By Scott Keith on 16th December 2017. By Scott Keith on 14th March 2019. It’s time for SUMMERSLAM! But first, the WWF is messing with their PPV schedule again. 86. 11. 19. 3. 25. – Dave’s opening salvo this week: “After its television show reached a new low in. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 07. 16. OK, 2005 posts are FINALLY complete, and I got to see Star Wars, so let’s get back to Observing. – 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. 04. 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. Publication date. Owen Hart was the second-best star of the show after Flair. Um, never mind. 5. 22. 91. 1984 Dave would chime in with “but luckily WWF isn’t wrestling” or something equally snarky, but mellower 1986. By Scott Keith on 19th April 2016. 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. 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. 10-28-1991. Lesson the Fourth: Antonio Pena is the new innovator in wrestling and everyone should listen to him. 05. It's a recap of the old issues of Dave Meltzer's Wrestling Observer Newsletter. – The WWF is reportedly considering adding a weekly Saturday PPV show, according to trade journal reports. It’s week 3 of the WWF title being held hostage by Diesel! But don’t worry, this can’t possibly last very long. And now it’s time for the MONDAY NIGHT WARS. Observer Flashbacks; Wrestling Observer Flashback–04. Wrestling Observer Flashback–05. ). Ah, wrestling, where one guy can beat up another guy for real and flush his head. – In the Deep South, the main guys are Wrestling II and Tommy Rich, and they run out of Georgia. 2 victory. Which is still 10 pages long. For It’s Time. 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. 95. Wrestling Observer Flashback–03. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 11. 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. 7th. – In the top story, the UFC has decided to drop the superfight concept after the debacle that was Shamrock v. By on 9th March 2017. Baba apparently has plans to give Akiyama a major push down the line. 20 to an average of 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”. 11-4-1991. 2. The Best of the Wrestling Observer-Greatest matches of the Observer years-15 most influential wrestlers of the past five. I’m giddy. 86. Credit Dave Meltzer, Wrestling Observer Newsletter. By Scott Keith on 29th August 2016. But goddamn is “Eyes of a Stranger. – 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. Jack Petrik would have to wage war against the WWF and spent lots of money to win, and it. – Andre’s beginnings in the sport are something of a mystery. – Also on the show, Scott Norton & Tony Halme won the IWGP tag titles from the Steiner Brothers in kind of a stinker. 95. 26. 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. (Just wait until Slamboree. By Scott Keith on 12th June 2016. See if you can guess when we get to it. Wrestling Observer Flashback–02. 95. Tenryu as the main event of a show on 2/7. 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 – 06. The WWF drew 16000 and Crockett drew 3000, so point to Vince on that one. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 05. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 01. 94. 11. 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. )3. Rants. 96. She is currently signed to WWE, where she performs on the. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 10. 96. 95. – It’s sounding like Scott Steiner will work Halloween Havoc, but won’t be doing much. 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. 5-11-1987. Trying to power through this one before UFC 200. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 01. 0-1. 6. 90. 11th January 2017 by Scott Keith. 09. By Scott Keith on 3rd October 2019. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 02. 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. 22. Addeddate. – 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. Papa Shango ran in for the DQ, and Ultimate Warrior made the save, complete with entrance music. 05. 4. Ken Wayne found the body after. 96. 03. 19 as I try to get as much done as possible in advance. 93. – So, Dave says goodbye and announces that this is the final issue of the Observer. – To the WWF, where Wrestlemania III passed 70,000 tickets sold, officially making it the largest crowd ever to witness a wrestling show in North America. 22. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 09. Wrestling Observer Historical Pieces. By Scott Keith on 26th May 2016. 19. Wrestling Observer Flashback–02. Continue reading Rants. Man, so people REALLY did not like that In Your House show. He wears a buffalo head to the ring and everyone backstage was making fun of his gimmick. 48 buyrate (120,000 buys) for the Great American Bash in June, with WWF doing 0. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 09. 18. 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. 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. 60 and 0. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 12. Continue reading. Identifier. 87. ark:/13960/s2tmw3h1hz8. Wrestling Observer Flashback–02. The previous record was 69,000 for the Big Event. 95 (Carrying on! Another one written on or about 09. – Moving on, Joe Pedicino has purchased Jerry Jarrett’s syndicated TV network with the millions of dollars he’s got coming from Nigeria. 23. 21. )This argument includes Wrestlemania V, which is widely believed to be the highest grossing wrestling show in HISTORY. Hosted by Sean Oliver, he welcomes guest the Honky Tonk Man as he talks about SummerSlam ’88. – We’ll skip past the Mr. – Bam Bam Bigelow is trying to get into the WWF, but word from on high is that he’s “too inexperienced”. 2 million, making it the largest gate in pro wrestling history. Tenta was pretty over during his one appearance, so EMLL is trying to get him back. By Scott Keith on 18th October 2016. 95. 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. 95. There are moments when you can pinpoint exactly when a major promotion started to go completely off the rails. 03. There’s a big main event at the Tokyo Dome! And it sure didn’t go down how anyone expected. ) – 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. THE WAR IS ON. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 08. – Kevin Sullivan is a road agent now and appears done with wrestling. 16. – 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. 09. 1985 Wrestling Observer Yearbook. 28. -. – 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. 06. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 08. It was basically just a backdrop for the Virgil babyface turn. Dave has no idea how successful it’ll be. The one in 1995, although you might also assume I was talking about the NXT one recently because that one wasn’t great either. 27th May 2016 by Scott Keith. – 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. Wrestling Observer Flashback–03. 96 By Scott Keith on 15th September 2023 Wrestling Observer Flashback – 12. 20. Wrestling Observer Flashback–03. 22. For. But first! An update on the Shawn Michaels incident in Syracuse. 95. – The Rougeaus are telling Montreal newspapers that they’re taking a one year sabbatical from wrestling before returning late in 1990. Wrestling Observer Flashback–05. 12. Wrestling Observer Flashback–11. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 10. 1986 Wrestling Observer Yearbook. Wrestling Observer Flashback–12. . 25. – The big story this week is Dave’s preview of the Ultimate Ultimate 96!. 300. 02. By Scott Keith on 22nd September 2023 Wrestling Observer Flashback – 12. But I think it’s a pretty famous case of hotline sleaze related to Blackwell’s death. Guess it’s time for another one of these. 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. 5 million as a startup amount and NOW got $480,000, and once they’ve blown through that, he’s done. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 08. Ted Dibiase & Virgil beat Dusty & Dustin Rhodes at 9:57. 90. He says he was promised $2,500 and they only paid him $1,500. Dave notes we. Owen won with a Rocket Launcher on Tanaka. It’s a patented Slow News Week as we head into Summerslam, but the issue is still 10 pages. 87. – But first, speculation is still running rampant in the wake of Ole Anderson getting fired as booker. 09. 02. Ocr. 87. 30. The 1997 Observer Rewind shall resume this on Aug. Wrestling Observer Flashback –04. 95. – Van Hammer won the arm wrestling tournament, beating Ron Simmons in the finals, which Dave interprets as continuing his newfound push. 16. 22. 96. 08. – Dave sums up the last PPV of 1996 as “solid but unspectacular”. Severn. 96. Wrestling Observer Flashback: 07. 22. The Road Warriors beat the Midnight Express in a scaffold match in 3:00, which kind of ruins their videotape business, Dave thinks. 07. – Reportedly, World champion Mike Tyson has signed with the WWF to referee a match. ABBYY FineReader 11. 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. Bobby Eaton pinned Terrence Taylor in 15:41 with the Alabama Jam. – 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. Wrestling Observer Flashback–07. 27. DUD – Ric Flair still hasn’t officially signed with the WWF, but it’s a formality at this point. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 01. 14. Wrestling Observer Flashback–08. -. 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. In fact, Dave thinks that people’s hatred of the dancing gimmick is overshadowing how much he’s improved as a worker. By Scott Keith on 1st June 2019. 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. – Art Barr’s petition for a wrestling license was denied by the commission once again. 0 (Extended OCR) Ppi. 28. Get all the news from F4WOnline. *3/4. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 12. Maybe if I skim over the Eddie Gilbert stuff it’ll get done easier. The low buyrate is being. *. 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–11. 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. THANKSGIVING FLASHBACK - November 23, 1972. – In our top story, Roddy Piper made a surprise debut at the end of the Halloween Havoc show, doing what Dave describes as an “undisciplined dialogue” with Hollywood Hogan that actually ran past the expiration of their PPV time. 96. A total brawl with great heat, although the DQ was called for no apparent reason. – 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. 01. At one point, UWFI was one of the biggest success stories in wrestling, and in 1993, they drew 46,000 fans to a. 94. 10. 94. 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. It’s a patented Slow News Week as we head into Summerslam, but the issue is still 10 pages. Wrestling Observer Flashback–08. 21. 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. 23. 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. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 04. 96. – Dave relates a brief history of World Championship Wrestling, and how TBS purchased the company in 1988 despite their crippling debt. Wrestling Observer Flashback–04. 87. 2. Wrestling Observer Flashback–06. By Scott Keith on 23rd November 2017. 27. 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. (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 – 10. 06. 95. Sid actually drew pretty big on the East coast, doing 11,000 at the Nassau Coliseum and 8000 in Philly. It's great historical reading of the rise and fall of wrestling's biggest boom period. Chip screwed up early, but it was decent by the end. 3-21-1988. Pillman was playing subtle heel to start and got less subtle as the match went on. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 06. 96. 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. Specifically, advertisers look at stuff like this and use it to justify their already terrible ad rates for pro wrestling shows. 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. – 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 /. – 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. Andre started in the sport at the age of 12, already 6’3”, and fell in with a. Wrestling Observer Flashback–01. (Hey, much like Bill Gates famously said…) – Back to Murray Hodgson and his case against Pat Patterson, with Vince and Pat’s depositions delayed so they could do some more legal wrangling. This was the one and only match in the whole tournament that actually showed why the division could. ” (Now there’s an understatement!) – Based on current trends and advertising, SuperBrawl is looking to do. 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. – 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. *1/4. 5 to 2. Wrestling Observer Flashback – Bret v. 26. Dave is pretty sure Gonzalez will draw as long as he’s never allowed to touch anyone ever. OK, let’s try this one more time. 15th September 2023 by Scott Keith Rants Wrestling Observer Flashback – 12. 18. Wrestling Observer Flashback–08. 95. By Scott Keith on 19th September 2016. – Zulu was fired from World Class for refusing to do a job to Mike Von Erich. 15. 94. Marc Mero pinned Hunter Hearst Helmsley in 16:23. 567. 95. Curiosity over Kevin’s return is. By Scott Keith on 18th April 2022. Wrestling breakup and Cornette getting his face shoved in a birthday cake. – Over to Japan, where Nobuhiko Takada had announced plans to retire, at which point UWFI whiplashed and put out their own press release, noting that what Takada had MEANT TO SAY was that he was THINKING of retiring at age 35, which was two years away. 95. 96. 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. Dave thinks it was counterproductive to kill off the Rockers like that. 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. 15. But it probably bombed because it was clearly a throwaway show. “Hey look, it’s Joe Weider” – Not sure what that refers to, but I’m sure we’ll find out. Just for fun, here’s Dave’s Summer 1984 Rankings. 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. The government side says it’s for “tactical reasons”, while the WWF. The ratings were just too low and the costs were just. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 03. Wrestling Observer Flashback–12. Davey Boy Smith (“Athletically the best in the business. – 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 idea is to combine a bunch of small promotions into the Global Wrestling Federation, with offices in five different regions, including Jarrett now officially going back into Dallas to run the USWA there again. 95, which is good but well below the 2. – And now, let’s talk about pay-per-view. 90 / 07. Guys, it sounds like the Diamond Studd will soon be appearing in WCW again! We’ll see how that goes for them. – 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. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 08. OK, let’s get back into these again. Everything is confusing and it’s all centering on the AWA. 5-4-1987. The New Foundation beat the Orient Express in 17:18. Brian Pillman pinned Badstreet with a flying bodypress in the light heavyweight tournament semi-final at 6:52. Although this one is dated after the Bash ‘90 PPV, the issue is written before. The. ” notes Dave. And here we had gone for almost two months without a death. The taped episode of RAW wasn’t particularly different than any other one they’ve. Crockett! Dusty v. ”This is horrible, Gorilla. – 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. I feel like that can’t be a coincidence. By Scott Keith on 22nd September 2023 Wrestling Observer Flashback – 12. – The Wrestling Classic, scheduled to be the first ever nationally available PPV show, will feature a 16 man tournament, plus Hogan v. Louis is finally over, and the WWF has won. 95. 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. 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. 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. And NOW the main event! Hog Wild 96 and the introduction of the Observer Hall. The Twin Towers beat the Rockers at 8:02 when Akeem splashed and pinned Michaels. 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. 96 Apparently it’s time for WCW to get rowdy. 86. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 07. ark:/13960/t2z39wg7w. 96. 95. Wrestling Observer Flashback–02. NWA Canadian Heavyweight Championship. 3-28-1988. 03. I like how even the editors of the Observer site are scoring off Dave with the headline on this one. These words open the issue this week, because Wrestlemania IV is in the books and, well, it was not pretty. *. – 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. Dusty missed a blind charge and got pinned by Ted for the finish, ending his WWF career. ) An industry shaking death in this issue, but. By Scott Keith on 20th September 2016.