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. Warlord won a battle royale by tossing out Ricky Steamboat. 07. 87. 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. By Scott Keith on 19th April 2016. 95. Baba apparently has plans to give Akiyama a major push down the line. Tenta was pretty over during his one appearance, so EMLL is trying to get him back. THE WAR IS ON. Identifier-ark. 22. Sacramento Memorial Auditorium. Kayfabe Commentaries Releases Newest Installment of Their “Supercard” Series. They’re owned by Jody Hamilton (Nick Patrick’s dad) and they do about 200 people per show. 89. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 06. Spoiler: Dave gives WarGames 3/4. 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. Guys, it sounds like the Diamond Studd will soon be appearing in WCW again! We’ll see how that goes for them. 94. 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. By Scott Keith on 14th March 2019. 26. 31. Lots of people have claimed to have discovered him, for example. And now it’s time for the MONDAY NIGHT WARS. – Although the WWF had “by far” the superior show, WCW won the ratings battle with a 2. (This is why Dave needs an editor. It’s a patented Slow News Week as we head into Summerslam, but the issue is still 10 pages. – Reportedly, World champion Mike Tyson has signed with the WWF to referee a match. Owen won with a Rocket Launcher on Tanaka. The Vancouver version of the NWA Pacific Coast Heavyweight Championship was the major singles title in two National Wrestling Alliance-affiliated Vancouver territories. By Scott Keith on 10th July 2016. OK, let’s try this one more time. And since “long term thinking” these days is “three. 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. Oh, and WCW tried to make a mini-movie and it didn’t go very well. 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. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 12. – 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. By Scott Keith on 7th March 2017. By Scott Keith on 22nd September 2023 Wrestling Observer Flashback – 12. I just don’t think things are gonna work out for that promotion. Raw drew its best 18-49 number since the start of football season. 96. 2. 10. – 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. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 08. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 10. It's great historical reading of the rise and fall of wrestling's biggest boom period. Wrestling Observer Flashback–02. (This is why. 20. 19. – 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. By Scott Keith on 27th October 2016. 15. 08. 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. 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. 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. Rants. By Scott Keith on 20th September 2016. And NOW the main event! Hog Wild 96 and the introduction of the Observer Hall. Well, that probably won’t happen again for a while. 18. Topics. -. . 03. 5 to a 2. 06. Internet Archive HTML5 Uploader 1. By Scott Keith on 3rd October 2019. (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. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 11. . 15. Heyman is making. – We’ll skip past the Mr. 94. This should be good. By Scott Keith on 22nd August 2022. 18. – 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. Here’s a shocking story to start this week’s issue: Dave is a really big fan of New Japan Pro Wrestling. – Dave brings up the example of New Japan’s light heavyweight division taking off and Stampede Wrestling’s mid-heavyweight division, although of course Stampede tended to produce talent that left for greener pastures instead of. 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. 86. Ocr. 96 (Part Two) – In the top story, “Sycle” Sid won the WWF title in the main event of the Survivor Series. 26. ark:/13960/t2z39wg7w. 22. Specifically, advertisers look at stuff like this and use it to justify their already terrible ad rates for pro wrestling shows. 96 Apparently it’s time for WCW to get rowdy. Dave thinks that the competition will be mostly for the better, with faster-moving storylines and better wrestling on TV. 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. 95. 16. Everything is confusing and it’s all centering on the AWA. 89. 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. 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. The NWA Canadian Heavyweight Championship was the top singles title in Maple Leaf Wrestling from 1978 until 1984,. ***1/4Wrestling Observer Flashback–03. – Anyway, moving on…. Tenryu as the main event of a show on 2/7. Whoa oh, whoa oh, it’s Wrestlemania. – In our top story, Curt Hennig has apparently reached an agreement to jump from the WWF to WCW, as an active wrestler. 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. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 10. – In the top story, the Justice Department dropped one of the charges against Titan Sports. – In the Deep South, the main guys are Wrestling II and Tommy Rich, and they run out of Georgia. Max Moon was eliminated quickly because his spaceship was double-parked. 17. Wrestling Observer Flashback–02. – 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. By Scott Keith on 27th October 2016. “Hey look, it’s Joe Weider” – Not sure what that refers to, but I’m sure we’ll find out. Did you think that Best of ECW Volumes 1 and 2 was as EXTREME as the blog was getting this week? Then prepare yourself, because it’s time for WCW UNCENSORED!– The weirdest story of the week comes from Japan (shocking, I know) where Lou Thesz is making waves in the business again. I’ve noticed a sudden uptick in 1985-related questions on the Wrestling Observer radio show lately. 0 (Extended OCR) Ppi. 16. – 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. 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. 94. ”) 3. Wrestling Observer Historical Pieces. Chip screwed up early, but it was decent by the end. Wrestling Observer Flashback–08. Which is still 10 pages long. Wrestling Observer Flashback–08. -Pro Wrestling 1983-1987. Wrestling Observer Flashback – Bret v. 30. They even flew in Steve DiSalvo as part of the ring crew to. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 03. 92. 2. *. It’s like Wrestlemania, but for NEWS. – So UFC III was supposed to be another easy ride for Royce Gracie, but in fact the KING IS DEAD. 90. I believe that’s known as the Kerry Von Erich Special in wrestling. By Scott Keith on 14th August 2016. Tickets are 45,000 yen, which translates to $429, aka the most expensive wrestling tickets in history. 23. 28. 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. 96. 95, which is good but well below the 2. – 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. Papa Shango ran in for the DQ, and Ultimate Warrior made the save, complete with entrance music. 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. 88. The. For. – Brad Armstrong will be coming back again, this time as the Candy Man, who throws candy to the kids as his gimmick. He apparently gave WAR $1. 90. And now, Dave would like to talk about PPV. 4. 1. 92. By Scott Keith on 14th January 2019. – Latest word on Maeda is that he’s got a new promotion in March, but Takada won’t come with. The WWF drew 16000 and Crockett drew 3000, so point to Vince on that one. 95. But first! An update on the Shawn Michaels incident in Syracuse. 96. 05. Wrestling Observer Flashback: 07. 5. ” (Now there’s an understatement!) – Based on current trends and advertising, SuperBrawl is looking to do. 25. ark:/13960/s2tmw3h1hz8. 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. Ken Wayne found the body after. 8 this week. Marc Mero pinned Hunter Hearst Helmsley in 16:23. – San Fran is the big head-to-head battle between the AWA and WWF, and Vince won that one handily thus far. 03. By Scott Keith on 22nd September 2023 Wrestling Observer Flashback – 12. Wrestling Observer Flashback –04. 95. They of course had an immediate roster of excuses, mainly that it was scheduled on a night with really tough competition on TV. 06. 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. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 06. 11. 27. 02. – 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. Dave also lists the match with the Rock N Roll Express v. By Scott Keith on 9th November 2017. – 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 WWF continues to insist that Summerslam sold 80,000 tickets in the first day, and also announced several new matches for the show: Tatanka v. Louis is finally over, and the WWF has won. By Scott Keith on 23rd November 2017. Continue reading Rants. 95 (Carrying on! Another one written on or about 09. 25. Crockett! Dusty v. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 10. 16. – 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. 96 (Part Two) – In the top story, “Sycle” Sid won the WWF title in the main event of the Survivor Series. Dave thinks it was counterproductive to kill off the Rockers like that. 90. 3. 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. 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. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 03. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 10. The team (Gene and Ole Anderson) dominated tag team. Owen Hart was the second-best star of the show after Flair. Unfortunately, he was the furthest thing from an. 11. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 11. 0 number predicted by. (Clearly Wrestlemania had not become the thing it is today, because $429 barely gets you a nosebleed seat at this point. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 07. 05. Wrestling Observer Flashback–01. Wrestling Observer Flashback–09. D if wrestling was fake and got slapped around pretty good as a result. – 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. 96. 01. I’m giddy. 22. – Dave proclaims that no promotion is any hotter here in 1996, with more mainstream popularity, than NJPW is. Daprice did every issue for the 90's through 2001. 06. Dave is pretty sure Gonzalez will draw as long as he’s never allowed to touch anyone ever. OK, 2005 posts are FINALLY complete, and I got to see Star Wars, so let’s get back to Observing. The grand plan for five days a week has been dropped and ESPN will air reruns of Pro Wrestling This Week instead. 94. The Twin Towers beat the Rockers at 8:02 when Akeem splashed and pinned Michaels. – Andre’s beginnings in the sport are something of a mystery. Davey Boy Smith (“Athletically the best in the business. It’s a patented Slow News Week as we head into Summerslam, but the issue is still 10 pages. 19. By Scott Keith on 18th October 2016. 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”. Maybe if I skim over the Eddie Gilbert stuff it’ll get done easier. – 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. No one tell Donald Trump. So let’s take a look at what’s going on in the international scene!6. – Dave sums up the last PPV of 1996 as “solid but. ”. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 12. Smackdown Date: May 12, 2016 Location: Wells Fargo Arena, Des Moines, Iowa Commentators: Mauro Ranallo, Byron Saxton, Jerry Lawler. history-of-wcw. The 1997 Observer Rewind shall resume this on Aug. – 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. Dodge Iowa. Rude/Vader tag match, the highest rating for any wrestling match on TV in more than a year. In fact, Dave thinks that people’s hatred of the dancing gimmick is overshadowing how much he’s improved as a worker. This was the one and only match in the whole tournament that actually showed why the division could. – Dave relates a brief history of World Championship Wrestling, and how TBS purchased the company in 1988 despite their crippling debt. 7th. Ware on 12/14, as expected. 0-1. 03. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 08. 4. The New Foundation beat the Orient Express in 17:18. Identifier. – 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 /. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 04. – Dave reviews the 1/21 MSG show (which did NOT sell out, he notes, although he assumes that the War to Settle the Score sold out both the arena and the Felt Forum):Wrestling Observer Flashback – 07. 01. Wrestling Observer Flashback–02. Also, be sure to check out the SquaredCircle subreddit, where some dude is RIPPING OFF MY. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 04. 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. Well this should do better than NWA Powerrr at least. 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 suit alleges unfair competition, trademark. ABBYY FineReader 11. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 11. 04. 48 buyrate (120,000 buys) for the Great American Bash in June, with WWF doing 0. – Inoki’s business-killing freakshow ended up drawing 11,000 people for somewhere between $800,000 – $1. 09. 3. 15. 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. 10-28-1991. Baba had actually been. 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. 24. Mike stuff and get into the main event: STARRCADE ‘84. A total brawl with great heat, although the DQ was called for no apparent reason. DUD – Ric Flair still hasn’t officially signed with the WWF, but it’s a formality at this point. 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. 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. Curiosity over Kevin’s return is. I think once I wrap up 88 I’ll continue into 1989, and then when we reach the end of THAT year, we’ll go back to 1985 again. At the latest WWF tapings, a guy named Mantaur debuted. Join Dave Meltzer and Brian Alvarez for coverage of the latest in wrestling and mixed-martial arts. )This argument includes Wrestlemania V, which is widely believed to be the highest grossing wrestling show in HISTORY. 29. 95. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 01. Michaels worked his ass off, although it came out later that he was hungover and stoned at the time. 23. 96. – In Japan, SWS continues to alienate Japanese wrestling fans by booking WARLORD v. 2. 88. Get all the news from F4WOnline. – There’s very little going on due to Christmas, but Jerry Lawler did regain the USWA title from Koko B. 30, 1996 (Final Post for 1996) Going through old issues of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter and posting highlights in my own words. – Antonio Inoki is trying to get into the boxer v. Well it’s been two months. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 10. Thanks for reading! UWFI president and top star Nobuhiko Takada announced that the company is officially going out of business and that the final show will be held this week. 06. 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. But this week, we’ve got Summerslam to attend to. – Van Hammer won the arm wrestling tournament, beating Ron Simmons in the finals, which Dave interprets as continuing his newfound push. The first wrestling move of the match came at 10:00, which was Hogan no-selling the powerbomb and making his comeback. By Scott Keith on 24th July 2019. Survivor Series!World Wrestling Federation presented a live pay-per-view event special live from Hartford, Conn. 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–05. 02. on November 22, 1990 – “Survivor Series ’90. The feeling is that running a show in the traditional Sunday timeslot where live shows draw will kill off the house shows. 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. 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. 3/4. 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. – So, Dave says goodbye and announces that this is the final issue of the Observer. The PPV showdown of 1987 is upon us! It’s Vince v. Wrestling Observer Rewind ★ Dec. Ted Dibiase & Virgil beat Dusty & Dustin Rhodes at 9:57. – And now, let’s talk about pay-per-view. 96. By Scott Keith on 5th February 2016. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 12. Big stuff in the news this week, and the start of the biggest shift in coverage in the history of the Observer. 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. – Eddie Gilbert was found dead in his apartment in Puerto Rico on 2/18, at age 33. 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. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 05. NWA Canadian Heavyweight Championship. – The WWF is reportedly considering adding a weekly Saturday PPV show, according to trade journal reports. 95. 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,. The low buyrate is being. – Actually, first it’s a bit of political talk, as Hiroshi Hase won election to the senate in Japan. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 05. 5 million as a startup amount and NOW got $480,000, and once they’ve blown through that, he’s done. 1986 Wrestling Observer Yearbook. Just for fun, here’s Dave’s Summer 1984 Rankings. For It’s Time. 22. The match died once Flair went out. By Scott Keith on 18th April 2022. Main event is. 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. tesseract 5. 90. 300. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 03. By Scott Keith on 29th August 2016. Rants. 29. 05. – 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. WWE News. 07. – 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. 3. Scanner. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 03. *. 04. Addeddate. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 08. So apparently the WrestleWar 92 issue (05/25/92) is missing from the F4WOnline. Jack Petrik would have to wage war against the WWF and spent lots of money to win, and it. “Which is great for wrestling, I guess. The one in 1995, although you might also assume I was talking about the NXT one recently because that one wasn’t great either. See if you can guess when we get to it. Newsletter, Magazine, Wrestling, WWF, WCW, All Japan, New Japan. 26. – Art Barr’s petition for a wrestling license was denied by the commission once again. Wrestling Observer Flashback–05.