Inside this edition of the Wrestler, there is focus on Bunkhouse Buck, Owen Hart is examined, The experts believe that Diesel should wrestle Shawn Michaels at SummerSlam, a look at the Undertaker having two bodies but one soul. Also, Cactus Jack isn’t afraid to lose more body parts.
Lets take a look at the October ’94 edition of the Wrestler magazine!
YOUR LETTERS
One fan is concerned about Terry Funk performing a moonsault and doesn’t want Funk to get a broken neck, so Funk should stop performing the move. Spoiler alert, that wouldn’t happen. Another fan thinks Bam-Bam Bigelow’s feud with Doink the Clown hurt him quite a bit and supports the idea of Bigelow returning to New Japan Pro Wrestling. A fan from Maine is thrilled about Hulk Hogan joining WCW and thinks if Hogan can beat Ric Flair, then he has every right to call himself the best. Lastly, another fan believes that Johnny B. Badd should be a champion already, but thinks that Badd has been too nice in the ring and need to break the rules when it could mean winning a championship.
WHAT’S HAPPENING: by: Bill Apter
Apter talks about Hogan joining WCW and believes that over time Hogan will win over the WCW crowd, a crowd that enjoys traditional wrestling. He isn’t a fan of settling family issues in the ring, and doesn’t think the feud between Bret and Owen Hart being contested inside a steel cage is a good idea when thinking about Stu and Helen Hart. He thinks that Diesel has a shot to win the Most Improved Wrestler award. Apparently the feud between Madusa and Luna Vachon has been one-sided with Madusa winning the matches easily.
Randy Savage appeared on a few SMW cards, alongside his rival in the WWF and then curet SMW Heavyweight Champion, Jake Roberts. Roberts is bald since losing a hair vs. hair match against Konnan in Mexico.
THUMBS UP, THUMBS DOWN
Hulk Hogan gets a thumbs up for signing with WCW and thus allowing us to get the dream match with Ric Flair on pay per view. Larry Zbyszko gets a thumbs up due to winning the WCW TV Championship from Lord Steven Regal and gets credit for a remarkable comeback. 2 Cold Scorpio gets credit for leaving WCW when his career was stalling and for jumping ship to ECW where he put on a great showing against Sabu (according to the writer). Razor Ramon gets a thumbs up for not falling out of the ratings since losing the WWF Intercontinental Championship and for continually fighting to stay in the top ratings.
Jerry Lawler gets a thumbs down for insulting Toronto’s Children Hospital during his feud with Roddy Piper. Sandman gets a thumbs down because he smokes cigarettes. Bobby Heenan should not be belittling Hulk Hogan in WCW and should realize that Hogan in WCW is nothing but good. Ted DiBiase rounds out the list because he purchased someone to play his Undertaker
CORRESPONDENTS REPORTS
Papa Shango met Jim Duggan in the main event of a show in Reading, PA. The description of what occurred in the match really emphasized just how boring that action probably was. In Chicago, Johnny Polo teamed with the Quebecers to take on the Headshrinkers and Afa, with the latter team prevailing in that encounter. Jake Roberts losing to Konnan is highlighted as well. Warlord was involved in the action and a miscommunication between Warlord and Roberts ended up costing Jake Roberts his hair.
YOU ASKED US
Sabu lets us know that he is better and more dangerous than Cactus Jack and he will prove that by defeating Jack each time they compete. Sabu assured us that Cactus Jack will never wrestle again. Tammy Fytch would have no interest in competing for a women’s championship if SMW created one as she has to focus on managing Brian Lee and Chris Candido. Roddy Piper has no interest to return to wrestling full-time and signed to fight Jerry Lawler for the kids of Toronto. Bobby Heenan doesn’t need to return to managing because he has achieved the most in managing compared to anyone else in that role.
INTRODUCING, BRYANT ANDERSON: by: Dave Lenker
Bryant Anderson is the son of Ole Anderson, who was quite successful in the NWA. Bryant had been in WCW since August ’93, but was used primarily as a jobber. Bryant calls out Arn Anderson thinking that Arn has been acting like a gentleman lately and suggests that Arn needs an attitude adjustment. The article is mainly just repeating that Bryant is the son of Ole and that Ole accomplished a lot in the business, so Bryant should be able to, as well.
Q&A: BUNKHOUSE BUCK
We find out why Bunkhouse Buck has a strong dislike for Dusty and Dustin Rhodes. Apparently, there was an instance where Bunkhouse Buck was working out at the gym and Dusty Rhodes arrived with his son. During their stay, Dusty took Buck as being a worker at the gym and flung his water bottle at Buck. Later on, Buck was eating breakfast and didn’t have enough money. Wouldn’t you know it that Dusty and Dustin were at the same restaurant and overheard Buck explaining to the waitress his situation. Eventually, Buck tossed some pancakes at Dustin and Dusty. Buck ended up cleaning the bathroom for eight hours to pay for his bill. Buck’s main focus is defeating Dustin Rhodes and then eventually he’ll be a champion in WCW.
X-RAY: OWEN HART
Lou Albano: Lou wishes that Owen would reconcile with Bret Hart. He also thinks that Owen would get recognition if he wasn’t a Hart.
Killer Kowalski: Believes that Owen being a rule breaker will help Owen in the long run and proves that Owen wasn’t content with being in Bret’s shadow.
Dory Funk Jr.: Thinks that Owen has a strong chance to win the WWF IC Championship from Diesel if given the chance and believes that Owen will have a superb career in the WWF if he has same intensity against others that he has against Bret.
Fabulous Moolah: She’s kind of surprised that Owen went after his own brother Bret, but credits Owens Owen ability which isn’t a surprise considering he was trained by Stu Hart.
Lou Thesz: Believes that Owen shouldn’t be ashamed that he isn’t the bet wrestler in the Hart family because he is still better than a lot of others. Thinks that Owen alienating his family will hurt his career.
Gordon Solie: Reminds us that Owen is younger than Bret and his star is still on the rise. Could see Owen realizing that rule breaking isn’t really for him. Plus, Owen has won a singles championship in Memphis last year.
WWF PROMOTERS WAKE UP! DIESEL MUST WRESTLE MICHAELS AT SUMMERSLAM: by: Eddie Ellner
A main point of the article is that friendship in professional wrestling is a rocky road. They quoted Ron Simmons who said he had four friends in the business, but after he thought about it the number went down to two. Shawn Michaels showed Diesel the ropes upon the big mans arrival in the WWF after a not-so great run in WCW as Vinnie Vegas. Diesel was given much needed confidence and that led to winning the WWF Intercontinental Championship. Two moments changed their friendship, though. First, Shawn Michaels being stripped of the IC Championship and then second when Diesel pinned Razor Ramon to win the championship.
At that moment, the student had surpassed the teacher. According to a source, it drove Michaels nuts that Diesel was the champion. Many experts believe that when Diesel and Michaels were to compete in match that at the end they would shake hands and continue on. So, will we get a match between Diesel and Michaels at SummerSlam? No, we wouldn’t, but soon enough they would collide.
TERRY FUNK VS THE SHEIK “THAT CRAZY OLD MAN SET ME ON FIRE!” : by: Andy Rodriguez
During a recent battle between two icons in Terry Funk and the Sheik, Sheik lit Funk’s leg on fire. Reporters were frightened and fans shocked that Sheik would light Funk on fire. The match has one stipulation and that was to win by knockout, so the usage of fire would certainly help get to that decisive decision. Sabu was involved in the match throwing lighter fluid onto Funk’s legs and allowing Sheik to light Funk on fire. The fire was quickly put out, though. Despite being lit on fire, Funk actually won the match.
THE UNDERTAKER: TWO BODIES, ONE SOUL
Undertaker returned to action on May 7th in Japan and then two weeks later Ted DiBiase brought his Undertaker to a TV taping in Erie, PA. Ted DiBiase took credit for bringing Undertaker into the WWF and as the only man who can bring Taker back from the dead. The staff of the Wrestler investigated and came to the conclusion that there are in fact two different Undertakers. The bogus Undertaker in Erie, PA is a former independent wrestler who idolized the real Undertaker, according to the staff of the magazine. The man playing the fake Undertaker is upset that Undertaker went from being evil to being a good wrestler. They didn’t get the wrestlers name who is playing the part of the fake Taker, allegedly, but it would be Brian Lee.
CACTUS’ MANIACAL MESSAGE: “TAKE ANOTHER PIECE OF MY BODY – I’LL HAV ELESS TO LOSE!”: by: Dave Rosenbaum
The article focuses on the injuries and pain that Cactus has gone through recently in WCW. He lost half his ear and he is willing to lost more when he is in the ring. Cactus is an invincible man and is capable of taking a beating that nobody else can take.
HIJACKED! HOW PAUL E. GROUNDED THE SCORPIO – SABU AIR SHOW!: by: Chris Bernucca
The highly anticipated match between high flyers 2 Cold Scorpio and Sabu took place at a Farmers Market in Montgomeryville, PA. Paul E. Dangerously brought out 911 to ruin the match between Scorpio and Sabu ending the match in a disqualification and fans were quite upset with the result. Many fans were quoted for this displeasure that a match with such aerial display was ruined by 911 and Paul E. Personally, the matches between them that I’ve seen haven’t delivered all that much of entertainment.
The features in this magazine were kind of weak and lack much interest. The story in the Bunkhouse Buck interview about the gym and throwing of pancakes was kind of hilarious. However, I never had an interest in the two Undertaker storyline and the article didn’t do anything to promote that positively. The Michaels/Diesel tease for a match was a little premature and would have been better if it had been held off until after the pay per view where their tension really escalated with their miscommunication. Of course, that’s in hindsight.
Jake Roberts does look quite odd with a bald held, luckily it didn’t take too long for his hair to comeback.
What are your thoughts on this magazine? Did you own it? What did you think about what was going on at the time? Was it interesting or were you disinterested?
Thanks for reading.