Wrestling Observer Flashback – 01. The previous record was 69,000 for the Big Event. Topics. And since “long term thinking” these days is “three. Rants. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 08. Mr. Tenryu as the main event of a show on 2/7. Slaughter for “stealing the character”. I know, I know, I’ll give you a minute to let it sink in. 20. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 02. – So, Dave says goodbye and announces that this is the final issue of the Observer. I believe that’s known as the Kerry Von Erich Special in wrestling. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 10. 48 buyrate (120,000 buys) for the Great American Bash in June, with WWF doing 0. 15. 96. – 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. 29. 96. 90 / 07. 01. The NWA Canadian Heavyweight Championship was the top singles title in Maple Leaf Wrestling from 1978 until 1984,. 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. Wrestling Observer Flashback–06. . He apparently gave WAR $1. Tickets are 45,000 yen, which translates to $429, aka the most expensive wrestling tickets in history. NWA Canadian Heavyweight Championship. 18. 96. 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. The ratings were just too low and the costs were just. ”This is horrible, Gorilla. 95. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 12. -. 2022-03-05 07:34:36. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 05. 96. 2. Wrestling Observer / Figure Four. 95. 27. wrestlingmagazinesmisc;. Everything is confusing and it’s all centering on the AWA. 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. *1/4. – Art Barr’s petition for a wrestling license was denied by the commission once again. Wrestling Observer Flashback–02. 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. 22. wrestling business himself, negotiating with Buster Douglas for a Tokyo Dome show in March. – Dave also got to see some tapes from Puerto Rico, which gives us the Observer debut of Invader #1, aka Stabby McMurderer. I’m actually recovering from a shoulder injury at work today but I’ll power through an Observer Flashback for you. – 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. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 09. 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. -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 Rewind ★ Dec. – 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. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 04. Wrestling breakup and Cornette getting his face shoved in a birthday cake. 96. But I think it’s a pretty famous case of hotline sleaze related to Blackwell’s death. 28. – The first Saturday Night show is going to be taped on 10/3, and Dave expects to heavily feature the freakshow wedding of Uncle Elmer, which will likely be even worse than the Paul Vachon wedding. – Fall Brawl was great undercard wrestling, bad main event, and booking filled with more holes than Swiss Cheese. Rude/Vader tag match, the highest rating for any wrestling match on TV in more than a year. Addeddate. 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. 27th May 2016 by Scott Keith. 95. 3-28-1988. Lesson the Fourth: Antonio Pena is the new innovator in wrestling and everyone should listen to him. While it seemingly wasn’t a major milestone in his life at that. By Scott Keith on 9th September 2016. 22. – Next up TV ratings, which went from an average of 2. Current talk is a rematch with Shawn Michaels at Summerslam in a ladder. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 07. 94. The show would air live every Saturday night, from New York, and would cater heavily to an. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 07. – 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. 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 – 08. The match died once Flair went out. 19. By Scott Keith on 24th February 2019. Big John Tenta pinned Koji Kitao with an elbowdrop in 6:10. Well, sort of. 0. 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. 23. 16. – Dave relates a brief history of World Championship Wrestling, and how TBS purchased the company in 1988 despite their crippling debt. 0-1. 23. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 12. Identifier-ark. Andre started in the sport at the age of 12, already 6’3”, and fell in with a. Heyman is making. Mid Atlantic Gateway and Wrestling Observer historical files. 95, which is good but well below the 2. By Scott Keith on 10th July 2016. 96. Terry Funk has retired. Scanner. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 04. It's a recap of the old issues of Dave Meltzer's Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Daprice did every issue for the 90's through 2001. ark:/13960/t2z39wg7w. 96. 96. ark:/13960/s2tmw3h1hz8. By Scott Keith on 26th May 2016. 88. Chip screwed up early, but it was decent by the end. Although this one is dated after the Bash ‘90 PPV, the issue is written before. Whoa oh, whoa oh, it’s Wrestlemania. 86. – 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–03. NEXT WEEK: The Monday Night War begins. 94 (Part 2) – In the only non-tournament match on the show, Cactus Jack & Mikey Whipwreck won the tag titles from the Public Enemy after Terry Funk missed his flight and couldn’t make the show. – Van Hammer won the arm wrestling tournament, beating Ron Simmons in the finals, which Dave interprets as continuing his newfound push. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 12. ”) 3. 19. 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. Back in the saddle with these again. – The show drew 7000 with 4700 paid and a $94,000 house. 07. 03. – 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. 3. – Michinoku Pro debuted on 3/16 to huge amounts of local publicity, since they’re the first attempt at a regional promotion in the country. 90. By Scott Keith on 18th April 2022. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 09. Wrestling Observer Flashback –04. Also, ROYAL RUMBLE. 13. 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. I like how even the editors of the Observer site are scoring off Dave with the headline on this one. I just don’t think things are gonna work out for that promotion. By Scott Keith on 22nd September 2023 Wrestling Observer Flashback – 12. Wrestling Observer Flashback–10. Wrestling Observer Flashback–09. 13. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 03. 3. Wrestling Observer Flashback–02. OK, let’s get back into these again. 2. 05. Warlord won a battle royale by tossing out Ricky Steamboat. Instead, in the wake of a disappointing buyrate, the decision was made to concentrate on doing better tournaments. 15. Was shit real before? Well, it’s about to become real. By Scott Keith on 27th October 2016. 93. And NOW the main event! Hog Wild 96 and the introduction of the Observer Hall. Public Enemy went to a double DQ with the Nasty Boys in 4:02. The 1997 Observer Rewind shall resume this on Aug. Wrestling Observer Flashback–05. Identifier. I know, I know, what a bombshell. Wolf, where. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 06. 96. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 07. tesseract 5. Pillman was playing subtle heel to start and got less subtle as the match went on. 94. The. Oh, and WCW tried to make a mini-movie and it didn’t go very well. – 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. 11-4-1991. 300. 96. 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. “Hey look, it’s Joe Weider” – Not sure what that refers to, but I’m sure we’ll find out. 6. 96. *. 30, 1996 (Final Post for 1996) Going through old issues of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter and posting highlights in my own words. 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. 22. 95. 04. – 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. Daprice did every issue for the 90's through 2001. 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. – It’s COLD WAR in Toronto. Wrestling Observer Flashback–05. 95. 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. 96. 01. – San Fran is the big head-to-head battle between the AWA and WWF, and Vince won that one handily thus far. 29. 95. There’s a big main event at the Tokyo Dome! And it sure didn’t go down how anyone expected. – 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. 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. Buyrate looks to be between 0. 02. Unfortunately, he was the furthest thing from an. 95. Rants. 09. 96. – In our top story, Curt Hennig has apparently reached an agreement to jump from the WWF to WCW, as an active wrestler. It’s a patented Slow News Week as we head into Summerslam, but the issue is still 10 pages. The low buyrate is being. ) – 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. And now it’s time for the MONDAY NIGHT WARS. – 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. It's great historical reading of the rise and fall of wrestling's biggest boom period. I feel like that can’t be a coincidence. And here we had gone for almost two months without a death. 94. 87. 03. 2 victory. 11. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 05. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 12. 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. By Scott Keith on 18th October 2016. Smackdown Date: May 12, 2016 Location: Wells Fargo Arena, Des Moines, Iowa Commentators: Mauro Ranallo, Byron Saxton, Jerry Lawler. – Eddie Gilbert was found dead in his apartment in Puerto Rico on 2/18, at age 33. The main event. Lots of people have claimed to have discovered him, for example. 95. 96. The first wrestling move of the match came at 10:00, which was Hogan no-selling the powerbomb and making his comeback. It’s a patented Slow News Week as we head into Summerslam, but the issue is still 10 pages. Ken Wayne found the body after. Collection. Credit Dave Meltzer, Wrestling Observer Newsletter. This week is one of them. 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. 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”. Ted Dibiase & Virgil beat Dusty & Dustin Rhodes at 9:57. Which is still 10 pages long. Chelsea Anne Cardona (née: Green; born April 4, 1991) is a Canadian professional wrestler, stuntwoman, and model. 0 number predicted by. – Unfortunately, we start with the inevitable death of Scott “Hog” Irwin, who succumbed to cancer after a year long battle at the age of 37. 07. 30. (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. 21,499 likes · 18,642 talking about this. Internet Archive HTML5 Uploader 1. 28. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 11. Ocr. Scanner. Big stuff in the news this week, and the start of the biggest shift in coverage in the history of the Observer. Severn. Thankfully, the Observer archives are fixed, so let’s get back into the swing of things again. 07. When it comes to catching and wrestling a giant. He wears a buffalo head to the ring and everyone backstage was making fun of his gimmick. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 08. 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. – 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. This isn’t unique in itself, but if Idol. These words open the issue this week, because Wrestlemania IV is in the books and, well, it was not pretty. 2. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 09. – Two major World title changes since the last issue as well, with Vader winning the WCW World title back from Ron Simmons on 12/30 in Baltimore, and Great Muta beating Masa Chono to win the. 96. 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. 21. 27. 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. Owen won with a Rocket Launcher on Tanaka. 27. – The Sheik did an extremely rare job, submitting to Onita’s boston crab in just 3:18 at the latest FMW show. 96. 5. 02. 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. Wrestling Observer Flashback–08. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 10. By Scott Keith on 14th August 2016. 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. 22. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 08. Production quality was high, the wrestling quality not so much. 05. 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. 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. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 10. – 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. 16. 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. Crockett! Dusty v. 87. – 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. For It’s Time. Despite the strained relationship, Florida still bills itself as NWA wrestling. The suit alleges unfair competition, trademark. Wrestling Observer Flashback–02. 90. 15. 5 million as a startup amount and NOW got $480,000, and once they’ve blown through that, he’s done. – 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. Dave thinks that the competition will be mostly for the better, with faster-moving storylines and better wrestling on TV. Wrestling Observer Flashback–05. Wish me luck! – The top story is Dave being confused by a unique gimmick match in Memphis, with Austin Idol v. – Bam Bam Bigelow is trying to get into the WWF, but word from on high is that he’s “too inexperienced”. 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. 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. Wrestling Observer Flashback–11. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 11. Well, that probably won’t happen again for a while. – Dave proclaims that no promotion is any hotter here in 1996, with more mainstream popularity, than NJPW is. 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. 96. 10. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 03. 31. 5-11-1987. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 03. So let’s take a look at what’s going on in the international scene!6. By Scott Keith on 19th April 2016. Tenta was pretty over during his one appearance, so EMLL is trying to get him back. 60 and 0. – 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. 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 /. Wrestling Observer Flashback–02. But goddamn is “Eyes of a Stranger. 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. – Andre’s beginnings in the sport are something of a mystery. It’s like Wrestlemania, but for NEWS. ” (Now there’s an understatement!) – Based on current trends and advertising, SuperBrawl is looking to do. 16. 90. Hosted by Sean Oliver, he welcomes guest the Honky Tonk Man as he talks about SummerSlam ’88. 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. 19. Anyway, back to 1985 again… – The big news is that the war in St. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 08. 96. 95. Wrestlemania III was the best wrestling. D if wrestling was fake and got slapped around pretty good as a result. 90. – 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. The main event saw Tito Santana beating Bob Orton for the newly created AWF title in a *3/4 match. 96. He says he was promised $2,500 and they only paid him $1,500. 5-4-1987. 2 million, making it the largest gate in pro wrestling history. 96. Curiosity over Kevin’s return is. 15. This hold up comes on the heels of two other major stories: Hennig is supposed to be heading to WWF, meanwhile. 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. Guess it’s time for another one of these. Maybe if I skim over the Eddie Gilbert stuff it’ll get done easier. But this week, we’ve got Summerslam to attend to.