the wake of a disappointing buyrate, the decision was made to concentrate on doing better tournaments. Wrestling Observer Flashback: 07. Pillman was a little rusty but still got an excellent match out of Wright. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 11. 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. Wrestling Observer Flashback–02. 1985 Wrestling Observer Yearbook. – The WWF is reportedly considering adding a weekly Saturday PPV show, according to trade journal reports. Publication date. 88. – 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. 27. 1986 Wrestling Observer Yearbook. By Scott Keith on 12th June 2016. -. 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. 10. ***1/4Wrestling Observer Flashback–03. Wrestling Observer Flashback–10. – The sudden fall of the company seems to stem from the ridiculous circus that was the Yoji Anjyo grandstand challenge to Rickson Gracie, with fans believing that Takada should have called out Gracie for the honor of the company. 95. Regardless of everything else, the #1 rule of wrestling in situations like this is that you ALWAYS have the babyface’s hand raised at the end of the show if you pull a major bait-and-switch like this. Terry Funk has retired. Ric Flair pinned Butch Reed in 14:13 to earn a tag title shot at Starrcade. 7th. 28. Mike stuff and get into the main event: STARRCADE ‘84. – The WWF announced that the Wrestling Classic did about 60,000 buys on PPV, which was 200,000 less than their announced projections. ”. 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. 30, 1996 (Final Post for 1996) Going through old issues of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter and posting highlights in my own words. By Scott Keith on 29th August 2016. There’s a big main event at the Tokyo Dome! And it sure didn’t go down how anyone expected. I’m actually recovering from a shoulder injury at work today but I’ll power through an Observer Flashback for you. 77, or about the same as Starrcade. Dusty missed a blind charge and got pinned by Ted for the finish, ending his WWF career. Wrestling Observer Flashback–01. – So UFC III was supposed to be another easy ride for Royce Gracie, but in fact the KING IS DEAD. 11th January 2017 by Scott Keith. 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. Was shit real before? Well, it’s about to become real. Wrestling Observer Flashback–09. 24. 95. Well, amazingly he no-showed and they had to quickly contact another local promoter for some jobbers (there were only four name guys even booked for the. – Dave sums up the last PPV of 1996 as “solid but unspectacular”. 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. – It’s sounding like Scott Steiner will work Halloween Havoc, but won’t be doing much. 14. 01. 1985. 06. Ken Wayne found the body after. Wrestling Observer Flashback–08. 19 as I try to get as much done as possible in advance. The one in 1995, although you might also assume I was talking about the NXT one recently because that one wasn’t great either. Well it’s been two months. ABBYY FineReader 11. 06. Wrestling Observer Flashback–08. Rants. com~!Wrestling Observer Rewind • Dec. 8 this week. Get all the news from F4WOnline. 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. This hold up comes on the heels of two other major stories: Hennig is supposed to be heading to WWF, meanwhile. – So things are getting mighty crowded on TBS, in what would turn out to be a giant turning point for the wrestling industry. Mid Atlantic Gateway and Wrestling Observer historical files. 96. Newsletter, Magazine, Wrestling, WWF, WCW, All Japan, New Japan. 567. While it seemingly wasn’t a major milestone in his life at that. 96. Perfect won a battle royale in 12:55. By on 9th March 2017. WWE News. Most of the match was Hunter working the arm and going for a cross-armbreaker, which neither Vince nor Jerry had any idea how to call. It’s a patented Slow News Week as we head into Summerslam, but the issue is still 10 pages. 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. – Dave notes that speaking of network TV, ABC was filming an episode of 20/20 at the MSG show, and one of the reporters asked Dr. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 08. 27. 26. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 08. wrestling business himself, negotiating with Buster Douglas for a Tokyo Dome show in March. 03. The low buyrate is being. 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. 95. 96. 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. They even flew in Steve DiSalvo as part of the ring crew to. Wrestling Observer Flashback–09. 09. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 04. 95. Wrestling Observer Flashback–03. 01. 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. 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. 96 IT’S TIME. 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 – 08. *. THANKSGIVING FLASHBACK - November 23, 1972. 2. 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. 92. – Also on the show, Scott Norton & Tony Halme won the IWGP tag titles from the Steiner Brothers in kind of a stinker. – Fall Brawl was great undercard wrestling, bad main event, and booking filled with more holes than Swiss Cheese. 2. 15. Wrestling Observer Flashback–05. Hogan! Starrcade ‘87 v. 96. 16. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 10. 90. NEXT WEEK: The Monday Night War begins. 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. 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 – 11. 28. The previous record was 69,000 for the Big Event. Indie wrestler Rockin' Rebel got a tryout at the tapings, and apparently upset Razor Ramon backstage because he was using some of Razor's mannerisms in the ring. Crockett! Dusty v. (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. The Road Warriors beat the Midnight Express in a scaffold match in 3:00, which kind of ruins their videotape business, Dave thinks. Ocr. 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. By Scott Keith on 18th October 2016. Pillman was playing subtle heel to start and got less subtle as the match went on. 86. 96. 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. Tenryu as the main event of a show on 2/7. Piper on top. By Scott Keith on 19th April 2016. 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. Dave thinks that the WWF is turning into more of a circus of litigation than a wrestling company. – 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. By Scott Keith on 22nd August 2022. 96. It's great historical reading of the rise and fall of wrestling's biggest boom period. 19. – 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. Wrestling Observer Flashback–07. No one tell Donald Trump. By Scott Keith on 27th October 2016. The Vancouver version of the NWA Pacific Coast Heavyweight Championship was the major singles title in two National Wrestling Alliance-affiliated Vancouver territories. Here’s a shocking story to start this week’s issue: Dave is a really big fan of New Japan Pro Wrestling. OK, let’s try this one more time. Bruiser Brody (“Nobody gives an aura of violent realism. – 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. 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,. 96 (Part Two) – In the top story, “Sycle” Sid won the WWF title in the main event of the Survivor Series. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 11. – Dave proclaims that no promotion is any hotter here in 1996, with more mainstream popularity, than NJPW is. Until then, there’s the Clash! – Dave was in Japan for DreamSlam (very short version: It was an amazing show) and missed the Clash of Champions from Jacksonville, but to say it wasn’t well received would be an. – 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. Rude/Vader tag match, the highest rating for any wrestling match on TV in more than a year. 16. But first! An update on the Shawn Michaels incident in Syracuse. Ric Flair (“He’s slowed down a bit”) 2. The main event saw Tito Santana beating Bob Orton for the newly created AWF title in a *3/4 match. And since “long term thinking” these days is “three. A January 1966 issue of Vue magazine featuring Bill Hook and his octopus-wrestling adventures in Victoria, B. 18. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 09. 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. ) An industry shaking death in this issue, but. – 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. At the latest WWF tapings, a guy named Mantaur debuted. A wrestling fan creating original content for YouTube based on my love for pro-wrestling. The grand plan for five days a week has been dropped and ESPN will air reruns of Pro Wrestling This Week instead. 96. – Art Barr’s petition for a wrestling license was denied by the commission once again. 15th September 2023 by Scott Keith Rants Wrestling Observer Flashback – 12. 15. – 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 /. Identifier-ark. 12. He does 100 but we’ll just do the top 10 because otherwise I’d have to break this up into 5 parts instead of 2. Obviously, doctors gave him some mumbo-jumbo diagnosis about “severe spinal disc and sciatic nerve damage”, and. He was the person credited with popularizing the superplex, although he didn’t invent it. 90. Spoiler: Dave gives WarGames 3/4. Dave runs down the TV shows over the past month and it’s all classic stuff, like the Magnum TA-Mr. I just don’t think things are gonna work out for that promotion. 94. 4. – It’s COLD WAR in Toronto. *1/4. By Scott Keith on 18th April 2022. In fact, even today I’m not sure that those title switches are counted as part of the “real” count of Flair’s title reigns because the NWA did such a bang-up job of denial that. The TNT show is dropping rapidly, which shows that the new audience of freakshow fans is far less than the loyal wrestling fans who choose not to watch that one. Dave has no idea how successful it’ll be. Eaton did a scary kneedrop from the top rope to the ramp outside the ring for the highlight of the match. 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. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 12. 3. “Which is great for wrestling, I guess. 96 September 9, 2023; Morning Daily News Update September 9, 2023; Mike Reviews WWE Capitol Punishment 2011 September 9, 2023; Question September 9, 2023; Jey Uso trade to Raw September 9, 2023; Weekend Wrestling! September 9, 2023Wrestling Observer Flashback–12. Well, one week left until the WWF really goes off a cliff. The New Foundation beat the Orient Express in 17:18. Dave sarcastically notes that “it sure turned Brett Sawyer. 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. 87. Oh, Dave. So let’s take a look at what’s going on in the international scene!6. 95. 01. – Dave also got to see some tapes from Puerto Rico, which gives us the Observer debut of Invader #1, aka Stabby McMurderer. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 10. – Van Hammer won the arm wrestling tournament, beating Ron Simmons in the finals, which Dave interprets as continuing his newfound push. Daprice did every issue for the 90's through 2001. history-of-wcw. 19. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 10. – Dave’s opening salvo this week: “After its television show reached a new low in. 05. 10-21-1991. Owen won with a Rocket Launcher on Tanaka. – To Mexico, where it looks like EMLL is about to split. 1984 Dave would chime in with “but luckily WWF isn’t wrestling” or something equally snarky, but mellower 1986. Wrestling Observer Rewind ★ Dec. Wrestling Observer Flashback–08. Wrestling Observer Flashback–06. ”. 11-4-1991. It’s time for SUMMERSLAM! But first, the WWF is messing with their PPV schedule again. 19. Steve Jennum was put into the finals as a last-minute. 23. 0. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 06. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 07. Flair’s contract was scheduled to be terminated as of 08/01, and Flair was scheduled to drop the WCW World title to Barry Windham on 7/1 in Macon, GA. Newsletter, Magazine, Wrestling, WWF, WCW, All Japan, New Japan. 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. Wrestling Observer Flashback–10. 04. By Scott Keith on 4th June 2016. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 08. ” notes Dave. Raw drew its best 18-49 number since the start of football season. 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. 28. 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. 5 million as a startup amount and NOW got $480,000, and once they’ve blown through that, he’s done. 95. on November 22, 1990 – “Survivor Series ’90. – 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. 94. Mr. The ratings were just too low and the costs were just. Jack Petrik would have to wage war against the WWF and spent lots of money to win, and it. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 12. 16. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 12. – In the Deep South, the main guys are Wrestling II and Tommy Rich, and they run out of Georgia. – 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. Continue reading. Guess it’s time for another one of these. 02. 03. Lots of people have claimed to have discovered him, for example. So with the year in PPV finally caught up, let us venture back to the world of 1994 again, with rumors of Hulk Hogan. 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. 06. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 11. 96. Curiosity over Kevin’s return is. Wrestling Observer Flashback–12. By Scott Keith on 22nd September 2023 Wrestling Observer Flashback – 12. – 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. 14. 01. – In the top story, Sports Illustrated had a story on the WWF in March, and no one in mainstream media really gave a shit. 93. – 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. Topics. We’re almost there! One week left! – It’s almost time for the new fall season of wrestling, and it’s a big one. 95. 24. 6. He apparently gave WAR $1. 93. I’m giddy. Not by putting on a better product or drawing more money, but by signing one of their soon-to-be-ubiquitous exclusivity contracts with the Kiel Auditorium and thus preventing the NWA-affiliated St. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 10. – As the date of his trail approached and the firestorm of publicity continued unabated, Barr managed to plea bargain down to first degree sexual abuse with 180 hours of community service and 2. Tickets are 45,000 yen, which translates to $429, aka the most expensive wrestling tickets in history. 09. Gene Anderson, founding member of the Minnesota Wrecking Crew tag team died. 26, 1994 (Final Post for 1994) Going through old issues of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter and posting highlights in my own words. Heyman is making. 88. 21. Wrestling Observer Flashback–02. – In Mid-South, we get the first Observer mention of young rookie Sean Michaels in Mid-South, as he pins Jack Victory. 96 Apparently it’s time for WCW to get rowdy. I’ve noticed a sudden uptick in 1985-related questions on the Wrestling Observer radio show lately. *. Which is still 10 pages long. Winner of the 2016 Doomie Award for Favorite Blog Post!. Well this should do better than NWA Powerrr at least. 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 – 05. 14. 16. So you picked a great time to start reading! – In the top story, Jerry Lawler was accused of being a very, very bad boy. ark:/13960/t2z39wg7w. Observer Flashbacks; Wrestling Observer Flashback–04. 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. )3. 28. 23. Bobby Eaton pinned Terrence Taylor in 15:41 with the Alabama Jam. 48 buyrate (120,000 buys) for the Great American Bash in June, with WWF doing 0. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 10. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 10. Also, ROYAL RUMBLE. Wrestling Observer / Figure Four. 15.