It drew a legit sellout of 5708 to West Palm Beach. 95. 02. Manuel Cruz (Jose Gonzalez) b Beauregarde;. The Best of the Wrestling Observer-Greatest matches of the Observer years-15 most influential wrestlers of the past five. Addeddate. 92 By Scott Keith on 16th February 2017 Hey, I picked up a Nintendo DSi XL for $60 (Canadian) from EBGames and it’s pretty rad. 8 this week. They even flew in Steve DiSalvo as part of the ring crew to. Louis Wrestling Club from running. 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. 96. 5 to 2. Public Enemy went to a double DQ with the Nasty Boys in 4:02. 96. ) An industry shaking death in this issue, but. By Scott Keith on 15th March 2021. 77, or about the same as Starrcade. These words open the issue this week, because Wrestlemania IV is in the books and, well, it was not pretty. on November 22, 1990 – “Survivor Series ’90. 19. Wrestling Observer Flashback–02. 95. 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. And since “long term thinking” these days is “three. 30. 90. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 08. The PPV showdown of 1987 is upon us! It’s Vince v. – 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. – But first, speculation is still running rampant in the wake of Ole Anderson getting fired as booker. 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. – 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. 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. For. ”) 3. *1/2. Sacramento Memorial Auditorium. 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. 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. 96. This hold up comes on the heels of two other major stories: Hennig is supposed to be heading to WWF, meanwhile. 02. 27th May 2016 by Scott Keith. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 08. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 08. 95. *. 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 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. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 11. 0 number predicted by. 22. 01. Heyman is making. I feel like that can’t be a coincidence. So let’s take a look at what’s going on in the international scene!6. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 12. – There’s very little going on due to Christmas, but Jerry Lawler did regain the USWA title from Koko B. Kayfabe Commentaries Releases Newest Installment of Their “Supercard” Series. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 03. 5-4-1987. OK, let’s try this one more time. – It’s sounding like Scott Steiner will work Halloween Havoc, but won’t be doing much. 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. 28. Identifier-ark. 19. Well, sort of. 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. Man, so people REALLY did not like that In Your House show. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 05. Wrestling Observer Flashback–04. 96. Wrestling Observer Flashback–11. – We’ll skip past the Mr. 90. – Interestingly, the WWF was shown to be popular with 18-25 year olds, with men twice as well represented as women. 16. DUD – Ric Flair still hasn’t officially signed with the WWF, but it’s a formality at this point. C. Bobby Eaton pinned Terrence Taylor in 15:41 with the Alabama Jam. Papa Shango ran in for the DQ, and Ultimate Warrior made the save, complete with entrance music. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 01. – 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 1997 Observer Rewind shall resume this on Aug. 21. Oh, Dave. 2 million, making it the largest gate in pro wrestling history. – In Mid-South, we get the first Observer mention of young rookie Sean Michaels in Mid-South, as he pins Jack Victory. 94. Spoiler: Dave gives WarGames 3/4. Chip screwed up early, but it was decent by the end. 95. Wolf, where. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 02. Mr. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 06. 94. 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. But I think it’s a pretty famous case of hotline sleaze related to Blackwell’s death. A January 1966 issue of Vue magazine featuring Bill Hook and his octopus-wrestling adventures in Victoria, B. – Inoki’s business-killing freakshow ended up drawing 11,000 people for somewhere between $800,000 – $1. At 4:00, Warrior splashed Demolition Axe. – 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. Maybe if I skim over the Eddie Gilbert stuff it’ll get done easier. 19. Daprice did every issue for the 90's through 2001. Despite the strained relationship, Florida still bills itself as NWA wrestling. Although this one is dated after the Bash ‘90 PPV, the issue is written before. I’m giddy. Newsletter, Magazine, Wrestling, WWF, WCW, All Japan, New Japan. 3. The government side says it’s for “tactical reasons”, while the WWF. The WWF drew 16000 and Crockett drew 3000, so point to Vince on that one. 03. ”This is horrible, Gorilla. By Scott Keith on 19th April 2016. It’s the year end awards issue! Lots to argue about here, I’m sure. Wrestling Observer Flashback–09. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 08. Owen won with a Rocket Launcher on Tanaka. By Scott Keith on 14th August 2016. 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. Smackdown Date: May 12, 2016 Location: Wells Fargo Arena, Des Moines, Iowa Commentators: Mauro Ranallo, Byron Saxton, Jerry Lawler. 18. They’re owned by Jody Hamilton (Nick Patrick’s dad) and they do about 200 people per show. 19. 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. 7th. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 08. 96. 92. He was at the other guys’ PPVs this year taking notes, as well as New Japan and All Japan’s major shows. The Twin Towers beat the Rockers at 8:02 when Akeem splashed and pinned Michaels. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 08. 11. – 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. 24. 88. The Road Warriors beat the Midnight Express in a scaffold match in 3:00, which kind of ruins their videotape business, Dave thinks. The one in 1995, although you might also assume I was talking about the NXT one recently because that one wasn’t great either. 25. Wrestling Observer Flashback–05. – 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. 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. NWA Canadian Heavyweight Championship. Scanner. Rants. It’s a patented Slow News Week as we head into Summerslam, but the issue is still 10 pages. 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. Wrestling Observer Flashback–08. Slaughter for “stealing the character”. 20. 3-28-1988. Eaton did a scary kneedrop from the top rope to the ramp outside the ring for the highlight of the match. The first wrestling move of the match came at 10:00, which was Hogan no-selling the powerbomb and making his comeback. The previous record was 69,000 for the Big Event. 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. – 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. It’s just getting to be too much work to do the bookkeeping and maintenance for 800 people instead of 200, especially when he’s already got a full-time job now as editor for a soccer magazine. Wrestling Observer Historical Pieces. 1985 Wrestling Observer Yearbook. 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. Dusty missed a blind charge and got pinned by Ted for the finish, ending his WWF career. 96. – In Japan, SWS continues to alienate Japanese wrestling fans by booking WARLORD v. 94. Daprice did every issue for the 90's through 2001. – Dave sums up the last PPV of 1996 as “solid but. 95. It’s week 3 of the WWF title being held hostage by Diesel! But don’t worry, this can’t possibly last very long. 89. – Another quiet week in the world of wrestling, as we’re waiting for Starrcade and Superdome results. Wrestling Observer Flashback–06. – Art Barr’s petition for a wrestling license was denied by the commission once again. – Also on the show, Scott Norton & Tony Halme won the IWGP tag titles from the Steiner Brothers in kind of a stinker. 95. – In a story that seems small but kind of ended up heralding the end of an era in wrestling, the way. 5. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 10. 01. 48 buyrate (120,000 buys) for the Great American Bash in June, with WWF doing 0. 95. 26. 16. 95. Identifier-ark. For It’s Time. Marc Mero pinned Hunter Hearst Helmsley in 16:23. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 11. 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. Ric Flair (“He’s slowed down a bit”) 2. 22. 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. 2. Production quality was high, the wrestling quality not so much. *. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 10. 96 Can I make it more than. The. THE WAR IS ON. At one point, UWFI was one of the biggest success stories in wrestling, and in 1993, they drew 46,000 fans to a. 20. Inoki pinned Leon Spinks in the eighth round of whatever their match was supposed to be, cradling him after a double-leg and getting a five count. 05. 23, because for every viewer gained on Nitro, there was a viewer lost on Saturdays and it kind of averaged out. 96 IT’S TIME. – Latest figures are in, and WCW is looking like a 0. 0 (Extended OCR) Ppi. By Scott Keith on 10th July 2016. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 12. Wrestling Observer Flashback–08. I’m actually recovering from a shoulder injury at work today but I’ll power through an Observer Flashback for you. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 04. This isn’t unique in itself, but if Idol. Dave sarcastically notes that “it sure turned Brett Sawyer. Internet Archive HTML5 Uploader 1. 10-21-1991. (Clearly Wrestlemania had not become the thing it is today, because $429 barely gets you a nosebleed seat at this point. – 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. Dave also lists the match with the Rock N Roll Express v. Davey Boy Smith (“Athletically the best in the business. ark:/13960/s2tmw3h1hz8. 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. By Scott Keith on 18th October 2016. – 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. 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. Louis is finally over, and the WWF has won. – Kevin Sullivan is a road agent now and appears done with wrestling. *. Pillman was a little rusty but still got an excellent match out of Wright. 94. 86. Wrestling Observer Flashback–03. Rude/Vader tag match, the highest rating for any wrestling match on TV in more than a year. 7. 10. See if you can guess when we get to it. – Reportedly, World champion Mike Tyson has signed with the WWF to referee a match. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 08. 25. I’m not. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 12. Well, one week left until the WWF really goes off a cliff. Specifically, advertisers look at stuff like this and use it to justify their already terrible ad rates for pro wrestling shows. – 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. 06. 24. 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. 09. . *1/4. . Wrestling Observer Flashback – 09. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 05. Welcome to 1996 WCW, notes our teaser for this week. 03. This should be good. 2. But this week, we’ve got Summerslam to attend to. Back on track after our detour back to March yesterday. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 11. 95. Wrestling Observer Flashback–05. 28. – 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. I guess I’ll just be typing one-handed. – And now, let’s talk about pay-per-view. – Over in Japan, the first ever 24 hour wrestling and martial arts network, called “Fighting TV Samurai”, launched. Bruiser Brody (“Nobody gives an aura of violent realism. 96. 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. – 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. Terry Funk has retired. 04. – 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. 96. 16. Raw drew its best 18-49 number since the start of football season. 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. Baba apparently has plans to give Akiyama a major push down the line. history-of-wcw. – Van Hammer won the arm wrestling tournament, beating Ron Simmons in the finals, which Dave interprets as continuing his newfound push. 01. 02. 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. The match died once Flair went out. By Scott Keith on 9th September 2016. And now it’s time for the MONDAY NIGHT WARS. 14. – 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. 94. 16. – 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. 05. Wrestling Observer Flashback–01. 96. Baba had actually been. 22. 21. Oh, and WCW tried to make a mini-movie and it didn’t go very well. – In the top story, the UFC has decided to drop the superfight concept after the debacle that was Shamrock v. com archives, and any other sources I’ve checked, so we’re skipping ahead a week. – The WWF is on hiatus for a bit after WM, so Dave apologizes in advance for the light news week. 96. ***1/4Wrestling Observer Flashback–03. Curiosity over Kevin’s return is. 19. 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. Dave thinks that the competition will be mostly for the better, with faster-moving storylines and better wrestling on TV. Rants. 94. We’re almost there! One week left! – It’s almost time for the new fall season of wrestling, and it’s a big one. Wrestling Observer Flashback–11. 90. 60 and 0. – Dave’s opening salvo this week: “After its television show reached a new low in. By Scott Keith on 1st June 2019. 03. Warrior pinned Haku with the shoulderblock and splash in 4:48. Andre started in the sport at the age of 12, already 6’3”, and fell in with a. Topics. 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. Topics. There’s a big main event at the Tokyo Dome! And it sure didn’t go down how anyone expected. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 08. ). 30th August 2017 by Scott Keith. Mike stuff and get into the main event: STARRCADE ‘84. And here we had gone for almost two months without a death. Back to the trenches after taking Friday off! And the big story this week is an abject lesson in John Lennon’s famous saying, “Life is what happens to you when you’re busy making other plans”. 23. 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. 22. 06. 2022-03-05 07:34:36. By Scott Keith on 7th March 2017. com & WrestlingObserver. The low buyrate is being. – Anyway, moving on. Also, the fears about Sting winning the IWGP title from Muta proved unfounded, as Muta retained in a disappointing match where he was trying to be The Great Muta instead of Keiji Muto. But goddamn is “Eyes of a Stranger. 5-11-1987. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 10. This week is one of them. A total brawl with great heat, although the DQ was called for no apparent reason. 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. Tickets are 45,000 yen, which translates to $429, aka the most expensive wrestling tickets in history. – 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. – In the top story, the Justice Department dropped one of the charges against Titan Sports. 28. OK, let’s get back into these again. 96. 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. – 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. I like how even the editors of the Observer site are scoring off Dave with the headline on this one. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 02. Wrestling Observer Flashback–02. Ocr. Wrestling Observer Flashback–02. 87. 20. – The Sheik did an extremely rare job, submitting to Onita’s boston crab in just 3:18 at the latest FMW show. The show would air live every Saturday night, from New York, and would cater heavily to an. 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. *3/4. Nasties sold well at least.