Honky Tonk Man sits down for a Q&A. Paul E. Dangerously won’t let Sabu commit suicide in the ring. Arnold Skaaland may have found a man to get revenge on Bob Backlund for a recent attack. Vader should fear Hulk Hogan. The Patriot might not be able to team with Marcus Alexander Bagwell. The Undertaker visited USWA to take on Sid Vicious. All that plus many more features in this edition of Inside The Magazine!
YOUR LETTERS
John from Michigan respects Ricky Steamboat for winning almost every championship available and doing so without breaking any rules during his career. John has always sided with rulebreakers but finds himself admiring Steamboat and it will be a sad day when the Dragon has to retire. Gene from Missouri is angry with how Ric Flair was treated following his loss to Hulk Hogan at Halloween Havoc. Flair should have gotten some kind of final applause or recognition. Mike from Pennsylvania agrees with Eddie Ellner that Lex Luger needs to turn back into a rulebreaker and live up to his full potential. Plus, Luger would get more title opportunities.
Felix from New York believes that Sid Vicious will self-destruct in the USWA and it’s just a matter of time before Sid loses the USWA Heavyweight Championship. Felix offers advice for Sid to turn a new leaf and stay within the rules because wrestling needs him. Kathy from Northern Ireland defends Owen Hart not being a baby but rather a less experienced wrestler who pinned Bret Hart fair and clean. She believes that Owen is a first-class wrestler. JJ from New Jersey is upset with how the WWF has treated Bob Backlund considering what he has done for the wrestling industry. JJ thinks a feud between Backlund and Bret Hart would be a great feud, but Backlund shouldn’t be wrestling as rule breaker. Harry from Las Vegas is a huge fan of Adam Bomb and thinks Adam dropping Harvey Whippleman was the best thing for his career. He expects 1995 to be the year of Adam Bomb!
WHAT’S HAPPENING: written by: Bill Apter
Randy Savage could be on his way to WCW after Vince McMahon announced that Savage had been unable to agree to terms on a new contract with the WWF. If he does go to WCW, does he form an alliance with Hogan or with the Faces of Fear? Apter is wondering when Hogan will square off against Vader in a WCW ring. After Ric Flair’s loss at Halloween Havoc, Sherri Martel appears to have switched to managing Steve Austin. Speaking of Austin, he will appearing in ECW to compete in a tag match with Shane Douglas.
Paul Roma and Paul Orndorff have regained the WCW Tag Team Championships but have been losing non-title matches to the Nasty Boys. There appears to be tension between The Patriot and Marcus Alexander Bagwell. Over in the WWF, the tag division is just as nuts with Diesel and Shawn Michaels having not defended the titles in three weeks. The Headshrinkers are the top contenders for the title. Fatu and Sionne are going to be more civilized with help from Capt. Lou Albano. Jim Neidhart has failed to win the WWF World Championship from Bret Hart on numerous occasions.
The Million Dollar Corporation is currently busy with feuds involving Lex Luger, Adam Bomb and The Undertaker, though the feud with the Undertaker may be something that IRS regrets. SMW Heavyweight Champion Dirty White Boy is still the top guy in Smoky Mountain battling it out with Bruiser Bedlam. Tammy Fytch isn’t happy with Cactus Jack trying to save Boo Bradley from her control in SMW. She treats Boo like a dog, and Cactus is trying to get him to see he’s better than that.
In ECW, Ron Simmons is coming in to chase after the ECW Heavyweight Championship held by Shane Douglas. Jason lost the ECW Television Championship to 2 Cold Scorpio, who lost the belt to Dean Malenko shortly afterward. Public Enemy have regained the ECW Tag Team Championships from Cactus Jack and Mikey Whipwreck, too.
NO HOLDS BARRED: written by: Dave Rosenbaum
News Item: Bob Backlund attacked Arnold Skaaland for throwing the towel in during Bob’s match with Iron Sheik in 1983, costing Backlund the WWF World Championship. This left Backlund looking quite bitter and also the most hated figure in the WWF.
Gut Reaction: It took Backlund 11 years to attack Skaaland? What’s the difference now?
Informed Reaction: Backlund is desperate and considering he didn’t do well with his fortune he relies on doing the one thing he knows and that’s wrestling. Backlund has been forgotten about but his attack on Skaaland has created much outrage.
News Item: With the Sandman’s departure, Woman picks a new man.
Gut Reaction: Pick me!
Informed Reaction: Pick me! And, athletes shouldn’t smoke on TV, Sandman.
NEWS ITEM: Brutus Beefcake turned on Hulk Hogan at Halloween Havoc by attacking him under a mask. He’s now known as the Butcher.
Gut Reaction: Beefcake had always been a butcher as a wrestler. However, his reveal as the masked man was surprising since he didn’t have any of the same characteristics.
Informed Reaction: There was two masked men. Dave is glad that Hogan and Beefcake aren’t friends since he doesn’t like either man, but especially Hogan.
News Item: 911 is mad at Paul E. Dangerously for giving Sabu title shots and ignoring him.
Gut Reaction: Who cares about 911? I’ll take Sabu.
Informed Reaction: Dangerously has to do what is best for his clients and Sabu is the most promising talent in North America. Plus, the fans want to see Sabu vs. Douglas.
BLINDSIDED: written by: Andy Rodriguez
Kevin Sullivan can’t stand his brother Dave and often wonders how they are related. Kevin really dislikes that Dave is a huge fan of Hulk Hogan. Dave believes that Kevin is jealous of him and tried to hold him down, but it didn’t work. Hulk Hogan states that he is confident in Dave but will help him out when he can since Kevin tried to get the belt off of Hogan. Kevin isn’t so sure that Hogan will have Dave’s back, but Dave is adamant that Hogan is by his side when needed.
THUMBS UP, THUMBS DOWN
Thumbs Up:
Ric Flair: He is retired following his match with Hogan at Halloween Havoc. Flair put over Hogan as a great champion who proved a lot over the last several months. However, Flair still believes he’s better.
Jacques Rougeau: On the same night as Halloween Havoc, Jacques wrestled his own retirement match against Pierre in front of 18,000 people in Montreal. Jacques won the match following a piledriver. They embraced after the match to end Jacques career.
Hacksaw Duggan: He’s a patriot who can wrestle and has proven that in WCW since winning the WCW United States Championship from Steve Austin in 27-seconds.
Ron Simmons: He is back in action competing in ECW having saved Tasmaniac from an attack by Shane Douglas and Mr. Hughes. No matter the role he plays, they are just happy the former WCW World Champion is competing again.
Thumbs Down:
Hulk Hogan: For striking Sherri Martel during a match where Sherri ran in. Hogan sets an example for many people out there and needs to think before he acts.
Woman: Hopefully she’ll leave wrestling all together after the Sandman left ECW. All she does is take and doesn’t give. They can’t recall a time when she helped a wrestler succeed in wrestling.
Brutus Beefcake: For turning on Hulk Hogan and destroying the trust that Hogan had in him. There was no reason for him to turn on Hulk.
Bob Backlund: He recently attacked Arnold Skaaland and went too far in trying to motivate himself. Perhaps his WWF World Championship reign was a fluke after all.
CORRESPONDENTS REPORTS
Montreal, Quebec: Highlights the match between Jacques Rougeau and Carl Oulette on a WWF show. Rougeau won his retirement match following a sit down tombstone piledriver.
Inkster, Michigan: Highlights a match between Cactus Jack and Sabu which was a no disqualification match. Sabu won the bout driving Cactus face first into the canvas after a chair shot.
Oakland, California: Highlights a tag match between Pretty Wonderful and Stars & Stripes. Stars and Stripes retained the tag titles when they snuck a pin on Pretty Wonderful.
Hershey, Pennsylvania: Highlights a match between Lex Luger and Tatanka in what ended up being a double count-out. After the match, Luger got some revenge with the Torture Rack.
YOU ASKED US
Dave Sullivan was asked if he likes wrestling his brother Kevin Sullivan. Dave doesn’t enjoy wrestling Kevin, but if he has to then he will continue to do so and fight all the bad guys. Mikey Whipwreck is asked about why he returns to the ring after all the punishment he takes. Whipwreck doesn’t know because he doesn’t like it, but he signs contracts because people seem to like him and he has to keep wrestling or his partner Cactus Jack will come after him. Ric Flair denies any involvement with Brutus Beefcake turning on Hulk Hogan and thinks that Hogan is just paranoid, but that Beefcake finally realized that Hogan wasn’t any good. Ole Anderson is asked about his son, Bryant. Of course, Ole puts over Bryant for being good in the ring because he is his son, after all.
Jerry Lawler is asked about his feud with Doink and Dink. Lawler says he doesn’t have issues with midgets, but rather with clowns. He associated himself with midget kings and they are going to take out the midget clowns. Dusty Rhodes isn’t going to be coming back full-time to the ring, but whenever his son needs him to battle the Stud Stable, he’s going to be there for him.
INTRODUCING: CHRIS MICHAELS: written by: Brandi Mankiewicz
“Comet” Chris Michaels has competed in companies SMW, USWA and WCW during his five year career. His biggest victory to date has been against Rip Rogers. He won the USWA Tag Team Championships with Todd Morton from PG-13. He trained with Tracy Smothers to get better for his career and proves that you don’t have to be a big guy to compete in the ring at a high level. He also idolizes Ricky Steamboat.
Q&A: THE HONKY TONK MAN
Honky doesn’t care about the fans who are booing him because it’s not his fault they can’t recognize greatness that he brings to the ring every time he competes. Honky believes he would have been the WCW Television Champion at Halloween Havoc had the match not ended after ten minutes. He doesn’t understand why Johnny B. Badd needs a time limit when other greats never needed one. Dave Rosenbaum, the interviewer, thinks that Honky would have won the TV championship based on points and Honky completely agrees with that statement. Honky thinks he doesn’t get respect because of the way he looks with his sideburns and plays his guitar and sings his songs. He’s had a close relationship with Jimmy Hart, but is disappointed in Hart for joining forces with Hogan in WCW. Honky considers Hogan a phony and doesn’t like him because he doesn’t sing. Next time, he won’t need ten minutes to take the championship from Johnny B. Badd.
X-RAY: HACKSAW DUGGAN
Capt. Lou Albano: Considers Duggan to be a tough guy and a lot stronger than anyone gives him credit for. While he may not be the most talented guy in the ring, he is one of the most underrated wrestlers he knows.
Killer Kowalski: He doesn’t think highly of Duggan because he has been using the same moves for ten years and thinks that his WCW US Title win was a fluke and will be a short reign.
Dory Funk Jr. : Dory doesn’t think Duggan is a very intimidating wrestler, but that works in his favor, too. Duggan can hold his own against anyone on his best day.
Fabulous Moolah: She doesn’t think Duggan is pretty, but he knows how to fight. She hopes that Duggan puts aside his patriotism and focuses on himself at some point.
Lou Thesz: Finds Duggan to be a little too one dimensional since he relies on power moves. You can’t be too predictable in the world of professional wrestling.
Gordon Solie: Believes that Duggan is the kind of guy to inspire younger wrestlers. He can get in trouble with playing to the crowd too much. He knows he might be in the minority, but he sees Duggan as the WCW US Champion for a long time.
PAUL E. DANGEROUSLY DRIVEN TO TEARS: “I WON’T LET SABU COMMIT SUICIDE!” written by: Ed Emelett
Dangerously isn’t a nice guy and he doesn’t keep a personal relationship with people, so says Bobby Eaton who says he doesn’t even know the guy that led the Dangerous Alliance anymore. Dangerously has led 911 to success in ECW, but has a special place for Sabu in his heart. Recently, Sabu got hurt against Cactus Jack and Dangerously wanted to prevent Sabu from competing against Chris Benoit, but Sabu wouldn’t let that happen. During the match with Benoit, Sabu would suffer internal bleeding and the match was stopped. Dangerously’s connection with Sabu has made people look at Dangerously for the person he may really be.
ARNOLD SKAALAND GOES FOR THE THREE-PEAT: BRUNO SAMMARTINO… BOB BACKLUND… LEX LUGER?!: written by: Chris Bernucca
The topic of Skaaland throwing the towel in on Backlund’s behalf and the regret that Skaaland has for allowing Backlund to wrestle the match with a back injury is highlighted. With Backlund’s recent heel turn, Skaaland may be the only person to derail the deranged Backlund and return to the WWF managing Lex Luger. He would manage Luger because he is a powerful wrestler and quite popular amongst WWF fans. Luger would benefit by winning the WWF World Championship if Backlund had the gold. Skaaland gets a lot of credit for Bruno and Backlund’s title success. He would be able to shake the “guy who tossed the towel in” if he were able to lead Lex Luger to the championship.
HULKS A MANIAC! WHY VADER SHOULD BE DEATHLY AFRAID OF HOGAN: written by: Craig Peters
Mean Gene was frightened by the look that Hulk Hogan gave him moments before his title defense against Ric Flair at Halloween Havoc. Hogan is often seen as being lazy in the ring, but inside the cage with Flair, Hogan went to another level and was unbeatable. With Flair out of the way, it would appear that Big Van Vader would be the next man to challenge Hogan. Vader has often injured wrestlers and laughed about it afterward. Harley Race has believed that Hogan has ducked Vader, but now after Havoc, Hogan is going to wish he was retired at the event instead of facing Vader. Vader is apparently looking at a new tweak for the power bomb specifically for Hogan for their eventual match. Vader isn’t afraid of Hogan and Race doesn’t see anything new in Hogan that would warrant Vader to be afraid. However, if Vader doesn’t respect Hogan, that could be a mistake.
SIGN OUR PETITION NOW: BRING THE STEINERS BACK TO AMERICA!: written by: Andy Rodriguez
The Steiner Brothers are in Japan because they needed a change of pace and they are more relaxed there instead of in America. The tag team scene isn’t very strong in America with the Nasty Boys only being seen as a bonafide top ten tag team in the country. A lot of teams are inexperienced or haven’t tagged together for a long time. They aren’t even competing often in Japan but they think they deserve a break. There is literally a petition sheet in the magazine to fill out and send to the publication.
PATRIOT’S TREASONOUS MESSAGE TO BAGWELL: “THIS TEAM’S NOT BIG ENOUGH FOR BOTH OF US”: written by: Brandi Mankiewicz
Patriot is upset that he and Marcus Alexander Bagwell lose the tag titles at Halloween Havoc. He felt helpless not being able to save Bagwell on a cover, but has always rather be a singles competitor. It’s just easier to advance in WCW by forming a tag team. Apparently, during the interview, Bagwell entered the room and told Patriot about three more matches with Pretty Wonderful, but Patriot wasn’t overly excited and suggested they take one match at a time. Patriot suggests he might look elsewhere for a partner with Bagwell’s negative mindset of them needing more than one match to regain the tag titles. Patriot thinks they are just too different as he likes to develop a plan and follow it while Bagwell just improvises all the time. Some have suggested that Patriot team with Duggan, but nothing has developed in that regard. Patriot does think that Bagwell often thinks for himself while he thinks for his country.
UNDERTAKER OVERWHELMING! SID VICIOUS’ NEAR-DEATH EXPERIENCE: written by: Dave Rosenbaum
Recently, the Undertaker went to the USWA to battle Sid Vicious in Memphis drawing one of the biggest crowds to Mid-South Coliseum. Sid performed a choke slam about five minutes into the match and played to the crowd, but the Undertaker got up and shocked the fans in Memphis. Taker hit the tombstone but Spellbinder got involve and broke up the pin attempt to save Vicious. Sid hasn’t been asking for a rematch and the only way that might happen is if he gets a lot of Vince McMahon’s money to do so.
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