Wrestling Observer Flashback – 02. 06. The biggest story of the week is actually buried way down. 20. WWE News. 29. 96. Although this one is dated after the Bash ‘90 PPV, the issue is written before. 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 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. Manuel Cruz (Jose Gonzalez) b Beauregarde;. 96. And now, for the first time I can remember, the UFC gets the lead story. 23. Instead, in the wake of a disappointing buyrate, the decision was made to concentrate on doing better tournaments. 09. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 08. Whoa oh, whoa oh, it’s Wrestlemania. “Hey look, it’s Joe Weider” – Not sure what that refers to, but I’m sure we’ll find out. The grand plan for five days a week has been dropped and ESPN will air reruns of Pro Wrestling This Week instead. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 10. Wrestling Observer Flashback–05. Dodge Iowa. Scanner. OK, let’s try this one more time. 3-21-1988. By Dave Meltzer Nov 21, 2023. No one tell Donald Trump. 10. 90. Dave is pretty sure Gonzalez will draw as long as he’s never allowed to touch anyone ever. Identifier-ark. Current talk is a rematch with Shawn Michaels at Summerslam in a ladder. – Interestingly, the WWF was shown to be popular with 18-25 year olds, with men twice as well represented as women. 89. 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 Road Warriors beat the Midnight Express in a scaffold match in 3:00, which kind of ruins their videotape business, Dave thinks. 06. 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. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 11. 95. 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. 15. 96 By Scott Keith on 15th September 2023 Wrestling Observer Flashback – 12. 2 victory. We’re almost there! One week left! – It’s almost time for the new fall season of wrestling, and it’s a big one. 1985 Wrestling Observer Yearbook. So apparently the WrestleWar 92 issue (05/25/92) is missing from the F4WOnline. 95. It’s like Wrestlemania, but for NEWS. ***1/4Wrestling Observer Flashback–03. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 09. Continue reading Rants. Oh, Dave. *1/4. Newsletter, Magazine, Wrestling, WWF, WCW, All Japan, New Japan. 96. 3. – 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. The WWF drew 16000 and Crockett drew 3000, so point to Vince on that one. By Scott Keith on 18th April 2022. Daprice did every issue for the 90's through 2001. 90. Bruiser Brody (“Nobody gives an aura of violent realism. Ken Wayne found the body after. 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. – The really big news coming out of the first head-to-head meeting of RAW and Nitro is that WCW immediately took the lead in the ratings war, with a 2. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 08. 96. – Moving on, Joe Pedicino has purchased Jerry Jarrett’s syndicated TV network with the millions of dollars he’s got coming from Nigeria. – Next up TV ratings, which went from an average of 2. 88. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 11. And now, Dave would like to talk about PPV. – Fall Brawl was great undercard wrestling, bad main event, and booking filled with more holes than Swiss Cheese. 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. 95. Dusty missed a blind charge and got pinned by Ted for the finish, ending his WWF career. – To Mexico, where it looks like EMLL is about to split. 18. It's great historical reading of the rise and fall of wrestling's biggest boom period. -Pro Wrestling 1983-1987. But it probably bombed because it was clearly a throwaway show. 29. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 11. 96 IT’S TIME. Well, that probably won’t happen again for a while. I know, I know, I’ll give you a minute to let it sink in. 22. So you picked a great time to start reading! – In the top story, Jerry Lawler was accused of being a very, very bad boy. Wrestling Observer Flashback–10. 27. 04. 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. She is currently signed to WWE, where she performs on the. 14. And now it’s time for the MONDAY NIGHT WARS. – The Wrestling Classic, scheduled to be the first ever nationally available PPV show, will feature a 16 man tournament, plus Hogan v. Wrestling Observer Flashback–02. 30. 1984 Dave would chime in with “but luckily WWF isn’t wrestling” or something equally snarky, but mellower 1986. Lesson the Fourth: Antonio Pena is the new innovator in wrestling and everyone should listen to him. *3/4. 23, because for every viewer gained on Nitro, there was a viewer lost on Saturdays and it kind of averaged out. – 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. See if you can guess when we get to it. I’m actually recovering from a shoulder injury at work today but I’ll power through an Observer Flashback for you. – Andre’s beginnings in the sport are something of a mystery. – 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. Anyway, back to 1985 again… – The big news is that the war in St. By Scott Keith on 18th April 2022. window replacement in Elkhart, IN. 16. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 01. By Scott Keith on 22nd September 2023 Wrestling Observer Flashback – 12. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 10. 95. 27th May 2016 by Scott Keith. – 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. By Scott Keith on 9th November 2017. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 11. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 04. Daprice did every issue for the 90's through 2001. 21. Terry Funk has retired. The feeling is that running a show in the traditional Sunday timeslot where live shows draw will kill off the house shows. – In the Deep South, the main guys are Wrestling II and Tommy Rich, and they run out of Georgia. 05. By Scott Keith on 19th March 2016. Chip screwed up early, but it was decent by the end. – 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. 567. 88. Despite the strained relationship, Florida still bills itself as NWA wrestling. 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. The Twin Towers beat the Rockers at 8:02 when Akeem splashed and pinned Michaels. Oh, and WCW tried to make a mini-movie and it didn’t go very well. But goddamn is “Eyes of a Stranger. – Chris was of course around wrestling dressing rooms his whole life, and idolized Kerry in junior high to the point where he’d dress and act like him. Wrestling Observer Historical Pieces. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 12. com~!Wrestling Observer Rewind • Dec. Piper on top. Bobby Eaton pinned Terrence Taylor in 15:41 with the Alabama Jam. Back in the saddle with these again. And NOW the main event! Hog Wild 96 and the introduction of the Observer Hall. 25. 96. 95, which is good but well below the 2. 22. – The Sheik did an extremely rare job, submitting to Onita’s boston crab in just 3:18 at the latest FMW show. Addeddate. 07. 15. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 08. Um, never mind. Wrestling Observer Flashback–02. Guys, it sounds like the Diamond Studd will soon be appearing in WCW again! We’ll see how that goes for them. By Scott Keith on 18th October 2016. Jack Petrik would have to wage war against the WWF and spent lots of money to win, and it. By Scott Keith on 26th May 2016. 15th September 2023 by Scott Keith Rants Wrestling Observer Flashback – 12. Back on track after our detour back to March yesterday. Survivor Series!World Wrestling Federation presented a live pay-per-view event special live from Hartford, Conn. – Over in Japan, the first ever 24 hour wrestling and martial arts network, called “Fighting TV Samurai”, launched. Severn. It’s a patented Slow News Week as we head into Summerslam, but the issue is still 10 pages. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 03. It was basically just a backdrop for the Virgil babyface turn. – Jim Crockett’s promotion was down to 575 people on 12/3, with a main event of Kevin Von Erich & Chris Adams over Dick Murdoch & Black Bart. Ric Flair (“He’s slowed down a bit”) 2. Production quality was high, the wrestling quality not so much. – So UFC III was supposed to be another easy ride for Royce Gracie, but in fact the KING IS DEAD. 7. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 06. – The WWF announced that the Wrestling Classic did about 60,000 buys on PPV, which was 200,000 less than their announced projections. By Scott Keith on 20th September 2016. 28. – Bam Bam Bigelow is trying to get into the WWF, but word from on high is that he’s “too inexperienced”. According to Dave’s minions, there was confusion about. By on 9th March 2017. – There’s very little going on due to Christmas, but Jerry Lawler did regain the USWA title from Koko B. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 04. Buyrate looks to be between 0. 86. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 01. )3. The main event. *. Mr. 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. 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. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 07. 16. 22. 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 – 08. – Kevin Sullivan is a road agent now and appears done with wrestling. Observer Flashbacks; Wrestling Observer Flashback–04. Which is still 10 pages long. 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. – And now, let’s talk about pay-per-view. 96. – 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. com & WrestlingObserver. 3-28-1988. 07. 0 (Extended OCR) Ppi. . 12. 7th. 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. A wrestling fan creating original content for YouTube based on my love for pro-wrestling. It’s week 3 of the WWF title being held hostage by Diesel! But don’t worry, this can’t possibly last very long. For It’s Time. 5-4-1987. – Dave sums up the last PPV of 1996 as “solid but. 86. 0 (Extended OCR) Ppi. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 08. – 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. It's a recap of the old issues of Dave Meltzer's Wrestling Observer Newsletter. By Scott Keith on 19th September 2016. 22. – 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. . 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. wrestling business himself, negotiating with Buster Douglas for a Tokyo Dome show in March. . 29. While it seemingly wasn’t a major milestone in his life at that. 2 million, making it the largest gate in pro wrestling history. 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. 95. 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. 07. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 01. It’s the year end awards issue! Lots to argue about here, I’m sure. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 03. 04. 05. 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. 11th January 2017 by Scott Keith. Main event is. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 08. 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. 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. 14. 96. 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. 19. For. – Actually, first it’s a bit of political talk, as Hiroshi Hase won election to the senate in Japan. – In the top story, Sports Illustrated had a story on the WWF in March, and no one in mainstream media really gave a shit. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 04. 01. 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. (1) Ultimate Warrior & Legion of Doom & Texas Tornado (Kerry Von Erich) beat Team Demolition & Mr. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 11. Topics. 94. Man, so people REALLY did not like that In Your House show. OK, 2005 posts are FINALLY complete, and I got to see Star Wars, so let’s get back to Observing. Well, one week left until the WWF really goes off a cliff. Oh, Dave. 18. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 02. It drew a legit sellout of 5708 to West Palm Beach. 95. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 07. By Scott Keith on 24th July 2019. -. 09. I know, I know, what a bombshell. Big John Tenta pinned Koji Kitao with an elbowdrop in 6:10. This isn’t unique in itself, but if Idol. 19. Topics. OK, let’s get back into these again. 22. ”This is horrible, Gorilla. By Scott Keith on 1st June 2019. Ware on 12/14, as expected. The main event saw Tito Santana beating Bob Orton for the newly created AWF title in a *3/4 match. – 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. THE WAR IS ON. 2. 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. 300. – In the top story, the Justice Department dropped one of the charges against Titan Sports. – So, Dave says goodbye and announces that this is the final issue of the Observer. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 06. 11. Get all the news from F4WOnline. Dave has no idea how successful it’ll be. By Scott Keith on 19th April 2016. – Also on the show, Scott Norton & Tony Halme won the IWGP tag titles from the Steiner Brothers in kind of a stinker. Dave also lists the match with the Rock N Roll Express v. Unfortunately, he was the furthest thing from an. By Scott Keith on 9th September 2016. 1. So don’t be disappointed at the lack of a review here. Wrestling Observer Flashback–01. 96. 5. I feel like that can’t be a coincidence. 6. ark:/13960/t2z39wg7w. Join Dave Meltzer and Brian Alvarez for coverage of the latest in wrestling and mixed-martial arts. 0-1. (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. – 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. – 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 – 02. 28. 19. Collection. 96 (Part Two) – In the top story, “Sycle” Sid won the WWF title in the main event of the Survivor Series. Jerry Lawler in a cage match where the loser gets his head shaved. – Anyway, moving on…. Smackdown Date: May 12, 2016 Location: Wells Fargo Arena, Des Moines, Iowa Commentators: Mauro Ranallo, Byron Saxton, Jerry Lawler. 09. 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. )This argument includes Wrestlemania V, which is widely believed to be the highest grossing wrestling show in HISTORY. – 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. – It’s sounding like Scott Steiner will work Halloween Havoc, but won’t be doing much. – We’ll skip past the Mr. 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. 25. 02. 27. Perfect won a battle royale in 12:55. *1/4. Here’s a shocking story to start this week’s issue: Dave is a really big fan of New Japan Pro Wrestling. 14. 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. Guess it’s time for another one of these. Tenryu as the main event of a show on 2/7. Wrestlemania III was the best wrestling. 96. 11-4-1991. 11. (Clearly Wrestlemania had not become the thing it is today, because $429 barely gets you a nosebleed seat at this point. Wrestling Observer Rewind ★ Dec. He apparently gave WAR $1. 90. This is the incredible story about the people who brought Lucha Libre into America in the 1990s and the many challenges they faced! Hijo del Santo and Blue. 03. The 1997 Observer Rewind shall resume this on Aug. Rude/Vader tag match, the highest rating for any wrestling match on TV in more than a year. By Scott Keith on 16th December 2017. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 09. 3/4. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 12. 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. – 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. Wrestling Observer Flashback – 09. Dave runs down the TV shows over the past month and it’s all classic stuff, like the Magnum TA-Mr. 96. ”. 21. 92. Wrestling Observer Flashback–08. The PPV showdown of 1987 is upon us! It’s Vince v. Wolf, where. 96. Baba apparently has plans to give Akiyama a major push down the line. Rants.